Dear Anthony....

To my love, 

7 things I adore about you....

1. You love to create. 

Last night at 11pm you made, 

hands down, the best pasta I had eaten in ages. 

"I just put together all the random stuff that

was going to go bad", you said. 

Me? Impressed. 

2. You are the most level-headed person I know

and you always think before you speak. 

(I need to take some lessons from you on this one)

3. You both encourage and challenge me in my faith. 

4. You've got guts. 

It takes a lot of tenacity and gusto to be an artist. 

I really admire your willingness to 

put youself out there, show your art, and keep making exciting work. 

5. You always view me and my opinion with value

and you support my decisions. 

Leaving a job because I was absolutely miserable? 

I couldn't have done that without your support. 

6. Your favorite take-out is Chinese. 

Mine is pizza. 

We eat pizza way more than Chinese. 

7. You teach Jdog tricks and then surprise me with them. 

Last night, you showed me

 that he can now speak and play dead. 

I danced, jumped up and down, and giggled with glee. 

Anth, I love you so much. 

I feel so proud to call you

my partner, my best friend, and my love. 

I wish you all the happiness in the upcoming year. 

It's going to be a good one :-) 

Dear leftover pizza....

You don't look delicious. 

I will not eat 5 pieces of you. 

xoxo, 

A hungry pizza lover. 

This is the definition of temptation in my book. 

Oh yeah, and no, your eyes aren't deceiving you, 

 there's a keg in the fridge. 

Pizza/Beer breakfast? 

Giving it up.

I've got a confession. 

And yes, I'm embarrassed to admit this one. 

But honesty is good, right? 

I step on my scale too often. 

Every single day. Sometimes two times. 
Yes, I realize how crazy this is. 

Recently, I read this article

and it got me realizing that I need to chill out. 

(Husband also 100% agrees)

Also yes, just so you know, 

 I am happy with my body. 

I don't go crazy counting calories or limit myself. 

It's just time for me to let that silly little number go. 

So, it's time. 

40 days without the scale. 

....Or, worst case, once a week. 

Wish me luck! 

Or better yet, wish me willpower and rational thoughts :-) 

Looks like I might need it

Fatty fat

Happy Fat Tuesday kids! 

One of our venders brought in Paczkis this morning. 

We all squealed with delight and then gobbled them up. 

With Fat Tuesday, comes Lent. 

Anyone out there giving up anything interesting? 

If you remember from last year's post, 

I gave up buffalo sauce.
And yes, it was super hard.
Hahahaha. 
 

More tomorrow on my 2012 Lent aspirations! 

Running is....

definitely the best way 

to get over the grumps

(see previous post). 

Angry?

Go for a run.

Sad? 

Go for a run. 

Have a dog who is climbing on you? 

Take him and go for a run.

Jdog whole-heartedly agrees. 

And don't be fooled by his sad looking eyes, 

he happily trotted along 

until my legs said no more. 

It's sunny out! Go for a run! 

Happy weekend! 

Dear Instyle...

Sending me a 552 page

Spring preview on Feb 1st

just makes me grumpy. 

It hasn't even been cold this winter. 

But it's February and I'm tired of bleakness. 

And seriously, 

did you need 500 pages to tell me 

that color blocking and florals were in for spring? 

Grump.Grump.Grump. 

Dear Blockbuster Video...

Moving? 

Unless you've figured out a way

to move back to 1993, 

I don't think this is going to help. 

:-) 

Dear Mama Carole,

I miss your advice.
I miss your resilience.
I miss the way you would ask me
the tough questions when no one else would.
I miss praying with you.

I just miss you. 

Tons.

A year ago this week, 

I signed up to run the marathon in your honor. 

4 months ago, instead, I ran it in your memory.

To help me focus and get through, 

I spent a mile praying for each of the 23 people who donated
and remembering great times we had shared
(some of which had me laughing out loud).

The last 3 miles I was going to spend
remembering. praying.honoring.

But you were there all 300 minutes.

Yes, it was hard,
but so incredibly worth it.

Now, 4 months later,
I find myself running...
a lot.

It's my new favorite time to talk to you.

If reincarnation exists....

I would like to come back 

as a member of OK Go. 

Just sayin....

how cool is this? 

Seriously. 

A Happy Birthday Blog!

Oh Daddi-o, what would I do without you? 

Here are some of my favorite traits 

that you passed along to me: 

A love for being active. 

That being positive will get you a long way.

Work hard, play hard.

 

And above all else, 

you have been such a wonderful example 

of how a man should treat his wife and family. 

I love you bunches and

wishing you the happiest of days. 

the sickies...

You know that feeling when you 

know you're about to get sick? 

Yeah, I call that the sickies. 

I had been feeling that way for the past couple of days, 

and then this morning, 

Boom! Sick. 

Bah. 

Here are some of my favorite things 

I've found around the interwebs lately.

They, along with pup snuggles and netflix 

are getting me through the day.

This funny article about naming your child.

Garance and The Satorialist shoot for Tiffany's Love Campaign.

And I love the Scott (the Satorialist) is an IU grad.

Lauren Fleishman's Love Ever After project

featuring photos and stories of couples 

who have been married over 50 years.

My grandparents, Bob and Sue

who were married 58 years ago on Monday

(also my dad was born on their anniversary a year later!)

should be in her project. 

Just sayin. 

So, I know you've all seen this already,
but I just can't get enough.

And this recipe for beans and greens. 

Anthony makes it better though. :-) 

How about all of you? 

Hopefully you're all feeling better than this girl.

Good day sunshine!

Ladies and gents, 

a word of advice. 

Marry someone who likes to cook. 

I'm a pretty lucky lady, 

if I do say so myself. 

Last night after a great 50 degree run with the pup, 

I came home to pork chops with country gravy, 

mashed potatoes and spaghetti squash. 

Score! 

Anth sure does know the way to my heart

(through pork and potatoes).

And furthering my awesome mood,

Wednesday afternoon impromptu 

donut and popcorn party at work. 

Threadless also knows the way to my heart. 

:-)