Happy Birthday J!

Today is J's birthday!  We are now the same age again (I'm 3 months older) so now I don't feel like such a cougar (kidding)!  I am happy to say that while we dated long distance for a good portion of our relationship, we've spent every one of J's birthdays together since we started dating five years ago.  Details about his birthday gift are forthcoming but I don't want to ruin the surprise so I'll share later!

Happy birthday Baby!  I know you've been really busy with projects, homework and more at school and that our celebration tonight will consist of a quick dinner before some more studying (and maybe an unwrapping of a present or two) so to make up for it, let's look at some pretty pictures from our wedding instead, okay?  


Or more likely, you are too busy to read this post right now and I am just sharing this with all my blog friends instead.  Either way it will be fun, right?  Thanks for indulging me, as always!

Question of the day:  Who is older, you or your significant other/spouse?  And by how much?!

100 Things: That Make My Soul Sing

After reading this lovely lady's post over the weekend, I decided to share with you all a working list I have in my paper journal of people, places, and things that make me happily and or as I have it phrased in my journal, things that make my soul sing!

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. J
2. My family

3. Woods (so the first three are in order)

4. Tea with cream and sugar
5. My sister
6. Lists (obviously)
7. Crossing things off lists
8. Cooking
9. Farmer's Markets
10. Walks with J
11.  Lunch with friends
12. Catching up with my mom
13. Reading books
14. Reading These Is My Words
15. Laughing with J when Woods does something funny

16. Journals
17. The way a page that has been written one feels when you touch it and turn the page
18. Our wedding

19. Laying flat on the back of a horse looking up a blue sky
20. Horse whiskers
21. Giving a horse a kiss on its nose
22. Puppy Breath
23. Letter writing
24. Getting real mail (as opposed to bills and junk mail!)
25. The smell of freshly bathed babies
26. Fresh cut flowers
27. A well designed room
28. Walking into a clean kitchen in the morning (or anytime)
29. Fresh clean sheets on a bed
30. Chai lattes
31. Anything with pumpkin in it
32. Music
33. My guitar
34. Bonfires in Michigan
35. Adventures and day trips with J
36. The smell of Fall
37. The smell of rain after a summer thunderstorm
38. Watching storms come in off the lake in our screened in porch
39. Fires in fireplaces

40. Candles
41. Sunday night dinners
42. History
43. Pictures
44. Staying in touch with friends
45. Catching up with old friends
46. Traveling
47. Retreats
48. Thrift store shopping
49. Talks on the hammock in Michigan, especially with my sister Madi
50. The first night (or day) of a vacation
51. Jam sessions by the lake with my brother Dan and aunt Bridget
52. Lazy Christmas mornings with my family
53. Reminiscing with family and friends
54. Halloween
55. Carving pumpkins with J
56. My grandparents
57. The smell of my parents house
58. The smell of my grandparents houses
59. Going on walks with my parents and their dogs

60. Christmas carols
61. Listening to Manneheim Steam Roller with the lights off and only the lights of the Christmas tree to light the room
62. The first warm day of Spring after a long winter
63. Fireworks

64. Dog parks
65. Bulldogs, especially English and French ones!
66. Warm blankets on cold nights
67. Naps
68. Saturday mornings at the barn
69. Friday nights
70. Texting Dan during ND football games
71. Entertaining
72. Good conversations
73. Blogs
74. Memories of my horse Pal

75. The smell of the beach
76. Sunsets

77. A movie that has good movie trailers beforehand
78. Volunteering
79. Attending church
80. Holding hands

Image taken from weheartit here

81. Lazy Sunday afternoons
82. Trying a new recipe and having it be a success!
83. Boating and water skiing with J's mom in the summer time
84. Splashing in puddles with rain boots

Image taken from weheartit here

85. Learning about history
86. Family stories
87. Making new friends
88. Going to concerts
89. The feeling after a good workout
90. The taste of a cold beer after a long day
91. The smell of freshly baked cookies
92. When your new favorite song comes on the radio while you are driving to work
93. The way Woods greets me at the door every time I come home, whether I've been gone minutes or days
94. Fluffy down comforters
95. The sound of a fan while I sleep
96. When someone comments on my blog!
97. Finishing a really good book
98. The china set my grandma (Mom's mom) gave me when we got engaged.  It was given to her by my grandpa's mother (her mother-in-law) when she got engaged to my grandpa!
99. The pearls I wore at our wedding--they were a present my grandma (Dad's mom) had received from my grandpa on their wedding day fifty years before.  I felt blessed to have worn them as my something borrowed on our wedding day.

100. Love

What would be on your list?

Valentines Weekend

J and I celebrated Valentine's Day early this year because he has a night class on Monday nights that would interfere with any plans on the actual day.

As I explained in this post, Valentine's Day has always had special significance for us as a couple because our second and third dates took place on Valentine's Day five years ago.  For those familiar with Omaha, we ate here for lunch (J's pick) and here for dinner (my pick) and no, we did not see Warren Buffett while we were there although he does frequent Gorat's on a fairly regular basis.

We kicked off the day by waking up early, finishing the last few episodes of Arrested Development (sniff sniff) and then getting dressed and grabbing coffee at the local Kaldi's.   We sat in the coffee shop and talked, laughed and shared together in a way we don't get too enough of the time!

Image taken by yours truly

The weather was so wonderful we then decided to go for a drive down to the Soulard area.  We looked around for a bit then came back home to start cleaning for our dinner guests we had planned for that night.  J washed the floor while I vacuumed and cleaned Woods' litter box--glamorous I know!

Soon it was time for us to head to our friends' house for a Valentine's Day brunch where we ate lots of good food and laughed hysterically when we began playing with their new Xbox Kinect.  After brunch we finished cleaning the apartment and then decided to take a stroll in Lafayette Square.

I've blogged about this before but we absolutely love Lafayette Square and it not only has cute shops to look in but gorgeous homes perfect for oogling on a warm February day (it was in the 60s!).

Image taken from here

We then stopped by Square One Brewery and shared a sampler before heading home to prepare for dinner. I tried some new beers that I hadn't tried the last time we were there and am pleased to say my beer horizons are expanding more and more each day--which is amazing considering I couldn't stand the stuff two years ago!

Image taken from here

Then we came home and prepared dinner for our friends--a fondue party to be exact--and spent the rest of the night laughing, eating and enjoying each other's company!  I will be sharing recipes and photos tomorrow, but here's a little sneak peak for you.

J styled this plate, complete with apple heart!

Did you already celebrate Valentine's Day like us?  Or are you celebrating today on the actual holiday?  Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a happy Valentine's Day!

Remember When Wednesday: Our First Valentine's Day

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I thought I would share with you how J and I spent our first Valentine's Day together for this week's Remember When Wednesday and to make it even more fun, I thought I would write this post in the form of a love letter.

First, a little background so that the rest of the letter makes sense: J and I met the spring semester of our sophomore year when we had two classes together: Mass Media in American Politics and Theory of Law.   He asked me if I wanted to study with him for our first Theory of Law test and it all started from there.

Dearest J,

I still remember the first time I laid eyes on you.  I can't tell you what the news headlines of the day were but I do know you had a newspaper with you when we first saw each other.  I was talking before class with my friend Kristina and we were discussing some political topic when you leaned forward (we were sitting in front of you, sweetheart, remember?) and joined us.  I remember noticing your bright blue eyes and the dimples that appeared when you smiled.  A year earlier after a horrible breakup, I made a list for myself of things I wanted in a man.  Near the top of the list was someone I could discuss politics and the state of the world with in my underwear.  When I saw the newspaper and you shared your opinions with us, I had an idea that you were someone worth getting to know better!

Soon I began waiting for you outside the classroom door so you could walk me to my next class without realizing it, or maybe you did realize it and never let on.  What started as short conversations in the hallways turned into longer conversations in the Spillane room and over lunch at Irma's Bistro.  I think you made me late to class a few times, if I remember correctly.

Our first "date" was studying together for Theory of Law.  I remember it was a Wednesday evening (how appropriate that I am sharing this letter with you on a Wednesday) and you drove me back to my dorm afterward.  The next day came a Facebook message asking me out on our first official date.  Do you remember the movie, love?  It was Pink Panther although I bet you remember it well!  We went to Chili's beforehand and I don't think we ever ran out of things to talk about.

Valentine's Day was just a few short days after that and I still smile when I think about how we spent it going to two restaurants (one for lunch and one for dinner, each of us picking one to "treat" the other to) to celebrate together.  We even had the foresight to have someone take a picture of us at dinner that night, which in hindsight I am so grateful for.  It captures beautifully the beginning of our relationship, the promise of things to come!

At some point over those early days, I came to understand that you were even more perfect for me than I had initially realized.  A lover of country music and horses in high school, my best friend Anne and I had written a song called Romeo Cowboy in which we find a rugged yet sensitive country boy to love.  My favorite song at the time was Cowboy Take Me Away by the Dixie Chicks, which may have something to do with it.  You grew up partially on your dad's farm and could tell me everything there was to know about combines and farming.  You had grown up with horses just like I did and even had a Palomino pony like me if I recall (okay so Pal at 16 hands wasn't a pony but still).  A man who at once was comfortable on a farm or in a classroom debating the merits of presidential versus parlimentarian democratic systems--boy did I find the one for me!

Since then we have been through a lot: periods of long distance dating with me in California and you in Omaha and later St. Louis, a move to a new city together, planning our wedding, getting married and starting our married lives together and yet, there is no one I would rather be on this journey of life with than you.  I got everything I ever wanted and more.  Thank you for making my dreams come true!

I love you!

KT

Valentine's Day Table Setting

After decorating our glass vases for Valentine's Day, I was itching to create a table setting as well.  I decided that I was going to challenge myself and only use things I already had lying around the house, especially since Valentine's Day isn't a major holiday in our house, like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are.  

I still wanted to do something special though, because Valentine's Day has always meant more to us than a commercial holiday since it was very close to when we first started dating (five years on February 20th)--in fact our second and third dates were on Valentine's Day--tomorrow's Remember When will explain more!

So, I went shopping in my closet and our dining room hutch, and this is what I came up with.

 

I used the white runner I purchased back in November and pulled out some red place mats that I've had since I was a junior in college.  They've moved with me from Omaha to California back to Omaha and now to St. Louis.  J and I have eaten many meals on these place mats so it was fun to incorporate them into the table setting.  I pulled away the two other chairs in the dining room because this table setting is just for two!

I layered each place setting with the silver chargers (also a November purchase) and a white plate.

For place cards, I used some scrapbooking materials I had on hand, some cream ribbon and two champagne corks (we save all of our corks and store them in a vase in our hutch). 

 

Our Valentine's Day dinner will of course include some sort of bubbly so I thought the champagne corks added a nice, romantic touch!

 

Woods of course thought they were great toys and relished in knocking them off the table and playing with them.  They have since been relegated to a drawer and will be returned to the table when we have our V-Day dinner.

For the center of the table, I grabbed a milk glass vase I bought a while back at Value Village and filled it with more of the rose petals I bought at The Dollar Tree last week.  Woods also enjoyed playing with these petals, so I placed a candle in the center of it to hopefully prevent him from burying his face in it and tossing them everywhere!  It's working...for now...

The candle I used is not just any candle, but a candle we received at our Engaged Encounter retreat last year when we were going through marriage preparations for our wedding.  It was a wonderful weekend and the candle is a great expression of all the promises and prayers we made together on that weekend.  It also served as a gentle reminder to dig it out and use it every Sunday for our Sunday night dinners together, which we had gotten out of the habit of doing the last few months!

Since we had a white-silver-red theme going on, I pulled out our candlesticks from the hutch and added them for a final flourish, just in time for J to come home and admire my handwork!

What do you think?  Are you decorating for Valentine's Day?  Do you have any big plans, even if it's just with your girlfriends?  Do tell!

{top ten} moments that have made me cry with joy

Inspired by one of the blogs I follow, Busy Bee Lauren, I've decide to share my top ten moments that have made me cry with joy. Those who know me (and my family) know we cry a lot. A lot a lot. Happy, sad, doesn't matter. We all blame it on my grandpa S, who is the biggest softie of all...but we love him that way!!

1. J's proposal video. J made a touching and personal video for me when he popped the question. We were on the side of the road in his Honda watching it on his laptop, with tears of happiness streaming down both of our faces.

2. Asking my aunt Bridget to sing at my wedding. See, ever since I was little, my aunt had always sang "By My Side" from Godspell to me before going to sleep. At one sister's weekend (with all 4 of my aunts, my mom and grandparents there), I asked Bridget if she would sing the song for me at my wedding. Mind you I was a freshman in college and would not meet the man I will call my husband for another year, but I bawled like a baby and could barely get the words out. God only knows what I will look like when she actually sings that song for us!

3. Singing and playing "Best Day" by Taylor Swift at my parents' twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with my sister. We had a mass in my parents' backyard with family and friends and we surprised them by playing the guitar and singing this song to them. It took me not looking at them at times to make it through the song, but when it was over we all hugged and cried together. Whenever I hear this song on the radio, I still get misty eyed thinking about it--Are you noticing a theme here? I love music and it is often what speaks to me the most!

4. Sarah Prine and Jack Elliott's engagement and marriage in These Is My Words. This is my absolute favorite book and I cannot get enough of this couple! I have read the entire book over fifty times and cannot even count the number of times I've just read bits and pieces of it. Words can hardly describe the impact this novel has had on me. It's that good.

5. When I surprised my sister at her ring night at MSS. You see, our alma mater, Mayfield, has a tradition at Junior Ring Night where a close friend or family member alumna can present the Junior with their class ring (all other students have the Head of School present it). I had flown in earlier that day and been hiding in the sound booth throughout the entire ceremony. When my sister's name was called and they announced that I would be presenting her ring, we both just lost it!

6. Reading political speeches. Okay so if you haven't figured it out already, I am a major political nerd. As such, there is something about well written and heartfelt speeches, like President Obama's speech at the DNC convention in 2004 or Martin Luther King Jr's Letter from Birmingham Jail, that make me just melt into a puddle!

7. My grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. I am extremely blessed that both my dad's and mom's parents have made it to fifty (plus!) years of marriage and that I have been present as they renewed their vows. Seeing them vow all over again to love each other in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, as long as they both shall live is truly amazing and such an inspiration to J and me!

8. When Barack Obama was elected president. J and I always watch election results together, but last year because I was in CA while he was at school, it meant we had to share in them virtually instead of in person. (Again my political nerd-ness is showing!) We watched all of the coverage together courtesy of Skype. The momentousness (yes it's a word, I looked it up) of that moment and what it meant for our country, just made me cry, cry, cry!

9. Whenever I am able to share with my family and friends how much they mean to me. Whether it's a necklace I got for my sister based on this poem by e.e. cumings or letters written on retreats or for birthdays over the years, I am a big ole sap when it comes to sharing how I feel with others (and reading what others have written for me)!

10. Marrying J. Okay, this hasn't happened yet but in 33 days, J and I will be married! We are so excited and so looking forward to this day and our life together. Many, many happy tears will be shed by the both of us!!!

What about you? I'd love to hear what things have made you weep for joy!!