Happy Anniversary!

Today is my parent's 29th wedding anniversary! They are an incredible couple - loving, fun, supportive, and joyful. They have been the most tremendous model of a loving marriage for their children, and I'm so grateful to have grown up with parents who made their marriage a priority.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! We love you so much!

Today is another anniversary of sorts, also. A year ago today, this little booger came to live with us...

I've told you before that I'm not a dog person.... but folks, I get it now. I get why people are dog people. Derby brings so much love to our house - I can't imagine coming home now without a puppy over the moon to see me. I don't think there's anyone in this world who loves us as much as this dog does, and we love him right back. 

Happy living-with-us-anniversary, bud. We love you tons and we're glad you're in our family. 

A special Mother's Day (or any day) gift

It's hard to find a gift for my mother. She's one of those women who has a little bit of everything. She's always grateful and loves everything we give her, but I want our gifts to be special.

This year, we went simple. I purchased a pretty glass jar and asked my sisters to send me lists of reasons why they love our mom, things they were grateful for, etc. We all hand wrote them so that she'd recognize our handwriting. Even Zac added a few!

Some were sweet, some where funny. My mom isn't an overly sentimental person, so I wasn't sure what she was going to think!

When she opened it, she liked it. She read a few (shout out to Zac to writing the ones that cased the most "awwws!"), and then set it aside. Later, she got home and read them all...

And that's when my not very sentimental mom declared it to be the best gift ever. She loved them all, re-rolled them, and put the whole jar smack on her mantle. V-I-C-T-O-R-Y is mine! We wanted to do it for Zac's mom too, but his brother and sister-in-law are still travelling and we wanted to wait until everyone could participate.

Want to make your own? Buy a pretty jar, write things you love, cut them into strips, and roll them all pretty around a pen. Perfect for any birthday, anniversary, mother's day, father's day, graduation, or other fun day!

Did you give or receive any special Mother's Day gifts? It's not too early for me to start planning for next year...

Click HERE to see the blog parties where I'm linking!

Happy birthday Derby!

Yesterday, Derby turned one. When we adopted him from a farm, the owner of Derby's mother told us that Derby and his siblings had been born on Mother's Day. Awww.

I've told you before that I'm just not a dog person. I don't automatically love every dog I see. I'm sort of afraid of big dogs and dogs that jump on me. And yet...

Sometime over the past few months (ok, let's be honest. Less than 24 hours after we brought him home.) I completely fell in love.

Here's what we started with:

And now... happy birthday to Derby!

This is what a one year old puppy looks like!

Yummy dog treat that I spent way too much money on.

How good is this dog that I can take this picture?? I just noticed that he's literally licking his chops!

Thanks for my new toy, mom and dad!

This sounds so cheesy, but I was completely unprepared for all the good that he would bring to our lives. He kept Zac company while I was gone all the time. It's impossible to have a bad day when he tries to lick your face. He keeps my feet warm in the winter. Running with him helped us all get healthier. He helps me feel safe when I'm home alone. 

When did I become that person??

Happy birthday Derby. We love you, and we're so glad that we get to be your people!

It's Our Anniversary!

One year ago today, we were doing this:

And this:

And this!

I can't believe we've been married for a year. It's gone by so quickly, and yet it seems like we've been married for 100 years. 

Being married has been so incredibly wonderful for us. I still don't think people need to get married to be happy, but getting married truly changed our relationship in such a positive way.

To my wonderful husband - thank you for being everything I would ever want in a partner. Thank you for supporting me, taking care of me, and doing 99% of the housework over the past year. Thank you for making me laugh, rubbing my feet, and letting me sleep in while you get up with the dog. 

Thank you for making me feel like the luckiest woman on earth. Here's to many, many more!

Being a grown up is... kind of awesome??

I had a Twitter conversation the other day with my cousin that accidentally got me thinking. I say accidentally because my brain runs so fast that I generally don't seek out additional things to wonder/worry about!

It started with me telling Abby how beautiful she looked in a new picture and that I can't believe how grown up she is. This beautiful cousin of mine is a senior in high school, auditioning for colleges where she can major in voice. She rocks.

She responded and said, "Thanks! Growing up is so much fun!"

Hmmmm. I'm not sure that's exactly how I would have put it. Growing up is so stressful? Sure. Annoying? Maybe. But fun? Really?

That's when I started thinking about it.... and the more I thought about it, the more I realized Abby is right (which means in addition to being beautiful and talented, she's also wise!). It's fun to have a house to decorate and make our own. It's fun to have a dog who knows I'm his mom and wants to snuggle with me more than anyone else. It's fun to have a job and actual money and a husband and all that stuff.

Sure, there's some stress and anxiety that goes along with it, but I really feel like I'm more myself at this point in my life than I've ever felt before. Being a teenager never really suited me. Same for college student. Don't get me wrong - I loved college (won't say the same about high school), but not as much as I love my life right now.

Do you feel like you're really "coming into your own" as you get older, or are you nostalgic for a time in your life that was just the best for you? Will I feel this way during every age now that I'm older, or am I just meant to be in my 20s?

Our Twitter conversation ended with me saying, "I think it's probably fun until you hit about 36, right??" to which Abby responded, "What?!? 36 is so young!!!"

And you know what? She's totally right.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Zac and I aren't huge V-Day people. It probably has something to do with the fact that Zac has had to work every Valentine's Day since we met until this year.... the restaurant business is not kind to couples. And I'll be in class all night. I guess the universe just doesn't want this to be our holiday.

I did make him a card, if printing a card off the computer count as making? I'm wishing I'd gotten him this card instead, because I'm all romantic like that.

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'll share with you a few things that I love. And hopefully you'll share some of yours with me!

• I LOVE when I'm sitting on the couch and Derby jumps up next to me and snuggles into my lap. He's so cuddly and warm.
• I LOVE when I have happy hour with just one or two friends. There's something re-charging about that.
• I LOVE sitting down for dinner with my family and getting up an hour later because we're laughing too hard to finish dinner right away (joke credit here goes to Beth).
• I LOVE weekends with no plans. This weekend will be almost that way, and I can't wait.
• I LOVE dreaming with my husband about house projects, future plans, and just our future in general. I should note that he loves this significantly less than I do, but he's a good sport.
• I LOVE waking up and thinking it's almost time to get up - but you've actually have hours left to sleep. Score.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!