The rhythm is gonna get you

I heard someone recently mention the phrase 'the rhythm of life.' It was during an evening meeting that L and I were having with some close adult (I know I'm an adult, but they're really adults!) friends as we were explaining the state of our hearts as of late; overcommitments, feelings of being burnt out, not connected to each other, etc.

One of the women, a wise wise woman, mentioned that phrase and it has been brewing in my mind this whole week. She said that the rhythm of life that L and I had developed here was unsustainable. We were exhausted because in our attempts to carve out a life for ourselves here and to always create time for others here, something else had been lost.

Rather than having a melody, a rhythm that works together and moves with the ebbs and flows of our life, it had just become noise. We had lost the joy, the balance, the peace.

That is what has been simmering through my mind. I've been turning the words over, chewing on them, working them out.

It's so easy to just fill your life. To always say 'yes' to obligations, to always put others first before myself or my marriage, to do things for the sake of doing them. But that was a rhythm that wore me out, was unsustainable, and unrealistic.

And most times what fills our life isn't bad. It's even good, in fact. But there wasn't a balance within it. There wasn't a rhythm. L and I hadn't gotten time together (in the form of a date, significant conversations, etc) in a month. We both were neglecting ourselves and our relationships with God in order to spend time with others in helping to construct their own lives and faiths. We were addicted to our jobs, both of us work two. We weren't allowing ourselves grace, room to breathe, space to process the transition our life has gone through in these last 6 months.

We had lost sight of what is best. Of what is most precious. Things had been sacrificed without our even being aware of it. So it took us losing our rhythm of life to discover we wanted it back. It took us reaching boiling point, emotional exhaustion, to acknowledge that life was off kilter.

So I'm trying to rediscover my rhythm. To bring a pace, a balance, a beauty to my life that is restoring to me, life-giving to others, and loves my husband well. I'm trying to sift through what is worthwhile and what is simply noise. I'm trying to create space. To still give my life to others, but to give it to God and my husband more.

There is rhythm. There are ebbs and flows. There is beauty within it all... if we focus on not just 'getting through it', but living it and enjoying it.

The Room

The house that we're living in right now is incredible. It's also a bit retro-fabulous. I mean, throw-back 1974 stuff everywhere. There is wood. Oh my, the wood.

I wish you could transport yourself into this picture to be looking at this in real life. The picture doesn't do justice to the hue of blue that was this room. It hurt my eyes. Literally, neon blue.

So this weekend I decided to do something about it. It was a loooooong process- notice all of the wood detailing?

This room now makes my heart smile every time I walk into it.

I also don't know why this picture seems to be glowing. But that's neither here nor there.

Also, things of note in this picture: my beautiful black chest that I redid in this project. Seriously. Isn't she gawgeous!

And. And! The beautiful sheflara plant on the left side of the picture. I have now officially owned that plant for 3 1/2 months without killing it. It has even grown, and thrived under my care so much so that I had to repot it. Don't even get me started on how proud I am of myself for successfully repotting a plant. It's kind of a big deal. I'm making big strides in the journey toward parenthood- I can keep a live plant!

Monday, Monday (Sha la, sha la la la)

My day:

5:30 am- got a call about a sub job. You better believe I turned that one down faster than you can say 'Dazed and Confused.' After a weekend like the one I had, there is a deep appreciation for being able to say 'Nope, I'm just not going to work today.'

6:58- my real alarm went off, and I turned it off in my sleep-deprived, comatose state

8:34- woke up for real. I never sleep in that late. It. Was. Glorious.

10- Thought about working out, but instead played on the internet and caught up with my favorite blogs. Learned about more people getting book deals... instant reaction: extreme unbridled happiness and pride for them because I know the hard work and passion that goes into getting a book deal. Reaction that came after 6 seconds: pure jealousy, coveting, and wishing it were me... my heart is a dark place, my friends.

11- Finally got around to letting Tony kick my bootie in plyometrics.

12-3- Ate lunch, ran errands, took sweet Sophie to the dog park

But just now was my very favorite part of the day... I got a blog award! Manda at My Explosive Life gave me a Sunshine Award!

(p.s. After how long it took me to figure out how to put the darn award logo into my blog I was thinking how I might not deserve a blog award, after all. Thankfully, these awards are for writing and not for internet blog technical prowess!)

Anyway, now for the rules of the blog award...

1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
2. Pass the award onto 10 bloggers.
3. Let the nominees know they have received the award by commenting on their blog.
4. Share the love and link the person who gave you the award

After much thought and careful deliberation, the awardees are:

1. Anne @ seven-twenty

2. Amy @ seat belts and sippy cups

3. Kel @ between the lines

4. Katrina @ sevin family

5. Kalleen @ at second street

6. Melissa @ completely eclipsed

7. Brooke @ polka dots and ric rac

8. Sara @ the breathing post

9. Chrissie @ chrissie's corner

10. Julie @ julie the army wife

You guys are great! Have a great Friday!

TGIF

Whew. What a week!

Last night at 10:30 I got a craving for one of my delicious homemade granola bars. I had to make them. Technically, my sister gave me the recipe, but that won't stop me from claiming them as mine.

Make them. Love them. Devour them.

I say that they're healthy. Ignore the sugar when you're pouring it in. Claim it as health food.

So, because it's Friday. Because Tim Tebow got drafted to the Denver Broncos today. And because these are Incredible. Here are:

Sarah's Yummy Homemade Granola Bars!

The Cast of Characters:

3/4 c brown sugar

1/2 c sugar ( I used more like 1/4ish and it turned out fine)

8 oz yogurt

2 egg whites

2 T vegetable oil

2 T milk

2 t vanilla

1/2 c flour (I did half whole wheat, half all-purpose)

1 t baking soda

1 t cinnamin

1/2 t salt

3 c oats

1 c dried fruit (Craisins were in the pantry)

Step One: Mix sugars, yogurt, egg whites, oil, milk & vanilla. Mix well.

Step Two: In another bowl mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to yogurt mix.

{Sometimes I forget to keep taking pictures along the way...}

Step Three: Stir in oats and fruit.

Step Four: Spread doug on bottom of ungreased 13x9 pan

{note: you can use a 13x9, but I feel like they come out too cake-y that way so I just spread them out on a baking sheet and I like the thickness more}

Step Five: Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes. 30 is the magic number with my oven.

Portion for my company:

Portion for me!

Reality Check

Hi, friends.

I'm writing today with a heavy heart... and I thought twice about writing. Blogs aren't supposed to be debbie downers, are they? They're supposed to be fun, funny, inspirational, right?

But then I realized that the whole idea of blogs is to share life with people. To get glimpses into others, and allow others into mine. That's what doing life together is all about, isn't it? Life is a beautiful, wonderful thing but there are times when your heart aches within that beauty.

I think that most of you guys know our story, but basically the military is our history. L and I spent the first five years of our marriage building it within the framework of deployments and goodbyes as L served with a unit stationed out of Fort Benning, GA. Last fall, he got out of Active Duty and transitioned into the National Guard which allowed him to pursue his dream job with a Christian organization that works with high school students.

It has been a beautiful 7 months of transition, but a difficult 7 months of transition at the same time. I'm not sure that either of us ever fully dealt with the magnitude of the career switch that we were making. We love this new life, but it can be exhausting. I think we do miss the military and that community. I think that both of us had been on 'survival mode' for so long that the thawing process has taken some time, and that has been happening in conjunction with a cross-country move, new jobs for both of us, new friends, new life, new identities. New everything. I think that both of us are feeling a little burnt out right now, a little out of sync, and already are carrying heavy hearts.

Anyway, all of that to say, I don't want this post to be about me. It's just a bit of a background into the state of my heart when we got the news we did a few days ago.

The unit that Lane served with is deployed right now (which is just surreal to me... all of his buddies are overseas right now... he would have been with them right now had he not gotten out...).

They lost a great guy this last weekend. His name was Sergeant Jimmy Patton. I honestly didn't know him super well, but had been around him enough for this to still break my heart. My husband was friends with him. My dear friend's husband was his workout partner. He was married and had a little baby girl.

What do you do with that? Ugh. Sometimes it all seems like too much.

I believe in our military. I love our military families and my sweet military friends that we have served alongside with. The selflessness that goes into it is incredible.

I grieve for his family. For his buddies that are still overseas that continue doing their missions against the enemy despite being broken themselves. I ache at the knowledge that this just isn't the way things were supposed to be.

And I remind myself that we are asked to enter into these broken places, these hurting and dark places, and bring whatever slivers of light and life we can to it. This world hurts. But there is hope.

And I think that right now that is all I can cling to- hope within the heartache.

#1!

I have a confession.

I am unbelievably competitive.

Ridiculously. Unabashedly. Over-the-top, no-logic, passion-driven, must-be-#-1, competitive.

I don't know where it comes from. Scratch that; it must be, at least in part, from my family. We did, after all, have a 'Smartest Daughter Competition.'

You read that right. I think it was over Christmas one year and we were up at our place in the mountains and bored one night. So, of course, a game had to be thought up. The husbands and my dad thought of 10 questions each (2 in the 5 categories: history, politics, pop culture, geography, and math), which we then answered as fast as we could. I WON!

And then, there is always the game we play in which we see who can make my dad laugh the most. It's funny because he doesn't know about the game so we just try to be witty, make him laugh, and keep the mental scorecard.

However, this is where my confession comes in. The other day L and I were babysitting a 5th grade girl for the weekend and were playing on one of those balance games where you're on a board that can roll from side to side. I don't know the name, but do you know what I'm talking about?

Anyway, I was balancing on the board and DOING AWESOME! We were timing who could stay up the longest and One minute ticked by, Minute Two ticked by... I was coming up on the time that this 5th grade girl had reached... I was going to BEAT HER!

Well, she knew this so got in front of my face and starting making funny faces and tickling me to make me lose my focus and fall off. Which I did. Man, oh man, was I mad. I seriously had to walk away when she started celebrating at how she won so I wouldn't start trash talking a 10-year-old! It was rigged, Becky! You didn't really win!

Then I had to catch myself. Seriously, Sarah? You're pouting about losing to a kid?!? That's just wrong. I'm ridiculous.

Apparently though, I didn't learn because last Wednesday L & I were hanging out with our high school students and playing this ninja game which might sound nerdy but in all reality is a blast. One of the boys pulled a really cheap move, basically CHEATED, in order to get me out. So I got out of the game without getting even close to winning.

Ohhhhh, I was not happy.

I had to repeat the mantra 'You're a leader here. It doesn't matter. You're a leader here. It's not a big deal... leave it! It's GOOD to let them win.' I have some work to do on this heart o' mine.

It's a disease.

I am from

Happy Friday, friends!

So I discovered a poem tucked away that was titled 'I am from...' that I must have written 10 years ago. I loved reading it, but decided to re-write it because I am now 'from' more things than I was back then and I thought it would be a neat exercise to discover what has shaped me up to this point in my life.

I heard (read?) someone say something along the lines of: How do you know where you're going if you don't know where you've been? I think there is such truth to that, knowing your story helps to guide you on your journey.

Though this is a bit of a departure from what I've been doing the past few Fridays in My Favorite Things!, I still thought this would be fun. I think that I wrote the poem in my high school creative writing class... it might have been my original idea, it might not have been. I might have written it in college? Maybe? It is rare that I have a completely unique and original idea, so if this isn't my idea, I apologize! Still... think about where you are from... and where you are going...

i am from…

i am from a family of five who grows closer each year and two older sisters who i idolized

i am from small-town heritage, 4^th of july parades, neighborhood summer tag, and walks to the pond

i am from the wilderness: climbing 14ers, camping, rock-climbing, and skiing

i am from a dedication to marriage, to pursuing dreams, and to selfless giving

i am from the oak ridge boys, john denver, and peter, paul & mary

i am from finishing two triathlons and craving more finish-line moments

i am from the history channel, questions, and an insatiable quest for knowledge in books

i am from unconditional love, and learning how good my jesus is

i am from a devotion to education; sisters, aunts, moms, and grandmas charting my path to teaching

i am from tradition; walking on feet, drawing names, family dinners, family summer vacations to the old swimmin’ hole, and bedtime tuck-ins

i am from marrying the boy who stole my heart when i was 18 years old

i am from supporting a husband who served 4 years in an army special operations unit

i am from 3 deployments and countless other goodbyes, and knowing the middle east more intimately than i ever thought i would

i am from seasons of heartache, doubt, and worry only to be conquered by love, faith, and the knowledge of what hope is

i am from 5 years of being married to my best friend, discovering how life-giving and fun marriage is, and the hope of beginning a family with this man

i am from finding my gifting and passion in teaching, nominations of best teacher awards, only to be taken down new paths without teaching into writing

i am from life-long friendships, both new and old

i am from fighting for peoples’ hearts

i am from ‘love wins’, good stewardship, and knowledge that everything is spiritual

i am from challenge, discovering my backbone, growth, and redemption

Update

Friends. Just wanted to let you know that L & I are now 24 days away from Costa Rica. 24. Glorious. Days. Away.

My brain can't comprehend much more beyond that fact so that is what I will leave you with.

Happy Wednesday!

Oh, Happy Day

L has been gone since Thursday doing his Army thing. The days seemed to go by super slowly and I was a little bummed. But, secretly, I was a little bit excited because that meant that I could go out for my first garage sale shopping weekend of the season! He probably would have joined me if he were home, but he just doesn't get it. The thrill of showing up to a house not knowing what it holds. Finding treasures for a buck a piece. It's brilliant!

I found some fun things on Saturday, and they have already been placed in my home. See those 3 tree things? 4 dollars for the set. That super cute green table thing? 2 bucks. I'm thinking about painting it maybe sometime, but not sure. I kinda like it. The birdhouse? 50 cents. That definitely needs to be painted.

And then I got this awesome vase. Love it!

In other news, we don't have a fence for our backyard, so I got a tie-out to hook Sophie up to when we're playing outside this summer. It came with a stake that you hammer into the ground, and the stake had this warning:

Can you read that? It says that the warranty does not cover abuse, misuse, or an act of God. What? An act of God? Funny. I'm pretty sure that if there ever were an act of God, the stake in my backyard is the last thing I'll be worried about.

Favorites!

This week! My favorite things!

My discovery of this girl and this project. She is incredible. Hop on over. Meet her. Know her. Love her. She is super creative and crafty and I want to do what she does. I think I need to head over to my local ARC Store and buy all things old so that I can create some treasures.

Favorite thing #2 is simply the fact that I was able to turn in my 6th article for CinCHouse. This job fell in my lap with the greatest of ease (coincidence? I think not. Thanks, Jesus!) yet for some reason I still find it hard to believe that this is actually my life! I love writing. I love CinCHouse. I love writing for CinCHouse. I love the hope that my words are able to help others and bring life to dark places.

# 3 of the week is that my house has been filled with people nearly every day this week. We were given a gift in the house that we're able to live in right now, and I completely believe that if we were blessed with this much space, it's meant to be used. For us, that means people feeling like it's their own second home. For it to be a safe space that they can walk in the front door, open the fridge, and start chatting with us. And we're on the way to that. It's fun.

Favorite Thing #4 was this discovery. It was funny. This girl is not allowed on our couch. I have gotten home many times and had a sneaking suspicion that she had been on the couch, but have never caught her red-handed. Red-pawed? However, yesterday I got home and CAUGHT her! She was completely asleep, dead-to-the-world, so I had to get photographic evidence to prove her guilt.

It's par-tay time!

I've never been one to turn down a party invitation, so when I learned that the nester was having a mantle link-up party, I had to come along!

To preface this, my mantle is weird. It's not a mantle so much as a collection of rocks. This is a rental house though, and perfect for us for the time being, so I'm workin' with what I got.

Notice: the glimpse of the beautiful armoire to the right that my sister-in-law gave me. In exchange for a night o' babysitting, but seriously. It's beautiful.

My ragamuffin garland, O how I love thee.

I'm semi-addicted to old windows. This is just one of many to be found throughout my house... all found for cheap or for free at garage sales, junk yards, piles of trash... there is no limit to my dedication to finding treasure.

See the stones that stick out that comprise my 'mantle'?

I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but the walls in the room are aqua. As in, circa 1981 neon blue. Also, this house very much has a 1970's retro feel with the window treatments, giant floral wallpaper as well as the choice of paint colors. I recognize the gift of us being able to live here practically for free, but I also have been dying to redo the place. I was hanging out with the lady who owns our house yesterday and finally got up the guts to ask her if it was okay if I did a little painting and re-doing for her... and she gave me the go-ahead!

Prepare yourself to be amazed, my friends. The before and after pics will be Epic. Tobacco Road paint, here I come.

It's that time again

So, remember my love of all things organized? Well, I love all things clean too. Not always do I love the cleaning process, but sometimes I get crazy and that happens. I love the finished product enough to keep me truckin through the chores I don't enjoy at least.

I am a clean person. However... imagine the cleanest person you know, multiply that times 1,876 and you will have my husband. He is a freak. He is OCD about it in the most loving sense of the word. It is not beyond him to, after I have already cleaned the kitchen, call me back in and show me the spots I did not get on the counter. If I don't fold his shirts the 'right way' when doing his laundry it is not beyond him to re-fold them. He is constantly teaching me the 'best' way to pour/fold/wipe/put away/get out.

So, it is with appreciation for my husband that I am going to be cleaning our house this week. Spring Break used to mean beaches, friends, and doing a whole lot of nothing in my college days. Now Spring Break means Spring Cleaning. Ugh. I feel like such an adult.

Just in case there's anyone else out there who is in spring cleaning mode, I'm putting up a list of what I'll be doing as well. It'll be fun- we'll be cleaning buddies!

Spring Cleaning Checklist 2010, baby!

* Clean out Fridge and Freezer. Take out contents (put in a cooler if needed) and wipe down with a solution of 2 Tbs baking soda per 1 quart hot water.

* Move fridge forward and clean underneath it

* Clean microwave. Put a microwave safe bowl with water and lemon juice and heat it to boiling (2-3 minutes) ; the steam will loosen particles and the citric acid will cut through the grease.

* Scrub kitchen appliances, cabinets, and backsplash

* Take cushions off of couch and vacuum each part

* Bring cushions outside and hit (is there a more technical term?) to freshen and loosen dust

* Dust bookshelves. Remove books and decorations from each shelf to get every space

* Wipe down walls and baseboards with a mild soap and warm water mixture (make sure wall paint can handle water)

* Vacuum or dust blinds and curtains, ceiling fans, and crannies to get rid of dust and cobwebs

* Replace cold-weather clothing in closets with warm weather wear

* Put any clothes you haven't worn in at least 1 year in a Goodwill pile

* Go through toiletries and make-up and toss anything too old

* Remove lint from clothes dryer hose

* Re-stock first aid kit

* Reseal grout

* Deodorize carpets: Sprinkle about 1 Cup of baking soda or cornstarch per room. Vacuum after 30 minutes

* Clean windows and window screens. Windex always works wonders, but here's another solution: 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 cup white vinegar, 1 gallon warm water; Mix the ingredients in a bucket and use to scrub windows.

* Organize files in home office. Make sure policies, contracts, etc. are in place and up to date.

* Scrub bathrooms

* Clean gutters

* Sweep/Dust/Mop floors

Okay, that's good for me. It's time to get cleaning!

5:1

Happy Day After Easter, everyone!

We had a wonderful weekend hanging out at my parents' home, and then celebrated the big festivities on Sunday at my sister's house with all of my family and extended family. These get-togethers are super fun because all of my cousins and sisters (notice I wasn't added in this sentence... hmmm. Maybe sometime soon though...) are in baby-making stages of life so there are tons of little ones EVERYWHERE at these things. It's adorable. And fun. And chaotic.

Even though it's Spring Break (#2 for me! One for UNC and another for District 6 schools!), my brain still feels a little fried. I think it's still in recovery stages from my busy previous week in addition to the weekend. All that to say, I have no original thoughts to post on here today. So instead, I wanted to mention something that has been brewing in my mind for the last 2 months or so. I saw this on one of my favorite news programs (CBS Sunday Morning News) on Valentines Day and figured that now is as good a time as any to post it considering I'm a full 60+ days late on this.

There is this man named John Gottman; he's a smarty-pants psychology professor and marriage researcher. He knows relationships. He's an author. I like him. He found the key to successful marriages and that it can even be expressed mathematically. The key WASN'T not fighting. It wasn't always having peace, keeping hurts from each other, or the absence of conflict. Those happen. They have to happen for it to be a healthy marriage.

Gottman's key to a healthy relationship is the 5:1 ratio: There need to be FIVE positive interactions for every ONE negative interaction.

What's a negative interaction? It can be anything from criticisms to picking fights to getting defensive to withdrawing. It can be rolling your eyes or shutting down and not talking. Anything that doesn't give life to your relationship.

Positive interactions? A squeeze on the shoulder. Laughing at a joke. Giving a compliment on how they look that day. Saying thank you for a chore they did. Anything that shows appreciation for the other.

It's not that there can't be negative interactions- rough patches, complaints, fights- those are inevitable when you share life with someone. It's just that for you to have a healthy, stable, vibrant relationship there needs to be 5 more good ones.

I think that appreciation is key. These last 5 years with my hubby has developed an appreciation for him more than anything I could have dreamed of. I'm so thankful that I get to share life with him; he's pretty great.

Gottman might be onto something: a key factor to the success of marriages is the 5:1 ratio. It sounds right to me, it sounds beautiful and life-giving to me. And I figure, it can't hurt anything, so why not be super focused and aware of trying to have more positives than negatives?

And just because I'm feeling like it, here's a picture of me and my boy moments after we got engaged in September 2004. L took me on a hike up to this beautiful summit overlooking Fort Collins and surprised me with wine and cheese waiting at the top right at sunset. Amazing, amazing! I'd say that was a pretty positive interaction.

Favorite Things Friday

Hello friends!

I am sure that you were waiting with baited breath for my second edition of Favorite Things Friday! I LOVE Fridays with all of their goodness and especially because they're Friday Follow days!

Favorite Thing One: This week the winner goes to....

THIS project:

The idea came from my friend Brooke who got it from this awesome lady...I think. That was all awhile ago and I'm just now getting around to it, but it's super fun and super cute wherever it came from. They did it with picture frames (brilliant) but I got crazy and used a set of drawers. I have loathed that piece of furniture for years now.... BUT after this project it has all changed. It now has a prime spot in my home and receives much love. This project changes things, people.

Honestly, when I first painted this thing I had hopes of it being a beautiful accent piece in my home... little did I know that it would be NEON blue and blind eyes if stared at too long. It needed to go.

Basically, this is to make things look Shabby Chic. AKA beautiful, in my book. Because

seriously, look at that color. NOT beautiful. This is to make it look old, worn,

distressed, and loved over many years. So you take some candle wax and

rub it over the areas that would have got most banged up over the years. The wax

prevents the paint from really sticking and makes it easy to

get off with sandpaper.

I'm nearly 100% certain that I did not do this step right. But hey, it works. It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful, huh Nester lovers?

Step Two: Paint your piece whatever color your little heart desires. Let it dry, then take some sandpaper and rub on the areas where you had put the wax and it will come right off leaving the color you had underneath.

Step Three: After re-applying wax to your sanded areas again, paint your final coat (you can do 2 or 3, whichever works best for you) and let it dry. Then, take some sandpaper and re-sand around your choice areas; it can be as much or as little as you want to get the look you want.

Step Four: Admire and adore your new work of art.

Step Five: Fall in love with the fun knobs you found at Hobby Lobby to take the place of the previous ugly one.

On to Favorite Thing Two:

This was inspired by this post by a New York Times columnist. I think it might be something in the water of the blogosphere, but there are a lot of people talking on the discussion of what were the most influential books in there life. And it got me thinking: What books have shaped me? All the other blogs excluded major religious texts, so I followed along the same lines and thought of books outside of the bible for me.

I love this topic. I am a voracious reader. Any others out there? At any given moment in time I am reading at least 2, if not 3, books. Currently, it's The Power of One, Hinds' Feet on High Places, and The Far Pavillions. Normally there is at least one super interesting non-fiction in the mix, but these are my three for now.

Books have always shaped my life. Early on it started with being tucked into bed by my dad throughout elementary school and reading Nancy Drew mysteries together. I was even on the Battle of the Books team in 5th grade and we won for our county! I wear that badge of honor with pride.

Next it was seeing the worlds created through the eyes of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series and Roald Dahl in the BFG and having those help shape my imagination and creativity. Here is my well-worn and loved copy of the BFG... favorite book of my younger years... that I still own... and is next of my list of books to read. Again.

Then books became a way to open my eyes and new ways of thinking and I found them as a means of education. Biggies were God's Politics by Jim Collins; incredible, incredible book. Then, I am such a history nerd that any work by David McCullough that helps teach me about history steals my heart. And lastly, Not on Our Watch by Don Cheadle opened my eyes to the world. I love books.

Favorite thing number Three:

When L walked into the kitchen last night (after a week of leftovers and me not cooking) and exclaimed with such glee and joy: We're having REAL food tonight?!? It smells SO good!

You gotta love him.