Birthdays + Marraige

Today is my husband's birthday.

I just have to tell you that I simply couldn't live without this guy. He is so strong and supportive of me and our little family, even when I have the worst attitude and feel completely overwhelmed with life. Motherhood is a difficult transition, but this man of mine has stood next to me, supported me and encouraged me even on my darkest days. He takes care of me in ways that are expected of a leader, but also in ways that are quiet and small and often unseen. It is these that I am most grateful for.

I would not want to share this life or this amazing journey of marriage and parenting with anyone else.

Happy birthday K.

xoxo

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it centers around being grateful for what comprises our lives. While I am very thankful to have a great apartment & rent that allows me not to work while in school, the things on my list this year aren't things. This year {and always} I am thankful for the people in my life who make me feel happy and loved - my family, my friends, and you. But most of all I am thankful for a kind, caring husband who is strong in his faith.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
xoxo


image via we heart it
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Year One

One year ago today my life completely changed in the most wonderful way possible... I walked down the aisle (to a slow, acoustic version of Walk the Line) and married my K.

I believe in marraige.
xoxo


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Bookstore Dates

I love getting all dolled up and spending a night on the town as much as the next girl, but sometimes all you need is a quiet little afternoon together... a scrumptious lunch in the sun and a couple hours perusing through a bookstore.

As much as I love the local bakeries & delis in our small town, they are all closed on Sundays, and ooh, Panera has some scrumptious salads!


We walked out of the store with a few selections, I purchased the next book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, Drums of Autumn. Husband walked away with Comrade J, the {true} story of an American spy in Russia at the end of the Cold War.

The quiet environment, the therapeutic sound of softly turning pages, the smell of freshly roasting coffee, a shared love of books and knowledge... all of these things make bookstore dates soothing to my soul.

xoxo

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night on the town

the other night husband and i forwent our normal routine of heading into the city for dinner and a show for a quiet night in our little town. {i am really quite fond of small country towns with a lot of character... local pizza joints, hometown breweries, local shops & antique stores, but our town doesn't have too much of that.} we had recently happened upon a new bbq restaurant on the town square and decided to try it out.

immediately after i ordered the black bean burger, i regretted it. what was i thinking? i mean, this is a bbq joint. i honestly expected a frozen morning star farms burger, but surprisingly it one of the best i have ever had! the fries were crispy, slightly salted, and absolute perfection. husband said his traditional bbq plate was quite scrumptious as well.

after our dinner, we walked around the city square and found ourselves at the ice cream shop, so we shared some italian coffee ice cream, sat in bright yellow rocking chairs, and watched the cars go by.

in an effort to walk of some of the calories we had consumed, we wandered around a bit more and took some night shots of our little city square.

it was really quite a nice evening. i do wish there were more independent little restaurants in our town.
xoxo


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ink

so i have never actually admitted this on the blog, but i want a tattoo... i want something simple and meaningful, and i have had the same idea for about the last eight years. now it's just a matter of where to place my ink and when to get it.

some of my favorite finds thus far:
i really like small, simple shoulder tattoos... something delicate and feminine.

i am also quite partial to quotes and letters, which is actually what mine will be.
i am not usually one to encourage couples tattoos, but i am drawn to the sweet simplicity of this one. i love the idea of husband and i having something like what is above, but written on our sides. mine on the right and his on the left over the ribs. {ouch.} and maybe just "his" and "hers" or "forever his" and "forever hers."

as much as i like wrist ink on other people, i would prefer to have something that is easily covered. not only would it be necessary for my profession, i think at times it takes away from how lovely someone looks. i think the side and shoulder are the best bet for me.


what is your opinion?
are you a fan of ink? would you ever get/do you have any tattoos?

xoxo

images via the kitty bear chronicles
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before

with all of the relationships, friendships, and acquaintance-ships that encompass our lives it's easy to get caught up in the ways that people bring us down. so today i am celebrating all of the good things that friendships and relationships have brought into my life, from the silly & minute to the character traits i cherish.

before my best friend erin.....
i didn't know what anthropologie was & had never been to a store {a travesty, i know!}
i wore a lot of black & chuck taylors way too often
i had never eaten a wendy's spicy chicken sandwich
i didn't completely understand the meaning of true, lasting friendship

before my dear friend lesley...
i had never seen what it's like to be young and completely in love {she and sam are such a perfect match}
i would have never been inspired to paint my own canvases to hang on the wall {this girl is creative!}


before my sweet husband...
i never ate oatmeal.. or pork chops.. or eggs with broccoli
i didn't know the "proper" way to make a pbj sandwich {jelly first. it's easier to clean off the knife than pb.}
i didn't actually own a backpacking pack or a hydration pack
i didn't visit the rei scratch & dent sale regularly
i never ran sprints
i never felt cherished and adored on a daily basis
i never felt taken care of and secure


i could go on and on... but i do hope that you take a minute today and think of at least one positive thing that each of your nearest & dearest have brought to your life. and maybe even let them know about it!

what are some of your favorite quirks or character traits that you have developed through relationships? i'd love to hear about them!

xoxo

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husband knows best*

*when it comes to sprint exercises.

i love running. i love the feeling of finally meeting a goal, the simultaneous euphoria and exhaustion after a long distance run, the exhilaration of finishing a race. yeah, running is good exercise and all, but it's more than that for me. it's stress relief, a pick-me-up on a bad day, a way to enjoy the lovely weather, a feeling of power.

when it comes to actual training, however, i tend to drop the ball. i would much rather run for 45 minutes to an hour outside on wooded trails and have to do a bit of walking than run sprints or get on a treadmill. this is especially the case in winter. it's too cold for me to run outside {because apparently i'm a wimp *EDIT: as pointed out by the lovely sarah, i am not a wimp. i am just southern through and through.}, but i just can't handle treadmills for very long. i know that i need to work on speed if i want to actually become a better runner {faster, better endurance and all}, but i just don't enjoy it.

the girl's on the run, originally uploaded by Kelly Angard - kreativekell

enter in the wisdom {read: persistent reminding} of husband. he swore to me that running sprints in the morning last summer greatly increased his speed and endurance on longer trail runs. he's also been doing them on and off over the past two months in this dreadfully cold weather. i'm not going to say that i didn't believe him, because i could tell that he'd gotten better, but i didn't really want to believe him.

imagine my surprise when he absolutely smoked me on our trail run last weekend. neither of us have really run distance since october, so i expected him to be just as slow as i was. um, no. not the case.

so guess what my new workout regimen includes? you got it, sprints. i have to say that it's really not as bad as i expected. on the bright side, you're done after like ten minutes. i will let you know how it affects my distance running, but i have a feeling it will be a positive change.


what do you do to train/workout/stay fit during the winter?
xoxo


{click here for the sprint workouts i am doing.}

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scratch & dent saturday

a few times each year, husband and i wake up embarrassingly early and trek into the city for rei's member's only scratch & dent sale. all the gear and clothing are items that were returned for various reasons and are sold for a vastly lower price. it's a really great way to find incredible deals on camping, hiking, biking, and kayaking equipment... the only thing is that you really need to be among the first people in the store to get the best stuff, and people start to line up outside around 6 or 7 am.

despite the early morning and the bitter cold, there is a sense of camaraderie among the individuals standing in line. most everyone has thermoses full of coffee, some people cook breakfast over camp stoves, some send a spouse to get bagels or chick-fil-a {mine & husband's plan}. pretty soon everyone is sharing stories of travels abroad, favorite camping spots, the best local hikes, and the most memorable summit views.

this year we took camp chairs and blankets to augment our coffee and books, and the sun was a welcome addition to the cold morning air. this was definitely a step up from standing in line for two hours in the drizzling rain last time.

in the end, it was definitely worth the effort. i found a mountain hardware monkey woman jacket for a mere $30 {original retail, $150} that i absolutely adore. it's so bright pink that it's almost red, and it will keep me quite warm on all of our upcoming outdoor adventures.

the perfect end to our early morning was lunch at my favorite cuban place in the city. they have the best salsa in atlanta, hands down, and the black bean quesadillas are simple, but delicious.

overall, it was quite a lovely day. scratch & dent is one of our favorite pastimes not only because we get great deals on camping & hiking gear, but also because we have been going every year since we started dating. it's kind of our little tradition now.

do you have any saturday or weekend traditions?

xoxo

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reason no. 683 why i love my husband

a few days ago husband came home from the grocery with a cantaloupe. 

the conversation that ensued was as follows:

husband: so i got this because it was on sale.

me: ooh yum, i love cantaloupe {as i proceed to smell said melon.}

husband: {looking perplexed} why did you smell that?

me: that's how you know if it's ripe.

husband: hm. i saw some lady at the store smell them. i tried it too, but i didn't smell anything, so i just picked one at random.

{insert picture of a very confused looking husband in the middle of the produce section trying to smell cantaloupe melons.}

reason no. 683 why i love husband?

he smells cantaloupe at the grocery store beside soccer moms just to make sure he brings home a good one.

xoxo

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frogtown trail challenge

last weekend husband and i ran in the
frogtown trail challenge,
a 4 or 10 mile course through the woods,
over streams, through lots of mud,
in the streams {an entire mile of husband's course was in the water}
up and down the stream banks,
over fallen trees, up and down a mountain....

and it was a blast!

making breakfast -- scrambled eggs and steel cut oats

the race began at 8am, so we had to leave ridiculously early.
it was dark outside for the majority of our drive to north georgia,
and we saw a very lovely sunrise once we arrived.

this was the first year we ran in this event,
so, not knowing what to expect,
i took the easy way out and only ran the 4 mile race,
but husband was a stud and went for the 10 miles!

crossing the stream on a fallen log
{this was the one and only time we didn't have to actually go through the water}

the last section of each course was nothing but mud.
it was slippery, wet, and a little bit smelly,
but it was really really fun.

since my course was much shorter, i finished earlier
and waited near the finish line for husband.
he was {understandably} pretty tired when he got to the end,
so i ran the last little bit with him.

we were incredibly muddy and
our shoes were completely soaked,

and it was the most fun trail run i've had in a while.

next year i will definitely be going for the 10 miles with k.
like i said before, it's just not as fun unless you get muddy!




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i like the way you hung the moon...

happy birthday, husband.

there is no one else i would rather...

eat ice cream with,

grocery shop with,

pick pumpkins with,

go camping and hiking with,

run trail races with,

drink strong coffee with,

be ridiculously silly with,

crunch leaves with,

bake cupcakes with,

explore the world with,

share my life with.

i kind of think you're pretty wonderful.

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tom tom

i've been a fan of toms for quite a while

and i'm finally going to take the plunge and buy a pair.

it's for a such good cause, and honestly, i need some school shoes.

{you try walking speedily all day in three inch heels, lugging books, a purse, and a laptop}

also, i may have a birthday coming up,

and these would be an ideal gift.

also, husband's birthday is ten days after mine

so he will be getting these.

not only will we be providing two pairs of shoes to children in need,

we will be so adorable.

it's such an easy way to do something good.

visit the site, read about their amazing movement,

and tell me,

which pair of toms would you get?

xoxo

images courtesy of toms shoes

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{little} letters

i fell in love with this idea when i saw it here,

so i've decided to write a few little letters myself.

dear husband,

thanks for taking me around the city in search of anna sui...
and for checking the oil and tires on my car...

and for making the bed in the mornings...

you are so very good to me.

dear max the mini cooper,

thanks for withstanding our two hour commute each day.

those winding country roads wouldn't be nearly as fun in any other vehicle.

dear sweet sweet parents,

thank you for everything you did for the wedding.

it was so very perfect and magical,

and i will never forget a moment of it.

dear cinnamon vanilla creamer,
i'm glad you are back.

you make the cool morning drive that much more enjoyable.

dear e,

you are truly the best bestie i could ask for.

je t'aime.

dear little sheep,
i really adore seeing you on the hill each morning,
sleeping in the early morning fog.

dear lady at the coffee shop,

thanks for always smiling

and for wishing me a good day.

dear sweet lesley,

i simply adore you,

and your sweet family will always hold a place in my heart.

who would you write a little letter to today?

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dear {soon to be} husband,

my life with you is one of such great happiness,
that i can scarce begin to describe.

our differences may cause us grief at times,
but in the end, they are so very small.

{drawers and hangers are overrated,
and messes may sometimes creep in}

i know you are not one for grand, romantic gestures
but simple, meaningful ones instead.
i know you do not shout our love from the rooftops
but i would not have it that way.
i cherish your deep, quiet way of loving me.

i await the day when i wake beside you and say

{good morning, husband}

just thinking of that moment

the warm fuzzies invade my heart all over again

a spiral of heat within my chest

and i feel how much you love me,

and how i love you in return.

i would always choose you to be mine

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