Overdue Happiness

Sorry this took so long for me to post! I caught a nasty cold right after Valentine's day, and then I've been playing catch-up on everything that got put on the back burner.

The weekend of Valentine's day (and Tony's birthday) was absolutely wonderful. A great friend from college, Brittni, came to visit and fun ensued. You can read about her account of the weekend here. In case you were curious, Tonster bought me a dozen roses for Valentine's day :).

She gave a very thorough description of the weekend on her blog, but I'm going to give you my take as well.

First, we picked up Brittni from the airport on Saturday morning, trolled around the beach and around Balboa park for a bit, ate at a fabulous vegan restaurant, Nature's Express, and enjoyed the wonderful San Diego weather.

I then cooked for 87.5 hours. Okay, not really THAT many hours, but it sure did feel like it. It was down to the wire, people! I was sweating profusely by the time some of my small group girlfriends arrived. Attractive. They were all excited to hang out with Brittni and Tony, eat good bruschetta, eggplant parmesan, strawberry shortcake and King Cake, and play with Saffron!

Yum.

Sunday morning we went to church, and then ate far too much at the soup/salad buffet, Souplantation. Brittni then needed to run 1 kabillion miles to train for her half marathon (which is this weekend!! Hooray Brittni!). I was all "YEAH! LET'S DO THIS!!!"

1 mile later I was convinced that I was dying. The end. Brittni continued to run, while I decided to write my will in the trail dirt.

At some point we also made a little visit to La Jolla cove and the Children's Pool, where the seals were resting and playing. I wanted to hug them, and Brittni suggested that I should not. I also managed to embarrass myself by attempting to parallel park and ended up diagonal, 5 feet away from the curb with old ladies yelling directions at me. Sigh.

Brittni went to my small group with me Sunday night, which meant a lot to me. I was happy.

Monday we made a trek to Julian, CA to eat some pie, walk around, and then eat some more pie. Then we drove another 30 miles on super curvy roads (yaay) to get to the Borrego desert. We took about 15 jumping pictures, none of which were any good.

We did manage to take this beauty. Look closely at our shadow. Remind you of anything? :)

It was a spectacular weekend, and it made me want to live significantly closer to New Orleans.

Happy Birthday Tony!

Today is Tony's 27th birthday! In his honor, I've posted some old photos I've taken over the past 5 (or so) years we've been together and a list of 27 reasons why I love him. It was hard to just choose 27! God has blessed me so much by putting Tony in my life, and it is hard to express that in a simple list!

I love you, Tony! Happy Birthday!

1. He constantly makes me laugh.

2. He is a servant of God.

3. He is an excellent provider.

4. He always goes grocery shopping with me, and never complains.

5. He makes up funny lyrics to songs and sings them to me in the car.

6. He randomly cleans the entire house. Hallelujah!

7. He is completely kind and giving to complete strangers.

8. He can carry more than his body weight in boxes on his shoulder AND still get the door for me.

9. He has been supportive of every professional and personal decision I’ve made.

10. He can do one-handed push-ups. That’s just cool.

11. He likes going on long drives with me to no place in particular.

12. He likes holding my hand in public.

13. He kills bugs.

14. He can pretty much fix anything—from computers to cars and everything in between (including sewing machines!).

15. He gives outstanding foot massages.

16. He goes running with me even though he hates it.

17. He does the taxes.

18. He helps me plant and kill our yearly potted garden.

19. He loves to play with Saffron.

20. He enjoys spending time with my friends.

21. He calls me “Pook” when he’s trying to get my attention from across the store.

22. He teaches Sunday school with me to a bunch of 3-5 year olds, and cleans up all the pee.

23. He supported my time as a vegetarian, defended me, and did not complain once.

24. He lets me sleep on the couch after a hard day of work.

25. He goes on photography adventures with me.

26. He spends hours with me in craft stores.

27. He’s patient and loving towards me, even when I can be a brat.

Anticipation

I can hardly focus I'm so excited about this weekend.

Expect photos. And love. And happiness.

Saffron's New Thing

Saffron is getting spoiled.

There's not much I have to say about that, other than I love her and I'll do anything to get her to snuggle with me more.

She likes drinking out of the tap now, particularly in the morning when we're getting ready for work. I think she likes the cold, running water.

The other day I caught her pondering my water glass...

and then she started doing THIS.

I swear, her water bowl is full and clean every day.

Cats are just odd.