I can’t believe it’s already been two years since we said “I Do”  Time has gone by fast, but it’s been beautiful and wonderful during it all.  Sure, there are moments where we disagree or things aren’t smooth and easy.  But I am still amazed at how much love one person can have for another.  It’s such a blessing.

Even though our celebration was cut short and didn’t go as plan, my husband still managed to be incredibly sweet.

And I loved walking around in the woods, happening upon beautiful scenery and small quiet places where we could just be together, smile at one another, and know that we’re happy.

I’ve realized more and more that marriage is such a mystery – two people becoming one, sharing life together, and yet, still remaining distinctly different.  Unique differences clashing at times, and yet strangely, spouses start to become like each other!  How funny, yet endearing.  And when you see it happening to yourself…oh the bliss!

Many more years to come  I’m looking forward to it !

Linking to…

Hopefully this isn’t totally boring, but at the very least, it will be GREAT accountability!  Today was a good day – it was beautiful outside!

Eat

B: Small glass of OJ before hitting the gym, then bowl of cheerios and glass of milk afterwards

L: Glass of H20, fresh pineapple chunks, one carrot, and a spinach wrap with pesto, smoked pepper turkey, 1/2 slice of provolone cheese, lettuce, and slices of red pepper – toasted, and dipped in some balsamic vinegar

D: We’re going out to eat, so I’ll have to update tomorrow to let you know  Hopefully I can exercise good self-control, but since we’re celebrating our anniversary, I think it will be a special occasion with a “special” calorie count!

Pray

Read Psalm 9, part of Isaiah, and John 5.  No amazing revelations while reading, but as I was thinking about the fruits of the Spirit, I realize that I struggle with being at peace with things.  Or at the very least, feeling okay with the way things are.  There’s something slightly odd about always longing for more or wanting something to change – you’re never satisfied with how God has blessed you or transformed you.  I guess I realize there is always room for personal growth in faith, but I struggle with the “peace” aspect of it, and I think that influences how I see my surroundings as well.  It would be nice to be content, thankful, grateful, and yet aware that I’m “not there yet.”

Run

2.5 miles, mostly on the treadmill.  I tried to up the speed and incline since it was a shorter run – definitely a more interesting work out!  I will have to keep in mind in the future though that the gym doesn’t have good airflow, and therefore, I should NOT wear one of my new running tanks that’s a bit heavier with the fabric.  I got pretty toasty and sweaty.

My next real run won’t be until Monday – we’re going hiking this weekend, so that will make for a nice substitute and a good break from pounding the asphalt.  :-)

A look into our anniversary weekend…

He makes me work hard for my food.

Really…

Really…

Hard.

No, he didn’t make me do it.  I actually voluntarily decided it would be fun to chop wood with a hatchet.  Good times.

We had a civilized weekend as well, complete with indoor plumbing, showers, and wine.  So don’t worry, we didn’t spend the entire time roughing it (even though I would have LOVED that!)

Cute little B&B we enjoyed.

Fun stuff in Dubuque – 4th St. Elevator.

This guy built it so that he could get home for lunch without taking his horse/buggy on the hour long RT trip up the bluff.  And then his neighbors caught on…and it burned to the ground…and he rebuilt it.  And now it’s just this cute little elevator!

Going up…

Not the most stable and secure mode of transportation, let me tell you…

Still on our way…

The cool old turnstile, which was from fair or something…I forget now.

The view…

The little elevator car on it’s way up.  If you look closely, you can see that the left side of the elevator (the side closest to the top of the hill) has no door or window – it’s completely open!  You could just jump right out!

We walked around a bit, and of course DH engaged in one of his favorite pastimes – berry picking!  They were EVERYWHERE!

And then we stumbled upon this lovely terrace – who wouldn’t want this for a nice place to enjoy the view?

Seen around town…

The lock & dam

We also enjoyed a little window browsing while we were there, and a delicious dinner out on the town.

Happy anniversary!

Wow, it got up to almost 80 in Amherst today.  Usually it’s not that warm until June!  And we haven’t really had much rain for April, none of those so-called April showers.  Actually, if I think back to the previous few years, we usually get a lot more rain in May than in April.  Not that I’m complaining, because it’s GORGEOUS outside today.  I’m hoping that on Saturday I can do some spring cleaning and yard work finally, I’m getting antsy already.

I just hope it’s not 100 in July on our wedding day….eek, that would be no fun.  Especially for Becca.  For her sake, I hope it’s not ridiculously hot.  Partly cloudy and 78, that’s my prediction!  :-)

Yesterday was Jerod’s birthday – 29! Yikes!  He celebrated with his good friend Scott over a late-afternoon beer at the Moan and Dove (best place for a drink in the valley).  I picked him up and took him for a scrumptious dinner at Judie’s, a cute little restaurant in Amherst that has a good variety of Italian foods, seafood, and GREAT popovers.  I had the yummy seafood gumbo, and Jerod had the scallops.  We don’t go out a whole ton, so it was a special treat to enjoy a nice meal there.  Continued our birthday evening with a movie that was pretty interesting – “In Bruges.”  If you can get past extreme amounts of swearing and some pretty off-color non-PC phrases/jokes, it’s actually a good and slightly ironically funny movie.

I finally got to give Jerod the scarf I’ve been knitting for several months.  I’ll try to get a picture of it since it’s my first cable-knit project.  And since flowers for guys doesn’t really have the same effect it does on girls, I went for one of the fun shiny helium balloons they sell at grocery stores.  :-) Happy Birthday never brought quite so much joy to my day!