Favorite pictures

Seaworld- orlando. Manatees are gentle & endangered Florida mammals.

Picture taken at Seaworld-orlando.

I am amazed at creation.

A beautiful but functionally camoflaged seahorse

Family pet- this turtle could fit in the palm of my hand when my parents first got him. Now he feels big and tough so he leaves the safety of his pond to dig holes in the yard (under the gazebo much to my mom's frustration). He likes to balance on the edge of the pond and spread his limbs and head to take in the sun.

Enjoying a Mr. Greengenes concert- no better band to watch perform!

Friends enjoying Rock Band. Perfect way to party in the burbs.

My sister and her daughter, the little girl that stole my heart. I have learned this year how happy events like weddings and babies can bring a family closer. This has definately happened in the last year, partly due to this little peanut. This picture is currently on my desktop at work, it makes me smile throughout the day.

My wedding was this May and I love the lighting in this photo plus you can see the bliss written on my face. Also I adored my hair that day and I tend to prefer pictures that showcase it!

The big 31...

I think this was one of my favorite birthdays in recent years. It is all because I have a fabulous husband.
He isn't used to making a big deal out of birthdays (his idea of a big deal is cake & card). Well, I am into birthdays...my whole family is. I enjoy having a day to celebrate my life. I am thrilled to be alive and I want to have fun on my day. So he has been a fabulous sport this year...

My birthday was this monday but last saturday we had lunch in downtown Baltimore (Inner Harbor) and saw Madagascar II on IMAX at the Maryland Science Museum. Then a lovely dinner at Linwoods, a local place but top notch cuisine.

On my actual birthday, he suprised me by taking off work to spend the day with me. We went to a boutique fair (purses, jewelery, textiles) and spent time at my mother-in-law's home. She makes jewelery and is going to design a necklace for me. She is full of ideas and imagines possibilities in everything she sees. She had these little raw saphires in a beautiful shade of blue and we found a necklace in a magazine to use for inspiration.

My husband also baked me a cake and made me dinner. I love that he can cook!

What I am looking forward to...

Sometimes it is easy to get bogged down in day to day stresses and forget that my life really is great. While driving (on my yucky commute) to work today I thought about upcoming events and felt pure joy. I realized at that moment that a great thing I can do daily to relax is to think of the upcoming things I have to look forward to. It is also a great way for me to realize who and what is important to me.

I am excited for/about:
My birthday (Nov. 10). I love my birthday for so many reasons: getting mail (cards), phone calls from family & friends, going to dinner with my husband, taking off of work for the day.

Book Club next week. I may not finish the book but the friend hosting the event just got back to living independently after a terrible accident. Needless to say, our group is very excited!

Visiting my sister & her family. I am looking forward to spending so much time with my husband. I am totally in love with my 8 month old niece. She is the most precious angel. The best gift that God has ever given our family. I am so excited to see all the new things she has learned to do since July.

Work party is at an awesome museum this year.

Fun Christmas paties with friends

Christmas at my parent's home...sunshine & heat during winter is fabulous! Everyone will be there & this will be the first time my extended family will meet my husband. i am excited to show him were I grew up.

My brother's wedding. It will be at a beautiful resort on the beach back home (again the sunshine during winter is awesome). I am a bridesmaid & will be going for a week to help the bride & have a bacherlorette weekend too!

And the best for last...hopefully during the later half of 2009 my husband and I will start trying to conceive. I am extremely excited to have our first child. I am excited for the whole experience, the pregnancy, everything!

It makes me happy just reading these fun things!

weight gain

I am at a reasonable weight for my height 5'5" and 147, I know this in my head. But emotionally its a whole other story. Most friends really don't want to hear me complain. But 2 months ago I was 134 and I am still reeling from the change.
I take a medication that helps me sleep and I very much need it but the side affect is weight gain. At first it really made me hungry...thats were the first 5 pounds came from. The rest, I am not sure. I eat the same amount of calories as before.
One thing I am sure of, is I feel panicked that my clothes are not fitting and what I see when I look in the mirror. I am trying to be practical and not so hysterical about it (so I do not drive my husband and friends nuts) but that is a challenge.
There are 2 options IMO.
A. Go off medication (horrifying)
B. control what I can, be healthy and let go of what I can't control.
I am still trying option B.

Meditation

I have been trying to learn to meditate this year and incorporate it regularly into my life. One of the directions given for meditation is to staying in the moment, just be. That concept sounds simple, but I frequently find it difficult to accomplish. We are a society who thrives on multitasking and are constantly busy. I think that living this way has made it difficult for me to shut my mind to the past and future and instead focus on the present, the breath by breath focus needed to meditate.
I have been using the cds of Jon Kabat-Zinn. He has various meditation activities under the title of mindfulness meditation. I started with his guided body scan meditation. It was recommended to me because Dr. Kabat-Zinn talks you through the meditation. I found it easier to focus and stay in the moment by listening to him.
After I felt comfortable with the body scan I added the silent meditation cds. This was much harder for me. The cds guide me a little but much of the meditation is silent. I find it a much greater challenge to focus on my breathing and not start thinking about other things. Luckily the cds I use have 10, 20 and 30 minute options.
I am currently up to 20 minutes of silent meditation. The next challenge I face is remembering to consistently practice. It does calm and relax me but the long term health benefits come from consistent practice. Unfortunately that also makes me sleepy which can torpedo any activities I may want to do after meditating. Still, I think it is a reasonable price to pay!

Love of arts & crafts + new niece = excuse to use puff paint

I love my niece for many reasons but one of them is the excuse to indulge my love of the craft store. There is nothing else like it. Aisles and aisles of objects waiting to be turned into works of art. I could spend hours there if my husband wasn't usually shadowing me and bored after 5 minutes.

I decided for my niece's 1st Christmas I was going to buy a cute stocking and fill it with various gifts I found over the rest of the year. I have made 2 of the gifts myself. First was a ceramic fairy that I painted and had glazed at one of those shopping mall pottery stores.

Today I found a paint your own night light kit. Yes it was in the kiddy craft section but it had GLITTERY PUFF paint. How could I resist. Glittery purple, blue, pink and yellow to decorate a butterfly.

I LOVE giving gifts and I often combine that with crafts by painting/decorating wooden boxes to put small gifts like jewelry in. Its my way of showing people I care for my love by taking time to make their gift special. I want my niece to look back one day in her childhood chest of treasures and see items I made for her. I want her to know how special she is to our family and for some reason love to me = puff paint.