We're getting there!

What's with the picture of Derek Jeter you ask? Well it is all about the number two!

Today is officially 2 months until Ross and my BIG day! Things feel like they are starting to come together! We will hopefully have the cake vendor picked out soon and then we are all set!

I can't wait to be a wife!

Happy Birthday to Me :)

The most delicious thing on the planet. Homemade ice cream!

Yesterday was my birthday :) I will not be disclosing how old I turned (even though Ross's daughter blabbed it to everyone she saw). I really wish I could stop time. That is truly my biggest pet peeve in life, getting older. I wish I could stop and start time on my command, if someone knows that secret please share it with me.

Every year for my birthday my family makes me homemade ice cream. It is by far my most favorite thing on the planet. I wish I could eat it all day and all night but sadly, like most of the good things in life, it is horrible for you and must be enjoyed in moderation (and by moderation I mean eat as much as I can but only one time per year).

I actually ate the birthday ice cream the day after Christmas because my family was all going home the next day. So, lucky me, I got to celebrate my Birthday with my family that day and with Ross and his family on my actual birthday! They got me a Diary Queen cake, which is my other favorite birthday treat!! (If you can't tell ice cream is definitely my guilty pleasure)

Because my birthday is on New Years Eve I am fortunate enough to convince the people I care about to stay up past our normal bedtimes and celebrate me all night long. Just kidding, but seriously I love that no matter what I get to stay up late on my birthday and that it doesn't take much convincing to get other people to do it too! I also love birthdays because it forces my friends and family to call me (or at the very least text or facebook me) and I love talking to them under whatever pretense I have to! I also got the best shout out ever on the internet from my BFF Kristen on her blog. She really is the best. I couldn't make it through life without her.

After dinner and cake Ross and I came home and snuggled on the couch and watched a movie. Probably my ideal night for any occasion but getting to do it on my birthday and getting to share the special moment of the turning of the new year with him made me blissfully happy (the champagne helped too). We watched the Hangover by the way, and it was totally the perfect New Years shenanigan movie for the night.

I will be sad to see 2009 go because it brought me a whole lot of happiness in finding love and whole lot of friendship but I welcome 2010 and all the challenges and joy that are sure to come.

My new year's resolution is to be happy and not to let myself get in the way of that, which can be a little too easy every once and awhile.

I hope 2010 brings you all the happiness in the world.

Blue like Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality

Blue like Jazz is my favorite book. I usually come back to it when I am overwhelmed by my life and that is exactly where I've been at these last couple days. I come back to it again and again because I take something new away from it each and every time I read it. It always gives me what I need. I don't think I have ever said this about a book before, but the Author's Note is my favorite part of the book. It certainly isn't long but it is the part of the book that I get the most from almost every time I read the book. I read it over and over and just let myself be enveloped by it like a warm bubble bath absorbs you when you get into the bathtub.



Here is the Note:


I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve. But I was outside the Baghdad Theatre one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes and he never opened his eyes.

After that I liked jazz music.

Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.

I used to not like God because God didn’t resolve. But that was before any of this happened.

Lately, I have been wondering where my life is going, what do I want my life to be remembered for and what kind of person am I really? I can at times be selfless but more often than not I find myself being selfish. I find myself taking things personally when I know they are not meant to be personal attacks. And I really don't like that about myself. So. How do I change that? What do I have to work on about myself to get to where I want to be? This is why I came back to BLJ.

Yesterday should have been a great day but I found myself making it all about me and as a result missing out on some things that probably would've ended up a little differently had I given them a chance. On my way home I started crying in the car, something I very rarely do. So I called my friend Jenn. She let me cry and get out some of the frustrations I had been feeling over the last couple days. It was after her call that brought me back to reality just by letting me talk about it, that I was able to just let it all go and enjoy the rest of the night, which was a great night! We decorated our tree, took next year's Christmas card photo and had a fun night of dancing to the sugar plum fairy.

This is why I came back to Blue Like Jazz. This book makes me realize that things aren't always all about me, and aren't always what they seem. It teaches me to look a little deeper, try a bit harder, give up to God the things that hurt and sometimes to be upset when I need to be upset.

BLJ has a whimsical way to make you think about the serious things in your life. With Chapters called, Penguin Sex, the Sexy Carrots, and Meeting Girls is Easy, how could you not have fun reading it? However, the message in each of these chapters is far more self-reflective than he would lead you to believe. Donald Miller's writing style is effortless, it is like you are having a conversation with an old and familiar friend who is telling you his take on life, which is always more interesting than mine.

I look forward to reading it over the next couple nights and bringing my life back in focus which is always the result of reading this book. Please check it out, you won't be disappointed.