8 Things I want to remember

T E N  T H I N G S 

-as of late-

1.

I think it is a bad sign when your husband says, "thank you" when you do your hair like it is some rare treat or something. haha. I have a thick massive head of hair on this head and add on that it is blazin' hot and humid outside and suddenly the task seems impossible. I don't know about you but a blow dryer on a summery day sounds like a slow painful death.  Okay, I know what you are thinking: "get some real problems, lady". That brings me to my next point.

2.

Infertility.  It bites.  In case you were wondering.

3.

I was released from serving the young women in my church last Sunday. I cried like a baby when I told the girls, "see you around". Those girls have been a huge part of my life over the last three (almost) years.  Despite some hard things, I feel I did my best to serve them. But, sometimes I wonder if I did enough good. They made me a little thank you card and one of the girls wrote: "I will miss the car rides where we just talked."  Best. Compliment. Ever.

4.
almonds and dried cranberries mixed. Try it. You can thank me later.

5.

My sister is moving to Ohio. Can you say, crazyawesome? I mean, what are the odds? We will be a measly 2.5 hours from each other. Get ready for some frequent visits, Sis.  I cannot even wait!

6.

I am a list person. Can you tell?

7.

I copied a yummy salad we had on our trip to DC and it is my favorite thing to eat on these hot days. The ingredients are: 

spring greens

big chunks of avocado + tomato. 

chopped red onion. 

chopped chicken cooked with salt+pep+lime. 

yellow corn chips crushed. 

juice from half a lime. 

cliantro dressing (from Trader Joes, produce section).  

8.

Girls Night Out should be mandatory and held once a week. Just sayin'.

9(er).

We don't have a clothes dryer and our washer is one of those portable hook-up-to-the-sink contraptions that fits two towels, maybe. Our laundry pile is always sky high and our second bedroom is currently designated as the clothes line room. It is definitely do-able but the crunchy clothes are getting old. A real washer+dryer is on my list of  "future luxuries I will not take for granted".  See also: outlets in the bathroom.

10.

My man is officially a 4TH YEAR DENTAL STUDENT!  Watch out, grey scrubs are top dog in the dental clinic now! I used to marvel at the 4th years when we first moved in. How would that feel? Now that we are here, it is blowing my mind. Next year at this time he will be graduating and a new adventure will begin. I know it is going to come fast [for me] so I need to soak in every last drop of Ohio I can in the next 365 days.

{numbered}

6 Time Flies. So have fun.

::  FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY :: 

-to celebrate we-
...

shopped at our favorite stores. 

ate an Italian lunch [Maggianos]. 

took a nap.  

drove to a local park and had ourselves a nature walk. 

engaged in good conversation.

snapped photos. 

went to a local carnival.

listened to some jazz music.

drank fresh squeezed lemonade.

promised we would celebrate in Hawaii at year ten.

-marriage advice that's been put to good use-
...

make your spouse first priority

pick your battles

listen more, talk less

compliment each other often - in private and among friends.

have fun together
communicate

{and counting...}


*See that handsome man up there to the left? He starts his 4th + last year of dental school today.  So so proud.

4 today

Me: There is no one I would rather be on this boat with than you.
Him: I feel the same way.

{anniversary}

4 Paddle Boating on the Tidal Basin

They gave us an hour to paddle our hearts out. Super duper fun. We enjoyed the picturesque scenery that included great views of the Jefferson & Martin Luther King Memorials. I gotta say, it is pretty fun to be stuck on a boat with your true love. Just me + him. Definitely a good end to our trip.

{row your boat}

8 Washington DC? Yes please!

I have to start by telling you the story that goes with the above photo. We were walking out of the national gardens when we are stopped by police. I pulled out my camera because I didn't want to miss anything good. Turns out, I did. Chris saw Obama in that second limo, while I was too busy "capturing the moment" to look. I think he rubbed it in my face for the rest of the trip. "Hey Katie, guess what? I saw the President today, did you?"  Lesson learned: PUT THE CAMERA DOWN. [Guys, it's just so hard!]

We explored downtown DC and the National Mall for several days and enjoyed the mild weather and the nicely dressed pedestrians. My feet were going to break off by the end I think but it was worth it. We ate some pretty great food too. "Good Stuff" cheeseburgers & fries by the Capitol was my favorite meal  [I talk about cheeseburgers a lot, I'm sorry].  Me+Him also found out we do museums very differently. Let's just say,  he takes f o r e v e r and I like to look then leave. It was quite the scene watching me try to physically drag him to the next exhibit.  haha.   Thanks to all the recommendations from my pal, Callie, a recent DC resident, we had an absolute thrill of a time.

We decided to go paddle boating our last day there.  It was my favorite thing we did. Pictures of that soon!



{patriotic}

6 lady day 2012

To be honest I had a tiny bit of anxiety about Mothers day this year for purely selfish reasons.  Stupid, I know. It is truly a beautiful holiday and I absolutely love an excuse to tell my mother and mom-in-law how much I adore them.

But, Mothers day can be a sensitive one for us "mothers in waiting". So when me+him decided last-minute to get outta town for the week, I was happy to escape the awkward exchanges at church that have recently accompanied the holiday. This year, Mothers day [a.k.a. lady day] was spent on the beach - my favorite place on the planet.

We drove there just for the day from *DC. [*more pictures of that soon!]
We crossed the enormous bay bridge on our way.
We walked on the boardwalk.
We sat at the beach.
We took pictures.
We ate cheeseburgers and french fries.
We dipped our toes in the Atlantic Ocean.
We window shopped at the nearby outlet mall.
We soaked in the sun.
We people-watched.
We listened to our ipods.
We drove back.
The cherry on top? We found and ate at Cafe Rio for dinner.
Last, of course, we got to call and wish our mothers a very happy happy day.

{not too shabby}

11 Ten things

Weekend Top [and bottom] Ten

1. 

I'm kind-of an avocado freak....being from California pretty much does that to you.  After all these years of making guacamole, I learned something new. Turns out you can trick your avocados not to turn brown by simply leaving the pit  with the avocado. You have yourself green goodness for hours and hours and even days in the fridge.  Just like magic.

2. 

For some reason I seem to frequently stand next to people with no space bubble at my class at the gym. I can't think of any reason why we need to exercise this close to each other when there is plenty of space for all. Last time I checked, this is not a partner dance.  So, please arms length, people, arms length.  scoot scoot!

3.  

Got my wish to shoot at this location (see also: above) over the weekend. Love me some wide open spaces!

4.

Corn nuts. I love em. They are cheap and delicious. Bonus! they are made with just three perfectly understandable ingredients: corn, corn oil, and salt. Only problem is, they can be hard to locate. [psst! they are not in the popcorn section silly, go look in the nut section.]  My dental-educated husband says, "be careful, they can break your teeth". Still, I say, take the risk.

5. 

Found the. best. cleaner. to cure those pit stains on clothes. Oh, no no no, definitely not a problem of mine....  but nice to know just in case [Enter: sheepish grin here].

6.  

Had someone steal from us this week. Like came into our bedroom when we weren't home kind of stealing. It wasn't a break-in but a fix-it visit from a maintenance person at our apartment.  I can't tell you how violating it feels. I think it is sad that people can be so blatantly awful. It makes me sick.

7. 

Praying for a close friend whose baby has to have surgery on her heart today. Lots of love and good vibes to them as I type.

8.  

Rented "The Iron Lady" on Friday. I thought it was well done. I liked the part in the movie when Margaret says, "It used to be about trying to do something. Now it's about trying to be someone." Made me think.

9.

My man has a 3 week break until the next semester starts. If you didn't catch that, I said, T H R E E W E E K S O F F. The life of a student does have its perks and at the end of year 3, we will take all the incentives we can get.

10

Road trip! Planned a little last-minute vaca. Can't wait to spend the time and  feel the freedom.





{facts}