my sweet love

Five years ago, I made the greatest decision of my life.

happy birthday

Nine years ago today:

perfect wedding

At the end of April, I flew up to Vermont to witness my sister's wedding to her long-time partner. She had a very intimate wedding, did it on a very small budget, and perfectly. She had all of the small, and mostly inexpensive, touches that make a wedding a wedding, instead of just a trip to the court house. It's pretty astounding how little you need to make it really special: flowers, a cake to cut, the right attire, and a photographer. That's pretty much it.

She ordered a small strawberry-filled cream cake (not technically a wedding cake, which saved a bunch) from a local bakery to pick up the day of, and topped it off with a personalized ceramic cake top from etsy.

She bought an actual wedding dress - short, but satin, beaded and flouncy, and killer sparkly blue heels.

The bouquet was really important to her, and where I think she spent the bulk of money. She ordered a custom brooch bouquet with personalized details, also from etsy. And then picked up fresh hydrangea stems for the girls from a local supermarket the morning of.

Tiny touches.

a perfect day

We celebrated our anniversary much like any other perfect day: steaks on the grill, a bit of champagne, a game of skip-bo and then lots of Rockband singing with little breaks for real guitar-playing.

happy 4th anniversary

Four years seem so much shorter and so much faster all at the same time. I feel so lucky every day to have met (and married) my soulmate!

I love you!

it came true

The fortune cookie came first, shortly before the photograph. It still makes me smile- even then I knew it was true.

Labor Day weekend

Spent a nice long labor day weekend in New Orleans, full of family and parties and (possibly) the last swimming of the summer...

Happy birthday

Eight years go by so fast.

4th of July Weekend recap

Independence Day came and went and brought lots of stuff with it.

Stuff like eating way too much:

and sunbathing in my new white bikini:

in the backyard that I grew up in:

And watching hubby playing sharks and monsters:

with the boys:

and nieces and nephews:

And then eating some more, like (farm-fresh egg) flag cakes and yellow watermelons:

Then on the way home, we wound up stuck on the side of interstate in the rain:

It was a scary two hours.

But then finally the tow truck came:

and the boys and I got to eat (the surprise best) Mexican food while hubby went to rent a car for us to finish our journey.

boys

Two boys come and basically turn the summer upside down. Before them, I have nothing to do with the exception of a trip to the drycleaners or grocery store. But after them, it's a whirlwind of noise and laughter (and music blasting from their laptop, dvd player, and wii simultaneously) with legos covering everything.

For some reason they double our number, but at least quadruple the amount of dish and laundry washing that has to happen just to keep us from living in complete filth.

I can't count on my hands how many times I've seen the latest boy movies like Star Wars Clone Wars, Kung Fu Panda, and The Mummy movies, but I also get to make them watch movies that I remember from childhood like Flight of the Navigator, E.T. and The Princess Bride. (Gremlins is now one of their favorites.)

These boys think it's funny to sit right next to you and fart continuously during the movie, but now they say excuse me every time. Which, to me, is the most satisfying thing about kids - watching them change for the better because of you.

It's weird to have a profound effect on a person from the ground up, to know you are (partially) responsible for helping form the base for their future ideas of what is right and wrong and normal.

What I want to teach them is pretty simple: to be good people, caring and nice to others instead of mean and selfish; to be thankful and happy for everything you have instead of sad and bitter for what you don't have; to be self-sufficient with decent manners (a.k.a. I am not the maid, and I'm not talking scrubbing the floors here, just putting dirty clothes in the hamper instead of dropping them on the floor wherever you happen to change, and saying please and thank you when asking for what you want instead of just demanding it). Sometimes, I can see it working and that is the best feeling.

love

Through it all, because of it all, in spite of it all.

i read this simple line yesterday in a post that this blogger wrote to her husband for their anniversary. it almost made me cry and all night i keep thinking about it. i'm not sure why it moves me so much. it just so perfectly sums up marriage, or what i really mean is this is exactly how my love for him is.

cell phone

i have to take pictues, print, and mail them today for that photo swap and i don't want to. it's taken the fun out of taking pictures and made it more like a homework assignment that i procrastinate in the worst way.

oh, well, here are some pictures from my old cell phone. it's been replaced by a shiny new model, but you know i really don't like the new one any better. i guess i was more attached to my dinkly old phone tha i though. although i won't miss it powering off arbitrarily due to the crack to the thing holding it together. oh, well.


my sister in the hospital a few years ago, oooh, she's going to be mad.


oysters on the half shell at acme, new orleans style.


1/4 of a mufaletta and abita amber beer.


baby bowling with bumpers and a rolling lane in baton rouge, la.


sign posted in the new orleans airport.