Simple Abundance Friday, Jul 10 2009

This is what it's all about.

I love when situations or people surprise me– in good ways.  I’m not fond of times when people surprise me in bad ways or when people do things that I am shocked about or disappointed in… but I love when I am caught of guard by a good deed or a nice gesture.  For example, a friend of mine did me a favor right before I left my old job and went on to work at a new company– she wrote something for me that was better than I ever could have written and I could tell she put so much thought and time into making it unique and personal.  This meant a lot to me.  I’m not sure that she realizes how grateful I was/am for that, but I have thought about it quite a few times since.

I think that it’s so easy to get caught up in the monotony of everyday life that you sometimes need a surprise to wake up you again and remind you that life isn’t always predictable.  The beauty of life is that you never know where it will lead you.  Sometimes people that you thought you’d never see again end up playing starring roles in your life years later.  I hate to say it, but sometimes people that I have doubted at one time or another go on to surprise me and make me realize that I shouldn’t have doubted them.  This reminds me never to doubt people unless they give you a reason to do so…and to never sell yourself short.

The other day I got home to find a package waiting for me from my dad in Alabama.  Since he didn’t tell me he was going to be sending me something, I was excited to see what was in the box! 

Well, I opened it and saw that it was a hard-cover journal he found that I had given my grandma (Grammy) in 1998 for Christmas.  It was a gratitude journal with pages that were meant to be filled in by the recipient.  She certainly did a good job of adding detailed entries with little highlighted sections and scraps of paper when she had no more room.  She wrote down a lot of little things in her life that were going on… the people that came by to visit her, the things she did, what the calendar dates signified (like anniversaries or days she lost loved ones), the temperature outside, and even highlighted over the days that I called her next to a little smiley face she drew in (which was almost every single day).

I was so glad to get this book.  It is now one of the most special things I own– one of the things I would grab if there were a fire.  I love that my dad knew it would mean a lot to me and sent it, I love that he held on to it, and I love that he didn’t tell me he found it before he sent it.  Getting it in the mail made my day (maybe even made my week).  I was tempted to sit down and read the whole thing, but am forcing myself to read it slowly and enjoy the fact that the little things were enough to keep her completely happy…100% content with her beautiful, simple life.

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Organized on the Inside… Thursday, Apr 23 2009

I like to consider myself “organized on the inside” but not necessarily organized on the outside.  What do I mean by this?  My desk at work and my room at home may not be the neatest and most organized (I think that living a life obsessed with color-coding, organizing, and labeling is hell on earth anyway), I make a point to remember important days that mean a lot to me and have a mini-celebration to honor people and moments passed. 

People that know me realize that I love to celebrate everything and anything I possibly can.  I also love traditions.

Examples:

• I like doing little things on Mark’s half-birthday for him.  Nothing crazy, but it’s always fun to celebrate milestones of all sorts.  I call it his “birtha-half day.”
• Heaven days: on days where close family or friends went to heaven, I do something to honor them.  On my Grammy’s heaven day, I wear her ring and I drink from her crystal glasses at dinner.  Sometimes I eat things that I know she loved to honor her.  On my friend Ryan’s heaven day, I will try to be as lazy as possible (I know he would encourage this) and focus on enjoying nature and animals.  On Nellie’s heaven day, I try to laugh as much as possible, enjoy my favorite shows on television, and try not to let anything bother me the whole day. 
• Engagement and dating anniversaries.  Mark and I don’t make a huge deal out of either of these two days because we now have a bigger (and better) anniversary to celebrate– our wedding anniversary.  We still make a point to acknowledge these two days though… and talk about fun moments we had in New York before, during, and after we got engaged.
• Mother’s Day.  I know almost everyone and their mother (hah!) celebrate this day, but I really like to get creative.  I think doing something interesting and unique every year is always appreciated more than I realize.

This is us in the middle of the night...

• Valentine’s Day Elves.  This is something that Mark and I started 2 years ago.  I’m sad that my dad no longer lives near me (he moved to another state about 3 years ago) because he hasn’t been able to experience the magic of the Valentine’s elves.  On the night before Valentine’s Day, we make gift baskets for our moms (and my step-dad Charlie) and we sneak into their houses after they are asleep to deliver them.  This way, when they wake up in the morning, they have a beautiful (and often delicious) assortment of goodies to start their day off with.
• m&m Christmas: every Christmas morning I must incorporate milk chocolate m&m’s into my breakfast.  This means m&m pancakes, m&m brownies (yes, brownies for breakfast; anything goes on Christmas), or just handfuls of those little gems.
• “Vacation-mode”: When I’m on vacation I allow myself to do whatever I want and simply blame it on vacation-mode.  Sleep in until 1:00pm?  Eat crap all day long?  Drink a bit too much?  It’s okay, anything is allowed when you’re on vacation.

I think it’s fun to come up with new traditions, develop new ways to celebrate, remember people you love, and always remember the times in your life that define who you are today. 

So, what was I doing 2 years ago today??

Getting engaged here!! Gramercy Park, NYC

…Because forgetting about days and people that made your life what it is means forgetting about what you are here to do…

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Breakfast Desserts and a Great Trip! Wednesday, Feb 18 2009

I sampled fudge like this and it was amazing!!

I got back from my weekend trip  (a.k.a. “mini-vacation”) to my favorite small town in the world last night and was sad to leave the fun but glad to be home once I got here.

Nashville, Indiana has quite a few adorable restaurants with great food– but the selections certainly aren’t the healthiest of choices.  The  Bed and Breakfast Mark and I stayed at in Nashville was adorable, and we were greeted with a huge candlelight breakfast every morning at 9:00 am (early for us, but worth getting up for… for sure). 

Here is what was on the menu each morning for us at the Olde Magnolia House:

Morning #1: Scrambled eggs with chives and cheese, strawberries and cream parfaits, apricot scones, sausage links, and Cindy’s (the in-keeper) specialty “breakfast dessert” for the day (yes, every morning she made us a dessert for breakfast)– oatmeal raisin pancakes with hot caramel sauce.  The pancakes were amazing and I asked her for the recipe.  I’ll post it with other trip pictures soon!

Morning #2: Egg omelet with mushrooms (they were on the side and I opted out), a bowl of fresh bananas, cantaloupe, and blueberries, “snuffins” (a cross between a scone and a muffin), fresh granola for the fruit, and a breakfast dessert of cherry strudel cake.

Morning #3: Scrambled eggs with cream cheese mixed in (I told you it wasn’t the healthiest morning meal), a bowl of bananas, blueberries, and pineapple, homemade banana nut bread, sausage patties, and a special breakfast dessert for our last day: cream brulee.

These breakfasts were so good but I tried to be careful with my portions since I knew we would likely be eating lunch and dinner at nearby restaurants and I didn’t want to overdo things too much.  Plus, what’s a trip to Nashville, IN without a trip to the Candy Emporium for handmade caramels, a stop at the Caramel Corn Cottage for kettle corn, and a sample (or two) of amazing fudge from Schwab’s Fudge and Sweet Shop?? 

So yes– not the healthiest of trip but I enjoyed it VERY much.  To counteract all of the crap I ate, I watched my portions and had salads for lunch whenever possible.  I also ate small dinners and we got a ton of walking in each day.

I love big cities, small towns, and traveling abroad– but no bed is as comfortable as my own.  It was good to get home and start getting back into my regular (and much healthier) routine.  My bowl of pumpkin oats (thanks to Jenn from Eating Bender for the fabulous recipe) tasted just as delicious as I remembered…

…Because you can’t have the best time unless you’re with the best person…

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