Lots of updates!

Whew, time gets away from you sometimes.


Christmas was strange this year - it was weird having Brad there with me on Christmas morning but it was still nice. He thoroughly enjoyed the benefits of having "two" Christmases :). It was exhausting with all the traveling so I'm glad next year we'll have Christmas with my family a week or two early. Two days in a row + 7 hours traveling both ways = cranky, sleepy me!


His aunt and uncle got us a membership to use a local university's recreational facilities for 6 months which I am extremely excited about. We activated it on Tuesday and I went up there yesterday to do cardio and weightlifting. It's different from a gym in that there's not rows and rows of cardio equipment but at least it's not very crowded and I also have access to the pool, sauna, indoor track and indoor tennis courts. I think today I'm going up to do laps in the pool. I'm planning on going to Richmond in March to run a 10k with my bff, Kristi - she's been trying to get me to run it for years so now that I'm this close to her I'm going to take advantage of it :)  I'm guessing it's similar to Cooper River which is always fun. It's one of those races you don't even really have to train for because you're not going for time - the race itself is so huge you're just taking in all the sights around you. 


My first birthday as a married woman was fantastic. I heard from people I hadn't heard from in years, wishing me a happy birthday. That morning I got up and went skiing by myself - it was PERFECT conditions. Sunny, warm but not *too warm*, no snow blowing and very few people on the slopes. I literally would ski down the mountain and ski straight back onto the lift. I went inside and had a cup of hot chocolate and looked out, enjoying the day. Brad came back from the co-worker's house he's renovating in the early afternoon and we finished taking all the Christmas stuff down (yes, I know, we're terrible haha). I had assumed we would go to Carrabba's for my birthday - it's my favorite restaurant and his mom had given me a gift card for there for Christmas. But he said no, he wanted to take me somewhere special - that the gift card will be used later but it was a gift for me and shouldn't be used on my birthday. So I got dressed while he was in the shower - khaki's, a nice sweater and heels. He comes out of the shower, kind of looks at me, and goes, "ummm, you might want to get more dressed up than that." I almost fainted. This coming from the man who acts like it's torture to put on anything remotely "nice". I get dressed in 'appropriate' attire and we head out to Frederick. We pull up to a restaurant I've only ever heard of, The Dutch's Daughter. It. Was. Phenomenal. I ordered a glass of wine, Brad ordered a Gentleman Jack & Coke. He ordered an appetizer of scallops wrapped in bacon (delicious!). I ordered a main course of blackened salmon (soooo sweet and HUGE portion) and added a crab cake (they weren't kidding, it actually was all crab!) and it came with green beans (it was meant to be) and twice baked potatoes (yummmy!). He got the filet mignon which was like eating bread it was so tender. It was just a fantastic meal. We were seated by one of the fireplaces and the place itself was so elegant. Listening to the conversations around us was quite entertaining since they were all big businessmen from DC who had come in on a Tuesday night to eat there. But all in all, it was an absolutely wonderful birthday.


I don't really do resolutions - but last night Brad and I were watching a special about a man who had himself dropped into the Yukon rainforest to see if he could survive by himself for 3 months. I wouldn't say there was anything *miraculous* about his documentary...but it did flip a switch inside me somewhere. Watching this man try to survive on his own with no other human contact was heartbreaking. Even though he woke up each morning with the most beautiful scenery, you could see his inner turmoil from missing his loved ones. So this year I'm going to try to appreciate everything. I'm going to appreciate that I have a husband, even when he picks on me, because I know he loves me. I'm going to make more of an effort to maintain my close friendships because I truly enjoy them and don't want them to "fall away" because of distance. I'm going to try and find the beauty in each day and thank God that I have another day. "Hippie-ish" or not, I'm going to try.


This was a pretty random update but I'll try to do better from now on. I'm just enjoying this whole married lifestyle, that's all :)