just beachy

Sorry for the radio silence the last few days-- we've been busy prepping for and going on vacation! We finally got to the beach late yesterday afternoon and are excited for a few days of relaxation (and tasty food cooked by someone that isn't me, let's be honest). 

St. Simons Island is a totally different kind of beach than the Mexican beaches we've gone to the last two summers, but it's beautiful in its own way. We took a quick walk last night to get the lay of the land and were pleasantly surprised by how uncommercial and natural the beaches are. We even made a new friend:

Haha, sike. I hope we never see him (or his relatives) again.

We did see lots of lovely houses on the beach, though. They made me feel like I was on an episode of Revenge. Matt better watch out, I may just decide to take on a new identity and a very long bucket list of lives to ruin.

I decided I wouldn't mind living in the house above. When we got back to our resort, we did some poking around to check the real estate prices of the beachfront homes. For a cool $2 million, that house (or one like it) could be mine!! In other words, we'll probably be buying one (or a few, since it's such a bargain and all) any day now. Wanna come visit me?

The worst part of our trip so far is that I'm back to reading crappy free books on my Kindle. I finished Harry Potter Book 7 on Monday, and now my reading list is empty and sad...and I'm back to whatever I can find for free. It sucks. Oh actually, I stooped to reading HP fan fiction the other night. I can't believe I'm admitting this. It was (okay, is. I'm not done with the current 'story' or whatever...and I'll probably finish, because I AM DESPERATE.) ridiculous. But also kinda hilarious. Just the whole idea of it-- I try to imagine the thought process behind the people who write fan fic. Awwww....there are no more Harry Potter books. This sucks. I miss the characters. And I wish things ended differently. I think Hermione and Snape would have been a great couple. Oh, I KNOW!!! I'll write a couple hundred page 'book' where Hermione and Snape DO get together! Wooooo!!! I mean, for real. I don't know if that's the thought process, but the end result is that tons of people write fan fic where Hermione and SNAPE get together. Because THAT seems like a great idea. But anyway, I'm reading it, because who knows? Maybe they would be a good pair. Also, HP fan fic is on par or better than whatever crap I'm finding for free on Kindle, so...yeah.

Back to my vacation. Have a wonderful rest of the week and Fourth of July!

seven years

Seven years ago today, we made our vows. That means that we've concluded seven whole years of marriage. Seven years of matrimony doesn't seem that impressive when you consider that lots of people have been married, like...forty years. But since I'm not even forty years old, I don't consider that to be an obtainable goal for myself. Seven years is good.

Seven years is as long as it took me to get through middle and high school.

(Seven years of marriage has definitely been better than middle and high school, which is saying something. I loved middle and high school, bless my heart.)

I tried to think of other significant things that happen in sevens, but I'm coming up mostly blank. All I can think of is the Harry Potter books (shocking, I know), which happen to be seven volumes covering seven years. And although I'm still 100 pages from the end of Book 7 right now (which means it's a damn MIRACLE that I'm blogging and not reading, okay?) and don't yet know how it ends, I have heard that the ending will supposedly be satisfying. Everyone tells me that my mind will be blown, that all of the pieces will fall into place, that the details and mysteries of the first six years all prove to have been intentional, to serve a purpose, and to come together into a conclusion that is meaningful and satisfying. I can't wait to see what happens, and I'm savoring every paragraph as I quickly make my way to the end.

And although our marriage is nowhere near its end, I'd like to think that you can look at it kind of the same way. These seven years haven't always been easy. Like a brilliant book series, there have been rises and falls, mysteries solved while other mysteries remain, laughter and tears, heartache and unfinished business. I have no idea, most of the time, where the story is going next- I can only enjoy (or endure) where it is at the time. But even during the hardest chapters, the ones where you're sobbing and angry and not sure where the story goes from here...you keep going, trusting that the author knows what they're doing. 

I trust that the Author knows where we're going. And that the story will be good.

Our seventh year of marriage didn't play out quite how we'd hoped. There were a lot more sad chapters than I would have chosen. But there were a lot of good things, too. Adventures. Happiness. Moments of bliss and peace. One day, maybe, we'll look back and say Year Seven was awesome. It was crazy at the time, but later, when you look back...it all made sense. Because I think that the Author knows what he's doing here. Nothing is by chance.

I am incredibly thankful for Mattie, my partner in adventure and misery and whatever else life throws at us. I love almost everything about him (an exception being made for this one really abnormal nose hair he has that grows at like six times the rate of any other nose hair...I do not love that, nor do I love when Matt tortures me by pretending he's going to touch me with it) and love that he loves (or at least tolerates) almost everything about me. There is no one else I would rather do life with. 

Happy Anniversary, Mattie. Since you started reading my blog semi-regularly at some point during our seventh year of marriage, there's actually a chance you may see this someday. Thanks for letting me express my love for you by constantly torturing and pranking you, and thanks for still never laughing at my jokes. I can't imagine the self-control that that requires- I stand in awe. Thanks for always wanting to be twinsies with me and getting as excited about stupid stuff as I do. As always, I hope that the next year of our marriage is the best one yet-- but by now, I've lived and learned enough to know that even if it isn't...it'll still be pretty good, and it will definitely be worth it. I love you!

More Overly Verbose Anniversary Meditations:

Six Years

Five Years

Four Years

Three Years

Two Years

One Year

a not-particularly-blogworthy week, apparently

This week...whew.

It's been such a whirlwind at work that I'm hard pressed to remember anything else that's happened. Luckily Monday and Tuesday were the worst of it and the days since then have been busy but not miserable...but still. I'm extremely glad it's Friday.

I have managed to squeeze in a few other (mostly uninteresting) things this week.

1. I took two really hard classes at the gym. I've been patting myself on the back for that, cause both times were instances where I'd really much rather just phone it in on an elliptical while zoning out to HGTV for half an hour...but instead, decided to take a really challenging class instead. I think that I deserve to lose 10 pounds automatically just for that, right? Right.

2. We've found, test driven (twice), and contemplated purchasing a new (to us) vehicle.

Why yes I do have a gift for photography, thank you for noticing.

A Honda Pilot (or, you know, anything bigger than our current compact cars) would mean that once the baby comes, we wouldn't have to take multiple vehicles in order to transport two adults, a baby + carseat, a crazed Lab, and all the stuff that all of those people/animals require. It's a very tempting thought. But it's also a very tempting thought to cling fast to all the dollars we can, knowing that we have an adoption and maternity leave to fund in the very near future. Choices, choices.

3. I had the Shaken Iced Blackberry Mojito Tea Lemonade (wow, that's a mouthful) at Starbucks yesterday. It was delightful...almost like drinking a real mojito in the middle of the workday, only not quite. I will warn you, though, that if you're not a huge fan of mint in your drinks...don't get it. The minty-ness is not subtle.

4. I paused my sprint through the Harry Potter series in order to read my book for book club this weekend. We're discussing The Program by Suzanne Young. It was a really quick read. Very YA, very angsty, but I still really enjoyed it. Actually it made me feel stressed and sad...but still, a good read. I was a little confused about where the story was going, but by the time I got to Part 3, I was on board. I would say that if you could find this at your library or on Kindle for less than about $3, it'd be worth it. (Don't worry. Ten minutes after finishing The Program last night, I plunged into Book 6!!)

I've been staring at the blinking cursor for at least 5 minutes now, so I guess it's safe to say I can't think of anything else noteworthy that happened this week. I'm looking forward to a weekend of peace and quiet and reading. You know, the kind of thing that will make for some really thrilling blogging next week...ha. I'm not really setting myself up for success here, am I? Oh well.

Have a happy weekend!

weekday redemption

It's been an insanely busy and stressful week at work. I mean, halfway through Monday I caught myself thinking there aren't enough lemurs in the world to make this worth it, so you KNOW things musta been rough. Luckily, it's a temporary situation, so all will go back to normal when this week is over...but it's definitely a week where you leave each day looking glassy-eyed, shell-shocked, and mumbling incoherently. So when 5:00 rolled around yesterday and it looked like Matt was going to be stuck at work until at least 6:00 or maybe even 7:00...yeah. I wasn't jazzed at the prospect. Since we carpool to work, that meant I was stuck, too. And on a week like this...I just couldn't bear to sit in my office a minute longer than I had to.

I had my book (HP Book 5!) with me, but I couldn't think of where I wanted to sit to read it. We work in downtown Athens, so there's no shortage of possibilities. Starbucks? Possibly. Brewery across the street? Tempting. A bench by the fountain on campus? Hmmm.

Oh...wait.

Sit in a massage chair while someone massages my legs and paints my toes?? DING DING DING!!! We have a winner!!

I love a pedicure as much as the next person, but due to budgetary constraints, they aren't exactly a regular event in my life. And upon further reflection, I'm pretty sure I've never gone to get my nails done on a day that isn't Saturday. Maybe a few Fridays for wedding-related pedicures. But mainly weekends. Going on a regular ol' Tuesday night seemed like it could be risky- are they even open? Do you need an appointment? What's the Weekday Pedicure Protocol? 

If you've never experienced a weekday pedicure, let me be the first to tell you: DO IT. It's just like a Saturday pedicure except a MILLION TIMES BETTER.

The place was practically empty. There were plenty of workers. And since there wasn't a line of people impatiently waiting for their turn, the workers weren't rushed in the least. Holy cow. It was magical. The girl did an awesome job and took her sweeeeeet time. Like...probably 10-15 minutes of dedicated massaging per leg. Extra attention to detail. I don't even know what to say except that it was fabulous. The water was perfectly hot. The chair was perfectly massagey. 

I guess that normally I (and the workers) feel the pressure of the weekend crowd waiting. But not on Tuesday at 5:30. I think my whole life has been changed. After-work pedis are the only way to go now. Plus, I think I appreciated it more, you know? I mean, Saturdays are already great. A pedicure can make it even greater, but like...it's Saturday. But a Tuesday? Tuesdays are forgettable, at best. So an amazing pedicure on a Tuesday is like...redemption. Hallelujah. 

I feel dumb for being so excited about a stupid pedicure, but seriously. Matt can attest- I haven't stopped talking about how great it was, and now I can't stop typing. I'm sinking to new lows, but oh well. The moral of this story is that if you have a stressful day and it also happens to be a weekday, you should go get a pedicure immediately. It could change everything.

I finished Book 5 last night! I'm still really loving the series. Mostly I'm loving that now I can catch up on all the pop culture references I've been missing over the last decade or so. Ha. So if I make tons of references and bad jokes that are totally passe...just nod and smile and remember that I'm new to the HP fan club. I spent some time in the shower last night thinking about what figure my Patronus would take. It didn't take long to figure out: a manatee. Obviously. What dementor wouldn't be terrified by a giant silver manatee floating towards them? I feel like I can sleep better at night now, just knowing that (if I were magical) a manatee-on-demand can protect me. Whew.