Friday Letters

 



Dear self,

This week has show you perspective. Everyone in life has so many hours in the day and what they choose to do with those hours shows you what their priority is. While you cannot change people's priorities, understanding them helps you put your priorities into focus. 

 

 

 

 

Dear my lovely husband,

Happy Valentines day! I cannot believe this will be the 12 valentines day we spend together....is that right? Wow I am starting to feel old as I type that. I am looking forward to having dinner with you tonight and diving into season two of House of Cards! 

 

Dear Nathan James,

I never thought I would love someone and miss someone I hardly know so much. Its surreal to me that you are so little and I get to be a witness to your whole life. I know that you are going to do great things, and even though I am far away, I cannot wait to see you grow into the person you will become.

 

Dear Stella and Dot party,

You are too far away! With all this snow and cold weather I am desperately craving some yummy pieces from the new spring line and cannot wait to play dress up!

 

 

 

 



Simple Valentines Idea

 

I have a confession, I get HUGE anxiety doing crafts. I see all these amazing projects on Pintrest and wish I had the patience and ability to do some of them.

 

Another confession, Valentines day isn't a huge deal in my house. We try to show our love in small ways to each other but I never understood the concept of once a year spending hundreds on flowers and going out to eat and all this lavishness. I would rather sprinkle love throughout the year. Every since we started dating (11 years ago) we started the tradition of cooking for one another. To this day, this has been our standing tradition and is much more our style.

 

So combining my anxiety for crafts and the simplicity of the holiday I came up with the below idea. I remember making hearts out of standard construction paper in elementary school, so I thought to myself, "if a second grader can do it so can I."

 

I made some hearts and wrote different reasons why I love my husband. My plan is to hide them in places so he finds them throughout the day such as his underwear drawer, his lunch box he takes to work, by his toothbrush, his car, etc. 

 

 

 

It might be simple...but its the thought that counts right?

 

Happy Valentines Day!

XOXO

Nourishment for the Soul

If you have read any of my posts before, you should have a pretty good idea that I love food. I love everything about food; the preparation of it, the look, the smell, the taste, the way it brings people together around a table. I married a man whose passion for food exceeds my own so its no surprise that when we travel we arrange our trips and excursions around cuisine.
 
Our most recent voyage brought us to Miami, home of the Bazaar by Jose Andres. It was a culinary marathon of 20+ courses ranging from small bite size salami and caviar to a dragon fruit ceviche and finished with a deconstructed key lime pie.
 
What I loved about this experience was that it was a 3 hour culinary journey I got to share with the love of my life. Its not just about the food, but how the food is experienced and shared and how that united us. In 30 years from now, my husband and I will remember this meal just like we remember the time we ate at Daniel's in New York or the place we picked a fish on the beach and watched them cook it for us in Thailand.

These meals create lasting memories for us that we can cherish for the rest of our lives. Sitting at tables all over the world, from Miami to my mother's kitchen counter, these meals make me stop and slow down and cherish what I have and who I am sharing these meals with. No matter what food you enjoy or where you eat it, I pray that you each can slow down and enjoy the nourishment, not just for your body but for your soul as well.

 

Bon Appetit

New Year, New Start

 

So many people have opinions it seems about making New Years resolutions. For me, I don't see why anyone wouldn't. Life is a journey, and we should take every moment and opportunity as a chance to grow and better ourselves. I love being able to reflect on 2012; all the past mistakes, opportunities lost, experiences that changed me and made me different today. 2013 is a chance to hit reset and change things for this year. I hope that when I am 70 I am still trying to better myself. So here it is, my goals for 2013.

My Husband
Honestly, I love this man more every day. He is my rock and without him my life would be so grey. My goal this year is to be more intentional with my relationship to him. I love being a wife, and I am blessed with a job that lets me be able to focus on taking care of my household as well. I feel there is a big difference in managing a house, and being intentional with every action. Serving my husband a plate of dinner after work is different than intentionally making a meal he enjoys, plating it well, serving a sit-down-not-in-front-of-the-tv dinner to him. Doing the laundry is different than intentionally cleaning folding, pressing, and putting his clothes away. Saying 'I love you" is different than intentionally saying the words and meaning it every time I say it. Going out to dinner for a date night is different than intentionally being present in that evening and putting all my stresses and anxieties away to spend quality silly time with the man I am so blessed to have in my life. I want to enjoy our lives together and flourish rather than just trying to just survive our days. I want to be silly with him. I want to make memories with him; not just on big days, but every day.

My Family
God has blessed me with amazing family and the opportunity to move closer to them. This year I want to work harder and building closer bounds and getting deep relationships with them. Its one thing to call someone a sister or a mother because they are blood; I want a long lasting relationship with my family that supersedes everything else. No more petty fighting and worthless energy spent over hurt feelings. At the end of the day, I want to focus on what is really important.

 

Friendships
2012 really opened my eyes to what friendship is, who my true friends are, and what a blessing a real friend is. No matter how many miles apart or time spent face to face, a real friend will stand by you through it all. I love all my friends and this year I want to make sure they all know it. Much like my husband, I want my actions with my friends to be intentional.

And Lastly...
Yes I want to work out more; I know it is cliche. But generally, I want to be healthier...both physically and mentally. I want to find workouts that I don't dread and that make me feel better. People say the best therapy can be found in the gym and I want to experience that feeling. I also want to become up close and personal about the demons I carry around me with..so to do that I think I might use this blog as a tool to express myself and try to overcome some of them.

So that is it. A long list of hopes and goals for the new year. I might fall a little, but I think the important thing is to say them out loud and allow myself some grace in finding out how to live life better every day.