happy birthday heathy

my friends and i got together to celebrate this handsome man's birthday in late november.  i wish j could grow a nice beard like that.  happy birthday heathy.  we sure do think highly of you.

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say cheese.  cuddle up together.  try a new drink.

our drive home after thanksgiving

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i will never tire of a beautiful sunset.  the uninterrupted skyline of kansas fields makes for a perfect backdrop.  

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love what you love.  read a book.  take a cat nap.

day date // the toy store

 

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a toy store is perhaps the most fitting of places for us to have a date.  we enjoyed our time at the toy store in lawrence so much we were there for over an hour and a half.  some of my favorite moments with j happen when he's trying not to smile.  i sure do like him a lot.

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act like a kid.  try on a different hat.  cook a new recipe.

found // a box

while j and i were staying with my folks over thanksgiving weekend we found a box.  in this box were scads of 8mm reels, slides, a projector, and a slide view finder.  while j busied himself with the slide view finder my dad got to work on the projector.  my dad, a machinist by trade, can fix anything.  seriously, anything.  after realizing the projector wasn't working due to a snapped belt my dad set out to fix it...with a few rubber bands.  why not?  

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this is how i've seen my dad my entire life: hunched over some seemingly broken object with his glasses off.  

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get your hands dirty.  notice the small things.  learn your history.

a short love letter to // my grandparents

a short love letter to my grandparents:

i have been watching you two love one another my entire life.  often, i'm left wondering just how it is that you two have managed it all.  how have you, after nearly 60 years of marriage, done it?  learning how to love and accept love by being a part of your lives are two lessons i'll never take for granted.  thank you for being such a beautiful model of marriage.  i'll never accept less than what you two have.

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fall deeper in love.  dance in the kitchen.  enjoy the moment.

things i love... // little love packages

i love giving gifts.  most of the time no specific reason is needed.  sometimes a specific accomplishment cannot go uncelebrated.  j finished his whole life challenge a few weeks ago and i celebrated in his weight and inches loss by purchasing him a new shirt and a pair of slacks.  yes, i said slacks.  

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as always, i didn't miss the opportunity to make it presentable.

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chose something different.  accomplish a goal.  make a life.

weekly...(or rather yearly) gratitude // 7

should have posted this last tuesday.  oh well.

j and i are hopping in the car wednesday evening and heading east for kansas.  we have lots in store and many people to see while we're visiting so time will surely be tight.  since i won't have an opportunity to sit down at the computer sunday (as we'll be en route back to colorado) i thought i'd make my gratitude list early.  my cousin and i have been making a yearly gratitude list the past few years.  this year will be no different.

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i am grateful for:

the chance to spend an entire month in kansas with my family
long weekend visits from my parents
drinking beer with my brothers
long hot baths
sunday brunch with my girlfriends
knowing i'm taken care of
early morning chats under the covers
a first date turning easily into love
raising over $5000 with my cousin and her boyfriend for the leukemia and lymphoma society
surprise flash mob thanksgivings (as my cousin calls it)
first road trips that go every way but the way we planned
parents who love and support me
new friends
sundays in boulder with my midwestern sister in gratitude
perfecting the art of making chili
love notes
the joy i still get for the first snow of the season

as always i could go on forever and ever.  i make a list each week of what i am grateful for to remind me that there are so many small things that i take for granted.

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keep it up.  follow your dream. build a fort.