10 Year Anniversary

I have been married for 10 years!  What??   How in the world did that happen?

This year... my husband went all out and completely filled my heart with acts of love. If I have ever doubted that this man loved me (and I haven't), then last night would have been the night that any doubt was erased.

Christopher took the day off of work to spend with Emma and I. He joined us for our early morning gymnastics class and we enjoyed sitting together watching our daughter learning and enjoying something she loves. Afterwards, we headed to the zoo! We strolled back to the Gorilla exhibit and spent a lot of time watching them eat and play. It was awesome.  Then we headed to our favorite spot by the river to eat lunch together. Afterwards, we made our way to the Animal Show and it was amazing! Our seats were situated just perfectly so that a huge horned owl flew right by Chris's head. The show was fun and we all loved it.

 We headed home from the zoo and Emma and Daddy took their naps :)

After nap time, I began to get ready for our Anniversary date night. I was getting dressed and doing my hair when I hear "don't come downstairs mommy!" So I waited ever so patiently and then heard "ok Mommy!" and then Emma came upstairs to let me know it was time to come down ("M&M's mommy! We got you flowers too!). So much for surprises ;)

I headed downstairs to the most beautiful display of roses and M&M's.  3,.650 M&M pieces. 1 piece for each day of our marriage.  10 roses with a card displaying the year for each year we have been married. Beautiful and SO sweet!

We finished packing up Emma and then headed to the Geist house to drop her off for the evening. She kept telling us goodbye and was in no way sadly affected that we were leaving :)

We get into the car and Chris hands me a folded piece of paper labeled #1.  It read: Where it all began. The best day of my life!   We drove for a while and ended up here:

The site of our wedding reception!  We walked around and talked about all of the memories we had from our wedding day. What we were each thinking at what time and what we were both like back then. Then, he pulled out his phone and started playing "Slow Dancing" by U2. The song we danced to at our wedding. And right there (in the midst of all of the people that were at this park) he danced with me like we did on our wedding day. Then we walked around to all of the spots we had our engagement pictures done at and we sat on a bench and prayed together. It was wonderful :)

Then it was time to go to Stop #2: It took long enough, but I finally broke down. Must be true love.  This was my clue. We ended up here:

Ballroom dancing lessons! To our surprise, we learned to hustle (or hussle?)!  It was really awkward since we had to keep switching partners, but it was fun! Chris is a really good dancer! He was only a slight shade of red the whole time, but he did awesome. It was really fun! Something I have always wanted to do that he has refused to do until this night. That is true love! :)

Then we were off to Stop #3: The end of a chapter. Tasted Good!

He drove me to J. Liu!  This is the last restaurant we ate at before Emma was born and a chapter of our married life as just the two of us ended. We were on the hunt for the best Chicken Parmigiana in all of Columbus and this was our last shot. So, he brought me back here for dinner for our Anniversary. 10 years behind us!  They gave us a complimentary dessert of creme brulee and we had a glass of champagne (which we have never done before and it was so good!).

Stop #4 was to:  Our go-to date place for people with no money

lol!  Which is .... Barnes & Noble :)  But they were closed :(    Sweet thought, though!

Stop #5 was to: My favorite place

Which was??  

Home :)  With Emma and I :)

We had a wonderful Anniversary and it was one I will not forget anytime soon. Christopher went above and beyond to shower me with love and I will be forever grateful. We had so much fun talking about our life 10 years ago and how far God has brought us in 10 years.

Here's to the next 10!!  

Weekly Weigh-In

Physical Weigh-In
Week #2:  -0.0 pounds
Total Pounds Lost: -4.0 pounds
Tracked very well Monday-Thursday. Blew it Friday-Sunday and paid for it on the scales today. 
I really need to get my bottom in gear and dig deep for motivation and self-discipline. I did workout two days last week but that was not enough. Keep on truckin'!

Spiritual Weigh-In
Began waking up at 6:30 a.m. instead of 6:40 a.m. and am dedicating that extra 10 minutes to prayer.  Before starting the coffee, before turning on the computer, I'm dedicating 10 minutes to time on my knees before my King. 

Still working through Proverbs 31 and still being challenged where I am. It is good to be challenged!

Weekly Weigh-In

Physical Weigh-In

Week #1:  -1.0 pounds
Total Pounds Lost: -4.0 pounds

First week of Weight Watchers did not go well. It may have had something to do with the fact that I used every single possible point I could throughout the week and did not try as hard as I could have. The ladies at the meeting today were very encouraging.  The meeting place this time around is up the street at a local senior center. Let me tell you, these ladies are hilarious! I will sit and lose weight with them any day of the week! 

Losing weight, becoming a healthy eater and creating healthy habits are a constant topic for discussion on my blog... but I cannot give up. I have to keep trying and keep learning and keep fighting for my health. I have too many people that are now only memories in my family line to be lazy about how I treat my body. 

Spiritual Weigh-In

Today starts Week #10 in the Proverbs 31 study that I have been doing with my sister. It has been very challenging, very rewarding and very disheartening all at the same time. 

I am not of the opinion that the Proverbs 31 woman is who I am supposed to be all of the time. I believe that these were wise words spoken from a mother to her son out of love and out of desire for him to have the best possible wife he could. They are words of wisdom that give us a guideline for how to better our homes, our families, our walk with God and ourselves. 

Nonetheless, it is a challenge to daily reach for the goal of living life in a way that is above reproach and in a way that my husband could be proud of. Most importantly, it is the picture of how my relationship with God should become. After all, He is the king. My ultimate job should be to focus all of my energy on serving Him... which in turn leads to how I serve my family. 

Lots of great perspective and time in the Word.  Just the food I need on a daily basis to keep me moving closer to Him and closer to those that I love.

On the road again...

Not on an actual vacation mind you..

I'm simply referring to this:

Cue dramatic music.

Back to doing the only thing that seems to keep me going and works.

Here is to a healthier me!

Wow... Life

It is June 17th.

It has been a month + 1 day since I last blogged.  Shame on me!

What has been happening: