Good Read {DOG}

There are several reasons why I'm so so happy that Anna linked to Daniel's blog {Manhattan Nest} fairly recently. His latest post about his new dog pretty much sums all of those reasons up.

I love dogs and dogs love me and I don’t trust people who don’t like dogs because dogs are the best. Dogs dogs dogs dogs.

We named her Mekko, as in Marimekko, as in the Finnish textile company, as in we really are that gay. I think it’s cute and suits her nicely and for some reason she actually responds to it.

He's funny. And he has a really cute dog. And -- click through his archives -- great style.

Disclaimer: text & photo stolen nicely borrowed from Daniel's blog. Click here to read the rest of his post. And then go ahead and add him to your google reader. You won't be disappointed.

PS: I really want a dog!

PPS: Like you need another blog to read, right? I know, me too. But it's worth it!

Say Yes To Carrots

On Thursday I made a little comment on facebook about my morning snack:

On Friday, my neighbor greeted me with these:

Too funny! {They're actually good!}

Speaking of food: I'm gearing up for six more weeks of weight watchers, starting tomorrow. I lost six pounds the last time I committed to six weeks, and I've kept it off. I'm ready to do that again! I know it's going to be rough to get back on the diet train, but once the scale starts dropping again, I'm sure I'll be motivated. The scale has stayed pretty much the same for the past month or so, and I know the numbers aren't going to magically get lower on their own. {If only!}

I've been attending Zumba & weight-training classes pretty faithfully, but I haven't been running. It's too cold, and I just don't like the track. {At the Seminary, twelve laps = a mile. Twelve. It's terrible.} I can't wait for warmer weather so I can hit the pavement at least once a week in between classes. It's been too long!

Did you make exercise an official 2012 resolution? I suppose I did -- I didn't really create set-in-stone resolutions, but I did have some goals in mind, and that was on the list. Here's to hoping I {we?} keep it up!

PS: My post title comes from a product line I saw at Target today. Have you tried anything from it? It looks fun!

Six Months & Done!

Over the weekend I finally finished a project I started... oh, I don't know... a few months ago. I posted about my little gallery project in August & gave a sneak peak in September. Soo... six months ago. Wow, that's embarrassing! I'm s l o w.

So yes, I'm terrible about taking before pictures, but here's what one of my living room walls now looks like:

I'm so pleased with how it turned out! {Oh, and pay attention to that pillow with the Eames chair on it. More on that in a later post.}

I made a little change to the other side of the room, too... can you tell?

The frames are just a little closer together. Three inches closer, if you're dying to know. I liked the wide spacing before, but with the closely-spaced gallery on the opposite wall, it looked strange. Oh, and if you're one of those people who is good at the "Can you spot the difference?" pictures, you probably noticed that I forgot to put the remotes in their little box for the "after" picture. Oops!

And there's one more difference, but it's very hard to see in the above pictures -- I got a new print from my dear MIL for Christmas!

The one on the left is one I wished for and received from a kind {anonymous} friend three years ago. [It still bothers me that I don't know who was so thoughtful!] The one on the right I wished for & received from my dear MIL for Christmas this year. It's from the same company & is the same quote, just with a fresh new look. I love them both, but I am especially loving the pink & the cursive of the new print. One day I hope to hang them side by side, but for now, I just have room for one.

Funny story {you know, because this post isn't long enough}: my MIL ordered the print & had it shipped to my FIL's office, but apparently she forgot to tell him it was coming. It didn't arrive in time for Christmas, so I was told she would be bringing a belated Christmas present with her when they came to Louisville for Wes's birthday. The night they came, Brad {FIL} was standing in the living room looking at our frames when his face lit up. And this is the conversation that ensued:

FIL: Oh! I have something I think you'd love! I forgot it at the office. It looks like something you'd like, though.

Me: Really? What is it?

FIL: It's art, I think. It has words on it. A quote.

MIL: WHAT?

FIL: Yeah. I have no idea where it came from. I almost threw it away. And then I thought about giving it to my secretary. But I think Beth would really like it.

MIL: WHAT? {Frantically looking for her computer, pulling up the print on a website} Is this it???

FIL: Yeah! That's it. What is it?

MIL: DID YOU BRING IT?

FIL: No... what is it?

MIL: It's her Christmas present!

Haha! I love that story. It's so fantastic. So now I think of my dear MIL and FIL when I look at it... and I think about my kind anonymous friend, too... and I smile. :)

So yeah. Just a few little changes around here... nothing too crazy. I wish I had finished all of this like five months ago! But now that it's done I can plan another project, right? The only question is: will I finish it before we {if we} move?!

Memories

Perhaps He Smiles

I was driving down the road this afternoon, on my way back to my office after a marketing training, and two things happened.

1. I saw the most beautiful sky. It was juxtaposed against images swirling in my mind of sound and fury, as a tornado had just passed through the area. And I thought, there's something more. More than you, more than me. I may lack the ability to precisely define what that means, but I can't deny it. It's beautiful.

{That's not the sky I saw, it's just a beautiful photo I found on flickr. You can click through for the source.}

2. I was listening to klove as I drove, and a song came on with these lyrics:

But you love me anyway

It's like nothing in life that I've ever known

Yes, you love me anyway

The song was talking about the love that God has for people even though they're broken and flawed. But in my heart, at that moment? It resonated as the love of my precious Grammy. She loved me anyway. Despite my failures, despite my many flaws, despite the times that I didn't deserve to be loved. I don't know how to explain the feeling of being loved that way by another human. It's truly unreal: not real, not explainable, definable, understandable.

I say that I miss her; I say that I love her. I do. But the void that's left in my soul by her absence is so much more real than I can evoke. Most of the time I'm okay. Sometimes I think I'll never be okay. Yet the void is there because the real thing once was, and is, and how incredible is that? To be loved that way... I cry at the thought of it. I don't understand.

Does it sound sacrilegious to make a song about the love of God about the love of a human? If so, I suppose that's okay. It's real to me. Her love makes the idea of unconditional love real to me. And I think God knows that.

And perhaps he smiles.

{West Elm} Bed & Bath Sale

I stumbled upon West Elm's site tonight and immediately found two super-cute things in their bed/bath sale... I had to share.

Chevron Bath Mat - only $19. Pricey for a bath mat, I agree, but super cute! And we all know how I feel about chevrons {looove them}.

Stripe Shower Curtain - $31. I love it in gray and yellow!

If we move, I will get to redecorate. That's a plus, right? {Well, a minus, actually, if you think about our checkbook ledger...!}

Also of note: my affinity for sales. I just love it when things are on sale. In fact, when we were dating, Wesley used to walk into a room & proclaim, "Kisses on clearance!" Worked every time. True story. :)

Wednesday Five

Five things for you on a Wednesday:

1. Hubs made this for dinner tonight, and it is so good! He said it was easy to make, too. Even better.

{Photo credit: Gina at Skinnytaste, one of my favorite recipe blogs!}

2. The outlaws are coming to the 'ville this weekend for hubs's birthday. It's hard to believe it's been a year since they've been to Louisville to visit! We are looking forward to it. I may gain five pounds while they're here {gotta take them to all the good spots!}, but it should be worth it! Speaking of good spots, we're planning to go to Le Gallo Rosso for Wes's birthday dinner -- a cute little Italian restaurant on Bardstown Road. We stumbled upon it by purchasing a random LivingSocial deal several months ago & really enjoyed it!

3. I really do love Zumba. And no, we don't use shake weights. {My friend Stephen loves Crossfit, so he shared that video on my facebook wall recently. I have to admit, it's pretty funny.} I love that it's FUN, and I love the diversity of the people who attend my studio. I wish I would've found Charizya sooner!

4. Hopefully by the end of this week I will finally be able to show you pictures of my new little gallery wall in our living room. And by little I mean, you know, like six picture frames. That's ok; it's super cute. And yes, it's the same area I blogged about four months ago. I've struggled with motivation, clearly!

5. Speaking of motivation -- I'm just in that weird stage of life where I don't know what's going to happen next. There are things I want to do {read: things I want to reorganize/redecorate}, but I just don't know if they're worth doing if we're moving in six months... you know? But at the same time, isn't that a terrible way to live? Not doing things because you can't predict tomorrow {who can!}? Sigh. The uncertainty just may be the death of me.

Ok, ok. That's not true. But it kind of feels that way sometimes!

What will my life be like in six months? Where will we be living? Who will our friends be? Where will I be working? Does a PhD have to spell financial ruin? Will I still be able to afford pedicures?! Will I have a puppy? Will we be happy? Where will we end up next?