It's the little things ...

... the smell of a cake baking.

... waking up to snow outside, snuggled in bed, under piles of quilts and Henry.

... hearing my favorite song on the radio.

... enjoying a glass of wine while catching up with a good friend.

... sunlight streaming through a window.

... flowers.

... looking through really old pictures.

... watching When Harry Met Sally.

... the promise of spring.

... good fiction.

Sweetest. Thing. Ever.

I was in the car driving to school when this guy called the radio station and said, "Please play this song for my wife". He goes on to say that she's the most amazing woman he's ever met, that he can't describe exactly what is is that she has but if you play this song for her then "she'll know". He ended with, "You have to play this song because it will make her smile and when she smiles it lights up the whole room". Of course he got his song played, how can you refuse a request like that?

I had never heard the song before, but let me tell you, it's just as sweet (if not sweeter) than his request.

The fact that I love country music is not a secret by any means, but between this song and "Chick Fried" I think Zac Brown Band may just be my favorite artist.

Spring cleaning

Being March and all I decided that I should get rid of some things that we didn't need in our apartment. After getting rid of a ridiculous amount of stuff when we moved in August I've tried not to accumulate too much. I hate clutter and I hate useless things. If we're not using it now or won't be in a month or two then I tend to get rid of it. (Note: This does not apply to the bed that is currently sitting in our garage.) Our apartment doesn't have a linen closet which is a fact that makes me very sad since we have a lot of linens for the bed in the garage and have to find a place to store them.

Our guest bedroom/office closet pretty much looked like Monica on Friends's closet (the one that was so messy and full of random stuff). I couldn't really even open it. It was sad. So that was what I tackled first. Sadly I don't have a before picture but here are a few afters. If you're thinking that this looks messy, well then you should have seen it before. Trust me this is a massive improvement.

think we have enough bags and backpacks?

hanging everything up gave me enough space to stuff the "Rock Band" drums in the closet. I can't even begin to describe how happy this made me.

What's this?! That's right, folks, there is now space in our second closet to actually hang stuff. Which means when people come to visit they can actually hang up their clothes. Exciting stuff.

Next was our closet. It wasn't really messy but I just wanted to get rid of all of the clothes that we never wear. End result of the closet is this.

and...

Usually there's about twice as many clothes here. I think C took half of his clothes to Hawaii.

last, but not least.

If you're actually looking at the clothes in the closet you'll notice that C has about twice the amount of clothes that I do. Sad, sad fact.

End result of everything is all of this stuff that the Salvation Army will be getting when I drop it off on Wednesday.

yes, that's a futon mattress. but really, what can you do with an extra futon mattress? and three bags of clothes which are going ....

And since it's officially March, I decided we needed some flowers. Nothing says spring like daffodils. (And they were all of $2.)

Sunday funday

Maybe it's daylight savings, maybe it's just a weird day but I just felt totally off today. I felt like I woke up super early (I didn't thanks to losing an hour) and then I felt like the day flew by. I read for school, helped C pack for Hawaii, talked to the parents for a bit, and watched Dan in Real Life. I had tacos for lunch and ice cream for dinner. Odd.

The dogs have been glued to my side all day. They're not a huge fan of packing. I think they're anticipating getting left behind. Little do they know they're in for an entire week of sleeping on the bed. I always feel so weird in a bed all by myself so when C's out of town I usually let the pups sleep with me. They're extremely grateful.

what kind of 85 lb. dog wants to sit on your lap?

Dan in Real Life was actually really good. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was funny, sad, and happy in all the right places. And of course it ended with everyone living happily ever after which is something I expect in a movie. I mean life's unpredictable enough, why do I need movies to be?

Speaking of movies. I don't do well with scary movies or even "action packed"movies. But the worst thing in a movie for me is when an animal dies. I can take a battlefield of dead people but for some reason if a dog dies I can't help but cry. Last year when I was teaching Biology at the end of the year I let my students watch I Am Legend. (Now if you're thinking it's not on the approved video list, it's not, but my school wasn't that picky.) Anyway, I had never seen the movie before and when Will Smith had to STRANGLE HIS OWN DOG I just about lost it. In fact I had to step out for a minute because I didn't want to be crying in front of a room full of 14 year olds.

I'm looking forward to this week alone, even though I'll miss C like crazy. But, I have a lot of stuff I need to get done and I'm always much more productive when he's not around. I'm off now ... I have to get up at 3 to drive C to the airport.

There are days...

i think they miss the beach, too.

... when I miss Maryland like crazy. I miss:

... my friends.

... the beach.

... I even miss the stupid traffic.

... trees.

... fields and fields of corn.

... the bay.

... seafood.

... our annual Memorial Day beach trip (and 4th of July, and Labor Day, and all the random ones in between).

... homes with shutters.

... hills.

... teeny, tiny mountains.

... family. Like crazy.

... real, wood burning fireplaces.

... teaching. so, so much.

... bonfires.

... route 50.

... my sister, my mom. and of course, my dad.

... watching the beavers.

... D.C.

... being able to watch the Terps on t.v. (when they're not sucking).

... people who know what a Terp is.

... humidity.

... rainy days. oh so much.

Most of the time I'm so glad we moved. Sometimes I miss home like crazy. I think about moving back even though I know C would never go for it. Anyone else get homesick every once in a while?

It's the little things ...

... a long walk, in the sun, on the first really warm day of the year.

... food in the fridge.

... chocolate.

... waking up to dogs that have already been walked and the smell of coffee.

... rain in the forecast!

... coming home to a hug from my favorite person in the world.

... cold diet dr. pepper.

... sleeping on my sleepy dog.

... REI dividends. can you say, free stuff?!

... finding lakes in Colorado.

... knowing that we can move anywhere that we want to and that there's no pressure to pick a place any time soon.

... opening the windows.

... trees that actually drop their leaves for the winter.

The story of Love Part 2: The year of no money

So, when we last left off I had just given Dunkin, otherwise known as Chunky Monkey, credit for C and I finally getting together. But before we could live happily ever after we had to get through some rough times.

our first pic as a couple.

First, we were the poorest people ever. C was in school with a year left to go and living off of student loans. I had just moved off campus to live and work in a vet clinic because my rent was free there. We felt like we were livin' it up when we ate at TCBY or split a 6 pack of Miller Light. Oh who am I kidding? We were in college. We split a 12 pack.

In our first year together we were pretty stressed out people. I barely got a night of sleep because my "free rent deal" meant that I was up with sick animals all night long. I was also still taking classes and applying for PA school once I realized that I didn't want to make $9/hour the rest of my life. C was taking as many classes as possible, trying to graduate, and realizing that engineering classes only got harder as the years went on.

Our lives might be a lot more comfortable now, but despite having no money, working crap jobs, and not having any idea where we'd be in a year, we had SO much fun that year. It's one of the reasons why I love the boy ... we can have nothing and do nothing and still have the best time.

Since we had no money we started looking for things to do that were free, which is how we got into hiking. I had been hiking since I was a kid and we started doing it a lot more. We even got Dunkin his own backback.

Cupid on one of our free adventures.

As the year went on we eventually became less poor. I moved out of the vet clinic and started working at a Dermatology office. Charlie passed all of his classes. We both kept looking for actual careers, and then ............ [part 3]