A Year of Dates: February

I've posted a lot about all the wonderful things JSM does for me: the cards, the gifts, the gestures. I'm sure you are all wondering what in the world I do for HIM! As a matter of fact, I had given JSM a Christmas gift of "A Year of Dates". It really consisted of a basket with envelopes for each month of the year and inside each envelope was a pre-paid, partially-funded, or free "date" for us to go on that month. The idea is that it will get us doing things that we've forgotten about, put off, or otherwise, just haven't had time for and get to automatically spend some quality time together every month. You'd think that with no children we'd have plenty of one-on-one time to relax and recharge just the two of us.....WRONG! We don't even get a day together every week. I work every Saturday and every other Sunday and coupled with JSM's hockey games every Sunday we barely see each other. So, our dates provide more than just an evening out - they represent precious time we get to spend together.

January's date that we still have to go on.....

Our "Year of Dates" got off to a bad start. In January, I had planned for us to go to McMenamin's for dinner and ice skating at Mountainview Ice Arena or Lloyd Center. JSM has been begging to go to McMenamin's on the Columbia pretty much since we moved here and we have yet to go together. This would have been the perfect way to kick off the year, but we were both sick for 2 weeks in January and we never got around to our "date". That's sad, but we'll make it up! So, on to round 2....

February, as I've mentioned before, is our anniversary month and JSM is always really good about making plans for us to mark the special day. This year, he's been stressed about a lot of things so I decided to take the pressure off him and make plans for us. He loves a good foot massage (and usually they come from me!) Turns out I just happened to have an unused spa gift certificate lying around....wink, wink. So, off we went to the Rejuvenation Day Spa in Portland for a professional, hour-long foot massage. JSM was in heaven! 

Relaxing before the foot massage.....

Getting our feet done.....this is what he gets for letting me "ride in his side car" for 6 years and counting! I love him!

Somehow, things never really go as planned. And as you can see above we had a late lunch planned at Bamboo Sushi. Well, as you can tell by the photo my foot massage morphed into a pedicure and I walked out with painted feet and a pair of paper flip flops (Who always tries to be prepared, but somehow never really is? Me, of course!) And the flip flops barely withstood a quick trip into Williams-Sonoma before the left one broke leaving me with no shoes to go out to eat. We drove around NW Portland looking for flip flops trying Fred Meyer,Walgreens, and the Dollar Store before heading home to the Prairie for soup instead. So, no sushi for us, but a memorable afternoon (and anniversary) it was! JSM LOVED the date, but was disappointed, as I was, to miss out on Bamboo Sushi, Portland's only sustainable sushi restaurant which I hear is wonderful. Year of Dates vs McNally Family: 2 dates planned, a 1/2 date actually completed! But, we have lots to look forward to and extra dates in the months ahead. That means mandatory, built-in time for just the two of us!

I love you, I love you not, February!

I love February, but when it's rainy, windy, and cold I love it less. Thankfully, this February there's been more love than usual. It's been a blur, but I recall there was quite a bit of activity around Valentine's Day. We don't typically celebrate Valentine's Day mostly because it comes right on the tail of our anniversary, but this year, I was feeling celebratory and so our anniversary and Valentine's festivities lasted quite a few days! 

Little House on Brush Prairie all lit up on a winter night. We liked the spotlight from Christmas so much we're keeping it year round. I love how it lights the transom windows!

I purchased this beautiful cookie from my favorite Vancouver bakery Treat for my sweet friend KWK, who kindly had me to lunch on February 11th. Love her! I couldn't resist the Call Me Maybe....such a sign of the times and a perfect conversation heart! 

Later that day I made these double chocolate cupcakes with salted dark chocolate frosting for a church event......they were perfectly moist and delicious if I do say so myself ;) 

On Valentine's Day JSM brought home these pink roses in a "box". I was blown away! JSM doesn't really buy me flowers because I buy them for myself EVERY week. I think flowers in a box are one of the most romantic gestures and I was swept off my feet once again....

They look beautiful in a vase, too!

Did I mention he brought home a Papa Murphy's heart-shaped pizza? Well, he did! I've been asking for one for years and I finally got my wish....it doesn't take much to thrill me!

The Saturday after V-Day, brought this beautifully blue sky with temperatures in the 50's. It was just glorious! (To put things in perspective it is gray, blustery and rainy today with temperatures hovering below 45.) I love this steeple of The Academy, one of the landmarks in Vancouver. It sits right across the street  from the library and I can see this steeple from my desk on the fifth floor. I love church architecture....

Mt. Hood from the rooftop terrace of the Vancouver Community Library

 The next day JSM was off to Vancouver, BC, for work. Unfortunately, I couldn't accompany him so instead JSM brought me this consolation prize....

He's so good to me.....I LOVE Chanel No. 5! Six months of smelling delicious more than makes up for missing out on the extra passport stamp and a weekend away in Vancouver, BC. I think he would agree! 

Happy 6th Anniversary to Us!

February 10, 2007

It's our anniversary once again and every year I am reminded, usually by a card, why I love my sweet JSM so much. I love the cards the most because I can save them from year to year and in fact, they are usually a good indicator of where we are. This year I got 2 cards and each had it's own unique reason why it made me smile. First it was the envelope.....

I love how he addresses it to me and my role in the family in case I forget where I stand :) 

Then it was the message: "I love sharing all those little everyday things with you." Not to mention, the couple drinking coffee on the outside of the card. That IS us (except my hair is blonde!) 

But really it was part of his hand written message: "life's not perfect and neither are we." I love an honest man. I also love a fun man (literally!) The true message is when you are sharing your life with the world's oldest teenager, like I am, nothing is insurmountable and there's always a reason to laugh. Even if you're secretly mad. Thankfully, today, I only had reasons to smile. (Except for our attempt to go on our February "date" this afternoon, but that's for another post and for the record, I laughed anyway!) The biggest one? We've had 6 wonderful years together and JSM and I both look forward to another 60 years of fun and adventure! 

These beautiful Lilies decorated the house for our Anniversary!

Love and Happiness

One of my favorite Bible verses, which was read at our wedding, and reminds me of February. It's really appropriate every month of the year.

Is it really February already? I love February just because it's our anniversary month. But there are many other reasons to love February:

• Sun
  We get a few days of spring every February in the pacific northwest. The weather is "warm" (50 degrees) and the sun comes out to tease us before hiding again for 4 months. I'll take it! I think this happened last week because I wore sunglasses....
• Heart-shaped pancakes
• A special day to celebrate all the loves in your life
• Soup and grilled cheese
• Tulips and Daffodils
• Snow......or no snow depending on where you live

Besides, February is a good time to re-evaluate those new year's resolutions! For me, that means more time on the spin bike, and less time making homemade granola (I haven't had time), but there's plenty of life left for homemade granola (God willing). More time reading (I'm on a roll this year) and less focus on getting "everything done".  And I'm so happy I chose to give up my volunteer work for the time being. It has allowed me to focus on how I spend my time and what truly brings me joy. Volunteering does bring me joy, but only when I can balance all my other priorities. 

I've been reading an interesting book titled All the Money in the World by Laura Vanderkam which has really given me pause about how I spend my time and my money. She suggests that while saving money for retirement is very important (we do) skipping little luxuries that make you happy isn't worth it in the long run. As she says "there's a lot of life between now and retirement" and isn't that the truth! I don't take that to mean I should go out and buy every pair of Manolos I want. Instead, I'm thinking what could I enjoy for $20?  A cup of coffee and a book, a pedicure, an album from itunes, or a dress from Target. Truthfully, JSM and I have been Starbucks drinkers since the day we met (it helps that we used to work for the company) and we've always spent money on coffee, but that doesn't mean it hasn't come with a little guilt. (We also own a nice coffee maker.) So, from now on I'm going to enjoy my thrice-weekly Starbucks, without guilt, because I work a lot and a cup of hot coffee with cream makes me very happy. Last weekend I skipped the chores in favor of a trip to Powells Books, Vintage Pink, Peet's Coffee, and a manicure....by myself. Pure bliss! Yes, it's true, the librarian spends her day off at a book store. I just can't help myself! The best part? I was so happy I did fun things I didn't even care that the laundry was piled up and there were crumbs on the granite counter (usually this is cause for OCD-style cleaning!) 

ALA Midwinter 2013 Seattle, Washington

Back to those new years resolutions......Our Year of Dates is not off to a good start, but that doesn't mean all is lost. Unfortunately, JSM and I were both sick for the first 2 weeks of January and the last weekend we were in Seattle for ALA. This time JSM traveled with me instead of the other way around and I attended my first ALA conference as a real librarian! It was a great experience and I learned a lot about providing roving reference services, helping people write resumes and find employment at the library (my passion), and got lots of advance reader copies of books coming out this year.....my mother was so impressed! 

View from the WA Convention Center. I never tire of Seattle!

Advance Reader Copies. No judging a book by it's cover (at least not at Random House) but Elizabeth Berg is always good!

 But, all that means we didn't have a January date! Not to worry, we are making it up this week and I'll post about it this month. In the meantime, I will be drinking Starbucks coffee, eating lots of soup and grilled cheese, and hoping for snow while enjoying every little glimpse of sun we get!