this made me happy

A couple days ago I went outside for a run and this song lifted my spirits and also reminded me of being with my cousins.

Pure Happiness

Some things that bring me pure happiness...

Sweets, as Rachel is-and the delicious cupcake she displays.

Silly friends, time with friends. Best idea ever! Our monthly get together is coming a long way.

Seeing my niece walk, even if its through a video that my sister emailed to me and to hear her laugh in another video clip.

Other things:

Family time

conversations with loved ones: today I spoke with Gina and it felt SOOO great

letters

me time

workouts

countdowns to special events: currently Florida trip 11 days to go

Fridays

Wine & food

little conversations with my dad & hearing everything and more from my mom

photographs & memories

clean home

and more will come to me in the next few hours

What brings you pure happiness?

Cake

Today I finished making these...

Malissa found the recipe for me awhile back and after much procrastination I finally made them and they are easy and Delicious!  Thanks Bakerella.  All it takes is a box of cake, frosting, and chocolate of choice to melt.  I still have a lot to learn about melting chocolate and how to apply the melted chocolate, getting it down to a science and maybe I can get far enough to learn all the little details for the wedding couple pops.  This is my test batch that I will get to share with my fellow Phi Mu Indy Alumnae at dinner tomorrow night.  I hope they are a hit and maybe I can get some pointers since many can bake and probably have more experience with chocolate.  Going to make more, possibly this weekend.  A couple things I realized is that I need to purchase a melon scoop for a consistent shape- and then MAYBE I can make 4 dozen out of a box of cake instead of just 2 dozen.  And of course Darren and I taste tested them.  He thought he could take some to work, but he was denied, the girls can get a taste after my next batch.  Any suggestions on how to better execute this recipe?

A start

So a few weeks ago, Valentines day to be exact, I joined a gym.  This happens to be the same gym that Darren goes to and considering my lack of researching gyms I gave and signed on.  Since V-Day we have gone a few times together and mostly on our own.  This past week we went before work on Tuesday and Friday due to evening schedules and having someone committed to going so early makes it slightly easier to get out bed.  I LOVE my sleep.  But its also nice to get it done with and not have to squeeze it in after a long day at the office.  I have been changing it up, slowly becoming familiar with all the weight lifting equipment and trying to have a goal on what I want to make the primary focus, with workouts alternating between weights and cardio- one day I even did both. Watch Out!  I am supposed to be getting back into running condition as Darren has bribed me to run a 5K in Florida in 20days, I think.  Quite frankly running as an adult has become a way to escape and since I do not have a pool at my disposal it makes for a great way to just be alone with my thoughts and the wonderful music on my IPod.  I am not sure just how great of a time I will make or even how I will feel after the 5K but it will be a start to whatever it is that Darren is up to.  Mind you, this is the second time I have been persuaded to run a 5k but at least this time I do not have the excess college weight.  And my prize will be a dinner at one of the restaurants around St. Pete.  Although my feet already need some attention with a pedicure, I have been denying myself this pleasure due to the large amount of time in my running shoes.  But maybe before  our trip. 

In other news, we finally have a picture to start off 2011, it was at a local bar with Simona DeSilvestro.

 

The kitchen is almost finished!  Exciting because that means it will be more efficient to use and even more it will be updated and presentable.  Darren will be working on my wine rack that will be above the microwave and sometime in the near future the pantry will be updated.  Check it out! It all matches now.

Today I also made our first pancake lunch.  It was my breakfast but only after I went to the gym and Darren had gone to church.  I have been craving some for a few weeks now, I need to make breakfast more often.  My pancakes had white and semi-sweet chips while Darren just had semi sweet- I did not know how he would feel about white chocolate.  They were delicious.  Some night we will have breakfast for dinner.

Bridesmaid dresses have been picked and they have begun the ordering process.  I found the dresses through Etsy, which I love.  I can get lost in their site, viewing page after page of creativeness.  Shoes yet to be decided upon.

We have one more private session of pre-marriage counseling.  I definately expected something else but it is eye opening.  We watch film, talk about it and also about the previous meetings homework.  We do not seem to have many questions which is scary but also puts me at ease.  If that makes any sense.

We have 3 more group sessions.  This is a group that we joined through Darren's church, it is very interesting.  To see how each couple has different interests, concerns and altogether different.  Our last session we talked about in-laws, Darren and I have it pretty great.  Next session will be somewhere along the lines of parenting, possibly, as it was suggested at the end of our last meeting.  This one can get interesting, I can imagine myself not saying a word.  If you KNOW me, I do not like kids, I LOVE my family but I can give those kids back.  My family brings me joy but if I hear a kid screaming while I am trying to run errands my immediate reaction is to want the parent to take them home, asap.  We should find out our topic questions in the next couple of days.  We will see what happens.

Friday I will also be seeing my loovah, Chad, as he is in town for work. Getting together with the ladies for our monthly get together and to celebrate Sarah's Birthday.

This should be a great weekend to come, and hopefully lots of photos.