Full Circle

Last week was my 33rd birthday, and we celebrated in the best possible way - a weekend in NYC with family and lots of good food.

The weather was beautiful for most all of the trip - it did rain on my birthday, as has been a habit throughout the years, but it held off for most of the day, and we enjoyed a sunny, springtime morning and afternoon.

I'm not sure when during the trip it dawned on me that it was TEN years ago that I spent my 23rd birthday in NYC. It was a rough period of my life, but my brother and sister-in-law invited me to get away for a few days for some fun in the city - and boy, did they spoil me! My brother introduced me to cupcakes and banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery, my sister-in-law and I got TONS of shopping time together (when I got one of the best pairs of shoes I've ever had), and they sent me home with a custom-made birthday cd. It was full of happy, hopeful songs, and I still remember tears streaming down my face as sat facing backwards on thr train, listening to Rascal Flatts' "Bless the broken road." (I also remember the woman sitting a few seats up from me, looking with a concerned look on her face. She must've wondered what was going on.)

And now, ten years later, I spent my birthday again in the city. This time, I was spoiled by ALL of my siblings - my brother, my sister-in-law, and my sisters. My niece and nephew showered me with lots of love, and I had my amazing and adoring husband by my side. I don't think that I could've imagined such a sweet life for myself a decade ago.

Aches and Pains

Feeling 33

Yesterday I woke up feeling a little weirder than usual. It could be because I have a job that utilizes my body nonstop, or because I practiced my contortionist skills as I got our suitcases out of our Jenga storage closet myself (rather than wait for my big, strong husband to do it when he got home from work). Either way, I hurt in ways I've never hurt before. (It probably didn't help that I then proceeded to have a day at work where I essentially wore a 20-30 pound backpack while jumping and dancing around.) Needless to say, I've discovered some new ways of stretching and popping parts of my body (and I mean that in the least dirty and perverted ways possible).

Could it be my body's way of saying, "hey, you're going to be 33, so here's a whole new body ache for you! Think of it as a rite of passage!"

Thanks, body, but I'm too young to feel like this!

#byefelicia
#idontevenknowwherethatsayingcomesfrom
#whosfelicia
#itswhatallthekidssaythesedays

Sadie, Sadie

Feeling 33

Today is 7 months exactly that we've been married. I believe all birthdays are special,  however this will be my first birthday as a married lady!!!

It's just the first of many more married birthdays to come.

*Cue twirling.*

Good Deeds at Wawa

Feeling 33

It might be time to get some new tires for my car. My tire pressure light seems to be coming on more than usual, so I probably should bring it in to the shop soon. Thank goodness for Wawa and it's free air machine. (And it's just another excuse for me to get one of their soft pretzels, which are ah-MAZ-ing, and a drink from the freestyle Coke machine. Soda and carbs, two of the great things in life.)

This most recent trip to Wawa started off great - there was no line for the free air, so I got right to work. I was on my way to meet up with my mom and stepfather, and since I had an hour's drive ahead of me, I wanted to get on the road as soon as possible. I'd just started filling tire #2, when I heard a lady's voice ask, "Are you gonna be much longer?"

Standing on the other side of my car was a middle-aged woman, with a cane and a wrist brace. My first reaction was to be annoyed. Filling up my tires wasn't what I wanted to be doing in the first place, and the heat didn't make it any more fun. Now there was somebody looking over my shoulder, wanting me to hurry. Ugh.

But this woman didn't look like she could exactly fill up her tires easily, what with the cane and wrist brace...

"Do you need some help? I could check your tires for you." I said, not really thinking about it. You would've thought I'd offered to wash her car inside and out, she was so grateful.

She ended up telling me all about how her son was supposed to take care of her car for her, but he kept forgetting. We chatted about our different cars, the Florida traffic, our families...the whole interaction took less than 10 minutes,  but as we got into our cars to leave, she thanked me, and told me to "thank [my] mom for raising such a sweet daughter."

I didn't exactly feel like I could pat myself on the back, as I thought about the episode of "Friends" when Joey tries to prove to Phoebe that there are no truly selfless good deeds. I felt so good that I was able to help that lady, I definitely felt like it wasn't any sacrifice to help her because I was riding high on endorphins.

It was with a twinge of guilt that I left the Wawa. I thought of all the times that I could've helped someone, but was in too much of a hurry, or too oblivious. I realize that we can't help everyone, and there definitely are (unfortunately) people in the world who will take advantage of someone's generosity. But I think that, as we try to keep our hearts in tune to those little nudges from the Holy Spirit (or from whatever higher power you may believe in), we'll find those opportunities like I had at the Wawa, to lend a hand that will make someone's day - and make yours as well.

Steaked

Feeling 33

How have I gone almost 33 years without making a homemade steak??

Since my hubby is such a good sport about eating so many vegetable-based dinners that I make, I wanted to put some love in his tummy by making an old-fashioned steak-and-potatoes dinner that he'd been craving. And what says love better than meat?

Here's the recipe to the steaks. I just got some 5-oz sirloins at Target, and seared them with some steak seasonings, olive oil, and butter. Hubby said they turned out tasty, and if our awful stove can cook up a good steak, then anybody can do it!

The potatoes were a big hit. I grabbed some russet potatoes that were on sale, sliced them in wedges, then cooked them according to this recipe. Soooo easy, I'll be making them again soon!

No pictures made it (we were too busy eating to take any), but here's a picture of the aftermath.

Dancing in the rain

Recently I was talking to a friend of mine, and she was recounting the latest chick flick she'd seen. It was a Nicholas Sparks-soft-filtered-everyone's-a-model kind of love story, one that goes for every romantic cliché. Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for chick flicks, but sometimes I get so frustrated by those romance stories that try to tell us that they are the ONLY kind of romantic stories out there.

When I was thinking about what I wanted to do for Feeling 33, one of the things that I thought would be cool would be to slow dance in the rain with my beloved. I've never done that before, and it's one of those clichés that seems to have snuck its way into my proverbial bucket list.

I haven't made it happen yet. Maybe because I'm either at work when it rains, or it's like a monsoon-hurricane when it rains here (as was the case last night). Maybe someday we'll make it happen.  Meanwhile, I think about the things that do happen on a weekly basis - like talking together on the couch that leads to laughing-so-hard-I'm-crying-and-stop-my-stomach-hurts-I-can't-breathe, or lip syncing / playing air instruments to music in the car - that I feel makes our love story pretty much perfect.

Sorry, Nicholas Sparks, but my life beats The Notebook any day.

Pass It On

Feeling 33

This past Valentine's Day, I was SO EXCITED to get home after a looooong day of work to be with my honey (and eat Chinese food on heart shaped plates. That's winning right there). You know how you feel like you just can't get home fast enough after a long day? I decided to take the toll road home so that I could get there as fast as possible. With my money ready, I slowed to a stop at the toll plaza, only to be told by the booth operator to go ahead, someone else paid extra for another car's toll. Just that little surprise made the day even better. So, when I started the list of potential ideas that would become "Feeling 33", paying a stranger's toll made it on to the list.

Since I don't take toll roads that often, it wasn't until this week that I actually had the opportunity to "pay it forward". I got my money all set, and when I reached the toll booth, I told the operator that I'd like to pay for the car behind me, as well. As I drove away, I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the car behind me reach out to hand over his money, and then I saw the booth operator gesture towards my vehicle driving away. I have no idea who the driver was, or what his response was, but it felt so good to know that maybe I'd made his day a little bit better.

Pass it on!

So Egg-cited

Feeling 33

There's one thing that I've never been a fan of, and that is the yoke in a hard boiled egg. I'm fine with it if it's it egg salad or a deviled egg, but if it's just plain, then no thank you. However I loooooove the white in hard boiled eggs. So this morning I got an idea - I'd try soft boiled eggs! Then I'd get the best of both worlds - the white from hard boiled eggs and the yolk from fried eggs. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a great site with instructions (because I need them!) here.

Even though it was super easy, I didn't place the egg in the boiling water quite gently enough. Next time, I'll try a spoon so it won't crack. But the final product was deeeelicious!

Almost 33 years old, and I just made my very first soft boiled egg. Just another example of how it's never too late to try something new!

My Timehop Bores Me (and why that's a good thing)

Feeling 33

Ahh, Timehop. Another social media tool to let the world know what we're doing - or rather, what we did. Don't get me wrong, I think it's pretty nifty. It's fun to look back and see how far I've come, and also be reminded how time flies. But my Timehop is also pretty boring. And I'm ok with that.

Whenever I see the Timehop notification that invites me to take a look back over what I was doing last year, two years, or seven years ago (because that's when I really started using social media), I get all excited - it's like a shiny package that I can't wait to open.

But then I find myself scrolling to the end of it and feeling like, "that's all? That's all that happened?" Ok, I'm being melodramatic. There are a lot of good things and fond memories from the past few years, but I also feel like there are some wonderful things happening right now, and to use an old cliche, "the best is yet to come." 

So as much fun as I've had in years past, I have no desire to go back, because it just keeps getting better and better. 

#gettingbetterallthetime
#thebestisyettocome
#howmanysongtitlescaniputinthispost
#blessed

Why I married him

Feeling 33

Last night, we went to the dollar store down the street from our home to get some Easter decorations. While I was perusing the assortment of plastic Easter eggs, my hubby says to me:

"If you need some eggs, I've got a bunch of them. I use them to make puppet eyes."

Best. Husband. Ever.