The Plate of Life

Thanksgiving is one of my all time favorite holidays.  I'll pile up my plate and eat everything...but usually one food at a time.  I'll always dive right into the cranberry sauce because that's my favorite.  Next I'll indulge in some mashed potatoes, followed by stuffing stuffed with bacon, and then I'll make my way over to the turkey.  There are some other miscellaneous foods that I'll feast upon - but it also depends on who is serving too.  My parents, Jason's mom, Jason's grandmother...they all have their own unique dishes.  After typing all this, it's starting to make my mouth water.  Like most people? - food is truly the key to my heart.  I'd rather have a bowl of macaroni and cheese than a bouquet of flowers.

Side tracked...

So back to my plate.  I was eating this weekend at a Memorial Day Weekend BBQ.  I piled up my plate and began devouring my way through, one food at a time.  It's rare for me to ever move on to the next food until I'm finished with the first.  One of the guests at the party noted my bizarre eating habits.  I pointed out that I know...and that other people notice too.  I sat in silence for a few moments thinking about how good my food was, how my eating habits are a bit strange, but also about ALL THE WORK I had to do later that evening.

I feel like my sister-in-law, Erin - she always makes these wonderful metaphors to her life.  It finally happened to me!  I realized in that moment that my life is very similar to my plate.  Weird...I know.  Let me explain.  I pile it up high - full of food.  Sometimes I take some to just be polite...sometimes I overload on the stuff I love.  Either way, I make my way through the meal one section at a time.  So basically this is my life...on a plate.

So that's been my deal lately.  I've been super busy and I've been working my way through each "item" one at a time.  Grad school, more grad school, projects, grading, lesson planning, maintaining a clean household, and spending time with my husband.  So blogging was not on the radar.  So my biggest accomplishment over the past few weeks was my grad school project.  It's funny because while I was not here blogging, I was still blogging somewhere else!  I had to create a blog on an emerging trend in technology.  I chose Virtual Assistants - aka Siri.  It was super awesome - I loved the research and how it turned out.

After I finished my project, spent time with our families, and actually got a chance to relax - my weekend was almost over.  I decided that I did not get enough time with my man so I planned a surprise date for him.  I do this on occasion...a few times a year.  I'll plan out this really cool thing for us to do.  He loves it.  And I love doing it for him...especially because he does everything for me :)

Our day date consisted of touring the Brandywine Zoo and having a picnic while we were there.  It was fantastic.  It's definitely a smaller zoo, which was great.  Much more affordable than city zoos.  I wasn't in the mood for a 4-hour adventure either.  The crowd was small, the animals were awesome, and the location was ideal.  I can't wait to take our kids there in the future...

Here are a few pictures from our day.  The capybara (top left) was our favorite!

A small wonder of Delaware - the Brandywine Zoo

I hope you had a wonderful 3 day weekend!

A Big Step for Delaware

Yesterday was a big day for Delaware.

It became the 11th state to legalize same-sex marriage.

Here's an article worth reading.

Here's a video worth watching.

Here's a man worth following.

I love everything about this.

Busy Bee

Let's catch up.  We've been busy over here!

#1.  Home Sweet Home!  We moved into our new house over a week ago!  I can't believe it's already been that long.  Time is flying by... but everything is coming along so well.  Jason installed the stair runner this weekend.  It looks great and he did it all by himself.  Such a handyman.  So why did we install a stair runner?  Well, I like to wear socks and I found it rather slippery going up and down the stairs, especially when I carry the laundry.  But let's be real.  The real reason we installed it?  So our dog can safely move between floors without slipping.  Yes...our dog.

Some bigger projects that we are looking forward to this summer?  We plan on installing a fence this month.  Then hopefully by the end of the summer, we'll work on our wall in the kitchen.  We want to install a window/bar/countertop thing-y.  Not sure what to call it, but all I know is that it will be fabulous.
 
#2.  Date Night!  Jason and I had our first date night since the move on Friday.  We needed a night to just sit, enjoy a meal, and catch up.  We went to La Tolteca - a little Mexican restaurant (for sure, a Small Wonder).  I absolutely love Mexican cuisine and was in the mood since we are approaching Cinco de Mayo this weekend.  Our experience was great.  From the moment we walked in, we were immediately impressed with the decor.  All of the walls and the booths has hand painted murals.  The lighting was dim and set the tone for our evening.  We were also in love with the food.  Jason had burritos and I have a taco salad.  I'm a sucker for the tortilla bowl.  And the drinks were delicious - we went with frozen strawberry margaritas.  The location is also super convenient to home...we can walk there!  We're looking forward to going back this summer...or this week...either one.

#3.  Broad Street Run... This Sunday was the Broad Street Run.  I was so looking forward to running 10 miles down the center of Philadelphia at 8:30 am on a Sunday.  Honestly...I was.  I love training for races - it gets me motivated to actually go outside and do something instead of just watching Lifetime movies.  So when I realized about 3-4 weeks ago that I wouldn't be able to?  I was devastated.  I sprained my ankle back in the November which landed me on crutches for awhile.  A few months passed and I still didn't feel right.  I would find people asking me if I hurt myself because they would notice me limping after running, long walks, or even standing for awhile.  Regardless...I didn't let it heal long enough.  And in the end?  I couldn't run Broad Street.

So while I'm on a short but necessary hiatus from running, my husband is on the opposite end of the spectrum.  He did run Broad Street.  AND he finished 10 miles in 68 minutes.  Impressed?  You should be!  I'll brag for him.  His pace was 6:49 per mile, which is just amazing.  My man can run...and he can run fast.  I love him dearly and couldn't be more proud of him.  I'm sad we couldn't do it together this year, but I'm looking forward to our next race together. 

#4.  The Tomson Twins.  I saved the best for last.  My sister and brother-in-law are having twins!  AND last week, they found out that they are having twin girls.  My heart is literally bursting with excitement.  I was secretly hoping the whole time that she was having same sex twins, but specifically girls.  I see the relationship I have with my sister.  It's something I can't describe or put into words, but it truly is special.  I'm so happy that the Tomson girls will always have each other.  I can't wait for September to get here so I can meet these little babies!