February

Today finds me-and the rest of Western North Carolina-in a very good mood. It has warmed up to above 40 degrees for the first time since the end of January and is even supposed to be up in the 50s (the avg for this time of year) over the weekend. Did I mention the sun was shining too?? Life just seems better than it did a week ago.

We didn't do much for Noah's birthday last Sunday (he actually worked 5 hours), although I did make pancakes and bread and soup and we got to sleep in. I like that his birthday can trump Valentine's Day, I've never liked the holiday much myself (shouldn't every/any day of the year be Valentine's Day? It shouldn't take a holiday for us to tell our loved ones that we love them...) but, problem solved! From here on out the 14th is a birthday celebration.

On Wednesday we went and redeemed an anniversary gift at the Laughing Seed Cafe in Asheville-a popular and scrumptious vegetarian restaurant. It was one of my top 10 experiences of the last four months. We were both a little grumpy and out of it because we needed to eat when we got there, it was the perfect remedy. I am still shocked at how much we ate (our waitress was too). It was all really satisfying and tasty. In fact, we ate so much delicious food that we were both in a food coma for about 24 hours. (We even forgot to bring the groceries in from the car when we got home. I remembered after we'd been in bed about 20 minutes...).

The last few weeks of school have been a bit of struggle for all of us in the course. We are at the midway point of the course; apparently the "burn out" is really common at this stage. They tell us we'll all get over it. I'm sure we will. Clinic hours start this coming week which will add a new dimension to the whole experience. Despite being a little "over it" the last week or two, I am still loving that I will get to do this as a job in four months.

Noah's schedule is now very busy with him working the full-time commission only job and a part-time job at the mall on the weekends. I am starting to consider finding work for the short-term to help us get by until Noah's first placement happens at Thurmond and Co. We both know that it will work out how it needs to though, whatever way that may be.

We are both readjusting to the schedule change and, although I am immensely enjoying more alone time at the house throughout the week, it is a different reality for us. Since meeting, the majority of our time has been spent with one another. I think we were ready for a change though and are both feeling good about where things are headed.

During my hours at home last week, I sat down one day and started another blog called Throw-Together Meals: Cooking stories, tips and recipes from my free-for-all kitchen. I'm not 100% sure where it will go, but have already put a few posts up and would love for you to look at it and/or pass it along to others if you think they may like it. Noah and I always talk about how I need to write down some of the stuff I make, so I figured I would try. If anything, it is sort of a fun project.

That is all for now. My forearm flexor muscles are getting a bit sore from being on the computer the last few hours. Guess it's time to go study for awhile...