Paper Anniversary

 

Tuesday, September 11th, 2012 marked mine & Eddie's 1 year wedding anniversary.  To celebrate, I looked up the traditional anniversary symbol for the first year, which was "paper".  Some of the gift ideas were things like concert tickets, money, gift certificates, a box of notes to open etc, etc etc.... But I didn't like any of those ideas.  So the longer I thought about paper...paper comes from trees..., I'll get him a tree!!  Our very own 'Love' tree.  ;)



The Casinover Love Tree



 



Ha ha, Had to post this...this convo could happen.



So going along with this idea, I wrote Eddie a letter...on paper of course, explaining to him the symbol of paper for the 1st year being the most delicate of years, and as the years go on each traditional symbol, the material gets stronger and more valuable, just as I hope our marriage will.  



Of course, Eddie probably would have rather of had concert tickets, or money....but I'm a helpless romantic... and who am I kidding.  This was more fun for me.  The whole celebration was paper!  Paper napkins, paper plates, I even found these adorable paper place mats. 



Paper Place mats



 A whole year passed. Hard to believe, it went by so fast. Here's to many more!  Cheers!

September 11, 2011 - Our Wedding Day









I Will Survive

On my drive to work the other day, I was inspired.  Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" came on the radio and I belted it out word for word on my drive.  It's alot of fun for me to sing as loud as I can while I drive..errr, alone, anyway.  I will save your ears.  There was a time where I would think of people during this song, but today, it wasn't about a person....it was about food!  So here is my new rendition of the song...Sing along if you'd like.....Ahem......

 "At first, I was afraid, I was petrified

Kept thinking, I could never live without you by my side

Paleo Dilema

But then I spent so many nights thinking, how you did me wrong



Flabby ab-by

And I grew strong
and I learned how to get along

And so you're back from outer space

I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face

Temptation






I should have changed that stupid lock



I should have made you leave your key



If I'd known for just one second you'd be back to bother me

Go on now, go, walk out the door, just turn around now

'Cause you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one, who tried to hurt me with goodbye?

Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die?

Oh, no, not I, I will survive

Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive

I've got all my life to live, I've got all my love to give

And I'll survive, I will survive, hey, hey

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I've been reading the The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  I read a chapter last night that was about consciously making more time in her schedule for fun.  That's right.  Fun!  Pure, wholesome, self-fulfilling, enjoyment.  That got me thinking...what do I do for fun?  Or even a better question....what do I consider 'fun'? 

If I was to answer quickly, I'd say, "I have fun all the time.  My calendar is full of events and things to do with my friends."  But busy doesn't necessarily mean 'fun'.  Do I enjoy having a busy a schedule?  Sometimes.  But sometimes I appreciate not having anything on my schedule so I can do...nothing!

So pondering this 'fun' topic, I realized I'm not sure I know what I enjoy doing.  I'll try just about anything... kayaking, fishing, rappelling, rock climbing, and heck I've even tried shooting guns,  but as adventurous as those things are, and I do believe that I like them, they are not necessarily the thing I want to pick up doing when I want to have a few moments to myself.  I think I'd be more honest with myself to say I like the idea that I DO those things, not necessarily because they are all fun for me to do. 

I want to like reading a whole lot more than I do, and I wish I liked running a lot more than I do.  But I just don't.  But, I love crossfit.  I don't always have the motivation to get up and do a workout, but when I actually do it, the duration I enjoy, as well as the fulfillment I get after completing a workout.  I also enjoy finding nutritious recipes that I can "paleo-fy".  Yes, I may have just made that word up, but seriously, I can spend hours on Pinterest looking up recipes and altering them to be more paleo.  So the hunt of finding recipes is fun, but I'd much rather be in a fully stocked kitchen (because I don't enjoy grocery shopping) to create the paleo'fy'd dishes.  To top off all that fun, I want to share this new meal with all my girlfriends' for a girls night with a bottle of wine and giggles!  Now that to me is fun!  What do you do for fun?

Summer Eatin'



Roasting Beets and carrots with olive oil and fresh rosemary



Hi all!  So I experienced my first farmer's market since moving to Maryland last Sunday.  It was the Baltimore Farmers' Market & Bazaar located in downtown Baltimore.  It was simply, GREAT!  I spent about $60 and got roughly about two weeks worth of produce.  In my satchel I collected beets, beet greens, baby zucchini & summer squash, carrots, spinach, Maryland olive oil, Maryland home grown willdflower raw honey, sugar snap peas, broccoli rabe, sweet potatoes, Sweet and Sassy beef jerky (for Eddie) and some peaches.  Complete summer freshness and good eating is commencing in the Casinover household, not to mention colorful and beautiful side dishes and healthy snacks. 

The market was a wonderful experience, and a perfect way to support the local farmers.  I fully intend to hit it up at least once a month, if not twice.  Here's to summer and healthy eating!! 

Acceptance