The week in numbers

15: Number of pieces of sushi I must have ate last night at Sushi Den. The best place in town, we walked out at 8:0o and there wasn't an open table.

2: Our first overnight guests, Jlyn and Donna. The first ones to use our extra bathroom and sleep on our air mattress, apparently it's pretty comfy. The Barkley B&B is officially open for business.

4: The number of 50 degree plus days this week. Got to love the weather here.

36: The number of hours I have been awake at work while the rest of the world sleeps.

29: Days until our best friends, Kim and Pat, make it for a visit.

4: Number of days they are going to be here.

975: Memories we hope to make during their stay. Miss them so much.

38: The inches of snow Copper has at it's base. Last year at this time, that number was more than tripled.

12: Resultant number of dings on my skis due to lack of snow.

2: Number of fires Haden built for me this week. Makes our place so cozy

15: Lemons in our fridge. Haden's doing a ten day "cleanse." We do lots of things together, but this will not be one of them.

3: Arguments we've gotten in from hanging photos on the wall. I like things centered and even, Haden's a bit more liberal.

5: Trips to the mailbox waiting the arrival of Will's Christmas gift for Haden...one more box and the shaving set will be complete!

1: Conversation with my sister in China.

7: Dollars she spent on a pearl necklace. Now I'm hoping she gets on for me.

2: Delicious apple pear pancakes I indulged in this morning at Snooze

12: Cuties I've eaten. Love them so much.

19: The number of crafty projects I have in my head.

0: Amount of energy I have to complete these projects.

45: Minutes of cycling tonight at the gym.

3: Hours until Haden's home....must find something to do.

Long time gone..

Life has been in full swing the past month, the biggest adjustment for me? A full time job. Yes, I have been at it for three months now, but I'm still adjusting. Haden is used the the 40 hours a week thing by now, but me, this is my first "real" job. I have had plenty of jobs in my day but they were always jobs that had an end in sight or were super easy. Here's the list:

-Lifegaurd at the good old West Pool. This was the easiest job ever (however it probably will give me skin cancer) and at the time I was so sad to say goodbye. Over four summers I only jumped in once to save someone, other than that the responsibility of this job was next to nothing. My biggest concern: which friends would come say hi to me at work.

-Blending up smoothies at the Rudolf Fitness center. This job would get crazy when half of Gonzaga came to wait in line for basketball tickets, other than that, I did homework and chatted with friends. Biggest concern at this job: staining my clothes with a blueberry smoothie.

-Working the drive-through at Einsteins. This was the worst job ever, that's all I will say about it. Biggest concern: try to avoid getting asked out by creepy co-workers, and yes, they all knew I had a boyfriend.

-Ultimate Bagel, how I miss you. The people I worked with and daily regulars make this job awesome, not to mention delicous food. Concerns: Somehow avoiding weight gain and counting that gosh-darn till.

All the above listed jobs were simple, fun and didn't carry much responsibility. The tables have now turned. I really enjoy my new job at Children's but is not easy and the responsibility is heavy. My biggest concern at work now: having a patient die.

There's a part of me that still expects a four week break for Christmas, not to mention a few months in the summer. It was hard having to go to work around the holidays, December is usually my veg-out and ski month. And it's weird knowing that if I want a break I'm going to have to schedule it and take time off--there aren't any predetermined Spring Breaks anymore.

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but there are just my thoughts the past few weeks. I'm hoping that in the next few months this will all begin to feel normal to me and that I'll be able to successfully balance marriage, life, fun and work. In the meantime, I'll try to keep the blogs coming.

Relax, don't do it.

It's been a busy past few weeks. Ever since the Christmas Vacation (a euphemism this year), Lauren and I have been busy. We flew up to Kettle Falls to have Christmas early with family. From there we came home and had Christmas with the Swalms, a successful affair but hardly relaxing. The day after we were in the hustle and bustle of moving into our new place, pictured below.

So today was a wonderful day. We slept in till 9. I made French press coffee and breakfast burritos (with chipotle hot sauce, spinach, and Morningstar Farms® sausage patties). We planned our fiscal future for January. We dined at a dingy Vietnamese place, drinking in the broth of Dac Biet. I cleaned my yellow turd of a car. It's now a shiny turd. Many good things today.

But the best is simply spending an uninterrupted day with Lauren. It never fails to amaze me how much I love being with her (she just brought me ciabatta bread with blue cheese melted on top). She bought me Boddingtons beer the last time at the store. These simple things mean a lot to me. She holds me accountable to being a Christian husband, one who needs patience and forgiveness. Here we are, a year and a half into our marriage, and I'm still learning how selfish and aloof I can be. *note the heavy sarcasm

Right now Lauren's reading a ancient book on marriage by John Chrysostom (aka, Goldentongue). He was a pastor known for his passionate preaching an engaging sermons. He challenges husbands to never simply address their wives by name, but to include loving terms of endearment. I laughed inwardly at the thought, but surely there is truth in that statement. If husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the Church, then we should do no harm.

We have a tremendous privilege and a mountainous duty men. Make no New Years resolutions this year; love your wife and see how much that changes you.