15 + (37 x 2)

May is a month of serious numbers around here!

On the 9th we celebrated our 15th anniversary. I'll spare you the mushy details (except to say that we're so thankful to spend another milestone together) but I will share a picture of the (handsome!) husband of my youth on our 15-year sushi date:

(And if all goes according to plan, we'll be eating sushi next year at the Tsukiji Market in the middle of Tokyo on our belated anniversary trip!) 

And now, about our birthdays: I hit 37 on the 18th, and Jan Michael followed just yesterday. 

This year I decided I wanted to hit the ground running on the 17th (treat every day like it's your birthday, I say!), and so my birthday eve began with Lori and Tonya on a coffee date. They bought me a latte and gave me beautiful handmade cards (card-making wonders, those two) and Tonya made me a sign to hang in our Seabrook bedroom, which made me cry ('You're such a girl!' said Jan Michael with a smile).

I went directly from coffee to lunch with Jan Michael (at Taco Time. So fancy, I know. But I have a thing for fish tacos and refillable Coke Zero.) And later, because I'd also decided I wanted to do something fun when the clock struck midnight on the 18th (don't waste a second on your birthday, I say!), we had a late-night donut party with Steve, Lori and Karissa at a 24-hour bakery across the valley. 

Apple fritters and bacon maple bars are a fantastic way to begin another year, but even more than that, I love the memories we made. Friends that are willing to hop on board with this kind of silliness are some of the very best gifts!

And then yesterday Jan Michael was the star! He would be perfectly content to let his birthday slip away quietly without any fuss, but he's married to me, so that's out of the question. 

Earlier I said no mush, but I can't help it! His smiles light up my heart :)

And oh, his poor cake. I meant it to be much more grandiose than this, but sometimes what I see in my mind doesn't quite translate into real life. It tasted just like a birthday cake should, though, so it wasn't a complete flop :)

Now, if you have a birthday coming up, your mission is to celebrate! Find something, big or little, that makes you smile and reminds you of what you have to be thankful about, and do it! That's an order!

So mayst thou live, dear! many years,

In all the bliss that life endears,...

~Thomas Hood, "To My Daughter, On Her Birthday"

With my head in the clouds

I've spent a good chunk of the month wandering around with the camera pointed up; the sky is like a magnet to my eyes and I can't resist the pull! It's a wonder I haven't ended up in a ditch or something, what with not bothering to pay attention to where I'm putting my feet :) 

And here's a sweet P.S. from our day with Todd, Jenny, A & B at the end of April, all courtesy of Jenny:

Oh, this makes me laugh! I love that we don't need words to know what A thought of of a grown-up messing around on the toys :)

Each time we're together, it becomes clearer and clearer that Miss B and I are cut from the same cloth. I smile just thinking about her!

And this is why it's a good idea to hold tight to some of your favorite things from when you were small :)

April send-off

 Do you know what makes a really lovely end to April? Merry-go-rounds and jungle gyms and creeks that beg to be explored and two darling little people who jump up and down when they hear that roasted cauliflower is on the menu for dinner. Todd, Jenny, A and B, please come back soon!!

River cheer

Tonight in a fit of exhaustion-induced boredom, I took myself to the river. I find sometimes that the cure for such a silly state of poor-me-nothing-in-the-world-sounds-fun is putting a firm stop to the nonsense and making myself get up and go. And besides, shame on me if I would have chosen to stay inside on an evening like this, staring at the wall cross-eyed or something.

The sun was shining.
The birds were singing.
The breeze was blowing.
Altogether lovely.

Captured!

I've been busy the last while stalking spring. It's everywhere, of course, but putting myself smack dab in the middle of it has been tricky, what with all of the thunder and lightning and ferocious rain storms we've been having every other day.

But! April showers bring May flowers, and besides that, April isn't doing too badly in the flower department anyway :)

And then there's the return of the God's-creation-is-so-beautiful-I-can-hardly-believe-it's-real sunsets:

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven -
All's right with the world!
~Robert Browning

A spoonful of sugar (or maybe a truckload)

You can't imagine the amount of sugar in this house these days. Sugar here, sugar there, sugar all over the floor and on the cupboard doors and covering my eyelashes, too, probably.

On Saturday our very pregnant sis and one highly anticipated baby boy (wonder nephew #3 coming our way!!) will be showered will all kinds of love and sweet wishes. Months ago I named myself chief dictator of this party and declared that we would celebrate with dessert and nothing but dessert. Not even a hint of a vegetable or a tea sandwich for miles, I said. Fortunately, everyone involved has been very kind in humoring me, and so sugar it is!

Here is a very tiny sneak peek:

Someone has created a monster.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have discovered Instagram. I'm sure this has come 8 years behind the rest of the planet, and by the time I've tinkered and fiddled around enough to know what's what, everyone else will be on to the next great thing, but nevermind :)

I've taken pictures of the silliest things this weekend, including but not limited to our shower curtain; here are the ones that have made the highfalutin cut:

Hooray for free fun! :)