Surviving January

I am one day away from having survived the month of January. That is no small accomplishment for me. Despite my birthday (which I love) falling in the month of January, it is my least favorite month of the year - and here I am, one day away from it being over. Hurray!

I suppose it is appropriate that at New Year's we sing, "That old acquaintance be forgot..." because this year, much of January was spent reuniting with old friends and remembering how richly our lives have been blessed by these friendships.

Andrew and I started off the month by going on a cruise with four other couples - friends from our early married days when we lived in DC. Volumes could be written about the cheesiness of the actual cruise, but even more could be written about the fun we had with these dear friends. We talked and laughed and ate and reminisced and stayed up late playing games. We hung out on the beach and ate yummy authentic Mexican food and we shopped and laughed and ate some more. We laughed at old inside jokes and new inside jokes were made and Andrew and I both went away loving these friends so much. We often wonder where we would be or who we would be without some of these great relationships.

Just a slight indication of the cheesiness and the fun that lay ahead.

I don't even know what to say about this picture.

The day after, yes, less than twenty-four hours after we got home from the cruise, I got on a plane and flew to Arizona for a reunion with my college roommates. I can't say enough about how much I love these girls and how much I appreciate their friendship. It had been years since we had all been together - but we picked up like we had never been apart. We laughed so hard at who we used to be and the things we used to do, and celebrated what each of us has been through and where we are today. It was a fabulous three days.

(Of course it didn't hurt that we stayed at an amazing resort and that the weather was PERFECT and that there are lots of yummy restaurants in Phoenix. We all had so much fun together before we had to say good-bye and go back to real life. Let's do it again soon, girls.)

Since being home, I have celebrated my birthday by going to dinner with friends and by going to lunch with fun girlfriends. I have been celebrated by my kids and my family and remembered by so many friends. It was a wonderful birthday!

So, after writing this post, I'm wondering why January is such a tough month for me and why I actually feel like I have accomplished something by just surviving it. According to this post, it actually sounds like January has been a pretty cushy month. But even still, next year I am planning to be in Bora Bora.

She Makes Us Happy When Skies Are Gray

I can't believe people put stock in the relation between people's personality and their birthday. I've never paid any attention to the zodiac calendar, or to people's signs. Elizabeth is 37 years of living proof that not everyone is born at the right time, or at least not the right place.

Today is January 23, 2009. There are some places in the world, such as Bora Bora, where it is a beautiful, clear blue sky, sunny day. But here in Salt Lake City (and probably everywhere else we have ever lived in January) it is 39 degrees, cloudy, gray, dark, polluted, inverted, cold, damp, (its actually raining--more drizzling today). It is not the most inspiring, refreshing day you could ask for.

But it is Elizabeth's birthday. She wasn't meant to be born on a day like this, or even at this time of year at all. She is a spring and summer girl. She deserves to wake up on her birthday to a bright morning sun, with crystal blue sky, a warm breeze, fresh limes squeezed over fresh fruit, to spend the day with bare feet on green grass or warm sand.

Okay so maybe we should spend every January 23 in Bora Bora.

She did wake up to breakfast in bed by Abigail, a week old poppy seed muffin from Costco, along with a beautiful white rose she had taken from the vase. The note said, I love you, I made you breakfast in bed because it is a special day. Isaac delivered a carefully, lovingly drawn picture of "mom, in your church dress," pregnant of course--it looked a little like a cute penguin with brown hair.

Eleven years ago today I drove my friend Rob's car up to Washington DC, went to Pentagon City Mall, bought a new shirt (plaid surprizingly) took Elizabeth out to dinner at the restaurant we went to with a group of people the night we first met (did it have to be called "Spaghetti Garden?") then went to the Lincoln Memorial, as pictured on the timeless yet invaluable penny, where MLK spoke of his dream, and "Jinn-ay" jumped into the reflecting pool to get to Forest Gump, and I got down on my knees and asked her to marry me. She said yes. The rest is history. And present and Future. Thankfully for me, she was born at the right time and the right place for this and all other events to coincide.

She is the best pregnant mother of four kids in the world. We love her and are inspired by her devotion, her faith, her sense of humor, her laughter, her humility, her sensitivity, her strength, her creativity, her love of extreme sports?

When asked if this looked like mom's type of day the kids answered, No.

Mom is a sunny happy summer day. Mom is not a gloomy foggy day.

She is our Sunshine. Our only Sunshine. She'll never know how much we love her, please don't take our Sunshine away.