Karate workout last night left my knees shaking.

Short 1, both sides
Long 1
Short 2, both sides
Long 2
Short 3, both sides
Long 3
Long 4.... the longest kata ever, especially when it's the last one you do after 6 other katas...

No breaks. Straight through. Bam, Bam, Bam.
This post means nothing to you unless you know Kenpo Karate, which is only a little handful of you..
Just had to put it out there.

Book Review: The Shack

Didn't take long to finish, and I'm glad I read it. The book is about Mack, a man who's daughter is taken from him. Lost in sorrow and despair, God invites him to re-visit the place of his dread yet it is not his dread that he finds. The Shack is about his journey in reconnecting with God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It's about his coming to know God and feeling His healing power work within Mack's broken soul.

I must say, the author had some great and interesting insights on how to perceive Heavenly Father and His Son. It brought myself to a greater awareness of what my relationship with God can be like (not that it isn't lacking, but that I could really bring it to a deeply personal level, more so than it already is). There were new ways of looking at relationships, forgiveness, and hope. What I read, I felt the words testified of some important truths that I had not fully come to recognize before.

I recommend it if you're willing to read into such depth the view of this one writer's perception of eternity.

Hey Grandma, You Need a Haircut!

 Next time, we'll just have her jump in the shower instead of spraying her head (some of her face) with the spray bottle. Ha. Her face says it all huh.

 Alexis' comments were making Grandma nervous about me doing the cutting. Pretty sure she demoted me... or forbid me... from further cutting her hair. I had to explain that Alexis was just overly freaking out. It all ended well!

What a good sport she is!

Anniversary

 Him: New suit jacket

Her: Gold jewelry and an Anthropology wallet that left my heart throbbing when I didn't buy it. Lucky for me, Max listened to my heartfelt story and got it :)

Fats. It was a lot of yummy food.

 Year old cake!

 So glad we had cream on the outside instead of fondant.

 It's still REALLY good. I just ate more of it today.

A whole year. Three hundred and sixty-five days. When it came, it felt like it went by so fast. (When I was in it...it kinda felt like the longest year ever ;) ). We learned a lot, fought a lot, and loved a lot. We're still new to this marriage thing and making adjustments but we're in a place where we're both happy and can still have fun with each other. Opposite personalities coming together and figuring life out together has been quite a journey so far and we're excited for what the next year holds for us. We've got some big plans coming! :D

Got it

My next book?

Book Review

The Glass Castle holds up to its reputation. Wow. When you think you have it bad, just read what Jeannette Walls went through and she'll look like a Saint. It's fortunate for us readers that she could remember so much of her childhood in such detail. Her parents drive me crazy and I seriously had jaw-dropping moments when reading about their "parenting techniques." This is a memoir to read! Thanks to Meghan Getz for recommending and letting me borrow it :)

It took me awhile to get through it with all the holiday celebrations going on lately. Lucky for me, I get the bulk of my reading done while nannying (when the baby is sleeping!). Oh and I did eventually get the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from the library but was so busy didn't get in deep enough to read it all and had to return it to the library. My sister says that its hard to get through and it's only exciting towards the end of the book anyway. True?

Any other recommendations?

This post is purely for my enjoyment

so I can watch it over and over again without logging into my email and searching for it :)