*10 things i'm loving right now*

Maybe because it's a Monday, or maybe because I'm tired, or because I'm starting to get sick, or because it's mid-quarter and I'm dragging with my stats class...whatever the cause, I'm feeling kind of weighed down. I usually go to the library after my stats class and do my homework for and hour or two, but today I could barely keep my eyes open in stats and knew I wouldn't make it in the library. I think this calls for a list of things I love to help me get a smile on my face.
1. This picture. After class on Friday, I took myself on a little photography tour around Seattle. This is one of my favorite shots from that day (wow, it's gorgeous here)!

2. And of course, without my Canon 20D camera, I couldn't have taken that picture. I so love our camera. It definitely makes me happy.

3. Living downtown. I wouldn't want to live downtown with kids, but this temporary situation is perfect. I love being in the middle of everything. I love that there are a million places to eat at any given time. It reminds me of when I lived in Minneapolis and Sydney. It has a whole differnt feel to it than living in the suburbs. I'm glad we are staying here for a while before moving into our house.
4. I love this purse that Wendel got me for Christmas. I love that it's green and curduroy.

5. I love that I am meeting my New Year's Resolution. Ali Edwards suggested choosing a word for 2007 to focus on. I decided to pick simplify because my life was so crazy busy before we moved here. I was always running from one thing to the next, trying to keep up with ten different things at once. This move has been very good for me in that aspect. Being in temporary housing, I am forced to simplify because everything is packed in boxes. I am also not committed to a million things right now. So really, this is an easy resolution to keep, but I am still happy about it.
6. Along with simplifying is my evenings with Wendel. Back in Mesa, we both worked until 9pm and got home around 9:30. It is so nice to have evenings together (for the first time since we've been married!). I love that we can watch Gilmore Girls on Tuesday nights and have dinner together.
7. I am LOVING these new stamps by Danelle Johnson. They are on my wish list.


8. I'm really loving Regina Spektor. I am listening to Fidelity right now. I don't love all of her stuff, but some of it is really good. (I also love that I can listen to it for free on her website. My boombox /cd player is packed so I am very limited to what music I can listen to). (Yeah, I'm one of those old-school people without an ipod).
9. Apparently Seattle is one of the healthiest cities in the United States. I don't know if that is true or not but I have noticed vegetarian options on every menu I've seen so far. And not just two or three things, but a whole page of the menu. The other day I ordered a vegetarian dish at a Thai resturaunt and I was asked if I wanted it vegan. I was pretty surprised. (Not that I am strictly a vegetarian, but I love having that option).
10. I love the view of Lake Union from I-5 South that I see driving home from school everyday. Even though I've seen it quite a few times now, it's still captivating to me.

I do feel happier after listing those ten things. Life is good.

Also, Britney (my sister-in-law) and her husband, Ron, came to visit yesterday and they stayed the night. They live in Portland, so we didn't get to spend a lot of time with them before moving here. It's so fun living closer to them. They brought their cats, Adrianne and Anna, with them. That made me happy because I miss "our boys." I'm excited that my mom will be bringing them with her when she comes in a couple of weeks. I do love our cats.

We also went to the Home and Garden Show in Tacoma on Saturday. We spent $100 on a new mop and some cleaner ($30 on the mop with an extra head and sponge, and then bought another head and sponge for $10 more, and the cleaner was $60 for a ton of it and we saw it pull axel grease out of carpet, so we were sold...plus we're out of cleaner anyway). I know it sounds crazy, but if you saw the mop demonstration...seriously, I was sold right away. It's all about the tools. And having a good mop is a very important tool. I'm pretty excited about it.

And I also wanted to share a few other pictures - some that I took last Friday on my tour around the city, some silly ones I took of myself (so I could experiment with some layers in photoshop), and one of Wendel and me being dorky, taken in a mirror. (Not the best photo ever but it captures how much fun we have together so I love it).