Surviving Winter

I happen to like winter. Fresh snow falling is kind of nice.

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But I have my limits. Snow in December and January is nice. Snow in February is not. This is the point of the year that I go into survival-mode. Just make it through until the sun returns to Michigan and green begins to reappear.

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Lucky for me, we have a gardens and sculpture park about 4 minutes from our house. Claire and I have been heading over there on a fairly regular basis the last few weeks. Something about spending time in the tropical conservatory gives me hope that Spring and warm weather will return to Michigan. Here's a little sample of some of the flowers we see in the conservatory.

Now can you blame me for being such a regular there???

Monday's 10 Things

Tuesday Edition thanks to a fun family weekend getaway!

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Here's what I'm most thankful for, right now!

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1. A great family mid-winter getaway.

2. Watching my little girl loving the water.

3. Spending time in an 84 degree room,

pretending it wasn't a snowy blizzard outside.

4. Seeing the crazy things Eric will do, all to make his little girl laugh. (Think standing under 1000 gallons of water falling down at once, I was so glad he did it so I didn't have to!)

5. Spending time with great neighbors who happened to be vacationing at the same place we were, what a fun surprise!

6. Claire's reaction to her Valentine's "party" I had prepared for her after we got home.

7. A healthy delivery for my friend who just gave birth to twin girls. (And now I get to shop for pink for two little 5-pounders, eek!)

8. My brother who has been handed a few lemons lately, but is definitely handling it well.

9. My husband, who is celebrating a birthday this week!

10. A date night this upcoming Friday night, woo hoo!

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What are you most thankful for today?

Happy Valentine's Day!

We love because he first loved us.

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1 John 4:19 (NIV)

Fresh Start Sunday

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

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1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

Favorite Picture of the Week

She's gotta have her sunglasses. My little snow diva.

Love Languages

Have you read this yet?

I love this book! My husband and I have both read it, and it has made such a difference in our marriage. We learned that we're polar opposites when it comes to our love languages, but that's just fine. It has totally changed how we relate to each other, and how we try to meet each other's needs in their own love language.We recently just gave it as an engagement gift to a couple and we hope they get as much out of it as we have. So if you're still looking for a Valentine's gift, here's my recommendation!

Ready for Valentine's Day

Not that I was a Grinch before, but I have found that I LOVE holidays so much more now that Claire is in the picture. She gets so excited about little things which makes everything so much fun!

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Here's my stash of Valentine's goodness to surprise her with...

Still working on a Valentine's Day menu...thinking everything needs to be red, pink or heart-shaped. And yes, that's a special Valentine's tablecloth with pom-poms I made for her little table.

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And Valentine's Day activities...wondering if I'm nuts for doing home manicures/pedicures with a two year old??? She's never had her nails painted and would probably think that's really something special!