celebrating

tomorrow night we're celebrating the 27th birthday of a friend of ours.

my husband's friend's fiancee. {got that?!}

we met in 2007 when my husband & his friend lived together.

she was {is} gorgeous & i was intimidated.

until about 3 years ago when we discovered our shared love for country music.

summer country concerts & trips to nashville {love!} followed.

as did "girl's night out" & dinner dates with the guys.

this past month she asked me to be a bridesmaid in their wedding.

she has become one of my close friends.

i always thought that my "close friends" would be the girls from my sorority/college.

those 9 girls mean the world to me.

i was fine {& blessed} with those 9 friends.

and now another has come along.

another girl & i made plans to celebrate her our friend's birthday.

dinner w/ 12 people, drinks at a bar & then hanging out at after.

my husband commented the other day, essentially,

that it's silly to want to get everyone together to celebrate a birthday @ our age.

{unless, of course, it's your 30th & your friends are surprising you in vegas}

i've thought that over for a bit. here are my thoughts:

there are too many scary & lonely times in life.

why not take the chance to celebrate when you can?

celebrate friendships. celebrate anything. celebrate the small things.

just celebrate. together.

so, tomorrow night i'm doing just that.

cheers to new{er} friends, good food, laughter, a night on the town

& a slice of birthday cake!

balloon bench via this pinterest pin from yatzer

...smile when it's raining...

in my last post(s) i mentioned the start of my own little happiness project.

3 new goals to focus on each month & every month thereafter.
starting with my attitude in january.
continuing with my marriage in february.

i can really see a change coming with my attitude.
& starting now I'm cutting out the unnecessary negatives too.
"it's so cold/hot outside!" "the internet is too slow."
"my margarita has too much salt on the rim."
i'm really wanting to say, think & project a positive attitude.
really excited about this & where its going.

february's goals for working on our marriage were itty bitty goals.
being present. using pleasant tones & expressions. giving proofs of love.

some are harder than others to do. all are so important.

i did really well with "being present"

by not turning on my computer @ home after work {to blog, read blogs, etc}.

by joining my husband for a round of golf on a saturday {brrr 40 degrees}.

& by doing the "little things" together {eating, errands, laundry}.

i'm actually really excited for the habits that i have set out for march.
centering around giving/goodwill/good cheer.

smile. give daily. be grateful.

i know for a fact that i don't smile enough.

this changes today.

i want to give give give.

my time, my attention, my love, my friendship, my knowledge, etc.

to my husband, dog, family, friends, community, strangers.

too many of us never take the time to give back,

even in the simplest way to the simplest cause or the smallest person.

this changes today.

i know this sounds cliche, but i have so much to be grateful for.

a husband that cooks, a dog that cuddles {sometimes}, a supportive family,

a quaint house, a boat to cruise on, no debt(!!!!), a supply of wine, a job,

a fantastic education, fun friends, a memorable childhood

& one heck of an amazing college experience.

"feeling gratitude & not expressing it

is like wrapping a present & not giving it." -w.a. ward

i'm ready to be grateful. to give. & to smile.

image via tonicoward