The Reason Why.

Dear Newlywed Husband,

In exactly one month from today we will have been married for a whole year! It doesn't seem like it's been that long, does it?

Probably because I love you so much...

~I love you because you never forget to kiss me goodbye in the morning, or hello at night.

~I love you for trying to always make me laugh when I am having a bad day.

~I love that you are so totally and completely silly around babies - you instantly start making funny faces and tickling them...and it makes me want to see you with our future babies.

~I love your work ethic, and how you treat everyone fairly and with patience and compassion.

~I love how you look when you first wake up - bright-eyed and messy hair.

~I love that you never, ever make me drive when we are in the car together, because you know how much I hate driving.

~I love that you are manly enough to adore Nascar, yet metro enough to know what Valentino is.

~I love that you have the same stupid sense of humor as I do - and will laugh when I ask if you are 'happy like a clam' or 'crabby like a crab'.

~I love your smile, because you smile with your eyes, and not just your mouth.

~I love the way you hold the door for me, and everyone within a 15 foot radius.

~I love that you treat a waiter, valet, or anyone in the service industry with the same level of respect that you would give the president of the biggest company in the country.

~I love the fact that you not only refused to be intimidated by my loud, overwhelming family, but that you actually thought they were awesome. (which they are :)

~I love you for planning huge, elaborate vacations to Europe or South America with me... and then agreeing that we should just go to the beach and drink pina coladas.

~I love you for never making me worry about who will provide for our family.

~I love that you tell me that I remind you of Catherine Zeta Jones, when in reality I resemble Karen Walker from Will & Grace.

~I love that you have never complained about my cooking, and have eaten everything I have ever served you with a smile and a 'Wow honey, this is delicious'!

~I love that you let me watch Will & Grace re-runs in bed, even though I fall asleep within the first 5 minutes.

~I love that we have been married almost a year, and it seems as though it has been forever, but at the same time just an instant ago that we said 'I do'.

Happy almost anniversary honey.

Love,

Your Wife.

Anthro at Home.

Oh Anthropologie. I love you so. If only Newlywed Husband would let me have more of your fabulous home products in our house... but he has deemed most of your beautiful furnishings as being too 'girly'.

Sigh. A girl can dream, though.

{What Newlywed Husband doesn't know is that when the babies come... and our first girl is born...then all bets are off. He won't be able to see through all of the antiqued white furniture, ruffles, and floral prints... }

Now I'm On My Soap Box, and I'm Not Getting Off.

Remember this little post I wrote last week? About the offensive bumper sticker?

Well, I struck a chord with someone, and it's caused me to do a lot of deep thinking regarding that post... with my conclusion being that I not only stand behind the opinions expressed, but feel even more strongly about them now than I did last week.

Here is a [paraphrased] look at one of the comments from a reader (please go to the original post to read the full comment):

"I think a church has no business in the political arena. As I said before they can influence the hearts and minds of their congregation but shouldn't go beyond that. "

This statement frightens me to my very core, because it represents how we, as a country have become so focused on being politically correct. We are constantly worrying about not offending anyone by saying the word "God", or "religion", that we have lost sight of the very values upon which our founding fathers built this nation!

Some are so concerned with keeping religion and politics separate that attempts have been made to remove the words "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, and "In God We Trust" from our currency. Words that make a statement about the beliefs that this nation was founded upon, and what has held us together through wars, natural disasters, and financial crisis.

Please do not assume that I believe that everyone should be a Christian, or that everyone should even be religious!

But by saying that in America, land of free speech and democracy, a church should not have a political voice simply because it is a tax exempt organization is discrimination at the most basic level there is.

There are countless non-profits out there that speak to political issues such as these:

• stem cell research
• abortion
• abuse/domestic violence
• animal rights
  

All of these organizations exist because the people who support them feel strongly about HELPING SOMEONE OR SOMETHING. This is why they qualify for non-profit status, because their programs and efforts go towards bettering our nation/world.

Now, if I'm not mistaken, one of the most important things you learn in church is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself". Sounds like helping someone, right? Every church you can think of has outreach programs, medical assistance programs, abuse counselors... etc - right?

I fully support each and every one of these organizations in having the right to speak freely and openly in both political and non-political arenas. Why should a church not have the same right? They are not trying to convert or 'force Jesus' on anyone, but simply fighting to preserve the values and belief system that our country was founded upon.

Just because a church does not pay taxes does not mean that it is not contributing to the good of society through outreach programs and countless ministries that help those in need. They SHOULD have a political voice - based on the Constitutional right to free speech.

What do you think?

P.S. I promise this will be the last political-ish blog, I truly hate talking about politics, and try to avoid the topic at all costs. But, I also feel strongly about the right to free speech for EVERYONE, tax-exempt organization or not.... :)

What if...

Madonna, Courtney Love, and Fran Drescher were all genetically combined to make one person?

Would she look like this?

Discuss.

Bon Appetit!

Just saw Julie/Julia...and it reaffirms my belief that Meryl Streep is the most amazing actress on Planet Earth.

Happy Saturday!

Friday Savings!

White House Black Market has sooooooooooooo much cute stuff on sale right now... and if you enter the code "8889" when you check out it will take 20% off your entire order!

Don't tell Newlywed Husband I know this.

I Fought the Law...And I Won.

On my way to work yesterday, I got pulled over for running a red light - stink!

I was turning left, and got stuck behind a semi, so I couldn't see the light when I entered the intersection...and it just happened to be red (which, in case you are wondering, is the wrong color for a traffic signal light to be when you are in the intersection).

Mr. Nice Police Officer runs my plates, and walks up to have me sign the ticket, OBLIVIOUS to the fact that I'm conjuring up my best, "Please don't give me a ticket, because I'm just a cute little innocent girl" face. He has one of those new-fangled evil little ticket machines that looks like the little electronic device that UPS men carry to deliver packages.

I sign the electronic signature pad, and he pushes the 'Print' button to print my copy of the ticket.

...aannnnddddd nothing happens.

He tries again. Still nothing.

Mr. Nice Police Officer decides that letting me off with a warning is easier than trying to diagnose the printer malfunction on his evil little machine, so he voids the ticket in the system and lets me go on my (now) merry way.

Newlywed Wife - 1

evil little machine - 0