Easter Week

This week I am remembering back to when I was much younger and celebrated - with some gusto - Easter weekend. It feels like it has been so long since I did this. Every year I continue to give up something for Lent, but I do not know the last time I really acknowledged Easter and Good Friday (reverse those) in a fitting way. This year, however, I have an accomplice and a plan. I'm slowly "teaching" my husband some of the things I know about this holy week. Sadly, my knowledge is limited. Luckily, we have a friend with TONS more knowledge than me...many thanks to his religiously zealous past relationships. Between the two of us we have begun to school my husband on some of the basics. And this weekend we bring out the big guns...10 Commandments! Since we've decided to do this, I'm taking one yummy step further and making a mini holy-day meal. We shall see what comes of this one. I am personally very excited and wish I had a whole big family of people to cook for!

Team Arles

Our very good friend, best friend really, Arles received a kidney just over 16 years ago. Last year we decided to start doing the kidney walk in his honor. I think we "raised" a measly $50-100 - donated all by the two of us actually. I'm so happy to see that this year we are almost at $500!  Feels like this is really coming along. Maybe next year we can do even more. We are looking to make some t-shirts for our team this year as well. I'll post pics if/when that happens. :)

http://donate.kidney.org/site/TR/Walk/NorthTexas?pg=team&fr_id=4310&team_id=108592

Dinner...pics!

We haven't eaten the dinner yet, but here are the pictures of it in the almost-finished phase.  All that is left is to heat up the oven and throw everything in!

Looks tasty so far....

Dinner...a yummy Monday

Tonight's Pinterest-inspired meal...

Jalapeno Chicken
"Extreme" Brussel Sprouts
Twice-Baked Potatoes

Pictures to follow along with a little analysis of how it all went.

"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman."
Anaïs Nin

 

 

This is hard to swallow some days. It forces me to get out of bed and be stronger than I thought I could be that day.

Meaning in Pain and Suffering

There are just so many things I want to write about The Art of Happiness that I almost didn't know where to start...until I read this section today. The Dalai Lama and Dr. Cutler discuss how people can get through emotional suffering. The Dalai Lama (DL for brevity purposes) talks about how we can transform our suffering into something else, something better for us. But first we have to accept that suffering is a part of life and a part of the body we were given. We must be able to reject the feeling that we are victims."...at that moment if you can look at the situation from another angle and realize that this very body...is the very basis of suffering, then this reduces that feeling of rejection - that feeling that somehow you don't deserve to suffer, that you are a victim. ...once you understand and accept this reality, then you experience suffering as something that is quite natural." (141) We must learn to accept that suffering is just a part of our existence, and to exist, we must suffer.

He then goes on and talks about Victor Frankel's idea that "man is ready and willing to shoulder any suffering as soon and as long as he can see a meaning in it." Finding purpose in your suffering will help you get through it.Buddhists and Hindus see suffering as something that will make us want to find spiritual liberation. Others may see it as a test or something that can bring us closer to God.

The Dalai Lama encourages the practice of Tong-Len. It is a practice where a person who is suffering will mentally imagine/visualize that his/her suffering is taking away that amount of pain and suffering from someone else. Then in turn, it is helping that other person gain positive things. It all really boils down to finding meaning in your suffering rather than just sitting around wallowing in it.

As I read this part of the book I recalled times I've been in physical or emotional pain or suffering. I wallowed in it. I want to try and take the idea of Tong-Len and use it to - as DL would recommend - expand my compassion and take control of suffering.

Our Love Story

I'm going to take a note and follow the group on this one - it looks fun at least.  

 

(You can find the original here)

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Our first official date was on November 21, 2009. We "met" on eharmony a few weeks before - November 11. 

 

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Eharmony

 

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

Just over 1 year - November 20, 2010 is our wedding date.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

We needed a religious-neutral location, so we did the whole thing at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas, TX. The ceremony was supposed to be in one room but two weeks prior to the wedding it flooded and they had to pretty much remove the ceiling, so the ceremony was moved to a different one...same hotel.   It was an average size - about 135-140 guests. We had a blast!

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Mine: Bolton (my maiden name) or Bets His: Hey Love of My Life...

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

He is extremely hard working, he pushes me to be better (at many things) than I ever thought I could be, and we can talk about everything with each other (keeps our minds going).

 

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

 He convinced me to take the next day - a Friday - off of work. After I'd done that, he secretly set up a video camera, snuck in to the office to get the ring, and came back to the kitchen. He spun me to face him - I was on a barstool at our counter - and got on one knee. At first I thought he was joking and the ring was really from Target or something because he said that's what he'd do one day. I honestly don't remember what he actually said, but I squealed and barely got out a "yes" over the happy tears.

 

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

NOT a flower and teddy bear guy.  Big on the champagne - mostly to get me tipsy :)

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

It really depends on the night. Most weekends we have a couple of friends over and cook dinner/grill one night and spend the other night just hanging out together watching a movie. 

 

10. Tell us one thng you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

Travel through Europe - backpacking style.  And definitely go to India! 

 

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

We didn't really do much because we've never been big on celebrating this one.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Just some champagne.

 

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Don't let things fester - tell each other as soon as you are ready.  And the other person needs to be ready and willing to listen.

 

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Still having fun with each other as we grow older. And growing together - old and otherwise.

What's your love story???