Easter Traveling

IMGP0833
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

So, confession: I did hunt Easter eggs simply because I knew there were dollar bills in some of them. Sad. But I noticed that my sisters and their husbands also jumped off the couch when they heard about the money.

Jason and I are back home after a week of heading to Sudan and Idaho, respectively. We are patting ourselves on the back for successfully scheduling trips at the same time--something we've never managed to do in the five years we've been dating. Jason had a great trip, traveling all over the country and touching base with a lot of people while he was there. It's been over a year since his last trip to Sudan.

My trip was equally delightful. Since I worked in Boise the whole time I was there (versus traveling all over the state), things were laid back and allowed me plenty of time to shop, eat out, and visit. On Saturday, Mom and I went to the church just in time to miss Cole's Easter egg hunt, but we did play on the bouncy bounce and visit the Easter Bunny. And seriously, nothing could be cuter than Cole on Easter.

Plus, I love Easter. Every year I value the Easter story more and more. He is risen indeed. This year Easter was the third anniversary of the death of my Grandma Bunn, and what a great chance to celebrate her life and how she and we are brought to Life through Christ. Three years ago, Easter was the day before my grandma's funeral. When we arrived at her church, the congregation was singing "My Redeemer Lives," and I thought, "Yes! This is what it is all about!" I hope your Easter was equally hopeful.

(Oh, and I racked up a whopping 10 cents from the Easter egg hunt.)

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It's not so bad, after all, when your week-long birthday celebration includes this:

Five Things that Make Me Happy

Just because it's Friday. And because, well, I love my spice cabinet.

1. My beautifully organized spice cabinet. Every once in a while it makes me think of a spice bazaar in Istanbul. Okay, so I have an overactive imagination.

2. Dark chocolate Snickers bars. Words are inadequate to describe how delicious they are. Regular Snickers don't even come close, and that is saying a lot because I have been known to have a serious affinity for Snickers bars. (Btw, we are so eating sugar again.)

3. Country music radio. In the car. As the morning alarm. In the shower. Nevermind that Jason turns the shower radio off the moment he comes into the bathroom in the morning, I could never live here without a decent country radio station.

4. Pride and Prejudice. I like the book, the A&E/BBC mini-series, the new 2005 version, etc., preferably interspersed and/or read and watched simultaneously. In a pinch I will be happy with Emma. Or Persuasion. Or even Sense and Sensibility. And if I'm desperate, this, which is currently sitting on my nightstand.

5. Cole laughing really hard. It tickles my soul. And I get to see him in less than a week!

Note to Krystal, if you are reading this: I still have the foot of toothpicks.

Happy News!

Oxford Friends!
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

I've been waiting for the official announcement before posting this picture, but it turns out that you can't actually see the ring on Jill's finger in this close-up. Upon returning from Hawaii we were greeted by dear old friends Jill, Sean, and Carrie, who stayed at our house for a few days while we were gone. It has been said before, but I love mini-Oxford reunions. And now that Jill and Sean are engaged (the news that they had started dating seven years after we were all at Oxford together made me very happy), perhaps we can coax more people into a reunion around wedding time!

Oh, and we can't have a post entited "Happy News" without at least mentioning this...

Is that Spring I see?

Just peeping!
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

I can't get TOO excited about the idea that Spring could arrive any day, since we spent our Saturday morning eating frittatas and drinking tea next to a roaring fire (okay, we suck at firebuilding, so a feeble fire). It was windy and pouring down rain, and we thought one last fire might be in order. But ever since arriving home from Hawaii to these little tulip spikes, we've been eagerly checking the beds in front of our house for signs of life. There is now a line of little spikes, and it looks like all the tulips we planted in the fall have poked their heads above ground! Yessss...

It is sunny and gorgeous today, and I WILL be walking down the street for lunch. Of course, it is also in the 40's, and probably downright windy, and I'm slowly getting used to the fact that March is not Spring in DC. It's only taken...(as I count on my fingers) seven Springs of living here? Wow. Still. We are right on the cusp!

We spent our weekend "not doing anything." Somehow, "not doing anything" required two trips to Home Depot, but after the towel rack in our bathroom fell off the wall for the third time, we figured that fixing it permanently wasn't a bad way to spend a couple hours. We also finished painting the trim from this project way back when. V. Pretty. We spent the rest of the weekend:
* sleeping. a lot.
* eating here with Dawn and Brian after seeing their new condo.
* picking out yarn for Jenny's baby blanket.
* reading this and this.
* watching some of the British "The Office" and, in order to recover, rewatching episodes from Season Two of the American "The Office," which we vastly prefer.