A little bit of happiness

My job is not a very upfront position. I like it that way. It is fulfilling to feel I'm having a significant impact through my work without dealing with any form of a spotlight (I get sweaty-palms nervous even when I have to make a little presentation).

At the same time, it's fun when someone makes a kind comment that makes me realize some people out there are benefiting from the work I do. So thanks, Kanakuk marketers, for passing on a little bit of happiness.

Book of love

For romantic occasions, I usually attempt to think of something creative to give my husband. There are two reasons for this: 1) I want it to be more meaningful than something I can pick up in five minutes at the mall, and 2) my husband is very non-materialistic (a wonderful quality) and doesn't always have a long list of gift ideas for me.

So, this year for our anniversary, I covered a little chipboard book that I found in one of my favorite stores, Archivers. Inside, I stuck down little pieces of paper, stickers, and other embellishments, as well as one of our wedding photos, all designed to tell Bill 100 things I love about him. (Thanks, Marianne, for sharing this idea at Pickled Pear Lane!)

It was quite a bit of work, but I'd wanted to try this type of thing of a while, so I'm glad I did it, and—most importantly—my husband is pleased with the result.

Two beautiful years

How happy it is to celebrate today two years of marriage with my wonderful husband! It was only about three years ago that I was convinced that I would never float down the aisle in a white gown and pledge my love to the man of my dreams.

Joyously, I did meet the man of my dreams—although I'm sure as a little girl I would have imagined him riding along on a white horse rather than decisively clicking through my profile on eHarmony.com.

And I'm sure as a little girl I would have never imagined the deep, lasting joy that true love and committed marriage brings.

Happy Anniversary, Bill! I love you with all my heart.

The day it all began ~ August 5, 2006

Ten crazy years

I spent last weekend at my 10-year high school reunion. In the day to day, I rarely pause to reflect on the past year, let alone the past decade. So it was an enlightening time to reflect on the people, places, and happenings of the high school years.

Certainly, 10 years makes a big difference in people's lives. Marriage and four kids, for some people. Exotic travel and new businesses for others. The most pleasant difference was the general absence of high-school behavior and divisions. Never remotely popular in high school, I discovered that the popular types—good looking, confident, friend- and opposite-gender-magnets—were actually very similar to me, both then and now. Most of us seemed to really struggle through high school for one reason or another, whether we put on a brave face or were more shy and under-confident like I was. Now, it seems, those high-school barriers have been removed and we can discover how much alike we truly are. In our more mature state, we're actually more similar than different in some ways—with a bond that comes from spending years of our lives together in a boarding school in the middle of nowhere, South Dakota.

Another pleasant surprise was that most of my classmates seemed to have retained their core personalities. None had changed so dramatically that I had trouble believing I had attended high school with them. God had dusted off the immaturities and teenage awkwardness, revealing beautiful, adult souls.

I must admit that the negative memories that were a part of the high school muddle were not completely absent from the weekend. But more of it was about spending time together talking, laughing, traipsing through tourist traps, and praying together.

Certainly, my last two years of high school was not among the most pleasant times in my life. Moving in grade 11 to a different country—let alone to a boarding school where the kids were super close—was the source of many tears and a little bitterness at the time.

But seeing members of my class again makes me thankful I was part of the 19 of us that graduated from that small school, that I had such a unique secondary experience—and that I am here, 10 years later, to reflect on and be grateful for it.