Julian’s birthday! J turns 25 on Saturday, and I’m just about as excited as if it were my own bday. I can’t wait to shower him in gifts and for his big pool party & taco bash on Saturday. And I know he is excited about being able to rent a car for less, haha.

The end of the semester! Can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to putting these classes behind me… it has been hellacious, to say the least. Juggling life and school is not always as easy as it seems!

My sister’s wedding! Memorial Day weekend, my little sister gets married. I know I will be a blubbery wreck, but I am so thrilled to see her walk down the aisle and be there to share that special day with her. It will be an additional bonus that I will get to spend the weekend with my family!

Scotland & Ireland! I’m aaaaalmost done planning our excursion. So far it is shaping up to be incredible. I can’t wait to spend days exploring Dublin, be back in beautiful Edinburgh again, and spend time with my grandparents outside Inverness, where the sun rises at 4am and doesn’t go down until 10pm.

And now that the “big things” are out of the way, here are the other miscellaneous things I love:

Frank, and the way he rests his head on my leg •  putting chamomile flowers in tiny jars (very cute, trust me) • The Bachelorette starting again (don’t judge me, it’s a vice) • speaking of TV, watching the entire Mad Men series with Julian in about a month • our new pool loungers (why didn’t I get these sooner?!) • organic cat nip (not for me, obvi) • waking up to Scout pressed against my back • French press coffee (which I’ve been drinking BLACK lately, I am so turning into my Dad) • finding a $178 dress marked down to $45… in my size! • being able to put my hair up without the assistance of bobby pins or clips (it’s growin’, ya’ll!) • Paper Source (kind of ridiculously addicting and I shouldn’t be allowed in the front door) • going to dinner and a movie with my husband, only to decide after dinner that we are too full and tired and deciding to go home with our leftovers instead (hello, OLD PEOPLE!) • randomly becoming obsessed with something and spending hours/days/weeks researching online (classic Sarah) • buying (& wearing) punchy-colored lipstick. I normally don’t do lipstick, but I felt drawn towards trying something new, so I went to the MAC counter and picked up Vegas Volt and Chatterbox. I like the look of wearing bold lipsticks without too much eye-makeup on top… it also seems very “summer-friendly.”

You know I could go on forever. But I will stop here… because school is out for the day and so is the sun, which I must go enjoy! Xoxo!

Hello? Anyone still reading? I don’t blame you if not. I am so not going to apologize for not posting these past few months though, because hey – life happens, and some things are more important than blogging, yaknow?

I am staring down the last few weeks of the semester, with my eyes happily set on the summer ahead. It’s been a verrrryyyy busy semester, 17 credits worth of madness full of chemistry, animal science, and medical terminology. But I still love my classes & have even managed to keep up my grades (though I may get out with a B in at least one class). If school weren’t enough, I also managed to plan (and fly home for!) my Mom’s 50th birthday party, my sister’s bridal shower, and my sister’s bachelorette party – all super fun, memorable events that I hope everyone enjoyed as much as I did!

This summer will definitely be a welcome break, but we’ve already got a few exciting plans in the works. First of all, my sister is getting married Memorial Day weekend in VA which I’m so excited for. Then a couple weeks after finals, we are heading to Scotland to hang with my grandparents, and then spend a week in Ireland. It will be J’s first time in Scotland and both of our first time in Ireland! If anyone has any suggestions on places to go or things to see, we are all ears. We’re flying into Edinburgh, then traveling up north to Inverness for several days, and then we have a week open in Ireland until we fly out of Dublin. So exciting! We are flying back into DC to spend Fourth of July with my family and then we’re back to LA. A couple weeks after that, my little (soon-to-be-15-yrs-old-omg) sister will be joining us for a week. That brings us to the end of July and so far we have no plans for August! Who knows, maybe we’ll actually stay put and do nothing for a month?

Until then it is just business as usual around here, studying & enjoying the Spring weekends. Julian’s got a big birthday coming up, actually – 25! He’s pledged his birthday to charity: water and asked all his friends & family to donate to clean water projects instead of giving him a present. So far he’s already halfway to his goal!! I’m so proud of him. I love reading all the sweet comments from his fans, too.

Trying not to get too weepy over the fact that I’ll be 30 the same year my husband is 25 but hey, that’s what you get marrying a younger man. And I think 30 won’t be as bad as I think.

Photo: themostamazingofthings

And since I don’t like to post without photos, here’s a recent photo of me in Mexico, holding a tiger:

Happy 2012! Yeah, I’m a bit late with this post, but I couldn’t resist adding a 2011 recap/appreciation rundown, because it was truly a phenomenal year for me. So many big changes, amazing trips, happy feelings, and so on. So here goes.

In 2011, I/we

• began the year by doing handstands
• got laid off from Myspace and began a happier new chapter of life
• visited friends in Italy, saw Naples, Rome and the Amalfi Coast
• went snowboarding in Big Bear (Julian’s first time!)
• bought road bikes!
• gave up sweets for Lent (SO hard)
• celebrated our first anniversary in Kauai, Hawaii
• Julian interviewed James Cameron!
• started running, met my goal, and ran my first 5k
• decided to go back to school to become a veterinary technician (& got straight As my first semester!)
• went to Chicago to have fun in the city & visit family nearby
• said goodbye to Noah, my family’s loving yellow Lab
• celebrated 4th of July with the beach & Hall & Oates
• moved to the valley and into our first REAL house, spent a week with my little brother & sister, and welcomed Frank to our family! (all in one week – crazy!)
• celebrated my 29th birthday at the Gentle Barn
• had the most wonderful Thanksgiving with J’s family back in Nashville
• said goodbye to Julian’s Great Grandma Dorty, one of the most unique and inspiring women I’ve ever met.
• welcomed visits from many friends and family
• spent an incredible week in NYC and VA over Christmas
• hosted our first party here at the house on New Year’s Eve

In 2012, I hope to:

• visit my Grandparents in Scotland this summer
• make the most of our trip to Mexico (later this month!)
• be the best Maid of Honor ever for my little sister Ana
• grow my hair long
• keep running
• eat breakfast everyday
• start volunteering at a veterinary hospital
• finally hang some art on the walls of our house
• be a more patient, appreciative, and proactive friend, sister, daughter, and wife

Today I laced up & went running for the first time since before Thanksgiving. I’m not sure exactly why I went on a two month hiatus, but I think it had to do with the intense amount of training I was attempting (I jumped into a 10k training program after my 5k), not to mention the stress of finals, holiday traveling, and of course, cooler temps. I mean, the temperature isn’t too bad around here of course, but the earlier sunset meant my evening running routine didn’t work as well.

Now that the holidays are over & we’ve had extraordinarily mild weather, I knew I needed to hit the pavement. But I kept putting it off. And putting it off. Then last night I had the worst time trying to fall asleep, and I knew it was time. Sleep should not be hard to come by if you are healthy! The straw that broke the camel’s back though was this morning when I was moping around the kitchen, head in my hands, having a little self-pity party, feeling super depressed for no reason at ALL. Moody as I may be, I’m smart enough to recognize annoying behavior in myself and I knew right away that today was the day I needed to get back out there! My moods are always so much better when I’m exercising regularly.

My run went well, but my break added a few minutes to my 5k time. It’s amazing how quickly you can lose all that training! I feel great though, and only felt like I might throw up once. Excellent!

Now I don’t feel quite so guilty about devouring that super-size vegetarian lasagna.

Photo: livehealthyworkhard

Photo: Elizabeth Messina

So, I have a new obsession… kale chips! I just made my first batch ever (using this recipe) with some leftover kale (which I used in chicken soup… caught a cold over Christmas break), and both Julian and I were shocked at how delicious they are. It isn’t often you find something that good for you that also tastes amazing. Of course, most of the health factor is taken out when you coat something in olive oil & salt and bake it at a high temp… but it’s better than potato chips! I think I’m going to have to make these for our New Year’s Eve party.

Also, I haven’t updated since finals or Christmas vacation, but both went great & I will update more soon!

Photo: TastyKitchen

P.S. Only one more final to go. I am *pretty sure* I got As on my first three, but time will tell. Hope you are all getting excited for the holidays! I know I am!