Goodbye, lovely weekend...

On Thursday, I got the ice cream maker I just ordered from Amazon with my $50 gift card I cashed in from my points on Lexis. I had a lot of trouble deciding between this and a bread maker and called John, both my parents, and Emily for an opinion. John had no opinion, Emily and my mom didn't answer the phone, and so when my dad emphatically said, "Get the ice cream maker," I just went for it. Plus, it's an adorable robin's egg blue color--how could I resist?



Next up on the weekend agenda: Friday. Friday was my 24th birthday (24 has still not sunk in). John got me these beautiful red wine glasses, which I was *thisclose* to buying for myself with my Amazon gift card. I never told him I wanted them, though, so I thought it was really thoughtful of him. I used to never drink red wine, but I've had a change of heart recently. John likes red better than white, so I think he is just thrilled that I'll drink red now!



Friday night we went out to a law school party (Champagne Campaign) down at Ky's Lounge. Afterward, we went to Chic-n-Bones. We didn't make it out until really late (typical!) but we still had a good time. This is a picture from that night and I absolutely love it--this is kind of John and I in a nutshell.



Saturday I had lunch at Yesterday's (probably my favorite restaurant in Morgantown) with my mom, dad, grandma, and John. (Sadly, no pictures--we were having too much fun and I forgot to take any!)

Yesterday I spent all day working on my student note for Law Review. We have to format it using a macro for Word, so I downloaded the program to a flash drive so I could do it at home. At 10:45 (the note was due at 11:59) I went to format my note...and the program wouldn't run on my home computer. I had to run to the law school to do it there, but luckily got my paper in by 11:30. Needless to say, though, it was a little stressful! By the time I got home, I was super tired but also WIRED. John suggested I relax with a cup of tea, which hadn't occurred to me, but I'm so glad I did. I chose my Sleepy Time tea. It has valerian in it, and it really works! I like to keep that tea in the house, as well as honey and chamomile (perfect for when you have a cold) and I usually have Tazo in the cabinet, too.




And that was the weekend!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day this year was pretty special! I have never gone out on Valentine's because battling the crowds just doesn't sound fun to me. I'd much rather have a nice evening at home, cook some great food, open a bottle of wine, and take it easy.

For what I'm embarrassed to say was the first time EVER, I pulled out my "dining room table" (it's usually over in a corner because there's no other place for it in my apartment) and put it in the middle of my living room. I set it with these great red place mats I bought several years ago at, believe it or not, Dollar General.



The beautiful flowers are from my Dad. He's sent me flowers for Valentine's Day ever since I was little:-) John got me a much-too-large box of chocolates, which I'm ashamed to say is already gone.






Dinner was ribeye seasoned with rosemary, salt, and pepper; red wine risotto; and asparagus sauteed in garlic oil. John did the ribeyes and cooked them perfectly.



The risotto was actually a really pretty purpley color; the camera on my phone just didn't do it justice.

Dessert was panna cotta in raspberry sauce. Pretty festive, huh?





With dinner, we had the cabernet that I used to cook the risotto, and we had champagne with dessert. The cabernet was a brand called 337 that I got at Kroger (it was on sale and it was only about $13) and it was WONDERFUL.

Here is John demonstrating, yet again, that he hates having his picture taken. At least I got him to stop flipping off the camera. How could I resist that face?




Hopefully I'll have excellent things to talk about for a birthday post!

Random Pictures I've Been Meaning to Add...

I try to take pictures of things that I've cooked, especially when the recipes themselves don't have pictures. Here's a bunch of things I've made (most of them were last semester, but I'm just now getting them up).



Italian Wedding Soup (a Barefoot Contessa recipe from one of her cookbooks)




White Chili (this is my recipe)




PIZZA!




Chicken and Black Bean Tostadas






And, finally, here's a few pics of me and my boys. (John LOVES taking pictures, really.)

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Yesterday was a very stressful day.

Newton was sick and I couldn't be home to care for him because, obviously, I have to work.

I checked my email in the morning and saw no new messages. Two hours later, I checked again, and studdenly there were messages from Law Review and from Professor DiSalvo, both notifying me of assignments that are due BEFORE school starts.

I had an email from Career Services talking about job applications- the first round of which are due the 16th (if I need to apply for a new job).

I suddenly realized that if I would need to apply for a job, I would need a transcript. You can't get a transcript with a hold on your account. I have a hold on my account until my student loans come in. Student loans don't come in until the first week of classes (after job applications are due). (I did find out from Career Services that I can use my unofficial transcript from MIX, so if anyone else is having this same problem, don't panic the way I did.)

Meanwhile, I was working on a section of a motion for summary judgment that was due by the end of the day.

Later on, I went to dinner with some coworkers and tried desperately to relax. Two sangrias and a wonderful Vandalia pizza later, I was still wound up. I called John on the way home, talking a mile a minute, virtually panicking.

He listened to me and tried to be calming, and I felt better once I got off the phone. Later that night I texted him to tell him I was going to sleep, and he said goodnight, and also, "Don't sweat the small stuff."

My immediate reaction was BUT THIS ISN'T SMALL STUFF, IT'S SCHOOL AND WORK AND ALL OF THIS IS IMPORTANT AND BIG! Luckily I didn't say any of this, because later on I began to think about what really is "small stuff" and to think about what is worth worrying over.

I remembered reading A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, a WONDERFUL book that I would say is a must-read for pretty much anyone. He discusses worry and talks about the unproductiveness of it. Thinking about this, I began to realize that even though the things I was worried about were important to me, they were not worth worrying over the entire day. Other than the motion for summary judgment (which I finished), there wasn't a thing I could do about any one of the other things while I was at work.

The homework and other due dates could be dealt with when the time came. The key is that the time was not yesterday. All of those things were "small stuff" in the sense that they were remote.

I'm writing all of this down because I want to keep it in the forefront of my mind when I begin to worry about things I cannot change or deal with. Worry just impairs what you're doing in the present. I think dealing with worry involves a combination of acceptance and prioritization. This is something I need to focus on, especially throughout the next semester, which will probably be the busiest of my life.