That Loving Feeling

This morning Jen over at Peanut Butter Runner posted Five Things She's Loving and it got me to thinking and feeling grateful for all I have in my life. I had a long talk with my mom last week about the power of a positive attitude. If I sat down and let myself wallow in self pity, I would be miserable. I'm 735 miles away from my family and friends, I'm 7000 miles away from my husband, I work part time and have no clue what I want to do with my life and I'm currently missing out on Restaurant Week in Charlotte. *sigh*

But I don't let myself dwell on those things. If I did, I would drive myself absolutely crazy. Instead, I try to think about what is good in my life and what makes me happy. And these are the five things that currently make me smile.

The progress I'm making on the living room

When Graham bought this house the room was very, VERY beige. Beige walls, Brown floor. Brown (brick) fireplace. Brown. Brown. Brown. And I absolutely hated it. I know beige is a neutral color, and neutral colors are great for paint colors (at least according to HGTV), but I hate beige. So, my first step was to paint the accent wall (which I am SO in love with). Then came the fireplace. Graham and I had been planning on painting the fireplace since last fall when I read the tutorial on Young House Love, but when it came time to do it, I was very hesitant. I worried that painted brick would hurt the resale value of our house and that it would be a colossal mistake. But the more I looked at that end of the room, the more the big, dark fireplace bothered me. It made the room look so dark and it was competing with my beautiful wall as the main focal point, so it had to be painted. The fireplace took longer than I thought (the grooves between the brick were SO deep!), but I love how it turned out. And now I'm in the process of painting the rest of the room a pale gray and the dark brown trim a crisp white.

Sir Buddy

I know everyone probably thinks I'm on the verge of turning into the crazy cat lady, but I absolutely adore my cat. He's affectionate and playful. He plays fetch, he sits on the edge of the bathtub and plays with a rubber duck in the tub while I'm taking my nightly bubble bath. He makes the cutest noises and greets me every day when I get home from work. He's gotten rid of the loneliness I felt when I moved here and he's helped make this house into a home for me.

Little Rock Air Force Base Fitness Center

The fitness center on base is FANTASTIC. And it's free. I absolutely love working out there. The equipment is state of the art, there is a Smoothie King inside. The weight room is HUGE and the cardio room is awesome. I never have to wait for the machine I'm wanting to use. It's less than 5 miles from my house and did I mention that it's free?

My beautiful, cobalt blue stand mixer

Graham bought me my highly coveted, beautiful Kitchen Aid stand mixer our first Christmas together. I love this mixer so much. It has helped me come so far with my baking and has inspired me to experiment in ways I never have before. For example, this weekend I'm attempting either chocolate and strawberry vegan cupcakes or a red velvet cheesecake.

My Wedding Gown (Pic of New York Bride & Groom)

The picture is of New York Bride & Groom, but the thing I'm LOVING is my WEDDING DRESS!!!! My blog is public, so I'm not posting the picture (my husband has stumbled over here every so often), but I just ordered my dress and I couldn't be more excited. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it back in December. The lack of a beautiful gown and the lack of pictures were the only reasons I wasn't 100% thrilled with our intimate April wedding. And while the planning is kind of a pain (especially from so far away), and a wedding is overpriced, I love my dress and I absolutely can not wait for it to come in =)

(If you want to see a picture of my dress, I'll gladly email you a picture of it!)