Busy = Good

For me, being busy is a good thing. I've discovered in my time away from school that I don't do well without structured activities. I mean, I try to keep myself busy and have a lot of interests and hobbies...but despite my good intentions to keep busy I tend to feel that my free time ends up being spent watching TV on Netflix or watching movies. And while I enjoy it, I feel better when I'm active.

The past few weeks have been a testament to how true this is for me.

I am now in a boot camp class, which occupies two nights per week (and is really challenging) and I just ran a 7k with my SIL. I also just signed up for a free 8-week online course about sustainable food systems, which will require 3-4 hours of my time per week. SB & I have an upcoming dance class on Tuesday nights, and we are one week from completing all of our "pre-work" for getting married through our church. And I'm applying for jobs (and I have an interview on Friday of this week!)

And, as is clear when I read the words that I've just written, I am as happy as ever. I find being busy so fulfilling, even if it brings some stress. I love the sense of accomplishment, even if the accomplishments are just little things that only matter to me.

On a related note, today we roasted our first chicken (I know, I can't believe it took until now to make it happen). It was delicious with garlic, rosemary and lemon. YUM.

Wedding Venue Photos

We have new photos of the reception venue from a sunny afternoon and they are lovely and exciting. Just wanted to share.

On a side note, we met with a mentor couple through our church and they were hilarious, irreverent liberals who attributed loving to party as one of the important aspects of their marriage. They were incredibly kind and were feisty and fun and inspirational together. They expressed great confidence in us. Apparently the assessment that we took separately indicated that SB & I are "two peas in a pod." :) Anyway, on to the photos!

Entrance (staircases on both sides, view of porch straight ahead, bar will be
on the left next to where the coat rack is in the photo, the main hall on the right).

Main hall -- large windows on the right side, french doors to porch on the left.
There is a fireplace, but it obviously won't be in use during our reception.

And the porch - quite possibly my favorite part of the space. If the curtains were open
it would look a lot brighter than shown in the picture. Photos along the right wall are
all black-and-white photos of people using the venue in the early 1900's. Awesome.
We will not have tables out here - I'm thinking the buffet, a few high-tops for appetizers,
and possibly the photo booth will be out here (after dinner, from 7:30-10:30 or so).