Happy February!

I am a February baby, and I've always loved this month--for more reasons than my birthday. My favorite color is pink, I love Valentine's Day (I defy anyone who believes it to be merely a commercially-driven holiday. I think it is splendid to celebrate love and romance) and I love seeing all the decorations in stores. The little jewelery shop I work in is decked out right now, so there is some added joy in my day.
Since last I posted, various changes have happened for our family. The first, most startling change has probably come from our revised eating habits. The delectable pictures above . . . I can pretty much no longer eat. At least in traditional forms. A few weeks into the new year I adopted a strict vegan diet, one that is organic as much as my food budget will allow. Since I do a lot of my own cooking from scratch, I only had to make a few slight modifications (such as buying an egg substitute and soy/rice milk) so it hasn't been too difficult on me. The best part is that I feel absolutely amazing. My body is working better than it has in a long time, and I know I'm getting way more vitamins and minerals in my diet now. Randy has been a good sport about the whole change in my cooking. He never liked milk or eggs, and he has always been wary of most meat so he hasn't minded that bit. I think he does miss his real cheese and things like philly cheese steaks on occasion . . . he'll just have to sneak one every once in awhile. :o)
On January 12th we celebrated our one year milestone with a relaxing, wonderful trip to Salt Lake. Our boss helped us out with a great deal on a bed and breakfast, so we visited the Anton Boxrud B&B. When we got there, we first watched a disappointing Seahawks game, and then headed to temple square where we watched the Joseph Smith movie (Randy hadn't seen it before). Then we headed downtown to PF Changs for some AMAZING food (thank you mom and dad Weatherspoon!) and then back to the B&B. It was so nice to get out of town and feel so pampered, and just spend time together. It was really a perfect weekend.
Two short weeks later, Randy celebrated his quarter-century mark. Yeah, he's still a young one. He actually had to work that day, so I spent my day off getting some surprises ready for when he got home that night. I found him a copy of Treasure Island by Stevensen which he has been wanting to read for some time, and the new Sophie Milman CD "Make Someone Happy" that we heard previewed on NPR like 5 months ago. (Really good cd by the way) I made him a veggie delight pizza with whole wheat crust and even a little real Tilamook cheese on top and some organic chips and hummus, and when he got home we just ate, cuddled, and watched a movie. Mandy even came over to help eat the cake. It was a nice night . . . and the rest of his gift will come later this month when we go on a ski trip to Alta.
I think that pretty much catches us up . . . We did have a baby shower for Joy while Darlene and Ashley were in town, and I just found out that my dear friend Leith is having a baby girl! I am so happy for both of them. They had both just let me babysit once in awhile!!