Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Interesting Information!

I learned something very interesting today.

Have you ever wondered, "Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?"

Well I have the answer from "Oh Yeah Facts" on Tumblr.

The reason we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway is twofold: Parkways were originally roads that went through scenic parks (aka lots of tress) and driveways used to be much longer...you would have to actually drive up to the house.

Very Interesting, Indeed!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Alien Mushrooms!

Wow! While Kevin and i were out walking Joey, we saw these weird plants in the neighbor's yard. Because it was around 9:30 pm, the picture is dark but you can still see why it was picture worthy!


Then the very next day, the weird looking plants turned into these HUGE MUSHROOMS! What? Certainly they are alien plants:)


You can't tell how big they are, but trust me, they are HUGE! Refer to picture 1 and see how far apart they were in the beginning.



Monday, July 26, 2010

Talk About Being Honest...

"the love of my life marries today, and I am not the groom..." is how this article on www.politicsdaily.com starts off. WOW!

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/24/on-her-wedding-day-saying-the-things-left-unsaid/

Taken from Andrew Cohen - posted on politicsdaily.com

The great love of my life marries today and I am not the groom. I had my chance, a few years ago, but did not realize until too late how fleeting my moment with her was meant to be. Whether it was my fault or hers, and, let's face it, it was probably mine, I will wonder always about the life I might have had with the most loving and loveable woman I have ever known. Sometimes, I finally now understand, love, even crazy love, is not enough. Sometimes, as the romance novelists know, timing is everything.

But today is not a day for remorse. It is not a day for lost causes. Today is a day for celebration. The woman I once promised to keep happy
is happy. She tells me she is marrying a wonderful man, with a good heart, whom she believes I would have liked had we met in different circumstances. She lives where she wants to live. She has selected her life's path. All that is left for me to do is to wish her well and to hope that she has made the right choice; that she continues to find in him what she did not find in me. And I am sure he considers himself today the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.

The present I humbly send her today is this column; this public note, this irrevocable display of affection and support and gratitude; this worldly absolution from any guilt or sadness she felt between the time she said no to me and the time she said yes to him. No one ought to have to carry that with them into a marriage. I showered her with as much love as I could muster when we were together. I still love her and always will. So I am only too happy to offer my toast to her now, one more time, before she takes her vows.

I want to thank her, mostly, for rescuing me from hopelessness. When we met, back in the spring of 2005, I was nearly 40 and had been dating off and on for two years following an unexpected divorce. I had lost faith in relationships. I had given up on love. She arrived, unexpectedly, and showed me what was possible. She raised me up from the emotional dead. She drew out of me the
poison of divorce and betrayal. Eleven years younger but already more mature than me, she was dazzling, brilliant, funny, and sweet; she both gave and taught me patience and devotion and sacrifice. No woman before or since ever made me feel as desired, needed, beloved, appreciated as she did. No one has yet made me want her more. Some men live their whole lives without this kind of love. At least I had it for one brief, shining moment.

I want to thank her for being so delightful with my son, who talks about her still, and to my parents, who couldn't believe their son's good fortune to have landed such a sweetheart. Until almost literally his dying day, my dad would ask me about her. Near the end, almost exactly two years ago, I did not have the heart to tell him that we had broken up. It gives me peace figuring that he died thinking she'd be in my life when he was gone. And in a way I suppose she is. Rarely a day goes by when something in my life -- the law, journalism, horses, celebrity gossip -- doesn't make me think of her or what she'd think.

I want to thank her for-- it's now such a cliché that I'm almost embarrassed to write it -- making me want to be a better man. She really did. It happens. She made me less judgmental and more open to new ideas. She gave me a confidence I had never felt before. She gave me incentive to reach out professionally into areas I had not yet gone. I became more productive and back involved in the world. And, most important, I learned how to respond with love when so much love was offered to me. I learned how to trust but also show it. And in some way, virtually every friend, family member and romance in my life since has benefited from the gifts of grace she gave so willingly to me.

I want to thank her for making me laugh, at her and myself, and for making me swoon whenever she walked into a room. I want to thank her for the advice she gave me, and for the soothing tone of her voice during times of trouble. I want to thank her for completely changing my outlook on life. Before I met her, as a single father, I never would have considered having another child. Although it took more time than it should have, I came to realize through her love and devotion that there would be nothing more I would rather do in the world than have a child with her. How many poor souls go their whole lives without the heart-string pull of such emotions?

I want to thank her for giving my life's dream contours and a calculus. I want to live on a farm one day, a farm filled with horses and wireless connections where I can write. And now, thanks to her, I know exactly what I want and need in a partner who might just want to get there, too. That's just another gift she gave me; the gift of knowing what is possible in a relationship; of refusing to settle for mediocrity where it counts, and of taking the chance when something inside tells you it could be love. I sound like a sap. I know. But it's no less true. No matter what my romantic future holds, I know there will be no retreat from the standards she has set. Like the song says, surely someone will one day dare to stand where she stood. I can't wait.

On her wedding day, I want to thank her for all those times she stuck up for me -- with her friends, with her family, with her work colleagues. It could not have been easy, explaining to all those cooler heads, why she was so devoted to an "old guy" who lived so far away. Yet she did it, even after she had decided that she would not throw down her lot with me. That's the sort of character I'd like to instill in my son. It's the sort that we think is all around us but actually is rare. It is courage and self-confidence and the ability to see right from wrong. She displayed it every day, right down to the end. Ours was a romance without rancor; a love affair that ended in peace, not war.

I want to thank her for being such an inspiration. She did not give in or sell out or become one of those poor women of a certain age in
New York who have put their careers ahead of their lives. When we met, she was living in New York but was not of New York; transplanted from the West Coast, she had not allowed herself to be seduced entirely by the City's charms. She took from Manhattan, like so many other beautiful women do, but she never gave to it her heart and soul. She was always rooted even among the rootless of her age and time. She knew she would one day leave the City, and she did, on her own terms. I admire her for that. I respect her for that. And I love her for it.

It wasn't too long after we met that I began imagining what our wedding day would be like. My second, her first, I nonetheless pictured her not taking it too seriously, laughing off the little crises that always pop up. I pictured her stunning in her dress and with that smile that would melt me. I pictured her having a vodka and soda to ease her nerves. I pictured us laughing a lot. I pictured myself at the end of the aisle. It was not to be. I've known that for years. But that doesn't make the love any less real.

So at last my wedding toast today is sincere: I wish the deepest and most profound love of my life a
happy life, a good life, one in which she gives to and gets from the loved ones in her world the hope and the passion and the comfort and the support she always and so magically gave to me.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Small Fry

Talk about a small fry...

yes folks, that is a baby octopus on a person's finger. yikes! I wonder how many of these I have swallowed while swimming in the Atlantic?

Friday, July 16, 2010

Largest Earthquake Every Recorded in the District...

...and i slept through it. Surprise! Surprise! Kevin always says that a train going through the bedroom wouldn't wake me and he is right! Check out this news article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38274327/ns/us_news-life/

Somehow an earthquake brings many deals our way like this one -
West End Bistro offers #dcquake Aftershock Cocktail, $3.60 in honor of magnitude.


Monday, July 12, 2010

Wedding Deets

I apologize if the title of this post got you excited. The only wedding deets I know is that Kev and I aren't discussing any wedding topics until August 15th. Why August 15th? The truth is, there isn't a reason. As soon as we got engaged, Kev said we couldn't speak a word until that particular date. Honestly, it was just some random date in the future but now that specific day has a lot of of pressure surrounding it. You can bet your best pair of heels that I am going to have things pinned down by then for the wedding presentation of the decade. I have already contacted some wedding planners for destination weddings and am going to speak to a local restaurant sometime this week for pricing and availability.

AND...i found these little treasures on WeddingWire.com.

bunnywithatoolbelt.com

Are you not obsessed with these cake toppers? Wow. I must have them!!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

I am ENGAGED!

You are reading the blog of the Future Mrs. Lanik! We got engaged last night (July 6, 2010)! I am still in shock. Here is a picture of my beautiful ring!


How did he do it? It was very simple. perfect. Very Us. We are vacationing at a beach house in South Bethany for the 4th of July weekend and the week has been PERFECT! Last night, we took a couple of beers and a bottle of wine on the rooftop to look at the stars and spend some time together. We were talking and laughing and then Kevin was saying really sweet things, which is not unusual, but then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course, it was a kiss and a big "YES!"


I always thought I wanted a big production of an engagement - very public with lots of excitement. Ours was the exact opposite - which turned out to be the most perfect way...so us!

I am a fiance! wow! Just typing that word puts a smile on my face from ear to ear. No idea on a date, time frame, location, etc. I will have to start a new blog dedicated solely to my adventures of being an engaged gal!