You Make Me Happy When Skies are Grey...

8 years ago....TODAY:

my sister did my make-up for the biggest day of my life

in the chaos, i left my veil at the hair salon and had to throw a piece of organza on my head when i walked down the aisle

i made a vow to cook ghorme sabzi

in his vows, alex mentioned something about oatmeal (can you tell we're obsessed with food?)

i danced polka to super trouper for my first dance

i was listening to my dad and father-in-law give the world's longest speeches

i gave a speech telling my brothers-in-law that they were going to be the amus (uncles) of some really cute kids

i sang you are my sunshine in front of 250 people (american idol is not calling any time soon)

at the end of the night, alex and i are quoted as saying we want 5 kids

i married the man of my dreams - the same man i met 12 years ago at the iranian students' foundation meeting at UMCP with green eyes and a sexy accent, dressed in a brown cashmere sweater, wearing black combat boots. and on that day i came home and promptly informed my mom and sister that today i met the man i am going to marry. talk about a girl getting what she wants...they don't call me T-Bone/Ice-T for nuthin'.

happy 8 year anniversary babes! es tevi milu!

I am sorry to say, you are NOT the biggest loser...YET.

so i've been doing pretty well with the whole diet experiment. i haven't had chocolate or ice cream in days and surprisingly, i'm not really craving it. sometimes i think about greenberry, but that's about it. i allow myself 2 helpings of greenberry during weekends in maryland. i'm enjoying the kashi cereal with blueberries for breakfast and for lunch, my sister introduced me to the most fabulous general tso's vegan chicken from whole foods. i have two vices that amount to 300 calories per bag - freeze dried mangos and bananas from trader joes. i can't help myself. it's too good and i eat an entire bag in one sitting. i'm not the "just have a taste" kinda girl. it's all or nothing with me and i've been a little greedy.

i've hit the gym, tried yoga (and pulled a neck muscle), worked out on the elliptical machine in the basement, and played tennis. i am in love with tennis and am considering taking lessons. playing a sport like tennis or soccer doesn't really seem like exercise to me. and not because i don't push myself - but because it's FUN. i considered getting a personal trainer at my gym - but now i think i'd enjoy a personal tennis instructor so much more. (hubba hubba). i'm 2 weeks away from our hawaiian vacation and 4 weeks away from my friend's wedding. i've dropped 7 pounds, but have a long way to go. i'm slightly concerned about all the hiking alex wants to do in kauai. miles and miles of it. i hope i can keep up. and it won't be much of a romantic vacation if we split up - he hikes while i lay on the beach and read, but damn that kinda sounds like music to my ears right now.

mother's day was lovely. we had a nice brunch at my in-laws, courtesy of alex: crepes with delicious berries and mangos. the homemade whip cream kinda made up for the massage i was hoping for, but didn't get. for lunch, i ate moby dick and ice-cream cake, with my side of the family (wait, i guess i have had ice-cream recently).

in other news...i'm a full-fledged substitute teacher ya'll! i've worked twice. once with 6th graders and once with kindergarteners. here are some observations:

6th graders are totally disrespectful, wild, and suffer from ADD. i'm not gonna lie. i kinda hated subbing for those brats. it was tough. i spent most of the day disciplining, rather than teaching about the civil war and distance = rate x time. i had to take away calculators - kids were sneakily doing their math hw during language arts (not on my watch, buddy!) and had to move kids half way across the room because they were talking and disrupting the class. i was relieved when the teacher returned early and i was sent to the principal's office to help with mindless, administrative tasks. (the principal loved me and put me on her priority list of subs - go me!)

the kindergartners were a joy. i'm beginning to understand why my mom thinks i should follow in her footsteps and become a kindergarten teacher. the kids were innocent and well-behaved. and so freakin cute! it's amazing how in such a short period of time, i could pick out the future jocks, flirts, goths, loners, nerds, etc.

i can only sub when alex is off. so i've had to turn down some sub jobs that i really want - like middle school english, high school english, high school esol. i hope i'll be able to work in those types of classrooms to really get a sense of what it would be like to be an english teacher and if i can handle the older kids.

i keep delaying the iran post. speaking of iran - my dad left yesterday for a 2.5 month stint and my mom will be gone the entire summer (gulp). i am going to go cry now. wait. i just had an aha! moment. shiiyet. i'm like the little engine that could...i think i can i think i can...come up with some way to get me some me time. two words: summer camp.