Oh the weather outside is frightful...as long as you love me so, let it snow!

"When a teacher calls a boy by his entire name, it means trouble." - Mark Twain

Winter had arrived!  It was looking like it may pass us by the past few weeks with some days of warm 60 degree weather.  It was not to be, though, and the ice has caused one snow day thus far!  For my poor hubby, it caused his usual 40 minute drive to work to extend to a THREE HOUR DRIVE!  Yuck!

This blurry photo is what happens when Aaron and I go out on date night, or, in this case out to celebrate a birthday with friends.  He is never happy when his Daddy gets all dressed up and can't wrestle with him:(  As you other puppy-mommas and daddys know, it is sometimes tough to leave our adorable furry babies home alone.

Brutus is getting so BIG!  He is now 10 months old and truly entering the teenage phase.  Still the cutest boy in the world.  I joke with Aaron all the time that he is the perfect first "child"because he will never leave his mommy for another woman:) 

If only the outdoors looked this beautiful during this wintery weather, but we only had one day of snow and the rest has been ice or rain.  I love snow, but with Aaron's commute it is tough to justify a big snowstorm.  Brutus does LOVE the snow, though.

Before classes officially started, Brutus and I spent a few play-dates over at my parents with Brutus's best friend Marley.  Even Auntie Cassie wanted in on the Brutus action.  She knows how to get his attention too, he loves ice.

As much as Marley disliked Brutus's puppyhood energy and exuberance, he has really grown to love him.  If you so much as mention Marley's name to Brutus he gets very excited!  

Having a dog has really changed my life.  He brings so much joy to the every day and the shared love Aaron and I give him strengthens our marriage.  

He will be a year old in a few months and I cannot wait to throw him a puppy birthday party:)

So now it's back to school, which means homework and a much busier schedule.  Brutus has proven that it will take some getting used to, on his end and mine.  It is interesting that even grad-school brings so much stress into my life the first few weeks.  It proves to me that I would not have fared well in the "musical theatre life."  I don't like change, I love routine and having as much control over tomorrow and my future as possible.  Those things are virtually non-existent in the acting lifestyle.  Thank goodness God showed me my true path.

Superbowl is next Sunday and Aaron is looking forward to the food!  He could care less about the teams playing, but he has made some meal requests he is quite excited about.

I had an interesting conversation with a classmate of mine that gave me a chance to reflect on the person I have grown into these past three years.  I have graduated from college, chosen a new career path, entered grad school, and become a wife and the mother of a wonderful dog.  I made a statement to this fellow student that if I were younger and unmarried I would be different and they took that statement as a sign that they should never marry someone for whom they would "change" so drastically.  Have I "changed" for my husband?  Am I truly the person I want to be?  The answers were clear.  I am exactly who I want to be.  I never wanted to live a gypsy theatre life, wondering where my next job would be and whether or not I could afford my rent or my health insurance.  I have always wanted to be a devoted wife and to make a stable, "normal" home for my future children.  The path I am on is the one for which I was intended.  Everything that has happened to me has happened for a reason and, good or bad, has shaped me into the person I am today.  I am thankful for these experiences and for everyone who was a part of them.  In terms of "changing" for marriage, that is a question which holds so much meaning to me.  I am myself, an individual woman, who is part of a marriage, a unity, with a wonderful individual man.  Through the God-given grace of love we became one in this partnership.  I have been "changed" BY my marriage.  It was not a choice, I did not give up or sacrifice anything unwillingly.  If LOVE has changed me, I am grateful that it has done so.  The person I am has never been and will never be perfect.  I do not live only for myself, but for LOVE, FAMILY, and FAITH.  The person with whom the conversation transpired is young, not yet twenty, and I know, in five years, they will be able to reflect back in a similar way.  I am so thankful for the conversation and the affirmation I feel because of it.  I look forward to what the future has to bring!