Defining Wellness

I still can’t believe Carter and I celebrated two years of marriage on Monday. What a precious two years it has been.

We enjoy celebrating with “traditional” anniversary gifts, so last night we surprised each other with traditional second anniversary gifts of cotton. I was very excited to open my gift . . .

which turned out to be something I’ve wanted since our wedding day: one of our wedding photographs on cotton canvas!

Carter ordered this from www.canvaspress.com, so if you’re looking for a cool gift idea, I can say that I was one thrilled recipient!

And I gave Carter a cotton Phillies T-shirt . . . but that’s not all!

As he opened his gift, I provided him with little hints. Red and blue tissue paper:

A heart with a picture of two people watching fireworks . . . and a Citizens Bank Park seating chart:

Ninth row seats to a Phillies fireworks game in July! This is something Carter has been wanting to do for a long time, and we’re both looking forward to a night of sports and romance. Nice combo, huh?

I thought it was pretty neat that we both got creative with the definition of “cotton” to get each other meaningful gifts.

We spent the rest of the evening dancing, watching our wedding video, and cooking dinner together. We put together a dinner so easy and so delicious, that it’s definitely blog-worthy.

Honey & Herb-Crusted Baked Cod (recipe adapted from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-recipes/NU00400):

1. Spread 1 T honey on each of two 5-oz cod filets.
2. Crush 1/2 C herb-flavored stuffing (we used Arrowhead Mills because it doesn’t have any partially hydrogenated oils) in a plastic bag, and drop the filets in the bag.
3. Coat the filets with the stuffing, and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with oil.
4. Bake at 375 F for 10 minutes.

This recipe makes 2 servings. The cod is subtly sweet, crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside, and absolutely wonderful.

Beet Bliss Salad with Maple-Mustard Vinaigrette (recipe adapted from http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/beet_bliss.html):

1. Place a few handfuls of spring mix greens into 2 bowls.
2. Chop a cooked beet (we used packaged cooked beets from Trader Joe’s for ease of preparation) into thin slices. Divide the slices between the 2 bowls.
3. Toast 2 T of pecans over medium high heat until you can start to smell them. Chop into small pieces, and divide the pieces between the 2 bowls.
4. Sprinkle 1 T of feta cheese on top of each salad.
5. To prepare the dressing, whisk together 2 T walnut oil, 2 T sugar-free maple syrup, 2 T apple cider vinegar, 1 heaping T dijon mustard, 1/2 T lite soy sauce, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour 2 T of the dressing onto each salad. You’ll have about 3 T of leftover dressing to enjoy another day.

This is the BEST homemade salad dressing I’ve ever had. It’s sweet, yet vinaigrette-y, and so good! I was actually bouncing up and down in my chair because I loved it so much. I’m looking forward to making this salad again and again and again!

What really made this anniversary so special, though, wasn’t the gifts or the dinner or even the dancing (though that was pretty awesome); it was what Carter said to me this morning when he was leaving for work. “Happy first day of our third year of marriage, sweetheart,” he said. “Let’s make it the best year yet.”