From couch potato to 5k

I have started this program to get me off the couch. It is hard after a day of work to come home and do anything but turn on the tube and act like a potato. But it can waste an amazing amount of time. I mean before I know it I have made a divet in the couch and the hours have wasted away. So, I am going to try to turn from couch potato into a treadmill turnip, or some other vegetable I should be eating. But, I need your help. Give me encouraging words. Give me advice, what do you do to stay motivated to exercise?

Post-consumerism

I think I am getting older and wiser. I am getting to the point where I don't want many things anymore. When I walk into a store and see clothes I think, "I don't need more to wash". When I see knicknacks I think "I don't need anything to dust." Even when I see books I think, "Once I read that it will sit on the shelf, and I love our new library." So this year, as my husband's birthday is rolling around I feel led not to buy him stuff. I don't feel like I need to give him an object to show my love. I mean, in the end, no physical object can show or tell my husband how much I love him, how much I respect him, how glad I am to be his wife.

So, I am stumped. I want to celebrate his birthday, another year, another marker, but I am looking for new ways to acknowledge his (and next month my) special days. I have struggled with this since Christmas. So, do you have any ideas on how to celebrate a birthday without material things? I am waiting to hear your suggestions or your support in this new phase in my life I am calling post-consumerism.