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It’s hard to believe that four years have gone by since the day Todd and I vowed to love, honor, cherish and respect each other for the rest of our lives.

Four years and two babies. Four years and a million smiles. Four years and lots of surprises. Four years and countless changes. Four years and it’s still the same.

I’m crazy for my husband. He is still the funniest, smartest person I know. He still makes me roll my eyes and wonder how he can be so quick witted.

I know that four years isn’t that long in the grand scheme of life. But every single day has been the most important. Every day was an achievement. Every day was an honored commitment and a way of showing him just how much he means to me.

And fortunately, for me, I get to see the very best of him come to life in these two little faces. The expressions, the laughs, and the miniature versions of the guy I love.

Thank you, Todd, for loving me and for loving our kids. Thank you for being so devoted, committed, faithful, and such a great example of what I want to be and what I hope our boys will grow up to be.

I love you.

Y’all know I love to read. I go through reading spurts. I’ll stop reading completely and then a couple of months later, I’ll come back with a vengeance and read six books in a month. I love to read!

I meant to do this post back in January to update you on what I read in 2011. Some of my favorite book suggestions have come from so many of you. But I’ve also included recents reads from this year.

If you want to see previous reads, check out my post from my 2009 bookshelf and 2010 bookshelf. You can also follow me on GoodReads! (ErinCarroll)

So this is what I read in 2011 and what I’ve read so far in 2012. I’ve divided it all up into categories.

Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond- This was part of our blogging book club. I really, really enjoyed this book. Even if it was slightly embellished, I thought it was funny and such a great love story.

Night Road by Kristin Hannah- I really like Kristin Hannah’s books. She wrote Winter Garden and Firefly Lane, which I loved! Night Road was a really great story. It was sad, at times, and often frustrating. But I loved the characters and couldn’t put it down.

Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God by Sheila Walsh- I really enjoyed how Sheila took stories of characters in the Bible who struggled with faith and then applied those stories to her own life. This was a great book.

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp- Wow. This is such an eye-opening book. I highly recommend it.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan- Another book that I highly recommend. I need to read this book every year.

Radical by David Platt- See a trend here? I loved this one, too.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls- This is a must-read for everyone. Her story is incredible and almost unbelievable. But it’s true and it will stick with you.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein- Oh my gosh. Totally a dog book that made me cry. But it’s one of my all-time favorites. The dog, Enzo, narrates this story and it is incredibly touching.

The House on First Street by Julia Reed-  This book is about New Orleans in the months before Katrina and immediately after Katrina. I loved the beginning of this book. I loved hearing about so many places in New Orleans that I know so well. But it got slow around the middle.

Ape House by Sara Gruen- Eh. Sara Gruen wrote Water for Elephants so I thought I’d love this book. I liked a lot about it and there was some fun suspense. I liked the characters. But it was a little bit out there for me.

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks- I have read every single Nicholas Sparks book. Some of them are just so-so and I end up loving others. The Best of Me was kind of “meh.” I don’t want to say much because then I’ll inevitably give something away. It was a touching story about high school sweethearts who are reunited.

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks- My favorite Nicholas Sparks books are the ones with a good amount of suspense mixed with romance. Safe Haven had that perfect mix for me. (The Lucky One is my favorite Sparks book)

Divergent by Veronica Roth- If you liked The Hunger Games you will love Divergent. It’s full of action and just moves so quickly. I don’t typically love futuristic books like this (and Hunger Games) but I couldn’t put this book down. I’m so happy that there are two more books!

Insurgent by Veronica Roth- This is what I’m reading right now, and so far I love it! I am trying to read as quickly as possible while still planning Hayes’s party for this weekend!

Next up….

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Okay, so what have y’all been reading? Please give me suggestions. I need books to suck me in within 50 pages or I can’t commit. Help me build my bookshelf for 2012, please!

1. Not only is Hayes’s birthday this week, but it’s also our anniversary week. I can’t believe how quickly the years have passed! We will celebrate with a yummy dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

2. My mom gets here tomorrow to celebrate Hayes’s birthday with us. I’m SO excited to see her!

3. We went to the zoo on Sunday afternoon. We have zoo passes so we like to go as often as possible. I think it was about 95 degrees, but it was worth it just to be outside. I get really excited for the weekends. I love getting out and doing things with the boys when Todd is around. It’s nice to have an extra set of hands, but it’s just more fun when Todd is with us! Hudson loves the zoo and gets really really sad when we leave.

4. Insurgent by Veronica Roth came out today. I finished Divergent a few weeks ago and I’m so excited about the follow up book. I’m hoping for long naps from the boys today so I can get a good chunk of it finished!

5. I started week 1, day 1 of Couch to 5K today. Maybe I can stick with it? Who decides to start running when the summer comes? This girl, apparently. But it really is amazing how much better you feel after spending some time outside.

6. Still no updates on the house selling process. Fingers crossed!

7. Hudson loves to sing. And he loves to talk. And I’m pretty sure that there is constant noise in our house when he’s awake. About 90% of the time he is making a joyful noise and it just makes us laugh so much!

His latest thing when we drive somewhere and arrive at our destination is to say, “Here we are! We made it!”

I really need to do a new “Hudsonisms” update because I am constantly typing funny things he says into the Notes app on my iPhone.

8. Our meal planning had gotten a little bit boring, so Crist came to the rescue again. She has a really great food blog and she shared a bunch of her marinade recipes with me. Last night we had mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus and this chicken marinade recipe. It was so good!

What exciting things do y’all have to share this week?