*If you're like I was and need to brush up on your Russert trivia, this is a great article.

My horoscope today told me this: "The radical changes you made last year created a brighter future and a happier you." As if I didn't already know this. As my anniversary approaches, I've been doing a lot of thinking. So much has changed in the last year. I'm so much happier. And what makes that even more important is that I hadn't ever realized just quite how unhappy I had been. Life is good. I'm still freaking out about meeting the mom, but I've actually moved over a bit to the curious side. I can't wait to see what parts of her are in him, which of the mannerisms and characteristics I've fallen in love with are a part of him that he learned from her. I have a feeling I'm going to end up learning a whole lot about him by meeting her. I'm really looking forward to that.

Speaking of falling in love, I bought an album last week that I'm having a hard time taking off repeat on my iPod. Her name is Feist, and the only reason I ever heard about her was because one of her songs ("One Evening") was one of the free weekly downloads on iTunes (I LOVE those things). What caught me was her voice -- beautiful and delicate, while at the same time soulful and breathy and jazzy. And her range is amazing! The more I heard the song, the more I liked it. So I decided to buy the album. At first I wasn't too crazy about it -- there are a lot of acoustic, folk-sounding songs, and virtually every track could be characterized as "quirky." But as I listened more, the beats stuck out, and I started to understand the lyrics, and I started to really love it.

This one song in particular has been running through my head recently. I can't seem to get it out, and I listen to it constantly. It's short, and slow, mournful, even, with a quiet organ over minimalist drums, and her voice has so much feeling. Maybe it has to do with my life a year ago, which has been on my mind a lot lately. But a few of the lines just won't leave me. And at the end, I keep sensing this note of hope -- I learned what I don't want, I lost myself, and I'm sad for all the time that I spent on that happening, but it didn't take me long to fall in love again, after all. And that's what I'll be celebrating on Tuesday.

Let it die.
Get out of my mind.
We don't see eye to eye,
or hear ear to ear.
Don't you wish
we could forget that kiss
and see this for what it is --
that we're not in love.

The saddest part of a broken heart
isn't the ending so much as the start.

It was hard to tell
just how I felt,
to not recognize myself.
I started to fade away.
And after all,
it won't take long to fall
in love.
Now I know what I don't want
I learned that with you.

The saddest part of broken heart
Isn't the ending so much as the start.

The tragedy starts from the very first spark
Losing your mind for the sake of your heart.