Happy Cinco de Mayo

When I say that it feels like a lifetime ago that juC and I got married, I mean it in the best possible way. It's hard to believe that it was only 4 years ago today.

I, with out a doubt, married the most perfect person for me. But don't be fooled. Our 4 year marriage isn't with out it's problems.

For instance, he still insists on trying to play footsie with me which I absolutely cannot tolerate.

See? Even we have marital problems.

But the good outweighs the bad. This guy makes dinner when I'm not feeling liking a chef. He does dishes. He takes out the trash. He takes little jC on adventures so that I can have some quiet time with luC. He surprises me with treats. He ends all of our phone calls with "I love you." He takes me on dates. He lets me buy new clothes. He tells me I'm hot (even when I'm not). He works so I don't have to. He fixes things. And I could go on and on. But the best thing is that he loves me...for me. Which is saying a lot, people!

I'm looking forward to all the years we still get to spend together!

in the words of the pointer sisters...

i'm so excited!! and i just can't hide it!
first of all, i'm posting from a new computer!! you have NO idea how great it is to be able to post and not have to restart the computer 5 times in the process of writing my blog. not to mention the computer is upstairs now, so i don't have to go down to the igloo basement and risk losing any limbs to frost bite. when shad called me last week and said he was on his way to buy the computer, it was a lot more exciting than when he called me to ask me how long to microwave a hot pocket.

but even more exciting! i get to go home to SC in a week and a half!! my mom called me and was all "hey, come visit." and i was all "hey! ok!" i'm so excited to go home and see my family. and i'm especially excited that it's soon!

and hey, speaking of the pointer sisters, you wanna know what my favorite pointer sisters song is?



which then reminds me of when the folks in the movie "young @heart" performed it. haven't seen that movie yet? seriously, what are you waiting for?!


rent it! ASAP!

how my boys made my weekend

shad looking like morgan spurlock, the maker of "super size me."
shad doing glamour shots by deb.

walking upstairs and seeing little j.t. giving his daddy a face massage with his toes.

walking upstairs later and seeing little j.t. with his feet up telling his daddy all about his day.

baby got back

yesterday i scheduled an appointment for little j.t. to get some professional pictures done. i figured at 5 months old, it's about time for someone else to take pictures of him besides me. so we all headed to the mall to find a cute little outfit.

but of course, shad and i had to shop for ourselves too. so shad picked out a pair of jeans and headed to the dressing room to try those bad boys on.

yeah babe. lookin' goooood!

he turns.

he starts walking away.wait! what in the world?! get back here!

oh mercy!!

bless his heart

there we were, driving back home from a friends house as i was rockin' out to a john mellencamp tune.

you know the one. sing it with me.

r-o-c-k in the u-s-a. r-o-c-k in the u-s-a.

when all of a sudden shad says..."r-i-c-k?"

i explained to him his error. to which he responds "i was wondering who rick was and why they were singing about him being in the usa."

bless his heart.

gotta get away

shad and i have pretty much come to terms with the fact that we won't have many visitors. yes, our parents came after little j.t. was born. and a couple of my sisters came before he was born. but we are well aware of the fact that our days of having visitors are over now that the grandparents and everyone else have seen the little guy.

but people!

check out our cozy guest room.

don't you feel like you are looking at pictures of a room in a cute inn or something? like it's a cute little serene retreat away from the craziness of the world?

it is!

so come visit us!

and be thankful it doesnt look like it did when we bought the place.

Christmas comes this time each year

(which happens to be my most disliked line from a Christmas song)

this time of year means one thing (among all of the important things). shad asking me what i want for Christmas but not being willing to get it for me. i say, if you don't plan to get what i want, don't ask.

but i digress.

while shad and i were dating, i often spoke of my love for animals, and more specifically for cats. i've always been a cat lover, from a very young age. just ask my mom. and the whole time i lived at home growing up, i had a cat...or two. that's just how i rolled.

shad however, was not a cat lover. and often spoke of that. so when things got more serious between us, we would often "fight" (we've never officially fought) about whether or not we'd have a cat in our marriage. i, of course, said YES we will. while he emphatically said NO we won't.


that is, until one fateful night, shad walked me to my car. and there, standing beside my car, undearneath the glow of the moon, he lovingly told me "you can have a cat when we are married." "promise?" i asked. "yes, i promise." he replied. i was sold. i'd marry him!!


fast forward to a couple nights ago. when he asked me the yearly "what do you want for Christmas" question. i responded...."a cat." to which he responded "no, we are not getting a cat." to which i responded "yes we are." to which he responded "no, we are not." to which i responded "you promised." to which he responded "no."


and last night, shad again asked me what i wanted for Christmas.


i declare, boys will say anything to get you to marry them!!

hee haw

i think shad and i will draw names for Christmas this year. i hope i get him, because i already have the perfect gift picked out.

wmd and date night

as you all may know by now (and if not you can read HERE) LoW and i are in the midst of a civil war. so in an effort to keep her off of my land (ie. blog) i'm bringing out the big guns. LoW hates when people post pictures of feet. so i've gone one up and posted a whole video of feet. that should keep her away for awhile.

now that that's taken care of...

the plan: secretly find a babysitter for little j.t. so i could take shad on a date with just the two of us.

the problem: my friend who offered to do the job got sick.

the solution: my nice cousin, chris, was completely willing (thank goodness!)

i told shad not to make plans saturday night. (not that he would have any other plans.) we left the house with little j.t. and drove over to my cousins house. along the way he was asking if we were going somewhere that he had to be social (heaven forbid) or if we were going out with my cousins. so i dropped off little j.t. at my cousins house and we were on our way. but my mind was full of thoughts.

"what if he starts crying and crying and is so upset and there's no one familiar around to comfort him and he won't stop crying. and then he won't eat and then he keeps on crying and is inconsolable and chris is miserable the whole time?!?!" what if? what if? what if?

he was completely fine the whole time. in fact, he didn't even miss us!!

and shad and i were able to "enjoy" our fuddruckers. (the place i refuse to go any other time because i don't like their food and that is still the way i feel) and we were able to do it with no fussy baby who we'd have to keep putting a pacifier in his mouth. and we didnt have to eat as fast as possible. in fact we were able to just sit there after we were done eating.

it was great. i've mentioned before that my parents instilled in me the importance of still dating after you are married...and i believe in that now more than ever!

make a list

poor thanksgiving. stuck smack dab in between halloween: the "holiday" kids get a bunch of candy, and Christmas: the holiday kids get a bunch of presents. i feel like thanksgiving, for most, has become the redheaded step child of holidays. which seems ironic since thanksgiving is the one we are supposed to think about the things we are thankful for. but i often wonder how celebrated it would be if people didnt get the day off. and it doesn't help that the stores have Christmas paraphernalia for sale before they even get all of the halloween stuff put away.

if it wasn't for the fact that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus, i think i'd boycott it and only celebrate thanksgiving.

and i hate to admit it, but i've given into the Christmas hype over thanksgiving. all the way back in august i told shad i couldn't wait for Christmas. he of course assumed i was excited about Christmas because i wanted presents. but that wasn't true at all. i got all giddy just thinking about decorating our house and the smells and the food and the music and being with family and the reason for it all. plus i can't wait to put up the big pre-lite Christmas tree we bought after Christmas last year.

there i go again. Christmas.Christmas.Christmas.

so to get into the thanksgiving spirit, i thought i would make a list of things that have made me thankful this year. there are so many things...and the year isn't even over yet.

so in order, starting with the most exciting.

1. our sweet little baby being born healthy and cute.
2. my parents, shad's parents, and tamara and elayna and bennett actually came to visit us.
getting to go to vegas and slc to visit shad's family, and going to s.c. to visit my family.
3. pumpkin pancakes returning to ihop.
4. buying our first home.
5. jim and pam getting engaged.
6. getting a new car.
7. going to the beach
8. finding out several of my friends are pregnant.
9. surviving.
10. getting to move out of the noisy basement apartment.

so, with that said...i urge all of you to think about the things you are thankful for, and try not to take those things for granted. and wait until after thanksgiving to put up your christmas decorations. and buy me lots of presents shad. oh...did i say that out loud. i mean...presents aren't important.