Valentine's Day Decor

So I planned to make Valentine's crafts yesterday.

But I ended up not having time to go to the craft store for the things I wanted.

And since I knew this week would be extremely busy, I decided to sit down tonight and see what I could make with what I had.

Thank goodness for pinterest, right?

It's not the best work I've ever done, but it will have to do.

So here's what Valentine's season is looking like at our house so far.

Our Valentine's tradition is to go out for a yummy Valentine's breakfast.

Then we spend the evening making something together and spending time at home.

It's the best--we avoid the crowds, and get two yummy meals.

This year, we decided to be frugal on gifts, since we will be cruising just two days later.

Pretty excited for this season!

pizza, fondue, and bohnanza

Saturday night was spent with the lovely J&M Mckee.

Homemade pizzas for dinner.

Fondue for dessert.

Bohnanza for fun.

 

We sure do love the fun times we have with these two.

I have a feeling our kids will be best friends too. ;)

Another Monday tomorrow?

At least we are one day closer to spending a week in the sun.

Can't wait for that cruise.

The heart shaped measuring spoons

Yesterday, I found these heart shaped measuring spoons on the counter.

I had never seen them before! (or at least I thought I hadn't)

I said to Taylor, "Where did these cute measuring spoons come from? I love them!"

Taylor's face instantly turned into a typical "hand caught in the cookie jar" face.

He then explained to me that we got them from our wedding.

But a few weeks after being married, he hid them on a top shelf of a cupboard (out of my sight).

You're probably just as confused now as I was when he told me that.

Here's why he hid them:

You see how they are on a little ring?

Well our other pair (which I thought until now was our only pair) also has a little ring.

But I frequently take the measuring spoons off of the ring and just put them all in a drawer.  

I don't like to wash them all when only one is dirty. 

I guess it drove Taylor nuts, because he could never find the measuring spoon he was looking for, since I didn't always keep them on their nice little ring.

So he decided early on to take that second pair of measuring spoons and hide them.

I could not stop laughing.

I just wish he had taken the other ones and left these cute heart ones to me!

Props for keeping them hidden from me for almost 16 months.

(is that how long we've been married!? Wow!)

But, alas, I know now about the existence of the heart-shaped measuring spoons.

And I'm not letting them disappear for a second time. ;)

I'm beginning to wonder...

What other wedding presents has he stashed that I have yet to find?

Spontaneity and Double Fortunes

Right as we were sitting down to Asian noodles for dinner last night, Taylor said,

"Man, this makes me want PF Changs."

I looked at him and said, "Me too.  Let's go!"

Taylor: "Tomorrow night?"

Me: "How about...tonight?"

So, with dinner already made for the night, we headed out the door to visit one of our favorite restaurants.

I figured we could just use the already-made dinner for our lunches the next day. ;)

Plus, we had a giftcard at PF Changs that we've been wanting to use for awhile now.

We laughed about the spontaneity. 

But it was all worth it for this baby:

The funniest part?  I got the EXACT same fortune from when we went last time!

 Fortune #1

Fortune #2

I guess I do my best thinking in the shower?

And apparently, I didn't act on my best-shower-idea the first time, so it felt the need to add the "Act on it" line in fortune #2.

I'll have to pay more attention to my shower thoughts. ;)

P.S. Taylor and I also made a deal: no sodas until the cruise.

We're not huge soda drinkers to begin with, but we have the occasional pop when we go out or when we have dinner at his parents house.

I watched this short video clip about the sugars in coca-cola yesterday (I've heard of how bad they are, but actually seeing it was another thing!), and I vowed to never have one again.

But I figured that vow was probably something that wouldn't last forever...I mean, what else do you drink with mexican food? (pop + mexican food= supreme)

So..."until the cruise" it is! 

When the going gets rough...

It always seems that unfortunate things happen right when you realize how awesome life has been.

I was just thinking the other day how there haven't been any real "issues" Taylor and I have had to worry about lately.

Everyone's healthy, everyone's safe, everything works (except for sometimes my cooking...), the bills get paid just fine, we have awesome friends, an apartment we love, we both have great jobs, etc.

Then...bam.

Taylor's truck breaks down.

We are hoping it is an easy and inexpensive fix.

It's made things difficult.

We have such different schedules...two cars is necessary.

Luckily, we have the most awesome parents that live nearby.

Big thanks to Mom and Dad Gilbert.

But as we talked about it last night, we made a decision that even if it costs our whole savings to fix it--we were going to smile our way through it.

Come what may, and love it.

Broken down truck?  That's nothing compared to the great things we DO have.

Love, laughter, family, friends.

I sure do love this boy of mine.

And the great attitude he has about life.

And hey...how can you be mad at anything when you leave for the bahamas in just four weeks? ;)

I know this isn't a huge trial by any means.

We are lucky we still have a car that works great!

But this video comes to mind.

Love it.

Our weekend.

We had such a fun-filled weekend.

On Friday, a bunch of couples got together to play pivot ball and chair soccer.

If you haven't played either games, you're missing out!

It was seriously so fun.

And our bodies have been sore ever since!

Oh and here's Mad and Jordo modeling ;)

Afterwards, I few of us decided to go get some frozen yogurt!

We sure do love our married friends.

 The Mckees

The Oldhams

 The Gilberts

Saturday morning, Tay and I went to the temple with Jordan and Maddie Mckee.

We love those two.

In fact, we love them so much, that we saw them later that night too.

For dinner, dessert, and a fun game of settlers!

Our church time changed to 9am with the new year, and Tay and I are loving it already!

Here's to another week!

Two cruises in six weeks?

Two cruises in six weeks?

Yes please.

Thanks to having two sets of parents,

I will be going on a cruise in February AND March.

Don't you just love how things work out sometimes?

I am beyond excited.

Looks like that dream of mine to get summer back

is coming true in small doses.

In February.

And March.

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited.

Bring it 2013!

I remember now...

I suddenly remember why I NEVER had school lunch growing up.

I decided to save five minutes this morning by not making a lunch, and just get school lunch today.

And my stomach is not liking me so much.

Yep.

Not happening again.

An ode to Pinnager day.

This was mine and Taylor's conversation as I was trying to wake him up this morning:

Taylor: "Who's Pinnager?"

Me: "Who?"

Taylor: "Pinnager.  The person whose day it is."

Me: "What are you talking about?"

Taylor: "You know, like on Martin Luther King Day, when your alarm goes off, you are waking up for Martin Luther King. And today my brain is telling me that I'm waking up for Pinnager day."

Me: "Taylor, you're making no sense at all."

(keep in mind, this is me translating his tired, half-awake, mumbling self)

I finally was able to wake him up enough for him to stop talking crazy.
But he wasn't too happy about that.

It was pretty dang funny.

Happy Pinnager day to all. 

I hate Wednesdays.

Wednesdays are officially my least favorite day of the week now.

Taylor has an evening class that doesn't end until 7:30.

And since I have mutual, I don't see him until after 8.

That's way too long!

By the end of the day, I'm just anxious to see him and hug him.

Silly?

Maybe.

Obsessed with him?

Definitely.

Spiritual Enlightenment

I love this.

I hope you will too.

Back to the grind!

Oh hey, it's this handsome boy's first day back to classes today!

Weird picture, I know.  But I'm pretty sure this is the same outfit he was wearing this morning.

So that's why I chose it. ha

I feel like a mom...I am so excited to see him in a few hours so he can tell me all about his classes.

I am even nervous for him!

Stupid...I know. He's a big boy.

But I just hope he really likes all of his professors and new classes.

This morning, we spent a good 10-15 minutes digging his truck out of the snow.

He's been driving my car the last two weeks while I was out of school, so the truck hasn't moved since the snow storms.

It was pretty exciting to watch that truck try to make it over the mounds of snow.

It had snow piled to its hood! (thanks to the snow-plower)

Just a few more hours until I see this handsome man of mine!

Summer...where art thou?

As I was looking through some old pictures today, I came across this one:

Look how tan I was!

ugh, this California girl is DONE with snow...I want summer back!

Thank goodness Tay and I are off to the Bahamas in just 6 weeks!

...and the countdown begins.

Vent session.

I can honestly say that I love my students.

I can also honestly say that I often think, "I really hope I wasn't that dumb when I was in high school."

I also have a cry for forgiveness in my heart to all of my high school teachers.
I just hope I wasn't one of the students who did or said something stupid or hurtful.

Even though I love these crazy kids, they drive me insane sometimes.

I feel like I've aged five years in the five months I've been a teacher.

Today after school, I just sat at my desk for five minutes and did NOTHING.

I stared at the empty desks and was grateful they were empty. Ha!

I  listened to Les Mis as I thought about how happy I am that tomorrow is Friday.

And then I took a picture of my annoyed faces.

Okay. Venting complete.

I feel good again.

Back to planning I go.

A Late Merry Christmas

Our 2012 Christmas card:

Hope you enjoyed yours as much as we enjoyed ours.

Another Christmas season passed--ready for what's in store in 2013!

New Year's Eve Party

Here's a video I made of our New Year's Eve party.

Enjoy!

Dreading and obsessed.

What I'm dreading:

waking up at 5:30 to go back to work tomorrow.

It's a good thing I like my job.

But it's still hard to go back.

Can't I just be a stay-at-home-wife? ;)

What I'm obsessed with:

Les Mis soundtrack.

Mmm. 

It's probably more accurate to say what Taylor and I are obsessed with.

He's been singing to me instead of talking for most of the day.

Awesome. 

I think he might think we suddenly live in a musical...?

Back to the grind we go.

Happy New Years!

I can't believe it's 2013!

(I also can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow...)

Our impromptu New Year's Eve party was a success!

Thanks to all who came and made it such a fun night!

There was seriously SO much food...I failed to get a picture of all of the yummies people brought.

So much laughter, so many good memories, so many good friends.

What an awesome way to ring in the new year!

Easily my favorite picture of the night:

hahaha

Happy New Year to all!

We had a wonderful time celebrating.

Hope you did too!