Happy Birthday, Luke!

I was all set to make him a lemon cake as requested. I even made him my version of his family favorite shells. Unfortunately when it came to frosting, I kind of adopted a "get it done" mentality and it came out looking like this:

As opposed to the usual:

The good news: It still tastes the same. Amazing.

Happy 25th birthday Luke! We'll be the same age for 3 months minus a day!

Turned Heads

I got to se my Luke for just over 4 days!! He flew to Fresno. I went to pick him up. He said he was wearing blue pants. He didn't tell me they were baby blue linen pants. I know the guy is fashion conscious and trendy and all that jazz but as someone who got a LOT of grief for my purple corduroy pants, I have room to judge just a wee bit.
Anyway it had been a ROUGH week. The stress had led me to bite my fingernails to nubs.



So Luke and I stopped by JoAnnes for therapy (ok really I needed silver pins for a bulletin board display that would be REALLY cool.) They happened to have GirlScouts waiting to prey on unsuspecting women at JoAnns for therapy and poor Luke. He got suckered into buying me 2 boxes.



See how blue those pants are?
Also we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. My straw wrapper turned into table soccer. I lost.



Friday I changed up the Lego watch in honor of St Patrick's day. See the band I wore with my Batman shirt just to the right?



Saturday we celebrated Luke's birthday at my Dad and Cheri's. We had a DELICIOUS meal. They even had a cake with candles and presents.



I'm a slacker.
Only sort of though because when we got home there was MORE food. At this point we were a wee bit stuffed. But it smelled so good! We ha corned beef, cabbage farmers market potatoes, onion, and whole baby carrots, and soda bread (admittedly not made from scratch but kindly procured by Tanya!)



Sooooo good!



For dessert? Butter babies and green cinnamon chip bread from Great Harvest.



And a neck range of motion contest. Is he really beating me? I like our judges reflections in the window!



Also, for Luke's birthday I get him his favorite. March Madness. He loves it do much he totally zones and even veges a bit. To make sure he can appreciate his gift in full I'm sure to be busy with a knitting project. See my hitchhiker scarf in progress.



I was super sad to see him go, but I'm headed to CO in like a week and a half!!
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Monkeying Around

So there's a chance I may have over extended myself just a bit this weekend. I did, however enjoy it all, (minus the resulting almost sickness Sunday.) Thank goodness today was a furlough day. I still feel behind, but at least I got to sleep in. Tuesday mourning (spelled that way on purpose) will be painful.
Some more highlights from my weekend:


Jenny, Jay and I crashed Tyler's birthday party. We were the biggest kids there, take that however you want. Of course I got him Lego guys, but I stopped by my favorite bookstore Petunia's Place for some books that might go with the Lego guys. I ha totally forgotten about the special book signing that day. A local author with a story about a local zoo monkey it's zookeepers!

Perfect I tell you!

And they gift wrap!

That night Jay and I made baked apples.

Yummy! So good! They were practically applesauce when we took them out of the oven!


Jay took apart his pommagranites while he, Tanya and I watched A Walk to Remember.


That movie definitely takes me on a walk down memory lane to be sure. It takes me to a day of girls singing along to sound track CDs, walking to the movie theater several times to see that movie wAaaay more than once. It reminds me of our early co-Ed movie adventures. Boys in one row, girls in another and boys snickering behind us during the cry parts and throwing popcorn. So. Lame. And...sigh..Super duper Shane West crushes. Oh yah and movie quotes on my binder...ok...that's enough. Tomorrow I have a mid semester meeting with my master teacher and supervisor as well as an observation of a meeting. Busy day.
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My Take On The Rain

Yesterday was T's fer reals birthday. He was getting donuts to take to his class.


So I joined them for breakfast of my own.


T's minifigure tried to attack my maple donut. I told him I beat him to the bite.


Also, I wore my cowboy boot rain-boots. I'm not gonna lie, they were kiiiiind of a hit.


I liked em too.
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Luke

This is my husband. I think he's the most handomest man in the world. It his birthday. You'll never guess what I got him.



Okay I'll tell you. It's this basketball tournament thing. It's called Mad March...March Mayhem....something like that. He gets it every year for his birthday and it makes him soooo happy. Icing on the cake: if North Carolina wins.

Anyway, Luke is turning 23. Here are 23 things I miss about him since we're long distance newlyweds.

1.) His heat. He's my portable heater. Someday I'll figure out how to make the cooling feature work in the summer.
2.) His appetite. Kid can sure make cooking dinner worth my while. I now know why people serve fillers.
3.) His height. For everything I can't reach.
4.) The twinkle in his eye. I call it sparkle.
5.) The way he picks me up and gravity pulls my bones back to where they should be.
6.) The way he's better than me at massage and I went to school for it.
7.)His relaxedness in just about any situation. You just can't shake him.
8.)His willingness to watch a show of my choosing once before he refuses to watch it ever again.
Pass: Traffic Light, Fairly Legal, NCIS
Fail: new jungle doctor show with matt serreson, Grey's Anatomy
Epic fail: Supernanny
9.) His excellence as a golf instructor to his spouse. This is rare. Very rare.
10.)His appreciation for my projects.
11.) His large laundry. It fills the basket(ca)/bins(co) faster and keeps me on top of the laundry.
12.) His rapture style laundry leaving habit. It makes cleaning up a room easier as it all goes in the laundry bin/basket.
13.)Sitting/working next to him while he reads. I like that he reads a lot.
14.)His driving. Usually I prefer to take the wheel, not as much when he's here.
15.)His shopping cart maneuverability. Especially at Costco.
16.) That he loads big things onto the cart. And also carries them in.
17.) That he can/will tell me how a suspenseful show/movie ends or if the person lives through tue scene.
18.)Kisses on the forehead!
19.)Playing pass back words with friends with him. I knew he'd like scrabble once he learned how to beat me.
20.) That he unloads the dishwasher. Apparently I'm too painfully slow to watch.
21.)His armpit shoulder notch. Its just perfect for head-resting and then falling asleep on.
22.)Falling asleep in the shoulder armpit notch while he's reading or working on his computer.
23.) Listening to his heart.

Happy Birthday Love! I'd marry you again every day of the week!

My Sister, My Friend

Happy Birthday to my little sister! Thanks for all your big sister advice, waking up to talk to me on the phone and for always challenging me to make my bows better! Who would have thought with all our fighting years ago, we'd get along so well now! I miss you, am sending love and can't wait to celebrate with you when I'm there!

23

Today I turn 23. I enjoy what some other bloggers I follow do in sharing their age number of memories under a certain theme. In light of our recent marriage I thought I'd share 23 of our wedding presents I've used in the last 5 days.
1.) Bath towels, nothing is better than a fluffy new towel. (washed before use of course)

2.) Dishes. Our fiestaware is so bright and cheery! You can't look at it when just waking up, or after a long day at work and not smile!

3.) Kitchen Aid Paper towel dispenser, the thing is magic. It has a clicky mechanism that holds the roll and lets you tear just one off!

4.) Red pots and pans! Spaghetti just tastes better when the pans look that good!

5.) Ice Cream Maker, were both semi lactose intolerant. We've made lots of sorbets! Our favorite combo? Strawberry Lime

6.) Cuisinart Food processor- to purree the fruit to make sorbet!

7.) Glasses. Wide at the top, heavy on the bottom. No creases for anything to get stuck.

8.) Aero bed. It arrived in Fresno and we set it up to use in my dad's office (returned to office state after posing as my bedroom. The bed got moved on out.)

9.) Target Gift Card- to purchase hangers for our closet and laundry soap (for our laundry.)

10.) Knives. Ceramic and picnic from Sur La Table. They come in bright colors.

11.) Spices, from our spice rack! So I may have over seasoned our potatoes a little bit...I wanted to use them all!

12.) Toaster oven! Turkey, spinach, feta quesadilla!

13.) Pyrex- for mixing purgers and pancake mix and storing left overs!

14.) George Foreman- burgers and asparagus!

15.) Wine glasses- we've had some of the wine left from our reception in Moscow.

16.) Colander- spaghetti is a newlyweds staple. Its cheap.

17.) Quilt-have you seen that fantastic quilt Cindy made us? Its on our wall.

18.) Cutting Mats-for all those little pieces that go into breakfast burritos and burgers!

19.) Sheets, thats all thats on our bed, its a little bit warm.

20.) Blender- strawberry, blackberry cran-rasberry smoothies. Yum. I may have worken up the neighbors. Did I mention its the most powerful blender on the market?

21.)Can Opener, just used it to open re-fried beans. Its green, and it left no sharp edges, and has grabbers to pick up the top!

22.)Frames and shelves to make our apartment feel cozier!

23.) Pictures and notes, on our fridge that remind us of the people we love!

She Turned 21 on Tuesday

Val turned 21 on Tuesday, and to celebrate she hired a limo to drive herself and 7 other girls (including me) around Fresno to have dinner, sample beverages, and do a little dancing(some more than others.) We had fun and were merry.

I Can Be Your Hero Baby

was the theme for Corey's birthday party in Idaho. Jenny and I picked him up in McMinnville, OR on one of our adventures and took him to Moscow with us. The theme was "I Can be Your Hero Baby" and people were supposed to dress up as their favorite Superhero. Below are: Kelsi as Hermione Granger, Me as "Super Wine-y", Melanie as Superwoman, and Jenny as Guitar Hero. Other guests included Hulk, Catwoman, Watchmen, Transformers etc.

I also found my hand twin at the party. Amanda SAYS her hand is alittle bigger...I'm not so sure! I think I finally found someone with hands as small as mine. For this superhero dinner we had Cyclops Spaghetti with Juggernaut Meatballs, Mr. Fantastic Stretchy Spinach Dip, Poison Ivy Veggies, Hulk Basil Pesto, Bruschetta Broiled with Spiderman Web, Captain America and Wonderwoman Fruit pizza (I forgot blueberries), Green Lantern Jello, and Scuba Steve Jello Cups.

Happy Hydrangea...I mean Birthday!

This year my birthday fell on our first day with students at work. Rather anti climactic. BUT when I got home these beautiful flowers were waiting for me! I LOVE hydrangeas! Some even know that I've been plotting for years to name my someday daughter Hydrangea Anne (Hydi Anne.) So I brought these pretties in. Wanna see the best part? Here it is:

That evening we went out to Dai Bai Dang! Love their pot stickers!

Partway through dinner, the lights were sort of flickering and I thought "Man, they're having trouble with the mood lightning. I skimmed all the lights and saw a stream of smoke coming out of one of the lights! I jumped up hollering "The light is on fire!" I hurried to notify one of the staff, and returned to a table full of mocking friends. It's okay though. I saved us from all burning down. We returned to Mike's house for some brownie, lemon cream bar, and cookies! (Cake isn't always my favorite, so Destinie got some alternatives!)

What and AWESOME birthday!

Red21

Last weekend we celebrated my friend Destinie's 21st birthday! Mikey, Destinies boyfriend recruited me for help planning the event!

We were "Really Excited Destinie" was turning 21! Everyone was asked to wear Red and Black. A lot of this may look a bit similar to the Twilight Party but hey, why re-invent the wheel?

I put this swirly logo on the front of the invitation and on the envelope. Destinie uses a lot of french country sheik decor mixed with a lot of scrolling iron work and red/orange colors so this "scheme" fit her pretty well!

The whole point was to throw the party FOR Destinie so she didn't get all involved, but we had to tell her the theme so she could find an outfit, and when I arrived to help Mikey set up, there were little red and black things everywhere I KNOW she snuck in! Take for example the not so subtle re-decoration of the bathroom. I replaced all the Twilight quotes in the black frames with dramatic red and black images I found online and put them all over. Mikey's house has a two sided fireplace which meant I got TWO mantles to load with frames and red candles!I also pulled these photos of red and black sign letters off the Internet. Printed them as 5x7 images and strung them up with a red ribbon. This time around instead of having "bloody" glasses with red dripping down them I lightly rimmed the glasses with red syrup and then heavily coated that rim with red sugar crystals the night before. They dried really well which was good because it meant they didn't all come off right away!Destinie and Jess! Yay! I loved her dress! (Could be because I'm the ladybug fan in the group!)Beth and Kassy made a red velvet cake! It was really good!We managed to snag some of the guys to get a picture! They weren't so willing and definatly didn't want to take more than 1. (The girls took 3...or 4.)We loved the excuse to dress up! Yay!

Happy Birthday Destinie! XO!