Thursday, March 31, 2011

Happy 25th Birthday Dani!

Today is my wonderful wife's Birthday! Since she did such a kind post full of lies for my big 2-5 I thought it only fair to return the favor (without the lies of course). So here it goes, 25 reasons I love Danielle:

1. She is smoking hot and crazy sexy! Enough said.
2. She is funny! You've read her posts, you know it's true. 
3. She is a great cook. I never had to experience that Kenny Chesney "eating burnt suppers the whole first year" thing. She has always been good and it keeps getting better.
4. She keeps the house looking good. She works hard all day long to bring home the bacon and then comes home and cooks it too. Or in this case, works to clean the house even after a hard day of work.
5. She is supportive. I have some crazy dreams and wishes, but she has never once made me feel that I couldn't accomplish them. She encourages me everyday. 
6. She genuinely cares for other people. I have never known anyone with as pure a heart as my wife. She can be shy at times, but that does not stop her caring for others.
7. She works hard. She worked very hard all through school to get a well-earned degree and now gets to put that hard work into a hard working job. She is a tough little lady!
8. She is my Sugar Mamma. As mentioned, she brings home the bacon while I am going to school and working summer jobs. But she pours the sugar on me as well. She always makes me feel loved.
9. She is my best friend. We get along so well and are completely comfortable with each other. I can tell her anything without feeling judged.
10. She's concerned about me. Especially my health. She makes sure I ration my food intake and get to the gym. I may complain, but I know it is out of love and for the best...I think :)

11. She is creative. She may say otherwise but it is true, just look at the post before this one. She is talented in many ways whether she believes it or not.
12. She is loved by both our families which makes it fun to go home and spend time with them.  We don't have any in-laws complaints.
13. She is a good example (usually) and the times she's not she makes up for it in humor :) She helps me be a better person. 
14. She will be a great mom! I tell her all the time, "Consider how much I am like a child, and you do great with me!" I know she'll be great, no doubt in my mind.
15. She is brave. Admittedly, I can be shy sometimes and she pushes me to break this habit. She is a little fire-cracker when needs be. I let her put the pressure on people if situation calls for it. 

16. She is smart! She reads and reads some more. She is my go to for vocabrulary and speelling.
17. She embraces my hobbies and let's me go fishing. She even tags along when it's warm and reads patiently, holding the camera at the ready for when Mr. Trout appears, which usually requires a lot of waiting:)
18. She is fun to be with. We try to get out of the house from time to time and may just walk around the mall like old people or take a walk around town during our 3 out of 12 months that are warm.
19. She makes me feel strong! It helps that I am a foot taller than her, but she makes sure to pad the ego every now and then and build me up when I am down.
20. We have the same goals and standards. Granted, they may not be the highest goals and standards, but at least they are the same, and we don't judge each other :) We see eye to eye on most everything (figuratively).

21. She keeps us in order. She keeps a budget and manages the money, of course she makes it all too! I poke my head in once in a while to make sure I am included, but she is really the one who keeps track of it all.
22. She has dreams and goals and makes sure they are accomplished.
23. She is adventurous! I love that she is willing to tag along on my crazy adventures and ill planned, last minute trips. I couldn't "plan" them if she wasn't willing to go along.
24. She is athletic and active. Say what you will about cheerleading being a sport. We take turns motivating the other to go to the gym and she is still healthy and going good at the ripe old age of 25!
25. She'll forever be my bride! What more could I ask for than to have her with me forever! I don't think she knew what she was getting into. 



 Love you Dani! Happy Birthday!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Check Out This Cute Thing I Made

Happy Spring (sort of)! We are still getting "fun" little snowstorms here in I.F., but we've had some glimpses of spring that have given me hope that it's on its way. Last week, we even used our sunroof for the very first time! It was heavenly. Course, it snowed a few inches the next day...but it was heavenly while it lasted.


So since it is technically "Spring", I made this cute (at least I think it's cute) sign to display. I'm not very good at decorating for the seasons or different holidays (I wish I was). And I'm really not very crafty (though I would like to be), so this was an accomplishment for me. I copied the idea from Shellie over at House of Smiths. Now there is a talented lady! Mine didn't turn out nearly as perfect as hers, but I like it. The inner circle is kind of uneven, but that gives it character right?

Here's to hoping Spring weather is right around the corner!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Potpourri

1. We've almost survived our first winter in Idaho Falls. I say almost because it's only the first of March so we could still have a few months left. It has not been fun. It's cold. ALL. THE. TIME. We eventually bought one of those little space heaters and now we carry it from room to room. It has been a Godsend. And I don't think we are the only ones who are ready for winter to be over. I've dealt with some pretty crabby patients the last couple of months at work and it's getting really old. There was one day in particular I only saw three or four patients and I somehow managed to upset every single one of them. I'm thinkin' everyone is in need of some sunshine. People are a lot more friendly when the weather is better. 

It's crazy how much more snow they get up here. We bought a new car back in October because we were nervous about the Olds making it with all the snow. The Olds, bless her heart, has a hard enough time on very dry roads so we were extremely nervous about how she'd handle the I.F. winter. We got a Chevy Equinox and we LOVE LOVE LOVE it. All joking aside, there is absolutely NO WAY the Olds would have gotten me to work on a few of the snowy days we had. And there was no way she would have made it home for Thanksgiving. She would have shaken with fear just looking at those roads (or she would have just shaken - she does have a loose bearing and a bad strut ya' know). It's so nice being in a vehicle and feeling completely safe. The Equinox gets and A+ in my book.
(You can see the olds cowering in the background. Poor thing.)
2. Taxes suck. Literally. They suck the funds out of my paycheck (one-third of my paycheck goes to taxes/social security/etc.; a little excessive don't you think?) They sucked all my plans for a big return out the window (I had dreams of paying off some debt, maybe going on a nice vacation...yup sucked those plans right. out. the window.) And they sucked the life out of me for the nearly two weeks I spent preparing them. Yes, you may wonder why it took so long. For starters, we had SEVEN W-2's this year. That's right. SEVEN. That's a lot. And for nexters (I think I may have invented a word just there), I was so much in denial at our puny tax return that I decided to prepare them a second time with a different program to see if I got the same result. I did. And it was infuriating. In fact, if it hadn't been for Brandt going to school and the credit we got from that, we would have OWED money. And if that had been the case, I think Brandt and I would have packed up and moved to New Zealand (I actually did get online and check out New Zealand's tax system in the midst of all this because I was so mad at America - but turns out their system isn't any better - at least from what I could tell in the few minutes I spent researching it). Seriously, it's so maddening. Maybe I wouldn't be so mad if I understood it. But they make it so complicated that no one knows what's going on. I read a statistic the other day that said in the 1920's there were about 11,400 words in America's tax laws. Today, there are over seven MILLION. No wonder it's so confusing.

3. We got callings. After being in this ward for ten months, they are putting us to work. Sort of. Brandt teaches the Elder's Quorum every second Sunday of the month. I teach Relief Society every OTHER second Sunday of the month. It's pretty sweet.  

4. I will turn 25 in a few weeks. And I'm feeling old. People talk about embracing their age and being proud of it, but I can't help thinking about how things used to be. You know that Toby Keith song, "I Ain't as Good as I Once Was.."  That's me. I remember how flexible I used to be and how I could get dropped in cheerleading and bounce right back up (cuz bouncing is what we cheerleaders do best) and try it again. And now, I love doing this Bodystep class at the gym, but my knees hurt for two days afterwards. Oh the pains of getting old......(my mom will probably laugh at that one).

Another sign of oldness: I was talking to my 16-year-old sister the other day and I guess the teenagers these days have a whole new lingo that I don't understand. The new hot sayings, just FYI, are "Kag" and "I'm your dad." I don't get it. They also have this "understanding" about dating. You can either be "a thing" with someone, which means you both like each other (maybe this is what we called "friends with benefits" back in my time?) but you aren't tied down to that person, OR you can be boyfriend/girlfriend, which means that you are more committed to them - you treat each other better. Right now it seems like it is more popular to just be "a thing" - I think it's retarded. Not to say you should be singling off so much in High School (otherwise you may end up marrying that person {see picture below}), but I think calling it "a thing" is just a way for guys/girls to get more action and not have to "commit". It's totally "Kag" if you ask me. (Did I use it right Syd?)

5. Brandt makes me smile. He bought some new sunglasses with his birthday money from my mom. They are polarized photo-chromatic (whatever that means). Basically they are supposed to be the bees knees for when he goes fishing. They are like transition lenses - they get darker as the sun gets brighter, etc. But, if you know anything about Brandt, he can't wait until this summer to try them out. Oh no. And it's too cold to stand outside and test them out. So he opened the blinds, then OPENED THE WINDOW (It was around twenty degrees outside), and pushes his head against the screen as much as humanly possible while wearing his sunglasses and looking into the sun. It was really funny. I allowed him about 30 seconds before I asked him if he knew how much it cost to heat our apartment and would he be so kind as to close the window. Ok, I probably didn't say it quite like that, but you get the drift.
The results of singling off dating in high school. Love you babe!

6. Life is good. Really good. It's still cold, and taxes still suck, and I'm nearing middle-age, but I am happy. Really happy.