Of past and present.

11 years ago I was a junior in high school and rocked a great part time job at American Eagle. I didn't make a dime there because my minimum wage paychecks went right back to the company in exchange for a closet full of clothes. I was stylin' (or so I thought).

My first year I was an employee there, my manager hosted the annual Christmas party at her and her husband's house. It was there that I first laid my googly eyes on what I could only dream would be my future husband. This tall, muscle-y guy (he was my managers brother-in-law) was at the party for a very short time, but my eyes were locked on him for the entire duration of his attendance. Did he notice me? Heck no he didn't. I was just a teenager a few weeks shy of turning 17, and he must have been in his early twenties- a big age difference at the time.

The next time I saw my manager at work, I told her that I thought he was really cute, and from then we always joked about us being sisters if me and this hot guy ever got married.
Oh! Today, we're sisters. =)
Years went by after that Christmas party. I finished high school and entered college, and I had a few relationships over that time that never turned serious. Just after my 20th birthday, I was still working at American Eagle and my manager decided to set me and her brother-in-law up on a date, and well... the rest as they say, is history. 7 years and 2 beautiful kids later, we're celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary. I couldn't be more happy with where we've been and where we are going (hopefully to the new house we put an offer in just a few hours ago!!). I'm excited to see what our 5th year brings us!

My calling in life is not a cake decorator.

If I ever would have the desire to give up my job as a graphic designer and become a cake designer instead, I can now put that idea to rest. Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary and I thought I'd make a cake to celebrate (I also happen to be craving cake-how convenient, right?). I think I make cupcakes that are out of this world, so a cake wouldn't be too much different, or so I thought. WRONG. My cake looks like a 6th grade home-ec project that was nibbled on by hungry mice. I like making things that are pretty, so this is a little bit of a disappointment. I know it will taste great, but somehow I imagined it looking more like the cake we had on our wedding day- perfect fondant, with pearls and swirls. Um... yeah, not so much. Go ahead and laugh if you feel compelled.

And for the record: white cake on top, dark chocolate on bottom with a cream cheese frosting and sprinkles.
I also thought I would share a few pictures of us through the years. We've changed a lot in over 6 years!
This was one of our first pictures we ever took. Tidbit: Jon used to wear crazy matching jump-suit outfits and I'm happy to report that he doesn't anymore =)!

We used to have family in Florida, so we took advantage and went to Disney several times!

One of my sorority formals I dragged him to.

This was at the Melting Pot shortly after we were married, I believe. Now we just make our own fondue at home!

And then we welcomed a baby boy into our family! This was taken on Christmas when Cameron was just 3 weeks old! =)


And our most recent family picture, taken on Easter. We've come a long way, and have a long ways to go! I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

5 observsations in grocery shopping.

Observation 1: For the past, oh, year or so, Jon and I have been doing the grocery shopping together. I think the family affair took shape when Cameron was born, when I didn't want to go by myself- maneuvering a cart full of groceries and a baby and carseat hardly sounded like a situation I wanted to put myself in. We'd go to the store, spending 200 dollars on food and a package of diapers, only to come home not having anything to eat for dinner that evening.
Observation 2 : Back then, I didn't meal plan, nor did I clip coupons.
Observation 3: The last few months, I get the dreaded "do I have to go?" question- and my answer was always "Yes- unless you keep Cameron while I go!" He did, and I went by myself.
Observation 4: I started making a list containing ingredients for about 10 meals (so we didn't have to go for another 2 weeks), and BOY has our bill dropped. I do get fun items too- but I hardly shop for anything that isn't on the list.
Observation 5: Last night- Jon went to Aldi's (a "discount" grocer- anyone heard of it?) without me, in search of some chicken nuggets. He spent $80 and came home with:

• 3 different types of chicken nuggets- dino shaped for Cameron, 2 bags of regular nuggets, and a bag of popcorn chicken.
• Popcorn shrimp
• Cheese in a can
• A deep dish pizza
• 2 regular frozen pizzas
  
• Pizza pockets
• Peppermint Coffee Creamer that tasted like Listerine
• 2 bags of chips
• some type of frozen "cheese" appetizer in a black bean shell (?)
• Pork rinds

Maybe he forgot he was married to a nutritional label freak? Maybe he thought he could reminisce the days of what his fridge looked like as a bachelor? At any rate, it's clear that he will not be assisting me to the grocery store anymore. It will be better for my sanity our wallets and our waistlines.
How about you? who does the grocery shopping for your household?

Oh, and...

Jon and I joined a softball team with a few of his brothers and our first game is tonight! Thoughts that are running through my head:

• I'm about to find out how old I'm getting. I played sports all throughout highschool (never softball, though) but it's been awhile since I've worked up a sweat.
  
• I have to shave my legs. It's been awhile since I've done it and I hate doing it. I should have thought about this before I signed up.
  
• I'm the only girl on my team. In fact, I am probably one of a handful of girls in the whole league. I hope the boys take it easy on me!
  
• I forsee the following comment sometime during the season: "Jon, your wife is better at softball than you." Neither of us have played, but I've always smashed my husband in the batting cages. Hee! Regardless, I think it will be a fun time for us and maybe we'll meet some new friends!
  

Fun-due.

In Jon's family, it was tradition for whoever's birthday it was to make a special request for their birthday dinner. Jon always chose fondue. I'd never had fondue until we met, much less heard of it, but I was told (by Jon himself) that it was my responsibility as his wife to carry on the tradition for making him fondue on his birthday every year. =) So far, I've done good!
After searching through many recipes, I found that most of them use oils, which didn't necessarily appeal to me at all. The few times we had been to The Melting Pot, our meat fondue was broth based, which I liked. I finally found a recipe that was made with broth, and it's the most fantastic recipe for meat dipping. Not only is it flavorful, it's really easy too. While the broth is simmering on the stove top, I cut up the meats and veggies. We usually skip the cheese fondue when we're at home, because eating the meat fondue takes 1-2 hours in itself.

The recipe:
2 cans beef broth (I use Campbells)
1/2 bottle of dry white wine, OR 1 cup of water
2 cups of water
2 bay leaves
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. of dry French Onion soup (dry plain onion soup is fine too)
2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp dried parsley flakes

*If you're making it for more than 2-3 people, I'd suggest doubling the recipe. The broth tends to get really thick toward the end, in which case you could add a little more wine or water.

Throw all of it in a pot and let it simmer (on low) on the stove top for about an hour. Your house will smell incredible. If your neighbors are in close proximity like ours are, chances are they'll be able to smell it too and be incredibly jealous.


In the meantime cut your meats and veggies into inch x inch bite sized pieces. After the broth has simmered on the stove, transfer it into your fondue pot. For dippers, we like to cut up a chicken breast, any cut of steak meat, pork loin, raw jumbo shrimp, and red potatoes. For the dipping sauces, we just use whatever we have in the fridge that doesn't have fuzzy green stuff growing on it: BBQ sauce, teriyaki sauce, Ranch dressing, Wasabi sauce, and cocktail sauce.




Yes, it's THAT easy- so go ahead and dust off that fondue pot you got for your wedding and never used. Your fondue pot will thank you.

Jon's 30th Birthday weekend: good food and fireworks.

It's official, Jon is an old man. Even though his birthday isn't until tomorrow, we celebrated by going to Sumo, a hibachi-style Japanese restaurant we've been hearing great things about. The food was excellent and our cook was quite a ham. He insisted I take his picture, even though Jon told him the pictures would be going up on the internet. "Oh, would not be first time!" he replied jokingly. He had a strong accent and was a little hard to understand. He was also surprised when my sister-in-law, who is Korean, asked for the kids chopsticks (the ones with the paper and rubber band). "YOU? You don't know how to use chopstick?" Everyone laughed.



After dinner we came back to the house and had some friends and family over. Everyone was hanging out in the front yard. Around 9:30, my neighbor across the street came running over to our house and said "Leslie! My kitchen is on fire!" I could hear the alarms going off in her house, but didn't see any flames. I screamed at Jon to grab the fire extinguisher and go over and put the fire out. Jon ran over and 2 of his brothers followed. I stood in front of the house with my neighbor watching the boys try and fight this. The second Jon used the extinguisher, I could see the them jumping back from the orange glow in their kitchen as the fire blew up in their faces. To say I panicked was an understatement. I yelled at someone to call 911, but they had the fire put out just as we got emergency dispatch on the line.
By this time, everyone who was in our yard was now in hers watching this all unfold. Jon and his brother had small grease burns on their arms and face, but no one was hurt. The house was filled with black smoke, but once it cleared we were able to help get things cleaned up. I am still amazed that the situation wasn't worse than it was. Had we not had people hanging outside to help, it would have cost them minutes and probably their home. Instead, they lost a microwave, some cabinets, and will have to replace the flooring. That's it. God had a hold of the situation and am so thankful that all that was lost were material things that can easily be replaced!

Two Years.

Two wonderful years of marriage today, two of the best and most eventful years of my life. I have an amazing husband who has become an incredible father; to say that I am blessed is quite an understatement. 

We're keeping it pretty low key this year, no big exciting trips planned as we have the last 2 years. We enjoyed some chocolate chip waffles and mimosas for breakfast, and will just be hanging out today with the cutest 3rd wheel we've ever seen. And later, we'll probably escape for a nice dinner after Cam is in bed. 

I can't think of anyone else I'd rather grow old and gray with (even though he's the one in the gray department- not me!), and I am more in love with him today than I was 2 years ago. I look forward to our 3rd year of marriage and seeing what it has in store for us!

I kicked my husband out last night.

Out of bed, that is. I sent him packing to the couch with a pillow and blanket in hand, and wished him sweet dreams. I'm in my 32nd week of pregnancy, so no, I can't sleep, especially with a 200 lb. fog horn laying next to me. Sure, I could be the one to willingly get up and move to the couch, but I'm allowed a few pregnancy demands, and a nice comfy mattress to sleep on (in a quiet environment) happens to be one of them. Keeping me fed is the other. As long as those demands are met, I'm in good shape-- really!
You might be reading this and wonder why I haven't posted in some time, and I'm here to tell you the reason being is simply because I just haven't felt like it (in other words, no reason). That's the joy of writing on a personal blog, as opposed to say, writing for a column in a magazine or newspaper. I don't have to meet a deadline. Sure, I see people from time to time who read my blog and tell me it needs updating. Feel free to cut me a check and I'll be sure to keep regular entries coming your way. No, in all seriousness I'll try to post more, I'm sure it's pretty annoying to type in my blog address and see that I haven't said anything new. Sincere apologies. But, just think... In the following weeks to come, there will be lots of excitement (and more sleepless nights) in my world, and I'll be sure to tell you about it, so keep checking in.

He Loves...

Ok, Ok. I know I talk about my husband a lot. But I was inspired when I read "He Loves" from Bryn's blog to post a few things that my husband loves. Here goes!

1. Fishing. He loves to fish. Early in our relationship, he lived in a house where he could literally walk out of his back door and throw his fishing poll into the creek (same creek he lost AND found his wedding ring) and catch a 20 lb catfish. I could have walked out there naked while he was fishing, and he would never notice. Back then, I often took 2nd place in his life, next to fishing. =)

2. Talking about Fishing. If you know or have met a true fisherman, the subject is likely to come up in a conversation. He'll talk your ear off about fishing, and about the "would-have-been-state-record" catch that got away.

3. Family. And with a family as big as his, there's a lot to love.

4. Mowing/weed-eating/anything yard related. After he gets done mowing (which is often more than the yard really needs) He will ask me to come outside to the back porch and admire how perfect the lines in the grass are. He'll then usually say something like "I did a good job, huh?"
How fitting, that as I write this post I can hear him edging the yard, providing me with a perfect photo opportunity.




5. His pregnant wife.

6. Potatoes. He loves 'em, and I hate 'em. We're a perfect match because at restaurants, he gets my portion.

7. Reptiles. When we were first dating, he had 2 leopard geckos, a tokei gecko, 2 bearded dragons (which we're in the process of finding loving homes for) and an alligator. I had to (lightly) put my foot down to get rid of most of these creatures, but I know better when it comes to the alligator. We still have him, and someday when he passes on to gator heaven, he will make a great little purse for me.

Your turn! Post a few things that your significant other loves.

Look what we found!

A couple of weeks ago, our neighborhood had a community wide garage sale. Afterwards, 3 large dumpsters were dropped off for people to throw away their junk that didn't sell, or for people just to clean house and get rid of stuff. Anyway, Jon was helping our neighbor dump some of his stuff and in the process, discovered a dirt bike laying in the dumpster. They employed the help of a few more neighbors and dug it out. They were unsure if it even worked or why it was tossed, but after a little work, and air in the tires, they got it running! They had quite the weekend riding around on it- although the bike wasn't new, it only had 3 miles on it. I'm sure they will have many adventures on it- not bad for a bike pulled out of the dumpster, huh?