The One with the Valentine Banner

I didn't even think of it before but since Wendy asked me in a comment on my recent Quilt post I thought I'd explain.  This is the wall above our bed.  On the left is a broken clock.  We really need to fix it but I like the way it looks :)  On the right is one of the lanterns from Steve & Heather's wedding.  The two plaques were bridal shower gifts from Mima and below them is the Valentine's Day banner I made last week.  I've been seeing a lot of Valentine decorations on Pinterest and thought I'd make something.  If you look close you can see that it actually says "My love you" which is how Justin and I say it to each other.  I know he's cute and funny!! :)

The One where Justin Says the Darndest Things

I truly love my husband.  And you know why?  Because he makes me laugh.  Hard.  So hard it's actually silent, I'm shaking and tears are streaming down my cheeks.  Remember the Gollum post?  Stuff like that happens all the time around here.  Like ghetto dancing- we've got skillz.  A few things have happened recently that I thought had to make it to the blog.

We were watching tv after dinner one night (Have I mentioned this is a regular occurrence?  We are super cool.) when something weird/extraordinary happened on ESPN and Justin said "What the Coop?!"  Pretty sure he was going for "What the poop?!" (the clean version of Steve's "What the eff?").  Hmmm, maybe you had to be there but his tone/expression were hilarious when he realized what he'd actually said.  And I almost fell off the couch :)

Did you know we live in Utah?  Where it's freakin' cold?!  Here's Justin's solution to warming up his feet before bed:

Yes, that is my mop bucket and yes, I have since bought him a wider, shallow bucket specifically for feet warming.

Our first Christmas together Justin got tickets to the MoTab Christmas concert.  The "dancers" are probably our favorite part because the moves are extremely simple and extremely funny.  About a week or two after the concert Justin came in to my living room with both hands clasped in front of him, took a few steps, flung his arms out to either side while simultaneously hopping and reclasped them, all with the most serene expression on his face!  Bwahahaha!!  That was the main move from the Christmas concert.  To this day we will randomly walk across a room like this and it always elicits laughter.

There is one final story that I have practically begged Justin to let me post (aka tell everyone we know) but he vehemently forbids me from doing so.  Let's just say it involves his deep-rooted love for all things Star Trek as a young child and maybe, just maybe, if you ask him face-to-face you'll get to hear it :)

The One with Ar-i-zon-a

(Clap.  Clap.  Clap clap clap!)

The Arizona men's basketball team came up to Utah to visit me!  Ok, maybe they came to play the Utah Utes, whatever.  I had the game scheduled on my calendar for months leading up to this day.  I was totally prepared: AZ beanie, shirt, hoodie and poster. That's right!  I made a Gator poster for Justin when the Florida gymnastics team came up here three years ago so it was only fair that Arizona got one when they finally made it this far north.  I propped it up in my office window all day, just so people would know who I was really cheering for :)

That "A" took me about 45 minutes to make!  But it sure looks good :)

Ignore the messy desk and focus on the amazing poster!  And my view.  Justin works in the basement and is jealous of the fact that I know whether it's snowing or sunny outside simply by looking left.

This was Justin's expression (of exasperation) after lunch when I was already cheering for my Cats.  He's a Gator fan and thinks I'm crazy.  What do you think "fan" is short for my friend?

Starting 5- Johnson, Fogg, Turner, Perry, & Hill.  Woot woot!!

Tip-off!!!  It may look like Utah is jumping higher but Perry (and AZ) actually got the ball.

We used our student ID's to get in but headed straight for the lower section and some good seats.

77-51.  Yeah, it was a blowout.

After the game I got even closer during Kyle Fogg's post-game interview.  Was I giddy?  Yes.

Wow I almost forgot!  I had so much fun cheering my team on to decided victory (I personally started the Ar-i-zon-a chant for my first time ever!) that I didn't get any pictures of Justin's favorite part of the game.  I mentioned that we used our student ID's to get in and as we walked through the turnstile we were approached by an AT&T representative.  He informed Justin that he was the 20th student attendee and therefore the winner of a new tablet PC!!  How cool is that?!  See, only good can come from cheering for AZ!!

 

**They did mention it was good that Justin won and not me because they couldn't allow all of my AZ gear on the court during halftime.  Tee hee!!

The One with the Quilt

And the new winner for prettiest present ever.  Mom totally spoiled me for Christmas this year!  Don't worry siblings, you'll get your turn :)  It was a fluke that I reaped the benefits of Mom's new sewing machine first.  And the quilting class.

About a week after we got home from Christmas we got a good sized box in the mail.  Of course I thought it was just something Justin ordered off eBay but my name was on it!  Yay!  Who doesn't love mail, especially packages?  I opened it up right then and cried.  Again.  For our wedding Mom found some beautiful damask fabric online and made what probably felt like 100 tablecloths.  I mentioned that it would be fun to use the scraps to make a quilt someday.  The amazing thing is I had totally forgotten I said that, but Mom didn't!  She was so sneaky and put together this beautiful bedspread.

Here are the befores:

I bought this bedspread my senior year of undergrad.  Yeah, it's getting a little old but we both like green so it has worked well so far in our marriage :)

Woops, here you can see we got a little lazy and didn't put the bed skirt back on.

I liked all the pillows that came with it...

 And the afters:

But this is so much better!!!

Look how pretty!  And detailed!!

My mom rocks!  And if you're wondering why the corner is turned out...

It says this!  How sweet :)

I love the blue and purple accents as those were our wedding flower colors.  Isn't it amazing?!!!!

The One with the Chiminichangas

I mentioned before that when we drove down to AZ for Thanksgiving we stopped and had dinner with Wendy's family.  She made the tastiest chimichangas which I have never even thought about attempting even though they're one of my favorite Mexican dishes.  She said the recipe for the meat was in the family cookbook and I watched how she fried them.  I thought "that's not as intimidating as I imagined" so when we got back home I decided to try making some chimis myself.  I must say (and Justin agrees) that they turned out pretty darn good!!

OK this was a mixed green burro I made first.  Soooo good!!  Oh yeah, and that is homemade salsa :)

Look at me!  It's like I'm a wife who cooks or something :)

Secret ingredient- I opened them up while they were still hot and sprinkled in some cheese.  Yum!!

Who's hungry?

Check it out Wendy- I'm so domesticated!!

**I am aware the correct term is domestic; you have to be on the inside to get that little joke :)