25 things for Brent

Today Brent turns 25. Here are 25 things that I love about him, in no particular order:

1. Brent hates to dance-- but when we work with elementary kids he is such a good sport, he learned to shuffle, jerk and douggie last summer.

2. Brent's new favorite thing to do is poke my tummy and yell "wake up" to the baby.

3. Brent cleans our bathroom. In our entire marriage I think I have cleaned it twice.

4. Brent loves shoes. Our closets are filled with Brent's shoes. He wears a size 13 so they take up extra space anyway, but just the number of them is overwhelming. This year for his birthday he's getting more shoes. He is so excited.

5. I had no idea when we got married that Brent is a huge Star Wars fan. My family has always been super into it, but Brent did not mention it at all while we were dating. After hanging out with my brothers a few times Brent began playing the games, reading the books and occasionally trying to duel me with his old lightsaber.

6. Brent has worked really hard to recover since his surgery. He does stretches and exercises everyday so that he can be in the best shape possible for when baby comes.

7. Brent is a record holding eater. He was the first person to take on the huckleberry mountain challenge at 511 (in Ashton, ID). He ate the entire dessert (meant to be shared by 4-5 people) in under 5 minutes.

8. Brent is a poet. On our 2nd date he gave me a poem he'd written for me. Over the past 2 years he writes me one poem every month and keeps them in a beautiful journal for me. I'm not talking "roses are red, violets are blue" stuff. His most recent poem was in Spanish, it followed all the technical poetry rules of traditional Spanish poetry, not easy to do.

9. One of our favorite things to do (especially in the summer) is go on photography adventures. We drive all over Cache Valley to get pictures. Brent is a very talented photographer.

10. During the first trimester, while I was sick and student teaching, Brent woke up early everyday to make me breakfast and pack me a lunch. He never complained.

11. Brent knows ALL the words when he sings. I'll start singing the chorus from some random 90's song and Brent will whip out every single verse.

12. Even without cable Brent keeps up on all the basketball scores: NBA/College/High School. He loves the sport and enjoys going to any game he can.

13. Every night before we go to sleep Brent sings a primary song to our little guy.

14. When we were first married Brent created the "falafel rule" Basically if we start to argue over sometime stupid we say falafel and let it go. It has worked wonders.

15. Cooking with Brent is one of my all time favorite things to do.

16. Brent took up fly fishing a few summers ago so he could fish on my family's camping trip. He is always willing to try new things and does not give up when they are not easy.

17. Brent is 25 and is still mistaken for his little brother Troy (19). Brent is often asked about his upcoming mission (Troy left last month).

18. When Brent wants something he whines for it, but in a very funny way. When he wanted new shoes he texted me the word "Toms" 1000 times.

19. Kids love Brent. Everywhere we go babies and little kids smile at him or in some cases run over to him.

20. Brent loves kids. He loves to play with our nephews. He is going to be a great dad!

21. He likes to "get silly"

22. Road trips with Brent are the best. He packs great snacks, sings to every song and plays every silly game I want to play (even the alphabet one).

23. Brent is always so excited to give me gifts that he can't stand to wait and usually makes me open them early.

24. Brent is very personable. He gets along with everybody.

25. Brent loves to ask me ridiculous questions. Some of my favorites: would you rather be banjo-kazooied to Roseanne or Nicholas cage? Who would win in a fight between Yoda and Dumbledore? If that is SO Raven, what is not SO Raven?

Happy Birthday Brent!

Love you!

valen-times

Holidays are more fun when you work with elementary kids. On Tuesday they came running in with their decorated cereal boxes filled with candy. The kids wished me a happy "valen-times day" and many of them gave me valentines. One boy in particular reached into his bag and pulled out a valentine from "Karlee" and gave it to me. I felt very special ;)

Brent and I decided the first year that we were married that we would do Valentine's day at home. With Christmas, New Years, our Anniversary, Valentine's and Brent's birthday all in a row going out to eat, traveling, and big gifts are not feasible for all of them. So we make dinner together every year. When we were first married I found this alfredo recipe in one of the family cookbooks we got. It was easy to make and SO GOOD! We ate it a lot.... and put on a lot of weight. Now that we eat a bit healthier, we save this dish for our annual valentine's treat.

The best part of fettuccine alfredo is that while it tastes rich, it is pretty cheap to make. Total cost of ingredients for the fettuccine alfredo was about $5. So I got a lobster tail that was on sale and cooked it to crumble on top. It was much cheaper than eating out and I like ours better than the restaurants.

lobster tail with just a little bit of lemon juice

to put on top of the pasta

sliced wheat baguette with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping

I added a side of baked asparagus. Just drizzle with olive oil

sprinkle with salt and bake at 300 for 15 minutes. YUM

Our cute little table all set

Since we splurged on calories for dinner, for dessert I

made a sugar free devils food cake with low-fat whipped

cream and strawberries

We decided to eat it straight out of the pan.

After dinner we made a fort in our front room

We snuggled and watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

I promised Brent I would never ask him to get me a soda

during the 4th quarter of an NBA finals game.

We played a few rounds of Skip-Bo, our new favorite game.

I won :)

It was one of the best Valen-times I can remember. I am already looking forward to the alfredo for next year.

Here is the recipe for the delicious alfredo sauce:

(not for the dieters)

1 cube butter

2 tablespoons cream cheese

1 pint heavy cream

2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

combine butter, cream cheese and heavy cream in a pan. Heat until ingredients are melted and well mixed. Add cheese and garlic powder and simmer on low for at least 20 minutes (I usually let it simmer for 45 minutes-hour so it gets nice and thick). ENJOY :)

a new dress

With my tummy growing like crazy, most of my Sunday clothes are too tight. Maternity clothes are pricey, so I thought I would try to make my own dress. I found this awesome tutorial here: http://diymaternity.com/dresses/the-grecian-maternity-maxi-dress/ . The nice thing is the dress will work for non/maternity too. It was a very easy sewing project.

here I am sewing

here is the finished dress! I thought the pink would be nice and bright.

my attempt at a picture in the mirror.

Brent took a shot of me too-- I am 26 weeks pregnant in the picture

I wore the dress to the dance Brent asked me to- of course you can't see it in the pic, but I think we look pretty cute here.

The fabric was $5 a yard (a jersey knit at Hobby Lobby) the dress only needed 2 yards and I had plenty left over. Then I needed two elastic bands and thread, which were about $4. Total the dress was $14. Not bad for a maternity dress. I've got a lot of ideas for the left over fabric too :)

engineer week

For those who don't know I have the best job ever. I work at a local elementary school running the after school program. I get to help kids with homework, plan activities and play games with the kids. This past week I decided to try out some ideas for an engineering week. It was a huge hit! We made bridges out of popsicle sticks, square bubbles, paper air planes, and Rube Goldberg machines. To finish off the week on Friday my brother-in-law Greg, who is studying engineering, came with some of his engineering buddies to talk to the kids. He showed the kids a simple motor and did a fun activity with them. I wish I could post the pictures of the kids doing the activity, but for legal reasons I'd better not. Instead here are pictures of me with Maren and Greg and me with my sis Maren. (also check out their blog http://gregandmaren.blogspot.com/)

(other perk of the job is wearing jeans/t-shirts/hoodies to work so that I can do the activities with the kids, always comfy)

the kids would NOT believe that Maren and I are biological sisters. They know my other sister Sammi (blondie) because she works with me, the three of us look so different they kept saying Maren looked Latina.

The best part of the week for me was on Friday as I was walking to the gym I saw one of my after school kids who really struggles with math, but has loved engineering week. I told him that I had some real engineers coming to visit us. His reply was, "like real life ones? are you serious!? I get to meet them!" then he took off running toward the gym.

Seriously love my job :)

nephews and the blues

This weekend my brother Justin and his wife Ashley came to Logan with their two boys, Corgan and Greyson. We had a ton of fun hanging out with them. I remembered my camera, but pretty much only took pictures of the boys. Which is too bad because everyone else is cool too. On Saturday we started the day by going to a baby expo filled with fun baby things.

Greyson trying an airplane teeter totter

Sammi and I looking sad after her car wouldn't start

Sammi and Greyson playing in the backseat

We drove to see some buffalo in Hyrum. Corgan was very excited.

Corgan is a big animal lover. Here he is playing with Samson.

Greyson loved watching the turtle swim

We took the boys to the mall and they got to go on a ride.

We also had fun playing games with Justin, Ashley, Maren and Greg, watching movies, making dinner and singing the "guy on a buffalo" song.

Sunday night we watched the Superbowl with Brent's family and had fun playing games. I started feeling sick so we headed home early and went to bed. Monday I woke up feeling miserable. Brent knew I had a rough day and decided to surprise me Monday night. He got home and told me there was something on the doorstep.

I found this bag sitting outside our door.

He wrote this note to ask me to our stake's valentine's dance this weekend.

He filled the bag with my favorite "blue" candies.

It might be cheesy, but it was exactly what I needed to cheer me up after feeling so awful.

Happily Frustrated

Some mornings you wake up on time and get to take your time getting ready. You walk out the door confident that you have everything you need.

Today was not one of those days.

We were supposed to be out the door at 7. We woke up at 7:30. Classic alarm mistake, 6:10 pm instead of am. We were out the door in 7 minutes flat.

Brent drove fast. But not too fast, because I reminded him being pulled over would add 15 minutes.

We made it on time. We smiled. We laughed.

and this is why I love Brent. Some of my favorite moments with him have happened in our car when we are late or lost.

my little rutabaga

I read a lot of blogs lately. Mostly about pregnancy and motherhood. Some of the blogs make me scared for what's coming and other make me excited. One of the blogs I read today just made me sad. This woman wrote about how awful pregnancy was, how much she hated the idea of being a mother and how miserable the whole thing was making her. I cried. Ok, so I'm a hormone casserole and I cry at everything, but still, I totally cried.

I feel sorry for this woman. I know everyone has their own unique experiences with pregnancy and I can't say that she should feel a certain way, but it is hard to believe that someone could hate it this much, because honestly I love being pregnant. It is the happiest I have ever been in my whole life. Yes there are a lot of things I could complain about physically: back aches, head aches, feet aches, aches in places I did not know existed, vomiting, nausea, heartburn, constipation, dizziness, swelling, itching, the mood swings, and so much more.

But really, I don't mind it. Every time my little boy kicks I smile. I love seeing my belly grow. I love checking the weekly updates on how big he is getting (this week he is the size of a rutabaga--I love how they compare it to weird vegetables). I spend my mornings talking with my little guy and listening to music and dancing with him.... ok so I dance and he kicks sometimes. I spend hours thinking about what he will look like and what kind of personality he will have. I get to take naps for the first time in years. People hold doors open for me and help me pick up/ move things.

I don't have everything figured out yet. I am scared. I am nervous. I am anxious. And I am so excited for the baby to actually get here. I have a few months to get ready and while I'm waiting I am going to enjoy the little things.