We've Moved...

In blog-land, that is. Come on over, and visit! justwetogether.netii.net

-ali

What A Girl Wants...

... is one of these.

Tonight, I thought I'd try making a tutu for a little lady in Justin's family. Below is the end result (apologies for the picture quality!). I was surprised at how easy-peasy it was to make! If you're looking for a good tutorial, this is the one I found most helpful. I just switched out the ribbon waistband for an elastic one.

I'm totally obsessed. Just ask my husband. I think I just might have to wear my own ballerina tutu here. With some wicked sweet tights.

Hope your weekend was happy!

Stuff

Not much new going on in these parts. I finished watching Emma (the Gwyneth Paltrow version) while putting together a scrapbook page today, and I cried at the very end. Sheesh, I need a life. Big time.

Jus and I saw Harry Potter tonight (for the second time). I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan (By the time the seventh book came out, I only read the epilogue. Harry and Ginny getting together is the most important part of the whole thing, right?) but watching the movies recently has piqued my interest in reading the books again. I don't know if my interest will last beyond finishing the first book. I kinda have my eye on reading Gone With the Wind next. It's still got a hold of me...

Justin starts school again soon. I'm relishing having him all to myself at the moment. Selfish, but true. I love going on runs with him, eating popsicles with him late at night, and feeling him tickle my back sometimes as we fall asleep. I just love him. I think this semester will be crazy, but he can do it.

Well, chickens, it's late, and I think I hear an orange popsicle calling seductively from downstairs. Over and out.

P.S. My hair finally fits into a ponytail (with like, a hundred thousand bobby pins to keep it all up, but still... Progress.)

Vanity

A while back, Jus and I were surfing Craigslist (a favorite activity of ours, apparently) and we came upon a gem. A beautiful vanity for a whopping $60. After dashing up to Sandy, and getting lost a time or two, we brought it home. Oh so carefully. It's been tenderly sitting in the garage ever since we moved.

Until yesterday.

Ladies and gents, I give you our vanity, one quart of paint later.

Between our discussions of where High School Musical fits on the "cool" scale, getting paint all over each other, and possibly getting high on that paint smell, Jus and I had a blast painting this thing together.

I'm kind of obsessed with it. I'll be honest. Thanks, Jus.

-Ali

Done!

Remember the Aqua Room? The room that turned my foot blue for days? The room that I cursed and walked away from? The room I probably would have left, painters tape and all, and simply ignored the fact that it even existed? That room?

Justin, sweet, thoughtful, handsome Justin finished that room tonight. It made my day. And week. Golly, I'm lucky that man is mine. So lucky.

Here it is folks. I'm thinking black, white and red for accents?

Over and out, boys.

-Ali

P.S. In my excitement over this room, I over tweezed my eyebrows tonight. And I'm missing a chunk somewhere above my right eyeball...

La Vita e Bella

Jus and I took a walk tonight. I love taking walks with that man.

There's a little running path right by our place, and Jus thought tonight would be the perfect night to explore it (before the mosquitos came out.) Suffice it to say, I am falling more and more in love with our little bit of country every day. This place is beautiful. Life is beautiful, and I am happy.

-Ali

Painting

We are officially moved into our new place. I love it here. Our whole little neighborhood is surrounded by fields, and I'm falling more and more in love with them every day. There is a running trail too, but Jus and I have yet to try it out. We have yet to do a lot of things!

But we're getting there. Starting with painting.

I decided to tackle painting a room last week. Thanks to my dad's guidance (and sympathy) and my mother-in-law's help, we were able to turn our nuclear-pink-with-giant-pink-diamonds-on-the-wall room into a cool shade of aqua with a fresh white trim. The whole thing has turned into an ongoing learning experience, to say the least. The other day, I spilled half a can of paint on my foot... and so painting began.

Suddenly, my aspirations of painting the rest of our home quickly dissipated. I never minded the brown walls anyway...

Gone with the Laundry

Folding laundry is: A. An activity looked forward to with great anticipation.

B. An activity done daily, so as to avoid growing your very own Mt Everest.

C. A and B are both true.

D. A is false and B should be true.

I'm gonna have to go with "D" Mr. Barker.

I like folding laundry in spurts. But, more often than not, said pile of laundry is so tall, I might as well be storing it in the cupboards above our washer and dryer (in our kitchen). This was certainly the case a few days ago.

Turns out, folding laundry to Gone With the Wind almost makes you forget the task at hand altogether! This has proven to be true while performing other chores such as: fridge cleaning/scouring, packing, etc. (By the way, chickens, we're moving! Hooray!)

For nearly four hours, I watched, waited and wished for Rhett Butler to turn around and tell Scarlett off beginning with, "Frankly my dear..." and walk away into the Georgia mist, leaving Scarlett with nothing but a broken heart and a twinge of guilt for treating Rhett so poorly.

Needless to say, this resulted in a much reduced folding, cleaning and packing speed.

But, that's ok, because, you know, "Tomorra' is anotha' day!"

Physics, Cards and Cookies

In the evenings, Jus can be found sitting at his desk in our Cave busily solving physics problems. Thank heavens this class of his is almost over! Sometimes I wonder if Isaac Newton is really the only person in the history of this earth who really, truly understood physics. Everyone else is faking it.

While Jus works on his homework, I try to keep busy myself (and stay out of the cookie dough in the freezer). Pebbles just got this paper in, (looks like it's not on their website yet!) and I'm mildly obsessed with it. I think its beautiful. This is what that paper turned into tonight.

I got the inspiration from this card on October Afternoon's website, (Wonderful website, by the way. They have great layout and card ideas. Plus, their paper is just adorable.)

At this point, however, the Mr. and I need a break. Where's that cookie dough, again?

I really should be showering

but I'm not. Obviously. The alarm went off this morning. And I heard it, loud and clear. That hardly ever happens. Maybe Jus turned up the volume? Who knows. The first thing that popped into my head was pact Jus and I had made last night, to run this morning. I'm not going to lie, I was hoping one of us would forget.

But he didn't.

So, we dragged our sorry selves out of bed and stumbled around the apartment, trying to find our running stuff. Jus was ready to go before I even had my shorts on. Sometimes, (like, a lot of the time) I'm jealous that boys can get ready so much faster than girls, or more specifically, Jus can get ready so much faster than me. I guess anyone could get ready faster than me without trying very hard, though. But, that's besides the point.

Anyway, we went for a super quick run (and by "quick" I mean short. One day, I'll mean "quick", for real). It was delightful. And sweaty. But mostly, delightful. Thanks Jus, for being so incredibly charming and debonaire (and handsome) enough to get me to run with you today. And maybe tomorrow, too.

My Bed Could Beat Up Your Bed

I love my bed. Who doesn't? When I was little (ok, like, a senior in high school) I would wake up in the morning and dream about what life would be like if I could take my bed to school with me. I just didn't want to leave it. Even when dad was throwing various shoes at what part of me was visible under the covers, or dumping cups of cold water down my face, I clung to staying in bed "just another five minutes". (Don't worry, dad and I are cool with each other.)

Last night, Jus's folks surprised us with one of those memory foam mattress pads.

Woah. Man.

I've never wanted to go to bed so badly in my whole life as I did yesterday. The pad is pretty thick, and our bed is kind of tall already. These two things together necessitate the person in question to take a running start, and then leaping onto the bed. Upon landing, said individual is instantly greeted by a dream-like, deliciously soft sense of comfort, and one begins to wonder if this is even reality. (Is this sounding like an info-mercial to anyone?) I went to bed at 10:45 last night. Two hours early.

Needless to say, it was tougher than usual to drag my sorry self out of bed this morning. The mattress felt as if I were in the loving arms of a dear friend that I almost couldn't bear to part with.

Alas.

At least Jus doesn't throw shoes.

On candy bars, and office security

What a beautiful day in the neighborhood! I should be out there, letting my legs get a little vitamin D... if my legs are still white by mid July, there might be talk of installing a tanning bed in our basement.

On my way to the grocery, I started flipping through the radio stations. Sunny days need happy songs. I'm not very cool when it comes to my music choices, and today, I was glad no one knew the song I was head banging and lip syncing to was "Lets Hear it for the Boy" from Footloose. Secret's out now, I guess.

I stopped by Jus's work to drop off a Snickers candy bar. A peanut butter Snickers candy bar, mind you. I had a little note wrapped around it, and the initial plan was to sneak into his office, and put it on his desk when he wasn't looking or something. I wanted it to be a surprise, you know?

Pros and cons of said operation:

Pro: Husband and I see each other for two seconds, under the pretense of delivering brain-creative-juice-enhancing-goods. He's a hard worker, and he needs a boost every now and then, right?

Con: I'm not really sure where Jus's desk even is.

How stupid would I look, a little girl, running around this grown-up office peeking in each person's cubicle, looking for the back of a blonde head? I can just see myself panicking.

In this state of panic, my rash behavior would take over, and this would result in making a wild guess as to which cube was my husband's, and leaving this candy bar and (semi-tacky) note in some other guy's cube. Wouldn't be one of my shining moments as a wife...

When I went to open the office door, and couldn't. It was locked. I texted Jus.

So, instead of me sneaking in, Jus snuck out, and the candy bar was delivered. To the right boy. (Win) In the right cubicle. (Win) And he liked it. (Win)

I kinda like him. (Win, win!)

Modern Housewife

As we started to fall asleep last night, Jus mentioned he cleaned the toilet. What a guy!

Then I dreamed about cleaning the toilet bowl too.

Then I woke up, and cleaned my whole apartment. Not just the toilet.

Cleaning with Frank Sinatra isn't so bad, you know that? I even turned my lights down low, (not good if you're dusting. You'll miss half of it.) and imagined I was one of those high fashion 1950's ladies in my pearls and heels and bright red lipstick like you see in the movies, rather than a girl with bad bed-head who hadn't managed to shower before noon.

Cobb salad for dinner tonight. Should be a simple operation, yes? Potato rolls to go with Cobb Salad? We'll see... After a couple hours of mashing potatoes and mixing in about a ton of flour, (and spreading half of that on the counter) they have been corralled into muffin tins, and there they will stay, rising their little hearts out until dinner time. I've got my fingers crossed.

Camera?

For the last hour I've been checking out digital SLR cameras and dreaming my head off. Literally.

I'm saving pennies for one.

I have always wanted to be able to take good photos. In high school, my english teacher asked us to go through magazines and cut out pictures of what we wanted our life to be like in 10 years. I found an ad with a girl in a denim jacket and a beret taking a (probably amazing) picture of something not seen on the page. I've always wanted to be that girl.

I've looked at lots of websites and read (which here means "skimmed") reviews, only to forget what I was reading half way through. But, I took notes. And that's a start, I guess.

Reason Number 2,345 Why I Love Him

I would be pretty ungrateful if I didn't post something today.

My husband is wonderful. I know I say it all the time, and it probably sounds a little cliche, but, I'm not very articulate.

After reading about our laundry mound last night, Jus looked at me with those big blue eyes of his. If I had told him how stressed I was, he would have helped me, he said. I shrugged it off. Really, I wasn't that worried about the laundry, I was just whining online. That's all. A minute later, he disappeared. I wandered into our little kitchen, and there he was "de-mounding" that huge pile of socks and underwear.

And yes, he made the bed.

Four (Seven) Letter Words

Once again, my motivation meter is at like, a -10.75. I hate it. I wish I were disciplined enough to get things done around the house that need to be done.

The Kilimanjaro sized pile of laundry is sitting atop the dryer still waiting to be folded, which I can't (won't) do until my bed is made (I fold laundry on the bed, you see) which I can't (won't) justify making because by the time I make it, its just going to get unmade for bedtime. You see my dilemma? So, until I make the bed (probably tomorrow) the huge laundry hill is going to stay where it is, on our dryer, in our little kitchen, with one little window and spiders to boot.

Did I mention some ladies from church are coming over tomorrow? The laundry hill will need to be uprooted to my bedroom before they come. Which means the bed cover on the floor will probably need to be moved somewhere else to make some extra room.... I don't even want to discuss my dresser. Its stunning lack of room (due to some serious c.r.a.p. spread across the top. All mine, by the way) necessitates using some valuable floor space. This creates a new home for spiders. Perfect.

Meanwhile, I'll soak my guilt in a bubble bath, and admire the contrast of my red toenails against the fluffy, white bubbles.

On Oregon and Feeding the Wildlife

This time last year, things were different. Jus was in Oregon, serving a mission for our church. Part of last Mother's Day was spent listening on the phone (in tears) as that boy talked with his whole family. Being on an LDS mission, Jus could only call home on Mother's Day and Christmas. I will always appreciate his mom for sharing him with me on those days. That Mother's Day, however, was a particularly incredible phone call. For a lot of reasons.

In that last phone call, we talked about taking a tour of Oregon together. Last week we did, and it was marvelous. We spent a week driving around between Oregon and Washington, listening to Taylor Swift and Royal Wedding podcasts, and watching Indiana Jones. We wandered along the beach, scrambled on top of rocks, and listened to the seals chatting with each other. The Oregon coast is absolutely beautiful. I love it. Jus was the perfect little tour guide, taking me to places he explored, and introducing me to friends he had made. I think that was one of my favorite things we did together.

We spent a few days with family in Seattle, and munched on Ivars on the pier. Delicious. As a matter of course, we saved some food for the seagulls. (They watch you with those beady eyes all the way through your meal.) Gull feeding can be an intimidating process. You're never quite sure if they will see your outstretched finger as an extension of the fry in your hand. As Jus was contemplating how to accomplish the task at hand, and come back with all of his fingers, a huge white, whiney blur flew past his left shoulder, and snagged the clam strip in question. Bang! Out of nowhere. Last I checked, all ten digits are in their place.

Well, reality can't be suspended anymore for the moment. We're back. Laundry needs to be done, and bills need to be paid. But, Jus and I will make plans to go back again. The beaches and the seagulls will be waiting.

Easter Weekend

Our apartment is F.R.E.E.Z.I.N.G. Curled up in our big, fluffy blanket, slippers on, and listening to the Adele playlist via Rhapsody, my nose is sniffling. Happy Spring.

Hope your Easter was great. Wasn't it a gorgeous day? After spending the morning with family and friends, Jus and I spent the rest of the day together. Bliss. We took a stroll around our neighborhood, chatting about various things, our goals and ambitions. I love days like that.

Roast, mashed potatoes and rolls for dinner. Cookies and Cadbury Eggs (compliments of my man) for dessert.

Cuddled up on the couch and watched Star Wars. Wished my hair could do the things Princess Leah's did. Jus suggested I find some donuts, or cinnamon rolls instead.

Poop-tastic cookies

Tonight was the night. I've been counting down the days until making these easter hunt cookies. I'm pretty sure I've talked about them to Jus every day, at least twice a day ever since I found the recipe (which you know, was like, a month ago). Last week, at the grocery, I made sure to choose my green food coloring with care, knowing that it would play a very prominent role in these bad boys. Opening the food coloring box was like Christmas all over again.

I had food coloring. Of my very own. I had now, officially, entered the realm of adulthood.

What better thing to do at 10:30 pm on a Saturday? Duh, Ali, make easter cookies! My hands trembled in feverish delight as I grabbed all of the ingredients, and carefully measured out nearly 5 cups of oats, and dumped them tenderly into my mixing bowl. (Pathetic, huh?) Next came the sugars, and the vanilla, and peanut butter. All blessed one and a half cups of it. I may or may not have added a little extra... If a half a cup is good, two is better, yes?

Turns out green food coloring can't withstand the power of peanut butter.

Then it came to it. The crowning jewel of our easter cookies: green food coloring. I added a bit, and waited for the magic to happen. I added a bit more. And more. And more. My high hopes dissipated. The whole point of the food coloring in this recipe is to make the cookie look like grass, and the m&m's to look like eggs. My "grass" was looking a little, um, "dead". Thanks to the peanut butter.

Jus tried to make me feel better, by telling me that it looked like the grass that grows in England. You know, that kind. All I can say is, the folks there need to water their lawns more, if my cookies were any representation of the average British lawn.

While the little poops may have looked... not the most appetizing, they tasted pretty yummy. Delicious, really. Thanks to the peanut butter.

Book Finished

Well, here we are again folks. Husband homework-ing. I finished my book (frown), and Facebook has become dreadfully dull (It usually is. Why do I waste so much time on it agin?). Jus and I will both be glad when the semester ends.

I really did enjoy reading Becoming Queen Victoria. There is just something about Victoria and Albert that is special. I can't quite put my finger on it. But I love them. Dearly.

Almost immediately after finishing (I cuddled with my own dear boy for a minute), I hopped online to look for another book about the royal couple, and stumbled upon a BBC tv mini series about them. Way early Christmas gift? To myself? Maybe.

No News, No Shirt, No Service... But Mostly, No News

Remember how it has been, you know, FOREVER since I last posted? After interrupting le husband for the six billionth time with Facebook happenings (way lame, I know), I've turned my efforts to this. Much to the relief of a particular boy sitting next to me on the couch, I am sure.

I feel like in order to write, I need to have something noteworthy to write about. It's tricky to make a full-blown narrative about folding socks... I've been reading this book about Queen Victoria, and I find myself wondering about what she did on the days that she didn't write in her journal. The days that didn't go down in history. I guess she just did her "everyday" stuff. (I bet she never had to fold her socks). Every day doesn't have to be extraordinary, does it? That's what I need to remind myself.

I broke down and made chocolate chip cookies tonight. I think I ate too many... ick. What's your favorite cookie? I found a recipe for these easter hunt cookies. There will be a plate of them at our house sometime this week. Count on that. I thought about putting chocolate chips in them, and then realized they might look like other things hiding in the grass, besides easter eggs...

Have a happy day, listen to the rain, and rest easy, knowing the weekend is almost here!

Thoughts on Breakfast

Jus and I woke up this morning full of anticipation. That's right folks, a trip to D.I. was in our plans. Boy, do we know how to party. But seriously, we love that place. We came away with some cool bowls and things. More about those later.

Jus made some french toast for breakfast before heading out the door. Delicious. I had no idea he made french toast. I guess he used to make it for the other missionaries a lot. No big deal. I think he has a hidden talent for making breakfast. He makes smoothies that taste just like the Razmatazz drinks at Jamba Juice. My favorite. When Jus and I were dating, Jamba was one of our favorite haunts. His homemade ones bring back a little nostalgia I guess. I asked him for a recipe once, and he just shrugged his shoulders. "There isn't one, really." I guess that's a call for us to figure it out, huh?

Pencils and Love Stories

Anyone who knows me also knows that I love, love, LOVE "You've Got Mail". Who doesn't? The story is adorable. I may or may not have shed a tear or two upon watching Tom Hanks wipe away Meg Ryan's tears with a hankie embroidered with daisies. Who wouldn't? Gah! I love it.

The other night, I was giving Jus an earful of how close this movie is to my heart. Poor guy. He's a good (which here means great) sport. We recently finished watching Pride and Prejudice (the really long, and really, only good version). It was a weeklong event. Jus laughed at the funny parts, and let my "sentimental heart beat wildly" (You've Got Mail) during the tender parts. What did I say? He deserves something for that.

I came home from work yesterday and found a few changes. There were love notes written all over the mirrors in our little apartment. My "sentimental heart" was melting. And then I saw it. Where we normally keep a vase of fresh flowers, I found a bouquet of pencils. Freshly sharpened ones. Thanks, bud. Love you.

-ali

Sunny Days are Here Again

The days are getting longer. I love it. Yesterday's sunshine was lovely! I was taken by surprise as I walked out of my door to go to work. Living in a basement makes each day another exciting round of "Guess What the Weather is Doing". I regretted the fact that I wasn't wearing a skirt and Vans like I wanted to be as I locked the door behind me.

Today is Friday, and I'm seriously lacking motivation to do ANYTHING this morning. Dishes? What dishes? Workout? What's that? Shower.. Me? (Kidding) But, the truth is, there ARE things to do. I guess that's my cue to say, "live long and prosper" and enjoy your weekend!

-Ali

PS Check out what we are watching this weekend.

Cookies, Cakes and eClairs

Really, I should be exercising right now. I've eaten like, 20 cookies in the last five days. No bueno. Jus and I have this weird "Guess What I Ate That was Unhealthy Today" ritual. It can be pretty funny sometimes. Like last night, for example. At dinner, Jus told me that it was "cake day" at his work. A lady (someone's cousin or other) makes a beautiful, and sinfully delicious chocolate cake for everyone at work. Flour in there? Probably not. But, hello, its chocolate cake once every 31 days. No need to feel guilty. A few hours later, Jus blurts out, "I had an ECLAIR today too!" That must have been weighing pretty heavily on his concience. I burst out laughing, and threw my pillow at him. Sheesh, If I were built like my man, I would be having chocolate cake for breakfast every day and not worry. At all. It was at this point, when I decided to confess a secret.

"Jus, you know the cookie dough in the freezer?"

"Yeah?"

"I ate ALL of it yesterday...."

The rest came out in a jumble, "...Not like there was that much left anyways. It only would have made like, six cookies. Small ones too." This was met with a pillow thrown in my face.

Yep. We're weird when it comes to food.

-Ali

Snowboarding Sunburn

As a last hurrah for the season, Jus and I hit the slopes this weekend. We went to a different resort than usual, and had a good time. (PS I only tumbled off the lift once, and didn't wipe out ANY children. Pathetic accomplishments, but accomplishments nonetheless.) The drive up the canyon was beautiful. Jus's face got a little bit of sun, and so did his lips. We've both been caking on chapstick all night.

Winter is a delicious season, but the mere thought of spring has become more of a longing for spring. I have been wanting to pull out my summer skirts for weeks. All of this week, I thought was the last week in March. Until I looked at the calendar. Like, really sat down, and gave it a long, hard look. I found this A. Dorable skirt pattern, and I think I see one in my future. Meanwhile, I'll type with gloves, to keep the fingers warm. This is the part where Jus puts our big, soft minky (or "yeti", if you like) blanket around my shoulders. Gotta love that boy. I sure do.

Where has the time gone?

Greetings! My, it's been a while, hasn't it? That doesn't mean that I've been busy saving whales and feeding orphans. I'm just lazy.

Jus and I tried a new recipe last night. It wassupposed to be orange chicken. I should have picked up on the fact that when the recipe called for apricot preserves, it wasn't going to taste like the real deal.

I didn't.

It didn't.

Hopefully, this recipe for chicken divan will turn out a little better. (By the way, if you are looking for a DELICIOUS low fat cheesecake recipe, click here. I made this last week for a family get together and it was pretty yummy. Skinnytaste.com is amazing! Some of the gals at work have cooked recipes from here love them. I'm a believer.)

I finished the book I've been reading, The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter. Its one of Jus's favorites. It's about a Cherokee boy who is raised by his grandparents after his parents death. All at the tender age of five. The book feels like a compilation of different lessons that Little Tree learns from his "Granpa" as the seasons pass, but there is a story weaved in as well. At first, it was difficult for me to get into, but the more I read, the more I began to understand, and love the characters. Definitely a good weekend read! I would recommend it to anyone.

Remember this paper? I found an excuse to use some of it over the weekend, and made this.

Sigh... I guess I can't prolong exercising any longer. Its been fun. Over and out.

Good day

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood. Sundays are great, because me and the Mr. can spend the entire. day. together! Need I say more?

8:00 AM - Church (didn't realize it was daylight savings time. Glad our phones knew!)

12:00 PM - Sunday nap

1:45 - Usual Sunday lunch of tomato soup and panini sandwiches. (Jus makes the best paninis.)

2:00 - Visiting teacher came over bearing mint m&m's. Delightful. She's so nice.

3:00 - Longboarding at the park. At the same time. On one board. (One fellow "park patron" we passed told us how interesting we looked.)

5:00 - Drive up the canyon. Stick races in the river, and rock skipping (Jus is a pro. I'm not.)

6:00 - Home.

8:30 - Discuss dinner.

9:30 - Eat dinner. (BBQ chicken with swiss cheese and rice. Yum)

Yessir. Good, good day.

Lunch Date

Yesterday was beautiful, was it not? I'm trying to tell myself that, in spite of the fact that a storm is supposed to be here this weekend, spring will come. I don't know why, but I'm more excited than usual this year. Skirt weather? Yes, definitely.

Jus and I went to lunch yesterday. Going on dates with him is always fun! Half the time, it involves one, (or both) of us not really sure of where we're going, and the other one trying to decipher the GPS. The latter is usually my job. I'm no good with maps, even if they're electronic. We've taken more than one wrong turn when I'm "directing". Yesterday was no exception.

We got lost trying to find the restaurant we were planning on going to (after re-routing the GPS, like six times), so in the end, we went to Flour Girls and Dough Boys. So, so yummy! I love going there. I've wanted to take Jus there for a long time, too. (We used one of their baby cakes for our wedding cake. Thanks, Linds for the idea!) We spent our time chatting and listening to the conversation of a group of moms at the table next to us (haven't you ever wondered what moms talk about? Funny stuff.)

Even if we hadn't found a place to eat, and just spent our whole hour and a half being lost with the locals, it still would have been a good time. That's just how Jus is. I know I say it a lot, but I've been thinking (a lot) lately about this song. It's kinda old-school, but I love it. Reminds me of Jus every time I hear it. Love you buddy. I am so lucky to be me.

-Ali

Feelin' the burn

Greetings! Just finished another "wii workout". Considering I've only been at it a few days, my legs are KILLING me! The other day, Jus looked at me and said, "I can tell you have been working out." Aw shucks. "You're walking like you are really sore...." Oh.... Sigh.

But really, this game is so much fun, which, in turn motivates me to exercise. I love it. Now we just need to get another set of controllers, so Jus and I can have a husband and wife workout/bonding session. ;)

-Ali

New Work Out?

"Ali! I've got flab! Come here, look!!" Jus is only pulling skin, and that will probably be the only thing he'll be pulling for the rest of his life. Jealous.

That being said, we've both been feeling a little out of shape lately. We went running with my brother the other day, and I was more than mildly winded when our half hour was up. What is wrong with me?! I used to be able to run like, 6 miles, no problem. I guess that's what I get for sitting home and scrapbooking. (Check out this delicious line from Crate Paper! Isn't it beautiful? Where was all this when we got married? I went nuts the other day, and bought a bunch of it at Pebbles in My Pocket.)

This weekend, Jus bought "EA Sports Active 2" for the Wii. Despite my misgivings at first, it turned out to be kinda fun (to play, and watch Jus play). You have a little "personal trainer" during your workouts and he even shouts encouraging (and kinda corny) phrases at you. Needless to say, I woke up this morning excited to work out (which doesn't happen much.) I was a little disappointed in how few calories I burned for how long (and hard) I thought I worked, but, I think the game could be beneficial. It's fun, if nothing else. We're both a little bit obsessed with it.

-Ali

P.S. Remember my inspiration picture? Here's my attempt at something similar. I have had this jacket for forever, and decided it needed a little revamping.

Weekend in Review

Greetings! After posting yesterday's somewhat "blegh" entry, I realized that this past weekend had been pretty great, and I should get it down in the books.

I love soup. I think mostly because it is so easy to make (and easy to eat, according to Jerry Seinfeld. Ever seen the "Soup Nazi"?) I love picnics almost as much as I love soup. I love Jus almost as much as I love picnics. Just kidding. I love him a lot more than picnics (and soup). Friday night was a delicious combination of those three favorite things of mine. We spread a blanket out on the floor, turned on some nature sounds (courtesy of the camper who left his video camera out in the forest for ten minutes and then put it on YouTube), and ate some yummy soup. To top it all off, we went to the grocery store and got soft serve ice cream. Did I mention that ice cream is my fourth favorite thing?

Saturday night found my husband and me on the slopes. Remember my worries about getting off of the lift (let alone getting down the mountain). Well... lets just say I made it off the lift a little more "gracefully"; and by "gracefully" I mean, I didn't shriek and swear while tumbling out of the lift. This time, I managed to keep my balance for a second, and then fell over. However, I did make it off once without falling. Progress. As a side note, I made it down the mountain on our last run with only one tumble, thanks to my husband/incredibly dashing and "mega cool" snowboard instructor. ;) Yeah, he's pretty great.

Ho hum...

Worked all day. Tomorrow's goal: get our apartment back in order! It's kinda messy... Had pasta and homemade alfredo tonight. It wasn't too shabby. It looks like one of my nails is chipped. I'm trying to find the motivation to get my nail file... Can't find it (my motivation) anywhere.

Snowboarding

Man, this week has been a busy one. Jus and I attempted to go snowboarding for the holiday on Monday, and discovered the coupon we had didn't work on holidays. Curses! Foiled again! Honestly, it feels like each time we try to go, something comes up. We WILL hit the slopes before the snow melts. You'd better believe it.

My husband is an awesome snowboarder. He's been doing it for years. I didn't learn until recently, that he took a vow long ago to never enter into matrimony with a woman, unless she could snowboard... That rules me out, I guess. We got married under the condition that I would learn how to this winter... Ok, ok, so like %32 of that story is actually true. But I have always wanted to try snowboarding. After all, it's what the "cool kids" do, right? Justin is sweet enough to be my snowboard instructor this season, (he is the best looking guy on the mountain, of course.).

The first, and to this point, only time we went snowboarding, things were great. Apart from tumbling (a lot) and bending my pelvis over and around my cranium (a lot), I would say things went pretty well... it was the lift that killed me. I couldn't get off of it without falling on my face, (and taking out the fellow seven-year-old skier on the lift with us). Awesome.

Since then, I've tried practicing in my mind the motion of getting off of the lift with one foot strapped into a board. Perched on the edge of our bed, I keep my "strapped in" foot held in the air, and then try to gracefully push myself off the bed, and then do this dorky looking propelling motion with my other foot. But I bet it will look better than just tumbling right out of the lift chair, to the painful entertainment of everyone else enjoying the powder. Wish me luck folks... I'm going to need it.

-Ali

"I Love You" is spelled O.J.

It's been a few days! Apologies. It's been that busy (or that boring depending on how one looks at it). Hope your Valentines was wonderful! Mine was. Jus came home that night with a beautiful bouquet of red roses. (Aww shucks...) We hurried and changed into nice(er) clothes and headed to Chef's Table for dinner (delish!). Cake Bites for dessert (delish, again!). I had heard a lot of things about Chef's Table, so I was really excited to go there for myself. I was not disappointed. Tuscan Tomato Soup= heaven in a tureen. Now I've got this drive to find a recipe that is similar... I'd be ok with eating it every day... for every meal... sigh.

Early mornings in our household will find my husband singing in the shower, and me sprawled out in bed (Someone's got to hold the bed down). I keep a tired ear open for when Jus makes his way into the kitchen for breakfast. At which point, I drag my sorry behind out of bed, take a quick look in our mirror, grimace at my hair's startling similarity to that of Madame Hooch, and stumble into the kitchen. Most mornings.

Today, the routine was much the same, only, I missed the singing in the shower cue. I heard rummaging in the kitchen. "Did I really fall back asleep this morning?" I asked myself. I hurried out of bed (as fast as I could safely stumble). Jus calls from the kitchen, "Go back to bed. Don't come into the kitchen!" It doesn't take much more convincing than that. Back to bed I went. As I lay in bed, feeling slightly guilty for being there, I heard hissing on the stove, and a sound that sounded suspiciously like the beating of eggs... Five minutes later, my handsome butler came in with a delicious looking breakfast sandwich and a glass of O.J...

I think there may be a puddle where my heart used to be. I'm a lucky, lucky woman.

After breakfast, the musical stylings of Jus could be heard from the general direction of the shower...

Musings on a Saturday

The puppy upstairs disappeared. And no, I didn't bring him to our place (as much as Jus would have loved that...). We woke up the other morning to little pitter-patters upstairs, along with some barking. I learned that my husband doesn't like being woken up by an animal running around the ceiling. Who knew? Anyway, the puppy is gone, to who knows where, and my sympathies with it.

Valentine's is on Monday. I love how nienie refers to it as the "Lover's Holiday". It sounds better. Jus and I celebrated the holiday like, three weeks ago, after I accidentally discovered his gift (jeans that I'd been wanting for forever). Whoops... I'm no good at keeping surprises for long either, (Christmas nearly killed me.) so we just had Valentine's early. Oh well... Next year, we'll celebrate the same time as everyone else. Have a happy weekend, and a lovely holiday. Hope the restaurants aren't too crowded!

-Ali

Puppy

Coming home from work is always exciting. I haven't seen my other half like, you know, all day, and his kisses are something I look forward to. Call me crazy.

Jus and I have been having some "dog discussions" as of late. There is one in our future, that's certain. When? That's another discussion for another day. Here, I should admit that really, I've never loved animals. I think it's just the hair that gets EVERYWHERE (including one's clothes and pillows... um... no.) That being said, there's just something about a little, helpless ball of fluff with those big, endearing eyes that gets me every time. Without fail.

Tonight, I came home to my love, a delicious aroma of swiss chicken, and a mysterious noise coming from The Cave. "Do you hear that?" Jus and I both asked simultaneously? We stood still to listen. That's when we heard a series of very distinct yelps (pathetic yelps, mind you) coming from the garage, which is above The Cave. Yep. There's a puppy of some sort up there...

And he's sounding pretty "doggone" lonely, if you'll pardon the expression. I'm exercising great self restraint to not go up there and give him a hug... and maybe bring him down to our place... just to stay warm... for the next week... or forever.

-Ali

PS: My wreath is finally done! I inadvertently locked myself out while taking this picture. Knocking on the door woke up said puppy upstairs.

Fondu and other things

Around Monday afternoon, I'm already counting down to Friday. Pathetic, I know. The weekends are delicious. I relish them when I get the chance. Jus and I got to hang out ALL weekend. I loved it.

We attempted round one of "Fondu Friday" this weekend. Let me say that fondu shouldn't be difficult for me, but oh... it is. Friday night was no exception. Justin had the chocolate fondu down to an art, while my cheese fondu was looking a little um... runny? I just told myself that it would stiffen up in a minute or two. (I'm beginning to see a pattern of lying to myself when my gut says "This isn't going to work". Remember last week's curtains?) Taking some french bread in my fingers, I tentatively dipped it into what was supposed to be a delicious bite of heaven. My gut instinct won again... it was awful. That's when Justin chimed in with "well, could I try to make it?" I nodded my consent, and consoled myself with a pretzel and the chocolate fondu. He started grabbing things from the fridge. Five minutes later, there was a beautiful pot of cheese fondu on the stove. And it was divine.

Saturday found Jus with hours of physics homework. Poor guy. He's the hardest worker I know. He will not stop until he gets a project finished, even if it means sitting in "the cave" (our affectionate term for the Whatever Room) for hours on end. We decided to take a break from homework-ing and project-ing for a couple hours and take a trip to The Sweet Tooth Fairy. My, that place is lovely. (Their cake bites are decadent) We even did a little shopping and found some sweet deals at the mall. Awesome.

I love going on "hang out dates", when Jus is all mine for a few hours. He is hilarious. I forget sometimes, just how much he makes me laugh until I spend the whole day with him. Yep... I am a lucky girl. Thanks, bud.

-Ali

P.S. Check out this new band I just discovered. Love, love, love.

Curtain Conundrum

February is here. Isn't it a comforting thought to know that we don't have to see January again for another 11 months? I think so.

Valentine's day will soon be upon us. I put up our one and only decoration yesterday, and now, I want to do more! Growing up, my mom would always dress the house from top to bottom in "love decor" for the holiday. It always looked like so much work to put it all up, and then take everything down. What about that is fun? Being in my own apartment, now, I realize how much I miss the fun decorations. Poor Justin. He probably thinks I'm so un-festive. (Is that even a word?)

Yesterday, mom and I made a curtain to hang over our little kitchen window (remember how much we love that one?). Jus and I have talked about putting one up for forever. We had some decorator fabric we bought at Ikea for a different project that didn't work out, and we figured we could just use it to make kitchen curtains. I was pleasantly surprised when curtain construction turned out to be easier than I imagined. (Really. Four steps and you're done!) I left my mom's house with high hopes that this would be just the thing to make our kitchen look better.

Let me tell you a little bit about our kitchen first. It's green. Green counter tops, and little green diamonds in the linoleum. The cabinets are oak. You get my picture? Don't get me wrong. The kitchen looks nice, on its own. It's only when I try to incorporate black and red kitchen towels that things start to look weird. Our curtain is a bold black and white stripe. At first, I thought it would work... Black will go with anything, right? But this optimistic thought slowly turned into a desperate plea for my misgivings to be wrong, just this once. "This curtain WILL look good, I say!"

Sweet Justin. After standing on the counter, twisting his arm upside down and sideways, and getting spiderwebs in his hair (with baby spider attached...) he got our curtain rod mounted on the wall. With feverish excitement, we shoved the rod through the little pocket of the curtain I had made, not three hours before. We stood back to admire our work. The rod was a little crooked. Fine. We could deal with that. But it was sagging in the middle. My shoulders sagged a little too. The stripes were too bold for our kitchen, and neither of us loved what we had worked so hard on. I was pretty disappointed. Jus tried to make me feel better... As of today, the curtain is in our Whatever Room, awaiting a different fate as a pillow or something.

Skinny Ties

Went to work yesterday. I love my job. It's fun to talk to the other ladies there, and see what neat stuff they are working on. I either come home inspired or depressed about my lack of creativity. Usually the latter. But, I am discovering that there are a lot of creative people, with a lot of interesting projects they are working on. And yesterday, such a project was brought to my attention. While chatting with another girl behind the counter, she told me about a skinny tie tutorial she had seen on a blog somewhere (surprise, surprise). I didn't even know skinny ties were back in!

I'm gonna be honest... I've always been jealous of Justin's plethora of ties. And I wish I could wear them. Secretly. "Jus, this tie is cute! I mean... 'awesome'..."

After telling Jus about the "tie tutorial" he jumped up to fetch his tie hanger and we pawed through his luxurious collection. He was sweet enough to donate some of his lesser favorite ties to my cause. (What a guy! I am pretty lucky.) He'll get most of them back anyway, just a little skinnier... Well, I'm glad he didn't love the first tie I destroyed. Or the second. But attempt number three came out better. I still have to sew it back together, however... We'll see how that goes.

-Ali

Family pictures?

The girl who did our wedding pictures did a fantastic job (check out her work here) , and I'm seriously considering doing family pictures with her again later this year. I love family pictures. It'd be fun to send out Christmas cards this year from our little family. A little early to be thinking about this? Yes. But, it's a thought.

Chandeliers and Bamboo Shoots

Chandeliers are fantastic, are they not? I'm a little bit obsessed with them. Jus has even started to appreciate how cool they really can be. We were driving past a restaurant tonight, and he pointed out the sweet chandeliers inside. (Reason number 1,462 why I think Jus is so cool.) I keep saying our dream house will include a walk in closet with a HUGE chandelier, overhanging a deliciously plush pouf (something like this) where my love and I can chat as we tie our shoes in the morning. Well... we're not quite there yet. But, last night, we came a little bit closer.

Date night was a spontaneous trip to Ikea. One thing I love about Justin is that he likes funky furniture as much as I do. We had seen a chandelier at Ikea about a month ago, and thought it was "way cool". This weekend it finally came home with us. Love. It makes our apartment feel a little more... lavish? posh? I don't know. But I like it.

In addition to cool furniture, Ikea has some pretty interesting plants. On our way to the checkout, Jus's arms full of a chandelier box, (and red curtain fabric... couldn't resist) we ended up in the plants section. Justin likes plants. We left Ikea with a chandelier and a tender little Lucky Bamboo shoot. "Lucky" us. If you've ever seen "How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days", you'll get what I mean when I talk about our "love plant".

Good Ikea trip. The challenge is on... keep the bamboo shoot alive.

Inspiration wall

I'm starting an "inspiration wall". At this point, it consists of only one picture taped on the wall above my desk in our extra bedroom/homework/whatever room.

My desk itself is in need of a little "inspiration". I had dreams of painting it some bold color like, turquoise or red or something. In the end, we decided to go for yellow. Isn't it such a happy color? Yellow makes any sad day a little bit brighter. I believe that. Yellow spray paint on the other hand... that makes my sad day sadder, more specifically when it makes a drab desk look... um.... like poop. My fault for being too cheap to buy real paint in the first place, and trying to paint the dang thing in the middle of November. Come spring, Jus and I will paint again. But for now, its in the extra bedroom, so no one will see it. Apologies for the desk deviation. I just had to get it off my chest.

Back to the wall. There is a ton of cute DIY stuff out there! I love it. The problem is, I don't have a sewing machine, and scrapbook paper and glue can only go so far. Until today. My sweet mother consented to lend me an old sewing machine for a while! My bliss is complete. Now I can look at my one "inspiration picture" (click here) on my "inspiration wall" and feel the "inspired-ness" flow through my finger tips. I made a shirt similar as an experiment. I must have gotten cocky, or lost focus, or something, because I accidentally sewed a sleeve shut. And then tried to undo the stitching with scissors. And in the end, I ended up with a hole in that sleeve... (patience is a virtue I am still trying to attain.) Oh well. My inspiration picture will still be there next week...

-Ali

Spid-heur episode 2

The spider saga continues. After the events of a few days ago, I borrowed some bug spray from my folks. It's been sitting in our apartment, patiently waiting for Jus to come home one day and spray the heck out of our windows (all two of them) and hopefully put an end to our spiders.

Last night, we struck the blow. As we were cleaning the dishes, I confided to Jus that I hated going near our sink, which, as we know is right underneath our window. He laughed, and got his coat and bug spray. He was gonna take care of this once and for all. But... he had to read the directions on the bug spray first. Aloud. "If one is trying to kill dust mites, beetles, spiders, cockroaches, and every other disgusting thing with more than six legs, they love to live in dark, damp corners of your house, and then come out at night to party. So, spray the corners first." Whether or not that's what he really was reading, that was all I could hear coming from his lips. Strangely enough, it wasn't helping my bug-o-phobia.

It took about ten minutes for my loving exterminator to reassure me that when he sprayed, no, bugs wouldn't be scuttling around everywhere to get away from it. I told him if he was wrong, he owed me a cookie. One of those big, m&m ones from Brick Oven. If he was right, then a churro would be in order. With that agreement, he went outside and proceeded to spray (or "rain poison on the little suckers" as he put it.) It looks like we'll be getting churros soon.

My, that man is great. He told me once that he loves how I hate spiders. It makes him feel macho to kill them for me. All I can say is this. In the word's of Meryl Streep as Julia Child "Well, Dorothy, that's the man I married."

Love you, macho-spider buster-exterminator!

-Ali

P.S. I think I found my next "day-off" project. Click here to check it out!

Nutella and Such

The days are getting longer. Slowly, but surely. At least, that's what Jus and I are telling ourselves. The sun had been shining for a full seven days (until yesterday), and I was tricked into thinking that Spring would be here soon. With my sunny attitude, I went to Target and picked up a couple "warm weather" tops. Then it got cold again... Oh well. Some day, Spring will come (hopefully, with Snow White's prince).

Being married is fun. Period. I love hanging with my own Prince Charming. He really is downright hilarious sometimes! Example: Late one night, I walk into the kitchen, and see him standing there with a box of wheat thins in one hand, a jar of nutella in the other, and a guilty look on his face when he realized he'd been caught. I burst out laughing. I wonder sometimes, if we both get a little desperate for a sweet treat in our house. I know I do. Nutella is about all we have (unless you count the stale M&M's we got from Christmas.) We just don't really have stuff like that. I guess I need to look at it as a blessing in disguise, because if we had goodies, I would eat them. No bueno.

Today, with Justin being at work, and me being bored, my mind turned to our pantry. Upon opening it up, and examining my snacking choices, I see, level with my nose, the almost empty jar of nutella. Good thing I bought a bag of pretzels at the store yesterday. Otherwise, I'd be using a spoon... I was once asked what I consider my guilty pleasure. I said Sting & the Police (gotta love 90's brit. pop). I think I've changed my mind after today.

But... no more of this nutella nonsense! I need to curb my passion before it gets out of hand, and my waistline gets too big for my jeans. So, my love, next time we're at the grocery store... let's get a smaller jar?

-Ali

Spid-heur

Monday is cleaning day. It's a day I almost get excited for. I love to vacuum, but maybe that's just because our apartment is small enough, that it doesn't take forever. Dusting is fine. The lack of dusty fingerprints on our dresser is a sight to behold (or not behold, I guess.) The kitchen, however, is where I struggle. It is the biggest room in our apartment, and the only one with a linoleum floor (white, with a green diamond pattern). Before Jus and I moved in, I made sure everything was clean. The only things that I wasn't brave enough to clean were the drawer underneath our oven, and our kitchen window. Until yesterday.

You see, whenever I clean the kitchen, the window (with blinds closed), and the oven drawer are in the back of my mind. They haunt me every Monday morning. Yesterday, I decided to clear my conscience. The oven drawer battle was easily won, but the window was a different story. A month ago, I tried to clean the kitchen window, but ran into a bunch of bugs in the window track. I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I have a very irrational fear of insects. Any kind. So, rather than act like an adult, I decided to just draw the blinds over the window, and wait until Justin came home before cleaning it. You know, for moral support. I decided that I needed to get over that yesterday, and clean that window, even if it killed me.

Climbing up onto the counter, on all fours, my knees straddling the sink, I proceeded to clean the wretched window, whose filthiness had seen its final days. Or so I thought. As I was scrubbing away, down comes this spider... I shrieked. Searching for the deadliest weapon within arms reach, I picked up the little wooden stick that keeps our window from opening all the way. Spider annihilated. I texted Jus with shaky fingers and pleaded with him to help me finish cleaning the window that night. He laughed, and said he would. My knight in shining armor. It doesn't take much for me.

After taking a breather, calling my mom for sympathy (yes, I'm that big of a wuss), and cleaning everything else in the apartment, I made my second attempt at cleaning the window. This time, with a little less... gusto. When what to my wondering eyes should appear but another spider on the counter! Again, I shrieked. After knocking out spider number two with my running shoe, I spied a third one hanging out by the window. I was done. I put down my cleaning supplies, left the spider where it was, and took a hot shower. As of today, the window still has the blinds drawn. But in the end the window will not defeat me!

-Ali

P.S. My handsome fellow brought me flowers yesterday! I felt like Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail" but luckier! Love you, bud.

Errands

I made a trip to Wal-Mart today. I always think twice about running errands if it entails stopping there. Unfortunately, today's "to-do's" did. Its becoming a game to see how fast I can make it in and out of there. I think today was a record. As I speed march towards the hair products section, I make eye contact with a few employees. This is usually awkward, since neither of us break a smile. Hmm... maybe I need to work on that. Seven minutes later, I'm back in my car and headed home. Sigh... another trip to Wal-Mart over.

-Ali

Sticky Note

Yesterday, I was feeling a little "dauncy" (in the words of Lucille Ball, "you're not really sick, but you just feel lousy."). As a result, I woke up just long enough to see Justin off to work, and promptly went back to bed. For almost three more hours. After waking up and lying in bed for a minute or two, I decided it would be a good idea to get on with my day (considering lunchtime was rapidly approaching.) Getting ready to turn on the shower, I saw, stuck high in the shower was a bright yellow sticky note... Suddenly, my "daunciness" wasn't so bad. My, how I love that man.

-Ali