Following Suit

I have been debating this with myself for a few months now. I am going to take the plunge and go secure with our blog. I don't want to block anyone out that likes to look at our blog. Either leave a comment on my blog or email me and include your google login. If you don't have a google login, it is super easy to get one. Just click on the link at www.blogspot.com . Don't be shy. I know some people check our blog who are friends of friends or friends of family and I really don't mind so send me your login. I'll try to leave this post up for a week or so before I go secure to try to catch everyone. Thanks!!!

Hubby Tag

1-Where did you meet your husband? In High School. I didn't know Brian but knew of him. When I would see him in the hall he would say, "Hi Meg" (yes, that is where we got the name Meg) because he thought I looked like Meg Ryan. That was the year that You've Got Mail came out and I had a similar haircut. Then, after a few weeks, he asked me out on a date.

2- How long did you date before getting married? Well..."technically" we weren't officially dating in High School, but we both really liked each other so I'll count from there--3 years

3-How long have we been married? Seven years in April

4- What does he do that surprises you? Endures. He has had a lot of crap to deal with in life and when it seems like there shouldn't be any more left in him to give, he pulls out of things. He is so strong.

5- What is your favorite feature of his? His whole face. He is so handsome. Sometimes I still have to catch my breath when he walks into a room (he looks super hot wearing black with a little bit of scruff on his face ;)). I love his smile, and I love that he is tall.

6- What is his best quality? Oh, sheesh. I admire so much about him. (a) He loves things all the way. (i.e. he doesn't just like music, golf, disneyland, sports or art he loves it. he studies everything he can get his hands on about it and learns it inside and out) In other words, he is passionate about things (b) He is the most compassionate, forgiving person that I know. That makes him great at his job. He first thought is always, "Well, we don't know the whole story about what makes a person the way they are so who are we to judge." He ALWAYS wants to help other people and would do anything for anyone (c) He is hilarious. He can always make me laugh. He is always an office favorite wherever he works. He quite the crowd pleaser. (d) He is my perfect match and such a good dad. (e) The strength of his testimony that is evident in everything he does.

7- Does he have a nickname for you? It used to be princess but it has evolved into Heathe (yes like a Heath bar)

8- What is his favorite food? Probably, chinese food.

9- What is his favorite sport? He is a sport finatic. He loves to play and watch all sports (basketball, baseball, golf, football and boxing are favorites). Sports Center is constantly on at our house.

10- When did you first kiss? Everyone knows, when he asked me to marry him. He goes back and forth on whether that was a good idea or not. It was a DANG good kiss though. For it being his first kiss, he shattered any other kiss I had ever had. Not that any of you want to know, but he is SUCH a good kisser.

11- What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? It depends. If we haven't been out for a while, we love to get a sitter and get away from the kids. We'll go to dinner and a movie or go to a play or go bowling. Otherwise, we prefer to just stay home and watch a movie together.

12- Do you have any children? Yup. Two absolutely gorgeous (as I am sure any parent would say about their child) kids. Our precious girl, Meg (4) and our hilarious wildman, Adin (2).

13- Does he have any hidden talents? I don't know how many people know just how compassionate he is. He does amazing things for the people/clients he works with. He would never say that he is a "people person" but he is amazing with people.

14- How old is he?26

15- What is his favorite music? Brian's #1 passion and release in life is music. He really does disappear in it. The kids can be screaming in the background and he is cool as a cucumber because he has gone into his own little world of a song. He is passing this on to Adin. When Brian is not in the car now, Adin will demand "Daddy's music" The only kind of music Brian doesn't like is Rap and Heavy Metal and probably most pop.

16- What do you admire about him? He makes me want to be a better person. He always seems to be one step ahead of me. Somehow it always works out that when I am weak he is strong and vice versa. He is my strength in everyway.

17- What's his favorite color? Hmmmm. I have no idea. Maybe blue or black...I don't know.

18- Will he read this? Yes, he likes to keep up on peoples' blogs.

19- Who said "I love you first"? I really have no recollection. We used to email a lot in High School and we would both write I lo--ike you at the end of our emails. That sounds incredibly corny and cheesy now. I think it just slowly evolved from there.

20- Who do I tag??? Alright, I know there have been a lot of tags lately, but this one I love because I think it is so cute to read things about couples. I tag Mel, Kimber, Amy, Kim (you are behind), Jeni (you'll have to start a blog) and Aubrey

8 Tag

Here are the Rules:
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six '8' items
3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite Shows
1. Amazing Race (yes, a new season started last night)
2. The Office
3. Biggest Loser
4. Dancing with the Stars
5. So you think you can dance
6. Jon and Kate plus 8
7. American Idol (only once they make it to the top twelve, the rest is boring)
8. The First 48


8 Things I did Yesterday
1. Finished the final book in the Twilight series
2. Walked with the kids to church (Brian had the car at work)
3. Ended up leaving Sacrament Meeting with both the kids after 5 minutes because Adin was screaming his lungs out. Everytime I tried to go back in he would scream again. Argh!
4. Made dinner for a girl I visit teach who just had a baby
5. Played the Ladybug game with Meg
6. Forced Brian to take a nap after work because of a really bad headache
7. Worked on Meg's rug
8. Drank 3 Diet Dr. Peppers. RIDICULOUS


8 Things I'm looking forward to
1. Disneyland (as Brian says, we'll see)
2. Droubay Family Reunion at Bear Lake (oh, I really hope that it works for us)
3. Buying a second car with our tax returns. I am sooooo sick of pulling the kids out of bed at 6 am to take Brian to work so that we can have the car to take Meg to school and then dealing with sleep deprivation. Then, waking up at 6 am on Brian's days off because the kids have adapted to that schedule. AHHHHH!
4. Selling our condo
5. Spring Summer Spring Summer Spring Summer Spring Sumer (I HATE winter)
6. Brian being back in school
7. Having money
8. Adin being potty trained but not potty training.

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Macaroni Grill
2. Chilis
3. Timbermine
4. Frontier Pies
5. Carrabas
6. The little Italian place in NYC
7. Maglebys Fresh (just their halibut, the only fish I eat)
8. Sheesh that was a rough category for me

8 Things on my wish list
1. A second car
2. An extra bedroom
3. Stability
4. Vacation (anywhere and everywhere)
5. No more winter ever
6. To sleep in
7. Money, of course
8. A shopping spree

8 People I tag
1. Charisse
2. Kory
3. Brian
4. Michelle
5. Mom
6. Andy
7. Natalie
8. Sarah

PS I seriously have the sweetest husband in the world

15 Reasons I Love My Wife

So, I figured there is no better way to express some of my affection (on Valentine's Day) for my wife than through a public cyber blog. I was initially going to write 10 brief reasons I love Heather but couldn't stop there. I really had a hard time stopping at 15, but luckily, for all of you readers out there, I ran out of time. I'm sorry if this is strange and embarrassing, but here we go:

1. Heather is Mrs. Craftwoman herself. She's good at about anything artsy she does with her hands. She built us a fireplace; she's making a rug; she can sew about anything; she dominates the dojo at decorating cakes (she is by far the best decorator at her work); she can make about anything crafty for the kids. She, honestly, can do about anything she sets her mind to. I'm constantly amazed by the new things she teaches herself and her amazing talents.

2. Heather is in love with people falling in love. She is a hopeless romantic. Any show, and I mean ANY show, that has a corny love tale, Heather will tune in for, no matter how cheesy or low budget it is. I often catch her crying about people getting together. This is why she is so big on Twilight. This is why she listens to country music. I'm not one for romantic movies myself, but I can bear watching them with Heather because she is so cute while she watches.

3. Fortunately, to offset all of the romantic movies, she also loves action movies. Two years ago she wanted the Bourne movies for Christmas. I can't even tell you how this request made me feel. She loves the Bond movies as much as I do, and she's always down with watching anything with a lot of violence. I scored, big time.

(Heather and I: Purple and White)

4. Heather is the best mom on the planet. She'll do anything for the kids; everything has to be perfect for them. For Christmas, she's always ordering presents months in advance because she has to get what's perfect. For Valentine's, she has projects lined up to make the day special. She loves being home and being a mom more than anything in the world. I don't think I could ever be half of the parent she is. She exudes love.

5. Heather loves Disneyland as much as I do. We went to Disneyland on our honeymoon, and we've gone every year since, mostly because she insists on it. I actually married someone who thinks the place is as magical as I do. It's like we're all kids when we're there. Going to Disneyland (and on vacations generally) with Heather is the best. She makes it the best. Watching Heather purchase a churro in New Orlean's Square and seeing the initial look of excitement on her face is my idea of heaven.

6. Heather is ultra competetive. She'll rarely admit it or show it, but she wants to win or be the best at everything she does. We used to play video games together when we were dating at BYU; we had to stop because she'd get frustrated if she was losing and even more frustrated if I was letting her win. She gets in this zone that's just hilarious.

(Another dating moment)

7. Heather is hot. I don't have to do too much explaining for this one, only to say she is even better looking now than when we got married--and that's after having two kids.

8. Heather is the most efficient person I know. She always does things as well as she can in the quickest time possible. This is why her employers have always loved her. She is the same way at home. She has this talent for getting things done that I'll never understand. It's good she possesses this trait because it helps offset SOME of my perfectionism.

9. Heather is my perfect mate in every way; she has helped me make it through very hard times by just being herself. When we've made major life decisions (on a few different occasions), and I've had to back out or propose completely reversing courses, she's always taken a couple of days to digest things and then is 100% behind me. She helps me not second guess myself and is always supportive.

(Engaged!)

10. Heather is very open minded about people and life. She's not stuck in an intellectual or spiritual rut. She's always willing to learn new things, and she lets her experiences and what she sees around her change how she views things. This, in turn, makes her a very compassionate and empathetic person. She respects diversity and wants our kids to know how important it is to respect others' viewpoints and opinions.

11. Heather is extremely brilliant. She's one of the fastest learners I know. She can pick things up way faster than I can. Someday, when the kids are older, we hope she can go back to school because she excels in it and loves it so much.

12. Heather talks in her sleep. I find this extremely funny. She'll say the weirdest things and then not remember them, and she always tries to act so with it when she's talking. It's weird, hilarious, and cute all at the same time. Heather also snores; she's embarrassed about this and will kill me for posting it, but I think it's pretty dang funny.

(The best day of my life)

13. Heather is the only girl I've ever kissed. The first time we kissed was right after I asked her to marry me. I used to be sort of embarrassed by this fact; now I think it is very cool. We dated for nearly three years, and I think it was awesome of her to wait that long. It made our engagement evening extra special and very memorable.

14. Heather is extremely thoughtful. She always pours over different ideas for gifts way in advance. She's always worried about making sure everyone feels included and knows she cares about them. It has made our marriage an easy one, because she makes it so easy to reciprocate love.

15. Heather loves the simple things in life. She's never made it a requirement that I make a lot of money (which is good, because I won't). She has always wanted me to pursue what will make me happy day in and day out. She can live on a little, appreciate it, and get a lot out of it. Our idea of a great evening is sitting together on the couch at home, after the kids have gone to bed, and watching TV or reading. Heather is definitely a home body and, in turn, it makes me want to just be at home with her.

(Married at last: Heather made the cake)

So, my list ends. There are a million things I love about Heather; these are just a few. Happy Valentine's Day, babe. I love you.

Batgirl

(***Sorry it has been so long. Part of the reason is that Brian has been intending to post on our New York trip and I have used that as an excuse to not post. Second, I am so darn busy. Adding working into my life has made me feel so busy)

It's February, and as usual nothing entertaining is going on in our lives in February. It seems like the first three months of the year are the least interesting of all. I thought I would post about my sweet, grown-up girl. Ever since we found out we were having a girl, Brian insisted that she would be a tomboy. She would play all sports and run around and get dirty and golf every chance she got with her dad. Well. . . that isn't really how it has worked out. Meggie is all girl. She loves Barbies and gets bored after just a few throws of a ball. She loves to dress up and hates to be dirty. She likes to go golfing but just to ride in the cart and spend time with her prince and future husband, her dad. She is starting to be interested in how princes and princesses fall "in love". She loves to go shopping with me and wants to go in the dressing room and give her opinions on everything I try on. I have much to look forward to in the future with her.

On a more, slightly disturbing note. . . she loves boys. At parent teacher conference for preschool, they told me that she only plays with the boys and they never see her with the girls. We were trying to do Valentines for her class and she didn't even know most of the girls' names. Ever since the first day of school she has attached to a boy named Elijah. We went through a rough patch where Elijah wanted to also be friends with another boy named Benjamin and Benjamin didn't want to play with any girls. Meg felt a little betrayed, but then Benjamin decided that Meg was cool enough to be allowed. Now EVERYDAY at recess there is some game of capture/chase that some of the kids play. Meg, Elijah and Benjamin try to capture all the other kids and Meg apparently is named Batgirl. Yes, my little Batgirl. I love to hear her stories everyday. Thankfully, they set up a new play area in her classroom that is a salon. The girls can play hair, dressup and paint fingernails during free time. That has pulled Meg over to the girls a little more, but I know her preference at school is to play with the boys. When I picked Meg up from school today, Elijah's mom stopped me and told me that Elijah told her last night that he loved a girl in his class. When she asked him who, he said Meg. I didn't pass this information on to Meg for fear of what she would think. Too late, Meg informed me that she has decided that she is going to marry Elijah as long as she can take her bird when she goes to live with him. Yikes! I really hope this is just a stage and that boys will soon develop coodies. I am so thankful that my little Meg is ALL GIRL!