Shiny Memories

I was looking back through our wedding pictures the other day. Whenever I look through them, I get really emotional. Not that the day was bad. It truly was the perfect day. It was the best day of my life so far. So much happiness, love, laughter. There were tears but they were the good kind and I'll bet some were a little sad. Sad for the life I was leaving. But so so happy for the life that I was starting. WE were starting... together.

I found some that I liked that I hadn't posted. This was only from one DVD and I haven't looked through the other ones again yet. Not yet. I want to savor them. We're coming up on two years this July and that just makes me so happy.

All photos by Henry Chen Photography

This was great. Right after I gave my girls a big group hug, I headed out towards the limo. I love that this is the house we still live in. I got ready here, walked out of that door a single girl and came back married. The neighbor kids were playing outside, sword-fighting with colanders on their heads and when I came out, they stopped. Shocked. "What are you doing? Where are you going?" they yelled. "I'm getting MARRIED!"

This was right after the Hubs saw me for the first time that day. Anyone on the fence about doing a 'first look', I highly recommend it. It was one of my favorite parts of the day. It was just the two of us and Henry (and his assistants). But honestly, it felt like no one was there. It was the two of us, having an incredible moment. His first word was, "Wow"... then "Can I kiss you?" "YOU BETTER!" So so great.

I can't believe I skipped this the last time. I love where we had our first look. The library is an historical monument and I just love the arches. I like how this one frames us too.

After about 5-10 minutes, Henry stepped in and we took more pictures around the library. But those 10 minutes of just us? Priceless. I wouldn't trade that wedding day moment for the world.

There will be more posts in the future. But for now, I'll savor each picture and take my time rediscovering them.

Building Things

So Hubs started getting into a new hobby.

While I definitely don't have any interest in learning it...

he's loving learning about it and that makes me happy.

And of course, with new hobbies come new toys!

AND, with this hobby, I get to enjoy the fruits of his labor (this is going to be a table)

Plus, I really like seeing him happy :)

Over-the-Top

We went to an Oscar party on Sunday. We do parties right in this group. Good food, lots of people, appropriate ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the dresses, yelling for people to hurry up and get off the stage, scorecards. You know, the usual.

The host sent out an email a couple weeks before the party asking people to bring food. She made a joke by saying this: "If somebody is inspired by Social Network to bring appletinis, that sounds fine to me! Please bring an appetizer or dessert to share. Maybe tortillas from Toy Story 3, or strawberry cake from Black Swan, or fried squirrel from Winter's Bone. (Please no meth.)"

I decided to make a cake but not strawberry cake. I was going to make chocolate cake. You know, BLACK Swan, Chocolate cake? Then the Hubs said, "Why not do chocolate cake with white frosting? Wasn't she also a white swan?" GENIUS! Why didn't I think of that? To be fair, I did think to put it on my black cake stand.

Then he goes, "We should put feathers on it!" Ok, so... I would just like to point out that I would totally have come up with this but he beat me to it. I knew I was over-the-top but I'm just so glad I ended up with someone who totally thinks like I do (and thinks like this crowd that we partied with!).

(Side note, that stupid Mercury insurance commercial just came on and Hubs came by and did a silly dance to it. He makes me laugh)

So we go to Michael's and find feathers and... well.... oh here, I'll just show you.




Needless to say... it was a hit.

Oh Please.

I've got a rant today. Maybe not so much a rant, but a pointed observation towards the cliche that all husbands are useless and boorish.

The Hubs and I have been doing the Love Dare. It's like the worst name ever for something but when it's good, it's great and when it's bad it's embarrassing. And not for ways you might think.

We did this Dare off and on last year and for the most part I enjoyed it. When I asked the Hubs about it last night he was like, "yeah, I remember it being weird like this".

Basically, there's a reading once a day for 40 days. There are guidelines for being a good husband/wife and there are Scripture passages to back up the points. There is also a dare at the end. I like the dares. I'm definitely good with the dares. Yesterday's dare was to buy something during the day that showed you were thinking of your spouse. I bought him some more drinks for his lunches and be bought me my all-time favorite licorice from Trader Joe's. I'm totally down with the dares when they're like that.

We usually do the reading the night before the dare. So, while yesterday's dare was day 3, we read Day 4 last night and so dare 4 is today. We were reading Day 4 last night and it really started to irk me. Allow me to demonstrate:

"But for most couples, things begin to change after marriage. The wife finally has her man; the husband has his trophy. The hunt is over and the pursuing done." Trophy? TROPHY!? Like the woman is all, "whew. That's over and done with. I don't have to worry about him running away now" and the guy is like, "look at the hot piece that I ended up with." NO.

"Let’s be honest. Men struggle with thoughtfulness more than women. A man can focus like a laser on one thing and forget the rest of the world. Whereas this can benefit him in that one arena, it can make him overlook other things that need his attention." It then goes on to show how great women are and how much better we are at multi-tasking. Sure, that's great but this is seriously kicking the guys when they're down.

"A woman deeply longs for her husband to be thoughtful. It is a key to helping her feel loved. When she speaks, a wise man will listen like a detective to discover the unspoken needs and desires her words imply. If, however, she always has to put the pieces together for him, it steals the opportunity for him to demonstrate that he loves her." Wow. Ok. So in our relationship, I pretty much say how I'm feeling. In fact, Hubs is usually so tuned to how I'm feeling that he knows when I'm upset before I realize I'm upset. I'm pretty transparent and don't hide my feelings well.

I don't know, the whole reading just bugged me. I think I married one of the most thoughtful people ever. And that's because he was raised right. I was also looking for a thoughtful person because my dad is a thoughtful husband and father. I rolled over to the Hubs last night and said, "Today's reading is crap. I have to tell you to STOP doing the dishes or folding laundry because I was going to do it. I don't have to tell you to do things". He agreed.

I don't say all this to show off and be all, "My husband is the best thing since sliced bread and he's better than all your husbands." He's awesome, that's for sure and I don't take it for granted. But it really makes me uncomfortable to read these words to a man who doesn't think twice about taking my car for an oil change or doing laundry because he sees that the hamper is overflowing. A man who is so incredibly supportive and encouraging of my dreams that he will put other purchases on hold so I can further my business aspirations. It's just this sweeping generalization that all husbands are brainless and selfish and the women are always right.

Trust me, I'm no saint. But I think of our friends and family that have been shining examples of how a husband should act. My dad, my late father-in-law, my uncles, and our married friends. They put their wives and kids first. Don't give me this crap that I have to spell everything out for my husband. He can spell perfectly well on his own.

Reason # 4,457 Why I Love Him

One of my many irrational fears is opening a tube of biscuits. I hate it. I feel like it's going ot explode and hit me in the chest and/or face and blind me. Totally irrational and I accept it.

So I make the Hubs do it. I just walk in the other room and hand it to him and he takes it and opens it without question. Heaven forbid I make Monkey Bread and have to open 3 tubes. ::shiver::

So last night I'm making dinner and I have a tube of crescents on the counter. He walks in to check on dinner, sees the tube and opens it without saying a word.

I love this guy.

On the Right

My mom says all the pictures that the Hubs and I take look the same.
Case in point....













Why the HELL do I always stand on that side?!

Also, when someone says, "Be funny!" I always do this...




Oh my gosh, I want to smack me too. We need some new material.

So it's amazing when someone gets us completely natural and happy.


Although... gosh darn it... I'm on THAT side of him again!!

We Did a Bad Thing

You guys.... we did a bad thing tonight. Everyone knows that if you get a Christmas present, you don't use it until after Christmas. It's like wedding gifts. Don't use it until after you're married. It jinxes it! (It totally doesn't but it made sense in my head before I got married)

But my mother in law got us this popcorn maker for Christmas. Oh man, do we love us some popcorn. Before the Scrooge rehearsal and performance madness, we would have popcorn almost every night. But the thing is, our microwave is small. Tiny. And our bags of popcorn wouldn't turn. And they would burn. And burnt popcorn is not good, people. (Ohhhhh us and our first-world problems!)

So we asked for this popcorn maker and so we could honestly tell her that we use it when she asks us on our visit next week.... we tried it out!

First, measure out the oil.


Then measure out the popcorn.


Trial and error, we'll definitely use less next time.


Pour popcorn into the bottom of the popper.


Snap on the lid (that's also a bowl!) and wait in eager anticipation.


Watch it heat up in there and the bar spinning the kernels around.


Get impatient.


Then it gets good... it was like a mini fireworks show!


A minute later, it looks like this...


Flip it over, careful, it's hot!


And enjoy!


Verdict: It's great! Only a few burnt kernels but I think it's because we used too much popcorn on our first time out. I can't wait to get different kinds of popcorn and seasonings. It tasted more like movie popcorn, which I love. Thanks to MIL for the fun present. Now we can actually say we've tried it.

Oh Where Oh Where?

I haven't seen my husband in about two weeks. We live in the same house, mind you, and he's not traveling and neither am I. We've both been so busy, we're just ships passing in the night.

I see him in the morning, where I jump into the shower first since he is a 20-minute-long-showerer. Yikes. I can't even be in a shower for more than 5 minutes. I'm always thinking of what else I need to be doing.

As I'm drying my hair, he is downstairs making his lunch and while I'm putting on my make up, he's brushing his teeth. A quick kiss and he's gone.

Off to work I go from 9-6pm where at that point I rush straight to rehearsal, running across the street from the theater to the Baker's. Baker's made bank off of all of us this week, btw. Man, I love those fries.

Rehearsal/show... show nights are great because we're out of there by 9:30pm. Rehearsals were more like 10:30. Run home, shower, say a few words then hop into bed and rest up for the next day.

Lather, rinse, repeat for 14 days. Tonight is no exception. I'm off to a cast party straight after work. He's got stuff tomorrow evening, I've got a salad to make.

We're a little like that this weekend too. He has a gig, I have church stuff and bridesmaid responsibilities.

But we're ok. We're both doing things we love (I think me more so in this case, as I'm performing and he's just rehearsing). But it makes me think how lucky that we "get" what each other does. He doesn't get annoyed that he hasn't seen me in two weeks, that our kitchen is bare because we don't have time to shop, that the house looks like we just let twenty 4-year-olds loose in it.

We're both musicians and we appreciate it when the other one understands our "thing". My "thing" is musicals, his "thing" is horn gigs. Or Civil War bands, or whatever floats our boat. I come home happier than anything else when I've been to a good rehearsal.

How lucky am I that he says "go on, have fun!" when I'm off to rehearsal right after work? That he comes to my shows and tells me (honestly) how he liked it. If he wanted me to come to one of his concerts, I would. We get that this is us, this is what we love to do and we support each other in our extracurricular activities.

What could be better than that?

This is Why I Married Him

Conversation at approximately 10:30pm Saturday night.

Hubs: I'm going up to bed.

Me: Ok, I'm going to make marshmallows and then I'll be up. (mind you, I never mentioned my desire to make marshmallows at all during the day. It just CAME to me, you know?)

Hubs: Ok.

The man didn't even blink. Any other guy probably would have questioned my motives or wondered why I was thinking about doing that at 10:30 at night.

Nope. Not this guy. And that's just one of the many reasons why I married him.

My Husband, the Drama King

The church where we direct the children's choir has been very welcoming. We're constantly being invited to events, encouraged to participate in church activities, etc.

This past Sunday, the bell choir put on a performance during church and there was a familiar face who was invited to perform with them.


Can you see him? MAGIC ENHANCE!


Ta-daaaaa! The Hubs was invited to be the narrator for the bell choir's performance. It was all about Moses and the Ten Commandments. It was all very cute and the Hubs had great comedic timing. It's true! A kid in the choir (all of 6 years old) came up to him, stuck his finger in his chest and said, "YOU are FUNNY".

I totally agree.

And He Cooks Too!

Last week, I had to go out of town for work (just to San Diego, no big deal) but it meant that I missed our Wednesday night Glee party. I was definitely bummed as I always look forward to Wednesday nights. I asked the Hubs if he was still going to go and he was all, "I'm bringing dessert!"

Well, alrighty then.

He has a few specialties but one absolute favorite are his chocolate-peanut butter Rice Krispie Treats. Oh yes.

Only problem was that when he was melting the marshmallows, he realized he bought the wrong cereal. He needed this:


But bought this:


See the difference? So I ran out and bought the good stuff and he got to work.

Anyone else things it's weird that there's a mirror in our kitchen?

Ohhh yeah.


There were so many leftover, we ate them until we were sick. I love it when he cooks.

He knows me so well.

I saw this list of questions on someone’s blog and I thought it would be fun to ask the hubs (newlywed style).

If you have never seen The Newlywed Game, the host asks the husband questions about the wife while she is not in the room, then she has to come back and answer the same questions. We will see if we have the same answers!

Now, I think the husband is hilarious and tonight was so exception. He's a good sport but sometimes he just can't answer a simple questions without having to ask 14 follow up questions.

1. She’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?

Hubs: Teen Pregnant Women. (After we ran through the particulars of what night is it? Are you watching on your computer or on TV? Do we magically have Tivo?)

Me: um yes. He's talking about 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom. Just because I've seen every episode multiple times (I like having the sound on when I make dinner).

2. You’re out to eat, what kind of dressing does she get on her salad?

Hubs: What kind of salad? (ughhhhhh, particulars again.)

Me: Side salad.

Hubs: Just a regular side salad?

Me: YES.

Hubs: Oil and vinegar

Me:Yup. Ranch is for french fries and pizza.

3. What’s one food she doesn’t like?

Hubs: Tofu

Me: YOU don't like tofu.

Hubs: Heh, yeah.

Me: So yeah, he didn't really answer that one. I love tofu.

4. You go out to eat and have a drink, what does she order?

Hubs: Diet Dr. Pepper, which they never have. So you get a Diet Coke.

Me: Right again! Anything diet, really.

5. What shirt size does she have?

Hubs: Small? Medium? Depends on where you shop.

Me: right again!

6. What shoe size does she have?

Hubs: Seven. Wait that's small. Sure. 7 or 8 or something like that.

Me: He eventually got it! I wear an 8.

7. What’s her favorite type of sandwich?

Hubs: Turkey with avocado.

Me: most definitely!

8. What would she eat everyday if she could?

Hubs: uhhhhhh Bacon.

Me: I would totally eat bacon everyday if I could. Notice he didn't say candy, because I DO eat that everyday.

9. What is her favorite cereal?

Hubs: What's the one you always buy? Hunny Nutty Cheerios?

Me: Multigrain?

Hubs: Yeah, that one. Sure.

Me: Yup, I love that cereal.

10. What would she never wear?

Hubs: Whatever that piece of clothing is that's pants and a shirt combined.

Me: A romper?

Hubs: Yeah.

Me: I get stabby when I see people wear rompers. So.... yes.

11. What is her favorite sports team?

Hubs: Besides the fact that you don't have one?

Me: Yeah.

Hubs: Uh. Probably the Mariners because it makes me happy when they win.

Me: Definitely true. He's so cranky when they lose. Which is often. After about July, he just gives up hope and we're all happy again.

14. What is something she does that you wish she wouldn’t do?

Hubs: Leave your floss around the house.

Me: ugh, yes. I know this is a bad habit. I KNOW. So gross.

15. What is her heritage?

Hubs: Part Austrian, *yawn* hmmmmm yeah I don't know what else.

Me: Yup Austrian and French

16. You bake her a cake, what kind of cake?

Hubs: a cupcake?

Me: What kind?

Hubs: uhhhhh, it would be a chocolate cupcake, with chocolate frosting.

Me: I think that's what you like.

Hubs: Yup, because I made them! Why not make something we both like?

Me: What a stinker. My favorite is yellow cake with chocolate frosting, if it's homemade. I love lemon cake too.

17. Did she play sports in high school?

Hubs: I don't think you girls had sports.

Me: We were an all-girls school. There were still sports!!

Me: but it's not like I played any!

18. What could she spend hours doing?

Hubs: watching teen pregnant women.

Me: Oh my gosh, let it go!! I can shop or be online for hours. I love reading blogs.

19. What is the unique talent that she has?

Hubs: watching teen pregnant women without punch yourself in the face. (At this point I have to stop typing because I'm laughing so hard)

Hubs sidenote while I'm laughing: Stargate Universe is back!!!

Me: Pay attention! You still haven't answered the question!

Hubs: Oh, you can cross your eyes.

Me: Yup. True. And I can wiggle my ears.

20. What is her type of coffee?

Hubs: apparently it's iced pumpkin coffee with caramel.

Me: I liked the iced pumpkin but it's so good on it's own, I don't need the caramel.

Well there you have it. He answered almost all of them correctly too! I have no clue how well I would do if he asked me the same ones. Maybe we can get him to chime in on the blog... what do you say?