dot dot dot

-Gum and I have about a 20 minute relationship -- then it's out with the old, in with the new.

-After taking down all of our art and staring at our bland white walls, Nick and I agreed that our apartment looked/felt like morning breath. {art makes everything better!}

-Starting to feel bad that my 3 pillows & I are taking up most of the bed. :/ {hub = good sport}

-I give a hearty "YES!" to days when it's warm enough to not wear a jacket outside.

-My lovely mama lent me a book called "I Am a Mother," which I've been reading during some of my lunch breaks. Have you read it?! SO EMPOWERING! I love it. I'm grateful to have such a wonderful mom who is such a good role model to me. Hope I can be like her when I'm a mama :) Thanks for the loan, Mim!

-Just took a few bites of the nastiest orange. *gag*

-Sometimes it's kind of funny when peoples' arms just hang at their sides when they're walking... like, when they just don't move/sway at all. Reminds me of this episode from Seinfeld.

-Not a huge fan of wind, but I love a good, light breeze.

-Had a stare-down/knock-it-off-talk with a [LOUD] barking dog yesterday [in the apartment building across from ours]... I'm pretty sure he "huffed" at me, but guess who stopped barking? #notadogperson

-I think I've decided that my favorite Patriotic song is ♪ God Bless the USA ♪

-Usually I don't get into the whole "app-world" stuff, but that "Draw Something" game is so fun! Playing Pictionary all the time? Yes, please! {although, fingers are harder to draw with than pencils..}

-It's my "Friday" today, since we're packing/moving tomorrow... eek! I love weekends + exciting changes!

-I love holidays and always think it'd be cool to have a year-round holiday store. They just pep up life a bit, don't they? That being said...

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY on Saturday!!! Partyyy.

YAY!!

This past weekend was just magical. My brother, Peter, got engaged!!!!! :) :) We were lucky enough to get to help with some of it, and wow -- can I just say that it was PERFECT!? Everything was so well-thought-out and personalized to his gal... it was such a beautiful evening :) He was able to both surprise her completely AND make it a romantic proposal {a difficult feat to accomplish}. 

AH! I'm so happy for him! I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by brothers who have always treated me so well that they set a standard for the type of guy I wanted to marry {which I definitely found in Nick :)}. I'm so grateful for Peter & my other two bros. Everyone who knows Pete can't help but love him. He's so great. He absolutely deserves all the good things life has to offer.

Peter & Chandel at La Caille {the ending spot where he proposed}: 

Cheers to the happy couple!!

Goodness

• I was driving home from work the other night and there was a man standing on a ledge on the freeway...! BAH! Seriously!?? I was thinking - oh my gosh, is he wanting to commit suicide? Is he homeless? What the heck!? ....when I passed him, he looked kind of out of it, just loopily waving his arms around, as if he were directing traffic. Yikes! Hope someone helped him down...
• 
  
• Maybe I've already said this, but I LOVE when there's a cop or ambulance flying by with their siren blaring, and everyone pulls to the right side of the road. It's like, for that ONE MOMENT, everyone is unified and getting along. So cool.
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• Not to be mushy, but oh my goodness - Nick is SO CUTE TO ME! He just does so many thoughtful things to make me happy & feel loved & special. For instance, he made me a new header {and found a good background} for this blog. I didn't even ask for it, he just did it! That guy. Wow. He constantly keeps impressing me & making me fall even more in love with him!
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• I talked to the baby as I was getting ready this morning... it was a fun little bonding moment for us :) I can't believe he's going to be here in a few short months! Oh my goodness. I'm so excited to meet & hold this kid!
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• This weekend is going to be SO GREAT! I wish I could write why. {later?} :)

weddings

March 5th

Two years ago today was one of the best days of my life; it was the day Nick asked me to marry him. Since then, we've been inseparable. He's my best friend and has put such meaning to my life!

I love looking back to that day and thinking about all we've done & experienced since then. I love Nick more with every second of everyday. I love learning new things about him and falling into a deeper love than I knew was possible. He makes me smile & laugh every single day... I can't get enough of him {still}, and am crazy about the fact that we still have so much ahead of us to enjoy & experience together!

This year will contain many chapters we're closing & opening, and we're about to face the first -- moving out of our first "home" together, and into a new place. It's kind of sad to leave behind such fond memories of the little place we've made so many memories in, but we really have tried to make it our own & milk it for it's worth! We're so thrilled to be starting this new adventure together :)

I'm so grateful for Nick. One of my favorite things about him is that he has such a tender-heart. There are so many instances where this quality of his is exemplified, and each of them just make my heart ooze with more love for him :) I'm so grateful the man of my dreams proposed to me -- he's made my life better than I could've ever imagined it being. XO ♥

Good

Happy LEAP DAY! What a cool day to celebrate!

We'll probably celebrate by singing "10 Lords a-leaping" over and over again, playing "Leap Frog" a time or two... then eating some delicious banana bread & eventually falling asLEAP. :) 

I hung out with one of my sister's the other day during lunch, and chatted on the phone with another one today during lunch. I love my sisters! 

We saw The Artist last Saturday, and were SO happy it won 5 awards at the Oscars! Definitely deserving. More of my thoughts on the film here. 

I'm still in shock about yesterday's news. AH!!! Is this for real?! My heart is BEAMING with joy!

Along with yesterday's good news, we also heard back about a townhouse we were hoping to get... we GOT IT! Double-whammy on the good-news front. We were like 2 kids on Christmas morning. Couldn't feel more grateful & excited!!

Heading into March with high hopes & Leprechauny spirits. :) {I love March!!}

Leatherby's

Typically, I'm not a "fries" person... but Leatherby's fries + their fry sauce? Ohhh. I am definitely a sucker for those. Needless to say, we caved in to some of those the other night, along with the best peanut-butter ice-cream sundae {and Nick's favorite "Superman" ice cream}... we love visiting la la land :) Y.U.M.!

Parts

Parts about my weekend:

-Ugly Sweater Valentine's Day Party... which was ♫ awesome! ♫

-Saw Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close... eh. I didn't really love it. Kid was annoying, storyline was heavy & unsettling, music slightly eerie, walked away feeling kind of sad. But I did like Sandra Bullock in it {near the end}... and I suppose it was well-done. My vote for the Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year? The Help. Very deserving.

-Spent a little time with family :)

-Stood in line at RC Willey on President's Day to get a few things {and were humored by the lady who had been drinking coffee since 3:30 that morning, so she could get "one of everything" on the front page of the ad.. haha}

-Went back to RC Willey a couple hours later for a free hot dog + drink. :)

-Made a delicious taco salad {with homemade guacamole... does anything beat homemade guac!? I don't think so.}

-Laughed so many times {the best!}

-MAYBE felt the baby kick???!

-Slept in until 10:30 one day. 10:30!!! It's been SO long since that's happened. 

-Got the cutest old-fashioned art pieces {for 40% off}... ooh, I'm in love with them! 

-Feeling SO EXCITED to find out the sex of the baby ONE WEEK FROM TODAY {Feb. 28th}!!!! :) What's your vote? Boy or Girl?

I love weekends. I especially love 3-day weekends! Thanks George & Abe! I owe ya one ;)

Cupid

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Hope cupid hits you with the love arrow today. 

 {I love that little guy :)}

XO!

Houston

I was so sad to hear about Whitney Houston's passing. Growing up, my parents would always put on some peppy '80s & '90s tunes {Whitney, Gloria Estefan, Wilson Phillips...} on Saturday morning to get us EXCITED about doing chores. The funny part is that it actually WORKED, and to this day, I still like listening to those songs as I clean. :)

Despite any personal problems she may have had, she had a remarkable voice and sang with passion & hope. I hope she and Michael are putting on some stellar shows in Heaven right now ;)

today's trinkets

-You know that awkward moment when you haven't spoken in a while, then somebody asks you something and you gurgle your way back to a normal voice as you're answering them? Yeah. That's happened maybe a little too often lately ;)

-Tonight's agenda = Valentine's Boxes + leftover Pizza Hut {did you hear about their deal? Any size pizza [aka, LARGE] with any toppings for only $10! Couldn't pass that one up.}

-I've had a couple of weird dreams lately. One was where the baby kicked THROUGH MY SKIN. Uhhh...

-Yesterday, I saw a homeless guy pull down his pants a little and scratch his BARE BUM! Hahaha -- what the heck!?

-Life has been SO busy lately... but it's making the work weeks fly by, which means WEEKEND TIME! Wait - what? It's almost the weekend again? Exactly.

to cut or not to cut...

Nick's a big fan of long-ish hair... but when I put on my turtleneck the other day, he was like, "WHOA - freeze right there!" and grabbed the camera. Who knew that by putting that shirt on, it might change his opinion of how he {dis}liked short hair? ;)

So, without further ado... what I might look like if I cut my hair {with it a little more stylish & maintained, of course..}:

PB Dos

Scenario: Husband studying away, Wife wants to make life better for him. Enter... COOKIE MAKING!

So, I make the cookies - typically I'd make them from scratch, but I decided to go the easy route and just do one of those packets in our cupboard. 3 things needed -- content of the pouch, 1 TB water, 1/2 stick of butter.

I whip it all up... seemed a little too runny, but whatevs... put it in... 10 minutes later, we pull it out and are like, "Whoa... what happened to these?" They were wayyy crumbly and super thin. "COOKIE FAIL!" - as Nick lovingly put it, haha :) {Don't worry, I agreed} They tasted alright, but we were still puzzled why they turned out the way they did. I figured it must be the packet -- what beats the made-from-scratch goodness? Silly Betty Crocker packets.

An hour later... Nick's washing the dishes and asks, "How much butter did you put in the dough?"

I heartily say, "A stick!"

He starts laughing and says I was supposed to put in HALF a stick... as in, 4 tablespoons, rather than the 8 I happily plopped in there. Apparently I thought it said half a CUP {aka, a stick...}. Then we laughed.

Annnnd there's pregnancy brain #2.

Febz

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY! Shout out to my Mama for being this holiday's number one fan. In fact, I came into work today and enjoyed a groundhog-shaped homemade brownie from her. Isn't she adorable?! I sure love her!

You know what else I love? This month! I can't believe how quickly January went by {did it fly by for anyone else??}... and now we're into the lovely, romantic month of February! Not only is it romantic because of Valentine's Day {and President's Day... oolala! ;)}, but this is the month of my parents' wedding anniversary ♥... and it's also the month Nick and I really fell in love & decided to get married. :) 

February is so magical. I've always loved it {even when I was single! I never got into the whole "Singles-Awareness" mumbo-jumbo}. It's just a beautiful month of love, which is something to celebrate! I'm so happy we get an extra day of it this year!

Let's take a vote...

Are these IN or OUT? 

 {Not to sway anyone's vote, but I say - ugh... totally 1,000% OUT!}