Is it Summer Yet?

Please tell me I am not the only one who is getting awfully sick of cold weather?
Just found this pic of one of the sassiest little girls ever (aka Gracie) and am now longing for summertime more than usual...
Who's with me?

Wednesday. Take it or Leave it.

I have an official Love/Hate relationship with Wednesdays. Why? This is why.
Hate them because:
1. Tyler leaves his poor wife at home and strolls out the door to socialize and have fun with his friends and watch ridiculous Youtube videos and have dinner brought to him.
(Ok, actually, he goes to work...but still.)
2. Work seems just a little bit longer than usual...my clock breaks at like two and it takes twice as long for a minute to go by.
3. It's not quite Thursday, so it's a little early to be getting all hyped up about the weekend.
4. Wednesday is usually Plasma Donation day. Sure, stick a needle in my arm and take my fluids. I don't need 'em. I'll even give ya a deal...$20.
(Don't judge, people...we have to pay the rent, ok?)
5. Wal-Mart is busier on Wednesdays, I swear. And it just so happens that I always need something from the lovely Wally World on Wednesdays. (Maybe it's a W thing?)

Anyway, I also love Wednesdays. Why? This is why.
1. I am a very productive wife on Wednesdays. I make money, I shop, I clean, and I try real hard to stay awake until the husband gets home at 11:45.
2. They are only two days away from Friday, which happens to be my favorite day of the week.
3. I get to take a nice hot bath and read my Kindle without listening to ESPN in the background.
4. Wednesday was pay day! This is not always the Wednesday case, but it was yesterday. Plus, I am running out of reasons why I love Wednesdays.
5. And the grand finale of Wednesdays...drumroll please....
I find amazingly cheap bad boys like this....At the D.I. $4. Can you believe it? I can't either.

Ok, so it may not be as valuable to you as it is to me...but hey, it kept me occupied. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was coming home with me. I played out a scenario in my head where I took this ugly little thing home and sanded it, and painted it, and begged it took look nice...and then {!!!} Ty would come home, get a glass of water, come into the bedroom (where I would be pretending to sleep) and his mouth would gape open in astonishment that he had a snazzy little bedside table to set his water on. Ahhhh...I had to have it! So I bought it.
And I sanded it...

And I painted some cream on the corners, so I could paint brown over and sand it off. Know what I mean?
Like that old/vintage/modern look? Yeah.

Then, I painted it "Burnt Umber" brown. I know... gross, huh? Actually it's not. It's kind of an awesome color. I sanded it too...
And it was looking rather classy, if I do say so myself. I quickly replayed the water glass scenario in my head and was overcome with panic. I forgot to buy a finish! And it was 9 o'clock. Good thing Porter's puts people in these situations by closing at 7, huh? (Really, Porter's is the closest thing to heaven on this green earth, I was just a little frustrated.) I couldn't let Tyler come into the room and set his water down and leave a ring on top of this beauty! And unfortunately we don't have any coasters.
So, what do I do?
I allow my impatience to take over and I ModgePodge it. Just the top. Memo for later: Don't do that.
It doesn't dry evenly and stays kind of sticky and gross. Only ModgePodge (yes, that is a verb) things together and then on top of those things. I don't think that makes sense, but whatev.
Anyway...I know you are all dying to see the table in our bedroom. But you are gonna haveta wait! Ha! That is because I am making something else for our room too and I want to show you all at once. Mmmm...k?
Happy Thursday Everyone!

He's a Keeper!

I am practicing up for my teaching career and thought we could play a little game today.
It's called "Keeper...Or Not?" Perhaps other lovely ladies would like to join in this game using their handsome husbands/boyfriends/honey's as their subject. I'm sure you will be able to catch on pretty quickly.

Round 1- Valentine's Day. Coming home to flowers and chocolates, and then being swept off my feet to a delicious dinner at Outback.
Keeper? Awwww....Yes.

Round 2- Getting a new hot glue gun as an early birthday present (every sensible girl needs one of those, right?) and spending the holiday making these to spice up our refrigerator...
When he would clearly rather be doing this...Keeper? Oh, baby! Most definitely.

Round 3- Arguing over this...Is there really even an argument to be had here?
I'd rather drink poison than RootBeer.
Keeper? Hmmm...sometimes love has to blind.
(Or at least not able to taste.) Yes, I'll keep him.

Final Score:
Keeper-3
Or Not-0
Sorry, Ladies. He's mine.

Thank Goodness for That.

Just thinking about all of the things I love about Valentine's Day...and also about my husband! (Wow, that still feels weird to say.) At this time last year, Tyler and I had just barely started dating. We were still at that awkward "do I get him something, do I not? Is this a "Valentine's Date" or just a hang-out?" stage in our relationship. Anyway, I presented Ty with a box of chocolate chip cookie dough pop-tarts, and we ended up freezing our butts of while attempting to sing Spanish hymns with thousands of other frozen BYU-I students. Then, we played board games with a lot of other people which we did not know. No bueno. But it was kind of a good date because we were together...and that is around the time we decided that we loved being together more than we loved not being together.

The day after Valentine's Day last year we went fishing. Our first time. I was not aware then that Tyler had a severe addiction to fishing. Now I am aware. Anyway, we decided that that could actually be our romantic and fun Valentine's date since our other one was freezing and strange. I just found this picture of our real Valentine's date from last year and was kind of cracking up. It was the first picture we ever took together, along with the snowman we made, Henry.Tyler hates this picture because his eyes are super squinty, but I love it. I also love his squinty eyes and how his ears raise up when he laughs.

I am so thankful for Ty and his never-ending patience with me. He is probably the most patient guy you will ever meet. I was thinking about how all of these little things have come at us in our marriage already, and I realized that people are not lying when they tell you that sometimes marriage is hard. In fact, they are telling the truth...go figure!

Thank goodness I have a man who will patiently rub a vinyl sentiment on the wall (which does not want to stick and is kind of crooked) while I have a fit and throw the spoon which is meant to smooth the letters, but is more useful to hit the wall with.
Also, thank goodness I have a man who wakes me up by kissing my cheeks every morning, and laughs hard at me when I am all worked up, and hides his puzzled face when I laugh and cry at the same time, and never ever leaves without a kiss good-bye.
And thank goodness that he is the most law-abiding citizen I have ever met, and that he hates tomatoes and I love them, and that he secretly likes to go shopping with me sometimes.
Thank goodness that I have a man who is always there for me at the end of the day.
And mostly, thank goodness that I am married to the most handsome man on this earth, and that I love him and he loves me.
Thank goodness for that.

Can I just tell you something?!

Tyler loves when I use the phrase "Can I just tell you something!?" I have no idea where it came from, but it comes in very handy sometimes. Apparently I use it a lot when I am frustrated. Always when I am serious. Tyler just laughs and rolls his eyes at me.
But seriously, I just want to tell you something.

I hate (and I do mean hate) when you follow the directions EXACTLY and something still doesn't turn out like you want. Like this for instance...
Mutilated Cookie Bars. See, I got this cute little recipe book called "500 Cookies. The Only Cookie Compendium You Will Ever Need." The recipes are supposed to be really easy. "For Beginners," I think it said.
Lies.
I was feeling fairly confident in my cooking last night because the dinner I made was edible. (At least Ty thought so.) Plus, I just like to find any excuse to use my new KitchenAid. Then, when Jordan and Cheyenne (Ty's brother who is dating my super cute friend) decided to come over, I thought I would make something yummy. I decided not to take any chances and followed the instructions EXACTLY for the Nestle Tollhouse Cookie bars...I mean, how hard could it be, really? It even said in the book that they were "America's First Cookie." Com'on people, this isn't rocket science.
Long story short, it was a disaster. If I could explain the look on Tyler's face when he first saw them, I would. But I can't. It was the definition of priceless. It was kind of like his really really surprised face immediately followed by a look of concern and deep contemplation. I may have even seen a flash of horror. He probably would have been in trouble for that look had it not been quite so hilarious.
(We are working on his reactions to my cooking...he's coming along, girls...he really is.)

Anyway, these mutilated cookie bars got me thinking. They reminded me of last week when I made Ty a two-tiered birthday cake and the top broke and slid off like a BYU-I student walking across campus in January. I called my mom in tears and she laughed (not a good response) and told me to make another one. "But I followed the directions EXACTLY," I cried to her. I sucked it up and went to Broulim's in my pink slippers and pajamas at ten thirty pm and gathered supplies. I began baking another cake and finally finished by one a.m. The cake was beautiful, if I do say so myself.

That also got me thinking...sometimes, even when we follow the directions EXACTLY, things don't turn out like we planned. Sometimes they turn out ugly and burnt and doughy all at the same time.
But, sometimes they turn out even better...like ditching the exactly made cookie bars and heading to Gee's dairy for ice cream with friends. And like your husband giving you a hug and telling you it's not your fault that things didn't turn out, even though you know he's kind of laughing on the inside. I guess that's what keeps life interesting...the unexpected.
Needless to say, I forbid Tyler to eat the cookie bars and left them on the stove and went to bed. There is a huge part of me that didn't want to be the stereotypical housewife who can't cook to save her soul. Too bad for me I guess.
A quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson crossed my mind as I was brushing my teeth last night...

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could."
Amen, Ralph. Amen.

This is Us in LoVe.

If you have ever attended a college course at BYU-I, the "introduction prompt" would be almost repeatable in your sleep. What's your name? Where are you from? What's your major? You nod and look real interested and then forget their name by the time they finish. And then a quick glance at the fourth finger of the left hand tells you everything you need to know about that person.

Here is our BYU-I intro:
Name:
Chynna-- Yes, pronounced like the country. No, I have never been there. Neither have my parents. Don't ask.
Tyler- A very adorable, manly name. In fact, the name I would have named my first child, had the name ended up not being my husband's.

From:
C: Salmon-- Population: 3,000. Stoplights: 2. Wal-Marts: Not even. Best Place Ever to grow up: Undoubtedly.
T: Utah, Indiana, Rexburg, Missouri, Oaxaca. Depends on the day.

Major:
C: English Education.
T: Business Management/Marketing/Human Resources. No doubt leading to a career that will support his wife's shopping habits. Poor guy.

Fourth Finger/Left Hand:
C: Occupied.
T: Occupied.

Here is our classic dipping pose picture at our wedding. Fabulous.
(By the way our wedding was only one week ago!)

And this is us on our honeymoon.

And this is us in love.
The end.