A Year of Wedded Bliss

Jeff and I (and our little lentil) celebrated our 1 year Anniversary on Sunday the 27th of November.

I can't believe its been a year already! I woke up to flowers (roses that reminded Jeff of our bouquet), a gift card inside a really sweet card and a husband who didn't have to work that day!!!!

We played hooky from the world and stayed home all day and watched football and movies. And he rubbed my feet. It was the perfect day.

As I reflected on the last year I came up with some of my favorite things about being married to my sweet Jeff.

1.Having him warm up my car for me in the morning.

2.Having him tickle my back before I fall asleep (that is when we actually sleep together!)

3.Jeff always pours the perfect drink. It use to be Diet Dr. Pepper, but lately it's Grape Gatorade. Sometimes slushy, sometimes normal.

4.Having Jeff empty the dishwasher. It's my worst.

5.Having Jeff take out the garbage.

6.Having someone so handy at fixing things. He's amazing.

7.Having Jeff get my make-up bag every morning for me. And he NEVER complains.

8.Having a GREAT mother-in-law. She's been one of my only friends this first year. I don't know what I would have done without her.

9.Having someone help me pay off MY not HIS credit card debt, and never make me feel bad.

10.Being married to a worthy Priesthood holder.

11.When he actually goes shopping with me, he carries all the groceries inside.

12.Having someone to watch cheesy disaster/alien movies with.

13.He make the MOST delicious Annie's macaroni.

14. He crisps my chicken to the perfect burntness.

15.Having someone to spend the holiday's with.

16.Having someone to sit at church with.

17.He always surprises me with little "prizes". On Sunday it happened to be tums:)

18.Jeff loving my nieces and nephews. He told me that if any of our kids turned out like Bridger he would be more than okay with that. I fell in love with him all over again.

19.Being married to SUCH a hard worker.

20.Finding out I was pregnant and knowing he would be SUCH a good daddy.

I love you honey!

It's been a great year.

I'm glad we have an eternity more of them.

Dear Baby

Dear baby,

A week ago my life was changed forever.

As I was driving home from work on a Friday afternoon, I was talking to your grandma on the phone. I told her that I might just for fun get a pregnancy test, because although I was pretty sure I wasn't, I had been extremely tired all week. And not just normal sleepy, I mean I was falling asleep at work sleepy. I was also a few days "late."

She told me to go get one and let her know. You'll learn that Grandma Slade is as anxious as me to know things! You'll meet her when she comes to OK for your birth....And stays forever. She's the best grandma in the world. All your cousins think the world revolves around her.

So, to get back on track, I bought a test, took it home and to my ABSOLUTE shock, this is what the pregnancy test read:

You'll have to excuse the blurriness. I believe I was shaking at the time:) I ran into my bedroom woke your dad up out of the dead of sleep and yelled: "Look at the stick!" He looked at the stick and gave me a hug. I asked him if I could call grandma and tell her about you. He somewhat dazed said yes. I turned off the light and began making some calls. Calls I have been waiting what seems all my life to make.

That night we told your dad's family at dinner about you with this adorable onesie that your Aunt Jennifer made:

Since that life changing day little baby, you are ALL I have been able to think about. I have wanted to be a mommy since before I even knew where babies came from. When your aunt Stephanie and I use to play house I would put a pillow under my shirt and pretend I was pregnant.

You are SO loved already. You have grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and most of all a mom and dad who are eagerly awaiting for your arrival.

I am going to try and do my best to make sure you arrive in this world healthy and happy. I am even cutting WAY back of diet Dr. pepper:) I went for a long walk today instead of driving to do my errands to start making myself strong for you.

I remember not too long ago wondering if I was ever going to be a mom. Then I met your daddy. Then, almost a year ago we got married for Time and All Eternity, and became a family. And now when you join our family, you will be ours forever.

I wonder if you will look more like him or me.

I wonder if you will be a boy or girl.

I wonder about a lot of things.

But what I think about most of all is the miracle that you already are to me.

I thank Heavenly Father every night for you.

I love you little baby Hale.

Love, Mom

Scared and Shaken (Literally)!

Jeff left for work on Saturday night as usual, so I got my blanket and settled in on the couch for some TV time, when all of a sudden I see a black MOUSE running from the kitchen. I of course screamed BLOODY murder and it ran right back into the kitchen. I jumped up from the couch, left the TV and all lights on, grabbed my blanket and ran into my bedroom. Once I got into my bedroom I immediately barricaded myself inside. OBVIOUSLY.

The next dilemma was what I should do. So of course, I text Jeff, FREAKING OUT!

Cinderella's little mouse helpers? I couldn't stop laughing. That is why I love my husband. He can calm me down better then anyone I know.

So next thing you know I am cleaning my room because I'm stuck inside it and my charger was outside and my battery was low so watching Netflix on my phone is out of the question.

What do you think happened next?

http://newsok.com/article/feed/314765

That's right an EARTHQUAKE! The biggest one in Oklahoma history! I was standing by my bed throwing away trash and felt the ground beneath me shake and tremble. Then my bed starting shaking. It was a surreal experience. Thankfully There were no serious injuries reported.

So I just had to wait until 1:00 a.m. for Jeff to bring home mouse traps and more importantly some dinner!

He is the best. And I'm glad he isn't scared of mice!

Here's a video of him cleaning behind the stove the next day.

I was amazed at the trash the previous tenants had left. We didn't find any droppings around the stove or the fridge or any cupboards. I'm blaming it on our neighbors. I think the mouse visits our house and then leaves again. But next time he comes we'll be prepared with 20 traps.

That was my adventurous weekend. Phew!

Now if we can only catch that little mouse I can again step in my kitchen without dread:)

True love...........at 2:00 a.m.!

I think I've mentioned a time or two how amazing Jeff is. He is so sweet, and always doing nice things for me. I try my best to do the same for him. Although I think he wins for the most part:)

However.......On Sunday night I did surprise him....at 2:00 in the morning.

That evening we went to his sister's to celebrate her little girl's birthday and ate dinner. So when it was time to make Jeff's lunch I didn't have anything prepared. With a lot of guilt I made him a box of macaroni and cheese and some frozen chicken, and sent him off to work.

At about 10:30 our texting conversation went like this:

I'm not sure what had gotten into me but I felt like surprising him with a lunch at home instead of having him eat at work. He told me I could make a frozen pizza if I was too tired. Has he MET me?

I looked in my cupboards and freezer and decided to whip up some homemade chicken Parmesan. I took a bit from a recipe online, but basically just made it up as I went along (including homemade sauce:))I think it turned out pretty fabulous! I also thought while I was at it I would set the table nice. Usually when we eat it's on the couch watching tv!

Here's my hard working husband enjoying his meal. Disclaimer: If you notice the top of his dinner it's loaded with Parmesan cheese from the CAN. I had a lovely bowl of freshly grated Parmesan for myself but my weird husband PREFERS the can. It makes me sad every time he sprinkles it on his food. We enjoyed a nice meal together and started "Season of the Witch" before he left. I DO NOT recommend starting that movie if you're scared of the dark and sleeping by yourself because your husband is leaving back to work at 3:00 a.m.

I love you honey and thanks for working so HARD!!!!

While Jeff was asleep today........

Today after getting home from church and eating lunch, Jeff was rooting around the kitchen for something sweet to eat. Now, this doesn't happen very often. My husband would probably eat meat and potatoes for every meal and be perfectly happy. As luck would have it there wasn't anything around he wanted. So he went off to bed unsatisfied.

Lucky for him I have been planning for about a week to make homemade mint milanos. This is one treat that Jeff REALLY loves. So, I looked on the web for a recipe. I found one that didn't look to hard and I gave it a go. There weren't too many ingredients and were simple to put together. This is the dough chilling in the fridge

........On a side note, if you look closely you can see a blue Fanta in the fridge.....Jeff and I had a really fun adventure yesterday at a Greek deli buying Bulgarian cheese, hummus and Macedonian Fanta. Jeff always likes to try the weird drinks and food he sees. Ask my sister about the candy he ate in July:) This tangent has nothing to do with cookies, but it was the funnest day!

Back to the cookies........I think they turned out pretty delicious if I do say so myself. You'll notice a cookie in the back with a chocolate smear......it was bugging me so bad I almost threw it away. But I knew Jeff would freak out if I told him. And I'm working on my OCD:)

The only thing I wished I had done is cook them a little bit longer so they were just a tad crispier. Next time I make them that will be easy to fix. I also had the idea to use up some crushed peppermints for some of the cookies. And man was that a yummy addition!

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon while my tired husband is sleeping!!!

Recipe:

http://www.eatliverun.com/mint-milano-cookies/

Christmas List

Jeff and I are writing out our Christmas wish lists for each other. It will be nice this year to actually have jobs and be able to afford to buy a few things for each other:) I've seen Jeff's list and it has things like cologne, sweaters, a Bulgarian Hymn book, etc.......as I sat down tonight to write my list I could only think of 1 thing I REALLY want........

I sent an email to Jeff labeling it Christmas List and added this picture. Jeff opened it and said, "but I don't know how to find this baby."

I guess I better stick with perfume and kitchen tools this year:)

BOOMER!

Hello. My name is Alicia and I'm married to an OU-aholic. Really. Our first "fight" was over OU. For those of you who know me, know I can be well.....stubborn:) When someone tells me I have to do something, or like something, I'll dig in and do the opposite, even if I secretly want to go along. There is something in my nature that just won't let me give in.

I can't remember exactly how the conversation/fight got started but it was something along the lines of me saying: "I will never cheer for OU. I didn't grow up here. You can't make me change who I root for." What a brat....I think I was just trying to control something in my life that at that moment had so many HUGE changes ,that I felt like I was spiraling out of control. Quite a bit of drama for a conversation about football!

Any who, since then I've come a long way because I know it makes Mr. Fix-it happy when I cheer for them. I even had an OU party for their first game this year! I also have an OU blanket that my wonderful (I seriously love her) mother-in-law gave me. I snuggle up with it when I'm on the couch watching TV.

And last week I got to go to my VERY first game. And I have to say, I was completely swept up by it. The pageantry of the pre-game, the crowd, the stadium, our wonderful seats, my cute husband's excitement, the delicious hot dog I ate, the way OU CREAMED Ball State (I know I've never heard of them before either. I loved all of it. I may have even teared up during the opening festivities. Hey, I'm not embarrassed. I cry sometimes:)

Plus how cute is my husband?I would do just about anything to make him happy, EXCEPT for giving up watching "Toddlers and Tiaras."

I can now say I am officially an OU fan, unless they are playing BYU (Jeff even agreed on this!)

Watch the following clip and just try to say it's not a pretty cool team to root for with all it's tradition and winning ways:)

You can hear at the end of the video Jeff saying "On-side kick?" And I think I said "Nice" Oops! I guess Ball State knowing what they were in for: A 62-6 drubbing, thought they would try a trick play. I think it just made the OU players want to murder them!