The Holidays, The Weddings, and the Recovery Process

Well, here we are in the midst of the holidays! Christmas, New Years Eve, and tomorrow, New Years Day:) Christmas was great:) We spent Christmas morning with Kyle's parents, and Christmas evening with my parents, brother, uncle and grandpa. It was a neat new way to spend Christmas, and we enjoyed the time with family. The day after Christmas, more family began to arrive in town. It was nice to have some extended family around, as it's rare that we get to see many relatives at once:) On the down side, I spent the day after Christmas sick in bed:( It was a one day thing, but it sure was a lousy way to top off Christmas, haha. Kyle spent that day having a LAN party (or nerd party, as I call it;). He had a lot of fun with that:) And no, he didn't neglect his sick wife all day;) He came up to check on me pretty regularly and brought me water and snacks and such:) He probably looked pretty whipped, to the guys, but he doesn't mind;)
Anyway, as if the holidays aren't normally crazy enough, we decided to throw a couple of weddings into the mix. Our friends Mike and Erica got married December 27th. I was a bridesmaid in their wedding, and Kyle came to enjoy the festivities and support his "frat brother" in their special day:) It was a beautiful wedding, and Erica looked absolutely gorgeous, as always:)
The following day, December 28th, was Kyle's and my rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for our wedding (which Erica was also in - yes, we're a bit crazy, lol). The rehearsal began fairly smoothly, with Pastor Jan guiding us through the order of events, as Rachel, our wedding coordinator, helped us all find our places. The rehearsal didn't exactly go smoothly from beginning to end though. In fact, it became quite an adventure. Rachel is 6 months pregnant. About halfway through the rehearsal, she was suddenly in a horrible amount of pain! She's one tough lady, so that's saying something! Anyone who has been pregnant, or is old enough to have witnessed pregnancies up close, knows that sudden, extreme pain during pregnancy is a scary thing! As she lay down on the chairs in the sanctuary, the guys called her husband, while the women tried to figure out what exactly may be causing the pain. When she rated labor as a 10 and this pain as a 9 on the pain scale, we decided it was time to call the hospital. As we waited for an ambulance, Pastor Jan prayed for her. By the time the ambulance got there, the pain had suddenly stopped, but so had the baby's movement. There was a scary few minutes before she started kicking again, much to our relief. When the paramedics arrived, they took Rachel to the hospital where her husband met her and they made sure that everything was okay. Rachel and the baby are both fine, praise God, and are getting some rest for now. They say every wedding has an interesting story - I suppose that one's ours!
The 29th, the big wedding day, was pretty crazy. By this point we knew that Rachel was okay, but would not be making it to the wedding. Eryn and I got to the church at 8:00 in the morning, to begin decorating. Pastor Tim got there at 8:00 sharp to let us in and help us set up the tables for the reception (Thanks Tim!!). We immediately got to work. Soon my mom showed up and began ironing the folds out of table cloths while Eryn and I started breaking out the decorations. It felt like we were working all day, but within a couple of hours, almost everything was done. Around 10:00am, we started getting ready. Sharon did my hair (Thanks Sharon!) and soon all the bridesmaids (Eryn, Erica, Sharon and Cheryl) and I were ready for pictures. The photographers showed up and we began our formal shots. The photographers were great, and were a lot of fun to work with:) I trust they got a lot of great pictures, which I'll be really excited to see:)
The wedding ceremony went smoothly, though we did get a couple of laughs at little-seen accidents, like me spilling the unity candle wax on my hand (ouch!!), and Eryn's heel getting stuck in my train, haha, but it really went great:) The reception was small but fun:) We had catering from Camille's Cafe, my mom's yummy punch, and of course wedding cake:) We also had some super cute wedding favors - gingerbread bride and groom cookies, made by my wonderful friend Kathy!:) (If you need cookies for parties or something, she is one super baker!)
After it was all over, we were all completely exhausted. I don't think I got a chance to stop for a minute all day! I didn't even want to think about cleaning up! I changed out of my dress, and trudged back into the fellowship hall to see where I should start with tearing things down. There in the fellowship hall was the whole Clark family (some of our guests!) cleaning like crazy! I ended up not even having to lift a finger! I honestly don't know what the church would do without the Clarks. It seems like they are the servants of the church, working and serving wherever they're needed:) Thank you Clarks!!
After the wedding, Kyle's family had a re-reception (lol) at their place. It was a neat little gathering, and I finally got to meet and talk to a lot of his extended family:) We got to laugh and smile through close to a dozen toasts and stories:) After the re-reception, all the 'youngsters' went to Chili's for drinks and appetizers (yes, we had designated drivers even though none of us drank more than one drink). It was a fun evening:)
It was all a ton of fun, but I think it will take me a few days to recuperate from it all! lol. I'm glad we went through with the big wedding, and I can't wait to get the pictures from our photographers!:) That's about all the news we have, though I'm sure I've left out something. The holidays and weddings have all been so crazy that I can't possibly remember it all! But we do have a lot of memories anyway:) Thanks to everyone who contributed to our holidays and our wedding!!!

It's been awhile...

It's been awhile since I last blogged, so I thought it was about time. Kyle finished up the fall quarter at school last week and passed his classes with flying colors:) To celebrate the end of the quarter (and to get me to quit nagging for a date perhaps) we went out to Chomps, a sushi place in Fullerton, and got way more food than we could eat! We ended up with about 6 pounds of leftovers, haha, but they didn't last long;) They served as a yummy lunch later!;) After our date night we drove to Lancaster and spent the weekend with my parents:) It was fun:) We helped them decorate their Christmas tree, and eat some of the goodies my mom made (which was a ton!):) It was a busy weekend, as all the last minute wedding details are coming together, but it was fun:) This week is our last week of work until 2008!! Kyle got nearly full-time hours at The Coffee Bean, as many of the student employees went home as soon as school got out for the holidays. So he's been working nearly full time this week. I've been working, as well as working on a sort of project we've started: assisting my memory! I have always been a bit easily distracted, but lately I've been down right absent minded! So this past weekend I bought a "brain" as I call it - it's really just a planner/organizer, but I've been carrying it everywhere with me and writing everything down! When I think of something I need to do, I write it down on the to-do list for the day that I should do it. When I'm given a phone number, it goes in the address book. When I make a purchase, the receipts go in there (it also serves as a wallet). And every day I've got it with me so that my to-do lists are never far. So far it has worked pretty well! My favorite part about it though is that the front cover is a picture frame, so I can carry Kyle's picture with me everywhere;) It's really handy, having my calendar, to-do lists, note pad, address book, check book, bank cards, credit cards, IDs, insurance cards, etc all in one place. The thing now is, I gotta keep track of this thing! lol. Hopefully my absent-mindedness won't result in (literally) losing my brain!;) Anyway...I do still have a couple more things on my to-do list for today, so I ought to do them;)

Date Night!!!

Tonight is Date Night for me and Kyle! I can't wait :-D

Fable:)

Kyle and I have started gaming together:) We've been playing a computer game called "Fable". It's a neat game!:) You begin the game as a boy, faced with a dillema: You have no money, and need to get your sister a birthday present. From this point on, pretty much everything you do is a moral decision. Your dad offers you the opportunity to earn money for a present by doing good deeds around the village. Of course, you could skip the good deeds and go steal a present. Either way, that evening, bandits attack your village, killing most of the towns people, and kidnapping your sister. Soon after, you meet a man who takes you to "the Hero's Guild" where you are taught how to fight. Once you graduate from training, you are sent out into the world of Albion. It is up to you whether the life you then lead is one of good or evil. Each quest you take increases your skills. Each decision you make shapes your character. Each action you take changes your reputation, and as you grow up, your fame grows as well. Ultimately, your goal may be good or evil: find your sister, or seek revenge. Your character changes in ability and appearance, depending on your experiences, your choices, and how you develop your skills. Even your appearance begins to match your moral character as you make your way through Albion, growing from a boy into a man - some kind of man...it's up to the gamer;)
Anyway...it's a lot of fun, and Kyle and I have enjoyed playing it together:) He does the actual playing, but I watch and help a little bit...it's a lot of fun, and is apparently one of his interests that he never expected his wife to get into, or even halfway understand, haha. The few guyfriends of mine who have found out that I play computer games with Kyle say, "That's so cool! Man, most girls think gaming is dumb or something!" Honestly, for me it depends on the game. I like killing monsters. I don't like war games. I like games where you "grow up" within the game. I like quests, fantasy settings, swords, cool outfits that resemble renaissance attire, etc...I doubt Kyle could get me to play 'Call of Duty' with him. But given the right game, I can have fun with it:) And so far we've had a lot of fun with Fable:) And, yes...we're going to be a good guy;)

A Christmasy Survey:)

1. How many Christmases have you celebrated?
20:) This year will be my 21st Christmas:)

2. How many different places have you spent Christmas at?
Well my first few Christmases were spent at the old house, and all the ones since then were spent at my parents' house. This year, I'm not really sure where Christmas will be spent!

3. When does "Christmas" start?
the day after Thanksgiving! (I used to say the day after Halloween, haha, but I've managed to push it back a little ways, so as to focus on one holiday at a time;)

4. When does "Christmas" end?
New Years Eve, cause then we're celebrating New Years! lol

5. Ever had a white Christmas?
Not that I know of :(

6. Ever NOT had a white Christmas?
Yep, all of 'em that I remember :-/

7. Has it ever been really warm on Christmas?
Yeah, one year I got a new sweater, and a new bike...I insisted on wearing my new sweater while I tried out my new bike, and ended up soaked in sweat :-p Pretty lame Christmas weather! lol

8. What's the coldest it's been on Christmas in your town?
Well, in the town I spent all my Christmases in? It may have gotten down to like 15-20*F. In the town I'm living in now, it might have gotten down to 40*F but I highly doubt it.

9. Do you remember specific Christmas presents from past years?
not many of them, but a few...like that sweater and bike, lol. That was when I was like...10 yrs old. And I remember that Kyle gave me a promise ring last Christmas:) It's crazy for me to think, last year he gave me a promise ring, saying we would get engaged/married one day, and this Christmas, the very next one, we'll already have been married for 6 months!

10. Is there anything specific that gets you in the Christmas spirit?
Christmas music, hot cocoa, seeing houses all decorated up with Christmas lights, the smell of Christmas trees, the smell/taste of peppermint, seeing the church all decked out with Christmas decorations, seeing all the Christmas ornaments and lights and such that the stores all bust out......etc:)

11. Do you like hot cocoa?
oh yes!

12. Do you like egg-nog?
eh, not so much

13. Do you like candy canes?
I like to use them to stir my hot cocoa so they give it a minty flavor! But I don't like eating them.

14. What are your favorite Christmas colors?
I like all of them in the right combinations:) Red and green and gold look really elegant together:) Red and green and silver look really happy together:) White, ice blue, silver and navy blue look nice and cold! *shivers*:) Silver, white and glitter look nice and snowy:) Green, maroon and brown look like a Christmasy mountain cabin:) and I love them all!!!

15. What is your favorite thing to find in your stocking?
Hair clips! lol. I go through those things so fast, so Santa has to bring me lots of those;) And they make good stocking stuffers:)

16. Do you like playing in the snow?
Actually, I really prefer walking in it:) Snow is really romantic:) I prefer to leave it as untouched as possible, while still getting out and enjoying it:) So a nice walk in the snow is perfect:) All you leave is footprints, and I think it's so cute to see two pairs of footprints in the snow!:-D hehe

17. What is your favorite Christmas candy?
Ooh, gosh...I would have to say mint chocolate truffles:)

18. What do you think is the best gift you've ever given someone?
I knit Kyle a blanket last year:) It isn't the most perfect blanket, but it is special anyway, and he loves it:)

19. How do you wrap presents (bags? boxes? bows? quick jobs? fancy jobs?)??
I carefully select the prettiest wrapping paper I can find that seems to suit the recipient's personality (yes, I buy a lot of different kinds of very expensive wrapping paper :-.. lol but I love it). Then I find some 3" wide, wired ribbon that goes well with the wrapping paper. I take the present and wrapping stuff home. I hand make a to-from tag to match the wrapping paper and ribbon. I wrap the present as neatly as I can. Then I make a big bow out of the ribbon, wrap a piece of ribbon around the present, and put the bow on top, with the to-from tag sticking out from underneath the bow. *sigh* Yes, I am extremely obsessed with wrapping...believe it or not, I'm not that picky about presentation. I'll throw the present to the person if they're not right next to me. But it has to be PRETTY, lol

20. Do you send out Christmas cards?
I'm not sure if we're going to get to this year, but I do hope to. It's getting pretty close though, and I would hate for people to get them late...

21. Do you write a Christmas letter, to update your friends and relatives about the past year?
My family always did, and I plan to continue that, but like I said, I'm not sure if we'll get to this year. This holiday season is going to be one big heck of a mess...and enjoyable mess, but...if I live through it, I will feel invincible for the rest of my life.

22. Do you bake goodies around Christmas time? What kind?
Oh yes! Pumpkin pie, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, rice crispy treats, fudge...THE WORKS!!!

23. Do you gain weight around the holidays?
I never did in years past, but I think my metabolism may be slowing down to what is about normal for adults...so I probably will this year....okay, so I already have a LITTLE bit

24. Do you make a new years resolution to burn it off?
lol, no

25. Have you ever gone sledding?
yep!

26. Have you ever been injured in a snowball fight?
not seriously, but enough to make my cry and kick my brother

27. What goes on top of your Christmas tree?
a star shaped cookie cutter with white and gold pipe cleaners wrapped around it, haha

28. Do you use a tree skirt?
Sort of...my big red blanket is our tree skirt this year, lol. And it actually looks pretty, except that I keep wanting to crawl under the tree and sleep, lol. That blanket is so comfy! (lol, thanks Josh)

29. What is the most expensive present you've given someone?
Uhm...I helped Ryan buy a really nice guitar...

30. What is the most personal gift you've given someone?
probably the blanket I knit for Kyle...I spent a lot of time on that.

31. What is the most personal gift you've ever received for Christmas?
definitely the promise ring Kyle gave me last year...mainly the promise that went along with it, but...also, he put a lot of thought into picking it out...well...he asked Eryn a hundred times if I would like it, lol.

32. What type of Christmas tree does your family usually get?
well, all growing up I think we got Douglas Firs, but of course this year is different, lol...me and Kyle got a hand-me-down fake tree from Tim and Sharon! hehe:-D

33. When you were little, what time would you wake up Christmas morning?
usually around 4:30 or 5:00am34. Now what time do you wake up on Christmas morning?I don't know, 8:00 or so?

35. Do you open presents or stockings first?
My brother and I always got to open our stockings while we waited for my parents to get up. Then once everyone was awake and Dad had his coffee ready, lol, we'd all open presents:)

36. What does your stocking look like?
My mommy cross-stitched it:) It's cute:)

37. When you were little, did you fall asleep halfway through Christmas after being so excited all morning?
haha yeah

38. Have you ever been kissed under the mistletoe?
No :(

39. Did your parents ever take to to sit on Santa's lap for pictures and to tell him what you wanted for Christmas?
yes and I screamed bloody murder instead lol

40. Are there any Christmas songs that you really don't like?
yeah, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Jingle Bells," and..."Away in a Manger" is pretty annoying to me but I'm not sure why

41. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Carol of the Bells, Emmanuel, and this instrumental medley of Carol of the Bells and Silver Bells...by far the best instrumental music I have ever heard.

42. What are some Christmas traditions you want to carry on to do with your spouse and kids?
Christmas Eve service at church, Christmas tree shopping, decorating the tree together, driving around town to look at peoples' Christmas lights, making Christmas goodies together....

43. Do you get your shopping done early, or wait till the last minute?
Neither really, I do a little here and a little there...

44. If you could have ANYTHING for Christmas this year, no matter the costs (short term and long term costs included) what would you want?
A house somewhere near a good school that needs a high school algebra and geometry teacher, in a green, spacious part of the country

45. Do you know what you will want NEXT Christmas?
haha, yes, I think at that point I'll be wanting to start trying for Baby #1, lol. But we'll see. Maybe we'll wait a bit longer than that...

46. Have you ever been to a Christmas party?
No, but the office Christmas party is this thursday and I MIGHT go...

47. Have you ever thrown a Christmas party?
No

48. Have you ever been in a Christmas play/program?
Yep, at least a dozen!

49. Do you know the story behind the candy cane?
I've heard lots of stories...no clue which one's true, and don't really care, lol

50. Why do you celebrate Christmas?
Honestly?...because it just sort of happens...

51. What is the meaning of Christmas?
*sigh*...it's a gigantic, multi-national birthday party where most of the party guests don't even know whose birthday it is...

52. Do you say, "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"?
Merry CHRISTmas!

53. What is your favorite Christmas smell?
oh gosh, I don't know...Christmas trees, peppermint, hot cocoa, fires, cinnamon, chocolate, pies, turkey, scotch tape, wrapping paper, dusty Christmas decorations, freshly chopped firewood.....

54. What is your favorite Christmas flavor?
hot cocoa, peppermint, sugar cookies, rice crispy treats...

55. How is this Christmas going to be special?
It's my first Christmas with my wonderful husband!:)

Bye Bye Cozy Sac

Well, Kyle and I recently decided that our big brown bean-bag sofa just wasn't really cutting it, for our little apartment. It took up a lot of space, and as comfy as it was, it hardly got used at all. So yesterday Kyle and I posted an ad on CraigsList, hoping to sell our cozy-sac. We figured we'd try to get $100 for it, since we bought it for about $200. I thought we might have to lower the price before anyone would buy it, but this morning someone had already e-mailed us, asking if it was still available! Wow, lol. Kyle e-mailed her back and said that it was still available, and gave her our phone number in case she wanted to further contact us. Within an hour, she and her husband came by to take a look at it, and it was gone. I didn't realize things could sell that quickly on CraigsList! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, lol. We found our apartment on CraigsList;) Anyway, now we have "a lot" of space in our "living room":) Our Christmas tree now lives by the window, for all to see:) rather than next to the bed, for Kyle to get poked by when he gets out of bed, haha. The down side is, how we are nearly seatless. lol. We have the dining room table, and Kyle's computer desk, but nowhere to kick back, except the bed. But oh it is so nice to have some space:) We're not sure what will go in the "living room" now, but we're keeping our options open. In the mean time I suppose the Christmas tree and the coffee table can get better acquainted, haha.

Christmas Decorating!:)

Last night Kyle and I finally finished decorating our tree!:) We went to Target, got more lights, grabbed a pizza on the way home, and had a tree decorating party (well, as party-like as two people at home can be?). Oh and we enjoyed some hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps while we decorated:) (If you haven't tried that before, do!;) It was a lot of fun:) Our tree isn't exactly homey looking, as we have only store-bought ornaments, but it is still pretty:) Anyway, here are some pictures from our Christmas decorating night(s):) I couldn't get a very good picture of the whole tree, decorated, but...*sigh* oh well...here they are:)

Getting Ready For Christmas

Well, it's that time of year again:) Time to start putting up decorations, fighting through the crowded malls, decorating Christmas trees....and it's our first time doing all this together:) And it's been a bit of an adventure...or maybe a comedy. I guess it's a little bit of both;) It's been an adventure seeing what little quirks, ideas, and traditions we each carry over from our families into our family. And it's been a comedy trying to get all the decorations up - we have no time! But we both love Christmas, so we do a little decorating when we can...this is why our tree is put together, and halfway covered in lights. Maybe by Christmas it will be fully decorated, haha. We're planning to go buy another string of lights tomorrow, and finish decorating the tree. Tonight I'll be putting some lights in our front window:) I also have a mini tree partially decorated, and awaiting some ribbon or garland of some sort, which we'll hopefully be able to get when we get our second string of lights! haha, So we're slowly getting ready for Christmas:) I'll take pictures of everything and hopefully post them this weekend, after our decorations are complete;) I can't wait to see our little apartment all Christmas-ed up! :-D

Yay for the Weekend!

This morning I woke up to hear millions of drops of rain pattering away on our ceiling and windows:) Even at six o'clock in the morning, this was a nice way to wake up:) I enjoyed a warm shower and the sound of the rain, made breakfast, and insisted that Kyle bring a jacket to school as I saw him out the door. When I left for work soon after, it was still sprinkling, and overcast:) Rain and Christmas music made for a nice drive to work, not to mention that traffic was pretty light:) Work was slow, but throughout most of the day I actually felt pretty much normal, rather than sick!:) Needless to say, rain, Christmas music, and feeling better made for a good day over all:) My tummy is hurting right now, but I'm not feeling nearly as bad as yesterday, so this is still an improvement;) I'll take any improvement, lol. I'm glad the work day is over and I can finally relax and enjoy the weekend:) We are going up to Lancaster:) Kyle's brother, Cory, is home on leave after finishing his first deployment in the U.S. Navy, so we will finally get to see him!:) We haven't seen Cory in about 6 months! It should be a nice weekend:) Well, Kyle's home, so time for dinner:)

Ugh, Is It Over Yet?

So after about 12 days of feeling a bit blah and queasy, I was beginning to get used to it...at least enough to act like I was feeling fine. I guess that meant it was about time to start feeling worse! *sigh* This morning I woke up feeling a little more queasy than before, and stayed in bed until Kyle left for school. He was sweet and brought me my crackers and made me relax while he made his own breakfast. After he left I got dressed, brushed my hair back into a ponytail, set my alarm for 8:20, and snoozed until then. When the alarm woke me up, I grabbed my lunch (let's see if I can eat it:-p), slipped into my shoes and trudged out the door. By this point I felt like the few crackers I'd eaten were having a boxing match in my stomach and just might decide to find the nearest exit before long. Thank goodness they didn't. By the time I got to work though, I was ready to go back home :( However, I think I've got an okay system down for surviving the day. When people aren't around, I lay my head down on my desk (I can do so in such a way that I can't be seen from where people come in) and I keep an ear out for elevator dings and footsteps. So far it's worked pretty good. My boss knows I'm not feeling well, so he doesn't seem to mind as long as I'm up and alert when people come in. Hopefully I'll feel better as the day goes on, but I will definitely be glad when the day is over. I can't wait to get home...

It's Christmas Time in the City

My wreath!!!

What should I add to it?

Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, I was feeling better enough on Thanksgiving that I was able to eat a reasonable amount:) That was good:) Thanksgiving was fun:) We spent the weekend in Lancaster, at my parents' house, but did Thanksgiving at Kyle's parents' house, along with my parents, my brother, and Kyle's family's friends, the Tomaks:) It was a pretty big group compared to a usual Glazner style Thanksgiving! It was great:) We watched the game while the turkey was in the oven, and then had dinner, pie, etc which was all great!:) Then we played Balderdash, which if you haven't played before, you definitely should try:) It's a lot of fun, and funny!:)
I think feeling better on Thanksgiving was a little blessing from God to make the holiday as great as it always is. Now, however, Thanksgiving is over, and I guess He decided I can deal with feeling yucky for awhile longer *sigh*...I've been eating more than just crackers lately, but this morning, toast and three peanuts was beyond my stomach's tolerance:( Goldfish and milk are basically what I've been living off of, so I'm trying to encorporate some sort of vitamins and proteins into my limited diet, but seeing as 3 peanuts wasn't tolerable, it's not easy. Fortunately the pint of milk that I've almost finished today has about 40% of the protein I need, 70% of the calcium I need, and 50% of the vitamin D that I need. So if I keep drinking lots of milk, and have a good healthy dinner (let's hope I can), I should be good...*sigh* I hope I get better soon...

I Don't Like Being Sick :(

*sigh* Well, I'm still feeling lousy:-\ Really though, I don't actually feel awful so much as...uncomfortable and tired. My tummy still doesn't like much of anything put in it, but it accepted salad last night. That's an improvement:) It's been a bit of a challenge, figuring out how to get protein and vitamins and such into me when all I want is chips and crackers. Even croutons were a bit much as far as flavor goes:-p Lame, cause I love croutons:-\ I brought some chicken salad with me to work though, so hopefully that will do me some good, and not bad. Here's hoping... My primary concern is that I get better in time for Thanksgiving! How terrible would it be to feel anti-food on Thanksgiving?? Hopefully if I can get enough good-for-me stuff into my system I'll be able to get over whatever's troubling my tummy.

Yucky Saturday, Yummy Potato Chips

So yesterday I woke up feeling really yucky:( My head hurt (again) and my tummy didn't even like the thought of food, except potato chips. I made Kyle run to the grocery store for some chips for me. My mom will think this is a bit peculiar, as potato chips were the only thing her stomach could handle during the early stages of her pregnancies. Don't worry, I'm 99% sure it's just a tummy ache;) Anyway, I think I wanted potato chips because I couldn't handle anything 'heavier' than that. So Kyle got me my chips (yay for sweet hubbies:), and even fixed lunch and got dinner for us:) He has gotten a bit of kitchen experience lately, haha. I didn't make him cook dinner though. He went and got us take-out, which I wasn't able to finish but I did enjoy a little bit of it:) It was a weird day. I probably slept through about half of it with my various naps and short snoozes, so it sometimes felt like a very long day, and then other times it felt like a bunch of really short lazy days, lol. I don't think I really had a clue what day or time it was for the better part of the day. Honestly, I can't say I minded having to loaf around for a whole Saturday. The part that I really didn't enjoy was that I couldn't sit up or stand up long enough to take a drink without feeling sick again:-\ But Kyle took good care of me, like always, and I am feeling a bit better today. Hopefully I just caught a short-term bug. I definitely can't afford to call in sick tomorrow...:-p

Feeling a Bit Fallish:)

I love this time of year, so I figured I would hunt down a few pictures of fallish sorts of things to celebrate the fallness of Fall:) I can't wait until we can live somewhere where the seasons actually change, and the leaves really do fall:) When we can afford it, you bet I'm gonna go decoration-happy around Thanksgiving time!

I liked this sort of twist on the classic cornucopia, filling it with flowers instead of fruits and such:) Pretty!:-D

I wanna make something like this for our dining room table, when I have a table that's big enough that a centerpiece wouldn't take over;) haha

Yay for Fall creeping its way into our flower shops! I hadn't seen many fallish bouquets before, but now they're getting really cute and creative!:)

YAY for Fall!!!:)

Dinner:)

Yesterday I was eager to get home from work and get started on dinner! I was planning on making what I hoped would turn out to be a very yummy meal: chicken parmesean, caesar salad, garlic bread, and a sort of alfredo noodles side dish. I rushed home and pulled up to the gate into our parking garage only to find...I didn't have the clicker to open the gate:( The previous evening I'd clipped the clicker to my purse so that I could open the gate to go the short way to our apartment. It had still been on my purse that morning, and had been there when I tossed my purse under my desk at work...oohhhh shoot...
It just so happens that Kyle had gotten home at the same time as me. As I sat there in front of the gate, I explained the predicament. He pointed out that even if someone opened the gate for me, I wouldn't be able to get out in the morning. He said, "Well, you could run back to the office if it's still open." It was still open, for sure, but...what about dinner! A bit frustrated I said, "Okay, do you want to drive to my office, or start dinner." I'm sure it's no wonder he looked a bit put-on-the-spot. "I'm not gonna waltz into your office. Nobody there knows who I am!" (didn't occur to me that they ALL know what he looks like, but oh well, lol). I said, "Okay, well can you start dinner?" He seemed to think this was a bad idea for some reason. I grabbed a napkin from between the seats and my keychain-sharpie and wrote "tomato sauce, tbsp cream, parmesean...on chicken" on it, and told him, "Thaw out the chicken, stick it in the small casserole dish, stir the cream into the tomato sauce, pour it on the chicken, and top it with parmesean. Then bake it." He looked at the napkin like he thought it would be more edible than dinner if he cooked (Silly boy:). He said, "What if I ruin it?" "You won't ruin it. I'll be back long before it's done, so don't worry. 350* for about 40-45 minutes. I'll be right back." I rushed back to the office, convinced the parking attendant that she should let me park for free, rushed in, grabbed the clicker, and rushed home. When I came home Kyle was sitting at his computer and the apartment smelled like...chicken parmesean, of course! I'm not sure what he was worried about;) I tossed together the side dishes, pulled the chicken out of the oven, heated up the garlic bread, and...voila! Kyle cooked a very yummy dinner:) I told him he could cook;)

My Weekend

Well, Friday evening was a great date night:) We drove to Valencia and went shopping:) I'd been given a $50 gift card for Macy's, so we decided to spend it. I couldn't find anything at Macy's that I wanted, for $50 or less. All I found was some $x,000 Christmas china, so I told Kyle to find something he wanted. I guess I'm just not a Macy's girl. Not stylish enough for them, lol. Anyway, so we headed to the mens section and found the Clearance section, lol. They actually had some pretty good deals, for "name brand clothes" and Kyle was able to find a couple of nice shirts. The mens clothes aren't nearly as weird as womens clothes can get. After a fairly successful shopping trip, we went to T.G.I.Fridays (We saw it before Souplantation and couldn't resist, lol). We got an appetizer called something like 'sesame chicken strips w/ Jack Daniels sauce'...that was probably the best thing on their menu. They were amazing. They should make a meal of it, not an appetizer. Dinner was great too, but they definitely need to turn that appetizer into a meal! After dinner we drove to Lancaster. We got in around 11:45pm, lol, and promptly fell asleep!
Saturday morning we watched Ratatouille with Kyle's mom:) It was a really cute, funny movie:) I'd definitely recommend it to anyone. It offers plenty of laughs, and a cute story:) Then we went to Dennys for lunch with Alex and Kathy!:) It was great to see them! We must've hung around talking for at least an hour after lunch:) It was really neat to get to hang out with them:) It'll definitely have to become a bit more of a regular thing;)
Saturday night I got to babysit for my friend Apryl so that she and her husband could get out a bit:) Their boys are so cute, and were really well-behaved:) (*whew!* I am still not great at asserting myself even to children, and honestly think Tyler is learning to do so quicker than I am). They were a lot of fun:)
Sunday morning we visited Living Way and Kyle got to drum for the worship team:) We don't exactly have room for his drums in our little apartment, so when he gets to play it's a real treat:) After church we went out to lunch with my parents, reception-site hunted, and shopped for wedding decorations (lunch was the only successful activity). Sunday evening we came back to my parents' house and had dinner with them and my brother. Then the guys got the bright idea to watch 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' which brought on a quick shopping itch in my mom and I...funny how that works. So we went shopping while the guys watched their movie. It was fun:) My mom finally bought herself some things, and I managed to not spend a bunch of money, lol. Two successful shopping trips in one weekend;) When we got home from shopping, around 9:30pm, the guys were still watching their movie, lol. Kyle and I didn't end up heading back down to LA until around 10:30pm. I feel like I've missed about one whole nights sleep, but it was a fun weekend:) I wish we could make trips to Lancaster more often..:)

Yay!

Kyle's on a sweetness kick!:) First he suggested pumpkin pie, which I feared may have been ruled as a 'Thanksgiving Only' treat, and then this morning he said the magic words: "Let's go out for dinner tonight";) Needless to say, being a new cook with a small menu, I love going out to eat! As much as I like cooking, I do get very sick of my own cooking since it's so limited. Trying new recipes is always fun, but can get expensive when you have to buy all the ingredients, and may or may not use them ever again. So I have to experiment wisely;-p Going out for dinner is a huge treat for me now:) So on the way to Lancaster, we're going to stop in Valencia for dinner. Our friend Alex recommended 'Souplantation,' which I've never been to, but their menu looks yummy!:) Maybe we'll go there:) I'm up for trying something new:)
Speaking of trying something new, today I figured out that Kyle's henley shirts look better on me than my own henley shirts do. How does that work? :-? I think it may be because my henleys are too snug to be worn by themselves. Looser fits my look better. I've seen "the boyfriend shirt" in catalogs and such - it's just a guys size shirt, sold in the girls' section, lol. I thought they looked cute and comfy (but are probably much cheaper in the guys' section). Maybe that's why I like Kyle's shirts better, lol. Anyway, so today I look like I'm wearing a 'boyfriend shirt'...except I guess it would be a 'husband shirt':)

Aww :)

Y'know what Kyle said last night?

"We should make pumpkin pie:)"

:-D 'Course we need to get a few more ingredients, but hopefully soon we'll have our first pumpkin pie of the season:-D

My Favorite Things

I wrote this nearly a year ago, but seeing as the holidays are drawing near, and I'm wearing a red sweater and drinking hot chocolate and wishing I had a warm fire to warm my feet by...it just seemed like a good "repost":)

hehe, I needed to cheer myself up somehow, as I'm quite lonely without Kyle, so I rewrote the "Favorite Things" song, lol. (Footnotes at the bottom, as some stuff is like, "huh?" or "are you serious?")

(1) Books marked with roses and soft homemade mittens
(2) New knitting needles and notes neatly written
(3) Kyle's bright smile, the joy that he brings
These are a few of my favorite things

(4) Warm tasty coffees and fresh pasta noodles
(5) Playful young puppies and baby toy poodles
(6) Knowing it's Kyle when my cell phone rings
These are a few of my favorite things

(7) When the car dies
(8) When the alarm rings
(9) When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite thingsand then I don't feel so bad

(10) Cold puppy noses and soft cozy kittens
(11) Staring at Kyle and feeling quite smitten
(12) Cold rainy winters instead of just spring
These are a few of my favorite things

(13) Baking fresh cookies and home-making candy
(14) Finding for once that the scissors are handy
(15) Waking to find that Kyle isn't a dream
These are a few of my favorite things

(16) When the dog barks
(17) When the car's dinged
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite thingsand then I don't feel so bad

--------------------------------------------------------
(1) From "You've Got Mail" / I like mittens:)
(2) New knitting needles are somehow refreshing / I am very picky about writing letters neatly
(3) Self explainitory :D
(4) Yummy
(5) An elderly couple I know just got two toy poodle puppies and they're SO cute a playful and just adorable:)
(6) Yay!:)
(7) ...or rather, won't start
(8) Either the fire alarm in Horton, or my alarm clock
(9) Like when I can't talk to Kyle
(10) They're funny / Kittens can be very good snugglers
(11) Hehe, it's a favorite pastime
(12) I love winter, especially rain
(13) I love baking:) especially making cookies for Kyle:)
(14) Whenever I need them, they are somewhere else, so when for once they are handy, it is a huge thing, lol
(15) I've wondered occasionally when I've woken up, and had to check my cell phone for his number and my neck for the locket he gave me, to convince myself it's all real (needless to say, I get to wake up and check for HIM, rather than his picture now;)
(16) He barks TOO MUCH
(17) ...from me backing into things, haha

Geese!

No, not real geese. Just a couple of silly gooses. Me and Kyle, that is... I tend to save my silly self for at home, as most of my silly moments are simply embarassing moments that Kyle knows how to respond to so that I feel silly, rather than stupid;) I'm sure it is at least a daily thing that he gently laughs at me and says, "You're a silly goose" with a smile of entertainment on his face. This is usually followed by me saying, in a silly childish voice, "I no goose," to which he responds, "You're my goose:)" Lately we've been using the "You're my goose" phrase even without silly moments or any reason at all, really. Just random hugs, a kiss on the cheek and "You my goose"...We'd always wondered what terms of endearment we would use, since Honey is a dog to us, and neither of our names can really be turned into "pet names" (names of endearment, not names for pets). But I don't think we ever imagined Goose becoming one, haha;)

Palm Springs

So this is why they call it "Palm Springs." There are plenty of palm trees!

Kyle had a math conference in Palm Springs, for one of his classes, and I got to come along:) I didn't go to the math conference of course, but I got to see Palm Springs, and have a lunch date with Kyle during their break for lunch:) The weekend was quite an adventure, as I'd left my cell phone at home and didn't realize it until I'd dropped Kyle off at the convention center and told him, "Just let me know when to pick you up!" After dropping him off, I went back to the hotel to do some laundry. At some point I thought, "Hm, I wonder what time it is..." and proceeded to look for my phone. I quickly realized that I had not brought it along at all, and almost simultaneously realized that Kyle still had one of our hotel room keys, which I needed to return during check out before he would be done at the conference. Eek! I rushed over to the convention center and went into the lobby. There was an information booth, and a "Student Volunteers" booth. Kyle was one of the student volunteers, so I asked the guy at the booth if there was a way to find one of the volunteers. I gave him Kyle's name and he said, "Well, he's probably in a session right now. His volunteer time ended about an hour ago." I asked, "Is there a way to find out where he might be?" The guy kind of laughed and said, "Well there's only about 5,000 people here, so I suppose there's a chance, but I'm guessing that calling him would be easiest." lol. I told him why I was looking for Kyle, and he let me borrow his cell phone to leave Kyle a message. There was a Coffee Bean a few blocks away, so I left Kyle a message on his phone telling him I would be at the Coffee Bean, and to meet me there when he got out. Poor Kyle had to trek all over in the heat of the day, in slacks and a dress shirt, to find me because I'd forgotten my phone:-\ I got the hotel key from him and was able to check out with no problems, but it was quite an adventure not really knowing how or when I was going to find him, haha. At least we were able to enjoy a yummy lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen:) After the conference though, Kyle was ready to go home. We drove back to LA and enjoyed a nice evening with no unexpected adventures;) And this morning, we woke up to.....FOG!!!:) This picture was taken from our front door. It was so neat to see this, as fog isn't all that common here (smog =/= fog;). We thought it was pretty:) It's burning off now, but it was neat while it lasted:)

In Sickness and In Health

Well, Halloween was slightly scary for the first time in my life. Okay, not really scary...but it would have been scary if my head really did explode like I thought it had. Yesterday evening I developed my usual weekly migrane. Usually they're very small migranes and I only call them migranes because they aren't any other type of headache, not because of their severity. But yesterday evening it was bad enough that we turned off the movie we were watching and I went to bed. Then around 2:30am, I woke up feeling like someone had failed to kill me by shooting me in the head with a weak shotgun. I haven't had a headache bad enough to make me cry since I was about 11 years old, but last night I was well beyond a little sniveling. I was full out bawling my eyes out. The only part of my head that didn't hurt was my chin. My brain felt like it was pulsating, expanding to twice it's natural size with each throb. My sinuses were suddenly stuffed up beyond their capacity, and blowing my nose was like blowing up a water balloon - difficult, and painful for the 'balloon' (my brain). My ears were throbbing, my eyes were surely halfway out of my head...even my teeth hurt. But my chin was okay. Poor Kyle probably wasn't sure what to make of me at first, being woken up in the middle of the night and all. But he immediately got up and got a cool washcloth for my head, and brought me some water and ibuprofin (who names these drugs?). He almost took me to the emergency room, but after physiologically rejecting the ibuprofin, and requiring a lot of snuggling, I felt 'better' enough to fall asleep, waking up every so often to flip the cool side of the cloth to my head. I woke up this morning with just a mini-migrane which is a whole lot better than I expected, and was able to drag myself in to work today. I'm not sure what exactly brought on such an awful headache (too much candy? lol) but I sure am glad Kyle was there with me. I felt bad for waking/keeping him up, but I don't know what I would've done without him. He takes such good care of me:')

(: Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam :)

This has definitely been an interesting week. Monday was a sick day (except we did go to work).
Yesterday I rear-ended somebody and had to pay for a dent in their bumper that I am 95% sure I did not cause. Kyle was sweet about it though and didn't get upset, even when I mentioned the cost of the dent. But I guess, like he said, it wasn't as bad as it could've been. It sure was frustrating though, and the day didn't really get any better after that. It just sort of dragged along with the same sort of tone through the whole day:-\ I got home, and did not feel like cooking. Then Kyle suggested we grab some Taco Bell from around the corner:) He's so good to me:') We ate Taco Bell, and I went to bed around 8:30. I needed that, lol.
Anyway, so today, Wednesday, is Halloween. This morning was crazy. We woke up to no hot water. So I had quite an adventure trying to wash my hair. I filled the sink most of the way with cold water, boiled a gallon or so of water, and put it in with the cold water, and washed my hair in the sink. Yuck. Then my hair fought me while trying to get it curly for my halloween "costume" and I was quite nearly late for work!...But today is probably going to be a fun day. A lot of people in my office dressed up, haha. My 'costume' is pretty simple - it's a name tag that says "Pam." Pam is the receptionist on the TV show, The Office. I figured it was easy, and appropriate. Unfortunately, not everyone watches The Office, so occasionally people are confused as to why I am wearing a name tag that says 'PAM' lol. But a few people appreciate my costume;) lol. Too bad Anderson isn't working here anymore - he loves The Office, so he would get it, haha. Anyway, there are quite a variety of costumes in the office today:) We have (of course) a receptionist, a baby, a vampire, 'Global Warming,' an 80's aerobics instructor, a referee, a Hogwarts student, a pirate, a soccer player, and a few more that I can't think of, lol. It's pretty fun/funny:)
Tonight Kyle and I are going to hand out candy to any trick or treaters that come our way. We don't expect very many, but we have a little bit of candy anyway. Hopefully we'll get at least a few, lol. We definitely don't want all that candy sitting around waiting to be eaten, haha. So we'll see how that goes. Just in case we don't have many trick or treaters, we have our first NetFlix movie to watch:) Kyle doesn't have much homework, so we'll get some time to chill tonight:) It should be a fun evening:)

How I Entertained Myself Today...

Kristen Ezmirly

Christmas 2026

Okay, so it doesn't show up as well as it would in person, but there are wrinkles and shades of gray hair and such...and this is basically just my face now, plus a wee bit of weight, some smile lines (course we all hope all our wrinkles are from smiling...) and some gray hair. Who knows what I'll really look like at 40...

Happy Little Basket:)

Switch the liner on the napkin basket, and it's a Halloween Candy basket!


We're ready for those (few) trick-or-treaters!:)
*Notice the bags are not opened;) Otherwise I would eat it all! haha

Happy Monday!!!

Well, as expected, I woke up sick, trudged through my morning routine with a minimal amount of effort, and fumbled my way out the door. As I walked out the door I noticed it had rained since I'd seen Kyle off about 40 minutes earlier:) The sky was overcast and the hazey clouds didn't seem to be going anywhere. Yay! For those who don't know already, I love cloudy, rainy, "dreary" days:) Needless to say, this improved my morning a bit:)

As I walked down the stairs behind the building, heading for the parking garage, I heard rustling in the tree behind the wall. I stopped and stared up into the tree to find whatever was scampering around amongst the foliage (which also seemed glad for the rain). It was two squirrels, who must have been high on rain, because they were scampering around on the branches as if they had so much energy they simply had to get it out! haha. I dug in my purse and pulled out my camera just in time for them to jump out of the tree and scamper down the telephone wire that ran across the back wall:) They were so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the cool morning, perhaps as much as I would be if I weren't sick;)

The drive to work was smooth and easy, and traffic was surprisingly low:) The walk from my car to my office building was nice and cool, but not terribly cold, and I had my travel mug full of coffee (with cinnamon-sugar!) to keep me warm:)

So I woke up with a sore throat this morning. Why should that ruin a perfectly good Monday?

:( *sniffle*...*sniffle* ):

Ugh...:( Looks like me and Kyle are both sick :( Pray that we get better soon :-\ We have too much stuff to do, to be sick :( Thanks, guys :)

The Pros and Cons of Fall

I have to admit, there are some things about fall that I don't particularly like....like Kyle getting sick:-\, all the neighborhood bugs migrating inside>(, and the fluctuating hot-then-cold weather :-p. I'd like very much for the weather to just stay cold, and for all the bugs (germs and insects alike) to die off a bit quicker. Poor Kyle is trying to fight off a cold, and poor me is getting tired of fighting the other kind of bugs. I'm sure he is not too fond of stuffy noses and fuzzy-head-syndrome, and I am not too fond of roaches and little wanna-be-roaches:( I hope all this goes away soon...
On the bright side, it's a nice weekend:) Today I need to go to the grocery store, do some laundry, and cook dinner. I also need to bake some pumpkin bread soon, as I promised one of the AGO guys that I would send a loaf of pumpkin bread over there with Kyle sometime this week. That'll be fun to make:) I haven't done any baking in quite awhile, before yesterday, and the holidays are coming, so I better brush up on my baking skills!;) Hey Kathy, wanna help??;);)

Homey Touches :)

We finally bought our much-needed bookshelf today:) We've been saving up for one and finally had enough money for one, only to not buy one for quite some time after that. They didn't have the color wood we wanted, they were out of stock, they were too heavy and there were no carts, etc. Today we not only finally bought one, but we bought it on sale! I guess it's a good thing we'd been prevented from buying one until today;) Seeing as we had a shelf on which to place some decorative little homey touches, I finally dug out some pictures and framed them:) And now our WillowTree figurine has a place to stand! (That is our cake topper, by the way;) Our apartment feels a lot more homey all of the sudden, with framed pictures around. And to top it off, we bought a cookie sheet and some mixing bowls today, and filled the apartment with wonderful cookie smells! It was a fun, homey sort of day :) :)

Ah, the Weekend

Hello everyone! I think it's about time that I post a blog, as we've had this for over a month now... Well, it's finally the weekend! This is very exciting for me, as my weeks are incredibly full of stuff. My typical day consists of getting up at the crack of dawn, getting ready for school/work, eating breakfast, taking two buses to school, going to 3 or 4 hours of class, working for a few hours at Coffee Bean, taking two buses home, doing homework, eating dinner, doing more homework, and going to bed. So naturally it's a relief when the weekend rolls around. Sure, I still have lots of homework to do, but I can spread it out and spend time enjoying my favorite activity, doing stuff with my wife :) It's funny though, because despite how non-stop my week is, my stress level is amazingly low. Last year, although it didn't seem like it, I had quite a bit more free time than I do now, and yet my stress level was the highest it's ever been in my entire life. Being married changes everything. Now instead of constantly missing my girlfriend and trying to worry about dividing homework time with hang-out time, I get to spend every night with my wife. I don't have to focus nearly as much on doing things with her; that just seems to come naturally with being married. Now I can focus much more on school stuff, and I have almost zero stress. I have to admit, I was kinda worried about what marriage was going to do to my grades. After all, they say that "marriage doesn't solve all your problems, it just opens up a whole bunch of new ones". Ironically, in the 4 months I've been married now, I've noticed that it's solved a lot more problems than it's created. One of the only "tough" adjustments I've had to make is budgeting, which really hasn't been a problem at all, since we planned well for it.

Anyway, we're about to go to Target to get a few essentials (well, stuff for making pumpkin muffins and bread and pie :D :D :D ). I'm gonna try to make blogging a habit, so hopefully another post will be up here soon from me.

The Ideal Survey

You can assume all my answers include Kyle, haha

The Ideal Survey
* * * * * * * * * * *

1. What would you have named yourself if you got to choose?
Hmmm...*thinks*...probably Lilly...I always thought that name sounded small, quiet and sweet.

2. If you could choose a new hairstyle every day, no matter the length, color, texture, etc. how would you have done your hair today?
I think today would've been a short hair day...

3. What is your ideal way to spend a summer day?
in the southern hemisphere, so it's not summer

4. What is your ideal way to spend a fall day?
Hmm...well ideally it wouldn't be spent in LA, so...going with ideals...sleeping in till about 8:30am, waking up slowly, enjoying a cup of coffee with Kyle, cooking a big breakfast in my exceptionally big kitchen, getting dressed in jeans and a comfy sweater, going to a farmers market, buying a lunch of fresh fruits and veggies, buying some flowers to arrange when I get home, driving home, enjoying a good book and a glass of tea on the big wrap-around porch for awhile, going out for dinner somewhere with hot soup, or yummy pasta, coming home, snuggling, and hitting the sack early!

5. What is your ideal way to spend a winter day?
Sleep in till 8:30 or so, wake up, enjoy a cup of coffee with Kyle, cook a big breakfast in my exceptionally big kitchen, get bundled up, go for a walk in the snow, come home, shed our coats, make some lunch, start a fire in the fireplace, make some hot cocoa, snuggle up on the sofa by the fire, read together for a bit, make some progress on whatever knitting project I have going, do some laundry (fresh-out-of-the-dryer laundry is the best on a cold day!), cook a pot of soup and bake some bread for dinner, enjoy a hot dinner, watch a Christmas movie, and hit the sack early!

6. What is your ideal way to spend a spring day?
Wake up around 8:30, blend up a smoothie, cook breakfast, take a shower, get dressed, curl my hair, tie it up with a springy colored ribbon, go prune the gardens out front, make a pitcher of sweet tea to enjoy throughout the day, pack a couple sandwiches and some fruit in a backpack and walk to the park, eat lunch, play on the playground, come home, relax a bit, go out for dinner, come home, enjoy some more sweet tea, and hit the sack early

7. What is your ideal guy/girl like?
Quite a bit like Kyle!;) no wait......EXACTLY like Kyle;)

8. What is your ideal place to live?
I'd say either somewhere up around Seattle, or somewhere along the Rocky Mountains, or somewhere along the Appalachian Mountains

9. What age do you think best fits your personality?
About 45.

10. Why?
I share the most interests, ideal pastimes, and opinions with that age group. And yes, as you'd probably suspect, I love hanging out with my mom;)

11. Who do you think is the ideal friend for you?
Kyle and my parents.

12. What do you think is the ideal hobby for you?
Hmm...not sure...some sort of craft that doesn't take long to complete one project...like...scrapbooking! But that requires a lot of space...

13. What is your ideal classy restaurant meal?
Caesar salad, garlic bread, chicken fettuccini alfredo, and either iced tea or white zinfandel

14. What is your ideal out-with-friends meal?
Chili's Carribean Salad and iced tea or a margarita

15. What is your ideal homecooked meal?
Nothing I know how to cook :-p

16. What is your ideal 'family reunion' meal?
grilled steak, twice-baked potatoes, fresh veggies and a good sized log to sit on to eat it off a paper plate on my lap

17. What is your ideal pillow like?
Kyle

18. What is the ideal temperature for your house?
about 73*F

19. What is your ideal vacation?
one that includes a lake, lots of trees, a cabin, a boat, a campfire pit, and my hubby and kids

20. What is your ideal age to have kids?
Not sure, but I'm hoping to get pregnant with our first when I'm 22-23, then maybe another when I'm 24-25...

21. What is your ideal way to spend Halloween?
handing out candy to all the cute kids (and no stupid obnoxious teenage boys)

22. What is your ideal way to spend Thanksgiving?
with Kyle's family and my family and a bunch of food!

23. What's your ideal way to spend Christmas?
NOT stressing about two weddings within the next 4 days!

24. What is your ideal way to spend New Years?
sleeping soundly, with no nearby parties waking me up

25. What's your ideal way to spend your birthday?
with Kyle, doing something that I didn't plan

26. What's your ideal way to spend Easter?
big early breakfast, sunrise service, big lunch, easter egg hunt for the kids, and a yummy family dinner

27. What is your idea of perfect weather?
cool breeze, lots of clouds, afternoon thunderstorms, snow at night.

28. Describe your ideal 'living room'.
Spacious; walls are log on bottom, sage green on top; big stone fireplace with a large mantle and hearth; big comfy brown couch with navy blue and sage green throw pillows and a homemade blanket on it; a coffee table made out of a split log; a big rug in front of the fireplace with a big dog sleeping on it; a recliner; immediate access to the kitchen...

29. Describe your ideal bedroom:
Spacious; walls are log on bottom, sage green on top; small stone fireplace in the corner; rustic looking nightstands on either side of the bed; wood lateral blinds, dusty-blue curtains; access to a large bathroom with a jaccuzi tub...

30. Describe your ideal back yard:
Big, green grass, big trees, tree swing, evidence of children, large back porch with grill and porch swing and a small table and chairs.

31. Describe your ideal car:
I one day hope to have a minivan...I like the Honda Odysey (sp?)

32. Describe your ideal way to spend a Sunday:
Wake up, shower, coffee, do hair, wake up the kids, breakfast, get ready for church, church!, lunch, play with the kids, cook dinner, dinner, family time, put the kids to bed, finances update, snuggle, go to bed.

Repost as "The Ideal Survey!"

Morning!

Seven o'clock in the morning, I'm jostled awake by Kyle, half-asleep, fumbling for the light. "Huhng?" I mumble, wondering why he's getting up so quickly. "It's seven!" he informs me as he switches on the light and rummages through his closet. "Seven??"
I don't think I've made breakfast so quickly before. We're out of cereal, so I couldn't grab bowls and spoons and be done. But it sure woke me up! Well, long enough to make breakfast, pack Kyle a lunch and see him off. Now Kyle is off to school and my brain is shutting back down...I made myself some coffee, which is too hot to drink yet...good thing it's 'Casual Friday' at work...
So I'm not entirely awake yet, but it's actually a nice morning:) I don't have to get all spruced up and wear slacks and a blouse today, so I am thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to simply pull on jeans and a t-shirt, toss my hair up, and wait for the coffee to kick in;)

My Husband...:)

Whoever wrote this little prayer really knew what they were saying. My friend Kathy posted it in her blog, and it felt like the very words my mouth couldn't quite retrieve from my heart. She doesn't remember exactly who she got it from, but apparently God puts similar desires in the hearts of His daugthers when He temporarily "gives them away"...anyway...

Dear Lord, please help me see my marriage as a sacred thing. May I always understand that being married was not meant to just make me happy but make my character more holy. Help me remember being married is less about having the right partner and more about being the right partner. Shape me into the wife my husband needs and deserves. Help me to pause before I speak so I don’t react out of anger, frustration, or selfishness. Show me how to respect, love and give to this man in a way that honors You and brings joy to our home. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Things I love about my husband...
He is gentle with my heart.
He is careful with our money.
He encourages me in my walk with God.
He has godly desires and ambitions.
He will admit if he is wrong.
If he is wrong, he tries to make it right.
I always know he loves me.
Not a day goes by that I am not glad that I married him.

"I just cleaned up this mess!"

"Can we keep it clean for...for ten minutes??" I know I'm not the first one to think this. But...I don't even have children yet, and I definitely don't have a messy husband. How do things get so cluttered? Where did this spill come from? I did not use that many dishes for one meal, did I?? We don't go through that much laundry in a week, do we?? Where'd all the *insert vital ingredient* go? What am I supposed to cook for dinner now? Mom, how did you do it?!?!

The Wonderful World of Technology

Well, last night I fell asleep long before Kyle was ready for bed. Then suddenly I was woken up by a "fwump" as Kyle flopped down on the bed. I suppose I wouldn't really say I was woken up...I was "awake" enough to say, "hungh?" His reply sounded something like, "My stupid computer *mumble mumble* and then it *mumble mumble grumble* and showed this *mumble grumble* screen, and now I think it's dead." I'm sure it would have made more sense than that to someone who was awake, but considering I was not, and wouldn't know a thing about computers if I were awake, all I understood was that the computer died...which is probably how I would've put it too. In the morning I finally asked him what happened to his computer. His explanation didn't make much more sense to me then than it had when I was asleep, except that this time around I understood that if the problem was what he suspected, it would cost us about $700 to fix! I wasn't sure where we were going to get an extra $700, but considering Kyle is taking a computer programming class this quarter, it didn't seem like we had much choice but to fix it as soon as possible. I was prepared to give up my wonderful lattes to leave more of Kyle's tips accumulating, hoping we would miraculously acquire $700 in tips before the end of the term. Then after church today Kyle decided to tinker with his computer a bit more and try to actually figure out what the problem was before we spent money on fixing it. I'm not sure what he did but I think he somehow revived it! Well, it's working for now anyway. Kyle theorized that maybe he just wanted an upgrade so bad he jinxed it or something. I think maybe his computer knew he wanted an upgrade and decided to play dead for awhile so that we would be grateful to have it at all;) haha. Anyway, so for now we're not forking over $700 for computer parts but maybe we'll mention it in a letter to Santa or something;)

Hmm...fascinating

This is just from a bulletin forward thing on MySpace, but I thought it was interesting:) Probably not truly very psychologically accurate, but kinda neat anyway, lol...

1. You're walking in the woods, but you're not alone. Who is with you?
Kyle

2. You continue walking until you see an animal. What kind of animal?
a squirrel

3. What interaction takes place between you and the animal?
I try to get as close to it as possible

4. You walk deeper in the woods. You enter a clearing, and before you is your dream house which is...?
a split level log cabin with a wrap around porch

5. Is your dream house surrounded by a fence?
yes, but not very close to the house...we own the 3 acre lot, and there's a small barbed wire fence around the land, just to kind of discourage random people from exploring. there is a small fence around a "back yard" area that we fenced off while the kids were small.

6. You enter the house. You walk into the dining room and see the dining room table. What do you see on it?
well first off it's a table made out of a big slice of a tree. It's polished, but still it's natural shape, not a perfect table shape. On it is a sort of centerpiece I made out of long dried wheat sprigs, and a small pumpkin and some small gourds I picked up at the store.

7. You exit the house and a cup is on the ground, what kind is it?
one of the kids' sippy cups

8. What do you do with the cup?
pick it up and set it on the porch railing

9. You walk to the edge of the property where you find yourself standing at a body of water,what is it?
a pond/small lake

10. How will you cross the water.
I'll wade across, it's not deep. We filled the bottom with course sand so it'd be reasonably shallow...safer for the kids.
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The ANSWERS

1. The person who you are walking in the woods with is the most important to you. (duh)

2. The size of the animal is representative of your perception of the size of your problems in your life. (lol, apparently I don't have any major problems)

3. The severity of the interaction you have with the animal is representative of how you deal with your problems. (hm...with curiosity and a sort of love for them? haha)

4. The size of your dream home is representative of the size of your ambition to solve your problems. (sort of big, but manageable sounds about right)

5. A lack of a fence is indicative of an open personality. People are welcome at all times. The presence of a fence indicates a closed personality. You'd prefer people not drop by unannounced. (hm, yep sounds about right, I'm slightly closed and prefer to be safe)

6. If your answer did NOT include food, flowers, or people, then you are generally unhappy. (lol, does my lil centerpiece count as flowers??)

7. The durability of the material which the cup is made of is representative of the perceived durability of your relationship. (oh please, I think the fact that it's a kid's sippy cup shows something about the durability of our relationship)

8. What you did with the cup is representative of your attitude. (uhhhh...I don't get it)

9. The size of the body of water is representative of the size of your sexual desire. (uhhhh, this one's not real accurate but I won't explain)

10. The way you cross the water is representative to how easy or hard you expect your life to be. (hm, so I guess I expect life to be reasonably safe and easy due to previous choices I've made...sounds logical, but not true to reality)

Date Night :-D

Last night Kyle and I went out on a date:) Well, it was sort of on accident, but it was fun:) Kyle had to work late, so instead of making him take the bus even later at night, I drove to Westwood to pick him up after work. By that point, if we went home and I cooked, we would've eaten around 9:30, so we decided to make last night our monthly date night, haha:) We went to BJ's, which used to be a very regular thing for us. But having gone for a quite awhile with no BJ's, revisiting our old dinner spot was really nice:) Since it was our date night, we went all out and got appetizers, dinner and dessert;) Now, I love cooking, but it is definitely nice not to cook sometimes;) I really enjoyed going out with Kyle and just enjoying dinner:)

How can you say that?

Yesterday while walking the few blocks to my car after work, I got a good laugh. A young guy on a bicycle slowed down as he passed me, swung his bike toward me and said, "I love you," as he rode past. Sure, he was probably just being a dork, but I had to try not to laugh for the next block or so, so I wouldn't look crazy, walking down the street laughing at, apparently, nothing. Even though he obviously did not think himself to really be in love, lol, I couldn't help but think, "How can you even say that jokingly? You don't even know me!" Not that I found it offensive. Like I said, it was hard not to laugh. But as I neared my car, I thought, "How rediculous is it to say something like that to a complete stranger... ... ... ...I wonder how God must feel..." How often do we pray to God, telling Him about what's going on in our lives, asking for His blessings and His provision, and somewhere tossing in how amazing He is and how much we love Him, yet in reality have not opened His Word in at least a week. In our heads, we know He is worth loving, and so we tend to tell Him so, yet we don't spend very much time or effort really getting to know Him. That would be like that guy being kind enough to stop and ask my name before deciding to say he loves me. It would not be that much better than not asking at all! Yet we approach God and praise Him, while not caring to know much more about Him than His name! He has given us thousands of pages of amazing text, revealing Himself to us. He spent time on this earth as a man, and inspired His disciples to record His time here so that we could experience the gospel story. He shows Himself in creation, in the blessings we take for granted. And yet when we finally meet with Him, we would rather tell Him all about ourselves, our lives, our problems, our needs...then we say, "By the way, I love you, God." I couldn't blame Him if He's said to me, "How can you say you love Me? You don't even care to know Me."

Kyle These Days

Homework, homework, and more homework!

Kyle seems to be adjusting really well to the homework load given him so far this term. He's been diligently dividing his homework up so that he has a fairly reasonable amount to do each day. Sunday night he used me as a guinea pig so that he could practice explaining how to do the "problem of the week" from his Math for Teaching class. He is already really good at explaining things in ways that even I can understand. The problem of the week was a really confusing complicated algebra problem (at least, it was to me), but he helped me follow along really easily by the way he explained things, and consistently pointed back and forth between the relevant parts of the problem, so as to keep the whole problem from seeming huge! Now, I'm not terrible at math, but I do need things explained thoroughly. I also get easily frustrated and overwhelmed by complicated problems. I suppose I'm probably good practice for working with the average math student then, haha. Anyway, I just thought it was really neat to watch him practice teaching a bit:) He'll be a great math teacher:) He's already really good at explaining things clearly and effectively; and as long as he can get the girls in his class to focus on the problem instead of the teacher, I'm sure he'll be great;)

Home is Where the Heart Is

They say home is where the heart is. I've always taken this to mean that wherever your heart is, that is what is truly home to you. But lately, it's sort of been switched around. It's still true. Home is where my heart is. But rather than it being, "There is where my heart is, therefore there is my home," it is "There is my home, therefore there is where my heart is." I spend nine hours a day at work; at a job that I like! Yet I find myself visiting my own blog, to look at pictures of my own apartment, as if doing so will somehow teleport me home early. Now, there is very little that is "endearing" about where we live. It is not the location, the neighborhood or the apartment itself. It what I could be doing there...it's the possibility of real homemaking...
This past weekend, I spent most of my time and energy cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, washing dishes, grocery shopping, and doing a little bit of relaxing with Kyle. It was a really great weekend:) But it made me so impatient...I am so anxious for the day that I can be a full-time housewife. I love chores when I can really pour my time and energy into them, rather than doing them hastily after work and dinner. I could spend all day doing laundry, and would be perfectly content to wash dishes for a hour straight. I can't wait until I have all day, or even a full hour straight. I never thought that chores would be relaxing...and perhaps they aren't truly relaxing, so much as they are...fulfilling, on a small scale. I can't wait until I will be able to really put my time and effort into keeping a home that Kyle will love to come home to.

How Exciting!

It's funny to notice how what I call "exciting" changes. When I was six, it was something as simple as a teddy bear (a light blue teddy bear to be precise). When I was ten, it was my birthday, Christmas and every-holiday-in-between wish, to have a horse. When I was twelve, it was the fact that a boy told me he liked me - a seventh grade boy! When I was fourteen, it was my new hairstyle...or color...whichever was new and bizarre that week. When I was sixteen, it was driving. When I was eighteen, it was graduating. When I was nineteen, it was going off to college. My definition of "exciting" seemed to either get bigger, stranger, or more expensive as I grew up. Then I got married. I suppose you all know what a newlywed budget is like:) My definition of excitement has changed once again...here is my excitement for the week:-D

We finally bought coffee, and used our coffee maker:) And...

...Kyle bought me a napkin basket!:)

This Blog Has Been Removed By Owner

Hm, I think I'll keep my stalker count at "1," lol.
Fortunately a friend stalked me, not a foe. Thanks John, lol.

Wedding Planning

Well, it looks like we've finally gotten the ball rolling a bit with the wedding plans. Invitations are on their way out, and the ideas are kind of snow-balling (in a good way). At first it was driving me nuts just to think about the wedding! I'd no idea what sort of anything I wanted. I finally got a cake idea in mind, and much of the decor kind of grew from the cake. I'm not sure if the cake idea will actually work, but at least I have some mental pictures coming now:) We're going with sort of a frosty foresty theme, since it's in the middle of winter:) Our colors are sage green and frosty blue. It's a bit of a challenge, finding bouquets that don't look too springy for a cold winter wedding. This bouquet in the picture is the best I've found so far. But we're not buying one today, so I'm keeping my options open:) Next time Kyle and I are in town, we and my parents are going to spend most of our time meeting with, and potentially reserving, some of our vendors for the wedding. Fortunately, we picked a sort of "off season" for the wedding, so we shouldn't have too much competition;) In the mean time, I'm day-dreaming like crazy (sometimes successfully), and gaining tons of resources from my friend Apryl who is a wedding coordinator:) She's very helpful! I don't feel quite so much like I'm fumbling around in the dark for vendors now, haha. Thanks Apryl! I am getting a bit more excited now that things are at least falling into place in my head:) (I'm particularly excited about the prospect of cake-tasting!;)) Anyhow, that is pretty much all the updates. We haven't had any great and daring adventures to write about, but wedding planning is adventurous enough for now;) Pray that it goes well!

Fall is Here! And so is School...

Well, this past weekend was probably our last regular visit to the Antelope Valley. During the summer we spent nearly every weekend visiting friends and family up in Lancaster. But since Kyle is starting school, and already has homework(:-p) we are guessing our visits may have to become more spaced out. :-\
We're both glad to see that fall is coming, and have seen little hints of it, even deep in Los Angeles:) We have had a couple of rainy days(!), and it has been cool enough for layers, sleeves, and sweaters (though not all at the same time yet). It probably won't get very cold, but we're glad it is getting cool enough to consider it Fall:) I've decided that it may be cool enough to make it worth my while to finish the scarf that I started knitting last year. Knitting makes it feel like perhaps the seasons will speed up a bit to keep up with me;) We've also added a couple of fall touches to our apartment, thanks to our happy little pumpkin and some leafy placemats and napkins that my mom gave us :-D. We may not be in the most "seasonal" area of the US, but we're enhancing it as much as possible;) Pumpkin Spice lattes(Starbucks)* and Pecan Prailene (sp?) lattes (Coffee Bean) help a little bit;) Hopefully soon it will be cold enough for hot cocoa and blankets;) We love winter:) Meanwhile, it is getting darker earlier, which means Kyle often gets home via bus and walking, after dark:-\ I'm beginning to think maybe God fixed our schedules this way because I talk to Him a lot more when Kyle is out after dark (*sheepish grins*). I try to busy myself in the kitchen though, rather than worrying. Hopefully this will expand my kitchen knowledge;)
This is Kyle's first full week of classes, so please be praying that it goes smoothly:) He got 'introduced' to his classes last week, but this is the week where he'll really start diving in and seeing what the semester will look like. So far he seems to like his analysis teacher, whom he has taken classes with before, and is quite interested in his C++ (programming) class. Hopefully the C++ class will feel more like an elective than a class, and make the semester feel a bit lighter:) In the mean time, I suspect I ought to go buy some mixing bowls and ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, just in case he needs some;);)

*(Disclaimer: I am not advertising for Starbucks. Coffee Bean is much better;);))

Family Reading :)

Kyle and I have both been doing quite a bit of reading lately:) At home, we're reading the third Harry Potter book, and the book of Acts together:) Both are exciting and entertaining:) Having taken a class in Roman History, Kyle has a bit more context for the book of Acts than I do. The bit of background knowledge makes for some neat discussions:) Surprisingly, bus rides, and slow times at work offer more reading time than we get at home! So on the way to and from UCLA, Kyle has been reading Mere Christianity, and seems to be thoroughly enjoying it:) C.S. Lewis is a brilliant Christian philosopher, and has an amazing sense of logic!:) Kyle recommended that I read "The Case for Faith," by Lee Strobel, and I'm loving it so far:) There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter, for people who are reading it for a small group or something, so I have started using those questions as 'homework':) It's a good way to pass the time at work when things are slow, and makes me feel like I am not letting my brain turn to mush, being out of school for now;) It's neat, reading books that the other has read, because we can talk about the part of the book we're at, and not have to explain the whole chapter to each other:) Needless to say, four books at once offers plenty to read and talk about. And all four are great books that I'd highly recommend!:)

The First 3 Months

Well, it's been three months since the youngest branch of the Ezmirly family began:) So it seemed like it was about time we created a way for people to keep track of us:) So, a quick recap: We got married on June 22, 2007, at Ventura Beach, CA. We spent that weekend in Ventura for what we call our "mini-moon":) Then it was back to Los Angeles, to get settled into our new apartment. We found a nice little studio apartment in the Hollywood area, and have actually been able to make it pretty comfortable:)

Kyle has been spending most of his summer days working at The Coffee Bean, and I have been working as a receptionist at a company called Mediaedge. God has really blessed us with enough money to make ends meet, and sometimes even overlap a little bit:)

Early this month, Kyle's parents blessed us with a week up in the Tehachapi mountains, in their time-share cabin! It was a wonderful week, away from the crowded LA area, and we enjoyed the opportunity to get out and enjoy nature, fresh air, and a bit of tennis:) The picture to the left here is a wine and cheese picnic that Kyle sprung on me:) It was really nice:)

Starting tomorrow, Kyle will be back in school, to finish up (Lord willing) his last year at UCLA. Pray that his classes go well, and that he can wrap up his math degree in the next three quarters!:)

That's about it for now. Here are a few pictures of our little home:)