Valentine's Day

This is a little late - Brian and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day in Big Bear. At first it was a little stressful because we were using the wrong directions, but eventually we figured it out.



Snowy mountains from the freeway.


We had never seen it this green before.


Waterfall.


Ah! Look at all that snow! How will we get in!?


Brian will have to dig his way through.


Cooking dinner, looking fabulous. Just kidding.


The snow from the kitchen window.


Big Bear Lake frozen over.


My honey and I.


You can see the slopes from the Discovery Center.


I was surprisingly not that cold!


Brian on the edge of the lake.


I made tiramisu for Valentine's Day.


Close up. Mmmmmm.



I should have taken a picture of our Valentine's Day dinner. I made filet mignon with a balsamic glaze, garlic green beans, and scalloped potatoes (okay, those came out of the box). Then we had tiramisu and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Brian gave me a digital photo frame, a new necklace chain for my cross, and a DVD. I gave Brian two books and a new Star Wars tshirt.

We had an absolute wonderful time together and I am so thankful for getting to spend time with my amazing fiance. You are the best honey and I love you so much!

I Said Yes to the Dress

So, I finally said "Yes" to the dress this Monday. It was my first and only time having to go dress shopping. Thank God because I hate dresses. I just have some kind of phobia. I know the perfect dress is really important to most brides, but it honestly wasn't even in my top 5. I knew I wanted it to be a little princessy, but not too much. I knew I wanted it to be symmetrical - I hate things that are uneven. I knew I didn't want it to be revealing or too form fitting. But those were basically the only concerns I had.

Brian was absolutely shocked when I came home and said I was DONE - dress, veil, everything. Usually I take forever to make decisions. But I put this dress on and felt pretty good. I tried on a few other dresses, another which looked pretty good too, but ultimately ended up choosing the first one I really liked. No, I'm not in LOVE with my dress. It's a dress. But it's a beautiful dress, and I look good in it, and that's what matters. I REALLY loved it when I had the headpiece and tiara on. Everything came together and it just felt right. But I could have just as easily gone with the other dress as well. I don't know. I guess I go back to my original statement - I hate dresses. But I knew it was the one because Courtney cried when I came out. Hey, if I can make people cry, it's a winner.

Obviously I cannot post a picture of the dress I got with you, because then Brian would see it! But I will post some pictures of the dresses I didn't get. Haha.

The top looked like the Sydney Opera House. NO.


Liked the top, but the whole bottom was going sideways. NO.


And the worst of all - the yellow cupcake dress. NO. NO. NO.


Aren't you dieing to know what I picked! Well you'll have to wait 7 more months!

Lent

Sorry this post is late; I came down with a cold about Monday night. I even missed Ash Wednesday because I was too sick to go anywhere. And Ash Wednesday is one of my favorites, even if I have to explain about 10 times to curious onlookers what that thing is on my forehead!

This year, for Lent, I decided to add something to my life instead of taking something away (besides meat on Fridays of course, which isn't really a huge trial for me since I probably only eat meat once or twice a week anyhow).

Anyway, every night before I go to bed I am reading from a daily missal. Unfortunately these cost about $50 on amazon, so I went for the next best thing - iMissal. That's right, my wonderful iPhone actually has an app that lets me read the Word every day of the week. Not only that, but it actually plays a recording of the readings as well! I highly recommend. Even Brian was impressed, and he hates my iPhone (jealousy!).

I've also been praying a lot more, formally anyway. Usually I just "talk" to God, but I've been using a more formal prayer to start off. I think it has helped me focus on what's good in my life.

So, what are YOU doing for Lent?

Funny Conversations

This occured on Friday when Cameron and Camille were eating Valentines sweethearts in the car.

Camille: This one says "Love Her." That's silly.
Cameron: That's not silly. Daddy loves you!

And later...

Cameron: This one says "Call Me." Now that's silly.
Camille: Nuh huh, mom calls us all the time.

Ah, to be young and innocent!

Superbowl Sunday Favs

As usual, we had a great time at Sarkis and Jenn's Super Bowl party eating WAY too much. Seriously...are there any brownies left? The game was excellent, I would have been happy with either team winning (they were exactly who I wanted in the super bowl). Of course, my other favorite part about the Super Bowl are the commercials.

Here's my TOP 7 (cause honestly, there weren't that many good ones, and I couldn't reach a top 10):

1. Brett Favre for Hyundai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVzXVHOlAFc

2. Betty White and Abe Vigoda for Snickers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rauK4fBjkI

3. Troy "Punxatawney" Palomalu for TruTV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLJuoi2OeWA

4. Doritos - Play Nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0EVSP_6XZA

5. Google - Parisian Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU

6. Kids' Toys for Kia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJqs3D2vv4I

7. Letterman, Oprah, and Leno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcEx767TIas

And as a runner up, Brian's personal favorite, the Fiddling Beaver from Monster - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyD2aG2jMwI

Hope everyone enjoyed them as much as I did, and congratulations to the Saints! No on expected you to win, but you proved us all wrong!

Day Off? Disneyland!

So the reason I was able to go to Santa Barbara with Brian on Monday, was that I had the day off from work! I also had the day off on Tuesday, so we decided to go to Disneyland during the day (which we very rarely do). To me, this meant only one thing...petting zoo! Because I'm obsessed with animals and have a secret desire to live on a farm someday.









And that was the end to a great five days of freedom! Now it's back to the grind...

Calico Ghost Town

This past weekend my family and Brian (minus Mom) went camping with the Wolfs and extended family to celebrate Bad Grandpa's 80th Birthday. His great grandchildren coined that nickname and I think it's great. He's a trickster and practical joker so the whole weekend was basically about getting back at him. He got whip cream in his face, water balloons, and silly string! Not your typical 80th birthday, huh?

I went to Calico a lot when I was little, and Brian had been once before but didn't really remember anything. We had a good time seeing the sights. Here they are:


The entrance to the town. You can see Calico on the hill.


Brian and I being silly.


One of my favorites, the glass bottle house!


The old school house.


An overall view of the town.


Maggie's Mine, which Brian and I went into.


Brian's favorite picture! Here I am in the Chinese Bath Tub not ready to have my picture taken haha. Apparently there's a picture of me, Christian, and Jessica in it when we are little. I barely fit in it now!


Calico Cemetery - I didn't go because I was asleep. Hmph.


The train! Brian and I rode it - seemed a lot faster when I was a kid.


Well, that's it! We had a lot of fun exploring the town and even did some shopping. I bought an arrowhead, a magnet, and Brian bought me a jar candle from the Calico candle shop. We left Sunday afternoon, and the next morning Brian and I drove up to Santa Barbara so he could get some paperwork done and meet with Marcuse. We also caught up with friends and had a nice dinner at a Japanese restaurant. A very enjoyable weekend!

Moon Ring

The night before we went camping (post to follow on that), the moon had a ring around it. It was so beautiful - I had never seen anything like it before. I tried to take some pictures but it wouldn't come out. I think I need some kind of special camera or a filter. But I did find this picture from weather.com - although I think the moon I saw was bigger and brighter than this one.



I even woke up my mom and dad to come outside and look at it with us. Apparently it's caused by ice crystals. Awesome.