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!