Call Me Hopeless, Not Romantic

With Valentine's Day approaching and all the v-day shows on TV this week I've been thinking about the romance in my life.  And I must admit that I don't actually consider myself a very romantic person.  Don't get me wrong, I can watch a romantic chick-flick with the best of them - heart-beating, crying, laughing, swooning, etc.  I mean every time I watch Pride and Prejudice I could die, the tension and romance and happy ending bursting out of me.  But in real life I laugh at those kind of 'romantic' gestures, I don't really love snuggling or cuddling - honestly, I'd rather fall asleep with no one touching me, and I think expensive gifts and a dozen long-stem red roses are a waste of money - give me a rice cooker or a blender any day.  So it leaves me wondering how does my lack of romance make Mark feel?

Because when we were first dating and it was all new love and the excitement that accompanies new love, I was not myself in the romance department.  I was much more lovey-dovey and snuggly than I actually am in real life.  So does he feel cheated and tricked by my gradual (and in some areas not so gradual) shift back to normal me?  I mean I know that he agrees about the gifts and is very much a practical gift-giver.  But he is a really romantic guy.  He likes to make those cheesy romantic gestures, and I usually laugh at them.  Not in a mean way, but I do laugh first and thank second.  And today that is making me feel a little bit like a jerk.  He's spent the last two weeks telling me ideas he's come up with for what we can do on Valentine's Day, and the most excited I've been about v-day is when I found a link to Doctor Who Valentine's day e-cards.  Pathetic.  Although I do think that in most relationships there is one person who is more romantic than the other, even if it's only slightly.  As they say, opposites attract.  I just wish that sometimes I could be a little more girly and flirty about things, instead of independent and stoic.

But as I type this I am reminded of the first time that Mark told me he loved me, and how after he said it he told me that he didn't expect me to say it back, because he knew that it was hard for me.  I guess he did know what he was getting into after all.  So there- maybe I'm not such a jerk.  I'm just a girl who appreciates that she has a guy who knows her and is still willing to try to bring some romance into her life.  (Even if I do laugh at him.)  Love you, babe.  And Happy Valentine's Day everybody.  (Even if it is just a fake holiday made up by card and candy companies to make more money.)

Candy, Iron, Wood or Amethyst?

Six years ago today I got to marry my best friend and it was awesome.  In fact, it still is awesome.  According to my friend the Internet, on the 6th wedding anniversary you should give a gift of candy, iron, wood or amethyst.  And guess what?  I choose candy!  Cause candy is always a good idea and obviously really represents the sweetness that has been the past six years.  Dude!  Sweet!  (Oh yeah, I totally did throw a Dude Where's My Car Reference into my anniversary post.)

Our wedding day was a beautiful, fun, awesome, and memorable day.  So I'm going to share a few of my favorite things about it, so you can see how fun and awesome it really was...  All my stuff accidentally got locked in the bridal room and we couldn't get the rings, the flower girl's basket, or the ring pillow.  So my Aunt Carmen broke in with a credit card.  So talented.  I learn something new about my family every day!  My niece Isabelle (then 4) was our flower girl and she took her job very seriously.  She was dropping flowers to cover every inch of the aisle and therefore ran out of flowers in less than a foot.  She turned to me at the back and shrugging her shoulders said, "I'm outta flowers!"  We all laughed and told her to keep going.  My nephew Bobby (then 2) was our ring bearer and he was having so much fun playing with the pillow, that during the ceremony the rings came off and I could hear them bouncing across the floor.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my sister-in-law Maria running around to get them.  I had to remind myself to pay attention cause I was getting married here and Maria would take care of it.  Mark was facing the other direction and so he could see people sneaking in late through the side door and told me later that he too had to remind himself to pay attention.  But I think my favorite part of the whole day was right before the actual ceremony started, Mark was nervous so he snuck through the kitchen to where I was so he could see me.  I was sitting there and suddenly I realized he was next to me and he gave me a quick kiss and said, "I just had to see you one more time before I walk out there."  Isn't he adorable?

And so it went... We got hitched,

we ate delicious food,

we kissed (just a few times) and ate more food (cake!),

we danced,

we cheesed it for the camera,

and everyone was really excited to throw stuff at us - I mean look how excited they are!

Can't wait for six more years of fun and awesomeness.

My Calendar Journal

A little while back my mom sent me an email with a link to a really clever DIY project: Vintage Postcard Calendar Journal.  I think it's so great because every day you'll be able to read back over what you did on that day in years past.  Obviously the first year will be somewhat less exciting - but then each year will get increasingly more fun.  Plus you can use double sided index cards and have that many more years to write.  All-in-all I love it.  And then to my great surprise when my mom came for Thanksgiving, she gave me a set of index cards already cut and stamped!  Fabulous.  So all I had to do was get my vintage postcards and a box to put it in.

Last Saturday we ventured to the Flea Market and I was pleased to find a guy that had a whole box of vintage postcards for sale.  Each one protected in a plastic sleeve.  They ranged from $1 - $3 per card, but since I needed 12, he said he'd let me have them for $12.  (Lucky me, cause I bought several $3 cards.)  I had so much fun choosing them.  I especially like my January and December postcards which are both from 1907 and say 'A Happy New Year' and 'Wishing You a Merry Christmas' respectively.  Oh and my October card is of a painting called 'Moonlight Over Screamer Mountain' which is just too perfect for October, don't you think?

But my favorite part is that three of them are used.  So I get to be all voyeuristic and read other people's mail.  One of the notes is so cute- a woman writes that her husband is at Rotary and she didn't want to sit in the lobby of the hotel with all the people, so she is writing the postcard in the car.  I think that is so adorable

I'm still looking for a box to use.  In the tutorial she uses a fruit box, but she also cut the postcards down to the size of her cards.  And I really don't want to cut my postcards.  I also want a box that will stand up against things like accidental spills on the counter.  So I'm on the hunt for a cool yet sturdy container.  But in the mean time I've got this little red and white polka dot box that it doing the job nicely.  It's a bit larger than what I want, though I do like that it can hold a pen.

And last but not least I must rant about Walmart and how they messed up our Christmas cards and weren't willing to reprint them without charging me more $$ and making me wait three days.  But you're the ones who messed them up, and I already paid, and I need people to get them before Christmas, you know this year!  Aargh.  I need to remember that I hate Walmart before I make decisions like printing my Christmas cards there.  So if you get our Christmas card and think 'that it the darkest photo, I can't believe they chose that.'  We didn't.  And this is what the photos were supposed to look like.

 

Next year I am printing my own photo cards.  Take that Walmart.  And Merry Christmas everyone!!

Countdown to Christmas

We had a super fun and busy Thanksgiving with our families.  All the Crenshaw cousin's were together except Bob's kids, so it was wild and crazy and loud and poor Uncle Mark was tickled to within and inch of his life.  Just what family togetherness is all about.

I have also (of course) continued making my yarn wreaths.  So I've finished Christmas (love that little gold bird)

and my winter wreath.

I think the winter one is my favorite to date (oh, except maybe for my Halloween one) - I think the argyle (which just makes me think of a cozy winter sweater) combined with the snow and the owl is too adorable.  Even Mark and Mike both said they liked it the best.  So it's boy approved.  And that's saying something.

And now we're in the countdown to Christmas - or more aptly called the countdown to Doctor Who.  I partly blame this on the fact that we have no kids yet - I'm sure if we had kids I would think of Christmas first and Doctor Who second.  But as it is, as soon as Thanksgiving is over (or in this case as I'm shoveling turkey in my face) I immediately think "Doctor Who!  Doctor Who!  I can't wait for Doctor Who!"  I asked Mark if he felt this way too, and he gave me a long, weird look and firmly said "No."  So I guess it's just me.  Though now that I think of it, a few months ago Mark was definitely this way about Skyrim.  So I guess it just depends who and what you're talking about.  The point is, I'm excited about this year's Christmas special.  Especially once I heard the name of it:  The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe.




And if you just watched that trailer you're a bit excited too - admit it.

Spooky, Scary.

Werewolf bar mitzvah - spooky, scary.  Boys becoming men.  Men becoming wolves.  I have had that song stuck in my head for days!  Which is basically ridiculous and a weird thing to wake up singing every morning for a week.  But since it's almost Halloween - I suppose it's fitting.  Speaking of... I've been keeping myself busy doing a few fun crafty Halloween things (when I'm not on Pinterest pinning more things I want to be making).  A few weeks ago when my sister Laura and her girls were in town we had a slumber party and made headbands together.  The girls were so creative with what they put together, Holly and Lucy both made some fun and adorable choices combining felt, feathers, multicolored pom-pom balls, leaves, and wiggly eyes.  And Sophia in particular was very specific about what she wanted, so I made several Harry Potter themed headbands for her.  All if which I completely forgot to take any photos of while they were still here.  (Despite the fact that my camera was in my purse the entire time.)  But since Lily was sick and couldn't sleep over with us, we made her a few headbands too, so I got at least the one photo.

I also made this Halloween yarn wreath for my front door.  I got the bird and the glitter spiders (notice they are the same spiders as the headband) from the Dollar Store and I had everything else (in fact I inherited the convict orange yarn from someone and have been wondering for a long time when and how I would ever use it- success!) so once I bought the wreath, it only cost me $5 to make.  Love it.  And they are so easy and fun to make that I can not stop myself.  As promised I am well on my way to making one for every season, Halloween, and Christmas.  I've also decided that I need to make one for birthdays.  I will show you them all as I finish them.  I did make this Harry Potter one for my sister-in-law Amanda.  She loves HP and after making headbands with Sophia, I had this idea to mix the two colors of each of the houses together to make the flowers.  I had a little bit of HP fabric left over from her diaper bag which I used for a few flowers as well as the band to hang it with.  And then instead of a welcome message on bunting (as I have often seen on theses wreaths), I made little banners also in the house colors with an iron-on HP font.  It's kind of crazy, but I think I love it.  (Did I mention that I'm a little bit addicted to these wreaths now?)

Previously On...

If you haven't been hanging out with us for the past 3ish months (so I've been a little slack at the blogging lately- so sue me) here's what you've missed:

Redecorated our bedroom (thanks to a little help from my mom for supplying the comforter and 4 sexy throw pillows)

















Made a diaper bag for Heather Winters

















Had some new nieces - Alice and Penny Chabo were born 11/30/10 - come on! how adorable right?!

















Had some snow

















Had some Christmas

















Had some more snow, so we had a white Christmas (in NC who woulda thought) and watched some Doctor Who

















Made a hip bag (aka cooler way of saying fanny pack) for my sister Susy to use when she runs - she ran her 1st marathan at Disney earlier this month

















Had our 5th anniversary (which I incidentally have no pictures of) and a Happy New Year!

Now we're looking forward to going to Ohio to visit my sister Laura and her family next week. Can't wait to meet those twin babies! (And see the rest of my family too of course.)

What You Said?

Here are a few of my favorite conversations over the last month and a half...

Mike: I miss Win Ben Stein's Money.
Mark: Oh I hate that show! You can only win if you pee!
Mike: What?! Oh, no you're thinking of Distraction.

On Easter Mark and I explained to Sophia that the Easter Bunny poops chocolate candy and that's how we get all the yummy Easter candy, and this is what she had to say about it.
Sophia(laughing): Wow! You sure know a lot about the Easter Bunny!

Holly really wants to be a part of every conversation, so here's an example of how she joins in.
Me: We should all go to the Farmer's Market on Saturday.
Holly: What you said, Aunt Header?
Me: I said we should go to the Farmer's Market.
Holly: Oh, I just love the Farmer's Market!
(You see, you can say pretty much anything and Holly will "just love" it.)

Abby: Roar, roar, roar

While driving home from Sunni Sky's (best ice cream ever, by the way!) the girls asked me to tell a story, so I suggested that we all tell the story together. So I'd have the girls fill in at certain points, you know what I mean...
Me: Once upon a time Sophia and Holly opened a french fry stand. And it became really popular and everyone really loved their famous french fry sauce. Which was made of?
Sophia: Cherry juice and coconut juice.
Me: Mmmmm, sounds delicious. And then Lily opened up a hot dog stand next door. And everyone loved to get french fries from Sophia and Holly and then go next door and get hot dogs from Lily. So Lily what kind of hot dogs did you sell?
Lily: Mickey Mouse!
Holly: What Lily said, Aunt Header?
Me: She said she sells Mickey Mouse hot dogs.
Holly: Oh, I just love Mickey Mouse hot dogs!
Me: Yes, everyone loved Lily's hot dogs made out of Mickey Mouse meat. I mean who doesn't love Mickey Mouse meat hot dogs?!
Sophia (laughing): Oh man, that is cracking me up and making me laugh so hard!
(Have you noticed that Sophia loves gross things? Yes, it makes hilarious story telling very easy.)

John: How was your day today?
Me: Fine. I turned in my two weeks notice at work and then I came home and ate whip cream for dinner.
John: Sounds like a pretty good day.

Mormon Christmas Song

A little Christmas Carol from Conan & Max

Thank You Easter Bunny, Bawk Bawk!

This year we followed an old Crenshaw family tradition and celebrated Easter on Saturday. When we were kids my mom used to do the Easter baskets, presents and candy on Saturday instead of Sunday. I figure this was for two reasons: 1- so that we would separate the Easter Bunny from the true celebration of Christ's atonement and resurrection, and 2- so that we weren't crazed-sugared-up fiends at church. Since we are now adults (relatively speaking) and don't have to worry too much about being crazed-sugared-up fiends at church, we had Easter on Saturday so that we could all do Easter on Sunday with the in-laws. (Also Sat was Susy's free day on her new diet, so there's that too.)

I wanted to try something different so I cooked this turkey, gravy and stuffing recipe I had seen on Food Network back at Thanksgiving that I thought looked amazing. And the turkey and gravy were delicious!! Although I did make a few changes on the gravy - I left out the Marsala, and I also decided that 7 cups of chicken stock sounded like a whole lot of gravy! So I just used 3 cups. The stuffing was really good too, but in a weird way. I didn't completely follow the recipe on that one either, cause I am anti stuffing the turkey, so I just cooked it in a casserole dish. But I will definitely make more changes next time cause it was pretty much like eating a pepperoni pizza casserole. I think I'll leave out the ground sausage and double the bread and then it will be perfect - that is if you're in the mood for pepperoni pizza stuffing.

We also made a delicious chocolate cake with chocolate ganache in the center and dark chocolate frosting on the outside. My mom used to make these bunny cakes when we were kids so we tried to do that again. But by the time we had it all cut and put together like she thought, she realized that she used to make 2 smaller cakes - so our cake was too big for a bunny and just kind of looked like a split log. But it was yummy so that's all that really matters, right? And the moral of this story is that I need to remember I have a blog and take more photos. But in the mean time (and since the cake is all eaten) you can use your imaginations to see the split log cake... Doesn't that look funny yet delicious? You see it turns out I'm doing you a favor and making you use those brains of yours. Your welcome.

Christmas, Anniversary, and Happy New Year!

So I'm finally blogging about Christmas etc... and all I have to say is it's better late than never! New Years Resolution: Always put off till tomorrow what you could do today! (No, that's not really my new years resolution, but maybe it should be...) So one of the Crenshaw family traditions at Christmas is to do a buffet of appetizers and desserts and then act out the nativity on Christmas Eve. And although our parents are in Australia and none of the boys could be here, Laura and her family came in town and we all met up at Susy's house to celebrate. We had a delicious spread and ate way too much! (which is exactly what the holidays are all about!) Then we talked to our parents on Skype. My mom was able to go home from the hospital on Christmas Eve (which was actually the 23rd for us) and so it was great to see her at home instead of in the hospital like on Thanksgiving. We had Sophia choose the parts for the Nativity, so that was pretty cute. She was Mary and Lucy was baby Jesus, and she chose Mark to be Joseph. Susy explained to her that she could pick any boy she wanted to play Joseph and that he would be her husband, to which she said, "oh I want Mark." (Good choice Sophia!) Me and Holly were the Wisemen (hence my hat), Travis was a shepherd (you can see my mom on the computer in the background of the shepherd photo), Todd was the Angel and Susy was the heavenly hosts... and Laura was the cameraman (so she's only in the background of the photo below). My dad read Luke 2 while we acted it out. I think it's pretty cool that we could do a skit together in NC and Australia - technology makes the world so much smaller... I made homemade Christmas this year, so it was pretty fun to see every one's reaction to all my "hard work". (I spent several weekends hunched over my sewing machine and craft table.) Mark and I spent Christmas morning with his family and had their family tradition of waffles for breakfast. Yummy. Then we pretty much spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with all the kids. Holly and Sophia are so funny that it's always hilarious to play with them. And Lily and Lucy are both so adorable- Lily is so sweet and smiley and Lucy is such a cute little turtle!

Then on the 30th we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary. It feels both longer and shorter at the same time. Weird how time can do that. Since our anniversary is so close to Christmas we don't usually get each other presents - just do dinner and a movie. So this year we went to Red Robin and to see The Tale of Despereaux - which was OK but now I want to read the book, cause I'm sure it's much better. We're pretty simple like that and I love Red Robin - so sue me if I'm a cheap date. I just think people are funny when they expect all kinds of diamonds and jewelry for every anniversary- I just think that spending time together is enough. (But who knows maybe once we're loaded I'll be singing a different tune... haha)

For New Years we got Chinese take-out and watched part of the first season of Arrested Development and tried really hard to stay awake until midnight. But we had both worked that morning and we'd been up since 6am, so sadly we are very lame and fell asleep at 11:30! How sad is it that we couldn't make it 30 more minutes?! Oh well - I guess we're just one of those boring old married couples. What's extra funny is that on New Years day I went over to Heather Winters house to hang out and we were reminiscing and ended up chatting until 1:00am! So there's still a young silly girl hidden in there, she just came out a day too late. Oh well... Happy New Year!

Battery, battery. Anyone, anyone...

When I was in Ohio for Thanksgiving I discovered that my watch battery had died. So while I was at Wal-Mart there I tried to get it fixed, but they refused since they don't carry Fossil watches. And I've been busy and my watch has been at the bottom of my purse ever since. So today Dr Jenny and I went out to lunch together by Southpoint and ended up going into the mall afterwards. While we were in Belk I figured I'd ask them if they did watch batteries since I bought my watch there. And they said that they do watch batteries, but they don't do Fossil watches. Random. So then I remember that there is a Fossil store in Southpoint, and I'm thinking that surely they do Fossil watches - since they are Fossil. So we head off to the Fossil store, but on the way there I realize that I don't have my Debit card with me, but figure I'll check anyway and then come back later to get it done. So I ask if they do watch batteries and they say yes - Hurrah! So I say thanks and explain that I'll come back later when I have money. To which Dr Jenny says that's ridiculous and it's only $10 so she'll get it for me as part of my Christmas present. Excellent. So I thank her and hand off my watch to the sales girl. Once it's done she hands it back to me and says we're all set so Dr Jenny takes out her wallet to pay and she says, "No, no, it's on me. Merry Christmas!" Super Excellent. Let's all give a little shout out to the Fossil sales girl. So now I've decided that I will have to tell all stores I have no money and see what happens. Cause I could really use a new car or airline tickets to Australia...

Thanksgiving Extravaganza

This year, since we are without parents, we Crenshaw kids decided to get together and celebrate Thanksgiving. And since Laura just had baby Lucy and Ohio us 1/2 way between NC and IL we all went to her house. Everyone was able to come except Michael and John - so that was pretty great. I mean 4 outta 6 ain't bad. Very sadly Mark had to work black Friday (the curse of retail) so he could not come - but there was no way I was going to miss seeing all my nieces and nephew! (Oh yeah, and my brothers and sisters - I like them too.) So naturally I ditched my hubby for the week and drove up to Ohio with Susy, Todd and Lily. We go there Tuesday night - and since I was sans husband I set up camp on the couch while everyone else was upstairs in bedrooms and offices. Wednesday was spent baking pies and planning for turkey day. It was a lot of fun having Holly and Sophia help bake with us. Sophia very proudly told everyone which pies she made whenever she had the chance. And Holly was adorable coming into the kitchen all weekend asking "what cookin?" And randomly when I asked her what she was cooking, she always replied "juice."

Thursday we spent the day cooking and eating! We cooked a ton of food, we barely put a dent in it, so we had tons of left overs which was great. Travis and Todd fried the turkey outside, while we girls cooked the side dishes in the nice warm kitchen. None of us had done a fried turkey before - and let me tell you if you haven't, you should - delicious! Then we hung out and played Clue. Sophia was on my "team" and we were Ms Scarlet, but she never could decide which lady she liked the best so she kept putting Ms Scarlet, Ms Peacock and Ms White in the same room and having them talk to each other - which I thought was pretty hilarious, but was pretty confusing for playing the game and remembering who was where.

Friday we went to Amish country - I love Amish country! Last year I visited a friend of mine in Ohio and fell in love with Amish country, so needless to say I was very excited to visit again. And Mark was very jealous. The best butter I have ever eaten! We brought a cooler so we could bring back homemade Amish butter, cheese and jams. Delicious. The girls loved it too and were shouting out "buggy" and "horsey" every time we passed them. Very cute. And when we were walking around outside Holly would point out all the "horsey poo-poo" too me which was very nice of her. We went to an Amish restaurant for lunch called Grandma's Country Kitchen (or something like that) and while we were walking to our table Holly was Miss America turning and waving to everyone as we passed their tables. Once we were seated, near our table there was a random chair by itself in the corner which Sophia found very intriguing because she went and sat in it and said that she was in time out. We also went to this one big Amish store called Walnut Creek that was a grocery/ deli/gift/kitchen store. It was very cool and had all kinds of random things in it. Including Uncle Mike's Smoked Meats (see photo). So Uncle Mike was with us after all!

Bob and his family were planning on driving up Friday night (cause they had Thanksgiving with Maria's mom and Bob had to work on Friday) - and so we were expecting them to get there around 11pm or midnight. But then Bob said that they would probably leave their house at 11pm and if they got tired they'd stop at a hotel and so they'd be there anytime between 5am and noon. Since I was the one sleeping downstairs on the couch I asked Laura what I was supposed to do when they showed up at 5 or 6am and she just laughed at me and said they weren't coming that soon. Well naturally you can imagine how annoyed I was at her when I awoke to someone knocking on the door at 5:30am!! Beast! I told her they were coming that early!! So I got up and let Bob and family in and they set up camp on the living room floor by me. Since Bob and Maria drove and did not sleep they fell asleep pretty quickly, but then Ryan, Isabelle and Bobby were all whispering to me that they couldn't sleep, that they were hungry and wanted to watch TV. So at 6:45 I gave up and got up and we all ate donuts and told stories and laughed around the kitchen table. Then we crowded together on the couch and watched the Disney channel until everyone else woke up. We spent the day Saturday just hanging out and socializing. And we talked to our parents on Skype at 4:30 (they got all of us webcams for Christmas). It was pretty surreal talking to my mom from her hospital bed. But it was great to finally see her - we'd only been able to talk to my dad since her accident. She's gradually getting better and they're hoping that she'll be out of the hospital by Christmas. Which is a crazy long time, but at least she's getting good care. In fact one of the ladies from her Ward brought her some chocolate chip cookies from an "American recipe" she found. After the call the boys made a bon-fire and we roasted marshmallows and made smores - it was really fun. And the sunset was beautiful. Once the kids went to bed we played this game called telephone pictionary - it was hilarious. We were all crying with laughter. Basically you have a stack of paper and on the first sheet you write a sentence then pass it and the next person reads it and puts it to the back then on the next sheet they draw a picture based on your sentence and pass it, then the next person has to write a new sentence based on what the picture looks like, etc... So we had some pretty hysterical results. For example: "The lion loves to eat raspberry tootsie roll pops at the drive-in movie" turned into a drawing of a duck in the Oscar Meyer wiener mobile thinking about candy. Craziness.

Sunday was Lucy's baby blessing - so we all went to church together for that. It was very sweet, she's a sweet little baby. After sacrament meeting we had a little photo session in the hall. (Which I'm sure the classroom we were next to really appreciated.) Then Todd and I drove back home to NC. (Susy bought herself a one-way ticket home, so she and Lily are staying an extra week - I am so jealous.) The traffic was pretty gross, so the 8 hour drive turned into a 10.5 hour drive. Fortunately I had brought books on CD so we listened to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince so that was a good distraction and made sitting in traffic for hours on end much more bearable. All in all it was a great time and it was wonderful to see everyone. Mark and I are already talking about when we can go up to Ohio together so that he can see everyone - so hopefully we'll be going soon and won't put too much time between visits....