Classy...

I just installed art in our bathroom. Surely this means I am a classy grownup now, right?

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, darling! Love you!!!!!

Those four candles were the only ones we had in the whole house, haha. Planning oversight or artistic genius? YOU DECIDE.

TSA in this great land of freedom and possibility

Ok. I think everyone knows how sucky the TSA is. Security theater, power-grubbing, power-abusing, pervy, coercive, drain of money and time for ZERO thwarted crimes...it's total baloney. I could go on for paragraphs about how angry the amount of power they've been given makes me. But I just wanted to share the take of an author who also hates them. The way they put it is hilarious.

It's important to note that if you're traveling and you're randomly or non-randomly selected to go through the body scanner, you're completely within your rights to refuse the scan. If you refuse, you'll receive something that walks the line between a pat-down and a grope from a female agent. So, would you rather run the risk that some dude in another room with his hands in his pants is analyzing your body for boner threats or allow a female stranger to boredly caress your bra's underwire? The choice is yours in this great land of freedom and possibility.

It's so sad it's aaaaalmost crossed over into funny.

Waffles for Dinner

A few nights ago, Michael made me waffles for dinner, and he was thoughtful enough to make one into the shape of Ohio. Awwww.













Ok, fine, so it was just chance that it looked so much like our great state, but still, pretty awesome.

My husband the punk

Today's conversation of the day:

Me (after tooting in front of Michael): Sorry I'm gross.
Michael (comfortingly): No, you're not.
Michael (two seconds later): You're not sorry at all!

What a punk.

In Honor of Our Recent Nuptials

In honor of our recent nuptials (first of all, HOORAY!!!, and second of all, maybe I should actually blog about that sometime?), I thought I'd post a little retelling of one of my favorite dates with Michael, back when we were both still living in Provo.

This was about two weeks before my most recent birthday in August. We knew that we were going to be apart for my actual birthday, since I was going to be starting school in Ohio and Michael was going to be finishing in Provo, so Michael wanted to do something special ahead of time. A few days before the big date, I got a handmade card in the mail from him, formally inviting me to this date. Adorable.

The actual activities of the night were a surprise, but when I got to his apartment, I saw that all his roommates had taken off, and the table was set with candles and fancy china he had borrowed just for the night, and there were roses on the table. We had a delicious dinner of a homemade vegetable pasta, stuffed grape leaves (they’re one of my favorite foods but it’s almost impossible to find good ones in Utah!), and sparkling juice. And we toasted to us and clinked glasses and said mushy things.

After that romantic dinner, he whisked me away in the car to a still-secret location for the rest of our date. And as we wound our way up Provo Canyon, past gorgeous summer scenery, I started to figure out where we were going. About a month and a half before this particular night, I had mentioned that the Sound of Music was my probably my second-favorite musical ever. And that weekend, there was an outdoor performance of it in Park City! The scenery was amazing—being nestled in the mountains was the perfect, perfect setting for everything. We laid out a blanket and snuggled up together and watched a great performance.

After the show, when it was dark, we took a long-cut back to the car (they had a shuttle bus since the parking lot was far away, but it was warm and the sky was full of stars…) and it was the most romantic thing ever. I thought the date was over at that point, but then he told me he had one last surprise for me—a Dairy Queen ice cream cake, my favorite food EVER! Then we fell asleep cuddling on the couch (don’t worry, I woke up in time to get home before the Honor Code fairies caught me), and it was just the most perfect date. So well-planned and romantic! Lovey lovey love :)

Removable Bottoms

Did you know that there's such a thing as a tube pan with a removable bottom? I did not, until tonight. I made a delicious, decadent chocolate velvet cake batter, grabbed a tube pan from Michael's cupboard, and stuck it in the oven. A few minutes later, I was met with a curious burning smell. About a half cup of the batter had already leaked out the bottom and was turning into a molten, smoldering mess on the bottom of the oven.














And here's Michael, cleaning up my dumb mess. What a stud!

P.S. We are attempting to rescue the remaining cake batter, now placed in a sturdy, trustworthy bundt pan. Don't know how it'll turn out, given it cooked for five minutes, cooled off, and is now being baked again, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.