Friday, February 27, 2009

look who I got to play with today.


more of this yumminess to follow. :)

meet my new friend.

and yeah, I'm not so happy to introduce you. Most people know of my unfailing love of and devotion to Dr. Pepper, how I have chosen it as my drink of choice for more than 20 years now, how I would happily bypass the digestion portion if I could just have it poured in by IV. Sadly, that wonderful part of my life is passing.

In honor of my upcoming birthday . . . and the number associated with it . . . my loving husband insisted that I get a physical to make sure my blood levels are all in order (high cholesterol runs in my fam, as well as other things like thyroid problems and you know, cancer). So reluctantly I made the appt and went in to see the dr. After waiting a week for the results . . . yes, a week full of Kev saying, "You know, he's probably going to say you can't eat that anymore either." . . . love that man . . . I went back to hear the news and I'm happy to say that all is in good condition with the exception of my cholesterol (no big surprise) and more importantly my triglycerides. The total choles. was 219 which is too high but not an instant death threat; however, my trigly. were off the charts, more than 100 points over the very top of the "okay" scale. Yay for overachieving!

Doc said I'm in no way a cardiac risk at this time, but I do have to start getting serious about getting the levels down. Breads and potatoes . . . my two most favorite things in the whole world . . . are now scaled way, way back and sugars too although I've never had much problem consuming too much sweet stuff . . . I much prefer salty. Leafy greens are now the order of the day, tho I'm still not sure how I'm gonna get those since produce sucks here in the high desert.

And I'm forced to say goodbye to my beloved Dr. Pepper. I don't care what they say: Diet Dr Pepper is NOT the same. It doesn't taste bad, but they should have just named it something entirely different because they aren't fooling anyone. And to add insult to injury, I'm too cheap to buy the real stuff so I'm stuck with Diet Generic Non-Cola Pop. It doesn't taste like anything at all, but I really can't abide the taste of Diet Coke so I guess I'll just suffer. Kev came home the other day and saw it in the fridge and just shook his head . . . "you can't just give up pop altogether?" . . . no, honey, it's called addiction, remember? :)

I may cheat now and again if we're at a restaurant and get a real glass of Liquid Crack, but I've resolved to give this new situation my best. I'd like to be around when the kids grow up.

And so I say farewell to my adored companion. It's been a fantastic run. Sleep well. Good night.

Oh, and did I mention I get to take 4 Fish Oil pills a day from now on? Back off, Nemo. I hate fish.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

happy birthday kev.

So, Kev's a whole year older. Indeed, for the next few days we are again the same age until my birthday on Sunday. But since I refuse to acknowledge the number linked to my next birthday, let's concentrate on Kev.
He didn't want a big fuss . . . he never does . . . and after all these years together I've finally got him to accept that (1) I'm going to wish him Happy Birthday again and again all day long and (2) he's going to have a celebration of some kind, even if it's just family eating supper and watching as he pretends not to enjoy opening his presents.

Case in point:
And here again we see his enthusiasm for the whole experience:Not quite a growl, although I'm glad I was all the way over here taking the picture. We had Poppyseed Chicken with asparagus and noodles for supper with my parents . . . Kev's current favorite comfort food. Then he got to open his presents, including a movie for the Blu-Ray and an art project from Gennie. The kids helped him open his big gift from all of us:

A Playstation 2. He thought about asking for a PS3 but we already have a Blu-Ray and with the older console he can get the games way cheaper . . . he's such a saver!

For dessert he wanted my Grandma's Peanutbutter Dessert . . . yes, called that because we have no idea what the real name of it was . . . I lost the recipe years ago and had to make it up from memory . . . this round tasted way better than other ones I've made:

Josiah loved it also, and was not content with the amount I gave him so he cleaned his plate to make room for more:

The night ended with a bath for Josiah after which Kev's dad called to say Happy Birthday. I love you, Kev.

Monday, February 23, 2009

in honor of kev's birthday today . . .

I found this little quiz online and decided it would be fun to put on here -- for those who don't know us from way back.

What are your middle names? Mine is Beth (for my mom) and Kev's is Michael.
How long have you been together? Together since Fall of 1998, married since July 2000
How long did you know each other before you started dating? Depends on who you ask. Our relationship started out as a miscommunication (story for later) so if you ask me, we knew each other for about a week. If you ask him, it was more like a month.
How old are each of you? He's turning 29 today and I'm the same, at least for the next 6 days.
Whose siblings do you see the most? They're about even. Both sides live in CA so we don't see either of them often enough.
Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Money, maybe (I'm a spender, he's a saver) although we don't really have any so it's not a constant problem. :) We usually don't fight much.
Did you go to the same school? For college only. We met during a worship team retreat the first weekend of school, 1998.
Are you from the same home town? Almost. We lived about 5 miles from each other in the SF Bay Area in CA until he was about 10, then he moved out to the valley. But his family did visit the church my dad pastored in San Leandro once when we were really little.
Who is smarter? Depends on the topic. Science and Math: totally him. English and Art/Crafts: me. He does waaaay better on tests than me - he hardly has to study at all and I cram the night before.
Who is the most sensitive? If you mean who cries more often, that's me. But mostly because I'm a sap.
Where do you eat out most as a couple? Because we have limited options here, it varies. But if we had one it would be Olive Garden, hands down.
Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? CA to WY or MT, depending on which way you go. But we've both been to Canada separately and I've been to Southern Mexico by myself and he went to GA.
Who has the craziest exes? Him. But I think I'm biased. He would say all my exes were losers, but that's what he's supposed to say, right? :)
Who has the worst temper? Him again. He can hold a grudge like none other. It takes way more for me to actually snap and once I do, I'm over it.
Who does the cooking? Me during the week and him Saturday morning for breakfast. We also fend for ourselves a lot depending on what activities we have going on. But his chicken and dumplings are to die for! (Thanks Debbie!)
Who is the neat-freak? Neither of us really. He hates clutter, tho, so we argue about that more than we should. I hate dog hair, especially in the kitchen. I do the cleaning because I get to stay home, but everyday clutter doesn't bother me that much until I can't find something so I don't always notice it. And the toy mess? I see it as a sign of children having a fun home to play in. He sees it as overwhelming messiness. So as long as the toys are picked up in the front room when he walks thru the door after work, we're okay. :)
Who is more stubborn? Both of us can be sometimes. He shuts down, I pester him until he talks about it. Hence the stove story.
Who hogs the bed? Me Me Me. When we first got married, one night I was so nailed down to the center of the bed that he actually rolled over and laid his head on his bedside table and slept there the whole night. I'm always cold so I seem to mosey on over to where the heat is (and he sleeps really hot, no matter the season.)
Who wakes up earlier? Him during the week but not because he wants to. Darn alarm clock. I get up earlier on the weekends.
Where was your first date? Technically it was to Denny's for ice cream sundaes just to talk about his recent break-up with his girlfriend back home. Our third date was to the ER for his dislocated shoulder!
Who is more jealous? Me, unfortunately. And he likes to tease me because he knows I get worked up. His favorite topic is "the one that got away". Punk. :)
How long did it take to get serious? Like I said, it was a miscommunication. When we met I was done with dating around and was totally looking for a steady boyfriend. We went to the movies (a week after meeting) and as the previews were running he leaned over and said he was having a good time with me and would like to get to know me better. I thought he meant he wanted to "date" exclusively and I was all for it. I found out later (after we were engaged) that he had just meant he wanted to hang out more and get to know me. It just worked out that he didn't find anyone else he wanted to date at the time.
Who eats more? Sweet stuff: him. Salty stuff: me.
Who does the laundry? Me, although he puts away his own clothes when they're done. He's tried to get me to do it over the years but I've always said I'm his wife, not his mom and he can put away his own darn clothes! Gennie puts away her own stuff and Josiah will, too, when he can reach the drawers.
Who's better with the computer? Him, hands down. Kinda goes along with his job. I know the stuff I use for photography and he knows the rest.
Who drives when you are together? He does unless his bones are hurting and he can't do it. Not sure why but it's always been that way.

Kind of an abrupt ending, but that's a peek into the life of us. Hope it was as enjoyable to read as it was to remember!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

yes, i'm still here. barely.

So, we're all sick. Again. Gennie's on her second round of it . . . she started the whole thing . . . and Josiah is finally not taking Tylenol every 4hrs with his cough meds and humidifier running constantly. I'm starting a round of amox today to see if I can get my face (sinuses) to stop hurting so much and Kev is just beginning. Ahh, the common cold; thou art a heartless adversary.

In other news, we retiled the kitchen last weekend - photos to follow - and have been doing fun stuff as usual so when I'm able to think straight for more than 2 min in a row, I'll post more. Until then, enjoy the love:
Bye for now!

yes, i'm still here.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

trickling.

So, here's another of my favs from the 18 month shoot. Thanks to Val, who kept shooting while I sprinkled the Goldfish, I have a bunch more of Josiah than just the ones on the other post and I'm slowly making my way thru them to get some on here. We've decided that the seven months we've been in our new house is plenty of time for us to have put up stuff on the walls so I'm working on some fun decor stuff . . . more about that when it's done. I'm also working on some more baby shower gifts for some friends who read this so I'll post photos of that after their party.

Oh, and in case you didn't catch the mood of these photos - he was dressed like this on purpose. I bought that fun hat forever ago and have been waiting for a time to use it, along with black pants and his daddy's ties, all in black and white. So when Val mentioned doing portraits together again it was the only scheme we could think of. Worked out, tho, don't you think?

Friday, February 6, 2009

one sad boy.

So, I just had to add this in. I was printing photos in the dining room a few minutes ago and all the sudden I hear the most sad boy in the world banging on the storm door. I had seen our mailman Mr. Dave . . . who happens to be a good friend of ours from church . . . pull up and drop off the mail and apparently Josiah had seen him, too. He kept pointing at the mail box and crying harder and harder . . . I can only guess that he was upset he couldn't go out and say hi to Mr. Dave.

Now that's friendship!

back in the saddle, so to speak.

So, we've been having computer problems for the last week or so. Could it possibly have been my fault....we have an 80 gig hard drive and when Kev installed my new Photoshop CS4 program we had 3G left of usable space....upon further investigation it turns out that my desktop, which holds any and all photos I had taken since 2005, was taking up 40G all by itself....maybe I take too many photos? Anyway, I've been burning backup discs like crazy to relieve some of the space problem before it crashes completely and it looks like we're back on track. In the meantime, blogger wasn't letting me post and my website email was down . . . not really my week. But we did have fun things going on - we had our first Superbowl Party watched on Kev's new HDTV and we did Josiah's 18 month portraits with his best friend Ethan. I'll get those edited as soon as I can but here are two totally cute shots to tempt you:

I love this one because it looks like they are texting each other. In reality Ethan has the old- school phone from the play kitchen and Josiah has the button panel from the microwave - both have fun little songs they play when you push the buttons which I think is why they love them so much. Boys of the Millenium.

And this one was kind of a fluke. I showed Kev the shots when he got home yesterday and he was totally intrigued by this one. I didn't think it was all that special because he doesn't look that happy . . . and was begging for a Goldfish cracker . . . but Kev loved it. He says it really looks like Josiah right now -- not really upset, just wanting to be picked up so he can sit with you for the 5 seconds of his attention span then wanting to get down again until he's ready to do the whole thing over again. (This is why I don't cull photos well - I'd hate to throw out the one that may not seem like anything now because later I may realize how great it really is. And I love that Kev has such an eye for photography!)

More to come. I promise!