Hosted by Jen.

~~ 1 ~~

Mawage is wot bwings us togeder today – A great big happy 13^th anniversary to my sweetheart! It may be a cliché but it feels like it was just yesterday, yet I feel like I’ve known Brian all my life. Maybe because he was an answer to my prayers long before I knew him.

~~ 2~~

Now you are my Mr Knightly – It’s funny that when I was single and still living at home, I remember watching love stories with my sister and we’d love it but laugh and yell, “Fake!” at the screen. This was in the mid to late 90’s when all the amazing Jane Austen adaptations came out such as the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion etc. All those tender love scenes were simply the dreams of fairy tales…until I met Brian.

I distinctly remember one scene in Emma (with Gwenyth Palthrow) when Mr. Knightly professed his love to Emma as the music swelled and small flower blossoms fell from the tree. It was picture perfect.

I think back to the first weekend Brian and I finally spent together. (We met online and corresponded for 5 months before meeting in person. By then I already knew I was going to marry him.) There was one point when we attended a Marian Conference and during the lunch break we found a grassy area under a tree to have a picnic. Suddenly, a nearby building turned on their sound system and classical music stared playing in the background. Then a breeze rustled through the tree and small flower blossoms started falling from the sky as Brian turned to me and gave me that “look of love” that said he wanted nothing more than to kiss me. Part of me was reeling and the other part of me was inwardly yelling, “Fake!” Stuff like this does not happen in real life. (If you want the whole story of how we met, you can read it here.)

Well, it was real and 13 years later we have far too few moments lounging under a blossom tree but he’ll still get that “look” when he has to steal a kiss. So the fairy tale lives on, you just have to look and listen a little harder with all the family chaos surrounding it. 😉 Here’s proof. I still find love notes left for me. Swoon.

 ~~ 3 ~~

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach (and his coffee cup) – Speaking of Brian, for Christmas I made him one of those baskets I talked about in my Gift Ideas for Guys. It was all his favorites things to have a relaxing afternoon. Along with books, a blank journal and treats, I added a new coffee mug and coffee. He loved them! We have long been supporters of Mystic Monk Coffee but bought it less once we switched to the Keurig single cup coffee maker. But I’m happy to see that Mystic Monk now carries the single serving K-cups. (Which are also compatible with other single serving machines.)  Brian loved the Mystic Monk blend and I will buy more of the other flavors. (Note: I think they sold out of the Mysitc Monk blend but hopefully more will be available soon. They do have other flavors ready.)

 “Monk Shot” single serving coffee

Here is the mug I bought him.

~~ 4 ~~

Are you seriously watching this? – Okay, here is another speaking of Brian story. The other day Brian was up late and I could hear him laughing at something on TV. Usually when he is watching TV it is either on EWTN or the NFL channel so I wasn’t sure what would be so funny. I go into the family room and he is laughing hysterically and I saw these guys on the screen.

Yes, it is the millionaire “rednecks” of Duck Dynasty. At first I could not believe Brian would be watching a show like this but he convinced me to sit down for a minute and soon I was laughing so hard I was crying. Granted that is not hard to make me do but still these guys are so over the top it’s hilarious. Here’s a little taste of an episode we recently watched.

~~ 5 ~~

And this one is fuzzy but Si as a scary Christmas elf is a classic.

~~ 6 ~~

I need rehab – Okay, I am sitting here staring at the screen wondering what to write next. I usually jot down ideas for QT on my iphone notes but one of the boys has confiscated my phone to play Star Wars Angry Birds and as he sits here quietly at my feet, I can’t bear to disturb him. I also jot down ideas in my planner but since Christmas my desk has slowly relapsed into a candidate for a hoarders reality show and my planner if buried under a pile. Like an alcoholic who fell off the wagon, I have fallen off the organizational wagon and if these piles on my desk get any higher, I won’t be able to see the computer screen. You think I’m joking? My kiddo just returned my phone. I’ll snap a pic.

Yesterday the blog I’m An Organizing Junkie posted Introducing the New Year’s Organizing Revolution!! So maybe I should check it out and get back on track. It takes a while to build up but I have that “I’ve got to clean this mess or I’m gonna scream” feeling right now and I have to seize it before it fades away. So let’s wrap this up.

~~ 7 ~~

Anne with an E – Did you notice the angry bird calendar in the above photo? My sis BC bought that for the boys to hang in their bedroom. This week we had the pleasure of watching the Star Wars trilogy for the first time with them. (I fast forwarded a bit of the scarier parts) but they loved it. John-Paul is amazed that they made three movies about one phone app. Every time he came into the room and saw Darth Vader on the screen he yelled, “It’s Angry Bird pig!”  LOL.

The next movie I want to watch for the first time with my kids is actually a movie for Bella and me. She just read Anne of Green Gables so I thought she’d enjoy watching the movie with me. Can you believe it’s been over 25 years since that movie came out?! Am I really that old?? Never mind. Don’t answer that.

Have a wonderful last weekend of 2012!!