Happy Birthday and Husbands

In honor of my 30th birthday, I have decided to fill out this survey I saw a while ago on some other blogs. It's about husbands and I really love mine. He is my best friend and I am pretty much the luckiest person alive to have him in my life.

Love you, Brody!

1. Where did you meet your husband? In Las Vegas at his house. We met through one of my most awesomest home teachers, David Carter. David was moving and I went over to help him and ended up staying to hang out with my new, mysterious friend, Brody. I ended up finding reasons to go to his house a lot. David was nice enough to leave me there and not say anything about me not actually helping him. He's such a good friend.

2. How long did you date before you married? That's a funny story... Here's the short version: We dated for about 2-3 months at the end of '05 before he just completely stopped talking to me (Jan '09) and left me totally and utterly confused for almost two years before I got up the courage to send him a short "hi" message on facebook (where I just happened to stumble upon him in Sept or Oct 07). I didn't actually send him a message until the beginning of December and it took the encouragement (threat) from my upstairs neighbor, Spencer, to do it. Two months and seven days after we saw each other for the second first time (after lots of texting during the days and seeing other in the evenings), I had some huge rocks on my fingers (Feb 9, 2008) and we got married on Slurpee Day this year!

3. How long have you been married? According to my newest little widget, 4 months, 1 week and 1 day!

4. What does he do that surprises you? Sometimes he buys me expensive things he thinks I need to have; they are usually something I have wanted but decided to not get on account of saving money. Like an ipod. Sometimes surprise gifts aren't too expensive, but they are always very thoughtful. And sometimes he surprises me by scaring me - he thinks it's funny. Other than that, most little things he does or says surprises me cuz he usually does the opposite of what I think he's gonna do. That will keep our marriage from getting boring - for sure!

5. What is his favorite feature? His cute smile and his eyes. I just love his skin. It is always so soft. And the fact that he is my personal heater in the winter (summer was hard). He's also tall. I love that. I really love his sense of humor.

6. What is his favorite quality? I really love his sense of humor and the way he was a born provider. He is a hard worker and will always take care of me and our future kids. I will always appreciate that. Plus, he lets me pay the bills.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Toots, pookie, dear, honey. Whatever he's in the mood for. A cute name usually comes around 5 or 6 in the morning in his good morning text. I usually call him dear or honey. (I think he's so cute.) If he is getting after me for something, he calls me Jennifer Lyn...

8. What is his favorite food? "It really does vary." That's what he says. But he loves a good steak (yay Capital Grille) and potatoes. And he loves cookie dough. Audrey should come visit and make some (hint hint).

9. What is his favorite sport? College basketball. He LOVES UNLV. I by "loves" I mean "is obsessed with and will always be a die hard fan and supporter." He also enjoys football.

10. When & where was your first kiss? Cuddling on the couch at his house. I've never been forward with guys, but I had to be with him. Guess I just wanted to kiss him way bad! This was the first time we dated. Our next first kiss was the night I went to his house to see him for the first "second" time. Haha. This time he was the one who kissed me and it was as I was leaving. I sure was glad.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Are there any kids reading this? Haha. Moving on... We also like to go shopping and out to eat. We've had to cut back a lot cuz both of us are good at spending too much money. We also like our TV shows and movies. I think I like cuddling more than he does - makes sense, I'm the girl.

12. Do you have any children? It's just a little blob right now inside of me, but come next June, we'll have a baby!

13. Does he have any hidden talents? Pretty much all of his talents are hidden because he doesn't like a lot of attention. He can sing really well and sometimes he'll sing in the shower. He does a great impression of Neil Diamond. :o) He is able to remember little bits of information he read or heard that most people wouldn't even consider trying to remember. It's crazy! He manages to forget lots of things I think he should remember like conversations or promises, but he can remember that a blue whale ejaculates four gallons of semen at one time. (I am looking for an opportunity to share that fact in a conversation - awkward!) He is an amazing cook and can mess up the kitchen in a matter of minutes! But that one really isn't a hidden talent. Thankfully, he shares that one. He also has the innate ability to say things that you wouldn't normally say in a certain situation. Most of the time it's such a crazy thing to say, it's funny. When I went to his house to see him after not seeing him for almost two years, we said our hellos, sat down on the couch and put our arms around each other. We sat there for a minute and being the romantic he is, he said, "Did you miss me?" I immediately said "yes" without thinking about it because I had definitely missed him, but looking back on it, I think it's quite hilarious. What a question.

14. How old is he? He just turned 32, older than me by 2 years. Just perfect, if you ask me.

15. Who said I love you first? He tried to say it first, but those three words didn't come out in a sentence by itself in that order. He had pretty much told me in a couple of text messages that he loved me and had fallen in love with me, but when he finally got up the courage to say it, it happened like this: We were cuddling and probably just talking about whatever. He said, "Have I told you that I love you?" A million things raced through my mind in a matter of seconds. "In text messages he has. Wait, he threw me off by phrasing it as a question. So, do I say yes or do I say no cuz he has, but not out loud. Um..." What finally came out was something in the negative form, like "No" or "Uh-uh" or "I don't think so" or something like that. I think the last one, but I'm not sure. He replied with, "Well, I do." So I said, "I love you too." I told him that he threw me off by phrasing that as a question because I couldn't use the comeback I had planned on using. Some of you might get it and some of you won't, but I decided that the first time he said, "I love you" to me, I would look him right in the eye and say, "DO you?" The next day "I love you" came out of his mouth, just like that. :o) Later that day he reminded me that he had told me he loved me in text messages. I agreed and let him know those remarks didn't slip by me at all, but I answered no cuz he hadn't said it out loud. I think he was a little scared to say it in the first place. I married a man who, just a couple of years ago, would never have believed he was going to get married and have kids. I'm sure glad he changed his mind.

16. What is his favorite music? He loves listening to talk radio, but he loves 80's music, 80's & 90's alternative and rap. Loves rap.

17. What do you admire most about him? Sometimes the things I admire about him are the things that irritate me. Like his innate ability to know how I feel about something or how I feel emotionally or physically. He pretty much has me figured out and almost knows me almost better than I do. He says I can't hide anything from him. So that can be irritating, but can also be to his advantage. I admire his ability to do what he has to do (like work and take care of me and the dogs) even though he has an extremely bad back that will never improve until he has back surgery. He has a good heart and wants to do nice things for people all the time (unless you cross him, then you have to watch out cuz he can be very vindictive).

18. What is his favorite color? I would say red because he is obsessed with UNLV. Also, he knows he looks good in red and has a lot of red clothes. But he says he doesn't have a favorite color. It all depends on what he's doing. Is he dressing for a UNLV game or getting ready for church? He likes bright colors and pastels when it comes to clothes and ties and shoes. He's very colorful.

19. Will he read this? I never give him the chance to find my posts on his own. I end up telling him I updated it and he should read it. If they're too long, it takes him a couple of days. Haha.

20. Who do you tag? Everyone - it's a fun way to get to know people.

Wetting the Bed... And Losing Weight

The two "titles" of this post don't have anything to do with each other, but I didn't want to do two separate posts. That being said, here goes nothing...

We've only been married for a couple of months, so we don't have any kids who are toilet training, so naturally I don't ever worry about waking up in the middle of the night feeling wet and having to change the sheets because someone wet the bed.

I was wrong.

Poor Bostyn. I couldn't be upset at her. Yesterday morning I dropped the kids off at Petsmart so they could get their teeth cleaned (their breath was awful) and Emmitt could get his shots. Brody had to pick them up in the afternoon whilst I was teaching. They were still a little woozy from the anesthetic they were given and, upon arriving home, just lounged on the couch all afternoon with their Dad. Even when I came home from work and Brody was already in bed, the usual hyper Bostyn kind of strolled out of the bedroom to say hello to me and get some loving and then went back in and laid down. Emmitt came out a minute or two after Bostyn.

Once I was ready for bed, we invited the dogs back up on the bed and settled in for the night. I mostly slept in the middle of the bed, probably crowding my husband; but what could I do? The dogs had claimed their space and it's a pain to move them so I enjoyed the warm bodies all around me. I got a little too warm a couple of times in the night, but I wasn't going to complain cuz usually I'm freezing.

Suddenly Bostyn decided she'd head down to the floor and Emmitt followed suit. Happy for the extra room I was given, I rolled over a little to spread out. Huh? It felt wet. More confusion in my mind. I looked at the clock - 12:30 am. Growl. I'm so tired! Can it really be pee? I half sit up in bed, completely awake now, and Brody stirs. "I think Bostyn peed on the bed," I said. "She probably just drooled," a half awake Brody says. "Ya right," I'm thinking. "She doesn't drool THAT much." No wonder she didn't want to be on the bed anymore.

So I stay crammed in the little space I have - between my heater of a husband and an invisible wall that shouldn't be knocked down for fear of soaking up pee/drool/wetness into my pajamas. I don't sleep well. Is it ever going to be time to get up?

Finally the alarm goes off and even thought I've been waiting for this moment, I hit the snooze twice before I stagger out of bed to make Brody's lunch for the day. Into the kitchen comes Bostyn, much more enthusiastic than last night. I'm happy for the change in her demeanor. I bend down and give her some attention and ask her why she would pee in mom and dad's bed. She just looks at me with those eyes like, "I couldn't help it. I was drugged and so out of it. Love me anyway." And I do.

They didn't get anything to eat at all yesterday and I know Bostyn was confused about that and missed her food bowl - she kept going in the bathroom and sniffing around the spot it usually sits in. She especially missed her wonderful water bowl which she frequently visits during the night since we sleep with the door open. So before I finish making food for my husband (who DID eat the day before), I went to fill up their food bowls.

More pee.

This time I stepped in it. Right next to the door leading out to the garage. I sighed, went in the wash my foot off and told Brody she peed in the laundry room. "Really?" he asked. I still can't be mad at her. At least she was kind enough to pee on the linoleum instead of the carpet. But I wondered if there was more. Fingers are still crossed that I don't find any more wet spots.

So now everyone is up. I REALLY don't want to be up and want to crawl back into bed. I go back in the bedroom and Brody states matter-of-factly, "It's pee all right." I'm thinking to myself, "Duh. I knew that last night when I said she peed on the bed." Sigh. Not looking forward to the clean up I had ahead of me, I said, "I know. I slept in it all night." I have to laugh at the face Brody makes when he's totally amused yet feels bad for the situation as he apologizes for something that wasn't his fault. "I'm sorry."

So as of right now I've taken the sheets of the bed and put them in the washer and soaked the spot on the mattress with water and some laundry detergent. Luckily the pee only got on the top part of the mattress and not down into the foam. (We have a sleep number bed.) I just pray that the very potent girl dog pee doesn't cause horrible aromas in our bed or burn a hole in the mattress. Haha. She's killed many patches of grass outside in our "backyard" with that pee. I'm thinking that Bostyn should probably get one of her very desirous baths today. Dad is good at giving her one of those. Anyway...

I still love our dogs.

And I will still love our kids when I have to take care of all the messes they will make when they come along. Heck, I still even love my husband when I pick up dirty socks or empty Pepsi cans cuz he forgets where the laundry basket and the garbage can are. :o) (Hee hee, just kidding dear. Aboout you forgetting where dirty clothes and garbage goes, not about loving you.) I don't mind picking up after my husband if he's going to get up at the buttcrack of dawn and go to work and deal with stupid people all day cuz every Friday he hands over pretty much all of his paycheck so I can pay the bills. He's a good man.

I'm also proud of him (though I mostly act annoyed that he's doing so much better than I am) because he's lost 27 pounds! One good thing about his stubbornness is that when he makes his mind up on something, he sticks to it. He decided to start eating better. So he cut out fast food, some of his Pepsi intake and eating late at night and the pounds have just melted away. I like to think it was that gym membership we got for him, but he hasn't used it yet. That'll be for the toning and to built muscle and such.

Since I see him every day, at first I didn't notice, but one day I was watching him as we were outside walking the dogs and I realized that his clothes are definitely looking looser. He had to go buy new work pants cuz his old ones were practically falling off him! He's still in need of some new belts - you can only make your own holes in your belt so many times before it's just time to fork out the money for a brand new belt that fits right. I look back at our engagement pictures and realize is has made a difference.

Of course I loved him with that extra weight the same as I love him now, but hearing that his blood pressure is down and that his knees and back don't hurt as much, I'm glad he's taking care of himself and wants to be healthier. He's a good man and I probably don't deserve him, but I'm pretty lucky that he puts up with me.

Last, but not least... I found this on dogsonshirts.com as I was looking for Christmas stockings for the dogs. (Yes, I'm really going to get some.)

YOU KNOW YOU'RE A DOG PERSON IF...
1. You and your family haven't had your annual check up in two years, bu the dogs are medically up to date.
2. You start barking at your children to "Sit! Stay!"
3. You snuggle closer to the dog than the person with whom you are sleeping.
4. Your mom calls and asks how the grandogs are.
5. Your first concern when planning a vacation is whether or not the hotel will take pets.
6. First time visitors wonder aloud: "Do you smell something?" and you really don't.
7. You break down and buy another pillow so you have one to sleep on.
8. The instructions to the dog kennel are longer than the instructions to the house sitter.
9. You kiss your dog more than 10 times per greeting.
10. You call long distance and talk with your dog.

#1 is true.
#2 will probably happen.
#3 - Brody got a talking to about that one as he was cuddling with Bostyn on one end of the couch and I was on the other. :o)
#4 doesn't really happen.
#5 - Brody already knows all the hotels that take pets.
#6 doesn't happen cuz our house doesn't smell.
#7 - I think that happened to Brody before we got married.
#8 - Audrey would know. She dogsat for us once and most of the instructions were for them.
#9 - Not actual kisses, but they do get a lot of attention.
#10 - I may have tried to say hi to Bostyn and Emmitt whilst I was in China.
WE'RE DEFINATELY DOG PEOPLE. :o)