the long distance thing

The other day, I came across a blog post that was talking about husbands. The post asked, "What's your favorite thing to see your husband do?" At first, I wondered if it was in bad taste to answer "the dishes." What can I say, I love a clean kitchen, and I love it when I'm not the one who cleans it. ;)

Then I thought about the past few weeks. Sam and I spent them apart, doing the long distance thing. I was in Utah, house sitting and baby sitting, and he was here starting his new internship. (Did I mention he got a good internship after the last one fell through at the last minute? Hooray!) I gained a new level of appreciation for couples who regularly do long distance. It's hard! And not for the faint of heart! And here we were separated for only a few weeks, with regular access to FaceTime and phone calls and texts.

During the time we were apart, I missed a lot of things about Sam. But you know what I might have missed most? The belly laugh Claire was doing within three minutes of being back with her daddy. I mean, my toddler is a generally happy person, and she definitely laughed a lot while she was in Utah with me. But she has this huge deep belly laugh, and there's only one person in the world who can make her do it: her daddy.

I often look up to Sam because he's so great at making parenting decisions without questioning whether he's doing the right thing or not. He just has this knack for knowing when Claire needs to be thrown in the air for a good belly laugh, when she needs to calm down and have a quiet snuggle with him, and when she needs a little bit of firm parenting.

Is it any wonder Claire runs out to the porch every morning when Sam leaves for work? She climbs up on her little chair so her eyes can barely peek over the balcony and she can say a second goodbye to daddy. Their love, and watching him be a dad, is such a wonder to me.

Basically this video sums up their relationship (and isn't that such a sweet clip? I've watched it several times already). I can't wait to watch my husband be a dad to the twins as well. He's such a natural father, and I love him for it.

^^I customized this picture here. If you're looking for a cute overlay for all those Father's Day Instagram posts coming up, this site has a lot of options!

Thank you to Johnson’s® for sponsoring today's #LittleWonders post. As a blogger, it's a dream come true when your favorite brands develop a partnership with you, and we've been using Johnson’s® products for a long time around here. If you have a second to connect with Johnson’s® social channels, you can find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

So now I'm curious. For all my married friends:

What are your favorite things to see your husband do?

And what's the best thing about watching your husband become a dad?

meet the man behind the blog

I always wonder about the husbands of some of my favorite blogs. Being the husband of a blogger has to be a weird gig. Who are these men? What do they think about blogging? Do they approve? Do they like it? Do they help write posts? Do they volunteer to take pictures? Do they volunteer to be in the pictures?! Do they lovingly say "It's okay. I got the dishes tonight. Why don't you go ombre your hair and buy a few new shades of lipstick for yourself, and then write an amazing blog post about it?"

Or are they the opposite? Are most of these husbands ambivalent at best, downright hostile at worst? Do they roll their eyes when their wives take a picture of their food before eating it? Do they run the other way when the camera comes out? Or do they just ignore these weird things called blogs in the hope that they'll go away someday? 

Today, I'm here to tell you about the man behind my blog.


He goes by Sam. His technical job title is Senior Product Specialist for the Starship Enterprise, or something. I know the word Enterprise is in the title. Really what he does is use his charm and magic level-headed calming abilities to talk down frustrated people and help them solve their problems. This is a skill he's been able to perfect since he married his wife (you're welcome Sam, for giving you so many opportunities to practice dealing with insane people).


Events in which Sam would win a gold medal

• Avoiding pictures. This is probably Sam's number one skill. He has a black belt in sneaking away when the camera comes out. Years could pass without Sam having a single picture of himself, and he'd be totally fine with it. In fact, he would consider it a major accomplishment.

• Beard growing. 

• Getting the Gallahorn (major spell check needed) in Destiny. I would say a lot more about this, but I literally have no clue what it is. Maybe a spaceship?

• Picking the shortest line at the grocery store checkout. Every. Single. Time.

• Card games. He counts cards and wins by a mile. It's not fair for the rest of us with only average memories who have no idea how many aces have already been played.

• Speed shopping. This man can shop SO QUICKLY. Give Sam a list and he'll be in and out in three minutes flat. I think it's because he doesn't get distracted by every sale or display in the store like I do. He's never once thought, "While I'm here, let me just see if that baby sale has started yet..." 

(He's the insane one.)

Now for the part you're really wondering about. What does Sam think about this strange blogging thing? Does he like it? Does he approve? Does he read my blog?

Well, yes and no! Sam thinks blogging is the weirdest thing on the planet (it is). Sometimes he rolls his eyes at the things I tell him about blogs and the whole blogosphere. But at the same time, like everything else in my life, he totally supports me in whatever I want to do. (I don't know how I landed such a winner. I think it had something to do with the fact that I had a car and he didn't.) And when I have a sponsored post, he gets behind it in a big way. Just yesterday he was moving tables, putting vegetables on skewers, and setting things up for me (check back Monday for the finished product!).

The weird thing is - Sam doesn't even read all my posts! Isn't that funny? Some of you people reading right now know more about what's on my blog than he does! Sam clicks on the posts when he sees them on Facebook, which is a good majority of the posts, but not all of them. I think it's so hilarious. Maybe if we're blessed to have a second child some day I'll announce it on my blog before telling him. That'll get him to read my blog! Sam, if you're reading this, you've been warned!

So there you have it. Sam the Man himself. I actually want to go on and on about how great of a dad he is, but I get way too emotional about that, and this would turn into a super long and sappy post before you can say Daddy Daughter Date. I'll have to save the mushiness for Father's Day. But I will leave you with one of my all-time favorite pictures - Sam holding his baby girl for the first time. 

I sure love this man behind the blog!

anniversary.

I remember looking at my husband on our wedding day and thinking "I cannot possibly love this man any more than I do right now." And then one year went by, and I looked at him and thought "Now we're not just bright-eyed newly-weds who thought we knew the meaning of love. Now we actually do know the meaning of love." And then another year went by, and I looked at him and thought "We really had no idea, did we? How deep this love thing can go, and how nice it is to have when the going gets tough." And now, yet another year later, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll probably never know how deep this true love thing can go. Because it just keeps getting better.

Happy three years, sweetheart.

to the man of the house (the edited version)

So here's what happened. What started out as a quick birthday post to celebrate my husband turned into a long, ridiculously sappy love post. As in, I sat at my laptop crying and typing about how much I love him. Really. It was quite terrible. Absolutely dripping with cheesiness (it started with "he was the best choice I ever made" and spiraled down quickly from there).

Sappy is so NOT my husband's style. Low-key, non-spotlight, funny is more his style. So here's a low-key, non-spotlight way to say it:

It is your birthday.

The end. (But really, I love the guy.) Many happy returns, crazy bearded dude! Let's have an adventure!

*Sidenote: if all else fails, I now know I have a career in writing sappy things. Like, people who forget an occasion in their significant other's life can hire me to write them a cheesy love note that will win them back. Or Hallmark could hire me to write cards for their "Vomitously Romantic" card section.

**Picture from an adventure in Moab. Please admire our matchy match shirts and shoe tan lines.

our two-year celebrations

This week Sam and I celebrated two years of marriage. Our anniversary involved a regular morning of working, followed by a surprise massage, a stop at IKEA to get the last few essentials for the treehouse, and an evening on temple square. We walked around the square, which was rather empty and peaceful and beautiful. Then, we had dinner at The Roof, where I almost ran into a man and upended his salad plate, only to find out it was Dallin H. Oaks. Oops.

On our anniversary, we like to go back through the year month by month, remembering all the good times. It took us all of dinner to get through the year, and I was feeling really blessed by the time we got to the end of it. I'm lucky to have Sam.

I know you old marriage veterans out there might laugh at a mere two years, but we feel proud of ourselves, like we've accomplished something big. Marriage isn't always easy. The stresses of working, living on a tight budget that doesn't allow for much long-term saving, making complicated life decisions, and having a twelve-year-old live with us aren't always rosy. One day I'll learn that no serious conversations that happen after 10pm end in anything productive, and one day I'll learn to stop being snappy at Sam when I'm hungry. The great thing is, we love each other no matter what, and we have a Christ-centered relationship that grounds us and brings peace into our marriage.

^^Eating at The Roof was a splurge, but it was worth every penny. We loved this gorgeous view of the setting sun behind the temple from our window seats. 

I don't know how I got so lucky, but I'll take it.
Here's to another two years!

Love you Sam.

2 years.

Two years ago today, it was warm and sunny.
He wore a tux and I wore my mom's pearls.
We beat death by getting sealed together for all eternity.
It was the best of all the days.

two years ago this week

we had engagements taken in this gorgeous venue. The tulips were still up from the tulip festival.

Yesterday, we worked all day
folded 100 paper cranes
watched arrested development
did a paper crane victory dance
and went to bed.

We have a routine, a new normal, and I like it. It's pretty great having Sam and exact-clone-Sam (Jason) around. Don't get me wrong, two of the exact same person can drive me crazy sometimes, but on most days I quite like them.

And back to the pictures. Manicured gardens. Springtime. Amen.

And um. If it's a little quiet around here, it's because the end of the school year just might kill me. So much to do, so little time, such crazy fifth graders.

An extremely low-key birthday note to my husband

Sam's a low-key birthday kind of guy.

Here's how the conversation went:

"What do you want to do for your birthday?"
"Nothing really. Go to school, go to work, come home."
"Birthday party?"
"No."
"Surprise birthday party?"
"No."
"Birthday banner?"
"No."
"Birthday cake?"
"No."


I guess Sam's mature and grown up, or something (must look into that), so our day will be fairly low-key. But nothing's stopping me from writing a birthday note across our bathroom mirror in dry erase marker (as often happens here in the lovenest), or taking him out to dinner tonight. I even talked him into some milkshakes as an acceptable no-cake compromise. And presents, whether he likes them or not! Because no birthday should be without presents.


So here's to the talented, focused, hard-working, playful and loving man I first fell in love with a few years ago. It's so great to be a team with him. A lot has changed with him this last semester (this blog is my story, not his, so I haven't said anything, but I would like to share it someday), and I'm really proud of him. He's so much more satisfied with his career and purpose now, and it's a great, comforting feeling in our everyday routines.

P.S. You know those instagram magnets I made? Sam recently informed me that literally 50% of the pictures of him are him wearing a swimsuit. To which I replied "yes sir. you know."

P.P.S. This is as good a time as any to mention I'm officially rehired for my same spot next year! I'm a intern this year, so that doesn't happen often. I'm so excited to be in my same grade, same school next year. It's the dream team, and I'm feeling incredibly blessed.

Happy birthday Sam!

recreating the picture: 24 years later

The second I saw the picture, I knew. We had to recreate it.

My dad graduated with his masters degree from BYU in 1989. This is a picture of him and my mom at graduation (she had one child and I was a tiny secret in her belly).

So this weekend, at graduation, we tried to recreate the picture. Basically the same place, same angle, same pose, but years apart.

I love looking at this and comparing all the little details. What we're wearing, the people in the background, the quality of the picture (I edited mine to have a slight vignette effect). And I can't help but wonder if I'll have a child one day that recreates this picture. What they'll look like, their clothes, the people in the background, and how awesome photography will be then.

What do you think? 

Have you ever recreated a picture?
Would you ever?

our cabin getaway

Fact: I'm on spring break, and Sam isn't. This is a problem because (fact:) I'm so impatient, and want everyone to party with me when I'm partying, work with me when I'm working. The compromise: we couldn't get away to St. George or any other equally warm destination, but Sam was able to spare a few hours from Monday night to Tuesday morning.

We spent the night at my favorite cabin in Hobble Creek. It's beautiful, and I have so many memories spending summers there. When we pulled in, a raggedy yearling was staring at us, and he hung out near the cabin the whole night and into the next morning.

Sam built a fire, we had dinner, and we cuddled in a mountain of blankets known as the original lovenest. The next morning it was rainy (yesssss), so we stayed in bed and listened to the sound of the rain on the roof for a few seconds minutes hours. When it stopped, we ventured outside (with a hat on to not get wet - what kind of Oregonian am I?), smelled that after-rain smell and looked for our deer.

And then, wham-bam, we got Sam back to campus in time for his afternoon classes.


Gushy but semi-important side note: On the first of April 2011, Sam got down on one knee on that unusually warm evening and engaged me. On the first of April 2013, he put on his power tie and got hired for a job that he's excited about. Our night at the cabin was a double celebration. I'm proud of that crazy guy who closes his eyes during pictures and builds awesome fires.

What's your ideal getaway?

Hawaii would be nice, but we sure loved the cabin .

a love note, as is only proper

I love the model stadiums you build.

I love your confused face when I wake you up to say goodbye in the mornings.

I love when we look at each other over Jason's head during church and you give me that half smile.

I love how you tuck me in at night.

I love how you run errands and do chores for me and don't expect any praise for it (I'll get there one day.).

I love how you hate bell peppers as much as I love them.

I love when it takes an hour and a half to go to sleep because we're too busy talking and dreaming and cracking each other up.

I love seeing you interact with Jason.

I love how you won't get out of bed on a Saturday without a back rub.

I love how you hold my hand and give me hugs and kisses, even in public.

I love that heart of gold I first started falling for two years ago. I love your priorities and your goals and your faith and most of all, I love the way you love me.

To lovers and future lovers and dog-lovers and blog-lovers everywhere: Happy Valentine's Day!
Let's not celebrate the gifts or flowers as much, but just plain and simple love and how happy love makes us.

how we really are

Ours was a last-minute photo shoot. We weren't decided that Sam would come until a few minutes before, and then it was a mad dash to grab coats and blankets on the way out the door. Poor Sam is still getting over that blasted cold, so after about five minutes of pictures he was coughing and needed to go back inside.

That's what I love most about these pictures. They weren't planned in advance, with coordinating outfits and pinteresty props. It's just how we are, on a regular old Saturday, when we dash out into the cold for five minutes. Too often I get focused on those picture-perfect shots, but that's not really who we are. We're really just like this - with no matching to speak of and squinting in the sun. And that's why I love these.

Yup, I like this kid. More pictures to come :)

What do you think? Pros and cons of planned photo shoots?

Are your favorite pics planned or spontaneous?

Photo credit: K

Husband

grows a beard during the breaks, and I think it's sexy.

And I'm stuck in bed with the most terrible of head colds, so that's all I have to say about that.

recreating dates

Two years ago, we were sitting across the table from each other sipping mint hot chocolate. 

It was cold outside, and I warmed my hands with the cup as we drank.

I had this distinct thought that he was going to be one of my best friends. It was disarming. We had only known each other for a few months, and besides one shared slow dance, we hadn't spent much time together.

~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, we again sat across from each other sipping mint hot chocolate and warming our hands. We went to the temple beforehand, and spent a lot of time sitting and talking. We're in the middle of making huge life plans, plans that involve grad school and teaching and babies. It's been a crazy, amazing two years. I never thought the man across the table would be that best friend of mine who builds models of football stadiums and doesn't get out of bed on Saturdays without a back scratch.

Recreating our first date is a tradition we love.

Do you ever recreate dates?

Which ones?

our little family photo shoot

In the end, I decided not to pair mustard with navy blue because, well, everyone pairs mustard with navy blue. I went for purple instead, and a multi-colored floral shirt. It's fall, but in a fresh new way.

Also, let me just give a public shout-out to my husband for a second. Taking pictures isn't his most favorite, but he does it anyway, for me, because he is the best {and he ends up having a good time anyway, the silly kid}. 

Thanks again Kirsten! 

P.S. We also went with the Gringeri's, 

so check out their pictures too.