Valentines and Some Other Stuff

I know it's a bit after the fact here but I wanted to share about Valentine's Day (I figure as long as it's still February I'm not too late to blog about it right?) and a little of what else we've been up to. Brandt and I have never been big on celebrating Valentine's Day - mainly due to lack of motivation on both our parts but also because we're so busy and it's never been a big deal to us. Of course I'll get flowers and we may go out to dinner, but that is usually the extent of our festivities. But this year, we ended up celebrating all weekend! Not necessarily celebrating v-day, but the holiday gave us an excuse to go out and party :) So on Friday night we drove up to Idaho Falls and went to the temple and then out to Olive Garden. We had the best server I think I've ever had. Not only was everything PIPING hot, but she brought us fresh breadsticks every 5-10 minutes and told us to take the cold ones home with our leftovers! Amazing I know! They're usually stingy when it comes to breadsticks but she was awesome. The next night, Saturday, we went to "Valentines Day" which we both thought was hilarious. Sunday we didn't do much (I think Brandt had to work that day), but on Monday he surprised me with a gift!

I've been wanting a full-length mirror ever since we moved into this apartment (basically since we got married) and of course rather than buy one, Brandt decides to build it instead! I think it turned out great; he even painted little daisies to make it girly. Awwww...and now look what I got him:

Cake! Yes, lame I know, but like I said, I wasn't expecting to get anything that cool, but at the same time, Brandt loves desserts, so I think it was perfect for him...and he was kind enough to share it with me :) It's good cake too, a recipe I got from one of my roommates a few years ago. Raspberry Dessert = Yum!

Did anyone else feel like the month of February just flew by? We sure did. We've just been chuggin' along, nothing too exciting. Brandt has just three weeks left in his semester before he'll be done until fall. It's been challenging for him juggling a full load crammed into a shorter semester along with working full time, but he has made it work and has really enjoyed all of his classes. As for me, I was lucky enough to find another maternity leave position right here in Poky, so I've been doing that full-time since the first of the month. And the best part is...it's only two minutes away from our apartment! I love not having to commute! As for a more permanent fix, Brandt and I have some big decisions to make with some work opportunities that have recently presented themselves, but I'll save that for another day. Suffice it to say that our life has been a bit of a roller coaster lately, but more on that later.

So basically Brandt has been super busy, and me...not so much. Last weekend Brandt had to work every day and I had an extra day off. I spent one day deep cleaning our tiny apartment and then found myself with nothing to do for the next three days (Brandt said I should have spread my cleaning out a bit more...not so smart on my part I guess). So I picked up and went to Bur-town to find some people to hang out with. Mostly they were all too busy to hang out with me ;) but I did go to dinner with Mom and Syd, and my mom did go to a movie with me - (we saw "Dear John" - and I wasn't that impressed, but it was fun looking at Channing Tatum for two hours :) Rex (the family lab) was sure excited to see me though! This is a pic of what he decided he wanted to play "fetch" and "keep away" with:


He cracks me up :) Anyway, that's it for now. I'll post the scoop of what's next for us as soon as we figure out what that is. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later!

Book Review: Cold Mountain

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Cold Mountain
By Charles Frazier

This one took me the whole month of February to tackle; needless to say it didn't keep my attention as well as I would have liked. It was one of those books that while I was reading, I enjoyed the story, but at the same time I was fine with putting it down and letting it sit for a few days before picking it up again.

In a nutshell, this is a story set in the Civil War about a soldier who is wounded and decides to walk back home to the woman he loves. At the same time, it is about the girl back at home and how she struggles to survive with the changes brought on by her father's death and the hardships the war has brought. The book interweaves their separate stories, alternating every chapter.

Like I said, overall I enjoyed the book - it was almost like each chapter was its own short story which was fun; but for how popular this book was I expected more from it. I wish the movie wasn't rated R so I could see that interpretation of it. I wasn't a big fan of the ending either - wasn't very satisfying for me; but maybe after it sits with me for a few days I'll appreciate it more.

Up Next: The Hearts of the Children series by Dean Hughes

Good Song

Hey all! I wasn't expecting such a response from the last post - I didn't figure we were that exciting, but it was fun reading all of your comments. Thanks for the love folks :)

I just wanted to quickly post a music video that I love! Have you heard this one yet? It's a remake of Michael Jackson's and Lionel Ritchie's "We are the World" from 1985. It is the 25th anniversary of the song and so they decided to remake it in hopes to raise money for Haiti. I am a fan of the original and was skeptical at first about the project, but I love it! Here, watch:



Gives me goosies! The two clips with Michael Jackson just broke my heart; I so wish he could have been apart of this, but I'm glad that they included him the way that they did. They did a great job of modernizing the song, but remaining true to it. I also loved the rap verse addition towards the end written by Will.I.Am. I liked how they included so many uniquely talented people - I think everyone that contributed brought their own unique voice to the song and whomever was responsible for putting all of the pieces together did an awesome job. Who would have thought that Celine Dion and Barbara Streisand would work together with Snoop Dogg and Lil' Wayne?! Definitely not me :) But it sounds great. What do you think?

Celebrating 50 Posts!

We made it to 50 posts without giving up on this thing! Granted, a good portion of them are book reviews, which don't really count...but we're celebrating anyway! To commemorate the occasion, here is post #51: I thought we'd post 50 random and little-known facts about us: 25 for me and 25 for Brandt. That way, you loyal readers (I know we got a few of you out there :) can get to know us better! Have fun!

Danielle's 25 Random Facts:

1. I flip through magazines backwards. I don't mean to, I just always seem to flip to the back and work my way forward.
2. Answering the phone makes me nervous.
3. I could have Jamba Juice and Subway every day and never get sick of it...YUM! In high school I was a "sandwich artist" at Subway and we got a free 6" every time we worked = best job EVER!
   
4. "One Tree Hill" is a weakness of mine. I know it's bad. Don't judge me.
5. I like rap music. I know it's bad. Don't judge me...again.
   
6. I hardly ever cry. Maybe two or three times a year. Usually when I do cry it's for stupid things like when dishes break (for some reason this really upsets me - even if they aren't my dishes), when I watch "Fox and the Hound" or other silly movies like that ("Up" was another one that did me in within 5 minutes), or watching "Biggest Loser."
7. The house has to be clean before Brandt and I leave anywhere overnight; I'm always afraid we'll get in an accident and die and people will come clean out our apartment and think we were pigs. It really shouldn't matter though...we'd be dead. But still, I would look down from heaven and cringe. (or up from hell...but I'm hopin' for heaven :)
8. I hate shopping for clothes. My favorite things to buy as far as clothing are socks. I LOVE new socks!
9. One of my regrets in life: I never got to go to a Michael Jackson concert. (Sigh...) Maybe he'll perform in the afterlife...though I'm not sure if you're allowed to grab your groin in heaven...
   
10. My confession: I am a registered dental hygienist...but I don't floss. I'll maybe pull the stuff out a couple of times a month, but that's it. Phew! Glad I got that off my chest :)
11. I was 9 lbs. 2 oz. when I was born. (Read Brandt's #11 below and you'll see why I'm nervous about having kids.)
12. I LOVE dogs and can't wait until we can get one. My problem is I usually want every dog I see - they're all cute...so I can't decide for sure what breed I would get - My favorites at the moment are Beagles, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (pictured at right), German Shepherds, and Mastiffs.
13. My favorite snack is popcorn. One of my favorite things for dinner is a bag of popcorn and Carnation Instant Breakfast (that way I get some good nutrition - right?)
    
14. I LOVE Disney classics - and by classics I mean the ones with music (it seems they don't make them like they used to) My favorites: Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast.
    
15. One of my nicknames as a kid was Grinielle given to me by my Uncle Parley- I guess because I smiled a lot?
16. Thanks to my Great-Uncle George, I can say my ABC's backwards - when we were kids he would give you $1 (a lot of money to me back then!) if you could do it.
17. I hardly ever text - it just takes me too long, so you should feel privileged if you've ever gotten one from me.
18. I hate scary movies.
19. I am somewhat of a perfectionist - but I kind of like that about myself, though sometimes it can be a bad thing. But I think that's partially why I have a good memory - because it's important to me to remember details of what people tell me. It frustrates me when I can't remember something that I know I should remember.
20. I worry way too much about what other people think, although I have gotten a lot better over the years. But after talking to someone I find myself analyzing everything I said and wondering if I was an idiot. If I could go back in time to high school, that would be one of the first things I'd change.
21. My favorite time of day is BEDTIME!
22. I don't eat a lot of sweets - as a kid my Halloween and Easter candy would sit for months and eventually I threw a lot of it away. Brandt is the complete opposite of me, so it is really annoying to me when I am craving chocolate, going into the pantry where the day before I knew there was a bunch of candy, and realizing that Brandt ate it all - so sometimes I hide candy around the house so I can have it whenever I want!
23. I love looking up random things/places/people on the internet and learning about them. I can do this for hours. Thus, I love Wikipedia!
    
24. I hate being in the car; whether I'm the driver or not, I just want to get there as fast as I can and get out. Maybe it's because I'm claustrophobic and it's restricting? Or maybe because our car has a loose bearing and a bad strut so it shakes at high speeds and makes me nervous? I don't know.
    
25. FRIENDS is the best TV show ever!

Brandt's 25 Random Facts:

1. Rihanna is one of my favorite singers. Don't deny it, you can't help but dance when "SOS" comes on.
2. I watch Martha Stewart and like it, but only the cool stuff such as baking and holiday decorating.
3. I love to play sports, but hate watching them. I get bored watching them, all it does is make me want to play again.
   
4. Shuffling cards is not one of my talents. Not even close so don't ask, just hand the cards to Dani.
5. I love root beer and I love vanilla ice cream, but put the two together in a root beer float... bad idea. The combination gives me a wicked headache, almost a motion-sickness type of headache.
6. Skittles make me sweat. Also, true of Starbursts. Can't help it and don't know why, I think it is the tartness.
7. I am dangerously clumsy. I constantly run into stuff, stub my toes, and hit my wife. All accidental I assure you.
   
8. Ice in drinks is annoying. Only if I'm given a straw do I want ice in my drinks, otherwise it just gets in the way. You have to sip your drink, I want to gulp, not sip.
   
9. Rarely will I ever take pain medicine; I like to think it makes me tough, and on the rare occasion that I do it has a much more profound effect.
10. I want to own a ranch someday and breed bulls for rodeos so that I can give them cool names like Bodacious and HotDamn! (Dani wants to name one Bubbles) I already have the motto: If you can't ride 'em...breed 'em!
11. I was over 10 lbs. when I was born. Yes, Dani may be in trouble.
12. I love PBS; Outdoor Idaho is one of my favorite shows, why I didn't realize I wanted to work in land management sooner is beyond me.
13. I have insanely inflexible ankles. No joke, it is sad. You are supposed to only use your flippers when you snorkel or SCUBA dive, I have to use my arms or go nowhere. Partially because of this, I didn't learn how to swim, at least well, until I was almost a teenager. I finally learned you don't have to take a breath every stroke, strange and simple, but this made all the difference.
14. Ditto to Dani's #12. My top pick: Beagle
15. In high school my thing was pirates and Lord of the Rings, I was truly obsessed and occasionally indulge the old habit. I even have a Nazgul cloak that my mom made and I still want a sword.
16. In 9th grade, I purposely failed a reading level exam so that I wouldn't have to read as many books in order to get a good grade. In prior years, my reading level was 13+ (college level). By failing the test, it brought my reading level down to 3rd grade! Thus, I only had to read two Hank, the Cowdog books to reach my goal. My teacher caught me reading The Hunt for Red October and she gave me a quizzical look and asked "isn't that book a little difficult for you?" and I had to lie and say "I'm struggling my way through it." She definitely thought I was a dumb jock. Obviously not! I learned how to beat the system!
    
17. I want to learn how to fly helicopters; every time I see one I stop and stare; I would use one on my ranch.
18. Sharks fascinate me. It is on my life list to cage dive with Great White's off the coast of South Africa in an area aptly named "Shark Alley."
19. My dream car is an Aston Martin. Though even if I could ever afford one I don't know that I would actually buy it, we will have to wait and see.
20. I have a strong "I can build that" attitude if I truly want to. I don't think I could build a car or a house, at least not now. But, if I wanted to I could learn and do so.
    
21. I find an interest in just about everything. At least to some extent, this leads to a pursuit of many hobbies.
    
22. I love holidays, especially Halloween and Christmas, someday I want to open a Mini-golf course and theme it around the various holidays/seasons of the year and decorate like Martha.
23. I swallowed a Lego once. I was old enough to know better but still too young to care.
    
24. Anything with pumpkin is delicious. Cakes, candies, cookies, pies, ice-creams, you name it. I love fall when all this starts coming around again. Mm-mm tasty.
25. I am trying to write a book. There, I said it. Maybe now I will find better motivation to actually write and not just dream and think up ideas.
    

So there you have it! Now you know us a bit better. Was there anything you were surprised by? Or anything we have in common? Hopefully we aren't the only quirky people out there. And here's to 50 more posts!

Book Review: Ford County

Ford County
By John Grisham

If you are a John Grisham fan, then you'll like this one. It is a collection of seven short stories that the author has written over the past several years and collected into one volume. Each story takes place in Ford County and can be read in about an hour, which is kind of fun. I haven't read very many short stories so this was kind of new to me, but I really enjoyed being able to complete a story in one sitting. Definitely recommend this one if you are a Grisham fan.

Next Project: Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
AND any recommendations for a good audiobook?