Lucky Seven

I couldn't believe she would marry me....

Now I can't believe she has stayed with me for seven years.

I love you Jessica! You are the love of my life.

Happy Anniversary Baby!

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

The Good
Last night Tay and I were looking through paint swatches. She was trying to convince me that Jess was crazy not to let her paint her room blue. As I was thumbing through the swatches, she was climbing all over me and kept putting her arms around my neck and squeezing a bit too hard. "Tay, why do you have to hang all over me?"

"Daddy, I haven't seen you all day".


The Bad
Waking up this morning when the alarm went off at 5am. My whole body was sore from working out. It was still dark outside. And cold. I just wanted to take a day off and spend the next few hours under the covers.


The Ugly
Everyone that knows Jess really well (namely, me, Tay, Rylee, and Jayson) knows how much she likes to pick at skin blemishes. She often makes small blemishes worse (and bigger, and sometimes bloody). Her favorite thing to do is to pop our zits. Especially mine. Especially the ones on my scalp that pop loudly. I tolerate it because it makes her happy---and sometimes it helps me out.

Last night I had one on the inside of one of my nostrils. It has been getting more and more painful for the past few days. It's the kind that makes your eyes water when you try to pop it. I couldn't get my fat fingers in there to pop it, so I turned to Jess. She made me let her search for face and scalp zits first (picture a monkey picking through the fur of it's branch-mate). She wasn't that excited to help me out because of the location. She made me clean the nostril thoroughly before she attempted.

She squeezed so hard, I thought my head was going to explode.
"Did you get it?" I said through watering eyes.
"No"
She squeezed again.
"Did you get it?" Tears were streaming down my face.
"No"
She tried one more time.
Then she got up and walked away.
"Did you get it?" My face felt like it was going to burst.
"Nope. I just threw up in my mouth."

Guess I'm on my own for the nostril zits in the future. And my nose hurts worse than ever.

Red over Blue

No, I haven't denounced the BYU Cougars after their beat-down at the hands of TCU. I still bleed blue. And I'm still cheering against Utah.

However, I am mighty proud of my red-ribbon chili. Took second at the Major Meadows Ward Soup and Chili cookoff. It doesn't matter to me that there weren't as many chili entries as in years past. And it doesn't matter to me that I didn't win the blue-ribbon (well, mostly doesn't matter). After all, I lost to Marlow Palmer--who has won the chili cookoff about four or five years running. He won again by a landslide. Come to think of it, that's why there were more soup entries this year. People are switch-hitting. Marlow's too tough.

Mine was a three bean, four meat chili. Mine looked and tasted more like chili than his. Although his tasted waaaaay better. Kind of like a savory meat soup. Yep--the judges were meat lovers.
The worst part is, by the time I got a chance to even taste his, I had to scrape the sides of the dutch oven. I ended up with only two spoonfuls of pure meat-lover heaven.

Next year I'm going for blue. I've got Marlow in my sites. We may not be living in the boundaries by then, but I still figure I could cook up a batch of something tasty and have someone submit it for me. One thing's for sure--it better be meat-based if I'm gonna beat Marlow and his trusty ol' dutch oven. I also may have to start basting and tenderizing on Monday for the Saturday contest. (I heard Marlow started on Tuesday).

I was feeling really good about my chili when we got home after the contest. Jess didn't even get to eat anything all night because she was too busy hosting the party as our Ward Activities Committee Chair Person. Shout out to Jess for a fabulous job!!! She said she hadn't eaten anything all day and was starving. Says she forgot to eat (wish I had her memory). So I offered her my award winning chili. There was enough left for one bowl.
She said it was "delicious". She made my night.

Later on I went to the kitchen to do the dishes and soak my crockpot. There was Jess' bowl of my red-ribbon chili.
Sitting in the sink.
Still full of chili.
Must've really been one "delicious" bite.

Blog-cation

So I have been on a little Blog-cation of sorts.
Not because I've been extraordinarily busy or anything.
Not because I don't have plenty of meaningless things to say (Jess, kids and coworkers can attest to that).
I guess I've kinda forgotten about my blog for the past ten days.
Remembered about it this morning.
I'm not planning on catching up. Just gonna pick things up from here.