yum-o

I surprised Dameon on Sunday night with carry-out dessert from the Olive Garden. We sat in front of the fire and savored the taste of White Chocolate Raspberry cheesecake, Lemon Creamcake, and Italian Donuts dipped in chocolate. It was divine.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends, family, and thousands of blog readers across the nation.

Ahem.

Dameon planned a great little night out for us last night, which included several of my favorite things. He told me to be ready at 5:00, and began by surprising me with the beautiful flowers pictured above and a very thoughtful card. I love to be surprised, so I insisted he not let on about where we were headed. We arrived at the movie theater in Cedar Falls just in time for the 5:30 showing of "Valentine's Day." Dameon had purchased our tickets online, so we already had the print-out of them in hand. Therefore, when we saw the ticket line snaking past the door, we just excused ourselves and passed by everyone. Why stand in a ticket line when you already have tickets? Turns out there's not a designated employee who actually takes tickets, so I guess we kinda snuck in??? The movie had some cute parts and a few unexpected twists, but overall I'd give it a C+. Seems like there are so many parts they could just leave out...ya know? Anyway, the best part was during more "serious" part of the movie. The theater was completely silent when all of the sudden somebody in row 8 ripped one. Dameon and I laughed that kind of laugh where you try to stifle it so hard that little squeaky gasps just come out. It was great.

Right after the movie, we headed for a restaurant in downtown Cedar Falls that's a fancy Italian-type place. We learned that it was a bit too fancy for our taste, but still had fun enjoying each other's company. It's so great when you share the same sense of humor. :) We decided to forget about "the diet" for the night and topped of our meals with a yummy piece of Tiramisu (2 forks). We came back home, snuggled up on the couch, and enjoyed a little TV time. I gave Dameon some chocolate and a Starbucks card, so we dug into those a little bit too. I have a little something planned for tonight, too, but I'll have to reveal it in tomorrow's post. Dameon loves to hate surprises, so I enjoy keeping him in suspense.

Winter Meltdown

It's true, Dameon and I have finally made a real commitment to losing weight, getting in shape, and getting healthy. We had started talking a couple months ago about researching the possibility of joining a gym. After viewing pictures of ourselves taken over Christmas break, we decided it was no longer just optional. I've never been one who has had to put real effort into working out or eating healthy, but I started to gain some weight after I graduated from college and then really packed on the pounds after we got married. I was fearful about making this total lifestyle change, but I knew Dameon would be extremely encouraging through the process and we could help keep each other accountable. I also knew that Dameon's pounds would melt off a lot more quickly than mine, so I was ready to work on not getting discouraged.
We joined a gym that is super close to our house and is open 24-7 so...NO EXCUSES! We joined at the very end of December and did three sessions with a trainer so we could figure out a routine that would really work for us to reach our goals and also clue me in a little bit on how to actually use weights and machines and stuff.
I quickly realized that there are a lot of "beginner-level" type of excercisers at this place, so I didn't feel too intimidated. And, I've managed to not do anything too dumb/embarrassing. Well, except for that one time. On this particular Thursday, I had dressed myself to endure the negative 30 degree walk in and out of the gym but forgot to consider the actual attire I would typically prefer during the workout. Therefore, I soon found myself running on the treadmill sporting a long-sleeved t-shirt, a fleece sweatshirt, and a regular bra. About 4 minutes in, both of my bra straps had fallen down and I was sweating so much that...well...things just weren't going well. I didn't want to "break my stride" so I figured I could just stealthily maneuver my arms in such a way that my straps would return to their correct position. In the process, I inadvertently hit the Emergency Stop button on the treadmill and about barreled right over the front of thing. Yep, you guessed it. Stride broken.
Anyway, Dameon has already lost 13 pounds and the scale is slowly but surely shifting in my direction! We are learning to choose healthier food options on a daily basis and dramatically decrease our portion sizes. I had originally suggested to Dameon that we get in our swimsuits and take "before" pictures, but he told me he wasn't such a fan of my idea. Oh well. Hopefully by the time swimsuit season rolls around, we'll be ready for some snapshots. :)

my friends call me whiskers

Never underestimate the curiousity of a five-year-old. On Friday as I was holding the classroom door open and greeting my students, I noticed two of my little girls barreling down the hallway and bee-lining straight for me. The one on the left's eyes were popping out of her head and the one on the right had about 5 or 6 kleenex sticking out of her mouth. As they got closer, I could see the kleenex had turned a slight pinkish color. My suspicions were confirmed when girl on the left blurted out, "Mrs. Place, Janey licked the bus!!" Just another day in the life...

preparations

Ever since the first day we laid eyes on this house we have been saying, "This is a great Christmas house!" We have been greatly looking forward to Christmas decorations, music, and baking. We've been debating the past few weeks about what type of Christmas tree upgrade needed to happen this year. The tree we so fondly refer to as the Charlie Brown has served us well for the past three Christmases but this year it just wouldn't do. After much discussion, we decided a live tree would be best. On Sunday afternoon we piled (all three of us) into the Honda to head over to Earl May and make the important decision. It seemed that Dameon went in with a sort of "bigger is better" mentality, but I was a bit worried about this game plan. I think I mentioned several times how much "bigger the tree will look once it's inside the house." Nonetheless, he spotted the most perfect Fraser Fir! I wasn't much help as we loaded and unloaded her because I was distracted by the discovery that Rufus had eaten approx. 8 powdered donuts in the front seat while we had gone inside to pay. Thankfully, Dameon's a he-man and could lift the tree over one shoulder. And Rufus's pancreas is now recovering.

We spent the evening unpacking Christmas decorations, trimming the tree, listening to Christmas music, and taking in the refreshing scent of a real pine. The decorating is by no means finished, but we're well on our way to a winter wonderland!

Christmastime is here again

After much anticipation, we broke out the Christmas music on Thursday. We will now listen to it non-stop until the new year. Hooray! We try to add one new album to the collection each year. This year our new addition has quickly become one of our all-time favorites. I highly recommend this one from Sara Groves entitled, "O Holy Night." It's the perfect mix of old classics and her original stuff. Plus she adds her own very tasteful spin on everything. We picked it up at Family Christian Store for the low price of $9.99. Go get your copy asap!

Life Lately

I'm WAY overdue on posting but I couldn't think of any one topic to highlight. This will, instead, be a compilation of random recent happenings in our life.

1.) I was reminded, once again, that I married a true handyman. Dameon single-handedly installed a dishwasher in our kitchen (including plumbing and electrical work) in one weekend. It is SUCH a luxury since being without one since...well...2006.

2.) Marching band season has come to a close since my last post. It was a very successful competition season and exciting to watch the band progress so much so quickly! These days we are adjusting to a more "normal" pace. Instead of being gone every weeknight, Dameon is only gone on Wednesday nights for grad school at UNI.

3.) Jumping right into drill-writing/marching band season shortly after we moved resulted in us basically unpacking our necessities and shoving everything else in the storage space. Now we are enjoying really making our house a home. Last weekend we spent some time at Lowe's picking out a new area rug for the living room and paint for the master bedroom and living room. I'll post before and after pictures as soon as the painting projects are finished.

4.) On Sunday we made a big purchase. We had tossed around the idea of upgrading from a Queen-sized bed for quite awhile. We stumbled upon a price we couldn't refuse and are now the official owners of a King-sized bed. Life is good!!

5.) My job is getting more managable day by day. I just finished my first round of report cards and I'm now gearing up for Parent/Teacher conferences later this week.

6.) We have been enjoying the nice fall weather (when it's not raining) and have learned that our neighborhood is full of BEAUTIFUL fall-colored trees. We also learned that the trees we are so thankful for in the summer create a major amount of raking when the season changes. Good thing my husband has big muscles...and good thing I'm an expert supervisor.

7.) We've been fortunate to spend some good quality time with our families lately. In mid-October I spend the weekend back at my parents' house. We traveled to Dameon's marching band competition that Saturday and then the four of us went to dinner and to "Wicked" on Sunday. So great! This past Friday night we met up with Dameon's dad and step-mom at Mesquawki Casino for the seafood buffet. We came up with the idea a few weeks prior when it came up in conversation that I had never eaten crab legs. This buffet serves king crab legs, so we thought it would be a good adventure. I learned that I don't like crab legs, but it was still a fun time. Then we made our annual journey to a haunted house. This year's selection was just a bit two scary for us women, so the rough and tough men went without us. I like to think they clung to each other and screamed like little girls the whole way. :)

8.) Have to add a couple of things I've been thankful for today...
First: We heard a great message in church this morning. Great because it made us feel "uncomfortably convicted." The pastor was speaking about a passage in Matthew when Jesus is telling his followers that (in summary) many of them/us will walk with Jesus, do good works, claim Jesus as our Savior, and even proclaim Him to others but FEW will pass through the narrow gate into heaven. Why? Because many leave out the relationship part. The pastor said something that really struck me toward the end of his message. I think it went something like, "There's a difference between knowing ABOUT Jesus and KNOWING Jesus. There's also a difference between having conversations with Him and having a relationship with Him." Hmmm...great truths to reflect on and act on.
Second: Dameon did something so great for me today. Many of you may not know, but when it comes right down to it, Dameon is a much better housekeeper than I am. I know, I know, how could this guy get any better?!?! He is more detail-oriented when it comes to cleaning and he also has this whole turbo-speed thing that I've really never been able to grasp in any area of my life. Anyway, I left around noon today to run a couple errands and go to the mall to do a little shopping for a few new items to add to my fall wardrobe. When I got home I found a clean kitchen, clean bathtub, clean living room, clean dining room, and clean family room. WOW. It means so much to me that he took time to serve me in this way when I am completely undeserving and completely guilty of laying around all day yesterday when I could have (and should have) been cleaning. Love that guy. Love, Love, Love him.