Little Bear

October 17th

Almost two years ago, October 17th, 2008, I met the love of my eternities.

We were introduced by his sister, Shayla. She said the moment that I told her I was being baptized into The Church she knew I would be her sister-in-law. She didn't tell Jordan or myself this little fact until it was almost our wedding day. Jordan was actually going to come to my baptism. He decided not to because a girl he had taken out on a date once was going to be riding with Shayla.
Both Jordan and I have reminisced that when Shayla mentioned to me she had a brother, my heart fluttered and so did his when she mentioned me to him (yes, that cheesy movie-heart-flutter). I was excited to meet him, but was also dating someone else. He knew this, and decided to wait. Shayla left NML but we kept in touch and finally, Jordan decided to call me. The first time he called I believe we talked for about an hour. I am not sure about what...I was cleaning the house, but I do remember that I loved his voice.

Friday, October 17th, he picked me up for our first date. I was talking to BM on messenger and doing the anxious girl thing, wondering if he would be as attractive as his voice was, running back and forth to the bathroom to make sure my make-up was perfect and he was driving to my house wondering if I was going to walk out of the house reading my scriptures (I was still a recent convert). We were both pleasantly surprised.

I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with his car. He looked so handsome. I was kind of nervous and wondering how I was ever going to impress him.

We had dinner at PF Chang's. It was a great dinner. Although, he was shy and I may have mistaken that for arrogance. I tried to teach him how to use the chopsticks. Of all his talents, to this day, eating with chopsticks is not one of them. We then went and saw the best. movie. ever. Eagle Eye.

It was actually pretty horrible, and the whole movie I was wondering why he wasn't holding my hand. In fact, he was on the far side of his seat away from me. I thought I had blown it.

After the movie we went to Goody's and I had my first Chocolate Coke. I wasn't too big of a fan. We went back to my house and sat talking on the couch until 2:00am. He was warming up and I thought, if he was staying this late, he must kind of like me. Well, there was no kiss goodnight. But he wanted to go shooting the next day. Shayla later told me he had a thing for girls with guns...

As soon as I woke up the next morning, he texted me and asked if we were still going shooting. We went shooting and he was the first guy to out-shoot me. (I even texted Warren to tell him the news.) The sun was perfect, there was a very slight breeze, I looked good and was chewing gum, he looked good and was chewing gum, but he didn't even try to kiss me. When we got in the truck I finally stated "I really wanted to kiss you." He in turn stated that he did too. We drove awkwardly to JBX to get a little food before heading downtown to people watch. Right before we were about to start eating, he said that we should probably kiss before we start eating our food. Great! So we sat there for a few more awkward minutes and then finally, kissed! He told me that he hadn't kissed anyone since his mission; I later found out that I was his first kiss. He had been waiting to kiss the girl he knew would be his wife.

After that, I was all his! We were married 5 months and 4 days later. Since we met, those two years ago, the only time we have spent apart willingly was one day. The day after our first kiss. Other than that, the only time we've spent apart is when he's had to travel for work.

I am so happy to have met and married my best friend. I can't ever spend enough time with him and he's given me a beautiful baby boy. He is such a righteous man. One that lovingly provides for our family, gives the best advice and is an example to others of how to live a worthy life. He is the most non-judgmental person I've ever met and that means a lot to a convert.

Jordy Jr & Tummy Time

I think Cedrik is a little younger in this picture. Cedrik wouldn't smile for the camera, but minus the chin and lighter eyebrows, it is Steven Porter Junior! You can't tell here, but they even have the same color hair!!!

Tummy Time:

 

Cedrik and Taycee's Growing Battle

Cedrik is about two months younger than Taycee....and maybe a half inch shorter.

Strombolis

If you are sick of seeing food, tell me and I'll stop posting about it.

This one, though, is worth the post. I couldn't figure out if these were calzones or strombolis. Looking online, it doesn't seem like anyone else knows the difference either. If YOU know the difference, please let me know! I call them strombolis, because I've had calzones and strombolis and only strombolis have ever had the option to add cream cheese...at least at the restaurant's I've been to. And if there is any food that you can add cream cheese to, the answer is always YES.

My stromboli had cream cheese, mozzarella, pepperoni and pineapple. Jordan's had pepperoni, olives, mushrooms cream cheese and mozzarella. We dipped ours in warmed up pizza sauce. I even made the dough from scratch!

Here is my stromboli....basically the best thing I ever made.

Shayla's 24 Hour Adventure

Shayla came and visited us last week. She was in town for twenty-four hours for a court hearing to move her kids to Arizona, where they now live. She ended up getting sole custody...a great victory! While she was here, we got bagels at Blue Sky, had burgers and fries from West Side Drive-In, Chocolate Cokes & chocolates from Goody's AND chips and salsa from Pollo Rey. Did I mention that we ate all of that within about a 4 hour period?

Her's (and our) favorite thing to do is people watch. That's when we headed to Pollo Rey. We also went out to Eagle, trying to tempt her into moving back here...but to no avail. She and David bought a gorgeous house in Arizona and she's already asking when we'll come to visit. Jordan says, "Hopefully never." He doesn't want to relive the scorpions and cockroaches that he had to experience while on his mission.

(The tired eyes are from staying up late talking and waking up too early!)

Singer

And no, I'm not talking about my singing capabilities (which are good, but you'll be waiting for my 'Singing in the MoTab' post for a few years).

Jordan had asked me awhile ago if I wanted a sewing machine. I have been complaining for, well, since we've been married about the immodesty of the clothes at the department stores. I can never find cute skirts that are long enough and it is even harder to justify spending $80 on a dress when we need it for food! So, this weekend while we were down in Utah, Jordan started asking his mom about her sewing machine. He started doing research, because he decided that it was the best one on the market and found out that it basically is the best one out there. Singer even says it is the best machine they've ever made. It was the last all metal machine made--no belt. They last forever, and if it does have a part that goes bad, it is inexpensive to replace.

The next obstacle, finding one in our price range: IMPOSSIBLE. The model that Jordan was looking for sells for $300-600; these are the ones not in a cabinet. So, we thought we'd be waiting until our 20 year anniversary. But my husband is VERY persistent. He went on craiglsist and found one for $75 dollars. We couldn't believe it. It is in basically perfect condition (As perfect as you can get for a 50 yr old sewing machine). It has all of the accessories and cams. We couldn't pass it up. He spent all day yesterday shining and oiling it. It looks brand new!--In a very retro but totally cool retro kind of way.

My first project will be Cedrik's Christmas stocking. Then we'll move on to skirts, maybe a dress and then shirts. I have a feeling that they won't be pretty the first time around, but hopefully someday something I sew will be wearable.

This machine can do it all, sew through leather, denim and make button holes!

Intoducing my Singer Slant-O-Matic 500A Sewing machine!

Lemon Chicken with Arugula and Spinach

Yummm...I didn't quite follow Bobby Flays recipe. Well, the only thing I followed was using lemon and chicken. I added a few other things to this, including some left over feta cheese we had from our Greek hamburgers--dang good too as well as balsamic vinegar.