tonight

tonight my whole family is getting together. my whole family.

my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, niece, husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and all of my brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.

and i am 1,800 miles away.

at least i have my dog.

five-sies

tannon has always loved doing things with his hands. he's definitely more crafty than i am.

the other day he surprised me with five darling onesie's that he drew.

i'm trying to convince him to open up an etsy shop :)

she wears a redsox's cap

i have a bucket list. on that bucket list was to visit boston. scratch that off.

we found really cheap tickets and couldn't pass up the opportunity. we had to adjust tannon's school schedule a bit, finagle flight changes, and still weren't sure if we were going to make it on our flight, even the morning of. fortunately, tannon was able to take his test in record time {i hope he passed} and we raced to the airport and made it.

we had such a great time. we got there pretty late on thursday night, so we just walked around by our hotel and ate dinner at maggiono's.

friday, we rented a car and drove the the temple. it was so beautiful and had a great time talking to the temple workers {for like an hour - i think they were lonely}.

after the temple, we drove to cape cod. i loved it here. it was so beautiful. we were able to see the ocean - too bad it was freezing. we ate at a local sports bar and their new england clam chowder was amazing!

saturday was spent walking most of the freedom trail, where we saw paul revere's house, the boston massacre site, the cemetery where john hancock, samuel adams, and the boston massacre victims were buried.

later that day, we made our way to salem, ma. this was such a quiet, quaint little town, i loved it there. we were able to learn more about the salem witch trials and walk around a bit.

after salem, we decided to check out the harvard campus. there were amazing buildings there and the campus was gorgeous.

it was a really short trip, but it was so nice to spend uninterrupted time with tannon. i absolutely loved this old, unique city that is rich with history.

mother's intuition?

i passed the first test.

it's a

love day

we had such a wonderful valentine's day this year. since i've been awful at writing in my journal lately, i'm hoping this blog can help me remember some details that would otherwise be lost.

i think a lot of the fun of valentine's is planning and doing things for tannon. usually i'm not this ambitious, but i wanted to make this year somewhat special. i think i had more fun than he did.

**this was the most corny v~day yet, so if you can't take it, please stop reading.**

i wanted to type up how we met/our love story from my perspective and give it to tannon. he already knows it, but it's so fun to re-live those memories every once in a while. since our first date happened to be February 14, 2003, i figured it was only appropriate. i typed it up as a "story" format. a lot of the details are fuzzy in my head, so i had to make do and embellish them a little. it makes for a better story, right?

i slipped the 5 page essay into his backpack so that he wouldn't read it until he was at school.

that night, we decided to steal our friends' tradition and make a heart-shaped pizza. i love pizza.




i had mentioned the night before that i was craving vanilla ice cream, so he surprised me with homemade vanilla ice cream.


after we ate, i busted out my cheesiness.

i had 4 small gifts for him, but in order for him to open them, he had to do something first. each gift was accompanied with a corny poem.

i won't bore you {or gross you out} with the rest of the gifts/poems, but i have to say it was the most memorable/fun valentine's day since our first date.

i love being in love.

love week: things i love

i love having things to look forward to. this is especially critical during the late winter. it keeps me going.

feb. 14 ~ v-day

feb. 24 ~ confirm munchkin is indeed a boy

march 3 ~ quick boston trip

april 22 ~ sissy & family come visit

* * * * * *

i love a great book. this month's book is the book thief. i have heard such wonderful things about it, but after reading the summary, i'm not so sure. i really hope i like it. i'm desperate for a book i don't want to put down.

* * * * * *

sugar cookies. they scream valentine's to me. i don't make them over the holidays, but you better believe i make them every february.

* * * * * *

enya. i could listen to her at any time throughout the year. her music is inspiring and invigorating.

* * * * * *

mac & cheese. the character kind. i had to save the best for last.

the birthday boy

for tannon's birthday, his brother & his wife gave him 2 tickets to go to a concert. tannon & i are kind of "over" concerts, since they are usually expensive, crowded, and most the concerts we attend are general admission. my back usually starts hurting if i stand at concerts for more than 30 minutes. i'm an old lady, i know.

neither of us had heard of this singer, so we didn't quite know what to expect. the concert was last night and it. was. awesome.

it was at club cafe on the southside and the setting couldn't have been more perfect. we walked in about 30 minutes before the show was scheduled to start and they had little tables set up. we sat down and there was a menu, so we ordered dinner. during the concert, a little waitress would come around to refill your drink or you could order anything at anytime.

the place probably only seats 60 people MAX. no one stood up. my back didn't hurt. my stomach was fed. my man by my side. it was a perfect evening.

and the best part was that it was a smoke-free club.

the opening band was a local band called the wreckids. they are a darling husband & wife who are acoustic and hilarious.

then david berkeley. he is also acoustic. i LOVE his voice. he is very talented. i guess there were supposed to be 2 others there with him, but they didn't get on a flight due to the storm, so it was just him.

here is a clip {not from last night}, if you're interested. i always love finding new music.



brinton & caitlin - thank you for the perfect gift.