The happiest day of my life...

October 8, 2005. The happiest day of my life. Can you tell from the picture?...

Sorry it's a little grainy. It looks better if you click on it to enlarge it.

Movie marathon weekend...

Since it was Thanksgiving weekend, and Dean and I both knew that we wouldn't be doing too terribly active because of the crazy amount of turkey that we ate, we figured we'd catch up on all the movies that we've missed...

This was the one movie we went to the theater to see this weekend. We LOVED Enchanted up until the last 15 minutes of it. It just didn't end how we thought it was supposed to. Anyhow, it was cast PERFECTLY. Seriously, every person in that movie was born to play their part. It was adorable, and the princess and her mannerisms were hilarious. Definitely recommend it to anyone.

Dean was dying to see Live Free or Die Hard in the theaters but we never made it to it. So we rented it, and now I'm kicking myself even harder for not having seen it in the theater. It's a total guy-shoot-em-up-and-magically-turn-a-pimento-olive-into-a-nuclear-warhead-at-the-last-second kind of movie, but it was actually pretty good. Dean loved it, and I don't think he blinked more than 4 times throughout the whole movie for fear that he would miss something.

Not as good as Ocean's 11. WAY better than Ocean's 12. It was okay, but we would never pay money to own it.


So cute. I actually fell asleep in the middle of it because I had just eaten, but Dean actually woke me up a couple of times from laughing out loud during it. It's definitely one that we'll buy for our kids someday.

Yuck. Boring. Long. That's all I have to say about it. Dean, on the other hand, loved it. I think it's because he's such a guy, and since it was a true story, he loves to picture himself as the main character in it escaping a prison camp and surviving in the Vietnam jungle for 2 months all the while evading the Vietkong.

Black Friday....

Dean and I decided that we were going to join the throngs of Tryptophan recovering shoppers at the unholy hour of 3:30AM on Black Friday in order to get an extra 48 cents off a 52 inch plasma tv. Well, we weren't really going for the plasma tv, but we were wanting some new pillows for our bed, and possibly some new sheets.

We hit the snooze button on the alarm about 76 times and finally slithered out of bed at 4:15AM. We wanted to get to Kohl's because they had 500 thread count sheets on sale and also these overstuffed pillow for $4 each. Yeah, by the time we got there at 4:30AM the checkout line was wrapped completely around the store and winding through the main aisles. I immediately knew that neither Dean or I were kosher with standing in line for 2 hours just to get 2 pillows and sheets, which they were all out of by the time we got there.

So after moseying around for a little bit and laughing/being annoyed at the pushy grumpy shoppers, we decided to try another couple of stores. We went to Walgreens because I saw this digital keychain that I was dying to get. If I was to get any Christmas present at all, that is what I had wanted. It's an Innovage digital keychain and it holds 60 pictures that you can scroll through or have show at random. I love looking at pictures, and I figured it'd be a good thing to have when I'm bored at seminars or whatnot. Anyways, we went to go buy it at 6AM but apparently the Walgreen's sale didn't begin until 7AM. The keychain was only going to be $10 so we figured we'd come back and get it later on in the day.

So then we headed over to Younker's which is sort of like a Macy's. Just an upscale store. They had lots of good deals going on there and they too had the much coveted keychain but it was going for $20 instead of the regular $50. So we just browsed around there and then decided that we were going to go home and take a nap and then come back out shopping once we woke up.

Big mistake. Seriously, every single thing we had our eyes on that we even remotely wanted was gone by the time we woke up (11AM) and went back out. We went to 4 different Walgreen's looking for the keychain but they had sold out within 2 hours. Younkers was still jam packed and they were out of theirs too. Only the $100 sheet sets were left and there is no way we are paying $100 for sheets while we are students.

We did buy some face lotion that I needed and a couple of buy one get one free makeup things but that was all. Dean was so mad/disappointed that we didn't just stay up and wait until 7AM for the Walgreen's sale because he know how badly I wanted that darn keychain. Oh well, we learned what not to do this year.

It was fun though, and we did have a good time most of the time. I'll bet we even do it again next year.

4:15AM Dean and chelle sleepy faces.

Kohl's in its jam packed glory at 4:30AM

Us about to walk into Kohl's. I love how crazy sleepy Dean's eyes look. And me, well, I just look like a slack jawed nut.

This is the much coveted digital keychain that I desperately wanted, but apparently so did every other person in the tri-state area.

Grateful...

The Turner Clan at dinner. I am so grateful for them

He is such a Turkey-slicin'-stud. I am grateful we had a delicious turkey.

But most of all...

...I am grateful for him.

Dean is everything that is good in my life, and he is more than I ever even knew I needed or wanted. I don't know why I have been blessed with such a wonderful and exemplary husband, but I thank my Heavenly Father for him each and every day.

I love you Dean. You are my life.

And VOILA!..

Dean, Jeff, Julie, Lily (their adorable baby), and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner together. Jeff and Julie brought rolls, fruit, deviled eggs which were divine, yams, and pie, which Dean and I were very grateful for. Dean and I made the turkey, mashed potatoes, greenbean casserole, gravy, and stuffing. It was the perfect meal, and we have tons of leftovers even after sending leftovers home with Jeff and Julie. Dean looks forward to Thanksgiving all year long, and this year we wanted to have it in our home so it would have a more relaxed atmosphere. We had a blast making everything, and Dean didn't even get stressed out. He's a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to cooking and he's all about presentation and everything being done just right, and he didn't even stress out at all. I was so proud of him.

My remarkably handsome husband gettin ready to carve his very first turkey.

Look at how concentrated he looks and how careful he is being...

Awwww, we have such wonderful friends and feel honored that Jeff and Julie and Lily spent Thanksgiving with us. Julie even went and did a 5 mile Turkey Trot that morning and did really well in it so she was a starvin girl. Lily wanted to be part of the festivities too so Jeff was quite talented at feeding her and managing to get a bite for himself inbetween feeding Lil.

It's almost eatin' time...

Dean doing who-knows-what on the counter and I got the back of Julie's head.

Look at sweet little Lily. She would seriously rock out her bouncy walker thingy. Seriously, like she would head bang and everything. It was hilarious to watch.

Look at that beautiful golden brown color on the turkey. Perfection.

Dean and I pausing for a Thanksgiving Day picture.

Yuck!!! Just yuck!!!...

I openly admit that I would rather stick a dull butterknife in my eye than take out all the innards from a turkey and stuff it with stuffing. There is just something so nasty about shoving my hands in a dark slimy dead bird. Maybe I'm afraid that it is going to suddenly jump up and become the Thanksgiving poltergeist and do the can-can all over my perfect greenbean casserole before chasing Dean and I around the house with a butcher knife. So instead, I would rather take my chances with the Thanksgiving Jennie-O turkey loaf I had once as a child. (money was a little tight that year) At least a turkey loaf doesn't have legs to chase you around on.

But as a show of good faith to my sweet Dean, I took my chances with the poltergeist and did the final stuffing of stuffing into the 20 pound bird. Here are pictures to prove it...

Notice the whole block of butcher knives a foot away from my hand at all times in case I had to bring that bird to its' knees if it jumped out of the pan.

Yuck!! And I didn't even have my hand all the way shoved in there.

I'm thinking, "I love my husband, I love my husband, I love my husband..."

I DID IT!

What a turkey!

The bird waiting to be prepped...

Dean grossing me out by pretending that he is going to eat the liver and heart. He eventually did eat them after it was cooked, and even had our friend Jeff try a bite. Sickos. Dean actually likes the taste but Jeff didn't think it was too yummy.

Dean enjoying ripping things out of the turkey a little too much. He was supposed to have been born in the 1800's so that he could do this on a weekly basis, killing the turkey and all, but I wasn't willing to be born in an age that had no running water, no electricity, and no anesthesia so Dean decided that he loved me so much that he was willing to not be a pioneer or a mountain man.

Gettin' things a goin'...

Dean shredding a stalk of celery to go in the homemade stuffing...

Awww, what a sweet boy...

We are still so incredibly in love after 2 years of marriage...

...so much that it even makes Dean cry.

Ok, I lie. He was cutting an onion and his eyes wattered up pretty good.

The finished product...

I put up 2 pictures of the tree and 2 pictures of the entertainment center because the lighting was totally different on each. If you enlarge the pictures you can actually see the details...

Ornaments ornaments everywhere...

Dean and I have had our tree up for a week but we only just put the ornaments on it on Sunday. Life was just too busy this past week.

Anyways, we had a blast putting them up, but the best part was unwrapping them and reminiscing about where where we bought them and when. Almost every ornament we have has special meaning behind it so it is so fun taking a trip down memory lane.

Dean and I have a tradition that we've done ever since the first year we were dating. We buy a Pottery Barn frame ornament with the year monogrammed on it, and we put in a picture of us that we've taken at some point that year that represents a significant events in our lives. For instance, our 2004 ornament has a picture of us on a date since that was the year that we started dating. 2005 ornament has a picture of our wedding. 2006 has a picture of Palmer since Dean started chiropractic school that year. 2007 will have a picture of Dean and I infront of a Capri College of Massage Therapy sign since I started massage therapy school this year. One day after we've been married for 40 or so years, we'll just have a tree that just has frame ornaments on it that our kids and grandkids can look at and see the changes over the years and will bring back many happy memories.

Also, every year we buy a dove ornament. We love hunting around for the 'the one' dove ornament that speaks to us before Christmas, but sometimes it finds us. And like the frame ornaments, one day we'll just have a tree with litle doves all over it. As most people know, doves symbolize peace and Dean and I felt impressed from the get go to have doves be the Christmas symbol for our marriage.

Hmmmm, where to put it?...

I was having a hard time deciding where to place our little boy-and-girl-snowman-in-a-stocking ornament. Dean and I bought that on our honeymoon in Leavenworth, WA and had them write our wedding anniv on it so we hold it very sacred.

Here? Right here honey? Alright! I love it!

Just for funsies. After we decorated our tree I decided I wanted to do a 100 piece puzzle of the USA to celebrate. Probably a little known fact about me... I LOVE 100-250 piece puzzles. I won't do any that are less than 100 pieces because it's way too easy, and I won't do any that are more than 250 pieces because it takes too long and I prefer do a puzzle in one sitting. Oh, and I can't stand doing puzzles that are nature scenery or paintings or something that that.