"B"... for Brittney

I know, it looks like I'm giving myself a mustache, but really I'm pointing to the "B."

Visitors!

Thursday night we had the privilege of having Tyler, Nicole, and Caleb Johansen come stay with us! Nicole and I go back to August 2007 where we were put on the same team in our MPA program. We quickly found out that I had just moved into her and her husband's (then boyfriend's... or fiance's?) ward and that we had a lot of mutual friends. Needless to say, we had so many things in common that we were bound to be friends whether we wanted to or not. Luckily, we wanted to.

Soooo, long story short, Nicole went off and married Tyler and together they moved to Pennsylvania for dental school. And it just so turns out that their assigned temple is in Columbus, where I now live, thus forcing them to see us once in a while. There's just no escaping me.

Anyway, they came in on Thursday night and after dinner we played games, talked, watched American Idol, ate 22 cookies (you think I'm kidding, right? :), and talked some more. It was a blast. Then, on Friday morning, I got to play with baby Caleb while they were at the temple. While they were gone, the baby and I barely escaped getting kidnapped or mugged or something (true story). But that's another story for another day. Anyway, it was so fun having them here and we look forward to taking a little visit to tour Pittsburgh sometime, too!

It was a bit windy this day, so please don't mind our wind-blown-ness. I also love that Caleb smiled for the picture as well.

Blog printing question

Has anyone printed their blogs? If so, what program did you use? I know lot's of people who have used Blurb and love it. I tried Blurb, and it really is a great program, but it takes SO much time and effort to organize it and make it look the way you want it to... and let's be honest, the book I started almost a year ago is still sitting exactly how it was almost a year ago.

I recently checked out blog2print and when I uploaded my blog to book form, it did it really fast, in a form that looked just like my blog, and after personalizing the things I wanted to, my entire thing was done in less than 10 minutes. That being said, I have never heard any opinions from anyone on blog2print. So, if you've used it, please let me know what you thought!

I'm not stressing too much over this though, and will probably end up ordering it from blog2print since it seems the easiest, but I just thought I would throw it out there to see if anyone has had any experience with it. I'm also open to any other blog printing suggestions.

Thanks!

Be Mine, Valentine

Valentine's Day has never been a very big production around here. Sure, we'll do something small for the other person, but we don't feel the need to do anything super extravagant... and that's the way we like it. This year, I got a surprise delivery during the day of some beautiful pink, red, and white tulips, which are definitely a nice bright spot in our living room and are making it smell like spring (and they've barely opened still)! Then we had one of Ryan's favorite dinners that evening (sweet and sour chicken), followed by some yummy cheesecake--which tasted amazing but didn't look very pretty, so no pictures.

Ryan is not a very big flower-giver, which works out great because I am not so much a flower-wanter. Definitely not our "love language." We both agree that we would rather take the money that would be spent on flowers and go to dinner or a movie or something like that. That being said, when he actually does surprise me with flowers, it catches me off guard and is extra exciting and the "I-don't-ever-need-flowers" mindset quickly becomes another lost thought for a few days. We hope you all had a lovely day of love, as well! Chances are, if you're reading this, you're probably on our list of people we love!

Weather commentary

I have a hard time figuring out the weather forecast, mostly because the meteorologists never give the details I am expecting to hear, such as chance of precipitation, what time it's going to snow on us, etc.. This screen shot made Ryan and I laugh because what you see is what you get when it comes to the weather commentary on the news.

"bitterly cold"--> "still frigid"--> "spring fever".......... ha! Come next Monday, I'm sure that will be true.

Ice Storm

Last night Ryan and I went ice skating... on our sidewalk.

When I heard we were getting an "ice storm," I pictured some snow with a little black ice here and there. What I didn't picture was a sheet of thick ice covering EVERYTHING!! Picture a big bucket of water being dumped on Columbus and all of it freezing and therefore forming a slippery, cold layer over everything. I had never seen anything like it. When Ryan went out to work yesterday morning he couldn't even open his door because the whole thing, along with the handle, was covered in a solid layer of ice. From our doorstep to the car... I was sure I needed those crazy spiky boots that people wear to climb Everest just to make it two steps outside.

Anyway, it wasn't until we were driving home from the gym last night that we thought to take pictures, so we just have to deal with the shadows, glares, and blurriness.

See how it's not just the icicles at the bottom, but the whole thing that is covered!?!

See the "rain" at the top of this picture? It's actually ice--not sleet or hail or snow, just ice that forms a solid layer when it hits the ground.. or people! I had to scrape myself off!

The bushes, the trees, the curb, the parking lot....

Our car--and this is what's still left after a day of rain and melting!

The rest of January...

Last week I paid a little visit to Utah and had a ton of fun! Some of the highlights were visiting with family and friends, dinners at Cafe Rio and Paradise Bakery, watching the Bachelor with a big group of girls (so much more fun than by yourself!), watching BYU beat SDSU, running errands with my mom during the day, etc. etc...... Oh yeah, and having my final post-op appointment and GETTING MY BRACES OFF (the real reason for the trip)!!!!

It's funny because I really didn't mind the whole braces thing. In fact, I liked it for the time being because the rubber bands really helped my jaw feel "in place" and was in no rush to get them off. That being said, as soon as the date was set for my braces to come off, it couldn't come soon enough!! But now that they are off, it feels great and my jaw really feels like it has improved so much in just the last week! It's amazing!

Not to seem vain, but I've got a close-up or two to post here just so you don't all remember me forever as the girl with the bruised, swollen, brace-face (because that's how I still picture myself). :) Although, I kind of look funny in them... but whatever... you get the point.

On another note, we had our first visitor! My mom needed to go to Cleveland soon, so she booked her trip out here at the same time I flew back so that we could travel together. She stayed here for a couple nights and then Ryan and I drove her up to Cleveland this weekend and had lunch with my Grandpa a Becky, and then swung by to visit at my Grandma's for a few minutes to say hello before heading back to Columbus. I haven't actually been back to Cleveland since my wedding reception about a year and a half ago, so despite it being quick, it was a fun visit!