Friday, January 6, 2012

99 Red Balloons

     I have the cutest fiancĂ© in the whole world! We were on our way home from the temple this morning, and he was like "Hey, we get married in 99 days. Do you wanna go buy 99 red balloons?" I thought it was a super cute way to count down to our wedding! So we went to Zurchers and bought 2 bags of "50" red balloons. Then when we got to my house, I was making lunch and Gordon was making a list of some sort, but wouldn't tell me what it was until he needed help with it. It was a list of, 99 things/activities to do. We came up with a list, some of which being duplicates, some of them being blank and we can do something random, and cut them up into little strips. We put a strip of paper in each balloon and so we pop a balloon have to do something every day so we aren't bored! I put 50 in quotations above because as we were getting close to being done blowing them up, we realized we didn't have enough balloons. That's right, we had 97 balloons, so we called the store and they gave us 3 for free.


Our list consisted of things like:
-Ice skating
-Bowling
-Babysitting our nieces and nephews
-Making crafts that I find on Pinterest,
-Reading a good book
-Starting a 1000 piece puzzle
-Go to a movie
-Harry Potter Party
-Make a healthy meal (body for life worthy)
-Make a treat from Pinterest
-Make a new dish from Pinterest
-Write a song together
-Learn a new duet
etc etc.


We tied the balloons on strings. Two balloons on each end of each string like this

We did that so we can put them in bunches like this.

Or hang a whole bunch from just one string like this.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Pennsylvania

On Christmas afternoon, Gordon and I flew to PA to visit his sisters and their families. It was a super great week! The only downside to it was that my brothers and their families were in town for the holiday, and we haven't been together fro Christmas in 5 years I think. But it's not my fault. Gordon and I bought our tickets in the beginning of October, which was before there was any mention of my family being together for the holidays.

     Anyway, we got to PA at about midnight their time and Gordon's brothers-in-law were super super kind and came all the way to Philadelphia to pick us up. It was about an hour and a half to two hour drive. We slept and Heather and Spencer's house. They made a very comfortable place for us to stay and accommodated us. The first day, we went to Nancy and Scott's house and met my future nieces Anne and June, went to Chocolate world, played fun games and ate yummy food.
     Tuesday was rainy but beautiful! I LOVE rain in the East! So much! So naturally, we went on a walk in the rain. It was cold. And we got SOAKED! I kinda loved it though! Through that experience, I learned the purpose of eyebrows. They aren't just for decoration, they keep water out of your eyes! We made pizzas, played more bored games and then watched Super 8. Heather and Spencer left before we started the movie cuz they were tired, and Gordon and I left before the movie was over cuz we too were pretty tired. It was super foggy that night because of the rain. It was like a scary movie because there are a TON of dead people in PA. Like every mile, there is a cemetery.
     Wednesday was nail-painting for the girls, Spore for the boys, more yummy food (Indian food. Mmmm) and more games, Oh and more Seinfeld. I didn't mention that Scott and Nancy gave Gordon season 7 of Seinfeld so he and I would stay up watching that on my laptop every night.
     Thursday, I woke up and tried to straighten my hair so I could not look like a wild animal in Gordon and my engagements. That was almost impossible because I didn't pack my straightener, so Nancy so kindly lent me hers. Thing is, I have spoiled myself with a semi-expensive straightener, and hers couldn't really handle my super thick un-manageable hair. But that wasn't too big of a deal considering it started snowing during the picture taking and it ruined my hair anyway. But surprisingly, I don't care! Nancy did an incredible job taking the pictures and the few that I have seen post-edit and just amazing, I can't wait to see them all! Later that day, Gordon and I joined Heather and Spencer for dinner (and yes, games) with their friends the Ellsworths. We had some delicious home made pot-stickers, Awesome! And we played Taboo and then this one game Carcassonne which I didn't understand, but somehow won...

One of these days, I can't remember which, Anne (2 years old) was playing with a toy near the bathroom and hear someone in there. She looks up at her aunt Heather, and without any expression on her face says "someone's raining." It was the funniest thing I've heard in a long time.

     Friday, we went to Amish-Country and ate a lot of pretzels. That pretty much sums up the Amish experience though. haha! Delicious pretzels. Then went back to Nancy and Scott's, ate some yummy shrimp pasta, played games and then Gordon and I went to the store and bought some pepperonis and go-gurts to replenish Heather and Spencer's supply since we were kinda indulgent over the week. We also bought bacon because we discovered that that day (Dec 30th) is bacon day. The next day, he and I were going to leave for the airport really early, so we thought "Let's just pull and all-nighter and sleep on the plane" So we made and ate a whole case of bacon. 12 oz. total, and drank some Diet Coke Lime and watched Seinfeld until, naturally, Gordon fell asleep.
     I fell asleep about 45 min later, and had to wake up about 1 hour after that. Then Scott and Spencer so kindly sacrificed more precious sleeping time to take us on another almost-two-hour drive to Baltimore so we could go home. Gordon was able to sleep a few hours on the plane and of course, I wasn't. Danny Oka came to pick us up from the airport, and of course, Gordon got some shut-eye on the drive home.

     The things I learned from this trip: Gordon can fall asleep anytime anywhere as long as I'm there. And he snores. (even though he says he doesn't)

     Gordon and I would like to thank Nancy, Scott, Heather and Spencer for their kindness and hospitality. We had a wonderful time with you guys! We love you and can't wait to see you again in April! And Spencer and Scott, thank you so much for driving us to and from the airports during hours you'd rather be sleeping. We really appreciate it!!