Memory Monday - Seeing Brian

 1996 - The first time I saw Brian...

I was waiting in the lobby for a job interview at Wilson Trophy Company... standing there (too nervous to sit) in my red blazer and giant portfolio in hand. I noticed a tall guy come out and make copies at the copier machine. He was only there a few seconds, not even a minute, I can't even remember if he looked my way or not. But I remember there was something about him. Later that day I was telling my friend Edna about the job interview and how I saw this cute guy working there.

Yes, there was something about him...

I didn't know at the time that it was love... my true love.

First date, 1997 at a friends wedding.
Brian making his usually silly photo face.

Top Secret Mission

 I meant to post this right after Christmas, but of course it's now 3 months later... life can just be so busy sometimes which is why this idea is so great. I think it is a fun idea for those hard to buy for husbands.

Our big gift this Christmas was a gas log set for the fireplace, so we said only small gifts to each other. The past year had been so busy we often forgot to take time for each other, we had not gone on many date nights last year. I had seen this date night idea on pinterest and made up my own version, CIA style. 


I planned a top secret mission for Brian. I had 12 dates planned out, one for each month. I also included gift cards for restaurants, etc. This way it's so easy, all planned out, no question of what should we do. Plus, I tried to plan fun things other than the movies, which is a usually date night for us.


So here is what we will be doing each month:


Jan: Dinner & Movie
Feb: Our Anniversary was this month, so Brian had to plan this one.
March: Show at the small local theater & dinner
April: Cooking class
May: Dinner & Bowling
June: Hike, geo caching & picnic
July: Lunch & antique shopping
August: Donate our time at a local food bank or shelter
Sept.: Bike ride & picnic
Oct.: Dinner & dancing
Nov.: Evening gallery talk and music at the art museum and dinner
Dec.: Romantic date night at home


Lucky for me he accepted this special mission and so far we have had two date nights and I think we are both enjoying this gift of time together.

Here is an image of one of the pages in the mission, I had an envelope attached to each page with the gift cards etc. (click to enlarge)

Happy Birthday Brian!

Today is Brian's birthday and I wanted to make a list of why he is my husband and best friend!

-He takes care of us
-He loves me for me
-He is a wonderful Pops (Dad)
-He makes me breakfast in bed almost every weekend!
-He is so calm and laid back (sometime too calm, he seems to move in slow motion. But I am always in high gear, always moving. I guess opposites do attract.)
-He makes time to read and play with the girls everyday
-He has a big soft heart
-He works hard
-He tells me the truth
-He respects and supports my work and passions no matter how crazy they sound. (you want to build what with 300 milk jugs?)
-He is smart but has no ego

-He has no enemies, he gets along with everyone he meets

-He is a good dancer

-He listens to me

-He makes us laugh

-He is my best friend!

We love you Pops and are so lucky to have you in our lives.

Happy Birthday!

Photo: Brian was in the school's parents play and won the one and only award given out each year. The Ham award... he is our big ham and we love him!

What we're eating - Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brian and the girls made cookies from scratch this weekend, I'm not sure what the scissors were for. Brian never cooks so who knows. I think this is the first time he ever made cookies from scratch. It looks like they had fun and the cookies were good, but there were a few square cookies. I asked him why they were square and he said he had to trimmed off the burn edges on one batch... classic Brian.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The tree is up, the stocking are hung,

and the girls are ready for Christmas!

24 more days!

Star Wars Concertt

Last week Brian and I attended the Star Wars concert. We got there a little early to see the "special" exhibits, which were a bit disappointing, we both thought there would be a lot more items. Plus, I wish they were up a little higher, it was hard to see around the crowds of people. Speaking of crowds... at one point we were walking around the arena to get to our seat section and it was so crowded that no one was moving. It was wall to wall people, squeezed in tight and we were not moving at all! I wanted to scream... MOVE... so badly. I finally squeezed us through pulling Brian behind me.

The show was great, I give it a A, but I would have like the music to be a bit louder. Our friends were sitting in another section and they had to hold their ears. So I guess it depended on where you sat. The orchestra always amazes me since I never learned to play an instrument, I think I would like to play the violin or the Cello?

Brian loved it and he would give it an A+, my Star Wars nerd was a happy camper!

note: I call Brian a SW nerd all in good fun... at least he did not dress up in a costume.

Take me out to the ball game

Last night we were lucky to get the Rawlings tickets and took the girls to the STL cardinals ball game. The seats are 4 rows behind the dugout and wonderful, I always love sitting there, you can almost touch the players! The girls really enjoyed the game, the people and the hot dog & pretzels. We did have to leave at the 7th inning, is was 9:30 and both girls were getting tired.  

Amelia wanted a big foam finger, so I think the next game we will get her one. I could tell Brian enjoyed watching the game with his girls. Amelia asked me if girls play baseball and when I said yes, she said that is what she wanted to do when she grew up, that really made Brian happy!

School Parents Play

Brian was in the grade school's parents play again this year, our kids are not even in the school yet (next year they will) but his brother wrote the play and my sister-in-law was also in the play (my niece is at the school now). Brian was a knight and also played the mummy again, they kids all love seeing their parents act silly and I know the parents enjoy the spotlight, a good time for all!

I'm sure we have 6 more years of this now that Amelia will be at the school next year.

Best Friend

Celebrating 9 married years with my best friend by my side, I am a lucky girl!

I love you Brian

My hubby is...

My hubby is a wonderful man and I am so grateful to have him in my life. I know I am not always the easiest person to live with, but somehow he puts up with me. I love him for thousands of reasons... for always doing the dishes every night, for always putting a glass of water on my night stand, for always giving me a kiss goodbye, for always giving me back rubs, for always giving the girls their baths, for always giving me time to be crafty, for always driving us anywhere, for always letting Bud out in the middle of the night. This list could go on forever but I love him mostly for always being my best friend.

Date Night with Ira Glass

Thanks to Brian's brother Dan we had a date night on Saturday, it had been awhile since we had a date night, Dan gave us tickets to see Ira Glass at the pageant in Ucity's Loop. Brian and I had never really heard about Ira but watched some video clips and thought it sounded interesting, so sitting in the front row we were entertained by his stories of the Prison Performing Arts, this is a nonprofit group that teaches theater to prisoners in Missouri and is the group Dan works for. 

I was impressed with Ira's story telling abilities while also mixing sound clips, music and speech on the spot, on stage, he was a sort of juggler of sound & speech, creating a wonderful show that kept me engrossed. I quickly learned that everyone would sound better with some sort of soft melancholy music playing in the background as they spoke. I wish I had this music playing when I had to meet my clients!

Afterward Dan gave us backstage passes to have a drink with Ira, which was a first for me, we headed backstage where they had set up small round tables that people mingled about. There were about 30 people and they all seemed to know each other except us. Since I was new to Ira Glass I felt a bit guilty backstage, knowing that there were teams of fans who paid for their tickets and would truly enjoy this chance to meet him in this private setting. I watched Ira wondering if I should approach him, not knowing what I would even say, it seems as others felt the same way since he stood alone talking with one woman for quite awhile. By the time Dan came around and was going to introduce us to Ira, it seemed everyone had gotten up their nerve to approach him and he was surrounded, oh well. It was a lovey night out with my sweetie, something different than a movie and long overdue.

One more shout out to my parents for always babysitting the girls so we can go out, we are lucky to have them do this for us and lucky the girls love when Grammy & Papa visit. I know this because as soon as they came over Amelia was pushing us out the door saying, "bye mama, have fun tonight, bye".

Kickball - Peglegs

Brian & I play kickball on his work team. It is fun and very laid back, usually there are enough girls and guys that we all take turns playing. Last week was exciting because I caught a fly ball. Usually in the outfield the guys take over and catch the balls, but it came to me, no guys around... gulp... I guess I have to catch it... and I did!!! I was so excited I jumped up and down and my team laughed.

This week we were short a girl, so I had to play the whole game. I even pitched which I had never done before, it was really fun and I think I did a pretty good job, but gosh you have to really pay attention! Three times the ball came whizzing back to me, twice I caught it! Brian later told me, one guy compared me to Willie Mays, niccccce! By the end of the game I was worn out from pitching, running and the adrenalin of REALLY playing.