A "my husband is the best and it's his birthday" post

The first time I met Spencer was when we gave talks together in Sacrament meeting. Cute, right? We sat next to each other and I tried to make conversation before the meeting started. He wasn't very friendly. I asked him all those small talk-y questions like where he was from, what his major was, and where he went on his mission, but he gave me short answers and did not ask me one question in return. Somewhere in my questioning, I found out that he was a thrower on the track team at Utah State and then I got it - he was one of those guys. He was tall, dark, handsome, and a complete jock who thought he is was the center of the universe. We never spoke again for another two months. He later defended himself by saying that he was still weird from his mission and that he was too busy checking out all of the girls in the congregation.  

When I finally got to know Spencer though, I realized that my first impression of him could not have been more off. It turns out that there is way more nerd in him than jock. Way more. Here are a few recent examples:

1. Our weekday evenings typically consist of quality time on the couch together. As I blog stalk, Spencer watches the dumbest shows ever - MythBusters, Man vs. Wild, Gold Rush, you name it - shows that truly cannot hold my attention for more than 30 seconds. But it gets worse... he actually TVOs America's Funniest Home Videos. Unfortunately, I am not even kidding you.

His favorite show of all is Dual Survival. My mom calls the show Dumb and Dumber. That man has watched each episode at least five times over and I just don't get it. Why would you ever want to cut your own arm open and then have someone set it on fire!? And an even more important question, who would want to watch it?! They do other dumb things, too, and it's just so... dumb.

Spencer basically worships Cody Lundin, one of the guys on the show. Once, when he was on Cody's website, he excitedly explained to me that for just $1,970, he could go survive in Northern Arizona's wilderness with Cody for a week! No shelter! No sleeping bags! No food! No water! All for just $1,970!

2. Spencer once told me that he wished he had more clothes like my dad... enough said.

3. For his birthday this year, he wanted a moccasin kit. A moccasin kit! Apparently he had one when he was a little kid in scouts and loved them. Luckily, the only moccasin kit I found online were those same scout moccasin kits and they didn't have his size. Real bummer. So instead, I went a little less nerdy I think? and got him this, which is actually an accessory that my dad sports on most evenings. Who knew it could be for more than just camping?

4. To celebrate his birthday yesterday, we played racquetball and watched our new favorite show, Shark Tank. It must not be a very cool show because it airs on Friday nights and even though it's on it's third season, the first season isn't even out on DVD yet. But I even love it, and just stay in denial that we are losers when Spencer pulls out his calculator as we watch.


So on a scale from nerdy to jock, I would say Spencer is right in the middle, and that's just the way I like it!

Links worth a look

~ This article about pinterest.

~ Kara's Bloggy Trends She's Not on Board With posts, here and here. I couldn't agree with her more.

~ This cake I'm making for Spencer's birthday tomorrow. It's our absolute favorite and it would be wrong to not share the amazingness.

~ And a great Dennis Prager column, Optimistic or Pessimistic About America.

Happy Monday, people!!!!

I love me some DP!

And by DP, I do not mean Dr. Pepper. I mean Dennis Prager.

Confession: I am not much of a music listener. In fact, my choice in music my whole life has always depended entirely upon the people with whom I associated. In elementary school, I was obsessed with Backstreet Boys and hated *N "stink" because that was the opinion of my best friend. In junior high and high school, I listened to the music that my friends listened to and the same happened in college. Then I dated a guy who liked country, and for the first time ever, I gave country a shot. When my nine-year-old sister fell in love with Justin Beiber, so did I.

It's not like I didn't like any of the music, Except for country. I truly do not like country. Oh, and I really liked Kelly Clarkson and Fergie in high school all on my very own, but that's embarrassing right? I just never cared about the music long enough to follow it after I wasn't around the people who really liked it. When I met new people, I hated when they asked what my favorite band was because I never had a favorite band or a favorite type of music. By myself, I just listened to whatever the top hits were on the radio. After a while, any music just started sounding like noise to me and I prefer silence over noise.

My sophomore year of college, I went to China to teach English. The commute to the school was a 30 minute bus ride and a 30 minute walk. Since reading makes me car sick, I had two hours a day to spend listening to music or to spend in pure silence. I remembered how my dad had been nagging me to listen to Dennis Prager, and I figured since I had the time I would give it a shot. I subscribed to Pragertopia (pretty nerdy sounding, huh?) and for just seven dollars a month, I learned more about myself, my country, and the world than I ever had in all of my years of education.

As I listened to Dennis Prager while living in a Communist country, I realized how blessed I was to be a United States citizen. I felt very ungrateful because I was so clueless regarding American values, current events, and our whole political process. I also realized how much I was like my dad - When I could have listened to music, I chose to listen to talk radio and other podcasts. When I could have slept in, I woke up early and went to bed early. When I could have watched millions of pirated movies, I maybe watched a handful the whole time I was there. I became a very task oriented person, like my dad.

So when I got pregnant with Jack and decided not to take the teaching job that I was offered, I panicked a little. Staying cooped up inside during Logan's winter with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs and watch my baby eat, sleep, and poop made me nervous. I just knew I would become a very, very crazy and depressed person.

Then I had Jack, and was extremely surprised that I felt the exact opposite of that very, very crazy and depressed person that I anticipated I would become. I have felt more joy, more love, and more purpose than ever before, even though I am no longer doing a lot of the things that I love, like going to school and working. Somehow I was led to believe that I was sacrificing everything - my career, my body, my intellect, and my happiness - to be a mother. Why I did not expect divine help and joy when I am participating so directly in the work and glory of God is beyond me. I love my little guy.

Dennis Prager's column, Does a Full Time Homemaker Swap Her Mind For A Mop, describes exactly how I feel about staying at home. I am still doing a lot of things that I love and that make me happy, even though I am a stay-at-home mom. I'm telling you, that man in amazing. Read it, it is soooo good!

So to make a long story long, I love Dennis Prager and you should too! If you don't subscribe to his podcast, at least promise me you will read and listen to his links that I plan on posting?!

My text message engagement story

Happy Valentine's Day! We celebrated by being treated to dinner by a summer pest control sales recruiter. Pretty romantic if you ask me! 
I sure do love my Valentines.

Speaking of romantic, have you heard my engagement story?

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Sorry I couldn't answer I'm with Annie. She doesn't know I am proposing Monday so I can't talk about it on the phone!

I stared at that text for what seemed like forever. I debated whether or not I should tell Spencer that I received his text meant for his sister, but who was I kidding?! We weren't planning on getting engaged until May and it was only the Tuesday before spring break. We had never looked at rings together before, and there was no way I was going to play it cool for 6 more days.

When I told him, he was crushed and I was screaming and jumping up and down with excitement. He refused to actually propose that night even though it would have saved him a whole lot of trouble later and when he left he told me that blowing the surprise felt worse than it did when he dropped an investigator on his mission. Then I was humbly reminded that I was choosing to marry a guy that fresh off his mission.

The next day was just one disaster after another. It involved a failed attempt to set up a proposal due to me getting off work early, a failed attempt in directing friends over text message to set up a proposal while we were at dinner together, and two failed attempts to find a firepit up two separate canyons while driving with me after dinner. This clearly resulted in absolutely no element of surprise and no conversation whatsoever.

"How about First Dam?" I offered. So we drove in awkward, silent anticipation to First Dam which involved a police car flashing his spotlight at us, Spencer dropping my ring that landed one inch away from the end of the dock, and a speechless, "I love you will you marry me?!" and "Just so you know this was like my Plan F!" and "I would have thrown up if that ring dropped in the water!"

And for a girl who hates all most things cheesy, that terribly executed proposal couldn't have been more perfect.

5 more kids and a puppy

Last week, I went down to Salt Lake to babysit my cousins while their parents went to Hawaii. While I was there, I learned a few things about myself:

1. If my kids turn out as well behaved and as easy going as the Sheets kids, then I am going to have 10 more.

2. I never want a dog. I have always told Spencer that we had to have a salary and own a house before we got a dog, but I now have an additional prerequisite: I have to die first. When I told Spencer this, he replied, "But not all dogs eat their own crap!"

3. I can't drive a suburban. Ask the angry lady whose Audi I scraped while pulling out of my parking space.

4. I need to babysit the Sheets kids more often! Jack has slept for 10 hours straight every night since we have been back home. I guess a puppy trying to eat him and 5 more kids giving him extra attention for a week is enough stimulation to knock him out for a while!

Kelly

Kelly Clarkson's National Anthem performance made me reflect on that defining moment in my life when I actually met her.

My favorite facebook comment on these pictures:
"Ah, an Asian tourist with a camera. Typical."

And wasn't that M&M superbowl commercial totally awesome?!