Suz: "You know... Christmas cookies. Every year my mom would spend an entire week doing Christmas baking. There were always new cookies. She made peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses, Chocolate Mud Cookies, Pecan Sandies, Shortbread cookies, Sugar cookies..... I'm getting ready to start Christmas baking, and I need to know your favorite Christmas cookies."
Ben: "Um... that one."
Suz: "You didn't do that at Christmas?"
Ben: "No, but if you want to start that tradition its fine with me!"
And so I have. I have spent this past week making TONS (ok, dozens) of cookies of all different types! I L.O.V.E. this time of year!
I've made chocolate truffles (for the first time... but I think they turned out ok), gingerbread cookies, shortbread (one of my favorites), jelly-drop cookies (one of Ben's new favorites!), and sugar cookies (that we still need to frost together)
Here is one of our favorite recipes, in case you want to try these!
Ben and I offer to babysit for families in our ward pretty often, so parents can have a free night out and we can get a feel for that life.
There is a family in our ward we just love, and they happen to be out of town this week and asked us to stay overnight with their three kids; Hayley, 13, Caron, 11, and David, 7. They are such great, fun, easy kids and we love being invited over!
But seriously... is this what it's really like to be a mom?!?!
Wednesday:
6:30 am: Wake up, make sure 3 kids are awake 7:00 am: Drive girls to school (15 mins away!) 7:30 am: Back at the house, get David ready for school 8:10 am: Drive David to school 8:30 am: Over to my house to do some vinyl work 9:00-12:00 am: Design, cut, and prep for mail 2 vinyl orders 12:00 pm: Design and make our own Christmas decoration 12:30 pm: Grocery store for special "1st Day of Channukah dinner recipe" ingredients 1:00 pm: Post office to mail vinyl orders 1:30-2:30 pm: Back at kids' house, begin making Challah bread 2:30 pm: Write new blog post for uVinyl blog 3:00 pm: David gets dropped off at home 3:10 pm: Leave with David to pick up girls from school 3:45 pm: Back at the house 3:45 - 4:00 pm: Help David with his homework 4:00 - 5:00 pm: Begin making soup for dinner and finish Challah bread 5:00 pm: Ben gets home 5:30 pm: Eat dinner 6:30 - 7:30 pm: Ben takes Hayley to church for activity 8:45 pm: All kids go upstairs to get ready for bed 8:50- 9:15 pm: Read scripture stories with David, help him fall asleep 10:00 pm: Go to bed.
When do you have time to shower?!?!?!?!
At least I got to spend a long time kneading something.
My mom called to wish me Happy Birthday this morning, and she reminded me of my birthday a year ago. Yes, I remember. In detail.
A year ago I had been home for a week from a head-spinning 3-month cross-country trip to visit family and friends trying to distract myself from the typical bad luck of coming home from my mission. I was completely depressed, and left on that trip just a day after meeting you. You stayed calm and patient, though, building up a friendship and understanding of me while at my most vulnerable over the phone during those three months.
Eventually we talked on the phone every day, and had our first "real" date the day I came home-- a Monday. We went to the single's branch FHE together. Kind of boring for a first date, but it was something we both loved and wanted to do.
We celebrated my birthday on Monday a week later. After knowing me over the phone for three months, and in person for 1 week, you already knew you loved me. I thought I knew I loved you. But I believe I fell in love with you for real... or just all over again... that day.
You surprised me with a special birthday playlist on my iPod I was to discover later that day complete with some of my favorite songs (which you had to know about and take the time to download earlier), and some of yours. I love music, and believe it is a wonderful way to express your emotions. Thank you for opening yourself up to me in such an intimate way after such a short amount of time!
That night we went to FHE, as expected, where they spontaneously announced my birthday and sang. I had been home from a long trip preceded by a mission for only a week-- most of the people in that room had never even met me, yet here they were singing me happy birthday! I had never been to an FHE where they sang!
You tipped off the Activities Committee that it was my birthday, and they also surprised me with a cake-- white on white, my favorite. You even arranged to have the cake thrown in my face, reminiscent of the birthday I'd spent with my kids in Cambodia, where it is tradition to food fight with birthday cake. I'd been thinking a lot about my birthday celebrated in Cambodia that day, and was so touched-- repeatedly-- that you thought to honor that special memory.
After FHE we got a small group of wonderful new friends together for sushi at a nearby Japanese Steakhouse. We were on top of the world sitting at that sushi bar, and the person on my right offered to help you pick out the "perfect diamond engagement ring", stunned to hear that we had only been officially dating for a week.
When they sang to me at the restaurant (which you made me dance along to.. .I'll never forgive you for that!) and gave me a cupcake and took my picture, you were in the picture. You had known since July (according to my mom) that you loved me, but that night I figured it out, too, and knew we would be spending eternity together.
Thank you for all your thought, sweetness, kindness, understanding, and love on that day a year ago, for someone you barely knew and who was very vulnerable. This year we are married, and it's because of that day.
Knowing I don't like the attention of celebrating my birthday, this morning mom suggested we celebrate our "Love Day" instead. I think that sounds like a fabulous idea. Will you go to dinner with me to celebrate the day I fell in love with you?
I love you!
This is one of the songs on my birthday playlist, and describes that day perfectly!
Ben discovered a new use for the vinyl-ized shower door in our hallway:
He also had some fun on Amazon.com....
Suz: "Hey look! There's a bar in the doorway!"
Ben: "Yeah. Do a pullup."
Suz: "Ok, I'm up. Now what do I do?"
Ben: "Come down."
Suz: "OKKKkkkkkk......"
Now we each do 3 pullups if we're entering that room, or just passing by it
(often... it's beside the bathroom.) Tons of fun!
And he got me a Bagel Guillotine! How awesome is that?!?!?!?!?!
I love bagels, and fun quirky things, so it was the perfect gift.
Suz: "A bagel guillotine... that is so cool!" Ben: "Yep. This marks a new landmark in our relationship." Suz: "What are you talking about? " Ben: "The first time you get a kitchen tool from your husband." Suz: "I really wish you hadn't put it that way......"
Katz's Deli in the Lower East Side of Manhattan has been known as the best deli since they opened in 1888. It has literally been dubbed "The Best Deli" by Food Network, as well as being featured on numerous Food TV shows for various reasons.
We went there Tuesday afternoon!
Oooooooooooooooooooooooh yeah, Baby.
The classic Katz's meal: Pastrami on rye with mustard, Dr. Brown's soda (celery is surprisingly good), and pickles-- store cured both fresh and old.
OOOOooooh yeah.
Ben totally belongs here.
This place gets so much traffic that a policeman gives out tickets to each customer. They take the ticket to the long deli counter (sectioned by food type) order, and the deli counter guy writes on the ticket what it was worth. After the meal you take the tickets to the cash register and pay. EVERY person gets a ticket, and EVERY ticket gets turned back in to the original policeman to make sure they all paid.
How organized is that?!
SO impressed.
So worth giving up vegetarianism for the afternoon!
Ben's latest business trip took him to Orangeburg, just outside of NYC, so I begged along. Couldn't resist! I spent my mission in Queens and Manhattan, so we flew in a day early to JFK and spent all day Monday going around my old stompin' ground!
stop1: jamaica ave
We walked for miles all around Jamaica Ave visiting the church, library, street stores,
and tracking down old members. We found tons of cars with these
anti-theft clubs on the steering wheels. Very Queens-y!
Gotta love the subway!
stop 2: flushing meadows corona park
I was so psyched to show Ben one of my favorite places in the whole world: Flushing Meadows Corona Park! Hmmm... most of my favorite places are parks... But how can you resist this one which is home to the Steel Unisphere, 1964 World's Fair, Shea Stadium, U.S. Open tennis center, and the weird spaceship statues from MIB?
Sometimes I get a little embarrassed to have my picture taken...
stop 3: graffitti park and hunter's point
An annoying subway ride away is 5 pointz, also known as Graffiti Park, an out-of-the-way alcove of building walls that are covered in professional graffiti. Yes, professional graffiti. Artists are put on a waiting list to tag these walls, their work is reviewed and painted-over if it is too bad, and all the walls are re-painted every few weeks so there is always something new. May not sound a lot like me, but this is truly one of my favorite places in Queens!
Uncanny resemblance...
I am so impressed with how life-like (or at least photo-like) graffiti can be! Check out this shading!
How AMAZING is this place?!?!?!?!?!
We went back to jamaica ave after that and went to the missionary-run FHE at their branch. I got some amazing news that their minuscule branch has grown so much that they have a satellite group watch church in another room! I used to have to bus to each member's house to personally pick them up! The ward has grown so much the space they have reserved for a new, REAL building is finally being built! I was on cloud nine.
