If you look straight ahead, you’ll see MC

If someone had asked me seven years ago when Derek and I met if I thought I’d ever see a day where Derek was dressed up in chaps, spurs and a cowboy hat, there wouldn’t have been a breath of air between the end of the question and my firm ‘NO!’

Well, I officially have myself a cowboy.

Minus a horse.  And a saddle.  And…ok, minus a many things.  But unlike many other cowboy’s, mine has a hi-lo!

I made him buy that shirt a few month’s ago in spite of all his whining.  He said it made him look like a farmer.  That’s when I jumped in and said, “Well, WHY do you think I want you to buy it?  You look HOT!”  And I may have used a few other phrases that I won’t repeat on this family friendly blog.  What is it about farmers and cowboys, anyway?

I’d say it did its job well.  He sure had my blood churning. 

Cuatro

Today, Derek and I celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary.  It’s hard to believe it has been that long, and in a way, hard to believe it hasn’t been even longer.  We’ve known each other seven years now, and I can’t imagine my life without him.

Where does the time go, I ask you? 

That was the last picture taken of us together.  In January.  On North Captiva Island, Florida.  When we actually had a free moment to have our picture taken.

I’ll stop whining now and say that this is only the beginning of our lives together, and I look forward to the many wonderful years ahead.

If this doesn’t work, I’m quitting.

So, I think Valentine’s Day may not be all it’s hyped up to be. 

It’s just another day to me. 

I don’t care about overpriced flowers or candy, or mushy cards expressing endless love. 

I do, however, care about spending time with my husband.

Wait, a husband?  I actually have one of those?  Somehow, I don’t view a man that I spend approximately three coherent hours with a week as a husband.

I am so happy that he is finally getting into something he will enjoy, and spending every moment he has working hard toward that finish line, but lately I feel like a crazy woman who spends her time talking to her dogs as she would her husband.

It’s hard.  It’s frustrating.  It’s lonely.  But, it’s necessary and it’ll all be worth it in the end.  I know this.  But sometimes a girl just needs to complain.

So tomorrow, between his hours of studying and when he leaves at 7 pm for clinicals all night long,  I will be making us a nice dinner.

That part of it is just ducky.  It’s the 16,000 pound elephant I have sitting on my shoulders in anticipation of cooking beef tenderloin that has me freaking out.  Something I’ve never attempted, and something I am positive I will fail at.

See, if there is one thing I do extremely well when cooking, it’s not being able to gauge when a piece of meat is properly cooked.  Also read as:  Always overcooking the meat. 

I’ve yet to learn to ignore the annoying, nagging glitch in my brain that tells me to keep on cooking that meat, it’s not even close yet.  

So, I am hoping for a miracle to happen tomorrow when I stick that little piece of heaven in an oven at almost 500 degrees.  Wish me luck!

Don’t worry, I’ve pulled some good ones on him

As some of you may already know,  my husband is quite the joker.  He is very good at tricking me, and most of the time, I STILL fall for it.  Here is a recent example.

Saturday, I went out shopping and he went to his sister’s house to help her with some things.  He calls me after we’ve both been gone for a couple of hours and tells me that he left the gate open in the kitchen, so the dogs were able to roam the whole house (we always barricade them in the kitchen, so they don’t get into any trouble).  I was on my way home to get dinner together, my mother was with me.  We arrived and the outdoor gate that encloses our yard was wide open.

We go into the house, and I call the dogs.  Nothing.  I run all over the house, checking every room, and still nothing.  So, being me, I start to freak out.  I call him back, and this is what happened.

“Did you take the dogs with you?”
“No, why?  What did they get into?”
“Nothing, they aren’t here!”
“What do you mean, they aren’t there?”
“You really didn’t take them with you??!?”
“No, why would I do that?!”  (with a slight giggle in his voice)
“You better not be joking with me, tell me the truth right now”, I say, almost crying.
“Yes, honey, I took them with me.  I can’t believe you actually believed me.”
Click.

He wonders why I thought this could have possibly been an accident.  An hour later, we are all there, and he leaves the outside gate wide open and the dogs run off. 

I don’t know that I will ever really know when to tell if he is kidding and when he is serious.  Atleast he keeps me on my toes!

Still going strong

Three years ago today, Derek and I got married.

We were married at a quaint little bed and breakfast in Niagara Falls, with twenty people there to share it with us.  I wore a dress straight from my mother’s skillful hands.  We attended a nice dinner afterwards, and that’s it.  It was perfect.  I wouldn’t change a thing.

Every day that passes, I am more and more thankful that he came into my life.  He has changed it in so many ways.  We have been through so much together and I always look forward to spending the rest of my life with him. 

He is sweet, funny, caring and honest.  We understand eachother, yet we bicker and argue about everything!  An ongoing joke in my family leans on the fact that we are just like my dad’s parents, because they did the same thing.  They had a long, wonderful marriage, and raised six wonderful children, so I don’t see anything wrong with a little bickering.  You have to keep things interesting, right?

We met in 2002, after being set up by a mutual friend.  I fell in love with him a few months later, and have been ever since.  In January 2005, we went to San Diego and he proposed one evening, on a sidewalk overlooking the whole city.  It was beautiful.

I couldn’t have asked for a better husband. 

Happy Anniversary, honey!  I am looking forward to many, many more.

My long lost husband

I am jumping off the walls here.

Tomorrow, I get to spend an entire day with my husband.  Most of you are probably thinking, “Well, why is that so exciting?”.  Well, because of the fact that I NEVER see him.  EVER!  Especially this semester.  Here is a glimpse into our crazy schedule.

I work Monday through Friday during the day.
He works Sunday through Thursday 3 to 11:30.
He goes to school Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 8 am.
Friday nights we usually have dinner together, and then he goes and plays basketball with a bunch of his friends.
Saturdays, he is doing clinicals all day.
Sundays, I get up early and go to the farm, he sleeps in and then goes to work.

So, basically I see him for a couple minutes on the days he goes to school,  Friday evenings and sometimes on Saturday. For him to have an entire day free is a very special treat!! 

After this weekend though, we only have to hold out five more weeks.  That’s when this semester ends, and we will both have much more free time.  It will still only be Fridays and Saturdays, but compared to what it is now, that’s a huge improvement!!

I’ll admit, we will probably just hang out at home and do some things that need doing.  But atleast we are together.

Come to think of it, we’ve never had a “normal” schedule.  He has always worked either nights or afternoons (there was only a brief day shift period in there), and I’ve always been going to school.  When the day comes that we spend more than one or two days a week together, it will be a whole new experience.  I wonder if that day will ever come….

He really does like her

Last night, Derek and I had an argument about my horse.  It wasn’t serious, and everything was fine about twenty minutes later.  He just has this constant need to get me riled up, and that isn’t too hard to do.

So, I am not going to go into the details.  It was pointless, and honestly it was really my fault.  See, I belong to the class of arguers that don’t know how to argue.  I just lose my temper and start yelling things.  Most of the time they don’t make sense and in an argumentative sense, they are not good arguments AT ALL!  Derek is a class A arguer, so most of the time, I just get upset because I can’t defend myself, forget about it, and things are fine five minutes later.  It’s just what we do.

So, I was actually laughing my butt off this afternoon, upon receiving this.

I think I’ll keep him.

Friday ramblings

The snow seems to be melting at an astonishing rate.  This intermediate time between spring and summer is rather depressing.  Everything is still brown, and when the snow melts, the multitude of litter on the side of the road is overwhelming.  Oh yeah, then there is the whole everywhere-you-go-there-is-mud phenomenon.  The farm is the worst this time of year.  Those white “socks” on Echo?  They aren’t even visible.  You walk out into the pasture, and you have to do it quickly becuse you very well may be sucked into the soggy ground before you even know it.  In spite of all the negative facts just pointed out, it is exciting that Spring is finally coming around!

In other news, I found this website and decided to send this to Derek.

I’ve got to attend a “Pirates and Wenches” party this weekend.  Not sure why a costume party is being held in the middle of March, but nonetheless, it should be fun.  It’s a birthday party for a friend of mine.  Derek just “doesn’t do” costume parties, but he also has clinicals on Saturday night, so I will be attending with my sister.  I’ll let you know how it all spans out.

No mushy love notes for me

It’s Valentines Day.  I know I won’t get a card, I won’t get any flowers, I won’t get a nice dinner, I probably won’t even get a “Happy Valentines Day” from my husband. 

I don’t mind one bit. 

This is just who he is, and one of the reasons I love him so much.  He is stubborn, opinionated, and when he doesn’t agree with something, there is no changing his mind.

I know if I asked him to acknowledge this day, and get me something, he would.  And just knowing that makes me realize that I don’t need to make a big deal out of this day.  While I love romance,  I don’t need any of it from him.  I would be much happier getting a new lens for my camera, or a new vacuum than a huge arrangement of flowers.  I am pretty simple.

He truly is a wonderful husband, and he does amazing things for me all the time.  Having a husband that is as passionate about living in a clean, neat house as I am is romantic enough for my taste.  He is very practical, which is a quality I adore.  So, buying flowers on Valentines day is just not practical, considering the huge increase in prices during that time.  We both agree on that. 

With all my anal retentiveness, and uptight tendencies, he really balances me out.  And once and a great while, he will get me a romantic gift or bring home flowers.  For everyone else out there that are Valentines day suckers, I am sorry to rain on your parade, and I am not putting the holiday down.  My husband just doesn’t believe in it, and over the years, that tends to rub off on me as well. 

A while ago, I got tagged to list five of my favorite songs. I am still working on it, and promise to post it sometime soon.