My Guy

What is your husband's name? Aaron. Or if you ask his friends from high school, they'll tell you that his name is Duckbutt. He's going to kill me for writing that.
How long have you been together? How long did you date? We have been together for 6.5 years, married for almost 6. We did the typical BYU dating period of 2 whole months!

Who said I love you first? Aaron
Who is smarter? Definitely Aaron with academics. But there are a few things that I am smarter on. These would include: the best way to stop a toddler tantrum, how to do the dishes AND clean out the sink, how to MULTI-TASK, you get the idea. But he would beat me any day on an IQ test.

Who does the housework? I do. Unless he decides to completely surprise me like he did last week when he cleaned all three bathrooms in one night. I love my husband.

Who sleeps on the right? Aaron sleeps on my right.

Who pays the bills? I do. Good thing too or we would never get to eat out or go to movies if he saw our credit card bill! Just kidding.

Who cooks dinner? Me. But during the summer Aaron is the master griller. It's a nice break for me! He also does a lot of breakfasts. He makes some mean cheesy eggs.

Who drives when you are together? Unless he has just gotten off a 30 hour shift, he does.

Who is more stubborn? I am.

Who kissed who first? It was mutual.

Who asked who out first? Ha ha. Funny story. I would say that Jordan asked Aaron out for me! Spencer, Jordan, me and some other people had planned on going to see Shrek. I had just met Aaron and thought that I might want to get to know him a little better. So Jordan and I devised a plan to perhaps finagle him into coming with us. We knew Aaron was coming over that afternoon, so when he knocked on the door I let him in and Jordan left the room. As she was going into the bedroom she yells, "Hey Megan! Have you found a date yet?"

Me: "Uh, no, not yet..." as I shyly bat my eyes towards Aaron.

Aaron: "A date for what?"

Me: "Oh, we're just going to see Shrek tonight."
Aaron:"Oh, cool. I've heard it's funny. I've been wanting to see it".

Me: "Oh. Well, you can come if you want."

Aaron: "Ok, sounds good."

Me: "Hey Jordan! I found a date!"

We even touched arms that night.

Who proposed? Sheesh! He did! It wouldn't have fit with our 2 months of BYU dating if I did! He took me up Provo canyon where his roommates had gotten a fire going (in the snow), blankets, hot dogs and his guitar. He had written me a song (one of two that he knows) and then he proposed. It was perfect. Little did he know that I pretty much knew it was coming. We had gone ring shopping a couple of weeks before. Because we had the ring customized, it was supposed to take a while before it was finished. So I kept on calling the jewlery store to see if it was in yet and one day it was. I KNOW! I'M HORRIBLE! I didn't tell him this until 6 months after we were married. He was mad for a few days and still gives me a hard time. Understandably, I would be too. I just can't stand a surprise!

Who has more siblings? He does - he's the oldest of 6.

Who wears the pants? The kids for sure.

Or none at all.

Doing this post made me realize that Aaron and I have NO pictures together. Dang those kids, they just steal the spotlight!

Dooms Day Vault

Have you heard about the Doom's day vault that just opened in Norway? Norway spent a boatload of money to create this place in the arctic where countries can store seeds just in case of a global catastrophe. Many other seed banks around the world have been destroyed, but this one is supposed to withstand earthquakes, global warming, etc.

So I got to thinking about what I would store in my Doom's Day vault. Here are a few of the things that I would include:

A&W Rootbeer
Contact lenses
Wet wipes
Tampons
Mint Millanos
Clorox wipes
Peanut butter Twix
Backup CD of pictures

What would be in your Doom's Day Vault?

A sad meal, the hospital guy, fat lady and cold hands

1. A few days ago we met up with some friends at McDonalds (for the purpose of the indoor playground and to celebrate two birthdays). I had to run a few errands before we went to Mickey Dees, so I told the boys that if they were really good while we ran errands that I would buy them each a happy meal. If they made bad choices they wouldn't get a happy meal. To this Destroy replied,

"No, if we're bad, we will get a sad meal". (Little does he know, they are ALL sad meals).

2. The other night we went to visit Aaron at the hospital for dinner. They have an indoor playground in the hospital so the kids and I hung out there for a while until Daddy was able to eat dinner. Which was an hour later. Then, right after we had ordered, he had to take off to check on his patients (he is currently on the trauma service). A half an hour later, he still hadn't come back. While we were waiting, the boys were talking and showing off to a couple of older ladies. You could tell that the kids hadn't been out of the house in a week because the stunts they were pulling looked like they really hurt but they were laughing their heads off because they finally had someone's attention. One of the ladies asked the kids where their Daddy worked. Search told them that he worked at the hospital. What does he do? Destroy told them that Daddy was a "hospital guy". Good answer, because when I tell people that he is a doctor, I have to explain that he a resident which gets into a long discussion about where residency fits into medical school, how it's so expensive, blah blah blah. And after all that, people aren't convinced that he's a doctor, because, well, he's still in training. But, yes folks, he is a doctor. Anyways, we finally left the cafeteria with Aaron's dinner and went back up to the playground. Aaron finally got to eat (I mean devour) his dinner. We saw him for a total of 4.5 minutes.

yesterday at church:

If you have ever heard Destroy talk, then you'll know that he speaks louder than most people, and his little (big) voice stands out. So, while sitting in primary, he asks me pointing to a woman next to us,
"Mom, why is she so fat?"
Wow. Didn't know what to say. I've wondered when this day would come and now it's here. One good thing did come from this... now we have a topic for family home evening tonight. "How to keep your comments to yourself" or "How to wait until you're in the car" or "How not to make others feel really bad about themselves".

And then, this is even better. To give you a little history, Aaron thinks it's really funny to sneak up behind me and lift up my shirt and put his cold hands on my back. Yes, I think it's hilarious too. But not as funny as when I elbow him in the gut. The kids just look at us bewildered because it appears as though their parents are physically fighting. So, I tell them that Daddy just made a really bad choice because he put his cold hands on mommy's back.

So yesterday in primary sharing time was about good choices and bad choices. (Yes, you probably already know where this is going). Sharing time begins and the teacher explains that there are good choices and bad choices. Right away, Destroy pipes up, out of turn (hasn't learned that yet) and says,

"My Daddy makes a bad choice when he puts his hands up my mommy's shirt!" Hiding behind the piano for this comment wasn't enough for me. I had to get up and leave the room. I didn't stay long enough to explain or to see the looks on faces. I love having kids.

Meet the Cullen Family

I think they have done a really good job with the casting. With a few changes, some make-up and new hairstyles, they have created the characters we know and love. But, can the actors pull it off? I guess we will find out in December. Did you know they are doing a midnight showing of the movie?

The last of the series, Breaking Dawn, will be released in August and her new book "The Host" will be released in May. Click here for more info and to see more characters in the movie.

Winter time stories

A continutation of Julia's...

YOU KNOW IT"S WINTER WHEN...

You consider "getting the mail" as an errand. It's too cold to just go out and get the mail so you make it errand number one on your list and drive your car to the mailbox. Which is at the end of your driveway.

Your arm hair is in fact dark. Not blonde.

You don't have to worry about running errands with milk in the trunk. It's being refridgerated while you're out.

You don't have to worry about taking the milk inside the house to the fridge when you get home. You can simply leave it on a shelf in the garage.

You make a special trip to Target for windshield washer fluid because yours ran out. But, when you go to pour more in, you realize that the fluid was just frozen, not empty.

You sleep with a fleece blanket under the top sheet so that when your spouse rolls over, the cold air won't come in and attack you.

You could sand a piece of wood with your knuckles.

You could start a fire by rubbing your un-shaven legs together really fast.

Typing at the computer for too long threatens to give your fingers frost bite.

You make a slide for the kids using the leaf from your table. And they are thrilled.

You never want to get out of the shower, you like hanging out in the laundry room while the dryer is going and getting into bed at night is your favorite part of the day.

How do you know it's winter?

Go Away Please.

This week our house if full of unwelcomed guests.

Coughing Chester arrived first. He was followed by Sally Snot. They have both outstayed their welcome. Although, they were never welcome in the first place. Frank Fever came later arm in arm with Charlie Chills. Alice Achey-Body wasn't far behind. Felix Flem has made his appearance and Pulled-rib-muscle Paul suddenly appeared one day with no warning, weeks after Coughing Chester. Through all of this Grouchy Greg continues to stay with no hint of leaving until the others do. And of course, to top it off, good ole Aunt Flo is here for her very regular visit. They seem to prefer different family members at different times (except for Aunt Flo of course) but they are always here.

Here is a poem I have composed for them.

Please, Please go away.
You have outlasted your stay.

We never wanted you here,
When you leave, I'll shed not a tear.

Please, please go away,
It's time to be on your way.

Valentine's "Get-Away"

We are sorry that due to a ComEd power issue,
the February 13 evening performance of WICKED
was cancelled. Given that the audience for this
performance did not see a full show, we invite
you back to see all of WICKED any Tuesday
through Thursday evening performance from
now through April 1.

Please let us know your name, seat locations
and the weeknight you would like to attend along
with a phone number to contact you. We will
make every attempt to provide comparable seating.

Broadway In Chicago Customer Service312-977-1717


We took a mini-trip up to Chicago (3 hour drive) with Aaron's parents and sister to go see Wicked. Aaron and I saw it once last year but his family had never seen it. We left on wednesday afternoon, leaving one feverish, coughing child and the other who didn't want his Papa, JoNana and Autie Iguana to leave (he didn't care about his parents). Luckily our friends who watched the kids were happy to do it and made it fun for them. Oh yes, and right as we were walking out the door, all dressed up in fancy theatre clothes Destroy manages to puke all over my cute little sweater, himself, my only black pants, and the floor as I'm giving him one last hug. I love having kids. Oh, and he wasn't the one who was feverish and coughing. At this point I was ready to stay home but Aaron convinced me that they would be fine. I was already worried about Search with his fever and it put me over the top to think that Destroy might be sick too. But knowing that Destroy can pretty much puke on command kept me thinking that he was fine. And he was. And they were perfect and happy of course. And the went to bed without a fight. Of course.

We got to Chicago, got some dinner and then found the theatre. The play was just as good as I remember it from last time... that is until the power went out. It was kind of funny because the power went out right during the love song when the two are caressing each other and professing their love. Even though the music had stopped, so they couldn't sing, the back-up generator powered some dim lights so that you could see them still. They didn't know what to do so they just kept on caressing each other. They were pretty good actors but you could tell that they were getting a bit uncomfortable. Finally someone came out to tell us that they wouldn't be able to fix the outage. So, we had to leave. As we were walking to the car we noticed a whole bunch of workmen working down in the road and wondered if maybe they had caused the power-outage by accidentally breaking a powerline or something. Well, we were right. Thanks, ComEd for the wonderful evening.

After the play (and minus the happy ending), we stayed in a nice hotel downtown which shared walls with offices. The hotel also charged a parking fee! The next morning we took advantage of the Lincoln Continental breakfast and then booked it home.

So, our Valentine's Day had the chance to be great, but because of the sick kids and the play let-down it wasn't as great as it could have been. But it was nice to be kid-free for a day and enjoy some time with my honey. And, the first half of the play is my favorite anyway. Aaron's parents were so nice to pay for the trip and since they are from out of town they were issued a full refund!

Done.

And I only had to start over 9 times!

The only time that spitting is ok.

And spit they do.

Off to Iraq

This is my brother Dave. He did medical school via the army route (so they would pay his tuition) and is now serving a few years for them working as a doctor. Part of the deal for most of these guys is a trip over to the middle east (or elsewhere) to work in a hospital for a few months. So he will be in Mosul, Iraq for the next 5 months and 3 weeks! With no visits home at all during that time, his wife Laurie and his four kids won't be seeing him until August! But, I'm sure he'll learn a lot and he is definitely making Aaron jealous with all of the ammunitions training he is getting. Their family has a new blog, sixlayerdip.blogspot.com (isn't that cute!) so that we can keep up on Dave's adventures, and Laurie's adventures as single mom for the next few months. Dave, we all appreciate what you are doing and we are all looking forward to when you get home safely! Oh, and by the way, that color looks great on you :)

What catches your attention?

The glorious wallpaper?
The fact that he's studying USMLE step 2?
The fact that he's reading it upside-down?
The fact that he now picks his own clothes?

Laugh for the day - frozen moments