Birthday Week

This week is birthday week at our house. Scott's birthday was on Monday, and mine's on Saturday. I had this great post planned about Scott earlier this week, until a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing happened. Our eight-year-old computer bit the dust. Luckily, my smart and always prepared husband backed up 3/4 of our hard drive last weekend for fun. When Scott diagnosed it as officially dead, I panicked. I told him he needed to buy a new one TONIGHT! (it was 8:30pm). I haden't realized before how much of my life is online. Email, work email, facebook, blogging, shopping, recipes, etc. Well, he didn't buy one "TONIGHT!" but we are proud owners of a new desktop that we got dirt cheap and hopefully will last for a while.

So, here finally are the things I really love about my husband who's now in his 33rd year:

1. He's always prepared and very, very careful about just about everything. That's helpful, because I'm not.

2. He loves his family and would do anything for us.

3. He says the sweetest things when he calls me on the phone. A typical greeting would be, "Hello, my beautiful, sweet wife and the woman of my dreams. How are you this morning?" He can get much more elaborate. I roll my eyes sometimes, but secretly love it.

4. He's quick to forgive. Even when I've been really horrible.

5. He's a hard worker and never gives up. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? I'm learning that in life, the tortoise wins the prize. He's steady and perservering.

6. He loves to dance. I don't, but I love that he does.

7. He does the dishes for me every night.

8. He's not a messy person, but not a clean freak, either. Perfect.

9. He fills the car up with gas for me most of the time. I hate getting gas and sometimes have to go to several gas stations in order to fill my tank. I'm pretty inept at it. He also makes dental appointments for me. Otherwise I wouldn't go. I'm not a completely dependent person, but these are a couple of my quirks.

10. He's incredibly patient.

I love you, Scott!

Graduation Festivities

Scott graduated from chiropractic school last weekend. It was a whirlwind of festivities and fun. The weekend began with a banquet at a posh hotel in Dallas. We had great food, good company at our table, and a nice evening without our little sidekick.

Both of our parents and an aunt and uncle came into town for the big event. Graduation was held on Saturday morning. Even with all of the disdain I've had about the way we've been treated in this school, I felt so proud of my husband for graduating from Parker College. It's really a great accomplishment for him and our family. It's been a long road for us, and we're nearly to the end. I'm proud of him for working hard and never giving up.

Madeline's activities during graduation. That, and yelling "Awesome, Dad!"

One very happy family

Grandpa and Grandma Roper (aka "red bamaw")

Grandpa and Grandma Serr (aka pink or yellow bamaw - she differentiated between them based on what they were wearing)

Our first pictures in the famous Texas blue bonnets - they make our roadsides so beautiful

We had a lovely weekend and are looking forward to whatever life brings us next!

Pity Party

As I heard a gunshot echo into the night outside of our apartment on Monday night, and as we were later questioned by the police, it further engrained the thought in my mind that WE HAVE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!!!

We have been in the same place in our life for so long - same school, same weekend/night job, same apartment that may or may not be falling down around us, still only one child. We have seen so many of our friends move on with their lives in various ways and we are way passed ready to take our turn.

I know these feelings are completely selfish. I have so much to be grateful for. But can a girl have a little pity party every once in a while?

This Easter Season

I believe this is the first year we've dyed eggs in our little family. I found a cute idea for dying them using old silk ties. It was definitely less messy than bowls of dye in various colors, of which I had visions of splattering all over my kitchen/carpet/clothes. This method wasn't the most kid friendly, though. Madeline's job was to hand us the eggs out of the carton. After the third broken egg, she was just invited to watch the process. You can imagine how that went over. The eggs turned out beautifully, but we may just use stickers next year.

Later in the week we participated in a little Easter egg hunt with some friends. Madeline was really exited about it, but had a hard time finding the eggs in the grass. We still came home with our fair share of treats. The most popular were the pink peeps. Nasty, in my mind. At least she didn't have to worry about me eating them all. The chocolate was another story....

We are spending this Easter Sunday lounging around our apartment watching General Conference. Conference at our house always includes brunch. This morning we dined on delicious sweet potatoe waffles. I came up with the idea a few months ago when I had a leftover cooked sweet potato in the fridge that didn't have any plans to be eaten. So, I added it to our waffle mix and amazing things happened. They are sweet, buttery, and filling.

Sweet Potato Waffles

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter (you could also use oil, but why?)

1 tsp vanilla

1 roasted, skinned sweet potato, cooled

In a medium bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Make a well in the center of the mixture; set aside.

In another medium bowl beat eggs slightly; stir in milk, butter, and vanilla. Grate sweet potato into egg mixture and stir to combine. Add egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir until just moistened and still lumpy.

Cook in waffle iron, and enjoy with maple syrup. You can freeze leftovers and pop into the toaster in the morning for an easy breakfast.

I'm grateful for the chance I've had today to listen to and reflect on the words of our prophet, as well as celebrate the resurrection of our Savior.

Spring

Last spring

Crayon melted to the carseat and long afternoons spent at the park. Spring, Texas Style, has finally returned!