Cutting it Close

Luckily it is leap year because otherwise I would have failed my "blogging twice a month" goal. This month has been so busy and I feel like I can hardly keep up.

This past week I was so overwhelmed by the kindness shown to me for my birthday. I have had a hard few weeks dealing with lots at work and such. My birthday was the perfect pick-me-up.

My students were very sweet to me on my birthday. They kept trying to "secretly" plan when to sing to me and burst into song several times throughout the day. (I only let them sing once though.) A couple of students even brought me gifts which was so nice (necklace, lotion, a pie, etc). I got several cards and my students tried and succeeded at making me feel loved.

Andrew was very impressive with his gift giving this year which isn't new. He was very thoughtful with the gifts he got me. He got me a new watch after watching mine break in half recently. Andrew also got me a pizza stone and I can't wait to use it TONIGHT! I have always wanted one. I hope it's as good as people claim. My favorite gift was probably my blog made into a book though. 

The whole purpose of blogging for me is so I can avoid scrapbooking. Scrapbooking to me is very time consuming and something I don't want to do right now. Maybe later on in life I will be interested, but for now I have no desire. (You should have seen me last week in a scrapbooking store. It was a low point and involved 4 separate purchases and 4 products not doing what they were supposed to. I ended up leaving VERY frustrated). Blogging is my way of "documenting" our life and what goes on. Andrew made a book of every one of my posts from 2014 and there were a lot. He spent over TWENTY hours doing this for me. What a man.

One of my best friends brought me swig sugar cookies for my birthday. Our landlords left me happy birthday cupcakes on the counter. I got several texts from friends and family. The posts on my Facebook wall made me realize maybe I actually do like Facebook? Andrew took me to Cold Stone to get the concoction that I'm addicted to. We had pizza. (enough said.) To top it all off, we had a family dinner to celebrate both my birthday as well as Andrew's. We are struggling to eat all the goodies and treats I was showered with.

My birthday came at the perfect time this year. This week has already been so much better. Now if only birthdays came semi-annually...

Month of Celebrations

February is kind of a whirlwind around our home. There is always so much to celebrate. February 14th--Valentine's Day. February 20th-- Andrew's birthday. February 25th-- My birthday. All attempts to maintain a budget during this month go out the window. 

So many places do birthday deals and we look forward to using these deals. We usually hit Red Robin twice during our birthday month. (Once for each of us) Besides, we can't redeem our free birthday burgers on the same visit, so we are kind of forced to go twice. :) We went to Red Robin over the weekend and I'm still dreaming about the campfire sauce. 

I'm still feeling Tucanos. We went this afternoon because they have a free birthday meal as well. After doing some research we figured out that entrees only cost $15.99 during lunch hours, so that is when we went.

Very satisfied with his Brazilian Limeade 

Why didn't we take pictures before eating? Food coma.

We were lucky Valentine's Day was on a Sunday because we couldn't go out. Instead, I made chicken enchiladas (Andrew's request) and rice. We also spent the afternoon making sugar cookies together. These can be quite time consuming and I ended up having to remake the frosting which prolonged the process. The end result was heavenly though. Sour cream does wonders.

Now that our birthday meals are taken care of, we can relax. It has been a busy month. I survived round 2 of parent teacher conferences by the skin of my teeth. No matter how prepared I am for conferences, I don't know that I will ever be fully mentally or emotionally prepared for the 2 fourteen hour days. No more parent teacher conferences this school year. That deserves a celebration in and of itself! I don't think the timing was coincidental, but I was recognized during an assembly for all my hard work as a teacher. I was surprised and embarrassed to come stand and hear nice things read about me, but the free Cafe Rio was worth it. And who doesn't like to hear compliments? (The card is currently on my fridge and may never come down.)

This season we have enjoyed going to the BYU men's volleyball games with my family. It makes the games more fun to know someone on the team and my cousin Jake Langlois is so fun to watch. We can't wait for the next game.

We'll start the budget again next month perhaps? Until then, do you think I can keep Andrew's presents a secret? I already blew one...