…a little bit like Christmas. Although it’s warm/rainy/sunny here everyday and we never close our windows and it’s just about always too warm for hot chocolate. We picked out a tree the other day at Helemano farms, just down the road from our house and brought it home with the top down. It is decorated and in the living room (that is ALMOST a real living room- we have a couch and everything!!) and the flocked deer and budding Christmas star collection is out. And there’s a wreath or two up. Most of our holiday decorations will remain in their sweet little totes since our house is inches away from chaos (who’s idea was it to try to renovate so many rooms at once?) and I am all but alone in the day-to-day tasks.

Oh golly. I have not mentioned that the mister is an invalid. He has been laying in bed or creeping very slowly around the house for almost 2 weeks now, recovering from a urethroplasty. Poor dude. He’s doing well, considering, but I know that he’s ready to get back to real life. You know, and pee like a regular guy. Hopefully he continues to heal and recover well and we can enjoy Christmas all cuddled together in jammies.

golly, I love this time of year. Hugs to all you, internet friends, real friends, and family that I adore!

elle

Dear mr. awesome,

Has it really been three years that I’ve been calling you that? More, really- since I gave you that nickname the first week we were dating. I remember you rambling on and on our first date about all of your amazing qualities- how great you were at money management (I didn’t volunteer my track record…uh-hum), how smart you were, how awesome being a submariner was, and how good you were at designing hammocks and loft beds. We were having ice cream at Seaport Village. Then we got on your bike and rode down Harbor on your Honda Rebel, just like Maverick and Charlie in Top Gun.

You used to take Bruno out for a walk with me after our dates and it is somewhere on one of these walks, standing on the corner of fir and 4th in Banker’s Hill, that I first started callling you by this nickname. You were again discussing one of your wonderful qualities and I remarked that you really must be mr. awesome.

And, you are. I knew that marrying you after only knowing you a few months meant that there was a lot to learn, but I felt like I was giving myself a gift that I could open for years to come. You are more than I thought I was getting.

We are so far away from those days in sunny San Diego, flying around town on your motorcycle, staying up way too late everynight playing Guitar Hero in your apartment, and writing each other love notes at church. I still think that you are just as charming and handsome (if not more) and am so grateful that you’re mine. All mine.

We’ve still only just begun dude.

love you, love you, love you.
elle

ps. If we are only three years out and have doubled our family (almost) what does the next three years have in store for us?
pps. thanks for killing that cockroach last night- I never knew that cockroach killing was a skill that I would need in a husband, and I am so glad that you possess it.

Background information for this post: With the exception of one evening in February, Garth and I have not been out without the kiddo since he was born (14 months ago!). We don’t live near family or have a good babysitter, so we spend more of our post-7pm evenings at home, watching movies in our room while we eat dinner and pray that Jack stays asleep. We sure miss going to movies and having late night ice cream binges.

Such an opportunity came this Friday night when the daycare that Jack frequents offered date night childcare (totally worth the $3 an hour!). We decided to take the mini and go to our favorite theater where we could watch Iron Man 2 and eat pizza and guzzle root beer right from our seats. We started the evening off by taking Jack to the park right before we dropped him off in his jammies with a sippy sup full of milk. We then drove the 6 or so miles up to the theater where as we were parking (in a no parking zone) something funny started to happen. The control arm on one of the wheels came loose (this happened once before when Garth was driving to work- he had a few guys help him lift the car off the road onto the shoulder.) With 10 minutes left until the movie was to start, we headed to Sears (in the mall nextdoor to the theater) to get the supplies to fix the car. $100 spent on tools that we already owned and an hour or so later, it was apparent that it was not a quick fix. We called friends to find a ride home and one interrupted a date to come pick us up. By the time he (and his date) reached us, we were walking along the highway, waddling pregnant lady and carseat-toting husband.

At home we switched cars and went to pick up the kiddo. We had about an hour before the childcare ended, and we hadn’t eaten, so we thought we’d salvage part of the evening and have a bite to eat at our favorite fast food place- but they had just closed the lobby. *sigh* So we drove through and ate our late night dinner in the parking lot of the childcare center- just before going inside and paying our $12 to pick up our sleepy Jack.

Our mini is still in the theater parking lot. It was the worst (and most expensive) date night ever.

I am already laughing about it.
Garth is contemplating selling the mini.

Maybe next time we’ll play it safe and ride our bikes.

xo
elle

Garth is 31 today. He is such a super person, and that makes me one lucky girl. He woke up this morning on his birthday, made Jack a bottle, then let me sleep in and brought me hot chocolate in bed. Gosh, if only everyday was his birthday!

love you, Mr. Awesome.
Mrs. Awesome.

We were working up until the very last moment to get these together! They were pretty simple- as I used patterns for almost everything. Garth did most of his costume by himself! (it’s really not that amazing, hes actually really crafty). Here’s what we did:

Peter Pan. We used a soft cotton jersey and a pirate pattern for the tunic. We purchased a darker green material for the leggings and I pinned the fabric around garth’s legs and then sewed along my pin line to make them. He made his own hat using two triangular shapes of fabric, and I made the little red feather for it out of red fleece. We used a spat pattern for the booties, and garth made himself a little belt/sword sheath out of the leftover fabric.

Wendy. I used a costume pattern and some nice almost-shiney-slightly-stretchy polyester. I had to modify the pattern to raise the bustline, shorten the hemline, and create the poof on the sleeves. I really enojoyed curling my hair into ringletts. I bought a box dye to dye my hair back to brown, but ran out of time…

Captain Hook. I found a pattern for a childs pirate costume that I used for this costume’s shirt, jacket, and bloomers, with some modifications. I added a flounce to the shirt and straightened the jacket. Garth picked out embossed red velvet for the jacket and it was stunning! I made the hat, sewed large black yarn onto the edges, and Garth cut a feather from our feather duster to add to the band. Mr Jack wore girly tights. Aunt Kat supplied the awesome sword.

sorry about the shoddy photos. Our camera has been having focusing problems, it was twilight, and Mr Jack was very wiggly.

more super things are coming including a rewind of our trip to nola and some rad news about the xoelle enterprise.
Stay tuned friends.

xo
elle

Our marriage is 731 days old today.

Happy Anniversary Mr. Awesome.

xoxoxoo
elle

My husband Garth is the big three oh today. I’m thousands of miles away in Spokane, WA hanging out with my family in the snow while he works on his Austin Mini today….but I wish that I were close enough to don a party hat and make him a little cake.

Happy Birthday to my five fingered husband! (and to his twin sister in North Carolina!)

We got our official souvenier photo from the Navy Birthday Ball back today, and it’s so darling. I just wanted to share it, and share this group of photos that Mr. Garth has added to his flickr account. They are from his re-enlistment ceremony on Halloween- where he was dressed as Popeye. Totally worth the clicking. =)

We’re leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for Savannah, GA. Garth purchased a really large something with said re-enlistment bonus check, and we are going to pick it up. It’s baby blue, and wasn’t manufactured for American consumption.

Later dudes.
xoxoxoooooo
elle

A few weeks ago Garth and I started noticing the evidence of an uninvited guest living in our home. We found tiny droppings and half-chewed cupcake wrappers. We pulled our Halloween candy from the top shelf and found a tootsie pop that had been licked to the tootsie part on one side, wrapper still round.

Then we saw him. I saw him first, late in the kitchen at night. He ran from behind the fridge to behind the washing machine. A week or so later Garth and I were both in the kitchen and saw him follow the same course, only this time, we saw him jump up behind the dishwasher.

So on Halloween we went to the hadware store and purchased some traps. Garth was content with a set of those neck-breaking traps, but I wanted the live-catch ones where Mr mouse didn’t have to die trying to eat a fake piece of cheese. Garth bought his traps, and I bought mine. We set them all over the kitchen, and my live-catch trap got the prime spot right next to the dishwasher because it was safer for our toes if they should wander there while loading the dishwasher. Garth’s traps were set behind the washing machine and behind the fridge.

After we had them all set, Garth spent a good 2 hours in the living room with my drawer of sharpees, listening to Hotel California over and over. Eventually Garth told me that he had a surprise for me and I followed him into the kitchen where this sign was placed above my trap. =)

The next morning Garth came into the bedroom, holding my trap, excited that our guest was caught so quickly. I was excited that Mr mouse chose my trap out of the 5 that were placed in the kitchen. We set him free later that afternoon on our way to church. Mr mouse sprung so quickly out of the trap that we could barely tell that his tail was tied in a knot. Goodbye Mr mouse. Now ya’ll know: mice prefer live-catch traps, even if it’s only because they offer real food as bait. =)

So today is election day, as all ya’ll know. I am one of the 6 people left in the nation who are still undecided. Honestly, I don’t really like either canidate…but I’ll make a decision before this afternoon. Hope the rest of you earn your I voted sticker today!

xo
elle