Mr & Mrs Peters

I would bet money on the fact that 24 years ago on this day my mom was thinking, “Get this baby OUT!” Yes, folks, that’s right- it’s my birthday weekend! (Can’t you see the confetti falling and the fun dance music playing??)

Justin thinks I am spoiled when it comes to my birthday but really it is my parent’s fault. They always made birthdays such a special day for us- we always had a party and presents! I remember being so shocked when I got to college and found out that some girl’s parents just gave them a present and let them pick where to go to dinner that night. I was shocked. No sleep-overs? No home-made cakes with funky Disney characters on the top? Pure tragedy if you ask me.

But before you judge me and think I am spoiled rotten or anything let me say this first- the thing I enjoy most about my birthday is getting to be with loved ones. (Fine, the gifts don’t hurt either!) And the best part of this weekend? I get to celebrate my birthday AND some friends’ birthdays too! Tonight I am meeting Alicia and Nick at Disneyland to celebrate her special day and tomorrow I have an ultra-secret celebration to attend. (More details and pictures to come)

My mom is taking me out for pedicures and lunch tomorrow which I have been thinking about non-stop this whole week! Sunday is my actual b-day and I know I am doing something, but I do not know what! I bet it will be fun though

Remember my resolution to try new recipes?

Well, I have had a hit, and a pretty dismal miss.

Monday night I tried out a recipe for Stuffed Bell Peppers. I really was hoping it would turn out great- especially because they were somewhat prep-heavy. I wasn’t pleased with the end result- Justin and I both agreed that they were rather bland. Although I was disappointed I promised myself I would try stuffed peppers again in the future, with a new recipe.

Last night I made homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs. It was yummy!

Here is what I did:

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup chopped dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste (optional)
1 pound ground round
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped dried parsley
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used freshly grated cheese)
1 (16 ounce) package uncooked spaghetti

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and cook the onion until lightly brown. Mix in 2 cloves garlic, and cook 1 minute. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, and 1/2 the oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer while preparing meatballs.

In a bowl, mix the ground round, bread crumbs, remaining oregano, remaining garlic, parsley, eggs, and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Roll into 1 inch balls, and drop into the sauce. Cook 40 minutes in the sauce, or until internal temperature of meatballs reaches a minimum of 160 degrees F (72 degrees C).

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and stir in the spaghetti. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Serve the meatballs and sauce over the cooked spaghetti.

The sauce was very delicious! I ended up cooking the meatballs an extra 15 minutes or so and I think they would have a been more tender if I had stopped at 40 minutes.

I have a confession to make.

Sometimes, I can be a terrible procrastinator. I mean, like a really really bad procrastinator. Keep in mind people- I don’t fully understand this about myself. I just know it happens. Usually, I am responsible and prompt. I don’t like making people mad, and I hate the feeling of knowing I’ve disappointed someone, or not met their expectations.

It doesn’t come over me very often, but every once in a blue moon I just have a “brain fritz out” (it’s a medical term) and decide to just not do something until the very last minute. I have two examples to share, to help you all understand this disease I have.

My junior year at college I took a 400 level history class, just for fun. I used it as one of my electives and thought it would be a good opportunity to learn something new. Turns out the only other people in this class were history majors or minors. That should have been my first warning. Throughout the semester, we had to write two 15-17 page papers. The professor warned us multiple times, “People- don’t wait to start on this paper. You will not be able to do it in a week.” Ha! Little did this professor know! I was the champion of last minute papers. It was regular habit for me to churn out a 5-10 page paper overnight, the day before it was due.

So, I waited. And waited. Several days before the paper was due, I finally went to the library to check out some books for research. The first inkling of, “Oh crap what have I done??” came over me as I found that every single book related to my topic was checked out. I can still remember lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling praying for some sort of divine intervention. I was with Francina and actually said, “Maybe God will make this bookcase fall on me. Then I will be injured and unable to write the paper.” Sick, I know.

So, a few days later, with internet research in hand, I sat down to write the paper. (approximately 20 hours before it was due) Around page 5 I just couldn’t do any more. I had run out of relevant things to say, and realized that I was TOAST.

Thankfully, the professor graciously agreed to let me try again. (I may or may not have cried in front of him. Genuine tears people!!) I got a B the second try around

The second example is probably even worst than the first.

I was very on top of my wedding planning. I had a binder, great ideas, and the ability to make quick decisions. As the months passed I signed contracts, arranged meetings, and spent a fair amount of my parent’s money (Thanks again guys!!).

With about a month to go, I realized I didn’t yet know what to do for ceremony programs. I hadn’t ordered them to match the invitations because that would be too expensive. I figured some sort of creative idea would pop into my head eventually… When I went to Michael’s a week before the wedding and NOTHING stuck out to me, I once again was struck with that, “Oh crap” feeling. I ended up buying a do-it-yourself kit that seemed easy enough. You can imagine my horror when, with less than 48 hours to go, I was pulling an all-nighter trying to get the pages to align and deciding on the best font.

I didn’t end up finishing those suckers until the morning before the wedding. Talk about last-minute, huh?

On a completely unrelated side-note, my new CHI hair iron came yesterday. I practically cried with joy when I saw the package. I used it for the first time this morning and had a good laugh when I saw the sticker which was affixed to the plug and re-start button…

“Push if not turn on.”

Sheesh, I haven’t posted in almost a week!

In my defense, I have been rather busy…. Fawning over my super cute nephew and having ladies’ night pigouts with my sis-in-law could practically be a full time job!

I spent a long weekend in Utah and gosh, was it fun! Stone turned 4 months old on Friday and it is amazing how much he has grown and developed since I saw him last, 3 months ago. He can now hold his head up all on his own, and laughs and giggles like there is no tomorrow. Honestly, his beautiful smile is one of the most precious think I have ever seen.

I love to do the day-to-day things with Stone. Giving baths, changing diapers and burping?? Count me in!

It was so hard to leave Bryant, Amy, and Stone. I love them so dearly and wish they lived closer!

Last weekend we went up north to visit our friends Joel and Celeste. Joel and Justin used to be roommates and also worked together at Campus Safety at B.U. We also got to visit with Jeremy (Joel’s twin), Lexi and their adorable daughters. Jeremy also worked with Justin at Campus Safety. To round out the Guess trio we were privileged to spend an evening visiting with Mike and Rhonda, Joel and Jeremy’s parents. They are such lovely people! Originally the plan was to spend a day in Tahoe but the snow was a bit too intense. We ended up going into San Francisco for a day trip. It was quite rainy, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Jeremy is a police officer too. This is the boys with his take home car... such a weird concept for Justin and me!

Visiting Coit Tower with Joel and Celeste.

My sweetheart and me at the Golden Gate bridge!

This morning, one of my nearest and dearest friends kicked the bucket.

It was a tragic moment. This beauty has been my constant companion for several years, and has never done me wrong. The worst part?? I think I jinxed her… You see, I was pulling her out of the drawer this morning and while I was unraveling her cord, I thought to myself, “Wow, this is such a great straightner! It is already several years old.” And then she died. Just like that. It was not pretty folks, so I will spare you the details.

Goodbye, dear CHI. I will miss you so! (at least until your replacement arrives from amazon in a few days!)

And for all those of you rolling your eyes- you obviously don’t have curly/unruly/frizzy hair so your opinion doesn’t matter anyway.

Today marks the conclusion of my first ever blog “series.” Exciting, isn’t it? I have had a really hard time deciding what story should be the final entry leading up to Valentine’s Day. Here it goes:

Overwhelming Love

Justin and I spent our honeymoon in Hawaii. We visited the islands of Kauai and Oahu. Honestly, it was just an amazing trip. We slept, relaxed, drank our combined body weight in Lava Flows, saw the sights, and relished in our newly married state. (Take that however you wish)

The memory that sticks out to me the most, however, has nothing to do with the beach or romantic dinners or anything of the like. It was on our way home- we were on a crowded flight in the middle section of the plane. Justin had fallen asleep and out of nowhere I was just overwhlemed with how much I loved him. I sat looking at him and was brought to tears by the thought of ever losing him. (I make him promise me all the time that we will both live to be in our 80’s and will die at the same moment, in our sleep. Hey- it happened in The Notebook!! It could happen. JK.)

It’s sort of a somber moment, but I love the memory of being newly married and just bowled over by the depth of my love for Justin.

Have a great weekend everyone! We are headed up to Nor Cal to visit our friends Joel and Celeste. Stay warm

The Proposal

I graduated from college in December of 2006. At that point Justin and I had only been dating 7 months. Throughout those 7 months he had made it adundantly clear that it freaked him out when girls talked about marriage. So we didn’t talk about it much. I figured it would happen eventually, but honestly thought he would wait another year to propose. After my graduation ceremony his parents opened up their house for a reception in honor of Kelly and me. (They live across the street from the University and have a huge house. It’s perfect for entertaining!)

About an hour into the party our Dads gathered everyone together to say a few words in honor of Kelly and me. After they were done Justin said he had some things to say. He grabbed my hand and pulled me in front of the big Christmas tree and started saying all these mushy things. I will never forget what went through my mind… “Oh my gosh he is going to make people think he is proposing. He needs to stop!” Even when he got down on one knee and reached under the tree I thought it was some sort of joke. It wasn’t until he popped open the ring rox that I was like, “Oh crap… He IS proposing.”

Needless to say, I was absolutely shocked. I sort of panicked and just didn’t say anything. It got pretty tense in that room… everyone was waiting for me to say something.

Eventually my mom saved me from what honestly was the most uncomfortable moment of my life- all those people staring at me, and me just wanting to be alone with Justin, to talk. Basically what it came down to was this- Justin really wanted to surprise me. He wanted me to have no clue he was proposing. What he didn’t plan on was the fact that he might have done too good of a job at making me think it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. I was absolutely thrown for a loop and instead of being able to react emotionally as a woman normally does while being proposed to, well… I turned into Miss Logical.

The most important moment of that night came hours later, after the party. We needed to talk, but had no clue where to go. It was late and everything was closed. My roommates were sleeping and we didn’t want to wake them. It was in the parking lot of his Grandparent’s church that we REALLY got engaged. Sitting in his truck, after hearing his heart and why he wanted to marry me- well I made him ask me again and that time I cried and said, “Yes!!”

He took me home to my apartment and we quietly sat on the couch so as not to wake my sleeping roomies one wall over. We held each other close and both felt the joy of imagining the future and all we would get to share together. It was beautiful.

The Airport

You know that feeling you get at the beginning of a new relationship with something you REALLY like? It seems like torture to be apart for more than a day and every second together feels like magic…. It is funny now to look back on the days where (Mom- stop reading!!) I never wanted to stop kissing Justin and I was absolutely filled with butterflies every time we were in each other’s presence. Of course I still love kissing my hubby, but things change when you are married and live together! I will get to my story soon, I promise!

Justin and I hadn’t even been dating two months when I went on a series of short trips with my family and the youth group I was working with at the time. The trips all sort of overlapped and Justin and I knew we wouldn’t see each other for over a week- which feels like AGES to a new couple!

I flew back from San Francisco with my family late one night and the next morning I was due to leave for a camping trip early in the morning. Justin was in the middle of a stretch at work and the airport we flew into was quite a ways from where he was living at the time.

Let me paint you a picture of what happened at the airport that night.

We got off the plane and my little sister and I went to the bathroom. I proceeded to pop a big zit on my face and decided that I was sick of wearing my hair up…. (Who was I going to see at the Ontario airport at 10pm anyway?? Might as well let the frizzy, unbrushed hair out of its ponytail to run free!) The 4 of us then headed to the baggage claim area and waited for our luggage. The theme song for the Disney Electrical Light Parade came on and so of course I then felt the need to dance around with my dad… In short, I looked like an absolute spaz. Right at that moment I saw one of our bags come around the corner. I leaned in to pick it up and just as I was lifting it up I heard a man’s voice from behind me say, “Let me help you with that.” I turned around to dimiss this obviously way-too-forward man and saw none other than my lovely boyfriend Justin. I am sure I screamed and jumped on him… I was inwardly horrified at the birds nest on my head and the red pimple on my face but my heart soared anyway!

We only got to spend a few minutes together that night, but I will never forget how special I felt that Justin drove all the way out to Ontario (on a work night when he had to get up very early the next day) just to see little old me.

He’s a keeper, right?

Ouch!

As many of you know, I am not the most athletic person in the world. In college I went out of my way to take PE classes that required me to do the bare minimum, physically. You would be amazed at how much time and energy I wasted trying to figure out how to get out of having to run or “jog”…. (Which is just a word people use to make you think you aren’t having to run. It’s the exact same thing. Trust me.)

My last semester in school I took a lacrosse class with Kelly. Not a great idea considering it’s a sport that requires not only a lot of running, but also puts you at risk of being hit by a heavy ball that goes flying at speeds which should be illegal. One day I was on the field doing nothing but trying to look like I actually cared about the game. I realized I didn’t know where the ball was and said out loud, “Where did the ball go?” It was at that point that the ball hit me, and I screamed.

What does that have to do with Justin, you ask? Well, he picked that day to come to the fields and watch our class. I had no clue he was there until it was all over. He said something to me like, “Wow… you really don’t do anything during the games, do you?” So much for making him think I was athletic.

What I REALLY remember from that day, however, is what happened next. I had to go to my nannying job an hour or so later but he said he wanted to take me to coffe. We went to the Starbucks down the street and I ordered my drink and went to get us a table while he paid. When he came to the table, he had a present for me with him. Most of you know how much I love Christmas music, right? Justin bought me the Starbucks Christmas CD that day, just for the heck of it! It was such a sweet gesture, and that is something Justin is wonderful at. He tries to make me feel special and loved on a regular basis, and likes to surprise me with things he knows I will appreciate.