Date Night

Earlier this week, Sam e-mailed me at work asking if I wanted to go to Cheesecake Factory for dinner on Friday night. My immediate response was, "Of course!". One of our Wedding Gifts was a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory (thanks Ty & Paige!) and we've been waiting for an excuse to use it since we received it. Finally we had a free night and we jumped at the chance to get out!

The drive up wasn't too bad. Since we left after work, I was expecting a lot of traffic, but luckily we avoided almost all of it. We even got seated in under 30 minutes! The food was good and the company was even better. It doesn't take much to make us happy, but having the chance to talk face to face just the two of us is always one of our favorites.

Before we headed home, we got a little shopping in. Then we made the drive home to watch our DVR'ed Thursday night TV. We even had a late night guest - thanks for hanging out Kristi!

All in all, our Date Night was a very nice treat and we can't wait for the next one!

Brought to you by the letter E...

A few months ago, I met a George Fox Alum, Kaleigha, through the internet. Hopefully we'll meet in person one day soon. Kaleigha wrote her list of favorites that begin with the letter P and I thought, "how fun!" so she assigned me a letter and I put together my list. Here are ten of my favorite things that begin with the letter E:

1. Education - Call me a nerd, but I love my years in school. I cried every year when the school year ended and had butterflies in my stomach the night before the first day of school. If I had endless amounts of money, I'd definitely keep going to school for as long as I could.

2. Earl Grey tea - Hands down, my favorite! tea! ever! Give me a rainy day and a cup of Earl Grey tea and I'm set!

3. Earrings - Although I don't wear them as often as I should, I notice them on someone else almost instantly. I love the simplicity of post earrings and the glamor of dangly earrings!

4. Elbow Macaroni - As a child, I asked for Macaroni & Cheese for every meal. Now, I still love the stuff and will eat it any chance I get. My favorite aspect of the elbow macaroni noodles is sticking my fork through the noodle... so fun!

5. Electric Toothbrush - I've definitely had my struggles with my teeth and remembering the "brushing for at least 2 minutes" rule... all until Sam bought me my first electric toothbrush. Now I'll never go back!

6. Elizabeth - My middle name! My parents named it after my aunt's middle name and I wouldn't change it for anything!

7. Emotions - I definitely am an emotional girl, but what I love most is seeing others emotions because I feel it shows exactly how someone is feeling. Whether happy, sad, angry, or passive, emotions say a lot.

8. E-mail - As mentioned in a pervious post, e-mail is an easier communication for me and I'd much rather e-mail/instant message/comment than be on the phone. Drop me a line anytime!

9. Embraces - I love a hug, not the awkward side hug, but a true, strong embrace speaks volumes to me!

10. Employment - I thank God that I have a job every day and that I have found a job that I am not miserable at.

Anyone out there want a letter assignment now? Leave me a comment if so!

Sports-filled Weekend

Now, I'm not one to offer up watching a sporting event if I've got other things to do, but this weekend turned into one of those "sports-filled weekends" and it wasn't that bad.

As mentioned in a previous blog, Sam's cousin was playing in a basketball tournament down here in Salem on Saturday night. We got to cheer Jack and his team on through 3 of their 4 games (we missed the first one) and they pulled out a tournament win, with a few close games. It was definitely fun to hang out with Sam's uncle & aunt (the ones who passed Buster on to us), so a good time was had by all! Sam's other cousin Hannah, Jack's twin was also there to entertain us and keep us busy! Before the family headed back to Gresham, they wanted to come see our new home and say hello to their old puppy Buster. I could tell Hannah wanted to slip Buster into her bag and take him home again...

On Sunday, we got up & ready for church. Sam's brother, Matt, drove up from Eugene to drive up to Sandy with us for the Superbowl. After church, we got on the road and made good time. When we arrived at Sam's sister's house, we quickly ate a lot of pizza. Then we took a break from the food and had a pre-Superbowl walk, followed by the start of the game. As I said before, I wasn't too into the game, but caught parts here and there. I spent my time with the ladies, as we knit & crochet. Very fun! Then we saw the Steelers win the Superbowl and caught the funny episode of The Office and headed back south. We got home around 10pm and I headed straight for bed. I sure wished I had another day of weekend left to rest... but I guess I usually feel like that come Sunday =)