She WALKS!

Folks.... I was just babysitting Piper and she WALKED! (as you might have guessed by the title) This is the first time (I think) she's taken this many steps. I was ECSTATIC! You might be wondering why I don't sound that enthusiastic in the little video... well... this wasn't the first video I took... My ecstatic voice was too much for me to handle, so I tried to stay more subdued in this one:

Again.. ALMOST makes me want my own!

His and Her Valentine's Day Celebrations

Neal and I had the brilliant idea to have his and her Valentine's Day dates--and it worked REALLY well. We plan on doing it until we have to pay for 2 nights of babysitters and then we'll resume when our oldest child is 12. For my date, as you might imagine, I wanted to go to a fancy restaurant. Neal made reservations at a fancy French restaurant called Bistrot Lafayette in Alexandria. I was thrilled! It was DELICIOUS and very authentic AND the owner was French, so I got to enjoy speaking French all night. It was a highly enjoyable dining experience. This is Neal with, and I quote "the best dessert I have ever had in my life"

It was quite delectable! I had mousse au chocolat which was very good, but too milk chocolatey for my taste.

You might be noticing the roses... well Neal had them delivered to the RESTAURANT earlier in the day... I couldn't believe his planning! (or laziness, I guess ;) ) So when we arrived, they were waiting at our table. I was very impressed!

And here is both of us with the flowers unwrapped. Such a fun and delicious date!

Now, on to Neal's date, which was yesterday. The man has wanted to see Avatar ever since it came out, so that's what we did. Turns out, all you have to do to avoid crowds is wait 2 months:

Here is both of us waiting for the show:

We both enjoyed the movie. Yes, the plot is ridiculously predictable and like unto Pocohantas, but the effects are super cool! The thing that distracted me was Jake Sully's Australian accent! They should have just let him be Australian (why not?) because the man cannot pull off a consistent American accent!

Anyway, happy love day everyone! I hope everyone had as delightful a celebration as we did!

Current Obsessions

First and foremost, I have to say I'm obsessed with the snow. I do love snow, especially since I'm a teacher and schools were closed two days last week, and they are closed tomorrow. It's pretty nice to stay in PJ's all day and get paid for it! Lots of people are calling it "Snowmageddon" but I think it's cooler to say "Snowpocalypse" or just "Huge snowstorm."

Seriously, this is the most snow I have ever seen from one storm. It's insane! Look at Neal's car..... it's barely visible!

Next, my niece. Whenever I get around this kid, I just melt. She is adorable! It's almost enough to make me want to have a baby... ALMOST!!!!!

Next up is my new earrings:

I got them for Christmas (Thanks, Mom!) and I LOOOOVE THEM! People compliment them almost every single time I wear them--and they go with everything!

I am also extremely obsessed with these:

That's right... cinnamon rolls. I made them for a lunch today, but we couldn't make it because of the snow. Shucky darn, we have to eat all of them now ourselves... DELICIOUS!!!!! Also I quite love being in PJ's all day and not wearing makeup.

My last obsession, of course is Neal:

He is the cutest and I will always and forever be obsessed with him. What are your current obsessions?

One thing Teachers wish they could say to parents....

Hey you! YES, I'm talking to YOU!

Why in the world would you SEND YOUR KID TO SCHOOL WHEN THEY ARE CLEARLY* SICK AND MISERABLE!?!?!??! What is so important that you have no choice but to send your kid to school to contaminate everyone else?!?! (including your child's TEACHER aka... ME!)

This is my mean teacher stink eye. . . . feel the anger?

Seriously folks, don't be those parents.. you know... "those parents!" Keep your child HOME if s/he is sick!!!! Give them the rest, love and attention they deserve... and spare the rest of us the germs!

A message on behalf of Kindergarten Teachers everywhere.

*I know sometimes kids come to school feeling fine and then get sick during the day. I'm not talking about this. I'm talking about the "oops you have a fever but I have to go to work... just take some tylenol and be a trooper" situations.

Neal is the greatest!

Okay so here's a post about why it's so great to be married to Neal..... everyone knows he is absolutely ADORABLE, patient, kind, thoughtful, attractive, spiritual, athletic, and the list goes on... but did you know:
Neal does the dishes every night. I usually have dinner ready when he gets home, so he does the dishes. I'm so grateful he's willing to do them since we don't have a dishwasher...
He is not only thoughtful, but INCREDIBLY thoughtful! He organized our whole closet while I was at mutual. I am horrible at putting my shoes on the rack and hanging my clothes... and folding my clothes... you get the idea.
He cooks! Today he made homemade pizza on his new pizza stone-- it was delicious!!!! I usually don't have the patience to wait for him to get home 2 hours after I do and then make dinner, but on the weekend he takes over.
And last but not least, he brings home flowers for me at least once a month. I'm such a lucky girl!!!! I love you, babes!

In other news, it's snowing again! HOORAY! No church tomorrow--DOUBLE HOORAY!* I would also love a snow day on monday, but it probably won't happen. 'Hope everyone is well!

*I do like church, I just also like having another Saturday, is that bad?

Dear Chloe....

I'm very sorry I did this to you:

So yeah... as you can see, I got into my first accident EVER by rear ending some nice guy named Sam. Sam... if you're reading this, I'm very sorry. Please don't sue me! (He works at a law firm) I was changing a CD and looked up just in time to slam on my brakes and crunch the car in front of me. It could have been the most awful feeling of all time. I felt like such an idiot! When the cop came, he looked pretty mean and said "what were you doing? Why did you run into this guy?!?!?" to which I replied "... I was changing the CD in my car... and I'm an idiot!" The cop then changed demeanor and was really nice and comforting. He didn't even give me a ticket! It was nice. The estimate is $3,000 worth of damage. Our insurance deductible is $250 so that's good. I'm nervous to see how much our premium goes up, but only time will tell, since we're paid up through July. BLAAAAAAAAAAAAH on last week, but I have high hopes for this week... ish. I should get Chloe back by Wednesday-- right now we have a rental car. It's so boring to drive an automatic! You automatic drivers don't know what you're missing!

Some people have asked me if Neal yelled at me when the aforementioned incident occured. To that question I respond: "have you ever met Neal?" OF COURSE HE DIDN'T YELL AT ME! He is very loving and supportive and is pretty wonderful. So that's the good news. Here's to a better week this week!

2009 in Pictures

January--Inauguration -- longest day of my life!!! Shoulder to Shoulder with people for LITERALLY 10 hours straight!!!!! I'm sure one day I'll be glad I was there, though.

February 11th, 2009 Neal proposed!!!March-- Kaitie and Logan come out to visit!April-- Anne Moser and Amanda Stanfill throw us an engagement partyCherry blossom engagement pics!May 16th, 2009-- we are married for time and all eternity!

Honeymoon in Moab, Utah... it was perfect!June-- hanging out with my niece, Piper. TOO CUTE!

July 4th, Niagara Falls (we fled the country, we're very patriotic)

August-- Cullen gets married in Toledo, Ohio

Cedar Point!September--- We hike Old Rag with Cali, Josh, and Piper.

October--Eileen and Adam get married in Hartford, Connectict

We carve jack-o-laterns

November--FRIED TURKEY at the Engebretsen's for Thanksgiving

We made our own stockings!

December--- our first Christmas together-- we even got a REAL Christmas Tree
Don't forget the Snowpocalypse of '09-- it almost ruined our Christmas vacation!
I got to meet my nephew Asher for the first time.. HOORAY!
I love hanging out with my siblings!

We spent our first Christmas in Utah and had a great time! We got to spend time with both families and we loved every minute of it!

And there you have it folks.... the Hannah/Neal year in review.