four score and seven years ago.

(this was supposed to be put up on july 18. i just got distracted.)

really, just the four score part.

today is my day that i'm allowed to reminisce. i have to limit myself. i love memories too much.

four years ago today, this was happening...

mmm. good stuff. 

for our anniversary, we had to keep it simple. matt worked until 8:30 that night, so...

i had dinner ready.

and we wedding video-ed it up.

and drank from the glasses we had at our reception.

and reminisced.

man alive. we had quite a party.

anni. numero tres.

we've been married three years.

i know, it went fast for you too, right?

well... three years ago was a pretty wonderful day. my favorite, i'd say.

a lot of joy, right?

luckily, three years later, we are wildly more mature.

oh, wait.

maybe not.

but we love each other, love life together, and love Jesus.

that's good enough, right?

just so it's common knowledge, we have officially deemed this coming year as quite possibly the best year ever.

why?

oh, just let me tell you.

baby.

moving to a house. 

(oh, yeah, we're moving to a house in three weeks! 

thanks to great friends who have to temporarily move!)

living in grosse pointe with friends and family near.

matt's laid back year of medical school.

i finish grad school in a month.

the excitement of interviews and preparing for residency.

our last year in d-town will be the best yet.

i can feel it.

oh, and we did celebrate a bit this year :)

 fancy dinner at a fun restaurant.

 bought a new car. (to us).

that's actually unrelated, but it sounds good, right?

 saw batman at midnight. and i stayed awake.

and next weekend, after matt's next board exam, we're having a mini vacation to ludington beach! yeshhhh. 

homemade celebration station.

who says you have to go out to celebrate something big?

because we didn't.

we decided to stay home and celebrate our anniversary for a variety of reasons...

1. we wanted to watch our videos.

2. we've been spending a lot of money lately... and we always feel guilty when we spend money (that's probably a good thing, right?)

so instead. we had a restaurant-quality-meal-at-home.

here's how you do it.

step 1: roses.

step 2: nice steaks (that i conveniently got on ridiculously good sale...)

step 3: a willing person to cook... i am this willing person.

 step 4: steaks. gourmet mac and cheese (recipe at the end--ridiculously amazing). asparagus sauteed with garlic and stuff. 

step 5: peace out. or happy 2 years. take your pick.

step 6: delicious dessert. homemade chocolate covered strawberries and cookies and cream cupcakes.

step 7: stuff selves. then get emo watching wedding videos.

that's a great night.

as a side note...

mac and cheese recipe:

7 oz 2% sharp cheddar

3ish tablespoons margarine

2 tablespoons flour

2.5 cups milk

a bunch of parm (who knows how much was in there)

1/2 a box of macaroni

homemade bread crumbs mixed with parm.

1. make a roux with the margarine and flour (basically, cook it together until it turns light brown... and yes, i watched a youtube video on it).  add the milk. a while later, add the shredded cheese... mix that trash until it all thickens together.

2. meanwhile, boil macaroni. tough stuff.

3. pour cheese sauce over mac, mix it up, cover with bread crumbs and cook for 20-30 minutes or so in a 350 degree oven (i covered it with foil for half the time because i don't love stuff that browns).

GOOD LUCK!

2 years. 2 best friends.

2 years ago, i married my best friend.

this guy.

(that was when we accidentally gave him a mullet. not when we got married. but this is funnier).


great things that have happened in the past year?
to name a few...


-we moved to an awesome apartment.
-i learned to roll my r's.
-we are more in love than ever before.
-i have sort of stopped being a backseat driver.
-he has NOT stopped tapping constantly on the steering wheel.
-we still constantly repeat the same phrases over and over. our most current phrase? "bee bop ba loo la, that's my baby... bee bop a loo la, i don't mean maybe."
-i always sing the above song off key. on purpose. really!
-matt made it through second year of med school.
-i made it through second year of med school.
-we still watch friends on an incredibly frequent basis.


overall, 2 years ago was the best day i've had to date... but every day since has been pretty dang wonderful.

thank you, Jesus.

life is good.

happy anniversary to us!

one dinner thwarted... but i'll let it slide...

well, tuesday night was supposed to be the night i'd make chicken with orange pecan rice.

however. i came home to this:

three bouquets of flowers on the counter.... 

 candles everywhere, music playing, mementos of us out...

those are the roses he gave me when he proposed to me. out for dinner... which he had all ready to go with our nice dishes when i walked in the door! 

after dinner, we played the monopoly game i had made for him for our 2 year dating anniversary. it's incredible, i must say. talk about a walk down memory lane... and then he let us watch "the holiday," which i was never able to watch this year over christmas. 

my amazing husband. who loves to surprise me. for our 1.5 year wedding anniversary. i love it. and him.

i'm looking rough in this picture. but, hey, i just finished teaching all day, tutoring for 2 hours, and then driving home through snow. plus showering is generally not on the top of my list. just kidding. kind of. 

so, wednesday night's meal.... philly cheese roll ups!


great success. took literally 8 minutes to create, and was SO tasty. definitely worth trying, everyone!

check out that trash. 

and finally, tonight, i made the homemade macaroni and cheese!  it's lighter than normal homemade macaroni, so at least slightly less fattening... though still filled with cheese (2%, though :)).

it looks good. it tasted even better. i ate more than my fair share, but, eh, who's counting.

don't worry, chicken with orange pecan rice will be coming... just not when i expected. :) i guess it's okay that he interrupted my plans, right?