2 Years!!!... and the Shoes that Started it ALL!

It is INCREDIBLE to think that Eric and I have been married for 2 years now! We celebrated our anniversary yesterday... and it doesn't seem that it has been a whole year since the last time we reminisced and walked down marriage memory lane! Wow, we've had some good times!
Since I did a 'top 10 things I love about Eric' post on his birthday, I think I'll just share a tiny tidbit of our story for those of you who may not already know it. I'd like to talk about the shoes that started it all.
Eric and I were "just friends" and REALLY that's all we were from August 2001 til April 2006! We were in the same ward, went on friendly dates, wrote each other consistently as we each served missions, came home and took an awesome class together, and continued to go on dates just to keep up with each other and have a good time together. But it was always clear in both of our minds that it was only friendship we were cultivating here. We dated other people, crushed on other people, and shared those details openly. Until I had a dilemma.
I had my first big crush since my mission. He was handsome, witty, and popular (apparently), and he was giving me mixed signals. Finally I came to the conclusion that he was struggling to make up his mind because we worked together (at the MTC)... and he only saw me in missionary attire... and couldn't disassociate me from Sister Missionaries who are definitely not "pursuable". So when he invited me to a party, I determined that I was going to look HOT so that he would get over his mental speed bump and decide I would make an awesome love interest in addition to friend and coworker. My roommate and I went to the mall and found the perfect outfit... complete with 4 inch black heels. These heels had a black strap that wrapped around the ankle and a slender band that went across the top of my foot. They were AWESOME and I felt GORGEOUS in them! Well, I'll leave out the details, but this guy made it clear that night that he wasn't interested. I was pretty frustrated. Afterall, I'd hoped that when he finally made up his mind, he would be deciding to date me, not discard me.
The next weekend was General Conference. (There's more story there about how Eric and I ended up going together, but I'll leave it for another post.) Suffice it to say, I talked his ear off on the way up to Salt Lake about this 'dufus' and how could he decide he wasn't interested when I looked THAT good? I think I planned to wear the shoes that day JUST so I could look really good walking around at General Conference just to spite him. Eric is a very good listener. So by the time we got to conference, I was already feeling very validated and supported. Since I was driving, I wore other shoes on the way up (4 inch strappy heels are tough) and stopped to change when we arrived. Of course I pointed out to Eric that these very strappy sandals were the ones I was wearing and asked "aren't they hot?" to which he could only reply "yeah, they are!"...
So the story goes from here that he looked at the shoes at my request... and then had to look again... and then couldn't stop looking the entire time we were out at Salt Lake. Somehow these sassy black sandals helped Eric to see me in a different light. I felt the change too... somehow indescribable, but flirtatious in a way we had never been before. The day was wonderful, and I knew something had changed. (I would only find out later the important role the shoes played in it all. :) He later told his roommates and described the shoes as "bikinis for feet" and determined he had to ask me out again when I WASN'T wearing the shoes just to see if the connection we had both felt was legit or whether it was just the shoes. Thus began our new adventure as our friendship was forever altered into something more! Turns out the shoes didn't work their magic on the person I originally wanted them to...but even better! They worked on the person I love more than anything in the world!

On Being Pregnant...

Well, it is interesting that I wanted to show SOOOOO badly, and now that I finally am, I have to stop myself from being too self-conscious. I LOVE being pregnant and LOVE knowing that this lil growing belly is home for our lil gal... but I can't say I love feeling heavy, slow, cumbersome, and fat. The back aches alone are not that big of a deal, but combine that with the on-your-feet type of work I do right now... and you get the picture. I'm already tired. And I'm not even technically in the 3rd trimester yet!

However, I am thrilled to report the athletic activities of our lil girl! She is so cute when she wakes up. She kicks and squirms for a good hour, delighting me with her budding soccer skills (during the day), and keeping me awake (at night or early morning)! Then she'll be quiet and peaceful for a good 3-4 hours before deciding it is time for communicating with Mommy or "playtime with Daddy" as Eric likes to call it. Last week he was trying to talk to her through my belly (he delights in waking her up) so he pressed his ear down to try and hear her squirm or a response of any kind... and she full on KICKED HIM IN THE FACE! Our lil gal doesn't take kindly to being woken up, I guess!

Wedding Flowers!

Making Amber's wedding flowers was quite a production! I'll spare you the long, detailed, and somewhat stressful story about ordering the flowers, supplies, etc. online in an effort to save money by getting wholesale prices... I don't think we actually saved that much in the end! Oh well. I definitely learned a lot and have lots of tips to offer anyone who is a non-'professional' trying to do wedding flowers themselves. I'd do several things differently if I ever got asked to do another wedding... first off, I'd probably decline doing flowers for a wedding in a state other than the one in which I live unless I could be there for atleast a week before the wedding!
Amber's colors were 'earthy' natural blues and greens. I knew immediately I wanted to use a blue or blue/green Hydrangea and Stephanotis with blue pearls in them. The Jade roses circling the Hydrangea and the Salal leaves followed that plan easily. The Dutch Spiral hand-tyed method worked out beautifully and the details only made the design more satisfactory to me. I loved the ribbon I found: it had light green edges and unified the entire design by running down the length of the stems. I was very pleased with how beautiful the bouquet looked! The boutennieres were also lovely, especially the day we made them.


Anyway, with a TON of help from Aunts, parents, and my dear friend Mo, the flowers turned out lovely! After the lil Hydrangea accents in the boutennieres started to warm up, they got pretty limp. Overall, everything looked much better the day before and quickly began to wilt in the Manti sun and heat (and we DID have some disasters, but luckily you can't tell that from the wedding pics)! So, here are a couple of photos.

one of all the immediate siblings... and Justin. I include it because Ambie looks so lovely, despite how goofy Spencer looks or the fact that my eyes are closed! Tamara is normal, atleast. :)

Quick Catchup!

Wow! Soooo much to talk about! We've been so busy with various out of town excursions and trying to keep on top of our normal work and research schedules... that posting has not been a priority. Sorry to disappoint you. Here I am now, sort of catching up on all the news.

1. Most important news of all! We're having a GIRL!!!! She's healthy, 4 days larger than average, and quite a little wiggle worm! Eric and I are thrilled and can't wait to meet her! Things I'm anxious about raising a girl:
a) what about when she becomes a teen? I'm really anxious about having her be so stubborn and sarcastic...what if she hates us?
b) dating, dating, boys, dating, boys, etc. Here's where Eric comes in handy as a fiercely intimidating father... :)...he'll keep those dates respectful! Ever heard that country song about the dad cleaning his gun til the boy brings his daughter back from their date? I think he really envisions himself doing something like that...
c) supposedly girls are more calm...but I know I was a very ACTIVE kid! I won't be surprised if she is too, considering both my history and Eric's. I hope I have enough energy to keep up!
d) I don't want her to be prissy and totally "girlified" so that she wears frilly pink all the time, doesn't want to get dirty, and ends up spending hours in the bathroom doing her hair... but I also don't want her to be "butch" and not very feminine so that she doesn't want to dress up nicely, burps all the time, laughs like a hyena, or doesn't care for having good manners. There's a Tom-boy balance there I'm looking for...
e) I hear lil girls are more sensitive, that hey hold grudges. I think Eric is anxious about how to build a close bond with her since he grew up with 4 brothers...Elise didn't come along til he was older. He's already remarked that he doesn't understand how to get girls to do things that need being done... ya know, with boys you just say "you need to feed the dogs. go on, get yourself out there and do it unless you want a spanking" as a final ultimatum. But that doesn't work quite as well with girls...

2. We've had some wonderful trips! photos forthcoming in future posts of these individual trips
a) Had a Hart family reunion in Idaho and went camping, to Yellowstone, and to a gourmet pizza place
b) Had an Allan family gathering in Idaho and went to the unfinished cabin, horseback riding, fishing, and the Twin Falls Temple Open House
c) Had a beautiful time with Amber in Utah for her sealing to Justin in Manti and made tons of salsa for the reception, flowers for the wedding, got our nails done, and took lots of pictures at the temple

What kinds of things embarrass you? I was amused recently to have someone I know describe Japanese seasoned fried bean curd pockets called "Inarizushi-no-moto" as a rather embarrassing/inappropriate body part. While not the most polite way to refer to this delectable treat, anyone who's eaten this dish can attest to the aptness of the description... the anatomy analogy makes it obvious to what food is being referred! Crass, yes, but helpful in getting the point across-- especially since the name is rather long and foreign to non-Japanese speakers! I told the story to others afterwards... and was surprised to have the individual request that I not tell anyone of the opposite sex what was said because it would be too embarrassing. So, herein lies the question of "what is embarrassing?"... it wasn't the story itself, the crassness of the title, the bluntness of the creator, the potentially offended Japanese associates, or even the thoughts of the anatomy involved that chagrined the describer. It was only the idea that someone of the opposite sex was going to hear this story that embarrassed the individual!

Are you more easily embarrassed by things in the presence of the opposite sex? Certain family members? Certain co-workers or peers? What situations are least embarrassing to you, regardless of embarrassing content in discussion or actions? Stories, please, because I'm looking forward to hearing what you all think!

Quilts and Gardens: Aren't We Domestic?!?!

The last time I completed a sewing project of any kind was in Junior High when I made two of those felt sewing kits: a red race car for my brother and a computer with keyboard and mouse for my dad. And I think I even sewed a bunch of mini red stockings for some Christmas project at church. As an artist, I am attracted to fabrics... and I'll admit that I have a stockpile of some beautiful material with which I haven't done a thing except run my hands over it every once and a while! When I was in High school I was inspired by my best friend Jennie's t-shirt quilt and I cut up a bunch of raggy old shirts of mine for use in a similar project... those cut pieces are still in a nice neat bag in my craft closet. Somehow I forgot about the part that I didn't know how to sew when I began going at it with the scissors. In college I got excited about making a cute green quilted purse for my lil sister's birthday. You guessed it, I still have all the pieces, buttons, thread, and even lime green zipper... but no purse. I wanted to make a paint brush holder that rolls up and protects your brushes. I got everything cut and laid out... and broke 2 sewing machine needles in the space of 1 hour. My brush holding project rests next to all the other incomplete projects and failed attempts at being "domestic-seamstress-Elisa" in the craft closet. Hmmm.... Something had to be done about this!

So, I joined the quilting and sewing Enrichment group in our ward. Not because I'm really skilled in this area (as detailed above), but precisely the opposite! I borrowed a sewing machine and was flustered that I couldn't get it to work... and then embarassed and chagrined when I realized that the bobbin had no thread on it. Go figure. Well, I think that my ineptitude prevented me from completing the red, white, and blue rail fence project in a timely fashion, but it didn't keep the completed blocks from looking pretty darn good for a first try at quilting! I was admittedly proud that the center lined up on my second block. Now to do it again with a cute pink and green pinwheel pattern... and maybe I'll be brave enough to add my name to the drawing to take all the completed blocks and actually make a quilt with them!

Eric's man-version of domestic bliss this week has been his successful installment of a lovely 7x7 garden plot! He spent 8 hours digging up a previously weed-ridden portion of our backyard (after securing permission from management, of course) and trying to eliminate the plentiful rocks claiming that spot of soil as home. After removing 3 5-gallon buckets worth of rocks from such a small area, he has been hypothesizing that perhaps previous residents had a Zen rock garden there! In case you're wondering why I'm only taking pictures rather than helping to dig a lil, let's just say we have stray cats around here who are most likely carrying Toxoplasmosis.

Well, since we (when I say 'we', I really me 'I') successfully slaughtered all our tomato and pepper seeds that we started in our kitchen in March, Eric and I purchased some Roma tomato, Jalapeno, Bell, and Sweet Chili peppers. Don't they look nice in the soil? We've also got onions, carrots, beets, peas, cucumber, green onions, and herbs either already planted or on the schedule to be planted this week. What a great lil garden! Good job Eric!

Eric Wrestles a 420 Pound Sumo Champion! Or wishes He Had...

For those of you who didn't know, Asia is a great passion of mine! What began as a passion for Korea has spread into a deep love, respect, (or atleast appreciation) for Asian culture as a whole. So naturally, I was thrilled to see a sign at our local library for an Asian Festival here in Columbus! Especially one where parking is free, there is no entrance fee, weekend-long performances are all free, vendors will be showcasing their international wares, and the food promises to be legitimately exotic and tasty! Eric entertained the idea--at first out of deference for my passion, I think-- until I looked up the schedule online and found out there were going to be REAL sumo wrestlers there! Then he was suddenly sincerely excited about attending! I mean, I think he would have been happy to come with me because he loves experiencing other cultures too, especially if there is food involved;... but now he was actively participating in the planning and tried to recruit other buddies (his selling point was always "there're going to be sumo wrestlers, man, come on!").

Saturday afternoon we tackled the challenge of finding parking, waiting for the shuttle, getting food quickly (we chose Cambodian food because the line was shortest-- and it was delicious! Loved the spicy sweet dipping sauce for my ginormous burrito-sized spring roll! Sorry, we didn't really take many pictures of our food.), and settling in for a boring announcer...but the moves from the 420 pound American International Wrestling Champion (who happens to be from Idaho--Eric was proud!) and the 300 pound Mongolion International Wrestling Champion made it all worth it! They were very impressive... Eric and I were both surprised to see how flexible they are (doing the splits, low squats, the works) and to hear that the American guy actually ran a marathon earlier this year (I'm skeptical about the definition of the word 'run')! I guess they are pretty good athletes despite appearances!
They did lots of warmup exercises.One reminded me of how the boys in Eric's family scoop out the air around them with cupped hands after they pass gas so that others can 'enjoy' the smell too. (Sorry the announcer is so boring and that there are so many pauses. Couldn't figure out how to edit down the video.) The matches only last 3-10 seconds each. I think the longest one we witnessed was about 11 seconds. Eric was waiting for them to ask for volunteers to go up and wrestle so that he could school them with his skills, but the Mayor took too long getting whupped. We had to settle for a personal photoshoot with them after the matches. I really didn't mind... except he was pretty sweaty... cold, clammy sweat. Super nice guy, though! Here you see, he is wearing his diaper (that is not what it is called, mind you.)


There was also a cool sport called Takraw or Krataw or something like that played similarly to volleyball only the ball about the size of a whiffle ball could only be touched by the feet and head. There were so many back flips and amazing leg kicks from the players we couldn't believe it! Talk about flexibility and acrobatics! Extremely entertaining sport! All the videos we took of it are too large to post here, so if you'd like to see some Takraw/Krataw in action, just ask and we can show ya via email or something.





We ate some delicious Korean food for dinner and Eric was so proud of the red pepper flakes in his teeth he insisted on a picture to document the evidence.


What a fun day at Asian Festival 2008!