Spanglish

I had a miniature melt down last Wednesday, and just couldn't hold it together. So many factors all hitting me at once. To make me feel a bit better my sweet husband ordered my FAVORITE salad from Cafe Rio. Rob dropped me at the door to run in and grab the take-out. The pick-up conversation went like this...keep in mind, I was already in a bad mood.

Me: "Hi, I have a take-out order under the name of Rob."

Him (in thickest Spanish accent POSSIBLE): "Okay, Order for Robby?"

Me: "Yeah." (didn't I just say that?)

Him: (HUGE GRIN) "Robby-dobby-doo?"

Me: (courtesy laugh) "That's funny."

Him: (Bigger grin) "Yes? Robby-dobby-do?"

Me: (fake laugh, small eye roll, thinking - REALLY? JUST GIVE ME MY FREAKING FOOD!)"Yes, Robby-dobby-do."

Him: (suddenly very serious) "No...Robby W?"

Me: "Oh yes. Um, Robby W."

Five Weeks Later

My friend Kat tagged me, again, and even though it was weeks ago - it gave me an excuse to (yes) four and a half years later, put my wedding photos on my computer. They were so unbelievably horrid, that I up until this point have had no desire to. I guess the tag is about Rob and I. Here we go:

Where did you meet your husband?
This may sound odd, but I met him while I was pretending to work at the UVSC paid-parking toll booth. My friend Stefanie (who REALLY worked at the toll booth) was sick of me rambling on and on about my ex, and literally said, "It's time I set you up with someone. Oh, wait - here he comes now." So, I jumped in to the cash register seat, and told Rob, (in my best flirting) that he didn't have to pay. I thought he was ADORABLE, and said to Stef, "okay - set me up!"

Where was the first date, first kiss?
In some mass confusion, I ended up going out twice with Rob's roommate. I spent all that time flirting with Rob - and his roommate eventually said, "yeah, I don't think she likes me," and gave Rob my number. Because of that, I was already hanging out at his apartment a lot. I think the first time he actually called me was to go see the Christmas lights at Temple Square, but the weather was bad. We ended eating out at Mi Ranchito, watching a movie and snuggling on the couch. When he walked me to my car, he kissed me - so I guess first date and first kiss were one and the same.

Long or short engagement?
We dated for 14 months before getting engaged (with 3 break-ups). We got engaged Feb 17, 2003 - and married May 23, 2003.

How did you get engaged?
This story is pretty horrible - but I was TOTALLY expecting the engagement, so Rob decided to work up a plan that would surprise me. When he didn't propose on Valentine's Day, I was really bummed. But we went and got massages the following Monday. After the massage, Rob and I were headed to his parent's house - when I got pulled over for speeding. The cop was SUPER nice, but he let me know that because of an unpaid ticket, there was a warrant out for my arrest. (Which I HAD taken care of, but he said that the warrant hadn't been suspended). He hand cuffed me - and put me in the back seat of his car. I was LITERALLY sobbing - when Rob got in with me, and proposed. I think that the first word out of my mouth was actually a swear (but seeing as how my blog is PG - I will not repeat that). I then said yes. The whole thing was caught on tape - Thanks Jared and Scott.

Where did you get married?
In the Mount Timponogos Temple

How did the reception go?
I had two. One in Utah, and one a week later in Chicago. The reception here was nice, but really hot. I don't remember a lot about that one...just that I spent a lot of time meeting people I didn't know. The reception in Chicago was at my parent's house was freezing - but a lot of fun. Like I said in an earlier post - I made sure that the DJ only played 70s love songs. One of my favorite memories was my dad sitting us all down before the reception, giving us our assignments: Rob and Melissa - talk to people, Derek: Watch the fire pit - add wood when needed, Dan: keep an eye on the video and make sure it rewinds, Greg: you watch the photo montage, Johnny: you're in charge of the valet, and Sarah: you watch the pets. I think we all even put our hands together and said, "break" after he was done.

How was the Honeymoon?
My (very generous) father sent us on an all-expenses-paid trip to Maui. We stayed at the Westin, and it was UNBELIEVABLE! We snorkeled, sailed, para-sailed, and tanned to our heart's content. Best week EVER!

Pictures From Home

My mom sent me a few pictures of the house - it's unbelievable how many leaves you get when you live in the woods.

All Apologies

While talking to my friend Kat today, she mentioned that she once again had internet service. My response was, "well then update your blog dork!" To which she replied, "I've updated since you have." This totally threw me for a loop, because as far as I knew - she hadn't posted since September - along with half of the other blogs that I follow. For some reason for the past month and a half, one half of all the blogs I follow had not been displaying new posts. I was baffled by the fact that almost all of my friends had given up blogging at the exact same time. Today I learned that my computer was just being dumb. So to all of you that thought I was no longer following - I apologize. I will do my best to catch up over the next few days. Here is a list of where my computer was stuck with my friends (just so they understand).
Kat - Darling Cash - September 30
Mary - Even Superman Sleeps - September 14
Kris - Backstreet Boy - Septeber 30
Stefanie - Top 10 Reasons to see Barry Manilow Live in Vegas - September 25
Kim - Why I Love my Husband - Sept 25

Friendly Little Visit

As I mentioned in the pumpkin carving post - my brother, Greg, and his wife, Mandy, came out to visit us two weeks ago. We had a WONDERFUL time with them here. Greg used to live here, so he had a fairly long list of "musts" on his restaurant list - so I think I only cooked once in the week they were here. Here are a few pictures from MY point of view, but I must also direct you to Greg and Mandy's blog. They are photographers by profession - and documented the trip in a much more aesthetically pleasing fashion. Some highlights of the trip included Gardener Village, Cafe Rio (three times), the worst-rip-off-ever pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, playing in the leaves, Mandy's caramel apple, Greg's salsa, Maddie's mall freak-out, Mandy's hair cut and lots and lots of Nintendo Wii. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween

A Deeper Understanding

My sister-in-law, Jodi, just posted the results of an internet quiz on her site. And me, being the internet Junky that I am, hit up the site and took a few cheesy quizes of my own. The results of this one are right on. Maybe not the "blah blah blah" of "who I REALLY am," but more the people I am like. I can't tell you how often I hear, "You remind me of someone...do you know who Ghandi is?" And this may even explain the deep connection that I've always felt with "Spock, from Star Trek." Thank you, internet quiz, for answering so many questions.

You Are 1: The Reformer

You're a responsible person - with a clear sense of right and wrong. High standards are important to you, and you do everything to meet them. You are your own worst critic, feeling ashamed if you're not perfect. You have uncompromising integrity, and people expect you to be fair. At Your Best: You are hopeful, honest, and inspiring. You bring out the best in humanity. At Your Worst: You are intolerant, judgmental, and picky. Your Fixation: Resentment Your Primary Fear: Being corrupt. Your Primary Desire: To be good. Other Number 1's: Al Gore, Martha Stewart, Gandhi, Celene Dion, and Spock from Star Trek.

What Number Are You?

Pumpkin Party

My brother Greg and his wife, Mandy, are in town - so we figured we'd kick off the Halloween season a bit early. We spent this afternoon carving pumpkins. Greg is a bit embarrassed of his - so I won't mention which one is his. From left to right...
a skull (artist to be left anonymous), a witch by Mandy, a gargoyle by Rob and Jude by me.






I couldn't be more proud of my work.

Quarantined

Our poor little girl has been stricken with the nastiest of nasty viruses, Conjunctivitis - and lucky for us - she got it in both eyes. Eeeeeew. I used to get it all the time as a kid, and I remember that it's the pits. Sorry that the picture is so gross - but it's what I've been looking at all week. (Oh yeah, she's eating M&Ms - not bleeding from the mouth!)

On a happier, and much more aesthetically pleasing note, Jude is cute as all get out. He sprouted some teeth last month, and looks just plain goofy. Now he can't grin in public without getting a few laughs from strangers. Crazy teeth and a snort - this kid has got it all.

Best Message Ever

Yesterday I got a voice mail from my grandma. She was calling me back because I had left her a "happy birthday" message on Sunday. Although I'm sure my message was decent - hers was much better. The message started with her already talking, but I couldn't quite make out what she had said. Then she stopped, and said, "Oh dear, Melissa. There seems to be some confusion as to when to leave a message. But thank you for calling me on my Happy Birthday." I love that my lovely grandma can still call it her "Happy Birthday" when she's 93. More than that, though - was the fact that apparently my answering machine is confused. I'll try talking to it, and hopefully we can straighten a few things out. Thanks for the good laughs today, Grandma! I love you to pieces!

Narek, NA-REK!

Okay, who remembers the earlier post about the "abnormal happenings" that were occurring in my house? You know - the self jumping bouncer, and the microwave turned Johnny 5... "No Disassemble!" Anyone, anyone?
Anyway, things had quieted down on the home front, and I had finally talked myself into all sorts of wishful thinking, when there was yet another episode. About a week ago, Rob and I were in bed - totally asleep (seeing as how it was 3:08 am) when suddenly our bedroom lights turned themselves on. There were a few seconds of total confusion on my part, and then absolute fear sank in. All I could say in my completely horrified voice was, "Rob?!" He shot up, looked around the room, and then the lights turned themselves off again. They were on for maybe a total of fifteen seconds, but I think that's the most afraid I've ever been. It took EVERYTHING in me to go and check on my sleeping babies. I then climbed back to bed, and lay there, HORRIFIED for a good hour trying to go back to sleep. I assumed that Rob shared my fear - but seeing as how he was already snoring by the time I got back into bed showed me otherwise. Then there was the next morning when I said, "remember how the lights went on last night?" Assuming it had been on his mind as much as mine - and he responded, " Huh? Oh yeah! That was kind of weird."
The next night I was really nervous that it would happen again. I slept as close to Rob as possible, but got a bit scared when I woke up, looked at the clock, and it was exactly 3:08 am.

E-I-E-I-O

"Old MacDonald had a farm" is one of Maddie's favorite songs to sing, so imagine her delight when we visited the petting zoo. We had fun and bruises with Maggie, and got to meet Liam for the first time. I think the kids had a ball, even though Jude spent most of the afternoon snorting.

Lies

I'd like to take a quick second to thank all of you that sent emails, cards, and flowers after Stefanie's blog post yesterday. As many of you know, she announced that I had been replaced by a new friend, Lindsay Lohan. This being because Stefanie and Lindsay "apparently" exchanged glances at the gym yesterday. I guess that if I'm going to be replaced by anyone, Lindsay Lohan is fair competition (although I'm sure she doesn't have my wit and/or sparkling personality - she's got me in number of celebrity friends).
So, to prove herself, Stefanie and I decided to go to the gym at 6:30 this morning to meet up with this new "BFF" of Stef's. Not only was there no Lindsay Lohan - there was no Stefanie either. Lies, I tell you - ALL LIES! There were a few "Lindsay possibilities" but when I got closer I realized that they were really just sixty year old women that loved plastic surgery...ick! Anyway, I'm sure Stefanie will come crawling back this afternoon, so don't worry about me my dear friends - I will survive. I mean, I still have Mary and Tara - but Stef only has imaginary Hollywood types that live in her fantasies. Oh yeah, and Stefanie - I'm having a party tonight at 9:00 on the 9th hole at the Thanksgiving Point Golf Course. I'll see ya there, chump.

Piece of Cake

Don't worry, Trina...this was AFTER your cake was put in the oven. These are just bowl leftovers.

Jude's Birthday

No, Jude's not one yet, but he's had several "earth-days" this summer. Here they are celebrating. Maddie sings the song, gives presents (in this case it was my guitar capo - which he is holding) and of course, they MUST wear hats. Happy 463rd "earth-day-to-you" Jude.