Christmas with the Martens

Adam and I have had a long standing argument about whether you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Growing up he opened presents on Christmas Eve after he got back from church. I believe that is wrong because you are essentially putting Santa on a schedule. Santa could only come in the hour he was at church! How rude is rushing Santa like that? My family gave Santa all night! He could come anytime his big old butt sauntered through our front door (I didn't have a fire place). Basically, we struck a compromise that we would open up the gifts from each other on Christmas Eve, and gifts our families had sent us on Christmas Day.

So on Christmas Eve we went over to a couple friend's new condo for a little get together, they cooked a lovely dinner for us and possibly the best brownies I have ever tasted, and yes I consider myself a brownie connoisseur.

(Ignore the manginess of Sarah's legs, she was wet from her walk).

When we got home, we both took Sarah for a long walk. Afterwards, we decided to open our gifts from each other and for Sarah. We put four milk bones in Sarah's stocking and put it on the floor. We wanted to see if she could figure out how to get to them on her own. But instead of turning the stocking upside down or searching inside the stocking, she decided to CHEW THROUGH THE STOCKING. Getting drool all over it and forcing us to get her bones out for her, which I'm starting to think was her master plan after all.

After settling Sarah down, we exchanged our gifts starting with our stockings. We always stuff each other's stockings with candy and little practical items we need. I stuffed Adam's stocking with reese's, mini-hand sanitizers for work, a Mario kart pez dispenser, and candies that are shaped like lumps of coal (since I bought them I've been telling Adam all he was getting was a lump of coal in his stocking, I'm easily amused). Adam stuffed mine with a bunch of candy and hair ties (since I'm always losing them and running out of them).

We then exchanged gifts. It was kind of ironic because we both got each other slippers and games! Adam got me Freudian slippers. A play on a "Freudian Slip" because I'm a totally geeky psych nerd and he knows me. And I Love Them! I gave him Green Bay Packers Slippers for reasons that are probably obvious. I also gave him Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii and I got Sims 3 Ambitions.

On Christmas Morning, we opened the other gifts. We got tons of much wanted DVDS and gift cards from Adam's family. And we both got kindles from my mother (love them, I've read two books already!), and she also got me a kitchen aid artisan mixer. I have long lusted in my heart for this mixer. Now it is here all buttercupy and beautiful, and I have no money these week to buy anything to bake with it, so it is sitting on my counter taunting me while I look up recipes online.

 

For Christmas dinner, Adam cooked what his family calls BBQ and the rest of the world knows as sloppy joes. It wasn't fancy, it wasn't a big deal, but Adam never ever cooks so its so nice to have him cook for the two of us, while I sit back and gorge on Christmas candy and watch Christmas movies on TV.  It was a lovely Christmas.

24 Fan Fest Marathon

Last week Adam spent 27 hours in a box in the middle of Hollywood and Highland watching TV. If that sounds insane, it is because IT IS.  A few weeks ago I received an e-mail I had received from this entertainment mailing list that I somehow ended up on. It was about a event concerning his favorite TV show 24. I forwarded him the e-mail with this note, "I know you can't do this, but thought it was neat." But he of course decided to do it.

The event was a continuous 80 hour 24 marathon to celebrate the release of the 24 complete series DVDs and to try to break a world record for most hours of TV watched. First place was 10,000! Adam really thought he could win it, but I felt like maybe it would just be a fun life experience. Plus I didn't want him to feel pressured or like I would be disappointed in him if he failed.

So he took a few days off, and rode the subway down to Hollywood last Thursday. Before it all started, they had a kick off party that many of the celebrities and celebrity fans attended. So he met the director of the show (who gave Adam his own personal 24 pin that he wore on his jacket-which I think Adam would count as the highlight of his life), Gregory Itzan (Charles Logan), and Lou Diamond Phillips!  I was really, really sad that I couldn't at least go to the party. But I had to go to school, which is currently sucking out my soul.

The competition started at 9 and for the next 27 hours I kept my phone glued to me like he was at war. I didn't know when he would call, so my cell phone was causing me so much anxiety. If I realized I didn't know where it was, I would have mini-heart attack until I found it again. I even managed to not be scared in the house when I was at home alone at night. Not that I have a reason to worry. I live in a fairly safe neighborhood, have bars on all my windows, and really tightly locking doors. Notice I didn't say guard dog. The truth of the matter is I actually think Sarah would go after an intruder, I mean she hates anyone who comes to our front door. But part of me still wonders if she might just roll over and ask to be petted.

Everything was going well until the evening of the second day. I could tell he was fading and was overly concerned about quitting in the middle of the night because the subway doesn't run past two. And I knew the next phone call I got would be one telling me he was done. And I was right. I just wished he had quit before the middle of the night or the next morning because all I wanted to do was go to bed! (Not that I had right to complain considering Adam had been up for forty hours)!

He had a lot of fun and was given the complete 24 DVD set just for participating.

The First Thanksgiving

When I decided I would cook Thanksgiving dinner, I went a little overboard. This is nothing new for me, when I decide to do something; I want to do it up big. I decided I would roast a turkey, cook three casseroles (green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and broccoli and cheese casserole), homemade mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pecan pie bars. I spent all week researching recipes and figuring out the timing, so it was all planned out perfectly. Because when you’re cooking things always go perfectly....

I said that like my kitchen exploded, it wasn't that disastrous, just a few little normal cooking hiccups. The day before Thanksgiving, I cooked the pecan pie bars and broccoli and cheese casserole.  I learned that corn syrup and vegetable oil are not the same thing. NOT EVEN NEAR THE SAME THING. And then I bought regular broccoli as opposed to chopped broccoli, so my broccoli and cheese casserole became less like a casserole and more like "broccoli with stuff on it." (But Still Delicious).

Thanksgiving Day found me completely intimidated by my turkey. Seriously, I avoided that turkey for as long as I could. I just didn't know what to do with it and I knew I would screw it up.  So I unwrapped it, and just stared at this ugly, cold thing for a few minutes. Then I slathered it in butter and threw it in the oven. But there was a moment when it was cooking that I was sure it wasn't going to cook right. For no other reason than I'm just neurotic like that. And I may have nearly broke down and cried about how I the turkey wasn't going to turn out and how I was going to ruin the whole thanksgiving meal and that these are the memories we will never get back!. But it actually turned out really well! But I didn't snap a picture of it because it didn't look so pretty.

But the food was delicious, and because I put in all that effort it was all that more special when we finally sat down to eat two hours later than planned. But I was so exhausted when it was over that I spent the rest of the day playing old school donkey kong on the XBOX and laying around. And if you needed proof of how hard I worked on Thursday, just know the next day I woke up with the worst sinus infection that I'm still not completely over.

We Love This

A few weeks ago Adam made me watch this Old Spice Commercial on you-tube. We loved it, watched it many times, and laughed a lot. Then last week I came across a link to a the Sesame Street Grover parody of the commercial. It is amazingly funny, and we loved it just as much. Watch the Old Spice Commercial first!

Old Spice Commercial

Sesame Street Parody

The District

I can't believe it has already been five months since our first anniversary and our honeymoon trip to Washington D.C. We loved D.C.! It is so beautiful, vibrant, and there is so much to do. I would love to live in a beautiful old house in a historical city like D.C. I can't even tell you what we liked most about The District. Walking around? The Cherry Blossoms? The Smithsonians? The Landmarks? Or the fabulous food? I don't know. But I think I could go to D.C. a million times over.

I love travel and I have been so ancy for a vacation. We had a trip planned to Lake Havusu in October but it just didn't work out, and honestly I've been feeling a little sorry for myself over it. Le sigh. But I'll get over it. I always do. But I know there will be so many more vacations in the future. Or at least there better be, or I will be one grumpy wife.

Game Night at The Martens

I love board games and so does Adam. So when there was nothing better to do last weekend we rolled out Monopoly. Which is the best game ever. We have the millennium edition of Monopoly, so all the properties are named after popular American landmarks (the white house, Disney world, etc). Adam hates it because he think it corrupts the integrity of the original monopoly. But who cares what he thinks right? Just kidding.

I won and I only owned one Monopoly, which means I basically rule the world. Do you want to mess with this money mogul? I don't think so.

P.S-I'm not wearing a McDonald's t-shirt. I am wearing my college t-shirt from my college freshmen orientation weekend. Its a "W" not an "M". But no one ever seems to notice that! In fact, the other day I was walking Sarah and a chubby little boy walked by and said, "Look Mom A Happy Meal!" I wasn't sure how to take that.

Four Year Dateiversary

I think technically once you get married you are no longer supposed to celebrate the day you started dating. But you don't have to give me much of a reason to celebrate anything.  We had originally planned to go out and celebrate tonight, but due to some financial problems, we ended up staying in. Which is fine with me, hanging around the house with Adam is what I love to do anyway.

This picture was the first picture we ever took together. It was taken on a mini-golf course in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Even though his face is cut off and my nose is as big as the titanic, I love this shot.I think what is harder to believe than that we have been "officially" a couple for four years is that we have known each other over 11 years now. You would think by now we would know absolutely everything about each other, but we learn something new about each other everyday. I hope that never changes!

Does this Give Me Permission to Never Do the Dishes Again?

Brittany: I'm going to to the dishes tonight when it is cooler.
Adam: Oh I won’t make you do that, I was just teasing.
Brittany: I will do the glasses. I promised, and I keep my promises!
Adam: Well babe…now here’s the thing…in the past when you’ve done dishes they’ve not exactly been….well there were still spots and stuff left on the glasses. I’m trying to gently tell you that you are not very good at doing the dishes.
Brittany: But isn't it the try that counts?
Adam: Sometimes yes, but in this case no.

Quick Note: Adam always does the dishes, but I offered to do them the other day.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was a pretty low key weekend, but really relaxing. On Friday Night, I cooked us a spaghetti dinner complete with garlic bread. And it was pretty good, cause let's face it, I am the best cook in America (that incident where I nearly burned down the campus kitchen was surely just a fluke). On Saturday, we did the old married couple thing, and ran a whole bunch of errands. We went grocery shopping, and because she is freaking spoiled, we bought Sarah a bone.  We also went to Game Play, and Adam bought a few Nintendo DES games. I also convinced him to buy me that little Mario mushroom because HELLO it is super cute and makes me happy. Last, we went to target to buy new shoes and pillows (we are really living the high life now).

Sunday we did a repeat of last weekend, and went to Hooter's to watch the Packer game.  From where we were siting, Adam could watch 5 games he was interested in at once. He looked like a bobble head watching all the screens. Thankfully the Packer's won, so Adam didn't spend the whole day pouting and kicking the dog.

Dress Up Photobooth Pics

I mentioned in a previous post that Moe had a dress up photo booth area at her wedding. It had a ton of fun accessories, so of course we took a view shots. The photographer Jae Belle has the shots for sale, and I love them all. I don't know which ones to buy!

The first two shots are of my girls Jana, Anna, and me. We are holding up The W's in the second shot to represent our college, Mississippi University for Women (or as we called it The W!). The next few shots are us with the bride. My fave is the fourth shot because I look like a little old lady. And the last photo is hilarious because we did the W thing again,  but Monique accidentally put up a V! Ha. Love these.

Opening Game Day & Packer Pride

Yesterday was the first official season Green Bay Packers' football game. So Adam broke out his jersey and patented Cheesehead. So I took the opportunity to do a little cheesehead photo shoot. The first shot is the serious football pose you always see players do. But my fave is the picture with Sarah.

After Adam put on the jersey, we went to Hooters so we could watch the Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions game with our friend Luther, who is from Chicago. (Chicago won, but barely!) It was my first time ever at Hooters, and I was excited to see they had fried pickles on the menu. I had recently heard about fried pickles on a show on the food network and wanted to try them. They were really good! But eating all that fried food, when I've been trying to stay away from fried food, made me feel a little queasy.

Luckily the Packers won (!!!), which made it a great day in the Marten household. Now I just have to get me my very own Packer's jersey and cheesehead.

Monique & Clark's Wedding

Guest Book "Fingerprint Tree"

Table

Austin & Jana

Me & Austin

Mom & Me

Moe Coming Down the Aisle

Anna, Me, & Jana

W Girls, State Boy, & Bride

Moe & Jana

Jana & Me Playing Dress Up

Moe, Me, Jana, & Austin @ Cheesecake Factory

The Happy Couple @ Cheesecake Factory

Anna & Benson

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Caramel Cheesecake

I am home after a fabulous weekend in Atlanta. I got to spend so much with with my college girlfriends and guy friends! Monique the kindest person I have ever met, married the guy I knew she would marry from the first time I saw them together,  Clark. Her wedding was beautiful. She is from all over the world, and served South African food for dinner, plus one cake from Germany called Bienenstich Kuchen. Which because I took some German in high school, I know that means Bee Sting Cake (it's like a honey flavored pastry). OK I remember very little from German class, I only knew that because it was translated for me on the program.

The South African food was so good! One of the dishes was called Bobite, and it is pronounced Bah-Booty. So everyone kept talking about how much they loved "the booty," and at one point my mother kept saying, "I love booty!" Which was disturbing on so many levels. Monique also had a candy bar, cotton candy machine, and a box full of things to dress up in and take funny pictures. Feather boas, anybody?

The next morning we all went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory (even the happy couple came, though we told them they didn't need to)! The food was delicious as always, but all I really cared about is the cheesecake. My lifetime goal is to try all the cheesecake flavors there (I've had about five), but after I tried their White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake I don't even know if I care about ever trying the others. Once I took a bite, I slammed down my fork, and couldn't stop talking about how good my cheesecake was. That cheesecake will seriously change your life.

I also got to have sushi with my high school friends, Jenny & Robyn before leaving. Although I had fun, I was so happy to get home because I missed Adam and Sarah like a phantom limb. It was pathetic!