Fourteen Things I Love About Bill

It's Valentine's Day today and what better way to celebrate than to tell you fourteen of the things I love about Bill!

1. The way he sings country music
2. ...And gangster rap
3. How he explains video games, but not in a condescending way
4. He takes extremely good care of me when I'm sick
5. The way his eyes crinkle and sparkles when he smiles
6. Those dimples he gets when he smiles, too
7. He's handy with fixing stuff (Seriously, one time the door broke at my mom's house and he stayed and fixed it. That's a long story though.)
8. Incredibly intelligent
9. His love for his puppies
10. He's a good baker
11. The silly voices he makes
12. The way we play together and just generally be silly
13. He knows his manners
14. How romantic he is!

So there you have it, fourteen things I love about my man! He's seriously just the cat's meow, and I can't imagine what I did to deserve him, but I'm glad I did it.

Bill, honey, if you're reading this, I love you dearly. I'm so glad to have you in my life, and that we're on this great journey together! I don't know where life is going to take us, but I'm so glad that it's taking me there with you! Happy Valentine's Day, baby, and here's to many more. I love you.

The Lady and the Mister

I love how Bill and I can work together for hours on end and then come into a room together and do two totally different things, but still be together. We're still together, but we're doing our own thing. Just a bit of a wind down after a crazy few hours. I like moments like these, but I also love the cuddles that come afterwards.

This afternoon I baked some breads to help him out for his donut day at work, as well as cut up apples for a Jewish Apple Cake, and then when he came home, he helped me out with dinner a little bit. I home-made Chick-Fil-A (a post on that forthcoming), but it was a little messy and I only had one hand available. So Bill helped out but being my plater and chicken-cutter-opener. Quite the official position, if I do say so myself. Not to spoil the next post, but the chicken was amazing.

After dinner was all said and done, though, things picked up fast. Our kitchen was a hectic mess for sure. I didn't really help too much with the Jewish Apple Cake or the cheesecake Bill made, except to be his "getter of things." (See, I have an official position too! :P) When his hands were messy, I got for him. Funny how that works, sort of a "one hand washes the other" deal.

At least I helped cut up the fruit! But that's because I got what was left over and didn't fit on the fruit tray. Honeydew, pineapples, and strawberries are all amazing with Cool Whip on them, fyi. I just learned this. HEAVEN!

We finally got all the cakes done. We're just relaxing while we wait for the cheesecake to cool enough to put in the icebox. (Poll: Am I really the only one to call a refrigerator an "icebox?" Answer in the comments below.)

I hope everyone likes the baked goods we worked hard on!

Family Food Test

It’s always a little strange cooking in someone else's kitchen. But I did it with grace and ease (and a little help from my hunk and his momma)! I made chicken broccoli pasta for the family, my biggest batch ever!

As I was getting the chicken done, Bill's brother, Dave, came in the kitchen and asked if he could have a piece. He took one bite and was in heaven! Even said "oh goodness she's hired." Admittedly, the chicken was so good; we all could have eaten just that.

Bill had to help me drain the pasta and the broccoli because the pots were so big I couldn’t lift them without fear of dropping them. He’s such a good helper! And his mom helped with the chicken by teaching me a trick to keep them from burning right before they’re done but still need that extra little bit of cooking time: add water. Seems pretty common sense, but I didn’t think about it. It’s kind of like how you cook sausage.

Mom also popped some Texas toast in the oven near the end so we could have that with the meal. Never had bread with it before, but it was a nice added touch!

When everything was all put together, we sat down at the table to eat. Those first few seconds after everyone had their first bites was a little nerve-wracking because I couldn’t tell if they liked it or not.

Spoiler: They DID! Bill’s uncle George ate with us even though he was supposed to be going to dinner at Bill’s other uncle’s house, but even he had seconds! Everyone loved it. I think this will become a weekly/bi-weekly thing do. Next time we go over, I’m making the Parm Chicken Bake I made for you guys. Hopefully it goes better than it did when I made it the first time!

Oh, and a short little aside… Remember that cheesecake that Bill made? Well here’s the finished product. 

Oreo Crusted Cheesecake. So. Good. Best cheesecake I’ve ever eaten.

Tonight I'm making broccoli and cheese soup via a copy cat recipe from Budget Savvy Diva!

Lazy Sundays...on Saturday.

I woke up this morning and it just felt like Sunday for some reason... Regardless, it was nice. Woke up feeling nice and calm, and about the same time as Bill. I wanted to cook him breakfast in bed and wake him with it as a surprise, but unfortunately that didn't happen. What ended up was Bill cooking breakfast... The same thing I was going to cook. Strange how much we're on the same wavelength sometimes.

After breakfast, it was time to bathe the dogs. Surprisingly, they're very well behaved when it comes to bath time. My dogs were not so well behaved when water was involved. Nibbler, the cockapoo, is so funny it come time to dry him off. He gets so frisky after a bath because he doesn't like the towel. Runs around the living room like a charging bull! But we did get him to sit still for this one after-bath shot.

Bill's really good at giving the dogs their baths. Exceptionally gentle and careful—much like he is with me, when I'm sick. He's a really good doggie daddy. Makes me think he'll be really good with kids one day.

After that was all said and done, our lazy day started to pick up. I finally got to go to the library near here. The application process for the card was a bit much (so I technically had two trips to the library today—bibliophile heaven), but we got it done. Came home with seven books, only one of which I've read before.

We had some leftovers for lunch, then went for a short trip to Dairy Queen and the movie theater to see Warm Bodies which came out yesterday. It was pretty good. Without giving too much away, it's an apocalypse story along the lines of Romeo and Juliet. And it took me halfway through the movie almost to realize that. EXCEPT it has a different ending. But I won't spoil that ;) And oh my good golly gosh, I haven't been to a DQ since I was a wee little kid. I remember my mom still had her super awesome van. Rest in peace, van of awesome.

When we came back home, we realize we still need to make our Oreo Cheesecake (which I think we'll be doing shortly after I finish this post), so we went and did our grocery shopping. Came in $10 under budget, woo! Normally we shop on Sundays, but since we were already in the place, thought "Might as well."

Came home again and now we're just chilling. Bill's playing Diablo (Hi Bill if you're reading this, I see you online!) I made pizza for dinner. And by "I made," I mean DiGiornio made. From here on out, it's reading, cake making, and getting to bed. I'm pooped. So is Nibbler!

Tomorrow, I have to finish up laundry, and then I get to relax all day! :D Time to finish the last few season 3 episodes of Boardwalk Empire and to start The Carrie Diaries...as well as possibly True Blood. Oh dear, I'm in for it now.

Do you ever feel like Saturdays are Sundays?

Oh bother...Just realized... I'm going to cook dinner for my boyfriend's family tomorrow.... Wish me luck. It's just chicken broccoli pasta, but I'm still nervous. Well, either way, I'll get my shows in! ;)