365 Wonderful Days

~March 8, 2010~

For the past several weeks, Paul and I have been reminding each other that March 8th was coming up.... as if either of us could forget. March 8th, 2009 was the day that Paul and I first met at a dinner date hosted at Sam Menasco's apartment in Provo, UT. We celebrated it like a miniature anniversary. I am still learning (quite pleasantly) what a romantic man I call my husband! Though I knew we would be making a special dinner that night, I was elated to come home from school to find a vase of beautiful flowers on the table, a special gift and a homemade card (designed and created by Paul himself). What a special surprise! Not only was it sweet that he got me flowers, they were daisies, which was the main flower at our wedding.

My beautiful daisies.

The figurine was especially meaningful, one reason being that I collect Willow Tree (especially the young family themes) but mostly that it represents what Paul and I look forward so much to having, our own family. I was so touched by all of it and feel so lucky to be married to this wonderful man!

The rest of the evening followed nicely as well. We prepared the same dinner we ate that night- Parmesan Chicken, peas and mashed potatoes (which I made characteristically late) and enjoyed a quiet movie together at home. We are happy to have known each other for over a year now and to be happily married for seven months!!

Recipe for Parmesan Chicken

Compliments of Michelle Shade

1 bottle Italian Dressing

3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

Large Ziplock bag

4-6 chicken breasts

Pour dressing into bag. Add parmesan cheese and squish bag to mix.

Add chicken and marinate for at least 2 hours.

Place marinated chicken in a baking dish or pan.

Add remaining marinade (pour some over chicken).

Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until done. Enjoy!

*Special Note: Best served with garlic mashed potatoes and peas.

St. George Getaway!!

Mary and I took a much needed getaway to St. George at the end of February. We didn't really have any plans we just found a place to go and started the drive down. We ended up staying at a historic Bed and Breakfast called the Seven Wives Inn. You can go here to learn about the history of the place.

We stayed in the Harriet-Quaint room on the second floor. We had our own balcony, which was sweet, and our own bathroom. The staff there was great. They weren't "in your face" like I've heard can be the case at bed and breakfasts. I'm not really a breakfast person, but the food was good.

When we finally decided to get out of bed the first morning, we went to do some shopping at the outlets. We didn't buy anything though. I was always under the impression that outlets were the place to get good deals. It seemed everything was just as expensive if not worse than shopping anywhere else. Whatever. We did hit up a really old antique shop. It was packed with so much stuff that you could barely walk from room to room without knocking things over. We found some treasures there.

On Sunday we went to the St. George Temple and took some pictures. We walked around for a bit and then went to the Tabernacle. We toured it against our will. We heard there was an art gallery there depicting the ministry of Jesus Christ. We went to see that cause we toured it back in August when Sam and Amber got hitched. But as soon as we got there, they took us right in and started the tour without asking any questions. I can't fault 'em though. They just seemed really excited. It was a good refresher course. We did get to see the paintings in the basement afterwards. It was a really neat experience. After that we went to the St. George 13th Ward. It reminded me a lot of the Smyrna Ward back home. Enough said. But it was good.

On our way out of town we stopped at Silver Reef. It used to be a silver mining community but is now a ghost town. We didn't see any ghosts... or silver for that matter, but we got some sweet pics, so it was a fair trade.

200 days...

Paul and I have been married for two hundred days today (think of how many minutes that is!) and what a wonderful discovery that is! Marriage is our favorite institution and we are definitely satisfied customers. ;-) We are rapidly approaching our one year anniversary from the day we first laid eyes on each other, March 8, 2009. What an amazing year it has been!

Life has its many challenges and hardships, but we've grown so close together as we've faced them side by side and have learned that two truly are stronger than one. Thank God for love and marriage.