On The Phone

John talking to his mom on Sunday. I usually pace when on the phone, but I never know where I'll find John whilst he's chatting. Today it was the guest bedroom. And, yes, it was warm enough for shorts. In January.

New Fan

As with all our house projects, once we get started we really open a can of worms. We intended to just paint our bedroom, but decided to replace the fan first. Unfortunately, John spent the rest of the day building a better support structure in the attic for it. And he hates that attic.

But he used Helga, so he wasn't complaining. And Bubba was helpful as always.
The electricity to the bedroom randomly turns out the kitchen as well, so I made dinner with this attractive headlamp on.
Here's John in action. He looks so official with the power tools.

Night Out

We went out to E&O Trading Company to celebrate my mom's birthday with the Harlines. It's sort of family-style so we tried several different entrees and enjoyed all of them.

Karyn was inspired by my mom's future trip to Paris and made this amazing birthday cake for her. It was extremely edible.
We kept trying to get a good picture of us whilst both dressed up, but John kept making faces

(like this)

So this was as good as we got.

Grandparent Visit

After the wedding we spent the rest of the weekend at my grandparents' house in York, Pennsylvania. I was so glad John finally met my grandpa because he reminds me a lot of him. They're both engineer types and enjoy a good meal. Plus now John knows who I'm imitating when I say phrases like "how 'bout them apples" or "about yay high and yay wide." He cracks me up.

My Aunt Julie came up from Baltimore to meet John as well.

John loved seeing Sophie again. When we were dating and I lived at my Aunt Wendy's he and Soph became well acquainted.

Other DC Sites

John couldn't remember his last trip to DC, so I took him around to a few of the best places. We had very limited time, but made a few fun stops. This is Potbelly's, my favorite sandwich place I found as a freshman. John's having a pizza sandwich. SO delish.

Also, he'd never had Five Guys! It's no In 'n Out, but you get unlimited peanuts, you add whatever toppings you want on your burger, and a "regular" fries is too much for two.

We went to the temple in Kensington.

It's hard to see, but there's stained glass on the sides that is really pretty.

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

The Capitol

The White House

The White House's Christmas Tree. John wants one this size next year.

The National Museum of American History.

John and Kermit.

Julia Child's kitchen.

DC Trip

My friend Katie got married in DC, so John and I went back for the reception and so he could meet the rest of my family.

We got in super late Friday and were very hungry. We found an open Friday's and ate in the hotel before crashing.

The next day we went to the reception at the Mount Vernon Inn. John hadn't been there before, so we took a look around the grounds. It's so beautiful there, even in the winter.
Katie and I were in orchestra together and the four of us (with "Katie One" and Angela) were roommates in Oxford summer of 2008. Here we are reunited.
Most of my friends that are still at SVU came for the wedding, too, so they met John. (Kayla, Summer, Lauren)
The reception was amazing, especially the food. This dress may start to look familiar. It was my matron of honor dress from Britta's wedding, and I wore it again to Tricia and now Katie's reception. Just trying to get my money's worth. John's in his wedding suit, looking handsome as always.

John: Air and Space Museum as Kid: Candy Store

We had a little extra time on Saturday so we went to the mall in DC. Naturally John was most excited about the Air and Space Museum. Look at that face!

I think I fit right in as a stewardess in the sixties.

Second Dinner

I'm embarrassed to say, but despite my best efforts John has been losing weight. He insists it's not my cooking and attributes it to not eating out anymore. I have resorted to feeding him right before bed to try and prevent the over night weight loss. So far it seems to be working . . . at least he doesn't wake up quite as ravenous as before.

Tonight I made the German pancakes my sister-in-law Jessica used to make for me when we were roommates.

I'm not sure why, but we seem to stick to breakfast foods for these late night meals. Another night he had some waffles with blueberries.

Sharks!

We went to the Sharks vs. Kings game with my mom, sister, Karyn, and Scott Harline.

We lost miserably (2-6), hence the sad faces.

On a more positive note, there were some Kings fans sitting near us that were obnoxiously happy. Their kids just couldn't resist doing the shark jaws during power plays, though. So, really, we win.

Callings

I'd been in the ward a week before they called me to primary. I teach the CTR 5 and 6 class, which has ten sweet little kids. I love it because when I run out of material or they seem bored, we just sing or color.

John was called to be the ward membership clerk. He loves clerking. Almost as much as I love using clerk as a verb.

Off to a New Year

I wanted the kitchen to match our beautiful new "buttercup" Kitchenaid. We found this color, "Charismatic," by Behr at the Home Depot. I think it's a perfect match.

So we spent all day puttying...

Sanding...

Priming...

And painting. Here John "May have overstepped the bounds of the tape."

The Harlines gave us their extra Smokey Blue, also by Behr, because I loved it.

And we extended the blue into the living room as an accent wall. We are now on the lookout for a good color for the rest of the walls in the living room. Something a little more subdued.

Then we quickly cleaned ourselves up to go to Tricia and Kyle's wedding.

And John got to meet some of my SVU friends who also came. (Michael, Charlotte, Fale, and Tesa)