A Thanksgiving Song by Ben

To be sung to the tune of "O Christmas Tree."

Oh turkey meat, oh turkey meat
Oh how I love my turkey meat
I love it all, both dark and white
And everything that's by its side
Oh turkey meat, oh turkey meat
Oh how I love my turkey meat!

It gets stuck in your head, doesn't it?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Can we change it to "Black Saturday?"

Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, I look forward to getting up in the middle of the night and doing this:

It has kind of become a tradition among the women in my family. It's ridiculously crazy to get up so early to fight the crowds, but that's what makes it so fun. We always have a blast and I usually end up buying a bunch of crap that I don't need just because it was on a really good sale. Then we go to IHOP and then I go home and fall asleep.

This year on black Friday, I have to do this:

Except I probably won't look as happy as this random girl. And I don't have any potted plants near my desk. Seriously, being an adult is lame sometimes. I've never had to work on Black Friday before. I guess I'll just go shopping on Saturday with all the other sad people who have to work on Friday. 

ten things that make my husband adorable

1. We bought Halloween candy last week just in case we get any trick-or-treaters. Ben begs me every day to open it so he can have "just one piece," but I have to keep saying no because I KNOW that "one piece" will quickly turn into the whole bag.

2. He writes me the cutest notes. We have a notebook that we use to write notes back and forth to each other. I always look forward to coming home and seeing what he wrote to me!

3. He always sings in the shower. Loudly. Sometimes he makes up his own songs.

4. He dances with me in the kitchen.

5. He attempts to make the bed because he knows it's important to me. It always looks a little lumpy and crooked, but I know if it were up to him he would leave it unmade.

6. He gets up super early to do his homework so we can spend time together in the evenings.

7. He sends me emails while I am at work just to tell me that he loves me and is thinking about me.

8. He always takes my opinion into consideration when planning dates. If I mention there's something I want to do, we do it. He always puts me first.

9. He is a good sport even when I beat him at everything.

10. He tells me I'm the most beautiful girl in the world even when I'm wearing sweats and no make-up and my hair is a mess.

Yep, he's a keeper.

Go away winter, no one invited you

Every year around this time, I ask myself why the heck I still live here. Last weekend I was wearing capris and flip flops and enjoying the sunny 80 degree weather. Today I had to wear a coat because IT'S SNOWING! Hasn't this town ever heard of Fall? It's not normal for the temperature to suddenly plummet 40 degrees.  You would think with this being my fifth winter here I would be used to it. Nope.

The turn in the weather has brought a few good things with it, however. We have started drinking hot cocoa again! I just bought some mini marshmallows today to take full advantage of the cocoa drinking season (which will be at least the next six months...).  Did I say there were a few good things? Oh, I was wrong. That's the only one. 

At work we had a Halloween decorating competition and so the room I work in seriously looks like Halloween threw up everywhere. I'll have to try to snap a few pictures. It has so many decorations that it looks ridiculous. This motivated me to start decorating our apartment! So yesterday I dug out my one and only Halloween decoration:

And then today I found this cute plastic pumpkin at Walmart:

My favorite part is that I don't have to carve it! I hate carving pumpkins. Why would you willingly stick your hand in there and pull out the GUTS? Ewww. I'll pass. And what's October without some bread bowls that look like pumpkins?

Is that not the funniest thing ever? I've been craving broccoli cheese soup and I found these little bread bowls at the grocery store. I stood there and laughed for like 5 minutes. We will have to "carve" the pumpkins and then put soup in them. 

P.S. I got my hair cut a couple weeks ago! Here's the before and after:

P.S. Thanks to Darci Hill for giving our blog a much-needed makeover! Isn't it cute?

Maybe I should do more cooking...

Today we bought ourselves some of these:

Cutco table knives. And let me just say, HOLY COW am I excited to use them. 

These things can cut through anything. They make the knives we have now look like kiddie toys. 

We also bought an ice cream scoop and a pizza cutter. 

And the best part? If any of these ever break they will replace them. For free. For the rest of our lives.

Good investment? I think so.

Help Wanted!

Can someone hack our blog and make it cuter? I am amazed by how cute other people's blogs are. Ours needs a serious makeover...

P.S. Congratulations to Ben's cousin Brandon and his wife Kathleen on their new baby girl Margot! She is adorable!

The best date ever!

I'm pretty sure I have the best husband. When I got home from work last Friday I saw this in the kitchen and I knew something was going on:

Then he handed me an invitation that said this:

Cali Marie Rawlinson,

This invitation says that you are invited to a dinner date this evening at 6:00 p.m. with one Benjamin J. Rawlinson.

First, you will have the opportunity to pick between two meals. The meals include an appetizer, entreé, and dessert. Please choose wisely for this will decide what you will eat tonight.

Second, you will go to the store with Benjamin to shop for the desired ingredients.

Third, at 6:00, you will be provided with a crossword puzzle for pre-entertainment. Then you will join Ben in the kitchen to help prepare the rest of the dinner, if you so desire.

Fourth, you will enjoy a delicious meal.

Fifth, after the dinner meal, we will proceed to wait for our food to settle and then you will help Ben in the kitchen to help make the dessert.

Please come dressed appropriately for the evening in jeans and a clean shirt. Your presence is desired tonight for a wonderful meal and movie.

Please circle one option: Dinner One or Dinner Two

I went back and forth and finally chose Dinner One, which turned out to be a Mexican themed dinner. At 6:00, as promised, I was given a homemade crossword puzzle.

It was the cutest puzzle with facts about us and our relationship. When I was done, I had to present it at the kitchen in order to be allowed inside!

I must have passed because Ben let me in to cook with him. The whole time we listened to Spanish music, which I usually find extremely annoying, but it went along perfectly with the evening's theme!

Here is the appetizer in the "lounge:"

Dinner in the dining room...complete with a candle (which is actually a light bulb...)

And for dessert, we made apple tortillas. It sounds kind of weird but it was delicious! It's apple pie filling and cinnamon baked in a tortilla with a caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. 

Who knew an evening at home could be so much fun?

The Happiest Day of Ben's Life

Back in July, a very bad thing happened. Our apartment complex changed cable providers and got rid of the ESPN channels. Ben plunged into a deep depression (not really...but he was pretty sad).

Today was Ben's first day of school. He went to his football theory class and learned that his homework would consist of watching football games on Saturdays. Finally, the excuse he had been looking for! He marched straight over to our apartment manager's office and got the phone number for the cable company. By the time I got home from work the cable guy had come and gone and Ben was in heaven...aka watching Sportcenter.

This is what Ben would look like if he was really old and had weird hair. Depression cured.

Summer Fun Over and Done!

Well it has been awhile since the last post.  I believe my wife posted our trips from the Disneyland Vacation in June.  However our traveling fun did not end there.....

JULY


We traveled to Oklahoma for the fourth of July weekend.  We didn't travel by plane but instead spent a couple of days traveling from Idaho to Oklahoma.  I will say that it is a long drive from point A to point B.  We did a couple of fun things.  Here are some highlights from the trip:

 We watched the Transformers Movie in 3D

  We went and had fun at Dave and Busters

 Finally, we ended the weekend and our 4th of July with a 5k Run

Basically Cali and I got up early in the morning to run/ walk mostly for an hour.  One of us thought the 5K was cool and the other did not enjoy the 3.5 mile walk early in the morning.  All in all,  it was great experience if you ever get the chance to to do a 5K one day.

So, we ended our trip to Oklahoma by leaving that Tuesday and decided to make a detour into Utah.  We had bought tickets to see the American Idol tour in Salt Lake City.  Yes, we did see Scotty, Lauren, Haley and the rest of the gang.   

It was a great show with great music.   All the people from this season were pretty much amazing.  

Other facts in July:  Cali got a job at a call center and I turned 25 on the 25th of July.  

AUGUST:

My Brother got married the first weekend in August.  So that meant we traveled again across the US.  This time we decided to travel through the air.  We were too tired to travel by car.  We thought it better if we took a break from the car.   So the first week of August found us in Minnesota.    We met up with my family again and had a blast in Minneapolis.  

Highlights from the Trip:

I WAS OLD ENOUGH TO RENT A CAR

We drove the Chevy HHR around town for the weekend.  It was a nice car and we enjoyed the satellite radio that came with the vehicle.  So many radio stations to choose from.....  

WE WENT TO MALL OF AMERICA WITH THE FAMILY, WE RODE RIDES AND SHOPPED TIL WE DROPPED

SPENCER AND ASHLEY GOT MARRIED

This was the real purpose of the weekend.  We watched Spencer and Ashley tie the knot.

So we would like to welcome Ashley to the family.  

WE CELEBRATED OUR ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

My brother happened to get married one day before our one year anniversary.  We spent the day celebrating by going to a baseball game seeing the twins, seeing a movie, and eating at olive garden.  It was a wonderful day spent together.

We left Minnesota the following day to head back to Idaho.  We swore we wouldn't travel til next summer.... but we decided that we needed to get away one final time before school starts next week on the 12th of September.

SEPTEMBER:

We got the traveling bug again over Labor Day weekend.  I decided, we ought to spend some together before we got busy in the fall and in the winter.  We chose to travel 3 hours and head for Salt Lake City for the weekend.  It was a blast!

Highlights for the Weekend:

WE SPENT TWO NIGHTS AT THE HYATT

These are really nice hotels.  The beds felt comfortable.  Who would complain about the 46' flat screen tv that rotates between the couch and the bed.  We will probably find ways to spend more time at this hotel chain.

WE VISITED TEMPLE SQUARE AND THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE AND TOURED THE CONFERENCE CENTER 

We enjoyed feeling the wonderful Spirit found at temple square. This section of downtown is beautiful, we were glad that we were able to visit.

WE ATE AT TUCANOS ( A VERY GOOD BRAZILIAN RESTAURANT)

This place was very good.  The meat there was excellent.  It is a very fun and exciting atmosphere.  I recommend anyone to go if they have one in there area.  

WE SAW THE BROADWAY PRODUCTION OF MARY POPPINS

We went to the Capitol Theatre in Downtown Salt Lake.  We got the opportunity to enjoy a very good show.

The Music was great.  The Dancing was wonderful.  It was well worth the price to see this production.  

Well the summer is now over.  No more vacations.  Its back to school and back to work.  We traveled many miles and tried new places to eat.  We did fun things and many memories were shared.  Farewell Summer! Until next year!

Is anyone else excited?

I've been a bit obsessed lately. I just finished the series for the second time. March can't come fast enough!

We Love Summer!

Earlier this year, we made a deal with my parents. We could live with them rent-free while we worked at the power plant if we helped them do this:

Yes, instead of that ghastly peach/pink/macaroni & cheese color, my parents' house is now a lovely shade of vomit-green. Well, that's what I think. Everyone else likes the color. Oh well. I don't have to live there.

Isn't he so cute being all manly and putting stuff together? We have so many books and movies that we were running out of places to put them all. Thanks to Walmart, that problem is now solved. 

We have recently gotten into finding healthier versions of our favorite recipes. This is the delicious chicken parmesan we made this week. The recipe is from the Spark Recipes app (love it!). Here is the recipe.

And what's summer without a little miniature golf? I'll let you guess who won (hint...it was me!). Another one of those things Ben has never (ever) beat me at. Although, he did beat me at Boggle for the first time ever this week. That was a sad day for me. Next week we head out to Oklahoma to have even more Summer adventures!