Since bowling alleys are off limits for us for a while we decided to have a little Wii Bowling Family Competition. First up was Ian. Ian pretends to hate it when I take his picture.

I take my bowling very seriously. Fun fact – everytime I posed for a picture I got a strike. Until I realized that, then it stopped happening.

Rachel had an unfair advantage. Evidenced here.

Nobody has ever lost a Wii Bowling Family Competition while wearing a 4-H sweatshirt. It is unheard of.

Zane loves Wii Bowling, however, he does not like it when other people get strikes.

In fact he really does not like it. So much that he tries to go when its other peoples turns to make them lose. Then he gets in trouble and cries.

It does not last long though and soon he was back in high spirits and bowling like a PRO.

He has excellent form.

Family game night is really important for us. We try and make it a weekly thing, and even though it does not always happen, we all really look forward to it. It is really good for Zane as well. I don’t know if you could tell, but he is not the best loser. I wonder where he gets it?

Spaghettios are the reason I survived my first year of college. I lived in a dorm room with three other ladies, and I had one bowl and one spoon to my name. I ate Spaghettios for breakfast, lunch, dinner and an occasional snack. I am going to blame it on the fact that my mother hardly ever bought them for me as a child, plus they are cheap and oh so good. It would not be so bad if I had stopped eating them after I moved out of the dorm, but no I continued to eat them just about every day or the next 5 years. One day I left my bowl (don’t worry, I had saved up and bought a new bowl by then) in some water in the sink. When I returned home our entire sink was dyed orange. I then realized that is what the inside of my stomach looks like! I immediately swore off Spaghettios cold turkey, and I am not going to lie, it was been hard. When I see them in the grocery store my mouth starts to water. Ian has had to talk me out of the canned food aisle countless times.

Just a couple months ago I thought it would be harmless to have some Raviolis. I mean, they are not Spaghettios, right? Completely different! I was totally fine! Then a couple weeks ago my sister got a can of Spaghettios in the mail. She brought it over to me (because she is an enabler) because she knew I liked them. I texted Ian and told him, and I guess he was feeling a little bad for his pregnant wife because he told me I might as well eat them. I am not proud of what happens next. Lets just say my stomach is not in fine shape and there is a mysterious orange ring in my kitchen sink. Now, I do not have many vices. I am not a party-er, I do not drink or smoke and have never taken any illicit drugs. (Don’t I sound fun to hang out with?) But I am addicted to Spaghettios. I wake up in the morning counting the hours until it is late enough to be considered lunch time. When I run out of cans, I crave more. Is there a 12 step program for this? Should I call Cambell’s? I keep telling myself that I can quit when I want to, I did it once and I can do it again.

I just don’t want to yet.

That is all.

PS-Why did you not steal my bike? It was right there, and mine even has streamers and a cool basket. Not going to lie, I am slightly offended….

Every year on our Anniversary I always think about our 1st anniversary and what a crazy time that was! On our first anniversary I was actually 2 days past my due date with Zane, so it wasn’t really that romantic of a day! I was huge and miserable and just wanted to have a baby already! Ian and I tried to make the best of it by going out to dinner, but while we were gone Ian’s siblings called the house and told My Mom (who was staying with us anxiously awaiting Zane’s arrival) to have him call them immediately. My Mom got kind of worried so she called us at the restaurant and told us that Ian’s family needed him to call home, and it sounded like it was an emergency. Of course, Ian and I were worried so we hurried and left the restaurant before we were even done eating and rushed home to call them. It turns out they had been taking bets on when they thought the baby was going to be born and just wanted to tell us what everyones guess was. At that point any sliver of romance was gone from the evening and I am pretty sure I went to bed. Needless to say, it could of been better.

Ever since Ian and I started dating, I have always felt that he was someone that was supposed to be a part of my life. We have known each other since we were Freshman in High School, but I really didn’t pay him that much attention until we shared this magical, wonderful afternoon the beginning of our Senior Year. Immediately after that I just knew he was going to be someone important in my life. Now, I had ZERO experience with boys or love before Ian. I had a few “boyfriends” growing up but never anything serious. I really did not have any desire to date through most of High School, and any futile attempt I made to try it always ended pretty disastrously, with boys wondering why I all of a sudden disappeared off the face of the earth. Ian was different. I enjoyed his company, he never made me feel that humongous amount of pressure that other boys did to define our relationship or take it too seriously. He never even asked me to be his girlfriend (which is usually the point where I would disappear), he just simply started telling people I was. He did everything right.

He has continued to do everything right since that point. Ian sets my soul at ease. I can be completely freaking out about some giant life crisis, totally inconsolable, and all Ian has to do is put his arms around me and I know everything is okay. He has always treated me with nothing but the greatest respect and love and kindness. He lets me be goofy and silly and completely crazy and he actually loves me for it. He lets me follow my dreams and listens to me talk non-stop when I get excited about something. He puts up with my horrible taste in music. He always makes me feel beautiful and has never admitted to any other woman being more attractive than I am. Even when I know they are. He is a wonderful father. He teaches Zane so much and is so good to him. Parenthood was not something Ian and I were really prepared for when Zane entered our lives, but Ian embraced it 100%.

He has the softest, sweetest big beautiful brown eyes that just make me melt. I love his jokes, the way he makes non-stop commentary the entire time we watch TV. I love that he thinks my Mom is hilarious and lets my sisters live with us. I love that he can always tell when I need someone to talk to and will stop everything to just lay in bed with me and let me vent. Ian has taught me so much about unconditional love.

When Ian and I decided to get married, at 19 mind you, I thought it would be fun and exciting and, hey, if it didn’t work out, no big deal. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Ian very much, but I was also very realistic about our chances of staying married since we were getting married at such a young age. I don’t mean to sound flippant about marriage, but that is honestly how I felt. Much later, when Ian and I talked about our feelings when we got married, I told Ian how I had felt then, and he told me that when we got married, he knew he wanted to be with me forever. Not being together forever was not even in his mind. It amazes me that even at 18 (Ian is younger than I am by 5 months, and never lets me forget it..) Ian knew so certainly that I was the person for him. Now I feel exactly the same way. I cannot imagine sharing my life with anyone else, nor do I want to.

I love you so much Ian. Thank you for loving me.