March 26, 1988

Hubby and I have been together 20 year as of yesterday. Not MARRIED for 20 years, but together for 20 years. We began dating on March 26, 1988. Not that any of you really care (and some of you already know) but I need something to blog about, so here is our "story":

I started working at Highland DQ in May, 1987, which was the summer after my freshman year of college. I attended college 2 hours away from home (EIU), so this was only to be a summer job. Hubby already worked at DQ, as he had done since he turned 16. He was a senior in high school at the time, getting ready to graduate. We had known each other pretty much our entire lives, living in the same small town and going to the same schools. I knew he liked sports and he knew I did and I think that our mutual love of the St. Louis Cardinals was probably how our friendship began.

We worked together and got along well. We also got along with almost every other nightshift/weekend employee there. Hubby had a couple of friends who worked in Highland too at other eating establishments. We joked that they were "honorary DQ employees" because they would come in after we were closed and help us clean on many occasions. We were like a family that summer and did just about everything together. After we closed DQ, a bunch of us would go over to Pizza Hut and stay there until they closed at like 2am. This is where a lot of my weight came from!

In August, I headed back to EIU. That fall, I dated a guy from the Chicago area (yeah, I know.....what the he$$ was I thinking?). Hubby started his freshman year at SIUE and we remained friends. When I came home on weekends, sometimes I would work at DQ and I did so a lot over Christmas break that year. Once again, we had a great time together and with everyone else who worked there.

On Christmas eve that year, we got off work at 4pm and before we headed home to our families, several of us drove around Highland singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" in every drive-thru! Our boss had a small holiday party for us and after it was over, Hubby gave me a necklace with a heart and a pearl. I had known since Thanksgiving that he "liked" me but I couldn't decide if I liked him back or not. I kissed him over Thanksgiving break and I think again at Christmas break, but then in the new year, I wasn't as nice and sometimes when I came home on the weekend, I would kiss him, but sometimes I wouldn't let him come near me. I was mean. I just couldn't make up my mind (girls can be so indecisive!).

Finally, over spring break in March (Hubby had the same spring break week I did), he and I decided that on the Saturday at the end of break, we would attend a Blues hockey game together. We had gone to several other Blues games that fall and winter with friends and had loads of fun, but this would be the first one that we attended together, just the two of us. We had awesome seats, the closest I had ever been to the ice. We actually had seats that were one behind the other, instead of right next to each other. But they were good seats, so we didn't care. I remember that on the way there (after we ate dinner at York Steak House in St. Clair Square Mall), I was seriously sitting closer to his side of the car than my own. He drove a navy blue Thunderbird with the front seat that went all the way across, no console or bucket seats.

The Blues won the game. I have the ticket stubs at home. I can't remember who they played but I think the score was 3-2 in overtime. It was a great game. Afterwards, Hubby knew of 2 parties going on that we could attend. The first was in Troy at someone's house who I can't remember. It was an outside party and it was fairly cold. We didn't stay there very long. The next was in Marine and it was inside a house. There weren't nearly as many people there, only about 10 or so. I remember sitting on the couch talking to another girl and Hubby was sitting back against the couch next to me. All of a sudden, he leaned forward and just started kissing my neck. I was still talking to this girl and he kept kissing me. Finally I thought I better pay him some attention and began kissing him back. We went outside soon after that and before we drove home, we stood by the car and talked. I said something like "OK, let's try this and see what happens." And as they say.....the rest is history!

I seriously knew from that night on though that he would be the person I would someday marry. And he is my very best friend in the world. I think that because of our past, I believe that the best relationships begin as friendships.

Wordless Wednesday - Toes Ready For New Easter Outfits!

Friday/Saturday

We arrived at Westport Plaza and checked into the Sheraton Hotel around 12:30pm on Friday. We went to our room and found it to be very nice but without a tub, only a shower. That suits us though because we aren't typically bath people anyway. The girls of course wanted to swim immediately. So Hubby took them to the pool while I got to stay in the room and scrapbook for about 2 hours. The desk was huge and very condusive to scrapbooking, so that was wonderful! Once they came back (about 3:00), they showered and got cleaned up and we headed out.

There aren't any stores at Westport anymore, at least not just little trinket-y sorts of stores. But there are still several restaurants. We checked out Pujols 5, Nino's, Kobe's Steakhouse (which was formerly The Robata of Japan), and finally decided to eat at Ozzie's. The food was good and we were able to watch NCAA basketball while we ate. Then we decided to drive to West County Mall, since none of us had ever been there. We were pleasantly surprised at how big the mall was. We managed to spend some $$$ at Dick's Sporting Goods. B1 got some new athletic shorts to wear for practices, pitching lessons, etc. I got some new capri sweats, and Hubby bought some things he would need to coach B2's softball team this spring/summer. B2 got some Spongebob Squarepants ornaments for her Crocs shoes.

Once we got back to Westport, we "had" to go into the Cold Stone Creamery for dessert. YUM! We were back in our room by 9:00pm and Hubby was in bed by 9:15. I scrapbooked until 11:00. The girls played restaurant and served me up some nice ice cubes on a tray! at 10:00, we discovered that "Titanic" was on TV, so we watched the remainder of it, which ended at 11:00.

The next morning, Hubby ventured out and walked to St. Louis Bread Co. to get me an asiago cheese bagel. Then he walked to McDonald's to get breakfast for himself and the girls. We had breakfast in bed! They went to the pool again at about 10:00am while I did some more scrapbooking. They returned a little after 11:00, we all got cleaned up, and checked out just before 12:00. Next up: Dave and Buster's!!!

We chose to eat our lunch meal inside the game room at Dave and Buster's. Previously, we always ate in the quieter dining room, but we discovered that if you eat in the game room, you don't have to wait for a table. That was fine with us; we just had to talk a bit louder to each other! After the meal, we of course played lots of games. At one point, I actually wondered if we had put TOO MANY credits on our cards!?! But we managed to play them all off. Then it was time for B1 and B2 to "shop" in the store. We had 3470 credits. B2 found a big stuffed dog right away (she LOVES dogs) but B1 couldn't find anything to suit her. So we chose to save the credits until next time.

We had to stop at a grocery store on the way home so I could pick up a couple items needed to prepare my dish for Sunday. We finally got home at about 5:00pm. A good time was had by all!

Easter Plans

So we have a sort of exciting weekend planned. We are going to head out tomorrow around noon and go over to Westport Plaza in St. Louis to spend the night. We did this on a whim last night and made a reservation at the Sheraton Hotel there. They have an indoor pool and Hubby told me to bring my scrapbook stuff so I can work on it in the hotel room while they are at the pool! What a guy! We are also going to go to Dave and Buster's on Saturday after we check out of the hotel. This is a reward to the girls for their good report cards this week. B2 finally got a good mark in "controls unnecessary talking." Yay! Then we will come home Saturday evening and go to church on Sunday morning, after an Easter egg hunt in our yard. After church, we will head to Hubby's sister's house for Easter lunch, which is always very yummy, and another egg hunt. At dinnertime, we will go to a restaurant with my family. I'm sure we won't be very hungry then, but that's OK; it will be nice just to spend some time with them. Happy Easter to all of you!

Expensive Corn Flake!

Someone recently challenged bloggers to search for the most unusual item you could find on e-bay. Have any of you heard about the frosted flake that is shaped like Illinois? Yep, it's being sold on e-bay. Click here to check it out. The current bid (at the time of this post) is $56 and there are 3 days left in the auction! People are nuts!

Real Cooking

My friend over at One Little Corner of the World enjoys cooking a lot and often puts pictures on her blog of the food she has prepared. So, I have decided to do so as well! Here is part of tonight's dinner. It is Chicken Cordon Blue. This was the first real meal that I prepared for Hubby after we were married. He is an extremely picky eater and I try to find "different" sorts of recipes, but things he will still eat. This was the first one I came across in a cook book shortly after our wedding. We still like it, especially the cheesy, crispy part on top (of course, that is the worst part for your body!). Chicken Cordon Blue

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pkg. swiss cheese (8-12 slices)
1 pkg. ham slices, any variety
corn flakes
1 stick butter, melted

Cook chicken breasts in skillet on stove top in a small amount of oil just until the outsides turn white. Place them in a Pam-sprayed 9x13 pan. Place 2-3 slices of ham and then 2-3 slices of Swiss cheese on top of each breast. Squeeze corn flakes in your hands and put crumbs on top of breasts. Don't completely cover the breasts, but be somewhat liberal with the corn flakes. Pour melted butter (tonight I didn't use the entire amount of butter) over the breasts. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly. Enjoy!

**You could season the chicken breasts with seasoning of your choice before layering with ham and cheese.

Impressed

Every night when I go to bed, I say prayers. I have done this since I was a small child. I remember that I was taught the Lord's Prayer in Sunday School and before I knew it, I had it memorized. One night when my dad tucked me into bed when I was maybe 3 or 4 years old, I recited the Lord's Prayer. He was so impressed that he yelled for my mom to come and listen to me! At Sunday School, B2 has now learned the names of the 12 disciples. I was very impressed with this. I didn't even know they were working on this until she informed me that she knew all 12 of their names. She has them memorized in alphabetical order and can rattle them off in about 5 seconds! It's pretty cool. She has also learned the Golden Rule. Kudos to her Sunday School teachers for making good use of their time with these children every week! As long as she remembers them (and I plan to quiz her periodically throughout the upcoming years), this is one less thing she will have to learn when she gets to confirmation.

The Ultimate Peep Show

This is one of the cutest things I've seen in awhile. Click here.

Thanks to Becky at Prologos for helping me with this post.

SWEEEET!

Another snow day tomorrow. Yeah, I guess it's getting kind of old, but then again, you just gotta love an unplanned day off! When I was a kid, I used to LOVE seeing my school district's name on the television. I used to wake up early in the morning and listen to KMOX, simply to hear my school's name. My mom drove a bus and I usually knew about school being closed before a lot of other kids, but I would listen anyway just for the satisfaction of hearing my school being named. Then I would roll over and go back to sleep. Now that I am married to a teacher, all of us having the day off together is pretty sweet. By the afternoon, the roads are usually cleared off and driveable, so oftentimes, we do something fun together like go to a movie. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I copied and pasted what I saw tonight on Channel 5's website:


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Triad Comm. Unit School District 2
Closed


YAY!!!

I'm not good at them, but I love trivia nights!

We had a trivia night tonight at our church. This was the 3rd annual trivia night and it has always been on the night before Pulaski Day (yes, I the teacher have a big say in when we schedule trivia night and this way, I know I don't have to get up early the following day!). Anyway, I made the questions for 5 of the categories tonight. Here are some of my favorite questions.....which ones do you know the answers to?

1. From the Movie Quotes category: "It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told." What movie is that?

2. From the US Geography category: If you traval due south from Detroit, Michigan, what foreign country do you arrive in first?

3. From the Games category: How many spaces are on a Monopoly board?

4. From the Slogans category: "What's in your wallet?"

5. From the Kids Stuff category: What is Arthur the Aardvark's last name?

6. From the Sports category: In 2007, a junior from Triad High School became the class AA state champion discus thrower. She is a resident of our town. What is her name?

7. From the Significant Dates In Local History category: What happened on 7/5/90?

Oh yeah, tomorrow on my day off, I get to go to lunch (again) at the Cheesecake Factory with 2 fellow teachers/friends. The diet starts on Tuesday!