The greatest love of my life

Like many new parents, I'm just amazed at the amount of love I feel for this little human being that demands so much of my time and attention. Both hubby and I love him beyond words. It's amazing what he does to our hearts.

My sweet, sweet darling boy.

Happy Anniversary, honey!

I've spent more than a third of my existence with the love of my life. Our first date was on February 5th, 2002. I was 18, he was 17 (a month shy of his 18th birthday). We went to the Des Moines Art Center. I know it sounds cliche and unlikely, but I do remember thinking "this is the one". Granted, it might have been the infatuation talking, but it turned out to be right.

We married 5 years later on February 5th, 2007 at the courthouse (no wedding - just us and parents/siblings), followed by a dinner at Biaggi's (we rented their wine room, where this photo was taken). That is 10 wonderful years together. Nothing but love, support, and companionship.  And at this 5/10-year anniversary, we are expecting our first child.

I'm so grateful to have this good man by my side. He is the strong, quiet, but nurturing type - sometimes I think he comes from a different time, a different era. He is definitely one of a kind, and I'm lucky to have him.

Happy anniversary, darling! I love you!

Craft corner

Since I had to give up my craft room for our dear baby, my thoughtful, handy, and creative husband built me my own little craft corner in the office closet. I absolutely love it, and I love him!

So colorful and quaint

My own little sanctuary corner, built by my love

Thank you! And more good news!

Dear friends,

Thank you for your nice wishes and kind words. Sharing these news for the first time can be a little nerve-wrecking, but you made it all good. :)

We also have some other great news - hubby has passed the bar exam and is now officially a lawyer. I'm really proud of him. We have grown up a lot together in the past 10 years, and are ready for the next exciting chapter in our lives.

Happy 27th birthday to the love of my life

Happy 27th birthday, honey! I am so lucky you are mine. <3

My stud muffins

 I'm craving summer days.

Them Norwegian boys know how to deliver. 

Cuteness galore

Firstly, let me show you what I found yesterday when I walked into our office where my husband normally studies. Well, he wasn't studying. He was taking a nap, and he wasn't alone. 

I caught him sleeping with someone else

Can we get an "awwww"?

I love my boys. They are too cute. But sometimes a gal needs some girl time. Given my favorite girls are in France, I hung out with an old college friend, who totally spoiled me with a wonderful dinner and great company.

The gracious hostess

Food, wine, and great company

Bon Voyage, mes petites soeurs et ma chère maman!

Have a safe flight!

This morning my little sisters (accompanied by our mom for a few days) left for France. They will be studying there for 4 months. I am going to miss them terribly. They have started a blog to document their adventures in France.  I know I'll be keeping close tabs on them!

Taking family photos before departure

 When I came to work from the airport, I was called down to the lobby, where there was a Valentine's surprise waiting for me. My sister had a couple of students from a local university's choir sing "Til There Was You". It was such a sweet serenade. I had to hug the performers in place of my sisters. I also received a beautiful rose. It totally made me tear up.

Hope all of you are having a happy Valentine's Day. I'm now home with my Valentine, spending the night inside our cozy little home.

This one is for my hubby

I knitted another hat for my darling husband. It's the very least I could do for him. He's such a treasure.

A few reasons why I love him:

1. He is kind. He tucks me in at night and bandages my finger when I get a cut.
2. He is hard-working. He keeps up with his school work and keeps the house super-clean. 
3. He is smart. I am blown away by the capacity of his brains. He is a top notch law school student. 
4. He is caring. He helps his parents and my parents with chores around the house.
5. He is handy. He can fix small engines, appliances, and other things. 
6. He is good-looking. Tall, dark, and handsome. :)
7. He is interesting. He has introduced me to new authors and music and art. 
8. He is patient. When I am grumpy or upset, he calms me down and reassures me everything will be okay.
9. He is supportive. He thinks I am great and my life's dreams and goals are not silly. 
10. He is one-of-a-kind. I have not met anyone like him before and since. He is definitely not your typical twenty-something guy.

These are just a few.  I can't tell you how lucky I am. I definitely married up. Love ya, honey! 

Randoms

1) I am knitting a rainbow shrug to wear over my multi-colored tank tops. The back is almost done (as seen below).

2) This is my husband. He is a stud. Handsome, intelligent, and overall awesome. And that's our "puppy" behind him. Another really cool alpha-male.

3) And here is a project we've been working on lately: removing the jungle around our house. It's a lot of work and delayed by a nest of vicious bees who stung hubby, me, and even our puppy. We are waiting for the weather to cool to finish cutting these overgrown bushes and planting less invasive plants.

In progress: that entire side of the house was hidden by bushes (like the front side you see on the left)

These days

Haven't been blogging much lately, so here is past week's scoop. Been cooking some lately. Here is spinach manicotti my hubby and I had one evening.

A close-up. Yum!

And then another night I made this 7-layer dip. Oh my! It was double-yum!

I've also been spending a lot of time with this guy. He sure cleans up nice. What a looker!

And yesterday, I got to see some friends I haven't seen in quite a while. Like Aaron.

And Bill.

And Desiree.

That swing Des and I were sitting on was creeking real bad, resulting in lots of giggles.

Husbands can be so sweet

I came home from work today, only to find a clean and organized house, laundry done, and a delicious dinner waiting for me. I love my hubby. He is so kind and thoughtful. What a man!
We ate out on our deck, where I had a nice view of my luscious lettuce.
It was quite a view. I love dinners out on our deck.
And of course, while we were eating, this big fella was begging for food.
(Kad sam danas došla kuci sa posla, dočekala me večera i čista kuća. Moj dragi je sve pripremio za mene. Baš sam našla sebi divnog supruga. Dok smo večerali, gledali smo našu baštu, u kojoj je opet nikla majkina salata. A ćuko je nas gledao i molio za koji zalogaj.)

Do It Yourself haircuts and sweaters

So yesterday I cut my husband's hair. It looks pretty good (in my opinion). My experience with hair cutting is limited to cutting my sisters' doll's hair and my own bangs. Jeff actually trusted me with the task, and I did my best.
Not bad, eh? (Prevod za moju rodbinu u Bosni: Ja evo osisala svoga cojka. Ma beskrajno sam talentovana, zar ne?) - That was an explanation to my relatives in Bosnia. I found that they look at my blog, so I thought I'd drop a few lines in Bosnian so they know what's going on.
I also got a lot of knitting done this weekend. This is the back of my sweater Cate. Got a long way still to go, but I am enjoying the process. (Prevod: Evo pletem sebi dzemper. Ovo su ledja.)

That's all, folks! Come back tomorrow for more of my DIY life.

Happy 26th birthday, hubby!

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. He turned 26. Getting old, my old man! I got him an auto scanner. He's been very interested in fixing cars and engines lately. We are a handy-man and crafty-girl couple. :)
It took some work to convince him to take a picture commemorating his birthday. He hates it.

I also received a package in the mail - my Kim Hargreaves knitting pattern books.
They are gorgeous. I am already pondering what to make next.

Grade A knitting

While I waited for the yarn to be shipped in order to start on my sweater, I entertained myself with some instant gratification knitting projects.
Using colorful cotton yarn, I knitted a few dish rags as per Mason-Dixon Knitting. They turned out lovely.
And then one day I came home to find a box containing luscious yarn. I immediately started on the sweater (Cate, by Kim Hargreaves). The yarn is lovely to work with. I also found matching buttons for one dollar. Unfortunately you can't see how well they match on the picture below, since they are a bit shiny and reflect the flashlight.
I'll keep you posted on my progress. Can't wait to wear this.

I also want to take a moment to share with you that my smarty-pants husband (who is currently studying law) got an A+ on his midterm exam. He had the highest score in class.
We put his grade on the fridge. I am sooo proud of him. Congrats, honey!

Valentine's dinner at Splash

For Valentine's Day, Jeff took me out to the snazzy Splash seafood restaurant downtown.
The ambiance was very chill - dim candle light, lava lamp-like aquariums all around, and reggae filling the room. The company wasn't bad either. :)
And then we get to the food. I had sake shrimp with mashed sweet potatoes and black bean mango salsa. Yum! While it was pricey, it was actually good. I also indulged with a Mai Tai alongside sparkling water.
Hubby picked up the bill, and we were out of there within 30 minutes (we eat and leave - no lingering out and talking for us). Then we got home and watched the movie "Up". Soooooo sweet! Great conclusion to a very nice Valentine's Day.

Stuff on a Donnerstag

S came over tonight and together with Jeff and Wally we watched "The Hurt Locker". The movie was fantastic, albeit sad. My heart was pounding throughout the entire movie.
While we were watching, I managed to finish knitting my husband's "seaman's cap".
I managed to take a picture while he was watching the movie. He is not the easiest model to work with. It fits well and looks good. I made exactly what he requested.
The hat was one of the gifts for our 3-year anniversary (which is tomorrow). I also bought him a cot for when he goes on fishing trips. And I made a scrapbook of our honeymoon in Mexico. Below are a few of the excerpts from it. I am not really into scrap-booking, but I thought it would be a nice and meaningful gesture.
We had a Mayan wedding ceremony and a dinner just for us.
The resort where we stayed, Le Blanc, was pretty much my piece of heaven. The beach, the waves, the infinity pool were all unbelievable.
You can't really see on these photos, but the room we had was better than anything we could have imagined. The bed was facing the beach (upper right hand corner), and we woke up each morning to a beautiful sunrise.
We also went out to see Mayan ruins (Tulum).
The food and the restaurants in the hotel were just like from a 1950s movie.
I would love to visit there again sometime soon. Every moment on our honeymoon took my breath away. I never regretted not having a wedding and having a honeymoon of our dreams instead.