It's A Boy!

Jonathan and I are pleased to announce that we are going to be the parents of a little boy!  We had a 3D/4D ultrasound last night.  ( I will post pictures soon!!)  He was very mobile and not shy about showing the goods at all!  He did however like to cover up his face, which was a little frustrating, but we managed to get some amazing pictures of our son.  His name will be Preston Luke and we cannot be more excited about his arrival this winter!  His due date is January 1, 2010.

16 weeks 4 Days

Yesterday, I felt the best feeling in the world!  I felt our baby for the first time!  I was laying down and felt the incredible feeling!!  I felt it again after lunch.  Today, I felt it again in the morning.  It's amazing.....I have been waiting 16 weeks and 4 days for this thrill!!  

Hopefully in another 4 weeks or so, Jonathan will be able to feel the movement from the outside.  Being pregnant is the neatest feeling in the world!

Team Hoyt VB- Allen Stone Memorial 5K and run/swim/run

This past Saturday, I decided to participate in the Allen Stone Memorial 5K down at the oceanfront. It was a last minute decision. Some of you know that I was involved with Team Hoyt last running season. I have not done any races with them this year because of the fact that I am pregnant. I got in touch with the founder of the virginia beach chapter of team hoyt and scheduled myself to run with them this Saturday.

Team Hoyt is a local group based off of Rick and Dick Hoyt. If you are uncertain of who Rick and Dick Hoyt are, google, them and watch their story on youtube.com. It will blow your mind!! The local group here pushes kids from St. Mary's and other disabled children/adults from the area. For this particial race there was a 5K and a Run/Swim/Run (1K run on the beach, 1K swim, and a 5K run at the end). The people participating in the 5K run would push the disabled in jogging strollers. The ones particiapting in the run swim run, would push the disabled in strollers and then pull them in boats during the swim portion......it is HARD work!! There is no complaining and when you see these kids' faces when they are "racing" it makes everything worth while!!!

I did not personally have a stroller to push for this race (I suppose it is a blessing that team hoyt not has more pushers than children to push) I still ran with them and it was awesome! This was also my first race since becoming pregnant. It really felt great to run the 3.2 miles. I ran the whole thing and still came in 6th in my age group...not bad for being 4 months pregnant!

I have another fun race next Tuesday night with the Tidewater Striders and then another 5K at the end of August. I have also signed up for a 10K on Halloween. At that point I will be 7 months pregnant. It would be great if I can still run at that point, however, I am not holding my breath. I will keep running until it is just not comforable anymore.......people say that if you exercise throughout your pregnant, you are more prone to having an easy labor. I'm holding out for an easy labor. Is there such a thing? :)

Dr's Appointment- 16 weeks

Everything is great with the baby and pregnancy. We had my 16 week appointment this past Friday morning. I was able to hear the heartbeat and the midwife could hear the baby kicking. She was trying to push on my stomach a bit, so I could feel the kicks, but no luck yet. It should be any week now that I can start feeling it! I can't wait!!

Jonathan and i have a 3d/4d ultrasound schedule for a week from Wednesday (July 29th) so we will find out the sex then! We are hoping for a boy, but will obviously be thrilled either way! We feel so incredibly blessed!!

Also, a plus from the doctors appointment, is that no more weight was gained! After the frist appointment I started running again. So now I am still up 9lbs at 16 weeks. I am thankful that it slowed down a bit and HAPPY to be running again! I am doing 5 miles 3x a week right now and doing the elliptical for an hour 2x a week. My weekend exercise has just been moving boxes and unpacking. It seems never ending!

Father's Day 2009

This Father's Day, Jonathan and I thought we would be settled into our new home. Well, we were wrong :) We're close, but not there yet! We had already scheduled a Father's Day cookout at the new house and we were going to go ahead with it, we would just have to improvise a bit! It ended up being a beautiful day, so we were able to pull the tables out on the back porch. It was PERFECT!! We had a menu including, pork ribs, hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, watermelon, corn on the cob, baked beans, and Jamie's Bakery cake and icream for dessert!

This was also originally the day that jonathan and I were going to announce to our families that we were pregnant. We ended up telling them 3 weeks ago. I had already ordered a cake from Jamies with "Baby Wetherington January 1, 2010" written on it. I was going to cancel the order after we told the families, but my mom called behind me and kept the order in. So we had the cake yesterday.

We had a great Father's Day with family. i appreciate my dad so much, and am thankful for all of the sacrifices that he has made for our family. I thank him for being at every softball game and also encouraging me to be my best!

Updates..

House Update: We have been delayed a bit on the house.....again! We had planned on having a Father's Day cook out at our new house. We were hoping to be moved in or at least in the process of moving in by this weekend. The carpet was supposed to be installed this past Monday, however the carpet took longer to come in than they expected. Therefore, it is not getting installed until next Monday! So, we are still having a cookout, but there will not be any carpet. The kitchen is done, the wood floors are done,, the front and back porch are done, everything else is done except for the carpet. We are getting close!! :) Right now we are hoping to slowly move things in next week and next weekend. I am hoping to get a head start on the kitchen this weekend, so it won't be so overwhelming next weekend. The good thing is we are not on any kind of time schedule, so we can take as much time as we need moving in the new house, and out of the old!

Jonathan update: Jonathan has been BUSY with work and with our house. He cannot wait to have Clearfield finished, so he doesn't have to worry about it anymore! His job is over once we move in...mine just begins!! I'm extremely thankful for him and how hard he works to support our family. I am blessed!! He is also busy with softball. He plays on Thursday and Saturday nights. His teams seem to have finally gelled and they are winning now which makes it much more fun!!

Baby Wetherington update: I had a doctors appointment this morning. Today, i am 12 weeks. one more week and I am out of the first trimester! Yay! i got to hear the baby's heartbeat this morning and it was strong and in the 150's, which is right on target! Again, we feel so thankful and so blessed! i had a dream this week that we were having a girl. Time will tell! We have scheduled a 3-D ultrasound on july 29th. I will be 18 weeks, and we are hoping the baby will give us a peek so we can start decorating the nursery!!

Missy Update: This morning at the doctors appointment, I got quite a shock when I got on the scale! I was already up 9lbs! obviously, that is unacceptable! I am chalking it up to the fact that I was in marathon running shape and basically came to an abrupt halt with running when I found out I was pregnant. I was terrified about my heart rate becoming too high. The midwife this morning assured me that I was free to run to my hearts content! She said to just listen to my body. She also told me I was free to continue my Body Pump weight lifting classes as well. This THRILLED me and I think I will start feeling much better when i can get back into a regular running/working out schedule!! Also....the chicken wings that I have been craving are a thing of the past!! NO MORE! I'm sure they contributed to the 9lbs as well :)
I have been feeling great...just tired! I am hoping to start getting my energy back in the next couple of weeks. My cravings have been ketchup, mexican, and chicken wings....obviously nothing healthy.

Oh Baby!

Most of you have heard by now, but in case you haven't......Jonathan and I are expecting our first baby on January 1, 2010!  We are very excited and feel blessed that it happened so quickly!

We found out that we were pregnant on April 19th, 2009.  We decided that it would be in our best interest if we kept the pregnancy a secret.  We didn't want to tell a bunch of people and then have something terrible happen.  

My first appointment was on May 1.  At that point I was only 5 weeks along, so nothing showed up yet on the ultrasound.  We both went back two weeks later and were able to see our baby and the little heart beating away at 136bpm!  Words cannot express what a relief it was to see that on the screen!  

We were trying to think of the perfect time to tell our families.  We decided that Father's Day would be perfect!  We would be in our new house at that point and we would host a cookout for both families to celebrate Fathers Day.  We were going to put that we were expecting on a cake.  

Well, both my mother and mother in law made some comments recently that had us thinking that they "knew" we were pregnant.  We decided that there was no point in waiting another 3 weeks, if they were just going to be expecting the news.  So that weekend, I went to Hallmark and bought some photo frames, plaques, grandma countdowns, and cards.  We decided to plant photo frames with the sonograph as well as the grandma countdown calendars in the houses for the grandparents to find.  They were both SHOCKED and extremely excited!!  It was so exciting to finally be able to share the news with everyone!

As far as me, this pregnancy has been easy so far (knock on wood).  My sickest times come at night time.  I have been getting tired really easily and am in bed for the night around 8:30 or so.  I can already see my energy level picking up though.  Only 3 more weeks and we will be out of the first trimester!  It has gone by incredibly fast!  Hopefully the next 30 weeks will go by just as fast! :)

New House Pictures

Some of you have asked what process our house is in right now. To give you all an update, Jonathan and I should be moving in, in a couple of weeks! This past week, our kitchen cabinets came in. They are still in the process of being installed, but should be completed by the end of this week. The wood floor and carpet still needs to be put down, but most of the tile in the house is already completed. Other than the flooring, there are just little things that need to be done, so it shouldn't be long at all! We are very excited! We are hoping to have a Father's Day celebration in the new home to celebrate with our families! Here are some new pictures taken from this past weekend.

Dismal Swamp Stomp 2009

I have been signed up for weeks now to participate in the Dismal Swamp Stomp half marathon here in Chesapeake. This is the very first marathon that I did a year ago. I didn't have great luck as the first time I ran it, I had not trained at all! I was really looking forward to running it this year because now 13.1 miles is a breeze to me!

Well, I talked my friend Lori into running this one for her first half marathon as well. We were going to run it together. Well, as luck would have it, I have injured my foot and the doctor advised me not to run on it until I had no pain. Unfortunately since going to the doctor this past Tuesday, nothing with my foot has improved. They gave me a cortisone shot and that has not even helped with the swelling. I will be going to the doctors again very soon and I am hoping that we can pin point exactly what is going on with my foot.

This had me very frustrated! Then, one night at family dinner, my mother in law asked me if I thought she would be able to walk a half marathon in the time they allowed the course to be open. I said "absolutely!" Well, she asked my mom to walk it with her. They signed up, and since I was already signed up to run, I decided that I would just walk the 13.1 miles with them. We had a lot of fun! We were definitely over it by about mile 8 though....13 miles is a long walk! We finished in 3 hours and 50 minutes. It was very hard for me at the beginning seeing all the runners so excited...i wanted to run....bad! But, I am glad that I had my mom and mother in law there to walk it with. I still finished the half marathon, and that's all that matters!

Congratulations to Lori who finished her first half marathon in 1 hour and 57 minutes! AWESOME!!

I'm glad that she is hooked on these races and once my foot heals, we will be doing many together, I am sure!! Lori...can, you say triathlon in september?! :) (check it out, there is one in virginia beach!)

Homemade Milk Bone Recipe

Homemade Milk Bone Dog Treats

Ingredients

1. 3/4 c hot water
2. 1/3 c margarine

3. 1/2 c powdered milk

4. 1 tsp. salt

5. 1 egg (beaten)

6. 3 c wheat flour

Directions:

-Pour hot water over margarine

-Stir in milk, salt, and egg

-Add flour 1/2 c at a time and knead

-roll out dought and cut into desired shape

-Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes

Chubbs

Looks like I'm going to have to start fighting Chubbs for the coupons on Sunday mornings :)

Cleaning!

Recently, I purchased "The Complete Household Handbook". In preparation for moving into our new house, I wanted tips on cleaning and organizing so I won't be totally clueless once we move. This book has been amazing! There is one section that I found extremely helpful, and I thought I would pass it along. These are cleaning tips for your kitchen, bathroom, and throughout the house and helps you know what you should be doing daily, weekly, and occasionally. Enjoy!

KITCHEN:
daily-
Dispose of trash and recycables
Handwash and dry dishes or place them in teh dishwasher
Wipe table, countertops, and range top
Wash coffeemaker thoroughly
Run food disposal and clean the sink
Sweep or vacuum floor; wipe up any spots with a damp paper towel

weekly-
Thoroughly clean range top and front, drip pans, control knobs, and back splash
Wipe down microwave oven, both inside and otuside
Organize refrigerator and wipe up spills; dispose of leftover foods that have spoiled
Clean items on countertop; move them away from walls to wipe under and behind them
Sweep or vacuum and wash floor
Wipe table and chairs

occasionally-
Wipe refrigerator sides and top and vacuum coils
Wash refrigerator and freezer shelves and drawers, as needed
Wash ventilating fan/hood filters
Thoroughly clean cabinets and drawers
Dust or vacuum wood work
Wash curtains, windows, screens, blinds, and shades
Clean light fixtures
Clean the oven

BATHROOM
daily-
Wipe fixtures, chrome, and countertops
Straighten towels
Use a squeegee or daily shower cleaner to prevent streaks and soap scum buildup

weekly-
Scrub bathtubs and sinks
Clean mirrors
Clean shower stalls and doors and disinfect toilets
Clean toothbrush and soap holders
Wipe tile surfaces
Vacuum and wash floors

occasionally-
Wash throw rigs and shower curtains
Wash windows, blinds, shades, or curtains
Clean medicine cabinet and closets; discard medicines that have expired
Clean light fixtures
Dust or vacuum walls and woodwork

THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE

daily-
Put clothing, books, toys, and other items where they belong
Straighten living spaces and bedrooms
make beds
Go through the mail; handle or recycle, as needed

weekly-
Dust furniture, books, pictures, lamp bases and shades, and electronics
Vacuum floors and upholstery- and wood work as needed
Wipe smudges off walls and woodwork
Empty wastepaper baskets
Change bed linens
Clean the mirrors, if needed
Recycle or toss newspapers older than a week and magazines older than 3 months

occasionally-
Vacuum or clean cutrains, draperies, and radiators
Wash windows
Dust or vacuum walls and woodwork
Clean light fixtures
Move and clean under furniture
Polish furniture
Deep clean rugs and carpets; clean and wax bare floors
Turn mattresses and vacuum mattresses and box springs; launder mattress pads
Straighten closets; give away unneeded items
Clean garage, basement, and attic
Clean humidifiers and dehumidifiers
Clean china cabinets and bookcases and contents, as needed

Sham-Rock On! 26.2 miles

Many of you know that I have been training for my first full marathon (26.2 miles) for the past 6 months or so. I have 4 half marathons under my belt and decided that it was time for a new challenge. The date of my marathon quickly approached and before I knew it, March 22nd was here! Last Sunday was my last long run and the i was supposed to take this week off from running. I did end up doing a coupld miles two days this past week, but nothing huge. Friday, I started carbo loading. Jonathan and i went to Atlas pizza and then on Saturday we met some friends of ours for a pasta dinner at Olive Garden! This is me the morning of my marathon (obviously BEFORE the run) :)
Jonathan and my family were waiting for me at the finish line. Special thanks to Heather and Josh, the Otte Family, Lori, my family, Jonathan, and T J Bilbrey for coming out and cheering! You have no idea how much the cheering and supportive comments help! I'm pretty sure TJ doesn't read this blog, but Laura, please tell your husband that him and the troops were THE MOST supportive throughout the whole 26 miles. They were awesome..please thank him for me! :)

This was right after the race. I felt like I could not stand any longer.....currently I am still feeling this way! Haha

I must say that running the 26.2 miles was absolutely miserable while you're in the middle of it. But once you cross the finish line, you seem to forget about all of the pain that you just went through. Immediately after I finished, I said "No way..not again!" Now, I'm not opposed to another one at all. My official time has not been released yet, but I am thinking it is right around 4 hours and 40 minutes. I did not have a goal time for this race, I just wanted to finish. Next time I will aim for 4.5 hours. With a little bit of harder training, i know I can do it!

Thanks again for those of you who came out and to those of you who have been so supportive and encouraging these past 6 months. It means so much to me!!

Who wants to run the next marathon with me?! :)

Free Ice Cream!

If anyone is interested, Brusters is giving away a free one scoop waffle cone this weekend to anyone who shows up in their pajamas. I don't think Jonathan and I will be participating, but I know some of you will do some crazy things for free food.....especially ice cream!! :)

Because I LOVE them...

I just had to share these pictures of our dogs from last night. It's hard to believe that we almost got rid of Einstein because they were not getting along as puppies. They cannot be separated now! :)

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Many of you have been asking me for the recipe of the homemade laundry detergent that I made this weekend. I got this recipe from the Duggar family (they have a show on TLC called "17 Kids and Counting"). Here is the recipe. I will say that it was very easy to make! I have not used the detergent yet, but I have a friend who has made it as well and said that it works great! Let me know if you give it a try!

Ingredients:
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value
4 Cups hot tap water
1 Soap Bar (pick one with a mild scent)
1 Cup Washing Soda (The only grocery store I was able to find this at was Harris Teeter)
½ Cup Borax

Directions:
- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

I am eventually planning on making all of my cleaning products myself. I have ready how much better it is. As a migrain sufferer, I am looking forward to getting rid of the strong odors that many cleaners have! Unfortunately I have stocked up on cleaning supplies from triple coupon days that it will take me a while to go through them all.

If you are interested in saving money on fabric softener as well, you can cut your dryer sheets into thirds. They will still work just as well...and last three times as long! Another idea is to mix up a solution of 1 part liquid fabric softener and 3 parts water into a spray bottle. Keep a stack of washcloths in your laundry room and spray a washcloth with the mixture. Then, just throw the washcloth in with your load of clothes to dry. Works well and it will save you a ton!

Rum Cake Recipe

When Jonathan and I got married in the Cayman Islands, we discovered Tortuga Rum Cakes. They are delicious! As a matter of fact, since we couldn't bring home the top layer of our wedding cake, we ordered a Tortuga rum cake for our first anniversary! This past weekend, I decided to try a recipe for rum cake. It tastes just like the Tortuga ones and it is so easy to make! I thought I would post the recipe in case any of you guys wanted to try it. Let me know if you bake it and what you think!

Golden Rum Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark rum

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over the bottom of the pan.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in the eggs, 1/2 cup water, oil and 1/2 cup rum. Blend well. Pour batter over chopped nuts in the pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto serving plate. Brush glaze over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze and repeat until all glaze is used.
To make the glaze: in a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup rum.

**You can add any flavor of rum you would like. I used the regular spiced rum. **

**When I pulled the cake out of the pan, I poured half or the glaze into the bundt pan and set the cake back in the pan. Then I poured the rest of the rum glaze on top of the cake. I let the cake absorb the rum glaze before removing it to serve.**

**This cake is especially good after a day or sitting**

MVB! (Most Valuable Bulldog!)

Why is Eistein smiling?! BECAUSE, he caught the 5th member in the Wetherington house....a rat! We have been trying to catch this rat for weeks now! We have bought several traps and the rat was somehow able to get the food out of the trap, set the trap off, but never got caught!

This morning, while I was at the gym, Jonathan said he came into the kitchen and Einstein had the rat in between his paws, not sure what to do next. Jonathan was able to scoop the rat into an empty dog food bag (which is ironic because that is what the rat has been after all these weeks..dog food!)

Way to go Einstein!! :)

p.s. if you are wondering what Chubbs was doing during all of this, just take a look at the picture below. :)

House Update #2

Here are the newest house updates. They have added the windows, front and back doors and have started on the brick. They should finish the brick this week (as long as the weather is nice) and the dry wall is not far behind! It is getting very excited now!! Jonathan designed the house and I had very little imput (mostly because I have no clue about anything). I can honestly say that he has done an amazing job and I am in love with this house! I cannot wait to decorate this house.....cleaning is another story :)

Bloom- Triple Coupons

So, my newest hobby has become saving money. There was a time when I would wear nothing but Abercrombie and Fitch Jeans and would never dare look at buying things off the clearance racks. Times have changed. I consider it my job to find the best deals on everything.....and make Jonathan's pay checks spread as far as they can! It has been so rewarding to see the amounts of money that I have been able to save over the past couple of months. I take advantage of triple coupon promotions at grocery stores, double coupons at K Mart, we eat at restaurants when we have coupons (the Entertainment book has come in handy!), I shop for clothes at the outlets on the clearance racks, I have started grooming our dogs by myself (which saves about $50/month), I am beginning to make my own laundry detergent and household cleaners. These little things have made a HUGE difference!!

Anyway, here is how I did at Bloom this morning. They are having their triple coupon promotion this weekend, Friday-Sunday. They will triple any coupon up to and including $.99. You are limited to 20 coupons per day.

My final grocery bill BEFORE coupons was $65.00.

My final grocery bill AFTER coupons was $30.24.

Conclusion--I got all of these things for $30, and saved a total of $34.76!

Sewing Projects

I just finished a 6 week sewing class. I am always interested in learning new things. A few months ago, I took a knitting class. I just finished the sewing class. Still on my list of things to learn are: cake decorating, cooking, and crocheting.

Anyway, here are some projects that I have sewed since taking my first class. Along with these, I have also made cloth diapers. This is something that Jonathan and I will consider using once we have a baby. Learning how to sew them will definitely cut down on the cost of starting with cloth diapers. I plan on sewing all of the curtains and pillows for our new house, I just have not decided on what colors I am going to use yet.

Chubbs

Need any computer work done? Chubbs is your man! :)

Snow Day...kind of!

Monday morning, we woke up to some snow on the ground. I was excited to let the dogs outside. Einstein has never seen snow before and he is such a comical dog I figured he would enjoy it!

I let them outside and Einstein took off down the steps...sliding the whole way. He did not like his paws touching the snow at first, so he was kind of doing a high step walk (like a pony) and he would not pee on the snow until it was all gone. Here are just a few pictures from the morning.

Brisket update..

So I just have to post that I made the brisket again tonight. For those of you who know me very well, know that I am very competitive person and it bothers me when I can't do something. Therefore this morning I went out and purchased a real brisket this time to cook for dinner tonight. It turned out MUCH better than that corned beef crap!
They only sold large briskets at the meat place, so we have a lot in our freezer. The one that I made tonight could have been a little more tender. I will try some different recipes with the extra meat that we have and will post the best recipe!

Valentines Day Dinner Disaster!

I can laugh about the situation now...however that was not the case an hour ago! I spent most of the afternoon/evening preparing this dinner for Jonathan and I. BBQ brisket, greenbean/bacon/tomato side dish, bread, strawberry trifle for dessert. Everything smelled delicious!! I pulled the meat out of the oven and realized that it looks pink...very strange! It was cooked all the way through....Hmm.

Well I decide to cut it up and serve it anyway. We sit down to eat and I take a bite and it is disgusting!! I pull the wrapper the meat came in out of the trash and realized that it was corn hashed beef...it was GROSS!! Poor Jonathan kept eating until I said something. He wasn't going to dare say anything first. I said "You don't have to eat anymore, this is disgusting!" He stopped eating right away.

We just ordered a heart shaped pizza from Papa Johns. Oh well, at least it is still festive...Happy Valentine's Day.

p.s. the dessert was good......next week I am going to be on the looking for some local cooking classes!!

Pre-Valentine's Day

For those of you that don't know, Jonathan and my relationship began four years ago on the night before Valentines Day. We had been friends for about a year at this point. He has just gotten out of a serious relationship not too long before I met him, so he was never interested in jumping into another. I, on the other hand, was ready to date him and marry him 5 minutes after seeing him! :) We met at Atlantic Shores Baptist Church.
One of my friends, Josh, needed a babysitter. Him and his wife were going to celebrate Valentine's Day the night before since he had to work on Valentines Day night. I offered to watch their baby while they went out. They lived in an apartment complex. Apparently their complex was incredibly strict about their parking lots and wouldn't let you park there unless you had a visitors tag on your car....which I did not. So when they got hom around 10:30 or so, I walked out to find my car was not in the parking lot and had obviously been towed.
It's 10:30 at night (and a Sunday night, so people had to work in the morning), my parents are asleep. I decided to call my sister since I knew she would be up. I called her and told her my problem and asked her if she could come give me a ride to pick up my car from the towing company. Little did I know that she had a bunch of people over at her house, including Jonathan. When Jonathan heard that I was in a bind, he offered to come pick me up. I had no idea that he was going to be the one to pick me up, but I got VERY EXCITED when I saw his white truck pull into the apartment complex!
We called the towing company and went to pick up my car. We figured it would be a relatively quick process. It was not! We had to wait for somebody to come to the building and they said it would be at least 2 hours. Well 3 hours later, at 2 in the morning, somebody finally came to give me my car. Those 3 hours that Jonathan and I had to wait for my car were AMAZING. We talked about a lot of stuff and that was the first night that our friendship changed to something deeper...on both of our ends. It was also the first night that we held hands. I can still remember being on cloud 9 the next morning at work! We dated from that time on.

Our second year together we spend the night before Valentines Day eating at Steinhilbers restaurant in Virginia Beach. We highly recommend this restaurant by the way. It is, hands down, our favorite! Our second Valentines Day together was spent in. I was just learning how to cook and so I decided that I would make Jonathan dinner at my house. I made lasagna. It was delicious! We just ate and rented a movie. I also made homemade cheesecake in the shape of hearts (He probably doesn't remember any of this by the way haha ) This was also our one year dating anniversary!

On our second year dating anniversary, we went to eat at the Vintage Tavern in Suffolk. The food was great!! After dinner Jonathan told me that he had fondu set up at his house for us. When we pulled in the driveway he told me that he had a gift for me, but he had to get it together before I could walk in the house. I sat out in the truck for about 5 minutes and he finally flipped on the porch light, which was my cue that I could go inside. When I walked inside he had luggage for me and the luggage was full of towels (all of this stuff I had picked out). It was a great gift and the fondu looked WONDERFUL!

At this time, we also had a bulldog puppy. His name was Chubbs. He was (and still is) our life!! We were crate training him and kept him in the back bedroom. Jonathan went back to let Chubbs out and he came running down the hall with a red ribbon tied about his neck. When I looked closer, I could see that he had a ring! Jonathan then took the ring off chubbs and proposed to me. We were both crying..one of the best nights of my life!! The next day we had deteremined that we were getting married in the Cayman Islands on May 17th!

Our third year together, we celebrated the night before Valentines Day. This was our first Valentine's day since being married. We decided to eat at Steinhilbers again. It was delicous. If I remember correctly, we went to a movie afterwards.

This year, Jonathan and I have been together for 4 years! We went out the night before Valentine's Day to McCormick and Schmicks in Town Center. It was wonderful food..highly recommend going there. If you do go there, save room for the apple pie. It was the best pie that I have ever had!! Jonathan got salmon for dinner and I got crab cakes. afterward we went to see He's Just Not That Into You. Funny movie..it was a great night!!

I am so thankful for my husband. He is such an incredible man and he is the best husband anybody could ask for. He is so supportive of me and he is an awesome provider. I could not ask for anything more! The past 4 years have been wonderful!!

Tonight I am cooking him a special dinner. I will have another blog about our Valentines Day...happy valentines day to you all! :)

Our New House...

Here are a few pictures of our new house being built. I am a little behind on them, so it's a lot further along now, than what you see in the pictures. I will update the pics this weekend!