Valentine's Day

Since Heather had to work on Valentine's Day we decided to celebrate on Sunday night.

After we got home from lunch Heather went out to buy my Valentine's Day gift (a pair of really awesome Gap khakis!). We had been procrastinating big time, so we had to take turns going to the mall... how sad is that?

A few minutes after she left I called Mary An, one of our good frineds who works at Coach, to see about getting a gift for Heather. I started asking her about what they had available at the store and all of a sudden Mary An had to go. I didn't think anything of it since she was at work. I just figured she had to go.

When Heather got home, It was my turn to go shopping for her. When I got to the mall, Mary An filled me in on what really happened. She told me that while I was on the phone with her, Heather walked into the store! She didn't want to tell me it was Heather in case Heather was buying me a wallet for Valentine's Day. What's really funny is, Mary An told Heather she was on the phone with an annoying customer who couldn't make up their mind on whether to order something or not. Heather's reponse: "Well she might as well go ahead and order it then!" I cracked up when I heard that!

Later that night we went out to Marie Livingston's for dinner. We hadn't been there since our rehearsal dinner. It was delicious, as usual, it was romantic and special to us, and since it was a Sunday, there was no wait! It couldn't get much better than that.

When we went home we layed down a red blanket (in honor of V-day) on the living room floor enjoyed publix cheesecake and exchanged gifts. I was so excited to see how Heather reacted.

I opened my present first and of course loved it!

Then Heather opened hers. At first she asked, "Is it a box of chocolates?" Ummm...no.

As soon as she saw the box she started smiling. I'm pretty sure she liked it.

I'd say it was a great first Valentine's Day as a married couple. Looking forward to many, many more!

Happy 75th Birthday!!!

Last weekend Nic and I headed to Gainesville for a romantic getaway. Haha, well lets face it, how can Gatorville be romantic... we actually made the quick trip to G-ville for a weekend filled with family, an excuse to sleep in a king size bed, and to celebrate Nic’s Grandma’s (Mawmaw’s) 75th birthday.

Friday night we met my mother and sister-in-law and our nephew, Kerry, at a restaurant to catch up. We then all went to the hotel room for some more catching up. Let’s just say Kerry is a ball of energy! He loved playing with the guitar and drums on our Ipads and he even showed off his dance moves, and of course his Aunt and Uncle enjoyed giving him lots of love and attention. Nic’s Mom and Sis insist that he is just like Nic was as a kid... always moving and getting into things (in other words, hyper). I, on the other hand, was completely opposite as a child. I was the calm baby. In fact, on all of our home videos of us as kids, Haley is running around showing off for the camera, and I’m in the corner quietly entertaining myself. Haha. Anyway, Nic thinks it would be funny if we have a little redheaded girl with the crazy personality of Nic and a little boy with the cool, calm, quiet personality of me.

Saturday morning we had some errands to run before the birthday party. I packed for cold weather thinking it would be just as cool in G-ville as it was in Tally. It wasn’t. It was hot and muggy. So we went to the mall to get a few things for the much needed wardrobe change. Can I just say that the mall is the best part of Gainesville. We even indulged a little and ate some delicious soft pretzels and people-watched in the food court. You can’t get better entertainment than that!

We then headed to the famous Alachua County Ivy House for the Birthday party. The Ivy house is such a cute, quaint restaurant that serves delicious southern-style cooking. We had such a great time visiting with family that we don’t see very often and celebrating Mawmaw’s 75th birthday! Mawmaw is the glue that holds the Bishop family together. She is so sweet and nurturing, and she absolutely loves the Lord! She accepted me into the family with open arms like I had been there all along. I really do admire that woman. Although she was a bit embarrassed of her age, she was so proud to have family surrounding her and celebrating her 75 years. And I know she will have many, many more birthdays to come!

The Crock-Pot is my New Best Friend

Last night, I wanted to do something special for Nic... just because. It was my one night off this week, and I wanted to cook him a meal. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right? Well, I know a meal doesn’t really seem that meaningful to most people, but in our house, a home-cooked meal is a privilege. I don’t get many opportunities to cook because of my hectic schedule, and when I do, there’s only so many types of food I know how to cook. We typically rotate meals including, white chili, pasta dishes, burritos, frozen pizza and sandwiches. Well, last night I decided to retire the frozen pizza and cook my first “big girl” meal. This was a huge deal.

And the menu was... roast beef, sauteed green beans, mashed potatoes and sour-dough bread. Yes, I know, I kind of cheated a little bit because I used the crock-pot to cook the meat. But, I’m not a chef, and since I’ve never cooked anything other than chicken, I did not want to ruin the meal. Crock-pots are fail-proof, or so I’ve heard. haha. Plus, since I was fresh off of a twelve hour shift, I just knew I was going to fall asleep at some point, so the crock-pot worked out perfectly.

Well, after eight hours of slaving away in the kitchen, I am proud to announce our first “real” meal was... delicious! And best of all, the hubs was happy! :)

"Christmas, Christmas, Merry, Merry Christmas!!!"

Yes, I know, it’s already January and I’m just now getting around to my Christmas post. But between work and the holiday festivities and work and more work, this Christmas season has just flown by. But boy, was it a good one!

To be honest, I kind of had mixed feelings about Christmas this year for several reasons. You see, I’m all about tradition, and it just disturbs me when those traditions change. Between working during the holidays and trying to juggle celebrating with the Bishop and Mclaughlin family this year, I knew going into this holiday season that there would be lots of changes. Boy do things get complicated. But in the midst of all the chaos, it dawned on me... from here on out, Nic and I would start creating our own Christmas traditions. Well, let’s just say, when I realized this, it lit a winter-wonderland fire inside of me, and I was even more full with Christmas cheer. Nic said once that I was the anti-grinch... that made me smile.

Christmas 2010 (in bullet points)

• Let me preface this first bullet point by saying that the start of Christmas week I worked a lot. I was worn out to say the least, and I was planning on working through Christmas eve. This took quite a bit of mental preparation for this Christmas-spirited girl. And let’s just say I wasn’t looking forward to spending our first Christmas eve together working at the hospital.

• On Christmas eve, Nic made his way down to Chiefland to celebrate Christmas with all the Bishops. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend because I had to sleep to prepare for work that night. But I’m pretty sure Nic had a good time without me. :)

• Christmas eve night, I was put “on call” at work. Meaning I had to be prepared to go to work at any time. But I was excited because this gave me a little bit of time to spend with my hubby on Christmas eve, and we were able to make it to my Aunt’s house (in scrubs) for our annual events (which always includes oyster stew, yuck!).

• Nic and I made our way back to the house to spend our last few moments together before I went into work. With the fireplace burning, the Christmas lights sparkling we watched The Holiday (love that movie)... and then I got the call! Worked called to let me know I could have the night off. I was beyond excited! What a wonderful Christmas gift!

• Christmas morning I woke up at 4:30. Yes, I know that’s ridiculous, but that’s what I get for sleeping all day. I did however let Nic sleep in until 6:30 (aren’t I sweet). As soon as I could get him out of bed, we ran downstairs, lit the fireplace, turned the Christmas music on, and exchanged gifts. It was perfect. I loved watching his reaction to some of the gifts I got him, and he sure did good picking out the clothes he got me! :) After the presents were opened, we enjoyed hot chocolate and just spending time together. No TV, just us. I know it all sounds so simple, but our new Christmas tradition was everything I could have hoped for.

• And the morning was just beginning. Around 9:00, we headed over to my parent’s house still in our pajamas. I surely didn’t want to miss out on any of those old traditions. One of those being the matching pajamas (aren’t we cute?). We gathered around the tree, each taking a turn opening a present, because in our house we like to stretch Christmas out as long as possible... just the way I like it. It was so much fun.

• We spent the rest of the day and night surrounded by family. ALL of our family. And eating LOTS of food. And watching Christmas movies. And showing off all of our new gadgets, toys and clothes. We even played a couple of games.

So, yes, although I may have had mixed feelings about Christmas in the beginning, this Christmas exceeded all of my expectations. It was a perfect “First Christmas” for us Bishops. I hope that all of you had a Merry Christmas this year too... and for many, many more years to come!!! Yes, I am already counting down the days until next year! :)