Christmas in September

Yesterday was Bryan's birthday. I wrapped his presents in Christmas wrap. You may ask, "But Monica, why not just buy birthday wrap? It's so cheap." ...Sigh. If I compromise on one holiday I'll have to compromise on them all. Not just birthday wrap... but weddings, baby showers, graduations... At first we just turned the wrapping paper inside out and used the white side for weddings and baby showers. But now Bryan suggests it to be our signature wrapping paper.

But his Birthday was fun. We helped his parents move after Bryan got off work and then went to dinner. It's so great that Olive Garden has a never ending pasta bowl to leave you over full and sleepy. When we got home and he opened his presents I thought his favorite gift would be ESPN magazine subscription... but clearly it was this:

His Justin Beiber shirt.

Bryan...sexiest sportsman of the year

This past week Bryan and the Taylors have been filming a short film about a Sport's fanatic. We went to the park to film and I'm a little worried that the people walking by really thought that Bryan dresses like this every day.

I'd like to do a little photo breakdown:

Slicked back hair

Black socks and loafers

Denim shorts and a belt... need I say more?

No under shirt.

I think maybe he's been taking his wardrobe tips from Devin

Five celebrities we could beat up

Bryan's List:

5. Jack Nicholson- For the sheer reason I have to watch him in the crowd every time the Jazz play the Lakers.

4. Matt Damon - He never looked all that tough to me. I would destroy Matt Damon! How do you like them apples?

3. George Lopez - Ahhh where to start. Just watch two minutes of his horrible stand up and you will see why I would fight this guy.

2. Nickelback - Okay, Okay, I know what you're thinking. There are four of them. Well i'm in luck 'cause i'm pretty sure I could round up enough guys that share my hatred for this awful band. Look at this picture! That guy with the long hair is just asking for a haymaker to the chin.

1. Kobe Bryant - Anyone who has talked to me for more than 5 minutes knows that I hate Kobe with every fiber of my soul. He beats my team every year, and every year I have to look at that stupid underbite. If I were to ever meet him in the octagon I would unleash a flurry of rage that started 16 years ago. Win or lose I would make sure he could never rape or play basketball again.

Monica's List:

I'm afraid my list isn't as substantial as Bryan's; I'm just going on who I could realistically beat up. Since I get to choose my opponents, I would go against these 5 celebrities in the ring:

5. Dakota Fanning- I feel pretty confident taking on anyone that wears size 0 jeans.

4. Justin Beiber- I think his weakness here is that he blow dries his hair forward so much that it'll block his vision of my right hook.

3. Dora the Explorer- She's so innocent she couldn't hurt a fly, and I just don't have that problem. Not to mention...she's a cartoon.

2. Clay Aiken- I had trouble choosing one picture because every face he makes just proves I could beat him up. He's wearing a turtleneck... Obviously not expecting what's to come.

1. Ke$ha- Just try singing a song without a track and I might respect you a bit more. When her music comes on, my blood boils. Stop telling people to take it off...please Kesha, keep it on.

Bear Lake

We went to Bear Lake this weekend with Bryan's family for a reunion, and it was pretty sweet. It was really good weather...almost too good since we have major sunburns. We got to go inner tubing on the boat and hot tubing at night. It was a really good break after school finals and all the other stress at hand.

I also thought this was the sweetest tire swing ever...

Before we left, Bryan said that he wants to buy the house. It's probably because it has 48 beds and 2 stoves. It'd be pretty sweet to just sleep in a different bed every night.

The best cookies in the world..

I hope I don't overdose on these cookies... because I've already made them twice, and they've been gone within 2 days every time. And they make at least 32 cookies. Totally disgusting that we could eat them, I know. We gave some to friends, don't worry. Our pals the Peterson's told us they were good so I found the recipe on this site:

http://kickoffthoseheelsncook.blogspot.com

We also made this site's orange chicken (amazing) and general tso's. You should check into it for dinner ideas.

Try them!!!:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Butter, soft
1/2 cup Margarine, soft
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar, lightly packed
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
2 3/4 cups Flour
1/2 cup Cocoa
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
Caramels squares or Rolos
4 oz Vanilla Candy Coating (you will find this in the baking isle of the grocery store next to the chocolate chips. they are white cubes, also known as almond bark)

Directions:
1. Cream the butter, margarine, and sugars till fluffy

2. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla

3. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, and then add to the remaining ingredients

4. Preheat the oven to 345

5. Wrap about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough around the caramel. Roll it into a ball in your hands. Place the balls on a parchment covered cookie sheet

6. Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes

7. Let the cookies cool on the parchment paper for a minute

8. Melt the candy coating by following the directions on the back of the packaging. Pour the melted candy in a sandwich bag and clip the corner

9. Drizzle the candy over the cookies

10. Place the cookies on a cooling rack and allow them to cool

(from kickoffthoseheelsncook.blogspot.com)

39 packets of hot sauce...

I was cleaning out our cupboard today.. and I knew we had a lot of hot sauce, but I hadn't realized it was so much...

I promise we don't go to Taco Bell that often, but when we do go we make sure to grab a few extras for when we make burritos at home.

Bryan also has to ask for "a healthy grip of hot sauce" every time we go through the drive-thru (or a healthy grip of ketchup, depending on the place).

I'm pretty sure if other people saved them like we do they'd acquire the same amount. At least I hope that it's normal.

A little realization about my man

Being "full" doesn't mean anything.

We're at a friend's barbecue tonight and Bryan's finishing pasta salad, says "I'm full" and then two seconds later I grab a cookie he's like "oh grab me one too."

Four minutes after this he sees a friend eating something we both missed at the table.

So he eats that too.

Ha, maybe my definition of full is just different, or he's got an extremely quick metabolism.