Five Years Ago

 Hello, people.

 Five years ago yesterday, Gary kissed me for the first time. There was young single adult event at the institute building by BC (Bakersfield College) and we left early to go on a date to see a movie. The event was a pajama karaoke party. I remember Gary and some friends sang Bohemian Rhapsody and how hilarious it was. Finally, Gary and I took off for our date. When we were done from the movie, he drove me back to the building to my car but before I got out, he kissed me. I was glowing. I was also very nervous because I knew that had sealed the boyfriend/girlfriend deal, and I contacted a close friend to express my nervousness.

Gary, I gotta say, made the best decision ever! I am so blessed he chose me to be his future wife some months after that kiss, especially when I had a panic attack about becoming serious. We have had a great life together so far and it just keeps getting better. I also love making future plans with him and dreaming about our life ten years from now. I am blessed he has a college education and because of it, we are living a wonderful life in a beautiful city with an amazing ward. We cannot wait to have our first baby, buy our first house and live happily ever after. Although those things haven't come to us yet (we are patiently waiting for the right time), we are just as happy with each other and the way life is now. Being able to live in the moment instead of worry about the future makes life just a little easier. We enjoy our time together and having the ability to go out and do whatever.

We may stay in our apartment for another year, mostly because we don't want to pull from the savings account to make new deposits on a new place (unless I can find a really good deal). We would like more space because we seem to be running out of it, but doing some deep cleaning and throwing out several things may help as well. I would like to stay in our ward if possible. We might even stay in this complex and upgrade to a larger/multiple bedroom apartment. But we'll see. Our lease is up in a few months.

Speaking of more space, Gary would really like a man cave of his own, where he can put his systems, games, a pool table, whatever "man" stuff he wants in there so when he has buddies over, he can enjoy it in his own space. I totally agree he could use something like that. He's always been very organized with his games and systems, and just last night, he bought a bookcase to reorganize some of his games. We are looking to buy another bookcase to put the rest of the games, too.

I think it adds a nice touch to our place (not to mention it surprisingly matches the shelf above). Being able to put all his gaming stuff in an extra room sounds nice too. Now I must keep myself from looking at homes today because it's very tempting to go off and buy one. But, we must be patient and wait!

Anyway, time to head out for the day. Have a great one, everyone!

My Favorite Valentine

I sure love my man!

   Yesterday was an interesting but fun Valentine's Day. I had been given the day off, but Gary had to work. Anyway, he wanted to take me out to dinner in the evening, so as I was thinking about where I would like for him to take me, I realized I hadn't planned anything for him! I knew for quite awhile now he had been looking everywhere for a Sega CD. He told me the story about his childhood Sega CD and why it was so special to him. Unfortunately he was unable to hold on to it though so over the years, he didn't have one. Anyway, I decided I was going to find him one. He had been trying to get one over Ebay but was outbid the very last minute, we had traveled out of the city to search, but still no luck. So, I started calling around. Finally, I found a place listed in downtown LA. Making this my last attempt, I called the store and discovered they had one! I was thrilled. It was even better knowing the store had moved from downtown LA to the Burbank area. So I ran a few errands then headed over there.

 The store is called Gameland. The owner, Zane, was a very nice man. He had such a great collection. So, I let him know I was the one who called and he disappeared for a few moments. He then came back, a little sweaty and out of breath, with a first generation Sega CD. He hooked it up to the television with an old Genesis...and it didn't work. Frustrated, he continued at it. It took maybe half an hour of trying, mumbling, sweating, and apologizing repeatedly. I wasn't in any rush, and I was browsing games, so I wasn't upset nor was I impatient. Besides, where else was I going to find this? Another ten minutes passed while he was dropping things, scrambling around, apologizing more, before he finally said it just wasn't working. You see, every time a new system comes in, they test it before adding it to their inventory. He was home from work when this Sega CD came in and he assumed his employees had tested it. He tried to explain how bad his store must have looked because I had been waiting for so long, but I was cool. Besides, he was trying very hard to help. He could have just said, "Sorry, lady, it doesn't work," within the first few minutes. But nope, he was determined. At this point I asked if it was the only one the store had. He said it was the only first generation, but he had a second generation in the back. So, he retrieved the second generation. It was in the original box and packaging. The only difference between the two is the second generation has a different look and was made more for the second generation Genesis. Because it was in the original box with all the parts and wrapping, it cost a little more, but he quickly gave me a large discount to make up for the fact the first one wasn't working and I had been waiting. So, I bought it.

The owner called me the greatest customer ever and helped me out to my car. I hit traffic on the way home so I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it home on time to surprise Gary. However, when I noticed his truck wasn't in the parking lot, I actually speed-walked/jogged to the apartment just in case he turned a corner and saw me with the box. I had no time to wrap it, so I placed it on top of the dryer and closed the laundry doors. Moments later, Gary came home while I was "browsing" on the computer. I greeted him and he instantly began talking about calling Game Dude (in N. Hollywood) to see if they had finally received a Sega CD and asked if I was interested in a trip there if they did. So, he called the store and was informed they still didn't have one in their inventory. A little bummed, he hung up the phone. I then asked if he would "shut off the dryer" real quick since the clothes were probably done. So, he did. I heard a gasp and I peeked down the hall to see a huge grin on his face. Boy was he happy! It was like a kid during Christmas, lol. Even better, I then discovered the second generation (the one I purchased) was the same one he had as a child...so it all worked out!

Anyway, he immediately went to work on setting it up and was thrilled to know it worked perfectly (the owner of the store tested it before I left so I knew it worked). Wanting to visit this store to buy more games, we headed back down to Burbank and Gameland where Gary added more to his collection. Zane seemed pretty happy we came back to give him more business.

We finally headed out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, where I ordered the delicious Chipotle Chicken Pizza and Gary had the Hawaiian Pizza with pepperoni. We also had the Sesame Ginger Chicken in won tons for an appetizer.

Sesame Ginger Chicken appetizer

Gary's Hawaiian pizza

My Chipotle chicken pizza

 So, we had a great day and a great evening. I sure love my man!

 In other quick news, we canceled our cable and instead bought a Roku (which streams television shows) and a Hulu Plus account. So we can watch all of our shows and save about $90 each month. Works for me!

Okay, time to do stuff. Bye!

Keeping Notes, Fun Dinners, and Tea

 Hey y'all. Don't mind the last post, it was mostly for Gary to show his coworkers his Minecraft stuff since sometimes he can't access his e-mail at work. The game is still fantastically fun. I've been building my own hideout in a mountain/dungeon.

 Anyway, life is still good. I'm still continuing to read the BoM and receiving many blessing from it. The other night, around midnight, I was once again reading. For some reason I couldn't sleep. However, I noticed I was becoming fuzzy minded about what I was reading. You know how the book has a lot of information and story? Maybe it's just me, but sometimes I'm reading and I go, "wait, who is this guy again? Where did he come from?" as I find myself flipping back pages. Maybe it's my ADD. But I try to remember everything I previously read so I'm not just "reading words" but understanding what's going on. So, naturally I prayed for better understanding. I then started flipping back the pages and reading parts and summaries to gather the whole story again and the instruction I received was to start writing it all down. So I went to my closet and pulled out an empty notebook. I then wrote a very simple and short summary of who was who and what has happened so far. So next time I'm reading and I can't remember the story I just look at my notebook. I'm pretty sure I may be the only one who summarizes the BoM while reading it, but hey, it works for me! So now when I read I keep notebook nearby so I can note down important stories and people.

Onto another subject. Last night, Gary and I had the opportunity to go to a very fun and special dinner at the DeMasters' beautiful home with 5 other couples (well, 4 others and a wife since her hubby was working). We sat around a candlelit dinner and enjoyed yummy food and delicious red velvet cupcakes. It was a formal dinner party, so we were dressed up to celebrate Valentine's Day. The decorations were very cute and we had a lot of fun. We ended up playing a couple rounds of the Newlywed Game. Gary and I didn't do well the first round but ended up tied for 2nd place in the end. We definitely had a great time and lots of good laughs with everyone. Some of those questions were just awesomely funny. I brought my camera, but only got a picture of us (we had those "prom" pictures which were cute).

 

 I wish I would've done more with my hair and makeup since everyone looked gorgeous, but oh well. I didn't really have time since I spent all of yesterday running around town. Yesterday before the event was crazy. I had hardly any free time and was also exhausted. At one point while in the mall, I was texting Gary something and walked out the door, not knowing that a man was holding it open for me the whole time. Moments later, I hear him loudly and rudely say aloud, "You're welcome!" I felt pretty embarrassed and thanked him. I probably looked like some spoiled woman too busy on her cell phone to thank people. But man was I busy!

Gary and I have also been into teas lately. No worries, they are the good herbal teas. We make sure to stay away from Camellia sinesis, white, yellow, green, oolong, black, red and post-fermented teas. The "naughty" teas as Gary puts it; and of course they are all caffeine-free. There's a place in the new outdoor mall extension called Teavana. I went by there yesterday and bought a pound of different teas- all fresh herbs by the way, none that were bagged or pre-made. They piled up the fresh herbs in a reusable tin can. It was a bit expensive, but it will last us a good while. The are fruity and delicious and help with the immune system and allergies.

Okay, it's Saturday, so it's time to run away with the husband before I work tonight (bummer, but it's only 4 hours). Time for a fun Saturday with my man!

Minecraft

 Gary's castles and some Minecraft screen shots.

 

So Many Blessings

     Life has been wonderful to me. I am very much blessed with all I have in my life. I love this gospel and the joy it brings to my life daily. I also love the joy it brings my marriage.

     Last week I had the opportunity to renew my temple recommend (we hit the 2 year mark). Being able to tell our bishop and stake president I am worthy to attend is such a marvelous feeling. I remember several years ago I wasn't able to get a recommend because of my behavior and I remember every detail of feeling depressed and broken. To be able to prove my worthiness over these years with an active recommend is such a feeling of joy it's impossible to explain. I remember my interview with the bishop before marrying Gary. This was the same bishop I had confessed my sins to the year before, placing me in a painful repentance process. That evening while he was interviewing me, I had such a feeling of peace and happiness. After the interview, he asked, "Doesn't that feel better? To be able to say "yes, I'm worthy"?" Oh boy did it! It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders; and all these years since being married I still am able to say yes, I'm still worthy. Going through the painful repentance process years ago was worth it. Too many people fear seeking guidance from their bishop, but it really is worth it.  I can't imagine carrying such a burden for so many years.

 Anyway, I hadn't originally planned on posting that, but it just came out. That's Emilee for you :)

 I've also been reading my scriptures daily, as opposed to every now and then. Last month I had been fasting for personal reasons, and my answer was to read through and study the Book of Mormon. I'm about halfway through now and I can already see the changes. The Lord really does listen to us!

 I really enjoyed the weekend too. My work for no reason gave me Saturday off, which I was absolutely thrilled about (since they don't schedule me for Sunday). Gary was also pretty excited. We didn't do much, but we did spend good quality time together. We found a new comic book shop in Burbank and were very pleased with it. It had lots of DnD stuff as well as individual dice, miniatures, etc. We ended up purchasing a board game called Pandemic. Highly recommended. The cool part about the game is you don't need a group; it's fun with just two people as well. During the game, each player is randomly given a role: medic, scientist, dispatcher, researcher, or operations specialist. Your goal is to stop a spreading deadly virus. It's like a card/board game. But it SO FUN! We grabbed it because the ratings and reviews were so high. We ended up playing two games in a row (the game usually doesn't exceed 45 minutes). We wanted a third game, but it was getting pretty late at this point, so we went to bed. Quality time with the husband= best time ever.

Sunday was fantastic as well. We had the sister missionaries over for dinner and ended up having a great time. Gary grilled really delicious chicken and was happy to. The weather was in the mid 70's so it was just a perfect day for grilling. Dexter got to enjoy being outside pretty much all day (after church of course). Although one Sunday we actually forgot about him and left him out on the porch while we attended church. We came home and I heard an odd noise coming from outside, only to discover it was meowing. Poor thing. Anyway, I whipped up a salad, beans, and peanut butter cookies, and we feasted on dinner. The missionaries were so fun! It was like having a couple of friends our age over to hang out. We talked about video games, old cartoons, and many other things. Then they shared a powerful message about the atonement. They ended up staying almost 2 1/2 hours. We're definitely looking forward to having them over again soon! Gary and I then ended our evening building a fortress/castle on Minecraft, lol. :) What I loved best about our weekend was teamwork. We wanted to get our apartment spotless for the missionaries so we divided up the chores and worked together. This place looks pretty darn amazing. I love great teamwork!

I have today and tomorrow off so I have definitely been enjoying 4-day weekend. Of course I only work 13 hours this week, but I'm cool with that.

On a new note, we received our tax return. We were happy about it, too. I have PetSmart take out a lot of taxes each month, but we enjoyed the refund. The thing is, every previous year, Gary would put in his work information and we'd have a big refund; then I'd add my work information and it would just dramatically drop. So this time around I had my work take out lots of taxes so when I put my work information in, it jumped up to a higher refund. Not to mention the huge jump when I put in my school information. So yes, we enjoyed. We didn't spend it on stuff, we placed the refund directly into remaining debt. Now all we have is one more credit card to pay off and we're free! My debts were paid off several months ago, but since Gary had to use credit cards to pay for books and stuff while in college, he still had some. They've all been paid off except for one now, which should be paid off in less than a year. Debt free in less than a year- how awesome is that?  After that last credit card is paid off, we mentioned buying a new car and saving up for a house. Looking forward to it! We've been very good at putting a few hundred in savings each month so we're building our savings account up. It came in handy too when we had to take the little orange cat to the vet.

To brag a little about my husband: While we were out shopping Saturday, the guy who runs the business department of Gary's work ran into us at an antique shop. After introducing his wife, he said to her, "This is Gary, the one I've always been talking about. He's the one who's been saving the project we've been working on. He's a genius". It put Gary on the spot a little, but he didn't mind too much. Everyone, even outside the department, just loves Gary. They all know who he is and now when they need something done by a programmer, he's the highest requested one. We are very blessed with his job.

Gary has been with his company not even three years and has received over $12,000 in annual increases just in raises. Not even three years! This is how valuable he is to the company. I am so proud of him!

Okay, I'm done with that topic. Sorry this post is long...time for the day ahead! I have places to go, things to do, the usual wife stuff. Have a great day!