Mr & Mrs Smith

So I loved how my blog books turned out. So much that I want to try & keep up with the main events & holidays so I can't get too behind with documenting the details of the Smith life. 7 months: two bottom teeth broke through little Lexi's mouth. It's funny how things like that can be so exciting. But she still refuses to crawl and would rather stand & even takes steps with you. She crazy. Dad is trying to motivate her, but she would rather whine & do the super woman (i.e. hands & legs straight out...) The fruity puffs are like baby drugs. She loves them & they keep her quiet. She is getting better at putting them in her mouth, but she still tries to get a handful at once - one is bound to go in. I find the others stuck to her. And let me tell you, she LOVES eating off our plate. Eating is not this girl's problem. She is also becoming very social. She loves being around people. But speaking of eating. Thanksgiving dinner was divine . Thi...

I just now realized why I have been craving cupcakes the last two days . . . perhaps juvenile & simple, but that is me. Marriage 101 - Contention is of the devil Mr Smith & I don't have real, adult fights. Or at least I didn't think so but maybe most of adults bicker about the simplest things too. So, maybe we are "normal" adults, or like Mr Smith prefers to say "I'm the only normal person I know." So here are our most recent "normal" fights. (because if people ever ask I forgot what they were over & just assume we're perfect) In the order that I remember them . . . #1 - the unfinished kitchen table that has taken 2+ months to finish (previous blog post dedicated). we bought a high chair that attaches to the kitchen table a month ago. genius. so when Mr Smith wants to relax after work I become a ticking time bomb because I'm just waiting and waiting for something I want & when I suggest I do the next...

This table will be the death of me. What a stupid idea to think "oh let's paint a table" - how easy that rolls off the tongue. How many more brushes are we going to buy Mr Smith? How many more hours of sanding & staining & re-sanding & painting & sanding & glossing are we going to do? Did you really just tell me we're going to paint again!?!?! I resorted to coming back to my calm space. My blog. I left Mr Smith down in the basement with his newly organized lights & sander. I told him I was suffering from anxiety with his new hatched out plan. I could have easily pulled out the hatchet. So, no matter how many times Mr Smith says I will be doing this again I WILL NOT. NOT EVER. I AM NOT SAM I AM. or something to that effect. I don't do well with trial&error. I want it done. And I want it done today. I am that bratty. But look people; we haven't had a table for MONTHS.  not.a.single.table. PS - I just realized we don't own...

When my Mac Hardrive crashed - I lost all of the pictures that were in iPhoto that I never copied over to the external. I just kept putting it off. BAD IDEA. Any way - the only happiness about that is that I blog. So I still have decent sized photos and they are some of the better ones from that event, I suppose. Events like . . . Eric's Graduation, Troy's graduation, When Lisa visited us in DC, Eric's marathon, our NYC & Williamsburg trips. At the time I couldn't remember what was lost (i.e. our first year of marriage) in that stupid program (the program makes it difficult to back up the pictures). But HAPPY DAY I finished my blog books & remembered what we did that first year. So although I'm a little down, no one prints out pictures anymore & I don't really go through those 10000 digital prints any way. My goal (besides backing up pictures & keeping them better organized) is to take less photos but better quality photos. i.e. I need to go th...

I don't mean to harp on this idea of death, BUT as you would assume, it opens questions.  I want to talk about my beliefs on life after physical death. I think people care about it - even though most would rather not think about it & just play the game of wait & see. Because for most - it's just heaven or hell &  the average person doesn't think they are bad enough to go to hell. Some believe if you're not baptized in their church (or I guess their religion?) you're going to hell. You tell me, but either way I can tell you I think differently.  However, it's hard to talk about gospel principles & not get deep into it. But that will only open more doors & more questions which is a GREAT thing BUT we will be here all day. And you will be overwhelmed (if you even read it all). I will be overwhelmed. So I'm not ready to discuss that yet. I have to figure out how to tell the main ideas, which has always been my weakness on Language tests....

Well, I guess I can take advantage of a long morning/afternoon nap. I just spent the last hour going through albums sorting pictures to share with the family. I let my external hard drives get so messy. That was one project I can write down just to cross off though. For the most part, it's organized. I just now have a lot of video to download and that's definitely for another day.  I guess right now is still a nostalgic time. You wish you took better (not more) pictures. More video. You wish you asked more questions. Hugged longer. Laughed harder. Any way, we still have a ton of good memories. You always just want one more. But to this end... here are some pictures from our November trip to South Carolina. This time well aware that Nana wasn't going to greet us on the back porch. I'm okay with it. I know this is how time works. I know she is growing & understanding a part of life we are veiled from. She is no longer in pain and is now under the tender embra...

her first time holding you love her. the last picture I took with her I remember you happy. hopeful. and full of love. Dearest Lexi,  I want you to remember how wonderful your great grandmother - Tina Revis Looper (Nana) - was.   And what her sweet spirit still is. I don't want you to forget how much she loved you & how she just wanted to hold you. She loved to see you smile & laugh. Even though you are small now, please grow to know she adored you & wants to see you succeed in this life.  I know that's what she wanted for me & everyone else around her. You were wonderful in her eyes. Nana was proud of her family.  And we loved Nana. The hardest part about having her gone, is having to admit we have to live without her. She is now with Papa, a man I would give anything for you to meet one day. Those two, reunited once more, will light the heavens on fire. I'm so ex...

That was our 2 year anniversary. LITTLE late about posting about how grateful I am we made it to the TWO year mark (marriage pros at this point) but that's because there are a lot of other distracting things on the computer (I don't even like facebook but it's the first thing I go to) ANY WAY, yes, I still love Mr Smith. I probably don't write about how much I love Mr Smith enough. I'm too busy whining about how easy my life is.  Like how hungry I still am after that pb&jelly sandwich. Making lunch is so difficult and I have no idea why. #whitegirlproblems So, contrary to what Mr Smith believed or wanted to believe, Papa Johns is not our anniversary tradition (thank goodness I blog because I would have fallen for it). Last year was Olive Garden. This year was Thai, because it's our favorite (still missing our little ma&pop Thai place in Old Town, VA that boarded up their windows). We said we would branch out next time. I got Panang curry & he go...

There was this one time... I figured out how to get pictures off my phone. I think when Mr Smith's contract runs out we're upgrading. Isn't that exciting. Until then. Lexi is the only thing making these less then perfect pictures, perfect. Enjoy the last 6 months on my phone. Sorry in advance for not sending you one every day. PS - isn't it ridiculous that I have pictures from my DLSR (fancy, annoyingly bulky camera), my widescreen video camera that also takes pictures, the iTouch aka Instagram, my phone, my Kindle... make it stop! I can't keep up. And I can't stop. I about died going through them all again. DON'T YOU WANT ONE!?!? the good ole days... oh yeah baby... I haven't looked this good in FOREVER  and that happened to the back deck/roof...