Pray

Please pray for Rachel, a fellow Marine wife and new mommy who's husband was just killed in Afghanistan.

(Thanks, Kathlyn)

Fun marriage survey

1. What are your middle names?

Wayne and Rose

2. How long have you been together?

We just celebrated our 5 year anniversary in January

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating?

A couple days...we were total strangers to each other

4. Who asked who out?

I was his waitress. He wrote and asked for my number on his bill, and I gave it to him on his receipt.

5. How old are each of you?

Brad turns the big 3-0 in a couple months, I am 25...but not for long. :(

6. Did you go to the same school?

We do right now! Taking the same classes too.

7. Are you from the same home town?

I have way too many "home" towns...if I'm allowed to acknowledge them all as a home town, then yes.

8. Who is the smartest?

Him, hands down. He is one of those people who gets A's without even studying, ya know, the kind that makes you sick. I think he could be a contestant on Jeopardy too. He can answer almost every question!

9. Who majored in what?

We're still working on that! Brad is majoring in Psych... I might just be doing the same.

10. Who is the most sensitive?

Me! Although, sometimes Brad can surprise me. After watching 'New Moon' a few months ago I said, "I wish I could have 2 lives... one with Edward, one with Jacob." The correct thing to say, according to Brad, was "I wish I could have 3 lives..."

11. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?

Hmm... the furthest East would be Egypt. The furthest West would be California.

12. Who has the worst temper?

Me, again... maybe this survey isn't such a good idea. Brad is looking pretty good!

13. How many children do you want?

Probably just 2... I feel like that is never going to happen though. :(

14. Who does the cooking?

Me! We need to get a grill so Brad can start helping out and cooking the "man" way.

15. Who is more social?

That would be me. It is like pulling teeth to get him to come to any social event...or to even call home! He could live on a mountain in the middle of nowhere, where I very much need to talk to/see my friends every day.

16. Who is the neat freak?

We're pretty equal on that. Now with my new Roomba (the machine that vacuums for you), it's not really an issue for either of us.

17. Who is the most stubborn?

::sigh:::, me again.

18. Who wakes up earlier?

Does this question even count when you have a 2 year old? We wake up when he gets up.

19. Where was your first date?

At Kyotos! I remember not understanding a lot of items on the menu and ordered scallops (BARF!). I didn't realize that was fish and force myself to eat some, and then spit it in my napkin when he wasn't looking.

20. Who has the bigger family?

Me. I have a pretty decent sized family and he is only child (sorta).

21. Do you get flowers often?

We buy flowers together about twice a month. We both love fresh flowers in the house. I could probably get HIM flowers for Father's Day and he'd love it.

22. How do you spend the holidays?

Blah. Always away from family-so it's never an issue. One of the "perks" of military life.

23. Who is more jealous?

Neither really. He works with all men and I work with a 2 year old.

24. How long did it take to get serious?

Not very long! Met in March and engaged in July.

25. Who eats more?

Him, but we both HAVE to have a piece of chocolate after every meal. Working on breaking that!

26. What do you do for a living?

I'm a Mom and he's a Marine! His current job is on a watch tracking Africa's every movement...whether it's pirates off the coast or countries going to war. Kinda cool I think!

27. Who does the laundry?

Psh, that would be a me me me!

28. Who's better with the computer?

Almost equal, I'd say. He has me beat by a hair.

29. Who drives when you are together?

50-50. I do a lot of dropping off since we share a car.

30. What is your song?
Hmm... I suppose it's our wedding song "From this Moment"

Lasagna rolls

One of my favorite pastimes is cooking. 2 years ago my old self would have thought I was crazy. But the truth is... I really don't care for German food and I can't stand the thought of going to a restaurant and paying EURO (very expensive) for some food I don't even like. So, it forced me to start cooking...almost every night. Turns out, I enjoy it!

One of my favorite recipes is lasagna rolls. So yummy and less messy than regular lasagna.

See bottom of page for ingredients

Step 1 - Boil lasagna noodles until soft. Preheat oven to 350.

Step 2- Brown beef. Add onions and garlic until cooked. Add tomatoes, flavored sauce, and paste. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes

Step 3- Combine ricotta, spinach, mozzarella and egg in large bowl.

Make sure you have these 3 steps completed before doing below.

Step 4- Place a couple noodles on clean work surface.

Step 5- Spread noodle with ricotta mixture
Step 6- Spread with beef mixture. (Not too much or else it won't roll up)
Step 7- Roll up

Place seam side down in a baking dish.
Repeat with remaining noodles.

Step 8- Top with remaining beef mixture and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.
Step 9- Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Take foil off and bake 15 more minutes. Walaa!

You will need:

12 uncooked lasagna rolls

1 pound beef

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes

1 jar (8 oz) of your favorite pasta sauce (something w/garlic and/or other flavors)

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese

1 package of frozen chopped spinach

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 egg

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

YES!

Yes! Yes! Yes! It's here! SPRING IS HERE! It hit 60 degrees today. It's like suddenly over night we went from 30's to 60's. Sweet goodness I feel ALIVE again!

Wahoo!

Brad is now the proud holder of an Associates Degree! We know it's nothing compared to a Bachelor's Degree, but we're chugging along!

He's actually not too far from the big BA (only 40 credits to go). Go Brad! He is majoring in Psychology.

Monkey'n around

Spring

...has not sprung. :( I can not even express how OVER the snow and the cold I am. We've come to the conclusion that winters are almost 6 months long here.

Ok enough venting! At least it's March. Can't be long now.

Photoshoot

Brad and I got a new camera about a week ago and apparently I've been using it too much because Miles and I had a little "shoot off" this morning with our cameras. Maybe we have a future photographer on our hands?

For the longest time we just used the little Cannons that can fit in your pocket and finally decided to make the big upgrade. What a difference in the pictures!

Prague, Czech Republic

Had a fantastic getaway in Prague this weekend. This was our first road trip in Europe and we're already itching to do more. (By the way, Miles did great sitting in his carseat for 5 hours). We are so thankful for this opportunity to live so close to so many cool places. It will be so sad when it's time to leave Europe. Czech Republic, like almost every other European city, was awesome and has its distinct culture. Up until 20 years ago (or so) they were a communist country ruled by the Soviet Union. They've come along way to be their own country and take much pride in their capitol city Prague. Here are some pics from our trip.

On top of the city

Awesome gothic cathedral. Was too big to get the whole church in 1 picture.
We eat big breakfasts when traveling.


Prague at night. Beautiful!

Czech road signs.