The V-Day Presents

So, Valentine's Day has come and gone (like over a week ago), and I finally got around to taking pictures of our homemade gifts.

Richard has been talking about trying out the Mediterranean diet for awhile, so I got him supplies to start that. I got him a book/cookbook specifically for the Mediterranean diet, some supplies, food and made him this:

My version of a crafty menu board!

Richard, well, he always does something on the computer. This year he put his nerdiness to good use, if I do say so myself. He made me a new karaoke dvd with some of my favorite songs past and present. I love it! Nelson loves it, too. We karaoke every night before breathing treatment, per Nelson's request! The last song on the dvd is Nelson's favorite song, so it is sung the most.

I had to take a picture of each screen of the dvd because I thought it was cute how Richard titled everything! Love it!

Update: Swagbucks

Remember how I talked about Swagbucks back in August and said that I was earning Amazon gift cards to buy Richard a Christmas present? Well, I decided I better update you all and let you know what "present" I bought for him. My goal was to earn $50 worth of gift cards and to my surprise I surpassed that goal by a long way! Little did I know that when I first posted here about Swagbucks and how "you can use their search tool and earn points and then trade those points in for gift cards" that when you refer someone and they start earning points, you do, too! In fact six of you joined Swagbucks through my referral link on the side of my blog and I earned up to 1,000 points from each of you! Wow! Thank you! A $5 Amazon gift card can be traded for 450 points so most of my referrals earned me $10+ of Amazon credit.

Now let me tell you what I bought from Amazon with that credit:

* Wii Ultimate Band (for a friend)

* Lego City Fire Car X2 (for nephews)

* I-Dance Buzz Lightyear (for the Toy Story lover in my house for his birthday)

* 3 GB of computer memory (for the nerd) - this alone would have been the $50 I wanted to earn for Christmas

* Brigham Young: American Moses book (for the same hunky nerd)

* Cassette car adapter (he has to listen to his podcasts on his way to and from work)

* Electric shaver foil and cutter replacement pack (for my father-in-law for Christmas/birthday)

Since Christmas, I have been using my gift cards on diapers, wipes, head phones, and H&R At Home tax software. I pair up my gift cards with good deals I find on my "deal websites" to stretch the money even farther. I also signed up for Amazon Mom to get free 2-day shipping on most of these items.

Anyway, I first wanted to thank those who signed up under me. And, for those I just now convinced to start using Swagbucks as a search engine (you can also earn points by watching videos; printing and using coupons; participating in daily polls or surveys and other things on their website), continue to share the love and earn points for yourself. I heard that they will be celebrating their third anniversary next week with some great point offers, so now is a good time to join!

A Love Story

When Richard and I were engaged, he spent way too much on me for Valentine's day. The next year we were poor and I didn't want him to think he needed to spend lots, so we decided to make our gifts that year. Richard put our story (or at least his version) of how we met and fell in love to music. I loved it so much that I told him that we needed to make our gifts every year! So we do.

Anyway, I put the tracks to our "Love Story" off to the right. I don't expect you to listen to it all but if you want to feel love, listen to a couple or three or four. It's really THAT good.

I was going to put a picture up of what I made for Richard this year, but he just came up the stairs and is sitting right behind me. That will be for another post - post-Valentine's. So for now, enjoy the love songs!

One Last Wrap-Up January Post

This picture was taken at midnight on the night of his last campout! - the klondike. He came back into town to get more wood and stopped by our house to give me a goodnight kiss!

I have to admit that the best thing that happened in January was Richard being released as Young Men's President! Not that seeing all of Richard's family was not incredible, but it was for a sad reason (see two posts below) so the change in callings definitely gets that honor! After 2-1/2 years as President and a year before that of being deacon quorum advisor, Richard got called to his dream calling - ward librarian! The two callings are pretty extreme opposites.

As Young Men's President; he had early morning meetings, middle of the week meetings, once a month Scout meetings, Stake meetings, Scout campouts, Summer camps, Youth Conferences, food drives and a few other things that I can't think of now but he was in charge of them all. Now he leaves 5 minutes early from Sacrament Meeting to go to the library and stays 10 minutes after church.

Not only does he love this calling because he LOVES books (and has a secret wish to someday be a real librarian), but he also loves the feeling of spontaneous accomplishment. He told me on Sunday, "I love being able to serve people! I can make copies, get pictures, get a staple gun. People are happy that I helped them, and it's done. Nothing hanging over my head for a month to get it done. It's a great feeling!"

I'd say that he deserves to have those feelings after such a demanding calling! And, I would also like to add that I deserve all of his vacation days that don't have to go towards "Scout stuff" anymore!