Relief!

You may or may not know that I worry about everything! Becoming a new mother brings many worries to my mind as to whether I'll know what to do to take care of my baby. A friend of mine has this website linked from her blog and it answered all my questions! What a relief to know there really is an instruction manual!

Childhood Deprivations Lead to Irrational Adult Behavior

It's a known fact that I love cookies. In high school, I was known for my obsession with the cafeteria's wonderful chocolate chip cookies. I was also VERY upset when they changed the recipe (and was the only one of my friends who noticed). I would make a batch of cookies almost every weekend before I went to college. I would make enough for my entire family, but in the end would eat most of them myself. My family referred to me as "The Cookie Monster." Cookies were a part of the requirement in determining who I was to marry. Who ever this man was going to be, must show up at my door with a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

In all of this cookie-ness, I only remember a couple of times my mom would order girl scout cookies, and it was usually only one box. Yes, ONE box for six people! Do you know how that divides up? Not very abundant portions!

Well, about a month ago, the time of year came around for ordering girl scout cookies. I quickly slipped on over to the ordering sheet and signed up for five boxes of girl scout cookies. Today, the gorious boxes arrived! Then I realized, "What was I thinking ordering FIVE boxes of girl scout cookies for TWO people?" The woman I ordered them from commented, "You were by biggest order; my daughter really appreciates you." Gee, I ordered so many that I stand out. I really am a cookie monster! Embarrassed, I called Adam and told him there is NO way I'm riding the bus home with five boxes of girl scout cookies and begged him to pick me up from work today. My knight in shining armour agreed to the request. There is only one explanation for my ordering five boxes of girl scout cookies...it's a cry from my inner child who was so often deprived of girl scout cookies. Hopefully, next year I won't be so greedy!

The Name Game...

1. YOUR ROCKSTAR NAME: (first pet and current car)
Laura: Ruffles Mazda
Adam: Snuggles Protege

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Laura: Vanilla Thin Mint

3. YOUR "FLY GUY/GIRL" NAME: (first initial of first name & first three letters of last name)
Laura: Lnel
Adam: Dnel

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Laura: Green Tiger
Adam: Black Wolf

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Laura: Marie Murray
Adam: Adam Mountain View

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first three letters of your last name, first two letters of your first)
Laura: Nella (although I'm more fond of this with my maiden name: Zulla)
Adam: Nelad

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (The + "2nd fave color, favorite drink)
Laura: The Brown Grapefruit (I'm not too sure about that one...)
Adam: The Blue G2

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Laura: Robert Gustavo
Adam: Jesse Alan (classic!)

9. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother and father's middle names)
Laura: Marie Dario
Adam: Alan Faye

10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teachers last name + a major city that starts with the same letter)
Laura: Daniels Denver

11. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday and flower)
Laura: Independence Daisy

12.CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you're wearing right now + "ie" or "y"
Laura: Orange Skirty

13. HIPPY NAME: (what your ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Laura: Bagel Willow

14. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: ("The" = your favorite hobby/craft, fave weather element = "tour")
Laura: The Organizing Lightning Tour
Adam: The Ping-pong Thunder Tour

Fun Friday, Sunny Saturday, and Simple Sunday

I decided I've give a quick recap of this weekend. All in all, it was one of the best weekends I have had in a long time.

On Friday evening Adam and I went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory with some of our friends. I ordered ONE burrito...it turned out to be so big that I ate it for dinner that night, lunch the next day, AND it was Adam's lunch too on Saturday. Honestly, it had to be the size of four burritos in one. I don't think this picture even does it justice. It was delicious though!

After dinner Adam and I went and saw Wicked!!! It was just as good as I expected it to be. I was very much amused at Adam's comment after the show (which he enjoyed by the way). He said, "There were a lot of young people there. Mostly everyone there was around our age." I replied, "Yeah, why did you say that?" He responded, "Well, I just thought that only old people went to musicals..." WHAT?!?!? I honestly don't know where he came up with that crazy idea! I love that silly guy.

Saturday was great because the sun was shining from the moment I awoke and the sky was blue. This wonderful phenomenon, that rarely happens during Cleveland winters, lasted all day!!!! Adam and I took a walk at one of the metro parks and it felt great to breath the fresh air.

Sunday, I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast and roast for dinner. This is amazing because I don't cook too often now that I'm working. We're lucky if I make one meal a day, but two?!?!?! Church was really nice, and I got a lot out of the talks. I also got to teach my wonderful CTR 8 class! They make me so happy every Sunday because they are so willing to learn and share about the gospel.

Love Tag - Appropriate for February

What is your husband's name?
Daniel Adam Nelson

How long have you been together?
1 year and ten months - I feel like we've always been together though

How long did you date?
Eight months

Who eats more?
Adam

Who said I love you first?
Adam did...twice! The first time was probably two weeks after we started dating (he's lucky I didn't take off because that was a little intense for me at that point) and then after four months (He was a brave soul to put it all out on the line again).

Who is taller?
Adam is!

Who has more speeding tickets?
I don't think either of us have speeding tickets. I don't speed, and Adam doesn't get caught! :)

Who is smarter?
Depends on how you define smart. I'm smarter when it comes to interpreting literature and the arts. Adam is much better at science and math. He's a nerd.

Who is more sensitive?
That's an easy one, me. Adam is pretty sensitive to my sensitivity if that counts for anything.

When there is a fight, who usually wins?
I do, unless it has to do with whether or not we get rid of cable. He won't bend when it come to ESPN.

Who does the laundry?
We both do for the most part. He's a good helper!

Who does the dishes?
Usually Adam, unless he makes dinner. If he makes dinner, I do the dishes.

Who sleeps on the right?
Adam. It's not really a matter of sides though...I just have to be by the alarm clock and that happens to reside on the left side of the bed.

Who pays the bills?
I do. I kind of like the paper work.

Who mows the lawn?
We don't have to mow the lawn.

Who cooks dinner?
I try to. Since I got pregnant it's been a lot harder. We're trying to break the eating out cycle.

Who drives when you are together?
Always Adam...I hate driving!

Who is more stubborn?
I am...I get if from my dad

Who kissed whom first?
That depends on who you ask. I say Adam kissed me first, but he says I sealed the deal...he only came 90% and I came the other 10%, thus me kissing him first. I don't know about that!

Who asked who out first?
Adam asked me out first. He called four other girls before me to see if they could go, but none of them answered the phone. He obviously didn't know what was good for him! :)

Who proposed?
Adam did, on his 26th birthday. His birthday present to himself was a fiance! While he was opening presents, he passed one over to me after opening it and said, "I don't think this is for me." Inside was a cowboy hat, roses, a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a little box. (Side story: when I was 16 I told my mom that the first guy who showed up at my door wearing a cowboy hat and holding a plate of chocolate chip cookies would be the man I'd marry.) He put the cowboy hat on, got down on one knee and popped the question.

Who has more siblings?
Neither of us, we're both the oldest of five!

I tag Carolyn Hunsaker, Karlene Zuluaga, Kim Martinez, Cassie Hurst, Brittany Vaclaw and anyone else who wants to do it!

International Waffle Day - The Tradition

For a few years now the Zuluaga family (Zuluaga is my maiden name) has been celebrating International Waffle Day. A while back my brother, Josh, kept asking my mom to make waffles, but she always had some excuse to not do it. One day Josh told my mom that February 6th was International Waffle Day. Now, since my mom likes holidays so much she went all out making a bunch of waffles on that day and we got to eat them with whatever toppings we wanted...ice cream,. chocolate syrup, strawberries, sprinkles, jam, you name it! We continued the celebration each year. Then the truth finally came out...there is no such thing as International Waffle Day. Josh made the whole thing up so that my mom would make waffles! Well, by this point we had done it so much that it became tradition. Here are some pictures of the prep work for the holiday this year:

The glorious toppings:

We had our friends Amber and Dan over to enjoy the feast!

I've had a birthday...shout hooray!

Yesterday was my 21st birthday! Adam got me a new table cloth, place mats, napkins, plates, bowls, and cups for my birthday. When I got home from work he had the table set with the new stuff, and it looked really good. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it! He made us tacos for dinner and then we had cake.

Also, Adam got us Wicked tickets for my birthday. We are going on the 15th of this month, and I am SO excited! I love musicals and have wanted to see this one since it came out. Thanks honey for a great birthday!

A Little Disturbing

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about marriage and the importance of the family unit. Last week Adam told me about a conversation he overheard while at the gym, and it kind of got my head spinning. A group of guys were talking about how important it is to wait as long as you can before you have children after you get married. Well, my immediate thought was, "They probably want to make sure they finish school and are financially stable before they start their family." Then Adam told me that they said, "Yeah, once you have that kid you're stuck in the marriage for at least 18 years." I can honestly say that I was shocked by this remark. I was amazed by the fact that they went into marriage thinking that they would eventually get out. I understand that marriage is hard and takes a lot of work, but why even go through all that work if you're planning on throwing it away someday. I don't know if this is the case, but it seemed to me like they were planning to fail. Now, I understand that under some circumstances, divorce becomes necessary. I'm not here to judge every individual situation. I'm just wanting to comment on today's mindset of marriage. Yesterday, the kicker happened. I was reading Time magazine when I came across an article entitled, Bye Bye, Love. The article talked about how people are celebrating their divorces with cakes, parties, and ring coffins! Years ago, divorce was something that rarely happened and today some people are celebrating it the same way they would celebrate a birthday or wedding. This really disturbs me because I feel like divorce is being accepted as another celebration or joyous event in life. It is almost being portrayed as the "cool" thing to do. I'm just curious what everyone else's feelings and thoughts are on this...