Happy Leap Day!

I tried to think of a million amazing things to do on Leap Day. So far, all I could think of was...well...leaping.

And...well...lame.

So I thought I'd think of something completely different to talk about: Time travel [insert cheesy comment, i.e. "Leap into the past" here].

Michael and I were talking the other day about when we would want to live if we could choose any era/decade/time period. While we both thought it would be fun to try a week in various time periods (provided we could choose our socioeconomic status), such as the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, a Jane Austen book (oh, wait, maybe that one was just me)... we both agreed that we thought we could spend some serious time in the stereotypical 50's.
















My initial vision was something Pleasantville-esque. Me in a dress and heels and half apron pulling dinner out of the oven as Michael dutifully walked up the lane of our perfectly manicured lawn, past Bobby and Sue Ann who are playing cooperatively in the front yard. In his still-crisply pressed suit, Michael hands me his briefcase and hangs his hat as he walks in the door in a "Honey, I'm home!" sort of way. Fantastic Etta James music would playing as a soundtrack.

And then I figured..."hey...bo-ring!"

So I popped that bubble, and we started talking about why we'd choose the 50s. For one thing, Michael and I are both believers in gender roles. Not in a women-oppressive kind of way, but in a traditional, Michael brings home the bacon and I cook it for dinner, kind of way. In the 50s, this was still the societal norm.

Another thing we liked was that this was the apple-pie-and-baseball time of life in America that we picture the country is supposed to be like. (And, like I said, we're going off of the stereotype here, so don't burst the dream bubble.) It was a time of neighborhood get-togethers, casseroles and jello-rings, dresses and suits, holiday parties, good music, family barbeques and wholesome values.

Sure, no time period is perfect, but this was about as stereotypically perfect as we could picture.

What would you choose?

Pro Marriage

I have come to the conclusion that I am, in fact, pro marriage. (Naturally I've never thought to the contrary). These last two months with my wife Emily have been so great. I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the most precious moments we have shared that haven't been mentioned already.




This picture is a personal favorite. For Christmas I got a new digital camera. This gift was dying to be tested, so Emily and myself went into the backyard and had a little photoshoot. We employed a wide variety of photography strategies. We modified the Lynn Classic (which is a special kind of jumping shot) in the the Lynn Frolic (which is more of a frolic than a jump, but still an airborn experience). I also challenged Emily's world renouned photogenic nature. I gave her a word and she had to strike a pose based on that word. As I recall words like "epic" and "pensive" were among the words uttered.


For our one month aniversary we made homemade pizza as pictured to the right. If you look closely at the peperoni and bell pepper topping you will notice a little peperoni heart in the center in addition to the heart shaped crust. That's Amore. After dinner we enjoyed a lovely Family Home Evening together. It doesn't get any better than that.

Another favorite thing we have shared together is playfulness. All the times that we joke about "moist flesh loaf" are postivaly precious to me. The faces, the voices, and the philosphising on meaningless things lead me to the conclusion that I am more comfortable with my wife than anyone in the world. Who else could I share a shower cap with for a picture? Frankly, nobody comes to mind. And to add the icing to the cake, it is one of the greatest perks of my life to be able to talk about what is for dinner. Poor Emily endures my endless questions (days in advance) regarding what we will be having for dinner. Her cooking makes me excited and is something special to me. I'm so lucky.

PS- for those of you who see this blog as a sappy afair, my advice to you is to "get over it!" Thank you, that is all.

These are a few of our least favorite words...

Michael and I have recently been discussing our least favorite words. The list keeps growing, but here's what we have so far:

1. moist
2. flesh
3. loaf
4. whiz
5. sphincter
6. bosom
7. reared
8. "fruit of my loins" or any combination with the word "loins"
9. chunk

One of our favorite things to do is to use as many of these words as we can in a sentence. For example:

"The moist flesh loaf whizzed through the air"

Ew.

But also, too much fun.

***UPDATES***
10. secrete
11. squirt

Honeymoon pictures

We enjoyed our Honeymoon in lovely San Diego from December 29, 2007 to January 3, 2008. The hotel we stayed at had some random piles of rocks that caught our attention and became subject to our chiding. A favorite activity was to contemplate "what are the meaning of rocks?" as depicted in the picture. To this day, we have not come to any certain conclusions. The hotel, also had a lovely view of the bay which would make anyone want to jump for joy. This view made our stay even more tranquil and enjoyable.


An interesting discovery was also made during our Honeymoon episodes. It has become really clear that if I ever start a band that I would play the dried palm leaf. Of course the band would have to be called Hot Coals Only. And naturally I would have to pose like a holister model
We enjoyed a walk together on the first full day in San Diego. Since we didn't have any photographer with us (I forgot to pack one), there are very few pictures with both of us in them. So even though it may appear that our struggles on this walk were different, we were fully united in sitting on the bench, pondering tic-tac-toe and climbing trees.
Our travels took us to Sea World too. We loved "encountering" penguins and sharks. We learned all about the Shamu slam and endured the faith permoting show entitled "Believe." We felt a stir with in us to bond with the creatures of the sea. This led us to pose like flamingos and Emily even kissed a manatee.





Foreging for food was a rather difficult task. Room service was pricey (although rather fun the first time) and other food possiblities were hard to obtain. So, we took a cab to a grocery store and secured some rations. They were delicious. We had some New Years Eve snacks like Crunch and Munch or chips and dip. It was a great move.

This picture is designed to depict Emily's cowboy side. We went to Old Town and meandered our way through some shops. It was great fun.

This section is to illustrate the many faces of Michael Dixon. Michael "crusher" Dixon, Michael "cloud head" Dixon, and Michael "groove thang" Dixon. Sometimes you just need to look at a picture side ways.

We also went to the San Diego zoo and saw many... interesting animals. Emily invented "zoo bingo" and we had a blast with it. We both made bingo cards by drawing pictures of animals in a different box in a grid. We both got bingos at the exact same moment.

What I like about you.

I have a crush on my husband. I tell him that nearly every day, but it's completely true. I'm entirely, irrevocably, make-you-queasy in love with him. And I've learned a lot about him in the 8 weeks that I've been married to him.

1. Michael is very on time. On time is late for Michael. I'm this way too, so it's a perfect arrangement.

2. Michael loves to contribute. One of our first disagreements was over who got to do the dishes after dinner. He won.

3. Michael likes to wake up slow.

4. Michael likes nearly every movie ever made. (also like me). We never get sick of watching movies.

5. Michael hates to be scared or surprised in a scary way. Sneaking up on him is just mean.

6. Michael is a meat-and-potatoes man. He loves potatoes like Bubba loves shrimp.

7. Michael tries to talk to me in his sleep. He's always very earnest and usually smiley, but mostly mumbly. And yes, it's adorable.

8. Michael doesn't like his feet. I think they're adorable, and I hope all our children have his feet. But for some reason, Michael doesn't like his feet.

9. Michael is really good at peeling oranges. REALLY good.

10. Michael likes to eat a big breakfast once every few weeks. I love making a big breakfast once every few weeks, so it works out great.

11. Michael makes the bed nearly every morning.

12. Michael is really, really creative and hilarious. We once got into a discussion about whether or not cavemen had gum (Michael was pro, I was con). By the end of the conversation, Michael even had a marketing campagin "Twiggly's gum. Now with new, twiggier taste."

13. Michael is the puzzle grand-master of the world. Nuff said.

14. Michael can honestly make anything attractive.

15. Michael isn't a picky eater, but if he could choose, he wouldn't eat much of beets or asparagus. He DOES love broccoli and brussels sprouts.

16. Michael is very good at visualizing how things go together. He built pretty much all the furniture in our apartment. It was amazing. While I can interpret instructions, it would have taken me a long time to actually do the put-together-ing. Not Michael.

17. Michael says the words to songs. This can be done either when the lyrics pop into his head randomly, or just as the song's beginning, or while the song's going. He just really likes to say the lyrics to songs rather than sing them.

18. Michael gets his homework done early. As in days early.

19. Michael doesn't eat peanut butter and jam sandwiches. He eats jam and peanut butter sandwiches. Ditto for honey.

20. Michael keeps his scriptures in a gray beanie.

21. Michael's favorite ice cream to date is something called Crumbs Along the Mohawk. It's caramel ice cream with graham cracker crumbs/bits. He ate it in upstate New York and hasn't been able to find it since. It's a life goal of ours.

22. Every once in a while, Michael gets a hankering for a war movie. Or something with explosions. Or Nazi references. But typically, he's up for any kind of movie, so when the hankering hits, I'm happy to oblige.

23. Michael really likes to teach. This means that he not only loves his current job (teaching missionaries how to be missionaries at the MTC), but he is also patient with his grouchy wife who doesn't always catch on to statistics as fast as he does when we do our stats homework together.

24. Michael gets excited about eating food as much as I get excited about making food. He absolutely loves knowing what's for dinner as far ahead in advance as possible. He also likes going grocery shopping as much as I do, so we go together and then I tell him the week's menu. It makes him a happy guy.

25. Some of Michael's pet peeves include "text-and-walk-ers", "walk-slow-ers," and "clueless walkers." My sister Jordan will tell you, we're a match made in heaven.

A few romantical wedding photos

Yes, ladies and gents, it's time to turn off those gag reflexes and reach down into your hearts to enjoy wedding pictures. Because, I appreciate them. And I'm a boss of this blog. So...there.


Michael is the happiest person I know. He can make any situation fun. He has a really funny laugh that I love. I also can't get enough of that boy's brown eyes. In my heart, I'm going to be sad if my babies don't have Michael's brown eyes.

This is about the most artistic picture of me ever taken. I very much struggle to feel photogenic. Thank my lucky stars, the most photogenic pictures of me ever taken were my engagement and wedding photos.

I'm hopeless.

More to come.