In January

This January my husband turned 40 years old.  Since he was only 4 when he had his golden birthday and his family didn't celebrate it, we decided to make his 40th his golden birthday.  Forty on the 4th works too, right?!  He didn't want a big party, but wanted to do several small parties so that the groups were more intimate. 

His first party was a gaming weekend with a few of his brothers.  David and Chris came to our house and they played computer games, ate food, watched movies and tried out a new card game that Daniel bought for Christmas. 

Paul, David, Seth, Chris and Daniel.  Mark was still in California, much to his chagrin.

Chris and Jane

I was trying to turn Paul's frown upside down. 

His second party was to go out to Olive Garden as a family.  We planned on going on his birthday, but Jane was sick and it took a few days before we could head out.  My parents joined us and we stuffed ourselves silly.  Daniel was even kind enough to not order dessert because I always feel awkward when everyone is enjoying foods that I can't eat.

His third party was to see the movie Les Miserables with our friends Ed and Madeleine Giles.  We both cried during several parts of the movie.  It was beautiful.  I was really glad to have Daniel to hold onto during the war scenes.  I saw the stage production when it came to SLC about 16 years ago.  It was a wonderful experience, but I remember it being quite lewd.  I was glad that they toned down the "Lovely Ladies" to keep it PG-13.  I was young and naïve, but I was embarrassed by things that were happening on that stage.  Here are a few comparisons between the stage and the movie. The stage production was more sexually crude while the movie was more violent. I understood the storyline better and felt the emotions of the songs better with the movie because it was more obvious what was being portrayed (because you could see the faces close up in the movie where the stage version they are far away).  

After the movie we went back to our house for dinner.  We played a card game, well everyone but me and Jane played a card game.  I needed to excuse myself from the group to call my sister-in-law.  I had one of those moments where I knew that she needed to talk.  If I didn't have people over I would have gone over to her (sorry Wendy).  Her mom had a heart attack the day before and she needed to talk.  Thankfully my guests were being entertained by the boys- I'm not sure if they even noticed that I was gone!

Part four of Daniel's big-deal birthday will happen tomorrow night. We are going to go indoor skydiving. This is the part that he is really excited for!  

This January my family turned 14 years old.  I can hardly believe that Daniel and I have been married for 14 years.  We only knew each other for a little over 6 months before we were married.  I have reminded myself time and time again how lucky we are that our relationship is good, strong and healthy.  It seems that I am around a lot of people who are unhappy in their marriage, so I am very happy to be in a great marriage.  Knowing that we didn't know much about marriage before we tied the knot, we didn't truly know what to look for in a partner. I really lucked out.  I am very blessed to be married to Daniel.  Is he a perfect person/husband?  No!  But he is the perfect husband for me. 

Our family has a lot of celebratory events in December and January, so by the time our anniversary comes along, we are partied out.  We have all of the events leading up to and including Christmas, then two weeks later is Daniel's birthday, then two weeks later is our anniversary and then two weeks after that is Valentine's day.  We aren't into big celebrations, so it can be tricky to make things feel important.  We didn't do anything overly special for our anniversary, but we had a good evening together as a family playing some card games and being silly (however, those of us who have names that begin with the letter 'S' were a bit ornery- why is January such a hard month for me emotionally?)

I made some cinnamon rolls that were gluten and dairy free.  They were good for a gf/df treat, but they weren't as good as their gluten counterparts.  I used this recipe: http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/2011/01/best-gluten-free-cinnamon-buns-or-rolls.html
We finished the batch in a hurry, but I was disappointed because the reviews were so good.  The dough was like a biscuit rather than like a pastry/bread.  I really need to figure out a recipe that has workable dough. 

This January I applied for the boys to attend a charter school.  I am really frustrated with our elementary school staff right now.  I had a confrontation with the front office staff about their check-in policy of giving our car keys to the secretary in exchange for the visitors pass.  I've just bypassed the checking in station at the school  for the past 4+ years.  But now we have to walk through the front office to get into the school and it isn't an option for me anymore. I'm not sure why I am so put off about the key issue, but I am.  Other people don't mind as much as I do.   

This January I decided to work on playing the piano daily.  I have a few songs that I am working on memorizing.  I have really enjoyed playing the piano again.  Daniel bought me a piano book with music from the Miyazaki films that our family loves (Ponyo, My Neighbor Totoro, Howls Moving Castle, etc).  The beauty of music is that it is universal.  All of the text is in Japanese, but I can still play the music! 

This January I bought a new sewing machine.  My old one broke in December a few weeks before Christmas.  I had in my mind to make a few last minute projects (like doll clothes for Jane) but when it broke, I took it as my sign to put sewing projects away and just keep the sanity.  It was nice to not worry about any last minute projects!  My new machine is beautiful!  I got it on a clearance for half of the regular price.  It has a lot of bells and whistles and I am excited to do more quilting with it.  Perhaps I will introduce y'all to Big Blue soon.