Christmas!

Wow, is it Christmas already? Where has the time gone? Is it under my desk?

MJ and I have been loving married life in Walla Walla at this festive time of year. People really go crazy around here with their Christmas decorations! We didn't have any Christmas lights, so we covered the house in "bendaroos". When we put them up, I thought they were glow-in-the-dark, but it turns out they're not. Lesson learned. Still, when it's sunny it sometimes looks like the house is covered in licorice. MJ made some "bread wreaths", which I guess are a tradition in her family. It's really quite simple- you take a piece of cardboard (we used old pizza boxes), cover it with glue and attach slices of bread to it. They look great and plus the birds come and eat off of it, which is a cool thing, except for when it's mostly gone and then they start choking on hunks of glue... that's a little hard to watch.

Tomorrow we'll spend the day with my mother-in-law and father-in-law Aunt Linda and Uncle Ross. We spent Thanksgiving there too but since my family doesn't live in the area, it's much easier than taking a plane all the way to Indiana. It's been interesting getting accustomed to her family's "different" way of living. You see, Aunt Linda and Uncle Ross don't believe in electricity. I think this is just because they built the house themselves and they didn't put in any outlets, but after a little while of trying to explain that to them I quickly realized it wasn't worth arguing over. They have all these appliances, a TV, lamps, washing machine and dryer, but they're not plugged in, so they keep saying, "See? Electricity doesn't exist!". Anyway, after I realized they weren't joking, I really started to appreciate their simple and imaginative style of living that involves a lot of simple games and singing.

One other really exciting thing to write about. A couple days ago, MJ and I hosted our first dinner party with our friend Zach, who used to work with me at the recycling plant, and his wife Cara. I don't know why, but I was really nervous about hosting something like this, probably because Zach is something of a personal idol for me, and Cara has a reputation as kind of a meanie, and I've often felt Zach should have married me instead of Cara. I mean, what? Uh... but anyway, it was great fun, and before they left, we made them sit in between us for an uncomfortable length of time, which you can see below.

Have the best of holidays and keep checking in to hear of our continuing exploits in the new year!

Gearing up!

Friends, fellow blogians, readers and viewers of the world wide web!

Chris and I are writing to you after a crazy cray month of many fall activities. Most that included raking and burning leaves and bobbing for apples. (I'm really good at this...I dare you to challenge me)

Anyway, with all the leaves and apples aside, we are mostly excited for our annual trip to my Dad, Uncle Ross' house for Thanksgiving! He always saves us a special spot next to the creamed corn and my Mom Aunt Linda. A lot of people get confused when I tell them my parents names. They actually are Aunt Linda and Uncle Ross, which is why I like to refer to them by their first names when I talk about them. It's more fun that way. When they are naming me, they thought about naming me Cousin MJ, but they realized that through their many years of name ridicule that that was a bad idea.

None the less, we'll be spending Thanksgiving with Uncle Ross and Aunt Linda, the best parents I could ever ask for. Chris and Uncle Ross always fight over who will win the wishbone tug of war. It usually ends up being Aunt Linda, don't know how that even works. She's got some sort of supernatural powers. Too bad those genes didn't pass on to me.

Our trip to Uncles Ross and Aunt Linda's would not be complete without the annual game of "Guess My Age". This game started a few years back when Uncle Ross forgot how old he was and asked everybody to ...guess his age. He gave us a few clues about his life to help us out. Clues like how many times he has been to summer camp, how many children he has, how many sandwiches he had eaten in his life...stuff like that. We all put number in a hat and then he finally did the math to figure out how old he really was. We would then take a look at the numbers and whoever's guess was the closets got "For He's (or She's) a Jolly Good Fellow" sung to them 5x, speeding up each time (this is including the "which nobody can deny" part, mind you). Each year we try and guess Uncle Ross' age again. For some reason we always forget from last year and for some reason, it's always a mystery.

So, yeah, that's about it. I just love the little traditions that having a family and being married can bring up. It just warms the soul, just like a dancing candle.

Halloween!

Happy Halloween! MJ and I were so excited to celebrate this holiday as a married couple for the first time ever! We went to one of Zach's famous parties and it was a lot of fun. More on that later.

This year, MJ and I decided to dress up as people who were inspirations to us. MJ dressed up as a pencil sharpener, which... yeah, I don't really know what the story is on that one. You'd have to ask her. I went as a receipt for a $16.95 shopping trip on which I saved $4.00. That was really inspirational to me because I bought cereal and milk that day. Breakfast!

Incidentally, most people just throw away their receipts, but those are easily recycled. We use them to make boxes for kittens.

Anyway, I'm posting a picture of our costumes. MJ's was so realistic, she looked just like a pencil sharpener! I pretty much just wore a white shirt and had to explain it to people, but you know, that's what makes halloween fun. Anything that involves long explanations is my kind of holiday (that's why I love Armistice Day).

We had lots of adorable trick-or-treaters. When I lived alone I never gave candy out because I just thought it was so awkward... you know, they say, "trick or treat!" and then I would never know what to say... I would invariably just apologize for not wearing a costume or ask how their day was. But MJ was super enthused about it, so I went along. Besides, when most people opened the door I think they ignorantly just assumed I wasn't wearing a costume, so MJ ended up doing all the talking. I'm fine with that. After it got dark and the kids were too afraid of getting mauled to come by the house, we went to Zach's famous party. More on that later.

Well I guess that's all there is to say for now!

Check out our costumes:

Engagement Photos!

HI HI HI! Since Chris and I are just putting this blog together, I HAD to put up these pictures back from when we got engaged! Since we met where we went to school at the LeatherNeck's Headquarters, we decided to get our pictures taken there, right on campus. One of our History professors, Jenny Le, took the pictures. She has an ear for photography and takes a lot of professional pictures for students. They turned out really awesome and we just wanted to share them with you!



fall: our favorite time of season(z)!






like a rock, oooooh like a rock.



what a day it was!



reinacting "the" moment



chalk it up.



sangin, playin



I love a piano- great shot!



isn't that just the sweetest?

How we got engaged

Chris:

MJ and I had been dating for 2 years, and I had finally told her my name. I was afraid that would "ruin the mystery", but instead, it didn't.

I knew it was the right time.

By now I had taken Zach's job sorting at the local Walla Walla recycling plant. I was so good, you could tell me the number inside the little triangle thingy on the bottom of your plastics and I could tell you in 30 seconds (give or take) if it was recyclable. And I don't even work in the plastics department!

Anyway, one day in the fall I took MJ to the recycling plant for a "tour." That's actually what it was, so I probably shouldn't put it in parenthesis. At the end of the tour, I took her to look at the pile of green glass bottles near where I worked in the back. I picked one up and asked her to break it. She looked at me funny... I think she might have suspected something. But thank God she didn't ask any questions, and smashed the bottle on the worktable... the ring went flying across the floor. It was a truly romantic moment.

I of course got down on one knee and properly asked her to marry me. She said yes and cried for a while, then I asked her to leave because my shift wasn't quite over yet.

MJ:

The day started like any other, but it wasn't any other day! It was the day I would be engaged to be married! To Whom, I did not know. I actually never found out his name untill we got engaged. Every day when we would polish our toe nails, I would guess what his name was. Some of my favorites were Jim Bob, Slappy and Clarence. Someone; please tell me that he looks like a Clarence. Throw me a bone or something!

Anyway, I was rolling by Zach's ole recycling place when Zach runs out and jumps on my car. "What the heck?" I thought. Zach was a good friend of mine. We met in Sunday school when I was 6 years old. Turns out that he and the man I was dating (still didn't know his name) were roomates. Back to the story, Zach jumped on my car in a panic. I rolled down my window and asked Zach what the deal was. He yelled out "Yams the recycling plant's dog, just had puppies!". Zach knew how much of a sucker I was for puppies. My room in covered in puppy posters.

My ears immediatly perked up. I parked my car in the handicapped spot and ran into the plant. I saw the man I was dating sorting green bottles and I yelled to him "Hey, have you seen Yams?". He told me that he hadn't seen her all day. I was pissed, Zach had lied to me! So there I was venting to the man I was dating about how angry I was that I wasn't going to see puppies. I stomped my foot and accidently broke a green glass bottle. "OWWWW!" I cried out, and actually started crying. A piece of glass got wegged in the sole of my foot! The man I was dated just stood there and picked up something that fell out of the glass bottle. He held it up to me and told me to look at it. I was too upset about not seeing puppies and THEN getting glass in my foot! FML! I was NOT in any mood to look up at him. Then he said "Look, it's Yams and her puppies!". I opened my eyes to see him standing there with a single, solitary ring. I was confused...he just starred at me. Then me put it on my hand and said "My name is Chris-let's get married". How could I say no?!?! He revealed to me his biggest secret, his NAME! I was so honored. My life has not been the same since!

How we met

Chris:

There I was. It was 2006, the year of the dragon. Although still a student at WIU (go leathernecks!), I was visiting Walla Walla university in Washington for a series of seminars. I don't even remember what the seminars were about (statistical research methods); I just remember I met the most amazing person of my life there.

That person's name was Mari Jo. One day I was at some meet-and-greet thing, standing around awkwardly, not sure who to talk to. I saw some chick approaching me; at first I thought she was wearing glasses, but then I realized she wasn't. Yeah, I don't know why I thought that.

She introduced herself as MJ. "How intriguing", I thought, "This person who I thought was wearing glasses, has for her name the first two letters of the alphabet." I must have been pretty wasted.

She stared at me. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

"No." I replied. From that point on, I knew 1) My name was Chris 2) I would wear a green shirt the next day and 3) we were going to get married eventually.

Incidentally, later that day I met my now good friend Zach, who ignited my passion for properly sorted recylables. Yeah, Zach's a great guy.

MJ:

How did we meet? Oh, I remember that day like is was any other, but it wasn't! It was the day I would meet the ONE. Well, it started like any other, woke up and fed my picher plants, mowed the lawn and made meat loaf. I do this every day...who doesn't like meat loaf? It's actually become a passion of mine. Families whose houses burn down lose their meat and materials to make meat loafs, so that's where I come in. They call me the meat loaf lady. But, that's beside the point, we're talking about my husband!

Well, I was at this seminar for those recovering after their houses burn down. Since, it's my forte, I brought my meat loaf on a cart. My business partner Gail and I set up a booth right next to the fire detectors. We were working hard, supplying meat loaf for families and others too. We just share the wealth. I noticed a man standing in the back of the room, sort of twiddling his thumbs. He looked like he had no idea where the meat loaf was. I could tell that he was smelling it, but seemed to to blind to the fact that we were giving it away.

Me, being the go getter that I am, slapped a piece of meat loaf on a paper plate and ran over to this strange, but intriguing man. "Hi!" I said. He nodded his head. "You like meat loaf?" I asked. "Who doesn't?" he replied as he took the fork I gave him and dug right in. The way he did that told me that he meant business, and I liked that. And he was wearing a Fraggle Rock T shirt, did he even know that was my favorite show growing up?! Not a clue. We struck up a short conversation about Fraggles and then he said that he had to go home and take care of his ferrets. Quick and smooth as ever, I slipped him my meat loaf card and told him to contact me with any meat needs or if he knew anyone who's house is burning down. Let's just say that his house burned down a few weeks later and he called me to help. I was honored and glad that he called me in his time of need. When I went to his house, I found a small pile of brush and a single flame with a house that was obviously still standing. I told him that if he wanted to see me again, he could have just asked me out. So he did. We took a trip to the grocery store the next day and it was official. Ever since then we spent every free moment together.