Happy Birthday Greg!!

"Happy Birth Moment" Greg! - Dwight Schrute

My husband is 31 today
...so here are...

31 Things I Love About Greg!


1. I love how he can sit at a piano and play
incredible melodies right off the cuff.



2. I love how he can blow bubbles because of the retainer in his mouth.

3. I love that he can teach himself how to do anything just by research
like build a shed, install new heads on an F-body, or put in a wood floor.


4. I love how he can play any sport and look good doing it.






5. I love how competitive he is no matter what we are doing;
canoing, playing cards, or just hanging out in the pool.



6. I love that he does not wear unnecessary jewelry or cologne.
He wears a watch and wedding ring, that's it, simple.

7. I love that he is extremely intelligent, yet very humble about it.

8. I love that he will pose and take a picture of us but not tell me the ridiculous face that he's making, only to make me crack up laughing later.



9. I love how he has watched every episode AND reruns of all the popular 90's sitcoms and that he titles this as the "Best Picture of All Time".


10. I love that he is a genuinely funny person and can make anyone laugh, especially me, pretty much every day of my life.

11. I love that he is who he is and he's comfortable in his own skin.
No one is going to coerce him to eat chocolate or drink coffee, not even me!

12. I love how he can find something positive in the worst of situations
and even the worst of people.

13. I love that he treats his password as sacred and unspoken.
Even when it's just the two of us, I'm prohibited from saying it out loud.
Just the fact that I've written about this has him squirming in his seat.

14. I love that he is fiercely loyal to his friends and to the teams he roots for,
no matter how the season is going. Go Cowboys and Hook 'Em Horns!

15. I love that he is a man of integrity especially when it comes to his work ethic.

16. I love that he embraces my family and loves them like they are his own.


17. I love how he throws a bowling ball...rather catapults a bowling ball.
If you haven't seen it in person, ask us out for bowling!


18. I love how he dances to Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' when
we have something big to celebrate.

19. I love that he is a drummer but that he can also pick up any
other instrument and learn how to play it.




20. I love that he is a team player and will make
sacrifices for the team when it's necessary.

21. I love that he is a Man's man.
He'll sweat, not shower and think it's perfectly fine.
And he also thinks swimming is equivalent to a shower.
No metro-sexual here!


22. I love that he cut's his own hair just to save money but doesn't
mind that I'll spend an arm & leg to get mine done.

23. I love how he looks like Sling Blade walking down the street
after getting motion sickness from reading in the car.


24. I love that he loves God and wants to do what's right just because.

25. I love how he always knows what direction we are facing and
can drive us anywhere across the country without getting lost.

26. I love how he works tirelessly every time we move until he just passes out, wherever he is and in the middle of whatever he's doing.


27. I love that he has a good eye and can take an awesome picture.



28. I love that he doesn't make rash decisions but after careful thought
and consideration, he'll give something a try.


29. I love that he'll hike with me, even though he'd rather be jetsking!



30. I love how even though it's my dream, he will come alongside
and join me like it's his dream too.


31. I love that I'm already at 31 and I could keep going!!



Happy Birthday Greg!

Nathan's Birthday Party

We had Nathan's 2 yr birthday party last Saturday at a park called Playtopia which is like a Disneyland for little kids. It's a huge park with 3 different themed play areas;

There's Critter Land with climbing rocks & desert animals in the sand, sorry I didn't capture a single picture of this area. Then there is City Land with an intricately designed sidewalk painted roadway for ride on toys and tricycles.

And lastly theres Farm Land with this huge covered (for hot summers) playground structure for kids.

This is what our weather was like on February 6th and that's Greg wearing shorts. (Yes, I'm rubbing it in!)

We were fortunate enough to reserve the Cork Oak pavilion literally the week of...my party planning became a debacle - it's a long story why I was so late getting this reserved!

We gave Nathan this Radio Flyer tricycle which was a big hit for him and us! His feet don't quite reach the pedals but the handle in the back allows us to push him AND steer him in the direction we want to go. Thank you Grandpa Jack & Ann for the Christmas money and to Uncle Jimmy & Melissa for the Target card from Christmas, which we used to get Nathan's birthday present!

Maysen, being the ever sweet friend to Nathan, helped him out and pushed him down the sidewalk and she only started walking a short time ago!

I actually made Nathan's cake because Greg distinctly remember his dad making all of his birthday cakes, it was their own tradition, which I think is endearing. So I thought I would give it a try. Two of the layers came apart on the drive to the park though and Greg joked that 'our house was divided'.

Turns out Nathan loves Strawberry Cake...he should- it's a Hull favorite!

Nathan is beginning to understand opening presents but he's gun-shy and doesn't really tear into them so we have to give him a lot of help. What do you want to bet by next year, he won't need any help at all?

Then we just played and had fun on the playground, probably Nathan's favorite part of the day!

The preproduction to Nathan's party had Greg and I both assembling our pieces for the party.
Dad's job is to assemble the toys...I was way to late getting a picture of Greg putting this tricycle together, it was in a hundred pieces before this picture. At this stage, he was finishing the pole that goes in the back.

Mom's job is to do everything else. Like get the supplies together for the party and/or make the cake! This is a picture of everything I needed to make the Barn cake.

This being my first attempt at cake decorating, I wasn't sure how much icing I would need...it seems I overestimated. I had ton's of icing leftover, in fact this picture is what was left!

Here's the cake...I can't believe I made this!

The writing on the back turned out a little scary though.
Greg and I thought it looked like Halloween writing, kinda creepy!

As a sidenote, I received two copies of this book for my birthday (Sunday) from 2 different friends. Either they are trying to help me in my photography endeavor or they are trying to tell me they think I'm a dummy! Hmmm....

Project 365 - January

I've gotten sucked into something called Project 365. It's Becky Higgins’ January Kit of the Month. I don't have the kit but I want it....badly. But even without the kit, I'm still participating in Project 365 along with many others who were not able to get the kit either. I'm hoping that Creating Keepsakes has a reprint and I'll be able to get one....

I can just hear you asking... 'WHAT are you talking about?"

Who is Becky Higgins?

• She is a celebrity scrapbooker, seriously. I have her autograph and my picture with her. Here it is:

What is the 'Kit of the Month'?

• Creating Keepsakes creates and sells a 'Kit of the Month' designed by a well known scrapbooker and the scrapbooking community goes nuts the day it goes on sale.
  

Who is 'Creating Keepsakes'?

• Creating Keepsakes is a huge presence in the scrapbooking industry. They publish magazines and books. They have a product line, they hold annual conventions, much, much more.
  

How big is 'scrapbooking' ?

• CK created 7,000 Project 365 kits and they sold out in 3 hours. 7,000 kits x $35.95 per kit = $251,650. Don't you just WISH you could make $250K in 3 hours?!

• It's not just a hobbyist community, its a cult. We have magazines, conventions, classes, stores, celebrities, and contests...GOOD contests. Scrapbooker of the Year wins $10,000 cash, plus other prizes AND a 2 year contract with Creating Keepsakes. I liken the community of scrapbookers to that of Star Wars fans who dress up in character at Star Wars movie premiers, just a little obsessed...except we are worse, actually we are more like the people in New York on Black Friday who trampled other people to get into Walmart. We would do that if it was scrapbook related!

So what is 'Project 365'?

• The concept of Project 365 is to preserve a piece of your life every day this year. Traditional scrapbooks typically focus on events/trips/special occasions with decorated and designed pages...but all the everyday stuff that really makes up our LIVES gets lost between the pages. Project 365 is about capturing and recording ordinary everyday life. Every day, every week, every month…all year long. If you are interested, here is more information about Project 365. Here is an example of what a week would look like, if I had the kit:

Naturally, I'm late. I didn't decide to participate in this project until Wednesday, Jan 28th but I'm not letting this small detail deter me! What this post was originally about was to share what I've been able to capture for January 2009. I don't have any supplies to pull this together so for right now my Project 365 is digital, right here, until I can get the materials I need.

Here's what I've got for January, Project 365 by Julia Hull!

1/1/Thursday - 4th annual New Years Day Brunch, had a great time and great food with friends this year!

1/3/Saturday - The Hulls & Staffeldts drive an hour away just to eat at a Texas icon which can now be found in Scottsdale, Arizona-Dickie's BBQ, yummm, good food!!
1/4/Sunday - Nathan going down the slide in Rock Eternal's nursery, Crazy Aunt Lynn was there so Nathan was completely content! awwww......
1/8/Thursday - Happy 1 Week Birthday Eli!1/10/Saturday - The girls and I went shopping at Party City for the Reitzel's upcoming baby shower and couldn't resist this silly shot!

1/15/Thursday - Finished Eli's scrapbook for the shower, can't wait to give it to the Reitzels!
1/16/Friday - Josh and Julia enjoy dinner at 5 and Diner. Lynn, Greg and Nathan didn't. So we picked up a Schnepf Farms apple pie on the way home to make it up to Greg. Lynn and Nathan were just out of luck!

1/17/Saturday - Reitzel baby shower. A little bit of fun, games, chaos & mayhem made a great baby shower!
1/18/Sunday - Here I am taking pictures of Nathan's feet again, trying to get a fun shot for Nathan's birthday invitations......
1/20/Tuesday - Inauguration Day, I watch Barack Obama, stumble through the swearing in ceremony on CNNlive.com while I work at my desk.
1/21/Thursday- Rocco, the neighbors dog, who I am convinced is trying to drive me insane with his incessant barking the MINUTE I lay on the couch! (photo taken from 2nd floor screened window)
1/23/Friday - Sometimes I don't even recognize my house anymore, my kitchen table looked like this for DAYS....DAYS! I used to be so spic and span, neat & tidy...what has happened to me?
1/24/Saturday - Greg and Nathan both daydreaming about being on the water...
1/25/Sunday - I worked with the 3 yr olds at church with my official volunteer badge. Whew - so glad I passed the background check! ;)

1/26/Monday - Nathan playing with his workbench and safety goggles atop his head. Whenever I shout 'Safety first!' he giggles.
1/27/Tuesday - Greg and I watched 'The Davinci Code' with Tom Hanks. Our commentary went something like this.

Julia: "I can't believe all the controversary that took place around this...it's just a movie."
Greg:"Yeah, it's not like I really believe someone turned a DeLorean into a time machine!"
(Back to the Future analogy)

He cracks me up!
1/28/Wednesday - Greg dressed up for his part-time job interview at the SRP call center in Queen Creek. It didn't work out because the training would take place during regular working hours, interfering with Greg's full time job...but I give Greg credit, it was a good idea!
1/29/Thursday - Ping Pong, Greg whoops up on some friends WHILE holding Nathan at the same time! Whose the man? I say, WHOSE THE MAN? GREG IS!!

1/30/Friday - We take the day off from work and dedicate the time to working at our home group's Benefit Garage Sale.


1/31/Saturday - We finished up the garage sale and since I wasn't in charge of pricing, we made $410! Then I took family pictures for the Fifields later in the afternoon.

And that's it, that's what I've got for January 2009!