Valentine's Day

We had the best V-day. I made a huge mess making Christopher dinner, and he woke up extra early today to clean it up. Want to know what I attempted? Filet mignon with bleu cheese, carrot souffle, pan roasted pears served over frisee letttuce, and chocolate molten lava cakes with dulce de leche ice-cream. I gave the dinner a 3.25 out of 4. Christopher gave it 3.99. He says it's because I wouldn't let him give it a 4 but I know better.

Here's the thing. When the lighting was dim, I could tell that the steak was on the rare side. But when we turned the lights on to clear the dishes, my leftover steak was still on my plate and it looked a lot like it did before I took it out of the package....and before I cooked it....yeah. But on the plus side, the carrot souffle was divine, the pears turned out great, and the molten lava cake's weird texture and flavor was drowned out by the hagen daaz ice-cream.

After dinner we watched "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" which sounds spooky but is actually quite romantic. It features a widow who falls in love with a ghost that haunts her seaside cottage. Kind of hard for me to relate but...whatever.

I love that Christopher will wake up extra early to clean the dishes. I love that he knows I prefer tulips to roses, and I love that he washes down raw steak and weird cake with huge gulps of sparkling cider just to spare my feelings. Happy Belated Valentines!

23

Some pictures from my perfect birthday last week.

For the first time in my life, I was living in a place that wan't buried in snow on January 27. We celebrated by driving to a nearby lake and having a picnic. It was beautiful!

We went to our final Duke basketball game and beat Florida State soundly.

When we got back to our apartment after the game, the door was decorated to perfection by our awesome friends Jared and Carolyn. Yep, we all love The Office.

Besides the door being decorated, there was also a cake waiting on the mat. Christopher lit the candle and sang me Happy Birthday "Madson style" even though it was after midnight. If you don't know what "Madson style" is...well, let's just say, the neighbors weren't happy.

The next night, Christopher took my to my favorite restaurant and then to...Mamma Mia! I was in heaven! During the curtain call there was a big sing-along and everyone was belting out songs from the show and waving their arms. It was the funnest moment! I tried my best to get a video, but cameras are strictly forbidden, so I apologize for the poor quality. Just trying to be sneaky. :)

My family gave me the most wonderful gifts, and Christopher has a way of planning things that make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Thanks everybody--you guys are the reason I'm going to love being 23!

Update

Today is the first day in awhile when the temperature hasn't reached above 60. We've been busy hiking, playing with friends, and working on various projects. Christopher has started school but it hasn't really picked up yet, so we still feel like our schedules are very open, especially since the GRE is behind me. Here are some pictures.

This is a canvas Christopher and I painted to go in our living room. I promise that it looks better in real life. We're really proud of it. But I still don't think we can call it a painting, or even a piece of artwork. It's just a nice canvas.

We went hiking along the Eno River Trail at a nearby State Park. It was gorgeous.

But I got tired of taking breaks for pictures. This was the last one we took and then Chris put the camera away. For the best.

lucky shirt

Guys, I took the GRE yesterday. It wasn't fun, and I felt like throwing up at various times throughout the exam, but I did alright! I scored a little higher than I thought I would in the math section, and a little lower in the verbal. Kind of surprising. But my overall score is great, and I am so so relieved to have it behind me.

I credit my success to two things. One-Christopher. He bravely worked on math stuff with me, even when I got frustrated or sad. He quizzed me on vocab words and helped me think of memory tricks for the ones I couldn't ever remember. Sometimes he would read next to me while I studied, just so he could be close when I had a question. For the past week he cooked, cleaned, and did grocery shopping so I could take practice tests. He took me to the testing center yesterday even though it was thirty five minutes into Raleigh, just so I wouldn't get flustered trying to find a new address and place to park.

Two-Christopher's lucky t-shirt. I'm the first person besides Chris to ever put this on. But it has gotten him through the ACT, SAT, GRE, multiple actuarial exams, plus a killer final he took last month in theoretical probability. (Yikes). And seeing as how he has done...well....really great on all of these tests, always wearing his powder blue math shirt, it was really gracious of him to entrust it to me. And I know how dorky this is, but the shirt actually made me feel better during a few moments of the test when I felt hopeless.

Christopher took a picture of me before we left. He was having a rough time getting a smile out of me because duh, I was leaving to take the GRE, and also, truthfully, I felt a little nerdy in his lucky shirt.

Sisters

If there is one thing I love in life, it would have to be my sisters. So when I found out that my sweet niece was going to get a little sister of her own in May, it made me think about how lucky I am to have four of the best.




Congratulations Lacey and Drew!

Nerf

One of the best things about Duke is the generous vacation they give doctoral students. Christopher has an entire month of for winter break, which means that we've been able to hang out together all week. And we've been having fun. I'm using my free time to get ready to take the GRE in just a few days (eek!) and Christopher has been using his free time to watch me get ready to take the GRE. Today when I stopped drilling vocab words to use the bathroom, he allotted me four minutes and then made me get back to it. Seriously.

There is one activity that Christopher always gives me time off for. My littlest sister gave us a Nerf basketball hoop that hooks over the door for Christmas this year. Chris set it up immediately and has been challenging me to one on one games ever since. This morning Christopher killed me while we played a championship game to an NBA style beat on our new keyboard. (PS. He cheats). If anyone is wondering why we just sold our guest bed and mattress, apparently it is because we needed a basketball court instead of a comfortable bedroom for visiting loved ones. Sorry guys.

While I was writing this post, Christopher worked really hard to get a picture of his winning shot.

Back Home

Yes, I've been neglecting my blog this month. I've been in vacation mode and have pretty much ignored my phone and email account for the past few weeks.

But now I'm back in NC. I have so many pictures, and tons of good things to say. I promise. To start, check out this awesome bowl Christopher gave me for Christmas. I showed him a few months ago and promptly forgot about it. But he remembered and I love it!

More to come soon!