HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

For past Valentine's days, Brad and I have never felt inclined to make too huge of a deal about the day or to spend gobs of money. A typical V-day for us is a nice date (not unlike the other dates we go on throughout the year) and maybe a small gift if we really get into it. This Valentine's day was similar, but there was just something about the day this year that was different than past years. We decided this year (and I think we will make this a tradition) that instead of getting presents for each other for Valentine's Day, we would instead do something really nice for the other that we maybe wouldn't do normally. I made Brad breakfast in bed this morning, and, after cooking a wonderful and delicious meal together tonight for dinner (that involved dirtying many dishes), Brad cleaned the entire kitchen as his something nice for me. It was great! We both enjoyed doing this because we put as much thought into the "nice thing" as we would have for buying a gift, so we felt just as loved. And since we are saving for a house and eventually a family, we thought this idea even more exquisite. The nice thing Brad did for me tonight (which was super nice as I really didn't feel like cleaning up after dinner) made me think of all the nice things Brad does for me every other day of the year...

I got to thinking how blessed I have been and how grateful I am to have such a wonderful husband who loves me and actually wants to do nice things for me. Now, I will spare you (most of) the mushy stuff, but I surely wanted it to be known (mostly by my husband) that I really love him. It has been a quick 3 and a half years, and I am looking forward to many more great years still to come. I am so excited to discover what we have in store in our future together.

Happy Valentine's Day, Love!


This is what love looks like. :)



This is the yummy dinner we cooked together for our special Valentine's Day. We grilled baby back ribs, made sour cream potatoes (our favorite), bought my favorite salad from Costco, and drank Pomegranate Cherry Crystal Light. For dessert we had Love Potion #31 ice cream from Baskin Robbins (think vanilla ice cream with white chocolate and rasberry swirls with dark chocolate hearts filled with rasberry filling). It was all delicious!

We're famous!!

So I was casually flipping channels last night and came across a news station showing "Live Breaking News" of a low-speed pursuit on the 405 Freeway southbound. Out of curiosity, I decided to watch a little longer to see if the driver of the white Bentley Flying Spur (a $100,000+ car w/ a top speed of 194 mph) was anywhere near us in El Segundo. When the news man said the driver was passing LAX, I got kind of excited... that's right by us! I watched a little longer to see the driver merge onto the 105 westbound (the freeway we take to get home from the 405) then exit on Sepulveda South - that's our exit! I ran to the window just in time to see him drive by our apartment building (1 block east of us) on Sepulveda followed by 5, or so, cop cars. I opened the window to hear the sirens driving by and 4 helicopters (3 news and 1 police) circling overhead! I ran back to the TV to see the Bentley had turned right on El Segundo Blvd (2 blocks south of us) and then right on Main Street in El Segundo (4 blocks west of us). So he had circled our apartment building, traveled down Main a couple miles until he came to Imperial Highway, he turned left (west) now heading toward the ocean. He then turned left on Vista Del Mar, drove right by Hyperion where I work, and, after traveling a few more miles, turned left on Rosecrans that eventually took him back to the 405 north. He then went back up into LA where the pursuit finally ended a couple hours later.

Apparently the guy, from Chicago, IL, was wanted for assault with a deadly weapon (a gun) on his girlfriend. Thankfully, the chase never accelerated faster than 40 mph and no one, outside of him at the end, was injured. He seemed to be a very polite driver as he even used his blinkers to signal all his turns... very considerate. :) The whole pursuit lasted about 3 hours and he was in El Segundo for about 15 minutes (that's the only part I watched).

If any of you in Southern California were watching the news around 9:30 or 10 p.m. last night, you saw our cute little city, El Segundo! I thought it was very exciting...

Christmas... after Christmas

The biggest Christmas present for Brad and me came after Christmas this year! We would like you all the welcome the newest addition to the Jeppson family! Brad is so proud and hasn't been able to get it off his mind for more than a year. He was unimaginably excited when the day finally came!


Brad said the TV was very lonely... it needed some friends. He tried to convince me we NEEDED them, too. I guess he succeeded? So we also bought a new 52 inch stand for the 52 inch Samsung TV, and the 7.1 Onkyo surround sound system. Like I said, Brad couldn't be prouder of his new baby...

We love movie nights, so who wants to watch a movie?

Christmas and New Years

So, I know it's February, but...

Christmas was fun. Brad and I spent Christmas this year with the Carver family in Orange County. It was a fun-filled weekend of opening presents, eating lots of yummy food, and enjoying the company of my family. It was a short Christmas "break" (wish I still had those from work like I did in school) as I had to work on Christmas Eve, but I did manage to get the Friday after Christmas off. Brad got the entire 2 weeks between Christmas and New Year's Day off due to the "Boeing Shutdown" during the holiday season.

Brad was very thoughtful for Christmas this year. He got me a couple of crocheting books to indulge me in my new hobby (one of them was "Crocheting for Baby," which will hopefully be my second hobby soon :) ), a book - Tales of Beatle the Bard (we are big Harry Potter fans), and a knitting loom for more crocheting/knitting fun. I got Brad the edited version of the movie Gladiator, a video game (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed), and both Man from Snowy River dvds - a couple of his childhood favorites.



Brad's attempt at not getting his picture taken (that's why he's holding the movies so far away from him :).




This is a book Mom gave Dad for Christmas. It is a memory book of our golden retriever, Maguire, who passed away in July of last year. We were all crying on Christmas. We all really miss him. This was the sweetest present any of us received for Christmas this year. Thanks Mommy.



This is the cover I made for Mom for her new bread machine from Dad. Her last one broke because of sun damage so this should help protect it a little.




Mom made the cutest baby blanker for Claire for the baby! It was so soft!




Even the kitties got in on the fun!



My brother-in-law, Sterling, was given four foam dart guns for Christmas from his parents. Those provided several hours of 007 fun!







Making scones Christmas morning.



New Year's Eve was fun as well! We rang in the New Year with Brad's cousin and his wife that live in the apartment below us (Jake and Brook). We had a fun-filled night full of DDR, chicken salad sandwiches, movies, and sparkling cider!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! Even if it is a month late... :)