Appreciating it all.

I almost made today like every other. I woke up, was going to get to work on the kitchen. Probably complain a little about how hot it was. Probably sit here and wish that these dang cabinets were already painted. I almost took advantage of the fact that I get to work on the kitchen today. I almost took advantage of the fact that I'm able to use a little elbow grease. I almost forgot how blessed my life is.

See there are these three tiles in our entryway that have kind of "wiggled" for as long as we've been here. Every time you step on them you kind of hear them hit the mortar underneath them that they must have separated from. Well in the last couple weeks, it's made the grout around them start cracking and coming up in little pieces. Kind of obnoxious and really ugly. Well last night, Levi decided to fix it. And by last night I mean right about the time I threw on my PJ's and was pretty ready to crash out. So I fixated myself on sleep and laid down to you know, make a point or something. A few minutes into the project I hear his little voice. "Babe, where you at?" I look up, a little bit set still on my heavy eyelids, and mumbled a bitter, "What?" He repeats himself, "Where you at? You're usually right here with me on stuff like this." A little bit chagrined [and secretly dreading him asking me to mix him up some mortar or something], I say something about not thinking he needed my help on this particular project. He says, "Of course I need your help!" Then, when I dreading the response asked him what he needed, he came back with this.

"I need someone to say, 'Phew! Looks like a tough spot!' or 'Nice! It's lookin' better already!' then I'm going to need someone to hi-five when I get all done!"

At that point, I paused. I closed my eyes, counted to ten and reminded myself who fully I love my life. I ran over the list of all my favorite moments with Levi. Going to buy a lawn mower and some flowers, sitting outside planting while he cut the grass. Barely surviving under the weight as I held up ceiling fans and he attached the wires. Levi and I have done a lot of really fun things, but doing the little things together? Remembering to appreciate the not-so-obviously "fun" projects that we get to do right next to each other?


That is something I never want to lose. That is one of the main reasons I even started this blog. Those are the moments that make us, us.

Sorry babe, how about I paint some cabinets while you sand some edges today? Thanks for the reminder that life is better together. Love you more than grout floats and lemony baked carrots.

The BIRTHDAY Boi.

Please welcome the studliest, most determined, ever so accomplished, most DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, seriously intuitive, understanding and devoted BABE of a man into the land of the 30s.
[Drumroll Please.]
[Redoble, por favor.]

LEVI CHELL ROBERTS.

Oops, sorry girls. Let's try this again...

LEVI CHELL ROBERTS!

Oh, my BAD again! I could swear his face was in one of these...Last try now...

The One, The ONLY

LEVI CHELL ROBERTS!

Mmm, finally. My sweet, contemplative man.

As excited as I am to get to celebrate this man of mine, I won't lie. The Joey inside of him is definitely coming out. So if you could click that little "Comment" button below and leave him some birthday love that would be just stellar of you. Have a great day, friends!

Dear Levi:

You are the brownie to my batter and the icing to my cake. THANK YOU for letting me get to be the one to love you on your day. Do you remember telling me that you'll be able to cope just fine as long as I keep calling you my stud? You can expect to be held to that. Cause I just love you, stud. Happy Freakin' Birthday.

Love, Amalie

PS: It's okay if you feel a little funny celebrating you because it feels oh, so normal to me. LOVE you!

One sweet gentle reminder later and she's back in the game!

"Baby! You gotsa come back to the blog real soon. I know you've been hard at learning
Spanish and reading up on classic novels lately which is so impressive and I'm so super duper proud of you and I definitely don't want you to stop any of that awesomeness but if you get a free minute, just maybe one or two, could you perhaps just possible maybe pretty pretty please blog a little for me sometime soon. :) Pwease? PS... I love you."

Says the boy in a comment on my last blog post. Tell me people, how, oh HOW are you supposed to say no to a sweet gentle reminder like that?? I mean, you can only imagine the poor, wide-eyed, quivering-lip sort of face that he made with it. [In fact I was already asleep when he wrote that so I can only even imagine it right along with you, but, I imagine it was pretty heart-wrenching.] Something like the look that Arwen gives Aragorn as he rides out of sight, no doubt. Something like that just can't go ignored.

So what do you think people? Is there room enough in this vast blogging world for me to jump back in? Hmm...what did you miss?

You missed the concrete-ing of the pool! Here's Levi checking it out right after they finished it. It is SO pretty. We are really really excited for them to start making it beautiful this week. Eek eek eek.

You also missed the boy and I trying to set the world record of longest period of time in between grocery shopping trips. I imagine those days the "Today I Love" posts would have gone something like this:

Today I Love: eating cereal for three meals a day. Cutting off a hunk of cheese when I feel like I need some protein. Reading stories of people in prison living off of dried crusts of bread and slop and being jealous. Finding new and improved ways to cook the ever-versatile vegetable....the potato. And accidentally being the discover-er of the most effective diet created to date - the We're Too Lazy To Go To The Grocery Store diet.

Then, after the world record largest shopping trip of both of our lives last night, I would have sounded something like this:

Today I Love: HAVING FOOD!

Let's see, you missed  the almost break-down Levi had when I got my hurr did the other day. Admittedly, it looked real real bad before. I let it grow out for way too long and it had like three different levels of roots showing, the layers were meeting up with each other and having little power-wars all over my head. Not kidding, it was like the middle east up there. So, when I finally went down to get it done, I told my friend Megan I wanted it really different. We added a lot of blonde and made it shorter and summery-er and fun-er. I even stopped by Ulta on the way home and loaded myself up on texturizer and wax and I finally replaced my [God bless it's little heart.] straightener with a nice, reliable CHI-babay. When I got home, Levi came bounding down the stairs and stopped short at the bottom. Trying to make the transition smooth, he walked towards me smiling and said something like, "Wow! So different!" but I'm sure I'm not alone in this world of self-criticizing-women when I say that "different" isn't exactly the compliment we're looking for when we make a change like this. I hurried into the bathroom and started straightening some of the ends out a bit and doing it more how I would probably end up doing it on a day to day basis and he followed me in and quickly answered YES to all my "So do you like it?" type questions. It wasn't until the next couple days passed that I got the actual reason for his hesitance out of him.

Apparently, I look older. Older and wiser I suppose because he finally stopped me in the middle of a game of pool and told me how intimidated he was by me now. He said that this new hair was like a whole new me and he was just hoping that the "New Me" still loves wittle him. How ADORABLE is he? I of course, quickly assured him that underneath it all I was still just Amalie. Amalie who is madly in love with Levi. Since then he's been talking quite a bit more about rings and white dresses and things of that nature so in my humble opinion? New Hair WIN.

You also missed a couple days ago when I was doing the dishes and childishly and girlishly imagining in my head that I had a little toddler running around "helping me put them away" when in my imaginative world the little guy dropped a dish and it broke. I was just imagining how Levi and I would react to this when I dropped a pan myself. I chipped the handle on it and I reacted probably pretty close to how the little toddler in my dreamland would have. "LEVII'MSORRYLEVII'MSORRYLEVII'MSORRY!" he came in and laughed. "It happens baby. Should we risk gluing it back on or just leave it?" "LEVI I'M SORRY LEVI I'M SORRY." Another little laugh. "You can just put it back I don't think we'll worry about it." He put the chip in a drawer, kissed me on the cheek, and went back to what he was doing.

Sigh. My children are going to have such a stellar father.

There's another couple weeks worth of things you missed of course, but in order to not over-load anyone with explosions of love and cute-boy-moves, I'll try to spread them out over the next little while. For today, I'm pretty sure there's no question as to how this post should end. Here's what I love today.


Today I Love: the creator of Skittles [who I sincerely hope get's a fruit basket and a kiss every day of his blessed life]. I love all the fruit that make up the flavors of things like Skittles and Starburst and the like and I love it even more when they're all in season making packs of strawberries at Wal-Mart only 80 whopping cents! [That's not a joke people - I will totally understand if you stop reading right here to go stock up!] I love the things the boy gets excited about like peg boards and having toilet bowl cleaner on hand. I also love that he knows the line between being indulgent and being realistic and he knows that needing to purchase a little Hot Wheels car for us to roll back and forth while playing poker or eating dinner is COMPLETELY realistic and unarguably necessary. I love that he humors me when I speak Spanish to him. I love that he realizes the little moments that are important to me and he takes the time to enjoy them with me. I love that he knows the things that make me happy and that he pushes me to strive for them. I love that I get to spend every day with my best friend.

 

Dear Levi,

Thanks for the reminder. Love you more than Red Wheat Puffed Cereal, Jicama, and poker-chip Hot Wheels tracks. How about a couple games of pool tonight with a daring and exhilarating reward system?

Love, Me

Today I Love

Today I Love that my boyfriend is not above playing catch with his dad and his girlfriend. I love that he's okay with giving my ego a little boost by backing up while I get ready to throw the ball back to him [cause we all know that that is necessary]! I love love that he's so reliant on himself to show his love to his family and I love love LOVE getting to listen to his dad and him go back and forth with stories from "back in the day..." [Especially when they're mostly about how much of a STUD my boyfriend has alwayyyys been. Sigh. I'm so hopelessly in love.]. Really I just love watching him and his dad together. They are seriously the best.

Today we love the feeling of content we get just from being together.

You know, while we were playing today I realized that I'm pretty sure the last time I played catch was with this same boy three years ago. It was one of our random little "meet-me-here" dates. Last time, if one of us dropped the ball we both ran after it, and once, while Levi was hoarding the ball, I told him that I'd hold his hand all the way across the field if he gave it back to me. He did. Double WIN.

Sure am glad we're finally past having to find excuses to hold hands baby! Thanks for being so much fun. You are the BEST best friend in the entire world. Happy Easter. I love you.

A month I love.

Hello Bloggers. Happy Aprill. 

[I'm fully aware Aprill is spelled with only one "L" but I had this friend in school named Aprill with two, and I just like that better.]

I love this month, would you like to know why?

Would you like to read an excerpt [or two or three or five] from my journal? 

[Don't get too excited, YOU don't get to choose the excerpt[s].]

This is the kind of thing I was writing this time last year. In Utah.

"As a sidenote. I am seriously crushing on Levi Chell Roberts. You know, the boy I'm going to Seattle with in like two weeks? This trip is going to be so much fun! To be honest...I'm sort of wishing we lived closer to each other. I think it would be such a blast. This weekend...I miss having a [close] boy."

"Here is my favorite text convo for the day: Levi - Woulda been fun to take my girlfriend Amalie to my dads for dinner today ;) Amalie - Aw, woulda been fun to be there with mah boyfriend Levi Chell! What'd we have? Levi - I don't remember! I couldn't stop checking you out! Amalie - I'm thinking I love being your girlfriend. :) Levi - Me too! Don't stop babe. I'd miss u too much. [END TEXTING.] He is seriously such a doll! He makes me super excited."

"I so can not wait to be in Seattle with Levi! I love how he always thinks of me. He's always sending me texts telling me to come with him to this or that... I'm crushing so hard. It's going to be INCREDIBLE when we're face to face."

This month, was the last month last year that Levi was "just a crush". Wanna read some current entries?

"Geez! He's just so ridiculously perfect. In so many ways. I can't get enough of the boy. He called me his lucky charm today. Umm, cute. Sometimes I think back to Seattle and remember now hew and exciting things were. But the thing is...I never miss it. I don't feel like I have to because life with Levi is still exciting. We still love each other completely and love showing each other that love. This will so, never, get old."

"He makes me feel so good about where I'm at, yet so capable of doing so much more. He makes sure I know how much he loves having me here, he still tries to get to know me better, he's interested in what I"m interested in. He's so amazing. So many things I love about him that I wouldn't have even thought to put on my 'What I want in a Boy' list years ago. Geez. I'm so smitten by him lately."

One entire year later and I still haven't been able to stop writing about how adorable he is.

Dear Levi,

This month one year ago you were nothing but a crush. Now I love you more than Snowflakes and Bacon Cheesers. Let's make this another hella good year.

Love, Me

Learnin' somethin' every day.

This morning, boy and I ate an artichoke. [Keep ye in mind that this is actually our evening. We've been up since yesterday afternoon. Sleep soon? Yes yes.] Boy and I eat artichokes differently. Boy mixes mayo and lemon, I mix butter and lemon. Unfortunately, upon finishing the cooking stage of said artichoke, boy realized we were out of his Real Foods Real Mayonnaise! I naively pointed out that I had just gotten a big jar of Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil and that it was virtually the same thing. He [trying desperately to be appreciative, bless his heart] tentatively mixed some of it together with lemon. Three bites later we were headed for Frys.

In conclusion, Real Foods > Kraft. Lesson learned.

Here is what I love. I love learning him. Since things like sandwich condiment brands could really matter less to me, I love learning that it does to him. I didn't know that a year ago. Really there was so much that I didn't know the day Levi took this picture.

I certainly didn't know he was about to kiss me [Of course according to him, he didn't either. Right.] I didn't know yet that I would soon be madly [and hopelessly and pathetically and desperately and perfectly] in love with him. I didn't know that he preferred Chocolate Instant Breakfast over Nestle's Chocolate Milk. I didn't know that Knotts with seeds is his favorite to put on English Muffins. I didn't even know that he abhorred onions [and once you know Levi, that's something you learn really quickly].

Now, after this morning, if you and I were to go grocery shopping, and I had mayonnaise on my list, I could puff out my chest and proudly head to the Best Foods section, explaining to you confidently that "that, is what the boy prefers". Tell me people, really, could there be a more valuable life lesson to be learned? I am here to tell you. There most definitely, is NOT.

Dear Levi,
Love you more than artichoke hearts and newly-hemmed shorts. Let's never stop learning each other.
Love, Me

Just call me Levi's Girlfriend.

I went down to Fresh and Easy today to grab some milk while Levi tried to get some work done outside before the sun went down. As I checked out, one of the boys who seems to be working every time we're there stopped me, "Where's' your second half?" he said with a smile on his face. "I know, right? He had to stay home and get some work done today." "Aw, well tell him I say not to work too hard." He gave me a little wave, and headed off to clean up the Greek Yogurt display [which had recently been traumatized by some rather rambunctious little younglings who by the looks of things were confusing the plastic cups with hand grenades.]

Can I just say how much ridiculous joy I get from knowing people associate me with Levi Chell Roberts?

You know how while you're growing up, if you have like, Miss Everybody Knows Her as a sister, or you become friends with Popular Mcgee at some point, and you say hi to someone who knows one of them, they're like, "Oh, you're Miss Everybody Knows Her's sister, right?" or, "Oh, I've seen you with Popular Mcgee, haven't I?" and you hate it with a passion and decide you'd just rather nobody even know you?

Well that is NOT what this is like. Not even a little bit. This is like, if everywhere I went for the rest of my life, every single person referred to me as Levi's girlfriend and no one ever even said my name again, I would be such a happy little duck. In fact, it would be quite an honor.

In fact, from now on, if you would be so kind as to start just calling me Levi's Girlfriend, that'd be great!

Dear Mr. Roberts,
I'm the other half of your Peanut Butter Mood, the other half of your Sweet Pork Salad, the other half of your Honey Lime Enchiladas, and I love it all. Let's never stop finding things to share!
Love, Me