I'm Funny

I went on a late dinner run to get us some Wendy's last week. Bryan said he "wanted a giant Diet Coke" since Wendy's has any size drink for $1.00.

Yes, I had to specifically ask for the "smallest cup they had" and a lid to go with it.

Yes, I was giggling even when I said it to the lady at the window.

Yes, she looked at me like I was crazy.

Yes, I left the real Diet Coke in the car when I got home so he'd think this was it.

Yes, I giggled like a little girl all the way home by myself in the car.

Yes, I'm still laughing.

Official Master

He finally has it in his hands! (Well, it's actually in a frame in our room, but it's in our possession.) Yay! You can call him Master Bryan from now on.

It took a lot of hard work, dedication, and willingness to get his degrees. I am so thankful he did it. I am so proud of him. I love him.
Congrats, Master Bryan!!

Happy Birthday, Mooshers!

Happy 23 to Mandy! We love you!!

26 > 25

8:00 AM: I sat down to work to find that Bryan had changed my screen saver to, "Happy birthday, Chandi! I love your guts!!" Even though me & Andlie were so sick all day on my birthday (boo), this made me smile!

12:00 PM: Andlie fell asleep on the couch due to her sickies. (This never happens.)

12:30 PM: Bryan surprised me with beautiful flowers at lunch! Another thing that made me smile even though snot was dripping down my face.

2:00 PM: I finally gave in and called in sick for the rest of the day so I could sleep too.

5:00 PM: I opened my first present from Bryan. It's something I've been needing/wanting for the last few months. I'm so excited to learn the songs!

5:30 PM: We went over to my parents' house. Me & Bryan took our annual birthday picture. Bryan was sneakily making ridiculous faces each shot.

We got a good one though. Isn't he just the hottest thing you've ever laid your eyes on?

6:00 PM: We ate dinner & cake. My Mom made my favorite dinner - homemade pizza. Yum!! (You know your family loves you when your Mom & Dad let you come over to their house to eat and your siblings are all still in attendance [minus the Honduran] even with your drippy-ness and sneezy-ness.)

8:00 PM: I opened the rest of my presents from Bryan & Andlie! I got a cute card, flowers, a running watch, running pants, a Lady Antebellum CD, a piano book, and a jacket. I love them all, but I really love the jacket. I immediately tried it on and struck some poses. (I especially love the one of me in the bathroom where you can see our toilet.)

9:00 PM: Bryan knows that I don't really love cake, but I do love these cupcakes, so he made my perfect cake!

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday special - with phone calls, texts, FaceBook wishes, cards, presents, or homemade pizza (thanks, Mom)! I truly appreciate it! Special shout out to Bryan who made my birthday special and fun even though I had sickies. Horray for birthdays!

Shout Out to Our Plant

A House Plant Surprise

By Chandi Allen

We are really quite proud that you are not dead.

But instead you are bigger than two human heads!

We usually end up growing some shrooms.

But we really hope you continue to bloom!

You got so big, we had to switch pots.

Holy moly! Who would have thought?

Plants in this house usually last only days.

(Seriously, like eleven days maximum.)

But you, little plant, have truly amazed!

Thank you for lasting a whole year plus some!

I'm so happy - I practially want to buy rum!

(And also, quit laughing that this poem is so dumb.)

August 2009:

September 2010:

We Got New Shirts

Dight Dight

I love Andlie. She really is the cutest baby in the world. And the universe. Her bedtime routine might be one of my favorite things she does. No, not because it means she's going to sleep. Because she does such cute things on cue without prompts.

8:30 - Bathtime! Daddy is in charge of this feat. He's more fun than Momma. He lets Andlie splash to her heart's content. Bryan usually ends up just as wet as the tub. Last night, she dumped her entire bucket onto his lap.

9:00 - Diaper change, jammies, brush teeth, and vitamins. After her jammies are on, she runs to the bathroom and says, "tool," and points to the cupboard under the sink. This is how I know that it's time to get her stool out. Then she says, "teef," and points to her toothbrush. She loves her vitamins too. Even though they smell like rotton pee. She always has. Weird.

9:05 - Run into the living room where Dad is sitting in the rocking chair with her "bankie." Climb up on to the ottoman in front of the chair, and jump to Dad. I don't mean a small jump. I mean a jump that takes a "oomph" noise and a swinging of the arms.

9:10 - Bottle. She feeds herself, but has been getting very distracted lately with whatever Daddy's watching on the TV. Tonight, she kept taking her bottle out to say, "boot ball." (Bryan's cheering for the Saints.)

9:20 - TV goes off, Mommy comes over from the computer, and Andlie knows it's time for family prayers. As soon as the TV goes off, she folds her little arms. Then we say the prayer. She participates in the, "amen." ("A-ben.")

9:25 - Off to bed! Bink comes out, she says, "kee-ses," and gives Daddy a big wet one. Then Daddy hands off to Mommy and says, "Night, night, Andlie." Andlie replies, "Dight, dight," and giggles. Daddy says, "Love you!" Andlie replies, "Da do!" More giggles.

9:30 - Mommy carries Andlie to bed and asks for a kiss of her own. Andlie gives another big wet one. If Mommy tries to snuggle with Andlie for too long, Andlie says, "bed," while pointing to the bed. Mommy lies Andlie down and says, "Love you!" Andlie replies, "Da do." Mommy lies "bankie" on Andlie and turns mobile on and Andlie goes to sleep.

12:00 AM - Mommy checks on now sound asleep Andlie one more time and gives her another kiss.

We love you, Andlie! We just can't get enough!

The Fair

Hey, everyone! It's me, Andlie. I had so much fun at The Fair this weekend! I went to a small petting zoo and loved it! I couldn't get enough of the animals!

My ankle wrap didn't even bug me at all and I even stood on my tippy toes so I could see the bunnies, chickens, ducks, and pigs.

I even got to pet a goat and a pig! I liked the goats more. The pig was too big and weird. One time though, I turned around and there was a goat about three inches from my face looking me in the eye and it made me jump and make a sad face and freeze in my tracks. My Mom was laughing right out loud at me. Sheesh.

Then, I went on my first carnival ride! I went on the Carousel! I loved it! Mom told me to hold on tight, so I kept saying, "tight," as I rode the ride.

Then, out of the blue, the stupid ride stopped and I had to get off. I hated that part.

Mandy & Tim decided they wanted to do a big kid ride. We took a picture of them before the ride.

The ride was going so fast that we couldn't even get a picture of it!

Me, Mom, and Dad hung out and saw some cool lights while they were riding. I couldn't even stop touching the lights for a quick picture. They were too interesting.

I think the big kid ride made Mandy & Tim a bit sick-ish. They didn't talk much after they got off and their skin was a little bit whiter than it was when they got on.

I kept asking for the "hosie," so Dad took me on another ride - the giant slide! I loved that too and even asked, "Self?" (That means, "I will do it myself.") Dad ended up going with me, but it was still fun. [Mommy sucks at getting pictures in the dark, so there's not a good one of us coming down.]

Then, I tricked Mom & Dad (with my good looks, cute smile, and darling, tiny voice) into letting me ride the "hosies" again! Dad went with me this time. [Mom & Dad couldn't stop laughing because Mom couldn't get a picture with me in it. Poor Mom & her camera skills.]

I loved the Carousel just as much the second time!

And I hated getting off again.

I'm so happy that I could go to The Fair this weekend! It was so much fun and I'm sure Mommy & Daddy will take me again next year! (I can get them to do whatever I want because I'm so freaking cute and they love me so much.) Hugs and loves to everyone!

Tiny Wrap

We noticed that Andlie had been limping for about a week when I finally took her to the doctor on Thursday. Since she started crying the instant I took her clothes off to be weighed, the doctor couldn't really tell if anything he was moving was hurting her. Over her crying fit, he yelled to me that it was probably a strained or pulled muscle. He put the tiny little wrap on her ankle, told me to give her some IB Profen, and instructed me to call if it wasn't getting better by Tuesday. If that was the case, we'd have X-Rays taken. Well, it's Tuesday and she's not limping at all! Horray!!
Pictured Above: Andlie in her diaper and birthday suit. It just wasn't worth it to put her clothes back on after the puddle of tears in the doctor's office. She rode home in the carseat with no clothes and new "sock." This is how she spent most of the rest of the day.

An Anniversary Timeline

For our actual anniversary (August 11), we went to St. George. We went to the temple (where it all began) and did Sealings. It was fun to be in the temple hearing the same things we heard at our ceremony four years ago. We ate a lot of food at Olive Garden. We laughed. We visited. We had some delicious donut-type dessert at Olive Garden. We dipped it in chocolate, raspberry, and carmel sauce. We drooled. And we ate them all. Goodwins tended Andlie.

This year's yearly anniversary trip planning was up to Bryan, and man, did he nail it! (Not that. Don't be slutty.)

We left on Saturday morning after we opened our presents from each other. I got this lamp I've been coveting over for weeks. I love it!

Bryan got "The Blind Side." I gave it to him because of his love of the South where he served for two years. His love for Southerners is so deep that I love them because he loves them. Are you confused? Don't be.

Saturday night, we went to dinner at PF Chang's where Bryan had made a reservation! We had four courses and we absolutely included dessert again! It was delish!

But maybe we ate a little too much. Is it a bad sign that we couldn't sit comfortably after our meal?

Then, we went to "The Lion King" at the Mandalay Bay! Oh. My. Amazing. Holy awesome. Everyone should see this show. Everyone. It was incredible. Amazing singing. Awesome costumes. Elaborate stage. Like I said, holy awesome. I l-o-v-e-d every second.

After the show, we went and grabbed some treats and came back to our room. We stayed up until 2:00 AM. We laughed. We made fun of all the wasted people we passed in the casinos on the way back to our room. We ate donuts in bed. We visited. We snuggled. We slept in.

Sunday, we exchanged cards and shopped and shopped and shopped.
Huge thanks to my parents for tending Andlie. What a wonderful way to spend a weekend! I'm so lucky to have Bryan. He really is my best friend in the whole, wide world. It was so nice to just hang out with him and giggle slumber party style and talk about life. He's my favorite person in the world. I love him. A lot. Happy anniversary, Bryan!