Ain't nobody in the world like you baby...

I was doing some studying for finals.
Listening to Tim McGraw.
When I heard such a nice little compliment in the song. One that I felt maybe I should ask for, you know, super subtle-like.
I went to the kitchen, and said:
M: "Erik, do you think there's nobody in the world like me?"
E: "Yep."
M: "Really? You think I'm better than anybody?!?"
E: "Yeah. And there's no one out there like you."
M: "I don't like the sound of that."
E: "Well, you asked."
M: "I think you should give me compliments like that without me having to hear it in a song and then ask for it."
E: "What did the song say?"
M: "It said "Ain't nobody in the world like you baby, and if there was, she wouldn't be comin' in here..."
E: "Ain't?!? I don't even talk like that. How many times have you ever heard me say ain't?"
M: "Well, you can change it to however sounds good to you, Erik."
E: "Hey Min?"
M: "Yeah?"
E: "There isn't anyone in the world like you..."
*pause*
"And if there was, she wouldn't be coming in here."
M: "Wow. That was really special."

This one time...

Well, this one time, Erik was moving to Logan. But the night before he left for his new adventure, he took me to the Opera. I of course did not want the man to leave. I thought he would find someone new, and forget about me. I cried and cried. Please don't go! Of course, I didn't say it outloud, I didn't want him to know I liked him... But I sure did want him forever.

Well, that very night, after the opera, Erik asked me quite the question! Of course I thought he was joking, and told him to "Stop it. This isn't funny." Several times. I even had the thought "aren't we a little old for promise rings?!?" Before I realized he was serious. Oh my. How happy I was! I couldn't even talk. I nodded my head, and kissed him! I couldn't wait for forever!

After the Opera, we went home to tell our families. This is us at my parents house. My parents who pretended like they had no idea, and then brought out a cake that said "congratulations, Mindy and Erik!" and sparkling cider to celebrate! This picture shows my face from the entire night. I couldn't stop smiling.

Then we took engagement pictures. I loved it, because Erik was home. Those were the longest 3 months(ish) of my life. I hated the weeks because he was gone. So many people would say "Absence makes the heart grow fonder..." To which I would reply "If I wasn't already fond, I wouldn't be marrying him!" I loved Fridays, because he would come home! I think he missed Friday classes quite a bit...I daresay he missed me also! He would come home for the weekend, and I think we would hug all the way until Saturday night. Then Sunday we couldn't go anywhere, so we would hug some more.

Then we got married. November 12, 2005.

I love how we're standing. This was just a candid photo. We snuck away for a second.

Not to get all cheesy, but...it is my Anniversary, so I guess I can... But when I see this picture, it just makes my heart happy, and it makes me teary! It makes me want to hold him forever. He is so sweet to me, and so gentle with me. Oh how I love this boy.

Us after the wedding. He is so handsome. Wow. I am one lucky woman!

mmm...delicious cake.

My favorite picture EVER. This will I'm sure be on my blog EVERY year. I love it love it love it.

Again, someday, I will have this picture HUGE on my wall. I love it. It makes me happy.

November 12....Best day of my life.

This year we celebrate 4 years! I can't believe it. It has gone so fast. I am so happy. I couldn't have asked for, or even imagined a better match for me. He makes me laugh every day. Every day. He is my best friend, in the whole world. I honestly can't imagine loving someone any more than I love him. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

I can't wait for forever!

Are you, or are you not, my woman?

I have the most amazing husband. Like, a lot of times, he's naughty. Like when he grows a mustache, or like when he tries to wear his "spider-man costume" in public. But, besides that, he's so amazing! I can't believe how lucky I am. I am so glad that I tricked him into loving/marrying me. :) He does so many wonderful things for me all the time. He knows how much I hate doing dishes (who doesn't?!?) so he almost ALWAYS does them before I even have a chance. Or when I have a chance, but don't take it... And EVERY time he does things like this, when I tell him thank you, he always says, "Babe, are you, or are you not, my woman?" And then I say that I do be his woman. I just can't believe how lucky I am to have married someone who just does sweet things ALL the time for me, just because "I'm his woman". I love it. He always helps me with the laundry, or cooking dinner, and my homework, and EVERYTHING! It's almost our anniversary, and I just can't even stand how much I love him!!! YAHOO for eternity.
I love you Erik!!! I can't wait for forever...

Officer Erik...Yeah, I'm scared, too.

So, our brother-in-law Casey is a Police Officer.

Last time we hung out with Maeg and Case, this was the conversation:

Casey: Hey Erik, you should come on a ride-along with me sometime.

E: Yeah. That'd be really awesome.

Mindy: What's a ride-along?

E: Oh. It just means that when Casey gets a call, I'm backup.

Mindy: Oh. Wow.

Erik: I get a shotgun, and some hand-cuffs...and...

Casey: Actually, you can't be armed during a ride-along.

Erik: Oh.

Too bad his excitement was slashed so quickly.

I guess it's better this way, though.

I don't think I've ever met someone who wants to put someone else under citizens arrest so badly...(except Jed. Erik's twin.)

And I suspect if he was able to be in a cop car with a gun,

a citizens arrest would no doubt take place.

And I'm warning you, he HATES litterers.

And people that drive too slow.

And people that are on the road at the same time as him.

He'd never say it. But I'll say it for him.

Ba ha ha...He's such my love.

Eggnog...Oh how I love thee.

Eggnog.

There are so many things about you that I love.

One being that you're here now.
I wait all year for you.

And I can't tell you how happy I was to see you.

I even made Erik come see you, too.

He doesn't understand our relationship.

And he doesn't think sprite mixes well with you.

Because, he says, it's like putting Sprite in milk.

And who would do such a thing?

But he's wrong.

Because it is amazing.

MMMMM eggnog.

I have missed you so.

Thank you for coming back.

Love, Mindy

Coming soon...probably Feb 2012. But maybe 2016

I hope this guy:

Is ready for me. Let's just say he better practice.

I can't show a picture of me swimming, cause it would show my secret moves.

I will train in private.

And, yes. I will wear a cap that says my name.

And you will all say "I know her!!!"

And I will know you. But I won't be able to say hi when I'm on tv.

Cause I'll be busy.

But we'll be friends again when I return from Vancouver... Or Rio De Janeiro.

p.s. I'm not swimming with the girls.

Reader Beware...Although I am quite entertaining, this post is quite long. Even for me. As such, I felt it deserved this long title.

Well, since I posted last, we've done quite a few things...So...here's a picture of, well, quite a few things.

We went camping with Erik's family! Camping is the reason we look so nice. And the reason for my incredible fashion sense. Nice.

I love, love, love this picture! This is Russell, Todd, and Logan. And Erik. I figured that was a given. Those boys love that truck! All of them. I swear, Erik became a "real man" once he got that truck. I hope it never dies. Part of him will go with it, and I don't think I'll ever be prepared for that day...


Then, the week before school started, I went down to my parents house to "baby-sit" my bros and sisters while my mom went to Education Week. We had so much fun!!! We played and played and played. And then we cleaned up the house Friday night so that it looked like we'd done the chores we were supposed to...

We cleaned my car! YAHOO!!! Seriously this has not been done for at least 1 and 1/2 years! However, if you pretend like it is fun, your younger siblings will help you. It's like tricking. Not lying.

This is miss Abbyanne. She did like to wash. However, if you get her wet, you will not be able to hear anything for anywhere from 10-15 seconds.

This is what Matthew did while we washed the cars. And while we did anything. He just lit stuff on fire. The whole time. However, in case my mom reads this, he did not.

After the car washing, we did a little swimmin'!!! Sounds like fun until the obviously-not-ready-for-children-babysitter- lets the little girls get sunburned. What was I thinking?!? I explained to the girls how when mommy gets home, we DO NOT tell her we got sunburned. We even rehearsed this. The minute my mom walked into the house, Madison RAN up to her, "mommy! We got a sunburn!" Little traitor.
The next night, we decided to have a sleepover in the backyard. I remember doing this when I was little. I thought it was wicked awesome. However, I do not think Matthew appreciated my enthusiasm. He did not want to share a tent. But we left him no choice...moowahaha. We even got my dad to sleep in the tent.

I thought it was a great night! I think matthew was just mad cause he hated his pillowcase...Little whiner. Ba ha ha.
These are before pictures. Hayden is happy if he has the flashlight. Do not take the flashlight away.

The next morning!

Soo cute.
Enjoying some delicious rootbeer floats made by yours truly. We had an awesome movie night, "Matilda" was the feature. Cracks me up every time! "much too good for children..." Ba ha ha.
This poster needs no explanation. Except that the theater room is the room to get pumped up in. So much motivation screams from this poster. Also, this is Erik's arch enemy.

The boys working hard to get the tents set up. My dad was soo great to do this. I'm sure he thinks I'm so weird, and wonders why I do half the stuff that I do. But, he never asks me. He just put up the tents. It was so nice. We loved it!
Here's Matthew and Nathan "working hard".

YAHOO!!! Sleepover time!
Me and Hayden. He only loves me when Erik's not around. Because Erik bribes him with jelly beans. I can't believe he does that. It's so lame. You should just let kids love you because you're awesome. Also, I wish I would've thought of the jelly bean trick first.

The kids before the campout. The would hardly settle down to take the picture!

This was how Abbyanne reacted when I told her that the tents outside were for us to sleep in. It was so cute.

One of the days we went to the zoo. How was it, you ask? Madness. Fun, but madness. I do have the PERFECT solution for 4 kids to the zoo. See the following pictures:

First: At the monkeys. I asked Presto if he wanted to live with his birth parents. He didn't even think it was funny. Maegan did, though. And when he saw the HUGE gorilla, his first words were, "I want to ride it." Second words, "Hi. Please don't eat me." Ba ha ha.

Then we stopped for lunch...This is me and Nathan. He's getting so grown up!

I just think this picture is wicked awesome. So it will be blogged about.

Cute cute cute little boys!

Maegan...Oh Maegan. What to say? Well, I'll just say that if I could figure out how to make the stupid videos work, you would all DIE laughing. I think she has a bigger imagination than ANYONE. Including Barney. And if I could get the videos to work, I would have Major blackmail. Lucky for you, Maeg...I'm not technically inclined. But as soon as I am, the world will know about you...
And the solution to the 4 children scenario. "I will give you a fruit snack if you sit in this stroller..." moowahaha...

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While I was down, I was able to talk my dad into a morning of racquetball. When he gets old, I'll tell ya what...I'm gonna take it to him. But he's gonna have to be reeeeaaal old.

This was probably taken on my only chance to serve.

And, although I do not remember this specifically, I'm relatively positive I did not return it. As I am standing quite comfortably in the middle of the room.

Crazy kids. The biggest problem is that somehow Spencer seemed to have slipped through the cracks, and I have No pictures of him! Little stinker. Anyway, sorry about the unbelievably long post, but I just loved so many pictures!

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Also, in case you are wondering, (I'm sure you are...) Erik said he missed me so much while I was gone. He said he could hardly stand it without me. He said that I'm the best wife ever and he loves me so much, and when we are rich, I can buy all the shoes I want. And I can have a new pair of socks every day.

No. He did not really say these things. But I bet he thought them.