I feel like I need to start off by saying that the title of this blog has nothing to do with the content other than it has the word "games" in it, and Bryan and I quote Backstreet songs to each other on the reg. That being said this could quite possibly be my most ridiculous/nerdy post to date. But I think the male readers will thank me for this one.

Ladies, do your men love to play video games? Does it drive you absolutely crazy? Do you dread the release of any new game? You are not alone my friends. 

When Bryan and I started dating he was a 20-year-old college student living with 4 other 20-year-old guys in the not-so-exciting town of Stillwater Oklahoma. If you don't know anything about Stillwater, you're not missing out (aside from some really great people have lived there.) Because OSU was not close to where I lived Bryan and I would mainly see each other on the weekends. I quickly learned that a weekend for college guys were a great excuse to amp up the xbox time. 

I have to admit, I didn't understand how guys could play video games so often and not get bored. That is until I decided to give them a try. We'd play on occasion together and it wasn't too terrible. Fast forward 4 years and the gaming time has significantly decreased but you can never take away that instinct for a guy.

Every year there are two days that I don't look forward to: The release of the NBA 2Kwhatever, and Call of Duty. I know these days mean a few weeks of some extra play time. I've always played games with Bryan here and there, but this year we took it to a whole new level. 

After Bryan waited an eternity, in his mind, for the new Call of Duty game he finally got it on Christmas. I'm not sure if was the lack of sleep from having a newborn or a moment of insanity but I started playing with him and couldn't stop. We made it a semi-nightly routine to play a few games to unwind after the girls went to sleep if we didn't have anything on the DVR. I have to admit, it's been fun. So much fun that we sank to an even lower level and he got me my own gamer tag. If you don't know what a gamer tag is be glad, you don't want to know, much less have one! 

Now Bryan and I still play at night, and I've gotten slightly okay at it. I used to be so annoyed with video games, but now it's a fun, stress-free way for us to decompress, have fun together, and talk about our day. Not something I want to do every single day, but I'm not so repulsed by the release of a new game anymore. 

I think it's really important to have fun in your marriage/relationship and do things that you might not normally do that your partner is interested in. For some people that may be playing video games, watching shows that you're not crazy about (ours was The Ultimate Fighter but now I'm hooked on that!) going shopping, exercising together, cooking, etc. Whatever it is take some time and do it with them even if you'd rather be doing anything else on the face of the planet. It may not become your new favorite hobby, but it's a great and easy way to make your spouse feel special.

What's something that your significant other does that you don't get super excited about? Have you tried to join them in that activity? Did you like it and will you do it again? Sound off in the comments section.

Until next time....

Taylor

Have you ever found something you didn't know you lost? Or maybe something that you didn't know you needed? Both of these happened to us in the last few days, and I bet you have no idea who found the most ridiculous thing... Hint: it wasn't me. 

A couple of weekends ago, in an effort to get rid of some things we no longer need, and to save my sanity, Bryan and I finally cleaned out the coat closet in our living room. I wish I had taken a before and after picture because this thing was a mess! It resembled a mini, not so intense, episode of hoarders. No worries we didn't throw trash in it or lose any animals, it was just a catch-all for all the random things we didn't have a place for. During this adventure we threw away a bunch of stuff that we no longer wear or can't fit into. It was fun to remember when and where we got some of the things, but even better to get rid of stuff that was taking up valuable space. 

During this purge I found something I had no idea I had lost. On my first trip to Vegas 3 years ago I bought a zip-up hoodie that I loved. It was everything a hoodie should be in my book: comfy, simple design, inexpensive, and bonus points for a fun memory connected to it. It was my go to for a long time, until I "lost" it. Honestly I had acquired different jackets, got pregnant, it was too cold, or too hot, and eventually I just didn't know I missed it. That is until we uncovered it from the black hole of the hoarder closet! 

I was so excited when we were going through the piles of random clothes we had in there and it appeared. Of course I couldn't throw it away and have been gladly wearing it regularly since. I must clarify that I did in fact throw a lot of other things away, some were harder than others, but I was much happier with a clean, stress free closet than I will be with any of those clothes I no longer wear. Also, we didn't technically throw the clothes away, we donated them, so no worries peeps we are semi-green.

The second scenario happened around the same time. Bryan and I had gone to lunch one day and I could not find my sunglasses when we got in the car after eating. I figured I left them on the table, but we were in a hurry so I decided not to worry about it. A little back-story on my sunglasses: On our honeymoon I lost my favorite pair of sunglasses in the ocean (which probably negates my previous green statement.) So we went to the mall and I got the same pair. Sadly a few months later Bryan lost them when I asked him to hold on to them at an outdoor event. Since then I've worn the same green pair of lost and found sunglasses that Bryan snagged from his old job. Which might make us green again, right? Well I was convinced this green pair had suffered the inevitable fate of all the other glasses and was lost for good. I had looked everywhere, the diaper bag, my purse, the car, etc. They were gone.

That weekend we went to Target (big spenders right here) and I got a new pair of glasses. They looked pretty much the same just a different color. I'm a huge baby when it comes to being outside with no sunglasses so I was overjoyed to have some new ones! A few days go by and Bryan was looking in another bag I had with me that day to get something and lo and behold the green glasses were in there! I felt pretty dumb for a few seconds, and told Bryan he should take them and wear them. I had no idea about the can of worms I opened.

Bryan wore them for about a day and realized he's really been missing out on sunglasses. The other thing he realized was that he wears glasses more often than contacts so sunglasses weren't exactly fitting for his fashion life. So he started hunting for something that is so ridiculous it should be illegal, and a few days later these were on our doorstep:

I mean really grandpa? Did we need to sink down to this level? I must admit this picture doesn't do them justice. For a great example of how not cool these are click HERE. There are so many things wrong with this I can't even bring myself to write about them, just know I will not be seen in public with these bad boys unless absolutely, life or death, necessary. 

It's funny how we can go so long without something and in an instant decided that we NEED it. What is something you suddenly realized was essential to your life after a long period of time? Share your story in the comment section below!

Until next time....

Taylor

Yesterday marked a momentous day for our family, Bryan started playing in an indoor soccer league and I got to watch him play soccer for the first time ever. It's pretty weird to miss out on something that was such a big part of your spouse's life. Bryan never saw me cheer, act, or sing and I never saw him wrestle, play soccer, and be the most popular person ever. So needless to say it was pretty fun to watch him do something he loves so much. And of course he wants to pass all of that down to the girls. We're hoping to get Izzy into soccer this spring and if she likes it she'll be able to play on a team next season which would be so fun... and cute... and sad because my baby shouldn't be that old. 

I have to admit my knowledge of soccer is less than minimal. I know you need to kick it in the goal, yellow cards are bad, the time keeping is weird, and David Beckham plays. Speaking of Mr. Beckham, I'm pretty convinced that we are well on our way to being the next Beckhams. 

We have a few differences such as: 
- We smile
- We aren't rich, freakishly skinny, or have great hair (Bryan has a great hair, the girls and I have thin, do nothing hair)
- We only have female children
- I am neither Posh nor a style icon
- We don't have sweet English accents
- We've never been a part of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. (Still waiting on that call though, pretty sure it's coming any day)

However we do have some similarities, which include:
- David and Bryan are both incredibly good looking. 
- We like soccer
- We've all lived in America
- Victoria designs clothes, and I wear clothes
- They've probably met the queen, I was homecoming queen in Jr. High....

So as you can see we lead very similar lives. I just hope they're ready for a little competition. In all seriousness though it was really fun to go watch B Ket bring the heat, and I can't wait to see him score even more goals next week! 

Is there something you and your significant other haven't shared that was a big part of your lives pre-marriage? Tell me about it in the comment section!

Taylor

You wont see many book reccommendations on here as I am not an avid reader. Reading makes me sleepy, I tend to get bored easily, and in true American fashion, if it's that great I'll just wait for the movie. I did however read The Hunger Games last year and thought they were amazing! So score 1 for this girl. Clearly my taste is very mature. ;)

Anyways, I found this book on Pinterest before Christmas and its quickly become one of my favorite gifts! You can buy it on Amazon for about $12. If you're not a mom, or a fan of pink, there's another version that's just called "One Line A Day" it is exactly the same just blue.

So what is this wonderful book?

It's a 5 year journal. I know, I can't read a book for a week but I'll write in one for five years, ridiculous right? Wrong. At the top of each page is a date (i.e. January 10th) then below it are 5 sections of about 6ish small lines. On each section there's a space to write the year. So each day you turn to the current day's page, fill in the year and write a quick note about what happened that day, a funny thing the kids said, milestones, etc. And when you fill in the new year's space you can go back and read what's happened in the previous ones. Kind of like my memory jar but more compact and detailed.

I started mine on Christmas Eve so it'll be full on December 23rd, 2017. That seems crazy far away!! Izzy will be 9 and Elly will be 5! It should be really fun to see all the things they do until then.

Another great thing about this book is it's really not that big. You could easily put it in your purse or diaper bag. I keep mine on my nightstand and write in it before bed. It literally takes 2 minutes. That's my kind of book!

If you don't have kids to write funny stories about I'd still get one! How fun would it be to write about things going on with you and your spouse, school life, or all the events leading up to getting meeting "the one" someday. It truly is a book for everyone... even guys.

So that's my first unofficial plug for a product... I think they should pay me for such a rave review. Don't you?

I hope you're all having a great week. It's almost the weekend which means more thunder basketball!!

Taylor

So how funny is that video? I'm sure most of you have seen it by now, but I just discovered it yesterday. I'm really surprised Bryan didn't think of this first. It looks just like something he would do! I've gotta say we are some lucky girls to have such a fun guy. 

Today's blog is all about my man! Prepare to feel nauseous. 

This morning Bryan let me sleep in while he and Izzy played and cleaned the house. I woke up to a nearly spotless house and breakfast being made. Now there was a little bit of an ulterior motive behind all of it, but I'll take it! Bryan had some goofy thing going on for his Call of Duty video game today, and he wanted to play for a lot longer than normal. I was completely aware of this but I was so happy to have a clean house I let him get away with it. It resulted in a fun day of taking pictures of the girls (which I'll post later in my upcoming photography section) while daddy got to play his game. 

Now this is not out of the norm for Bryan. He spoils us rotten on a regular basis. He cooks dinner most of the time. NOTE: I can and do in fact cook, Bryan just really enjoys it and likes to do it more often. On top of that he typically helps with laundry, dishes, and cleaning up. He knows my love language is acts of service, so when I've had a stressful day he helps make it better by doing something nice around the house for me or bringing home a movie and having a mini date night.  

I'm so happy to be married to a man that is the perfect teammate. We really do work well together and it's a team effort to keep our family going. I know some people think a wife should be doing most of the housework but neither Bryan nor I feel like keeping the house in order is a one man job. We have certain things that only one of us will do, for instance Bryan is responsible for taking the trash out and I'm responsible for the deep cleaning. That idea may not work well for everyone, but in our experience when both parties are responsible it's easier to get things accomplished and no one is mad at the other person for it not being done. 

I also have to brag on Bryan's dad skills. I tell him all the time that he is the perfect dad for girls. He is willing to play dress up, barbies, whatever is asked of him. He is way too cute with Elly; she had him wrapped around her finger shortly after she arrived. 

So here's to you "B Ket," thanks for being such a wonderful dad, husband, and leader for our family. I hope the girls can find a man just like you someday.... when they're 30! 

What about you? Do you have an awesome man in your life? If you do, leave me a comment and brag on them!

Taylor