who did see that

We've had another impossible-to-see grasshopper sighting.  Aaron spotted this katydid hidden in a lavender plant. Can you even find it in the picture? It's like one of those hidden pictures in the back of a Highlights magazine.

It's always so funny to me how this happens.  We're walking along, and Aaron doesn't even stop or look down, he just keeps walking and says see that katydid? And I'm like what? where? in the sky 10 feet in front of you?

And he says No, right there, buried deep in the foliage of that plant we passed 6 paces ago.

And he'll stop and reverse to the spot and show me.

And I'm not kidding, I had to get on my knees and part the Red Sea to see this katydid.  I just stuck the camera into the jungle and hoped I was getting a picture of it. Then I spent the rest of the day saying katydid.

Aaron: Did you throw that trash away?
Angela: No, but katydid.

Aaron: What movie did you rent?
Angela: I don't know, but katydid.

Which inevitably turned into Sadiedid because, well, duh.

Aaron: Do you want some lemonade?
Angela: No, but Sadiedid!

please tell me you just spent 10 minutes over at the Highlights website doing one of those Hidden Pictures... because idid!

HAVE YOU HEARD

Text messaging between Aaron and me yesterday at 7:15 a.m.

ATB: Have you heard?

AMB: No, what? (at home brushing my teeth, mind racing, oh no, what could it be? I have the news on, surely I would have seen some breaking story by now.)

ATB: About the bird bird bird. the bird is the word.

This is really funny if you've seen this episode of Family Guy and if you're Aaron Bussey.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ATB!

ATB ROCKS IT OUT WITH ARTS & CRAFTS

Aaron made this little door-hanger for me circa 1999, the year we started dating.


I found it in a box of keepsakes. It found its way on to a door-knob.

Proof Aaron has been privy to my nerdiness all along.
I think he kinda likes that about me.

I'm glad I never threw it away. It makes me smile.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to keep and a time to throw away...
Ecclesiastes 3

It's nice to know that in some seasons of life
I've held on to the right things.

ATB ROCKS IT OUT WITH HIS EYES

Aaron has an eye for seeing things from a unique perspective. Actually, he has two eyes. And he uses them both to observe and absorb the world around him.

He purposefully takes the time to look at things differently, more intimately so he can enjoy the detail, the unexpected and the wonder of his surroundings. He often spies creatures, anomalies and hidden treasures one might otherwise miss.

Because he looks at things this way, with his two eyes, I think he has captured some neat photographs over time.

This is a big difference in pictures taken by Aaron and me. You will rarely see a picture taken by me that doesn't have people in it. But Aaron, he is so good at slowing down to see, he can capture really interesting moments that don't include people.

I love his perspective. Here are a few from a recent visit to the botanical garden.













These next two are a couple of my other favorites.


And this is what happens when I sneak in to one of his photos.

To see more from Aaron's Perspective Click Here.

IQ

Aaron is a genius. I think I've mentioned this before. But ever so often, he does several big-brained things in a row, and I'm all, whoa! I married a genius!

Of late:
He figured out why water was constantly collecting on the floor and made it stop. I've been trying to figure this out for two weeks. It took Aaron about 30 minutes. And it was not due to a major plumbing problem that was going to involve tearing down a wall and replacing pipes - as I was certain would be the case. Instead, he just moved the washing machine a few inches to relieve a kink in a hose which was causing a binding to not function and somethingsomethingsomething I've stopped listening because who the heck cares! We don't have to tear down any walls!

He explained why it would not be a good idea to let that dog which does not belong to us in the house even though he is nice and we see him all the time...we don't know if his owners give him flea prevention and we don't want a flea infestation just because our dogs wanted to show him their room. We have to put our foot down sometime.

He suggested then showed me how to flush out the jacuzzi jets before I took a bath because we haven't used it in forever and he knew there would be all kinds of gross things up in there that I would not want floating in my warm relaxing bath. He was right. There were dead bugs and particles and pieces that came shooting out. Like Wet 'n Wild for very small things.

We were walking and I kept seeing strange clumps of stuff on the ground and I asked Aaron if it was mountain-lion poop. No, he said, it's not poop at all. It's a fungus. Ummm, how do you even know that? Because seriously, it looks like poop.

He suggested that I could make the scarf I'm knitting shorter than I originally planned because Aubrey (I'm giving the scarf to her) is a short person so it will be okay if the scarf isn't long enough for a tall person. You see, this scarf is the first item I've ever knitted and I'm excited to finish, but it is taking me a while because I'm still learning. And I was saying how I felt discouraged because I still had over half to go, but that's when Aaron made his genius comment and now, I'm almost done! That is a real genius who can make something instantly go from half finished to almost finished just by talking.


and p.s. As I was writing this post, I heard this from the other room:
Scoop: Bark, bark, baaarrrrk, rwwarr, rwaarr, rwarr.
Aaron: What is it Scoopers? Is he in the well?

THREE OH!

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Thirty years ago today
the world was changed in a special way.
You were born to shine your flashlight
and help others in the dark of night.

You came along to play practical jokes
and bring out the laughter in regular folks.
Your sweet smile appeared to spread joy and cheer.
Your aim was perfected to bring home a deer.

Some doggies now have a very great home
because you were born to feed them Ham bones.
And all the neglected junk in the subdivision
gets to be treasure because of your vision.

My husband was born, 'though I didn't know it.
But I know now and I'm thankful for it.
I think I'm the luckiest girl around,
'cause God made YOU the man I found.

Thirty years ago today
the world was changed in a special way.
Along came a very bright star,
That is you - the most wonderful person you are!


I love you ATB.

ATB ROCKS IT OUT AS A HELPER

A few weeks ago, one of the employees at the car wash where Aaron worked was let go. The man lives in the trailer park near the car wash, which is also near our house. Aaron would often give him a ride home from work so the man wouldn't have to ride his bike on the busy highway. Aaron would also buy him lunch occasionally. And Aaron even cleaned out his closet so he could give a bunch of his clothes to the man. I have been asking Aaron to clean out his closet for eight years.

After this man was let go, he called Aaron to find out if there was anything he could do for Aaron to earn a little money while he looked for another job. Aaron agreed to have the man come do some yard work at our house, and paid him generously for the two and a half hours of labor. I was skeptical at first. I wasn't sure I wanted this man to know where we lived. I wasn't sure I could justify paying him to do work Aaron could easily do. But I trust Aaron's judgement, and he knew this man was in need. So he came and worked hard, did a really good job, and I never had the feeling that it was a bad idea.

-------
Recently, Aaron told me he had conquered one of his fears and done something he'd never done before. He picked up a hitchhiker. Aaron ran into a man at a gas station who looked like he needed a ride, so Aaron asked him where he was going and took him there. It wasn't far, but Aaron said his own heart was pounding the whole time they were driving. They arrived at the destination and the man was very appreciative.

Aaron does stuff like this all the time. More often than I'm aware, I'm sure of it. He is a true servant. He is generous and unselfish and I love him.

ATB ROCKS IT OUT WITH NATURE

Most of you know Aaron and know that he would be happy to live his life in a tent under God's big sky next to a river surrounded by deer, birds, bugs, critters and fish (provided that tent had a cable connection so he could watch COPS and a microwave for burritos). He would spend his days exploring, turning over rocks, poking a fire, fishing, building contraptions to lure animals near or just sitting and watching.

Our yard is one of the top reasons we bought the house we live in. When we first looked at this house, I saw rockets shooting off the top of Aaron's head at the prospect of a deer wandering to his doorstep. And this location has proved to provide an abundance of God's creatures.

Aaron keeps the deer feeder full of corn and even after three years, we still get excited every time we see a deer. Aaron built a bird house and keeps two other bird feeders and a hummingbird feeder for our little winged friends, paying close attention to hang them out of reach of deer and coyotes. Yes, I said coyotes. We have frequent coyotes and an occasional fox - which Aaron loves to see. Most of the neighbors complain about the coyotes, and maybe if we had small pets we would too, but Aaron keeps a sharp eye out for the mangy four-legged menace and instead appreciates its prowess.

Aaron traps and inspects tarantulas, he plays with a praying mantis, he feeds spiders. Feeds spiders! I mean, he actually catches moths and other little bugs and puts them in spider webs on the porch to help out our friendly arachnids!

He fills water containers for frogs and keeps the geckos out of harm's way (i.e. the dogs).

Speaking of the dogs, and harm's way, let's talk about the rabbits. Aaron's love for animals gives him the strength to put injured baby rabbits out of their misery.

Or maybe it's just that he understands nature. He is so in tune with how nature works, that even when I figured out that by providing a bounty of seed for the finches and blue birds, we were actually providing a buffet for the resident Hawk, and I got a little upset about that - Aaron responded with his usual calm, reasonable, logical tone "Yeah, a Hawk will eat anything smaller than itself. Wouldn't you rather have the Hawk around because he also eats the snakes and mice?"

Ummm, sure, but can't we tell him that birds are off limits in this yard?

I love that my husband is a nature encyclopedia. I love that he has Eagle eyes and can spot wildlife fifty yards off the road behind some trees while driving 60 miles an hour in the dark. I love that he is gentle and contemplative, which I believe comes from his observation and awareness of his surroundings. I love that he appreciates the circle of life and the role each one of God's creations plays on Earth; that he sees the benefit and purpose where I might only see pretty, cute, icky, creepy, crawly, mangy, scary, dangerous. He is a lover of all things. And I love him.

ATB ROCKS IT OUT WITH THOUGHTS

Aaron went to do a few errands last night. When he came home, he had picked up two things for me while he was out. Two things I had not mentioned that I needed or wanted; two things I had not asked him to get while he was out.

My hair dryer died a few weeks ago, so I started using my travel hair dryer. It's perfectly fine, except that it doesn't seem to work well if I'm not holding it exactly upright. Have you ever blow dried your hair? Have you ever been able to do it without tilting the dryer a little bit or even turning it upside down, especially if you're trying to master those fancy styling techniques your hairdresser uses in the salon? Needless to say, I've been struggling a little bit with the hair dryer.

Aaron brought me an awesome new hair dryer last night. Just exactly what I would've picked out, with the little extender attachment and everything. The cool thing about this is that I never so much as peeped about the crazy dryer to Aaron. He just noticed that I was having trouble in the mornings and probably witnessed a few frustrated harrumphs! and so last night while he was at the store, he thoughtfully wandered over to the hair dryer aisle and pondered which model and wattage would be best and picked one for me.

--

I love making my coffee in a coffee press. I mean, I really really leeerrrv it. I make it every morning. And sometimes in the evening. I usually hand wash (or kind of slosh water around to rinse out) my press every day, but for some reason the other night I decided to stick it in the dishwasher. Bad idea. I'm pretty sure it's dishwasher safe, but I was kicking myself when the delicate glass beaker came out cracked because I knew, I knew, as I was putting it in that it probably wasn't a good idea.

So yesterday morning, Aaron walked in the kitchen as I stood with half-dry hair crying into my cracked coffee press. He did some testing and determined it would be okay to use. (For the record, I wasn't really crying. I was actually standing stone still staring intently at the crack as though I could melt the glass back together if I just wanted it badly enough.)

Last night, after Aaron gave me the hair-dryer and I had calmed down and was done gushing about how awesome and thoughtful he was and how sweet to notice my hair-drying woes, he goes and pulls out a new coffee press! Now even though he knew how distraught I had been over the cracked beaker, I had not mentioned getting a new one. Especially since I could still (carefully) use the cracked one. But Aaron was so sweet to know how much I enjoy my coffee and that I would eventually need a new one, and that, Heaven forbid, he walk in the kitchen on the morning the crack becomes a break and there is coffee, coffee grinds, glass and one upset un-caffeinated wife staring intently at the mess.

I am so glad I married such a thoughtful man. He is always thinking of others - offering a coworker a ride home, sharing things (books, music, cheese) with his friends he thinks they might enjoy, emailing a YouTube link to make someone laugh, noticing when anyone needs a koozie.

He is always showing me in little ways that he is paying attention to who I am and thinking of me. (Now if I can just get him to catch on that putting his dishes in the dishwasher would put me over the moon. Just kidding. kind of.) Seriously, though, this is about how much my husband rocks, and He Does. I appreciate his thoughtful thoughts. And I love him.

ATB ROCKS IT OUT WITH CRANKY BEANS

I was cranky a few times this week. I know, unbelievable. But it's true. I think I was a little stressed out about my big event at work. And there was also a little bit of After Taste from our weekend visit with family.

When I'm in a poopy mood, Aaron says I've been eating cranky beans. Then he cheers me up in a multitude of ways.

Once this week he asked if I wanted to jump on the bed. I did. So we did. Until we heard some cracking noises and then I got cranky again because I thought we'd busted the bed frame and we had to spend the next thirty minutes taking the mattress off, inspecting the cross boards, repositioning them and screwing them down, then putting everything back together. And Aaron was quick to do every bit of it with a smile on his face and didn't even wince when I might have screeched a little bit and he never pointed out that I was being unreasonable and none of this was really necessary.

Another time he got my super new camera and videoed me while I was making dinner. I would post it, but I have my poopy face on in the whole thing, which is not cute at all, and I also get a little crass a few times and I wouldn't want to shock my parents. I answer his questions with smart aleck remarks. At one point I ask Aaron "why are you trying to piss me off?" Then he asks me to do this hand thing that we watched on YouTube with Bryan and Andrea, and I might have skipped over most of it and given him a different hand signal. I think somewhere in there I also dramatically say "don't patronize me!" which I'm sure I picked up from a Lifetime movie and tucked away for an occasion just as this.

Aaron thinks all of this is very funny. And throughout the whole 5 minutes he's videoing, I burst into giggles and then go back to my poopy face. Because we have instant gratification-digitization of things, we watched the video immediately, and I really cracked up at how ridiculous I was behaving, and actually how funny I was being in my responses to his prods.

Later in the week, he made me this mini-koozie to fit on my special 8 oz. Halloween sodas.


And his new favorite way to cheer me up? He does the Aubrey-laughing-contest-face. I'm sorry for all of you who don't know how that face goes - but just imagine a 2.5 year old making faces to get you to laugh and imagine what she might come up with - then imagine Aaron making that face. (Dre, it's the twirly finger one)

I'm so thankful that I married a man who can cheer me up. For the days when I've had some cranky beans, he is there, ready with the Bean-O. And I love him.

ATB ROCKS IT OUT AS A SNUGGLEMUFFIN

My husband is a snuggler. Or, when I really think about it, maybe he is just a very good snugglee. I like to hug and hold hands and sit on the same couch cushion as him even though the whole rest of the couch is available. I like to lean on him and stand with his arm around me when we're just hanging out. I like to crowd his elbow room when we're out to eat and I always find a reason why I need to sit on his lap and look at what he's doing while he's on the computer. It's true. Just ask him.

And the great things is, he doesn't mind having me all up in his biz. I even think he kinda likes it most of the time.

Aaron is definitely a hugger. We hug at all the usual moments, but he also hugs me a lot for 'no reason' - except the reason is because he loves me and he's sweet. This is really lucky for me because I grew up in a family of random-incident huggers and I start to have serious emotional issues when I don't get enough hugs. I remember my first semester in college, I drove home almost every weekend just to fill up on hugs from my parents because a week without hugs was seriously incapacitating.

I'm glad I married a snugglemuffin. A very manly, arrgh arrgh arrgh, snugglemuffin. And I love him.

ATB ROCKS IT OUT WITH HARDWARE

I'm joining the My Husband Rocks movement.

This week, Aaron and I put hardware on the cabinets in our bathrooms. Aaron is so sweet and patient with me and he knows how to do all the manly, handy things around the house.

He knew that we needed to make a template and mark all the drawers and doors. He explained to me the difference between a wood screw and a machine screw. He showed me a little something about the different sizes of drill bits.

He knew how excited I was about this project and didn't want me to have to wait another day, so he made a special trip to Home Depot after a long day at work when he would have rather just relaxed at home.

He gently pointed out that my measuring was a little off center on one drawer. And when he figured out after drilling the hole that I totally messed up and marked the wrong side of the cabinet door, he was not mad at me and didn't make a big deal about it. Do you get what that means? That means there is hole drilled in the door where there should not be a hole. A hole that can not be un-drilled. A hole that essentially ruins the cabinet door, except that Aaron knows a way to fill it in and make it look barely noticeable.

And by the way, helloooo, how typical of me to get so excited and do things quickly and mess up because I wasn't paying close attention. Aaron is the calm one who doesn't mess up because his brain doesn't turn into skittles when he gets excited about something.

He is so laid back and smart! I appreciate him and that he is always there, helping me do things right and making it better when I mess up. And I love him.