After some semi-awkward phone calls and a relaxing Christmas break, Michelle and I reunited and recommenced our courtship. Here are some highlights from January:

January 5 The first week back was a busy one but Michelle quickly redeemed one of her Christmas coupons, so went to visit Ikea. That had to be the fastest Ikea trip I've ever been on. I feel like we talked about a million things while we were there and yet I blinked twice and we were already through the whole building. I like Michelle's taste...and think our home will look pretty dang good with our two creative minds at work. 

We made a stop at IN-and-OUT after. This is where Michelle revealed that she turns into a gremlin if she is tired and hungry...I gave her an extra helping of fries, just in case. :)

January 11 SNOW DAY!! Today was such a fun and relaxing day. I think it was one of the first days where Michelle and I were able to be really comfortable with each other and just 'play.' There had just been a heavy snowfall so we walked over to a nearby drainage area to enjoy the snow. Within seconds of reaching the snow, a snowball fight ensued that resulted in tackling and rolling in the snow. We made snow angels and started to make a sculpture of Mount Rushmore but our presidents looked more like Muppets. 

After we'd had enough of the snow we went to Michelle's to watch the movie Troop Beverly hills—we talked and talked, talked and talked. It was one of the first nights we had really opened up and shared some of our deep, dark secrets. I love how open and communicative Michelle is. 

January 14 So we went to this stake activity at Brother Brinton’s house (he's in the stake presidency) and he was trying so hard to get us to talk about our relationship, show him our engagement ring, etc.; he obviously wanted to take control of our courtship and have the bragging rights when we got married. I hate, hate, hate one people do that so I didn't take the bait. 

As part of the activity, girls shoes were taken and put on the table. A boy had to grab the shoe and go on a date with its owner. Michelle's shoe landed on the table of course, so she hastily snuck it back...I won't share her with anybody! Although if we had played our cards right we might have got a free date out of it. 

January 16 One of my favorite dates was going to the Provo library with Michelle, searching for and reading our favorite children’s books. We read titles like "I’ll love you forever, I’ll love you for always," "Zen shorts," "The little critter," and many more. It was fun to sit in the children's section and step out of our busy lives for a bit...also, interesting to see what books had an impact in our lives and why.

January 17 A lot happened this night but what I remember most is sitting on the floor with Michelle talking and sharing music. I loved sitting close to you and just talking about anything and everything, listening to each others music, looking up concerts, etc.

January 19 Michelle redeemed another coupon to go to the The Leonardo, an art and science museum in Salt Lake. They had an exhibit all about the work of diVinci.  It was a pretty frigid morning but we hopped on the Front Runner and made our way up. Small world...we had a guy take our picture (the pictures turned out so awkward :) ) on the front runner and two months later he was one of the guys trying to sell us wedding rings at the mall. Crazy. 

So our planning wasn't perfect and we had to walk something like 15 blocks to the museum (oops). It was nice to walk that distance with Michelle but I think we both got a little sweaty. On the way over a homeless guy jabbed me with his elbow. Hello and thank you.

January 21 Martin Luther King Jr. day was packed with fun and service (redundant, I know); We baked bread to deliver to the bishop and he seemed so grateful. He was in sweats, working from home and was so bashful about it--super funny.  We went down to campus for a bit to make homemade journals for youth in treatment as well--a fun crafty project. 

After our service we went snow shoeing and had a blast. Michelle surprised me with how playful she was and how she let loose. I started to like her even more. She got trapped in multiple bushes (hilarious), and was surprisingly agile as she dove in the snow to beat me in a snow shoe race. Her agility was spoiled a bit by her uncanny ability to do the splits in her snow shoes (unintentional) but that just made me like her more.We hiked up to Big Spring in South Fork Canyon and drunk from the spring. Chilly and refreshing. 

That night we got to go out to dinner with her friend Ceeci and her husband Josh. Cafe Rio (yum) on her old boss (Roger's) tab (double yum). 

January 25 Craft night! We both got all our arts and crafts stuff out. This is when I knew we were a match made in Heaven. Michelle made some nice cards for thank you notes, etc. and I made a paper bag owl puppet for Jack and Emma. We made muddie buddies!! Too good. 

After we went to Macey's for some ingredients Michelle saw a homeless man and felt inclined, after the fact, to go back and give him some of our wares. He had disappeared so we went on a hunt for homeless folk, but it was too late and cold I think, and we missed him. A day or to later I had a strong prompting to flip around and give the same treats to another homeless man and did so. I'm glad we both followed promptings...we now keep a little homeless kit in my car!

January 31-Feb 4 California Trip (Long drive, podcasts (pig bung), San Fran, walks in the park; photos

Other dates: Waffle Breakfast and Fun-glish; geocaching...sort of; fondue and fireside; frozen hot chocolate; Jodha Akbar--unofficial sundance film festival.