Things I like - January

1) iPhone speaker

My husband is pretty awesome for many reasons.  One is that when I told him, about 2 weeks before Christmas when he was still working on Luke's dresser, that I would like a wireless iPhone amplifier for Christmas he somehow made it happen.  I'd been eyeing these for awhile on Etsy but didn't want to pay $40.  After many searches I finally came across plans to build one on Pinterest and showed Matt very excitedly.  Two weeks later he gave me this:

It's a bamboo front (left over flooring) and the paint is leftover from Luke's L.  I'm pretty amazed that he made it happen.  And it actually works really well!!  I can have my phone volume pretty low, then stick it in here and it's really amplifies it!!  Plus since it's wireless, needs no batteries or anything it's super easy to move all over the house.  It's mostly lives in the kitchen though since I spend quite a bit of otherwise quiet time in there. 

2) Luke's gift notebook

In 1997 I started writing all my Christmas gifts in an extra school notebook.  I'd added to this every birthday and Christmas since and I think graduations are in there too.  When we got Luke I had gift lists all over the place from birth gifts, 3 showers, and baptism.  I knew I wanted to put them all together and keep them all together as long as I can (until he doesn't let me).  And I wanted something more than an extra school notebook (which we have plenty of in the basement).  Matt kept telling me Luke won't care but I do so I really don't care that he won't care some day.

I found this pretty notebook for $4 at Target right after Christmas.   I think it's pretty cute and plenty boy appropriate.  I copied all the gifts he had received his whole life in there and put it with mine (where I've also been keeping track of Matt's Christmas presents the last few years).   Now my lists are all nice and organized which makes me happy.

3) Silver trays

I've mentioned my love of sparkly and shiny things a few times on here.  Basically, I like them.  And the Christmas season is an extra sparkly time (which I also really like).  When browsing Target before Christmas I came across these pretty silver trays and they were immediately added to my Elfster list.  Matt ended up buying me the big one (ok, I picked that out on our 20% off day) and my sister (through our sister exchange) got me the smaller one.  And they are soooo pretty and shiny.  A little more sparkle in my house of boys is nice.  The large one is currently on our dining room table with some blue & green bottles in it.  The small one is on my desk containing some frames and other pretty things. 

4) Big Bang Theory

Big Bang Theory is one of those shows that's we've watched syndication episodes on and off for years (mostly in hotels) without ever watching new episodes.  Around Thanksgiving we started watching the 7 & 7:30 syndication episodes a little more regularly which turned into programming the DVR to record all episodes of it.  Turns out it airs a lot but we figure eventually we'll see the whole series, just very out of order (the same way I first watched Friends - syndication episodes in college). 

There are 4 really nerdy smart guys and 1-3 girls (depending which season you are watching).  They talk about a lot of nerdy things.  Star Wars comes up fairly often.  So do a lot of sciencey things that mean nothing to me.  It's good to watch together when it's 10pm and you want ice cream and something mindless to watch.  We can't be the only people eating ice cream at 10pm.  (p.s. Penny & Leonard totally remind me of Ross & Rachel only Rachel showed more growth...just me??).

5) Five Crowns & Triominos

These two games are special because they are what we frequently played with our Grandparents once we graduated from Candy Land and the Winnie-the-Pooh game.  Five Crowns is like Rummy.  Triominos like like domino but triangles.  (I'm not sure I've ever played dominos but I've played a lot of Triominos).  Grandpa told me on our last visit that Triominos was Grandma's favorite game.  I asked for both and received them for Christmas.  It's not quite the same playing here but they both always remind me of Grandpa & Grandma and the countless games we played together.