Rampant Bellytants

star light, star bright...

2010-12-19T17:52:00.003-07:00

Every year for Christmas my siblings and I all draw a couple name for gift giving. This year we got Elden and Rebecca, so we're donating to their daughter's Therapy Dog.

Go forth, donate to it too if you have a few extra dollars! She could really use a helpful canine companion. ^_^

But enough about us and our givings, this year we received a gift from Sarah and Jared...and it's quite awesome, if I may say so. They gave us a star!! The star's named after Cody and me! And as if that weren't enough, they wrote a poem to go along with it! I'm going to post it here for you:

a star in the sky that rings out your name
actually it doesn't the notions insane
but named for you it will stay in the sky
till the good lord tells it not to and it falls by and by

from movies past we had seen this done
as a prize from a contest but someone else won
so when we drew you for christmas this year
and wondered what would offer you some long lasting cheer
we thought of the night at the movie so long ago
when we chose to kiss and not to watch the show
you stared in the sky
and averted your eyes
like a brother and sister
appalled at the picture

but now in the future when you look up so high
you will have much more to look for with your star in the sky

Love,

Jared and Sarah

PS - my poem is awesome and has no punctuation as an artistic representation of my disgust for school.

We love it. ^_^ Thank you, and Merry Christmas to everybody!

inexpensive but effective homemade cleaner!

2010-05-15T02:04:00.002-06:00

Because I'm annoyed at the cost of cutesy trendy cleaners, I'm gonna post a recipe I found somewhere for an easy custom scented all-purpose cleaner that I've been using on everything from windows to floors (I'd site the source if I remembered...but I do not. Sorry, Source.)

1 cup white vinegar
10-20 drops essential oil, your choice (I like half lemon, half lime or lavender, personally)
1 tablespoon dishsoap
5-10 drops grapefruit seed extract
+ enough water to make the total recipe equal 4 cups

Easy, right? I usually put some in a spray bottle and use at will, and keep some in an old quart-sized vinegar bottle to use for floors etc.

currytacular

2010-03-23T12:34:00.003-06:00

Cody loves curry. LOVES it. He would marry it if it weren't illegal and if I didn't exist.

Well, Cody probably wouldn't marry it. But I bet he'd consider the idea once or twice.

Anyway, Cody loves curry, and so I've found a few recipes he really likes, and I thought I'd share them today. :3 The first one's Thai, and the other two are kinda Indian. I dunno how authentic any of them are, but does that matter when they're delicious? Since the Indian ones go well with chapati, I shared that recipe I've been using. Chapati're basically tortillas, according to Wiki and my mouth, so I've used them in Cafe Rio-esque salads, too.

Evil Jungle Princess with Tofu
from Thaifoon, it's Cody's favorite dish.

1 tablespoon red curry paste
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
1 13-oz can coconut milk
fresh Thai chilies (to taste, optional)
1/2 cup green beans
1/4 of a red bell pepper
1/2 cup asparagus spears cut into 2" pieces
1 teaspoon lime juice (pfft, just use a whole lime!)
1 tablespoon dry basil (or 1/4 cup fresh Thai basil, cut up with some chiffonade bidness)
1/4 cup fresh mint (or a couple drops of mint essential oil, or 1 tablespoon dried mint)
1 tablespoon roasted, salted, chopped peanuts
1/2 block tofu, rinsed, drained, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces

Combine the coconut milk, curry paste, sugar, peanut butter, chili sauce in a skillet over medium low heat with a whisk until all the clumpies are gone. Add in the veggies and cook 5-10 minutes. Add in tofu and just heat long enough to warm through. Serve over rice.

Potato Curry
This delicious Potato Curry recipe's from AllRecipes.com. ^_^

4 scrubbed potatoes, cubed (I prefer red potatoes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced/shredded
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper (this is a LOT, I usually use 1/2 teaspoon. Last time I decided to try 1 teaspoon and our brains burned deliciously.)
4 teaspoons curry powder
4 teaspoons garam masala (or 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon, cayenne, and cloves, and one bay leaf)
2 teaspoons salt
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes in juice
1 14-oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups frozen peas
1 15-oz can coconut milk

Boil potatoes in salted water until just tender, drain and allow to dry for 5-10 minutes. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat, add oil, then saute the onions until nearly translucent, or about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and ginger and cook for a few more minutes. Throw all those spices in there, and then the tomatoes, beans, peas, potatoes, and coconut milk. Simmer until it's all warm and bubbly and delicious, and eat over rice or with chapati or warmed tortillas (or with rice and chapati!) with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt.

I tend to add in however many potatoes as I feel like. I guess I just try for around a pound to pound and a half-ish. This makes a ton of curry--probably around 6-8 adult servings, so if you're not sure you'll like it, just make half for starters.

Lazy Anda Curry
Willa's mom made something like this for Willa's birthday while I was out visiting in Arkansas last September, and I liked it so much that I tried to recreate a lazy version after looking up a few recipes online.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon garam masala
4 eggs
chapati or rice
plain yogurt or sour cream

Heat a medium saucepan (one that has a lid that fits) over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then the onion. Cook until the onion's translucent. Add in the spices, stir around for a minute or two, then dump in the tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Make a little pocket in the tomatoes with a spoon and crack each egg into its own little area, and poach with the lid on until the egg is cooked through. I usually cook it for another 10-20 minutes. Serve with chapati, or over rice, with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt on top.

Whole Wheat Chapati

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup hot tap water

Mix the flour and salt together. Measure the olive oil into the flour, then add the water in all at once, and stir to incorporate all the flour. Split the dough into 8 pieces and let rest for 10 minutes. While the dough's resting, heat up a skillet over medium heat and let it preheat the whole time. Roll out each ball on an oiled surface into about 8" round and throw it in the ungreased skillet for 30-60 seconds, until it bubbles up and there are brown spots on the dough on the bottom. Flip and repeat. If the dough takes longer than 60 seconds, it's gonna be too tough to enjoy for very long, so turn the heat up a bit and wait before trying the next.

Also, none of these pictures are mine, I stole them from the internets. ALL OF THEM.

so much food, so little time

2010-03-17T21:02:00.003-06:00

I bet you didn't realize that you'd just be getting food updates and recipes when I said I'd try and post more on my blog...heh. Well. You are. I don't even have a picture today, because laziness prevails, my friends. Watch out, it's coming for you next.

Anyway, Cody's doing this health challenge for work. It's been an adventure, since he's technically not supposed to have added sugar in almost anything except yeast-raised breads. You might be surprised by how much food has sugar as an ingredient (or high fructose corn syrup--same deal, he can't have it.)

Regular condensed tomato soup has high fructose corn syrup, and even the fancy brands like Pacific Organics' Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Tomato soup has cane juice in it...so...when we went to do our standard throw-together grilled cheese 'n tomato soup tonight, I had to come up with something else to serve with it.

But WHAT?

What indeed...

Are you sufficiently suspensified?

I hope so.

*dramatic fanfare*

I made tomato soup from scratch tonight, and it rocked.

Here's what I dun-did:

2 14-oz cans petite diced tomatoes
Juice of 1 lemon
1 onion, finely diced
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
pepper
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon parsley
garlic powder
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

Turn on le olde broiler on the ceiling-of-the-oven setting. High? Whatever it's called. Throw those tomatoes, the juice, onion, oil, and spices into a 9x13" pan. Broil for 10 minutes, stir, then broil an additional 10 minutes and remove from oven.

During the last 10 minutes of broilage, make a white sauce by melting the butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat, whisking in the flour until it gets nice 'n bubbly and golden, then add the milk all at once and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat. When you get the tomato mixture outta the oven, throw that into the saucepan, stir, and serve.

Next time I think I'm gonna blend it, 'cause it was a little thick as-is. Well, or add some broth? I'm not sure. I shared the recipe anyway, so do with it what you will. :P

ta-daaaa!

2010-02-24T12:56:00.004-07:00

Finally, I finished le book, and it was cute. Not super cute, just... cute. I cried towards the end, though. I didn't like it enough to pursue the movie, if that tells you anything, but I don't really love movies that much anyway.

Does anybody else wanna read it? I'll mail/hand it to the first person who says they want it in a comment. I might even send cookies with it!

Now, to start The Secret Life of Bees. Today's nice and snowy, a perfect day for reading. ^_^

Edit: Marley and Me has been requested by Rachel! Yay.

the thing that destroyed cream cheesia (totally a country)

2010-02-18T07:40:00.002-07:00

I'm eating some hash browns (slathered with Tapatio and pepper) as I type. ^_^

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
from Sarah

2 C Sugar
2 C Butter (at room temperature)
8 oz. Cream Cheese (again, at room temperature)
1 t Salt (freezing cold!! Just kidding...>_>)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (I added this because I was afraid of the density, with all that butter and cheese)
1 t Almond Extract
1 t Vanilla
1/4 cup milk (or 2 egg yolks, or 1 egg)
5 C Flour

In a large bow, combine sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond extract vanilla and egg yolk; blend well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup, level off. Stir in Flour until well blended. Chill dough 2 hours.

Heat oven to 375˚F. On lightly floured surface roll out dough, one fourth at a time. to 1/8" thickness. Cut into desired shape with lightly floured cookie cutters. Place 1" apart on un-greased cookie sheets.

Bake for 7-10 (I did 13, but my oven's funny) minutes or until light golden brown. Cool Completely. Frost and Decorate if desired. (They are actually really good plain I think)

Makes 5-6 Dozen cookies.

And I frosted them with:

Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from BHG New Cookbook, the 1996 edition

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 1/2-3/4 cups powdered sugar

Beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla together until there are no lumps remaining. Add in 2 cups of the powdered sugar, and beat in enough of the remaining sugar to get your frosting to the desired consistency.

I also added in 1/4 cup milk, just because...well, I don't remember why. I just wanted to. >_<>

here and there and everywhere (a.k.a. a very painful post for those with dial-up)

2010-02-18T05:50:00.011-07:00

Apologies, folks. This post's gonna be alllllllll oveeerrrrrr the place. :3 I hope it's not too confusing, and if you have any questions or complaints, hit the "comment" button and lemme know.
This fine specimen of a Schnoodle is Zeus. I made a deal with my friend Juan's 15-year-old brother, Isaac, that if he sent me a picture of Zeus once a month, I'd make him a Link hat. So...he sent me like two pictures of his dog (which is my favorite of their 4) and I made him a hat for Christmas, along with some Triforce sugar cookies.

MAZZA!!! My favorite restaurant.

Ever.

...Or at least until I find a new one.

ANDREW GOT MARRIED!!! He sent me this the Sunday before they got married. He sent it to me, so I can post it, right? ...>_> Okay, so maybe I should've asked, but I'm so happy for him and Angela. They're adorable together, and I think they'll help each other enjoy life a bit more.
Cody and I watched Jaxon and Addison, and what did Cody do? Arms the kids. Great. What's gonna happen if we have our own? T_T We'll never win against armed infantry.
The hat I made for Isaac, on his (much cuter) sister Ivory. ^_^ Apparently Isaac didn't want to wear the hat he paid for pictorially.
Addison, Diane's little girl, modeling the princess dress I got to make for her. ^_^ She loves that thing, which makes me happy!
Have I mentioned that I love getting mail? Because I really, really do. My Clonebaby sent me a package in the mail, with pocky and a Hello Kitty phone charm and cuteness galore!! I would scan the incredible card she decorated all over with ingenuity and a pen and show it to you, but I'm horribly lazy, so you'll have to make do with these pictures.
'Twas a Japanese-y gift from an Alabama-y girl. ^_^
I love seeing Truffle rolled in a ball on her bed. She's adorable. Right now she's so hairy that her bed has a halo of doggy hair, no matter if I've just washed it the day before. I can't wait until spring, when I won't feel mean for shaving all that hair off of her. :)
Matt and Chelsea, at Ed's wedding...oh, by the way...Cody's best friend Ed got married!! To JEN!!! We're so excited for them!!
She had the funnest color theme ever, and such a refreshingly different wedding dress! I loved the bridesmaids' outfits too, but I didn't get good pictures of them. They all had amazing tall bright heels on, though.
Cody and I helped pick up balloons for the wedding luncheon. We popped a few (accidentally), but lookit how fun they are!!! I love balloons!
The reception set-up for Ed and Jen, at the barn at Wheeler Farm. Jen's best friend Aubry was in charge of the whole shindig, and it was just jaw-droppingly astounding at what that woman can put together. Aubry has an amazing flair for decorating.
...We brought clown noses to the carnival-themed reception. >.< Tin cans behind Ed and Jen's getaway car! :D We had a lot of fun decorating it, so thanks for not getting mad at us, Ed and/or Jen!!
Change of pace...hah...this blog really is all over the place. This is a child restraint at the bathroom at the mall I took when I went shopping with Cheryl and Tycee. I thought it was all sorts of awkward but ingenious, all at the same time.
I have an awesome visiting teacher. Yay sweets!!
Also, another food pic, Zupa's is AWESOME. If you live in the Provo/Salt Lake/Layton area, you should totally try it out if you love panini, soup, salad, and a chocolate-dipped strawberry included with every purchase. :3
ZEBRA BLANKET!!! Diane and Adam gave us this for Christmas, and I kid you not, it's magic. It hides sleepiness in one of the seams or something, and coziness in another. I slept for a few hours after getting it on Christmas day, and if I'm ever having trouble getting to sleep I'll just go out to our couch and cuddle with the Zebs for a bit and I can fall asleep fine.
After almost two years in Lehi, I *finally* got a library card!! This's the first book I checked out. I went back yesterday and renewed it, since I haven't opened it because I promised myself I'd finish Marley and Me first (100 pages left on that one still...>_>) Still, I'm excited. My friend promised me that The Secret Life of Bees was good stuff.
Cody and I saw this in our dumpster on our way out one Saturday. Funny, and sad.

Okay. Mostly funny.
At the library. There's a lady who had her dog on her lap, zooming around on her power wheelchair, checkin' out the scene. I was entertained, by the dog at least. Truffle wouldn't stand for that kind of transportation.
MAIL!!! Juan, whom I send cookies to and have already been rewarded by a sainthood in his cult, sent me some lemons and my old cell phone back (which we let him borrow since he needed one for a few months) in this awesome box. Check out the decorations!!
There were precisely two (2) styrofoam peanuts, both with captions. The top one said "I'll protect you!", while the second one said "I'm halping!"

Awesome. XD
And, the lemons. Oh, how much better fresh lemons are than the ones you get at grocery stores! Yay Juan, and for Juan sending Cody and me lemons!!
:L...these, my fellow bloggymates, are delicious delicious sweet potato fries from Guru's in Provo. They have...I'm not sure, I think it's Asiago cheese on them? And then the dipping sauce is a chipotle frysauce, which, after a bit of very clever detective work, I discovered that if you add Tapatio to the sauce, it increases the deliciosity thereof by at least 10 points.
The perils of a vegetarian ordering off the regular menu, asking for them to leave the meat out. *sigh* I already sent my plate back once for having chicken in it, and what did I find after eating half of my bowl of delicious pasta? Chunks of chicken. Huge chunks. Like they just picked out the chicken from the top of the pasta and thought I wouldn't notice the rest. T_T It's too bad, I liked Guru's... but now they're on my "do not visit" list.
The day after the misplaced chicken, Cody and I went to Mazza (again!! :L) to make up for the Guru's experience, and played with homeless animals like we loved them, then left them without even giving them candy or free movie tickets. Cody matched this kitty in his black and white sweatshirt. :3
And this lionhead bunny was awesome. =:3 He didn't mind me putting my phone inside his cage to get a picture! Yay.
I've been trying to re-learn to knit for a project I've decided to do with a friend. I still dunno how to switch colors professionally, but I think I did a pretty good job of faking it for this heart!
CAKE! Cody wanted trifle, so I made cake and we just threw trifle stuff on top of it, like vanilla pudding, frozen berries from Costco, Cool Whip, and lemon sauce (made from Juan's lemons!! SO GOOD!!!)
I'm loving the dangly earrings that've been out in stores the past while...these are the most recent addition to my collection.
An apron from Grandma Anderson's collection that I added a little love monster to. I hope she doesn't mind, but I thought she would find it was funny, if (just a bit) horrifying and unfeminine.
These, my friends, are the BEST sugar cookies ever! My sister Sarah gave me a cream cheese sugar cookie recipe, and wow, does that thing fulfill your every non-chocolate sugary desire. *sigh* I only have fond memories of the things, since I sent them all away. I'll post the recipe soon-ish. Maybe today. We'll see.

Thanks for reading!! Hopefully I'll see you all again soon...but not right now, I need to go make my man some hash browns and hope they help this nasty cold he's got somehow.

Have a lovely day. ^_^

a new challenger approaches!

2010-02-18T05:43:00.003-07:00

Yeah, I know. It's been a while...

I'm working on posting more schtuff! Like, "I have my phone hooked up to the computer to get all the pictures off of it 'n everything!" working on it.

So...look forward to that, I guess?

uh...hello...

2009-11-02T13:51:00.005-07:00

That last blog is so OLD! He's all creaky 'n stuff.

Anyway, I uploaded pictures from my phone onto the computer today, and I wanted to share this one:

That's some leftover Oven-Roasted Veggies that I warmed up in my skillet then added an egg and some shredded cheddar to...:L It was SO GOOD!! I highly recommend it.

So as my blog today I decided to share the recipe I've modified from my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook for Oven-Roasted Veggies (they're way good with meatloaf, nut patties, what-have-you...but I'd make them just to have them for breakfast again any day!)

OVEN ROASTED VEGGIETABLES
3 medium potatoes (1 pound), scrubbed and cut into 1" pieces
1 medium turnip, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 medium onion cut into wedges and separated
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon oregano
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder...I sorta just sprinkle a generous amount in when I don't have garlic handy)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips then halved

Combine all ingredients except pepper in a 9x13" pan. Bake, covered, at 325 for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through. Turn the oven up to 450, uncover and add the peppers, and bake for an additional 20 minutes (stirring once.) Makes 6 side-dish servings.

little goodies

2009-08-28T22:43:00.003-06:00

Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.
-Ellen Goodman (Found on my friend Audrey's blog.)

I like a quote that makes me go "huh, they're right..." or at least makes me stop and think for a minute. Our consumerism fuels itself. Want want want want want want want... I mean, there are definitely needs in there that we must find ways to meet, but the very core needs most of us have--food, water, shelter, love--don't demand the excess the majority of our society enjoys.

Also, after researching to see if the above quote was accurate, I found this one by the same columnist:

We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck... But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness.
-Ellen Goodman

I remember learning somewhere (probably in Relief Society) that the root of all Christ-like love is gratitude. That's stayed with me, and when I'm feeling obstinate about someone or something, if I get myself to start thinking about what I'm grateful for in regards to that person or thing, I almost always feel my heart soften. Truly, I have a lot to be grateful for. Most Americans do.

So, as a random bonus, here are a few things I'm grateful for today:

Cody <3
Air conditioning
Trying out new restaurants
Computers
INTERNET! (I have friends if I have the internet!)
Truffle's muffled sleep barking
Finding new songs or artists to enjoy
Chocolate
Good lotion
Learning new things
Juan texting me weird pictures or things that make me laugh
People that plant too many squash/tomato/cucumber plants and want to give away the deliciousness
My family
Mazda3s...and driving them...
Getting to talk to Adneisha; she has this way of making me feel useful, important, and loved
My new mascara, it's awesome

So, friend/family member/person I haven't met, what are you grateful for today?

run! you might get....oh, you're tagged.

2009-08-28T11:37:00.004-06:00

Another tag, this time I stole it from Missy. :3

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yupyup, but not until after high school. My only boyfriend before Cody (Aaron Croft, who I dated an astounding week or two in college) was also a ram.

2. What kind of car did you drive? I didn't really drive much in high school. Sorry, Evany, Mark, Kristin, Anna, Steph...and whoever else toted me around.

3. Were you a party animal? Yes. I was like a party sloth, always asleep and at home and not cool enough for parties.

4. Were you considered a flirt? ...maybe? I remember something about a date with Mark that turned into me flirting with Brock, who was Evany's date. That was bad, I'm sorry Ev. Also, Rich only asked me to homecoming because I was very animated in talking to him. I wasn't really flirting, just talking and probably teasing; but my friends seemed to think I was madly in love with him because of it.

5. Were you in band, orchestra or choir? Choir for 3 or 4 years. I can't remember if I was in Slaglebaby's class as a Frosh.

6. Were you a nerd? Ummm...there're definitely smarter people than me, but I was always taking the honors classes and such, and I'm pretty much a dork. I'm gonna go with yes.

7. Were you on any varsity teams? Negatory.

8. Can you still sing the fight song? I don't even know if we had a fight song. I can still do the pep club cheer to the school song, though.

9. Who were your favorite teachers? CORSI! for Concurrent Math and AP AB Calc, Southam for English, Slagle for Choir, Bee for Drafting, and I enjoyed Atiya for Physics and Minkley for AP BC Calc (even though I hated the subjects.)

10. Where did you sit during lunch? Right by the science wing, outside of Dr. Atiya's room. I think we sat there almost all 4 years.

11. What was your school's full name? Highland High

12. What was your school's mascot? RAM!

13. Did you go to homecoming and who with? Yes, Squashmore year I went with Richard Christiansen for my first date EVAR, and it was awesome. Junior year Cory Heintz asked me, and that was really fun too. :3 That was a fun group of guys to be friends with.

14. If you could go back and do it again, would you? No. High school's over and I like it that way.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? All the very loud screams from some classmates' families. >_< STOP SCREAMING, it's only making the horribly long ceremony even longer and even less fun.

16. Where did you go Senior Skip Day? Hahaha, I skipped with Steph and Amy (a couple of Juniors) and we went down to 15th and 15th to Einstein's, then we went to Orchard Street Market and got fresh pineapple, then took it back to Slagle's classroom and ate it there. Slagle was the only one that didn't mind her seniors actually skipping, if I remember right. And Steph's right. Most of the stuff I ever plan, socially, involves food.

17. Were you in any clubs? French Club, it was just an excuse to eat elcaires and baguettes with Nutella and Brie.

18. Have you gained some weight since then? Yush. I dunno how many people actually stay the same size that they were in high school...

19. Who was your prom date? Matthew Croft, but it turned a little awkward because we found out we're like 3rd cousins or something like that on the date.

20. What did your dress/tux look like? It was white, with cap sleeves. Kinda boring, but I still like how Rebecca and I did my hair, with little roses and twists. I wish I could figure out how to do stuff like that on my own.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Pfft. Reunions.

22. Did you have a high school job and what was it? I worked at Hale Bakery from just before high school until just before college, and I love the girls I worked with. "If you wanna be my dustpan, you gotta get on the floor..." (sung to "Wannabe" by Spice Girls) I miss sitting in the walk-in fridge and eating Parfait cookies with whipped cream...

crentist the dentist

2009-06-10T23:48:00.003-06:00

I think I'm in love with my dentist.

No...I'm not going to leave Cody and join the circus only to return to Lehi and try to propose to my dentist (Dr. Groneman in American Fork) while he's performing a root canal on one of my molars.

It's not that kind of love.

The love I have for my dentist is based on his excellent care of my teeth with his weird water pic method of cleaning (also, he flosses my teeth! Shouldn't I be doing that?), and that he often compliments my teeth. "You have good teeth," he says. I blush. I do have good teeth! Thanks for noticing, Dentist Man! (And thank you for the teeth, Mom and Dad!) "No cavities," he says. "Nice work." I smile. See what I mean about the compliments? He knows how to make a person feel good about her mouth.

Also, he has a superb memory...it almost seems like he and his assistants keep notes on Cody and me somewhere with our dental records. Do they? I might have to write them an anonymous letter or do some sleuthing while they're out to lunch, because it's uncanny how well they remember minute details about us. He and his assistants always ask follow-up questions to conversations we've had 6 months ago at our previous appointment! How do they do that? I really want to know. Is it because we have extremely odd tastes and stick out that much? I don't really think we're *that* odd, but maybe we are. I dunno.

Aubrey, his main assistant, is always asking about our family and jobs and interests, and this last appointment she wasn't the one helping me--but she did tell the girl who was assisting "I like Ruthie, she's cute," after just seeing my face through the door. How does she remember every patient's name?! Seriously. We've only been going to Dr. Groneman's office for the past 2 years, so we've only seen these people 3 or 4 times.

Even though Dr. Groneman and his assistants are extremely chatty and sociable, they're also happy to hand over a remote and let you watch tv while they take care of your routine oral hygiene needs. I've watched Pokemon and the Food Network while having a cavity filled. The Food Network might not be the best thing to watch when you can't eat for a few hours, but it's definitely on my list of favorite channels I don't have at home...so...it gets watched.

So anyway, back to talk of dentistry...if anybody's in or around Utah County and wants a great dental experience, go to my dentist! He's awesome!

(Disclaimer: Ruthie was not payed [much] to write nice things about her dentist.)

cruisin' usa...and canada!!

2009-06-09T12:59:00.015-06:00

Cody and I were lucky enough to go on a vacation with his family this past week, first to California for a few days and then on a cruise from LA to San Francisco, Victoria (in British Colombia, Canada--w00t!!), Seattle, then back to LA.

Our boat, the Royal Caribbean Mariner. I heard it was the biggest cruise ship on the ocean, with an ice skating rink, 14 decks, a rock climbing wall, inline skating rink, miniature golf...blah blah blah...but I'm not sure and I'm too lazy to factcheck.
Our stateroom, which was small but very well planned. It seemed a lot bigger than it was and had places for everything, although I'm not sure how we survived the 2003 cruise with the Higbees with 5 of us in one stateroom.
The promenade deck, with all the shops. This is deck 5, 9 decks below the top deck.
Our first stop was San Francisco. Cody and I opted out of all the planned cruise tours because none of them sounded that interesting, and we wanted to explore the cities on our own terms. The first thing we did once we got to port--besides text like mad--was to check on E3 (video game convention in LA) news for Cody, then we dropped off the laptop and headed out to play.

Smartcar, parked smartly.

Cody in front of Viz Media's building in San Francisco. Viz Media's in charge of a few anime's English dubs, so although we mostly watch the Japanese dub with English subtitles, it was still cool to see something we could be nerdy about.
I thought this building was interesting.
I got some rose gelato and snarfed it down without a picture, although it tasted delicious and was very interesting. Then, we found this awesome little candy store that had metal lunchboxes, strange video game candy, and practical joke stuff.
I totally bought some awesome bandaids there. Oh, and the dude that worked the counter (I think he might've been gay, but my gaydar's so off I don't trust it) asked me what designer my shirt was, and I told him it was a very exclusive place called the Gap Outlet. XD
The dining room was amazing, with three full floors and crystal chandeliers everywhere. Our waiter and waitress were fabulous, telling us all about their lives before cruising, and seeming to dislike waiting tables immensely while taking excellent care of us. It was rather ironic, but they definitely earned their keep. I hope they get to live some of the life they were talking about.
The food was pretty good, although I missed our home cooking...but my favorite was when the chef would make a jaunty statement with a bunch of herbs.
Us'ns
Richard was in love with the buffet for breakfast, and below is a picture of his favorite things there. The formal dining room always takes so much longer that it was hard to justify going there for every meal, especially when the food wasn't that much better, but the portion control the dining room offered was much more convenient than having to wait an hour for food. ^_^
Waiting for food was always better when I brought along my top.
My homey away from home.
Cody got inked! Fake inked! With glow-in-the-darkness stuff!

Dragon's Lair...there were so many hidden little bars, clubs, restaurants, theaters, etc. on our boat that I don't think I saw it all completely.
CANADA! Here are some Canadian superheroes, Brave Beaver:
and Mighty Moose:
Cheesecake on a steeeek in Victoria.
The red lights were ginormous in Victoria. I'm not sure why. It was worth me taking a picture, apparently.
The public works building had an interesting sculpture outside the library.
The library in Victoria. Cody's obsessed with libraries, just in case you didn't know.

SEATTLE! This was maybe my favorite city to see, least favorite city to walk around in. The hills were worse than in San Fran! It was probably just the path we chose to take, but still. >_> onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_l2fZsjWE3Yk/Si60SiRdPQI/AAAAAAAAAzc/3bHdeTk1N-E/s1600-h/Cody%27s+Phone+%289%29.jpg">Richard imitating the statue:
While we were in Seattle, we met another friend from the anime forums named Thomas (SsriTelQuessir or ST'Q to anyone familiar with the tv.com Bleach Forum.) We had a load of fun hanging out with him, seeing MUPPETS! and eating delicious curry. I was glad he took time out of his busy schedule to come and meet us. Here's Cody and Thomas at the Seattle SciFi museum:
Me playing with Animal on the drums:
Some dude was playing a flute! He was pretty good, too.

Cody and I attempting to look like nerds. I was disappointed when I saw that we didn't look much different from normal...
Rawrs! Kids attacked him with chalk, so he wasn't so fierce.

Nevermore?
Random Batman tattoo sighting on the Seattle monorail.
Seattle public library, main branch.

Us! In Seattle! We're happy!!
I thought this was intriguing. A whole park just for 1st Amendment rights! w00t!
Back on the ship, we played games. Tycee totally owned at Monopoly, despite her niceness and attempts to help people out.
Our bed had curtains, and Cody is always wont to be silly around unusual things...
The cruise ship had artwork/sculptures on every single landing on both sets of stairs. This was my favorite, kitchen utensils made entirely of aluminum wire:

Cody winning a medal for beating little girls at Wii Tennis in a family tournament. XD

Dragon! On ice! It's the new Disney ice show, y'all.
I played Bananagrams by myself a lot...I think some of those words are wrong, too. I wasn't too hard on myself when judging.
And...well, that's all. We had a lot of fun, and I'm so glad we got to go...but it's SO GOOD to be home!

california

2009-06-09T12:12:00.008-06:00

We woke up early (5 am is super early for people who barely drag themselves out of bed at 7:15, and cRaZy early for Cody who had to stay up working until 4 am the night before) on May 28th, and Diane graciously drove us to the airport, where this happened: We got to Long Beach just fine, drove to my Uncle Gordon and Aunt Marlene's house in Chino Hills, and proceeded to enjoy fine hospitality via my Aunt Marlene, and the sound of young children living life to the fullest by playing a dog-tail-flip tic-tac-toe game. We took a quick nap in the same room as a funny turtle (it's Holly and Sam's, Gordon and Marlene are letting it chill at their house until Holly and Sam find a place of their own) after saying hello, spotted some California Jell-O (who knew other states were even aware of Jell-O? :P), then headed out for lunch at Chili's, shopping at Trader Joe's (I LOVE TRADER JOE'S! Why aren't they here already?!) and games at Juan's with Juan and his little brother Isaac.

Sadly, I stink at taking pictures at pertinent times, so we have no proof of Juan's family's awesomeness...or even of hanging out with Juan or Adneisha, but I can gush about all of them with words. Juan's little brother Isaac (he's 15, I think) is funny, skinny, and is a really good sport. All the Reveles kids are good looking people, and we enjoyed seeing Ivory whirl in and out of the house on her way to cheerleading tryouts. Then, Cody and I played some Super Smash Brothers Brawl live with Juan and Isaac for the first time, petted the three little doggies that were running around inside, ate tasty quesadillas (I think) that Juan's stepmom brought us, saw a treehouse Juan's dad built in the backyard, and walked over to 7-11 to get some Slurpee's with Transformers straws. After playing some more games...I think just Bananagrams, we poked our way outta the Reveles' house and headed back to Gordon and Marlene's, where we had a place to sleep. ^_^ To paraphrase Cody, "I got to play games and hug Juan, so it was a good day."

The next day, we were planning on going to go to the fashion district with Juan and Adneisha, but Juan got attacked by a sore throat and phlegm monster early, so we waited a few hours to see if it would clear up, contacted Adneisha, and met up with with her to go to Santee Alley with Cody's family. 'Neisha's such a delightful person, and seeing her again was fantastic. We ran down the street towards each other when we first saw each other, and Adneisha threw her arms around Cody's neck in a hello attack when she first got to him. XD I like that girl.

While shopping with Adneisha, I almost completely forgot to look for anything for myself because it was so entertaining to watch her and listen to her sing along to the songs playing over the stores' speakers. After Cody's family got tired and left, Cody and I drove Adneisha back to her house and got to meet her mom, sister Ebony, her pseudo-brother Tim, and Adneisha's gran; and Adneisha showed us her plushie collection and the artwork that Juan created for her, including this beautiful piece:
Those are characters Juan and 'Neisha collaborated on together, the way they do on a lot of stories and characters. She comes up with the backstories and he draws... The girl is based on Adneisha, is blind, and is in love with an alien...yeah, Juan and 'Neisha are crazy, but that just makes them more fun and interesting, no?

No, I don't have sandals on...these're just my dirty feet after walking around downtown LA in flip-flops:
On Saturday morning, Gordon and Marlene had their family over and Uncle Gordon made us pancakes. :L He makes special shapes on request, so I requested a porcupine, and this is how it came out:
It was really great to see all the California Andersons! They're such fun people, and although I'm not very good at keeping in touch, I'm really glad we got to spend a little time with all of them. Even more, I'm glad that Holly and Sam's baby is all right, and that Brad and Katie's baby arrived safely and had the esophigal problem diagnosed and (hopefully) rectified so quickly.

After we had breakfast, Juan was feeling better so we got to chill at his house while his family was gone, trying out the glory that is Guitar Hero 3 for the first time...which was pretty much epic. Then we met up with Adneisha and Tim and went to enjoy Star Trek and then out to eat at a delicious Chinese place in Hollywood. They even had veggie orange chicken! Woo!!

Sunday morning we left for the cruise, but we tried to go to sacrament meeting with Gordon and Marlene. Unfortunately, we didn't know which building was the "big" building, so we ended up at the wrong place...well, at least we got some church in before getting on the boat. I'm sorry we missed them, though.

And now, more random pictures! Below is a picture of a shopping mall that includes a store called BevMo (that's what we call Cody's grandpa Bevan to each other...)
Tycee after eating with Cody's family at California Pizza Kitchen downtown.
Richard, taken the same time as the one of Tycee above.
Oh, and have I mentioned how awesome Juan is? I requested a portrait last year after finding out he draws, and while we were there he finished a portrait of my little sister Eliza Jane for me. ^_^

When we got back from the cruise, we had a few hours to burn, so we rented a car and attacked Juan again. We played more SSBB with Juan, Isaac, and Isaac's friend Angel, then went with Juan to the downtown LA library and had a docent give us a tour. That place is awesome! I love the artwork throughout the old part of the library, and the new part of the library's artwork is interesting, too.After the library tour was over, we got some food with Juan, found chocolate in our rental car from a previous renter (which I totally ate as seen below, thankyouverymuch), said our goodbyes to Juanny boy and Isaac, and then flew away home.

Overall, I think the best part about LA is the fun people we have to love there.

random family whatnot

2009-05-10T12:49:00.003-06:00

Note to self: when bathing a Truffle, make sure to dry her thoroughly before letting her escape to the wild blue yonder of the living room. She will always rub herself all over any dry patch of carpet she can find to pervade wet dog smell throughout the world.

My cute mom and Jane. Poor Eliza Jane is terrified of Truffle, but one day I hope they'll be friends.
CODY! We're chillin' on the porch steps after a hearty Sunday dinner last month at my parents' house.
Said Sunday dinner...
My mom helping out George with his cold hands.

congratulations congraduate contycers!

2009-05-10T12:40:00.003-06:00

Tycee can cook! Tycee ate a cookie, too. Tycee also graduated from the University of Utah on Friday with a bachelor's in communication, emphasis on public relations. We partied heartily.

Tycee and her husband Richard, bein' all smart 'n stuff.
Cody showing off Tycee's graduation gear:
Tycee telling us all why Richard rocks at a "yay Tycee!" dinner at Biaggi's that night, and all of us being entertained.
So, congratulations! You did it, Tycee!

I should also mention that my brother Don graduated from the U on Friday with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering, although we didn't make it to his convocation. XD! My brother's doing it toooooo!

loads of schtuff

2009-05-10T11:58:00.011-06:00

Okay, there's not really a rhyme or reason to any of these pictures. I've just been lazy and haven't blogged properly to keep up with all of them...so...um...sorry? And enjoy, if possible. Captions are below the pictures. I'm not sure why I do it that way...I just do.

There's a crazy bird--I have no idea if it's a hawk or some random tropical bird--but it hangs out on the top floor's balcony of the building west of our clubhouse. I see him every time I go to work out, which isn't very often, but it's fun to see him.
Uh...I made a mini lunch and put it in an Altoid tin for kicks a few weeks ago. Sad thing is, it's still in my fridge. I hope it's not moldy.
Closer view of the wheat thin sammich and mini carrot sticks.
Tycee showing off her impressive hiya skillz after we watched Australia at her and Rich's apartment.
Enjoying the movie.
Sadie, the Parker's doggy. Cody lived next door to the Parkers for 10+ years while growing up, and Sadie's been a part of that. She's getting old, so we wanted to make sure we documented the tenderness. Awww, Sade!

Cody nerding out at Best Buy. He loves touch screen tech, and really wants to have a Windows 7 touch-screen capable device for when it launches.
Tabbouleh! This is my own. The other picture on the blog's one I found online.
Lemon lime cake with berries... :L I do love my food, peoples.
Truffle all scruffy lookin'.
My sister Sarah's son George and my mom, making a snowman last month. Sarah and I sat back and enjoyed the snow, and took pictures. What adventurous lasses we be!
Diane's beautiful butterfly cookie for Valentine's Day. Ah, I love my sisters.
The caterpillar! He bloomed beautifully, didn't he?
Cody pointing out his kinship to the Civic, with both of their scruffy beards. This was up in Logan, the day of Cody's grandpa Clint's funeral in February.
My Valentine's day card from Cody. I LOVE it and smile every time I see it.I love where we live. I think pretty much everybody loves where they live and have things they enjoy and hate about the area. Personally, I enjoy seeing the scenery every time I'm outside here. It's just gorgeous.
Me in my awesome 3-D glasses, seeing Coraline with Cody.
Our friend Juan got one too many taunts from Cody and sent this picture with Cody's favorite character from a video game...it still makes us both laugh to see it.
I promised pictures, so here's our friend Juan's avatar, which inspired:
The LeonMorado (purple lion) plush! To go along with his anime crush,
Neliel tu Oderschvank (without a face. Juan's an artist, he can finish it. :P) Cody and I are excited to see Juan and Neisha when we go to California at the end of the month.
Juan and a Nel cosplayer at last year's AnimeExpo in LA.
Juan and Adneisha, yay for meeting people online. XD They're both awesome and I can't wait to see them again.

Cody's kitteh I made him for worksy, so he's surrounded by happy things.
2.0 view. The cat goes well with Cody's cat calendars (yeah, TWO cat calendars!) and Cody's insatiable love of felines.

girliness ahead

2009-04-27T11:47:00.004-06:00

Warning: You may not want to continue reading if hearing about "female troubles" troubles you. Or trebles, basses, or altos you. Whatever way, you're fairly forewarned, and I won't be offended if you leave the blog.

For the past few months--okay, year-ish--every time I get my period I feel bitter. My body's obviously well enough to create a happy lining for a baby, but not enough to reap the benefits of going through that cycle of baby preparation to foster a fetus (or, y'know, have a zygote created in the first place.) I know it's illogical to be frustrated with something like procreation, that is so amazing when it works that it's nothing short of miraculous, but I have a hard time not wanting my body to go all-or-nothing. If I can't get pregnant, stop the charade of the periods, please. Let me just be a nothing instead of a half-working female. I just want one way or the other, not this limboland.

Illogical, but that's how I feel.

So, now periods are almost a time of mourning, each and every month. Maybe I need to find a new perspective on all of this, and I'll probably try soon, but right now? I just want to be sad.

hmm...interesting...

2009-04-03T17:12:00.002-06:00

I found this on http://designismine.blogspot.com/, a lovely blog full of fascinating or beautiful things (often both.) Rejoice in things and people that don't waver in asking for attention when they need or want it, for how else are we supposed to know?

what the fuzzy fuzz?

2009-03-30T11:46:00.009-06:00

Poor, neglected little blog! He hasn't been updated in soooo long that I had to blow figurative dust off the "post a new blog" button.

Perhaps I'll just bullet some updates...make it all easy to read 'n such, hey?

I gave Truffle a bad haircut and she's embarrassed to be seen until it grows out.
Cody decided he wants to move into a mobile/prefab house and I'd rather move into an Airstream.
Tabbouleh and falafel aren't that hard to make! I'm eating some tabbouleh right now, and I ♥ love it so!
I've learned that it's impossible to predict how people deal with grief, and I stink at knowing how to help.
My laundry machine decided to try and wash my laundry room floor a few weeks ago, and my sweet dad came to our rescue, and after a bit of trouble figured out that the drain pipe wasn't connected properly. :/ Poor guy. I was so grateful he went to the trouble, though.
One of my friends has insisted for a month or two that I'm a clone of his friend in Alabama. Not believing him, I added her as a friend on facebook...and after talking a bit, we do have pretty similar personalities. O_o Isn't that weird?
Cleaning isn't hard but it's hard to get myself to do it.
I am now a matron saint of cookies and pies AND an oracle of punniness in a cult. w00t!
Having a reason to celebrate every day differently makes celebrating slightly less fun, although I think the overall fun level is greater than it would be without everyday celebrations.
The anticipation of cruising with Cody's family is heightening to the point that I'm almost scared it's not going to happen. Yay cruises!!

giveaway game!

2009-02-18T16:10:00.002-07:00

I think I cheated, but if I still won, then thanks, Rachel! I'm excited for my gift. :P

All right, this is how it works..... The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. BUT, in order for you to leave a comment on my blog, you have to post this on your blog first. (That means that sometime during this year you will send a gift to 3 people as well.) Get it? So, the first 3 people to comment on this post will be the lucky ones! Good Luck!

sweet little oliver

2009-02-17T17:10:00.004-07:00

Last Saturday, my sister Sarah and her husband Jared's little Oliver passed away in Primary Children's Medical Center.

He has always been such a sweet boy, and lucky me who looks a little like my sisters, he would come to me without a fuss and let me hold him. I could sit for an hour or two with him on my lap and he would just sit there, contented. Just a week and a half ago, at my uncle Ron's rememberance party at Buca di Beppo, Oliver tried to eat my place mat and had me doing acrobatics to keep him out of my ice water. He almost laughed that day, if I remember right. We were all pretty funny looking, so I don't blame him for wanting to.

He died in his father's arms, after being admitted for influenza type A the day before. He will be missed.

So, to Oliver! May we all remember him and remember to show love and support to his family.

Picture taken from Oliver's facebook group.

2009-01-14T10:06:00.003-07:00

Hanging out at Sarah and Jared's house rather unannounced one fine Saturday.

Being a dork.

Cody drinking and listening to MoviePhone all at the same time...talent!

The truth!!!!!

And that's all for now. See, I have to *take* pictures to be able to *post* pictures.

new year, new tradition

2009-01-14T09:58:00.003-07:00

I mentioned a couple of blogs ago that I suck at setting goals. Well, I guess I'm gonna give it a go anyway this year, and it'll give me something to blog about. Maybe this kind of accountability will help? I doubt it, but it's possible, right?

Here are some goals and the ways I intend to implement them in my life:

Keep the computer desk cleared off for my Cody. It'd probably help if I had a set time to purge the desk every day, and if I didn't use it as a lab for the benign bacteria experiments I'm involved in...

Learn all the lyrics to "One Week" by BareNakedLadies, a VERY prestigious and grand goal to have. Um...print out the lyrics, read them over, and listen to the song a lot while trying to sing along. Repeat. Frequently.

Read a whole book per month. I just finished Brisingr (which I started in...October? :S) and I'm still working on Dracula...I figure those two can count for January, and then I'll work on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (and possibly Through the Looking Glass) for February. The month before I'll have to choose a book and find it.

Actually post things in my Etsy shop regularly. This requires actually making things and then taking the 5 minutes to take pictures and post the items. Not that hard, just a bit tedious when there are a lot of items.

Manage my time better. Such a general goal. I think setting time limits to be online for fun and to play video games are a good start, maybe I'll try and do that and keep it by the end of the month?

I PROMISE I'll post pictures next time. Promise.

balancing act

2009-01-04T15:53:00.003-07:00

All right, to those of you who read my previous post (which got deleted 'cause I was annoyed with how petulant and "waa, meeeeeeee!" I sounded), here's some randomness I want to share but didn't 'cause I was too angsty for not angsty stuff then.

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of shopping with Cody's cute mom and sister (Cheryl and Tycee, respectively.) At one of the stops, Tycee and I were waiting for Cheryl to finish up, and I saw a girl and her boyfriend walking around the store. The dude was holding a little Yorkie, and as they passed, I instinctively asked, "Can I hold your dog?" The guy stopped in his tracks, glanced at the dog and almost at me, then just started walking again. It was awesome. I had to hold my laughter in for a few minutes so they wouldn't hear me busting up...I mean, I don't think I would've let a stranger hold Truffle (not like anybody's gonna ask to pick that fur-covered pogo stick up anytime soon), but the indecision then decision to just ignore me was hilarious.

Also, I bought some weird, ugly purple earrings for $1.40. Best bargain of the day, my friends. I wore them around the mall until we went home.

Updates, you say? What updates? Oh! Okay. Well, Cody successfully launched a set of new websites for one of their clients (the first project he was in charge of, and he's been working on it for months.) The problems have been minimal after the initial launch, and I'm just happy he's a bit less stressed now than he has been in quite some time. We had one crazy night where he had to stay up until 2 or 3 to work out kinks after launch, then had to wake up at 5 the next morning to ensure it was still working and fix the issues. A couple of days of crazy hours is all...nothing compared to what medical interns and the like have to work, but it was rough when we're used to our cozy hours.

I successfully made a little plushie! She's adorable! But the yarn hair...it took forever. Next time I think I want to try felt for the hair, although I really like the way the yarn looks, and I definitely want to try a different fabric because woven cotton fabric and plushie crotches don't really mix...^_^' I'll try and post some pictures sometime, but no promises...oh, and I made a little lion plush to go with it. XD It's all very exciting.

Cody has saturated his workspace with cat calendars (a cat a day calendar and a month-to-month cat calendar), and I've promised to make him a kitty plush to hang out at his desk, too (after the lion, I'm confident a kitty with whiskers won't be too much trouble...but we'll see.)

Truffle's good. She likes the snow, and she likes to get it on her face. I got her to shake off the snow outside successfully once, and now she waits until we're safely inside before sending the snow particulates flying about. She's just cool like that.

Sunshine makes me happy. ^_^

And now, I will abruptly end.

12 tags of Christmas

2008-12-17T09:27:00.009-07:00

"On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me..." I gotsded tagged by Missy. Thank you. >:3

1 EMBARRASSING MOMENT: All right, Internet; you asked for it. I could just lie and say I don't have one, but I've told random people I barely know about this incident before, so I may as well share it with the people that read this. I peed my pants in school...the kicker was, I was in 8th grade. In English. It was reading time, and all I could think about was how I had to go to the bathroom...stupid boring book! Why couldn't I have been reading something a bit more suspenseful?

Sigh.

Wince and laugh inducing, isn't it?

2 BEST FRIENDS: Cody! and my sisters are who I'd pick for the other. Can all 7 count as one? (Don and Andrew, you guys are awesome too...>_<) 3 THINGS I BUY REGULARLY: tomatoes, hummus, and CHOCOLATE! I have to buy the cheap, almost "why did I buy this, it's not that good..." chocolate so I don't gorge on it and have to buy it more than tomatoes.

4 PLACES I WANT TO GO: Japan, France, NYC, Hawaii

5 GOALS FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR: I suck at goal-setting because I always forget about them, but here goes: Keep the computer desk cleared off for my Cody, learn all the lyrics to "One Week" by BareNakedLadies, read a whole book per month, actually post things in my Etsy shop regularly, and manage my time better.

6 THINGS MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME: I'm addicted to Super Smash Brothers Brawl, I like to give away cookies, procrastination is a way of life I seem to embrace, I get really nervous about almost all social situations, I miss sticky hands in vending machines, and I think I'm gonna cosplay Rogue from X-Men (if Cody sticks with his idea of being Gambit or Wolverine) at next year's San Diego Comic Con.

7 THINGS I WOULD NEVER SAY: "Cody, let's not talk." "I love showering!" "Bark louder and wake up the neighbors, Truff! DO IT!" "Let's eat Jell-O and play ping pong." "The Signs game is the best game EVAR!" "I went on a five-mile hike this morning before going to the gym for three hours, eating a 100% bran muffin on the way and thinking about ways to decrease my simple carb intake." "Cody, I totally understood all that stuff you just said about programming!" Ah, that last one's a little sad. I'm catching on some, but I feel like I need a class just to get the gist of what he's talking about.

9 THINGS I SAY TO MY KIDS: I'm gonna go with Missy and say I'll get back to you once Truffle morphs into a human...or y'know, after Cody and I have a cute little tot.

10 THINGS I DO A LOT: make food, take Truff out, text message, look at things and think "I should do something (clean, de-clutter, fix, sew...the list is long) to that...", check the internet for new updates, ack! 5 more things? uh...make the bed, do laundry, do dishes, play SSBB (as already mentioned, I have an addiction), and read.

11 THINGS I WOULD RATHER NOT LIVE WITHOUT: Cody, my family, the gospel, my friends, Truffle, the internet (oh, I love you, Inty!), Cody's sense of humor, my sense of humor, good food, great entertainment, and hot water.

12 PEOPLE I TAG: Whoever wants to do this. I doubt there are 12 people reading this, anyway. :P

Edit 12-30-2008 I FORGOT DAY 8! Thanks to Richard for pointing it out...here it is now (although it's a bit late...)

8 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS SEASON: cheesebowl!!!, singing Christmas carols at church and at home, Cody gets time off of work, pretty lights, English Toffee, making/buying/receiving presents (it's the most fun when you make something for someone and they actually like it!), the smell of cinnamon that permeates the front of stores, and I love the focus on the Savior's birth the season brings. It's always nice to have an extra reminder of what a miracle his birth and life was for us, even if we don't celebrate it in the right month. ^_^

decembering

2008-12-10T18:18:00.002-07:00

Quiet anticipation used to fill the classroom in December, classmates talking about what they wanted for Christmas, the teacher instigating snowmen, wreaths, and other appropriately un-church-oriented art projects that were also a bit festive...my most vivid classroom for Christmas was Ms. B in first grade. She somehow scrounged extra funds to get us all a box of crayons and some clay that smelled like lemons. I ate a little of the clay...but it didn't taste like lemons.

At home, the house would be filled with smells of fresh pine; sugary delights like fudge, cookies, caramel, splintzle (uhhh...that can't be what it's called. We'd take decorative irons on wire sticks, dip them in batter, and deep fry them, then coat them with powdered sugar...they're delicious but I can't remember their name); and the hearty winter fare my mom always seemed to turn out once the weather started enforcing a coat-worthy forecast. Some years the tree would be up the day after Thanksgiving, some years it wouldn't get put up until Christmas Eve. Most years it was a half-and-half attempt, the tree getting put up in early December, the lights around the 15th, and the ornaments in time for us to open our presents. I used to think giving my siblings things like $1 trolls I got from the vending machine at Fred Meyer's was the best gift I could ever come up with...

I love December, but now it's a little different. We have a teeny 2' tree that I'm perfectly happy with, no extravagant treat plates to hand out, and there's all sorts of minutia to accomplish before the 25th. One of Cody's presents arrived in the mail today, and I look forward to wrapping and labeling it tomorrow, and putting it on the below the tree in the bookshelf. There's less to stress and get excited about, but at the same time, there are bigger stresses. It doesn't matter. Christmas! The hope and thought of Christmas makes everything better! ^_^

What about you? Which Christmas or holiday is the most vivid in your memory? Do you have a favorite tradition?

don't mind me...

2008-11-24T20:24:00.003-07:00

You know what sucks? When you’re ready, you’re willing, you’re capable of helping or of doing something for someone and they don’t want you. They think they don’t need you. The very fact that you offer yourself, you want to be there and be helpful to them seems to be overlooked, unappreciated. It’s fine if there are one or two or even three instances like that. I understand that there are issues that other people will be better confidantes for. I realize that I might not understand or that I'm not what people are looking for when they’re looking for a sympathetic ear. I don’t blame them. It’s just that I feel so…useless, and like I keep putting myself out there without any acknowledgment or reciprocation. Like I said, I don’t expect everyone (or anyone, really) to want me as a helper most of the time. It’s not a big deal. The issue is that if I’m supposed to be a friend, or to matter; shouldn’t my effort and willingness to be that listening, sympathetic person be appreciated or at the very least acknowledged?

At this point, it doesn’t seem to be. I’m not sure if it’s an issue that should just be ignored or if I should keep it in the back of my mind to be aware of. Does this person realize what they are doing? Do they know they’re pushing me away, is it intentional and planned or a by-product of too many other things going on?

Right now, I feel like I don’t matter, that my time means nothing; that their word is losing its potency and this friend isn't someone I can rely on or place hope in.

That makes me so sad.

Edit 11-26-2008
This isn't directed towards anyone who might chance upon this blog. ^_^

free book!

2008-11-13T15:21:00.002-07:00

On Oprah yesterday, they announced that snapfish.com would be doing free 20-page books with your own words, art, and pictures. Go! Go now to this link, if you want one! The offer is only good until tomorrow, but if you sign up for the offer you have until Sunday to create your book and submit it.

Thanks to Diane for the heads-up! You're the best Diane I've ever met.

dressing up isn't just for freaks

2008-10-31T17:31:00.004-06:00

I'm not saying we're not freaks, I'm saying that people that aren't freaks dress up, too! You can assume we are or are not freaks as your personal feelings dictate.

Here are some pictures from today and Cody's work Halloween party for your viewing pleasure:

Cody's boss and some guy dressed as a sumo woman:

spookiness!

2008-10-31T12:11:00.003-06:00

Happy Halloween, everybody!

This is who I'm supposed to be dressing up as, Ruby Heart from Capcom vs. Marvel (video game):

but it's not going to turn out quite like that. Partly because I'm lazy, and partly because I couldn't find a hat anywhere! :(

Cody's going to be Urahara (same guy he was for the anime convention we went to in July), and Truffle's going to be a princess! Possibly Princess Peach!!

I'll upload pictures tomorrow. Maybe.

What are your plans for today?

again?!

2008-10-22T16:50:00.004-06:00

I guess it hurts to try and stay up with blogs. I've been ignoring them for a month now, and now that I'm back, trying to pay attention...I got tagged again! O_o This time, my cute cousin Rachel tagged me.

Well, here goes. I'm supposed to go to the 4th picture in the 4th folder of my pictures and write a blog about it. Aren't you excited?

This is a model apartment in Layton Cody and I looked at one weekend while we were living in Cedar City. The appeal? It allowed pets, it was about 1/2 a mile away from the Davis Extension of Weber where Cody was transferring to, and they served us warm chocolate chip cookies when we went to look at the clubhouse. Oh, and the clubhouse had a pool and gym, yay. Plus the cookies...did I mention there were cookies?

Downsides...money. I think it was about $800/month plus a pet deposit and pet rent, which after paying $425/month in Cedar was hiiiiiiiiigh...anyway, we found our nifty little condo in Centerville for $500/month and everything turned out peachy keen.

I won't tag you, but you can tag yourself. Ha, I'm a party pooper! :P

tagged like an empty warehouse

2008-10-21T18:53:00.003-06:00

My cute sister Sarah -- who hates being tagged, by the way -- has tagged me. I know you've been dying to know random facts about me (haha)...so here goes.

8 Favorite TV Shows:

The Office
Cowboy Bebop (anime...)
Invader Zim
Middleman
Chuck
Big Bang Theory
Heroes
Bleach (more anime)

8 Favorite Restaurants

Cafe Rio
Spin Cafe
California Pizza Kitchen
Zupa's (TRY IT if you haven't!! It's fabulous!)
Bajio
Olive Garden
Burger King (they have veggie burgers! Bless them.)
Noodles & Co.

8 Things that happened yesterday (I'm sick, so this should be SO entertaining.)

Couldn't get to sleep, so I got up at 12:10 am, thought up random street art ideas (like tying apples to orange trees) and emailed them to my friend
Chatted with another friend for a couple of hours
Tried to go back to sleep, and succeeded around 4
Stumbled out of bed around 10 and took blessed drugs (OTC, of course!)
Took Truffle out to visit nature and got the mail on the way
Made a grocery list of "sick food" for Cody to bring home
Wrote a haiku for pieku time (...um...I'll explain this if you want)
Made myself some ramen Cody brought home for me and watched a bunch of Big Bang Theories we had saved up. Funny show...but my cough makes it hurt to laugh, so it was sort-of a win/win/lose situation. ^_^

8 things to look forward to

Snow
Cody's birthday
Christmas
Long hair
2009 trip!
5:20 pm every night when Cody gets home
Tuesday night anime, Thursday night manga
Getting over this cold!

8 Things I love about Fall

The leaves
Crisp air
Pumpkins
Honeycrisp apples. Best apples, ever...
Sweaters!!
Wearing jackets, beanies, gloves, coats again
Soups and stews
How the weather is perfect to go and be outside most of the time

8 Things on my wishlist

More time with Cody
A yard
Motivation
A 4-quart stainless steel stockpot
Perfect skin, like my sisters have. ^_^
More creativity
Cute, fashionable, preferably non-leather flat boots (it's almost impossible to find 2/4 items!)
Less self-consciousness and more self-awareness.

I'm supposed to tag 8 people now, but meh. Do this if you want to, and I for one will be excited to read it!

arizona

2008-10-20T21:02:00.014-06:00

I had the privilege to go and watch my oldest sister Mary and her husband Paul's 4 cute kids for 10 days in Arizona while they were on Fall Break from school.

These first pictures are from Schnepf Farms, a big Wheeler-sorta-Farm thing south of where Mary and Paul live. It's a real working farm, but they had a merry-go-round, roller coaster, mini train ride, petting zoo, miniature golf, and a fun pig race.
Junior climbing the difficult level wall. He got about 2/3ds the way up. Jewel climbed too, but I didn't think to pull my phone out to take a picture of her until too late.

Face paint! I thought I'd gotten pictures of all the kids, but nope--just Jewel and Junior. Jasmine got a pumpkin like Jewel's, while Justice had a ghost.
Potbellied pigs!
This goat liked the taste of my pants. That reminds me...I still need to wash them...
Jasmine riding the airplanes that Justice wanted to go on. He got all buckled in and it was too much for the poor little fellow, so Jasmine braved it alone. Justice was happy to not be whirling about.

Jasmine got some mud on her shoes, but Mary's resourceful and got her cleaned up in no time.
Sitting at the pig race. The host was very entertaining, and even got Mary to come to the front and help do a special "pig" race. You should ask her about it sometime.
The ladies having to please the crowd with their "soooooeeeee."

Playing on the playground at the farm. The kids loved the wooden train and the hay bale maze with John Deere trikes.

At the Phoenix Zoo. Holy crap, a lion!

Justice sporting what we thought was a fake Pirates of the Caribbean tattoo. It wouldn't wash off, though...fishy.
Dancing in the mist by the orangutan exhibit.
I'm hopped up on sugary pumpkin bars...
Younger 3 waiting for Junior (he's indisposed at the moment...)

At the playground. The kids played here for a good 2 hours, having a blast making tunnels in the sand and playing tag. They brought balls along to play with, but I'm not sure how much they got used.

Me at a Mediterranean cafe in the downtown Phoenix area. I asked to use the car for a night out, drove around and got gloriously lost...I ended up by the zoo, which is in Tempe I think! I passed a Haiku Grill and thought about stopping there--but grills aren't great places for vegetarians, and by the time my friend suggested I go into the restaurant and order in haiku I was way past being able to find it again. Stadiums, warehouses, auto dealerships...there was a lot of random but normal city stuff I passed trying to find my way to the big buildings.

Finally I got downtown by heading in the direction I thought it might be on side streets instead of sticking to the freeway. It's easier to text message people while you're at a stoplight, and my situation was funny enough to merit texting a few people about...anyway, I passed the art museum and saw a bit of downtown before I decided to try and find a mall to shop and eat at.

Then, seeing a sign for gelato, I immediately pulled the car into the nearest parking lot and ventured to the restaurant next door for some real food before I indulged. The cafe was...small...and I was the only customer with the owner and his helper hovering over me. The food was delicious, and I had a pleasant time despite the arrogance of the owner (He told me, "Everything I make is good, you're going to love it!" and I heard him talking to his worker, saying "I really am the best!! Wow, taste this!" That's confidence.)
After the delicious falafel wrap and tabbouleh were safely in my belly, I got myself a huge serving of pistachio gelato. It was easily 3 scoops worth at Belllisimo in Bountiful, but it only cost me $2.50 in Phoenix instead of the whopping $8 Bellisimo would have charged for that serving.

I want to go back and get more...

Anyway, that was my last night in Phoenix. The next day, Mary went to work while Paul and the kids drove me 2 hours to the Tucson airport. It was a delightful trip. ^_^

my mom

2008-09-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

This blog is for me mum, who's a dear and a love, to say thanks for bringing me into the world and to say thank you for the incredible person she is.

* Her laugh, when she really thinks you're funny, is worth going through 20 jokes and stories just to try and get one good long laugh out.
* She calls all of her children and grandchildren "bean". ex: "You're such a good bean!"
* The rain is an event with my mom. When there's a storm, she gets all of her houseplants outside, lines them up, and will peek out the window occasionally to "see how happy they look!"
* "Sorry" is one of her favorite words...really, it is.
* Her initials are D.A.D. ^_^
* When I was little and our family would be traveling a long distance, she would sing silly nonsense songs about mud pies and dressing up, and the ice cream store to keep us entertained and quiet.
* I'm "doo-dah hum-ha girly."
* She makes some wickedly good food (my favorites are her quiche and sweetrolls) and taught me the basics about cooking, baking, and being nice.

what did you say?

2008-09-03T16:00:00.002-06:00

You may know that I'm somewhat of a night owl; I don't enjoy going to bed early and I usually don't sleep well when I do. Last night I decided to try and go to bed at the same time as Cody, because he does love the time (usually about 20 seconds) after his head hits the pillow and we get to chat and cuddle. After I'd said my good night "You're my favoritest; I love you," and rolled over to attempt sleeping, Cody mumbled what I thought was "That food was tender." I asked him what he'd said, and he just repeated it again before snuggling down into the covers...

I'm surprised he didn't wake up from me laughing.

chocolate chocolate chip cookies are dangerous

2008-09-02T00:20:00.002-06:00

The weather was absolutely beautiful today, and to celebrate I've been somewhat productive! Cody and I moved the furniture in the living room around how we'd discussed earlier, I got the laundry mostly done, and I've emailed and dusted up a storm.

I also decided to get some packages sent I'd been meaning to send for a week or so, and I had to make cookies to put in one of them. There's this fabulously scrumptious recipe I found a couple of months ago while making cookies for another friend that's for double chocolate chip cookies...so since this other friend is a chocolate fiend I decided it would work for her, too. The cookies turned out perfectly, despite my substituting 1/2 cup of milk for the 2 eggs and adding 1/3 cup more flour than it called for.

Cody and I ran some errands and came back to find Truffle happy and jumpy as usual.

We left again, for a short roller blade around the neighborhood. I skinned my hands and I think I might have a large grass stain on my bum from some tender embraces of the beautiful smelly asphalt (I've never gone downhill, or on asphalt), but we returned home happy with the overall experience, only to find that Truffle had urinated on the carpet by the couch. She's been extra good lately, and we'd taken her out just a couple of hours before, so we were puzzled. Soon after discovering the large urine spot, Cody noticed the Tupperware container that the 2 dozen leftover cookies were in empty in a pile of crumbs.

Chocolate is not good for dogs, but we weren't sure how bad, so we decided to search the internet for some hints.

It's pretty bad. The vet recommends after 2 ounces of dark chocolate for a 35 pound dog to seek professional assistance, and since Truffle had eaten...oh, two dozen ooey gooey chocolate cookies, we figured she was safely over the 2 ounce minimum threshold, so we took her in. The vet techs induced vomiting and were startled by the large mass of un-chewed cookies...the mental image of Truffle snarfing down cookies too quickly to chew them still makes me smile and shake my head, all at the same time. After the vomiting, she got to eat some charcoal tablets to absorb the rest of the badness chocolate put in her and we walked while she jumped to the car.

So anyway, the extra cookies are gone. If you were planning on coming to my house to see if we had any delicious chocolate, all we have is Truffle, and she's not for eating. If you do visit anyway, we'll just take you to a restaurant or bakery if you want a tasty treat.

summery day

2008-08-23T20:11:00.003-06:00

I decided a month or so ago that it was time for summertime things to happen, because it always seems to happen that September creeps up on us before Cody and I remember to enjoy summery things, like barbecues, night games, watery fun, and general tomfoolery in the warm delicious weather.

One thing that was high on my summer to-do list was tubing down the Provo River. Ever since seeing the corny Utah version of Pride and Prejudice, I've had this longing to try dragging Cody up the canyon, renting some tubes, and just going for it. Luckily, I didn't have to drag or anything, we just decided to go today and went!

The day couldn't have been more gorgeous or perfect for tubing. We've been tubing down the Henry Fork river (I think that was the name) in Idaho, and that river is so shallow by mid-June that you have to get up every 50 feet to get yourself off of a sandbar. On the Provo River today, the water was pretty high and there were some rapids in some places, and there were a lot of other people in tubes, rafts, kayaks, and fishing...all of that just made it more fun. We rented our tubes from a company that shuttled us up near the dam with our tubes with a bunch of other people, gave us our tubes and a couple of tips (after making us sign WE WILL NOT SUE YOU papers) and let us all loose. The water wasn't too cold, the air was perfect, and the sun was at just the right angle to not be annoying or too hot.

There were a few obnoxious kids in the river with water guns about a quarter of a mile downstream from where we started, and they squirted everybody as they floated by. Cody got angry and started an argument with the kids' father on the riverbank, which was halted by us floating anticlimactically downstream...

Anyway, we tipped a few times, enjoyed the ambiance of the experience, and talked to a lot of random people. We ingeniously used my flip-flops as paddles to prevent us from getting stuck in the bank's shrubbery or stuck on rocks, which earned us some weird looks, but having some paddles was pretty useful. Thank goodness for my 9 1/2 shoe size, or the flip-flops wouldn't have been nearly as useful.

Once we got out of the river, we decided we were hungry and almost to Heber anyway, so we drove up to this cafe that we'd found on our honeymoon 4 years ago and have been back to a few times because it was so fantastic that first time, ordered the same sandwich we always get (a panini with portobello mushrooms, goat cheese, roasted red peppers, and asparagus) and got ourselves some chocolate and creme brulee gelato...excuse me while I drool over the memory...

It's been a great day.

blah blah blah...

2008-08-13T07:43:00.001-06:00

I'm just wondering...what traits do you value in a friend?

strengths and weaknesses

2008-08-11T13:49:00.002-06:00

For one reason or another I’ve been thinking about what my strengths and weaknesses are. I always seem to dwell on the defects I see in my own (and often other people’s) characters, so I thought it would help my brain to write out everything I know about myself that’s good and bad. I figure I can’t be as bad as I feel on the worst days, or as good as I feel on the best. Also, I realize that actually categorizing some of these things as positive or negative attributes is somewhat psychologically revealing. I can’t help it, I like to label things.

Strengths:

I’m a domestic goddess. I sew, cook, bake, and clean with the best of them, and if you give me 30 minutes warning before coming to my house you’ll have a hearty welcome and a refreshing drink or treat.
I’m funny. Sometimes. And only to some people…(but almost always to myself.)
I’m a good listener
I have an excellent memory for people’s stories, which helps with the listening abilities
I’m honest but I usually try to be tactful too
I’m smart enough
I have a strong sense of what is fair and what isn’t
I’m quirky (yes, it’s a strength…sometimes)
I spell well
I have good penmanship and beautiful cursive
I give a good compliment
I’m compassionate and caring about others
I’m imaginative
I’m trusting
I usually try to find the good in others until they either hurt me or shove the bad under my nose so often I can’t help but see it
I’m outgoing…sometimes
I try to not be judgmental
I tend to get along with the male gender in general

Weaknesses:

I’m impatient
I’m needy
I don’t like being ignored
I want people to like me
I’m petulant
I have bad posture
Grammar’s not my strong suit
I exaggerate without thinking
I am not self-confident
I depend on others approval for my self-worth
I am definitely weird/awkward around everybody
I’m lazy
I tend to be negative about myself
I’m shy…sometimes
I change my mind a lot
I tend to snap-judge things, situations, or people and have to backtrack frequently
I don’t get along with most females

What do you consider your greatest strength or weakness?

it's official!

2008-07-13T19:10:00.008-06:00

Here you go, here's proof. Proof that I am crazy, a nerd, dork... The list is too long to finish. Actually, I'm just too lazy. *Sigh.* These are some pictures from our California trip to go and cosplay at the Anime Expo last weekend.

The view of downtown LA from our hotel room:

Some shots of Cody and I, before we headed over to the convention...

We met my friend Juan, his best friend Neisha, and their buddy Otis (who isn't shown here, but he took a lot of pictures which he'll be sending to us, hooray!) for the first time at the convention. I made Juan's robes for him, and in exchange he's drawing me a portrait. ^_^ He's a very nice fellow. Cody and I both like him.

Juan's friend Adneisha, who could probably cause a nuclear explosion with her energy and cuteness. Neisha didn't have time to get a cosplay outfit together, but she helped us make friends and harassed us all into having fun and got us all to get along. She's just as dorky about anime as Juan is, and he's about 10x more dorky than Cody and I. They're both awesome people, I hope to be able to see them again someday!

Me, Cody, and Juan, with some people from the same anime we were cosplaying. We saw these people on the escalators, Neisha and I shouted in excitement at them, and they tracked us down so we could all have pictures together.

There was all kinds of fun merchandise and fan art, luckily Cody and I only escaped with a few plushies and a t-shirt. Here are some funny Pac-Man fighting plushies that I was tempted by, but unable to part with the $50 it would've cost to bring these babies home:
And here's the package of my first pocky. Japanese kids love pocky apparently, and when finding that out and discovering some pocky at this terrific little convenience store in downtown, I had to buy some and try it. It's really quite the addictive treat: biscuit sticks dipped in chocolate, sometimes with different flavors. The coconut is my favorite so far!

The day after the convention, Cody and I meandered around downtown LA. We caught a showing of Hancock (it was okay, not great), doorbell-ditched some cherry cheesecake at Juan's house because he was feeling too crappy to come hang out with us, and then we went to Venice Beach.

Cody found this statue below incredibly funny. Below the statue is the plaque that went with it.

In case you're wondering, the plaque reads:

They said
I had a head
for business.
They said
to get ahead
I had to lose
my head.
They said
be concrete
& I became
concrete.
They said
go, my son,
multiply,
divide, conquer.
I did my best.

On Sunday, we started home but didn't make it as quickly as we'd planned. Our transmission died just before Hesperia. No mechanics were working, which is probably for the best, but we had to hunker down in a little motel until Monday, when somebody would take a look at the car. Luckily, we were blessed and found good, honest people that were kind enough to help us through the situation. There was the guy at Firestone who didn't charge us a thing after he took 20 minutes to decide it was the transmission. The transmission shop owner, who called Avis (a rental car place) for us, got our car finished half a day earlier than he said he could, and seemed too kind to be real. The Avis staff, who were friendly and efficient...and everybody told us to ask for discounts at the next place we went to. I almost want to live in Hesperia after that!

Anyway, the car was fixed speedily and we got home Tuesday at 3 in the morning. It was a great trip!

ax in la

2008-07-01T13:23:00.002-06:00

Cody and I get to travel to LA on Thursday for AX, an anime convention! Whee, further confirmation that we're nuts. We're both going to cosplay, as some of our favorite anime characters. I've been working feverishly on our costumes the past couple of days, and hopefully with the time I can hem and hand-applique things in the car, they'll be complete by Friday. I'm still not sure what people do at anime conventions, but I'm pretty excited to just go and meet other crazies like us.

Here's the anime character I'm cosplaying, Yoruichi Shihoin from Bleach:

Yoruichi can turn into a black cat. She's the goddess of flash, which just means she's super speedy and can outpace pretty much everybody else on the show. Teasing and mocking, yet serious when required...Yoruichi has also been known to consume vast quantities of food with gusto with no effect on her waistline.

And here's her best friend (possibly more, if you're a shipper [relationship freak]) Kisuke Urahara, who Cody's going to cosplay:
Urahara is somewhat of a mad scientist. He's very smart and subtle, and deceptively light hearted. He and Yoruichi used to be important people in Soul Society but were banished because of an evil plot...he's the main protagonist's mentor and teacher for most of Bleach so far.

Anyway...after we go to the anime convention, we get to spend the 5th chilling at the beach and shopping, and the 6th we'll come home. It'll be a quick trip, but I'm very excited!

four years

2008-06-25T09:07:00.001-06:00

I can't remember what life is like without Cody. We have so much fun together, every day is new and different. It's been a challenge, keeping things happy and healthy and moving along, but the payment I've received for my minimal efforts in our relationship far exceed the cost to myself. I'm forever thankful for the blessing of having such a wonderful husband and friend!

Highlights:

We got a flat tire in Snow Canyon, driving back from visiting an animal shelter on our first Valentine's day. I tried to swerve to miss a big rock in the middle of the curvy road and instead accidentally hit it. What a happy way to spend our romantic evening together, and to spend the last $100 in our bank account to get it fixed. I remember some cowboy stopping, not to help us, but to look at us like we were idiots for hitting the rock in the first place and then driving off. It's still one of my favorite Valentine's Day memories, trying to fix our flat tire together on a cold, scary canyon highway.

Being sealed for time and all eternity in the Bountiful LDS temple. I still remember giggling in front of all our friends and family during the ceremony, then blushing because I'd giggled at a very serious moment.

Getting in our first (and I think it was our only) fight, me storming about and fuming while Cody quietly listened. I stomped off to my sister's house, realizing once I'd walked over there that she was probably having a nice night with her new husband and I shouldn't interrupt them with my pettiness. I walked home, repentant and ready to apologize. I'm usually the one in the wrong--but when I'm not I totally rub it in Cody's face. :P He likes me sassy and annoying like that.

These four years have been awesome beyond words. I love you, Cody!

sleep

2008-06-10T09:07:00.004-06:00

I'm at my wits end. Is sleep so hard to be had? Babies, cats, computers, plants, dogs, trolls, eyes, giants, boulevards, and vampires can all sleep fine, why not me? I can be many of those things on occasion. You'd think the sleeping ability would creep into my blood from being a vampire troll baby every other week.

But no.

Lately I've been waking up early, around 4-6, no matter when I go to bed. I go to bed at 10, I wake up at 4. Last night I was so exhausted I went to bed at 9:15, promptly fell asleep, and trapped Cody with my heavy head on his chest. He said he couldn't get me to move for an hour! I slept so very well until 1:45 until Truffle woke me by growling at nothing. Fruitlessly I tried going back to sleep for an hour. I gave up and decided to play on the Internet until a decent hour to leave the house...I went and cleaned Cody's office at 4:30, came home at 6:30, and tried to go to sleep again for an hour and a half. Nope.

Perhaps I should try using a 2-by-4 to knock myself out? Sleeping pills? Duct tape my eyes closed?!

I'm really frustrated, but I know this will all work out if I give it time and patience. Right now I just feel like this:

so you thought I could dance?

2008-06-06T21:36:00.008-06:00

False. I cannot dance.

Anyway, I love that show on Fox, "So You Think You Can Dance". There are so many very talented dancers on that show, I love to see the personalities and skill shine in their solos. Cody and I watch avidly every week. No, we don't need potatoes; they grow on our couch.

A couple of Sundays ago after church Cody and I were just chillin' at home, minding our business, when suddenly this piercing shriek of an alarm almost burst our eardrums. We put on our pants (well, Cody did, I was already dressed), grabbed our keys, cell phones, and Truffle. We ran outside and enjoyed the warm, sunny day. Forty minutes later the fire department showed up, hunted down the little girl that pulled the alarm, and thankfully remembered to turn off the blasted alarm on their way out. Here's what resulted from the time we spent outside:

and I thought fast food couldn't get easier

2008-06-03T13:23:00.003-06:00

New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less

What a great idea! I think I'll swing by Taco Bell later for a good ol' slurry bag. Mmm.

And yes, I realize that neither this video nor my Korean beef outrage below count as Ruthie and Cody updates. I'll update again soon! :)

korean beef protests

2008-06-03T10:36:00.010-06:00

I've been talking to my friend Yongsoo from Seoul, Korea lately...and they're having some huge rallies and protests against the import of US beef. Korea signed a deal that the US could send them beef that the US can't even use for pet food! People in the US eat cows that are younger than 20 months old because only 1% of mad cow disease cases occur in that young of cow, whereas 99% of mad cow disease occurs in cows that are 30 months of age and older (the US deal allows us to sell the Koreans older cows.) Koreans use the tail and spine of the cow for many of their dishes, so mad cow disease is an even bigger deal to them than it would be to Americans who don't normally use the tail or spine of the cow.

As if this wasn't enough to make me frustrated, what infuriates me is that when 140,000 Korean people gathered yesterday to protest this policy, policemen beat civilians. There are video clips online of the horrific beatings, and Yongsoo told me about one video he watched where a policeman stomped on a woman's unprotected head. I don't know about you, but that gets my blood boiling. The Korean media is avoiding talk of the protests and beatings.

Hopefully, on Korea's independence day on Friday (June 6th) the 200,000 people that gather to protest again will not be treated in such a horrific fashion. Hopefully the Korean government will pay attention to the message that the protesters are sending. Let's all hope for the best!

Photo taken by Yongsoo Bahk. I'm asking his permission right...now...to use it. I tried to verify my information, but there aren't any news reports of this latest protest on CNN or the BBC yet, so if needed, I will revise after I get the chance to verify.
Edit: here's a link to a NY Times article about the protests, it's not about the ones I mentioned in particular, but it'll do. :D Thanks, Yongsoo, for the link!

abrielle told me to again, so here it is, folks

2008-05-29T22:39:00.016-06:00

I love you Abrielle! :D I guess I'd better get consistent about these blog posts before she goes ninja on my behind... That would hurt, she's pretty strong.

As requested, here are some previously-unseen-by-Abrielle pictures of Cody and I:

Cody and I making faces in the car (his parents were driving)

Cody riding an octopus while we played miniature golf with Tycee and Rich for Cody's birthday

Jane and I (she so got tackled!!)

This doesn't mean these are new, I'm cheating: these are all at least 6 months old. Camera skills are not in my blood. Hopefully one of my progeny will be adept with cameras and will dazzle the world with talent, but you will have to wait 20 years or more until that happens for good pictures to appear on this blog. I'm hopeless with cameras (plus it doesn't help that I only use my cell phone camera to take pictures.)

Anyway, I'll now wow you all with a picture of my latest sewing project:

'Tis an apron, yar! I had leftover fabric and I thought it was adorable, so I whipped up this little missy. I'm not satisfied with the topstitching around the neck ties, but my poor little machine really doesn't like going through 10 layers of fabric! Whose machine does? I would like to know. I'm thinking this apron would be good to keep for Jane or nieces that might come and make cookies, but I might end up giving it away. We'll see what happens.

Hopefully this will appease Abrielle for at least a week. Nobody else seems to mind, but maybe you're not leaving comments! Who knows?!

Have a great week, y'all, I'll post again sometime!

randomness and a rant

2008-05-21T11:02:00.004-06:00

Two posts in two days!

*I'm so excited for So You Think You Can Dance tomorrow night! Hooray for talented, coordinated people that dance! I'll take SYTYCD over watching sports any day.

*Clean high thread-count sheets are blissful.

*Grocery shopping is mundane but we need some tomatoes, mmm...tomatoes.

*Thinking about Iron Man still gives me an adrenaline rush, even though I saw it two weeks ago.

*It's raining...again...I thought I lived in a desert.

*Sometimes I wish I had an intense job, but usually I'm happy I'm my own boss!

*Stupid Thyroid = disaster. Allow me to rant for two minutes. For about 5 years, my thyroid has been on hiatus. I had surgery when I was little which ended with me having about 10% less thyroid than I'm supposed to, and my thyroid keeps trying to balance out and fails, and the failure results in no "normal" hormone fluctuation.

Lately I've been getting some natural help from Cody's uncle that does zoning, it's heavenly. He's been helping my thyroid to be more productive in sending signals to my body. YIKES! It's like I'm in puberty again. I know it's probably better in the long run for me to have too much hormone than too little, but I'm outputting too much testosterone and not enough estrogen, and when I want to be happy, kind, and calm, too much testosterone is a disaster. Here's a lowdown of which hormone does what to your emotions and body:

-Testosterone makes you feel aggressive, it helps mental and physical energy, it helps your metabolism by maintaining your muscle mass and strength, and it increases libido. Women are much more sensitive to excess testosterone, and I have way more testosterone than I should.

-Estrogen is the softener. Hair, muscles, and moods are all smoothed and softened by this mahvelous hormone. Estrogen also has very important duties throughout the rest of the body, but the softening of moods is what I'm lacking. I'm hardly producing any estrogen, which stinks because I want the softness it provides!

Basically, I'm somewhat of a wreck just because my thyroid won't play. I have emotions that are completely unrelated to logical thought. Some days I'm angry for no reason, some days I'm sad and I don't know why...it stinks.

Thanks for letting me whine; that's the end of my rant. I'm going to go have some breakfast now.

update

2008-05-19T12:31:00.005-06:00

You asked for it, Abrielle, here it is!

Lately Cody and I have been watching anime...avidly. I love it. There's something about being immersed in a different culture's subculture that makes me feel like I'm actually doing something educational instead of just watching another TV show. I know that's ridiculous reasoning for watching TV, but I've learned more about Japanese culture in the past few months than I ever knew before! Hooray Japanese people! Animes I've watched include:
Fullmetal Alchemist (10/10)

Fullmetal Alchemist is a heartwarming story of two brothers who are desperate to do anything to bring back the mother they loved from the dead. A horrible accident brings them great power and disfigurement, but along their travels they learn about what truly matters. The boys' views change and with each of their realizations, the plot thickens deliciously.

Bleach (9/10)

Ichigo Kurosaki has been able to see spirits all of his life...which he found a little disturbing but it didn't affect his everyday life until a Shinigami (Soul Reaper, direct translation God of Death) named Rukia transfers some of her powers to him and makes him capable of protecting more than just himself. Ichigo uses these powers to help save his friends and fight evil spirits.

Fruits Basket a.k.a. Furuba (7/10)

Imagine a family whose members change into animals of the Chinese zodiac if a member of the opposite sex hugs them...crazy, right? Nope. Entertainment! Tohru Honda moves in with some of the cursed Sohma family and changes things for the better, forever!

Death Note (9.5/10)

Death Note is a twisty-turvy intellectual anime about Light, a model student gaining the power to kill people by writing down their names in a notebook. He decides to use this almost untraceable method of murder to "better the world" by getting rid of "undesirables". As he methodically kills off criminals, his goals and ideals are hampered by the eccentric genius detective named simply L, whose intelligence and detective skills are only rivaled by Light himself.

I even tried an episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! which I didn't care for overly much. The anime I've watched is mostly stuff packed with fighting and testosterone-filled pledges of "I will kill you!" or "I will protect you!" Basically, it's shonen, which means it's geared towards the adolescent male demographic in Japan. Fruits Basket is the one shojo (marketed towards adolescent girls) I've watched, and it's so very, very different from the shonen! So girly and cute, and everybody talks about their feelings non-stop. Shojo was a nice change, but I actually prefer the shonen!

Anyway, I'd better get going. Cody's coming home early so we can go and get zoned together...

womens conference

2008-05-07T09:42:00.004-06:00

Last week I was privileged enough to have my mum accompany me to the WC down in the UC at the Y...ha! Yeah, Cody's got me talkin' ghetto fly. Anyway, we scampered around to all sorts of different classes the first day, learning about things like conquering loneliness, loving the praise of God more than man, and learning to listen. Good times. By the end of the day we were both done. I was drowsy and grouchy and my mom fell asleep in the last class (shh, don't tell her I told you!). To avoid all the drowsy crazy grouchiness, we experimented the next day, going to a service center and crocheting around baby blankets while watching a talk piped in from the Marriott Center. The second day was so much more peaceful and calmer! We even played hooky for one of the classes and went and got some lunch. Hooky! Hooray! I also got a mint brownie out of the deal. That might have added to my satisfaction.

Next year if you female peeps want to come to the WC you can sleep at my house and eat of my food! I'll even drive you to and from. Consider this your invitation!

my cute jane

2008-04-24T11:31:00.003-06:00

This post goes out to the cutest little Jane you'll ever meet! I just got to talk to her this morning, and her "hmmm?"s and "oh!"s were just as fun to hear now as they were when she first started saying them! I love this picture, it's from around 5 years ago--she was only 4?! Wow, anyway, my mom and I kept putting those silky little hearts in her pockets--that's what you can see peeking out of her overalls pocket. She would try so hard to fish them out. Also, she really liked the cucumbers that day, she just kept hugging their coolness next to her! I miss you Jane, I'll visit you soon!

driving to wellsville

2008-04-23T15:25:00.002-06:00

Today while I was transporting myself to a zoning appointment, I was listening to Radio West on KUER. The guest today, one A. J. Jacobs, was an agnostic journalist who likes to immerse himself into worlds he wouldn't otherwise experience. His past projects have included moving to India and outsourcing all of his daily needs and posing online as his nanny in order to get her a date. Today, though, Jacobs was talking about his latest project: living more than 700 rules that the Bible dictates. I only got to hear the first 15 minutes or so of the hour long program, but I was touched that Jacobs would have been softened and enriched an agnostic journalist living in New York could be from doing things he'd never done that I've done almost every day of my life--like pray. It's amazing to me that such a simple thing as praying can make your life feel so much more enlightened.

I was grateful that I was able to hear what I did, because I felt that my day had been made a little brighter by the realization that the religious-rich environment I have been brought up in has buffered and sustained me past so many doubts and stumbling blocks others may face. I know there is a God, that He loves us, and that His Son came to Earth to save me. I know I am insignificant but that He came to save me, because He's my older brother. I know that there are distractions I let myself be caught in, but it boils down to the fact that I know I can do better and each day--week--month, I try. I'm also very grateful for the belief in Satan, as strange as that may sound. Knowing that as our other older brother he tried to enslave us before we were all born, and in his spite continues to do so, is such a powerful incentive to be like our better older brother for me.

Anyway, I don't usually do the whole "deep" thing, but I figured I mostly write this blog for my own sake...so...ha!

cleaning, hooray!

2008-04-19T08:53:00.005-06:00

The cleaning lady for Cody's work decided she'd had enough cleaning up after 10 somewhat messy men, so she quit about a week and a half ago. Cody told me the hours (about 4-6 per week) and the pay, and I signed up. Sure!! Why not?! It's better than finding a 20-hour-per-week job for half the pay, right? I'd still be getting less money than if I found a part-time job, but this way I only have to work two days per week and I get to make Cody's life a little better. He likes things clean, that Cody.

Anyway, I did it first on Tuesday, which was pretty good. There's a lot of trash, and a lot of tuna fish cans in the kitchen garbage cans (hint: if you're not going to take the trash out very often, you might want to wash those little dudes out; they smell awful!) but other than those things, I think it wasn't too bad. Hooray for letting the work find me!! I know, I am lazy. My mom even found my first job for me at Hale Bakery. Don found me the Post Office. I'm glad I have Young Living to my credit, at least ;), but the truth is, the jobs I stay at the longest have been found by other people.

I'm off to clean out their fridge! Wish me luck that they didn't leave too many tuna fish cans around...

that's the biggest dog i've ever seen!

2008-04-11T21:31:00.000-06:00

truffle update

2008-04-02T11:17:00.006-06:00

Life here in Lehi is going great...I just took a bunch of pictures (yes, April, they weren't as good as yours ;) ) and took Truffle for a nice long walk. It was nice and protected the condo carpet against a barrage of dog waste...hurrah! Which leads us to...I think Truffle's potty-trained, she has never asked to go out though. She also leaves little Wet Spots of Joy in random places if we leave her alone. Cody and I think it's separation anxiety, as she shows many symptoms of it and has definitely been through a lot in the past while that would make her worried we might ditch her somehow.

For those of you who don't know, she was given up for adoption because the family that owned her found out Truffle was pregnant and didn't want to deal with it. They gave her to a shelter, where she had the puppies and was their food buddy mom until they were old enough to be weaned. Then, Truffle was spayed and put up for adoption two days later. We adopted her two days after that and she's been anxious ever since, following me from room to room, whining if I close a door between me and her, and sleeping on my foot whenever she gets the chance. (We don't let her sleep on the bed, which she was indignant at the first couple of nights. How dare we!)

Anyway, she's a good dog. We've been working on sit, lay down, and shake, which she already pretty much did, but I think she just needs the correct command for it so she'll do it on cue. Also, she's been barking a little more than she did before...she saw our reflections in the patio window the other night and she started growling and barking at them, and if she sees your reflection in a mirror and you growl at her, you get quite the contest going of "top-dogginess". I win. I guess that shows you...something...

truffle the magnificent!

2008-03-29T17:06:00.004-06:00

Guess who got a cute pooch? We did!! Her name is Truffle (her previous owner's name for her) and she just had some puppies a few weeks ago. She's a sweetheart of a dog, very intelligent, and she's just happy to be here. Here's a picture the shelter posted for her:

And here are some pictures of her chillin' on her dog bed (it took a few tries, but we convinced her she can't sit on the couch--she's such a smart dog!).

At any rate, she's a poodle/schnauzer mix, and she's probably about six inches shorter than a doorknob...I think. She only barked once so far that we have heard, and that's because there was a huge aggressive dog lunging for her. I would've peed my pants, not just barked back at him. We found her online on petfinder.com, and she was living in a shelter in Park City. We drove up today intending to only look, but...well, we brought her home! Hooray for Truffle!

Come one, come all to see her if you want, she's very quiet, good with kids (says the shelter and how she behaved around other people at the shelter) and likes to play hide-and-go-seek and "chase that person!'

who wants to play tagged?

2008-03-09T11:25:00.004-06:00

I've been tagged by my cute cousin Abrielle...thanks Aubs! You're cute and we miss seeing you.

What television show or movie did you want to be in when you were little? The Little Mermaid

Which character or star? Rudy on The Cosby Show

Most embarrassing moment your friends will never let die? Your husband or significant other or family? They're all too nice to let me remember such things

Your proudest moment or accomplishment? Coming out of the Bountiful temple feeling so supported and whole with my family.

Who was your first kiss, where was it and all the other details? Josh Johnsen. I kissed him after the Valentine's dance my junior year in high school.

What adult did you have a crush on when you were little? Um...does Prince Eric count?

What habit or personality trait do you have of your mother or father that you swore you would never do? I am passive!! Dang it.

What did you want to change your name to when you were little? I was actually pretty happy with Ruthie, thanks though.

What are 3 adjectives that someone from high school or middle school would use to describe you? Tall, shy, floods!

What hairstyle, clothes, or other accessories did you rock back in the day when it was cool? Let's see...nope, I can't remember anything except one day I doubled up on the socks to try and be cool.

What job did those long and annoying surveys in school say you would be good at? I don't remember

And what did you try and make the test result outcome be? An optometrist

What made you laugh harder than you have ever laughed before? Cody James Higbee, I love you

Favorite memory of hanging out with your best friends? Making videos in the summer like Tycee Can Cook or Cornbread with Ed, watching Anne of Green Gables or While You Were Sleeping with my sisters

What's the most trouble you have ever got in with your parents? Hmmm...I think when I told my dad he could afford another car. Didn't like that.

What was your 5 year plan when you had to write it out in high school? I don't remember, how anti-climactic

And last but not least...

What is your 5 year plan now? Start our family, stay in our condo, and shape up my Etsy shop.

And I'd like to tag: Mary, Rebecca, Sarah, and Tycee ;) You're alphabetized and everything.

es-ca-pade

2008-02-15T15:23:00.007-07:00

So, for Valentine's Day Cody and I went up to Providence Inn, a cute little bed-and-breakfast by Logan. For you Office fans, it wasn't a beet farm or an asparagus farm (the Stalk Inn!! oh, I miss you, Office, come back!), it used to be an old church. And an old, pretty church it is.

We froze our butts off and my refusal to wear proper winter shoes kept my nice cotton flats soaked, but it was worth everything, even the two hour delay on the freeway! We got the Van Gogh room, it was the room I liked best. It had little Van Gogh prints everywhere, and there were free cookies by the kitchen...yay! We did find a surprise bag of Udon noodles out the window when looking for a place to stash our leftovers...that's what I'm holding by the window in the picture below. Anyway, I think we might have started a tradition! We both loved our time there. Go check it out!

yay condo!

2008-02-12T13:09:00.002-07:00

So, we accepted a counter-offer on a condo! I'm pretty excited, it's a nice place and will work for us for a few years because it's a 3-bedroom, 2-bath and it's got all the awesomeness of us not having to do outside repairs and maintenance like we would in a house. I would link to the HOA page, but 1. I just can't find it and 2. I'm scared of the Internet. Anyway, it's sweet. You should come and visit if you get the urge!

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

2008-02-11T09:37:00.000-07:00

All right, I never have these cookies long enough to take their pictures, that's how good they are. Cody and I eat them for breakfast sometimes 'cause they taste that good (and actually seem a little healthy...for cookies, anyway). Anywho, here's the recipe:

Mix and store in a plastic bag for up to three months:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar (you can use raw or brown or granulated, they all work great)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon if not freshly ground)

When you're ready to mix the cookies:
1/2 cup room-temperature butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat thoroughly, then add the flour/sugar mix and mix just until combined. Add in:
3 cups oats (old fashioned or quick, I want to try steel cut sometime)
*and add one addition, then mix again:
1 cup chocolate chips
OR 1 cup cranberries plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon
OR 1 1/2 cup raisins

In rounded tablespoonfuls, bake on cookie sheets at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until just browning.

Happy eating!

when in rome...

2008-01-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city soul with a small town heart

Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome

Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand

And gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

august rush

2008-01-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

There's this cute little dollar theater on main street in American Fork. It's awesome! They actually have treats for $.50 and less, Ring Pops and Tootsie Rolls and all sorts of deliciousness. At any rate, they always have the "family friendly" movies there. I don't think I have ever even seen them display an ad for an R-rated movie. Crazy, non?

To get to the point, Cody and I went to go see August Rush there last weekend and it's such a good movie! It has almost an ethereal quality to it. Peaceful, full of faith, and beautiful all describe it well. The little dude that stars, Freddie Highmore, is such a great actor already and he does a great job. When the credits rolled up, I said to Cody, "This is totally worth owning!" and he agreed, which is amazing because we only own about 6 movies (we buy more but always sell them on eBay 'cause we get sick of having stuff lying around). I think it's mostly 'cause Robin Williams plays the antagonist; Cody hates Robin Williams.

Anyway, I highly recommend it. Even to you, Mom!

monthly post...ha! just kidding

2008-01-09T09:25:00.001-07:00

So, I know everybody's been just waiting on pins and needles, anxious for me to post...um...well, to the two of you that might stumble across this, I have a confession to make. I accidentally told people that I had a blog and got scared that people might even READ it. Scary, right? The sad thing is, I'm only partially kidding. I'm shaking my head at myself right now. You can too, if you want!

Anyway, the holidays were great for us! Many family members, snow, and delicious, delicious food were definitely the highlights. I even got a playhouse from my parents! I think they want me to grow up but are humoring me and my childish ways.

It's snowing like a maniac right now! My poor hubbend was out shoveling away before he had to go to work. He thinks that by shoveling he's fighting back against winter. I did marry him for his looks, why do you ask? No, I think he's smart, really. He just hates the cold and wants something to fight against.

diaper bag for...books?

2007-12-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

I made a diaper bag last Monday or Tuesday...it was one of those "I can't sleep" nights, so I just went for it and got it all done in one crazy day. Here are some after pictures*

*I am not and never will be a professional photog, but I'm sorry about the quality of the pics. Camera phone + fluorescent lights = ugly pictures! Who knew.

sleepy sleepy kangaroo

2007-12-02T23:27:00.000-07:00

For some reason, every time I take my "Thyroid Support" supplement after noon, I can't get to sleep that night. Maybe my poor little thyroid-that-can't can, indeed produce whatever it's supposed to produce. Hooray! Maybe it'll tell my fat cells to explode. Goodbye, sheet cake! Ha!

Anyway, Cody and I have been thinking about buying a home. We've only looked at three in the area. They're the only three worth looking at in our price range, in my opinion. All the others are townhomes, condos, or fixer-uppers. These three are liveable and in the North end of the county. Living further North isn't something I thought would make Cody happy. But it does! Hooray! I'll have to post a picture or two for your viewing pleasure...let's see...(turning brain switch on)

It's a cute little house, with plenty of land to grow (both the house and veggies) on. Maybe even puppies can grow there! If I'm lucky...

The other contenders were really close to the railroad tracks. That's not a terribly bad thing, I just we probably wouldn't have been able to resell them as well as this other one. Plus, this one has had more refinishing. What do you think?

What you find when you aren't looking

2007-11-28T19:26:00.002-07:00

Trying to find a picture to post of my dearest, I stumbled upon some artwork from his elementary school days. How awesome and funny is this?!

I never knew he drew comics.

Anyway, I'm thinking about starting to sew some cloth diapers. You know, for all of those offspring we have. Wait. I don't have any in the oven or out. Sometimes I need a reality check, folks. Seriously, though, I have been thinking about sewing some, not only because they'd be useful and save a bit of landfill space for the haircuts I get from Tycee (I think she has to thin out about 10 lbs of hair every two months or so), they're soo cute and cozier for ickle baby bums. I found a few pretty sweet sites for diaper fabric and the like, too. Maybe I could even sell them!

So, what's new with you folks? Do you have any suggestions for the bliggity blig blog? Would you like to buy a car from me? I have a nice '99 Honda Civic for sale. No? Well, I had to try.

Don't mind this, I just needed to host it somewhere ;)

Whee! Blogs!

2007-11-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

It's the moment you've all been waiting for...the moment I begin typing for the world's benefit!! Wait...um...well, close enough. For MY benefit. That's what matters.

So, now you know I'm overly self-absorbed, I shall continue my quest to let the world in on all the secrets in my puny but exciting world.