I am currently on a roll with my schoolwork and tasting the I-could-be-done-next-week-as-opposed-to-next-month sweetness. Blog's going on hold until I can celebrate with you all. But I'm still here, and can promise exciting blog posts in the near future about such things as...
1. Husband's '69 Mustang project (I'm having him write the post - what the blazes do I know about cars, anyway??)
2. My crazy cat that treats me like a jungle gym whenever I do yoga.
3. My hatred of snow (well, I might not bore you with this one, but I could write a week's worth of blogs about it in my head)
I know, you can hardly stand the wait. Do your best to go on with your life until I post again. Eat. Sleep. Breathe in. Breathe out. Don't sue me.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
You, Too, Can Break the Shackles of Indecisiveness
You may have seen in my 25 Random Things post how husband and I alternate date nights. I wanted to elaborate on this practice, since it really is the bee's knees. I don't know how many of you are indecisive out there (well, there might not be many of you that read this to begin with), but speaking from five years of time-wasting, I can tell you there's a whole world that you're missing.
How Friday and Saturday Nights USED to Go:
"What do you want to do?"
"I dunno, what do you want to do?"
"I don't really have a preference; I'm fine with whatever you want to do."
"Do you want to watch a movie?"
"Well, do YOU want to watch a movie?"
"I don't know."
"Me neither."
. . .
"But you probably do want to watch a movie, since you brought it up, right?"
"I didn't say that, I only thought you might want to watch a movie."
And on, and on, and on. We would waste at least an hour most nights, and sometimes wouldn't end up doing ANYTHING.
Then my co-worker told me about how he and his wife alternate Friday date nights. The thing is, he told me this a few years ago. I loved the idea instantaneously, and husband agreed it was wise. Hehehe. We only got around to trying it out a few months ago. Anyway, now it has changed everything for the better. I can't recommend it enough.
Here are a couple examples of what husband has gotten me to do on his Friday nights:
1. Work on our budget. Yeah, not your normal idea for a date night, but I had no choice, and he knew I'd whine otherwise. I still whined a bit.
2. Go to Sears to pick up a battery charger (are you seeing a pattern in all this practicality?). I promise that's not all husband chooses to do on Friday nights - we watch action flicks, go out to eat where he wants, etc.
Now for what I've gotten him to do on my Friday nights:
1. Watch Pride and Prejudice with me. The A&E 6-hour Pride and Prejudice. (Okay, not all six hours in the one Friday night, but we eventually watched the whole thing. And he didn't hate [all] of it!)
2. Clip our cats' claws (okay, sometimes I can be practical with my Friday night selections, as well. It had to be done, people. Buttercup is expert at honing perfect daggers out of her claws, and she loves demonstrating their sharpness, believe you me).
I don't want to bore you with all the other stuff we do - the key is that we DO stuff. It's lovely. I've heard that one of my aunt-and-uncle pairs trades off entire weeks of decision-making. That sounds a little intimidating, but I'm thinking of expanding our Fridays to include Saturdays and/or the entire weekend.
If you haven't tried this, I hereby challenge you to do so this weekend (don't put it off forever like we did!). Call or text your spouse right now and pick whose Friday this will be (toss a coin if this could otherwise start some sort of tiff). Then mark your calendar for the next few months of which Friday is whose. Then come back and tell me what you thought of it (no sooner than two weeks - doesn't really count if you don't experience both sides of it).
Off you go!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Hooray for Groundhog Day!
Thanks to my brother, for saving me oodles of time in today's Groundhog Day post; please, read his blog today (and every day - he has a highly entertaining blog). I echo most of his words, except I still like Valentine's day. Sorry.
But back to Groundhog Day. I just want to put an additional plug in for the movie, which is truly a classic. With each viewing, it gets funnier and I learn something new. It does a great job at teaching you to appreciate life, look outside yourself and serve others, without ever preaching. Seminary videos can't hold a candle to it, really. So even if you're not going to be throwing an extravaganza, do yourself a favor and start a tradition of watching this movie on the holiday every year. You can work up to the full-blown shin-dig (which brings to mind another Bill Murray gem...baby steps to watching the movie...baby steps to inviting friends and family over for an annual party...baby steps to taking the day off work every year...).
Happy Groundhog Day!!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
25 Things About Me
Just following my brother's lead (I told you I was a Me Too Iguana, didn't I??) and using my Facebook note for a blog post. :)
25 Random Things About Me:
1. I am compulsively honest with my mom and husband. If there's something I plan to not tell them, it's almost guaranteed that I'll tell them anyway. That's why it's such a miracle that I was able to successfully throw a big surprise party for husband's 30th birthday.
2. I played the trombone through grade school and my first year of college, making it into district band and winning a jazz band soloist award. Haven't played since 2000, although I own two trombones.
3. I'm apparently completely predictable - anytime I play Loaded Questions or Imaginiff or any other game that requires people to guess what you'd say or how you think, everyone always automatically pegs me right on. I hope that doesn't mean I'm boring.
4. Playing the piano is one of my best stress-relievers, but I absolutely cannot perform for people (even my family). Unfortunately, we don't have a piano, and I haven't played in years. Maybe that's why I'm so stressed...
5. When I was 8 or 9, my mom and I got into a car accident just minutes after I'd asked her if she'd ever been in an accident before, and she had said no. Someone crossed a double yellow line in front of us. Scary.
6. When I was 6 or 7, I was in my grandma's car with my brothers and a cousin or two, and we were listening to the story of Bambi on tape and hit a deer. (Hm, I must have bad car karma.) We automatically switched the tape to Alice in Wonderland, but one of my cousins mentioned that we'd probably hit a white rabbit (luckily, we didn't).
7. I never had a real honeymoon. We drove from Indiana to SLC in three days. Sigh. [Update: Yeah, we did get to stay at a wonderful B&B, and we did have a lovely time on the three-day drive. We could have taken our time on that drive and/or stayed at nicer places or tried to sightsee a bit, but we didn't. My pity party is over. :) Someday, though, I'd like to travel somewhere with just my husband - a cruise, or Europe, or somewhere. Guess that's what I'm really getting at here.] :)
8. I got married in the Nauvoo temple in Illinois - husband's ancestor had designed the original Nauvoo temple, and my ancestors had helped build it. Husband and I stayed in a bed and breakfast there for a couple nights and had some of the best food I've ever eaten, but I haven't been able to track down the manager (who is no longer at that B&B) to get the recipes.
9. I am learning to cook, slowly branching out and experimenting with recipes and seasonings. This is thanks to husband's family, who seasons things so well, and especially husband's mom, who is an amazing cook. I want to be an amazing cook!
10. I love planning parties and vacations almost more than I enjoy the parties/vacations themselves. I'm working on not being that way.
11. When I was really little, my mom and stepdad were worried I'd grow up to be a stand-up comedian. I was a real ham.
12. I got 1st runner up in the Little Miss Clarkstown pageant when I was 6. Probably because I improvised a ballet dance to Mozart that went on and on (they hadn't realized when they were supposed to stop the tape and I just kept going and going and going).
13. I did NOT only eat Pop-Tarts and hotdogs growing up, as most of my family will tell you. But it's true that I didn't eat much beyond those. (I didn't even like pizza! How is that possible?!?) I'm much less picky these days, but still don't like seafood, cooked mushrooms, or pork (most of the time). But I can stomach any of the three if I have to! :)
14. If I hadn't married my husband, I would very likely be 50-70 lbs heavier than I am. Thank you, husband. Also, I thank The Firm.
15. I am a homebody. I enjoy going out with friends, but have to force myself to do so.
16. I spent almost my entire engagement to husband at a big cat sanctuary in Texas, caring for 66 exotic cats (lions, tigers, cougars, jaguars, etc.). A lot of it was picking up poop (you've never seen/smelled poop like that before), but a lot of it was really amazing. It would have been better if I hadn't been engaged during that, though, because I would have been able to enjoy/absorb it more! I was living my dream.
17. I've also done internships with reptiles and birds. Both have much more personality than you'd think. I would LOVE to own a snake (not sure what kind...maybe a rainbow boa) and a toucan.
18. I can't stand scrapbooking. I've only ever done two pages in my life, and will not do any more. Bless my wonderful husband for hating scrapbooking, as well.
19. I would love to brush up on my Appalachain basket weaving skills (took a course with my sister-in-law my last semester at BYU and made some pretty dang awesome baskets!).
20. I usually complained when my family traveled for vacations growing up - now, I am SO grateful for all the places I got to visit (England, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Ireland), and I'm worried I'll never get to travel again.
21. I would love to have my own little business - that might happen someday when I'm home with our kidlets. The type of business is yet to be determined.
22. One of husband's and my favorite things to do together is read. We've read The Chronicles of Narnia, the Harry Potter series and Twilight series, The Life of Pi, Ender's Game, and The Goose Girl together (maybe more - that's all I could think of currently). Right now we're reading The Last Lecture.
23. Husband and I are possibly the most indecisive couple on the face of the earth. A solution we've found is to trade off Friday date nights - one of us at a time picks everything. Neither of us can decide which turn is better - getting to choose everything or not having to choose anything.
24. I'm slowly ticking off things on my must-do-while-I-still-live-in-Utah list - went skiing, hiked to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos, hiked to the Y, hiked to the Timpanogos caves. We still need to do some trips - Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion's and the Grand Canyon, Shakespeare Festival, Capitol Reef...the list could go on.
25. I credit my success in school with my two older brothers - they were and still are amazing and I'm consistently motivated to keep up with them.
25 Random Things About Me:
1. I am compulsively honest with my mom and husband. If there's something I plan to not tell them, it's almost guaranteed that I'll tell them anyway. That's why it's such a miracle that I was able to successfully throw a big surprise party for husband's 30th birthday.
2. I played the trombone through grade school and my first year of college, making it into district band and winning a jazz band soloist award. Haven't played since 2000, although I own two trombones.
3. I'm apparently completely predictable - anytime I play Loaded Questions or Imaginiff or any other game that requires people to guess what you'd say or how you think, everyone always automatically pegs me right on. I hope that doesn't mean I'm boring.
4. Playing the piano is one of my best stress-relievers, but I absolutely cannot perform for people (even my family). Unfortunately, we don't have a piano, and I haven't played in years. Maybe that's why I'm so stressed...
5. When I was 8 or 9, my mom and I got into a car accident just minutes after I'd asked her if she'd ever been in an accident before, and she had said no. Someone crossed a double yellow line in front of us. Scary.
6. When I was 6 or 7, I was in my grandma's car with my brothers and a cousin or two, and we were listening to the story of Bambi on tape and hit a deer. (Hm, I must have bad car karma.) We automatically switched the tape to Alice in Wonderland, but one of my cousins mentioned that we'd probably hit a white rabbit (luckily, we didn't).
7. I never had a real honeymoon. We drove from Indiana to SLC in three days. Sigh. [Update: Yeah, we did get to stay at a wonderful B&B, and we did have a lovely time on the three-day drive. We could have taken our time on that drive and/or stayed at nicer places or tried to sightsee a bit, but we didn't. My pity party is over. :) Someday, though, I'd like to travel somewhere with just my husband - a cruise, or Europe, or somewhere. Guess that's what I'm really getting at here.] :)
8. I got married in the Nauvoo temple in Illinois - husband's ancestor had designed the original Nauvoo temple, and my ancestors had helped build it. Husband and I stayed in a bed and breakfast there for a couple nights and had some of the best food I've ever eaten, but I haven't been able to track down the manager (who is no longer at that B&B) to get the recipes.
9. I am learning to cook, slowly branching out and experimenting with recipes and seasonings. This is thanks to husband's family, who seasons things so well, and especially husband's mom, who is an amazing cook. I want to be an amazing cook!
10. I love planning parties and vacations almost more than I enjoy the parties/vacations themselves. I'm working on not being that way.
11. When I was really little, my mom and stepdad were worried I'd grow up to be a stand-up comedian. I was a real ham.
12. I got 1st runner up in the Little Miss Clarkstown pageant when I was 6. Probably because I improvised a ballet dance to Mozart that went on and on (they hadn't realized when they were supposed to stop the tape and I just kept going and going and going).
13. I did NOT only eat Pop-Tarts and hotdogs growing up, as most of my family will tell you. But it's true that I didn't eat much beyond those. (I didn't even like pizza! How is that possible?!?) I'm much less picky these days, but still don't like seafood, cooked mushrooms, or pork (most of the time). But I can stomach any of the three if I have to! :)
14. If I hadn't married my husband, I would very likely be 50-70 lbs heavier than I am. Thank you, husband. Also, I thank The Firm.
15. I am a homebody. I enjoy going out with friends, but have to force myself to do so.
16. I spent almost my entire engagement to husband at a big cat sanctuary in Texas, caring for 66 exotic cats (lions, tigers, cougars, jaguars, etc.). A lot of it was picking up poop (you've never seen/smelled poop like that before), but a lot of it was really amazing. It would have been better if I hadn't been engaged during that, though, because I would have been able to enjoy/absorb it more! I was living my dream.
17. I've also done internships with reptiles and birds. Both have much more personality than you'd think. I would LOVE to own a snake (not sure what kind...maybe a rainbow boa) and a toucan.
18. I can't stand scrapbooking. I've only ever done two pages in my life, and will not do any more. Bless my wonderful husband for hating scrapbooking, as well.
19. I would love to brush up on my Appalachain basket weaving skills (took a course with my sister-in-law my last semester at BYU and made some pretty dang awesome baskets!).
20. I usually complained when my family traveled for vacations growing up - now, I am SO grateful for all the places I got to visit (England, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Ireland), and I'm worried I'll never get to travel again.
21. I would love to have my own little business - that might happen someday when I'm home with our kidlets. The type of business is yet to be determined.
22. One of husband's and my favorite things to do together is read. We've read The Chronicles of Narnia, the Harry Potter series and Twilight series, The Life of Pi, Ender's Game, and The Goose Girl together (maybe more - that's all I could think of currently). Right now we're reading The Last Lecture.
23. Husband and I are possibly the most indecisive couple on the face of the earth. A solution we've found is to trade off Friday date nights - one of us at a time picks everything. Neither of us can decide which turn is better - getting to choose everything or not having to choose anything.
24. I'm slowly ticking off things on my must-do-while-I-still-live-in-Utah list - went skiing, hiked to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos, hiked to the Y, hiked to the Timpanogos caves. We still need to do some trips - Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion's and the Grand Canyon, Shakespeare Festival, Capitol Reef...the list could go on.
25. I credit my success in school with my two older brothers - they were and still are amazing and I'm consistently motivated to keep up with them.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Take Two
Okay, so it's been quite a long time. I told you there were no guarantees. (There still aren't.) But I'm going to try to get back on the blogwagon.
For today, I just have a quick recommendation to check out icanhascheezburger.com. If you're a cat-lover, mostly, but even if not. I confess I am a nerd and check it every day, only because it usually gets me to laugh out loud every time I look at it. A few favorites are inserted below:
I was even geeky enough to make and submit my own - this was the aftermath of Buttercup's first discovery of the joys of toilet-paper-roll-demolition.
What do I like about this strange site? It captures so much of cats' quirky personalities and antics. I wouldn't be surprised if their thoughts aren't too far off of what we think they might be sometimes. :)
For today, I just have a quick recommendation to check out icanhascheezburger.com. If you're a cat-lover, mostly, but even if not. I confess I am a nerd and check it every day, only because it usually gets me to laugh out loud every time I look at it. A few favorites are inserted below:
I was even geeky enough to make and submit my own - this was the aftermath of Buttercup's first discovery of the joys of toilet-paper-roll-demolition.
What do I like about this strange site? It captures so much of cats' quirky personalities and antics. I wouldn't be surprised if their thoughts aren't too far off of what we think they might be sometimes. :)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wanna Recipe?
So, I think this might be the most awesome recipe in the world - tried it Monday night and was VERY pleasantly surprised.
[Disclaimer: They don't look QUITE as beautiful as this, but they ARE beautiful considering how easy they are.]
1 spice cake mix (mmmmm....spice cake...)
1 29-oz. can pumpkin
1 package (or desired amount) chocolate chips
Mix top two ingredients together first, then add chocolate chips. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (mine were done at 15). Hello, does it get better than that? No butter or oil, and they taste great! Maybe not the best pumpkin chocolate cookies I've EVER had, but reeeeeeally good and about the easiest recipe I've ever seen.
Yes, I know this is a lousy post for not having blogged in ages, but I'm not just lazy in baking lately, obviously. Sorry, folks!
[Disclaimer: They don't look QUITE as beautiful as this, but they ARE beautiful considering how easy they are.]
1 spice cake mix (mmmmm....spice cake...)
1 29-oz. can pumpkin
1 package (or desired amount) chocolate chips
Mix top two ingredients together first, then add chocolate chips. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (mine were done at 15). Hello, does it get better than that? No butter or oil, and they taste great! Maybe not the best pumpkin chocolate cookies I've EVER had, but reeeeeeally good and about the easiest recipe I've ever seen.
Yes, I know this is a lousy post for not having blogged in ages, but I'm not just lazy in baking lately, obviously. Sorry, folks!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Me Too Iguana
View from the graduates:
View from where I was standing...and yes, it was all a blur: ;)
Sorry for the lack of posts the past few weeks - Commencement was August 2nd and I got sick the weekend after that. The ceremony went very well and I've received many nice compliments on how smoothly everything went. Beyond that, I'd rather forget about it and move on (just brings back stressful feelings!).
Now, on to the topic for today. In the past several months, I have come to a self-discovery of sorts. I am a Me Too Iguana. For those of you unfamiliar with this charming children's book series, you'll stay unfamiliar, I'm afraid, since it's out of print. :) But I loved it growing up, and always enjoyed this particular story of an iguana that wants to be like everyone around her. She sees the lion and wants mane like him ("Me too, me too, I want mane too!"), so she makes some fake mane to wear. She likes the zebra's stripes, so paints them on herself...you get the picture. Why am I a Me Too Iguana? I always pick up some of the the idiosyncrasies and personalities of the people with whom I associate - I don't TRY to do this, but I just do unconsciously. For instance, my dear friend Eve used to say "Curses!" a lot while we were roommates. I picked up on that. A coworker now says "Bah!" and I find I've picked up on that, too. I even try very hard not to say "Bah!" but find myself doing it anyway. Growing up, I picked up on the Winnie the Pooh theme - my brother liked Eeyore, so I liked Tigger. My brothers did band, so when it came time for me to choose between dance and band in junior high, band was the obvious choice. I even changed my major in college from Psychology to English (Eeyore brother was also majoring in English). I like ABBA like my dad...in fact, most of my musical taste comes from my family. I've picked up on working out (thankfully!) from my wonderful husband. There are countless other examples...which means...I have no personality of my own! :(
I talked with my mom about this whole issue, and she pointed out that since I was just a wee thing, I always mimicked accents (Cowboy, Irish, British, whatever I heard) and did imitations. I know my parents thought that was cute, and that it drove my brothers nuts (especially Cowboy). I guess I'm a born sponge.
Look at it this way - I pick up on things because I respect and love the people I copy. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! So, I will just have to embrace the fact that I'm a Me Too Iguana and not be ashamed.*
*even though the whole point of the story is that the iguana learns to like herself for who she is and stops copying everyone else. *sigh*
View from where I was standing...and yes, it was all a blur: ;)
Sorry for the lack of posts the past few weeks - Commencement was August 2nd and I got sick the weekend after that. The ceremony went very well and I've received many nice compliments on how smoothly everything went. Beyond that, I'd rather forget about it and move on (just brings back stressful feelings!).
Now, on to the topic for today. In the past several months, I have come to a self-discovery of sorts. I am a Me Too Iguana. For those of you unfamiliar with this charming children's book series, you'll stay unfamiliar, I'm afraid, since it's out of print. :) But I loved it growing up, and always enjoyed this particular story of an iguana that wants to be like everyone around her. She sees the lion and wants mane like him ("Me too, me too, I want mane too!"), so she makes some fake mane to wear. She likes the zebra's stripes, so paints them on herself...you get the picture. Why am I a Me Too Iguana? I always pick up some of the the idiosyncrasies and personalities of the people with whom I associate - I don't TRY to do this, but I just do unconsciously. For instance, my dear friend Eve used to say "Curses!" a lot while we were roommates. I picked up on that. A coworker now says "Bah!" and I find I've picked up on that, too. I even try very hard not to say "Bah!" but find myself doing it anyway. Growing up, I picked up on the Winnie the Pooh theme - my brother liked Eeyore, so I liked Tigger. My brothers did band, so when it came time for me to choose between dance and band in junior high, band was the obvious choice. I even changed my major in college from Psychology to English (Eeyore brother was also majoring in English). I like ABBA like my dad...in fact, most of my musical taste comes from my family. I've picked up on working out (thankfully!) from my wonderful husband. There are countless other examples...which means...I have no personality of my own! :(
I talked with my mom about this whole issue, and she pointed out that since I was just a wee thing, I always mimicked accents (Cowboy, Irish, British, whatever I heard) and did imitations. I know my parents thought that was cute, and that it drove my brothers nuts (especially Cowboy). I guess I'm a born sponge.
Look at it this way - I pick up on things because I respect and love the people I copy. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! So, I will just have to embrace the fact that I'm a Me Too Iguana and not be ashamed.*
*even though the whole point of the story is that the iguana learns to like herself for who she is and stops copying everyone else. *sigh*
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