I have added two new banners to this page. I urge you to check out Ron Paul and see for yourself what kind of candidate he is. Check out the library as well as the main campaign site.
I heard third-hand that the State Department has said that Ron Paul supporters are threats to national security. That actually makes a lot of sense. The stronghold the federal government has on our nation would be destroyed if Ron Paul was elected president. I can see how they would feel that their power is threatened by Ron Paul and his supporters :) So count me in as a threat to national security.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Saturday, November 03, 2007
NaBloPoOops
A few weeks ago, I said there was NO WAY I was doing NaBloPoMo. On Thursday I changed my mind, and figured I'd at least give it a go for a few days. But then yesterday I forgot to post! I guess at least that takes the pressure off, so now I only have to post if I really want to.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Three Rants, One Resolved (kind of)
1) Our easy listening station is playing Christmas music already! If I'm not mistaken, I wrote about this last year. This year, it totally took me by surprise. It can't be November already! I remember when I was a kid, time went s o o o o s l o w l y y y y y . Now it ZIPS by.
2) Why do big huge SUVs slow down to a crawl to go over speed bumps and through dips? What is the point of having an SUV if you can't barrel through bumps and dips at full speed? Surely if your Hummer suspension can handle off-roading, it can handle a little dip at 25 mph.
3) Last year I didn't buy tickets to the Brad Paisley concert because we were kind of low on cash. I figured I would just go this year. In retrospect, that was kind of dumb, because last year I should've realized that I'd have a newborn by concert time this year. A few months ago I started looking at tour dates, and it seemed that Brad Paisley wasn't coming to Utah this year. I was QUITE annoyed (that is the rant part). However, he apparently IS coming, on January 24th-ish - at least that's what I remember from the radio - there's nothing about it on his website yet. That doesn't quite solve the newborn problem though. Baby will be 5 months old by then, and I leave him every day for work, so in theory, I should be able to leave him long enough for a concert. But ideally I'd go to the concert with Husband, and he's the one who stays with Baby while I'm at work. My mom is probably afraid to tend him while he's that young (are you, Mom?), but maybe I can find someone else. We'll see.
Edited to add:
I've got to get more creative! I'm totally recycling posts from last year. See, I wrote about Brad Paisley here, and I wrote about the Christmas music (and Brad Paisley) here. Blogging appears to bring out the teenage girl in me - I really don't gush about Brad Paisley in real life, at all (seriously).
2) Why do big huge SUVs slow down to a crawl to go over speed bumps and through dips? What is the point of having an SUV if you can't barrel through bumps and dips at full speed? Surely if your Hummer suspension can handle off-roading, it can handle a little dip at 25 mph.
3) Last year I didn't buy tickets to the Brad Paisley concert because we were kind of low on cash. I figured I would just go this year. In retrospect, that was kind of dumb, because last year I should've realized that I'd have a newborn by concert time this year. A few months ago I started looking at tour dates, and it seemed that Brad Paisley wasn't coming to Utah this year. I was QUITE annoyed (that is the rant part). However, he apparently IS coming, on January 24th-ish - at least that's what I remember from the radio - there's nothing about it on his website yet. That doesn't quite solve the newborn problem though. Baby will be 5 months old by then, and I leave him every day for work, so in theory, I should be able to leave him long enough for a concert. But ideally I'd go to the concert with Husband, and he's the one who stays with Baby while I'm at work. My mom is probably afraid to tend him while he's that young (are you, Mom?), but maybe I can find someone else. We'll see.
Edited to add:
I've got to get more creative! I'm totally recycling posts from last year. See, I wrote about Brad Paisley here, and I wrote about the Christmas music (and Brad Paisley) here. Blogging appears to bring out the teenage girl in me - I really don't gush about Brad Paisley in real life, at all (seriously).
Friday, October 05, 2007
?
Well, I've successfully managed to not post for nearly 9 months! The good news is that in that time, there has been progress on the problems I mentioned in my last post. Namely, two Chipotle restaurants have opened up less than an hour from here! I guess I wasn't craving it all that much though, because I haven't gone yet. I'd still rather have Texadelphia cheesesteaks and Don Carlos queso.
In order to tell how far away Chipotle is from me, I had to put it into Google Maps. I figured I'd be lazy and leave off the city/state and just use the zip code. So I put my address in the 'from' field and 6924 South Park Centre Drive, 84121 in the 'to' field. What did Google do? It gave me a location in HOUSTON. Of all the places in the entire country/world, it chose Houston. Interesting.
I'm thinking of doing NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month or something) again this November. But I still feel extremely inhibited when writing about important or personal things, so I'd be posting a month's worth of drivel. I could write about my hair for a month. That would be fun for the guys who read this. I could do hair growth progress, a history of my hair, hair routines, hair products, and hair styles. The possibilities boggle the mind.
In order to tell how far away Chipotle is from me, I had to put it into Google Maps. I figured I'd be lazy and leave off the city/state and just use the zip code. So I put my address in the 'from' field and 6924 South Park Centre Drive, 84121 in the 'to' field. What did Google do? It gave me a location in HOUSTON. Of all the places in the entire country/world, it chose Houston. Interesting.
I'm thinking of doing NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month or something) again this November. But I still feel extremely inhibited when writing about important or personal things, so I'd be posting a month's worth of drivel. I could write about my hair for a month. That would be fun for the guys who read this. I could do hair growth progress, a history of my hair, hair routines, hair products, and hair styles. The possibilities boggle the mind.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Holding On to You
When we left Houston, I regretted that I had not tried many of the thousands of restaurants in the area. However, I am grateful now, because I'd have probably found lots of good ones that I'd really be missing now.
There are several restaurants and foods that I am missing the most:
1) Texadelphia cheesesteaks, particularly the Mustard Blend sauce
2) Chipotle burritos (1450 calories each!)
3) Ninfa's and/or Don Carlos' queso and fajitas
None of these restaurants exist in Utah.
I have located two Utah restaurants that are known for their cheesesteaks*. One is in the Piper Down Irish pub in Salt Lake City, and the other is Philadelphia Sub Shop in Clearfield. I will most likely be disappointed if I try them, because I am craving Texadelphia's taste, and nothing else. I can also guarantee that neither will have Mustard Blend sauce, which is the most important part of a Texadelphia cheesesteak. I have found a couple sources on the internet claiming that the ingredients for the sauce are mayonnaise, yellow mustard, Gulden's spicy mustard, Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce, honey, and water. I'm going to experiment with the mustard blend sauce and then maybe I'll take some with me to the cheesesteak place in Clearfield someday. I knew before I left Houston that I needed to buy at least two jars of Mustard Blend from Texadelphia, but I forgot about it :-P If my experiment doesn't work out, I'll order some or have my Houston co-workers send me some.
* I understand that places like Subway and Quizno's have cheesesteaks, but they seem to have pretty consistent bad reviews.
I've tried New York Burrito, which seemed to be similar to Chipotle, but it wasn't even close. The basic idea was the same, but the burritos were small, and the ingredients were tasteless. The guacamole tasted like it was made from a powder.
I tried the fajitas at Bajio Mexican Grill. They were OK, but they weren't anything like Ninfa's/Don Carlos. Ninfa's/Don Carlos fajitas are simple Tex-Mex fajitas - flour tortillas, steak or chicken, onions/peppers, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream, with beans and rice on the side. Everything is fresh (the key) and flavorful, but none of the flavors are overwhelming. Bajio Grill's fajitas had a bunch of strong flavors all competing for attention, which made everything kind of gross.
The final thing I need is queso. I have found a bunch of different recipes for queso, so I'm sure I'll find one that is satisfying. I used to melt Velveeta and add canned jalapenos and thin it with milk, and that worked all right. However, I want to find something that uses real cheese instead of Velveeta.
There are several restaurants and foods that I am missing the most:
1) Texadelphia cheesesteaks, particularly the Mustard Blend sauce
2) Chipotle burritos (1450 calories each!)
3) Ninfa's and/or Don Carlos' queso and fajitas
None of these restaurants exist in Utah.
I have located two Utah restaurants that are known for their cheesesteaks*. One is in the Piper Down Irish pub in Salt Lake City, and the other is Philadelphia Sub Shop in Clearfield. I will most likely be disappointed if I try them, because I am craving Texadelphia's taste, and nothing else. I can also guarantee that neither will have Mustard Blend sauce, which is the most important part of a Texadelphia cheesesteak. I have found a couple sources on the internet claiming that the ingredients for the sauce are mayonnaise, yellow mustard, Gulden's spicy mustard, Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce, honey, and water. I'm going to experiment with the mustard blend sauce and then maybe I'll take some with me to the cheesesteak place in Clearfield someday. I knew before I left Houston that I needed to buy at least two jars of Mustard Blend from Texadelphia, but I forgot about it :-P If my experiment doesn't work out, I'll order some or have my Houston co-workers send me some.
* I understand that places like Subway and Quizno's have cheesesteaks, but they seem to have pretty consistent bad reviews.
I've tried New York Burrito, which seemed to be similar to Chipotle, but it wasn't even close. The basic idea was the same, but the burritos were small, and the ingredients were tasteless. The guacamole tasted like it was made from a powder.
I tried the fajitas at Bajio Mexican Grill. They were OK, but they weren't anything like Ninfa's/Don Carlos. Ninfa's/Don Carlos fajitas are simple Tex-Mex fajitas - flour tortillas, steak or chicken, onions/peppers, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream, with beans and rice on the side. Everything is fresh (the key) and flavorful, but none of the flavors are overwhelming. Bajio Grill's fajitas had a bunch of strong flavors all competing for attention, which made everything kind of gross.
The final thing I need is queso. I have found a bunch of different recipes for queso, so I'm sure I'll find one that is satisfying. I used to melt Velveeta and add canned jalapenos and thin it with milk, and that worked all right. However, I want to find something that uses real cheese instead of Velveeta.
Friday, December 15, 2006
You'd Better Run!
Have you ever wondered why it's so difficult to get across the street before the "WALK" signal changes to "DON'T WALK"? Well, check out this excerpt from a nationally-recognized traffic manual:
Now, a speed of 40 feet per second is approximately equivalent to 27.3 miles per hour. Do you run across the street at 27 mph? I didn't think so!
OK, OK, it's an error. It's supposed to say 4 feet per second, and the error has been noted by the publisher. But next time I see a fast signal, I'm going to wonder. . .
"An average walking speed of 40-ft/s is appropriate for typical groups of pedestrians. . . .At signalized intersections pedestrian crossings must be assigned an amount of effective green time based on average walking speed."
Now, a speed of 40 feet per second is approximately equivalent to 27.3 miles per hour. Do you run across the street at 27 mph? I didn't think so!
OK, OK, it's an error. It's supposed to say 4 feet per second, and the error has been noted by the publisher. But next time I see a fast signal, I'm going to wonder. . .
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Already?
I had no idea we were this close to Christmas already! Back in October I saw some Christmas-themed items on sale. I started thinking about which items I would buy for the Twelve Days of Christmas (where you leave treats/items on a neighbor's doorstep for 12 days), but I didn't get anything because it was way too early. Then yesterday, all of a sudden, it was the day to start! We had to go to the grocery store to get pears :-)
I'm not used to buying a lot of Christmas presents. Ever since we've been married, money has always been tight around Christmas, even if it was plentiful in July, so other than a few presents for the kids, we haven't really bought much (the kids get PLENTY of presents from the grandparents, so they are not deprived by any stretch of the imagination). This year we actually have more than $0 in our checking account, so I thought I'd get some presents for the immediate family. I hadn't even started thinking about what I'd buy, and then yesterday I realized I was almost out of time! So I drug the kids all over the place and got a few things last night. I think I'm pretty much done.
After I got home from our shopping marathon (2 hours is a marathon to me), I realized that last night was the Young Women's babysitting service project. Free babysitting was offered at the church from 6:30 to 8:30. So instead of dragging the poor starving kids everywhere, they could've been having the time of their lives with all their friends at church. Oh well - maybe I'll learn to keep an appointment calendar!
Monday, December 04, 2006
Crazy!
Hmm, the second NaBloPoMo was over, I quit posting. It appears that I am motivated by external forces. Anyway.
So I was reading through some old journals last night. I have come to the conclusion that I was insane when I was a teenager, although I suppose that is a common characteristic of all teenagers. Maybe I'll post some interesting excerpts later, although maybe I won't, because it's fine to embarrass myself in front of strangers, but some of my family & real-life friends read this!
One highlight was some of the quotes from my mom in regards to my relationships. When I was 15 - "your reputation is shot" because 3 guy friends drove me around after a piano recital (taking equipment home, picking up stuff, taking people home). "You're throwing all your standards away" - because I went on more than 2 dates in a row with my boyfriend. The horror! Although, I guess my mom was right - my self-imposed standard (also a strong guideline from my church) was no steady dating before the boy goes on his mission. So by going on many dates in a row, and not dating others, I was in fact breaking my standards. But it still sounds so much more dramatic coming from your mom during an hours-long lecture!
So I was reading through some old journals last night. I have come to the conclusion that I was insane when I was a teenager, although I suppose that is a common characteristic of all teenagers. Maybe I'll post some interesting excerpts later, although maybe I won't, because it's fine to embarrass myself in front of strangers, but some of my family & real-life friends read this!
One highlight was some of the quotes from my mom in regards to my relationships. When I was 15 - "your reputation is shot" because 3 guy friends drove me around after a piano recital (taking equipment home, picking up stuff, taking people home). "You're throwing all your standards away" - because I went on more than 2 dates in a row with my boyfriend. The horror! Although, I guess my mom was right - my self-imposed standard (also a strong guideline from my church) was no steady dating before the boy goes on his mission. So by going on many dates in a row, and not dating others, I was in fact breaking my standards. But it still sounds so much more dramatic coming from your mom during an hours-long lecture!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Last Day!
Today is the last day of Nablopomo! I made it!
I was pretty much out of things to say, but I finally thought of something. Did you know I'm growing my hair out? My hair has been almost to waist length (when blow-dried straight) before. I really liked how it looked when it was short (not in the next picture, but the one after that), but only on the good days! If you have a bad hair day with short hair, too bad! If you're not working in a "professional" environment, you could use a bandanna or something, but if you are - too bad for you! There are many other reasons I want long hair.
Here's a picture from October 2003:
I was pregnant with Collin here. After this I grew it past my shoulders, and then had a dramatic chop. If I'm not mistaken, I was trying to copy Kerflop's old hairstyle. I neglected to remember that her hair is straight and mine is super-curly. Anyway. I maintained it somewhere close to the length in the next picture for quite a while.
So here's how I started out November 2005:
This is a pretty good hair day. Due to the tightness of the curl, I must have either used a lot of gel, or only diffused it a tiny bit and let it air dry the rest of the way. Remembering how much I liked it at this length, I'm wondering if I made a mistake by growing it. But not really.
Here I am now (I will spare you the hundreds of interim pictures):
This was an experiment. I got out of the shower and let it dry without touching it AT ALL.
I don't like the crunchiness of the aloe vera gel I have been using, so I wanted to see if it was possible for my hair to look decent with no product. As you can see, it looked fairly decent, in terms of not poofing out all over the place, but this picture was taken before it had been touched by human hands. It was a little "stiff" at the hairline, so I wanted to soften it up a bit. As soon as I touched it we were back to the poofiness. But this gives you a good idea of the length.
If I had done anything to speed the drying along (blotting with towel, drying in towel, finger combing), it would look a little longer because the curls would have stretched a bit.
It's going to take me pretty much forever to get to waist length! I have an average growth rate (1/2-inch per month), but a lot of the length is taken up by curl. Measuring from the hairline, over the top of the head, and down to the tips, my hair is 20.5" stretched out (dry) and 16" un-stretched (dry). I'm going for ultra-long hair, which means I can't abuse it any more by blow-frying it straight, or worse, flat ironing it. I may blowfry it on cool/low heat once every few months just to see how long it is straight, but I'm not sure if it's worth the damage I might get from the brush :-P
I was pretty much out of things to say, but I finally thought of something. Did you know I'm growing my hair out? My hair has been almost to waist length (when blow-dried straight) before. I really liked how it looked when it was short (not in the next picture, but the one after that), but only on the good days! If you have a bad hair day with short hair, too bad! If you're not working in a "professional" environment, you could use a bandanna or something, but if you are - too bad for you! There are many other reasons I want long hair.
Here's a picture from October 2003:
I was pregnant with Collin here. After this I grew it past my shoulders, and then had a dramatic chop. If I'm not mistaken, I was trying to copy Kerflop's old hairstyle. I neglected to remember that her hair is straight and mine is super-curly. Anyway. I maintained it somewhere close to the length in the next picture for quite a while.
So here's how I started out November 2005:
This is a pretty good hair day. Due to the tightness of the curl, I must have either used a lot of gel, or only diffused it a tiny bit and let it air dry the rest of the way. Remembering how much I liked it at this length, I'm wondering if I made a mistake by growing it. But not really.
Here I am now (I will spare you the hundreds of interim pictures):
This was an experiment. I got out of the shower and let it dry without touching it AT ALL.
I don't like the crunchiness of the aloe vera gel I have been using, so I wanted to see if it was possible for my hair to look decent with no product. As you can see, it looked fairly decent, in terms of not poofing out all over the place, but this picture was taken before it had been touched by human hands. It was a little "stiff" at the hairline, so I wanted to soften it up a bit. As soon as I touched it we were back to the poofiness. But this gives you a good idea of the length.
If I had done anything to speed the drying along (blotting with towel, drying in towel, finger combing), it would look a little longer because the curls would have stretched a bit.
It's going to take me pretty much forever to get to waist length! I have an average growth rate (1/2-inch per month), but a lot of the length is taken up by curl. Measuring from the hairline, over the top of the head, and down to the tips, my hair is 20.5" stretched out (dry) and 16" un-stretched (dry). I'm going for ultra-long hair, which means I can't abuse it any more by blow-frying it straight, or worse, flat ironing it. I may blowfry it on cool/low heat once every few months just to see how long it is straight, but I'm not sure if it's worth the damage I might get from the brush :-P
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Engineer in training
I discovered today that I am officially an EIT (engineer-in-training). The requirements to become an EIT are to graduate from an accredited engineering program (which I did in 2003) and pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. The FE is an 8-hour exam testing you on all the classes you should have taken in your college program. Most students take the FE while they're still in school because it's much easier that way. I started to sign up for the test while I was in school, but then I thought "I'm never going to work! I'm just going to be a stay-at-home-mom! Why spend $150 and waste 8 hours of my life?" So I didn't take it. Life changed, and I am working. I finally got around to taking the FE last April, and in June, I found out that I passed. I took it with four other people from my company, and I really want to compare scores with one of them. I'm really competitive about academic stuff :-)
We moved from Texas to Utah soon after that, and I still haven't sent in the forms to become licensed in Texas. Today I decided to find out how I could register in Utah. I couldn't find anything on the State website, and my coworkers confirmed that there is no EIT registration process in Utah. Basically, once you've graduated and passed the FE, you can start calling yourself an EIT. So, in Utah I'm now 'officially' an EIT. Yay, me! I've filled out my papers for Texas (again), so if I ever get around to sending them off, I'll be an EIT in Texas too!
We moved from Texas to Utah soon after that, and I still haven't sent in the forms to become licensed in Texas. Today I decided to find out how I could register in Utah. I couldn't find anything on the State website, and my coworkers confirmed that there is no EIT registration process in Utah. Basically, once you've graduated and passed the FE, you can start calling yourself an EIT. So, in Utah I'm now 'officially' an EIT. Yay, me! I've filled out my papers for Texas (again), so if I ever get around to sending them off, I'll be an EIT in Texas too!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Gingerbread Houses
LittleMan's:
Perhaps LittleMan is disturbed in some way, as you can see that he has depicted a murder scene in front of the house, what with the dead snowman and dead tree. I assume that the snowman was chopping down a tree, and an environmentalist came along and killed him for it.
BigGuy's:
What's left now:
And last year's houses for comparison:
Mine:
BigGuy's:
Perhaps LittleMan is disturbed in some way, as you can see that he has depicted a murder scene in front of the house, what with the dead snowman and dead tree. I assume that the snowman was chopping down a tree, and an environmentalist came along and killed him for it.
BigGuy's:
What's left now:
And last year's houses for comparison:
Mine:
BigGuy's:
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Lights at Temple Square
We went to see the lights at Temple Square (Salt Lake City) Friday night. I used the night setting on my camera and got some great pictures (great for me).
This one turned out a bit yellow because I used my flash.
This one turned out a bit yellow because I used my flash.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
I lied
I was going to post BigGuy's birth story, but I can't find it anywhere. It's probably sitting on an old hard drive somewhere. The basic story is 18 hours labor, posterior presentation, 4 hours transition-type labor, manual rotation, 3.5 hours blue-faced pushing, no medication/epidural, tiny tear, healthy mom, healthy baby. The end. Here we are the day after he was born:
Here's BigGuy's cake this year:
He asked for a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I planned to make a homemade layered round cake with homemade frosting, and then put Lighting McQueen & Mater on the top. But then I decided I didn't have enough time, so I let BigGuy choose one from the store. He chose Batman. He pronounced it "gross", but I think he just got a taste of black frosting or something.
Here's BigGuy's cake this year:
He asked for a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I planned to make a homemade layered round cake with homemade frosting, and then put Lighting McQueen & Mater on the top. But then I decided I didn't have enough time, so I let BigGuy choose one from the store. He chose Batman. He pronounced it "gross", but I think he just got a taste of black frosting or something.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Quiz
NaBloPoMo is going downhill rapidly. I've resorted to posting quiz results.
| You Are 60% Republican |
 You aren't a full fledged Republican yet, but it's probably the party that fits you best. You probably consider yourself an independent Republican. You usually support the party, but you also think for yourself! |
| You Are 16% Democrat |
 If you have anything in common with the Democrat party, it's by sheer chance. You're a staunch conservative, and nothing is going to change that! |
Thursday, November 23, 2006
A Random Post
My mind is completely blank today. So to keep this short, I'll list the medical procedures I've had done (as fas as I can remember).
4 years old - broken leg with cast
10 years old - 4 baby canine teeth pulled to make room for other teeth that were coming in
15 years old - oral surgery to attach chains to two adult canine teeth that were not coming in on their own
20 years old - all four wisdom teeth pulled
21 years old - 1 stitch after BigGuy was born (I guess the whole pregnancy/birth counts as "medical")
21 years old - 1 stitch after BigGuy was born (I guess the whole pregnancy/birth counts as "medical")
22 years old - a mole removed
23 years old - I do not count LittleMan's pregnancy/birth as "medical" because I had a homebirth midwife the whole time and never had any invasive procedures (such as internal cervical checks) done. I guess I had my blood drawn. Does that count?
I think that's about it. I'm pretty boring in this regard. If I started writing about all my husband's procedures/accidents, it could take months to write them all out.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Another Happy Firthday!
Today BigGuy is 5 years old! At this time 5 years ago, I was beyond exhausted. I had been pushing with all my might for 2 or 3 hours and still had another hour to go! I turned 21 just one week before BigGuy was born. I felt much better being a 21-year old mother than a 20-year old :-)
BigGuy was disappointed this morning. He thought that when he turned 5 he would look different. We asked him to explain more, and he thought he would be bigger. BigDaddy and I are both small/petite, so BigGuy has almost no chance at being big, lol. But you never know. My dad is 5'11", and BigDaddy's father was over 6 feet, so maybe there's a slight possibility that someday he'll be a "big" guy.
Cake pictures and possible edited birth story later.
BigGuy was disappointed this morning. He thought that when he turned 5 he would look different. We asked him to explain more, and he thought he would be bigger. BigDaddy and I are both small/petite, so BigGuy has almost no chance at being big, lol. But you never know. My dad is 5'11", and BigDaddy's father was over 6 feet, so maybe there's a slight possibility that someday he'll be a "big" guy.
Cake pictures and possible edited birth story later.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
A weight on my shoulders
Lately I've felt like I've been carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. Then I realized it was just all the stuff in my coat.
My coat was "donated" by my husband. It's an outdoorsy-looking Mountain Hard Wear fleece jacket that is much too big for me. The items in the picture are receipts/papers/birthday card, my ultra-feminine men's wallet, a pair of gloves, a SLC 2002 Olympic headband, my cell phone, a duck-bill hair clip, lip balm, lotion, & a pen.
What's in your coat?
My coat was "donated" by my husband. It's an outdoorsy-looking Mountain Hard Wear fleece jacket that is much too big for me. The items in the picture are receipts/papers/birthday card, my ultra-feminine men's wallet, a pair of gloves, a SLC 2002 Olympic headband, my cell phone, a duck-bill hair clip, lip balm, lotion, & a pen.
What's in your coat?
Monday, November 20, 2006
Bring It On
Most years, it takes me a couple of months (or more) to remember to write the new year. But recently I've had the opposite problem. For some reason, I keep writing '2007' instead of '2006'. So bring 2007 on - I'm ready this time! Although I'm sure that as soon as January 1st hits, I'll be back to writing 2006 or 2005 or something.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
High School Memories
A few weeks ago I suddenly had a memory from high school:
From the time I turned 16, I drove to school with my sister most mornings. It was always dark on the way, especially during the winter. My high school (Northridge) was in Layton, UT. As we drove east on Highway 193, we could look out across the valley and see the Bountiful temple, shining like a brilliant jewel. The temple was approximately 17 miles away as the crow flies, but it is a huge, brightly lit, white building located up on the hillside, so it's easy to see for miles around. On those dark winter mornings, when I was so exhausted and the world seemed so cold, it was so comforting to look out and see the temple. I watched for it every morning and felt like the day was just a little bit better after I'd seen it.
Here's a picture of the Bountiful temple. Here are some more. From ground level to the top of the spire, the temple is 175 feet tall. The total floor area is 104,000 square feet (on several floors). At night it has powerful lights shining on it, and it just looks so beautiful. Incidentally, BigDaddy and I were married in this temple.
Lest you think my high school days were filled with spiritual visions of jeweled temples, here are some pictures of me as a Senior:
No, I wasn't trying to get some "tongue action". I wish I could still wear shirts like this. My 'chest' size sort of got out of control when I was pregnant and nursing babies, so button-up shirts weren't quite realistic. Now that I'm more proportional again, I'm still nursing, so they still wouldn't work so well. It's a lot easier to be discreet with a stretchy shirt.
This picture was taken on yearbook signing day. I know, because my name cards, pictures, and animal footprint stickers are there on the table. However, I don't think this method of eating was a "let's get crazy on the last day of school" type of thing. This was probably a typical way of eating for me. Maybe this explains why I didn't get asked out as much as I thought I should.
From the time I turned 16, I drove to school with my sister most mornings. It was always dark on the way, especially during the winter. My high school (Northridge) was in Layton, UT. As we drove east on Highway 193, we could look out across the valley and see the Bountiful temple, shining like a brilliant jewel. The temple was approximately 17 miles away as the crow flies, but it is a huge, brightly lit, white building located up on the hillside, so it's easy to see for miles around. On those dark winter mornings, when I was so exhausted and the world seemed so cold, it was so comforting to look out and see the temple. I watched for it every morning and felt like the day was just a little bit better after I'd seen it.
Here's a picture of the Bountiful temple. Here are some more. From ground level to the top of the spire, the temple is 175 feet tall. The total floor area is 104,000 square feet (on several floors). At night it has powerful lights shining on it, and it just looks so beautiful. Incidentally, BigDaddy and I were married in this temple.
Lest you think my high school days were filled with spiritual visions of jeweled temples, here are some pictures of me as a Senior:
No, I wasn't trying to get some "tongue action". I wish I could still wear shirts like this. My 'chest' size sort of got out of control when I was pregnant and nursing babies, so button-up shirts weren't quite realistic. Now that I'm more proportional again, I'm still nursing, so they still wouldn't work so well. It's a lot easier to be discreet with a stretchy shirt.
This picture was taken on yearbook signing day. I know, because my name cards, pictures, and animal footprint stickers are there on the table. However, I don't think this method of eating was a "let's get crazy on the last day of school" type of thing. This was probably a typical way of eating for me. Maybe this explains why I didn't get asked out as much as I thought I should.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Educational
One reason I like country music, and Brad Paisley's music in particular, is that it's very educational. Who ever heard of a duck blind, trot line, or hula popper? Not me, certainly. My outdoorsman relatives would be ashamed at my ignorance.
FYI:
duck blind = little shack that hunters sit in while waiting for ducks
trot line = line to put fish on after you catch them
hula popper = fishing lure
I feel like it's cheating to write such a short post, so I'll continue on a related subject.
First of all, KOSY 106.5 has gone insane. They are a soft hits station. In October, they had a poll to see when people thought they should start their continuous Christmas music. I thought "cool. I'd like to see it start early this year, so I'll vote for the day after Thanksgiving."
I went to the poll and the options were "right now", "November 1st", or "Thanksgiving weekend". What the heck?!? Now? October? November 1st even? No way!! I voted for Thanksgiving. Well, they've been playing Christmas music since HALLOWEEN DAY. Apparently November 1st won, and they pushed it back by a day. Personally, I think that there were a bunch of jokesters inflating the votes. Who really wants to hear Christmas music in October? Nobody, that's who. Here are a couple articles about it:
Lee Benson, Deseret News
ABC 4
So now I need to admit something. This week I found out that Brad Paisley has released a Christmas album. I downloaded it and have been listening to it every single day. The best songs:
"Away in a Manger" - At first I thought it was a little too harsh - too much electric guitar - for a sacred song. But I really like the arrangement now.
"Penguin, James Penguin" - A totally fun, rocking kids' song, along the lines of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer". It's about Santa's secret spy penguin. The chorus is "He's Penguin, James Penguin, that dapper little guy. Like a well-dressed duck in a three piece tux, he's Santa's secret spy."
"Born on Christmas Day" - This is a (historically inaccurate) song that Brad Paisley wrote when he was 13. It's very good for a 13-year old. It starts out with the 13-year old Brad singing accompanied only by guitar. During the chorus, they subtly bring in the current band's accompaniment, and then current-Brad changes the key and sings the rest of the verses. On the very last line, they overlay the 13-Brad and now-Brad's voices, and it sounds kind of weird and cool.
"Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday" - The chorus has "it's a completely non-offensive and politically correct holiday", and every time anyone says "Christmas" it is bleeped out! Other offensive words such as "Orient" and "white" are also bleeped :-) It's hilarious!! Apparently this album has been out for quite some time - here's another blog post on it: Sunny Side of Life.
FYI:
duck blind = little shack that hunters sit in while waiting for ducks
trot line = line to put fish on after you catch them
hula popper = fishing lure
I feel like it's cheating to write such a short post, so I'll continue on a related subject.
First of all, KOSY 106.5 has gone insane. They are a soft hits station. In October, they had a poll to see when people thought they should start their continuous Christmas music. I thought "cool. I'd like to see it start early this year, so I'll vote for the day after Thanksgiving."
I went to the poll and the options were "right now", "November 1st", or "Thanksgiving weekend". What the heck?!? Now? October? November 1st even? No way!! I voted for Thanksgiving. Well, they've been playing Christmas music since HALLOWEEN DAY. Apparently November 1st won, and they pushed it back by a day. Personally, I think that there were a bunch of jokesters inflating the votes. Who really wants to hear Christmas music in October? Nobody, that's who. Here are a couple articles about it:
Lee Benson, Deseret News
ABC 4
So now I need to admit something. This week I found out that Brad Paisley has released a Christmas album. I downloaded it and have been listening to it every single day. The best songs:
"Away in a Manger" - At first I thought it was a little too harsh - too much electric guitar - for a sacred song. But I really like the arrangement now.
"Penguin, James Penguin" - A totally fun, rocking kids' song, along the lines of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer". It's about Santa's secret spy penguin. The chorus is "He's Penguin, James Penguin, that dapper little guy. Like a well-dressed duck in a three piece tux, he's Santa's secret spy."
"Born on Christmas Day" - This is a (historically inaccurate) song that Brad Paisley wrote when he was 13. It's very good for a 13-year old. It starts out with the 13-year old Brad singing accompanied only by guitar. During the chorus, they subtly bring in the current band's accompaniment, and then current-Brad changes the key and sings the rest of the verses. On the very last line, they overlay the 13-Brad and now-Brad's voices, and it sounds kind of weird and cool.
"Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday" - The chorus has "it's a completely non-offensive and politically correct holiday", and every time anyone says "Christmas" it is bleeped out! Other offensive words such as "Orient" and "white" are also bleeped :-) It's hilarious!! Apparently this album has been out for quite some time - here's another blog post on it: Sunny Side of Life.
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