The graduation

Well, I'm going to go back in time a couple of weeks to share what we've been up to.

First there was the awesome graduation/cinco de mayo party. I forgot to take pictures of the event, but here is a look in my fridge and at the supplies stored on the ground.

The morning of his graduation he put on his BRAND new navy jacket, shirt and orange tie. He was really excited to open the card from his grandma Stella!

We spotted him walking in right away!

Then he spotted us.

The ceremony was going along great, until the chancellor FORGOT TO RECOGNIZE MY HUSBAND'S DEGREE! I was so mad I almost passed out.

We got over our blinding white hot rage to pose for this victory picture. Look how stunningly crappy my posture is! Look how cute our happy family is! (it was a million degrees that day)

We went to lunch at a FANTASTIC restaurant Brasserie Ten Ten. That's where he opened his gift from his parents (a beautiful leather bag) and I told him we would be leaving for his surprise trip to Disneyworld in 3 days! He was pretty stoked.

Then it was time for his department graduation. He had to crouch down to be hooded because his advisor is so short.

After he'd received his degree, shook hands he turned and walked back to his seat. There was a moment of silence, and I took advantage to yell out, "that's my man!" The look of pride and joy on his face will be one that I never forget. The entire room filled with laughter and I was so proud.

I sure am one proud wifey.

What's your address?

While at disneyworld we stayed "on property."

This means that we stayed at one of the umpteen million hotels owned and operated by Disney. Each of these hotels is laced together by an ever flowing bus system that moves a staggering amount of people from park to park every day.

It's pretty fabulous to hop on a cool, air conditioned bus after a long day of excitement and be at the pool in under 10 minutes.











One night as we were standing around waiting for the arrival of our sub-arctic chariot I noticed a little girl. She was about 10 years old, British (cutest little accent), red haired and a little round. Reminded me of someone else at that age....ahem.

Anyway, this little girl was GOING TO TOWN on a bag of Nacho cheese Dorit0s.







As I watched this little girl fully engrossed by one of my very favorite addictions I wondered to myself, I'll bet this is her first encounter with the goodness of Doritos. This is the first time she'll experience that euphoric smell wafting out of that red wrapper. Her small pudgy fingers are, for the first time, coated in that delicious orange "cheese" powder. For the rest of her life she'll look back and remember how great those "crisps" were at Disneyworld and try to find them every time she goes into an American themed store. Just like me and Munchies and any British-type place.





Then I thought: poor girl...she's hooked! There's no going back now.




Then I thought: Maybe I can exchange information with her. We'll become international pen pals. I'll send her some Nacho cheese Doritos and she can send me back my precious Munchies.




Then I thought: Probably I shouldn't encourage a young girls addiction just to satisfy my own dark desires.




Then I thought: Eh, It's ok. Because I really WANT SOME MUNCHIES!!!

Teaser

The ear doctor and I returned yesterday from our Florida adventure. All I can say is that I've never met someone who I love spending time with more!

I have a bazillion pictures to sift through before I can do justice to the vacation wrap-up, so that will have to wait. Today I want to leave you with this interesting self observation I made while I was down there.



If I am stuck behind someone moving slowly in a teeming, throbbing mass of people I, like any average person, get annoyed. However, if that lethargic person in front of me is wearing something totally ridiculous I'll absolutely loose it. Mullets, rat tails, man capris, black dress socks with sandals, safari vests, aqua socks, platform shoes, and/or fanny packs send me right over the edge.

The real ear doctor

Well, on Friday the university honored my super cool husband with his first of two doctorate degrees. I could not have been prouder of his floppy-hat, funny-hooded, bat-winged, degree carrying self.

For his graduation I planned a surprise week long trip to disneyworld! We leave tomorrow and I'm so excited. I've been planning this baby for almost 6 months now and he didn't have a clue.




Last night he was so excited he couldn't sleep. He stayed up all night with his computer researching everything. I found him passed out this morning in our front room on the new couch. I love giving the perfect gift!

How I lost 12 pounds in one month

So I totally unintentionally lost 12 pounds in a month. When I stepped on the scale I was BLOWN away by these results for a few reasons. First, I hardly ever weigh myself...I just don't ever think to do it. Second, I didn't think that I'd actually done anything different. And third, I was wearing my ultra heavy dansko clogs at the time.


After reviewing the past month I think I've figured out how I did it and I'm here, spilling all of my dieting secrets. Please don't write them into a book and make millions without at least dedicating the book to me, m'kay?

1. Get really sick. I had a bad case of stomach flu/food poisoning that really helped.
2. Stop drinking diet coke like it is the essence of life.
3. Switch from drinking 1% milk to skim. With the volume of milk I drink on a daily basis this cut a lot of fat out of my diet.
4. Eat breakfast. I'm no nutritionist, but I think this has sped my metabolism back up because I get way hungrier all the time now.
5. Eat slower at meals. The ear doctor and I have started putting our forks down between each bite and talking more at dinner. I end up eating WAY less.
6. Walk with your sweetheart for 20 minutes in the morning at least twice a week. Since the weather got better we've been hitting the pavement. Such a great way to start the day with some quiet one on one time.

That's it. I think I've been on the elliptical machine twice in the past 4 weeks, so no real exercise has even gone into making this change happen. Score, huh!

Well I'll be

This morning I did a favor for the ear doctor. I took a big pile of his clothes to the dry cleaners. As I was pointing out small smudges and counting up shirts the nice southern lady behind the counter looked up and me and innocently asked a one-worded question:

"Starch?"


I looked back at her mute. I have no idea if my husband likes starch in his shirts. I've never asked. I've never wondered. What if I get starch and he hates it? My dad loves starch, so is that normal? After almost a year of being married, how on earth do I not know about my beloved's starch preferences? DO I EVEN KNOW MY HUSBAND?


I replied, "Umm, a little I guess...."


So I hope I didn't mess up.

Jealous

Why can't I write like this? I love to read stuff like this, so why doesn't in translate? Am I just too lazy? Inexperienced? Untalented?

I mean, if I were to write something about Top Chef, a show which ranks in my top 3 with The Office and House, it would come out like this:

I love top chef this season. I really liked the lesbian couple and I'm totally bummed they didn't stay on the show longer because they were very entertaining to watch and seem more talented than some of the people left to stay behind.

For example, and those too busy to click the above link, I found this sentence to be extremely well written and excruciatingly applicable to my own life and drive:

Primped with self-confidence, many of the young chefs learn that their skill has left them in the lurch and that their nonchalance with the most basic of tasks is their undoing.

How many times have I walked into a situation in my life, primed with confidence only to realize a small detail has proved to be my personal Goliath? The presentation I spent hours creating and forgot to make enough copies for everyone attending the meeting? The culinary concoction I and thrilled to bring to a party and realize there is no serving spoon to be found? In school, the 20 page report I stayed up for weeks on end only to turn in unstapled because I was sure there would be a stapler on campus? A great post I spend a lot of time thinking about and putting together only to be riddled with spelling mistakes because I never learned to spell?

Why can't I ever seem to get everything pulled together?

Stats of our party

Last night was our awesome Cinqo de Mayo/graduation party for the ear doctor. Here is a rundown of the party stats:


Pounds of carnitas consumed: 12
Gallons of lemonade drank: 2
Costco-sized bags of chips eaten: 4
Hours of Mexican music listened to: 3
Number of people it took to break the pinata: 5
Number of couples containing an engineer from my work: 3
Number of audiologists not including ear doctor: 2
Amount of cupcakes gobbled up: 35
Quantity of avocados mashed into guacamole: 15
Total trips up and down from our third floor apartment to load up supplies: 10
Number of people from our old church: 6
Number of adults from our new church: 6
Total tortillas consumed: 60
Thoughtful gifts received: 7
Sum of friends we've had forever: 5
Total number of this-year grads in attendance: 5
Number of fetuses attending that I knew about before: 1
Number of fetuses attending that I now know about: 4
Quantity of cute little kids running around: 6
Number of people we missed terribly becuase they couldn't make it: 3





I wish SO much that I would have taken some pictures of the details of our party, because I'm pretty sure I would have made Jordan proud!

Interesting Observation courtesy of a 11 year old

Saturday morning I had 10 little girls, ages 8-11 over to watch a movie. The clubhouse of my apartment complex has a special movie theater with surround sound and big soft chairs with cup holders, so I thought a private showing of Enchanted was in order.

I got us pizza and REALLY sweet soda and popped some popcorn and hit the lights. We watched the movie and were on cloud 9.

At the end of the movie we all sat around outside dipping our legs in the water of the pool and talked about the movie. Which is when I participated in this conversation:

Girl #1:"That is the greatest movie, I love it when they sing in the park:

Girl #2:"Me too. (pause) Do you think that Giselle and Robert got married in the end?"

Girl #1:"I don't know....I hope so."

Girl #2:"Katie, did they get married in the end like the cartoon prince and that brown haired girl did?"

Me:"Hmmmm, I don't really know."

Girl #2:"I really hope they did."



I've been thinking about this non-stop since then. I didn't even notice that the cartoon "fantasy" couple got married and the other "real" one didn't. Is there some kind of mild messaging in this movie saying that getting married is more of a fantasy than long-term dating? Thoughts?

Dear Bear Grylls,

We need to have a chat.


Since I married the ear doctor he has been expanding my TV watching horizons. Never before would I have considered watching your show, but, actually, it's pretty entertaining.


Your exploits in the wild are fairly interesting. Once I saw you throw your body down a glacial crevasse and free climb out if it...absolutely insane, but good TV. And another time I watched a special about you strapping a big fan to your back and paragliding around Mt. Everest....NUTS.


Last night we watched your newest episode, your experiences in Zambia. First you were dropped off and rode a boogie board down the Zambeze river, which is one of the most hardcore set of rapids in the world (I think). Then you scrambled out of the river and found some one's old flipflop which you later used as a float for fishing and to make black smoke to signal your chopper I thought you were pretty resourceful. Next, I watched you filter water of the Zambeze river with the pocket of your "rucksack" that was pretty neat.

However, I'm going to have to draw the line at a few things that happened last night. First, you ate the meat off a dead and decaying antelope carcass. Gross. Second, even after your "feast" on rotting carrion, you were still hungry. You decided to listen to old dead logs to hear if there were any larvae moving around inside. Much to my chagrin, you heard something promising. You broke the log open and found the biggest, fattest, grossest old grub I've ever seen. Seriously, it was about 2 inches around and 8 inches long. SICK.

As you held it up to the camera to show it I started screaming at my TV, "DON'T EAT THAT SUCKER! DON'T DO IT BEAR! I CAN'T TAKE IT!"

But did you listen to me? No, you did not.

You took a huge nasty bite and the guts of the thing exploded out toward the camera.

I started retching so bad that I almost vomited up all the lovely guacamole the ear doctor and I made for our party tonight.


I was sickened like I haven't been in a long, long time. Especially since the ear doctor insisted on rewinding and replaying it over and over again all night.


So, what I'm saying is that I'm drawing a line. A line in the sand. If you continue to do horribly gross stuff like that I'm not going to watch your show. It's me or the grubs. Make your choice.


With warmest regards,

Katie

Yikes

Holy crap!


Over the last 5 years I've burned a lot of random CDs onto my computer. A lot of them were mixed CDs from friends. The result? I have a ton of songs that are mysteriously called "Track 12" with no artist or disc name.

Usually, I avoid listening to these songs. I just can't handle the unknown.

Today I should have listened to that foreboding voice warning me not to go there, but I did. I felt brave. I loaded up all of the unknown songs into a playlist and let em roll.


When the sound of the whiny, breathy voice of Jessica Simps0n started blaring into my ears I literally ripped them out of my ears to protect my poor mind from turning into a addled mess.

How was I to know the kind of fire I was dancing with? Talk about a horrifying experience.

Meet Walter

Every Thursday the ear doctor works with one of the coolest speech pathologists in the world. They focus on helping kids with cochlear implants be able to speak clearly, which can be a tough thing to do. All year he's had a great little patient who just seems like a little cute angel from the stories I've heard.

Today is his last Thursday working at the clinic where he has done his year long residency, which means he has to say farewell to this cute little girl to whom he has grown really attached.

All year he has convinced her that we have a pet prairie dog named Walter who lives on the balcony of our apartment. Every appointment she asks about our little pet and he tells her stories about him.

This afternoon I'm going down to his clinic to meet her and go to dinner. I'm bringing her a photo of the two of us with Walter. Which one do you think looks better?

Perfection

I was having kind of a crappy day. Just being grouchy and lame. Then, I read this wonderful post written by Janssen and I knew that the only cure was to make my way to Pearl street in Boulder for a free scoop of Ben & Jerry's with my man.

And boy, did it work.

First, we walked down the beauitful street lined with tulips and saw a long line in front of the store. That's OK, I thought, free ice cream is worth the wait.

While in line some petition people annoyed me for my signature....pretty typical considering Boulder. As we got closer to the front door I grew eager with anticipation. A free scoop of Cherry Garcia was about to be mine!

We were in to doorway to the store, so the ear doctor took his insulina...

I bellied up to the counter and placed my order...one Cherry Garcia for me and a Phish food for the man. I got my cone of joy. (notice the blurriness of this photo....it's an action shot)

Together we raised our cones. All hail Ben & Jerry's!

Oh, how I love my ice cream....

....and my man.

We spent an hour taking in the sights of downtown Boulder. Turns out this town was a bicycle friendly community from 2004 to 2007, but is no longer. Someone should inform that bike rider.

Also, nowhere but in Boulder is that random garabage shoe left on the street a HIKING BOOT.

We ended our night by swinging by the mall to buy me some shoes (2 pair for the price of 1! Booyah!) and eat some Rubios fish tacos. Imagine my thrill when Amy Grant's Heart in Motion started blaring from the speakers.

Evenings don't get much better than that.

Nice headpiece

The ear doctor and I are dancers. We break out into dance at least once a day, usually in the kitchen. I inherited this gene from my mother.

As a result, we watch Dancing with the Stars.

(don't judge me)



We cringe at the costuming, laugh at the comments, critique the frames and swoon over a well-hit line. The judges are kind of over the top, and the dancing is pretty good most of the time. However, my personal favorite moment of the show every week is when they introduce the band, and the lead singer gets her 10 seconds of screen time.


HOLY COW, that woman is AWESOME!


You know the dame I'm talking about, right? The lady with the crazy/awesome head piece every week!?!?! I wait in eager anticipation of her moment of glory like a kid on Christmas eve. I'm so glad the show is on Monday night because it really helps me make it through the week.


If you haven't seen her, you must. It's one of the high moments of all prime time TV.

Blocked

Anyone who has blogged for more than about 3 months knows the feeling. The desire to write waxes and wanes like the phases of the moon. Like the tides of the ocean. Like my personal craving for brownies.


And right now I'm looking at those brownies thinking, I'm just really not in the mood.


So please forgive me.

That magic moment

Last Wednesday I taught 12 little girls how to make chocolate chip cookies. This activity took place in the kitchen of my church building. My very old church building. Between mopping floors covered by eggs that exploded under the inexperienced crushing of 9 year old hands and wiping down counters crazily covered with flour I decided to take off my wedding ring. The last thing I wanted was to loose it down a 50 year old drain in a building that some consider a historic landmark.

I thought the window sill was a perfectly safe place to let my prized possession rest.




The next morning I dragged myself out of bed and off to work. I had to be in early for a meeting and didn't even fully wake up until I took the first sip from my daily ritualistic cup of hot cocoa. As I started typing my computer log on I looked down and was shocked to see a naked little ring finger staring back at me.

The Rolodex of my mind started whirring and flipped open to the correct card regarding ring placement. I realized that it was still sitting there in the church's windowsill.

Frantically, I called the ear doctor. Luckily, he drives right by the church on his way to work. I asked him to swing by and get it.

Phew, that was a close one.




My day passed and we decided to meet up for dinner at Chili's before a later appointment. I arrived first, got us a table and waited for my one true love to arrive. As he entered that fine establishment he had a gleam in his eye and hands stuffed into his pockets.

As we perused the menu we shared a few laughs. I hadn't even thought about my missing rings, trusting that he had got them alright. There was a slight lull in the conversation.

His eyes darted side to side and started to slyly curl up at the corners.

The next thing I knew he had slid around to floor, stopping just in front of my side of the table. He expertly balanced himself on one knee, brought his hands from his pocket to show me a beautiful gray ring box.

He opened it to show me my own wedding ring. I caught my breath.




There, in Chili's he asked me to be his wife. Again.





I almost snorted water through my nose, smiled and nodded yes.The entire restaurant burst into applause.






Sure, I already got the perfect wedding proposal. Its true, we've been married for 10 months. But, honestly, if he'd actually asked me to marry him at Chili's I probably would have been SO disappointed.



It's funny though; when I saw him kneeling there with ring offered up to me I felt the same excited, thrilled, elated, in-love feeling that I got during the real proposal. The feeling telling me I picked the right one.


And I'm SO lucky he picked me back.

My quest

6 years ago I spent the summer living in Logan, UT.

I hardly knew a soul in the whole town and this was before I realized that I love being outdoorsy. I had no air conditioning and lived in a free-to-me, 20 year old dorm room with 3 other girls who all spoke different Asian languages.

The result? I had a pretty low key summer.

The highlight of the summer, and the brightest memory from those 3 months was a cup of limeade.

One of the advisors who I worked for had a beautiful Brazilian wife who made the the most fantastic cup of limeade. The limeade of my dreams. It was creamy and cold and sweet and tangy all at the same time.

After returning from my lonely sojourn I attempted to duplicate the experience. I failed. I could never figure out the secret combination.

I really want to serve this sweet creamy drink at the ear doctor's party in a few weeks, so I decided to turn to the Internet for help. In my quest I found recipe after recipe that described limeade as a mixture of lime juice, sugar and water. This just ISN'T the same thing.

Then I stumbled on this recipe:

INGREDIENTS
2 limes
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons sweetened
condensed milk
3 cups water
ice

DIRECTIONS
Wash limes thoroughly. Cut off the ends and slice into eight wedges. Place limes in a blender with the sugar, sweetened condensed milk, water, and ice. Blend in an electric blender, pulsing 5 times. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove rinds. Serve over ice.

Now we're getting somewhere! The only thing is that the comments say you have to serve it immediately or it gets really bitter (because of the lime rind?). I don't want to have to make this stuff the day of our party. Also, I don't really want to make it a blended drink.

So here is my question, mixed drink makers: Do you think that if I just cut all the rind off I could mix it all together and serve it unblended?

MIA

It's not that there isn't anything to write about.

Believe me, I'm dying to tell you about the passing of fou-tee, my romantic moment at Chili's, the arrival of lil mol-ay and my secret recipe for Polynesian punch.

It's just that the ear doctor and I have both fallen pray to a lower GI bug that has us living somewhere between the bed and the bathroom. 

Do you think you can get Montezuma's revenge from planning a Mexican themed party?

Someone call Professor Higgins

A while ago I was at a meeting where a man was giving a very technical presentation. He was presenting his design in front of a very big group of important people. He was preparing for a national conference where he was scheduled to make a very important contribution to the existing technical knowledge base.

Yet,


when he described one part being stuck between two other parts he described it as being "sammiched."

Not "sandwiched" but "sammiched."

Really?


When people pronounce words wrong I have a real hard time taking what they are saying seriously. Happens all the time when people say "impordent" instead of "important"


Anyone else have similar experience?

I like em....so what

As I've mentioned a thousand times before, I make a weekly dinner menu for our house. It's always on a torn piece of notebook paper and magneted to the front of our freezer.

Lately I've fallen into a really comfortable method for planning these menus. Sunday I make some fancy dinner because I usually have more time and energy. One night we have a big entree salad, these are quickly becoming a favorite in our house. One night is a free for all. One night we have leftovers, one night we go out, one night the ear doctor fires up his grill/smoker.


The last night is casserole night.


I always feel kind of bad/lazy to have casserole night. Some part of me thinks that if I'm not pushing my cooking skills I'm wimping out. Some part of my mind feels lame for having this night.


But,


after tasting the results of casserole night, I never feel too bad. Last night's cheesy nacho casserole topped with a big scoop of sour cream was NOT the healthiest thing we've eaten all week, but there is just something so comforting and familiar about scooping a big mixture of delicious food from a corningware dish.

Doncha think?

Isn't she lovely

My cousin is getting married Memorial Day weekend and I think she's going to be a STUNNING bride!

The search is over

Saturday morning we almost, ALMOST, made an addition to our family.

However, I totally chickened out and decided that we just aren't quite ready to have a little bundle of joy of our own.

After we had to leave our little guy at the store, I was pretty dejected and annoyed by my personal inability to commit to big purchases. So, we bought this:

5 times as expensive, equally long lasting, but (hopefully) a lot less work.

It's being delivered next Saturday and I hope we can get it in our house....

Getting me through

There are a few things that I keep at my work desk that I absolutely love. I don't think I could make it through my day without these little tokens.

First, my peep pen. Go ahead, tease me all you want, but I lurve the puffiness of peeps. I got this pen in an Easter basket of yore and just love to use it when I'm in a serious corporate meeting.

Second, my homie. This little gal was given to me by a machinist. It's a prized possession because sometimes there is a big barrier between the engineers and the people who have to decipher my work and actually make it happen. Him giving me this little gal really symbolized our friendship. Plus, my abs are totally flat and I wear belly shirts all the time......right.....

Third, my coin. For a company anniversary they make us these coins. When I got it I was kind of confused why a company would spend the time and money to get these things made. I shook my head and felt like I was in a dilbert cartoon.

Fourth, my ear buds. I spent a lot of time at my computer listening to music. When I first got the standard issue ear buds I tried to wear them and after about 30 minutes the insides of my poor little ear canals hurt so bad I wanted to curl up in a little ball and cry. The ear doctor got me these fancy gray spongey adapters and now listening has been a pure joy.

GOO

It's snowing today. SNOWING.

Big, thick, heavy, depressing, wet snowflakes are building up over the new fresh shoots that my peas have sent up in the last week.


And the only hot chocolate in the cabinet at work is SUGAR FREE. with no little marshmallows!




GRRRRRR

Thoughts?

YIKES!

My mom called me this morning to alert me to an interesting story aired on the TODAY show this morning. The expose was about Nalgene bottles and their potential to leech a harmful chemical into the water inside.

As I watched, I started feeling a little alarmed. They started talking about something right next to my computer monitor, my Nalgene.

This worried me.

The offensive bottle on my screen was the exact color of the vessel I held in my hand!

They told me to check for #7 plastic, so I turned my bottle over.

OH NO!

What do I do now? Throw them all out? Has anyone who has some bio-chemical knowledge heard of this and think it is actually worthy of my concern?

When I see beautiful pictures of kitchens I dream of having a simple, beautiful, everything-in-its-place space in which to do my cooking. Pictures like this really inspire me:

(via here)

(IKEA)

(via here)

But,


Have you ever noticed that these kitchens always have bare fridge fronts? Or, even more drastic, faux fridge fronts that look like cabinet doors?


I'm afraid to say that my fridge door will never be pristine. I have this serious need to magnet things I'm proud of to the front of the fridge for all the world to see. This is what my freezer door currently looks like:







1. weekly menu
2. the ear doctor's last glowing review from work
3. my notice of promotion from work
4. awesome bumper sticker
5. blackjack pizza magnet
6. church stuff
7. my latest acquired piece of art
8. local roller derby schedule....I am determined to go to one of their games this summer!





What does your fridge look like?

Ohhh, so pretty

If someone wants to get me this I wouldn't mind....

Confession

My head must be mis-shapen.



I've tried just about every type of head-band, -scarf, -elastic, and/or -ribbon, but nothing will give me the look so recently featured in the Anthropologie catalog.

I yearn for this hair style, but have come to the conclusion that it just isn't for me. Everything I've worn slips and slides around all day, driving me to the brink of insanity.

I hate having to admit defeat, but I feel I have no other option.

Talk about budgeting

I got this series of photos from my mom in an email this morning and it was so moving for me that I thought I'd post them here. I'm sure a lot of people have seen these, but if you haven't it really shows how blessed we are.

Each picture shows a family from around the world. What they eat in a week and how much it cost.

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily

Food expenditure for one week: $260.11

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide

Food expenditure for one week: $500.07

United States: The Revis family of North Carolina

Food expenditure for one week: $341.98

Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca

Food expenditure for one week: $189.09

Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna

Food expenditure for one week: $151.27

Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo

Food expenditure for one week: $68.53

Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo

Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village (Bhutan is between India and Tibet)

Food expenditure for one week: $5.03

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp

Food expenditure for one week: $1.23

Great ideas

So, I've mentioned about a million times that I'm in charge of organizing and leading activities twice a month for the little girls in my church congregation, ages 8-12.

This responsibility has be SO much fun and I just love being a part of the program.

Now that the warmer months are upon us I'm getting really excited to plan fun, educational and uplifting activities outside. So far this is what I've got:

-Movie day. My apartment complex has a small 20 seat big screen projection theater in the club house. I'm going to make breakfast and we're going to watch Enchanted on the big screen. Not sure if I want to have it be a pajama breakfast yet or not.

-Campfire saftey. I live really close to a lake that has fire pits on the shore. I'm going to invite them over to a bon fire to learn about saftey and make smores. Maybe I'll even bust out my guitar? Maybe we could make a dutch oven cobbler together?

-Pool party. Not really sure if this one will fly, but I would love to have all the families of the girls in my group over to play at my apartment complex pool and have burgers. I have to run this one by the higher-ups to make sure it is safe enough.

-Trip to Berry Patch Farms to pick strawberries and learn about organic farming. I saw this on Design Mom this morning and thought it was such a great idea! I remember going berry picking with my day care when I was little and I loved it. Plus, they'll all get to bring home some berries and I might be able to get a flat to make some delicious jam!



Any other great activities that a 8-12 year old girl would love? I would love to do some kind of art related activity.

Dire situation

My little sister and I both got an allowance growing up. It was my parent's way change the Saturday morning mandatory house cleaning from cruel child slavery to a way to teach us the importance of a dollar. My parents are very big on "teaching" moments.

Anyway, after saving our money we'd get to go shopping.

Maggie would go into the store, see something she liked, buy it and walk out happy and fulfilled. She's so lucky.

I, on the hand farthest from that mentality possible, did not. I would take my money, clutch it tightly in my hot sweaty little hand and walk up and down every aisle. I would agonize over every treat, every doll, every game. I never fell head over heels for anything. I always looked at the toy I couldn't get it if I decided to get this dool and lament. Nothing was ever a done deal for me. Even when I left the store with something I was annoyed and disappointed that I coudln't get something else.

This inability to commit to a purchase remained with me as I grew up. I remember my first large clothing purchase (brown suede coat from Nordstrom). My mom went with me and had to practically FORCE me to buy the dumb thing. I was simultaneously thrilled to have the coolest jacket in the whole high school and annoyed that I couldn't get that pair of jeans too.


Now I am met with a serious dilemma. The ear doctor and I NEED to buy a new sofa. It has come to the point where it isn't a frivolous purchase, but a serious requirement if we are going to spend any time at all sitting in our house. We've been looking for months to find a sofa we both like. However, every single one we've seen has left me feeling like I'm going to have to compromise. And, if I'm going to compromise part of me just wants to get some crappy cheap thing that I really don't like and get it over with. How do you people pick something like that and not second guess?!?!?






If you think I'm having a hard time committing to a sofa you should see the internal conflict I'm experiencing over this potential puppy situation. Grrrr

Favorite things

Last year for the ear doctor's birthday we took a road trip up to South Dakota. It was amazing. He's the best road trip partner...always up for some random detour.


While we were up there we spent some time in Custer State park where President Calvin Coolidge had a summer ranch. It was beautiful, serene and we both had an amazing time. Neither of us are really souvenir people, but we saw this cool print and decided that we had to have it.

Sentimental....yes. Clearly, we have been lazy had haven't had it framed yet.

So hot right now

I'm at the perfect age to be surrounded by friends having their first babies. It's a really exciting time to see people turn from happy couples to happy little families. I love being invited to baby showers, christenings/blessings and first birthdays.

Plus, with all the celebrity babies popping out right now, having a baby has never been so hot.


Although, the phenomenon I've noticed lately is a little different. Am I the only one who has noticed that it is SO HOT RIGHT NOW to find out your baby's gender on the big day? I've had at least 3 couples in the past 4 months tell me they're waiting to find out.


I don't really have an opinion about it, one way or the other, but I think it's an interesting trend, no? Sure makes shopping for gifts a little more challenging.....