Friday, October 31, 2008
Proposition 8
Whether or not you all agree with my political persuasions, please please please get out there and vote on Tuesday! Those of you in California, please consider carefully your stance on Proposition 8. Please protect the divine institution of marriage and preserve the liberties of free speech for those of us that want to choose how our children are taught! Look here for more information on ballot arguments. Those that aren't in California, please join us in fasting that Proposition 8 will pass. Whatever you do, don't do nothing :-)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Rice Cereal and First Haircut
As a side note, if anyone wants to know a sure-fire way to get comments on their blog, just post about political stuff.
A few weeks back we decided to try giving Noah some rice cereal to help him sleep. You would have thought we had poked him with a pin! He screamed and screamed! I think part of it was that we fed it to him from a spoon, which he'd never had. I've since been giving him spoons to play with as toys so he won't be nervous about putting one in his mouth when it comes time for solid foods.
Here's before the rice cereal:
and after:
I finally broke down and cut Noah's hair. He was starting to look like Friar Tuck in the back with his "bullet" (baby mullet). I just trimmed the bottom and the very top scraggly stuff. He looks so handsome now! Though his hair doesn't make as nice a mohawk as it once did. Sorry, Justin.
A few weeks back we decided to try giving Noah some rice cereal to help him sleep. You would have thought we had poked him with a pin! He screamed and screamed! I think part of it was that we fed it to him from a spoon, which he'd never had. I've since been giving him spoons to play with as toys so he won't be nervous about putting one in his mouth when it comes time for solid foods.
Here's before the rice cereal:
and after:
I finally broke down and cut Noah's hair. He was starting to look like Friar Tuck in the back with his "bullet" (baby mullet). I just trimmed the bottom and the very top scraggly stuff. He looks so handsome now! Though his hair doesn't make as nice a mohawk as it once did. Sorry, Justin.
Here's before. We wanted to take after pictures, but the camera died.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Musings on the Election
I spent the afternoon sitting down and trying to figure out whom to vote for. I've seen various email forwards (all false), advertisements (all slanted), and various claims by friends and family of varying credibility. I listened to the final presidential and the vice presidential debate on You Tube. Here are my musings as a result*:
1)I will NOT vote for McCain. Public speaking is not one of his strengths, and I feel uncomfortable with a leader that lacks that quality. I began to feel that even I could debate against him with some proficiency. His plans sounded unconvincing and many of Obama's attacks on him went largely unrefutted. Each of the accusations against Obama had logical, sensible explanations.
2)I'm tired of hearing about Joe the plumber. Let him go back to plumbing, for pete's sake! I wouldn't be surprised if Joe actually voted for Obama because he didn't want to be the poster child for the McCain campaign.
3)I haven't decided whether or not to vote for Obama (I think my mother might have an aneurysm, disown me, write me out of the will, or give away my Christmas presents), but at least he has an articulate plan with what to do with taxes, the economy, healthcare, education, etc. It sounds like many of McCain's plans lack teeth.
4)I don't agree on Obama's stance on abortion, but I don't know whether or not that makes much of a difference. I don't think Roe v. Wade will get reversed regardless of who gets voted in as president.
5)I wish there were one candidate that had all the ideas I agreed with. Too bad Mitt Romney didn't win the nomination. I think he would have fared better against Obama than McCain is.
6)I think that Obama will win the election.
7)I wish the constitution party candidate, Chuck Baldwin, were not so radical so I might have another option.
8)Part of me wishes I could have Obama as president and Sarah Palin as vice president. I think that might be a good balance.
*Note: I am not a political expert, I have not watched all the debates, and I don't know everything about the campaigns. These are just my impressions from what I saw.
1)I will NOT vote for McCain. Public speaking is not one of his strengths, and I feel uncomfortable with a leader that lacks that quality. I began to feel that even I could debate against him with some proficiency. His plans sounded unconvincing and many of Obama's attacks on him went largely unrefutted. Each of the accusations against Obama had logical, sensible explanations.
2)I'm tired of hearing about Joe the plumber. Let him go back to plumbing, for pete's sake! I wouldn't be surprised if Joe actually voted for Obama because he didn't want to be the poster child for the McCain campaign.
3)I haven't decided whether or not to vote for Obama (I think my mother might have an aneurysm, disown me, write me out of the will, or give away my Christmas presents), but at least he has an articulate plan with what to do with taxes, the economy, healthcare, education, etc. It sounds like many of McCain's plans lack teeth.
4)I don't agree on Obama's stance on abortion, but I don't know whether or not that makes much of a difference. I don't think Roe v. Wade will get reversed regardless of who gets voted in as president.
5)I wish there were one candidate that had all the ideas I agreed with. Too bad Mitt Romney didn't win the nomination. I think he would have fared better against Obama than McCain is.
6)I think that Obama will win the election.
7)I wish the constitution party candidate, Chuck Baldwin, were not so radical so I might have another option.
8)Part of me wishes I could have Obama as president and Sarah Palin as vice president. I think that might be a good balance.
*Note: I am not a political expert, I have not watched all the debates, and I don't know everything about the campaigns. These are just my impressions from what I saw.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
High School Tag
My sister tagged me, so here goes:
1) Did you date someone from your school? Yes. Andrew J. Bonham. He was an interesting fellow. I think that's true of all high school boyfriends.
2) What kind of car did you drive? My dad's Maxima. 'Til I totaled it. (In my defense, that's the only real wreck I've been in in my whole life.)
3) Did you pass your driver's license test the first time? Yes. I didn't even have to parallel park.
4) Were you a party animal? Uh, no. Shocker, I know.
5) Were you considered a flirt? I did flirt when occasion warranted. I make no comments on my flirting prowess.
6) Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? No, no, yes. For some reason I convinced myself that I wasn't a very good singer, so I didn't try out for choir until my senior year. I actually only tried out at the request of the choir director who happened to hear me singing to myself at a technical theatre rehearsal. If it weren't for Mr. Philpott, I would have missed out on a lot of cool choir experiences in high school and college. Too bad he didn't hear me singing my junior year, because then I would have been in choir the year they went to Ireland.
7) Were you a nerd? Yup. Shocker, I know. I did have rudimentary social skills, however.
8) Were you on any varsity teams? No, I was a moron and never tried out for volleyball senior year because I thought I knew the two girls that would start as left side hitters. One girl never even tried out! Stupid!
9) Did you ever get expended or expelled? No. I was a goody two-shoes.
10) Can you still sing your fight song? Yes! "Hail to the victors valiant! Hail to the conquering heros! HAIL HAIL to ThunderRidge, the leaders and the best! Hail to the victors valiant! Hail to the conquering heros! HAIL HAIL to ThunderRidge the champions of the West!"
11) Who were your favorite teachers?Ms. Pascoe for speech, Mr. Philpott for choir, Mr. Rouse for AP European History.
12) Where did you sit at lunch? We sat outside when the weather was nice. I also sat in the lobby for a while during my junior year, but we eventually got kicked out and had to go back down to the commons. My senior year we had release time seminary right before lunch, and we would often ditch lunch and drive down to Albertson's to get french bread, hummus, and grape soda. It was technically a closed campus, so that was as close as I ever got to ditching.
13) What is your school's full name? ThunderRidge High School
14) School mascot and colors - Grizzlies, Kelly green and navy blue
15) Did you go to homecoming and who with? Freshman year - yes, with my girlfriends. Sophomore - don't remember. Junior - yes, with a mixed group of friends. Senior - yes, with Ryan Cates. I asked him. He wasn't much of a dancer. He felt fairly uncomfortable and rubbed his hands together for much of the night, which I consitently teased him about.
16) If you could go back and do it again, would you? Not unless I could go as the current me who is married and secure and confident in my sense of self. And I got paid a whole lot of money.
17) What do you remember most about graduation? Rachel Cali bringing a beach ball, and the fact that Drew Hoskisson got chosen to speak, even though he spent his senior year in France.
19) Were you in any clubs? Speech and debate, technical theatre, Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society...I think that's it...
20) Have you gained weight since then? Yes, but I did have a baby and I haven't worked all the weight off yet. I actually weighed less in high school, but I looked better in college because I actually worked out.
21) Who was your prom date? Sophomore - Andrew J. Bonham. He fished for me to volunteer to be his date, which was awkward considering I was a sophomore. Junior - I think I went with friends. Senior - I got asked by a guy I did NOT want to go with. He asked me in front of all the young women, and I had to take him out into the hall to tell him no. It was embarrassing for all involved. My friends and I ditched prom and went to a swanky restaurant instead.
22) Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Heck yeah! I wanna show off my hot husband and cute kid!
23) Did you have a job while in high school? yes - Heritage Dry Cleaners, Schlotzsky's Deli, and Tokyo Joe's. I only worked during the summers, though.
I tag everyone who's glad that high school is a thing of the past.
"Graduating from high school is like getting let out of social prison." ~Mom
1) Did you date someone from your school? Yes. Andrew J. Bonham. He was an interesting fellow. I think that's true of all high school boyfriends.
2) What kind of car did you drive? My dad's Maxima. 'Til I totaled it. (In my defense, that's the only real wreck I've been in in my whole life.)
3) Did you pass your driver's license test the first time? Yes. I didn't even have to parallel park.
4) Were you a party animal? Uh, no. Shocker, I know.
5) Were you considered a flirt? I did flirt when occasion warranted. I make no comments on my flirting prowess.
6) Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? No, no, yes. For some reason I convinced myself that I wasn't a very good singer, so I didn't try out for choir until my senior year. I actually only tried out at the request of the choir director who happened to hear me singing to myself at a technical theatre rehearsal. If it weren't for Mr. Philpott, I would have missed out on a lot of cool choir experiences in high school and college. Too bad he didn't hear me singing my junior year, because then I would have been in choir the year they went to Ireland.
7) Were you a nerd? Yup. Shocker, I know. I did have rudimentary social skills, however.
8) Were you on any varsity teams? No, I was a moron and never tried out for volleyball senior year because I thought I knew the two girls that would start as left side hitters. One girl never even tried out! Stupid!
9) Did you ever get expended or expelled? No. I was a goody two-shoes.
10) Can you still sing your fight song? Yes! "Hail to the victors valiant! Hail to the conquering heros! HAIL HAIL to ThunderRidge, the leaders and the best! Hail to the victors valiant! Hail to the conquering heros! HAIL HAIL to ThunderRidge the champions of the West!"
11) Who were your favorite teachers?Ms. Pascoe for speech, Mr. Philpott for choir, Mr. Rouse for AP European History.
12) Where did you sit at lunch? We sat outside when the weather was nice. I also sat in the lobby for a while during my junior year, but we eventually got kicked out and had to go back down to the commons. My senior year we had release time seminary right before lunch, and we would often ditch lunch and drive down to Albertson's to get french bread, hummus, and grape soda. It was technically a closed campus, so that was as close as I ever got to ditching.
13) What is your school's full name? ThunderRidge High School
14) School mascot and colors - Grizzlies, Kelly green and navy blue
15) Did you go to homecoming and who with? Freshman year - yes, with my girlfriends. Sophomore - don't remember. Junior - yes, with a mixed group of friends. Senior - yes, with Ryan Cates. I asked him. He wasn't much of a dancer. He felt fairly uncomfortable and rubbed his hands together for much of the night, which I consitently teased him about.
16) If you could go back and do it again, would you? Not unless I could go as the current me who is married and secure and confident in my sense of self. And I got paid a whole lot of money.
17) What do you remember most about graduation? Rachel Cali bringing a beach ball, and the fact that Drew Hoskisson got chosen to speak, even though he spent his senior year in France.
19) Were you in any clubs? Speech and debate, technical theatre, Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society...I think that's it...
20) Have you gained weight since then? Yes, but I did have a baby and I haven't worked all the weight off yet. I actually weighed less in high school, but I looked better in college because I actually worked out.
21) Who was your prom date? Sophomore - Andrew J. Bonham. He fished for me to volunteer to be his date, which was awkward considering I was a sophomore. Junior - I think I went with friends. Senior - I got asked by a guy I did NOT want to go with. He asked me in front of all the young women, and I had to take him out into the hall to tell him no. It was embarrassing for all involved. My friends and I ditched prom and went to a swanky restaurant instead.
22) Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Heck yeah! I wanna show off my hot husband and cute kid!
23) Did you have a job while in high school? yes - Heritage Dry Cleaners, Schlotzsky's Deli, and Tokyo Joe's. I only worked during the summers, though.
I tag everyone who's glad that high school is a thing of the past.
"Graduating from high school is like getting let out of social prison." ~Mom
Monday, October 20, 2008
A Day in the Life of Noah
Hey there! Yeah, you blogger! It's me, Noah. Shhh ... I'm invading Mommy's blog. Well, we all know the blog's really about me anyway. I wanted to give all my admiring fans a sneak peek into what I do all day.
Tummy time. Definitely NOT my favorite. Why Mom think's it's ok to stick me helpless and immobile on my belly for 15 minutes a day is beyond me. Although now that I've discovered how to use my legs better, it's not nearly as bad as it used to be.
Tummy time. Definitely NOT my favorite. Why Mom think's it's ok to stick me helpless and immobile on my belly for 15 minutes a day is beyond me. Although now that I've discovered how to use my legs better, it's not nearly as bad as it used to be.
Grabbin' stuff. I'm working on honing my fine motor control. It's still a work in progress, but so far I've managed to grab this spatula and my dragonfly toy pretty consistently. It's holding onto them long enough to get them into my mouth that's the problem.
Hangin' out with Mom. Mom and me are tight. She pretty much thinks I'm the coolest thing since sliced bread and the cutest thing since puppy dogs were invented. We're getting dressed up for the football game in this picture. I don't mind going to the games, but all that noise and stuff puts me to sleep. Mom's trying to teach me the fight song. I have the rah-rahs down pretty well...Dad and I both got pretty cranky when TCU beat BYU last week. (I hang out with Dad a lot too, but he doesn't take many pictures. )
Trying to put my hands in my mouth. If you only knew how good my hands tasted, you'd understand. Too bad they won't both fit in there at once.
Playing in my bouncy seat. This is the coolest toy EVER! Mom can stick me in this thing for 20 whole minutes before I realize that she's in the other room. It's got this doggy head that bounces and a kitty that hangs down so I can kick it (I think I take after my great uncle Ted). The bouncy seat must be partially invisible to grown-ups because Mom and Dad both trip over it a lot. It's pretty funny when they do.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Happy Halloween!
Anyone who has been in my house will know that it needs a little flair (even more than I need, if that tells you anything). My decorating skills have peaked out at getting Kmart curtains for the nursery so it wouldn't be so bright during naptime. However, I do manage to muster up all three ounces of my decorative flair for the holiday season. Not rain, snow, or a tight budget will keep me from carving pumpkins for Halloween! Here are the fruits of this week's family home evening.
You can't see it very well in the picture, but the pumpkin on the right is sporting fangs and boogers.
TikiMan and BoogerFang. Can you guess who did which pumpkin?
I really wanted to carve a pumpkin and get a cute shot of Noah peeking out of it, but alas, Wal-Mart did not have pumpkins big enough. I doubt Noah would have been too keen on that idea anyway.
You can't see it very well in the picture, but the pumpkin on the right is sporting fangs and boogers.
TikiMan and BoogerFang. Can you guess who did which pumpkin?
I really wanted to carve a pumpkin and get a cute shot of Noah peeking out of it, but alas, Wal-Mart did not have pumpkins big enough. I doubt Noah would have been too keen on that idea anyway.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Dollhouse Festival
The dollhouse festival turned out to be pretty cool. There were some really ornate ones and really simple ones. The one that had my calligraphy in it was pretty middle of the line.
Here's a shot from the front.
The attorney's office. Kinda blurry.
The bridal shop.
The lounge.
The flower shop. I suddenly have visions of Audrey Hepburn dancing around the streets of London, singing in a horrific Cockney accent. Wouldn't that be loverly?
Here's a shot from the front.
The attorney's office. Kinda blurry.
The bridal shop.
The lounge.
The flower shop. I suddenly have visions of Audrey Hepburn dancing around the streets of London, singing in a horrific Cockney accent. Wouldn't that be loverly?
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Famous Flourishes
One of my Freecycle calligraphy gigs was for a lady that was making a dollhouse for the Dollhouse Festival at the library. They have people make and decorate dollhouses and they auction them off for charity. She wanted me to make some wall hangings for a miniature florist shop, attourney's office, bridal shop, and lounge. They're all in Latin, as she wanted to cater to the lawyers that would be at the festival.
Aaron and I stopped by the festival last night just to see how they looked. They looked pretty good. While we were there, a lady at a candle booth asked for my contact information because she wanted some calligraphy work done for her candle business. I'm getting famous! :-)
"No one ought to accuse himself except in the presence of God." This one went in the attourney's office. It turned out a little big, even though I used the smallest chisel nib I own, so it's shrunken down a little in the dollhouse.
Aaron and I stopped by the festival last night just to see how they looked. They looked pretty good. While we were there, a lady at a candle booth asked for my contact information because she wanted some calligraphy work done for her candle business. I'm getting famous! :-)
"No one ought to accuse himself except in the presence of God." This one went in the attourney's office. It turned out a little big, even though I used the smallest chisel nib I own, so it's shrunken down a little in the dollhouse.
"You will not conquer nature unless you obey it." For the florist shop. This one was a little rushed, but I think it turned out okay.
"Love is the essence of life." This one was for the bridal shop and is by far my favorite in design and execution. I spent the most time on this one.
"Take care of yourself." The hand I did this one in is way cool, but wasn't terribly fitting for the lounge. Aaron and I agreed I should have used something more flowy and flourishy. (It was hard to fit it to the room because I didn't get to see the dollhouse beforehand.)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
More on Freecycle
A couple people have requested info on how to get on the Freecycle band wagon. For those of you in Utah, click here and click on the Join This Group! button. For those outside of Utah, just go to www.freecycle.org and click on the sign up option at the top of the page. The Utah organization is off of a Yahoo group, so I believe you need a Yahoo address. However, you get an email every time anyone posts something, so I'd use a spam account so you don't get 50 emails a day. That or make a folder in your existing account. Check on your freecycle emails often - a lot of these items go pretty fast, so you have to be kind of quick on the draw.
More on my freecycle calligraphy adventures in my next post...
More on my freecycle calligraphy adventures in my next post...
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
One Man's Junk...
...is another man's treasure! I belong to an email group called Freecycle. The main gist of it is that people who have stuff that is still usable they don't want now have a venue to find other people who can use the stuff instead of throwing it away. People post just about everything from cats to washing machines to clothing to food.
So far I've gotten a baby swing, grapes, stamp pads, scrapbooking paper, and a ticket to the BYU vs. UNLV game for my nephew - all for free! I also could have gotten a treadmill, but I was lazy and didn't go to pick it up in time. I got to rid the closet in the nursery of a bunch of gift bags that I'd been storing for a long time. I gave it to a lady who was making newborn kits for unwed mothers at the hospital. Isn't that great?!?! I got to clean out the closet and donate to a good cause at the same time!
I also recently posted an offer for calligraphy services, and I got a HUGE response! I now have loads of opportunities to get some projects going and really get me practicing this talent. I'm super excited! I love you, Freecycle!
So far I've gotten a baby swing, grapes, stamp pads, scrapbooking paper, and a ticket to the BYU vs. UNLV game for my nephew - all for free! I also could have gotten a treadmill, but I was lazy and didn't go to pick it up in time. I got to rid the closet in the nursery of a bunch of gift bags that I'd been storing for a long time. I gave it to a lady who was making newborn kits for unwed mothers at the hospital. Isn't that great?!?! I got to clean out the closet and donate to a good cause at the same time!
I also recently posted an offer for calligraphy services, and I got a HUGE response! I now have loads of opportunities to get some projects going and really get me practicing this talent. I'm super excited! I love you, Freecycle!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
General Conference
So General Conference is pretty much awesome. I always come away feeling all warm and fuzzy, but with a long list of things to improve on at the same time. I felt the Spirit very strongly at the Relief Society session and the first general session on Saturday. After Elder Uchtdorf's talk, I've recommitted myself to make time to improve and share my talents. I also really want to work on developing more faith in Christ and in the restoration of the Gospel.
Which was your favorite talk/session? Leave a comment with your General Conference experience, inspiration, or tidbit.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Jabbertalkie
Noah has become increasingly more vocal. I read on www.babycenter.com that if you start talking to your baby as if you're holding a conversation with him that he'll eventually start to fill in the blanks. Noah isn't quite to that point yet - he mostly just likes to jabber when I am talking. (Sometimes it sounds like he's trying to emulate the sounds I'm making and repeat what I'm saying, but that's probably just the proud parent part of me that wants to believe that my kid is gifted and talented - see previous post) He also likes to try and sing with me. It's kinda cute. Here's a little bit of his vocalizin'...
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