Greener Grass

the last days of christmas

2011-12-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

is it so bad that the 7th-12th days of christmas have all become a blur? i know i served and i know things were great, but separating all the individual events of the season is becoming difficult in my holiday-induced lethargy.

to keep it simple and understandable i'll just hit you with some photos.

christmas is the best. at home is the best. best friends is the best. husbands is the best. being back and living real life is harder than the best. when is christmas again?

more days of christmas

2011-12-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

on the third day of christmas: we sent out christmas cards--don't feel bad if you don't get one. they were few and far between. but very cute, to be sure. and by we i mean i. brenton was completely useless in this area.
fourth day: i did everything in my power to track down a girl in forever 21 who wanted to buy the sweater (the last one) that i had in my hands. i didn't find her, but i did ask the guys working there if they'd announce over the intercom that it was waiting at the counter for her. they wouldn't do it and they thought i was weird but i didn't care because i was sacrificing and serving at the same time which doesn't leave a lot of room for self-consciousness. it was a really cute sweater. brenton judged a scooter competition that day...which doesn't count as service when you get a month's worth of scooting at the indoor park for free, but whatever.
fifth day: i think we must have taken a break from service this day...it's hard to say.
sixth day: i took a bunch of clothes to di.

man, things get busy this time of year. service keeps me in the right mind.

high to lower class dining

2011-12-15T09:41:00.001-07:00

a couple months ago for my birthday, brenton took me downtown to an upscale place called christophers. expensive food, fancy seating, the whole experience. i had an mouth-wateringly delicious steak and we paid out the nose for a side of asparagus.

this week was brenton's birthday (OLD), and he chose some place a little different. we had quadruple the food for a quarter of the price and he got free cake and ice cream. had there been more than one waiter in the place, they would have sung him happy birthday. he loved it.

ihop. mhm. and a new oregon hat!

anyway, somewhere in between there, we also went to hatch family chocolates...you know, the little chocolatiers? we indulged in hot chocolate (that was much like drinking a melted candy bar), and lots and lots of chewable chocolates--salted peanut butter and caramel, almonds, a haystack, orange and chocolate cream.

at some point, i'll let you see a decent picture of me. i promise, there's one somewhere.

i almost passed out. felt like i was so dehydrated i was going to shrivel. but it was worth it. apparently so worth it that we went again the next night with kami and joseph. only that time, the line was an hour long wait out the door in the brain-numbing freeze out alongside 30,000 college students who were all screaming and laughing so loud we wanted to punch them. and then at one point, quite suddenly, a great hush fell over the crowd. i thought maybe someone died. but no, apparently young utahns such as these have never seen little people before and therefore when one walks in the door, their mouths drop open and lose the use of their vocal cords and eye-averting logic. awkward. but at least they were quiet long enough for us to enjoy our beverages and get the heck out.

ps. we've started our 12 days of service project. day 1: scrape windshields and do other people's christmas shopping. day 2: redeem the dead. it's gonna be huge.

homeful

2011-12-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

ignore the parking lot...it was the forest!!

we went and got our christmas tree last weekend. the conditions were fairly idyllic--it was cold but there was a slight and beautiful flurry of snow in the air. we were late to the ... uh ... forest, but they let us in to pay anyway. we're not rich but we afforded it just fine. we bought some pretty decorations and it didn't stretch us too far. our apartment is small but our little tree fits perfectly. it makes it so much more home-like and cozy, which is the best thing i could ever ask for. i even made a wreath to hang on the front door. i was feeling pretty good about it all.

and then i went to the homeless shelter with some women from my relief society last night and started feeling entirely different about it. it was a great experience. it felt good to serve dinner and play with the kids. i wasn't feeling pretty good about my little apartment, cute christmas tree and bank account anymore. i was feeling incredibly ungrateful and embarrassed for how much i take advantage of in my life. sometimes it's frustrating having a little apartment with only one bedroom and not a lot of personal space. well, at least i have a bedroom instead of a bed set up in the middle of the building and 100 other homeless families. i have my own bathroom, a walk-in closet, lots of shoes in that closet, healthy food whenever i want it, a couch and, for heaven's sakes, a door to hang my pretty little wreath on.

i saw a quote on pinterest the other day--something about "what if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you gave thanks for tonight?" i made sure to express my gratitude today for sure.

now i'm realizing how i basically swim in the lap-pool of luxury day in and day out. and i'm feeling pretty dang superfantastically amazing about it.

plenty

2011-11-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

not sure if this quote is cliche in any world but the blogging one these days but i still love the principle. we've been terrible about doing our thankful thoughts this year and i think documenting those kinds of things helps us truly recognize and appreciate them in our lives. here's a few from our list:

blessings that come from paying tithing.
the best family in the infinities and beyond.
a working car.
the second year of marriage.
two steady jobs.
the priesthood and the scriptures.
our talents.
air fresheners that smell like frosting.

that last one is mine--brenton has taken to complaining about it lately but, like i said, writing it down makes you really understand how good you've got it. :)

i'm also grateful for a place to freely express my thoughts, creativity, and boring life ramblings where others can casually follow along (or not, and i'd never know the difference...). thanks for being here--it means a lot!

pros and cons & breaking dawn

2011-11-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

there are some things i hate about living in the city. example--wasting 17 minutes of my precious life driving less than 6 blocks? not my favorite thing. not even on the list of maybe's. but there are some perks here and there too. a new h&m opening across the street from my work? perk. living less than 3 minutes from a super target? perk. hanging out with these folks on a friday night?

recognize any of them? (click on their pics to check yourself!

well...a night on the red carpet in the freezing cold with girls screaming about cute boys and getting in fights with old ladies who also wanted to be close to cute boys while my toes blackened with frostbite and my shoulder fell off from the purse/camera bag weight? ... um, perk?

ghosts and creepers

2011-11-03T18:12:00.000-06:00

i don't know how we ever did things in a normal time frame when i was a kid. there were a million of us with a trillion different things going on, but we still managed to do the musts for every holiday--gingerbread houses for christmas, jack-o-lanterns for halloween, even flower baskets for may day! but jeez, there's only two of us and we can't find the time for any of it. we finally squeezed in carving pumpkins the saturday before halloween, partially because it was one of few things that allowed me to sit the whole time. (please, no comments on my radiant beauty below--it's hard to look as good as i do when you've been up since 4 and ran a half marathon that day. trust me.)

gutting.

radiating.

roasting.

showing.

creeping.

haunting.

after eating lots of pumpkin seeds, we watched a movie called devil. it was dumb. but also disturbing a little. we had to watch some friends afterwards. on real halloween though, we stayed home and handed out candy to trick-or-treaters. i'm going to start a rule: no one over the age of 12 gets treats. you're done. aren't you supposed to be like, too cool, or something by then anyway? i don't know. but regardless, we enjoyed hanging out as wendy and ronald typically do. pretty chill hallows eve.

oh, and i made a delectable dinner of acorn squash and halloween mac 'n cheese. very gourmet. very tasty.

happy belated halloween!

halloween hell/half

2011-11-02T19:20:00.000-06:00

yes, my child?

note the hideous darkness of 5 am. it was 32 degrees.

this is the only pic he got of me. shucks. but a half marathon in that dress? i'm super awesome.

here comes santa clause!

sumo suit!

pinatas, funny hats...this wasn't even the half of it.

the combination of heaven and hell around my neck. so torn...

my loyal posse (minus katy). note my bible. mhm, carried it for 13.1 MILES.

let me teach you some lessons about running. 1. you should train. all the way through to your big race. otherwise, it hurts like curse words. 2. also, you shouldn't race races where they make you wander around in the mountainous darkness by yourself for days and then force you to wait for two.five hours in literally freezing temperatures. it's not right to be unable to feel your body for three straight miles. 3. you shouldn't dress up in stupid costumes that impede your stride or your sanity. a six inch bouncing cross and a waist-length habit veil don't for a pleasant marathon make. 4. void all rules if running the provo halloween half marathon for the first time. it's a little bit worth it.

anniversary trip numero uno

2011-11-01T14:55:00.000-06:00

where we stayed: delores, co (well, a 45 minute gravel pit of death away from there--say goodbye to yet another hub cap...)

what we did: "camped", window shopped, wandered through trees (turns out i like this much more than brenton), pedicured (this too), ate meat, and did so much talking about hunting i practically did that too.

we did sneak away from the hunters for a bit to have a little time alone, including our first initial carving, a four-wheeling trek, a waltz around durango, a wonderful italian dinner and a jaunt to the 4 corners. we managed sure to fit in some cattle transport and a navajo taco too. important stuff around those parts. a beautiful trip and hope to have one every year!

looks like we made it

2011-10-28T15:23:00.000-06:00

1 year later and it looks like we made it. through test and trial, scrimping and saving, heartache and high-fives...we made it a whole year without buying toilet paper.

isn't that awesome?? i mean really, who has those kind of superhuman capabilities? we do. i guess in addition to our superpowers, we should give credit to my mom who gave us a giant pack for my bridal shower (so very practical and motherly :) and careless old tenants from our first utah apartment who left behind just as much.

it's been pretty sweet. i mean, sure, there was some adjusting each time the brand changed. there were pep-talks and double-edged pressure to be frugal and mindful of the other user. there was that constant anticipation--would we ever really reach that goal? you always hear the first year will be the toughest, but man! you don't know until you've done it yourself! now don't get me wrong. we're blessed! so much help from those already mentioned, along with work bathrooms, portos and many weekends spent at siblings' houses...we have been lent more than can be expressed. and trust me, we're grateful!

i particularly felt a sense of accomplishment as i trekked down the aisle i hadn't visited in so long at the grocery store the other day. all those white rolls, patting my back and handing me glasses of sparkling cider. it was nice! but at the same time, it hit me. you know, this first year, it was good. but now we're on our own. left to buy toilet paper ALL THE TIME?! that's a seriously daunting commitment.

but i think we're up to it. here's to one more year, full of toilet paper and other super great things! happy anniversary pot!

in session

2011-10-19T20:17:00.000-06:00

used this last saturday morning to run, shoot kim + her kids and hit the farmers market. all i have to show for it are the grass stains on my brand new mizunos, a stomach ache from the tamale i bought (YUM) and these pics:

beautiful people make a photographer's job easier.

halloween haunts

2011-10-18T12:12:00.000-06:00

so excited to be at the haunted forest!

falling in love with the creeps there.

this is brenton having no idea if he should protect me or not.

he didn't.

it was so the best haunted house, complete with airbag cacoon, hellish darkness, and a slide. i laughed so hard i cried a few times and i couldn't love that more. a big thanks to kim for accompanying us and laughing just as hard and screaming just as loud as me!

25 to-dos

2011-10-12T20:19:00.000-06:00

on this, the eve of my 25th birfday, i've decided to start a list of things i vow to accomplish this year. now, it's clearly not complete, but will be added to as i think of super awesome things to fill the next 365 days with. suggestions?

1. go to the temple twice a month + 1
2. revamp my ad portfolio
3. visit 25 new places
4.
5. write in my journal more
6.
7.
8.
9. build my photog portfolio
10.
11.
12. write many much more letters & send out more cards
13.
14.
15.
16. read a classic
17.
18.
19. host a party
20. get paid to write/photograph something, twice
21.
22. run 3 races
23.
24.
25.

mom: spendthrift or cunning thief?

2011-10-08T12:28:00.000-06:00

we have before discussed the inordinate penny-pinching ways of my mother, and it is this subject to which we return again today. my brother posted something on our family blog that reminded me of a practice once employed by our mom, now possibly ruled as deviant in the realms of proper parenting.

when i was quite young, my mom gave us various and sundry chores we had to complete (with little or no consequence attached if we failed to do so, aside from a dark and hovering cloud of maternal disappointment--mothers take note: this is the worst possible punishment a child can endure). i now believe this to be closely linked to her overall scheme which i unveiled today. most often, these chores were part of participating in the family and learning to work hard. however, sometimes it served as motivation for a little jingle in our pockets, intended for our most pressing need at the time: candy. we could earn a few cents, for instance, by picking dandelions out of the front yard in the summer. we found this to be a simple and less-than-exerting task bound with great rewards. sometimes, upon receiving our much-anticipated treasure, we would forge through the neighbor's jungleous border, sprint across her yard to avoid her wrath over trespassers and trek down the small stretch of highway to our ultimate destination: the boulder. here we could buy candy cigarettes and lipsticks, pepto mints, and any number of glorious treats. simply put, it was the best.

unless you knew about something closer to home. something rare and secretive. something, gasp, even cheaper than the boulder. a place that carried specialty candy--sometimes even stuff that regular stores would toss at the end of a candy season, deeming it too old to sell to the public. not this store. this store kept sweets for years sometimes, even after their production was discontinued. chicks, ducks and bunnies in october? yes please. it was a treasure trove, beyond even ariel's wildest imaginations...and it was in my mother's bedroom.

of course, it is no crime to foster a love for sugary delicacies. no. by all means, gratify that sweet tooth at will. but this was not my mother. she had control over her own appetite. the problem lay in the twisted manipulation of money, candy and her own children.

you see, it wasn't until today that i put two and two together. i now understand what she had so quickly learned: putting her money where our mouths were, she got a full return in cash, plus the day labor she couldn't have squeezed out of us otherwise.

now the question remains: brilliant recycling of the family's funds? or a clever coinage conspiracy to ensure 9 little slaves for life while simultaneously securing their individual diabetic futures?

man i could use a peep right about now...

compliments of the beev

2011-09-24T10:51:00.000-06:00

"aunt kawa, youw funny."

"i'm funny?"

"yeah, you just say things so funny."

he's my favorite person.

laboring with the bears

2011-09-15T11:07:00.000-06:00

i love me some labor day camping! had a relaxing weekend in bear lake and enjoyed wonderful views, excellent burgers, perfect water temperatures, dangerous tower climbing and a guest appearance+testimony from elder cook (unpictured--they frown upon sacrament meeting photo-ops)! great way to segue into fall.

how did your fall start?

the night is fair

2011-09-13T14:47:00.000-06:00

we hit up the utah state fair this weekend. had some agri, had some culture. just as advertised. we enjoyed the rodeo, the animals, the prize-winning veggies, bad fair food, two separate couples making out and the zipper. you can't get that kind of entertainment at any other place in a 3 hour period!

i also made zucchini bread this weekend. it was my first attempt and i do believe it was a wild success. could have got me a blue ribbon at the fair i bet!

the healing fields

2011-09-11T20:39:00.000-06:00

9/11 to me was something far away. something that didn't have a direct impact on my family or friends. i didn't know anyone who died and i wasn't anywhere near the trade center when it happened.

it has reminded me, however, to be grateful for what i have. and to pray for the healing of those who were much closer to the situation than anyone would have liked to have been.

this ceremony and display (in sandy, ut) for the fallen of 9/11 is incredible. you can feel the pain that they all must have felt and that their families are still feeling. you can feel that solemnity and sadness in the air. but more than that you can feel of their spirits and patriotism. you can sense their sacrifices and love for our country.

being here made me feel closer to the tragedy of 9/11. not in a bad way, but in a wonderful way that helped me better understand the true loss we faced that day and the power of coming together to fight as one nation, under God.

God Bless America, today and forever.

summer '11 highlights

2011-09-09T15:57:00.000-06:00

i am sad sad sad to see it go.

on sex and friendliness

2011-09-08T13:04:00.000-06:00

i went for a bike ride this morning and since my hair is far too short for any kind of equestrian rear-end replicas, i donned a baseball cap, thereby removing any semblance of the female chromosomes i've physically manifested since before birth. most people need to get a sex change for that kind of transformation--me? just a hat. i asked brenton on my way out if he'd mistake me for a boy if he didn't know me. he said yes. it hurt until he made a nice comment about my spandexed behind. then i moved on.

on my bike ride i noticed there was a lot of staring, probably due to my complete and certainly confusing gender-neutral upper sitting atop my rather feminine lower. it was a bit awkward. but it made me think--this is a lot of rubbernecking and not a lot of friendliness. even if i were some type of man+woman hybrid, people should wave. and do you know the only people who did? all the runners and other bicyclists! they didn't mind that they couldn't figure out if i was a cross or a spear. nice people those early am exercisers.

lessons learned: don't look so much like a boy, if you're a girl. it causes confusion before 7am. also, wave to people. it's nice.

work

2011-09-07T11:49:00.000-06:00

"yeah i've heard south america is, like, really awesome."

yeah, me too.

el bano es bueno

2011-09-01T09:05:00.000-06:00

between work and home, i can't win. it's either the toilet seat or this:

where have all the women gone??

the accessible interwebs

2011-08-30T13:56:00.000-06:00

hurrah! finally finally finally have internet at the new place. a whole new sense of freedom today--now i just have to figure out a way to make up the 3.5 hours away from work... why is connecting the internet so hard when that's what you do for a living? and why must you give me a 2 hour window in which you will arrive to do your job, show up in the last 15 minutes, and then take 1.5 hours to complete the connection?!

oy.

but back to the positive: i have internet today!!

haiku: serious questions

2011-08-18T12:14:00.000-06:00

would it be better
to choke on cauliflower
or stay here at work?

bax fam rundown (en fotog)

2011-08-15T15:02:00.000-06:00

famil es buen, no?

spiders and concerts and smokers, oh my

2011-08-15T14:54:00.000-06:00

a. i came back to work after our long luxurious weekend at home for the family reunion (pictures pending) to the most upsetting greeting possible. there sped across the center of my office a spider the size of ron's (re: hp) or frodo's (re: lotr) worst nightmare. i jumped up and ran out screaming "mother effer," which was the most effectively delicate thing i could think of at the time (arachnophobia does nothing for my status as a lady). after much laughter and play at my pain, one of the guys in the office found it and stepped on it, leaving behind a gut-stain the size of a quarter on our already heinously unbearable carpet. adding horror to elusion, when the guy went to pick it up, we witnessed a swiftly enacted resurrection as it jumped up and sped across the room, yet again to be smashed and speedily vacuumed to avoid future death defying episodes. i spent a week in the next office over trying to avoid that devil's brothers or babies. i like to think they can't cross the threshold over there.

2. in an attempt to free myself from the above-mentioned trauma, we went on over to the slcounty fair to get us in some horse poop and free country musica. though the best part may have been the dichotomous country-guido hybrid dancing in front of us with his slew of scantily clad women, mark wills and thompson square didn't disappoint. kami and i sang along as brenton wondered at the patriotism and oneness of all hillbillies. soon enough he'll be one of us and there will be no need for explanations of this kind.

lastly. we've moved into our new apartment and i'm very very sad. i traded my triple-temple (draper, jordan river & oquirrh mountain) balcony view for that of billboards for wild alaskan salmon and droopy eyelids. i traded my ghost neighbors--even the ravers across the hall were practically silent!--for upstairs stompers and next door smokers. i traded my night-time frogs & crickets for a river of pandemonious freeway pollution. wimper.

it's a little up and down these days, you see.

inside out heartburn

2011-07-28T12:16:00.000-06:00

we have a couple of pools at our apartment and brenton & i thought it would be a great idea to go play/read out there on saturday. we got as far as swimsuits + sunglasses + a towel + chips/salsa...and we skipped an imperative step in the excitement: sun block.

we had already gone running that morning and i noticed brenton's shoulders were getting a little pink, but we both agreed--i was still the color of glow-in-the-dark milk. we went in after a while and were surprised to both still be whitey tighty for the most part. until 2 hours later, when my skin exploded into a festival of fire.

i've been wearing a perma-swimsuit ever since. if that were all that came from this, it wouldn't be so bad. but my sweet innocent chest skins burned like the infernos of hell and every gel, cream and "pain killing" ointment i've tried sizzles my flesh as if laced with the powers of satan himself. this led us to believe that this is more than a serious vitamin d overdose and has entered the realms of 2nd degree burnage.

this is the very reason we have doctors in the fam, one of whom called a prescription for burn meds into the local walgreens (their pharmacists were retarded and apparently had no ultra-prepared mother like mine growing up because when i tried to describe the little tube of white poufy cream my mom had for burns when i was little all i got was blank stares and a tube of satan sizzle shoved in my hand instead.) and saved my life.

now i'm bandaged up and trying to act like a non-infectious citizen regardless of the gauze and white burn cream poking out the neck of my shirt.

lesson learned, folks. practice safe sun!!!!!

sewing in circles

2011-07-23T18:25:00.000-06:00

i found some cute material on sale a while ago and was really excited to use it for this (love dana's blog!). i knew i'd fail at something large enough for me, and didn't have enough fabric for my nieces who live close so i defaulted to the only baby girl in the family...

man she's cute. anyway, my table (as you'll see pictured soon) is covered in crap and therefore unusable for any legitimate purpose so i jimmied a new table by putting together the leaves from the real people table we haven't even set up yet and stuck them in the middle of my living room floor (brenton's favorite thing).

i didn't have a real pattern either, as dana's skirt doesn't actually call for one, so out came some ugly scrapbook paper and the ruler i think i've had since the 4th grade.

so super easy. just cut out a quarter-circle and you're practically done already! ok, almost...

i zigzagged the top of the skirt so it wouldn't mega-fray when washed (here is where i realized i would kill for a surger).

note the completely unrealistic clutter of both the kitchen table and the built-in desk behind me. it's hard to put things away i guess.

and don't be deceived by the coloring of this picture--it appears i was sewing into the wee hours of the night. in reality, the entirety of this project took me a total of two hours. and it could have been less.

then i sewed the elastic (with a bias color--the one mistake of this entire venture--sometimes it sucks being a no-turning-back kind of person with projects like these), pinned it on and sewed my little heart out!

soon i had a very cute skirt for a very cute little girl! (with stupid stupid grey thread taunting me because of my terrible sewing skills that day.) so, in attempt to distract future viewers from the badness there, i added this...

butt bow! perfect. and that wasn't really enough so i made a headband to go with it. all matchy matchy and adorable if i do say so myself.

hope she likes it!

ps. i highly recommend this for ANYONE. so easy, fast and fun.

when fries fly

2011-07-22T14:42:00.000-06:00

listen to this conversation i had at work today----->

co-worker: blah blah blah something rude and mean and uncalled for and also indicative that this co-worker is a little bit unstable.

me: co-worker, you're a psychopath.

co-worker: no, i'm not actually.

me: ok. then you're a terrifically talented thespian.

...
alright, so this conversation actually took place in my head--minus the first comment from the co-worker--but i really wish it had been out loud. especially after he threw the french fry at my head. if i could say i worked at a hospice for the senile elderly, this situation could be explained away with talk of feeble minds and disgruntlement over bed pans. alas, i do not and therefore have no explanation for why people are total freaks sometimes.

ugh. long day.

winds of change

2011-07-11T19:13:00.000-06:00

a new wreath has donned our door--finally! and no the valentine's one didn't stay up until july--there was one in between. :) and though it doesn't look very summery here (terrible wind and subsequent darkness/blurriness) it's a little more cheery than all the sad sad boring doors in our complex. now despite our skull and crossbones entry mat, everyone should feel very welcome to come visit! happy summer!

will the real all people please stand up

2011-07-06T22:35:00.002-06:00

the world is in a state of disquiet and is sorrowfully being drug toward a fate of unnecessary awkward laughter and expendable slangish rhetoric.

thus, to all the normal people out there, i beg: fill the silence or remove yourself from the presence of abnormally excessive noisemakers immediately (this lending itself to the theory that if no one is around when a tree falls in a forest, there will be no sound...). you will either feel of the sweet freedom you have been aching for or be introduced to a serene oasis known as capable silence. enjoy.

and to all the abnormals i beg with equal but much more adamant desire: shhhhhhh.

to everyone: if you speak or act or look at anything or anyone, please PLEASE use the corresponding emotion, body language, or terminology for the corresponding situation. do not make everyone uncomfortable with your discomforting guffaws over the discussion of beef vs chicken gravy. this is not funny. do not drive everyone crazy with your apparently chronic hood, street, or sheltered cave phrases. learning a new password is not "funky juice." do not hunker in fear when there is no giant 29-legged spider sitting behind your fellow conversers. there isn't one, and the rest of us aren't that scary.

it's actually quite simple once you've gotten the hang of it. suerte!

my butt hurts and some mental images

2011-06-12T21:00:00.000-06:00

went horseback riding for the first time in a million years yesterday and every hiney bruise obtained was so well worth it. aunt melanie and uncle dennis living so close is something we'll have to take advantage of far more often--not just because they have horses, but that certainly doesn't hurt. and unfortunately, it's really hard to take photographs while you're galloping on Arizona, otherwise we'd have some incredibly glorious pictures taken by a certain someone's brand new nikon d90. yeeeeeeeeeeeehaw!

he's a big kid now!

2011-06-06T09:37:00.000-06:00

although no longer an official oregon resident...

betty is back on etsy!

2011-05-31T22:05:00.000-06:00

we're live again people! my etsy shop is back up with new headbands and more to come!

spongesoup

date night

2011-05-23T08:55:00.000-06:00

shocking facts about last friday's date:

1. we crafted.
2. it was brenton's idea.

...i think that's enough craziness for now.

the profits of floral discourse

2011-05-20T14:58:00.000-06:00

on the eve of my marriage, i was effectually caused, by no fault of my own, to be sure, to rush about the inner city of portland in efforts to espy and obtain a suitable pair of heels with which to cover my delicate tooties for photographs the next day. in full understanding that mendicants mustn't be adjudicators, i resigned to a nearby dress-for-less department store, hoping with all the innocence of a young girl that it would be here i might find the most fetching pair for the occasion. without thought of local regulation, my beau and i hurriedly made our way from a god-sent parking stall and into the would-be savior-store. after less effort than expected, a pair was found! oh blessed and sparkling black pumps that they were! and for a mere $20 how could one refuse such a find? alas, happiness was not to remain, wisked away by the sight of an ugly orange envelope on the jag's windshield. in our haste, we had forgotten to satisfy the meter. a $40 ticket had been administered! aghast at the prospect of settling such a bill, i wrote in earnest effort to have the wretched debt cleared, begging forgiveness as to our innocent mistake and heartily noting the undesirability of fostering such a garnishment against someone the night prior to their biggest day. karma and all that.

to no avail.

...

or so i thought. until last week when 50% of it was returned to me in the form of personal check.

saweeta.

april showers bring may teeny tiny plantlets

2011-05-04T11:11:00.001-06:00

6 popcicles and a slice of cake

2011-04-14T11:25:00.000-06:00

happy half-birthday to me, to me!!
(yesterday.)

aside from the lung-deflating coughs, desert-cracked nostril skin, and whatever is the opposite of narcolepsy, my half-birthday was lovely. actually, it sucked. but brenton tried to make it nice with streamers and cake and bubbles and one of my favorite movies. a for effort but whatever kind of death i've got right now trumps all.

mommy.

runner-dar

2011-04-12T11:48:00.000-06:00

one of my favorite things in runner's world was a series of ads they did about runners who loved the looks they got running outside, people seeing them and thinking "man i wish i could do that." aside from that feeling of being the awesome one who is able to do that, which is super great--in a funny way usually, i love it when random people i've never met before recognize me as a runner, without me saying anything regarding the subject. particularly when i'm sporting jeans, vans and a hideously debilitating head cold.

can you recognize people by their obsessions?

fashion schmow

2011-04-11T16:01:00.000-06:00

so we went to a fashion show this weekend and here is what i learned: save yourself and the rest of society--be as out of style as possible. current fashion trends prove horrendously unacceptable for all mankind. these are the kinds of things we saw...

only not nearly this good. i do not kid.

the only good thing that came from the night was free cake and a $10 donation toward lesser education for a child in the congo. next time i would prefer to just make the donation, thank you.

again, please don't try to look homeless. as much as they tell you it is, it's not cool.

fistful of nickels

2011-03-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

actually they gave them to us in a chintzy plastic cup. but the theory is basically the same.

i took brenton on an awesome date this weekend (this is my blog, not his, so until he decides to guest-post, all opinions will be shared from my unbiased perspective). anyway, we went to the andaman kitchen where we shared (and by shared i mean threw up together over) some sketchy stuffed chicken wings--at a thai restaurant...? i don't know. i blame brenton. moving on...we did actually enjoy our curry and pineapple fried rice (quote from the pot: "i'm just really glad they served it in an actually pineapple." i guess that was pretty exciting.).

more exciting, though, was hitting the nickelcade next door. a cupful of nickels and like a bajillion video games/rides/games? yes please. it seemed like we hit almost every type of game, which was excellent. these were the highlights:

that was the roughest horse+wagon ride i've ever had. took me a little by surprise, in fact. and brenton wasn't nearly as excited by this horse racing game as i was...but that's maybe because i was having flashbacks of lasa doing it circa 1998 in boise...ha! and our proudest moment of the night (this is brenton's proud look), was beating big bertha, meaning we fed her enough to make her weigh a whopping 900 lbs. the best part was listening to her yell how hungry she was the whole time. i know how she feels.

dear daddy likey,

2011-02-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

i miss you. you were the fresh breath of sarcastic air i needed every time i went through my blogroll. i didn't come to you for crafty ideas and jaded pleasantness. i miss the crappy poetry and unseemly chocha photos. where have you gone and why have you abandoned the blogging world? we need your wit and unaffected observance. please come back. we'll leave the light on.

love,

kbp

rx

2011-02-24T13:38:00.001-07:00

i have been professionally advised to eat ice cream.

it's awesome.

wisdom of the dj

2011-02-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

particularly crappy day, stupid rough lunch.

i know what you're thinking: kara, you have gorgeous eyes. how could you have a bad day?

answer: beautiful people have it hard too.

anyway, i came back to work and the first song that came on the radio was all about how i gotta have faith-a faith-a faith.

annoyingly relevant or poignantly inspirational? yet to be determined.

gay men who are, apparently, not gay

2011-02-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

"wow you have gorgeous eyes.
my oldest daughter, not that you're this old, she's 23, and she has those same gorgeous eyes. just with all those different colors, deep and sparkling. just like you.
i was just talking to my wife this morning (wife? wife??) about people who have beautiful eyes and how rare that is.
i feel like a dirty old man, but you know megan fox? her eyes? man, i just feel like they were meant for me you know? (no. i don't know. and please remove that impassioned hand from your chest.)
anyway, you have beautiful eyes. and what was your name? oh, c or k? k? oh wonderful chocolate. i love your chocolate."

at first, startlingly honest and really really nice to hear that from a perfect stranger.
secondly, hard to imagine that he's married when, for all intents and purposes, he displays every media-enforced outward sign of male homosexuality--effeminate gestures and body language, gentle yet adamantly enthusiastic, completely and totally up front.
lastly, please don't ever compare me to megan fox again. she's dirty, and i prefer to keep my gorgeous eyes untainted by the idea of her. thank you.

my rear-end!

2011-02-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

once upon a time this post was saved as a draft concerning a disturbing run-in my sister had with an overweight food service rep having crossed the really thick line between marathon runners/mount everest climbers/peruvian street fighters and people who handle the desperate public's cafeteria-level grocery store food via the most extensive snot rocket attempt ever witnessed.

sadly, we must put that behind us, and move on to other news.

i went to lunch today, just like any normal day at work, with intent to eat, run some violence- and drug-free errands, and mostly mind my own business. and then i met jahmid diab (awkwardly spelled indian name has been changed to protect the allegedly innocent). unfortunately, i met him under the circumstances of having just rammed the back of his mercedes. that sucked.

although i only rolled into him at <3 (no, that's not a heart you emotive 13-yr-olds) mph, he acted like the entire world, plus the weight of some very unhappy, red-eyed customers, was crashing in on him. i understood better when he opened his trunk to reveal the precious cargo he so feared was tragically lost to him--3 cases of decorative bongs. cool. i gathered from all the back-peddling i witnessed, that, no, they were NOT mary j bongs. rather, officer wright could be assured, they were some OTHER kind bong. mhm.

{at this point, please take a second to visualize the scene: me, the jag, officer wright and the squad car, mr. diab and the mercy, the bongs, all in the hooter's parking lot where the owl is missing an eye. proceed.}

anyway i guess it all worked out in the end because, amidst being threatened with exorbitant insurance claims for the baseball-sized dent in his trunk, and attempting to stay afloat while riding the waves of his projectile angst, apparently we became friends. at least that's what i think it means when someone offers you a smoke...

dealing with the death of a loved one

2011-02-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

i recognize that not many people truly understand what it is to go through the grief of losing someone dear to them. but please bear with me as i eulogize somebody incredibly special to me who has passed on, but lives on in my heart, and will for years to come.

p, you were a true friend. one who supported me from root to tip. you enhanced what i was on my own and gave me a sense of what i could become. you stuck with me for years, and had you not met this timely demise, i'm sure you would have tried for countless more. you were reliable, p, even to the very end. you introduced me to a life of texture and ease. i felt fuller and more alive when you were with me throughout the day. i was more put together because of you. you kept my craziness under control but let me show my wild side too, when i really wanted to. and, p, i know this might sound weird, but you smelled good. and i liked that.

pantene pro-v spray wax--i'll miss you.

p, at the viewing.

also, all of the above applies to jerry sloan too. although i guess i'm not sure how he smells. may he rip in "retirement."

big fat delivery

2011-02-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

thanks to an incredibly overweight man delivering flowers from my darling husband, my day is a little brighter. thanks to both of these wonderful men for making it feel like i can live another 24 hours!

a word from my sponsors

2011-02-08T15:17:00.001-07:00

xc posters 2011

2011-02-07T16:10:00.000-07:00

superbowl 2011--what a disappointment

2011-02-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

sure it was an alright game. and yay for the packers. but what terrible half-time entertainment! bep and fergie? really? people who can't actually sing should stay in studios where there are lots of buttons that say things like "force tune" or "make voice sound like someone totally different" or simply "mute".

also, no good commercials. with ONE very small, yet forceful (what a terribly planned pun), exception:

sick nasty filthy.

2011-02-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

and not in a good way. i hate hate hate being sick. more than the average joe or jane. feeling restricted by my own body just makes me mad!

nevertheless, i'm trying to find something good about being stuck at home all day. thus, i have updated the blog a touch, will work on the 2011 xc posters (get excited) and try to muster the power to make some one pot tuna casserole so as not to starve myself completely.

i hate being sick.

i hate it.

school lunch

2011-02-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

was this not your favorite sack lunch in elementary school? my friends and i thought we were brilliantly inventive, putting our chips inside the sandwich for a crunchy surprise. maybe that's when i learned that texture is the single most important factor in all consumption decisions...

anyway, this is what i have been reduced to. i feel like a 9 year old school girl, eating my off-brand ziploc'ed lunch here at the office. or maybe i should look at it as yet another way to thrift the crap out of my life. it's getting a little exhausting.

editor's note: this is not to say that the sandwich is not delicious, brenton. well, except for the one corner that had nothing in it but 3 inches of bread and little smear of mayo...thanks dear.

technologically challenged

2011-02-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

brenton's phone is broken currently.

luckily i still receive texts from him daily.

kind of.

sliced and d(ye)ced

2011-01-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

remember when i told you i was going to make sure to stay very very thrifty this year? all the white trash and stuff?

well, we've started the year off right. only shopping sales, or finding stuff for free...your basics. we're most proud, however, of the more creative ways we've found to save a penny here and there. for instance, free fingernail removal, courtesy of an industrial fire extinguisher.

bet you didn't know you could get that kind of price on such a delicate procedure now did you?

another way we didn't cash out was by pimping out my pelo for a day, courtesy of a sketchy ad on ksl. $200 worth of color, cut, and product just for trying something new and then modeling it at an hour-long presentation? yes, please. added bonus--finding the best hair stylist in slc and having fun in the meantime.

here's a little photo shoot of the presentation today:

getting my hair styled...in the weight room at the hotel.

the makeup artist was a treat. and had quite the toolbox!

here i am, being presented.

me being sneaky during the presentation.

bad eyeliner and a view of the hair. the flingers really don't look this scary.

the day i actually got it cut and a different way to style. don't mind the anger face.

anyway, stay cheap!

potty talk

2011-01-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

brenton: there are horses over there.

kara: {gasp} where??

b: right there. they stink.

k: {glare} stop it.

b: they smell like poop.

k: {indignant} horse poop. it smells good.

b: i walked by today and almost brought some home for you. but i thought maybe that wasn't a smell you would want in the house.

k: {shocked} why?

b: it's poop.

k: {pooped} it's horse poop.

let's make a deal

2011-01-24T14:43:00.004-07:00

aside from inappropriate costumage and inherent cheapness of a game show created in the 60s, i really liked that show. who doesn't love to take a chance on a corvette and win a goat??

well, sometimes i guess it's better to stick with good odds. for instance, which door would you choose?

door 1: cute, happy and inviting?

or door 2: sad, lonely and more likely to produce a farm animal as opposed to a ferarri?

i choose door 1. it's great. and crafty. and valentiney. aw.

ask and ye shall receive

2011-01-23T23:13:00.004-07:00

god answers prayers when they're really really desperately sincere prayers. none of this superficial stuff that he doesn't care about. it's the big stuff like parting the red sea, healing lifelong blood issues, things like that, that get answered quick and simple.

hoopla is back.

and i'm keeping the not hoopla sock for good measure. don't you judge me. (thanks for the support bridget :)

not hoopla

2011-01-22T11:35:00.002-07:00

hoopla, my bedtime hippo, has (hopefully) temporarily abdicated his position by my pillow at night due to a tragic mislocation error. you're thinking, "kara, you're married. move on." too bad. i want him back, and i've already cried about it.

my husband was nice enough to make me this grey sock full of rice until we find the real hoopla. it's not the same, but it's as close as it gets for now.

come home hoopla. come home soon.

automobile accidents

2011-01-19T08:59:00.003-07:00

i do a lot of driving here in utah and have noticed an unrestrained trend wherein people must outwardly define themselves, and thereby disturb the rest of us, on the outsides of their vehicles. now, i know, i come from oregon where political/green/honor student bumper stickers reign supreme, but this is different.

for instance: 30-yr-oldish guy driving a very discreet banana yellow h2, jacked up, oversized tires. enough attention? no. he's also displaying a vinyl sticker which takes up half the back window of an overage, overweight, overhairy, overgoldchained man hovering over the words "lady killer". at this point, one can hardly be convinced otherwise, right? but just to really make his point clear, he adds a license plate surround stating something to this effect: "hot girl taxi. blondes ride free." i had to suppress the urge to jump right in with him. or something not like that at all.

the next guy was driving a more modest 4runner, nevertheless felt the need to open up his private life for public opinion. license plate surround: "golf course or intercourse?" must i decide? because i'm thinking neither would be that pleasant involving you...

guys you're trying too hard. you're not attracting any girl with your i-meant-to-be-ironic-and-am-failing-to-see-how-closely-the-sticker-on-my-window-resembles-me displays and you're not impressing your wife with privacy-gone-public jesting. i know you live smack in the middle of utahrd national, come on, but a little discretion goes a long way.

move over martha.

2011-01-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

sometimes i think, d*%#^! i'm good. i just can't help it.

the people who lived here before us left this filthy pillow (too tacky/scary to have a before picture) that brenton has been using to sleep on (equally tacky/scary) and i couldn't take it anymore. so here is my whip-it-together redo so i don't have to barf every time i think about it.

i know. it's just a pillow. but come on! 5 minutes, some fabric i already had, no sewing, and an outcome of cuteness with complete lack of tacky-/scariness? stewart's got nothing on me.

brand name-->bland name

2011-01-08T12:30:00.001-07:00

so as i was finally unpacking all my clothes and kicks from their various bags and boxes this morning, something dawned on me. it wasn't the fact that there are currently 34 pairs of shoes in my closet (not including my rain boots which are in the coat closet for the time being), and that that might be a ridiculous number to be having in just one small place. hmmh. i've been consciously aware of my expensive shoe fetish for some time now.

the thing that actually struck me was the fact that most of the shoes that lay fairly abandoned are the ones i paid the most money for. what a back-biting obsession this is! don't get me wrong, i use my $100 running shoes almost every day, and i do love the seychelles, the nikes, the dcs and the nine wests. however, the ones i find myself most wearing, or wanting to wear when i'm not, are the no-name shmoes i discovered and practically pilfered at (in order of expense) ross, some consignment shop and rite aid. the latter costing me a mere $4. can you beat that? i think not.

why do we spend so much money on shoes?? or rather, why do i...

i have no answers. and i wouldn't want anyone getting the impression that my thirst for new soles and laces and heels has been at all abated by this realization. it hasn't. i just think, why?

a simple non-goal for 2011: stay thrifty. because we're so incredibly, scarily poor at this point, i have found myself shopping at deseret industries, savers and the dollar tree more than should be socially acceptable. i told my mom that i'm the most white-trash person she knows at this point. i'm not proud of it, but at least i'm a few pennies richer. maybe those pennies can be saved for something special...like, perhaps, these!

by the way, i will confess that there is one exception to this name-brand rule and that is vans. so easy. so great. HOWEVER, always purchased on sale.

now ain't that a beautiful sight!

2011-01-07T08:48:00.004-07:00

do you wish this was the view from your bedroom window? and balcony? i do.

you'll note that the temple would only look like this in the case of immense inebriation. i wasn't drunk. my camera stinks.

oh wait, it is. cool huh? it's nice to be reminded of the Lord's house any time you look outside and remember that it should probably be reflected in your own house. i especially enjoy the view at night when it's all lit up.

just a small perk of living in utah.

(not to be confusing, oregon is still the best.)

movin' on up

2011-01-04T09:46:00.003-07:00

it may not be to the eastside, but at least it's to our own apartment! praise all the powers that be!!

we decided to rock out the old year drinking strawberry cheesecake root beer floats (that was brenton--i have more sophisticated taste than that) and playing games with the family (the most important feature of the evening being my beating the crap out of everyone, especially rick, at hold 'em), and rock in the new one by moving into our new digs.

don't be concerned about his very confused and half-dead look. we actually enjoyed it. well, i did. there's still a lot to be done, but we've got a start on our apartment as well as some goals for the upcoming 365 and that's great! happy new year!

free range chickens. i mean decisions.

2010-12-27T19:08:00.004-07:00

i've been trying to think of what to do for a grandiose new years par-tay this year, being as that i'm now married and must make all decisions regarding enjoyment, elsewise there wouldn't be any, and it turns out there are too many options. celebrate at home quietly? nah. gotta go bigger. i've examined everything from a jim brickman concert at kingsbury hall to an all bull-riding indoor rodeo to a midnight 5k in the park. ice skating. fancy dinner. who knows?

i'm open for suggestions.

other than that, i'm glad to be alive today after battling a snowstorm of satanic proportions last night/this morning. it's a good thing prayers are answered in the way you want sometimes. being alive is good.

also, being home for christmas was the besty besty besty best. details forthcoming.

white christmas with the uppercrust

2010-12-21T11:31:00.003-07:00

'twas some nights before christmas, when all through the phone

not a ringer was ringing, not even from home;

the stockings were hung on the lamp nobs with care,

in hopes that brenton would find the present he lost at jenifer's lair;

the potters were sitting stiff at the table,

while visions of thespians made brenton unstable;

and kara in her ripped jeans, and i in my hoodie,

had sat down to eat some christmastime goodies (spaghetti, pickles and sugar cookies...)

when out of her phone there arose such a beeping,

she sprang from her seat, no longer food-sleeping.

away to the bedroom she uncasually ran,

opened her suitcase--"what will i wear??" she began.

the light of her smile, such an angelic face

gave the impression that she could never fall from such grace,

when, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

but a pile of clothes and eight pairs of heels,

with bows and with snake skin and all different shades,

i knew in a moment we'd soon need a maid.

more rapid than shoppers in black friday's rush,

she hustled and bustled 'til my brain was all mush;

on, necklace! now, high heels! now new pants and rings!

on, long coat! on warm gloves! on, lip gloss and things!

to the door of the car! to the freeway real quick!

now pass that car! and that car! 'til i thought i'd be sick!

as dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

when she met with an obstacle, i wanted to cry,

but on up to the u my little wife flew

with our car full of speeding, and christmas tunes too.

and then, with a shudder, i heard the brakes squeal

and the tip tap of cold sidewalks meeting her heels.

as i drew in my breath, into the theater i rushed,

there appeared uchtdorf, "the second counselor!" i gushed.

he was dressed in his suit, just as all other days,

with his wife there beside him (as well as his bodyguard--hey some people get shot at plays!)

though tempted to rush him and ask for a shake,

we decided that of 'white christmas' we'd calmly partake.

but his eyes--how they twinkled! his laughter how merry!

his presence was drawing like kara to cherry (...her favorite flavor).

we watched the first act, full of songs and of dance,

(i fell asleep) but kara was tickled as if there were ants in her pants;

intermission came and we sat and we waited,

while rumors flew of monson--man, was breath bated;

he had a long face and some very long ears,

that wiggled, when he told stories as old as his years.

he was happy and friendly, a warmth-spreading guy,

and we smiled when we saw him, a tear in my eye;

a flash of the lights and the music began,

the theater darkened so we stopped staring at the man;

we spoke not a word, but we watched the actors' play,

our hearts full of christmastime privilege that day,

and laying aside our own cares and our woe,

we all felt the spirit surrounding them glow;

the play was soon over, it was wonderful too,

with themes full of giving, i think our hearts grew.

we heard them both say, as they left without word,

happy christmas to all, and to all--please be good!

btw, thanks for the tix ken & jen! it was amazing!!

story of a newlywed - episode 1

2010-12-14T13:09:00.003-07:00

you hear all those woeful tales of freshly married kids, roaming around the countryside, penniless and smelly, like flea-bitten vagabonds, with no place to go and not even the faintest of ideas what will come next...well not us folks!

for a while there, we were stressed. where to live? how to pay? where to work? etc, etc. then the answer came to us: all you have to do to survive as a newlywed couple is go back several generations in time (using a slightly improved version of the whole back-to-the-future idea) and make sure every single one of your close to distant relatives (i.e. mom, aunts, cousins, grandmas, 2nd-great-uncle's-wife's-best-friend, these types) have tons and tons of kids. and then tell them that they have to raise them to love beyond reason how big their family is and that they should give give give give GIVE until they're blue in the face and huge in the heart.

we've been lucky enough to have such a family (without even having to re-invent time travel--thanks progenitors!) and now we're doing pretty okay for ourselves. with everyone's help of course.

this is our current living space. not too shabby for a couple of 52-day-wed gen-yers eh?! in the corner there is our incredibly lovely host, jenifer. she's the most generous, happy and loving person i know right now. and we owe her, big-time. i'm not sure my minor house-chores and gift-wrapping will make up for her generosity and hospitality.

and for all those others who have already helped us in our precarious pre- to post-wedded confusion, you're all the best too. love you!

deep thinking for the season

2010-12-11T10:05:00.002-07:00

soon i will have framed in my home (a home...what would that be like?) a little quote that says something similar to this: "are you one of the Inn crowd or one of the Stable few?" what a nice and thought-provoking thought! it will sit next to my very cute manger scene and make all my many visitors stop and say things like, "wow kara. what a nice and thought-provoking thought! i want to change my life because i have seen this in your lovely home. and by the way, what a lovely home!" then they'll owe me big for a) allowing them into my lovely home, and b) reminding them to really let Christ into their Christmas season and their lives. how nice!

but really, upon seeing that quote i did stop and think. is Christ really a part of my life, especially this time of year? would i have let him in to my lovely home (given that i had one) or at least hung out with Him in the stable? how stable is my commitment to Him? just some things to ponder as i ready myself for the season. hope you're enjoying the holiday prep...btw, anyone find any good wrapping paper that isn't see-through?? man, that stuff is hard to come by!

merry christmas!

something's fishy

2010-12-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

this is going back a couple of weeks but when you have weddings and thanksgiving and moving and job-getting, it's very hard to stay perfectly on schedule with your blogging endeavors. theretofore, you receive the account of our travels to eo for alexa and eric lougee's wedding fiesta in pendleton on november 20. it seems like a lot longer ago than that. jeez. anyway, we got started a touch early so we snagged our duet singalong cd (some songs more appropriate to scream at the top of your lungs than others, i.e. you're the one that i want re: grease vs. celebrate my love by peabo bryson...look it up) and headed east, making a very important stop at the fish hatchery where we fed the fish their own guts and ran across the chained off hatchery runways and got caught (both of us) in the women's bathroom. relax. we were just cleansing ourselves of the fish filth. we said hello to herman the sturgeon and then got back on the road. after celebrating the lougee love-fest for a couple hours we travelled back...the excitement waning tremendously, since i was sleeping the whole time. i'm pretty sure i lend the greater portion of spice to our lives. although brenton whipped out an english accent today that i never knew he had. things are getting more savory every day...

this is for kami

2010-12-03T22:52:00.002-07:00

my husband is sooooooooooo sweet. i lovey lovey lovey love him! i just want to spend every minute of every day of every week of every month with him!! wouldn't you?? i mean, he's sooooooooo sweet! wooshy gaga.

but really, it was cute. thanks pot.

tender moments from sesame street

2010-11-30T14:18:00.001-07:00

kara: are you a cookie?

brenton: i wish i was a cookie...if you were a cookie monster.

as promised

2010-11-28T17:35:00.021-07:00

sorry there's no order to anything. i'll give you the excuse i gave my family: getting married is exhausting, so editing and choosing photos goes far above and beyond the call of duty. hope you enjoyed the idea if you weren't there or enjoyed the reminder if you were!

by the way, photography is mostly courtesy of my lovely sister kami with additions and assistance from many others. thanks to all!

new york and a wedding preview

2010-11-22T19:22:00.004-07:00

being as that i'm an old lady, and my husband an old man, we like to sit around and do puzzles at night. mhm, we're exciting that way. here's the latest one, picked up at a thrift store for $.75. wasn't even missing any pieces. in fact, there was a bonus piece. lucky!

secondly, i've heard voice many a complaint concerning a lack of wedding photage, so here's your mini-baby preview:

more to come so hurry back!

you will win this

2010-11-18T16:12:00.002-07:00

nothing can make this better.

bringing home the bacon

2010-11-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

i got to go to the osaa state high school cross country meet a couple weeks ago and it never gets less amazing, exhilarating, uplifting, nostalgic, awesome or any other positive adjective that i can't think of right now. i've said it before and i'll say it again, if you don't know, you don't know. and i'm sorry for that. i wish you could know. regardless, for the diehards, we reveled in perfect temperatures, a little rain (as per usual) and several run-ins with old friends, state legends and excellent memories. i so remember what it was like standing on that line!

more than being a spectator, it's incredible to be a coach and have part of what's happening on the course. plus, it never hurts to bring home the hardware...4th place girls and 3rd place boys? yeah son.

let us not also forget, our fall lady counterparts, as my sister coaches a team herself! second place at the state tourney? with first going to their own district competition? we'll take it and be proud!

working with pot

2010-11-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

don't worry, in oregon, people are pretty much okay with that.

but really. i went to a job the other night with brenton, completely under the impression that it would take half an hour and be really easy. mostly i'd just have to maneuver some glass onto the deck from the ladder. well, turns out the glass was heavy, the ladder was too short, it took two hours and it was really, really cold. snot-rocket weather. brrrr.

however, it must be said, precision rail of oregon has never looked so good. blingin' jewels and little wedge boots? yeah buddy. they would be so lucky.

searching for bigger heads

2010-11-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

"Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind." -Gordon B. Hinckley

well, at least for the two of us, we're working on becoming a little more educated, and a tad less narrow, as we think of things that we're grateful for each day this month. and for a bit of "cutesy" factor, we're doing in the shape of a lovely spotted tree with even lovelier i-cut-these-out-every-night-after-ten-pm leaves. (mhm, for me that's late.) anyway, as you'll note, we're grateful for some pretty awesome things. for instance: temples, families, testimonies and hope. aaaaaaaand some of us are also thankful for harry potter. we won't mention which ones of us. although, brenton thinks it's referring to him...like, HAIRY potter. get it? yeah, i didn't think it was that funny either. but on a hairy note, what do we think of his new 'do?

and more importantly, what are you thankful for?

"running from satan.

2010-11-04T20:48:00.000-06:00

the neighbor's dog..."

can you paint for me a picture-perfect moon of honey? should include scenes of peaceful blissful, walks on the beach, lying in bed having grapes fed to you. well, in my case, make that bacon in bed. romantic, no? anyway, the point is, you shouldn't have raging anxiety, fear or threats of imminent face shredding on your honeymoon. and i didn't.
but satan knows to strike when the iron is hot. or, cool...okay. so my analogy sucks. but it's hard to make sense of anything when you're all in a fuss over an unanticipated adrenaline spike that could have shaken mr. richter's seismic boots right off.
ok the real story goes like this--i get 'home' from the beachy vacation and prep to enjoy a wonderfully toasty november morning run. about 100 feet into it i hear a snarling dog. not friendly. having encountered the like before i proceed at a tiptoe-y rate before i'm blindsided by this minion of satan. i'm not talking nip at your ankles, barking harassment. nooooo. this is full-blown devil-possession, cujo-frothing, dracula fang-baring at its best. and, oh the horror, the worst.
what was i to do?! i'm a tiny little woman. defenseless and alone, albeit a skip, hop and a high-tailing jump from the house. nothing. i yelled at the top of my shaking lungs and stomped at lucifer's mutt. it may have been the first time satan laughed. down there in hell, watching me, he laughed. i didn't stand a chance. that dog was out to get my innards and he wasn't about to back down. i lunged and screamed and backed away, step by teeny tiny stupid frightening step until it stopped snarling long enough for me to break away. and it attacked as i turned! snapping and gnashing and growling and screaming. it felt like hours before i got out of the psychodemon's death trap. but it was only a physical freedom. he haunted me. for the remaining miles i wondered, where will he pop out? how far has he tracked me? will i ever me safe again!??!!!
they say that a runner's shoes are the only equipment necessary, but i would have given both my feet for some ultra-spectacular-1000ft-bear mace attached to a shotgun to obliterate the shiz out of evil's frothy face this morning.
come to find out, this demon's got a history. the guy i'm staying with had to fend him off with a high-powered leaf blower, and even then cujo got the guy backed all the way down to his own front door. no place is safe these days.

sing along songs

2010-10-21T23:52:00.000-06:00

and for a slightly better, more musical version, click here.

on this day in 2010

2010-10-13T21:13:00.002-06:00

happy birthday to me,
no open heart surgery!
happy birthday dear kara,
happy birthday to me!

if you give a mouse a cookie

2010-10-11T22:50:00.000-06:00

they'll eat it and expect praise. it's annoying.

duck, duck, stupid retarded goose

2010-10-08T22:43:00.001-06:00

i went to the duck park a couple weeks ago with my sister, so as to prevent her two youngest children (ages 3 and 5) from having to deliver her baby on the side of the freeway on the way to an urgent appointment for one of them.

they love going to the duck park to play and illegally fill the ducks with all sorts of human preservatives of death. i expected quiet ponds and tranquil breezes.

instead i got hoards of madness rushing me and, in an attempt to save the pregnant lady's bare ankles, an evil goose biting my leg!

evil. these stupid geese could learn something from the canadians nearby who regally ignored our cracker handouts and didn't once attempt to assault me.

by small and simple things...

2010-10-06T11:46:00.000-06:00

so i went to clean a little hair out of the shower drain this morning. i was surprised by having to really tug at what, on the surface, appeared to be just a few stray strands. i pulled out what i could with the small amount of toilet paper i had before it soaked through and i opted for a thicker paper towel...little did i know that my tiny-little-woman muscles would allow the drain to give birth to a rat-sized (and shaped) entanglement of baxter mane. in disgust and a little fear, i dropped the offending rodent coiffure with a significantly dense thud and ran to get my sister. she was really happy to get out of bed for that.

sidenotes: though this anecdote is disturbing, i felt it needed to be shared. i did, however, decide to spare you a photograph. you're welcome. also, don't be scared if you need to shower at my house. i cleaned it.

29 days and counting...

2010-09-23T11:40:00.000-06:00

remember when i said that 74 days was not that many days? 29 is really not that many.

anyone have any thoughts for me? sage advice for this last month of engagement? tips on pre-wedding destressing? large cash donations? a dress design? you know, the little things. :)

official wedding business: pointless cake tasting

2010-09-21T12:09:00.000-06:00

pointless? what? ashley's right. no cake tasting is pointless.

unbeknownst to the pastrygirl, we already have a cake planned--at least baker and design. but who says we can't go and try chocolate, lemon, coconut, carrot, red velvet and vanilla cupcakes with any combo of chocolate mousse, vanilla bean custard, lemon curd, lime curd, cream cheese filling, buttercream, chocolate buttercream, etc etc at no cost to us? no one. so we did!

"i'm all full of cake."

it was fun and delicious and made us feel official and bride-and-groom-ish.

warriors? YEAH! warriors? YEAH!!

2010-09-21T10:55:00.000-06:00

“over hill and dale, spit freezing to your chin. Five hundred complete wild men in the mud running up on your heels in long spikes…oh, I love cross country alright…”

A warrior knows these feelings. Yet amidst them, a warrior perseveres and powers onward. Usually upward. A warrior in north plains knows the sensations of creek-drenched shoes and rope-burned hands. A warrior endures shin rash and bruised kneecaps obtained from forest floors in the dark. a true warrior hurdles wreckyards and haybale mountains. They battle chest-deep waters and rolling logs, cargo nets and fire pits. A warrior trudges through quick-mud without hesitation.

“…I also love being flayed alive by a rusty straight razor.”

A serious warrior is also too cheap to buy the official photographers’ photos of themselves online. Excuse the screenshots. and who knows about the arrangement of the pics...

are you a warrior??

2010-09-09T10:44:00.000-06:00

stay tuned for a reflection and pictures of the greatest race in history, to occur this saturday at 11am. for a preview, click here.
it's a good thing toughness runs real thick in baxter blood.
any ideas for warrior tats?

waterfront portland

2010-09-09T10:32:00.000-06:00

when you don't have to drive in the idiotic pretzel-fest that is the intercity roadway system of portland, it's actually quite nice. i've always loved this place. i got to enjoy a nice waterfront stroll, solo-style, yesterday and it was lovely. wish i would have brought my book like this guy...

i hate paris in the springtime

2010-09-07T11:38:00.000-06:00

actually, i wouldn't know. i've never been to paris. but there are other parts of the world i would rather not be very much. i have my favorite regions, just like anyone else i think. so, when i'm stuck in a place i'm not so much the loving, it's nice to know i've got an ok guy to hang out with at night.

who doesn't like hand-written notes on a kleenex in the morning?

i've got good news

2010-08-27T14:40:00.000-06:00

what an extraordinary blessing it is to be able to pray! the peace, love, security and power that come from being able to speak directly to our father in heaven are truly immeasurable. i had the chance to finish the book of mormon this morning for the however-many-eth time and ask again if it were true. indeed it is! how grateful i am for that knowledge and the guidance it lends my life. god lives and guides us today through prophets, personal revelation and the companionship of the holy ghost.

on top of all that, i didn't pass out when i got my blood drawn the other day! good news all around...

versatile me

2010-08-26T11:33:00.000-06:00

last night, amid my nice-restaurant-dinner etiquette lesson, these words were spoken to me:

"you know, half the time you're all like, 'hey i'm civilized and proper' and the other half you're all rodeo yeehaw-ing, spitting, snot rocket-flinging and stuff!"

words escaped me. actually that's not true. i asked him if he had a problem with it, he said what if he did and i said then we'd take it outside.

i'll let garth do the esplainin'. also, try to ignore the really frightening phantom video accompanying the song. come on garth, post the vids!

public observance - episode 3

2010-08-25T12:57:00.000-06:00

in the vicissitudes of daily life, i keep hoping that somehow this parade of unpleasant visuals will ebb. however, the more i leave my home, the greater the flow of overt attempts to burn out my retinas with visions of the most heinous public crimes. no, we're not talking gruesome murder or satanic animal sacrifice here. we're talking ritualistic public displays of a variety of acts which clearly need to never happen, or at the very least, only happen in the privacy of the offenders' padlocked closets. for instance:

facts: the pot and i are walking around at the fair, or some other equally public gathering (see, i've already tried to forget the dirty details) and come upon a group of rather, uh, husky women. for whatever reason brenton decides to share the pain he's already felt by pointing out to me the closest woman and her scant attire. you know those shirts that 17-year-old boys wear to work out in? with the cut-off sleeves and rips down to the bottom hem? that's what she's wearing. luckily she's sporting a bra as well, but a fat (no pun intended) lot of good it's doing when the entirety of it's support system has disappeared between two rather large rolls of squish.
why this is not okay: i can see your entire body lady. and it's no jillian michaels (post ridiculous workout obsession i mean).
plea: cover up. we're not asking for nunhood here ladies. just a simple way of saying, hey, i respect the visual interest of all those around me. please, and thank you.

man oh man. can you tell i'm feeling benefit-of-the-doubt-y today?

behold!

2010-08-16T18:54:00.001-06:00

the loot from an incredibly lucrative yard sale-ing weekend! now let's be serious. for less than 20 bones we snagged 3 silver dipping sauce dishes, 6 antique ball jars for the weddin', a golden hippo/cell phone holder, a set of 4 hot chocolate cups and saucers, the red stand for my home-rigged cakestand, a new temple bag (irreverent, no?), and an antique ge fan, in working order of course (a similar one was priced online at $125--for real?!). and the pinnacle of our perusing? sadly unpictured, a shield shaped mirror from an estate sale that will someday grace my bathroom. hot dog!

a pedicurian goodbye

2010-08-13T18:04:00.000-06:00

my best friend ashley has officially left me for here:

lawrence, kansas (??). which makes me very, very sad. however, she will be on a great adventure for the next two years, completing GRADUATE SCHOOL (who does that?), to become a museum curator (not like in night at the museum). cool huh (yes.)?

thankfully before she left we got to spend some quality time together. unfortunately it wasn't the yellowstone trip we originally planned, but asian (always better than american) pedicures were practically as good.

miss her already!

ucf 2010

2010-08-09T12:37:00.004-06:00

my betrothed and i have discovered it's hard to be on a health kick when union and the surrounding counties put on a different fair/rodeo/festival every weekend of the summer. who wants to have a carrot when they could have elephant ears, rodeo burgers and considerably sized cups of shaved ice? not us.

so far we've hit the eastern oregon livestock show and rodeo, hog wild days, crazy days, chief joseph days rodeo and the union county fair. with still more to come. let the pre-wedding weight gain begin!

also, brenton thinks he's a cowboy. what do you think?

74 days is not that many days

2010-08-09T11:56:00.002-06:00

got on my bridal registry today. turns out there's a countdown til my wedding. yikes. and also, yay!!

fat fatty fashion

2010-08-04T17:59:00.003-06:00

two posts in one day?? i know, it's a blogging frenzy ladies and gentlemen.

now, i normally don't complain about fashion trends, at least not via the interweb. (but ask my friend tj and he'll tell you i do it plenty otherwise.) but today is different. today i must express my disdain with the clothing industry due to my experience at the clackamas town center mall. ("the mall?" you ask. i know. i'm deathly ill. but cabin fever and the insurmountable craving for stuffed mexi-fries got the best of me. however, i learned after about 45 minutes out of the house, that leaving it was a very bad, life-threatening idea...moving on...)

so, i was at the mall. and first i'm disturbed by the total pervasiveness of clothing that must be altered or mostly covered for it in any way to be considered mormonly "modest". it's irritating. all things are tank tops. cute ones. that must be cardigan-ed or shade-ed and subsequently lose their inherent cuteness factor. so i just stop looking at them and move on to sleeves. oh, sweet mother of sleeves. my options are these: drowning in a large-woolen-vat-of once-was-minty-ice-cream sweater, floral-explosive-extravaganza crop (complete with quinceanera), or this:

for when i'm nine months pregnant and in the military.

oh the humanity.

love me some virus

2010-08-04T10:04:00.003-06:00

i've been laid up in bed mostly since sunday afternoon--except for a few hours monday spent enduring the subarctic temperatures of bed bath & beyond, hardly even getting to use the registry scanner gun myself, rude--because of a nasty dirty filthy rotten flu. sometimes when i get the flu, i'm all pukey and nauseated and stuff. but other times when i get the flu, my skin is electrifyish and untouchable, my teeth are so sensitive i want to extract them one by one and my backbone is so wretchedly stiff i'd rather be papoosed. this time it's the latter. only add to it the worst stomach pain you'll ever experience and a complete inability to regulate your body temperature. it stinks.

so, it is here, from my rock-hard deathbed, that i touch base with the cyber world.

and that's seriously all the energy i have.

ribbon, hula, and oh yeah--belly dancers

2010-07-20T16:52:00.002-06:00

it was the kind of proposal i'd always wanted...a string quartet, a mariachi band and a lone electric pianist to set the mood. ribbon, hula and belly dancers to lead us into a meadow of hand-dyed rose petals at sunrise. crowds and crowds of people pushing in to see the 73-carat engagement tiara being carried in on a gold-encrusted chariot driven by 4 black stallions and a unicorn. and then, a moment of silence. and a question.

what's a girl to do? i don't even think it's possible to say no in that kind of situation.

broken creativity

2010-07-12T17:28:00.002-06:00

as a creative who hasn't been creative in too long, this is how i feel. helpless. and desperately in need of some inventive thinking. and i guess if i won a personal trainer, dietician, life coach and more because of it, that'd be alright too.

click on the picture (stupid linkage).

heeeeelp. echo, echo, echo...