You Have Died of Dysentery

faith, trust, and pixie dust

2012-02-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this past year my in-laws gave me a trip to Disneyland to run in the inaugural Tinkerbell half marathon with my amazing and wonderful mother-in-law. Such an fantastic gift.

Here we are the day before the race checking in and getting our bibs. The excitement is building!

Us with Team Sparkle Tink!

Yes indeed!

We spent Saturday in Disneyland's

California Adventure as our warm-up.

Here we are at the "uncivilized" hour of 5:00 am getting ready to be "chunking along."

The newest addition to the Disney Princess club, Princess Patriot at mile 9.

We've earned our wings.

I love this memory.

Looks like we've created a new tradition!

Winter break

2012-01-06T21:44:00.001-08:00

Here it is in a nutshell...

It snowed! Once.

We ate

and ate

and ate.

We witnessed a Christmas miracle. This will make more sense

if you read Alec's Mom's article from a while back here

We went on dates!

Movies!

The New Year Fairy visited

The Jazz actually won the game we went to!

Happy 2012!

Merry Christmas...

2011-12-21T21:35:00.000-08:00

...from a couple of dorks who took a bunch of pictures of themselves.

But seriously,

Merry Christmas.

Slumdog

2011-11-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

The street-corner bums here get pretty creative when it comes to writing on cardboard. Maybe it's because a lot of them are able-bodied twenty-somethings that are still optimistic about their begging careers. Here are a few samples:

"will wrestle your mother-in-law for a dollar"

"hungry hungry hobos"

"help out a starving supermodel" He was hot.

One guy held up a sign in his right hand that said "rock" and a sign in his left hand that said "hard place"

I already told you about the guy who holds up an imaginary sign. Alec suggested we give him an imaginary blank check made out to CASH.

One time Alec and I were walking out of our favorite doughnut shop with a box full of doughnuts when a guy behind us asked, "Can you spare a doughnut?" which is much better than, and more than a dollar. Nice move, bum. You picked a good spot.

On a more serious note, I got the idea to write this post due to something that was said in Relief Society today. It was a quote by someone, I don't remember who, and it's only part of the quote. It goes something like:

"The world takes the people out of the slums. God takes the slums out of the people. Then the people take themselves out of the slums."

So, what would you do?

Hope you had

2011-11-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

a happy Halloween!

Love,

The King and Us.

Weekend finds

2011-10-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

Six sales, three hours, a very patient husband and cooperative baby, and $20 later, here are a few of our finds:

A high chair for the table

Embellished frames

An old radio

Don't you wish you could be this guy's friend?

And also punch him in the face?

Cookie cutters

A coffee table

I see some projects in my future.

Our Story

2011-10-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

I met my husband in high school. I don't remember when it was, and he doesn't remember it at all. I guess it wasn't love at first sight.

A year or so later we re-met during our first year of college. The sparks did not fly, but we have a few friendly memories from this time.

Three years (including one LDS mission) later, we met again. This time we hit it off (third time's a charm!)

One year later we were married.

For five years I've had the privilege of being my husband's wife. Here's just a few reasons why:

In the middle of the night when I can't sleep, he'll wake up and talk with me
He cleans the bathroom regularly. How romantic!
I can honestly say that he has never gotten mad at me (even when I deserve it), and he has never told me 'no' (probably not always a good thing)
He is such a helpful and proud Daddy
And oh, how he makes me laugh

Five years ago today I married my best friend and each year is better than the last.

Remember with me awhile.

Haul out the fall-y

2011-10-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

Free Advertising

2011-09-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

Alec took this picture with his iTouch on our way home from a get together.

This encompasses so much of what it means to be a Eugenian.

Weekend finds

2011-09-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

A stack of maps for my collection.

A huge canvas. Pinterest will tell me what to do with it.

A couple of vintage books. I've got a plan for these.

A decorative tin.

An old globe.

Boo!

2011-09-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

Happy fall from Chewie's ghost feet!

One last painting project

2011-09-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

Had to squeeze one in before painting season ends

I don't have a before picture. It was black and brown. I think it looks better now.

Central Oregon Coast

2011-09-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

"Oh how lovely was the morning" right?

Summer project

2011-09-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

After hours and hours of sanding, priming, sanding, painting, sanding (oh the sanding!), staining, and painting, it is finally finished

We got this table at the DI for $10 and this is the third time I've painted it. Never again.

Father of the Year

2011-09-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

Randi went out of town to visit a friend this weekend. The fact that she left for a couple days isn't altogether strange. She has done so a few times since the baby was born. However, what makes this trip different is the fact that the baby stayed with me! It is the first time Randi has slept away from the baby and thus the first time I have been the sole care provider for the little one. I must say, we really miss Randi/Mommy (obviously), but we have had a lot of fun together.

Randi didn't seem overly concerned about leaving the baby with me, though I'm thinking maybe she should have. Yesterday I was streaming Netflix on the Wii when baby grabbed the Wii controller and started pressing buttons. I ignored it because I wasn't really watching the show that was on anyway. So baby exited out of the show that was playing and turned on another one.

Once I realized she had started another show, I decided I better look up and make sure it wasn't something inappropriate. I found myself quite impressed when I realized baby had selected a film called "The Baby's Room." I thought, "wow, how smart is my daughter? Only 14 months old and she knows just what movies are made for her!"

For some reason, my first thought was that a movie called "The Baby's Room" would undoubtedly be filled with pink unicorns jumping over rainbows and kissing babies on their forehead while the babies dream about flying on the backs of cuddly purple elephants. Fortunately for me (and my daughter) the more rational part of me decided to review my original thought process. Turns out "The Baby's Room" is a Spanish horror film where weird paranormal stuff goes down in...you guessed it...a baby's room.

Crap For Sale! Eugene Edition

2011-09-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

For a lot of my life, I shopped extensively (at times exclusively) at thrift shops. This obsession with people's old clothes subsided a bit after Randi and I were both done with college and working full time. At that point I upgraded to buying old stuff that hadn't been worn by other people (at least I think that's what Ross Dress For Less sells). It was amazing how much grosser someone's old polo shirt seemed when I had cash in my pocket.

Anyway, when I went back to school, we were suddenly poor again and I realized that I would need to start doing the thrift shop thing again if I wanted to buy clothes. "No big deal," I thought, "Eugene has a bunch of thrift shops...St. Vincent de Paul's, Goodwill, Value Village...I should be good!"

Here's the thing: apparently people's old crap costs as much as new stuff in this screwball town....sometimes even more. Seriously. I was shocked to walk into what I understood to be a thrift shop and see a worn old dresser being sold for $200. We figured there was just something strange about that particular shop and that we could find good deals elsewhere. Not so. All the thrift shops in town charge outrageous prices.

After a while, we discovered that this phenomenon wasn't limited to thrift shops. As we went about searching for stuff on craigslist and went to garage sales, we realized that EVERYONE here sells their crap for ridiculous prices. It's like the people here think all of their personal property is just like a house that appreciates in value over time.

Hippie Husband: Hey Hon, I am thinking about selling this tie-dyed shirt at our block garage sale on Sunday. How much should I sell it for?

Hippie Wife: Well, you paid $7 for the shirt and the tie-dye kit cost $4. Plus you spent a half hour working on it, which is worth like $4 (Alec's note: Hippie Husband only makes $8 an hour as a bagger at the local co-op natural foods store). So that is $15. Of course, we need to make a profit, so you should sell it for $20.

Hippie Husband: Whoa! That's exactly what I was thinking! That's the same price I charged for it at the last three garage sales we had!

Recently Randi and I went to an estate sale, which, BTW, is kind of strange. You walk through some recently deceased person's home and rummage through all of their personal belongings. You don't really think about it until you get to some seemingly personal items (like a personal collection or something). At that point, you start to feel that same pang of guilt that struck you when you were a kid reading your sister's diary (if you had a sister, that is).

Anyway, as we were looking through this dead dude's stuff, I came across a treadmill. It wasn't anything fancy -- it looked like a mid to late 90s model, but I have kind of been on the lookout for a good deal on a treadmill (since it rains so much in the winter in this godforesaken place). Anyway, I saw a sign on it that said $75. What a deal! As long as this badboy worked, I was set! However, upon closer inspection, I realized that the $75 price tag was for an old, used Playstation 2 (which you can buy for $30 online). The treadmill actually cost--no joke--$775. There was a sign on it that said, "Originally paid $2,000." OK, I don't know what treadmill prices were in 1997, but you can buy a pretty nice brand new treadmill for less than $775 today. See.

After thinking about it a lot, we've come up with a few reasons for the outrageously-priced-used-crap phenomenon here.

1. Thrift store shopping is hip. Eugene is full of hipsters (ugh) and retro is in. It is cool to wear brand new clothes that look old. It is even cooler to wear clothes that are actually old. These people will pay a premium for old.

2. The environment, man. Eugene is also full of hippies and environmentalism is also in. OK, so caring for the environment is a good thing. However, so many of the people here are so unbearably pretentious about environmental causes that when people compliment me for riding my bike to school and work, I am tempted to burn coal and spray aerosol cans the whole ride (so that, you know, I can offset the offsetting of my carbon footprint). But I digress. By buying used crap, people can satisfy the "reuse" part of the 3 R's. Sellers of used crap prey on this.

3. Fair trade. This is another one of those hippie things. Again, fair trade is great, but I think people here believe that there is something morally wrong with low prices. It's like, if they sell their old garden shovel for less than $14.99 they aren't getting a fair deal and the capitalist pigs have won and people in Africa will die.

4. Unemployment. When we moved here, Oregon had the second highest unemployment rate in the nation (suck it Michigan)! Eugene was even worse than most other places in the state (there may be a correlation between the lack of jobs here and the city's absolute contempt for big businesses moving in...just saying). Apparently things have improved slightly and a number of states have fallen behind us. However, I think some people try to sell their crap for a lot of money because they actually need it. Tough to make fun of these people. Now I am sad.

There are probably other reasons (when Randi and I brainstormed this, I wrote down a list that I can't find right now), but these are the ones that I remember. So, if you plan on moving to Eugene, don't count on finding a cheap bike or grill on craigslist when you get here. You are better off buying it at a thrift shop in your hometown and then FedEx overnighting it here.

It's that time of year again

2011-08-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

When anywhere you go outside you have to look like a weirdo walking with your arms and hands swinging out in front of you for protection in case you run into one of these!

They like to hang out across stairway railings and in trees that dangle above sidewalks. This one I found across our doorway right where your head would be if you walked outside. And it's not just one or two. They are everywhere, in all different sizes, shapes and colors! Yuck.

Oh, and watch your step.

Welcome to Wunchiesville

2011-08-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

Randi and I were talking about our childhoods the other day and I got to remembering a story from when I was in the third grade. At my elementary school, every third grade class would do a "Fun Friday" in the spring where students would set up little stores in their classroom (where they could sell candy or provide games to play). Students would get fake money to buy all of this stuff (if I remember correctly, you could earn the fake money by answering questions in class or helping the teacher).

Anyway, each class had to come up with a name for their classroom by which that room would be referred to on Fun Friday (because, you know, "Mrs. Pope's Classroom" wasn't fun enough). I remember my teacher telling us one day to all think of a name. Each student could submit a name and then the class would choose from those submissions. When the teacher told us this, I very distinctly remember immediately thinking of the name "Wunchiesville" (pronounced one-cheese-ville). I knew that Wunchiesville would be the most awesomely amazing name for a classroom. I was practically ready to tell the other students, "yo guys. I got this. Don't even bother submitting a name, because I've already named the classroom. And the name IS AWESOME."

Despite the extreme awesomeness that was the name Wunchiesville, I thought that I better write it down, in case I forgot (or in case somebody else came up with that same name and I needed to prove that I thought of it, too...or something). I went home that day thinking about how awesome it would be to learn cursive while sitting in Wunchiesville.

I think now is a good time to point out that I had never previously thought of the term "Wunchiesville" and I really have no idea what it could possibly mean. As such, I am still quite puzzled as to why I was brimming with confidence that the name was truly the greatest thing anyone had ever thought of.

So, I get to school the next day and the teacher brings out a can and tells everyone who came up with a name to write it down on a paper (good thing I had already taken care of that!) and put it in the can. So I do. And I notice that a few other people do, too....but I don't care because none of them wrote Wunchiesville.

So the teacher tells us that she'll read all of the names and then we'll vote. She reads a few super lame ones, like "Fantastic Fun Land" and "Pope's Palace" and my confidence just shoots through the roof....

ME: Fantastic Fun Land? Really? What do you sell there? Hugs?

And finally, the teacher pulls mine out.

TEACHER: Wun...uh...wunch....hmm. OK, "Wunchesville?"

That's pretty much how it went. She stumbled and then couldn't pronounce it (she ultimately said "one-chuz-ville" which is a HORRIBLE name...duh). And she sort of said it like it was a question. Not a good sign.

Some people in the class snickered and I wanted to get up and be like "NO! It's Wun-CHEESE-ville. And it's AWESOME!" But I didn't.

And so the voting commenced. Apparently kids in that class love hugs because Fantastic Fun Land got a ton of votes. My soaring confidence plummeted and I started to wonder if this wasn't going to be the blow out that I thought it would be. Turns out it was. Just that Wunchiesville didn't carry the day.

When the teacher finally read my entry, I realized that nobody was raising their hand. Not even me. Something that the class bully noticed.

CLASS BULLY: Haha! Not even the person who came up with that one voted for it!

I was crushed. How could something that felt so right have turned out to be so wrong? For a while I was convinced that the teacher had totally screwed me over by mispronouncing Wunchiesville. After a while I stopped blaming her and settled on believing that the clowns in my class just weren't quite ready for total awesomeness.

I sometimes wonder if I should've gone a different route and gotten an MBA rather than a JD. That way I could've become an entrepreneur and started my own business. I would have called it Wunchiesville. And nobody from Mrs. Pope's third grade class would ever be allowed in. Especially the bully.

People are geniuses

2011-08-17T11:17:00.000-07:00

Because they create awesome stuff like this:

"The Peeing Boy of Brussels" Statue and Fountain

Apparently it's a classic.

Orbit Wheels

I am confused by exactly how this works.

I guess I'll have to watch the video.

Animated Hoodies

Pretty rad, unless I have to walk with my arms like that all day

or else I just have a headless dinosaur hoodie.

Mustache Mirror.

I think I just might make my own mustache mirror.

The Pillow Tie

For Dad, to go along with the Pajama Jeans for Mom.

ID

2011-08-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I was having dinner with some friends. We were talking about our summer plans. I told them I would be going on vacation to Idaho. One of them asked, "Idaho? Why Idaho?"

This is why

The Scoreboard

2011-07-28T10:29:00.001-07:00

That last post about my ring got me thinking about the people of Eugene and how their score is playing out. I decided to make a list of a few things purely for entertainment value. The people of Eugene do not owe me anything. I'm just putting it out there.

+1 point

Marci who found my wedding ring.
Joanie who helped me with my groceries.
The sweet cashier at the grocery store who's always super nice to me.
The Mormons. They have been helpful and amazing in so many ways.
My nurses at the hospital when Chewie was born.
Co-workers at my old job.
Extreme hula hoopers. Pretty awesome stuff.
The woman I saw full-out dancing while she was jogging.
The person who puts up signs on streets that say, "Drive like you love everybody" and "Love your husband". They make me happy.

= +9 points!

-1 point

The man who looked like Santa and literally almost ran me over when I was jogging. People who look like Santa should not do that.
The lady who yelled at us when she was behind us in line at the drive-thru atm. That's what lines are lady. You have to wait.
The person driving behind me who honked at me right when the light turned green. Relax guy. Just the drivers in general, but you get that everywhere.
The woman at the gas station who freaked out at us because she had to wait for us to park so that she could leave.
The pot smokers at the movie theater.
The woman at the recycling center who told me she was thinking about getting an abortion. I'm against abortion in most cases, but c'mon. I feel that when your 34 and married and you have a surprise pregnancy, you go through with it.
The teenagers who pretended to wail on some other kid when I drove by. I pulled over because I'm such a great person, but they were faking it and then they all ran away. Lesson: Don't help people on danger.
When we were waiting to get into the aquatic center and Paco the chiuaua peed on our pool bag. The owner who saw it happen and knew we saw it happen did nothing.
The public health nurse who guilt tripped me for not wanting to use cloth diapers or have a natural childbirth. Personal choices people!
The guy who helped us open a bank account here and flat out told me what an idiot I was for not having a credit card yet, while in the same breath talking about how much debt he got into as a teen with a credit card. He was trying to be funny I guess, but pretty unprofessional. For the record, I finally grew up and got a credit card.

= -10 points!

These factor in too:

+ Randi

I sometimes give bums money. That could also be a minus though. I don't necessarily think giving bums money is a great idea. There are bums on almost every corner downtown. Some get pretty creative with their signage. Yesterday I saw one that said: I'd rather be working. The other day I saw a guy holding up an imaginary sign. I wonder what he was trying to accomplish with that.
I usually pick up our dogs poo

= +2 points?

- Randi

Sometimes I don't pick up Leila's poo
I got mad at a grocery teller once. Chewie was crying and he was going so slow! I feel really bad about it, and whenever I see him, I just want to give him a hug and say, "I'm sorry." Would that be weird?

= -2 points.

Well, it looks like the people of Eugene score a -1, and I cancel myself out. Neither of these are good scores. I basically don't contribute at all to my community! C'mon Eugenians! Let's you and I work together and make our city a happier place!

Gut wrenching

2011-07-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

I lost my wedding ring today.

When I was working on a project in the garage this morning and got up to brush myself off, my wedding ring flew off my finger. That should have been my first hint that my ring was having trouble staying on. I picked it up and put it back on.

Later that day I took baby Chewie to a school playground where we played on the grass, the swings and the slide.

A few minutes after I got home, I noticed that my ring was gone. I didn't quite freak out yet.

I remembered that I had it before we went to the park, so it could be one of two places: Our house, or worse, the park.

First I checked my pockets. Then my jewelry dish. Then I checked the bathroom counter, followed by every other counter in our house and then some. I was starting to panic.

I had done the dishes earlier, maybe it slipped off and fell in the sink. I stuck my hand down the in-sink-erator. No ring.

I had changed a dirty diaper. I pulled it out of the garbage. It didn't matter, I had to see if it had somehow gotten in there. Nope. No ring in the poop. By this time Chewie had undone a whole roll of toilet paper and was eating it for dinner.

I called Alec. By this time I was in full on panic mode. How could I have lost my wedding ring? People keep those all their life! This wasn't like I had misplaced it and it was going to show up someday. It was full on lost.

I was trying to tell myself that it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't the end of the world. My marriage would go on without that ring. But guys, I was so so sad. I lost a diamond! I figured my ring was gone forever.

I was about to dump out the garbage and search through it when I decided I might as well try and retrace my steps. I put Chewie in the stroller and made my way back to the playground. I was walking very slow and searching the ground with every step I took. Everything I saw made me more and more hopeless. The insane ivy under our front steps, the gutter drain, all of that grass I has walked across. Wedding ring graves! It could be anywhere!

I finally made it to the school and was greeted by a nice woman named Marci who asked me if I was there to pick up my child. I guess there is a camp at the school this week and it was just letting out. I told her I was looking for my lost wedding ring. She felt sick for me and told me that she would help me look. I was just explaining to her where we had been hanging around earlier when we got to the swings and she said, "Oh, look! There it is!" Marci had found it in the wood chips under the swings. A huge wave of relief rushed over me. I hugged the stranger/my new best friend Marci. Twice.

Of all the land Chewie and I covered, of all the grass and wood chips, and Marci found my ring almost instantly. It was a miracle.

The people of Eugene score another point!

I hope to pay it forward.

Hula Dancing in Eugene...

2011-07-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

The opposite of race

2011-07-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

This year I ran in the 4th of July Butte to Butte

Here's my butte before

Wow! Look at me go!

Here's my butte after. I think it looks lots better.

4 clues

2011-07-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

Can you guess where we've been?

pedicure and pretentious flip-flops (sandals that you have to "break in")

Where we stood 5 years ago when Alec popped the question

The nun's house (really, it's owned by a bunch of nuns)

The closest thing to a Bluth banana that we could find

Truly a great vacation

My latest obsession

2011-06-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

After I heard a few people in bloggerland talk about pinterest, I decided to check it out. I could spend all day on this site. Here are a few of my favorites:

How funny is this?

2011-06-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

This made me happy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvxNgdFeWqM

Goodbye ol' friend

2011-06-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Today is a sad sad day. My faithful electric toothbrush of 10 years has officially died on me. It was a strange birthday present for a 17 year old, but it's what I really wanted. It's a shame I still have 4 toothbrush heads left that fit on it. Those things are expensive! I guess I'll have to save them for when I can afford another fancy toothbrush someday.

I'm really going to miss you little guy. You lived a good long life.

Wonders of the pacific northwest

2011-06-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Dad's Day from this guy, a Seattle treasure.

Finally summer

2011-06-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

It was a clear day in the high 70s

We went for a nice walk outside

We watched these explode open

We bought this awesome chair at a yard sale for $5

We took a nap

We played Wii

We went by this guy's house

We went to a city celebration where
we played on the playground,
danced to music,
and relaxed on the grass

We had a really great day together. Happy summer everyone!

Special Day

2011-05-31T20:41:00.000-07:00

Look at banner Alec!

For Alec's birthday we were able to have a date night thanks to one of our wonderful friends here who took care of our little one.

We had dinner and then went to a movie, but not the one we thought we were going to see. We were in our seats for our first movie choice when about 5 minutes into it I smelled something funny. If you know me well, you know I have a very keen nose. Sometimes I smell things that aren't there. I thought that was maybe what was happening here since Alec said he didn't smell anything. I was pretty sure I was smelling pot though, and eventually Alec smelled it too. Then I turned around and saw the blazing blunt a few rows back. After living here for two years, it wasn't a huge surprise. I'm sighing dramatically right now just thinking about it. I've kept a whole list of the weird stuff that goes on around here and this experience is just the tip of the iceberg.

Needless to say we were kind of annoyed because this would only have been the 3rd movie we've gone to all year (it's not super easy going out these days), it's Alec's birthday, and this is the movie he wanted to see!!! Can't you go feel entitled to do whatever you want somewhere else? Seriously! That is just plain rude! But more so, it was really dumb. You think you can just go into a closed space and think people are not going to notice you're smoking pot?

Anyway, we ended up catching a different movie and still had a great time. And the fun didn't stop there. We came home for present and cake! (yup, just one present, but it was a big one!)

I finally caved and bought this big boy what he's really wanted for a while. After he unwrapped the Wii, he didn't waste any time.

Go ahead birthday boy, play to your hearts desire. You deserve it.

TVs grandest finale

2011-05-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

Ever since I heard Oprah was going off the air, I'd been watching her show every now and then and now I'm totally hooked. I'm seriously sad her last episode is on Wednesday. I was watching part 1 of her 2 part farewell today and I cried a little. I can't believe I've been missing out on it for the past 25 years! Has it always been this good?

one person's junk is another person's re-painted junk

2011-05-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

Found these two lovlies on the side of the road with a sign that said "free."

before:

after:

Craft corner complete.

And that's how poor people do it.

The kindness of strangers

2011-05-21T16:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I was waiting in line at the grocery checkout. When it came time to unload the groceries onto the conveyor belt, a woman who was walking by with her own grocery cart stopped and said, "You've got your baby to take care of and a brace on your wrist (I have a bit of tendonitis). Let me help you with that!" And she unloaded my whole cart (which was filled to capacity).

I was perfectly capable of unloading the cart myself and didn't really need her help, but I was quite taken aback by this sweet gesture from a perfect stranger.

It felt good to be the recipient of this simple and kind act, but more importantly, Joanie (I later found out the woman's name) reminded me of how easy it is to make other people feel good. I haven't done enough small and simple services for other people lately. I am too caught up in my own life and everything Randi.

So thank you Joanie, for helping me out in more ways than one, and also for reminding me that we are all in this together.

Do you watch...

2011-05-15T22:47:00.000-07:00

Celebrity Apprentice?

When I was a kid I had a frog named Meat Loaf. Not after this guy. Unfortunately I didn't know who he was until now. I just thought my frog looked like a piece of meat loaf. Man, my mom was awesome for letting me have frogs as a kid. You have to feed them live crickets. And they would always escape. Yuck! I don't think I want my kids having pets like that. But mom, thanks! You're the best!

Moms

2011-05-08T16:22:00.001-07:00

Thank you.

Thank you for the all the crazy stuff you went through to get us here.

Thank you for having changed the thousands of sometimes horrible diapers.

Thank you for having sacrificed all of that much needed sleep.

Thank you for putting our needs before your own.

We knew you had done a lot for us before, but now we have a different perspective. Can't wait to see what we learn in those teenage years...

We are privileged to call you Mom. Love you.

Utah Mormons

2011-04-26T10:39:00.001-07:00

OK, we haven't posted in forever. I make no apologies, however. Usually when I post, I try to be funny, but I'm not going to do that this time. I just wanted to copy and paste a post I read on a BYU message board the other day about "Utah Mormons." This may be relevant to any of you who are from Utah and then moved to another state. Frankly, Randi and I were really taken aback when we moved to Eugene and so many of the members would really disparage Utah members. They would speak with such disdain, scoffing when slurring the words "Utah Mormons." They never meant to offend us, but they knew we were from Utah and thus, by definition, Utah Mormons. For some reason, since we no longer lived in Utah, they thought we were OK. Anyway, here is the post:

Some random thought about "Utah Mormons":

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I am a "Utah Mormon" who has experience in East Coast wards. I've experienced probably a dozen or so wards, and I'll admit that I've enjoyed some more than others. But I also must say that labeling any ward as definitively "better" is pretty shallow and ignorant. It's one thing to say, "I prefer ___________ because ____________." It's quite another thing to say, "_______________ is better".

So it is with the Utah Mormon culture; when I hear somebody badmouthing "Utah Mormons", my immediate thought is that the individual is 1) entirely ignorant; 2) bitter about a Utah experience they are at least partially responsible for; and/or 3) incapable of creating their own content.
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Some people love the "LDS neighborhood feel" of Utah. Others detest it and prefer to be more of an island.

Some people love having their kids attend school with LDS teachers and classmates. Others find strength in being a minority.

Some men love the strength that comes from attending Sunday priesthood meeting with dozens of former bihops/stake presidents/high councilors. Others find thier greater strength in less populous LDS areas where they are more needed and depended upon.

Different strokes for different folks....

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It bothers me when somebody uses a broad brush to paint "Utah Mormons". Do you realize when you say, "Utah Mormons are so ____________ [insert insult]", that you are talking to a Utah Mormon?

It's ALWAYS bad form to insult a person's home, culture, or upbringing. Everybody has opinions; only fools feel compelled to always express those opinions.

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Has it ever dawned on you that maybe the REAL problem you've experienced is one that YOU created, and it is not so much a "Utah" problem?

Some examples:

1) A young married friend of mine came to Utah a few years ago with the intent to go to BYU. He didn't have a scholarship, didn't come from money, didn't have a job lined up, and didn't have many acquaintances here. So he and his new bride show up looking for the absolute cheapest place they can find, and they find a hole of an apartment in SW Provo. In a bad economy, both of them have a tough time finding work, and they go several months without employment. Eventually she settles a job at a fast food place in Springville, and he gets an evening job at a Blockbuster. So he goes to school in the mornings and then heads to Blockbuster to work evenings. She does the same. They return home each night to a dumpy apartment in a meth neighborhood, and then they hit the books.

No doubt, it was depressing, and a year later, his disdain for "Utah" was raging. "I can't wait to get out of Utah!" "I'm so sick of Utah Mormons!" "Utah is a dump...way different than what we expected."

Well, yeah...no kidding.

2) A current member of our neighborhood moved to Utah from California 4-5 years ago. This was prior to the real estate crash, and they moved for 2 purposes. First and foremost, they realized that by moving to Utah they could eliminate all of their debt, pay cash for 2x the house, and still have money left over for savings. Second, their youngest son, a teenager, was having a pretty rough life in Cali and they wanted him around better influences.

So they get to Utah, and guess what... Surprise! - their son didn't suddenly want to hang out with the seminary council, but soon found the same types of bad friends among LDS kids. Even though their son began his problems in California, blame started to fall on "Utah Mormons". Never mind that there are GREAT youth in our ward and in our neighborhood, far more, I'm sure, than in their Californial ward.

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The "Utah Mormon" culture is actually quite diverse. I know I'll get made fun of for this statement, but it's true. Just as a ward in Phoenix is far different than a ward in Nashville, visit a ward in Midvale and it will feel MUCH different than a ward in Alpine. Compare a ward in Saratoga Springs with a ward in Taylorsville, or contrast a Payson ward with a West Valley ward.

To say "Utah mormons are ________________" is stereotypical ignorance.

I laughed out loud when my Las Vegas relatives made a "Utah Mormons" comment. I've been to their Summerlin ward, and it is more "Utah" than my own.

http://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=6809295

Who does my cereal box think I am?

2011-03-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

I like sleep. I need at least 8 hours to be able to function well during the day. I also love sleeping in, but I fear I will never be able to do that again. Ah well, kids are worth it.

Lately I've been having trouble sleeping, so when I wake up in the morning I feel even more exhausted than usual. Alec found some online tips to help me sleep better, and some breakfast food ideas to get me energized in the morning. A couple of of the foods suggested are granola and nuts.

While at the store I came across some peanut butter granola. I love peanut butter! It's got peanuts and granola! Two birds with one stone.

The next morning I was excited to eat my energy food. I took a closer look at the box. I didn't notice how much it had to say when I bought it. I started reading. This granola is premium. It's saving the planet by making it's box size 10% smaller than it used to be, even though you're getting the same amount of granola. According to the box that's 1,000 trees per year and energy savings equal to 38 homes per year!

I kept reading. Uh oh, it's vegan. I haven't had much experience with vegan food, I've just had one bad experience. I bought a vegan cookie that just happened to be peanut butter. It looked delicious. I took a bite. It didn't taste peanut buttery, nor did it taste like a cookie. It was just bad. Not boding well for this granola.

I read on. It's organic. Well, that's great. Organic or not, it all tastes the same to me.

As I continued to read, things started getting personal. My granola was complimenting me!

It told me I'm a good person for recycling. Thank you!

It told me I look for local produce to buy, so that makes me a good person. Wait. I do? Well, I guess sometimes I do when I go to the farmer's market. Ok, cool.

It told me my bike helmet suits me. I don't even own a bike helmet! Nice!

My granola and I, together on the path to a more sustainable lifestyle. This has been a great morning so far.

But wait, I'm reading about how it's squeezed the same amount of cereal into a tighter fitting box and then it asks me if I've tried squeezing into my pants from college lately. Woah, hold on. Are you saying I'm fat? You don't even know me!

Then it goes on and on telling me about how great it is, exploring new energy sources, reducing plant waste, investing in organic farms and new employee transportation plans... you think you're pretty special, don't you cereal box.

Time to try it. I open the box and notice that they could have made the box even smaller. I try the granola. It's delicious. And it does give me energy! I finish it in a couple of days. The next time I go to the store I buy another box.

Here's the bottom line, cereal box. You had me at peanut butter. I bought you before I new how special you were. I don't care if you're saving the planet (well I do, but that's not what's going to get me to buy you), if you compliment me, or even if you insult me. All I care about is if you taste good. That's what's going to get me to buy you again and again.

That being said, I do aspire to be the kind of person my cereal box thinks I am.

Has it come to this?

2011-03-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

I teach Sunday school to 16, 17 & 18 year olds. It's usually a party in class with lots of silliness and chit chat, oh, and some gospel doctrine here and there (I try people. I really do!). But last week the kids were especially giddy over something, and they were all poking fun at this boy and girl in my class who are clearly a couple.

At the beginning of class I asked everyone if they had a good week and one of the boys said, "Stephen has had an especially good week!" (Stephen is the boy part of the couple.)

It was obvious that something had happened between the classroom couple. But the big news was not what I expected.

One of the girls in class eventually blabbed that the young man and woman in question had changed their Facebook relationship status to, "in a relationship."

Well, obviously. I see these kids once a week and I didn't need Facebook to tell me that.

I wonder if this was a joint decision which involved talking to each other, or if one just requested it on Facebook and the other accepted?

Next thing you know they're going to be telling each other, "I love you" for the first time through text.

Also, I'll feel sorry for them when they break up. Sunday school awkwardness.

Doing my part to conserve

2011-03-04T15:10:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Alec came home from work and said to me,

"You look cute today. Did you shower?"

To which proudly I replied,

"No!"

So, since he had to ask, I guess Alec doesn't just assume that I shower everyday.

But, apparently it's working for me.

So there, Alec.

Speaking of movies, and other stuff

2011-02-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

Recently Alec and I saw two movies that we had no desire to see.

The first movie we saw was Knocked Up. Yeah, all it took was the title to turn me off to this movie. It was on TV one weekend and we just ended up watching it, and you know what? It was actually a sweet movie and we both ended up really liking it. Of course it was the made for TV version so that toned it down a lot.

The other movie we saw was The Social Network. When I heard they were making a movie about Facebook I threw up in my mouth. Boring. But then it was getting all of these great reviews so we kind of had no choice. I guess I'm weird in the head because I don't know what all the buzz was about. It's hard for me to like a movie when two minutes into it I already hate the main character. However, if I was a business person, I would probably have enjoyed the film. Also, apparently them kids at Harvard are having a lot of fun.

Some movies surprise you, some don't.

Speaking of movies Alec and I saw this movie called White on Rice a while ago. We wanted to see it because it was filmed mainly in Salt Lake and it looked like a good one. It did not disappoint. I don't own many movies, but I want to own this one.

There's this scene where the main guy in the movie is on a date. He's Japanese and his date is Korean. He asks his date if they have Japanese food in Korea and she says, "I'm from Southern California." So he asks, "Do they have Japanese food in California?"

Well last night Alec and I were at this sushi place and we were sitting at a table next to an Asian couple who I think were on their first date. The girl asked, "Do you like Japanese food?" and the boy answered, "I like chicken casserole!" Then they talked about casserole for a little while.

In other news, things are going well here. Today we got a rebate to Costco for $115! Yay! How much did we spend at Costco to get that rebate? I don't want to know. Also, Alec's happy because It's game day so Alec had his Jimmer shirt on, BYU won their basketball game, and to top it off, while we were out and about someone stopped Alec and asked him who Jimmer was. He seemed to think that was pretty cool.

Oh, and we got new pillows.

We are living. it. up.

Hey! San Diego State...

2011-02-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

I love

2011-02-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

us.

Happy V-Day to all you lovers out there

BYU Legends Make Music

2011-02-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

Not sure how much my grandpa listens to Bon Jovi...

Funny story. When my grandpa was in choir in high school, his teacher told him he'd give him an A if he just mouthed the words and not actually sing.

"New Jersey…that’s one state that should have the death penalty."

2011-02-02T21:29:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember a post I did last year about my tort law professor. Basically, this guy teaches only a little bit of law interspersed between his rants about the bleak future of humanity. The great thing about his rants, however, is that he smiles the whole time, has a cool accent (he is from Sierra Leone) and drops some amazing one-liners. Well, this semester I am taking another class from him. His rants are somewhat appropriate in this class, though, because it is a class about human rights law. Anyhow, without further ado, I give you crazy professor quotes:

"I want you to have the right to be free, but not my friend."

"I keep going to church every couple of months to see if someone gets up when the pastor is speaking and say, 'I am Jesus!'"

"Humanity….I spit on you!"

"I am pleased to know that in the next 10 years or so, an asteroid will wipe us all out. I look forward to that."

"When I realized I could get a pension and a 401k, all of my revolutionary fervor disappeared."

"New Jersey…that’s one state that should have the death penalty."

"This faculty is so dominated by environmental law professors, so I despise them."

"She said, 'we should save the world,' and I just said, 'why?'”

"It is always a good idea to sue Libya."

"'ll do what I want!' 'That’s not good enough. Die.'”

"I’ve never taught this class as a class before."

"I truly despise Constitutional Law professors. They think they are superior to us. Why do we have to have 6 of them to interpret one constitution? The ones from Yale are the worst. They just interpret the same thing over and over and over."

"My daughter prohibits me from going on facebook."

"You can support the revolution virtually while having your latte."

"Most of my fellow human beings are horrible people in groups."

"I was surprisingly religious. That really bugs me."

"I don’t like being executed for drug possession."

I am sure there will be more coming...these came from a total of 3 classes....

All it takes is one short visit...

2011-01-29T20:11:00.000-08:00

...and you turn into an awesomely yuppie bunch.

It's what happened to these guys. Can't you tell?

That's what the moral superiority emanating from the streets of Eugene does to ya (or so Alec says).

Of course we had to do VooDoo

Weee! Bacon + dougnut = delicious fun for all!

Thanks for visiting C-Money and P-Diddles. XOXO!

I'm just sayin'

2011-01-25T13:07:00.001-08:00

When we first moved to Eugene, I really liked it for all of it's beauty and eccentricities. But after a few months of not being able to find a good job, I began to get a little down on myself.

At least it was still pretty warm compared to UT and I could keep myself busy by spending a lot of time outside.

Then the rain came.

And I swear it didn't stop until July!

And everything I started out liking about Eugene, I began to truly hate. The running trails were all muddy, the people were crazy, the Farmer's Market was too weird...

I felt pretty bad in this place. So bad that I found something to hate about almost everything here. The grass was too green! I wanted to get out of Eugene and never come back!

Then I had our baby. It finally stopped raining, it was nice and summery warm outside, and I was a very busy lady. I was starting to be much happier again.

I was a little worried for the rainy season again this year. Would I be afraid to go outside for fear of a downpour that comes out of nowhere soaking me like it did so many times last year? Would I be forced to be a hermit? Would I go crazy playing with baby toys all day? Would I feel trapped and alone again?

The rain started months ago, and you know what? I've been too busy doing the best, most fun job in the world to notice it.

Instead, I've been noticing the things I liked about this place before.

Like how oftentimes there are nice days in January where I can go for walks with my girls.

Like how there are cool things here that I've only seen in the movie Fern Gully.

Like how spring is already starting to show it's face.

Like how I've realized that it wasn't the weather, the drivers, the people, or the fact that my dog got fleas that made me hate it here.

It was ME.

Yesterday Alec told me how nice it is for him to be able to call me during a break from school or work and not have to be worried about what he's going to hear on the other end. I'd sometimes be crying, I'd tell him I wanted to move, I'd complain about everything.

My first thought was:

Yes. that was a sucky time for me and I'm so glad it's over!

And then I thought:

Wow. How horrible it must have been to be you and have to hear that. I'd be nervous and scared to call me too!

But he still called me everyday, sometimes several times.

I learned so much about myself last year. A lot of it really ugly... I also learned things about my husband I never would have if things had gone more smoothly. All of it wonderful.

I've never thought much of the New Year's holiday before, but when that day came, I was excited to leave 2010 behind and begin fresh, with a whole new attitude.

Starting with liking where I live.

Did I mention it's in the mid-fifties and sunny here today? I'm just sayin'

ps: Happy birthday Ken!

The Grapefruit Syndrome

2011-01-25T12:52:00.001-08:00

I used to have it, kind of still do have it, and am definitely working on it.

It's the title of an article I read in the Ensign magazine last night. I'm pretty sure Alec and I have had a similar conversation as the couple in the article, so it reminded me a lot us. Not because there's nothing he doesn't like about me, but because as he says, "I choose to focus on the good things." Thanks hon.

This will make more sense if you read the article here. It's really short and sweet, I promise.

May all who are suffering from The Grapefruit Syndrome soon be well. Or at least work towards it!

Also, I still think my husband is a knight on a white charger, except I call him my George Clinton on a white pony.

SkyMall

2011-01-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

It makes for such great entertainment if you're someone who forgets their book or iPod when air-traveling. For those of you who did not fly anywhere this holiday season, Alec and I snagged a copy of SkyMall so that we could share with you some of our favorite products we like to think about purchasing while up in the sky.

it won't be long before everyone's wearing a Helpy.

Just what you need after a nice long day at the law school or law firm. $119.99 for the whole package. We'll just add it on to our grad school bill.

The Litter Kwitter. That cat looks confused.

Cause dogs go to heaven too.

I actually really want this.

Really? Sperm shoes? Good idea, guy.

Did you hear?

2011-01-09T19:36:00.001-08:00

The Ducks are going to the "Natty" (side note: some dude on Oregon referred to it as the Natty and ever since all of those old white people have been calling it that...I throw up a little bit each time they do).

It is pretty exciting to be around, though I must admit, Randi and I remain relatively indifferent to the successes/failures of the Ducks (don't get me wrong, we'll still be cheering for them...we will just not kill ourselves if the Ducks lose).

However, others in the area are a little bit more excited...

This video is awesomely bad (Randi told me to write that and then laughed...she does that a lot). You'll notice that Oregon is so non-diverse that even its rappers are white.

I'll give you a dollar if you made it through the whole video. No I won't.

Go Ducks! Or whatever.

I've recently been the victim...

2011-01-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

...of someone saying to me, "No offense Randi, but..." and then going on to say something that made me feel really bad. The thing is, I know this person was totally not trying to hurt my feelings at all. They just didn't think about what they were saying, and I'm sure haven't thought anything of it since. Me on the other hand? I went home and cried because it hurt me so much. This person had no idea of how gnarly the situation was that I had been through when they lightly touched on it and made a judgement.

Here's what I've learned from this experience:
1. I will never start a sentence with "No offense, but..." Sometimes people say this playfully, but I'll just steer clear of it. Most likely the next thing said will offend someone, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. Which was the case for this person I had the experience with.

2. I've once again relearned not to make judgements about someone, no matter how small. No one knows anyone else's situation. I have no idea of the extent of what any one else has gone through or how it affected them.

3. I have no doubt been at fault for saying something insensitive and realizing it too late. So, I have also relearned to think before I speak. Yes, it's true. Sometimes I don't do that.

4. There's a quote you've probably heard that goes something like:
"He who offends is a fool, but he who takes offense is an even bigger fool."
I was offended big time. But you know what? Being hurt and feeling bad didn't feel... good. I sometimes let even little insignificant things bother or offend me so I'm going to try really hard not to get offended by the things people say. Most likely they are not trying to offend me like the person mentioned above, and it doesn't do me any good to wallow in my own self pity.

Another life lesson learned. Keep em comin'.

This girl will go to any lengths...

2010-12-29T21:02:00.000-08:00

... to be near her momma.

Mormon chai

2010-12-12T16:37:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about cold weather is the hot drinks that warm you up: apple cider, hot chocolate, and chai -tea. Yes, chai without the tea is just as good, or maybe even better! Here's a recipe I found and tweaked a little. I'm calling it Momron Chai (the drink formerly known as Milk and Sugar with Spices). I make it in the Cocoa Grande my mother-in-law gave us for Christmas last year and it works perfectly. Try it out!

Ingredients
1/2 c dry milk powder
1/2 c powdered non-dairy creamer
2/3 c french vanilla flavored non-dairy creamer
2/3 c sugar
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp white pepper

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavored creamer, and sugar. Stir in all other spices. In a blender, food processor or coffee grinder blend one cup at a time until mixture is the consistency of fine powder.

2. To serve: Stir 3 tablespoons of mixture into a mug (8 oz or so in the cocoa grande) of hot milk (or water if you prefer).

Obviously you can add more or less of the mixture to your cup in order to spice it up or tone it down.

Enjoy!

Something happened last night...

2010-11-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

I like the glowing cat eyes in this picture.

(Don't worry, not our cat. We've learned our lesson with animals.)

It snowed about a fingernail's width last night and most of the city shut down, except for the University. Poor Alec was hoping for a snow day :(

I miss the snow. It's the first time it's snowed in Eugene since we've been here. For a minute there it felt like home.

I'm thankful for...

2010-11-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

Good books.

I recently finished one recommended to me by my mom.

It's called The Help and I really enjoyed it. If you haven't read it you should check it out!

Any books out there you'd recommend these days?

Buyer's remorse

2010-11-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

I get it a lot. For normal people it's associated with big ticket purchases, but for me it happens when I spend $5 on nail polish. And I have to return it... I feel guilty about spending the money but with this experience, it was different.

The other day I went to Kohl's because I felt like I needed a sweater. I found one that I thought was pretty cute. It was a navy blue zip-up with cute buckle pockets in the front and a collar that had white fluffy cotton on it. After I had checked out feeling proud of my purchase, an older woman who was with another even older woman (her mom I'd guessed) came up to me and asked me where I had found the sweater. The alleged "mother" liked it. I pointed to the Juniors section.

There are two things wrong with this story:

1. That old lady and I still shop in Juniors sometimes (hers is worse)

2. That old lady and I have the same style

Needless to say I did end up returning the sweater, but not for the reason you think. It didn't fit right (that's my other problem. I never try things on before I buy them).

What can I say except...

2010-11-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

...it's that time of year.

All that's missing is some delicious pumpkin ice cream. Mmm mmm.

Project #1

2010-10-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

I finished my first sewing project. It took two classes, but I got er done. Here's a look at the final project:

Front

Back

It's a pouch. Impressive huh? I took the sew fundamentals class because I'd forgotten everything I learned in Home Ec. in 7th grade. Beginners have to make this pouch because in making it you learn a lot of the basics of sewing: different seams (as shown on the back), zippers, button holes etc. It's pretty sloppy in places, but I'm kinda proud of myself. It feels good to make your own stuff.

So, what will I use this pouch for? I have no idea. Maybe I'll put my meager stash of sewing supplies in it. Someday I think it would be cool to have a room full of sewing supplies, but for now all I have fit in this pouch with room to spare.

So what should I make next? Maybe a simple handbag, or stylish skirt? Stayed tuned to find out!

Political Correctness

2010-10-26T15:44:00.001-07:00

Of course this is how the University of Oregon asks what your gender is on a survey:

What is your gender?

Male
Female
Transgender
Prefer not to answer

The final chapter

2010-10-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

Alec and I had thought about selling our birds on Craigslist for a while. I guess we never did it because even though we hated them, we still thought they were cool to look at and liked them for sentimental value (we got them when we were first married so we associate them with that and believe it or not, have other fond memories of them too). Also, we thought baby would like to play with them someday. We talked about selling them, but neither of us wanted to actually do it. Well, those two hours of relief, happiness, peace and quiet when the birds escaped and before one of them returned made us realize it was time to get rid of the remaining one for good.

We put an ad on Craigslist selling every bird thing we owned (which turned out to be a lot of stuff! Cage, stand, seed guard, food, toys, treats, bedding....) for a measly $20 (we were desperate!).

Here's what we learned:

If you're selling something on Craigslist, start with your price a little higher. Alec got several e-mails right away and I bet we could have made a little bit more money for all we sold. Who knew so many people were waiting at their computer for the bird of their dreams?

Atticus made it easy to say goodbye by singing her piercing squawk all the way to our destination. We met the sweet older woman who would be Atticus' new owner on neutral ground (the Target parking lot). She seemed so excited to have the bird. We unloaded our stuff on her and gathered our $20. When we left I noticed her turned to the back seat where the bird cage was and talking to Atticus. She was in good hands.

After that Alec and I felt bad about what happened to Chiquita. Then I realized that if that whole episode hadn't happened in the first place we'd probably still have our birds, at least for a little while longer because we wouldn't have experienced the bliss of not having them.

So, this ends the saga of the annoying birds. I promise I won't ever write about them again.

Almost inadvertently solved the bird problem

2010-10-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

If you know me well then you know I HATE our birds. Mostly because their constant squawking drives me crazy! Well something happened today and even though I want those birds out of my life, I promise I didn't do this on purpose.

So, I was taking the bird cage outside this morning because then their chirping isn't quite as loud. I dropped the cage, the lid popped off, and the birds flew away! And I wasn't sad at all! Alec told me the first thing that came to his mind when it happened was, "What a relief!"

Then I realized that I had just doomed my birds so I was sad. But that only lasted for .000001 seconds. Also, Alec made me feel better because he said that our birds will have a few great days of freedom before... (sigh)

After that I went for a run and thought about the birds escaping and I was happy! And also relieved like Alec. I am a horrible person.

Well, my happiness didn't last long because when I came home from my run, Alec told me that some guy that lives a ways down the street came over to our house asking if we'd lost a bird. He said he had noticed our birds in our window. Apparently he saw Atticus (the one that got attacked from my post about them) in a tree outside his house. He walked outside, Atticus flew on his head, and then he walked inside. Yeah, our great bird training saved Atticus' life (and came back to bite us...). So, we are down to one bird. Hopefully someone equally as nice finds Chiquita and just keeps her.

Problem half-way solved.

I like it when people do this

2010-10-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

Dating...

One year...

Two years...

Three years...

Four years...

Here's to many more!

Love you sweetest

Awkward Bus Rides...

2010-10-19T19:43:00.001-07:00

When Randi and I decided to leave our $20,000/year jobs in Utah so that I could pursue a law degree in Oregon (in the hopes that I will one day make $30,000/year), we sold our cars and downsized to one nicer car. It made sense to do this because I remember how much of a nightmare parking was at Utah State when I was a student there and I knew there was no way it would be any better at an even larger university. Besides, Eugene is such a hippie town that the city bends over backwards to promote commuting by alternative modes of transportation (e.g., there are lots of bike paths and many roads are considered "bike routes" wherein cars are to yield to bikes). Of course, the best thing the City of Eugene could do to make biking to work or school more pleasant would be putting a huge bubble over the entire city to keep the rain and pollen out...

Anyway, in addition to the copious bike lanes in town, the bus system is pretty good. It is reliable and goes out to my neighborhood in the sticks. However, no matter how good a bus system is, the one thing that will never change is how strange a lot of the people are on the bus and how many awkward situations arise on the bus. I had one such awkward situation yesterday when I sat down on the bus. It was the 5:00 PM bus, so it was bound to be crowded with the environmentally conscious out-of-shape people of Eugene (the others were riding their bikes). One such gentleman sat next to me, forcing me to place my huge bag on my lap. I thought to myself...

..."this guy will only be on for a few minutes, then I can put my bag back on his chair and stretch out my legs"...

...only this guy didn't get off in a few minutes. In fact, he stayed on the bus until about two stops before it was my turn to get off. Meanwhile, almost everyone on the bus had filtered out, opening numerous empty benches....however, for some reason this dude never got up to go to one of those benches. Now, I am pretty sure he was a U of O student because he had a big backpack (much like mine) sitting on his lap (much like me). Having been in that exact same situation at that exact same moment, I knew he was not comfortable...yet, he remained steadfastly planted in that small seat right next to me. The benches are small, and there was really no way for me to move to an empty bench without climbing over this guy. I really can't figure out why he didn't get up to move, other than maybe he thought I would take that as an insult for some reason. Like, if he got up, I would give him a nasty look as if to say...

..."dude, what's the deal? Do I stink? Were you not enjoying having our masculine thighs rub together while we awkwardly avoided eye contact?"

What made matters worse was that I was listening to my iPod which was in my left pocket (and was also rubbing against this guy's thigh). The podcast I was listening to ended and so I was left with my headphones in with nothing playing (since I obviously couldn't dig my hand in my pocket and up the awkwardness even more).

Anyway, that's a pretty lame bus story, but I just wanted to write this to tell everyone that it is OK to get up and move to an empty spot on the bus when you're cramped up next to someone...odds are he will appreciate it.

Note: this was only the second most awkward thing that happened to me this week. This morning after my basketball game, I accidentally looked some guy in the eyes in the shower.

This girl's bus ride was a little worse than mine:

Here me roar

2010-10-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

***Disclaimer: If you're a guy this will bore you.***

Last year before I knew I was pregnant, Alec gave me a gift. It was a book he made with pictures of us and a list of all the things he loved about me (awww). One of the things on the list was this:

"I love how you respect yourself and women in general. You are a feminist in the very best way. You took my last name, support me in my pursuit of a good career, and want to be a stay-at-home mom, but you are a very strong proponent of women respecting themselves. You hate it when women on TV or in movies are smart, cute and kind but still subject themselves to chauvinistic men who sleep around. You hate how the media shows men disrespecting women who in turn disrespect themselves."

That's his opinion of being a "feminist in the very best way."

Alec and I have a bit of a running joke about vegetarians and how nobody likes them. Do we really think that? Of course not. Alec's little brother is a vegetarian and one of the coolest kids I know. But let's face it, a lot of people have negative feelings and judgements towards vegetarians. It's the same with feminists.

Well, poor Alec. He thought his wife was the best kind of feminist, and then she got pregnant and reared her evil-feminazi head. People, being pregnant is HARD! I had a whole lot more to complain about.

It even got to the point where I once noticed Alec grunting when he bent over to pick something up and I chastised him. How dare he! I was the one carrying that bowling ball around in my stomach! He hadn't earned it.

Let's be honest here. In a lot of ways men have it easier. I could make a list, but then I would be the worst kind of feminist. Besides, you already know what would be on it. Also, that's not the point of this post.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. While I was pregnant and sometimes feeling sorry for myself for being a woman (don't get me wrong, pregnancy is an amazing experience, just not always fun), I wasn't happy. Complaining about how unfair I thought it was to be a woman just didn't suit me.

Experiencing pregnancy gave me a whole new perspective on womanhood, and when it was all said and done I realized that in a certain way I'm more proud to be a woman because it is hard.

And now I'm a mom and it ain't getting any easier. It's freaking hard guys! But mostly, it's awesome.

So in conclusion, girls rule! And so do boys!

If you're like us...

2010-10-13T09:57:00.001-07:00

...you'd think a parakeet would make a fine pet.

Better yet, a paira parakeets!

Well, you'd be wrong.

(evidence of blood on the perch, yikes!)

We should've just stuck with one parakeet.

(Atticus' bloody shoulder, ouch!)

Or better yet none at all.

(Chiquita's new home... for now...)

So, now what?

How we do Halloween

2010-10-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my mom I especially love Halloween. I feel like it is one holiday where my mom enjoys pulling out all the stops when it comes to decorating. Unlike Christmas. Not that my mom doesn't enjoy Christmas. It's just that she has this amazing tree and it's such a chore to put together and decorate because

it's. so. dang. HUGE!

And frankly, I don't think she enjoys making it into the masterpiece it becomes. It's stressful.

But Halloween. There's no stress involved in decorating for that. Only fun, happy times.

Last year we were lame for Halloween. Alec and I didn't even buy pumpkins.

Yeah, that's right. Neither of us were working and we were to cheap to buy inexpensive little pumpkins. How absurd is that?!

Well this year we have more bills to pay, and an extra person living with us, but guess what? I bought pumpkins (gasp!) and a few other things.

Because, let's face it.

What's another $25 compared to all the student loans we're burying ourselves in?(not that I encourage this kind of behavior, I just practice it...)

Here's some of our new cheap stuff mixed with some of our old crap (except for the stylish things that were gifts from family members. Those are not crap. For those, I thank you!).

If you guessed that that black pumpkin lit up and was covered in glitter, you'd be right! (That's a shout out to you mom! Hey hey!)

If you guessed that the 'autumn' decoration was from the dollar store, you'd also be right!

Pretty sure this is another dollar store find.

Sparkle sparkle!

Gourds. Why do I love them so much? Especially the bumpy, twisty, multi-colored ones.

O let Us cast Dull Care away

Again be Children for a Day

Witches Goblins have their sway

Tis Halloween, lets Joke and Play.

We even bought lights to put out in front of our house.

Well, what do you think? What? I said I spent $25 not $50.

It's also the only time of year when crows are cool. Not. I literally walked outside of my house just in time to see a bunch of crow butts hanging off my rooftop. They must have been devouring the delicious morsels that lay in our rain gutter. Here's proof. They're being shooed away...

...to dangle their butts elsewhere.

Happy October everyone!

Morning Visitors

2010-10-08T13:41:00.001-07:00

Baby was playing with the curtain while I was changing her diaper and look what I spotted when she flung it open...

Off it goes

But wait, three more.

A happy little family.

Facebook

2010-10-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

Alec and I quit it. Isn't it strange/funny that you can quit something like Facebook? Like it's an addiction or something...scary.

Anyway, it feels really liberating which is also strange to me. It's not like we were the kind of people who were on it 24/7 (well, Alec may have been), but for some reason getting rid of it cold turkey made me feel really good.

Free.

We both just got really sick of it. I don't know why. We just decided we didn't like it anymore and didn't want it around, like it was some weird kid at recess.

Someday we might jump back into it if we feel the need again (Or if my sister begs us like she did the last time we quit because she "knew something was different" after we did (I guess that means we aren't really quitting it)), but for now we'll just stick to blogging. Blogging is a nice release (not that it's much better than, or different from facebooking (is 'facebooking' a verb now?)).

And so far, I don't miss FB one bit. I don't get on the internet and think:

check e-mail
check blogs
check Facebook

like I used to. It doesn't even cross my mind (except to share my ideas with you of how good it feels for some reason to quit (and yes, I do realize that it is ironic that I am in fact blogging about FB. Sue me. Take a good look. Cause this is the last time...))

Seriously, it's nice to have that monkey off my back.

Hair!

2010-10-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

You know how most women lose a lot of hair after they give birth? This is because while they are pregnant, their scalp holds onto all of that hair they have instead of shedding 50 to 100 hairs a day, and then sheds it all after they give birth. It does however leave them with thick, awesome, shiny and beautiful hair for the better part of 9 months. Well, I am losing my hair like crazy. But the problem is, I was losing it before I got pregnant, while I was pregnant, and I just saw some more fall to the floor as I was typing this.

I can't help but notice that this woman kind of looks like the transgender mayor here in Oregon.

Alec was vacuuming yesterday and he had to clean the filter of the vacuum because it was clogged with mine and Leila's hair. Leila sheds like crazy, but I feel like I am just as bad! My hair is everywhere! And Alec oftentimes sings me that old Dashboard Confessional song...

We find it in all sorts of place. For example, we found one in baby's diaper. I guess it makes sense since I am hovering over her when I change her, but hair+ dirty diaper= EW! I am sick of seeing it all over the place. What am I to do?

I feel sad for this kid.

Hidden treasures

2010-10-04T14:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we decided to take our new B.O.B. stroller (thank you Grandma and Grandpa C!) and baby for a little Sunday afternoon walk. Alec and I typically do variations of the same two routes when we do this (boring I know! It's just that there is a trail by our house and we usually just walk on that!). But yesterday we veered from our regular paths and discovered something very interesting. One street that is tucked away where all of the houses are charming and beautiful and quite unique from the houses you usually see around Eugene (not that most houses aren't charming an beautiful, this street was just very different).

Today I took the same route with camera in tow.

Entrance to Bizarro Street.

Alec and I were talking about how just about anyone can be a photographer these days because of the ability to buy good cameras for relatively cheap and all of that great editing software. Well, unfortunately I still manage to take horrible pictures. Sorry. The sun was in the way for some houses, but you can still get the jist.

I love the green door.

This is the other side of "the green door house."

I just think all of those houses are so enchanting. Most of the houses where we live resemble cabins, like this one:

Baby and I kept strolling and I just kept taking pictures. Heres a picture of one of the things that bothers Alec the most about Eugene:

People's lawns.

Most people here have lawns that look like this.

Very few have lawns that are well kept like this:

And several just forego the whole lawn thing all together as seen here:

Some people make their own fences...

...and there are several houses here that are painted out of sight colors like this one.

I think the changing red tree compliments the color of the house quite nicely, don't you?

There is also a bunch of vegetation Alec and I had never seen before we moved here, although I had passed most of the cool stuff by the time I decided to take pictures of it.

We have seen palm trees here, and also trees that resemble giant-sized bonsais. Very cool.

The other things about walking around in our neighborhood is that you will continue to be barked at for every other house you pass by. We can't complain about that though because we have our own dog who does the same thing. The good news is that she doesn't bark very much and it isn't too loud due to the compaction of her face and throat.

BTW, it's October, fall...

...and it's my favorite.

Things we've learned

2010-09-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

Alec and I have been in Eugene for over a year now and our experience has taught us a lot. Here are just of few things we've learned:

1. Here when I drive, pedestrians have the right of way. When I'm a pedestrian, vehicles have the right of way. Watch out.

2. Wherever we end up, we want there to be a big airport nearby.

3. Though we have loved living close to our families in years past, living in another state has helped us to rely on each other more than ever and we have grown stronger as a couple. It has been wonderful for our little family.

4. It rains here. A lot. And then it rains some more. We've learned (especially me I think) that we don't want to end up somewhere super rainy. This year I will beat the rain with the help of these:

My new favorite lullaby

2010-08-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

After months of resistance, I finally gave into Alec's pleas and we have Netflix now. As simple as it is, going out to movies was one of our favorite things to do. Since we have a baby now we won't be doing much of that, so even though I didn't want to add another monthly bill (no matter how small), I finally convinced myself that Netflix would be the easiest and cheapest way for us to still have movie nights. And I love it.

So far we've watched So I Married and Axe Murderer (which was really fun to see after all these years), Office Space (I think I love Mike Judge and keep seeing his movies and after this I finally realized I don't love Mike Judge, I just love King of the Hill), and the last movie we watched was The Waitress. A while ago my mom told me about this movie and how she thought it was cute, and she was right! I really liked it and Alec said he did too, which makes me think some guys might like it, but he was MacBooking and iPoding while we were watching so who knows for sure. It's about a waitress who's unhappy with how things have turned out in her life and plans to change everything by baking an amazing pie. Keri Russell who plays the lead did a great job in this movie and the ending is really sweet. It was a Sundance Film and if you like romantic dramadies you should check it out!

Anyway, I'm all about singing lullabies right now and The Waitress had a really sweet one that went perfect with the story. It's called Baby Don't you Cry (the Pie Song) and here are a little "video" so you can get the tune and the lyrics below:

When the world is gray and bleak

Baby don't you cry

I will give you every bit of love that is in my heart

I will bake it up… into a simple little pie

Baby don't you cry

Gonna make a pie

Gonna make a pie with a heart in the middle

Baby don’t be blue

Gonna make for you

Gonna make a pie with a heart in the middle

Chorus:

Gonna be a pie from the heaven above

Gonna be filled with strawberry love

Baby don’t you cry

Gonna make a pie

Hold you forever in the middle of my heart.

Baby heres the sun

Baby heres the sky

Baby I’m the light and I’m your shelter

Baby you are mine

I could freeze the time

Keep you in my kitchen with me forever

Chorus

Gonna bake a pie from the heaven above

Gonna be filled with butterscotch love

Gonna be a pie from the heaven above

Gonna be filled with banana cream love

Baby don’t you cry

Gonna make a pie

Hold you forever

Hold you forever in the middle of my heart

Next up: The Kite Runner. Do you have any other Netflix suggestions?

Everything Tastes Better with Bacon

2010-07-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

You may have heard this phrase at some point. Perhaps you've heard my mom say it (it is, after all, one of her life mottos). You can see it on t-shirts. There's even a book about it. I happen to find myself repeating it from time to time. However, everyone knows that not everything tastes better with bacon...right? I mean, something like...oh, I don't know...a doughnut would most definitely not taste better with bacon. Right? Right?

Enter Voodoo Doughnuts. It is a little independently owned doughnut shop based out of Portland that offers a number of crazy doughnuts including the "Gay Bar" (a bar doughnut with fruit loops in the color of a rainbow), the "Maple Blazer Blunt" (donut shaped like a joint), the "Marshall Matters" (like Marhall Mathers, a.k.a. Eminem--it is a donut with white frosting and covered in M&Ms), and of course, a Voodoo Bar (a doughnut shaped like a gingerbread man filled with raspberry jelly with a stake in its heart). Well, it just so happens that Voodoo Doughnuts created the "Bacon Maple Bar" -- a maple bar that (as you may have guessed it) is topped with two pieces of crisp bacon.

Now, I first heard of the Bacon Maple Bar shortly after moving to Eugene. I figured I would probably never eat one because Portland is two hours away and I just didn't think Randi would be game to make a long trip just so that I could satisfy my curiosity. Well, just recently Randi and I were walking around downtown Eugene and I noticed a Voodoo Doughnuts. Apparently it opened just recently, which was excellent news as it allowed me to put my money where my mouth was. Is everything actually better with bacon?

Leila wishes she could find out.

The verdict: this was one of the most amazing doughnuts I have ever eaten. Truly, everything is better with bacon.

P.S. You can get legally married at a Voodoo Doughnuts. You can have a big cake doughnut and everything. Unfortunately, Randi and I did not know about this until now.

Inspirational Dads

2010-07-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

As you have all been made aware, I have recently become a father. Fatherhood (or the "hood" as my friend, Trey, calls it) has been great so far. And it has made me appreciate all of the fathers in my life. I am, of course, referring to all of those TV dads out there that have taught me so much. Here are my favorites:

1. Phil Dunphy, Modern Family:

If you haven't seen Modern Family, yet, you really need to. It is one of those shows that has so many great characters (see Cam, Manny and Gloria), that you find it hard to choose a favorite. I would, however, have to say that Phil takes the cake in this show. He is so amusingly clueless, yet the most involved/awesome father ever. Some great Phil quotes:

"Claire's a perfectionist, which sometimes is a good thing, like when it comes to picking a husband."

"I was 11 years old. I hit ten straight fastballs in the batting cage, then my friend Jeff Sweeney took one in the groin. I yelled 'ball two!' Everybody laughed. That's when I knew I was funny."

"I'm cool dad, that's my thang. I'm hip, I surf the web, I text. LOL: laugh out loud, OMG: oh my gosh, WTF: why the face"

2. Every Dad on Arrested Development:

Even though the show has now been off the air for more than four years, it continues to be Randi's and my absolute favorite show (in fact, we are watching an episode from season 1 on DVD right now). Can't beat George Sr., Oscar, GOB, Michael and Tobias. Other than Michael, they are all completely unfit to be successful parents, which makes it tremendously funny. More quotes:

"You're forgetting, Lindsay, that as a psychiatrist, I was a professional twice over - an analyst and a therapist. The world's first 'analrapist'." - Tobias

"So you're telling me the guy we're meeting with can't even grow his own hair. Come on!" - G.O.B.

"I'm doing the time of my life!" - George Sr.

"I'm moving to Phoenix. I got a job...[awkward silence]...something you apply for and they pay you to... Never mind, I don't want to ruin the surprise." - Michael

3. Hank Hill, King of the Hill:

Hank Hill is pretty much my hero. He is everything a man and an American should be. On thesurface, Hank comes across as someone I may not get along with. He votes Republican and loves Texas more than anything (he was horrified when he learned he was born in New York). However, Hank is the most awesome TV character ever. He is so simple, yet so dynamic. The man is passionate about America, football, Alamo beer, and most of all propane. He is the most honest, yet naive person in the world (see the episode where he unwittingly becomes a pimp wearing a feathered cowboy hat and driving a pimpmobile or where he reveals that he has never paid a cent more or less for a vehicle than sticker price). He loves his son, Bobby, even though he cannot for the life of him understand why Bobby is more interested in prop comedy and fruit pies than football and girls. Hank's the kind of guy you want living next door. He'll rush to help you build a shed, he maintains an impeccable yard, he goes to bed early and if another neighbor is causing trouble he'll either "kick their ass" or seek proper avenues through law enforcement and the city council to take care of the problem. Also, if you ever wanted to buy a grill, he'd be the perfect person to talk to. He's more passionate about propane and propane accessories than a pediatrician is about children's health. He is amazing.Hank quotes:

"Oh no my eyes are turning bloodshot, I'm going on a trip! I look like I'm doped out of my gourd!" [Hank after accidentally taking a single drag on a joint]

"If you'd like to learn more about sexual education, don't! Nobody likes a know-it-all who sits around talking about their genitalia. Now, I think you might like this next show, The X-Files. I always thought it was some kind of porno, on account of the title, but turns out it's all about two young people who don't have sex. Now, that's entertainment!"

"Bobby, if you weren't my son, I'd hug you."

"Butane is the bastard gas."

"If Bobby doesn't love football, he won't lead a fulfilling life, and then he'll die."

"Why would anyone ever smoke weed when they could just mow a lawn?"

"What the hell kind of country is this where I can only hate a man if he's white?"

"You can't just pick and choose which laws to follow. Sure I'd like to tape a baseball game without the express written consent of Major League Baseball, but that's just not the way it works."

"A poodle? Why don't you just get me a cat and a sex change operation?"

Uh...the list goes on. Maybe I should have just done a separate "I Love Hank Hill" post.

Anyhow, those are the TV dads that continue to raise me. It should be noted that the following TV dads have been intentionally omitted: Peter Griffin, the dads on American Dad and The Cleveland Show (though Family Guy has its funny moments, I've just never jumped on the Seth McFarlane bandwagon), the dad on Two and a Half Men (worst show ever made that keeps getting made and, presumably, watched), and Homer Simpson -- OK, I absolutely love Homer Simpson, but everyone else does, too, so putting him on this list would be too easy.

There you have it. If you ever see me correcting my daughter when she refers to an illusion as a trick, or see me saying "that girl ain't right," you'll know why.

Surprise!!

2010-06-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

Baby came early! We will be posting plenty of pictures, videos, reflections, etc. on our other blog, boom-kids.blogspot.com (get it, "boom-kids" like Cannons go "boom") (note that this is a change from the original blog title...we changed it because we didn't want our baby's full name to be the web address of our private blog, plus we figured we'd want to continue using the same blog for future Cannon children). The blog is private, so if you haven't already received an invite, send me a message requesting one and if we don't think you're creepy we'll add you to the list!

Anyway, Mom and Baby are doing well. Randi and I are just thrilled to be parents and Baby is as perfect as they come.

I should be at church...

2010-06-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

...but I'm not feeling so great. I think it's mostly due to the fact that the baby is coming in around 3 weeks and, I don't know, I'm a weakling I guess. Oftentimes I feel sorry for myself because of the discomfort and pain that I am in, but then I remember what's causing me to feel like this and how blessed I am to be able to experience it. Anyway, bending has definitely become a hard task over the last few weeks, and today I don't feel like I can sit for 3 hours with a smile on my face. I prefer laying down, unbent.

I think part of the reason I don't feel so well today is because Alec and I had such a busy day yesterday. Well, busy for this pregnant lady, and I'm feeling it today. It's supposedly summer here in Eugene though the weather would beg to differ, so here's a few things Alec and I have been able to squeeze in, some that would be harder to do once baby gets here.

The Portland Temple is so pretty. I was kind of bummed that the person who took this picture cut out angel Moroni, but I felt like it would be rude to ask her to take another one and this time make sure Moroni was in it so...

...we tried to take one ourselves and didn't do a very good job either.

We went to the coast and it was a beautiful day.

It was however extremely windy on the beach!

We went to the Saturday Market. Alec and I vowed that we would never be the people who take their dog to the farmers market, even though we love her. You don't have to worry about that here! We think Salt Lake should enact this rule.

Alec thought the name of this business was a winner.

This is the kind of great entertainment you get when you come to Eugene's Saturday Market. The juggler isn't as good at his talent as the girl is at hers, but this duo definitely drew the biggest crowd.

Alec bought me this for Father's Day. The flower not the diamond.

We went to an Emeralds game. They're the minor league team here. I had to bend a lot, but I'm glad we did it :)

Here's a bonus picture. I love this girl and she loves me! I was crying the other day because when you're pregnant you cry a lot and Leila came to my rescue. She heard me crying and hopped up on the bed and came towards my face to see what was wrong. It's kind of silly, but Leila brings me a lot of happiness when I'm feeling down. I feel bad that she is probably going to get very neglected when the baby arrives.

Speaking of baby...

This is my favorite ultrasound picture. Look at her chubby cheeks, button nose and swollen little eyes. Looks like a Paul chin to me, but we'll have to wait and see. You're all I can think about Baby. See you soon!

LOST Unanswered Questions

2010-05-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

Loved this little video. The screen is a little cut off on the right side, but if you click on it you'll be taken to the actual youtube page and can see the full screen.

Mormon hostility

2010-05-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Did you know that if you're from Utah and you're Mormon, some Mormons who aren't from Utah don't like you? It's one of the cool new things I've learned since I moved to Oregon. I never lived outside of UT really until we moved here and I had no idea that non-UT Mormons felt this way until now. Since I've moved here, I have had conversations with several UT Mormons who have noticed the same thing as they have lived in or visited other states. Apparently we think we are better than the Mormons outside of UT. Hmmm, I'd be willing to bet that most UT Mormons don't give a second thought to where you live because as long as you're Mormon, you're good with them! There probably are some weird UT Mormons who do feel more special, but I have never met any. Actually, most of the UT Mormons (c'mon, nobody's perfect anywhere) I know are great people. The first people that come to mind are my parents. But I guess some non-UT Mormons have already made up their minds about them... You can see why this hits such a nerve with me. Say what you want about me, but don't go talking smack about my momma!

I began experiencing this Mormon hostility as soon as I told other Mormon's where I was from when we first moved here. Some were more subtle about their feelings, "Do you notice a difference between Mormons here and Mormons there?" Others just came out with it, "Oh you poor thing!"

Well, in answer to that first person's question above, yes. I have noticed a difference between Mormons in UT and here. I have to say our experience moving here was made a lot easier thanks to the Mormons. The people in our ward were much more welcoming and interested in us than they have been when we've moved into new wards in UT. Alec and I attribute this to that fact that UT Mormons don't feel as much a need to know us because they will just go home to their Mormon neighborhoods, hang out with their Mormon friends, and go to work the next day with all of their Mormon colleagues. There are so many Mormons there, they don't rely on just their ward members as much. But at this point in my time here in OR, I feel just as comfortable in my ward here as I did in my ward in UT. In any case, Mormons everywhere could do a little better in some way or another.

I bring this up because Alec and I recently had dinner with a bunch of Mormon couples who spent a good amount of time sharing their true feelings about UT Mormons. Alec and I were the only Mormons from UT there and all of the other couples knew it, which is why I thought it was weird when they started talking about how much they didn't care for UT Mormons. They're talking about me! But I guess even though I spent 25 years of my life in UT and less than a year in OR, because I am here and not there, I am not a UT Mormon. But my mom is!

One of their gripes was, "They take everything for granted." I guess they're saying most UT Mormons don't take advantage of going to the temple enough or don't realize how much easier it is to be a Mormon in UT. People sacrifice more outside of UT because being Mormon is not as convenient (not as many members, temples, early morning seminary, etc.) Well, they're probably right. Especially if you have lived in UT all your life and maybe, to no fault of your own, don't realize how many Mormon conveniences you have until you've moved away. But I'd be willing to bet that there are Mormons in Portland who maybe don't visit the temple as much as they could...

BUT, it didn't stop there. The conversation segued into how horrible UT drivers are because they are so aggressive. I agree with this 100%. UT drivers don't use their blinkers, cut you off, don't stop at stop signs, and tailgate like crazy! But in my mind I'm thinking, "Man! They really suck here too!" I think it's safe to say I have complained more to Alec about the drivers here, than I have about my ever-growing, uncomfortable pregnant belly. They do all the same things. Sometimes I play a fun little game where I count how many potential accidents I see. Not real ones, because that would be morbid, but there's those too. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a great driver, but OR isn't helping me to be better any more that UT did.

Ironically, I had to laugh as we left dinner that night and proceeded to be tailgated by one of those non-aggressive OR drivers a good part of the way home :).

In the end I've come to the conclusion that it's all a misunderstanding. We Mormons believe and want the same things. We're on the same team! Also, let's face it. There are crappy drivers everywhere. Even where you're from! It's true! And seriously, we really did enjoy our dinner with those people. We have met several great people and are happy to be here. Alec and I just like to joke about how we are hated by our own kind.

Last vacation as a party of 2

2010-05-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

Alec and I spent the past week at this place

My sister's house in beautiful Seattle. We live so close to her now, I can't believe we hadn't visited sooner!

Our first stop as tourists was the Experience Music Project Museum

pretty amazing guitar sculpture

Jimi hendrix wore that rad jumpsuit

I leaned that Jimi was in the Army. Good for you Jimi!

Here we are outside the Space Needle

Here we are inside the Space Needle gift shop. We never went to the top because as Alec put it, "it's underwhelming." I thought we should go up there since, c'mon, you have to go to the top of the Space Needle when you're in Seattle, but Alec said it wasn't worth 35 bucks. I've been up there twice already, but he never had. He must be kind of right though because I don't remember much about it...

Fish throwers at Pike's Market. Unfortunately no fish are being thrown in this picture.

Next stop: Sci Fi Museum. You know what crazy Trekkies we are.

Alec with his Childhood hero

R2's pregnant friend

Alec needed some pampering after finishing finals the week before

He's a pretty awesome uncle

Finished product

Alec and Cate are two peas in a pod. Leila's jealous.

Seattle skyline

No trip to a big city would be complete without a ML Baseball game for this guy

Seattle Aquarium

I don't know what they're looking at but that octopus was awesome

Aren't we cute?

Our last night there we got to see our Nephew perform. He was a monkey in Seussical Jr.

He did such a great job!

Say goodbye to the Space Needle!

We had such a great time! Thank you Tracy. We'll be inviting ourselves back soon :)

Shout out to Trader Joe's

2010-05-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

So, many of you have probably heard of Trader Joe's. It's a unique specialty grocery store that sells primarily it's own products including organic, vegetarian, and frozen foods. Alec wants me to add that it sells high end white trash food as well such as the frozen egg rolls and buffalo wings he is having for dinner tonight (I acted like I didn't think that was a gross combination to be nice...) Did I mention that most of Trader Joe's products are environmentally friendly? So of course they have one here in Eugene. They do not have one in Utah, but Alec and I had heard about the place a lot from my sister who lives in Seattle who likes to shop there, and while we were visiting her this past week we were able to eat a lot of tasty Trader Joe's snacks (more on the Seattle trip to come). Alec and I never desired to shop there because we aren't vegetarians, don't care if our food is organic, and it just seemed expensive, oh, and we hate the environment.

Well, with some persuading from my sister, we decided to try it out today just to change things up a bit. It's a fun place. We came to these conclusions about it:

1. Some things are cheaper, and some things are more expensive than what you would find at Safeway, but mostly more expensive.

2. There are a lot of snacks and frozen foods there that you wouldn't find at Safeway that look really good. On the other hand, there are a lot of basic things we needed to buy such as tylenol PM that they didn't have.

3. If you need to buy something weird such as triple milled soap or hawiian bagels, you'll probably find it there.

4. You can't go there with a grocery list unless you know the store really well. Because many of the store items are so unique, you just have to roll down the isles and pick up things that look good as you go.

Great items we came home with:

- almond butter. You can get this at your local grocer, but it was more for less here. This makes Alec happy :)

- chicken wings and egg rolls (obviously)

- The lovely orchid below

Which brings me to the point of this post. The orchids there were very reasonably priced, but we actually did not purchase this item. While we were in the check out line, our checker Lupe began chit chatting with us. After he (yes he) offered to recycle Alec's empty coke can in exchange for a 5 cent discount (a surprise bonus), Alec told him this was our first time shopping there. He replied with, "Well then we need to give you a nice gift." Yup, you guessed it. The orchid above. How awesome is that?!

Though we probably won't shop there much, Trader Joe's gets two thumbs up from us! You don't even care, do you...

I Shoulda Stopped Watching Years Ago...

2010-05-24T00:50:00.000-07:00

Observations from LOST finale:

1. The whole point of the island: some light in a cave keeps "evil" at bay -- really? That lame explanation we get from Jacob a few episodes ago is all we get?

2. WTF is the man in black's name? (OK, this is just one of a billion little things that didn't get answered and ultimately isn't a big deal).

3. The flash sideways is limbo...really? I guess my family, friends and I should all get together and make plans on how we're going to meet up in purgatory so we can "remember" and go to heaven.

OK. I knew going into the finale that there were going to be lots of questions left unanswered...but c'mon. I feel like the writers just created a whole bunch of mysteries, only to give a few partial (and, in my opinion, super lame) answers and are now just saying "draw your own conclusions." This seemed to me a typical, cliche, only-slightly-less-lazy-than-it-was-all-a-dream type of ending to a story.

I think the story just became so complex and convoluted that it turned into an uncontrollable monster. I can only blame myself...I should've stopped watching 4 years ago...

Kicking Law School in the Face

2010-05-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

One year of law school down, 2.8 million to go...or so it feels sometimes.

Good things about this first year of school in Eugene:

We met lots of great people
Camped on the Oregon coast
Had friends and family visit
I learned? Or something...

Bad things:

The rain
The rain
The gray skies
The rain

Amazing things:

Getting pregnant
Finding out "Chlank" was a little Chloe
Finishing

It has been a really big year for us. Crazy to think that one whole year of law school is done. Most say it is the worst, and school-wise it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, so that's good.

Anyway, now that I am done, I find myself having a bit of extra free time...so I have been tinkering with my expensive laptop that apparently does a whole lot more than just surf the web and allow me to type notes for class. I can actually make movies on this bad boy. Now, I am sure nobody would be surprised to learn that I am basically a ninja. What you may not know is that I learned my ninja skills on a study abroad in Brazil in 2006. Enjoy.

Franken-Pug

2010-04-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

Two people in the Cannon household have been needing surgery lately. I possibly have a hernia, and Leila has had some growths on her leg and belly. Naturally, we decided to get Leila's operation done before mine. Obviously she is more important...plus her surgery was a lot cheaper than mine is going to be.

Anyway, we took her to the vet and she was really good throughout the whole thing. The vet removed a growth on her belly and one on her back right leg (which was the one the vet was worried about because it was attached to the muscle). Leila was one tough cookie, though, because after getting the surgery in the morning, she was acting as good as new by the afternoon, despite having been under an anesthetic earlier and having 11 new stitches.

Leila is doing really well today and is acting like nothing even happened. I don't like it because when I get my surgery, Randi is going to expect me to take it in stride and be tough like Leila, whereas I will probably just want to lie down and groan for a few days...or weeks.

The sad thing about having your dog go into surgery is that you have no way of telling them and prepping them for what is going to happen. We weren't supposed to feed her for a couple of meals, and she couldn't understand why we were starving her. She just looked at us like we had completely betrayed her. Fortunately for her, we have made up for it since in the form of copious amounts of treats.

Anyway, I am sure you all want to see these stitches! So here they are:

I told Randi I should put little black boxes in front of Leila's teats. Sorry if you are offended by the pictures/use of the word "teat."

I just barely noticed the little shave job they gave Leila. I am thinking I should give her steps or a lightning bolt design.

Here she is all lump-free and happy to be able to eat. Owning a dog is expensive, and while we probably wouldn't recommend getting one until you have a house and a job, we absolutely have no regrets about getting our little Leila.

KFC took a page from the book of 30 Rock

2010-04-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

The Tracy Jordan Meat Machine

"Bread is one of the worst things in the world!"

Hilarious but disgusting right?

Introducing:

The KFC Double Down

Maybe it's the pregnant lady in me, but that looks pretty tasty.

Lazy youtube Post

2010-04-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

I don't really have much to say, but feel like doing a blog post. So, instead of trying to think of something witty to write, I'll just post the video of the zombie turtle kid. Most of you have probably already seen it. I just saw it for the first time the other day and have watched it 100 times since...and cracked up every time.

Did you miss us?

2010-03-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

This past week was spring break for Alec. His brother got married last weekend and his parents flew us out (thank you thank you mom and dad!). Also, since I quit my crappy job, we got to extend our trip. Hooray!

I'm so glad we could be there for their special day

Way to go you two!

Good looking couple, parents, and grandparents

Phil got in a nice big smooch

Handsome brothers. We missed you Q-Pac!

What the? We look like twins...

Famous people

Aw, they smushed it in each other's faces.

Congrats Dylan and Julie! We are so happy and excited for you:)

We also did lots of other things while we were there

Alec was tortured by nieces and nephews (if you haven't already noticed, I suck at taking pictures)

Caught up with an old friend at an old favorite restaurant of mine (went there twice this trip)

Some people, like Alec, think this tradition is weird, but when he actually participated he changed his mind

The kids dye Easter eggs, take them to this park and roll them down the hill. There were no seagulls at this spot when we got here, but they can't resist the smell of those eggs!

Nana's still got it!

Running and screaming down the hill with the grandkids

That bird was aiming for Maya

Our families took us out to eat several times. We love them.

Benj is on fire!

We got to visit this special place and catch up with some good friends and colleagues.

And, I stopped taking pictures after that for some reason.

We had such a wonderful time with friends and family. Thanks for taking such good care of us Ann. You run a heckuva B&B. We love you Nana, Papa, Gangy, and Pop Pop! And everybody else!

"Todo es Posible"

2010-03-23T15:54:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I was driving to my parents' house in the Avenues (close to downtown SLC) from Fashion Place Mall. Instead of taking the freeway, I took State St. because I was terrified of taking my little brother's 1980 something Mazda on the freeway. As I was driving down State, I noticed a billboard in Spanish. Translated into English, the sign read something along the lines of "A Latin American woman was appointed to the Supreme Court. Anything is possible. You, too, can stop smoking." The sign was obviously directed towards Utah's Latin American population since pretty much the only other Utahns who understand Spanish are RMs and likely not needing motivation to stop smoking. (Ironic side note: the guy who appointed Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court smokes). I was trying to figure out what exactly was the link between an "hermana" getting appointed to the Supreme Court and Utah Mexicans' ability to quit smoking was. It's kind of like going to a group of black people and saying, "hey, a black guy got elected president. Anything is possible. You can stop biting your nails!" Maybe when my kids are struggling with math homework I will tell them, "A Mormon dude invented the TV. Anything is possible. You can do long division!"

I think I am going to go smoke.

Peace, Love, Mickey Mouse

2010-03-12T18:00:00.001-08:00

Every year I look forward to this Disneyland trip. I get to be with these beautiful people in the happiest place on earth! (- Ashley again this year:( We missed you!)

Waiting in line for the first ride: Toy Story.

Happy daddy and daughter.

Anna and I in our favorite lounge. She's beautiful.

Roni doesn't know why we always have to stop and take a picture of the kids in this ugly car every year.

This trip isn't complete without breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen.

"Smile Benj!"
"Darth Vader Doesn't smile."

Cate borrowed Mr. Potato Head's glasses.

People paid 40 bucks for these hats. Barf. We're happy with just a funny picture.

Who cares if they are $3.50?

Luckiest Nana in the world.

I'm the brunette. I love these beautiful women.

Alec went crazy by himself all week...

He's turning into Batboy.

And here I am at 23 weeks. I'm looking away because Alec was doing what he does best, making me laugh.

Thank you Tracy for making this trip possible again for me this year. Love you!
Ash, we missed you more than anything and thought of you everytime we saw a frozen banana...

Higher Education

2010-03-08T15:39:00.001-08:00

Did you know that students in law school sometimes eat potato chips in the middle of class during a lecture? Doesn't my classmate know that he is distracting me as I try to read articles on ESPN.com?

Modern Family, Chicken Wings and Lists

2010-03-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

Randi is sitting in the SLC airport right now awaiting a connecting flight to John Wayne Airport in Orange County as she is meeting up with her mom, sisters, nieces and nephews for the Paul Family Yearly Trip to Disneyland. She flew out of Eugene earlier today (and just by coincidence went through the homeland of SLC), though her flight was delayed by a couple hours due to mechanical problems (always the LAST thing I want to hear when I am about to board a plane). Because of the delay, she missed her connecting flight and won't even get out of SLC until later on tonight, so it will have been a looong day for her.

Every year when Randi makes this trek to the happiest place on earth, I realize just how bored I am at home alone. I always think to myself, "when Randi goes, I will get a bunch of stuff done." That, of course, doesn't happen, and I end up just watching a lot of TV episodes on hulu.com (today I have been watching Modern Family). I realize that there is really only one good thing for me when Randi is out of town. I get to eat buffalo wings for dinner.

Now, back to Modern Family and NOT doing homework.

BTW, lately I have been making a lot of lists of things I need to do the next day. I made one such list this evening and titled it "Tommorrow." The first thing on the agenda: learn how to spell "tomorrow." I thought I was being funny, but when I realized nobody was around to see it, I had to turn to the blog so that everyone who reads this blog (my mom and mother-in-law) could see just how funny I am.

Dead Men Tell No Tales...

2010-02-28T17:20:00.000-08:00

Has anyone else noticed that NO good movies have come out recently? This is a problem for Randi and me, because we really, really like going to movies. Not sucky ones, though. This is not usually a problem for us, because when there is a lack of good movies, we just go to the dollar theater and see those movies that look like they might be OK, but not worth the full price of admission. However, this recent string of bad movie after bad movie didn't really even provide anything that looked OK enough for us to justify spending two dollars.

Finally, yesterday the movie Invictus came to the local dollar theater. This was one movie that we considered playing full price for, but ultimately decided to wait until it came to the dollar theater. We were by no means disappointed by the film (pretty good/inspiring), though it did make me realize that I really did not know nearly enough about the Apartheid, nor do I know really anything about rugby. Our friends Stephen and Oksana went with us, and as Stephen pointed out, "they needed one scene where Morgan Freeman (playing Nelson Mandela) asked somebody what the rules of rugby were." That would have helped me understand what was going on in the game.

Anyway, far and away the thing I will take away from last night's movie experience is the absolute fear that came over me when a crazy guy stood up at the front of the theater and started walking towards us. For a second I thought he might do something really bad (like pull out a gun or something), but when I realized he was just a drunk homeless guy (BTW I am pretty sure Eugene has the largest bum population per capita in the world) my fear of violence quickly dissipated as my fear of being barfed on increased dramatically. Luckily Stephen and Oksana served as a buffer between us and the bum. Even luckily-er, the guy walked out of the place without barfing at all. We felt really fortunate. Probably the most fortunate thing, though, was that the guy didn't hear Randi's observation of him. She whispered to me, "that dude looks exactly like one of the drunk pirates on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland." She was right. The resemblance was uncanny. I didn't take a picture, but rest assured he looked pretty much like one of these dudes:

Baby C

2010-02-26T21:50:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

Randi and I have started a new blog, which we are dedicating solely to our baby-to-be. We'll be posting lots of pregnancy updates, baby preparation news, and (after she's born) lots and lots of pictures and videos. We figure we would create a new blog rather than post all of our baby updates on this blog, as I am sure all of you come here to read our witty observations on life and not to be inundated with baby pictures. We might as well call our new blog the "Especially for Grandmas Karin and Ann Blog" since I am guessing our moms in Utah will be the ones most interested in hearing every single update. But I figure some of you would also be interested. We are going to keep our new blog private, so if any of you are interested in it, please leave a comment with your e-mail address here and I'll send you an invite.

Only in Eugene

2010-02-26T14:52:00.000-08:00

While sitting in the law school building today, everything smelled of hippie. You see, the law school is hosting a public interest environmental law conference, which means the building is full of people who conserve water by not showering and instead lather lots of organic hemp lotion all over and put heaven knows what in their dreadlocked hair. Imagine a farmer's market (the kind where the "farmers" have nose piercings and tattoos and sell organic coffee and jewelry made out of recycled cans) in an enclosed area. That's what it smells like in here.

Of all the wacky things I saw today, I must say that the most amazing one was (and I am not kidding you) a three-legged service dog. Yep. It had the little yellow vest and everything. I was tempted to ask the dog's owner why she wasn't wearing her bright yellow "Service Human" vest.

Only in Eugene.

Pugs!

2010-02-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

Here are a few reasons why we love them:

This one's our very own.

I was wrong

2010-02-12T20:00:00.000-08:00

Last night I was tossing and turning like it was Christmas Eve because I was so excited for this day. Today we found out if we were having a boy or a girl.

We like to think she's smiling in this picture

In this one she's obviously doing bicycle kicks

I made Alec bring the digital camera to get some footage... You can see her little heart beating

I was wrong because I was convinced that it was a boy,
but we are so excited to be having a little girl
Can't wait to meet you Chloe Ann

My Husband, the Multi-tasker

2010-01-25T21:04:00.000-08:00

During a "Bachelor" commercial break (don't judge), I went into the kitchen and happened upon this...

My husband. Drying the dishes, having a brilliant idea, talking on the phone, and making me laugh all at the same time.

I love this guy.

Male Pregnancy Symptoms and Sacrament Meeting

2010-01-17T16:33:00.000-08:00

Randi and I occasionally have conversations in church on my iPod Touch. I type her a note and then she types one back to me. Here is a sample of a conversation we had today for your enjoyment:

Alec: I think I am going to do a blog post today about my pregnancy symptoms.

Randi: Yeah, that would be totally awesome. I want to hear some.

Alec:

1. I sleep way more than I ever have (even more than when I was in high school).

2. I am hungry all the time.

3. More specifically I am hungry for Taco Bell all the time.

4. I want to put babies on my bare chest. OK that last one isn't true (note: Randi has a pregnancy book that has a section for dads-to-be and it says that a dad who is envious that his wife gets to breast feed can unbutton his shirt and put the bottle on his chest and put the baby right on his chest...weird).

Randi: Well, sounds like you've lucked out by not feeling any of the constipation and gas.

Alec:

5. I have constipation.

Randi: Nice. I should probably rub your feet when we get home. Also, I could massage your bowels to help you get through the discomfort.

Alec: That sounds amazing. Maybe you can discreetly massage my bowels during sacrament meeting. (Before I could show Randi this message she stood up and left the chapel). Um...you left to go potty before I could hand you this message so I guess I will just have to ramble on. Let's see, what other pregnancy symptoms have I been feeling? I haven't had a period since you got pregnant. Um, I probably threw up as much that one night as some pregnant women do their entire pregnancy. I think I pee more than usual. (Randi returns). Oh good, you are back, I was running out of things to write.

Randi: (edited).

Alec: (edited).

Randi: I don't know if I want you to do that (referring to the edited portion of the conversation...don't worry...it's nothing R rated). Also I really hope no one could read those last comments over your shoulder cause they would think we are very weird. So, do you want tacos for lunch?

Alec: I really, really, really want tacos. For pretty much every meal.

What I DON'T Miss About SLC

2010-01-14T20:58:00.001-08:00

OK, so Randi and I had a WONDERFUL time in SLC with our family. Salt Lake is a great place. Hires. The Jazz. Outdoor recreation. Braza Grill. The list goes on. But there are a couple things about Salt Lake that I really just do not miss at all.

First of all, the winter inversion. The air quality can be absolutely atrocious in the winter and as a result, I am pretty sure I have friends from other cities who smoke but have better lungs than me.

Second, and much more importantly, I get really tired of the religious polarization in the city. It seems like there is a religious undertone to every debate that goes on in the town. The place I have found this to be most prevalent is on internet message boards, particularly on the newspaper readers' forums. The big problem with these message boards is that people who post on them generally do so anonymously, and so they feel free to say whatever disparaging thing they want without being held accountable. Case and point. I was reading an article on the Salt Lake Tribune's website this evening. It was about a man (named Van Meter) in Utah who pretended to be a Chicago Cubs player and used that fake identity to steal a car from a dealership. I clicked on the reader's forum for the article to see what people were saying about the article. Here is what came up:

"You really have to wonder if Joseph Smith's posing as an apostle to perpetrate HIS crimes has any bearing on Van Meter's posing as somebody HE isn't!!??"

Wow. Even so, I truly love SLC and plan to one day end up back there (or close by at least). I'll just stop reading the internet boards when I get there...

On a side note, as a Cubs fan, I can't understand why the guy would choose to pretend to be a Cub. Wouldn't you want to pretend to play for a team that actually wins? It's like when my little brother Geoffrey was really little, he used to play football by himself in the front yard imagining he was in the NFL. However, unlike most little daydreaming boys, Geoffrey's team would often lose in his fantasy games.