angerine

sunday school is boring

2011-06-08T15:54:00.004-06:00

Tye and I always pass notes to each other in church to fight off the boredom. I was going thru an old scripture bag and found a couple of notes we wrote a few years ago that made me laugh. I thought I'd share.

First, a request in my handwriting:
"Tye~ please punch me in the head 4 times: once in the eye, once on the lip (aim for the coldsore) once in the throat and once in the ear. Please? it will be less painful than listening to this lesson. Thanks. "

Next up, Doctor Tye the Science Guy:
(angie) Isn't it weird how human babies are huge but are so dumb for a long time? And animals are so tiny but smart by the time they're like two weeks old. Like, I guarantee our tiny new kitten is way smarter than that huge dumb baby over there ---->

(tye) Humans spend most of their first few years of life learning upper brain functions like communication, object manipulation, and social structure, etc. Animals -for the most part- are pre-programmed, kindof 'hard wired' with survival responses so they walk, feed themselves, etc right away. It's kindof like comparing a calculator to a computer. Computers can be built to be many different things and do difficult functions. Most animals have very few diff. on a whole. The higher the brain function of an animal - the longer its dependence of its parents (slow development) IE monkeys, apes, whales, big cats.

(angie) Correct. The judges also would have accepted "Ya but I bet that baby isn't afraid of the vacuum."

What You Missed Today: getting spooned by a cat

2011-01-10T16:35:00.002-06:00

Cache isn't feeling great today. The kitten has been very concerned and is trying to be helpful by licking the vomit off my shoe (ughhhh), chewing a hole in a binki (sighhh) and snuggling with Cache at naptime (awwwww).

slideshows

2010-11-09T16:24:00.007-06:00

we went out in the yard and took a few pics of The Dude at one month old. Try to ignore my jacked up hair and just focus on how friggin cute Cache is.

After church on his blessing day, we hosted a big lunch with family and took about a million pics of Cache. I painstakingly narrowed it down to 4 or 5. You can tell by the last picture how much he was enjoying it.

birth announcement/blessing invitation

2010-08-31T22:47:00.002-06:00

We had to change the blessing date at the last minute so for those of you who received (or will be receiving soon) a card with the wrong date, I apologize. It's this Sunday. We'd love to see you if you can make it.

as promised, all* the gory details

2010-07-28T15:13:00.009-06:00

*well, not all

It was a dark and stormy** night, and a full moon had just crested the horizon. **not stormy at all, actually. but it was dark-ish. with the full moon.

At 2 am on June 25 I woke up to a *POPgushhhh* when my water broke. I hung out at home until about 4, then went to the hospital. When we got there I was dilated to a 5 so they hustled me in, got me all set up with drugs and monitors, etc and I think I just went to sleep after that, thanks to the epidural. {if you're just here for the pictures, skip down to the next ***starred section for the much-abbreviated version}

sooo fat. soooo swollen. and sooo sleepy. not my prettiest moment.

I was progressing pretty well up until about 7 am when I stalled. I was dilated to an 8 and stayed there for hours. The nurses (all awesome) broke out the Pitosin to get me laboring and increased it incrementally all day long, but by early evening they had the Pit at maximum dosage and I still wasn't dilated to a 10. When I got to a 9+ they had me push for an hour...with NO progress. The baby would get a little bit closer during the pushing and as soon as I'd relax he'd retreat. Apparently my pelvis is shaped more like a football so the baby was unable to get his head under the pelvic bone. And because he had been in the birth canal for so long his head had gotten really coned so trying to use forceps wasn't an option.
So then I did something called "rest and descend" for an hour and then around 8 pm another hour or so of pushing...still no progress. I'd had a bit of a fever all day and at this point it spiked, so it was time for a C-section. Before I went into labor I was terrified of having a Cesarean but by this point I wasn't feeling fear about getting cut up, I was just totally bummed that I didn't get to do it "the old fashioned way." But C-section was definitely the right thing to do in this situation so while it was a bummer, I'm glad that both Cache and I made it through healthy and happy. Tye watched the surgery and was totally fascinated by it, I think he was reconsidering his career choice.

***So 19 hours after I went into labor, Cache was born at 9:25 pm via C-section.

When Dr. Chalmers (stud) pulled him out, everyone in the operating room broke out in a loud chorus of "Wooooaaaahhhh!" I seriously thought to myself "holy crap! Is it twins?? why is everyone so astonished and why does it feel like they just lifted a 15 pound weight off my spine?" ha ha. Not twins, but he was heavy enough to have been two babies. And his giant conehead was about 2-babies-worth too.

first family photo

proud papa

The next day, Cache went 16 hours without eating, gained a pound and had dry diapers all that day and he wouldn't respond when we would try to wake him. He ended up spending a couple days in the NICU. All the nurses in there were in love with him. They usually get preemies, so to have a big ole 10 pound brute in there was unusual.

first day home from the hospital (6 days old)

Before having a baby I always though I would know if my kid was good looking or ugly. I thought I could be objective. But I'm soooo not. Here are the words I use to describe him: Gorgeous. Perfection. Messiah. (Ok, that last one might be taking it a bit far.) Mostly he still just looks like a generic baby, but I think he is so handsome and Tye and I are both totally smitten.

The Cache Man Cometh

2010-07-25T22:25:00.005-06:00

Cache is already a month old so I finally decided to put some pictures up so far-away family and friends will quit hassling me. All the grisly details on the labor and delivery coming soon. Well, not all. I'll leave out the really gross bits. You're welcome.

More Evidence...?

2010-06-15T17:11:00.003-06:00

Exhibit B:
After losing Ninja, we found a fun replacement kitten. This is Hobbes.
Hobbes was a freakin awesome kitty. He was clumsy and kindof a dummy but he had a zest for life that would make everyone laugh. And he LOVED me so much it was borderline disturbing.

and Yes, I am talking in past-tense about sweet little Hobbesy. We had him for about a year before he went AWOL a couple months ago. Once again, I posted on Craigs for him as well as blanketing the neighborhood with posters and called the animal shelter every few days for 3 weeks. But he never came back.

But this evidence is not about how we lost another cat. It's about how we named him...by giving up.
When we got him we would call him by whatever name happened to come to mind. We called him Mick for a few days, then Robot for a while, then a few days later Nugget. Or Kahuna. Or Presh. Or Clive. Or Felix. This went on for months. We noticed that he seemed a little confused when we'd switch names on him again so I issued a decree: NO MORE CHANGING THE NAME OF THE CAT. and it just so happened the day that I made that decree we had been calling him Hobbes, so henceforth and forevermore he was Hobbes.

The reason this evidence is admissible is that we are having the same trouble coming up with a name for Baby Boy Williams. I am due next week and our name list keeps getting longer and longer, not shorter. And I feel less committed to every single name on it as each day passes. (I just counted the names on our list. 59. FIFTY. NINE.)

I don't think this is a case of "we'll know his name when we see him." I think this is a case of two of the worlds most commitment-shy people completely frozen by the idea of making a decision that they'll have to live with for the rest of their lives.

The compelling evidence is stacking up against us. We're screwed.

Evidence That We Shouldn't Be Allowed To Have A Child?

2010-05-07T09:48:00.015-06:00

Exhibit A:
Once upon a time Tye and I had a kitty named Ninja. She REEEEEAAAALLLLYY hated going anywhere in the car. Not that we took her anywhere, just the occasional trip to the vet. Every time we put her in the car she started doing this bawling/moaning thing that made me wish I were being mauled by a bear rather than listening to the Ninja song.
So when we moved from Missouri to Utah we had the pleasure of listening to that noise for about 7 hours before we stopped for gas just outside Tulsa, OK. While Tye pumped gas I put this harness/leash thing on Ninja and took her over by a wooded area so she could do her thing. She hated the harness almost as much as the car and was spazzing out, flopping around on the ground trying to figure out how to get out of the harness. She ended up getting one leg out which made it so her other front leg was trapped up next to her head, like she was doing the Heil Hitler thing, and trying to walk on 3 legs. It was awesome.
Then i realized that I had put the harness on upside down so I grabbed her and unclipped it to try to spin it around. As soon as I unclipped it, she totally went insane scratching and clawing and trying to get away from me. She shot out of my arms and ran into the woods. Tye and I ended up traipsing through the woods forever calling for her and searching everywhere but she would NOT come out. Eventually we gave up looking and got back on the road...without our kitty. It was super sad but we didn't know what else to do. When we stopped later, I posted an ad for her on the Tulsa Craigslist. Check out the responses I got:

People are so awesome. Even though Ninja never turned up we choose to believe she is in a happy new home on a farm in Oklahoma where she hunts and destroys rabbits all day.
We choose NOT to believe that she spent the night in the cold rain before becoming a snack for a coyote.

worth waiting 9 months for???

2010-05-02T21:18:00.003-06:00

Things that may or may not be worth waiting 9 months for:
1. a baby (remains to be seen)
2. Final season of Lost (I'm leaning toward, Yes, Worth the Wait but reserving judgment till I find out if Sayid is really evil now and what the heck Desmond is up to. And if Flocke/Black Smoke/Tikka tikka will get his way. And who will be the next Jacob. And a bunch of other stuff.)
3. a new post on my blog!! (see "back rub" post below and judge for yourself)

Excuses why it has taken me months to post 2 paragraphs and a few pictures:
1. Posting requires writing complete sentences and I have a bad case of Placenta Brain so I can't even formulate a complete thought let alone hold it for long enough to write it down. I could have posted some pictures but...
2. My brother borrowed my camera for a few weeks and it was stolen out of his truck along with 4G of SD cards full of pictures. So I don't have any current pics to post.
3. my External hard drive burned up, taking with it thousands of pictures, 10 years of music downloading, and every other document/file I've created in the last 5 years. Lifeguard Computers is awesome and was able to recover about 40G of data but it was an 80G drive and was almost full. It makes me sick to think about all the stuff I lost. Don't let this happen to you! Get Mozy or Carbonite or something.

All I Wanted Was A Back Rub

2010-03-29T15:01:00.010-06:00

Hope you have your food storage because another sign of the times is about to manifest itself. Read the following in a deep voice like the trailer for an end-of-days film:

In less than 3 months, Tye and I will unleash upon the world a terror the likes of which have never been known. It will be so gruesome, so abominable, you will cry and beg for mercy. But there will Be. No. Mercy.

As you've probably guessed, I'm pregnant.Here are a few of my thoughts on the subject:

I don't know who started the lie about pregnancy lasting 9 months but it's a load of crap. It's 10 months. I'm 7 months along (28 weeks), but I still have 3 months to go. 7+3=10... Blarg!
For 5 months I felt nothing but ambivalence about the prospect of having a kid. Tye was excited but I was like, Whatever. When I would tell someone I was expecting they would go into that high-pitched voice and say Congratulations and How Exciting and all that, all I could do was smile blankly and nod. I said the words, 'Yep we're pretty excited" but the truth is I only said that cuz I didn't know what else to say and you have to say something. Otherwise...awkward silence...
Somewhere in the 6th month I started to get used to the idea of having a baby and Now I'm at the point where I actually AM excited and can't wait to meet the li'l guy...

Except that meeting him means getting him out one way or another, which sounds terrifying and inhumane. The thought of delivery makes me nauseous and I think "stay in there. 10 months, 5 years, whatever. I'm good."

***NOTE***
I wrote this post weeks ago and when I tried to upload pictures my computer froze and lost everything. So I decided to give up and go into hibernation for another month. If you knew how lazy I am right now and how much I have to talk myself into doing ANYTHING but lay around all day, you would be so proud of me for actually posting something. So these pics are a bit outdated. Now I'm 8 months along (with 2 months to go...it still adds up to 10) and I have a basketball under my shirt instead of a soccer ball and two cantaloupes. For a while there my boobs were keeping pace with my belly (as evidenced in the top picture) but thank goodness that has stopped.

Hooray for the Economic Meltdown!

2009-07-02T22:44:00.006-06:00

or Why I Need a 12,000 Square Foot Starter Home

It's retarded how much stuff we have in storage, I don't know if I'm ever going to get it out of there. My only hope is that the housing market in St. George will continue its plummet right down the crapper so that we'll soon be able to afford a starter-McMansion.

Minimum requirements:

3 bedrooms (because we have 3 beds)
6 bathrooms (to accomodate my massive inventory of hair & skin products, which I resolved to pare down...but i'm still working on that)
a Dining Room in which to put my beautiful, beautiful dining set. My precious. I love it so much. I cry when I see it collecting dust in the storage unit.
2 Offices (or one big enough for two people/computers)
a Library for the few hundred books still in boxes. My Library should have floor to ceiling shelves and a cozy place to read. oh, and a fireplace. And a coffered ceiling.
a Music Room for our 3 guitars, 2 pianos and my drum kit (coming soon! i hope).
a Sewing & Crafts Room for my recently-acquired pile of scrapbooking supplies and for all the sewing/creative projects that I would complete if I had a workspace.
an Exercise Room for our sundry home gym equipment.
a Ceramics Room for the pottery wheel & kiln I am taking over while AJ is on his mission.
While were at it, lets throw in a Boudoir for me.

That about covers the basics.
Next time we'll talk about the 35,000 square feet my Dream Home is going to require.

the making of Tangerine

2009-05-29T17:30:00.006-06:00

5 years ago today Tye and I were married and like all fabulous couples of the day (Brangelina, TomKat, Gyllenspoon) the first item of business was to establish our very own portmanteau. So Tyler and Angie blended and became Tangerine. (Here on my blog where Tye never participates I'm just Angerine).
Today we had a long, interesting conversation about the principle of temple marriage, the idea/symbol that it takes place at an altar (where things are sacrificed), and that it is one of the only ordinances where you are giving something up (hence the altar) rather than receiving a gift (or an endowment, if you will). It's the crowning point of agency. Two individual, separate entities renounce their freedom in favor of commitment to the other person, joined in a common goal. And it's permanent. That freedom and individuality you sacrificed is gone. You killed it on the altar, remember. But you weigh both choices- to remain alone and free, or to marry and sacrifice your Self in order to follow the Plan, and you decide the sacrifice is worth it.
Tye and I were both very content being single and have said many times that we probably could have remained "happily single ever after"--or if not "ever after" at least for a several more years--and even though we knew it was the right thing to get married, we were both hesitant to make the sacrifice and the commitment.
Pair the weight of the decision with the way the world glamorizes weddings, romanticizes love and portrays committed marriages as contentious blackholes and it's nearly impossible to have a healthy view of marriage. But the Plan of Salvation beckoned and in the end we pulled the trigger.
And you know, it wasn't the awful, miserable disaster I had imagined at all. It's actually pretty freakin awesome. What a lovely surprise. (It shouldn't have been a surprise at all, considering the rest of the Plan is so perfect, but I was skeptical about this part).
I often wonder if the full impact of temple marriage registers for most couples. On my wedding day I got a glimpse of it and it scared me. As soon as I walked through the temple doors I wanted to turn around and run for it. People that get married very young maybe have the advantage of not really having a clear picture of what they're doing. They just think, "Yay, I'm going to live with my best friend now."
While we were talking today Tye said at church we should get Commitment Prep classes. There is Mission prep for understanding/teaching the gospel. Temple Prep is just about the endowment, making sure you have the basics for entering the temple. Marriage Prep is basically a relationship class, being good to each other and all that. Commitment prep could emphasize the eternal perspective of marriage and the other ordinances. Commitment is probably the single most important factor in determining the success of an individual, a marriage, a business...it's an eternal principle that I think anyone could gain from studying. For Tye and me, it's our key for keeping things in perspective in our relationship. So, whoa, this has turned into a long, erratic spiel. What would you say is they key to making things work in your relationship?

Earworm

2009-05-20T18:06:00.002-06:00

woke up today with this song in my head. love it.

the latest gig

2009-05-18T17:19:00.006-06:00

See if you can get the right answer...
What exciting event compels a normally sane middle-age woman to leave her children at dawn in order to arrive hours before doors open, stand in a reeeeaaally long line, glare furiously at the women in front of her, spend an obscene amount of money on items she will have to hide from her husband, and haul a minimum of 2 luggages everywhere she goes?

A. Trip to Australia with the Thunder from Down Under
B. Plus-size Lingerie Give-away
C. Rolling Stones concert
D. Scrapbook Expo 2009

Can you guess?

If you said, D. Scrapbooking you are CORRECT!! but you are lame for knowing that.
But I'm more lame because I now WORK at the scrapbook conventions.

My latest in a long, loooong list of jobs is to travel around the country going to scrapbook conventions, sitting in a booth talking about Storytellers Club (the company I work for) and even teaching some scrapbooking classes. Ya, you read that right. I, Angie, who have never scrapped a page, am teaching scrap classes. Proof:

Our booth at the Detroit show:

I have an idea. I'm going to try to list as much of my employment history as I can remember. In no particular order...

dog walker
Cravings Bakery
scorekeeper for city league baseball
J. Crew
Parking valet
Island Tans
babysitter
Sun Capital Bank teller ("Bank Girl")
Little Caesars Pizza
phone surveys
Hampton Inn front desk (I only lasted one shift)
Golds Gym (I lasted 2, maybe 3, shifts)
Boys & Girls Club
janitor at my aunt's salon-Louise's Beauty Box
Navajo Trails trip leader
circulation department at The Tampa Tribune
resort spa development company
server at Chili's
server at some place in Logan that burned down
fat camp
American Family Insurance corporate offices
temp-Slot (Slut) Warehouse
temp-CED
temp-some tractor place in St. Louis
temp-The Village Bank
temp-some Dunder-Mifflin type office in Philadelphia
deputy treasurer-Washington County Treasurers office
Salt Lake City Credit Union
Mountain Fever
Casafina Interior Design
Wild Roots
and now, Scrapbook Extravaganza specialist! woot!
There are probably more that I have forgotten about. If you think of one add it in comments.

It's hard to say which of these jobs I hated the most. There were a few sweet gigs along the way but a lot of them really sucked. I just don't think I'm cut out to be gainfully employed for any length of time. I am destined to be A Woman of Leisure. Please pass the bon-bons.

I've been handed down a Life Sentence

2009-04-15T18:40:00.007-06:00

Bad news. We’re staying in St. George. For life. Gosh. You have no idea how much I hate that sentence.

For the past few years, I’ve felt that we might eventually end up living somewhere in southern Utah. But it was always some far-off future event in the back of my mind, and I hoped that by the time we settled here, I would actually WANT to. Unfortunately, it seems "eventually" is now and I'm not mentally prepared.

For good or for bad (depending upon who you ask) things seem to be inexplicably falling into place for us here in St. George. As if by some divine scheme the Lord forgot to consult with me about, all the pieces Tye has been looking for have magically come together over the past 4 weeks: a local Doc offered to share office space with him, the office is beautiful, the price is right, the staff is trained, he is his own boss, and he has been getting new patients everyday through referrals from friends and family. And Tye is enjoying the idea that he might get a paycheck sometime before his 40th birthday.

Also, as we have been preparing for Australia we have realized that, for it to make sense financially, it would have to be for a much longer duration than the 2 or 3 years we had originally planned. It would have to be minimum 5 years but probably more like 10 (if not permanently). Which means never seeing family. Also, when we considered the (really high) cost of living in Australia vs. all our (massive) school debt being in American dollars and dollar being in the crapper (and not recovering anytime soon) it would mean that a lot of things we want would have to be put off for quite a bit longer.

So I've been going through a "grieving" period, trying to reconcile what I had HOPED would happen with what it seems the Lord has in mind for us. My aunt Louise told me, "It takes sacrifice to live in Utah, but I think it's worth it."

Here's what I imagine we are sacrificing by staying in St. George:

A shit-load of money.
A beautiful environment (yes, the desert is beautiful but the town is profoundly hideous)
Me, Tye or any future offspring becoming a professional surfer
Me, Tye or any future offspring speaking with an adorable accent
Opportunities to serve in the church in something other than Scouts or Primary
My pride

I need your help to figure out what makes it worth all this sacrifice. Please, people, tell me some good things about living in St. George!! There was a time when I really liked it here, so I’m sure I can learn to like it again. I just need a reminder of what is good about it.
Seriously, write me a comment and remind me why I like this place...but don't say good weather, because lots of places have good weather and I would happily move to any one of them.
And if you say something along the lines of "Great place to raise a family" please tell me what EXACTLY you mean by that because #1 I'm not really in that place right now where I care how 'family-friendly' a city is and #2 I truly have no idea what people mean when they say that. Are they talking about the schools, the culturally-identical population, the ratio of pedophiles to Prozac-crazed mini-van drivers? what?

Here's what we'll be able to do sooner rather than later as a result of not going to Australia:

FIRST!-Buy Angie a bangin drum kit
Then-Buy Tye a wicked boat
next- a few vacations, a fast car, some Cuban cigars, maybe a sofa.
If there is any money left-buy a home, a 2nd home, a vacation home and a mobile home.

Ya, I totally have my priorities in order.

and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands

2009-03-17T20:39:00.004-06:00

time for a random rant.
It drives me crazy when I hear people say our country is a democracy. The United States of America is NOT a democracy. It is a REPUBLIC. Let's review: U.S.A. Not a democracy.
If this is news to you, or if you think “Why does that matter?” please take 10 minutes and watch this video.

Westward Ho!! and other updates

2009-02-17T18:16:00.015-06:00

We have been in St. George since October and there is not much to say about it (obviously, since I haven’t posted since September). In September, we put all our stuff in storage in St. Louis and went on our Victory Lap road trip. Then in October we decided to leave our stuff in storage and head west to Utah to mooch off family and friends while Tye job hunts.
We made a few stops on our trek west. We spent a night in Santa Fe, NM and hung out there for a day.
Then we stayed a couple nights in Sedona, AZ and Flagstaff.

Since arriving in St. George, Tye has passed all his interviews to go work in Australia for TLC. It’s a fantastic opportunity and we are super excited about it. We’re hoping we can make it work but it might not make sense financially (unless we decide to stay there permanently). but Honestly, after 4 ½ months of bland Utah life, and with a Marxist newly elected to the White House, staying permanently in Australia sounds pretty damn good to me. We could be moving there as early as June or as late as August.

Who wouldn't want to live here forever?

Other than getting ready for Australia, Tye has spent these past 4 months working on his Masters hours and treating friends and family. He is licensed in Utah so if give him a call if you need a Doctor of Chiropractic.

For me, it has been 4 months of talking myself down from the ledge. St. George is not my choice and is not where I want to be but I’m trying not to think about it. I’ve been distracting myself from thinking about living here with pervasive TV watching. I’ve found distraction is an effective form of self-medication, although binge drinking sounds more fun and quite possibly will commence any day now.

Aside from TV watching, I've been keeping busy by organizing all my mom’s books, de-wallpapering a bedroom, helping Kasi get moved in to her new studio, and helping Kasi and Michael with this Parade home.

Yard Sales, Eternal Rewards and Dreamy Locales

2008-09-16T22:23:00.021-06:00

Yard Sale Day completely wasted my flava.
I Seriously started hating all human life forms. Why do people turn into such jack-knobs when you put your stuff out on the lawn? haha, I guess I should be stoked people paid me for my crap and I didn't have to move it.
But I still had a butt load of stuff to move anyway so I'm not feeling very appreciative. From now on I'm just gonna send my junk out to the Universe (aka 'the curb') and see what good things come back to me.

Denae, Ben & Tye watch as our crap is
deemed unacceptable by the local hillbilly's.

What a nightmare moving was. THANK YOU BEN & DENAE seriously SO so MUCH for helping us move. Ben was there with his muscles and space-saving strategies, and he's not even in the Priest Quorum. And Denae was seriously like 15 months pregnant and she was in the trenches with us the whole way. And extra big love to you two for spending two weeks with a certain Ninja in the basement whose anger-management sessions have not been going too good actually. We love you guys and it's not the drugs talkin. And not just because you helped us move, but for that you earned our undying love and affection for eternity, not to mention a spot in the Celestial Kingdom. Probably. I can't guarantee that last bit, but I'll be sure to mention it to God if he's on the fence about you two. When you come visit us in New Zealand all your pets are welcome too. Even if you decide to stay forever (yay!)

After we finish our Victory Lap, we’ll be heading west and St. George (cringe) will be our temporary homebase while Tye finishes his Masters hours and looks for an Associate position someplace totally dreamy... Preferably some place like this, Tye.

He has seen some great opportunities in San Diego and Santa Cruz, CA and in North Shore, HI. We are closely considering a great opportunity in Australia and New Zealand and that’s the option that excites us most. Given the economy, it’s an utterly shitty time for both of us to be job hunting. But we got on this roller coaster, so HEEEERE WE GOOOOOoooooo!!!!

WEEEeeeeeeeeeeee!

Victory Lap

2008-09-16T22:13:00.021-06:00

In celebration of Tye's successful victory over school (and over St. Louis), we are on a little road trip 'round the country.

View Larger Map

Here are some pics and a little travelogue (Ok, technically it's a huge, long, boring travelogue. shut up.)
First up:
LBL, KY where we FULLY intended to take advantage of some great mountain biking trails. We spent the first day trying to find a bike shop (failed). The second day we went to pick up firewood and came out of the woods COVERED in thousands and thousands of ticks. So instead of riding we spent the day delousing from the tick infestation.

On our way to Lexington, we stopped at Pleasant Hill shaker village which was very cool. Coming into Lexington (beautiful city) we passed thru miles and miles of 'horse country' estates & farms where the horses for the Kentucky Derby are bred and trained.
The drive through Kentucky was beautiful.

Next destination was Beckley, WV where we stayed the night before heading into the New River Gorge. We went hiking, but skipped the biking there too (and the train ride. booo.) because Tye was about to rupture a blood vessel in his head he was so excited to get to Snowshoe.
The drive through West Virginia was absolutely amazing. So idyllic. Snowshoe Mountain, WV in theory is Tye's dream come true. But since this whole trip was sortof a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants spontaneous venture we didn't have the best timing.
For starters, it just so happened there was a big race the weekend we showed up, so most of the trails were closed. No biggie, we'll ride the few trails that are open. Or not. Right when we found the area of the open trails it started raining. Then the rain turned to snow. We rode the trail anyway. But it was a muddy, slippery, rocky mess. So after about 45 minutes of getting BEAT to DEATH by this hectic trail we decided to go back to our campsite and come back the next day (hoping for good weather).We camped at this REALLLLLY creepy place, called "Campers for Jesus" or something like that. We drove in and the place was totally abandoned so aparently not too many campers are "for" Jesus.

The next day was good weather so we FINALLY got a ride in. It was a TOTALLY easy trail and it completely kicked our asses. We get on this trail and start pedaling. The guide book says the trail is about 9 miles and at the midpoint there is a pavillion. It was pretty fun when we started out but about a CENTURY later we were pretty worn out. Tye said he thought we were getting pretty close to the end. I mentioned that we hadn't yet seen a pavillion and we decide we probably just didn't notice it.
Another century of pedaling goes by and still no end-of-trail and no pavillion. Again Tye reassures me that we've got to be getting really close the to end. We polish off the last of our water.
After another hour of riding we get to the pavillion. WHAT THE!! I don't know if we were in some alternate universe out there in the woods where time is slowed down or if we just really suck so bad that 2 miles seemed like 8, but I figure the first time Tye said "we're almost there" we had probably only gone about 1 mile.
Luckily the last half of the trail was mostly downhill and super fun and we got to ride FAST (or maybe it just seemed fast in that alternate universe). We were laughing so hard at ourselves. What a couple of dorks.
When we finally got back to the car we celebrated like rockstars for surviving that treacherous trail. We bought Pepsi and Dorritos and took a shower in a waterfall and basked in the glory of completing a bike ride that was rated a level "4" difficulty.
Overall though, Snowshoe/Pocahontas County was awesome and we will definitely go back there someday for a summer vacation. In fact, all of West Virginia was incredibly beautiful. You should go.
That night was a full moon and instead of camping we made a last minute decision to go visit Craig & Trish in Canton, Ohio. So we headed out and called them on the way and warned them we would be there at about 3 a.m.
The next day Craig reliably took us out for some yummy sushi and Tye and I both got plastered on sake while Craig and Trish and their 5 kids watched. or something like that. (that's a story for another time)
After a short stay with Craig and Trish, our next stop was at Fallingwater (in Mill Run, PA) which for me was a highlight. I've always wanted to see this place and it didn't disappoint. If you like architecture or FLW you would love this place. The inside was just as amazing as they outside but since they don't allow pictures to be taken inside here are a few I took of the exterior.We drove through Ohiopyle State Park in Pennsylvania. This place has such a good vibe. We had lunch while watching people kayak the falls. The dogs are super friendly. Three of them hopped in the car to see what we were eating.

Now we are in DC visiting Barrci (Barr and Marci). The first day Barr and Tye and I rode our bikes to Mt. Vernon. Tye and Barr were going Full Retard the whole way. I told them, "Nobody goes Full Retard" but they did it anyway.

We also did the Mall, several museums and Georgetown.Tomorrow we are heading to Richmond, Virginia to hang out with Jake, Marci and Whit. I think the plan is to stop at Nordstrom Rack and Ikea then hit the shopping really hard in Williamsburg, VA. We'll stay till they get sick of us, then head back to St. Louis for our final days there before we strike out for the great trek westward.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who let us crash at their place while we were homeless: Denae, Ben, Julie, Craig, Trish, Barr, Marcy, Jake, Marci, and Leann and Randy. LOve you!!

That's "Dr. Tye" to you...

2008-09-16T22:06:00.010-06:00

Congratulations Tye!!
August 23, 2008

Tye's mom came for Graduation so the Dr. Tye Fan Club (comprised of the two of us) was pretty wicked awesome. It was also very bittersweet because Tye's father passed away only two months previous and didn't get to be there for this momentous day.

Tye & his mother, Karen.

Good-byes to friends and classmates,
Hello THE NEXT CHAPTER (Dun dun duuuunnnnn).

P.S. I'm SO MAD!!! I was stuck behind the camera all day and didn't get one of Tye and me together. I'm still totally mad & sad about that. Sensitive subject. Don't mention it to me or I'll fly into a rage all over again. When Tye is a rich a famous doctor, we'll have the paparazzi follow us around to make sure we get pictures together of all our special occasions.

Two Lists about St. Louis

2008-04-02T08:20:00.011-06:00

In anticipation of leaving Saint Louis I have compiled two lists:

Things We Will Miss About St. Louis

The owl that lives in the tree outside our bedroom window and hoots me to sleep every night
Our apartment
some truly fantastic restaurants like Pho Grand (our ultimate favorite)
the Parkway Ward
All my AmFam peeps
the zoo (one of the best in the nation)
watching the Cards play (and the Rams and the Blues)
Fresh mozzarella from Viviano’s Italian deli
some really great shopping
Forest Park with the Art Museum, Science Center, and Boathouse
the Botanical Gardens
All of these just a few miles from home: Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Costco, an Italian deli, a Middle Eastern deli, and an Asian deli
charming architecture in neighborhoods like Lafayette Square, Central West End, Litzinger Boulevard, Clayton, and Tower Grove
Gooey Butter Cake
The Dave Glover Show
Anheuser Busch (they sponsor so many fun, free concerts, fireworks etc.)
Tons of trails, parks and lakes
Feeling like you’re in the middle of the woods when you’re in the middle of the ‘burbs
Diversity, variety, and selection

Things We Will Not Miss About St. Louis

Getting bit by wasps, chiggers, monster-size mosquitoes and other bugs
Weird salads
Cheese Sauce on Everything
Hearing 26 stories/day about someone’s big kill on the hunting trip last weekend
Hearing 82 stories/day about how drunk someone got last weekend
Nasty “St. Louis Style” pizza and other weird St. Louis foods like toasted ravioli or pork steak
Our car getting broken into
Everybody is a chain smoker
retarded drivers
Lakes where waterskiing/wakeboarding is not allowed and where hundreds of people are speeding around in cigar boats
“fishing lakes” where you’re not allowed to swim
Disgusting rivers where you wouldn’t want to swim
(big, useless bodies of water in general)
Nasty Sticky humidity
Ear Aches (from the humidity)
Asthma (from the humidity and pollution)
Getting chicken pocks, pityriasis rosea, and other weird skin issues constantly

this picture has nothing to do with anything, but isn't it awesome?!!
I need some Springtime right now.

Mad Ninja Skills

2008-03-05T15:39:00.010-06:00

About 5 years ago, Tye adopted his favorite roommate. Here are 10 things you should know about her:
1. Perfect Roommate: We rescued her in 2003 from a place out in Washington Fields. I chose her the minute I saw her. She is fairly small so the pound guessed she was about 5 months old, but then she went into heat like the minute we took her home and she never grew any bigger, so I’m pretty sure she was at least a year old when we got her. We never had to litter-box train her; she has never gone to the bathroom in the house. She is super clean and fastidious about cleaning herself. She is cuddly at night and always sleeps at our feet. If we toss and turn she gets up, waits patiently while we rearrange and then snuggles right back up.
2. Ninja Skills:Ninja is the perfect name for her. She goes outside to hunt stuff and will totally obliterate anything that gets within reach. Many birds have fallen prey to her badass ninja skills as well as quite a few bunnies. One bunny in particular was torn in half length-wise. After that very disturbing incident I suggested we change her name to something less violent, like ‘Sweetheart’ or ‘Gandhi’.
3. Periscope: We refer to her tail as her periscope because it is always sticking STRAIGHT up into the air. Ninja is all black (hence the name) except for a very noticeably pink bung-holio which is always on display because she refuses to put her tail down. Ryan and Shannon suggested we tattoo it black but the Church says no tattoos and I didn’t want to think of her standing at Final Judgment bar with a tattooed asshole.
4. Shut Up Already!: Ninja is a total chatterbox and meows and grumbles all the time. We’ve started to recognize what it all means. Sometimes she decides to start up a lengthy conversation at 3 a.m. which has earned her a few beatings and many pillows/obscenities hurled at her.
5. Miss Manners: She has good manners. Whenever she comes home from marauding she makes sure to come and greet everyone before running to her food dish.

asleep in the bathroom sink

6. Kitty Crack: Flowers and mints are like Kitty Crack to Ninja. If ever I have fresh flowers in a vase I can’t keep her off the table because she wants to sniff them all the time. She sits next to them and every once in a while she turns her head and takes a deep breath of flowers. When we brush our teeth she jumps up on the counter to try to smell the toothbrush. If you chew gum she will get on your lap and try to smell your breath. Sometimes we find a piece of half-chewed gum still in the wrapper stuck to the carpet.
7. Dog in a previous life?: She recognizes our cars and runs to greet us when we get home from school or work. When we go for walks around the neighborhood she follows us like a puppy. People always look at us strangely and sometimes ask if we were taking our cat for a walk. We say, “Not on purpose.” After about 2 blocks she gets tired and fall behind and starting bawling this hideous, loud moan. If we ignore her she keeps following us anyway, all the while keeping up the howling.
8. Homebody: She hates to go in the car. About one block away from home, she starts that yowling thing I mentioned in #7. Knowing that we are going to be moving again soon, we occasionally practice taking her in the car if we are going somewhere nearby. We’ve done this quite a few times but she has never gotten used to it and never quits yowling.
9. Velcro Kitty: When Ninja desperately wants to come in the house she climbs the window screen to the top of the window and just hangs there meowing until we open the door. Usually she can’t get her claws out of the screen so we have to go out and pry her off the screen.
10. Hater: Ninja is a hater. If you are a cat or a dog she wants to kill you. When she sees an animal, she will arch her back and hiss and get all up in its grill. Our front patio faces a quiet street that is a constant parade of people walking their dogs. She sits out there and growls and hisses at every animal that walks by. If Tye is out there she suddenly gets all brave and goes on the ATTACK.
Tye always reports to me about her attacks on various dogs, cats and children. Once, he saw her attack a 200-pound Rottweiler that was being walked by this cute chick that was chatting away on her cell phone. The dog was so scared he tried to hide behind the lady and at the same time run away from Ninja which ended up wrapping the leash around the girls’ legs and then dragging her down the sidewalk. It totally sounds like a scene from some ridiculous movie and we should have felt bad but the lady laughed so we did too.
Another time, Ninja chased Mason Miller around our apartment and had her claws stuck in the back pocket of his pants and was hanging on for life as he drug her around the room, screaming and crying and trying to get away. It’s unclear if the cat was just playing or actually trying to traumatize Mason for life.
P.S. You gotta check out ExplodingDog.com. I like this dudes' art (as seen in video clip below). You just write him a sentence or title or something & send it in to him & he will draw a picture to fit it. So cute!

Don't those robots look just like the one on the purse I made for Sarah for Christmas?

Today's Earworm

2008-02-19T11:47:00.002-06:00

This song is permanently lodged in my brain today--it's so catchy!

Today's Earworm

2008-02-14T13:54:00.003-06:00

I can't get this Puddle of Mud song out of my head:

She lays down on the sidewalk
Never very analytical
She is something simply beautiful
Re-appear when you feel magical
To back in the days when we were young
When everything was like a loaded gun
Ready to go off at any minute
Yeah you know we're gonna win again

Maybe I'm the one, Maybe I'm the one Who is
the schizophrenic psycho, ya
Maybe I'm the one, Maybe I'm the one Who is
the paranoid psycho

No YOU'RE the one, YOU'RE the one who is
the schizophrenic psycho

Road Trip to N. Carolina and Tennessee

2007-11-27T12:44:00.007-06:00

View Larger Map
Tye and I went on a little road trip last weekend to Asheville, North Carolina. Since it is November it was already pretty cold, but take our breaks whenever we can get them.

The first night, we camped in a canyon just outside of Knoxville, TN (just off Winfield Dunn Pkwy I think) then drove into Asheville, NC and spent the morning checking out the town, the shops, etc. It is such a great town, I would totally live there. We also went to the Biltmore Estate but didn't go for the full tour because we were anxious to do some hiking.

After Asheville, we drove the Blue Ridge Parkway which was amazing. It is mile-after-mile of winding, tree-lined, mountainous road, I felt like I was in a car commercial. Luckily there was still quite a bit of fall color so it was pretty spectacular scenery. I made Tye stop almost every mile to get out and look and take a picture. This was my first time using my camera, so I'm still trying to get it figured out so the pictures don't do it justice.

We took the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way to the entrance of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.on Hwy 441. We stopped at the visitors center and got a map and some ideas where to hike and we were on our way. At Walker Camp, we hiked a section of the Appalachian Trail. We were basically walking the spine of the mountain that divides Tennessee and North Carolina.

After that, we drove down the other side of the mountain through Gatlinburg and ended up in Pigeon Forge, TN. Pigeon Forge is seriously THE SINGLE WEIRDEST town I have ever been in. It sort of gave me the creeps but at the same time I wanted to stay and check out every inch of it (Tye wouldn't let me). Of course there was Dollywood, and there was a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum and this crazy, crashed, upside-down place called Wonderworks. The main street was mile after mile of lazer tag, race track, batting cage, mini-mall, ice cream shop, old-time photos, mini-golf, indoor sky diving, and every themed restaurant you could possibly imagine. Also they apparently take Go-Karting really seriously in Pigeon Forge because the place was PACKED with these crazy HUGE tracks that look more like roller-coasters than go-cart tracks. The whole town was bizarre. Like a back-woods version of Disneyland or something.

Then it was back to St. Louis. Super fun trip. The End.

Tye's cute fam

2007-09-13T12:33:00.000-06:00

On 4th of July, Tye's dad, Don, was diagnosed with terminal* cancer. At the time, his parents were on a mission in Athens, Greece. They flew home** right away and about a month later we had a little family reunion in Salt Lake City. These family photos were taken at the family reunion.

* he is responding well to Chemo.

**home=USA. They're still working on figuring out exactly where "home" is.

Daybed

2007-06-26T11:20:00.000-06:00

i have a spare twin-size mattress that I would like to use as a sofa/guest bed. I want it to look more like a sofa than a bed though. This one is from West Elm, but I think they may have sold out or discontinued it. I'm keeping the pictures, because maybe someday I'll take a class and build/upholster it myself.

My Meosphere

2007-06-21T11:36:00.000-06:00

Hope by Emily Dickinson

2007-04-25T14:35:00.002-06:00

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.

The Back-and-Forth Cow by Lynn C. Jaynes

2007-04-19T15:37:00.000-06:00

I love this story by Lynn C. James. To me it's the essence of what it means to be family, to support and care for those you love. No keeping score, just self-lessness, sharing and helping each other out.

The Back-and-Forth Cow
Ensign, Jan 1994, 59
Several years ago my sister, Jane, and I inherited a wringer-type mop bucket. We were next-door neighbors, so sharing the bucket was a simple matter of organizing our cleaning days. Although we both had young families, lived on farms, and had large linoleum floors that needed frequent mopping, we didn’t have any problems getting the bucket back and forth. She knew where I stored the bucket and I knew where she stored it, so we just helped ourselves on mop day.
Jane and I shared other things, too. I borrowed her bread pans on baking day, and she borrowed the pressure cooker during canning season. We planted gardens side by side and raised chickens in the same pen. We used each other’s lawn mowers and fed each other’s children. She taught my children piano lessons. When her three-year-old daughter “ran away” to my house, I assigned the little girl some work that was harder than usual—and she was soon ready to go back home.
We cried when changes in our husbands’ employment separated us. Tearfully, we divvied up our wares. I knew I would miss her greatly.
About a year later, we were thrilled to be neighbors again. By that time, she had a pressure cooker and I had bought my own bread pans. I got to keep the mop bucket because Jane’s new house was mostly carpeted. That’s when we bought the five hundred-dollar milk cow.
I don’t even recall now who bought the cow first. But our arrangement was for one family to milk her in the mornings and the other family to take care of her at night. The cow gave enough milk to supply both families, and we raised calves besides.
Through the years, both families occasionally had financial struggles. I remember a time when taxes came due for my sister’s family. They were short about five hundred dollars. At that time, they owned the cow. So we bought the cow from them, and they were able to pay their taxes. Meanwhile, they still milked mornings, we still milked evenings, and nothing really changed.
Then one day we needed funds to pay medical bills. My sister and her husband bought back the cow.
I guess we’ve lost track now of how many times the cow has been bought and sold, but during these ownership shuffles, the cow has never even changed pastures or had her milking routine interrupted. As far as I could see, there was never any real advantage to ownership. Sometimes we had to concentrate to even figure out who the current owner was.
And Jane seemed to agree. One day as ownership was changing hands again, she remarked, “This is silly that we pass this cow back and forth and declare ‘ownership’ as if it really meant something. We ought to just give each other the money whenever it’s needed.” We laughed about it and dubbed the animal our consecration cow.
Awhile back the pump in our well broke. A new one was going to cost a fair bit, and my husband and I were trying to decide how to pay for it when the phone rang. It was my sister.
“I can’t believe your pump went out! Listen, do you need us to buy the cow?”
I smiled. It didn’t even matter that they already owned her.

Canon PowerShot Pro S3 IS

2007-04-10T13:35:00.000-06:00

Hot damn! I FINALLY ordered the camera I have been wanting for the past year. I found it on Amazon and the price was right, so I ordered it. Of course, I went the cheap-o route and got the free shipping, which means I won't actually get it for two weeks, but that just means for two weeks I get to anticipate getting/having/using it! yay!

I think I'm going to make it a goal to do the whole 'a-picture-a-day' thing which might be pretty difficult for me--I'll have to get creative to come up with subjects to photograph. I don't have kids or family nearby to take pictures of. No upcoming vacations on the calendar. I live in a drab, flat city so no beautiful landscapes to speak of. I have a hubby and a cat (both uncooperative models for posing and patience and whatnot) and a dingy apartment. I do have access to fruits and vegetables--I have a feeling my "still life" skills are going to be put to the test right away.

This website is great for finding the right digital camera for you.

the haircut

2007-04-05T12:37:00.000-06:00

Joan Jett might not actually be the most accurate description, but you get the idea. Also, I don't have black hair like Joan Jett-- it's red-ish auburn with quite a lot of blonde streaks. Black hair makes me look--as Tye so delicately put it--"old."

I found these pictures online at www.bosshairstyles.com that's right--"boss" hairstyles. I'm totally boss.

This is what it looks like when I get out of the shower...

This is how it looks after I flat iron it.

It also looks really cute pulled back in a ponytail or whatever. I never thought my cowlick would allow me to have blunt, straight bangs on my forehead, but it actually works okay.

AJ Rockin the Suburbs

2007-03-15T14:04:00.000-06:00

My Little Bro

Tye make beeg funny joke

2007-03-08T11:10:00.000-06:00

i always thought i was good at knowing if someone is being sarcastic or serious, but for some reason with tye i always think he's serious when he says totally absurd stuff. Probably one of my most-asked questions is "tye are you serious?"

So, anyway we were wandering through IKEA a couple weeks ago, and you know how IKEA makes you assemble all your own furniture--well, we walk past this:

and tye goes, (totally deadpan) "oh, i would HATE to buy wicker from IKEA. Can you imagine how long it would take to assemble that chair!?"

I was about to start explaining that those sticks are for decorative use before looked at his face and realize I'm retarded for thinking he was serious about that. Then I laughed because Tye is the coolest and I like the idea of a store expecting you to thread two million little sticks together in order to form a chair.

dollar store extravaganza

2007-02-15T15:48:00.001-06:00

Went to the dollar store to buy little things to bribe the sunbeams--ending up spending an hour and $30 on the most random stuff--but somehow this treasure didn't make it into my basket of "things that are worth a dollar"

Ice Storm

2007-02-15T15:08:00.001-06:00

Just some pictures taken on Tye's camera phone of one of this seasons' ice storms. It was so pretty, I'd never seen anything like it. Every individual blade of grass was wrapped in ice and everything was sparkling like diamonds. Veddy niiice.

Laaaayyyyy Back

2007-01-09T17:31:00.001-06:00

Christmas 2006 was spent on a cruise in the Caribbean and Look at that water!! Check out that look of serene contentment on Tye's face. (sigh) While we were at it we checked out New Orleans and then took a side trip to Austin, TX to hang out with the Bean bunch.
The Caribbean did not disappoint and we had a blast hanging out with Stacy, Kimber, the Brents and all the kids. It made it really hard to come back to dreary old St. Louis.