Walking

This week I started a new exercise routine: walking on a nearby bike trail. I've been doing three miles a day, which for me is a lot (all you serious runners, please don't laugh at me!) It takes me about an hour, so I'm not going super fast either - but since prior to this week I was doing almost nothing, I feel good about it. I'm footsore and muscle sore, and it feels great. Today I went the extra mile - literally - and did four. It hasn't been hard to get up and go because the weather this whole week has been fantastic. Cool in the mornings and evenings, breezy, and never too hot. Virginia in August is usually so hot and humid that you get drenched in sweat just cracking open the front door, so this is unseasonably temperate. Nature must approve of my attempts at exercising.

I brought the camera along today so I could capture some of the beauty of the trail. For some reason everything came out a bit overexposed (I'm the epitome of "amateur enthusiast" when it comes to photography and generally have no idea what I'm doing) but I got some good shots of some flowers and critters along the way. And one near miss that could have been a great photo, but isn't.

The trail.


Ready to hit the road in my new shoes.


The underbrush is so dense this time of year. It's no wonder Sawyer always says "It's a rainforest!"


Part of the trail goes past a quarry. Sawyer loves to stop and see the huge trucks.


Goose Creek. Sorry about the chain link. For some reason they want to make sure the bikers don't fall off the bridge. By the way, you should know that it was a personal triumph for me to actually stop in the middle of the bridge to take this picture because of my crippling fear of heights. I was white-knuckling the camera the whole time.


Virginia countryside. I love the color of the grass at the end of summer, all bleached out by the sun.


Sawyer squinting into the sun and showing me his flower. He held onto it until it wilted away completely.


I wish I could tell you the names of all these flowers, but I have no idea what most of them are. Maybe a Virginian naturalist could step in and enlighten me (Katy??)



With Sawyer's help, I saw a lot of animals today.

A little groundhog that ran off as soon as we got too close and dived into his hole.



A moth that was fluttering around the wildflowers.






A large bird (how's that for descriptive?)



A heron and some Canada geese (I know what those are!)



Circling birds.


And the worst, which could have been the best:


Can you see it? Me either. I had stopped to photograph a bird that was perched on a branch, was just zooming in and focusing when I heard a crash in the brush close by. I jumped about a mile and looked up to see a male whitetail deer with a huge rack of antlers about 10 feet away from me. I was so startled that it took me a few seconds to get the camera pointed at him, and by that time he was completely covered by the bushes. Too bad I'm not Dwight Schrute.

Beach 2008

I learned something this year during our beach trip. One week at the beach is not enough. You spend the entire first week just learning how to live the vacation lifestyle, and by the time the week is over you're just starting to get in the groove of sitting on the beach all day, reading, and eating whatever you want. It doesn't make any sense to go home at that point. Two weeks is infinitely better. Obviously, three would be even better than two. But I'll take two. Two is great.

The trip down was much better than I expected. Sawyer watched his Dora the Explorer DVDs almost the whole way. And it's a 7 hour drive. On the way home I stopped and bought another DVD player (you'll find out why in a minute) and he did pretty much the same thing, even though the drive home took 9 hours because we hit traffic. I've often wondered at home how long he would keep watching TV were I to let him just sit there and keep watching, and now I have my answer: pretty much forever! I'm not complaining though since it made driving without another adult a whole lot easier than it could have been. Especially since the little bugger seems to be immune to the sleepy side effects of Dramamine.

This year our first week was with my mom's family, the annual Stell reunion, full of all the usual subtle and not-so-subtle tensions that a family reunion always brings, and a lot of watching The Office in the evening. My cousins are spread out over Virginia and the US so the beach week is the one time during the year when we all get together and catch up.

The second week we spent in a sound side house with my parents and siblings who could make it (Rob had to go back to work in Miami and Erin was in the midst of moving to New Zealand.) It was nice to all be in one house (the Stell reunion is so big now that we need two) and a bit less chaotic since there were fewer of us. The weather got much better that week too, cooler and less humid. We spent almost every day out on the beach or by the pool. There were a few minor problems - like getting multiple mosquito bites every time we left the house (they were worse this year than they've been in a long time - this T-shirt would have been very appropriate) and having our cars broken into during the first week (mysteriously, my cheapo portable DVD player got stolen, but the punk left my $400+ GPS system right where it was on the windshield.) And it really sucked that Eric was only able to come for a short weekend; he drove down Friday night and left Sunday morning. Next year I hope he'll be able to take more time off. I'm already counting the days.

Another benefit of staying two weeks was that it gave Sawyer time to learn to love the ocean. The first week he hated going to the beach. I literally had to drag him kicking and screaming across the dunes. He hated the way the sand would shift under his feet ("It's slippery! It's slippery!") and was scared of the waves. But by week two, he loved it and it was all I could do to get him to come out of the water and go home for lunch. I had to watch him like a hawk because he would try to get into the water by himself. His favorite was going into the ocean with his Grandad - they'd jump up over the waves and Sawyer would yell "Arriba!" and "Abajo!" and "Don't drink the agua!" (Thank you again, Dora!)



One of the highlights of our yearly beach vacation is our trip to Ocracoke. It's on a small island south of Cape Hatteras and is a quirky little village with lots of restaurants, shops, local music and aging hippies. This year we went twice. We had a great time eating at the Jolly Roger (hush puppies=deliciousness!), browsing at the Hemp Shop, touring the lighthouse, and splashing in puddles on the day it rained.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

...because it's beach time! Sawyer and I leave tomorrow for a whole two weeks at the Outer Banks. My whole family (minus my sister Erin who's in the midst of moving to New Zealand) and my mom's family will be there. I can't wait to see everyone. Eric can't come this year because 1) he doesn't have much vacation time yet since starting his new job a couple of months ago, and 2) Verizon is going on strike next week and he has to be there to pick up the pieces (he doesn't get to go on strike because he's not a Verizon employee.) He's planning to come down next weekend, and I'm hoping he can extend his stay for at least a few days beyond that. We'll see.

I'm a little nervous about driving down by myself tomorrow, mostly because Sawyer has been a complete terror the last few days. Whiney, fussy and tantrum-y. Whoever said the Terrible Twos were the worst phase never met a three year old. Or at least they never met Sawyer. I think I'm prepared - portable DVD player with Dora the Explorer DVDs, check. Huge box of fruit snacks, check. Leaving in the evening in hopes he'll fall asleep, check. Dramamine in case he doesn't fall asleep soon enough, check (thanks for the suggestion Jen!) Not stopping at mean grandma's on the way, double check! So I think I'll be OK. I think.

No Grad School For Me

Movie Reviews

So I guess when I get a postgrad degree I'll have to start using fancier words on my blog. I'll probably have to stop writing about Etsy finds and celebrity crushes too. Worth it? Maybe, maybe not.

To the N to the J

I'm going up to New Jersey tonight so I can be there for Andrea's baby shower this weekend. I am really excited to get out of the house for a few days. No one ever told me before I was a mom that one day a 5 hour car drive all alone would be a sought-after luxury. But it really is. I've got my iPod loaded up with podcasts and music. I can't wait. Oh, and I'm excited to see Andrea too.

A couple of items of business before I leave: FIRST, Arianne is having another giveaway on her blog. And it involves CHOCOLATE! Go check it out.

Also: I have another new favorite blog. By the creators of I Can Has Cheezburger comes FAIL Blog, with photos and videos of spectacular failures. (Just a warning that some of them are kind of crude. What can I say, I like that sort of thing.) Some of my recent favorites:

So It Isn't Just Me

I had a pretty lame 4th of July. I was sick (Sawyer gave me a whopper of a cold - honestly, who gets colds in JULY?!) and it rained all afternoon and evening so we didn't go to the fireworks. In fact, Eric and Sawyer were both in bed before 9 p.m. So I watched the fireworks on TV and perused blogs about improper spelling and punctuation. Which is actually a lot more fun than it sounds. Here are a few I found:

Red Pen, Inc. Fulfill your innermost desire of attacking all those mistakes with a red pen! An English teacher's paradise (or nightmare, depending on how you look at it.)

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks More scare quotes than a classic Chris Farley sketch.

Apostrophism Dedicated to the rampant misuse of apostrophes.

Apostrophe Abuse It's an epidemic! Literally!

Literally, A Web Log Tracking the overuse of the word "literally."

lowercase L A study of handmade signs in which all of the letters are uppercase except for L. Seriously. It happens more than you'd think!

Signs of the Times Incorrect and amusing signs.

Say What? Incorrect, amusing, and just plain weird.

Spell it rite!

This post is inspired by Arianne's lament about bad grammar. I hate bad spelling. Intellectually I do realize that spelling "correctly" is an artificial construction, goes against the nature of language itself which is flowing, evolving, organic, etc. and that the important thing is the ability to communicate. And I certainly make mistakes myself. But man, I hate it when I see stuff misspelled! It produces a visceral reaction in me not unlike the feeling I get when I see myself in a photo wearing a bathing suit.

A few of the worst:

Its vs. it's. "It's" means "it is". "Its" indicates a possessive. It can be confusing because usually adding 's to the end of a noun makes a possessive. But trust me, it doesn't work that way with "it."
"It's too bad that the plane lost its engine."
Closely related to this one are your/you're and their/there/they're.

Per se. I see this one all the time on message boards as "per say". AHHH!

Voilà. I had a boss in college that would say (and write) "Walla!" with a flourish. And each time, the Académie Française woke up in a cold sweat. In case you were wondering, "voilà" is French for "there it is."

Affect vs. effect. Affect is a verb, effect is a noun.
"How does bad spelling affect me?" "Bad spelling has an annoying effect on me."

Family names in the plural. You don't ever use an apostrophe to make a plural. This includes proper names. So the Griffith family would be "the Griffiths." Not "the Griffith's."

I'm not saying that everyone has to be a spelling genius, or that if you can't spell you're stupid - I think naturally good spellers are pretty rare. But that's what spell checkers and dictionaries are for! Use'em, people. Being a good speller makes you sound more intelligent, and it could even get you a better job.

What are some of your spelling/grammar pet peeves?

Father's Day

Here are some overdue photos from our Father's Day celebration. We had a nice dinner at Megan and Ryan's house. My mom, my dad and my Grandy were all there. It was a gorgeous day and the kids had a great time running around the yard.

Caroline and Sawyer with their Granddad.




Sawyer's favorite thing ever, being tossed by his dad. Caroline doesn't like it at all, so she was pretty concerned about Sawyer. (I'm with Caroline on this one.)

Mary Grace

So moving on from funny toddler profanity...

I promised to post some pictures of my new niece, Mary Grace. Here they are.

Sleeping sweetly in her Uncle Eric's arms.


With proud big sister Caroline.




Getting lots of love from her sis and cousin. Sawyer looks a little wary because the first time he tried to kiss her, Caroline said "No Sawyer! Be careful! Her MY baby sister!"

Unfortunate Mispronunciation

This is even funnier coming from such a cutey.



Sawyer does something similar when he tries to say "frog". Doesn't take much imagination to figure out what that sounds like.

Etsy Finds

As most of you know, I am addicted to Etsy. I sell there. I buy there. I browse there. I'm not exaggerating when I say I could easily spend all day in Etsy-related pursuits. One of the things I love the most is that you can find just about anything you can think of. Soap, paintings, cupcakes, stationery, jewelry, purses that look like a vagina (seriously - do a search!) - it's all there. Here are a few of my recent finds.

From The Homespun Raven: Primitive Handpainted Wood Sign

This sign describes my housekeeping style pretty accurately. This shop is full of handmade wooden signs with clever sayings on them, some cutesy and some subversive.

From Momo's Retro Fashions: Flirty Everyday Housewife Apron

I'm not a big apron wearer, but her shop makes me want to be! Totally retro and cute.


From Lovey Duds: The Custom Baby Wrap/Sling Carrier-Kashmir Brown

I'm a big believer in the magic of baby wearing, and I'm already planning the wraps I'll collect for my (so far theoretical) next baby. I love all her fabric choices - I could have a matching baby carrier for just about every outfit I own!

From Balsam: Monet's Waterlilies

I know, I know, I'm supposed to promote my *own* soap here. But when I saw this, I couldn't pass it by. The colors! The swirls! The scent description! "A sweet floral with a definite water scent in the background. Perfectly feminine." This is soap heaven as far as I'm concerned.

From Janine King Designs: Laptop Sleeve in Asian Cherry Blossom

I've been coveting one of these for my MacBook for a while. The problem is that I rarely take my laptop anywhere, so I don't have much use for a sleeve. I might have to start traveling more so I have a reason to buy this. She also makes matching sleeves for your iPhone (if only I had an iPhone!), adorable wristlets, and full sized laptop bags, all in amazing fabrics.

Well, now what?

I don't think I'm allergic to Red 40 after all. My itchiness has been gone for a few days so yesterday I decided to test it out. I ate a few different foods that all contained the dye and...nothing. No reaction at all. So now I have NO idea what I was reacting to before. I was actually hoping it was the Red 40 because that would be so easy to avoid in the future. Shoot. Allergist's office, here I come (as soon as I make an appointment.)

I'm an Aunt again!

My second niece, Mary Grace was born on Wednesday around noon. She weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 21 inches long, and beautiful in every way. She looks a lot like Megan did as a baby with dark hair and the cutest little face. I'll have pictures soon!

My mom and I went to the hospital a few hours after she was born to introduce Caroline to her baby sister. When we got to Megan's room we had to wait in the hall for a few minutes for her to get situated and Caroline kept saying "I wanna see my baby sister! I wanna see my baby sister!" When we went in she gave her mom and big hug and when she saw Mary Grace for the first time she said "Oh! She so beautiful!" It was such a sweet moment to witness. Sawyer was more interested in the equipment in the hospital room (especially the device that blew air into the pneumatic compression boots on Megan's legs - he kept pointing my keyfob at it and was convinced that he was making it work when he pressed the Lock button) but he did pause for a moment to see his new cousin while I was holding her. He said "Aawww. She so nice!" Since then he keeps talking about "Mana Grace" or "Cah-wine's little sister" being wrapped in a blanket and he always adds "she so nice!" She really is. I'm excited to watch her grow and have her be a part of our lives.

I Love the Whole World

I love this commercial.



What would we do without the Discovery Channel?

Itchy Itchy Cocoa Puff!

That's an expression Eric claims he grew up with, and he says it whenever he's itchy. Now that I think of it, it probably means something obscene, so if you know what it means, don't tell me.

I've been having what I think are allergic reactions. It starts with a tingling/burning sensation around my lips, and within a few hours develops into all over itchy-ness and hives. I'm having one today that started last night. I could hardly sleep I was so itchy. I should have just gotten up and taken some Benadryl, but for some reason that didn't occur to me in the middle of the night. This is the fourth reaction I've had in about 6 weeks, and I think I know what's causing it: Red 40. Yep, I'm turning into one of those crazy people who thinks the government is trying to poison us through our food colorings. The first two times I had a reaction I had been eating Fruity Pebbles (go ahead and laugh, it's funny. Sometimes I'm like an 8 year old.) I thought I was getting my first ever cold sore, so it took me a couple of days to realize that it was probably an allergy (once it spread from my lips to all over my body that was a good clue.) The third time I had just eaten Red Vines, so that was another clue - Red Vines have a super short ingredient list and Red 40 is on there. After that I made up my mind to avoid Red 40 and see if I had any other reactions. Last night when my lips started tingling I couldn't think of what it could be since I hadn't had anything that was red - until I realized I had bought a case of Cheerwine (the most delicious soda ever) at the grocery store and had some on my way to Enrichment. It didn't even occur to me that it was red because I drank it right out of the can. When I got home I checked the ingredient list: sure enough, it has Red 40. Crap.

I need to make an appointment with an allergist. Eric just started a new job a couple of weeks ago, and they put the wrong name on the insurance cards so we're waiting for new ones. As soon as we get them, it's off to allergy testing for me. For now I'll be drowsy on Benadryl, trying not to scratch all my skin off.

Ding Dong, The Neighbors Are Gone!

Our row of townhouses backs up against another one, so that when we're out on our deck we're reeeeally close to our neighbors, both on either side of us and behind us. It translates to not hanging out on the deck very much because of the lack of privacy. Not that we would be doing anything that exciting out on the deck (not on my watch, anyway!) It's just that we don't really want to have to be socializing every time we go outside. (Yeah, we're kind of reclusive - that's what happens when two introverts marry each other.)

The couple who lives directly behind us (so that their deck backs up to ours) has no such qualms. They are out on their deck all. the. time. along with the dozen or so friends they seem to have over every night. And along with their three very vocally expressive dogs. They are party people; every weekend evening we can plan on hearing lengthy drunken rants from them and/or all of their friends into the wee hours of the morning. As it turns out, I am a lot less tolerant of drunken ranting than I used to be. Especially when I've JUST gotten Sawyer to sleep and someone singing "I Shot the Sheriff" at top volume wakes him up.

The worst part though is that they both smoke, and they only smoke on their deck. I can understand that they don't want to smoke inside their house, but do they really have to share it with the whole neighborhood? When we leave our sliding door or our bedroom window open, our whole house is filled with smoke at regular intervals. Aside from cigarette smoke being just plain yucky, I'm allergic to it and it makes me all wheezy to be around it. But you can't very well tell someone to stop smoking outside their own house, so we just put up with it. One of the things you deal with when you live in close proximity to other people.

So we were both very excited on Saturday when we noticed a moving van in front of the Smokingtons' house! A few hours later they were gone. Now I'm feeling kind of wistful, like I should have gotten to know them and their dogs and maybe invited them over for dinner or something instead of just avoiding and complaining about them all the time. Oh well. I'm definitely not going to miss the smoke.

Singing the Blues...and Folk...and Country...

Eric and I had a little debate the other day about music. He claimed that there hasn't been any really good pop music since the 90's. I told him he was becoming one of those old people who gets stuck in the trends that were popular during their youth - like those women who are still curling their bangs in two different directions and sporting banana clips.

That conversation got me thinking about how my musical tastes have evolved over the years. In high school my favorite musicians were along the lines of The Smiths, The Cure, The Stone Roses, Depeche Mode, Oasis, Nirvana, and Tori Amos. I went through a brief period of listening to country music - I really liked Suzy Bogguss and Alison Krauss and Union Station, but got so sick of the poppy stuff ("Achy Breaky Heart" anyone?) that I gave up on the genre pretty quickly. I have never really gotten into rap or hip-hop, with a few exceptions (like the classic, "Hot in Herre". (Just kidding. It does remind me of when we got married though, because that song was on the radio at least once every 5 minutes in May 2002. And actually, the cover by Jenny Owen Youngs* is super awesome, and includes dancing people dressed as penguins.)) *warning: contains adult language and references to "asses bodacious"

So, my favorite singer/band now? Well, it's a hard choice, but if you were to put a gun to my head and make me decide, I'd probably say Ryan Adams. Chances are even if you don't recognize him by name, you've heard his stuff in the background of a movie or TV show. Soundtracks love him. It's hard to describe what his music is like because it's so eclectic - his songs range from rock to blues to country to bluegrass to folk. Here are a few (OK, several) of my favorites to give you a taste.

New York, New York
One of his most mainstream sounding songs, and probably his most famous song, since it was released shortly after 9/11, although it was written much earlier. He says the song is actually about an ex-girlfriend, not about New York - he often uses place names instead of names for girls in his songs, hence titles like "Dear Chicago," "Oh My Sweet Carolina," "La Cienega Just Smiled", and "My Blue Manhattan."


Oh My Sweet Carolina
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. It shows his country background, and his ability to write a song that is both simple and expressive. The album version features the incomparable Emmylou Harris on backing vocals. This song has been covered all over the place, including a great version by Elton John (the things you learn on YouTube.) There's an interview at the beginning, the song starts around 2:30.


Pearls on a String
A bit of bluegrass. This is such a pretty little song, I just love it. I would love to be described this way: "Glorious kind, always on time." (But a more accurate line would be "Pretty nice, perpetually late.") This clip is two songs - the first one is great too, but feel free to skip to 3:40.


You Will Always Be The Same
This was filmed in the middle of an open market in Jamaica. I was listening to this album pretty much nonstop during our first year of marriage, so it still reminds me of our basement apartment, walking to class, and driving to campus to pick Eric up from work in the middle of a snowy night. A sad song for one of the happiest times of my life.


Touch, Feel, & Lose
The boy knows how to sing the blues. Cry, cry, cry.


Wonderwall
Ryan Adams + Oasis? Yes please!


Another dream team - Ryan + Beth Orton, one of my favorite female singer/songwriters. They dated for a while and he wrote a song for her album "Daybreaker" as well as singing backing vocals on a couple of her songs. His song "English Girls Approximately" is about her - he even calls her by name in it. I couldn't find a clip, but I'm sure if you've read this far you've had more than enough Ryan Adams for the day.

So now it's your turn - who is your favorite musician right now?

How Many Lives do Macs Have?

My MacBook is on its third life - or at least, its third hard drive. Last Saturday morning I was reading blogs when it suddenly froze. I had to force quit and manually shut down, and when I started it back up again, guess what? A gray screen with a flashing, question-marked folder. No hard drive. Just like last time. I couldn't believe it. So Sawyer and I spent the afternoon driving to Tyson's Corner for another visit to the Genius Bar (Eric was studying.). I had to leave it overnight, and again they were unable to save anything from the hard drive. It's a good thing I learned my lesson last time and had backed everything up a couple of weeks ago. But I did lose the Enrichment invitations I had designed for Relief Society and my passwords list, which for some reason didn't make it onto the data disk I burned during the last backup. It's going to be a HUGE pain to remember and/or request replacements for all those passwords. But hey, at least my ginormous iTunes library is safe! My next purchase: an external hard drive so I can back up more frequently. I hope if it's going to die again it happens soon, because the warranty expires in July.

He Talks to Trees

Sawyer and I have been sick with a cold this week, so we've stayed at home for the past few days. Now that he's feeling a little better, he's started going stir crazy. So after lunch today, we took a long walk. He was so excited about it that you'd think I'd been keeping him in a closet for months. "Flowers! Birds! Clouds up high in the sky!" (It reminded me of that line from Knocked Up about how kids are so enthusiastic about life that they remind you of your utter inability as an adult to enjoy anything.) We walked for a long time enjoying the sunshine and breeze. When it was time to go back home, he started saying his goodbyes. "Bye trees. Bye. See you soon!" Then he wanted to touch the leaves on a low branch over the sidewalk and said "Bye trees. Wuv you." We have a tree hugger on our hands.

Six Years With My Mr. Darcy

Take the Quiz here!

When Eric and I were dating I remember my mom saying that she couldn't get over how much we were like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. We have a sort of antagonistic relationship on the surface, but underneath we have complete understanding and respect for each other. We celebrated our sixth anniversary yesterday. I love you Eric. It just gets better and better.

No Complaints

I got my Complaint Free World bracelet from Tiburon a few days ago. Thank you, Tib! The idea is to wear it on your wrist, and every time you complain about something you have to switch it to the other wrist so you take note of every complaint you make. You also have to switch it if you point out someone else's complaining. I am proud to say that I have done really well. The first day I had to change it twice, and for the past two days it's only been once. If I can keep this up, it may be time to retire the purple bracelet to Eric, since I think he could benefit from it a lot more than I can. Oops, was that a complaint?

Don't Read This...

...if you haven't watched the new episode of LOST yet!

Sweet sassy molassey, how crazy was last night's episode?! MOVE the Island?! Wha-ha-ha-haaaat?! Locke met both Alpert and Abaddon pre-Island - and they tried to recruit him?! Claire is chilling with Christian in Jacob's cabin, apparently high out of her mind?! Locke drew a picture of the black smoke as a child?!



Something I had forgotten from previous episodes is that Locke's mother is named Emily. Remember who else was named Emily? Yep, Benjamin Linus' mother. Are they the same person, or is it a coincidence? Could Locke and Ben be brothers? That would be dramatic for sure, and it would explain why they are both "special" enough to be chosen by the Island. The problem with this theory is that Ben's mom died giving birth to him and in the season one episode "Deus Ex Machina" Locke met his mother - and DNA tests confirmed with 99% certainty that she was who she claimed to be. I think we'll find out that there is a prophecy à la Harry Potter about who the next leader will be which involves being born to a woman named Emily L---- (Locke and Linus have the same number of letters.) Richard Alpert is watching after Locke is born - maybe Horace Goodspeed shows up right as Ben is born because he is being watched in the same way, hoping that he will be the Island's next chosen leader.

Another weird connection is the test that Richard Alpert gave to young John Locke, apparently to find out if he was ready to be recruited to a "gifted school" (which we all know means the Island.) I remembered learning in a World Religions class that a similar test is given to children who are thought to be the new incarnation of the Dalai Lama. Here's part of an article about it:

Officials can decide where to look for the reincarnation [of the Dalai Lama] in several ways: by way of a dream; by watching the direction the smoke drifts after the cremation of the previous Lama and then searching accordingly; or from some sign or vision from a holy lake in central Tibet.

Once found, the officials present the boy with possessions of the previous Dalai Lama to determine whether the boy is familiar with them. If the child chooses the artifacts that belonged to he previous Lama, than that, along with the other signs, is believed to prove he is a reincarnation.

So did those objects belong to Jacob? Or another leader on the Island? Why did choosing the knife cause him to fail the test? It's interesting that the knife was the wrong choice - since that's the object that grownup Locke is always wielding. Maybe it's a sign that he's not being true to his real destiny?

And how about that "Mystery Tales" comic book? The guy with the dark brows looks a lot like the ageless Alpert to me. And notice the floating city.


Thanks to Google, I found out that this comic was published in April 1956 by Atlas Comics (which later became Marvel.) The stories inside include "The Hidden Land!", "A Warning Voice", "The Travelers", and "Crossroads of Destiny". Anyone want to buy a copy on eBay and tell me what the stories say?

I loved the cabin scene, and I'm not embarrassed to admit that I got REALLY scared. As soon as they cue those peeper frogs, I start getting goosebumps. Last night Eric had gone to bed early and there was a huge thunderstorm, so things were set up perfectly for me to get all kinds of freaked out. Then at the exact moment Locke first sees someone sitting in the corner of the cabin, the crappy blinds on our sliding glass door behind me fell off their tracks with a huge crash. I just about peed my pants! I had to do some deep breathing to recover - and then watch The Office to get de-creepified before going to bed.

Coming Out

I've come out about some pretty big things on my blog: infertility, priesthood envy, liking They Might be Giants. Here's another one: I am kind of a hippie.

There is a lot of evidence to the contrary. I'm Mormon, and we tend to be pretty preppy in general. I usually vote republican. I don't wear peasant skirts or Birkenstocks. I live in a yuppie paradise, where we have 50+ chain restaurants within a five mile radius and everyone has perfectly manicured lawns, 2.5 kids and twin Golden Retrievers. Despite all this, here are some of the things that make me a closet hippie (or "clippie.")

-I make soap. (In some circles, that is the only criteria you need.)
-I play acoustic guitar.
-I believe in extended breastfeeding, and have no qualms about whipping out a boob in public to do it.
-I use reusable grocery bags (although this is becoming more and more common, even in yuppie circles, thanks to Oprah).
-I use a Diva cup.
-I think it's sexist that women have to shave their legs. (I still do it though.)
-I know how to compost.
-I'm named after a Joni Mitchell song. Although this says more about my parents than about me, since they're the ones who picked it.
-I grow organic vegetables and herbs.
-I practice yoga and meditation.

So there it is. Thanks to the blogosphere, I have very few secrets left.

200th Post

This is my 200th post! Which isn't as impressive as it sounds since I've had this blog since 2004. I have gotten better at posting more regularly though.

Arianne tagged me with the 5 Things Meme a while back and I figured today was a good day to tackle it. Sorry it took me so long!

5 Things Meme

What I was doing ten years ago...
1) Taking a semester off from BYU. I had recently broken off an engagement and needed some time to myself and some space. I ended up not going back to BYU the next semester either, I went to Southern Virginia College (now University) instead. Then after my mission I went back to BYU.
2) Living with my parents in Virginia. Along with needing space, I needed to get out of Utah.
3) Working 3 jobs. I worked in a music store, an LDS bookstore, and as a tutor for high school kids.
4) Learning to play the guitar. I practiced constantly - whenever I wasn't at work, my guitar was in my hands. That's something I want to bring back into my life, I don't play nearly as much as I would like to now.
5) Writing to Eric on his mission in Italy. He was awful about writing back, so I only wrote a few times.

Five things on my to-do list today...
1) Fold laundry (that's pretty much always on my to-do list.)
2) Go to the grocery store.
3) Take pictures of new soaps to list on Etsy.
4) Wash my car. The pollen count has been so high the past few days that it's covered in yellow dust. It doesn't help that my car is black.
5) Get some more plastic storage bins for Sawyer's new toys he got for his birthday. I'm learning that the older kids get, the more pieces their toys come with.

Five snacks I enjoy...
1) Cold cereal. I practically lived off it in college. It's what I have for breakfast every single day.
2) Baguette with goat cheese. In fact this can be a whole meal for me. Sawyer loves it too, although he prefers to lick the cheese off and just use the bread as a delivery device.
3) Ice cream. Anytime, anywhere! I just discovered a new favorite flavor - Häagen-Dazs Sticky Toffee Pudding.
4) Special K Cereal Bars. The Chocolatey Drizzle ones are my favorite - and they're just 90 calories a bar.
5) Fruit. Almost any kind. I'm on a mango kick lately.

Five things I would do if I was a billionaire...
1) Hire a housekeeper. I have so many things I want to do and housework just gets in the way. I love having a clean house (and I can't function if I let things go) but I resent the time it takes from other things that seem more important and interesting.
2) Open my own boutique, and hire someone else to run it. Like the housework, it's something that would be really fun to have, but not so much fun to actually do.
3) Travel travel travel. I want to go everywhere.
4) Buy a simple house with a lot of land. I have no desire to have a huge house, but I would love to have the acreage for gardening, raising chickens, keeping horses, and having as many dogs as I want. There are some really nice things about suburbia, but I don't feel at home there.
5) Give a lot of money away. It would be the best feeling to be able to give huge amounts of money to people who could really benefit from it.

Five of my bad habits....
1) When I wash my hair in the shower and loose strands of hair come out, I put them on the shower wall so I can clean them up later - but at least 50% of the time I forget they're there until the next time I get in. Pretty gross. Luckily I have my own bathroom so Eric doesn't have to see it.
2) Picking up lunch at the drive through. It's a waste of money and the food usually isn't healthy, but it seems so much easier when I'm running errands all morning and Sawyer is suddenly starving. He recognizes the Chick-Fil-A sign from a mile away ("Chicken? Fries?") Pretty bad.
3) I do loads of laundry and then leave the clean clothes sitting in the basket forever. See above about folding laundry always being on my to-do list.
4) Using Dora the Explorer as a babysitter while I make soap. He would watch it all day every day if I let him.
5) Forgetting to call people back. When I get a voice mail from someone if I don't call them back RIGHT THEN, chances are that I won't ever remember to. This is why email works so much better for me, there's a constant visual reminder of the message even after I've read it.

Five places I have lived....
1) Northern Virginia (ages 3 to 5, 11 to 22, and 25 to now. So most of my life.)
2) Utah
3) France
4) North Carolina
5) Ohio

Five jobs I've had....
1) Stable hand. I fed, watered and cleaned the stalls of about a dozen horses after school. I made $30 a week for an hour a day, 4 days a week - pretty good for a high school student back then. I loved the physical labor and being around the horses.
2) Music store employee. This was such a fun job, I got to talk to people about music all day. The people I worked with were so much fun, and very different after being at BYU, which was a welcome change. I was the only one there without facial piercings.
3) Summer intern at a DC law firm. I assisted lawyers with clerical stuff like typing, filing, and research. I hated almost every minute of it - the only part I liked was taking the train downtown and using the free gym. I was 100% sure after this summer that I didn't want to be a lawyer - not that I needed much convincing.
4) Secretary/receptionist for the Political Science Department at BYU. I loved this job. The professors and students were so fun to work with and I learned a lot about the field.
5) Teaching assistant. My dad taught religion classes for freshman honors students and I was his TA. I kept attendance, graded papers, and helped students write papers. Plus I got to hear all my dad's lectures and learn from him. Pretty posh job.

I know that's already five - but I just have to add that the best job I've had so far is being a stay at home mom. I didn't expect to love it nearly as much as I do. I love having the freedom to plan my days however I want to, and I can honestly say I've never been bored.

If you feel so inclined to do this - consider yourself tagged!

Happy Birthday Sawyer

My little boy turned three today. I can't believe how big he is, or how fast the past three years have gone by. Happy birthday Sawyer!

Turn up your speakers to watch the slideshow - it has music!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dans La Cuisine, Episode 1

I thought it would be fun to post about my cooking adventures. I was inspired by this blog. My photography isn't nearly as cool as hers (indoor photography is the bane of my existence!) but I'm a pretty good cook and I like coming up with my own recipes.

On tonight's menu:

Fresh Vegetarian Lasagna

You know the frozen lasagna you can get at the grocery store? This is the exact opposite of that. With so many fresh ingredients, it's light but full of flavor.

Ingredients:
1 box lasagna, uncooked
8 medium tomatoes, diced
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 big handful fresh basil, chopped
1 small handful (don't you love the exactness of my measurements?) fresh oregano, chopped
12 oz ricotta cheese (part skim is fine)
1 c sour cream
16 oz fresh mozzarella
Parmiggiano Reggiano
olive oil
salt

1) Preheat oven to 350˚F. Combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, oregano, and about 1/2 c olive oil. Salt to taste. It will look like a fresh tomato salad - resist the urge to eat it right then and there.


2) Combine the ricotta and sour cream. (No photo of this stage because I forgot the sour cream at the grocery store. It's fine without it, but I like it because it adds an extra smoothness to the filling.) Add salt if needed.

3) Spread half the tomato mixture in a layer on the bottom of a 13x9 pan. Place lasagna noodles on top, overlapping the edges.


3) On top of the pasta layer, spread a layer of ricotta and then slices of fresh mozzarella on top.



4) Spread the rest of the tomato mixture over the cheese, then cover with more pasta. Spread the rest of the ricotta and mozzarella on top of the pasta. Sprinkle grated parmiggiano reggiano over all the other cheese, then drizzle with olive oil.



5) Cover with foil and bake at 350˚F for about 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until lasagna is lightly browned and bubbly.

This is a fun recipe to improvise. I've tried different vegetables (spinach, broccoli, shredded carrot) and different cheeses (chèvre, Camembert, provolone) and it always turns out delicious.

Here's the finished product. On the side is a simple cucumber salad with onion, olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar.

Good Reads

Lest you think all I do is watch TV and browse YouTube for funny commercials and political skits - here are a few of the books I've read recently. I read one or two books a week; these are the best ones I've come across in the past couple months.

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. This was recommended to me by my middle school French teacher. I called her when I got my mission call to Bordeaux and she told me I had to read this book before I went. I never got around to it then, and just recently found this copy in a pile of books at our recent ward swap. It's wonderful. Peter Mayle describes his adventures as he (an Englishman) and his wife buy a house in Provence and make it their new home. They get to know their neighbors, learn about the French work ethic (the construction workers that renovate their home show up only if nothing else is going on - and there is never a guarantee that they will be back the next day), drink wine, and above all, eat! Roasted lamb, beef en croûte, coq au vin, baguettes, Camembert, chèvre, mousse au chocolat...I found myself getting hungry every time I picked it up. If you've ever lived in France you'll recognize all the characters and relate to the love he has for the people and places he encounters. There are several follow-up books and I plan to read them all.

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant. Another one I picked up at the ward swap. Nothing like a free book! And a good one at that. I'm a sucker for neo-feminist historical fictions (see my post about The Red Tent) and I really enjoyed this one. The story takes place in 15th century Florence, and the protagonist is Alessandra, the daughter of an upper class merchant who wants nothing more than to become a great painter. She consents to an arranged marriage because her husband-to-be promises her complete freedom - but it comes at a cost. They find themselves at the mercy of political events that endanger their lives and the art they love so much. There are parts of this book that are a bit too romance-novel-y for me, but overall I enjoyed the story and especially the way the history and culture of Florence is entwined with the plot. And there is a pretty big twist at the end, which I always love. This would be a great book to bring to the beach this summer.

The Book of General Ignorance by John Mitchinson and John Lloyd. I bought this book for Eric for Christmas (classic case of giving loved ones what you really want for yourself) and just read it the other week. It's a collection of trivia - things you think you already know but really don't. It's fascinating and easy to read in bits and pieces since each section is short (Eric calls it a great bathroom book.) Some examples:
-The guillotine was not invented in France - it comes from Halifax, England. It was used there in the early 13th century, long before the French adopted it as their execution of choice in the Revolution.
-Who said "Let them eat cake"? Not Marie Antoinette. The phrase had been used to describe the decadence of the aristocracy since at least 1760, and the French Revolution didn't happen until 1789. It was likely invented for propaganda.
-The largest organism in the world? A mushroom, the common honey fungus. The individual clusters are small, but they are all interconnected at the roots and make up one huge organism. The largest one is in Oregon - it covers 2,200 acres and is at least 2,000 years old.
-Thomas Edison invented the word "Hello". During his testing of Alexander Graham Bell's prototype telephone, he suggested using this word to initiate conversations because it could be heard from far away, like "Halloo" which was used to call hounds and ferrymen. Bell preferred saying "Ahoy!" but Edison's "Hello" caught on more quickly and became common usage. Personally, I think it would be kind of cool if we all answered our cell phones by saying "Ahoy!" but that's just me.

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card. Love me some OSC! This is a reread for me, since my book group is discussing it soon and I haven't read it since college. It's the second book in the Ender's Game series, and in my opinion the best one of them all. Thousands of years after Ender facilitates the extermination of an entire alien species, he has become a Speaker for the Dead, a traveler who speaks at funerals in a most unusual way - by telling only the truth. He is called to the planet Lusitania, which is the home of another sentient species - the pequeninos. The storytelling is fantastic (this is Card after all!) and incredibly thought provoking as it explores the boundaries and limitations of civilization, morality, language, and what it means to be human. Immediately after finishing I had to reread Xenocide, the next in the series - that one gets even more metaphysical and some passages read more like a philosophical essay than a novel. I think Speaker strikes a better balance between philosophy and plot, but really the whole series is excellent.

Hillary v. Obama

I know, I know, I'm on a roll with posting video clips, but I couldn't resist this one. A possible future in which Barack Obama is the president of the United States. Who does he call when he needs help? Hillary, of course!

The Office is Back!

Thursdays are (almost*) right again, starting tonight. Dunder Mifflin employees visit Michael and Jan at their condo for a dinner party and have at least one conversation about Michael having three vasectomies. Not uncomfortable in the least (both the conversation and the vasectomies.) And according to one of the sneak peaks, Jan and I share a hobby: candle making (I wonder if she makes Mandles?) Set up your DVRs!

*They'll be all the way right again when LOST comes back.

Mandles

Do you ever wonder what kind of gift to buy a manly man who doesn't like girlie scented candles? Here is the solution - Mandles! With scents like A1 Steak Sauce, Urinal Deodorizer, and Chuck Norris Sweat, what manly man wouldn't love one of these?

The One Dress

Arianne did a post about the story behind her wedding dress and I loved it so much I wanted to do one too.

We got married in the spring and I wanted the dress to reflect that. And I wanted a long train and lots of poof! (Sorry for the craptastic quality of these pictures, I scanned these on an ancient machine that I believe has been around since the Middle Ages.)

Our wedding was in the morning and it was cold and raining on and off, so the pictures at the temple look gray and cloudy. We had an evening reception and by then it was sunny and warm, so those pictures turned out much better. This is behind the reception site. The dress looks too long here because I changed into flip-flops for the dancing and I forgot to put my heels back on for the photos. Doh!



In sharp contrast to every other shopping experience of my life, this was the very first dress I tried on. Of course I didn't believe it could be that easy, so I tried on a lot of others, but in the end this was The One. I didn't even have to have it altered; I fit into the size 6 perfectly (oh, those were the days!) In her Maid of Honor speech, Andrea used the analogy of the dress in describing my relationship with Eric; he was my first love, but I had to "try on" a lot of others before I realized that he was the one. Made me sound kind of slutty, but that's OK.



My bouquet had tulips (my favorite flower), irises, roses, and freesia. I gave the florist a very loose idea of what I wanted and I was thrilled with what she created; it was exactly what I had envisioned, without me actually having specifically envisioned it. We released butterflies at the end of our ring ceremony and one landed on my bouquet. Totally unplanned. I also like this picture because you can see my engagement ring, which is now at the bottom of the Atlantic, presumably somewhere near the Outer Banks (that's a whole other traumatic story.)



No, that's not Eric - this is me dancing with my dad. Not the most flattering picture of either one of us, but you can see the details on the back of the dress. The embroidery covered the whole bodice and the embroidered flowers in my veil matched the flowers on my dress.



One more shot so you can see it bustled in all its poofiness (I believe that is the technical term used by designers.) This was during our ring ceremony, which was performed by my dad before the reception. Also in this picture are (L to R) my little sis Erin, Andrea (Maid of Honor and BFF extraordinaire), and Eric's brother and Best Man Spencer.

If only I could wear my wedding dress every day! I loved every second I spent in it on one of the happiest days of my life. They should make it so you have to get re-married every 10 years or something, that would be so fun. Expensive, but fun.

Wives of gamers will understand...

Oh, the joys of being married to a geek.

Sleep, AI and LOST

Feels like a random post day.

I'm struggling with going to bed at night. I've had this problem my entire life. It's not that I can't fall asleep, it's that I don't want to stop doing what I'm doing and go to bed. You know how little kids never want to go to bed even if they're really tired because they think they're going to miss something? That's me, I guess I never outgrew that. I was up until 3 last night cleaning, working on my Etsy shop, watching TV and reading. Not good.

In better news, my Cadbury Mini Eggs are finally all gone. No more temptation! Until Christmas, anyway. A very good thing for my waistline.

How awesome was David Cook's rendition of "Billie Jean" on American Idol last night? I wish he had gone first, because it would showcase how truly awful Kristy, Carly, and Ramiele were. Kristy's song choice was smart, because people will vote for the pretty blond patriotic girl, but I'm always completely bored and underwhelmed by her vocals, and to be honest that song makes me throw up a little bit. Carly is a great singer but I wish she would stop YELLING everything - not every song has to be powered through. I've been annoyed with her ever since she butchered "Blackbird". Last night she sounded like a mix between Cher and Celine Dion. And Ramiele - just ugh. I hope she goes bye-bye. Brooke White remains one of my favorites for the simple reason that she doesn't belt out every single song - she has some complexity to her voice, and it's not overly trained and forced. Could anyone else tell she was trying really hard not to mouth off to the judges like she usually does? I thought that was funny. And Simon's comment about David Archuleta not picking his own song was interesting given all the rumors about his dad being a pushy stage parent.

Speaking of TV...how am I going to survive the next few weeks without LOST? I might have to rewatch the first 8 episodes of season four. Thoughts about last week's episode - did they really kill off Rousseau?! I saw the bullet go in, but somehow I'm not sure this is the end for her. We've certainly seen characters survive being shot before. There's a lot more to her story (we haven't seen that flashback episode the writers promised not so long ago) and I think she's one of the most interesting characters on the Island, so I hope she's alive. Maybe she'll pull a Locke on us in the next episode. Karl is definitely dead though. Poor Karl. At least he got a cool Star Wars allusion in before he kicked it ("I have a bad feeling about this...")

About Michael; I like the idea that he is trying to redeem himself for betraying his friends. He has always struck me as one of the weakest of the characters when it comes to morals, so it will be interesting to see if he's able to find redemption in his final days. I think he's the one in the coffin (anyone else?)

Why can't Michael kill himself? What does it mean when big gay Tom says "the Island won't let you"? (By the way, I think it's hilarious that Tom used to be the scariest of the Others, and now we find out that he's this jolly gay foodie. Talk about character development.) Here's my out-there theory: it all goes back to destiny. Remember the episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes" where Desmond first time travels? He goes back to his pre-Island life and tries to change things so that he ends up married to Penny instead of on the Island. He finds out that he can't. He meets the mysterious Ms. Hawking, who explains that no matter what he does, he will always end up on the Island because it is his destiny to push the button.

So it must be Michael's destiny to go back to the Island on the freighter and work for Ben, since he's been unsuccessful at three separate suicide attempts. The big question is, how does Tom know that it's his destiny? Here's where it gets even weirder - maybe it's because Tom and Ben can see the future. It's not too much of a stretch - we've already seen this happen with Desmond when he has a vision of Charlie dying. Ben always seems to be three steps ahead of everyone else all the time. I think Ben is able to use the Island's powers to see the future, and I think it has to do with his ability to talk to Jacob. This is why he's so passionate about protecting the Island from being discovered by Widmore or anyone else. Ben knows that it's Michael's destiny to be on the freighter because he's seen it, just like Desmond knew it was Charlie's destiny to die no matter how many times he tried to save his life. It's not that the Island controls destiny, it's that it allows certain people to see what an individual's destiny will be.

Of course I could be completely wrong. But it kind of makes sense, right?