The Razin's Place

From the mouths of babes... err... husbands

2010-07-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

2 quick short stories I would like to share:

Conversation I just had with Drew no more than 10 mins ago.

Drew: (getting ready to go for a run) Sadie, you can't come with me.
Me: (As I watch Sadie's nose cocked up looking at Drew) She wants to go.
Drew: It's way too hot out there for a dog like you... maybe if you were white, but you're black.
Me: You're racist.
Drew: No. I'm. Not.

Conversation I had with Drew a few months ago (also titled "How my husband makes me feel 'smart'")

I have a sudoku app on my phone, and once you've finished a puzzle it tells you how fast you are compared to all the other users that have finished that puzzle.
Me: Look honey, I'm faster at this puzzle that 35% of other people who played it without using hints.
Drew: So does that mean your stupider than the other 65% who were faster than you?
Me: (crushed and hopeless because now all my dreams of being a sudoku world champ won't come true) I never thought of it that way... buzz kill!

The Thirteenth Tale

2010-06-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

"All morning I struggled with the sensation of stray wisps of one world seeping through the cracks of another. Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes - characters even - caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you. Well, it was like that. All day I had been prey to distractions. Thoughts, memories, feelings, irrelevant fragments of my own life, playing havoc with my concentration."
The Thirteenth Tale - by Diane Setterfield

Have you ever felt this way? I relate to this statement so much. I could never put it into words as beautiful as this author has but I have felt this exact feeling on several occasions. I don't know if it's a very good thing that I get too wrapped up in books to forget how to discern fiction from reality, but that's how I know I've read a really good book. It was this way with the book quoted above. I had a new book checked out from the library before I finished this one and I have only just barely started it, which is about a week after I finished this one. THAT NEVER HAPPENS. Usually I'm ready to go. Finish one book... jump into another. But this book was so thought provoking that I couldn't do that. I still think about the twists and turns that this book had to offer. Anyway, if you want a good read, I recommend this book. If you like classic Gothic novels. (I use the term classic loosely as this book was only just published in 2007.) But with subject matter and writing quite comparable to the Bronte sisters it instantly felt like a classic to me.

Ali Vincent

2010-04-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

I remember watching Ali Vincent win The Biggest Loser, she was the first female ever to do it. Last Thursday I was able to go and listen to her speak at the Healthy Woman Expo in Tooele. IT WAS AMAZING!! I couldn't help but try to channel the energy she brought with her into my own life. I have been trying to better myself recently and I really needed to hear what she had to say. Not all of her speech was on weight loss, in fact most of it wasn't. She talked mostly about choice making.
Of course she talked about her own journey and about the Biggest Loser but she talked about waking up every morning and making a choice to get up or stay in bed, to be happy or sad, to do this or that. Of course these things are thing we all know but do we really think about them? About mind over body? She said she went on a journey and fell in love... with herself. That was a big choice to make, to actually love herself. To love who she was inside and out, no matter what she looked like. How many people would actually admit that they love themselves? Like it's a bad thing... it's not. Why are we ashamed of it? It's not a cocky thing to say, it's something to be said with confidence. Most people don't love themselves. Why? Because of how they look has a lot to do with it, what their financial situation is is another, what kinds of relationships they are involved in, and many other circumstances. I wonder if some people will ever be happy. Even if they changed their circumstances completely, like Ali did. Would they love themselves?
How do you love yourself? Where do you start? I have no idea... I'm just posing the question. I don't hate myself, I'm not sure I'm in love with myself either. I might be in like. I'm unsure. I like certain things, I don't like other things. Everyone is that way, I'm not sure even Ali loves EVERYTHING about herself. But can we make a choice to love ourselves? To find something we absolutely love and bask in it? Would that be so wrong? There is nothing wrong with basking, with finding, loving and basking. I love the sun, I love to find the sun, I love to love the sun, and I bask in it often. Of course it is harder to do when the object is your person. Let's try to look a little harder. Find something, no matter how trivial, either about your body (I like my feet) or about your inner self (I like the ability I have to read people). Can I learn to love these things about me? Can I really love my feet? Sure. Can I bask in my feet? Possibly. I'm not even sure how I could bask in my feet. But I could find a way, I'm sure.
I woke up Friday morning (the morning after listening to Ali) and I made a choice, I chose to be happy, I chose to take my dog on a walk, I chose to smile on my way to work. I may have stole some energy from Ali, but I couldn't help it, she was giving it away so freely. I had a great day on Friday. When things went a little skewy at work, I didn't get upset, when other drivers on the road did obnoxious things, I didn't curse them. I don't need some poisons in my life. That's all it is right? Poison. Everyone needs to be angry at sometime. It's a natural emotion and something that we need to release from ourselves but there are better ways to release the anger rather than unleashing on other people (or on ourselves). I'm still learning how to deal with my anger. I get angry often and I tend to take it out on those who are close to me.
I have been working on a lot of things as of late. I've been running lately. Not necessarily to lose weight but just to do it. I had a problem with my knee not too long ago and it was kind of painful. The Dr. told me I couldn't run for 2 months. If you ever want to do something just get your Dr. to tell you that you can't do it. During those 2 months I wanted nothing more than to go outside and go for a run. To hit up the gym and have my way with the treadmill. But I didn't because I know that it might injure me more. I made a promise to myself that I would run when I could. That I would feed that desire when I could. Granted it's not as fun now that I'm able to, but I'm trying to go often to help myself feed the fire. Hopefully the fire will rage and there won't be anything that can put it out. I know the flame is there, I proved it to myself when I was told I shouldn't run.
Anyway, this post hasn't gone the way I had expected it to. I didn't intend to blog all of this but I have. And I think I'll post it.

Ah, the signs of summer

2010-04-08T17:17:00.001-07:00

Driving home from work today the signs of summer were everywhere. And it makes me so excited. In Tooele there is a drive in theater called the Motor Vu. When the weather is warm and they are showing movies obviously they have the movies listed on their sign. But when they are done showing movies they usually put something on the sign like "Gone fishing, see you in April." Well today I noticed that the sign says "Coming soon!" That is one of the signs of warmer weather. I remember when they changed the sign from the movie times to "Gone Fishing." That day was the worst. It meant the cold was coming. I don't like winter to be honest. I like the holidays, and I can handle snow for a little while, but after too long it becomes gloomy and horrid. I am such a summer girl. So the signs of summer excite me every year.
As I entered the neighborhood this afternoon there were children outside playing. Wearing shorts and t-shirts. Just wandering around the neighborhood. I could hear them laughing. I could hear birds. The grass is getting greener every day. The neighbor's tulips and daffodils are coming up. Soon we will have blossoms on our cherry tree. The windows are open in my house and the warm breeze is blowing through the house. This weekend I hope to smell BBQ. Our first ReAL Salt Lake game is this Saturday. All these things make me happier than I can explain. Summer is coming, this year I hope I can embrace it more than I did last year. I will love it til the day it is gone.

Scary lookin picture

2010-03-28T15:10:00.001-07:00

I just found this picture of Sadie lady. She looks evil.

Let's zoom in on that face.

Wow.
But I will leave you with a picture of the moment. Kind of crazy that Drew caught this instant. Not really though, as the girl always has her tongue hanging out of her mouth. Usually licking someone all over.

...

2010-03-19T22:56:00.001-07:00

I'm not going to say anything about my lack of blogging except that I'm glad that blogging is not my job, because I'm not very good at it.

Back in November I gave Drew and much needed haircut. He requested it, I honestly didn't mind his long hair, if you can believe it. Here are some "before" pictures. (I think he was playing a video game while I was taking these pictures, he didn't even bother looking at me)

Look at that mop!

I had a fun time straightening it. Some ladies would kill for his hair!

I don't think I need to say it, but I will. That's a LOT of hair!

So long, so pretty, so shiny! He does condition.
Now for "after" pictures, prepare yourself for shock!

A whole new man.

My Cousin's Wedding... (pictures included!)

2009-12-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

On November 3rd, one of my favorite cousins got married. She would kill me if I ever posted any pictures of her on here, so I put that title so she would want to kill me then be completely relieved when she realized what the pictures are of... (little background) I was a bridesmaid and pretty busy. I didn't get to take any pictures. So Drew had the camera, THE WHOLE DAY! He decided to take pictures of everyone's shoes. I know, I know... he's weird. But here is our collection of shoes.

These are some pretty hott boots. I wish I knew who this was so I could find out where to go to pick me up a pair!

I don't know who most of these shoes are, but here's your standard wedding going slacks and shoes.

Here's another style of the standard wedding going shoes and slacks.

These shoes belong to my Mother-in-law.

These are Drew's. (Nice Socks!)

Not sure who these belong to, but it looks like they knew the picture was being taken and in fact, posed their foot for it.

These are Michelley's hott feet and flip-flops.

And this shoe belongs to yours truly.
Well can I just say that I am glad we have pictures of all these people's shoes from the wedding. I mean really, that's the most important part right? What people wore on their feet.

You thought I wasn't going to put up any pictures of the wedding, didn't you? Well, I'll put up what I think would be allowed by the bride.

Picture of the gorgeous cake. The cake that had no problems at all! :)

Another shot of the cake.

The reception was at Wheeler Farm, and Here is what it looked like when you looked up from the dance floor. Pretty lights and ginormous puff balls (which the bride made herself)! I know, talent! Alright, I think those are all the shots that I can share without being killed, and since I do cherish my life, I will stick to the unwritten rules.

Another sun soaked season fades away...

2009-11-21T17:09:00.000-08:00

Goodbye summer, until next year.

Ok so really it faded away a long time ago, but I knew I would wait to blog about our trip to Cali when I was really missing the sunny weather.

Drew did this in the sand. It's A+M for Andrew and Miranda, not Texas A&M, we are fans of us, not them!

Check out these photography skills, mid-landing!

I want to surf so bad! I'm really not trying to surf in this picture, just planting my feet so I don't fall over!

The BEACH!!!

Newport Beach Temple! It is so pretty!

We have been calling Sadie, Shamu, because of her white belly and cool white markings. See the similarities.

Well of course without the soaring out of the water... I've trained Sadie to lay, very well. I'll work on the swimming, jumping and lifting me up on top of her nose.

The leopard sea lion. I love the way they look.

Funny scratching! Reminds me of a dog.

This is the sea lions idea of sun bathing! This guy stayed this way the whole time, regardless of whether food was being thrown at him or not.

Because we decided to go on this cool water ride...

And this cool water ride right before Sea World closed...

I was completely soaked, head to toe and I had to get hot chocolate as we were leaving! Still had a long drive back to the condo we were staying in and I'm pretty sure this is why I came home with a cold.

We watched the fireworks in Disneyland over by It's a Small World, but we saw way more stuff going on over by the castle. This was one of the cool shots from the first night we saw the fireworks, but it was TONS better if you were in front of the castle...

"Halloween Screams" Firework Spectacular in front of the castle. Very, very cool! This was their first year doing this. I am sure they will be doing it in years to come! It was awesome! The music was brilliant... Check out the videos below!

(Sorry about the quality, I had to compress them because the files were too big)

TowMater, Me, Drew, Lighting McQueen!

This Goofy didn't really want to pose for pictures or sign autographs he just wanted to dance. So we danced with him. Drew is dancing... even though you can't really see his great dance moves.

Goodbye Disneyland, until next time! (oh yeah! we got annual passes) Hopefully we'll make it back!

Vacation follow up...

So of course with vacation comes the relaxation and the not caring of your appearance. I really, really, really love Drew with a little scruff! I told him he couldn't shave at all during vacation. He doesn't like it because he's itchy, BUT....

Look at this handsome Italian man! Not that he's not handsome otherwise... but this is just very good looking!

So after begging and pleading and whining for him to just keep the goatee for a couple of days...

He did this! Some people...

Well we are all excited around here. Getting ready for Thanksgiving, because Thanksgiving comes before Christmas, contrary to popular belief, ahem... FM100, where's your Thanksgiving music huh? Also, Drew finally got cleared by the Dr. to go back to work today! That truly is a blessing and we are very thankful for it.

The post that was long overdue...

2009-09-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

Summer time post... now that it is fall. Where to start? We got a new camera at the end of June. It looks like this...

Beautiful isn't it? It shoots HD video! That is what sold Andrew, seeing as this was entirely his idea. Funny story actually. His brother got a new camera and Drew saw all the cool things that Daniel's camera could do so of course, he started looking online for new cameras. I told him that we really don't even use the cameras... yes cameraS we have. So he starts carrying around his Cannon that he took with him on his mission. It's a pretty old camera, and from going on the mission with him, this poor camera really is quite lame! It's totally scuffed and scratched and it's slow. But he starts carrying it around to show me he likes to take pictures! :) haha, I saw right through him being the intelligent girl that I am. I think I actually lost brain cells figuring that one out. So Drew bought the camera after I finally let up... and he told me it would be here before my best friend, Casey's wedding! And it was... and she got married, and it was fabulous.
Next lets talk about Sadie Lady. Sadie doesn't really like to have her picture taken, but sometimes we sneak a pic or 2 in before she runs of. She really doesn't like the camera. But here is one of her while she was sleeping...
This is her signature sleeping position. She always has to have her head lower than her body. Well not always but most of the time. She frequently slides down and almost off of the couch. It's funny and weird all at the same time. She also has other weird tendencies. She acts like she doesn't like her toys but they move about the yard very frequently but we rarely ever catch her with one in her mouth. She's a closet toy lover. I wish I could get her to play fetch because she is so quick and I know she would love it but it's just not gonna happen right now. She also feels the urge to chew on most everything plastic. She's destroyed a remote amongst several other things including Drew's Bose headphones. $100 headphones. Someone was very unhappy but he was able to put them back together and they work ALMOST as good. They'll never be the same according to him. I can't tell the difference. She also is a crazy licker. She'll lick anyone and everyone and she never seems to run out of saliva. Most people would hate this but we don't really care. She's a very good dog compared to most. Oh and she's quite talented, she can jump up the flight of stairs in our house and when Drew was training for the marathon (we'll get to that in a minute) she would run 3-5 miles with him and LOVE it!

Above should be the video of Drew finishing the marathon. He finished in 3 hrs 39 mins, much better than last year and his best time from his 3 marathons... by like 7 seconds but still! He's crazy because he only really trained in the month of July and he still ran fast, much better than he thought he would. In fact he told us he thought he would run between 4 and 5 hrs. So we got there like a minute before he actually did finish. At least we were there!
(customary before marathon picture)
(after picture)

We went to the Real Salt Lake game for the 24th of July (we have season tickets so soccer has taken over a lot of Fri and Sat nights, not complaining as we have fun!) anyway there were fireworks after and our camera has a firework setting. I don't think it is very good though or maybe we just don't know how to take pictures of fireworks correctly.

Sadie is even an RSL fan! :)
On 07/29 was the MLS all star game. MLS All Stars vs Everton FC. Everton is from the Premiere league in England which is arguably the best league in the world. Anyway the night before the game we went to an "All Star Party" at the Canyons.
Here are the RSL guys that made the All Star team. Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales and Will Johson (Will is from Canada so we are friends)
Here is Everton FC. See the guy with the big fro? That's Fellaini and he is one of our Favorite players on Everton. I'm telling you this because...
For the game Drew "froed" his hair out like Fellaini. Not quite as good but he tried. This is a picture of Daniel, Kai Kamara (formerly of the Houston Dynamo, recently traded to the Kansas City Wizards) Drew and Drew's Dad at the pre-game activities.

So our friend Jared had a birthday and has recently joined the Army. He is at basic right now. So for an extra special birthday present with made something called the BACON EXPLOSION. Yummy huh?
First you make a bacon weave and season it with BBQ rub.
Next you put some sasuage on top of the weave and season some more.
Then you fry up some bacon and make bacon bits sprinkle them on top of the sausage and douse with BBQ sauce.
Then you roll it into a log.
And BBQ/smoke it. (Which took FOREVER)
It ends up looking like a bacon log, but here is an appetizing portion. Yes, I am owning to this. I ate some of this. And it was really good, but I could feel my arteries clogging as I ate. We also made some huge nachos, although I have no pictures. We just took tostada shells and put cheese on them and cooked them. These are both things that Jared has wanted to do so we saw it fitting we should give him a good birthday/going away present.

On August 15th Drew was playing his indoor soccer game and he was running really fast down to get on defense and he stopped really quick and twisted something. He sat down on the ground and then got up and had a hard time walking. After shaking it off and putting some ice back on it he thought he could go back in the game. After only kicking the ball once he game back out. Something was completely wrong and he knew it. So he waited a little while to make sure the pain wouldn't go away and then he went to an orthopedic specialist. He tore his ACL. He had surgery on 09/02 and has been on disability ever since. He has a physically demanding job so he can't go back until he has full clearance from the Dr. He's walking great now but it was really difficult for a while there.
This was taken the day he got the dressing taken off. We couldn't see anything for a week. We still can't see the incision because we have to wait for the steri strips to fall off. But check out that bruising! Beautiful eh?
Sadie and Drew have had a lot of time together.

Anyway, I believe that is all for this post. Holy moly! That was a lot of stuff. We are going to Disneyland in a week so there will be more to come. Maybe I'll post right after that happens rather than 3 months later. We'll see. ;) I'm not making any promises.
Happy fall to all.

Brick

2009-09-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

Ok so this is not the post I've been meaning to post (the one about what all we have been up to this summer) that post will come when the other computer is not hooked up to the T.V. and I can download all the pictures we have. :) So yesterday I was driving home from work and x96 is having a "bootleg" weekend, which means they are playing a bunch of live stuff. So they introduced the song, Brick by Ben Folds, and then they played the live version, which had an intro by Ben. I can't find any video/audio on the net with the intro but basically what he said was that in high school his girlfriend got pregnant and had an abortion. He said he didn't want to make a political statement in his song but he wanted to write down his feelings. WOW! I have always loved this song but it never totally made sense to me. Now I listen to it and it makes perfect sense. I'm not saying that abortion is ok, because I believe it is not. But people do make the choice to do it and they have to live with it their whole life. This song has a whole new meaning to me now. It is so amazing how music can be so powerful. Music can convey the most personal of feelings so the person listening can almost feel like they were there in that moment in time. When of course you would never want to be put in the situation it is very humbling to put yourself in someone else's shoes through a simple song.

My new favorite song

2009-07-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would share this song with everyone. It is called "Northern Downpour" and it's by Panic! at the Disco. Click Here if you would like to listen to it. Trust me you will fall in love and listen to it a minimum of 3 times (if you have the same taste in music as me)!

The actual music video for this song has a bad quality and the music doesn't sound as good, so this video is just scenes taken out of the movie "Big Fish" but the song sounds incredible.

INTRODUCING...

2009-05-31T08:56:00.000-07:00

... Sadie Girl! We finally got a dog! Yay. We saved her from the Salt Lake County animal shelter. She is about 2 years old and is thought to be a Border Collie/Black Lab mix. She is sweet as pie and a very good girl. She's housebroken, already using her doggie door. The only thing she is slacking on is eating. I cannot get her to eat the kibble that the animal shelter gave us. They said it's the same stuff she's been eating there (she was there since the 12th) and you'd think they would notice if she wasn't eating. I'm thinking it has something to do with the fact that she has just been spayed. I just hope I can get her eating soon. Just a side note, she loves Andrew and I can see her running right along side him in the future. Maybe when she's fully recovered from surgery.

Speaking of running, in April Drew ran the Salt Lake City Marathon, that's what they call it but, they have a 5k, 10k, half marathon, fully marathon and bike race. He just ran the 5k, but he did pretty good.

This is the only picture I could get of him. But there he is, walking to the starting line. This day was a crazy one because the race finished at the Gateway, so my plan was to go to Faith's (my sister-in-law) house on 5th east and 5th south, walk down to Trax and take it down to the Gateway, simple. We'd be there in plenty of time right?? Wrong, I kind of forgot that the race would be running down State Street. So we had to go all the way to the Trax station on Main and then when we finally got on a train, and we could see the Gateway, there was a bike spill on the tracks. They had the emergency crews cleaning everything up but we were stuck on the train for 40 minutes or so. The driver wouldn't open the doors to let us off even though we could see our destination. It was not fun at all. Needless to say, Drew finished before we got there. He finished 3rd in his age group, 19th overall with a time of 19 mins 50 seconds. A 5k equals 3.15 miles so his time is not horrible, even though he has run a 5k in less time.

Speaking of 5ks, our neighborhood/Ward had one yesterday. I don't have any pictures, I know, boring. But I do have something to report, Drew finished 1st, shaved about 7 seconds off of his time from the previous 19minutes 50 seconds. I finished in just under 41 minutes. Which is very good for me, I ran/walked the thing. I am training to run the 5k on the 24th of July, Drew will be running that marathon and I don't want to have any issues getting to the finish line this time (ahem, see above if you missed that part).

In other news the 1st weekend in May Jared, Jessica, Drew and I traveled to Denver to watch the Real Salt Lake game. This is a picture of us with the Rocky Mountain Cup. Because we play Colorado three times throughout the season and they are our rival they have the Rocky Mountain Cup tournament, best 2 out of 3. RSL's name is on there the past 2 years, then Colorado before. So anyway, we pretty much traveled a billion miles to watch our team loose, but it was pretty fun anyway. Our fans were rocking, we filled up a whole section and we were all you could hear the whole game because the Colorado fans would just cheer when they scored. We were cheering the whole time. We even had Colorado fans sitting behind us (you can see one in the picture). They wanted to sit with our fans because the atmosphere we create. While in Denver, we found out that a brand new Sephora had just opened, so we had to go to that.

On the 26th Drew and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. I can't believe it's been 2 years, it feels like 6 months. I still love him tons and tons! :)

(photo by Widdison Photography)

Happy Anniversary babe, here's to many more!

Anyway, I think that about catches us up. Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer.

My husband cracks me up...

2009-04-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

So last week sometime Drew and I were out running some errands, we happened to stop at the library. He doesn't really like the library so I tell him to sit in the car while I run inside and pick up my book(s). Anyway, I'm going to walk out of the library and I hear this thumping bass sound, and Drew was parked a little away from the drop off at the front door. Oh yeah, the thumping was coming from our car. I get in the car and Drew has his seat leaning most of the way back and is listening to "up in here" by that one rapper dude, DMX. He puts one hand on the wheel and continues to drive. I was just staring at him trying not to laugh, we almost made it out of the parking lot before I just busted up. I couldn't contain myself. He's so funny!! He kept a straight face the whole time, didn't even look at me to see my reaction or anything. The funniest part about it (for those of you who know Drew) he can totally pull this look off, but the truth is, he doesn't listen to rap music, and he drives like a normal person. The things he does.

I've been slacking again,

2009-03-31T07:51:00.000-07:00

Does that surprise anyone? Not necessarily a good thing, but nothing has been going on lately. So I've really had nothing to blog about. I think I need to start making a list because there are times during the day when I say, "I should blog about that"... but then I completely forget. We have been pretty busy though, Drew is the Elder's Quorum Pres. so he's very busy and I'm just busy trying to think of new things to keep the primary kids entertained during singing time. If you have any ideas please, for the love, let me know. Learning a new song every month is hard for them and I don't want them to be bored out of their minds.

In other news, I almost got a puppy:

I know, he's a doll eh? He's a puggle, so a pug and a beagle mix. He was 7 weeks, and when I finally talked my mom into letting me get him (we live in the parents basement, need to have permission for these kinds of things) he was gone. :( But I think it ended up being a good thing because now I've realized that I shouldn't be looking on KSL for dogs, but I should be searching the shelters for a dog that I can save. So we will see what we can come up with, I'll for sure post if and when we do get a new dog. Well I guess that's all for now, blog later.

Stupid Cupid!

2009-02-12T09:19:00.000-08:00

I don't actually mind cupid too much to be honest. Valentines Day is a semi dumb holiday... but what do you do with the semi dumb ones?? Have dumb fun!

Last month sometime Drew and I were walking into Target, he saw the cheap seasonal items that are there right as your walking in and he walks up to the various red and pink hearts and says "OH NO! Valentines day is a whole day this year because it's on a Saturday!" He got the saddest look on his face and it sort of made me feel bad but at the same time I could feel his pain because he was probably thinking he'd have to do something extra special for the whole day (breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and dessert) which I never once hinted that I expected. (I half way felt like saying "OH NO! Your birthday is a whole day this year" it's on the 15th. Yes the day after Valentines...) So anyway, nothing more was said but I know he's not too excited about it. I wanted to make it easy on him so I invited my cousin and her fiance to come out to dinner with us. It's their first Valentines together, I didn't want to impose, but they agreed. So we are going to Rodizio Grill. (*drool* pineapple!) Drew and I celebrated our first Valentines day at Rodizio, it was just a few days after the Trolley Square shootings, so the mood was pretty somber.

Speaking of V-days past, Andrew has always been so great. Our first Valentines together he sent me this huge, overly expensive flower arrangement, with lilys and roses and V Chocolates chocolate covered strawberries (pictured left), drooling again. Frankly, he could beat me and make me cry all day long and all would be fine if he got me a bunch of chocolate covered strawberries from V Chocolates. That sounds horrible, but they are THAT good.

Back to this Valentines, Drew said we should watch Wall-E because it's romantic. I know he's hilarious, but I do need to compromise, because it's not just my day it is OUR day. So I let him look through all of our movies, I told him the ones that are love stories, he decided that we could watch the Lake House, which is ok with me. But the movie plans might be changing a tad. I DVRed Masterpiece Theater's Sense and Sensibility, it was shown in 2 90 min parts, one last Sunday and one the Sunday before. I've watched the 1st part but not the conclusion, I haven't had the time and it seems like the perfect thing to watch this Saturday night. I just hope Drew doesn't fall asleep like he did in Pride and Prejudice.

Anyway, I wish you all a very happy Valentines day if that is what you want, if not have a great Saturday!

The New Year is upon us...

2008-12-30T10:15:00.001-08:00

... and I cannot believe it. Some of you may know this, others may not, but I have been off the soda for a year. Drew told me last year that my new year's resolution was going to be to not drink pop. I disagreed profusely because I LOVE SODA POP! Dr. Pepper is my weakness. (hence the picture of the giant Dr. Pepper can) Anyway, I told him he couldn't make up my new year's resolution for me and I could make one myself... he told me that he thought I couldn't do it, and that's why I wouldn't agree to do it. Great! Challenge me why don't you. So, I HAD to prove him wrong. Soda has never been an issue for him. He could never drink it again if he really wanted to. So making that kind of a new year's resolution, not a very big deal to him. NOT FAIR. Soda is very addicting and I've been addicted since a young age.

Well after very many horrific headaches (the kind that you need to chase with some caffeine) I made it to a point where water is satisfying, and it still is. All I have been drinking is water and every now and then some juice. I'm not sick of it yet. I'm not too sure if this "no soda pop" rule/challenge will continue into the new year, but I know I will for sure use some control if I do drink it again. That's the main problem I believe, not doing things in moderation. So we will never keep soda pop in our fridge... and if I order a Dr. Pepper while at a restaurant, I will never get a refill. One glass will be all, then it will be water after that.

I can't say I see this huge difference in my life, but it's nice to not feel dependent on something, and to feel like your sort of being healthy. We'll see what happens this next year, maybe I will "challenge" Drew to not eat sweets for a whole year. Ya, RIGHT!

Happy Christmas

2008-12-10T10:31:00.001-08:00

Do you remember in the 1st Harry Potter movies, how they say "Happy Christmas" just like the Brits do? I think we should go back to that. I like Merry Christmas too, but Happy Christmas is fun! I dunno, maybe it is just my British side taking over.

I wonder if my parents thought about this...

2008-10-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

So on Saturday night Daniel, Drew and I were driving home and we were talking about the General Authorities going by an initial, middle name and last name ex. M. Russell Ballard. Drew mentioned that his Mission Pres. did the same thing. So Daniel said, if I ever become something like that will I have to go by D. Dirk E.? I thought this was a fun game so I said and A. Sarkis E.?? Or M. Erika E.? I thought mine sounded pretty cool actually... Until Daniel started laughing and repeating it. M. Erika??? America? Seriously... I did ask my parents if they had ever thought about this and they said no. Of course not, my mom is Canadian! There's no way they would in a round about way name me America. Kind of interesting though! :) If you decide to call me by this name though, I will respond. I really don't care, either way.

Check out this beauty

2008-10-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

I acquired this book at the Barnes and Noble. It still makes me as happy as it did the day I first saw it (not too long ago) 7 novels in one big, amazing, lovely book! Leather bound and all. $20 price tag, you can't beat that. Drew could never be upset about this purchase. Every girl needs to own the works of Jane Austen and $20 for pretty well all of them... Killer deal my friends, killer deal.

Sarah!

2008-09-30T17:16:00.001-07:00

I can't post a comment on your blog and I don't know why! It makes me sooo angry... I will keep trying, I just want you to know I have been trying! This is for you, Sarah W.

Question of the year.

2008-09-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

Why does West Valley smell like Grantsville? It's not right, there are no cows out here.

Who's excited?

2008-09-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

If anyone wants to know where I will be for 3 hours tonight, here is a little hint!

You guessed it, sitting on my couch watching this premiere. It should be a good one!

School

2008-08-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

Drew went back to school last week. Yes I took a mommy picture of him. I may have more time on Tues. and Wed. nights to update the blog because he'll be at school! That will be good and bad.

Wicked!!

2008-08-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went to Lagoon for Drew's work party. (It was free!!) It has been 2 years since I've been to Lagoon and I have never been on THIS monster!

But we went on it and it was terrifying! Don't get me wrong, I am not a lightweight when it comes to roller coasters. I have been on just about every coaster in Six Flags Magic Mountain (Except for the really new ones) not scary. I screamed my guts out on this! It was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it. But it was a screaming ride! I think it forces you to scream actually. I didn't have a choice!

Random things!

2008-08-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Drew's new nickname is Max (short of Doobious Maximus of course)
Cop cars should not be allowed to be sold, if they are, they need to be painted red. If you happen to drive an old cop car please do not stealthy pull from behind the car behind me, switching lanes only to squeeze in between my car and the car behind me and relentlessly ride my butt and scare me! You're abusing power because of the way your car looks, don't you dare do it again! (not like I break the law all the time, but I'll admit I am usually speeding)
I have noticed that I am a weird person. If you talk to me while I'm in the middle of reading Harry Potter, I will talk to you with an English accent. It's just how it is. Get over it! I read Harry Potter with an English accent in my mind, it's hard to remember I'm not in England while I'm wrapped up in that book. I also noticed I pick up words from the books I read. But only while I'm reading them. ex. Twilight I will use the word smoulder to describe eyes and the word incredulous to describe everything else. This is seriously ridiculous but it gets even worse when the words in your book really don't make sense. NEWEST PHRASE: That's so bubbly-making! Who says this?? Just me. (Laura you know why I use this phrase, and anyone else who has read the Uglies series!) I drive myself nuts sometimes.
This economy sucks! I'm lucky I still have my job.
Useful info: In case you don't listen to the radio, now is the perfect time to buy a house. After mid-September you will have to have a 20% down payment to buy a house. Also, they are getting rid of the down-payment assistance programs. As for us who are not in any position to buy a house... Ya we're pretty much screwed. Just cry it off like I do! Who just saves up enough for a 20% down payment? It makes sense that you should actually have to have money to buy a house, but isn't there a better way?
Does anyone else turn into a 13 year old girl when the new David Archuletta song comes on the radio? Just me? Thought so. Oh well, it makes me happy.

I'm a Loser

2008-08-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

I am such a loser, Why don't I ever update you ask? Because I read other people's blogs and they have so many cool things going on and my "events" (if you can call them that) just don't compare. I mean I haven't just recently had a baby or anything (Laura, Congrats by the way... I don't think I ever commented but baby Bree is just darling, love the name too!)

But now I will attempt to update you on everything that went on last month (July, I am so far behind) this will be done by a string of pictures, if the pictures need explanation there will be one. :)

Aaron, Faith, Drew and I went hiking at Silver Lake on the morning of the 4th of July, it was fabulous. This is Drew and I at Silver Lake, we hiked up to Twin Lakes. I almost died but we made it ok! And it was georgous!

Half way there! This is the view of Silver Lake from quite a ways up. There was still snow up there. We had to hike through it. We weren't quite prepared for that. It was nerve-racking to say the least. It was on a skinny part of the trail and snow is slippery.

This is a picture of Drew, Faith and Aaron walking up an old ski lift. We wanted to see the view from it, but I wanted to take a picture of them walking up to see the view.

This is the view, it was much better if you were there.

Here is one of the Twin Lakes (not sure if there really are 2 lakes or not, we only played at this one) Faith and I were both wanting to take a picture of the boys at the lake. So they both stopped whatever they were doing stood up straight, they didn't get in close to each other though. Kind of an odd picture but I thought it was funny.

Here is Drew before running the marathon, I had to have him at the Energy Solutions Arena at 3:30. But then I got to go back home and sleep. It was weird because when I woke up at 7:30 he had already been running for 2 hours and I was sleeping, how lazy did I feel?? Not so much, I felt like a normal human! :)

Finishing! He finished in 4 hrs. 03 mins I think. If I remember correctly. His name never got published in the paper though. Not sure why. But I have proof he finished!!! He didn't run as fast as he did last time but that's ok. He says at the beginning of the race he was kicking butt, but he just ran out of energy.

On the 24th of July the Armenian side of Andrew's family had a family reunion at Sugar House park. It was way fun. Here we are at dinner. We also played a rousing game of soccer. Buddy (soon to be bro-in-law) & Drew vs. Rachel (sis- in-law), Daniel (bro-in-law) and I. I think Buddy & Drew won, but I scored on Andrew. Not sure if he let me or not, but I caught him while he was down. He had just ran a marathon that morning.

Anyway, that was July, hope you enjoyed it!

Why run... when you can walk?

2008-07-19T11:40:00.001-07:00

Drew woke up at 5:30 this morning so he could start running while it was cool out. He ran from 6-8, he estimates he ran about 13 miles. I guess when you are training for a marathon that's what you're supposed to do right? He's crazy. But he'll be running 26 miles on the 24th of July. He says he runs faster and it's much easier early in the morning because of the tempratures. I still think he's crazy hot or not. This is a picture I took when he got back this morning, digging into some chocolate. That's my little runner.

We went to see "The Dark Knight" this morning on the IMAX at 9:15, that is the only reason why I was up. So on our way to the movie, we have this little conversation:

Drew: Chocolate is good for runners.

Me: Chocolate is good for encounters with dementors.

Drew: Really?
Me: Yah, Professor Lupin gives some to Harry after his first bout with the dementors on the train. In the 3rd movie, remember? After he passes out...

Drew: HMM...

Pause, Pause....

Me: I'm a geek!

I kid you not, this was a real conversation we had. I totally have issues when I start relating books/movies to real life. I'll be ok, promise.

However, I just found this little beauty on the computer. I forgot I took this picture a while ago. I needed to share it because I think it's hilarious. Who plays Guitar Hero this way anyway?

Oh ya

2008-07-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

In that last post... the second picture from the bottom in the right hand corner, he is chewing on a tampon. What a silly dog, I'm suprised we actually got a picture. Anyway, in case anyone was thinking that was a tampon... IT IS! :)

I miss my dog...

2008-07-19T06:45:00.001-07:00

Oscar went to doggie heaven last month. I really miss him. That's all....

Behold the nickname...

2008-07-12T12:11:00.001-07:00

So, most of you that know me, know that I have an overabundance of nicknames that I have given to my most beloved Andrew. He puts up with it, I'm sure he doesn't enjoy it though. First of all, let me start out by saying that in Andrew's family, he has always been Andrew, not Drew, not Andy... ANDREW!! Same with his other siblings, Rebecca is always Rebecca, Rachel is Rachel, Daniel is Daniel, Aaron is Aaron (not like there is a shorter name for the name Aaron). They've just never gone by anything but their full name. So when me and Drew became friends, I started calling him Drew along with my friends, except Heather, she's always called him Andrew.

Here are a list of nicknames that Andrew has obtained from me:
Drew
Drew-bear
Drewby
Drewby-booby (He really didn't like that one)
Booby (I down sized the previous name, not appropriate at all)
Dooby (that's better)

Well just recently I have begun calling him Doobious... I think it's a fantastic nickname. So when I get mad at him (I really can't get mad at him) But when I need him to listen I call him Doobious Maximus. A fantastic name, if I do say so myself.

Here is a picture of me and Doobious Maximus. I think the name fits, what about you?

Hats off to you!!

2008-07-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

So, I should have wrote about this earlier... but, I didn't so I will do it now. Drew plays on an indoor soccer team. Their team is not so great, so it's just for fun. Anyway, last Saturday he scored a "hat trick" for those who don't know what that means (me: up until about a year ago, and I still need to be reminded from time to time) He scored 3 goals in 1 game. It would have been 4 goals but one goal he slid on and they don't like it when you slide in indoor soccer. He also had 2 goal assists in his first 2 minutes of play time. So what if they lost... Drew had an excellent game. So hats off to you honey, for playing indoor soccer like an indoor soccer champ!

But if you do want to hear something stupid, this team is co-ed. The girls get 2 points for every goal they score and they have unlimited touches... But the guys only gets 1 point every goal they score (duh) and 5 touches. Lame-O!

Welcome!

2008-07-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

Come one, come all. I've been saying I was going to do this for a while and the day has finally come. I finally came to my senses and here it is. I'll try to update frequently because I know blogs are only fun if you are constant. We'll see about that one.

Anyway, my day was ok. I work in Tooele so the drive can be tiring. Anyway, on the way home I got a flat tire. I was just north of Stansbury, so I called my boss and other co-worker... Both of their husbands were busy. So Drew had to make the fun drive to rescue me, while I sat on the side of the road trying not to pass out from the heat. OK, it really wasn't all that bad. I sat on the shaded side of the car on a blanket (the blanket was still in the car from the West Fest fireworks we watched on Saturday night, WAHOO for me for never cleaning my car out.) Anyway, while I was waiting for Drew to make the trek out to Tooele, I busted out the current book I am reading (Under the Tuscan Sun, for book club). But I kept hearing odd noises, I was along the highway, with brush for as far as I could see. I kept thinking it was a rattlesnake. So I got scared. I put the book down and kept my eyes peeled. Then I was thinking why I was placed in this situation, why here, why now? I never did figure that one out, maybe it will come to me later? I did realize how nice people in Tooele are, 2 guys stopped to help me. Unfortunately they were alone and so was I, so I declined their generosities. Finally Drew arrived. He quickly figured out the culprit of the weird noises, some guys were shooting at the mountain, I'm pretty sure they were way too close to civilization for such activities, but such is life. Drew changed the tire in a snap and here I am.

Still don't know why I had to wait by the side of the road for an hour with a flat tire, maybe I never will, but I like to think my life was spared because of a flat tire.