i have a twilight hangover

for those of you wondering, it's still quite cheesy and there is still some bad acting, but it is MUCH better than the last one.

he did it!

Congratulations, brother! i always knew you would do it. even when your kidney was killing you, when it hurt to walk, when it was 4am and i didn't know where you were or how you were doing, i knew i'd see you come into the aid station soon and i knew you'd keep going. it was a tough crazy weekend crewing for you, but i wouldn't have missed it. i'm so proud of you!

good deals

i wandered over to the 99 cent store in my neighborhood last night and found some steals! there are some things i wouldn't trust purchasing there, but i'm usually surprised at the good stuff they have. my two favorites? a fresh bag of ready to eat spinach and a HUGE log of Nestle chocolate chip cookie dough. i instantly thought of jarrod and was happy to support! the cookie dough has a sell by date of next month, but you can safely freeze it for 2 months after that. i've even gotten fresh blackberries there before. love it! if any locals are reading this, head on over and get some cookie dough then invite me over!

the story of the roll

i grew up going to the ca state fair and now realize it spoiled me. i think the sd county fair is great, but come on, it's just a county fair. the state fair is about 10 times bigger. literally. and i love it. each year my family would get a cinnamon roll from this vendor and it was the highlight of my trip. i still remember the building it was located in at cal expo, it had a corner spot by the stairs. i can't recall what i wore yesterday, but this sticks in my mind. we would always share them and i cherished my bites. then i would wait another year for my next roll.

i was delighted to find the same cinnamon rolls at the sd county fair a few years ago! in fact, these cinnamon rolls made their debut in 1978 at the sd county fair. anyway, the tradition continues and a cinnamon roll is a must have each year. aaron almost went to another vendor to buy it this year. i think i would have thrown it in the dirt. we shared a roll while watching the demolition derby. i wanted to get a 6 pack to go so i could freeze them and enjoy the ooey goodness year round, but aaron didn't think he'd eat them all. i had a choice to make. i knew i could eat them all, but should i? i decided against stockpiling and decided to get only one to take home and enjoy the next day. while unloading the car at home i reached in to grab a bag and the to go container flew out of my arms. before i knew it, my precious roll was lying in the dirt. oh the humanity. i thought i was going to cry on the spot. i felt like my red ryder bb gun had shot me in the eye. how could you just lie in the dirt like that? i went to bed so sad that night. aaron came to bed later and while i groggily rolled over i mumbled something about a cinnamon roll. it was the first thing on my mind when i awoke for church. it was still on my mind after i finished my spin class at the gym on monday night.

i came home from the gym to a delicious warm scent in the house and aaron smiling like Christmas. he had me sit on the couch and presented me with a warm cinnamon roll!!! per his request, one of his work friends (thank you, A!) had picked one up while at the fair. i could hardly believe my eyes. i whipped up a quick icing (none of that yucky cream cheese business) and promptly ate it before dinner. the best part of the story might be how excited he was to surprise me. what a great hus i have. delicious.

county fair

we made our annual trek to the sd county fair. i always think i'll take so many great pictures and i end up with very random shots. we had a blast and i think the demolition derby caused aaron to actually enjoy himself.

isn't this such a weird sign? it was some eating place, but looks like sambo's bakery or something. how do they get away with that?
no words.

this year the demolition derby was hosted by local fire departments. maybe it's the white trash in me, but i love demolition derby. one of the best and most aggressive drivers was a woman. so great! this car caught on fire before the first round started and it was funny to see so many firefighters on hand that knew exactly what to do.

mud run!

On June 12th we ran the camp pendleton mud run and had a blast! Steven and friends come down each year for the fun. This year heather and I ran together and enjoyed every step, right?! This is, by far, the most fun event I do each year and look forward to it. I also love that the money goes to help programs for military families. Notice the before and after color of my tank!

sorry for the PG rating of this picture. i'm not sure what ever happened to his shirt...

after the showers feeling "clean". can't wait until next year!

i might be biased

because i do not like the lakers, but what is up with their fans? i use the term 'fan' loosely because i feel most of the people who attend games at the staples center go to be seen rather than to see a game, but i digress. must you riot after every win? this is from last night. how appropriate that he's pushing a wal-mart cart.

as sure as the glory parade that will happen on monday or the appearance of kobe's rat face during the games, is the riot that takes place after a playoff championship. why? celebrate? yes. set cars on fire and ruin public property? no. read about 2009's revelry here, including how fans looted items from local stores. last night's fun included setting a taxi on fire and a mob attempting to pull a city bus driver out of the bus and attack him. the UK telegraph has intense photographs of the damage done last night. with california's government bankrupt, i'm thankful the citizens of LA keep our tax dollars in mind when choosing their method of celebration. grrr, lakers.

jean diapers?

huggies is now marketing jean diapers. their slogan is "the coolest you'll look pooping your pants". i saw an online banner, but a co-worker informed me pretty funny commericals exist for this new product. does this remind anyone else of the snl huggies thong skit? that link takes you to stills and a transcript of the skit. i couldn't find a reliable link to the video. that skit is hilarious and spoofs all the ridiculous choices parents have for putting a diaper on their baby. and now jean diapers. the skit came out in 2004. looks like snl was way ahead of their time.

if only

work has been stressful lately. i just had a friday afternoon moment where i needed something to help me deal. i found a website where you can make your own mix of soothing sounds. you can go the stream-bonfire-crickets route if you would like. i'm currently enjoying the ocean with a distant thunderstorm and a few seagulls thrown in. i can picture myself sitting in that hut over the ocean listening to it rain. i'm not sure they have seagulls in india, but let me imagine.

really?

while waiting for the bus this morning a woman who walked past me, eating a donut, threw her trash in the gutter. a cyclist rode by at that exact moment and screamed "pig" at her. she looked around and said "was he talking to me", but she wasn't really talking to anyone. once she was done with her donut she threw the last bite over her shoulder where it whizzed past me, narrowly missing my shirt (how disgusting to be assaulted by a donut). once on the bus the driver sailed right past my stop which slightly annoyed me. upon arrival at the trolley station i walked past a man who appeared homeless and was kneeling in the parking lot making himself barf. then he sat near me to wait for the trolley. oh heavens. on mornings like this i wish i lived in a more metropolitan area (like NY or SF) where a large majority of the population took public transportation. seeing more civilized people around might help counter experiences like this. is it friday yet?

the best week ever

today is the start of what i think will be the best week ever. let me explain...

recently i borrowed The Guinea Pig Diaries from the library. a very entertaining book where the author lives out experiments concocted in his head or suggested by others. one of the experiments is to spend a month agreeing to his wife's every command. lucky for me, aaron read a few chapters of the book and this happened to be one of them. he decided he should do the same for me, but try for a week instead. i like the idea of a month because, as we all know, it takes a month for habits to form and i would greatly enjoy some new habits (such as doing the dishes every single night). however, i'm very excited for this week. i've already laid some ground rules of what can and cannot happen during the week and a small 'to do' list is waiting for aaron on the bed. i'll let you know how the experiment goes!

i've decided to chronicle the week.
tuesday: i put aaron through the ringer with chores today. nothing crazy, but all the piles of things that needed to be put away were driving me nuts! a lot of laundry. i pitched in with the chores. it's not in my nature to sit and watch. but, he was a great sport about it all and even got in the spirit of westley by answering my requests with "as you wish".
wednesday: a few simple chores were waiting for him on a list when he got home. he offered to make dinner and go grocery shopping, but i declined. let's not go crazy yet. i explained to aaron that i'm not trying to keep him busy with boring tasks via 'to do' lists, but rather asking him to do all the things i normally do in a week. i think the thing i'm loving the most is when i ask for something to be done it is done instantly, not in 10 minutes or an hour. i don't think i'm letting the power go to my head, but rather my need to accomplish is being enabled. what am i going to do when this is over?
thursday: there was no 'to do' list today. aaron came to a class with me at the gym and gave up watching most of game one of the NBA finals, which is a large sacrifice for him. i wanted to go running friday morning before work and he agreed to do so, if i wanted him to. which i did. that is also huge for him because he has a hard time waking up in the morning. we even got into a little disagreement and i said, "not this week, it's my week!". the quarrel disappeared just like that! probably not the best use of my power, i admit, but it was nice.
friday: a small 'to do' list awaiting him at home after work. we mostly hung out at home that night, but aaron discovered the chores come before the playing. a perfect night for me. i'm starting to sound like attila the hun.
saturday: today was a day mostly free from chores. magical because they happened during the week! we had the temple in the morning, running at the bay after the temple, relaxed a bit around the house, then headed to a housewarming party for some friends. i did command him to sit against his will at the temple and he held his tongue when i didn't know some driving directions, so that was nice. he said no to me once and i looked at him in shock. once he realized what he did his eyes got big and he had a very remorseful look on his face. what fun. but, trouble in paradise was developing. i very much do not like being pacified with fake undertones. i think it was momentary rebellion. we had a chat and it soon stopped.
sunday: no large chores today. it is the sabbath after all. just small things to keep the house running. it's been so nice to have my least favorite chores done. also, i have loved maintaining control of the tv, radio, and general activities. i tried to order an extension of the week, but it didn't work. i asked him tonight if the week has been better or worse than he thought. he said it was better because he thought i would have ordered him to do much more work (see? i am a kind dictator) and noticed that at times when he would have normally put up a fight about something or made a side comment he bit his tongue and agreed or made no remark. when he did this he found harmony was kept and the thing he wanted to say turned out to be not so important after all. i married a smart man. i should learn from him.
monday: i was very sad to have the final day come and go. aaron completed the last of his chores for the week. today was a pretty yucky one (cleaning the floor and walls behind and around the toilet), but it was done with no complaints. i must say i am going to miss things being done so quickly. i'm also going to miss writing down whatever chores come to mind while i'm getting ready for work in the morning and knowing they'll be done by the time i get home. oh well. it was nice while it lasted. and i think i have gleaned some valuable information in the process. as aaron mentioned what he learned, i realized that is something i should be doing as well and have decided to work on that going forward. i have hopes that this experiment will happen again. maybe that will be my birthday wish. along with another season of golden girls.

remembering memorial day

i am extremely patriotic and will always love America because i know this land has been preserved for a special purpose. i am so thankful for all the people who have given their life to keep this country safe. please take a moment this weekend to give thanks for those who have sacrificed so much and say a prayer for the family they've left behind.

Photo of Arlington National Cemetery by Bruce Dale, published in National Geographic, June 2007.

birthday breakfast

this morning i emailed aaron asking him what he would like for his birthday breakfast.

me: what do you want for breakfast? i'm assuming bacon. anything else? eggs? pancakes?

him: bacon and french toast, both crispy, and chocolate milk. that's my dream.

at least the man knows what he wants. if only i could outsource cooking the bacon, but it's his birthday so i will not make a peep.

mating season

does anyone else feel like it's major baby fever time? it's kitten season and as one person in animal services at work said, "we have kittens hanging from the rafters". i'm surrounded by talk of feedings and neo-natal stats all day long. today i found out two of my friends are having (human) babies, another just had one a few days ago, and about a bajillion women in my ward are pregnant. maybe not a bajillion (mostly because i don't know how many that represents), but a lot! crazy time!

Disneyland

(Ava couldn't resist grooving to the magicical tune of It's a Small World)
A good time was had by all.