Chris & Morgan Clune

My take on Prop 8

2012-02-09T11:53:00.005-08:00

Look, I'm not against equal rights. In fact, I'm an advocate of equality. So, personally I don't see what is unequal about "civil union" and "marriage".

Here are the facts.

I looked up the definition of marriage.

The formal union of a man and a woman, typically recognized by law, by which they become husband and wife.

and another one...

a. the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.
b. a similar institution involving partners of the same gender: gay marriage.

Ok, so we got the definition right? Marriage defined is between a man and a woman. A similar institution is gay marriage.

As I understand it (I very well may be wrong but...) this fight is over changing the definition, correct? Or no?

Because if yes...ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

Lets take something else for example and define it. Sewing.

Defined:

To furnish with stitches for the purpose of closing, fastening, or attaching

Ok now lets define stapling.

Defined:

To secure or fasten by a staple or staples.

Sounds pretty close to the same thing to me! They both do the same thing. They both accomplish the same thing. But they are DEFINED DIFFERENTLY because they are not EXACTLY the same thing.

But if stapling got mad because it wasn't called "sewing", would we change the definition of sewing? No! It was defined ages ago and that's what a definition is. If stapling wanted another word, then hey, go ahead and we can make another word. But it does not follow by the definition of sewing because it is a little bit different.

As is this. It is a little bit different because it is between a man and man or woman and woman...not a man and woman. That is what the word "marriage" is defined as.

I am all for equal rights. I believe everyone on earth, whether they are black, white, indian, love a different sex, love the same sex, love a plant...I don't care what it is...everyone deserves equal rights. But don't tell me that we need to change a definition because if we don't, then it's not equality! If everyone has the same rights, how is it not??

Just to lighten the mood a bit...here's a funny South Park episode that Chris thought of when I was telling him my thoughts on this this morning. Please don't be offended by it, it (of course) is a huge joke...South Park always makes fun of (literally) everything so if you are offended by South Park, or get offended easily, please don't watch.

Anyway, this is just my opinion. I understand everyone has their own, and everyone is entitled to their own. I wasn't writing this to cause an argument, I just wanted to state my opinion on my blog.

Everyone should read this

2012-02-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204740904577196931457473816.html

I just read this whole article and it is so true! I hope I can follow it one day. I don't even have kids and I think it is worth reading. READ IT!

Oh la Las Vegas!

2012-02-01T17:38:00.001-08:00

Had SUCH an amazing weekend with the girls!!! Check out the bunks we stayed in!! Saturday we first went shopping...

I found Chris and my fav taco place....and of course my favorite store in the whole wide world (i look awful but tiffany's never can)

Went crazy in Sophora and got eye cream stuff and it already is showing amazing results! (curse you getting old!!!)

We went to get yummy chocolate at the best chocolate place ever!! Mr. Brenner you make some good chocolate!

Then we went home and got all dressed up and went back out for dinner...

We first went to dinner at a highly recommended restaurant in the Hard Rock Hotel...called Pink Taco...hahaha no I am not going to explain that one but it was seriously good food!! If you're ever there I highly recommend it! But I don't recommend their guacamole...I can make it better than that so if you want to pay $9 for guac, just call me and I'd be happy to make it for you!

We went to see the Viva Elvis cirque show...funny story, we thought it started at 10 and showed up at like 9:35 all proud of ourselves for getting there early, so we took pictures, took our time...then the usher asked if we were ready to go in. We walked in to a packed theater and a (what we thought was a) "pre-show". Turns out the show started at 9:30 so we were only like 10 minutes late and we got to see the awesome parts and just missed the intro. Anyway...after the show we walked around for a while...

After not deciding what to do we came together and came up with a plan....hence the group thumbs up

So we went to the Bellagio's garden, then to Margaritaville, danced some, got some virgin piña coladas...just had some fun

Finally at 3am, my photographer friend, Shelli Dame (shellidamephotography.com) took some pictures of us at the sign....

It was a ton of fun and I miss the girls already!!!

Oh Idaho

2012-01-15T17:39:00.001-08:00

We went to a local known restaurant last night to celebrate our friend's birthday. It is honestly a tiny hole in the wall restaurant that no one would ever find unless they knew exactly where it was. But it was completely full and we had to wait along the back wall until chairs opened up. I should also mention that they only accept cash or check. No debit or credit cards. :) it was cute. So I got some pictures of the experience. When we walked in, there were 6 of us and others behind us, so the door was open for a little bit...but this girl was openly, and loudly complaining that we had been opening the door (to get in...). Not that I'm judging, but to get back at her I thought I'd post a picture of her incredibly fashionable outfit.

If you can see it..."blingy" jeans, and doc martins. Well done Idaho, well done. This other picture is of the manager (maybe owner?) counting the till at the end of the night. Yes, out of a bowl. While we were sitting across from him. Still eating. Out in the open.

So funny and cute the way small towns work, right?

Cute neph

2012-01-11T11:28:00.001-08:00

I love this nephew of mine. Here he is matching me, holding my hand on his face while he sleeps, cuddling with hazel (until he reached down and tried to take a hand full of her fur....then she left) and being a cute thug!

Sure do love him

Project #1

2012-01-10T11:54:00.001-08:00

Yes, before I start projects I meticulously draw out each section, every possible way done, and then calculate costs.

See...

Stuff to do

2012-01-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

We are FINALLY back home after a very long time of traveling! After coming home from Christmas vacation, Chris remembered he had a company retreat in Utah the DAY it was happening! So after spending 3 days home, we turned around and went back down to Utah.

So now we are here! officially...and can I say I'm ACTUALLY happy to be here? This is a weird thing.

Couple things though. Good and bad

Good: I have lots of things to busy myself and don't know where to start. i'm going to make bed side tables, pillows for the bed, a purse (ya that one may not work), and I'm going to take a photo class. Learn me some things.

Bad: it's cold. But on and off. This morning = freezing, this afternoon = perfect (no jacket even!), tonight = i swear our furnace isn't working and it is SO cold!! turned on the oven and left it open and that isn't even working. I hate cold!!

Good: work again! I miss the paycheck :)

Bad: work again....ya know, it has good and bad qualities :)

Good: going to vegas with my girls at the end of the month! Looking forward to that!!!

Good: chris loves his classes.....wayyyy good!

Anyway.

I'm looking for crates. Do I really have to make them or where can I get them?

I'll post pics of my upcoming projects!!

I must say...

2012-01-04T12:53:00.000-08:00

I'm not saying that I have perfect grammar.

In fact, I'm not so bueno when it comes to finding the right words, sayings, quotes...I always, always get them wrong.

I hope it's not too embarrassing for Chris...hopefully he even likes that quirk of mine.

However....

You did not "get a sell". You got a sale.

You are not "going out to sale". You are going out to sell.

You do not "fill bad". You feel bad. You fill a cup.

It just recently started bothering me more. People honestly think that because you talk a certain way, it is spelled that way. Maybe we should all start talking properly? I'm not saying I'm not entirely guilty of this. I do pronounce Aunt as Ant. But I also do know how the word is spelled, and when I write to people, I do not write

Oh how I love being an Ant.

Does this bother anyone else?

It's a new year!

2012-01-02T22:33:00.001-08:00

2011 was a hard year for us. We had a lot of trials, we had a lot of blessings, but a lot of...hard. I'm very excited for 2012 because it's a new start. A new beginning. I can put all of the trials and emotional...stuff connected to it in the past because that was last year. 2012 is a whole new number! Thank goodness for new years!

For new years eve, my fabulous friend had a part-ay! Thank goodness for married friends who still like to party. If it weren't for them, I would be a sad girl. Thank you Mrs Shawna Bailey! It was a really fun night, boys watched ESPN, girls talked, took pictures, caught up. Here are a few pictures from the night...this first one is blurry but I still love it...

Me and my sis-in-law Janae

Shawna and I...awesome party planner

Yes, that night was fabulous.

New year resolutions, I am writing them down:

Get in shape: Work out at least 3 days a week. Stop being lazy. I don't always have to wait for Chris to work out, that's just an excuse. Stop making excuses. {seriously doesn't everyone make that resolution?} I'm also going to start doing yoga.

Fix the skin: I've always had fine skin. Fine. Occasionally it's dry, sometimes oily, I've always had those little tiny bumps mostly one my forehead, and I swear to you 2011 was the year for wrinkles. But it's time to actually give my skin attention. Drink more water, find good skin products that works makes my skin fabulous and not just fine.

Blog more: I will keep better record of our life! Take more pictures, and keep track of them!

Cook: This has seriously got to stick around. I will to cook every other night and stick to it. My plan is {since every good resolution needs a plan} to grocery shop for 2 weeks at a time, write the meals down for Chris to hold me to, acttttuuuuaalllyyyy do it.

Be healthy: along with the cooking, I will cook healthy food, cook enough for lunch the next day so we don't go out to eat so much, a day of left overs, and {if the meal will allow} enough to freeze one meal worth. Freezing food is like, awesome. I just ate some soup tonight that I froze 3 weeks ago and it tasted like I made it tonight. YUM! Also, I will stop drinking as much pop. More water, less pop.

More to come I'm sure...I will add more as they come!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

iPhone says...

2011-12-27T16:11:00.001-08:00

Life is pretty good...

Hair done, art museum, dropped the pizza, Hazel wanted to go...

Sleeping puppy, unfortunate name, important (cute) phone call, Christmas card

kisses at lights, red faces, cozy fire, lights too bright

Anniversary of some sort

2011-12-07T22:35:00.000-08:00

Guess what, 3 years ago today, December 7th, Chris asked me to marry him on a forbidden slab of concrete at the SLC Capitol. It was beautiful, a Sunday night, I was in my sweats and had NO idea he was going to propose {otherwise I think I would have dressed up a bit more}. We were driving to check out temples to get married in...we had already decided to get married, and I had already designed my ring because yes, I am a control freak like that and had already dreamed it up since I knew that was where us dating was leading to....I mean, how could it not after we kept going back to each other over a 5 year period of time and falling madly in love in a day but then realizing it wasn't time to get married and then dating other people only to run back to each other when we realized no one measured up time after time?

ANYWAY, we first went to the Bountiful temple to see how pretty it was and see if we {i} fell in love with it. Before we got there {little did I know} Chris had sent a friend to put a dozen roses at a certain bench at the Bountiful temple. I would have found the roses, he would have proposed, it would have been so sweet and wonderful that we would have gotten married there.

Once we got there though, the gates were locked. Poor Chris...I didn't notice if he was frustrated or flustered or anything at all! But he found an opening in the gate and we squeezed through. Seriously people, we broke into the temple. Looking back...we may be in trouble for that someday.

So we started walking around the grounds, examining, and as we started walking toward that bench {I kid you not we were like probably 10 feet away} a guard came out and started "yelling" {as much as you can on temple grounds} asking how we got in and did we know the gates were closed and locked, etc. So we were kicked out. Of the temple. Good for us. Roses left there for someone else to find.

Chris I'm sure was all up in a tizzy now, thinking he went to propose to me and by golly he was going to do it {or maybe he wasn't thinking that at all and that's just what I would have been thinking}. So then we were driving back home to Provo, when he said, "have you ever seen the Capitol building?" {i honestly didn't think anything at this point}, I said no and we exited to go "see" it.

We parked and walked up the Grand Staircase, and then to the left there is this slab of concrete that juts back out I think to where the bottom of the stairs start, but stays the same height the whole way. You can't get on it without climbing, so we climbed, and walked out to the edge. The view was beautiful, you could see the whole city, the temple, the buildings, the lights, all from there.

We stood there and talked for a while, and once we were there for a bit of time, I started thinking, "why are we still here?", then I turned around to ask that and Chris was on a knee.

I held my breath and covered my mouth and looked down......to no ring. Nothing. Just holding both hands up in a cupping position.

He said "I thought I'd just practice...practice makes perfect".

I could have thrown him off the slab at that moment. I'm pretty sure I threatened to do it too. So he started messing around, saying "this knee? or...{switching knees} this knee?" I told him maybe both knees because now he'll have to beg for it after this.

And after a while of this, I started thinking, okay okay joke's over, lets go...and I'm thinking at this moment I rolled my eyes and head in an act of serious dramatization and when I looked back down at him all sarcastic like...he was holding the ring. {how he so slyly got the ring out and opened the box without me even seeing him move is still a mystery to me}

I will spare you the details here {plus they're mine}, but to sum up, he asked me to marry him. I said yes {kissed him first before I got the ring}, and I was all giddy.

After he got up and we got over the giddiness {is that a word?}, two dressed security guards came out clapping! Turns out, they had seen us on the security cameras and someone radioed down to the guards to come out and kick the "love birds off the grand staircase", and as they were walking out the person radioed down again and said "WAIT WAIT! HE JUST GOT ON A KNEE DON'T GO OUT THERE!!" So, we got some pictures with them, and had them take a couple pictures...what a night to remember :)

So tonight, we celebrated with sushi...even though I'm sick...stupid cold. But 3 years ago changed my life in the best way possible and you can't just NOT celebrate that! I sure do love that boy

Headboard...CHECK!

2011-11-30T21:00:00.001-08:00

As promised, here's the headboard!! Of course I took pics of all the steps to prove I actually did it!! I kind of love it! Now I need to decorate the room :) pillows maybe?

Step 1: sand EVERYTHING. I wanted the wood to look "reclaimed". But not have the possible nastiness to deal with with real reclaimed wood. So everything needed to be smooth

Chris took this...the only proof it was actually me doing it

Step 2: Stain...I tried different levels of darkness. Water first then stain, one coat of stain, and two coats of stain.

Step 3: Stain the edges...can't really do this when they're pressed together

Step 4: Measure where the studs or braces will go (we did 4). Turns out this step was TOTALLY pointless but I didn't really think ahead

Step...5...are we at 5?: Lay everything out. This took FOREVER!!! I could not figure out how to put all 4 beams right! And I wanted to screw them in from the top. Eventually I got it by measuring

Step 6: Beat em up!!! This helps the reclaimed look. I used a hammer, screw driver, screws, anything i could use to dent it. Pictures on this later.

Step 7: Screw! I was so scared to do this but I think I did alright!! I screwed them in deep so I could wood putty over it

Step 8: Wood putty (picture later) it took a while to dry because it was so cold outside but I let it dry a while and then sanded them even with the wood.

Step 9: STAIN! This is what I used.

See the beat up dents?

See the wood putty spots? It's hard to blend them entirely, but you can't really see em unless you look

Step 10: Use water based sealant (so it doesn't yellow over time), sand and coat #2, then DONE!!

Final project:

I wish this would show the real color but it doesn't really. The bottom one shows it best. Oh well. Maybe when I do over the whole room I'll take more pictures.

The end. We now have a headboard and like it :)

Workin on

2011-11-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

I've got a few projects going on right now that I'm kind of excited about! Saving money is so much fun, especially when it gives you something to do :)

The first one (and biggest one) is a headboard. I didn't write this on the blog, but a little while ago, I was sitting in bed reading and a spider (not kidding right now, seriously, try not to scream) climbed up the covers. Not a little spider and not a daddy long leg spider! Like....a scary, yucky, if it bit me I would have probably ended up in the hospital type spider! I (of course) screamed. It was like THIS CLOSE to me! Chris came running in to save the day and kill the spider. So we decided there may be more spiders behind the bed, between it and the wall, so we moved the bed against another wall and WHILE we were moving it, ANOTHER spider speeds straight toward me!!! I swear it was trying to get revenge. More screaming. Chris gets it.

The next day, I bought a big can of insect killer and fumigated the whole room! It smelled for 2 days...we had to sleep on the couch that night.

Don't you just feel like there are spiders crawling all over you right now?? Ew.

Once we could finally sleep in our room again, I couldn't sleep. I slept better on the uncomfortable couch. I just kept thinking there was a spider somewhere and it was coming for me! So I bought a bed frame. Get that baby off the floor.

It looked so good all high and royal like that I decided we needed a headboard. Your room is supposed to be your escape right?? For us, we had a plain bed on the floor, and two side tables that didn't match. that. is. it. BORING!! (we really need a dresser too...our tiny closet doesn't hold our clothes. There are clothes stuffed in storage bins, on shelves, and in one bed side table. But that one isn't gonna come for a while).

So I started looking for headboards. I really liked this one...love the wood planks in the back there...rustic/modern look...

This one is $2,599. Hmmmm...don't exactly have loose change like that. So I kept looking.
I liked this one...

More rustic than modern but loving rustic right now! This one is a bargain at $2,399

So I gave up. UNTIL I thought, hmm I kind of know how to work with wood...I'll just MAKE IT! So it is in the process, and I will post all of the before/after/during pictures later!!

The second project I don't have a picture for, but it's a chalk MENU board. I figure if I can write the menu for the week down, I am more likely to make it :) We'll see...but it is currently drying (the chalk paint...how cool is that??) So when that gets further along I'll post pictures. (oh and guess what! I got the wood for it for FREE! how much cooler can it get?)

The third (hopeful) project is a photography class. I have that nice fancy camera that never gets used because I don't know how to use it. So since I'm so close to campus, I figured I'd register for a digital photo class and learn some photography skills! Too bad it was full the first day it opened :( I just emailed the professor and asked if I could just audit the class (no hassle for him but good for me! win win!!)...we'll see what he says.

Anyway...life is good! I love that thanksgiving and christmas are so close together...you always have the next family time to look forward to! Unfortunately after christmas though, you don't have any holiday for a while....soooo. Either way, excited while I'm in it!! And excited for all of my projects!

So I dyed my hair...

2011-11-08T20:33:00.001-08:00

And now I'm a brunette

Unusual day

2011-10-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

I can't figure out how I feel today so I thought I'd write and try to figure it out through this. I'm not going to go into details (considering my blog is public), but we've been having trials again in our lives and my emotions are like a roller coaster. So I will try to figure this out today.

Right now I feel very very blessed for the things I have in my life. My husband is perfectly healthy (just got another perfect scan), we live in a cute, quaint but nice apartment in a small town, we both have jobs, Chris goes to school and loves it, I have wonderful family that I get to see a lot of, my mom just came up here and informed me that we don't have enough of the "necessities" and bought all sorts of "necessary" things (like a scale, ironing board, toaster, full sized mirror....all things we were able to live without before but are so nice to have :)) and made 3 meals to freeze for us to eat after she left, Chris is starting to run and is loving it (and is trying to drag me along (dang it) which is a good thing because I need to get in shape) and is gonna do his first tri coming up here soon. I really have a blessed life...so part of me is feeling that feeling when you're sitting in front of a fireplace wrapped up in a blanket just watching the fire or a good movie....just content. Loving the getting colder weather, the falling leaves, the heater, blankets, sweaters...just content.

The other part of me is going bonkers (that word hasn't been used for a very long time but seemed to fit here) with the emotions involved in trials. I know there are steps to stuff like this, the sad, mad, blame, denial...etc. And it seems like I go through each one every single day. Like last night I thought I had leveled out and I felt so stable and in charge...and then waking up this morning it's like starting all over. So how do you possibly get in control of these things? I like to ignore it all and I'm actually really good at that until it catches up to me.

Oh here's the worst part...I just got done from a vacation...a good one too! Filled with family, shopping, shows, eating out, friends. It was a good weekend. We got home last night and I feel like I need another vacation. I think my favorite thing to do when going through trials is to run away, so maybe that's why. Or maybe its because I'm currently wearing a sweater, and jacket with my furry hood up....and I'm still cold. I need warm weather.

Anyway, nope, writing it down didn't work to help me figure this stuff out, but maybe if anyone has suggestions how they get control of emotions? I heard "eat Black-Strap Molasses and use Wild Yam Root Cream". Don't really know how I feel about that but hey, if it works.....

Vacations...

2011-09-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

so i have a question for everyone. when i look at my main picture on a mac, i can see it fine (i uploaded it from my mac so that would make sense)...but when i look at it from an HP or any other lap top that is not an apple, i can't see it! i just realized that too! i thought it was just our other crappy computer, but here i am on the new computer and i can't see it!! can you see it?

Ok so that's not what i came here to talk about what i really got on to do was update our lives, and lately, our lives have been vacation! oh and by the way, this post is far too long so i wont be offended if you don't read it all :)

oh the loooove of vacations. i do have a love hate relationship with vacations though, because i swear, i look forward to it and look forward to it, then it comes time to lave, and the minute we get in the car i'm dreading it being over. SERIOUSLY ANNOYING!! i need to stop that.

but!! we first went to utah, spent some time with the fam and my amazingly adorable little nephew...he's at the stage that he will smile at you when you pick him up from a nap, and he's just barely starting to laugh. it is the CUTEST sound that can possibly come out of anything. ohh i just love him!!

then for labor day weekend we drove out to california to spend some time with that side of the fam....chris' sister/bro in law and the cutest 4 girls the world has been blessed with! the youngest one, Hadley, learned to say Auntie...can i just tell you it melts my heart every time she said it? and even though it wasn't the most beautiful sunny weather, it was perfect! it actually rained when we were on the beach but it made it more fun. none of us wanted to get too far into the water anyway. i have a severe fear of sharks. :) don't make fun of me. but we went to the pool a couple times, went to the beach once, movie in the park (so much fun! and you can do it too because there are no bugs!!), donuts at the beach (as always), and of course shopping!! mostly i just love playing with the nieces!

it was WAY too short and we wished we could have stayed longer. BUT my dad got this HUUUUGE blessing and he got a new job/better position that he has literally been looking for/wishing for/praying for for 10 YEARS!!! so we are VERY happy. he was able to quit his current job, something that really, if you just count your blessings, has been a blessing considering that he was fortunate enough to not ever lose his job during these tough times.....but he needed a new one :) point is, he had a 2 week break between the two jobs so he flew out to Utah and we got to spend a bunch of family time which is ALWAYS fun! Hiking, dinner, BYU game, pictionary....i love my family. we are soooo loud! I felt bad for baby enoch. poor thing would fall asleep and then wake up to us yelling...i think he got more used to it as time went on!

Oh an by the way, on the way home (driving) from california, we stopped at the worlds largest thermometer to see it pop on top at 111 degrees!! Guess what...it wasn't even working. Too hot I guess.

oh and chris and i went to the Linx end of year party...we got THIS CLOSE to winning a trip for 2 to hawaii! I kid you not, we had 090448...they called like 090454. we were sooooo bummed! but it's ok. i got new shoes for it.....i always love that part :)

So for future vacations, chris and i so badly want to travel the "world"...kinda feel like we should conquer the US first...but the problem is, we'd rather spend the money on seeing family. so that's all we do these days :) but its SO MUCH FUN to see family! i hate living far away from everyone.

Oh we figured out how long we'll be in school for--this semester, next, then internship (currently wondering where/what/for whom...), then 2 more semesters. bleck. but it's okay, this place is growing on me. as long as we get lots of vacations ;) we like our ward and lots of people here have dogs, so we have dog parties (i know, lame right)...but it's a fun get together. AND we have the best ice cream i have literally ever eaten within walking distance from our house. not too shabby! And while we're here, i think i'm going to take some classes. I'm thinking photography...maybe cooking?

I did it! I turned 26

2011-08-22T21:31:00.001-07:00

So Chris planned a whole birthday weekend...it was amazing!!! Like old times--when we dated (like 8 years ago) he would always do research on the areas and find the best restaurants!!! So for my birthday, he found this amazing restaurant called the Rendezvous Bistro. We both had fish, his spicy, mine not. Then for desert we had the most amazing Crème Brûlée I have ever had!! I still can't stop thinking about it. After dinner, we did a little window shopping and gallery browsing. I love dates like that!!

On my birthday we did a picnic in the park, hot dogs (who woulda guessed :)), ladder ball, and just fun in the park!

(the buns were HUGE! These were normal sized dogs!)

I had such a wonderful birthday. Thanks baby!!!

It's almost my birthday

2011-08-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

So, it's almost my 26th birthday. Now for those of you who have hit that 26 mark and have successfully passed it, this will sound ridiculous to you. But hey, this is my blog so I can say whateva...

So I've got this weird idea of turning 26, that I'm going to suddenly get crazy wrinkles, get arthritis, grey hair etc. I mean, when I turn 26, that means I'm out of the first quarter century of my life! And say I live till I'm 100 (lets hope not), that means I only have 4 of those! That is not a big number!! So I'm out of it...out of that first one. That first one is filled with so much fun!! Being a carefree kid, growing up with an awesome family, going to the college of my choice, playing the sport (some people don't call it a sport) I wanted all through college, finding the perfect guy and marrying him, being happily married...that all came in the first quarter century! It was so much fun!!! If I was toasting right now I would toast to it. It was great!! So the second quarter century....that is going to hold kids....a job....maybe a house....right? That doesn't sound carefree. That sounds stressful. No longer do I just take care of myself (and my husband, but when I leave him he has the ability to take care of himself), but now I'm in charge of a family! In charge of major financial things! Oh my goodness. Oh and with all of those stresses and challenges comes wrinkles. Since the past year of "crazy never to happen again please"-ness, when my dad first saw me he said, "I was expecting to see this grey haired wrinkly old woman after the stress you two have been under". So does that mean I just got a head start on it? Like the past year (and hey, lets add a point to the second quarter century side...the first one we had to deal with that!)...maybe it just dug my wrinkles a little deeper, and greyed my hair a little faster. So when I turn 26 it's going to be like a light switch and BAM....I'm not young anymore.

Oh and to add to the greatness, my knees, BOTH of them, have been killing me lately! Not that I have been doing ANYTHING for them to hurt over...they just hurt. That comes with turning 26.

When I turn 26, I'm not young anymore. Now I'm old. It's official.

Anyway, don't get all angry about this post...I know I still look like a teenager (unless you look close at those crow's feet)...but I hate getting older. I want to go backwards and get younger again and have my parents take care of me. I like living the carefree life. Anyway...happy stinkin birthday to me

I'm about to give up

2011-08-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

The world is against me when it comes to cooking!

Seriously! I try and try and try, and I do SO well! And then the dishwasher breaks, and then the fridge breaks!!!

When I say "breaks" I mean, the dishwasher doesn't spit out the soap anymore, and what it does spit out gets caked on the dishes! So, dishes by hand it is! And, for those who don't know, I hate doing dishes enough when I just have to rinse them off and stick em in! To actually WASH....I just let them pile up.

And I have noticed that when you cook (maybe I should say I here?), you use like every pot and pan you have. So...no dishwasher working=no cooking!

If that wasn't bad enough! Remember those cookies? Ya one post down. When I posted that picture, Chris had raved and raved about them, but I hadn't tried them yet.

Turns out, our refrigerator decided to make everything in it taste like a refrigerator. So when I took my first bite of that soft gooey cookie, it tasted like I just licked the inside of the refrigerator. It was disgusting. Chris didn't seem to mind, but once I brought it to his attention, he couldn't eat anymore cookies.

Then we found out that the 1/2 watermelon we had in there tasted like it. The butter, the cheese...everything that could soak any smell up...it did.

So my point is. My life is trying to make me not cook. I think I'll give in for a little bit. At least long enough to fix everything wrong in the house...

Proof

2011-07-29T11:39:00.001-07:00

As dinner was set before The hubby last night, he asked if I had gotten a picture of this because it LOOKED so good. Never thought, on this cooking attempt-tion of mine, that the dinners would even taste very good, much less LOOK good :)

So here is proof that I am staying true to my goal!

After dinner, something marvelous happened. I made my best batch of cookies EVER! My cookies usually burn, fall flat, turn into cake-y circles...but never, EVER have they turned out like this.

I give compete credit to the recipe I found!! It's for "high altitude". Here, we are just barely at the high altitude mark, but the cookies sure like being made for high altitude!!

Here is the recipe if anyone is high altitude and wants to make the best cookies EVER!

High Altitude
Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 sticks Butter (1 cup)
¾ C. Granulated Sugar
¾ C. Brown Sugar
3/4 tsp. Salt
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
2 Eggs
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
2 ¾ C. Flour
1 ½ C. Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whip butter until creamy, then add sugar and beat. Add salt, vanilla & egg. Sift flour and soda then add to mixture. Add chocolate chips and stir well. Bake 8-11 minutes (10 min 30 seconds in my oven) until edges are barely brown.

Easy right! Ya, do it!

Couldn't stop laughing...

2011-07-26T11:26:00.001-07:00

Hazel will do anything for a treat :)

Turned her into me

Any pillow

2011-07-21T16:49:00.001-07:00

My feet...being used as a pillow. And keeping my feet warm :) what a sweetheart!!!

Oh and look at the SIZE of this suckers fangs!!!

I HATE spiders!!!! This was taken through a widow, that's the only reason I got so close

I really hate titles

2011-07-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

I hate titles. Like in emails, I hate putting a subject. What if I have a bunch of thoughts (pretty normal)? Then what do I write? A word of each thought, separated by commas?

Totally not what I was getting on here to write. What I was going to do was to tell you that I am ashamed to say, I haven't really taken pictures of much lately...well for the like past year lately. Honestly, I took SOME pictures, but not nearly as many as I want. I want them to be able to look back on! When I was thinking about this the other day (I think it was when my friend told me "no more pictures of Hazel, Morgan!"), I realized, I think I didn't really want to remember the past year :) But now that it's over I'm going to (try to) take pictures again!!! Even though I hate...like seriously hate connecting my camera to the computer. Eh it is so annoying to me! (why don't they make a camera with internet on it? like my phone!) But, just like cooking, I am putting this new goal here so I will be more determined to do it.

Speaking of dinners...that is going really well! I am ACTUALLY cooking! Last night I made the BEST chicken tortilla soup! Oh my goodness. And it was so healthy too! Most of it was bell peppers and onions and chicken but it tasted like heaven. Chris can't get enough of it. Others that I have made are Parmesan Chicken, homemade marinara sauce, tonight is mango fish tacos, I made some awesome fresh summery wrap, mmm I love fresh food cookin. OH and I just came up with a genius plan. The part I hate most about cooking is the grocery shopping. It takes me forever and I hate it. So my plan was that Chris should invent a company that does your grocery shopping for you and brings it to your house! Chris then ruined my excitement and said it already exists.... I'm looking into that now....

Anyway...hopefully I'll start posting more pictures

Many faces of my man E

2011-06-20T20:52:00.001-07:00

I love this kid so much!!! My little man E was blessed this weekend. I just adore him! I can not wait to see him again!

I love these faces!!!

Isn't he a cutie!!!

Really...

2011-06-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

Santa Fe Chicken Salad Wraps

I have been pretty stressed out lately...I mean, I get to work at 8am, stay till 10:30pm, get home, fall right into bed but not to sleep (can't ever turn off the good ol' brain), wake up too early the next day, and start it all over again. Literally, this process is every day Monday-Friday, and then Saturday I have to go in at least in the mornings. I have a list of things I should/want to get done, but honestly, who can get anything done under that schedule? I'm not complaining about my job...the job(s) part is actually quite easy! Most of it entails waiting around for UPS to come. But that means I can't leave, like, ever. Because that's the biggest part of my job. And if I leave, someone HAS to be here to take the shipment if it comes. And yes, if I were crazy on top of things, I could call into UPS every day and schedule a delivery time the next day, but really...doubtful. Plus I've met my UPS delivery man, and he is a sweet old man, and has to drive all over this tiny city and I'm SURE to the cities "nearby" (aka, half hour away). So I feel bad being needy and making him plan his entire day around me every day when I CAN wait for him.

But the thing that kills me the most is that we eat out ALL the time! We get home exhausted (really we were just talking about how we could take an entire week to just sleep and then we would feel normal again), so we don't make dinner. If we haven't eaten dinner yet (taco bell, subway, great harvest), we skip it. Breakfast...honestly hardly ever eat. And lunch is always out too (see above restaurants). Most days I eat one meal a day.
....I just stopped to think what I've eaten today, and I realized it's 4:30 and I really haven't eaten anything yet...hmm.

So anyway, I started thinking I am GOING to start cooking healthy. Because really, I don't care if I eat healthy or anything at all actually, but I REALLY care what Chris eats.

So first I came up with a plan....I'm going to work all morning, run/bike home around 2-3 (after the shipments come, whenever that is), work out, cook, clean, and then come back to work to do my night work. Great idea right?

But seriously....I am so intimidated by cooking! It STREESSESSS me out thinking about it. I totally look up to all my friends who, like, cook every meal...and good food! Not frozen dinners! (My specialty)....I am so intimidated. You have no idea.

So I talked to my friend Cassi about my worry, and she gave me all these awesome AWESOME ideas...like this website is honestly the best food blog I have EVER read. I want healthy food but really kind of hate all the "healthy" recipes...soups and stuff...eck. This blog though...wonderful. So she gave me that idea and cooking weekends and freezing, or crock pot meals....all awesome ideas! And she gave me links to food blogs/sites so I can have a starting point. Ya she's awesome.

I got super excited to do this, but seriously am SOOO stressed out. Mainly I think because I have tried this before and it lasted a day.....Whatever the reason is....so so so stressed out. I know, really? Like really, this is what I'm stressed out about? Poor baby, right? I KNOW! LEAVE IT! I haven't gone to the grocery store yet...I'm stressed about that too. Aw man...

Words of encouragement would be great...

More pics

2011-06-06T16:23:00.001-07:00

Smushed face with the car seat straps...oh my CHEEKS!!!!!

See how little he is?! And he cuddles up! See he IS my little love bug!!

It was breezy out and we didn't want him to get cold so we put a blanket over to protect him from the wind. Yes, it looked like I was nursing, but looking under the blanket was the CUTEST sight!!

Love love love my little nephew

My new obsession

2011-06-06T13:15:00.001-07:00

Just got to hang out with my new nephew all weekend! At 3 days old. Oh my goodness I am obsessed with him!!!

This picture, I was apparently talking too loud and it was too bright out. He's covering his ear and eyes :) well...one eye...you can kinda see one of his closed eyes here...what a cutie!!

Look how little he is!! 6 lbs 3 ounces

Just...oh my goodness

The straps have to be on like the shortest length they go!

I love him. I'll see him in 2 weeks again. I hope he never grows up!!