The hair

If you noticed in my previous post, my hair is gone. And that is exactly what I wanted. And to you, random lady at church, I don't care how tragic your voice is when you ask me "why on earth would you ever do anything like that? You're hair was so pretty and long" I say a resounding "because I wanted to!!!!" Well that and because my hair is not communal property so my say is really the only one that matters. Well maybe my husband's does to. A little bit, anyway.

So this is the 'do. I got it cut about two weeks ago, and of course my hair grows like a weed and it is already to long for me in the back. Hmm, no pictures from the back. I guess I forgot. I will work on that. I don't love it, but I didn't really know exactly what I wanted, but I am still very pleased with it. So we will see what I decide next time. And I also hate taking pictures of myself. They always come out creepy. I guess I need to remember to not look at the camera. Maybe that would help.

And because you guys just can't get enough of the ginormous photos of my head and face, here's another from the other side.

My Clark Kent/Superman Exposé

So here is my Clark Kent/Superman Exposé.

As of late, I have been in somewhat of a fashion rut. I have a strict moratorium on unnecessary spending which makes clothes shopping out of the question. Not that I don't have wonderful things to wear (I'm no ingrate!!), it is just nice to have something to spruce it up a bit every once in a while.

Thank goodness for my wonderful co-worker Karyl who gave me a coupon, a huge coupon, to a hip store. With it I felt totally validated to investigate! So today my "young-hip-mom" friend/co-worker Mai and I headed to the mall during lunch.

I had always wanted to try a pair of skinny jeans on, for curiosity's sake, but never really had the opportunity with the moratorium and all. So today I decided to seize the opportunity. As we waltzed in to local branch of this national chain clothing co, we of course we greeted and asked if there is anything we could be helped with. Normally, I decline, but not today. I walked right over, asked for skinny jeans, guessed my size (have not bought any kind of pant/capri/short in over a year! the last pair of jeans I bought was in 2005!!), perused the tops, and headed to the dressing room.

This is where the story gets exciting. I walked into the dressing room looking exactly like the picture on top-left, minus the smile. I was a little nervous about the whole experience, and I had been optimistic on guessing my size. When I exited the dressing room, I looked--more or less--like the photo on the top-right. But I'm sure the smile was bigger. Besides looking roughly fifteen-twenty pounds lighter, I felt great!!! And am now obsessed and will be wearing them every Friday for the rest of the year. Go me!! I am hot! Just like Clark Kent, I went into my dressing room(phone booth) self-conscious and lacking confidence, but most importantly I came out like Super(wo)man really great and ready to conquer any challenge.

Talk about retail therapy!

**Some might find it vain, me blankly stating my hotness, but to them I say, "kiss off" let me enjoy my moment!! :)

Burn baby, burn!

There is a reason I stay away from the stove. This reason is that have a tendency to get burned. And mainly just by boiling water. Whether it is a fault of my own {cough, cough} or a cruel trick of nature is up in the air.

Here is my recent burn. My burn is gross. It has started to bubble-up and has now taken on an unusual shape. I’ll let your imaginations run wild.

{Update 4/7/09} Nearly a year later I can still see the burn’s outline on my arm. It is a constant reminder to never loose your temper while working with boiling liquids. Lesson learned. :)

At Home with the Maddens

I really like these two photos. Coincidentally, neither of them actually show baby Harlow. Hmm. You can find more here.

My two best friends . . .

These are two of my besties!!! I miss you guys!

The horns are from Swampfest 2008 (aka the cutest birthday celebration of the year!!).

NY Times, that's impossible!!

Earlier today I was brushing up on my world news and came across this article on nytimes.com. What happened to catch my attention and baffle my mind you can see to the left, circled in red.

Somehow The New York Times has created a way to publish in the future! Now that is news-worthy!

Costco's going high fashion

Last week I was shocked to find this on the Costco Web Site:Since when did Costco start selling designer jeans?

Other brands of note, that I cannot believe are actually being retailed through Costco, are:

• Burberry
• Fendi
• Christian Dior
• Prada

Costco has really come a long way!!

This one's for Ashley

I don't think these guys are wiener dogs, but definitely made me smile. And think of my awesome and loving friend, Ashley.

The Future (as I see it)

So, you like displaying your DVDs as trophies? If so, this post is probably not for you. But you still might want to read on!

Let's say you have some digital media accessible on your computer alone. For example, you downloaded Office from Itunes and now you want to watch on your tv. What do you do?!!!

Or,

Let's say you want to watch youtube on your TV, or, simply put, you want to route your computer signal to your tv. Easy as 1,2,3...

1. Gen a new computer/old computer you are not using. Don't get a monitor, you don't need it. just the system block.

2. If you are not wirelessly routing your internet connection in your home, I don't know what are you doing reading this post. Assuming that you have a wireless connection, make sure your new computer/media center has connectivity. You may need to install a wireless card into the desktop, since most of them don't come with it, or you can just run a wire to it, but that's hideous.

3. If you are using an older system, odds are it probably doesn't have component video-out jacks (even newer systems may not have it), instead, it has VGA out. Buy this. Connect your new/old PC to your TV. That's it.

Now put you old DVDs away. Rip them onto this hard drive, or external drive and watch any flick you want without having to change DVDs. Get a wireless mouse and put it next to your stash of remote controls. Now you can youtube on your TV, without getting off your couch.

*You will need to figure a way to work your computer sound. It's really easy if you have a home theater system. Otherwise, you will need a sound cable running from your sound card to your TV inputs.

**All this is useless if you have a cutting edge system that is capable of putting out composite video/audio and you connecting it directly to your HDTV. Then you don't need any adapters. Or you can also use an s-video cable if you computer has an s-video out jack (quality awful).

***This idea is a dream of cross-compatibility/connectivity/access to any information/media on all your electronic devices. Why shouldn't you use you huge HDTV as a computer screen? Why can't you browse the Internet on your TV? Why can't you listen to your songs on your tv.... etc... Why can't you write your paper on the couch using the TV as a monitor and then wirelessly print that paper on your printer in the other room. You can!

Finally, if your media is stored on a connected computer instead of on DVD on your shelf, you can access that media instantly from anywhere. This set up allows you to stream Godfather onto HDTV in Russia from a hard drive in Mechanicsburg in PA and do so legally (assuming you bought your copy of Godfather). Enjoy!

Forgot! Apple partially realizes this dream for you starting at $229.

Ridding Your Life of Commercial Intrusion (at least on the Internet)

Except for few, people generally dislike advertisements/commercials. Described below is one of my favorite Firefox features. By the way, Firefox, as you know, is an open-source software. What is open-source? Google it! Wiki it! Support it!

If you don't yet have it, install Firefox from firefox.com. Most of you are already browsing with it.

Then go here. Click GREEN "Add to Firefox" button.

Follow instructions.

Congratulations! You are now browsing almost advertisement-free. To make sure, just try cnn.com or nytimes.com or any other website, like espn.com. Crazy, ah?!

Enjoy!

So sad.

Every week my company’s intranet site has a different “Quick Poll” where you can voice your opinion about whatever random thing they ask. The questions are always multiple choice and usually ask really silly things like favorite sport, activity, mode of transportation to/from work, things like that. It is also nice to have something to look forward to Monday morning, when the new poll comes out.

However, I was sorely disappointed when I came in on Monday to see the new question and its results.

Unfortunately there are 100 of my co-workers who feel like they made the wrong choice on the most important decision in their lives. And even worse is that whoever created the poll knew to put spouse as an option. I've been watching it all week hoping that there would be a change in percentage, that coincidentally all the unhappily wedded people just happen to take the poll on Monday morning. But Spouse have been holding strong at 6% as the number of total votes has doubled since I first checked it. That makes me sad for those who voted for that option and very grateful for my wonderful, loving, and freaking hilarious husband. Love you babe!!!

Ancient Egypt

Seriously Wikipedia, you can do better than this for Today's featured picture.

With all the extensive resources of the public domain, I expect more from you!

Sleep the pounds away, seriously.

From time to time my loving husband sends me links to interesting articles that he has found. This one has definitely sparked my curiosity!!

I am a blogger/Commitment to Write on these things

http://sewelldirect.com/pc-to-tv.asp

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

http://deadspin.com/sports/espn-motion/how-to-get-the-awful-talking-people-off-espncom-281709.php

Also, how to get rid off spam counter in gmail.

Happy April Fools' Day!!!

"April 1st: This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three-hundred and sixty-four." — Mark Twain

Word to the wise: If you want to pull a funny prank on your boss, don’t tell him that you’re pregnant. One of my co-workers did this and the outcome was not quite what she expected. When our boss found out about the supposed pregnancy, he was really excited and happy for her. Honestly, that part was pretty cool that he cared, but made us (those who knew) feel super crappy. When the boss found out it was just an April Fools’ joke he responded with “why on earth would you ever do something like that? You just don’t joke about that sort of thing. This is just ridiculous. I can’t believe you thought that would be funny!” I don’t think that I can accurately portray to you how upset our poor boss was at having his emotions toyed with. I felt bad, and I didn’t even do anything to contribute to the charade.

Anyway, Happy April Fools’ Day!!

Oh, Gmail Custom Time. You almost had me.

Lost

Recently I decided to renew my love affair with the TV show Lost.

This love affair started roughly two years ago when my roommate Tracie brought from a trip home to ID the first season on DVD to our little apartment, and it was never quite the same.

This show is very addicting, especially on DVD! So I tried to discipline myself by only allowing me to watch it while working out. Easy enough a solid 42 minute work out where I don't even feel my body because my mind is so consumed with the deeply entwined plot! Saturdays were great because I didn't have to hurry to class, so I could watch two in a row!! It took84 minutes on a treadmill before my mind would realized there was a very tired body attached to it. I still insist that Lost is the best thing to work out to. The best was chatting about it with my roommates inquiring which episode they were on and giving them sneak peaks on whose story was coming up next. Whenever I walked through the front room and it was on the TV I was compelled to stay and watch with them, no matter is I'd already seen it. I remember coming home one night to find two roomies crammed on a twin bed and the lap top on the desk playing lost. Well I had to join them!! I'm pretty sure it was well past midnight, and there was no where else to sit but the bed, but we had to fit in another episode!!!

This history behind my love affair probably has more to do with fond memories of bonding with my roommates than the TV show, but nonetheless I am curious to know what happened after the first season.

While frequenting my local public library, I picked up a copy of season one: disc one, and thanks to being sick in bed most of last week I was able to view the four episodes, no sweat! Well Sunday (yesterday) I was getting really anxiously to refresh my memory of what happened on episodes 5, 6, 7, etc. so thanks to modern technology I hopped online and watched them for free, having to only suffer through 4-thirty second commercials. Not bad. And let's be honest, I didn't really watch them. That's when I took my snack breaks!! So after downing four episodes in almost one sitting, I have declared a "one episode a day" rule. And will be picking up disc three from the library tonight. I've already reserved it; I'm on the ball.

So for anyone who has a lot of free time, or even just a simple curiosity, I'd encourage you to give it a shot. And then we can discuss the theories behind the island!! Okay maybe not literally, but it's still a cool show.

**As a side note, Stas refuses to watch the show with me, because it is "too mainstream" for him. He sure is missing out!!

Test yourself

Click here.

Go ahead, check it out. You can simultaneously feel great about yourself and disappointed in your fellow Americans.

So long G-chat aka Google Talk

Wednesday morning I came into to work to find this message. I was really hoping that maybe it was my internet connection, so I waited it out. Well, here we are on Thursday, and I'm still getting the same message. This is bad news for a long, boring workday which habitually suffers from insufficient work to fill eight hours.

Now I need my friends more than ever. Emails, posts, interesting articles. Anything to help me make it from 8 AM (okay fine, 8:15 AM) to 5 PM. Help me!!

Bathroom etiquette

This post is the result of two happenings in the women’s restroom at work.

One: conversations in the restroom. I’m a girl; I get going to the bathroom in groups and naturally conversation follows. However, where should it end or go on pause? I ask this because there is this one gal that works in the same department that I rarely, rarely talk to. In fact of all four conversations that I can even remember having with her, three of them have been in the ladies room. Isn’t that odd? I’ll outline said encounters. The first was not so unusual. I walked in and she was washing her hands. She asked me a simple question; I answered. End of encounter. The next one was when it started to weird me out. We were both walking towards the restroom and started chatting. The conversation continued into the restroom, and then continued once we were each in our respective stalls. This was about as far as I felt the conversation needed to go. Or at least it should be put on pause until we are both out. But that was not the case. She continued talking me throughout her whole “bathroom experience!” Ew. That grossed me out somewhat. I don’t know if it’s just me or what, but I like at least the façade of privacy while I’m taking care of business. The final encounter started just like the first. I walked in and she was washing up. We exchanged “hellos,” and I proceeded to my stall. I had situated the paper protective liner and sat down to take care of business when out of no where she starts asking me questions!!!! I was like “what the heck!?!” why aren’t you leaving? And it wasn’t just one question but a series of questions all while I‘m trying to relieve myself! That was when she definitely crossed my line of bathroom etiquette. Finally she left. Thank goodness!!!

And two: whistling. While I was in a bathroom stall I heard someone else come in. And they were whistling. And they kept whistling. In my head was wondering “did a guy accidentally come into the wrong bathroom!?!!” Am I the only who think’s that it is a little weird to have the person in the stall next to you whistling? And why did she come to the stall right next to me? Does she not know about the “one-stall-over” rule? It’s like at the movie theater; you always leave an empty seat in between you and anyone else. I believe it also applies in the restroom. Almost more so than in the theater!

Hallelujah!!

I forgot how hard it is to stay focused on work when it is SO beautiful outside!!

Bo Kay

Everyday I am lucky enough to drive by this sign and get a laugh. Some people have awful, long, and boring commutes; however, I am privileged to get some entertainment out of my drive.

From day one, I remember seeing this sign and questioning to myself, "Is that really an alternate spelling?" Not being a spelling expert, I didn't want to assume that I know every possible alternative for bouquet, but I was pretty sure. So, to assure myself that I was correct and that this florist is a fool I visited both TFD.com and Wikipedia, and when I searched for "bo kay" I found absolutely nothing. Ha. I win. Somehow they got boutique right on their sign, but need some help with their advertising.

I've been tagged!

Hi Everyone, I've been tagged, which means all you readers out there will get to learn a little bit more about me... Rules: 1.) Answer Question 2.) Tag 5 people - post their names on your blog & then go and leave a comment on their blog telling them to read yours, so they know what to do.

10 years ago...
I was fourteen and the most exciting part of my life was now being allowed to attend dances, specifically stake dances. It didn't take too long to learn that the school dances were even that much more awkward than the church ones. Now that's a bad sign!!

5 places I've lived...
1) New Milford, CT
2) Colleyville, TX
3) Alcala de Henares, Communidad de Madrid, España
4) Provo, UT (Glenwood baby!)
5) Mechanicsburg, PA

5 things on my to do list today...
1) Surf the web for cute hair styles so I will be prepared for my much anticipated appointment tomorrow.
2) Laundry! The weekend = laundry!
3) Study Russian
4) Convince Stas to watch Lost with me
5) Up-date my blog, check!

5 jobs i've had...
1) Acorn planter
2) Carhop at Sonic, America's Drive-In
3) Office staff at Emler Swim School
4) BYU OIT AP (I love jobs that I can describe only using acronyms!)
5) Whatever it is that gets me from 8am to 5pm at TE

10 years from now...
Hmmmm, in ten years I'll be 34 and hopefully we will be living closer, A LOT closer, to our family. Chances are good that we'll have a few little ones running around. I'd also like to be fluent in Russian and have been back to Spain. We'll see. Oh yeah, and ideally by then I'll be able to let someone else bring home the bacon!

NOW, I tag....
Plip, Leslie, Emily, Natalie & Monica!

Blast from the past

Thursday after hopping in my car to hit the evening traffic, I was blessed to hear this song make an appearance on the radio. Even though it's 2008. Thanks Wink 104.1.

It also seems to bring back the memory of a certain stake dance and homemade bell bottoms. Oh, the good times!!

Getting aquainted with cold

Living for in the seriously cold weather of Pennsylvania, I have made a few observations on how the climate influences the daily routine of the standard Pennsylvanian.

The first thing I observed with quite a bit of curiosity. My fellow co-workers leave the wiper blades on their cars up while working. Now this led me to seriously wonder what would provoke someone to do this? Well I caught on pretty quick when my wipers were covered with ice and were therefore useless. It is also much easier to clean all of the snow off of your car with these little guys up and out of the way. And I'll tell ya, my little freebie Bank 1 ice scraper didn't last too long. Lucky for my my loving husband bought me a new one. This thing is the real deal. It is heavy duty plastic with a double scraper and the big brush on the other side. I never understood the purpose of the brush until there were a good four inches of fluffy white snow piled on my car, and I thought "ah-ha!" this is why the brush is useful. I have also learned to bring the scraper home with me, so that when I have to clean of my car in the morning I do not have let all that snow fall down into my car as I get it out. I'm prepared!!

According to tfd.com wind chill is "the cooling effect of wind and temperature combined, expressed in terms of the effect produced by a lower, windless temperature, also called wind chill factor. Wind chill is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin. Under windless conditions air provides an invisible blanket around the skin. As wind speed increases, this layer of heated air is carried away from the body at an accelerated rate, forcing the body either to work harder to generate more heat or cool down." AKA wind chill = making cold feel even colder!! I have learned to hate the wind and love the snow. Snow is easy. It brushes away off of my car without too much effort and isn't unbearably cold. Wind on the over hand is brutal!! It blows up my sleeves and at my face and through my clothes and makes me mad! The wind chill has brought me my first experience with single digit and negative temperatures. Thank you wind chill!

I have also adjust when I fill up my gas tank. Some people might watch the price and try to get it when it is lowest. Not me. I wait for a warmer day, or at least a sunny day to fill up. And I always, always fill up during lunch. It's the warmest time of the day!

This cold weather has also influenced my working habits. On snowy days I wear my winter boots and then bring my dress shoes in to change into during the day. Then my boots get to try out and are all ready for me when five o'clock rolls around and I change back into their comfort and protection for the journey home. And I am always wearing my shapka, of course! Now some of you might find these habits strange or laugh at my precautions to stay warm and dry, but when you walk out the door and see this waiting for you, you couldn't care less that your winter boots make my feet look HUGE and look silly with my slacks!

This awful weather has also afforded me my first opportunity to work from home. That was a treat! Working in my pajamas with the kitchen nearby and my tunes handy is the ideal productive environment! I didn't have to fight any traffic, and the commuter's a dream!

Another first is being sent home early from work. It had snowed quite a bit, but sleet and freezing rain had started to come down making the roads horridly icy. So the boss came out around 3:30 and told everyone to take off before the streets got worse. As a dutiful employee I wrapped up what I was working on and headed home excited to get there earlier than normal. Boy was I wrong! Turns out that everyone else had the same idea, and the roads were PACKED!!! I didn't really mind all the cars on the road, because it forced the other drivers to go slow and not be idiots driving fast on the slick surface. It also allowed me to take the following photo. This is another example as to why smoking is awful and the world's stupidest habit. Please note that even though it is in the teens and actively snowing, this driver's addiction is so strong that they disregard any self-respect to stay warm and dry by opening up the window. I see this all the time, and it completely disgusts me. I don't understand one, how someone can stick that nasty thing in their mouth and two, that it means more to them than being warm and dry!! Whatever, it is just gross.

Well I made it home sagely and without any problems a whopping hour and and forty-five minutes later, just as if I were coming home from a normal day at a normal time.

I have also learned a new weather term: wintry mix. After hearing the weather forecast on the radio calling for snow and then a "wintry mix." Ok, so I've heard of sleet, hail, and freezing rain but what the heck is "wintry mix?" Personally, I think it's the I-don't-really-know-what-the-heck-is-going-to-happen-but-it'll-be-cold-and-wet excuse. And apparently Wikipedia agrees with me.

And of course with bad weather, the one thing that you can always count on are the accidents. This little guy happened this morning on my street. I got this sweet shot by driving on the wrong side of the road, which I had to do in order to get around the mess. I am such a rebel.

SHAPKA!!!

I just love my shapka! It keeps me cozy and warm in this frigid weather. Thank you Natasha!!

Love is:

In honor of Valentine's Day, I have been collecting my thought and ideas of what I think love is and/or how it is expressed. I hope you enjoy.



Love is:

• making copies
• answering your phone
• sharing delicious Triscuit crackers
• being mentioned in someone else's Christmas letter
• longing for what is yours, missing what you already have
• giving hugs of love
• sacrifice
• saying it's okay to cry
• motivational pep-talks
• answering questions about taxes
• a hook on a closet door, and a jacket on the bed
• going to Costco with Mimi
• thinking the same thing at the same time

I am an artist!

This is my rose.

This is my other rose.

Never underestimate the power of creativity, bordom, and Paint.

Red Poop

A few of you have heard of my distress resulting from a recent haircut. It's not that it is a bad haircut perse; it's just the the end result was not what I wanted, especially when I was going for a dramatic change. So I came up with these helpful hints to guide others in their pursuit of great hair. And if you start to notice some of these signs, just get up and run.

Five signs you will not like your hair cut:
1. You do not like the stylist's hair.
2. When she guides you to her station you noticed she didn't clean up after her last client. Yuck.
3. Then you notice the giant sign over her mirror that says "Kid's Corner" along with the booster chairs, window clings, and toys all over.
4. She looks completely bored while cutting you hair and doesn't talk to you at all.
5. SHE DOESN'T HAVE A FLAT IRON!!!!! which means that she hasn't cut a haircut from the last decade!!!

My new hair has been compared to these fine popular icons:
Dora the Explorer
Anne of Green Gables after she tried to dye it herself and had to cut it all of.
Kit from A League of Their Own

But really, a month later, I am over it. I promise. Just don't get me started again, and I know I'll be able to move on. Hopefully.

How do you find a good stylist in a new town?

An Awesome Drive Home

Yesterday's drive home started a very exciting time for me. Something that I've been looking forward to for what seems like forever! When I left work there was a beautiful sunset that I was able to watch on the drive home. This is real proof that the days are getting longer, and one day it will be light at five o'clock!! Hoorah!!

I decided against taking a picture myself, because I wanted to focus on road safety (especially after the accident I had just witnessed leaving work-YIKES). So I found a very close one sans the large body of water and sky-scrapers. Beautiful!

PA Welcomes You

After returning from enjoying our Christmas vacation in Texas, I woke up to get ready for work and found this waiting for me outside:

Gee thanks PA.

You know you are sick when . . .

You find three of these in you purse:

As well as a box of these:

And a bag of these:

Snowflakes of gratitude

This morning, as I do on most mornings, after settling in I head to the break room to warm up my Pop-Tarts for breakfast. While waiting on the toaster, I enjoy looking out the window and wondering about all of the exciting things that are going on outside of the walls of my cubicle. Well on this special day there are light fluffy snowflake falling from the sky, and with a high of thirty, it is going to stick. While I was enjoying this winter wonderland I saw one of the guys from the landscaping crew out working in the snow. At this point I remember how grateful I am for my job and that I need to be more appreciative of my blessings. Such as a job that can support my family, that does not require manual labor, and that lets me sit inside where it is warm and I am protected from the wind.

Sometimes I forget . . .

I am really excited to go home for Christmas. It's pretty much all I think about. So naturally when I called my brother up and said "Guess what!?!" the response I had prepared was the count down of how many days until I come home. Well, when he answered the "Guess what!?!" with a "You are pregnant," I was taken completely off guard. I wasn't expecting that for some time way, way in the future. Sometimes I forget that such things are possibilities.

And for the record let me repeat, I am not pregnant. Not that there is anything wrong with that; I'm just not. It would be dishonest for me to say so.

My favorite photographer & ice cream connoisseur

Charles Raymond Varley 1920 ~ 2007 Charles Raymond Varley died on November 18, 2007 from causes relating to Parkinson's disease.He was born November 19, 1920 in Salt Lake City, the son of Thomas and Charlotte Griggs Varley. His maternal grandfather, T.C. Griggs, wrote the theme song for the Tabernacle Choir "Gently Raise the Sacred Strain." Ray graduated from East High School where he excelled at football. He graduated from the University of Utah in 1943 with a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering. He was affiliated with Beta Theta Pi social fraternity and was one of seven elected to the Senior Men's Honor Society-Owl and Key. He was Sports Editor for the Daily Chronicle student newspaper. His by-line was Charlie Varley. To this day university classmates sill call him Charlie. Ray served in World War II as a Construction Officer with the 42nd U.S. Naval Construction Battalion in the Philippines, Hawaii and China. After the War he lived in California, 1946-1972. He married Marilyn Ream in 1947, later divorced.

He was hired by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as director of volunteers to construct a chapel for the Carmichael Ward in Sacramento. He has held numerous church positions including serving in the High Council. Ray next worked for the State of California as a Construction Estimator and then as Supervising Construction Analyst. Governor Edmond "Pat" Brown selected Ray to be his Department Secretary and later chose him to be the Assistant Director of California's vast Public Works Agency. Ray had a distinguished career in Higher Education. He was Vice-Chancellor Business and Finance at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He then served as Administrative Vice President at the University of Utah. He was also Director of University Relations for Western Washington University. He was a Senior Project Engineer for Ford, Bacon and Davis an engineering firm. After retirement he established a business as an Historical Architectural Consultant and performed surveys for the Utah State Historical Society.

Ray is an accomplished award-winning photographer, a lover of nature and has logged over 2,000 miles rafting the wild rivers of the American West. His writings include an historical novel, biographies of ancestors and religious papers. He has completed a work entitled: CHRIST IN ART THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES, consisting of 800 slides of Christ as an adult portrayed in various art forms throughout various cultures and time periods, along with a text which reveals political and theological events of the various time periods.

Survived by his eternal wife Helen Van Os Phillips; daughters, Victoria (Jay) Hawkins, Grapevine, TX; and Kristine (Randy) Vest, Colleyville TX. Sons: Douglas C. (Denice), Gillette, WY; David A. (Grace), Grand Junction, CO; Michael S. (SuzAnne), Castle Rock, CO; Alan R. (Maribel), Bedford, TX; Keith T. (Lisa), Bountiful, UT. Stepchildren: Vikki (Marvin) Mills, San Diego, CA; Marc C. (Kelley) Phillips of Anchorage, AK. 23 grandchildren, 16 great grand-children. Ray suggested that in lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Tree Utah, Inc. in Salt Lake City or to a charity of your choice. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, November 24, at 12:00 Noon at the South Cottonwood Stake Center, 1250 East 4800 South (Murray Holladay Rd.) A Viewing will be held prior from 10:00 to 11:45 a.m. at the Stake Center. Interment will be in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Online condolences at www.larkinmortuary.com

Published in the Deseret News from 11/21/2007 - 11/22/2007.

This is why I'm cool

Few of you probably noticed, but on tonight's episode of Gossip Girl the Humphreys used a particular serving bowl for their mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. Fact is, I happen to own pictured serving bowl as they match our super cool square plates. Seeing how they are the cool, artsy, edgy family this is why I'm cool. :)

Halloween

Question: what do you wear when your professor makes you dress up for Halloween?
Answer: Your wife's clothes!



My adorable Husband strutting pretending to be a runner.

I love puzzles!!!

I love puzzles. And this one is by far one of the hardest ones that I've ever done. Seriously. AND I got to do with my husband. Well, at least start it with him until the patience wore out. I think I have an abnormal amount of patience for these sort of things. One thousand pieces. Count 'em!

BUNKO!!!!

Since moving to PA, one of the best decisions I've made is to join a Bunko group. On the first Thursday of the month a group of women from church get together and have a crazy good time. For October's bunko I made spinach-artichoke dip and it was delicious!!


I also won a little prize for having the most losses. How's that for beginner's luck!!

Blogging hiatus

Well friends, it finally happened. I found a job. This is my excuse for the lack of current blogging. I am a "Financial Analyst" but really I just get to play around in Excel and our other systems all day long. It's pretty cool. I like. But I have been having a hard time transitioning to having ten hours missing from my day. Yep, you heard me, ten hours. Half an hour (if the weather is good) commute there, four hours of work, one hour of lunch, four hours of work, and then half and hour (if the traffic is good) commute home. I am now an, "early to bed, early to rise" type of gal. I am learning to adjust and hoping to still fit in all of the things that i love to do, like blog! So thanks for all of your patience. I'll be back again soon.


We got our digital card back from Russia so check out the photos from our adventure!! We also have some good one from our trips to DC and NYC.

Por fin!!

After they tried to give us the same defective couch twice, they delivered a different defective couch. And then, on the fourth attempt we got our new friend. Now we finally have some where to put out decorative pillows!!

A new addition

On its way . . .

The things you can find online . . .

Your Inner Pop Princess Is Shakira

"Baby I would climb the Andes solely To count the freckles on your body Never could imagine there were only Too many ways to love somebody" You're more a poet than a pop star.

Who's Your Inner Pop Princess?

A survey, if you will

Alright, what I want to know is that do any of you know what/where "Hague" is and why is it important? Remember this is without the help of Google, Wikipedia, or any other means of information gathering. No need to post what it actually is, we can all use Google, more of a yes/no and where you picked up such knowledge. I am curious out of the sample size of the population a.k.a. the handful of people that read my blog who knows this stuff. Because I sure didn't and was quickly reprimanded for not knowing such basic information. I am so ignorant, apparently.

When you don't bring your "A" game . . .

So I have been learning a lot about kitchens, food, recipes, and how they all go together this past week. I tried out three new recipes which is a pretty big deal, because I've never been very experimental with my food. Last Friday I hit an all time low when I was accused of not bringing my "A" game or even my "B" game to the kitchen. While I don't think that the meal was a complete failure I know that It wasn't my shining moment. My better half wanted to make sure that that fateful date would be preserved so he managed to sneak in two pictures. The first is the "finished product" and trust me, there was no picture, but I am pretty sure that this isn't what it is supposed to look like. The second picture is the draw under the oven. If any of y'all are familiar with these drawers they never stay on their runners and always slides all over the place. At this point I had given up on fixing it and left it as it seemingly wanted to be. But do not fear, all is not lost. I brought my "A" game today with my own recipe, and it was much appreciated.

I am so proud of my friends!

No, but seriously. All of this time away form them, and I mean all of them, has helped me to appreciate them even more. I've been working on catching up and it is just so much fun. So many of my friends are doing such fun and exciting things right now I just get so excited that I want to run around the room and jump up and down!

Recently I have been struggling to find excitement in my life, but thankfully I can live vicariously through my gal pals! So, if you would allow, I am going to brag for a little bit and most likely a few more posts.

Matt & Jamie are doing so many exciting things: new school, house, baby and puppy. And knowing Jamie she's looking great doing it all. For more bragging see previous post.

Next up on the brag-list is Lacey. She is living in Switzerland doing an internship for the UN. How cool is that? I am sure she scored such a sweet gig because she's a genius and got an A in this super hard Math-Economics class that everyone else I know who took it failed. So she picked up some French this summer and has packed her bags. After her first official two weeks on the job she is kicking butt and taking names. Oh yeah, this is what gets to follow her name on the signature of all of her emails: ITC partnering with UNCTAD/WTO
DTSS/EMDS. Yeah, she's that cool. To prove it here is a picture of her overlooking Bratislava and the Danube



So who is next on the list? This is a tough one, but I'll give a shout out to Emily!! (I simply can not type her name without at least two exclamation points afterwards.) Not only has she been excellent and keeping in touch with me (not so easy to do), but she is also in her first year of law school in an excellent program, enjoying being newly married, and has an awesome social calender for someone so new to the area. I hope she doesn't mind me bragging on her, but tough! Not only is she a super dedicated law student, but she also makes sure dinner is ready every night. Leaps and bounds past me, and I don't even work/have a job!! Here is her with her hubby Jason looking gorgeous on their favorite day of the year. ;)



Trust me, I am not done with this list yet. And the order of the names in no way represent the associated amount of pride or love I have in them a.k.a. I love them all!!

Ten Ways to Improve the Value of Your Home

For all of you who like to stay in on Saturday nights, I have a great suggestion. Tomorrow (Sep. 15th), TLC is airing a show called Ten Ways to Improve the Value of Your Home. It is scheduled for 8pm Eastern. I am really excited about this show because one of my favorite couples (they met through me!) is going to be on it. Jamie & Matt (that's them in the picture) lived in DC for a year while Matt worked doing big-time medical research and Jamie worked on this house. They have recently moved to Salt Lake where Matt attends the University of Utah for med school. Jamie have a great fashion and design sense (her wedding was incredibly sophisticated!); I am anxious to see how she has incorporated it into the house. This summer they had their first child, Ben, and he is a s cute as a button! Don't forget their new puppy, Mabel. I am so proud of my good friends Jamie & Matt!!

The blog hiatus

As I am sure none of you have noticed (well except for Plip, I can always depend on her) I haven't blogged in ages, with the exception of the previous post and one other very special post. Explanation: I have been living a nomadic, internet (and computer) -starved existence. Thankfully that time has come to an end, but based on a request here is a brief history of what I have been doing for the past six weeks sans pictures. I'll explain later.

July 30th: Left Provo for a Little America Hotel Cheyenne, Wyoming
July 31st: Ramada Omaha, Nebraska
August 1st: Days Inn Dayton, Ohio
August 2nd: Super 8 Carlisle, PA
August 3rd-5th: Ramada Silver Spring, Maryland a.k.a. DC
August 6th: Non-chain hotel in Oyster Bay on Long Island
August 7th: Ramada JFK Intl Airport
August 8th: Delta flight across Atlantic
August 9th-14th: Val & Natasha's in Moscow (Bless them, that's 5 nights in a row!!)
August 15th: Red Arrow Train to St. Petersburg (admittedly, a very cool experience)
August 16th: Taoist Retreat St. Petersburg
August 19th-21st: Back at Val & Natasha's in Moscow
August 22nd: Super 8 in Carlisle, PA (not the same as on Aug 2nd)
August 23rd-27th: Super 8 in Etters, PA (this was with the seriously crazy house keeping couple)
Aug 28th+: Our new home!!! Apt 109
Sep 4th: Finally get internet!! (When hubby doesn't need it for school or to check his fantasy football. Lucky me!)

Oh yes, two more lovely items of note. First, we have absolutely no pictures because of a certain memory card that "somehow" didn't make its way back into the camera and is now chilling in Moscow until the in-laws get back from vaca and can mail it to us. Then you will have some visual stimulation. The second is that I managed the whole trip out of one suitcase. What a feat! I am proud.

So we are back and hoping to get back into the swing of regular blogging, and ideally to become employed. Soon. Like yesterday soon. I have a family to support here people! ;)

Crossing the line: where is the line?

As many of your are aware, there is an episode of The Office where they discuss "crossing the line" and "where is the line?" Okay, the truth is it isn't that big of a portion of the episode, and while the setting for this "line" is the workplace, I am curious about where the "line" is in blogger-space.

Periodically, I will have an idea for a blog but then refrain from typing/posting it, because I'm not sure who will be reading the blog. And personally, if I am going to burn a bridge, I'd rather be aware of it than have it come back to me later. For example: I keep the blog pretty clean and up-beat, but did mention a stinky work environment only to have a co-worker Google (Should that be capitalized when used as a verb and not a direct reference to a corporation? Who knows.) our company name and have mt blog come up. Interesting. That definitely made me think twice about blogging on work-related issues. And of course there have been other more serious subjects I had considered posting but refrained.

This has recently come to my attention from something that I read on a friend's blog that kind of bugs me, but I hesitate to put my irritation online (in anymore detail) because one, I am pretty much overreacting, and two, what if she read it? That would be not so nice. Anyway-

So I ask you all, where is the line? Considering privacy, family issues, work, church, friends . . . where do you say this is really funny and informative and when do you say this is crossing the line? I beg of you, ayudame (that's the command form of help me in Spanish).