3 more things I love about my family.

1. Lydia's insane love of cereal, and grumpiness in the morning. She poured a Pyrex serving dish full of Cheerios and sat up to eat. When I laughed and busted out the camera phone... she got a little perturbed. Hence, the blurry but brilliant picture. Classic.


2. My dad tolerates my love of X-Men. Just before he went to get his long winter hair pared down to a shorter cut, he allowed me to experiment with his hair... so that I could turn him into Wolverine. This is his Wolverine pose.


3. I have a dog who does this with his ears for no apparent reason.

Stickers are no match for him.

Just recently, the home-dwellers of my family (meaning, those who are not either too grown up to come or are not in Denver for the summer) were able to take a much-needed and much-deserved break. We went on vacation for a week to Escondido, California, which is a lovely place! Having loved so many things about this trip, I thought I'd share a few points. You ready for this? Wait for it.... wait... wait.... okay NOW!

Escondido (and surrounding area), California-- May 2009

-We saw a few pods of dolphins having an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet just off of the Oceanside Pier.
-Josh's comment about "The Phantom Rider", a roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm: "That freaked the hell out of me!" (Don't worry, I waited to laugh until after he was scolded and I was out of sight)
-Another thing about "The Phantom Rider"-- I, singlehandedly, convinced Lydia to ride it. And she only cried a little.
-I got asked five times if Lydia was my daughter. One genius admitted this reason to asking said question- "Oh wow, but you guys look so much alike!" Uhh... no.
-Josh said "seashell" correctly for about ten whole minutes. But it sort of slipped back into "she-shells". I'm okay with that for a little longer, it's pretty cute.
-I thought I caused an earthquake by kicking the cupboard doors while chatting on the phone. Nope, it wasn't just loud noises. Turns out it really was an earthquake.
-I read a book cover to cover in two days. I haven't had that kind of time in... well, at least over a year and a half. Usually all I have time for is a chapter here or there.
-I finished my self portrait, a portrait of Lydia, and began one of Josh.
-I thought I was going to die because I thought I had swine flu. Turns out it was exhaustion. Whew, dodged that one.
-Some random old lady in a purple wide-brimmed hat with a red feather (she was even from the Bronx... how much cooler can a random old lady get?) stopped me in the grocery store to tell me I should get Lydia's hair cut shorter, because it was too pretty and hence unfair to Lydia because she had to be more careful because of it.
-I went a whole week without CSI.
-I went a whole week with only three TV shows- either A) Spongebob (if the kids had the remote... what's new?), B) some crapumentary about Kobe Bryant (if Dad had the remote), or C) HGTV (if Mom had the remote... nothing new there either, so maybe the only difference here was that I never got control of the remote, or all three of these things are constantly on).
-I held a bunny again. I haven't held a bunny since Sweet Pea died. Sweet Pea was Lauren's rabbit, who died because she was too traumatized to eat (good job Josh and Lydia... oh boy.). When she started to go downhill, Lauren insisted on me helping her, and since the bunny wouldn't chew, I had to chew for her and spit it out and then put it in her mouth... then Lauren had a dentist's appointment but didn't want the bunny to die alone, so we took the bunny with us to the dentist's, where it, yes, died. I forgot how cute they are when they're not dying and can chew for themselves.
-Lydia saw a heavier lady who was wearing a tube-top, and so had a spare tire, and she made this comment: "Does she have... four?"
-I slept (or rather, made valiant attempts to sleep) on a grid of metal bars with a two and a half inch thick pad on top of it. It was supposed to be a hide-away bed.
-Josh got a geode and a guy with a lapidary saw cut it for him. He was the first person to ever touch the crystals inside of it, and he thought that was pretty cool.
-Josh ran ahead of us to inspect the restaurant we were about to eat at. To decide if he was for or against the dining decision, he examined the food. With his face about two or three inches away from it. While a couple on a date was eating it. Lydia was mortified.
-I massacred three little boys with the water-gun we had with us... they were picking on Josh in the pool. They ended up swallowing a lot of poolwater, because I shot it into their mouths every time they opened them.
-I caught the biggest sand-crabs I have ever seen. There were two, and they had to have been at least an inch and a half long. That is huge, for something that's usually the size of a potato bug.
-I realized how much I love and missed the ocean.
-I realized how small I am compared to said ocean.
-I got purple Converse high-tops. (Their sheer existence is proof of divinity)
-I overheard Josh in the Gymboree outlet watching the kids' show on their little TV. There was a memory game segment, and after it shows you the correct match, it says, "Great job! You're very smart!" Well, apparently Josh had chosen the wrong match. His response to the narrator was, "You're a horrible woman!"
-Josh was sleep talking in the car: "Stickers are no match for me!"
-We were given a free copy of the Harlequin romance novel, "Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch" (by B.J. Daniels) because, and I quote from the back of the book, "Harlequin is celebrating 60 years of providing women with pure reading pleasure. To mark this occasion, we're giving you this FREE BOOK from the Harlequin Intrigue® line..... Harlequin has a romance for every mood!" This gorgeous piece of intellectual treasure was waiting for us in our hotel room, along with samples of Splenda and Pepto-Bismol. That's hot.
-Did I mention that I got purple Converse?
-I fell in love, on accident of course.
-Actually got a sort of tan. Miracle of miracles.
-I won my dad in a bet (about whether or not pigeons and doves were the same species or just the same genus... yep, we live on the edge around here).
-I almost peed my pants. St. George couldn't have appeared soon enough.
-I decided to apply to UVU... well, that was a long time in the making, but I wasn't sure until our trip.
-I figured out who Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka reminds me of: a Carol Burnett/ Michael Jackson lovechild.
-I realized that In-n-Out has the most divine burgers ever... I sorta forgot. Also they have cool giant safety pins as part of their uniforms, but they won't sell one to you.
-Josh found an Indiana Jones-ish hat, and promptly found one for Dad that looked like Indiana Jones' dad would wear.
-Lydia decided she loves Keropi.
-I matched a carousel.
-I got butterflies because I am so excited for the second Transformers.

And last but not least...
-I got purple Converse.


These pictures are all from my cell, so pardon the crappiness. Also, I have higher-class pictures from a real camera to come. So keep checking back. I'm resurrecting my blog.

I'm stealing Amy's "Love and Hate" tradition

So I have decided having a blog is like having a potted plant- even if you don't want to carry the stupid thing upstairs to water it, you have to in order to keep it alive. Then at random moments, you notice your green plant and say, "Hey, that's a good-looking plant. Good thing I water it and keep it alive." So I'm watering my blog, even though I have nothing to say. Because I have nothing to say, I stole Amy's jumping off place- her love/hate posts. So here goes.

Today's hate:

Stupid College Boys.
Let's admit it. There are three kinds of guys in college. One, the kind that is genuinely nice and sweet and is also confident enough to ask you out, and he won't be the subject of jokes in your family for the next year. Two, the kind that is nice and sweet, but too shy to ask you out. Or three, The kind that are total morons, but they're brave enough and gutsy enough to ask you out (and they'll pretend to be nice almost the whole time). Unfortunately, there seems to be a great abundance of the third kind. And a bit of the second kind too, but they aren't much help if they refuse to make eye contact when you speak to them. Oh dear. This proves to be a bit of a predicament.

Today's Love:

Thanks to Brand New, I have not decided to bite down on the cyanide pill just yet while riding the train (it is quite the ordeal, and it takes a very long time, and it's really boring). Lucky for me I have Deja Entendu to listen to while I ride the Public Transit from Hell, and it makes it livable. Heaven blessed me with Guernica. I love music. The end.

So how was that watering?

Reasons I love family dinner: Weiner dogs, Babies, and Old Pictures.

So today, we had family dinner at my house (complete with the leaves in the table to make it long enough to fit everyone- I'll have you know that our table is pretty imperiously huge). Tonight for me was a particularly awesome night, because my family just makes me happy like no one else can. There were three things tonight, though, that made me really happy. We'll start with this.


That, my friends, happens to be my sister and brother-in-law's new puppy, who happens to be among THE coolest dogs I've ever encountered. And that is saying something, because I have worked at the vet's, a dog daycare, and the animal shelter, so I've worked with quite a few dogs in my day. This little dog is a piebald miniature dachshund, with gorgeous green eyes. Her name is Magda, and I can't help but think that I might have to steal her. That being said, Amy and Jon, I promise I will give her back when you ask me to puppysit, but just know it's very tempting. The next awesome thing about tonight was this.

This is Jack, my 2 month old nephew. He weighs in, currently, at 13 lb. What a little chunker!! He is so cute though, and today was a huge milestone for my aunthood- I made Jack smile. Not just one of those weird newborn muscle-spasm smiles that disappear within seconds, but a prolonged, huge, gummy smile. And it was adorable and it melted my heart. Remember how I'm an aunt? Me too. Then, this:

Lauren, my big sister, was looking for pictures to put in Brian and Ali's wedding slideshow, and discovered this gem. Yes, that is me and Lauren, and yes, she is, as a matter of fact, holding my head like a football. For most of our growing up years, Lauren and I shared a room, and in that room, we shared a queen sized bed. Inevitably, it led to some pretty strange night-time antics, such as "steam-rolling" (the objective of this game is to roll on top of, and consequently squish, the other person), me reading scary stories to Lauren before we fell asleep (I thought it was funny that I could terrify my older sister), "THE CLAW!!" (just don't even ask), Power-Ranger Gymnastics ("The splits, the splits, how does she do it?"), and a whole variety of other oddities. By the end of this, we were pretty exhausted, and that resulted in some funny (and in my mind, cute) pictures in the mornings. The thing I love about this photo is that it makes me think of all the times that Lauren would hold my hand or calm me down when I'd had a bad dream, all the stupid jokes we split our sides with, all the random pranks I pulled on her. It makes me remember how lucky I am that she's my sister. So the moral of this story?

I love family dinners.

I am now a protege.

So this past week, I was officially accepted to the partnership program at the Art Acess Gallery. Which means, I get to tag along and bother a really good artist for seven months, and then at the end, we get to show the pictures we made. My reaction to this? Joy. I am so excited! My artist's name is Erica Houston. She is an INCREDIBLY talented woman, and we're going to explore mixing mediums, interpretive portraiture, etc. One of the big bonuses of being in this program is that I get a $500 grant for art supplies! Do you know how many Prismacolors that will buy?? I am a little bit happy inside. :)



This is a picture I did about five months ago. I have room to improve.
If you'd like to see any of Erica's art, or her husband, Blue Critchfield (who shares a studio with her) go to either http://www.myspace.com/ericaehouston or to http://www.myspace.com/mothmind

I love my little brother.

My little brother Josh is quite possibly the most amazing person I have ever met in my life. When I first met him, he didn't know any english, he was severely undersized, and he hardly knew how to smile. Every smile we got we had to coax out of him. Now, his smile is the biggest brightest smile in the world, and his hugs are the best thing in the world. He has to deal with so many difficulties every day, but somehow he knows how to find the joy in each day. He teaches me to be a stronger and better person, and I can't wait for him to come home from the hospital. In short? Josh is my hero.

...And I'm back.

So remember how I'm not dead? Me too. Here's what I have to say right now:
School is an angry creature. It devours life. Help?
But also, I love little breaks from school, IE, the fishing trip with my family to the Green River. It was beyond beautiful, and Josh finally got more than 1000 in the dice game.