Oh no you don't!

Oh yes she did! And have I ever told you about the time I left her eating in her high chair for like 10 seconds and when I walked back in she was standing on the kitchen table, at the edge, holding my heavy centerpiece bowl in her hands? (I don't want to think about the number of ways that scenario might have gone awry)... or the time we were driving down the street going 40 or so and she figured out how to unlock the door and open it? I know, I know, it's called childlock people!! I try to stay a step ahead but sometimes the stinker gets the best of me...aaahhhh!

A Stroke of Really Bad Luck

We got a call from our neighbor on Saturday night saying "Uh...hey you guys better come outside..." and when we did we found the alarming scene shown below. A drunk driver had come swerving up our street and somehow managed to clip the back bumper on Chris' new truck and drive with two wheels along the entire length of his car, before tipping over. Highlights of this evening included:
* Practically the entire neighborhood congregating in front of our house along with an ambulance, a fire truck and two cop cars.
* The woman's incoherent apology and inability to walk the straight line
*The woman attempting to climb back into her tipped, smoking vehicle for her cigarettes
* Her begging every neighbor on our street to keep her startled and upset dog (an innocent passenger) overnight while she was taken to jail so it wouldn't end up at the pound. My sweet elderly neighbor Dennis obliged.

But the good thing was no one was hurt and we would much rather it be a smashed car than someone's child. We are super bummed though... In the meantime Chris is loving driving his rental Dodge Charger;)
We still aren't sure how she managed to shatter the window
Chris thought I was naieve for being in disbelief that a mid-thirties-ish driver of a Landcruiser is the type of person to get a DUI. I thought this type of behavior was reserved for celebrities and white trash folks...

What did I just tell you?

What did I just tell you?

Are you not listening?

I guess we need new couches anyway...

What can I do to make you more comfortable?

Tacky Christmas Yards

I found this blog last year and thought it was pretty funny. The best part is reading the violations cited below each picture. Check it out!

Recent Happenings

I have been in a blog rut lately and haven't been keeping up too well. Sometimes laying on the couch all evening and then going to bed at 9pm sounds better than sorting through pictures and coming up with witty captions. So here's a pictureless post to inform you of a little bit of what we have been up to:

*We celebrated our 2 year anniversary in August!
*Chris celebrated his big 3-0 in August (Don't worry Hon, you've still got it!!)
*Chris' beloved mountain bike frame has graduated from being living room art, and now resides in the garage as a full-blown bike
*Some people may have wondered how I have been faring as a pregnant lady...and I feel a little sheepish to say that I haven't been sick once or had one wave of nausea...just major fatigue, the need to pee every 10 minutes, and occasional public drooling (it's a real symptom--I checked) I have been very lucky.
*After a bit of a debate we (well mostly I) have decided to find out the sex of the baby. We'll let you know in a week and a half!!

Chris and his New Love

Chris and his new mountain bike frame...somehow I just don't understand...

Chris on Good Morning America

Be Sure to tune into Good Morning America on ABC tomorrow morning (Thursday the 3rd)!!
Chris is working for Kellogg this summer doing marketing for Cheez-It crackers. One of his projects has been to lead the PR campaign for the brand. The PR campaign will be unveiled on Good Morning America tomorrow. He has promised it will be very big and very cheesy (I don't know if he means that figuratively or literally).
I am a little worried about Chris going to New York. When we were in Chicago he was walking around downtown mouth agape, staring up at the skyscrapers exclaiming "Shazam!" Luckily I was there to keep him from getting into too much trouble. Who will take care of him now? I am just going to pin his plane ticket to his shirt and hope for the best.

Recent Happenings

Ruby is now an "obedient dog"...usually
Biking Bear Claw Poppy in St. George
Dinner at the Cheesecake FactoryMy mile high Chinese Chicken Salad...oops sideways

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you are all wearing green!

The new look

Here I am...brunette revisited.

Oops...I did it again

No I didn't shave my head, forget to wear my unmentionables, attempt to drive with an infant in my lap or "go crazy"

I went brunette. Very dark brunette. There are several self-taken pictures of the new look sitting in my picasa folder that I am currently too shy to post.

Chris loves it but I still need to warm up to it a bit.


and hey, as my hairstylist says..."it's only semi-permanent color...you can always go lighter again, although it may take a few (gulp) months."

{sorry about the Britney reference. Chris and I are strangely fascinated by her downfall.}

Crazy brain trick-Which way is the dancer spinning?

Some of you may have seen this, but I found this crazy article and had to post about it. It absolutely weirds me out!!

Check it out: here
I stared at it for like 10 minutes and could only see her going clockwise, then I looked away and looked back again and she was going counterclockwise...

At first I thought it was timed to change directions periodically until I had Chris come over and he could only see counterclockwise, while I could only see clockwise!!

How is it possible that we are looking at the same thing-yet seeing something completely different??

Brains are crazy, fantastic things!

Which way does she spin for you?

I guess it could be worse...

If you are like me and find yourself complaining about the cold (all you Utahns out there)-or about cleaning snow off the car in the morning (a very hated task), take a look at these...and realize that it could always be worse...

I received these pics in a forwarded email.They were taken in a little town called Versoix, Switzerland. How would you like to scrape this off your car...?? BRRRR...

Is January over yet?

I couldn't be more ready for January to be over. Is this month as much of a letdown to others as it is to me? Maybe if I had a birthday or other special event to celebrate in January I'd feel differently...but I don't.

A few of my gripes with January include:

* an end to the excitement that builds with the celebration of each holiday-starting with Halloween
*taking down all Christmas decorations, particularly the tree
* My momentum and enthusiasm for my New Year's resolutions always seems to wane sometime in the 3rd or 4th week of January
* my car registration is always due ( I know it's no big deal, but it always stresses me out!)

This post may seem like the antithesis of my last post. I don't mean to seem like a downer...just wanted to say farewell to January...here's to February and hopefully to bigger and better things!!

So Very Random

I drive by this mailbox, er eyesore en route to the TRAX station every day. Incidentally, I first started taking TRAX to work sometime in October, and my initial thought was "Oh some fun, self-sacrificing parents have allowed their child to deface the mailbox, (yard, house and entire street in my opinion) in the spirit of Halloween"...

...then November 1st rolled around and I expected to drive by seeing a much smaller, less conspicuous mailbox -and lo and behold I spotted the same wing-ed beast from two blocks away. Well November came and went, and so did December and the monster still stands.

Taking a picture of it has been on my to do list for several months running, but what do you know I googled "dragon mailbox" and it is among the first images to pop up. This tiny picture hardly does it justice. Just imagine that it is probably 4 feet tall with a wingspan of 5 feet or so. The actual mailbox itself looks like Lincoln's Log Cabin. I really think it was made of Lincoln Logs...so very random. Also, notice how it's situated right smack in the middle of the sidewalk

I fear the dirty looks these residents get from neighbors. I imagine them to be the cape-wearing, Dungeons-and-Dragons-playing type. I have yet to see anyone enter or leave the house, but my eyes are always peeled as I drive by.

I'm it!

Guidelines:
1. List 6 facts/habits about yourself that no one knows.
2. Tag 6 other friends and post their names at the bottom.

1. I was born with a backwards sternum, and as a child I appeared to have a large dent in my chest. I went to several specialists and nearly went under the knife until surgery was deemed unnecessary. I have met a handful of people in my life with this same condition...it's called pectus excavatum. (Mine was not nearly as severe as the one in the picture.)

2. My proudest moment to date was finishing the St. George Marathon in 2004. If anyone has ever considered running one-do it! It is an incredible experience. Funny side note-at mile 23 someone was blasting "Chariots of Fire" from a loud speaker and I burst into tears...so emotional...and looking back...so hilarious.

3.I'm a horrible logical thinker. Chris is constantly telling me I make things too hard, like adding unnecessary steps to a process, taking huge driving detours that I think are shortcuts, etc.

4.I spent a few years as a brunette and I actually felt more attractive with dark hair; however, I have this wierd identity crisis thing where I don't think I'm myself with it. I went blonder again shortly before getting married. I couldn't bear to think that one day my kids would look at my wedding album and say, " who is that dark haired lady with Dad?"

5.I have a strange fear of deep water. It's a combination of things: the unknown/the thought of getting pulled under and being far from air/visions of Jaws movies where you see the sillouette of the swimmer on the surface from the murky depths... It downright creeps me out! I would never scuba dive, and during those few minutes when waiting for the boat to come pick me up after water skiing, I can sometimes work myself into a freaky frenzy.

6. I'm a great speller.

For Fun I'll list some randoms about Chris that some may not know...

1. He is a better cook than I am...which isn't saying a whole lot.

2. He is FEARLESS; a total adrenaline junky, whether it's skiing or mountain biking. He recently came home from skiing with a tweaked knee and explained that he just had to show some younger kids what was up. He did a Rodeo 540, which he normally lands no problem, but this time he went a little too BIG and landed in a hole. He recently had an MRI to confirm what the dealio is...we are praying he doesn't need surgery.

3.He is an absolute gear snob, when it comes to skiing. He spends much time chatting with ski guys on forums, and talking with his brothers and with a guy I call "Tech Talk Tyson" on the phone...I've learned more ski terms than I ever knew existed being married to the guy.

4. He is an unbelievably caring and involved older brother. He talks to each of his three younger siblings on an almost daily basis. Once when we were dating he took me to meet his little sister and brother, Mary and Steve and we all went to a movie. My affection for him was greatly confirmed when I saw him interact with them.

5. He is extremely allergic to peanuts and also peas. We are NOT ALLOWED to keep peanut butter in the house. I thought he was just kidding when he first mentioned this...but he said one errant trace of pb left in a jelly jar could mean very bad news. I have made many a dinner...only to eat it alone because I have forgotten and put some form of pea in the mix.

6. He has a better sense of women's style than I do. He often helps me get dressed, shows me what goes together, etc.

You're It!:
Kailee Johnson, Courtney Stutznegger, Bill Park, Lucy Park, Pete Romney, and Marin Christensen...if you're out there

Atlanta Trip

On the 26th we flew to Atlanta, GA to spend time with my dad. We spent four days hanging out, going to movies, renting movies, and basically just relaxing. I failed to take any family pictures while we were there. I did get pictures of the amazing Georgia Aquarium we visited. I highly recommend it to anyone who visits the Atlanta area. The first picture is a whaleshark (I think, well either way it's some sort of whale or shark.)
A stinging nettle
A jellyfish

Yippee!!

Chris survived his first semester of the MBA program at BYU and I couldn’t be more proud… although a bit jealous that he now spends his days skiing.

He has literally worked his tail off this last semester. His daily schedule has gone something like this: wake up at 5:00 a.m., study ‘til 7:00, drive to Provo for studying/class until 6:00 p.m., return home, eat, hit the books again until 11:00, sleep…do it all over again.

He is loving his program and we are excited about the opportunities that are opening up for him. He received an offer to intern with Kellogg (like the cereal) in Battle Creek, Michigan this summer as a brand manager for Frosted Flakes. We’re not sure if he is going to take the offer yet. He went to Michigan to be “wined and dined” and to tour the corporate headquarters. He was very impressed with Kellogg...

...and very unimpressed with Michigan. We’ll see…

One of my first thoughts when he got the offer was:

“If he ends up working for them someday will I have to sever my relationship with General Mills cereals, as in no more Capn’ Crunch and Lucky Charms?( favorites from my childhood that I don’t actually buy- but I like knowing that I could do so without being disloyal.)

His answer was “yes, you'd have to end that relationship.”

Meet Larry the Porcupine

We went to dinner with my family up at the The Steak Pit in Snowbird Resort and were seated right next to a window. As we were eating we looked over to see a round black ball making its way over to the window. The waitress explained that it was just Larry coming to retrieve his daily loaf of bread. He stayed there for over two hours and polished the whole thing off.