And When I Got Home, I Was Feeling Brave...

And Ariana will never say she feels bored again. I finally "turned" the compost. By dumping it in another garbage can. Oh my gosh it was so stinkin' gross. Stinkin' & Gross. Now, mind you, it pretty much worked. There is a lot of rich stuff in there. Kind of looking like potting soil. I've dumped a whole lot of vegetables in there and there is pretty much very little sign of anything. A recent apple and a kiwi and some newspaper. But most of the entire watermelon from 2 weeks ago is already gone. It smelled, however, FOUL. Triggered Ariana'a gag reflex pretty good (mine is pretty much non-existent due to my current occupation). Apparently Ariana's family does this and it's not supposed to ooze so much. We're wondering if it got moldy or something else bad. Guess where the bin went? Into the dumpster!! Not that I'm giving up completely. We've hypothesized that we can maybe blame the plastic. So maybe I'll head to ACE and get a fun metal garbage can (and when I say "maybe," I will). We did, however, fertilize the tree outside after removing the still-recognizable pieces. I really thought I had no fear until today. This was pretty scary. There were a lot of unidentifiable bugs in that mess.

What Else? I took a trip to Bullhead City, AZ!

I saw my huge nephew Tate, who smiles constantly and is precious. He smiles while Candice and I work out. He smiles at dinner. It's like he just cannot wait to be big and be part of all the fun that is going on.
And I was graced with Kaitlynn's 3-year old view of the world.
Here's a breakdown.
On my way to Bullhead, I missed the exit because I was laughing so hard at her telling me about a purple flower on their table.
"Do you like it?" I asked
"Christin, it is just so CUTE!! It is so beautiful I was crying in my eyes. I was CRYING IN MY EYES it was so beautiful."
When I arrive, "Christin, I LOVE YOU THAT you come to my house. I LOVE YOU that you do."
"I am SO EXCITED that you comed down"
I learned that butterflies can absolutely not carry magic wands because they do not have arms, but they can wear bracelets. I watched her drive "her truck."
We took a nap together, which we both loved. Turns out the only thing I don't like about 3 year olds is what time they like to wake up in the morning! It was so fun to hang out with the kids and Candice and talk to Adam and go see Dark Knight with my DAD. It's always kind of funny to go places with my dad at this age-- especially near Vegas. I want to be like, "We're RELATED." And yes, maybe it's weird to you that we hang out but we're cool like that." Anyways, the movie was long but really good. My mom was in Idaho so I didn't see her. But don't worry, Candice did just fine doing my hair. (p.s. These pictures expand really well. I love Tate's expressions!)

What Have I Been Up To? Well, I Made My Bed

Oh, you think, you made your bed. How awesome. We're so excited for you! Well, for one, making my bed for a week is #54 on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. I didn't have a lot of rules for this endeavor. Once I made my bed at 3 in the morning. But I didn't go to bed until 5 in the morning. Therefore, I made my bed that day. Because of letting things slide, I went a little longer and made my bed for about 2 weeks. And usually I make my bed about once a month. I realized that:
a) I stopped making my bed all the time when I got a queen. Making a queen alone is no fun! I have to keep walking around my room all the time like a pacing insomniac.
b) It helped me keep my room a lot cleaner. Or maybe it just felt like it. But it was nice.
and
c) I felt very productive and got a lot of other stuff done, too. Coincidence? Possibly! But maybe not!

Comfort For Change

My computer hates videos in my posts

Due to the Fact...

Due to the fact that my dad once said my blog was slow, I feel bad that I've only posted twice in the last long long time...So, a few little updates. First off, I stole pictures from Bridget's phone of the Barbeque on the bottom of this page. I tried to fix all the red-eyes, but now there are a few creepy eyes. Oh well.
We went to her house last night, which turned into a big deal, but that will be on her blog soon. And, I had my first death at the hospital this week. It was expected, but still kind of weird. Apparently I got [more] pale, but otherwise maintained composure pretty well.
My life doesn't FEEL boring at all lately; it just sounds kind of boring. It's not.
Except that....I would post about Dark Knight like a few people did this weekend except I haven't seen it. Bridget went with her brother. John went with his friends. And it's not really an Ariana movie. Thanks GUYS!!
Oh! Just remembered *wow...I'm nuts this morning...I think more clearly at 3 in the morning....
John and Ariana and I and two of his friends went and saw a concert near my house of "Comfort for Change." John knows these guys. I found this video on YouTube of the band. The lead singer is really really thin now...maybe from all his jumping around on stage, and is extremely animated with his facial expressions. Enough so that I asked John if he thought he practiced them in the bathroom mirror. Amazing voice, though, and a great performer. Enjoy!

Love you guys!

I Love....

.... John Vizzard's startling green eyes

.... laughing with Bridget

.....that Josh has more "just in case of emergency" stuff than anyone else I know. It makes me feel safe. Even though it's all in Boise now. And he's in Kentucky. 

......hazelnuts. I thank God that he made them taste so good to me and that He made them period. 

......love love late-night talks. With Ariana. With John. With Bridget. And with Brad. 

.....my brother Brad. And I'm so excited for him to come home. 

Weekend Fun

Here's just a few little pictures of this weekend:

Ariana and Bridget on their way to a baptism in their pretty turquoise dresses last night:

Me, enjoying after church the fact that those beautiful clouds finally opened up:

And Bridget, showing you what she thinks of my 1/2 cup Blue Bell idea.

For Entertainment's Sake

Check out this workout in Women's Health. Let me know how many of you can do 20 reps of Move 3. I can do 1 with good form. I kind of fall over to the side on the next leg. And then I rest. Hah.

1/2 Cup

This is in response to my dad's Blue Bell comment. (Which, yes, I  included that picture partially to torture him.) This is what 1/2 cup of Blue Bell looks like. 

Throughout my life, I've wondered what the 1/2 cup serving of ice cream looks like. But despite whatever neuroses I may have had about food, I've always been a little scared to measure this one out. 

Until today. This is what 160 delicious calories of Blue Bell Strawberries and Homemade Vanilla looks like. 7 Glorious and totally worth it grams of fat. (Sidenote: how Blue Bell gets their Ice Cream so delicious for 1/4 fat of Ben & Jerry's I will never know but always appreciate.) 

I ate this 1/2 cup. Slowly. I savored it; I loved it. And I will honestly try to keep my servings this size at least until August.  I read the other day that Americans try to eat as much food as possible instead of savoring the little things. 

So instead of devouring this entire half gallon, I will find out how many 1/2 cup servings are in one (well, in the half that still remains. :o) )

Cloudy Skies

The problem with summer here is that there are many days where I feel trapped by the heat. Ironically, I don't remember feeling this way in Florida and Texas where it must have been really close to as hot as this.
Wherever you are, I want you to stand up and go outside. Look up at the sky. And appreciate the clouds. Because you never appreciate them until they're gone. Almost every Arizona day is cloudless. It kind of makes you feel like a cookie in an oven. I'm not a fan of the vastness. But monsoon season has started, and today there were clouds in the sky.
I decided yesterday that on days that were less than 110 degrees, I would run outside. I miss it, and I can't handle this much being inside and being lazy. It's starting to show up on my stomach and the class reunion is in 3 weeks! Today it was 105, slightly breezy, and cloudy. So I attempted to run 3 miles. It's been about a month, and I did a terrible job. I had to walk half of it and felt miserable for most of it, but now that I'm home, I'm really glad I did it. (Besides, I can look at March's 7 Days of Running and see that things will get better). I was going to go lift afterwards, but since I was shaking, I decided against heavy lifting.
This picture is from A mountain mid-June on another hot day I couldn't stay inside. It was hotter than today. I walked. Slowly.

The Day Off

wow. I just tried to write a blog post while listening to Tracy Chapman, and, hmm, can't exactly write upbeat words while listening to Tracy Chapman. So I've worked 5 of the last 6 days. Including the 4th. I had a little pity party for myself last Saturday on that night off work and ate an entire can of olives (which interestingly, wasn't bad on my stomach at all...). But no more lame nights off like that!
The original plan was for Bridget and I to go to the beach in Cali, but we didn't. Waiting for Brad to get home. And Ariana to have time, and whatever. It worked. So we had a little barbeque instead. Nobody brought meat except for John. Not exactly sure where that miscommunication occurred. I had a T-bone. It was perfect. And I finally bought a charcoal chimney, which my dad has been telling me to do for about a year. I still had to use lighter fluid, though. I think maybe our charcoal got a little damp outside. Who knows?

Grocery shopping today was fun. For one, I remembered to take all our plastic bags to get recycled. There were about a million of them. And I also remembered to use all my canvas bags. I think I finally have enough cute ones to make it fun. (Whole Foods just made one for 88 cents, I think, that is really cute. To prove it, I've seen 2 this week at work.)
The party was fun. A girl Theressa who I have only met once came, and she's so cool so that was fun. And John, who came over for Salmon, and our neighbors. About 10 people maybe. Bridget made kick-a guacamole and Ariana made a killer fruit salad set in a scooped-out watermelon.
So after my perfect T-bone, I also had Blue Bell for dessert. It doesn't get more fun than that.

Go Candice!

So Candice and I were talking the other day about collaborating our recipes and coming up with fun dinners and sharing them with our friends. And last night Candice created our [so so cute] new joint blog (who knew you could invite multiple authors? Not me!). So right now I'm off to bed, too tired to contribute, but tomorrow. Maybe. For now, enjoy without me, Creme de la Creme

US Government Property

RULES FOR READING THIS POST: YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO PUSH PLAY AT THE SONG ON THE BOTTOM BEFORE READING. ALSO, CLICK TO ENLARGE PICTURE EVENTUALLY TO SEE JOSH'S "I'M SERVING PROUDLY IN THE U.S. ARMY SHIRT."

So Josh came in on Saturday night for our last hoo-rah before he ships off to the army on July 17th. Sunday he went to church with me for the second time, which is always a really hard thing for him and is always really fun for me. (He's a really active Christian; just super cyncial when it comes to the Mormon thing; hence, our awesomely weird relationship.) He looks so cute all white shirt and tie-d up. :o) And the bishop even gave him a blessing- mostly to help me feel better about him going away.
I also introduced him to How I Met Your Mother, which he agreed rocks, and we made hamburgers.
Monday was super-fun day. We went to the Air Force Flight Museum in Mesa. This was something Josh and I really wanted to do. He LOVES old planes and knows so much about them. So we show up all excited (after eating at In & Out Burger, another bonus) and the place is CLOSED on Mondays and Tuesdays during the summer. We were so bummed so we just walked around trying to find an open door. And we found one. We met Bob (I think), a mechanic who was working on a B-52 to restore it to flight status. I basically just told them my best friend was leaving for the army and if he had a minute could we just see a few little things...The guy was so cool. He's in one of the pictures. He loved talking about his job and all the stuff they did. We were there for 2 hours. We got the whole museum to ourselves (for free) and our own special tour guide.
Then, we went to Melting Pot. It was so fun. Bridget had a $50 gift certficate that expired that day and she gave it to us (THANK YOU!). So we rocked Melting Pot. We had Spinach and Artichoke Cheese Dip, He had Raspberry Salad; I had tropical mango salad with coconut cashews, and then we had all kinds of meat, including lobster tail. And for dessert, we had peanut butter chocolate dip with so many yum things to dip in it including, wait for it....RICE KRISPIE TREATS. oh yum. That was the best. Sadly, we couldn't finish all of them because we were stuffed.
While at Melting Pot, they were playing awesome 1940's-type music and we thought it would be fun if we could go dancing somewhere to music like that (oh, and I wore a fun sundress and Josh wore his pale yellow shirt I love and we looked cute). We asked our server and she suggested Kazimiers (You say it like cashmere's but the 'z' instead of the 'sh.') So, of course, we went.
This is their website: http://www.kazbar.net/
It's totally not marked and is so dimly lit, but so fancy feeling. Just fantastic. And the band was AMAZING. Here's a tiny little clip of the performer. She is even better than she sounds on this. Josh requested a song, and she just went with it, even though she had never performed it before. The Band was AWESOME. so so cool. Josh used to play sax in jazz band in high school, and he was in heaven.
Today we just hung out and went swimming. I sang the Top Gun theme song to him all day (He's technically not in the Air Force, but flying helicopters in the army is close enough for me.) I just got back from taking him to the airport. I believe two important things about airports:
1) You can bawl your eyes out at the airport if you feel like it without regards to make-up or the fact that you are actually in public.
2) Rules of Public Displays of Affection should be greatly relaxed in the airport. (Public Decency and children considered, of course.)
Suffice it to say, my actions reflected my beliefs. What was I supposed to do?!
Love that Soldja Boy.

Productivity!

I made a quilt. Last weekend while I was watching 12 hours straight of HGTV, I also decided to use that time to finish this quilt. See, I made one for Kaitlynn when she was born- it was all cute and pink and white with Hello Kitty on the back. And I actually finished it before she was born. I was not quite so timely with this one, but it didn't really matter because Candice didn't expect it at all. She got it in the mail yesterday, so I can finally put the picture of it up. It's really so cute (Levi quilts are really the only ones I make 'cause if everything doesn't match up all perfect, it really doesn't matter. :) Happy 2 month Birthday Tate!
p.s. And here's also a picture of Kaitlynn with hers :o)

Thank You Bridget

So right now I'm eating dinner and about to go to work and I don't really have time to blog about my dinner last night. But I just read Bridget's blog, and she did it for me. She also wrote totally sweet things about me and posted the first video of me ever. Because my computer refuses to do it. I look a little chunky and am re-considering that shirt and my lazy workout schedule, but anyways, it's funny.
Oh, and back when, I said Brad and Bridget were more complicated than dating. Now it's back to dating. And Bridget is a rockin' roommate.
And I am not pissy today. My house is spotless, dinner was good, my workout was a mini-marathon, and I went to an amazing Institute class on Romans 8 last night thanks to Bridget and it really helped with my crappy outlook on everything.
Love you guys! Off to save lives!

It's a Britney Day

So you know when Britney walked into the salon and buzzed her hair all off? What was not surprising to me about this episode was that she felt like doing it, but the fact that she actually went through with it. Knowing that it would be splashed over every newspaper in the country and likely affect her career and her chance at custody, she still went through with it.
There are days when I feel like just saying screw everything and taking clippers to my head. Except that I wouldn't really know what to do with myself when I was done. And I'm not Demi Moore or Natalie Portman. I wouldn't look good bald. I'd show up for work, and everyone would get freaked out. I'd go to church, and the everyone would be like, "Um, what happened to you?" And my family would probably commit me somewhere.
So, friends, I'm not shaving my head today.
I'm just very very moody. And I'm going to go to the gym. And hope that does something.

Leeches and Bullets

So mostly this week I've just worked...nothing too exciting. Except that work was a little exciting. So you know on the Discovery Channel when they use leeches to help reattach people's fingers to improve blood flow? Yep, I did that. This lady had lost some circulation due to small blood clots and we attached leeches (from the pharmacy!) to help fix her up. It seems to be working...
Also, even though gunshot wounds are pretty common in Phoenix (unfortunately), I don't see too many, and I got to change the dressing on one and examine it this week. Super sweet. (It was kind of a high profile thing, too, so even cooler.)
Later!

Happy Father's Day!

This is my cute dad a little younger than I am right now. Isn't he cute? Isn't that hair amazing? So while sitting restlessly through sacrament meeting today, I kept thinking of all the things I love about my dad and my life with him. So here's to RC....(Oh, and I already made my mom promise not to get mad that I didn't think to do this on Mother's Day. She knows I love her so much, too!)
My dad came from a family where "I Love You" and hugs were mostly absent. He married into my mom's family, where a phone call to my Nana always goes like this, "Hi Nana." "Oh, my precious Christin. It is so good to hear your sweet little voice. Verdean!! Christin's on the phone. How are you sweetheart?" That's an inkling of what he encountered. It's a little touchy-feely-mushy-lovey. And oh, my goodness, how it's worn off on him.
My dad joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in July of 1978, a month before he married my mom. It wasn't something that he'd planned on doing (EVER), but he really felt strongly that what he'd been learning was true. It's this conversion that I think developed the character of this man I love so much. In my 28 years, I have watched him serve in several bishoprics. And I have seen him set the most stellar example of Home Teaching ever. And mostly, all this translates to watching how much love my dad elicits from people. At first, he sometimes comes across a little stern, but it doesn't take to long to get to his heart. I have watched him touch the lives of so many people through his selfless service and non-judgmental and loving nature. He gets through to people in ways that no one else can.
He was also a baseball coach, and the love continued there. Not only for the sport (which is also true and deep), but also for each and every one of the boys who coached.
He was mostly my dad. He still says things to me about wondering if he was there for me enough while growing up. He worked hard, he went back to college with 3 kids, and he served many hours in the church. And I always always remember him being there for me. I remember washing the truck in my swimming suit with him in the driveway and going on daddy-daughter dates. I remember dog-pile on daddy (THE BEST GAME EVER), and the way he would make the characters in our bedtime stories always "fluff." We always laughed so hard at that. He loves his new grandkids. Oh my goodness, you can watch his heart melt every time Kaitlynn says,"Papa..." Just ask him how many boxes of Whoppers he's bought for his office in the last 2 years.
When I was 10 we drove to Texas from Florida together when we moved. Mom and Brad and Candice flew. But me and dad lived on cookies and 7up and it was awesome. I even got a little sad when the rest of the family showed up.
When I was 18, my dad drove me to college. He and I drove 1800 miles to College Station, and he dropped me off in a town he'd never seen. I knew that he fully supported me in every decision I made. And he even listened to me talk the entire 20-ish hours we drove. Including reading aloud "Fitness" magazine. And now he even comments on my blog (and sometimes my friends'!)!
Dad likes the lawn immaculate, he ties the perfect bows on dresses, he irons better than anyone I know, and he fixes what needs fixed. He loves my mom, he loves his kids, and he loves the gospel of Jesus Christ.
No wonder I'm not married yet. He shouldn't have set the standard so high.

I THINK I LIKE IT BETTER

There are simply too many possible answers for these questions..

Mosaic

(See Jessica's blog for inspiration. It takes time, but is so fun. I love her!)