Rambo vs. Black Ninja

Those of you who have spent even a short amount of time with me and Craig have inevitably seen us have it out at one point or another. Don't get me wrong, we are madly in love, but what else could happen with two extremely stubborn people. Heads collide and we let them roll. They are (mostly) stupid things that have no relevance to our lives together and we end up laughing at them mere hours later. Yesterday was such a day as we were leaving stake conference (for you non-Mormons that is when a bunch of congregations in the area meet together to listen to the area leaders). We had just left a meeting in which we learned to be more charitable and more Christlike and as we entered the car, exploded into one of these wonderful battles. I argue like this....

With bazookas and machine guns and all out explosions. Craig on the other hand argues like this....

With stealth modes an untrained eye cannot recognize.

Thus commenced our argument. I blowing up the car with yelling and Craig sneakily taking out my feet. It's quite a site if you are ever fortunate enough to observe this theatrical event. Thus brings me to a jewel of a quote provided by my dear husband.

Speaking of our "spiritual meeting" we had just left he replied with a calm voice, "Well I am glad that you felt the spirit...(big pause)... of contention."
This was was followed by some great explosions on my part of course.

Now it is a wonderful laughing matter :)

Old Dogs and New Tricks

Don't believe people when they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. My first experience going anywhere with Craig proved a lot about both of our personalities. We walked up to his car, he got in and I stood in front of my door waiting. He looked at me oddly at first then reached over (from the inside) and opened the car door. I closed it. He opened it again. I closed it. He then shrugged and started to back out. I smiled. He stopped the car, got out and opened my door and we had a lovely afternoon. Needless to say I didn't marry a hopelessly romantic fellow. We spent our honeymoon camping across America (other than the wedding night hotel provided by my parents). Practice has definitely paid off and yesterday I was provided with a WONDERFUL birthday. I awoke to, well, a crying baby, then I was presented with a menu selection.

I chose my breakfast of waffles, got ready, and we went to my favorite store, Barnes and Noble, where I picked up A Left-Hand Turn Around The World to read about all of the left hand places I need to visit, The Female Brain to help me in my quest to help Craig understand how I think (and to understand myself), and My Cousin Rachel by my favorite author Daphne du Maurier. As you can see from the itinerary I was only supposed to pick 2, but I convinced him to let me get 3 since 2 were on sale. We had a wonderfully tasty lunch at Maggiano's and returned home to eat some delicious chocolate cake (made from scratch by my sister-in-law Gina). This cake is labeled WAGONFOOD (as you can see in the video) so I can safely eat it on my diet and still stay "on the wagon".

I then was ushered into the car not knowing where we were going. We arrived at The Whistle Stop Bed and Breakfast in Louisa, Va. and had a relaxing time reading on the porch, putting coins on the train track to get squashed, eating a fruit tart and drinking sparkling apple cider (provided by my sister-in-law and mom), watching a movie, and "going to bed early". It was an awesome birthday thought up entirely by my wonderful husband, who when I first met him was unwilling to make an effort to even open my door. Thus, Old Dog, new trick.
P.S. I have since learned how to operate a car on my own (comment added by Craig as he was proofreading my writing. He has to feel manly somehow I guess. Just know he still does open my door.)

Beaches and Butterflies

We've done a few fun things thus far this Summer. All in all I realize that as soon as you have kids things are changed from, "This will be fun for me." to... "This will be fun for the kids!" The only way they coincide is if you happen to live through their enjoyment (that was said with a smile on my face if you were wondering). A trip to Virginia Beach with my mom and 7 kids (4 of my sister's and 2 of my brother's and Suede) proved my patience has not grown to the heights I had previously thought. It was a fun trip though and I really did like seeing them have so much fun.



Her first visit to the ocean was a big success and I had a hard time convincing her that she wanted to be playing in the sand by the blanket so I could read my book. The water was just to tempting to her and she would run for it at every chance. I did prevail for about 3 pages though.



With DC so close we feel the need to start her experience of the Nation's Capitol early. Last week we rode the metro and visited the Natural History Museum.


Before going to the museum we visited the Old Post Office for lunch and went up to the tower. They have these huge bells and every Thursday evening. the bell ringers come to practice and you can hear it out on 12th street. They do some crazy patterns that don't repeat themselves and have something like 5000 sequences or something (without music). At the tourist shop I saw something you will only find in our wonderful Nation's Capitol. Check out these pre-printed license plates. Not John or Mary but...

and

and


At the Natural History Museum I decided to get her started on her anatomy early. And starting with the skull is always easiest.



It was about 2 hours after nap time while she decided to have a melt down in front of hundreds of tourists, that I vowed never to take her in public again. Luckily that all melted away and I found the trip completely worth it when we visited the butterfly house. It was filled with hundreds of butterflies with the most amazing colors. You first enter a little room so they can ensure that none will escape and as you walk in the door a fan blows down on you to try to keep them contained. After you leave you have to enter another room and get checked to make sure none of the butterflies were hitch-hiking their way to freedom. Although, who would want to leave that paradise of flowers and fruit. It was amazing having them land and sit on me. Suede loved them. If you're ever in DC make sure to go to the Natural History museum on a Tuesday b/c that's when the butterfly house is free. I would suggest getting your tickets early though. We had to wait about 2.5 hours for our time to come up. Hence the break down. All in all it was a great time and I love visiting my favorite city.




Have you ever had a butterfly on your head? Well I have...

Memories!

My sister claims I'm a narcissist, and well truthfully, aren't we all? We all look for our picture first in a group photo. Anyway, when I saw this on my sister-in-law's blog I couldn't resist. I want to hear all about... well ME! I might be sorry later, after I start to remember things long since past :), but I'll give it a shot. Note for rule #4, as long as it is funny and won't be too unbearable it's fair game in my book. Here are the instructions as copied from her blog:


1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember. If we're only blogging friends write about a post that is most memorable.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you....either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you one back.
3. If the memory happens to involve my husband, please include him.
4. If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all.



That's me contemplating all our memories together :)

Happy blogging!

Happy Anniversary

Craig and my anniversary is on July 5th, so this year (6th anniversary) we decided to abandon my family and the tradition of spending the 4th on the Mall in DC for what I thought would be a spectacular show in Philadelphia. We also managed to leave Suede as well :) I do have to say our hotel was great and I found this Italian restaurant with a pasta dish that was so tasty I had to get it again the second night. We walked down Ben Franklin Parkway with all of the booths fit for a fair and finally reach the stage at the end for the show. It began to rain and after hearing the "Jersey Click Girls" perform we decided that no fireworks were worth that wait. (I tried to do a google search for these famous click girls and found NOTHIN- just picture 3 wanna be Hannah Montanas with microphone stands and mic covers adorned with sparkly sequins). We ended up leaving the show to go back to our hotel room and watch the show in DC on TV instead of live. I think we were actually asleep before the Philly fireworks even began. But let me say again. It was a nice hotel and I quite enjoyed it. The next day....our anniversary... we decided to see the historic sites. We stood in line for tickets to Independence Hall and then.... we went back to the hotel for a bit of a snooze. Craig got a migraine and ended up staying in that wonderful hotel to sleep while I ventured out on my own to walk back down to tour Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. (Those of you that know my sense of direction and incredible anxiety for being lost should be quite impressed with this feat) After a few hours of rest, he seemed up to going to the festival down at the water. It was going to be spectacular. There were food vendors from all of the great restaurants in the city and Boys II Men were going to perform. If you have forgotten this jewel of a band from the 90s here's one of their hits for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZcG0NBMcDA

(Sorry they blocked being able to put the video on blogs. You'll have to go to the link)

Well, we sat on the steps waiting for the show to start for an hour past starting time until Craig finally decided it wasn't worth waiting for (I had my doubts before we even entered the gated cement park with shoulder to shoulder people). Thus, we were to leave, but not without Craig's blessed funnel cake. We stood in line for another hour to get the powdered sugar coated fried pancake batter that cost $5. All that matters is that it was worth it to him I suppose.

Trying to exit this wonderful facility was another matter. There were 3 entrances with people charging through and the staff WAS NOT letting anyone out. We stood amidst an angry crowd that was getting more and more agitated as the minutes passed with cops that merely opened up another entrance instead of letting anyone out. Finally after about 45 min. we were permitted to leave (as I think they realized no one else could even fit inside). I think what finally opened their eyes was the woman who passed out and was being carried by her distraught husband trying to find the ambulance. I watched a policeman stare at this man in great need of help without even acknowledging his existence. I WAS DISTRAUGHT and proceeded to yell at the cop (much to Craig's embarrassment).

It all ended well though because I got that incredible pasta dish to go and we once again missed the fireworks and relaxed in the hotel room and watched the first stage of the Tour de France (another one of my loves).

All in all, it was a great anniversary, but next time I think I'll stick with the best and spend my Independence Day in DC as always. Here's a taste of what we missed.



At this point I would like to turn to the wisdom of Tevye.



TRADITION!!!

Coldplay Contest With Jubeus Opening

Craig recently joined a new band named Jubeus. Here is a video that they did right before he joined for a contest to play with Coldplay. I hope they win! If you want to hear more of their music you can go to www.jubeus.com
He's having a lot of fun with them and they have shows every weekend throughout the Summer.

Suede's Mural

So it's been quite a while since we have done a post. I hope I haven't lost all of our readers. For Suede's birthday my mom (Judy) and my sister-in-law Gina painted a mural for Suede on her wall. She loves books so they combined storybook characters. Raggedy Ann and Andy, Beatrix Potter characters, and Pooh. They did an awesome job and I can't believe how cool it is every time I walk into her room. The most amazing thing to me is that they did it all FREE HAND. They just looked at a picture and drew it on the wall. It still amazes me. It was the best birthday present for Suede and she really does love looking at the pictures. As you can see she has a book corner in her room that she spends a lot of time in. Thank you Mom and Gina!