AAAAAHHHH!!!!

I found another one!! And it's with a ZEBRA!!!! Zebras were my favorite animals for, like, 10 years. I so needed this little bit of smiley happiness fun right now. Thanks Universe!!! 

William Shakespeare ROCKS.

So. Most of you don't know this, but I am in a play. Since I quit my job and have been helping Matt, I have a LOT more free time. I decided to fill this time by doing things like family history, teaching myself how to sew, scrapbook, blog (sarcastic laugh), and make my home more efficient. I've also willingly and enthusiastically helped Matt on projects that I would've dragged my feet about previously (hey, it's hard to pick out audio clips after 8 hours at another job). Anyways, one of my friends told me that they were doing A Midsummer Night's Dream at the college, and auditions were that night. After some debate, and some ego-reining in (I know that I should always be the star, but the rest of the world may not have heard), I decided to audition because A) I love the stage and haven't been on it for a while and B) THIS PLAY ROCKS!!! When I was 15, I was the understudy to Puck for the Wyoming Shakespeare Company's production, so I know this play REALLY well, and just love it. I mean, I sat at rehearsals every afternoon for like 2 months, never once got to go on stage, and still went to most of the performances! Now, I bring an iPod and pretend that I'm not a total nerd, but I really could watch this play every day for a long time (it's been 6 weeks already) and never get sick of it. It's an illness, I tell ya. Maybe Oberon hit me with a shot of his love juice and the next thing I saw was A Midsummer Night's Dream... hmmm.... Anyways, to find out the plot, I suggest reading it, watching the Michelle Pfeiffer movie, or come see it performed, starting November 11th! And what part did I get you ask? Helena, the jilted lover? Puck, the mischievous sprite? Beautiful Titania, the Fairy Queen? No, I'm FOXGLOVE THE FAIRY!!! (Crickets as you consult the cast list and do not see this fairy name listed) Ok, so it's a totally made up part, but still, I get to do everything that I wanted. I get to sing (solos even), dance (which after Nazi fairy dance camp tonight, I feel like I'm not very good at...), and I get an AWESOME costume depicting my connection to the flower that shares my name (more crickets as you Google Image a Foxglove flower and discover that this flower is in fact, purple, which you are probably well aware is my absolute least favorite color). Well guess what, I DON'T CARE. My costume is rockin, and I wasn't about to whine and throw a diva fit that it couldn't be that color. Plus, it's not the bad shade of purple, it's more lavender and aubergine, both of which I am pretty okay with. Plus, I'm quite possibly maturing, and not as into sharing the things I loathe as I used to be (insert anti-Nicolas Cage rant here. Did you know he bought an island this year instead of paying his taxes? ). So yeah, I'm in a play. Matt is totally supportive, even went with me to tryouts, and loves how much fun I'm having, but I haven't been able to convert him into a true fan yet. I think it's the magic aspect that bugs him, but I haven't given up yet, and he hasn't seen the whole thing yet! And I am surrounded by theater majors, who are some of the weirdest and some of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. I am caught in between egos and love triangles and glitter and props, and I love it. So my advice would be to quit your job and avoid all responsibility and go do something that you love (okay okay, maybe just the last thing). So- goodnight unto you all. Give me your hands if we be friends. And Robin shall restore amends.

Vagueness

Something life altering is going down at the Matt and B household. I can’t share the details with cyberspace, but I can share how I’m feeling. I’m one part overjoyed. One part heartbroken. One part scared to death, and one part so relieved. And about ten parts devastated that it’s gone down the way it has. But I think it’s Heavenly Father’s way of saying “Hey, you guys are getting WAY too comfortable down there! You’re the one who’s been bugging me to make progress, and obviously that ain’t happenin’, so…”. So that’s the way I’m handling it. It’s what needed to happen, and I think all involved are coming to peace with it. So that’s my vague life story right now.  

What B's been watching, end of May and June edition

It's been a long month and lots of lonely evenings. Maybe not the best one to start this new section out with, but at least I'm cutting out the last couple of days :-). My movie taste is sporadic and varied, and I like it that way. I've been trying to not let my brain rot, and watch some documentary type movies, but I've also been trying to watch as many classics and expand my movie-knowledge as quickly as possible. And Matt was gone, so I got to watch whatever I wanted. Just some background. Here goes.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. (1954, probably PG).

This movie is a lot of fun. Lumberjacks dancing ballet, seven brothers getting makeovers, and a lot of good music. It won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture. Some of the brothers were borrowed from the New York City Ballet. The plot is that the eldest brother, Adam, goes into town from his home in the woods looking for a good strong wife to take care of him and his 6 brothers, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frankincense and Gideon. He finds a strong, awesome girl who agrees to marry him, and looks forward to the simple life of less work, being in charge of one man and one house (she'd been working in an inn). He "neglects" to tell her that it won't be just him, which she is not happy about when they return to the house. But she tames the brothers, and finds them all girls, and gets her own husband to not think of women as property... and it's all fun and good. I recommend this if you like fun and cheesy musicals set in the days of yore.

Here's a really long trailer that gives a little taste.

North by Northwest. (1959, maybe PG-13 because of the train scene).

Awesome classic movie about mistaken identity. Cary Grant's a great actor. Eva Marie Saint reminds me of Scarlett Johanssen. It was very tense and made me so frustrated at how far he had to go to get his name cleared, but so very very worth it. My favorite scene would probably be the auction scene. Brilliant.


Scrubs. (TV series, 2001 TV-14).

I started at the beginning on Netflix and have been greatly enjoying myself. I've only watched the first 5 episodes, but Dr. Cox is definitely my favorite character. My brain is foggy right now and I can't remember too many details, but I loved the episode with the "butt" box.

Jane Eyre. (2006 TV mini-series version).

I just finished reading the book and LOVED the book, so this was fun to watch soon after that. My favorite scene was definitely the one when they admit to one another that they're in love. The first half was painfully slow, but once it picked up, it grew on me. I'm not a massive fan of the girl who played Jane, but Rochester was pretty dang good. He was a little too sauve for me, I pictured him as more awkward and with more mood swings, and without that charming of a smile. But it's just such a good story that I will forgive them. I hope the new version coming out doesn't let me down too bad, but I have it on good authority that the guy who plays Rochester decided not to be "brooding" and that just won't do. Anyways, if you haven't read the book, it's so very very worth it, and watch the movie if you want to.

Sid and Nancy. (1986, R).

As wife of a punk rocker, I find it important to learn the history of the genre, and what better way to do it than through film? This movie is based around the story of the bass player of the Sex Pistols (highly influential British punk band), Sid Vicious, and his downward spiral with his junkie girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, ending with him stabbing her. First off, it is frustrating to watch almost two hours of heroin addiction. Second, awesome music. Third, say no to drugs. There were a few BIZARRE scenes in the movie, completely out of place and just random. And it was looong for the amount of sober dialogue there was, but it was a very good depiction of how fully and terribly drugs can take over lives, and just a weird, endearing little love story. Sort of a modern Romeo and Juliet meet The Thenardiers on drugs. I wouldn't highly recommend it unless you love punk rock, and I probably won't ever watch it again, but it was worth it to learn that whole story.

The Rescuers. (1977, G).

I totally wanted to be Miss Bianca when I was little. I was more of a Rescuers Down Under fan, but this first one does have it's moments and it's fun. I was a little shocked at the amount of alcohol consumed by Luke the swamp mouse, but I guess kids don't pay much attention to that (at least I didn't when I was little, they were just like some of Daddy's friends). Anyways, Miss Bianca is kind, and adventurous, and can talk anyone into anything, never loses her cool, and has the cutest accent on earth. Madame Medusa is just terrifying. Someone tell her to get a dang bra on and wear half the makeup. Oh, and don't lower children into holes that fill with water. Sheesh. It was fun to re-watch a classic kids movie on a lazy saturday morning with Allison.

Les Miserables, 25th anniversary concert.

Goose bump central, can't stop listening to the soundtrack, SUCH A GOOD STORY/MUSICAL. But can I mention how LAME I found it that they let Nick Jonas play Marius, ESPECIALLY for the 25th anniversary concert?!?! Come on, he is a dumb teeny-bopper pop trained singer who can't support a note to save his life. It doesn't help that the guy who played Enjolras was phenomenal, but still. It makes me upset every time I think about it. I guess I've listened to the original soundtrack too many times, but I found him to be an impassionate twit who was concentrating too hard on trying to keep his voice from cracking to care about what he was singing.

Listen from 3:00 to 3:40, BLECH!!!!

Four weddings and a funeral. (1994, R).

Meh. Was not impressed with this movie. There were some entertaining parts, but all in all, Hugh Grant was just as astonished and messy haired as always, and I didn't like the Andie MacDowell character much at all. I loved Gareth and Matthew, and (spoiler) was very sad that Gareth was the funeral. It's the story of a group of friends who wonder if they'll ever find love and marry, and the title explains most of the rest of it. I liked the re-occuring story of Henrietta, and thought that it ended just the way it should. I also liked how Hugh Grant was always late for every important occasion. Reminded me of my own life :-) Don't rent this unless Hugh Grant's rumpled hair and astonished expression makes you feel better about yourself and you don't mind Andie MacDowell playing a less than perfect character. Ooh, but I was in love with her hair.

Easy A. (2010, PG-13)

I'm thinking that someone did a review of this on the blog, but I can't seem to find it. Anyways, I loved it. I thought it was clever, and refreshing, and that Emma Stone is a really good actress. It's a kind of modern version of the Scarlett Letter, where a girl pretends to lost her virginity over the weekend so that her friend won't be offended that she didn't want to go camping, then she pretends to sleep with her gay friend so that he'll stop getting beat up... and then her reputation starts to tank as she does "favors" for lots of other people. I thought Amanda Bynes was finally cast in a deserving role as a condescending judgemental preachy new age christian (she bugs me so bad, it was just perfect). I REALLY liked the parents of Olive (main character), and was just a fan of how it all played out. Also, as someone who was wrongfully accused of being slutty in high school, I could relate a bit. So I completely recommend this if you like good movies and aren't scandalized by the plot line.

Lie to me (2009 TV Series, TV-14)

An awesome show about universal body language and picking up on microexpressions to solve crimes. I'm pretty fascinated by this subject, so I've really like this show. I've only watched the first five episodes, and heard that it turns into more of a regular drama later in, but it is pretty fascinating to watch. I've been trying to study old footage of known liars like they do in the show (i.e. Bill Clinton's speech, etc.), and it has proven that I definitely don't have a natural talent for it, but that doesn't mean I can't pick up on some things!!! Like my co-worker who constantly thrusts her jaw out in a show of superiority. Anyways, good show!! I have a documentary to watch on it (body language). I'll let you know how that goes. 

Growing Op. (2008, NR) 

I ripped this description off of Netflix because I've been writing a lot and this movie was strange. "After years of being home-schooled by his earnest, post-hippie, pot-growing parents, Quinn decides to jump from the nest and give himself a normal high school experience. He quickly learns, however, that there's nothing normal about high school. When the teen falls for a beautiful blonde neighbor, he realizes he'll have to make some compromises to get what he wants -- once he's sure what that is." Lots of pot in this movie. It was one that Matt had just started watching when I got home from work (the why is a little more complicated), and... it was definitely a pro-marijuana film. Interesting statement at the end, but kind of endearing. And as a formerly homeschooled child of one pot smoking and one non-pot smoking hippie parent (s(most awkward sentence ever written? Possibly)) I definitely understood the quest for normality. So, if your parents used to home school you and were hippies, and you think we should ban alcohol and legalize marijuana, this is an interesting movie to watch. 

The Switch. (2010, PG-13).

In my defense, my mother likes obscure chick flicks, and we were having a movie night at her house so I rented this. We didn't end up watching it then, but I had it for five days (go Jiffy!) and was bored one night, so I watched it. It was far fetched, and kind of terrible. It had a pretty good cast of Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Juliette Lewis, Jeff Goldblum, and this really cute neurotic kid. That didn't help. Jennifer Aniston decides to have a baby by IVF, but her neurotic male best friend freaks out, gets drunk, and switches the sperm in a very "yeah right" scene. That's all you need to know. The kid and Jason Bateman have an adorable relationship when they finally meet, and the rest of the movie wasn't worth paying attention too. 

Singin' in the Rain (1952, PA for Pure Awesomeness)

I hadn't seen this movie since I was tiny, and didn't remember much except that there was a scene where someone sang in the rain :-D Oh my goodness, now I'm in love. I watched it twice in one week and keep going back to my favorite scenes on YouTube. I wish I could've lived in that era. Matt and I have both had all of the songs stuck in our head (all of them, every single one). So fun to see such amazingly talented people!!!! Cosmo Brown, the sidekick, was definitely my favorite character. See this, see this, see this. If you don't like this (Goldmember voice) den dere ish no pleashing you. 

My favorite scene: 

From Prada to Nada (2011, PG-13)

What can I say? Sometimes I watch attrociously bad chick flicks. And what I learned from this one is: With enough spray tanning and a dialogue coach, anyone can look Mexican!! Which is what they tried to do here. I actually looked it up ( I was dying of boredom, ok) and both of the female leads have hispanic blood, but not enough to make them not terrible at playing Mexicans. I appreciate that there was an attempt at a multi-cultural chick flick, and some of the storyline played out well, but... It was so weirdly written that I couldn't predict the ending, and most of the time I'm really good at that. So... don't see this. Unless you're really in the mood for some terrible acting in English and Spanish. (OH MY BIP FRIGGIN SAUCE, I just read the IMDB liner and it said that it's a Latina spin on Sense and Sensibility. As a fan of Jane Austen and someone who has recently read the book and watched the film.... I had no idea. I guess I can see that now, kind of... Ai Caramba!!! I didn't think anyone would attempt that!!! I guess they were jealous of how much I liked Easy A, so they decided to try it with some other well known literature. Well guess what you guys, it didn't work so good. Well anyways, the girl who plays Elinor (or NORA in this version) is the scandalous movie-ruiner here, so Em, stay away. Stay far far away).

The Hereafter (2010, PG 13)

Very interesting, slightly supernatural film. It follows the paths of a psychic, a woman who died and was brought back to life, and a young boy who loses his twin. It was very well done, the psychic (Matt Damon) was not cheesy at all, and all three stories, which took place in LA, Paris and London, were all interesting and flowed along together nicely. It's a cool story about people who are touched by death and how it affects the living, and other things that would be spoilers if I shared them on here. There wasn't much dialogue, which I found refreshing, and the plot was mostly not spoon-fed to you. So I'd recommend this if you're in the mood for something a little dark and edgy, but in a very nice way (that was the most nauseating commentary I've ever done, but it really was just something you just have to see for yourself.)

Super 8 (2011, PG 13)

SUCH a good movie!!!! Despite having an alien (not a fan of alien movies), it was kind of... enchanting?  It had an awesome cast of great young actors (I just read that the little blonde girl in it is Dakota Fanning's little sister), and it was this awesome, scary adventure. The dialogue was good, the scary was just scary enough, the acting was good, the plot-line was good... just go see the dang movie!! And the kids are filming a zombie movie during this whole thing that is just brilliant. So go see this movie, it's so worth it. 

Ok, I have watched 3 other movies (not counting the Voice, SNL and The Glee Project that I've been watching on Hulu. OH and I need to catch up on Project Runway, drat!), but I am over blogging right now, and they all involve lots of death, so I'm going to leave this how it is, and maybe start doing this bi-weekly. But then again, Matt is back, which drastically cuts back on the amount of terrible movies I'm allowed to watch :-) 

Joyeux Jeudi Deux

Who knew that you could have more than a quadruple bypass surgery?! George-Dad-Grandpa, AKA Pops McGavin, AKA Duncan's Dad, Octo Dad, etc... my father in law, had two of those today. Yeah, a double quadruple. How come? Because, he's like the Grinch, without the whole "Two sizes too small" present stealing part. Just kidding. They said his heart has more arteries than normal, which I like to believe is because he's so loving. Anyways. He had some persistent heartburn on Saturday that started to radiate down his left arm, and after a little encouragement, he went to the hospital, only to discover that there had been a minor heart attack. They decided he needed to go to Casper, the nearest cardiology center whatsit, and put him on an ambulance that night. The next day, after some bloodwork and laproscoping and such, they concluded that there were some arteries to his kidneys that needed some help too, and put some stints in there to keep those functioning, and then they hit us all with the news. He had eight (8!!!) arteries with blockage that needed to be bypassed. That would require open heart surgery. So, long story short, he wasn't in any immediate danger, but they wanted to operate as soon as possible. Surgery happened this morning, and all updates have been super positive. His heart is beating on it's own, which is great. He's not out from anesthesia yet, and he's in for a long recovery, but after a little wrestling, here are our conclusions.

-There was only a small amount of damage done to his heart, which should heal nicely.

-This very easily could have been a massive heart attack. We are so thankful that it was just a small one to alert us of the problem and get it taken care of.

-Due to his mostly healthy lifestyle, he has very very good odds of making a full recovery, and even being better off than he used to be!! With his heart functioning better, and getting more oxygen around to everything, he should be less fatigued and ready to keep us entertained with his cute little dances and mannerisms all of the time. Although, we may be getting a few less sleeping pictures... 

There are many, many more where those came from...

-Even if this had been "The One", and George went and took "A Dirt Nap" (his words), he has had an absolutely amazing 74 years. I've only known him for about 5 years now, but he quickly became one of my favorite people (after we realized that he's deaf and I'm quiet, we got things straightened out and started communicating). He is one of the most kind, faithful, fun-loving guys EVER. He has an amazing story for every situation, and while he is a man of few words, when he does speak, it's normally either profound, or completely hilarious.

So Pops, we are sooo happy to have you around. You're not totally out of the woods (you're not even awake yet... but I'm posting it anyways and sending all of this positivity out into the universe). We love you, I love you, and you're the best father to your children, and father in law to us adoptees (he will read this, because he's the most technology savvy almost 74 year old around... he'll probably see this on his iPad). We dig your act.

If this is a little scatterbrained, it's because, well, it's been a rough week.

Love you, kisses!!!

A few things that made my day.

1: I was sorting my recycling and putting it in all the correct bins when this guy with a backpack walks up and hands me a $1,000,000 bill. He just said "Here you go" and walked away. I kind of squeaked out a thanks between wondering if he was a rapist and trying to figure out if it was real money (just briefly, massive amounts of common sense set in after that). The front was pretty normal looking (except that it read $1,000,000), but it didn't have grains, watermarks or raised ink (see, all of that forgery training WAS helpful). The back had a message (in teensy tiny print) that talked about how if we've ever committed a sin, we're going to hell. But then it talked about how if we access the atonement we can have eternal life (not in so many words).  I thought it was a cute little object lesson about how that really is what it's like to be able to repent.

2: Much less serious. I was dropping some stuff off at the secondhand store outside drop-off, and spotted this amazing treasure.

In case you can't believe your eyes, it is an inflated blowfish with googly eyes (tackseedermists r us), suspended in a bird cage. I love it so much, I was tempted to steal it and use it in my new bathroom decor. But then, someone is going to pay good money for that, and that would be like taking food from the mouths of children. But I still have two questiosns; WHO?!?!?! and WHY??????!!!!!!

3: I was shopping today for my new bathroom (shush, I wanted an excuse to redecorate anyways), and got a little obsessed with green. I thought about putting a fake plant in my bathroom, but I'm not a huge fan of fake plants. Then I thought about putting a REAL plant in my bathroom, but I knew that I'd have to get one that does REALLY well in shade, or I'd have to be neurotic, and only put it in the bathroom when company comes over. Anyways, I wandered over to the plant section, and looked for a things that didn't require much sunlight. I found a cute little plant that I thought would just be fun to have in my kitchen. So I went and I found a little pot for it. The pot was really little, but it still would need some potting soil in order to let my plant grow to its full potential. So I found a bigger pot, and then I thought that it'd be kind of lame to buy an entire bag of potting soil for just this little plant and its little pot, and hey, I've been wanting to grow some kind of garden! I might as well start something useful and practice. So I found a cheap plastic planter box, and got a cilantro plant, a tomato plant, and a basil plant (salsa and pesto, yay!!!). I got them home, and wanted to get them into the sunlight so that I don't kill them on their first day, but I was going to a friend's house soon, and couldn't find the drill to drill the box onto our little railing thing outside of our door. So, I dug down deep to my "Let's make it practical, who cares if it's pretty" roots, and here is the result. 

Which you can't see at all. Argh! It's taped on. I would have used duct tape because that would've been so much funnier, but I couldn't find THAT either. But I had a good giggle about how proud of me my mom would be. 

4: Last, I spent the evening with two awesome couples, and one of the awesome couple's awesome kids. They've been so good to me for the past couple of months that we've been hanging out, and especially while Matt's been gone. Well awesome child #1, Izacc, is slightly dramatic at times, and tonight was no exception (he's four). We'd walked to a playground after dinner, where the adults digested while the boys played, and just for setup/contrast, Izacc's little brother just turned two, and is wearing some T4 clothes already. He's kind of a beast, and literally ran head first into a couch tonight and it didn't even phase him. He tries so hard to talk, and his parents can understand most of it and he tries so hard to mimic what everyone says. He will sing his entire ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and it's mainly "a ee ee ee ee ee agh, fa fa ee af ah ah ah". He tries so hard and it's ADORABLE. Anyways, Ian is a beast, Izacc is dramatic (but normally very articulate). Izacc went down one slide that went kind of fast, and couldn't catch himself in time, so he hit the gravel butt first and started BAWLING. Ian did the same thing a couple of minutes later, and just looked a little surprised, but then got totally proud of himself, and started yelling for everyone to watch him do it again. The funny part was when Ian came running over smiling and happy saying "Bug, bug!" and pointing to a slide, where Izacc was completely spread-eagle screaming "BUG BUG BUG BUG" and trying to spit on and yell at the bugs. Awesome 8.5 month preggo mom went to go save him, and reported back that there were three tiny bugs on the slide that she'd rescued him from. So funny. 

Well, I probably should prepare my Primary lesson now. I keep forgetting that that has to happen every bippin week. *Sigh*. 4.5 more days sans Matt.

Joyeaux Jeudi

I got the idea from my lovely friend Stephanie (thanks Steph) to make a Thankful Thursday post. It was partially because hers was all about her husband, and I bippin miss Matt Wright right now. And, ya know, it just seemed like a good idea. SO. A whole bunch of reasons I'm thankful for Matt.

1. Matt is kind of the funniest person on the planet. He is forever making me laugh, and making every person around him laugh, and making his entire family hysterical. Sometimes people don't understand, or want him to be "more mature" or something boring like that, but life with Matt is never boring. 
2. On our wedding day, (totally true story) Matt's lawyer told me that no two days with him would be the same. That has proven to be completely true. I am not a huge fan of boredom, or same old same old stuff, so this is a wonderful trait to me. Most of the time :-D
3. Matt really honestly truly cares for people. He is never fake, or indifferent, or two faced. He is such a sweet person, and can befriend and support people who I find insufferable. He is constantly teaching me about being a kinder person without saying anything. 
4. Matt is a talented guy. He really gets into things, to the point that he can't leave it alone until he's satisfied with the way it's done. And not like "I want to learn how to paint flowers better, so I'm going to practice for an hour each day until I'm happy with how they look." He is like "Umm, why do I need to eat/sleep/shower? I am learning how to play the guitar." He went from not being able to play a note, to being able to play almost any chord in less than a year. He would play until his fingers got so raw that they started peeling and interfered with the chords. I am kind of the opposite in this, and get kind of "eh" with just about anything after a while. I really hope our kids are more like him in this.
5. There are so many more reasons, so maybe this is "To be continued..." but Matt is my best friend ever, and makes me feel like I'm the most normal, intelligent, beautiful girl in the world. We have the best time together, and we have reached a point where, when we fight, neither of us want the other's feelings to be hurt, so we both work really hard to make it better, which just makes everything better. I can't believe that I get to be married to Matt Wright. It makes me so dang happy. 

Oh, and not only is he adorable...

 He also looks good in plaid (and, ya know, plays like a shredding hessian)...

Is adorable with children...

AND makes me laugh!!!!!

B's career

I got a new-ish job. Same people, different work. It's tolerable, but nowhere near as fun as being a nanny. We couldn't afford me being a nanny anymore, Dallin goes to school in the fall, and we needed benefits, so I had to quit :-( I'm over the new job, which has led me to contemplate "Things that would actually make money that B wouldn't mind doing on a regular basis". The job itself is ok. I'm the "Super helper" which basically means anyone can boss me around at any time, and I get paid lots of money to do it. There was a riff last week because one employee was hogging me. *sigh*. It's also micro-management central. But I'm really just over working lame jobs. So that has brought me to trying to realistically dream about the future. We've had tiny glimpses of our business being able to make enough money to support us, but for the time being, I am not putting all of my eggs in that basket. So here's what I would love/tolerate for the future.

-If money and age were not a problem, I would be a dancer. Since that is not looking viable, I took a Zumba class this semester, and it was amazing. My Zumba instructor, who I semi-worship, told me I should become an instructor. And don't worry, I wouldn't be a very good "Traditional Zumba" instructor. It'd be more like semi-choreographed Matt and B dance party moves. But that's not really a career in these parts, more like just a way to get paid to work out. So that would be a side job. And I will never do it in a neon sports bra with hoop earrings to Latin Techno. More like plaid leg warmers and a Flashdance style sweatshirt to Flogging Molly.

-This is just funny/sad. I recently got bullied into becoming a Mary Kay consultant. BEFORE YOU JUDGE ME, hear me out. My skin had hit rock bottom. It depressed me every time I looked in the mirror. It was distracting to Matt. Everything I tried wasn't working, and I tried SO MANY things. Matt and I decided that I could invest in some good skin care stuff, and my friend, the consultant, called me to tell me Mary Kay was half off, so I decided to try their stuff. It worked, and has continued to work. But she wasn't happy with just selling me stuff, and I'm terrible at saying "Back off!!". So, many details omitted later, it turns out that in April the starter kit was $50 instead of $100, and it had a few hundred dollars worth of "product" in it, including the entire skin care line I've been using, some nice mascara/foundation, etc. I went for it, nicely told her to get off my back, and have since been giving away all of the extra product (Bronze #5 anyone?) and throwing away the startling amount of propaganda that they've been sending me. I will never ever ever go forward with this because the very thought of being pushy makes me want to curl up in a corner and die. I'm much more of a Ben than a Dan :-)

Oh, this is also funny/sad. I've been measuring all of my future careers based on 2 things; Would my mother want to do it, and will it be a useful skill when the end of the world comes. Really great benchmarks, I know. If my mother would like it, it's out of the question. That's why the two at the top of the list are interior design (which my mother would hate, it's too impractical) and accounting (the one form of math that I'm good at and my mother hates). I would love to make everything more beautiful and efficient, but really, how useful is that going to be in a post-apocolyptic world? And accounting, I really wouldn't mind as long as I didn't have to work with too many stupid people. That's another benchmark; How many stupid people would I have to deal with on a regular basis.

-I still have a scholarship that I could activate in order to attend the University of Wyoming for close to nothing, and I looked and there is an accounting program online, whereas all of the interior design stuff is far away/expensive. I've already missed the registration deadline for the fall, but for the time being (i.e. the next 2 weeks) I am going to go forward with hopes of getting a degree in accounting.

That felt good to get out of my head.

I like makeup.

It makes me look human.

Stress isn't good for B's skin.

Food superblog!!!

All right, I am just going to knock this bipper out because it's been a while since we ate some of these, and there are so many good ones!!

Wraps!

These wraps are just refreshing and yummy. Tortillas, hummus, cukes and guac. Also good with lettuce and tomatoes. Here's a super easy hummus recipe.

• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Just blend together in a food processor or blender. If it needs more liquid, add the garbanzo bean juice. It's a little bland, and a little garlicky, so I've started buying organic hummus, which is super good and creamy. But this works in a pinch! 

Another good wrap (that I don't have a picture for) is this.

Corn tortillas

Black beans, mashed and heated up with cumin, chili powder and cilantro

Green peppers

Sour cream

Guacomole

Salsa or tomatoes

SO GOOD! 

Blueberry cornmeal pancakes, dedicated to all of the pancake loving babies out there. 

This is probably the best recipe I've found so far. They're pretty dense, and stick with you, and just have such good texture and flavor! I use frozen blueberries, and then buy the ugly bananas at the store and freeze them, they're perfect for this. I just thaw them in the microwave. 

1/3 C. yellow cornmeal

2/3 C. whole wheat flour

1/2 C. frozen blueberries (I add lots more because I LOVE bluebabies!)

1/2 C. milk

1 mashed ripe banana

1 egg

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

More milk if too thick

Don't mix too much!

Pita pockets! Such good flavor!  

Pita bread

Hummus

Filling (chop everything pretty small)

10-12 Kalamati olives (I bet regular olives work just fine)

3-4 leaves Romaine lettuce

1/2 green pepper

1/3 cucumber

3-4 slices of pickled beets

1-2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar

Smoky veggie chili and cornbread

This is wonderful, but a TON of food for 2 people. The cornbread was a little overdone, so I'd cook it shorter at first. Also, slice the sweet potato really small because it doesn't break up very much in the cooking process. Also, I have this buttermilk powder that saves my bacon because it's always called for so randomly, and sometimes I don't get a recipe done when I want to :-) One more thing... greek yogurt doesn't seem like much more than snobby sour cream. 

Asparagus, leek and swiss quiche 

First of all, a good swiss cheese is a substitute for the gruyere which is MASSIVELY EXPENSIVE!! 

Second, you can substitute some milk for some half and half to make it a little less fattening. 

Third, add more veggies and take out some of the egg mixture to make it healthier. I used a different crust recipe. It was a little tough, but pretty dang good. This makes an EXCELLENT breakfast!! 

Last, but certainly not least, are our snacks! Courtesy of greenereating.com (thanks for the tip Em). These are vegan recipes, which I de-veganify by just using eggs and milk, etc. The cherry chocolate chip snack bars freeze well, and are very filling, and good for my sweet tooth. I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to add the water that goes along with the egg replacer, so I added it, and they were pretty dang moist, which we both liked. 

The "CRUNCHY BANANA EOUNEGNI PPLESAUCE MUFFINS" (see Matt's GoPro test video on YouTube or Facebook) are a new FAVORITE!!!! Even DALLIN the pickiest eater on EARTH enjoys these. They're nothing too special, but they have just the right amount of all the good stuff, and I love the oat-ey texture. Again, I just microwave the frozen brown bananas, and otherwise I have all of the ingredients on hand. I'm not sure if these freeze well or not because between the Fab family and Matt and I, we've eaten 3 dozen since last week. They're a perfect quick breakfast, pre-Zumba snack, mid-morning snack, B'sexperimentingwithanewrecipeandit'stakingalongtime snack, etc.  

These are definitely all recipes we want to repeat, and some that we have repeated quite a few times! 

Bon Appetit!! 

My thoughts on food.

Well, as some people know, I've become an almost vegetarian over the past month. I say almost because Matt's awesome family makes amazing dinners for us on Sunday, and I'd hate to be a burden, and I don't want to develop any nutrient deficiencies, so I am a vegetarian six days a week, and on the seventh day I rest :-). This was hard for about a week, given that my favorite foods were hot dogs and jerky before this, but it has not been too bad! I was a vegetarian for the my freshman and sophomore years of high school, and it feels good to be back. I haven't had the heart to throw away the pack of hot dogs in the meat drawer yet, but I have buried them under three different kinds of tofu. Matt is not staying away from meat as much as I am, but he is enjoying my cooking, and has been eating much much better and reaping the rewards of it.

Some of our reasoning behind this.

-Matt has a lot of trouble sleeping, and so we decided to kick all soda habits, and neither of us have had soda in over a month. We both experienced withdrawals, and that got us thinking about how many chemicals are in our body.

-Matt doesn't eat. It's not uncommon for me to come home at 4 and hear "I'm starving, I haven't ate a single thing today." When we talked about this, one of his reasons (besides just forgetting) was that he hates making things, and another one was that he doesn't want to just eat anything, he wants to make what he does eat do his body good.

-We watched Food Inc. It was very very interesting, and very very traumatic. There is a scene in a chicken factory where they open a drawer that turns out to be some sort of incubator, and most of the eggs have hatched and there are tons of little chicks just wandering around this tiny, dark drawer. Then they close that drawer. The chicks get sent off to a massively filthy, cramped, dark, awful coops, where they are raised for the next 70 days to be so fat they can hardly walk, and then they're killed. That was the moment that did it for me, and I was a re-devoted vegetarian after that.

-I've been working out a lot lately, and it sucks to put chemicals and yucky stuff in your body after working so hard to take care of it.

-We've reread the Word of Wisdom pretty closely, and both feel that there are some things that we could improve on. It talks about grains being the staff of life, so we've been working hard to incorporate more into our diet. It talks about eating meat only in the winter and times of famine, and the rest of the time eating fruits and vegetables and other good things.

I'm going to get onto a soapbox for just a minute. We were given the Word of Wisdom to protect our bodies from harmful addictions and substances. We don't need to look very far to see how bad alcohol and drugs are. But coming in close behind that in danger is the obesity epidemic. There is such a lack of mainstream nutrition that 1 in 4 children born nowadays will develop diabetes in their lifetime if there is not a drastic change. All the junky food is cheaper than the nutritious stuff because people have opted to buy it, corporations can afford good lobbyists, and the government subsidizes mass produced, chemically enhanced garbage that they hardly even have to label anymore because no one takes the time to care about what they're putting in their bodies!!! We eat three meals a day, and everything that we eat becomes our body and blood, so we literally are what we eat. Things might taste really good in our mouth, but what does it do for us after that, when it has the most impact? Another point; We lived the Mosaic law before Jesus came to the earth and performed the Atonement. That law is what the Jews still follow today, and they make all of their meat Kosher, which means it is treated way better, more respectfully, killed more humanely, the animals are blessed, etc. After Jesus' life, we were given higher laws to live. I would think that Heavenly Father never meant for any of his creations to be treated the way that animals who are commercially raised are being treated. I'm not any type of church historian, but I couldn't find any evidence of advice that we'd been pardoned from obeying those parts of it. If the pioneers were told to obey food restrictions when food was so scarce, it should be every bit as important now when food is in abundance.

So, now that I've preached all of that, I'm here to tell you that healthy food can be just as yummy, and Matt and I both feel so much better, more energetic, and just less yucky after we eat. Also, not buying meat is pretty easy on the ol' grocery bill. I will be sharing some of the better recipes we've tried with you in the very near future!

It's that time of the month...

The time when Matt would gladly trade places with almost any person in the world. The time when animals and small children burst into tears when they see me. The time when my mother has been tempted to call the local mental institution/buy me a straightjacket, and iPods have been seen flying across the house. Monster time!

Now, all women can get a little moody, but I have been cursed with the ever loving pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD, which is the evil stepmother to PMS. I am on medication, which I take for 10 days before you know what, but the days between you know what can last from 25-35 days, so sometimes we have to wait for the claws to come out to know that it's actually time. The medicine just makes me regular old B again, not irrational, red-eyed, fire breathing B, but tonight it looks like it hasn't kicked in yet. So everyone should post something encouraging for Matt to get him through these next 24 hours or so, and remind him how nice I am when I'm not slamming doors and growling. That's all, thanks.

Dallins and babies and puppies, oh my!!

Prequel: I am a nanny for the Fabrizius family. Cory and Heidi (dad and mom) run their own business. They have two boys, Dallin (5) and Logan (7). Logan is in 2nd grade, and Dallin goes to pre-school three days a week. I mainly watch Dallin, but they have me do other things when Dallin wants to play with a friend or after school, stuff like that. I've done everything from watch them overnight to tearing down wallpaper, to... puppy sitting.




Remember how my life got unusually busy recently? Well, I started this week by going to work and discovering that my bosses had purchased not one, but TWO puppies over the weekend. It is currently averaging about 5 degrees in these parts, and their home is in the middle of a small remodel, complete with new hardwood floors. Oh, and they have a teensy lawsuit going on. So, I had a couple of minutes of wondering if they needed to be checked into a mental institution. They'd been talking about getting a dog, but I thought it would be one, and after the snow melted. It turns out they went to Casper (nearest pet store) wanting to get one puppy, but Logan (7) and Cory (30 something) both fell in love with a different puppy, and neither could be persuaded to leave without the dog of their choosing. So Heidi made them both swear that she would not be cleaning up any messes, had a brief panic attack, and decided to get both.

This is Cory's pick Chester, a bull mastiff. Hate the name, LOVE the face. He acts like he's just going "Duh, which way did he go doc, which way did he go..."but he is the sweetest, most gentle giant ever. He hasn't yet learned that the door open means go outside, or that you shouldn't run into things with your head, but today he made me really proud by figuring out how to get down some really steep slippery stairs that even little Miss Lacey couldn't figure out. He's going to be HUGE! And I just love his temperament otherwise. He loves people, and is a wonderful cuddle buddy to his crate mate (they do have two crates, but they prefer to sleep in the same one, so cute).


This is Lacey, Logan's pick. She is a yellow lab. I love the name, it's so something that a 7 year old would pick out for a girl. She is a smart little thing, and runs circles around Chester. She plays keepaway really well, and has picked up on pretty much everything puppies should know really fast. I love her ears, and her whole face. She's such a spunky little lady, all of the construction workers fell in love with her instantly. She loves playing in the snow, and has already started to play fetch.

Wednesday was kind of a crazy day because I had a 9 month old I was taking care of along with Dallin and the two puppies. The puppy's main environment is the garage, since Chester doesn't like the snow. Right now, that's also the main work area for the construction crew, so when we let them out of their crates, they have to be watched so that they don't chew on extensions cords and sandpaper and stuff. The baby, Murray, is at pretty much the same stage. Everything he can get his hands on goes into his mouth. So yesterday, I got to be an expert at the one fingered swipe to get things out of puppy mouths and infant mouths. I got bit a couple of times, and I washed my hands about a million times. I also had to change diapers and clean up puddles because Chester refused to go outside and I couldn't find a spot fast enough to put Murray down and pick Chester up... So Wednesdays are going to be crazy for a little while! I'm thinking a baby backpack would be a really great idea at this point. I couldn't even set Murray down in the kitchen because there were tool belts everywhere (drill bits ≠ good chew toys) or the basement because Dallin FREAKED every time Murray got close to one of his toys (youngest child syndrome). The rest of the house was taped off so... I got really good at making peanut butter and honey sandwiches one handed (that's the only thing Dallin will eat with any kind of regularity). Anyways, that's my job. The boy's aunt suggested I start a business called Wright Hand because I do pretty much everything. Tomorrow I will be working in their lab, and next week I get to paint a ceiling. But I'd way rather play with all the babies. Pray for energy for me! 

I'm tiyewed...

Dallin, the 5 year old I nanny for, is normally ready for a nap by Thursday afternoon. That means for about half of Thursday the caring, sweet, reasonable, gentle boy I normally care for has been possessed by a whiney, rude, violent, obnoxious little demon child. Yesterday was no exception, and actually was one of the worse days that I've had with him. Some highlights were us going out to the car and him declaring that he would be walking to wherever we were going because he didn't want to be around me anymore (I kind of echoed that feeling by this point). I was talking to his mom later that day, and he came over and shoved me out of the way so that he could play where I was standing. He demanded that he needed to have a friend over, and when I told him he'd have to ask his mother (she was getting home in about 20 minutes), he declared that he never wanted me to come to his house and I needed to stop "talking so mean" to him. Oh joy. He's such a sweet boy normally that I just have to swallow everything he says and know that it'll all be over once he gets some sleep.

I'm kind of feeling the same way today. I was exhausted yesterday after dealing with him, 2 dance classes, locking all of our house keys in the apartment, and painting his parents entryway. Today, I need to finish the trim so that they can lay tile on Monday. But the kind of paint we need isn't available anywhere around here, so I had to find a substitution in a close color. The ideal paint was paint + primer, to save a step. Well, I found some paint that I needed, then drove away and realized that I'd have to prime first. So I went back and bought the primer, got back to the house, got the car stuck in an intersection right by house, went to the garage to get a shovel to dig the car out, and found a 5 gallon bucket of primer.... Argh! Went and returned primer to the clerk who wished me a much better day from there forward. So, that's my saga. TGIF, because tomorrow I am sleeping.

P.S. Sorry for the whiney posts. It's been a long week.

I prayed for work...

We were having a tight month, and I just prayed that I'd be granted enough work so that I wouldn't have to stress about finances. I've been blessed with-
-A 6 bed, 3 bath home which I will be cleaning every week
-A 9 month old who I will be watching every Wednesday

-The occasional watching of Dallin's 5 year old cousin

-An extensive home improvement project my bosses are doing, which I've been the all around girl for
-Matt kicking the business up a notch or 5

This is on top of
-My regular position as a nanny
-A violin lesson
-A much smaller house that I clean
-Wright Media
-Being Matt Wright's wife
-Trying to get in shape

I am sooo very grateful for all of these things, but I wonder what will happen if I pray for some energy? And when does all that energy that comes from working out kick in?!

WHO KNOWS HOW TO KNIT?!?!?!?!

Oh my goodness.  I may take up knitting just to make myself one of these. I need one so bad. It could never be topped at an ugly sweater party, ever. It's so awkward. I was looking at Awkward Family Photos (such a wonderful site), and came across this gem.

I was instantly in love/hate. Then I found this amazing steal...

Only $715, but sold out in all US and European stores... I guess it's a new fad, so I must not be too crazy. I found a Facebook group called The Horse Sweater, devoted to this sweater... 

I mean, look at the mane on the white horse. I could die. The only other awesome one I could find was this. 

I think that last one is my favorite, even if it is apparently for a child. There are buttons on the halters, and that fringe is just so... 3-dimensional. 

So, family and friends, I think I've found my calling for life. Or at least for this next year.  Scout and I will have matching horse sweaters by next Christmas. Probably not, but a girl can dream, can't she?