My Computer is Back!

I just got my computer back, but I still have a lot of work to do to get it back to where it was. I have to re-install all of my software! It will probably be awhile before I feel up to doing a proper post, but I am a couple weeks past due on a tag from Kristine.

Here is how it is supposed to work: Post the fourth picture in your fourth file.



It's not the best photo. I took it with a self-timer. It is all of Rod's family when we went home for the LSU game last year.

Now I tag Carley Anne, Mindy, and Rachel Ann.

Wedding Wednesday: STDs

No, it's not what you're thinking. In wedding speak, STDs = Save the Dates. Rod and I had initially planned on not sending STDs. We thought they would be wasteful and contrary to our environmentally friendly theme. But, after one of our friends tried to schedule a rafting trip on the weekend of our wedding, we decided we should send some sort of reminder to our friends.

We compromised with an electronic save the date. Once again, we relied on the talents of Tobin. Here is what he came up with:



Although electronic save the dates may not be the most extravagant option, this was the low stress, environmentally friendly option and the right option for us.

FBA Annual Awards Dinner

One of my many obligations last week was to present the Utah Chapter of the Federal Bar Association's inaugural Pro Bono Award. I was so excited to give out this award because the recipient, Judge Brook Wells, is so deserving, but I was so nervous! I know this sound funny coming from someone whose profession revolves around public speech, but this was a lot more intimidating because I was not just speaking to one judge, but a whole room full of them. There were around 120 people there and most of them were attorneys that had been practicing 10-30+ years or judges. Only the most saddistic person would ever volunteer to speak to a room full of attorneys, who are generally the most critical audience.

Also, I worried about not doing justice to Judge Well's amazing accomplishments. She is such an inspiration to me. She almost did not get admitted to law school and now she is a very impressive federal judge who has gone beyond her ordinary judicial responsibilities to set up programs to help those less fortunate. I first came into contact with Judge Wells as the FBA's pro bono coordinator. She contacted me to see if the FBA would be willing to help the district court set up a program to appoint counsel in pro se civil cases. These are generally cases where the plaintiff has asserted a civil rights claim against the government and the judge feels that the case has some merit, but that the plaintiff should be represented. The Judge may appoint counsel, but the process until this year has been ad hoc. Now, we have developed a Federal Appointment Wheel where the judge can easily determine who to appoint by looking at the list of 20+ law firms that have volunteered to take these cases on pro bono.

Although I am very proud of this program, it is only one of Judge Well's many projects. She was also the driving force behind RISE, a federal re-entry program that helps those with drug addiction or mental health issues re-enter society after incarceration. On its most basic level, the drug and mental health courts provide weekly support to the participants who are carefully selected and focus on treating the issues rather than the threat of re-incarceration to reduce recidivism. The federal mental health court was the first of its in kind in the nation. The drug court was one of the first. Most impressive of all this is that the Judge knows each of the participants and, you can tell from talking to her, has very high hopes for their futures.

So you can see why I was a little intimidated giving the award to such an impressive woman.

A bad week

Once again, I apologize for the long hiatus in blogging. This time it is not my fault. Last week my computer crashed. It's bad enough that I don't have use of my computer, but all my wedding photographs (and the table of thank yous I still need to write) are on there. Hopefully, my IT person can fix it! To make matters worse, it happened on the same day I got a speeding ticket, the same week Rod was in Denver all week, and the night before I attended a funeral.

On a happier note, while Rod was away I got to do all kinds of things that I can never do when he is here. Don't get me wrong, I HATE it when he has to travel for work. It is funny how after living alone and being fine for so many years that I now immediately get paranoid and lonely when he is not here. BUT while he was away, I got to do something I haven't done for years . . . make Ramen noodles. I couldn't help laughing while I was making them. I kept looking at the All Clad saucepan and thinking I can guarantee this is the first time this has ever been done. I also couldn't help but imagine Rod's reaction. :) When Rod is here, he usually makes sure that I eat well. He can turn any hodge podge of what is left in the fridge into a gourmet meal. When he is not around, I revert to my college days, eating chip and salsa, mac and cheese, and ramen noodles. They are fast, easy, cheap. What's not to like?
You know it's a bad week when the highlight is making Ramen noodles.

The funeral did make me put all the problems in perspective though. Life is too short and there are so many bad things that happen during it, you cannot dwell on them.

PTC: Noises Off

I meant to write about the Pioneer Theater Company's amazing line up this year after the last show I went to, My Fair Lady, but I got sidetracked and it never happened. I am such a big fan of the PTC. I started watching its plays when I was a student and could get season tickets for $5. Now that I am in the real world, the season tickets cost more (not a lot more, though) and are so worth it. I have never been disappointed by the quality of the actors or the set. Sometimes, well actually just once, I was not happy with the play (seriously, who thought that James Joyce's The Dead would make a good musical?).

This year, more so than ever, I am super-excited about the plays. There is not a single one that I'm not looking forward to watching. You have already missed My Fair Lady, which is one of my favorite musicals (I watched for the first time as a movie with my friend LisaDawn), and Noises Off, which about made me pee my pants it was so funny.

The rest of the plays this year include: The Light in the Piazza (2005 Tony Award for best musical score and lyrics), The Yellow Leaf, Romeo and Juliet, Dial M for Murder, and Miss Saigon.

If you're interested, the box office can be reached at 801-581-6961. I also have 1 free ticket that can be used on any of the plays except Miss Saigon. Comment if you want it. If more than one person comments, than I will pick a "winner" at random.

Break a leg!

I apologize for my long hiatus from blogging this week. Between trying to file for a TRO and attending multiple fundraising and social events, I just didn't have the energy or the desire. Even this weekend (and I know how pathetic this sounds), I had plans to go bowling with friends on Friday and to a Birthday party at a new dance club (The Pearl) Saturday night. Instead, Rod and I went to dinner by ourselves Friday night and stayed at home and watched a movie Saturday night.

We did manage to fit in one fun thing, though. So I don't feel like a complete loser. We went to the ultra-fabulous Baby Shower for Tara. This was one of the funnest baby showers I have ever attended. Most of the showers I've been to usually devolve into here are the most horrendous things that can happen to you while in labor. All the ripping and the tearing and the other things I cannot even bring myself to write . . . usually I leave relieved that I am not the one about to give birth. Seriously, why do people think is a good subject for a baby shower? If I were the expectant mother, I would run out of the room bawling!



Anyway, this was a couples brunch shower with an amazing spread. Tara, the guest of honor, has a neighbor who is a professional party hostess (what a fun job!). She thought of everything. My favorite were the crepes with nutella filling and the pumpkin roll. The bloody marys were not too shabby either. She made ham and cheese croissants shaped like diapers (plastic pink and blue pins and all). The creamers for the coffee and tea were in new baby bottles. So cute! And, most excitingly, the conversation never turned to "I heard about this woman who . . ." Yay!

Crazy Weather

In the last two weeks, we had beautiful fall weather, several inches of snow, beautiful spring weather, and gloomy, cold rain in that order. Who knows what it will do next. Here's fingers crossed for more fall weather in the valley and snow in the mountains.

Yes we did!

It is so exciting to be part of history in the making. I will remember my whole life what I was doing the moment they announced that Obama won the election. I was in my living room with forty or so of our friends, popping bottles of champagne, cheering, crying, and knowing that the world as we know it has changed. The hope and pride in the room was palpable.







I am SO proud to be an American.

One Word

Tagged. Again.

I have to answer each question with only one word.

Where is your cell phone? Purse
Where is your sig. other? Steaming
Your hair color? Blonde
Your mother? Sharilee
Your father? Mike
Your favorite thing? Rod
Your dream last night? Work
Your dream/goal? Success
The room you're in? TV
Your hobby? Photography
Your fear? Ignorance
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Traveling
Where were you last night? Home
What you're not? Mean
One of your wish list items? SLR
Where you grew up? Idaho
Last thing you ate? Creamie
What are you wearing? Pajamas
Your TV? SNL

Your pet? Orange
Your computer? HP
Your mood? Excited
Missing someone? Grandparents
Your car? Rav4
Something you're not wearing? Shoes
Favorite store? Nordstrom
Your summer? Over
Love someone? Absolutely
Favorite color? Red
When was the last time you laughed? Presently
When was the last time you cried? Friday
And the ones I tag are: Mindy, Kristine, and Rachel Ann

Wedding Wednesday: The Guestbook

©2008 ZumaPhoto.com

I love pictures! I am a camera geek. I bring my camera with me everywhere and document everything. We considered several options for our guestbook--the framed/matted picture, a vase full of river rocks, a professional photo album with our engagement pictures. In the end, we decided that the best fit for our personalities would be a handcrafted photo album with pictures from us as children, growing up, dating, etc. We liked that it gave us a place to use photos from throughout our relationship (not just the engagement) and to honor the important people in our lives, including our family members who are no longer with us.

We actually already had the album itself. A friend, Sarah, had given me a large brown album with thick paper for my birthday. It was too beautiful to use for just anything, so I had been saving it for a special occasion. It was perfect!

Next, we picked out pictures that we liked and separated them into four categories: pictures of us by ourselves, together, with our families, and with our friends. My mom helped me cut out mattes to frame the pictures and attach them with photo corners. We left a lot of extra space between the photos so that there would be plenty of room for our guests to write.



We contacted Ron Tate, a very talented calligrapher, to write in the album. He studied the laurenscript font that we used on our stationary and within an hour was able to recreate it in our album. We had him write "Jen & Rod" on a page with a picture of me and a picture of Rod at age 3, "With their families" with pictures of us and our families, "and their friends" with pictures of our friends, "Together" with pictures of the two of us, and "Forever" with our wedding invitation. There were several pages following each titled page with more pictures in that category. The rest of the book is blank for us to add more pictures of us as our lives progress.

We put the guestbook out on a table with framed pictures of us from our engagement and bridal sessions and pictures of us with family members that had passed on. I carefully picked out felt tipped markers in robins egg, green apple, purple, and brown. I wrapped them with floral tape and topped them with white silk flowers (the ones you get on all the Pottery Barn wrapped gifts). The pens were arranged in a flower pot with coffee beans. We created a sign to sit next to the guestbook that read "Please share your favorite memories of the bride and/or groom, words of wisdom for their future, a funny story about them, or your favorite moment of the day."

©2008 ZumaPhoto.com

It is so fun to have this keepsake of our special day.

Happy Election Day!

While we are having a big election party at our house (FINALLY an election to celebrate!), I will leave you with this

Happy Halloween!

I am just now coming down from a long weekend of eating nothing but sugar. The weekend started early with a work party. As you can see, there were some very creative costumes:



Afterwards we went home to hand out candy to our trick-or-treaters. We, of course, ate about half as much candy as we handed out. I have an uncontrollable weakness for Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Rod's costume was a huge hit. The last few Halloweens have been about how shocking I can make his costume. This might be the extent of it. :)

We finished Halloween night off at John and Allyson's Halloween Party. Instead of eating a real dinner, I snacked on Ally's hummus and cheese plate and Carrie and Rory's mini pigs-in-a-blanklet. I finished it off with smarties from the candy basket.









Saturday, Nici, Mellie, and I (and Corey and Rod) got together for our annual Scary Movie Night. We started getting together for scary movie night right after we graduated from law school. We usually get together on Halloween night since it usually in the middle of the week and all the parties are on the weekends. For the occasion, I made sugar cookies. They were SO yummy, but I ate about half the dough before it ever made it to the cookie sheets.

Sunday involved catching up with friends over brunch at the Fiddler's Elbow, which tempted me with its breakfast buffet (especially its belgium waffles and french toast), and over dinner. We ended the weekend with creme brulee at our house. It was such a fun (and yummy) weekend, but I may be in a sugar coma for the rest of the week.