Martha Lies

Only my closest friends (and now the three people who follow this blog) know that I have a secret obsession with Martha Stewart. This is a deep dark secret that I only rarely admit even to myself. I won't subscribe to her magazine (to maintain plausible deniability), but I can't go to the grocery store without picking it up. I am not delusional enough to believe that I could do everything as well as her. I just don't have the time, patience, or, as my friend Allyson was so kind to point out, minions. But some of her DIY projects are just too cute to resist. Although I've had some success,

Cute idea for wrapping wine bottles.

Most of the projects end up just okay

and I usually end up feeling frustrated. My most recent frustration was with her conversation heart sugar cookies. Here is what the cookies were supposed to look like:

Martha Stewart Living

Here are how mine turned out:

Where did I go wrong? Well, Ms. Stewart said that the writing could be added to the cookies by simply soaking a paper towel with food coloring and using a reusable letter stamp (available through Martha Stewart, of course). So I went out and bought the supplies and anxiously waited for the morning of valentine's day to surprise Rod. I was SO disappointed when the food coloring wouldn't stick to the stamp. I tried brushing the stamp with frosting, but this only made a mess. I ended up writing on the cookies (and not well) the old fashioned way (with a frosting bag). Maybe it would work with gel food coloring. Any suggestions?

100 Things

This post is making the rounds. Here goes, my 100 things are in bold below:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept overnight on a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when your're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden a gondola in Switzerland
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagra Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen Amish country
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in movie
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. One cavity or less

57 out of 100 . . . I still have a long way to go (but I don't think I want to get all of them).

Our First Valentine's Day (as a married couple)

About a month before V-day, Rod told me that he had made plans for the holiday. I was SO excited. I love surprises! Then, just a couple of weeks before the big day, Rod told me that the surprise plans had fallen through. We were left scrambling for alternate plans. Usually we go to dinner at a nice restaurant, but it was too late to get reservations anywhere worth eating. We opted, instead, to catch the Ballet West version of Madame Butterfly at the Capitol Theater.

From the SL Trib

It was such a perfect day. We spent the entire day just the two of us. I woke up early to surprise Rod with V-day sugar cookies. We had lunch at a cute (good but not great) sushi restaurant before heading downtown. The ballet was wonderful, if not emotional. I think I enjoyed it more than Rod, but he was wonderful. We made a quick cookie drop to my prego friend CarleyAnne, and headed home to cuddle in for the rest of the evening.

Sundance: One of the many great reasons to live in Utah

Most of the year, people who haven't discovered that if you look past the strange politics, the polygamists, and the weird liquor laws, Utah is a great place to live, avoid it like the plaque. Every winter, though, celebrities and groupies flock to Utah in droves to prance around Park City in their tight designer jeans and knee high Uggs and watch indie films. And it is so AWESOME!


I love independent films (and the celebs aren't so bad either). It is so fun to get to see them (the films) before the rest of the world does and to pick the director/producer/writer/actors' brain about what they were thinking. It is one of the few places where you can run into the director at Starbucks 30 minutes before the film starts.


This year, I messed up and registered for individual ticket sales instead of the locals only sale. By the time my time slot rolled around, all the good tickets were gone. I decided to try my luck at the day-of ticket sales and wait listing. Wait listing is a waste of time, but I had moderate luck with the day-of ticket sales. I got tickets to Toe to Toe and The Greatest. Both were great (but depressing--I think that is a prerequisite to getting into Sundance). Toe to Toe is the not-so-classic story of a spoiled rich white girl and struggling black girl from the inner city. Both girls are new to a school, fighting for a position on the lacrosse team, and fighting over the same boy. The director said that she was trying to explore race relations and why the majority of interracial friendships end by Eighth Grade, but the movie seemed to be just as much about socioeconomic status and how girls apply a different standard to boys than they do to other girls. The main cast was there and they agreed to take this picture with me. The acting was great. I expect that we will see more of these actors in the future.

SONEQUA MARTIN, LOUISA KRAUSE

The Greatest had an all star cast and an incredibly emotional story about how a family deals with the death (car accident) of their teenage son on the last day of high school. The movie hit a little too close to home and I spent the majority of it crying so hard I couldn't see the screen. It had a happy ending, but I don't know how realistic it was. After the screening, Clem and I hurried to the front of the auditorium to talk to Susan Sarandon. We pushed right past James Bond (Pierce), who wasn't as social as Susan. She and the other young actors were so nice, signing autographs and taking photos. I told Susan, "I don't want an autograph or a picture (I had already taken a ton), I just want to shake your hand." Cheesy, I know, but so what. I GOT TO SHAKE SUSAN SARANDON'S HAND. :)

Pierce Brosnan, ?, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan, Johnny Simmons, Zoe Kravitz

The next week, I went to best of fest with Rod and a bunch of friends from work and school. Once again, the winners were depressing. Push is about an overweight black girl, who has been raped by her father, is pregnant with his child (again), abused physically and emotionally by her mom, and illiterate. Her life is about as hopeless as it gets. Everything that could happen to this girl did. She is still hopeful, though. It made us want to slit our wrists. Don't worry, we are not really suicidal, we just don't recommend watching this film if you want to be able to function afterwards.

Afghan Star was the most uplifting film I saw at Sundance. It is about an American Idol-type show in Afghanistan. Unlike the cheesy American show, though, it is making a real difference in Afghanistan. The movie points out that text voting is the first real experience that many Afghans have with the democratic process. The show is also making a huge political statement because for the last 30 or so years, singing and dancing has been forbidden, and men and women do not hang out together in public. That part was uplifting (and eye-opening! Who thought American Idol could have any relevance?). But the female participants will probably be killed for participating in it. Not so uplifting.

Tagged to Share

To help my friend LisaDawn cheer herself up, I am participating in the "Lucky You" Game. Here is how it works: The first five people (if that many people read this) that respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It’ll be done this year. {hopefully slightly sooner;)}
4. You have no clue what it’s going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry, a picture, or maybe even some creation I haven’t even invented yet. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange (if I feel the desire).
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!
* * *Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

A new day

As I was taking Rumba on her morning walk, I couldn't help contain my excitement. I was practically skipping down the street thinking about the fact that today (TODAY) would be Bush's last day in office and Obama's first. It felt as if the whole world was holding its breath in anticipation, watching history in the making.

Then Rumba stopped in her tracks. She wouldn't move and just kept staring at the house in front of us. At first I thought that there was a dog or cat in the house, but then I realized she was looking at the backyard where four deer were standing. We stared at each other, not moving, for what seemed like minutes. I think it was a good omen of things to come!

Later, as I was watching the inauguration with friends at Kate's house, I looked over at her adorable son, Luke. He is only a few months old. I realized that he will be eight (fingers crossed) when Obama leaves office. More importantly, he will grow up never knowing that having a black man as president is world changing.

Although I thought his speech was great, my favorite part of the inauguration was watching the people from all over the world watch and how it affected them. The tears, the hope, it's a new day!

The Departing Shot

I thought these famous Bush quotes would be a nice set up for my next post (the Inauguration!).

1. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."—Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

2. "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."—Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000

3. "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"—Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000

4. "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country."—Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

5. "Neither in French nor in English nor in Mexican."—declining to answer reporters' questions at the Summit of the Americas, Quebec City, Canada, April 21, 2001

6. "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.''—Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001

7. "I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense."—Washington, D.C., April 18, 2006

8. "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."—Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005

9. "I've heard he's been called Bush's poodle. He's bigger than that."—discussing former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, as quoted by the Sun newspaper, June 27, 2007

10. "And so, General, I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq."—meeting with Army Gen. Ray Odierno, Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008

11. "We ought to make the pie higher."—South Carolina Republican debate, Feb. 15, 2000

12. "There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again."—Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

13. "And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it."—speaking on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007

14. "We'll let our friends be the peacekeepers and the great country called America will be the pacemakers."—Houston, Sept. 6, 2000

15. "It's important for us to explain to our nation that life is important. It's not only life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet."—Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 2000

16. "One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures."—U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 3, 2000

17. "People say, 'How can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil?' You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you."—Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002

18. "Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness."—CNN online chat, Aug. 30, 2000

19. "I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep on the soil of a friend."—on the prospect of visiting Denmark, Washington, D.C., June 29, 2005

20. "I think it's really important for this great state of baseball to reach out to people of all walks of life to make sure that the sport is inclusive. The best way to do it is to convince little kids how to—the beauty of playing baseball."—Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2006

21. "Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."—LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000

22. "You know, when I campaigned here in 2000, I said, I want to be a war president. No president wants to be a war president, but I am one."—Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 26, 2006

23. "There's a huge trust. I see it all the time when people come up to me and say, 'I don't want you to let me down again.' "—Boston, Oct. 3, 2000

24. "They misunderestimated me."—Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000

25. "I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office."—Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008

January (the longest post)

With a few notable exceptions (the Inauguration, Sundance, which deserve their own posts), January went by in a blur. Rumba had her leg surgery. She came from the pound with a ruptured ACL. To fix it, she had to have massive reconstructive bone surgery (they actually have to grind the bones down to fit together without the ACL). She took it like a champ. If you didn't know her before, you wouldn't even think that there was anything wrong with her except for her very stylish haircut. She has been as happy as ever and only seems upset that we won't let her walk down the stairs by herself or take her for long walks.

Cheryl had her approximately 40th birthday party at Bambara. Good drinks, good company.



We spent some time with Dave and Inga. Gabe is walking! He is just too cute. He laughs so hard while he is walking that he knocks himself over.

Jen (FINALLY) got out skiing. Unfortunately she did it the day after she spent two and a half hours at the gym at a weight lifting and hip hop class. Her legs were JELLO by the time she finished!

We attended a reception for Calvin Johnson hosted by the Rocky Mountain Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to exonerating people that have wrongfully convicted. Calvin was convicted of rape and spent 15 years in prison before he was exonerated with DNA evidence. We spoke to him for a little while and still cannot believe what an optimistic (and forgiving) person he is. He said that a lot of people ask him, "How can you not be angry?" He responds, "I have a job. I have a house, a wife, and a daughter to come home to, and a dog that wags its tail. What do I have to be mad about?" It really makes you put your own life and all the minor things we complain about in perspective.

It was also interesting to hear how frequently wrongful convictions happen. The best estimate is 7% of convictions. That may seem like a small number, but when you consider that there are hundreds of people in Utah alone that are serving jail time for crimes they did not commit, it is staggering. Calvin also seemed amused that when convicts get out of prison, they have a support system and get some help from the government, but exonerees get nothing. It doesn't make sense to me.

Jen went to see The Yellow Leaf with her friends. Its run at the Pioneer Theater is its first ever. It has not been in any theater before. The play is a fictionalized history about the summer that Mary and Percy Shelley spent a summer with Lord Byron. It was the same summer that Mary Shelley first concieved Frankenstein. She thought of it as part of a contest that Lord Byron proposed to see who could write the scariest story. It started slow, but got really interesting. I would recommend it if it hadn't already finished showing. Be sure to get your tickets for Romeo and Juliet, though.

Jen also fulfilled her duties as the Young Lawyer Division's community service chair by organizing a toy drive for Utah's domestic violence shelters. The turnout was great. Here is her car filled to the rim with toys, books, and games.

The committee gathered enough toys and money to donate to multiple shelters. When the toys are delivered, volunteers will also participate in game night at the shelters.

B-rad turned 30 and we celebrated at his posh pad in Park City (say that ten times fast). The night started with peanuts and m&ms and ended with Rock Bank on the big screen with stadium seating. :)





I'm sure that more happened during January, but I honestly cannot remember what.

Geaux Utah

The rest of my Christmas break flew by. New Years Day, while Rod recovered, my Mom and I went shopping. I blew through my Christmas money pretty quickly. It was one of those perfect shopping days when you find everything you want and have money. J Crew and BR were both having an awesome sale. I found a great Coach briefcase and, after spending the whole day looking for a very specific type of boots, I found the perfect pair in my size at Aldo! Yay!

Friday was another awesome day. After spending another day shopping, we watched Alabama get soundly defeated by the Utes! Clem and Joanna were nice enough to have us (and my extended family) over to watch the game on their new tv. They even set up a special room for the 'Bama fans (Rod) with strawberry soda and cracklins.

As an aside, it makes zero sense for Rod to cheer for Alabama. We HATE Nick Saban and Alabama. Rod actually attended Utah. He claims that his alliance is to the SEC. It makes no sense to me, but it was fun chanting "overrated" at him. It was also fun reminding Rod what he had said about the game earlier (that it would be embarrassing for an SEC team to lose to Utah). Ha! It wasn't even close. :)

Even though it was raining and and then snowing REALLY hard that night, Jayders drove down from Idaho to spend a couple of days with her Sis. The next morning, after taking Mom, Larry, and Holly to the airport, Jayde and I went for sushi (in our pjs). Then we rented movies and gave each other pedicures. We rented The Duchess, which was really depressing. It was nice just to hang with my little sister.


Later that night, we dropped by Rod's work party, staying long enough to get some food and get rid of our white elephant gift. :)

The next morning, Jayde took off and, for the first time in weeks, we were all alone. The house was so empty. I started to put away the Christmas ornaments. Sigh! On a happier note, here is a picture of our new ornament.

Ringing in the New Year

Our New Year's Eve was (unintentionally) smaller than in past years. For unknown reasons, our Evite malfunctioned and it only went to about 1/3 of our friends. This was not something we realized until the day of the party when we called to ask someone if they could bring some ice. Oops! Rod made up for it, though, he partied enough for 10 people. He was in rare form (killing three champagne glasses in his wake). He made me promise not to post pictures of his final resting place (for the evening). So if you want to see them, you'll have to ask him "Pretty Please!"

It was so fun to ring in the new year with our family and friends.