Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Six Word Love Stories

I came across a blog about Six Word Love stories this morning when I woke up super early and couldn't go back to sleep.
You can go here to read it.

It's actually a blog I like about decorating and such but that happened to be what they talked about this particular morning.  
And I loved it.

So I spent a few minutes writing a few Six Word Love Stories of my own.
Here are a few SWLS that describe Frank and I:

Cute guy. Mythology class. Girl smitten.
Striped pants. Library lies. We fell.
"We should study together"....or not.
Survived midnight parent meeting.  It's love.
Two legged tables. Brick couch. Newlyweds.
Pregnant? boom boom boom. Little family.
boys, toys, noise. Happy in Portland.
paint, fix, repair. Making a home.
Moving across the country. Anything together.
Boy #4. We make cute ones.
Tropical Vacations...love your romantic side.
Project people. Always fixing something. Together.
Cancer...  Love is stronger. 24 years.

How about you?
You should write some!
They are fun.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Happy Anniversary Branden and Amber!

Today marks the first wedding anniversary for Branden and Amber!
I can't believe it's already been a year.





Wishing you many many more happy years together!




Friday, June 22, 2012

Stories

I've told a few stories about Frank lately that are pretty funny and it occurred to me that I should write them down so I don't forget them.  So here is one:

Frank and the Cold Cuts

Frank went to the grocery store for a few supplies (yes, sort of against the rules but he went during off-peak hours so he's trying to be safe).  He had a list of food items that he wanted because I never seem to get the right things and he can't think of what he wants when I'm making my list.
One of his items was lunch meat so that he could make a sandwich.
He can't have anything from the deli though so he has to buy packaged meat.
I made a point of telling him to buy "packaged sandwich meat".
He returns from the store and I am helping him unload the car and I pick up a grocery bag that is literally full of little packages of deli meat!
"Uh, Frank what are all these packages of deli meat?"
"yeah, I got myself some meat for sandwiches"
"But you can't have anything from the deli"

"I looked at the packaged meat and it is like $52 a pound! and they have the same thing for 5.99 a pound at the deli"
"Yeah, but you can't eat anything from the deli"
"Well, I kinda forgot about that"
"It doesn't save us much money to buy it cheaper at the deli if we can't eat it"

...he sulks...

So not only did he buy a TON of deli meat, he only bought weird meats that only he likes!  No ham or turkey that the rest of us will happily stick on a sandwich, it was a bunch of salami and hot stuff that is just sitting and rotting in the refrigerator because for some reason I can't bring myself to throw away perfectly good meat.

Looking back

I've spent a bit of time lately looking at past blog posts.
I'm putting the last couple of year's worth of blogs into books and having them printed.  I try to do this every year, as it acts as a journal of sorts for me, but I got behind.
So I decided yesterday to finish up the ones I had not done.  This means a lot of proofreading and moving pictures around.  I end up re-reading blogs and I'm always so happy that I have the memories and to be able to read the things that I wrote down.
More than once I've read something and thought, "I wrote that? Wow."
Because, you know, sometimes I get deep.
:-)

This year I haven't been as good about blogging.
Yes I have a good excuse and all that but if there were ever a year to remember the "little" things, I think this would be it!
I'm making a separate book with Frank's story in it but even in that book, I haven't really written a lot of day to day stuff necessarily.
I've saved all of the "helping hands" emails and written an occasional separate entry.  
That's about it.

So, I need to put blogging back on my list of things to do more regularly.
I used to have something happen to me, even just a small thing, and think "Oh I should blog about that"
I haven't done that in awhile.

But those are the blogs I love to read the most now!
The little stories that I would never in a million years remember if I hadn't blogged them.
Blogging also helps me take more pictures.
I've been bad about that too lately.

I don't want to let a busy and sometimes stressful life rob me of those fun, funny and tender daily moments
and of remembering them!
Heaven knows (and everyone who spends any amount of time with me) that my memory is, well, unreliable.

Like a steel trap.  Rusty. and full of holes.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

On weight loss

Ok, I'm doing this whole "try to eat better" thing right now.
I fall off the wagon on a regular basis but overall I'm eating better than I ever have.
I wouldn't say I'm really trying to lose weight per se but I wouldn't be angry if a few pounds decided to leave the vicinity. ya know?
So, whenever I'm perusing facebook and I come across some motivational looking sign, I usually click and read.  I know I'll find that magical motivational internet sign eventually and all my troubles will be over.

Anyway, I came across something that a friend had up that said
8 mistakes that people make when trying to lose fat
That wasn't what caught my eye.  It was her reaction.  She said:
"This guy is mean.  I like it."
Now, doesn't that just make you want to go read his 8 mistakes blog?  Yep, me too.

My comments from now on will be in Purple


There is the address to his website.
Here is the list of the 8 mistakes:
(Ok everything he says is so darn funny and/or mean and/or real that I just put the whole thing up.  But really, go read his site, there's lots of other stuff there)

If you’re like me, you suck at the majority of things in life. 
OHHH STOP. Don’t be offended. When was the last time you successfully performed heart surgery? Not reasonable? How good are you at magic? How about yo-yo’ing? Can you hold your own at Magic the Gathering? Bow-staff fighting? Shakespearean reenactments?
OK. So quit your whining. You probably can’t even cut your own hair.
Listen up, and I’m going to lay a beating on a lot of the behaviors that many people engage in while trying to lose weight. Follow my recommendations and you’ll be sexy as hell and win at everything in life. (I think I may have found my magic internet sign!)

 1. You don’t commit. What would you give up to get the body you want and feel amazing? Seriously!
Would you eat only tofu for 2 weeks? Would you give up alcohol? Cigarettes? Television? Your shot at “America’s Next To Eater”? If not, shut your mouth about losing weight. You don’t actually want to. You love talking about it, and the idea of being lean and awesome, but you’ll NEVER get there. (guilty as charged)

 2. You don’t have accountability
You are your own training partner, you decide when you will go to the gym, what your workout is, and when you’re done. Sometimes this works, often it does not. You need to have someone else to help you out with this, that will make you feel a good deal of Catholic guilt for skipping your workout or eating vanilla ice-cream instead of that salad you were going to eat. Whether this is a friend, your neighbor’s 8 year old kid, or a personal trainer, you need someone. Oh I so do!
There are days when you are just going to feel like watching Grey’s Anatomy (hey, I've actually done this!), and skipping your squats. That’s when you need an appointment with someone mean in order to get your ass off the couch, lace up your Nikes and get out of your non-fitness inducing environment.

 3. You follow fad diets. From kicking it with the South Beach, to the Atkins, to a Paleo diet, to eating dirt and glitter for a week, you switch back and forth to what you think the newest best thing is. Here’s the secret: THEY ALL WORK FAIRLY WELL. Pick one and stick too it. Or if you’re not into diets, just don’t eat shitty foods. Everyone knows what those are. Don’t eat bad things. It’s a really easy diet. (Oh my gosh this guy is funny.  Don't eat bad things. It's a really easy diet.  I love him.)

 4. You eat six small meals per day This is not convenient for most people, and actually works against your metabolism. By keeping your blood sugar elevated, you’ll become insulin insensitive (precursor to diabetes) and store more fat. Surprise!
Eat 3 times per day, 2 times per day, or 1 time per day. It’s not going to decrease your metabolism. That’s a myth. If you’ve heard differently all your life, you’ve been lied too. Read more here: How to Eat to Lose Fat
I don't really do this one so I guess I have no opinion but I really like snacking and  I'm chubbers in the midsection so I guess I should just shut up and read more...

5. You only do classes. Here’s another secret for your ass: TONING IS A LIE. You either make muscles bigger, or you make them smaller. They don’t get “toned” or “lean” or “tight”. Quit asking how to “tone” your legs. It makes me angry. You need to lift weights in order to make your muscles better, and make yourself stronger. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns every day. Ladies. When you can do 3 pullups and Squat your bodyweight, you wont be huge and vascular, you’ll be lean and badass. You’ll have abs. Moving on. I wouldn't want to make him angry.  Seriously.

 6. You Drink Alcohol. Stop. Obviously. Every calorie you intake while you have alcohol in your system get stored as stomach fat. Need more motivation? Every time you have a drink while dieting, someone leaves a puppy on the humane society’s front porch.  Yay! I do one thing right! But that puppy comment just killed me! Oh heaven's. love.this.guy.

 7. You don’t eat veggies. What are you, 5 years old? Um.

 8. You don’t eat enough protein. This is important because proteins are the building blocks with which a lean body is built. Make sure you’re eating protein at every meal: eggs, fish, beef, chicken and Greek yogurt are all good sources. It’s actually harder to store hamburger as fat in your body, than it is to store whole wheat bread as fat. Get real about that. My bread! My lovely bread! Woe is me.

Ok folks, was he awesome or what?
I feel really motivated but, of course, it's bed time.
Soooo, I'm going to print this out and read it tomorrow morning too!
I still don't know exactly what to do about #7...

Monday, June 18, 2012

Carter had a birthday, shout hooray!

Carter turned 14 awhile back.
Yes, it's been like 2 weeks...I'm not that quick with the blogging these days, I know.

I may have mentioned that Carter came to the realization some time ago that he doesn't actually like big birthday parties, or big parties of any kind.
Funny kid.
You see, he had a bunch of friends over one time and he was totally stressed out the whole time!
There was just too much energy, too much noise, too much potential for messes being made
It was actually kind of funny to be the one telling my kid to relax, we can clean up if someone spills.
After that event he said he didn't ever want another party, ever.

He enjoys going to parties at other people's houses, just not here.

So when his birthday rolls around he just invites a couple of friends and has a very low key time with them.
It's much more fun for him.
Easy for me too.

This year he had 3 friends over to spend the night.
(big crowd by Carter's standards)
We ordered pizza
They played video games and Risk
I made a homemade Red Velvet Cake per Carter's request

They stayed up til all hours

The next day we went to the movies and saw Snow White and the Huntsman
A good time was had by all

Here are a few more photos:

Just as we were about to sing, Carter started getting bombarded by texts saying Happy Birthday.  His pocket was buzzing over and over. The timing was impressive...

So, Frank wrapped the gifts and in true Frank fashion he added the usual little clues.  One of them said, "Its not what you think"  Well, he had wrapped a wallet inside of the box from my Iphone.  But once Carter saw the Iphone box he totally forgot the note!  He completely fell for the box and it was hilarious.  He was so excited and in the process of thanking us for being awesome parents when we started saying "It's not what you think!" and he realized he'd better open the box before thanking us too much. 

His last gift really was a phone, although not an Iphone.  He was skeptical at first, thinking he was being had.

Good times!



Saturday, June 9, 2012

More Martha's Vineyard

Back to our adventures in Martha's Vineyard...
I had heard about these houses called the Gingerbread houses and that everyone who goes to Martha's Vineyard absolutely must see them.  So we got on our bikes and ventured forth to see them.
They are very cute cottages and most of them are kept up very well...although not all.  There are even a few up for sale.  So if you don't mind people walking around taking pictures of your house all the time, and having to keep your house painted all adorable all the time, well, go on and buy one!  You could live on Martha's Vineyard in a famous neighborhood.

There's a nice park in the center of the neighborhood where we hung out and had some snacks first.





I loved all the plants on this one...


This one is apparently the most photographed one.  It is very cute!



The next day, our anniversary, we decided to go to the beach.  On the map it didn't look that far away so we decided to walk.  Our rearends were kind of sore and we figured walking would be fun anyway, it was a nice day...

It was a long long walk.

It was enjoyable and all that but much farther than we thought it would be! 

Here are some sights from the walk:

We stopped by a cemetary on the way, since it was Memorial day.  I liked this bird.



This cool bi-plane gave people tours of the island.  Frank really wanted to do it...
Too expensive!


Walking walking walking


Carter took this picture of Frank and I.
You know, I really like this skirt...or I did...but I don't love this picture of me from behind.  Geez!  Could I look more like a box? urgh.


Finally we arrived at the beach!
It was lovely.




I thought this picture of Frank was hilarious!

We didn't walk back home.  We caught the bus.  Yep, there was a bus!  Took us like 15 minutes to get back to the hotel, or at least that's what it felt like...it was way faster.  We were glad we didn't walk back.  Best 3 bucks we ever spent.

And last, but not least, after our wonderful vacation was over, we headed back home on the ferry.  I was smart and took some dramamine.  And we played Uno.  It was fun.
The whole vacation was a smashing success.



Monday, June 4, 2012

Let's talk about Martha's Vineyard

So, Martha's Vineyard.
We had a really good time.
Even though we took our 13 year old son on our anniversary trip.
unusual.
But we are kind of into doing the family thing these days.
And we already decided that we are going to have a few days of Frank and Me time on Frank's 100 day mark because Carter will be gone to a 3 day church thing anyway. 

How about some pictures?
(be forewarned: I was in serious need of a dye job at this time so I will be looking as old as old can be in these pictures.  Deal with it)

Here we are on the ferry going to the Island.
It was hard getting a decent picture.  I was kinda seasick. And the boat was very rocky. And my pictures were all blurry.  But I was determined to get one.  We were lucky and the boat was not crowded at all!

The first thing we did was rent bicycles.  That's how we got around for the most part.
The second thing we did was ride our bikes to the grocery store and get food because, as you well know, Frank isn't supposed to eat out.



We biked all over the place.  To the town over, to the store, to the beach...you name it.  Frank and I were wishing we'd brought our bike shorts!  Carter was smoking us and riding way ahead most of the time, thinking we were old fogies. (In that last picture I hit a bump after taking the picture with my phone, while riding, and dropped it!  Luckily it didn't break and Frank picked it up as he passed by it.  He did scold me though) haha

Here we are relaxing on the beach.
yes, fully clothed.
That's how we roll.


Frank is actually supposed to stay out of the sun so he kept a jacket on most of the time (he's usually cold anyway).  I did take my tennis shoes off though...

More about our trip tomorrow...or later today...I'll surprise you!