Rings

Little Brandon and I went ring shopping today. Not for me, but for him. I think there are few concrete objects in the world that shows our personalities more than our rings do. Brandon picked out a black one. It's very him.

Then I was talking to him, and I asked him if he knows about the pictures people take of their rings together. Then I said, "We're not going to do one of those."

Our rings won't match at all. That's okay. I can't wait to show everyone what Brandon chose for himself.

$4.00

This summer I am working 8-hour shifts at Sugar 'n' Spice. It's not as bad as it seems, and here's why. For every 8-hour shift I work, I get a $4.00 meal coupon. Combined with my employee discount ($3 value), I can get anything up to $7.00 for free. This might not sound impressive, but at a store where the majority of the items are under $1, it's great. Today it got me:
2 Minute maid juices
1 mini-loaf of wheat bread
1 honey butter
1 bismarck, although I was stupid and pointed to the lemon one and not the raspberry one
1 strawberry cream cheese croissant
and my favorite, one cup of Graham Canyon ice cream. Yes, it's back, and I'm excited.

Little Brandon and I shared this and we couldn't even finish it together. It was beautiful.

Thanks, Bexar

I would like to thank my wonderful sister Bexar for being the only sibling of mine to RSVP to my wedding. To the rest of you who think you can bypass the system just because you're family, shame on you.

May help reduce the risk

I hate this phrase. It is a rhetorical nightmare. It appears on cereal boxes, advertisements, and many other places. The reason I hate it is that every word in the phrase "may help reduce the risk" diminishes the impact of the argument. If you analyze it word by word, it essentially means nothing:

May: or may not. I'm assuming the word "may" means that you have about a 50% chance that something will happen.
Help: well, this one means that it's not the only contributing factor. If there are just three other factors of equal importance, this one only carries 25% of the weight.
Reduce: this just says that it won't totally eliminate what you don't want, it will just "reduce" it. I'm guessing a good reduction would be something like 30%? Sure.
the risk: Take the risk of heart disease, for example. Various sources on the internet say it affects one in three people, so you already have a 66% chance that nothing will happen to you anyways.

Okay, I'm pretty bad at math, but if you multiply these percentage guestimations, it gives you a 1.24% chance that eating cherrios or wheat thins or what have you will directly affect your heart disease. But of course, the box says to combine it with a healthy diet and excersise anyways. Like I said, this phrase means nothing. It's simply the new catch phrase of the food industry designed to make dumb consumers think their mediocre product is actually healthy. That's why I hate it.

something that made my day

Today little Brandon came up to me and said, "Can we call our first child Baby of the Shady? Because that would be funny."

be prepared to hate me

Two things happened recently:
1. The weather got warmer and I realized how hot it will be in June and
2. I realized that I really don't like my wedding colors.

So, I decided to change them and used the excuse that everyone will be more comfortable in short-sleeved shirts. Don't worry; I was able to return everything I bought before.

And here they are:

Bethany, Bexar, and Fernash get the top; Poodle and Brianna get the bottom. People in the same size can trade. Mom will be in the same dress I already got for her, just a different color.

I know it's a change but these shirts are much cuter. And less hot.

I was seriously considering not telling anyone about the change until they got here. That would have been tons of fun.

a dilemma

There is one decision that I can't seem to make about my wedding. That is my hair color. Two years ago, my hair was this pretty blonde color: Now it's a nondescript light brown (see picture of Brandon and me kissing on the car). I like the blonde more. But, I figure that if I highlight my hair, I will pretty much doom myself to a lifetime of fake hair color. The highlights will grow out and leave roots that I will be tempted to cover up with yet another fake color. What do I do? Do I embrace my dull natural color or commit to being a faker? I need serious advice on this.

Although, if I got any of Dad's genes at all, I will have to start coloring in a few years anyways.

Since you asked so nicely

Brandon, by Lindsey
Lindsey, by Brandon

I thought we should put them out to welcome our guests at our wedding. Then we wouldn't have to stand in a stupid line.

cookbooks

Let me start off by saying that Brandon is a wonderful person for marrying me. Why? I can't cook, and he knows it.

That's not to say that I don't try. I have had a few successes, but it seems that most of my efforts in making a good meal for him fail. I never know what to cook. I get frustrated with the lack of food and the lack of ideas, and he usually ends up making pizza for me.

I feel like this could be remedied with a few good cookbooks. Then I would just have to open a book and find something that looked good. I could get food in advance so that we would actually have things to eat. However, it's been hard to find cookbooks that fit my following stipulations:

1. Lots of pictures. It may be unadventurous, but if I can't see something, it usually doesn't appeal to me.

2. Ingredients that I actually buy. Do you ever find a recipe that looks perfect only to find that it calls for cornish game hen or veal or fennel or brie? I don't even know what half of those things are! Let's stick to chicken and beef, please.

3. Recipes that don't use every dish in my kitchen. I love making pasteis, but they require a pot to boil the milk, a bowl to mix the dough, flour all over my table, a rolling pin, a pot to fry them, a plate to cool them, and a billion paper towels to soak up all the grease. It takes longer to clean up than it does to make them.

If you know of any cookbooks like this, please let me know. I'm really looking for a good main dish book and a breakfast book. Others would be appreciated, too. Bexar, you know you want to help!

like mother, unlike daughter

Mom and I have had this "discussion" lately. Apparently, mom doesn't like my young-and-hip style of taking pictures. I took some engagement pictures and they turned out like this: Plus the one on the header of my blog. You may or may not like them, but I have gotten more compliments on these pictures than ANY picture I've ever had. And I happen to love them.

Mom wanted "face pictures" so I came up with this cheesy thing: And a compromise. I sent the face pictures to all of my relatives, and the cute picture (the one on the blog header) to all of my friends. The rest I just placed randomly in envelopes.

And by the way, doesn't Brandon look handsome all dressed up?

busts

If anyone ever thought that making a bust was easy, they can think again. Brandon and I have started sculpting each other in our ceramics class. They are turning out pretty well, but there are just a few things that have been quite dificult:
1. Getting used to the shape of Brandon's head. My entire life I have lived with a roundish face with no defined cheekbones or jawline. So I originally made Brandon's head that way, only to have to spend another hour on it, sculpting it up into a very thin, defined face.
2. Wet clay collapses. I built Brandon up too fast and his neck started sinking in to his shoulders. I stood there for some time with a blow dryer trying to straighten him up again and harden the clay. He's still a little sunken, but I can fix it.
3. Sculpting someone is more difficult when they are sculpting you at the same time. Once in awhile, Brandon will grab my face so that he can see my profile, eyes, etc. And when I try to look at him, he is constantly looking down at my bust. Not a very good angle.
4. I am bad with proportions. Even when I draw things, I can never get them right unless I trace a light outline. Impossible with busts.
5. Eyes and lips are frustrating. I finished Brandon's mouth, and he looks really angry. It won't help the fact that he naturally has slightly sad-looking eyes.

Even with all this, I've had a ton of fun with this project. I'm excited to post our renditions of each other, hopefully on Thursday.