The finalists (a few)

Brandon and I have two common interests: photography and National parks. Thanks to the camera that Mom gave us, we have been able to combine those two this summer. With a little photo editing, Brandon and I are starting a collection of black-and-white National Parks photos. Because of our budget and space constraints, we can only hang 12- 8x10 pictures on our wall. Here are some of the finalists. (Hint: click on the pics. They look much cooler in full size.)

Above: Craters of the Moon lava tube

Top left: Aspen trunks at Grand Teton

Bottom left: Wyoming sky and the Tetons

What's even more interesting is Brandon's idea for hanging them. Since we only get 2 nail holes per wall, Brandon came up with the idea of hanging a false wall (peice of plywood painted whatever color we want) and hanging the pictures on it. This will be cool.

Fernash, I'm planning on doing your blog on Monday.

Today I went hiking in my wedding dress

Just so that I could take this picture.

It's not the only one I have, though, so don't worry mom.

PS- Everyone go to Brandon's blog and congratulate him.

Why Education Week sucks

This week is Education Week at BYU. For those who have never experienced it, it's like EFY for adults. They can get a "Campus Guest" pass which gets them into all sorts of classes hosted by BYU professors and Mormon celebrities. From what I hear, it's really great for the attendants. However, it sucks for the poor students who have to work at the Cougareat during that week. The good thing is that I get lots of hours. I work 7 hours/day this week. If you're scooping ice cream, 7 hours is a very long time. It gets a bit overwhelming. Here are the reasons why I hate it:

a sore back and arms from scooping rock-hard ice cream.
women who ask for a large when you know they can't handle more than a small and tell you it's too big when they get it.
old men who complain about how expensive our ice cream is. (seriously, $1.89 is ridiculously cheap for what we give)
not being able to sleep because I keep having dreams about ice cream and customers
women who ask for "BYU brownies" but don't specify which of our 6 different kinds they want.
women who wave their money in the air when they want our attention. some day I'll tell them it's not an auction.
women who ask if we have any sugar-free ice cream. the name of our store is Sugar n' Spice-- one would think they'd figure it out.
shakes.

Like mother, like Shady

Everybody knows that Mom has a sweet tooth. I figured that out as soon as I was old enough to hunt down her candy stashes. I have always thought that I didn't get that sweet tooth-- I generally like salty foods. Living near Brandon's family changed my mind about that. They love sweet foods, but they are all about the sugary/fruity/sour variety. I was fine for the first few weeks, but pretty soon I started feeling like there was something missing in my life. That was chocolate. And ice cream and doughnuts. When Brandon's family went out of town, his mom told us that she had left us some candy in the closet. To my disappointment, the candy consisted of redvines and cinnamon bears. As much as I love cinnamon bears, I yearned for chocolate. Now that I'm back, I've never been happier to go to work where I can sample ice cream and gaze at doughnuts all day. And I am waiting for the next holiday to be over so that I can start my very own stash of 75% off chocolate candy. Mom, I never knew how much I was like you.

It's over!

Brandon and I finally found a place to live! It's really tiny, but it's close to campus, pretty nice, and only $515/month. We are going to sign a contract tomorrow. Hooray!!!

The great housing quest

Brandon and I have had all sorts of bad luck finding housing. I think it all started in April with the landlady that made an appointment with me to show an apartment, didn't show up, and when I called back, told me that the apartment I had looked at was never available anyways. So we found a place for the summer, thinking that we would have all summer long to find a place for fall. But alas, we moved to Idaho. There we had a choice between living in a smelly, spider-infested basement and living at Brandon's parents' house. We chose the basement, where we actually killed 20 spiders in one night. Big ones, too. Now we are back in our nice apartment with three weeks to find a place to live. It's hard, considering that apartments are usually gone within a day of being posted. Of course, that's only if you are able to contact the person who posted them. I emailed about one apartment on Saturday and never got a reply, then this morning I found it posted somewhere else with a phone number. I called and nobody answered. Very typical. To get into Wymount, you have to be the first to click on an apartment when they are posted at 4:00. We sat by the computer for 15 minutes before 4:00 today and finally saw a highlighted apartment at 4 on the dot. But by the time Brandon clicked on it, someone had already gotten to it. It was gone in literally less than a second.

As you can probably tell, I'm pretty frustrated about the whole thing. Hopefully this will be over within a few days.

Last days in Idaho

I know, I haven't posted in a long time. My last weekend in Idaho was fun. Brandon and I went boating with his cousins at Bear Lake. Here is what we did:



Lane, Brandon, and McKay is buried in the mud. I was mostly with them all day.



McKay emerging from the sand.



We played king of the tube until Lane elbowed me in the face. Ouch--bloody nose.



Then we rode a giant banana behind the boat.



On our way home, McKay and Lane were really excited about asking me questions about girls and McKay named me his official dating advisor. I think someone should write a book about McKay, because he's one of the most interesting people I know. He once lived in a tent for the entire month of January for some really dumb reason. He wears basketball shorts under all of his clothes (even to church) so that he can be as comfortable as possible. However, I didn't know this at first, so on my first Sunday in Idaho, I was a little freaked out when McKay started to take his pants off in front of me. A few nights ago he tried to chase the skunk that I found in his garage because he wanted to say that he's been sprayed by a skunk. To his disappointment, the skunk just ran away.



Anyways, now I am back in Provo trying to find a place to live. Brandon and I have three weeks to find a place for the fall, and for married couples, that is pretty hard.

Animals and the Grand Tetons

Brandon and I finally made it out to the Tetons this weekend. On Friday we did a nice five-mile hike around Jenny Lake. On Saturday, we hiked up to some alpine lakes. What I thought would be a short hike was actually a 10-mile round trip hike. It just about killed me. It was actually less steep and less hot than the 8-miler we did at the Grand Canyon, but unlike the Grand Canyon, it went up to 9,500 feet in elevation. It turns out that I have really bad lungs because when we got to about 8,500 feet I started getting a headache and chest pains. But I finished. Our trip was also marked by the presence of friendly animals. We saw a moose, lots of elk, a grouse, chipmunks and squirrels of all varieties, a marmut, a deer, and a snake. The only thing I didn't see was a bear. I was disappointed because I've seen a bear every time I've been to Yellowstone and once at Yosemite too. This broke my good luck streak. I saw another friendly animal at Brandon's house. I went to the garage to check if the cats had enough food and water and I found a skunk eating the cat food. I call this one frienly because she was nice enough not to spray me. The deer let us get really close. We didn't even use a zoom lens. The baby is cute.This little guy jumped on my lap because I smelled like granola bar.Surprise Lake.
The Tetons.

And mom, we took all these pictures with our new camera. It's great!

Craters of the Moon

The weekend before last Brandon and I went to Craters of the Moon National Monument. It's pretty much a bunch of extinct volcanos and lava flows. It's a pretty creepy landscape, but fun. I wouldn't be surprised if it were the inspiration for Mordor in Lord of the Rings. Here are some pictures of us having fun:on a cinder coneThe fat lipInside a lava tube

Lava flows

Plans for school!

I decided that it was time for another update on my plans for school. I am starting my third-to-last semester in September. I'm still majoring in Spanish, but my minor is now in Anthropology. I will really just be taking archaeology classes. I'll graduate next December.

Brandon has a few options for school. He could graduate in civil engineering in December and go on to a masters in engineering or architecture. Instead, he wants to finish engineering and start on a double major in geology. That would take him four extra semesters, but I think it would be well worth it, considering how much he loves geology. We just need to figure out whether he would love it as much as a carreer and a major.

Unexpected favorites

With wedding gifts, I am usually a stick-to-the-registry girl, so it surprised me to get a few awesome presents that I hadn't registered for. I am very excited to use all of these:

One great cookbook with a CD, from Bexar. Brandon will be thanking you for that, because now I can actually cook for him.

The most beautiful bowl I've ever seen, from Brianna. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it. Bexar also bought me some candleholders to match.

A slow-cooker, from Brandon's uncle. I wasn't excited about it at first, because I thought we didn't need it. Then I found some delicious recipes that I can't wait to try like chicken and shrimp jumbalaya or slow-cooked minestrone. It will also be a really easy way to cook while I'm at school during the fall and winter. Hey, I bet I could make feijoada in it, too.

One 10-cup food processor. Okay, I did register for this, but I don't know who it's from, so I want to thank them on my blog and tell them that I will be trying every salsa recipe that I can find.

Sadly, I haven't been able to use any of these things yet because in the month and a half that I've been married, I have spent a total of FIVE DAYS at my own apartment. The rest of the time, I have lived out of a suitcase, borrowing cooking supplies from the in-laws and using every excuse to get out of my spider-infested basement. I probably won't be using them anytime soon, either, because I have three weeks before coming back to Provo, and when I do, I will have to move again in another three weeks, so we are keeping everything in boxes until then. But thank you, surprise gift givers. And Ashley. I liked your non-registry gift, too.

You guys have the cutest kids

Well, my photographers LOVED Caroline and Mabel. Here are more cute pictures of them:

My car

I am posting this in hopes that my brother and sisters' teasings will get my parents to expedite the process of fixing my car situation. As everyone knows, I have a little red Corolla. In January of this year, the registration expired. Since it's registered in Texas, I can't renew the registration, and since the title isn't in my name, I can't get it registered in Idaho. It doesn't really matter that the title isn't in my name, though, because we apparently don't have a title for it. Mom and Dad realized that it was lost when they went to transfer it to Brandon and me. They said that they'll fill out some paperwork on the lost title and get a new one under my name. But I'm thinking that this will only happen when they come to the US to bail me out of prison when my car gets impounded. Luckily, the car is insured. Too bad that doesn't matter either, since I have never been sent proof of insurance. So, when a cop pulls me over for having expired registration and asks me for my proof of insurance, I will have to give him one that expired in October.

Here's something that will get them motivated. When Brandon and I go back to Provo and find a new place to live, it's likely that the place won't have much off-street parking. In that case, it will cost them $30 per day to have an unregistered car, because believe me, the police come every day, and they will give me a ticket every day until I get it fixed.

Or we could take back Brandon's Buick and leave my car with his family to sit and get snowed on all winter long. The Buick's shocks are so bad that it's like riding a roller coaster. Really fun, but according to Brandon's uncle, that car is a death trap.

Seriously. Please fix it.

Idaho (for Jennifer)

Jennifer,
Sorry about not posting lately. I have been living in an 88-year-old woman's basement and she doesn't have internet. But today I am babysitting Brandon's siblings and I therefore get free use of their computer.

It would be difficult to give an unbiased report on Idaho, since I'm living here in the summer, and it's much nicer than the freezing winter months. But surprisingly, I really like Idaho. Living in a small town doesn't bother me-- Blackfoot can provide most daily needs and if I need something else, Pocatello is only 20 minutes away. If Napoleon Dynamite gave you the impression that everyone in Idaho is a hick and owns a llama, then you actually have the right idea about life in Idaho. There are llamas. Lots of llamas. And cows and horses and goats and sheep. I live across the street from a dairy farm. It provides a nice view but when the wind kicks up, it smells like cow poop. The kids go to their neighbor's house every day to feed their chickens, dog, and calf. It's a really cute calf. I fed it once. But since I like animals and wide open spaces, it's fun for me.

Despite what I had thought, there are plenty of things to do in Idaho. Last week we went to a pool in Lava Hot Springs and I jumped off a 30-foot high dive. That wasn't as painful as bellyflopping off the 10-foot springboard, though. It knocked the wind out of me and the next morning I woke up with mysterious bruises all over my body. I also helped Brandon's little brother buy $90 of fireworks and set them off. I thought that just Brandon was a pyro, but apparently it runs in the family. Besides that, Brandon and I are planning more trips. We are going to the boobs this weekend (that's what Ryan calls the Tetons now). If I had my kayak with me, I would go to the Salmon river. It apparently has some good kayaking.

Living so close to Brandon's family has been quite a different experience. His brothers and sisters are too young to really understand marriage, so instead of thinking I'm his wife, they think I'm his sister. Last week we were at his family's house for almost three days straight. When we showed up at 11:00 AM instead of 9:00 AM, his brother got mad at us, because we should have been there earlier to do things with them. That was the morning after we got home at 11:30 the previous night. Trying to explain to him that we needed time together was useless, because to him, "time together" includes time with the entire family. On one busy day I had a bit of a meltdown. I went home and refused to do anything else that day and told Brandon that we might as well live with his family considering how much we're over there. I got over it soon enough to go golfing with his family. But we did go home early that night.

Being here has made me do some unexpected things. Suddenly I am the person telling the little kids to get the kittens off the kitchen counter and put them back in the garage. Of course, I mainly do this because Mia carries the kittens around all day and they so obviously hate it, and I am against cruelty to animals. And having them on the counter really is gross. I also get up at 7:30 to go to work with Brandon. Anyone that knows me knows that that I would never get up that early to work. But I do work. I paint handrails and help Brandon do things at the construction site. I have safety goggles and work boots and everything. Nothing but braces has ever made me feel so unattractive.

Anyways, Idaho has been a learning experience. I keep learning more about Idaho, kids, Brandon, and even myself. But the biggest thing I've learned is that you should never, ever live with your in-laws.

Addendum

These were just a few of the wedding pictures I got today. There are seriously more than 700 of them, and they all turned out really well. The photographers gave me (and anyone else) permission to print out any of the pictures, so I will put them on Snapfish. Bexar and Bethany, there are more cute pictures of your kids. There are cute pictures of everyone. I'll be putting the rest up soon!

still more...

more...

Wedding pictures-- finally!

A commanding presence

Something tells me Brandon isn't the bossiest construction supervisor out there. Yesterday, Brandon's mom and I went to the construction site to bring him lunch. We asked some of the workers if Brandon was there. They looked back at us, rather confused.

"Brandon? I don't know any Brandon. Who is he with?"
(I look behind me and see the car that he took to work this morning, so he's obviously here)
Brandon's mom: "He's out here with construction."
worker: "Construction? There's no one from construction here. Oh wait, Bryce dropped off some boy earlier today. Maybe that's who you're talking about. He's inside."

So we walk inside and find Brandon, scraping some cement, hardly being noticed. And I think, "Construction supervisor? Are you serious?"

One more great story

Okay, so Brandon and I have another pretty good story that happened a long time ago. About a year ago, Brandon and I tried going on a road trip with two of our friends. One of them bailed out at the last minute and the other one wanted to go home when we were still in Idaho. So, we had to turn back and abandon our plans of going to Washington. On the way home, Brandon and I had a conversation that went like this:

Brandon: So what do we do now? I still have the week off for work, and I'm definitely not going back to work when I told them I wouldn't be there.

Me: I'm thinking a tour of southern Utah. I've never been to Arches.

Brandon: Okay, let's leave right when we get back.

So we dropped our friend off in Provo, ate dinner, and headed out an hour later for Moab. But we didn't know where we were staying, since we hadn't bothered to look up any campgrounds before we left. (We're smart.) We got to Moab at around 10:30 PM, so it was completely dark. We finally found a little campground and drove in. Then we saw a sign with an arrow which we thought said "Camping, " So we followed the arrow. This took us into a pile of loose sand. We decided to turn around, but the car was stuck. We had to push it out of the sand for about 20 minutes (which wasn't easy, the sand was really deep) and then push it up a very steep hill to get it back out. Brandon had to tell me to take a walk because I was about to cry. I thought we would have to get it towed. Miraculously, we got it out. So we camped out right where we had come in.

In the morning, we decided to take a look at what we had gotten ourselves into the previous night. Daytime revealed that the pile of sand was surrounded by huge rocks. The sign that we thought said "Camping" actually said "Canyon." And worst of all, we missed the sign that said that it was a level-5 offroading trail.

We're special.

But it was one of the best adventures I've ever been on. Brandon is the only person I've met that has my same love for road trips. He told me all about the geology in Arches and what kinds of rocks were there and why. If you ever go to Arches, or any other place with rocks, bring Brandon. It will make it much more interesting.

Spineless

It's time to face it. My entire life I've been told that I have no backbone. I guess the combination of being the bossed-around-youngest-child and a white personality didn't leave me with any chance for being demanding. But everyone talks about it like it's a bad thing. Being in Idaho, I've learned that being completely spineless gives you an amazing flexibility that most people don't have. It's a gift without which I would never make it through this whole experience, so thank you, bossy sisters. I wouldn't be where I am today without you. Literally.

Because would any newlywed with half a spine agree to move to Idaho for a month? No. It would be out of the question. But I did, and I'm glad I did, because I just want to be with little Brandon.

And who else would be okay with living out of a suitcase in a relative's house for two weeks? I'm not sure many other people could handle it, especially when you find out that the house that is supposed to be empty apparently isn't. Right now we are living in Brandon's uncle's house, who is out of town. But yesterday we came home to find the milk gone and a big toy car in the living room. So either one of his cousins moved home for a day, or a baby stormed the house demanding milk and leaving his toys everywhere. I am leaning towards the latter explanation.

And finally, you pretty much can't have any backbone at all when you have to apply for jobs at places like Arctic Circle and Bingham County Store. If I knew how to stand up for myself, I would hold out for a job that actually requires some skills. And I would be very unemployed.

It's not easy being spineless, but it would be much harder for me if I were strong and unyielding.

an update

So it appears that I will be moving to Idaho this weekend.

Go ahead and laugh. I found out last night. Brandon's dad needed him to supervise a construction project in Blackfoot, so that's where we'll be for the next month and a half. We will live in his parent's house for the first couple of weeks (hooray) and after that, the house that his uncle is building should be ready, so we'll live in that (by ourselves).

Hey, it beats living in Vernal in a camper (our other option).

Misadventures of the newlyweds

The honeymoon's over. But after driving 12 hours yesterday, I'm pretty glad to be back. Here are some highlights from our trip:
We accidentally hiked to the top of this dome. If you're wondering how someone could ACCIDENTALLY hike to the top of that, well, it just takes very special people. The best part is that it's really steep and we lost the trail on the way down, and I'm scared of heights.

I was pretty mad here because we also got lost while trying to find this tree. We hiked for three hours before we got to it, and it turned out to be pretty lame. The other giant sequoias were really pretty, though.

Here I'm holding up what I thought was the cone of a giant sequoia. It turns out that sequoia cones are actually much smaller.

This picture is cool:

And Brandon couldn't help but stop and admire the geology.

So far, so good

The weather forecast for next Saturday is:

High: 82
Mostly sunny

Not impressed

When I first booked my reception place, I thought it was great that they referred me to a florist and baker so that I wouldn't have to find my own. I could just tell them what flowers and cake I wanted, and they would do it for me. Sounds convenient. However, I wasn't so impressed with either of them. I like to do my homework before I order something so that I know what I'm asking for. I apparently ended up knowing more than the people I worked with.

For example, my florist told me that it would be impossible to get peonies in June, because they would be "out of season." Any website on the internet will tell you that they peak in early June. Hmmm.

She also didn't know what a nerine was when I requested them for my bouquet. According to Brides magazine, they are a bouquet staple.

Then she told me that stock only came in pink and white. Even the BYU Floral Center sells it in purple, yellow, red, white, and pink. And those are natural colors, not dyed.

My cake was supposed to be included in the cost of my reception. First, the cake maker threw a fit about how hard the cake was going to be. (Cheesecake with a topping and a fondant around it doesn't sound that hard.)

Then she decided to charge a $100 fee for having fondant. Brandon and I made fondant last night; it's not that hard.

Then the cost added up to $500 ABOVE what the reception place covered. For three cheesecakes. So, what did I do? I fired her. And I am now making my own wedding cake, with the help of Brandon's sister (a cheesecake pro-- she makes some of the best cheesecakes I've ever had) and little Brandon himself. And I guarantee I will do it for less than $500.

A rude awakening

I used to be the queen of Chinese Checkers. That was until I met Brandon. I played him once and he said, "You'll probably beat me, because I haven't played in years." Well, I lost. And I have lost all of the times except for once since we started playing together. The score now is something like Brandon:11 Lindsey:1. I dethrone myself.

My fabulous birthday

My birthday was great. In the morning Brandon took me to the Provo Bakery and let me get anything I wanted for breakfast. Then he took me shopping at the mall and bought me some very cute shoes. After that, we went and got a marriage license (mom was happy that I did it on my birthday so that it wouldn't say I was 19). For dinner, we had Greek food and then angel food cake for dessert. I even got him to dance with me afterwards, which is a pretty difficult task.

One of my best birthday presents was finding out that my best friend Jennifer could come to my wedding! I will have a maid of honor after all.

One additional announcement:
Sorry mom, but we decided on el Pastorero for our after-temple lunch. We heard that the Trolley recently raised their prices a lot, and it's pretty far out of the way. But fear not; el Pastorero is very good. It's not overwhelmingly Mexican and doesn't make you feel like you just ate a pound of grease.

Attention family

After the temple on Friday the 6th, we are all going out to lunch with Brandon's parents. Here are a few ideas for places to go for lunch:

Mimi's
P.F. Chang's
Pastorero (has real tacos al pastor and good Mexican food, but Mom might be sick of Mexican food)
the Trolley

You can vote on one of these or suggest another place.

Why?

This is the time of year in Utah when babies start making their first appearances. Since I work at an ice cream/doughnut store (food of choice for new moms), I have seen lots of babies lately. They are adorable. Only one thing confuses me: why do babies have to wear such cheesy clothes? I saw one today that was wearing a shirt that said "Property of mom." Honestly, if I were a baby, I would refuse to wear that. I'd poop on it or do anything to prevent my mom from putting that on me. Let's face it, babies are just miniature adults. Why can't they wear miniature versions of what we wear? True, they can get away with wearing ridiculous amounts of pink, blue, and yellow. No other age group can pull off pastels so well. That's perfectly fine with me. But when I have babies, I am boycotting cheesy clothes. I will also get at least one black outfit for it, just to really throw people off.

Things I learned in Idaho

1. How to pick asparagus. Brandon's little brother showed me. Apparently they have wild asparagus growing by their house, so we had some for dinner.
2. Brandon was a very cute baby. So cute that I won't even be sad if all our kids look like him.
3. Little kids are ball hogs and cheaters. Playing a ball game with Brandon's little sister is kind of like watching her hit a ball to herself.
4. Brandon was a pretty talented little boy. He even said so himself in an essay he wrote when he was 8. "My name is Brandon. My hobbies are arts and crafts. I won third place in an art contest against the United States."
5. Size doesn't always matter in a fight. Brandon kicked his little brother's butt in a wrestling match. He is 5'10", his little brother is 6'2".

Thanks, Annie

I would like to formally thank my new neice Annie for postponing my wedding. I had planned on a May wedding, but when I found out she was coming, I pushed it back to June. That was the best thing I could have done. May 3 (the day originally planned) was cold and windy. Today it was in the 40s and it snowed in the mountains. Apparently we need another month before the weather gets nice. Let's hope June is warm!

cake update

I decided on a three-tiered cheesecake version of this cake. Of course, the design will be blue instead of green, but whatever. What do you think? We are also looking for requests for songs to play at our wedding, because we are almost out of ideas.

Fess up

I don't know how I do it. I lose things all the time. Brandon and I bought a shirt for his sister for the wedding, then we bought another one for her because Brandon wanted her to be in a different color than his other sister. We were going to take back the previous shirt, but we couldn't find it anywhere. Then we realized that the other shirt was missing, too. The interesting thing is that these purchases were made on different days at different stores. The other things we bought with the shirts are still in their bags, only the 2 shirts are missing. I find it really weird that we would lose those shirts but not the other shirts that we bought at the same time. The only thing they had in common was that they were size small. My theory is that there is some size small girl walking around Provo with two brand-new shirts. In that case, she owes me lots of money. Luckily, we found a third shirt for Brandon's sister.

New apartment

Today Brandon and I got the keys to our first apartment. It is HUGE! It's bigger than the entire apartment I share with 4 other girls right now. It has a great big living room, kitchen, and breakfast area, 2 big bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. And it's cheaper than a 1-bedroom apartment at Wymount. It will be hard to move out in the fall. Too bad it's only a spring and summer contract.

For now, Brandon gets to live there all by himself while I am still stuck in this dump. I can't wait to leave.

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.