Tuesday, November 30, 2010

*Blush*

Yesterday, I read something that pricked my conscience. It reminded me that I am human too, and I should be just as willing to humble myself to my small audience. You can read about the Pioneer Woman's woes here.

Please brace yourself. This is not pretty.




This chair is on my living room floor, just as you see it in the pictures. The tale of how it ended up there is embarrassing. I must give you some history first.

Several years ago, a bunch of young people were gathered at a friend's house playing games. I got up (I don't remember why now) and then came back to my chair at the table. When I sat down, the back two legs of the chair I plopped onto promptly split from the chair and I ended up in the floor. As you can imagine, EVERYONE laughed, and I was mortified. I never lived it down. People were talking about splinters flying any time they saw me. I considered going on a diet, and then decided I loved food too much.

Last week, I sat down in my chair at the dinner table after fixing something delectable for Cameron and I to consume, and the legs of my chair split from the bottom of the chair. Talk about deja vu. Cameron promptly started laughing, and I must say, I was mortified (again!) and went to the bedroom to compose myself. Cameron didn't even ask me if I was ok! (He said it was because I didn't even fall in the floor. I have acquired the ability to gracefully fall when my chair is breaking. Experience is a doozy of a teacher.) It took me a while to get over my embarrassment enough to post about it. I'm thinking a diet really is in order this time! Until such a time as I have reached a sufficiently low weight that the chairs no longer tremble in fear when they see me coming, I think we will be having dinner on the couch!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thanksgiving Celebrations

I spent Thanksgiving last year in Idaho with Cameron's family, so I kind of knew what to expect. Or I thought I did. It would be the opposite of what I was used to: no chaos, no large groups of people, no paper plates, no impromtu game of football, no overeating, no Black Friday shopping. I was partially right. I had forgotten about the parts of Thanksgiving that really matter, though. Family. Love. Laughter. Pumpkin Pie. There was definitely an abundance of those. (Except the family. They are a lot fewer in number than my family. But I'm guessing that is probably true of most families.)


Not a very good picture - sorry. Please ignore my sunken cheeks. Dinner helped fatten me up, I assure you.

We left early Thursday morning to drive to Cameron's grandparents house. I took a picture of us on Cameron's phone as we drove so that I could share it with you all, but couldn't get the internet to work very well while we drove through the tall (snow-covered and gorgeous) mountains. That was the only picture we took, even though we also took the camera. Good intentions... Snow fell while we drove, and there were several inches on the ground when we stopped about 30 miles away from his grandparents' house. Thanksgiving in this family is never complete without the guys spending part of the day hunting. Cameron joined his brothers and his dad in their truck and his mom and I took our truck on to his grandparents'. I just want the whole world to know that I drove up a very steep road that was still snow covered. And it has no guard-rail for most of the way. (I probably wasn't as scared as his mom. I couldn't look at how far down it was.) We made it safely and had a good day preparing dinner. Then, we ate lots of good food. I tried pot-liquor. I wasn't brave enough to try it last year. It tastes like tabouli. And it doesn't contain liquor. It just has a weird name.

Friday, I went for a couple of walks in the snow and read a good book (not at the same time!). There are quite a few deer around his grandparents' house and it was fun to watch them.

We left to come home this morning, and I felt like I was coming back to civilization. There is no cell signal out there, and I didn't ask to use their dazzling fast dial-up internet. I couldn't bring myself to be dazzled in that way.

I was worried about the trip before we went. I was worried about driving all that way on slick roads, I was worried about staying the weekend with people I didn't know very well, and I was worried about not eating enough. That is a very serious concern to my emaciated body. I have to eat constantly just to keep up my girlish figure. I had a great time. There were a couple of times when I wanted to break out in wailing sobs because of homesickness, but I managed to ignore them. Yes, I missed my family. And I still do. But I chose to marry my best friend, and chose the sacrifices associated with living in a different state. My sisters sent me lots of pictures and I can pretend like I'm home. I love his family, and I'm learning by God's grace to deal with my homesickness one day at a time. I'm focusing on the positive. (Like the abundance of cinnamon rolls that I somehow ended up bringing home that are begging to be eaten. They are definitely going to help my girlish figure stay well rounded. That's good, right?)

All this to say: God is good. I thought I would be miserable this weekend, and I wasn't. I wasn't sure I'd have a good time, and I did. Change and new things aren't bad; they are just change and new things. (That was profound. Please let me know when you get done pondering my profundity.) I had a great Thanksgiving, and I hope all of you did as well. Now, if someone would please play me the BC Clark commercial, my life would be complete.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Outside My Windows, Part 2

This is normally what I see outside my window. Everything is obscured by the condensation. Cameron told me I could probably wipe it off, but I like it. I can open the blinds and still get natural light, while still not worrying that the people walking down the street can see that I stay in my pjs most of the day.


This is what it looks like outside my window when I stand on the window seat to reach the cleared spot in the window. I was going to open the window to take a picture but I think it is frozen shut. There is a LOT of snow. Ok, so there are only 5 or 6 inches, but that is a lot for this Oklahoma girl.
 I am SO thankful for the sunshine. It's really bright when you look right in it, but who can help gazing adoringly at that huge friend that has been so conspicuously absent the last few days?

Tomorrow, we are headed a few hours south to spend Thanksgiving with Cameron's grandparents. We are planning to stay all weekend, and the guys will be hunting. I will be trying not to freeze. I'm not worried about eating too much, because that is not part of this culture, unless you live in my house. I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving and a great time with family. If you are related to me and you are reading this, I will miss all of the chaos that always surrounds family gatherings. Please talk a little bit louder for me. And someone tall, hit your head on Grandma's light that is above the table, just for old times sake. Thanks!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Snow

I want nothing more at this moment than to be a snowbird. To all of you who are familiar with large amounts of snow and allowed me to move to North Idaho, I simply have one question: WHY????

The initial snowflakes were pretty. The pristine layer covering the drab leafless trees was beautiful. The slick layer of stuff on the road? Not so much. My distaste for the stuff started last night. We were coming home from church, turned into our neighborhood, and promptly slid into a curb. My tire is fine. The rim isn't. Rather than deal with it in the dark and lateness, I got up and went with Cameron to work so that I could have his truck today. (I am thankful for two vehicles.) We got to his work, I got out of the car, shut the door, and slipped and fell. I wrenched my arm, and ended up with a wet, sore bum and bruised ego. I drove very slowly home (I am fairly certain I have never done the suggested 35 mph on our off ramp. I did today.) and now I don't want to go anywhere. I have to work in a few hours. Can someone please turn on a heat lamp and make this stuff go away? Thanks!

I'm sorry that this is a whiny posting. Maybe I'll have something more positive to say later. Until then, you can find me in the kitchen devouring any chocolate we have in the cupboards. I wonder how baking chocolate would taste by itself?

Friday, November 19, 2010

Peeping through my peep-hole

When I am alone in the apartment, I often glance through the peep-hole to make sure no one is outside the door. Even if I am just walking by or sitting across the room, I look to see if there is light coming through because that means no one is there. Yesterday, as I was vacuuming, I glanced out as I went past and thought I saw something. I promptly had to put my eye up to it and see if there was really anything there. There wasn't. Looking through the hole from a distance had skewed what I could see until it looked like something was there.

My overly analytical mind immediately began comparing that to life. We can know our surroundings, and see them clearly, but how clearly do we see the things outside our little world? For instance, on Facebook yesterday, someone posted something like this. "Some woman is whining that her city has made her sick. If you don't like living here, MOVE." Someone put a comment, reminding this person that the city really might have made her sick, and it was her right and responsibility to make sure that people are aware that there is a problem so that the issue can be fixed. They also said that maybe the woman couldn't afford to move, etc, and the answer isn't always that simple. We are all prone to jump to conclusions about things we see in life, skewing them according to the lens that we view them through. I hope that I can learn to be a little less judgmental, and be a little more open to seeing things through other peoples' peepholes.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The sun will come out...

"The sun is up, the sun is yellow. The yellow sun is over the house." - Go Dog Go, by PD Eastman

I like the sun. I was driving home from Bible Story time on Tuesday, and saw the most gorgeous sunset. The fact that the sun was setting at 4 pm was a little disturbing, but the sunset was pretty none-the-less. The sky to the west was golden, surrounded by beautiful shades of pink. Shades of pink also outlined the folds of clouds in the sky above me. I watched the sunset fade as I drove, turning the sky into soft grays with light patches between the clouds. Wow.

Then, this morning I woke up to precipitation. I thought it was rain, but Cameron texted me later that it was snowing. I went to a window that I could actually see out of (the windows collect condensation in the mornings, and are quite hard to see through!) and saw huge flakes of snow drifting down. Shortly thereafter, the sun came out, the clouds are gone, and I had to open a window because the sun was overheating our apartment! I can hear the birds singing, the roads are wet from melted snow, and I think it's a perfect day to do some Christmas shopping! Soak up some of that sunshine, spend money on my favorite people... Some of my favorite activities!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Pay more?

I bought some black boots last year around this time because I wanted something cute that would keep my legs warm. I still had an office job at the time, and so I bought a pair with 3 inch heels. They are super cute and I still like to wear them, but they are not water proof and certainly not very practical for an area that is going to get snow. (Thankfully, it hasn't snowed yet!) Yesterday, I went looking for a pair of black boots that would be waterproof, warm, and still chic. I'm not too proud to admit that the first stop I made was Payless. I am not above shopping in the cheap stores! I looked and they had several pairs of black boots and most of them were even cute. However, they want $50.00 for their black boots. Now, the name Payless would lead you to believe that you are going to pay LESS for their product. However, $50.00 is not much less than boots you can get in most department stores. Payless, what have you done? Are you adjusting your prices for inflation? Are you trying to change your image to a more trendy, exclusive shopping environment? Because if so, you have a long way to go. You are letting down the public. You need to make your products more affordable for us poor newly married folk. Ok? Thanks!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

I think I dislocated my shoulder.

1. I know other people have said this, but I am one of those people who would rather carry all of my grocery bags in at one time, even if that means that I have 7 heavy bags on each arm. (And let's not forget the gallon of milk.) Sometimes, however, this is not the best idea. For instance, when you end up with so many bags that you cannot lift your arm to shut the back door of your SUV. And then, when you get to the front door of your apartment building, you cannot figure out how to open the door because you can only get one finger free. As you stand there muttering about how awkward the situation is, the mailman pulls up behind you. You make one last desperate attempt and get another finger free, barely make it up the stairs to the landing where you drop all of the bags and the milk on the floor so you can dig out your front door key, and said mailman comes in and says, "That was almost too hard. If you had given me 30 more seconds, I would have gotten the door for you." You think, "Thanks for being nice when I'm feeling extremely silly," but you just say, "Yeah, it was. Thanks!" You then go back out in the cold to shut the back door of your car, completely defeating the purpose of bringing all of the bags in at one time.

2. When I exit the highway to come home, the first building on my right is a heating company. Behind the heating company there are two tents. I wonder if the people living in the tents think it will be warmer there by osmosis.

3. There is an Italian restaurant opening soon. It has been opening soon for almost as long as I have lived here. They are making rapid progress - they just put up a new sign! Maybe it will open before we move to the sticks and we can sample their wares. I'm not holding my breath.

4. I better go put my groceries away before the ice cream melts all over the carpet where I dropped the bags and moved to the couch, irresistibly drawn to technology.

5. Have a good day!

Monday, November 15, 2010

The Perfect Day

I had the perfect day on Saturday. Cameron had planned to go hunting at some ungodly hour, but ended up turning off his alarm and we both slept in. That alone made the day perfect. Then, I mixed some fajita chicken (and sauted onions and green pepper) with scrambled eggs, corn tortillas, and salsa and we ended up with a super yummy breakfast. There is something fulfilling about creating a tasty meal. Cameron then left to go hunting, and I went shopping with a friend. I almost never have girl time anymore, and I was silly excited about it. We went to Spokane and ate good food, talked (a lot!), and shopped till we were too tired to shop anymore. And the best (and worst!) part of it was, neither one of us spent any money except for what we spent on lunch. That is a rare accomplishment for a couple of females in a huge mall!

I learned something from all of that. I had assumed that it would be hard to make plans with this friend because she lives an hour away. Don't ever make assumptions. It's just as easy to make plans with her. I just had to ask. You never know what sort of fun you are missing out on by making assumptions!

Friday, November 12, 2010

School Days

My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.

Remember that? I do (obviously!). I didn't remember that it was called a mnemonic, but you can find pretty much anything with Google.

That saying didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I was probably the only one in the class whose Mother had ever served nine pizzas at one time, and that was even on a special occasion when there were extra people at the house. Besides, now that Pluto isn't a planet, it really won't make sense. So, I decided to come up with my own.

My Very Excellent Man Just Slipped Up (Not!)

Ok, so probably no better than the old mnemonic. What can I say? I have a hard time getting my mind away from the initial one, since it was drummed into my brain at an early age. Does anyone have a better one?

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Peanut Gallery

1. Last night, I told Cameron, "No comments from the peanut gallery!" and then promptly realized that I had no idea where that phrase comes from. I asked him, and his response was, "I just thought it was something the Okies made up." Okies say it, but I wasn't convinced that they had made it up. I googled it this morning, and this is what I found on Wikipedia. "A peanut gallery is an audience that heckles the performer. The term originated in the days of vaudeville as a nickname for the cheapest (and ostensibly rowdiest) seats in the theater; the least expensive snack served at the theater would often be peanuts, which the patrons would sometimes throw at the performers on stage to show their disapproval. The phrases "no comments from the peanut gallery" or "quiet in the peanut gallery" are extensions of the name." You learn something new every day!

 2. I know that sometimes I neglect my blog. I have a hard time thinking up what to write about sometimes and don't want to just write meaningless nonsense. Even though that is what it ends up being 75% of the time anyway. So, no comments from the peanut gallery! (Clever, huh? It took me a while to think this up.)

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Thankful

Saturday night, we went out to our property and had a fire and a picnic. Did you know that Del Taco has 39 cent tacos right now? No, I did not get my act together enough to do hot dogs and s'mores over the fire. Too bad...

Some of my friends on Facebook are posting one thing they are thankful for every day this month. I haven't done it, but that doesn't mean I'm not thankful for the good things in my life. One of Cameron's coworkers told him he is lucky because of how things are going right now. I don't want to take our blessings for granted.

1. I'm thankful to (finally!) be married to my best friend. It is so awesome to get to spend part of every day with him!

2. I'm thankful for vehicles that are running well.

3. I'm thankful that we both have jobs.

4. I'm thankful that things are working out that we will be able to get into a house soon, and for a really reasonable price!

5. I'm thankful for supportive family and friends. I would not make it without you guys!

There are so many things to be thankful for: our country and freedoms, the men and women who serve to allow us to keep those freedoms, technology that allows us to stay in contact with our family easily...

What are you thankful for today?

Friday, November 5, 2010

Christmas

During church Wednesday night, a verse was read that is a part of the Christmas story. It made me think about what Christmas means to me, and this is what I wrote.

Christmas inspires a great awe in me. It marks the anniversary of an event that set in motion the most remarkable love story of all time. All of heaven turned out to witness God coming to Earth. The star wrapped long arms of light to all corners of humanity. The angels couldn't refrain the joyous song that burst forth to the humble shepherds. The Creator of our incredible planet became one of the Created in order to show the immense love of God to us in a personal way. The love that formed us and the beautiful world we live in caused our Creator to desire to know us intimately. Michelangelo pictured this so accurately in the hand of God reaching out to spark life in Adam, painted in the Sistine Chapel. That same hand reaches down to each of us, itching to instill life. I know there is something in humans that seeks unconditional love; I've felt it. I also know that it possible to have that filled. I have felt the touch of God. Christmas reminds me each year how much I am loved. And that is why I love to give gifts. It is a very small way of showing to others how much I love them.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Random

1. Cameron and I are not currently having a child.

2. On the way home from church, we were talking about names for our future children. I like the name Laney Beth. He thinks there are too many Nees in that name. I will continue working on him. Here are some of the things we learned about my name choosing fetish. (1) The first name cannot be one syllable. There is no flow to that sort of a name. (2) I have weird associations with names. For instance, the name Leann sounds like a middle name to me. If we named our child that, I would feel like she was running around half-clothed at all times. (3) I like the name Elizabeth. That name was Cameron's brain child. But then we couldn't use Beth as Laney's middle name. So I told him that wouldn't work. Him- "What about Eliza Beth?" Me- "No. I don't like it at all." Him- "You're right. Then we would try to call her and say "Eliza Beth!" And then it would sound like just one name. And that would just be weird." (4) Boys names are boring to me, so I have no prospective boys names in mind. (5) Some names have pleasant associations, but I still would never name my child that. (6) We are not naming one of our children Opinion. Cameron said we couldn't. But I have strong ones. He said so. So wouldn't that make a good child?

3. I gave a random child what for earlier. I was leaving the household of the lady to whom I give care, and when I turned the corner there was a 7-years-old-ish girl walking down the street. She deliberately went out to the middle of the street and stopped till I slowed down and then went back to the side of the street. I pulled up to her and said, (less sternly that I would have said it to one of my nieces) "Don't do that again. You need to get out of the street when you see a car coming." WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO? I understand watching out for children playing in the street. I do. I DON'T understand a child who deliberately stops in the middle of the street, practically daring the person in the car to run over her. AND WHERE ARE THIS CHILD'S PARENTS? Shouldn't they have TAUGHT her to get out of the way of cars??? My car is bigger that her. I can guarantee it wouldn't end well. Ok, rant over.

4. I'm typing this blog on Wednesday night because I'm working again tomorrow and I probably won't have time to type it in the morning.

5. I love Christmas. And it's coming. I heard a Christmas song yesterday. After my initial thought of, "Already? It's not even Thanksgiving yet!", I had a rush of the warm fuzzy feelings that always accompany Christmas for me. Dear CEOs of the airline industry, would you please consider lowering ticket prices? I want to be with my family for Christmas. Show some Christmas spirit, ok? Yours truly, A Poor Newlywed.

Ode to Oklahoma

Oklahoma,

Your air is not always sweet,
But I like you.
The ground is very flat,
And that's ok.
Please know that I miss you,
And I know you miss me too.

Building progress post

I promised you all building progress pictures. This is the front of our property before anything has been done. It is quite ugly at the front, because the trees don't start till around 100 feet back. We intend to get rid of the weeds at the front and plant grass and eventually trees.

This is the beginning of the house hole. A friend is running the front loader. (I think that is what it is called.)

Graveling our really long driveway. The soil is so rocky up here that we are just scooping dirt off of our property to gravel the driveway. Well, not we. Our good front loading friend is.

We are standing in our home! I don't know if you can read the sign, but it says "Home Sweet Home". Yay for beginning! (And yay for not being able to see my hideous muddy boots in this picture. They are very practical but definitely not chic!)


So basically, at this point, we have a driveway and a basement. What more do we need?? We even have a fire ring. We should just go ahead and rent a truck and move our stuff! Not. It's exciting to have gotten started, but there is a LONG road ahead. Wish us luck!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Fred Meyer Fun

First of all, I want to let you all know that the sun is shining. We haven't seen the sun in several days. I like it.

Last Thursday, I braided my hair, got around, and went to Fred Meyer to do some grocery shopping. As I was busily marking items off of my list, a middle-aged gentleman stopped me.

"I like your pigtail." (News flash - this is a braid, buddy! How young do you think I am, anyway??)
"Thanks!"

He proceeded to ask me if I was a Christian and we had a brief conversation about beliefs. That wasn't completely abnormal, since it's pretty obvious by the way I dress that I am conservative.

What was unusual was that the next day when I ran in Fred Meyer to use the facilities, I was stopped by another middle aged gentleman. He didn't speak English very well, but I could understand him. Our conversation went something like this.

Gentleman - "Congratulations. You look so nice!"
Me - "Thanks!" (I had my hair down and had dressed with care for my date with Cameron.)
Gentleman - "I wish my wife was here to see you."

The conversation went on with him telling me that he has two sons and no daughters and so when he and his wife see nice looking girls they are glad. Or something like that. I wasn't sure it he was telling me about his sons because they could translate or if he thought I might be a potential girlfriend, because the next thing I know, he's inviting me over for dinner. Somehow I managed to work my husband into the conversation, and probably dashed his hopes.

We concluded our conversation and I went to the bathroom. The gentleman was still sitting by the front doors when I went to leave FM, and we ended up chatting again. He called his wife (she was in another part of the store) and she came to see my hair. Eventually, Cameron came in looking for me. By the time we parted ways with the couple, they knew that my brother was marrying a Mexican girl (which made them very happy) and we had given them our contact information so they could have us over for dinner. They said they would fix Mexican food for me, which I simply cannot refuse. :-D

I'm planning to go to Fred Meyer again today. We need some more groceries. I wonder who I will meet!