Oops, I got behind

First off, I'd just like to take this time to say: IT SNOWED!!  And it's about time, too!  I'm enjoying it while I can - it'll probably be gone tomorrow.

See that layer of ice on my car?  This is what winter is like in the East when we actually get some precipitation.  Same as the last picture - note that I'm actually standing on top of a layer of ice that formed on top of the actual snow.

Now, let's see if I can get caught up.

MLK weekend was a whirlwind.  I spent a few days down in Raleigh, NC helping Lauren and Yuriy do some painting.  (You can imagine the wild times.)  But I think they now have the most awesome-looking laundry room I've ever seen.

That same weekend, Marcia shared a birthday with MLK, Jr.  So, of course, we had a party!  An Indie dance party, with Gibby as our DJ.  I was impressed with the indie selection - I'll have to get the playlist.  

We did our best to dress the part, which includes all the crazy eye makeup, some purple tights, and my Music Snob tee.  

The next day was the Inauguration!  I decided to brave the masses and walk into town (7 miles round trip!  Not bad!) so that I could see history made.  I told the story on my family's blog, but suffice it to say, it was the most polite, well-behaved humungous crowd I have ever encountered in DC.  And after all the stories I've heard from my friends who also attended, we definitely chose wisely when we mapped our route into and out of town.  Here is my pictorial documentation.

I will now add to the randomness by bringing you to this past weekend.  

I attended a PostSecret seminar with some friends from my ward.  It was put on by the founder of postsecret.com, Frank Warren.  Just to give you a little background, this guy started a community art project that basically consisted of him walking around town and handing out blank postcards that were addressed to him.  The instructions were: Tell me your secrets!  So they did.  It started as a community art display, then he turned it into a blog, and then he started making books of them.  And then when he stopped the project, the secret postcards just kept coming to his house.  He realized that it can be very therapeutic for people to share something they have never told anyone else.  It can be a sort of release for them, and also for others who see someone else's secret and can relate.  Sometimes they're funny and sometimes they're very serious, but I think it's all very interesting.  

Lastly, I attended a Roller Derby with some classmates.  I had never actually seen one before, so this was new for me.  All I can say is, do not mess with the chicks with the skates.

We spent the first half of the game trying to figure out the rules, and the second half trying to figure out who would want to play if we decided to set up our own league (since we all have so much freetime), and what their names would be.  The players we were watching had names like Carnage Asada and Condoleezza Slice.  Obviously, this is going to require lots of serious brainstorming.

The rest of this week is looking to be equally awesome, with a little bit of The Killers, a little bit of some Census, a little bit of some Salsa...but I'll get to that later.

P.S. Why didn't anybody TELL me how much of a tax refund hookup it is to quit your job mid-year and go back to school?!

Christmas Break extended

I want to be sure to cover my last bit of Christmas break excitement.  School just started up again (it'll be a real interesting semester.  And I mean that in the most sincere, non-loaded sense.)  and I figure I should get all caught up before things really start picking up and I lose my chance.

I took a trip down to Broadway!  And spent some quality time with the Broadway Croshaws.  We had a grand time.  And I finally got my baby fix, thanks to cute little Asher.  You can just tell how good-natured and happy he is.  That little guy is so loved, and he just knows it.  I could see it in the smiles he graced me with.  I know that much of a baby's smiles are just the baby mimicking, but that doesn't make it any less endearing when it happens.  And in my unprofessional opinion, Asher must be getting smiled at a LOT for how quick it comes to him.  

Can't you almost read his thoughts here?  I think he's saying, "Honestly??  I'm stuck with rice cereal while you guys get to dine on this culinary masterpiece?  Man, I can't wait to grow teeth!!"

And what a talker Asher is!  I love talking to babies.  I always wonder what deep and inspiring things I'm being told by these tiny beings that are so close to God.  It wasn't so long ago that they passed through the veil.  I wonder if they're trying to tell me what it was like in the preexistence, if only they could make their mouths work to formulate the words to tell me about it.  If such words even exist in English.

Valerie and I got bonding time over her Wii.  (Sorry, no pictures.  I was too busy defeating galaxies.)  All I can say is...you can get dangerously hooked on that thing.  It's intense!  We were so into our game, she and I didn't get to do any of the stuff I thought we were supposed to do that day.  But in a way, I'm sort of glad.  I heard this theory recently that you can learn a lot about a person by the way they play video games, so I was putting it to the test by watching real close when Valerie would take her turn.  I think it's a valid theory.  I feel like I know her better now.  :o)  And besides, it gives me an excuse to go down again, so we can follow through with our original plans.

And as an aside, I got to see Matt laugh harder than I've ever seen him laugh before.  Seriously.  Ever.  Crystal was tickling him.  It was priceless.  I love her so much more, for making my brother laugh like that.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2009!

Naturally, I spent most of my extra-long Christmas break in Idaho with the fam.  Or should I say, a teeny portion of the fam.  This year it was just me, Leslie and Alex, and the parents.  Definitely a quieter, low-key Christmas.  

Let me paint a picture for you. Christmas Eve: we went to a movie, and when we got out of the theater we realized we didn't know what we were doing for dinner that night. It was after 6:00, so we just drove around to see what was open. Maybe Costco dogs? Nope, closed. Fast food? Good luck. The typical neon lights of Yellowstone were unsprisingly dark. Oh, look, the bar at Mama Inez is open! And Dominos! When all was said and done, our Christmas Eve consisted of cheese crisps, pizza, and Dad winning at Phase 10. (I was happy for him - he's such a trooper when we play Nirtz.)

Anyway, we all enjoyed ourselves, with lots of trips to the taco truck (I miss that Mexican food), the movie theater (I never see as many movies as when I'm at home), and Lowe's (naturally, we worked on a few home projects...we repainted the kitchen and it looks AWESOME. And Alex and Dad went to work on installing a cabinet. And I started peeling off the wallpaper of the upstairs bathroom!! Is anyone else really excited that this room is finally getting some attention??).

And I got to take a trip to Pebble Creek and get my skiing fix!
It snowed a LOT! Which I really loved since DC seems to have a definite shortage of the fluffy white stuff. Doesn't Chink's Peak (yes, that's the real name) look like a painting?
Dad and Alex had to snowplow the driveway more than once. The walls of snow on both sides of the driveway were at least a foot and a half tall!
The downside is that it snowed so much that we couldn't go to Spokane to see the SpokanderLouws. The days before we were supposed to go, it snowed about 2 feet (or 3? 4?) in Spokane and PLENTY in Poky. This was a bittersweet tragedy for all. We needed our kid fix. I missed the nieces and nephews. And since none of them were around, I realized how much of my time I usually devote to the kids in exchange for the adults when I'm around my family. Interesting.

I also got to visit Sarah-Dawn in Costa Mesa. Yay, Southern California, warmer weather! Right? Not so much. But we still had a great time. She literally lives minutes away from the ocean, which is basically her dream come true. We went to a couple of beaches...

...had a bonfire (most efficient fire ever made) and made s'mores on one of the beaches while we watched the sun set...

...went hiking through a canyon...

...and watched the fireworks and played with hats in Downtown Disney.



And we ate at In-N-Out and got Boba drinks. Twice!!