Longing for Warmth

I changed the header picture to this because we look so warm and happy. Seth and I were dating in this picture and in the process of falling in love. Aww. This is on Idaho on our way home from Hebgen Lake, possibly one of the most beautiful places in the world. We were with Seth's brother Dan and his family. We haven't been back since, but I'm thinking this is the year. Hi Lara, I just invited myself to your cabin this year. :)

Resolutions I'm Considering...

1.Go vegetarian.
2.Find a passion. (it's always on my list)
3.Conquer my fish fear by competing in a triathalon.
4.Learn how to use coupons effectively.
5.Learn to sew more than pillows.
6.Minimize tv and internet time.
7.Be a better friend.
8. Figure out how to be a mom (this one might take a while)

I say considering because let's be honest, I probably won't stick to them just like last year and the rest of the 23 years of resolutioning I've failed. I'm pretty confident in working on Number 8, cuz, well, I have to, plus that one will be fun (and hard and scary, but a lot of fun). I always have the best intentions of working on Number 7 but then by the end of the year I've realized I am still just as selfish and self-centered as the year before and haven't been a better friend, but I can keep trying right? Number 6 might be do-able because right now our HOA pays for our cable but they're thinking of cutting it and you know Seth is not going to pay for cable. We don't have internet either and since I won't be working I won't have daily access to internet. Yay, Number 6 might work! Number 5, mmm, maybe. I need a sewing machine first. I think I can do Number 3. I really, really, really, think I can. (Positive thinking, positive thinking. Fish are friends. Fish are friends. ) I started Number 1 on January 1st and lasted until January 15th or so, but then Seth told me it's probably not the smartest time to go veg, since the baby still needs to grow and all. I'll be back on it when the baby is born. I just realized recently that meat's just kinda yucky. Number 2? Well, as far as Number 2 goes, we'll see. I want to find something I'm good at, but the problem is I don't have the patience to become good at it. I just want to try it and totally rock at it and then realize, THIS IS MY PASSION! Wouldn't it be awesome if I tried to see if ice skating was my new passion and I went out on the ice and did a triple lutz (sp?) this first time? See, my expectations of a passion are too high. I don't know what to do.


Here's to resolutions and here's to all of you who actually follow through with them.

Wow

Please bless that our baby gets Seth's smart genes and doesn't end up like this kid. Seth used to have a roommate that would ask him to proofread his papers for school. Probably one of the dumber people on the planet. One time Seth received a note from this roommate that said "Rent Do". Seth's other roommate, another proofreader, kept one of his papers and just emailed it to Seth recently. I found it very entertaining:

9/23/05

English 21
Papers
Papers, papers, papers. All teachers want are papers. When some one is streesed and the hour is three in the morning. What are you working on? Yes you guessed it. Long boring 1-page MLA stile papers.The way I right my papers are ushily at night because 1M probably getting off a hot date and forgot all about it until that moment. Then I stay up the rest of the night to finish it and come into class the next morning dead asleep.How do I do it? How dose my mastermind pole thoughts out of my butt at three in the morning to write a paper on how to right papers. Frankly, I don't know. I think I just grab the idea that is in my mind at that moment and start typing. What ever comes out, comes out. I look it over, correct it, then go to bed. Then in the morning right before class begins, I have one of my roommates proof reed it to make sure I don't have to many random sentences. (At three in the morning you could put any thing down on paper and it would sound grate.) I then go to class half awake and turn it in.I think the best medafor to describe my creative, most fabulous righting, would defiantly have to be spontaneous. What ever is on my mined right at that pacific moment I jot it down on paper. For example, in class we were sapost to right a tory on your most embarrassing moment. The first thing that came to my mind was the time I ran naked threw a crowd of about two hundred on lookers. There was nothing that inspired me to right about that pacific thing but that was the first thing to come to my mind so I rote it down. It was spontaneous. So there you have it. Those are all my secrets on how Kevin Montag rights his papers.

Yes, this was a college paper. Yes, he made reference to himself in third person at the end. Yes, his name has been changed.

Mommy Guilt Already?

We're poor right? That's no surprise. Medical school tuition combined with a state employee salary equals zero dollars in the bank. Will our baby care or feel neglected that I just ordered the least expensive car seat I could possibly find? Will he care that it's kinda, wait, no, way ugly? I did make sure it passed the safety tests, it just didn't pass the good looking test. Babies don't care about this stuff right?

Good Things Come to Those Who Complain

Thank you United for giving me $250 toward the next flight of my choice. I will be sure to use it towards something awesome like Mexico or Hawaii or Fiji or anywhere where I can drink a pina colada and lay on the beach.

p.s. Seth hasn't received an email about the $250 coming his way yet. Can you please send it? It would be too sad to sip pina colada's alone.

Holiday Travel is Not for Wimps

When preparing for holiday travel, prepare for the worst. What happens to you may look something like this:

1. SLC to Chicago: No problems, left on time.
2. Chicago to London: Delayed 1 hour, no explanation.Delayed 2 more hours at midnight for "routine maintenance". Delayed 1 more hour while waiting to be de-iced. Total delay time: 4 hours. Consequence: Miss connection in London.
3. Got to London, missed the connection, rebooked onto another airline.
4. London to Brussels: small delay, sat on tarmac for about an hour. Total delay time: 1 hour
5. Suprise! Your bags have not made it. You will probably get them tomorrow, or the next day, or sometime in March.
6. Time to go home, aren't you excited to do this all over again?!
7. Brussels to London: Delayed 1 hour, waiting for the plane to arrive. Delayed another hour, waiting for a bus to take us to the plane. Delayed another hour, still waiting for that bus. Delayed another 30 minutes, maintenance. Delayed another 30 minutes, de-ice. Total delayed time: 4 hours. Consequence: miss connection in London. Deja vu.
8. London to Chicago: Delayed two hours, flight crew had transportation problems and were late, then had to de-ice the plane, then the runway. Total delay time: 2 hours. Consequence: You guessed it, miss next connection.
9. Chicago to SLC: Plane is gone, you are not on it. You have to stay the night in a hotel. It's not too bad though, you get a meal voucher and have a really yummy breakfast the next morning.
10. Chicago to SLC: Take 2. Delayed 1 hour. Fuel guy put too much fuel in the tank and now the plane is too heavy. Fixed that problem. Now de-ice. Now the runway you were supposed to take off from is closed. Wait for new take off assignment. Total delay time: 1 hour. Consequence: Missed your meeting at work because you were supposed to be home last night, not today, and would have been at work.


As wonderful as our vacation was, Seth and I have sworn off holiday travel unless the destination is a tropical locale and it is direct flight. People just shouldn't have to travel for 36 hours.

I Chopped it

My hair that is. I'm not sure about the length yet.

Ringing in the New Year Antwerp Style

We spent New Year's Eve watching an amazing fireworks show in Antwerp. I think everyone agreed they hadn't seen a fireworks display quite like it. It was choreographed to music and was really amazing. Getting back to the car was a little scary, just because the crowd was pretty wild and there were people setting off fireworks everywhere. We made it back safely to the car and each enjoyed a dixie cup of sparkling cider. Happy New Year everyone!

Oh and I should mention that it was FREEZING! We were only outside for about an hour and we all dressed as warm as we could. It was worth it to see the fireworks though.

Art Nouveau

Since this trip to Belgium we knew we'd be sticking mainly in Belgium, Seth thought it'd be a good idea to see/do things that are unique to Belgium and that maybe he hadn't done before. There are several Art Nouveau homes in Brussels, so Seth took it upon himself to see A LOT of them. We only were able to see outside of all of but one them. One has been turned into a museum. I hadn't really heard of this kind of architecture before and it was fun to see. It kind of reminds me of Willy Wonka. According to our tour guide, Seth, Art Nouveau became popular around the turn of the 20th century. Here's a sample: