Ode to the President

I like to get my picture taken with the president -past, present, and future.

Past

just in case you weren't sure. He is pretty authentic hu? I went down to Springfield with my parents and we toured Pres. Lincoln's house, and he just happened to be walking down the street, carpet bag and all.

Present

Future

Just kidding on this last one, he won't be running in any election.

Happy Trails

Last night we watched the documentary "Ultra Marathon Man". Can we just say, he is crazy. In case you aren't familiar with this guy, he ran 50 marathons, in 50 days, in 50 states. Madness. But it was exciting in a way that probably only a runner would really appreciate.
I've been getting back into running, slowly but surely. In fact, I have my dream stroller to aid my quest of getting back into shape--The Bob, the Mecca of running strollers. Can I just tell you how much I love this thing...I do. I took my sweet babe out for a run this morning (it has a car seat adapter, so he is nice and safe, don't worry) and a mile into the run, it started to pour. It felt like the good old days of running- except that back then all I had to push was myself. It was most enjoyable and very wet (for me).
Speaking of getting back into shape, I got on the Wii fit yesterday and it said. "Hello Kate, it has been 359 days since your last session!" Then it told me that I didn't succeed in my weight loss goal from 359 days ago. Whose fault was that? I blame the baby.

Now I just need my dream car to haul around my dream stroller. The Audi Allroad Quatro, the sporty/luxury wagon. Too bad they are discontinued.

The good and the bad

This is what my life has come to. Trying to get work done on the computer. I use to term work lightly, you know, catching up on my google reader, looking for blessing outfits- yes it's true, we've yet to agree on one. I gave birth, I should have the last word, no? Anyway, to get "work" done, I've strapped my boy into the baby bjorn and lucky me, as soon as he was in, he fell asleep. I love it when he sleeps!
Few things have happened lately, mostly things of the tragic nature (except my sister coming for a quick visit, that was great!). We'll start with the positives.
Good things that have happened:
1. Sister came. Very fun.
2. My babe is finally napping. Hallelujah.
3. I'm still eating chocolate. Thank goodness.
Bad things that have happened:
1. Dish washer. The dish washer is broken again. Bla, I hate it when this happens, the time frame for it being fixed is 24-48 hours, that means 72. What else does that mean, dishes are stacking up and I don't want to do them. Paper plates anyone?
2. The weather. It's cold and rainy out. What does that mean, our (as in me and the babe) outings are limited, or non-existent.
3. Air mattress. Out air mattress has a leak...as usual. This is our third air mattress in as many years. Why? Why? They are too expensive to have to replace after every other guest that comes to visit. Okay, so maybe we've gotten more use than every other, but it seems that frequent. And did I mention that they cost too much to replace frequently, oh yeah I did, well I've said it again. Can't someone make a more durable mattress, or lower the price of real mattresses and we'll buy another bed.
4. The bar. Bill started studying for the CA bar on May 1st. The schedule for bar study is everyday, including Saturday and Sunday. What a bummer.
5. My hair. It looks atrocious. I know, this is a frequent topic on this blog, but hair can make or brake you. I had a hair cut scheduled for the week before my due date. But then the Sunday before the appointment, I decided to cancel. It turned out to be a good move since the babe came early.

No title tuesday

One of my earliest memories was my mom putting me down for a nap when I was little. I hated naps and thought they were so boring. I remember sneaking down the stairs to see what exciting things my mom was doing. She was doing something equally boring - reading the newspaper. After seeing that, I went back to my nap.
Now here I am, relishing my sweet babe's nap time, reading (not the newspaper though). It's official, I'm boring.


I have a poll for you all to take on the side bar. Please participate.
Do you like to receive presents early or on the day of the holiday. i.e. Do you like to get birthday presents 3 days before your actual birthday, or would you rather receive them on the real date?

Me and Finals

Guess what time it is? It finals time, and it's my birthday. Boo on the finals. Hurray for being old. Anyway, we were able to leave the books at home for a bit and meet my dad for dinner, who was in town for meetings. Good thing I'm making my birthday last for at least a week to make up for it's bad timing. Here's to being another year older, and the last year I have to share my day with finals!

Bill, me*, Dad.

*birthday girls aren't supposed to have such atrocious hair. I blame it on the finals.

Will it ever come

So there are some blogs that I read and they are crafty. I'm not really a "DIY" kind of person. I don't have a problem with it, I just lack inspiration and possibly time. But I was thinking as I was reading a post about collecting catalogs and ripping out the pages for inspiration, when will I have time to do this. I've had this idea before, and I've ripped out pages, but alas, they probably sit in a stack for too long, and then it becomes necessary to de-clutter. To the point. I always think, "when I quit working full time, I'll have time to do all those things I've been meaning to do".
Yesterday, I took the day off work because I worked all weekend. And after my failure to get a new license (forgot my wallet, w/ the old license), I came home and decided to organize my growing mound of recipes. I lost inspiration, and the pile sat there. Do you blame me? Hoda and Kathy Lee were on, I miss them! And I didn't clean my house, or make anything particularly delicious for dinner either. Oh yeah, and the fabric I bought this summer to make a blanket, is still sitting there, stitchless - but it has been washed.
I think I'm a lost cause. No amount of time will change my uncraftyness. Boo.

Blond......Kate Blond

*Forgive my lame title, my creativity is struggling.

I'm a changed women. How so you ask? I'm finally blond again. It has been a long time coming, but today I made a visit to Dave, my favorite hairdresser and was transformed. Oh it feels great. I miss the days of lovely blond hair, because you know, blonds have more fun.

Before

Boring strawberry blond hair. This aged filter I added to the photo really doesn't help my case, but here it is.

After

I added the aged filter so you could have a fair comparison. Too bad it is so cloudy out, all natural light was lacking.
And here is a "vintage photo for you. I am in high school (yours truly is on the right, just in case you couldn't tell) with my swim team girls. I was so blond and tan back then. Oh those wonderful days. Oh well, blond from a bottle is healthier anyways, it doesn't come with skin cancer.

My Week

It has been a crazy week. I've neglected all of my blogging responsibilities. I have yet to blog about my sister's visit, the only pictures I could get up of our ball game were the ones off my cell phone, I've been sick....but not with the swine flu (that probably requires its own post), and we had an amazing work party which is also post worthy, because totally wasted co-workers and bosses are always embarrassingly amusing. I watched professionals make complete fools of themselves. Is slurred speech, tipsy walking, wondering hands, and bipolar behavior worth the buzz? For real?

The End

My Day

Today has been a crazy day. We have a grant going in which means lots of running around and chaos. The madness all began this morning, I had to track down an individual and have her sign a new letter of recommendation. We were in a time crunch folks. No time for crap like this. So I'm speed walking/running down the halls of the hospital when I get stopped by a clown. He stops me to say "Oh my, your sweater is the same color of purple as her (the other clowns) hair!"
What, why is he stopping me, I'm not a pediatric patient. Doesn't he see my official hospital employee badge? Boo. I gave the dumb laugh he was waiting for and sprinted on. Anyway, everything is done. Hurray, and to make it all better, my girl scout cookies arrived.

Oh how I love you my little thin mints, and peanut butter sandwich cookies. You are so good to me. I think I'll have to try to make these puppies some time. They can't be that hard, right? If you have a good recipe for thin mints, please pass it on to me please.

No, I won't be sharing!

My Random Thoughts

Last night was the law school auction. It has an official name, but I can't remember what it is. CLI or something.
Here is Bill, the bid for a dinner at a professors house with a private chef went for around $2,000. A little out of our price range.
Here is a picture that I have on my computer. I thought I would share it with you, you might have already seen it. We were at the Grand Canyon.
My final random thought is.........skinny girls. Don't you just hate them? Hate might be too strong of a word, so let me rephrase that. Don't you think they are obnoxious. I'm talking about those skinny girls that brag about how skinny they are. For example, girl on a running forum said "I only weigh a buck (100 lbs), so I'm not going to go run when the wind is 50 mph, it might blow me away (giggle giggle)!" Hu, who cares how much you weigh? Why would you volunteer that information? Or there are the girls who talk about how small they are and how hard it is to find clothes. I think some girls use their size as a safety topic. You know, awkward silence, so they talk about "because I'm so small" or "I'm so skinny and I can't gain weight..... giggle giggle". Well listen up skeletors, nobody wants to hear about how you can't find clothes that are small enough for you or how you you can't put on weight. Shop in the kids section.So this is the end of my random thoughts, I'm sorry if you think I'm a horrible person.

A Day in My Life

Today I featuring...my life in photos. All of you that live far away, well know you can be with me, in photo proxy. Unfortunately, you will see that my life is pretty uneventful, so uneventful, that my pictures drop off towards the end, so I'll fill you in with words.

So, I present to you "A Day in My Life"

Wake up early, today is was 5:24, some days I wake up later, it just depends on my run for the day.

Get on the treadmill, I had to crank out 10 miles. afterwords, I'll get home around 7 and get ready for work

Hop on the CTA for work and get there around 8:30 AM

Work hard for the money, so hard for the money (no I'm not a slob, I was just working on a big project, ahem)

Continue working hard for the money with A., my coworker

Walk across campus to the bus stop at about 5. Don't you love that the sun is still out. Oh hallelujah!

High for the day was 10ish. I'm not sure, but it was cold. I'm still walking to the bus stop.

Take bus home, see previous bus picture. Get off bus and walk by cars covered with poop. Our car is one of them, but not shown in the picture.

Cass is waiting for me when I get home. He jumps on my shoulder and walks around the apartment with me for a bit.
Sorry no pictures of dinner, I cooked an acorn squash, it was underwhelming. Bill was at the "midway" dinner, since he is midway through law school.

Went to Stich n'Chat, (if you want to put it nicely.) where I worked on my next project....a knitted bikini. Oh lala!!

Pattern found in this book. Just kidding, I'm making a hat for Bill, hopefully I'll have it done before summer.

And then, I went home at around 10 pm, to find Bill locked out of the apartment. Awesome. And went to bed at about 11.

There you have it. I hope you enjoyed your day with me. You should do this too, I want to see what everyones day is like. Come on, you know you want too. It is so fun.

My Birthday

It was my birthday yesterday. I'm old. We celebrated all weekend long. I made a 3 layer cake, bought some candles, and made Bill sing happy birthday to me. I'm so mean. But it was my birthday, so I had a free pass to do what ever I want.
I say birthday weekend because we opened presents on Saturday. You know, finals are coming up, so Bill is busy. But he insisted we celebrate on Saturday. So we woke up on Saturday and opened presents. He gave me a box with air fresheners and lint rollers.

air fresheners + lint rollers = cat

We celebrated on Saturday so I could pick out a cat.
Here he is, his name is Cassius (Caius Cassius Longinus) or just Cass. He is 4 months old and very affectionate. He likes to relax in your arms (see below)
He also has spots on his tummy, like a leopard. Why is it feline? He is definitely a fe-lion.

Thanks for the great surprise, Bill!

My quest for domesticity

I got a flu shot a few weeks ago, but despite I precautionary efforts, I'm still sick. I'm sick with domestisits or craftoidosis (an inflammation of the desire to cook, craft, and other wifey things). It is serious. It all started this summer while we were in Las Vegas and I was desperate for something to do. I signed up for a knitting class. It then spawned into other crafts and here I am, searching for the nearest JoAnn's to satisfy my crafting needs.

Here is a little bag I made to hold my sewing crap.....scissors, needles, thread, seam ripper, etc. I couldn't start any projects until my sewing stuff was contained.
Here is the scarf I learned to knit while in Vegas. Bill thinks it looks christmassy, it isn't, it's gray and red, not green and red. Here is the bag I made, I love it. I'm just going to tell you, just in case you can't tell, it is really cute. It has pleats, cute fabric and nice big pockets. It is also really big. Big bags are in. Wouldn't this have been the perfect size to take on a sleep over back in the day.
Are you wondering why Bill looks so.....solemn? Well I tried to make him model my new bag and he refused. He said modeling my bag would be like me modeling a jock strap. Enough said. I made him model my scarf instead.
My current craft, I'm knitting a beanie for Bill. My first time using circular needles. My quest for domesticity continues.

Joseph/Donny

Way way back many centuries ago, not long after the Bible began, I had a great love for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.
I was walking to the bus the other day after work when someone said the word azure, and I immediately thought "azure and lemon and russet and gray and purple and white and pink and orange and blue. Which spurned me on to think about all the other Joseph songs I had memorized. I LOVED this musical.
In jr. high, my mom and I went to see it with the one and only, Donny Osmond. It was fantastic. I knew all the songs by heart, I listened to the cd constantly (much to my families chagrin), and I had a secret crush on Don himself (we are on a first name basis, you know his wife calls him Don or Donald when she's angry). Oh the day I heard that there was a chance that Donny wouldn't be preforming due to an illness, I prayed my little heart out that he would be there. You can't see Joseph without the true Joseph. And lucky for me, he was there and I was in love. I'm not so sure my crush was so secret. As we drove home from the performance, I asked my mom all about Don . Where did he live, was he married, did he have kids. I was mildly disappointed to find out that in fact he was happily married and had kids. She said "he's a fine example of a family man, in fact, a remarkable family in anyone's book!" He was so dreamy with his long hair and technicolored coat, all I could think of was "give me his colored coat, his amazing colored coat" they could just throw in into the crowd.
But here I am, many years later, and though I don't care for Don so much anymore, I still like the musical, and since that day of overhearing the word azure, I've had Joseph on my mind. I even knew the colors of his coat:

It was red and yellow and green and brown
And scarlet and black and ochre and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve
And cream and crimson and silver and rose
And azure and lemon and russet and grey
And purple and white and pink and orange
and blue

But don't rely on all I said I know,
It's just that I have not been wrong before . Mwahahaha.

Maybe I'll go see this again some day, maybe then I won't have to include random Joseph phrases in to my everyday language or blog posts. I just tell myself,
"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go Kate you know what they say
Hang on now Kate you'll make it some day
Sha la la Kate you're doing fine"
you'll make it back there,
and have a really good time.

When your there.....

I know I've been a huge slacker lately when it comes to blogging. Sorry. But what can I do, I worked a lot this week, and to make matters worse, Bill was out of town, so I was left with my crappy computer, which means, I don't blog or serf the web. But I'm making an exception for this post. (You can thank me later).

But for today's post, I'm going to sing a little song for you all. Feel free to sing along.

"When you're there, I sleep lengthwise, and when you're gone, I sleep diagonal in my bed"

Bill has been out of town a lot lately, so this song has joined my bedtime routine. Boy, is it a good song. I grew up to Phish, and various other bands like The Cure, Pink Floyd, REM, you know, the good stuff. And they all hold a special place in my heart.

Back to the point, I've been sleeping diagonal in my bed, and I like it. But, I like having Bill home more. Who am I kidding, I still sleep diagonal in my bed when Bill is home (it's just not as obvious though).

I'm a Big Girl Now

So this weekend Bill and I went to our first concert. Okay, not very first concert, we've gone to operas and symphonies etc, but we've never been to a hip concert. Could it be because we're not hip, well lets pretend that isn't a reason/option as to our late bloom into the concert world. To the point, one of my favorite artists came to Chicago, Jenny Lewis, who is also part of the band Rilo Kiley. I decided I HAD to go. So we went and it was awesome. I think the word awesome is appropriate because the venue for the concert was in a church with frescoes on the walls and stained glass windows. It was great. One of the opening bands, Whispertown2000, was pretty good too. I had a terrible time deciding what to wear. You know, do you wear cool indie clothes? Can I wear other indie bands, I have a Wilco shirt, they're friends, right? Should I wear all black and top it off with a beret? Should I take a lighter so that I can sway it with the slow songs? So many decisions to make. Classical concerts are so much easier to prepare for, all you have do is put on a dress. I didn't do any of the following, just in case you were wondering, I just looked like me, boring, but indie loving me, and no lighter (people did have their lighters out). But they had these shirts for sale in various colors (see picture below), plus a tote with this same image, and I wish I would have bought the tote (I'm going green, good produce market bag). Guess I'll have to search high and low until I get one.Anyway, the concert was great! I'm finally an adult, and now I'm just waiting for Rilo Kiley to come to town! Wohooo!

Viva Chicago!
Viva Jenny Lewis!

P.S. My first concert was actually at the Muse in Provo, where my brother in-law's band, MCU (Mobile Command Unit) play. It was a rockin good time, especially because my grandparents also showed up to support him.

My Twin

My dear friend JoSue said she found my twin on campus. I was so excited, I've always wanted to know what I looked like from a non-biased point of view. And if this really is my twin, she is cute so hopefully that make me cute? Well I'll let you decide- does this girl look like my twin?
My BYU ID photo from 2002.

6 Honest Things You May Not Know About Me

This is my first tag, and I think it is really exciting- at least for now.

1. I used to wear glasses in elementary school because my eyes didn't work together. Those glasses wearing days of elementary school were filled with face injuries. My glasses were like a magnet to rubber balls on the play ground. For instance- I remember distinctly in 5th grade standing on the black top talking to my friends and looking up- just in time to see a red rubber ball come sailing across the playground and nail me in the face. Luckily my crazy eye problem ended and I was then able to avoid countless face injuries. But in high school I started wearing glasses again- my smart yet fake glasses and I would only wear them on test days, or just when I needed to be smart. I loved them. And now, I just read Hollywood's blog about glasses for $8, and I'm strongly considering buying some new smart glasses.

2. I heart jackets! Some people love to accessorize with rings, earrings, necklaces, you know, a little bling bling. Not me, I love jackets. A jacket can make or break an outfit. I mean, you need a jacket for all occasions- rain, snow, shine, warm, chilly, windy- thus you need: down, gortex, trench, faux fur, wind breaker, fleece, soft shell, hard shell, and of course, just a cute jacket (and it's on sale Bill- talk to me about sizes!)

3. I was a Miracle! Well I'm sure/hope my mom and dad would say so. My siblings on the other hand would consider me another M word- Mistake. How mean.

4. I hate whistlers. I think this strong hatred comes from my dear sister Liz who would yell at me to stop whistling when we were young. So now I don't whistle, and when someone is whistling in public- ie- bus, train, elevator, sidewalk- I want to yank their whistler out.

5. I'm all signed up for the Boston Marathon- 2008!

6. My dream car growing up was a mini van- because I hated sitting between Chris and Liz on the long drives from Kansas to Utah. Both are tall, and both felt justified in sitting spread eagle- thus taking up my tiny allotment of space in back seat. All I wanted was captain seats. My dream car never came, and it never will. Audi Allroad- here I come (in many years)! You may call me the Wagon Master!

Now, I will tag......Liz, Mari, Nan, Suzy, and Katherine. Get to work, I need something new to read!

Oh the Vanity

I thought I would do a little interview with.......none other than myself. I know it sounds vain, but who else am I going to interview at work. Enough said, here goes:

Interviewer: Hi Kate, what a lovely purple jacket you have on.

Kate: Oh thanks, you are too nice. My sister picked this out for me. She might as well do all my shopping.- (shoot a wink at Mari)

Interviewer: Well lets get started.

Kate: okay, ask away.

Int: So where have you lived in your almost 24 years of life?

Kate: Well I was born in the good ol' Midwest- Kansas City- land of the rolling his, then my family moved to Utah, I lived in Jackson, WY one summer, and now my spouse and I reside here in Chi town.

Int: Kansas has rolling hills?

Kate: Why yes, at least the the eastern half has hills. It is a wonderful state.

Int: Well you do look like a Midwestern girl.

Kate: What does that mean?

Int: I don't know, moving on. What is some of your favorite foods?

Kate: Everything, I love all food! Specific foods, I would say, bangers and mash, anything with carbs- (bread, pasta), peanut butter, sushi, nutella, chicken coconut kurma, and portobello ravioli. Yum! But I will pretty much eat anything.

Int: What won't you eat?

Kate: Chicken enchilada casserole, Hawaiian haystacks, banana boats, olives, and Smith's Chinese food.

Int: Interesting. So what is your favorite color?

Kate: Blue.

Int: Religion?

Kate: what is my favorite religion? Judaism.

Int: no, what is your religion?

Kate: oh, Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints or Mormon. All I can say is the Church is true!

Int: No Malaysian?

Kate: Nope, that is just my good friend Anne Curry.

Int: Okay, we will wrap this up (I know you readers don't like to read long posts, especially without pictures) Last question- What is your favorite highlighter color?

Kate: hummm, that's a tough one, but I would have to say, yellow, nothing like a good neon yellow highlighter. I could color a whole page with a highlighter just because. It is the perfect color of bright yellow.
Kate: Are we done?
Int: Yep, I will try to think of some better questions next time.

Stay tuned for the next installment, whenever that may happen.