Diaz Trio

2010-07-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

because i need something new to look at. and because he's so dang cute. this was taken last summer, but you get the idea...pj lately
:: just over 4 feet tall
:: 3rd grade grad
:: currently reading the Fablehaven series
:: super helpful older cousin
:: basketball pro
:: lover of all things psp

this little guy is such a charmer. he is constantly impressing me with his ability to make friends wherever he goes, his cheerful attitude and go-with-the-flow personality.
he rocks my socks.

2010-06-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

the collection i created for my illustrator class. illustrator rocks.

2010-06-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

may came and went. the days blurred into weeks that poured into months and then one day this quarter ended. i'll admit. it beat me up a bit {lot} but here i am. new skills and 3 more months under my belt. here are the pictures i used for my photography portfolio. because a post is always better with pictures. hello, fellow bloggers. i've missed you...

be a{countable} people

2010-04-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

this post is alternately titled {just show up}.

this post has been a long time coming. the consumerism that is my existence is starting to weigh heavily on my mind{, body, bank account, closets, soul}.

part 1. sister told me about a documentary she recently watched called No Impact Man {all you netfickers should check it out} about a man, his wife and baby daughter in NYC who decide to try and live a year of their lives without making any negative impact on our planet. they ate locally from farmer's markets, composted, reused, rode bikes, gave away their tv, took the stairs, even gave up electricity half way through.

it has come at the perfect time for me. i recycle and reuse when it's convenient, but still produce my share of useless waste and wasted energy. i have succumb to the cliche notion that my small person's efforts could never mean anything. i know. lame. but while i have no intention of going a year without electricity or toilet paper {this guy is hard. core.}, i have every intention of introducing some nature nurturing practices into my life. i was born on earth day, for crying out loud. if that's not a sign...

so. want to join? because if i did a couple things and you did a couple things then maybe the good could spread?

{some ideas}
:: use those great reusable bags all the grocery stores are selling now.
:: carry an aluminum water bottle around and refill.
:: use cloth instead of paper napkins. if you need some, i elect krista to make you some. she's really good at it.
:: make your own household cleaners - super easy and non toxic. that's a win-win. win.
:: avoid foods with excess packaging and or buy in bulk.
:: opt out of junk mail. tips here.
:: don't leave your oven preheated and turn off immediately after use.
:: buy from local farmer's markets.

Love and good company, the chance to be of service and to matter, connection to something bigger, the use of our most prized talents—these things make most people happier than stuff. -- colin beavan {no impact man}

part 2. having lived in this downtown los angeles city for a year now, i have learned a lot about myself. my desires, my behavior. i am approached at least a dozen times a day for spare change; sometimes just a quarter or nickel. it was overwhelming at first. i didn't know who was most deserving; who i was supposed to help when i knew i couldn't help everyone. so guess what i did? i helped no one. it's disturbing to me. regretful and discouraging.

but.

the bright spot? realizing that in every stage of my life i have always been blessed with excess; even if it's only been a little. that's all it really is, right? if we have what we need, the rest is just gravy. this core of my attitude is starting to break and crumble. the part that tries to convince me that "of course i'll give when i have {enough?}" what does that even mean? how much is enough?

normally i wouldn't be so public about a topic like this, but if these feelings i have now begin to fade tomorrow or next month, they will just be gone and no one would be the wiser. i could retreat to my wantings and go about my days saving my quarters for laundry instead of lightening someone's burden. but then, when will the change come? how will my hours be measured and who will hold me accountable?

this is my pledge :: to find a balance between {wanting, giving, acquiring and sharing}

::because people can change, yes? my 28th year is going to make a difference, dammit!

and then these. my favorite of all. will {hopefully} have a better place.

2010-04-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

what keeps you company when your other half is away on business?

a little bit of this one

2010-04-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

goes a long way to making a down day look up.

you'd think i was her mama as much as she appears on this blog.
it's only because we're besties.
i already knew it.
but she reminded me several times today.
by crawling over and laying her head down on me.
she told me she's happy to fill in.
until i have a babe of my own.
because that's what best friends do.

enjoying this

2010-04-11T18:45:00.001-07:00

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your bodylove what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting — over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

Mary Oliver

i am overdue for a yearly recap and reflection, but today will not be the day for that. just enjoying some nice music to myself, a little blog hopping {would we call that stalking?} and trying to be a less-lame female today. i think my cloud is finally lifting. hope you enjoyed the poem as much as i did.
happy sunday.

missing

2010-04-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

i feel like after my surge of posting last week that i've been missing for the last few days. partially because i've been in a seafood coma since easter.

i have become reacquainted with my camera and have committed myself to really figuring it out.
{because i want to, and because the husband says i can't get an upgrade until i do. touche}

an easter afternoon

2010-04-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

i took the kids to an event at the arboretum in pasadena yesterday.
i'm being summoned to help with the seafood extravaganza ensuing in the kitchen, so i'll have to let the pictures speak for themselves.

**this is my 144th post on the 4th day of the 4th month. this, in itself, brings me much joy**

for the el duderino we call dad

2010-04-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

some days you just gotta git'cher swing on

highest jump competition

we tied.

:: just your average thursday afternoon at the park ::

spring is breaking

2010-04-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

and so are we!

me and the peej have been on spring break this week.
it has been most heavenly.

see? :: lunching on the lawn with cousins :::: multiple trips to the beloved {and estranged of late} fabric district :: :: sewing easter outfit{s} with little people :: :: decorating little cups of cake with bigger little people :::: and spending a small fortune on our first ever 3-d movie ::
ratings: e-7 l-8 p-8.7
and the week is only half over!
more adventures to come...

random mobile downloads

2010-03-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

took these with my phone while J & G were visiting

the derb

2010-03-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

3.5.10 pj's first pinewood derby

sweet flames, dude.

oh, the pressure...

the intensity!

he had a rough start but killed it in the second chance bracket. eliminated 1 race before the championship. at least he claims bragging rights for beating his bff.

i'm so nuts about my boy

seussical

2010-03-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

pj just performed in his very first school musical. it was a spin off the movie Horton Hears a Who and he played one of the roudy Wickersham Brothers. they were a group of monkeys that tormented Horton.

he was reluctant at first and even "forgot to remember" to try out, but we signed him on at the last minute and he was hooked instantly.

they didn't mess around, either. i suppose i shouldn't be surprised that his school would do this kind of thing in a big way, but i decided to be anyway. they practiced after school three days a week for nearly three months. **forgot to mention that about half of the kids (pj included) got to take a field trip to a recording studio to record the background songs. luckeeeeee!

then they put on three performances, opening friday night and showing a matinee and evening show on saturday.

next year he has decided he's going to go for the lead. perhaps we have a budding actor on our hands?

some highlights...

hipstamatic

2010-03-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

i was recently introduced to this fun new app for my phone. it comes with different flash, film and lens options to create old school effects on the photos. doesn't it feel like we should all be dressed in those old western outfits holding shotguns?

who knows, maybe we will.

in other news :: we're having a jolly holiday with justin and grace!

they were all made out of ticky tacky and they all looked just the same

2010-03-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

i like things in place. i like when things are even, i hate odd numbers. i have found that the more i take on, the greater my need becomes to control everything {and everyone} around me. basically, i'm a total control freak. i try not to fly that flag at all times, but it certainly rears itself. often.

i don't like to forget things or leave things unfinished; it's a constant internal struggle.

SO.

the point of that little field trip into my psyche. i like to give myself little goals to work on, small things to improve upon. sometimes it's my behavior, my diet {rarely}, my priorities, etc. i like to start on the first of the month and ride it through. a definitive starting and stopping point and appropriate length of time to actually accomplish something without it being so long i burn out.

about a week ago i realized that march started on a monday {it's like a chocolate chip cookie, wrapped in a zinger, mixed into a marionberry pie inside a sunday nap wrapped in an ice cream cone, when the first day of a month is ALSO the first day of the week}. my brain pictures the week beginning with monday and progressing uphill to sunday...another post, another time.

seriously, just get to the point. when realizing said delightful fact, i started planning my march goal. i decided perhaps i could do a little {lot} less complaining. i don't need to list the blessings of my good fortune to know that i. have. it. good. in the words of gob: "c'mon!"

so, guess what? i did a test run the last few days and wow. big difference. big. huge {pretty woman}. we'll see how well it plays out when my 31 days are over. the beauty of it all? come april 1, i can get drunk off that whine.

and now, a bunny.

2010-02-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

see eric.

see eric, run.

see eric run...some more.

see eric finish the Chinatown Firecracker 5k.

e and his work posse.

one of these things is not like the others...

trumped

2010-02-28T09:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry to disappoint, but craft night was instantly trumped by an impromptu date night. If you know me at all, you know date nights trump just about everything.
Just after publishing that last post, pj got invited for a sleepover at his friend's house.

Soooo. E and I ventured out and saw
date night = great
this movie = not so great

It felt a little M. Night Shyamalanish. I thought the twist was a bit too obvious about halfway through and kept hoping for a double twist, but no such luck.

eric's rating: 6
lauren's rating: 8
{because leo rocked it. and i like mark ruffalo. and michelle williams. and i just love going to the movies}

how did that happen?

2010-02-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

it's the perfect storm, the trifecta, the bermuda triangle...i don't care what you call it. all i know is that all the {main} rooms in my house are clean, i have no homework due until next week and eric is making dinner {even if it is a frozen pizza, this girl is takin' it!}. AND it's not midnight and i have {a little bit of} energy. bring on the crafting! my brain is swirling and luckily for our checking account all the fabric stores are closed for the evening so i'll have to be resourceful. but that's ok, i like being resourceful and i've got the buzz! wishing i had my screen printing kit, but alas, that fun will have to commence tomorrow. time to get out the scissors and thread! sister, do you have my good scissors?
no matter, i love you, anyway.

i'm thinking about trying to mimic these...

or these...

the night is my oyster and i'm off to slurp it up!

ready for the fresh and new

2010-02-16T13:16:00.000-08:00

we're still here. i suppose i should stop being surprised when 4,5,6 weeks go by in what feels 1. i'm ready to start blogging again with a fresh, spring header because i can if i want to. here's a little happy to tide you over until i return...
{photo by kristy dorrough}

christmas remembered

2009-12-25T22:07:00.000-08:00

it was a quiet holiday this year; warm. a visit from santa, then one from dad later that morning. a turkey, some candles, homemade bread and leisurely naps; reveling in a day off and our many blessings. no rushing or stress, just buttermilk pancakes, movies and handmade pajamas.

{click to enlarge}

pj turns 9! {11/29}

2009-12-21T23:26:00.000-08:00

out to lunch, party with the cousins, skype with grandparents and my first successful ice cream cake.
the last year of single digits has begun!

our thanksgiving in pictures

2009-12-21T23:08:00.000-08:00

thought i ought to catch up on the last few weeks before my series of christmas posts begins

can't explain it

2009-12-21T08:18:00.000-08:00

i just really like this commercial...

Trip to Wapato: Part III...The Family

2009-11-25T17:25:00.000-08:00

I am running short on time, so I'll just post this picture and describe more later. But let me just say that on this Thanksgiving Eve as I mull over my greatest blessings and what I give most thanks for, I realize that this picture encompasses so much of what I cherish the absolute most. There are several incredibly important people missing, but I can't help but be so thankful for this handful. I am one lucky lady.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours...

Trip to Wapato: Part II...Grandma

2009-11-25T16:49:00.000-08:00

i've been sitting here for 15 minutes trying to put into words what this woman means to me. i just think she's the bees knees. i have been in awe of her my whole life,but watching her grace throughout the funeral of her lifelong companion just stirred something inside me i can't describe. she has literally spent her entire life in the service of others and i will forever be humbled by her selflessness and gratitude.

Trip to Wapato: Part 1...Grandpa

2009-11-25T16:17:00.000-08:00

Last month we said goodbye to our dear Grandpa Stimpson. All of my Stimpson cousins sans one missionary were able to attend and the reunion was a cherished one I will not soon forget.

...some memories of our Grandpa in photos...

you're a wiz'uhd harry

2009-11-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

this was a halloween of firsts; some great, some...well, just different.

::first time pumpkin patching in 90 degree weather, but first time with our cousins.

::first time NOT carving said pumpkins. usually we have too many choices and end up with 2 pumpkins per diaz. but this year, the pickin's were scarce and we only left the patch with 2 total! shortly after patching, i left on a last minute trip to seattle and didn't get my act together in time to carve when i returned.

::first time letting pj do his trick or treating with friends. e and i were feeling a little cheated, but made up for it by heading to hollywood and eating dinner accompanied by {a suprise visit from} Jonah and serenaded by thai elvis. no complaints.

::first homemade wizard robe.

::first {and last...at least until next year} dye job for peej. we started growing out his hair in august, so naturally it needed to be black. he was the spitten image. success.

bloggers anonymous

2009-10-22T02:45:00.001-07:00

hi, my name is lauren. (hi, lauren) it's been over 2 months since my last post.

what the? i have more excuses than fingers, so i won't even bother.

it is, however almost 3am and krista will be on her way in a couple hours to pick me up so i best be getting to bed or into the shower. i'll let you guess which one it's going to be, but it's not the shower, lemme tell ya.

delirious, i am.

buuuuuut....here's a couple pictures of the patch. krista said there was no patch in southern california. i said puh-shaw. turns out, not the most impressive patch, but it takes a lot to impress a NW girl. in the end, it was worth the 2 hour drive.

introducing!!!

2009-08-11T10:49:00.001-07:00

birds in skirts
www.birdsinskirts.etsy.com

sassy duds for your short people.

who are we?
two sisters who grew up sewing with our mother

what do we like?
fabrics that feel good, wash well and look great. and birds.

what else?
in order to reduce our carbon footprint, we ship using recycled and reused materials
*temporary free shipping to celebrate our grand opening*

for sizing inquiries or custom requests, email us!
birdsinskirts.la@gmail.com

stunning

2009-07-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

interior design is not my #1 passion, it's more like my 8th, maybe 10th. but. it does not mean i do not become speechless when i see inspiring beauty. my evening bloghopping brought me through this guy's website. i love.

2009-07-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

i stole this from a friend's blog. awesome.

2009-07-21T23:20:00.000-07:00

i just happened upon a great new blog called daydream lily and she posts a link to a site she found where you can enlarge your images in your post but keep the image quality. i've been wanting to do this for some time now, but assumed i needed to do it in photoshop. here's the link in case you're interested.

i want to go to there

2009-07-06T15:35:00.000-07:00

do you ever get the travel bug so badly that it's all you can do not to sell everything you own and buy a ticket? i am dreaming of...

i am happy, oh so happy, to be living in california. but if money were endless, well....

i want to:

2009-07-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

keep a cleaner house.
be more content with how things are right.now.
break out of the t-shirt and jeans rut i've been in my whole life.
do more for other people and quit thinking of myself all the stuuuuupid time.
be more adventurous.
wake up earlier.
eat healthier.
be more courageous.
accomplish more in a day.
want to cook dinner and be decent at it.
follow through with more ideas.
work harder.

be a better parent.
be a better wife.
be a better person.

sigh.

everydaaaaay....in the wooooooorld

2009-07-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

even though sister stole most of my good reunion pictures, i s'pose i could put a few more. i'm pretty sure there are only about 2 1/2 people outside my family that read this blog that don't know i went to a ranch in washington and reunited with these great individuals. this here's for you. sister and i packed up the 3 short rounds and drove up to sacramendi for the wedding of

this beautiful cousin.

after which we caught an airplane up to seattle and picked up this one, drove the remaining distance to the ranch and commenced reunitation. t'was lovely. some highlights:

the 4 cousins birthed of 4 sisters within one year (and one day). we're all married now and we can begin our plot to take over the world.

cousins unite! (if you were one of us you'd be hearing laser noises right now)

the posing got a little weird, with the hand holding and such. not sure, don't ask.

autumn attempting her best trash talk. uh, huh. cute. maybe next year it'll help you win. snap!

and finally...this is what happens when you hand your camera to Kevin for some group pictures

oh dear, where to start?

2009-06-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

where do you start when you haven't blogged in well over a month? and how do you keep from vomiting when you look at that mini sirloin burger commercial even one.more.time? ugh. i guess i'll start little by little...

on may 17th we drove out to van huys to see the set of the office. we didn't tell pj where we were going, but as soon as we drove up he knew exactly where we were. it was pretty fun to peek into the parking lot and see all of the character's cars. unfortunately we arrived in the evening so our pictures were less than stellar, but i'll share some just because. i had to add lots of highlights to make anything readable, so forgive pj's neon glow.

on may 23rd we spent a saturday at the getty center. it is a great place to take your camera on a date and get to know it a little better. i did and we couldn't be happier together. so happy, in fact that i decided to start a photo blog to follow my progress. i know, i know. cliche much? but if you want to see pictures of the day, go here.

ok, so i broke the ice. not as overwhelming as i expected, but i'm going to need a break now. i'll be checking back in throughout the day to continue this mega update. until then...

delight

2009-05-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

i am long overdue for an update from this posse and don't worry, it's not far off. but. for now. i can't not share this. it delights me.

two seven

2009-04-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

i'm not a fan of odd numbers, so naturally every other april twenty two i have reservations about getting older. regardless, i had a delightful day. took pj to school, went to class, came home and began baking my cupcake pops while watching past episodes of 30 rock. picked pj up, came home, sister and babes came over. eric came home and cooked dinner. but then someone knocked on the door and it was emily! most of you don't know emily, but she was my roommate (and has been a friend for years) before i got hitched. she completely surprised me and flew in for my birthday. awe. some. we ate dinner, hit up dad and nat with skype and k and i continued our efforts of creating the cupcake pops. they were a lot more labor intensive than originally anticipated so the unfinished cake pieces are still in my freezer, but we made one for each party person. it was a relaxed, lovely day filled with birthday wishes, sunshine and some of my favorite people. sadly, i did not take a single picture, but if you are curious about cupcake pops, go here.

maria. the rockstar.

2009-04-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

this is my friend maria. if any of you reading this were at my wedding, she and my other mucho talented friend, jonah, sang that song by ingrid michaelson, the way i am. she lives in utah right now. she doesn't belong in utah and i miss her. she laughs at me every time i tell her she's going to be famous. she will.

the boy is in!

2009-04-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

after quite some time, pj has made it back to the second grade (insert cheers and huge sigh of relief). he started at the hollywood schoolhouse on thursday and has already made several friends. poor kid has been seriously lacking in people, age 8. we are becoming pros at finding our way around, via metro. LA has a great subway system that we catch 3 blocks from home and drops us about the same at our respective schools. the stop where we get off for pj's school is right on hollywood blvd. next door to the kodak theatre. we're kind of like celebrities. oh, wait.

i'm not sure what building that is with the rugrats pictures, but it's not the school. in case you were wondering.

bunnies + chocolate

2009-04-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

= lauren's favorite holiday. well, not completely true, but a close 2nd, tied with thanksgiving. the girl loves to eat. i digress, it's easter time and i am pretty happy about it. my last post, a little dramatic, already described how i'm feeling as of late, but that is completely unrelated to holidays. holidays are a whole different ball game. i love them and all the food, decorating, family goodness that they entail. along with the traditional bunny cake, i'm thinking about replicating these bad boys.
class break is over, more on easter to come...

happy.

2009-04-09T23:15:00.001-07:00

what do you do when your life takes a turn and so many things you've longed for for so long come to you and when you try and think of things that would make it better, very few come to mind and instead of searching for things to look forward to you're just happy. every day. burst, i think.

Do You Realize?

2009-03-20T12:14:00.001-07:00

that you have the most beautiful face... -flaming lips

100th Post

2009-03-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

celebrating 100 insights into these diaz people's lives. hope you've enjoyed! stick around, why don'tcha?

A Gem

2009-03-14T00:19:00.001-07:00

this post is alternately titled "i heart npr." did you know that if you ever want to find something you've heard on npr, you can go to their website npr.org and tell them about it and they will find it for you? genius. did you know that even if you were mistaken and the program you were listening to wasn't on npr, but another delightful program called this american life, that the lovely folks at npr will still find it for you and send you the link? quite thoughtful. coo coo cachoo, npr, i'm now an even bigger fan and maybe i'll throw a couple of my extra pennies your way during your fundraising marathons.

i digress... a couple months ago i was driving in the car listening to what i thought was npr, but was actually this american life. i became so engrossed in the story that i sat in the parking lot of the grocery store until it was over. so, if you have 16 of your minutes to spare and want to be entertained, check out this gem. Babies Buying Babies was the story that caught me, but after scowering her website, i'm also looking forward to her book The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance coming out this year.

The Other Good News

2009-03-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

eric got a job! (phew.) the first week we were here he was contacted by an old contact from costco. it turns out they are opening two new business center costco's in the area and wanted to know if he was interested. uh, yes please. he met with the store manager a few days later and in less than a week he was hired as the marketing manager. sweetness. what a relief to have stable income again. everyone do the happy dance! now it's my turn to find work, but we agreed i would only have to work part time. (yay!) this california adventure just gets better and better. we've been so blessed and everything is going so smoothly. so, we're back on the costco train and life is good. good job, hubs.

One of Two Good Newses

2009-03-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

1. we got approved! our first place fell through because the guy we were going to sublet from decided to postpone his spiritual journey for a couple months. go figure. so we went back to the search and found a great building. We actually found 4 great loft buildings all owned by the same guy that were really reasonably priced and fit our needs perfectly. sweet. i fell in love with this one right away, but eric wanted concrete floors over wood so we kept looking. it ended up being the best one, after all, so it will now become our home. it's got one bedroom, a large nook with a closet to block off for pj's room, a kitchen and then one big open space. AND 1 1/2 baths. i was all prepared to share one bathroom and now i don't have to! bonus. plus, it's got a gargoyle right outside the window, so what's not to love? oh, and a pool on the roof, wha? we move in the last few days of march. yippee! thanks again to krista and bim for putting us up for a whole month and letting our stuff take up their entire garage. family is good.the building

the view from our bedroom
eric's kitchen
sweet gargoyle buns out our main room window
the main room

Pay It Forward

2009-03-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade (or possibly store-bought) gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch though: you have to post this same thing on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in. Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift!

Our First 2 Weeks

2009-03-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

so, we're here! and so far, i think we all LOVE it. it's been a little stressful figuring out all the minor details; a place to live, pj's school, income so we don't become homeless, those things. actually, it's mostly just been stressing eric out. i'm trying to feel the urgency, but let's get real, i'm still in vacation mode and there are babies here. cute ones. we found a sweet place, but the guy decided not to leave after all, so we went back to the hunt and found an even BETTER place. good karma. a new building, affordable, downtown, pool and hot tub on the roof, sweet views. we're stoked. everyone cross their fingers that it all goes well and we get approved even though neither of us really have jobs. good news on that front, too, though. the first week we were here eric got a call from an old contact from costco asking if he wanted a job at one of the 2 new stores opening in the area. so he went and applied to be the head of marketing at one of them and we're waiting to hear back. sweet! please, more finger crossing. thanks. justin, kitti and grace got here (yay!) on thursday and it's been wonderful. and here's what we've been doing since we've been here.

Finale

2009-02-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

i feel like I've been running in circles lately. so much to do, so little time is an understatement. it's true, though. these diaz people are heading south. i've been meaning to write a "yay, we're moving to california!" post, but as i said before, circles and running. i finally got my butt in gear and applied to school. i got accepted around thanksgiving and here we are, 5 days from rolling out. sweetness. i decided to get a head start and take a couple classes online before i start on ground in april and it just so happens that my finals are due by tomorrow. two new classes start on thursday and by saturday we need to have our apartment packed up, patched up and be on the road on sunday. good times. so, i'm heading back to it, but thought i'd say hi and share my final project that i completed just moments ago. see you on the flip side.

Bruiser

2009-02-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

pj is now missing his two front teeth! last week at baseball practice he was throwing a ball into a bucket and someone hit the ball with a bat and it knocked him right in the eye. poor guy! you can't see it much anymore, but if you look under his right eye you can still see the remains of the bruise. missing teeth and a black eye. don't worry, you should see the other guy.

I Heart SWA

2009-01-20T16:18:00.000-08:00

If anyone wants to fly to or from Seattle, check this out. Half price flights for the next 3 days.
Do. It.

I Should Be In Bed

2009-01-18T23:12:00.001-08:00

...but i'm not! i'm going bum num finishing up homework and while i would love to expand on the fact that YES! i'm back in school, i'm too tired, so i will ellaborate at a later date. that's fun to say. here's a piece i did this weekend for my color theory class. goodnight!

Watching Grinch

2009-01-10T22:03:00.000-08:00

Playing with Picasa

2009-01-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

i haven't posted about christmas yet. like krista, i'm working on appreciating it as i come to grips with the fact that it's over. it was completely wonderful and i have the pictures to prove it. they will be trickling in as i work on them. eric completely surprised me with a new camera for christmas. i have been secretly coveting a "real"camera, but unable to convince myself it was a need. thanks eric, i love it! this is my first attempt at a picasa collage. i don't really know what i'm doing yet, but i am exploring and loving it.

Hey, Guess What?

2008-12-31T08:09:00.000-08:00

it's her birthday! happy birthday sister, i love you!

top 10 reasons krista rocks:

1. She makes awesome humans

2. she is very crafty and not in the weird, loner way. her handmade christmas decorations would put anthroplogie to shame.

3. she writes gorgeous poetry. who even does that? she does!

4. she is smokin hot. well. you are. have you seen your smile?

5. she's a mover and a shaker, but no matter where she goes, she's happy and content.

6. she's not afraid of spiders

7. she is generous of all things, including her time.

8. she has the best cursive handwriting of anyone you or i know. don't even try to fight me on this one, it's the truth.

9. she's not as mean funny as i am, but just enough mean funny to be really funny and not so mean.

10. she is my best friend and i love her guts.

A Litta Christmas Post

2008-12-16T21:27:00.001-08:00

I don't have much to blog about, but it's been such a long time so I thought I would discuss just how much

I. Love. Christmas. Everything about it makes me happy. Getting a tree, wrapping presents, decorating (mostly I just love decorating my house, but I pretend to love decorating for clients, too), baking, shopping, the crowds (mostly the happy ones, but I pretend to love the cranky ones, too. Afterall, it's Christmas), the chilly weather (and boy is it cold these days), the music and movies, the yummy treats, FAMILY, I could go on. Good times. Here is a glimpse of our little apartment's cheer. Love to all!special thanks to eric for his great posing as I positioned the camera for one of the most ghetto photo sessions ever. lots of timers and running. good times.

6 days to LA!

Said Uber Post

2008-12-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

everything you've heard is true. the family came. they did kick pj out of his room, but what he didn't tell you was how much attention he got and how much fun he had with the new additions to his fam. i will admit i was a little apprehensive about organizing and shuffling around 5 extra people in our limited space, but we totally rocked it! and let me say, they were the best type of houseguests. they did dishes, folded up their beds, even taking the time to deflate and reinflate air mattresses every day, gushed about the great food eric made (special shoutout to stetson) and best of all, slaved away in my christmas world all week long! some highlights:

we went to market

we feastedwe wii'd

we rocked

no seriously...we rockedwe saw santa
one of us got jiggy with the snowflake lane dancers (no judgement)

we had a great week

we also got in some good arrested and office watching. thanks for coming guys, you're officially welcomed back. game on.

Just So You're Aware

2008-11-30T22:53:00.001-08:00

i am kind of a rock legend. instead of making the huge uber post about the holiday week and the company and what not, i decided to become a rock legend. that's right, mia and lakin and stetson. bring it.

halfway through battling the devil to pass the level:

pj: "lauren, you are playing for your soul."

...and i will be bringing tales of turkey week soon, no need to fret.

Giving Thanks

2008-11-27T22:24:00.000-08:00

i know i've been a bit MIA lately, but this time of year gets me pretty worn out. many halls to deck, very little time. but, this being such an important day of remembering all things blessed, i would like to thank my family, new and old, for being so generous with their time. they have helped me so much this week and as eric and i woke up this morning, we agreed that we were most thankful to not be completely exhausted as we typically are on thanksgiving day. we woke up refreshed and enjoyed our day of cooking delightful things to eat. even as i write, i feel a little verclempt. my list of thankfuls continues to grow as i am unceasingly blessed.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Ummm...

2008-11-08T22:05:00.001-08:00

how else can i stall doing all the things i need to get done by tomorrow?

i.e..
-plan my primary lesson
-alter my friend's dress so i can give it back to her at church tomorrow ...and the other gazillion sewing projects i keep meaning to work on
-clean the kitchen
-beat super mario brothers 3. yeah, you heard me. bring it.

i think i'll go try on the new sweaters i bought today....again.

later.

Hello, People!

2008-11-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

Didn't you hear the news? She's no longer an innocent bystander, she's one of us!!! sucker.

Go see her, it's fo real.

http://www.dointhelaundry.blogspot.com

Barack My World

2008-11-04T17:24:00.000-08:00

is any else's stomach in knots? i did not expect it, but i tossed and turned last night and i think tonight will be no different. here's to hoping for the best and preparing for the worst!

Everything's Coming Up Pumpkins

2008-10-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

this past week has been all about the pumpkin around our house. on saturday we finally trekked out to the pumpkin patch (phew!). we picked out 5 rockstar pumpkins after much mud tromping. i always have a hard time picking out pumpkins and the same goes for christmas trees. have you ever seen that Friends episode where Pheobe wants to buy all the sad, charlie brown trees so they can fulfill their christmas destiny? that's me. if i pick one up and especially if i pull it off it's stem, it's hard for me to leave it in the patch to die. i know. it's a problem. and eric is mostly patient with me as i fret over which ones get to come home with us. he tries to remind me they don't have brains or feelings and i try to believe him. we got all green ones again and the one i finally decided on is the greatest of any of my years of pumpkin patching. i was very pleased.
the final results. eric did the 2 on the left and the one on the far right. mine has star eyes and if you look close enough, you can see why pj's is named guido. good times were had by all.
pj and i made pumpkin pie sunday night and i made pumpkin cupcakes for our ward activity.

The Best Yet

2008-10-23T22:08:00.001-07:00

Obsess Much?

2008-10-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

i don't feel like i have much to chat about, but it's been so long since i've posted, i figured i should check in with the masses. so. how're things?

i've been entirely consumed by sewing these days. i haven't finished my stockings yet, but i did make some progress during conference. they are looking stinkin cute if i do say so. and i do.

i must say, it's kind of taking over my life. and when i say kind of, i mean entirely. a rather healthy week consists of only 3 trips to the fabric store and making it home with no more than 4 new projects. oh dear. i have about 6 projects in progress (as soon as i get about 3/4 of the way through, or i stop liking where the project is heading, i start on the next) and close to two dozen waiting in the wings. oh dear. **

so far, i've completed (keep in mind that nothing is ever complete with me. i can always add, tweak, remove something already considered finished) a few things i can actually wear. 2 shirts, a skirt and a pair of soft pants (eric's name for my pajamas). oh, and a pair of pajama pants for RD.

but i mean, seriously. go big or go home, right? i think martha stewart would tell me it's a good thing. i don't know. i'm just sayin.

evidence of a couple trips to the fabric store....in case you didn't believe me.

**a shout out to the hubs for being so patient and supportive as our hard earned dollars continue to be replaced by fabric. thanks, dude.

IN OTHER NEWS:

:: my hair goes severely darker. wha?

:: eric got in a car accident last week on the freeway. not hurt, luckily, and not his fault, but our car is pretty crunched. ugh.

:: the red sox almost come back to win the ALCS but, sadly, the rays steal the victory.

:: to my surprise and disappointment, i have yet to be to the pumpkin patch this year. MER! remember earlier in my post about the sewing and the sucking up of my life? i wasn't kidding people!

:: the diaz trio continues to root for obama.

:: in an attempt to get pj excited about reading, i bribed him to read harry potter with me. he was pretty hesitant. until i promised him 5 packs of baseball cards. my mom tried to bribe me to read when i was little. i'll let you know if it works better with peej than it did with me.

Two Things I Love

2008-10-06T20:37:00.001-07:00

jim halpert & the red sox.

the sox just beat the angels (sorry, dad) to take them to the ALCS. they'll be facing the tb rays.

oh, it's gonna be good.

a quick update for the fans:

:: i've started a drawing class to help with my sketching. it's so fun to be in a classroom again. doing something so enjoyable is a total bonus. i've also been progressing with sewing. yay me.

:: pj just got his first cell phone (don't get me started). they have come out with a cell phone for kids called the firefly. do i think kids should have cell phones? uh, no. i will say, however, that pj really earned it. a couple years ago he spent the entire summer coloring pictures and selling them to earn enough money for the phone. just before he had enough, he lost his wallet with almost a hundred dollars in it. devastation. and now, 2 years later, you may be getting a call from a 7 year old with his very own phone.

:: eric turned one year older a few weeks ago. he also had yet another victory while fixing his car and continues to earn rockstar status in my book. love that guy.

Hooters

2008-10-06T19:17:00.001-07:00

just when i thought it couldn't be more fun to eat a cupcake!

behold, pj and my parliament. yum!

I Heart Tina Fey

2008-10-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

Creations from Christmas' past, present & future

2008-09-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

in preparing for the annual christmas

craftiness during general conference this year, i dug out some treasures thunk up by the great ceri jo when us chillins were little. it was a great way to keep us awake during conference back in those days and, coincidentally, does the same today! i wish the halverson grills could be together this weekend, but know that i'll be thinkin 'boutcha. and definitely about mom!

i started these stockings last year, but wasn't able to finish them in time. i was up until 3am christmas eve trying to hack them out, but my machine was not cooperating and i almost lost it! this year i'll add the names and do all the fun things i wanted to last year, but wasn't able to.

can't wait!

Oh no they didn't!

2008-09-29T16:42:00.001-07:00

A First

2008-09-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

Sex And The City came out on video yesterday and they have it on sale at my QFC (yay!). so perfectly convenient as i am still carless and it's on my way home from work. when i got to the counter to purchase it, to my surprise, the lady behind the counter asked for my ID! "Come again?" she told me the computer system was requiring it, so i dug it out and she eyed my suspiciously (my license still shows me with blond hair), but let me have the video. i understand them checking when i buy my booze and cigs, but this is the first time i've ever been carded to buy a movie. kinda funny.

well, i'm off to watch my smut...cheers!

"I'm not superstitious...

2008-09-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

...but I am a little bit stitious."

-Michael Scott

The Office starts in two days, wahoo!

Over and Out

2008-09-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

the teacher strike is over and PJ finally started school yesterday. a sigh of relief was heard around the world. Well, at least around our little world.

How much do I love these ladies?

2008-09-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

...and i mean Tina & Amy

2008-09-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

Dictionary.com sends me an exciting new word every single day to help me expand my vocabulary.

Word of the Day for Friday, September 12, 2008

hoary \HOR-ee\, adjective:

1. White or gray with age; as, "hoary hairs."
2. Ancient; extremely old; remote in time past.

...if only i could come up with an example to help me fully grasp the meaning...

on strike

2008-09-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

sometimes i am forced to learn lessons about myself, even if i have to do it kicking and screaming...which i usually do.

september 2nd was supposed to be pj's first day of second grade. unfortunately, the teachers in the bellevue school district met with the union, decided they weren't being paid enough and have now been on strike for a week. negotiations continue to fail and although it is illegal, the striking continues.

eric and i have been scrambling for a week now to find daycare for pj until this is all resolved. we are using up all our favors and the "strike camps" that have been set up are definitely not free and are now eating into our budget.

it's particularly tricky in this district as it is located in one of the wealthiest areas of the country. we are one of the very few families in the district that live in apartment homes and not million dollar mcmansions (seriously, bill gates' estate is less than a 10 minute drive from us). the teachers in this area just want to keep pace with the community, but inside, my guts are saying: if you wanted to live in a 2 million dollar home with a boat and 3 cars, wouldn't you have chosen a different profession? isn't that horrible? i think it's just my frustration talking. i just want school to start already!

here's my problem(and why i am so selfish): if the same situation arose somewhere else in the the country, i can see myself in complete support of these teachers i so admire. as i've had some time to mull this situation over, i find myself torn.

i consider teaching one of the most noble professions and will be forever grateful for those influential teachers that did so much for me growing up. and then this thought occurred to me yesterday: would i consider them so commendable if teachers were paid what they deserve? would they hold such a special place in my heart if they made six figures? is it their sacrifice that makes them so memorable? i don't even know the answer.

to any teachers reading this, i mean no offense. i think you are wonderful. i'll get down off my soapbox now. it's bedtime, anyway...

thoughts?

the new dark hair

2008-09-04T22:00:00.001-07:00

a bit curly and messy today...but you can get the general idea...

what i did on my summer vacation: part I

2008-09-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

now that summer has come to a close, it's time to document the lovely happenings of the last three months... i'll start with one of my favorites....

krista and ally made their way up to seattle last

month and boy, did we have a good time!

...i guess we forgot to warn little of the dangers of hanging out with uncle eric..

some
highlights...

...we ventured south and ran into these lovelies... ...the good times continued...

come back soon!

cha cha cha changin'

2008-08-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

I have much to discuss, but too little time at the moment. Story of my life. The following topics will soon be addressed...

-Red Sox sweep the Mariners at Safeco

-Krista and Ally take Seattle..and Portland

-Eric and I celebrate our first year married

-I finished the Twilight books and came back to reality. almost.

-I colored my hair brown! Well, it actually turned out cinnamony, so I'm going back this week to seal the deal. Here's what it looks like at this point...

and I'm in the process of giving my blog a makeover. A tip for my fellow bloggers: don't change the font color on each individual post, do it all at once through the settings feature. All I have to say is that I've wasted much precious blogging time changing back each individual post. Mer.

distracted

2008-08-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

i am long overdue for an update, but i am sorry to disappoint, i just can't. i have replaced the emptiness left in my apt. now that my lovelies have gone back CA with these books and now i'm in too deep. in the last 3 days i have done very little but read. meg started me on this vampire series and now there's no turning back. i've just started the 3rd book, eclipse and at my rate i would say i could finish the series by mid next week but i do have a job, so you can expect to see me again by next weekend. promise. i wish i could say that haven't become obsessed with these books, because to be honest i'm not exactly comforable at how spellbound i have become. i like to come off as tough, but obsiously i'm a total softy! it does give me comfort that there are SIW's out there that i look up to that seem to be equally entranced by these books. i think you know who you are.

anyway, i'm back to it, but here's a little teaser...

sharing ice cream at multnomah falls

when i wasn't being asked for "mo mouse?" it was needing more dancing with the wiggles. yeah, did you notice the crossed feet too?

for krista

2008-07-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

i finished my curtains this weekend and i'm on to the next project. a boutique near my work just went out of business and was looking to offload some of their display items so eric and i took advantage. super sweet. i'm replacing the panels in a large room divider with suede and using it as a headboard for our bed. stay tuned. for now, here's a picture of the completed curtains. i'm pretty happy with them, but my ocd comes out in full swing and i can see all the flaws. mer.

Progress

2008-07-20T23:04:00.000-07:00

one side down, one to go!

Breakfast of Champions

2008-07-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

a chocolate cookie (recently dipped in syrup from mom's nearby plate) in one hand and a strip of bacon in the other. does it get better?

this one doesn't think so.

the diaz trio spent a short, but very sweet weekend in portland. good times were had by all.

Sew, Sew, Suck yer toe

2008-07-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

i've been overcome by a new project as of late. learning how to sew. not only because i just want to have that skill, i need to know how to sew for school. kristy let me tag along with her at her sewing lesson a couple weeks ago and ever since, i've been hooked!

so many projects, so little time.

thanks to this book krista got me for christmas (that has been sitting on my bookshelf for six months because i got so frustrated with my sewing machine last fall that it has been sitting dormant ever since) i've been able to practice my skills AND make cute stuff. win, win.

so, without further ado...

my first creation...i wanted it to look like a donut, don't worry about it.

this is the project i started today. curtains for my boudior...

i'm still in the still in the early stages.

one day, these curtains hope to look like this...

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/popups/popup_zoomviewer.jsp?productid=893020&color=aqu

i even dyed the fabric different shades of blue. super fun!

it has arrived

2008-06-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

and not a day too soon. summer has decided to join us here in the greater seattle area and in a big way. today hit almost 90 and i did not even complain one time. i will love and embrace the hot weather with open arms as long as it will let me.

we didn't do much to brag about today, but it just had that summer feel, you know? it's been such a long time since we've felt that around here that i didn't let myself feel guilty for lounging the day away.

after sleeping in a bit and watching a couple episodes of LOST (that's a post all it's own) we took a long stroll down to bellevue's newest grocery store...

*new grocery stores and movie theaters are two of my favorite things, did you know that about me? i like to grocery shop and i could spend hours in a bright, clean organized beautiful grocery store. ok, maybe not hours, but i do enjoy it. also, a new, cushy, stadium style theater excites me just as much. i digress.

...we got some lunch and walked over to the big park in downtown bellevue and ate under some ginormous trees. we debated whether they were oak or elm but couldn't decide. they were lovely none the less.
we trekked home and quickly changed into our swimmin suits and camped out at the pool in our apartment complex for a bit. pj spent the evening at a friend's house so eric and i meandered outside a bit longer, did a little shopping and grabbed dinner at our favorite sushi joint.

after we picked pj up we cruised out to DQ because i've been craving a blizzard for many days now. it was one of those great evenings where you just want to crank up the music, roll the windows down and drive until your voice is hoarse from singing. we didn't drive very long, but it reminded me of when krista and i lived together in provo and used to do that. we also used to have ice cream dinner at least once a week. (39 cent mcdonalds ice cream cones) great memories.

anyway, we're back at home, pj's in bed and eric and i have made it to the 4th season of lost. it's not on dvd yet so he has set up the couch and cushions behind me in preparation for the marathon we'll be watching on the computer. wish us luck...if you don't hear from us in awhile, we didn't make it off the island.

happy summer!

This aint no reg-uh-luh day

2008-06-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

it's jt's birfday!

happy birthday to the guy who:

:: bleeds diet coke

:: has the raddest hair of anyone i know

:: can always make you feel super special for no reason

:: laughs at the stupid stuff i say

:: is wicked smart but doesn't talk to down to anyone

:: i completely admire and look up to, not just because he's a giant.

***happy birthday, justin, i love you!***

2008-06-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

"you can't be friends with a squirrel! a squirrel is just a rat with a better outfit!"
-carrie bradshaw

karen and i became great friends with a squirrel once. his name was pedro. i think he had a crush on winston.

Lone Soldier

2008-06-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

i just want you all to know that all day long i think about things to blog about and my mind comes up with very clever, witty banter. when i sit down to write, however, i almost always draw a blank.

mer.

eric left for pittsburgh, pa this morning (at the butt crack of dawn mind you) so i am a bachelorette for the week. what does this mean, you ask? many many things.

#1 convincing myself i am a siw* and there's no need to be scared when i'm home along.
#2 eating cereal for dinner if i want to. in what twisted world do i look forward to cereal for dinner when every other night i get a well balance, sometimes gourmet, meal purchased and prepared for me? i am such a spoiled lame-o. i probably won't have cereal for dinner, but i COULD if i wanted.
#3 watching the celtics DEMOLISH the lakers in game 6. watching the celebration right this very minute. **just an update** i have learned this year, that not only is the diaz trio red sox fans, we are also fans of any other sport played by a boston team, namely the celtics and the patriots. stay sharp everyone.
#4 making the apartment look spic and span and then watching it stay that way for 3 whole days in a row. ps: when was the last time you heard the term "spic and span?" when was the last time you actually said it out loud. think about it.
#5 making cookies and eating them all myself. well, i do that anyway.
#6 doing whatever i want, suckas!

in other news:
i have decided i want to be a morning person. this may be shortlived, but i'm giving it a shot. more on that to come...i've gotta hit the sack!

Daddio

2008-06-09T16:48:00.000-07:00

so i did remember dad's birthday and emailed him on the appropriate day, but realized i didn't publicly wish him a super special sweet 16+24+4+12th birthday!

dad, you're great for lots of reasons. wanna hear 'em? thought so.

~you introduce me to new movies i would never have rented

~you are always up for a good road trip

~you make me stronger

~you give really good hugs

~it must be said, you are a kick ass bike rider!

~you made us all really tall and i really like being tall

~you make me feel like anything is possible

~people tell me all the time that i look like you and i think that's great, cuz i'm pretty sure you're a stallion.

~you are the bravest person i know

...and ALL the reasons krista said, especially about fixing things and except for maybe the music part because, to be honest, i don't really like blue-grass, but i love that you love it!

i love you dad, and i'm glad you got to spend your birthday in thailand; how cool is that?

2008-06-07T09:56:00.001-07:00

it's a jet pack michael, what could possibly go wrong?

-gob bluth

A little and a lot more...

2008-06-04T22:15:00.000-07:00

do you get to the point in your blogging life where so much has happened and you are so backed up on your posts that it's overwhelming to even think about trying to post? yeah, i'm there.

wait, wait! i have semi-good excuses:

1. our laptop decided to go the way of the earth. Is that even an expression?*
2. our camera's memory card spazzed out and erased most of the pictures on it which were AWESOME, thus discouraging me further.
3. i'm pregnant**

so, here i am. i feel forced to borrow krista's bullet list, at least you'll get the basics.

:: eric, pj and i flew to california to surprise the fam. super fun. went to disneyland AND the dodger game. radical.

:: my bff hollie turned one year older and wiser. eric and i made her a super fun cake that truly mimicked her personality. luckily i took a picture of it with my phone, so not all was lost.

:: ashley's baby turned 1 and we also made him the best cake ever, but sadly, those pictures could not be recovered. it was light blue with different sized brown polka dots and a big orange A (for Alexander) on top. when i sat it in front of him, saw that his bib was the exact same pattern! you can imagine my pain in having no documentation.

:: i feel like i am progressing towards school, which is very exciting. i am continually learning about myself and my personality and i have discovered that when i want something, there is not much that can stop me. i mean, eric and i are married. enough said, right? sooo...i know in my heart of hearts that i want to finish school and that I WILL finish school. for whatever reason, i haven't been inspired to do so. guess what? i am now! (yay! audience applaud here) it really helped last week, when i had to work on memorial day (against my will). i believe i have a strong work ethic and am not afraid to get down and dirty and get the work down. HOWEVER, a holiday is a holiday, man! give a girl a break! i decided on that day that i am done working for someone else and ready to work for myself. it's time. i know it will be quite awhile before i get to that point, but just thinking about it makes me want to do the happy dance. (see justin) anyway, i digress. more on that topic later.

:: brian and meg and lyza came to visit (yay!). we sauntered through the market, skipped churh and ate lots of good food (thanks again, eric). for pictures, see here. i got called lolo all weekend, does it get better than that? we miss you halversons!

:: saw indiana jones and loved it. say what you will about the cheesy jokes and cheesy fight scenes and cheesy accents. but after watching the 3 previous movies to ramp up, we felt the new movie stayed true to form. dun dun dun dun....dun dun dun! love you indie!

:: saw sex and the city. LOVED IT. sorry for the readers who didn't know i was such a floozy. it's true. i love the show and i thoroughly enjoyed the movie. enough said.

:: decided my new favorite color is light blue and painted my bedroom to fit my current mood.

:: decided to stop using capital letters and write everything in lower case.

:: still annoyed it doesn't feel like summer.

:: oh yeah, mother's day was really great this year. i keep my expectiations pretty low for this day every year, but everything changed this year. i started skipping church on mother's day many years ago because i'm usually kind of bummed out. this year, though, it turned into my day because i became an insta-mom this year. pj made me a great little something (insert interpretation here: ashtray, change holder, whatever, it was wonderful). i didn't even know i needed a bobbi pin holder, but it's changed my life. i still skipped church (why break tradition) and we had a great lunch and a lovely afternoon. i got to pick a special dessert and we watched indiana jones. the one with shortround, i think. it was lovely.

:: it's been almost a year and i really love being married. i keep thinking about it. eric is wonderful and i love him like crazy a lot! for reasons i didn't even know. really, so much.

:: there's probably more, but i'm now an hour late for bed and the girl on top chef that SHOULD have gone home didn't, so that stinks.

...goodnight!

*if i sound stupid or stop making sense you can blame krista, who just called and harrassed me about my lack of posting so now I'm staying up past my bedtime

**ACE! suckas. but i am pretty sure everyone else i know is. seriously.

Victory!

2008-05-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of decorating/redecorating our bedroom and making sense of all the crap, I mean stuff we own. I am attempting to replace all our odds and ends with a somewhat cohesive look. It's quite the process as I have put myself on a very tight budget forcing me to be super creative. My goal is to sell the pieces we have before purchasing new ones. Which leads me to the topic of this post...

I posted and sold my very first item on Craig's list this weekend! The purchasing of this item was also quite victorious to me as it was one of the first two grown up items I purchased as an SIW*.

The other was a brand new Queen sized bed.

p.s. I got both of these items home and put together all by myself.

Goodbye, IKEA Expedit Bookshelf... Hello growner upper furniture!

*SIW [Strong Independent Woman] is a term Eric used when he was trying to get my friends Amanda, Maria and I to figure things out on our own when he was our employer. "Figure it out" was also one of his favorites. Good times.

Birthday Extravaganza!

2008-05-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

My mom threw me a safari themed birthday party when I was young and I remember it being amazing. Apparantly, some big animal cutouts and safari hats go a long way when you're 7 or 8. Since then, I can't remember a lovelier birthday! Everything went right on April 22nd this year. I woke up and had a gorgeous sunny drive to work (granted it's only a 3 minute drive, but it was lovely!) and a few hours into my work day my coworkers and I had a fun little celebration with yummy cake and party hats. When I got home Eric started preparing for our MexiFest Celebration. I have to share the invite email he sent out, because it really adds to the mood of the party.

HEY ALL, Lauren's birthday is Tuesday - TOMORROW, April 22nd. Yes, another person with an April birthday... (I think the 4th of July leads to lots of people gettin' naked...)

Anyway, being that we are most likely the ONLY MEXICANS that you know, we have decided to have a little Mexi-fest, in honor of Lauren's first birthday as an 'official mexican'. Tomorrow night from 7pm until we're done... I will be making some excellent Mexican foods. (Carne asada, chicken, homemade tortillas, guacamole...)

And we may play some "mexi-games as well" like:

-a standard pinata'

-guess who's the drug mule' (I still need 2 more volunteers...)

-"cross the border" (a game of skill and strategy)

-how many pesos is that worth?

-pimp my el camino

-whats in the moustache?

-dirty sanchez... (...not really a game but who cares.)

-7 minutes in heaven with ryan carlson. (he asked me to make it mandatory that all of the single girls attending play this.) but you don't have to...

Let me know if you can make it, so I can try to plan for food. GRACIAS! If you are trying to

come up with a good gift idea... perhaps a live chicken, a fair poncho, or some chiclets we can have PJ sell around Bellevue Square, or some social security numbers for us... As for the late notice - what do you expect? We are freaking mexicans for crying out loud... we barely speak the language. see you tomorrow.

Don't worry, he got mustaches for everyone to wear. He certainly does keep me laughing! Plus he can frikkin cook! We had a great meal and he made me the raddest cake ever! (With his signature handemade fondant-he loves to show me up) I Love you Eric! Thanks for making my birthday so spectacular!

Oh, yeah, I got a bedazzler...AWESOME!

Our crazy friend Rob stopped at the party store on the way to the shindig and decided to use their restroom to transform himself into a spaniard...or something. P.s. He is completely caucasion

How it came to be

2008-04-19T23:04:00.000-07:00

Eric and I have started to form our own language. Apparantely there aren't enough words in the English language and we have discovered the need to make up some new ones.

Mer.

Anyone that has seen the SNL sketch Debbie Downer knows the little ditty that plays after her ever-so-pleasant input on the conversation. Wah Wah. We started using it whenever something went wrong. From there it became less of a cohesive phrase and more of just a noise that isn't really describable with words. It has been revised many times and finally molded into the term we now use anytime we are annoyed or bummed; usually in a joking manner, but I won't lie, I have been known to shout it in anger a couple of times. Oopsy daisy.

The best part is that we've heard PJ and Krista both use it by accident. Suckers.

Ashley's Special Day

2008-04-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

Wendy, Tony, Ryan, PJ, Eric, Lauren, Alexander, Ashley

on thursday evening we all convened to celebrate ashley's 35th birthday at one of his favorite restaurants.
happy birthday, ash-a-ley!
don't worry, i adopted a little foreign baby real quick...
pj's favorite prank is bunny ears. it hasn't gotten old yet...i promise

Mer!

2008-04-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

Another evening sucked away in bloggerville. This has really got to stop. I couldn't end the night before sharing my discoveries, though, so get this! My blog-stalking has finally gotten me somewhere. Usually I just find myself reading about people I don't know and usually don't end up caring about. BUT! Tonight I was reading Jenica's blog and saw she had a link to someone I thought I knew so off I went to see who it was. Turns out I don't know her, BUT, she has a link to someone I DO know. Linlee Halverson (Hutchinson)! Not only does Linlee have a blog, but so does Sheree and Trevor, our long lost Halverson cousins. What a small world. I had no idea blogging would reconnect me with so many people. Did I mention how much I love technology? And as a bonus, I feel like slightly less of a weirdo as my stalking efforts have finally come to fruition.

Well, kuddos to me. Goodnight...

A Blogging Kind Of Day

2008-04-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

Since I have started this whole blogging situation, I am constantly thinking up things to blog about. Whether or not they interesting to others is questionable, but I guess I shouldn't let that stop me, right? Up until now, I have felt like I need a picture, or some sort of visual to entertain and make my posts interesting. HOWEVER! I just discovered Miss Kitti's blog and everything has changed! I had a list of thing to do tonight and not one of them got done because I got sucked into reading Kitti's blog and I can't pull myself away. It's great! There aren't very many pictures and it's OK! It's just a really fun read and I would like to dedicate this post to her and thank her for the inspiration!

I would also like to share my excitement about Brian and Megan's blog, and also Jenica and Tyler's blog. It's a phenomenon!

p.s. I've been saving up for a big screen computer monitor and finally bought it tonight. It's wonderful! I really love technology. Really, a lot.

Date Night

2008-04-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

Once a week PJ spends the night at his mom's house. Usually it's Friday night, which is nice, because we try and go out to a fun restaurant or go hear music and it's a great ending to the week. This week we decided to venture into Seattle; something we keep saying we're going to do more. We tend to get lazy and stay in our little "Bellevue Bubble."

[Randomd Tangent: It's actually kind of gross when I stop and think about it, so I ususally don't. Work, church, grocery store, mall, movie theater, restaurants, bank, gym are all within a 2 block radius of where we live. While I really enjoy the money I save on gas I sometimes feel like a gerbil trapped in a little cage.]

So we decided on a swank little restaurant inside the W Hotel downtown. Yummy! My steak was delicious. Well, until I bit into a big bite of grissle. Ugh. The laundry service is going to find a little treasure inside my cloth napkin. I just couldn't get myself to swallow it.

Overall, a great meal. Then we headed back to the Eastside and caught the movie 21. I am becoming a big fan of Jim Sturgess. He was great in Across the Universe and really good in this movie. I'd give it 3 stars.

All in all, a lovely evening out!