So about these Olympics...

I don't like them. 

I'll pause while you call me un-American, etc. 

So back to the fact that I don't like the Olympics. I just don't. The commentators, the crazy outfits, the names I can't pronounce and have never heard of, the McDonald's commercials. I just don't get it.

I always find that I'm way too nervous to enjoy them. The commentators are always talking about how this is the most important jump/turn/lean/curl of these peoples' lives, and how they've trained their entire lives for this moment....and then they fall/trip/slide into the wall/bang their head against something/use the wrong lane, etc., and then we have to hear about how their lives as they know them are over. WHAT? What kind of sportsmanship is this? What kind of "he's almost 30 so this will surely be his last chance at glory" mentality is this?!?

And we're spreading it all over the world! 

Another aspect that I don't like is how we have to hear all about the tragedies. Oh the tragedy. Now I'm not devaluing the fact that people suffering or dying is a tragedy, but do I have to hear all about the personal, sad lives of this person just because they are skiing down a mountain or dancing on ice? I'm already all worked up that this is the defining moment of their lives, but now I have to worry about who she knows/loves/admires that has died recently. It's just too much.

And what has Bob Costas been wearing?? He usually dresses just fine for his other TV gigs, but man, the few times I've caught him, he's got on no less than four prints. It's too much!

Finally, I would like to direct my attention to Vancouver and the Olympics marketing department. What is up with the logo this year? And, the tag line! "With Glowing Hearts," really? That's all we could come up with? Glowing hearts! Not, one heart or competitive-once-in-a-lifetime heart, but glowing? That's terrible. 

Maybe we should just stick to the circles. And, while we're at it, why don't we rename the Olympics to: Trials and Failures of People With Unnatural Abilities and Expectations.

At least we viewers would know what we're getting ourselves into. 

Mi Madre

This is my mom.

She and I lived together and have known each other for a long time. We tend to have our own language.

And, we like each other.

Then we met these hooligans.

Ok, not true hooligans, but they wish. Together, we may equal a group of hooligans.

Anyway, Mom and I decided that we needed a girls' weekend. Chris was gone visiting his family, and so Mom jaunted across the bridge and came to see me.

My mom brings lots of bags.

Thankfully, she also like to grocery shop for good food with me.

Every time Chris is gone I make guacamole, and this time was no different. We found the most beautiful cilantro at Whole Foods.

I took a picture of the finished guacamole, but it didn't look too appetizing.Just trust me that it was good!

Either way, Mom and I still made time to sit in bed with a cat and girl talk.

Porter liked getting caught up with the important goings on.

 

A good girls', plus Porter, weekend!

My BFF

This is my BFF. Best Friend Forever.

We met each other Move-In day at Hendrix College. My mom and I sat next to her family at lunch. We all ate chicken tenders and probably mac-and-cheese. It was delightful. Turned out her dorm was across the parking lot from mine. She was tall. I was short. We set dates and lunches to hang out, and it turned out that we were actually star-crossed lovers, and our stars had finally aligned. After our love took off, the rest is history. But it is to be noted that we celebrate our anniversary. Our anniversary of the famous family, chicken tender lunch. 2009 was our eighth anniversary. Eight years is bronze and pottery. We were excited this weekend to learn that our 10th anniversary is diamond. We were thinking of a little girls' trip, but maybe we'll throw in some diamonds.

So, she and her boyfriend came to visit Memphis life this past weekend, and they brought a box of hot sauces and salsas from Austin. I was very excited.

We enjoy taking pictures of each other taking pictures. They are several of these through our eight years of BFF love.

It's true love. We had a great weekend filled with adventures, dining, drinking, hanging out, pedicures and love. Mostly love. So although our men were there, and they were great, my 8+ year love was there, and that was pretty cool.

My Other Half

This is my husband.

As you can see, I kind of love him like whoah.

I've known him a long time. Longer than I've known wine, which is evident from this photo from my 21st birthday in Vegas. Who are those kids??

And then we loved each other.

And then we got engaged.

And then we got married.

And now we live in Memphis in marital bliss.

Okay, let's be honest. I love this man, but this is what I came home to at lunch today.


Isn't this a lovely left-over, Chinese-food lunch? Wait a minute. This was beef and peppers. What do we have here?


Do you see any beef? No, you don't. Did my wonderful, loving, providing husband eat all the beef and then put the vegetables and rice back in the refrigerator in the same container?

Yes. Yes, he did...

Good thing I love him like, whoah.

I made a collage! And other things

Our neighbors Sean and Nicole went on a ski trip last week, and we dog-sat their Izzy. Below is a collage I made of some fun times we had.

In other news, it snowed. Like real snow. Monday morning we woke up to a surprise snow storm. The flakes were huge and fell on and off all day. In an effort to capture the falling snow, I took lots of photos and even movies. But, with the sky being grey and the snowflakes being white, I couldn't get them to show up very well. What I did manage to do was to take a series of photos, one after the other, with a setting on my camera. Then I made this video! It looks like the snow is falling, and you can see the size of the flakes. Pretty snazzy.

Chris was really nice and took Grace out in the snow. He took pictures for me since there was no way I was walking to the park in the cold. For those of you who may not know, Grace has a voice. It's a low-pitched, slow drawl...kind of dopey. I am the master of the Grace voice. It's pretty close to Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, but a slight faster tempo. See if you can hear it.

"Hey Mom, it's cold out here, and Dad wants to go to the park."

"Mooom, he's making me stand by the water and pose. I don't like to pose, Mom."

"Mom, tell Dad this is the last one. Seriously, it's cold. At least he bought me a jacket."

"Okay Mom, it's not that bad. Dad's pretty cool, and I like being crazy."

The craziness:

A Saturday in Suburbia

Chris had to go to work today in his Cordova office. We decided that since I needed to buy groceries and run errands, we would strike out east together, and I could shop while he worked. Not a bad plan. 

For some reason, traffic was insane (to me) on our trip out there. It looked like this the entire time.

I had a long list of groceries and a few house items so I decided Target would be my first stop. I really wanted to go to Target because I never go anymore. The only Targets are pretty far from our house, and the Walmart is much closer, so it's my default. I was a total Target girl in Little Rock, but I've adjusted to my Walmart locale. So today I was stoked to get some Target time. 

I didn't realize it, but the Target closest to Chris' work is actually a Super Target. Oh my.

I walked in, and thought, "This is really big." 

But I pushed through my hesitation. I got one of the pretty, red carts, and began. To my right there was a full grocery store! A nice looking produce department, and aisles and aisles of food stuff. You know what I thought? "I bet it's cheaper at Walmart." Now when I pulled into the parking lot, I saw that there was a Super Walmart just across the lot. Oh the temptation. 

I reconciled myself with the plan that I would only purchase some house goods at Target, and I would go next door to WalMart for all my food stuff. 

On through the Target aisles I went. 

The first section was their Valentine's Day stuff, and this:

 

A wall of candy. There were bags and pull-down levers and candy. Then I saw the sign. $7.49 per pound. I'm pretty sure I could rack up some pounds of candy here, so I made myself keep walking. I walked through the health section, and thought, "I bet that shampoo is cheaper at WalMart." Then I walked through the housewares, and I thought, "I bet that's cheaper at WalMart." I continued through several sections, and that's all I could think! 

Then I found the Sam's-Club-inspired section. Everything in this department was in large quantities. For example, 2 packs of Special K protein bars instead of one. Another example: a 4-pack of Kleenex boxes and a 4-pack of shaving cream. Now this is what I'm talking about! I was finally comfortable putting some things in my cart that I was sure wouldn't be cheaper next door. I made sure I only purchased items that I would normally buy, they just happened to be in bulk. After a few bulks items, I decided I should just stop torturing myself and head next door to WalMart. 

This was the state of the car after my Super Target excursion. 

Yeah, that's a LOT of cat litter and a LOT of toilet paper. There was also a LOT of dish soap, shaving cream and toothpaste. Good thing I made myself leave. 

This post could stop here, but I went to WalMart next, and who can leave the story before WalMart? 

I'm not sure how much you can see of the photo above, but they were giving H1N1 and regular flu shots in an aisle at WalMart. I was pretty sure that I would be more exposed to the flu, and diseases in general, if I sat down in the middle of an aisle at WalMart and got a shot! Now granted, I want all these people to get shots so they don't get me sick, but my healthcare plan doesn't include getting shots in an aisle at WalMart.

I was able to move on and purchase all the items remaining on my list. I even found the bulk aisle at Walmart. 

 

Don't worry. I refrained this time. 

Shopping Tips

So do any of you subscribe to those member-only shopping sites? I have subscribed to several--they are free--and I like it because they email me about sales each day. I don't buy things everyday--don't worry husband--but it's fun to see what's out there. Some of the sites are more customized than others. Some have things that are still way too expensive, but it's like window-shopping without having to find a parking space. Here's a list of ones that I use.


Rue La La. http://www.ruelala.com/invite/acook44 
I REALLY like this one because they sell more than just clothing. They have amazing deals on home goods, wines, foods, luggage, clothing and more. I've purchased from them, and I've never had a problem.

Beyond the Rack. www.beyondtherack.com
This one is only clothing, and only high-end clothing. They also sell purses, watches, accessories and clothing. They have crazy good deals. I just bought a $125 purse for $29 with $9 shipping. This site requires an invitation, so if you're interested leave me a comment, and I'll send you one.

Shop It To Me. www.shopittome.com
This is the most customized one. You can create a profile with your sizes, shops you like, brands you like, categories like shoes, etc. It's all clothing and accessories, and I like it because they show sales from shops that I already buy from. Sometimes I'm too intimidated to buy clothing from stores that I've never tried before, so it's nice they send me notices when my staple stores like Ann Taylor Loft and Banana Republic are having sales. I'm not sure if this one requires an invitation, but if you want to sign-up let me know, and I'll send you the info.

One Kings Lane. www.onekingslane.com
This is the most recent one I've discovered. It's all home goods, from knives and cookware to paper goods and artwork. It has amazing brands on sale. In the last week, they've had Peacock Alley, Kate Spade and more. It's very cool. I haven't ordered from them yet, but you've got to check it out. I think you'll need an invitation, so let me know if you want one!

6 years ago. What were you doing?

I was taking these photos:

Christopher's sister, Crystal, gave birth to Bryce six years ago Thursday. Let's recap what six years ago would have been like. 

I was in college. I was wearing no makeup. Probably a t-shirt and jeans and flip-flops, and I was majoring in International Relations. Not because I wanted to solve world peace, but because I really enjoyed reading and writing about it all. What a luxury.
I skipped out on my favorite class, History of Death in America with Dr. Schantz, to go to Little Rock for Bryce's arrival. (Don't worry, I told Dr. Schantz, and he was of course cool with it.) ((Yes, History of Death in America was one of my favorite courses.))

Chris and I weren't engaged. We had been dating a year? I may be off on that calculation. Either way, I knew this was the family I was going to join, and so I was there. 

I don't know who looks younger if those photos above: Chris or Bryce. 

Bryce grew into this little guy at our wedding, and although he didn't quite make it down the aisle, he looked pretty dapper.

Then this guy at his previous birthday at my in-laws' house.

 

You might not be able to tell it, but we like to play together. 

He's a boy, and sometimes he likes to get into cages. 

But then he has to get clean. 

I like to cook, and he likes to eat. So does the "grown" man I live with. It works out well. No, the wine isn't Bryce's glass. Promise.

He likes my cooking. My heart melts. 

We kind of like each other. 

He thinks his uncle is pretty cool too. 

But I might be the favorite. ;)

Happy 6th birthday, Bryce!!!!