Professional Slacker

I feel like I've been slacking on so many things in my life lately- this blog included. Since the move, we have yet to get our desk all set up in the new house, so I'm laying here on the floor in front of the computer. It is very uncomfortable, so I'm hardly ever on the computer anymore. I jump on, check email and a couple of sites, then I'm off again as quickly as I can. But, since I missed last week's "Way Back When-sday", even after another reminder phone call from my brother, I'm determined to get it done today. So, without further adeu, and in honor of my high school friend that I was recently able to see again, I give you this:


That would be myself and Miss Amberly Fairbanks (currently Mrs. Amberly Miller) on Halloween (obviously) in 1995, I believe. Couldn't tell you what we were, but I can tell you we had a blast dancing the night away in a barn! Once again- GOOD TIMES....

Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Twilight Movie Review *Spoilers*

So, I've been dying to see the Twilight movie, and yeasterday I finally did- twice. I thought it was good, but not great. Rob Pattinson never fit my vision of Edward, but I had accepted him as the movie's Edward, and I wasn't going to let that ruin it for me. That said, he's just not that great of actor. There were parts that seemed a little corny, mostly due to his over-the-top facial expressions. His acting definitely improved, however, upon the increase of dialogue between him and Kristen, and the increase of intensity and stunt work. I thought the second half of the movie was fantastic, but the first half just didn't quite match up. I didn't expect it to be just like the book, and I actually really liked some of the new scenes they added. However, in the book, in the same instant that Bella finds out he's a vampire, she also finds out that he's a "vegetarian" (therefore lessening the creepiness of loving a vampire). In the movie, she only finds out that he's a vampire at first, fully believing that he kills humans, and she still doesn't care. He even tells her that he's killed people before (without further explaination), and it just doesn't bother her that he's a murderer (makes me think of prison weddings between psycho killers and clearly disturbed women). It's not until after all of this that he finally tells her about being a "vegetarian". It makes for a creepier, less justifiable, less romantic love between them, in my opinion. Still, I liked the movie overall, but LOVED the second half (if only the first half had been as good!).

Way Back Thursday

Ok, so I missed Wednesday. I was reminded via phone call, and am now bound and determined to set it all straight. I'll even go into my posting options, and make it post as as Wednesday instead of the Thursday that it really is, just to make it seem more authentic. So, in that case, disregard the "Way Back Thursday" and pretend it really said "Way Back When-sday". Anywho, since not all of my things have been moved to the new house yet, I'm resigned to using my last old photo already scanned onto my computer. It's not as far back as the others, but it is just over a decade at least (I can't believe it's already been an entire decade!).

This lovely photo depicts myself and Miss Aimee showing some love to our friend Norman the Gorilla at our senior class trip to Wild Waves. I haven't seen her in ages, and is one reason I am left regretting that I chose not to go to my class reunion last weekend. Tiempos buenos (Senora Baughman would be so proud)!

The Love of a Sister

Yesterday, Rogue wasn't feeling too hot. I got out a pillow so that he could lay down on the living room floor. Before I could cover him up, Alex was already carrying over a blanket for him, insisting on covering him up herself. She walked over, covered him up, then sat down next to him and started rubbing his head. She sat there until he fell asleep. Her little motherly instincts are already kicking in :)

A New Leaf?

The first night in our new house was quite eventful- or rather uneventful, I suppose. Since Lex has been climbing out of her crib for quite some time now, we have had to shut her in her room in order to get her to fall asleep. Then, after she falls asleep, we come in, redress her (because she will, of course, be naked at that point), put her back in her bed (because she will have fallen asleep by the door), and cover her back up. When we moved here, we decided to leave her door open at night and see what happened. Low and behold, she didn't leave her room once, and when we went to check on her, she was still in her bed, under her covers, and fully clothed! Before I could get too excited at the prospect of a much easier bedtime, I had to give it a couple more nights to see if she truly was turning over a new leaf, or if it was just a fluke. It was a fluke. She still leaves her room and undresses herself several times a night before she finally nods off. Well, it was nice while it lasted... for one night.

All Hallow's Eve

I tired to get the kids to go for a theme this year. I made some suggestions, and they decided that they all wanted to be superheros. The problem was that both boys wanted to be Spiderman. I tried to talk each of them into something different, but they were both set on Spiderman- Black Spiderman, and Lex went as Supergirl. Then, when it came time for his school party, I encourage Eli to pick something different for the party. He decided to go as a chef, which turned out ubber cute. Then, when Halloween night rolled along, he decided to stick with the chef costume again. So, our first attempt at a themed Halloween ended up as Supergirl, Spiderman, and a chef. Whatever makes them happy! Lex caught on to the whole "Trick-or-Treat" ing thing pretty quick. Her favorite lines at the door became, "I pick!" and "More!".... we had to make it a short outing, so that she wouldn't force too many people to hand over their candy.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

I have felt so disconnected for the last week. For those of you who don't know, we moved. We've been planning to move for a while now, and after looking at homes in Silverton, Stayton, and Sublimity, we finally decided on one in Aumsville. The period of time between when we made our decision and when we moved was so short, that I never got a chance to tell too many people before we were gone. [Sorry!] So, because of it all, I've been disconnected from the internet for nearly a week now. I held it together better than expected- I didn't have to go sneaking off to a coffee shop (not that I'll find any of those in Aumsville) or library (not one of those, either) to log on and satisfy my blog addiction. There were lots of things that happened while I was offline that I was planning to blog about, but as usual, I have completely forgotten what they were. I should know better by now- WRITE THINGS DOWN! Perhaps they'll come back to me in time, but for now, I will leave you with my "Way Back When-sday" contribution:

Isn't it beautiful? The scar is just as lovely and vomit-inducing. Some of you know this story, I believe, but here it is for those of you who do not.... I was 14, a frosh, immature, and quite stupid. This particular time that I chose to display my stupidity fell upon the day of our district track meet. All I had the first day was the 3000m run (the very last race of the day), so, being a hot and sunny day, I decided to seek a cool and relaxing spot within the school walls. As a friend and I were walking from the track to the school, another friend drove up to us in the parking lot, and told us to jump on the hood, and he'd give a ride to the front of the school. The friend I was walking with, immediately jumped on, as I eyed the car with suspicion. I wasn't sure I had complete faith in the plan, and the door to the school was only a mere 50 yards away. But, I folded to peer pressure, and climbed onto the car. After going over a speed bump and flipping a U-turn, we both fell off of the car. I was glad when I landed securely on my feet, and it took me a second before I realized that my leg was sliced open. My friends put me in the car, and we rushed to the hospital. After getting stitched up and riding back to the track to face my coach, we called the doctor, who had obviously informed me that I wasn't going to be running that day. After some discussion, the doctor said that the worst that could happen was that I'd pop my stitches and have to get it redone. That sounded pleasant enough (despite the fact that the shot and stitches were far more painful than the actual initial injury), so it was decided that I would run. The following day, I was planning to go just to watch, but ended up running my 1500 as well, and, after the relay alternate got disqualified from the meet, ran the 1600 relay too. This photo was actually taken a week later after the state meet, so it looked much more gory the day it happened. Ahh- good times.