35 and still alive . . .

Well, the title of this blog leaves much to be desired- but it rhymes and it's true. So that's good. Last month I turned 35. THIRTY-FIVE. Can you believe it? I can't. Well I can, but I still feel 16. Unfortunately I am starting to look my age- gray hair, eye wrinkles, glasses (for the first time ever). But I love my thirties. I really do. It's WAY better than my 20s.

Have I mentioned that my other half is the best husband in America? He may be the best husband in the world, but that is a lot of pressure and I wouldn't want to do that to him. He took me on a surprise birthday trip to Chicago. I had no idea we were going there, until the night before. He had been planning it for months.

Events of the weekend:

*Jackson Park- this was the location of the worlds fair. I had read Devil in the White City (highly recommend) which made looking at the park that much more interesting. It was beautiful on it's own, but knowing some of the history was helpful. Also, my husband is super smart and told me lots of little anecdotes about the area. We saw the Museum of Science and Industry building (got there too late to go in) which was originally the Palace of fine arts from the World's fair and we saw the Japanese garden which was beautiful. Now, getting to the park was slightly terrifying. We took the L from downtown and had to walk through Washington Park. I knew something was up when a lady on the L said "now where are you two kids going?" in a slightly concerned tone. Lets just say when walking through Washington Park I am glad I didn't realize I was wearing red pants- I am sure no one would have mistaken us for Bloods, but you never know. It was a fun adventure none the less.

*The Bean- we went and saw the infamous bean and the fountain from Married with Children, which is ENORMOUS by the way.

*Sears (Willis) Tower- where we witnessed a proposal and stood in a big plastic box that stuck out of the side of the building a hundred plus floors up. The hardest part for me was the elevator ride. They cram you in with about 25 other people and shoot you 100 floors in the air. Good thing they show you a video on the way up, comparing each floor level with something of similar height ("You are as tall as a giraffe, you are as tall as the St. Louis arch, Eiffel Tower, etc. ), without that I may have required a paper bag to breathe into. The distraction was helpful. Oh, and did you know that every building in Chicago has a revolving door? I am not exaggerating. I HATE revolving doors, they terrify me (quick someone psychoanalyze that).

*River Walk- we were staying very close to the river and walked along side it many times during our short stay.

*Ate lots of food (the first two days)- We had deep dish pizza and a Chicago hot dog and a super fancy dinner for my birthday. But then, on the last day we were there, I woke up with food poisoning and so I did not eat a thing for 24 hours. I don't recommend getting food poisoning on the last day of a trip where you have to check out of your hotel at noon and not get on a plane until 7, all the while wandering the streets feeling like you are going to barf and/or poop your pants. It was totally miserable.

*The Art Institute-  Unfortunately we went to the art institute on the last day. The food poisoning day. The museum was amazing and I could not fully enjoy it because I felt like death warmed over. Poor Nathaniel. It is all he really wanted to do and I kinda ruined it. There were amazing things in there. My favorite was the American Windows by Chagall. They were beautiful (it didn't hurt that there was a bathroom right next door and a bench right in front of then so that I could sit and not move in fear I would throw up all over the floor). Nathaniel had his Cameron Moment, so all was not lost.

*The Book of Mormon- On my actual birthday, Nathaniel took me to a fancy restaurant and surprised me with tickets to the Book of Mormon later that night. I loved it. The music and even the message. Don't get me wrong, it was terribly irreverent. But I still thought the church came out on top. Nathaniel and I both agreed that it seemed that the play was more harsh on Africa than it was on the Mormons. One of the leads was played by a guy on the movie Pitch Perfect. There was even an add by the church in the playbill. THIS story is pretty cool too.

*Water Tower Place- this is a mall that I went to as a child when we lived in Wisconsin and would go to Chicago to Christmas shop. It is one of my favorite memories. Oh, and there is a giant Lego store. I thought Nathaniel was going to die of happiness. Who knew he loved Lego's so much??


So, to sum it up, my birthday was amazing. So fun. I love Nathaniel, I love my birthday and I love my 30's. Life is pretty good, even with food poisoning.

This. Is. Happening.

I am feeling nostalgic. I spent about an hour looking at old blog posts and remembering the "good ol' days" and I am so glad that I had it documented to look back on. I miss my girls. I miss the fun I used to have, but I also love my life now. So why am I not documenting it? Well, for one, I don't have a computer. So, I am currently using my husbands work computer to type this. Secondly, I am BUSY. Stupid busy and tired. STUPID tired. But that is no excuse. So, I will blog. Even if no one reads this dang thing, I will blog.

The day after Christmas I went to Florida. I went to see one of my very best friends from high school get married and I stayed with one of my very best friends. Ginger's wedding was amazing. She was a vision in white, she married Byron- who may be one of the nicest people there is (my in laws LOVED him when they met him at our wedding, I almost think they would have been ok if I married him that weekend). The wedding was behind the Van Wezel in Sarasota, right on the water and it was beautiful. And the reception was a blast. Did I mention we danced? And people got way drunk? And I drank 7 shirley temples? And I wore spanks? (So peeing was a nightmare!!!) And Alissa may or may not have peed on herself? (sorry liss)

It was fantastic.

Nathaniel and I are going back to florida the first week in February. He didn't go with me to the wedding since we were making a trip out a month later. I can't wait for him to see where I grew up. When I was flying in for the wedding, I kept expecting that it was going to feel like going home. It didn't. Which kinda made me sad. I guess Utah is the closest to home of anywhere. I have been here over 12 years, that's nuts.

So, in conclusion. I will blog. We'll see if I actually do, but I really want to.

The end.

PS. I can't figure out this new blogger picture caption thingy. So once again the pictures are on the bottom. Oh well. 

Byron and Ginger, the first dance

Me and Ging

Alissa and Me (This contributed to the pee incident)

My Table and my Shirley Temple.

Pedi cab to the wedding

Batmanniversary

One year ago today our little man joined our family. We are officially crazy dog people.

Best husband in all the land.

So my computer is still not working. I don't like blogging from my phone, but I don't have much of an option.

I wanted to write about our trip a few weekends ago. Nathaniel surprised me (just 'cause) and flew me to Seattle. He had it all planned out. We stayed in the Westin hotel on the 41st floor, wandered the city, tried to see the king tut exhibit (it was sold out) and then he took me to Wicked! We had wanted to see it in SLC but with him traveling back and forth it just didn't happen. I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful husband. We had a great weekend.

We still only see each other on weekends, but Nathaniel was home for the entire past week for thanksgiving. I loved having him home (as did batman) and tonight we say goodbye again for another week. Sigh. It looks like it's only another week and a half of this and then he should be home for at least a month. We will know soon whether they get the Portland job. I am not sure what I want anymore. All I know is I want us living in the same place- I don't really care where.

We had a relaxing thanksgiving. We went to the Grand America buffet and it was wonderful. My parents and brother and his wife went with us. It was so great to not have to cook or clean up. We didn't have leftovers but it really didn't matter. I hope we do it every year. Oh! And we just happened to be seated next to one of my best friends Aliah and her boyfriend and his family. What a wonderful surprise.

I got a new dress for thanksgiving that I love and I would post a picture but I feel so fat right now. I need to start running again!! Maybe this week.

Here are some pictures of our Seattle trip. We had sushi at this restaurant that used a conveyer belt and you could choose what you wanted. It was really fun.

Computer still broken . . .

So i am blogging from my phone. New job is good but I work about 55 hours a week. So when I get home I am useless. I still only see Nathaniel on weekends. But good thing batman started working out- he can protect me if we ever have intruders.

Bloggin'

I had a dream last night that I started blogging again. So I was determined tonight to blog. Well, I opened my computer and this is what I found (see picture of red computer screen). I am using blogger on my iPhone and not quite sure how to put the pictures where I want them.

Anyway. I have also added a cute picture of Nathaniel and I in a photo booth at lagoon. We went for his new company's lagoon day and had a blast. "odysea" is our favorite ride and we also really enjoy pioneer village. In the 11 years I have been in Utah I have only been to lagoon 4 times, two of which were in 2012.

Nathaniel is working in Portland right now. He has been for a little over a month. He flies there Monday
morning and flies back Friday night. It's hard. I miss him. But it's definitely a better job situation for him. Who knows? Maybe we will end up relocating. I love Portland.

I have also added a picture of our dear baby batman on his first trip to gilgal gardens. He's been having a hard time with Nathaniel gone and having giardia (yikes right???) but thank goodness we have each other. I love that guy.

Oh yeah. I also got a new job. I am a therapist for an adolescent treatment facility. So far I really like it. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

I'll try to blog more. But as much as I love my iPhone this blogging thing is kinda hard.

So What'cha Want?

In third grade I somehow acquired the tape "License to Ill" and I was in love. I remember sitting in the back of the bus singing "Brass Monkey", of course not knowing what the song was even about. I thought I was cool. The tape disappeared shortly after I got it. I thought I just misplaced it, but as it turns out, my mom did not think that it was appropriate music for a for an eight year old- so she threw it out (along with my Duran Duran tape). But despite my mom's wishes, that did not end my love affair with the Beastie Boys.

In High School my friends and I purchased tickets to Lallapalooza.  I think it was '94 or '95. We were SO excited to go. The line up was amazing- Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day and my beloved Beastie Boys. Well, it rained so hard the stage tipped over and the concert was cancelled. We were devastated.

Freshman year in college the Beastie Boys were a staple. They were like part of the four food groups (or however many there are now). We even had "So What'cha Want?" as our answering machine message- hey, people did that at 18, remember? And my parents HATED it.

Living on K street in the Avenues in 2002. We would clean the apartment to the Beastie Boys. Whenever I am feeling like I need to have a dance party or get motivated to do something or maybe just to feel a little bit happy I often turn to the Beastie Boys.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am sad. I feel like I lost a part of my childhood, adolescence and even adulthood today. A part of my life, in a sense. Knowing that 1/3 of the Beastie Boys is gone makes me sad and nostalgic and feel old.

RIP, MCA

20twelve

I always say that I won't do resolutions, but I always end up with some anyway. I decided that I wanted them to be far more realistic this year, so I came up with a few . . . but hey, no big deal, right?

1. Be more punctual. I guess it should say BE punctual, but I am trying to be NBD about it. I just want to be on time. I have had a tendency to be 5-15 minutes late pretty much my whole life. This year I am actually making a conscious goal to change that.

2. Read more books. This is always on my list and I think I do better every year. I just REALLY want to read more books. There are so many out there and all.

3. No more soda. I stopped drinking caffeine and most soda for 2 years. And then I planned a wedding. That went down the tubes. I was practically injecting it in my veins the days before the wedding and it's been downhill from there- so I am back on the wagon. But this time ALL of it. I will indulge in the occasional shirley temple on special occassions (they are special to me).

4. Be ready to run the SLC Half Marathon in April. I signed up, I paid the money and the starting line is practically in front of my house. I started running again this week (this time with a dog in tow) and I have been struggling! But I will get there. I have too.

5. Be Healthy. Look, I realize this is a very broad, not very measurable goal, but I want to all around be more healthy. This means, be more consistent with taking my vitamins, eat smaller portions, Less to no fast food, no soda (see?), exercise. Etc.

6. Learn to sew and play the piano (to an extent- meaning more than I can now, which is I can't at all now, so whatever I do learn would be a vast improvement than my current knowledge of the two subjects- get it?) Hey, I have two hands, two feet, a piano AND a sewing machine, what more do you need?

And I think that pretty much wraps it up. All pretty selfish. None of them are very churchy (my resolutions normally are) but I feel pretty good about them.

****BONUS CHURCHY RESOLUTION****

I was called to be a sunbeam teacher and I want to be really good at it and not screw up the little 3 and 4 year olds. So far our lessons have gone from "I am a Child of God" to "Spiderman shoots webs out of his hands" and "When does my mom come get me?" I hope it gets better.

Our Christmas house

Our house looked like a gingerbread house and I loved it. So festive and fun with a live tree and everything! Valerie and Dennis flew in for Christmas. We spent christmas eve at our house with my parents, ate steak salad on the 24th and grilled cheese on the 25th. And I played Santa and filled all the stockings (Valerie added lots too). It was a fantastic first married Christmas!

It's a boy!!!!

We had a baby!!!! A cute furry mutt baby. He is half border collie and half australian shepherd and half whatever else is mixed up in there ( I know that doesn't add up) but he is 100% adorable and we love him. His name is Batman. Nathaniel named him and it totally fits. We rescued him from a shelter in Roosevelt and he is the perfect dog. He is sweet and kind. Loves to be chased at the dog park. LOVES to cuddle. Has learned to sit, lay down, shake and roll over. He has stolen our hearts. We call him our practice baby, but he feels more like our actually baby, except he licks his own butt and eats gross things (hopefully that will be different than our future human baby). Batman Johnson, welcome to the family.