Robert and Natalie's World

5-Year Plan

2011-07-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

So, I've got the next few years of our life all figured out. I just have to convince Robert to go along with it all. Tell us what you think.

We're going to get out of Seattle as soon as we finish up our work here. I'm hoping that is within the next year. I would love to move at the end of our 9-month lease, next March.

At that point, we put all of our stuff in a U-Haul, take it to Utah, and hang with family and friends for a few weeks. We haven't seen our families in ages, and we haven't spent a good solid chunk of time with them for years. It would be nice to just be there with no deadlines, no obligations, so we can just see all the new babies and partners and houses and everything. Then we leave our stuff in storage, bribe some of the aforementioned family and friends to watch our kitties for a while, and take off with one-way tickets to Guatemala.

Why Guatemala? Lots of reasons. For one, I'm sick of being pretty good in Spanish, but not fluent. I want to just learn it! I want to speak it naturally! I know I'm close, and I feel like a little immersion would be enough for me.

Guatemala is uniquely suited for this because it has loads and loads of language schools. There is one in particular, PLQ, that seems perfect. It's cheap, it offers one-on-one classes and meals and housing with a local family, and it has a radical orientation towards local ownership and social-movement building.

I envision us taking classes there for 3-4 weeks. I've heard this is enough time for someone who knows no Spanish to get the conversation basics down (Robert has long wanted to learn, but hasn't had a convenient opportunity to do so). And I think it would be enough time for me to feel confident striking out on our own in the region.

After school, I'd want to wander the region for a while, possibly working on a farm, or even volunteering with the Guatemala Solidarity Project, a movement of poor campesinos trying to stop privatization of their lands.

I see this phase of the plan as lasting 3-6 months. We'll know when we get there how long we want to stay.

When we're done there, and some of my wanderlust is sated, I'd want to come back to Utah, hang out with family and friends for a few more weeks, then start to apply for grown up jobs and start a career. We'd move to a city where we both have opportunities, work for a while, get a car, work for a while more, then have a baby!

Does this sound like a good plan, or what? Rob's not so sure about the time in Central America. He's open, but unsure. Any of you that wants to nudge him for me, please feel free to do so. :)

A New Barrio

2011-07-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

We have moved again!

Last year, we were the landing pad for a few folks who moved up to Seattle from Utah. My sister, and then her friend, were striking out to a new city on their own, and they lived with us for a while before getting settled on their own. They have both moved on and gotten their own places, so we had to get out of our pricier 2-bedroom and into a place for just us and our furry little monsters .

For our first two years in Seattle, we lived in a neighborhood called Queen Anne. It's a nice neighborhood, really beautiful, really quiet and safe. It's also just a little boring, and a little out of our price-range. While apartments were affordable, the stores, restaurants, and cafes were for people decidedly above us in income. As a result, we didn't go out as much as we would have liked, or had to spend quite a bit of time commuting to other neighborhoods to catch up with our friends.

Our apartment, also, was completely devoid of sunshine. We lived in a unit on the northern side of the building, right at the ground level, and our view consisted of one vine-covered cement wall. Direct sunlight literally never entered the place. This is a pretty solid recipe for depression in a city where it is so often dark and gloomy when you go outside.

We decided to get to a completely new part of the city. After an apartment hunt spanning several very cool neighborhoods, we stumbled upon one in a part of the city that we had never really looked for intentionally - Seattle's International District, a variation of what many cities would call a Chinatown. We found a place, loved it, and now we live across the street from a place with some awesome Hong Kong-style dim sum. :)

We are SO much more connected with the rest of the city via public transportation, we have good food just oozing out of our eyeballs with all the restaurants nearby, and the apartment itself is just great. We have a dishwasher, brand new hardwood floors, and, I almost die of happiness just typing this, a washer and dryer in unit.

Meet: The Avenger, and the Destroyer.

I needed really strong names for them to convey their importance in my life. :)

Best of all, we are in a corner unit, and we have gorgeous windows all along the eastern and southern walls, so the place is just flooded with light.

Enough light that I can try my hand again at keeping something other than kitties alive:

The kitties don't seem to be excited about eating the blossoms yet - that's how they derailed my brief attempt at growing tomatoes before.

All in all, it was a very providential move for us, and we are super excited about it.

Seattle is Pretty

2010-11-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

Autumn has long been my favorite season. It's hard here in Seattle, because Autumn is when the rain starts, and I've been dreading the onset of the rain so much that when signs of fall started, I sorta panicked and wanted it to go away. And yes, the rainy days can be pretty crummy. But every once in a while, a sunny day breaks through, and the beautiful glory of Seattle shines through. It's a really beautiful city, on its good days. Here are some pics that were taken of the park directly across from our apartment just last week.

It's not quite Philly's Clark Park, but it's a gorgeous little bit of woods.

That's pretty much the view from my bus stop every day.

The other view from my bus stop.

Looking out over Kinnear Park to Elliott Bay and beyond.

Elliott Bay is so sparkly! Ooh!

BLCs

2010-11-03T19:00:00.001-07:00

(Big Life Changes)

After a lot of talking and planning and strategizing and scheming and thinking and stuff, Robert and I have come to a big decision.

He is going to, for the time being, withdraw from school.

This has been an idea we've been toying with for some time. Moving to a new city is always hard, and coupled with transferring to a new school program, it has been a rough transition for him. The style and attitude of the Graphic Design program here has been pretty incompatible with Robert's studying, learning, and creative style. What I hated to see happening was watching Robert's love for his field dwindle due to his frustration with his program.

Oh, and we're $70,000 + in debt. Just for his school. Sad face.

So yes, he's out, for now.

We're excited about the possibilities going forward. He's looking for jobs in his field, and he really seems to be qualified for quite a few of them. We're sending in applications this week. If he gets a job and starts gaining experience in the field, we won't worry about going back someday. But if we find that employers really do insist on that degree paper, it will be really easy to re-enroll him.

He's also going to be able to spend a little more time learning Spanish via Rosetta Stone, in preparation for our upcoming trip to Suramérica. And, he created a really deep and amazing comic book character when he was younger, so I'm going to become his writer and we're going to see about establishing a little webcomic. Stay posted for further details.

Anyway, keep us positively in your thoughts, and wish Robert luck in his many exciting adventures, directly ahead!

And the lucky winner is.....

2010-10-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

SANTIAGO!

Yep. We're going to Santiago, Chile for our fabuloso free vacation. We'll be there for a grand total of 7 nights next March.

We picked Santiago for a few reasons. It was pretty high on my list initially, but we were worried that it might not be very tourist-friendly after their major earthquake earlier this year. But after reading some reviews and talking to some folks from there, it looks like it'll be just fine.

I'm mostly excited for the chance to practice some espanol. Actually, on second thought, I'm mostly excited for the food. No, scratch that, I'm mostly excited for the amazing culture and beautiful landscapes.

Okay. I'm just excited. Big time. For everything. The flights and the hotel are completely booked, so we're going, no matter what. It will be our first time really using our passports (still don't think Canada counts), so we figure we'll do it with a big bang.

In preparation for our trip, Robert is beginning to study Spanish with Rosetta Stone. Buena suerte, mi cariño!

Life

2010-10-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, so we suck at this. My bad. And Robert's bad. Especially his, cuz look, I've written way more than him lately. :P

So, some fun stuff we've been up to lately.

We went on a trip to Vancouver! Amazing city. It feels slightly similar to Seattle, but I think I actually like it more. It felt very international. We heard SO MANY different languages being spoken all around us, more than you do even in New York. There was Chinese, and Punjabi, and Spanish, and French, and Arabic, and lots of them that we couldn't recognize. Purty cool.

Also, Stanly Park is super neato. We came across a whole den of raccoons there. I always thought raccoons had a reputation for being scared and slightly dangerous, but these fat little things just wandered right up to us. There were also gorgeous white swans; and, oh yeah, HERONS. How often do you just see herons hanging out right in front of you? Very cool.

I think my favorite part was the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge, which leads to the beautiful Lynn Canyon Park. A little park away in the mountain, with some beautiful hiking and a gorgeous river.

I knew I wanted to get out of town. (If you read just the front page of this blog, it's pretty obvious that that's been the main thing on my mind for months now.) But I thought I wanted to get out of town to get to another city. I am a city person, heart and soul. What I didn't realize was that I was really missing some good time in nature. Getting out of the city, and into the woods, did wonders for me.

I especially enjoyed being by the river. We made a friend in Philadelphia who was actually from Seattle, and was obsessed with water. I think water is cool and all, but I didn't really understand her love for it. Then I moved to Seattle, and after a few summers here, I can really start to see where the addiction can come from. On a clear sunny day, you are always just a couple of blocks away from a stunning vista of crystally blue water, gently heaving over the monstrous depths. It's really pretty cool.

But I grew up with rivers. We didn't have many impressive bodies of water in Northern Utah, so rivers were it. I loved their power, their sound, the crashing falls, and the smooth pools. And hiking along a river put me in touch with the type of peace I used to get out of nature in my childhood. And that was nice.

So there, there's a piece of our exciting life.

I'm making a list of other things I want to write about on here, so hopefully we'll stop being so boring. And I bet if Robert got some adoring fan mail, from all of our zero readers, he'd write sometimes too. :)

Oh, hi.

2010-08-26T10:45:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah, we have this personal blog thing.

I don't have any witty or interesting things to say, but we have some big life updates, so I thought I'd come give an update for those who care.

Way back at the end of June, my younger sister, Laurie, moved up to Seattle and into our apartment. She had been living in St. George, Utah, and was just ready to start the next phase of her life and move out of the cultural doldrums that were stifling her in So. Utah. Plus, if she lives with me, she knows she'll get beat up if she doesn't fill out her college applications, so there's that extra motivation thrown into the mix. :)

We started looking for 2-bedroom apartments while Laurie applied for and got a job working with me at the front desk of our hotel. Meanwhile, one of Laurie's best friends, Logan, was also looking to pull up his St. George roots and move on. Logan is amazing..... You may have read about him in the Salt Lake Tribune, as he led the legal fight among high school students in St. George to have schools recognize gay/straight alliance clubs. He wanted to move to a wider world as well, and Laurie swore he was good at doing dishes, so we decided Laurie could get a bunk bed and he could move in with us too.

We did find a great 2-bedroom apartment. Well, we found a decent apartment, with a breathtaking view from the roof of the building. Seriously, it's probably one of the best views you can find in Seattle. I'll make Robert dig up the camera and post pictures on here soon so you can all be jealous.

Stuff "Lost" has to resolve in two hours on Sunday

2010-05-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!

***** If you are behind in Lost, or plan on watching it someday, do not read this post.*****

Here are just some mysteries that have yet to be adequately explained in the show:

Desmond -

How does he time travel?

How did he have premonitions about Charlie's death?

How does he resist electromagnetism?

How did Elouise know about his time traveling back in season 2?

Jacob -

How does he travel from the island?

Who was his mother?

What was his brother's name?

Why can't we know his brother's name?

How does he protect the island?

How did he pick these candidates, and how does he have so much control over their fate?

Where did this group of people who have to protect him, and who ask the secret question about "What lies beneath the statue," come from?

Smoke monster-

Is it the brother?

Why can't he kill Jacob or candidates?

Did he exist before the brother was pushed into the light?

Others -

Where did the others come from?

Who was Dogan, at the temple? How did him being a "leader" relate to leaders like Ben? Were they in the same group?

How did the water heal people?

Did they build the temple?

How did the guy with the eye patch keep coming back to life?

Dharma Initiative -

Why/by whom were they founded?

How did they find the island?

How long were they on the island?

What was their real goal?

Where did the Dharma food fall from in the 1st/2nd season?

General questions -

What is the "sickness" that Sayid, Claire, and the French people got?

Why can't women get pregnant/give birth on the island?

Where did the giant Egyptian statue come from?

Why do two storylines exist? Which is "real"?

Why did the psychic think that Claire's baby was evil and should die?

Who's going to take care of Sun and Jin's baby?

How old is the island?

What is the island?

What is the light an allegory for?

Why wasn't Mr. Echo a candidate (you know he wasn't because the smoke monster killed him)?

In the alternate future, why were they all still on Oceanic 815, if the island no longer had control of their fates?

I have had lots of other questions too, but I don't write them down right away and forget them forever.

What other plot holes/mysteries can you think of that need resolving this Sunday? Can you add more questions to my list?

numbers

2010-05-18T09:48:00.001-07:00

three.

THREE.

Three.

three.

Happy 3 years, honey.

STUFF - and my bruised Luddism

2010-05-08T20:32:00.010-07:00

I am having major guilt right now.

We are in the process of "upgrading" some of our things. And I am feeling a lot of horrifying, evil, materialistic glee. :(

When we moved to Seattle, we got a free mattress from Craigslist. It has done its duty so far.... we've been able to sleep (kinda) on it. When laying on it, you can feel all the springs. There is a slight ridge in the middle, with two little valleys on either side. Pretty much every morning, I wake up with aching shoulders and a sore neck. So, we knew that an upgrade was due. After shopping around extensively for a few weeks, we settled on one today, that was on clearance, which we got for an awesome price. It's so much better than our current piece of junk, and we got a great deal on it. We will have a queen instead of a full, so Robert's feet won't hang 4 inches off the end. And, they are delivering it TOMORROW for FREE!!! And I cannot wait.

Also, today, on the very same day, I finally gave in and sent in for my free* phone upgrade. I'm going to have a big old fancy phone, with a full keyboard and everything. It's way sexier than any other phone I've ever owned. And I'm really excited to get it.

And I can't stand that I am so excited for it.

I know this isn't out-of-control, crazy spending. We really do need a new mattress. And the phone was, after all, free. But I'm worried I'm medicating my weather-induced gloom with shiny new toys, and it just feels so wrong. But so right.

I am so against "stuff". I hate how dependent we all are on new iPhones, new eBook readers, brand new furniture, and piles and piles of clothes, gadgets, and other assorted, expensive junk. I am philosophically committed to anti-materialism. I can't tell you how many times I've snobbishly rolled my eyes at people when they're fawning over their new phone or iPod.

But now it's me. I can't help myself. I suck. Help me.

All I can think to do is just to sit on my comfy bed and text about my self-loathing on my hi-tech phone.

*Free, that is, after you've called in to complain about the bogus hidden costs. Argh.

S.A.D.

2010-05-04T19:51:00.003-07:00

So remember here, where I opined that all this doom and gloom talk about Seattle's awful weather was just an elaborate scam to keep people away?

Well I was wrong.

Seattle has awful weather.

I think today has been the saddest May 4th of my life, with a high of 48 degrees and alternating wind and rain.

I.need.some.sun.

I secretly think this might be behind all my impulses to just get out of town.

Sigh..... If you need me, I'll be wandering around in my fantasies of car-ownership.

bus stop sagas

2010-05-03T01:06:00.006-07:00

So tonight I'm waiting for the bus at around 11:45pm. The weather is disgusting. Atrocious. About 48 degrees, with blustery, horizontal wind, that pushes the falling rain down a little harder, whipping it around the corner you've hidden in for refuge. The rain is falling falling falling, and I hadn't worn a coat with a hood earlier, so I am trying to ignore the cold drops trickling down the side of my neck as I hunch into my popped collar.

Most people who walk by the bus stop on a night like this are looking down at the concrete, trying to get to their destination as quickly as possible. A lot of the people for whom the concrete is the final destination this night exchange brief looks that communicate succintly: "Night from hell, huh?"

A couple lovely souls tonight decided they wanted to stand out a bit.

The first is a guy who walks by with a couple friends and shouts to me, "Bad night, huh?"

Always sociable, I reply, "Terrible!"

He sorta gives me another look, the creepy up-and-down thing, then says (not in a concerned do you need help way), "You on the street tonight?"

"Nope!" I think the exasperation on my face is pretty clear and he walks along.

End of incident #1. The second one pops up a few minutes later.

There I am, huddling in my corner, cursing the wind that is helping the rain to find me, when a man walking by suddenly stops. About 2 feet in front of me, he stands and stares. Directly into my face. For about 7 full, silent seconds. Then he blurts out angrily:

"Your mom and dad are rich, aren't they." It wasn't a question.

Totally bewildered, freezing cold, and not a little freaked out, I stare at him in perplexity for a few seconds, then let out a weak "Ha!" and a flat and decided "No."

He stares back, and yells, "Aw, your mom and dad are rich, admit it."

Really unsure of what to do at this point, I sorta stare past him and decidedly shake my head. He gives an angry guffaw and walks away mumbling, "Yes they are. I hate liars."

So I was mistaken for a homeless street girl, and stuck-up rich girl, all in one night, at one bus stop.

And this is why I seriously adore public transportation. :)

Oh, the places you (probably won't) go

2010-04-26T20:30:00.005-07:00

Part of working at the hotel involves getting 12 "comp nights" a year. Basically, this means that I get to stay at the company's hotels for free 12 nights a year (certain restrictions and limitations apply).

In July, I'll hit my year and get my 12 nights. And I am fantasizing about where to use them.

We're probably going to use 3 in Turkey and another 3 in Greece (oh yeah, we think that's where we're going for our big vacation). So that leaves me with six more. And I want to use them all!

I'm thinking 3 in Chicago this summer. And for the other three.... NYC? San Diego? San Francisco? Now I just have to figure out how to get all the money we'll need for airfare, and we'll be set.

Are any of our erstwhile readers going to be in any of these cities this coming summer/fall/winter? We'd love to rendezvous.

A couple other potential trips are also on the books. For our anniversary next month, we'd love to revisit an enchanting part of our honeymoon. We're just looking for a car we can use for free, because we can't afford a rental. And in June, we might be really letting our hair down and driving to Boise (again, free car, anyone?) for a party to get to know some other fMh permas.

Basically, I want to be anywhere but Seattle at the current moment. Nothing against Seattle..... I'm just a little antsy to explore.

i can haz perma blogger status?

2010-04-19T23:22:00.004-07:00

Um. I'm a dork. Really. A major dork.

And part of that dorkiness is my absolute adoration for this place.

And I was just barely asked to become one of their contributors, so I might start focusing my writing time on there a little more.

This means y'all gotta start getting on Robert about picking up the slack around these parts, so our life doesn't go on being a complete mystery to you all. :)

Because I know you're all dying to know about our routine, static, boring life. Sounds exhilirating, no?

MINE

2010-04-07T20:23:00.003-07:00

on (eventually) becoming an ex-pat

2010-04-04T22:00:00.005-07:00

Two days ago, my life took an exciting turn for the better. We're talking major, major improvement here. I'm finally achieving a goal I've put off for quite some time.

On approximately April 8th, I should be receiving....

*drumroll please*

MY PASSPORT!!!!

I found out late last week that I have a chance for a weekend trip to Vancouver in a couple of weeks! Yay! Going to Vancouver, however, does necessitate crossing an international border. So we rushed to the Seattle Passport Agency on Friday afternoon to fill out all the paperwork and get it expedited. Sadly, Robert has to mail off for a copy of his birth certificate. His accent just isn't American enough, I suppose, and they wouldn't accept our word that he's a citizen. He probably won't get a copy of it with enough time to also get his passport. So I might be trekking up to the Great White North solo. But, I will FINALLY have a passport, and get a stamp in it.

And yes, for me, Canada counts as a foreign country. :)

This could also be very useful come late September, which is when we've tentatively planned a tentative trip to Turkey. I haven't gotten the prize details yet, so we don't want to make any concrete plans. But Istanbul is seriously pulling me at the moment. And I think I can convince Robert to tag along.

So that's about all that's going on with us lately. I really do want to update this thing regularly. But I really don't have that many interesting updates.

The weather in Seattle is crappy right now. Windy, rainy, and cold. That's pretty much standard fare. :)

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-23T13:12:00.002-07:00

Okay. If you've known me at all during the last 10 years, you know that there's one thing I've wanted to do my whole life, and have never been able to.

TRAVEL.

Well, between the months of October and January, I worked my tail off in a competition at work to get my name put in a drawing as many times as possible. And yesterday I walked into work and was informed that they'd just announced the results of the drawing..... and that my name had been drawn FOR THE GRAND PRIZE.

So I win 4 free nights at a hotel, 100,000 United miles, and $250 towards hotel incidentals.

Which is basically a free vacation for two, to anywhere in the world with a Hyatt hotel.

O.M.G.

So if you could pick any country with a Hyatt to travel to, what would your choice be?

Topping my list, at the current moment, are Istanbul, Turkey; Casablanca, Morocco; and Thessaloniki, Greece.

I'm going to also opt to use 3 of my free hotel stays to turn it into a 7-day vacation.

And of course, Robert is my default travel companion, but if someone were to really, really ingratiate themselves to me (hello foot massages!), it is theoretically possible that this could change. :) (JK! Love you baby!)

Neither of us has ever done much traveling at all. So if any of our readers are planning on being abroad in the late summer/early fall of this year, let us know, and maybe you can become our tour guide. :)

the art of gift-receiving

2010-03-20T17:52:00.003-07:00

So.... anyone want a Hello Kitty bag?

See, I have this co-worker. She's a woman in her 40s, married, with one teenaged son, employed full-time. And I think she lives in a fantasy world of unicorns and puppies.

She's a dear, dear person. But she has this slight inability to realize that not everyone is exactly like her. This led to her making a birthday card for another co-worker (so nice! so thoughtful!) - a guy in his early 20's, with a crass sense of humor, who likes to discuss philosophy. And for the card, she picked a picture of a cute little cartoon mouse with a big ol' birthday cake. She was convinced he would love it. Correspondingly, she was devastated when yet another co-worker drew fangs on the little mouse to turn it into a vampire rat. The birthday boy, of course, appreciated the fangs a lot more than he did the cuteness. But she is just, I think, really incapable of understanding that someone else might not have appreciated something she loved.

I say all this by way of intro. A few months ago, for my birthday, this coworker was really, really excited to give me a gift she had picked out especially for me online. It was a Hello Kitty keychain. Bright pink and shiny. And, she excitedly pointed out, it had a special clip that makes it double as a zipper decoration as well. And she wanted to know, ecstatically, in which capacity I would use it.

After a few weeks, and a few near-despondent prompts of, "Have you decided yet where to put the keychain?", I broke down and attached it to my bag. Really, I don't care for Hello Kitty, but I also don't care much about my bag or what it looks like. So I put it on a little side zipper, and thought I had appeased her.

Fast forward to today. There is a running joke among my co-workers that I need a new bag, because my current one is rather tattered and torn, having serviced the last two years of my college career. And this dear lady decided a few days ago that she would get me a new one. And has told me for the last few days how excited she is to give it to me.

And today, she gave it to me.

And it's big, black and pink, and covered in hearts.... surrounding the huge face of a (velvety) Hello Kitty.

I had to try to keep the look of panic and something akin to disgust off my face. I tried to say politely, "Oh no, you are so sweet, but this really isn't something I'd use. You should give it to someone who will appreciate it more." She responded, "Oh, I know it's not as sturdy as your bag, so you don't have to use it. You can just keep it in your room as decoration."

Yeah. I should have just stopped there and taken it as an easy out. It's generally important to me to ingratiate myself to my coworkers. But really? A Hello Kitty BAG? Hanging up on my wall?

I tried one more time to give it back, and she looked like she was bordering on devastation. So I said, "Oh, you're so funny. Thanks. That's really sweet." And she giggled and was bright and happy and dancing in rainbows once more.

Sigh. Sometimes this job is more than I bargained for.

A nice afternoon

2010-03-16T10:01:00.002-07:00

I'm on a roll! Two in a row!

I had a wonderful day yesterday. This week, I had Sunday and Monday off. I spent Sunday being very responsible, cleaning my house and getting the laundry done. This left me with all of Monday free to just enjoy myself however I saw fit.

"As I see fit," of course, includes as much reading as possible.

So after being productive online (haha, like that's even possible! Oh wait, I DID update this blog, so that's something), I loaded up by bag with books, hopped on a bus, got up to Fremont and got off to explore. I got (an overpriced) lunch at a little sandwich shop and explored the local used bookstore. One thing I love about Seattle is that every neighborhood seems to have at least one good bookstore. Very cool. Unfortunately, this one didn't have what I'm currently searching for (The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, or anything by Saul Alinsky), so I headed out for my final destination: Fremont Coffee, recommended by a friend, and very, very cool.

The coffee shop is in what appears to have been a house at one time. Basically, it looks like they just took down all the doors, left the walls standing, and filled it up with chairs and tables. After ordering my Italian soda and a chocolate chip cookie, I wandered from one small room to the next, deciding where I wanted to sit. I ended up spending about 3 hours there, reading to my heart's content. And afterwards, it was still a nice, warm enough day for me to order some ice cream and sit outside to eat it in the sun! Yay!

What I can't figure out is how to navigate which book I'll read next. I always have this huge pull between fiction and non-fiction. Now, I'm also trying to fit in something in Spanish to keep my skills sharp (though I think jumping from J.K. Rowling straight to Che Guevara might have been a little much). There are so many things I have to read! I'm on the last few pages of Sister Outsider, an amazing collection of essays and speeches by Audre Lorde, a Black, lesbian, socialist feminist who died in '93. (Seriously, amazing. Read it. It is super, super important.) Next, I have to read God of the Oppressed by James H. Cone (black liberation theology!!!..... ! .... !!), because it is on rent from the public library. But after that, I have about 35 tantalizing choices.

Eek! How do you go about deciding what you'll read next?

dilemmas, dilemmas*

2010-03-15T12:18:00.002-07:00

I've been wanting to blog here again for a while, but I've felt really intimidated, because there is so much to catch up on. I've decided I'm just going to jump back in to normal life, and the last few months will just remain a mystery forever, or I'll never get started again.

Robert and I are considering moving to a new apartment. We only signed a 9-month lease with our current place, because we didn't want to commit to a whole year, never having been to the neighborhood and all. Those 9 months are up soon (whoa, have we been here that long?), and I've started my lazy perusal of craigslist. And now we have some tough choices to make.

Right now, we are in a neighborhood just outside the downtown area. It is incredibly convenient. There are 5 different buses I can take to get to work each day. Robert can walk to his school in just 15 minutes. There are 3 grocery stores, one drug store, and several great restaurants within 8 blocks of us. The neighborhood is quiet, super-safe, and pretty. But..... I don't like it.

I feel like we're living in a mini-microsoft complex. Half the cars here are either a BMW or a Prius. It's probably over 80% white. The little shops and restaurants are cool, but really pricey, and targeting a wealthy, trendy clientele. In short, the neighborhood just reeks of the sort of fake progressivism that drives me crazy. There are young professionals at all the cool spots on weekends. The apartment buildings in our area are all nice, and normal, and have very little character. It's really just blah and so, MICROSOFT. Basically, just not me.

I am really attracted to areas like Fremont, Wallingford and Phinney Ridge. These are neighborhoods that are just a little further out of downtown. These neighborhoods are a lot prettier, and just feel a lot more genuine. I think they would be a much better fit. Also, I'm finding a lot of places that are cheaper this year than they were last year..... we could probably knock $100 off our monthly rent, and get a dishwasher in the deal as well. The problem is, these neighborhoods aren't nearly as convenient. They would be much longer bike rides in the summer, and bus options would be cut down to 2 or 3. Plus, Robert would no longer be able to walk, so he'd have to get a bus pass, which would knock out about half of the savings we made on rent. We'd spend more time on commuting, but live in a cooler place.

Sigh. So we don't know what to do. I'm inclined to move to a new neighborhood, and Robert sorta wants to just stick with the convenience we have now. When our lease comes up, and it's time to renew or move, I'll have to talk to our building manager about the rent. Prices in the whole neighborhood have dropped this year, so if he's willing to knock off $50-100 for us, we'll probably just stay put.

And my dreams of a dishwasher will be further delayed.

Sigh.

*Just for the record, until I was a sophomore in college, I thought dilemma was spelled "dilemna", with an "n". I have no idea why. I was a spelling bee champ. And it never made sense anyway. But yeah. I was running around saying "dilem-na" for the first 19 years of my life, and no one corrected me. Just had to get that off my chest.

who ya gonna call?

2009-12-15T22:17:00.003-08:00

Okay, something that happened tonight that is so wonderfully amazing, that I have to come out of my long blogging retirement to tell the story.

I'm at work tonight, on a really slooooow night, where we don't have an awful lot of staff on hand. A (male) guest called down in the evening to say that he'd been using one of room irons, and had somehow burned some other type of material (plastic?) onto his shirt. There were now several small black marks that he was unable to get out. We went up and retrieved his shirt, promising to do our best to help (hoping that he won't make us buy a new one by blaming it on our iron).

My (male) manager is holding the shirt at the front desk. Virtually the entire housekeeping staff is gone. He gets a look of near panic in his eyes, as he wonders what on earth we're going to do to get it out.

"Natalie, what do we do?"

"Um. I have no idea. I would call my mom......"

....

.......

"Do you want me to call my mom?"

"Yes."

So, at 10:30p her time, my mom receives a call from me (well, from the hotel, actually). I had slightly woken her up, and asked the question. She mumbles the answer (cold water, with shampoo, scrubbing the stained parts between your fingers, in case you need to know), tells me she loves me, and goes back to bed.

A) My mom is awesome.

B) The hotel should pay her consulting fees.

C) It's really kinda pathetic that I can call her at any time of day or night with the most bizarre questions about mundane things, and she doesn't even raise an eyebrow. Yeah. She's gotten a lot of those calls from me.

Habits Die Hard

2009-11-06T13:46:00.002-08:00

I am currently at school, attempting to learn CSS (coding for web design) and we are moving onto JavaScript (personally, before I was ready to move on). For some people CSS is a simple process. I am having the hardest time with it, and want to give up. However, I haven't felt this stupid since I was thrown into Geometry back in high school.

Suddenly my habit of not wanting to feel stupid is kicking in. Think of me however you want, but I don't often feel stupid trying to learn something. CSS has gotten that hold of me, that makes me want to spend every waking moment figuring it out until it clicks. I haven't played a video game for more 10 minutes in over 3 weeks, and that says a lot. I think my problem is html is hardwired into my brain, and CSS extends OFF it, not on it. So I am having to leave behind some stuff I learned from html, and it's not easy to do.

So, if anyone out there has pointers for me... I would really appreciate it!

The Holiday Streak

2009-10-23T12:35:00.003-07:00

Well, it's nearly time to put our thoughts together and come up with solutions to all the problems of holidays. The warm-up holiday, Halloween - This is where we put our creative mind and apply our craft as well as possible. If we fail, it's ok, we can try again next year. Then comes Thanksgiving - This is where we have to spend as much social time with friends and family (some times with wonderful arguments about why mom is cooking everything again this year). If we fail here, usually all is forgiven when everyone starts eating. Then the true test, Christmas (or what ever gift giving holiday you follow) - This is the true test, was my gift thoughtful enough? Was my gift something the person needed? Is the person going to even appreciate that I got them something? This is crunch time, mess up here and you will not be forgiven... ever!

Luckily, we get to relax with one last holiday, for some this is the time to get drunk. For me and Natalie, this is the time to play board games with friends and watch the fireworks on tv... I don't like large crowds, but we'll see what we do this year. Hopefully, this is the holiday that everything is forgiven. New Years - We go back to our creative side, and everything is forgiven if it sucks... especially if you get that kiss at midnight!

Everyone, enjoy the holidays! Be with your friends and family, and just have a good time!

Yes, we really did move to Seattle.

2009-10-19T12:44:00.003-07:00

It is again a slow night at work, and I have some free time. So I thought I would (sneakily) write another update for all of our dearly devoted readers. (Mom, have we lost you yet?)

Looking back over recent posts, I realized I've sorta left out something pretty major: my thoughts about Seattle! So here it goes. And because my overly-analytical brain categorizes things obsessively, I'm going to give it all to you in lists.

Things I like:

SEATTLE BUS DRIVERS: Your handful of change is 40 cents short of the full fare? Don't even worry about it. Your transfer expired two hours ago? That's okay, hop on board. You need to be let off halfway between this stop and the next? Alright, just be quick about it. I have had good luck with public transit workers in every city (once a whole bus full of people in Philly told the driver she could take a minor detour so that Rob and I wouldn't have to walk as far with our arms full of small furniture items!), and Seattle is definitely up to par. Plus, the buses are spacious and CLEAN. And, so far, I've met some pretty neat folks at bus stops. So public transit = awesomeness.

WATER: Despite its life-threatening potential I mentioned in my last post. So. pretty. It's impressive even on cloudy days, but OH! when the sun is out! If I walk down 1st Avenue, every intersection opens up to a full view of the gorgeous Elliott Bay. And driving on one of the freeways (can't remember which one.... it has a 9 in it), you go over this gorgeous bridge that's about 100 feet above Lake Union, and you have an incredible view of the lake, with all of the Seattle cityscape arrayed perfectly behind it. Amazing.

COMMUNITIES! Okay. I'm sorta in love with community. But here in Seattle, some neighborhoods really have a strong sense of being a community, and I love that. We were in Wallingford on my birthday, and stopped at a little knick-knack store. We ended up buying a little thing, and when the guy handed us our receipt, he said, "And remember, this receipt will get you discounts at other local places, including 10% off gelato from next door." A) Mmm... gelato. B) How cool is that? A bunch of locally-owned small stores get together and agree to give discounts to people who shop at all of them. Very cool.

Things I don''t like:

DEMOGRAPHICS: There are altogether too many white people in Seattle. Now don't get me wrong - it's not like I have a problem with white people. I just like to see other kinds of people every once in a while. I feel kinda guilty moving here. I'm driving up the numbers. Eesh.

CORPORATE TAKEOVER: Seattle is the birthplace of Starbucks. And Nordstroms. And Microsoft. And Amazon.com. And Boeing. And a million other humongous nation-wide corporations. Bleh. The downtown, which is architecturally stunning, and very vibrant, loses a few points for being absolutely overflowing with Corporate America-ness.

IMAGE OBSESSION: I think that, politically, I probably agree with the vast majority of Seattleites (sp?). It's a pretty liberal town, the city recycles and composts, lots of people use public transit. That's cool. But man, people are obsessed with image here. Not that everyone is trying to look like Brangelina, but I feel like a lot of people jump on board with stuff because it's trendy. Por ejemplo, there's a lot more gelato than ice cream, because gelato is more "progressive" (an actual quote from my coworker who was trying to explain the disparity). I feel like everyone is trying too hard. It's a city full of posers.

Things I want to see more of:

NEIGHBORHOODS: Especially Fremont, West Seattle, the International District, and Ballard. We've finally hired a couple more people at work, so hopefully I'll be able to have more than one day off pretty soon. I look forward to wandering around.

RESTAURANTS: There are so many food locales calling out to me! Again, having more time is the key.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS: I haven't been on a real hike in years, and there are a ton of great ones right outside the city. I might put it off until the sun comes out next summer, but someday, I really hope to enjoy the nearby wilderness.

Anyway, was this post long enough to make up for neglecting all of you for so long? Thanks for still coming around on occasion!

To Infinity and Beyond!

2009-10-16T12:45:00.002-07:00

I'm finishing up my second week of classes and here is what I have to look forward to for the next 10 weeks:

General Science - Obviously, general science knowledge.
Writing for Interactive Media - Still trying to figure out this one. Something about redesigning websites or User Interfaces (even in real world applications - train station signs and such).
Advanced Electronic Print Production - Learning more techniques about printing from a computer.
Illustration - Yet another drawing class. (Not interested in this one, they want us to use different mediums - ink, bleach, etc.)
Advanced Web - CSS here I come! (partially touching Javascript)

All this is making me cut my hours back at work, which means I have more time to write on the blog again! YEAH!!! Maybe now I can figure out a little more about the city I live in. I wish my wife didn't have to work so much though, maybe some day.

P.S. I still need some ideas on how to celebrate my 100th post! HELP! It's coming up so soon!

Whaddya talkin' about?

2009-10-12T15:31:00.003-07:00

Apparently Seattle is supposed to be very rainy and gloomy. This dissuades many people from moving here. But guess what, people. IT'S A LIE!!! They're trying to keep you all out. We've been here for 3 1/2 months now, and have probably only seen 7-10 days of any rain at all. The summer was beautiful and oh so sunny(I enjoyed looking at the sunlight playing on the cement wall of the parking garage across the street from the front desk I stand at all day). The fall has been gorgeous and crispy (obviously impossible if this place were as wet as it's supposed to be). And the water is breathtaking (and also possibly life-threatening when I'm riding my bike, as I find it very difficult to remove my gaze from the bright, bright blue reflection of it on sunny days).

And yes, my life is so unexciting that I have to blog about the weather. :)

You may consider this my trying to move on from Philly post, because I'm desperately avoiding of thinking about what Clark Park looks like right about now.

One Month Later...

2009-10-07T16:46:00.003-07:00

Well, I am sorry I haven't updated... hopefully things will be slowing down for me at work soon. I told my boss I could only work 20-25 hours (as close to 20 as possible) now that school is starting, so naturally he scheduled me 28 this week. Things have been way too busy for me, and I haven't enjoyed my time here in Seattle... working 6 days a week will do that. I was very close to quiting my job already, I've only been there for 2 months now... again, working 12 days off in a row will do that to you. I would say in 19 days I had 2 days off, but not to worry I had 2 days off in a row on Saturday (to celebrate my wife's birthday) and Sunday (as per my religious beliefs). Monday started and I was excited to be getting ready for school.

Tuesday was a full day for me, I went started with Science at 8am, and finished with some class called "Writing for Interactive Media" (whatever that means) and then headed into work until 10p. I was very worn out to say the least by the end of all that. Hopefully I won't be expected to close every Tuesday, but given that my boss has lacks prior planning I will probably have no life on Tuesdays. Wait a second! Or on Thursdays, as he has me working an 8 hour shift before my night class starts. (Blurg!).

So far this has been a good week though. My wife loved my present to her on Saturday, Row 27 aisle seat to see Regina Spektor. And I started class, I have been so bored since I stopped going. There was a lot of preparation that we had to do in order to get me into classes this fall, but it is so worth it. I write this post while I am waiting for my next class to begin (3 of 5). My teacher looks like Jim Halpert, if you don't know who that is, you are missing out on one of the best comedy shows (Don't worry Zack, I said one of... 30 Rock is still on top of that list of comedy shows).

That's all I have to say for now, I hope not to take as long to share information with everyone, just know it has hurt me as much as it has hurt you! Also, I am coming up on 100 posts and wanted to see if the interweb has any ideas for the post to celebrate. New site, 100 favorite (blank), Shortest post ever, give me your ideas interwebs!

I HAVE THE CUTEST NIECE IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE

2009-09-26T01:00:00.003-07:00

Exhibit A: She can give herself haircuts. :)

helloooo!!!!

2009-09-23T20:06:00.003-07:00

So I'm at work. And there is nothing to do. Except sneak onto blogger and furtively post this meaningless message.

Just so you all know, we're still alive, and still doing things. Just nothing much exciting, and without a lot of time to write about it.

Now someone come fall down the stairs at my work, please! And I'd appreciate some funny, excruciating sounds on your way down.

PAX '09

2009-09-06T20:16:00.002-07:00

So check this story out! A man walks into the hotel that Natalie works at, and she mentions how much of a computer nerd I am. Seeing as how this man works for a video card company, she thought it would be useful info for some reason. But everything went according to plan and the next day I had a blue pass to PAX '09 (Penny Arcade Exposition)... What's that? (www.paxsite.com) Basically like a convention of cars, but for video games.

I spent so much time down there, I neglected my wife this weekend. So I will be making up for that for sometime to come. I guess I'll be doing the dishes for the rest of the month.

I had such a blast though, I had a chance to play and witness first hand games like StarCraft II, Diablo III, Left 4 Dead 2, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Ninja Turtles Smash-Up, Brutal Legend, and much more! These games were all so good and felt like completed games. I look forward to them all!

There were quite a few people dressed up too! I am way too tired to post them tonight though. I need to email the guy who sent me to the show, and nap before Natalie gets home. Tomorrow sometime I will be posting pictures AND videos. So TTFN and PAX '09 FTW! (I loved being around people who used these phrases on a regular basis)

things i'm going to miss

2009-09-01T14:59:00.004-07:00

!!!!!!FRIENDS!!!!!!

Okay, I've been waiting to do this blog post because I haven't been able to find the pictures we took of our friends in our last days in Philly. (Rob is an obsessive compulsive re-formatter, so they exist somewhere, but I've lost track of which of the 20 flash drives we have laying around they are backed up on.) I've also been working some overtime (6 days a week for the last 4 weeks), so free time has been scarce. All this to say that, despite it's tardiness, this topic is far from the bottom of my list of "things i'm going to miss".

Perhaps the single biggest reason Philly worked its way so deeply into my heart was all the people I grew close to there.

It started with my roommates. Chengyi, Caitlin, Sasha and Lauren (a late but solid addition!). Ladies! How can I convince some of you to move to Seattle? With such a diverse set of interests and backgrounds, I don't think any of us forecasted the wonderful friendships Penn crafted when it randomly stuck all of us into Harnwell apartment 1408. I loved and miss dearly the conversations we had, ranging from serious and political to flippant and silly. I cherish my memory of sitting with Chengyi for two hours just talking about parenting techniques. She has brilliant and wise insights on just about every topic imaginable. I can't even recall how many times Lauren saved me from fashion disaster and, more importantly, showed me the pleasure of making any event into a special occasion. I'm sorely missing the presence of a friend like Cait, who was always up for anything, the person you knew would always accompany you on that late night run to Fro Gro for brownies, grapes, mustard, or whatever else you happened to be craving. And I feel like I'm already becoming a worse person by not ever being around the aura of absolute goodness that just shines out of Sasha. I learned so much about how to treat people from watching her silent, unassuming example.

I mean it, roomies. I miss you. Can't tell you how many times, here in Seattle, I've wished one of you was just down the hall so that I could go plop down on your bed and chat about nothing or everything.

After Rob and I were married and started attending the Philly 1st ward, we met some friends that I'm pretty sure are going to stick. I adored our little group of "recently-married, no kids yet, living in the city, young couples." Our Sunday dinners provided me the wonderful social interaction that I need to stay upbeat. The wonderful variety of personalities and opinions among us ensured that we would never have dull conversation, and would always have something to learn (or at least something to yell about ;D).

Deserving special mention are the friends to whom we basically became attached at the hip. Zack and ShaNae. *cue high whiny voice: Move to Seattle! Waaah!!

I don't know if we've ever had a set of friends that we feel so comfortable just being ourselves with. It's a weekend and we don't have plans? Let's invade the Noyce's apartment to take advantage of their awesomely effective heating system. Don't want to do homework on a Wednesday night? No fear, we can probably drag ShaNae away from her pile of texts, and Zack away from his 6 12-page papers, and drive out to the suburbs for some Friendly's. Bored on a Thursday afternoon? Just ask if they wanna "do something", and you'll be all set. Know you should walk to church, but want to wimp out and drive? ShaNae will drive around the corner to pick you up on your doorstep. We agonized with them over presidential debates, cheered with them over the World Series, and talked about every topic under the sun during countless late night hang-outs. I don't think it will ever be possible for us to make friends who are so chill and so interesting at the same time. And I have deeply, deeply felt the loss of some solid friends who would never say no to a somewhat irresponsible venture out to a restaurant where we probably shouldn't eat for both budget and health reasons. Noyces: We are leaving Seattle terribly unexplored without you. Come help?

Of all the things we miss about Philly, these unique and specific people are what we are most lacking in Seattle. We want to find some friends, but can't imagine that we'll be lucky enough to strike gold like we did in Philly.

Friends. I miss you. Lots. Thanks for everything you gave us and taught us. It's going to stick with us for a long time.

Are You Ready?

2009-08-18T21:55:00.003-07:00

Are you ready? Cuz I am! I am going to kick, scream, and call you nasty names! I'm going to tell you how much I think you suck! And you are going to like every second of it! And when it is all said and done, you will see how right I was. And we will do it all again next week. No, I'm not talking about going to a town hall meeting about health care. I'm talking about football!!!

It's almost here, and I have started getting ready for my fantasy football draft. I'm the commissioner (3rd year running) and it's always fun. What are you doing to prepare for the new season? And to all our Philly friends, how is the city reacting to the pickup of Vick? I would imagine everyone was pretty stoked, except the PETA lovers of course. I am so excited I made a countdown to the first game kickoff! -LINK-

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!!

America, The Great?

2009-08-16T12:09:00.006-07:00

What makes America great? We had a civil war that was based on secession, basically for slavery. It was interest in a people's right to live that was the focus of two sides to go to war with one another. The north versus the south, and luckily we abolished slavery in America by the end of it all. It was a huge step in the right direction for the better of an oppressed people. We cared about how people were being treated, and being treated as property was not right. We still have racism even over 100 years later, but no one who respects people as a whole can argue that we didn't make a good decision.

So that naturally lead to NOW in 1966 which fought for the rights of women and against discrimination based on gender. Today we fight for a person's rights to marry within their own gender. One could say this is being fought for because of women's rights which fought for no discrimination based on gender, which could be implied through marriage. If you disagree with that, are you saying that there should still be discrimination based on gender?

Really the topic of my post has yet to come out, which is health care. We Americans have often times been ignorant to someone's rights as an American, let alone to the fact that we are all human beings (brothers and sisters if you will). So why are we so opposed to making sure that 50 million people get health care? The argument generally is about how we insure those uninsured. Is having them insured worth the cost? (Which really sounds inhumane to me.) Where is the money going to come from? Is it right that the rich should be responsible to take care of the poor? (and some of the uninsured aren't poor) If not who is responsible?

Our society has clearly demonstrated that power and resources are arbitrarily skewed towards the rich. This would lead logical sense to the rich people being responsible for the protection and power of the poor, since they have the resources and the poor do not. Although, this does conflict with their own personal interest of having all that money. Where does the poor person get the right to having the money the rich person has "earned"? Simply put, the right comes from being American. (In some cases, I would argue that being another human being does. But this is not my current argument.)

We have so often looked out for the interest of others and come out a better nation for it. Why are we holding back yet again from having an oppressed people's interest at heart? It's not about the money we "might" be spending, otherwise the people arguing against health care reform and opposing Bush's war in Iraq would be the same people, but they aren't. I guess I can't prove that since there are a lot of people on both subjects, but I would beg to differ with anyone who says otherwise. How can we view these people who oppose any and all means necessary to take care of someone who is less fortunate? Is it really because of the people you believe are "milking" the system, or is it because you don't want to see them get free hand outs? If you believe either of those things, then I might have a question for you. Are you looking out for your best interest or someone else's?

In the end, we don't have the right to tell someone else how to live their lives. If the end result is that what they do does not effect you, then let it go. How does a gay couple getting married effect you? Does it mean the marriage you currently have or will someday have, is no longer of value because now anyone can get married? I refer you to the many celebrity marriages and divorces for how this has already happened. Does having your tax dollars going toward someone else's operation to allow them to live and recoup after the surgery mean that you won't have that same option someday? (not under HR 676 it definitely wouldn't) So let's not fight over how we need to insure 50 million people, and lets start doing it. If that means the rich should pay the higher tax, they should step up to the plate and be the citizen of America that wants to fight with an oppressed people to help us be a greater country as we always have been doing.

a day off!

2009-08-14T14:01:00.003-07:00

I'm working 6 days this week, but today is my one day of freedom. There are so many types of laziness I want to indulge in! I already slept in til 11am (!!!), so the sleeping bit should be covered. I've been working on a jigsaw puzzle for weeks, and am dying to finish it. I am currently reading (at least) two books that I'm really enjoying, and can't decide which one to dip into first. And I haven't cooked an actual meal in ages, so I want to do some of that. But I only have one day! It's nice to have so many appealing options, no?

As far as the books go, I'm currently reading Don Quixote and Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal. (aka: in Spanish!) I'm only a couple of chapters in, but I was not expecting Don Quixote to be so delightful! When I think of the early 17th century, side-splitting laughter is not the thing that generally comes to mind first. But man, Cervantes is hilarious! I'm really itching to get into the book.

And it turns out I enjoy Harry Potter more in Spanish than in English. I think this is because I have to work harder to understand it, so it's like I'm relearning the joys of reading all over again. I'll read a sentence, know that it has something to do with Dudley and cereal, look up the few words I didn't know, and realize that it says Dudley was throwing cereal all over the walls! Ha! Hilarious! :) Somehow, it's much more rewarding when you have to work for it. Plus, I really miss having Spanish class every day, and am aching to improve my language skills.

So, if you had a day with no responsibilities and too many hobbies on your hands, how would you spend it? :)

Oh, and any (not too difficult) recommendations for dinner?

New Life Begins

2009-08-10T21:39:00.003-07:00

Ok, so I officially have a job, and I start tomorrow morning. It has been quiet the ride for this job. I went in to get my drug test done twice, since it was lost the first time. And today I went in and started paperwork and was told to come back in tomorrow at 10a. Which means I won't see my wife at all this week. She works nights and I'll work days. :( Just for this week though. Why do new people always get the night shift? (I'll be working close, when my regular hours begin)

I was told I needed a black polo shirt, and heard off to Goodwill to find one. When I got there, I saw a board game section. And I bought Tribond, Trivial Pursuit 90's Edition, Loaded Questions and a unique version of Balderdash all for under $25. Balderdash has a handmade board with mini glass sculptures as the pieces, but the original cards are still there.

At the end of the day now, and I came across this awesome thing about socialism. it goes like this. -LINK-

nuke me

2009-07-29T23:04:00.002-07:00

So everyone is going crazy here in Seattle about this heat wave that has set an all-time record (and we were here for it! woohoo!). The whole city seems pretty miserable. But today I was walking around in shorts and a short-sleeve t-shirt, and it felt like the heat was embracing my arms and legs.

I've never been hugged by the weather before.

I kinda like it.

things I'm going to miss

2009-07-24T10:27:00.009-07:00

BEING SISTER KELLY

I've been trying to think about how to describe my feelings about our old ward for a month now, and I just can't come up with the words. Certainly, the Philadelphia First Ward permanently changed me. I've always loved the church, and loved attending, but never have I been a member of a ward that caused my soul to expand the way P1 did.

Too many people in this ward were special for me to make mention of individuals. The list would go on too long. But I think the group that impacted me the most were the incredible, beautiful young women that I was extraordinarily blessed to serve.

MY GIRLS!

When I was first asked to serve in the YW, I was not excited. I didn't know any of the youth, and I was terribly intimidated. I had loved serving the kids in Primary, and worried that the teenagers wouldn't be so easy to please. Also, teenagers have to face a lot of scary, serious crap in their lives, and being called to help guide them through those times was daunting to say the least. Immediately, I felt overwhelmed with the notion that the stakes were really, really high here.

But wow. I learned as much in my year with the Young Women as in my 4 years at Penn.

And, man, did I come to care about them. One of the biggest challenges of the calling was trying to positively influence as many of our girls as possible with relatively scarce resources. It was really painful to have to choose which girls we would pick up for a Tuesday night activity because we simply didn't have car space for all of them, and didn't want them to take the trolley home by themselves after dark. I couldn't believe how deeply I wanted to see every girl's face, every single week. And I can't believe how protective and defensive I became. On one occasion, I literally felt the urge to put my hands over one girl's ears when someone around them was saying something hurtful. I was desperate to create a perfect little world for each of them. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a parent. Even knowing these girls for a short time, and not being their blood relative, I wished and prayed that I could carry their sorrows for them and shield them from the hardships they were up against. I am so, so amazed that they returned my love, and trusted me with their friendship and confidence. In the end, the most difficult part of the calling was realizing that I couldn't magically make their problems evaporate just by hugging them ever so fiercely. But DANG I hope these girls have good lives. I love them, and they are incredible.

And of course, I served with some amazing people. I learned so much from the examples of the other leaders who were willing to give so much. At times when I was feeling lazy, unmotivated, or uncreative, I had only to call one of the other women, and their absolute dedication to the young women and the Gospel would inspire me to get going as well.

So, Philly 1st, We miss you. LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE!

(We have lots more pics of the ward, and I'll try to add them very soon. Right now, they're floating around on random hard drives/flash drives/computers, and I haven't yet put them all into one pile.)

Anonymous

2009-07-24T09:25:00.003-07:00

Ok, so in the last post a person posted anonymously. Though I doubt this person will admit to having posted it, even though I really do know who did it, I am being forced to do something I would like to clarify with our lovely readers. I posted a poll, this is our first time having two polls at once... you lucky readers you, and what the results are may lead to a change on our blog.

This person seemed to think that, by posting anonymously, no one would know who they were and they could speak in a manner that is unlike them. I love debating, and I love hearing another persons perspective (unless you are on FauX News). But how can this be accomplished with someone who doesn't dare tell you their name. This person is afraid that had they posted their real name it would have created some false idea we have of them. But as you can see, it has only created disappointment. And this is why I am not revealing who this person is, but allowing them to come to our blog and have a real discussion about the issue.

I wish this site could have stayed the site it intended to be, which was to inform our family and friends of what's going on, but my family rarely reads this. Our most frequent visitors (at least judging by our comment list) belongs to a couple people in Natalie's family and the Noyces. So this leaves me with a little soapbox to tell the world just how much of a leftist I really am. I am very proud of my new found love for politics and I really do hope to get more involved in the political system. I've already written the mayor of Seattle (and gotten a response).

I think I veered off somewhere there, answer the poll question and we'll be making the decision at the end of the month. But mostly I want to thank everyone who reads this blog, even those of you who disagree with my views. I welcome all comments, let's really talk about it!

Your move America!

2009-07-22T16:32:00.005-07:00

Ok, so the television is blowing up with Health Care Reform and I am only going to be adding to it. I don't have much to say, but let the reddit people tell you. LINK

The one good thing we have going for us in this current technological world, is that if we aren't sure how something is elsewhere in the world. We can look it up for ourselves. Look into every issue you have a problem with. Make sure you are on the right side. This goes to all my conservative friends out there! Be conservative, that's fine but make sure you know who you are effecting. Are you really fighting for the better of all Americans?

P.S. I strictly think we need Single Payer Health Care!

Edit: Finding more and more evidence that Canadians are more ok with the health care they have then we Americans are told they are.

Seattle in Summer!

2009-07-21T16:08:00.014-07:00

Apparently the summers here are the best kept secret of Seattle. It has hardly rained and we are enjoying the 86-88 degree highs with hardly any humidity. I told you a few days ago about our trip out in the city was going to be yesterday. We didn't get to see as much as we hoped. But here are a few pictures of what we have done so far and had the pleasure of enjoying.

This is a water fountain we found in the the Seattle center. We enjoy watching all the kids.

We also enjoyed jumping in ourselves.

The Seattle Center is kind of a little carnival place. You can play arcades or ride rides and play carnival games.

Of course, there is the space needle as well.

A shot of both the fountain and Space Needle.

We found this place near our house. It's a park called Kinnear Park.

Our boys made it through the flight ok, and are settling in my new recliner... which we got for $10. Thank you craigslist.

This crazy looking building is downtown, and we both decided that if there was an earthquake... we would not want to be in there.

Lastly, we went to Shakespeare in the Park to see "Comedy of Errors" and this lake was across the way. I've decided we are saving up for a small little row boat. :)

That's all for now, we'll keep you updated. For now Seattle has been quite an adjustment... We still miss all our friends in Philly.

ADS?!?

2009-07-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

So, did you notice the ads over on the right? Guess what? You can help us in Seattle by clicking a number of those ads a day. So when you visit to check up on us, just click some of those ads for us. It's kinda pathetic, but it really does help us.

Tomorrow we are going to spend some time downtown, and we're taking the camera. Get ready to Seattle from the Kelly's view. Seeing as how I don't have a job still, I'm sure I will find time to add it on Tuesday or so.

We'll see you then! And thanks for clicking the ads. Click as many as you want, there are arrows that will allow you to click more than three. :)

Robert's Music

2009-07-17T11:27:00.003-07:00

I have two songs I would like to post for your enjoyment. I wrote both songs, though the first of the two was recorded in my living room in Philly. I pieced together a second voice because it really needs a backup. The second one listed was recorded in my little brother's makeshift studio while we were together with my best friend Topher in Rain.

Let me know what you think. I haven't written a new song in a long time and miss very much. Making the album in Rain was just too much fun. We had to call it quits when out bassist (Topher) moved to Cali for a job. We canceled our last 4 shows and bid farewell, maybe someday when we are all in Utah we can do a reunion concert. Those were good times.

Where You Are - Robert Kelly | Online recorder

Try Sometimes - Rain | Online recorder

What up Seattle?!?

2009-07-16T16:27:00.002-07:00

Ok, I understand the economy is hurting right now. But when someone posts a job listing, doesn't that mean they are hiring? So if I find a place that is asking for resumes, that should increase my odds at getting an interview which in turn would increase my odds of getting a job. So what am I doing wrong?

I'm pretty much guaranteed a job in August with Blockbuster. $8.55/hr (maybe more with my experience with customer service) and free video game rentals? I'll take it! The only other thing I look forward to is possible jobs as a projectionist, and I am still working on that one. Apparently the movie industry is having a hard time hiring in this area. I don't know how people can still resist that popcorn smell! Oh, wait! $8?!? Nevermind.

How much did you spend on your last movie experience? Which for most people was either "UP" or "Harry Potter" (unless you are going this weekend).

So wish me luck!

just checking in

2009-07-11T13:53:00.002-07:00

Hello dear readers. (All 3 of you.) Sorry we've been such slackers lately about blogging. The problem is, when I started blogging, I pretty much abandoned my journal for a few months. Now, I'm trying to reconnect with my journal, but I don't want to write about things twice. So I have to figure out how to balance everything. I would just write public stuff on here, and private stuff in the journal, but I do not at all trust cyberspace to keep my words forever alive for posterity.

So....

Seattle is beautiful. The water is everywhere, and absolutely gorgeous. Everyone we've met seems pretty nice so far. We were a little sad after our first time in our new ward because we didn't meet many people at all. But last night, someone was kind enough to drive us up to the ward bonfire (which was on a gorgeous beach), and we had a really great time, and met lots of nice people. And then, this wonderful person took us on a private little driving tour of a few neighborhoods in the city, so we got to see a little bit of the night life. And I scoped out some very promising restaurants. Yay! So it looks like we're swiftly on our way to having FRIENDS in Seattle. :) What a wonderful development, no?

Oh, and I have a job. Yay! I'm going to be a rocking front desk agent at a downtown hotel in the city. I'd offer discounts, but I don't even know yet if I get any.

Hopefully we'll post apartment/city pics soon. And I have a bunch more to write for the "things I'm going to miss" series. So stay tuned. :)

Processing The Move

2009-07-02T11:18:00.003-07:00

The move to Seattle has been a fairly busy one. We scattered to get all the furniture and supplies we needed. And we did fairly well, especially since we know all of 1 person in this city. We got to know the streets of U District (with it's funny islands in the intersections, instead of stop signs), Ballard (And it's two way streets that can't possibly fit two cars in it), and our town Queen Anne.

We have plenty of restaurants near us to explore some day when we both have an income. I haven't even had a real chance to look yet, so many boxes to unpack. USPS treated us very kindly and delivered about 25 today and yesterday. We still have plenty more on the way. We have arranged the apartment in a livable arrangement, but it may end up changing once we find a cheap tv to put in, and another cheap bookcase. Thank you craigslist, for all your free crap!

But I want to thank everyone who helped us:
To the Birds - You guys were tremendously helpful for loaning us your time in your vehicle. It's too bad we can't continue to use you out here. I hope you got all the stuff we left for you at our apartment. If not, contact Brother Manning.

To the Noyce's - We will miss you guys too! We had so much fun hanging out with you both. I wish we hadn't been sick the whole last week in town. We were so happy that you guys agreed with us on so many church and political issues. Due to high use of facebook and text messaging, I don't think we will soon forget you!

To the Philly 1st ward - We will miss you! We have not yet gone to our new ward, but we know you can never be replaced. So many unique people and backgrounds, you were so diverse and we loved it. Most of all, we love how many people would pull together to make sure everyone came to church every week. I've never seen so many dedicated people in one area. Most of all, we will miss fast and testimony meetings. I have never seen anything like it elsewhere, the songs you would all sing, and the dancing you broke into, will all be missed. I personally am glad you are nothing like the churches I went to in Utah.

If you didn't make the list this time, it's only because I have a lot of unpacking to do. We'll be thanking a lot of people personally, we love you all!

P.S. The conclusion of Robert's "Worst Job Ever!"

fiasco!

2009-06-29T10:23:00.006-07:00

Our plans for today (the big moving day) were as follows:

5:00am - Wake up, finalize suitcases.
5:25 - Stuff our poor kitties into their tiny bags.
5:30 - Leave for airport (courtesy of a wonderful, driving friend).
7:30 - Depart for Seattle.
10:30 - (Seattle time): LAND IN OUR NEW HOME!
11:30 - Get the keys to our apartment!
2:00 - Pick up U-haul to get our furniture.
2:30-8:30 - Drive around the city picking up our new couch, bed, tables, computer monitor, and recliner.
9pm - Make the bed with the sheets I wisely packed in our luggage, and then crash on the pillow and fall asleep.

Well, it's currently 10:30 Seattle time........ like in step 5 above. And I'm sitting in a hotel writing this. A hotel in Philadelphia. Yeah. Philly. Not Seattle.

AUGH!!!!!

So much of this move has gone miraculously smoothly. We have had the NICEST people in the whole world helping us every step of the way. We sold almost everything we needed to sell, and every single buyer was a friendly person. We took 45 boxes to either Amtrak or the post office, and EVERY SINGLE PERSON was helpful and just downright pleasant to us. We shipped off our last package, and stopped at an ice cream store for some well-deserved milkshakes and were treated like dear old friends by the person serving us. And we have had SO MANY friends bend over backwards to make this move possible.

And then we got to Philadelphia's airport.

We arrived at our departure gate at the perfect time, about 30 minutes before take-off. Lo and behold, our flight was delayed 5 hours. We grumbled, scratched our heads trying to figure out how our cats were going to make it for 11 hours without a litter box, and nearly hit our heads against the wall when we realized all the people in Seattle we'd have to figure out how to contact with a difficult time zone difference and without internet access. And then it got even better.

Our flight was canceled.

We joined the 35-mile long line at the customer service desk, got to the front, and were informed that US Airways could not in fact put us up in a hotel since we were from Philadelphia. People like us were expected to return home. Oh, except that our home is empty and locked, and we no longer have the keys. Plus, they said, we aren't responsible for finding a hotel that can take your cats.

OH. YOU MEAN THE CATS THAT WE PAID $200 TO BRING WITH US? THE CATS THAT WE HAD TO GIVE YOU $200 FOR SO THAT YOU COULD ACCOMMODATE THEM? THE CATS THAT YOU FAILED TO PUT ON A PLANE TO SEATTLE AND NOW HAVE NO PLACE TO GO?

THOSE CATS?

Anyway, I uh, talked to some people (aka: used my serious, serious voice to make some pretty clear statements), and we are now at a (cat-friendly) hotel.

Our (next) plane leaves (theoretically) at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

But at this moment, we should have been about to arrive at our new home in Seattle.

big
big
sigh.

PS: Our hotel definitely has a pool and our swimming suits are definitely NOT in our carry-on luggage.
PPS: The person driving the shuttle to the hotel from the airport was absolutely insane. Our cats, who had been amazing prior to this terrifying incident, freaked out. Dickens was on my lap. And he peed. On my lap. Have a good day.

things i'm going to miss

2009-06-24T10:37:00.003-07:00

EASTERN STANDARD TIME

Man. I never knew how spoiled the eastern part of the country was. I LOVED living in the EST. Everything else in the country revolves around this time zone.

Need to contact a national company? They'll be opening up right at 8:30-9am. Woops, forgot to call Amtrak before the end of the business day at 5pm? No worries, their phone lines are open til 8pm, to accommodate all those in the West. Important political events going on in Washington D.C. are timed for East Coast convenience, so you get all the news live. I would have hated to have to wake up at 7am to watch Obama's inauguration. When we watch cliffhanger shows, we get to call our relatives out west and taunt them, because they're still waiting for the air time. Because so many important centers of EVERYTHING are on the east coast, so much of life is built around the EST.

Don't get me wrong, I won't mind having an extra 3 hours to sleep in next Monday. But I'll certainly miss feeling like I'm a(n ever so insignificant) part of the center of the universe.

Missing music

2009-06-20T17:04:00.003-07:00

Ok, so I am adding a new poll, as you can see. I have been missing my music terribly lately. I can play it whenever I want, I have the guitar and the words memorized for most my songs. What I really miss is playing a setlist in front of a crowd. I have even thought a lot about trying to get a bunch of friends and playing in Clark Park for a few songs. The only problem is I don't have any speakers or electricity to do it. I've thought about doing a small gathering of friends so I wouldn't need speakers. But I am always nervous about asking people to come listen to me. It's easier for me once everyone shows up, than it is for me to ask people to come.

So I am doing the poll to see what everyone thinks. I would probably just end up putting my songs on the blog. So I need you to be very truthful in the poll. If you aren't interested, please put no. To give you an idea, it's kinda folk music. But more like Utah folk. I get inspiration from Colors, Peter Breinholt and other local artists in Utah.

Being an artist, I have a harder time thinking people are actually interested in my art than whether they think it is any good or not. Thanks for all who participate in this weeks poll!

Here, kitty kitty...

2009-06-16T20:31:00.005-07:00

One of the biggest worries we've had to keep in mind about moving across the country is how to do it with our kitties. We've been preparing for the last little while, and I think we're about ready for it.

Since we're flying, we'll have to take them on board with us. This means the poor things will have to spend 6-8 long hours in their little carrying cases. We've purchased these, and they fit well. Maybe if the kitties promise to be good, we'll let them peek out of their bags during the day, like this:

We also got them both harnesses with a leash so that we can hopefully let them get some fresh air in the airport. And so far, they've done pretty well. Our dear friend ShaNae was kind enough to drive us to the pet store WITH our kitties as a practice run to see how they'll do in their carrying cases. They were reluctant to go in (Dickens let us know his mind with some hissing and growling), but once we wrestled them in there, they did okay. As long as we were reaching in to pet them, they remained pretty darn calm. Hopefully we won't need any sedatives for them on the day of the move.

Speaking of the day of the move, we've officially decided to head out on June 29th.... that's only two weeks from yesterday!!!

Time is moving oh, so quickly.

PS: We promise more posts will be coming.... in addition to the busy-ness* of moving, Robert has been in finals, and we both came down with a pretty ferocious cold.

* Is there a better way to spell that? I always type "business" first, but then I realize that already has a different meaning assigned to it....

things i'm going to miss

2009-06-08T19:35:00.006-07:00

Alright, you can consider this post the beginning of a series of posts about all the wonderful things in Philadelphia that I can't get over leaving. I figure it will be easier to spread my tears out into short, jerky little spurts rather than having one, superlong sob-fest. These things I'll miss are in no particular order, just the things I am thinking of right at that time. So, here goes:

WATER ICE

Oh, water ice. You exist in other places. I think there is one stand in Salt Lake City that contains your goodness. But in Philly, you abound on every street corner and in every park. Relinquishing the sweetness that you bring, for only 50 cents to a dollar, is going to be a huge adjustment.

Today, I was out and about and got a wonderful serving of watermelon and mango. They blended so perfectly in my cup. The colors were like a beautiful sunset. It was the perfect, perfect treat on a day that was hot and sticky.

More than the taste of water ice, though, I love what it stands for. In Philly, water ice is the delicious dessert of the people. People of all backgrounds, races, and religions can stand together in line at Rita's and bond over talking about how they love love love the lemon. It seems silly, but it's a part of the culture here. It took me about 3 years to notice, but water ice is everywhere. And I can't get enough of it.

So, creamy, icy, sugary goodness, adieu. You will be missed. You will never be forgotten.

:(

Diets

2009-06-03T08:07:00.002-07:00

I hate them. They do no good. They leave me hungry. They leave me wanting more. They suck!

I am talking about diets, not republicans. I need to go on one and I'm starting tomorrow (the only reason I am not starting tonight, we are going to OUTBACK with some friends). I'm taking tonight to say goodbye to the food I love, steaks and beef. I have quite the high level of blood pressure and I am not going to the hospital for this. I need to change and I need to change drastically. I have begun to workout, though I took a break recently, in hopes that this number will change with workouts. But it has only gotten worse.

I have a friend who is a nurse, and is too kind to tell me if I keep this up... I will die at a young age, maybe even 30. And I am not having that. So I am officially going on a diet. And I need help!

What I need from you guys is a low sodium, low cholesterol and low saturated fat food. I am usually close to subway, and Rite-Aid stores. Anything I can grab from these places that you know fits the bill would be the ideal thing. Though I am not counting on anything there showing up on the list of can-do's. So help me out fellow bloggers, I want to make sure my wife has me around for at least another 30 years.

So let the hunger pains begin!

hurrah for the red and the blue

2009-06-02T09:32:00.006-07:00

Okay, I figured I should finally do some sort of reflection about my whole graduation/finishing school business. It really did mean something to me, after all.

I think the thing I will miss most about being a student is the perpetual self-indulgence. So many people talk about school as if it's super hard work and earns the student all this praise and glory...... um yeah, it's challenging, but challenging in the I-get-to-immerse-myself-in-the-stuff-I'm-most-interested-in kind of challenging. I learned bits of Twi and Sign Language in college. I took a class about ancient Britain. I sat in classes with brilliant leaders of different fields and took part in discussions about federal housing policy, Egyptian short stories, and the Pakistani secret service. I learned about Einstein's theory of relativity, prosopagnosia, and the military strategies of Shaka. I had a class devoted to CHARLES DICKENS. Yeah. I read and talked about Dickens. For credit. The depth of the self-indulgence was really made evident to me one day during the semester with Dickens when I was doing homework while at work. I work in the most gorgeous building on Penn's campus. I was sitting at the desk, with this view, reading A Tale of Two Cities and getting PAID. Yeah. I got to sit in a beautiful building and get paid to read my favorite author for college credit. Pretty spoiled.

After four years of college, I try to look back and see myself as I was when I first got here. I think I'm mostly the same person I was - headstrong, over-principled, silly, passionate, and sometimes irresponsible. But my traits have been deepened and defined. I have the same values and beliefs.... I just now know how to articulate them a little more effectively, and can also revel in the wonderful community of like-minded thinkers I've found.

That has to be one of best things I've found at Penn. The community of thinkers. This consisted primarily, of course, in my fellow students and professors in a classroom setting. I'm bewailing the loss of that atmosphere very much. But another very unexpected community I have found is that in books. There are so many scholars and thinkers out there have written so beautifully about all the issues that I try to untangle in my own mind. Being a lefty can sometimes lead to a real sense of loneliness in the world...... but I feel like I'm part of a family when I read the books and articles put out by like-minded people. Silly and slightly culty, I know. But I love it.

Anyway, I have my diploma now (or will, as soon as they mail them out). I've learned and changed so much in the last four years. An integral part of this all was being in Philadelphia....... more to come on that later (when I can stop crying about leaving this city long enough to type a few sentences about it).

PS: Let's not forget, I got to do all of this for FREE. Yep. No debt for me. I guess this is one way poverty is underrated. :)

Superhero

2009-05-28T15:28:00.004-07:00

Ok, some of you don't quite understand how a poll works. You vote ONCE, and you wait for the results. lol Recently we had a poll about who was your favorite hero. Let me explain what happened in this heated poll, that got a little out of hand. Simply put, someone voted like 6 times in a day for Spiderman, and Natalie voted about 3 times for Wonder Woman... Feminist or Sexist? (Wonder Woman only made it on the list because I knew I'd never hear the end of it if there were no females representing)
First off Superman is the be all end all of Superheroes. No one can deny that Superman can beat the crap out of Batman with one punch (though he would likely bring Kryptonite, and does beat him senseless in The Dark Knight comic book), and the same goes with all the other heroes listed. Spider-man doesn't stand a chance, like Batman. But Wolverine would have to eventually get tired of regenerating and and get tired of getting nowhere with his claws. But Wonder Woman, she could put up a good fight. She has the power of the Gods on her side, not to mention Superman would never hit a woman. So the two of them would pound it out and kiss and make up, and move on with their lives. So Superman wins... because I said so!
But I have to say, this was probably the most hotly contested poll since we asked "Were you surprised by President Obama's landslide?" Though I think there was a little cheating going on in this poll.

Superman Rules!

whoa

2009-05-24T20:44:00.003-07:00

Life is changing.

Fast.

I graduated.

And then I was released as Young Women President (cue heart-breaking sob.)

And in 3-5 weeks, we are moving across the continent.

More to come on all of this soon.

waiting...

2009-05-13T11:32:00.002-07:00

It is 2:32. My family's plane lands at 2:58. As soon as Robert walks in the door, getting home from school, we are racing out of here to go pick them up.

I can't wait! In our four years of living in Philadelphia, only one family member has been able to visit. Now, we get three today and FOUR more on Saturday!!

I have cleaned every inch of my house (this is the first time my mother has been to our house since we've been married, so I'm considering it an unofficial test of my domestic wifely skills). I'm sitting here, too excited to concentrate on my book, watching the second hand on the clock tick.

It is now 2:35. And 3 seconds.

Hurry, plane!

Birthdays!

2009-05-12T17:49:00.003-07:00

Well, my mid-terms are over and Natalie has graduation on Monday. On top of that, I still have major assignments due while Natalie's family is in town (not to mention I am suppose to be cleaning the house right now). I also have two birthday's to write about. So Happy Birthday to Mom, and my brother Casey! Unfortunately I am so broke this blog post is your birthday present. :)

I love you both, and hope you had a wonderful birthday... don't drink too much!

(Mom - P.S. Send money!)

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T11:52:00.005-07:00

The blogosphere is lit up today. All saying the same thing, I love you Mom and Happy Mother's Day! Well, I am not going to do that here, I won't have it. Currently my mother is enjoying her birthday/mother's day celebrations in Cancun... and she didn't invite me to tag along. How selfish is that?

She's down in mexico, catching the swine flu or something, and I'm here doing midterms. She spends all her time in Utah, approximately 2,600 miles from where I live, and all I get is a phone call every now and then. What kind of mother does this to her son, who she claims to love?

My mom gave me too much freedom as a child, and never once shun me when I fell in line with the Mormon church. She doesn't get mad at me for being so political that my brother and I argue over how he doesn't vote. She accepted my wife, without hesitation, and looks forward to seeing her first niece from us (though it won't happen for another 10 years). She was there to get me out of the house when I first experienced love, and had it thrown in my face... and again a few years later. She cries when my father and I argue over stupid things like, him being a republican and me being a socialist. She cares about every one of us in the family, and takes care of us from so many miles away.

So again I ask you, what kind of mother would do that to her son? ... Mine, and I love her! :)

Here's to Health

2009-05-07T20:23:00.002-07:00

So I'm finally recovering from a night of no (not a single minute) of sleep. I was trying to head to bed when my wife began to complain of a hurting stomach, and it wasn't very long until I was holding her hair back for her. She was beginning to vomit on a regular basis of 10-15 minutes. I assumed it was something she ate that night, and I have had food poisoning plenty of times to know what it was she was going through. I insisted that she just relax and drink lots of liquid, I even went to the store at 1 in the morning to get her some PowerAde. But she wasn't having it.

I began to worry at about the time she said she had seen blood. So we called our great friend Zack, who claims he had been up doing a paper at 3 in the morning. This wonderful person took us to the emergency room so we could have Natalie checked out. And to repay him, Natalie vomited in his car... don't worry ShaNae, it was in a bag. :)

Now that I am sure I have embarrassed my wife with the gory details. It turned out to pretty much be food poisoning like I suspected. But when she mentioned blood, I thought it would be a good idea to head to the hospital. I am mad at myself that I was more worried about the bill we were going to get for this visit, once I figured she was going to be fine. And I couldn't help but think of what my thoughts would have been if we lived in Canada or Europe or something.

But I really want to say thank you to Zack for driving us, and ShaNae for letting her husband come out so late and help us out. We love you guys and you are going to be one of the many things we will miss about Philadelphia when we leave.

it finally hit me

2009-05-04T10:50:00.006-07:00

For the last few months, I've been waiting for the moment to come. The moment when it suddenly REALLY dawned on me that I was actually done with school, and would be moving on, leaving Penn behind forever. I've been half-anticipating the moment. I love the feelings of nostalgia and trepidation that come with stepping out into the unknown. Occasionally, I tried to push myself into this moment. I looked over the course listings for the fall semester, hoping that pang of longing and curiosity would come over me. I met with a few old professors to say my goodbyes. I walked along the beautiful, familiar paths on campus and tried to force myself to think about how I'll only get to to do this a few more times. But all that I did was of no avail. I couldn't get more than a shrug out of my perversely apathetic self.

Then, on Saturday, I was spending some time on my goodreads account, basically just drooling over my "to-read" list and daydreaming about the day when I'll be able to take in all of those wonderful words. I don't even own most of them.

And then I realized.

Once we move, I won't get to use Penn's libraries ever again.

Which means I'll have to live on public libraries to get all the books I want. Or, which is even less likely, save up the money to buy them.

And I've already checked, and the Seattle library system doesn't even carry A Theology of Liberation by Gustavo Gutierrez!

This was the "moment", the nudge, I'd been looking for. My eyes filled up with tears as I looked at my book list and panicked over how I would ever manage to read them all.

And now I think I might really miss Penn after all.

The time is now yours to call me a nerd/loser/any other mean words you wish.

Gladness

2009-04-28T09:34:00.004-07:00

My attitude toward life changes every day, as I am sure happens to everyone else. Yesterday was a post I worked on for a few days, and I was angry. Today, amazingly while at work, I am in a good mood. It could be because I am about caught up on my homework, or it could be because of the video I am about to post.

I love listening to different renditions of songs, and this is one I have heard a million and one versions of... but this is the best of them all. Maybe because I view each homeless or street performer on the street as a real person and this version touched me. Not because I feel a remorse for the people in the video, knowing the situation some of them are probably in, living on the street and performing for the passerby. But because I know there is so much talent in this world and that each individual in this world has some sort of talent to offer the rest of humanity. We just have to find them. Enjoy the video

Anger, swelling!

2009-04-21T17:44:00.006-07:00

Ok, some of you may not know, so here is a crasher on current news. President Obama released these documents, which clearly say we've been torturing prisoners of war. Call them terrorists all you want, but when you have a war on Terror, they are still prisoners of war.

Then Obama says there will be no charges on the people who wrote these, performed these, or green-lit these actions. I have a major problem with that. We as Americans should hold ourselves to a higher level then this, we helped create the U.N. and we've completely defied the laws we said we would follow. Some one needs to be held accountable for these actions.

Cheney stated several times, "what we are doing is not torture", and now he says "the torturing worked". Where do I even start with this? I don't care what you call it, interrogation or torture, it goes against every thing we build as a standard way of living for all people "created equal". Not to mention the information he says we got, we got before these techniques were even applied.

Let's go back to Mrs. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's first day on the job. Mrs. Speaker, you should have been given all the information you need to impeach Bush out of office along side his penguin looking VP Cheney on the simple grounds of war crime, possibly genocide of our own troops by sending them into a war we never should have gone into. These soldiers were just numbers to these two, and that is a humiliation to every soldier who died for what they thought was right. But she did nothing. She wanted to play moderator and let the past be past.

Here we are 2 years later, and Obama is asking the same thing. Asking that we let this go, as we have far more important things to worry about, with the economy and healthcare and all. But we shouldn't, and here is precisely why. Bill Clinton.

Clinton was impeached for lying to the supreme court. LYING?!? About sexual relations?!? Cheney and Bush lied about WMD info, and now we see we've had information about them lying about torture!!! What else did we need to impeach this president and his VP?

They want to play the political field correctly, not step on any toes. Well, imagine this. A band of "pirates" kidnaps 1 man, because for almost 2 decades their country has been without government, no healthcare and no regulations... basically broken and a conservatives dream. They kidnap one "American" person, and these kids are killed without even laying a slap on this captian.

Why can we not expect the countries with which we held prisoners in Gitmo, and tortured the POW's, to come after "us"? Something should be done Mr. President, and I can give you two names off the top of my list. So, stop trying to play bipartisan and get the people responsible for this, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney should be treated as the headmasters of this operation.

What do you think?

What do you think?

2009-04-15T07:23:00.005-07:00

My wife and I have thrown things around lately, politically, which is nothing new. But one idea was how our lovely government works. She, being the activist, says people control what our government does and how it acts. If there is anything failing us, it's our own fault for not standing up. (By our fault, I mean the group of people who complain together but never doing anything) And I, being scorned by our government many times, think that the people who are elected have a lot more power than we give them credit for. I've seen what 8 years of Bush can do, and I think that is the kind of power I don't want to see again.

I think there is truth to both sides, but I think that it starts with activism. You have to be able to gather people together and lead them. Then you can move into the office positions on a local level, and up to president over a long period of time. So my question to you is quite simple, though the answer can become complex. What do you think? Where is the real power? And should I run for President in 2016, I'll be 35 by that time? (I think I would run as an independent, if that changes anyone's mind) :)

....must..... escape.....

2009-04-10T14:38:00.005-07:00

First of all.... wow! Spring!

I've been complaining all winter. I've been dying for the time when the daily high would consistently be above 50. And it's here! Aah! Though it's still pretty chilly for my morning bike rides, I am usually able to stuff my jacket into my backpack for the ride home. I can't even describe how wonderful it is to ride down the street on a bike, unencumbered by layers of fleece and flannel, enjoying the feel of the warm breeze on your face. I am officially converted to biking. And after experiencing such a long, terrible winter (during which, ahem, I DID continue to ride my bike, even on the 16 degree days, *bows*), the liberation of short sleeves is unbelievable.

Oh, and there's just that other little thing about how PHILADELPHIA IS GORGEOUS IN THE SPRING!!!! Wow, the blossoms. I promise that some pictures are forthcoming (as soon as I can get Robert to remind me how to upload them.)

But what I meant to write about today was this terrible new disease I've come down with. It's really, really serious. And I think it's incurable. It looks like I only have about 3 weeks left......

...... OF SCHOOL.

Yes. My disease is senioritis. And in three weeks, I will be done with SCHOOL. Not with this semester. Not with one part of my schooling. But with school, as its own enormous entity.

And I blame my lack of remorse on the senioritis.

Anyone who knew me in high school (which I think is about 0% of the people who read this blog) may remember that I had a pretty chronic outbreak of the disease my senior year then too. This generally took the form of skipping morning classes (except Mr. Felt's history class...... It would just be ludicrous to miss that...), using journalism as an excuse to wander around the halls at all hours of the school-day, and smugly signing myself out "sick" before the last period of the day. ("I can't get a parent's signature! I live on my own! You need someone's signature? How about my roommate.... she's also 18.....").

My senioritis is manifesting itself a little differently these days. It's harder to justify skipping classes because, well, I am only taking classes that I really like. This makes for a difficult moment when I realize that class starts in one hour and I have done zero readings for it (which I generally blame on the aforementioned Spring). I know I'm going to look back on this time and wish it had lasted forever, and I already am bemoaning the fact that there are still several classes/professors I never had time to indulge in; but at the moment, I just want to be as done as a lightly-browned muffin.

I have two term papers to write, one of which is almost a joke it's so easy. But they are just staring me down. Here's another confession: I haven't written a paper for school since last spring!!!! My senioritis was particularly severe last semester, and unless you count my one-page, error beriddled composiciones en espanol, (of which I am very proud), I've not written anything much more meaningful than this blog.

Sigh. Wouldn't it be so romantically tragic if I dropped out of school when I was only 3 weeks away from my degree?

Oh, the temptation.....

Can it change?

2009-04-06T16:37:00.003-07:00

I just got finished with a movie called "Split: A Divided America" (free on Hulu right now) and had a conversation with my wife that has made me come to realize how hostile/offended people can get when talking about politics. Am I guilty of this? No way! (like I'm really going to admit that I am. lol... cuz I am) But when I bring up someone like O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, I want to make it very clear that I don't think all republicans share all their views and their bullying tactics. I feel sorry for the republican base getting such a bad rap for the sleazy politicians that forced the liberal left to believe the whole party is a sleaze.

I don't however feel sorry about the liberal base being called socialists... cuz I am one myself. I am only registered democrat because I can't find a party that identifies with my views... (and I tried really hard to help John Edwards be our president) and if this is anything like my religious beliefs this will take a while to find a party I can "convert" to. It's not easy to voice your opinions among friends and it can be so easy when you KNOW those friends share your views. But I love it most when I think differently than the majority of people in the room. For instance nearly every time I hang out with specific friends, there is some issue we don't agree one... usually just one. I don't share all the same views on things that my wife does. (I fake like I am internally wounded to make her switch to my view. lol.... Right, like she's that easily persuaded).

My point in all this is this, don't be afraid to talk about politics. Not everyone is going to attack you... and if they do, don't let them. If you find yourself attacking someone for a political view, you need to re-evaluate yourself. We need to be able to talk about our politics so that we can have a better chance against this "corrupted" government.

So refrain from name calling, encourage a person to reveal their thoughts on a policy, don't feel attacked when a friend doesn't agree with your views, most of all just remember to be open minded. Your experiences in life lead to a conclusion about something, share your view and see if you can find a common ground within that conclusion with someone on the opposite side. If you can't, be happy you tried and learned something new about the other person.

So when I say "Hey, why is the right side saying/doing this?" I'm not saying the left side is any better, I'm just saying "Why is the right side saying/doing this?".

And I really need a good thing to end my posts, like Dennis Miller had "That's just my opinion, I could be wrong"... maybe I'll steal his.... That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

It's all in the details...

2009-04-03T11:46:00.005-07:00

Well, here we are in April, within 90 days of our move out date to Seattle. We have come closer to a decision on how we are getting out there. Many options are available. We thought first that we would rent a vehicle and drive, with our stuff in a trailer behind us. This was the easiest (and most expensive) option. When we decided renting a vehicle would cost as much as buying one, we toyed with that option... we really wanted to take route 66 out and use a road trip as a time to celebrate our move out. (Plus, road trips are the single most divine type of vacation anyway.) But this would still bring us to relatively the same price. So then we looked into the train... let's just skip this option. We also looked into a bus and shipping our stuff. But then we came to our most realistic (cost saving) option: we'll be looking into a direct flight (with our cats on board as carry on, heavily sedated). We'll be selling pretty much everything we own, and this may include my television. We should be able to ship our books, extra clothes and kitchenware, and buying everything else back on craigslist in Seattle. So if you were interested in buying anything from us let us know before we put it up on craigslist.

Anyone have any great advice on how to move across the country cheaply, with pets?

We may end up using some friends to organize a gathering to help us raise the money we would need to get out there if you are interested (it may include food); we'll keep you posted on that. It'll be kind of a goodbye party, so it'll be fun.

AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

2009-03-25T09:37:00.004-07:00

I just learned that Arlen Specter has decided to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. I am so upset at what I consider to be a complete sell-out for political gain.

In the past, Specter has been a CO-SPONSOR of EFCA. In the next primaries, he's going to face a serious challenge from an extreme right-winger. So he has a great interest in appealing to the conservative Republican base. And even though he has stood with labor so many times in the past, he is forsaking them now to shore up his chances in his next election. I can tell you this.... Pennsylvania will replace him with a Democrat in 2010.

His support was absolutely critical to pass this legislation. Big business and the Republicans are terrified of it. If passed, the success rate of workers who want to organize would skyrocket. The Democrats are 1-2 votes shy of preventing a Republican filibuster, and Specter is the deal-breaker. And now he's just sold the working class short.

His reasoning is what disturbs me most.

The problems of the recession make this a particularly bad time to enact Employees Free Choice legislation.

What? The recession is a bad time to make sure workers can ensure access to health care and living wages? The recession is a bad time to uphold the importance of job security and worker power?

AUGH!!!!

Please call his Washington DC offices: 202-224-4254.

Uncle Sam wants you to do it.

Winding Down

2009-03-19T06:29:00.002-07:00

Well, my school session is finishing up... I can finally feel the pressure loosening on my throat. I'll be entering the final week of class for the quarter next week, or as I like to call it "Go to class for an hour week". We do tests and go home on the final week, but this quarter I don't have 1 test and 2 presentations. My projects are nearly all complete and the presentations consist of just showing the projects to the class.

Because of this I am finding that I have a bit more free time than I normally do. And I have been playing games, fixing my wife's bike (and killing her at Yahtzee), and catching up on Daily Show/Colbert Report episodes on Hulu. I am more excited about 2 weeks from now, because I will have no school and will get to sleep in every day. Then I will be starting my last quarter at The Art Institute of Philadelphia, because the next quarter will be in Seattle.

I got a question for everyone reading though, if I were to make a new blog for my political antics would you be interested in reading it? I've been wanting to do one for a while now, something with guest writers even and I would like to get all sides involved in writing. It would probably get more than one post a day (unlike our blog here lol). So what do you think? Would you be interested in writing with me, or arguing against me, or just reading what I have to say? It totally depends on your response if I will do this or not, so if you are interested in seeing this new blog don't stay silent.

P.S. This would not reduce the amount of posts I post here. :) (which I hope to increase the frequency of)

solar-powered energy

2009-03-09T10:06:00.003-07:00

75.

That was the high temperature on Saturday. It was followed by a blissful Sunday in the high 60s, and a mild high 50s, low 60s today.

My whole life has improved.

On Saturday morning, I woke up and (gasp!) went for a run through my beautiful neighborhood. I circled around the park a few times just to gawk at all the beautiful people with their beautiful children and beautiful dogs playing and laughing in the sunlight. I got home, took a nice long shower, and DIDN'T EVEN FREEZE when I got out. A friend of mine invited me to walk downtown with her, so we went down to Rittenhouse Square (where I saw more beautiful people, children, and dogs)and ate some delicious Italian gelato. Thereafter, we walked to Trader Joe's, where I bought some yummy groceries, and headed home into the warm sunset. (Those groceries were then used to cook a delicious meal of bowtie pasta with sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts.) Our apartment was finally warm enough to move around in without a winter coat on, so we invited a couple of friends over and played some board games.

On Sunday morning, I wore a knee-length skirt with sandals, and we WALKED TO CHURCH. We returned home to take a wonderful 2-hour nap ON TOP OF THE BLANKETS. After going to a nearby bike co-op to do a little free maintenance on our bikes, we were able to ride around the streets at night, basking in the warm breeze.

This morning, I got to take a friend's dog for a walk around the city.

Very soon, the shower curtains taped around our window to keep the cold draft out are coming down.

Happy sigh.

On A Positive Note

2009-03-04T07:22:00.002-08:00

Hello everyone, I want to thank everyone for the support on keeping my 365 going. I have been a slacker of late and haven't updated in 2 weeks now, but after class I am planning to upload pictures and get up to date. Doing it weekly just isn't working, so I am going to try and do it more frequently. I also updated my portfolio site, though for some people it is NSFW (Not safe for work). Go check it out, but don't go to the hand drawn section if you are afraid of nudity. Some of my best drawings were while we had a nude model, so naturally it has to go into my portfolio for now. Tell me what you think. I plan on changing it every season and I am working on the design of when it is summer but the general layout will remain the same.

Anyone else suffering from Springitis? Winter should be dead, I am beginning to welcome this notion of global warming so we don't have to deal with winter anymore.

Hate is such a strong word

2009-02-28T08:41:00.000-08:00

Please welcome, the return of "Political Robert". He's made appearances occasionally here and there, after officially withdrawing. But now, officially he is back. So what ails Robert enough to bring back "Political Robert"? Let's get it started, and please rebuke if you see something that you can clear up.

The Republican party - I have a major problem with republicans lately, and not so much with republicans as republican politicians really. Who are they kidding??? There is a reason why democrats took majority in the senate and got a president elected. No one trusts the republican politicians anymore, and with good reason. They say things like "We can't trust larger government" but they can't practice what they preach in that regard. Wouldn't that be asking for your colleagues to lose their jobs? They say things like that and wiretap our phones and detain us without a trial. So where does the party who abused its power like this get off saying we shouldn't allow more control?

The biggest problem I have is this ideology of fear they tend to use. All I hear from these politicians is how much fear we should have of these "spread the wealth" liberals. "They've hijacked America" I hear on the news. I've got news for you, we "lefties" have more appealing life ideas than you "right-wingers" do. It really doesn't help that when republicans took over the government we suspended Habeas Corpus (an act of humanity), wiretapped everyone in the country and detained "suspected terrorists" without a trial for years, only to find out that they were not even close to being a terrorist. I'll bet he is one now though, and I can't hate him for not liking us now. We've seen what the republican party can offer us, and it includes tax breaks for the rich on top of everything else.

So it comes as no surprise to see Americans voting for liberal politicians when more and more people need to be taken care of in this economic crisis. Liberal policies such as unemployment and better healthcare are top reasons for this change in America. Republicans tell us that we can have cheaper healthcare in a free market based on profits. Democrats say we can have healthcare in government-run spaces that are paid for with the taxes we already pay. What's the logical choice for someone who just lost their job? I could go on and on about the differences, but I am really peeved at are people who listen to Bill O and Rush. Bitter, bitter people, with nothing but hate spewing out of their mouths along side Ann Coulter. They aren't helping the image of republicans either, especially after they turn "Joe the plumber" into a popular figure... who also ended up being a HUGE liar.

So stand up you republican folks, I know you can do it. You want to talk about how we hijacked America? You are being fooled by your own leaders. In fact "Kenneth the Page" (Jindal), who leads the party right now, can't even help but lie to people of this country when he had most of our attention. I won't be amazed to see a new party with similar views come from all this. I'd distance myself from the group that did this to me. Luckily for me the party I am most lined up with, doesn't get much news coverage. :) So be the smart people I know you are, stand up and say I am not republican. Form your own new party, because the name of your old party has been tarnished. This is not the party of Lincoln anymore, it's barely the party of Reagan even.

P.S. Did anyone else catch Jon Stewart catching Fox in a gaffe of their own, while making fun of Biden's supposed gaffe??

un cuento sobre mis gatos

2009-02-27T07:35:00.006-08:00

First some biographical information:
Our cats are named Dickens and Kal-El.
They both have sleek gray bodies with little white paws and white lips.
Kal-El is slender and agile, like a panther.
Dickens is fat. Really fat. Like, so fat, he looks a little bit bow-legged when he runs because he has to spread his legs around the very pronounced pouch on his belly.
They both LOVE to come check the mail with me. We have to walk into the main entrance of our building, and they dart out and go crazy on the big staircase that's out there. It's something of a daily ritual.

Now, the story:

A while ago, we were out, doing our thing, checking the mail. Kal-El was near the bottom of the staircase, while Dickens was all the way up at the top, when something truly terrifying happened. Someone put a key in the front door and started jiggling it around, which, I assure you, is a fantastically scary sound when you are approximately 13 inches long.

Kal-El was lucky. At the bottom of the staircase, he was a straight shot away from our apartment, and was safely under our bed in about 3 seconds.

Dickens, at the top of the stair case, was not so lucky. He got about a fourth of the way down when, horror of all horrors, the front door OPENED and a HUMAN came in and started walking TOWARDS THE STAIRCASE. In desperation, Dickens abandoned the logical escape route and lunged through the railing instead.

And then got stuck between two rails due to his over-large belly.

So for about 4 dramatic seconds, I watched as my poor little gordito wiggled and twisted with all his furious might while the front half of his body was hanging 12 feet above the ground. He did finally succeed in jettisoning his body from the booby trap, and was able to preserve his life by a quick retreat to our apartment.

You should all get to know our awesome cats. :)

On dishwashers, Escalades, and salvation

2009-02-20T18:19:00.006-08:00

I posted this on another forum a few months ago, but I want to revisit these thoughts. I haven't been too political on here of late, so I hope this doesn't drive away our non-political readers (hi Mom). Here you go:

Recently, a friend of mine sparked a conversation about materialism and over-consumption in the church, and it's got my mind going. I want to preface this by saying that I don't have any specific individuals in mind, and I am really not looking to ruffle any feathers here. But I do hope to meaningfully address something I consider to be a seriously alarming trend in LDS culture.

The scriptures devote a great deal of attention to wealth. Mostly, it's not flattering. The New Testament has some pretty stinging rebukes of riches, and well, we all know what happens when our Nephites and Lamanites start to prosper. I was once preparing for a seminary lesson, and came across this scripture in Luke 6:24 -

"24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation."

There's an exclamation point there. These verses follow:

"25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets."

Now.... should we interpret these scriptures to mean that happy people are probably doomed? I don't think so. I do think it says something about the virtue of those who have suffered, but I don't think that people who are generally well-esteemed and widely beloved should fear for their eternal salvation on that account.

I'm mostly interested in that first verse. "Ye have received your consolation."

Those words came across as very ominous to me. Often, how are riches obtained? Because people devote a great portion of their time, effort, and thought to obtaining them. They are often an end in themselves. They are the reward so many people are seeking, the "consolation" they hope comes after all their hard work. By seeking such a consolation, are we forfeiting a greater reward? Is the desire for riches itself a demerit on our eternal report cards? Reflecting on this made me think of another scripture in Jacob 2:18-19 -

"18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.

19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted."

There's a pretty darned specific condition attached here for when its okay to seek out riches - and it isn't to improve your own material comforts...DESPITE how deeply I want a dishwasher.

I think the second principle we have to consider here is how do we spend our riches? Do we spend them on gaudy consumption? Do we regularly buy new phones, shiny i-pods, fun plane tickets, unused furniture, and other things that are unnecessary, but that improve our material comforts? Often, we spend money on things that are truly unnecessary..... but we live in such a way that such things seem essential. (Some philosophers refer to this as "manufactured desire.")

Lets look at the scriptures. We have the rich young man. Asked to forsake his riches and follow Christ, he walked away in sorrow. He chose riches and things as his consolation. What about the rich man and Lazarus, the beggar? We are told that the rich man draped himself in fine linen and fared sumptuously, over-satisfying his needs while others went without. For all we know, his riches were earned righteously. He was perhaps a very intelligent, gifted man, and "deserved" all those riches, as we like to think. But still, he reserved them for his exclusive use.... and he didn't end up so happy. Perhaps the most ominous of the "wealth" scriptures is when Christ says "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God." (Luke 18:24). He makes no mention of how those riches were obtained..... the simple possession of them endangers salvation.

But all is not lost for the rich in the New Testament. We don't usually talk about the story of Zacchaeus in the context of riches. Most will recognize him as the short man that climbed a tree to spot Jesus over the crowds. But I am more interested in the exchange that follows afterwards. The crowds criticize Christ for dining with him, because "he was chief among the publican, and he was rich." Yet this rich man was honored to dine with the Savior as one of his own disciples. What was the difference? "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." (Luke 19) His riches were not his consolation. He did not use them to increase his own possessions. He voluntarily taxed himself at a rate of 50%.

Clearly, a problem arises when we allow ourselves to become attached to things.

I think this is one of the hardest commandments to truly observe when we live in a society, and worship in a church, that explains success as the result of personal virtue. I've found a pervasive attitude in the church that temporal conditions such as wealth are rewards from God for righteousness..... I take serious issue with that mindset... What does it say about the millions of impoverished saints today? And are riches really significant enough to the Lord that he would use them as a reward for righteous behavior? Wouldn't a more fitting reward be a more spiritual one, such as a purified heart and a more Christ-like demeanor? Aren't those more valuable any material goods?

My friend who started this discussion about materialism used an example of a mission president who entered the area, and drove around in a brand new Cadillac Escalade. She was uncomfortable with someone in that position making such an obvious display of wealth. Was this mission president an evil man? Obviously not. He was dedicating years of his life to serving his fellow man and building up God's kingdom! For all I know, the super-nice SUV was necessary for his terrain. But I feel disheartened when I hear so many Saints attribute such possessions to some type of virtue. As a very visible leader of the church, my friend felt, he should have displayed more modesty in his consumption. Someday, we'll live under the Law of Consecration. Every bit of our resources will belong to the Kingdom of God. I think many of us are living lives unfathomably removed from that ideal.

Is it evil to have riches? Maybe not. But I think we have to seriously question what are our necessities and what are the things we could go without.

And if anyone could reassure me that someday having a dishwasher isn't antithetical to being a true disciple of Christ, I'd be much obliged.

Why so serious?

2009-02-19T07:33:00.002-08:00

Despite the title of this post, it has nothing to do with Batman. My wife has brought to my attention that my past few posts have been pretty down and depressing (not her words, just so you know). But I think there is a good reason for this. I like to think that I have a pretty good attitude in real-life, rarely upset or sad. I find that I can let off my steam on here, and I think that's the reason for it. What do you think? Is it something deeper than that? Freudian theories are not accepted!

That being said, I'll do my best to change my tone in the future. But I think I will eventually lead back to the negative stuff. Especially when talking about politics (and why are the people leading this country not paying taxes? And it's not just one party, they are both doing it).

Since having canceled our television I have discovered the wonderful world of Hulu. It helped in my conquest to catch up with current episodes of "30 Rock", keeping up with "The Office" and now looking back into early sitcoms such as "ALF". I am beginning to wonder if we will have television again, especially while my computer is hooked up to my TV. Once our house gets warmer, you are all invited over and we can watch whatever show you want on the internet. :) Hopefully temperatures will rise soon too!

¡Estoy demasiada ocupada!

2009-02-16T08:10:00.003-08:00

So.... I haven't posted anything for a while. Life has been way too busy! I'm afraid blogging has become more of a task then a joy, and besides, I don't feel like most people would be terribly interested in the events of my life. Nonetheless, I'll give a few updates.

Apparently one of my professors is crazy. :) In a class called "Religion, Social Justice, and Urban Development", we've read nothing but Freud (an atheist) and Freudian theory. I cannot stand Freud. I think most of his ideas are ludicrous. I won't bore with a detailed critique here, but basically, I reject the paradigm through which he assesses the world. And my professor disagrees (I think).

So we've been fighting. :)

In class, I complain often, and have gotten into a few heated one-on-ones in front of the rest of the students. We've exchanged many long emails (well, long on my end, full of pointed questions on his). Anyway, he respects me for my opinions and my willingness to speak up about them. But he won't give up on trying to persuade me. So I got this email from him last Friday morning:

"Dear Natalie,

If I were able to fly you to and from Santa Cruz....to attend this talk [about Freud and such], would you be interested? You would have to prepare by doing the readings (and viewing the film -- available at Van Pelt or via a DVD rental) during the next few days (and you would have to report on the event to our class).

So, are you all talk, or are you willing to do something?

Warmly,

Prof. _________" (emphasis added)

Yes. Santa Cruz, California. For free. Oh, but the conference is happening Tuesday (ie: TOMORROW).

My heart leapt at the opportunity. I agonized about it for about two hours, checking the forecast in Santa Cruz and calling around a bit. In the end, I had to turn it down (oh, my heart!) because we have our special New Beginnings dinner for the young women this week, and I've already volunteered to stand in as an adopted "older sister" for girls whose parents cannot come.

Sigh. How it hurt my pride.

Anyway, in non-crazy news..... um. There's not much to report. :) My HEI campaign (for those who know what I'm talking about) is going forward well. My Spanish is not going forward well. :) I would rather spend all my time apartment-hunting in Seattle than doing homework. I've been rejoicing in the (slightly) warmer weather of late.

Oh, we went to a lovely little place called High Note Cafe in South Philly for V-day, where the food was good and the servers sang opera. :) It was fabuloso. I should give a public shoutout to my husband who has been INCREDIBLY supportive and patient with me as I've been uber-overstressed the last few weeks. I really got a good one.

So yeah, that's about it. Sorry to be so sporadic and unexciting. :)

Update

2009-02-13T10:26:00.004-08:00

Ok, so I haven't written in 10 days. I haven't been able to keep up with the blog as much as I would have liked. I'm not making excuses, just giving the reason for this. I am rebuilding my website, and doing school work. Also trying to catch up in the comic book world, by reading tons of back issues (I'm at Final Night, for those who care). I still have a long way to go.

As far as the move to Seattle goes, I would have rather had San Francisco. But we decided on Seattle after much prayer and fasting (not that fasting does anything to me, except make my stomach question our religion). The move to SF would have been more costly than this is already going to be. We decided to cut a few things out to help us collect as much money as possible for the move. I can't believe I canceled the television service. But we still have internet, and the internet is full of Hulu.

The move is going to be fun with Kal-El and Dickens, we are still looking for the best mode of travel with them. Natalie says I can't just poke a few holes in a box and FedEx them to Seattle, but I am still looking into whether or not it's illegal.

I am excited to move to Seattle though, I hear it is a mini SF and less costly. But don't worry eagles fans, I was an eagles fan before I moved to Philly and will be after too. Down with the seahawks!

Another topic I need to mention, food. Last Sunday we went to a park with some friends and we were thinking of sandwiches and I began remembering the perfect sandwich. Here it is:

So top that! It was a delicious grade-A sandwich. But I couldn't bring it 'cuz it was kinda messy. I also have it posted on my "Project 365" if anyone is interested.

Until next time Robert Fans, Catch ya laterz!

WE ARE MOVING TO SEATTLE IN JULY!!!!

2009-02-05T08:21:00.002-08:00

!!!!!!!!!!

Keep your heads up for info about the housewarming party.

Corporate Rant

2009-02-03T13:20:00.003-08:00

I'm not a business owner, I've never even come close to running a business. I'm not someone who knows a lot about how the corporate world works, I definitely don't have a degree remotely resembling business. But I do know that when you reach a certain capacity, you now have a responsibility to the community. And some times companies fail to understand that, as seen in this story.

Business is doing well, you high new employees. Business is going down, you lay some off. But to give your top employees a bonus when you are laying off 7,000 employees?!? I'm sorry, but this is one of the reasons I hate capitalism. It doesn't work, when you have so few people holding all the power in America they are going to get greedy. This country is just begging to have government take over the free market. There are far too many stories like this all over America.

When you tell someone hard times are coming, are they going to spend more or horde what they have and hope to gain more? Several companies are using this time of trouble to clean house and make way for less waged employees. Why do capitalists think that this is ok business practice? Why do you think it's ok, if you do? Let me know, am I wrong in my thinking entirely?

a reprieve

2009-02-01T17:22:00.005-08:00

Walking home last night, Robert discovered a little miracle. Due to all the wet we've had, followed by the unrelenting cold, a grassy field we were walking past was host to an accidental...... ice rink! Seriously, a good 2-3 inches of ice, frozen solid, covering a space about 20 feet across. At first, we just looked in amusement. Then Robert (dang, I love my husband) took the keys and camera out of his pocket, ran up to the "rink", and slid across it on his stomach, arms stretched out in front of his face. :) Obviously, we preceded to play on it by ourselves for about 20 minutes, laughing delightedly while strangers passing by cast jealous looks our way.

I've had an incredibly negative perspective on this winter, so it was really good to find something so spontaneous and fun to lighten it up. And I really do have an adorable husband.

Mr. Bush

2009-01-26T13:41:00.003-08:00

I hold my breath and twittle my thumbs. I sit idly in my cold apartment and wait for something new to come to my bit-sized computer sitting in my lap, and hit the refresh button for the white house website so I can be the first person to see what new bill President Obama has signed. But nothing changes, it just gets colder in here.

I head over to a site called popurls.com that lists some of the headlines from various sites. I see something about Obama, What's this? This can't have slipped past me, I've been waiting for this. But it only briefly mentions Obama, and a signing of a bill I already knew about. Whew! I haven't missed anything yet. The closing of Gitmo, and it skips right into the previous administration. click here to read what I read

Now, for those who wonder how I can sit in this freezing apartment (seriously, it feels like 35 in here) behind the safety of my keyboard, and call a previous president, mister instead. Well, these little articles will be surfacing all over the place in the next 4-8 years, though most will probably hit us in less than a year. I say I owe that man nothing.

Harsh? Let me explain. I answer the phone when my Dad calls and I call him sir, I see the president of my church and call him President, I'd go so far as calling President Bush president (Bush 41 that is). So to put it simply, I would never call a soldier who killed an unarmed civilian by his rank just because he served this country. That kind of attitude doesn't deserve my respect.

Mr. Bush may not be as blood thirsty as Hitler was, or as cold hearted as my english teacher in high school. But that doesn't mean he deserves any of my respect. He lost the popular vote in 2000 to get into office, winning by technicality. And scared Americans into fearing a flip-flopping non-war hero in 2004. Went against the rules laid out by the U.N. and now it's also coming out that he tapped my phone... your phone even, for no reason.

I'm looking forward to seeing what else Mr. Bush has been doing to make sure us Americans have stayed safe. What other rights we have forfeited to ensure our everlasting freedoms... as long as the government has control of us anyway. But for now, I say good riddance Mr. Bush! President Obama, I'm behind you 99% right now (he loses 1% for being a politician in the first place).

How's your job?

2009-01-22T09:17:00.004-08:00

I am getting the dire urge to slap my boss silly and quit by throwing my name tag in his face, and taking all the other part timers with me. I haven't been to work in two days, and I only work 20 hours... max. I'm a part timer. My job should be as simple as helping to make sure the full timers aren't overwhelmed.

For those who don't know, I work at a computer store where we sell software and peripheral's for computers. Basically, imagine a best buy only about 125 sq feet large. There was a change in management recently that resulted in a drastic change in the way my job is fulfilled. For starters, all full time employees are the boss of part time employees. And that's just the beginning.

I know my job isn't hard, and that the reason I haven't done what I want to do in my first sentence. But the thing that bugs me more than all the stupid meaningless procedures and dress codes, are the customers. Let me tell you what I encounter on my short days of work. *Ring Ring* "Thank you for calling ____name of store____ This is Robert" reply from customer "Hello Albert" BLERG!!! Everyday I hear this one after I say hello "Hello Robert, I'm such and such, the assistant to the assistant of the sciences department of pharmaceutical pediatrics with assisting license with the university. What time are you guys open 'til today?" UGH!!! Or the oldie around my store "How much is the new Macbook?" There are two answers here. 1)"$999" and that's the end of the conversation 2)"$999" and then they say "it says online that it's $978 online" ... Why are you asking me if it's already there in front of you? (The reason the price is different, is because the one they want is an out-of-date clearance model we probably sold out of the day we posted it... 5 days ago)

Please give me some of your horror stories. It will make my life feel better. I don't care how long it takes to tell us your story, please help me.

PRESIDENT OBAMA!

2009-01-20T20:43:00.002-08:00

Ok, you all saw this post coming a mile away. :)

I had to work today, so my time at my job will be forever etched in my mind as I watched into an adjourning business to watch the inauguration of President Obama, and the the parting of Mr. Bush.

Several people stopped and stared at the television screen as it was displayed on CNN. I may have helped start the clapping that happened when Obama finished his oath to lead this country in the long awaited "right" direction.

I'm not about to sit here and tell everyone that he won't let us down, though I hope he doesn't. I won't say he will fix everything, but I hope he does. I won't tell you that he will be the best president ever, but I hope he strives for it. I hope! If nothing else, I am glad that he has empowered the American people with hope. Hope that tomorrow, we can turn a new chapter of this country.

I loved his speech. What did you think? What was your favorite/least favorite part of it all? My favorite lines were "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works" and "For the world has changed, and we must change with it" I've been saying this for a long time.

prioritize me, please!

2009-01-20T11:33:00.004-08:00

I really don't have time to be writing this post. But I am having a hard time getting thoughts sorted out in my head, and thought it might be easier if I expressed them fully to the anonymous, infinitely expansive world of the internet. Help me, internet!

I have three big obligations, all of which I value and enjoy. They are, in no particular order, my classes, my calling in young womens, and my student activism targeting HEI Hotels and Resorts. I simply do not have the time to engage really deeply in any of them. And I can't decide which area should come last! Here are my thoughts.

I adore the young women. There are several that I would accept into my home at the drop of a hat if asked. I feel so rewarded when I work with them, and I cannot even write how deeply I want them to have peaceful, fulfilling lives. We aren't sure exactly how much longer we'll be in Philly, and I want to be there for them while I can. I HATE being in charge of the organizational stuff for YW, but I love the girls enough to make up for it.

My work on the HEI campaign is important on a few different fronts. From a practical perspective, I want to be a real-time organizer someday soon. And I want to be an activist for the rest of my life. This is my best chance to get real practice and experience in my future field. But more importantly, running a successful campaign would help improve the lives of way more people than would my classes or other activities. This is my last year to influence Penn, and use my position as a student to make it a more responsible institution.

And classes, are, of course, classes. I am a student. I read and write. I love all of my classes this semester, and could easily throw myself into any of them. But if I want to be involved in the aforesaid activities, I think I'll have to either drop one of my five classes, or take most of them pass/fail and do a mediocre job.

So.... anyone feel like charting my life course for me? :D I'll take suggestions.

The Economy?!?

2009-01-17T09:00:00.003-08:00

Well, apparently some people are doing ok in our current status of the economy. I'm a little roiled about a customer I encountered at work today. Here's the skinny: A man, we'll call him Dr. Pennyworth, calls into my work and says "My computer just died, and I need a new one. Let's add it to a P.O. (purchase order, through his department. This way the university pays for it instead of him) a colleague of mine just bought her computer with." Now, it doesn't work this way just so you know. That order is processed and he'll have to create a new P.O. at this point. It Saturday, he'll have to wait until Monday to get the correct process started.

After telling him this, his response is "Well, I'll just buy it today and get reimbursed". He lists all that he needs in the order, Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, AppleCare, a firewire cable (to transfer all his old data), Firefox, and Safari. Now, you may not know this, but the last two are free downloads, but I told him he'd be able to get them at some point.

There are 3 versions of Office we sell at my work. 1)Retail Student version - $150. 2)License for Students - $70. 3)License and CD for Departments - $50. He can't get the Lic for Student version, cuz he's not a student and will NOT be reimbursed for that. He can't get the Lic for Dept cuz he's not using a P.O. for the order. So he has to get the Retail Student version, and he still will not be reimbursed for that either. There is also no sales tax for departmental orders (P.O.'s). Now, Dr. Pennyworth has racked up a $1792.25 bill and $117.25 is tax (which he won't be getting reimbursed for). After I tell him "You won't get the $117.25 reimbursed for taxes, and probably won't get the money back for the Office package" He still comes in and pays for it all.

In short, he came in today and gave $117.25 to government for nothing. Once it's reimbursed it belongs to the university, but in all likelihood they'll give it to him once he's done, but still paid for something he should have gotten free. And then he was willing to pay $150 for something he could have gotten free if he'd waited until Monday. WHY!?!

Why do people think this is ok? It's your money and you can do what you want with it, but where did it become ok to just throw money away for instant gratification? And not just $20 but $267.25... that's more than I make in 2 weeks...

"We are a nation of consumers... and there's nothing wrong with that?" I have to say it makes me sick how consumer we are, that we just pump money into impatience. I'm all for spending on what ever makes you happy, but just because you can't wait 2-4 days??

¡Tengo mucho, mucho frio!

2009-01-16T07:49:00.002-08:00

This morning, right before I left my apartment, I checked the weather. It was 15 degrees. The "feels like" temperature was 3. That's not a typo. There is not supposed to be another digit after that 3. Just 3.

My clothing was as follows:
1 long-sleeve shirt
1 sweater
1 hoodie
1 pea coat
1 pair of sweat pants
1 pair of jeans
1 pair of wool socks
fleece head band
3 pairs of gloves

My fingers were still numb by the time I locked up my bike at class.

This should be illegal.*

*Yes, this is a blatant appeal for pity.

Countdown

2009-01-15T07:45:00.004-08:00

Ok, is anyone else really excited for the 20th? I can't wait for Mr. Bush to leave office. And finally be able to officially call him PRESIDENT OBAMA. (I think I've jumped the gun and called him that already though) There are several reasons for me to look forward to this new administration. But what is your favorite thing about the leaving of Bush and the coming of Obama. I'll start:

I look forward to Bush leaving office, and we can finally investigate his decisions without any political reason behind it. I think Pelosi has refused to impeach Bush because she was trying too hard to be a bipartisan player. There are plenty of things that Bush has done far worse than Clinton and the speaker of the house, Republican Livingston had no problem getting a Democrat tainted over something that was sort of a private matter.

I am looking forward to Obama coming into office with his advanced knowledge of technology. He has a youtube channel, and is having the house of representatives make a channel as well. He has a vision and in my opinion has already started working on it, and seems anxious to take up he seat in the white house. (He's also going to be adding a basketball court to the yard)

So, what are you sad/glad to see Bush leave for? And what are you sad/glad to see Obama come in for?

P.S. I didn't give up on my 365 yet. I've been taking pictures, but I've been in SLC for the last week. I still need to edit the pictures I took and will hopefully be back up to speed by this weekend. Thanks for the inquiry Zack.

On Gaza

2009-01-05T15:58:00.009-08:00

Update: I found this article that comments on the situation much more eloquently than I did. I agree whole-heartedly with this author's suggestions. Also, this article describes some of the history, and I am very inclined to agree with her interpretation: "The destruction of Gaza has nothing to do with Hamas. Israel will accept no authority in the Palestinian territories that it does not ultimately control."

Every time I open a web browser and see the news headlines lately, a whole slew of feelings washes over me. "7 children killed by Israeli air attacks", "Fear, shortages for civilians caught in Gaza fight", "Bush: Hamas attacks on Israel an 'act of terror'." I feel angry, distraught, confused, and so endlessly frustrated.

Could someone please explain to me why America and so many of her people are so blindly committed to Israel?

Don't get me wrong. I think Israel deserves to be a nation. I am grieved at the suffering its people have undergone in the last several decades. I admire its determination to assert its independence.

But the last news article I could bear to read talked about the 500 Palestinian deaths that have occurred in the same period of time that the "terrorists" have killed 5 Israelis.

Obviously, there are some huge problems with Hamas, first and foremost among these being that they refuse to acknowledge the right of Israel to exist. That's a huge problem. I'm not overlooking that. But let's look at some of the historical context here:

Israel doesn't just proclaim that Palestine shouldn't exist..... it has actually ended the existence of Palestine. Again, I think Israelis deserve to have a homeland. But since I was pretty young, I've always been a little bewildered by the whole story. "Wait.... they just came and took their country and made it theirs?" "Well, it's the historical homeland of the Jewish people." "Yeah, but hadn't the other people been living there for quite some time themselves?" European settlers have only been on this continent for the last 400 years. America has only existed for 200. But I am still pretty sure most Americans would be pretty.... uh...... mad, if tomorrow, the descendants of Native Americans sat on their front lawns and said, "Sorry, we're taking it back. We've been horribly oppressed for centuries now, and we deserve the land that is rightfully ours." I really have a hard time seeing how that is much different than the Israel-Palestine situation.

I don't know about the details of the war. From what I can tell, it appears that Hamas was indeed provoking Israel, and threatening its security with their tunnels. Perhaps there is some mystical bit of information out there which I'm not privy to that makes this gruesome, bloody invasion justifiable. But I am ready to tear my hair out when I hear the official American response.

Hamas is a terrorist organization. Hamas needs to agree to a cease-fire. Hamas has committed human rights violations.

HELLOOO!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Why is it so easy for our president to forget that Hamas is the rightful, DEMOCRATICALLY-ELECTED leadership of Gaza? How can he justify the deaths of 500 people in a week and a half by calling Hamas "an enemy of free societies"? How can we possibly stomach sending more bombs, and money, and military technology to Israel when they use it such devastating effect? Stubbornly insisting on the label of "terrorist" for a group of people that is trying to take back what they view as their homeland, and avenge the thousands of wrongs that have been wreaked on them is counter-productive. There are actual terrorists out there, who are trying to disrupt peaceful society for the sake of ideological commitments, and who specifically try to kill innocent people to achieve their goals. But Hamas does not equal Al-Qaeda.

If a group of people had taken away my homeland, blockaded my country from interactions with the outside world, and were dropping bombs on my home, I would probably support the political party that was dedicated to rooting them out. Especially if that political party had been the only meaningful source of new schools, hospitals, and infrastructure in my community. It's conceivable that we might hail one of our young people who sacrificed himself to attack that enemy as a hero.

Don't get me wrong. I think that violence is always the wrong answer. I think both sides have committed horrendous acts, and both need to answer for their wrongs.

But please, please, please, can we stop our silly insistence that Israel is ordained by God and can do no wrong? Can we please mourn for those dozens of children they've just killed? Can we please acknowledge that the Palestinians have some very real reasons to be angry, and actually TALK TO THEM, instead of ignoring their existence? Can we just stop pointing the finger of blame at Hamas when ISRAEL drops bombs that kill so many people?

I know I have voiced some pretty strong opinions here; but I'm really not any kind of expert in Mid-Eastern history or politics. If someone has a reasonable answer for me, please please please share it. Please disagree with me strongly if you feel so inclined; I swear not to take it personally. I honestly just cannot understand.

Oh. And I am not happy that Obama is remaining perfectly silent on this issue.

Happy New Year!!!!

2009-01-01T06:50:00.003-08:00

Ok, so our banner says it too. But I don't care, I'll say it again if I have to... in fact, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! There, now it's in the banner, the headline of this post and the body of this post. :)

I'm just very excited to see where 2009 will lead my wife and I. Things change dramatically from year to year in our lives, and it started the year we started college. One year we went from dating to being married, which also came a change in my living arrangements (from the tiniest studio, to a much larger dorm room), and we moved 3 times that first year of marriage. Then the next year we went from living on campus with each other, to living in our home (hopefully until we finish school, no more moving) with 2 kids, that's right we still call the cats our kids. And next year one of us will be graduating and moving into the real world of full-time jobs for the first time, which will hopefully mean we make more money per year. And we also got to know some friends a little better in the process.

We also want to give a shout out to all our friends we've gotten to know this past year, we love each and everyone of you. You each bring something different to the table which helps make us better more understanding people. I guess this is what they mean by "society raises kids these days", cuz you guys are all raising us... even my 28 year old self has been learning a lot about life, look at me, I'm all political now. :)

Although we were alone, all our friends ditched us for their families (slackers! jeez) we had a good time watching Dick Clark (which is painful to watch) and keeping warm in our apartment, it got cold last night. So what did you do last night?

Also, what is your new year's resolution? I'm starting a 365 photo journal. And here's the link where I will be starting at, I've already posted today's photo. I've also put a link to it on the sidebar. Wish me luck!

filling out the shelves

2008-12-31T08:19:00.002-08:00

Wow, I love Christmas break. I can't believe this is the last one I'll ever experience. But don't worry, I'm making the most of it. Which, in Natalie world, means that I'm reading every minute possible. :)

At the beginning of the break (first week of December, for me), I started on "Old Curiosity Shop" by mi amor, Charles Dickens. Those weeks were fairly busy, getting ready for the holidays and everything. Robert and I read A Christmas Carol together too, so I was just floating high on my Dickens cloud of bliss. I finished that book last Saturday, and the next day, started on one of them Robert gave me for Christmas: A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini. Wow! Amazing book. It tells the history of Afghanistan's last 40 years or so by following the lives of two women. The story was amazing. I couldn't put it down, (and, to be fair, I have a LOT of free time), and I finished it in a day and a half. It's one that I chalk up as a "Must-read" for everybody, and am currently trying to shove it into Robert's hands.

Racing through that book gave me the reading buzz I used to feel all the time, but haven't had for a few years. Suddenly, I felt like a 2nd grader again, faking sick so I could stay home from school and read the stack of 17 Goosebumps books I checked out of the library the day before. When I get in my "Natalie-is-reading" mode, nothing can stop me. I had to get my hands on another book. Early the next morning (well, around 10am, but you know, early for vacation, :P), I woke up and went to the library, where I greedily checked out five books that I plan to finish by the time I go back to school.

I started "The Time Traveler's Wife" on Monday. I wept in my bed this morning as I finished it. What a beautiful book! I can't recommend it for everyone, since I know some would probably be offended by some of the content, but WOW! I have never read a book quite like this one. I am tentatively considering adding it to my favorites list (which is a really, really big deal....... this puts it in the same league as Les Mis and Crime and Punishment). Right now, I am sitting with books in front of me, trying to decide what to indulge in next (please feel free to guide me by voting in the poll to the right). I still have Laila and Tariq and Henry and Alba and Kit running through my head, and all the stories and characters are blending together into one great memory and an immense feeling of satisfaction.

So yeah...... probably no one reading this blog is interested in any of the above, but it's all I'm doing these days, so I thought I'd come on here and talk about it.

Oh, and Robert and I have NO idea what we're doing for New Year's eve, so if anyone has a great last minute suggestion, give us a ring.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T07:31:00.025-08:00

Hello dear family and friends!

This Christmas, we sorely missed the wonderful traditions and quality time we usually share with all of you. We were with you all in our hearts. We wanted to let all of you also share in our own holiday celebration. This post is an (exhaustive!) accounting of how we spent our Christmas. Enjoy!

First, the setting:

Our Christmas tree in all of it's splendor, and our serious loot of gifts. We told Santa he could come to our house early on on Christmas Eve so that he'd have more time for everyone else that night.

Kal-El checking out the presents.... some of those are for him!

Our Christmas display; stockings stuffed, lights on. We were given that cute copy of "A Christmas Carol" by a good friend here in Philly, and read it together each night. (Becca, you were right, I loved it!!!)

Looking through to the kitchen, where Robert is beginning work on our delicious Christmas chicken. :)

And, looking out of the kitchen, into our living room. Yay! Don't you just love our incredibly festive television? Sorry it's so big and prominent in all of these.

We kept ourselves very busy on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Obviously, we had to play some board games:

For the first time EVER, I soundly defeated Robert in a game of one-on-one Risk. He didn't handle losing so well.

But the most important occupation of the day on Christmas Eve was COOKING! You've already seen Rob doing some work on the chicken. I had a fun time challenging myself to make mushrooms stuffed with sundried tomatoes! Many of you probably know that I was not exactly, er, known? for my cooking growing up. So I'm pretty proud of some of my more explorative accomplishments:

Some of the fresh ingredients, finely (and laboriously) chopped.

Mixing together for the final product. See how pretty and colorful it all looks? This is cooking I can enjoy.

Stuffing the mushrooms. Yummy! The smell was also delicious. The site I found the recipe on had awesome pictures, so we might have copied their idea a little bit. But all of these pictures are from our own endeavors!

And just to prove that I really was doing all this. My mom would never believe me unless she had proof.

And just because I really can't get enough of how beautiful these little things looked.

And of course, there were mashed potatoes:

We didn't have the manpower to make decent gravy, so we spruced them up with some cheese and "imitation bacon bits" (the only non-fresh ingredient of the whole meal!).

And let's not forget the main course.

Robert receives a standing ovation for this one. Delicious!

Dinner ended up being quite magnificent, everything included:

We don't have any pictures of us eating the dinner, because neither of us could let off of eating for a few seconds to snap it. The predictable result was this:

Oh, and our kitties had quite the feast of delectable canned "chicken in gravy" themselves.

They were a little over-eager, and that is the best shot we could get.

But don't worry, the over-eating didn't keep us down for long. Before you knew it, we were up again, working on dessert. We made cream cheese marbled brownies FROM SCRATCH!

Robert of course refused to smile for the camera, as he intently focused on chopping the fresh dark chocolate.

Um, can you say lick me?

It was seriously tempting to just stop here. But the end product was promising enough that we ate only a little bit of the batter, and pressed on.

You can only have some if you come get them. :P

Okay, okay, I promise there were non-food parts of our Christmas Eve. My family's tradition is to assign each sibling another sibling as their "Secret Santa". On Christmas Eve, we always open our Secret Santa gifts. We were all a little too spread out to do it together this year, but that didn't stop us! We got (almost) everyone on a conference call, and opened them together. My brother David bought us a new party game! Woohoo!

The most exciting part of Christmas Eve for me has always been the Christmas PJ's. Rob and I picked out our own this year. They are on display below:

Rob being all GQ in his flannel.

Yay for silky PJ's!

We did our nightly reading together then jumped into bed.

And then.... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

A couple of happy sleepy-heads.

Robert's family has a beautiful ritual of sorts for Christmas morning. Rather than tearing through the pile of presents like a hurricane (the tradition in my family), they all sit nicely and open their gifts one by one. I thought it was bizarre and somewhat akin to torture when I first heard of it, but it's really pretty nice. Every gift if amply appreciated, and no one loses track of what everyone got. My tech-savvy husband figured out a way we could do this with them this year all the way from Philly. Web-cam! Now, he thought it would be silly to include a picture of our dutiful little webcam in here, so you'll just have to imagine it. But it was great to be able to see the whole family and talk to everyone as if we were all in the same room (Mom Hamilton, consider this as an investment for future holidays). There was a minor glitch, partway through, as Mom and Dad's house experienced a short power outage. But it was even fun to share that with them too.

Our kitties had a great Christmas. In addition to a couple of feasts, they got some great toys from Grandma and Grandpa Kelly.

Dickens loves hiding inside of things and peeping out, so this tunnel contraption was his favorite.

And Kal-El loves anything he can attack, so the odd glove with tassels suited him perfectly.

I was spoiled rotten this Christmas!Robert picked out this whole outfit himself:

Yep, he got me a beautiful pea coat, with an accessorized scarf and super-warm leather gloves. Exactly what I wanted! And he got me books! My favorite! Yay! Yes, that one on the right is the Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx. :) An edition with a ton of commentary and annotation.

The Kelly's got me a BEAUTIFUL silver necklace. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Robert didn't do so poorly either. In addition to some movies, a guitar capo, and a new hard drive, he got some new shirts and a nice sweater.

My mom sent us a beautifully framed family picture, along with some goodies for the stockings (mmmm.... chocolate oranges.....).

We also spoiled ourselves with a vacuum (desperately needed with kitties), and a couple of board games, including Cranium! Party at the Kellys, anyone?

The messy aftermath. I love this view of Christmas morning. :) And just a reminder to everyone: recycle or reuse all that wrapping paper! I love pretty trees. :)

After a few lazy hours of reading and hanging out, we went on a lovely Christmas outing with our dear friends, Stephanie and Dustin. They took us to the beautiful Longwood Gardens, and we walked through the Winter Wonderland. I'm putting a bunch of the pictures up on here, it was really very beautiful. (And cold!)

Look for Rudolph!

Professional ice skaters put on a magnificent show in this enchanting setting. The camera can't capture how picturesque the whole scene was. Clean ice, christmas lights all around, reflecting off the ice and the blades as skaters glided smoothly through the air to Christmas music. Beautiful!

The conservatory was great, too. In addition to dozens of Christmas trees as impressive as the one below, there were poinsettas and other Christmas flowers filling the rooms with their fragrance and beautiful arrangments of pine cones and candles making you feel all warm and cozy.

And the best part was enjoying it all with our friends!

We had some fun at these arches, but it's too dark to really see it in these pictures. I'll post them now, and make Robert fix them up later. :)

Perhaps the most spectacular thing we saw was the light and water show. I wish the video could do it justice. Make sure your sound is on!

We ended the night eating yummy leftovers with our friends, playing our new games, and staying up with them until 1am talking about everything from Adam & Eve to gun control.

All in all, we had a very merry Christmas. It is so touching to celebrate such an important event with so many fun traditions and people. As we remember the birth of our Savior, and the mission that he accomplished on this earth, family and friends become ever more precious. We hope this long post helped you feel closer to us this Christmas. We love you all, and you are never far from our thoughts and minds.

So now.... Happy New Year!

With love,
Natalie and Robert

So This Is Christmas!

2008-12-19T20:16:00.014-08:00

Finals are finished for me, and I can finally relax with my wife for the holiday's, she's been done for almost a week now. (cheater!) And I am finally getting around to posting our pictures of the many Christmas trees and events we've been exploring in the last couple weeks. We couldn't afford to fly home for Christmas, but we are still we are still enjoying the spirit of Christmas! Here we go:

I opened the box to our faithful tree! And was worried about the "assembly required bit"

I recruited my wife to help, and she was more than happy for this addition to our house. ... This is going to take a while!

In the mean time, we went to the Rockefeller tree in NYC. TONS!!! of lights! And it's friggin' HUGE! There were so many people, I felt like all of NYC and most the east coast was there to see it.

Then we went to Philadelphia's tree... Nothing compared to the NYC tree. Although, it was great to be this close to the tree, unlike the NYC tree.

I'm still working on it! Give me a few more minutes... let's see, line up part A with part D which latches onto part 3... UGH!!!!

Onto some other things we've done. The Macy's store in Philadelphia has a spectacular light display played every hour. It tells a short 1-2 minute version of "The Nutcracker", "Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer", "Frosty the Snowman", and "Santa Coming to Town". It's probably close to 200-300 feet tall.

Alright! We finally finished! Vanna (aka my wife) show us the tree!

My... Look at... all... those... presents... :(

Well, this was taken tonight. Natalie and I have finished almost all our wrapping, and I managed to find ornaments at KMart for less than $6. We put up the lights and this is the end result... now all we need is snow on the ground. (suppose to happen this sunday. *finger's crossed*)

2008-12-19T15:13:00.004-08:00

Alright.

Officially FOUR people have just bought their plane tickets to come out for my graduation in May.

That's right. FOUR. And at least three more intend to when they get their tax money.

That is SEVEN visitors. Coming to Philly. To see us.

In our 3 1/2 years here so far, we have had two visitors. Now, we'll have SEVEN! Aah! And they are all my dearest family! Including one of my incomprehensibly adorable nieces. Talk about a great early Christmas present!

I am quite excited.

And pretty thankful that if the economy is going to suck, at least it's going to seriously drive down plane ticket prices.

Oh. My. So. Happy.

2008-12-10T15:48:00.003-08:00

Okay. When I first heard this news, I pretty much jumped up and down about a dozen times and screamed at Robert and freaked out to the world in general. So cool.

200 workers are taking over their factory in Chicago to stand up for their rights.

It's a sit-in. 1930s style. AKA: Like a real live action reproduction of Natalie's favorite historical moment.

These people are amazing. They are my heroes. I wish I was in Chicago so I could go stand outside to support them and hand in food through the windows! Seriously, it just makes me feel so good. This is such a beautiful demonstration of humanity. They are standing up for themselves, and the entire community has come out to support them and their families.

Cool.

Like, panic-attack-cool.

Solidarity forever.

Combatting the Cold

2008-12-07T20:59:00.006-08:00

In keeping with our poverty and general attempts at frugality, Robert and I are seriously skimping on our heater this winter. This also has something to do with our very drafty old apartment (which I still love dearly) and the uninsulated windows and doors around it. People always complain that we don't have enough pictures of our life up on here, so I thought I'd let you all see what we're doing to stay warm this winter. :)

Doing dishes in the freezing cold is painful. And, unfortunately, rare. But we've found ways to make it work.

Don't worry..... we're taking care of the children.

It looks horrendous and trashy, but taping shower curtains to your window sure can cut down on the draft. :)

In a not-so-frugal stroke, we indulged in some amazing European-style hot cocoa at the nearby Naked Chocolate Cafe.

And finally, sometimes we just enjoy going out to be freezing in a beautiful place instead of freezing on our couch. :)

Send warm thoughts our way. :)

To the start of Christmas!

2008-12-04T11:38:00.004-08:00

Here's a great video to help tell the nativity story... found this while I was in class. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving!

2008-12-03T07:26:00.008-08:00

Here are some pictures we took during our HUGE feast, which had more desserts than food.
Dinner!!!

My wife's Apple Crisp

My Chocolate Mousse Pie

A Friend's Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Cake

We want to thank everyone for helping to make the dinner special!

In Remembrance

2008-11-25T08:43:00.007-08:00

I learned at 2:13 this morning that a dear old friend of mine, Chad Saylor, has passed away. He was 25 years old.

I want to pay a tribute:

To a dear friend, a brother.

To the one who first kindled my love for classical music.

To a person who loved everybody he met without hesitation.

To the first boy whose last name I scribbled next to my own on hidden pieces of paper, and whose name occupies dozens of my journal pages.

To the friend who sealed his place in my heart when he bought me an orange-carrot Sobe for breakfast.

To the scholar who challenged my way of thinking and taught me how to learn new things.

To a friend whose loyalty and affection could never be questioned.

To the selfless friend who tried always to lend his love and support to others, who never wanted others to suffer for his sake.

To the family member we all considered a Hamilton, even without sharing the same blood.

To the friend who told me six years ago that his greatest goal in life was to be truly happy.

Chad, you could never have known how much you will be missed. I hope you have found the peace now that you have always sought.

You will never be forgotten.

Why I've been so busy

2008-11-21T15:32:00.006-08:00

Hey folks,
So this is what has basically taken over my life of late:

http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2008/11/21/News/Union.Rights.Fight.Comes.To.College.Campuses-3556936.shtml

It's actually a much more involved and complicated process than the article lets on.

I met several employees of HEI Hotels and Resorts over the summer, and I was so moved by their stories. One woman is a single mother with a two-year old son. She's freaking out because the company's health care plan is way too expensive for her to take part in it, and she doesn't know what she'll do if her baby gets sick.

Another man talked about how he had successfully organized his co-workers THREE TIMES in the last 15 years or so to vote for a union; but because of the deeply flawed NLRB election system, they still don't have a union.

Just recently, one worker came to colleges on the east coast to speak about her experiences with HEI. When she got back to work, her managers ordered her into their office and interrogated her for TWO HOURS about what she was doing. She cried, and felt terrified that they would take away her job (and her livelihood), but she stayed strong, and stood up for what she believed in.

I've heard horror stories about the things these incredibly hard-working people have to go through.

And I've learned that Penn is involved in making that possible.

So this year, I am focusing on leaving Penn better than I found it. The University of Pennsylvania has all sorts of claims and mission statements about its standards of social responsibility. But when push comes to shove.... well... it usually takes quite a shove to get the institution to adhere to those standards. I hope to, primarily, lend support to hotel workers who are putting everything on the line in the hopes for a better life for them and their families. And I also hope that in the process, we can create a system of accountability at Penn, and foster a culture of awareness and involvement among its students.

PS: I will soon be posting about my favorite potential piece of legislation that might come up under the new administration: the Employee Free Choice Act. :) That might bore most of you to tears, but man, thinking about it gets me worked up to a delirium!

Call to Action

2008-11-21T08:49:00.002-08:00

Am I posting a lot lately or what? It's because I'm a little bit ahead in my classes right now, and all I do is listen to the teacher lecture, with a computer right in front of me. Plus we are going into a holiday, and I won't have classes next week. But anyway, I have a favor to ask of everyone visiting our blog. Go here:

http://music.mormontimes.com/contest.php?id=952&nocache=1

You'll have to create an account. That may be a cause of hesitation
for you, I'm sure. But I assure you, it's easy and it will take you
like 2 seconds...and they won't send you any spam, I didn't even get a conformation email saying I created the account.

This is a talented artist I would like to see make her newest album, and she needs this contest to do so. If you go and want to vote for someone else... please disregard the feeling to do so, and vote for Debra. :) Thanks everyone! Good Luck Debra!

I Can't Stop!!!

2008-11-20T19:46:00.005-08:00

I found this little gem on the internet: (not to mention, this is the kind of stuff us Graphic Designers do. :D)

Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

I hope he doesn't burn me of politics, like everyone else I know has been with previous politicians. Also... This Picture...

Now, many people know I am a hater of Macs! But Pacman!!! ROCK ON!!!

Solidarity Forever!

2008-11-19T05:59:00.002-08:00

I've learned a lot about business practices because of my wife's recent dabbling in union organizing. I've also learned a lot about what unions can do for people, but mostly I've seen a side of people I don't quite understand.

Why do people who are in the lower end of the salary line, not want people to have free healthcare... even though it would include them having it? Why do people want to have looser gun laws, though they have no plans to ever own a gun?

Along the lines of the topic I am writing about here, why do people feel bad for companies who have workers who want to unionize? The argument I hear against unions is "The owner of the company loses all power of his/her company". And most responses are "If the owner took care of it's employees it wouldn't need a union". I think this is all the wrong way to think about it. First off, why are you worried about a person who makes at least $350k a year, even $150k when you only make $30k or $50k?

Lets clear the water on this, no small company is ever going to have a union. If a company with only 20 employees has a union, something is seriously wrong. The owner is clearly not listening to what his/her employees needs are (. The large company is who we are talking about here. So why do you feel bad for a company who has no single owner anymore? Board of Directors, and CEO's who make on average $11.8 million don't own the company (they may own part of it) nor listen to the employees needs. His/her job is to make profits, not listen to his/her employees.

So let me ask you, have you ever tried to unionize? Ever see first hand what the management does?

Maybe someone out there can answer why the little guy is rooting for the big man. Cuz I can't find an answer for that. What makes a person want something to happen, that doesn't look out for their best interest?