P B and J

2012-01-16T17:50:00.000-08:00

The minute I take off Felix' diaper he crawls as fast as he can into the bathroom. So cute.

2012-01-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

November
Felix contemplating cranberry supplements while I'm contemplating his size in relation to the future use of this unit of entertainment.

NASA identification card photo

Found this awesome hat in a hand-me-down box from someone at church!

A Felix and parent favorite pastime.

Charles and Becca's open house

Felix in the park. He was only smiling because I had my phone pointed at him. He's actually not a fan of the swing.

December
Definitely loves bouncing though.

Felix got a ball for Christmas!

Phone fun for Phi.

Pi and Phi!

With Mom

January
He loves playing with the laundry basket.

After revving for quite some time on his hands and knees Felix started to crawl at about 8.5-9 months. He was only wobbly for a week or so before he started cruising. He definitely would rather be crawling than be held or contained in any way.
He's still quite the sleeper. Bedtime is at 6-630pm and morning time starts at around 7am. He can still only last about 2 hours before needing a nap.
Felix, as of today now has 9 teeth. We're thinking about giving him a small animal to gnaw on. Sheesh!
He is not a fan of food with texture or homemade veggies. He loves gerber stage 1 and 2 purees and yogurt. Lots of yogurt. His love for processed food..hmm I wonder who he got that from?

2011-11-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

Phi did so well on our whaling trip! I on the other hand was contemplating how to throw up without getting anything on his head....

Often we find Phi with his toes/legs sticking out of the crib while napping.

This is the scene after the pediatrician left us waiting in the room a bit too long. I didn't mind until I realized he had eaten a significant amount of paper.

Teeth & toes

Rings!

And the beginnings of the crawl

2011-10-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

I LOVE when Felix scrunches his body up to cuddle. He probably won't be able to do that much longer.

In other Felix news-he's rolling like crazy. He used to only roll in his crib and rarely outside of it. But now he is slowly learning that he can get places with a bit of effort.
I like to stay away from toys that light up and are over-stimulating but when I was out to lunch with my friend Sarah I saw a Jumperoo as I passed a garage sale. I called Andrew and sent him to look at it. He said it looked clean and that the owners only wanted $5 for it. I mean really?! $5. I'm still in disbelief and it happened a month ago. Anyways-the jumperoo is an amazing toy. Felix took to it immediately. I'm not too enthusiastic about all the lights and music but I can get over that because it entertains Felix for long periods of time. Worth it!

bum!

2011-09-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

Never thought I'd be that girl who needed a picture of her child's naked bum. But I am.

And his cloth diaper...so adorable!

new talents

2011-08-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Felix' newest talent: high pitch screaming! Also, check out those 2 bottom teeth!

Giggly Phi

2011-08-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

rolli polli

2011-08-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

Feliz fishie

2011-08-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

2011-07-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

I just absolutely love this photo of our family...

The vivarium, Andrew and I

2011-07-24T17:47:00.001-07:00

3.5 mo

4 mo

9 mo

Oreos powered the vivarium

Felix

2011-07-24T17:05:00.000-07:00

4/1-4/2

4/3

4/4

4/5

4/8

4/11

4/12

4/19

4/27

5/5

5/14

5/16

5/23

5/25

5/27

5/28

5/30

6/2

6/5

6/6

6/8

6/14

6/20

6/24

7/11

7/16

7/18

7/19

7/21

7/22

Ode to the snow

2010-12-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

Because of my recent physical deformation it is not possible for me to go snowboarding this season. This is particularly devastating because it's a "la nina" year which means a ton of snow for mountain climates. Andrew has been banned from talking and/or discussing anything snow or snowboard-related as it is just too painful to hear. I have identified some other activities which should not be engaged in till next year as well. These include:

1) gazing at the snow-covered mountains for longer than 30 seconds.
2) trying and re-trying on boarding gear.
3) pretending the cats can board and taking them on "runs" down the stairs.
4) using the cats to practice boarding tricks such as a backside 1080.

Next year's boarding season cannot come soon enough....*sigh*

2010-07-26T09:22:00.001-07:00

I took the drawer out for a second...

random happenings

2010-05-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

Thai food with the labmates

A LOT of yogurtland....well until they got rid of red velvet cupcake batter.

A super cute Ping cat

and a super fluffy Jay

While Andrew was helping someone move he saw this adorable cat.

Andrew and I spent a good portion of yesterday priming our soil for planting, cleaning up the backyard, planting our veggies in peet pots to get them started and exploring just how much damage we had done to those poor worms in the wormery.
Last year I posted about how we started a wormery for our leftover table scrapes and such. Well it didn't take long before we completely ignored them. I figured they had all died but Andrew took a look inside (2-3 months ago) the bin and found lots of worms that had survived the winter and our lack of attention. So we finally got around to cleaning out the bin. We then added a new coconut brick (for their bedding) and tried to transfer as many worms as we could find back into the bin. I think we will have to get another batch because there weren't too many left....so that's about it!

I love flying!!!

2010-03-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

My amazing experience started off by being randomly accosted by a TSA member at security. This just after I told Susan I would make a great drug mule because I never get pulled aside. On my flight home though I experienced a whole new level of annoying.

In front of me was a young girl traveling by herself that asked the flight attendant about every 5 seconds for her backpack out of the cabinet above her. Next to her was another little girl (accompanied by her dad) who apparently was not able to speak in an appropriate decibel. She pretty much yelled everything she said including,"Are we going to crash?" (multiple times). Later during the flight she started teaching the girl in front of me how to make extremely loud popping noises with her mouth. Yay!

On the other side of the aisle was a tween-aged girl who aspires to be a drummer. She wisely used her flight time to practice her beats by slapping her hands on the tray table.

Next to me was a philosophy grad student from the university of Utah who explained his whole life story to the lady sitting on the other side of him. After that came his analysis of Lady Gaga and Beyonce's 9 minute music video and pertinent commentary on Jersey Shore. Each story came with grand hand gestures.

The lady he was talking to decided that making smacking and kissing noises at her baby was more entertaining. Apparently the louder you are the more entertained the baby is.

My migraines tend to heighten my sense of smell and sound. I was ecstatic when all three men behind me ordered multiple cups of coffee. To keep myself from throwing up I leaned forward on my tray table and concentrated on the smell of my napkin.

One good thing on my flight was getting a second bag of cashews after the flight attendant thought it would be funny to chuck the first bag at me. I then searched frantically for the first bag because it was after all cashews.

I'm not sure I have ever had such a unique airport/flying experience.

unemployed snowboarding

2010-03-13T15:25:00.001-08:00

I have to admit, one of the first things that popped into my head after Andrew told me he lost his job was snow. I saw 2 weeks of severance as two weeks dedicated to working on that double McTwist 1260. So after a bit of sulking I was able to get Andrew up the mountain. We had a blast, as always but Andrew definitely had a much better boarding day then me. He was hitting jumps left and right and scoring fresh tracks on quite a few runs. My experience was a bit different. First, some 15 year old came out of nowhere and rammed me from behind sending me rolling for quite a ways down the hill. He's lucky he picked himself up and jetted faster then me because I was pretty irritated. Then, as the snow started to melt (it was after all in the 60's) I wasn't paying attention and got stuck in someone else's tracks for a split second which sent me sliding quite a ways down the hill on my side. The accompanying mountain rash looked pretty sweet after it started bleeding but today it has disappeared. So there is no cool injury photo to post. Here's to unemployment!

Boring Updates

2010-03-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

So I guess it has been awhile. Andrew and I suck at blogging!

Andrew: Newly unemployed after brief employment at cramster, Andrew is using his open schedule to program a new application. It's top secret although at least 7 people already know about it. If your curious, ask someone.

Heather: Still in school with the hopes of being done at the end of summer, Heather is leisurely enjoying bouts of lab work before the next quarter begins and she has no time.

Jefferies: Ah Jefferies. Still fat & furry. Still alive, still eluding actual people (except for a brief sighting by John and Janet). Keeping up his rigorous sleep schedule with intermittent wrestling matches with Ping and snuggles with Andrew.

Ping: Ping has recently taken up furniture and closet climbing as a sport. She easily jumps 6 feet high to gracefully land on top of Heather's oak dresser. She then likes to eat Heather's paper flowers. She will probably lose a limb soon if she doesn't stop. Ping also enjoys climbing into the hangers in the closet. She then uses her keen ninja skills to get to the top shelf. This is the current theory of how she gets onto the top shelf of the closet as no one has actually seen her do it.

Hope everyone is doing well and we will try to update you when we do something interesting.

Finally

2009-12-22T17:59:00.000-08:00

Each rainy season Andrew and I witness the ever changing texture and appearance of the wall leading down into the garage and the south facing wall in the garage as water seeps through the cinder blocks and blisters the paint. In the summers we enjoy killing off the mold with bleach. Almost every time we walk down to the garage one of us reiterates that we should really do something about the situation. So, after 4 plus years....here are the before pictures and tomorrow I will post the after.

Vacation to Carmel by the Sea

2009-09-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I scored an awesome deal at a bed and breakfast this year so we headed up north (5.5 hours) to the Monterey Bay area. Our first full day we walked the streets, got lunch and ate on the beach. We quickley found out that Carmel is an international place of interest; buses brought in tons of tourists.
Carmel beach was beautiful! The sand was extremely soft. As we sat down to eat on a tree this squirrel came out of the tree and sat right next to Andrew the whole time.

On our walk back we saw some pretty impressive modern homes. This was our favorite.

The next day we headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was really nice with a ton of things to see. Currently they have a Seahorse exhibit which is absolutely amazing. I always thought seahorses were these smallish creatures but they actually can get quite large.

We followed the aquarium up with lunch and a trip to the Toll House store. I'm still having dreams about this cookie sandwich.

On wednesday we drove home because I had bought tickets for Legally Blonde the musical in Orange County. Last year MTV did a reality show for the casting the the lead, Elle Woods. I liked it a lot so was pretty stoked to see the musical. I was mildly disappointed because it didn't seem like the actors/actresses were energized enough during most of their performances. The leads weren't very good but the supporting roles were very good.

Thursday was Andrew's birthday so I surprised him by reserving a table in Beverly Hills at Vibrato. It's a steakhouse with live jazz.

And what I am most excited about: My wormery!!!!! I went to the aboretum last saturday where I was able to purchase a wiggly farm (with a free 0.5lb of worms!) to start vermicomposting. I'm wicked excited about it all. Here's Ping cat making herself comfortable in the wormery.

Here's the finshed set up.

Worm Composting!

2009-09-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

For those of you in LA county- LA county sponsors workshops to learn how to start a worm compost bin almost every Saturday (in different locations) They have worm compost bins available to purchase at the indicated workshops for only $65! That includes the worms! I've been wanting to start worm composting but the composter and worms are about $150 (including shipping and handling). The next workshop is 9/12 at the Arboretum. Check out this link for more info on worm composting and other workshop dates!

If your interested in regular composting, Alhambra City sells compost bins for $10 at city hall, 2nd floor.

2009-08-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

I love finding things I can make my own. I found these shoes online and I liked the style of them but they had this annoying bead work.
Before:

Tools:

After: Now they are my favorite sandals.

Ping cat

Ping-class of 2009

What's Been Going on

2009-07-11T22:18:00.001-07:00

So now I will post about a billion things in the order I found them on my camera.

First. Andrew and I have been eating a lot of veggies and found a great recipe for a "tortilla". It's suppose to be for vegetarians but it's much better with bacon.

We did a lot of snowboarding this past season. It's very apparent when it's the end of the season though.

I couldn't be happier that I married someone who is as willing as I am to get up at 5:00 AM to be the first one on the slopes.

Amy's babyshower. I usually don't go to babyshowers because frankly I don't need to hear another birthing story. But Amy's a great individual so I made an exception.

Kristen and Chuan are 2 other exceptions.

Ping dragged this balloon around all night after the party.

Andrew and I helped out with the ward easter celebration. Andrew was the sports announcer for the duck race. He made it quite exciting.

This is Lala. She was determined there were eggs to be found even after the hunt had ended.

I don't like surprises but Zach and Alicia came over the week of my birthday for FHE with a great one.

Smitty's for my birthday dinner with Andrew, Kristen, Mike, James and Roz.

Babyshower for Tawni. So Suzy and I were talking about how our friend, Stephanie who moved to Arizona 1.5 years ago is sorely missed and we can't wait till she comes back. And then she walked into the backyard. So weird, but awesome!

Aw youth conference. An experience. Here are some highlights-Andrew bringing me a bucket full of cold, salty sea water for my bee stung foot. Bee stings are more painful then previsously expected.

Katie, boisterous enough for the whole group. Here is her award-winning Jesus sculpture.

Recovery.

3rd of July hike with Sarah. Real forest!

And real wildlife. I'm not sure we resolved what this animal is. It looks beaver-ish.

Children's Parade in Centerville, Ut

Most exciting of all...our trip to see Conan O'Brien! Here we are travelling to see the Commander of Pale Force.

We took a bus to Union station and then the red line. One minute Andrew and I were the only ones there and the next a flood of people came running down.

There was cool architecture and art at the Universal City stop.

So this is a great story-Neither Andrew or I had had any real food besides breakfast that day. We got out of the taping at 6:30PM and were starving. The bus we were taking home just happens to stop right across the street from Chanos. The only problem was that we didn't have enough money to get off and then get back on the bus (after eating). As I was desperately digging through my wallet for spare change and while getting on the bus, the bus driver told us the ride was free! He didn't have a gadget to insert cash fares..only the "tap pass". Woohoo! So we went to Chanos.

The end!

Youth Conference

2009-06-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Heather and I have been asked to participate in our Stake's youth conference this year as "parents" (i.e., we'd be assigned to shepherd 12 kids through the experience). Yesterday we had a meeting about the whole affair, complete with to-the-minute itinerary and a long list of rules and regulations. Afterwards we both had headaches (mine ended up as a migraine), and while talking realized that neither of us would have attended anything like this when we were "youth" (the target age group here is 14-17). I spent a good part of my summers hiding from overzealous youth leaders and friends who tried to cajole me into attending these sorts of things. Here's why I ran away; from the looks of this one it's similarly threatening:

1.) Way too many rules, none of which actually have to do with developing or maintaining spirituality. For instance, the girls can't wear two-piece swimsuits, and the leaders are so bent on this that they're planning on taking a bunch of one-piece suits so those who violate the rule will have an option to wear something else. Heather doesn't even own a one-piece suit, and aside from the creepiness of having male adult leaders determining whether or not your swimsuit is appropriate, a person's spiritual well-being (and that of their neighbors) has little to do with what sort of swimwear you like. I can see it already; some poor recent convert girl (or someone who's been a member but has enlightened parents) is going to show up with a two-piece (even tankinis aren't allowed, btw) and then have to go through the humiliation of having some adult leader tell them it's not "appropriate", as if they're less of a person for bringing it along in the first place. Multiply that by 100 and you've got the same sort of environment they create at BYU. Some people go for that, but I certainly didn't as a kid and I don't feel comfortable enforcing those sorts of artificial standards.

2.) Some poor kid in the Stake (maybe even right now) is being pressured by their parents and/or youth leaders to attend, despite the fact that said kid really doesn't dig these sorts of group events and has better things to do. I know the leaders are trying to put on a good event, but parents and some leaders take it a bit far. They judge the "righteousness" of kids by their willingness to participate. Of all the things that really gets me about the situation, this one is the worst of the worst. I guess I grew up in a different era, but my parents let me decide whether or not I wanted to go and then helped me stand by that decision. I know parents can freak out about their kids, but forcing them to attend something like this is far more likely to damage (or kill) their developing spirituality than help it.

3.) Waaaaayyyyy overprogrammed. It's beach camping, for goodness' sakes, not an Amway seminar. We called my parents last night to talk about it and my dad said something that's too true -- the management gene runs strong in the Church. I think we've all experienced this; someone wants to plan every detail or they impose grandiose expectations on others who volunteer their time to help. I know I'm guilty of this on occasion (when our elder's quorum has a move I can be a bit of a task master), and I've tried to avoid over-managing like the plague. Because it is a plague -- it's the part of organized religion that, I think, people dislike the most. It's the idea that you can "manage" outcomes; if everything goes exactly according to plan then you'll get the expected result. Serendipity is a wonderful teacher -- there are all sorts of great opportunities in everyday life to experience things that the scriptures talk about. And, more importantly, is remembering that God's ways are higher than our ways. That often means the results don't align with what we expected. Rather, they're much better than we could have possibly achieved if we planned everything to death.

Anyways, I had to vent so there it is. We have some great people in our Stake who give a lot of time and effort to put these things on, and I don't want to lessen their contributions. But at the same time I think it's important for people to realize that we don't all experience spirituality in the same way, and that events like this aren't for everybody. We're still deciding if we want to go, but if going means strictly adhering to the rules and program then it's probably not our gig. I would never impose my will like that on my (coming sometime in the future) kids, and I definitely don't want to do it to someone else's kid.

CLARIFICATION-We are not saying that there is no need for a youth conference or that it is useless. Youth conference is probably a blast for some kids no doubt. We are however stating that neither of us did (as children) or do (as adults) prefer to attend events like this. Everyone is different.

Shameless Sibling Promotion

2009-05-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

A few things going down instigated by various members of the fam:

That Night (book)

Face Off (art event)

Camerabag (iPhone app) and Silo (3d modelling app)

Way to go, y'all.

Interesting

2009-05-17T17:13:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else notice that when a new couple moves into the ward, the first two questions directed at the wife are usually 1) How many children do you have? and 2) What does your husband do? And when a couple is meeting with Stake/High council/ward leaders why do they seem to be incredible interested in how Andrew is doing with his calling and the stresses of his job but don't even ask how my calling is going or inquire how my schooling/job is? Why are they only concerned with how Andrew's schedule fits with the calling but don't even inquire if I have a schedule conflict? I would just chalk it up to the ignorance of one or two individuals but these practices seem pretty consistent over the years. It's like people don't even stop to think that women might be doing things besides having children or being a housewife.
It reminds me of the best quote I have ever heard in sacrament meeting,"Im just glad that the women of this ward all know that the best place for them is in the home".

Tip of the hat to....

2009-05-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

ME!

Fast food (and eating out in general) is somewhat addicting. I think it boils down to the convenience of it all. Since I got my braces put on I made a pact that I would try to not eat out for a whole month. At first thought it didn't seem that hard but as the days passed and I was having to cook for myself more frequently the challenge became ridiculously hard. My soul longed for Taco Bell and for Chanos and for just a quick stop at Fosselman's for some ice cream (just to name a few...). I've never really thought about how many times in a month (or even a week) I routinely stop to pick something up. I refuse to be a slave to ALL my cravings so I think I will continue not eating out with a few exceptions: Chanos (my soul will never stop craving this so I figure why fight it), Fosselman's (we all need an ice cream excursion), and fine dining (that is more of a reward for Andrew). I think I will limit myself to 2 excursions a month.

It's cost effective and good for your health! Try it!

ANTM

2009-05-14T11:50:00.001-07:00

If you don't know what the acronym "ANTM" stands for then carry on your way because this will not be interesting. I am a huge fan of the show since cycle 1. I love the fashion, the creative photo shoots and most of all the fact that they bring together 13 girls that are all completely different. Some are your typical looking models while others are plus size, have asperger syndrome, are quirky and unique.

Each season I put all my energy into the "different" girl(s) hoping that they will make it to the top. Last night's season finale was no different. From the beginning I pegged Allison to be the last one standing. She was hilariously confident (mostly in the end) and had some of the funniest commentary of the whole show. She totally rocked the final runway walk and covergirl photoshoot but alas Teyona was deemed the winner. I just don't understand.....

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

May we all try to consume a little less and be more efficient in our daily routines so as to preserve the beauty around us.

Daily astronomy pic from APOD

Explanation: As midnight approached, a spectacular sky appeared. Such was the case last month from the shore of Lake Salda in southwestern Turkey. In the above night sky panorama, rocky sand covers the foreground, while building lights are visible across the lake. Looking up, the stars of Orion lie just ahead, while Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, appears to Orion's left. To Orion's right, just above the horizon, lies the Pleiades open star cluster. Arching across the sky is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. High in the center, the stars Castor and Pollux are visible. Lake Salda is famous partly for its blue color that is slightly discernable even in the above image.

What's up with your grill yo?

2009-04-14T17:15:00.001-07:00

Before

After

Indeed, I am every 12 year olds worst nightmare...braces AND glasses. And just to substantiate how cool I really am, here's a picture of a wicked sweet bruise I got from snowboarding.The best-looking bruises never hurt.

P and his darn links again

2009-04-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

This time, it's the near-perfect mix:

How do I rate something as a near-perfect mix? Here are some criteria:

1.) Great music. Obviously, gotta be number 1.

2.) Great music I haven't heard before. Like the first four tracks, had me googling like a crazyperson trying to track down who, exactly, these people were (results: gotta get a clean mix of "Jack", but I'd take any of these home today).

3.) Great music I have heard but don't hear often enough. "Windowlicker (Acid Edit)" by Aphex Twin fits the profile.

4.) Guest spots by DJs who rock. Morgan Geist fits the bill, being one-half of arrangement deity Metro Area. If you ever want a master class in how to arrange stuff for maximum vibe/dance effect, listen to a local Metro Area track near you. As you'd expect, hid DJ set here is particularly nice. And when he's acting in half-capacity (i.e., solo) he still rocks.

5.) Truth spoken by the DJ -- I have to agree about Prodigy (I presume he's talking about "Invaders Must Die"), it's too "rave" in a bad sort of way.

Those last two parts are optional, but done correctly they do up the quotient of niceness.

Being an aspiring good DJ myself (if nothing more than a selector), I give you a most excellent track by Juan MacLean (man I gotta score this on vinyl) "By The Time I Get To Venus":

My conversion to the juice box

2009-03-31T13:50:00.000-07:00

I don't really remember eating too many fruits and to a lesser degree, vegetables while growing up (except for oranges at soccer games). This is probably due to any number of reasons including, 1) I have blocked painful memories 2)I really never ate fruits or vegetables. Hence, I don't like juice drinks, or the fruits where they originate from or most vegetables.

About a year ago I decided to eat healthier, exercise regularly and try to drink enough water during the day to see if my migraines would decrease. This means eating 2 servings of fruits and 3 servings of vegetables. The veggie part was kind of easy because ranch dressing makes salads taste better and Andrew does a fabulous job of coating all the other veggies in butter.

Fruit was a whole other issue. I really don't like most fruits. Little by little I started to eat an apple in the car (so I would be plenty distracted) or after a long bike ride (when I am super exhausted).

This past week I made a quick dash to the store to get "kid food" for my nephews. By the time my nephews left i still had 8 apple juice boxes left. That night I grabbed one (merely to confirm that I still don't like juice) and I sucked down the whole thing- it was pretty tasty! So I drank the 7 others within a day and a half and having been craving them ever since. So I think I finally like juice! Well, apple juice.

Unfortunately my migraines have not decreased-but at least I am a bit healthier.

2009-03-31T13:27:00.000-07:00

The rest of my Spring Break
There were a ton of wind surfers out.

An impromptu day with my nephews
Daniel

Spencer

Ping naturally wanted to investigate her new friends

A new edition to the garden!

St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up my mom would always dye everything green. The best St patrick's Day was when she decided to dye the mashed potatoes and gravy. A little food coloring isn't going to stop me from eating tons of mashed potatoes but no one in the family touched the gravy because it was chunky and green.(If I remember correctly, my brothers ended up putting it in a plastic bag and attempted to throw it into the neighbors yard...)
Anyways-I decided to carry on the tradition so I made Andrew a green breakfast including green pancakes, milk, orange juice, and eggs. I think he was mostly excited because I fixed him breakfast for a change.

Spring Break: Day 1

2009-03-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Snowboarding with Andrew: Pretty nice conditions in the mountains, an almost vacant slope and a 4 hour pass.
I thought I'd challenge myself by conquering some jumps.

Andrew had a hard time capturing all the air I caught so here's the before and after.

Jumps are definitely what I have been missing in my snowboarding experience-they're so much fun!

Concrete Gardening

2009-03-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I have been wanting to grow our own veggies for quite some time. This week we made a goal to get started. Andrew and I have been battling over the location. We have a "backyard" space but it gets little to no sunlight. We get plenty of sunshine on the front patio though. Andrew is afraid that we will get in trouble with the HOA for putting plants out there. I'm willing to risk it. So here's what we accomplished!

We're trying out 2 types of tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and a variety of already-grown herbs.

We haven't quite figured out what we are going to do in the backyard. We looked at some stellar low growing plants at Armstrong Garden that might mesh well with the chi of our backyard. Here's what we're working with.

P sez -- Happy Birthday Mr. Caterpillar

2009-03-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

Even Google is in on the act (confession -- that's how I found out about it). Read more here. I figure I've eaten enough in my life to become a beautiful butterfly -- what happened?

Linkage

2009-03-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

So, there's this composer named Galt McDermot. He wrote the music for "Hair", among other things. He also happened to record some of the funkiest music of the 70's. It turns out that he's still around, and if you're so inclined you can stream all of his albums online:

Go Galt

Right on -- more artists should take advantage of the free radio that is the Internet.

Funding for Stem Cell Research!

2009-03-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

"This order is an important step in advancing the cause of science in America. But let's be clear: promoting science isn't just about providing resources — it is also about protecting free and open inquiry," said the president. "It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it's inconvenient — especially when it's inconvenient."

"Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident," said Obama. "They result from painstaking and costly research — from years of lonely trial and error, much of which never bears fruit — and from a government willing to support that work."

A President who acknowledges science-now that is a change.

Breakin'

2009-03-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

Anyone else in the fam remember that? We had the soundtrack on vinyl, I think I was eight or nine at the time.

And some Kraftwerk, just 'cause it's cool and I really like the visuals:

Modern design and electronic music work so well together.

Instant Music Video

2009-03-02T16:55:00.001-08:00

Step 1: Go here -- Ikea demo site

Step 2: Upload any song

Step 3: Thanks, Ikea!

P goes hunting...

2009-02-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

...and look what he found:

See, B, I'm not afraid of pink.

The Kitties & Us

2009-02-21T17:36:00.000-08:00

The Fluff

The Muscle

luvs

cuddles

incognito

puzzle action

And now for an update: Since Andrew didn't take any time off during the Christmas holiday he decided that he would take this past week off to relax. This has mainly consisted of internet surfing, lusting after electronic devices, music making, and snowboarding. The conditions were perfect in the mountains after the last storm hit so cal. I had trouble at first because I'm not used to boarding on POWDER here in southern california but Andrew took to it and was off on his own after that. We were super sore after our trip but it was beyond worth it!
I didn't have any classes this past quarter so as to focus on getting my thesis research started. It's been fun to figure out everything pretty much on my own. That's about it! How has everyone else been?!

P strikes again

2009-01-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

That's two for this week so far:

Within Tolerance

I gotta say, B's suggestion that we reapportion the "Temple of Boom" space for a dining room has made it much easier to write stuff. There aren't so many distracting shiny objects about.

P presents fresh bread

2009-01-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

More offerings from my kitchen to yours:

Around Wire Breaks

Cooked up late on Saturday, dunno if it'll make the album or not (I'm undecided on Corners too).

2009-01-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

J doesn't let many things get in the way of him lounging in the computer chair.

2009-01-20T11:19:00.000-08:00

That's change I can believe in -- the whitehouse.gov website is already up and running under new management. And, quite possibly, the President might even understand how it works. More importantly, he understands how we work. May God bless Barack Hussein Obama.

It's a New Day

2009-01-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

and it feels GREAT! For the first time since 9/11 I feel united with this country and proud to be a citizen. The best part: watching Bush leave in a helicopter.

Also, it is ward conference season in the Pasadena Stake and so each Sunday I've joined the rest of the Stake Primary Board in visiting with the various wards. This past Sunday we visited Eastmont ward and I heard the best thing ever. The music leader suggested we all sing a couple patriotic songs. She then asked the children if they knew what was going to happen on Tuesday Jan. 20th. Amongst all the correct answers I heard, "It's Obama day!". Kids are great.

2009-01-13T11:36:00.001-08:00

Will.I.Am - New Music - More Music Videos

More from the kitchen

2009-01-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

Corners

So far it looks like this will be song 1 and Raster will be song 2 (of 17).

P presents: fresh from the kitchen

2009-01-08T15:47:00.001-08:00

New stuff:

Raster

Probably been listening too much to Lovefingers and Justice-like music (think that one Cadillac commercial; the song they used is "Genesis"). My man Charles was back in town over X-mas and I had flashbacks to L.A. warehouses and deserts...

Really late X-mas list addition

2008-12-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

This one is close to meu coracao -- I always suspected there were interesting things going on musically in post-war Angola. The music of Angola is a mixture of northern and southern African influences as well as bits from the other colonies and pop music in general. Anyways, now the Lab just so happens to have a nice compilation of Brazilian/Angolan crazy cool tracks:

Forca Kuduro EP 12" record, $10.00

If Santa doesn't manage to slip this one under the tree, I'll be sure to score it myself.

Andrew vs. the minivan

2008-12-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

While meandering home at a downhill speed of 22 mph, Andrew and a minivan collided in a not-so-good way last night. He was headed south on sierra madre while the minivan was going north and had just turned into an outlet to turn left. The minivan decided to make it's turn right as Andrew was about the cross the street it wanted to enter. Andrew locked up his brakes and tried to dodge the van but decided instead that maybe a little hug with the van wouldn't be such a bad idea. The hug consisted of Andrew taking off their side mirror and rolling over their hood then bouncing on the ground (He thinks).

He then thought it would be best to go sprawl out on a grassy median. Tune in next week when Andrew attempts to take on a train.

BTW-He's fine. We called Kip right after to check what deadly signs to look for and then went to the ER just to be sure he wasn't going to die in his sleep.

P X-mas list -- late addition

2008-12-12T08:02:00.000-08:00

One last thing, if anyone has some xtra cash they're dying to burn:

Reason 4 upgrade, $129

Tracks have been popping out with alarming frequency the last few days; more juice is always appreciated...

Hair 360

2008-12-09T17:29:00.001-08:00

The old

The fabulously new

Yay! I don't know why more people don't chop their hair short.

P Xmas List

2008-12-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

This is aimed mostly at B's side of the family; if you'd like to purchase items on this list for P coordinate w/B so there aren't duplicates (then again, who can't use two PC3s?):

standard stuff:

Dam-Funk Burgundy City 12" record, $6.00

ESG, Says Dance To The Beat of Moody 12" record, $7.00

Banbarra Shack Up pts 1&2 7" record, $7.50

Melvin Bliss, Synthetic Substitution/Reward 7", $7.50

Curtis Mayfield, Curtis LP 12" record, $11.00

Dinosaur L - 24 -> 24 Music LP double 12" record, $15.00

Crank Brothers Multi-17 Tool, $25

Specialized Airtool Floor Pump, $30

16GB USB memory stick, $31

4GB memory for iMac, $74

if you've got money to blow:

Arturia CS-80 V software synth, $200 (not needed if you happen to purchase the Arturia Origin)

Kurzweil PC3, $2300 (can be found for approx $1800 on Ebay)

Artruia Origin tabletop synthesizer, $2300 (demo price)

PBMZ.com presents: J Update -- Shocking New Photos!

2008-11-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

PBMZ.com was on the scene at the Kitty known as J photo shoot for his as-yet unnamed new album:

There have been shocking rumors racing around the internet that the album was inspired by a new female feline companion. PBMZ.com has obtained several of these photos; please be advised that these images are truly shocking and not for young viewers:

This photo purportedly shows the unnamed companion attacking paparazzi outside the Kittywood hotspot Strings.

The anonymous comport outside J's fabulous KittyHills mansion. No one could confirm whether she was coming or leaving or merely caught while passing by.

PBMZ.com can now confirm that yesterday's firey internet rumor is today's hot new couple! While on set we caught the two posing for photos both together and seperately:

While J would neither confirm or deny, we found out through unamed sources (who later paid the ultimate price for supplying their information) that the new companion is named "Moo Ping". Hailing from Thailand, Ping appeared to be adjusting well to her new environs. She refused to speak to us through an interpreter, but there can be no denying it now -- J has a new lady, and it looks like his high-flying bachelor days are over!

Alanis Morissette Concert

2008-11-16T18:25:00.000-08:00

When I was a teenager I didn't like a lot of different musicians, I only liked one: Alanis Morissette. I only had one poster in my room and it was hers. So, I was BEYOND, BEYOND, BEYOND stoked to be able to finally go to her concert. I took a fellow angery girl music lover, Elizabeth

what was so strange is that there was a lot of older people at the concert, like this lady in the brown jacket

But let me tell you-this lady was dancing like crazy. She would run up to the stage every 5 seconds to get a picture of alanis. I loved it. Elizabeth and I should have sat next to her instead of all the old people who wanted to SIT DOWN to watch the concert!!!
Although usually curtious, I couldn't help but toally disregaurd all the comments from those around us to sit down or stop dancing and screaming. We couldn't help it, it's Alanis!
I like Alanis' new music but a part of me was really hoping she'd play some old stuff. And that she did; almost half her set was off her album Jagged Little Pill!

Elizabeth almost completly lost her voice by the end of the concert and my throat hasn't stopped hurting since. A small price to pay to rock out to Alanis.

Daniel Gabriel Bratton-Welcome!

2008-11-16T18:08:00.000-08:00

Andrew and I took a trip up to Bakersfield to see my newest nephew, Daniel. While driving through the hills,

Andrew so graciously slowed down to 50 mph so I could capture some fine firemen...woo!!!!! There were about 6-7 trucks all in a row. I took a picture of each.

When we got to my mom's house, Andrew imediately gravitated towards a cat

and I smoothered Daniel

Election Day!

2008-11-16T18:01:00.001-08:00

It was oddly dark and ominous Nov 4th. The world saw the day's sunshine at about 8:20pm when McCain conceded.

Documentation for our progeny

Milo's Birthday

2008-11-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

80's blowing night-only for a friend
*Andrew and I won best dressed*

the loot in appreciation of our appearence

Kind of a blurry pic, but these cupcakes had old school images of the MTV logo and of Prince

Bust a move

what....H got 114 and poser p got 67????

*it just occured to me that we have no pics of the actual birthday boy. Whoops!

The scion of Zion is complete

2008-11-16T17:42:00.000-08:00

Sarah and Dennis and other Utah friends

2008-11-16T17:10:00.000-08:00

The OGs

The new generation

the scenery

Nothing but a G thing

Beautiful bride

and the kids...

then later at the luncheon

A Utah trip isn't complete without a visit to our Cali friends who are unfortunately stuck in Utah for a time...poor souls

The friend I call best

and her daughter

Charles, making Provo just a bit more tolerable

(B+P)-J

2008-11-16T17:08:00.000-08:00

Monday: Discovery Space Center in Irvine. It was a lot of fun because there were practically no other kids there. We were able to get through all the exhibits in about an hour and a half. The kids that were there were pretty bold, ie I was "flying" a plane in a wind tunnel and a little boy decided it was his turn. I couldn't retaliate because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to out run his mom.

Tuesday: Anniversary! I got an 80 minute massage/facial and then slept until dinner. Andrew juggled staring at the ocean for hours and sleeping.

Wednesday: Andrew's Birthday! Andrew really wanted a dolphin for his birthday so we set out to get one.
*we have video of all the dolphins we saw and the blue whale but the file is too big to upload or something*

Expressions of gratitude

2008-10-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

While in Centerville the Plewe gang threw Andrew a belated birthday party. Andrew received a bike gizmo that measures a million things.

Andrew expresses his gratitude for the new bike addition almost every with these 'bike updates'.....

" Ride to work was good, I went up Los Robles all the way to Altadena (7.1 miles uphill, avg. uphill speed of 9.8 mph) and then took that all the way down to work, total distance was 11.8 miles. I did it in 1 hr. 30 seconds (according to my bike odometer), about 10 minutes longer than the slightly shorter route I've been taking. Lake Ave still calls out to me, though -- when you get to the intersection of Lake and Altadena there's still a good mile or so to go before you hit the top of Lake (Google Maps tells me it's exactly a mile). From the map it looks like I would do well to go up Marengo, since it goes all the way to the top of Lake but would have less traffic Fair Oaks ends at Woodbury, then I have to cut over to Santa Rosa which doesn't go all the way to the top (it deadends into Athens about 1/2 mile from the end of Lake)".

Magic Chiropractor

2008-09-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

So normally I wouldn't post about the chiropractor but I found a new
one that is beyond AMAZING. I've seen quite a few different
chiropractors since the age of 7 or 8 years old (regular chiropractor visits reduces the frequency of my migraines). Dr.Philamon Tam has provided the best overall experience. Here's what both of my appointments have included:
1.I'm not sure what it is called but they put electrodes on painful spots
and it pulsates to eventually force the muscle to relax/loosen up.
Time: 15 min.
2. The massage therapist comes in for deep tissue work. Time: 30-45 min.
3. Dr. Philamon Tam stretches the neck, legs, and back, massages and finds trouble spots, then adjusts appropriately. Time: 20 min.

For those of you who have never been to a chiropractor, they usually come
in, ask what hurts and then spend 10 minutes adjusting you. Satisfying
until now...

Not to mention, this morning when I went in I also got a fresh blueberry muffin baked by Dr. Philamon Tam's wife.

2008-09-02T23:36:00.000-07:00

We's gonna eat good for Thanksgiving. Everyone's invited!

Stupid earthquake

2008-07-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

My super cool African statue from Susan and MJ for our wedding. GGRRRRR. Although- the statue had taken quite a tumble before the quake during a wrestling match between Andrew and I.

A super cool vase thing-y from Ikea. Cost only a couple bucks, but I really liked it! GGGRRRR.

I was out side when the quake hit, getting ready with my friends for a most excellent beach trip. As we were walking toward the gate (to get out of our town home), #B received a violent jolt. It looked like the town home was coming toward us in an "S" shape. It was very scarry. At this point we all started to run away from anything taller then us.

Charles and Andrew

2008-07-28T00:53:00.001-07:00

Photographic evidence that these two are friends.

Andrew vs. the computer

2008-07-28T00:48:00.000-07:00

Jeffries-Always willing to help, or not

2008-07-27T23:36:00.000-07:00

Everyone keeps asking me what have I been doing this summer since I'm not in school and don't have a job. Let's see...

Eating with friends.This is Heather, a great friend since 7th grade. She lives just up the 5 freeway a bit.

Reading! For the past year or so I really haven't found any author/book that has been all that captivating. I've been disappointed one too many times which led me to raid the local library for all things John Grisham. For the past 8-10 years I have religously read every new book he's published. Now I'm reading all the ones I missed before this period.

(If anyone has suggestions about authors or titles, let me know! I only really like fiction books having to due with lawyers, judges, clandestine operatives etc)

Playing with my nephew, Spencer before he went off to Ohio with Joy

Going to the beach (almost) every Tuesday to decrease the number of stares I get from people looking at my legs.

Inceasing my craftiness. I have started photo journaling which I like but seems to take over my whole day. I also finally got my sewing machine fixed and have started taking lessons to learn how to use my serger.

I made different sizes of rags to use around the house and for random things. The pink/green ones are like baby wipes-one side is terry cloth and the other is cotton flannel.

Another question that most people keep asking me is when I will be done with school.

I will technically be done Fall 2009 but will probably continue to do lab work until the following spring quarter. After that I am not 100% sure what I will do. I would like to do more graduate work in biochemisty/molecular biology. The only downside to a biology-related profession is that if I ever have kids, it would be hard to gain entry into the field after mulitple years of being gone. It is a very fast paced and changing field.

So I was thinking of a profession that I could be passionate about(enough to propel me into completing more education). Most likely due to my love and never-ending loyalty to books by John Grisham, I have started to research law school and environmental law.

Andrew is also interested in law school but with a different emphasis, of course.

The new Bachez family

2008-07-27T23:27:00.000-07:00

Roz and James got married June 21st. Roz' dress was so wicked sweet! From head to her toe, she was all 50's style (the picture doesn't do it justice). I thought it was great.

The newest member of Pale Force...Katie

For the reception, the Bachez clan raided Ikea for anything blue or orange

Charles!

2008-07-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

"I..I was just helping you sort through the mail, promise..."

2008-07-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

Another great reason to visit Utah..is SUSAN! I thought I'd surprise her at her home in Orem by just "stopping by". I scared her and she screamed which scared me...which left me shaking for an hour afterward. If I wasn't so excited to see her, the experience probably would have given me a migraine.

Sunday Dinner

2008-07-10T20:05:00.001-07:00

Funny face contest

2008-07-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

There are some fierce competitors out there...

Surprise Centerville 4th of July!

2008-07-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

Andrew thought that a sporatic Centerville trip might be fun since we had no plans for the 4th of July. It was a blast, we're both glad we decided to go.

The works

Lacy Park

2008-06-20T17:11:00.000-07:00

Andrew skipped work and we decided a nice lunch in the park was needed. We grabbed a couple panini from Bristol Farms and headed for some shade.

Random information-Lacy park is one of the parks used for population research for the native California gray squirrel and the (introduced and more aggresive) fox squirrel. You can help collect data (in your own area) for the research group here

Toodeloo!

2008-06-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

I love throwing stuff away-especially stuff that once consumed a ton of my time! This year I made so many flashcards it was ridiculous. I think there is a little less then 800 cards here.

To Susan,

2008-06-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for the cool pan for my birthday! I included photographic evidence that I have already used it (I'm not sure you'd believe me) for the perfect bite-sized lemon muffins.

Love, Heather

Birthday dinner

2008-06-13T21:51:00.000-07:00

We invited Alicia and Zack to dinner at Parkway grill. We had great food and even better conversation!

I had a great day!!!

Birthday lunchies

2008-06-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

My BFFE (that's best friends forever evah) Elizabeth took me out to delicious Thai food.Thanks Elizabeth!!

Bithday Beautification

2008-06-13T13:07:00.001-07:00

Fixin my hairs so I look closer to 25 then 17.

Next step: Nails

Supervisor Jeffries

2008-06-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

Such a hard and stressful life this one has...

Room Change

2008-06-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

The master bedroom has a lot of space...Andrew and I just couldn't find it.

Before

After

We got rid of our TV, so now we project onto our huge blank wall

George & Steph get their legal papers in order

2008-06-07T13:21:00.001-07:00

My brother and his girlfriend (of 10 whopping years) finally made it to the courthouse! Yea and congratuations!

Their official papers

and not to be outdone by the newlyweds, Spencer steals the show...

Surprise Andrew, your great!

2008-06-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

We all know that Andrew is just about the most awesome person we know. He helped me sooo much during the last 2 weeks of classes/finals with his Heather Support Services. These services included constant back massages, periodic snack breaks, endless listening to the recitation of all things biochemical, and constructive criticism of a Lipitor presentation till 2:00AM.

So to show my gratitude for his undying devotion to my success I thought I'd pamper him. It started with a homemade puzzle

He had to find all the specified colored pieces scattered around the house (believe you me this took quite some time for him)

But it ended on a good note with Andrew opening nothing but his oh-so-desired-and-constantly-asked-for electronic devices! I have no idea what any of it does, I just follow the mouser links.

Thanks again Andrew!

Organizado

2008-06-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

I love to organize my stuff and basically everyone else's stuff too. Just when I was losing hope that I might never convert Andrew to my hyper-organization tactics, I look out the back door and my hope was renewed.

Who would even think to organize the woodstack?? Brilliant.

Kitty ball

2008-06-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

Since the Bakersfield cats enjoy the ball/track kitty toy toy so much I thought I'd buy one for Jeffries. Little did I know Andrew would get so competitive...

Jeffries was totally up 3-1 when he just let the ball go right by.

So he reaches for the extra umpf he needs to really show off his skillz

Jeffries then totally dominated by holding onto the ball for the rest of the game. Final score Jeffries 10: Andrew 3. Well at least that is what we tell him...

Alhambra's Got Talent

2008-04-20T23:03:00.000-07:00

No seriously

Hmmm....

2008-03-15T23:16:00.000-07:00

What could this be?

Pretty lights...

Does it Fit?

B's favorite features:

Paddle shifters

Spoiler

P's favorite features:

Space, space and more space.

B Ownz Kidz

2008-03-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

Proof:

The rockstar with B is available for autographs at your local Nursery class.

This one won't be available for awhile, but B has an all-access pass to all kidz. You may now envy her awesomeness.

P Likes Food Too

2008-03-15T22:55:00.000-07:00

For the record -- B made the best burger in the world, ever. Don't even think about trying to top it 'cause all other burgers wither in its presence.

J Update

2008-03-15T22:47:00.000-07:00

"Why do you always point that wierd boxlike thing at me?"

"This is what you're supposed to do with a box."

"Oh yeah, y'all don't know how to use these fluffy white things either."

Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's... Ah nuts, it ain't 1999 anymore.

2008-03-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, we do party

And we even have friends. Like, more than two.

Stuffs Lust Day Part Deux

2008-03-15T22:34:00.000-07:00

B's brother George says: "Stuffs or kitty? You decide..."

Steph says: "Nice stuffs, now shut up andy marry me George". Congrats, yo, and thanx for the excuse to vacation in May.

Satisfying Stuff Lust

2008-03-15T22:12:00.000-07:00

Apparently it's so important that they dedicate a whole day to it.

Remember, stuff yourself before you stuff lust.

Stuff for the soul. B roxxors at cardzors way more than P.

Mmmm... Stuffs.

Tasty twin triode...

Tasty twin triode twist.

Memories by B

2008-03-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

When I was little I distinctly remember the fabulous movie, Batteries Not Included. I absolutely loved this movie.

The other night when Andrew had baked some biscuits to accompany dinner I noticed something incredibly odd about what I was about to eat.....

Needless to say I couldn't go through with eating the "biscuit"

New eats for B

2008-03-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

So I usually don't blog, let alone blog about food. But since P has used the phrase "uneducated palate" many times in describing my inklings for food, I thought I'd blog a new experience!

My friend, Pratiksha had everyone from our genetic engineering lab over to her house for lunch. All I remember is there is a somosa in there somewhere. Tasty!

This is the defination I've always carried with me about what it means to be in relief society. I guess creativity has to be funnelled somehwere.

Updata

2008-02-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

Oh my, has it really been that long since our last post? We will get it together ("and see what's happenin'/you and you and you..."), but yay for a.) first day of new job and b.) new job doesn't block access to Blogger so I can actually read people's blogs and see their pictures and stuff. So more data to be filed in short order. And that is all.

-P-