Katie Eating Popcorn

Goodwill, good grief!

2011-04-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

My pal Lauren and I met at the Goodwill Outlet today for some "thrifting." I can't remember if I've blogged about this store, I probably have, but let me just say shopping there is the craziest experience. It's a bit like dumpster diving because all of the items are thrown into gigantic bins and everything you buy is sold by weight. Last time I went my brother was in town and we found a collectable game worth $60 that we paid less than a dollar for. There are always tons of people there pushing around overloaded shopping carts, but today it was especially crowded. It was actually a bit scary at times. People were surrounding bins as they were brought out to the floor and on command, snatching and shoveling as much as they could into their own carts. The best I can think to describe it is that it was like dumping fish food into a fish tank but the fish were people and the food was just a bunch of junk. I can't figure out why people buy that stuff by the cartful. Me, I only purchased a couple essential items: vintage hat and hat box, gymnastics foam wedge, dishwasher bottle holder, rubber ball, and last but not least, a tent for Etta.

Baby Stock Pile

2011-04-15T07:23:00.001-07:00

The Similac coupons arrived Monday. After hitting up 6 grocery stores, by Tuesday afternoon we had 20 large tubs of formula, 170 jars of baby food, and 4 boxes of rice/oatmeal cereal. Total savings, $240. Total times a manager was called to the check out stand, 4. Monthly formula budget went from about $100/month to about $35/month. So it was coupon success. Next project, saving on diapers!

I'm also including a pic of Etta's $0.02 sleeper, made from a Wal-Mart, Miley Cyrus jean shirt that was on clearance for $1 but rang up for $0.02. Oh, the savings!

Coupons?

2011-04-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I ordered 20 - $5 off Similac coupons from an online coupon clipper. I'm not really a "couponer" but formula cost is currently sucking up a good portion of our budget. So I'm planning on using at least some of them in combination with Similac checks that I already have, and a store promotion to take $5 off of a $25 qualifing baby purchase. Theoretically I would save $15 per $25 transaction. I've been stressed and nervous ever since I had the idea, imagining having a confrontation about coupons at the check-out stand with a long line of shoppers behind me, all glaring at me with their hands on their hips. That's why I'm not a couponer. I'll let you know how it goes.

Rainy day - sort of

2011-04-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

The skies have been threatening rain all day so Etta is spending some time reading...

I haven't blogged in forever so I thought, what the heck, might as well think of something to say to the world. Being a mom is all-consuming. I don't have time to be very creative or inventive unless it involves bells, rattles, bottles, or diapers bags. Also, the portion of my "thinking time" that used to be devoted to coming up with thoughts and ideas to impress and enlighten the world has been reallocated to pondering whether four months is too old for a swaddle and whether homemade formula is worth the effort. Yes, there is such a thing as homemade formula and it's not just a classy way of saying "nursing." Who knew right?

For now I'll stick to just giving a brief update about our life here in Colorado.

1. Etta is almost four months old - she's laughing, smiling, rolling over, and doing all of the other typical baby things.

2. Thomas' job is going well, although he's way over-qualified to be in his position and should be doing his boss's boss's job... or so I think anyway ;)

3. Colorado is beautiful, still a little chilly but we've had some 70 degree days lately so I can't complain. The BOB stroller was hands down the best baby purchase we made.

4. Church/Friends/Community here are awesome. We've made some great friends already and feel pretty connected. Etta has a bunch of baby friends too, which makes me happy, seems like a good headstart to life.

So there's a little bit about how things are. We had a scary incident last month where my brother was in a snowboarding accident and shattered his femur, and along with that shattered the hope that one day we'd convince our families to move up here. My mom now hates Denver and my brother is too much of a Texan to want to move. Still holding out a tiny bit of hope for my sister and brother-in-law though, and maybe Thomas' sisters :)

Guess that's about it, I'm going to attach a couple more pictures, one is of a hike we did last weekend in Boulder, and the other is of the Easter bunny, who might be crawling in a few weeks but probably wont be hopping for a while.

Smiley

2011-02-04T09:28:00.001-08:00

Here's my best attempt at getting Etta to smile on camera.
She's been smiling alot lately but it's hard to catch on video!

New Year's Resolutions, at last

2011-01-25T14:16:00.000-08:00

It's almost a month into 2011 and I've finally nailed down my new year's resolutions.

1. Drink more water
2. Be less judgemental
3. Wear more sunscreen
4. Be more honest*

I don't do any of these four nearly enough, so any improvement would be wonderful!

*That means if I'm trying to use an expired coupon and it gets handed back to me, I need to admit that I knew it was expired instead of pretending I had no idea. Or better yet, not try to use the coupon in the first place.

Life as we know it

2011-01-21T07:51:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to find a second to blog for the past month and a half, and finally, here I am, sitting at the computer, still in my pjs, with a half eaten banana on the table next to me, dirty diapers spilling out of the trash can, and little Etta on the couch making grunting noises in her sleep.
Today marks six weeks since she was born and the further I can get from that date, the better. I knew it was going to be a tough experience but I didn't expect getting hit by the truck of emotions that followed - I won't go into that right now but I will say I am back to feeling like myself again.
For now, here's the update from Knickerbocker home:
Etta is adorable, church is good, the episode of the office last night was hilarious, and sometimes you just have to be ok with doing your best even when it seems you should be able to do better.

Feedback

2010-11-02T13:22:00.001-07:00

Derek Webb has a new album out that's based on The Lord's Prayer. It's called Feedback. I like it already. For more info, check out http://www.derekwebb.com/

Feedback [2.1] from Scott Brignac on Vimeo.

Julius Judy

2010-10-29T17:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, I feel horrible about posting this. I stole the picture from my brother-in-law's facebook page and I've been patiently waiting all day for him to post photos/announcement on his blog. But I can't hold out any longer. The thing is, today was a huge day for our family because Heidi, Jason, Ethan, and Adelaide (and the rest of us) welcomed the newest member, Julius Wilson Judy. I wished I could be there so bad. So bad that for the last few days I've told Thomas about a hundred times that we need to move back to Texas, which is really saying somthing because Colorado is beautiful right now. But Julius is awesome, for real. So even though we can't be there to celebrate, I'd like to pass on this message via the blogosphere.
Julius, thank you for your happiness which is so sweetly evident in the photo, it makes the world better.
Aunt Katie and Uncle Thomas love you dearly.
*Pictured above, Julius with Papa Hester and mom (Heidi) in the background. Didn't want to post one of their family photos because I figure they'll be up on Jason's blog soon!

Blue Suitcase

2010-10-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my brother who is celebrating halfway across the world today! It's technically tomorrow morning there if I've calculated correctly. Here's a vintage suitcase from Thomas and I that will hopefully take you on all of your many adventures to come. We're keeping it here in Colorado so that you have to come see us to get it (and so that you don't have to mess with sending it back to the states in a few months). Hopefully you'll appreciate that I reupholstered the interior in corrugated brown rather than the original baby blue ruffled satin. Yes, it has working locks and a key, and yes, the awesome sweater vest is included. Hope you have a wonderful day! You are loved (and missed).

Towel update...

2010-10-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

This is how I hung my towel this morning (it's the white one). I had to use duct tape to get it to stay that way. I'm going wild anticipating Thomas coming home and noticing it. I keep going in there to look at it and make sure it's still as funny as it was fifteen minutes ago!

I guess it wasn't that funny

2010-10-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes things happen and they're really only funny to you? And when you think about them, they're really not funny at all, but they still make you laugh?
When I was little I used to love eating raw carrots. My mom would peel a whole carrot and I would walk around gnawing on it like bugs bunny. I was probably 4 or 5 years old on this one particular occasion and I walked into the living room with my carrot and my dad said "What a big carrot!" I thought it was so funny I nearly peed in my pants and for years, anytime I wanted to make myself laugh I would think of that experience. I still remember when I was in fourth grade and it dawned on me that the "what a big carrot" story wasn't actually funny. It was a sad day.
So I had three more not-so-funny things happen in the last few days and I want to write them down so that I'll be able to look back, laugh, and role my eyes at how silly I once was.

1. I walked into the bathroom after Thomas had taken a shower and his towel was folded over the rack by only one or two inches with the other end almost touching the floor. I laughed histerically for probably 5 minutes because I couldn't understand how it was staying on like that and I couldn't believe he put his towel up that way.
2. We passed a Waffle House and I said "Waffle Hou-ooooohs" like I was a dog howling. And then I thought I was really funny.
3. I was making spaghetti sauce and when I tasted it I all of the sudden heard the song "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's amore" playing in my head. I started laughing out loud and Thomas, from the other room, asked me what was so funny.

Swim Lessons

2010-10-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies just because I wanted to. What a life. But Thomas and I have been on a healthy eating kick so now I'm trying to decide if I should hide them before he comes home from work.
We got free three-month memberships to the gym so we've both been on our own little exercise routines, mine consisting solely of swimming laps in the indoor pool. I have to stop after every lap to catch my breath so it's a little embarrassing. The other day the lady in the lane next to me stopped to tell me that I was swimming wrong. I, of course, exaggerated and claimed I was eight months pregnant even though I wasn't quite that far along. She still told me I need to force my head down and my butt up so I tried it. I was already on my last lap so she gave me the advice and then I swam to the other end, got out, and left :)
Yesterday I went in the afternoon right when these dark rain clouds had come out. The pool was totally empty and the place looked really eerie. I swam three laps and then got spooked and left. I don't like being alone in water. My imagination goes crazy with scenarios of snakes, sharks, and alligators being accidentally transported into random three lane lap pools across the country. Probably the next terrorist plot. Anyway I took an extra long shower in the locker room so that the people at the front desk wouldn't look at me weird for leaving after only 10 minutes.

Projects

2010-10-01T10:26:00.001-07:00

This blog post is mainly for my mom who's been wanting to see some of the projects I've been working on. I just learned to crochet in the last month so I've been experimenting by making Etta a few hats and bonnets. The socks and striped hat are ones I knitted while we were still in Montana but the others are crocheted and inspired by a few Etsy pages and several youtube instructional videos.
I made a bad Craigslist purchase and it turned into a week long project. I was looking for an infant carrier/car seat and finally made plans to drive about 45 minutes to look at one some lady was selling on Craigslist. When I got there it was dingy and ugly and nasty looking but I had driven all that way and, on the spot, I just bought it anyway. Filled with regret I bought a pattern online that night to learn how to recover the car seat pad and $25 later plus a few broken sewing machine needles, this was the result. I love Mary Blair's illustrations so we decorated Etta's room by framing some xeroxed pages from the Little Golden Book "I Can Fly.Finally, here's a shot of a baby beanie I made for little Kase Twitty. It's way too hot for him to wear it in Texas right now, but it was fun to make and hopefully will still fit him this winter. Here's a link to his family's blog if you want to see a few pics of the cute little guy!

Colorado Fall

2010-09-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Just posting a few photos from our drive up to the mountains yesterday. We took 70 to Beaver Creek and then had lunch in Vail. It was fun to skip church and enjoy a little of the outdoors - plus Thomas let me take a nap on the drive home so I missed a lot of the stop and go traffic!

Life without the letter "P"

2010-09-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

The letter "P" on my blackberry doesn't work so for a few months now I've been texting and making lists with an alphabet of 25. The only way I can write phrases like pretty purple pumpkins is to go to old lists I have saved, find the letter in another word, copy it, and paste it into the new note. Needless to say I don't have the energy to jump through those type of hoops very often. Yesterday I wrote in a to do list: "Take letters and packages to the ost office" Then I erased the whole line and just wrote "Mail stuff." If this goes on much longer "P" may be in danger of extinction. Survival of the fittest, alphabet style.

The 19th

2010-09-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

I made it one complete month blogging and only missed three days. That's an accomplishment for me and I'm celebrating by drinking a Fresca and watching the end of the saddest movie ever - Cast Away. Pretty sure I wouldn't survive if I was stranded alone on an island, and definitely don't think I could handle coming home and seeing that the rest of the world moved on. The Knickerbockers like to do depressing things on Sunday nights like mope around in our pjs, root for losing football teams, and watch sad movies. It's all in preparation for another week of work - and I'm not even the one who has to get up and go!

Carnival prizes

2010-09-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

Spent the day at the church Fall Festival and I have sunburned forearms and faded temporary tattoos to show for it. It was great 70 something degree weather and sunny. I tattooed probably 20-30 kids, talked with a bunch of people I'd never met, handed out candy and prizes for the bean bag toss, ate a plate full of pulled pork barbecue, and threw up in the parking lot. Overall it was a fun day, but Thomas came home in a bad mood because kids were taking advantage of his bean bag booth just to load up on prizes, and stupid prizes at that, like High School Musical notepads and cheap little hand-held mazes. Then a guy trying to be funny slapped him really hard in the shoulder because there was a bug on him. Even carnys have bad days every once-in-a-while!

Is it autumn yet?

2010-09-17T16:23:00.001-07:00

We're working at a church fall festival tomorrow so all week I've been in a sweatshirt wearing, leaf crunching mood. Yeah it's Colorado but it's definitely not cool enough for sweats yet, trust me, I tried it and was miserable.
So we'll have to report later how it goes but as of now, I'm scheduled to be in charge of the tatoo booth and Thomas is heading the bean bag toss. But before the fun begins, I got a head start by making caramel apples and, you guessed it - popcorn.
Here's the exciting thing I learned about popcorn. You can take a brown paper lunch sack (I got the extra large ones), pour in a handful of plain popcorn kernels, fold the end of the bag over, stick it in the microwave on the popcorn setting, and in minutes you've got a fresh, natural version of the packaged microwaved snack.
We love making popcorn over the stove but this was even easier. Just spray on some butter and sprinkle on some salt and you're good to go (or eat it plain if you're trying to be good!)

I got nothing

2010-09-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

No blog ideas whatsoever. I asked Thomas if he knew any jokes I could put on here and he said "Why is 6 afraid of 7?"

Today I ate cereal, paid bills, cleaned, took lunch to Thomas, drank a Limeade from Sonic, shopped at a thrift store, went to a Farmers Market, worked on a crochet project, picked Thomas up from work, made tacos for dinner, ran errands, checked the mail, drank water, and I'm about to go to bed.

When will this month of blogging end?

You owe me

2010-09-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

When I went to buy a few books at a used bookstore today I realized the $4 total was under the credit card minimum. Surprisingly, the guy at the register told me to just pay for it the next time I came in. As it turned out, I actually had enough quarters, dimes, and nickles to pay for it, and it was worth fishing them all out to avoid the feeling of owing someone for the rest of my life (it was a pretty far drive and I'm not thinking I'll be back often). I was reminded of the book I stole from the library at my preschool. I checked it out from the Childrens Workshop Library and then hated preschool so much that my mom and dad never made me go back. That little book sat on the bookshelf in my closet for years with a tag on the inside front cover that said "Please Return." Oh, the guilt! It probably ended up in a Goodwill box eventually. I'm pretty sure I dodged a bullet today.

He filled it only halfway

2010-09-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

Suzanne Vega sang Tom's Diner on NPR this afternoon, with no musical accompaniment. You know, the song that goes ba ba ba da ba ba da da... ? You'd recognize it if you heard it. I can't remember if the original song is only vocals or not but the live on-air version seemed a little awkward but cool. I imagined her, the host, and another guest musician sitting in a small glassed in cubicle with mics dangling in front of their chairs and a big bright "on air" button lit up on the wall. The host finished answering phone-in questions and asked Vega to perform, so she quietly began singing - but a song that seemed more like a conversation somehow. It felt like I was on the other end of the phone line listening to a friend tell me about the couple in the diner and the rain and a lady outside the window. I may have actually started believing it was just another conversation if it wasn't for the periodic odd pauses where it seemed like you should hear something making a beat. I was wondering if it was because the song moves up and down by half steps mostly, and maybe that's also what our voices do when speaking. Just thoughts floating through my head I guess, something was strange about listening to it but I can't quite put my finger on it. Interesting experience but I could have done without having that song in my head for the next five hours... ba ba ba da ba ba da da.

Three things

2010-09-13T16:55:00.001-07:00

1. After Thomas left for work today he told me he forgot his Welch (his grape soda that was in the fridge). He then explained that Welch is the singular form of Welchs.

2. I went on a hunt this morning to find a second car charger for our Garmin GPS. Brief explanation: Thomas hard wired the charger into his 4Runner, a brilliant idea until we went back to two cars. So as I was browsing the aisles of Best Buy a sales associate that looked no older than myself, came up to me and said "Can I help you find anything young lady?" One of us obviously has issues guessing ages.

3. I started using Breathe Right nasal strips at Thomas's suggestion. They're like little clear band aids that go over your nose and help you breath at night if you congested or if you snore... which I don't think I do but I'll admit, I don't know. Anyway, these little things are amazing. I could have definitely used them 5 years ago!

Tea Time

2010-09-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

Oops, missed another day blogging. My only excuse is that I meant to do it last night but ended up watching "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" instead. Pretty lame huh? At least it was a Red Box movie so it was just a dollar, that is, if we remember to turn it in today.
We drove to Boulder yesterday and took a tour of the Celestial Seasoning factory. I like tea but I decided Celestial Seasoning is probably my least favorite brand, all the teas taste too flowery and that was confirmed by the free taste test at the factory. It was really cool though, to see all the machinery and the huge storage rooms full of ingredients. They have one room called the Mint Room and when you walk in it's like getting hit in the face with a candy cane. I lasted about 2 seconds before I went back out but some people, including Thomas, stayed in there for a while and came out with their noses running and eyes watering. It was neat :)

Here are a few tea facts I learned:
1. Most herbal teas are not technically teas they're herbal infusions
2. Green tea has the least caffeine, then white tea, then black tea (and they're all made from the same plant, the leaves are just prepared differently)
3. White tea has the most antioxidants
4. You should make black tea with boiling water and green and white tea with water that's just under boil
5. Even if you just have to go a little bit, you should use the restroom before beginning a 45 minute tour about tea.

Bad to worse to best

2010-09-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Rookie parent mistake #48 - Don't assemble the baby crib in the living room unless you want the baby to actually sleep in the living room.

Thomas and I set out to assemble Etta's crib last night. We carefully followed all the directions making sure to tighten but not "over-tighten" the bolts as the instructions warned. At one point Thomas asked me if it was going to fit through the door and I replied "I think so." I was wrong and half an hour later we were back to square one. Tired and frustrated I gave up and went to bed. Then I tossed and turned all night and eventually wound up sleeping on the couch. I woke up in an even worse mood. Thomas, however, seemed unusually happy. He kept waiting for me to notice something but I didn't, and then finally told me he wanted to show me something. You guessed it - the crib was completely set up. He had woken up early and done a number of things around the house that I'd been stressed out about. What a wonderful husband. This morning was the best morning!

Literally like a billion...

2010-09-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

I wrote literally like a billion thank you notes today and climbed literally like a billion stair steps, as well as folded literally like a billion clothes. And all that after tossing and turning literally like a billion times last night.

I've been wanting to say "literally like a billion" in a blog post for literally like a billion days.

Productivity

2010-09-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

I had a very productive day today, here's the list:
Dropped a friend off at the airport
Came home and unpacked boxes
Rearranged some things
Cleaned the washer and dryer
Started laundry
Cleaned up leak coming from the washing machine
Started laundry again
Met Thomas for lunch
Went to the grocery store
Talked to my mom on the phone
Cooked dinner
Watched TV
Started writing this blog

You'd think I'd find something significant in all that to write about. The only things I can think of are the fact that I said "No, thank you" to the guy selling newspapers at the grocery store and that I honked at someone who cut me off. Not sure why, but I like saying no to salesmen and honking at people.

Our Best Formula Ever*

2010-09-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

I used to have a conditioner bottle with a bright red banner across the front that read "Our Best Formula Ever." Every time I took a shower I saw it and wondered what that meant. I imagined scientists standing in a laboratory kitchen over boiling cauldrons and adding viles with labels like "Tears from babies in Thailand" and ""Oils from rare Brazilian rain forest flowers." Then I would get irritated because it seemed too obvious, wouldn't every new formula be better than the last? My question was answered today when I noticed my new bottle doesn't say that anymore. I can only assume it's made from Valvoline siphoned out of broken down cars found on the side of the highway. Good thing the matching shampoo contains "Repair Serum."

*This is an excerpt from the ever-changing stand-up comedy routine that cycles through my head every now and then. I tried it out loud on Thomas once and it didn't get the reaction I was going for. Probably because I didn't have the bit about the new bottle until this evening. Imagine that obnoxious sitcom laughter after every few sentences.

2-Year-Anniversary

2010-09-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we spent out two year anniversary driving back to Colorado with a load of stuff from storage and a second car. I told Thomas it was our third U-Haul adventure in one year, hopefully the last for a little while. Wish I had a little more time to reflect on the excitement of two years ago and the fun we've had since, but I'm tired. I'm actually just writing this blog out of obligation because I feel so guilty for missing the last few days ;) Just for fun, here's a song performed by the Carolina Chocolate Drops that I'm dedicating to Thomas (technically it's sung about a girl so just change all the shes to hes)

Separation Anxiety

2010-09-03T07:08:00.001-07:00

I believe I was born with a personality especially prone to separation anxiety. As a toddler I hated preschool. In grade school I struggled spending the night at friends' houses. When I went to college I didn't go far from home, I was an emotional wreck when I quit my first real job, and as an adult I've been known to tear up when pulling out of my parents' driveway after a visit. All that to say, a week ago I took separation anxiety to another level.

Particularly emotional about leaving Thomas to come to Texas for a week, I had sobbing episodes sporadically for the few days prior to my departure. On the day I left I laid on my bed and cried all morning until Thomas finally came in, opened all the windows, and told me to go take a shower (he was trying to get me distracted). When he dropped me off at the airport I cried. After I went through security and headed up the escalator I had the thought "What if I were to fall and Thomas wasn't here?" and I cried again. Then my mom called and asked how it went getting dropped off and I cried. Then Thomas called and asked if I had gotten in touch with my mom and I cried again. As you can imagine, I showed up to Dallas in bad shape! Fortunately my parents were pretty understanding and I ended up making it through the week with only a few more episodes. And tonight will be a very happy reunion. Looking forward to when my brain gets back to normal in a few months. That will happen right?

Back on Wheels

2010-09-02T18:49:00.000-07:00

I had a moving reunion this week with a very special friend who played an integral role in my life for the last 10 years - before we moved out of Texas. We bought my car back from my Uncle Steve, who generously took care of it for the last year. Her name is Penny and she's a 2000 Honda Civic and I never really realized I even like cars until a few days ago when I opened the drivers side door, turned the key, and listened to all the old familiar creaks an clunks that I'd become so accustomed to. She took me to college, through several moves, to Chicago for my nephew's birth, to Big Bend to stare at the stars, drove me up and down highway 75 to all of my seminary classes, and accompanied me to hundreds of intimidating interviews while working for the newspaper. She's hauled groceries, teenagers, a twin size mattress, countless friends, art projects, a wedding dress, camp gear, and cameras. She's been shoe polished, filled with balloons, slept in, wrecked in, climbed on and hailed on and if that's not a friend, I don't know what is. Here's to having your own wheels and rolling down your own road!

A word

2010-09-01T06:43:00.000-07:00

I really liked the message at Chase Oaks this past Sunday about discerning promptings of the Holy Spirit. The pastor explained, in a relatively simple way, what it took me probably 10 years to learn on my own. It was one of those times I felt like saying "Boy, if I had heard this sermon years ago who knows how different I would be." And I probably wouldn't be different at all. I probably had to learn those lessons the hard way. I used to treat the Holy Spirit like a crystal ball that, if I could only see clear enough would illuminate every decision I was ever supposed to make. My current feelings on discerning the Spirit take quite a bit more faith and require me making my own decisions with much less clarity. Kind of wish things worked the other way sometimes. Here's a link to the sermon if you're interested, just look for 8/29 "Guidance of the Spirit."

Out with the old

2010-08-31T09:57:00.001-07:00

I've spent the last hour going through a box of grad school papers from my time at DTS. I had forgotten how much work that two-and-a-half-year span of my life was. And now, most of it's in the trash. I did keep my charts (because I like charts) and all of the notes and papers I wrote for Dr. Kreider's classes (because I liked Dr. Kreider's classes). Other than that, I can't imagine ever digging through a box in an attic just to find out what I said in that book review about educational processes. If I can't keep my chair I'm definitely not keeping all that crap. Lets just hope the important stuff is still in little bits and pieces floating around in my mind.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

2010-08-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Yellow Chair,

I'm sorry I used you as a bargaining chip to keep my metal file cabinet. When my husband told me I had to get rid of the junk in storage, I felt, well, trapped, just as you have been for the last year, with no way out. Sometimes you have to choose to say goodbye to things you're not quite ready to part with, just so you can keep something that is even more... cool... like a card catalogue file cabinet picked up at a church garage sale. I remember the day I bought you at the Goodwill and snuck you home without asking anyone's permission. I remember how our old dog Jack used to love sitting on you and how mad it made me because he was ruining your beautiful yellow velvet. I'm sorry you're now sitting waiting for a craigslist call or a garage sale tag. It's not fair, I know, but I can only hope that when I have a house again, you'll be waiting in someone else's garage for me to find you again. Farewell yellow chair and please do not go to any of my relatives because I could hardly bare to have the constant reminder that they are now slightly cooler than I for having you in their possession.

Yours truly,

Sipping lemonade by the beach

2010-08-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl I was terribly afraid of the dark and my parents had the worst time trying to get me to go to sleep. I remember a conversation one night with my dad when I was about 8 or 9 years old where he was trying, probably for the 100th time to get me to calm down. He told me that I should try pretending that I'm lying by a beach, relaxing, listening to the waves crashing, or that I should imagine someplace that I would particularly like to be. He said when he's scared (which now I realize is a lie because dad's never get scared) he likes to imagine that he's in a cave, on the side of a snowy mountain, resting under a pile of heavy blankets and watching the snow falling softly outside. I guess the cave idea was a little too intimidating to me, I mean, caves are dark and there are typically man-eating animals lurking deep inside them, so from a very young age I adopted the original beach theme when I needed to mentally escape from a situation. For a while I would imagine myself floating on a raft in the ocean, but I had this eerie feeling that a shark was about to pop up and chomp my dangling legs off, so my theme got modified. For several years now, my ideal environment is relaxing on a raft, sipping lemonade, looking out on the ocean, listening to the waves crashing... while floating in one of those fancy overflow pools located in a resort on the edge of a beach somewhere.

So yesterday I painstakingly made it through three ascents/descents in a Southwest Boeing 737, trying not to let motion sickness get the best of me. I went into the final descent feeling confidant I could keep my crackers down but quickly realized it was going to be a long 15 minutes. I started to sweat. "Mind over matter," I thought as my nausea got worse and worse and the ride got bumpier and bumpier. I quickly blasted the tiny air vent above my seat directly at my face and closed my eyes. "I'm at the beach," I told myself. The plane seemed too bumpy for a pool float so I imagined I was lying in a boat tethered to a pier. Then I started feeling seasick so I went back to my original raft and tried to ignore the movement. With the seatbelt light on and all flight attendants safely strapped in their own seats (and no barf bag to be found) I knew my only option was to stay at the beach, and I almost made it. I'll spare you the rest of the story except to say that the two ladies sitting next to me were very kind.

Deep in the heart of Texas

2010-08-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

Just about to head out the door to catch a plane back to Texas. Looking forward to some family time, friend time, garage sale, and baby shower - it's going to be a busy week, but I'm still committed to my blogging goal. Maybe I'll have some good airport stories to share tomorrow!

Here's to health!

2010-08-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning and made pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs. That's not a typical morning in our house. As of late, most mornings I eat a nutrigrain bar in bed and then hope I can keep it down at least until I get back from driving Thomas to work. Morning sickness is a cruel, seemingly unending plague. So why the big breakfast? It was a celebration of the first day in over a year that Thomas, baby Knickerbocker, and I are all completely and fully coverd 100% by health insurance!!! That's right, we made it through two cross country moves, and entire ski season, and almost the first two trimesters of pregnancy without any major health emergencies, and we're thanking our lucky stars (and a graceful God who could have easily decided to teach us a lesson). What a great feeling to know that one of us could be hit by a bus and the other wouldn't have to feel guilty for calling an ambulance!

It Aint My Fault

2010-08-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a few songs I've found interesting lately.

It Ain't My Fault by Mos Def & Lenny Kravitz
A response to the gulf oil spill. Favorite line: "They go to the rock to hide their face and the rock cried out 'No hiding place!'"

Creep cover by Scala & Kolacny Brothers choir
WARNING: If you don't already know the Radiohead hit be advised that there's some bad language, and it's pretty hard to miss when enunciated by a choir

Clay Pigeons cover by John Prine
I just like this song, it's hopeful. Plus I like that he want's to go "where the people say ya'll."

One eye closed

2010-08-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

I finally found my eye patch yesterday. I've been looking for it for over a week. It was hiding under Thomas' bedside table and I came across it to my surprise while fixing the bed. Who knew it would be a blogworthy experience to find one's eye patch but those of you with bad allergies might be able to relate. I have some kind of condition where once an eye starts watering, it never stops. I'm like the person from the commercial who constantly gets asked why she's crying (I know what you're thinking and no, it would not be a good idea to ask me that the next time you see me!) So the only way I've found to make it stop is to keep my eye closed, which is difficult to do by just sheer willpower. That's why I made myself an eye patch. And that's also why I'm very happy to have found it.

Bread, bread, everywhere but not a crumb to eat

2010-08-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

I cannot bake bread. I can't bake bread in low altitude, high altitude, in the form of loaves, rolls, buns, or even, as recently tested, with a bread machine. Thinking the $6 thrift store find would solve my baking woes, I bought it, lugged it up two flights of stairs, and cleared off about half our counter space to fit it in the kitchen. Taking into account high-altitude adjustments, I followed the directions exactly only to end up with another typical overly dense brick of bread. To make sure it was not a fluke, I tried again the next day, resulting in a second barely-edible loaf of bread. The problem with barely-edible bread is that it is actually edible so I hate to throw it away. But adding two heavy loaves of bread and a gigantic monster machine to an already tight kitchen meant I had to get creative fast. Enter, a recipe for Croque Monsieur* and the best story of food redemption I've ever personally experienced. The french ham and cheese sandwich topped with sauce and more cheese perfectly disguised my culinary disaster. Thank you France.

*Thomas wanted a Croque Madame. It's basically the same thing with a fried egg on top, but we had to throw away our eggs because of the recall. Recalled eggs are definitely not worth the risk.

Sorry, I thought you were someone else

2010-08-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

The phone rang last Thursday morning. "Probably someone calling to tell me how excited they are that I've started blogging again," I thought, but then took one look at the name and panicked, immediately sending the call to voicemail.
Here's the story...
One morning, shortly after moving to Denver, I dropped Thomas off at work and headed to a coffee shop near our apartment. While checking email and sipping a decaf latte I noticed a mom and her toddler sitting a few tables away. Around the same time I also received a facebook message from a friend asking me how many new friends I'd made since moving. It seemed "someone" was trying to tell me something and although typically I don't like to listen to convictions that make me uncomfortable, on this particular day I was feeling brave.
I started a conversation by saying hi to the little girl that was standing there staring at me, then asked the mom a few questions about her kid, then mentioned that I had just moved, and minutes later I had a new friend and a phone number and an offer to "call anytime and hang out."
Unfortunately, making new friends is not that easy. I called about a week later and the lady had no idea who I was, actually thought I was another friend named Katie, and after five minutes of confusion the conversation was over and my hopes of having a new friend were dashed.
You can see why when the phone rang, a month later, I was slightly terrified to take the call. But, to my surprise the voicemail informed me that she did in fact remember who I was and that if I'd like to get together, please call back.
My timid, stubborn, creative personality took over for the next half hour as my mind was hyper-actively trying to come up with an excuse not to call back. I racked my brain trying to think of a friend I could call who would tell me "It's no big deal, I would just let it go and not return the call." I was so preoccupied by the phone call that in the middle of doing unrelated, mundane things like straightening the house or watching TV I noticed myself spontaneously saying out-loud "I don't want to" with no context accept the frantic dialogue in my brain trying to push myself to pick up the phone.
I eventually did. I made myself only because I knew I had no other option. I rehearsed what to say, I followed my script, and shortly after, I had plans to go for a walk with a nice lady and her 1-year-old daughter the next morning. I then spent the next 22 hours wishing I hadn't and dreading 9 a.m.
So Friday morning we went for a walk. It was fine, of course. The weather was nice. The little girl was cute. The coffee we stopped for along the way was tasty. We even talked about all the things I brainstormed before hand to talk about. I found out all sorts of things about them, including the fact that they're moving to Minnesota in two weeks.

Life's a Peach

2010-08-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from a fun morning yesterday at a local peach festival. It was hot, crowded, loud, and the the line for cobbler stretched about a quarter mile. You can't beat Colorado peaches.
My new favorite condiment? Peach barbecue sauce.

Birthday Beards

2010-08-21T07:44:00.000-07:00

This morning we celebrated my 29th birthday in style... with boxes and beards. We made the beard a few days ago because yesterday Thomas went to work dressed as Alan from the movie "The Hangover." I wish I had a picture of the whole costume with satchel and all. He looked hilarious and his whole team loved it. I'm continually impressed with his creative/brave management techniques.
I woke up excited because I had patiently stacked all 5 of the boxes I received in the mail in the living room. It felt a little like Christmas. Packages came in from all over, Plano, Garland, Austin, and even one from the far east! Here's a photo of me wearing my new vintage goldfish apron, ice cream cone earrings, and some new jeggings. Not pictured - two western shirts, a funky handbag, lotion, temporary tattoos, and chopsticks. What a fun beginning to the day. Now we're headed to the Lafayette Peach Festival, yum!

Oh, the things people mumble

2010-08-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I needed to kill some time before picking Thomas up from work so I headed to a department store to look around. I kind of aimlessly wandered for a while, not looking for anything in particular. At one point I was walking through the ladies section when a middle-aged woman shopping near by answered her phone. Instead of saying hello she mumbled "I'm still in class," but apparently the person on the other end didn't here it so she shouted "I'm still in class, I'll call you later, bye." Then she hung up and looked around to see if anyone heard her. If I was outgoing at all I would have said something clever like "Isn't shopping a really fun class!" but instead I looked down immediately and tried to pretend I didn't hear or see anything. I guess that doesn't bode well for my reaction if I ever witness a crime!

Next I went to Barnes and Nobel, picked up a stack of books to read through, and found the last empty chair in the store. In the half hour I was there the woman sitting next to me burped loudly about 15 times. It was so disgusting and I was appalled that we were sitting so close and she never once said "Excuse me." When I was walking out of the store I burped (barely even audible) and although there was no one around I loudly exclaimed "Excuse me" in order not to have to think myself a hypocrite.

A Dozen Doughnut Holes

2010-08-19T06:27:00.000-07:00

I've decided to blog everyday for a month.

Needless to say, that's a statement filled with all kinds of pressure and expectation in my mind but I'm saying it anyway. So what if the posts bore people and have a million typos, so what if I look back years from now and am embarrassed of things I said and opinions I had, so what if I miss a day, or two, or quit after a week? I'm at a point where the desperation of having no job, no friends, and almost no social outlet besides Facebook has pushed me to the edge... the edge of the blogosphere. (There's a cheesy statement I'm going to look back on with regret!) At the least, maybe blogging will get me out of the habit of watching all three hours of The Today Show every morning. That in itself would be worth the effort. Hopefully my day will be improved just by having something I have to think about. I generally tend to shy away from commitments and goals for fear of not finishing or failing but today I've decided to focus on the fact that I easily finished the dozen doughnut holes I had for breakfast this morning. That will serve as my inspiration. If I can accomplish such a tall feat, surely I can record my thoughts in a sentence or two everyday for a month. So here goes...

I was up at 3 a.m. last night doing research on superfetation. This should be everyone's vocabulary word for the day. It's basically the possibility of getting pregnant while you're already pregnant, perfect 3 a.m. Google fodder. A few days ago I started getting all of my early pregnancy symptoms again, morning sickness, insomnia, fatigue, and over-the-top emotions. Since technically I should be past that stuff, the only rational explanation is that I'm actually simultaneously in two different stages of pregnancy with two different babies. See, I may be pumped up on hormones but I still think rationally. Getting a glimpse into the mind of someone six-months pregnant is a little scary huh? Not to worry, I woke up this morning less convinced but overly tired from my obsessive research. And since I'm off caffeine I needed some sugar to get going which should explain the need for doughnut holes*, and that's actually the point of this story.

*unless I was craving the calories to support two growing fetuses, believe what you'd like.

Goodbye friends, hello life in Denver

2010-07-05T08:59:00.001-07:00

One not-so-wonderful trait I've inherited from my mother and grandmothers is a deep sense of sadness when loved ones visiting leave to return to their homes. There's nothing like stifling the urge to run down the street after a car that's departing, then forcing yourself to pick up heavy legs and walk back through the front door only to confront evidence of late-night card games, sleeping bag piles, and a handful of things that now exist only as memories. Time to wash the towels and clean the dishes. Back to real life. Just a little melancholic reflection after a fun weekend with some friends from Texas. For the record, I've inherited many more pleasant characteristics from the women in my family, e.g., a love for music, a love for creating, and a love for people.

Living off of Lists

2010-06-16T10:39:00.001-07:00

I always thought I was a list person but Thomas takes lists to another level. He's calendared out ever detail of our lives for the next two weeks as we tackle the move to Colorado. In many ways it's extremely helpful but it does feel a bit stifling as I have to consult the list before I do anything. The lists are not just about the practical things we have to get done either, they include things like rent redbox on one day and return redbox on the next. Also find ice cream shop, chill and relax, and go for a walk. I'm sure it won't be long before he's scheduled in get a drink of water and 20 minutes later go to the bathroom. Nice to have a plan I guess, and at this point in life I won't argue with scheduling more bathroom breaks!

Bears!

2010-06-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

It's our last week here in Montana and we had to go check out the bear refuge a few miles down the road. Had fun seeing the grizzlies up close!

Photos for the fridge

2010-05-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos. The ultrasound pic was taken about a week and a half ago. Just a tiny little thing ;) I'm also posting a photo of me showing off my camp plate award. Our friends in Texas give out awards after every camping trip and we're keeping up the tradition here in Montana. We camped at YNP last weekend and Thomas gave me the "Camp Mama" award for setting up camp, cooking, and hiking while pregnant, complaining infrequently, and not making him go with me to pee in the middle of the night.

Ya'll Ready for This?

2010-05-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wallet Extraordinaire!

2010-05-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

I picked out a new, old wallet a few weeks ago and I have to say it was a great use of the thrift store dollar vouchers I've been saving up. I was so paranoid that we would move before I got a chance to use them which of course would leave me filled with agony and regret.
Not to worry though, I picked the pink wallet and payed with my fake money in a matter of minutes. I'm not exactly sure how old the wallet is but it's in pretty good condition. It's "genuine leather" and has a change purse, billfold, and credit card insert. The coolest thing (and the feature that in my opinion made it blog worthy) is the fact that there's a secret passageway from the bill section to the change section. I guess the point is that if you're paying for something you don't have to open the whole thing, you can just open the coin purse and pull out the exact dollar and coin amount you're looking for. And people say the iPhone is impressive? Innovation has been around for a long time, like, forever ;)

Perils of Flight

2010-05-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

Thomas and I spent about 10 minutes yesterday sitting in our car, in a parking lot, watching this bird. It was the strangest thing to see a bird that just constantly flew into the wind and seemed to be trapped in some kind of wind current. Thomas kept saying something was wrong with it, that the wings must be hurt. He even wanted to run up to it and try to shock it out of its destructive pattern. I kept saying I thought it was just playing around because if it was hurt I thought it would land and not be able to fly. We sat and watched, even videoed, and finally decided to drive away still perplexed by the natural phenomenon. As we were driving out of the parking lot we noticed the bird was tied to a pole, and faced the shocking realization that nothing of the last 10 minutes was real. We looked around the parking lot as if we expected the guy in the car next to us would be pointing and laughing.

Cookie Fire

2010-05-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

After a few comments on my last post I've decided to explain one of my most memorable food traumas. For the sake of time I'm just going to explain the 911 incident that happened about 5 years ago, if you want to know about the rest, you'll have to ask me in person.

"Someone call 911, there are cookies in jeopardy here!!"

Arriving home around 9 p.m. ...
I was working at a church in Wichita Falls, got home to my garage apartment one night and smelled gasoline in the apartment. Slightly perplexed but not overwhelmingly concerned I went on with my normal routine and a few hours later I put a few cookies in the microwave. You know, warm cookies are a hundred times better than cold, stale cookies. I set the timer for 1 minute and went into the other room.
One Minute Later...
When I emerged from the other room to check on my snack I saw smoke coming out of the kitchen, panicked, and ran out of the house. I got in the car and drove to a friend's house where I called my parents to see what I should do. Everyone advised me to call the fire department and ask if someone could come check it out. It ended up I had to call 911 to get through to anyone.
10 Minutes Later...
I was back in front of my apartment along with fire trucks, news crews, my landlord, and 10-15 neighbors standing around. The fireman, in full gear came out carrying a plate of burned cookies and reported that everything was fine. I refused to go back in the house and instead headed back to my friend's house where I buried myself under a blanket so that no one could see me. It's nothing short of a miracle that I eventually came out from under that blanket so, if you know and love me, consider yourself lucky ;)

It was by far the most embarrassing evening of my life. Moral of this story? You should never call 911 and mention "gas" and smoke in the same sentence unless there is in fact a fire. Turns out there was a gasoline can leaking in the garage and cookies can only handle about 15 seconds in the microwave before they explode. You live and learn ;)

How much do you love pizza?

2010-04-16T09:50:00.000-07:00

I wrecked on my unicycle and scuffed up my chin the other day. I was doing an insane spin off a curb and onto the bumper of a car so it was totally worth it. O.K. that's not exactly what happened. I did ride my unicycle in a straight line for about a minute and a half the other day, but the face injury came later. The other night I was too impatient to let my Lean Cuisine microwave pizza cool off before eating it and disaster struck. In a rage of consumption the cheese and sauce scalded my face which then immediately blistered. I'd say the event ranks up there with other embarrassing food-related incidents in my life like getting caught stuffing goldfish in my mouth, hiding pizza in the sink, catching a church kitchen on fire, calling 911 because my microwaved cookies were burning, and unknowingly spilling a can of soda during a professor's lecture. I seriously take "food issues" to another level.
On another note, check Thomas's blog for non-food-related posts if you're interested. He's turned over a new blogging leaf.

The "rough" side of Bozeman

2010-01-12T10:14:00.001-08:00

Here's a portion of an article I just read in the Bozeman paper. Apparently an ice cream parlor employee encountered a robber after work Sunday night.

"The robber came up to the employee, demanded his wallet and then lunged at him with a knife. Police say the knife cut through the employee's sweatshirt and sliced his arm. The employee punched the robber in the chest. The robber then staggered back and fled. ... As the robber fled, he lost one of his boots, police said."

Is it me, or does that not sound like the making of a great comic book? Hope the guy's arm is healing properly.

I love iGoogle

2009-12-05T10:06:00.001-08:00

Thomas and I have spent the last hour adding gadgets to our iGoogle home pages. So far I have a calendar, weight tracker and calorie counter, facebook feed, google reader, sticky note, and my hotmail inbox - all on one page. Not quite as good as an iPhone, but still pretty neat. Oh, and did I mention that I'm posting this blog from a little gadget on my homepage? Cool huh!
It's snowing like crazy outside so we're taking it easy this morning. The weather advisory said today's wind chills could be in the -30s and -40s! We're heading downtown tonight to help pass out hot dogs at our church's booth during the Bozeman Christmas Stroll so we're going to have to bundle up!

What we've been up to...

2009-11-19T21:23:00.001-08:00

Well, I'd like to say we've been busy but life moves pretty slow here in Montana. The big news this week is that we celebrated Thomas' 35th birthday on Tuesday. Yes, it was a little strange not having family and friends around but we were able to skype his mom and sister which was a first-of-its-kind treat. All in all, it was a fun day filled with special food, shopping, coffee, relaxation, and we couldn't miss Biggest Loser's makeover episode!
It's still beautiful here. I'm including a picture of the sunrise from our balcony the other day. I love the view. I even sit out there thinking in the frigid temperatures sometimes. While we really miss Texas, its beauty doesn't compare to Montana. We had a couple of feet of snow last week so everything is just covered everywhere you go. What cracks me up is the cars that drive around with several feet of snow piled on their roofs. It looks hilarious, like an army of Russian soldiers with tall puffy hats.
I've been keeping myself busy with, well, there's no other way to say it, "crafts." I once argued with some friends when they told me the Canton craft fair sounded right up my alley. I'd prefer to think of myself as "artistic" rather than "crafty" because I'm not into scrapbooking and painting wooden figurines, but who am I kidding. So fine, I've been making crafts. It's my only outlet since Thomas plays the guitar 24/7. So far I've made stockings, several bags, Christmas cards, and a set of stuffed animals :)
I'm also in the process of starting a new habit that I'm really quite proud of. I've started fining myself $15 any time I leave a dirty dish in a clean sink. Originally Thomas was included in the rule and we were going to have to pay each other but he rebelled so I'm stuck charging myself. All I can say is it doesn't really make sense anymore but it's working. I've kept the kitchen clean all week and for me that's big!

Hiking in Montana...

2009-10-30T19:45:00.001-07:00

... is apparently harder than we thought. Here are a few photos from our second failed hiking attempt. This time we actually made the drive all the way to the trail head. A few weeks ago we tried a different spot and had to turn the car around half way there because we couldn't get up an icy mountain hill. This time we left the house expecting a dirt trail and waterfalls but quickly became nervous as we drove through snow covered mountains. When we made it to the trail head there were other cars there but after steping out of the car into over a foot of snow it was apparent the other folks out there were all on skis. Major hiking trips may have to be postponed until next summer!
We had a nice dinner with our neighbors tonight and they've promised to give us snow driving lessons so hopefully we'll at least be able to drive around in it!

Visitors

2009-10-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween. It's not looking like we're going to have any exciting plans this year but I have a costume idea in my back pocket just in case. I'll let you know if anything comes of it. We haven't had any real visitors yet, except for these guys. They came about a week ago and haven't left yet. Safety pins, a pair of scissors, and black scrap fabric go a long way when you're decorating for Halloween while trying not to accumulate a whole lot of stuff.
NOTE: I took the photo about a week ago and the coffee tables/feet rests we made are in the process of being painted now. I'm decorating mine with red suns. Thomas is painting his blue (unless he decides to copy me, which is likely :)

Going the distance*

2009-10-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

The small group bible study tonight went better than expected (don't worry Texas friends, they don't even compare!) but the people were very nice, welcoming, and it felt pretty comfortable. I think Thomas and I did pretty well at forcing ourselves to be social and, as usual, I was one of the only people talking/responding during the formal discussion ;)

There were a few awkward moments though. I've ranked them below:

5. The moment, an hour in, that I realized everyone had taken off their shoes at the door except for us, which Thomas says is unusual because he always takes his shoes off.
4. The older gentleman who sat right next to me and kept talking about how great last week's sermon was.
3. When Thomas's cell phone went off during the bible study. *Ringtone: Cake's "The Distance"
2. When Thomas's cell phone went off for the second time.
1. This one requires some explanation. Thomas and I made up a little game to play beforehand where we were going to try to match the personalities of the new people we met to the personalities of people at our church in Texas. There was one woman who didn't remind me of any of the girls in our old group. At some point a light bulb went on and I realized she had the same personality as one of our guy friends in Texas. HINT: the talker (we love and miss him a ton.) When I wrote it on my notebook and Thomas saw it I couldn't contain myself and started laughing hysterically right in the middle a very serious discussion.

That's right, small group went well, but believe it or not, that wasn't the best part of my evening. The best part was the Korean Bulgogi, pictured above, I made for dinner (I had to mention it so that my two beautiful sisters-in-law would think I was cool.)

Trip to Yellowstone

2009-10-17T15:25:00.001-07:00

Jack-O-Tex

2009-10-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

OK, well if you can't tell, I was feeling a little homesick when I carved my pumpkin last week. Thomas carved the shape of Montana but I'll let him post his own pumpkin picture. So far our time in MT has been a mix of excitement, fun, boredom, monotony, adventure, and fear. Last night Thomas and I had a discussion about whether or not I actually want to make friends here. I told him I know I need to and I will but I don't want to. This is just my personality. He didn't understand why I wouldn't want to do something that would make life enjoyable. I tried to explain that I'm going to, I'm making myself, but I don't like the idea. The whole thing feels like replacing friends that I'd rather not replace. I know it's not really, it just feels that way. I'll stop begging to move back to Texas in a week or two. He's got to at least give me that! Tomorrow I'll try to post some pictures of our exploratory trip to Yellowstone, then everyone will seriously question what exactly I miss about Texas.

Come and knock on our door

2009-10-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

Ready for a virtual tour? Here's a little taste of our Montana home (with a few camera tricks just for your enjoyment).

Parades, pumpkins, brown rocks

2009-10-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

We're back at the library again. This week the internet fairies should be coming by to connect our apartment to the World Wide Web, hopefully in time to skype my brother on his birthday. Thomas and I went to the Montana State University homecoming parade this morning with temperatures in the teens. It was a lot of fun to see all of the floats and everyone bundled up. At one point people came by wearing costumes that looked like huge brown rocks, I mean like 12 or 15 feet tall. Thomas and I kept trying to figure out what they were supposed to be dressed as. A few seconds later a port-a-potty on wheels drove by and Thomas said "I think those people are dressed as Doo-Doo."
The man standing next to us leaned over and simply said, "Yeah, they're turds."
It was pretty hilarious. I'm still not sure what the point was.
Last night Thomas and I carved pumpkins in our apartment and as soon as I can, I'm going to post pics. Other than that, we're really excited about trying out another church tomorrow. This one came as the recommendation of a friend of a friend (thanks Dr. K).
Signing off from the snowy northwest!

Afternoon at the library

2009-10-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

Thomas and I are sitting side by side in the Bozeman Library computer lab, typing frantically as the minutes of our free hour of internet access tick away. On our way in here we grabbed three books to check out so sitting in between us on the desk are Day Hikes Around Bozeman, Montana, Winter Hiking & Camping, and Best, Easy Day Hikes at Yellowstone. We figure we better get as much hiking in as possible before the weather gets really cold, although, I was watching the news this morning and gasped when the weatherman said highs will be in the 20s later on this week! Fortunately we've already purchased our lift ticket season passes at Bridger Bowl so at least we wont be stuck in doors all winter.

Tomorrow we will have been in Bozeman for one full week and here's a quick list of things we've done:
Rented an apartment
Lugged millions of boxes up two flights of stairs
Scouted out local thrift stores for furniture
Bought groceries
Bought stuff for the apartment
Argued about what we need to buy for the apartment
Watched a movie
Explored the ski area
Explored the neighboring town of Belgrade (I missed an exit)
Had the car serviced
Threw snowballs (Thanks a lot Chris!)
Signed up for library cards

Okay, I have to go. My husband is purchasing things online... how is a Toyota bug guard considered a necessity? Pictures and more frequent blogging to come as soon as we get internet installed.

Road to Montana

2009-10-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a little slideshow with photos of our road trip to Montana and a few of our new apartment. Please excuse the mess ;)

Montana all boxed up

2009-10-02T06:21:00.001-07:00

We've begun our second full day here in Bozeman, Montana and guess what, the weather is still really cold. I have a feeling I'm going to be saying that quite a bit over the next several months. I can't say I'm super excited about the schedule for today, it basically includes lugging boxes up to our third floor apartment for a good portion of the morning and afternoon. Yesterday we got all of our big furniture unloaded and took up three or four loads of boxes. Our method is to load a few boxes on the dolly and slowly make our way up each step, with Thomas pulling and me pushing. About halfway up one trip there was a minor collision and Thomas scowled at me saying I had run him into a wall. Whoops ;)
My response: "I didn't run you into that wall, you ran yourself into that wall."
Today I'll try to be a little kinder with my comebacks.
Also on the agenda for today is to take some photos so I'll have something to post online tonight. Stay tuned.

Amazing Race Rejects

2009-09-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

For those of you who've been anxiously waiting to see Thomas' and my Amazing Race application video, the wait is over. Don't get too excited. We sent this in last February and never heard back from them so it's pretty safe to say, we weren't selected. At least we tried, plus, who needs an adventure around the world* when we're about to move to Montana! Here's our three-minute video application.

*Amazing Race people, if you're reading this, I didn't mean that. Please change your mind and pick us. Please!!! :)

1 Year

2009-09-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

Check out what we did this morning! If you think you've already seen this, don't forget to watch it all the way to the end.

A wish that came true...

2009-04-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

We just got back from another camping trip to Arkansas, and no, camping never gets old! I think this was our 5th Life Group Campout. We hiked the usual trails, cooked the usual meals, and a few of us even took a swim through an icy river rapid. I think the best part was having a few new faces along. It was just fun to get to know each other better and we had a blast taking Janina's black lab, Toby, down the trails and across the rivers. Thomas wished for rain and he got it! It poured all morning when we were packing up to leave and everyone was drenched by the time we were loaded up. It was frustrating at the time (to me - Thomas had a huge goofy grin on his face the whole morning) but it's already turned to a good memory! Here are a few photos from the weekend:

rotten banana peels

2009-04-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

Thomas and I had the genius idea to make all of our lunches in advance this week. After resorting to fast food way too often over the past few weeks we decided to stuff our paper sacks ahead of time to make the mornings a little easier. We started the week with 10 sack lunches in the fridge and it's worked out pretty well.

My next step is to figure out what to do about dinners. I've been working really long hours this week covering a bunch of evening events so just as I got lunches down I'm faced with a dinner dilemma. It's always something right?

If you noticed the ugly-looking fruits and veggies in the bottom left of the photo don't worry, that's not part of a lunch. Those are scraps waiting to be composted in the new compost tumbler Thomas built. Watch his blog for more details and photos, he said he is planning to post something soon.

Holiday-mania

2009-03-31T07:51:00.000-07:00

"I've heard of a Christmas in July, but I've never heard of Thanksgiving in March."
-Grandad.

Last week I got to travel with my mom to Virginia to visit my brother.
This week he's back in town before he heads overseas for two years. My mom had the idea to celebrate all of the major holidays in one week so last night we got together for an Easter/Thanksgiving dinner. The combination of pumpkin pie and Easter eggs was interesting to say the least and one of my favorite parts was my brother-in-law Jason's prayer in which he dutifully addressed both holidays :) Friday is New Years at my sister's house, Sunday is Christmas at our house and Monday is apparently my brother's birthday - I think he wants to go out to eat.
Oh, and we had Cinco de Mayo last weekend!

I'm thinking of asking work to give me those holiday's off or Christmas at the least, what do you think? I don't think they'll find that amusing.

Four leaf clovers

2009-03-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from Ireland in honor of St. Patrick's day. I'm trying to think of a St. Patrick's day tradition to start this year. If you have any interesting ideas, leave me a comment!

Death to Life

2009-03-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

We put up an Easter display in our entryway yesterday evening. Hopefully people won't think this one is as weird as our Christmas "Body/Blood" decor :) If you didn't see that one, you'll have to wait until next year!

Saturday morning pancakes

2009-03-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

The annoying thing about Saturdays and being married is that it's the one day a week Thomas and I have to do whatever we want - and we almost never want to do the same things. This morning started with pancakes (the one thing we were both in agreement on) but from there we're off to do our own things. Thomas' list includes paying bills, going to Lowe's, building stuff, working in the yard, ect. My list is ruined because I wanted to do something fun. I guess I'm going to go to the Dollar Store.

The photo isn't from today but you have to admit, he looks pretty happy working in the yard.

Pretzels and Tuna Fish

2009-03-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the office on my lunch break eating the pretzels and tuna sandwich I packed this morning. It's a quiet day, just me and one other person here and the gloomy weather seeping through the windows.* Everything seems calm and serene for a change.

Ironically, as I was writing that the police scanner piped up with a report of a suicidal male - stupid hurting people* ruining my moment of peace! Now I've lost my inspiration, back to work.

*The weather literally seeps through the windows here. It's freezing!
*I hope he's okay.

Knickerbocker

2009-03-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Thomas and I learned how to screen print over the weekend. The idea was to create a photograph to give to my brother when he goes overseas that he wouldn't just shove in a drawer and forget about. It was a pretty complex endeavor but after McGivering a basic photo enlarger using a lamp, a board, and a few barstools we eventually set our screen and were able to make prints. It was really exciting. Here are a few photos!

P.S. Still no word from the Amazing Race (we submitted our application a few weeks ago). We'll put our application video up online if we don't hear back!

Why I like doing laundry...

2009-03-10T09:47:00.001-07:00

1) It smells good. Haven't you ever walked past the open door of a laundry mat or an apartment laundry room and smelled the cleanness?
2) I like putting things in piles - I always have.
3) We usually go so long between doing laundry that it makes me REALLY appreciate clean clothes :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T06:05:00.000-08:00

We've been trying to get this video up for a while. The morning after our wedding we trekked down to victory plaza looking for our 5 seconds of fame. Here's what happened...

Oh, the fame!

2008-11-20T05:53:00.000-08:00

We got a new couch this week. It was pretty exciting but we haven't used it that much yet. We don't have a tv at the moment and it's too new to bring our dinner over and eat on. Thomas and I have sat and conversed on it a few times but that's felt almost strange and I'm not really sure why - It's not uncommon for us to have conversations but I guess I'm not used to that happening in a quiet living room. It's made me feel a little weird about tv.

My job is officially a job now which doesn't really change a whole lot except for the way I will be getting paid. I'm still back and forth on how I like it, some days it's exciting and other days it's terrifying. Today I will go to a fundraising "tea" and interview a world-renowned chef, oh the fame! That coupled with last friday night's post-game interview with a high school football coach makes me like one of the most famous people I know.

A couple of things to look foward to on the blog - pictures of Thomas' ninja turtle birthday cake, post wedding video, and a special co-post with Thomas on "making eye contact."

Whats going on?

2008-11-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

4 Non Blondes said it best "I scream at the top of my lungs 'what's going on?'"

That kind of sums up my life at the moment. The new writing job is still only "kind of" a new writing job. I've been working full-time but unsure if I'm actually hired and being paid for it. Still if you'd like to google my name you'll find a few of the articles I've written. If you don't know the name of the paper, email me. I'm still attempting to keep my blog safe which requires my omission of traceable details. I'm sure I do a horrible job at this but at least I'm making an effort to keep crazy stalkers from finding out where I live :)

I'll try to keep my blog updated a little more. Who knows, maybe sitting at a computer more will provide more of an opportunity to procrastinate. In the mean time, take a look at Thomas' pile of dirt, ahem, new blog!

Election Coverage

2008-11-05T09:43:00.001-08:00

Well, while I haven't officially started the new job as reporter/photographer for a local newspaper, I have been working freelance for the past three weeks. I've had opportunities to take photos, write articles, and conduct a few interviews. Last night was pretty exciting. I was part of a convoy covering the election for our county. I filmed a few interviews and rushed them back to the newsroom to try and get them online asap. I spent several hours there editing video with no idea what was going on as far as the results of the election (besides the short text updates Thomas sent me throughout the night). What kind of newsroom doesn't even have a TV?

A few Halloween pictures!

2008-11-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Holyween

2008-10-28T05:30:00.001-07:00

We had a pumpkin carving party on Saturday with our life group. It turned out pretty well - lots of pumpkins, bobbing for apples, pin-the-tail-on-the-ghost, a hay ride... and Jesus ;)

I found the Jesus pattern online here.

Ick

2008-10-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

Good news: I'm in the middle of a pretty promising interview process for a new job that could be a great step into a new career.

Bad news: I don't like change. It brings out the unbecoming scared and insecure Katie. I have a unique personality trait that makes me want to be left alone when I'm feeling stressed out or overwhelmed. I have no desire to talk about it. I'll get through it just fine... just don't ask about it and please don't expect me to blog about it.

I don't know why I'm like this but I'm holding out hope that in a few months I'll be back to my oh-so-happy-go-lucky self :) Thanks to everyone who cares!

The Song

2008-09-22T11:51:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in our little song project. It was one of our favorite parts of the wedding. Click here to listen (and click on the little blue squares on the right to go to a page where you can download)

Here is the list of voices:

Best Poem Ever Written

2008-09-20T14:19:00.001-07:00

is here.

Back in Green

2008-09-18T08:04:00.001-07:00

We're back home from Ireland and recovering well from all of the exhaustion that comes with traveling overseas the day after your wedding. We've opened gifts, started garage sale boxes, hung a painting, looked at pictures, changed legal names, and cleaned house (not in that order). There is so much to write about so I'm going to resort to my typical "list" type of communication.

1) Its really good to be home.
2) Thomas' now ex-roommate Greg is AWESOME - before he moved out he and our other friend Michael professional cleaned all of the carpets in the house. The night we came in from the airport Greg had cooked us dinner and had it sitting on the stove. It was wonderful.
3) Three of our friends from life group came over while we were gone and stocked our pantry with all of the essentials. My favorite things were the pumpkin and the card to "Mr. and Mrs. Knickerbocker (spelled correctly)"
4) Yesterday was super-productive. We went to get my name changed, a new drivers license, and - my personal favorite - added my name to Thomas' bank account ;)
5) Whew... okay I didn't realize how much more I had to talk about. Coming soon: pictures and stories from Ireland and I can't forget to tell you about the time capsule recently unearthed!

I "rish" you guys could see this stuff!!!!!

2008-09-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics! We'll give you a full update when we get home next week! If you want to see pictures of the wedding check out katieandthomas.net!

Exterior Dublin

2008-09-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

So far, due to our limited finances, we are taking in the "exterior Dublin." Our walking tours today consisted of visiting the outside of several major landmarks including the Guiness Brewing Factory, St. Patricks Cathedral, the National Museum, and the Dublin Castle. We made it into the first room of a few of them until we found out the cost of tours. At Dublin castle we snuck all the way into the bathrooms... woohoo!!! It has really been a blast. Thomas and I are both wearing holes in our shoes but we are loving every second. This picture was taken at St. Auddoen's Church in a little courtyard. We loved this place for several reasons, the amazing stone archeticture, the incredibly old organ, and the free admission!!!!
Oh, and this camera remote was the greatest investment ever. I am making Thomas pose for thousands of pictures!

Hello from Dublin!!!!

2008-09-09T04:53:00.000-07:00

We made it to Dublin! It's been absolutely AMAZING so far. We had a great flight over (both slept through a lot of it) and made it into Dublin at about 9am yesterday morning. Thomas mastered right-sided driving in our rental car and we used our handy little GPS to drive directly to our hotel in downtown Dublin. We spent the rest of the day on a walking tour of the city (Thanks Freddy for the Ireland book - it has helped out a ton!) We took a bunch of pictures that we'll try to upload when we get to a B&B with free internet access. We're off for some more exploring today - who knows what we'll find, maybe a tatoo parlor? We miss everyone back home and want to say thanks for being at our wedding for all who attended. It was a night we will NEVER forget. Check back soon for more updates!

P.S. Fish & Chips last night were the best in the world!

less about knowing

2008-09-04T22:20:00.001-07:00

I had a fictitious conversation with my 80-year-old self today. The dialog consisted of elderly me telling youthful me all the things she wished she had known when she was my age. At some point I realized that if I was actually having this fake conversation then I must already know all the stuff I was telling myself. Then I started wondering if it might be less about knowing and more about living.

If you followed that then you're either crazy, your brain is fried, or you're about to get married. I won't divulge which category I fall into. :)

Why conservative views do not necessarily equal Christian views:

2008-09-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

"President McCain and Vice President Palin will keep America as it has always been — the hope of the world." -Mitt Romney, RNC

I think I'm going to be sick...

2008-09-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned how poorly I respond to change? I'm battling a sick/scared/cry-ie feeling that is solely rooted in the fact that I like things how they are. I think if things change I'm going to lose what I have now. This idea is compounded by the lighthearted torments of my friends. "This is the last time we'll every see you Katie." It seems they all expect married people to dissappear into a black abyss. I don't like black abysses - I'm scared of the dark.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to what I think will be an exciting new "change" in life. Four days and counting. There's a lot to look forward to. Here's a list:

1. Wearing my Mom's dress

2. Seeing Thomas in his Vans

3. The debut of the song Thomas and I have been working on (thank you to everyone who helped)

4. Cake

5. Seeing the smiling faces of everyone we love

6. Dancing

7. Ireland (WE'RE GOING TO IRELAND!!!!!!)

Faith that moves fountains...

2008-08-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

I got drenched in a perilous fountain move this evening. My parents, grandparents, uncle, neighbor, fiance, and friend (MY friend :) spent three and a half hours trying to place and assemble a gigantic concrete fountain. It weighed like a million tons, literally ;) At one point my mother and I got under it trying to slide in some shims and we came out soaked. After assembly, disassembly, and reassembly the fountain is finally up and running.

Speaking of moving fountains, Donald Miller gave the prayer* at the Democratic National Convention yesterday. I thought it was really... great. After a lot of interesting dialogue among some of my friends I'm coming to the realization that my opinions are very different from most of the people around me. That's a good thing. I just have to keep reminding myself that I'm not the only person with a brain.

Highlight of the past week: Ice skating w/ Thomas and friends for my birthday. It's cool to have someone throw you a surprise party - even if the surprise gets spoiled; and it's nice to have a fiance willing to try anything!
Lowlight of the past week: Moving my stuff over to Thomas' (for two reasons: 1. I have way too much stuff and it's just depressing 2. I'm not good with change. Moving always brings with it a sick feeling in my stomach centered around how "things will never be the same again") Good thing I'm still living at home for a couple more weeks or else I might be crying right now.

*If you (like me) were wondering why Donald Miller began his prayer joking about praying for good weather, this should explain it.

Sweet Tart Bunnies

2008-08-19T09:51:00.001-07:00

Less than three weeks to go...
As the wedding approaches things are getting really really really busy. My attitude now is "What's the point?" I'm kind of just hanging on and finding comfort in the fact that it will all be over soon. In the midst of my extreme stress I am turning to the one thing that seems to make things better - sweet tart ducks and bunnies. I just happened to fall into a new stash. They work like magic. I've already got this portion set aside for the big day. Emm... sweetnesss... tartness... it's hard to beat.

This week I'm trying to pack and move some of my stuff over to Thomas' house. Appropriately I found this bargain book yesterday while running errands. It couldn't be more fitting.

If you want to read something funny, check out this letter my life group wrote on Saturday night - it was a really interesting exercise!

Oh, and did I mention - I heart the Olympics.

Katie + Thomas

2008-08-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of our favorite engagement pictures! We loved our photographer :)

I'm not really very competitive

2008-07-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law put a "Family Blog Roster" on the side of his page and it ranked me last. So what if I didn't blog for three weeks straight? I've been busy okay? Now I look like some kind of delinquent blogger. It's embarrassing. So I'm forced to my computer at 12:40a.m. to blog myself out of last place. In a few seconds I'll be sitting pretty at the top of the stack.

Here are a few items of news, hot off the press:

Sweet Ballet Moves
I've been rocking out my ballet class this summer. You'd think at 26 I'd be past my ballerina prime but that's so NOT true. My parks 'n rec teacher seems to think I'm pretty sparkling. Okay, fine, she hasn't made any comments of that sort but I'm sure she just doesn't want to make the other (40-year-old) students feel bad. Seriously though, I am LOVING my class. Being forced to talk to complete strangers and stare at myself in the mirror is surprisingly, well, not-so-terrible!

Bench or Bust
I've taken up the art of upholstery. I fell in love with a bench at the Salvation Army but was too cheap to buy it (that really says something doesn't it?) Instead I've spent hours trying to build my own. With the help of Mom, Dad, and Thomas, its finally coming together. Here's a tip on upholstering... IT'S DEFINITELY NOT WORTH IT!

Hair-mania
We had a blast at Michelle's wedding last weekend. It was so exciting and such a sweet ceremony. I tried a cool vintage hairstyle (watched an instructional video on youtube) and it turned out pretty nice!

Coming soon
More Pictures. I'll post some of our engagement pictures up here at some point. They're really neat; plus it will help me jump ahead of another family blogger in the next couple days. It's all about the strategy! ;)

Let Mercy Come

2008-07-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

A week in the world of Katie:

Snow cones
Roof-top fire works (on two occasions)
Sewing*
Hot Dogs
Uno (the card game)
Wedding Invitations
Some random sobbing (I hit this phase about every 3 months)
Serving at UGM
Fun with the apple peeler, corer, slicer (a wonderful invention)
Taking up linoleum (yes Daniel, you were right, that was not a good idea)

...and a sermon that actually said something
If you want to listen click here first (watch this music video) and then click here (listen to a Kreider sermon). (I know thats kind of complicated but it's sooooo worth the extra clicks.)

*Here's my flower girl being fitted for the dress I'm sewing ;)

I Quit

2008-07-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to take a personality test during a job interview that, among other things, told me I was a low "goal achiever." Apparently it's really important to have the right personality to work as an admin at a church. Stupid world trying to make me sit at a desk my whole life, gag me. I didn't want that job anyway (I'm so mature).

For real though, that personality test just echoed what I've been frustrated with this past week. I keep quitting on the goals I set. I make it about half-way through and then lose interest. I'm having issues with accomplishment.

My solution? the "You Can Do It" list.

Thomas got one too but he accidentally left it at my house so I left it sitting next to mine. It makes my list look better.