good birthday and new walls

Because Jeff is so great, he started smearing on the joint compound in our closets as a test run. Holy smokes. We have smooth walls, guys!! They look so great. Next step is to sand, then apply a second coat, then sand, prime and paint. It's going to take awhile to do the whole place, but it'll be so much less messy (and easier!) than scraping off the texture. Which, for the record, really is that bad. But we want to bring this place into a more modern era and get more money out of it as a rental!

Yesterday my dear friends Jen and Kortney took me to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I love CB for Dolly Parton, the rocking chairs out front, the country store. The food can be hit or miss. But where else can you get biscuits and gravy, 2 eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, grits, hashbrown casserole and fried apples for less than $8? Seriously! We were all stuffed!

Then we went to this NASTY estate sale that looked oh-so-tempting online. The 'SOLD' sign out front coupled with the unkempt yard made me think, 'Either an old person lived here and they died, or someone nasty lives here.' Unfortunately, it was the latter. As soon as we stepped inside the front door, a mix of putrid scents hit us like a heatwave. Pet urine, fecal matter, mold, rotting food--it was all mixed up in that smell. The lady behind us said, "I don't think I can do this." Neither did we, but the insides of this house gave good enough promises that we had to stay. The thick layer of pet hair covering the floor's entirety made me wish I was wearing close-toed shoes. We walked around with our fingers under our noses. I wished I had some lotion I could use as a scent buffer. One of the ladies running the sale approached us and kindly said, 'There are napkins on the kitchen table,' and a few seconds later, she left and reappeared with a stack for us. The stench still lingers in my nostrils.

Despite the decrepit conditions, the house proved to have a few gems, like the glass deviled egg plate Jen bought, or the MCM entertainment console I would have snagged had the sliding accordion-ish door not split in half as I tried to pull it shut. The owner (who was lounging on the couch in the main room as people meandered through her home--so bizarre) also had a 10-place setting set of some gorgeous Fire King dishware. That stuff goes for $$$$ at the antique fairs out here!

Then we went to Ulta. That place is ... all right. Too much for me.

Then I got home, and Jeff and I drove down to Galveston and went on the dolphin tour! It was so rad. I loved watching the pelicans dive head-first into the water. And the dolphins, they were so beautiful. What amazing creatures! What a fun boat ride! It started storming while we were out on the water, so we decided to turn home instead of going on that swing ride over at the Pleasure Pier (still upset we couldn't go, but who wants to be soaked through from rain on their birthday?). Then we went to Outback, because for some reason, Jeff's parents think I really like it so they send me a gift card to Outback for my birthday every year. 

Last night I spent three hours writing a talk for Sacrament Meeting that I didn't even use. Not even one piece of it. But it went better than it would have had I used it and I'm glad it's over.

Now I have homemade strawberry pie in the fridge. You know, I make everything homemade because I like knowing what goes in my food. So it's a whole wheat pie crust, with homemade strawberry glaze over the strawberries. Heck yeah yummy!! Can't wait to try it.

coming along

We made a decision about the wall texture, or rather, we have a step one. Tomorrow (also my birthday--Lisa, it's your birthday. Happy birthday, Lisa) I will purchase a bucket of joint compound at Home Depot, as well as one of those scraper trowel things, and give it a go in our closet. All we have to do is scrape a few layers of joint compound over every wall and ceiling surface in our entire house, and then we will have smooth walls. Yay! YouTube makes every DIY project possible.

Anyone ever spray-painted metal folding chairs before? We've got two I'd love to see a new color, instead of the bland taupe they currently are.

My friend Jen dyed my hair last night. It is so dark. I don't recognize myself.

I wish I could tell you Jeff and I are doing something fun for my birthday, but with school starting Monday (both his work and his Masters) I think just dinner out will have to suffice. Oh and also we are speaking in church Sunday, so I guess we get to write talks too.

(Note to parents: Please don't ever have a child right at the end of summer. Your child's birthday will always be overshadowed by last minute summer vacations, or school prep, or any other of the gazillion obligations that arise right before the school year. No one will ever be able to come to their birthday parties, and they will give up even having a birthday party because it's too sad to have no one come. Please, don't do it).

At least I will always have Michael.

Happy Birthday Lisa from Gautham Ganesan on Vimeo.

I want to be a Roche

with this song.

live version:



studio version:




Both so exquisite.

Settling

We have lived in our new house for almost a month. Actually, we have been out of town a lot of that time, but we are so happy to be in the new place. Horror story of horrors: We got the keys the night before we left out of town for ten days. So Monday night, Jeff installed new locks on the doors while I cleaned the house. We laid down plastic so the movers could walk freely and we wouldn't worry about their dirty shoes (I come from a strict 'no shoes' household so naturally I'm continuing the rule). At 8 am the next morning, the movers moved us out of  our apartment and into the new place. If you've never used movers, you need to. It was well worth the money to watch someone else sweat in this insane heat. And it's almost comical how strong they are, and how easily they lift and carry the boxes I think are most awkward. After they finished unloading the truck, we showered up and left our new home, all boxed up but safely locked inside.

The trip to California (my childhood home) was filled with highs and lows. My brother coming home from his mission was a definite high. He is a man now. I love and respect him so much. We went down to Disneyland--another high. It was so fun. We stayed in Newport Beach, and that was really pretty. I'll spare you the lows. I am grateful the lows happened. When difficult things happen in life (especially in relationships) and I'm able to process and learn from them, I always come away feeling refreshed and like more of a whole person. This trip gave me that. As always, I was so happy to have my Jeff by my side. He is my match in every way.

But the house. We love our neighborhood. We have a two-car garage (no more bird poop!). We have more square footage. There is no Home Depot (or any commercial establishment) in sight. Overall, we love our new digs and are so happy to be living here for the next few years. We are hoping to rent it out once we outgrow it, which hopefully won't be for five years. Now the hardest part is decorating. What color should we paint it? What furniture should we get? What fixtures should we replace and which should we keep? One cosmetic flaw is the textured walls. Ick. We can spend days scraping, or leave them as is--we're leaning toward the latter. I have to keep reminding myself that we won't live here forever, so it doesn't have to be perfect.  Right now the walls are whitish with a peachy-tan undertone depending on the light. From far away I don't see the texture at all. One worry I have is when we do paint, will the color make the texture more pronounced? Anyone know? Anyone want to come give me design tips? Free hardwood flooring? Anyone?

Buying a house is just too much work.

closing time

We close next Thursday, or we should. So Jeff and I have started collecting boxes. Just our experience--stores throw away so many cardboard boxes, so go on a dumpster diving adventure and find what you want. Don't buy boxes ever. Just last night we found a ton behind the Petco near our house (free of pet smells, I might add). Though Jeff has many terms of endearment for me, there's one that makes me cringe whenever he uses it. "Hoarder!" he cries, whenever I hesitate in throwing something away. It's in my genes to save. I come from a line of industrious, resourceful Swiss Germans who see the value in everything. Perhaps more value than is actually there sometimes, but 'waste not, want not' isn't a saying for nothing! Last night Jeff made me start going through my vinyl collection, AKA a major source of contention in our marriage. Not that he hates vinyl, because he enjoys listening to them. But he doesn't enjoy owning so many (especially so many we don't listen to). So last night, with Jeff as DJ, we started listening to my many albums I've collected and started weeding out the winners and losers. For example... Winner: Genesis: Nursery Cryme

A great collection of prog rock tunes from the two prog rock greats: Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. Their vocal style is just so appealing to me. So much intensity, yet so soothing. Like Sting and Morrissey. And this guy. (Skip to the 1:00 mark for vocals).

 
Twin Shadow 'Slow' (NSFW) from Twin Shadow on Vimeo.

Loser: Jefferson Starship: Red Octopus

The ol' Jefferson Starship. Not my favorite incarnation of the band. Not a great album. Sometimes old bands should just stay old bands. Like the Beach Boys. Have you heard their new album? I gave it a shot on Spotify the other day. Like I said, some bands should just stay old bands. See here:

 

 Pretty hilarious video plot-wise (toward the end when they open the garage--LOL!), decent cinematography. The consistent rapid succession of jump cuts makes me a little queasy. Does the song conjure visions of a Mormon talent show for anyone else? Now since it's the end of a long post and you're still with me, I've got a gem for you! A new song. A couple of you seemed to like the songs I posted a few weeks back, so here's another one for you. Hope you like it!

 

lotsa stuff

I said I was going to post some old posts. I will, I promise. Jeff and I have been busy lately and I figure I'll give you readers (anyone?) an update. We are buying a condo and will close in early July. It's in an extremely quiet neighborhood, is about 200 feet from our church building and is also surrounded by old people. We can't wait to move and have income from this property when we start renting it in a few years. Our current 700 square feet is not cutting it anymore. Plus, we live next to Home Depot and hear forklifts at all hours of the day and night. Gross! The lady we are buying the condo from was probably the original owner. It was built back in '78, so there are some dated elements to it. She's tastefully updated the kitchen and bathroom, not really our styles but it'll do. All the doors and walls are that creamy tan color, I'm guessing original--or close to it--to the property. I'm debating whether to go grey or white on the walls. The doors and trim will all be white and we'll have to get new knobs for the doors. The kitchen cabinets are a nice country white. I think we will leave those alone. The carpet is really plush. I'll feel bad if we ever tear it out, but someday we probably would like to put in wood, though I dream of concrete. I just keep telling myself we won't live here forever. It needs to rent well for us, not be our dream home. Conservative is probably better. Ok, goodbye concrete floors. We've made the big decision to give some friends of our most of our furniture (thanks, Jeff's parents for giving it to us), so we will have no living room furniture other than our current Ikea bookshelves until we save up and buy stuff we actually like and get some built-ins. Is this crazy? I don't think so. We are ready to have a home that reflects our taste and style. I have my eye on a few pieces, and I'd sure as heck love to get my hands on some old Precedence or Declaration by Drexel (thrift store prices, of course!). Such lovely furniture. Don't plan on any parties at our house unless you want to sit on the floor with us. We just returned from a week-long vacation in New York and Canada. It was so awesome. If I can get my act together, I'll post some pictures and blog all about it. Don't hold your breath though as I'm not too motivated. You should probably just follow me on Instagram (@littlelisa) if you want to see the pictures. A definite highlight of the trip was being at Niagara Falls to watch the Great Nik Wallenda tightrope himself across the horseshoe falls. What a surreal experience. Mid-to-late July we will be in California to welcome my brother Michael home from his LDS mission in Japan. These next few weeks will be busy (and expensive) for us with closing on the home, painting, and finally moving in. But we can't wait! Also, Jeff was accepted to the Masters of Ed. programs he applied to here in Houston. I'm so proud of him! Pretty soon we'll be calling him Principal Ward.

Two posts in a day WHAT? I'm going to start a new series where I post past posts I wrote, never finished and never posted. I have some from way back in high school that are sure to be winners. I'm posting a few songs that I really like. The Bon Iver one is a just a treat; the others are on constant repeat in my mind. I wake up in the morning singing them. It's awful. Alabama Shakes is by far my favorite band these days. I cannot get enough of Brittany Howard's voice. I have always loved androgynous voices. Hers has so much vitality. It's rough, it's controlled, it's deep, it's just so unique and I love it. Not to mention this song has the best beat. If I drank alcohol, I'd want to sit around on someone's porch drinking a Rolling Rock longneck brew, eating chips and salsa, listening to this band jam. But I'll take two out of three (the chips and ear candy, duh). I'm so sick of talentless hacks making it big for their digitized, over-produced voices. I want something raw and real, and Alabama Shakes has that better than any band I've heard lately. Go their album 'Boys and Girls'! Or listen to it on Spotify.

Adult and what it feels like

Being an adult is a big deal. Suddenly things that never felt right before just start feeling right. Like buying a house. Jeff and I are in the process of finding a condo to buy. Buying a condo. Still feels weird to say. The one we like has a 2-car garage, which both of us will love. We will save at least $4 a week since we won't have to wash the obscene amounts of bird diarrhea of our cars. SERIOUSLY WHAT ARE THESE BIRDS EATING? I got a Kindle touch a few weeks ago and I had no clue how much more fun reading would be with a Kindle. Since I got it, I've read four books and I'm almost 3/4 of the way through 'Wuthering Heights.' I am glad to be reading again, and making reading a priority. I write more when I read, and writing is something I love, when I am actually writing. I have said often on here that I feel I have nothing to say, but perhaps I have nothing to say because I am not putting new ideas into my head. My life is fairly mundane, very structured, but I enjoy it. I am not engaged in enough creative pursuits. Reading will help that. I ran across this quote today and it feels very true. "In my professional experience, a good sex life is directly tied into emotional connectedness...The idea of two people changing together and—more importantly— accepting each others changes over a 50-year span is delusional unless that person is undeniably your best friend in the whole world. Ever." -Ask a Therapist I believe strongly I am married to my best friend in the whole world. Ever. We have our struggles (or rather I do), but I know Jeff loves me without judgment, without fear, and without worry. He is my favorite person to be with. Ever. In my last post I mentioned we are going to New York, which we still are, but now Grandma has broken her hip and she--the whole reason for the trip--will be in a St. Louis hospital instead of New York come mid-June. We find ourselves with a few extra days to fill in. What should we do? (Remember--we will be upstate, not in NYC). Jeff and I did 'Murph' on Monday and it really wore me out. I also hurt my right knee very badly. I can't pinpoint exactly what I did, but imagine a sharp shooting pain in your knee cap that radiates down your shins to the tips of your toes and up your thigh to your hip. It was better by Thursday morning, so I went and worked out again. Big mistake. Heavy farmers carry, I decided to run because my knee was feeling great, and wham-o. I couldn't bend my leg or stand without excruciating pain for the rest of the day. I took a white trash vicodin (two Advil chased by two Tylenol) and within an hour the pain had subsided to a noticeable but much more mild throb. Today it feels much better. I can bend and lift the leg freely, with only slight discomfort. I'll rest through the weekend and hopefully be better by Monday.

Seriously so blessed.

Blogger sure has changed since the last time I was on it. Good for Blogger. Our stake had a Book of Mormon reading challenge and I didn't want to do it. I wanted to, but not enough to actually start until about three weeks ago. I've read and I've listened and I finished it yesterday, the final day of the challenge. I am so glad I did it. I love that book. I feel so blessed today. We went to Dallas this weekend to see our new niece. She is a doll. And it was our other niece's 3rd birthday, and she is a doll too. She kept saying, "I da berfday dirl!" Then she would twirl and run and laugh. Jeff got a job interview tonight at a great school. The principal asked for his resume tonight, then emailed maybe 30 minutes after Jeff sent it with a time for an interview this week. We are so happy. He needs to teach at a new school next year and this school is great. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that he will secure a new job, one that will help him be a school leader! My brother comes home from his LDS mission in Japan in almost two months. I can't wait. We will go to California to see him come home off the plane and then spend time with him. He is my best brother. My other best brother just got accepted to Duke law school and he starts later this month. I am humbled to have such an intelligent and hard-working academic brain of a brother. We have been debating forever if we would go to New York with Grandma Simpson next month to her old homestead. We finally looked today and found amazing deals on flights, so we are going. And then as we booked our flights, Orbitz gave us a too-good-to-be-true car rental deal. And Priceline Negotiator really does give you great prices on hotels too! We will get to go to the Catskills, Adirondacks, Niagara Falls!!, Toronto CANADA, Palmyra, and all around upstate New York, hopefully in and out of many divine antique shops. One time I went to upstate New York to see my friend Marcus. I took the train out of Penn Station. While chugging along the Hudson River at sunset, I saw a bald eagle--a real, wild, live bald eagle--take off from his perch on the top of a bare tree and fly right into the setting sun. It was so magical. I can't wait to see that eagle again in the heartland. Now we just need to find the perfect new apartment in Houston, and life will truly be gold as Midas' touch. I feel very blessed tonight and I have good reason to. I sure am grateful for all the wonderful people I've known in my life. I hope I can always be friends with all of you.

Avocados from Mexico

This avocado I am eating is so sweet. I swear there's magic in it.

It's time we had the talk

It's true that I really like this song, and her moves.
That's one thing about most of the music I listen to: there are no dance moves.

My Mr. T.

I have been home on the couch all day, sick with an upset stomach. It is not as upset anymore, but I still don't feel very well. This is the first time I've even felt ill for a long time, so I suppose I deserve it.

I wanted to write a few memories from Christmas Break before I forget them. They are all about my sweet nephew, 4.9-year-old Mr. T. My missionary memory was a lockbox; now I realize it was simply a blessing given to me at the time. I can hardly recall anything now.

+ Wanting piggie and "shouldie" rides
+ Wanting me to sing "Sloppy Joe's, Slop- Sloppy Joe's" in all different voices (his favorite was the old lady voice)
+ Our Pajama Time song that we made up
+ How he wouldn't eat anything. Not anything, except sometimes chicken nuggets. Until Jeff and I took him for a hamburger at The Habit. He ate almost the whole thing, with loads of ketchup and even lettuce, tomato, and grilled onions he didn't know were there. He did not want to eat the vegetables, but he ate them once we explained how they tasted. He also ate all his applesauce. I was so proud of him.
+ Going to the park with him, just "you and us" as he would say. He was so excited to go somewhere, "just you and us."
+ Taking him to the grocery store twice, Safeway and Trader Joe's. People commented on how cute/good he was.
+ Getting him "Snotty Dogs" at Trader Joe's.
+ doing the United States puzzle with him. He actually knew most of the states.
+ making him snuggle me (he hates snuggling)
+ feeding the ducks with him
+ reading to him (and especially to his little sister, who just turned one! And she is every bit as cute.)

The hard thing about being with such a lovable boy is that I miss him all the more now. The easy thing is that it makes me want kids even more. Is anyone else scared to have a baby/be pregnant? I know I am. (Which is a little ridiculous. I don't feel fear over labor, just over the process of being pregnant).

On another note, is anyone else happy Romney won the Iowa election? Jeff and I are both dumbfounded as to how Santorum has such a presence. You should google "Santorum" and see the results that come up. There are some questionable things.

And another question, who cares about Iowa anyway?!?! (No offense if you're from there. I went to Des Moines once, and it was not very impressive).

Speaks for itself

This is probably the funniest song I've ever heard.

Christmas time is here (no longer)

I used to be so sad as a kid when Christmas left. Melancholy hit hard and an ominous feeling remained. I knew that no day of the year would be as good as that one, blessed day.

I don't feel that way about Christmas anymore.

This has been an interesting twelve days. We haven't been home to my parents' house since November 2010, and then we were only here for about three days (It was a waste. We will not travel for Thanksgiving ever again). I hadn't seen one of my siblings since then, and I don't really keep in close contact with any of them (not for lack of trying). I tried conversing with them, but it often felt labored and unreciprocated. Their inside jokes were no longer ours; our collective unconscious don't relate like they used to. Mom still thinks I can't cook, or maybe that I make gross food. Things improved through our time together, a little. But Jeff and I are used to our family of two, and I am happy with that.

I am so happy married to Jeff, and sometimes I don't realize how happy I am with our simple life until I come to Walnut Creek and do things the way I grew up doing them, not the way we do them now, together. We were at dinner with friends a few nights ago, and we all commented and agreed upon marriage as the ultimate way to live life. It is so fulfilling and rewarding, limitlessly. Jeff is so accepting of all my crazy ideas, and I his. We live and think and do the way we want to, not the way our parents taught us. Some nurture remains, of course. Our spiritual habits were taught to us by our parents and we carry them on because we love and cherish and need them, but it is our choice to continue those. Our life is very much ours now, and we have learned to live differently--perhaps better (we think), perhaps worse--from how we lived as children. We are just happy.

I visited a good friend yesterday. I tended her two oldest boys one glorious Berkeley summer. She is a sociologist at UC Berkeley. I think awfully highly of her, her husband, their family and their little slice of Berkeley heaven (which happens to be a few blocks from Cheeseboard Pizza Collective--my favorite). We chatted over many things, but one I liked most was a chat about people with reportedly happy marriages. One common characteristic of "happy marriages" is the forging of a new family, i.e. both husband and wife invest in each other as #1 friend, confidant, and support. Ties with mothers and fathers and siblings are not lost, but they change. I recall before I married Jeff, my mom told me frankly, "I don't want to know anything that happens between you and Jeff. I won't be here to give advice like I did during your dating years. Anything that comes up, you two need to work it out together." Mom's are always right, at least mine is. I am grateful for a wise mother.

Jeff and I had some pictures taken the other day by two masterful photographers. You can see some here.

We got to go hiking up near Tahoe last Friday. It was so gorgeous. Kimba is a good hiker. I love that dog with all my heart. I hope she never dies; she will never die in my heart. No dog will ever be as great to me as Kimba is. She is so sweet and loving, to me at least. We played hide and go seek a few nights ago, and she cheated. What a great dog. Cheating dog = great dog.

Houston, see you tomorrow.

I just can't get enough

of this song.

Youth Lagoon : Daydream from Behind the Walk-in on Vimeo.

Three cheers for Youth Lagoon!

No joke

Best tumblr ever.

I've got issues

Not really. My only issue is that I really want this bracelet my friend Aarean is giving away on her blog Color Issue!

GIVING AWAY!!! And it's Kate Spade! I love Kate Spade. I would like to own everything that woman has ever made.

Thanks, Aarean!

What is youth?

If you have ever been to a show in Salt Lake City, you may identify with some of the following feelings, feelings that surfaced at pretty much every show I ever went to at Kilby Court or Bricks or The Depot, etc.

- Wow, these kids are really dressed nicely.
- Wow, these kids are really hip.
- Wow, these kids are really trying hard.
- Wow, these kids all look the same.
Etc.

I am sure those same kids felt that way about me too, so let's get over that assumed hypocrisy right now.

These days, I do not dress very hip. Not like I used to anyway. Did I ever dress hip? I wear red flats, my high-waisted skinny jeans, and I wear lots of v-neck t-shirts and stuff I got at the J.Crew factory store. My mom shops at J. Crew too, so I'm not really a trendsetter or anything.

Friday night, Jeff and I went to see M83. I was really excited. I also felt under-dressed. I was wearing my high-waisted skinny jeans (only pair that fits well), a navy gingham button-down, Sperrys and a grey zippered hoodie. Not exactly runway ready. I'm thinking, I never would have worn something like this to a show in Utah. I am going to look so dumb.

We walked into the venue and everyone there was preppy. Legit preppy. There were some people dressed more like I expected, but all I could see was lots of college dudes/guys who dress like they are still in college, and their blond girlfriends whose Juicy accessories didn't quite fit in.

I have reached a few conclusions on the matter.

One, hip is dead.
Two, M83 is no longer hip.
Three, I am really out of it and have no idea what 'cool' is.

The times they are a changin'

It's a nice morning. Woke up to a 5 am, 40 degree WOD. So fun! I'm serious.

I just finished reading this article about modern-day prejudice and the form it takes. It's a great read. Objective, thought-provoking, and subtly serves its readers humble pie.

Read it and let me know what you think!

In other news, Jeff and I are going to see M83 after all! The venue opened up more tickets, so I snagged some. I can't wait! Please pray for me that I won't be crabby.

My favorite words

I will never grow tired of hearing my dad say to me, "I'm proud of you, Lisa."

I sure love my dad.