Blogs

Fundamentally, I like blogs. I like blogging, from time to time, as a means to express something I would like to say. Usually it's an observation on society, or on myself. Sometimes it's frivolous. Sometimes I share music I like (stay tuned for that). I don't post to see how many hits I can get, or for revenue, or even to please anyone else. I just like writing stuff and I happen to have kept this blog since high school, so I may as well stick with it.

Blogs in general, however, are often no longer just a way for people to write stuff down. Now they're full of pictures, coding, graphics. People obviously spend a lot of time making their blogs look pretty. People obviously spend a lot of time making themselves look pretty for their blogs. What are their motives? The opposite of mine, for certain. Some people keep craft blogs. Great, you have a purpose. Design blogs. Those are cool. I like finding new stuff as much as the next person. But what the heck are lifestyle blogs? How do people who have nothing original to say or who do nothing unique have so many followers just for posting a gazillion photos of their babies and their hair-dos they took hours perfecting for an amateur photo shoot?

Recently I watched a video citing numerous made up names, all originating from the great state of Utah. 

The video itself isn't very funny; the names are. As I watched it, I wondered why so many crazy names come out of Utah. Any ideas? I have one, but I hate to mention it as I think it's rather judgmental, though most likely true.

What do weirdo names from Utah have to do with blogs? Just yesterday I was reading my friend's creative and crafty blog, and she linked to some other blog, which I didn't like (lifestyle blog), and she linked to some other blog with the dumbest premise I've ever heard of for a blog. It's a children's lifestyle blog. BORING. It's apparent she's put a lot of time and money into making this blog look fab, and I bet some moms eat this stuff up. There's a 97% chance that any given lifestyle blog is written by an LDS woman or a homemaker from Utah. Guess where she's from. Utah! No surprise there.  Anyway, I'm reading this first entry about a clothing store in Utah called Koo De Ker, featuring some other mommy blogger, who writes (not really writes as she doesn't write--she maintains) a blog on fashion. Wow. Obviously this mom has way too much time on her hands, and too much money. She's loving the camera, really milking these shots. This is the highlight of her day. Now to the best part--her son's name. This fashion blogger's son's name is Hanes. You read that right. H-A-N-E-S. Now stop and think: what comes to your mind? First image that comes to mind is Michael Jordan wearing grey boxer briefs. Hey Michael, how you doing. Second is that jingle from the old Hanes Her Way commercials. Here are two to jog your memory.

As a young child, when I heard this jingle I instantly knew I could improve upon it. So I made up a little song. It went like this: "Hanes Her Way! Your butt's on display. Hanes Her Way! Put on pants, okay?" For anyone reading this who is musically inclined, the melody is: C-E-G, F-E-D-E-C, plus rhythm but I can't annotate that with words. Just know the Hanes Her Way is syncopated.

Part of me thinks that if Hanes had used my jingle, their underwear might be more popular today. Alas. I'll just be contented feeling sorry for the little Utah boy named after underpants.

funny

Here's another oldie that I think is pretty funny.

One thing I will never have is a couple's blog. I guess maybe it could be cool, but most of the time I don't like them. I don't want a couple's blog ever.

The snow: fun to drive in and fun to play in! I just drove home from Alex's. Correction: slid home from Alex's.

The winter makes me crave carbs. Carbs and cookies. Cookies are carbs.

I probably shouldn't post this entry since it borders delirium.

have i told ya have i told ya

I promised some drafts; here's the first. From spring 2004. End of freshman year at the ol' BYU.

yo yo. i'm excited because i'm going to san diego/brea this weekend to see the peeps. it's gonna be tyyyyte.

nothing much is going on in l-town. i am working as usual, making the moolah. i got my hair cut and dyed a few weeks ago, but i'm really not liking it right now. it's being very disagreeable, so much so i want to chop it all off.

i think i may have finally found a place to live at school. it's this little yellow house near campus. i'd have three other roommates. it sounds like fun i think.

then comes classes. i still don't really know what i'm going to take, but i really want to take intro to women's studies so i can meet the weird chicks at BYU and maybe make some normal norcal friends. no offense ladies.

life is just good for the most part and i'm happy.

oh btw, i talked to perry last week! he's doing well but now he's in washington. he was in the airport in slc when he called me. so yeah. i miss him but he's better and getting help and that's what matters most.

much love,
miss lisa marie. xoxoxoxo

The main reason is...

How often do you have those days when you want to run away?

You can't stand cooking one more meal/prepping one more lunch. You're sick of your own face not to mention your entire wardrobe. The thought of sitting at your desk at work all day doing stupid menial tasks because you wasted your shot at a career you love/you're indifferent i.e. lazy makes your skin crawl. You're angry and mad at everyone and everything. The house is messy...again. Dishes are in the sink...again. Laundry hampers are full...again?! And don't forget you sliced your finger open with the kitchen shears a few days ago and your finger is still bleeding, and you hit your head on the one chair you have in your family room when you were sitting on the floor because you had a genius idea to get rid of all your furniture, and just this morning you burned your hand on your curl stick you don't use too often but you just wanted to look nice for one stinking day DARN IT!, and everyone around you is useless. Just useless!

The main reason why I am so scared to be a mother is because I have these days, well, too often. And I'm sick to my stomach at the thought of feeling this way toward my kids.

Tell me how you deal while I sit here listening to the new Guided By Voices album which is pretty good so far.

Hey guys, this is funny

Seriously, this is really funny!

New York City Subway Stairs from Dean Peterson on Vimeo.

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.