Friday night we went with the ochsners, dronens and slovaceks to lannathai. we were trying to get baby ashley out of christina using the tools of curry and peppers. we failed. but we had a great meal anyways. ashley is now two days overdue... by the end of this week we will have a baby one way or the other though.

saturday we went our to leo carillo beach with dan and the gang for his baptism. i have never been to a beach baptism before - it was great. we paryed over him and the guy who was doing the baptism read some scripture and then dunked him and another guy in the pacific. the other guys that was getting baptized was about our age too. he said that he wanted to get baptized in teh ocean because he wanted to be submerged in something uncontrollable and bigger than himself and how that was a representation of how he wanted his life in christ to be. seeing those two men get dunked under the ocean's strong waves was an amazing picture of that very thing. jeremy and i both are so happy for dan and excited that we got to share that important moment with him!

the collegian

i spent four of the best years of my life at k-state. seriously. i met my husband there. i met half of my wedding party there. i formed a deep relationship with my best friend there. i did the crossword and cryptoquip from the inside of the front page of the collegian every day for four years. and i read that sucker cover to cover. i never made it into the paper, even as a quote in an article.

my brother is in manhattan for five mintues and has a quote in the collegian. he doesnt even go to k-state. where is the justice????

but on the other hand, i am awfully proud that his band was playing in the aggiefest and has other gigs in manhattan. they are pretty cool. and bryce is no slouch himself. sometimes he does slouch. but thats not the point.

he accomplished in what day what i failed to do in the four years i went to k-state and five years i lived in manhattan. and for that, bryce, i salute you.

!m!

hump day afternoon

back when kkrd used to be kkrd, on wednesday afternoons they would have some sort of "hump day afternoon" programming. and i dont know what it was (that was like 5 years ago) but i feel like i need a hefty dose of whatever they were pushing. this afternoon has been one of the longest of my entire life. and i still have an hour and a half left to go at work, then to the grocery store, maybe the gym and home to cook and clean and hopefully sleep early because i have to get up ridiculously early to go to a work conference tomorrow in anaheim. karla and i get to carpool at least. she is picking me up at 6:30. i am usually awake at 6:30, but hardly ever ready to go and work at 6:30. yuck.

right now i am going to plug my pod on something upbeat and file the mountain ofpaperwork sitting on my desk. mindless activity... yes. but it will help pass the time!

!m!

world population

check out the world clock. it tracks births, deaths, marriages, divorces and is constatnly updating. ever wonder how many drownings there have been this year? or the current population of the world?

as i am typing this post, there are 6,623,597,655 people in the world.

how many people are there now?

entiende ingles?

last night we went to our first conversational spanish class. after work (well i was lucky enough to be able to work from home in the afternoon and jeremy took a "sick" day) we walked down to valley college and learned us some spanish. it was great. we have a pretty good teacher (looks can be deceiving) and interesting classmates (at least three couples are now geting together to "practice their pronunciation" after one class - these people dont play around!) and we are both super excited about being able to speak the same language as all of our neighbors!

jeremy's composting pile is going well. it stinks, but soon we will have good stuff to spread over our baby plants. the latest batch of babies (the basil, parsley and 2nd round of carrots) are doing great! the cooler weather has been so great for us and the garden.

we possibly have the chance to go to a k-state game this season! i was literally jumping around the apartment for about ten minutes after i figured that out! they are playing fresno state which is about a 3 hour drive from here. the game is at the end of november, so if anyone wants to plan a road trip with us, heres your chance. see you in fresno! i cant wait to wear my purple and cheer!!!!

!m!

sometimes you have to get through the rain...

we went to the beach yesterday. obviously, if you read the blog, you would not think that was anything out of the ordinary. but it was.

we carried our stuff out to the car (including smores fixins and firewood) IN THE RAIN.

we drove fifteen miles on two different highways, sometimes with only 20 or so feet of visibility, IN THE RAIN.

we paid our seven dollars for parking and lugged all of our stuff out to a firepit, trusting that other people would think im not driving all the way to the beach IN THE RAIN.

and when we got there, unpacked and looked around...

it was beautiful. other people from mosaic showed up and we had a fabulous time. we cooked smores and played catchphrase and frisbee and doug tried to hit the planes flying overhead with a football (we were about ten seconds south of lax so we were definitely in the flight plan all day)

and we just all around had a great day.

but life is like that sometimes. if we had turned around on the 101 because it was pouring sheets of rain we would have missed the gorgeous day that god had for us at the beach.

!m!

rain, rain, don't go away

it is raining for the first time in AGES. i didnt even mind walking through it in the costco parking lot (where we renewed our membership finally - yay!) because it is so nice to see wet instead of dry everywhere. it makes me happy.

jeremy is out on a date tonight. most wives would be upset if their husbands were seeing other people but since the date in question is zac, im ok with it. jeremy hasnt hung out with im in a while... too bad he picked the rainy night to do t though. we could be brewing tea in our new infuser and snuggling on the couch while watching the what not to wear marathon. or is that just my fantasy? it is what i am doing anyways, with or without him. i love the learning channel.

the current project of stacy and clinton is a rastafarian with ten years worth of dreadlocks. i cant wait to see what nick does with her!!!! welp, back to my tea and couch and quilt and book and tv show. talk about multitasking!

!m!

100th post!

in celebration, the 100th person to comment on this post receives a hundred dollars!

i forgot to tell you guys the best part of our dodgers game. some time towards the end of the game, the d-backs were in the middle of getting one of the dodgers out and all of the sudden a guy in a straight jacket runs onto the field from near first base. six or seven security guards run after him but he made almost into the bleachers by third base/home team dug out before they finally got him. it was hilarious. he dodged (ha ha) around those guys like crazy! it was so funny!

in a few minutes people will be coming over for bible study. last night russ was supposed to come over for fajitas but toally ditched us (gosh!) for "studying." lance and kris and my bff beka came over for dessert and we played the world's longest game of settlers. but it was fun. jeremy bought this sweet tea infuser and yummy teas at coffee bean and we enjoyed trying the new flavors! yay jeremy!

ive been slowly rediscovering my desk since school started and i have been doing the work of two or possibly three people. i almost had a meltdown today when an IEP meeting i have reschedule four times already beacuse of this kids stupid public defender and department of mental health person schedules needed to be rescheduled yet again. it is impossible to do this stuff sometimes. grrr. i can see the finish of at least half of my beautiful plastic/particle board desk though. that makes me happy. now i just need to read 358 pages of LAUSDs special ed policies and procedures and make sure we are following all of them. oh joy!

!m!

well i am rather embarrassed. this morning (at 5:45 might i add) when jeremy opened the car door for me to get in to go to the gym (we are crazy you know) he says oh there is a book under your seat.

oops.

i guess los angeles public library systems didnt lose my book after all.

thats going to be a monster fine.

also, in response to your comment anna... i was not trying to be funny (that comes naturally). i really did type quarter and forgot they are innings. but i knew it. i just call averything quarters. and andy. he was trying to explain the rules of rugby when we were out to dinner on monday. yeah i still got NO idea. but it is rugby world cup time. and that only comes around once every four years. so go support your team people! i think i am voting for austrailia.

!m!

the green book

nikki get ready to be really proud of me!!!

i bought this book a couple of weeks ago and decided to read it really slowly and give myself time to make some of the changes that are discussed in the book. so far i really like it - all of the green things to do are really easy. plus, cameron diaz helped write the book and she is really cool, so obviously doing what the bok says will make me cooler too.

so... this week's environmentally friendly thing to do is:

take a two minute shorter shower.

this will save TEN gallons of water. just get in there, do your business and get out. or better yet, for some of you, take only one shower a day. if every american saved just one gallon a day we would save twice as much water as the great lakes every year! that's only 20 seconds shorter of a shower than usual. thats easy right? anyone out there going to pledge to take a shorter shower?

also... if anyone out there who is not a current netflix subscriber and wants to try it free for a month... let me know. i can forward you a coupon. but hurry... offer expires soon!

!m!

dodger dogs...

yesterday we went to our first dodgers game. they were playing the arizona diamondbacks and since we got to see them play when we were in phoenix we thought it was appropriate. the dodgers wound up losing but it was still a great day. our seats were between home and third and we only spent about a minute and a half in the sun before it went behind the stadium. during the fifth quarter we made our way to concessions to buy some dodger dogs!!! nothing like a hot dog and baseball to feel like a true american. the dodgers dont have a mascot which was strange but their slogan is think blue. they have it in the hills and you can see it from the stadium (kinda like the hollywood sign). it was a great sunday afternon. we came home and watched the emmys and football and headed to bed. anyone else think ray romano was pretty funny? also that katherine heigl was really pretty and america ferrera rocks my face off? thats all. back to work today. hurrah.

p.s. this is rex in case any of you guys havent met him yet. he is about six months old and loves taking long drives to the beach and cruising around beverly hills on very little gas. rex likes to be environmentally responsible. any other yaris lovers out there???

jam packed coupla days...

wednesday night we went to warner bros studios again to watch the taping of the third episode of big bang theory. that show is seriously funny. the annoying guy was still the emcee, but the characters and jokes (and free pizza) made up for it. i cannot wait to see the show on tv... they alwasy film scenes with multiple changes of lines to see which ones get the laughs... so when we watch the real episode we will be able to tell which parts are different. yay! monday september 24 at 8:30 on cbs. be there or be square!

thursday night we started bible study again. eric and christina are 2 weeks (or prolly less) from delivering baby ashley and... hurrah dan and bridget are four months from delivering their baby. i cant believe they waited that long to tell us (more like had the will power to wait that long!) i doubt i could keep something that exciting to myself for five whole months. they did want to ttell their families first and waited until they went home to do so. that was part of the reason. and i had my uspicions about her belly last time i saw her. but it was one of those... umm maybe she is just eating alot and gaining weight??? NEVER ask a woman when the baby is due unless you can actually see the baby coming out of her, right brian? so now lottie and i get to plan another shower. hurrah!

friday jeremy and i went on a mini vacation to arcadia. we left work early (to avoid ttraffic, for all the good it did us), got to the hotel, took a nap, then dressed up and went to a fancy dinner. i would post a picture of how nice we looked but i forgot the camera. we bought a disposable one but havent used all the pictures yet. so stay tuned!

today we spent the day at william carey doing mosaic stuff. this morning was a brunch for people who are actively involved in leadership in the church. there were about 200 people there. then in the afternoon, 300 or so more people came and we had leaderhsip advance (because we do not retreat). we went over our core values, worshipped together and took communion, commissioned new members onto volunteer staff, and all in all just got to spend quality time with other members of our ministry teams. kevin and nikki were here from the bay area and jill came with them! it was great to hang out with them for just the short time we had. kevin and jeremy did get to go out to lunch esterday so that was good. he comes back about once a month so we will see him again soon.

we are getting ready to go eat thai food with al and lottie and tomorrow... dodgers vs. diamondbacks. heck yeah. oh and k-state is winning and nebraska is beating usc. all in all a good day!

!m!

tax dollars at work...

now i am not trying to say that the lovely people at valley plaza branch library are incompetent. and i am sure that the nashville librarians are perfectly competent too. but when two people, half a continent apart, are having the same problem, im thinking... what are my tax dollars going for anyways?

the thursday before we left for phoenix, on the way home from work, i dropped off some books (one of which i knew was going to come due over the holiday weekend) and picked up some books i had on hold. when we got back i went again, probably on tuesday or wednesday. they said i had a book overdue - the book i had made a specific trip to the library to return... i said "no this cannot be!" and since the people all there know me pretty well and see me all the time, they believed me. so they sent out their little search messages to the branch the book belonged to and scoured their own shelves. no luck - the book is still mia. i looked again at home thinking maybe i made a mistake, but we all know that was silly, as i do not make mistakes. so now i have ablack mark on my library record until this is resolved. i hate that!

anna doesnt like her black mark either. what is with these people????

!m!

Back To School

you know how in every family except mine, on the first day of school, all the kids would line up with their backpacks and the mom would take a picture of them and then scrapbook it and have a collection of pictures of their child growing up...

in continuing the un-tradition... jeremy didnt take a picture of me on my first day of the new school year. yes, the kids are back. we only had one student with drugs and no fights. oh yeah and some terrorist threats. another day in the life. i bet most of these kids' moms didnt take their pictures this morning either. seriously though, although i was running around like a chicken with no head (another experience i was denied growing up... slaughtering chickens... hmmm... i am ok with that i think) it was a pretty smooth day. i have a HUGE mountain of stuff to do on my desk (and i am assuming my desk is still under there because i sure cant see it!) but that just keeps time flowing right?

tomorrow night we are going to watch big bang theory get taped again. i am excited. i hope it was as good as the first episode!

we had a great weekend too! we went with al and lottie to the beach on saturday. it got kinda chilly in the late afternoon but i got good sun. and the sunburn on the back of my knees is almost completely healed. :) sunday we served at church... afterwards we went and saw 3:10 to Yuma. great movie! seriously... christian bale and russell crowe all dusty riding horses and shooting guns and stuff. how is that not a good movie right? can i get an amen? but i thought the plot was excelllent and respectfully disagree with bryce who says it was top-heavy (whatever that means). we did some shopping at the grove and on sunset then ate dinner at the saddle ranch chophouse. we were lucky enough to get a table right by the mechanical bull so we had a great view of the action when two drunk guys went for it. one guy actually stayed on the whole 8 seconds. i was very impressed. the other guy overshot when jumping on the bull and fell off the other side. that was awesome.

then we got to watch the vmas on mtv. all i can say is... poor britney. that was just sad. if i had that belly i wouldnt be prancing around in my bra and underwaer on national television. have some self respect. seriously. and get a stylist. oh and someone to help you remember that when you are lipsynching you actually have to move your mouth.

!m!

school is in session

the students come back on tuesday and the teachers and counsleors have been back this week. so my "vacation" is officially over. this week has been hard. even though it was a short week, i have been doing the work of at least two people (you think i am exaggerating but i am not) while attending all day meetings (ask me how i am supposed to get work finished when i am in a staff meeting from 8:30 til 2:30... oh wait i cant!) and i am tired. plus i am supremely unappreciated for what i do by most people at the office (karla loves me though!!!) so that sucks. also many of my teachers have the common sense god gave to cockroaches (oh a light... run) which is to say not much and that is frustrating. but i am finished complaining.

kim and ryan and other people at in his presence are organizing a big yard sale. we are getting rid of a ton of stuff and i am so happy about that. lots of clothes and just crap (most of my beanie babies... sad but true) lots of dvds and xbox games... oh it felt so good to get rid of all that stuff. now i hope most of it sells and we will be doing all right for ourselves. :)

i am taking on extra responsibilities at church and planning a big beach day for everyone is keeping me pretty busy. i am excited about it though. :) i hope everything turns out good! we are also starting to volunteer one sunday a week in the birth to 2 year old "sunday school" class aka nursery. i am super excited about that as well. jeremy too. yay for babies that we get to give back after an hour and half!

hopefully we are hitting zuma again tomorrow... we are slowly running out of good beach days so we are taking advantage while we can... :)

summer is almost over. it is FINALLY cooling off at night (too little too late say ghostly little echoes of hamster voices)

!m!

RIP

we got home after a looong hot car ride to a funny smell and heat like you would not believe... the nes last night carried stories of people who died in the heat wave that in engulfing the valley and we added two more small casualties. the ac blew the breaker while we were gone and our poor poor baby hamsters roasted to death. we came home and they were just dead. i was sobbing and shut myself in the back room while jeremy cleaned up the cage and took care of everything. he is my hero.

i dont think we are going to get new ones, at least not now... they were too cute and their lives were mercilessly cut short by poor planning and vicious heat. roxie... cosmo... we will miss you!

(the sisters cuddling together a few short months ago... little did we know how precious those moments would be!)

i know i sound kinda crazy but i really loved those little rodents. and i will miss them. a lot.

arizona trip: sunday and monday

sunday morning we went to church with sharon and ron. that was only about the 6th time i have been in a church building since we moved (including two weddings!) and it never fails to strike me how different having a church building shapes the church compared to meeting in rented space...

we went out to eat with ron and sharon and their friends bill and brenda. they have kids who live in la and are the youth ministers at bel aire pres. small small world...

more baseball... (i.e. nap time) then ron and sharon had to go back to sing in the choir for the evening service so jeremy and i went to cabelas, saw the arizona cardinals stadium, and found a good cactus.

cabelas had the usual stuffed animals and fish tanks which i love. jeremy found some shoes (ugly things) that he has been wanting for ages for half price! yay! i am turning him into such a good shopper!!!!

the stadium is indoor, just like the d-backs stadium. the cardinals stadium reminds me of a space ship landing craft or ufo or something. but that bird is fierce looking, man!

the saguaro cactus is a cool cactus. they are the typical cactus most people think of when they hear the word but do not have arms until they are 70 or 80 years old. so the ones like in snoopy are really old!

arizona trip:saturday

saturday morning we went shopping and toured around some of the resorts in phoenix and glendale. (ps glendale is where this years american idol winner, jordin sparks, is from. we saw several billboards cheering for her. well the billboards themselves were not cheering but encouraging real live people with voices to cheer. right. i was not a huge fan.) we went out to lunch then headed back to the house. cassie called an hour or so later and we met up with her and went to coldstone and got ice cream. it was so awesome to see her. it was the first time i think since our wedding but definitely since we moved.

it was super fun. she left to go and visit her cousins and our cousins came over to watch the kstate - auburn game (among others). it was great to see matt and noelle. we had GUACAMOLE and chips and cheese and pizza and watched 3 1/2 quarters of pretty good football. that last four minutes killed me. i mean seriously, we were ahead the entire game and then just said oh you know what i am tired of playing - here you guys take the ball. why dont you run with it over there. i bet everyone would cheer for you guys if you did that. well that was fun lets do that again - and then lose by 10. sheesh. but it was fun to watch the game with them and to hang out. they left shortly after the game was over and we all headed to bed...

arizona trip: d-backs game

friday night we went to an arizona diamondbacks game. they were playing the colorado rockies (max's favorite team). even though they choked in the tenth quarter... i mean inning... it was fun to watch. the final score was 7-4. the stadium was pretty empty because of the holiday so we got to move closer and we had great seats. we didnt get to catch a fly ball - none even came near us. but we did see this cool sign.

we watched them play on saturday and sunday too. actually it would be more accurate to say that sharon and jeremy watched and ron and i caught up on our beauty sleep. they have one comfy couch for nappping! :)

arizona trip: desert scenery

friday morning we slept in a little bit then began our journey to the magical land of phoenix, az.

we saw a wind farm, which was really cool to me. i have never seen so many windmills in one place. i kept thinking of catherine and my debate case freshamn year when we argued that the best renewable resource to replace fossil fuel dependence was wind energy. i still think it is a good idea even though i am not getting a grade on it. we made it to ron and sharons in about 6 hours or so, after making a couple of quick pit stops. one was in desert center - if you are ever making the drive on the 10... do NOT i repeat do NOT stop in desert center, i do not care how bad you have to pee. you will regret it. the gas station was on eof the old kind with no way to use a credit card and the numbers spin instead of are digital. the guy running the station was sitting in the sun drinking a beer when we pulled up. i felt like we were in a horror movie. the bathroom was scary - the main door didnt shut (thankfully the stall door did) and there was no soap and the sink was broken. it was yucky.

we also stopped in quartzsite which was actually civilization. we got a quick dinner and headed back on the road...