Resolute

Remember back in the day how we would write out a LIST of stuff to improve on each New Year? A List?! Waaayyy too intimidating. Even if you accomplish half the stuff you write down then you’re still left feeling disheartened that you didn’t do the others. My resolution credo? Pick one and make it relatively easy. Leave that list stuff to shopping. I know this philosophy works because last year my one resolution was to read more books. Twelve exactly. I was running a book club at the time and I figured it would be safe to say I was going to read one book a month in 2008. So it wasn’t so much a resolution as merely a fact of future endeavors. Well it turned out that the book club only lasted until March - BUT - I still managed to read 25 books. I know, I know, I’m awesome. Don’t rush to fill my “remarks” sections with praise. In actuality I moved half way across the country where I have no friends, family or television and I visit the library about twice a week. So the truth is out, I’m not actually awesome, but really rather boring. Oh well, maybe I’ll resolve to be more awesome in 2009. If you’re interested my favorite books of the year were Hunger Games, Pride and Prejudice, The Glass Castle, Kite Runner, and The Devil in the White City. This year I defiantly won’t have to make a resolution to read more, I have 17 on my to-read list. Even though I grew up in a family of avid readers, it took me 25 years to figure it all out, man did I wasted a lot of time not paying attention in AP English.

So what is my resolution for 2009? Well that’s the other part of my credo: Pick one, make it relatively easy and don’t tell anyone about it. That way you can stew in your own guilt as opposed to casually hearing from Brad, “What ever happened to your resolution to be more on time?”

HAPPY NEW YEARS! Here’s to making an easy secret Resolution meant only to make you feel better about yourself!
...

cure for the post christmas blues

Our Christmas visit to Naperville was wonderful, but way too short. There just wasn't enough time to properly visit with everyone. At one point there were 27.5 members of the family in the Carn's home! Brad and I left late Sunday so I could get back to work bright and early Monday morning. I can fully attest that the last possible place you want to be after spending 4 days stuffing your face with Diane's amazing food, playing Rock Band with "Mass Carnage", and laying around all day in your pjs is back at work. Blah. The only cure for the post Christmas blues? My mom and sister are arriving in Alton this afternoon for a two day trip and then Brad and I are off to Indiana to visit my brother and his family this weekend.

It really is the most wonderful time of the year. I'm really not looking forward to next Monday when we have to get back to our normally scheduled programming (err... life).

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ST. LOUIS!

We are doing our Christmas card gen-y style, or the green movement style, or the lazy style. You decide! It's how we roll. Either way consider this your Christmas card from the Carns. Have a safe and happy holiday.

...

Love, Brad & Bridget

...

Not in the Christmas spirit yet? Go here or here or even here.

Feliz Navidad Alex!

I have a pretty awesome little sister. I just found out that she reads my blog so I thought I would do a little tribute. Her birthday (a day that she gloriously shares with Britney Spears) was a few weeks ago and I feel like I have new leaf to overturn. Before she turned 14 we were mortal enemies but nowadays the playing field has leveled and I can finally respect the fact that, at age 21, she is no longer annoying but actually pretty cool. I started to think of funny stories about her from our childhood to include in this tribute, and after a while I started to realize that you can pretty much chronicle her life by the different unique phases she went through. I then realized that they needed to be recorded for posterity; if I don’t, who will? I don’t remember the exact ages but these happened sequentially between ages 3 and 12. Now Alex may refute some of these stories and call them embellished and/or false. I would like to remind her that I have witnesses!
...
· The Annie phase {This one included a daily living room performance of the song “Sandy”, complete with costumes.}

· The exercising phase {She went around the house for a year wearing tights, a leotard, and a headband doing jumping jacks. If you asked her what she was doing she’d say bluntly, “I’m eker-sising”.}

· The Rosie phase {No, not Odonnell or Perez. My parents refused to get us a dog when we were growing up – in hindsight for good reason – but poor Alex loved animals. As a sort of cop out my parents gave her this stuffed dog attached to a wheel and plastic leash. Alex could “walk” the dog around the house and it would yelp everywhere it went. Oh boy did it ever. She named the dog Rosie and it was a recognized member of our family for a good decade. I just talked to my mom the other day about Rosie and apparently we still have her. Good, I was worried.}

· The “Wizard of Oz” phase {She was Dorothy for 3 Halloweens in a row. My cool thrifty mom even made ruby slippers for her by covering her church shoes with red foil paper.}

· The “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” phase {She watched this movie everyday for six months until I hid it on top of the china cabinet. I still don’t understand the draw. Oh Alex, Kevin Costner? Bless your heart.}

· The “Grease” phase {I’m betting she could still show you the routine she made up for Grease Lightening, AND she knew every word! I’m just glad she was too young to understand the message.}

· The “Feliz Navidad” phase {This pretty much lasted every Christmas for 12 years. Every holiday season she played this song on repeat for hours. She always seemed so pleased that her birthday was near Christmas and that she was born in Spain, so I’m pretty sure she was convinced this song was written for her.}
...
· The Black Eye Debacle {Not so much a phase as just a good story. She received the shiner featured below after she tripped and fell on to the corner of a coffee table while I was babysitting her at our neighbor's house. This black eye prompted her elementary school to 'investigate' her home life and our neighbor had to intervene and set the record straight before we were all shipped off to foster care. But it did up the awesomeness factor of her cowboy costume a week later. The whole situation seems comical. Now. Kind of.}
...

There are many more phases, but these are my favorite. Ever since she was born she’s had a strong personality – the story goes that she came out unimpressed with the world and didn’t even smile until she was 15 months old. Because of this I think she’s always found a way to entertain herself, even when her mean bigger sister was constantly mocking her. I really was the meanest.

And apparently I still am.

PS – She can’t get back at me because she refuses to start a blog of her own. How do like them apples Lex?! Love you too :)

dentist glasses

Brad got his "dentist glasses", which is what I call them, they are actually called loupes. He just got them yesterday but won't be able to use them until next semester (unless he wants to find something to do around the house that requires a super magnified lens and an LED light, I'm thinking he could start building doll house furniture ...).

Oh, Brad. He gets his inspiration from America's Next Top Model, don't let him tell you otherwise. Fierce!

PS. I woke up Monday morning at 6.30AM to find Brad at the dining room table studying. He had been up all night and got cold so he put on his leather jacket. In the study haze it didn't occur to him to turn up the heat or grab a blanket. Poor guy.
...

These Christmas tunes? Yes, please!

This is by no means a difinitive Christmas list, just the ones I would never change the station on or skip on my iPod. Just your run of the mill all time favorites. You know, to balance out the universe from the Worse Christmas Song List.

...

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Judy Garland {I would venture to say this is the most recorded Christmas song ever. But, sometimes I’m a purest. There are a handful of good versions, but none come even close to the original.}

White Christmas – Bing Crosby {No explanation needed. There is a reason this is the best-selling song of all time.}

Silver Bells – Frank Sinatra {City sidewalks, busy sidewalks. Dressed in holiday style, In the air there's a feeling of Christmas. It’s just not Christmas until I’ve heard those lines. AND it’s Frank, come on.}

Last Christmas – Wham {For 25 blissful days Wham is cool again. I love it.}

Let It Snow – Michael Buble {The scatting he adds is awesome.}

Auld Lang Syne – James Taylor {Best recording of this song. Ever.}

Christmas Song – Nat King Cole {This song IS Christmas to me. It's also in the name. Apparently they didn't want any confusion on the matter.}

All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey {If anyone else sings this song it’s super cheesy. These two were made for each other. She should have married this song instead of that 20 year old kid.}

Come Home For Christmas – Aaron Neville {It’s a sad song but it wierdly always puts me in the Christmas mood. PS - Is there a more distinct voice then Aaron Neville? …Cotton, the fabric of our lives.}

Cool Yule – Louis Armstrong {Louis just makes me happy, especially with this song, how could you not feel all Christmasy listening to this song? Yes, Christmasy is a word. Just like Christmas-ish and Christmasier.}

Carol of the Bells – really any boys choir/ MOTAB {I was obsessed with this song when I was little, I didn’t know any of the words so I just made up sounds to go along with the melody. I still do it. Good times.}

Run Rudolph Run – Chuck Berry {This always reminds me of the scene in Home Alone where they are running through the airport, definitely a very Christmasy experience.}

Christmas Waltz – The Carpenters {Because it’s Karen’s voice. It's amazing. Side note - someone needs to change the title to this song. As Ben Stone would say, "Whose clue was that? It's not very... it's. not. good."}

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – Ella Fitzgerald {I don’t like any other version of this song, that includes you The Boss. Ella makes it all jazzy and cool sounding.}

People are way more clever than I am

If you love Pride and Prejudice and know anything about facebook this is very amusing... in a very nerdy way. I love it!

...

http://www.much-ado.net/austenbook/

...

...

UPDATE: Someone was inspired by the above link and came up with this Twilight version.

...

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/omni/MEYERBOOK.pdf

...

These Christmas tunes? No thanks.

Okay. I’m only doing this in response to Ellie’s blog, to show her what a real Hated Christmas Songs list looks like. Actually, you shouldn’t trust me. I own and know every word and harmony to the “Osmond Family Christmas” album. I proudly hang my head in shame because it’s amazing (Pine Cones & Holy Berries!). You’ve been warned; don’t rely on my taste in Christmas music.

Christmas Through Your Eyes – Gloria Estafan {I’m sorry Gloria. I love you. Hate your music. Combine that summery Cuban style with Christmas and it’s all wrong. Plus the lyrics of this song are terribly sappy and repetitive.}

A Few of My Favorite Things – {The phrase “packages tied up with string” does not a Christmas song make. Please stop the madness. You are ruining a classic musical number. Why would anyone want to re-record a Julie Andrews number anyway? Like they could do better.}

Silver & Gold – {Shudder. What is this song about exactly? All I know is I can’t change the station fast enough. It’s the exact affect the M.A.S.H theme has. If those two songs were somehow combined I’m sure the world would implode.}

Mary Did You Know? – Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd {I’ve actually heard good versions of this song. Kenny and Wynonna’s version is definitely not one of them. I also take issues with the lyrics. Why exactly are we questioning the mother of Christ? I’m pretty sure she saw an angel. She knows. She’s got it covered.}

Breath of Heaven – Sung in an LDS church. (So bothersome!... I have my reasons.}

Christmas Shoes – Newsong {I haven’t heard it here in St. Louis but in Utah they play it at least twice an hour. It’s practically a Lifetime movie set to music, and that’s an insult to Lifetime movies. I can’t even listen to it past the first line.}

Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer – {This was funny to 5 year-old Bridget, the 20 years since have been ridiculously painful. Why is it ok to sing/joke about death near Christmas? Is it too taboo for Easter so we had to pick another holiday?}

Let There Be Peace On Earth – {My hatred of this song stems from singing it in the school choir for 10 years straight. Someone should start writing more PC Christmas tunes or our great-grandchildren are doomed to sing this song 50 years from now.}

Christmas (W)rapping – The Waitresses {I’m sorry. The entire song is sung flat. It literally hurts my ears.}

Santa Baby – {When I was kid I was horrified that Santa had a mistress and that she was audacious enough to write a song about all her material demands. I don’t know why I viewed the song this way, but I’m still scarred.}

Brad’s addition: Little Drummer Boy – {I asked Brad if there was a specific version he hated and he said “All of them, I hate that rump pa pum rum”.}

What did I forget?

christmas came early

We were fortunate enough to receive a special advance visit from Mr. Kringle this year. Apparently Mr. Kringle lives in Naperville and his name starts with a B and ends in rad's parents.

The night we got home from our Thanksgiving vacation we stayed up until 3 AM putting our dresser together (watching Finding Nemo that late at night defiantly keeps you alert). Drawers! Oh how I have missed you!

We put the TV stand together the next day - it's actually a book case but it serves our purposes nicely. Brad and I have an embarrassing amount of movies, those will eventually go inside baskets so as to hide the numerous lame teeny bopper movies I own (can anyone say Crossroads?).


This should technically be a blog post all it's own... When Ashley graduated from BYU and her parents came to move her stuff back to Texas a few things were voted off the island (aka thrown or given away because they didn't fit). I fortunately inherited this miniature tree and it's been a Christmas staple for probably seven years running (including the BYU years when it wasn't mine yet). Thanks Ashley! Your tree is well taken care of; it's the only tree Brad and I have ever owned.


K & Ash, PS - yes that is the same tiny tree to the left that we all purchased one of freshman year. Sadly it's doesn't light up anymore. Can you tell I keep stuff way past it's prime?

EDIT - Also, I forgot to mention that the fabulous TV featured in picture #2 was actually gifted to us by Kristin. She has a very generous fiance who gave her a sweet flat screen so eventually Brad and I inherited the silver fox (it ways a ton, but free is my favorite price!). We love it.

It kind of seems like Brad and I never buy our own stuff... I promise we do. Couches and book shelves just don't seem as riveting as a dresser :)

Elder Wirthlin

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
6.11.1917 - 12.1.2008

I haven't had a living grandparent since I was 12. And I always thought that if I could adopt one to stand in for a while I would definitely choose Elder Wirthlin. He seemed the right amount of serious, witty, and wise that is key in a tender hearted grandfather. After hearing that he passed away Monday night I instantly told Brad, "But he was my favorite apostle!", as if he should have known to live longer just for me. In my interim farewell I want to say that am grateful for the testimony that he has left behind.

"The simple secret is this: put your trust in the Lord, do your best, then leave the rest to Him.” .Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

thanksgiving '08 recap

Brad and I didn't take any pictures over our wonderful holiday weekend because I forgot to bring our camera. Naperville was surprisingly warm, Thanksgiving dinner was expectantly fabulous, card playin was supremely competitive, and chillin with the nieces and nephews was consistently crazy (but lots of fun). My favorite conversation of the weekend went something like this:

Bridget: Gracie, what would you think if we chopped off all your cute curly hair?
Grace (age 3): Nooooo.
Brad: What if we dyed it purple!?
Grace: Nooooo.
Bridget: I think that sounds like fun.
Grace: (furrows her brow and shakes her head slowly) You guys aren't the best.

Brad and I have been saying that to eachother since we got back. She's adorable and ridiculously well spoken for her age, she's gonna be breakin hearts soon! We were also given some early Christmas presents. I'll put pictures up as soon as we put our house back together. Let just say our TV doesn't have to sit on a side table anymore and our clothes now have drawers we can put them in to. Who knew I would ever be old enough to be thrilled about getting furniture for Christmas!

No I'm not Mrs.Taylor

So as a morale boosting get-to-know-you experience the company I work for decided to have t-shirt day at work. Basically we were instructed to wear a t-shirt that tells/shows everyone a fact about yourself so that everyone can learn more about you. I kind of forgot about this blessed event until this morning so I threw on my James Taylor concert shirt from five years ago and called it good.

So I was standing in the kitchen this morning waiting for my bagel to toast and a girl I’ve never spoken to before came up and asked me “So who’s James Taylor? Is that your husband?”

OKAY. First of all – I wish. Second of all – What?? Are you kidding me?

As I tried not to laugh at her I started singing Fire And Rain (blank stare), then I explained that he is a singer/songwriter that started his career in the 60’s (blank stare continued). I even went so far as to explain his marriage to Carly Simon (low and behold she had never heard of Carly or “You’re So Vain”…). I was so stunned I just ended up telling her to you tube “James Taylor”.

So what did I learn from this “get-to-know-you” experience? Ummm, yeah. This girl and I will probably not be friends (by the way her t-shirt said “I love weiners” and had a picture of the dog… enough said).


PS – Like 5 different female co-workers were wearing some form of “I love New Kids On The Block” t-shirts. What’s the deal? Kristin and I agree that they are defiantly not old enough to be cool yet. It’s not like they’re Duran Duran. (Ha! Did I just type that?)

Twilight TMI

So Bill Simmons (aka The Sport’s Guy) is a writer for ESPN’s page two and he often does play by play articles for anything from March Madness to the Oscars. While I won’t be able to capture his wittiness I have stolen his idea by doing a play by play blog-a-thon for the 24 hours leading up to seeing Twilight. Roll your eyes (yeah that means you Jenny), I don’t care I had a blast.

THURSDAY NOV. 20

9:30 PM – 24 hours until the movie. Since finding out last November that Twilight was going to be made into a movie I have avoided the actual book like I avoid all things Steven Seagal. I have had way too many movies ruined by pairing the reading of the book too close to watching the movie. The whole time you just sit there in torture as they butcher the plot (i.e. Harry Potter 5, The Other Boleyn Girl…). So while I have shamelessly followed the making of the movie, I have pretended the book didn’t exist (except in August when the 4th installment came out). Basically I’m explaining all of this just to say that last night when I wanted to psych myself up for the movie I wanted to do something other than read the book. So I ended up listening to Bella’s lullaby on YouTube (the official one from the soundtrack, and the fan favorite) then I watched Can’t Hardly Wait – Because it’s hilarious and has Peter Facinelli in it (who plays Carlisle Cullen).

“Ah-man-DUH”.

Weak I know. Hey at least I’m not making a t-shirt to wear to the movie, which I was totally tempted to do. Don’t mess.

FRIDAY NOV. 21
6:30 AM – Just woke up and promptly reminded Brad about the movie tonight, somewhere within his slumber he managed to conjure up a disgruntled “humhu…” – which I took to mean “I am thrilled! I can’t wait to spend my Friday night sitting among 12 year girls shrieking for a pasty English kid.” This is going to be a good day.

......

8:00 – At work. Checking the Twilight Lexicon – they’ve posted a message saying they won’t be up and running until Saturday so all the fans can enjoy the movie without hearing any spoilers. Boo.

8:01 – Read reviews from MSNBC, MTV, US Today, LATimes: not great. Still not discouraged!

12:00 PM – Sweet! NPR says “Twilight is enjoyable” – I’m sold. I’ll just ignore the 30 other bad reviews I’ve read… hmmm.

12:05 – Side note: While checking the news feeds I found out that Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz named their baby boy Bronx Mowgli Wentz. What the what? Do they have an endorsement deal with Disney?

3:43 – Just read that Twilight made 7 million at the box office on midnight screenings alone (3rd highest behind The Dark Knight and Episode III) and that Fandango is reporting that they are selling 5 Twilight tickets a second. Glad we got ours in advance.

3:43 – Side note – just read a short blurb about how Fox is actually going to make an Arrested Development Movie. Hopefully it won’t translate in to an R rating. If you’ve never seen the show go rent/buy the DVDs (well, on your way home from seeing Twilight of course).

4:30 – Leaving work. T-minus 5 hours until the movie starts. I’m making burgers for dinner as a reward for Brad for going to the movie. I’m such a nice wife.

7:00 – This was the earliest I could get Brad to leave the house. What, you don’t want to sit on the floor of a filthy movie theater for two hours? He’s a trooper, although he’ll get his vengeance when we do the same thing for Star Trek (although if you are reading this JJ – you know I’d do anything for you).

.....

7:22 – We arrive and there are only 30 people lined up so far, luckily they have us lined up inside. Brad earns the distinction of being the first male in line.

7:27 – Just spent the last 5 minutes listening to a 35 year old woman behind us in line talking about how she really wants to buy a necklace from Hot Topic with the Cullen Crest on it. Oh my.

8:10 – There are almost 100 people in line, male count: 7.

8:11 – Twilight fans really have a corner of the black t-shirt/ skinny jeans market. I apparently didn’t get the uniform memo.

8:20 – Stupid high school kids at the front of the line stood up so then everyone started standing up too and pushing forward. Come on people! Like they are going to let us in to the theater more than an hour before it starts and while the movie before us is still playing. Stupid High School kids…


8:25 – Stressed out Manager in a suite just stomped up and down the halls asking customers to stand closer to the walls. Obviously this guy takes his job way too seriously. Calm down man – this is a movie theater not Auschwitz (too soon?).

8:27 – Uptight manager continues to freak out which leads Brad to do impersonations of Dr. McCoy from Star Trek for 10 minutes. “I’m a doctor, not a movie theater manager!” As I die with laughter I’m pretty sure the 12 year olds in front of us think we are idiots.

8:42 – And the best t-shirt award goes to random girl sporting a homemade black shirt with the phrase “I’d like a Cullen burger, with a side of Hale, hold the Jacob.” Ha! Maybe I should have made a shirt…

8:50 – They have finally let us in to the theater. Luckily we got here early enough to get excellent seating, middle and center.

8:51 – Girl behind us is actually crying in anticipation. Ummm?

8:56 – Even though Uptight Manager told everyone that the show has been sold out for 2 days and that we aren’t allowed to leave seats empty all 7 of the dudes are sitting two seats apart. Seriously? Do you really want Uptight Manager to kick your trash at a screening of Twilight? I’m not sure but that might cancel your subscription to Man Weekly.

9:02 – Everyone cheers when the theater ads come on the screen. Oh boy, here we go.

9:03 – Interesting. I just learned that Shirley Temple was originally cast in the Wizard of Oz; they switched to Judy Garland because she was a better singer. Well, you learn something new every day.

9:10 – Tied for 1st place for the best t-shirt award goes to random teen boy (!) taking a seat near the front. Also homemade, on the front it reads “My letter from Hogwarts never came…” and on the back, “so I moved to Forks and joined the Cullens”. Good stuff. Are teens getting cleverer these days? Is cleverer a word?

9:13 – Bathroom time. I heard this mother is 2 hours and 22 minutes long. Sheesh.

9:20 – Brad and I were trying to think of famous female painters (who knows why) and I said I could only think of two, could he think of any? Brad then leans over and says all serious “Yes, Felicity Porter”. Okay, maybe two of you will think that’s funny, but I laughed so loud that that people down the row gave me dirty looks. At which point I realized that they thought I was laughing at the advertisement for St. Jude’s Children Hospital. Yeah, like I’m laughing at kids with Cancer. Come on, I’m not Satan!

9:29 – If I have to see a preview for TNT’s “The Librarian” one more time I’m going to hurl something at the screen… Diet Coke, check. Twizzlers, check. Let’s get the show on the road.

....

9:31 – Previews have started. Tons more clapping, I have a feeling this is only going to get worse.

9:32 – Harry Potter preview: Amazing

9:34 – Confessions of a Shopaholic preview: Amazing

9:49 – It has begun.

Sometime during the movie – Crying Girl will not stop narrating every step of the movie and proclaiming how hot Edward is every 15 seconds. Would it be illegal for me to wrap my belt around her head to block her mouth from moving?

Sometime during the movie – Brad just joyously whispered to me “Edward has bushy eyebrows too!” I made the mistake of telling Brad once that he has bushy eyebrows and ever since he’s acted like it’s his plight to endure. Apparently, now he’s overcome that by finding a fellow bushy eye-browed comrade.

11:51 – Movie just ended. I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone so I’ll just simply say it was much better than I anticipated. Just go in prepared for “A Walk To Remember” level cheesiness and you’ll be fine. My expectations were pretty low so I was pleasantly surprised. Kristen Stewart was much much better than I thought, and Robert P was okay. Just don’t actually look at the screen during any of Edward’s scenes for the first twenty minutes. The makeup is awfully inconsistent, but I think they’ll fix that in the next movie.

....

There is definitely more good than bad and I could go on for a while, so I’ll just stop there. Now Twilight fans must wait until Monday morning to find out the box office totals to see if the second movie will be made. Rumor has it that it must make at least 150 to get the green light. I hope it does because I think the second movie could be tons better. (***UPDATE: New Moon was officially announced by Summit Saturday morning.)

11:55 – Brad just tried to take a picture of me in the theater and we were informed that it is illegal to take pictures inside a theater and it’s a federal offense if you get any portion of the screen. Okay… sorry about those pictures we took in the hallway; hope Uptight Manager doesn’t track us down.

12:20 – Just got home. What a good night. All in all, Brad even agreed that it was totally worth the two hour wait and the 16 dollars.

this is for jenny

gasolinera

So Brad and I were driving home from the airport on Sunday night. Along our way we stopped at an intersection with a gas station on the corner and while sitting there we both looked at the sign and saw the price of $1.88 for regular unleaded gas.

With out saying a word we turned and gave each other a high five. It was a good moment.

I don’t know how gas prices are for the rest of you, but I filled up my car for $16.78 yesterday. It was so great I almost took a picture of the blessed pump.

news?

This story was actually on the St. Louis Dispatch website, I had to check the web address twice to make sure I hadn't accidently typed in The Onion's website.

BENTON, Ill. -- A rooster played chicken in the wrong town.That's the word from the downstate community of Benton, where police took a rooster into custody after it allegedly confronted a woman and her child.

Police Chief Mike O'Neill says the rooster has been bothering people lately, trying to keep them from getting where they want to go.O'Neill says officers had enough on Monday and took the rooster into custody after what he described as a brief scuffle.Nobody was injured and the rooster was thrown in an enclosed area near the police department. There, it lived on chicken feed and water until police located the owner. Chickens aren't allowed to live in Benton and the rooster was turned over to the owner only after he promised to find it a new home in the country.

What journalist covered this story - the editor's 10 year old kid? Can the police even "arrest" a rooster? Why didn't they call Animal Control? Oh, the questions... I love the midwest.

Here we go...

I tried all day yesterday not do a political post, but I just can't help myself.

I woke up this morning with an actual sense of fear and dread. Under President Obama Brad and I should flourish since we will be some of the poorest people in America. However, when we begin to pay this off in ten years and actually start making money after YEARS of hard work, we will see what kind of consequences Obama's tax plan will bring. The thing is a lot of the current liberal young voters will begin to see the effect of that too and hopefully we'll be at a point to make another "Change", one that actually makes sense. Brad and I are all for spreading the wealth around, but on our own terms. I refuse to give more of my money to a government that will tie 97% of it up in red tape and bureaucracy. I would prefer to set up a scholarship program or give money to a trade school that helps those underprivileged learn useful skills. To anywhere where the contribution will actually be put to a good use that Brad and I support. Handing over the responsibility of "spreading the wealth around" to the government is ridiculous.

At the end of the day I can definitely appreciate the historical significance of this, but I'm afraid that people voted for a race and not an ideology. Wouldn't it make more strides for racism if we found ourselves treating this victory as if any other person had won? This doesn't feel like a step forward, this feels like a huge spotlight on the fact that race is still an issue.

I will say that it's nice to have a president that can deliver a good speech again. This was my favorite line from last night (kudos to Obama's writer).

"So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other."

If Obama actually lives up to this statement I will have nothing but applause for him at the end of four or eight years. For now, I'm a skeptic. If his campaign did anything it did not promote a sense of working harder but of class animosity.

What I'm most anxious about is the media's love fest over Obama to continue and for every mistake Obama makes to be blamed on the Bush administration. Oh, this is going to be good! Obama will be untouchable even when he disarms our military and allows a woman to kill her own child eight months into her pregnancy.

I would love to feel the joy and optimism that so many Americans are feeling today; however, Obama has a long way to go in convincing me. I will gladly praise Obama when he proves me wrong. Until then put me down as a cynic.

brad's grandmother, in remembrance

Marva Harman Casper

July 17, 1924 ~ November 02, 2008

Our loving mother, Marva H. Casper, 84, passed away on November 2, 2008 in Salt Lake City. She was born in Magna, Utah, on July 7, 1924, the daughter of Charles Royal Harman and Clara Lillian Simmons. Mother married George D. Daley August 25, 1943 and later married Delmar R. Casper June 6, 1957.

Our mother was always a very hard worker. Her family always came first in her life. She was the corner stone of our family. She always made sure that everyone felt part of whatever was going on and that no one was left out. Mother worked as a meat wrapper at Smith’s Grocery Store for over 20 years and later worked as a crossing guard on 3900 South and 900 East.

The kids loved mother. They all referred to her fondly as “Casper.” She loved being with the children. Mother is survived by her children Marva J. Daley, Diane H. Carn (Ross), Judd Casper (Patricia), Richard A. Casper (Bobby) and Michelle (Missy) Hockemier (Ron); 13 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings Lillian Faye Willard, Charles LeRoy Harman and Mary Ann Pribyl.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, November 8, 2008, 12:00 noon, at the Olympus 2nd Ward, 3070 E. Nila Way (4120 So.), SLC. A viewing will be held Friday, November 7th, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Larkin Sunset Lawn Mortuary, 2350 E. 1300 S., SLC, and one hour prior to services at the ward on Saturday. Interment will be at Elysian Burial Gardens, 1075 E. 4580 S., Murray, Utah.

FYI

If you are ever tempted to wear wet n' wild midnight black nailpolish for your halloween costume, don't do it! It will stain your nails an awful gray color and make your hands look like they belong to a homeless person. Fantastic.

Ahoy matey, a dragon!

Okay, so almost all my friends are posting pictures of their adorable children in their halloween costumes. I have resorted to posting pictures of my nephews so I can join in on the fun. Plus, my nephews are so darn cute. Last year Iain was Yoda, come on! You can't beat that. This year Iain was a pirate, and his little brother Ryan was a dragon. The awesomeness continues.

i love to rock!

This picture is really scary, I'm sorry. So let me explain. At work not only were we required to dress up but we had to put on a department skit. My department has won the last three years so there was a lot of pressure. The difficult part is that we have to come up with an idea that works for six women. So this year it was decided that we dress up as the girls from the reality tv show "Rock of Love" and then our skit was a final elimination ceremony. They introduced each of us and then our Bret Michaels (we recruited a brave soul from another department) made his final choice. It actually turned out hilarious, but it doesn't help that I work with some really outgoing people. I opted to take the "rocker chick" role so that I wouldn't have to dress too slutty. You would think that this would be inappropriate for work but some of costumes were even too R-rated for this blog, welcome to life outside of Utah! Personally my favorite group was the department that dressed up as all the characters from Goonies. They even had someone dress as the older brother and ride out on a tiny pink bicycle. Classic.

I would post a picture of Brad's costume but I think everyone has seen him in his scrubs already. In the three Halloweens I've known Brad he hasn't dressed up once. Lame. Don't worry, I'm making him dress up next year.

the one with the jam

So a few ladies from my ward came over to visit last night and they brought me a jar of homemade strawberry peach jam. Words can not describe the goodness of this jam. For lunch today I unabashedly packed: said jar of jam and 4 pieces of bread. I’ve been counting down the minutes until I can go into the lunch room and enjoy the goodness. You know the episode where Monica has her “Jam Plan” and Joey gets all excited because he loves jam? Mmmmm, she should have made strawberry peach jam.

“Remember when your mom used to drop you off at the movies with a jar of jam and a spoon?” -Joey

happy halloween

Brad's brother emailed us this political cartoon by Gary McCoy. If you are an Obama supporter we mean no ill will by posting this.

You’ve never seen Tommy Boy!?”

When I was a freshman at BYU my roommates and I were at a football game. During one of the slower portions of the game Kristin randomly quoted Tommy Boy. I wish I could still remember which quote she used but when she said it our group and several people around us laughed. Ashley, however, didn’t catch the reference until we told her what movie it came from, to which she replied “Oh, I’ve actually never seen Tommy Boy.” At this remark our group and several rows around us, and now that I think about it probably the entire stadium, turned to her and said “You’ve never seen Tommy Boy!?” This of course was a travesty to which she was quickly indoctrinated before the week was out. Since then the phrase “You’ve never seen Tommy Boy!?” has been used to refer to anyone having lacked the quintessential and, let’s face it, vital experiences that are required of a human being. Well I tell you this story because the other day I told Brad I had never read 1984 (Shock! Dismay! Outrage!) and even worse I had never read To Kill A Mockingbird (“You’ve never seen Tommy Boy!?”). So my shameful secret is out and the next few weeks will be spent becoming a little more familiar with two of the supposed greatest novels of all time. We'll see how it goes.

PS - What is today's equivalent of Tommy Boy? Would someone now say "You've never seen High School Musical?!" I think this involves further investigation, but I'm afraid I'll discover I'm not as hip as I thought and will realize how old I've become.

yeah, we voted, jealous?

Today was the last day to register to vote in Illinois, and since we are considered "late registers" we also had to vote today. We are literally 4 miles from Missouri, a battle ground state, where our vote might have counted more and even though the 21 electoral votes from Illinois have all but been handed over to Obama, we still felt it our civic duty to vote. Plus, we couldn't complain the next four years if we didn't. Here's to democracy!

don't you love the fall?

the lost weekend

So my weekend was just swallowed up by this:


Excellent read. It’s filed under young adult fiction in the library but don’t let that scare you away. It seems I only post about these types of books, but I promise my book shelf reads deeper than Harry Potter and Twilight. Anyway, I almost read this in one sitting. I love books that have you thinking, how is this possibly going to end?

weekend update

This past weekend Brad's parents came to town for Brad's White Coat Ceremony. Basically Brad received his white coat and took the Hippocratic oath - so now he's a dental student with morals. It also means he can start performing on actual patients, which I hear is where the real fun begins.

Here we are in front of the school sign, if you look closely you can see our house in the background - we still love being so close.



Diane was generous enough to bring Brad and I some food storage. Now I don't have to feel like a hypocrite having just given a talk in church on emergency preparedness with out actually being prepared myself. The truth is we have already started to dive into the food; the apple sauce was just too tempting! We also have peaches, jam, apple pie filling, pears and 25 pounds of oatmeal. Good-ness we cleaned up. In this picture you can also see the "vintage" 70's contact paper on the pantry shelves. I'm never taking it off, it's so awesome.

They were also kind enough to schlep down our dining room table that was generously gifted to us by Brad's brother and sister-in-law. This is now my favorite thing in our apartment. It's an old farm house table that has two pieces that slide out from each end and then lock in to place to make the table longer. You can see that they store underneath when not in use. It's a dark mahogany color that cleaned up well with Howard's Restore-A-Finish (plus Ross and Brad's elbow work). We are guessing it could easily be 100 years old, and I am a huge fan! Thank you Ken and Cristie, we will love it as our own.

Aren't the end chairs fantastic? There are benches for each side, but we are using them in our living room as a coffee table.

Here is Brad getting his white coat, so studly!

We also got a tour of the campus, so Brad got to show off the teeth he's been working on in the lab over the last few months.

We'll have to take one like this on graduation day, but maybe without my hand looking so weird.

McMansions

This blog post by mo rocca about the changing stigma of "McMansions" is funny and actually makes some good points. The post reminds me of some of the complaints I hear from Naperville, Illinois natives and there is also a shout out (albeit slightly unfriendly) to Plano, Texas.

Enjoy!

"...bouquet of newly sharpened pencils..."

The zebra z-grip max in red is my favorite pen ever. It writes perfect and it seriously makes my work day just a little bit better. Is it weird to have a favorite pen? Okay, fine. Forget I blogged this.

pere marquette

Brad and I went hiking over the weekend. We traveled up the shore of the Mississippi to a little town called Grafton, Illinois - which was adorable! It had little cafes, candy shoppes, old ladies selling jam, and a fisherman's wharf. We didn't have enough time to stop but we are planning to go as our next outing. On the other side of Grafton is a state park called Pere Marquette which is famous for its Bald Eagles. In the fall bird watchers travel from all over the US to see Bald Eagles nest in the bluffs. We were a little early for bird watching but we took advantage of the mild hills which induced a mild form of hiking like conditions. It was great to see more of Illinois and enjoy the last bit of summer before the bitter bitter cold sets in.

Definately greener than Utah!

I'm a sucker for walking over fallen trees. Its feels very Swiss Family Robinson.

A view of the Mississippi from on top of the bluffs.

Brad is really excited to be in nature.

I'm no politico

I think I've said before that my two best friends and room mates at BYU were Political Science majors. Well not much of that political-ness rubbed off on me because I am seriously un-interested in all things political. Now ask me what movie won an Oscar for best picture in 1994 and I can tell you Shawshank Redemption. However, this presidential race has been different. I probably won’t be using this forum to discuss politics, because I’m pretty sure the two people that read this blog aren’t coming here to become more informed on foreign policy. I will, however, say three things about last night’s debate.

First of all, they both admitted that the VP pretty much does nothing so why do we even have a VP debate to begin with? Or a VP for that matter?

Secondly, one of the radio stations here in St. Louis calls Joe Biden “America’s Drunk Uncle”. For the last week they’ve been playing all these sound bites of ridiculous things Biden has said that the media completely ignores. Watching him last night and thinking of him as the crazy drunk uncle made for high comedy, especially when he kept grinning like he was getting a glamour shot taken.

Thirdly, does it bother anyone else that Palin keeps calling the average American “Joe six pack” and “hockey mom”. Seriously? Even if that is some how true, please don’t admit it. I think Europe can hear you and they are laughing. Embarrassing. Also, does anyone think that Tina Fey looks more like Sara Palin then Sara Palin looks like Sara Palin? Just saying.

Overall, both did an okay job. Brad and I both agree Palin did better than expected and Biden did what was expected. So who will soon be a “heartbeat” away from the highest office in the land? A golly-gee republican or a stuffy old democrat. Hmmm. No thanks.

I promise the next post will include more pictures from the daily happenings of the carn family :) It's been a while.

just a small request.

I’m sorry. Is there anything more uncomfortable then the bathroom small talk? You know, you’re both standing at your skink with a huge mirror in front of you and the person next to you starts to chat about something totally inane, “I tell you what, this water is lava hot.” What am I supposed to say to that beside, “Yep.”? Is it unreasonable to ask for the entire bathroom experience to be completed in peace? It’s already enough to ask me to share a bathroom with 85 co-workers I don’t know.

Sigh.

veronica mars is my hero

So recently I have gone through a few phases, most of them involve media entertainment but what can I say… there’s not a whole lot to do in Alton. My latest phase was watching Veronica Mars. Let me just tell you that my best friend Kristin and I mercilessly made fun of this show because the premise of a high school detective sounded too much like an Olsen twins movie gone horribly wrong. Unfortunately, three years later we learned we were the ones that had gone horribly wrong. Not only is this show incredibly awesome, but it’s incredibly awesome. Did I mention it’s incredibly awesome?

The title character, Veronica, is one hip detective chick. I only wish I could have been that ambitious and witty in high school, heck I only wish I could be that ambitious and witty right now. Her father is a private investigator (also ex-sheriff of their town) and she works in his office solving everything from murders to missing person cases. The high school drama portion of the show is far more interesting and realistic then anything else on television right now, and the pop-culture references are hilarious. I don’t even think the average teenager is old enough to pick up on everything.

So if you are looking for a new show to watch, tune in to the WB and catch the latest episode. Oh wait, you can’t. The WB cancelled one of it’s only respectable shows to make room for: The Pussycat Dolls Present. True story. Sometimes I don’t understand life. Anyway, so you’ll have to watch the three seasons of Veronica Mars on DVD. You won’t regret it. Well you might regret staying up until 4 am to finish one more episode. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

UPDATE: If you are already a veronica mars fan or want to know more go to this clever website that has compiled all things vmars. Check out the pop culture reference page, it's unreal how many references are listed.

Side Note: While I have been watching Veronica Mars, I got Brad sucked in to Lost. I've already seen the first two seasons so Brad keeps coming in to the kitchen to say things like "That Ethan guy is super creepy", and "When is Claire going to have her baby already?". It's great.

It's off to work I go...

So I started my first day of work on Monday. I really like the people I work with, and the company seems great. I swore I would never commute more than 20 minutes, and yet here I am working in South County St. Louis, Missouri – a mere 45 minutes from our apartment in Alton. I travel through downtown St. Louis and amazingly I don’t hit any traffic. Everyone seems to be going the opposite way so the drive is a breeze. The journey also feels very touristy. Everyday I pass within 20 feet of:

The arch.

Ram’s stadium.

Cardinal’s stadium.

Anheuser-Busch Brewery.

So if you come visit I know how to get to a couple of places, although I must admit the brewery might not be on the agenda. Contrary to the one major highway that Utah boasts, there are about twenty different major highways in St. Louis alone. I’m actually quite proud of myself for being able to navigate through downtown. Who knew a year ago I’d be working in St. Louis? Times, they are a changin.