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.

a sad day

It's a wonder that Brad was never interested in going into veterinary science since he loves animals so much. Especially dogs. When he was 11 he picked out a little red fur ball that was half Siberian husky and half Lhapsa Apso. In a very Brad move he named her Tasha after a Star Trek character. Since Brad was the youngest of six kids and spent his middle school and high school years as a only child at home he was really close to Tasha. Whenever we went to Naperville the first thing he usually did was go to the back yard and check up on Tasha. When we went to Naperville last weekend Tasha, at 14 years old, actually chased down a skunk and gripped it in her mouth. Sadly she passed away yesterday. It's not too often that you lose a friend at our age, especially one that's so much a part of the family. So here's to the Tasha dog, you will be missed.

St. Louis Temple

Even though we aren't in Utah anymore Brad and I are still lucky enough to live within 45 minutes of a temple (even though thats 43 minutes longer then it took us to get to the temple in Provo...). We decided to do a session Saturday morning and made it just in time. The grounds and the temple itself are beautiful and like many cities you can see it right off the highway.

naperville

So we went to Naperville over the weekend to spend some time with Brad's family. His parents live in Naperville but his sister was down from Green Bay as well. We had a great time with Ginger's six kids (She's literally superwoman, I don't know how she does it). I'm bummed I didn't get any pictures of the new baby Ella, but trust me she's the cutest! We went swimming, picked apples and pears, ate lots of food, and had a great time overall.

Bryn and Spencer terrorizing their Uncle.

Brad getting the kids soaked at "The Beach" (A huge Naperville city pool constructed to look like a beach)

Brad and Grace smooshing cheeks.

By the end of the day Spencer was covered in sand from head to toe!

Grace lounging with Grandpa.

house has ruined me

After watching the first three seasons of House in less than a week I am now officially a hypochondriac. I think I either have sarcoidosis, lupus, or possibly some insect living in blood stream. Thanks House, I am now the most paranoid person on the planet.

the diving bell

For such a small town we actually have a pretty awesome library. It's located in the mall (!) along with the post office, which cracked me up. Anyway, since we are currently living without TV I now take a weekly trip there to check out a few DVDs. Hey, you can't beat free even if their selection is a few months behind Blockbuster.

So now I've seen the first season of Brothers & Sisters, which is very entertaining if you enjoy watching a crazy family drama mixed with politics and a little soap opera-ness. Then I watched the first two seasons of House, which I surprisingly really enjoyed. After you get used the abrasive nature of the main character he's actually quite endearing. House is like Law & Order but all inside a hospital with a team of doctors.

Then this past weekend I checked out The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I was really affected by the idea that your life can be happier as a complete vegetable. Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor of French Elle when he suffered a major stroke leaving him completely paralyzed except for his left eye. In this state, called Locked-In syndrome, he maintained his hearing, memories, and lucidity. He compared his state to being in a diving bell (think of the old school scuba diving outfits that looked more like astronaut gear). His speech therapist devises a way for him to communicate through blinking and eventually he "writes" a book one letter at a time about his experience. In this state he comes to understand who he really loves and who really loves him. He learns to live beyond the diving bell by spending time with his family and the time in between working on his book and using his imagination to escape.

Jean-Dominique found a way to speak when left with sight... but I don't suppose you could find a way to see when left with speech. It's an interesting question: if you were paralyzed would you rather live with the ability to see or speak?

our first visitors

Our good friends Scott and Nicole came to visit over the weekend. Even though we know little about Alton and even less about St. Louis we still had a great time. We made some thrilling trips to Lowe’s, Target, and Panera. We did go to Fast Eddie's, a local bar that is famous for its 99 cent ½ pound burgers. It was pretty funny to see Nicole at seven months pregnant order a water from a bar waitress. We also fried some food, played poker and watched a movie. It almost felt like we were still in Provo. Almost. It was great to have them here and probably the last time we'll see them until they become proud parents in October. Hanging out with them is one the many things we miss from Utah.

We forgot to take pictures all weekend so these were taken right before we left for church and Nicole and Scott left for Nauvoo. Brad thought he looked weird in the first one, so he made us take a second. I told him I'd post both pictures less we feed his vanity :)