THE HALLS

Before and After

2011-04-07T01:42:00.006-04:00

Before I left for work this morning:

After I came home and the boys had spent the day with Doug:

What happened to my babies??

5 Minutes

2011-03-30T23:57:00.009-04:00

Most people think there's not enough time in the day. Apparently for Ben and Will there are about five minutes too many in the day. It seems like each night they get tired a little bit earlier. Which wouldn't be bad if they were getting up at the same time. Before the time change a few weeks ago I got them up around 7. They would be awake and talking before then, but I went in at 7. With the change they were supposed to get up at 8, which would have been great. This morning they were up and talking to each other at 6:45 and by 7:15 were getting upset they were still in bed. We'll see what happens, but I don't think I can keep on getting them up earlier. They'll just need to deal with it. Apparently they didn't get the sleeping in gene from mom.

On a slightly more serious note, we decided to start the adoption process again. It took over a year last time and who knows how long this time around. We decided to go through the county. One of the joys was going to a six week class on Saturdays. During the orientation, there were a lot of upset people who couldn't get six consecutive Saturdays off and while I took a lot of heat from work, we figured it out. They shared nuggets like a child who's been abused may have issues, you need to bond with your child, hitting your child isn't always the best way to discipline, etc. When asked how to deal with these issues there first preferred answer was therapy. Way to add some value guys. They even had a bunch of people who came in to tell us why birth parents were better parents than us simply because they could give birth. The curriculum hadn't changed meaningfully in decades and everyone in the class couldn't wait for it to be over. If this was a normal parenting class that people had to pay for there would be riots. I don't want to rant about this because clearly it's worth it to get a child. However, it shows how ridiculous and messed up our government is even when you're trying to do good. The only people who could change this have no incentive to because it would negatively effect their own jobs-they'd have nothing to do. They complain about the number of kids in the system and make it prohibitive for people to help out. Our own social worker from the class (who subsequently quit after umpteen years on the job) even told us how much she hates how she has to send foster kids back to awful birth parents. But no one does anything. Insiders have no incentive to and outsiders have no pull to make things happen. It's frustrating but what's a g to do? We'll write letters. Offer support. But we also need to find more ways to be have a more meaningful impact.

Limitless

2011-03-27T23:57:00.003-04:00

As I've documented here and on Facebook, Will's new trick is his ability to poop only in a bathtub. He's like 4/7 this week. Like most of their tricks, we hope he stops doing this in about a week. Ben's new trick is a little funnier. When I get ready to walk out the door, he gives Tamara a kiss and then grabs my hand to walk out with me.

We saw limitless this weekend and it's an interesting movie because you think about what you would do with a sweet gift like being able to focus 100% all the time, instant recall of everything you've been exposed to, and the clarity to connect dots nobody else can. Spoiler alert. However, the movie fails pretty hard with that. Seriously, the best you can come up with is to be an investment banker for a couple months because he needs to raise funds and then be a politician. They show him gambling and daytrading where he makes 166X his money in two weeks to go from $12K to $2M. Yet somehow he decides being an ibanker for a couple months is the quickest way to raise funds? Not trading or gambling for a few more days? Then we're supposed to believe because he can think like no one else he become a politician? No curing cancer? Solving global warming (if it exists)? Developing systems to forecast natural disasters? Brokering peace in the middle east? It's kind of like Benjamin Button where he has this amazing stroke of luck and he can't come up with anything worthwhile to do with his life? This is sad for a few reasons. First, the creativity of the people who wrote these is weak. Second, the writers glorify what these guys did meaning they think that little of us or we really do glorify it and we are that lame. Third, the writers left ginormous gaps that they think we're stupid enough to not recognize. Whatever, it's just a movie but I thought it could have been really good and fell really short. But what would you do if you had that power? It's probably hard to know because it's been a while since I really thought I could do anything I wanted to. Let alone quickly. I'd probably work on things like curing cancer, increasing crop yield, water purification, and alternative energies. For fairly obvious reasons everyone would benefit and it would really improve the lives of the poorest people. If you have any ideas (especially you Jake because you might be the only one who still has us in their RSS feed) feel free to share.

Surprise!

2011-03-24T23:30:00.002-04:00

So, we haven't blogged since November (and it was fairly weak before then) but I'm starting a writing project so I'm going to start blogging again as well. I could go through and update you on everything that happened over the last several months, but that'd take too long and be boring. If you want, you can email us and ask. I'll just give some of the most recent highlights. Ben started going to nursery and Will follows shortly. Will finally started walking after teasing for several months. While Ben like taking off his diaper under his pajamas to spread his poop all over himself, Will prefers pooping during bath time. Tamara threw out her back and has vowed to stop picking up the boys by bending at the waist. Matt and I are going to apply to the Amazing Race. We got a new minivan, much to Tamara's joy. Go team Odyssey!

Before I get going too strong, I'll end on this. I, and maybe Tamara, will be back blogging. Stay tuned.

USS Midway

2010-11-11T14:23:00.013-05:00

We took the boys to San Diego and went with the family to tour the USS Midway. I have driven by the Aircraft so many times and have wanted to go in so I was so excited!! The boys loved being able to touch everything and Rob's kids like being able to explore. Some even got the chance to drive their own. I love how much more fun the boys get as they get older:)

Colton's Baptism

2010-11-10T22:51:00.004-05:00

My nephew Colton was baptized recently and we were lucky enough to be there. I can't believe how fast all of these kids are growing up!!

Ben's First Haircut

2010-10-21T00:26:00.002-04:00

Ben just got his first haircut and to me, he does not look like a little baby anymore. He is growing up so fast.

Welcome Home

2010-10-15T23:20:00.006-04:00

We are thrilled that Doug's brother Peter came home from his mission this summer after serving two years in London. There was a lot of family here for his homecoming and Eric Bennion missed his Eric Sandwiches.

The boys were excited to finally meet their uncle. Speaking of my boys, look how cute they are!!

San Clemente 2010

2010-10-08T00:29:00.010-04:00

Every August Doug's family has a family reunion in San Clemente, California and I look forward to it every year. I love how much fun the Bennion family is and getting to know my new family. This year was great for many reasons.

Doug's brother Peter was there just getting off his mission.

The boys love to play at the beach.

The boys loved to get to know their cousins, all of them were so great and helpful with both Ben and William.

Watching the boys of the family being silly.

Feeling like part of the family.

Griffith Park

2010-10-07T01:30:00.006-04:00

Doug's brother Matt and Matt's wife Christa came for a visit this summer with their two adorable girls. We met up with them at Griffith Park and the boys had a blast.

We rode the train around

My favorite was when the boys were swinging in the park. Does it get any cuter then this?

4th Of July 2010

2010-10-01T01:21:00.012-04:00

I know, I know....I am WAY late at posting and I am just getting to posting about the 4th of July but we sure had a great time!! We went to San Diego to hang with Rob and his family so of course we went swimming and had a BBQ Finck style.

I had to dress the boys up in 4th of July attire and we were off to the San Diego Fair. Robert spent the whole day with the animals so we stopped by to say hello and we learned that Ben loves all animals including goats.

We all ate great fair food.

The kids had a blast riding the rides.

Ben continued his love for his brother and his uncle Rob.

To end a perfect day the kids played with sparklers because we were just to tired to drive to see the big show. I much rather see the kids laughing then sit in traffic anyway.

I love spending the holidays with family.

One Weekend of Many....

2010-09-27T00:22:00.010-04:00

This summer we spent a lot of weekends with my brothers family in San Diego. They have a beautiful swimming pool and the boys are little water babies and loved swimming with their cousins. William loves getting attention from his aunt Hailey.

This visit we decided to meet up with the Burnett's Downtown for the day. We started the day off at the San Diego Zoo. The boys favorite was being able to crawl around the animals statues, my favorite was seeing how excited they got.

We then went to Old Town for some lunch and of course went to the little candy shop. The Mormon Ballalion has a new museum so we wanted to check that out as well. We were very impressed with how well of a job they did. The story/show was great and there were a lot of things for the kids to do.

We topped the day off in the Gas Light District walking around and tasting some of the best Ghirardelli Chocolate ever.

Another great day in Southern California!!

Hello Goodbye

2010-09-21T01:09:00.003-04:00

I love surprise visits so when we got a call from some of our favorite cousins that they were stopping by we could not have been more excited. Doug's cousin Curtis and his wife Tamara (yes, her name is Tamara Hall how cool is that) stopped by on their way to San Diego. The boys could not have been be happier.

Also, we had a BBQ to say goodbye to the Larson and wished them the best of luck in NYC (I am secretly jealous that they will be living in NYC).

I forgot to mention

2010-09-21T00:59:00.002-04:00

I forgot to mention that on Doug's birthday we went to the Dodgers Game and thanks to Papa Hall, this is what came up on the screen.

I wanted to prove that we are still cool and hip so we rode Doug's motorcycle to the game and I have to admit that I was scared the whole time but it was a GREAT night!!

Summer Birthdays

2010-09-18T23:01:00.006-04:00

Doug and I both share June Birthdays so I think that June is the most important month of the year!! This year with so much going on in June we decided to keep things simple and to just go away for a night. Doug's mom Katie was nice enough to watch the kids for the night so we went to Long Beach and got a hotel. It was very relaxing and I had a great time laying out by the pool. They have remodeled Long Beach and it was beautiful. My favorite was the light house and walking along the water. Our friends, Melissa and Adam came and met us for dinner Greek style. I am always a sucker for some good humas and we know we picked the right place for the men because there was a lot of meat. We did not want the night to end so we went to see the movie "The A Team" which I was surprised how good it was.

On my actual birthday a bunch of my girlfriends kidnapped me at seven thirty in the morning and took me out for breakfast. Doug was suppose to "prepare" me but somehow I was at breakfast with wet hair and no makeup or bra on. Thanks ladies, it was a blast. Also, my friend Heather and Cassie took me out for High Tea. We had a wonderful afternoon.

I know that I am way behind on blogging but I hate to skip over everything that happened this summer and I really hate a long post so I will try to update sooner then ever three months:) To go along with the theme of birthdays...while I was house sitting for my boss (it was great, like staying at a resort) we had a birthday party for my friend Heather. The boys loved all of their friends over to play and we all enjoyed laying out by the pool.

Finck Family Reunion 2010

2010-07-29T15:11:00.014-04:00

Another event that happened in June was the Finck Family reunion. This year I was in charge so we got a home on the beach in Venice Beach and we all had a great time.

We were on the beach everyday, of course.

Went for bike rides.

The men went surfing and boogie boarding.

Went shopping.

Ate very well.

Flexed muscles at Muscle Beach

The boys loved getting to meet and know their cousins.

The Finck Family is growing and grandma & grandpa are loving it.

Fun "Last" Activities

2010-07-13T21:02:00.017-04:00

I have talked often about all the MBA activities that we all did together these last two years. Towards the end there became a lot of events that we kept calling "the last bash", "graduation party", or something along those lines. I am one that can never have enough parties to attend or plan but it was kind of funny how everything was "the last". Here are a couple examples (and this is just naming a few).

We had a family miniature golf night. It really turned into the men competing against one another and all the women standing back and helping the kids. We enjoyed pizza and ice cream after so it turned into a really fun night.

Then the Halladay’s hosted a BBQ/swim party. The wives were able to relax for about ten minutes before then men started doing canon balls that ended up with all the girls soaked and not such happy faces but it was to be expected, we all married kids at heart. My boys had a great time because of course they were in the pool with dad.

The night after graduation was my favorite activity of all. All the adults got together for a fun night of Jeopardy. The evening started off with the men all at the grill and then everyone enjoying a nice dinner outside. Then the games began. Doug put together and hosted the questions with three of the guys competing at once. The categories were all over the place from "name that bank" to "old school rap", to everyone’s favorite, "name that vampire". Congrats to Dave Larson for being the big winner of the night. After the game, Heather served us our own Ditty Reese Ice Cream Sandwiches. She made the cookies and ice cream herself and it was amazing. Then Karly out together a slide show of all our favorite memories, it was hard to fight back the tears.... we had some really great times. Then my favorite activity of the whole night was sitting around drinking our sparking cider while toasting all the guys and giving stories of our favorite memories. We promised to meet up every year for a reunion and I am holding everyone to that promise!!

Thanks for all the great memories; this was a great two years:)

The Boys Sealing

2010-07-06T15:38:00.005-04:00

As mentioned before, June has been a very busy, exciting, and emotional month. In my mind the one event that tops the list was having both Benjamin and William sealed to us in the LA Temple. On June 16th our little family was sealed for all time and eternity, what an amazing experience and blessing. We had so many close friends and family there to share this moment with us. Thanks to those that made such an effort to be there. As I sit here and write about the sealing I still get emotional and tear up to think about all the things that prepared us for this moment. Of course I had a hand full of tissues and used all of them while in the temple. They ended up just handing me the tissue box. I love the temple and what it represents. I love my family for preparing me for this experience. I love my husband for having the patience and understanding to take this journey with me. I love these two boys so much and I have no doubt that this was the Lords plan for me all along. I wished that you could see how adorable the boys looked in their white tuxes but the pictures, thanks to Karly, turned out great.

So Proud Of My Man

2010-06-26T11:24:00.011-04:00

As I had mentioned, June 11th was a big day in our home. After two years of hard work, lack of playing Halo, and many late nights.... The Douglas Leonard Hall graduated with his MBA from UCLA. These two years have gone by so fast and for the most part, we have enjoyed every minute. When Doug first told me that he was going to attend UCLA and we would be leaving NYC I did not hide my disappointment, I was not ready to leave the city. I should have known that Doug knew best because moving here has changed our lives. For all the smack I talked about California, it has really grown on me. The weather is amazing, we are five minutes from the beach, we have made amazing friends, we have gotten to see my family more often, and I have built a wonderful relationship with Doug's family.

We are all so proud of Doug for his accomplishments. He is such an amazing brilliant man and I can't forget to mention how smoking hot he is. He has been an incredible husband and such an excellent father to both boys. We have watched him work so hard and do his best from his group projects to finding a job.

The ceremony was very nice and the boys handled the three hours beautifully. Doug made fun of their outfits but everyone else could not get enough of them. Doug looked so confident walking up there to get his degree and you could tell that he was also relieved for all of it to be over but his thoughts were on what he was going to do next.

We had a perfect ending to a perfect day. Bruce and Katie took us out to dinner to congratulate Doug. I have to mention that we were also celebrating Doug's birthday from earlier that week. He turned 30 this month and is becoming quite the man!!

Our Little Angels Court Date

2010-06-26T11:12:00.006-04:00

June 11th was a big day in our home; William’s adoption became final!! Katie came over early and all five of us headed downtown to family court. The boys were on their best behavior and full of excited. Of course William was so excited that he fell asleep in my arms and missed it when the judge signed the papers and it became official and of course I started to cry. The clerk gave the boys some teddy bears and Ben could hardly stand it.... he screamed out loud about his new friend and has continue talking to him ever sense. What a relief to have both boys adoption final, I love my little family so much.

The Unstoppable Force Of Jamal

2010-05-21T11:08:00.012-04:00

Definition of Jamal:

When Doug and Best Bud Taylor Dix come together they become ONE. This hilarious, brilliant, and amazingly awesome ONE is named Jamal.

You have to ask them how and why this name came to be, I learned a long time ago not to question things when they become ONE. They live in their own worlds when they get together. I am not saying this is a bad thing, it is actually very entertaining. Taylor married the wonderful Stephanie and together they make quite a team as well (Doug was secretly jealous when Stephanie got to marry Taylor).

When Doug and I were dating he made it pretty clear that I had to get the Dix’s approval before he proposed to me. We went to visit them for Thanksgiving before we were married and I was more nervous about meeting them then I was Doug’s family. Well, the moment I met them I knew that I had no need to worry…they rocked!! They must have given Doug the thumbs up because Doug proposed the day we came home from visiting them.

They came to visit us twice while we were living in NYC, the second time with their little stud Warren. This kid really is “the man”; we fell in love with him the moment we met. We also went to visit them in Denver last year when the beautiful Camellia was born. Doug has already warned Taylor to keep her clear of our womanizer Benjamin. Stephanie and I already have our kids marrying each other in the far distant future.

Stephanie came out for Ben and Will’s baby shower and to celebrate the good news with us. It worked out perfect that she was a friend with another good friend of mine, Bonnie who helped plan the shower.

Just recently the whole Dix family came out to visit and there was no question that we would have a fantastic time. We enjoyed the beach, Disneyland, and Sea World together.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about friendships and under the definition of true friendships should be the names Stephanie and Taylor Dix.

We sure love you guys!!

Update

2010-05-19T01:38:00.007-04:00

Like many of you, I'm in mourning the passing of Ronnie James Dio. As Scott Ian, rhythm guitarist from Anthrax, said, "Horns at half mast."
Tamara wanted me to hit some of the highlights from the last bit she hasn't covered. Several weeks ago we were in Utah for our court date to finalize Ben's adoption. We were comforted by how certain things hadn't changed-I-15 under construction, the liberal usage of pastel colored shirts, and a strong portion of the drivers acting like 14 year olds playing grand theft auto. The proceeding went well and everything was signed and official. My grandparents came down from Idaho to meet the boys and joined us in the chambers. We then partied in their room at the Little America until we had to leave. We spent time visiting family. Ben and Will got all the attention they could handle and then some. They spent most of the time asleep or with someone four inches from their face.
Ben has picked up a few tricks. He usually does one a week. While he had known that his pacifier was used to put him to sleep, it wasn't until Utah he figured out how to throw it. From his back on a bed he threw it across he room and we couldn't find it in the dark at 2 a.m. His newest thing is to stand up holding on to stuff. In between he figured out how to click his tongue (that was two-weeker).
Will came out of his shell a few weeks ago and now spends almost as much time during the day awake as asleep. One of our discoveries several weeks ago is why he "sleeps" so much. Not long after we feed him he'll get fussy and get excited when we put him down. We figured he was sleeping. Turns out he just lies there, kicks his legs, and looks around. He gets bothered when we come in to get him but he just hangs out by himself. Now he's open to some accompaniment, but pretty regularly he just wants to be left alone in his bed for a few hours. It could be worse.

We have a date coming up for Will's adoption finalization-June 11th. It'll be nice to have that behind us. Until then, you can find us here:

Retirement

2010-05-17T16:06:00.005-04:00

Doug keeps telling everyone that I have retired from working. It is strange how sometimes it does not feel like I have retired because I find myself working more then I ever had with these two boys. Then there are times when we have a fun week and I think that this whole retirement thing is pretty great.

A couple weeks ago I took the boys to Disney Land. I know that they have no idea what is going on but we all had a great time;)

Then the same week we took the boys to Sea World. I know but they will see pictures when they are older and I can say, "see...you went!"

Moms ?? Birthday Party

2010-05-13T11:35:00.017-04:00

In March my mom turned a certain age that my dad felt was important enough to celebrate so the two boys and I headed off to Arizona to spend a week with the folks. It was an adventure but we had a great time.

The boys got to feel what grass felt like and played with Buster.

They got to wear funny hats like Grandpa:)

The boys rode the horses with their Grandpa

Ben could not get enough of the 4-Wheeler

Their favorite was swimming in the pool with Grandma & Grandpa

We had some bonfire time

Then there was the birthday Girl

The party was a blast with a live band and all. My favorite was the dancing.

Perfect Match

2010-04-21T15:41:00.013-04:00

Life has a funny way of working out. When we started the adoption process we knew that there was a good chance of the children not looking like us and we were fine with that. Doug and I look like opposites so we figured our children would as well. We also never thought that we would get two boys at the same time but we all know how well that turned out. But for thinking that our children would be so different from us, we sure ended up with the opposite. These boys could not look or act more like the two of us.

Proof:

William looks at acts just like Doug. William wants to sleep all day, like Doug, and most of the time wants to just be left alone to do his own thing. He never cries unless he is hungry or tired. He has big beautiful brown eyes and a darker complexion. Doug is on the left, William on the right. They have the same eyes, nose, and ears.

Then there is Benjamin. As much as we love him he is no angel. He wants to get into everything and demands every ones attention. He won't sleep because he is afraid of missing out on something fun, he is very social and talks all the time. His smile will brighten your day but he will ware you out. With his blue eyes and blond hair he sure looks something like I did.

Rodeo

2010-04-19T00:30:00.004-04:00

You may have be thinking, sweet, the Halls live by Beverley Hills and we're going to hear about Rodeo Drive. Not quite. Yesterday we drove beyond the regions of the 909 to Hesperia where our niece and nephew Sage and Colton were in a rodeo. This may be a shocker, but their dad is Tamara's brother Rob in the post before this one (see pic). For the regular readers, Rob's ranch is where I went branding and enjoyed my first Rocky Mountain oysters.
Anyway, we drove on up to the park and made pretty decent time. We looked for Rob's white pickup and the trailer. That tactic would have worked if every truck didn't have a trailer and half of them weren't white. Once we found them, we settled in and tried to get the boys changed and fed. With all the horses and goats around, Will's dirty diaper actually improved the scent in the area. To give this perspective, a couple weeks ago one of Will's bombs made my mom leave the apartment and Ben cry. Sage and Colton performed well but given it was their first rodeo on the California circuit they didn't perform as well as they hoped. They both did pole bending and goat tying and Sage did the barrel race as well. They chalked it up to a learning experience. I don't know if Rob was happy with the price of learning, but what are you going to do?
Some other notable things from the trip. Will might have slept for over 22 hours yesterday. And today. We hope he's going through a growth spurt, though if he does he'll be about 33% bigger than Ben. Ben started making clicking sounds with his tongue and spends the majority of his waking hours doing that. Speaking of, Ben developed a serious aversion to sleeping. We're hoping it's just a phase but it's one of our least favorite of his phases. Tamara promises she'll post pics and videos shortly.

What are you going to wear?

2010-04-06T13:41:00.005-04:00

Yes, that is Bon Jovi and yes, we were that close!! I will get to that in a minute but first I have to tell a story leading up to the concert.

I got two tickets from Papa Hall for Christmas to go see the Bon Jovi concert.... I was so excited. After Doug laughed at me during the last Bon Jovi concert for being so excited I decided that he was not worthy to come to this concert with me. I asked my older brother Robert because back in the day we used to rock out to Bon Jovi in the car. The last concert that Robert and I went to together was Pink Floyd and that was going to be hard to top.

The week of the concert Robert called and asked me what I was going to wear. First, that was strange coming from Robert and second, I realized that I had not even thought about what I was going to wear. Back in the day this would have been the most important question and Robert must have remembered me trying on about five different outfits for the last concert. Then I thought about the four other Bon Jovi concerts that I had been to and most of the time I was wearing black leather pants and some party blouse. I realized that I had officially become a mother of twins. I was more concerned about getting them ready then getting myself ready. Times have changed but I am so grateful. Although it is still important to be yourself and remember to take some time to have fun, I much rather be admiring how cute my boys are then how good I look in those tight pants:)

And....the concert rocked!!! They played for about two hours and still were the bomb. I noticed that John had retired his leather pants as well. I danced the whole time and made sure to scream really loud. My brother even sang the songs he knew with me (this is also a big deal). They played Living on a Prayer last and I lost my voice singing along. It was a night to remember and it made me realize that I am one lucky lady!!!

High Maintenance Babies

2010-03-10T17:56:00.009-05:00

I know that this will not seem like a surprise to most because children take after their parents, in this case me, but my boys are totally high maintenance babies. They will only poop in clean diapers. Every time I change their wet diapers and I am thinking we are all good, then they poop....every time!!! Don't they know how much those diapers cost?:) But then they smile at me and I think to myself...you can do whatever you want, just don't tell you dad. J/K...but could you stay mad at these little faces?

Twins?

2010-03-01T19:52:00.009-05:00

Every time I take the boys out I get asked, "Twins?" To make things simple I just say, "Yes." In the beginning I would try to explain the situation and that was usually followed by confused looks and to many questions. As the boys are getting older it is becoming more obvious that they are not twins but that is what I am going with still.

When we decided to adopt both boys many people would ask, "Do you have any idea what you are getting yourself into?" That was followed by me saying, "nope, never done this before." I thought that I knew so much about being a mother but as things progress I am learning that I had no idea what I was in for. This past weekend both boys were very sick, very cranky, and Doug was busy with school and not around. Taking two sick boys to the doctors is hard enough but I was not prepared for the emotions that overwhelmed me. I kept asking myself: what if I am doing something wrong, what if I am not doing enough, when is the fever considered too high, and when do I need to take them to the emergency room.... I was a mess. At the end of the day, the boys survived and Doug made it home in time to go to bed.

I found myself asking can I really do this? Then I started thinking about all the amazing women in my life that have all done this. Like my aunt Robyn that had twins after already having a young boy. Then about my old roommate Julie that has twins as well and then another little boy. There is also another old roommate, Kacy that has twins and another little girl. Then I thought about my friend Catherine that actually had one child, twins, and then twins again. Lastly, my friend Bonnie that just had triplets. All of them are wonderful women that I look up to and although I might not be as great and patient as they are.... I realized that they were put into my life for many reasons. The most important was to show me that I could handle these two miracles that I call twins.

Here are some pictures that I am loving right now:

Clippers game

2010-02-23T00:41:00.005-05:00

As Tamara noted below, back in Jan. we went to a Clipper's game. If you think Bron Bron is awesome on TV, you have to see him in person. It's something else. You've never seen anyone so huge, quick, and powerful. It's really not fair. It's something every sports fan should do at least once.
Anyway, as you might imagine, we can't go anywhere in LA without getting hounded by a paparazzo. Yesterday I got home late and Tamara was all excited about something she recorded on the DVR. I had a couple guesses but was way off. She pulls up the list and it's the Daily 10 on E!, which I try and avoid. So I guess it has to be about either Seth Green or Chris Tucker. NPH/Barney Stinson? Alec Baldwin back in the news? Steve Prefontaine? All wrong. Somehow Tamara had seen a pic of me like one of the two on the bottom. I couldn't even see me when I first looked. As you can see in the next few pics, the paparazzi wouldn't leave us alone at the game but some couple kept on photobombing us. You can definitely see us on the top one and you can barely make me out in the next two. If that couple wouldn't have been so rude you could see us more clearly.

Very Exciting....

2010-02-22T11:02:00.003-05:00

I have stopped blogging for so long I forgot to let you all know the exciting news.....I am going to the Bon Jovi Concert next week!!!!!! Papa Hall hooked me up with tickets for Christmas and my brother Robert is coming with me. If you know me at all you know what I fan I am, yes I cried for happiness at the last concert I went to in NYC. Doug likes to bring it all the time and laugh at me, that is why my brother is coming with me this time. I will post updates after the concert:)

Papa Hall also hooked us up with Cavalier tickets vs the Clippers at the Staple Center last month. It was our first date sense the boys and we had a great time. Papa Hall has front row tickets so we got to see Shaquille O’Neal and Lebron up close and personal. I have never been a huge fan of either but they have some serious skills and enjoyed showing them off for the crowd. I was just as excited to be sitting in arms distance to Rihanna.

Boys are crying....I am out.

I get asked often

2010-02-17T13:24:00.009-05:00

I get asked often how I handle both boys at once and I always reply, "I just do." My family and friends have been super helpful with everything from babysitting, to bringing me meals, or just giving advice. It also helps that I love the boys so much and Doug and I have been praying for them to come into our lives for a long time. On top of that I thought that I would list a couple things that have really helped and I am not sure that I could have lived without, well at least helped me not to go crazy.

The BOB stroller. The boys just love to be outside and this has been the most amazing stroller. It is so light weight so it does not brake my back to carry it up and down three flights of stairs about twice a day.

The Baby Bjorn. Again this helps with being outside in tight spaces and in the beginning I would carry Ben around the house in it and still get things done without him crying.

A friend of mine gave me the book Baby Wise to read. This book made all the difference with how I scheduled our days. The boys are on the same schedule so I know when they are going to eat and take naps. It also helped with knowing the boys different cries so that I was not feeding them when they weren't hungry. It has always helped with the boys now sleeping through the night.

Colic Tablets. Ben was a very colic baby and when I gave him a couple tablets he would instantly calm down. They are natural so I did not feel bad giving them to him. Trust me, I tried everything else and these were the miracles workers. They also help for when they do not feel well instead of giving them Tylenol.

The Bumbo Seat. Many people do not believe in these because babies fall and hurt themselves but I just never leave them alone in one. But it makes them feel like they are part of the group which keeps them happy while I am cooking or putting on makeup.

Baby wraps. These help the boys calm down when fussy and helps them to sleep longer. It also helps when I need to carry both boys because they are more restrained.

Lastly, Breyers Black Raspberry Ice Cream. This is a new flavor that helps me relax after a long day....SO good!!

Missed Calls

2010-02-15T19:53:00.003-05:00

This last weekend we went to my parents place to let the boys cry through the night. Tamara went up one day before me on Wednesday. Wednesday night I got home around 8:30 and sat down and put on a little PTI. Next thing I know it's 11:45 and the first thing I think is Tamara is going to be so mad I didn't call her. My phone looked something like this:

Of those 14, at least 12 were from Tamara. I knew I was in trouble but surprised I hadn't heard a knock on the door. Turns out this time she showed some restraint. Let's rewind about 4 years. When Tamara and I were dating I'd take her home almost every night to 168th. Then I'd turn around and go back to my place on 63rd. It took forever. I called her between the subway and my place to let her know I got home safe. One night I totally forgot to do so. I got up in the morning and had almost twenty missed calls. I thought, that's weird, I wonder what happened. Turns out Tamara freaked out when I didn't call, called my roommates who didn't answer, and then called a neighbor downstairs, Jen Bennion (née York), who came upstairs and woke up a roommate who checked in on me. I was passed out, because it was 3 am. I had to swear and promise to never, ever do it again and hear I was doing it again. Fortunately, she was much more understanding this time. Must have been Ben and Will interceding on my behalf.

New Love

2010-02-09T17:31:00.018-05:00

As Doug pointed out, I have not blogged forever and yes I have a new love. It is not the Dillon Panthers but the three men in my life or one man and two adorable little boys. Most of you know the story of us adopting these two miracles so I wont go into to much detail and I can't even begin to post all of the photos that I have taken so please still click on the these links for updated photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126222&id=647682644&l=88373df83d
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126226&id=647682644&l=af8717179e
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126223&id=647682644&l=7625090770

Here was the announcement that we sent out that I just LOVE:

I will just give some highlights of our amazing journey. Ben came into our lives on October 2nd and was born in Utah. I was there for about a month (in the hospital with him for about a week.) We had a lot of visitors and enjoyed spending time with family. Doug was only there for the weekend and boy did we miss him. Once the paper work was taken care of we drove home. Will was born November 15th in California about three hours from where we live. We got the call at 11pm that the birth mom was in labor so we packed up our stuff and was at the hospital by 3am to see our wonderful William. Again I had to stay at the hospital for about a week and we had to say goodbye to dad and Ben (yes, I cried for a bit). Every night we would say our good nights by ichat (this was our first family photo.)

This is a bath tub that relaxes babies when they are young because it makes them feel like they are still in the womb. As you can tell, it worked very well.

Ben had this thing for awhile where we would only sleep if he was smothered in your arm pit.

Doug's mom, Katie comes every Wednesday to help and both the boys and I look forward to her coming to visit.

Ben loves taking naps with dad which really works out because Doug loves to take naps and he has learned that I wont give him a hard time if he naps with a kid.

Will also LOVES to cuddle, especially with his brother. I promise that I did not pose them for this picture.

The boys love to me outside so they look forward to days when we can take them to the beach.

Doug blessed both boys in December. It was such a special occasion and so nice to have most of our family there.

Here was our families Christmas photo.

The boys got to sit on Santa's lap.

I don't dress them a like most of the time but some times I just can't help it.

They love their Bumbo chairs and the chairs have been such a lifesaver for me. Often they will sit and talk to each other or help grandpa make cookies.

Ben has started to bounce in the bouncer and here he wore himself out.

Last week my parents took them to Chuck E Cheese. They were so worn out after four hours of looking at lights that they actually slept through most of the night.

Those are some highlights, I will try to be better but I make no promises. Because I am writing this post my laundry did not get done......

Long time, no see

2010-02-05T02:32:00.002-05:00

I was hanging out with my dad for a few hours today and he asked when I was going to update the blog. If my dad is asking when the update is coming, it's long overdue. Let me give you a few highlights from the last couple months. Tamara has developed a new love-Dillon Panthers Football. Someone told her to watch Friday Night Lights, it's available for streaming on Netflix, and in a short span three seasons have been viewed. Pretty impressive? Will has recently gotten pretty big and his skin has cleared up so he's looking grown up. He still doesn't like to hold his head up but he likes to coo, which is fun. Ben began making baby noises and tries to sing along when you sing to him, while Will watches and smiles. He's a big fan of Bear Necessities. I'm pretty sure they both like the 7am sportscenter as well. This last week Ben decided he was moving on from just baby noises and began making spitting sounds. He can entertain himself for a while (in baby time-in real time that's over five minutes) so that's always nice. While their sleep is improving, we're hoping they can find some way to entertain themselves during the night and throw us a freaking bone. Over the Christmas break we blessed both of the boys since both of our families were available. Tamara has all the pics on facebook and I'll get her to post some pics on here as a well as a funny Ben video from last night. Christa also did a sweet recap here. In other news, I'm still looking for a job. Word on the street from the career center is job posting should start picking up a bunch in March. Let's hope so.

Mailbag

2009-12-05T03:11:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted so I thought I'd answer some e-mails that we've gotten over the last little while as an update.

Tamara's Husband,
Nice article in Mormon Times. I learned so much about your heritage. Care to elaborate?
C Hardie
PS, Nice pic.

We thought it was cool that they wanted to do an interview, but it didn't turn out how we imagined. The only time stress came up in the interview was when she asked Tamara, "Has it been stressful?" and Tamara answered, "Sure." So we were surprised when it was the focus of the article. I'd like to clear up a few things. First, Ben wasn't on meth. Second, I'm not of Mexican or Irish descent. Third, that look on my face is more "Really? More pictures? When he's crying?" not "I'm so stressed from having a kid." Again, we were surprised that those were the pics chosen. See the previous post for Tamara's pics (which are updated regularly).

Smokey! I haven't seen you online in months. You'll get pwned like a noob when you get back. Why are you avoiding me?
-The Baron

It's true, I haven't played video games with my friends for months. I only work out like once a week now. You can see how committed I am to the process.

Doug,
What's going on? Ben and Will don't look anything alike. Are they similar in personality? You know, like you and Matt.
-Cuz

Not at all. Ben has moved around a lot, flailing his arms but holding on to anything, since he was born. He also didn't like his pacifier until recently. He takes forever to eat. His favorite things to do early on were stick his hand in your mouth while you're feeding him, want to play at 2am, and take an hour to eat four ounces. He also only poops once a day and it's a disaster. Will, on the other hand, likes to sleep, eat quickly, and squeeze onto your hand and fingers. We also feel bad because we sometimes forget that they're so different in age. Sometimes we expect Will to act like Ben when he's only two weeks old. Then we remember how good of a baby he is.

Yo! Clownster here. I hear you're only sleeping from 1-5:30 and complaining about it. Seriously? We have triplets and I hardly ever sleep. I also have a real job, not a "student". Quit your complaining and man up.
-Rambo

John, good to hear from you, too. People who know me know how much I love to get enough sleep and nap. These last weeks have been ridiculous. There's only one more to go until I'm done with finals. But it's worth it for the dudes. Hopefully Ben's sleeping through the night by the end of the winter break. The last week he's been sleeping 10-4 so we're hopeful.

Dad, What's up with all the pics and flashes? How do we get mom to stop? Anytime I'm awake there's a lens in my eye and a red light on my forehead before the sky explodes. You put us in the bouncy and force these awkward interactions on us. Why do you guys do this to us?
-Ben and Will

I know, I know. The pics are ridiculous. You think they'll go down, but they don't. I suggest two tactics. First, look at your grandpa's smile. If you start smiling like that people will stop asking to take your pic. Second, look at the look on my face in the article. You give mom enough of these looks and she'll get mad at you and give up. There are serious consequences later so don't do that often, but from time to time it's worth it. Otherwise, you grin (but not like you enjoy it) and bear it. One last thought. You guys throw up and poop on everything else in our house, consider doing that on the camera.

Timing Issue

2009-11-23T01:41:00.005-05:00

I have been slacking at this whole blogging thing but I do have a good excuse!! I have uploaded a bunch of pictures on FB so here are some links of pictures....I will update info soon:)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126222&id=647682644&l=88373df83d

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126226&id=647682644&l=af8717179e

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126223&id=647682644&l=7625090770

Couple More Photos of William

2009-11-18T23:57:00.006-05:00

William and I are still hanging out at the hospital hoping that this infection gets better. I cried this morning when Doug and Ben had to go home and can't wait for our little family to all be together.

Welcome William

2009-11-17T11:11:00.004-05:00

Sunday night I spoke with the birthmother of our second child for about an hour about issues she was having and other things going on in her life. You know I must be committed if I was on the phone for 53 minutes. I didn't do very much talking. The last time I was on a conversation that one-sided was when I asked Tamara's dad for permission to marry her. She said at the end of the conversation she was getting uncomfortable and wanted to lie down. An hour later she texted (Tamara, I don't text) saying she was having contractions. Twenty minutes later we got a text from her friend they were at the hospital. Twenty minutes later we got a text the baby was here. Between the two babies there was less than forty minutes of labor. She was at a tiny community hospital so she was transferred to another tiny community hospital that had a nursery section. William Hudson Hall was born at 11 weighing in at a solid 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long. He's almost as big as and has more hair than Ben, who's six weeks old. We're still at the hospital because he has a respiratory infection but we're meeting with the pediatrician shortly and hopefully he gets released today. For some reason Tamara forgot the cord from her camera and the battery charger so we only have one pic to share right now. I assure you there will be more.
Tamara wanted me to add something about where the names comes from. Wilford is her grandfather's name and William is also the name of some great guys we know including Bill and Nate. Hudson was the name Tamara wanted since we lived in New York when half of our ward named their kid Hudson. Nobody cared they were all the same because, like us, they wouldn't be around for more than a few years. Benjamin is close to Bennion, my mom's maiden name and Ellis is her mother's maiden name. Just a little FYI.

I'll take two

2009-10-11T17:28:00.007-04:00

Big Ben (I'll try a few nicknames and judge what we use by the reader response but some of them are intentionally lame and I'll ignore any further recommendations you make) got out of the hospital yesterday. He and Tamara are at her aunt and uncle's in Pleasant Grove. Tamara's also update the link with the pictures at least every other day so feel free to check out the new pics. She said li'l bizzle now gets annoyed when he sees the camera, not just when the flash comes on, so I asked her to tone it down a little bit for his long term health. Apparently aversion to taking inordinate amounts of pictures are genetic.
Many of you will be familiar with the We Ain't Scared Tour 2003 featuring D'nasty, Pound Fi'ty, and Wolverine. There were several themes and phrases that really made the tour epic. One of those was, I'll take two. Perhaps you need an example. While drooling over the McLaren F1 and finding out the price tag was only $1MM, you would here "I'll take two!" When being offered a small dessert by a foodserer disgusted by the amount of food you've eaten at their all you can eat buffet you might here "I'll take two," over and over and over again. Another one of the phrases was I ain't scared. When jumping off perilous cliffs where a few feet in either direction would mean broken bones the proper response is "I ain't scared." If you arrive in a town at midnight looking for a place and someone offers you one and leads you down an alley to her house you reply "I ain't scared." I think you get the idea. When the opportunity came up to adopt Benno, these were the two lines that popped into my head. Probably because, just like the tour, we had no idea what we were getting in to. So far, Bennoi has been a trooper and really responded to us. After the papers were signed and we were visiting with B-jammin alone for the first time after two days, the nurses told us Benno hadn't been eating and if he didn't start they'd have to insert a feeding tube. After hanging out for half an hour we gave him a blessing and five minutes later he took down half a bottle and continues to eat like champion. Beno responded way more to Tamara than any of the nurses and they made comments on how quickly he knew who his mom was. Benny and mom should be home in about a week which means I have a lot of work to get the room ready for Jam. Anyway, take care and if you have any recommendations for nicknames for Benjo let me know.

Benjamin Ellis Hall

2009-10-03T11:36:00.002-04:00

Friday morning we headed to the hospital as the mother was being induced. Tamara was in the room with her and I went in for a little bit while all the meds were kicking in. The mother says, I think he's crowning but I'm only four centimeters dilated. Then she had a big contraction and started making some labor pains/noises so I was out. She didn't want me in there for the birth and I didn't particularly want to be there. As I was told by Tamara, the nurse came in and said you're not having the baby yet. She decides she wants to take a nap but the doctor came in and said, "You're having this baby." So, one push later, the baby was out. It was about half an hour after I left the room. This is her third child and she told us with the second child she did one push, the doctor told her to hold on for a sec, she sneezed and the baby came out. Apparently labors aren't terribly difficult for her.
Benjamin Ellis Hall was five pounds five ounces and 18 inches long. He's healthy and happy. He grabbed my finger at one point and wouldn't let go. I didn't think he was awake so it was pretty cool. Here are a link to the pics. We'll have more posted on Sunday night.
We're really happy and feel very blessed.

Quick Update

2009-10-01T08:31:00.002-04:00

This will be quick and sans picture for now. A few days ago we received a call from one of the agencies we were working with about a mother who was due next week on Saturday. Wednesday afternoon we found out she would be induced on Friday, as in today. So I'm sitting in the waiting room while Tamara is in the delivery room. The mother, Heather, was induced around 7:30 so we should have updates later today. We met the parents last night for the first time after quickly arranging a trip to Utah. In case you're wondering, I-15 is still under construction in the exact same spots as when I left over five years ago. Anyway, more updates to follow.

End of Summer

2009-09-17T16:55:00.009-04:00

This summer is wrapping up. I finished up my internship last week and school starts this next week. It's sad to see the summer come to an end but there's lots of good stuff in store. Stay tuned in a couple months from now.

Last Friday we went to the LA County fair to celebrate America. If deep fried avocadoes dipped in chocolate are wrong, I don't want to be right. I'm not sure if I should write about what we did or ate - it's all pretty exciting. I'll hit the highlights of each. We had a sausage that was over a foot long and an inch and a half wide drowning in grilled onions in peppers.

Mom and Steven's still working on the looking at the camera thing.

Tamara got some sort of electronic cleanse through their feet. I challenged what exactly was being cleansed and I got vague and non committal answers. Tamara bought a bunch of massage stuff and she swears she'll give one. Adam bought some landscaping tools so he can start his own business. We got our teeth whitened. Then we capped the day off with the best strawberry shakes we've ever had. I'm not sure how they do it, but the strawberry flavor is flowing and it doesn't taste sugary at all. Absolutely amazing. Needless to say, it was a sweet day.

The end of the day. Who doesn't love the fair?

While we were there my dad called and asked if we wanted to see flogging molly the next day. I had heard a few of their songs and enjoyed them. We were excited but not exactly sure what to expect. Cutting to the chase, they rocked. They brought a ton of energy, played really hard, and were obviously having a good time themselves. It was pretty infections and we ended up having a great time. We totally recommend them.

Speaking of rocking, here's my dad killing it on Guitar Hero:

For various reasons Tamara was heading to Utah/Idaho and my dad and I ended up going as well to see my grandfather ordained a patriarch. It was a special event and all of my dad's sibling made the trip. We also spent time with Angie and Eric while in Idaho Falls. If you called us over that weekend and didn't get a response, it's probably because cell reception was pretty spotty. I've been informed this lack of technology is particular to the eastern side of Idaho while the western side is up to date.
The end of the summer is always sad but there's good news coming to compensate.

The Hollywood Bowl

2009-08-20T00:59:00.003-04:00

Because Doug has such great patience he was able to land a sweet internship this summer. I am so proud that he stuck it out and did not settle for a job that he did not want just to receive a paycheck this summer. With the help of our friends (thanks Covey's) he has really enjoyed working this summer. He is going to have to explain what he really does because I have to admit that I kind of tune out when he starts talking shop.

The owner of the company gave us box seats to the Hollywood Bowl last night where we saw Tovey Conducts Bernstein with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It was truly amazing, a night to remember. Next time we will know to bring table clothes with center pieces but we enjoyed our yummy sandwiches and sparkling cider. We invited the Lattin's because we really like them and they hooked us up with some cheese and crackers that were delish as well.

We always love to take advantage of where we live. We look forward to seeing and doing as much as we can because who knows when and where we will move to next. And I just enjoy having incredible dates with my hubby. Chalk this up to another great night in LA!!

Saint Forgiving

2009-08-20T00:01:00.008-04:00

When I was on my mission, at one point we did a district meeting in English as opposed to Spanish. If you said a word of Spanish, you had to start over. It was much tougher than it sounds after a year of trying to speak Spanish and translating certain missionary words I had never used in English. We also translated the names of towns. San Francisco-Saint Frank, San Isidro-Saint Izzy/Ozzy, Zapote-Sapote (it's a fruit). A couple weeks ago we spent some time in Saint Forgiving, or San Clemente for those of you that hablar.
My mom's family has been going to San Clemente since she was a little girl. I won't reveal her age, but let's say it's been a while. Every year we go to the San Clemente Inn for a week. It's a pretty complex ritual. You wake up, saunter down to the beach, and stay until you want to go home. At the beach you can go in the water, take a nap, or hang out. It's a very taxing day. Usually for lunch you either get pizza or go to Pedro's Tacos. Pedro's Tacos is to fish tacos what MJ is to basketball. Everybody wants to be like Mike, but there's only one. After your rough day at the beach, each family cooks one night and they you hang out at the pool or hang out until the older generation kicks you out so they can play their card game. It's kind of like sitting at the adult's table at Thanksgiving. I still sit at the kid's table. But we have way more fun.
Anyway, that's a typical day at in San Clemente. Every now and then we mix it up by going to the pool before the beach, play shuffleboard before dinner, or hang out in the morning and don't go to the beach until the afternoon. I think you get the idea.
This year we went for the first weekend and then went back Thursday night through Saturday. I'll run through some of the highlights of this year. One night we went night swimming and out of nowhere this dude attacked us. We were standing there minding our own business, and he just jumps at us, casually mentions what he would like to do to us, and swings. My cousin Matt ran off like a little school girl. My other cousin Richard took him down and the rest of us were about to open up a can on him before his friends ran over and stopped us because he was drunk. Like that was an excuse to act like a moron. If you attack a group of seven duded (well, six because Matt ran off) you deserve what you have coming. That was exciting. Matt, after recovering his dignity, also got his mission call to the Brazil Florianopolis. Apparently the surfing and beaches are awesome. Other than that we had some huge waves on the last couple of days due to some storm way off the coast.

Here's Matt (in the front) acting tough. Too bad we know better. The real men are in the back.

Tamara with Jane making her cameo in the hundreds of pictures she takes.

The little kids table.
If Pedro's Taco is closed, there's always an Eric sandwich!
Here's Grandi. This whole event is thanks to her.

Baking Withdrawls

2009-08-16T01:01:00.004-04:00

I have been trying to lose some weight so I have stopped my love of baking for about two months now but I just could not take it anymore. Doug planned an evening of Halo with the guys so I planned an evening of baking. I could not decide between something sweet and tangy or something chocolate so I went with both. Thanks to Martha Stewart, I made chocolate cookies with marshmallows in the middle covered with chocolate frosting, always a favorite in my world. Doug's favorite dessert is anything with lemon and raspberry so I dreamed up this recipe that I must say turned out to be the bomb!! I made lemon pudding by scratch whipped it with heavy cream then layered with ginger snaps and raspberries and let it set. I could not get a great picture, but it is amazing. We have a lot of extra so if you are reading this and want some, come on over!! After tonight I am going to have to work out double but so worth it.

Huey Lewis and the News

2009-08-12T00:47:00.006-04:00

Thanks again to the wonderful Halls, we got the hook up for great seats at a concert. This time it was Huey Lewis and the News, where it is not hip to be square. Once again when the lights came up we realized that we were the youngest people there, but it was a great night. The concert was at the OC Fair so of course we ate lots of fattening foods and oh yes it does exists......Chocolate Covered Bacon. I never thought that I would see the day!!!

Shocking

2009-07-29T01:46:00.003-04:00

Last night was the exciting end of the Bachelorette. Tamara has been waiting for this for months. I think this show is pretty lame. Reality TV? Where they end up in a fantasy suite? Wait, what? I was making fun of the show relentlessly so I did a bit of research to get data to support my stance since that's what I do. I was shocked, SHOCKED, to learn that of the 13

seasons of the Bachelor not one has gotten married. On the last season the dude picked one girl, then dropped her for the second one. Apparently they're still together. But she was the second choice. That's real love. Of the five seasons of the Bachelorette one has gotten married and the one that just ended which Tamara says has a real chance of lasting. So in 18 seasons why have one success with one more possible. That's a terrible track record. Tamara has a

better record of setting people up one on one. Imagine if she got twenty five chances with each person.

I'm not going to go into the reality complaints about being spending a week in spain, then hawaii, and then who knows where else. Fantasy suites, rose ceremonies-it all sounds very reality based. But I think there's one lesson to learn from these shows. The batting average for the bachelorette, 1-3 out of five depending on the accounting, is clearly way better than the bachelor, 0-13 no discussion. It's possible that the bachelorette is on the same PEDs Manny and Papi were on in 2003 and those numbers are inflated, but those results won't be leaked for some time. Anyway, what we see is that women chasing men never goes anywhere. Who though that sending 25 women to fight over a dude and throw themselves at his feet would result in him being committed to any of them? The only effort he put in was in sorting through the psychos. The bachelorette has enjoyed some success because it forces the dudes to work for the girl, which is how it's supposed to be. When one finally gets her, he'll value her more because he's put so much into it as opposed to the bachelor who thinks women are easy (which judging by the 13 seasons-there are lots of them out there). Though the show has virtually no redeeming qualities, there is something to be learned from this.

UPDATE: Anderson Cooper was also shocked

Little David's Sports Birthday

2009-07-25T17:10:00.006-04:00

Many of you have heard me talk about little David. He is our neighbors kid and he just love this little bundle energy. Today was his 3rd birthday so we had to celebrate with a sports theme. David already knows all about his sports and is dang good. Cassie (David's mom) asked me to help with cupcakes and I knew just what I wanted to do....sports cupcakes and of course my favorite chocolate footballs (I also made those for our Super Bowl party). So Cassie made the cupcakes and we decorated them like basketballs and baseballs. I think that they turned out adorable don't you?

Jury Duty

2009-07-16T16:25:00.008-04:00

I'm currently sitting around waiting to find out if two of our fellow Angelinos want to plea out and make a deal or go to trial and face jurors who want nothing more than to be done as soon as possible. It's riveting sitting around imagining the justice system at work just a few rooms away. I think jury duty could be great, but I've never been utilized. I have, however, spent several days sitting in poorly ventilated bland rooms listening to private conversations and seeing diseases passed around one uncovered sneeze at a time. I thought about taking the Liz Lemon approach but I couldn't do it with a straight face. Maybe I need to take my civic duties more seriously, like Pauly Shore.

So at my last job we probably spent more time arguing about font, grammar, spelling, and formatting instead of actual content of our presentations. While it was painful at times, I learned a really valuable lesson. When given a sheet, card, etc. I can spot mistakes within twelve seconds. I was reminded of that today. There was a farmer's market outside jury duty and I bought some streusel from Daphne. While eating I looked at the sticker listing the ingredients and the first thing I noticed was that 'dairy' was spelled 'diary'. It really ruins things. One guy gave me a business card and his address was mispelled-first thing I noticed. A friend sent me a pitchbook to look over and ten seconds in I see his email address in a footnote is wrong. In the business world it's called detail oriented but it usually turns into being critical. It's easy to be critical. Most of the time there is plenty of criticism and no ideas for improvement, which is the hard
part. But people love being critical without having to be responsible for the criticisms-hence the love affair with anonymous postings. I'm trying to retrain myself to only use it in work situations, but it's proving difficult. So, to make up for it I'm giving Daphne a shoutout and letting you know the original streusel is really good.

Big Weekends

2009-07-05T20:57:00.013-04:00

Last weekend Tamara's brother Rob and his wife Hailey came and visited us. Apparently it was the first time Rob has visited Tamara EVER so it was a big deal and we had to come through. I came up with a tour of Holllywood to start out. Fortunately, I found the most amazing breakfast place, The Griddle Cafe. For anybody living in LA, it would be a mistake to not go here. They don't list prices, but everything is around $10. The portions are ginormous and it was super good. We also only waited about fifteen min. I really can't overstate how good it was.

We then went on our Hollywood tour. We saw Michael Jackson's star with all the accompanying weeping, wailing, and the selling of counterfeit memorabilia. Anything to make a buck. We also visited the Harley store.

We then took off to the beach. Venice is always a trip. It's not unlike Coney Island-great people watching, unique food, and lots of public entertainment. While Venice doesn't have amusement park or carnies, we do have muscle beach, ropes to climb, and the actual beach is way better. And by way better I mean I don't feel dirty when I get out like at Coney. They also both have freak shows. We rented bikes, went to the pier and then stopped at the Venice Harley store.

Before we took off to dinner, we visited the Santa Monica Harley store. I hope you're seeing a theme here. We then had dinner up in the hills before heading to Diddy Riese. Overall it was a great weekend.

For the fourth, we first headed down to Manhattan for some surfing with Tamara's co-worker, Sabrina. Manhattan is pretty sweet. Houses right up on the beach. Not too crowded. I definitely recommend checking it out.

Next we headed up to the Halls. As some of you may know, there hasn't been TV in the Hall home since '92. Jason just graduated so they (and by they, I mean Mom) had DirectTV installed. It's taking some getting used to. I showed Dr. Hall the hot dog eating contest which he had heard of, but never seen. Like it did for me, it really changed his life. Dr. Hall hooked us up with massages which we really appreciated. I jumped in the pool while Tamara laid out. Grandi and Al came over while we bbqed. The food was great and even though it's not that far away it feels like being on a vacation.

If you are interested in viewing pictures from the whole weekend, click here.

Showing Off Our Skills

2009-06-29T00:40:00.004-04:00

I thought that I would add some video to show off what we were doing in Lake Havasu!!
Doug and I jumped together and I was still able to get up on the wake board.

Twofer

2009-06-26T17:28:00.012-04:00

My last post was pretty stupendous so I let you soak that in for a bit before I hit you with this two in one. Also, I know with the USA T&F championships, the NCAA T&F championships, and USA being in the Confederation's Cup final, we're all pretty distracted right now. Two weeks ago we went to Lake Havasu for Tamara's family reunion. That's two in a row Tamara's family has invited me to for those keeping score. We had her parents, her grandparents, Rob and Hailey's family, Doug's family sans Robin, and the Feils. In all we had, one house, one boat, two jet skis, and three Dougs. Since we were going to a lake, I really wanted to jump off

I'm twice as old as the next oldest person here

something. In total, I had three wishes for the trip. Jump off something, blow something up, and drive something fast. While the second might require some effort, I thought those were pretty doable. The very first day something blew up-my skin from the sunburn I got. Putting the jacket on and off took off my sunscreen and my bulging biceps were a nice shade of lobster. Not exactly what I had envisioned, but I was one for three. I tried getting up on the wakeboard but it didn't work. I blamed it on the board being small (my toe went over the edge) but nobody bought it. Then Tamara got up so that didn't help. That night we went to a local go-kart shop and I proceeded to wipe the track with everybody. No,

Rob not wanting to be right

seriously. From last to first. While not everybody else did, I drove something fast. They gave me a certificate for my amazing performance. That was two of the three down.
My last wish was to jump off something. We talked to some local friends of Rob's and they gave us somewhere to go. I was amazed at all the kids that jumped off this eight foot cliff we found. They don't even know they could get hurt. I think there's a lesson here. I got to jump off my 30 footer a few times, the last one with Tamara (video to come). It was precious. I don't often jump off cliffs, but when I do, I prefer the high ones.
Anyway, I went three for three. We had a good time with the fam which is what Tamara wanted so everyone is happy. Here are some more pics. Let me give you a couple tips about Havasu. The London Bridge was transported there piece by piece from London and reassembled. It sounds cool, but it disappoints. The boats cruising the canal are out of this world amazing. They were filming a new version of Piranha at the lake and Rob and I were extras in one scene. You might miss me, but you can't miss Rob's mustache. If handlebar mustaches are wrong, Rob doesn't want to be right. Look for us on the (surely) direct to DVD movie.

The bigger event, of course, was Tamara's anniversary of her 29th birthday. You might remember this from last year's birthday extravaganza.Not coincidentally, the 21st is the longest day of the year. We had planned a picnic on the beach for Tamara's bday but it was drizzling on the way there, which wasn't good. Nobody's a fan of wet sand. It was overcast for a couple hours before the skies

Before the clouds parted

parted and the sun appeared. We stayed for a couple more hours. The water was way nice but the waves were a bit weak. What are you going to do. That night, after a two hour nap, we went to a

Mucho mejor

restaurant on the Venice boardwalk, which is always a trip.
Much to Tamara's chagrin, her birthday was shared with Father's day this year so we went up to my parents' place. Grandi, Adam, Lisa, and Steven also came. Jason had shipped off earlier that week to BYU and it was weird without himbeing there, but we quickly adjusted. By quickly, I mean we forgot he was gone until he called. Tamara got some sweet gifts-a Martha Stewart baking book, a crate of strawberries, and a H&M gift certificate-all things she loves.

Denver with the Dixes

2009-06-12T11:54:00.011-04:00

Tamara asked me to do a blog post, apparently it's been a while. Over Memorial Day weekend we made our inaugural trip to Denver to visit the Dixes and experience the newest hate free zone we've been creating across the country. They've settled down there, we hadn't met their newest baby Camille, and we're pretty sure Warren had forgotten about us. Since the Nuggets were still playing I also hoped we'd run into the Birdman. As a shock to just about nobody, we had a great time. Let me run through some of the highlights. Dix and I went running through the backyards of some of the rich people in Denver. Very impressive. Then we sat around and were awesome for awhile. After that, we headed to downtown Denver. They blocked off a bunch of blocks from cars so you can walk around. Except buses come speeding through on a regular basis so it's not as though you can just hang out in the middle of the street. Stephanie and Tamara went to a chocolate store while Warren chased pigeons and played in the dirt. There was an art festival going on. I questioned an artist about some of her questionable techniques and Dix criticized artists for displaying simplified Chinese characters backwards. We really impressed ourselves. For lunch we killed a huge plate of nachos and a burrito the size of a bowling pin.
Though she doesn't read this, big shout out to Taylor's cousin for baby sitting for us so we could go to Dave and Buster's. It was my maiden voyage and I realized what a mistake I had been making all these years by not going. Taylor spent a lot of time racing heavily modified cars, motorcycles, and helicopters. Stephanie and Tamara were busy playing a game they couldn't explain to us but it spit out tickets. We decided to help them out so we went to the trivia game and took tickets from the four nice ladies sitting next to us. For four rounds. Then they realized we were a force to be reckoned with and left. S&T were on a roll with the tickets so we headed to a game where you get tickets for every quarter you push over the ledge. Very challenging. Apparently banging the machine to aid the quarters going over is looked down upon in Denver. I base this solely on the looks people gave me. I believe it was around this time that S&T made noises about winning blenders which were 4400 tickets each. Even with fake money that's a lot. Somehow they got really close, usurped my card and the last few games I wanted to play, won more tickets at the unexplained game and won two blenders. I've been excited by a few things about this, but this level of enjoyment was something else. There were several (yet unfulfilled) promises about how often these would be used. It also reminded me how much fun arcades and other forms of juveline entertainment can be.

The next day we went to Red Rocks after church. We were serenated by some aging hippies, with a Willie Nelson look-a-like, playing african drums. Their younger leader was wearing a purple tank top and jorts and was pretty entertaining, though not for the intended reasons. I think I had seen him with the renaissance group at BYU, battling with that guy with the red moustache. Apparently it's a pretty popular place to run up the stairs and there was a tremendous amount of spandex around. Somehow, Warren found puddles to jump in. We drove home in the most amazing downpour I've ever been part of. It was really freaking impressive. After that, we sat around and were hysterical. At some point right before we left, Warren even decided he liked us, which was a hard fought battle. I'm going to highly recommend Denver for anyone who's thought about going. It's almost a hidden secret how cool it is, much like Jamal. While we never did see the Birdman, the trip was a raging, though too short, success.

Summer Theme

2009-06-12T02:39:00.002-04:00

For card club this month we had a summer theme and I have really been wanting to make these beach bag cards again so that is what I did. I am really happy how cute they turned out, I am finding it hard to give them out. I might just have to make more....

Appreciation #20

2009-06-12T02:08:00.002-04:00

This months appreciation goes out to Andrea Boerem. Andrea and I met while at a BBQ in NYC. I still remember her rose colored sweater and her shinny lip gloss and I thought that she was beautiful. We quickly formed a relationship that has continued to grow. She was a constant support to me last year and has been the best cheerleader for us throughout this whole adoption process. Andrea is always so happy and cheerful and I have never heard her say a mean thing about anyone. Last weekend she came to California to stay with her parents for a week and I got the privilege of hanging out with her for a night. She came over and had a sleep over just like we would of in high school. She tried really hard to convince Doug that we should dress him up in girls clothes and do his make-up but we settled for watching chick flicks, baking desserts, and of course eating them. I loved that when we woke up in the morning the first thing that she wanted was more cookies and ice cream, that is the Andrea that we know and love. I am truly grateful for her friendship and for everything that she has taught me.

Dougie Fresh Birthday Celebration

2009-06-09T00:50:00.004-04:00

Yesterday our not so young Douglas turned 29. To celebrate we thought that Go Kart racing sounded like a great plan because lets face it, guys like to drive fast. We started the evening off with dinner at BJ's, not to shabby.

Then we were off to the tracks. I must say that it was a whole lot of fun!!! Check us out:

Sunday we had a small BBQ with birthday cake. Doug request a lemon raspberry cake and we all know that I aim to please my man so a pink cake is what he got.

Happy Birthday you old man, I love you so much.

Diddy Reese

2009-06-02T00:52:00.005-04:00

When people heard that we were moving here, I often would hear, you have to go to Diddy Reese. Diddy Reese is a cookie joint where you can make your own ice cream sandwiches. When we first got here, we tried to go a couple times but the line was always way to long and I never thought it was worth it. I mean, I bake pretty darn well so who needs to wait in line forever when I can just go home and make it myself. Well, it finally took some friends coming into town to make us go. I have to say that I was impressed how good the cookies were and the line went really fast. Our dear friend Ann came into town and she grew up around here and really wanted to go so we went to Diddy Reese and had a great time.

Doug's brother Adam, his wife Lisa, and son Steven came to visit us this weekend. Off to Diddy Reese we went. There we were minding our own business in line when a homeless man came and just hit, yes hit our dear dear Steven....hard. What the heck???? He said that he did not like the way that "the baby" was starring at him. As Steven was crying, it took everything in me not to go hit him back. Call me insensitive, but that is an innocent boy he was talking about. Anyway, Diddy Reese is still the bomb but watch out for people standing around you. Who would want to hurt this adorable little guy??

Canning

2009-05-29T13:00:00.006-04:00

Sometimes I get on these kicks and right now it is all about food storage and canning. I have been prepared for awhile with a two year amount of food storage (yep, that is what I brought to the marriage) but it was only the basics. We also have our backpacks ready with our 72 hour kits (Doug calls them our week long kits because I added so much more). I am going to have a hard time seeing other people suffer so I really want to be prepared. Lately because of some amazing women in our ward I have been learning how to cook with food storage. You can check out our enrichment blog to see recipes here. Not just getting the basics to survive but enjoying eating with it. The recipes they have taught me have been amazing and all the fun gadgets they have. My In-Laws gave us a wheat grinder for Christmas and it has been great making wheat bread with freezer jam. I have been canning the important stuff like chocolate and cake batters;) Last week I learned how to can meat, I never knew that one could can meat but you can. Other people may think that this is gross but when we really need to use it and everyone else is eating rice....again, we will be eating steak and chicken!! Yes, this does have something to do with all the earthquakes that have been happening.

Mothers Day with Mom

2009-05-29T12:36:00.007-04:00

I know that Mother's Day was a couple weeks ago but it is never to late to do a shout out to our dear mothers!! This year I spent Mother's Day in Escondido with my brother Robert's family because my parents were there visiting. It was great to spend some time with my mom, I never realize how much I miss her until I have to leave her. We had a great weekend shopping, grilling out, and talking.....what us Finck's do best. On Sunday my dad was so sweet and bought me a bouquet of flowers, he says that in my heart I am a mother (love you dad). I was also able to spend some time with the kids and you can never beat that!! I love you mom and I am so glad that we were able to spend some time together. I so hope by next year I will be a mother for real:)

I also wanted to tell my mother-in-law how much we love and appreciate her as well. I lucked out when it comes to mother-in-laws. It has been a complete joy living closer to my in laws and getting to know them more. Doug was able to go spend the day with his mother and it makes me happy that he cares for her so much. We love you Katie!!

Crafty

2009-05-25T19:36:00.009-04:00

I have become good friends with a co-worker named Katrina and she is expecting her first child. For her shower I offered to help with the food and she ended up hiring me to make some cupcakes and I added my own surprises. She asked me to do this because I have started to be quite the baker lately and I use my fellow employees at work as my testers because Doug thinks that everything I make is delicious (good man!!). I made the ever so good chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese filling, top with cream cheese frosting. My friend Heather came over and thought me how to use fonded so we added beautiful flowers on top. While I was at the gym with Melissa, she had mentioned seeing cupcakes that look like baby rattles and they were just adorable so we went with that. Then I once again wanted to try the mini cupcakes from bakerella so I made those with pink colored chocolate this time, they turned out so cute. Here are some photos to give you an idea:

On the shower invite it asked everyone to bring the new mother diapers but I wanted to get creative so I again asked for help from Melissa. She helped me make a diaper cake that turned out cuter then I could have ever imagined. First, we went to Joanne's to get fabric, ribbons, and bows. She then taught me how to make burp rags and wash clothes. We added the burp rags to the top of the cake then added the burp rags around the cake with the diapers and wait for it.....made suckers out of the wash clothes....so cute. Melissa is so talented, you should check out her own little business, she is amazing. Here are some more pictures to give you a better idea:

Thanks to all my friends and all their talents, I am learning so much from you:)

Happy Birthday Jenny

2009-05-18T02:20:00.004-04:00

True to fashion lately, I am a little late at writing this post but I wanted to say Happy Birthday Jenny!!

The girls celebrated by going to a movie:

We saw 17 Again. Honestly I was not impressed with the movie but it was a fun evening with the gals.

The next day we enjoyed a BBQ with the gang and did our best at singing Happy Birthday.

Exciting Week

2009-04-26T21:39:00.008-04:00

Last week the Halls were back to their exciting life. It started off, thanks to Papa Hall, with Doug and I going to a Clippers game. Even if they did lose by 40 points, it was still fun to go to the last game of the season and sit in great seats.

The next night, one of my dreams came true thanks again to Papa Hall. He got us floor seats to go see Bruce Springsteen in concert!!! It amazes me that he is 59 years old and still rocking it and looking good. Bruce ran around stage and was completely entertaining in jeans and his guitar. An unexpected guest, Social Distortion came and sang a couple songs with him. That is when Doug finally got excited. He sang Thunder Roads and I was in heaven.

Then the next day we went to a Dodgers game with the Larson's. This was our way of saying happy Birthday to David Sr. It was a great day, we had great seats, and got to see five home runs. It was my first time having a Dodgers Dog and I was not disapointed.

Enrichment

2009-04-19T23:44:00.003-04:00

We had an Enrichment Activity last week that I really wanted to share, it was such a great one and all based on service. Sisters in the ward signed up to contribute services that they had to offer like babysitting, baking, photography, dinners, etc. Then at the activity the sisters that were there had a form to fill out that gave them points like, have you cooked or babysat for anyone in the ward, have you picked anyone up from the airport, have you helped the missionaries, etc. The more service you did, the more points that you earned. Then we had an auction using the points that we had. We had paddles for the sisters and everything, there was nothing that the committee forgot, everything looked amazing. It was so fun to see all the talents that we have in our ward and to see more friendships build within the Relief Society. I just thought that it was a great idea and I think that all of you should steal it for your ward.

Easter Time

2009-04-18T13:14:00.003-04:00

Last week was Easter and it made us stop to ponder about many things in our lives. Last year at this time we were living in NY, expecting a baby, and Doug was just "talking" about moving to California. We had our NY family over for dinner and life was good. At that point I was in a very happy place and thanking the lord for all of our many blessings.

Forward to now and we are still thanking the Lord for everything that we have been blessed with. Doug got into a great school and we were able to have Easter dinner with friends and Doug's amazing family. As many people know, we had to terminate our pregnancy because the baby was growing in my tubes and was unable to grow. We are now in the process of adopting and just got approved on our home visit, this is a happy day. We are now just waiting for our background check to go through and we will be officially approved. We can't wait to have a little one bless us ever more.

In preparing for Easter this year, we had little David over to color Easter Eggs

Then went to Heather's place to make Easter Candy. These are the chocolate and coconut nest that we made for decoration.

Still good to know that Easter in 2009 for the Halls is still all good.

Instant Girlfriend

2009-04-13T01:44:00.003-04:00

When Doug and I started dating in NYC, Doug's roommate at the time was Bill Edwards. Bill now lives in LA as well so we finally met up with him for lunch last week. We talked about the "good old days", meaning while Doug and Bill were dating. These two guys went everywhere together and were once told that they were basically the same guy. If one was asked to dinner on Sunday (which was every Sunday...look at these hotties) it was just known that the other would follow. Doug is very proud of the fact that he had great Sunday meals every week but never had to cook. When Doug asked me out for our first date, it was only fit that the following question was, can Bill come as well? Our date was a day at the beach so we invited Mala as well and off we went. A day of just hanging out turned into the wonderful marriage that Doug and I have now. Bill gave me the nickname of Instant Girlfriend because we all went from hanging out at the beach that morning to me being Doug's girlfriend by the next night. Lets just say that Doug and I knew we were meant for each other right away. Bill admits to being sad that it meant his and Doug's relationship had to come to an end but he knew that one day he was going to have to let go. It was so great to see Bill, he is one in a million (that is for all you single girls out there because yes, he is still single.)

Sayer Visit

2009-04-06T00:47:00.007-04:00

My sister, Angela and her husband Eric and two kids Luke and Brie, came to visit us last week during spring break. They kept little Westen at home:(

We had a great time taking Brie to Disney Land for her Birthday. She had lunch with the Princesses and Luke was able to get "The Force" from the Jedi Training School. This was a good day.

We also took the kids to the beach for the first time, ever!!! It was so fun to see their excitement and it did not take to much convincing to get uncle Doug is the freezing cold water.

We then went to Robert's ranch for the weekend so that all the cousins could play together. We did the normal, rode motorcycles, rode horses, the kids road goats and milked them, and enjoyed all of Hailey's amazing cooking.

I was sad to see them go. Week's like this make you remember how important and specials families really are. I can't wait for the day when we have children of our own to share all these experiences with.

To check out all the pictures from the trip click here.

Youngest Recruit

2009-04-04T14:04:00.002-04:00

Doug has been a little stressed with school and finals so a couple weeks ago he got online with a bunch of his buddies in NYC to play Halo for about six hours. Our neighbors came over to visit because they could not believe that he could actually play that long and Doug recruiting the youngest player. It is sad to say that little David plays better then I do.

Black, White, and Red

2009-04-04T13:59:00.002-04:00

We were having a Visiting Teaching Conference in our ward and the presidency had a black, white, and red theme going on. I was in charge of snacks so this is what I came up with.

I forgot how much I LOVED chocolate covered strawberries...they were SO good!!!

New York Weekend in the OC

2009-04-04T13:43:00.004-04:00

A couple weekends ago we were able to go visit a bunch of our friends in the OC that used to or live in NYC.

The Kelley's and the Harrell's met us at the one and only In-N-Out. They were in California for a wedding and it was great to see them for a short time. Cameron and I worked at Homestead together and all of us knew each other from the singles ward in NY.

We went to see my old roommate Katie Luther and her family. It is sad that she lives so close but we never see each other.

We also visited with the Franklin's. They took us to Laguana Beach and an all you can eat brunch buffet. The beach was beautiful and as always we had a great time with the Franklins.

Happy Birthday Cassie and Melissa

2009-03-14T15:19:00.010-04:00

I am a little late on this but Happy Birthday fellow MBA Wives, Cassie and Melissa.

We celebrated the weekend right by getting Mani-Pedi's

Then having lunch at Century City Mall. We enjoyed lunch, the outside fireplace, live music, and of course dessert after wards.

The next day was the celebration with everyone. I was able to finally have an excuse to make Bakerella's mini cake cupcakes. They are SO good and So adorable.

Appreciation #19

2009-03-11T01:57:00.003-04:00

My appreciation this month goes out to the Orton's. I first met the Orton's when Eric was in the bishopric of the singles ward that I was attending in NYC. We got to know Eric and his wife, Emily more after Doug and I were married and Doug served in the bishopric with then Bishop Eric Orton. Eric and Emily are one of those couples that you always find yourself asking, "how do they possibly do so much and always make it look so easy?" They are by far one of the strongest couples that I know. They have five beautiful children, home school their kids, attend every church activity, do service for both the family and singles wards, and are the best of friends to everyone. When we had to pick another couple to write a reference letter for Doug and I to adopt they were one of the first couples that came to mind. I will always be grateful that they put so much time into the letter. We miss spending time with the Orton's and secretly hope that they move to California but we are so happy that we have continued to keep in touch:)

Adorable

2009-03-08T17:45:00.002-04:00

I have been trying to get up to date on my editing so I am finally at editing my families reunion back in August when we were in Island Park, Idaho. We did a talent night with the kids and I just had to show some of the things that they did and show why I love these kids so much:)

Month of February

2009-03-02T00:21:00.005-05:00

Yes, it has been a while since I have written anything on the blog, life has changed around here. February has been a great month so I will just keep it short and write the highlights.

1- Doug and I celebrated our three year anniversary of being married. We celebrated by Doug going to a Clippers Game with his father.

2- We went to Disney Land again and Doug said that it counted as part of our Anniversary. We once again had a marvelous time and I love Mickey but not the Tower of Terror.

3- My new position at work is going great. I even have time to join a gym and go to spin class as often as possible. Doug still claims that he can kick my butt on a bike ride but he wont take my challenge of coming to spin class with me.

4- The adoption process in still going on. We are patiently waiting for a little bundle of joy to bless our family. The waiting process is hard because I feel like a part of me is missing and just aching for a child but it will happen when it is meant to happen.

5- I still have regular girls nights out with the MBA Wives Club. We run together, bake together, and go see movies. It is always a good time.

6- I got released from Nursery today (don't worry, Doug is still in there) to be in the Relief Society Presidency. I am the Enrichment Counselor and very excited. I love to plan activities so it is a perfect fit.

7- Doug has had some insightful interviews with the bank UBS and we are praying very hard that he gets a New York interview. I think once they meet him in person there is no question that they will be begging Doug to take the internship.

8- We did celebrate Valentines Day together this year and I even got a signed card from Doug...I will treasure it always.

9- DTtransfer is keeping me very busy so not only do I work all day, I get the joy of working all night as well. Mama is bringing home the bacon.

10- We have gotten to play a lot with Doug's family (fancy dinners, more Clippers games, movies). It has been a real joy and a blessing living close to them.

That is it, my top 10 favorites things in February, I will try to be better about this whole blogging thing. Don't worry, I have been just as bad on Facebook.

Another weekend update

2009-02-02T00:36:00.008-05:00

It's already been a week since the last post. Since I don't really feel like telling a whole long story, I'll just hit some of the highlights.

What a great Super Bowl. I can't believe it was even a game but each team had opportunities to take a big lead and neither capitalized. AZ's pic six was a 14 point swing that killed them. Pitt. couldn't get anything going in the second half. Who knew AZ's D would be so good. Unfortunately some of the refing was a little suspect but what are you going to do? The toughest call was the pic six that wasn't clear if he was in or not. We had a little fiesta with some big time food. Good thing I started running again to work that off.

The commercials from the super bowl were mostly whatever. The highlights: Two Doritos commercials seen here and here. I also liked the Pepsi max commercial here and Tamara like the Coke Mean Joe Green remake here. I really think that was about it. We enjoyed seeing MC Hammer, especially from a company with traditionally horrible ads. GoDaddy continued with their mature content. But nothing earth shattering. The US automakers and banks were noticeably absent. I can't make any comments about Mrs. Potato Head. Maybe I'll add the MacGruber to the list that were good but not good enough to link to.

Maybe the most exciting ad was for the new Star Trek movie. I only see a few (meaning less than three) movies a year in the theatre and this will be one of them.

I was outside when it happened but apparently Taylor to the left was very upset about how lame the "3-D" was since it came out in 2-D.

The Office really blew it afterwards. They've never really done well with the hour long episode and now the story lines continue declining and it's really not that funny anymore. I'm out. Unless there's another funny one I hear about and I'll watch it online.

We went to see the Phantom this weekend with my parents, Jason, and Jason's girlfriend! This has always been one of my favorites since we grew up listening to the soundtrack growing up. Dad really has the hook ups with the tickets. My mom's b-day is coming up tomorrow. I'm not going to say how old she's turning, but it's a major one. And rhymes with nifty. So I'm giving a shout out to my mom. It's been awesome being back in LA and spending more time with her. Though we talked a lot when I was in NY, it's not the same as seeing her on a regular basis and it's been great. Since I've grown and require a little less hand on direction we're able to be better friends and I'm grateful our relationship has matured in that direction. Thanks for all the support. Tamara and I love you.

I have a couple interviews for international gigs which I'm not getting my hopes up too much about but it's interesting how I can't get one for a domestic company, just international. Which is cool by me since I do want to live international at some point and Tamara's still on board at this point. So, if this summer you're planning a trip you may have a place to stay abroad if you give me a couple months.

Weekend Update

2009-01-26T12:56:00.008-05:00

It's been awhile since we posted. Usually I wait for something cool to happen to post but the longer I wait the cooler it has to be to make up for the lull. Originally I was just going to do a lame post to get the ball rolling but this weekend provided just the example.

We went to Tamara's brother Rob's ranch this weekend. You can see a picture of Rob to the right. He's been described a lot of ways but probably never as cuddly or soft. I had a lot of stuff to do so the first time they went out I stayed back and read. When they came back, Rob made some comment that it was too bad we had to leave the next day because they were branding some cows. We decided to stay a bit to see the branding since we never had.

The next morning we drive out to where the cows were "waiting" for us. They did the big group over christmas and there were only twelve for that day. They split off the steers from the to be branded and their moms into a different pen so they didn't cause problems. It sill confuses me an animal who outweighs you 10:1 will run scared like a little girl because you yell and run at it. I'm sure it has something to do with what we were about to do to the calves because saw the wrath of the bulls in Pamplona (that's right, 4/6 of the Hall men have run with the bulls.) I mean, when I play ball and see a guy who I outweigh (doesn't happen too often) by even 10 pounds I think about how I'll dominate him in the low post. I can't imagine if I outweighed him by 1800 pounds. Even the calfs we were going to brand were ~300 pounds.

They roped the first cow and as I walked over I overheard something about "not dropping yet" and saw some blood on Ottavio's hands. I thought to myself, I'm no doctor, but it sure looks like they're castrating that cow. Turns out I, without medical training, was correct. I didn't know this was part of the process. Then I saw Ottavio put them into the pocket of his chaps. I mean, I know cowboys do thing their own way but let's not get carried away.

On the second one they let me help hold the calf down and on the third one they let me flip it onto it's back and hold it down. Over the course of twelve calves I learned some of the finer nuances of how to make a calf submit (they don't tap out but you can see it in their eyes), flip it over, tie its legs, and some of the other joys of the process. A lot of the cows didn't even flinch when you emasculated or branded them which thoroughly surprised me. I guess they saw struggling didn't do anything for their brother so why fight it. I don't know.

After we were done Ottavio emptied the contents of his pocket into the fire. I said, "You're going to burn those and not give them to the dog?" "No, I'm cooking them" he responded. Typically, you cook stuff you're going to eat. "They taste somewhere between shrimp and lobster" he continued. "So they're a delicacy?" I inquired. He laughed. I'm not sure why I ate one. He just held out his hand full of them and I took one. It wasn't bad, but I'm not counting down until I get to eat another one. It didn't really have a lot of flavor but I think with some tabasco it could be all right. They should also probably be grilled and not just tossed into a fire because I don't think the ash helped. In case you skimmed some of the above, I did in fact eat a cooked bull testicle this weekend. What?

After all this I shook hands with a couple of the guys, forgetting what they had been doing with their hands mere minutes before. I told Rob it thanks and that I had a good time, which I did. I said, don't misunderstand-I don't want to be a cowboy or anything but it was cool. Twelve is one thing-200 might not do it for me. I'm not looking for a career change or anything. But if riding around on horses while roping, castrating, branding cows and eating rocky mountain oysters is wrong I don't want to be right.

Adoption Profile

2009-01-11T03:42:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you know, Doug and I are in the process of trying to adopt a child. We have tried many ways to have a family on our own but it seems that it was not meant to be that way.

We are currently working with LDS Services and we hope that something works out with them. We are also trying to do this on our own. We are asking our close friends and family to help get our information out there to a mother that is looking to give up her baby for adoption. We have put together a website with some of our information. If you could please have a look and forward it on to anyone that may be able to help.

http://www.dougandtamarahall.com

We appreciate your help so much and we are so very excited to be parents sometime in the near future.

Gone Shootin'

2009-01-07T23:57:00.004-05:00

For the New Year Papa Hall took us shooting. I really thought that I would do better but I am very proud of the 9 clay pigeons that I did shoot. Who went home a winner was Lisa, she made all of us look bad!!! Just goes to show that I have a lot of practicing to do but it was still a great day....so great that I even got a full body massage after.

I wished!!

2009-01-04T21:01:00.002-05:00

Doug's mom has been wanting us to do a character picture of ourselves sense we were married. Everyone else in the family has one and they are all framed it the main room of her house. Well, we got one done and gave it to her for Christmas. I must say that this does NOT look like us at all, I am kind of embarrassed that is it up in Katie's home, but hey...I wished that I look this good!!!!!

Scary Stuff

2009-01-02T17:42:00.003-05:00

My nephew Colton gave us quiet the scare a couple weeks ago. We first heard that he had a tooth ache and was going to Arizona to take care of it. Next we heard he was rushed to the hospital and staying there for a couple days. I never really heard what was wrong but now that we know that he is okay we can laugh about this picture taken of him at the hospital. I am told that this was taken three days after the swelling was really bad. Poor kid, we are so happy that all is well with you!! The best part was when I asked him how hard it was to be in the hospital he answered, "It was the best week ever. I played video games, ate a lot of desserts, and I didn't have to do any chores." Oh to be a kid again.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T13:19:00.009-05:00

2008 was a tough one for us so we are only hoping for the best in 2009. We rang in the new year with our friends here in LA. A little get together at the Fishers, then we headed out the The Marina Del Ray for the Fireworks. Well, we were able to hear the fireworks because the fog was so bad we could not see anything. We found ways to amuse ourselves!!! The pictures below are not taken by a dirty lens, that is just how foggy it was outside. Doug was not pleased that he got to bed so late (or early) but I believe that he still had a great time.

Hall 2008 Christmas Letter

2008-12-31T13:50:00.002-05:00

As always Doug writes a very clever Christmas letter to go along with our Christmas Cards. If I had your mailing address you received this letter in the mail. It not, here you go:

Tamara asked for a top ten list but I couldn’t do that. Instead, I’ll use numbers to represent our year.
1-The ranking of LA’s weather, where we now live. It’s amazing how quickly you can adjust to no seasons when the weather’s perfect year round.
1.5-Number of seconds it took Tamara to start crying from happiness after the beginning of the Bon Jovi concert. Also the number of hours she continuously screamed and danced during the concert.
2-Number of bedrooms in our new place. We’re moving up in the world.
3-The number of times we went through the IVF process this year. It was emotionally and physically draining (more on Tamara than on me). We’re now going through the adoption process and hope that yields better results.
3’x3’x3’-The size of the biggest boxes we could use to ship our stuff across the country.
3.6-Number of liters of displacement of the engine in Tamara’s new car-an awesome Buick LeSabre. Also, the average number of time a day Tamara wonders how she got a LeSabre and I got a motorcycle.
4-Number of wins UCLA football has where I am attending the MBA program. As this goes to press, we still haven’t played USC but I’m pretty confident this won’t change.
5-Number of days we were in Idaho for Tamara’s family reunion-I was invited this year.
6-Number of banks assuring us they’ll be hiring interns this year. Also, the number of banks stringing us along and shattering our dreams.
7-Number of days we were in Costa Rica doing some decidedly non-missionary approved activities. Hiking, surfing, mountain biking, napping, hot springing.
8-Number of hours a day I expected to be working out, playing video games, napping, or being at the beach while in school. That number is zero for most of those ventures.
9-Number of hours a day Tamara has to work at her new job producing at Motive Films. The unique combination of better hours, better use of her skills, and better pay convinced her to take this job.
10-Number of minutes it takes us to drive to the beach.
18-Number of the kids we watch in nursery on Sunday.
33-Temperature of water in Bodega Bay. How long it took Tamara to paddle back to shore after hearing we were on one corner of the red triangle.
44-Number of heads of cattle we herded the day after Thanksgiving.
45-SPF of the zinc oxide I rocked in San Clemente
73-The temperature outside as I type this. In December.

Christmas Day

2008-12-30T01:41:00.007-05:00

Christmas Day finally arrived!!! I had my video camera so most of the details are captured on film. Just wait until I show the video of all of us playing Rock Band. I just have to brag that I scored 100% singing Bon Jovi:) I also got a new camera from my wonderful husband, does he know me or what. It was so fun to watch the kids open up their gifts and to see their excitement. A long time tradition is to have dad make breakfast, this year he went all out and made reindeer waffles.

Luke very much enjoyed this moment and I have to say, so did Doug.

Bree got the doll of her dreams and carried it around with her everywhere.

We had dinner at my aunt Kathy's home. She goes all out when it comes to entertaining, I must have gotten that from her.

It has been three years sense I spent Christmas with my family, it was so nice to spend this wonderful holiday with them.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-29T11:11:00.009-05:00

I know that I am writing a lot about Christmas and splitting everything up but I want to remember all of these memories so bare with me. Christmas Eve was spent at my parents house in Arizona. My dad wanted to do a "cowboy cookout" so everything was cooked outside dutch oven style.

It was oh so good.

We ate inside in the cowboy room

My cousin Gina came and I had to show how cute her little girl looked

Bree showed off her magic slippers

Of course the guys played video games

While I was showing Angela how to start a blog.

Leading up to Christmas

2008-12-28T17:39:00.007-05:00

Roberts family was not going to my parents house after the Polar Express so we had a little pre Christmas at the hotel. James family was very missed this week. The kids exchanged gifts, then played in the snow and swam in the pool. The adults did what we do best, eat and talk. We gave dad his gift. He gets to ride his own Nascar around the track about 20 times, this is something that he has been wanting to do for awhile. It is always fun to be together as a family.

We then went to the Mesa Temple to see the lights. It worked out perfect because we were able to meet up with some of Doug's family and visit. Doug's grandparents were there visiting his aunt and uncle. It is always nice to see as much family as possible.

Polar Express

2008-12-28T17:17:00.010-05:00

Thanks to mom and dad Finck, the family got to enjoy a ride to the North Pole on the Polar Express. The family all met up in Williams Arizona. Some were not sure if they would be able to make it due to being dumped on with snow. Even us coming from California had a heck of at time getting there. But we all made it and had a wonderful evening. We all loaded up on the train in our PJ's where we went through the "magic tunnel" to get to the Polar Express. We were feed cookies and hot coco, sang Christmas songs, were read the story of the Polar Express, and got to meet Santa Claus. The children that believed were also given a special bell to take home and always remember the true meaning of Christmas. It really helped with getting in the Chritmas Spirit.

Here are some pictures to give you an idea:

Christmas Update

2008-12-22T01:58:00.005-05:00

We were also able to enjoy some lights at the temple tonight after a huge Christmas feast.

Christmas Time in LA

2008-12-21T16:07:00.010-05:00

This is the first year of my life that I have spent the month of December in a warm place....it is taking some getting used to. I have not worn a winter jacket once. Some may say that this is great (Doug) but I like my winter jackets...they add an eastern style. But it is still the Christmas Season and one must celebrate. We had an MBA Christmas party at our home (minus Doug, he was at the AC/DC concert. I was voted coolest wife that night). We had a great dinner:

Then had an white elephant exchange and ate lots of amazing desserts. There were just a couple tears shed over David losing the popular whistle to the other David. Everyone left happy.

The house felt like The Griswold's Christmas by the time everyone left. It started off with shelves falling down, followed by the lights not working on the Christmas tree, to the wreath following down, to more shelves falling down. The place just falls apart when Doug is not around.

The next week we went to check out the lights on 3rd Street....kind of let down LA on your Christmas lights. I am in search of more before we take off to Arizona.

We did enjoy some very yummy Hot Chocolate

For those about to rock

2008-12-08T12:44:00.006-05:00

A few years ago I went hometeaching with my roommate Bill. We were chitchatting with the girl's roommate and she asked us where we went to school and where we worked. I worked in finance at a hedge fund of 200 and went to BYU. Bill worked in finance at GE, the world's largest conglomerate, and went to the U of U. She says-'So you guys are basically the same.' Well, by the narrow definition of going to school in the same state and working in the same general field, yes, we are the same. Now, we have one more similarity. Bill had told me several times how awesome AC/DC was live and I hadn't really lived since I hadn't seen them. Saturday night that changed as my dad took me to an AC/DC concert at the formerly Great Western Forum.

By way of background, fifteen years ago I really wanted to go to a Nirvana concert and the only way we could go is if we were chaperoned but nobody wanted to take us. So my dad stepped up to the plate and we went to this same Forum for my first concert. We sat in the second to last row way off to the side. While it did rock, we were far away and part way through could hardly see the stage through all the haze. As we left and Nirvana destroyed their instruments, I really thought they might do some damage to the building because it was shaking so bad.

This time, dad called me up and asked if I wanted to go. You may recollect this conversation Tamara and I had. Tamara said yes even though we had plans that night (I'm sure a post detailing those will come). I was so stoked. When we rolled in, none of the ushers knew how we actually got to our seats. We were on the floor six rows back from where the stage juts out into the middle of the floor. Angus' sweat nearly landed on us as he rocked. A bit of a different situation this time.

You can see a set list here. They played all the ones you'd want. The songs from the new album sounded just like the old AC/DC. A few of the big highlights were Thunderstruck because that song just rocks. They played an extended version of The Jack which is one of their mellower songs. During the end I pulled out my earplugs to see how loud it was. I lasted as long as I could, about 30 seconds, before I had to put them back in. It was unreal. I have no idea how those guys do it every night. It was loud with earplugs. I'll give them this though. While loud, the sound was amazingly clear and crisp. Angus also played like a ten minute solo at the end of let there be rock. Here's a youtube clip. The guy was on fire. He doesn't get as much credit as he should because AC/DC's stuff tends to be straightforward but this guy can rock. Even at 53. For such an unattractive guy, you can't take your eyes off of him while he plays. Maybe it's the duck walk. Probably not the balding. Either way, it was a highlight. The background of the stage was a huge locomotive train and during the Dirty Deeds there were four holes that were blowing fire along with the song. Pretty rad. As for Rosie, you'll have to look that one up.

Anyway, pics are forthcoming. I used a disposable camera in case there were metal detectors and they still have to be developed.
As a final thought, I hope I still have as much life as these guys do when I'm that age. I'm not sure what we'll do for an encore but I'm sure it will be epic.

Clippers VIP Style

2008-12-08T10:57:00.009-05:00

Papa Hall once again had the hook-up. Last week we took a bunch of us from the family to go see the Clippers VIP style. We went to the game about two hours early and got to watch the teams warm up and get their autographs. We then had great seats to watch the game in style. If anyone knows Doug you know that he is a huge Clippers fan so this was a night to remember for him!!

Here are some pictures of the evening:

Appreciation #18

2008-12-03T10:33:00.003-05:00

This weeks appreciation goes out to Karly Nielsen. I first met Karly two years ago, our husbands worked together so we got to hang out at all the work socials. We became fast friends. I was so excited when I learned that her husband was also attending the MBA program at UCLA this year. Karly and her husband moved out here about two months before us and what a blessing that was for us. When we got her, Karly had already found the best way of doing things and helped give us advice everyday. Not only was that a huge help she also helped us move in and made lunch and dinner for us while we were getting everything organized. Our friendship has grown so much in the three months that we have lived in LA together. I can always count on her when I am having a bad day or not feeling well. Just last Sunday she made us dinner because I was just to tired, she is a true friend. We had to pick four families to write reference letters for the adoption process and they were so excited to do it for us. They will have no idea how much it means to us that they put so much time and effort into their letters. Here is a picture of Karly and her three adorable children. We went to the Getty museum together a couple weeks ago, check out that view. LA is a beautiful place.

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-01T00:52:00.005-05:00

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving, we sure did. There is something about family that always makes me so happy. We spent Thanksgiving day with about 30 members of Doug's family at his parents home. I was in charge of the desserts and I went a little overboard. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars, banana pudding, pear pie, and chocolate mouse pie times two....I will be eating the desserts for the rest of the week but they were so good. It was so fun to see family, especially our little niece Lexi.

We then went to stay with my brother Robert and his family for the weekend. We live a very different life then my brother. He also lives in California but runs a 26, 000 acre ranch. They get up at 5am in the morning and take care of what needs to be done. I was called lazy for sleeping in until 8am but it sure felt good. We had an eventful weekend riding motorcycles, riding horses, picking oranges, and herding cows...yep, cows. It was an adventure. My eight year old niece can ride a horse much better then me and sure knows how to work those cows all on her own. I loved spending time with all the kids, I don't get to see any of them enough.

The Most Magical Place on Earth

2008-11-22T17:55:00.008-05:00

Yes, it is true, I found the most magical place on earth. I know that this sounds funny and it is so commercial but Disney Land is magic. It was like someone sprinkled Fairy Dust on me, I had a perma grin all day and could not stop giggling. Doug could tell that I was so happy because he gave in to buying season passes on our way out:)

It was a perfect day. It started off with me getting off work. We drove there (it only took 45 min.), stopped to get lunch (oh yeah...In-n-Out), and we brought our great friends the Larsen's. They know how to do Disney right. We never had to wait in line for more then 25 minutes, they knew the best places to park, and all the great places to eat. They also have a little boy named David that is slowly becoming one of my most favorite person in the world, he is always so excited to see me...and Winnie the Pooh of course.

We also met up with some friends from NYC so that is always a blast. It was also fun to see half of our ward there. We all took turns watching the kids so that everyone could ride the rides. I must say that I don't scare easily but oh man did the Tower of Terror scare the crap out of me. Everyone got a great laugh of the picture the ride took of me.

Later in the evening Doug's old roommate Tyler, his wife Cami, and their adorable kids met up with us. Little David had a big crush on Princess Josi. I think that I was just as excited as Josi to see all the Princesses in the parade. We staid until the park closed down and I slept like a baby that night dreaming about my magical day. I can't wait to go back.

Here are some pictures of the day:

School's getting to me

2008-11-18T14:29:00.002-05:00

School's good and I'm learning a lot. We had midterms and those were fine but it took a bit to get used to studying and testing again. The one thing I'm surprised about was two nights ago-I had a nightmare I had missed a class all quarter. Seriously, when do theses things end? You know what I'm talking about. You randomly find out about some class you've been enrolled in for weeks and you had no idea. Final's coming up, professor doesn't understand, you freak out, and then you wake up. Was it a dream or did I really miss something. Anyway, I'm off to school but I'm a bit more hesitant about the experience now.

To make your day better:

Fall Fun

2008-11-16T14:59:00.007-05:00

I can't believe how fast time has flown. Seems like fall just got here and now everyone is getting ready for winter. It still feels like summer to me so I am all confused. Here are some activities we did to help me make it feel like Fall time.

Went to a pumpkin patch with the Larson's where we picked out pumpkins, went on a tractor ride, did the corn maze, and watched little David (and Doug) play on the wooden trains.

We had a night of making carmael apples. This is what happens when you send your dear sweet husband to the store to buy carmel for the apples and he comes home with the carmel that you pour over ice cream.

So, this is what we decided to do....they were yummy no matter what.

We also have enjoyed the time outside on the swings (this is our front yard)

Welcome to Hollywwod....

2008-11-11T11:06:00.003-05:00

.....What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' - this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin'.

Can anyone say where this quote came from??

A group of us decided that we should hike up to the Hollywood Sign.....pretty cool. Not a bad hike and a very LAish thing to do. Most of us had a great time, I think that our friend Brain had something else in mind. Maybe he was not so happy with the idea of a cop stopping us to point out all the coyotes in the area, actually showed us with his lights that they were right in front of us. The six of us staid very close on the way down and our steps became much faster. I tried to take a picture but it did not turn out so well. So, this is us and the Hollywood sign is behind us...really it is.

Totally Worth It

2008-11-07T02:01:00.002-05:00

Here is a conversation that Doug and I had this week:

Tamara: Doug, So You Think You Can Dance is on tour and I really want to go.

Doug: How much are tickets?

Tamara: Um...like $100 but totally worth it.

Doug: No way man.

(next day)

Doug: Tamara, AC/DC is coming in concert, I am getting us tickets.

Tamara: How much are the tickets?

Doug: $100 but totally worth it!!!

Not your average shower

2008-11-03T11:37:00.003-05:00

Yep, that is I getting a pedicure at a baby shower. This was a shower unlike any shower I have been to. My friend Sara Foster (we met in NYC and have staid in touch) is having her second child. A friend in her ward through her a baby shower. We showed up to rose pedals leading us into the home where many lovely surprises awaited us. The room was decorated beautifully and a catering service was there to help serve us while we relaxed and ate, got pedicures and manicures, played games, and socialized. It was a wonderful experience. I am not trying to sound jealous because everyone is in a different situation in life but the girl that hosted the shower has a very ideal life. Beautiful home, great husband, and an adorable little girl. She models once a month and then just throws parties. I love to throw parties for my friends and I hope one day that I will be able to entertain as nicely as she did.

Not used to driving

2008-10-31T11:38:00.003-04:00

I can not believe that I am going to admit this to the world but it is just way to funny. This week while driving to work, I was talking to my mom on the phone. I got to work, got out of my car and went into work. When it was time to go home, I could not find my keys, I was looking everywhere. I thought, oh no...I probably locked them inside my car. When I went out to look I saw my car on and running. Yep, you guessed it...my car was on and running from 9am to 7pm. What makes it even better is that the doors were unlocked so anyone could have just taken off with the car. Nobody did thank goodness but my gas tank was full in the morning and empty by the time I got back into the car.
What makes this story even better is that Doug had a similar experience this week. He left the keys in his bike while he was in class and his battery died. Yet, another miracle that someone did not take off with his bike.
What were we thinking???? This whole driving thing is just something that we are not used to.

Can't Deny

2008-10-30T12:52:00.004-04:00

Apparently the reports of my makeover are greatly exaggerated. I'm not going to lie, I've made some huge strides and efforst. Last week I went business casual probably four of the five days. I was feeling pretty good about it. Yesterday I went with a t-shirt and some guy remarked-you're a t-shirt guy aren't you? I've seen some of the shirts you wear and they're awesome. He might have been referring to this one or this one. I couldn't tell. Anyway, I realized that despite my best efforts, everyone saw me for what I really was- a t-shirt sporting flip-flop wearer masquerading as a responsible professional. I wasn't fooling anybody with my attempts at professionalism. I guess I should probably reconsider some of my career aspirations. Just a reminder that being awesome is embracing who you really are and running with it.