2009: A Year in Review

For the past couple of years (2007, 2008), I've been reviewing goal success on my blog. Here's the review for 2009!


*******

2009 goal: Don't go into hermithood because of baby.

Result: I think that we've done fairly well on this. We have been out socially a lot. We have missed seeing a lot of movies in theaters, but that is more due to work hermithood, I think. We have also done some traveling, not letting Gulliver slow us down!!

2010 goal: Don't go into hermithood because of work. In fact, establish very clear boundaries. Like no working on weekends and holidays.

*******

2009 goal: Have a baby. Like, really really soon.

Result: Done! And he is awesome.

2010 goal: Work out insurance solution so that we can have another baby. Get pregnant as soon as insurance solution is worked out.

*******

2009 goal:  Get down to undisclosed goal weight, five pounds at a time. (So I'll focus on this goal monthly rather than setting a large goal for the whole year.) Hopefully I will kick-start this weight-loss with at least a 15-pound jump! A friend said she actually weighed less after delivering her baby than she did when she got pregnant because of her gestational diabetes, so here's hoping.......

Result: Lost baby weight and more. Got down to Kick-A weight within a month of having Gulliver. And then started putting it all on again in diabetes-free carb splurges that lasted almost the whole year. Went off sugar at the end of the year, which went really well up until my birthday.

2010 goal: Don't set a goal weight at all. Simply make a chart that helps me to focus on correct behaviors and reward those behaviors with points. I will focus on one behavior a month that will give me triple points!

*******

2009 goal: Read 15 books, at least 5 of which should be baby/family related.

Result: I have no idea how many books I have read, because it's probably under 5. But I have at least read lots of parts of different books, including baby/parenting books. 

2010 goal: Read at least three books for leisure. And others for personal improvement and business stuff.

********

2009 goal: Set up proper website, market myself, and design some baby announcements and Christmas card templates before September 2009 so that I can get in the game.

Result: Website, check. Marketing, check. Design baby and card templates, sortof check (although I've decided that filling orders like this isn't really what I want to do with my time).

2010 goal: Start to learn Web Design so that I can increase my marketability. Increase my rates to hopefully maintain what I make, but in half the time.

*********

2009 goal: Read the Sunday School and Relief Society lessons each week, even though I will be teaching some other primary class that I don't know about yet.

Result: I was not so much good at this. But at least I didn't have a primary calling!! Yay! 

2010 goal: Same. I still really want to read these lessons each week, and that should be easy with my iPhone app. I can find time to do this while I watch Gulliver take baths, for example.

*********

2009 goal: Shower, brush my teeth, and do my makeup at least 5 days out of 7.

Result: I don't want to talk about it.

2010 goal: Shower, brush my teeth, and do my makeup at least 5 days out of 7. (Good thing today is still 2009...) (ed. note: most of this post was written yesterday, Dec 31)

*********

2009 goal: Focus on work that frees me up (like templates vs. custom work).

Result: Ideally our online classes and textbooks should do a lot of this. Now if only we could finish those... 

2010 goal: Sit down with Murray and aggressively plan our time and projects for the new year. Make sure that we're focusing on what matters most. Plan projects that will be less time-intensive to maintain and work out new, more efficient systems.

*********
New 2010 goals, not based on goals of previous years:

Meal planning! Plan meals weekly so that we make efficient use of our groceries and don't waste money to spoiled food.

Budget, budget, budget! Set a budget and actually stick to it. (To kick start this, we are doing a January spend-freeze where we will not make any purchases [other than a modest birthday present for Gulliver] other than groceries for the month of January. This includes eating out, entertainment, and clothing purchases---which is a biggie, considering that I'm going to a design conference this month and would normally buy all new outfits for such a thing.)

*********

Other tidbits:

Accomplishments:
* Had a baby.
* Had two foot surgeries.
* Did some traveling (see below).
* Helped to plan and host an Art Weekend.
* Taught legitimate classes in San Francisco and people paid to learn from us.
* Went to a couple of business-related conferences, perhaps beginning a conference addiction that some of my friends (that's you, Ali) suffer from.
* Wrote a whole book. (Just working on laying it out now.)
* Recorded all the content for an online course. (Just needing to submit the files now.)
* Grew my own business enough that I'm too busy. That's a good thing, sortof.
* Sold art at Beehive Bazaar.
* Have product sold in Target.
* Have product sold at Deseret Book.


Places traveled:
Maryland
St. George
San Francisco
Maryland again (incl. Pennsylvania)
Disneyland

*********

How we did on our 2009 other plans of note:

Learn how to be good parents.--Check! We are awesome. (Except for this.)
Take lots of pictures of us and our activities and our baby.--Check!
Use lots of cool and different cameras.--Needs Improvement.
See Wicked in Salt Lake?--Nope! Way too much $$.
See Love in Vegas?--Nope. Deferred to 2010!
Go to San Francisco.--Yep! It was awesome and I can't wait to go back!
Make a new calendar for 2010.--Yep! And it's awesome!
Set up business properly and legally.--Yep! I just need to buy a business license, but I'm waiting till Monday to do so.
Make lots of art just for us.--We did make SOME art just for us. Yay!


Here are our 2010 other plans of note: 

* Go on a cruise?
* Get online classes and textbooks launched!
* Do three more Art Weekends in fun cities.
* Do the Purging of a Decade, and really really pare everything we own down to the essentials. (I have already given away two beloved coats, lots of high quality wonderful fabric, and we actually sold some clothing to Plato's Closet before donating the rest to DI.)
* Go see Love in Vegas. Seriously this time. (Maybe for Murray's bday?)
* Go snowshoeing. (Switchback? Do you hear me?)
* Go camping. (Ali? Jenny? Want to come?)
* Learn to use our camera better.

And finally, for a big moment of schmoopiness, in 2009 I am extremely grateful for my wonderful, perfect, doting husband. Sometimes I spare you the schmoop because I'm aware that some people are resentful that I used to be a single blogger, blogging from the trenches of singlehood, and now I blog about my perfect life with my perfect husband and my perfect baby. But in all likelihood, those readers who were legitimately bugged by my finding True Love aren't reading my blog anymore anyway. So here goes. Marriage to Murray just keeps getting better every year. He is my best friend and the one I want to tell everything to. He makes me laugh every day, dances for me whenever I ask him to, accepts me as I am, and is the best dad ever. (And in return, all he asks is that I buy him Muppets for Christmas.) Since being married to him (stop reading if you're still single...) my life has been happier, richer, fuller, and not even remotely bitter. Murray, I am absolutely in love with you. Thank you for a wonderful year and for our wonderful perfect baby boy, who lights up our lives. (And who has played happily all morning by himself, allowing me to finish this blog post and even read a little bit of a magazine, which I haven't been able to do forever.) (And Nicole, if you're reading this, I PROMISE that in addition to doing a bit of relaxing today, we will be hitting our courses again hard as soon as Gulliver goes down for the night, and I promise that we have legitimately been working on them as hard as we can every moment we can spare!!)

Well Meaning Old Man

So I swear I have blogged about this before, but after I was recently reminded of this story, I searched any key word I would have used in my blog post and could not find the post at all. So if this is a repeat, I sincerely apologize. If it's not, it's definitely a post that needs to be written down for all posterity. And if I could only get a few more old men to start reading my blog, maybe someone could actually learn a lesson.

Back when I was about 20 or so, I got into a great bread-making kick. I'd make homemade bread of different varieties about 3-4 times a month. On one of these blessed fresh bread days, I was running late for work, so instead of making my lunch, I just grabbed all the ingredients to make it at work. I can't even remember specifically what type of sandwich I was making anymore, but I know that it included two pieces of freshly sliced homemade bread, mayo, cheese, and some sort of meat.

As I was assembling my sandwich in the breakroom, an older gentleman was watching me. Once the sandwich was assembled, I sat down to enjoy it. This is the conversation that ensued:

OG: That looks like homemade bread!

Me: It is homemade bread. I made it last night.

OG: And that looks like real mayo!

Me: It is real mayo!

OG: Well, if your husband doesn't come right in here and take that seat beside you, I just don't know what I'm going to do!

Me: Oh, I'm not married.

OG: Your boyfriend, then.

Me: I'm not dating anyone.

OG: Well. I just don't know what's wrong with men these days. [Pause.] I bet you're from Montana!

Me: Uh... no. I'm not from Montana.

OG: Wyoming then!

Me: I'm from Canada.

OG: Of course! Alberta! That's great farm country!

Me: I'm from Northern Ontario.

OG: Oh. [Pause.] Speak French then?

Me: Yes.

OG: Oh. [Pause.] Well, you remind me of a stout farm girl from Montana!

[Let's take a moment to point out that I was not wearing overalls and I did not have my hair done up in a French braid, okay?]

OG: In fact, there's this great book, and you remind me of the woman in the book!

He went on to tell me all about the children's book Fanny's Dream, where to boil down the plot, I can tell you, a stout farm girl is waiting for a husband who is far above her in looks and social status and all that stuff, and she ultimately ends up settling for a simple (dumb) man who is sweet but, well, you know. Simple. And dumpy. Just like Fanny is herself.

So what part of all of that was supposed to make me feel good about myself? Being like unto a stout farm girl, or settling for a stupid husband because I can't get what I really want? I mean, yes, I subsequently bought the book because it was just too funny to have been compared to the herione, and I know that the take-home message isn't "settle for a husband" or anything, but still.

And I'm more than happy to note that many years later, I found a man who I didn't have to settle for, and who happened to be everything on my list and more. But come to think of it, I have never made homemade bread for my precious Murray, so maybe this stout, Montana-farm-like girl had better get a move on that, just to show Murray how much she appreciates him!

Happy Anniversary!

This week Murray and I celebrated our first anniversary. We both took the day off work and spent the day celebrating our love for one another with various and random activities.

* We went to IHOP for breakfast. I ordered the 2x2x2 (two eggs, two sausage links, two pancakes) although I was only allowed to eat 1x1x1. It was an enjoyable breakfast.

* Then we went up to SLC to go to the Tracy Aviary. Fall is my favorite season and Monday was the most beautiful fall day. You could smell the trees in the air. The temperature was absolutely perfect. And so Murray and I enjoyed a good walk around the aviary, checking out the birds. I think that my favorite part was when we found a little burrowing owl in its home. I guess its home looked kindof like a little stage anyway, and Murray and I stood outside and enjoyed the fact that the owl was looking at us. And then we began competing for its attention. We were both dancing, making faces, and making noises to see who the owl would look at the most. He just pivoted his little owl head back and forth between the two of us the whole time. I figure he's got it pretty good. We had to walk around the aviary to see all the different species. He just gets to sit still in his home and all the crazy types of humans come and parade themselves in front of him.


* We had lunch at Tucanos at the Gateway. That is a very carb-friendly restaurant, although I almost cried when I had to pass up the grilled pineapple (my favorite) and the deep-fried bananas. Two more months... two more months...

* I had planned a stop at Ben's Cookies, which is a store I only go to in the fall because of their seasonal pumpkin chocolate cookie which is comparable to no other food in the world. Do not even THINK about the generic grocery store pumpkin chocolate chip cookies right now, because that is SO not what this wonderful cookie is. I had budgeted so that I could have half of one of these suckers and save the other half for another day. So we went in and found out that they no longer make them AT ALL because apparently they were too expensive to make. I officially hate Ben's Cookies now. How could they do that to me?

* We drove back to Provo and went to a matinee showing of The Changeling. Is it just me, or does that sound like a horror movie? Anyway. I guess it is a type of horror movie, especially for a woman like me who's about to have a baby. (It's about a woman whose son goes missing and five months later the police return a boy to her who is not her son and close the case, even though she wants to keep fighting to get her real son back.) It was an excellent movie.

* We went to Bombay House, which is where we met, and enjoyed a dinner that was not quite what we had there the first time. When the diabetes goes away, I can enjoy my chicken coconut kurma and mango lassi again!

* For our evening entertainment we went to our prenatal class where we got to learn all about labor and delivery. And we saw a birthing videos that showed four different births. I wasn't actually nervous about the delivery before I saw the video. Now... Anyway. What cracks me up about the movie is that it's a BYU production and, like, you could TOTALLY KNOW whose birth you're watching. Needless to say, I'm not going to sign up to have my birthing experience documented and show the entire world my stretch marks and private areas. I mean, seriously. After the birthing videos, we had a tour of the facilities. We're pretty excited.

* At home again, we opened our gifts to each other. Murray really outdid himself this year. This is our "paper" anniversary, and a couple artists couldn't ask for anything better. Murray did a mixed media classic painting of me in kindof a Marie Antoinette sort of era. He was inspired by a picture from our vacation this summer where I accidentally was striking a classic pose. It's so freaking cool. And in addition to that, he also painted me an enlargement of a postcard that I'd gotten in Italy and that I've always loved but that I've always wanted to be bigger! (AND he got classic toys for our baby AND he got me a book from my childhood that we'd talked about recently.) I made him a commemorative poster of our wedding day, but I'll have to wait to take a picture of it and get it up on the blog because I ran into some assembly difficulties.



All in all, it was a perfect way to celebrate our perfect day last year! This year has been great and I'm lucky to be married to Murray. I think that the best way to celebrate our anniversary is to spend the whole day together because that's what I want to do every day anyway!

I'm a failure.

After almost seven months of marriage, it's finally time to admit that I am a complete failure. Please see this Marital Rating Chart.

Now, let's see how I do...

DEMERITS

1) Murray and I always head to bed at the same time, even if it takes him a few more hours to fall asleep. (Looks like I'm okay on this one.)

2) I teach Sunbeams and I usually like them okay, so I don't think that I lose points for this either. Except that Murray is more comfortable around children than I am...

3) Murray has had two jackets that needed buttons sewn on. And I neglected to do it all winter and I even lost one of the buttons, and now it's too hot for him to wear jackets anyway. And I don't darn his socks, but I'm secretly plotting to throw out 90 percent of his darn socks when he's not paying attention. (Murray is a sock collector... in other news, we'll be hosting a sock animal craft day very soon where the collection will hopefully be depleted.)

4) I don't wear any dresses around the house! And right now, I look like this:

5) Damn.


6) Actually, I'm quite punctual, so PHEW!

7) I don't wear hose during the summer, which I am sure counts against me. As far as the winter, I always wear patterned hose, and for some reason, one leg always looks like the pattern is twisted around, no matter what brand I'm using and no matter what way I'm putting on the hose.

8) I have gone to bed with curlers in my hair before. And I don't ever wash my face at night... which I'm sure counts against me.

9) Check. I thought that's what husbands were for. Apparently it's what Murray thinks socks are for. But I never wear socks, so I have to use him to keep my feet warm. (I bet never wearing socks counts against me because my feet are calloused and leathery...)

10) Uh... First of all, I'd like to say that at least I defer to Murray's manly right to drive (I prefer not to drive if I don't have to). But Murray will be the first to admit that his sense of direction is not the best, and neither is his sense of awareness. Like one time, we were going to the mall, and he drove to and parked his car in front of Best Buy. Several blocks away from the mall. And had I not pointed out that we were not, in fact, at the mall, he might have even gotten out of the car. (This quality is endearing... but requires that I do a lot of backseat driving... apologies, Murray!)

11) Do brothers count? Because sometimes I flirt up a storm with The Boy. And sometimes I sit really close to him. And sometimes I pinch his bum.

12) Sometimes I'm suspicious that Murray is bringing me a present home, but that's as far as my suspicions go...


MERITS

1) I am a good hostess, but we haven't actually hosted any parties, or really invited people over to our house, so I think that I lose points here.

2) By "has meals on time" does this mean that we get to the restaurant on time? Because between work and the commute, I haven't actually been able to make many meals in the past 7 months...

3) Oh, at least I get a point for this! This was actually on Murray's real list for qualities that he needed in a wife.

4) It doesn't say that I have to play the instrument well, right? Well, I can play the piano a little bit. And I'm a Jew's Harp master. (I bet Murray doesn't even know that about me.)

5) I do dress for breakfast. Which I eat in the car on my way to work every morning. Does this imply that I'm supposed to be eating breakfast with my husband?

6) I don't want to talk about it.

7) Children? I have not yet produced any children, which I'm sure counts against me, unless you consider that producing children in less than nine months of marriage is a bad thing... in which case I'm doing pretty well. And I'm good at putting myself to bed on time so that our fetal baby can get the rest it needs.

8) Since there's never anything to be angry at, this one's a cinch!

9) By "asks" opinion about purchases, does it mean "strongly advises about purchases"? Because I'm good at that. See new couch with to-be-made pillows:


10) I'm pretty good at being gay.

11) Oh my gosh, I teach children in Sunday School. I think I get 20 points for this one.

12) Although Murray would say that I do this, the truth is that I roll around in bed and kick him enough once I'm awake that he wakes up soon after me. But this is because I like doing things with him, so I'm happiest when he's awake. But I think I still have him convinced that he's waking up on his own.


I think I come out a little less than neutral. I might fit into the average or poor category. But since this is apparently only the first page of the chart, I can't tell. (What I wouldn't give to see the other pages!)

I'm number 1243100!

Last year, right around this time, Threadless had their $10 t-shirt sale. This year it's a little different. It's a $9 and up sale, which isn't as catchy (and I can't help but notice that it's not the girl's shirts that are $9...). But I can't complain.

Last year, I posted my order number on my blog and wrote a little blog post about how much I love Threadless.

This year, I must repeat the post with even more love and even more gratitude towards Threadless. You see, last year's post was the first blog post that Murray ever saw, and he thought that he could really like a girl who had such cool taste in t-shirts.

This year, I'm buying Threadless t-shirts for two. If that isn't the happiest success story there is, I don't know what could possibly be happier. (Except for Murray's and my plans to submit a couple designs together this year, and for those designs to get accepted, and for us to earn $2000 per design.)

Here's our order today. Thank you Threadless, for bringing me and Murray together and for outfitting us with great clothes. I will heart you forever.

Anniversary Date

I always thought it was cool that Murray and I married exactly six months to the day that we first met: May 3rd and November 3rd.

Today, Murray and I decided to buy tickets to The Swell Season, coming to The Depot on May 2nd. We both enjoyed the movie, Once, and then we were thrilled to see the humble couple get up at the Oscars and give the sweetest acceptance speeches ever. (Thanks for bringing Markéta Irglová back on stage to give her speech after she was cut off!). I'm so glad that their song won Best Original Song because I seriously haven't gotten sick of listening to the Once soundtrack yet. I'm so excited to see them at The Depot because it's such a small, intimate venue.


So I told Murray that it was great that we were going to see this concert on May 2nd, also because it's a day before May 3rd, the day we met, and it's only fitting that we celebrate by doing something bigger than our average fare.

And then I went to program it into my iPhone calendar, to be puzzled---really, really puzzled. May 2nd is a Friday this year. May 3rd is on a Saturday. Murray and I met on a Wednesday (I purposely scheduled our first date for a weekday because then if it goes well, you don't have to wait a whole week to get together again). But even with a leap year, there's no possible way that May 3rd could be on a Wednesday one year and on a Saturday the next.

Sure enough I looked it up, and we met IRL (please note my self-deprecating tone in using that term) on May 2nd.

The good news: We're going out on a big date this year to celebrate the anniversary of when we first met.

The bad news: We didn't get married six months to the day we met. I feel like my whole world view is caving in on me.

Weren't the men supposed to be the ones who are bad with anniversaries?

To Catch a Thief

On Saturday Murray and I headed to Park City to see if we could see any celebrities. Well, also to go through the different galleries. Anyway, we saw Nicki Hilton, which I could really care less about. Two years ago, Murray met Steven Colbert. That's more of what I'd be interested in.

Parking was impossible. It took us about two hours to finally find a spot. Then we had to wait for a shuttle to take us to Main Street. Getting onto the crowded shuttle bus reminded me a lot of Italy, so I instinctively zipped my purse shut and explained to Murray that Italy forced me to develop some pretty good anti-theft skills. He asked if someone would grab your purse/wallet/belonging and then go into a crowd of people. I said no, that generally it happens while you're already in a crowd of people. And the thief doesn't go anywhere---s/he just stays right there. And then when you realize something's happened, and you say something, then everyone in the crowd, including the thief, just stares at you.

At this point, Murray said that he believes that because of human nature, someone in the crowd would say, "The thief must be among us! Let's work together to figure it out!" And then I laughed in his face. I really hope to live to see the day when Murray pipes up in a crowd of people, "The thief must be among us! Let's work together to figure it out!!"

Speaking of thieves. And ghosts. I'm afraid of thieves. Murray's afraid of ghosts. And when we got back from Park City, we saw a pound of bacon sitting on our kitchen counter. This was the good stuff, too. I'd had it in the freezer. Yet there it sat on the kitchen counter. Thawed. I asked Murray about it. He said that he'd found it there that morning and it was frozen solid. He wondered why I'd taken it out of the freezer, but just left it there because I must have had something in mind.

The thing is, I never went into the kitchen that morning. The night before, Murray's brother Steve and his fiancée Moleste were over. I thought maybe one of them had pulled it out when they were looking for ice cubes, but Murray and I talked it through and remembered that we all drank bottled water straight from the bottles. Besides, if it was frozen solid in the morning, it couldn't have been taken out the night before.

It really was awful trying to figure it out. In fact, it had been a long day, and so I finally said to Murray that I didn't want to talk about it anymore. And yet, I couldn't let it go. So I opened the freezer, hoping that something inside would trigger our memory of what had happened, and so we didn't have to concede that it was either thieves or ghosts. (The thieves didn't take anything valuable and the house is too new to be haunted, so both were unlikely options.)

Then Murray spotted the medium format film in the freezer and suddenly the memory started coming back to him. He was checking out our stock of film in the morning, and had to remove the bacon to see it better. Then he shut the freezer door, saw the bacon on the counter, poked it to find it frozen solid, and wondered why I had taken the bacon out of the freezer.

Who needs ghosts or thieves when you can rob and haunt yourself?

Recent Purchases

Forgive me for the lapse in blogging. We made some major and minor unexpected purchases over the past week, and I must admit that they've been keeping me fairly busy. Let me share.

The first of these purchases is by far the largest of all. Last week, our 17-inch iMac went into a coma, and although it is fixable and still under warranty, we decided the time came to cross off one of our goals for the year. We bought a 24-inch iMac. And it's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Since purchasing this computer, I've been able to work on wedding invitations for two people, and do a lot of design work from home. And I've never been happier with a computer in my life. I wonder what's next. What is more incredible than a sleek self-contained computer with a 24-inch screen? Check back in two months. I'm sure that technology will have made our purchase obsolete by then. But I assure you that we are going to bask in our feeling of superiority these next two months.



Saturday was a fun day for Murray and me and we just went where the day took us. We finished up our first roll of film on the Holga camera I bought him for Christmas. We dropped it off for developing and I almost passed out when I found out that it costs $13 per print to develop medium format film. So instead of getting prints, we'll have it developed and scanned directly to CD so that we can choose which shots to have printed. That makes me feel good, especially because I know that I forgot the lens cap on at least one shot.

After nachos at El Azteca, a delicacy that Ambrosia introduced me to and that I hadn't had for a couple years, Murray and I headed to DI just because. We immediately went to the chair section, which is where I always immediately go. I should just stop going to DI because I find a new chair every time I go. This time was no different. In fact, I found about four chairs that I would have been happy buying, but we limited ourselves to two office chairs. Those who used to work with me may know these as B------ chairs---a style of chair that a coworker was once so attached to, she lost her job over it. Now we have two. And they're so comfortable. If only I still had B------'s phone number, I would have let her know that there were several available. If it's worth losing a job over, it certainly must be worth the $10 DI was charging.



On our way out the door, we stopped in the "collectibles" section at the front of the store. There I saw the most adorable cradle ever. And we didn't buy it.

But we did go to BYU to buy some Sunbeams supplies (a copy of Gospel Doctrines and a small Children's Hymn Book). Then we went to the hip part of Provo, namely Coal Umbrella, Mode Boutique, and Maestro Gelato. At Coal Umbrella, we bought a fish eye camera that takes 35mm film. That means that we can take cool pictures and develop them for slightly less than $13 per print. That is if you know where you can still buy film (we went to Albertson's and found a 3 pack that had dust on it---real dust on it!). At Mode, I bought some earrings and a cute headband. At Maestro's, we bought gelato and enjoyed the art. (We enjoyed the art at both Coal Umbrella and Mode, too, but telling Murray that there was art at Maestro's was enticement to get him in since he doesn't love gelato as much as I do.)

We spent the rest of our daylight going around and taking a full roll of film with our new fish eye camera.

On Sunday, in church, I started to regret not buying the cradle. Which I think was The Spirit.

Also, Murray was exhausted from Saturday's shopping. That accounts for him passing out half way into our closet while tidying. Look at this picture and decide if this looks like a man asleep or a man who is dead.



Today I have been working from home, so I went to lunch with Murray. On my way, I picked up our fish eye prints ($8.60 for 24 prints and a CD). We enjoyed looking at them over lunch.


After lunch, The Spirit directed me to DI where the cradle was still available. Let me be clear: I am not pregnant, nor am I planning to become so any time in the next eleven months. But when there's a solid wood, hand-crafted, high-quality, antique cradle for sale at DI for $65, I think the right thing to do is buy it. As I looked at it, about three other people came by to look at it, rock it, and ooo and ahhh. I think that it takes someone giving it attention to get other people's attention. Luckily I beat them all out by getting to the cashier first.



I don't really know what we'll do with it for the next eighteen months. Maybe we'll use it to store extra blankets or something. But before our baby comes (in eighteen months), I will have given it a rich, dark stain and outfitted the interior with Amy Butler fabric, thus creating the cutest little cradle you've ever seen. Ever.

And if I'm barren, then my brother-in-law's soon-to-be bride will be getting the best bridal shower gift in the world (in thirty months) accompanied by my bitter, bitter tears.

(Which won't be too bitter if I keep spending a lot of time with the Sunbeams.)

Undeck the Halls

The end of the Christmas season marks the time that you put all your Christmas decorations away, which is never as fun as putting them up. On Saturday, Murray and I spent the morning driving around Springville with a tree on top of our car, trying to find the compost facility where we could drop it off, only to end up at the solid waste transfer station that is right across the freeway from where we live (suddenly we're glad that we don't live on that side of the freeway).

Before taking down the decorations, I needed to take pictures of them for posterity's sake: our first Christmas together!




Perhaps of all the Christmas decorations to go, it's saddest of all to put away Twiggy the deer.

Earlier in December, we got together with my siblings to celebrate mine and El Senor's birthdays. Murray and I had already bought a new set of silverware for El Senor (to replace the silverware that I wanted to take back from him), which I figured was a pretty good gift. But a few days before the celebration, El Senor commented that Murray and I are now in the enviable position of giving joint gifts, but receiving separate gifts. So I decided that Murray and I needed to buy El Senor something else---gaudy and ridiculous---so that we could claim to have given him separate gifts.

We made a trip to Walmart and looked through their Christmas decorations. Of course, there were some atrocious dancing Santas, but that's not the kind of thing that you would ever want to give someone, even in jest. When we saw Twiggy the deer, we knew immediately that that's what we would give El Senor. It was a little awful deer made from twigs. Something that you'd buy from an old lady at a craft fair, but that Walmart was mass producing.

We wrapped up Twiggy nicely, and Murray gave El Senor the nice silverware. I gave him Twiggy. When he opened it, he asked, "What's this??" But we all appreciated the humor of it.

But then something most unexpected happened. El Senor, Murray and I all grew this strange affection for Twiggy. Although it was an ugly little twig deer, there was something absolutely charming about it... in a Tim Burton sort of way. So El Senor happily brought Twiggy home and put him on display, and I sent Murray out to buy us our very own Twiggy. (Thank goodness Walmart is more accessible than an old lady at a craft fair!)

When I was packing up Christmas decorations, I hesitated putting Twiggy away. I thought that maybe Twiggy should remain a part of our house throughout the year. But then I realized that if I put Twiggy away and only brought him out during the Christmas season, then Twiggy would retain his uniqueness and appeal. Now every year, Murray and I will open our box of Christmas decorations, and laugh with glee as we take Twiggy out and find the perfect place to display him.

My Prince

To add to yesterday's post about singles versus marrieds, let me share with you this choice experience.

When Murray first moved into his townhouse, the Relief Society presidency from the local family ward was making the rounds to each home in the ward. When they got to his house, they introduced themselves to him, and he explained that he was actually single and attended a singles ward. Without another word, the sister who had been leading the conversation turned around and walked away. One of the other sisters, as she walked away, apologetically said, "Well... uh... it was nice meeting you!"

So one thing we wondered about our entire engagement was what it would be like to move into this ward and what I would think of the Relief Society presidency. But the thing is, I love my Relief Society presidency. They're all sweet women and I couldn't see any of them doing what Murray described. Also, he doesn't really recognize them, so we're thinking that maybe the offender has moved to a different ward.

Nevertheless, the other night the doorbell rang and it was two members of the Relief Society presidency, coming over to welcome me into the ward. One said that she hadn't realized that Murray and I were newlyweds moving into the ward---she had assumed that we'd been married a while. They asked how we met and why we chose to live in Springville, and I said that Murray had the house here, so I moved in.

Then it dawned on them that like frogs who turn into princes, single men turn into married men and move into family wards. One said, "Oh! We knew it was all families here and that one single guy, so that makes sense, then!"

Singles Sensitivity Training

Wednesdays are my day off work and they are, therefore, my day to get things done. I look forward to the "break" from work, but I am beginning to realize that a Wednesday of errands can be more exhausting than a day sitting in front of my computer.

Among yesterday's errands was going to the jeweler to have my watch battery replaced. I went to the place where Murray and I bought our wedding rings because the service is so great. Our salesperson, T, even greets us by name when we come in, which is crazy because I figure he sees and works with so many people.

So T greeted me this time, and we chatted---he asked me about married life, and I went on about how great it is because I thought that he was married. (I guess the wedding band he'd been wearing every time we went in was just for show.) In the manner of making chit chat, I asked him, "How are things? People still getting married?" I know it's not the most brilliant dialog, but there it is. I said it. His response was completely unexpected.

He said, "Nope. I'm still not married."

With absolute horror I realized that he thought I asked him, "Still not married?" As if three and a half weeks of marriage were long enough to make me lose all sensitivity toward singles. But I couldn't really say, "No, I didn't ask if you were still not married. I asked if people were still getting married... and buying rings and stuff... you know... how's business?" because that just would have sounded lame.

Because of the misunderstanding he ended up telling me all about how he just broke up with his girlfriend and that he's a terrible boyfriend. And then, as a married person, I wisely bestowed wisdom upon him by telling him that if you're really not into the person, breaking up before the holidays is really the only way to do it, because otherwise, you're locked into the relationship until at least Valentine's Day. Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day: Those are three really awkward holidays to go through when you know you don't really like the person you're dating. (Of course, I would have bestowed that same wisdom had I been a single person because it was a lesson that Richie taught me years ago. Not that he followed his own advice, which meant that I had to help him find a slew of non-committal gifts for the holidays. Scarves and mittens anyone?)

And T really appreciated that insight because it hadn't occurred to him, and it made him feel better about his breakup.

Unfortunately, it didn't make me feel any better about the fact that someone misunderstood the words from my mouth and thought that I was asking a horrible, insensitive question that only smugly married people ask.

As if I needed another reason...

I'll post about the honeymoon tomorrow, but I couldn't resist sharing with you all another reason why I love Murray. The other night we went to Bed Bath & Beyond to buy a food processor with our gift cards. While I was deliberating between the 7-cup at $100 and the 14-cup at $200, this caught Murray's eye.


To which I asked, "What would anyone ever need that for?"

He responded somewhat sheepishly, "I've got to admit, if I were still a bachelor, I'd buy that up in a second."

How can I not be in love with him?

(We went with the 14-cup.)

The Reception: a work of art worthy of a museum

You know those people who meet at BYU, but they're from two different parts of the country, so they get married in Utah and traverse the nation holding open houses and receptions in order to share their joy with as many friends and loved ones as possible?

Well, Cicada and Murray do not fall into that category. First of all, they didn't meet at BYU. They met after Murray stalked Cicada online. They are, in fact, from different countries, but that didn't stop them from holding only one reception; however, in honor of that alternative practice, we decided to wait a week to post the reception, so it would feel like they had two.

Anyway. After the temple ceremony and much photo taking, Nemesis and I hurried to Jenny's where we ate the entire contents of her refrigerator in order to shore ourselves up for the work ahead of us. Turns out we didn't really need to do that, but we didn't know this at the time. Then we headed out to the reception center, even the Springville Art Museum, also known as The Venue of Choice for Supercool People's Wedding Receptions.

Nemesis, as the Food Service and Preparation Chairperson, kept saying, "I really don't think we need to be there right at 4:00. I mean, it's not like we can put food out or anything. I don't think there will be much for us to do." I will shortly prove to you that all our preconceived ideas about this shindig were completely false. Except for the part about it being cool.

So we arrived, found the kitchen, and noticed that it was completely full of food. Nemesis, true to her name, took charge with a vengeance. Earlier, Ootsie Boodle had warned Nem that certain persons might be inclined to take over, and that she needed to be patient with that. Nem, with a straight face, said, "That's okay. I have a pretty mean left hook if anyone tries anything." I think the word must have gotten out, because no one bothered her.

Cicada had planned everything out marvelously, with the help of her excellent mother. There were pages of recipes (so we could throw salads and stuff together), pages of notes on what condiments went in what bowls, which platters would hold the fruits, vegetables, salmon, roast beef, etc., and everything organized in a most easy-to-carry-out way, what with the organizers themselves being involved elsewhere and not available for consultation for much of the time. It was truly amazing.

We started by donning our very own Cicada and Murray aprons, made for us by Dr. Rice, which was a delightful surprise. Dr. Rice came in, looking lovely but slightly harried, and said to Ootsie Boodle, "Well, we finished the aprons. And by 'we' I mean 'me.'"

Ootsie sympathetically patted Dr. Rice on the arm and said, "I know." Later I found out that The Boy and El Senor were supposed to be helping with that project. I guess they were busy playing with the Bean, whom they awakened early from his nap, to ensure that his parents would be driven crazy when he was overcome with tiredness halfway through the reception. A worthy cause, to be sure, but where did that leave Dr. Rice? Doing a huge job on her own with very little time, that's where.

Also, I can tell you that if my brother woke up my baby from his nap before my sister's wedding reception, there would have been words. None spoken in my hearing, however, which speaks very well of the Captains, I must say.

We didn't get a photo, but picture a white chef-type apron with this photo on the front. So cute.

People started showing up to help, and Nemesis was able to put everyone right to work, because she is amazing like that. I had a very fun time saying, "Ask Nemesis," and mostly minding my own business, except for when I had to tease Switchback to see what stuff she was made of. She came through brilliantly.

Here's what the kitchen looked like once most of the food was already out on the buffet tables. Switchback is either making off with a good deal of the dessert, or preparing to take it out to the serving tables. Hard to know which.

I think this was taken just after Nemesis came upon me eating up the baklava that she had set aside for Cicada and Murray to take home with them, since no one was feeding them during the reception. If I remember correctly, her words were, "What are you doing, you jerk? Those are Cicada's!" And then I felt slightly sheepish. I mean, how could I have known? There was food everywhere, and we had quickly developed the practice of eating whatever we wanted, since there was enough for about 12,000 guests, and as far as I know there were only about 350 in attendance. Also, there was no time to get a plate and sit down to eat, so we grazed. Anyway, after this disaster, we decided it might be a good idea to set aside the treats in a box, so that they weren't just sitting out there, unmarked, waiting to be eaten. Plus, who doesn't eat baklava when it's just sitting there? No one, that's who.

I won't burden you with all the details. Suffice it to say that there were French cheeses, artisan breads, I think I mentioned salmon, and every good thing. Here's the buffet table in most of its glory. Hard to get a good shot once people started thronging to it, but oh, it was lovely!

But let's talk about the highlights of the preparation. First, I must say that Cicada's family is made up of the most mellow people I have ever met in my life. Do not take this to mean that they don't get things done. They worked like crazy. But nothing stressed them out. For example, there was no salad dressing for the spinach, candied pecan, gorgonzola, craisin, and fresh pear salad. (Mmmmmmm!) Upon discovering this, I felt my blood pressure start to rise. It was mentioned to Ootsie Boodle. "Okay," she said calmly. "We'll just send someone out to get some." Like it was really that simple. This happened several times. At one point Jenny said, "Where were these people when I got married?" Because seriously, nothing fazed them. Not that anything went terribly wrong, but still. It was amazing and inspiring to watch.

Another example of restraint and patience. So we were searching everywhere for some stuff, and finally Ootsie asked El Senor if he knew where it was. He said, "Oh. It's out in my car. Did you want that brought in?" If it had been my kid, he would have seen much eye rolling and possibly have received a sarcastic reply. Ootsie just said, "Yes," and went on with her life. Nemesis and I may have exchanged glances, because that was too good an opportunity to miss for raking someone over the coals. Really.

The absolute best moment was when Ootsie Boodle realized that Certain Important Items had been left at The Condo, even the new home of the Terreno di Amores. And Cicada and Murray were conveniently at the condo, so she could just call them and ask them to bring said items when they came over to the museum. Only they didn't answer the phone. I came late to the conversation when Nemesis came over to me and whispered, "Afternoon Delight! Cicada and Murray aren't answering their phone!" Ootsie was standing there dialing and saying (calmly) "Oh, I'm sure they're just resting." I think her voice was slightly higher than usual, though. And then she (ever so calmly) started trying to recruit the brothers to just run over to the condo and grab the stuff. Understandably, every one of them refused. Ootsie Boodle graciously did not press them. Then she seized on this wonderful manwho, after hearing the details said, "Sure. I'm up for an awkward moment," and gallantly got in his car and ran the dreaded errand. Way to take one for the team, Viktor! Sadly, he had nothing to report upon his return, because Cicada and Murray showed up moments later. They must have just missed each other.

I'll leave you with a photo of the cake. Just one more example of how classy Cicada and Murray are.


And now Nemesis will provide you with the happy ending to our little story.

Because cool people choose the Provo Temple

Hi, Daltongirl has passed the torch on to me, Miss Nemesis, to dicuss the wedding itself. I will do this for you now.

The Provo Temple, I will admit to you, is not the most popular temple wedding destination. It was built in the 70s, when there was possibly more crack in the water than there is now. The rumor behind the design is that it was inspired by a scripture in Exodus, where the Lord leads the Israelites after they escaped from Egypt:

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, to go by day and night:

He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. (Exodus 13: 21-22)

So you have this big . . . possibly cloud-looking . . . structure, and then there was this flame-looking gold-colored spire on top. Which, yeah, if you're thinking of the scripture then it's kind of meaningful and cool and makes us think about the temple as a symbol of God's constant presence and guidance.

Only a few years ago I guess they said to heck with the scripture, we need more brides! So they made the spire white and put the Angel Moroni on top. And Daltongirl wants me to add the apocryphal statement by President Hinckley, who allegedly said, "Okay. No more wedding cake temples."

People only seem to get married at the Provo temple if they're incredibly low-key, if there's a family tradition, or if they're cool and funky. Do we even need to ask which camp Cicada and Murray are in? Plus it made more sense since it's close to where all the other events were being held. I applaud their choice.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, as you can see. I arrived at the temple and found Daltongirl and Daltonboy in the waiting room. We also recognized the elderly couple (relatives of Cicada's) who caught a gun show between the breakfast and the temple. They offered to take Murray and Cicada's dad with them but I believe Cicada's mom nixed that idea. Probably wise. Because I knew I wouldn't see Cicada before the ceremony, I made sure at the wedding breakfast to whisper in her ear the advice my mother gave to my sister Jenny just before her wedding. "Remember. You still have time to change your mind." Somehow I don't think she'll be saying this to me when it's my turn. Cicada accepted my advice gravely, and I rested easy in the knowledge that I'd done my duty.

After everyone arrived we went upstairs to the sealing room, which was beautiful and peaceful. Cicada's sweet aunt handed Daltongirl and I tissues in case we needed them. We both tend to sob loudly at weddings. After a few minutes Cicada and Murray came in together holding hands, dressed in white, and absolutely beaming.

The sweet elderly gentleman who was to perform the wedding came in and introduced himself. I've decided it's probably a good thing that most couples are really too blissed out to remember much of what the officiator says by way of advice. I'm sure he didn't mean for it to be this way, but the most memorable bit of his advice was when he reassured them that even if one's spouse apostatizes in the future, the spouse who stays true to his temple covenants will still be okay. And since he was basically talking to Murray the whole time, it's pretty clear who he thinks is going to be the one to bail. (Sorry, Cicada. I guess it's good that Murray has a heads-up, though.) But seriously: Is that really the best time? Why doesn't he throw in some sage words about what happens if one of them is eaten by a shark in the next couple of years while he's at it?

The ceremony itself was brief and lovely, and then we all stood up and congratulated Murray and Cicada as we filed our way out. Daltongirl and I perhaps filed a bit more quickly than the others because we had Things To Discuss.

We waited outside on the grounds while the wedding party got changed into their tuxes and other finery for the pictures. And while we waited Daltongirl saw something so arresting that she grabbed the top of my head and swiveled my neck over so that I could see it too. A lady walked out of the temple wearing the most extraordinary footwear I have ever before seen in life. She walked over to a bench and sat down, where I hope she pondered the choice she just made to go into the Lord's House dressed like a yeti:


Then Murray and Cicada walked out together, and the villagers rejoiced:

Could they be any cuter? They had a professional photographer, but Daltonboy followed discreetly behind and took pictures as well. He got a lot of the same shots the photographer did, but used different lenses so as to ensure that the pics would not be duplicates. And then before the reception he found time to print and frame one of them to put out on the gift table. Because he's just sweet like that.


I got the following shot for Savvy, who had been all excited to drive over and see Cicada in her pretty dress. (Checking out brides is her favorite.) Only she fell asleep instead and missed the whole thing, which is why being 3 can be a drag sometimes. Cicada and Murray obliged, though, by posing for me.

So. All in all, it was absolutely wonderful.

Breakfast is Served

Because we were deeply concerned for you, the masses, who will not be hearing from Cicada for at least a week while she is on her honeymoon and may possibly go into withdrawals without a Cicada fix, we convinced her to invite us to post as her guest bloggers, so that we might share with you the excitement and beauty of her lovely wedding day. It will not be the same, but it will be something.

And so, without further ado, we give you Cicada's Wedding Day as seen through the eyes of Miss Nemesis and Daltongirl. As determined previously by coin toss or lots or something, Daltongirl will go first.

Installment 1: The Wedding Breakfast

Daltonboy and I arrived at the reception center to find a bunch of people standing around watching a video. Murray whispered sheepishly that he wasn't sure whether Cicada would approve of the preview, since the video was part of the program for later, but he felt the need to entertain. The video was awesome, partly because it was backed up by some cool scat singing by Ella Fitzgerald, but also because it featured a photo of jr. high-age Cicada with a really tight perm and an unfortunate blouse, covered with a print of flowers larger than her head. Later, during the program, that photo got a huge laugh--even though most everyone was seeing it for the second time.

Cicada arrived, surrounded by her entourage, in the manner of a rock star.

I found myself trying to catch a glimpse of her out the window, just so I could say I'd seen her. Sadly, she was blocked from my view by a group of men in dark suits, so I had to wait until she made her entrance into the dining room.

We found our seats and waited patiently until the moment when we could devour the creme-stuffed crepes in front of us.

Nemesis joined us after almost running the entourage down with her car.

Being schooled in the ways of Europeans and High Brow people, she immediately noticed the classy raspberry curd on the table. I, trying to cover up my white trash upbringing, somewhat abashedly admitted that I had thought it was ketchup. And so it turned out to be, after Nem delicately spooned some onto her plate next to the creme-stuffed crepes. I was ever so disappointed that she hadn't glopped it directly on top of them.

By the time I had eaten half the breakfast, I had consumed more than my entire day's allotment of calories. Perhaps this is why, at 9:00 in the evening, Cicada could say to me, "I haven't eaten since 9:00 this morning, but I'm really not hungry." Seriously. SO delicious.


After the breakfast, we were treated to a short program, wherein both Cicada's and Murray's parents said nice things about them and their impending union--all true as far as we know. Switchback, the loveliest of Maids of Honor, proposed a fabulous toast. Murray's brother started out jokingly, but quickly became choked up in the sweetest way. Then Cicada's family plus Switchback treated us with this musical number, which we understand was a collaborative effort by El Senor, Captain Fabuloso, and Captain Mom, with Richie on guitar.

Sung to the tune of John Prine's "Dear Abby."

Dear Abby

(girls)
Dear Abby, Dear Abby,
My life ain't so great.
I've come out of college with barely a date.
I had a great future worked out in my head.
But now I live with my brother instead.
Signed,
Old Spinster

(boys)
Dear Abby, Dear Abby,
I live all alone.
I bought me a car, and I bought me a home.
I've spent many years to build me this nest,
But now all I need is a bird to come rest.
Signed,
Bird Watcher

(girls and boys together)
Old Spinster, Bird Watcher,
You have no complaint.
You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't.
So listen up Spinster, and Bird Watcher too:
Be patient. One day all your dreams will come true.
Signed,
Dear Abby.

(girls)
Dear Abby, Dear Abby,
I give up on love.
My family's been praying for help from above.
I edit and bike and I work on my blog.
I'm busy, successful, and have a great job.
Signed,
Still Patient

(boys)
Dear Abby, Dear Abby,
I have to work fast.
I often am told that my best years are past.
I go to church with the singles but don't have a doubt
That when I turn thirty they're kicking me out.
Signed,
Dejected

(boys)
Dear Abby, Dear Abby,
Oh, what's apropos
When you've fallen in love with a girl you don't know?
I read all her stories and she sounds so sweet.
This is surely a girl that I'd like to meet.
Signed,
Web Lurker

(girls)
Dear Abby, Dear Abby,
I never could see
That Internet dating was in store for me.
I googled his records and he came up clean.
So with friends in tow we ate Indian cuisine.
Signed,
Optimistic

(boys and girls together)
Dear Abby, Dear Abby,
The time has been short.
It's just been six months since we started to court.
Today we will marry--to the temple we'll go.
Our future together will be great, we know.
Signed,
Just Married

And what could top that, you wonder? Well. Cicada decided to give her single days a proper send off by reciting some poetry, written especially for the occassion. You may recall that in the past, she had gained some notoriety for reciting bitter single poetry. So this was a fitting close to those days, but as she said, "These days, I'm finding it hard to be bitter, so you won't see a lot of that here." And we didn't.


After her sweet poem and some kissing, Murray stepped up to the plate by offering a little creative piece of his own: "For Sentimental Reasons," sung in the manner of Jimmy Stewart. Brilliant!


Thanks ever so much to the entire Terreno di Amore family for providing us with such a splendid repast and delightful entertainment.

And now, on to the wedding proper. Nemesis?

I Love Equality.

When I called El Senor to tell him that Murray had surprised me with something this weekend, El Senor guessed that it might be an iPod nano.

It was not, in fact, an iPod nano.

It was an iPhone.



And when I revealed that to El Senor, he said, "You. Are. A. Tit." And then the phone hung up. He might claim that AT&T dropped our call, but aren't they the network with the fewest dropped calls? Yeah. I thought so. He hung up on me then.

As soon as the iPhones went down in price, Murray rushed out to buy one. He is a Mac addict and I support his habit because I benefit from his purchases. I had never wanted or needed an iPhone until I started using Murray's. It took me about one day to start referring to it as "my phone."

This is what made me lust after the iPhone, in order:

1) Constant Access to Google Maps. This doesn't just mean getting extra help in where we're going (Murray and I are notoriously directionally challenged). It means typing in a business name, seeing all the push pins appear to mark the business locations, and having instant access to each business's phone number and web site. And being able to immediately access the business's web site.

Take last night for example. We were in the mood for Mexican food. So I typed in the words "Mexican Restaurant" and got these push pins all over Salt Lake City. And then I swooned.

2) Weather Watch---I am able to just pick up my phone and get the forecast. That is especially crucial to me right now as I get to choose which sweater best matches the predicted weather patterns.

3) Constant Internet Access. Who ever knew I needed it? But I do! Oh, I do! Plus, I can check everyone's blogs while I'm out! Hooray!


This is what makes me an addict now that I have one, and wonder how I lived a functional life before it:

1) Visual Voice Mail. If you know me, you know that I hate receiving voice mail. That is no longer true. Please feel free to leave me any voice mail any time. I just hated having to always go through a menu. "Press seven to delete," etc. Now, I see who left a message. I tap the message and it plays. And then I can tap "delete" to delete it. No menu. At all. It's revolutionary.

2) Conversation Text Messaging. Text messages are organized by contact. You open up ALL text messages from that person, and you can see both your outgoing messages and your contact's incoming messages, in different colored speech bubbles. So, so pretty.

3) Email on the Go. My phone collects my email. So last night, when Switchback emailed to say that she's going to be in town next weekend and needs to stay with me, I was able to be excited immediately, and not postpone my excitement for the next morning when I would have checked my email.

4) Notes. Of course, I could have always written notes in my planner... but it's a lot cooler to write them in my iPhone. I currently have a list of ideas for blog posts so that I don't forget the stuff I've been thinking about blogging.

5) Calendar. Of course, I could have always used my planner, but it's a lot cooler to write my appointments in my iPhone. Especially during church. It really makes me look like I am a high-tech organized person, as opposed to a low-tech organized person, and I really really care about what everyone at church thinks of me.

6) Camera. My last two phones had cameras, but it's not like they took good pictures or anything. This phone takes photos that don't look all pixelly. So now I always have a camera with me.

You may have noticed that I haven't even talked about the iPod features. That's because I haven't even loaded anything onto it yet. But when I do, I'll have videos, movies, tv shows, and music all at my fingertips. It's so beautiful. It's so wonderful. I'm so addicted already.

What was Murray's excuse for giving me an iPhone? Well, he decided that as a couple, we are supposed to be equal. So we both need iPhones. Of course, when I showed him my old phone and how many dings it has from being dropped, his face clouded over and he said, "You need to change your perception of what it is you're carrying here." Later he added, "Until we have children, These. Are. Our. Children."