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!


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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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.)

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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

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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!!)

18-24

Well, this weekend was a double anniversary weekend. Except that sometimes our anniversaries confuse us, so we both kindof missed it. Saturday was the 2-year anniversary of our first date when we first met. To celebrate, we had El Senor over for breakfast. (This was before we realized it was the 2-year anniversary of when we met.) And by "breakfast" I mean we ate at 1:00.

I had been meaning to go to the Farmer's Market because Azucar blogged about the Belgian Waffles there. But I woke up at 6:00 to feed Gulliver and it was pouring rain. And then I woke up at 8:00 to feed Gulliver and it was pouring rain. And then I woke up at 10:00 to feed Gulliver and it was pouring rain. So much for Belgian waffles (I hear they weren't even there... see you all next week?). But I needed some amazing breakfast to make up for the waffle let down, and I decided that deluxe French toast would fit the bill. When El Senor called to ask if he could come over for design help, I told him that I'd be feeding him French toast, and then he suggested Nutella-stuffed French toast, which he had seen somewhere.

I was up for the challenge. Also, I needed to make up for the crappy "Nutella" crepes that I had at IHOP a few months ago that were the biggest Nutella let down in the world. I think that the recipe used---no joke---1 tsp of Nutella.

I went to Wammart and bought manager's special egg bread and Nutella (I don't keep it in my house because I will eat it all and to this day I have always held strong and not bought the double pack of large jars at Costco for only $6). And I bought real maple syrup because I was out. So I brought it all home and whipped up Nutella-stuffed French toast with maple syrup dip and a mango yogurt side while Murray and El Senor watched Chopped. I have to say, now that we watch Chopped, I have a much better presenation at my meals. It's like it's always a challenge to come up with a great presentation! I left Murray's French toast unstuffed because he does not agree with the gratuitous addition of chocolate to any recipe. I must say that breakfast was spectacular. And then afterwards, El Senor introduced me to "breakfast dessert"---the oft forgotten course. He took straight nutella, dipped it in straight maple syrup, and topped it with whipped cream. Why oh why do people forget about breakfast dessert?? (When we told Murray about our breakfast dessert, I think he started dry heaving.)

Once we figured out it was the 2-year anniversary of us meeting, we decided to go out to Bombay House, where we first met. I would have worn the same outfit that I originally wore, but apparently I've had too much breakfast dessert in the last two years...

Then Sunday was the 18-month anniversary of our marriage. I celebrated in the morning by spending 15 minutes ironing Gulliver's church clothes. (Minutes spent ironing Murray's church clothes in the past 18 months: 0. But that's because before meeting me he bought only clothing that didn't need to be ironed.) Then we went to church where Gulliver pooed all the way up to his neck, and all over my Sunday dress.

Seriously?

He normally has his biggest BM at around 11:00 a.m. but apparently on Sundays he likes to save it for some time between 1:00 and 2:00.

Anyway. We took a trip down to Moroni with Steve and Cici to meet up with the rest of the family for a niece's birthday party and had a great time playing Memory, eating really good food (my brother-in-law is a turkey farmer and does the best bbqed turkey and baked beans in the world), and playing wii fit, which Murray is convinced is the end to our obeisity.

Happy 18 months and 24 months, Murray. I can honestly say that they've been the best of my life and I love you very, very much.

#1 Dad

Okay. So now it is time for the post dedicated completely to Murray because if you think that I was the star of this baby delivery show, you've got another thing coming. Murray has proven yet again to be the world's best dad and father.

First of all was the fact that he brought not just one camera, but an entire back pack filled with cameras to capture the magic of Baby's birth. Murray even bought a special camera just for Baby. Since Polaroid is dead, he found a cool Japanese version that takes credit card sized pictures, Polaroid style. Murray will post these pictures once the tenth and final photo of the first set is taken. Be prepared for some awesomeness.

The cool thing is that he threw this bag of cameras into the car just to go to a non-stress test. We didn't realize we'd be actually having the baby that day. Father's premonition, I'm sure of it.

Upon learning that I would, in fact, be induced on Thursday and we would, in fact, have to cancel class, Murray's first order of business was to call his mom to tell her to come to the hospital and his second order of business was to make all the calls to all our students. He seemed a little stressed, but as soon as that was taken care of, he came alive and seemed ready to have a baby.

During the day, Murray was the most supportive and most loving he could possibly be. He fed me ice chips like nobody's business (I didn't actually need them until after the baby came, so mostly we just made a joke out of it) and he was the appropriate amount of touchy-not-touchy. Without me having to tell him, he touched me at the right moments and gave me space at the right moments. He also declined to eat when we suggested he get something to eat, because it made him feel bad that I only got ice chips. But then of course I insisted that he get something to eat because he would need his strength for the delivery part of things, too, and I really needed him to have energy. But still. He won points for not wanting to eat just because I couldn't eat.

We had a nice time visiting and chatting and making jokes throughout the day. He was kind and good to listen to me describe exactly how my contractions were, and told me, "I want to know every update---when it starts feeling a little stronger and a little more intense. Let me know ANY changes."

When it came time for the epidural, the anesthesiologist saw our video camera and our Mac Powerbook and he was ready to talk computers and cameras. So all during the administration of my epidural, I was able to listen to Mac chatter as Murray informed the anesthesiologist about all the latest iMovie updates announced at Mac World. It was so nice, actually, not to have to be the one to make chit chat with the guy shoving the tube in my spine, but to be able to listen to a conversation that I was actually interested in. Yay!

When it was the pushing part, Murray stepped into his role very well. He held one of my legs and coached me and encouraged me. (It also helped to have the mothers and the nurse and the doctor all cheering, too---like having my own cheerleading squad.) Once the baby arrived, he took care of business by cutting the cord, supervising the cleaning up of the baby, and bringing the baby over to me to meet.

Then, he went with the baby to the nursery for him to be fully cleaned and took care of all that business while I had to finish up all of my crazy business---all that post-delivery stuff that you don't think much about.

Back together again that night (I think we reunited sometime after midnight), Murray slipped into the bathroom to get into the pajamas I'd packed for him in the hospital bag---the nurses were due to come into the room at any moment, so he used the bathroom for privacy. The nurses came in, and as they were trying to tell my weary brain all sorts of really important things, like how to use a nasal aspirator to keep my baby from dying if I happen to hear him stop breathing (like I can handle THAT information at such a time!), Murray emerged from the bathroom wearing my capri sweatpants that I'd packed to wear home from the hospital. The ones with a ribbon tie at the waist. I almost burst out laughing, but saved it for when the nurses finally left and I could point out that Murray was, in fact, wearing women's pants. Apparently, while Murray wins points for being the best husband ever, I had yet again fallen short of my wifely duties. I didn't actually pack him any pajama pants and I once again forgot to pack him socks.

Since Baby's birthday, Murray has continued to the best dad and the best husband. There's not a thing that I need to ask him to do twice, and most things, I don't even have to ask him to do at all. He just does them. Yesterday I changed my first diaper---it's not that I have an aversion to changing diapers at all. It's just that Murray beat me to it every time before then, asserting that this was something that he could do and that he'd like to take care of it.

And now, not to be too schmoopy, but I have to say that I've been surprised at the surge of extra love that I feel for Murray now that he's not only my husband, but that we share a baby together, too. He is in every way the best!

(Murray's first work portraying Baby---a sketch-photo composite.)

Murray's Super 8

A few nights ago, when Murray and I were staring at three (four?) different super 8 video cameras strewn all over our bed, I said, "How much did these cost again?" Murray reminded me that they ranged from $5-$20 each, and that's much less than I spend on various splurges on a regular basis. And that these cameras bring Murray an overwhelming sense of happiness.

That was enough to convince me that they were good purchases, because who am I to get in the way of Murray's overwhelming sense of happiness?

And I was even more convinced when I got to see Murray today, looking really hot with his suit (that he wore on our wedding day---swoon!), his hip messenger bag (that I gave to him as a gift), his Murray's Superior Hairstyling Pomade (which, he's happy to discover, is his new favorite hair product and costs under $2 instead of over $15), and super 8 video camera. He's going off to shoot Nicole Hill's wedding today, and I can truly say that if he shoots half as good as he looks, he'll have a fine career of super 8 wedding videography ahead of him.

(First day of shooting pictures taken by ME.)

Murray in a Hurry.

Here's the special present that I bought Murray! Isn't it the greatest thing ever? I knew he'd love it. Of course, when he saw it, he said, "Did you just buy me black man hairstyling product?" I said, "It says MURRAY'S!! And it's retro and vintage!" And let's face it. Murray probably loves it even more just because it is black man hairstyling product. Maybe Murray will start working on an afro...

Okay. So I've been blogging this week about things just to avoid blogging about the one thing I couldn't blog about and that I wanted to blog about. And that was the fact that for the past several days, Murray has been out of town without cell reception, and we have been separated for the first time in our almost year of marriage. Bwa! And I couldn't tell you all that because then one of you, my loyal blog readers/psycho stalkers would have come and murdered me in my bed. But Murray (the original blog stalker) is back now, so I'm safe.

Despite the fact that I lived for about ten successful years as an adult singleton, returning to that singleness was almost crippling. Well, and I'm not being entirely fair because during my single years, I always had roommates so I was rarely really alone anyway. But I really hated having Murray gone. Here are some of the things I missed:

* Making meals for the both of us.
* Snuggling in bed, especially because it was cold.
* Voicing every single random thought I had.
* Reporting to someone who cares about my whole day.
* Asking someone else to please take out the trash. (Shh! It's sitting on the back patio!)
* Getting help determining which shade my pee had turned the pee stick.
* Having random conversations about random things. Like urine, or belly button lint.
* Laughing at above random conversations.
* Watching tv or movies together. While snuggling.
* Having him available all day on google chat.
* Sharing everything I am doing with him.
* Getting positive feedback on every single thing that I do. (Have I ever mentioned how supportive Murray is?)
* Sharing the baby's kicks with Murray, especially when the baby went on this crazy ninja kicking spree. (He's gonna be a socca playa.)
* Having someone ask me what they could do for me several times a day. (Have I ever mentioned how supportive Murray is?)

I'm sure that there are other things that I'm forgetting to list now because Murray is back and so all that sorrow and strife is forgotten. I had to find things to do to fill my time while he was gone. So I went and spent a night at my brother's house in Salt Lake and went to church with his family. And I spent an evening with Murray's parents. Oh, and Jenny even let me babysit her children. And I had my cooking club. So, you know, I did activities to keep from curling up into a pathetic little fetal position... along with my fetus.

Oh, and just in case any of you blog stalkers are still reading this (which you would be because that's what stalkers do), you should know that my neighbor came over one night to make sure that we knew that we needed to turn off our sprinkler system because there was a potential freeze coming on. (He's the one who installed the sprinkler system, and he's taken it upon himself to ensure that we have the absolute best sprinkling experience possible.) When he found out that Murray was out of town, he got all defensive and gave me tips on how to be extra safe, and then also told me that he'd be talking to my neighbor on the other side and letting him know that I was alone and that they both had to keep an extra careful watch over our place. And then my lonely little heart was warmed by the kindness of really good neighbors.

My Mountain Man

I promised you all that I'd share the tale of Murray the Mountain Man as soon as I had pictures, and now I have pictures!

As part of our family vacation two weeks ago, we spent a couple of nights at my sister-in-law's family cabin out in Weber County. The time spent at the cabin really helped us feel like we were actually getting away on vacation. No phones. No internet. It was blissful. Well, it was blissful for me, who stayed at the cabin at all times to gestate my fetus and to sometimes take care of my niece and nephew. Others had a less relaxing time, as they packed their days with rigorous, rugged activities. And where there was a mountain experience to be had, Murray was always at the front of the line volunteering.

Almost as soon as we arrived at the cabin, my dad and Captain Fabuloso got ready to go fishing. They invited Murray along and he readily accepted that invitation. Unfortunately he had the wrong footwear, so they outfitted him with a pair of cowboy boots and gave him a fishing hat to make him official. He proudly wore the fishing hat for the rest of his mountain activities to show the change from "City Murray" to "Mountain Man Murray."

Here's Murray and Dad and Captain F back with their catch. What a catch!!


Here's Murray cleaning the fish.


From this picture, I bet you can guess that Murray didn't participate in the licking of guts like El Senor did.


The next day, almost everyone went out on the horses, and Murray, who had never ridden a horse on his own before, also participated. Once again, I stayed home and gestated. Please note that he is still a mountain man because he is still wearing the mountain man hat.


During the horse ride, my sil told my mom about Jim Bridger's cabin, that was 3/4 the way up the mountain side. He'd built it with a couple of men who wanted to trap with him. They chose their strategic location because it was too steep for horses to access, and it would give them a lot of time to prepare in case Indians ever wanted to go after them. And to my understanding, the Indians were never that dumb anyway.

My mom absolutely wanted to hike to Jim Bridger's cabin herself, and Richie decided he'd go, too. Murray, not to be outdone by his mother-in-law (grandmother of 2.6), signed up for the adventure, too. My sil warned them again and again that it wasn't a nice little hike, and there was no trail, and that it was pretty awful. But the party insisted on finding the cabin, so we let them go.

Several hours later, they came back with their tale to tell. Richie was the only one who ever made it up to the cabin. By the time the mountain slope got to be about 80 degrees, my mom and Murray were exhausted and no longer really had the desire to conquer the mountain or see Jim Bridger's cabin. They'd been gone for hours, and the hike up to the cabin would take another hour at least, of simply scrambling up the mountainside.



The return trip wasn't as easy as they thought either, since the mountain was so steep. Mom and Murray came down the mountain mostly on their butts.


After his mountain adventure, though, I was able to care for and nuture my manly mountain man. He deserved all that pampering and more! I am now certain that if Murray and I were lost in the wilderness, he'd be prepared to take care of us and fight for our survival.

Dueling Man-jos

Yesterday I had a great email exchange with Azùcar. I told her that I'd bought fabric samples to run past Murray and see what fabric we'd use to be recovering some furniture. She said that that's what I get for marrying a creative guy; her husband, a mathematician, wouldn't care about fabric samples.

My response:

You get a LOT for marrying a creative guy. I thank my lucky stars every day. I get full creative support on every project I decide to tackle, plus creative input. I get someone who I can bounce ideas off of who actually contributes to the conversation. And, of course, I get free artwork for my house, which is whatever color, size, subject matter and style that I want. Oh, all that and so much more. Not to brag or anything, but this is the life!!

Her response:

Yes, but is he a human calculator? Can you call him at any time to make him times 356 by 1200? Can you count on him to make obtuse remarks about how someone's logic is way off? Can you always have your own way on everything design related in your home? Plus, free math and physics tutoring for life! I think not!

So I read this to Murray last night and then I started singing dueling banjos. Anyway. It is a really good thing for every woman on earth to really believe that she has married the shiz. It's how everything in this world should be.

And so, last night was project night where Murray and I worked in the same room. Here's a little more bragging about my husband. He is a collector and has a large collection of DVDs. But you know what he did? He bought this cool card-catalog CD organizing unit to use it with DVDs. And then he threw away all the cases of all but the most important DVDs and bought paper sleeves to put the DVDs into. So now he can fit endless DVDs into this unit. And last night he alphabetized the first batch. And we'll create cool dividers. And we'll be the best house for people to come visit because we have all the coolest movies.


While he worked, I sewed come cushions for our couch. I bought a table runner from Pier 1 and cut it up to use the fabric.

(Murray is a little concerned that these iPhone pictures aren't the best... you really don't see how BRIGHT YELLOW our couch is. You'll just have to come over and visit sometime.)

This is a glider/rocker for the baby's room that Daltongirl found us at a yard sale for $5. It's in really really good condition, but of course we want to recover the cushions with a cool fabric. So here are a couple of our options. I think after seeing these pictures that I'll choose to go with the larger floral pattern as opposed to the green polka dots, even though I like both options a lot. Heck. I may as well do them both anyway since I'm just doing removable cushion covers!



I had a leftover fabric sample. For most of my samples, I just bought fat quarters. But since this last one was home decor weight, they didn't have fat quarters. I had to buy by the yard. So I bought 2/3rds a yard because that way, if we chose it for the rocker, it would be enough to sew the bottom cushion. But since we didn't need it, I just sewed all the sides together to make a giant pillow with all the leftover stuffing from the couch pillows. So this'll probably end up being a floor or bed pillow in the nursery. Yay!

Cicada Day!

In case you forgot how spoiled I am, how about this?

Sometime last year, I was working on a Hungarian calendar at work. I found out that in Hungary, they have name days, meaning that every day of the year is assigned a couple of names. When it's your name day, people are expected to treat you like it's your birthday all over again. Cards, flowers, treats, gifts, you name it. The article I read specifically stressed the employee-boss relationship. If it's your boss's name day, you'd better remember to bring a card.

Well, I found out that I had my very own Hungarian name day! Who knew that my name was used in Hungarian as well. (I know that it means Apple in Hungarian, so basically the Hungarians beat Gwyneth Paltrow to the punch). No one else in the office had a name day, so I happily gloated to them all that they'd have to bring me cards and treats and stuff (even though I wasn't actually their boss). I also programmed it into my cell phone to remind me.

A couple nights ago, my cell phone reminded me about my name day (at midnight, which made me really mad and means that I'm going to have to get Steve Jobs on the phone PRONTO to let him know how I feel about iPhones sending out reminders at MIDNIGHT). And then I forgot again.

When Murray asked me this morning if I knew what day it was, I had to think a bit before I remembered that it was my name day. He sat dramatically in front of our armoire, and opened a drawer, aaaaaaaaand....

it was empty.

But THEN he opened a second drawer, aaaaaaaaaaand...

he pulled out a bag of peanut butter lindor balls, aaaaaaaaaaand...

a really cute maternity skirt that is sparkley and comfy, aaaaaaaaaaaaaand...

a really cute maternity shirt. And they are just exactly what I would have picked out for myself.

And so now you had better be thinking that Murray is the sweetest man on the earth, because who else would do that?? I don't deserve his goodness or his spoilingness. I really can't believe he got me chocolate and a whole new outfit. The best thing about the outfit is that it's as comfy as sweats, but it actually looks professional, which comes in handy for today, when I'm meeting with my professional crush, Sarah Jane.


I am very sorry for the rest of you women out there who can't possibly be married to the sweetest man on earth because I already have him.

I'm bound to thank you for it.

On Friday night, Murray and I celebrated our one-year anniversary of our first date. Today, I'd like to thank everyone involved in getting us together. I won't go so far as to thank our parents for giving birth to us, or their parents for giving birth to them and so on and so forth, but I would like to express my gratitude for those on my side of things who helped to bring us together.



1) The BYU admissions committee for admitting me.
2) My biggest brother, for dating a girl with the initials KK.
3) KK for recommending me for a job at BYU Independent Study.
4) Stanclax for hiring me at Independent Study, where I could meet Daltongirl, Nemesis, and Sakhmet (Sakhmet only very briefly---she interviewed me for the position and then quit by the time I started, but believe me, she is integral to the way my life has turned out).
5) Nemesis for inviting me into her inner circle of friends and causing me to be in almost daily email contact with Daltongirl and Sakhmet.
6) Ambrosia for convincing me to start a blog.
7) Nemesis for encouraging me to actually write posts on my blog.
8) The most annoying girl I've ever met whose name I can't remember but who I hated in my design class who announced that you could buy the Adobe Creative Suite at the BYU Bookstore for $200. (Obviously this was a few years ago.)
9) The illustrators at IS for getting me interested in Illustrator and teaching me how to use it so that I could redesign my blog in a really appealing way.
10) Sakhmet for putting me in touch with her friend Heather to do some freelance editing.
11) Heather, for linking me on her blog a couple years later. Also, for blogging about something that matched Murray's search term when he was playing around on the Internet one night. (Murray clicked the link she had to my blog and the rest is history...)

Aaaaaaand finally....

12) Al Gore. For inventing the Internet.

My Murray

A little over a year ago, Murray emailed me for the first time. Isn't that great? In his email, he sent me a few things to give me an idea of who he was, including a video of some of his illustration work. In the video I saw and fell in love with an old man.

I didn't know who this Murray fellow was, but I knew for sure that I wanted a print of that old man. I debated and debated requesting a print of it, and finally worded it in a way that I felt was not very offensive (because, really, it is difficult to ask someone to give you some of their art for free).

And then I never got a print. I mean, sure, I'm happy I married the guy and all, but what about the print that I requested??

Well, a year to the day that I requested the print, I woke up in the morning and Murray announced that he had something for me. He went and got me the old man. As I gazed lovingly into his googley eyes, I mused where I might put it. And Murray was quick to tell me that I had initially mentioned putting it in my office, and really, it was more of an office thing, not a house thing.

So now this googley eyed old man is my new coworker. And he's already gotten a few very curious comments from people around the office.

My Forray into Photography

So I've never been that great of a photographer. But right now I'm taking Nicole Hill's photography class and I'm at least learning a few things to make myself better. I think I'm going to need a lot of practice to take the types of pictures that I like, but here's at least two from my first week of practice that I'm happy with. (Of course, I'll be in love with any adorable photo of Murray...)

Lucky Guy

Murray Terreno di Amore is the luckiest guy on earth. See Exhibit A.

Exhibit A: The Wife.

That's right. He's married to me. The lucky sucker!

I'm at home sick today. Hey, wasn't I at home sick last week? Why yes, I was, thank you for asking. Last week, it was pounding headache, sore throat, fever, and body aches. But that was so last week. This week, probably due to not giving myself time to get over being sick last week, it's fire lung (the official medical term to describe how my lungs feel), no voice (which is kindof fun and at least gives absolute authenticity when you call in sick to work), and constant cough. Plus Nyquil addiction.

Today I'm treating myself differently than I did last week when I was sick. Last week, I decided to be productive despite my sickness, and even ventured outside the home a couple times to run some much needed errands. Even though I was sick, I technically put in a good 15 hours of work between the two days I stayed home. Today I'm trying a completely different way. I have had---count 'em---three naps today. I cannot possibly remember the last time that I had three naps in one day, but I was probably still wearing diapers at the time. I've made lots of progress on my book club book (A Conspiracy of Paper, which I already recommend, not having yet completed it). And I talked (whispered, really) to my mom on the phone. That's about it.

Through it all, Murray has taken great care of me. I can't believe he hasn't gotten sick yet. Last week he brought me soup from Rumbi's. Today for lunch, be brought me soup from Zupa's. This guy's got good taste! Most of all, he's been great at being affectionate, doting, and loving, even though I look like crap. (See Exhibit A again.)

(Although I will be staying home from work tomorrow too [which is my normal day off from work] I make no promises not to start cleaning up and organizing the guest room/storage room in preparation for Switchback coming to visit in two weeks.)

I give a hoot about Valentine's Day.

A couple years ago, I read the post-Valentine's Day blogs from all the couples out there and determined one thing. I would never go out to eat on Valentine's Day. It just seemed like so much hassle and stress, just because you're supposed to spend an evening together.

Instead, Murray and I decided to spend the evening in. It still involved a little hassle and a smidgen of stress. I did a prime rib roast that wasn't everything I'd dreamed it would be, gorgonzola mashed potatoes that I could eat by the shovelful, oven roasted veggies (leftover from the night before---gasp!), and a salad. In the course of preparing for the evening, I slit my middle finger open, burned my arm, and broke some blood vessels in my hand. Oh, the things we do for love! I can definitely say that it was all worth it, because in the end, Murray and I enjoyed a romantic candlelit dinner (did I mention that I forgot to turn on the music that I'd prepared?).

Murray, for his part, well exceeded my expectations. He showered me with gifts, not all of which I will list because it will make every man in the world feel inadequate and every woman in the world feel under appreciated. But I will highlight two cool gifts so that you get an inkling of how much cooler Murray is than any other man in existence.

Cool cicada earrings from this etsy store. I've been eying these for a long, long time. So perfect.

A picture of a pygmy owl with a damask background. Murray is great at collecting things that represent what I love. Here, he's taken a pygmy owl that I saw at a museum and fell in love with, and he's incorporated my love of pattern by adding a green damask background instead of foliage. Murray is so cool. And I am so spoiled.

New Christmas Tradition

I was always jealous of my friend Sophie's family Christmas tradition. They would draw names and make homemade gifts for each other. I know that doesn't work real well in your average family, but Sophie's family is above average artistically. Everyone has a talent that can lend itself to making a wonderful, unique Christmas present.

Now that I'm married to an artist, however, I have the opportunity to start that family tradition and cultivate creativity and artistic talent in our future children. Murray and I started this year by deciding that our main gifts to each other would be handmade. Then we'd fill each other's stockings (and for those who love materialism out there, let me just be clear about the stockings: we went all out and even though the stockings were enormous, some of our "stocking stuffers" still didn't fit).

I took pictures of our homemade gifts for you to enjoy. (And I took pictures where you can actually see the size of the stockings.)

{A calendar I made of Murray's heroes... and yes, that's a picture of him. I think he should be his own hero. After all, he's mine!}

{A scherenschnitte of Murray's family crest. Yes, now you know our last name...}

{My portrait, done by Murray. Isn't he awesome? The work represents two things I love: 1) Murray's original artwork, and 2) me.}

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.)

Just a Better Way to Live

So it's all official. Murray and I are back and we're figuring out the married life groove, and now we're all ready to say really insensitive things to single people like, "You should get married. It's just a better way to live." What are some insensitive things you've heard over the years? Murray and I need a few ideas.

Thanks again to Nemesis and Daltongirl for blogging about my special day. I'll take my turn at the reception, but first I wanted to post a few pictures that I thought people might like as well as our slide show that Murray kindly uploaded to YouTube for all of us. Anyway, I have to get this wedding stuff over as soon as possible lest people complain that I've turned into an I'm-obsessed-with-my-own-wedding blog. But really, with a day so perfect as our wedding day, I must admit that I am obsessed with my own wedding right now.

Without further ado, the video and some pictures!



(You'll forgive that the music cuts out at the end. We wanted to cut out our "real names" that appeared in the last slide.

All of the wedding party who loved us enough to stick around for photos after the ceremony.

I just wanted to share this picture because it looks like my grandpa is blind, which made me laugh.

Me and Murray and the best man (brother Steve) and maid of honor (Switchback)

.

Showing that we know how to have fun always.

Evidence that we got married in a 70s church movie.

A better way to live.

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?