Wanda, AKA "Smoochers"

West Highland Terrier, by Emily Burrowes

Today I post in honor of Wanda, currently one of my two favorite family dogs.

I love my Wanda! She is my smoocher-face, and my favorite fluffy thing to cuddle with. She skips when she is happy, loves to share my cereal, and is always overjoyed to see me.Thanks to Matt & Heather for having a dog so close to where I live.

Fan of Khaki Paint

Khaki paint: just enough color to fill the wall with, but not neutral enough to be a beige. I am a fan of khaki paint. It's a lovely foundation for any color palette, or many splashes of color as shown here. It isn't plain, but it also isn't overwhelming. The over all effect is a cozy glow so relaxing it makes me want to curl up and read.

I love those pillows, too. They look like *chrysanthemums.

*Sorry, Gil, not chrysanthamum.

I've Had Enough of Zombies

On Saturday Dylan and I played two of the best board games with some friends, one which I won't tell you about yet (it's a surprise!) and the 0ther, which is called Betrayal at House on the Hill.

It's really fun-- you use cards to explore a creepy old house until one player discovers that it's haunted. That player then turns on the other players and then plays by villain rules. It's wicked cool. This time the main player turned into a zombie lord.

It sort of reminds me of the old game Labyrinth, where certain tiles were flipped upside down. Did any of you ever play that game?

Bill-- I blame you -- "All I Wanna Do Is Eat Your Brains" was stuck in my head all night. :(

Southern Winter Wind

I wouldn't have been surprised to see Elvira Gulch fly her Schwinn past my window.

According to my sources of weather information, there were 25-30 mph winds in Provo last night. I believe it. For the following reasons (not in chronological order):

1. This morning I discovered shingles all over my lawn from either my house, carport, or the neighbor's houses.

2. After finding our garbage can in the middle of our driveway, we moved it back into its spot by the house. An hour later it was in the street (quite a distance to travel, really. It's a long driveway). After moving it again, along with several pieces of cardboard, two snowshovels and a broom-- all which had become dislodged by the gale-- it moved again. Dylan and I then pried up bricks from a patio-type-thing in our backyard, roadblocked it, and weighed it down. (I mention this is quite the task to do with leaves swirling in your face that have been blown from clear across town!)

3. The draft coming through our kitchen "air conditioner" which is really a fan stuck in a window, Dylan and I taped over with garbage bags. The poofed-out nature of the bags after our taping was complete testifies that there was in fact, a sizable draft.

4. Moaning could be heard outside the window for hours during the night. I guess the wind was pretty morose.

5. Constant beeping could be heard from next door, which Dylan fearlessly investigated (clad in his bathrobe). Aha! It was a mere wind-chime owned by the the cat-lady next door. (Cat lady didn't spot him.) (We think.)

6. Predicting that wind force would escalate, I wisely removed my wild bird-feeder from its hanging place in the tree out front. I was worried I'd lose all the seed while it rocked in the wind. [Have a better day-- feed a winter finch!]

7. I'm still picking snarls out of my hair from all of the "wind blown" allure it received. Good grief, Charlie Brown.

Banks of the River Jordan

Caitlin, Whitney, and Amie.

As you can see, the Jordan River today hardly resembles water at all. At least, not where I saw it. My friend Amber and I sang altered renditions of Simon & Garfunkel songs on our way home from this field trip: "the Jordan river ain't chilly nor wide... yes he did, yes he did... I've got a home on the other siiiiide... it brought joy joy joy" but I guess you have to know the song to get the point of what I'm saying-- oh whatever, just forget it. (Except you, Mom. You should figure that out. It's "You Can Tell the World," yeah?) Neither chilly, nor wide. Quite muddy though.

The tamarisk trees are quite lovely, though.

Cathédrale Saint-Louis de Versailles

Isn't it magnificent? I'd love to see the Saint-Louis cathedral in Versailles. Under the direction of architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart de Sargonne (chief architect of Louis XIV-- he pretty much designed everything significant in Versailles), construction began in 1743 and was completed in 1766. The cathedral is a national monument of France.

The organ inside has an exceptionally grand display, but what captures my special attention is the rather splendid clock out front.

Frosting Makes A Great Impression

Mmmm. There's not an ear in there, is there?

No Really, It's Cake.

More, "I can't believe it's not plastic!" AKA, way too much fun with gum paste.

Oh yeah-- and I had a fabulous honeymoon.

And if you're thinking that Dylan and I couldn't have possibly seen this stuff...



No, no-- we actually did.



Thanks for the trip, Dylan. It rocked.

First Day of School. Again.

I've now switched my major (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) with my minor (History), which means that I'll now major in History with an ANES minor. By doing so, I'll save myself 16 months of school by graduating a year and a half earlier than I would have. Before switching, that is.

I know, I know, I'm diabolical. Graduating faster? How ingenious.