have you heard of the mormon women project? it's a really cool site that features a different mormon lady each week, from all different backgrounds and cultures around the world. i think a lot of people imagine a stereotypical mormon woman who is married with a million kids, good at crafts [that's for you, tracy ;) ], has a ton of food storage and bakes cookies every day -- but obviously that is NOT true. mwp does a great job of showing the many different styles of "mormon women" and the site is definitely worth a look, whether you're mormon or not. the stories of how women have overcome challenges and developed their faith are really inspiring. [two weeks ago the feature was the drummer from neon trees.]
anyway, a few months ago i became a producer for mwp, and today my first interview ran! yay. click here to read it. i interviewed my friend melissa, who i first met at church just a couple weeks after b & i got married and moved to los angeles. we lived in a really diverse part of town and went to church with people who had moved to the u.s. from allll over the world; many people spoke english as a second language. i ended up absolutely loving it there, but i definitely felt a little out of my element as a naive 22-year-old newlywed, fresh out of college. melissa was an instant friend and helped me get settled right away.
flash forward a few years -- melissa is now a mom of two sets of twins under age 4, works in tv editing from home (she won an emmy in 2006, no big deal), still lives in LA and writes the fantastic blog learning mommy. i've already learned a ton from her about parenting styles and patience and i'm bookmarking all her blog posts for when jack is older and i need mommy advice. thanks, meliss, for letting me interview you!
my next post runs next month, so keep an eye out. and i'm getting really good at transcribing, in case you ever need that type of service :)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
no vacation around here
oy. what a morning. woke up to a slow computer, which isn't really a big deal, but when you work from home and every second of naptime is a preciously valued commodity, having to sit and stare at a frozen screen makes you want to scream.
after naptime, jack and i ventured to walmart for a few things. you probably already know that i'm a hardcore target person, which therefore means i'm kind of anti-walmart, but once in a while i get lured in by low prices and big selection. this illusion always lasts me halfway through the trip and then i realize that, yep, i still hate walmart. today was no different; i might be saving money but i'm definitely not living better. between an incompetent checkout person, a visit from the front line manager, a second trip back to the baby food section for a replacement item, a baby on the verge of meltdown and a mommy who really needed lunch, i could NOT get out of there fast enough. ugh. next time we're sticking with target.
came home, put jack down for a much-needed nap, ate my much-needed lunch and finally got started on some work. then my phone rang (and of course i had no idea where it was) so i jumped up to try to find it and tripped on my computer cord, knocking over my water bottle and spilling water everywhere. awesome. basically the day was just one comedy of errors after another.
BUT. shout out to the always-fantastic b. maybe he sensed my franticness, maybe he saw the crazy in my eyes, but when he got home he volunteered to take jack out on a little man date. i got to stay home in peace & quiet, catch up on some work and even vacuum (my favorite chore). jack got to discover the joy of popcorn [below] and have some daddy-son bonding. oh, and b fixed my computer. he is really, really the best.
it's just another day around here, holiday or not -- i'm starting to notice that's the norm for wahms. no weekends, no holidays, just more of the same constant balancing act. but i still feel pretty lucky for being able to balance out all the parts of my life without having to miss anything.
after naptime, jack and i ventured to walmart for a few things. you probably already know that i'm a hardcore target person, which therefore means i'm kind of anti-walmart, but once in a while i get lured in by low prices and big selection. this illusion always lasts me halfway through the trip and then i realize that, yep, i still hate walmart. today was no different; i might be saving money but i'm definitely not living better. between an incompetent checkout person, a visit from the front line manager, a second trip back to the baby food section for a replacement item, a baby on the verge of meltdown and a mommy who really needed lunch, i could NOT get out of there fast enough. ugh. next time we're sticking with target.
came home, put jack down for a much-needed nap, ate my much-needed lunch and finally got started on some work. then my phone rang (and of course i had no idea where it was) so i jumped up to try to find it and tripped on my computer cord, knocking over my water bottle and spilling water everywhere. awesome. basically the day was just one comedy of errors after another.
BUT. shout out to the always-fantastic b. maybe he sensed my franticness, maybe he saw the crazy in my eyes, but when he got home he volunteered to take jack out on a little man date. i got to stay home in peace & quiet, catch up on some work and even vacuum (my favorite chore). jack got to discover the joy of popcorn [below] and have some daddy-son bonding. oh, and b fixed my computer. he is really, really the best.
it's just another day around here, holiday or not -- i'm starting to notice that's the norm for wahms. no weekends, no holidays, just more of the same constant balancing act. but i still feel pretty lucky for being able to balance out all the parts of my life without having to miss anything.
Monday, February 14, 2011
my house smells like onions
happy valentines day! poor jack has a little cold and gave me the v-day present of taking a 3-hour morning nap, which was nice. i spent most of the day shopping for / prepping / cooking a special valentines dinner for b and my parents [who were in town for the weekend] and it ended up blowing up in my face. boo.
the menu included roasted chicken, french bread, salad and this recipe for french onion soup. here's a tip: if you're going to crash and burn when making a particular dish, try to choose one that doesn't make your house reek. my skin, my clothes and my apartment currently ooze the scent of onions. i suck at cooking :(
oh well. i guess i sort of redeemed myself with the dessert [chocolate molten lava cake, me & b's v-day tradition). desserts always save the day. ended up the night with a quick run, conan, and a bowl of cereal -- pretty good valentines day, if you ask me. we kind of think v-day was invented by greeting card companies but hey, i'll take it. i happen to highly support the greeting card companies.
hope you had a great day too! [p.s. more info on that card here.]
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
navy & white
oy. i've spent every free moment this week writing -- between a press release for a new food product and eight white papers about landscaping, all due this week, my typing fingers have been busyyy. good news is, i can tell you anything you've ever wanted to know about soil erosion or irrigation systems. even better news is, i'm only one and a half papers away from being done.
so that explains the blog silence...i've been much too busy writing boring crap to come up with witty and entertaining posts. but here i am, taking a break to share a lovely story with you.
one day last week, jack woke up and i fed him. i got him dressed. we played. i put him down for a nap. i checked my email and ate a chocolate chip waffle. i got in the shower. i got myself dressed. i got jack up from his nap...and noticed we were wearing the exact same thing.
apparently i have a thing for blue and white stripes:
we're nothing if not trendy in this house, i guess. don't tell jack's daddy that we were wearing byu colors :)
and, just because it's cute, here's another dose of jackal. this kid keeps getting better and better. he now sleeps 12+ hours per night without getting up ONCE and i adore him for it. he's starting to scoot on the floor, but sometimes this backfires like today when he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, launched himself forward...and faceplanted right onto a stacker ring. poor guy. he loves all baby food flavors and sometimes i let him suck on chips or crackers, which, as evidenced below, is really exciting:
people always say they're so sad that their babies are growing up quick, but i am not one of those people. every new phase is my favorite and i can't wait to see him crawl, walk, talk, etc. being a mom is so much fun, even if sometimes it's hard.
so that explains the blog silence...i've been much too busy writing boring crap to come up with witty and entertaining posts. but here i am, taking a break to share a lovely story with you.
one day last week, jack woke up and i fed him. i got him dressed. we played. i put him down for a nap. i checked my email and ate a chocolate chip waffle. i got in the shower. i got myself dressed. i got jack up from his nap...and noticed we were wearing the exact same thing.
apparently i have a thing for blue and white stripes:
we're nothing if not trendy in this house, i guess. don't tell jack's daddy that we were wearing byu colors :)
and, just because it's cute, here's another dose of jackal. this kid keeps getting better and better. he now sleeps 12+ hours per night without getting up ONCE and i adore him for it. he's starting to scoot on the floor, but sometimes this backfires like today when he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, launched himself forward...and faceplanted right onto a stacker ring. poor guy. he loves all baby food flavors and sometimes i let him suck on chips or crackers, which, as evidenced below, is really exciting:
people always say they're so sad that their babies are growing up quick, but i am not one of those people. every new phase is my favorite and i can't wait to see him crawl, walk, talk, etc. being a mom is so much fun, even if sometimes it's hard.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
just a tuesday
ha, in writing this post title i realized i don't actually know what day it is. embarrassing. nothing really going on around here except that it was like 20 degrees today, i've got tonnnns of work to do, i didn't have to cook dinner tonight thanks to a freebie coupon to cafe paesan [seriously, did they make ANY money off of that? mormons are so cheap, there were a billion people in line all clutching their free coupon]. hmm, what else...? sleep training, netflix, cookies, job interviews, running, solid food, stuff. blah blah blah.
oh, and this.
oh, and this.
Monday, January 31, 2011
the half.
"that boy sure is a running fool." -- forrest gump
so last week i signed up to run the salt lake city half marathon. this causes me to be equal parts totally excited and completely terrified.
sure, i like to run. a half marathon has always been something i wanted to try. but let's be serious, i've never done anything like this before in my life. ever. it's embarrassing to admit but i have zero athletic ability, no depth perception [not my fault; due to a botched surgery], no coordination...which have all kind of limited my forays into the world of sports in the past. so now you know where i'm coming from -- this marathon is really outside my comfort zone.
prior to this i have only run two 5Ks. i do like to run, though. i was getting pretty good at endurance running before i got pregnant, and since jack was born i've been slooowly stepping it up. but that's hard to do when you're in a gym on a treadmill, and you have no goals to keep you going. signing up for a marathon is a pretty good reason to get myself out there again.
but i'm pretty pumped about it. i've found a good training program, i'm shopping for new running shoes, and i am accountable to my friend aimee who is also running it. but still scared. official training starts next week and i am now entreating ALL of you to give me your best tips.
seriously. email me, text me, comment, whatever and tell me what i need to know for this race. and don't forget to tell me i can do it :)
[i also welcome playlist suggestions because running to the same five songs is really redundant.]
so last week i signed up to run the salt lake city half marathon. this causes me to be equal parts totally excited and completely terrified.
sure, i like to run. a half marathon has always been something i wanted to try. but let's be serious, i've never done anything like this before in my life. ever. it's embarrassing to admit but i have zero athletic ability, no depth perception [not my fault; due to a botched surgery], no coordination...which have all kind of limited my forays into the world of sports in the past. so now you know where i'm coming from -- this marathon is really outside my comfort zone.
prior to this i have only run two 5Ks. i do like to run, though. i was getting pretty good at endurance running before i got pregnant, and since jack was born i've been slooowly stepping it up. but that's hard to do when you're in a gym on a treadmill, and you have no goals to keep you going. signing up for a marathon is a pretty good reason to get myself out there again.
but i'm pretty pumped about it. i've found a good training program, i'm shopping for new running shoes, and i am accountable to my friend aimee who is also running it. but still scared. official training starts next week and i am now entreating ALL of you to give me your best tips.
seriously. email me, text me, comment, whatever and tell me what i need to know for this race. and don't forget to tell me i can do it :)
[i also welcome playlist suggestions because running to the same five songs is really redundant.]
Thursday, January 27, 2011
"your normal business itinerary does not include frasier's bottom, west virginia?"
pretty sure i have blogged about my love for win a date with tad hamilton before [like here and here] . if you're not a psychotic fan like me you might not know that the movie is set in a town called frasier's bottom, west virginia.
so i'm hosting this valentine swap on the other blog and have been pairing up groups of people to send valentines to each other through the mail, and obviously i see a lot of addresses. one of the participants listed her address as frasier's bottom, west virginia, so of course i did a little double take. and then did what all crazy people would do: emailed her about it.
in case you were wondering, my new friend informed me that the movie was definitely not filmed in her hometown, nor is the movie town anything at all like the real town. she said they don't even have a piggly wiggly. [tragic.] [she actually made it sound like a teeny tiny rural town, which between my memories of reading the glass castle -- set in WV -- and driving through rural georgia towns for work, i'm not exactly getting a very positive mental image.] BUT -- she did in fact attend marshall university, inspiration for we are marshall, and she went to school there when they DID film that in the correct location. so she got to scope out matthew fox & matthew mcconaghey, which i would definitely call a win.
so there you go. random fact for the day. thank you internet for letting me make far-off friends and learn totally useless crap.
one more quote to leave you with: "so, uh, have her back by dawn. and no cocaine." actually two: "open the schleigenschlagen!" "you're both named richard levy?" "who isn't?"
so i'm hosting this valentine swap on the other blog and have been pairing up groups of people to send valentines to each other through the mail, and obviously i see a lot of addresses. one of the participants listed her address as frasier's bottom, west virginia, so of course i did a little double take. and then did what all crazy people would do: emailed her about it.
in case you were wondering, my new friend informed me that the movie was definitely not filmed in her hometown, nor is the movie town anything at all like the real town. she said they don't even have a piggly wiggly. [tragic.] [she actually made it sound like a teeny tiny rural town, which between my memories of reading the glass castle -- set in WV -- and driving through rural georgia towns for work, i'm not exactly getting a very positive mental image.] BUT -- she did in fact attend marshall university, inspiration for we are marshall, and she went to school there when they DID film that in the correct location. so she got to scope out matthew fox & matthew mcconaghey, which i would definitely call a win.
so there you go. random fact for the day. thank you internet for letting me make far-off friends and learn totally useless crap.
one more quote to leave you with: "so, uh, have her back by dawn. and no cocaine." actually two: "open the schleigenschlagen!" "you're both named richard levy?" "who isn't?"
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