The Strong Opinions

Pizza

2012-01-29T12:35:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this a while ago, but better late than never. Here's Sal, helping me make pizza. Putting cheese on things is one of her favorite jobs, and as you can see she's very good at it. :D

Some of The Kids.

2012-01-17T14:45:00.000-08:00

In Kahootz

Mom's looking at us.

Just act normal.

Gotta get where T. is.

Made it.

Thaddeus takes his drawing seriously.

Very Seriously

Lest I Forget.

2012-01-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

Things to remember:The other day T. was insistent that he feed himself dinner so after I battled to get enough soup in him that I was satisfied I let him have at it, knowing that it was soup and wasn't likely to make it into his face. After dinner I was cleaning him up and marveling at just how much did hit the floor and he smiled and said "om nom nom. Kee Ku." While signing 'Thank you'. (Kee Ku, as nearly as I can tell is Thank You). What a sweet little stinker.

The last few days T. has been teething and his nose is running like mad which is inhibiting his sleep. I just put him down for a nap with a car and a book and a doll (his usual favorites) and Sal came running up to me seriously upset with concern that he didn't have the green car. Evidently she's been putting the blue car and the green car in his crib for him to have later.

Lately Sally has started randomly announcing things she loves. She also rubs T.W.'s noggin affectionately and the other day she came up and patted my head with motherly look. I often wonder who's really the mama around here.

TW's Birthday

2011-11-21T06:08:00.000-08:00

Kicking our feet and laughing.

TW was more interested in the windowsill than his presents. Sally was more than happy to pay the presents the attention they deserved.

I guess he lost interest in the windowsill.

I like Sally's hair in this picture.

Hassan Chop!

2011-11-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

He Walks...

2011-11-12T19:22:00.001-08:00

Sort of. Also, there are some pictures from our trip to the beach a while ago in the previous post.

Some New Pictures

2011-11-12T13:21:00.000-08:00

These pictures are kind of old now, but we went to the beach a while ago.

I survived without internet for 2 months

2011-10-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

What I'd like to know is how the internet survived without me.

Realistically I have a lot more to catch up on than those two months. Sally's birthday...from June. Our Yellowstone trip in August. Oh yeah, moving across the country. All of which are blog worthy. We'll see if they ever get blogged, eh?

Well it turns out the internet managed just fine without me and when I finally got connected I had something like 562 unread emails. Ugh. No one even likes email anymore. Ok, that's not entirely true, but the fact is the majority of those emails were people trying to sell me something. Actually that's not entirely true either. Probably most of them were from allrecipes.com because I get like 9 emails from them per week telling me what food I wish I were eating right now. I think maybe it's time I cut back on that...My inbox officially has under 100 emails in it, so I think I deserve a break. Let's not talk about the facebook breaks, and the pintrest breaks.

Let's get to brass tacks here. What is the blog about. Nothing. That's right. So....on the nothing.

Things I miss about Idaho:
*a playground at my apartments. And a park within a couple blocks. and another park with some fun water play for free. Mostly just space to hangout outside with my kids.
*cheaper milk.
*hanging out with my pals, but I suppose that is to be expected.
*some seriously awesome Relief Society lessons

Things I don't miss about Idaho:
*Hard water.
*Dry air. all the time. I'm gonna save a fortune on lotion and chapstick here.
*An unfortunate lack of trees...or really most anything but potatoes, wheat, and sagebrush. (all those things are nice, but I was ready for some variety)

Why I feel like a super hero:
*I made old fashioned fudge.
*I braved making those kids of mine share a room risking some seriously ugly nights, but it worked like a charm (mostly, don't ask me about naps these days) and I have my room back!
*I make dinner most nights.

Why my kids are the greatest:
*Sally is super pretendy these days and she has a few imaginary friends that she carries in her teeny little cupped hands. They are named Bert, Ernie, and Megamind. (pronounced Meca-Mine)
*Sally also makes dinner most days. It does not actually involve food. And it's usually not at dinner time.
*Thaddeus gets into anything and everything he can. Recently someone gave the kids dumdums and Martell let them play with them in the car on the way home. Sally has often played with things like that without ever even trying to remove a wrapper. Thaddeus promptly pulled off his wrapper and started eating it, having never seen it done. Sally followed suit, now having seen it done.

Why Martell clearly *IS* a super hero:
*He brings me seed pods, and acorns, and takes me to plant sales, and generally assists me in pretending I have a garden. Yeah, I'm a big nerd. Ok.
*He is also a veritable boat of dreams.
*He made me dinner on Saturday and it was delicious.

And now a note from Thaddeus:
Qwa#h 3hsb MMJYMA X[W

Pictures of the Boy

2011-07-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

Hoping Dad will save him from the vacuum

Do I have something on my face?

Biting his top lip. He does this when he's teething

mom's knitting is delicious

huh?

Having fun with Grandpa

I'm not sure when he got so big. I remember watching him sleep like this as a newborn.

2011-07-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

Today I set T.W. down on the floor and went to do something else. Then he started squawking. He's been teething and a little clingier than usual. So I went to lay down next to him on the floor and suddenly I remembered all the times when he was a newborn, laying on the floor at bedtime (I love that stage when they will fall asleep anywhere). So often he would lay there fussing until I just came to be next to him. He didn't need to be held. He just needed someone to be there by him. I think I almost forgot that till today, laying next to him, realizing how long it has been since he came here. I know 8 months isn't really that long in grown up time, but, my how babies change in 8 months. So here are a few things I don't ever want to forget.

*His smiles. He smiled his first real smile (not just gas) really early. I think he was only a couple weeks old. He and I were snuggling, and I nosed his nose and he smiled. I thought it couldn't be for reals. It must have been gas. So I nosed him again. And he smiled again. Coincidence? Couldn't be. I nosed him again in exchange for another smile. And another. He was a smiley boy and it wasn't long before he gave them to anyone who so much as looked at him. He is starting to get the hang of 'stranger danger' now, so I suppose those days may be coming to an end, but I always think of him as my merry old soul.

*His snuggles. Sally was never a snuggley baby. Ever. Unless she was sick or hurting and even then they were usually brief. T.W. curls up with his face on my shoulder and just goes melts into you and you can't help but melt into him too. Sometimes when he falls asleep eating I take him to bed past the mirror in the hall and marvel at him in is smooshed up little newborn snuggle, even though he's not a newborn anymore. When he was first born he would do that and settle down so small I could see how he could have fit inside me. Obviously he wouldn't fit in me anymore.

*His eyebrows. He often gets a concerned, concentrated look on his face. I think I might even have a picture of it....Yep, here it is.

When he makes this face he usually starts talking really loudly. In fact for a long time if he talked at all it was really loudly. And with this face. He appears to be an opinionated little guy.

He's growing fast and changing fast and I'm blogging slow. So there's a bit to remember.

catching up on photos (the month of May)

2011-05-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of this month T.W. decided to sprout some teeth. Here he is working on popping those bad boys through. He seems to be at it again, which accounts for his runny nose the other days. Yay for not having a sick baby! Sally also doesn't seem to have any other symptoms but a runny nose, so I'm hoping (I think) that it's just teething for her too.

Sally sporting some stylish shades. My friend was over and let Sally wear them and Sal thought she was pretty cool. It's 'cause she is.

T. doing his signature backwards scoot. He started doing this when he was teething, I think out of discomfort. He would arch his back over and over again and somehow he managed to get somewhere doing it. He still does it, but I think he just figured out he can get around by doing so. He may never have hair on the back of his noggin, but at least he can get a change of scenery.

Sally and I made some cookies the other day. This is her picking out oats and saying "O's" rather emphatically (she says everything emphatically). The cookies were a new recipe to me. Pumpkin oatmeal cookies. They are good. I mean it. I ate at least half of them the first day that we made them. Hey, they have oats in them, that means they are good for you, right?

A cutting of basil that I'm trying to root. Wish me luck.

This is a picture of the French toast casserole I made for dinner the other day. When it came out of the oven it was so fluffy I couldn't help but take pictures. I have decided, however that it is way too sweet for dinner in the future. It might even be too sweet for breakfast. And it's not very healthy, so I don't really feel bad about ditching it. It was fun to try though.

A boy and his hat, as promised. In the future I will probably put interfacing in the brim, but it holds up well enough with this fabric, as it is stiffer. It would just be better with some help. I may have to try it again. Besides, it is adorable.

Here's a better picture of his hat. It's sort of like those train conductor hats.

Yesterday I was taking pictures, and Sally came to help. Here she is in my lap.

The boys jamming.

While the boys did their thing and I made dinner, Sally "helped" in the kitchen. She was pulling out all the lids (in fairness they are there for her to pull out) and stacking them up saying "seerco" (circle). What a smart kid. :D

I've also been on a couple photo walks this month, but I'll post some photos from those on my photo blog

Little Boy Blue.

2011-05-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
Under the haystack fast asleep.

Ok, we don't have sheep (yet) and he's just snoozing on the living room floor. But he's so cute.

It seems we have colds in our house. Sally keeps whining about her nose and T.W. snuggled right up to me after he woke up and ate, only to fall right back to sleep. Thankfully I haven't got it bad, but I've been sneezing a bit more than usual. Hopefully that's the worst I'll get it. Mom's shouldn't be allowed to get sick. At any rate. This is a picture well suited to our current state.

Yesterday I made T.W. a hat. We needed something to keep the sun off his face and I decided to whip it up myself. I'm learning something about my sewing style these days and it's no surprise to me or probably just about anyone who's been with me while I've assembled something. I hate patterns. I've never been good at following directions (sorry mom). Sewing, it seems is no different. Patterns are full of directions that make little to no sense and to be honest, whenever I follow the directions the finished product is disappointing. Often I don't even like it so I won't even use it so it was a big fat waste of time and resources. So a big thanks to my mom who at least managed to teach me enough sewing for me to understand the crafty blogs out there that gave me the courage to try sewing without patterns. I'm so much more satisfied with the work I've put into things. Even if it's just a bitty hat. I'll put up pictures of the hat some time when he's up long enough to model it. :D

Sallyisms

2011-05-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

A few funny/sweet things Sal has done lately (mostly so I don't forget)

The other day I was changing her diaper and she put her legs straight up so I couldn't see her face then she peeked in between them and said "peek-boo".

Martell taught her to say "Science!" rather emphatically and she does it at some strange times. We were watching Sesame Street and she threw her fist up and said "Science!". I'm not sure what Lena Horne and Grover had to do with it, but it was charming.

When I put on her shoes now she giggles and squirms and says "tickle!". Evidently her feet are quite ticklish and she thinks it's a jolly game.

When she says "no" she closes her eyes tight and turns her head away and says it like it's possibly the worst thing that could ever happen to her. Every time. "Do you want milk?" "Nooooo" "Can I have a kiss?" "Noooooo"

My parents visited recently and they brought some books from my collection of kids books. I love children's literature. My mom brought The Ox-Cart Man Which is a book I loved to read with her before I can remember. And then I couldn't remember it anymore. Lately I've been really toying with the idea of having a hobby farm and it was fun to read that book that I loved then about a man who takes all of the things his family has made/grown to market and selling it all, right down to the ox and the cart. My favorite line reads, "Then he sold his ox, and kissed him good-bye on his nose." After I read it to Sal the other day she kept talking about kisses and noses and nose kisses. Then she stood up on the couch next to me and planted a big smooch on my nose. That is charming enough as is, but it is rather nice after a long spell of, "Can I have a kiss?" "Noooooo". I sure have a sweet girl.

So as not to leave T.W. out of this party, Lately he has been teething. One tooth has cut and we are waiting on the tooth next to it. In spite of that he is still remarkably smiley and jolly. I am certainly blessed with happy children. He can sit up too, but he's still pretty wobbly and he mostly just wants someone to pay attention to him. If you so much as look at him, you are likely to get a smile.

Sallyisms

2011-03-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

I didn't have time yesterday to upload pictures and write a post, but I thought I'd put up some of the things Sally says. She is right at that stage where she is picking up words left and right, but she still requires a little translating. So here are the translations:

guin-guin = penguin
gwah = draw
gwah = rock (yeah, it is the same as draw)
daw = dog
daw = cat (differentiated from dog by a "meowmeowm" following)
duh = duck
quaqua = what duck says
ee = eat
o = piano
eeo-eeo = radio
saw = song
saeus = thaddeus
saeus = my camera
cheer = chair
cheerio = all cereal
bankt = blanket
bankok = blanket
bookah = book (a step up from here previous "booh")
poe = pillow
fen = friend

and my favorite:
Iooo = I love you.

Pictures, so I don't get in trouble.

2011-03-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

Both the Grandmas have chastised me for the lack of recent pictures, so here you go.

Sally rarely falls asleep anywhere but her bed and the car. She was one tuckered out little girl.

Martell got these little magnadoodle toys and Sal was obsessed for a few days. She is sweetly sharing with T. here.

Showing him how to use it.

Enjoying it for herself.

Things I love.

2011-01-22T11:33:00.001-08:00

There are so many of them. Here are a few.

1. Making my kids laugh/smile. Thad is still too young to really laugh, but he is such a happy boy. He smiles so readily. There is nothing like your kid smiling at you. Sally is a sweet girl and she is generally happy. Her laugh is so infectious and genuine. She does a silly little fake laugh when she hears Martell and I laughing because she knows she should laugh, but this morning she and I spent a good amount of time playing with a box and let me tell you. It was hilarious. She laughed and laughed and laughed, which of course just tickles me.

2. Snuggling. When I'm pregnant I have a hard time with snuggling. My skin gets really sensitive and I get really squirmy and there's that giant belly to deal with. Now that I'm not pregnant anymore, I realize just how much I love snuggling.

3. Naptime. I know, every parent practically lives for naptime, and let's face it, I'm no exception. Don't get me wrong, I love it when my kids are up (and happy) too, but I love being able to get things done. I guess it turns out I'm a pretty task oriented person and to be able to get things accomplished without worrying about Sally trying to "help" is good for my sanity.

4. Being active. I don't get out of the house much these days and I am not as physically active as I used to be as a result. But I started trying to workout a bit at home and it turns out, it makes me a happier person. The best is being active and doing something productive at the same time. Like cleaning the house. I get a workout(kind of) and a clean house all at the same time.

5. The internet. I probably spend too much time with the internet and not as much as I should being active, but I love how I can stay connected with people without leaving my house. Not that I don't like to leave my house. I love that. (wait, that's a different thing I love) But it's rather challenging.

6. Leaving my house. In particular I like to go grocery shopping. Again, it's accomplishing something while accomplishing something else. I get groceries and I get out of the house. And I get to walk around the store, which is more exciting than walking around my apartment.

7. Food. I love trying to find healthy, cheap, delicious things to cook, and it turns out there are tons of things that fit those qualifications. I love trying out the new things to cook and it turns out I enjoy cooking for other people, so if you want me to cook for you, come on over. I'd go over there, but, well, we talked about that already. Kinda challenging with the wee ones.

8. My salad spinner. I just got one. This goes with food, but it deserves it's own entry. I love salad, but I hate making it. Or I used to. It took so long to wash all the lettuce and to get it sufficiently dry so it wouldn't leave a puddle in the bowl and go bad before it's time. Well, that is no more. I don't have mushy lettuce, I don't have gross lettuce water at the bottom of the bowl and I have a salad in about half the time.

9. Music. Martell gave me a keyboard for Christmas (I know, awesome!) and I'm really pretty bad still, but I love having the chance to practice and get better. It actually makes me want to be better at guitar too, which is something I haven't pursued for a long time. It's kind of embarrassing when Martell is so good. But that's lame. I should pick it up again.

10. Exploring new things. Intellectually. (remember, I don't get out much?) I love the potential that comes with learning something new, or rather, beginning to. The potential that comes with trying to learn to play the piano better, or trying to be better at guitar, (or trying to get over my embarrassment). I've been thinking I need to learn French...don't ask why, I don't know, so I'm going to be working on that. I started knitting (I have technically been introduced to this skill before, but it didn't stick too well. Thanks to youtube for being an ever available tutor). I'm learning more about gardening because, like most things, I'm not so good at it yet, but I can't get over how interesting it is. Wish my little indoor herb garden luck...it will need it I think.

11. Photography. This is another thing that is mentally stimulating for me. I love the discovery of finding the best angle, the best lighting, the best camera settings. Ok, that's a little ideal. It's pretty tough to find the best. I'm not sure there is a best, but there are a lot of goods, and the fun is finding all the good variables a picture has to offer. Then you have something too look at and enjoy afterward.

So there you have it. 11 things I love. I should do this more often. So should you. Tell me what you love. And no fair saying me. :D (I love you too)

Christmas Pictures

2010-12-29T09:15:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from Christmas morning.

Mom showing Sally how to open a Christmas present.

Sally is upset because she knows that tearing up paper is wrong.

Oh, that's why we tear up paper sometimes!

Sally loves this little nativity set. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa R!

Look at how happy she is. This is why we give things to our wives.

These headphones came with Katie's keyboard. Sally looks pretty cool in them, no?

Sally loves this book. Thanks Uncle Erik!

This is how T.W. looked for most of Christmas morning.

Monkey was a bit tuckered out too. Thanks for the monkey Uncle Erik.

Some Random Pictures

2010-12-22T19:57:00.000-08:00

This first picture is of me when I was a baby. People have been telling me that Thaddeus looks just like me, so I wanted to see a comparison. The next two pictures are of Thaddeus, taken a couple of weeks ago I think.

So what do you think; does he look like me? I can't really tell. And if he does look like me; what do you think his chances are of leading a normal life?

I just like this picture of Sally. She is wearing my Geology Society T-shirt, holding Katie's phone, and standing amongst the wreckage of her busy day with a concerned look on her face (I think the look is because she was ready to be done wearing Dad's shirt.)

My cute kids snuggling on the rocking chair.

I just like this picture of Katie. She looks cute.

I bought some moustache wax the other day. I told Erik that I'd post pictures.

I'm honestly not sure what to think of it myself.

Rock Hammer for Scale and Others

2010-11-23T09:16:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I study geology. As a geologist I have been taught to take photos out in the field and a photo is only useful if you know the scale of what you are looking at. Geologists often have a rock hammer with them so rock hammers show up in many of their photos. One of my professors told me that he takes a picture of each of his newborns with a rock hammer for scale, and I thought that it was a great idea, so I've decided to follow suit. So there you have it; T.W. with a rock hammer for scale.

This is about the most open that T.W.'s eyes have been up until the point where this picture was taken. They open a little wider than this now, but not much.

Not to be left out, here is a video of Sally dancing to some classical music on the radio.

Update

2010-11-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

So.... I might be the worst father in the entire world for this, but I misspelled my son's name on my last post. It's actually "Thaddeus," not, "Thadius." I apologize to all of you language and name purists out there. At any rate, we intended to call him "T.W." so, one can't blame me too much, can one? Anyway, here are some more pictures to make up for the confusion.

- Martell

T.W. Strong

2010-11-14T21:46:00.000-08:00

Meet Thaddeus. We like him and we hope that you will too.

2010-09-15T14:03:00.001-07:00

Because I can't get enough of my kid: Things Sally does that I think are adorable.

*She reads. To herself. Out loud. (in case you were wondering she only says a couple intelligible words and they don't get utilized when she is reading. This is why reading is cute)

*Currently we have her next "big girl" car seat sitting in our living room and she is rather attached to it. She often takes whatever toy, or book, or ukulele she is playing with to just sit with her in the chair for a minute.

*She nods. She is a yes-girl. For a long time we were trying to teach her to sign "please" and "thank you", so we would ask "can you say please?". She would nod her head. Yup, I can. She only recently actually signed please. It's still a little confusing for her I think.

*She loves straws. Just today I was drinking through a straw and she was overjoyed to be permitted to share my straw.

*She gives high fives. This is a brand new trick and she is so proud of herself. The day she learned it she ran back and forth between Martell and myself for probably 15 minutes or so giving fives. If our hand wasn't ready and waiting for her she would pull it out so she could give us five. Today in the car I'm pretty sure she was giving herself fives.

*She giggles. I cannot get enough of her laugh. She likes it when I shake my hair in her face and she laughs heartily if I spin her around and around. Mostly she laughs with Martell though. It is unbelievably cute to watch them playing.

Sally Uses a Spoon

2010-09-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

New Camera

2010-08-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

I got a new digital still camera. It has a lot of cool features, among which is the ability to shoot video in HD 1080p (whatever that means). Basically, it takes really good video for a still camera. I snapped some pictures and video of Sally. Enjoy!

In order to get the full HD effect, make the video full screen (the button on the bottom right-hand side) then, once you are in full screen, press play. You can now change the setting to 1080p from whatever it is on currently (probably 720p). The button you are looking for to change the setting is also on the bottom right-hand side, but a little further to the left now.

Awesomeness in no particular order.

2010-08-01T18:38:00.001-07:00

I made Martell a pouch for first aid supplies that he can throw in his pack for when he is doing field work (no pictures of the kit, although it is awesome. I didn't plan ahead) and this is scrap material (a.k.a. the mangy old hem of the jeans I made it out of) that Sally has taken to putting on her head. She walks around with it like a headband until it slips, then it becomes a necklace. Once it was actually a sash, but I think that was a fluke. She also likes to play with clothes, which is what she is holding. In case you were wondering, no we don't let her run around naked all the time, but it's been pretty toasty around here these days, and well, if I don't want to wear clothes, I'm not going to make her. At least not in the house. For now.

Surfs up.

Some bitty booties I made for baby boy coming in the cold season. I'm actually a lot more excited about dressing a little boy. Girl stuff is all pink and purple. This will be a fun change.

Cuteness. All around.

Cheesecake I made for National Cheesecake Day (July 30th) from this recipe Although, I didn't use their lemon curd recipe because I already had some lime curd on hand.

And just because this smile is irresistible. Here's another Sally picture.

In case you were wondering...

2010-07-14T18:56:00.001-07:00

Hardcore Hiking Adventure

2010-06-27T15:30:00.001-07:00

I went on a trip with the Geology Society yesterday. We went to a fossilized forest that is inaccessible by trail. Than means that we were bush-whacking it.

Being at a national park, I was unable to collect anything, but heaven knows I have way to many rocks as it is. It's also nice because there is still a lot of neat stuff to look at.

The hike was about 6 miles round trip, but most of it was off trail and there were some pretty steep places where we had to scramble. One of the girls that came with us was totally unprepared for the level of difficulty and generally had a miserable time of it. I, on the other hand, love that sort of thing. I will probably go back there with Katie sometime when she isn't pregnant.

Here are some photos (I apologize for the blurriness. My lens was dirty).

These are bear claw marks on a tree near the trail head.

Impromptu geology lesson about the Laramide orogeny.

Bush-whacking it.

Brother Gahn was telling us a story about a guy back in the late 1800's who was lost in the area and lived off of nothing but thistles.

I love the look on this girl's face. She was NOT having a good time.

Check out my awesome new hat! Thanks Erik!

This hillside is a lahar deposit; a volcanic mud flow. This particular lahar buried a forest of metasequoia, which is a relative of the modern day redwood.

Me standing next to a petrified metaseqouia. This tree was turned to stone by the process of permineralization: the filling of pore spaces with minerals, and petrifaction: the process by which organic material is altered to stone (calcedony in this case, which is microcrystaline quarts).

Brothers Gahn and Ben; two of my favorite professors of all time.

We saw these strange pillar formations on the way down. Brother Ben thought that there was probably a tree inside...

so he climbed up to check (he didn't make it all the way up, so it's still a mystery).

It's about time.

2010-06-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

For a haircut.

I've been threatening to chop it all off for a long time, but I just have never gotten around to it. Today Martell was home with Sally at a convenient time for me to go. So I did. I'd post pictures of the final cut too, but I'm waiting till it settles. The lady that styled it gave me some big Idaho hair. Granted, my hair is pretty big on it's own, but let's just say, I've never teased it in an effort to make it bigger. It's not necessary. This lady did. So for now all you get to see is my old dead ponytail. What a relief to not have to hold that up anymore.

Sally's one year old!

2010-06-12T18:25:00.001-07:00

*Prepare yourselves to be bombarded with pictures*

Here are pictures from her birthday when we opened the packages the Grandparents sent

This one squeaks. (thankfully she isn't strong enough to squeeze it yet)

What does this one do?

Oh I see...

We, as a family, didn't really have the time to celebrate on her actual birthday, so today we had a very merry unbirthday for Sal and here are the pictures to prove it.

The cake I made of mini cupcakes (it's supposed to be a flower)

We did presents first and fast. In the "tradition" I was raised with of being too lazy to wrap them (honestly, we would have had to wrap it and then unwrap it ourselves at this point so why not save ourselves the work and the wrapping paper)

Checking each other out

sucess.

Shall we read this book?

Now for the good stuff! But what is it?

After a while of watching her play with it I decided to help her figure out what it was for. I gave her a taste of the frosting and her face lit up as if she were thinking "Who knew that would be so tasty!" I unfortunately didn't get a picture of it because I had frosting fingers. But now she knows how this thing works!

Delish.

What's In a Name?

2010-05-23T17:59:00.000-07:00

I would like to take this moment to point out the awesome new baby ticker widget that I just installed on the right-hand side of the page. I like that rotating baby so much that I've decided to name it William Henry Pratt. I hope that you approve. This is all.

- Martell

What the... How'd THAT Get In There?!!!

2010-04-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

Sally

2010-04-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

We haven't posted any pictures or video of Sally in a while, so here you go.

Sally's hair is getting longer, so I went to Wal-Mart and got her some clips and stuff so that people won't mistake her for a boy... plus she just looks dang cute.

Katie put the green clip in her little pony tail. I did the rest.

... I might have gotten a bit carried away.

Today Sally was playing when she started to sound a little distressed. I found her stuck inside this basket. I had to snap some pictures before I rescued her.

We put her in bed directly after shooting this video. She was pretty tired.

She is about a week shy of ten months old now. Her knees are a constant shade of pink from crawling everywhere, she pulls herself up on things (I often find her standing in her crib when I go to get her), she eats finger foods, and she has a running soliloquy during a good portion of the the time when she is awake. Mostly she says, "Aaabwaaabwaaabwaaabwaaabwaaa." I'm not sure what it means yet, but it sounds pretty important. Any ideas?

- Martell

Putting a Motor On Anything Makes it More Awesome

2010-03-11T17:10:00.000-08:00

I forgot to turn the fuel back on after my maiden voyage so I had trouble starting it for this video. Basically, that means that It was running off of what fuel was left in the carb and the fuel line. From what I've read I can get close to 15o mpg on this hog. Jealous much?

Spring? Is it you?

2010-03-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

I heard birds today! Real live birds outside our backdoor! AND it was raining, not snowing when I left for work early this morning. Could it be spring? Or is it a dirty rotten Idaho weather trick? I dunno, but I was certainly glad for the break from winter even if it is a mean trick.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-13T16:37:00.000-08:00

This might be a little early, but I wanted to be sure you all know what to do with all your Valentine's candy.
Step one:

Step two:

Although if you are older than Sal you might want to unwrap it somewhere in there.

Blogs gone Wild!

2010-02-12T18:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's not really that wild. But I guess blogs are coming up like weeds. I've been mulling this one over for a while now and finally got moving, so here it is.

It's for photos and discussion and the discussion of photos. Enjoy.

http://foolsgoldphotos.blogspot.com/

Papa's Got a Brand New Bag... er... Blog

2010-02-08T17:31:00.000-08:00

I created a new blog as a repository for the weird and often stupid things that come out of my brain. Here it is in case you are interested:

http://throughthehandlens.blogspot.com/

- Martell

Sally Talk

2010-01-30T14:21:00.000-08:00

This is one of Sally's favorite things right now.

Maybe we should get her a bugle or sousaphone or something.

Not quite crawling

2010-01-25T17:45:00.001-08:00

Sally is trying really hard to crawl. We, as her parents, feel compelled to mock...er...help her from time to time. So we occasionally help her get her belly off the floor. This is one of my particular favorites.

She hasn't figured out how to coordinate her hand and foot movements at the same time as holding herself up so if we put her like this she just kinda stays there for a while.

Pictures!

2010-01-18T18:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I've been slacking on getting pictures up, but here are some pictures from Christmas and our trip to Washington to see my family. Mostly of Sally. I know where your priorities lie.

Sally in front of the Christmas tree

Sally amidst her loot

Sally...Wait. Not Sally. We went to a Kangaroo farm when we were in Washington.

Mike petting a Kangaroo.

They also had some llamas. Very friendly llamas.

Sally ate her Uncle Nate.

She kicked back with Uncle Mike.

She read Uncle Seth a story.

And Grandpa read her one of my old favorites.

So Sally had a good trip. Now that you've seen the photo essay of her trip, on to some of my favorite highlights, other than seeing my bachelor brothers dote on their niece.

Martell and I had our anniversary there. Nothing fancy, but we did go out to eat at a thai place. A rare treat in that there is next to no ethnic food in Rexburg, and we rarely eat out. We did have free babysitting too, so it was nice to get out on our own.

The Kangaroo farm was pretty cool. We got to hold a baby 'roo.

On New Years Eve we introduced my family to Martell's family tradition of having Pulla, a finnish bread, and we introduced him to the glorious cheese party that we have every year.

And of course, spending a week with my whole entire family! It's been way too long since we've all been together. Hooray for the grand reunion.

The end.

New Song and Music Video

2010-01-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

I was messing around with my computer and I made this song the other day. I thought that it would be cool to make a slide show to go with it. Here it is.

Christmas Time is Here

2009-12-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

This is our very first Christmas that we will be home with our little family. So we are trying on traditions. Of course getting a tree is an important tradition. This year we got one of those nifty permits to go chop one down from up in the mountains. And we did. On our way up we saw lots of sage brush which Martell thought would make a fine tree. I thought maybe we shouldn't start that sort of tradition...

Here is Martell upon arriving in tree country searching for the perfect little guy for us. He kinda blends in with the trees in this picture, but don't worry. He's there.

After much deliberation we found a good one and took it home with us.

My family has a tradition of making mexican hot cocoa when we get home from tree hunting. It's a yummy way to warm up while we decorate and if you've never had mexican hot cocoa it is better than the regular stuff. Either get your own and find out for yourself or come over next year when we get our tree. Martell strung the lights while I made cocoa and then he hung the meager supply of ornaments that we have. Most of which my mom sent us last year because she probably didn't want to be held responsible for throwing away the ugly old things I made in 3rd grade. I'm serious. Look.

You can't see it in the picture but that little angel does actually have a unibrow. I told you it was bad. Naturally since Martell was hanging them, all the ugly ones went straight to the top...on purpose.

Well, our tree didn't have a skirt and the ornaments we had were sparse and ugly, so I got to work. And now I'm done! Here it is in all it's completed glory.

And here's a close up of some of my awesome ornaments.

Hooray for traditions and Hooray for Christmas! Oh, and Hooray for my in-laws who were all completely on the ball this year and had presents to send home with us at Thanksgiving.

Sunday Miracle

2009-11-22T18:37:00.000-08:00

The Lord really blessed me today and I thought that I should share my experience.

It started snowing today when Katie and I where at church and by the time we got out the roads where covered in about an inch of snow. We headed home and had lunch. During lunch, I received a phone call from a ward member informing me that it was our ward's month to be in charge of snow removal and he asked me if I could come shovel the walks. I actually like to shovel snow. It was my favorite service activity while on my Mission in New York. We used to drive around with a couple of snow shovels in our trunk and stop and help people - older ladies in particular - shovel their snow if they were trying to do it themselves. There is something satisfying to me about shoveling snow, and if I can do it at the Lord's house, that's all the better.

After my lunch was finished, I jumped in my trusty pickup truck and headed down to the church. The roads were pretty slick by this point, so I was driving cautiously (no joke. I think that I annoy people with how slow I drive in the snow). It was during my drive to the church that my miracle occurred. I was sitting at a 'T' intersection waiting for a break in the traffic so that I could make a left hand turn. While I was sitting there, someone tried to execute a right-hand turn onto the road where I was sitting. Trouble was, the guy was going too fast for the slick conditions and he wasn't able to execute the turn, but instead barreled into the side of my truck.

I saw him coming and realized that he wasn't going to make the turn, so I did my best to get out of the way, but there wasn't much that I could do. I think all managed to do was get my wheels spinning and move forward a couple of feet when he hit me. I heard a sickening thud; the sort of sound that is produced when two heavy objects collide. I was jarred in my seat as the truck spun sideways.

When my truck came to a rest I immediately jumped out. The driver of the other vehicle was exiting his car at the same time and we made sure that neither of us were injured. Once I was satisfied that neither he nor his passenger were hurt, I turned to survey the damage to my truck. The first thing that I noticed was that my truck box was ajar. Then I looked down at the back right panel where his vehicle had struck mine... I couldn't tell where he had hit me, but there were some pieces of car strewn about the immediate vicinity. Upon closer inspection I noticed a small area where some clear coat had been transferred to the area where his car had collided with my truck. The panel that he struck was bent in a little, but there really wasn't any major damage at all. I closed my truck box, we exchanged information, and I proceeded on my journey.

When I was done shoveling the walk, I showed an acquaintance of mine the damage that my truck had received. At that point, I grabbed ahold of the affected panel and gave it a tug. I heard an audible "pop" as the panel snapped back into place. I then proceeded to rub the offending clear coat off of my truck's paint job with my thumb.

So there you go. I was t-boned by a guy going five or ten miles an hour. He hit me hard enough to spin me sideways and pop my toolbox open (and smash up his bumper pretty good in the process), and you can't even tell that my truck was in an accident accept for a little bit of clear coat that I haven't rubbed all the way off yet (maybe I'll leave it on there. Heaven knows my paint job won't suffer from having a little extra clear coat).

Needless to say, I'm pretty happy about the whole situation. I feel bad for the guy who hit me and all, don't get me wrong, but I truly believe that the Lord was looking out for me in this situation and I'm so grateful that no one was hurt and my truck wasn't totaled or even damaged significantly.

Katie and I were headed back up to the church for tithing settlement a little later. I was still talking about the incident and I mentioned to her that, "The Lord throws us a bone every now and then." Of course, Katie informed me that it probably happens a lot more often then we realize, to which I had no choice but to agree.

So there is my story. I should also mention that I was wearing a seatbelt at the time. I hope that you all do the same. No matter how safe a driver you think you are, you never know what could happen.

Anyway, that's probably enough from me. I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving, and please travel safely.

Love,

Martell

Things I Like

2009-11-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

Sleep.

Ok, but really, things that I'm a little more acquainted with of late.

1. Cream Cheese Chocolate "Muffins".

This is what Starbucks call these(or something much like these differing only by their "grande" size) minus the quotation marks. I have a hard time calling these muffins without quotation marks given that they are actually decadent cupcakes. And delicious to boot. I found the recipe here. They claim that they are self filling. Ha! The cream cheese yumminess did not fill my cupcake. It did, however, elevate it to a level of incredibility that is pretty tough to beat.

2. Stake Conference.

In particular several talks that discussed the need to prioritize and do the important things in life and not really worry about the rest. It was also quite service focused which was a subtle reminder that serving others is in fact one of the big important things in life.

3. Un-even stitching.

In particular, my Mom's apron. She made this apron I think when she was in college (correct me if I'm wrong here, mom). All my life she was the one to teach me how to sew. I would get so frustrated trying to do it right and do it well. I never did get it. My mom would show me and hers was just perfect to my novice eyes. It probably was pretty close. But now I'm really trying to sew and trust me, it's still not that good. But I was wearing that apron that my mom gave me (ok, ok, that I stole from her...with permission, alright?) that she made years ago and I noticed the stitching on it isn't near as straight as the stitching I'd come to know as hers. It's nice to remember that it takes time to get it right. Also, I like my Mom's apron because it's a lovely red and white plaid and it looks just like a quintessential apron should to me. It looks like the good old days.

4.Crocheting.

I really like crocheting big things that have a repetitive stitching pattern. I love the familiarity of doing a stitch over and over so that my hands know just what to do with out thinking. That is when I find I think of other things and I am generally content. I have a hard time stewing about things when I'm crocheting. It ruins the mood. So crocheting is quite a meditative process that I rather enjoy. (on a side note, something I don't like: the spelling of "crocheting" it just looks like you should say the "t" doesn't it and that just sounds dumb)

5. Hiking Socks

I love how thick and warm and supportive hiking socks are. Why aren't all socks like this? I also really like that they aren't white and they also aren't all cutesy with hearts or frogs or some kind of cartoon character on them. Besides that those over the top cute socks are never thick, warm, or supportive. Also, Hiking socks remind me of, what else? Hiking.

6. Hiking

I adore hiking. It is one of those things that keeps me balanced. Again, a fairly meditative thing. Physical activity at a bearable pace in the beautiful out of doors. Does it get much better? I submit that it does not!

7. New books

I love owning books. Ok? Yeah, the library is great for books that I want to read, but don't necessarily want to own. It's also great for scoping out books that I'd like to own. But there is something incredibly satisfying about looking at a shelf full of books and knowing they are yours. Books are cozy, they are informative, they are comfortable, they are bedtime and waiting for the cookies or the laundry to get done. They are learning something new. They are things I like.

8. Haircuts

The feel of your hair when you get a hair cut is like nothing else. First of all they wash your hair. When you have as much hair as I do, if anyone else is willing to wash it for me I will gladly let them. Then they get rid of all the stupid snarly tangley ends and after all that they style it for me! And it looks better than when I do it myself. How do they do that? Beats me, but I'll take it.

9. The Kitchen

It's the best room in the house. It is easiest to clean as you work (try that in the bathroom!) and when I'm done there I often find myself in a clean room with good food. What more could I want? Oh, right. A hike.

10. Handwriting

Handwriting is some much more personalized than typing for instance. It is relaxing and thoughtful. I love the way it looks on paper. I love the beauty and elegance in each word and in each letter. I love the way it all meets with the space in between to make something both lovely and functional.

11. Gardens

Much like handwriting, gardens are both lovely and functional. Also meditative. Also Balancing. Also a thing I like.

I was going to stop at ten, but I just couldn't leave out gardens. There are a lot of things really, but that's a good start.

What are things you like?

At Least Hansel and Gretel got Candy

2009-11-04T18:38:00.000-08:00

So We've decided to start feeding rice cereal some Sally... wait... Let me start over. We've decided to start feeding rice cereal to Sally in an attempt to get her to sleep longer durring the night. She has been waking up about three times in the night lately to eat, which is bad. She used to only get up once and sometimes she would even sleep through the night. Well, no longer. She has developed quite the apatite, so we have decided to stuff her gullet with rice before we put her to bed. Tonight is the first trial run, so wish us luck.

In other news, Katie is just getting over a cold. This was not just your everyday average cold mind you; I'm pretty sure that the virus responsible for this particular cold was spawned in the nether regions of Heck (that's right; I said it) and allowed to culture in a petri dish somewhere out in the desert between Battle Mountain and Winnemucca, Nevada before it was carried by demons to Idaho where it eventually found its way into my wife's body.

Basically, Katie slept for about three days straight and when she was awake, she could only communicate to me via whisper. I'm sure that there are a lot of guys out there who would pay a substantial amount of money if it meant they didn't have to listen to their wives speak for a few days, but I'm not one of them. I actually enjoy having conversations with my wife and it got kind of lonely around here with no one to talk to.

The good news is that Katie is feeling better now and I'm as pleased as punch... er... happy as a clam... Well, let's just say that I feel good about the whole thing (Katie is not standing behind me with a rolling pin). Well I'll chat with all these fine people who like to see Sally's face later.

Love,

Martell "I'm not Joking" Strong

A New Song

2009-10-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

Katie likes this song a lot. Maybe you will like it too.

Later,

Martell

New Post!

2009-09-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have noticed that it has been a while since we have updated our blog. You see, Katie, Sally and I have moved to a new apartment and we have decided to go without internet for the time being. The internet was included in our rent at the last place and it cost much less than it would if we had gotten it ourselves. Now with the prospect of shelling out an extra forty of fifty bucks a month, we decided that we could get by without having it.

I use the internet up on campus when I am at school, but I don't have any recent pictures loaded on my laptop, and I know that you all just want to see pictures of Sally, so I didn't feel the need to update the old blog. Katie would have done it, but she maybe gets on the internet once or twice a week now, and I'm usually rushing her out the door; so as you can see, the lack of updates is all my fault.

Anyway, Sally is getting really fun... when she isn't crying (we think that she might be teething right now, so she has two modes; "torqued off", and "asleep"). When she isn't throwing a fit, she likes to smile and laugh. Sometimes when I'm doing homework, I'll look up and Sally will be sitting there smiling at me for no apparent reason. I guess that means that she likes me... but maybe it means that she has gas... probably the latter.

Anyway, sometimes I can get her to laugh pretty good by doing stupid things, aka - being myself. If Katie is around she will usually grab the camera and try to record Sally's laughter. Often the camera will distract her and she will stop laughing, but Katie's been able to capture a couple of videos that we thought you all might enjoy.

So, that's really the point of this post. I finally loaded some videos and pictures onto my jump-drive so that I could upload them to the blog for your viewing pleasure.

Well, I hope that you enjoyed the update. I can't promise that I'll stay on top of updating this thing, so I hope that this will last you all a while.

Love,

- Martell

A Trip Back In Time

2009-08-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from my research trip. I spent a week in Montana studying a limestone formation from the Mississippian. The Mississippian is a period of geologic time that began about 360 million years ago and was the period of time from which most of our oil, natural gas, and coal deposits were formed.

The professor that I was with, Dr. Forest Gahn, has expertise in the field of paleontology, with a particular interest in crinoids. The Mississippian also happens to be known as the "age of crinoids," and there were plenty of crinoid specimens to be found in this formation.

I realize that most of you don't care about any of this, so I'll just end this blog post. I hope that you enjoy the pictures. We were doing the majority of our work at roughly 11,000 ft above sea level.

If you want to know more about my research, just ask me. For the rest of you; don't worry, we'll post some more pictures of Sally soon.

Later,

Martell

"and in the mornin'...I'm makin' Waffles!"

2009-07-24T10:38:00.001-07:00

Why yes, that is a non-stick waffle iron. Why do you ask?

Ok. Ok. Here's some Sally pictures.

2009-07-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Buddha Baby

Naptime

Tummy Time

So close....

Bedtime

Oh Bury Me Not

2009-07-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

I've had the idea for this song rolling around in my head for a while. I finally decided to finish it yesterday. I hope that you enjoy it.

Let Freedom Ring

2009-07-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

Martell is preparing to go on a research trip in august. As a geology major "research trip" means that they get to go play in the great out of doors while checking out cool rocks and fossils and things. Yeah. You should be jealous. I certainly may or may not be. Part of his preparations involve looking for some footwear that would be suitable for hiking. In his quest for good shoes he found these

These fancy footwears seem to be quite the up and comers in the world of new-fangled outdoor equipment. There is a growing number of people who feel that our feet are designed to be walked on. Without shoes. Feet really are rather elegantly and functionally designed when you think about it. Each tiny little bone fitting perfectly with the next to build such a lovely arch (two actually). How many art/construction/humanities classes discuss the arch and the functional beauty that it provides. Yes I know some people think feet are ugly. They just haven't thought past the fungus, which, on a side note, would be tamed if people ditched their damp, dark, warm, fungus habitat they call shoes

There is a downside to not wearing shoes, however, and that is debris. There is so much to be stepped on in this world. Most of which is relatively harmless, but there are the occasional sharp rocks, thorns, broken glass and other such nonsense that just plain hurts. And so a shoe was born. A shoe that is designed be serve the sole purpose of protecting your precious feet without hindering the foot's natural capacity.

An anecdote:
When I was a kid I read a Sherlock Holmes book that, to be completely honest, has mostly escaped my mind. The bit I do recall is simply that Sherlock used his brilliant deductive capabilities to pinpoint who the culprit was (I don't even remember the crime) based on footprints. The footprints at the scene of the crime had toes that were remarkably spread out, unlike feet that have been accustomed to life inside a shoe. He determined that the culprit was thus, a character in the story who was of a culture that went shoeless. Ever since then I remember my brother bragging about how much his toes spread and how close to a natural state his feet were. We used to run around barefoot all summer, like most kids, and he was always rather proud of his feet.

Another anecdote:
One summer when I was older my parents decided they wanted us, as a family to be more active/physically fit. They decided that every morning we would wake up and go on a walk as a family. When we got home we would do stretches. Dad usually led the stretches and at the end he would have us give our feet a good rubbing. He said the guy who taught him that stretching routine always did the same. He said you should love your feet. They work hard.

Now, lest you think these five fingered shoes have won me over, I will tell you the end of my story. Martell and I have started walking barefoot. As of yesterday. And to be honest, I'm in with all those people who are loving the idea. My feet are a little sore today because they got a workout they are unaccustomed to. But it's not a bad sore. As a matter of fact they feel great. Many people reported changes in their posture, which I can attest to. I was also aware of ways I need to strengthen my core as a result of my changed posture. (my abs are completely shot after having a baby) Overall, it was the beginning of an improvement, I think.

Also, walking suddenly became a tactile experience. I could feel the subtle changes in temperature on the pavement. I enjoyed the brush of the grass and the perfectly smooth wood on a bridge we crossed. It was a refreshing and somewhat meditative experience to be so much more aware of the subtleties of my surroundings.

And so I am an new advocate of barefootedness. Free your feet!

**In other freedom related news, Sally had a bath today and loved it. A breakthrough. Some days she is ok with baths, some days she is definately NOT. Today, though, when I took her out and wrapped her in a towel she started screaming. It wasn't until I put her down and removed the towel to get her dressed that she stopped. Yep. That's right. Sally prefers being naked.

a quick song

2009-06-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, it's been a while since I've posted a song. I'm still learning this one and I think that this recording was the first time that I actually made it through this song without any major mistakes. I hope you like it.

Daily Workout

2009-06-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

On the day we took Sal home we strapped her into her carseat and she stuck her teeny little feet straight out and held them about 3 inches in the air and kept them there. She has done this ever since. I don't know why, but she has got to have the buffest little baby abs ever and her quads are nothing to laugh about either.

Rock Hammer For Scale

2009-06-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that I am a Geology major. One of the first things that I learned as a geology major is that we take pictures out in the field. When we take pictures, we try to always place something in the picture for scale; it could be a pen, a knife, a person, or anything you have handy. Most of the time, we have a rock hammer with us; so more often than not, you will find geology pictures with a rock hammer, for scale.

One of my professors told me how he had a picture of all of his newborn children, except his oldest, with a rock hammer for scale. He had gotten the idea from a friend of his after his oldest was born, so that is why he doesn't have a picture of her with a rock hammer for scale. This is a mistake that I don't intend to make myself, so here we are, off to a good start. :-)

Not Crying

2009-06-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

Some people want to know what the young Sallymander looks like when she isn't crying. I guess that would be ok. Here you go :)

P.S. that goop in her eyes is some sort of antibiotic or something. I guess that they didn't want her to get pink eye or something. It didn't stop her from catching the stink eye though! (See previous post for an example of this ocular malady)

New Arrival

2009-06-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here's Sally!

Over Achiever

2009-05-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

The clinic that I've been going to for this pregnancy just introduced a new doctor to the practice, and with him some new standard procedures. Up until this point I have not had to do one of those kick count things. The new doc wants you to do it everyday! Lame. For anyone who doesn't know what you do for one of these you are supposed to lay down on your side and time how long it takes for you to feel your baby move 10 times. At my office they have a "grading" chart. If you get to 10 movements in 0-15 minutes your baby is an A student. 16-30 = B. 31-45 = C. 45-60 = D. If your baby doesn't kick 10 times within the hour you get the joys of getting up for a few and then doing it for another hour, or until you reach 10. If you don't get to 10 you are supposed to call the office.

Upon receiving my instructions I kind of thought "well, that's a big fat waste of time" By this point in my pregnancy I can tell you exactly what times of day she is most active. And I might add that she is a most active baby. I was tempted to ask the nurse if one continuous movement for 10 minutes counted as 10 movements, but I thought better of harassing the nurse. She doesn't make the rules.

Anyhow, if anyone was curious, Martell and I have an overachiever on our hands. She has yet to take more than 3 minutes to fulfill her kick quota. I'm not sure whether to mourn the damage she has done to my ribs or be grateful that I don't have to lay there for an extra hour since laying down for too long makes my hips hurt and I'd like to save it for sleep. I guess both.

Bunch of Pansies!

2009-05-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day our ward decided to get all the sisters a little plant. As it happens I'm married to the guy who was in charge of getting the plants so I got to help pick them out. We got pansies. They are hearty little flowers and will probably withstand a certain amount of neglect that they may receive being tended by bunches of students/newlyweds/moms/bread-winners/too-darn-busy-for-our-own-good women.

Also they remind me of my own mom. When I was a little girl we had a rose bed next to the driveway. Mom had planted some pansies underneath for some ground level interest, I assume, and the pansies took over. The roses didn't always fare well, but the pansies were always there in volumes. And volumes. And volumes. And Mom didn't want quite such a volume of pansies. As a result I could pick them to my heart's content. Mom didn't mind me picking them, and I don't think I could have picked them all if I tried. So I have an odd association with pansies. I think of them as weeds. But delightful, fanciful, lovable weeds. And so we are having pansies for Mother's Day in our ward. But that's not even the best part. The best part is that we got to have two full flats of flowers gracing our windowsill for a day. Their cheery little pansy faces beaming at us from their perch. Fantastic.

Good Books?

2009-04-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Martell and I went to a childbirth class recently and discovered that making up things for imagery/relaxation purposes is not Martell's strong suit. No problem. We decided books would work. So the search is on. I'm looking for good happy books that are captivating from the get go. Any recommendations?

Heeere Fishy!

2009-04-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

Martell and I went fishing! Martell caught a fish.

I clearly haven't perfected my fishy call. That's ok. He's been fishying a lot more than I have. But we are having fresh tasty rainbow trout tonight. And I got to go fishing which is really all I care about. I love being by water and fishing is perfect excuse to do that for hours. Today was a beautiful day and I even had to put on sunblock. And even though I didn't catch any fish I did catch some pictures. I am glad Martell puts up with me and my camera.

This is the beginningest starts of spring here. Finally! I love these little fuzzes.

Food Storage

2009-04-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

Yum! We have been working on building up a bit of food storage lately and I hit up the case lot sales in March. The result was that we have had a pile of food storage sitting in the corner of our kitchen. So Martell made us some shelves during his break from school. Isn't he handy?

Here is the finished product! Hooray! Our floor is cleared!

Adventures in the Desert

2009-04-13T21:25:00.001-07:00

I have a week off between semesters and the snow finally melted enough for me to do some off-roading. I decided to pick a road that I had never been down. I was rewarded by these beautiful sights.

I saw some elk too, but they weren't as brave as the moose, so I wasn't able to get a good picture of them.

2009-03-27T12:19:00.001-07:00

Domestic Attempt

2009-03-21T19:05:00.001-07:00

I can handle a fair amount of domesticity. I can. I can cook. I can clean. You might not always guess it if you lived with me, but I can and do enjoy doing those things to a certain degree. (I enjoy them more when I'm not working full time...someday maybe Martell will enjoy the comforts of having a housewife...) I even like some crafty things. However, I do not sew.

I have made attempts in the past. Lots of them. I usually end up spending half the time yelling for my mom to come fix the sewing machine because something is wrong and I don't know what. Another large chunk of time is dedicated to watching my mom fix whatever it is that went wrong, likely of my own doing. The majority of the rest of the time was spent asking mom to explain what to do because, as Martell can attest, I am not one to read instructions if at all possible. They are the dryest reading EVER and I am just a little too A.D.D. to handle that. I honestly don't know how people can read directions period, much less how some of you do it once and get it. IF I read directions (that is a big if) it usually takes me about 12 attempts. Seriously. So reading patterns was pretty much up to my mom too. Which ultimately means that my attempts at sewing were ultimately my mom doing everything but push the pedal and some pinning here and there. (yes, I know I'm pathetic)

Then one day as Martell and I were discussing the future prospects of our family (including the potential that I might have to figure out how to raise girls) I realized that I am going to have to learn how to do this sewing thing. What mom doesn't know how to sew? At least a little. I think that's what my own mother was thinking when she bought me a sewing machine as a high school graduation present. At the time I am pretty sure what crossed my mind was "great, it will be about a million years before I need this thing and even then I sure as heck won't know what to do with it". I guess my mom figured I'd come around.

And I have. A little. It kind of started with that conversation with Martell. The biggest turning point may have been when I realized that if (when) we have girls how are they going to have prom dresses with sleeves? My mom always sewed them on for me because they just don't sell modest prom dresses where I'm from and I don't think they are going to get any easier to find.

The other big turning point was our couch. It is really ugly. Like brown, floral, velvety upholstry ugly. It was a steal from the local DI at $25 and it is something to sit on. But is definately not something to look at. Besides that it looked completely horrid against the backdrop of our pistachio green living room (not our choice of color) I finally got sick of looking at it and so I sewed. I realize that they sell slip covers, but I couldn't justify spending 40-70 bucks on a big piece of fabric. Not one that usually looks pretty lame anyway because no slip cover stays where it's supposed to. I figured, if I was going to have a lame looking piece of fabric sitting on my couch I could always just throw a sheet over it. Then I got ambitious. I figured, if it's going to look lame anyway, why not try my hand at sewing? If it looks bad, who cares. That 70 dollars would have looked pretty bad too once it was sluffing off the couch in sat-upon-a-couple-times slip cover fashion. So I did it. I sewed. And here are the results. Yes, I know it's wrinkly. No, I don't plan on ironing it. And no mom, I probably didn't use any good sturdy sewing techniques (I didn't eve pre-shrink the fabric) and yes, I am ashamed. But just look at it. And know that I made that.

Lemon Yum Cake

2009-03-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

So I've been kind of bored of the same ole food we always eat. Hence, another recipe. This one is far less healthy than the last. That's ok. This is where I found it on the world wide web.

http://www.womansday.com/Recipes/Lemon-Cornmeal-Cake-Recipe

If you like lemon this is the cake for you.

If you like cake this cake is for you.

If you like the spice girls this cake is probably not for you. Largely because I will shun you and not share my cake with you. But you never know. It's a pretty good cake. Word just might get around.

If you make it you might want to use finely ground cornmeal. I didn't and it was fine, but there is a little more grit to it. The recipe says you should let the cake rest for several hours. This is not necessary. That is to say, we were not patient. It is probably to let the glaze soak in longer. We'll see what it's like once it's rested longer. But eating it when it's still warm makes up for the fact that it isn't a well rested cake. In my humble opinion.

Martell just found out he was clear to eat cake, on grounds of liking lemon, cake, and not the spice girls.

***Update***
Rested cake is delicious! It gets less gritty because the cornmeal soaks up some of the wetness from the glaze. Still a little grit. But not like cornbread.
(and yes, mom, that is my picture)

Yummy.

2009-03-12T06:36:00.001-07:00

A few months ago I bought this book called "Crops in Pots" (not to be mistaken for Crops of Pot). It's a pretty cool book. It has a bunch of information about growing edible (and non-edible) things in pots. Bet you couldn't figure that one out from the title. I thought it would be good to have that kind of info around since I don't expect to have a garden anytime soon. At least I could grow things in pots, right? Wrong. You have to have a place to put them, and for whatever reason that place has to get a pretty fair amount of light. We have none of the above in our apartment. However, this book has still proved worthwhile. It has several projects set up with instructions of what to plant, in what, with what...and what to do with it. Every project has a recipe that uses something that you planted if you did the project. So, until we have a garden (or a place for pots), I have cookbook. So coming to you courtesy of said cookbook is a recipe for Falafel. YUM!

Blend
1 can chick peas
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mild chili powder
2 Tbs garlic chives (chopped)
2 Tbs mint (chopped)
3 Tbs chopped coriander
2 oz. bread crumbs

Flatten spoonfuls of mixture into cakes and fry in batches in 1/2 in vegetable oil for about 3 minutes, turning once, until golden.

Notes: I did not have fresh herbs and seasoning, dried stuff works just fine. I didn't use 3 cloves of garlic because we didn't have any on hand, nor did we have garlic chives, nor did I feel the need to announce to the entire hall by way of smell that we ate greek food. So a liberal amount of garlic powder did the trick. I also only used half an onion because that's what we had and it was still quite tasty and less stinky.

As far as bread crumbs go...I am fairly certain it is talking about the weight kind of oz. (why do they have to call liquid oz and dry oz both oz. What a pain.) and I don't have any way of measuring that so I guessed. I think I guessed wrong because my falafels were kind of mushy, so make sure they are good and bready. If not they still taste good.

Finally, frying in that much oil isn't really necessary. I tried it and they just fell apart. (Maybe due to the lack of bread crumbs) but you can pan fry them in a few Tbs oil just as well. I might try baking them next time to see if it works. It would be a bit healthier.

All told. I thought it was a tasty delight. We had it on flat bread with lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, feta and homemade tsasiki sauce. (I just chop some cucumber up really small, mix it with some plain yogurt and mint. Delish)

So go eat some yummy food!

Another Song

2009-02-28T05:35:00.000-08:00

In case you couldn't tell, I like to make songs. The photos in the slide show are by Katie. She's a pretty good photographer, no?

ok, ok, I'll put up belly pics.

2009-02-22T17:15:00.000-08:00

This is for my mom's who both have been asking to see my belly. Not the most flattering picture, but I don't suppose there are a lot of flattering views at this stage in my life. Me making faces doesn't tend to help...

An exciting day

2009-02-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

So if you haven't heard, Circuit City is going out of business. I hadn't heard. That is, until I was driving home one day and there was a man on the street holding a picket sign boldly stating that fact closely followed by "30% off everything must go!" and other delightful rhetoric to that effect. Mind you, this ordinarily wouldn't phase me. These days lots of places go out of business and 30% off of most things is still not enough to drive me to look if I'm not already. However this all occurred shortly after a discussion with Martell about someday owning a DSLR (a fancy camera for those who don't know) as well as me having spent much of the last few months silently brooding to myself on my drive to work that I only wish I had more time to take the pictures that I see while driving.

It is really quite distressing to drive through the country on my way to draw people's blood in stinky dark nursing homes when the whole time I am driving through beautifully lit fields filled with things that are practically jumping at me begging to be preserved "on film" so to speak. So after all that brooding and that delightful conversation with Martell this fabulous gentleman was like a sign from the gods. I just about exploded with joy when I stopped to scope out the prices. The whole drive home I dreamt how the conversation would go with Martell when I told him about this somewhat impulsive idea of mine. Of course non of my mental roll-plays were remotely realistic, but what fun is it to do it in your head if you are going to be realistic?

Realistically the conversation went quite well and I spent the evening alternately drooling online over the camera that I wanted and stressing that they would be sold out already tomorrow when I went to go make my claim. This morning was equally upsetting. I wisely thought that calling down would be the better option so I could save myself the gas money if they don't have it in stock and at least not add insult to injury. Of course when I called the obnoxious message explained patiently to me (several times) that they do not in fact open until 10 am! What nerve! Of course when I finally did get ahold of someone they informed me that they couldn't give any information about prices or inventory over the phone. Thanks for nothin' pal!

So, agonizing over the time wasted with such a silly idea to call ahead, I drove down to Idaho Falls in the hope that my beloved Canon Rebel XSi would still be there. Joy of joys! It was! Of course then I had to hunt down a sales associate in all the madness to get one of the prized little gems out of the locked case. I am sure I was so giddy that I was probably one of those awkward people who talk too loudly without realizing it. My sentances may not have been especially coherant either. But who needs to worry about a thing like english at a time like that? When he finally came the second time WITH the keys (those come in handy) I am quite certain I was shaking with anticipation. He probably thought I was a complete idiot. But who cares...I have my camera! Honestly, I still cannot believe I own such a marvelous piece of equipment. But I do.

And here is a little sampling of what I have done with it in the short time of owning it. Granted, the picture has had the color removed via PhotoShop. I am a firm believer in taking all photos in color since you can remove color later, but can't add it. So here it is.

It's a...

2009-02-04T12:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I was kind of hoping for an orangutan, or a rock hammer, but I guess that I'll be happy with a baby girl instead. They gave us some pictures, so I guess that we'll share them with you all.

As an aside, we haven't picked out a name yet, so don't bother asking... and for that matter, don't bother suggesting any either. Katie's a good sport, but personally, I just don't care what you think. We'll let you know when we've decided, which probably won't be official until sometime around June 5 (That's Katie's due date, for those of you who were wondering). Katie want's to actually see our daughter before we give her a name to make sure that the name suits her. We've compiled a list of names that we are considering, but as of right now it's pretty extensive... and no, I'm not sharing that with you either.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Much love,

-Martell

A Youtube Video For All to Enjoy

2009-02-03T17:42:00.000-08:00

Hey all. I made this video this morning and put it on facebook, then my aunt commented on it, and it made me think a little bit. So I put it on youtube with some annotations. Let me know what you think.

-Martell

Blogging: An efficient use of my time

2009-01-23T08:04:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid my dad would sit out in the hall at bedtime in between Seth's room and mine and read to us. He would read all kinds of things, usually big people books. I don't actually know how he selected books now that I'm a big people and it seems like every book manages to have something in it that I don't know if it would be entirely appropriate for kids. I do however remember the books and I will be forever grateful that Dad read more than kids books to us. I have loved the imagery that my mind has developed from having to make my own pictures. And believe it or not, I learned some things from those books too.

Cheaper By the Dozen is one in particular that I remember. Now, if you have not read the book, but have seen the movie with Steve Martin in it, I want you to promptly forget everything you think you know about the book, repent, and go read it. Seriously, the movie has about nothing to do with the book except that there are one dozen children in each. The book, however, is, or should be, a classic. In it the father is actually a specialist on efficiency, NOT a football coach (which is possibly the least efficient sport known to man. How many times is it possible to stop and start a game DURING the actual game?). I'm not going to tell you the plot or anything more about the book actually, because efficiency is actually what has been on my mind. For whatever reason Dad reading that book sparked a little bit of interest in me in doing things efficiently. Now, I know my parents may not know it based on my incredible procrastination skills, but when you think about it, if you only have a few minutes to do something you had better do it efficiently.

The point is that even if I haven't always utilized the concept, it is often in the back of my mind. I think there is something refreshing about finding a new way of doing something that works better than the old way. There are elements of creativity in just such thinking and I do enjoy it. I don't obsess over it, but I appreciate the concept.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about using space efficiently and how well I haven't done that in our apartment. The stuff to space ratio we have in our apartment is pretty stunning. Unfortunately when you have that much stuff to fit in a small space it does get stuffed. Stuffed into every nook and cranny it fits, regardless of logic. And so, although just about all the space in our apartment is being used, it is not very useful.

There is a principle in design called White Space. It is the principle that anything will look better if there is a place for your eyes to rest. Space that is unused. That is my problem. Everywhere I look there is used space and it is just to busy. It is ineffective design and it's agitating to the senses. Not only that, but it is frustrating to find things. It is aggravating to remember where something actually is and have to dig for it just the same because it fit underneath about 2 tons of books and blankets and guitars. The worst of it is, the anticipation of all the extra stuff we will have to fit in here when the baby comes. I don't know if the baby would actually fit in here right now! Perhaps that is why it has been on my mind.

However, now that it's on my mind, I can't get it off. It drives me even crazier than it did before (which is kind of a scary thought). And so my goal is to make my apartment efficient. Or at least use the space better. I've started a little bit and it is really amazing how much more space becomes available when you use whats there in sensible ways. It is refreshing to be freeing up "white space" and not just have piles of stuff everywhere I look. Granted, I have only just started and have a long way to go. But, the shelves in the bathroom look wonderful as does my spice cabinet. I think the space behind the couch may be next and you should all pray for my closet.

Glamour Shot

2009-01-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

I've been watching youtube videos on how to make yourself more beautiful through the use of photoshop... so I tried it. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. Can someone help me out?

The Walter Blog

2008-12-14T16:33:00.000-08:00

This blog was titled by Martell.

It was written by me. Katie. Here it is.

I have officially begun showing. That is right showing. "Showing what?", you may ask since as you well know, I am not a show off. Well, I will tell you. I am showing off my belly. I have a baby inside of it, and keeping my svelte figure seems to be out of the option. As a matter of fact, I was priding myself on how long I've gone without anyone noticing. It helps that I work is scrubs all week. I sometimes go without noticing until I try to wear normal clothes on the weekend. Well, a girl noticed at church today. She knows I'm pregnant, and she commented today. "Oh look, you are just starting to show," She said, "but you can tell it's just being pregnant though" Bless her heart. I proceeded to feel huge for the rest of the day, but I think I would have anyway. The skirt I wore is just not big enough for me and this kid. But at least I just felt pregnant huge. Not "wow you are getting fat" huge. And I have a long ways to go besides, so I guess I had just better get used to this huge feeling.

So now you know. Martell and I are beginning a baby farm. The first crops look about ready for harvest in June. June fifth in theory, but babies ripen at their own pace I hear. So we'll just have to see.

As for the title, well, we have no idea if we are having a Walter or a Waltrina (disclaimer:These names do not necessarily reflect the names of choice of those producing said baby) however, ever since I found out I was pregnant Martell has been calling this kid Walter. So there you have it. This is the Walter Blog. Lets hope it's not a girl for Waltrina's sake.

In other news...or rather, the same news....Walter kicked me yesterday and I felt it. Ha! I am just starting week 16 and they say to expect to feel the baby between weeks 16 and 20 sometime, but that if it's you first not to worry if you don't feel it till closer to 20. Well, given the families this little guy (or girl) is coming from he must just be stubborn enough to want to prove them wrong or something. Here's hoping he doesn't stay an over-aggressive kicker.

Another song

2008-11-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

I just finished this song. I wrote most of the guitar last night, and then I wrote the lyrics today after being sent home early from my carwash job due to rain. After a few takes that I wasn't happy with, I decided to move to the bathroom where the acoustics are better. I left the light off because the fan is on the same switch, so I apologize for the darkness, but you all know what I look like anyway. Sound is more important than visuals. I hope that you enjoy it. Let me know what you think.

- Martell

Shoot for the Stars

2008-11-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at work we had an episode (one of many) that has brought me to consider limits. What the heck are they there for?! Everyone always says things like "shoot for the stars" and "don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something". Well, I am here to tell you that these light-hearted, seemingly encouraging turns of phrase are bogus. Limits have a purpose, and a very important one at that. Allow me to explain.

When you have a needle in your hand that you have every intention of putting into someone else, you had just better know your limits. For anyone who doesn't know getting blood out of a person is not always as easy as it looks. For the record, the populations that we tend to pick on at my workplace are nearly exclusively old people and diabetics. Neither of which are typically considered easy sticks.

There is a girl at work, who seems to view every patient as a challenge. Not in the "I'm really gonna have to earn my keep at this job" sense. Rather, the "I bet you didn't think I could get that vein...oh well, I did" sense. She has a competitive attitude about everything including drawing blood. This is an instance when knowing your limits is a really good thing. There are people who come in to work who are what we call "confidence boosters". They have monstrous veins that you couldn't miss with you eyes closed. Anyone can get them. There are also people who come in who you take a good close look at and you get the pros. You get the people who have been doing this for YEARS and miss maybe once a month, if that. Then there are the maybes. They are the tricky middle ground. You think maybe you might be able to get blood out of them. But the real question is can you do it without traumatizing them? Can you get it the first time? If not, can you be darn sure before you get out another needle, or else get someone else to do it? If you try again, can you abide by the classic "two-poke rule" and not poke them a 3rd, 4th, or 8th time? These are questions of limits. These are questions that I don't think this girl I work with has ever asked herself.

This is exactly why limits are so important. They are not often a question of "can I?", but "should I?" Often they are there not only to protect other people (especially if you are welding small sharp objects), but yourself and your very own sanity! Knowing your limits is knowing that you could do one more project, but you shouldn't for the sake of a good nights sleep. It's knowing that maybe you could make dinner, but maybe you should get take-out because if you have to spend one more minute in the kitchen you might scream. It's knowing that you could pretend you know what you are doing, but maybe you shouldn't for someone else's sake. There is no shame in admitting what you shouldn't do. There's not even shame in admits what you can't do. It only means you are aware of what you are able to do, and that you at least have the potential to grow. By knowing what you lack, you know exactly where to start growing.

So people, shoot for the stars if you must, but if you can't make it on the first poke. Get someone who can.

Beard 2.0

2008-09-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

So, I enjoyed the beard so much last year, that I decided to try it again this year. Katie likes it a lot. In fact, when I suggested that I wanted to shave it off the other day, she "talked me down off the ledge", as it were.

Consequently, I've been thinking a bit about beards and their significance. I've done a little study on them in the Old Testament... a very little study mind you, but it seems to me that facial hair held some degree of religious significance that we continue to see echos of in the present day Jewish Faith.

It seems that it was a great shame for a man to be without a beard back in Old Testament times. In 2 Samuel chapter 10, we learn that, after their beards had been shaven in an attack, a group of men were sent away until their beards had regrown. In other words, it was shameful for a man to be seen in public without a beard.

In Leviticus, it talks about how the corners of the beard shouldn't be trimmed. I'm pretty sure that modern day Jews differentiate between a "normal" beard and a "religious" beard determined by whether or not the corners are trimmed... Mine is not a religious beard, but it isn't because the corners are trimmed. I'm not even sure where the corners of one's beard reside.

Anyway, having this beard basically means that I can't really do anything up on campus, which I find a little Ironic, because a few centuries ago, I wouldn't have been allowed in public without it.

I'm not trying to buck the system or anything, I just wonder what it is about facial hair that has made it such a hot topic. Look at all of the General Authorities for instance. You don't see any of them with any facial hair these days. You don't see bishops or stake presidents with facial hair either, other than maybe a mustache. I wonder why it is that facial hair is considered bad now, when before it was considered bad not to have it.

It doesn't seem that a beard was required then, but as recent as the restoration of the gospel, facial hair wasn't considered bad. Look at Brigham Young, Lorenzo Snow, Joseph F. Smith... and probably others (Those were the only bearded prophets I could think of off the top of my head). A beard used to be a mark of manhood; it denoted wisdom. Now it seems that bearded people are either eccentric or dwell somewhere near the fringes of society. I'm not sure what caused the shift.

Musings aside, of course I'll have to shave my beard when I go back to school, but for now, it's kind of nice. It keeps my face warm when it's cold, and it acts as a sort of a bib. It catches food particles that might otherwise land on my clothes, and my wife digs the way that I look with it. I see no drawbacks to having a beard. I even got another job by walking in and talking to a guy. He only met me once, so his first impression of me was his only impression; and it seems that the beard didn't reflect negatively on me, because he called me back and hired me. I start tomorrow.

So, now that you know how I feel about beards, and a little bit of their religious history, I want to know what you think of beards. Why do you suppose it is frowned upon in the Church and in society to have them today, and why do you think it was required for men to dawn beards in the past? What makes a beard a good beard, and what makes a beard a bad beard? If you don't have a beard, what is stopping you from growing one? If you do have a beard, why have you chosen to grow it? The Strong Opinions want to know!

Geocahcing pictures

2008-09-08T05:54:00.000-07:00

We went geocaching on Labor Day with our friends, Shaun and Jenny. Jenny told me that ever since they went they keep saying "Do you remember when we went geocaching? That was fun".
We had such a blast and found some beautiful places that we didn't even know were so nearby. So of course I had to take tons of pictures. Here are a few favorites.

An old house near one of the caches we found. This apparently is the first place to have dry farmed in this area according to other geocachers who have been here.

Inside the house. It was part of an old town called Herbert. We saw other remains of the town as we drove around the area. Mostly farm houses similar to this.

Some old machinery outside the house.

Farther down the road we found a treasure trove of huckleberry bushes. The bushes themselves were not that attractive at this point in the season, however. So I took a picture of an unopened thistle. It was prettier.

We stopped on our way to another cache next to an aspen grove for lunch. These are some of the biggest aspens I personally have seen. They were gorgeous.

The aspens weren't the only things that were huge. Sorry this picture is a little blurred, but check out the size of that brown cow. The black one next to it is about normal size.

One of the other caches we stopped at had this fantastic view of the snake river. Lovely spot for a cache. Actually, someone had buried their pet up there too with windchimes to mark the grave. It was funny, we didn't notice how odd the sound of the chimes was in that setting until we saw them.

We actually got snowed on while we were driving. It was kind of wet though so it didn't stick much. Except at this golf corse on the cropped grass of the green. There were little circles of snow all over the course.

response to Mar's last post.

2008-09-05T18:00:00.001-07:00

I don't think Martell is gay. Just the flowers....in a hippie-esk kind of a way.

Geocaching and another music video

2008-09-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

So, Katie and I have taken up geocaching. We really enjoy it. It takes us to places right here in our own vicinity that we never knew existed. I'm sure that Katie will post some of the photos that she took from our latest adventure.

Basically, for those of you who don't know what geocaching is; it's like a treasure hunt using a gps. You get on geocaching.com and look up some geocaches, enter the coordinates into your gps, and go find them. Geocaches are usually containers with some trinkets inside and a log book. You can trade trinkets and sign the log. Some caches just have a log book. The joy is in the finding I guess.

Anyway, Katie and I have really enjoyed it. It gives us a perfect excuse to go off-roading and hiking in areas that we probably never would have gone to or even known about otherwise.

The other part of geocaching is that you can hide a geocache for others to find. Katie and I have been planning on hiding one. We had the great idea to make one that is full of books. So I went to the D. I. and got a bunch for 50 cents a piece... the trouble is, Katie and I haven't read a lot of the books that we got, so needless to say, it's taking the books some time to actually make it inside of the box so that we can go hide it.

In other news... I made another music video. Katie says that the flowers at the beginning are "kind of femmey"... I say that they are more hippie-esk... but she's probably right. I left them in because I'm pretty secure with my manhood... and I'm too lazy to shoot more video footage... which, I believe, makes a stronger case for my being a hippie then a femme. I mean, come on; a femme would have spent a lot more time on this video than I did... right?... Dang it! My wife thinks I'm gay! And I don't know what I could possibly do to convince her otherwise...

Anyway, here is the video:

Free Time

2008-08-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

If I did the right thing, then why do I feel so bad?

2008-08-15T05:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever experienced a sensation in the pit of your stomach that feels like a mass a lead sitting down there? It's the feeling that I get when I've done something wrong.

Yesterday, I quit the job that I had had for a total of two and a half days. It seemed like the right thing to do. But now I'm having remorse... not enough to go back to the job mind you, but I still feel bad.

Here is the situation: I have been looking for a job for the past couple of weeks and it was taking forever for people to get back to me. I finally found a job that needed help immediately, so I just took it. I started work that day... that instant actually. The guy, my now former boss, had just had a guy walk off of the job that morning because he was "afraid of heights" and now he, my former boss, was desperately in need of an extra set of hands. I showed up at just the right time.

It was a construction job. This guy and a crew of about four or five teenagers were erecting potato cellars. I had arrived at the job site, we exchanged a few words, and within ten minutes I was turning bolts.

Before turning bolts, I had accompanied my boss to the trailer where he got me some tools and explained what it was that he wanted me to do. When we arrived at the trailer, my former boss immediately turned to some kids up on the side of the building and started hollering and cussing at them. This was my first clue that I may have made a mistake in taking this job.

My former boss excused himself by informing me that this is what happens to him when he has people quit on him, but I suspected that it was a more frequent occurrence than that. After all, he was yelling at the people who hadn't quit on him.

So later on that day, I was working directly beside my former boss where I discovered that he is an extremely impatient man who is quick to anger. I've worked for people like this before. I usually just grit my teeth and bear it but I'm starting to change my views on working for people like this. After the first day, I was already thinking that I might not stick with this job. After all, I'm older now and I've come to realize that I don't really need to put up with this sort of treatment. I could be earning all the money in the world, but if I am miserable for the vast majority of my day, then it really isn't worth it to me.

I went to work the next day for a repeat performance by my former boss and was thinking even harder about quitting. Yesterday I was working with my boss again and he was really on one. He got impatient and swore at me, to which I responded, "I'm trying... I don't really need this job that bad Man." He shut up for a little while and I'd like to believe that he was making an effort to be more civil to me the rest of the day, but that effort didn't carry over to his other workers and its affects on me were barely noticeable.

In fact, later on I was working along side a couple of other people as we were raising the first section of one of the potato cellars. We had ropes with hooks in them and we were pulling on the outer edges of the semicircle of sheet metal that make up the roof as we stood atop a six or seven foot wall. One of the hooks came out and the boy who was pulling on it had to leap off of the backside of the wall to avoid injury. My former boss saw him scrambling to get back up the wall and back to his position so that we could get the roof in place. He didn't ask if he was OK, or if he had hurt himself. He only yelled at him for not keeping enough pressure on the rope. That pretty much sealed the deal for me. Aside from being impatient and in need of anger management courses, my former boss doesn't really care about the well being of his employees. This is why I am currently writing a blog post instead of heading off to work.

Here is the moral of the story... at least, this is what I think that I have learned in my life: Jobs are good because they bring money. Money is good because it brings the necessities of life as well as some unnecessary things that make our lives more enjoyable. But if for the majority of our waking lives we are stressed out, unhappy, and possibly even put in physical danger, then perhaps it is time to find a new job, even if it pays less. In other words, it's true; money doesn't buy happiness. If you aren't happy at your job, where you spend the majority of your time, then it really doesn't matter how well that job pays.

So... if this is all true, then why do I still feel like a scum bag for quiting? Let me answer my own question. This man that I worked for supports his own family by erecting potato cellars and he needs people to help him do that. My quiting just made it that much more difficult for this already overly stressed out and frustrated man to provide for his own. I just put my own happiness over the needs of this man's entire family, and I feel bad about it. Did I actually do the right thing?

-Martell

I'm made a music video...

2008-08-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Seriously. I did this all by myself. I know that your first impression is going to be something like, "Whoa! This thing totally looks professional!", but dude! It's totally not. I did it all by myself... alright, I know; it kind of sucks. It's ok though, I'm just learning how to make videos. They will probably be better in the future... or not. Whatever. Just shut up and watch it. Nobody asked for your opinion.

- Martell

P.S. Please tell me your opinion.

Sunrise

2008-07-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

This is just a sunrise in Rexburg. One that I particularly liked. Hope you enjoy.

Miracles among us.

2008-07-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

One of the priveledges I have at work is meeting lots and lots of people. Some of whom are perfectly sane and relatively normal. Some of whom...aren't. Today I had the joy of meeting a gentleman who decided to let me in on a little secret that I feel is worthy of sharing. I learned today that his body produces tiny balls of gold. Not only that, but "they" are collecting them. "For what?" you might ask. I'll tell you what. "They" are collecting them to make the crowns when the 12 houses of Israel are gathered again. This man is a miracle.

Another youtube song

2008-07-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I just uploaded a version of an Iron and Wine song on youtube. I learned about this band by listening to Pandora before they blocked it last year at my internship. It turned out that Katie really likes this band, so in addition to being married to an amazing person, I have the added benefit of now having access to Iron and Wine's "Endless Numbered Days" album. The whole album is really good, but there are a couple of songs on there that I particularly like. Here is one of them. I plan to do the other song later and have Katie sing harmony (which will be a real chore for her seeing as I sometimes have a hard time finding my note).

Anyway, here is the song for those of you who actually check our blog... not that any of you have a good reason to. I mean, we only post on this thing like once every three of four months. I'm trying to get better at it. The problem is, all I do is school and songs, so you are stuck with songs because you really don't want to hear about school... or maybe I just haven't been in a writing mood lately. Yeah, so , I'm done rambling. Here is the video (I made sure to get the right hand in there for you guitar players out there who are trying to figure out finger picking. P.S. try not to do it my way. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. Learn from my mistakes and then show me how it's really done.)

Late,

Martell

A song

2008-07-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

As it turns out, I like to write songs. It's crazy, I know. I actually have a youtube site with a couple dozen mediocre songs on it (user name MartellAl for you masochists out there). Anyway, I wrote this song recently, and I figured that I'd better post it because I haven't posted anything on the old blog for a while. So here it is. Enjoy! Or don't! Whatever!

- Martell

At Last I Am A Phlebotomist Again!

2008-06-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

Although a friend pointed out to me that I was indeed a phlebotomist all this time. Just not a practicing one. So...At last! I am a practicing Phelobotomist again! Basically what I do is go visit nursing homes and draw blood from the residents.

I must say, working with old people is both a challenge and a delight. Some are more challenging and some are more delightful, but most are a fair mix of both. I suppose that is true of all people. For some reason it seems more apparent in the elderly.

Today, first thing I woke some sweet lady up to get some blood from her and after a long night which, as I discovered later, was quite painful and sleepless for her. To the girl who came and woke her from her precious sleep for none other than a poke she said, "Oh you have a beautiful complexion". What a dear. I do believe she is purely delightful. Most are not so black or white. Often they are losing their minds, or their physical capacities, or both. Or they are just cranky because they are old and that appears to be their right. Another gentleman I've visited would give me his arm for long enough for me to find a vein then take it back, elbow bent, the vein far from accessible. One is schizophrenic and occasionally can't make up her mind whether to let me take her blood or not. Another moans and groans in jest enough that I never can tell if he was really hurting or just teasing me, but his roommate says he's joking. I hope so. Another flirts incessantly which I can't decide whether it's charming or a little creepy, but he's a harmless old man so I suppose that's why he does it. Many of the people I poke are in wheelchairs or in bed, so I occasionally find myself kneeling on the floor to reach them. Today as I got up from such a draw the gentleman's roommate asked if I said a prayer for him while I was down there.

I can't say I anticipated as difficult it would be to get blood out of some of these people, or even to be in the same room as some of these people. And I don't expect to get used to the smell. One day another girl came with me and as we left she remarked that every hall smells different. I hate to say it, but she's right. But I think I like it.

Jeep

2008-04-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is the Jeep. It's a 1992 Cherokee. to set the record straight, before Martell has the chance to lie to you all, the oil slick under the right front tire was caused by him. Not me. Although in all fairness, if I had been the one to change the oil I probably would have made an oil slick too. Anyway, that is our new car. Ta Da!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2008-03-15T17:52:00.001-07:00

Martell and I have decided to grow a garden. By garden I mean a plant. Singular. It seems to like us so far though. It could stand for some company of the vegetative variety I'm sure, and although Mar does sit around the house a lot, doing homework is too mentally active for him to count as a vegetable. However, as much as it lacks some hearty fellowship, there simply is no place for such a friend. Taking it in alone was quite a risk on our part. We don't even know it's name. It was found amongst many others like it; unknown, hanging around on the corner (in a grocery store of all places!). It could be dangerous really, but it looked like with a loving home it could really come around. So we would like to introduce you to the newest member of the Strong Family...Plant.

Studying is for suckers

2008-03-13T22:03:00.001-07:00

“Study hard and you will get good grades.” It sounds reasonable; right? Wrong. I wish that you all would just grow up a little and start doing things my way... Or should I say, “the right way.”

Let me tell you about my little experiment with studying hard. You see, I have this class ambiguously named CS 144. The “CS” stands for “computer science.” It's an exciting name; I know. I imagine that your heart, like mine, does a little flutter every time you hear it. Say it out loud with me: see-es-one-forty-four. Oooo *shiver*... Goose-bumps.

I have this most joyous of classes at 7:45 AM. I wouldn't have it any other way. Actually, let me start a little earlier in the day. I get up at the crack of 6: "however many times I've hit the snooze button"-o-clock, and I jump in the shower. After a scalding hot shower (I like the water to be to the point where it nearly raises blisters. It's sort of like the game of chicken; only one of the participants is an unflinching chemical compound that goes by the handle “dihydrogen monoxide”), so anyway; after my shower, I usually make my way to the computer to check the ol' bloggosphere, where I gaze longingly at the picture of my beard and give invisible hi-fives to those who have left favorable comments concerning my beloved bristles, and shake a well aimed fist in the direction of those who don't view “Rob-beard” (my beard's name... as of right now) too favorably... Mom.

After some breakfast and a smooch or two, I start the long walk up to the Austin building where my CS 144 class is held. Once I arrive, I greet my buddy Chade, who generally graces me with words of encouragement that often terminate in the phrase, “effing program”, or something that isn't quite so unoffensive. I take my seat, get out my notebook and prepare myself to learn. This is the state in which my teacher, Brother Ercanbrack, finds me every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning.

So there I am in my seat; bright eyed, notebook out, words of encouragement ringing in my ears when my computer programming class begins. Brother Ercanbrack has a unique style of teaching. After he is done explaining a principle, he gets up and has the class collectively write a computer program on the white board while he acts as scribe. It usually goes something like this:

Brother Ercanbrack: “Ok guys! You're going to help me write a program that calculates how many grains of sand there are on all the world's beaches, and then determines how far all of the grains of sand would reach if placed end to end in feet, meters, pounds, kilojoules, dollars, cotton candy and babies. Where do we start?”

Class: *silence*

Brother Ercanbrack: “Come on guys. Wake up!”

Dude in the front row with a laptop: “Wouldn't you include 'iomanip' and write a function that takes the second derivative of the piece-wise function: the square root of 4x squared minus 2x all divided by 8 minus 5x squared for -5.1 is greater than x and x is less than 9/2 and 10x to the fourth does not equal 3?"

Brother Ercanbrack: *silence*

Dude in the front row with a laptop: *typing*

Brother Ercanbrack: “Ok. Let's see what happens when we do what he said.” *writes 'include# iomanip' on the board* “Alright class. What else do we need?”

Class: *silence*

Brother Ercanbrack: “What do we need to find out first?... We need to know how many grains of sand are on the worlds beaches; right?... Don't we need to know how many grains of sand there are before we can do the calculations?”

Chade: *whispering* “What the ef is he talking about? Is it alright if I swear? Can I swear?”

Me: “Would it make any difference if I told you 'no'?”

Chade: “Hell no!”

Me: “Then by all means, be my guest.”

Chade: *expletive deleted*

Class usually passes in this manner; with the students slipping in and out of comas, until 8:45, when we are released back into the wild from whence we came. Before we are let go, Brother Ercanbrack usually takes time to let us know when our next program is due, or to remind us of the next test looming ahead.

This brings us back to the beginning; “Study hard and you'll get good grades.” It's a phrase often quoted... often quoted by those who have never taken Brother Ercanbrack's CS 144 class.

Here is how my brief history with “studying to get good grades” has gone as it relates to CS 144: Our first test was pretty basic. I had understood everything that was covered in the lectures and I had taken good notes, so I felt good when I went in to take the test. As I was filling in the bubble sheet, I felt confident in my knowledge of the subject and I was sure that I was going to get a good grade. As I exited the testing center, I looked at my grade on the screen just outside the door. “72%” was displayed next to my student ID number. “Wow... Not as good as I thought, but not too bad either. I can live with it, having not studied too hard.”

Skipping to the next test, I thought, “Hey, if I can get a 72% with minimal study, think of what I can do if I actually crack a book before I take the next test!” So that's what I did. Before I took the next test, I opened my book and actually read the chapters that would be covered. This time, as I filled in the bubble sheet, I felt really good. I recognized things that I had read about just a little while before and I understood what most of the questions were asking. “I'm going to get at least an 80% on this one”, I thought to myself. I finished the test up, walked out the door and looked at the screen. “65%”, was displayed next to my student ID this time.

Right now you are probably thinking to yourself, “Just because you got a bad grade on a test after studying, it doesn't mean that you should stop studying for tests.” You would be right if you excluded my CS 144 tests from your little equation, because the story doesn't end there. You see, today I went in to take yet another test. I determined that I would not open the book before I took this one because it only served to harm my grade last time... So that's what I did. I just walked in today relying wholly upon the knowledge that I had gained from class and from the assignments that corresponded to the chapters covered on the test. I got a 70%. Not great, but not too bad either.

So what's the moral to this story? I believe it goes something like this: Kids, don't let them fool you. Studying can only make you dumber. I know. It happened to me, and it will happen to you too. Instead, eat lots of junk food and play video games until your body atrophies into a gelatinous substance like that of veil. It's the only way to be happy in this life.

Martell

Facial Hair

2008-03-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

:
It has recently been brought to my attention that my obsession with facial hair (Specifically, my own facial hair... or current lack thereof) could be considered unhealthy. I couldn't disagree more. I feel like the world would be a much better place if we all embraced facial hair. My facial hair.

This actually brings me to another point. I believe that only those who look good with facial hair should grow it... and those with hideous facial disfigurements... like Abraham Lincoln (I heard somewhere that he grew his beard because a girl wrote him a letter telling him that he would look better with one. And she was right. Have you ever seen a picture of that man without his beard? I shudder to think of it now. The horror! The horror!).

Anyway, the reason I've added this little disclaimer, stating that only those who look good with facial hair should grow it, is because there is this guy in my ward who has a mustache that really looks hideous on him. It actually drives me to distraction. I am going to attempt to describe his face so that you can get an idea of what I'm talking about. So, he has really dark hair and a fair complexion (Two traits that aren't necessarily bad). Couple these with a slightly receding hairline (A malady that I suffer from as well. I'm not trying to poke fun mind you), a kind of a short face with a thin upper lip, and sort of a beak nose that comes down to a point, hovering just above the lip line. Ok, you got that picture? Now imagine a man with this face holding a pencil between his nose and upper lip. Now replace the pencil with a fuzzy black french fry. Do you see my point?. I'm sure that he is a nice guy and everything. All I'm saying is that the mustache needs to take a permanent leave of absence, that's all.

But what do we do about guys like this? Should I just walk up to him some day and say, "Dude. I don't know how else to tell you this, but you look like the sort of guy who drives around in a panel van claiming to have candy coated puppies with that moldy bit of yarn protruding out of your nostrils like that. Have you ever considered getting it waxed... or fumigated?"? I'm sure that his wife would bake me a plate of brownies filled with hundred dollar bills if I were to pursue such a course, but alas, I don't think that I could bring myself to do it. It would be like kicking a candy coated puppy.

But what was I talking about? Oh yeah; my beard. So here is the thing. Up here at school, they don't allow any facial hair beyond sideburns that don't extend past the earlobe or onto the cheek and a mustache that doesn't extend past the corners of the mouth. I understand the reasoning behind it. They want a campus full of respectable looking young people. If beards were allowed here, pretty soon sightings of Grizzly Adams, Jeremiah Johnson, Jerry Garcia, and Sasquatch would increase dramatically (I have kind of an unhealthy obsession with Sasquatch too. Perhaps I'll lend more attention to the subject at a later date). The thing of it is though, a lot of guys don't look half bad with a nice, well groomed beard. It's the "Patchbeards" and the "Grizzly Adams" that have ruined it for the rest of us. Hence I am forced to have a clean shaven face while matriculating.

Wow! I just had the best thought about the "Patchbeards"! We all know these guys, right; The perpetual adolescents who feel that it is their mission in life to look manly? They fall into the same phylum as the species "Combover". Both of these guys are trying to be something that they clearly are not (Isn't it funny that they both suffer from a follicular deficiency? I wonder if there is something to that). In the case of the Combovers, you have men who are trying to hold on to something that they once had (Namely, their youth), and in the case of the Patchbeards, you have young men who are trying to force the world to see them as mature. I wonder how many Patchbeards grow up to become Combovers.

Ok, so what is the point of all these miscreant ramblings? I don't really know. All I know is that I liked my beard and I miss it like a dear friend (Or is it deer friend... like Sway Belly. I sure miss that guy. *sniff*). I long for the day when my beard and I can be reunited. I've been trying to talk my wife into allowing me to grow a mustache, but even if I managed to convince her, a Cheeto dangling precariously above my lip would hardly be a satisfactroy replacement for the majesty that was my beard.

For all of you who aren't bound by strict grooming standards, I'd like you to do me a favor. Go a few days without shaving, give your wife a prickly kiss, and shed a tear for my beard.

Thank you,

Martell

Intro part 2: The other half of Katell.

2007-12-17T00:09:00.000-08:00

Alright, well, I am the Katie half of Katell. I was born and raised in western washington. Which is of course where I met Martell. If anyone knows western washington you will understand why it is so much a part of me. It is one of those things that words cannot describe. Suffice it to say that western washington and I have a history together. Perhaps someday I will find a way to say it better, but for now that will have to do. Washington has been home for so long I wonder sometimes what anoth permanant home could possibly feel like, but I suppose someday soon I'm going to find out. As much as I'll miss washington, I am excited to see where Martell and I will end up and what life has in store for us.

I'm not sure I'm really great at introducing myself. I am much better at just being me than trying to tell you who me is, so I guess you'll just have to stay tuned and you can see me better in my posts. I am looking forward to being able to document the things that I learn and the things that I love about life here for the world to see! Or who ever cares to read it.

Katie

link

2007-12-16T23:36:00.000-08:00

Technorati Profile

Introductions

2007-12-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I'll start by telling you a little bit about me. I was born in the once small community of Alpine, Utah. Alpine was once a picturesque little place that could be compared with Mayberry from the Andy Griffith show. I still have strong ties to the place. My father was born there. His father was born there. My grandfather's father was born there... and I'm not sure how far back it goes, but I believe that the we landed there in the late 1800's. I'll do some checking on that and perhaps inform you in a later blog.

My grandparents and an a couple of aunts still live there in Alpine, and there is even a road that bears the family name (at least it did but I think that there are plans to change it to "200 North" or something romantic like that). The point is, what Alpine Utah used to be will always be a part of me.

I lived in Alpine until the ripe old age of six and then my family decided to move to the bustling community of Lehi, Utah. I decided to go with them. I lived there until I was 12, spending the majority of my time as a gangly, unpopular little red-headed kid who got in fights on the playground and exercised my mind by devising new and elaborate ways to get out of doing homework. They were happy times, but alas, they too would end when I again decided to follow my parents as they moved to Elko, Nevada.

In Elko, I attended junior high and high school. I ran around with by best buddies and I discovered the joys of off-roading as Elko has no shortage of dirt roads to be explored.

I'm going to skip ahead a little because I've done a lot of things, and they might get mentioned in later blogs, but I don't want this to be a life history.

So, anyway, currently I reside in Marysville, Washington. I'm up here on an internship in the aerospace industry. I'm studying mechanical engineering at BYU-Idaho. It was in in Marysville that I met Katie and somehow convinced her to marry me. Don't ask me how, just congratulate me.

Katie and I will be heading back up to Idaho to attend school right after we get married in Utah. We have a lot of driving in our immediate future.

Ok, that's all from me.

Later,

Martell