Before going to watch The Hangover Part II, we went to Hapa Taqueria for some food with our friends. This new restaurant is in the old Acme Burger building, and although I'm sad Acme is gone, this new place is great! They serve street-style tacos and botanas, or small snacks. I had a pork taco and two carne asada tacos, with some chips and guacamole. Ben had a chicken street-taco and a chicken quesadilla; we enjoyed every menu item that we purchased, and will definitely be going back. [For the next three weeks they are serving $1 tacos and super cheap tequila shots and draft beers ($1-3).]
As for The Hangover Part II, it was pretty much identical to the first (crude jokes, crazy antics, and Bradley Cooper's gorgeous hair). If you liked the first movie, the second shouldn't disappoint, but if you didn't like the first one (obviously) don't waste your time and money.
In other news, I am sick. I have been battling cold symptoms, and now flu symptoms for just over one week. Ugh, I can't wait to feel better and hit the gym (in a moment of truthful shame I have to admit that I have packed on twenty, yup, twenty pounds.) It is time to start eating like a healthy person again and working out (I give it two solid months and the weight will be gone, right?)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Going Back
Ben may be going back to Maui for work again, which is something that conjures up mixed feelings. I will miss him terribly, but the money is really good, and he loves the place so much that it is hard to feel anything but happiness for him.
The past few weeks I have been thinking non-stop about our trip to Hawaii. I can't help but get butterflies when I think of the excitement of being picked up from the airport (it had been over a month since we had seen each other)! I also can't help but think of the overwhelming sadness that I felt on the ninth day when I had to leave Ben for another month. I cried the whole last day (off and on). My visit to Maui was the most extraordinary visit that I have ever experienced.
I am seriously considering applying to law school in Hawaii. I would love to go back and make a life there, even if it was just for a short period of time.
The past few weeks I have been thinking non-stop about our trip to Hawaii. I can't help but get butterflies when I think of the excitement of being picked up from the airport (it had been over a month since we had seen each other)! I also can't help but think of the overwhelming sadness that I felt on the ninth day when I had to leave Ben for another month. I cried the whole last day (off and on). My visit to Maui was the most extraordinary visit that I have ever experienced.
I am seriously considering applying to law school in Hawaii. I would love to go back and make a life there, even if it was just for a short period of time.
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| View from Hana Highway |
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| Bamboo forest hike |
Monday, May 23, 2011
Tune-Up
I am taking the plunge, the therapy plunge! I made the call, and the first appointment is set! Ben, and my trusted friend, Natalie, rave about Karen Kindred and her work (take a gander at Nat's posts about Karen, and you'll want to see her!), so I'm going to see her this Friday. I am excited to learn new things from such an intelligent woman.
Too often we concentrate on our waistlines and our complexions, but not enough on our minds. I think that everyone should find a therapist that they can trust, and they should spend some time talking with someone that can help mediate their thoughts, and provide them with tools. I hope that Karen is a good fit!
Too often we concentrate on our waistlines and our complexions, but not enough on our minds. I think that everyone should find a therapist that they can trust, and they should spend some time talking with someone that can help mediate their thoughts, and provide them with tools. I hope that Karen is a good fit!
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| Ben has this delightful change tin in his shop, it makes me laugh every time I see it! |
Friday, May 20, 2011
The Funk
I have been desperately and hopelessly sad this week. I think it is the weather. I think it is the lack of gym time. These short periods of sadness are completely normal, and are just one of the features of life, but I'm ready for it to stop.
Yesterday had some highs and (core of the earth) lows. The highs for the day were: (1) taking Logan to the Nickelcade and Baskin Robbins for his birthday. WIN; (2) going to Mekong Cafe with Cam, Tse, Jarom, Sofia, Vanessa, and Ben. BIGGER WIN. (3) Tse bought us a great piece of art for the house. I don't have a picture, but it is calligraphy on a fantastic, thick worn piece of parchment. There are hand drawn ivy leaves and open books surrounding one of the most beautiful quotes ever:
The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries. ~Carl Sagan, Cosmos
I need to focus on the happy things from the week. Ugh.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
God of Thunder
I heard mixed reviews about the new movie Thor, but gave it a go anyway, and I was pleased. To be fair, I like Marvel, so I'm not exactly a hard sell when it comes to this particular type of movie; however, the costumes were cool, the story is good, the effects were well-done, Natalie Portman is gorgeous, Stellan Skarsgard is delightful, and Chris Hemsworth is a sight to behold! Seriously, it was worth the nine dollars just to see his abs:
The pictures just don't do it justice! I would pay to go see it again...
Sunday, May 15, 2011
A Parent's Love
Two of my best friends from high school just welcomed babies into the world. Teegan Miller and Maddix Champion have daddies that used to skip school at my house, and raid my mom's fridge. Out of our core group of friends: Trent = married and a homeowner, Andrew = Married and a homeowner, Tyson = Parent and a homeowner, Zacc = Parent, and Chelsea, well, Chelsea = Student? I know it is a culture thing (specific to Utah), and I'm doing stuff in the right order, but sometimes it feels like I am getting left behind. Sometimes it feels like I'm not a "real" adult without a marriage certificate and a mortgage.
Life has changed so much from the days when my mom used to yell at me, "Trent, Tyson, and those other boys are eating us out of house and home!" In all fairness, they were. Now, those boys are dads.
Camrann summed up being a parent today in what I can imagine are some of the truest words ever written, "
Life has changed so much from the days when my mom used to yell at me, "Trent, Tyson, and those other boys are eating us out of house and home!" In all fairness, they were. Now, those boys are dads.
Congrats, Guys!
Camrann summed up being a parent today in what I can imagine are some of the truest words ever written, "
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Mmmmmm
When I started writing this blog I made myself a promise. I yelled the promise in my head, "THIS IS MY BLOG, I WILL NOT WRITE SOLELY ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH BEN!!!" I can be super demanding (bitchonwheels). I'm completely breaking that rule, sort of, again...
All day long I have been recounting last night in my head. Some nights are so wonderful, so satisfying, and so special, that your mind just keeps going back there. I won't share intimate details, because that would just be rude, but let me tell you, being an adult is great. Trust manifests itself in some of the simplest ways. Intimacy is great, and naked intimacy is even better.
Living with Ben is great. Laughing with Ben is great. Laying on the floor and reading my new book while Ben folds the laundry is great! When Ben lays down on the floor and spoons me, and I put my book down to turn around and make eye-contact while we talk, that is great. Having days that I can't stop thinking about Ben, and it has been two years since our first date, that is awesome.
That is all.
All day long I have been recounting last night in my head. Some nights are so wonderful, so satisfying, and so special, that your mind just keeps going back there. I won't share intimate details, because that would just be rude, but let me tell you, being an adult is great. Trust manifests itself in some of the simplest ways. Intimacy is great, and naked intimacy is even better.
Living with Ben is great. Laughing with Ben is great. Laying on the floor and reading my new book while Ben folds the laundry is great! When Ben lays down on the floor and spoons me, and I put my book down to turn around and make eye-contact while we talk, that is great. Having days that I can't stop thinking about Ben, and it has been two years since our first date, that is awesome.
That is all.
Sometimes the News Can Make You Happy
A couple weeks ago while I was reading the news Ben asked, "Is the world going to hell in a hand cart?" I tried to recall one, just one, positive detail from the New York Times that I could share with him. I couldn't recount one positive story from my readings and that made me sad. I am trying to find something beautiful-something hopeful-every day when I read the news.
Today, I read a great article about the drop in infant death rates in Zambia. The drop can be attributed to a pilot program that trains midwifes on basic diagnostic and resuscitation procedures. Total, the project cost $20,244, and saved an estimated 97 lives. That is a story that I like to hear.
Here is a small excerpt from the article:
Today, I read a great article about the drop in infant death rates in Zambia. The drop can be attributed to a pilot program that trains midwifes on basic diagnostic and resuscitation procedures. Total, the project cost $20,244, and saved an estimated 97 lives. That is a story that I like to hear.
Here is a small excerpt from the article:
"The researchers compared survival rates among 20,000 babies born before the teaching and 20,000 afterward. The first-week death rate among babies had dropped by almost half, they found, to 6.8 deaths per 1,000 live births from 11.5 deaths."
The birth attendant below is using a clay stethoscope to monitor a baby's heart rate.
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| Lynn Johnson/National Geographic, via Getty Images |
Monday, May 9, 2011
Nectar of the Belgian Gods
I am not much of a drinker. I especially don't like beer. However, I could drink Lindeman's Lambic Peach beer all day! According to the Lindeman's site, " Lambics are a complex family of beers, which include dry aperitif beers, full-bodied dinner beers and fruity dessert beers." That sounds like something for everyone, don't you agree?
If you like beer, and you like fruit, run to the liquor store (and if you don't live in whacko Utah, run to your local gas station) to buy a few bottles of this stuff!
Water for Elephants
For Mother's Day we took my mom to see Water for Elephants, she has been wanting to go, and today her wish was granted. Begrudgingly, I made the plans and dragged my little brother to the theater with me and Ben. You see, we have all been bombarded with Robert Pattinson crap since before the premiere of Twilight, and well, if you have seen any of those dreadful movies, the thought of R-Pats as the lead role is kind of dismal. But, I took my "Twi-hard" mother to the movie, and I am so glad that we went!
Water for Elephants follows a young Jacob Janakowski (Pattinson) who loses both of his parents in a car crash on the day he is taking his licensing final to become a veterinarian from Cornell. After being left with nothing he hops on a train and is taken in by circus workers. What ensues is a dramatic unraveling of love, lust, violence, animal abuse, and eventually a great love story. Reese Witherspoon plays Marlena, the wife of August (Christoph Waltz), the owner of the Benzini Bros. Circus. Marlena has your typical rags to riches tale that has trapped her with the jealous and crazy August. August is a tyrant, forever yearning to outdo Ringling Bros., and keep his wife squarely by his side. You will hate August, love Jacob, and be in awe of Reese Witherspoon's looks the whole movie! I cried twice, and laughed a lot. If you want a good love story, the movie is worth a $9 ticket.
Water for Elephants follows a young Jacob Janakowski (Pattinson) who loses both of his parents in a car crash on the day he is taking his licensing final to become a veterinarian from Cornell. After being left with nothing he hops on a train and is taken in by circus workers. What ensues is a dramatic unraveling of love, lust, violence, animal abuse, and eventually a great love story. Reese Witherspoon plays Marlena, the wife of August (Christoph Waltz), the owner of the Benzini Bros. Circus. Marlena has your typical rags to riches tale that has trapped her with the jealous and crazy August. August is a tyrant, forever yearning to outdo Ringling Bros., and keep his wife squarely by his side. You will hate August, love Jacob, and be in awe of Reese Witherspoon's looks the whole movie! I cried twice, and laughed a lot. If you want a good love story, the movie is worth a $9 ticket.
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