I had the time of my life!

Tonight, my besties and I went to see one of the greatest movies of all time

....Dirty Dancing....

at Brewvies. I seriously love, love, love that movie. Dalan loves to tease me that one of my favorite movies growing up was a "nice, wholesome movie about abortion." Luckily for me, my friends love it too, and get that it is a sexy, love story about Johnny Castle and Frances "Baby" Houseman.

It was fun to see it in the theater again. Yes, I said again. I saw it in the theater when I was in high school when it was re-released for it's tenth anniversary. And here I am seeing it again in its 22nd year to honor the late Patrick Swayze, and have a little fun on Wednesday night with the girls. The crowd at Brewvies was quite boisterous, and one lady crossed line from funny to obnoxious with her loud comments, but other than that, the night was awesome.

I have been sitting here trying to pin point my favorite moment of the movie, but there are so many. I like when Johnny runs his hand down Baby's side, and she giggles. I like when Baby's sister's Lisa announces tonight is the night she is going to go all the way with that creep, Robbie. I like when Baby and Johnny lip sync and then crawl toward each other. And of course, I love when Johnny comes back for baby, tells her parents that nobody puts baby in the corner, and they do the last dance of the season together.

What is your favorite part?????

PS: I missed all you ladies that could not make it! We might go see Psycho next month for the City Weekly free movie at Brewvies, let me know if you are down.

Weekend update

This last weekend, we drove up to Heber for Dalan's cousin's wedding. The drive up Parley's Canyon was breathtaking with all the fall colors on the trees. Heber was a perfect backdrop for an early fall wedding. The bride and groom looked so happy, and beautiful. Dalan and I managed to get a few photos of family while we were there. Dalan decided to play paparazzi, and got a few candid photos.

Dalan and Morgan (Dalan's cousin's son)

LaDene (aka Mama Sellers)

LaDene, Jen, and Rob (Dalan's mom and cousins)

Morgan being cheesy!

Mindy, baby Teagan, (Dalan's cousin and baby) and Sam (the groom)

Teagan's close up

Also, things on the Piper and Cooper front continue to go well. Cooper's new favorite trip in to meow just like a cat, and then say, "come here" until Piper goes into the other room. She loves teasing Piper. Piper can ignore Cooper 90% of time, except when she can't see Cooper, and then she goes nuts. We even left them alone today for the first time, because I had class after school. It was only for about an hour, and Piper had already spent all weekend at my parents' house while we were at the wedding, and the Utah football game. Well, it was successful! The dog did not scratch the hell out of the door to the room where we put Cooper, and Cooper was not a crazy, nervous wreck when I got home...Score!

In the year 2005

I looked at myspace for the first time in months tonight. I go there from time to time to spy on people that do not have facebook. Anyway, I had a little mini-blog on there, so I read through it. It was fun to read what was going on in my life four years ago. I had just moved back in with my parents, things were getting more serious with Dalan, and I was notorious for losing my keys. I was so frustrated with myself for totally losing my keys yet again. I will assure you that I think that is that last time I lost my keys. However, it was not the last time I locked my keys in the car....that happened a few months ago.

9/8/05

Well, as some of you know, I was born with a brain defect....I do not have the ability to keep track of keys, and unfortunately this week, my disability has acted up again. I have lost my keys. I last had them Monday morning at approx. 2:45 am, and now nothing.

I have no keys. I am using my spare to drive my car, but the rest are gone. Luckily, I had no house key, because my parents don't trust me (with good reason) with keys. I am suppose to house sit for my friends this weekend, and their house key is gone.....I am the worse house sitter ever. Now I need to take an extended lunch break and get a spare key from them.

My entire family or roommates if you will, have spent the evening searching for the damn things, but to no avail. We even reenacted the night the keys were last seen, but still they remain at large.

9/28/05

Well kids, I found my keys. They were in the bin where I keep all my flip flops....obviously...I don't know why I didn't look there weeks ago. They were found on Saturday. Today, I go to work. I was charging my ipod in the car and then had the extra stress of putting the ipod in my purse so it wouldn't get stolen. So I work a long 8 hour day. I go to leave work...no keys. I thought I was going cry! I screamed to the the heavens above, "dear god, how could this be happening again." I find my keys on the driver's seat of my car. I had to call my roommates (aka parents) to bring my nub (my nickname for my trusty spare key). I now know without a doubt in my mind that I am missing the part of my brain that keeps track of keys.

The parrot and the dog

Cooper and Piper: A "Tail" of Two Creatures

Dalan and I volunteered to watch Cooper, an African Gray parrot, for two weeks. Cooper's mama, Randi, is in Vietnam for two weeks with Nghia, and was looking for someone to look after her bird. I was excited to sign up for this opportunity. We had a parrot growing up, and I think they are fascinating. Randi warned us that Cooper would probably bite us. Nghia cautioned that Cooper would be noisy. Dalan worried that the dog would try to attack the bird. Everyone had their concerns, but not me. I was totally psyched. The following is my bird and dog journal. This is what happens when a high-spirited parrot's and a feisty dog's worlds collide and we are only two days into it....Enjoy!

Saturday Night:

8:45 pm: Randi shows up with the bird. Piper is curious, but not aggressive. Cooper lets me hold her. She doesn't even try to bite me. I secretly praise myself for my abilities to "whisper" to animals and bring inter-species peace. Randi and I go over Cooper's routines and diet. We set her up in the spare bedroom upstairs, and put Cooper to bed for the night. Even Nghia comments on how he has never seen Piper or Cooper that calm before. Praise myself in my head again. Should have been thinking this is the calm before the storm.

9:00- 11:00 pm: Piper is curious about the bird behind closed doors. Runs upstairs occasionally, but relaxes.

11:00pm-4:00 am: Piper gets up approximately every 10 to 20 minutes to inform us that there is a BIRD in the house. She does this by scratching at doors, whining at doors, or licking her sleeping parents. I try taking Piper downstairs to sleep. It makes no difference. Makes it worse even, because now she is running up and down the stairs every 10 to 20 minutes to inform me that there is a BIRD in the house.

Sunday:

4:00 am to 11:00 am: Piper calms down somewhat, and Dalan and I get some sleep. Piper is still getting up and informing us that there is a BIRD in the house, but less frequently. I get up at 9:00 am and take Piper outside. We enjoy the morning together. We also get Cooper up, and she whistles and sings pleasantly from the other room. Piper, and I join Dalan back in bed, and hang out in bed for another hour or so. Dalan gets up with Piper, and I take a nap for about an hour.

Noon: Dalan and I decide to move Cooper downstairs, and onto the kitchen counter. This way Piper can see her, but not reach her, and will hopefully get used to the situation. Take the mystery out of it.

Noon to 6:00 pm: We have a lovely afternoon. Piper is indifferent to the bird, unless I am speaking to her, and then she gets jealous. Cooper talks and sings to herself. We watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cooper laughs when Spicoli is on screen. Dalan and I laugh harder.

6:00- 8:00 pm: Sunday dinner at my parents' house. I think this will be a nice break for the dog and the bird, and rejoice that things are going well during the day. Worry about not getting enough sleep as it is a work night. Think maybe I can convince Dalan that we could have a parrot of our own.

8:00-8:30 pm: Time to feed the bird, and change the water in her cage. Lock the dog up, and try to ease the bird out of the cage. No go. Try distracting bird by playing with her toys. Get my hand bitten. OUCH! Once bitten, twice shy. Distract the bird with food while quickly getting her water out and then back into her cage. Decide to just drop some fresh food through the bars. Put Cooper to bed about 30 minutes early, due to her squawking. First time in 24 hours she had made an offensive sound.

8:30-9:30 pm: Piper goes nuts trying to get the bird uncovered. I have to build barriers, and she breaks through all my barriers. Piper will not even be distracted by her bone. I finally get her interested in her bone. UGGGHHHH! I am exhausted.

11:30 pm- 12:30 am: I am awake. Relieved that Piper is calm and sleeping in bed, but I am worried. What if Piper won't go back to bed after her 4:30 am potty break? What if Cooper is noisy all morning while Dalan is trying to sleep after I go to work? What if Piper won't go back to bed after her morning meds? How can I build a better barrier to keep them separated?

Monday:

8:00-11:00 am: Piper whines and scratches for the bird non-stop. Dalan has to come downstairs to sleep. Both dog and parrot stay relaxed all day long.

5:00-7:00 pm: I get home. The bird starts squawking. I give her more attention, and she stops. And starts up again. Piper and I go upstairs, and employ the squawk it out method. Cooper relaxes.

7:00-7:15 pm: Piper and I go on a walk. Return from walk. Piper is whining differently for the bird. I go into the kitchen. Find bird ON her cage, NOT IN her cage. Lock Piper in the bathroom. Try to come up with a strategy to get Cooper back into the cage without getting bit. Cooper says, "Come on, Cooper." and climbs back into her own cage. Whew! Thank goodness.

7:15-8:00 pm: Cooper squawks non-stop for 45 minutes. Attention does not help. Ignoring her does not help. Cooper gets to go to bed an hour early. I build the better barrier that I created in my head last night. It works. Piper quickly becomes disinterested in the bird when she knows she cannot get to it. The house is calm. Are we getting our routines down or is just the eye of the hurricane?

Why I love the fair!

Last night Ali, McKay, Dalan, and I went to the Utah State Fair. Wahoo! I was so excited. Going to the fair is one of my favorite events of the whole year. As soon as the school year starts, I get excited, because I know the fair is right around the corner. I was a little nervous yesterday, because as soon as we headed to the fair grounds, the sky went dark and it got really windy. I was convinced it was going to rain on our day at the fair, I mean, why wouldn't it? It had rained on us every other time we tried to do something awesome this year. Although it was windy and we felt a few sprinkles here and there, it cleared up quickly and it ended up being a beautiful evening.

We had so much fun. We got to go see all the animals (my favorite part), including the goats (my favorite animal), the cows, the sheep, the pigs, the rabbits, and the pigeons (my least favorite animals EVER). We saw all the arts and crafts, and the produce. We saw people selling a whole lot of crap that can also been seen on TV. We saw a lot of interesting people. We ate caramel apples, fried foods, and drank frozen lemonade. We saw the end of a bear show, and a shark show. We played with farm equipment. We went down the big yellow slide on burlap sacks 9my next favorite part of the fair, after the animals). Ali got growled at by a Carnie for trying to see the world's smallest horse for free. We heard the sweet sounds of Boys II Men in the background. Obviously, I had to take about a billion pictures.

Petting the 3,000 pound bull.

Petting the 3 week old calf.

McKay and the bling he won after donating a dollar to the food bank.
I won a lame airplane.

The gang by the pink pig BBQ.

Ali admiring the arts and crafts.

The Carsellers and the water skiing bison.

McKay and the NASCAR.

Carlson girls and the giant pumpkin.

McKay on the police motorcycle.

Ali on the police motorcycle.

Me on the police motorcycle.

My favorite picture of the night.
All of us sitting in the scoop of a tractor.

Ali in a mini-scoop.

Oh no! Dalan lost his arm in the chipper!

Oh no! So did Ali!

Dalan driving a tractor.

McKay driving the tractor!

Ali showing off Mckay's bling while waiting for the shark show.

If we were cartoons.....

It's a Jewish rite of passage

The other night I feel asleep on the couch while Dalan watched TV. He woke me up several hours later....Of course, I remember none of this, but according to Dalan this was our interaction.

Dalan: Baby, it's time to go bed.

Me: I can't.

Dalan: You can't? Why not?

Me: Because of the bar mitzvahs.

Dalan: What?

Me: I can't go upstairs, because of the bar mitzvahs.

Dalan: Ok, but I am going to bed.

He shuts off the lights and the TV.. I get up and start heading to bed.

Dalan: I thought you couldn't go up, because of the bar mitzvahs?

Me: I never said that!

I go off to bed in a huff, and fall asleep without saying another word.

Nana

My nana celebrated her birthday on 09.09.09. She turned 81, and 8 + 1 is 9. Freaky, right? I hope she does not mind me revealing her age, but anyone who looks as good as she does, travels as much as she does, and has as busy as a schedule as she does, should be super proud of her age. I love my nana so much, and was so happy to celebrate her special day with her. She is so kind and generous. She is a great example of what it means to be a strong and independent woman! Oh, and she is fantastic cook. She makes many fabulous meals, but my favorite thing is going to her house for grilled cheese sandwiches.

Nana and my mama at my wedding. Both looking gorgeous.
Nana did the most beautiful reading at our ceremony.

Nana, Piper, and me. Both Piper and I love to sit by our nana!

See...Piper can't get enough of her nana!

Well, at least it did not rain!

We had BIG plans to go boating with some friends over Labor Day weekend, and of course there was rain in the forecast. Sunday morning was cloudy and cooler in temperature, but no rain and not unbearably cold, so off to Jordanelle we all went. It was not crowded at all, and we found an excellent beachy spot. Half of our group went off the wake board, while the other half played on the beach in the water. It was then time to switch groups after everyone grabbed a snack and a refreshing beverage.

However, the boat would not start back up. Our Captain Gil tried several of his tricks to get the boat started and he got nothing. Right then, the Coast Guard (or the park ranger or whatever they are called on a lake) pulled someone on a jet ski over (or whatever you call what they do) right in front of our beachy spot. We were able to flag him down, and he came over and tried to jump the boat. It did not work. He was being a little sassy and uppity with us, until Scott offered him a PBR for later, and then he was a little more friendly and relaxed. The Coast Guard/Park Ranger boat ended up towing us to the dock. It was quite the adventure. We all had to wear our life jackets, and people we waving at us as we cruised on down the reservoir. In order to get us into the marina, they hooked our boat tandem with the coast guard boat. I have never been tandem boating before, it was pretty sweet.

When we got to the dock, the outboard would not lift, so Dalan and Gil played around with the boat for a little while, until the loose wire/connection was found and we were finally able to get the boat out the water. It was a fun day, with a wacky story. Apparently, boating was not really in the cards for us this summer!

Presenting....the new floors and such

Here is our house shortly after we moved in last year. You can see the light floors, the unpainted walls, and the awful mauve fireplace. I am not sure if you can tell in the picture, but you can also see that the floor in the hallway is facing the opposite direction as the living room and kitchen. Lame!




And here are some picture of us living in the middle of a construction site.....



Finally, here is the (almost) finished product. You can see the floors really well, and the new paint alright. We still have not put up all our directions, and there were still some tools out and back, but you get the idea.