here are some pictures of my trip out to L.A. i went there to observe the residents at UCLA's pediatric dentistry program. i didn't take any pics of the pediatric dentistry, which was cool, but i did take pics of the getty center, venice beach, and hannah montana movie premier. thanks for the hospitality mark and bekah!, and mark and michelle! i think the pictures are really big for the first half, and then smaller for the second half.


ps- melissa's in utah right now so texas is a little more boring than usual. i was however able to get around to working on the yard (mulching / weeding), playing some racquetball, and catching up on my golf-watching. but mostly i'm looking forward to thursday cuz melissa and matilda get back.









this is hollywood boulevard.

this is my hands in ahnold's hands.

the photographers are really focusing. this is taylor swift's back.

this is hannah's friend. i'm pretty sure she's famous and on hannah montana's show.

this is the red carpet and the bright lights. awesome.

this is vanessa williams. she's famous.

this is billy ray. i can't tell if he's good looking, really weird looking, or creepy looking. melissa just saw this movie and said it is the best movie she's seen in the last couple years.

this is the best pic i got of miley cyrus. i didn't even realize she was in it 'til i got home and was looking through my pictures. my little sis-in-law, lizzy, made me promise i'd get a shot of miley. well, lizzy, here you go.

this is an example of what the people who sell stuff at venice beach live in.

here are some cool california kids doing cool california stuff. skateboarding without shirts but with long hair. awesome.

and this is me. i didn't know i was going to the beach today, so i wasn't wearing my rash-guard or my sunscreen.

the amazing michelle does it again...

so, my super delightful and MUY taliento (spanglish for talented)
amiga (friend who is a girl) has done it again.

p a i s l e y apron from epicurean style

amazing multiplied by TWO = me with my jaw on the floor

p e n e l o p e apron from epicurean style

so, yes, she is offering ANOTHER give away!?!?!
all's you got to do is go to her EPICUREAN STYLE blog (which is fantastic) and comment for your chance to win one of these beautiful creations.
did I mention they are REVERSIBLE too?! will wonders never cease?!

she kills me.

remember that she just had a baby a few minutes ago (ok, maybe not MINUTES but DAYS... seriously)??

wow, we are all lucky today.

i hope i win.
or, because i'm nice, maybe you have a chance to win too.
check it. yo.

Flickr

Let's talk about Flickr for a moment. I just installed iLife '09 on my computer (pretty cool) and they have a link where I can upload pictures from iPhoto to Flickr. Great. Cool.

But, does anyone know how to create posts where I do COLLAGE of images FROM Flickr to post on the blog?

I'm gonna research this on google, but in the meantime, if any one has any hints on how to do that, feel free to let me in on the secret.

In the meantime, let's look at some cute pictures of Matilda (uploaded the old fashioned way).

oh, that aaron. part two.

aaron: "Can I be a man and still like Mariah Carey?"
me: "No."
aaron: "Guess I can't be a man, because I just love that Mariah Carey."
(all this as he pumps up the smooth jam).

oh brother.

clarification---he thinks her music is awesome. her? not so much.
I am definitely not a big fan of HER, per say, but I will admit, she is a little bit of a hit maker.

• 1990 - "Vision Of Love"
• 1990 - "Love Takes Time"
• 1991 - "Someday"
• 1991 - "I Don't Wanna Cry"
• 1991 - "Emotions"
• 1992 - "I'll Be There"
• 1993 - "Hero"
• 1993 - "Dream Lover"
• 1995 - "Fantasy"
• 1995 - "One Sweet Day" (w/ Boyz II Men)
• 1996 - "Always Be My Baby"
• 1997 - "Honey"
• 1998 - "My All"
• 1999 - "Heartbreaker"
• 1999 - "Thank God I Found You"
• 2005 - "We Belong Together"
• 2005 - "Don't Forget About Us"

I was going to attach a picture of her, but I can't/won't. I think my mom needs to teach her a little lesson on modesty. Honestly, I want to throw her a jacket. Pah-lease. Not cool, Mariah.

So, yes, I do not support her way of dressing, but you have to admit, there are a few great songs listed above. I found them here.


ANYWAY, this is the emotion I felt when Aaron disclosed the above fact.

the end. for now.

oh, that aaron.

Kids say the darndest things.
I am very well aware of this fact.
And, consequently, I am a big fan of little kids and the things they come up with.

I was tempted to put on the sidebar some funny things that have come out of this kid's mouth (aka Aaron). Even though he is my husband, sometimes, I swear, he is 7 years old. I'm not mocking, just stating a fact. I can honestly see him as a 7 year old half the time. No wonder he wants to go into pediatric dentistry. He wants to work on his pals. But, ahhh, I digress...

Every so often, I'll be putting up a sampling of a recent conversation. Why? Because I feel that you, the public, need to benefit from the delight that is Aaron.


Friday, March 13, 2009. 12:02 a.m.

me: "Aaron, what would you say is your favorite meal? Like, if you could eat one last meal, what would it be?"

him: "I guess it would be fried cheese."

me: "So, like ravioli?"

him: "No, fried cheese."

me: "So, like mozzarella sticks?"

him: "No, just like cheddar thrown on a skillet."



sick.
Thanks, seven year old. I, for one, would choose a much better meal. But, whatev, seven year olds like what they like.

:)

Oh, and in case you needed another beautiful image for your brain---try this one on for size.

goodness. this child. beautiful.

and here is a recent pillow i made. i'm having fun making these things. my mom helped me figure out how to do them and i've even taught a few peeps how. soon, i'll post the you-tube videos we made (yes, we're THAT high tech) and .pdf file with instructions. Easy cheesy.
Anyway, Matilda seems to like them too.


peace out. yo.

lookin' good in the neighborhood...

Just some cute photographs of the little miss. I thought you may want to see.
Goodness, she is cute.

yes, she can wave "hi" and "good bye". too bad I'm poking her eye out!

here she is doing a kung fu move. she is so multi-faceted.

p.s. a shirt very similar to this is up on my etsy website. nice plug. 'nuff said.
***(update! update! the link doesn't work anymore, b/c the onesie has been SOLD!
feel free to contact me if you'd like a custom one or wait until I update my shop again).

you don't have to tell me. I know. she's darling. ok, i'm bias.

Oh, and in honor of yesterday's St. Patrick's holiday, here are some cupcakes I made a week or two ago. Consequently, I had a few friends who were super interested in who would win the Bachelor. So, I decided to do a special little tribute in honor of the event.


My good friend, Ashley, posted this on her blog. Pretty cool how she made it all "collage-like" and fancy. She's clever like that.

Anyway, it was pretty funny. And, of course it was "the most dramatic finale in Bachelor history." Melissa (love her name) was a champ and I was sad for her. What a waste of our lives!!! I'm just sayin'...
p.s. notice how I used a marker to make the ladies modest. it's all about the details.

So, hope you didn't get pinched yesterday. And, if you were lucky, you found some gold.
Good work. Feel free to send some my way. Thanks in advance.

we are different.

perhaps I should have attended this meeting. oh well. it was for bikes anyhow...

aaron and melissa are two very different people.

often times I'll quote from I am Sam, "how can we be so different and feel so much alike?"---love that movie by the way. Remember this line? " P.S. I love you like in a song, I love you like in a song." Man alive! good stuff.

ANYWAY, the point is this. Aaron reacts to situations MUCH differently than I would. Which, in most cases, is a very good thing.

Take this story, for example. On Wednesday, Aaron was talking to me on the way home from school. He tells me approximately where he is and says, "I'll be home in about 12 minutes..." (he's really good at estimating driving time. I stink at that game).

So, I start re-heating dinner (yes, when I go to the effort of making dinner once, you can bet we'll have enough for about 3-4 more meals), and look at the clock and think to myself, "huh, it's been more than a half hour. I better give that boy a jingle" (those were my exact thoughts--"boy" and "jingle" happened in my mind).

So, he answers and says he just pulled into the subdivision and the reason it took so long was because he discovered he had a flat tire. So, he pulled over, put on a spare, and proceeded home.

I was SHOCKED that he had a flat tire and hadn't heard anything. But then, I remembered, Aaron is Aaron and he is not Melissa.

Had the same event happened to me, I would have first pulled over to see what was going on, then proceed to panic, then dial Aaron, and depending on the hour of the day---start crying. Then, I'd probably call my mom and perhaps cry to her. Then, depending on how long it was taking to be rescued, call my sisters and share the mishap with them.

After all this thinking to myself, I decided this:
1). I'm glad I have a support group.
2). Thank heavens for cell phones.
3). It's time to learn how to change a tire.


Moral of the story. Aaron and I are different, and that's okay. And, in this scenario, I'm glad the flat tire happened to him and not me (no offense, Aaron).
I think he'd agree.

the tale of a love.

Aaron totally won. He did. Contest over. Good job.

So, a little background info. might be nice, yes?

I have been bugging Aaron to write me a note for QUITE some time. This dates back to my first Mother's Day being a mother. Yes, it was right after Matilda was born. I told him, "You don't need to go out and buy me a gift... just write me a good note and I'll be happy."

Well. Nothing happened.

Same story, different holiday. Birthday: no. Christmas: no. Anniversary: no. So, let's just say, I wasn't too happy. Yes, we went out to dinner to celebrate these occasions, but that wasn't something meaningful---rather, a good excuse to not cook myself.

So, I told Aaron that my hopes were high for Valentine's Day 2009. I said something along the lines of, "This isn't acceptable. By you doing NOTHING it says to me that I am not important or worth your thought."----and, I was serious about him doing something great, or else we'd have some MAJOR problems in life.

So, the pressure was DEFINITELY on. Sorry, but what's a borderline-insecure-girl to do?

Well, my friends, he delivered. Look at what I woke up to.
Try a 7 page letter. With illustrations. I won't include every page, but a few highlights:
(click image to enlarge)

So, we did it.

matilda at breakfast. a little fuzzy, but you get the idea.

sticky bun goodness. thank you for that delight.

Went to Guenther House and enjoyed a delicious breakfast. Matilda was happy. It was great. I went upstairs and bought some cute tall red birthday candles for Matilda's 1st birthday cupcakes, and a bag of gingerbread mix that my friend, Mandee, had raved about.

Next we went to Cavender's Boot City. We spent over two hours checking out boots, trying them on, Aaron changing a poopy diaper in the middle of the walkway---and right then, customers walked by. SAD for everyone involved!

Tried on lots of boots. Decided on this pair.

Then, off to the massage therapy school where I got a ONE HOUR massage. It was great. I felt comfortable and I had a really nice older lady---for some reason I was worried it would be a guy my age or something, and then I'd be all nervous/weirded out. Luckily, it was an old lady. Whew! Disaster averted!!

Some parts hurt when she was trying to get out, in her words, "the largest knot she had seen" (nice)... she would put all her weight on her elbow and dig into me. Not fun. Almost cried, but did feel better in the end. Good times. I get used to that treatment...

(side note: it was so great that I even had my mom get one when she came to town. For $20, why not?! She, too, thoroughly enjoyed the experience).

THEN! We went to La Madeline for Lunch. I got a chicken cordon bleu sandwhich, which really wasn't that awesome, and Aaron got some french something (shocker there!)... all in all, though, it was great. And, Matilda LOVED their free bread.

Great day. When we got home, I even got to take a nap. Best day!! It was great.

I loved the note, especially.

I look at it all the time.

Aaron totally delivered.

best. valentine's day. ever.

(second side note: i have since taken BACK the boots. (insert gasp! here). you see, even though I have looked/waited/saved up for/deliberated for over three years about these boots---in the end, I couldn't swallow the price for those specific puppies. Seriously, it was expensive. So, I think I'll use that money toward a wide format printer instead... and opt for a cheaper pair of boots too. Yes, if you do the math, it would equal the total cost for the original pair of boots. You see, I'm SOMEWHAT practical. And, perhaps, this way, I can have my cake AND eat it too. (Aaron thinks I use that statement WAY too often. Whatev.)

good times. happy am I.

give the people what they want.

here's Matilda in her Sunday best. Enjoy.

domestification... again.

So, the blog is lacking.

Which is ironic, because almost everyday something happens or I think about something and I think to myself, "I should blog about that..."---yet here we are, lacking.
Sorry. Tough luck, Charlie.
Which leads me to my next thought, "Cheer up, Charlie..." Thanks, Willy Wonka.
Ahh... I digress.

So, this whole new phase of my life called "Domestification" has been an interesting one. An interesting phase, indeed. There are many perks to this new life, but then so many non-perky things. I have this cycle: Do what I SHOULD do before I do what I WANT to do.

But, I realize that there are TONS of things I SHOULD be doing---thus leaving no time for what I WANT. But, this is the "Catch 22", because really, I enjoy things like a real dinner (not that cereal isn't wonderful ALL the time...), having a clean house, dishes done (for the most part)---but the problem is this: It is a RINSE and REPEAT cycle EVERY SINGLE DAY. So, I have been seeing a little monotony in my life.

So, again, I find a balance is necessary. Because if I continue on this path that I am on right on, I will most likely turn to metal and slowly become a robot instead of who I really am.

Ahhh... lessons learned. So, with that said, I am not saying that I will necessarily be bloggin' a TON more---but I think it's safe to say:
Melissa's comin' around the mountain once again.
CHoo ChOOoo!







with that said, let's adore the beautiful child, shall we? yes, let's.

these two are funny, because she is singing her heart out in these. she LOVES to sing/scream.

Way to be, Matilda. 10 months later, you still are pretty darn cute.

These next ones were taken on Aaron's birthday eve when the Jessops came over on a little walk. I thought it was special that Tim and Aaron had called each other to plan their outfits in advance, and had to capture the moment on film. Little Dylan completes the fun.

This one is pretty tricky. Who knew you could fit THREE kids on one stroller? What cute kids.

So, good enough post to start? Good. I'm glad you think so.

onesie extenders??

let's talk.

okay, Matilda is a long child. It makes sense, Aaron is her dad.
Nuff said.

So, I heard about something called a "onesie extender" that enables the child to get a little more wear out of her little onesies. So, I have been looking online and found these ones from "One Step Ahead Baby" (gotta love the name), and curious has anyone ever purchased these before? Or something similar? Did they work well?

Any information you have, would be great. Otherwise, I'll just get this 10 pack and call it a day. And, hopefully it will not be a waste of money.
So, let me know if you have any wisdom you'd like to throw my way.
Thanks, peeps.
Crazy that she is only 10 months and starting to wear 18 month clothing! Whaaaat?!