Hot Dude, Comin' Through!

I have never been able to pull off looking like a man before. My features have always been too soft and young looking or something, but today, I did it. People I knew didn't recognize me and people I didn't know waited to hear me speak before they decided what I was. Weird stuff. I received way more "compliments" than I ever wanted about how good of a man I made.

I wasn't going to dress up for Halloween, but Lynne from work (probably joking) said we should be Sonny and Cher. I thought it was the best idea EVER. Since I met Dillon (7 Halloweens ago) I have wanted us to dress up as Sonny and Cher. I also thought it would be a bonus funny if he were Cher and I Sonny. He had all but slaps me in the face every time I bring it up. So it's no wonder I looked at Lynne with buggy eyes and told her she was my unofficial, wrong gendered soul mate when she suggested it. So on the afternoon of the 29th, we decided to go for it.

I went to DI right after work. My high hopes were bridled very quickly when I discovered they had NOTHING I could use. With my hopes lessened, but not defeated, I went on to Savers. The one I went to is located in a part of town that I don't frequent because, frankly, it scares me. Long, long, long, shopping trip short, tons of people that don't know how to say "Excuse me" when they run into you (kids AND adults), one crack-head lady trying to steal merchandise, many trips back and forth searching for an ensemble, Cerra turning cranky and calling Lynne to tell her to bag the entire idea (good thing she missed my call), finding something that would work, and feeling happy again to be on the road heading away from there. I stopped by a couple of other places to find accessories, and by the time I was done, I was excited about the potential of my finds.

Last night, Paul and Emily came over to carve pumpkins. Needless to say, we weren't a lively crowd and did not meet our pumpkin carving abilities. Emily accidentally broke hers and mine was utterly simple and uncreative.


I bought 4 pumpkins and only two got carved. Wow, we were having a rough time in the pumpkin department. Cevin doesn't seem to approve of these not being done.
The entire time we were carving and playing with Paul and Emily, I should have been working on my costume, but I wasn't. I didn't start until about 10p and had a lot of work to do. I pegged the thighs of my pants and added a denim bell to the bottoms. This was the most time consuming part. I also had to turn my denim coat with fur lining into a fur vest with denim tassels. I was up entirely too late last night doing that, but I think it turned out really fun. Please notice the chest hair - my favorite part. I also have wicked chops, but you can't see them.
Lynne looked awesome. I loved that her platforms made her taller than me too. Don't you love the Guitar Hero guitar? Classic!
To our surprise, Ese came dressed up as our security guard. Nice! She went around, "Ma'am, you're too close, please step back." and things like that. She took her job very seriously. I am certain she was prepared to take a bullet for us if necessary.
We tied for 1st in the costume contest at work, but I guess they couldn't have that, so they sent out another email asking those who hadn't voted to vote and I heard we didn't win. It wasn't official by the time I left work, but I think we came in second to an out-of-the-costume-bag Jack Sparrow. What is this?!?! 2003?!?! Lame!

My coworker Emilee blogged about our Halloween work day too. :)

Lazy Days

Dillon and I spent four days in Weiser, Idaho last week and weekend. We got their on Wednesday night and Sasha came into town Friday afternoon. It was fun hanging out on Almosta-Farm.

The weather was perfect - 60's and sunny every day. I couldn't have asked for better weather. Well, I would have liked warmer, but was comfortable and so was everyone else.

Sasha's friend Nikki from Boise picked her up at the airport and brought her to Mama's. I had met Nikki a couple of times before, but never for more than a few moments. She stayed a while and I got to get to know her and her two kids a little bit. She is such a sweet person. She has a little boy, Emmett, that she is pregnant with here when we went to Idaho in 2006, but he's two or so now. Then she has a little girl, Lily, that is 4 months old (I think).

Emmett does the funniest thing. He acts (or is) so enthusiastic about EVERYTHING. He would see the chickens outside for the 20th time, point and say "OOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!" for the 20th time as well. And I would laugh every time he did it. I can see how it would get old if you heard it day in and day out, but I didn't tire of it one bit.


He was not afraid of anything either. The dogs would snarl and bark at him through the fence and he would actually go to them. He chased the chickens around, and, as you saw in the video, wasn't a bit afraid of the horse and goats.

After this he kept saying, "I drive tractor."
He's a pretty darn cute boy.I guess Lily looks just like Emmett did when he was a baby. I can totally see the resemblance.While we were playing outside Friday afternoon, Mama's contractor for her hay barn stopped by. From what I have seen and heard, he's such a nice, friendly man. He's done a great job so far on the barn.It was nice as always to see all the animals. Mama's horse and goat populations are down to two goats and one horse.
It's so sad too because Keyno (the horse) has cancer, so he probably won't be around much longer. He's one of the best horses ever - huge, sweet, calm, loving, gentle.

I was so happy to spend time with my favorite dog in the entire world too. MAX! He almost turns inside out when we first pull into the driveway for a visit. He's so happy to see us he starts ever so quietly whimpering as he's licking me to death. The first night we were there, he cuddled with me for at least an hour even though he was dying of heat. I love that dog.The chickens were well. A little bit larger in number than the last time I saw them - mostly with roosters - but less than Mama normally has. She got these three beautiful chickens from the 99.9% pullet stock at the farm store and they were ALL roosters. I think whoever was sexing the chickens that day got their piles mixed up. They are really beautiful though.
This little shit tried to have a death match with my leg when I went to collect eggs. He would not stop attacking me. He was pecking, flapping, and trying to use his spurs on my leg and foot. Good thing I had long pants on or I might have felt something. I finally had to kick him (more than once) to get him to stop. He's lucky I was feeling merciful and had my hands busy with eggs.We had to go into a bike shop in Ontario, Oregon to get Dillon's tires filled with air and we saw a bicycle that Erik (and Mama) would love - they both have a 'thing' for John Deere. It was cute.
We had some more family photo shoots before we left.
Mama was trying to be naughty again. After the round of ten pictures were done, I looked through them. I said something about all of them and she said, "Did you look at all of them?!" barely able to contain herself. I had, but obviously I missed something. Sure enough.

Cat and Horse

Cerra and Emily liked this one, so I thought I'd show the rest of you. Flurgan floggin yurgan caaaaaaaat! Crazy Scandinavians.

Weiser Good Times

We've been putting around Weiser, Idaho today. Sasha's knitting had her needing to felt some projects she was working on. Mama's washing machine is a front-loader so it doesn't have an agitator. I guess that is an important aspect to felting. So we went into downtown Weiser to use the Klassy Kleaners. That's KLASSY!

The purse she made was impressive to say the least!

While waiting for the washing machines we walked around Weiser. We went to a thrift store, art store, craft store, candy store and then had a picnic in the park.

I got a cute shirt at the thrift store that I think my co-worker, Mark, would appreciate. He is always making fun of me and calls me Idaho. I react with, "No, you da ho!" This shirt couldn't be more perfect.

While at the park, we ate, swung on swings, had a little photo shoot in the autumn leaves and saw the cutest little dog!

Dillon wasn't quite into the photo shoot at first.
He started to warm up a little bit.
This picture reminds me of something... I wonder what it could be...

Then Mom and Sasha were up. Mom didn't want to get on the ground so she was being a tad bit difficult. Here she said, "Say 'ready' right before you take the picture." thinking she was so sneaky.
Then she did this... Look how much fun she was having.
They are so cute!

Sasha about died when this little dog came to the park with her family.
She was pretty damn small and cute.

We had a fun time. I think Dillon was a little overwhelmed by all of our estrogen, but he was such the trooper.

A Hint of Dillon's Wisdom

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger... or retarded."

Dolla Dolla Billz Ya'll

I learned how to make roses out of dollar bills today from here. I made six using $16 - 4 with 3 and 2 with 2. They don't look pro by any means, but they turned out looking a lot better than I expected. I didn't have floral wire so I just used twist ties. You can't even see them. I used silly straws I got from the dollar store (6 for a buck baby!) for the stems. They turned out really cute and fun. I didn't have to tape them in place either because I just folded the end of the twisty tie over and stuck them in the end of the straw.

A Work in Progress

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My Buddy Mario

I have watched a lot of movies this week. We rented three last weekend to have a selection when we went to Scott and Lindy's. I didn't even get to The Bucket List before they were due back. Somewhere in there we saw City of Ember at the theater which we both really liked. I must say that my favorite movie I have watched in a long time was the one I watched tonight.


My friend from work, Salote, lent me a documen-tary (she says that word like that - almost like I would expect the British to say it). Anyway, it's called Mario's Conviction - One man's journey from Mafia to Mormon.



Immediately after watching it, I had to find out where I could buy it. He is such a cute man that has led a most fascinating life. I recommend this movie to everyone, Mormon or otherwise. His willingness to give his life for what he believes touched me deeply and can speak to all.

Run Fatboy Run!

Good movie, by the way. So my coworker, Emilee, sent me a link to The Couch-to-5k Running Plan, and I started today. I need a plan or else I will continue to run less than 1.5 miles every other week, at most, I am afraid. I am also doing a 5k with my friend Renae at the end of November, so I thought this would be perfect.

I like to warm up with a jog and I usually only warm up for 2-3 minutes. This has you warm up with a 'brisk walk' for 5 minutes. I was going to cheat and jog, but I thought I would follow the rules and likely get better results. So I did and will continue to. I will be 'training' three times a week for 9 weeks. My plan right now is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but I may have to adjust here and there.

Be sure to keep track of my progress and cheer me on (or yell at me if I am slacking)!

That Flying Dog Looks Real!

Our friends, Scott and Lindy, invited us to their home for dinner and a movie last night. They made us a lovely meal in their lovely home. I loved their decor.

They live near Little Cottonwood Canyon, and you could pretend you were in the middle of nowhere if you wanted to. You look out the windows into the back, and all you can see are trees and birds. You can't even see neighbors. We saw their cat though. I guess she comes over to their house all the time and spent a good portion of the evening with us. She really seemed to like Dillon.

After dinner we watched Son of Rambow. It's an indie film. It was great. I highly recommend this movie. It was fun, quirky, cute, and meaningful. Scott told us that he and Lindy are still laughing about it today.

He's Huge!

Nolan and Doug the Dog came over to visit tonight. Doug is even bigger than when I saw him last. I thought he was done growing as he will be 2 years old in December. I thought he would just fill out at this point, but he's gotten bigger.

He wouldn't stop licking my face, neck and hair whenever he could. One time he was laying down on the floor and looked so cute I just had to try to use him as a pillow. Of course, he couldn't just lie there and be laid on. He had to get up and maul me.
I love Dougie. He is the epitome of a gentle giant. He is just a big, fun-loving, easy-going oaf.

C'est la Vie

Kathleen came into town last night. She is headed to Provo today to spend time with her kids. She took Paul, Emily, Dillon and I out to dinner and stayed with us last night.

I just recently found out that she and my dad divorced this year. It was really hard for me to hear. I have considered her and her kids family for almost eight years now. I am really struggling with the whole thing right now.

Kathleen and I stayed up way too late last night Wii bowling and talking. I am so glad that she still wants to be a part of my and my brother's lives. She is such a great example of charity, grace, patience, long-suffering, forgiveness, and Christ. She reinforces to me that rising above dismal surroundings is truly a conscience decision that has to be made. I wish her all the happiness this world has to offer.

Secrets...

Jessie tagged me, and I must say, this one makes me nervous. I tend to lack discretion as it is and spew forth way more than one should on my own...

Three Confessions:

1. I took a picture of my poo one time and texted it to my brother to show him how HUGE it was.

See what I mean?!?! I really should stop, but we all know I won't...

2. I am a really good liar but get caught in unimportant lies on purpose to make people think I am a bad liar. It's part of what makes (made - past tense now that I told you my evil ways) me such a good liar.

Holy crap, you know way too much...

3. I am a total video game nerd. I have stayed up all night (as an ADULT) playing anything from Mario Kart to Metroid to Harvest Moon on many occasions.

Misery loves company so I tag Emily, Paul, Mark, Mama-Hawk, Kristen, Becky, and ANYONE else who reads my dirty confessions.

God Painted

Dillon and I went up Big Cottonwood Canyon this afternoon to look at the fall colors. It was lovely. I so wish I would have brought my camera, but I got some pics from our phones. They don't come close to doing it justice, but try to imagine. The colors were remarkable. I tent to dread fall because it symbolizes the end of my favorite season and the beginning of my most hated, but I couldn't help but love it today. I am glad Dillon had the idea to go on a drive.

Fido Steals Another Trophy Shot