Ever wonder who goes to these places . . .

On our way to Peek a Baby to find out the gender.

We went Kardashian style with Janie, Rebecca, and Steve coming along.

We are having a baby girl in June!

Our dog, Bella, gets a lot of attention with 5 girls around. She is kind of nuts, but definitely entertaining. I found these two pictures of Bella as a puppy.

Whippets are really good at jumping and we find it really amusing to watch her jump. I love this picture Haley got of Bella in flight jumping on my parent’s bed . . . where she is not supposed to be. Naughty Bella.

Michael and Evan both find it annoying that we all try to create a personality for Bella and predict what she is thinking. Must be a girl thing. I've got a hunch they both use baby talk with Bella when we're not around.

Cooking

One of my goals this year was to test one new recipe a week. I am trying to build up my recipe library with ones we really like and things I can make without a lot of extra effort. My mom had our family dinners streamlined and I know it will take me awhile to get there. This week I tried a potato and turnip gratin from Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, split pea soup from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, and a hummus recipe from a friend. They all turned out pretty good. I was nervous about turnips in the gratin, but it tasted great. I still want to try a few other potato gratin recipes to find a favorite. I halved the split pea soup recipe and it was still too much for me and Michael. I get frustrated cooking for two because we will have so much for leftovers that by the time I’ve finished them I never want to eat it again. I wish I had pictures of my little creations! Maybe next time.

Here is our small list of the regulars in our recipe library. . .

Black-eyed peas salsa recipe
Broek’s French Toast
Firemeat (A Kakadelas favorite)
Lorraine's French dip (Michael's favorite)
Lemon Chicken
Leah’s Chicken Pot Pie
Deanne's Curried Chicken
Barefoot Contessa's Parmesan Mashed Potatoes recipe
Twice baked potatoes
Pizza with the dough from Trader Joe’s
My mom’s soft Oreos

Mouths

Michael has a strange fascination with people we know and their mouths . . . particularly mine and my family. It must have to do with some sort of interest in my genes. He loves to talk about it over lunch or just bring it up randomly into conversations.

Michael just finished up his finals this week and last night I woke up to Michael standing besides the bed. I asked him what he was doing. He played it off like what he was doing was perfectly normal. I wanted to get him back in bed and back to sleeping. I started asking him questions and tried to talk him out of standing beside the bed. I was half-awake and only remember him starting to talk about dental terms. He said something about my dad and an RPD (removable partial denture).

I fell back asleep after the first episode. Later on Michael woke me because he was talking to me. He said "It's weird you do not think your dad needs an RPD." I asked him "Why do you think my dad needed an RPD?" A few seconds later he replied with "Why do you keep waking me up?" I finally went back to sleep.

I think I need to have a name for Michael’s second personality when he sleeps.

Slideshow From Megan's Wedding

Here is a slideshow from the Jamie Hammond's blog . . .

http://www.jamiehammondphotography.com/webslideshows/evanandmegan/

I love the picture of Haley's speech. Our reactions are priceless.

Favs

We watched "Food Inc." and "Valentino: The Last Emperor" last week and I started to think about my favorite documentaries. Many documentaries I have seen have stayed with me in a way fictional movies have not. I'm always so intrigued by the peek into the way some people live and the way other people think. Maybe it's the same reason Michael likes watching MTV's "16 and Pregnant."

Here's my list . . .

Fog of War
Grey Gardens
Mad Hot Ballroom
Grizzly Man
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
The Gleaners and I

Many of my favorites have been added to watch instantly on Netflix and I'm thinking about revisiting a few.

Paranormalcy

We shared our Thanksgiving meal with cousins, aunts, and uncles that live near my parents. I love catching up with all of my cousins and seeing their kids. We all lived within miles of each other and grew up together. The two cousins that were closest to me in age are both getting married in the next 6 months. Can't wait. Also, my cousin's wife recently signed a book deal with HarpersTeen. They have two kids and are paying off graduate school loans as well as sharing their one car. I'm so excited for them to buy a second car and pay off their loans. It was fun hearing about finding an agent, working on the second book, and meeting all the big wigs at Harpers as well as her "team" at Harpers working on the book. I can't wait to read the book!

Here's the link to the announcement in Publishers Weekly (It's under Kiesten White)
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/ca6685390.html

Here's a link to her blog as well . . .
http://kierstenwrites.blogspot.com/

Flowers at Home

The day before the wedding Kelsea and I helped my mom, Karin, and Robin put the arrangements together. Kelsea and I perfected the art of carnation balls. Robin was the mastermind behind the arrangements and they all turned out beautiful.

I went to great lengths to bring this arrangement back with us to our apartment from Megan's wedding. I'm kind of obsessed with looking at it. The big purple thing is kale and it turned out so great. It's fun to have flowers/kale at home. I wish I was home more so I could enjoy it!

Megan's Wedding

At the temple

At the Rancho Santa Fe Country Club. Michael kept looking for Phil Mickelson after learning he frequents the course.

I love that Michael took this picture and managed to not include the bouquets.

Me and Miguel

My dad giving his speech. I love that he made a Pride and Prejudice reference.

Kelsea and Erin Roach

First dance

Father-daughter dance

Mom, Kelsea, and Erin

The bride

I love this picture. It's hilarious that you can't even see the bouquet.

Haley caught the bouquet!

At the temple when we were going to take pictures it started pouring. We got about 3 group shots and then everyone ran to their car. As we were walking out to our car it stopped raining and it had not been raining before.
I love the boquet toss picture. When Megan and I went to our cousin's wedding and we were pre-teens they included us in the bouquet toss. It was one of our first weddings and Megan had only seen bouquet tosses in movies and she thought you actually fought for the bouquet. That's what she did and she ended up leaving with the bouquet. It was hilarious when she realized she was the only one really going for it.
A couple of us got up for speeches. Haley's was the best. She told Evan she finally liked him and promised to not give him the stink eye anymore.
As fun as weddings are . . . it's nice to not have it done with. I'm sure Megan and Evan are thrilled to just be married already and living it up in Hawaii!

Megan and Evan's Rehearsal Dinner

Megan, Andrea, Ruby, and Kindsay

The Faulkners planned a honeymoon game.

The sisters

The Faulkner's hosted Megan and Evan's rehearsal dinner at Ortega's in Hillcrest. It was delicious and so fun to celebrate with family and friends. We all got to see Evan's proposal to Megan on video.

Concerts

By the time I went to college, I think I had only been to two concerts . . . Shania Twain and Jewel. I went to a couple of concerts in college (only because my cousin/roommate, Nicole, loved concerts and made sure to find any thing going on in Utah). When I moved to LA I was not on a student budget and had scores of concerts accessible to me, so I was finally able to go a lot. It was the perfect storm.

My Top Five Favorite Concerts So Far
1. Beck at Gibson Theatre on his Guero tour (I liked it so much, I went back the next night. The concert was so fun and creative. I still love that album.)
2. Madonna at the Forum on her Confessions tour (Megan and I went to this concert together and we had such a great time. It was so upbeat and fun. The best part was the roller skaters dancing and skating all over the stage.)
3. Muse at the Forum (I didn't even know their music super well, but they put on a great show.)
4. Shakira at the Staples Center (Nicole and I went and we were so high up. We were both getting dizzy, but once Shakira was on the stage I was totally hypnotized by her dance moves. We love Shakira in my family and it was a dream come true to see her perform. Wyclef performed with her for a little as well.)
5. Aimee Mann at the House of Blues (She was such a great live performer)

Honorable mentions: Sia, David Grey, Swell Season, Block Party, Format, and Rattatat. (I'm sure I'm missing some, but these are the first ones that come to mind.)

I would still love to see Amy Winehouse (on a good night), Wilco, Fugees, Justine Timberlake and of course Michael Jackson (so sad)! My mom likes to rub it in that she has seen him perform.

More on UNM Game

My friend sent me this article . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/sports/soccer/18soccer.html?emc=eta1

I enjoyed reading that "She is seeing a clinical psychologist on campus to better understand what caused the hair-pulling incident." I think this article makes her seem even more nutty. I'm pretty sure if a man did it in a basketball game it would still be a big deal.

Megan's Bachelorette Weekend

Click here to view these pictures larger

I had a really fun weekend celebrating Megan's upcoming wedding. She had friends from high school, college, soccer, and LA all get together for a weekend at a beach house in Pacific Beach. The house was right on the beach on the bay side. We talked, walked the boardwalk, rode the roller coaster, had a lingerie shower, watched movies, and had dinner at Gringo's Cantina. On Sunday my Mom and I helped Megan and Evan move in some of their gifts into their new place. I'm excited to see how it looks once everything gets moved in. I'm hoping Evan and Michael are up for continuing Megan and my tradition of fun trips. I can't wait for the wedding!

Lemonade

My friend Sara Jensen made this at one of her cooking classes and I loved it. Michael is a big lemonade fan and loves it when my parents use fresh squeezed lemons off their tree. I made it last week with pizza thinking Michael was going to be so excited. Instead he went to fridge for a Pepsi. = )

It was so delicious that I made it twice over the weekend. I made a smaller batch than her original recipe. Here is my version . . .

Fresh-Squeezed Frothy Lemonade

1 cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 cups skim milk
2 cups club soda

Juice the lemons, add sugar and mix well until sugar dissolves. Add milk and mix well. Add the club soda and pour over ice. Garnish with sliced lemons and a sprig of fresh mint. Add more sugar or lemons to taste if desired.

Cal and Michael

I love these two pictures of Cal and Michael. Calvin adores "uncle." He will pretty much do anything Michael tells him to do. These pictures are from the summer when he came over to swim and he did not have clothes to change into after swimming. We asked him if he wanted to wear Michael's clothes and of course he was thrilled. I think the cuddling picture is so cute. On another weekend we had him over for a sleepover. We got McDonalds, ice cream, went swimming, and watched the Incredibles not once, but twice.

Cal has gotten to know my family a little bit too. He calls my sister “that guy I play karate with” and my dad is “that guy who took him on the motorcycle.”

He is a fun kid to be around and we are so glad we get to live near him and Luke. Luckily I've known Luke since he was born and he is not completely partial to Michael. = )

Movies with Pops

I was listening to NPR the week of Halloween and they started talking about Don Knotts and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken . . . which is one of my dad's favorite movies. On the program they were talking about when they were growing up that no matter what else was going on that day, if they knew The Ghost and Mr. Chicken was on they had to watch it. I started thinking about all the random movies I probably never would have watched if it were not for my dad and his ability to make us all laugh. Once we finish watching one of his "favorites" he loves to go back to his favorite part and watch it again . . . like to the part in Romancing the Stone where they get caught up with the drug lord and the “bad guy” is shocked to find out that she is "the Joan Wilder," his favorite author. (I’ve included the script below).

He also has an uncanny ability to remember movie lines. I'll call him after I've watched one of his favorites and he always remembers the best parts and lines. It drives my mom crazy that he can do this yet still not remember people's names. Here are some of the movies that remind me of my dad. . .

· The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (he loves the song from it as well as "Atta boy Luther")
· Romancing the Stone
· Indiana Jones (His Halloween costume for years)
· Star wars
· Vegas Vacation (anything having to do with Cousin Eddie)
· Christmas Vacation
· Top Gun
· The old Pink Panther movies with Peter Sellers (we used to watch these on Friday nights growing up)
· Young Frankenstein *

*I did not see Young Frankenstein until I was in college. When I finally saw the movie it explained half of the random things my dad would say and I had no idea where it came from like when walking up stairs . . ."Stay close to zee candles, the staircase can be treacherous"

It has come in handy some times that I’ve seen some of these movies more times than I can count. At my old job I worked with mostly middle-aged men. They were trying to remember the name of housekeeper from the Pink Panther movies that Inspector Clouseau would fight with. I quickly blurted out the name and they were all shocked and could not figure out how I would know that. Thanks dad for watching all these movies with us!

From Romancing the Stone
The Joan Wilder?
You are Joan Wilder, the novelist?
JOAN: Yes, I am.
JUAN: I read your books. I read all your books.
Come in. This is Juanita Wilder!
The one who writes the books that I read to you
on Saturdays.
MAN: Juanita.
.Juanita! .Es Juanita!
- Come in.

Mad Men

We watched the season finale of Mad Men last night. So great. It was heartbreaking yet still had some really funny moments. I love the clothes, I love the characters, I love the time period, and I love that it is not as gimmicky as the rest of the shows on TV. This article lists some of the highs from the episode.

http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/11/09/mad-men-watch-buying-the-farm/?xid=rss-topstories

We did not realize it was the finale until later on. I'm so disappointed we have to wait so long for new episodes.We did catch the end of the Keeping Up With the Kardashians Wedding episode and the teaser for Season 4 looked pretty enticing. Not quite Mad Men, but the Kardashians have been making some entertaining TV these days. They said it best on Wonderwall "Take a lead from the Kardashians, Kristen: they get married and knocked up all for the sake of trashy TV. Now THAT'S commitment to performance art." (http://wonderwall.msn.com/movies/Lauren-Conrad-Says-Goodbye-on-The-Hills-1515392.story#wallState=0__/tv/just-wondering-does-kristin-cavallari-really-think-shes-allowed-to-choose-who-she-dates-1523617.story)

Kings Game

We got to go to the Kings game on Saturday. Our friend got us great seats.

Mr. Beckham was also supporting the Kings with his kids. Here is my pathetic attempt at getting it on camera. = )

ESPN

Kelsea's team made ESPN . . .

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4628040

Carmel

Click here to view these pictures larger

Here are some pictures from Carmel from over the summer. It was such a fun trip. We went bike riding, played tennis, golfed, had great dinners, and walked around town.

The Rhino Principle

I read this article a long time ago, but it has stayed with me. I can be indecisive, a perfectionist, and I get distracted way too easily. I have often thought of the Rhino Principle when I am confronted by things that are overwhelming or that I just do not want to do. When I was in school I always needed a deadline and I would wait until the last minute to do something because it had to be finished. Now that my life does not function on deadlines I have to muster up some sort of self-motivation. The visual of a Rhino charging and of charging until it is finished seems to work for me. I found the article online so I thought I would share . . .

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2006/0130/031.html

Our Latest Obsession

Here’s a picture from our Alaskan cruise where we taught Rebecca and Steve to play Settlers. They’re hooked.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

We made whole wheat pancakes last week for dinner and they turned out great. I love pancakes, but I usually end up feeling sick after eating them. I did not have that problem with this recipe.

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups skim milk
1/3 cup egg substitute or egg
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until hot. Pour batter on skillet 1/3 cup at a time making sure edges don't touch. Cook until golden brown and bubbles appear on top of the pancakes. Flip and continue cooking until other side is golden brown.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Griffith Observatory

Downtown skyline

Janie and Michael

We had a great time at the Griffith Observatory with Michael's mom. It was a beautiful day and their first time at the Observatory. After the Observatory we met John, Bev, Calvin, and Luke at Paradise Cove in Malibu for lunch.