On a Vacay

Sorry for the lack of postings (once again)...but I am on vacation with Kate in OMAHA!! It was sort of a last minute decision, but it is so great visiting my family. You'd think I'd have more time to post since I have super eager baby-sitters here, but I've just been enjoying my time away from the computer for a little while.

Our plane ride out here (mostly the layover) has been officially ranked in my top 10 worst experiences of all time (stay tuned for that little gem--I'm sure you're all dying to know).

Before I left, Andrew's photo "Ashen Flame" won first place in the landscape category at the BYU Bean Museum Photography Exhibition and Contest. Yay!! He also got an honorable mention for "Sandstone Sanctuary." We were thrilled to get the news. The competition is for professional and amateur photographers alike, and he had some stiff competition. We were also thrilled to find out that winners actually get money! Not sure how much or anything, but that was an added bonus that we had no idea about when he entered.

My wonderful sister treated me to an eyebrow waxing before I left, since I had recently pulverized any semblance of normal-shaped eyebrows. Do you ever go to town with the tweezers, thinking there is still room for error--only to step back and see the ghastly mess? Ugh. It will take some time for them to grow back, but at least I have an idea now (since the waxing) of where their shape should be.

I also got my hair cut! Finally! I think it has actually been a year since I've had it cut. I wanted to wait until I had hit my goal weight and then have a little makeover, but it's been taking me a lot longer than I expected to hit that goal weight...so I wanted to cut it before it hit my butt. I got four inches cut off and got some long bangs--I really like it. It's still really long! I can't believe how long and ratty it had gotten.

I'll post pics later. I wish I had gotten a before and after, but I forgot.

For medicinal purposes only.

After Kate goes potty, she always asks for whatever delicious treat she knows (or hopes) is in the house and readily available for her consumption (as her reward). She usually goes through a list: "Chocolate?" Raised eyebrows, head nod. No chocolate. "Snack?" Hopeful look. No snacks. "Cracker?" Head tilt, smile. No crackers. Scraping the barrel--"Banana?" No bananas. "Bread?" Bread is generally not included in the list, but if there's nothing else, she goes for whatever she can.

So the other night, after she went potty, I expected the usual list to come out. I was dreading it, though, because we didn't have anything that she would want. But she surprised me with her request. The very first item on her list was, "Medicine?" Raised eyebrows, head nod.

That made me chuckle for quite a while. She had been sick that week and had one too many doses of medicine, I guess. (And for those of you wondering--no, I didn't give her medicine for her treat.) :)

A REAL Man

Andrew's dad, Andy, came down this weekend to borrow our Nova for work. The car he had been using broke down. Except that our car hasn't been able to go for more than 10 minutes without overheating in a long while. Our very helpful neighbor gave Andrew some tips on fixing cars (apparently there are manuals you can buy for your car to tell you how to fix everything), and lent him his tools. The water pump needed to be replaced, and the part only cost like $30 (compared to $150 or more to pay a mechanic to do it). Anyway, Andrew decided he was up for the challenge of working on it himself, and so got to work.

I'm not sure of the word to describe Andrew when he would come inside to get something. His clothes were black, his hands were black, there were black smudges even on his face. You could just tell that he felt like a man. Sure there were screams of, "It's in my eye!" and "It's spraying acid EVERYWHERE!" with the occasional small broken part he would bring to me and ask me to get a new one at the store. But really, I was very impressed that he did it. It's definitely not an easy part to start with when learning how to work on cars, but he figured it out. Of course, there is still a little more to be done on the car (even after LONG freezing cold hours of working on it), so we have yet to witness the car starting/running again...but I don't think it could be worse than when he started. There weren't any major parts left over or anything. :)