TEN THINGS ABOUT ME

I was feeing left out when everyone was typing their "50 Things About Me" but I don't have time to type fifty, so I'll type 10.

1. Sometimes, when I'm walking down a long hall and I'm all alone, I pretend like I'm a model on the catwalk.

2. I was the secretary for my eighth grade chess club. Yep, you read that right. It was awesome. We met every week or so and had pizza. Mind you, I had never played chess before, and the chess-crazed kids stomped me, but it was still fun.

3. I LOVE Oreos. I could eat and eat and eat them. I don't think I've ever stopped eating them because I've been full. I just have to stop when it's no longer socially acceptable to eat any more. It makes me sad.

4. To eat my Oreos, I twist it apart, scrape out the cream and put the sides back together. Then I dunk them until they're soggy then devour. It gets on Candice's nerves but that's really the best way to eat them. I encourage you to try it. (I only eat them that way when not in public b/c it gets stuck in my teeth.)

5. When I was little, I didn't really watch cartoons or anything. My favorite shows were Saved by the Bell and MacGyver. MacGyver was a hunk.

6. I also decided in either second or third grade that my favorite artist was Vincent Van Gogh. I thought he was just misunderstood. I felt like if we had been friends, I could have gotten him to not cut his ear off.

7. I had appendicitis when I was little. Two weeks later I got an obstructed bowel from the scar tissue. I was out of school for a month, but thanks to Mrs. Johnson, I passed fourth grade.

8. I tried out for the cheerleading squad in high school and didn't make the team. Ouch. But it's probably due to the fact that I'm the LEAST flexible person I know.

9. I didn't have a date to my senior prom but went anyway. Me and another girl with like 10 couples. Lame. What a waste of time and money!

10. My favorite job was also my most disgusting - working at the MTC cafeteria. Sometimes, if I was really hungry, I would eat off of the plates that came through the dish line. I mean, those missionaries wouldn't even touch their donuts! That's insane!

Here's a video of me and Sam playing together:

It's Official! (Finally...)

Last night, Dan was sworn in as a Texas lawyer. (Pending he pays all of those pesky fees. Did you know there's an occupation tax? Ridiculous.)

Sam and I were invited for the occasion. We even got our own name tags. Pretty sweet deal.

After lots of various speeches, Dan held up his right had and repeated after somebody that he basically wouldn't be a crooked lawyer. We celebrated by picking up some Taco Bell on the way home.

Major flash in this picture, but aren't his eyes beautiful? I used to hope he'd get green eyes like Dan and me, but now I kind of hope they'll stay blue. We'll see what happens.

The Latest

The other day I went walking with a girl from our ward and a girl who used to be in our ward. They heard that Dan passed the bar and one of them kindly offered to watch Sam while Dan and I went out to dinner to celebrate. Sam has never had a babysitter before other than once when Mom watched him so I could go see Batman. (Thanks, Mom!) Dan had been wanting to get a babysitter for a while so I thought this would be a good opportunity. Friday night we dropped Sam off right around his bed time and headed to the Olive Garden. Dinner was great and our waiter was really nice. Dan and I had a wonderful time! When we went back to pick Sam up almost 2 hours later, it was clear that he had basically been crying the ENTIRE TIME! They promised us that he hadn't been that bad but they started saying things like "Well, he fussed a little so we showed him the fish tank. He liked that a little bit but then got bored [aka screamed] so we did such and such..." I felt really bad. I never thought Sam really cared who he was with let alone cares when Dan and I are gone! He was even doing the pathetic kind of hiccup crying for a while after he had really stopped crying. It was really sad. I guess we should have started getting babysitters earlier. We gave them a gift card as a thank you.

Yesterday we went on a hike in Lake Houston Park. I would call it more of a nature trail. The elevation never really changed. We saw such exotic animals as butterflies, lizards, squirrels, and frogs. Very wild, I must say. There were tons and tons of mosquitos but I am happy to report...
MOSQUITO COUNT:
Kristen - zero
Dan - ten.
I guess my blood is just too sweet for them to handle.

The park had a swing set so Sam gave it a go.



After that, we drove around the suburb of Crosby, Texas to see what it was like. Not good. Unless you're a trucker. They had a lot of trucker auto shops and stuff. Now we can cross that one off the list.

100th Post

This entry is very fitting for our 100th post.

DAN PASSED THE BAR EXAM!!!

Once he is sworn in on the 12th, he will officially be a lawyer. I am so proud of him. He has worked so hard and it was especially challenging for him to study with a new baby at home but he did it! Sam is very proud of his dad.

TAGGED

8 shows I like to watch
The Office
The Biggest Loser
Ellen (Can't wait for her to get off her Obama soapbox)
Oprah
AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS (Seriously, I could watch that show for hours. So stinkin' hilarious.Here's a halloween-esque montage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2feau4U7N9o)
Seinfeld
Project Runway
Home shows like Flip That House

8 things I did yesterday
Slept in (Thank you, Sam!)
Worked out in the apartment gym while Sam fussed the whole time
Showered
Finished reading These is my Words (I'd recommend it)
Had Family Home Evening with Dan
Played Mariokart with Dan
Made sausage egg mcmuffins for dinner
Took Sammy on a long walk

8 places I love to eat
Anywhere someone else is cookin'
Fuddruckers
Cafe Rio (See you in two weeks!)
Cheesecake Factory
In-N-Out
Papa Johns (Well, I don't eat there, but you know what I mean.)
Red Robin
Anywhere with Dan

8 things I am looking forward to
Losing the rest of my baby weight (So close, but yet so far)
Getting a mini-shopping spree when I lose the rest of my baby weight
Going to Utah in two weeks for my cousin's wedding and to see some friends and family
This weekend - maybe going camping?
Going to Austin for Thanksgiving
Going to Virginia for Christmas
Getting a new book to read
Dan's birthday

8 things on my wish list
A wagoneer
Short lines when I go vote today
A fun vacation with Dan
A home that's not too far from Dan's work and doesn't cost like a million dollars. Or half a million dollars.
Learning how to knit
Good (read: warm) weather when I go to Utah
For Sam to be good on the plane rides to and from Utah
That the laundry would miraculously do itself.

I tag anyone who wants to do this!

HALLOWEEN

We carved our pumpkins on Monday night as part of FHE. We used templates. Bet you can't guess who carved the wolf!

(Here's a hint:)

We forgot our camera for the ward's trunk or treat. I was in charge of the donut-on-a-string activity. No one would do it except for 10-year olds and missionaries. Nonetheless, it was pretty hilarious. Dan and I were dressed as angels. Again. And Dan got picked on. Again. But he's a trooper. Here's a picture we took of Sam when we got home.

Our Little Pumpkin

I took Sam to a pumpkin patch to get some cute fall shots. I used a film camera and a digital camera. I don't know if it was because the film had been in there for a while or what, but the quality of the film pictures is totally inferior to the digital pictures. I'm kind of bummed because while I was taking them, I thought they would come out better. Anyway, here's our little cutie pie!

Our New Tradition

It's kind of hard to get out and do things when your baby goes to sleep at 7 or so each night. (Not that we're complaining; Sam sleeps like a dream.) Dan and I have resigned ourselves to this fact and have taken up a new tradition: MARIOKART.

Pretty much every night for the past week, Dan and I have squared off for the ultimate battle: Princess Peach (Dan) vs. Wario (me).

We don't have the fancy new version, just N64. (As a side note, I bought Dan Mariokart for Christmas like 4 years ago but I really bought it for myself. It's the only nintendo game where I can hold my own.)

We're always the same characters and we always play battle mode. Two games per course. Dan usually comes out ahead but every once in a while, I have this moment of clarity and rip Dan a new one. Dan accused me of practicing while he's gone at work. Not a bad idea!

Dallas

This past Thursday through Saturday, Dan's firm hosted a "New Lawyer Retreat" in Dallas. Sam and I took the opportunity to tag along and see the area. The drive up was nice. It reminded us of Virginia with all the bushy trees.

Dan's agenda was pretty packed, so Sam and I did our own thing. Thursday we went to the BYU vs TCU game with Rebecca, Sydney, and Talmage. It was great to see them!

I was SOO looking forward to this game. What a disappointment! Every time I go to a BYU game, they lose. I am their curse. I'm like Jessica Simpson distracting Tony Romo at the Cowboys game. Not good.

Funny story: I was hoofing it trying to get to Will Call before the game started so I could pick up my ticket. I had Sam in a front carrier. I noticed a pack of 13- or 14-year-old boys was riding towards me on skateboards. There was one in the front coming right at me who wasn't paying attention. I yelled for him to look out, but he didn't hear me. So when he got close enough and was about to run into Sam, I totally stiff-armed him and he went flying off his board. Booyah. I was like a mama bear protecting her cub. I felt very liberated.

Sam was really hungry so I had to feed him at the game. I hiked all the way to the top of the emptiest bleachers I could find. Then a boy came and sat right across the aisle from me. Awkward! So I hiked even higher.

Afterwards we found Rebecca.It was fun to see all of the cougar fans but let's be honest. What a bummer.

When we got to the hotel, Sam flipped on the old flat screen to unwind and lift his spirits. Saturday I went to the Dallas Aquarium because that's the only place the hotel's driver would take me to. He forgot to mention that it was $20!!!! Sam liked the spotted sting rays. I liked the "Goliath Bird-eating Spider." Seriously, that's what the sign said.

All in all, I thought Dallas was a nice city. The traffic is HORRIBLE, but the suburbs looked great but if I were to live there, I would totally buy some land south of downtown where no one lives and take up a recluse lifestyle.

By the way, did anyone watch the 20/20 special with John Stossel? I love John Stossel. He's the best. If you want to catch some clips from his latest special which includes info about farm subsidies, government beaurocracy, etc. Watch it HERE. The video clips are on the right.

Recap.

We went to see the bats under the bridge. Somehow bat poop got wedged between my foot and the top of my flip flop. That was disgusting. Dan got majorly bitten by mosquitoes. There were tons of bats. Here's a video.

Rating of that outing: 6.5/10. I would go again if we had a visitor who was bat-crazed or if I wore a giant mosquito net. A flashlight would have been nice, too.

Saturday morning we went to the temple. It was really nice and peaceful.



Now to what you really want to hear about: The TEXAS RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL.

It was pretty amazing. Before we got there, I pictured a fairground with old canvas tents and oddly dressed people. The only thing I was right about was the oddly dressed people. As far as the land, it's like a huge 30 acre wooded area with permanent buildings. PERMANENT buildings! Permanent shops that look old timin' like "Krazy Karl's Used Swords" and "Cosita's Corsets." Nuts-o. So this place is there all the time even though the fair only lasts for like 6 weeks out of the year. I'll now post some random pictures that I took.

It was very interesting to see what people wore. I mean, when I picture "Renaissance" I picture puffy sleeved silky jacket things for men with big bloomer things and tights. And for ladies, big fancy dresses. Some people were like that, but we saw people who looked like Peter Pan, pirates, goths, executioners, fairies, gypsies, and men who wanted to wear as little as possible so they wore fur loincloths and furry boots. That's it. YIKES! And lots of larger ladies liked showing the skin. I tried not to get any pictures of that.

In this one and the one above, look at the creepy skull master in the background! Look at the girl in all white. If I had taken her picture up close, she would have charged me a dollar.
At the fair they had a wedding chapel where a couple was actually getting married. There were also elephant, camel, and llama rides, belly dancers, jousting, falcon shows, etc. I'll just let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves. Sam liked mingling with the fair maidens.

And the Iron Maidens.

The end.

Rating for this outing: 7.5/10. There wasn't much to do that didn't cost additional money other than people watch. But the people watching was out of this world.