As previously mentioned - there is a big "To Do List" this 2011. And I'm knocking them out one by one! This week with the help of the Andrus's--- I was able to check off number #15 - "Play games with the Andrus's :)"
Amber and Bill - Ben playing Dominion. Fun Game!
To Do #15 - done and done
Another fun accomplishment has been these lame-o curtins I made this weekend. I don't sew very well and need some more practice. So, I chopped up some old scraps, tied them together, and hung them up above the windows. Not great - but not bad.
Another thing on my "To Do List" (#5 to be exact) Is to be able to ride the Salt Lake Century with my Dad in May. I've been riding the stationary bike at the gym 3 times a week and uping the mileage by 5 every week. Next week is a '20 miler week'. Wish me luck. Finally look at what Reggie learned!
My BFF once gave a good description about resolutions and how they sound so 'final'. No wiggle room. 2011 is going to bring some big crazy fun stressful changes to our lives. I also have a lot of friends who are doing that '30 things to do before 30'. All of these influences combined have resulted in a 'list' sorts for this next yr. Things that I would like to do before we leave Utah, things I haven't done before and things that would provide a well balanced life style. One of them (listed as #12) is to try 15 of the 100 Utah Best Local Restaurants
So! The other day we went over to Royal India. One of the first (and best) experiences I've had with Indian food! I got the mango chicken and garlic nann! Fabulous. Ben LOVES curry - and got the curry lamb. ... and... I'm not sold on that. Yup. It was good. I would recommend it. Off to work on "To Do #5".
Happy Holidays every one. The last few weeks have been up and down - but mostly up. One down thing that happened was the death - or stroke - of my lap top. Sadly containing all my pictures. We do have Ben's lap top -- so we are still able to connect with the outside world.... but the loss of 3 yrs of pictures is painful. I try not to think about it and am thankful for what I have posted to the blog! Memories not lost - but stored in the web forever. Friends, back up your hard drives.
2011 brings many good things for the Sharples family - including graduation! 4 1/2 months and counting ! Ben has put in his applications for some residencies and now we just have our fingers crossed.
In other news, Reg is still alive. We believe he had a seizure last week which was very sad and we have kept a close eye on him. I have wanted to make him a sweater forever - so I thought I better get on it before he totally kicks the bucket.
It's been snowing non stop all day. I kinda like it. Thankfully I have a good man who will shovel the drive way and hang up the lights.
It's snowy! B and me felt all grown up when we got our first snow shovel. Funny how we felt these trips to Home Depot for a hose/rake/drill/shovel/etc were milestones.
In the mean time, Tally and I snuggle in to our newly decorated tree. It's a black friday walmart tree we got like 3 years ago and is a good little tree. We've also figured out how to fill it up which makes it super shiny.
Today I also worked on my 'office christmas presents' - Banana Bread in a Can. I'll wrap it cute cute ribbon or something. It actually turned out really well!
Did I tell ya that the chicken strike is off? We tried EVERYTHING to please them - and I think what broke the strike was the agreement for a later curfew. Ben adjusted their light to turn off at 10p instead of 8p. Now we get 3 to 4 eggs a day! So great! My favorite part of that is 4 eggs a day from 4 chickens MEANS that little Winny - who we raised from a chick and survived 2 brutal attacks -- is all grown up, well adjusted, and reaching her full potential. (cuz one chicken can't make 2 eggs a day). ... I just wish I knew which one was hers!
Here are a couple pictures from halloween... Tally's just got her little red dress :)
And then - there was super Reg. I made this little red super hero costume. Or a mexican wrestler? He has the perfect face for a mask - with a little wrinkle above his nose to hold it in place. What a good sport. Also - need to show off this awesome pumpkin carving job Ben did. He did this just before we left for the rally. Totally his own design!! This is J. Stewart btw.
Friday October 29th - Ben and I had a couple hours to kill Philadelphia.
The weather is luke warm, the leaves are pretty, and the streets are crowded. We had a few hours to spare before we were to meet up with Katey (our Philly host). So we found a park bench and decided to observe the natives. However boring this sounds, I think we laughed and giggled the whole time.
First was the "Party Ride". ...
The party bus was loads of fun. a gaggle of girls with sleeveless dresses in late October is amusing -not to mention they tuxedo-ed counter parts all had a "beverage" of their own.
After the party bus moved on, the creatures of the night appeared. Mind you this is Halloween weekend....
The Lizard man came back down the road about 15 minutes later and I asked him if I could take his picture. He says "wait wait..." and puts on his mask and claws and then starts hissing towards me. ....Dude, it's a picture. Not an audition.
Next was M. J. Who was all put out to pose. You dough head - don't come out dress like you want attention and then be mad when you get attention. This other kid (who actually looks like throw-back M.J.) is free loading on my photo opp.
This guy was hilarious. He originally came chasing Katey from across the street asking if she wanted a drink. Kinda freaked her out but he was a good sport. "What? I dress like this every day?".. he says...
"People watching" is a past time I learned from my Dad. I remember hangin' at the ZCMI food court and Dad commenting on how people have different kinds of walks. The people of down town Philadelphia are fun to watch. :)
Well. If you didn't know Ben and I went to the Rally to Restore Sanity in Washington DC --- we don't talk enough.
This trip will have to come in a couple of different posts. But should start with the crowning jewel of the trip. About 2 months ago, it was announced that The Daily Show and the Colbert Report was doing a rally for the 'moderates' of the country. Only Ben can really tell you how much I flipped out over this - and really how much I wanted to go. 1) for fun 2) to be a part of this historic event (i knew it would be huge) 3) I really do consider myself a moderate and struggle with the extreme points of view and competitiveness that our 2 party system can often be made up of.
I'm going to skip right to the rally - 2 days into our trip. We were staying in Philadelphia with a friend... 2 1/2 hours from Washington DC. We were up at 5am and making the 2 hour drive through the corner of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and parking in Maryland metro station for another 1/2 hour ride into Washington DC. Thankfully - we had been to DC last April and new our way around the Mall well.
2 1/2 hours early - we followed an already enormous crowd to the capitol. Picking up towels, buttons, stickers, signs along the way - (I'm putting up some videos. Not the most flattering of me or award winning - but you'll get the idea).
We hustled to the mall and actually had the chance to stand/sit up pretty close near the stage! But - Ben had the smarts to sacrifice about 100 feet back to be positioned in front of the first screen/speaker. Which was the best idea. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to see anything. For the next couple of hours Ben held our spot (studying) while I went on a picture rampage.
People were pretty eager to get their pictures taken. The magnitude of people was what was amazing. AMAZING. 215,000 people. Every cool, calm and collected. Of course there were signs out to legalize pot - and if you watch any of the videos you'll see beach balls bouncing through the crowd - they all say legalize pot. But whatever. 215,000 people.
When it was time to start - we were crammed in there pretty darn tight. That's when I reminded Ben he was a genius for putting us in front of the screen.
Bottom line. Jon Stewart is awesome. The rally was fun, moving, and refreshing. If you soak up anything from this blog post - please let it be Jon's explanation for the rally.
I can't get the video to come up here.... so please - WATCH - here.
Amber and Bill - Ben playing Dominion. Fun Game!
To Do #15 - done and done
