[ let's play a game. it's called "catch-up". ]

Alright, I know! I've been going through a bit of writer's block when it comes to blogging lately, and so it's been kind of hard coming up with things to write about. Plus, reading just seems much more enjoyable! (I've been working on getting through the 6th Harry Potter book -- again -- before I see the movie next Saturday!)

Okay, so here's where we play a super fast game of "catch-up on the Jarvises". I'm sure it goes back further than this but we'll start at the 4th of July. We got stuck working over the weekend of the 4th, so we weren't able to go home, but we lucked out and our best friends up at school were there too! So we went and found some seats out in the middle of our housing area and watched the fancy fireworks. Let's not mention that they had issues even getting started. Something about the music and fireworks weren't in sync or something ridiculous like that.

I didn't get any pics of us or our friends because well, it was dark. And they hate having their picture taken so you get pictures of the fireworks to satisfy you.

In an effort to be patriotic for the holiday, we grilled pork (I know, we forgot about the hamburgers and hot dogs!) and then made these cute little red white and blue strawberry shortcakes. I was so proud of myself!


Next up in our little game of catch-up is the results of one of my goals this summer. If you know me, you know that I am notorious for setting up goals and aspirations for myself, and since I haven't been working this summer, and I have plenty of goals. Maybe one day I'll actually write about them all, but for now, I'll just tell you about the one. My goal is to learn how to cook. Okay, I know. It sounds really dumb, but I've been married for almost 2 years now, and I'm still not very skilled in the culinary arts. That would be Peter's job.

However, the other day, we were going to make dinner for our friends and make chicken kabobs, but those plans fell through. So the next day, I decided that I should try and make them for just us two and by the time I had them all kabob-ed and ready to go, I realized that I have no idea to start up the grill. That is always PP's job, and he's wasn't home yet from school. So what did I do? I showed my awesome culinary skills by sticking the kabobs in the oven!

I know. I copped out. Oh well, they turned out awesome anyway!

Basically, I made them, and then basted them in teriyaki sauce. Next time, I think I'll just chunk up the veggies and chicken, throw them on the pan and cover in teriyaki or sweet n' sour. Either way, I think they turned out great.

After the holiday weekend, we were invited down to my MIL's house to house-sit for her and feed the dogs for a week. So that's where we've been since this last Tuesday. While we were here, I've gotten to spend some much needed niece-time with my sister's daughter. The relationship between my sister and Little Princess's dad is complicated, so it's a big deal when I get to see her. So since I'm the awesome aunt that loves to spoil her nieces and nephews, we took her to the dinosaur museum! She had a great time!

This is her picking flowers at the hospital when we made a quick stop off to see PP's uncle who was there. Don't tell the hospital that she stole their flowers...she really loved it though! This picture also shows how freaking big she's gotten! She's so tall now!

Something you'll notice in all these pictures is that she is a total ham (like her auntie!). This was in the very first room, and she told me "Kawa, take a pit-ure." Because the dinosaur museum is set up on several levels and they are connected by ramps, she loved running up and down the ramps. I can't even tell you how many times we had to yell "Too far!" at her.

There was this little dinosaur sitting on the ground and she told us that she wanted to sit on it, but she was scared. She kept say "Moooom, you gotta hep me!" We took lots of pictures on this dino, but this was my favorite: it was her "grrr" face. Her actual "grrr" sound effect was way cute though!

When we got down to the last part of the museum, which was aquatic dinosaurs, she immediately got down on the ground and said "Kawa, I'm a fisth!" Immediately after I took this picture, my sister was like "Ew, get off the ground." But I didn't care, I'm the awesome auntie!

I think this is my favorite picture of the entire day. She was fascinated with this shark, and if you notice behind her, the sign says "Please Do Not Climb on Exhibit". And what did our adorable little 3 year old do? Oh yes. She climbed. On the exhibit. I love her!

Lastly, I have a cute little 8 second video for you of her growling back at the T-Rex. This is the kinds of things she did the entire time. Cracks me up everytime.

So I'm hoping that I won't be such a slacker in the future, but really, we don't have any exciting things happening in our lives. PP goes to school and I sit at home most days working on random projects. If anything exciting happens, I'll be sure to let you know!

[ my run-in with a celebrity ]

This last weekend, I had the awesome chance to have a breakfast with a totally hilarious friend of mine from last summer, Loralee, and while we were there, we ran into a celebrity.

Butterbean!

(aka, Aaron)

Also known as Loralee's adorable new baby.

Only like six weeks old!

Even when he's grumpy he's adorable!

PS. Go check out Loralee if you haven't already. She is quite awesome, if I do say so myself.
PPS. And if you Twitter, yes, Butterbean has his own Twitter account and it is babylooneytunes. He is super hilarious to follow too! Just imagine, a day in the life of a baby. Very funny stuff.
PPPS. Have a great day!

[ a bit o' toilet humor. ]

Okay imagine this:

P and I are at the mall. I'm waiting for him to do his thing in Game Stop (translation: he trades in some of his old games and finds something new to buy...which ends up taking at least an hour. He's a worse shopper than I am, and that's saying something...).

I'm sitting on the little chairs that they put out in the middle of the mall for -- typically -- husbands to sit on while their beloveds spend all of their hard-earned moola.

In my case, it was me on the bench and him in the store. Anyway. Moving on.

I'm messing around with my new iPhone (Mac's new little brother), and realize, "Gee, I need to pee."

So I stroll into Game Stop to tell P that I'm running to the restroom and I receive a grunt that somewhat resembles a "Yes, dear," and I take my cute little tooshy to the restroom.

Alright, I'm going to skip the next part because I'm going on the assumption that all my readers are potty trained and know what happens in a bathroom stall.

So as I am preparing to depart my stall, I complete the final step of using the restroom. Toilet paper. Now, doing it the way I was taught, I perform a little lean-to-the-side motion to complete the task.

Apparently, the Toilet Gods do not appreciate my leaning motion and see it as severe disrespect. Lucky for me, I was in one of those new-fangled, technologically-advanced stalls with the automatic sensor for the flushing mechanism.

What I learned today is that the leaning motion is not conducive to the new-fangled, technologically-advanced toilet with the automatic sensor for the flushing mechanism, and the Toilet Gods decided to impart their wisdom upon me by setting the sensor off mid-business.

Not fun, people. NOT fun at all. I'm not one of those people that can't handle using a public restroom (in fact, I'll use one if they got it...but I don't pee in the woods. No chance.). I don't mind a little dirt. I've been to freaking boot camp, people. Dirt doesn't bother me.

However, having a standard, run-o'-the-mill toilet act like a French bidet does bother me.

Kind of gross. Okay, a lot gross.

Yeah, I really just hate it when automatic toilets go off before I intend them to. Maybe I should take it up with the Toilet Gods.

Have you ever had a toilet "flush back" at you? Nasty stuff right there.

[ my bucket list...kind of. ]

I was cleaning my office the other weekend, and I found a whole box of homework and essays and papers from high school. In this cluttered mess, there was a list that I think I wrote in my junior year for an English class. There are 121 items on my list, so I'll only give the highlights.

2. Look for the Lochness Monster and take a picture. (Um...was this during my "travel" period?)
4. Give blood. (Still working on that one. I pretty much faint every time I try to walk in to the place)
11. Learn to speak Russian. (I must have seen a movie with a hot guy who speaks Russian)
12. Not worry about money. (Fat chance while we still have student loans)
18. Know I'm okay. (Huh. Enlightened moment?)
22. Prove myself and others that I'm a worthy person. (Still working on that one too.)
28. Ride a camel. (What?!)
34. Go to a Broadway show. (Check!)
36. Dress like the ladies in the 20's. (Check!)
43. Have a fireplace in my future house with a really thick, soft rug in front of it. (Where was my mind?? Or too many romance movies...)
48. Have someone leave roses lying around for me. (Check! *cough* PP *cough*)
49. Be a mentor. (Check!)
56. Go to Spain/Paris. (Second honeymoon anyone?)
64. Live in a cottage in Ireland for a month in the summer.
70. Fly first class. (I don't know. Is this one worth it?)
72. Sing in front of at least 500 people. (Check! Let's not mention that I forgot the words to the National Anthem in the process, but it's all about growth and experience right???)
75. Fall in love. (Check!)
82. Perform an anonymous favor.
85. Be able to say in everything, whether success or failure, "I tried." (I've had to do this a couple times already. It's called boot camp.)
91. March in a protest rally. (Rebel days, anyone?)
94. Earn a million dollars a year. (Girl, are you serious??)
101. Get a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. (AHH! Only one more year and I'm done!!!!)
102. Marry a man who loves me. (Check!)
107. Kiss in the rain. (Check!)
116. Be a soccer mom. (This one is still true. Shh. Don't tell.)
120. Burn the microcosm. (Check! Mushy english class thing. Love you Ms. J!)

Most of the ones I skipped were visiting places, so I figured you'd get bored reading about Australia and France and England and Ireland and Spain. But after looking over these, it makes you realize how much you change even after a few year. I mean, I wrote this list before P and I met, so the vision I had for my life was much more aimed at leading a life by myself. Who needs men anyway?? Pssshhh.

get real people.

As most of you may know, when I am otherwise unoccupied with obligations, requirements and other mindless tasks (i.e., no school, no work, no husband, no cleaning, etc. etc. etc.), I love watching TV.

I know, I wrote about this like 2 posts ago, but I have to say this now. And I also want to add the disclaimer that I don't normally delve into political type arenas because it's just not my thing, but I wanted to say something about the recent "scandal."

Moving forward.

I like to peruse all channels, including TNT, HGTV, AMC, FOX, and Style.

Lately, however, I have lost my heart to TLC.

Its numerous reality TV shows have sunken my life to new depths I never thought I could experience, and yet, it has happened.

Between Say Yes to the Dress, A Baby Story and What Not to Wear, my life is consumed by this all powerful television station. It is on while I work, play, craft, clean, cook. Everything.

But there has been one show lately that has caught my attention that I had never watched before this last month (I'm sure you know where I'm going with this), and it has been entertaining to watch say the least.

Jon & Kate Plus 8.

Do I love watching adorable little children in their antics to perform acts that will cause their parents' hair to fall out? Yes.

Do I love watching playful gestures between parents, which might -- in some deep, dark part of space -- be construed as love? Yes.

Do I love watching parents who love their kids with every blood cell in their body? Yes.

Do I love watching parents bicker with each other and degrade each other and just be downright rude to each other?

Not so much.

And unfortunately, it was only as of late that the show started to take a turn (albeit very dramatized for television, I know) for the worse. I loved it before that! And as we all know, with their grand announcement on Monday, I was waiting in anticipation for what the world of reality/child star/parental guidance TV world would hold for me.

And I was failed by my beloved television.

Jon and Kate (minus 8) would be getting a divorce.

You suck, TV. You do.

Honestly, here's the straightforward truth of what I think about this whole thing (not that you care much, but if you make it to the end of this post, there might be cake).

Do they bicker? Yes. Does Jon not stand up for himself? Yes. Is Kate very demanding? Yes. Does their life suck, according to the way it appears on TV? Yes. Does that matter in the slightest???? NO.

Heavens-to-Betsie, people. You have children. Which means you are stuck together for all freaking time and eternity until you figure this one out. When they went to make their "announcement," my honest pink fluffy heart thought that they were announcing that this would be their last season and that they were going to take time to work on their marriage.

Again, I say, I was failed.

My mother-in-law told me when we got married (at 20 years old, mind you -- young and still "wild"), that if we were to go through with this, there wasn't any turning back. You're committed. I don't think that people will stay stagnant with the way they love each other from the moment they marry because people change, but you have to be willing to change along the way. I honestly believe that without the cameras and glam and lights, they would have been able to make it work (possibly with counseling and such, but who cares? If it works, it works.).

They've got their kids to think about and that's the part that concerns me the most. It was cute to have them on TV when they were little and didn't know about the world of media and what it can do to a child, but not any more. They know now. And that scares me.

Whew. Well I'm going to get off my soapbox and stop blabbering about people that I'll never meet and are probably completely different in real life. This whole thing might have just been made up to play off the emotions of little stay-at-home wives like me.

Maybe I should stop watching TV too, while I'm at it.

Nah. Won't happen.

(Yay! You made it to the end! And sorry, no cake. But I can make dang good brownies, if you want to venture to the frozen north to get them!)

*And as if this post wasn't long enough, I want to put out one more disclaimer: I am not trying to bag on families that have children where the marriage didn't work out. If you figured out a way to make it work for you, I'm very happy for you. I am just expressing my opinions as interpreted from the mind of a naive 22 year old. My opinions might change in the future, but for now, this is it.*

[ ew. gross. ]

A few weeks ago, we went down to our parents' house and I stayed there while PP went to school. When we got back, I found this in our laundry baskets.


(Don't mind the nasty dirt and stuff -- it's obviously been a while since I've done laundry...)


I can handle most bugs, but bees: no. freaking. way. I don't do bees. A very bad experience as a child.

The weird thing was is that it was already dead when I got home. I sat there staring at it for like 10 minutes deciding whether or not to try and poke it. I am that much of a wuss. I wonder if it gave up on trying to get out of my house (especially since there's no windows in my laundry room...) and died. Sucks for the bee.

I'm sorry if I grossed you out, but seriously, this grossed ME out.

Have a great day!

[ you know you watch too much What Not to Wear when... ]

To use a very common Utah term, OH. MY. HECK.

Seriously, people. I have been stuck in my house SO much that I leave the TV on most of the day while I get random work done, and most of the time, it is on What Not to Wear on TLC. Either that, or Clean House on Style.

And it is destroying my life.

Okay, not really. In truth, I absolutely LOVE Stacy and Clinton.

But I went shopping for clothes the other day, and I found myself pointing at clothes and telling my friend: "I can't wear that. Stacy says it won't flatter my butt..." amongst plenty of other comments to myself.

But overall, here's the top 10 things I've learned from my beloved Stacy and Clinton:

1. Jean Choice: Only wear skinny jeans if you have a small frame and are very curve-less. *This one does not apply to me. Sad day.*

2. Waistlines: Always look for dresses and tops that have a cinching action around the waistline (i.e., belt, ribbon, tie, etc.). This will accentuate the best part of women -- their waists! *I struggle with this one because I have an excessively large bust and so I feel self-conscious about it.*

3. Fit: Find clothes that fit the largest part of your body, then tailor the clothes to fit the rest of it. *Again, I have issues with this because of my "blessings," and my lack of funds to tailor. But I would totally do this if I had the money to!*

4. Eyeshadow: Apply white/vanilla/silver shadow (depending on your skin tone) right underneath your eyebrows to make your eyes pop. *I started doing this and I LOVE it!*

5. Cheeks: You can also use that same shade from #4 along your cheekbone above your blush to add a highlight. *Also started doing this one, and LOVE it too!*

6. Pants: Pants need to fit the largest part of your hip and then create a straight line down from their for wide leg jeans. As they put it, "wide leg jeans will NEVER go out of style." *Haven't tried this one yet. I'm still stuck in flare jeans.*

7. Usability: Buy your clothes in separates so you get more usability out of your clothes. This applies to suits and tops and jeans and everything. *I just think this is brilliant, not that I've done it yet.*

8. Color: Use "pops" of color in everything. Typically, they suggest that you combine neutrals with these little pops of color to get the most use out of your clothes. *I love color but I struggle I lot because of my redhead skin tone. What I've learned is brown is good, yellow is bad, and silver is not suggested. That's about all I know about my color.*

9. Knee Length Skirts: I have never seen them put any woman in a skirt that is any lower than the knee, which totally makes sense because it will elongate the leg since you can actually see it. *This one bums me out because I love my floor length, fitted, khaki skirt. :( *

10. Shoes: When given the option, always choose a pointy toe shoe. They, again, elongate the leg and make you look "long and lean." *I also have a complex about being taller than PP since we're the same height, so I don't typically buy heels, but I do love them. Sad.*

Overall, I LOVE What Not to Wear and it drives PP nuts.

But who cares? He's not home most of the time anyway. *blows raspberry*

*All copyrights belong to TLC and the Style Network.*