Artsy Mood

Occasionally I get in "artsy" moods where I just have to paint, make or design something. It usually only lasts a few hours though, and if I don't finish the project within the time I am feeling creative, it never gets finished.

When Matt and I see art that we like at stores, I have the hardest time buying anything that I feel like I could do myself. So, I have been buying canvas and painting things for each room when ever I get in the right mood for a masterpiece. Here are a few of my pieces.

This one, I call "Reflection" (acrylic on canvas) is actually 4 different paintings. This is what was completed after using the canvas, and gesso-ing it over and over again until I finally finished something that I liked. If I recall, underneath is a picture of a rose, a landscape and a Native American design. Thankfully, the trees worked out nicely. Its not my favorite, but it looks good in our living room.This one is my "Go Green" project. Its a collection of all the scraps of green papers I had from scrap booking and other projects cut into butterfly shapes, obviously. No insects were harmed during the making of this shadow box.This piece, untitled, was my first time ever using oil! I have always painted with acrylic, and I was excited to try something new. I LOVE how this turned out, and I am happy that it looks great in our home. "Palm" was my second try at oil on canvas. I wanted something with a tropical theme for our powder room, and I think it turned out pretty cool. The second part of this is a close up of a Hawaiian flower, that I started when I was in the right mood, but now it sits, uncompleted in our closet. I hate when that happens."On a Wire" was created last night. I have been wanting to try something different by using newspaper on canvas for quite some time, and yesterday I realized it was a great time for me to try it. The birds idea came to me from this picture I took while waiting for a ride outside of Courtney's condo in Seattle. (Although my silhouettes are not nearly as good as this one.)

I love that our house is decorated in original art, but its too bad I have to wait for my artsy side to arrive!

See ya, May.

Today I found myself drinking hot chocolate at my desk. How sad is that? Its almost June, and I am drinking a winter beverage.

This month has seemed very stressful. On top of the things I do for VOLT, and interpreting on the weekends, I am also trying to finish a few wedding invitations before the summer. (if it ever arrives) I just HAND MADE 125, and I am so thankful to be done with them. I will never make that many again. Printing, from here on out.

We are also done with 90% of the Dr visits! I have another biopsy on the 9th, and then that should be it for a while. My test results came back saying that I have extremely low progesterone levels, and Matt has low Vitamin C (easy fix!). So, next cycle they will be putting me on something that assists with my ovulation called Chlomid. I am pretty excited, but at the same time, I don't want to get my hopes up quite yet.

This weekend, Matt had his very first Tournament for Jiu-Jitsu, and he won a match!! We are very excited about this since Matt is so new at the sport, and they put him in the 190lb weight class even though he only weighs 175! He gained points on a guy that weighed more, and had more experience than him. Way to go babe!

Last night Matt and I went for a walk through the woods behind our house. We have been listening to the frogs at night for a few months now, so we thought we would go check out the members of the chorus. We found the BIGGEST bull frogs! They are everywhere! Its no wonder the sound is deafening. This picture doesn't do it justice, but this guy is as big as a dinner plate. The croaks don't bother us too much because we are so thankful to have found a home with property like this.

Oh yeah, and to finally prove the existence of this controversial creature, I captured a picture of the famous "Mattsquatch" in his natural habitat.

Well, goodbye May. I hope that when I see you next year, you will be a little less full of chores, and more full of sunshine. Until then, adieu!

Movie Review

Yesterday at lunch Sarah and I went and bought tickets to that nights showing of the new Indiana Jones film. Good thing we did too, because it was pretty packed in the theater, and I could not risk missing it on opening night!For those of you who don't know, and I'm sure there are very few of you, I am obsessed with Indiana Jones. I have loved him since we met when I was a little girl, so to have a new movie out is very exciting for me. My expectations for this movie have been REALLY high, especially since announcing the name and cast. With that being said, there was a huge chance that I would be disappointed with the flick, but it never happened! Here is my movie review for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull.

Pros:

• There is TONS of action! All the fight scenes are well choreographed, and very entertaining. Its very "Spielberg Esq" which does well to connect all 4 IJ movies.

• The pre-used characters are played by the same actors. There is nothing worse than having to use a different actor for the same name. I love that they all came back into play. There are also tons of things in Crystal Skull that bring the old artifacts into play. Look in the shelves in the hallway and the trinkets in his home and you will recognize some of them from previous adventures!

• Although he is 20 years older, Harrison Ford is still an amazing Indiana Jones! I am glad that they didn't try to act like only a few years had passed, and they used the age difference to the movies advantage. I loved it.

• The humor! I love the jokes, and I laughed at least every 10 minutes!

Cons:

• The CGI animals. (Groundhogs and Monkeys) I don't know why they had to do this, and I don't think that it made it "cooler" by using this technology. I actually kind of hoped for the cheesy fake animal attacks such as is used in the old movies.

• It took me a while to feel like Harrison Ford was still Indiana Jones. I think the first time it hit me that he was Indy, was when he was explaining the legend of the Crystal Skull in the diner to "Mutt". Up until that point, things were just a little off.

• The plot. Although the hokiness fit well with the other movies, there were a few parts that I wished were a little "less". Although I don't mind the idea of the story line, but I thought that it was a little too over done.

But, even with the few negative thoughts I have, I am DYING to go see it again. It was worth every penny (or GEM, thanks to Sarah!) and it gets my vote for movie of the year!

I still love you Indiana Jones!

PS-I love my husband more :)

Babies are the new Chihuhua

A little less than a year ago, it was a red carpet necessity to be carrying a tiny dog with a cheesy name like "Pixie" or "Sparkle".Now, babies are all the rage! A must have for this season! (So what happens with them in a few months when some other living creature or a Gucci bag takes the place?)To top off my already stressful work morning, I read this quote from Paris Hilton. (I gag a little every time I say that name. She drives me nuts)

"I do want a baby. Pretty soon. Not yet because I'm so busy, but next year."

ARE YOU JOKING!? Its so obvious that the only reason someone like Paris would want a child is for the Paparazzis attention! And is it not a little suspicious that she wants a baby right after her x-best friend Nicole Richie gives birth to "Harlow-Winter-future-anorexic-pop-star-Madden"? (I'm actually embarrassed that I know more than half of her given name.)

It seems like every gossip magazine I see, every article written on TMZ and all the headlines in Yahoo Entertainment read something like this:

"So and so is pregnant with twins!"

"Is bla bla pregnant again?"

"Dumb and Dumber married over the weekend. Is she with child?"

I'm so tired of it! For one, it kills me to know that people who spend more on manicures each day than I pay on mortgage each month are getting together to re-produce. How is this world supposed to thrive when Darwin's theory of natural selection is obviously being ignored!

Second, these people want kids to show off and get attention. THAT IS NOT WHAT A HUMAN LIFE IS FOR!

I have tried for a baby for over a year now, without success. I want a child because I believe that Families are the most important thing on this earth, and I have dreamed of having my own for as long as I can remember. I have never dreamed of bringing a child into this world to use as an accessory to my new Vera Wang cocktail dress!

Then there is the adoption fad! For those of you who don't have any idea how hard and expensive it is to adopt a child, take it from me ITS EXHAUSTING. Not only might you wait years before you even have a chance to meet a child, in the time you are waiting, the fees, registrations, tests, travel expenses and other charges will empty your bank account faster than Tori Spelling can pop out another toe head. To add to this frustration, we have Madonna and Brangalina buying new kids every weekend! Kudos to them for saving lives, but can't it be that easy for everyone?

I realize that I too am being a little selfish with my rant. There are women out there that have had to go through much more than I have for a baby, and I am thankful that there is still hope for me. But I am having a hard enough time on my own without having to watch stupid people re-produce. Please ladies, if you think that buffalo wings come from Buffalo's, or that shaving your head and chasing your ex with an umbrella is a good idea, invest in a chastity belt and a couple hundred condoms. PLEASE.

Thus ends my pointless rant to a group of people who could probably care less about my silly opinion. I guess this is what I get for peaking into the lives of celebrities, but really all I want to see is who is wearing what. Can we keep the Faux-Families out of it? For the sake of the hundreds of women (and men) out there that want a baby for all the right reasons.

Heat Wave

It really is 98 degrees, and expected to get up to 100!!! Matt would say, "Its hotter than Hades!!"Today, it is hotter in the state of Washington that anywhere else in the United States!! This is a very rare occurrence for us in the Northwest, and since it is only supposed to last for 2 days, I think that everyone is looking forward to the sun.

6 dogs.

As much as I love canines, I will NEVER have 6 of them!
Matt and I are watching his parents house while they are visiting family in Montreal, and they have 4 dogs. Bailey the lab and Jeffrey, Daphne and Murphy the Brussels. Then we have our two Aussies staying here and all together this equals ONE BIG HEADACHE!

Both puppies are waking up at 4 o'clock in the morning to pee, and then all they want to do is play and/or get into trouble! Then the older dogs bark at every little noise outside, and on top of it all I can never get a good nights rest in a "strange" bed.

Luckily the weather is nice enough for them to spend the day outside.

Mothers Day

Sunday morning we attended church with my parents. My dad always gets my mom a Lei from Hawaii for mothers day, and this year I got one too! (I have puppies!! I'm a mom!!) It smells so heavenly, and it makes me crave the islands.I got to go antique-ing for my mom, and I found her some really cute tea cups and dishes. However, the thing that made her the happiest was to have her grand baby there to cuddle with. Isn't Brimley getting big! He is so spoiled :)

After a great dinner cooked by my dad (and a small nap) we headed over to Matt's parents house to celebrate the holiday with his mom. We had dinner there, and then watched movies and ate dessert.

Happy Mothers day to all you moms out there!

Merrekesh

Friday we celebrated Shauna's (Matt's sister) 25th birthday with friends at a Moroccan restaurant in Seattle. Her boyfriend Garrett put it together for her, and it was a good place to party.It was a really neat! They come and wash your hands for you before and after the meal, and you sit on soft pillows and eat with your hands. They even have belly dancers to entertain you while you eat.
The food there is really good. There are lots of different flavors, and lots of types of meat. Its a 5 course meal so you get really full!Matt and I loved Marrekesh, and hopefully we will go back soon!

Deception Pass

After a some what disappointing trip to the tulip festival (last post) we drove out to Deception Pass.
The weather was perfect for a trip to the sea, and it was so beautiful. I had never been to the pass before, and I was very impressed with the sights. The water was so turquoise and there were a few seals swimming around watching the people on the beach. We hiked across the bridge and down to the ocean which was a nice easy hike. (Mostly because we didn't have to climb back up since Matt went and got the car for Alycia who hurt her back last week.)

Preston had lots of fun playing with and tasting the rocks. It was so nice to be able to just sit and relax. We will definitely go back to the pass again.
The perfect ending to our exciting weekend was that Matt got a big, costly ticket for driving 8 miles over the speed limit. Thanks Mr. Mount Vernon Police Officer guy. Matt is really excited to take you to court :)

The Dirt Fields

I have been begging Matt to go with me to see the Tulips up in the Skagit valley and finally on Sunday he succumbed to my request (but not without complaint).

We met up with the Loftus's and packed up the car for the short trip up North.

I was told that the tulips had bloomed late this year due to the snow we had last month, but I had no idea that they would be tilling the fields only a few days before our arrival! So needless to say we saw lots of dirt and a lot of eye rolling from Matt and Gabe.

We did however find the one daffodil field that was left, and along with all the other disappointed tourists, took family pictures here.

The Aprecio Family The Loftus Family

And of course, Matt pretending that he is having the time of his life. I had no idea he was making these faces!!

Tres De Mayo!

Since Cinco De Mayo is on a Monday this year, our friends (and neighbors) The Loftus's, decided to throw a Tres De Mayo party on Saturday with a few families from the ward.They did a great job keeping everyone entertained and I think that the adults had just as much fun as the kids with the crafts and pinata!None of the adults were able to destroy the paper mache horse, but as soon as it fell from the rope, the kids dove in and ripped the thing apart looking for the candy. It was so funny!
Thank you to Gabe and Alycia for inviting us to their home, and we love that you guys live so close! Don't you just LOVE Alycia's home made sombrero?

Happy Birthday Laurel and Aubrey

Friday night I was asked to do "Rock Star Hair" on 9 girls for Laurels Hannah Montana party. It was so much fun, and luckily all the girls loved their new hairstyles! Its hard to believe that Laurel is in the double digits now considering when I nannied for her in New York, she was 4 years old! Crazy!!