Phoning it in

(Second and third from the bottom: Motherboy II. Last picture: Original Motherboy.)

I have been somewhat of a curmudgeon when it comes to social media--I'm latecomer to Facebook, and Kenz has had to explain Twitter lingo to me about 12 times. All this checking in business and status updates seem a bit narcissistic to me. Why am I supposed to care where everyone is at all times? And it seems I am constantly submitted to statuses such as "Dear cookies, you are delicious but stop making me fat. Love, me." But my opinions may be a bit misguided--I think it's just a little boring. Which is why I have picked up and loved Instagram, which is like adding pictures to status updates. Add a picture and suddenly little obvious statements become interesting. Eating a delicious cookie and want to write a letter about it? Add a delicious looking picture and I am a fan. I suddenly care where people are when there is a great looking picture attached. It makes everything relevant somehow. I get to see Nikki's experimental dye job and what Kenz ate for lunch (and a few Gigi pics, of course). As you can tell, I am a bit addicted. It beats spending too much time on Angrybirds. (I have 3 stars on almost every level anyway...)

(if this post has convinced you, give me a follow! Then you can see the people I follow who take much better pictures than I)

an angelic birthday

 

In his Sunday best for Jon's birthday.

Wives do a lot to "influence" their husbands. Some change their look, their hair, the way they chew their food. I am proud that I converted Jon from milk to dark chocolate. One thing I can't change, no matter what, is his birthday cake. Always angelfood, made from a box (I offered to make it from scratch, but if he doesn't care, why bother?) with strawberries and whipped cream. I am a pound cake type girl myself, and while Jon has convinced me that angelfood is acceptable, even tasty to eat at times, I am not entirely convinced it is THE cake. It's a cake that you can toss in the air and it keeps its form. It has no butter. It has no butter cream, no chocolate. But it's his birthday after all, so I will make him angelfood cake whenever he wants. I might still talk about a multi-layered caramel/chocolate/nutella/ganache masterpiece though, just to test his loyalty.

One other birthday gift I gave Jon was the gift of accepting and participating in any and all plans he had in mind. During a morning walk, we made it to that fourth garage sale even though my feet were tired. I held back whining after a huge (huge!) bowl of pho that I just wanted to take a nap instead of driving out to pick berries (and what if Theo resists and makes life difficult?). We went, I loved it, Theo loved it. Seeing him pick a berry and plop it in his mouth happily was one of the greatest sights of my life. After I forgot to buy the angelfood cake mix (horror!), I went to the store at 10:45 (right when I was ready to go to bed) to get it. This is usually a Jon job. That I make him do.

So other than learning a valuable life lesson (or two), we had such a good time celebrating Jon's birthday. (another stand out meal here of course) I gave him several presents that were all surprises, and he loved each one. It felt amazing. He is amazing. Happy birthday Jon!

babies please.

 Chocolate souffle cupcakes...so good. Don't worry they're supposed to look like that. (and the cucumber punch stuff in the foreground--not so much. Sorry girls!)

 Looking cute in a dress made by her mother in law! 

 My mom was kind enough to knit her a little grandma sweater. Probably owe her some weeding now. If I was in Boise, I would...

I am slightly proud of this last minute banner I made--mostly because it was an idea from my own mind and not the internet, and it actually worked. 

Vanessa is a trooper. She has endured a pregnancy that makes me feel guilty that I had such a relatively easy time--and is still so excited and overjoyed about her forthcoming baby girl. She deserved a great baby shower, and I tried my best to deliver. She also is a trooper because she has met all these new friends that speak loudly over the top of each other and make quilts and have too many opinions. (Well, I'm probably just talking about myself here.) She has been quickly adopted by all and is extremely well liked. We had a great time just talking about babies, drinking homemade horchata, and avoiding the cucumber soda thing I made that was gross. In the end, it was a gluten free, games free, cute present-filled morning. Vanessa looked radiant, and forgave me for throwing her a shower 10 days before her due date. It is hard to describe how much I am looking forward to this baby's arrival--we probably need to work out a code word so she can tell me I need to back off and give her some breathing space.

I wish I had gotten a few more good pictures, but I have a huge insecurity about taking pictures at parties I am supposed to be hosting. I always feel dumb whipping the camera out. I'm not the only one that feels this way, right?

Boise, Utah, and a third birthday cupcake

 My parents have a nice tub and natural light, so I couldn't resist taking a bazillion bath photos.

 My, what big (6) teeth you have.

 Wedding wear. This picture points out my nice ombre hair shading, and the fact that I need a haircut fairly badly. A Hall family picture exists from this event, if I ever get it from my brother's camera (ahem).

 Noah and Theo bonding. Noah is about to bite Theo on the back rather aggressively, ending their happy moment.

 We did an excellent job of disrupting Theo's sleeping patterns.

 Jon officially finished his third year of dental school near the end of June and we jetted off to Boise for a little break that included a built in nanny (i.e. Grandma). We also got to spend time with my brother and his adorable family, and even a side trip to Utah for my cousin's wedding and a nostalgic visit to BYU. I can't really describe how excited I was to see the mountains of Provo, breathe the cottonwood tree floaty things of early summer, and walk past my freshman apartment. Although I love Boise, my memories of late adolescent life there are not very rosy. As in, high school was not kind to me. At BYU, I met caring people and true friends, and had experiences that I will never forget. Of course, that's where I met Jon as well, which is the best part. So, needless to say I walked around campus twirling and singing happy songs. We bought Theo a little boy BYU shirt, some chocolate covered cinnamon bears and ate graham canyon ice cream at the creamery. I walked past my prior job at library security and confirmed in my mind that it indeed was taken over again by an all male militaristic staff (snap judgement, but I'm probably right). And someone waved at me like they knew me, even though they didn't. It made me feel like I was being mistaken for Kenz, a pastime at BYU we both enjoyed on a regular basis.

Aside from the fact that I just let the world know that I have issues from high school that probably need the attention of a therapist, the week was a wonderful one. My cousin's wedding was beautiful and I loved catching up with close cousins. My nephew Noah is growing leaps and bounds larger than Theo already (found out yesterday Theo is in the 9th percentile for weight, so not too surprising).

Jon is officially a senior now, which makes me really happy and a little sad that we may have to move away in a year. But luckily I don't have to think about that right now. But if I do, every time I visit Portland I will be doing the happy twirly nostalgic dance.