gentlemen prefer blondes

I've always been blonde. And while that's been fun, deep down I've always wanted to go darker. I thought I would do it this summer, but then I got engaged and instead of going darker, actually when lighter and longer than normal. The time has come, though. I want to be that cliche about girls who cut their hair right after they get married. Today seemed like as good a time as any, especially since Somebody was in Salt Lake all day.

In May, it's normal length and color.


In August, all blonde and gussied up for the wedding.













In September, longer than usual. And still very blonde.



And here it is post cut/color today.












I KNOW it's not all that brown, but if you were sitting where I'm sitting, which is here in my living room with only the light from the lamp, you would agree that it's shockingly different. Different enough that only a bag of kettle corn and a fruit smoothie are going to help me feel okay about the change.

it was...my twin

My good friend and coworker Marvelous Umbrellas* and I were just sitting casually at the Inservice meeting today when we were overcome with a grand idea--switching wedding rings. Turns out that we both own exactly what the other person would have chosen if they had to go with the back-up option on their wedding ring. In the course of the switch (and there is nothing like wearing someone else's wedding ring all day to make you realize just how much you are head over heals in love with your own) we realized that we have twin hands. Freakish, but true.

Here is a close-up of Marvelous's ring. I think it almost could have made me happy.

*name has been changed

the chicken or the egg

This morning as I was packing my lunch, Somebody leaned over my shoulder and said, "You know, adding peanut butter completely defeats the purpose of eating celery sticks."

Ahhh, and that is where he was mistaken. The peanut butter is the real purpose.

size discrimination

My sister sent me this story of my niece in Iowa:


"First Annabelle and Jonah used cut grass to make a bird's nest. Then Annabelle came running inside and asked me if she could have an egg so a bird could have an egg to sit on and hatch. Then she wanted help making a sign to advertise. The sign said: 'Birds are allowed to use this nest but not big birds just little birds.'"

a day in the nog

Somebody and I woke up at 4:45 a.m. this morning. We were in the car and on our way by 5:45 a.m. What on earth, you ask, would get us up and moving that early on a holiday? It was the promise of breakfast in the mountains. Usually when we have breakfast in the mountains we are meeting up with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, but this time I had somehow talked my sister into hosting the event. I think she set the crazy early time to try and get us to back out of the arrangement. She has no idea how much I love the outdoor breakfast.

We arrived in the NOG just after 7 a.m., and were over the mountain and setting up the breakfast site by 8 a.m. Ahhh. Pancakes, eggs, and bacon cooked outside. It just doesn't get any better. After eating (which was a GREAT part of the day, but I must move on to the action in this story) we took a little hike and discovered a small pond hidden in the trees. My nephew Kolby was the first to notice that a tall tree that was leaning over the pond had a rope swing attached to it. In a marvelous display of good parenting, my sister and her husband encouraged all their kids to strip down to their underwear and do a little swinging and a little swimming. Oh, the good times that ensued.
Even the littlest one got into the action.

And my sister set the standard by swinging from the highest part of the hill. She is amazing.

This was our group shot. The only person missing is Jed, but someone had to take the picture. You can't really see the detail here, but check out the zoomed in photo below.

This is the highlight of the above picture. My niece is such a riot. She, apparently, is afraid of the good-looking Asian.