Friday, July 31, 2009

Adorable

Things I think are sooo cute:

  • Um, did you see that turtle's birthday cake?
  • Travis (just don't tell him)
  • babies with lots of hair
  • babies with no hair
  • babies in general
  • this video (though you, along with 13 million of your friends, have probably already seen it)

More sharing

I've pretty much given up on watching So You Think You Can Dance as a whole. The lighting is ridiculous and over-the-top, the judges scream and cry and mush and gush instead of giving actual constructive feedback, and the short format for each dance prevents any sort of build or stillness.
All that said, I still totally watch the dances the next day on rickey.org. Because the dancers are gooood, and I can learn a lot from watching them. And sometimes the choreography is original and awesome, or at least fun. Case in point:

Yay!
Also, here's one of my favorites. With very few exceptions, it's best when all the elements are simple.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Criminally negligent

I often describe myself as spacey or unobservant, but sometimes that doesn't seem to cover it. Because sometimes, I do things that make Travis wide-eyed with shock and terror. Like leave the oven on all night (last night). Or run a stop sign because I don't realize it's there. Or run a red light because I don't realize it's there.
I'm not sure what to do about this. My instinct is to apologize profusely, then laugh about it later. But I feel like there should be some sort of program I can enroll myself in, like "12 steps to admitting that you are totally unaware of your surroundings and getting your act together."
At least I'm really good at balancing things on my head

Smile!

And if that doesn't do the trick:

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Olympic Gold

Tonight at WAC Wednesday (Middle School youth group) was Messy Olympics. When I was a camper, and then a camp counselor for 3 years, I was always very careful never to participate in anything like this. But tonight I had no fear.
Okay, I didn't play octopus ultimate frisbee (you think I'm joking, but they played with a real dead octopus), but I did everything else. This was maybe due to the fact that Travis was in charge of planning the games (that's his job, can you believe it?) , so I was able to give him an idea of substances I was and wasn't willing to have dumped on me. Pudding, yes. Shaving cream, yes. Oatmeal, yes. Ranch dressing, no. Raw eggs, no.
Paige, one of our youth leaders, took pictures:
Before
After
The girls' team won this game by getting the most stuff to stick to my face!
Guess what's in this bowl . . .
That's right. This stuff. It smelled like oatmeal and maple syrup. But you'll have to ask Travis.
After the flour fight
9-Square! With sponges that you could throw at anyone to distract them . . .
Sponges full of things like tomato juice with fruit loops
Our friend Heather in the center square
After we all got hosed off (4 hours and a shower later, I am still finding bits of things in my hair). Good times!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

New look!

I wanted to make my blog more colorful. So I did! Travis might be able to figure something out that I like more, but for now it will be all fence-y like this.
Speaking of new looks, I have a fear: I have always thought of dance costumes, especially those worn at dance studio recitals and competitions, as by-and-large tacky and terrible. I could never figure out how my totally hip, talented, well-dressed dance teachers could select such awful costumes for us to wear (including, but not limited to: the poofy tube top, the zipper pleather biker outfit, and the pepto bismol pink ball gown). But lately I have spent so much time around dance studios and dance costumes that the line between tacky and awesome has started to blur. For example, I have been looking at costumes for a competition piece I'm choreographing soon for 5th & 6th graders. It's helpful to know what the costumes will look like ahead of time so you can choreograph accordingly (read: not a lot of floor work if they're wearing skirts, etc.) But I can't tell if this costume is terrible, or really cute:
My instinct is that, if I can't tell, it's probably terrible. But don't worry too much; I can still tell that this one is awful:

Monday, July 27, 2009

Ideas

Someday, I would like to make dances inspired by:
  • elaborate secret handshakes
  • the way toddlers squirm around when they are trying to fall asleep
  • different peoples' handwriting
  • clocks that get ahead or behind over time
  • remote control buttons (play, pause, fast forward, change channels, etc.)
  • raindrops, and the way they react with all sorts of different surfaces
  • sports (tennis or baseball would be especially fun)
  • calculus
  • colors

Overdue pictures

Travis is a really good sport as I take endless pictures of our first year together (we've been married 8 months now!). I try to only take pictures at really important times. For instance, here we are sitting in a fast food restaurant. But this is no ordinary fast food restaurant. It's a Sonic with an indoor dining room! Hence, pictures.
Bethany Dillon and Shane Barnard at their concert! I wanted to stay afterward and see if we could get a picture with them, but it was getting really late. Next time for sure.
Trey with his puppy (who I guess can barely be called a puppy anymore), Griz. I can't believe that just a few months ago he looked like a little teddy bear! Trey played several rounds of Rummikub with Griz on his lap like this, since Griz liked to rearrange the tiles with his nose.
At work one day, Danielle received a package from her mom. Inside were all her old dance costumes, including this little ensemble, complete with headdress. Dan, who owns the UPS store a few shops down, often stops by to bring us tools or cupcakes or call us all "kiddo." On this particular occasion, he stepped in at exactly the right time to help model some of the best costumes.
And now, some outtakes from my previous post:

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Oh my!

I have seen a doctor and am optimistic about the new medicine she put me on (no major headache for almost two and a half days now!) so hopefully I will be able to resume life as it was before the migraine haze made it difficult to sit in front of the computer for long.
I really really miss blogging! There are so many stories that have slipped away forever because I didn't write them down. It makes me really sad to think about it, actually.
I do remember:
  • Danielle's (Happy birthday Danielle!) birthday party last night at the Spaghetti Warehouse downtown. The Spaghetti Warehouse is like the Texas version of Spaghetti Factory (one of my 3 favorite restaurants, along with Red Robin and Tomato Street). The food was delicious, but (sorry, Texas) it's a little less classy than Spaghetti Factory. There were plastic checkered tablecloths, and several items on the menu included something called "beer chili." "Spaghetti with Beer Chili?" Really, Texas? I may have smuggled a small loaf of sourdough bread home in my purse. In my defense, once it's on the table they have to throw it away, and that bread was too good to get thrown away.
  • Last time I made cookies I made so many batches at once that I broke my little electric mixer. I think that counts as my official initiation into the world of bakers, since my mom bakes a lot of cookies and seems to break a mixer every year :) Too bad I forgot that the mixer was broken today until I had already put the ingredients all together in a bowl. There was no turning back, so I forged on and made a batch of chocolate chip cookies by hand. I do not recommend it, though my right arm is feeling very buff right now. Also, I have a cookie jar! Someone at church was giving away some big glass jars, the kind that balance on their sides at an angle, and Travis brought them home for me! The biggest one looks very nice full of cookies.
  • My new (to me) music discovery of the month is Owl City. I'm in love! My favorite song is "Fireflies." I also recommend going to Pandora.com and making a radio station of music similar to "Owl City." It's my favorite pandora station ever!
  • We are going to a Mariners game! I have seen the Mariners play at least once every season for as long as I can remember. And I was so worried that I would miss them this year. But then . . . Travis got us tickets to see them play the Rangers in Arlington (three hours north, between Dallas and Fort Worth) next Sunday! Obviously Travis is more excited about the Rangers, but I am still resolved to call it the Mariners game. I-CHI-RO!
  • Another reason that I haven't been blogging much is that I have renewed my commitment to making friends here in Austin. Travis has a way of seeing things that I don't let myself see, and he let me know (very gently) that I was in danger of becoming the kind of person that turns down invitations so often, they no longer get invited. I knew immediately that he was right. I sometimes talk about needing female friends here so that I won't drive Travis crazy telling him everything about everything, but I get so busy with headaches and dancing and work and church that I hadn't really allowed myself to get to know anyone well (other than my co-workers). And Travis (again, gently) pointed out to me that there have been many opportunities and invitations. So these past few weeks I have spent time going to movies, lunch, and coffee with friends, and it has been a breath of fresh air. On my coffee date with Tiffany at Mozarts, we even got to see turtles! This little family was swimming in the water right by the deck where we were sitting! The baby was probably 8 inches or so, just about the size of my old friend Dmitri (my college roommate Bethany's tortoise ). We saw many more turtles, but Dmitri Remix and his mom were my favorites.
  • A few days after our coffee date, we had Tiffany and her husband Andrew (Travis' friend and co-worker at the church- Tiffany and Andrew both volunteer with the youth at Covenant too) over for dinner. Tiffany and Andrew each brought over a dessert- amazing ice cream sandwiches made with chocolate chip cookies, and homebacked blueberry pie. So. Good. And we played Boggle- Travis and I had never played before. I am addicted. I had a ridiculous streak of beginner's luck, though, so we'll see it any of them ever let me play again!
  • Next week I will begin two weeks of teaching the dance intensive at Austin Dance Company. I can't wait to get back in the studio and see my students again (especially since I get to teach with Adele, my friend from Borealis!), though I am feeling very aware that this means my summer-of-just-one-job is almost over. The dance intensive will be every weekday from 1-4 for two weeks, and on the Saturday in between Adele and I will teach the choreography intensive, which means we will teach the dance team their competition dances for the year. I am really excited to be choreographing for competition-- it's an honor-- but also nervous. My experience with competitions has been mixed. I've seen some of the coolest, most creative dances of my life at competitions and in videos of competition pieces (including my mom's favorite dance, the lizard tap dance we saw when I was 17. This girl was wearing a full body lizard suit, including tail. That takes commitment). But competitions have a terrible rep in the "serious" dance community for being all about glitz and tricks, and taking the artistry and history out of dance. It's certainly true that you'll find very few studios with a competition team that focus heavily on classical ballet. My hope is to create dances (lyrical jazz for 6-year-olds, afro-brazilian jazz for 12-year-olds, and another as-yet-unspecified piece) that are creative and compelling without losing focus on good technique and sincerity.
  • Our Borealis shows last week went really well- we were able to fundraise several hundred dollars, and also make more connections in the dance community. My least favorite part of the day was the migraine that made balance and concentration difficult (I am so thankful for my medicine, though- can you imagine me trying to dance with a migraine in high school, mom?). My favorite part of the day made up for it, though; our whole Austin family came to see me dance! This was the first show I've invited them to, since it was just our company performing, and the studio where we had the show was only a few minutes from their house. They were really supportive and encouraging, and I was very excited to be able to share this big part of my life with them.
  • We are really enjoying getting to know the new youth director, William, and his family. They are from Orange County, and seem to miss the freedom of summer on the West Coast (breezes and bearable temperatures) as much as I do. Here are Joe and William in front of the beautiful display board Travis made. When I asked them to pretend they were talking about youth ministry, the first few pictures showed Joe pretending to throttle a teenager, then both of them laughing hysterically. After they composed themselves, we got this (very posed) shot.

Don't all of Travis' flyers look great?!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Update

What a week! I normally love to come home and blog in my downtime before bed, but there has been zero downtime since last Wednesday, hence zero blogging. But (almost) all the business has been really fun. I am terrified now that I won't remember any of it, so now's the test.
  • Mini golf with the middle school youth group last Wednesday at Peter Pan downtown. I don't think I've ever played mini golf in 107 degree heat before, though it did remind me a bit of Sun Lakes growing up (especially since one of the holes was a little mountain with a hole in top. I could never get that one growing up, and I got it in two strokes! Triumph of the night). I was excited to see one of my dance students there with her friend, who goes to our church. I really miss my students and can't wait to get back in the studio with them! (Though if I weren't in the middle of 6 weeks off, I probably wouldn't feel that way).
  • We were invited to a dinner to welcome William, the new Youth Director at Covenant, and his wife Amy. I was really excited to go to our first church potluck dinner, and a little nervous because it was about 15 senior staff members and their spouses, and us. We were assigned to bring an appetizer, so I made my favorite food in the world, my mom's chicken wings. We got there, and everyone was mingling, and there were little appetizer plates out just for my appetizer. Scary. But they were a really big hit! It was really fun to talk with everyone there- I feel like we're getting plugged in and known in the church in a way that I haven't been since I was a little kid in Indianola- and the food everyone made was amazing! I made sure to ask how to make the bbq chicken.
  • Trey was in town for a couple days on break from camp (he is the camp nurse!), so we got to play Rummikub with Joe and Trey :) Aside from my getting really frustrated with Trey and Travis' long turns, it was a really nice evening. Joe and I developed a new strategy for avoiding boredom when Trey and Travis take too long. We played another game on the side! This time was the dot game, but next time we will bring cards. Also, Griz (Trey's puppy) was there, and he looks so different! When he was a baby, Griz looked like a little teddy bear, hence the name. Now he looks like a german shepherd (I think he is half). Same old Griz, though: he was so excited to see us, he drooled all over my silk shirt, and then fell asleep on top of Travis' foot.
  • On Saturday night, we went to an awesome concert! Shane Barnard (of Shane and Shane) and Bethany Dillon recently got married, and this was their first concert together. It was in a middle school cafeteria, and they were really relaxed and casual, telling funny stories and joking about how they hadn't been able to rehearse together, so they were just going to wing it. And then they started playing, and I felt like we were in the greatest concert hall in the world. They have two of the most pure and lovely voices I've ever heard. I loved hearing their stories about being newly married, and about the inspiration for their songs. Love for God, and for each other, radiated from them. Bethany's music can be heard here, and Shane's here. Check it out! Travis and I have both seen Shane Barnard before, he and his musical partner, Shane Everett, came to Whitworth our freshman year. I will never forget that concert, especially since my roommate Chelsea and I made the band pirate cookies and took them to their bus after the show! Chelsea is always coming up with ideas like that, like "lets go find really terrible sweaters at Goodwill and get our pictures taken at Sears!" I miss her a lot.
Oops, no time to finish the update now. I'm off to a middle school pool party, then to see Harry Potter for the second time in less than 24 hours!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

At the beach: a slideshow

On our recent trip to Washington we got to spend an afternoon with my oldest brother Peter, his wife Jeannie, and their awesome kids Stephen, Michael, Esther, and David! We went to the Indianola beach, which is what you do when you're in Indianola. And now, a slideshow:

One great thing about getting married is getting lots of new family members. Travis, for instance, found himself suddenly an uncle to 7 rowdy Korean kids. He loves it :) Peter's kids call him "turtle boy" or "auntie hairy" (I have been uncle freckles for years).

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Meta blog (in which we blog about blogging)

Since I blog just about as often as I eat, I think it's time to customize this blog. I want it to look unique and personalized, but I know nothing about graphic design. So you might notice some different template experiments in the next few days. (Sidenote, if you know anyone who is willing to make a blog template in exchange for cookies and hugs, send them my way)
I was thinking today about why I blog so frequently, and I realized that I've sort of been blogging my whole life. Almost every day, and sometimes more than once a day, I find myself processing my experiences by writing little blog-length stories in my head. Sometimes they're in the format of a letter I would write to someone to apologize, or a speech I should have made when someone was being rude, but most often they just sound like me talking to a friend, telling them about what happened and giving commentary as I go along. I'm not sure why I do this, but I do know that I've noted from time to time, and often with regret, that I should have been writing them down in a journal or something so all that work (and it's often hard to put things into words, even in my head) wouldn't just disappear as soon as it was written. This blog started as a way to keep my family updated on our life here in Texas, but I have gone crazy with it because it helps me keep a little record of all those stories. And another plus is that it has motivated me to carry our camera with me everywhere, making this first year of marriage one of the most well-documented we'll probably ever have :)
Hence we find ourselves with many gems like this:
and this:

Alien (okay not really) encounter

Last night we had an interesting "encounter" with two strangers. We should have known better than to go to Walmart, but Travis needed a knee brace for this morning, and it was almost 11pm. We found a knee brace, and were just getting into the car when I heard a woman yell at us. Travis rolled down the window, and she told us she was stranded there- bus service had just stopped for the night, and she only had $3 to her name, and she didn't know how she was going to get home. We let her in, and were just about to pull out of the parking lot when she told us we had to go find her husband- we would be giving him a ride home too. We picked him up, then stayed pretty quiet for the drive to their home. The woman, meanwhile, yammered away in the back, reciting poetry she had written about Jesus and telling us how ugly her husband's freckles were (it took her a few minutes to realize that I had freckles too. I really wanted to laugh, but the whole thing was so uncomfortable). They made us stop at a gas station so the man could grab a "soda" (he came back with a beer), then begged us to take them grocery shopping because the man had just gotten out of jail and didn't have a job. We took them home instead, but Travis gave them his number at the church.
On the way home, I could tell that Travis was frustrated. We both were. The whole thing was a little scary, to be honest.
So I'm wondering: how does a follower of Christ reconcile the command to give "your tunic as well" with the desire to not get taken advantage of? I have to keep reminding myself that Jesus didn't qualify that command with "if it looks like the person really needs the tunic and isn't going to sell it for drug money." Next he even says
If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you
(All from the NIV, Matthew chapter 5)
I love radical grace when I'm receiving something I don't deserve, but I guess I don't understand how to live it. Or, maybe, I understand how to live it, but I don't want to get eaten alive by people that will be happy to take me for anything I've got.
I should have just offered them Wheat Thins. That ought to have taken care of things.

Blog friends

Last week in Washington we got to go to our favorite church up there, Marine View, and see lots of our friends from Travis' first internship! Sidenote: I can't really blame you for being on vacation, Maery, but we did miss you. We'll catch you next time for sure :)
After church we headed to Starbucks with Hannah Snelling, the youth director there who is a fellow Whitworth theatre alum and who is also awesome. She had so many good stories, questions, and insights into youth ministry and being out of college. She also has a blog, which is often hilarious. Today's entry made Travis and I both laugh out loud! Check it out.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Oh. Man.

There is a Harry Potter Prequel! It is only 800 words, but you can read it here! I am stoked. Apparently it was written for a charity auction, which took place this week, and now it's available online.
Also, t-minus 11 days til Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! Travis, wonderful husband that he is, has agreed to take me at midnight.
Yipee!

In protest

Since I can get a little overheated (angry, even) when I talk about politics, it's a subject I try to avoid in conversation, and also on this blog. But I figure my opinions about Iran right now are not going to appear controversial to anyone that isn't in the ruling party in Iran, so it seems safe to link to this article by Whitworth professor Patrick Van Inwegen. The article explains how the people's non-cooperation with the results of the recent presidential election will ultimately force the Iranian government down one of two paths, the more likely of which is cooperation with the opposition. It's pretty short, and I think you'll like it!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Get your nerd on

I really enjoy toothpastefordinner.com. Sometimes it's a little crude, and sometimes it's not really that funny. But sometimes it almost makes me pee my pants. Case in point:
I also like this one, from xkcd.com, which bills itself as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language:"

Fireworks and friends

Last night we went downtown to have dinner and watch the fireworks with our friends Devin, Joe, and Chet (who leaves Tuesday for a year in Ecuador- good luck Chet!). We parked a mile or so away from auditorium shores, walked to the Green Mesquite for bbq, then joined a few thousand of our friends to watch the show. The Austin Symphony (I just started to type "Spokane Symphony." How awesome would that be?) was playing all sorts of patriotic music, and people everywhere were playing with these huge metallic inflatable tubes that looked like crayons. Devin and I really wanted one- they were soaring and diving all around us. Right before the show, a family put their blanket right next to us, and it happened to be the family of one of my students from Austin Dance Company! Here are some pictures, taken on night portrait setting (which completely blinds the subject of every picture, making for some great shots):
We don't have a cooler, so Travis filled a huge water bottle with ice and some cans of Dr. Pepper.
The heat was manageable because it was dark, but don't be fooled- it was still in the 90s. We have been breaking heat records every day. Today it's 103, and we haven't even hit the hottest time of day!
Joe
Devin
Chet, along with Joe's hand.
A fireworks dandelion! Devin's camera has a fireworks mode, so I can't wait to see her pictures!

Katie and Phil are married!

I love it when friends get married. Being married is great, and also it means that we get to see some of our best friends! Many of my closest friends from college were at Katie and Phil's wedding, plus many of Travis' teammates from track and cross country. It was the first wedding we've been to where we both knew the couple- I lived in Arend with Katie for 2 years, then was in a bible study with her, and Travis lived with Phil for 3 years! We had so much fun! I put the pictures on facebook, and you can view them here.

Texas safari pictures!

Scroll over the box to go forward or back, or pause the slideshow:

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Yeehaw (adventures with Cowboy)

Today we took our dog-in-law to the Red Bud Isle Dog Park, an entire (albeit small) island in Austin that is open to off-leash dogs. We thought Cowboy might be a little lonely with Vicky, Danny, and the family in Tennessee (he only sees us twice a day for food and outside time), so we all spent some quality time together, Travis and I walking and taking pictures, and Cowboy exploring, peeing, and sniffing other dogs. Even though most of the dozens of dogs and people we saw were swimming (it reached about 104 today), Cowboy had no interest in the water. This was a relief to me, since it was the first time I had ever been in a car with a dog, and I really didn't want to make it my first time in a car with a wet dog. Not so much of a relief: Cowboy did the kind of business that has to be picked up with a little bag, and lots of it. Another first for me.
Stopping at Starbucks in preparation for our adventure.
Cowboy usually only sees one other dog, his neighbor (who is very small and yappy), so he was stoked to see and smell so many other dogs.
A rare moment not protectively watching Cowboy.
I scooped poo for you, Cowboy. I care that much.
I was a little worried that Cowboy was getting heat exhaustion. He was panting so much. I tried pouring water from my water bottle in his mouth, but he hated that. Next time we dog-sit I am getting one of those little portable rubber dog bowls.
Rivers in the South are so pretty!
Looking upriver at the bridge and dam nearby.
A fun day, but it makes me glad that we aren't pet owners. It's a lot of work, and there is hair and drool everywhere.