Spooky Houses

Luke and I had some friends over last week to make some spooky graham cracker houses. We did it last year and I think it's a tradition that is going to stick. Here are our creations. Our friends, a couple from the ward, brought their A games and totally made us look bad. But we all had fun anyway. Oddly, neither of us thought to get pictures of us or our guests. We'll have to be better about that in the future.

Sorry some of these pictues are sideways. I'm not sure what is going on, and it's too late to really care.

Our building supplies:



My house. More traditional than I normally go



Luke built a ghost shanty town using the ghost Dots that we found at Target. It was pretty neato, but kind of hard to see in this picture.



Jared and Jessica Butts' masterpieces. They really schooled us. so, we're going to have to gear up for an ulimate Christmas craham cracker house building challenge.

Anna's List

I usually think the lists on Anna's blog are pretty interesting, so I've decided to put my answers for her latest one:

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse (but really, who cares... I'm not going to answer it any way) ;)
2. Where is your significant other? Home
3. Your hair color? Blond-ish
4. Your mother? Spunky
5. Your father? Sweet
6. Your favorite food? Chocolate
7. Your dream last night? Curious (I think I was baking pies at Wellesley and my choir conductor chewed me out 'cause I was making them wrong).
8. Your dream/goal? Happiness
9. The room you're in? Great
10. Your hobby? Collage (well, and it's my profession now. Crap! Do I need a new hobby now?)
11. Your fear? Unrealized potential
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? wherever Luke is
13. Where were you last night? home. (We watched Rocky. Man, what a great film.)
14. What you're not? political
15. One of your wish-list items? acne meds that work
16. Where you grew up? Calgary/Belmont
17. The last thing you did? ate applesauce
18. What are you wearing? church clothes
19. Your TV? Cable-less
20. Yur pet? non-existent
21. Your computer? Luke's
22. Your mood? content
23. Missing someone? not really
24. Your car? stick shift
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? Crate & Barrell (though I never buy much, it's too expensive. I just like all the pretty colors)
27. Your summer? indoors
28. Love someone? Luke
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When is the last time you laughed? minutes ago
31. Last time you cried? last night

A Bog for the Blog

This past Saturday, we went to a Cranberry harvest celebration. We had a good time, enjoying a beautiful fall day, and learned a lot as well.

There are 2 ways to harvest the cranberries: wet pick and dry pick. For dry picking, which is for fresh cranberry products, a machine like the one picture below is driven over the vines and pull the berries off with metal combs.

Luke and I picked a few by hand and even ate them straight off the vine. This was Luke's face after he ate one. It was pretty sour.

Sandy soil is important for good cranberry growing. This is why they grow naturally on Cape Cod. This is a large sandy area, with a few dunes, that was used for the bogs in the area.

The second way of picking is wet picking. A cranberry bed, like the one below, is flooded and then machines come by and knock the cranberries off the vines. Because the berries have air pockets in them, the float to the top where they are then coraled and sucked up onto a conveyor belt.

Here's a picture of men wading through the cranberries to coral them together.

We found a children's book that was pretty funny. I couldn't get the picture turned the right way, but the title alone is great: Clarence the Cranberry who Couldnt Bounce.

Pictures

Here are some pictures of our time at the Big E and my latest collage.

Luke and Lego Indiana Jones. Indy's holding a Lego crystal skull. It was all pretty impressive. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture that came out of the cow made of butter.


Ah fair food: nothing like a good old Pot Roast Sundae.

I won this lame little prize in a carnival game.

Jordin Sparks.


My collage: The Tree of Life, 12" x 18"

The Reign of Freedom: 2 Weeks and Some Change

It has been a little over 2 weeks since my last day at Deloitte. I apologize that I haven't posted sooner. It appears that I'm still clinging on to the "I don't touch the computer at home" mentality that I had when I used to be on the computer 8 hours a day at work. I guess that habit needs to change or I'll never check my email (wait... do I ever check my email anyway?). It feels unnatural to be online in my own living room - even this blog I'm writing from my parents house. 

These past two weeks have been my "vacation" - the break I give myself to relax and reconfigure my life. But I realized that vacationing by yourself in your own home doesn't feel like much of a vacation- it just feels a little more like lazy. Still, I've enjoyed my time going for bike rides, shopping with the parents, sleeping in, cleaning the apartment, and starting a collage. 

I've been obsessed with this collage. Like, it's perhaps unhealthy. Last night, I couldn't get to sleep because I was thinking about it. So, I went back to work and stayed up 'till 2:00 AM to complete it. I will post a picture of it soon.

Also, 2 Saturdays ago, Luke and I went to the Big E, which is this big carnival/fair with a couple in our ward. We had a great time and got to see some pretty awesome things: an Indiana Jones sculpture made of Lego, a "Mardi Gras" parade, a cow sculpture made of butter, and Jordin Sparks in concert. No joke! When she walked out on stage, I felt like a 13 year old girl and wanted to cry I was so overcome with happiness. Pictures to come...

All in all, I'm glad I'm no longer at Deloitte and think that I will enjoy my new life very well.

Tada!

Fabulous Friends with Staying Power

On this past Sunday we had 3 of my best high school friends over for dinner. We had such a great time catching up, playing silly games, and even doing dishes together. I am so grateful for these girls and their continued friendship. We did everything together in high school, went to Venezuela together a few years ago, and it's nice to know that we still get along and enjoy each other's company.




Here's a picture of us:



From left to right: Me, Catharine Fairbairn (her boyfriend, John, also came for dinner), Katie Baratta, and Ellie Cowen.

I have been friends with these as far back as 8th grade when our family moved out here. Sheesh! That's a long time!

Why I hate modern news organizations, Part 1

I've often felt irked by the media's coverage of news, particularly politics, but rarely to the point where I considered it blog worthy. But as of this afternoon, I've had enough!

CNN, the LA Times, the NY Times, and plenty of other papers/blog/news organizations are all reporting headlines that riff on a "John McCain claims to have invented the BlackBerry" theme. And it is incredibly stupid.

First: McCain never said the quote in question
Second: The quote in question was NEVER about the BlackBerry
Third: It was never about invention of anything

The REAL story: (as found in the details of this blog )

The adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, was briefing reporters on Mr. McCain’s prescriptions for the meltdown on Wall Street, and citing his experience as the chairman of the commerce committee, when he was asked what Mr. McCain had done on the commerce committee that would show Americans that he understands financial markets.

“He didn’t have jurisdiction over financial markets, first and foremost,’’ Mr. Holtz-Eakin said, before wandering into more politically perilous ground.

“But he did this,’’ he said, holding up what looked like a BlackBerry. “The telecommunications of the United States, the premier innovation of the past 15 years, comes right through the commerce committee. So you’re looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create. And that’s what he did.’’

Have ALL the news outlets really become so obsessed with driving traffic and ratings that they have to twist the truth?