Ain't it purty?

Here's what I am. Run your cursor over each block to see what part of my personality it represents. Then go here to see what your personal DNA is. It's fun!

Benevolent Creator

I'm so needy

I saw this posted first over here and thought it was funny. Also, I think this has gone around before and I missed it....
Anyway, go to Google and type in your name, then the word needs and see what you come up with. Here's what I got:

Kristy needs to be pinned to the front of your shirt.
Kristy needs the help of "The Babysitters Club." (ain't that the truth?)
Kristy needs to make an agenda for the next meeting.
Kristy needs a few seconds before she tells Amanda "I'm ready."
Kristy needs to turn up the AC cause her hotness is about to burn the place down. (My personal favorite!)
Kristy needs to be hospitalized to end the crisis.
Kristy needs to lose 160 pounds. (Hmmm....don't think this one's possible...)
Kristy needs 15 hours in the dental chair.
Kristy needs to learn a few new tricks.
Kristy needs to come party with the old crew.

A car for me, a car for Nathan, a car for Judah, and a car for anyone who needs to borrow one...

Remember when I posted a long time ago about how I was going to sell my Mustang? Yeah.....just kidding. More than a year after that decision was made, we still have it sitting around, taking up garage space and insurance money. And then a couple weeks ago Nathan bought a 1999 Silverado crew cab, all lifted and stuff. So now we have (count them!) FOUR vehicles. An Explorer, a Mustang, an Impala, and a Silverado. I think Nathan bought the Silverado to even out the Ford/Chevy balance again. We're a mixed marriage, you see. But we and our cars exist harmoniously. So anyway, the four car issue causes a good amount of chaos. It's like musical chairs, since we only legally have three parking spaces at our apartment. And then there's the carseat issue for Judah, and juggling that all around. We keep one in the truck and one in the Explorer, and that one's movable, so we can really put it anywhere it's needed, even in the back seat of the Mustang. And Judah LOVES that, when I put him back there with the top down, because he's my baby.

But it looks like now it's really goodbye. Having four cars is ridiculous, so we're selling the Impala and the Mustang. I have a FOR SALE sign on the Mustang that's roughly the size of Rhode Island. And I got an offer on it last night. So this is really it. I can't tell you how sad I am. But it's necessary. So, tell your friends. We have cars for sale!

The only time you'll ever see me promote Southpark (or: Another example of how Tom Cruise is a big cry baby)

So there was this one Southpark episode about Scientology. For those of you that know about Southpark, you know they pick on anything and everything, and sometimes it's pretty bad. They mock Christianity a lot of the time. But, freedom of speech and all, so no one really says anything about those episodes. Lo and behold, one day they up and offended The Great and Mighty All-Knowing Tom the Couch Jumper Cruise by making an episode that totally mocked Scientology. So Tom and his cohorts got on Comedy Central's case, and they gave in and pulled the episode out of circulation. You've gotta be kidding, right? They can say whatever they want about any other religion or group, but the second you mess with Tom Cruise, WATCH OUT!

So anyway, I feel that it's my duty as a Christian to help spread this episode as far and wide as I can. You can watch the episode here. Warning: there is some bad language and stuff, because it is Southpark, after all. So don't watch it if that's gonna offend you. Otherwise, enjoy, and share the love on your own blog! Thanks to Dave for bringing this to the attention of lots of people, including me.

Halfway there....

"But don't forget the songs
That made you smile,
And the songs that made you cry."
~Morrissey

Through my own stupidity, I lost all of the music on my iPod when I hooked it up to our new computer the first time. I'm really bad at computers. I was an english major. Anyway, the collection the first time around wasn't really anything spectacular, and not even a quarter of what the iPod could hold. So now I'm taking on the tedious and arduous (but fun!) task of filling it back up again. Not as easy as it sounds, as we recently moved our CD rack into a closet under the stairs and I can't even stand up straight as I'm looking for things to add. But it's fun, because I'm rediscovering a lot of the music I loved in high school and college and haven't listened to in years. Tonight I hit the halfway point of what the iPod can hold. So here's how it breaks down:

Songs: 1,280
Artists: 128
Total playing time: 36.5 days

Here are some of the rediscoveries I've made that I'd kind of forgotten about:
Siouxsie and the Banshees: Forever (and the whole Rapture album)
Erasure: She Won't Be Home (by the way, Dave, I discovered that I still have your Crackers Internations album - sorry about that)
Big Country: 1000 Stars
The Church: North, South, East, and West
Enya: Flora's Secret
The Cure: The Last Day of Summer
The Cure: Cloudberry (one of the most beautiful songs ever)
Jude: Brad and Suzy (hysterical)
Pet Shop Boys: King's Cross
Suede: My Insatiable One

It's spreading like a disease in the blogosphere!

Stole this little gem from Barbara, who stole it from someone else, who I'm sure stole it from someone else....

Go to your page and list the last fifteen people who have commented you. If someone has commented twice, skip to the next new commenter.
1. Barbara
2. Ashlee
3. Melissa
4. Steve
5. Dave
6. Clint
7. Wendy
8. Noreen
9. Sarah
10. Nathan
11. Dan
12. O'Brien
13. Eric
14. Kimberly Rose
15. Dave S.

Have you ever kissed 4? Uh, he's my brother, so I guess so.... at some point...

What's the best memory you have of 10? Wow, there are way too many. I guess anything from our wedding day. Or the day I first thought I might marry him, which was ten years ago now, when I was at his parents' house and he was making taquitos and offered me one.

Why are you friends with 9? I'm not, really. I like her blog, it's pretty funny sometimes.

When's the next time you're gonna see 6? Whenever he deems California worthy of his presence, I suppose. Or when we brave the wilds of Colorado again.

Tell something juicy about number 15: I don't have anything really juicy on him! But I will say that he has spectacular taste in music.

What do you like about 8? She is always encouraging and excited to hear how things are going for me.

Is number 1 attractive? She's SMOKIN' HOT!

What was your first impression of 7? Nice girl. Quiet, but worth getting to know.

How did you meet 3? Long story. Here's the nutshell version: she was dating a guy I'd been friends with for years, who was living with the guy I was dating.

Do you think 13 could kill someone? Maybe. Being a 911 operator probably provides enough motivation for at least one murder.

Is 11 your best friend? No. Coincidentally, Barbara, my best friend doesn't read my blog, either. What's up with that?

Do you think 2 has a crush on you? Something tells me no. Brian would probably be upset.

Who do you spend the most time with? Definitely #10. That happens when you share a home.

What is the last thing you did with #1? New Year's Eve, Book Lover's Trivial Pursuit, 80s movies, lots of food, etc.

Have you ever been to 3's house? Nope.

Would you ever kiss 5? Weird. Both the kissing questions fell on my BROTHERS! Saving me some other embarrassing admissions, no doubt.

How do you know 4? We grew up together.

Have you ever slept with 5? Once again....

Do you think 6 is sexy? Uhhh..... I guess I did at one time...

Have you ever liked 7? Not like THAT!

Where is the last place you went with 8? We hung out at my dad's office. She was his secretary. :)

Are you real close to 9? Nope.

What kind of relationship do you have with 10? The best! He's my better half.

Have you ever kissed 11? No, but I almost landed in his lap accidentally one time, because of our evil Shakespeare prof who made me try to find my seat in a pitch dark room. Maybe he was mad that I was late for the 15th or 16th time...

Have you ever been to the movies with 12? No, but we went to a Mexican taco stand together once. Kind of the same thing, if you look at it right.

Have you ever gotten in trouble with 13? No, seeing as how he's stranded up there in Alaska.

Would you ever make a move on 14? No. Not even if I wasn't married. :)

What do you and 15 talk about the most? We don't talk much anymore. :( But we used to talk about music. He was the only other person I ever found who'd heard of Squarepusher.

London calling

We think that our summer vacation plans have finally been set in stone. And I think it's gonna be good, though not what I'd anticipated. We started talking about going to London this summer a while back, figuring that Judah will be old enough to stay here with relatives and if we wait until next year we'll probably have another baby too little to leave. So it would have been the perfect time. Unfortunately, it looks like that isn't going to work out. There are a lot of good things about Nathan being self-employed: he can set his own hours, take vacations whenever he wants, and there's really no ceiling on how much money he can make, it just depends on how many patients he can drum up. Here's the down side: when we take a vacation, we not only have to save the money the trip will cost, we also have to save what Nathan would have made by working the time we're gone. So basically we have to save up about two times the cost of the trip. Which, for London, would mean about $4,000 or so. At least. And we just can't pull it off this year. Plus, we've been advised that leaving an eighteen month old baby at home with others for a week or ten days is a bad idea. So.... London's calling, and I have to hang up. I can't pretend that I'm not really sad. I haven't been there in a long, long time, and I'm dying to go back.

However, we do have other plans. Our church is doing a church-wide camping trip to Mammoth at the beginning of August, and we think we'll go. It should be fun. We love to camp (where there's indoor plumbing - I know, I'm a wuss) and Mammoth is a beautiful area with lots to do. And Judah will be at a great age for it. Our church is just coming out the other side of a really long, really hard time in our history (50+ years), and we're rebuilding sort of, so we think it's gonna be a good time to get to know people in our church a little better and build some good relationships. Also, you can't really beat $15 a night! So, Mammoth, here we come! And London.... someday I will see you again.

Sorry this post's not very witty or funny or anything. It's more therapy for me and less entertainment for you. I solemnly swear to do better next time.

Mimi's Cafe, Yorba Linda: Where Satan keeps his Minions

Mimi's, again! Today we went to Mimi's for brunch. Nathan had waffles, I had an omelette, Judah ate fruit puffs and pieces of avocado. It was a nice meal. We ran into a friend, chatted with her for a minute, and were waiting for our bill. And then they seated three Yorba Lindans in the booth behind us. Judah, in his boredom, was tapping a spoon on our table. We let him do it, in order to keep him from turning it up to eleven with the screaming. He was being quiet and angelic otherwise, not even babbling. And the spoon tapping was less noise than the waiters banging plates together as they cleared tables. So the lady at the booth behind us looks over, and then the guy looks around the side and goes, "Is he doing construction?" And Nathan goes, "Yeah, he's jackhammering." The guy gets up and goes to the hostess. Meanwhile, his wife goes, "Be quiet!" and their daughter (typical Yorba Linda housewife wearing a track suit from Versace) goes, "Control your child!" Neither of them, of course, looking at us, but choosing the cowardly method of making loud comments that weren't TO us, but AT us. And then they moved tables.

Really. Was it necessary? Couldn't they just have moved tables without the thoroughly low-class, indirect comments? And seriously, a baby tapping a spoon? Call the press! Call Homeland Security! Who cares who Bush is giving the ports to! There's a BABY! With a SPOON! In YORBA LINDA! Isn't this one of the signs of the apocolypse?

And if it's really bothering you that much, geezers, TURN DOWN YOUR HEARING AIDS!

Through the miracles of modern technology....

I can show you my bedroom without showing you the mess!

Nathan's dad, Ken, has set up a tradition in his family. He's a master wood worker, and every time one of his kids got married he made them a beautiful piece of furniture of their choosing and design. When Jenna and John got married he made them a sleigh bed. Brian and Ashlee chose a dining room table and chairs, the chairs of which were built to Ashlee's exact comfort specifications. Later he added a matching high chair for Eszter. Jeff also chose a dining room table and chairs. Nathan and I decided on a bed, and showed Ken our preferred design, which was a sort of Craftsman/Mission combo. He looked at it, said, "But that's so easy! Would you like a dresser as well?" Being the smart people we are, we took him up on it. The dresser was in the same style, really simple with straight lines and no fuss. Well, what started out simple turned into extremely detailed, and we ended up with two gorgeous peices that have all the extras: cloud lifts, piercings, inlay, copper pulls made and patinaed by Ken. And now they're online! Here are our bed and dresser.






You can check out more of Ken's work here, as well as see a close-up of the vine inlay.

The playlist of a recovering Goth

If you ask my brothers and their wives, they'll tell you that when I was in highschool I wore a lot of black and a lot of dark eyeliner. I honestly don't think that I looked that goth, but to hear them tell it I was one step away from being the princess of darkness. They didn't see what my friends looked like, or else they would have realized that I wasn't really that hard core. There was one time, however, that Steve refused to take me to the mall until I removed my black nail polish. These days my music tastes run more to the pop side of things, though I still claim the Cure as my favorite group of all time. They own a huge portion of the space on my iPod, but don't show up in my playlists very much because I mostly use my iPod when I'm exercising, and it's pretty hard to work out to a song like Pictures of You. Here's my current playlist. You'll notice that I voluntarily sacrifice any street cred that I ever had immediately by including John Mayer in the list. But I always hated that whole "street cred" thing anyway. Who cares what you like and if it's "cool" or not? Unless you like Britney Spears. Then you're hopeless.

83 - John Mayer
Brad and Suzy - Jude
Cities in Dust - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Dancing Barefoot - U2
Even After All - Finley Quaye
Heart - Pet Shop Boys
Here's Where the Story Ends - the Sundays
O Baby - Siouxsie and the Banshees
On a High - Duncan Sheik
Rick James - Jude
The Three Sunrises - U2
You're Not the Only One - The Sundays
You Blew Me Off - Bare Jr.
Witchi Tai To - Harpers Bizarre