August 24, 2009

Blog Book


Okay, so here's the scoop on the blog book. We used Blurb and I was really happy with the results. Once you go on to blurb, you download a piece of software that is made to link to your blog and it moves over all your blog posts and then allows you to work with their pre-made templates. I was making it super simple and then James started over and took over creative control. There are a lot of ways you can manipulate the backgrounds and pictures and text. The only complaint I've heard is if you use low grade pictures they obviously wont have great quality when printed and the templates will tell you they're too small.

-Our book is standard size 8x11
-We did image wrap hard back (so we wouldn't have a lame book jacket to get lost and ruined)
-Contains 2 years of blogs
-200 pages
-$60.00

It is definitely a labor of love. You have to want to spend the time to make it exactly what you want and so you will be happy with the finished product. It took James about 5 nights, ALL NIGHT to get this done.

August 23, 2009

My Summer Staycation


by Cicily Bowles

I had to write about my summer staycation, but I didn't know what to write so I decided to just make a list of all the great things about my summer staycation:

casitas, undercover waiter, canned chicken, blender drama, toots, cinnamon toast crunch, Mylicon, cable, leg wrestling, pools, lazy river, British man with tiny shorts, sad alone lady with her beer at 10am, nachos, nachos and more nachos, 65 degree weather, housekeeping, 400 thread count, concussion prevention courses, cannonball and belly-flop competition, W or B lady (still a mystery), Phase 10, riveting late night conversations, no sunburns, finding the flip-flop, drown-drown-drown Fire department hit song, and pizza.

I had an awesome summer staycation, it was neat.
Photos courtesy of Stacy Thompson

August 20, 2009

Long lost memory


Since our blog is technically our family journal, I wanted to make sure I got this picture in from last Christmas. My friend Kelli (who I worked with in Montana) came to visit and we went and saw the local Santa helper in the neighborhood.

I know it sounds crazy, but come September I'm so excited for fall/winter holidays and weather. I can't wait!

On a side note, we got our blog published and it is awesome. If you want to check it out just let me know, it is so worth the time and money to put it together. A great memory of our past few years and the quality is great.

August 17, 2009

James is COOL

James got the itch to change up the look of our blog and made this super sweet new layout. I'm always amazed at his skills, he's a rockstar! Thanks for the upgrade it looks awesome!


Dude, my husband is a fox.

August 13, 2009

The health care debate is making me sick

by Brian Unger

The health care debate is toxic, revealing a lot about us as a nation. And it feels embarrassing — like the whole world can see our underpants. Or hear us fighting in the kitchen.

First, most of us can't describe accurately the details of the health care reform now under debate. That makes us look stupid or too busy to care.

Second, most of us can't describe accurately the health care or insurance we currently have, so that makes us look kind of stupid or lazy.

Some of us don't care about people who don't have health insurance, so that makes us seem unsympathetic or super lucky.

Most of us don't understand that we're already paying for people who don't have health care — which makes us too busy to care, in denial or merely rich.

Some of us — a lot of us — already receive health care under some form of government plan, but don't believe in health care under some form of government plan. That makes us hypocritical or selfish. In some camps, I hear that makes us patriotic.

A lot of us are a combination of these things: too busy, lazy, a bit stupid perhaps, lucky, unsympathetic, in-denial, really rich, hypocritical, selfish ... and patriotic.

We're having an identity crisis when it comes to caring about the nation's health, which makes me think what we really need is psychotherapy. But, sadly, that's not covered under most health plans, if you have one at all.

To many, health care reform is scary, like someone's building a halfway house for criminals right at their doorstep. It's a N.I.M.B.Y. ("Not In My Backyard") issue evolved into a N.O.M.B.O. ("Not On My Back, Obama") issue.

People never change. But policy can, so our health care reformers must get more creative and visionary.

How about a Cash for Clunkers Program? Not for cars, but for older, beat-up people whose bodies have wear and tear, and can't go long distances when they're filled with gas?

Our government is offering us $4,500 to buy a new car. Can it also offer humans incentives — say, a tax break — to join a gym? To quit smoking? Or to buy produce from local farmers? Reward schools that teach kids how to eat right and exercise? You know, kind of like that class we used to offer kids called "gym."

Let's pay people to stay healthy, instead of only paying for them when they get sick. Then maybe our nation will find its compassion, the one true antidote for its health care identity crisis.

Brian Unger is a writer, satirist and actor.
He helped launch The Daily Show and he is a regular contributor to NPR.

August 11, 2009

In-laws cabin=FUN



We went on a little rendezvous to the cabin a couple weekends ago, and it was great. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

August 3, 2009

Awesome / Not Awesome



Awesome
-Being able to finally mash some gum on my tongue in Sacrament meeting.
Not Awesome
-James kindly telling me in Sunday school that I really need to brush my teeth (umm, I did and I'm sucking on gum) because my breath was a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1-10. (sorry to anyone I breathed on at church)

Awesome
-Taking meds to help with the pain and discomfort. (I appreciated the medication, but felt a little hesitant about taking it after a meeting about addiction. Medicine freaks me out.)
Not Awesome
-Being questioned by several people if I was "okay." (apparently I am more affected by the meds than I thought)

Awesome
-Got dressed for an early morning meeting in the dark.
Not Awesome
-James telling me at 5:00 pm; after three meetings, church and my conducting in Relief Society, that I have my dress on inside out! (In my defense it didn't look that strange)

I knew getting my teeth out would be an adventure, I just had no idea it would be this funny.

*the images are for those of you who may have forgotten what I look like on a normal basis. Yes, I can typically smile without a grimace, and no my cheeks don't always look this puffy.