Allie and Jon

2011

2011-12-17T22:07:00.002-06:00

Can't let 2011 go by without at least ONE post.

Should have more to write about soon...

Fall Camping

2010-10-11T22:19:00.011-05:00

Jon and I had a quick camping trip to McCormick's Creek State Park this weekend. It was a great park with tons of hiking. We also took Scruffy, which made it his first camping trip!

Pretty fall trees.

McCormick's Creek

Scruffy loves hiking!

Wolf Cave

McCormick's Creek waterfall.

The park was FULL of different mushrooms!

Flowers

2010-10-09T20:17:00.007-05:00

Jon and I went to Indianapolis for our anniversary and while there we stopped at the Garfield Park Conservatory. Some awesomely beautiful flowers there!

California 2010

2010-10-09T19:47:00.011-05:00

I got to visit Mono Lake, California again this September. I just love it there. Here are some of the photos.

Lee Vining Creek

Elin smelling some plants.

Blooming rabbit brush.

Fluffy plants.

Tufa.

More tufa.

Pirate ship tufa.

Maggie shows off some kutzadika (fly pupae).

California gulls.

Some cool rocks at Obsidian Dome.

Looks like the moon up there on Obsidian Dome.

Parker Lake.

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir

Utah 2010

2010-07-01T22:04:00.014-05:00

Jon and I just got back from over a week spent out west in Utah. We had an amazing time and saw tons of cool things. We went with my Aunt Julie, Uncle Kermit, their two kids, and our friend Sam.

To see all the photos from the trip, see the Facebook album.

The first leg of our trip was spent camping at Arches National Park near Moab, UT.

Arches is very dry, and very hot! Coming from central Illinois with humidity hovering around 80% on an average day, the total lack of humidity of the desert was great! It was much easier to cope with 95 – 100 degree temperatures that way. It actually got pretty chilly at night (upper 50s), so once the sun went down, things felt great. We camped at Devil's Garden camp ground – there were flush and pit toilets, but no showers. The campground was surrounded by beautiful red rocks, but no real trees to speak of. The campsite is also at around 5,600 feet elevation, which is about 80% of the usual amount of oxygen. When we first arrived we started setting up camp in the mid-day heat and the low oxygen, I got really dizzy and didn't feel well. I sat down to rest, and promptly passed out and fell to the ground! Luckily the ground was soft sand, and I came-to right away! I drank water and rested a little while, and felt much better afterwards! Such excitement to start off the trip!

Our first day was spent exploring Arches National Park. We went to the visitor center, hiked a few trails, stopped at tons of viewpoints, and saw many of arches, of course!

Our second day was spent on a rafting trip down the Colorado River with Red River Adventures.

Our guide was great, and we had a blast. Although it was a mostly-mild stretch of river, we hit some rapids and everyone but the kids and one adult fell out of the boat! We lost Jon's shoes, two water bottles, and we almost lost Sam's swim trunks (which were saved in the nick of time!). They had folks out there taking pictures of us and we definitely had to buy them! Despite the overboard adventure, we all enjoyed the river and would do it again in a heart beat!

Day three was spent visiting Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. Both places were amazing and full of more beautiful scenery.

Canyonlands National Park

Dead Horse Point State Park

Day four was spent traveling to the next site: Monument Valley. We stopped at Natural Bridges National Monument to check out some cool bridges along the way. The difference between an arch and a bridge, by the way, is that arches are formed by wind and rain, and bridges are formed by the meandering of a river. After Natural Bridges we made it to Monument Valley, which is on the border of Utah and Arizona on Navajo land, for a sunset jeep tour. The open-top jeep tour was great and an amazing way to explore the valley. We stayed the night at the brand new hotel right on the edge of Monument Valley called The View.

Natural Bridges

Monument Valley

On day five we left Monument Valley to head to Page, Arizona for a tour of Antelope Canyon. This was one of the most amazing parts of the trip. Another open-top jeep took us to the canyon for a beautiful hike through.

After the tour, we continued on to Kodachrome Basin State Park. This is where things got crazy. We followed the GPS to the park, and it took us through a few country roads. We went on a gravel road for a few miles, but we were only 20 more miles or so until we reached the park, so we continued on. The road quickly degraded to a rocky, windy, steep, washboard dirt road. Our little low lying Honda Fit should not have been driving on this rural backcountry road of Utah. Somehow, after only bottoming out once, we made it back to the highway and drove the remaining few miles to the campsite. We were too frightened to take any pictures or really appreciate any of the scenery! We later found out we were driving through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument on Skutumpah Road. We literally forded at least two small creeks on the drive... enough said. My advice to you is BE YE NOT SO STUPID. NEVER GO ON SKUTUMPAH ROAD. Our campsite at Kodachrome was completely adorable with our own little bridge! Great place to camp, except the one month out of the year when the gnats are around... which was when we were there!

Our sixth day was spent exploring Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce was the park that inspired the entire trip, so needless to say, it is a strikingly beautiful place. Truly awe-inspiring.

The next morning we packed up everything and headed on home. The drive out and back was 24 hours each way, so it was two days of driving out, and another two days of driving until we made it home. After our long car rides, we were all grateful to be home!

Multimedia message

2010-05-19T20:00:00.001-05:00

Csa week 2. Onions, radishes, asparagus, mixed greens, and dill.

Community Supported Agriculture

2010-05-12T21:04:00.002-05:00

Our first share of our CSA! Buying food directly from the farmer.
Thank you Moore Family Farms!
http://www.prairielandcsa.org/

Also testing mobile blogging!

Illinois Marathon

2010-05-02T09:53:00.004-05:00

** Updated with links/photos!! **

Jon, Caty, Derek, and I ran on a relay team for the 2010 Illinois Marathon. A relay is the full marathon (26.2 miles) divided up by 4 people. Everyone ran between 6 and 7 miles each. We were Team STFU – Speed To Finish United! It was such a blast! The energy and excitement was great, with over 14,000 runners! The weather held off and although it was humid, it was a great run!

There were so many funny moments, from both runners and spectators! My favorites:
-- A runner dressed as a banana (See here!)
-- A runner dressed as Abe Lincoln and carrying a giant Illinois flag (See here!)
-- A relay team dressed as pirates!
-- A guy who ran the entire marathon barefoot.
-- A couple running with shirts that said "Just Married" and the woman had a veil.
-- A spectator who got out his garden hose and provided a cooling stream of water for runners who needed it!
-- A spectator who created his own "aid station" to provide runners with "BEER" – and many runners actually took him up on it!
-- My Dad, who was in the stands watching us finish, said there was a proposal at the finish line (50 yard line at Memorial Stadium) right before we crossed!

And my personal favorite...
-- A spectator within a mile of the finish who had a sign with a picture of Kanye West on it that said "Imma Let You Finish!"
(SEE HERE!!!!)

Overall we had an amazing time! We had a celebratory pizza party at our house afterwards, which was also tons of fun!

Happy Running!
(see all my pics from the day here!!)

Tarklin Bayou Preserve State Park

2010-04-11T08:21:00.004-05:00

A few more photos from the Florida trip last month....

We had a great hike out at Tarklin Bayou Preserve State Park one afternoon.

Looking up!

Pretty flowers!

Cool boardwalk trail.

A type of pitcher plant - they're carnivorous!

Trees.

The bayou!

Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida

2010-03-23T22:02:00.014-05:00

Jon and I also visited the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida. It wasn't a huge operation and it was right in the center of town. But they care for a lot of injured birds and some mammals too. It seemed like a really great organization and they really cared for the animals.

Hard to see behind the cage, but a cute little owl!

An albino vulture!!

Jon's not quite as big as a bald eagle!

A very silly goose!

Jon is the goose whisperer!! I don't know what it is with him and birds...

Pelican!

Pelican hangout.

We arrived during feeding time, and boy was that interesting! Pelicans are serious about fish!! The poor girl was nearly mauled!

THE SWARM.

Thievery!

Fight!!

The heron and muscovy look on with desire... and also disdain for the pelicans!

A very cool place to visit!

Memorial Park

2010-03-23T21:29:00.005-05:00

One afternoon in Pensacola we visited Memorial Park where they have The Wall South. Memorial Park has different memorials for WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and missing children. The Wall South is a similar wall to the one in Washington DC with the names of Vietnam vets who died in the war. It was a gloomy day and was all pretty moving.

Dad and Jon checking out the Vietnam era Marine helicopter.

A view of The Wall South.

Up close.

WWI memorial.

Korea.

WWII.

Memorial for soldiers who earned a Purple Heart.

Memorial for missing children.

Fun

2010-03-21T21:26:00.005-05:00

Some random pics from Pensacola that are just funny!

Graffiti

"Sara <3's (loves) Ben"
response:
"Sara's prego Ben

Jon's future boat. You hve to love the band Rush to understand.

Jon finds an internet meme!

The sun blinds me!!

Birds

2010-03-21T21:11:00.001-05:00

Some of the many birds in downtown Pensacola!!

Just a couple of great blue herons!

The odd couple.

Jon creeps up on birds.

Again.

Running on the beach

2010-03-21T20:59:00.006-05:00

Jon and I are training for the Illinois Marathon (relay) race coming up in May, so we kept up our running while in Florida and got a lovely change of scenery!! We jogged long Johnson's Beach on Perdido Key. This is the same beach we camped on last year.

Go Jon go!!

Love the Sea Oats!!!!

After our run we walked the nature trail on the beach.

An osprey nest with two adults! I don't know how to identify many birds, especially ones not in Illinois, but I know osprey from my time at Mono Lake.

Fort Barrancas

2010-03-21T20:06:00.006-05:00

One of the sites we visited in Pensacola was Fort Barrancas, which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. This fort was used by the Spanish, British, and US & Confederate armies throughout the 1700 & 1800s to guard the entrance to Pensacola Bay.

The Fort's dry moat.

The Fort's one and only entrance.

Inside.

The parts of the Fort that the Spanish built called the Water Battery.

Lots of cool arches throughout the Fort.

Pensacola, FL

2010-03-21T19:44:00.009-05:00

Jon and I went to Pensacola, Florida last week, along with my Dad, to see my little sister Megan's softball tournament with Parkland College. We went last year (here, here, and here) and had a great time, so definitely had to go this year as well!

We had a great time and visited many cool sites. I feel I know the Pensacola area like the back of my hand!

Megan getting ready to bat.

The star pitcher. Usuall not a belly itcher.

Here's Meg and Dad at The Surf Burger on Pensacola Beach.

Here is our adorable condo at the Purple Parrot!
Living room.

Dining room.

Bedroom.

Ladder to Dad's loft.

View from the loft.

8K for H20

2010-03-08T18:51:00.003-06:00

A quick cross-post update!

Jon and I went to visit Jenny in Charleston, SC where she is working on her masters at the College of Charleston. She is involved in a student group that puts on an 8K race each year to benefit a local environmental/water conservation group. Jon and I went down to visit her and participate in the race. So we ran in the annual 8K for H20. This year's race benefactor was LEEP – the Lowcountry Environmental Education Program.

8K is the furthest I've ever run in my life!! It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. There were 200 participants in the race and it was good practice for our big run coming up in May. I wasn't quite ready for the distance, so didn't do great, but I'm just so happy that I finished. I was originally going to only run the 5K, but I'm glad I bit the bullet and went for the full 8. I was second to last (literally – 199/200) at 1:11:12, and Jon did great at 51:28.

Woo hoo!!

Family

2010-02-14T22:23:00.005-06:00

Spent some time with the family this weekend.

Played some peek-a-boo with ~~4.5~~ 5.5 month old Ashton!

GIMME!!

Hanging out with uncle Jon.

So sad! Oh no!

Big brother Shea joins in the fun.

Love those boys!

Goofy Dog

2010-02-07T09:06:00.003-06:00

Wink!

Peek!

Washington DC 2010

2010-02-01T21:19:00.007-06:00

I spent the last few days in Washington DC at a conference. Despite coming down with a cold, I had a really great time and learned a lot.

My great co-workers.

Health reform now!

Who is the monkey??

The Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian.

Me and Yadi!

Capitol Building.

Happy 2010!

2010-01-22T14:37:00.004-06:00

I'm going to try to do some more blogging this year, but I have to start somewhere. So let's begin with something stupid.

I got a Snuggie for Christmas!

Good times.

Mexico

2009-07-22T23:42:00.007-05:00

I've been posting a lot of pictures from South Dakota the last month, so I thought I'd change it up a bit and put some photos up from the other trip I took... Mexico! My Mom took my three sisters and I down to the Cancun area for a long weekend over the 4th of July holiday. I had a really great time, and we stayed at a SUPER nice resort - Iberostar Paraiso del Mar. I've never stayed at an all inclusive hotel before, and it was crazy beautiful!

Beautiful lobby.

Flamingos just haning out.

Hammocks at the beach.

Beautiful swimming pool.

Different dining areas of the hotel.

Prairie Dogs

2009-07-16T21:47:00.005-05:00

One of the cutest part of South Dakota was all the prairie dogs everywhere! They used to be endangered at one point, but now they're doing better. Yay doggies!

Badlands, SD

2009-07-12T19:29:00.010-05:00

One of the most beautiful places we visited in South Dakota was the Badlands. The soil around the rock formations is being constantly eroded, leaving behind the exposed buttes, gullies, and ridges that we see. There are many fossils found throughout the Badlands. It was really, really hot the day we went, and there are no trees for shade. But the sky was clear, and that makes for beautiful photograph!

It is so hard to get a sense of depth in these photos, but these rocks stretch on for MILES.

I love these next two pictures because they were taken from a moving car. So they're a bit funky, but still show off the beautiful scenery!

The color of the rocks is so amazing!

Just beautiful.

You are allowed to climb on the rocks, so of course, we did! Here are my cousins Jordan and Cory hanging out.

Devils Tower

2009-07-10T21:31:00.007-05:00

Some more South Dakota pictures here... although the Devils Tower is actually in Wyoming.

Beautiful sky that day!

Close up of the rock formations.

My Dad and I being hardcore. Forgive the blury photo... it was taken by a 6 year old!

South Dakota

2009-06-30T22:24:00.005-05:00

Jon and I just got back from a week long camping trip to South Dakota with some family, and we had a great time! I have so many pictures to share, so I'll start out with one of the most awesome things about the trip - the buffalo! Specifically, these pictures show that buffalo kinda just go wherever THEY feel like! More to come later.

Buffalo cross the road whenever they please!

South Dakota traffic jam.

Bumper to horns.

And the road is finally clear!

Twins.

Garden harvest

2009-06-17T23:01:00.005-05:00

This is only my second summer owning a house, therefore only my second summer having a garden. But already I've learned SO much after just one year, and I think this year will be even better. I have a very shady yard, so I'm learning what grows best. Last year we had an adorable little fence, but it let the bunnies right in to munch away – so now we have a heavy duty fence that is keeping all the critters out! Don't worry... they still have the compost pile to dig through and find treats! The rain has done a great job of watering the garden this year, with only a little help from the water in my rain barrel. My goal is to grow enough produce that would equal the cost of the garden, although I'm still a few years out from that.

Tonight my sister and I made the first harvest from the garden – lettuce and mixed greens! I should have taken a picture of the garden and how much there is, because there is SO MUCH! Last year no lettuce survived the bunnies.

Although it didn't look like we picked that much, we had enough for three salads and some leftovers.

Tasty! Here's hoping to much more garden success this year!

Oh yeah!

2009-06-16T09:39:00.000-05:00

Awesome grafitti I saw on the side of a passing train...

Bird's the word!

2009-05-20T09:12:00.007-05:00

It has been such a busy two weeks, with the next two promising to be equally busy! The blogging has suffered, and I'm sorry!

Just a quick, random update...

I work in downtown Champaign, and one who works in an urban area expects to see certain animals... pigeons, a few other birds, squirrels, and maybe even a racoon. You don't usually see Canada geese hanging around! But this spring a few geese have made their home in downtown Champaign, and it has been pretty funny to watch.

Take me out to the ball game!

2009-05-03T19:39:00.005-05:00

Another day at the ball park, supporting the Parkland Cobras women's softball team. My little sister rocked it today, and the team won both games.

There was a pond near the ball park and some kids at the game found a turtle. A brand new baby turtle! He was the itty-bitty-est turtle I have ever seen!

Movie Reviews: Condensed

2009-05-01T23:29:00.002-05:00

Well, Jon and I have been watching too many movies lately, and didn't have enough time to write full reviews. So, in short, here is what we've seen and our quick ratings. Longer reviews hopefully to continue next time.

Jon's Reviews:
Journey to the Center of the Earth - 3 out of 5
Hot Fuzz - 4.5 out of 5
Quantum of Solace - 4 out of 5
Mirrors - 3 out of 5
The Golden Compass - 2.5 out of 5
Xmen Wolverine - 4 out of 5

Allie's Reviews:
Journey to the Center of the Earth - 3 out of 5
Hot Fuzz - 4 out of 5
Quantum of Solace -3.5 out of 5
Mirrors –3 out of 5
The Golden Compass - 3 out of 5
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - 4.5 out of 5

Rain Barrel

2009-04-29T21:49:00.011-05:00

This past weekend we installed our rain barrel. For those who don't know, a rain barrel is a large tank that collects rain water runoff from your roof. Many places in the world use this water for drinking, bathing, or other household use, but you usually need special filters for that. We will be using our rain barrel water for watering the garden and the yard. This helps us reduce water usage, as well as deal with water runnoff.

We purchased our rain barrel from B. Lime Green - an eco-store in downtown Champaign. They get their rain barrels from Prairie Rain Harvester, Inc. Our barrel is made from a recycled 55 gallon vegetable oil drum. We pretty much followed the instructions for setting it all up, and here are the results!

Here is the before. Just a regular gutter downspout.

To begin, Bill digs a flat space right next to the gutter to place the barrel.

Next, he added a little sand to make things level.

You have to elevate the rain barrel a bit in order to get any pressure from the spout, so we placed the barrel on cinder blocks we had.

Next, cut the gutter.

Then, install the adjustable gutter extension to aim into the barrel opening.

We then filled in a little dirt around the cinder blocks.

Then, aim the overflow hose away from the foundation of the house.

And then you have a finished product!!

Already, after one day of light, but constant rain, the barrel is completely full!

Millions and millions of people live with out clean water to drink every day, yet we water our lawns with perfectly good water. Now is the time to conserve!

Yard Day

2009-04-26T21:27:00.011-05:00

Today was an extremely productive day! It was a lovely 80 degrees with a good breeze to keep us cool. We spent the day our back yard, with the help of Jon's parents, working on projects.

Here is a list of what we accomplished:
-- started more vegetable seeds
-- potted some flowers
-- tilled the garden
-- put up a new garden fence
-- installed our rain barrel
-- dug out a doggy waste composter
-- put up a bat house

Here are some photos from our day.

Our pretty tulip.

Jon digging the hole for the dog waste composter.

Cutting the old garbage can to line the dog waste composter.

Success!

Installing.

Adding rocks at the bottom for drainage.

To finish it off we added dog poo, septic tank starter, and some water. Cover with garbage can lid, and there you have it! Hopefully it will work out well and be a more natural way to deal with dog waste.

On to the garden...

Jon tilling things up!

Brand new (hopefully bunny-proof) fence!

And the bat house! Hopefully some bats move in and eat some bugs.

And lastly, Sue and I goofing around.

As mentioned above, we also installed a rain barrel, but I'll make a dedicated rain barrel post later.

Thanks so much to Bill and Sue for all their help today! We're so lucky!

Rats

2009-04-25T22:25:00.004-05:00

Once again, Jon and I have pet rats! We adopted three of them from the Piatt County Animal Shelter. 2 gray and 1 siamese. They're so cute! A bit timid, but we're gaining their trust each day. We still need names for them though!

FYI, young, squirmy rats are REALLY hard to photograph! This is the best I could get of all three of them!

Exhale

2009-04-20T23:00:00.002-05:00

Holy moley it's been a week since I've posted! This week was one of the busiest weeks I've had in a looooong time. In the last week or so, I have:

-- Celebrated Easter with family and friends
-- Been to Decatur and back
-- Worked three 12 hour days
-- Adopted 3 new rats
-- Successfully held our annual Dinner at CCHCC. Its like planning a wedding!
-- Scheduled my next tattoo
-- Spent a relaxing day with my BFFs

Phew. I'm tired just reading about it. Anyway, life will be much more under control for a while now (I hope!), and I can get to some more blogging.

And because no post is complete with out a photo, here is Jon and I at the zoo from our trip to Florida last month. Things are starting to warm up here, so I'm not too upset we don't live there! :)

Easter

2009-04-13T21:39:00.003-05:00

My favortie couple of pics from Easter this past weekend...

My Dad's Easter cake... no less than 10 chocolate bunnies, and a million chocolate eggs!

My cutie-pie nephew Shea. I love him!!

Circle of life!

2009-04-11T21:07:00.002-05:00

I work part time at the Anita Purves Nature Center of the Urbana Park District. Part of my job there is to help take care of the resident animals, of which there are 3 screech owls, turtles, and 4 different kinds of snakes. One of the snakes is a common garter snake. Apparently, garter snakes eat fish! I did not know this, until I had to feed our snake dinner. The first time I saw the garter snake eat fish I was completely in awe! It was so crazy cool!! The second time, I had the mind to record it.

In like a lion...

2009-04-06T22:32:00.002-05:00

An Illinois Mountain.

Blue Heron

2009-04-05T12:47:00.007-05:00

As mentioned in my previous post, Jon and I encountered a blue heron while camping on the beach in Florida. Here are some more detailed photos of the whole thing.

Here he was walking towards us.

As the sun sets...

Quite close.

Staring contest!

So pretty!

I love his feathers blowing in the wind!

Foot prints left in the sand.

Very cool experience!

Camping

2009-04-01T22:58:00.011-05:00

Here are some more pics from our trip to Florida. We stayed in a hotel for most of the trip, but for kicks Jon and I hiked out onto a beach and went camping! It was really great! I'd never been camping right on the beach before. We camped at Johnson Beach on Perdido Key, which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. It was primitive camping with no services, so you just had to hike all your gear in, walk a mile or so down the beach in the sand, and set up shop! My Dad dropped us off and picked us up the next morning.

Jon walking on some washed up logs.

Some sea art - already there when we walked by.

Tent and the ocean.

While we were hanging out on the beach, a great blue heron came up to us! He was begging for food and got really close! I took a bunch of great pictures, and I will save most of them for their own post.

Sun setting behind the sea oats.

Dead crab!

Got up early to watch the sun rise.

Walking back to be picked up, we were the first ones on the beach. I didn't pose this photo, but there are no less than 6 sand dollars here!

Over all it was really awesome to camp on the beach, and depsite the less-than-perfect night sleep, I'd do it again in a heart beat!

Theater: Knowing

2009-03-29T21:07:00.003-05:00

Film: Knowing
Year: 2009
Director: Alex Proyas

Allie's Review
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

I thought Knowing would be everything that I love in a movie – disasters on a global scale, unexplained mysteries, creepy children... sounds awesome! Well, as much as I really wanted to love, looove, LOVE this movie, but unfortunately, it was only ok. The plot was really captivating at first. Some may say cheesy, but I'm flexible. I liked it. It kept my interest and the special effects were awesome! The disasters scenes were really intense. As the mystery unraveled, I was really wondering where things would lead to. I won't ruin the ending, but let me just say that there is something to be said for the unexplained, and no answer would have been better than a lazy or uncreative answer. Overall, good filmmaking, lame story telling.

--------------

Jon's Review
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

When I first saw the trailer for Knowing, I told Allie it was Next meets The Davinci Code meets The Day After Tomorrow. In short, a disaster movie with a chain of disasters instead of just one (plus Nick Cage). Allie loves disaster movies (plus Nick Cage), so this comment actually worked against me. However, this film took a different route than I expected. Sometimes the dialog was corny, Nick Cage's acting was usually bad, some plot points felt rushed, but the twists at least kept me interested. I did feel that this movie (like many in recent years) explains away too much - I like a little mystery, and lately the trend in Hollywood sci-fi and fantasy is to leave no mystery at all and no question unanswered. To their credit, they were pretty thorough in that regard. The only question I had when I left the theater was "WTF?" And keep your eyes out for the biblical references. I probably missed a lot of them, but I could feel the overall tone heading that direction.

Netflix: Blindness

2009-03-27T11:39:00.001-05:00

Film: Blindness
Year: 2008
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Whose Netflix Queue: Allie's

Allie's Review
Rating: 4 out of 5

The movie Blindness is about an outbreak of some sort of disease that causes everyone to go blind. In the beginning of the outbreak they start to quarantine people, and the leading lady (Julianne Moore) fakes blindness to be able to stay with her blind husband who is being taken away. The twist is that she doesn't end up going blind – for some reason she keeps her eyesight when everyone else looses their vision. She lives in this quarantine area, essentially a prison, with dozens of blind people, and eventually all hell breaks loose. I thought the movie would be more "Outbreak" style, with doctors and scientists rushing to find a cure for the disease... more of a drama/thriller. Oh was I wrong. It was a really dark, disturbing movie about survival. You'd thinking being the only one able to see would be a blessing, but it turns out to be more of a curse. There are several twists in the movie, so I won't ruin it for potential viewers, but they were really clever plot points and great twists. One interesting point is that no one is called by their names in the movie – the movie ends and you don't know any characters names. And there were some really great moments about family and community. My only complaint is that it was a bit slow in the middle, but it picks up again and had a really great ending. Definitely check it out.

----------------------

Jon's Review
Rating: 4 out of 5

This film sounds like another 'disease-disaster' movie; i.e., "Mommy I don't feel so good" followed by "You've all been quarantined" followed by "Mr. President, if we don't find this formula, everybody will die" followed by resolution and/or apocalypse. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Blindness is not that type of film. Yes, there is an epidemic, and yes people get quarantined, but the movie focuses instead on what happens when people live in small isolated groups - first the 200 or so in quarantine, and later the small, familial group that escapes. The message was fairly clear to me, that smaller groups are more beneficial for everyone involved, while a comparatively large, semi-structureless society will inevitably fall into chaos. I liked this film because the issues explored were not what I expected, given the premise that I read about.

Jellyfish

2009-03-23T20:23:00.006-05:00

Here is a collection of pictures from Florida of all the freakin' jellyfish we saw! All their slimy dead bodies on the beach!! Ugg... they freaked me out.

I threw this one back in the water to see what would happen.... nothing.

BLUE?!?!

These were two of the BIGGEST ones we saw. That is my sister Megan's size 7 feet between the dead jellyfish blobby bodies.

This one was still alive, but Jon wouldn't let me push it back in!!

Creepy, creepy things, jellyfish.

Florida

2009-03-22T21:15:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posts - Jon and I were out of town for a week in Pensacola, Florida. My sister Megan had a soft ball tournament down there for a week and we thought we'd go along for the ride! We had a really good time, lots of good food, and some nice warm weather. I'll get more posts (and cool photos) up as the week goes, but here are a few photos of my sister playing ball! She's the star pitcher! :)

Netflix: Teeth

2009-03-12T22:03:00.003-05:00

Film: Teeth
Year: 2007
Director: Mitchell Lichtenstein

Tonight we have a guest film review - my dear Ashley! She watched Teeth with us on Monday, and decided she wanted to write a review too. I was going to write a review about the flim's themes of sexuality, purity, self understanding, and women's empowerment.... Ashley simply wrote a limerick.

"There once was a girl named Dawn,
With a nuclear plant in her lawn.
A boy touched her bajingo,
Oh shit, where'd his thing go?!
Her vagina has teeth oh dear gawd!"

'Nuff said.

Dance Dance Dance

2009-03-11T21:14:00.003-05:00

So a while back there was an awesome internet video going around... A DANCING CAT!!

Today at Hot Topic I saw an AMAZING t-shirt!! It wasn't the right sizes or I was a second away from getting it for Jon.

I am amused.

<3

2009-03-09T23:36:00.001-05:00

Love you, Ashley.

Theater: Watchmen

2009-03-07T21:06:00.003-06:00

Film: Watchmen
Year: 2009
Director: Zack Snyder

---------------------------------
Allie's Review
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Jon has been dying to see Watchmen for a while now, so we caught an early afternoon showing on opening day. I'm a consistent fan of comic book movies, thought not really comic books, so I definitely expected to enjoy Watchmen. I really, really loved it! The film's strengths were so clearly the writing and the story. I was completely captivated by the story and it didn't miss a beat the entire time. I loved that they were superheroes without real superpowers – a nice little twist the slew of superhero movies these days. There was also some very creative directing and special effects in the film – some slow-mo type of stuff.

Even though most of the movie's actors weren't big names, most everyone did solid work. They all meshed together really well and played off each other nicely. I really became invested in the characters and they were all pretty believable.

The movie also had some pretty strong themes throughout – anti-war, anti-nuclear, justice, power, right and wrong... the list goes on!

My only complaint is some of the makeup was not the best. There were a lot of scenes at different points in time and the aging makeup was a bit creepy looking.

Oh, and also, amazing soundtrack!

Overall, a really solid, well done movie.

------------------------

Jon's Review
Rating: 4.9 out of 5

I had *very* high expectations after I read the comic, and I would say this film *almost* lived up to them. It is an excellent, amazing movie, but not perfect. The comic is very complex, layered, and exciting, and so was this film. From the opening scene, I was riveted. The plot and characters of Watchmen will draw you in and keep you in suspense until the credits roll. If you haven't read the comic, you will love it. If you have read the comic, you will love it - you will notice some differences, but I believe they all worked well. There really were so many great things about this movie that I can only list a few: the casting, the cinematography, the soundtrack, the story, the interplay of the characters, and so much more. I highly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of action, romance, mystery, science fiction, cold war poitical drama... pretty much everybody. If you like movies, you'll love Watchmen. I should warn you - it's a bit long (2 hours, 43 minutes), but most great movies are.

Netflix: Lakeview Terrace

2009-02-25T21:26:00.002-06:00

Film: Lakeview Terrace
Year: 2008
Director: Neil Labute
Whose Netflix Queue: Allie's

----------------------

Allie's Review:

Rating: 3 out of 5

What I thought would be a decent, but run-of-the-mill thriller turned out to be a pretty complex movie with some interesting themes. I thought "Lakeview Terrace" was just about some neighbors not getting along and Samuel L. Jackson being his usual bad ass self. Really though, film dealt with some pretty serious issues, including racism, police brutality, sexism, and loss. "Lakeview Terrace" had some pretty powerful symbolism and was intense and entertaining the entire time. There were some unrealistic moments, but overall, I was pretty happy with the movie.

----------------------

Jon's Review:

3.5 out of 5

A couple in suburban LA is terrorized, first psychologically and then in increasingly criminal ways, by their neighbor who happens to be a cop (played by Samuel L. Jackson). I actually enjoyed this film more than I thought I would - it was a bit predictable and shallow at times, but Mr. Jackson delivered a slightly-crazy but frightening performance as a man who refuses to stop until he gets his way and forces his new neighbors to move.

Mew

2009-02-22T19:03:00.003-06:00

Random kitty foot prints in the fresh snow last week! (not my cats prints - they live inside. they only go outside when they push the screen out of an open window and randomly escape... this seems to happen about once a year!)

Kaufman Lake

2009-02-19T20:03:00.003-06:00

Jon, Scruff, and I went for a walk around Kaufman Lake in Champaign this weekend. We'd never been to the little lake before, and its always fun to go somewhere different. Its a very small lake (I think man-made), and actually not in that great of shape. But we had a good time and Scruffy LOVED sniffing all the goose poop.

Some evidence of beavers!

Munch munch!

Not quite there yet!

And lastly, Jon took this REALLY beautiful shot with the panoramic mode. The lake really isn't that beautiful, but it looks so nice here!

Tats

2009-02-18T18:11:00.005-06:00

Earlier this week I went with my buddy Grant to get his latest tattoo. We've both been tattooed by this artis (Grant several times) and he's a really fun and talented guy. No Regrets Tattoos rules!! Ask for Matt D.

Even though I didn't get to stay for the entire tattoo, I photo-documented what I could!

Grant is startled!

Before.

The stencil.

Black and gray plus some shading.

The finished product (the next day).

Congrats Grant! Hopefully my next tattoo post will be my own! :D

Netflix: The Ten

2009-02-16T20:31:00.002-06:00

Film: The Ten
Year: 2007
Director: David Wain
Whose Netflix Queue: Jon's

---------------------

Allie's Review:

Rating - 3.5 out of 5

Jon and I were looking for a movie to watch while we wait for out next Netfilx dvds to arrive in the mail. Netfilx has some movies streaming online, so we sorta randomly picked one, and that's how we ended up watching "The Ten."

"The Ten" is a completely wacky movie made up of 10 small stories, each one loosely based on each of the 10 commandments. Each story is about one of the commandments, just in a totally strange or backwards way. The movie has a really great cast and the acting is great. They have just the right amount of over-the-top dramatics and totally strange humor. The ten stories are sort of connected, but sort of unrelated and random as well. If nothing else, it's always good to see a little fun poked at religion. A wacky, fun little movie. Plus, Famke Janssen is in it, and she is HOT!

---------------------

Jon's Review:

3.5 out of 5

Bizarre humor often manifests itself in strange movie formats. The Ten is no exception - ten short stories that illustrate (or at least reference) each of the Ten Commandments in some way. This was a pretty funny film but with a very very bizzare and unusually twisted sense of humor. An enjoyable cast (Paul Rudd, Winona Ryder, Liev Schreiber, Rob Corddry, Kerri Kenney-Silver) combined with the ridiculous humor of writers from The State made this movie funny, but some may find its humor offensive or at least crude.

Netflix: Ghost Town

2009-02-15T22:28:00.001-06:00

Film: Ghost Town
Year: 2008
Director: David Koepp
Whose Netflix Queue: Jon's

----------------------

Allie's Review:

Rating - 4 out of 5

I'm not a huge fan of British humor... in fact, I mostly hate it. All of it makes me think of Benny Hill.Ugh. Even though it is the original and the US version is one of my favorite tv shows of all time, I didn't like the British version of "The Office" at all, so I wasn't dying to see "Ghost Town" (both star Ricky Gervais).

In "Ghost Town," Gervais' character, Bertram Pincus, is a rude, narcissistic dentist who hates people. He just does not like people. He goes into the hospital for a medical test and dies during the procedure. The doctors bring him back to life, but for some reason he can now see ghosts – spirits that have unfinished business and are still hanging around. He is now pestered by several ghosts wanting his help. The most aggressive ghost is a man wants Pincus to prevent his widow from marrying a new guy who is kind of a douche bag. Pincus agrees to try to stop the relationship, mostly get the ghosts to leave him alone, and decides he'll make the widow fall in love with him instead. Unfortunately for Pincus, he's mostly a jerk and he is a hard sell. Through some really funny scenes, he and the woman form a quirky relationship, and both grow to love each other. Pincus hasn't really changed from his self centered ways though, and he looses her. He finally learns that life isn't worth living without other people, and helps a lot of the other ghosts solve their unfinished business. This was one of the best parts of the whole movie. You could see a real change in his character. In the end, he pretty much gets the girl, allowing the ghost to move on.

The movie was very creative in that even though it dealt with such serious topics, it was really light hearted and very funny. The only thing that wasn't completely believable was how quickly Pincus and the woman fell in love. I wish they would have taken a bit more time to develop their relationship. At times, it felt more like a good friendship rather than a romance. Overall though, I really liked the movie... and I now think Ricky Gervais is quite funny.

----------------------

Jon's Review:

Rating - 5 out of 5

Ricky Gervais, (creator of The Office, and star of the UK version) in his first leading film role, plays a misanthropic dentist who inadvertently gains the ability to see and communicate with the recently deceased. As it turns out, they all have unresolved issues with the still-living, and he's the only one who can help. This film was very funny and also at times very touching as we watch Dr. Pincus' (Gervais) antisocial facade melt away as he falls in love with Tea Leoni's character. I loved Gervais' acting in this film and sincerely hope it leads to more! Almost as funny as the film itself is the outtakes reel, which revealed Gervais to be very giggle-prone.

Netflix: Diary of the Dead

2009-02-14T19:49:00.002-06:00

Jon and I have Netflix and we get 2 movies at a time – one from my list and one from his. We have some movies that we both like, but we also have a lot of movies that we disagree on. I would say my taste in movies is better because I had a minor in Cinema Studies in college. Jon would mostly say that I like bad movies. We usually end up watching 4 – 8 movies a month, so I thought it'd be nice to each write our own review of the movie to see how our opinions differ.

Film: Diary of the Dead
Year: 2007
Director: George Romero
Whose Netflix Queue: Allie's

------------

Allie's Review:

Rating - 3.5 out of 5

I love thrillers and horror movies, but I want to see some real violence and gore when I watch one! I usually avoid the slew of PG-13 horror movies that come out because they can't really swear, show much nudity, or really chop someone's head off with a chainsaw with that rating. So when "Diary of the Dead" was rated R, I knew I wanted to see it. The movie is directed by George Romero, the famous zombie movie director. He directed the original "Night of the Living Dead" in 1968, followed by "Dawn of the Dead" in '78, after which came by "Day of the Dead" in '85, "Land of the Dead" in 2005, and now "Diary of the Dead" in 2007. I haven't seen them all, but I have seen lots of zombie movies! Zombies are freaking freaky. Nuff said.

"Diary of the Dead" was a typical zombie movie set in present day, but added an interesting element of technology. The film is supposed to be a documentary made by some college kids who were alive during this zombie outbreak. Throughout the movie they upload their footage to MySpace and watched other people's experiences with the zombies on YouTube. The tagline for the film is the ironic and dual meaning "Shoot the Dead." The spent the whole movie shooting zombies... with bullets and with cameras.

There were some cliché characters and the plot was fairly predictable, but I was scared by the zombies and cared if the characters lived or died. Overall, an entertaining movie with some good zombie action!

------------

Jon's Review:

Rating - 3 out of 5

This film is an interesting twist on the traditional zombie film from the father of zombie films himself, George A. Romero, with a twist of tween angstiness. It's best described as Night of the Living Dead meets Cloverfield meets, unfortunately, Scream. Cinematography-obsessed Jason (incidentally the cameras that Jason and friends used were the source of all the film's footage) and his rag-tag group of friends go on the road to escape the zombie panic in Pittsburgh, PA. Eventually, as always, the plague of undeath catches up to them and, one by one, they become the walking dead. I personally felt this film was a bit too familiar. The only exception is the 21st century angle of the underground journalists - bloggers, video bloggers, etc - trying to inform the public of what's "really going on" while the mainstream media refuses to go into specifics. Even that, I felt was not explored as fully as it could have been.

Parker

2009-02-11T21:12:00.006-06:00

My sister has a dog named Parker. He's a big dopey 85 pound black lab mix. You could hit this dog with a baseball bat and he would think you are petting him. He's pretty good at "stay" and we like to take advantage of that. I was emptying my camera, and it was amazing how many photos I had of us torturing him!! :)

And yes, here we have rubberbanded a treat to his face. WE ARE SO MEAN.

Mmm, sky nachos!

2009-02-10T23:14:00.001-06:00

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Tip/Wag - Monkey on the Lam

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Funny Political News

Christian Bale Parody
Joke of the Day

I love my little land fishies.

Scruffy and balloons!!

2009-02-08T22:55:00.001-06:00

We recently discovered that Scruffy loves balloons!

Qapla'

2009-02-05T11:03:00.002-06:00

No, dear friends, this was not my husband.

Man robs Colo. store with Star Trek sword

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Colorado police say a man with too much "Star Trek" on his mind used a sword modeled after the weapon carried by Klingon warriors to demand money from two convenience stores.

Investigators say the man took an unknown amount of cash from a 7-Eleven store Wednesday but left empty-handed when he tried to rob another store about 25 minutes later.

Police Lt. David Whitlock says no one was injured.

The StarTrek.com Web site says the double-pointed sword used by the Klingons on "Star Trek" is crescent-shaped and about a yard long. Police did not specify what material it was made of.

No one has been charged in the incident.

Mew Woof

2009-02-01T19:11:00.004-06:00

Nothin' here but random pet photos! :)

Edgar is stretchy!

Why my couch cushions are so saggy!

Still here.

2009-01-26T21:25:00.005-06:00

Wow, how quickly a week goes by! I haven't given up on the blogging, just hoping to come up with some new material. :)

Anyway, here are some photos from a walk at Homer Lake Jon, Scruffy, and I took in November. We saw some deer!

Happy Birthday!

2009-01-20T20:32:00.003-06:00

Today is a very important day! Besides the fact that we have a NEW PRESIDENT OMG!!!, it is also Jon's Birthday!!! He's 26 years old. Wow.

Happy Birthday babe!

Holiday Randomness

2009-01-19T23:06:00.004-06:00

Although these photos may not be too interesting to people who don't know the people, I really liked them! These are photos from the most recent Christmas holiday.

My sister Lori being a thug with her Christmas money from Grandma.

We visited Oklahoma where my Dad's sister and her family live for a week after Christmas. Here is my cousin Cory lookin' cute.

A beautiful Oklahoma sky. It was the day after Christmas and 70 degrees out! It was wonderful. My Aunt's house in the background.

We visited this awesome Science Museum in Oklahoma City, and they had a hurricane simulator. Jon is trapped!

They also had a pirate exhibit, and Megan and Jenny fit the part!

Overall we had a great trip, as we always do in Oklahoma!

Mono Lake

2009-01-17T19:39:00.007-06:00

Some photos from my (annual) trip to Mono Lake in California last September. Can't wait to visit this year! Maybe you should come with me, TC!!

Also, apparently I'm turning this blog into a photo-blog. Whatever. I'm not convinced anyone (but maybe my Ma) would find anything I have to WRITE actually interesting. But I can take a decent pic once in a while.

Tufa @ Mono Lake

The beautiful hot water spring at Mono Lake where Jon proposed to me back in the summer of 2005.

The Devils Postpile National Monument

Rainbow Falls, just a short hike down from the Postpile.

Backyard

2009-01-16T22:06:00.005-06:00

Some random flowers in our yard this past spring and summer.

Return of the blog?

2009-01-15T19:19:00.002-06:00

Due to the constant pestering from certain friends of mine (GRANT), I'll do my best to try to join the blogging world again. We'll see how long it lasts! :)

Lets start with a random photo, cause that's easy.

Giant Orange Moose. 'Nuff said.

Scruffy and Joy, pt. 2

2008-05-04T18:11:00.001-05:00

Scruffy and Joy, looking cute!

Scruffy and Joy

2008-02-14T23:09:00.003-06:00

Proof that my 44 lb dog is scared of my 10 lb cat!

Winter fun!

2008-02-03T20:49:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting.... so much to do, so little time!

This last week we got about 10 inches of snow over night! Snow day on Friday - woo hoo! In any case, snow is something Scruffy is actually not afraid of, so we've spent some time outside playing! Check out a video of him playing!

Hairs cut!

2007-12-22T10:29:00.000-06:00

For the first time since my wedding (10/7/06) that I got a hair cut! Woo hoo! It is always super curly after I get it cut because they put lots of gel and stuff. But here it is!

Honeymoon V2

2007-12-20T22:54:00.000-06:00

Round 2 of the USVI Honeymoon Photos.
The theme this time, creatures from St. Thomas and St. John.

Lizards - they were everywhere!

Millipedes.

WILD HERMIT CRABS!

Semi-wild chickens in downtown Charlotte Amalie.

Jon feeding the (non-native) birds at Coral World.

A katydid we sent to his death (don't ask).

A SCORPION in our room! EEEK!

Some crazy cool caterpillar!

Pets

2007-12-16T20:50:00.000-06:00

Jon's parents bought us this lovely bowl for our 1 year anniversary. Its tan and green and matches our dining room really well, so it is the centerpiece of our (messy) table. Throughout most of the last 2 months it has held about 1/2 a dozen little gourds. Apparently now, it holds cats. Our house seems to be full of really expensive cat beds.

And here is Scruffy again. He's continuing to adjust - quite well. We got him a big crate today, so tonight will be his first night inside - he's been in the garage each night so far.

Scruffy

2007-12-15T20:55:00.000-06:00

This is our dog Scruffy.

We adopted Scruffy from the DeWitt County Animal Shelter on Friday. He is very frightened of the world, but he is warming up each hour. They found him as a stray, and he has been the shelter for the last month or so. The shelter says he's a Whippet/German Shepherd mix, but we don't buy it! He's definitely part German Shepherd, but we're guessing also part Pit Bulll. They think he is somewhere between 1 and 2 yrs old. He is so, so sweet and gentile. He is afraid of the cats. He loves running in the yard. He's only barked twice since we've had him! He is a bit afraid of being inside, but he's warming up to it - especially since it is so cold out!

They named him Scruffy, but we'll be keeping that name. Hopefully you'll be hearing more about Scruffy from now on!

Honeymoon

2007-12-08T21:29:00.000-06:00

Jon and I recently celebrated our one year wedding anniversary on October 7. Go us! To celebrate this occasion we took a Honeymoon trip to the US Virgin Islands. Let me share a few of my favorite photos from our trip!

THE BEAST!

A cool plant we saw on a hike.

The view of Big Maho Bay from our "hotel" room.

Silly

2007-12-06T23:15:00.000-06:00

~~Jon~~ Our cat bed.

Violence is wonderful.

2007-12-05T15:40:00.001-06:00

Since it has been FOREVER since Jon or I have updated the blog, I thought I'd start today. My friend Grant has been bugging me to update, so I will make him be a part of the update.

This is what we do at work all day.

Hopefully more to come!

Shake your groove thang!

2007-07-05T23:09:00.000-05:00

Jon dancing with the Gods.

Birthday loot!

2007-06-21T22:25:00.000-05:00

Well, despite our lack of blogging lately, life has been going well! The house is coming along quite well, work is busy, and fun activities abound!

Today is a special day, though, as it is my birthday! I'm 24 (thats TWENTY FOUR) years old. A special shout out to that girl I've shared all my birthdays with - you know who you are! :)

As the official birthday is nearly over, its time to review the birthday loot.

Jon got me exactly what I wanted - a PSP. This is the handheld game system made by Sony.

He also got me a few games: "Me and My Katamari" and "Loco Roco." Both VERY cute.

From my co-worker Katie, a DARLING cake pan! I mentioned this to her one day, and she got it for me! How sweet! I can't wait to make a cake!

From the Mom and the Grandma... a bit of cash! Always welcome.

From the group of seniors my organization works with to improve Medicare, a WONDERFUL rendition on Happy Birthday at our monthly meeting today. It was beyond touching.

From the rest of the co-workers, some wonderful cupcakes with purple icing.

From many friends, some happy birthday well wishes!

Needless to say, I'm feeling very loved today!

Artistic renderings

2007-03-22T12:06:00.000-05:00

The house purchase is going fine - we take possession on April 6. I'm sure there will be tons more updates then. (Or maybe just pictures of us working on the house?) In the mean time, here's some funny art.

This is the kind of art I really enjoy: stuff that indicates the artist is really talented, and yet incorporates themes I recognize. Like Christopher Walken building a robot in his garage. Or robots fighting. Or Abe Lincoln being a badass.

Brandon Bird, whom I first discovered through his Law & Order: Artistic Intent series, continues to create some amazing work that's also quite funny. I highly recommend that you check out his full collection of works on his website. In the meantime, here are a few of my favorites (click for full-size)

A Night Away

No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I also enjoy the works of one Eric Joyner. His masterful intertwining of robots and sweet pastries is mesmerizing. Again, here's a taste of his work:

Smackdown

no title

I/O Jima

We're homeowners!

2007-03-06T22:12:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been far too long since we've updated. Life is busy and all that.

One reason that life has been so busy is because we BOUGHT A HOUSE!
WOO HOO! Check out the picture of it we took today - it says SOLD! :D

It is a cute little house in Olde Towne Champaigne, with lots of potential. We close on April 6th. We'll have a bit of painting and carpeting and whatnot to do, but we're very excited about it! I think we are officially grown ups.

To check out more pictures, click here! http://www.tmbg47.com/house/images/properties/full/

Birthday post

2007-01-20T12:57:00.000-06:00

Well, today's my birthday, and I am now:

... years old

An overdue update

2007-01-12T12:56:00.001-06:00

Okay, so it's been a while since we posted anything. I guess it just seems like, since The Wedding, we don't have anything really big happening in our lives. But I know that's not true. It's a new year, and I resolve to post more often in 2007.

Mere weeks ago, we purchased a new furniture set for our living room (thanks to Allie's dad: Mike). Pictures don't quite do it justice, but it is beautiful:

The sofa and love seat are a deep sea green, while the chair and ottoman match the pillows. Isn't it great?

It hasn't been delivered yet, but I'm already very excited. The sofa's a sleeper, so overnight guests won't have to sleep on the floor anymore!

We may not have quite enough space for all of it in our living room, but we're on track to move into a real house this Spring, which brings me to the next exciting update...

Yes, we're home-shopping! Well, we have scheduled an appointment with a mortgage loan officer next week and are hoping to find a beautiful home we can live in for several years. Yes, homes cost a lot of money, but we're pretty sure we can afford it, which brings me to another (not quite as exciting, but still important) update...

Do you live in Illinois and use AT&T's local phone service? Expensive, ain't they? Well, I read a blog called The Consumerist (which focuses on consumer-rights-advocacy mostly), and this post caught my eye one day. The gist of it is this: the Illinois Citizens Utility Board (aka CUB; a non-profit utility watchdog organization) has negotiated low-rate plans with AT&T for their Illinois customers.

The sign-up process can be a bit difficult, especially if you were an AT&T customer before the AT&T-SBC merger, in which case you have to "switch companies" from "The Old AT&T" (pre-merger AT&T) to "The New AT&T" (SBC/AT&T). Also, some AT&T call centers don't know about the new plans yet. Your best bet, if you want to take part in the savings, is to read over this brochure [pdf], call the number listed for the CUB, and they'll walk you through the process. They'll even tell you which of the new plans will save you the most money. To make it easy for them, have a copy of a recent AT&T bill handy when you call.

It's definitely worth it, in my opinion. Cut our bill in half. These new rates are only available to residents in Illinois, and they don't cover long distance at all. But seriously, AT&T long distance is a rip-off. I highly recommend Opex instead.

Well, enough with the seriousness. I'm sorry I don't have any new cat pictures to post, so instead here's a quick joke (not my own work; I'm afraid I don't know who created it):

Half-a-dozen of the other

2006-12-08T21:04:00.000-06:00

The Bad:
- People who still don't have power
- Not getting to play Zelda as much as I want
- Crazy cats
- 1 F wind chill
- Computer problems that only occur when I'm not around
- Allie leaving all day Saturday

The Good:
+ TiVo freeing us from the shackles of "scheduled programming"
+ Getting the final version of Windows Vista running (and successfully activated!)
+ Websites that get me through the day (StuffOnMyCat and Fark)
+ My lovely wife
+ (Probably) getting another car (a nice one!)
+ Getting more Wiimotes and nunchuks (they're on their way!)

6 of 1

2006-12-08T21:03:00.000-06:00

The Negative:
- Car would not start this morning
- I have to work all day Saturday
- My feet hurt & and I haven't slept well this week
- I only worked out once this week
- I have to miss my tennis lesson this Saturday cause of work
- My computer randomly shutting off!

The Positive:
+ Its FRIDAY!
+ Our Christmas trees
+ Car is seeming to start again
+ CCHCC Holiday Party - success!
+ Joy's cherping at Lenny
+ MY NEW BOOTS! (that I got for HALF OFF CAUSE I RULE)

Wii day arrives

2006-11-19T16:56:00.000-06:00

Today was the day. Wii day. If you're not familiar with Nintendo's latest console, you can find more information about it on the official website. Essentially it's the successor to the Nintendo GameCube and the method of control is extremely innovative. So much so that it may in face put the big N back on top of the home console market. But I digress...

Wii day. For gamers such as me, this day has been in the making for longer than we can remember. Recently there were rumors of possible shortages... demand would be high, especially due to the hype generated on the internet. We decided the best course of action would be to wait in line outside our local Target this morning before they opened. I managed to get there about 6:00 (they opened at 8:00). This particular store was to have 39 in stock the first day. I was not a moment too soon! I stepped into the line, 37th person from the door.

It was a cold, cold morning... but it was worth it. I snapped this picture with my phone in the car.

Allie and I spent the rest of the day (after I got home at 9:00) setting it up and playing games. Man, it's amazing. Everything I thought it would be. Here's another shot in case the first one's not believable:

Everyone should get a Wii!

supa hot!

2006-11-05T21:50:00.000-06:00

And one of MY favorites...

Website updates!

2006-11-03T13:59:00.000-06:00

In the midst (er... near the end, actually) of a busy busy week, I've finally gotten around to updating our website, to coincide with the RTM (tech speak really gets into your head; sorry!) of the first wave of Thank-You notes.

Updates include a transcript of our wedding ceremony and photo albums from the wedding shower and the reception. The photos currently up are those that we got from the "table cameras." That means that you, dear reader, are the photographer who created these masterpieces.

Below are a couple of my personal favorites from the reception album.

Head on over to our website to check it all out!

Cat update!

2006-10-29T20:14:00.000-06:00

Yes, my cats love me.

And here is my multi-cultural kitty family.

BAT!

2006-10-15T22:34:00.000-05:00

So, the other week Jon and I were walking down one of the strip malls in Champaign, and much to our shock, we saw a bat!!!!

HOW AWESOME!

Here is where the bat was hanging out on the building.

And closer...

BATS ARE SO AWESOME!

Saying goodbye

2006-10-14T23:13:00.000-05:00

As previously posted about on the blog, our friend Philipp from Germany came to visit for a few weeks. For those who do not know, he was originally in the US as an exchange student in high school, and we have all remained friends since, with a few international visits back and forth.

Philipp left to fly home today (Saturday), so last night we had a little get together at Ashley's mom's house. The evening was lots of fun, of course, with a grill, fried potatoes, and smores.

It is really hard to say goodbye to someone you love - especially if you know you will not see them for a long time.

Last night was also a bit hard, because Ashley's mom is probably going to be moving and selling her house. We have spent countless evenings at Ashley's house - playing board games, playing video games, drinking, eating, talking... etc etc. Doing all the wonderful things that make life wonderful. It is one of those places that you just cannot describe - I suppose the right word is home.
And, although a few friends were missing, it was a fitting goodbye.

So, last night was bitter sweet. I love where we've been, I love where we are, and I look forward to where we will all be.

I'll miss you Philipp, but we will be together again some day!
I'll miss you Ashley's house, but you will always be in my heart!

A part of you has grown in me. And so you see, it's you and me together forever and never apart, maybe in distance, but never in heart.

Here comes the bride!

2006-10-09T21:09:00.000-05:00

Well, the wedding is over! It went so, so well! It was so great to see everyone look so beautiful. We had such a great time. There will be a longer update eventually, especially when we get the professional photos back.

But for now... thank you to everyone!

I love you, Jon!

(Thanks to my dear friend Amanda for the photo!)

Today's the day!

2006-10-07T08:43:00.000-05:00

It's finally here, and we couldn't be more excited!

We hope to see you all there! Once again, here are the maps and directions, in case you need them.

German invasion

2006-10-02T13:19:00.000-05:00

This weekend we hosted an international guest. I speak (well, actually type) , of course, of Philipp, our friend from Germany. Philipp has been a dear friend of ours ever since we met him in high school.

He was a foreign exchange student at the time at MacArthur HS and became friends with some MHS people I hung out with regularly. We got along well as fellow nerds often do, communicating through the international languages of binary and JavaScript. After he left to return to his homeland, we stayed in touch and he came to the U.S. to visit us again in the summer of 2004. Needless to say, we were surprised and delighted to find out that Philipp would be present at our wedding!

So after he flew into the States on Friday, he came to our house and we partied all weekend... and by partied, I mean played video games. But it was a lot of fun and we are definitely looking forward to everyone being there next weekend!

Speaking of which, holy crap the wedding is close! In a lot of ways, I feel like I'm ready for it; but I keep thinking there's so much left to do. I'm not sure there really is that much left to do, but it feels like it sometimes.

return to blogging!

2006-09-21T21:14:00.000-05:00

It has been FAR too long since we've updated! Things are just so busy lately!

There is plenty to report to! My trip to California was great, and it is alos great to be back. The wedding planning is nearly complete, as it is less than a month until the big day! Things will hopefully calm down a bit afterwards.

Here is a photo I took in California after a difficult hike. More to come...

Bachelor chow

2006-09-11T20:51:00.000-05:00

Allie's been gone to California for almost a week now. (I'm going to pick her up tomorrow, yay!) But I've managed to keep myself busy while she's been gone. Here are some of the projects/adventures I've had in the mean time.

Before Allie left for California, we went camping in a place called Graham Cave State Park. It was really pretty fun! Here's a photo I took of my knee and our campfire.

Then we hung out in St. Louis until her flight. We went to a Whole Foods for the first time, which was really awesome. Then we just kinda chilled at our hotel and Allie got ready for her departing flight, which was really early in the morning.

In the time since Allie flew away, I've managed to stay busy and take a few decent-ish pictures on my phone in the process. I rented and watched V from Netflix, which was interesting. A package came that Allie had ordered, which included these awesome items:

(whatever this thing is)

I also managed to do quite a bit of cleaning around the house that I'd been meaning to do for a long time. Ah, but I see the cat hair is already accumulating on our living-room floor once again. Oh well.

Today I went to the dentist and found out (not surprisingly) that I need a significant amount of dental work. I'm scheduled to get a root canal and a crown in mid-October and a small filling in November, then probably a few more crowns next year. Oh well... that's what dental insurance is for! While I was at my (new) dentist, I saw that he had proudly displayed the 2005 "Provider of the Year" award he received from CCHCC in the same office as his DDS diploma and Illinois state dentistry license. I was so excited (and wanted to show Allie) so I took a picture with my phone (You can almost read it):

Holy crap, the wedding is getting really close now... Eeep! I'm besided!

In geeky news, I've spent the past few days using Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 on my laptop. It is actually pretty good. I've only had it totally freeze up on me once, which is impressive for an OS that's still unfinished. The coolest eye-candy thing they've done is called Flip3D. Here's a video that gives you an idea of how it works. Aside from the aesthetic improvements, I looked through all the Group Policy settings today and noticed that a ton of stuff that I've always wished I could set by GPO (Power Options comes to mind) will be configurable in a Vista environment. Now that is exciting!

Other than that, I've just been watching reruns of Futurama, TOS, DS9, etc. all week

So tomorrow I drive to STL and pick up Allie. Hooray! The bachelor week comes to a close.

Muuur!

2006-08-30T22:56:00.000-05:00

ALTHOUGH, there is something super important that I should write about!

We got yet ANOTHER kitty! This is it though! Our house is full!

We got this little one from my family in Oklahoma too, just like Edgar. Her original name was Abby, but that is my Mom's cat's name. So we have named her Joy because she is such a joy. She is SO sweet, she loves toes, and L-O-V-E-S Lenny and Edgar. They all get along really well. She's about 8 months old, but is only about as big as Edgar (4 months old).

One thing that has surprised me... its amazing how MUCH food three cats can eat!

Joy + Edgar = <3

Joy + Lenny = <3

Pile of Cats (tm)

biz

2006-08-30T22:52:00.000-05:00

Super busy lately! No time!

But here is a cute picture of Jon and I.

PS. I go to California in SIX DAYS! A-w-e-s-o-m-e!

Plan B over-the-counter!

2006-08-24T20:41:00.000-05:00

((I'm stealing alot of this text from my co-organizer Brooke's blog, but she wont mind! And besides, I couldn't have written it better myself!))

Wow, what a huge day.

This morning, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved emergency contraceptive pill, Plan B, for sale over-the-counter to women 18 and older. Emergency Contraception (or EC) is a special dose of ordinary birth control pills that can prevent unintended pregnancies if taken up to five days after unprotected intercourse, contraceptive failure, or sexual assault. It does not cause an abortion and has no effect if a woman is already pregnant.

EC is most effective the sooner it is taken, but previously EC required a doctor's visit and physician prescription, making it difficult for many women to get a prescription in time for it to be effective. So, women nationwide launched a campaign to get EC made available without a prescription.

My job at Champaign County Health Care Consumers is the lead organizer for the Campaign for Access to Emergency Contraception.

We have held rallies, hosted community forums, conducted pharmacy surveys, went on lobby visits to our legislators, got physicians to write advance prescriptions for EC and later to give away free EC on the spot, sent Valentines to the FDA, held house parties, spoke in classes, and otherwise worked our butts off to promote easier EC access. And it paid off! EC is now available for sale over-the-counter. It is lamentable, and a damn shame, that the FDA is too short-sighted to also approve the pill for non-prescription use by women 17 and younger as well, particularly after highly reputable studies show that young women are no less capable of taking the medication without a doctor's supervision, nor are they any more likely to engage in sexually risky behavior when they had ready access to EC. But, today's decision is still a huge advance for women!

Thank you Brooke and Claudia, for being my inspiration and all the women out there who made this victory possible.

It's great to feel part of something.

Important life events

2006-08-22T21:16:00.000-05:00

Our car recently reached an important milestone...

YES, that is SIX (6) sixes - with a 1 in front.

True love.

2006-08-15T21:42:00.000-05:00

Jon + Edgar = <3