Probably because I'm a cynical meanie...

I never get too into engagement photos. People being all happy and cute and in love. Nothing like other peoples' happiness to make me really, really bitter. Tee hee hee. But, the adorable Elsie posted this cute, cute engagement photoshoot this morning by Sloan Photographers.

I then spent 30 minutes looking at their site, and was consequently 10 minutes late to church. haha.

These kids are super cute too. I'm kind of in love with this photography team. Go. Look.

Who do you remind me of?

Friday, after Birgitte's super cute neon themed birthday, Analee, Becky, and new friend Jason went karaoke-ing. When we got to the Cheerful Tortoise, I noticed a young man who looked very familiar. He had fair skin, light hair, dark eyes and very red lips. His familiarity was on the tip of my tongue, so to speak, I couldn't quite place him, so I asked my friends if they had any insight. When they answered in the negative, Analee, being the ballsiest of girls, suggested I ask him who people frequently say he looks like. I decided against this idea because although I couldn't quite place the match, I knew it was not a complimentary comparison. A few minutes later, I placed him. Here is a scene, which might not give it away so quickly and make me seem like the cruel, cruel person I would be if I came straight out and said it.*


Hint: It's not Christopher Guest or Cary Elwes.

*I want all of you beautiful people reading this that I am not a total meanie. Sometimes, my mind makes neurological connections that make me seem like a major jerk, but other times they are complimentary, and still other times there are no such connections made. Don't believe me? I don't blame you, but it is true. Nephi reminds me of Jean-Paul Belmondo a la Pierrot le fou and A bout de souffle. Ryan reminds me of a Paul Newman circa Long, Hot Summer and Cool Hand Luke. And a kid in my ward, who shall remain nameless reminds me of Fungus from Monsters, Inc.**

**Two out of three isn't bad, right?

Hide and Seek.

Playing Hide and Seek is one of my favorite activities. I like pretty much all variations on the game. With cars tracking people moving from point a to point b, to running around the backyard hiding behind bushes. This has become a very popular past time of the under 5 set I frequently spend time with.

As it has gotten colder, there is more indoor time. And you would think this would lessen the opportunity for hiding, but really it hasn't. Instead of pretending not to find the kids immediately while they are hiding in the same two spots they always hide in outside, I pretend not to find them immediately in the same three spots they always hide in inside. Today I upped the ante. They are getting smarter everyday, so why not make them work a little harder, right? Before they even knew we were playing, I decided to hide from them. When they called my name a few times, I didn't answer, and the five year old said, "We're lost! Oh, no." To which I said, "BOO!" Panicky, and hysterical screams were the order of the day, followed by fits of laughter. We then took turns hiding.

I hid in some awesome places while two of my young friends ran around trying to find me. I heard their little footsteps going up and down the hall, all over the great room, and family room, pause at the stairs, and from the other side of the house I would say, "I didn't go downstairs." They would scream wildly, run back and forth again, until they found me, in the closet, or behind the open door in the dark guest bath or one of the other places I found to spend five minute segments of my time. When the oldest hopped on the bus for afternoon kindergarten, the adorable little girl and I decided to keep playing. I found her instantly. Without a five year olds' help, this little three year old had some pretty weak hiding spots. When it was my turn to hide, I hid in more predictable spots (i.e. the top bunk) and she found me soon enough, but when I hid behind the rocking chair in the nursery, she took a lot of time trying to find me. When I heard her at the top of the stairs, and announced that I did not go downstairs, she ran back to the hall and proceeded to call my name, over and over again, "MAHWEE!!! MAHWEE!" thinking I would out myself. Fat chance, toddler. Without her older brother as cohort she quickly lost steam after 30 seconds of searching, and went to her room, sat on the floor and decided to play with her barbies. She sang a song of her own composing about ballerinas and princesses, and was entirely adorable, all the while, I was still behind the rocking chair in the nursery.

Why, you might ask, after the three year old girl had given up trying to find me was I still on the floor behind a chair? Because what kind of lesson would that be to instill on a toddler? If something is hard and I quit, it will work itself out. NO DICE. After her song and a few minutes with her dolls, she realized I was still missing. She came into the nursery and slowly crept up to the bed next to me, and threw back the covers, aggravating the sleeping cat, but still didn't see me. She was sad, and left the room. I knew my spot would probably go undiscovered lest I help her out, so at this point, I giggled. She called out, "Mahwee?" and I giggled again, and she found me within two seconds.

All in all, a pretty good game, and a catchy song about ballerinas to boot.

Currently Obsessing Over:

An Education.

More specifically, Rosamund Pike in An Education.







Also, the soundtrack is delightful! And Peter Sarsgaard is so good at playing the creepers. (I can think of one role that wasn't creepy and that was Shattered Glass. Can you think of any others? He seems like such a cool guy, alas...)

MUPPETS!

I've been pretty much obsessed with the Muppets since I was a small child, and now that they have a youtube channel, I'm pretty obsessed with that too. I'm assuming you've all seen the Bohemian Rhapsody but I love Beaker. So here he is.

A note to Ryan.

A week ago there was a going away party for one of my favorite people, whom we will call "Ryan" (because that is his name). At this party, Ryan asked me if I was going to blog about it. So, here it is, sort of.
Ryan happens to be one of the most charming and charismatic people I've ever met. One time when we were going to meet for trivia, I sent him a text saying, "I'll be carrying a copy of Pride and Prejudice and a red rose." He responded by sending me this picture:
along with a description of what he'd be wearing, something about a trench coat... ahem. This might also be the time to mention that he is an equal opportunity flirt, which I think more people need to be. Gold star, Ryan!
Last Saturday when I said he was one of my favorite people, he seemed shocked, and asked if I liked him better than Obama. Without getting on a political soapbox, let me just say, Obama = not a favorite, while Ryan = a favorite.

Ryan, now that you are where you were going away to, have so much fun, and know that you are missed.

Accomplishment:

I am someone who likes pumpkin. I like pumpkin pie okay, but for thanksgiving, a holiday only celebrated by social eating, why serve the same old pumpkin pie? Last year I made a pumpkin cheesecake with cranberry compote, which was super yummy. And this year, I decided to try something I saw on the Food Network. Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa, and my all time fave, made a pumpkin roulade with ginger butter cream. I thought I'd mix it up and put an orange cream cheese frosting inside it instead of the ginger butter cream, and boy howdy, it was rich, and delicious. Since my computer has yet to be replaced, I don't have a picture of it to post, but think of a really big hostess ho ho. In order to make it all roll uppy like roulades are by definition you flip it out of the pan onto a towel as soon as it comes out of the oven, then you roll it up and let it cool, (later to unroll it and add the filling). When I flipped that 13" x 18" cake out of the pan and rolled it up without anything breaking I had this huge sense of accomplishment. I would liken it to the time when Heidi taught me how to bust a coal, aka start a fire by rubbing sticks together. After rolling up that cake I had the rush of, "I have made fire! I have made fire!" (and by fire, I mean a cake, rolled up in a towel.)