Things we do for love

Gray Days

2012-01-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

Being from Seattle, an overcast day doesn't usually bother me.

My trick is to wake up early and accomplish a few things right away. If you lounge about, like you'll be inclined to do, you'll be depressed by noon.

And, I am discovering, so will any kids at your house. They'll hover around you all day (this is seriously annoying), looking for you to help them feel better. They don't know why they're dissatisfied and listless. You'll be in no mood to entertain, but you're the grown up. Deal with it.

If you do get in the dumps, get out of the house. Everyone will feel better (probably even the person you visit). Make a plan for what you'll accomplish when you get home so you avoid walking back through the front door into the same rut.

No, blogging was not part of my plan.

Family Pictures

2011-10-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

LDS General Conference story: After two years as a POW, a man got to send one message to his family. He used his limited space for this message, "These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year."

2011 Zimmerman Family Photos

Courtesy of my brother-in-law, a superhero of a photographer. Check out his website.
He's particularly skilled at photos of kids since he is a fifth grade teacher by day.

What do you do with old notes?

2011-09-15T13:14:00.001-07:00

Have you thought of a good way to keep old notes and scripture journals?

I have a bunch of spiral notebooks and journals that I've used to record my scripture study, general conference, institute lesson and religion class notes over the past 10 years. The information is valuable, but more precious are the thoughts, impressions, connections and epiphanies that were so meaningful to me at various times in my life.

However, stacked in the back of my closet, they aren't doing my any good. The information is not organized well enough to be helpful when I'm preparing a talk or lesson, and they take up a lot of space. I've thought about scanning them, but it would take hours and they still wouldn't be searchable.

Have you found a good way to keep your notes?

Googlicious

2011-09-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was searching online for LDS dance cards to use for an upcoming stake dance.

I typed "LDS 'Dance Card'" into a Google image search and started scanning the results. I'm scrolling, scrolling, and then all of a sudden I see a familiar face.

My festive cousin Marie! I have no idea what she's got to do with dance cards, but for some reason, out of all the webpages in the world, out of 845 search results, Google suggested her twice.

Maybe Google just knew it would make me happy.

That's twice in one month, Google. I loved the FM tribute!

Smarter Than a Second Grader? Apparently Not.

2011-07-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted a large wall clock for my apartment (I love clocks) but they're expensive, costing upwards of $50 even at Target.

I was thrilled when I found this clock at Century 21 for just $15.

Well, a couple weeks ago my friend's second grader pointed out why the clock was only $15. Can you tell?

Special Exhibition: "Wolf"

2011-07-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

by a Nine Year Old (American, 2002-present)
Magnets on Fridge

A wolf, the word and a connecting arrow.

Yancy's reaction: "Her typography is fascinating."

Suggestions for a family project?

2011-07-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

I need some suggestions. My family wants to find a project we can do together while we eat junk food and gab on our one-week vacation.

Although we're all creative, none of us have a craft hobby. My mom sews well and has a lot of beading/jewelry-making supplies. We've already tied quilts for everyone.

It would be neat if we all left with some sort of keepsake, but we're all very practical, so it would have to be something that isn't just decorative.

Last year, our project was taking pictures for my brother who is serving a mission for our church so that he would know we missed him. All the pictures included a cutout of his head.

What have you done that has been fun?

Unique Baby Gift and Service Ideas

2011-07-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm going to a shower this weekend for a friend who is having her second boy. She already has many of the things you'd typically give at a shower, so I've been thinking about non-traditional baby gifts -- things I've been using a lot since having the baby that aren't baby items.

Here are my best ideas:

Handheld Shower Head with a long hose. So convenient for spraying off a messy baby, filling a baby bathtub or pressure washing soiled clothes.

Photo from here:
http://sharpieuncapped.com/default.aspx

Sharpies. I use them to label pumped milk, frozen homemade baby food, opened containers of baby food, toys, and my maternity and baby clothes that I lend out. Besides, who doesn't get just a little excited about that sharpie rainbow pack?

Paper and plastic plates, bowls and cutlery. Credit to Amy for this idea. For those first few weeks, it is so nice not to have to do dishes.

Plastic bins for toys or baby clothes that the baby isn't currently using.

Water bottles, preferably the non-spillable kind. You have to drink a ton of water when you're nursing and the thirst tends to hit you when you're in the middle of feeding the baby. A handy water bottle that doesn't spill when the baby kicks it over is so convenient.

I've also been thinking about ways to serve families with newborns. (I need to do a little less thinking and a little more serving!) Having people bring meals was so much more helpful than I ever realized, but that's not always convenient for the giver. Here are some other ways to serve:

Returning containers. Those delicious meals people bring by usually come in a container. Offer to pick up the containers from that week and return them to the cooks. This is especially easy if you're going to see a bunch of those people at the same time (like a family gathering or at church).

Washing baby clothes. I feel a little weird having someone else wash my clothes, but baby laundry piles up quickly and is not embarrassing to have a friend clean. Offer to do a load of the baby's laundry when you do your own.

Pre-washing baby clothes. You don't have to pre-wash your baby clothes, but new clothes do tend to shrink on the first wash. I've had some outfits that Baby Z only wore once because after a washing, they didn't fit.

Sending the news. I loved it when people from my congregation at church would email me a quick update on what I missed at Sunday services.

Taking over snacks. I couldn't believe how often I was hungry when I was first nursing and recovering from delivery. I loved having ready-to-eat healthy snacks that were easy to eat while I was feeding the baby or quickly available for a midnight snack. My favorites: clean pre-cut vegetables, hummus, Wheat Thins and cubed cheese. Oh, and Haagen Daz chocolate chocolate chip ice cream. Mmmm.

Other ideas?

My Gorgeous New York

2011-07-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

See the full size photo here.

Walking through Times Square, you'll see vendors on nearly every corner who are selling beautiful photographs of New York City. They all carry the same shots of the same famous places -- a tourist's New York.

I was delighted when my brother in law posted some beautiful pictures of places in New York that are precious to me. You'll need to click on the picture or on this link to his post to see them full size.

See the full size photo here.

My favorites:

#5 The Shop Around the Corner Street -- Used to walk home from work every day on this street.
The leaves in Central Park -- Fall is the most wonderful time of year in NYC. Good bye humidity; hello holidays! And these pics are from a gray, rainy day -- the kind that only draws locals with a place to be into the park.
#1 The floor in Yancy's office -- Many of NYC's buildings are old (for the United States) and the aging floors, doors, brick, etc. gives them so much character. (Makes up a little for the roaches.)

Also check out the beautiful doorway and rooftop shots in Soho from this post.

My GDP Is Declining

2011-07-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, to cool off and encourage Baby Z to eat a
little solid food, we tried a baby prune-sicle.

I'm not sure if he actually swallowed any.

Two summers ago NPR aired a story that talked about how countries with low GDPs tend to be in hot places, while the more successful economies tend to be found in cooler climates. Years when a country's average summer temperature is high, GDPs tend to be lower than in other years.

I don't know about countries, but I can tell you this: My domestic productivity goes down when the temperature goes up.

Motivation to do things -- like writing a blog post every day for a week, for example -- melts away. All I want to do is lay in front of the fan and eat popsicles and ice cream sandwiches.

Yancy: If you want any homemade dinners this week, we better get the AC installed.

Erin's prayers are answered seven years too late

2011-06-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

First time doing laundry on my own after Baby Z was born.
Baby in the bjorn; laundry in the stroller.

I've never been a slob, but I've never been a neat freak either (except maybe when there were finals to procrastinate). When I was working, Yancy and I kept the house (pretty) clean and (mostly) tidy.

Now that I am a homemaker, the mess bothers me so much more and the cleaning brings me so much more satisfaction because I'm staring at it all day long.

I love having my bed made. I hate having dishes in the sink. I love storage bins and neatly folded stacks of clean towels. Do these things always happen? Nope. I'm not my mom yet, but I'm getting closer.

Occasionally I have to remind myself that Yancy has not had the same perspective shift, and it's not fair for me to unilaterally change the standards that we developed together over the past couple years. He is not going to care as much as I do about keeping the house clean for the same reason I didn't care this much last June. And that's fine, especially when he notices and appreciates the work I'm doing.

As a reward for reading this post, I offer you a cleaning tip I read on Amy's blog that I've found to be golden the past few months. All her suggestions are good, but number six is my favorite.

Schedule regular chores and be spontaneous for deep cleaning
To prevent chore pile-ups, schedule a few regular chores every day. On Mondays, vacuum upstairs and clean the glass. Tuesdays are for dusting and mopping. Each day has its special chores. These regular tasks take such little time that you can complete them without much hassle. Scheduling baseboard scrubbings, on the other hand, can make for a depressing every-other-Monday. Plus, you might not have time for the task on that day. But if during a regular mopping you get motivated and scrub the baseboards, now that's something to be proud of! Deep cleaning is much more satisfying if done on the fly.

Following this advice motivated me to clean our living room levelor blinds, which were installed by the previous tenants. You know a cleaning is over due anytime you discover something you thought was beige is actually white.

Six Months

2011-06-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

Last week, I woke up with that awful feeling that I'd overslept -- the room was just too light -- and had the following conversation with my groggy self.

I need to be somewhere. Where do I need to be?

[Brain turning over like an old car, lots of racket but no ignition.]

Class. I need to be in class. Which class?High school . . . ? No, I remember graduating high school.* College . . . ? No, wait, I think I remember graduating from college too.

[Struggling.]

If it's not class, it must be work. Where do I work? [Blank.] Oh man, where do I work? . . . Hold on, I don't have a job.

No job? What?!? [Panic]

Wait. . . that's on purpose. I have a baby.

Six months ago today Baby Z was born, bringing the most drastic, permanent change I've ever experienced. So, to appreciate every moment, I am going to try to post one observation each day this week about how my life is different.

First Observation: Regularity**
One awesome perk about being at home is that when nature calls, I never have to send her to voice mail.

No more heading to the ladies room with my fingers crossed that it's empty. No more wishing the person doing her makeup would find another mirror. No more sneaking into that bathroom on another floor where no one knows me.

It's my bathroom, I clean it, and I use it whenever I feel like it. Awesome.

* I thank heaven often that high school is over forever.
** Miya, I hope this doesn't qualify me for unfriending!

Can I blame this on offshoring?

2011-06-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

I shipped a gift from Amazon to Yancy's sister who lives in Moscow, Idaho, but accidentally set my office as the ship-to location. Amazon's customer service rep changed the address for me without any hassle and I was impressed with the ease of the online chat help.

Until I logged in to check the order and found the price had gone up by $80 of international shipping.

I think the customer service rep must have thought that "Moscow, ID 83843" meant an ID number for a place in Moscow, rather than Idaho. Oops!

*And the title of the next post will not be a question. Promise.

Junior High, Anyone?

2011-06-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, I flipped over the chairs as part of cleaning and noticed someone had put their gum under the seat.

Who does that?

List of possible culprits: anyone who has ever visited our apartment. Yes, we suspect ALL of you.

The Count of Monte Who?

2011-06-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

If you've read The Count of Monte Cristo (seeing the barely one-proof movie version does not count), you know almost every main character changes their name at least once. It's the 19th century version of all the mask pulling in Mission Impossible 2.

Yancy's coping mechanism:
Spoiler alert!

Treatment for Baby Z's Birthmark

2011-05-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

Can't even tell he just got zapped, huh? He went back to sleep
almost as soon as he was back in his stroller.

We had a great appointment today with Dr. Milton Waner of the Vascular Birthmark Institute to determine how to treat the hemangioma on Baby Z's eyelid.

He recommended laser therapy and offered to do the first treatment then and there. I hope this option is able to completely remove it since it seemed to cause Baby Z less pain than his last round of immunizations.

I am so grateful to live in the city where VBI is run. Dr. Waner is famous for helping kids with birthmarks, though many are much more severe than Baby Z's. You can see several before and after pictures on the VBI website. He was kind, patient and explained thoroughly, all with a great South African accent!

One of the patients I waited with in the lobby was having a major lip deformation treated, though I could not tell because it had been removed so cleanly. For years doctors said his birthmark could not be treated without severe scarring, and it wasn't until he was in college that his family found Dr. Waner, who was willing and able to treat it.

His story, and those of the other patients I waited with who had come from all over the United States for treatment, is my motivation for posting about our visit. If you know someone who has a vascular birthmark they need or want to get rid of, let them know about Dr. Waner and VBI.

Had my baby

2011-01-02T09:06:00.000-08:00

Our baby was born 1:05 a.m. Tuesday morning. He was 6 lbs 1 oz, two weeks early and too quick to give mom time for an epidural.

This video is from his first day.

And this we took while trying to wake him up for round two of feeding on Friday.

Pregnant Pics

2010-12-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

Oct. 3 (26 weeks)

Nov. 2 (30 weeks)

Dec. 4 (34 weeks)

Recommendations?

2010-12-04T14:22:00.001-08:00

Which of these should I keep?

This looks comfortable and fancy.

But I love how compact this
is in our little apartment.

Edna was on my train this morning.

2010-08-19T06:52:00.001-07:00

Learning the same lessons again and again

2010-07-06T14:40:00.000-07:00

My scripture study has been weak for a while, but in the past few weeks, I've studied the Book of Mormon diligently for the lesson I taught Sunday. At first, the studying was mundane, but the more I studied, the more exciting it got. By the time I taught my lesson, I was really interested in the story of the people of Limhi/Alma the Elder, so I studied yesterday at home, while I did laundry and on my commutes today.

And guess what: All of a sudden I'm feeling all this joy and receiving inspiration for my calling. I was just marveling at how happy I feel, when I remembered this quote:

"It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called 'the words of life' (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance."
Ezra Taft Benson, “The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion,” Ensign, Nov 1986

I feel it. I know this power is real.

The power has come not just from studying, but from testifying of the things I'm learning during my lesson, to Tiff our my run, and to a coworker who saw me reading on the train this morning. "Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." Ether 12: 6

It's never the letter that you think...

2010-06-21T10:18:00.001-07:00

Guessing Game

2010-05-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, Yancy and I saw this the Space Womb. We speculated about what it could be all the way home and then looked it up online, of course. But we're curious: What's your guess?

Space Womb

Searching it online is cheating. If you already know the Space Womb because you live in NYC, don't give the answer away. I'll put the answer in the comments on Saturday.

A Great New York Tradition, Part 2

2010-05-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

A while ago, I was waiting to meet a friend for a jog and noticed this beauty in the trash pile. I hauled it upstairs, riding the elevator up with the woman who nabbed that desk chair further down the street.

Here it is in my apartment. The shelves you see reflected in the mirror is the same set you saw Yancy carrying home for me in the previous post.

The mirror had seen better days. Yancy had to use bondo to repair dents in the frame, and then painstakingly applied a metallic gold paint over the worn areas.

But now, doesn't it look beautiful? It's our best dumpster find to date. What's yours?

Revlon 5K Run (walk)

2010-05-01T10:48:00.001-07:00

This morning I tried to run the Revlon 5K. "Tried" because the course was too crowded to run most of the time. For all the weaving we did, we may have actually ran three full miles.

Amelia are determined to run a 10k before the summer is out just so we can wear our Sparkle Skirts again.

You can see more pictures on Whitney's blog or Kristy's blog.

A Great New York Tradition, Part 1

2010-04-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

In New York City, everyone dumpster dives. This is the day Yancy and I rescued a bookshelf on our walk home from church.

Part of the issue is that few of us have cars, so what do you do when you move? You haul your old stuff to the curb and hope it doesn't rain before someone comes along to take it home. The trash pile is a community garage sale, and everything is free.

I'd wager that 90 percent of the furniture out here comes from Ikea or is second hand. Our living room, for example:

Finally saw an episode of MacGyver

2010-04-26T09:40:00.001-07:00

I watched an episode of "MacGyver" for the first time this weekend, and all I can say is, "Seriously?"

It's like "Days of our Lives" meets "Man vs. Wild."

A pine cone land mine disabling a jeep? Maybe I've lived in NYC too long, but I don't think so.

I am sincerely asking, since I know so many people love this show, Why? What was so awesome? I just don't see it.

Subtle is fun

2010-04-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

I wanted to let people know I was back from my lunch break. Next thing I know...

No Words

2010-04-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

You know, he never sang to me when we were dating. Maybe it would have been an unfair advantage, like sparkling in sunlight.

The Leatticus Humanus Employee-uptus in Its Natural Habitat

2010-04-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Today we present a rare glimpse of the Leatticus Humanus Employee-uptus in its natural habitat.

We wander through the concrete jungle and find ourselves in a typical meeting room, where the Leatticus has been spotted with a group of humunus studentici. The Leatticus sitting at the head of the group begins a coming of age ceremony, offering the adolescents tribal gifts consisting of membership guides, conference brochures and business cards, to encourage the youth to stay loyal to the tribe.

At the end of the meeting the humunus studentici invite the Leatticus to be part of their modern-day cave drawings, recording for posterity their visit.

Master Yancy

2010-04-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

Yancy is the new young men's president/scout master in our ward. This is a pic of our awesome scouts at the pinewood derby.

Can you tell the boys from the leaders? :)

My Mom Is So Cool

2010-04-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

From my mom:

Whoever said "its not whether you win or lose"?

I mean really - they obviously never won!

I entered the contest at the Red Vines website and yes, I am a WINNER!

What would I win, you ask?

Well, behold and be jealous.....

First I got this:

Yes, a gianormous t-shirt that I could almost wear as a dress and a shiny metal water bottle.

Here, take a better look:

BUT THEN

the following week I got this:

Big whoop you say?

Well there's more!

1 tub

4 red licorice

4 black licorice (gave to Russ Wiscombe and I better get a good Chirstmas present)

4 grape flavor licorice which we shared with Wes's band party this morning

4 red licorice ropes

and that big mixed bag of all kinds.

I WON!!!

Of course it isn't unlikely that only 3 other people even entered the contest, but there's nothing like hedging your bet, right?

Google Wants Me to Swim the East River

2010-03-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

Pretty sure that's not gonna work.

Name That Tune

2009-12-07T18:41:00.000-08:00

Please appreciate how loud the music is to be audible on this low-quality, digital-camera video.

Thanksgiving Highlights

2009-12-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

We were feeling like this, so we decided we needed a vacation.

Our trip started in Salt Lake City where we got to go back stage at the tabernacle. This picture is not back stage, in case you couldn't tell.

Then . . . I made the mistake of letting Yancy and my brother run free in Best Buy. Brother is on the left playing a game and Y is on the right trying out DJ Hero (Like Guitar Hero, but you're a DJ). Yancy says we were there for only 30 minutes. Hm.

Brother's got his game face on. This game had the added challenge of a defective controller that would periodically take over and send his character running in circles. That was my favorite part.

For Yancy's birthday, I made him chocolate covered pretzels. Look what happened when I tried to cool them in the over-full freezer.

(In case you can't tell what it is, one got stuck to the top of the freezer.)

The Goose Is Getting Fat

2009-11-30T16:30:00.001-08:00

Why? Because Christmas is coming. Just ask Miss Piggy.

Before:

And After:

Business Trip to San Diego

2009-11-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

My trip to San Diego was a lot of fun, but there weren't a lot of great photo opps. Here's a few pics to tell the story of my trip.

Probably the greatest acheivement of my trip is this:

For the first time, I ran five continuous miles. The extra .23 came from walking to cool down. I was so sweaty!

Now, this may not seem exciting, but what I am holding is a PORT KEY!!!

Well, actually it's the key to the Porthole room, where we had a bunch of meetings. I got all excited about the Harry Potter allusion, and then right after taking the picture I remembered that HP uses portkeys not porthole keys. Oops.

Yes, B, I've misquoted something again.

This was my magnificent breakfast: mint herbal tea, yogurt with a little granola and the most beautiful bowl of fruit ever.

One day, as we were loading these buses full of students we noticed something odd. Do you see it?

The BMW logo. David, when did BMW go into the business of 56-passenger buses? I don't imagine you'd pretend to be car shopping just to test drive one of these.

Finally, the night I came home, Yancy had a candle light dinner set up and had taken the day off to get the house clean. What more could a girl want?

Won't you be my neighbor

2009-10-07T07:41:00.001-07:00

I have exceptional neighbors.

Last night, after mixing all the other ingredients, I realized I didn't have enough flour to make waffles. I ran across the hall, humbly extending my measuring cup, to ask, "Can I borrow a cup of flour?"

A couple days ago, I was on my way home from work when I got a call from Tiffany, who lives down the block.

"Want a potato?"

She peeled too many and didn't want it to go to waste. Viola! Mashed potatoes for Yancy.

I'm not even being chased

2009-10-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

Last time I was jogging consistently was in 2004, and I ran BYU's Rex Lee Run, mostly because I wanted the t-shirt.
(Flag Football Girls, why did T-shirts motivate us so much?)

Here are photos Sarah, my roommate, took when I came home. I don't have any pics from the race because I was too embarrassed to tell anyone I running.

Well, I've decided to run a 15K on December 19.

15K = 9.32056788 miles

Any advice for a novice? I'd love tips on gear, running in the cold, training and all the things I haven't thought to worry about yet.

Missionary Profiled in NY Times

2009-09-15T13:24:00.001-07:00

This is cool:
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#/naisi_zhao

Many of the profiles are beautiful.

Can't fry an egg on pavement but...

2009-08-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

The New York summer finally came.

Harry Potter Wannabe

2009-08-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

I got this lightening-like scar on my leg from running with ankle weights.

I think it's the universe punishing me for not having seen the newest Harry Potter movie yet.
"Wannabe" or "Wanna Be"?

What do I do with six poblanos, six wax peppers and one cubanelle?

2009-08-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

Do you ever cook with these? What do you make?

How badly do you have to go?

2009-08-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Being headless counts as a handicapped in my book.

Girls Camp

2009-08-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

I spent this last week as the Girls Camp cook.

Most of the time I only prepared meals for the stake leaders and YCLs (about 15 people). But I also made lunches for our hikers each day, which meant I spent a lot of time putting things into snack bags.

Behold, 35 bags of wonder.

We had a really hard time getting a fire going all weekend because of the intense humidity and a lack of kindling. This is me feeling a little concerned about not having hot coals since I had 15 hungry people waiting for their foil baked potatoes to heat up. To my benefit, we have a heavy Latin American influence in our stake and those sisters are masters of hospitality and good eating. When my dinners didn't go as well as planned, no one went hungry.

This is Amelia, the camp director.

Every one thought Amelia and I were sisters, but we don't look alike. The girls also thought I was only about 20 years old. Ha.

In addition to cooking, I taught the girls how to make no-bake cookies. I forgot to buy enough butter so I had to "invent" a new version with peanut butter.

Behold my creation!

Now the picture below is not so appetizing, though it's got a similar composition to my chocolate camping cookies. This is a Costco-sized juice bottle full of the grease that ran off the 20lbs of hamburger I cooked for our taco buffet.

I had been waiting since camp started for a ride to the store so we could get food supplies to last the rest of the week. When some girls refused to go on their hike, I was finally handed keys and told to go get food so we could put them to work.

I got to DRIVE.

Here I am in line at walmart. I got so much food I had to purchase and unload a cartful and then come back for more.

In the end, I have to say I had a lot of fun at girls camp, though I had no idea how much work it is to be a leader. As a girl, I thought I was worn out and I got three hours of free time. As a leader, you're the first one up, the last one to bed and working all day long. And it's totally worth it when you here the girls say they know they're Heavenly Father loves them.

Signs you've been at the airport too long

2009-07-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

Surprise!

2009-07-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be Relief Society president.

This is a picture Yancy took when they announced my call:

I can't believe they're not pancakes

2009-07-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

As my quest to avoid diabetes has pushed me to an increasingly vegetable-dominated diet, I have experimented with some pretty weird substitutions to keep my favorite foods on the menu.

Today I share a substitution that I found surprisingly satisfying: oatmeal cottage cheese pancakes. It doesn't incorporate vegetables, but it does cut out all the sugar and flour.

Sitting on that plate, they kind of look like Bubs from homestarrunner.com, don't you think?

Recipe:
1/2 C oatmeal
1/4 C cottage cheese
2 eggs (or equivalent)
dashes of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg

Process in a blender until smooth. Cook the mixture like a regular pancake.

My brother's reaction to Pride and Prejudice

2009-05-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

"Girls think too much! If I had to worry like that about relationships, I'd never have one."

Imagine what he'd say if he watched the six-hour version.

Nothing a little electrical tape can't fix

2009-05-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yancy found this on his lunch break. The culprits changed every hand in the intersection.

Why are the obvious lessons so hard to learn?

2009-05-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

Friday, I was so frustrated about cooking dinner, restuarant prices, eating healthy and the lack of enchilada sauce at my grocery store that I was almost in tears. To top it off, I knew when I came home Yancy was going to be extra nice to me. Ahh, PMS.

After being home a while, I transitioned from venting to Yancy to telling him about a sick friend I've been worried about. And all of a sudden I realized, "I'm not irritable anymore!" Magic.

This morning, when I called to tell a friend some good news, she sounded so low that I debated skipping my news. Who was I to be happy when she felt such grief? But I told her anyway, and again, the same magic happened. She sounded happier.

This is divinity, a bit of the divine in our nature. Hers is greater; it is more selfless for a mourner to rejoice in another's happiness than for a mourner to feel gratitude not to have another's trials, but both are good.

I'm glad the Lord knew I'd need at least 27 years of mortality to start to grasp this concept.

And, just in case my opinion counts, I think I'd enjoy another 60 or so to master it.

Definition: Smarmy

2009-04-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

The temple is closed for maintenance, so Yancy let his beard go wild.

I didn't get a good picture of it at its longest because I did not anticipate the Jekyll-and-Hyde-esque stages of transformation he would go through before the beard was fully shaved.

Stage One:

Stage Two: Comrade Zimmerman

Stage Three: "Nascar tonight?!?"

Stage Four: Pepé Le Pew

Book bag, literally

2009-04-22T07:21:00.001-07:00

I heard about these book bags this morning on NPR.

Aren't they cool?

"The Magic Garden"

"War and Peace"

A calculus textbook :)

Sorry Marie, no OED purses.

Dear Heather Wilson

2009-04-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Heather,

The anticipation with which I await your next post has driven me to the extreme of posting a request on my blog, which I'm not even sure you know exists.

You said recently that you have felt uninspired, but perhaps you had a premonition this morning as you brushed your teeth with your Sponge Bob shower curtain in the background that something good was coming.

Well, I offer new inspiration: Johnny Depp as a guest star on tonight's Sponge Bob.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103170924

We have great expections.

Regards,
Leah

I almost died on Bourbon Street*

2009-04-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

I regret that in New Orleans, a place with much to offer tourists, my only sightseeing was on Bourbon Street.

Don't go to Bourbon Street. You cannot avoid the filth. It is magnified on posters, blaring through loud speakers and being hollered at you in the street. Anyway, here's my Bourbon Street story:

The evening started with an electrical transformer explosion that forced us to make different dinner plans after the cabi had left us stranded on Bourbon street. My coworkers were super excited for crayfish and jambalaya.

We waited for our meal for more than an hour, only to be told, "We're out of the jambalaya, and if you're dissatisfied with that, well, there's not much I can do about it."

Excuse me? We never got our dinner salads, half of the entrees are missing, we've waited an hour, it's starting to rain on us and there's not much you can do about it?

We left in a huff and flagged cab. This is us happy to be headed home.

Our driver had some sort of horrendous sinus condition and he kept making a noise kind of like a pulling a stiff zipper, but thick and juicy.

Every time he'd make this noise, my boss (with one glass of wine in her) would start giggling uncontrollably and say, "We have to get out of here!" in a perfectly audible "whisper." It was so embarrassing.

Like in New York, the cabbies creep along the streets trying to avoid tourists, and anytime the street clears, the cabby guns it. It's the only way to make any progress.

Our cabby was doing this when he gunned it into an intersection. This is what I remember:
-- Acceleration: Pushed back in my seat.
-- Coworker shrieks
-- Thought: We're going to hit someone
-- Observe: No one in front of us
-- Glance right: HOLY CRAP THERE IS A HUGE SUV COMING AT US **

The cabby couldn't decide to stop or go, so we lurched a few times as the SUV slammed on its breaks. Luckily, it stopped with its huge lights inches from the passenger windows. I felt like I was in Jurassic Park, with T-rex staring in the window.

This is us before the scare:

This is us after almost dying:

Just kidding. It's actually just a really ugly picture of us.

* This is a blatant exagerration to get your attention. I followed Cowboy's advice from "Newsies."
** Can you tell I just read "The Road"? Beautiful story. I started crying on the train at the end. I have no hope for the movie. ***
*** Marie, I hope you don't mind I'm ripping off your astrisk technique.

I confess: SpaghettiOs.

2009-04-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

I love 'em. I hope Campbell's finds this post and send me coupons.

What's your guilty pleasure?

Why do I tense when people cry?

2009-04-08T09:35:00.001-07:00

While working today, I started hearing sniffles and realized a lady sitting near me was crying.

I immediately felt tense, debating whether I should say something or mind my own business.

Finally, I went to look for Agatha, a grandmotherly lady who could cheer up the world with a hug, but I couldn't find her.

Somehow, being out of my chair, I wasn't so nervous about giving that hug myself. And you know what? It helped. A hug, a kiss on the cheek, and offer to pray for her.

I don't know what was wrong; doesn't matter. But I do wonder why I hesitated.

Leah the Butcher

2009-04-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

This is what I did today:

There is no way of saying, "Good work; I have some suggestions," that eases the sting of that much red ink.

New Orleans is a weird place for a New Yorker

2009-04-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

Exhibit A: People were nice to tourists

Do you see something missing from this elevator panel? No "close" button. I probably lost forty or fifty seconds -- possibly a whole minute -- of this trip not being able to tell the elevator, "Quick, don't let anyone else get on!"

The hotel staff was nice; random people in the elevator were nice; the cab drivers were nice.

Flash backs to BYU where everyone I passed was a dilemma: Should I smile? Nod? Say hello?

Exhibit B: Food and beverage museum

What do you buy in the gift shop, old food? I think this is just a clever way to lure people into your restaurant.

Side note:
At this event, we had an issue with students sneaking guys into their hotel rooms without asking their roommates. The day all this drama broke, I came back to my hotel room and discovered this:

My first thought: There's been a guy in my room!

But I think it was just the housekeeper.

I get spooked pretty easily when I'm staying alone. I sing a lot of "I Walk by Faith." In my hotel room, I put little post-it notes over the eyes of all the people in the paintings.

Exhibit C: The Art

Does this make you hungry?

This was the menu cover of the nicest restaurant we visited. Nothing says classy like a lobster pinching Cupid's toosh.

When this restaurant had lost our reservations, we ended up driving to four other places before we found a restaurant with less than an hour-and-a-half wait for a party of three.

At the Emeril restaurant, and I had this conversation with the hostess:

"What is your wait for a party of three?"

"Well, we don't take reservations and we don't have a wait list."

"So you could seat us now?"

"No, we're full until 10 p.m."

So how do you get seated? Do you have to be lucky enough to walk in right as a party of the same size walks out? Maybe you need a special invitation from Emeril.

Exhibit D: The food

I have never travelled anywhere so unhealthy.

Fresh fruit? No.

Fresh vegetables? Freshly smothered in butter.

Entrees? Fried. All of them.

Anything not fried? Yes, basted in lemon and butter. If a food isn't a New Orleans classic, it seems the only thing they know how to do with it is baste it in lemon butter.

Breakfast? French toast soaked in butter, not egg; grits, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs.

If my vegetable, egg-white omelet oozes a pool of butter, what's the point?

This is me eating a pork chop, red beans and rice. I would have killed for a salad, which is kind of ironic.

Three ways to face your challenges

2009-03-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

These are three of my favorite videos from the Manhattan Stake singles film "festival."

All are examples of characters facing challenges in a "insightful," "inspiring" way.

So go ahead: Be inspired.

Troubles

Macamerations -- I couldn't embed this video, but it's worth following the link.

http://www.spouterinn.com/deadline.html

No more peepage

2009-03-22T18:56:00.001-07:00

The subway platform is just 20 yards from and nearly level with our windows.

Please see below, the view from our front-facing windows (FYI, it's snowing; that's not pigeon poop on our windows):

Too many mornings I finish my aerobics to find two or three people staring from the platform.

Well, guess what. The show's over. My sister in law, Shawna, has made us curtains.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Shawna -- Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I'd take the ox cart

2009-03-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

We get to Costco by taking two trains and then walking about a mile.

While walking the Costco aisles, glorying in the discounts and the free samples, the frugality went to our heads and we decided, Hey, let's save even more money by taking the subway back instead of a cab.

See the insanity!

We weren't even out of the parking lot when I had to hand off my heaviest bag to Yancy*. When we finally got home -- and we never would have made it if not buoyed up by Costco pizza -- we unloaded our gear and totaled how many pounds we carried.

All our bags. (It's more impressive in real life.)

Everything Yancy carried: Please notice the 10 lb bag of chicken, the 12 cans of black beans and the six over-sized cans of crushed tomatoes. He did not carry the knives or the toaster oven.

60 lbs, baby. Just look at those guns.

Everything I carried. Please notice, um ... the cereal? Sponges? Cooking spray?

It was heavy.

Yogurt is heavy.

*Please don't be ashamed of me, Amy.

Curling deserves its Olympic status

2009-03-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

Tried sleeping on curlers for the first time. Turns out, like most things, it's harder to get it right than you'd think.

What do you think? Not really the old Hollywood glam I was hoping for...

In like a lion? Lions sound warm

2009-03-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

Just a few days after March officially began, and the day after a Saturday warm enough to convince me to jog outside, NYC got more snow.

Here's me at the subway platform, waiting for a train. Check out my killer hat, courtesy of Suzy Miller, and my gorgeous scarf, courtesy of Miya. I look like a cupcake!

Forgetting that Yancy invests in good camping gear, I decided to heat his cider to boiling before popping it in the thermos.

In the photo below, he holds the small thermos lid full of cider close to his face to feel the warm steam. That's all he can do, since it's still almost boiling. Oops.

The trains are warm, but it always takes a minute to thaw. Not unthaw -- that's what happens when you go back outside (you taught me well, Mom).

Best name I heard about this weekend

2009-03-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

La—e

Pronounced "La Dasha"

Recipe post: Yellow pepper sale

2009-03-02T07:18:00.000-08:00

Yellow peppers were on sale, so Yancy and I had stuffed peppers last night for dinner.

I modified a recipe (below) for Grilled Black Bean and Rice-stuffed Peppers.

Delicious!

Notes:

I added ground turkey to Yancy's (plus extra seasoning) to make it more manly.

I am not sure how good this would be with a green pepper. Usually you stuff peppers with something juicy that marinades the pepper as it bakes. This recipe is not like that so your pepper needs to taste good as is.

I liked it better microwaved the next day because the pepper was a little softer and the flavors had combined more.

When we ate it for dinner, I wished I'd put some sharp cheddar on it.

The next day for lunch, I ate it with spinach. Made a yummy salad.

Recipe:

15 oz black beans, drained, rinsed
3/4 C cooked rice
1/4 C green onions, sliced (4 medium)
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 T lime juice
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
3 large bell peppers
1 plum (Roma) tomato, diced

Cut the stem out of each pepper, creating a whole big enough to stuff the pepper through. Remove the seeds and inner cartilage. That's right, cartilage.

Completely immerse the peppers in boiling water for about three minutes. In a green or red pepper, the color will become brighter. Set aside.

Mix beans, rice, onions, cilantro, lime juice, garlic and salt.

Stuff mixture into peppers. I like to pack it in so each pepper is really full.

Place peppers upright in a baking dish. Cook for 1 hour at 350 degrees. They're done when a fork goes easily into the pepper.

Sprinkle with chopped tomatoes, and add cheese and additional cilantro, if wanted.

Recommendation of the Week

2009-02-27T14:13:00.000-08:00

Recommendation of the Week

Artist: JBM
Album: Not even in July
Song: Cleo's Song
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100645308

Runners up

Artist: M. Ward
Album: Hold Time
Song: Never Had Nobody Like You
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100523648

Bishop Allen
Album: GRR...
Song: The Ancient Commonsense of Things
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101034126
(scroll toward the bottom of the page)

Welcome to the inside

2009-02-26T09:03:00.000-08:00

This is has become an on-going Zimmerman family inside joke.

Welcome to the inside.

Thanks for the humor

2009-02-24T07:20:00.000-08:00

Maybe that person who just sent you an obviously mail merged, repeat email is stressed, not stupid.

God bless forgiving people.

Leah needs...

2009-02-24T07:03:00.000-08:00

Type "[your name] needs" into Google and see what you get... (make sure you have the safe search on). (Thanks, Anna, for the good idea.)

1. Leah needs to shed the pounds, and the sooner the better

2. Leah Needs Love

3. Leah needs experienced, adult owners who will understand that this girl needs her space and does not like to be overly fussed over.

4. Leah needs a helmet

5. What [Leah] needs is an omniscient voice to illuminate and spotlight her

6. leah needs a storyline

7. Leah needs to suffer through the crying and just break her child from the bottle.

8. LEAH NEEDS OUR VOTES

9. leah needs a raise

10. Leah needs donations for that operation she has been saving up for.....that stick in her butt definately needs to come out.

If I'd tossed the boquet...

2008-12-16T11:11:00.000-08:00

...I'm pretty sure I know who would have caught it.

More photos by Jason

2008-12-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

Here are more photos Yancy's brother, Jason Zimmerman, took at our wedding.

(A friend pointed out yesterday that an appointment with Jason for family photos would be an neat Christmas present for someone in Utah. Check out his site: http://www.alongthebackroads.com/.)

More Amateur Shots

2008-11-20T14:51:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Susan Benton (my other mother) and Ryan Marshall, who is one month and four days older than me.

You can see the professional shots here:
Seattle: http://lisetteandcameron.blogspot.com/2008/11/leah-and-yantzy.html
Spokane: http://teachinfourth.blogspot.com/2008/11/saturday-photoshoot.html

If you don't have the patience to look at them all, please at the least scroll down to the grand finale!

The bridal parade: It was a blessing to everyone I wasn't twirling a baton.

Dad tried to sneak off with my boquet several times.

Parents!

That's the highest I could raise my arms.

With my wonderful parents.

This is the buildling where we had our ceremony:

Santa clause was at my wedding. Naughty or nice -- what do you think?

1) my hottie brother

2) his intelligent, witty girlfriend who has great taste in music

3) look at the gorgeous fall foliage

Weddings involve so much waiting.

Jen and Fleet are just so happy to be here.

Katrina; my sister, Collette; and my almost brother, Fleet

And yes,

oh yes,

the grand finale:

I love this girl so much.

Caption contest. Go!

Wedding Photos: Round II

2008-11-18T20:47:00.000-08:00

These photos were taken by Yancy's brother, Jason Zimmerman, after our ceremony in Spokane, Washington.

http://teachinfourth.blogspot.com/2008/11/saturday-photoshoot.html

Jason does amazing work. See more at http://www.alongthebackroads.com.

Wedding Photos: Round I

2008-11-13T06:31:00.000-08:00

The reception in Seattle Thursday night taken by Lisette Wolter-McKinley, our photographer in Seattle and my old friend.

The wedding in Spokane Saturday morning, taken by my aunt and uncle.

I'll have more soon.

Surprise! A new post

2008-10-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

A week and a half ago, the lovely girls I work with managed to completely, utterly surprise me with a shower.

I had just come back to the office, flustered and tense because a frustrating visit to the bank had made me late for my 3 p.m. "meeting."

I walked into to the Conference room...

...and my entire office is staring back at me.

Me: Bright red face, cold sweat, no brain function.

Our CEO, Bill, said some nice things and then everyone wanted a speech. The only type of extemporaneous speaking I know how to do is bearing my testimony, but luckily, even in my mental fog, I didn't start with "I know the Church is true. I love my mom and dad..."

Staff gave me several lovely gifts, best of which was a collection of wedding advice, which includes:

1) The most important words in any marriage, "I'll do the dishes"
2) It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
3) "I got gaps; you got gaps; we fill each other's gaps" (with a picture of Rocky)
4) Be best friends
5) Eat lots of chocolate together
6) Love is why we get married...Our believe in God is why we stay married.
7) Even when you're married, always keep dating (each other, of course)

Finally: Quit PRSA and have lots of babies. That's from Heather, who's giving me the scheming look below. Maybe she wants my job. Hmm...

Pictures again

2008-09-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

For just $300, we got Yancy's suit, belt and shoes. Thank you, Macy's!

Best reactions

2008-09-26T05:14:00.000-07:00

For all the negativity you hear about marriage in our society, you get some pretty excited reaction when you tell people you are engaged (which is very reassuring). Here are a few of my favorite:

"I GET TO BE A HOTTIE.......got any cute, single uncles coming to this thing?" -- anonymous, just in case it's embarrassing

"Thanks! And please resist buying a black wedding dress. And please start a wedding blog." -- Cousin Marie

Livi: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT Omilivinggoodness

"Congratulations Leah! Wow. I am impressed with your efficiency." -- Hilary, past roommate

"Now you get to be saved from Brother Cariello's love connection." -- Jessica Allred

"Wait, so this is serious? You're getting married? (I always have to wait a bit first to see if people are playing tricks on Facebook...there are so many possibilities)" -- Suzanne Reeve, a friend from Seattle

"Congrats on being engaged!! Its so much fun" -- Jessica Hanson (did you know anyone who seemed happier to be engaged than Jess?)

"Wow, officially engaged on Facebook and everything. Congratulations, this must be for real." -- Cousin Robert

erika: I hope I will get a pic of the ring. you know how important knowing what the ring looks like is important to me.

me: Mark guess what
Mark: you're engaged?
me: yep
Mark: holy frijole craaaaaaaaaaaazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

"'Gasp, Oh my goodness!!:)' Was the first thing out of my mouth. I love knowing what people's initial reactions are." -- Stephanie Bishop, in the RS presidency with me now. I wonder how she verbalized the smiley face

"what? oh my gosh!!!! LEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOOOOOOO excited for you! oh my gosh! i just gasped out loud and i can't type fast enough! I am so super excited for you! we definitely need to hang out so that i can hear the story. seriously! congratulations! i am so happy for you!!! Yay! :) i want details when you have a minute! yay!" -- Malia

Not another waste of his time

2008-09-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

I feel slightly more engaged now that my fiancee status has been acknowledged.

I assume the blog title does not refer to me.

"That best portion of a good man's life"

2008-09-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

Without exception, the most wonderful part of the process of getting married has been seeing with how little thought for self friends and family have made incredibly generous offers to help.

In my sweetheart as well as in my friends, relatives and colleagues, I have seen this thought personified:

"There are lots of limitations in all of us that we hope our sweethearts will overlook. I suppose no one is as handsome or as beautiful as he or she wishes, or as brilliant in school or as witty in speech or as wealthy as we would like, but in a world of varied talents and fortunes that we can't always command, I think that makes even more attractive the qualities we can command -- such qualities as thoughtfulness, patience, a kind word and true delight in the accomplishment of another. These cost us nothing, and they can mean everything to the one who receives them."

-- Jeffrey R. Holland, apostle, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

These are just a very few examples of kindness that has meant so much to me. I wish I could cite them all.

"How many are you thinking of working up and how much do you want to invest toots? I can definately come up with something for you."

"If I knew it back before I got married, I may have forced Paul to learn it for the wedding. 'Brighter Than Sunshine' by Aqualung. Just in case you are in the market for love songs. ;)"

"I could lick envelopes, make fancy little groom's cakes (isn't that what they're called), oooh and aaaah over flowers or dresses, provide free backrubs, oooh and aaaah over the fiance (not too much of course), be your soda/diet coke jerk, etc..."

"I have to see about coming up that weekend. Eric will be in Atlanta, and so I have to see how things will work out with the children. I will let you know as soon as I can make plans."

Our first wedding gift

2008-09-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

We just got our first wedding gift!

A free slotted-spoon thiny from Onieda for registering at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Birdies to Bogies: Handicapping the Bridesmaids

2008-09-09T14:05:00.000-07:00

Even though I wouldn't even consider purchasing a dress I was able to try on just because the size was wrong, I had no problem buying three dresses based completely on an online photo -- dresses I don't have to wear, of course.

This wasn't really selfish, was it? Bridesmaids don't want to endure the pins and measuring tape of a usually too-frank professional tailor to end up looking like prom warmed over?

While we do have plans to glam them up, I like that the dresses are simple. My bridesmaids are exceptionally smart and pretty; if the apparel handicap wasn't tipped in my favor, I wouldn't be able to hang on to my center-of-attention privileges, and then I'd have to do something drastic.

(Collette -- thanks for modelling. Mom -- thanks for the video.)

On location

2008-09-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

Our church has two types of buildings: churches and temples.

Churches are for regular Sunday worship and activities like socials, service projects and devotionals. They're usually brick, comely but built mostly for function.

Temples are for special occasions, like marriages, and are built to be as lovely as possible to honor God. (More on temples click here.)

Here are some photos of the temple in which Yancy and I will be married.

If you have any questions about our temples, please ask me.

Unsealed Sealing Envelope

2008-09-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Cassie Tooke, one of PRSA's newest employees, was sorting the mail when she found a letter that seemed just a little off.

"Hey, Leah," she said, "I've got a really weird piece of mail for you. Do you know what this is?"

"Woo hoo!" out loud, in the quiet office.

This photo is a re-enactment of actual events.

It is the confirmation of our appointment to be married.

Yea!

"The unveiling of the veiled ... something"

2008-09-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

Photos of my veil tasting with my new roommate, Jen (dark hair), and my "old" roommate, Kort.

Title courtesy of Yancy.

I can't do a tiara for moral reasons, but I'm liking the headband.

$175 for a bunch of tulle and a comb. What do you think?

2008-09-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

I tried on veils with my roommates, Kortlyn and Jen, Tuesday night.

I found a veil I really liked -- until I looked at the price tag.

$175.

Seriously? It's just a bunch of tulle hot glued to a comb.

So, I ask you: Do you think I could make one or would I just be wasting money better spent on something professionally made?

Dress shopping continued -- Will she succeed?

2008-09-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

Dress shopping round two happened when I unexpectedly got the afternoon off. A lunch date with one of my longest New York friends, Kelly Brandeburg, turned into an afternoon of crazy fun.

This is Kelly:

Before we shopped, I found the dress below that I loved. Unfortunately, it's the perfect plus-size dress with all those diagonal lines (than you Trinny and Sus), and no one carried it in a size smaller than 14. This is me in a size 14 with a bunch of clips in the back to hold it tight:

Even if I had been willing to rish hundreds of dollars on that hope that they would order the right size and I'd love the look, RK said there was no way they could get a dress in soon enough for a November wedding.

I'd like to see them try to run their business in Provo.

This is RK Bridal ("Walmart of wedding retailers")

Agonizing over a dress (see the agony):

We bailed on RK and headed back to David's to take another look at my favorite dresses and try on new options.

This dress has amazing tiers of lace.

My favorite from last time:

And then I found the perfect dress.

If you want to see pictures, you'll have to come to my reception.

(or email me)

Victory dinner at Chucky Cheese!

Our weekend labors

2008-08-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

Having several days off from our full-time jobs, we put full-time effort into a wedding prep marathon.

Highlights include mailing our wedding license

and buying a ring for Yancy.

It felt weird -- a good kind of weird -- to be shopping for him.

Dress shopping: Day 1

2008-08-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

I started my dress shopping with some significant challenges and advantages.

Challenges:

I was already in love with a dress I could never have from this collection by Colette Komm, who attends the same congregation I do here in Manhattan. http://www.colettekomm.com/. I love the skirt on Dress 3 and the jacket on Dress 5.
Many dress shops could not get dresses in my size in three months.
I want a dress that covers my shoulders.

Advantages: Sarah and Kortlyn.

We started shopping at Macy's, but the dress selection didn't excite us and the wait to see a "bridal consultant" was too long.

We left and when to RK Bridal, the Walmart of wedding retailers. We got to RK around noon and their waiting list to see a consultant was so long it had been closed for the day.

Then we applied Sarah's how-to-survive-in-the-city motto, "Everything is easier outside of Manhattan."

At David's Bridal in Queens we found a compromise: decent prices and decent customer service. You got to look through their catalog and try on your three favorite dresses.

These dresses were non-winners:

This was the best dress of the day:

Notice the bridal consultant tugging on my jacket.

This woman was the manager and she could sense a bride who might buy like a shark smells blood. This dress was much better than the others I'd tried, and as soon as I showed interest, she decked me out with a tiara, veil and bouquet, had me take a wedding walk around the dressing room and told me about how the whole day of my wedding my bridesmaids would to attend me.

I don't think being attended by Kelly and Collette will be quite like the vision she painted.

Warm rolls and gritty shivers

2008-08-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

"Please put a picture of Yancy on your blog when you get a chance. I would like to see him. Your ring is beautiful.
Love you. Jan"

How can you say no to the woman who times the warm cinnamon rolls to come out of the oven just as you are shivering back to the beach house?

I now have a slideshow posted in the sidebar, and a short video so you can check out my "morsel."

Step One: Become a cliche (shudder)

2008-08-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

I have contracted this attitude so prevalent in New York of desperately dreading anything cliche.

I blame it on tourists.

After a long day of heartlessly snipping cliches out of other people's writing (I don't care if it gives you voice!), I sometimes feel like would rather walk through East Harlem at midnight than be cliche.

And that is part of why I know I am in love with Yancy.

As of 11 p.m.-ish Tuesday, Aug. 12, when he put a ring on my finger, I have BECOME a walking, talking cliche.

The proof is in the pudding:

I can't stop spinning my ring.
Bridezilla briefly reared her ugly head when we shopped until we dropped for dresses.
When he's around, I'm happy as a clam.
Yesterday these words came out of my mouth: "Well, he needs a few more years to establish his career . . ."
I cook my man dinner over a hot stove almost every night.