Kristofor and Debra's blog

2009-09-02T22:06:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I haven't posted in AGES and maybe you'll all be annoyed with me for posting this instead of an update but I really want to win... so... go check out this amazing site with a really cool giveaway!
http://pfatt.blogspot.com/2009/08/pfatt-fall-blog-giveaway.html?showComment=1251954284554#c6503952181876927225

Sir Budrick "Buddy" Jacobson

2009-05-23T01:30:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 6th, 2005 was the day we found Buddy on the steps of the Borders Books by our house. We took him home because he was starving and he was so sweet. Scott was going to take him but ended up not being able to. I don't think we ever really intended on keeping him initially but Kristofor got attached to him pretty quickly and that was that. Once he started eating he filled out into a HUGE, muscular, beautiful cat and then he got sick. I don't know exactly when it happened but he ended up losing almost all of his fur and losing a ton of weight. We took him to different vets and a cat dermatologist. We fed him special food, special water, tons of different medicines. We dipped him in sulfur and lime (the chemical, not the fruit) every weekend for a month. By the way, dipping a cat in sulfur and lime is probably what you have to do in the 7th circle of hell. Eventually there just wasn't anything else to try and so we decided to wait and watch.
Buddy was the sweetest cat I've ever known. When you'd go outside to see him he'd get so excited. His tail would shake like a rattle and he would run up to you meowing and purring. He loved to be held like a baby on his back in your arms and would fall asleep like that. He like to ride around on Kristofor shoulder like a parrot. He was a sweetheart.
Eventually his health got so bad that he was in a lot of pain and he started having a lot of trouble walking. When I started having to pick him up and take him the litterbox and set his food next to him on his bed we realized that it was time to put him down. Friday, May 8th, 2009 we held Buddy as he died. We miss him terriblly.

Nine years already?!

2009-02-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day will be the 9 year anniversary of the first time Kristofor and I talked to each other. Romantic, isn't it? Well, not when you find out that he didn't like me at all and had no intention of talking to me again.
But he did and by my birthday, April 3rd, we were engaged. I can't believe that we've been together for 9 years!!! The time has gone by so fast.
I know that I have what most people dream about and I am thankful. I have a partner who loves me more than I ever thought anyone would. Someone who fully supports me in whatever I want to do and will do anything in his power to help me. Someone who can be so very silly with me. Someone who knows all the dark ugly parts of me and still loves me and respects me more because of my ability to be better and stronger than those parts. Someone who is strong enough to set his own boundaries and to respect mine. Someone that understand that my love for others doesn't lessen my love for him.
I'm very lucky.
Even if he never manages to put his socks IN the laundry basket.

One of my New Year's resolutions!

2009-01-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

I am the kind of friend I'd want to have.

One of my goals this year is to change my thinking. I've really gotten to be way too negative and it's making me miserable. I need to change. I need to create my own happiness. So, one of the things I'm doing is coming up with a weekly affirmation that either reminds me to improve on things, or to recognize my strengths.
This affirmation used to be a strength but has become a weakness. Now, saying an affirmation and wanting it to be true isn't really going to get you very far unless you actually think about what you need to do to make it happen and then do it!
So, in that spirit:
I will return my phone calls and emails in a timely manner!
I will actually try to answer my phone!
I will not flake on plans just because I'm not "in the mood"! If I said I'd be there, I'll be there!
I will not gossip (much).
I will not expect more from people then they can give.
I will be honest, but kind.
I will not settle for being treated with less respect than I deserve.
I will control my jealousy.
I will be warm and inviting to others.
I will not spend time with people who bring me down if I can help it.
I will put myself in situation where I can meet new friends with similar interest.
I will try to be forgiving and non-judgmental.
I will be a positive, supportive, and a loving force in my friends lives.

I am the kind of friend I'd want to have.

New Years.

2009-01-05T10:57:00.000-08:00

Long story short, we went to Phil and Melanie's (our neighbor's) party. We really didn't fit in but I like Melanie so much, she's such a treat to have as a neighbor!
Then we headed over to Jake and Heather's and played games with the gang.
The end.

Christmas

2009-01-05T10:50:00.001-08:00

Ok, this is going to be quick. We had a party on the 20th. It was pretty good. Scott, Heather, Jake, Mouse, Laura, Merideth, and my neighbor Melanie came over. I made my first ham, it was good.
I invented a new drink, we call it Ninja Punch. It's evil!

On the 22nd my mom came down. She stay for 2 nights, which is totally odd for her, but she had no choice because Kristofor was fixing her computer and it took a while. It was nice to visit with her, I almost never see her.
On the 24th we woke up to no lights. Well, we had some lights but the kitchen, downstairs bathroom, and upstairs hall lights didn't work. We didn't have lights until the 26th or 27th when Kris could get to the store and figure out what was wrong. It was kind of fun cooking by candle light. We had a good time with it but I'm glad to have light again!

We didn't do presents this year... except I cheated and got Kristofor a few coins. Yep, he has another new hobby! To be fair we went shopping on the 26th and I got the most amazing down comforter!!! JOY!

Being adventurous!

2008-11-13T23:48:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Kristofor and I went to a dinner with the "Adventures in Dining" group. It was really amazing and I can't wait for the next one! The people were all so friendly and interesting. It was nice to go out and do something so different from the norm with total strangers who quickly became friends.
"Adventures in Dining exists to explore new culinary frontiers in and around Las Vegas. We are a group committed to exploring the unknown. If there's a taco truck in the middle of North Las Vegas with the best tacos in town, we will be there!
Sometimes, our adventures will pan out. Sometimes, they will not. PLEASE BE ADVENTUROUS! We are on a quest to try new cuisines and sample a wide variety of dishes rather than simply eating. This is not a group dedicated to dining out, no. We are a group dedicated to sharing food in different settings and pushing the envelope. Food, in this case, only acts as the vehicle to a great experience. We ask for a level of patience as this is an ADVENTUROUS DINING EXPERIENCE."

2008-11-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween weekend was spent at Heather's birthday/Halloween party on Friday night and then at Laura's birthday party on Saturday night. Good times. Here's a shot of the cake I made for Heather. It's supposed to look like a piece of candy corn when it's cut. It tasted better than it looked.

Here's Heather as Trixie and Jake as Speed Racer.

Laura, as a 50's housewife, with Merideth, as Sousie Sioux. Jake is silly.

SCOTT!
Mouse!

Mouse and Heather.
Andy.
James and Julie.
Laura has a tendency to "fall" into people's laps.

Nice weekend.

2008-10-20T01:23:00.000-07:00

I had a really wonderful weekend. I didn't do ANY homework at all! Friday I spent the whole day cleaning. I swear I barely made a dent! I've been so busy lately that I just haven't had a lot of time to clean. I actually enjoy cleaning and it felt really good to see my house looking a bit better. I still need to do the upstairs! I really love having everything organized and clean. In fact, if you leave me alone in your house I might do this to your closet...

Heidi works 12 hour shifts, and when she's not working she's traveling all around the world! She bought a new place and just didn't have time to get her clothes unpacked and stuff. So... last month I went to visit, she went to work and I thought I'd do a load of laundry for her. Three hours later I called Kristofor to tell him I wasn't coming home that night, I was in closet organizing bliss. I worked until Heidi got home at 5 in the morning. It's a good thing she's so laid back, I'd be so annoyed if someone did that to my stuff! lol It's hard to actually see that it's done by color because she wears so many patterns! It's not like my closet at all! I should maybe try wearing something besides plain black, brown, red, green or blue.
ANYWAY, I went way off there didn't I?! Back to this weekend! So, Friday night Kristofor, Delphine, Scott and I went to dinner. It was really nice and relaxing. Afterwords we went back to our house to play Risk but... well, we don't actually own Risk. Do we have to turn in our Geek badges now? We ended up playing Guillotine which was made all the more fun by the fact that Delphine is French. Viva la Revolucion!
Saturday I packed up the car for us to go camping in Valley of Fire while Kristofor went to a coin show with Scott. Kristofor came home with some really neat silver Walking Liberty coins and a Ben Franklin that I love! After he got back we drove to Valley of Fire. When we got there all the camp sites were full. I had a feeling that would happen because the weather's so nice. Next time I'll drive up early on a Friday morning and have Kristofor join me after work! We did walk around and check some stuff out. It's so beautiful there. I love it!
After that we drove around Lake Mead. We decided that when we got back to town we'd go buy a patio fire pit and pretend like we were camping! We really had a wonderful time even thought we couldn't camp. Well... until I got sick. I don't know what happened. All of a sudden I just felt like I was going to throw up. We pulled over and I wandered off to vomit alone. Kristofor dug out the paper towels and baby wipes and then came to help me. I think I must really be married to the sweetest man in the whole world. He was just so amazing. I never did throw up, which kind of sucked because I think I might have felt better! Later that night I saw that he still had paper towels in his back pocket in case I got sick. Seriously, this man deserves an award for being so wonderful! We drove back and unpacked the car. Once I felt a little better we went to Home Depot and got a fire pit. It's very cool! We put it together and then roasted hot dogs and ate "Delphine Smores". "Delphine Smores are the best, but I won't tell you how to make them unless you're camping with me! HA HA!
Today we just sat around all day and watched lots of T.V. and ate more hot dogs. We were so lazy and it was nice!

2008-10-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I got a 90% on my math test this week. I am now done with Pre-Calculus and moving on to Trigonometry. I expect that I will hate Trig, but we shall see. I'm pretty sure I bombed my Chemistry test. I'm guessing I got between 60 and 70%. I'm extremely disappointed in myself about that. Since going back to school I've done really well and doing so poorly makes me feel very dumb.
For the last six months or so I've been talking about going to Albuquerque this weekend for one of my best friend's birthday's. He and his wife just had a baby this June and I wanted to go see him, check out Albuquerque and enjoy Mike and Elona's company. Sadly, I'm not able to go. I should have just bought a ticket six months ago and then I would have had no choice but to go. I'm very bummed about not going. I really miss them a lot.

2008-10-13T14:36:00.001-07:00

Seven years. Kristofor and I have been married 7 years today. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!!! I thought I'd put up a few pictures from our wedding.

Toby, me, Kristofor, and Delphine.
Poor Kristofor, what did he get himself into!
Elysia and me.
My sister Andrea, Heidi, me, Elysia, Melena, and Angie. My niece Emily in the front. I can't believe she's 11 now!!! *gasp*
Me and my sister, Andrea.
Angie and I having a very important conversation!
Kristofor, our nephew Anthony, his brother Andy, Toby, Andy Chance, Randy, and Jason.

Tagged again!

2008-09-23T01:19:00.000-07:00

10 years ago I:
1. Was living in Montana.
2. Working at a gas station.
3. Afraid I'd always be alone.
4. Learning who I really was.
5. Heartbroken.

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. Go to grocery store.
2. Go to class.
3. Make Kristofor's lunch.
4. Laundry, maybe.
5. Sleep.

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Fruit.
2. Just about any sweets, candy, chocolate.
3. chips/cheezy puffs.
4. Cheese.
5. Nuts.

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay off all our bills.
2. Travel more.
3. Buy my mom a little condo.
4. Have Kristofor go to school and not work for a while.
5. A million doesn't really go that far.

5 places I have lived:
1. Santaquin, Utah
2. St. George, Utah
3. Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Yellowstone National Park, Wy
5. Las Vegas, Nv

Five jobs I have had:
1. K-Mart, unloading trucks and on the floor.
2. Uncommon Scents (little perfume girly shop)
3. Cross Creek Manor (behavioral modification program)
4. Nanny
5. Housewife

5 people I tag:
1. Not going to bother
2. because I don't think that
3. many people read my blog!
4.
5.

I've been tagged!

2008-07-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

Now to answer the tag.

The rules:
1. List three items in each category
2. Tag three other people from whom you would like to hear
3. Get to know your friends and family

THREE FEARS:

1. That people will stop loving or liking me. This is my biggest fear.
2. I worry a lot about someone breaking into my house. I have escape routes all planned out and everything.
3. Evil kids. Seriously, is there anything more scary that evil kids in a movie???!!!

THREE JOYS:
1. Making Kristofor laugh. He works too hard, does too much, and stresses a lot. I love when I'm actually able to take him out of that and make him laugh.
2. Laying in bed all day reading a really grim or fun book, especially if it's raining!
3. Cold, crisp fall afternoons! I don't actually get those often here in Vegas... but I swear it just makes me about burst with joy!

THREE OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS:
1. I have a turtle collection from Heidi. I don't collect turtles, and I don't want a turtle from anyone else. Only Heidi is allowed to give me turtles! She gets me one every time she goes on a trip. Heidi collects butterfly stuff, and Cynthia collects frogs, and Angie sort of has a whole medieval thing going on (especially dragons), and Courtney collected roses and tea cups. One day about 12 years ago I said, "Everyone collects stuff but me! I need to collect something... whatever, I collect turtles now." I was joking but Heidi remembered and the next trip she took she brought me back a turtle. When I first opened it I was like, "Oh... ok... a turtle... thanks." and then she reminded me of what I had said months (or maybe a year) earlier and I was so happy that she had remembered that I just LOVED LOVED LOVED that turtle. So now I have many! :)
2. I guess after this week at comic con I now collect old movie monster art! I met an artist name Robert Aragon and I just LOVE HIM! He even invited me to come to a movie night at his house some time! Woo hoo! I think I made a friend! I bought about a million of his pictures, I just love them all. I love old movies, and I love horror... and I love old horror movies. So there you go! You can see some of his work here: http://darkvisionsinc.com/Robert%20Aragon/RA_Home.html and here: http://www.robertaragon.com/
3. I guess I'm a little obsessed with the new Dr. Who. I just love it.

THREE RANDOM FACTS:
1. I have horrible insomnia... not as bad as Heidi, but close!
2. I've eaten chalk. Angie made me do it. I have also eaten may tubes of very gross frosting with Angie. Why does she make me eat so much weird stuff??? I also kinda like the taste of clay.
3. I didn't see the ocean until I was 23 years old.

THREE GOALS:

1. To finish up with my associates degree in the spring.
2. To get back on track with my diet and exercise and lose 50 or 60 lbs.
3. To write a book... just like everyone else. :)

I tag Haven, Andrea, and Brandon!

Alright, alright. I'm sorry.

2008-07-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

I failed. I haven't kept up on this blog at all. I really intended for Kristofor and I both to post on here... but he forgets about it... and I guess I do too.
Life is good. I'm in school still. I'll be graduating with my A.S. Spring 2009. So just two more semesters to go! Yay. After that I'm really not sure if I'll be going to UNLV for my B.S. or not. We're trying to figure that out now.
On a happy little note, I got a letter the other day I'm quite proud of:

"Dear Ms. Jacobson,
I would like to personally commend you for your academic performance in my Political Science 101 course (Spring 2008). In fact, you got the highest grade in the class. It was a challenging course that covered a lot of sophisticated topics in a relatively brief amount of time. I deliberately designed the course to be challenging, so when a student does as well as you did, I believe it should be acknowledged in an appropriate way. Congratulations and good luck with your future studies.
Sincerely,
Dr. Davis"

Kinda made me giggle. I'm smart and stuff. Ok, honestly, the class was very easy... other than the paper. To be honest my term paper in his class was the worst I've ever written. I write really good papers and I wrote that one the night before and it was 2 or 3 pages under the minimum. lol Maybe the class was just easy because I'm married to Kristofor and he talks about politics ALLLLL the time. That was probably it.
Oh, and I'll put a few pics on here for you all to enjoy! The first one is of Heidi and me with one of our most favorite belly dancers, Rachel Brice! YUM! The second if of Kristofor and me on my 30th brithday.

Oh dear... it's been a while!

2007-12-11T19:17:00.000-08:00

Obviously I've been just terrible about updating things. There isn't really much to tell. Nothing mind blowingly fun has been going on. I've been getting back into belly dancing and LOVING IT! That's about the most exciting thing happening around here. I promise I'll do a real update with interesting stuff soon but for now this will have to suffice!

The Charger - rising (slowly) from the ashes...

2007-07-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

I resolved this spring that I would start working much harder on getting my 1973 Charger finished and back on the road. The catalyst for getting going again was discovering that the machinist I originally brought the motor to had done a terrible job, and never checked my lifter bores. I checked them out and it didn't seem right. I brought the motor down to Kell's Automotive and Machine (KAM) here in Las Vegas, and they've been great. So great, in fact, that I ended up deciding to have them assemble and dyno the engine.

Once they started checking things out, they found all kinds of issues. First was that my brand new Mopar Performance crankshaft was bent - by .003"! For those not aware, that's a lot - way too much. Unfortunately, I had ordered the crankshaft years ago - too long ago for me to return it.

Next they discovered that one of my connecting rods was twisted, or that one of the bronze bushings had been installed improperly. My previous machinist installed bronze bushings in the rods, and I'm not sure whether it was already twisted or whether he installed one incorrectly. Either way, it meant that I needed new connecting rods too.

They also measured my compression ratio and discovered that the pistons I had ordered (over 10 years ago when I started the project) would yield a 10.3-to-1 compression ratio, which is too high for pump gas. Yeesh! However, they did some looking into it, and determined that they could cut the pistons down without ruining the "squish" of the pistons (a highly technical sounding term relating to agitation of the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber when the piston is rising to the top of the cylinder). Squish is a good thing, and we didn't want to lose that.

In hindsight, since I had to pay to have the crank straightened and buy new rods, I realize now that I probably should have just ordered a whole new kit with pistons, crankshaft and connecting rods. Stroke is the best way to gain cubic inches, and I could have "swelled" my 340 up to about 416 cubic inches without too much trouble, and the overall cost would have been about the same. This would have been like gaining 80 to 100 horsepower. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how cheap the "stroker" kits had gotten, and by the time I checked, I already had new rods on order and my bent crankshaft was headed to Los Angeles for straightening.

Anyway, the shop will soon be ready for final assembly and dyno. All I really need to do is order a carburetor and get the last few parts to them so that they can finish assembly.

In the meantime, I am in the process of cleaning and organizing other parts to finish putting the car together. Right now it's mostly just about getting organized and figuring out what needs to be 'wrapped up'.

Hopefully I'll make some progress in the coming weeks and post up some pictures :)

An update for Debra... OK, for everybody

2007-07-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

OK, it's been 16 months since I've posted, so I guess I'm overdue. Since I don't blog much, I guess it's hard to even know where to start, but I'll try :)

First, on the home front, we had a busy year. The front yard has looked like hell since we moved in, so we finally decided to have it ripped out and converted to "water smart" landscaping. It's not really what I like, but it makes sense with the cost of water and the harsh conditions in Las Vegas. We also had major roof repairs done which were badly needed. The house is a lot more pleasing to live in with less stuff to worry about (especially since we also replaced the air conditioners last year), but we still have to have some paint and electrical work done until I start to feel happy about it.

Next, on the school front, I finished a few more classes at UNLV towards my undergrad degree, which will be a relief when I finally get there. I took courses in Electrical engineering, Linear algebra, Software Engineering and (the most interesting) Philosophical Mathematics and Metalogic. The Metalogic class was one of the most interesting classes I've had so far, and I really enjoyed it. The Software Engineering class didn't do much for me, but I suppose it wasn't a complete waste of time. I still have a couple of Economics and Computer Science courses to finish up, but it still won't be until 2008 sometime at the earliest.

I won't say much about work, other than that it was a good year because things turned around - a lot. I spent most of the last year and a half doing .NET development (almost all web services), but now I'm getting to spend more time on the broader view of Software Architecture and strategy, which is starting to come along quite well.

I guess the last thing is that I am currently serving as a juror. It's been an interesting experience so far. I can't discuss the details of the trial with anyone at all, let alone on a blog, so I'll just leave it at that :)

So that's my 16-month update, right on schedule...

Whoa

2007-07-02T21:52:00.001-07:00

I can't beleive I haven't posted here in so long. What a loser I am. Ok, I'll be better starting now. :) Wish Kristofor would post here!!! GRRRRRRR!

Math + Roses = blog

2007-03-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I got a 100% on my math test yesterday! So, guess what Kristofor does. He goes and gets me about a million roses! How did I get so lucky?

Baby Topiary

2007-01-19T15:58:00.000-08:00

Well, I have now done my first commissioned topiary. Heidi seems to think I should start doing these as a business... I'm thinking about it. I just can't see people spending as much on these as they cost to make.

Christmas

2007-01-05T09:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas was good. On Christmas Eve day we went to Mesquite to spend the day with Kristofor's family up there. On Christmas day we pretty much just relaxed at home. Kristofor got me a canvass reporduction of Van Gough's Starry Night. I LOVE IT! He also got me a book, an iPod I haven't stopped playing with, the complete Kids in the Hall series on dvd, a digital picture frame that is super cool (and which already had our wedding photos on it when I opened it! How sweet is he?!), some marzipan (my favorite), and a book. Kristofor didn't get nearly as good stuff as I did. He got an eyeglass cleaning machine, some books, and a leatherman keychain. In my defense he told me not to spend much! It's ok though, he has enough stuff AND he gets to be married to me. :) Peanut LOVES christmas!

Jeremy, Jake and Dane playing... catch. :D
The newly weds, Dane and our niece Kyrie.
Jason's such a poop!
Kim and Jeremy. We're so glad he got to come home from the air force for christmas!
Jake striking a manly pose for the camara.
Our precious little great-nephew, Caden.

Baby Shower

2007-01-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

Well, Heidi and I threw Cynthia a baby shower back in December. I thought I'd post a few of the pictures. I made another one of those baby topiary things. You can see more pictures on Haven's blog. Including ones of her super beautiful daughter, Sonora!

Halloween!

2006-11-20T15:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't have any pictures from our actual Halloween party because I forgot to take any. But here are some pictures of our very cool decorations!

Fall tree.

2006-10-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

Here's my fall tree. I thought I better put a pic of it up sincne I'll be changing it to a Halloween tree soon. :D

Whatever...

2006-09-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

I made another one of those things for a baby shower. What do you all think? It's a girly one this time.

Pics of Caden

2006-09-07T03:47:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever since we've posted and I'm sorry. To make up for it here are some pictures of our super cute great nephew, Caden!

2006-07-04T15:07:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July. Here is my tree... enjoy! I, or Kris, will update on Ka soon!

Love

2006-06-29T01:21:00.000-07:00

Kristofor and I went to see the new Cirque Du Soleil show, The Beatles Love, a few weeks ago. I thought he was going to post something about it but he never did so I guess I will. It was good. Not great, not mind blowing, but good. I like The Beatles, who doesn't like The Beatles for crying out loud, and I did enjoy the show. So, if you love Cirque Du Soleil and you love The Beatles then maybe you should go see this show because it was good (not great). But if you go you might want to get the cheap seats. That's where we were and I can't imagine that the more expensive seats would have been better. *shrugs*
We are going to see Ka by Cirque tonight and I am expecting it to be mind blowing, we shall see.

SURPRISE!

2006-06-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

Last night we threw a surprise birthday party for our friend Scott. We had a great time. Here are a few pictures. Yes, there was a Superman theme... we are such geeks.

Stevens-Johnson

2006-05-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

Kristofor and I recently found out that our nephew, Jason, has Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. If you would like to know more about this please check out this website: http://www.skinassn.org/
It has a lot of good information.

Slumber Party!

2006-04-29T02:51:00.000-07:00

I broke one of my toenails off... it hurts. I glued it back on and everyone seems to think this was a terrible idea. I think I'm might end up having to go to the doctor. :(
Thursday night I had a "slumber party" with some of my best friends since high school. It was a lot of fun.

Left to right: Heidi, Cynthia, me, Angie, and Katy in the back. I love these girls sooooo much and it was wonderful to just spend time all together again. Cyn and Katy are leaving in the morning and I'm sad, I don't want them to ever go.

Kristofor's dad, Nels, arrived yesterday and and they seem to be having a good time just hanging out and talking. All is good... well, except the toe.

Happy Easter!

2006-04-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! Alright, so I'm early but I'm going to be up visiting my sister so I thought I'd say it now.
One of my old friends is coming to visit tonight, that should be fun, and then in the morning Kristofor and I are heading up to northern Utah... and I have to go to church... I promised my niece. *sigh*
I was thinking about something this morning and I thought I'd post about it here. So, here it goes.
I have a huge double chin. I mean HUGE. It's gross and terrible and I hate it so much. I try not to think about it but every time I see a recent picture or catch myself in the mirror I feel so gross. My chin isn't the only part of my body that is huge but it is one that I notice more... maybe because most of my mirrors are up a bit higher. The worst is going to get my hair cut because they put that plastic tarp around your neck, which just emphasizes my chin, and then I have to sit there and stare at myself in the mirror. Unless, mercifully, the turn me around. However, this morning I had a new thought. My grandmother had a double chin like this and she was the most beautiful, wonderful woman. I loved her so much and no double chin or silver hair (which I'm also starting to get... well, white) could diminish how lovely she was. So, now when I notice my chin, I'm going to think of her and maybe it won't bother me so much. It's worth a shot anyways.

2006-04-10T02:51:00.000-07:00

Here he is, our newest great-nephew, Caden! Isn't he just the cutest thing ever!

Happy Birthday to me and Caden!

2006-04-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

So yeah, it's my 28th birthday today... woo hoo and all that. I had a good weekend. Friends came over Sat. and Sun.
The best part of all though is that my great nephew Caden Daniel Farnsworth was born about an hour ago, on my birthday! Now that is exciting! I might be going up to St. George tonight or tomorrow to see him but I think what I'll end up doing is just waiting until they go home and then head up to Mesquite to stay with them for a few days to help out. :D

Hmmm, I think this is going to post under Kristofor's name because I am on his computer and it was already logged in on here, but this is Debra :P

4:00a.m. :(

2006-03-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I woke up at 4 am because I had a dream that Heidi was moving to Italy for 2 years, which was upsetting and exciting, and that Britney Spears was my niece... *shudders* I couldn't get back to sleep after that.
Last night Kristofor and I went to see Hairspray at the Luxor. It was alright but I'm glad it was free, if I had paid the full $65 I would have been very let down and annoyed. I am also shocked that it won 8 Tony awards. As Kristofor said, "It must not have had much competition." So, if you are in Las Vegas and want to go see a show, I would suggest something besides Hairspray.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2006-03-17T01:52:00.000-08:00

Alright, since the pictures didn't show up on the last post, I'll try to put them here! Also, here is my St. Patrick's Day tree... yes, I am very lame. :P You are all just jelous that you don't have a St. Patrick's Day tree!

What's been going on...

2006-03-17T01:18:00.000-08:00

So... it's been a busy week. Last Friday I went up to St. George with my friend Heather to go to Jennie Hansen-Hyatt's baby shower. Jennie is the older sister of one of my best friends, Angie. I hadn't seen Jennie in about 3 years! She looked great and she's going to be such a wonderful mom. I've always really liked Jennie and her husband Jonathan is just about the coolest person ever! I made this thing for Jennie; she called it a onesie tree, though there were only a few actual onesies on it. I'm very proud of it; though it was a lot more work than I thought it was going to be. I'll put a picture on here at the bottom? I'm still trying to learn how this all work, so who knows.
While I was up in St. George it was snowing! I'm not talking a few wimpy little flakes, I'm talking blizzard... ok, maybe not a blizzard but it was a lot. Again, I'll try to put a picture up. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture from when it was really coming down.
After I got back from St. George I went out to dinner with Haven, my best friend's little sister, her huband Jeremy, and their beautiful little -GIRL- Sonora. It was so much fun, I just love Haven, and Jeremy is a really friendly and smart guy. They are a good couple. Sonora is just a doll with the best smile!
After that I went over to Jake and Heather's and hung out for a bit with them and Scott. Kristofor was in Mesquite but he joined up with us for a bit and then we went home. I knew our nephew, Jason, was going to be coming and staying the night at our place with his friend, Travis. They showed up soon after we got home and it was... bad. Jason was hunched over in terrible pain. It was so bad we ended up calling his mom a few minutes later to tell her we were going to the hospital. She drove down from Mesquite in the snow and with very little sleep. We stayed at the hospital with them until Jason was admitted at 8 in the morning and then we went home and slept. The next night I went over and stayed with Jason while Andy and Kim went back to our house to sleep. Jason was in the hospital until Tuesday evening. He had a terrible Kidney and bladder infection. That may not sound too bad, but infections can be deadly. Especially in quadriplegics, I guess because they can't feel it until it's really bad? I'm not really sure. Maybe it's just that they sometimes end up getting them a lot and it causes a lot of damage... I don't know. He's back home and doing much better now.
O.k., now to try to put pictures on... wish me luck!

Overexposed

2006-03-07T23:30:00.000-08:00

OK, I guess it's time for me to bloggify. I've been online since 1991 (Gopher, FTP, IRC, Usenet anyone??), but this is the first time I've blogged. I have no problem engaging in dialogue, but screaming into a vacuum seems a little difficult for me :-)

So: First, the introduction. Since an interest of mine is musclecars, I'll post my results from the What kind of musclecar are you? quiz

What kind of muscle car are you?

1969 Dodge Charger R/T
You are a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T! You love your car.....it hauls ***, but you really don't like the new charger at all...at least you know you can whoop on it! You love burning rubber....but hate buying more and more tires...

I guess it only makes sense, since the only answers I gave where basically "Hemi" and "Mopar" ;-). In my spare time I enjoy staring at my Charger and wishing I had more spare time. It's a 1973 (I know, it's not a '68 or '69) 340 Rallye model, Rallye Red with white top and interior. It's almost done, but never quite finished. The cars waiting behind it include two 1970 Plymouths: one a 383 4speed 'cuda convertible (factory purple, of course, with white interior and top!) and the second a plain-jane 318 Barracuda hardtop (orange with black interior). The convertible is not for sale, so don't ask ;-)

OK, enough car stuff - I might get accused of boring people with gearhead stuff. Now mayb e I should talk about computers or books - but then again, I might get accused of boring somebody with that stuff. Ahh, well. Too bad, here goes...

I like computers the same way I like my cars: well engineered. I've always had an interest in computers ever since I started playing with the Apple ]['s when I was growing up. I was hooked. For some reason, though, I lost interest during my first college foray because it just didn't seem as fun as it was in my youth. That was until I discovered the greatest computing platform of all time: The IBM AS/400. I was fortunate enough to have to use one as part of my job working for a hotel back in 1997, and I soon got the itch to 'make it work better'. What rekindled the computer fire was realizing how easy it is to create software that really does something to make life easier. By 1999, I had to get a job as a programmer to keep myself challenged.

Since then, I've went from IBM RPG to C, to Java, back to C, a little C++, a little more Java, some assembly code, and the latest fling is Microsoft .NET. It all starts looking the same after awhile :-)

My current computing interests cover quite a broad range. In the methodology front, it includes build and test automation for .NET, Java (and yes, even RPG on the ol' AS/400!). On the architecture front, my focus is to identify software architecture strategies that create competitive advantage and leverage existing software. On the seriously geeky side, I enjoy algorithm analysis and OS (Linux!) kernel stuff.

OK, if you've made it here, you're doing great. I expect you are a rare duck, possibly my evil twin. So - without further ado, on to books!

When not buried in studies for school or work, I enjoy Sci Fi and fantasy, but I also sprinkle it a little with some Ayn Rand :-) While I enjoy a thought-provoking read of "The Fountainhead", I also very much enjoy "The Lord of the Rings" (which I've read several times), mostly because it is a work of art on so many levels. There's nothing wrong with a little lighter stuff like David Eddings or Raymond Feist, either ;-)

My last vice of note has got to be games, but this one has had a weak hold on me since I rediscovered computers. 'Games' is a broad topic, so to clarify, I mean 'all kinds of games': Both computer-related and not-computer-related. In the computer-related category, I have enjoyed ASCII games like Moria and Angband, classics like Bard's Tale and Ultima and more recent games like Diablo II (in single-player mode). For some reason, so far I have escaped the deathgrip of massive online games like Everquest, Ultima Online, Eve, World of Warcraft and City of Heroes). So far, anyway...

In the not-computer-related category, I have found myself recently enjoying Munchkin and Arkham Horror. Munchkin is pretty much a fun-no-matter-what game, but Arkham Horror is unique in that (1) players fight against the game, not each other and (2) most of the time, they lose. Sad, really, but how else did you expect going toe-to-toe with Cthulhu would go?

Well, I guess I'm done dumping - for now. If fortune brings you back, you should be prepared enough to know what to expect :-)

helloooooooo?

2006-03-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

Alright... well, almost everyone I know has a blog over here so I thought I'd make one to so that I could link up with them. I'll still keep my other one as an individual blog but this one will be for me and Kristofor, and who knows, maybe I'll even be able to get him to post on here... if he ever had any time.