Zoo

Last Saturday I got to go to the zoo with my sister and nephew, and I realized just how fun the zoo is when you have a nine-month-old little boy to help you appreciate it!

 All bundled up!  It was a little nippy out.

 With his mommy by the big, fake elephant.

 He was kind of tired and out of it at the beginning.

 But then he warmed up to the lemurs...

 and the birds...

 and the kangaroo-thingys...

 but not so much to whatever this animal was.

 However, he LOVED the giraffes (or he just decided to be happy when we were with the giraffes)

 I love this face!  He makes it whenever he's excited about something.

 Look at that grin!  I love this kid.

With his favorite aunt. =)

He also adored the merry-go-round!  

So, in summary:  I love the zoo and my nephew is one of the cutest boys in the world! (My other nephew is another of those, and my two nieces are the two cutest girls in the world)

The Funny Thing About Parental Advice...

It's usually good.  I cannot even begin to count how many times my mother told me to keep my room clean or to tidy my bathroom every day because it would be easier than cleaning it once a week.  She also pointed out that I would feel better and be less stressed.  It's only now, 5 and a half years after leaving her house, that I am finally heeding her advice and trying to keep my house in order every day instead of letting it get out of hand and then cleaning on Saturday for hours at a time.  I've discovered that I sleep better, I'm happier, I have more energy, and I get more of everything (grading, reading, spending time with Bryant) done when I take the half hour to re-clean the kitchen after cooking or make the bed (even at 5 pm) or hang up my jacket instead of leaving it on a chair.  This probably doesn't come as a surprise to any of you out there who have been neat freaks your whole life, but it is utterly amazing to me!  I think I am a neat freak who has been wrapped in a decorative coating of laziness for the last 23 years.
So here goes:  Mother, you were right all along.  Oh, and you were also right when you told me that doing the dishes warms you up and keeps you from being bored. =)

Why isn't it summer yet?

Really.  Christmas break just makes me want school to be over.  I love my job and my students, but I hate having to get up when there's still two hours until sunrise.  Only 97 days of school until summer break...blech.

Commandeered

Megan capriciously claimed reading “The Way of Kings” together would take forever and we most likely would never finish. After successfully finishing the book I thought it best to brag to the world (without telling Megan) that we (I really) have already finished. Saying I told you so may be beneath me, but it may not, I leave it to the reader to decide. Based on Megan’s other posts, it appears I must fetch a picture of some sort to accompany this blog. So I shall. Happy New Year!

Nephew!

I got to babysit my nephew Keagan again the other day and he is just so darn cute that I had to put some pictures on here.  If I could babysit my two little nieces I would put their pictures up, too, but they live too far away. :(

Hi, Aunt Megan!

He thinks it's really funny when I put my hair or my scarf in his face.

He tried to pretend he wasn't tired and cried every time we tried to put him down for a nap, but in the end he couldn't hold out... (PS don't you love my really old couches?)

Medea

On Thursday night, we went to see Medea at a black box theater.  It was soooo good!  For those of you who don't know the story, Medea was the woman Jason (Greek myth Jason) picked up at the island where he got the golden fleece.  Then he left her after they had two sons to marry the daughter of the king of Corinth.  Medea went crazy and murdered Jason's new wife and father-in-law as well as both of her sons.  The play was good but very intense, especially the last scene, when Medea came out of her house with blood all over her hands and smeared on her face and told Jason the stain came from wine that she had "crushed from two sweet grapes."  Shudder.  Bryant's friend Elliot Wood starred as Jason (who, by the way, was a jerk) and was so good and in the zone that he spit all over everyone when he was yelling. :) We also saw him in Persuasion a couple months ago, where he made an excellent Captain Wentworth.  Watch out for Elliot, he'll be famous some day! 

Elliot's intense picture from the program.  Grrr...

Zombies!

Last night we went to a haunted house!  Bryant and I set up his friend Mike with my friend Julia and we had a lot of fun.  I love haunted houses for some reason...they make me scream but I absolutely love them.  I gave one of the zombies Julia's name and he followed her for a while, whispering her name.  Tee hee hee, I was entertained!  Julia was less so. :)

Bryant, Me, Mike, Julia, Karin, and Devon (Karin & Devon are friends from Bryant's old ward)