23rd

Here is a classic Far Side comic.

Gotta love the Star Wars

Done!

I have completed my first semester as a grad student! Hurray! I am tired. Here is a Christmas comic I thought was cute.

But just wait, I will win this. Oh yes, I will.

Comic

This one made me giggle

Teeheehee

Christmas Joy

How about this one?

Picture Challenge

Day 3

Harumph!

What? No one liked my flasher Santa? How about this?

Arsenal Loaded....

Day 1

Picture Extravaganza!

Lilly in full costume in the Halloween parade at her school.


Lilly trick-or-treating. The red thing behind her head kept falling and annoying her and the fangs she had made her feel like she was going to "throw up," so she went with just the dress and make-up. The other girls are my friend Sean's little sisters.

The Haul.


Reggie is a handsome boy.


He is also an exceedingly goofy boy.

Thanksgiving Week

Hello family, sorry it has been a while, but it is finally Thanksgiving Break! I am looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday. I am bummed that Lillyanne won't be there but she is excited to see her mom.

I actually had a talk with Caelah yesterday, looks like she is moving back to Chico in January, sounds like she is serious. She sounded very with-it and realistic though. She isn't planning on blowing back into town like the hero, she sounded like she understood a lot more of what she has done than she ever has. She said she doesn't want to change Lilly's life drastically or anything, and that she just wants what is best for her and all that. So we'll see.

That is about all for now. My computer somehow got infected with some adware, so I keep getting popups and this is getting annoying. Jimmy got a new hard drive and he is giving his old one to Sean, who in turn is giving me his old one, which I need because mine is to small. So in the process of taking care of that, Jimmy and I are also going to reformat everything, so the timing is good.

See you soon!

Busy Busy

Hello family, sorry it was been a few days, but school has been really intense. JJ says I have been having meltdowns everyday, ha! Anyway, the "big" paper is turned in and I have my life back for a few days.

Today we aren't doing much (I have to work tonight though). We are going to take Reggie for a walk, there is a huge field near our house and he can run his little heart out. It is good because then he actually sleeps for a little while, and he looks so cute.

Lilly woke us up this morning by jumping on to the bed and insisting over and over again that JJ smelled like hot dogs. Not sure what that was about.

Looks like Mary, Michael and Peggy had a blast in Disneyland, what a great trip to take. We are hoping to bring Lilly there next year at tax return time, but with our schedules it may be hard, so we'll see.

That is about all I have right now. Hope everyone is doing well. I can't wait for Thanksgiving.

My Political Two Cents

Hello family. Yes, I do have pictures of Lilly on Halloween, and yes I will post them. But for now, I know we are not supposed to get political on these, but everyone else is, so here is my two cents on the election.

I do not get it. In the most liberal-winning election I have ever seen, Prop 8 passed.... what? How is that possible? Prop 4, the one for a waiting period on abortions, failed, but prop 8 passed. Therefore it cannot be just the Christian right, because if it was, 4 would have passed too. What about gay marriage is so terrifying to people? Why do people care about something that has no effect on them?

Can someone explain it to me? The only solid thing I have heard against gay marriage is that people feel it goes against the bible. If you are a hardcore believer in the bible, and your morals go against gay marriage.... well, OK, I disagree but I can not argue with people's religious beliefs, that is unfair. But it still doesn't explain what happened with prop 8, because prop 4 failed! So, in other words, there were more people OK with teens getting abortions without their parents knowing then gay people getting married! That makes no sense to me. I am pretty socially liberal, and pro-choice, but my point is that it makes no sense that prop 8 passed. No sense!

Do people really think that if gay people are allowed to get married that suddenly all of our children will "turn gay." Are we all SO tempted to be gay that all we are waiting for is permission? No! If you're gay you're gay and it has nothing to do with the government's views. Gay people will still exist, the same amount of them, whether they can get married or not.

"Protect marriage" it said. Against what? Does my marriage mean less because a gay couple also gets married? No! Marriage is two people committing themselves to each other. Why does gender play a part? If anyone reads this disagrees, please don't be offended, just EXPLAIN it to me. Isn't society past the point of at least blatant discrimination? If it is something other than blatant discrimination, please explain it to me. I don't get it. I would love a real, solid reason why this passed, because it makes no sense to me.

Hello hello!

Yes, another day, another blog. Told ya I was going to try and get better about it. Today I have a class at night, and call in for a day shift at work. So I have to call at 10 and see what my fate is. I need the money but I soooooo don't feel like going there today. I should hope to get called in. Since Friday is a parent/teacher conference day for Lilly so she has no school or after school program, so no one to watch her, and I wanted to be home to take her trick or treating, I took that day off. Plus we are required to wear costumes at work on Halloween which I think is really stupid, so jeez, sorry, guess I don't work that day.

My friend Jimmy is trying to compile a list of books to read. So if any of you can think of an all time favorite book of yours, let me know and I'll pass it on as a suggestion.

That is about all my family. I hope everyone has a great day.

Good Morning

Hello all. Just saying hi, not much to report. Thank you for the pictures for Savanna, she is adorable! I cannot wait until Thanksgiving to see her and everyone else.

Lilly wanted to be Princess Leia for Halloween (she wanted the Hoth outfit), but we could not get it together in time (white snowsuits are hard to find, even online), so she decided to be a girl-pretty-vampire. Well, I liked Leia better myself, but JJ, who was a vampire for Halloween from ages 7-12, was happy with it.

Well, I am off to do some textbook/journal article reading. Joy oh joy.

Pictures of Savanna??

I must see some! Can't wait for Thanksgiving!

Hello

Hello family! It has been a busy week, but I thought I should write a quick blog, even though the dog is laying under me and just let out the stinkiest dog fart ever and I feel I should be running from the room.

I had an exam today, which wasn't too bad, and I have two fairly big papers due in the next week. So Mary, APA.... hurray.

JJ just got home from band practice so I am going to go and say hello. I may go to the store, I am craving a sandwich....

Monday

So I had the most brutal exam of my life last week. It wasn't just, all of us in our small class completly losing our minds by the end of it. It was an essay exam on a computer. After almost three hours we had all typed about 10 pages. 10. Yeah. It was brutal. I am amazed I was able to keep that much information on my head. It was insane. Indescribable. The semester is really gearing up, lots of homework and reading and big projects due very soon.

Let's see, not much else to report. It is my day off so I am going to spend it doing homework and a little bit of housecleaning, but the house is actually pretty clean right now so I have just a few dishes. JJ has really started helping out with the cleaning, and with two of us, it has been a lot easier. Hope everyone is doing really well.

Vanilla Frosting

I love vanilla frosting. It is so tasty. I have leftovers from the cupcakes and I just eating spoonfuls.... I wonder why I keep gaining weight, it is weird.

Anyway, some sort of ode should be written to vanilla frosting. I am not sure how it would go.... something about sweet sugary yumminess I'd say.

Why is it that fattening food tastes so good? Why does it have to be that way? Why can't carrots taste like frosting, or frosting just be healthy? It is unfair....

I said to JJ one day, "Why is it some people stay so thin? It is not just metabolism, because I have a fast metabolism, they just eat less, and eat healthy food. How do they do this?"

"They just don't have a love affair with food," JJ answered. "Would you say a good meal is one of life's greatest pleasures?"

"Why, yes!" I replied.

"They don't feel that way," he said. "They only eat to stay alive and don't care about good-tasting food."

I don't get it. Really I don't. I think I am going to go have some more vanilla frosting.

All right! All right!

I have been very busy, but I guess if I have time to put stupid pictures on people's myspaces I have time to blog. So.... today I went for a walk in the park with Reggie, Mandy, her dog, and Lisa. It was nice because it wasn't too hot or cold out and the dogs had fun.

I also did a lot of homework because it is a big week. I have a paper due tomorrow, and midterm in my other class on Wednesday. There are only two exams for that class so it is a big deal.

I found the stupidest person alive on the Internet the other day. Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3qFdbUEq5s
Really, worth it if you want to feel smarter than someone and also have your faith in humanity crushed. It is sort of a two-fer. It will also make the above picture make more sense.

Oh, I also gave Reggie a bath because he was really dirty and stinky after going to work with JJ this morning and the walk in the park. He had a big day, he is now immovably passed out.

Tomorrow I have school and work. I am going to tape the debates so I can watch them when I get home, so that should be interesting.

I am sleepy, gonna go hang out with JJ and read in bed soon. Blog ya later!

Dog!

Look at how big our dog has gotten! He is 47 pounds. He is such a good boy.

Darn it!

Of course, I am terrible at remembering dates and such. But there are a few I never forget. Mom and Dree's anniversary being one of them. So we got back from Reno today and then I went to work. It was not until I was doing my cashout that I looked at my receipts to write the date on my paperwork that I saw it was September 21st. Darn it darn it darn it!

So, Mom, it was already nearly 10:00 and I didn't want to call too late, so I texted you from work. I hope you at least got it. I love you guys.

Happy Thursday

Hello all. It is my goal to start blogging more, I have just been busy. Today I have my first graduate school test, in my research methods class. She pretty much told us what was going to be on it though, so I am not really worried.

I still have to fill out a few more thank you cards then they will be sent. Etiquette says I have two months, so I must finish soon.

This weekend JJ's band is playing in Reno. I never go to the Reno ones, but Mandy really wanted to go this time, so I took a couple days off work and off we go tomorrow. The boys are leaving tonight because tonight is the first show. Lilly is staying with her Grandma, and my friend's Jimmy and Sean are going to keep Reggie company.

Speaking of Reggie, he is getting bigger everyday. He is now the same weight and height if you stand him up, as Lilly. We need to get a picture of that actually.... He is turning out to be a very good dog. He listens well for a puppy and he is very affectionate and happy.

Let's see.... I am having issues uploading the wedding pictures, some of them are coming up as not a supported filetype which makes no sense because they are all jpegs and some of them work, so all of them should. I am wondering if someone of them became corrupted when I copied them from the disk to my computer. Either way, if I can't figure it out I will just burn disks for people that want them. Just give me a few days and I'll take care of it when I get back from Reno. At this point I have school and work today, then I am leaving tomorrow.

That is about all I guess. Life is good here. Hope everyone is well. Hope no one has broken any bone late.... oh.... right....

Pictures

Hello family, the professional pictures are in!

collages. net
username: jeffval
password: 15760

Now, apparently you cannot just take whatever pictures you want off this site because they all say "proof" across them. But, I have disks with all of the pictures on them, so all you have to do is give me an image number and I can get you the picture for free. Or I will just upload them all to photobucket and I'll give you the album name then. That'd probably be easier.

OK, off to school!

Labor Day

So a few days ago JJ tells me that people from his work and their friends were all going to the lake on Labor Day and then he told me "and you're going." He complains I rarely do anything with his friends and that I should.

Well, first of all, I was not in the least interested going to a lake with bunch of people I didn't know (friends of the guys at work, and I barely know them to start with) to a crowded lake on Labor Day where everyone was going to be drinking and acting like idiots.

Then it turned out he invited our neighbors Allen and Jodi who have a boat and still have the Sea doos Allen had borrowed from his cousin for the Bachelor Party. So at least I know them.

But I still got pissy and we had a minor argument about it. JJ, who is so social, cannot possibly understand how upsetting it is for me to be put in a group of people I don't know. He doesn't have the same feelings of panic that I do about that. I am simply not good in those situations and avoid them as much as possible. And boating and jetskiing aren't really my thing at all, I prefer books and computers.

But I did learn that it wasn't going to be a bunch of drunk people on a crowded lake. It was a few groups of families (Lilly and Jodi's kids were going) and we were going to Black Butte Lake, which is not frequented by college kids and it would actually be more of a family day.

So I went and it was actually fun. JJ's boss and his family and his brother and two other people went, along with JJ, Lilly and I and Allen and Jodi and her kids. It wasn't crowded, nor was it is any sort of drunkfest at all.

I actually rode the sea doos and did pretty well for my first time. I guess I actually went a lot faster than several of the boys did at the Bachelor Party. So, it was a fun day at the lake, and I actually was brave, so that was growth for me.

Week one done.

Good morning all. I have finished my first week in the grad program. There is going to be a lot of homework this semester. I have a couple different 25 page papers due throughout the semester, dealing with journal articles, you know the statistical scientific ones. My quantitative research methods class is going to involve reading a lot of those, as is my intro class.

I did have a moment of inspiration in the methods class though. We had to throw out ideas on what we would do our research proposal on. People were saying generic things like, gender communication, and mainly different types of workplace communication. I wanted to be original and suddenly all could think of was the above picture (edited for obvious reasons).

Of course, I didn't call it that, I said "anonymous communication, like on the Internet." My professor said "Yes!" and was very impressed with the idea. So that was nice, except that now I have to write a 25 page research proposal on Internet communication when there aren't really that many legitimate scientific sources to use.... so maybe it wasn't such a great idea. Oh well.

That is about all. I have to work at 11:30 today, an expo shift, which is basically organizing all the food that comes up for 8 servers and 48 tables from 4 different kitchen stations, all in different orders from the tickets I have to compare with. Yeah, it sucks. Then tomorrow I have a night bussing shift, and Sunday a night bar shift. So at least I have some variety. Hope all is well with everyone.

Back!

Hello family! JJ and I got back from Fort Bragg yesterday and we had the best time! It was relaxing and fun and altogether excellent.

I want to thank everyone again for not only coming up to Chico for the wedding, but for all the help I got, which was a lot.

Oh, I found JJ's wedding ring by the way. I had put in in the box where all my extra invitations were, because it was "wedding stuff." Sigh.

School starts Monday (well, Tuesday is my first class) and I did my Graduate Program Orientation today. So that came up fast!

Anyway, I need to go do some organizing. I also need to find my list of who gave us what presents, because that is going to be important for thanks you cards. I don't want to write, "Thanks so much for the (please insert gift here)." Love you all! I will blog more very soon!

It's Already Wednesday?!?!?!

Hello all. Time flies, it is already the 13th! The bad news is we should have gotten married last weekend, or any weekend for the last month, because the temperature is rising! Friday is going to be considerably hotter than Saturday according to the weather report, so if you come to the rehearsal and want to die, it should be better the next day. Plus I brilliantly scheduled the rehearsal at 4, which is a really hot part of the day here. I am pretty bummed that it just so happens this week is the second hottest all summer. Figures. I would be a lot more upset except that there is really nothing I can do about it. We will get through!

JJ and the boys just left for the bachelor party, a two night camping trip, complete with seadoos and beer, so they should have fun. Jordan, JJ's friend from San Diego, brought his wife up for the wedding, so she is going with them. All us girls were invited but I had too much to do and I don't really like to camp, so poor Carrie thought I was coming and she wouldn't be the only girl. But she is, and she looked slightly horrified. Poor thing.

Lillyanne started first grade today. She was very happy because it turns out one of the first grade teachers quit over the summer, so her Kindergarten teacher is now teaching a K-1st grade combo class, and Lilly is in her class again. Lilly LOVES Mrs. Penman, so it is good. Lilly hates change and this makes her have less of one. Of course, she is in first grade so her day is a lot longer, and she is now in an after school program instead of her old daycare, so there will be some changes. Plus Kindergarten was afternoon. Her whole schedule is changing so I am afraid she is going to be just exhausted on Saturday, but I guess that is what excessive and unhealthy amounts of caffeinated soda is for.

See you all very soon! Sorry the heat is going to be harsh, but we are having it late enough so that things should cool down quickly.

Bachelorette Party

Well, the girls and I are heading for Tahoe in the morning and staying one night. It should be fun. For now, I am going to bed. See you all in a week! Wow!

I am ALIVE!

Sorry it has been so long, every time I blog I realize there is something I need to be doing, so I just get lazy. This week JJ has shows from today until Saturday, plus he works all day, so I guess I'll see him Sunday. I have the night off work so Lilly and I are here. I promised to play this princess board game with her yet again, but I told her she had to wait (I needed a break).

Not too much else going on besides wedding planning and work. Lilly starts 1st grade on the 13th of August and I start the graduate program on the 25th.

Reggie continues to grow. He has more than doubled in size. He is sweet boy for sure, very affectionate and happy to be around people. One more round of shots in a few weeks and I can be free from the fear he will contract parvo and die. I want to take him to the park and creek but it is too scary until he is protected.

That is about all for now family. Anyone have any song requests or ideas for the wedding? I'd love to hear them!

Wedding Shower and Being Forgetfull

So, I woke up this morning and finally the nagging feeling I had been forgetting something came to a head. I remembered! I forgot to wish Ernie a Happy Birthday on Saturday. Argh! I feel horrible! Why is my memory for birthdays so terrible?!?!?! That being said, I am sorry Ernie, and Happy Birthday and I love you!

I want to say thanks to everyone for the wedding shower. The amount of detail put into it was amazing. I am blessed to have such a caring family. So to Mary and Sarah, I can't thank you enough! The gift baskets were amazing! The little favors were adorable. The decorations were perfect, and the games were really fun. Tell Nate thanks for adding the last two questions, lol. And thanks to everyone for taking the time to drive so far to be there.

Anyway, I have thank you cards coming to everyone, but I wanted to do a quick blog too.

Sorry Ernie! I suck!

When did Lilly get so big?

I was going through some pictures and it just struck me how big Lilly has gotten. It is so weird how fast she went from diaper butt to toothless first grader. So here are some photos of the early years for anyone that is interested.

Lilly used to try and close herself in the cupboard. We, of course, encouraged this.

Obligatory cake-on-the-face picture. I believe this was her second birthday.
Lilly the drummer.







The pictures cracks me up. We actually have various pictures of Lilly passed out on things, but this is my favorite.
One pigtail came out....
The angry, brooding princess.