It's Never too Late to Give Thanks

We were able to spend 10 days at home over Thanksgiving. I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve while waiting for our flight to go home. When we found out that our flight was overbooked, Vance and I volunteered to take a later flight and we were given ticket vouchers. Now we have two beautiful tickets to go home for Christmas that only cost us two hours of our time.

This trip was not only to come home for Thanksgiving, it was also Vance's birthday trip. For his birthday, I gave him a trip to come home and go to the BYU/UTAH game. He had a great time and we were both happy that the Cougars won.

We had a great time with family and friends. Thanksgiving Day was wonderful, even though I thought I was going to die after two dinners in a row. I didn't take one picture of our trip because we were having too much fun playing with everyone.

Our trip went by way too quickly but I have already started my countdown until we go home for Christmas!

Crayon Drawings-25 November 2009

During my Thanksgiving break I have taken time to relax and draw a few pictures with a great deal of symbolic and introspective content. It has been quite therapeutic.
Here they are in no particular order:

"Chief Honeypot"


"God's Speed Space Boar" (This one was actually inspired by a game that we played a few weeks ago with some friends.)




"Whirly Waiter"



I think that I will be doing this more often. More Images to Come.

Baby Adelyn Gracie

Adelyn,

We are so glad that you are finally here! You are a beautiful girl and we are so excited to have you in our family. I just talked to your big sister on the phone and she loves saying your name and she can't wait to meet you. We can't wait to come home and meet you next week. We love you already and are so happy that you are here!

Love,

Ali & Vance

Stroodel Sale! (Repeat)

Hi Friends,

Sorry about the repeat. The original got lost under Vance's witty essay and I didn't want anyone to miss out on the giveaway.

Our Etsy shop, Stroodel, is having a 1 Day Sale on November 23rd. Everything in the shop will be on sale. Savings will be up to 60% off. You will also get a FREE Pair of Earrings with EVERY Purchase over $10!
We want to have an additional special for our blogging friends. If you put our button (the link can be found on the right side of this blog) on your blog, you will be entered into a drawing for a Stroodel giveaway. The drawing will take place the day of the sale, so make sure you add the button to your blog and then put a comment on this post letting me know that you added the button. This is going to be a really good giveaway, be excited.

Science

Science
by Randall

For generations a force has been wreaking havoc in the minds and hearts of people across the globe. This movement has terrorized men and women and spawned the most absurd, most nefarious and ugliest ideas that mankind as ever known. It is more terrible than the mighty thundering of Hephaestus on Olympus’ Mount, more menacing than a legion of Ijiraqs swarming the northern landscapes, this menace is steadily destroying the entire world. This plague is known to us as Science.

Let me first of all say to any scientists out there, I, for one, am not buying it. I don’t trust your instrumentations and evidence-base conclusions. I don’t give a flying monkey tail if you can explain an atom or the inner workings of the south end of a northbound donkey. How dare you tell me what will or will not make me sick or what’s worse tell me how all that stuff works. Like you even know. I trust ‘Science’ about as far as I can throw it for the following reasons; first, it is too logical; second, scientists aren’t people; finally, science changes—like every second. I hope that in this piece to not only help show the inherent flaws in Science, but also help you, as a reader, do something about it.

Science has always purported to be based on ‘evidence’. What a load of crock. This is the real problem with Scientists, they give you all of this evidence until you get so bored you can’t stand listening to them any more. “Vaccines will prevent many known fatal diseases. From our clinical trials we have seen…blah…blah…blibbty…blah.” Who even knows what you are talking about? Your vast sea of so-called scientific proof is just a way that you rationalize your own existence. I have news for you, no one cares about your “life’s work”. I can think of only maybe two things (in the known Universe—if that even exists) that are more boring than listening to you prattle on about electrons, cells or inertia. I would rather watch all 180 episodes of the Golden Girls before I want to hear how a mutation in a “virus” could kill me. Am I dead? No! Where is your proof now?

Scientists aren’t people. I really don’t think I need to elaborate any more on this. Have you ever met someone who calls him or herself a scientist. There is no way that you would ever convince me that they are a person. People don’t love lichens. People don’t get excited about glaciers and proteins. On the other hand, robots do. People don’t get giddy over fungi or wet themselves over the newest butterfly discovery; however, animals would. This is why I proposing, according to the evidence clearly placed before me that scientists are either animals or robots. There is no other possible alternative. And guess what, I cannot (in good conscience) trust an animal or a robot with important matters. It is simply wildly irresponsible and morally and fundamentally reprehensible. You, my robot/fauna scientists, will get no trust from me.

Any “good” scientist will tell you that the only constant to science is change. This is beyond ludicrous. How can you trust something that changes? I will never place any trust in something that regularly changes. I will trust in the consistency of nature and the seasons. Give me something like the earth and its rivers and canyons and that is something that I can trust. These things are constant, permanent and fixed. Science just can’t make up its mind about stuff. Think about all of the people you know that are indecisive just like Science. I’ll bet you are thinking one thing about them—they are all idiots. And so is anyone that would believe in anything that changed all the time.

I know you are probably thinking, “Randall, what am I going to do? From the clearly-understandable evidence you’ve given, Science is obviously fallible. What then am I supposed to trust?” The answer is really simple. Trust anything that Science tells you not to. Here are a few things that I believe that really help me rub it in Science’s trite robot face.

• Scientific Journals are waaaaaay worse than smut and should be considered as such.

• The earth is sooooo flat and spaceships aren’t real. And neither is space, the stars are just sparkling troll dust carried into the night sky by the great Dog-Man god Anubis.

• Viruses don’t get people sick, it is just someone trying to hex you. This, of course, means that the swine flu is caused by scientists trying to get you to believe in them. Why else do you think they call it “Swine Flu”? Hello? Scientists aren’t people, remember?
• The boogey-man is real. Be afraid, children.
• Antibiotics and vaccines are really just robot pills and shots that will cause your insides to turn into circuits and wiring.
• Genetics is just scientists’’ way of rationalizing the fact that they can’t get dates or play sports well. You can’t “inherit” anything. People are created from internal clay pressed into tiny molds inside mother’s bodies that happen to look like the parents. (It’s complicated—don’t ask.)
• When you yawn, your soul is trying to escape. If you lose it you can’t have another, so watch out!
• Doctors really aren’t trying to help you, but de-hex you just enough so you think you are better and then get sick again, and then have to come back. Why else do you think they blind you with that annoying light-thingy, stick fingers in places they don’t belong, take a vial of your blood and put cold metal circles on your skin? It is a ritual to curse you.
• Exercise isn’t good for you. Don’t do it, you are only making yourself thinner and as a result weaker. You will put up less of a fight that way and that is just what they want.
  
• Pretty much everything Newton ever told you is a lie. React to that Isaac; you aren’t even a real knight!

I hope that this installment has been useful to you and has opened your eyes to this multi-millennial deception. Until we meet again….

Be afraid of reason and wary of evidence my friends!

Stroodel Sale!

Hi Friends,

Our Etsy shop, Stroodel, is having a 1 Day Sale on November 23rd. Everything in the shop will be on sale. Savings will be up to 60% off. You will also get a FREE Pair of Earrings with EVERY Purchase over $10!
We want to have an additional special for our blogging friends. If you put our button (the link can be found on the right side of this blog) on your blog, you will be entered into a drawing for a Stroodel giveaway. The drawing will take place the day of the sale, so make sure you add the button to your blog and then put a comment on this post letting me know that you added the button. This is going to be a really good giveaway, be excited.

BOO!

Vance was trying to make his pumpkin have a scar face but it turned out to look more like a palm tree.
We really did have fun but you wouldn't be able to tell that from Vance's expression.
Vance told me that my pumpkin knife was sissy and then proceeded to use the electric knife to carve his pumpkin.

Midwestern Collegiate Fashion

I will continue to write under this pen name to disavow myself from any and all responsibility and consequences of my writing and as I do so my thoughts turn to a very disturbing phenomenon I have noticed on a certain Midwestern college campus. This phenomenon is that there is a perfusion of horribly egregious crimes against fashion occurring virtually every second.

In terms of fashion, I am no Christian Marie Marc Lacroix. In fact, I may or may not have been born with a rare condition that prevents me the ability to match colors together by myself. (We are still awaiting the test results.) However like great art, I do not need to be a master painter to appreciate the beauty of a Van Gogh or need to be Michelangelo to appreciate his la Pietà. In this spirit of observance I wish to offer my report and critique of these heinous acts against what is considered to be en vogue.

Here in the Midwest it is very popular for young people, women especially, to be constantly and consistently found wearing athletic apparel of some kind. To such people I post the question, “When is the last time you really went to the gym?” I can tell that most of you haven’t exerted yourself in nigh unto a decade. You know back when it was the fad to listen to Prince’s Party like it’s 1999. There is nothing fashionable about short shorts, sweat pants or a ratty t-shirt that says Thomas Jefferson High X-Country. If you are trying to attract someone of the opposite sex, I can assure you there is absolutely nothing sexy about a t-shirt and sweatpants.

My next question is “Are you really wearing pajamas? I mean, really?” Did you really not have enough time to get ready in the morning? How much harder is it to throw on a t-shirt and jeans than rolling around campus in what you just sweated and slept in overnight? Dudes, just jump in the shower, or throw on some deodorant, before you cram your stinky carcass next to me on the bus. Is that matted mess of greasy hair really something that you want people in public to see? Gross. Secondly, college is supposed to be the training ground for your future profession. What profession are you preparing for? Most of those jobs that allow PJs in the workplace don’t require a college degree. Save your time and parent’s money and go to www.degreeinpjs.com.

Along the same vein of professionalism, comes the topic of a new fad in skanky professionalism. I am not proclaiming any kind of moral judgment about dressing like a slut; I do however, feel like there is an aspect of this that perhaps is being missed by these trollop-esque women. This is the issue of “dressing the part” that you want and preparation for professional life. The kind of profession that you are dressing yourselves into, first of all, doesn’t require a college degree nor is it legal in most states. (Nevada, minus Clark county, is the most notable exception.) I’m not saying, I’m just saying.

And to those men and women who try to dress provocatively and do not have the “physical skill set” to do so. Please stop. For the good of mankind, stop. If the designer of the clothing item you are wearing could see how you are mis-wearing and not-wearing his/her brainchild they would try to stab out their eyes with the nearest seam-ripper. There is no way they ever intended their work of fashion-art to become the Jekyll of such-ahem-mammoth proportions. Please look in the mirror and give yourself an honest evaluation of how you look. There is nothing wrong with the way you are, large or small, tall or short. Just be realistic with yourself. You can look good no matter what size. If you need help, ask an objective friend. I beg you.

To the lone Boise State fan and Rockies fan that I see everyday on the bus, all I have to say is dude seriously WTF? Are you kidding me? Do you even know where Boise is? Even the state?

I would like to address a very controversial topic as my last Uggs and anything. Ugg books are an invariable massacre of fashion-inspired beauty. No one looks good wearing them. Even the most attractive women who wear Uggs look like the love child of some freakish unholy union of Sasquatch and Barbie. Ask any male that likes women, and they will tell you the same thing. You might think they look so cute and are oh sooo warm, cozy and comfortable. The warmth and comfort might be tantamount to none, but that doesn’t change the fact that you like you stole the feet of some poor, brown Muppet and are stomping around campus like Jim Henson’s personal Hannibal Lecter. I’m sorry, it’s true.

This concept of comfort brings me to my final point, a point which, if well understood, could solve many of the aforementioned problems. The (in)famous law of inverse comfort. Simply stated fashion and comfort are inversely proportional and the degree to which any clothing item is comfortable, it is to the same degree not fashionable. This law isn’t my creation but a cold hard fact of the fashion world. Let’s take a look at a few examples

-House dresses the comfort level is unprecedented; an absolute fashion nightmare.

-Stiletto heels-from what I am told not comfy, really a fashion winner.

-Sweatpants-high on the comfort scale; in the depths of fashion agony.

-Clogs-really comfortable, and I don’t think I need to finish this one.

There are, of course, exceptions to this rule (like many pairs of blue jeans) but those exceptions are few and far between.

I hope this discourse has been enlightening and informative and has helped those of you who are not associated with the Midwest a pleasant view into my own fashion hell.

Stay uncomfortable my (Midwestern) friends.

XXO

-Randall

ILL-INI

Vance and I went to our first Illini basketball game last night. Vance made sure that we got our U of I shirts for the game. We felt right at home because we saw multiple people wearing Jazz Deron William jerseys (they love him here).

Opinions

Opinions
By Randall

Since I agreed to allow Vance to post the essay that I wrote years ago, I have been afraid that people have been upset by my opinions posted in the last essay and have considered the following suggestions and thought that he should post them on this blog.


In reality the only opinions that really matter are our own. I mean, who cares really, what other people think? It isn’t like their opinion really matters? Who are they to you? When other people make assertions towards you or in reference to their opinions, just do what I do—blow them off.
It’s true that some opinions might be well crafted and superbly presented, but unless they are what you want to hear, I don’t see any reason you should have to listen. There is no need to put your confidence and personal thought paradigm through that kind of bother. I can assure you that politicians, televangelists, older male relatives, law enforcement officers, puppies, salesmen, etc. never go through that kind of inner turmoil—you shouldn’t either!

I would like to provide some suggestions to what you can do to remain fully confident that your opinions are vastly superior to others when you read, hear, or assume them. The tactics and examples that I provide, will not only help you disregard other’s opinions but will empower you and yours to heights beyond your wildest dreams and give you a secure grasp on your own myopic view of reality.

There is a certain set of criteria that one should use a guideline for the opinions and thought of other people. If one fails to meet any or all of these criteria you should consider their so-called “opinion” as valuable as yesterday’s newspaper. You can use it to protect your flooring from Fido’s little messes, but not much else. I have broken them down into categories of written and spoken opinions for clarity’s sake.

They are as follows:

The written word:

• Beware! The written word can be a powerfully convincing medium and as a result paradigm shattering. Do not be intimidated because an individual has time to “construct” their alleged argument and research purported “facts”. These tips should keep you free of so-called “book-learning” and all of its perils.

• First of all think if the author of what you are reading has ever killed anything. I only listen to the opinions of people who have taken life, because I know that they mean total business. (By the way, don’t listen to Terrell Pryor when he said, “Everybody kills people, everybody murders people…” That isn’t true and is an invalid opinion, but we’ll get to spoken opinion a little later.)
• Secondly think of the shaky historical ground the printed word has. Historians and scholars agree, new research has uncovered and suggests that Gutenberg was a total tool. Besides, when did the printing press ever kill anything? (Except of boredom.)
• Next, if you find yourself being persuaded by the argument of someone despite your best efforts, try to imagine them as either someone whose opinions couldn’t possibly matter or someone who you are obviously smarter than. Here are a few of my favorite tactics:
• Imagine the person who wrote what you are reading as large, hairy overweight individual typing in a basement somewhere, with permanent Cheet-O® stains on their fingers and greasy palm prints on their “wife-beater” tank top and extremely short running shorts.
• Pretend that whatever this person is saying is actually quotations from Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
• Think that (no matter how absurd the historical context) the author listed is actually a pseudonym for Richard Simmons. (Right, Charles Dickens…)
• Rest assured in knowing the first draft of whatever it was you are reading was actually first written in crayon on the back of an envelope.
• Add in additional fantastic—even invented—words to sentences or titles to make them seem absurd. (7 Habits of Highly Yuritianshiq People sounds like the stupidest book that I will never read.)
  

Spoken Arguments:

• Orators throughout time have tried their best to persuade mankind of numerous follies. Well, let this trouble you no more! Here a few ways to fight off these silver-tongued deceivers.
• Try to visualize implausible consequences for following this person’s advice. There have been countless times when a speech or presentation has convinced people to do things that only ended in disaster. The sooner you can make a connection to what they are saying and those types of events, the better off you will be.

• “_________________ is the best restaurant in the state!” -Would-be bamboozler.
  
• I think “That restaurant is terrible and thinking that will only make me want to fund a sequel to Mariah Carey disaster Gigli. And that would be crime against humanity.”

• Politicians will say, “Vote for me for mayor!”
• “If I vote for them then I will only be giving research dollars to over-worked immigrants in sweatshops trying to make the next super solider by creating a half-human, half-ape, half-bionic monsters that will terrorize the planet.”
  

Sometimes it is better to go in the opposite direction, and realize that if you think or do what the person is suggesting horrible things will happen, and out of sheer benevolence and altruism you must disagree with them.

• “You can’t treat people this way.” •
  
• I think: “If I didn’t treat people this way then tens of millions of children would starve and die around the globe. This person obviously hates children and wants them to starve. I cannot do what they say.

• “You have to wear a helmet. You could die.”
• I think: “This person is plotting to destroy all the kittens of the world in the most macabre fashion and I wear a helmet then billions of kittens will meet a most gruesome end. Then they will be the ones to die.”
  

Another popular method to confound dangerous, wily opinions is to think about all of the incredible amount of fallacious information in the person’s argument or make some kind of personal attack against them in my mind. And if the argument seems sound enough, I make up something.

• “There is strong scientific evidence that evolution exists.”
• “Mr. Scientist if you are so smart and we are really evolving then why can toys and animals communicate (a la Toy Story) and we haven’t figured it out yet. Evolution schmevolution.”

• “There is no way that you could beat Muhammad Ali in a fist fight in his prime.”
• “You don’t know me! Besides you are probably the kind of person that spells the contraction of ‘you are’ as your.”
  

These are just a few of the many, many ways in which you can stay firmly rooted in your personal belief system. There is no need to go through life changing your mind. I wish you all the best in your shortsighted endeavors. And remember to take a lesson from me, and millions of middle-aged men and women, who refuse to take anyone’s opinion for anything more than what it is—garbage.

Stroodel

Jenn and I have a etsy site that you should check out. The site is stroodel.etsy.com. We have handmade jewelry, bags, and vintage luggage. We are just starting to get the site together but we do have some really cute stuff already listed. Check it out and tell your friends!

*If you make a purchase from our store, I will throw in a free pair of earrings!*

Vance's Birthday Trip

Vance and I love to go on birthday trips. We really just like any excuse to go on a trip. I wasn't sure that we would be able to go this year because Vance is really busy with school and has to study a lot on the weekends. I decided that he could study in the car and that we really needed to go and after that it didn't take too much convincing. We decided that we would just go on a quick overnight trip but the night before came and we still didn't know where we were going to go.
We were trying to decided between Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Michigan (the great part about where we live is that we are only two hours away from all of these places). In the end, we decided on Michigan because the fall colors are out.

I got on priceline and booked a hotel and accidentally bought plane tickets as well! I was just playing and putting in prices to come home for Thanksgiving and all of the sudden CONGRATULATIONS came up on the screen and I became the proud owner of two tickets to Utah. We had planned on using frequent flier miles to come home but not anymore! I did get a really good deal, thank goodness.

The next morning we headed out for Michigan and we spent the next two days exploring picturesque harbor towns and beaches. We had a fabulous time, it was great to be away from school and everything else. We both decided that Michigan is gorgeous and we need to bring our families back and rent a beach house for a week!

On the way home (which actually turned out to be way out of the way) we stopped in South Bend, Indiana to see the University of Notre Dame. When we got there everyone was chanting "Rudy!" Not really, but we did walk around the campus and the football stadium and Vance got to see "football Jesus." We had a great time and it was hard to come back to real life.
It was freezing! We got soaked walking out to the lighthouses.The sunset over Lake Michigan was amazing but we kind of missed it with our camera.Vance looking good on his birthday.
ND Football Stadium

Monster Mash

monstermashup.com/71e5d0

Happy Halloween

Happy Happy Birthday Vance!

Vance's birthday is on Sunday but we have birthday weeks in our family so we are already celebrating! Vance is going to be 25 this year. He is pretty fabulous and I love him for so many reasons but I will list just a few a them:


- I never go a day without laughing because of him
-He can strike up a conversation with anyone and become friends

-He loves his family and has a great relationship with them
-He is ridiculously smart, not only is a a whiz in med school but he is constantly reading and researching and he teaches me about the things that he learns
-I can now follow and pitch in to most sports conversations thanks to his coaching
-He really cares about his friends
-He is a true blue cougar fan and he really wants to name our first child Max Bronco Johnson
-He is really ridiculous and fun
-He is very sentimental (he tries to hide it)
-He doesn't get very upset when I cut his hair and it comes out a little bit crazy ( I am getting better at it)

-He gets super excited about giving me presents and he can't keep them secret because he is so excited.
-He encourages me with my goals (latest plan: grad school)
-Have you seen his eyes and lashes? I hope our kids inherit those.
-He is a great husband and friend


Those are just a few of the many reasons that I think Vance is so great! You should comment with your own reasons of why you think Vance is great and I will give them to him on his birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY VANCE!! I Love you!

Update on Life

Our life has really changed since we moved to Illinois in August. It has been a great experience but it also has been a big adjustment. Vance in doing great in school. He is super busy but he is doing great in his classes. He just finished his first round of testing and he passed every test!

I got a job....and then I quit that job. It turned out to be a bad situation and I felt very strongly that I needed to quit. So now I am on the job hunt again.

We were really hoping that we would get church callings quickly when we moved here and we got more than we expected. Vance is the new Scoutmaster and I am the 2nd counselor in the Young Womens. Wow.

I got to fly home for Dad's birthday party and for Sarah coming home from her mission last weekend. It was so great to go home and to see the mountains. When we were flying over the mountains I got so excited to see the Y and the temple. I was even excited to see the prison when we flew over it, I was just so excited to be home!

We have had a fun weekend with Dad and Jonathan here. On Saturday we drove to Chicago to pick them up and then we drove into the city and walked around Millennium Park and Michigan Avenue. On Sunday, after church, we drove to Michigan. We didn't think that was enough driving, so yesterday we drove to Indianapolis. It has been busy but fun.

We are happy we are here. We really like our house and the area that we live and we have made some good friends. We feel really grateful that Vance is in medical School. We miss our families and friends, so you should all come and visit!

An Essay By Randall

Alison wanted me to start posting stuff on our blog, I had nothing to write about so I thought I would post an essay that my friend Randall wrote (a long time ago) that I thought was interesting and received his permission to post...

Untitled

An Essay by Randall

What is in a title? How does our perception of this reality and any other alternate reality, which we may come in contact, with change because of a mere title? Can an entire being be described by a simple “PhD” or “esq.”? What more, is our life so fixated on being recognized that we change our life’s course to obtain a status at which we can be called titled? Does the mere “title” or lack thereof, of this paper send one into a frenzy of interest or none at all? Is it possible that we could remove all influences that title plays in this world, and live in an equality-driven Utopia? Unfortunately, this “rose-colored glasses” attitude of those believers in the “…a rose by any other name…” philosophy, is not only sickening, but is as weak as is the link those same people have with reason, logic and reality.

In our “modern” land of the American Ideal, traditional forms of titles are perhaps a non-issue. After all, it seems that our Revolution has destroyed such traditional notions of class and status. Our perception of the title is remarkably different than that of our European counterparts across the Atlantic. The American “adoration” of the traditional “title” is almost blasphemous in comparison to the European, even more German, worship of authority. It seems however that some strange innate desire to have some sort of label binds us into ideas the “the’s.” One must become “the” best, “the” sexiest or “the” smartest. Due to some kind of instinctive tribal urges, one goes to nothing short of Machiavellian lengths to remain at the pinnacle of their respective social arena.

In this swirling hurricane of the superlative another exclusive idea of brand comes onto the scene. Red soles on shoes, “swooshes”, and tiny alligators all cause the prices, and at the same time the associated prestige to rise exponentially. It can make an astronomical difference, in certain circles, if one’s accessories were made by Vera’s Wang and their dress came from Mrs. Victoria Secret Boss. The budget to remain on the cutting edge of fashion is no small force to be reckoned with. Even the most designer “thrifty” shoppers would find their spending totals equal to the defense budget of some smaller less developed nations.

What could be the benefit of spending a horrifying amount of one’s (or someone else’s) hard earned resources in order to reach the upper echelons of an obviously morally handicapped society? What soul-less senate decides what can be labeled at horrendously expensive prices as a sheer “must have”? And when did this amoral council dictate that one’s “guilty pleasure” of saving money at voraciously-expanding and gargantuan chain stores, is essentially a misfit behavior, and should only be spoken of in the quietest tones among the closest of friends? (As a slight side note; it is little wonder that these stores, which have begun to slip their tentacles into every corner of the civilized and often uncivilized world, are open 24 hours a day, to further cater to their “in-the-closet” style customers.)

This vulgar commercialization and much worse “title”-ilization of our society seeps into every part of us, until we can no longer separate “wants” from “needs” in our ability to make wise decisions about our consumption. It forces forms of conformity that are only surpassed in insanity by the mob-reasoning found in our worst adolescent nightmares. It is strange that if an “average” human being, living in a “first-world” country, were to be forced into submission by some dictatorial force and then if he were pressured to do things against his own moral code, then he would fight until his last and dying breath to assure that he would be able live according to his own conscience. On the other hand, if that same person were influenced by the “popular” opinion to do the very same things that the despotic force were requiring of him, he would passively submit himself to the will of the group in order to conform to their idea of the norm. It is a startling reality to see how much every parent’s worst nightmare, peer pressure, not only survived our departure from puberty but in many ways has festered and grown into a silent uncontrollable beast that terrorizes the lives of many “rational-thinking” “educated” adults.

I suppose these thoughts could be considered as the spiteful ramblings of one who is just embittered and jealous of those who have accomplished something, or can’t afford to purchase the social status that is associated with the correct brands and subjection to the will of the norm. A fair argument I suppose, but it could be that the observation is one that hit the philosophical “nail” right on the head, in that it is too true of an argument and thus uncomfortable to those who have been caught up in the web of commercialism. Such arguments between those who are hopelessly “hooked on the phonics” of the brand-name battle, and those who consider themselves so superciliously above the disdainful world of the “soul-snatching” capitalists, will probably never come to an end in our modern day society. Amid these never ending debates, it is important to draw your own battle lines and decide what your stances are. As for myself, I plan to continue to make my “objective” observations and proudly consider myself, Untitled.

Randall sends me stuff from time to time so I probably will keep posting them as he sends them to me.
-vbj

Girl's Weekend

Mom, Jenn, and Sophie came to visit for the weekend and to see our new home. We had a fun time playing and exploring Chicago and Champaign. Thanks for coming to play!

In summer, the song sings itself. -- William Carlos Williams

Summer is my favorite time of year. This one was especially busy for us. We started off the summer by graduating from BYU in April. Vance in German Literature and Ali in Communications/Advertising.

We visited John and Joy in Tuscon.We went to Disneyland with my family.
We said goodbye to our cute attic apartment in Provo.We spent the majority of the summer on the river.We decided we needed to hike Timp before we moved.
We loaded up and set out for a really long drive across the country.
We made it in time for Vance to start his first day of medical school at the University of Illinois.
(More pictures to come of our new life in Illinois!)

Katie and Clancy

Happy Wedding! I did the flowers for their wedding present and here is how they turned out.

More Weddings

These are just a few of the centerpieces from the last month. I keep forgetting to take pictures so I've missed a bunch of awesome weddings.

Layla Jayne

You are finally here! We can't wait until we get to come and visit. We love you!

Weddings

I decided to start posting pictures of my weddings. I wish these weren't the first wedding pictures because this was not one of my favorite weddings but I have to start somewhere. These are the centerpieces that I made and they do have a lot of potential but the bride's colors were yellow and blue (less than ideal). She wanted blue gerbs, which don't exist, so I spray painted them. Spray paint is one of my favorite tools when doing flowers.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I love St. Patrick's Day. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. Vance thinks I am crazy for loving it so much but he humors me.

This was Vance's lunch. It was complete with green peanut butter and jelly sandwiches shaped like shamrocks and a "pot o' gold" banana.