Origami: it's harder than you might think!

Dustin and I just celebrated our 1 year anniversary!  As many of you know, each anniversary is traditionally paired with an item or material.  The first anniversary is 'Paper'.  How appropriate!  Unless you are an heir to a family fortune, or a rare breed that lands a hugely successful job straight out of school, OR are even luckier and hit the lottery, your first year of marriage is likely marked by tight budgets and living paycheck to paycheck trying to figure out how to finance the life of a 'big kid' while balancing all your wants and gimmies.  Because of this, it is unlikely to have a handful of money to spend on a lavish celebration of, let's face it, surviving a year of new experiences as a married couple.  But paper... everybody has paper!  So paper it is!

Dustin and I decided (or rather, Dustin was tricked into participating) to take this milestone quite literally and celebrate with paper.  We pulled out some paper from my craft stash and searched for an easy origami pattern to attempt.  Quickly, we discovered that there is no such thing as an 'easy' origami pattern.

Our first effort was to make a rose.  This began with approximately 20 folds into a square piece of paper... and ended at that!  Dustin tried to connect with his inner asian, attempting the next steps, but quickly realized that he does not have an inner asian.  The rose pattern and instructions were scrapped and we moved onto a google search for 'easy origami for kids'.  This search produced a much less complicated flower pattern with pictures and detailed instructions.  Thanks to the kid-friendly origami we finally succeeded at creating our mostly recognizable flowers.

The adventure with origami taught us a few things.  First, origami is much harder than you might think.  Second, we are not as good at following directions as we think.  Third, I am better at following directions than Dustin.  : )  And finally, Dustin loves me enough to sit around on our anniversary folding paper.

Here is a look at our creations.  I'll let you guess which one is mine and which one is Dustin's!   : )

Take me out to the ball game!

Two years ago Dustin and I were lucky enough to get free tickets to a Mariner's game.  We had a great time with a couple good friends and couldn't wait until we could go back again.  We were lucky to still have contacts for tickets and planned another Mariner's trip!  This time a good friend, Kellen, and my sister went with us.

This was Sarah's first Mariner's game... and I hope it won't be the last.

I love this sign, and this place.  It's even better when there's a soccer game going on in the background and the fireworks go off!  It's also fun when it's 'Fan Appreciation Night' and they give out tons of prizes.  Too bad we didn't win any of them...

This was the beginning of the end.  I claim that Dustin jinxed the Mariner's because he posted that they were winning... then in a matter of minutes the Ranger's had three home runs to tie up the score.

Even though the Mariner's spent the rest of the game trying to catch up, it was still pretty eventful.

Ichiro, gotta love him. 

Our seats were amazing!  (Thanks, Kevin!!!)  We were sitting behind home plate twenty seats up, just to the right, towards the Mariner's dugout.

Rally Time!!!  ...but it didn't work.  (note: check out the kid behind Kellen and Dustin.  He's intense!)

Me and Sarah  : )  We'll have to go to more games together in the future.

All in all, it was a very fun night!  Although, make sure you're hydrated before going to the games!  A water bottle is $4.50, beer is between $8 and $12 dollars and food is as greasy as it is expensive!  But it's all party of the experience I hear...

Table Talk

The following is a summarized version of the conversation that Dustin (and I) had while eating dinner last night.  It was a doozy!



Dustin wishes he knew what Porter was thinking, or that Porter could talk.

Problem: What if Porter could speak, but he only spoke chinese?

Dustin's solution: Hire a chinese kid to be our live-in translator.

Problem: Child labor laws.

Solution: Not tell anyone?  OR hire (cough *adopt* cough) a little chinese girl, whose parents sent her to the US because they can only have 1 kid and they want it to be a boy.

Problem: Little chinese girls are good at gymnastics???  (side note: the parents wouldn't have smuggled her into the US if she were a good gymnast, therefore there might not be many little chinese girls out there for hire)

Solution: A little girl who is bad at gymnastics can still be a good translator. 

Problem:  Porter doesn't really speak any language... not even chinese.

No Solution.  Darn.

I guess we'll never know what Porter is really thinking.

Love list...

After the post entirely about things that I dislike, I thought it would be nice to create a list of things that I DO like!  : )

• Chai tea lattes
• Bubble baths
• A good book that you can't put down
• Finding money in a coat or pants pocket
• Strawberry Lemondrop martinis
• Mail... real mail, no junk mail
• A perfect hair day
• Flip flops and painted toenails
• Sleeping in
• The little things; love notes, helping hands, etc.
• Puppy dreams and puppy tongues
• Chocolate!!!  ...without nuts, coconut, creme or toffee
• Thunderstorms
• Polka dots
• Taking photos
• Pizza
• Show tunes
• Black and white photos
• Cinnamon
• Organization
• Lunchables... yes, lunchables
• HGTV
• Writing, Drawing and Painting
• Fluffy pillows
• S'mores!
• Sunglasses
• Fresh flowers
• Dill pickles and baby corn
• Massages
• Anything vintage or antique
• Dimples
• Crossword puzzles
• Playing Piano
• Scrapbooks
• Yard sales!
• Sweatpants
• Green eyes
• Swing dancing
• Pearls
• Fresh fruit
• Eyeshadow
• Craigslist
• Ice-cream
• Purses
• Cosmo
• Sunsets
• Inside jokes
• Butterfly kisses
• Clearance sales
• Swingsets and seasaws
• Pandora
• Bobbypins
• Slippers and bathrobes
• Netflix
• Finding something that was lost
• Driving with the windows down, radio up and feet on the dash
• Cover-up, concealer and foundation
• Musicals and old black and white films
• Night-lit skylines
• The Original Super Mario Bros.
• Cute old men and little old ladies
• Freckle-faced kids
• Stained glass windows
• British and Irish accents
• Scratch Tickets
• Curly hair and pigtails
• The smell of fresh rain and fresh cut grass
• Fireworks and sparklers
• Rainbows and double rainbows
• Cracking open a new can of tennis balls
• Minigolf
• Running through sprinklers
• Rubber Duckies
• Baking cookies, cheesecake, cupcakes, etc.
• Rainboots
• Paydays
• (some) surprises
• Airconditioning
• Chocolate Malts
• People-watching
• Spending time with friends and family

Rant it out!

Yes, this blog entry is only a list... but you can deal with it.  This is my rant list, pet peeves, things that make me angry, stuff I don't like, etc. (at least as of today, right?)

• Horrible customer service
• Red lights
• Commercials
• Selective hearing
• The smell of week old garbage
• Money; or the lack of money, which leads to...
• Budgets
• Pumping gas
• Hideous fake nails
• Pens without ink
• Chipped nail polish
• Holes in socks
• Dogs that bark non-stop for no apparent reason
• Crosswords that are too hard to solve
• Dull scissors
• Plumber's crack
• Diets
• Burnt out light bulbs
• Automated telephone services
• Candy bowls with yucky candy
• Crooked pictures/frames
• Pre-teen and teen PDA... okay, all PDA
• Bad spray tans
• Alarm clocks
• Junk mail
• The dentist... and all other medical professionals
• Bad movies, and even worse remakes
• Too hot weather
• Driver's who don't use their blinkers
• Dead batteries
• Ants, spiders, flies and wasps
• Shapeups
• Spoiled people who always want more
• People who never think they're wrong or won't admit it when they are
• Blowing dust... especially when it gets in your eyes
• 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner
• People with perfect hair and skin all the time
• 2nd hand smoke
• Organic everything
• Broken crayons
• Irresponsible or inattentive parents
• Dents
• Bedbugs
• Cursing
• People stuck in 1950's gender roles
• Traffic Jams
• Unfair fighters
• Tabloids
• Having poor or no cellular service and dropped calls
• Tofu
• People who walk slowly in the middle of a crowd (e.g. at the mall)
• Gift registries with 27 billion things, that nobody really needs
• Having to pee in the middle of a movie
• Tattoos with no meaning
• Know-it-alls
• Rude manners
• Expired coupons
• Too high expectations, being let down
• Rug burns
• Dirty dishes... and dirty laundry
• Locks without keys
• False advertising
• A perfect picture that turned out blurry
• Missed opportunities
• Spoiled milk
• Bills
• Muscle cramps and knots
• Skinny jeans
• People who can't make up their minds (yes, I'm included in this one)
• Hair legs when you want to wear shorts
• Being hungry, but not finding anything you want to eat
• Babbling
• Tiny, overpriced yard sales
• Wire hangers
• Long lines
• Lima beans
• Season finales (and the wait for a new season)... good tv shows should just never end
• Bad dreams... and waking up from the good dreams
• Yelling, when talking will work just fine
• Excuses
• Banana flavored candy
• Bad hair days
• Assumptions
• Mullets and Mohawks
• Cliff hangers
• When your foot falls asleep
• Slow internet
• Grown out roots
• People who wear clothes that are too small for them
• Polyester
• Realizing you don't have all the ingredients when you want to bake
• Grass stains
• Stretch marks
• Bump-its
• Whiners
• Finding a perfect product, only to find out it's been discontinued
• Bad Posture
• Paper cuts
• Candles that smell bad
• Expiration dates
• Ungrateful people... all you have to do is say thank you!
• Mosquitoes
• Educated people who still can't spell
• Disrespectful children
• Jeggings and 'pajama jeans'
• Cosmetic surgery
• Bridezillas
• Pimples and ingrown hairs
• Non-waterproof mascara
• Stepping in gum
• Bagpipes
• Waking up 5 minutes before the alarm goes off