Tuesday Tunes

Well hello there.

I was just looking at myself in the mirror...finding very little good to say. Three scabbed over zits on my face that just won't go away, dandruff sticking out at the roots of my semi-greasy hair, dark circles under my eyes...BUT THEN I THOUGHT.....TUESDAY TUNES!!!!! And somehow, I got really excited about this otherwise semi-saddening day. I guess my dandruff is appropriate seeing as the sky seemed to suffer from the same problem last night here in the Salt Lake Valley. Parker is on his Spring break, but the ground is freshly coated with snow. Alas...TO THE MUSIC.

In honor of this gloomy day, I decided to post Through Toledo by Greg Laswell for today's Tuesday Tune. I fell in love with this song when I went through a particularly hard couple of weeks here at work. It was as if the sun would never shine again, and this song summed that up. DON'T WORRY, it won't depress you! I swear. It is an excellent song.

Here is the link. Clearly, I need to talk to Parker more...because I still haven't remembered to have him show me how to paste in the video here.

Also, I realized last week, I made you all answer those questions, which THANK YOU for those of you who responded! But, I didn't answer them myself...so here are my answers and then my fresh set of questions for today.

Last Week : 1901 by Phoenix

1. Do you like the song? Have you heard it before? Yes and Yes.

2. It reminds me of neon pink and purple.

3. I think probably a kumkwat...just because it is so different.

Today's Questions:

1. Have you heard this song before?

I have...I discovered it on Pandora...and instantly loved the "hum drum gray day" part.

2. What helps you when you feel gloomy?

Going for a run and listening to good upbeat music.

3. What is your favorite kind of weather?

The rain. I miss the rain living here in Utah, and I always get excited when it does rain.

NOW, it's your turn. Hope you are all having a great Tuesday!

Brighton Josiah Butterfield

Here is the newest member of our family. I am the proud aunt to Brighton Josiah Butterfield.

He was born March 14, 2011 at 1:03 am. He was 6 lbs 15oz and 20.5 inches long. Isn't he a cutie!

Tuesday Tunes

Hello all. I have decided that you should all get to know my music tastes...and perhaps have your life changed by it. Therefore, I am starting Tuesday Tunes. Every Tuesday, I will be posting my current favorite song for the week. I hope you enjoy this taste of my music preferences. Today, we are starting with 1901 by Phoenix. First, I heard this song on rock band...and I fell in love. Second, they are a French indie group...hello...France! Third, the lyrics make no sense, but the music is quite pleasing to the ear.

LINK Tonight, I will have Parker show me how I can get the song right here on my blog so you don't have to just click a link to transport you...but until then, this is the best I can do for you.

WITH TUESDAY TUNES, I would like to know from you who listen the following:

1) Have you heard this song before?

2) What color best describes this song and why?

3) If you had to pick one food item that this song reminds you of, what would it be and why?

Alright, I look forward to reading :-)

Waiting for Inspiration to Strike

Several times over the past few days, I have thought to myself, " Self, you really need to blog." But I haven't felt inspired. I haven't felt the least bit interesting. And what's worse, I have been kind of a grumpy pants, all these taken together mean a total lack of inspiration.

Today is the last day of the Utah Legislative Session, I only mention this because it is marker for how time is passing in my life. Last year at this time, I was going out of my mind to find a job, wouldn't you know it...now I am going out of my mind with the job I found. Funny how things like that change.

Anyway, does MARCH seem like it is dragging for anyone else but me? The other night Salt Lake got this massive snow storm. 1. I hate driving in the snow 2. Our car is small and weak 3. I am running a half marathon in April; therefore, missing runs due to snow is no longer an option 4. My husband stays late at school often 5. He also offers rides to his nearest and dearest despite massive snow storms 6. I pick him up from school because I love him despite the nasty weather...are you getting the picture of how this story shapes up? That was a long night of driving...it was a snow apocalypse. There were cars stalled everywhere on the side of the road. I had to take on this big hill, it was scary...I was praying HONESTLY I was, the whole time that our little car's four cylinders would just put out to manage the hill. Turns out they did, good job little car. After our 1.5 hour drive that night, Parker and I were talking about how well our car had done, we thought about getting it an honorary bottle of oil as a treat...but then we just got Panda Express for ourselves instead, another reason we can't be parents yet...if we neglect our car now, how will our children fare?

This snow storm, along with the fact that my last day at work is March 31, has made March seem long already...and it is only the 10th. LAME.

Anyway, Spring is supposedly on it's way. I am hoping that is true. It felt like Spring this morning. Thursday is my early early day at work. I have to take Trax on Thursdays, and I always feel very official riding that mammoth of a commuter car downtown, but today as I walked, I thought I felt maybe just a little bit of Spring in the air.

Um, also this morning on Trax, there was this African lady. She was listening to music on an I-pod I think, anyway, she was belting these sweet African tunes at the top of her lungs. I thought to myself...I wish I was that cool. If I belted tunes like that at the top of my lungs, people would just think I was strange...but people listening to her thought she was cool, I am certain of this because I thought she was cool...and I wondered about her life story, what brought her here, if she missed Africa, why she left, if she was going back etc...do you ever wonder stuff like that about random people? I do, all the time. I don't think people realize how intensely interesting they are to other people.

Bad day...

Well, I got home from work yesterday, and I was irritated, angry, frustrated, and a bit sad. I was not really in the mood to cook, but I needed some comfort food. What was I to eat? Please keep in mind that 2 short hours after my arrival at home, I would begin my Thursday night ritual of three hours of women's basketball at the church. So, what power food did I grab?

Take an eye full of these little beauties...

What are those? You may be asking yourselves. Well, I will tell you. "Masterfully prepared sweetened real fruit juice pieces, made from a blend of pomegranate and other select concentrated fruit juices, dipped in this extra creamy pure dark chocolate to create this decadent taste sensation." Don't worry...you can believe that description...because I took it straight off the bag. I totally quote...THIS IS a scholarly blog...and I did just cite.

Anyway, I snuggled into our big comfy couch eating these delicacies fist-full at a time...k, not totally true...but more true than you may think, watching a chick flick, and mourning my Thursday. About half way through the movie, I thought to myself, "Bekah, you probably need to be done eating these...you need some real food...some serious nutrition before your big b-ball game." How smart I was, and that my friends is when I grabbed these:

I guess it was just one of those days.

Sometimes I Get Domestic

On Sunday, I got this urge for a cinnamon roll. This doesn't happen often, but when it hits, there is no denying it. I was nervous that I wouldn't have all the ingredients needed, and that I would have to try and stiffle this urge...but to my surprise and pleasure, I had everything I needed :-) Thanks to my nextdoor neighbors, I also had enough creamcheese to make some frosting. This was the result...eat your heart out!


They were so delicious...I was even surprised by how well they turned out. So, now you all know something more about me...I am a closet baker. I love to bake, and I always have. There is something magical in making a delicious treat. It made me excited for when I have more time and money in the future to experiment with new ingredients and recipes. I have always thought that if the law thing didn't work out, I would become a chef. Maybe that is what I will do for retirement, that would be lovely :-)

Awkwardness...

I have often been told that I am one of the most gifted embracers of awkwardness that people have ever seen. This means two things 1) I am awesome...2) I am awesome at creating, being involved in, finding my way to, negotiating, encouraging AWKWARD situations.

So, I figured, why hide this talent under a bushel? Here's to the candle stick!

Last night, I was playing some church basketball. First off, let me explain that I live in a somewhat unique situation. Because of living at University housing, our congregation is made up of fairly newly married folks, and all who live there must have at least one person attending the University. That makes for a fairly homogeneous group. Further, only the ladies play on Thursday nights. I quite like it.

Generally, they have older church members who are from the community (a.k.a. not students and generally in their 40s or 50s ref for us). I was talking to one such gentleman last night. He is a great guy. He is a professor in the Poli Sci department at BYU. Though I didn't take any classes from him, I had lots of friends who did. I was so excited to see him and reconnect with life at my alma-mater.

Anyway, as we talked about various class members (please keep in mind that I had never talked to this man before i.e. he has no clue about me except this conversation and that I am probably a member of the congregation there), I mentioned a kid I knew in my undergrad that knew this professor really well. I had had a major crush on this kid previous to meeting my husband as in like I kind of still had a thing for this kid while going on my first date with my now husband. Anyway, me and my over exuberant nature got in the way.

The Professor's face lit up when I mentioned this kids name. Then he turned to me and said, "Man, he is a great guy!" I replied, " Yeah, I know, he really is." Then he said, "Yeah, man, I don't know why he isn't married." NOW IS THE AWKWARD PART...I don't know if I was just full of a lot of air or if I just felt I needed to stress my reply or what...but I replied, " Don't I know it." Only, I kind of screamed/exhaled deeply while saying it.

This could be a surprising tone for anyone saying anything really...but it was kind of unfortunate that it came out while talking about a guy not my husband who I used to crush on...anyway, I just followed it up with a huge smile pretending like I used that kind of exuberance all the time...and then I went home and told Parker that I just labeled myself a hooch to one of the most respectable men over our congregation...alas, if only he knew how truly hooch-less I am.

Moral: I dig my husband A LOT, and occasionally, I have poor breath support when it really counts.