Chocolate Extravaganza

It has been such a long time since Jon and I have made a cake. We made this cake for Amber's birthday, the wife of one of Jon's co-workers & softball captain.

Cake Stats:
Devil's Food Cake
Chocolate Butter Cream Icing
Raspberry Filling w/ Raspberries from my parent's garden
Cream Cheese Filling

Kilz: Take 2

I know I said that we had learned a lesson about vaporizing Kilz and that we would never do it again....

We did learn a lesson - it was that we weren't prepared enough last time.

We are not going to lose the painting battle to a can of Kilz.

We changed our battle strategy. Last Saturday we went to Home Depot and bought Jon a full size respirator in attempt to save some of his brain cells from the mind numbing effects of the primer.

We were able to save his brain and lungs from the stuff - but this time his face was the casualty.

Since we are using oil based primer it doesn't come off with water.
Jon thoroughly enjoys cleansing his face with chemical spirits when he is done. He loves the tingly sensation.

The Big Catch

Last week Jon and I both came down with a serious case of fish-itis. We didn't want to pass our symptoms on so we called in "sick" to work (co-workers - I didn't really call in sick). We don't usually go fishing in the middle of the week but our nephew, Garrett, was in town and he has been anticipating using his new fishing pole for months now. This would be his first fishing trip. We thought the perfect setting for his experience would be Moosehorn Lake, a scenic, bean-shaped lake in the Uinta Mountains. So we packed our gear up and headed for the mountains.

I spent the drive up in the back seat taking commands (cute ones) from a 2 year old. I galloped a horse to the lake for water, cleaned a cow that never seemed to be clean enough, and tried to draw the perfectly sized Garrett stick figure. This was quite a task - too large - and it was daddy, too small - and it was a baby.

I of course caught the biggest fish of the day. This was no surprise to me. Jon usually makes the excuse that he can't compete because he spends the whole time baiting my hook and removing the fish. This is true but he had plenty of time to fish today when I wasn't. I still caught the biggest and prettiest fish.

Garrett's programmed defense mechanism is to cover his ears when he is scared. This was a common pose throughout the day. Whenever the fish started jerking on the pole or flopping around he would stand silently covering his ears. How cute.

Jon and I struck gold when we had bites on both of our poles simultaneously. We didn't get a better picture because we had to seek shelter since it started hailing about 30 seconds after this picture was taken.

This picture captures Jon's sadness that is was raining. I took shelter under some trees (later dubbed the "Tiger's Den") while Jon got the fish off the poles. Kevin and Garrett ran to the car. Jon and I later joined them for a delightful car picnic. Then Lindsay and Richard arrived. After it stopped raining we decided that we could probably get another hour in before the next storm cell came.

Lindsay hanging out with Garrett in the "Tigers Dan". Do you like Garrett's new fashion statement. He is wearing Grandpa's pants to keep warm. The Uintas get pretty cold even in the summer time.

Jon doing one of his favorite things.

The trip was a success. We caught 14 fish and Garrett had a blast. We donated all of the fish to Jon's old scout master, Jake. He loves when we go fishing.

Lets get this painting started

For those of you who don't know Jon and I recently bought our first home. We have owned the home since the end of July but have only recently started living in it. We were not home much during August. We went on Trek with our old ward. Then went straight to Jon's parent's house to Grandma sit (she lives with them) while they were out of the country. I also went to Vegas for work during this time. We then slept at the house for a few nights before we left town to visit family over labor day weekend. It is so nice to finally be home.

Since we have not been around much we have gotten a late start on making the house our home. We are currently living in the basement because we are trying to paint the whole house before we move everything in. We have been told that if we don't paint now we never will. The plan is to paint one room at a time and then move the stuff in from the garage - starting with the master bedroom.

This weekend we got everything in the master bedroom and bathroom all prepped and ready for paint. Unfortunately, we didn't get as far as planned. Lets just say that Jon was caught huffing Kilz in the bathroom. For those of you that don't know, Kilz is a primer that pretty much kills any germ, odor, mold, etc. - so it is pretty toxic.

Jon and I learned that it isn't the brightest idea to put Kilz in a paint sprayer when you are going to be in a small, confined, unventilated area (like a bathroom). It is potent enough on its own without vaporizing it in a sprayer (unless you want it to be easier to inhale).

Jon ignored the thought, "I should probably stop, I don't feel so well" a couple of times before he finally gave in and took a breather. He was messed up from the effects of the Kilz for quite awhile.
(He will want me to mention that he isn't a wuss.)

Jon's afternoon break

Wow! The sprayer has a lot of pressure!

The Death Trap

Jon going for the Taylor Hicks look with his white hair.

Favorite Quotes of the Day:

"I just took apart my first toilet. I think it is funny that you actually think I know what I am doing."

"I don't know why people huff."

What do I look like?

Today I received an urgent phone call from my co-worker, Meghan, requesting my help - so I ran down to see what was wrong. It truly was an emergency - her shirt was missing a button. I of course came to the rescue and sewed it on for her. In the process I even taught her how to make a twist knot (her whole life she has been trying to actually tie a knot at the end of thread - silly girl).


Five minutes later my boss, Perry, came rushing into Meghan's office. The weirdest thing happened next. He too, had lost a button (on his jacket). I asked him if he needed me to sew it on. He said, "I figured you could. I ran to your office but you weren't there."

At what kind of crazy job does a girl get the opportunity to sew on buttons all morning long - unless you are a seamstress? Also, why did they both come to me first to help them with their little problem? I never realized that this was one of the vibes I put off about myself. What a lame vibe.


At least I can take comfort in knowing that my Mom will be impressed with my mad skills.

Jon to the rescue!

I can see that if this blog is going to have any chance at being interesting or even used, I had better begin posting myself. Although it is no excuse for not posting at all, I should say in Janelle's defense, that we have been really busy lately. For my first post I think I will just show everyone some fun pictures.







Janelle showing off her Mad Bomber hat while shooting shotguns in the desert.













Jon on Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands holding a giant clam shell.












Our awesome homegrown Halloween pumpkin collection.












Our wedding day.











Ice fishing at Rockport Reservoir.












Jon body boarding in Hawaii.








Janelle got pooped on by a seagull on our honeymoon. I thought it was funny, but she didn't.















Janelle in San Francisco.

















A demonstration of our mad cake making skills.

















Our family from pioneer trek.









I hope you enjoyed this random assortment of pictures. I will try to make an effort to post what we are up to somewhat regularly, and try to get Janelle to do the same.

Formal Complaints Against Blog

Lodge your complaints here! I know that my blog has been driving some people up the wall. They check back every day in anticipation of what witty post I might have shared - just to be disappointed.

Because I am such a considerate person I am dedicating this post to their concerns. Let me know how you feel viewers.