Musical Interlude

I have a problem, apparently I am a terrible videographer.  That is a bad thing because there are so many things I would like to film and have them be artistic and high-quality.  I tried to simultaneously watch Dagny's latest performance while surreptitiously filming it, and while Dagny was high-quality and artistic the video is not.  Sigh.  

For the last few weeks the drama department has been working on a musical theater unit and the end result was a musical showcase.  Dagny did a couple of numbers, but my favorite was Everything Else from Next to Normal. 

Rugby

New season, new sport. Dane is now a rugby player.
Rugby is, quite literally, a whole new ball game for me.  My understanding of the game was quite superficial, I've had to do lots of research (meaning watched a lot of YouTube videos) so that I could understand what was going on.  I also have an entire new vocabulary, everything in rugby has a cool name.  They don't play on a field, they play on a pitch, they don't wear cleats, they were boots, they don't play with a ball, they play with a pill, and when they score it is called a try.  Some of my other new favorite words; ruck, maul, scrum, grubber, hooker, flanker, lock, blood bin, and hospital pass.  Yes, I know what they all mean, and the last two are as scary as they sound. 

poor quality phone photo's at the first game of the season

An Unexpected Journey

It's no secret that The Lord of the Rings is a big deal at our house. (anyone who has seen our movie room or Steve's sword collection knows what I'm talking about) Steve and I have always loved the books and we were excited when our kids got old enough for us to share Tolkien with them. Just as Dagny was ready to start reading The Hobbit we found out they were making The Lord of the Rings into movies. We were worried that the movies would be terrible, as book adaptations often are, and that they would somehow ruin Tolkien for the kids.  We needn't have worried, the movies were amazing (if you haven't seen them, you should) and all was well, but Dane has always been disappointed that The Hobbit wasn't made into a movie. He has read it a million times, it's his all-time favorite book. In December 2012 Dane's wish will come true when they release the first of two Hobbit movies. I found this cool blog that is chronicling the film production and has all kinds of fun details from the set.  It also has the movie trailer.  I watched it with Dane and I gotta tell you, the look on his face was priceless.  I can't wait to see the movie with him. 

Pin It

This is exactly what happened to me

You'd think that an obsession with a website would be a bad thing, but not this time.  Pinterest is kind of brilliant. As you are making your way around the interwebs finding cool/useful/crafty/inspiring/tasty/beautiful things, it gives you a way to "pin" them on a board so you can organize them and keep track of all your findings.  You can also look at other people's pins and check out all their awesome stuff.  Like I said, kind of brilliant.  If you're on Pinterest come and find me, if you're not, get an invite and come play with the rest of us. 

Twenty Twelve

A brand-new year, all bright and shiny and full of possibilities.
  I'm excited.  How about you? 

*How cute is that banner? I found the picture on someone's blog and with a little research found out that it's from an Etsy shop.  You can actually buy the cute banner here. 

20 Years

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times,

always with the same person.

     ~ Mignon McLaughlin 

We have decided that 20 years of marriage is something that you don't celebrate for just one night with a fancy dinner, or a party, or even a romantic getaway.  Twenty years of marriage is a momentous accomplishment, and as such should be given the proper amount of celebration.  We think that means celebrating all year long.  2012 is now officially The Year of the 20th Anniversary.  We plan to commemorate and celebrate all year long.  I have no idea what that will entail, we are going to make it up as we go along.  I do know that it will be fun, and most likely really romantic.  Happy Anniversary to us. 

The Rest of Christmas

Chinese food, stuffed stockings, a movie marathon, some presents, and a bulldog in a Santa hat.

That was our recipe for the perfect Christmas Day.  

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday. 

Merry Christmas!