Author: McAdmin

Happy Birthday Wife

Post author By McAdmin
Post date December 8, 2009

Only one of you reading this is my wife, so only the Happy Birthday part applies to the rest of you. Today Joy turns 20 something. OH boy! So fast she has grown up, right before our eyes she has gone from just married, to having one kid, to having two kids, and now three kids.

Now is when I was going to go into all the amazing things she does like stay up with the kids, play with all day, teach them important things, forgive, laugh, love, rub my shoulders, make amazing food, look good, clean, buy stuff, however I don’t have much time, b/c I’m leaving work early to go meet her to eat dinner.. so maybe next time.

LOVE YOU JOY, Happy Birthday!

Tech

Another reason Android phones ROCK

Post author By McAdmin
Post date December 7, 2009

Android phones are AWESOME. If you haven’t heard, Joy and I jumped onto Sprint, mainly b.c they were the most affordable way to get smartphones. We are both sporting Samsung Moments running Android 1.5. Hopefully they will update us soon to Android 2.0 so we can get even more cool features, but alas, we have to wait for some good things. One of those is Google Goggles that just came out today, and wow, it’s sweet! Check it out, and discuss:

Reviews

The Blind Side

Post author By McAdmin
Post date December 6, 2009

Rachel & Jessica took me out for a dinner and movie night to celebrate my b-day (a few days early). Thank you, sisters, especially for all the laughs!!! We went to California Pizza Kitchen (yum), stopped to get some candy, and went to see The Blind Side.

We loved the movie! It was predictable, yes, but I felt neither bored nor overstimulated while watching it, which I can’t usually say after seeing a movie. It was uplifting; I was reminded of how grateful I am for my upbringing, and felt very thankful for all that I have. In my opinion, the cast was great and the movie was well done. I would even see it again! What did you think about The Blind Side?

Ranting

Story of more stuff

Post author By McAdmin
Post date December 1, 2009

So the awesome crew over at story of stuff just took the time to explain something I’d never heard of. And since it was presented in an animated movie, I believe it. Here’s the teaser for it:

Watch the whole story!

Personal Reviews

Eloise Wilkin Books

Post author By McAdmin
Post date November 29, 2009

When it comes to children’s books, nothing makes me more nostalgic than the old Eloise Wilkin books and illustrations (you may recognize some of these titles: We Help Daddy, So Big, We Like Kindergarten, The New Baby, etc.) Most of them seem to be out of print now!

We had several of these Little Golden Books at our house when I was young, and I loved the illustrations. I still do! I now have the Eloise Wilkin Treasury, as well as We Help Daddy and We Help Mommy, given to me by my mom. I think I especially connect with these books now, because a lot of the stories feature a young boy and his little sister, and because my babies have both kind of looked like the wide-eyed babies in these classic books. 🙂

Which Eloise Wilkin stories have you enjoyed?
And what were your favorite childrens’ books in general, when you were a kid?

Chase Adventures

Gotta Learn to Love It ALL!

Post author By McAdmin
Post date November 26, 2009

This funny little guy has been more bored now that it’s colder outside, and because we’ve been sick (but we’re not anymore! I’m grateful for that).

This is how I found Chase one morning after my shower– sandwiched between the mattress and the bedframe while watching tv in our room. Comfy!

To help pass the time at home, we’ve done the usual cooking and baking, which I almost always let Chase help me with. It’s a lot messier this way, but it’s something we can do together! I have to take a deep breath, though, when spills like this happen:

Recently, Chase was hammering and drilling some toys on the table and I asked him (from upstairs) what he was up to. He called back to me, “You know how Santa does it? That’s what I’m doing.” And he proceeded to hammer out the beat of Jingle Bells. He really loves Christmas music.

He helped out one morning by taking my blush away from Charlotte, who had snatched it out of the bathroom. He’s usually really helpful with such things, but this time he decided to scrape the blush out onto the carpet in his room. “I’m making a collection!” he insisted. Whatever THAT means! I still haven’t gotten the stain out. Any suggestions on that?

This boy’s current obsession is to make forts with lots and lots of pillows from around the house.

On this particular day, he also dumped out all the laundry I had just sorted. But I paused before reacting, and didn’t get mad. I’m not always so perfect, but it was one of those times when I remembered that you’re only a kid once in your life!

Personal

Being the Mom

Post author By McAdmin
Post date November 19, 2009

It’s 9:30 am, and my kids have been up for 4.5 hours. No wonder I run out of things to occupy them all day! Last night I was experiencing some overwhelming feelings of discouragement and feeling like I lack the “right” amount of patience and long-suffering that a good mom should have. Luckily, I did recognize these feelings as ones that were coming from Satan, who doesn’t want us to feel like we’re doing a good job.

Since I’ve become a mom, I’ve had this new awareness and tremendous respect for moms. I can’t believe so many people have done and are able to do this large task!

I am thankful for my mom, who helped me with my math homework almost EVERY night, had lots of books available in our home for us to read, drove us ALL over the place in the “taxi,” often left little treats and surprises on my pillow for when I got home from school, helped me put the clean sheets on my bed, put things away when I left them in a growing pile by my bedroom door, cheered for us, listened to us, always made (and still makes) birthdays and holidays very exciting and special for us, displayed a lot of patience, and never appeared to be “weary in well-doing.”

Deals

Time for In-N-Out

Post author By McAdmin
Post date November 18, 2009

Don’t let the vomit reference fool you, In-N-Out burgers hit the spot time after time. And I just confirmed with Sara at In-N-Out corporate that the Orem location will be opening tomorrow, Thursday Nov. 19th at 10:30am. She also mentioned based on the number of calls, that it will be a VERY busy day. There is your announcement / warning, Tyler better plan on some extra time if you are driving past the Univ & State intersection on the way to class.

Here’s the menu to help you prepare, and the “secret menu“.

OH and very important if you are new to IN-N-OUT, get it “Animal Style” because if you don’t it’s just a 1950’s McDonalds hamburger.

Ranting

Sunshine is Good

Post author By McAdmin
Post date November 17, 2009

I just wanted to say that I am SO SO SO glad that we’ve only had 2-3 snow days here thus far. I do not like snow ONE BIT, and for that very reason, I do not intend to live in the state of Utah (or any snowy state for that matter) for the majority of my lifetime. I might even have SAD because when it’s snowy and dark out, I want to lie in bed and be lethargic/depressed.

I used to think my mom was crazy when I would beg her to let us move from Sonoma County to somewhere snowy like Winter Wonderland Tahoe, and she would say, “NOOOOO thanks.” But now I know why– it’s cold, chilly, freezing, causes car accidents, creates shoveling work that breaks one’s back, makes one not want to go anywhere, makes it so your “Energizer Bunny x10” child can’t play outside without a long bundling-up process only to come back inside 4 minutes later… I could go on and on, but I will not. I’m just not a fan of the white stuff. Or the yellow stuff either.

Back to my main point– I am happy that it’s not snowing for now!

Married Lessons

Quite the Relaxing Getaway!

Post author By McAdmin
Post date November 13, 2009

Ahhh, I am feeling relaxed. Pace & I just returned from an overnight stay at the five-star Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City. It’s the same place where Rachel & Nathan got engaged just last weekend! And it was fabulous.

Pace found a great deal for this place, so we went there to celebrate my birthday a few weeks early. A very adequate gift, I must say!

When we checked in, “Rey” at the front desk told us, “I can actually have you stay in my townhouse for the night if you’d like.” For a moment we were confused, thinking he was graciously offering us his own home for some odd reason. But then we realized he was talking about an upgrade (for a fee)—and we accepted!

Below are some photos of our “accomodations.” We especially loved the layout of the bathroom & the simple/classy decor. I highly recommend that you go to this place for a taste of luxury!

The staff was friendly, but also very formal. At dinner, when our main course was brought out, we were warned. “The plates are quite warm.” And after dinner, the server asked, “And how have you two decided to enjoy your desserts tonight?” Pace responded, “We’ve decided to enjoy them very much.” (I think she set herself up for that one.) I also received special birthday chocolates!

After we left the hotel, Pace took me shopping at the Park City Tanger Outlets, which is always a blast. Thank you, Pace! And thanks SO much to GG for watching the kids so we could escape! It was wonderful to get a good night’s sleep and to have some time together.

Can you guess whose legs are whose in this photo? (I will hurt you if you get it wrong.) 😉