party people 12:00 PM

Photo montage and this fun article courtesy of Shea's tumblr.

Tamarin and I are par-tay animals. This year she came to see me for new years eve. I would tell you what we did, but then it would reveal the breadth of our wild side and I know my mom reads this blog. I will just say that it involved five men, a poor mans CPBC, craveable little bites, a wild ride and a marathon event. We finally got to bed around 5am. It was a great night. 

the minstrel's prayer 10:25 AM

My brother has great taste in music and a knack for finding fantastic songs from lesser known artists. Well, I guess they are not "lesser known" to the kids who know how to find cool music, but to the dorks like me who have to get their newest tunes from mainstream radio they are lesser known. I like to have David make me a CD or two or three of the latest music he has compiled when we are home together. Like clockwork months later some of those songs will hit it big on the radio. I wish I were cool like my brother. I have been listening to one of the CD's he made me over vacation and I have fallen in love with this song - The Minstrel's Prayer by Cartel. Enjoy.

*note to other siblings: you are cool too

hi my name is Ashley 7:04 PM

The best Pad Thai that I have had to this day can be found at Thai Lemongrass. It is a favorite of Ashleys and mine. We just happen to order the same thing: Chicken Pad Thai, no scallions, medium spicy, with a $1 cucumber salad. That's right, $1 salad. Try ordering the small cucumber salad and they will ask you "$1 or $2 cucumber salad?" There is no small.

The waitress thinks my name is Ashley. When we were first becoming regular patrons I called in an order for pick-up, I started rattling off the order and the lady at the other end finished up the order for me and said "This for Ashley?" Instead of correcting her and spelling out my name I just decided that "Yes" would be an easier answer.

To this day, four plus years later, I walk in there and am greeted by my favorite waitress with a big "Hi Ashley!" I don't have the heart to tell her my real name. I am living a lie.

And seriously, if you live in the DC metro area, you should go to Thai Lemongrass. It is the best Pad Thai around. We have converted many, you may be next.

celebrity kids names 8:39 PM

Moon Unit, Dweezil, and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen (pictured lcft to right) kids of the late Frank Zappa. Celebrities are crazy. Seriously. You thought it was weird when the fictional Seinfeld character George wanted to name his Seven? You questioned when the Cox/Arquettes and Paltrow/Martins named their kids after food? Coco and Apple, good luck in grade school. For your enjoyment I have compiled a list of my favorite awesomely bad celebrity kids names:

Rumor, Scout & Tallulah - Demi Moore & Bruce Willis

Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom & Tiger Lily Heavenly Hirani - Paula Yates & Michael Hutchence

Zuma Nesta Rock - Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale

Sage Moonblood - Sylvester Stallone

Audio Science - Shannyn Sossamon

Pilot Inspektor - Jason Lee

Moxie Crimefighter - Pen Jillette

That last one is my favorite. And people make fun of me for wanting to have the last name of Outlaw or Bandit. 

good sleep 8:12 PM

Yes I am fake sleeping; can't remember what this was taken for.

Good sleep is priceless. I have just had nine, that's right NINE great nights of sleep. Solid, wake-up refreshed, perfect nights of sleep. It was the greatest Christmas present ever. 

california winters 9:51 PM

Today David noted that only here will you be using your snow shovel to shovel leaves in the winter. True 'dat. Today we spent a couple beautiful hours outside trimming the apple, cherry and lemon trees and cleaning the yard. I really like the lemon tree. My Dad keeps it from getting frostbite in the winter by hanging Christmas lights around it for warmth. That cracks me up. 

christmas in pictures 11:55 PM

David, Me, Bryce & Cathi. Missing Vince, Kristin & Clay. 

Christmas breakfast. Dad loves to make bread, particularly potato cinnamon rolls.

That one in the middle is mine.

Vince & Bryce.   *   Bryce hanging with Grandpa, watching his dad open a present. 

Sisters. 

Helping Grandma open a present (after he played king of the mountain on it for 10 minutes prior).   *   Playing kangaroo with Grandpa. 

Vince and David chilling before heading to the relatives for Christmas dinner.

The cute ornament Mom gave me.   *   Grandma setting up more photo ops of Bryce. 

David showed me how to use the color selector feature on my camera.   *   Tamarin became an unsuspecting victim to the photo shoot. 

'ono grub 11:17 PM

Since I've been home people keep asking me what I want to do while I am home on vacation. Really all I want to do is hang out with my family and friends. There was nothing I needed to do, nowhere I needed to go . . . until today. 

Tamarin and I were leaving a shopping complex when I looked over and saw L&L Hawaiian Barbecue out of the corner of my eye. An abrupt right hand turn and we were suddenly parking in front of the L&L. Not quite where our next stop was planned for, but the epiphany of what I needed could not be ignored. 

A familiar waft of 'ono comfort food filled the air. My Hawaiian side was renewed as the delicious taste of Kalua Pork and rice melted in my mouth and warmed my soul. I love Kalua Pork. I love Hawaii. I miss Hawaii. 

For you haoles: "mahalo" does not mean "trash", it means thank you. 

ps: Tams you were right. The place in Laie, in the Foodland parking lot, was a L&L. 

giant trampoline 4:09 PM

My parents have a giant trampoline. That was the greatest thing to have growing up. I remember in Michigan when we would make up dance routines to Paula Abdul songs on it. That trampoline was where I premiered my talent of breaking limbs. Back in California we used to have sleep-overs out on the giant trampoline. It was perfect because it fit a ton of people, you could stay up late talking and staring at the stars, plus if you wanted to sneak out to go TP-ing, you were already out! The only draw back was when you woke up in the morning, you had all slid to the middle and were dog-piled in the center. 

Today my forever long friend Sarah and her two kids came over to visit. Cadence took an immediate liking to the giant trampoline. She jumped until her hair looked like she had stick her tinger in a electrical socket. We tried to coach her to do more then jump. We got her to jump and land on her butt, but could not get her to understand landing on her butt and standing up again. Sarah, being a good Mom, got on to demonstrate while little Frank Kolu watched the show. The demo quickly degenerated into Mom bouncing and Cade enjoying the fruits of her Mom's labor. 

I forgot how much fun we had as kids on that thing until today. I was fun to see Cade and her pure enjoyment on discovering the new toy. And it was great to have Sarah and her super cute little ones come over to hang out. Thanks for stopping by Byoods. 

consider this your card 11:36 PM

click on card above

I made this Christmas card to send to you. I was going to print it out at a photo place and send it in a real envelope, addressed by hand and postmarked with a cute stamp. But like the Christmas cards I have made for the last three years, it never left my computer. Good intentions... But, thanks to the wonderful world of blogging, this year it will get to you - sans envelope for you to rip open. Merry Christmas!

christmas flicks 8:04 PM

I love Christmas movies. I am sitting on the couch, blogging, hanging out with my family, with my all time favorite Christmas movie on in the background. White Christmas is such a great classic movie. I can watch it year round. The characters are funny, the dancing is great and who doesn't love hearing Bing Crosby croon. Such a quality, entertaining show. 

Second on my top two list is the new classic flick Elf. It is Will Ferrell at his best, and cleanest (cotton-headed ninny-muggen or son of a nutcracker is about the worst it gets). With great quotable lines and hilarious characters this film will have you rolling on the ground. Kids and adults alike will love it. 

Emily: You sure like sugar, huh?

Buddy: Does syrup have sugar in it?

Emily: Yes.

Buddy: Then YES! We elves try to stick to the four main food groups:  candy, candy canes, candy corn, and suryp. 

This time of the year the made-for-tv movies shine as well. Birdo and I watched The Most Wonderful Time of the Year last night on the Hallmark Channel. Should you like cheesy tv movies, you should check it out. It stars Fonzie, who makes the movie. And features Warren Christie, with a good haircut, to provide the ladies with some eye candy. Kim, add this to your DVR list.

maggie & brandon 3:13 PM

Today Maggie (one of my favorite people in the world) married Brandon (my perfect high-5 friend). They were married in the LDS Oakland Temple for time and eternity today. I was really happy to be able to join them for their wedding and reception. Convenient that my East Coast friends got married on the West Coast, a half-hour away from my hometown. 

They then had a reception in Walnut Creek. Since part of Maggie's family is not LDS, they had a nice ring ceremony. Maggie's dad walked her down the isle then Brandon and Maggie exchanged vows and rings. After the ceremony there was mingling with yummy appetizers, a delicious dinner and fun toasts. The couple cut the cake and then the dancing started. They danced with each other, then their parents, and then it was the dance we had all been waiting for...

...dancing the Hora, a traditional Jewish wedding dance. It was so much fun! Every person in the room young and old got involved. I wish I had pictures of Maggie and Brandon sitting on chairs high above everyones heads, bouncing around with huge smiles (surely a mixture of happieness of the moment and sheer fear of being dropped), but I was too busy dancing. After the Hora had ended the dancing fell to the same fate that befalls all attempts of dancing at Mormon weddings.

Cut cake was passed out, the pumpkin chocolate chip was awesome (good call Maggie). The song California Love came on and my feet, as if by instinct, lead me to the dance floor for one last dance. We partied like it was 1999 and said goodnight. Congratulations you two. Thanks for letting me be part of your special day. 

wedding cake 2:48 PM

For Maggie and Brandon's wedding I offered to have my mom make their wedding cake as my wedding present to them. I told my mom that I would pay for the ingredients and help her make it. Help her make it. As in she would make it, because she was the professional, and I would learn by observing and helping her when she needed it. Apparently I was not clear enough. Because she pretty much had me do everything. It was scary. She was there for advice and direction, thank goodness, but I made the cake. Scary.

click on picture for larger view

This was the progression of the cake. The bottom layer was chocolate with raspberry filling and the top was pumpkin chocolate chip cake (a Maggie request) all covered in cream cheese butter cream frosting. It was delicious. I admit that I was not in love with the cake until we got to the reception and put the roses on. They made the cake. My brother, mom and I combined out creative powers to assemble the creation. A big thanks to my mom for all of her help and mentoring.

i like this kid 12:38 PM

Remember when this kid left me hanging for Kristin's wedding? Well he's back from study abroad in Jerusalem. And has not changed.

Yep. He is still the same weirdo that I love.

And still brings out the best in me.

Oh! And he brought this awesome "cow chocolate" home. It is milk chocolate with pop-rocks mixed in it. It is the funnest chocolate you will ever eat.

o' leben tannenbaum 12:19 PM

Nothing says Christmas like the smell of a live pine tree. You may catch me standing next to the Christmas tree with my face buried in the branches, taking in the smell of Christmas. I tried hugging the tree, but it did not return the love.

Before I get married I will make sure to write in to the pre-nup that we must have a live tree every Christmas, even if it's just a Charlie Brown tree. I need that smell for it to be a real Christmas. I love coming home to a real tree.

From my first Christmas. * I made this one in 2nd grade. * And this in 1st grade.

jetBlue 11:18 PM

I love JetBlue airlines. Each seat has it's own TV complete with 36 prime channels of DIRECTV. Or XM radio if you'd prefer. When you get a drink, they give you the entire can of soda. And they have lots of free yummy snacks. I love the chocolate chunk cookies. And they don't charge for the first bag. And their leather seats are pretty comfortable with decent leg room. And they have clever notes on their screens. And you can track your progress across the continent on the TV. And they fly direct from DC (Dulles) to Oakland.

I took a different airline last time I flew home, infact I have flown most of the major airlines since I have not lived remotely close to home in the last ten years, and every time I come back to this realization: JetBlue is my favorite airline. You should fly them.

why is there a shoe indentation on your butt? 11:47 PM

My head hurts. Today was a tough day for the entire shift. We were abused. It was one of only a handful of days that I hate my job.

I started out the morning in a state of stress, worried about having time to sufficiently prepare for an exam I had to take the next day. I was OIC on the Medic Unit and I knew that between running calls and writing reports there was going to be little time to study. To add to that stress, I dealt with a really tough patient who mentally drained me. By 1 pm I was ready to curl up in a corner, throw a blanket over my head and sleep the stress off. Or have a break down.

Unfortunately while my brain was being turned to mush out on a call, Tom and Joel were stuck in the station taking a beating. Mostly for ridiculous things that only a small department would make a big deal of. Then Tom had to disseminate the censure to us. Luckily I knew about what was coming my way, and luckily is was all stupid so it did not affect my fragile mental state.

Still, after bearing the brunt of the days abuse, Tom showed compassion. He took over Medic OIC for me (putting me on the Engine) that night. It was really nice if him because I could not afford to be up all night running calls / writing reports instead of studying and sleeping. He did not have to do that, but he did.

Rob (et al.) made delicious homemade meatballs and brought the family together for dinner. And Joe provided the comic relief. You could tell that he had been holding it in all day because the heckling was released with fervor. And nothing bonds a family like relentless mockery that everyone can get in on.

Since I had been completely useless with making dinner I started doing the dishes after eating. Joe stopped me, took over and told me to go study. I was so appreciative. It is times like today that I am reminded that underneath their often obnoxious exteriors, the guys have great hearts. I really like them.

Bonus of the evening was that my friend Steph stopped by, stayed for dinner, made yummy cake for dessert, and held her own with the boys while I ignored her to study. Sorry about that Steph.

see you later 5:02 PM

They left me today. 

This is not happy. 

But the good thing is that they were here for a while. 

I had a great time with Chris, Sarah and Carson while they lived here. It was like having family near. We always had a good time from hanging around the house doing nothing to finding outdoor adventures in the DC Metro area. It was so fun seeing Carson grow up, he loved his Aunt Camille. Today I tried to teach him the joy of jumping on beds. Unfortunately, as Sarah pointed out, he can't jump yet. So I really just taught him to have fun while other people jumped him on the bed. We had a great run. Hopefully our paths of living will cross again in the future. 

I will miss you guys. 

Actually there was a good thing about them leaving me. I got their big TV and a cool plant that is death resistant and a step stool and graham crackers and . . .

big(ger) screen 6:21 PM

Hello beautiful. 

Today Sarah and Chris gave me this TV (for a fair TBD price) it is a dream come true. Since Ashley's TV died, we have been using my small one from my room. It worked, but it was tiny. I could not watch it without wearing my glasses and it seemed like you were watching the tiny characters from five miles away. Now with the big guy I can lay on the couch sans-spectacles and relax. It is beautiful. 

Which one would you rather be watching? 

pancake art 6:11 PM

Dave made us pancakes for breakfast at the firehouse on Sunday. In the last batch this pancake "apple" was formed - without even trying. He was very proud of it. He said it needed to be blogged. Simple pleasures.

Move over corn flake Jesus ... pancake apple is here AND you won't feel bad about eating it. Big bonus. 

ashley's surprise 11:59 PM

Ashley's Birthday (in pictures)

us: Hi.   ash: What?   us: Surprise!   ash: Oh!!!

Pin the tail on the donkey, not the nose Rich. Kathryn is ready to win. 

Danny manned the piniata. Kathryn tried to give Ashley some pointers. 

Laura setting up the game. Ryan taking it to a whole new level. It was dangerous to put softball star Dani at bat. 

Ace making my favorite cupcake. What is that Ryan, take some tips from Ashley. Sheree making a tropical masterpiece. 

Theme: Interpretation of Childhood

Ashley's Kermit playing the banjo under the rainbow. top left

Kathryn's pretty flower garden. top middle

Young Ace shooting small animals as a child. I love it. top right

Sheree's tropical paradise and lazy river. bottom left/middle

My fun mess. I had a good time just throwing stuff on it haphazardly. bottom right

And a giant cupcake for the birthday girl. 

Happy (early) Birthday Ashley. 

cupcake pops 11:01 PM

A feast for the eyes.

How cute are these?!? Don't be deceived, they are a pain in the arse. But they are ultra cute. Bakerella makes these cupcake pops. She is crazy creative with them. She has cupcake pops for Halloween, Christmas, days you need a smile (my favorite) and everything in-between.

I made them for a party tomorrow night. Did I say they were a pain? They were. I used a chocolate cake. To be honest I am not likely to make these "cupcake" cupcake pops again. Rolling, chilling, making oval, chilling again, shaping in cookie cutter and chilling a third time was a HUGE P.I.T.A. Maybe the round ones I would do; those would be easier.

I am torn on weather to recommend them or say they are not worth it. Cons: pain to make in this form and they just taste okay. And I don't want my desserts to be okay, I want them to be to-die-for. Although Ashley thinks they taste delicious, so I could be wrong. Pros: super cute, they make people happy. So I guess if you want a fun treat that is a feast for the eyes, then you should made these. But if it is taste you are after, go back to the CPBC.

The army of cupcakes on a stick.