not even apologizing

I'm going to stop apologizing for not blogging. I'm sure that people are tired of the apologies anyway. Here's what I've been up to-

1) weddings have finally ended (yay!) but last Saturday my company's Board of Director's had a planning retreat - so I was there most of the day. We got done an hour early at 3:30 - so I used that time (wisely) to go Christmas shopping.

2) I am trying to fit Christmas shopping into any free time. I am pretty much done except for Alex and his dad. I tried shopping online a lot this year - that worked out well. Although I learned a valuable lesson. That is, if you buy online for people who are out of town - just have the items shipped directly to them. I didn't think about that until I received the 2.5' wide x 10" high x 3' long box containing the gift for Bret's step-kids at my house. Yeah, they live in Tallahassee - so now I have to get it there somehow. Smart, Shaleen.

3) Baking things. I can't help myself, I love to bake at Christmas time. I tried some new things this year. I covered a pound of pretzels in white chocolate and sprinkles. I also made peanut buttery rice krispies which i rolled into balls and dipped in milk chocolate. I'm going to fill tins with each of those cookies for some friends, co-workers and the majority will go to the teachers at our preschool - they LOVE food and candies.

4) Cleaning my house - about a month ago we fired our cleaning lady and I've yet to replace her. So I have been cleaning a lot more often. Tomorrow a woman is coming to check out my house and give me a price. So today I had to thoroughly vacuum and mop in preparation. I know that sounds crazy. But seriously, my floor was gross, I refused to even walk on it barefoot b/c of the dirt on the tile (caused by the dogs, but mostly Miles). I honestly think that if she saw my house the way that it looked about 3 hours ago that she would charge us more to clean. We only have someone come twice a month - but it's a big help so that I only have to do the maintenance cleaning in between. That means that I usually vacuum twice a week on my own, swiffer once and do a real mopping once a week. If that sounds like a lot of cleaning - you're right. I think in part b/c we just like our house to be clean and also b/c Miles gets the floor so dirty that it is really necessary.

So there you have it - nothing too exciting.

Thanksgiving Update

This is my most shamefully long absence from blogging. Who knew that taking a week off of work would wreak so much havoc. It may not have really been the week off, but for whatever reason, since Thanksgiving Alex and I have been SO busy. My work is super busy - and Alex just finished our winter wedding season and now he has to do post-production on all of those weddings.

However, we actually took pictures while we were away - so I definitely want to post them. We took a couple of days to drive up to Asheville for Thanksgiving w/ my mom's family. We left on Friday headed to Greenville where we saw one of my oldest friends, Emily. We met her at the Greenville zoo and had a nice day out. Then we went to my cousin's house and had lunch with my sisters in law (who took a break from shopping) and my cousin and their daughter, Ashley.

So it was kind of a speedy trip, but we felt like we still got to have lots of quality time with friends and family.


Aaron and Bret with our cousin Paul - they were headed out to go 4-wheeling. We are obviously a squinty-eyed family...


Me, Aaron and Bret


my brother Aaron and Alex


Me with my mom


Me with my oldest friend, Emily and her husband Jody.


Emily's son, Silas


Baby Millie


Emily's son, Silas - looking at snakes.


A Madagascar - we think he might be pentecostal...


Emily's daughter, Hattie w/ Jody.


Hattie again


Emily, Jody and Millie


Me, Alex and Caleb

Happy Friday

I'm so glad it's Friday! Not only is it Friday but we are about to start a vacation! yay! We only have one more November wedding left on Saturday. Sunday we'll see Alex's family and Monday I'll run errands and pack and then we head off to NC for Thanksgiving.

My mom's side of the family gets together each year for Thanksgiving at the Red Rocker Inn. I guess at some point a few years ago, they decided that no one really wanted to cook for that many people and have to house all of the out of town guests. My parents have gone several times, but I and my brothers have never gone. This year we are all headed up along with our spouses! It should be really cool.

Here is a photo of me beginning to look pregnant. Remember that part of the belly that you see was there before Caleb was. Also, this is taken while we were working a wedding - so I'm looking a little rough. :)

Good ole' November

November is the craziest month - that is my excuse for being behind on blogging. It is wedding season and my work is crazy-busy as well. I think my work is so busy b/c during the holiday season it is impossible to schedule meetings or get a lot of group work done - so everyone tries to get their meetings in before Thanksgiving. So things are just crazy.

This past weekend we shot a wedding in Captiva Island over on Florida's west coast. We went up a day early just to spend some time there. It was SO nice. It really was relaxing and almost felt like a vacation even though we really only had one 'free' day.

Today is veteran's day and I didn't have to work. My wonderful friend, Jenny, came over this morning and went with me to Babies R Us to register. She has a 2-year old and an 8-month old. Seriously, I don't know how anyone does their first baby registry w/out a friend with a baby. I was SO clueless - especially in the whole infant care section of bathing, bottling, cleaning, etc. We were there for about 3 hours - it was pretty hardcore and I was very tired afterward.

The Baby's Room

I'm super excited because I finally found the theme for the baby's room! It happened by accident that last week, I literally stumbled upon an AMAZING kids-room boutique in a little art/design district. I was floored. I have been highly frustrated by the boy-room things at babies r us, they just don't do it for me. This store is like a children's room wonderland.

So I found something that I liked and wanted to show Alex so I took a flyer of the theme home, and when the clerk gave me the paper she stapled their palm card to it. Well, there on their card, was a little room theme of little, modern drawn baby animals in blue, lime green and orange with white as the core color. I loved it - Alex loved it. I took my mom there yesterday and we discovered that the 8-piece bedding set was half off! So I put a deposit on it so that someone can buy it off my registry at that price. I also picked out awesome little accessories that are super unique like this little paper mache puppy dog lamp. I tried searching to find the bedroom set online somewhere, but I couldn't - sorry!

Then my mom and I went to Home Depot and picked up paint samples to start thinking about the walls. I'm SO excited now about this room - it's going to be SO happy and cool!

By the way, we have a name - Caleb, no middle name. Alex thinks they are useless - I disagree but I figure I can pick that battle in the hospital - not now with 4.5 months to go!

catching up

It is fall in South Florida and that means wedding season! We are crazy-busy with weddings. We will shoot 5 weddings in November prior to Thanksgiving. Last weekend we shot my best friend Lourdes' sister's wedding. It was SUCH a blast - Ana and her hubby are so much fun! Check out the pictures on Candidly Elegant's blog.

Lourdes, her husband Jamie and their daughter Sienna came over before they left. I cooked my mom's famous homemade pizza (a Lourdes-favorite). Here are some shots of Alex having some baby-time and getting lessons on the use on the cloth diapers we'll be using when our baby arrives. Check out Bum Genius diapers for more info.







Also long overdue are pictures of the patio renovation - check out the before and after!

Oops, I did it again

It is very difficult to surprise me. Not because I'm nosy or go snooping for gifts - but simply b/c I have an amazing way of becoming totally obnoxious about the thing that is the surprise w/out even knowing that I have it waiting for me. This most acutely effects Alex. Let me give you some examples:

I first wanted a Boston Terrier when I was in college and met one that belonged to one of my cousins. I fell in love. YEARS went by and I kept wanting the dog. So about a year before Alex and I get married, I decided that the time was right for me to finally have a dog. So I began looking for breeders and reading information on them. I became almost obsessed, I finally found a litter not far away in Ft. Lauderdale and told Alex that I wanted us to go look at them. He put me off. Finally after about 2 weeks of my bugging him, he got really frustrated and said that he was going to buy me a puppy for Christmas (about a month away) - and he hopes I'm happy now that I have no surprise! In the end he semi-surprised me b/c the litter was near his work, he went and saw them and told me that the puppies didn't look well-bred and we should keep looking. In reality, he had put a deposit down on Pete while he was there and surprised me later.

Fast forward to just before our 2 year anniversary (dating). I'm embarrassed to admit that I had begun applying the 'we need to get married' pressure, and exactly one week before our anniversary we got into an argument about 'the future' - and I was crying and upset b/c he didn't want to commit. At the same moment, by best friend Lourdes calls me to meet her at a Bridal shop to see the dress she had found for her wedding. I show up in a foul mood.

If you haven't guessed already, exactly one week later Alex proposes on our 2-year anniversary - and I feel like a total heel. During our entire argument, he had to endure me complaining and arguing while 'the ring' sat in another room.

So. About 2 months ago, Alex and I started looking at elliptical training machines. My gym membership is about to expire and he needs to work out too, but is too picky to commit to a gym. So we decided that w/ the baby coming, it would make more sense to buy a machine for the house. Then we can use that in combination with our bikes and our neighborhood w/ sidewalks for walking/jogging. We had found one we liked right before we started the patio project so the elliptical went on hold.

Well, now the patio is finished, so I (logically) started thinking that we should return to the elliptical idea...and I started bugging Alex. (just a little) - Alex this week can you call the gym place and negotiate the elliptical? -Alex, maybe today you can call the gym-guy and finalize the elliptical?

So during breakfast yesterday, I mention that second statement...and Alex sighs and says. "Shaleen, I went to the place and bought it on Wednesday, it will be delivered in a week and a half. I was going to surprise you."

I suck. I don't MEAN to do that! I'm not even a nagging wife! I just happen to find these things every once in a while. I really, really LIKE surprises!

New Creation Video

Here is a video from Fellowship Church in TX. I think the song is amazing, apparently they have a CD coming out soon.


New Creation from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

More info now

Ok - so the previous post was really, really short - so I'll update now that I'm home from work, gone to publix, have eaten dinner and vacuumed and mopped the floor (whew!).

So this morning we had our appt. Alex borrowed my mom's video camera and we taped a little message to our baby before the appt. We asked the tech if we could video the ultrasound but she said no and that we could purchase a VHS tape for $5. Who has a VHS player? (apparently, both my parents and alex's parents). We didn't know that at the time and did it anyway. I was a little disappointed that the pictures weren't as clear as I wanted - my brother's ultrasound at 18 weeks looks amazing - the baby is so distinct in the ultrasound. Not ours.

The baby was curled in a tight, tight little ball and after getting all the measurements, the tech kept trying for about five more minutes try to get our shy baby to show it's stuff. The biggest problem is that the baby had its legs crossed - even as it was kicking around like crazy she was amazed that it kept its ankles crossed! She was about to give up when she saw 'it' - and announced our baby is a boy!!! We both asked "Are you sure?" because we couldn't see anything on the screen. She was sure. There was definitely an adjustment period b/c I think we both thought we would be having a girl.

But within an hour or so of the appointment - I'm getting very excited about my boy! So there will be another boy in my house with me - after Alex, Pete and Miles.

In other news - I had such a nice day today. I had productive meetings in the 2nd half of my day and apparently it is Boss's Day today. My staff gave me a flower arrangement and a really nice card. Also, my former assistant gave me a plant and a card - the nice part is that about 6 months ago she transferred to another team, and her card said - that she wanted to recognize me even though I'm not her boss anymore, but that she realizes now that she didn't appreciate what she had when she was working for me. That's so nice!

Alex is at his apologetics study - so I used the new BBQ on my own. I grilled corn on the cob and a chicken cutlet w/ swiss cheese and I made a little sandwich with some whole wheat naan bread (Indian flatbread) and roasted a slice of red pepper. The whole meal was cooked on the grill (= no cleanup!) and it was healthy and delicous!

It's a boy!

We just found out! It's a boy!

I have to head to work now, but Alex will take a picture of the u/s photo and I'll post it tonight.

the glorious everyday

In a much older post, I commented about how much joy I get out of being exposed to opportunities to see the wonder that is everyday life. That is, there is so much beauty to be seen in what occurs in plain, old life.

My favorite movie is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It is so because it points out the beauty of life, but what makes it really, really amazing is that it makes you think about what if you lost those everyday moments?

Eternal Sunshine is a story about a couple, Joel and Clementine. Shortly after breaking up, Joel discovers that Clementine has had all of her memories of their relationship erased. Traumatized by the fact, he in turn erases his memories of her...until midway through the erasing process he discovers the tragedy of what he is doing.

The movie came out in 2004 (so long ago!?). I clearly remember seeing it. Alex and I were either still dating or recently engaged at that time. I remember that I cried in the movie, but when it ended, I was so weighted with the message. The memories that hurt the most are those that mean the most to us - how awful to lose them.

I remember walking out of the theater and thinking about how much I love Alex. And even if we broke up, I would never want to lose the memories that I had made with him because they made up a part of me. Outside the theater, I started sobbing at the thought. I must of looked crazy, but I swear that moment is one of the most singular in falling in love with him.

Simpson's Halloween 2008

why is it?

Why don't scissors work in the left hand? I can understand why such a simple engineering concept as a scissor is defeated by the use of another hand...I was trying to trim my eyebrows today with tiny scissors and tried using my left hand...and, nothing. Instead I had to try to contort my right hand so that it could trim the left brow. Thankfully, that worked out alright and I still have two eyebrows.

I'm working at home today b/c I had no big meetings and Alex is going to have to go the school later and doesn't really want the workers to be here alone.

The patio is coming along. I feel like we made SO much progress really, really fast in the beginning and the last 7 days have been really, really slow. Initially we were hoping to be done on Tuesday. But then Monday and Tuesday it rained almost all day - so no work got done. Yesterday the marble guys came and started installing the counter-top on the kitchenette island where the grill is. That is a slow process all by itself. They should be done today and I think the gas guy is coming to run our gas line to the grill. Even though the patio won't be finished, we could theoretically grill tonight or tomorrow.

I'm so ready for it to be done. My house is full of dust from the work. Plus the dogs can't really be in the backyard b/c it's a wreck so we have to walk them throughout the day.

Oh well, that's all the complaining I'll do b/c I'm really happy with how it's turning out and I know that we are blessed to be able to do it.

thoughts on politics - part 1

I'm so proud of Alex, I've turned him into my own personal pundit. Here is his 'white paper' on this year's election: It's long so I will post it in sections...(going backwards so that it reads in order).

I have been thinking long and hard about whether to post about politics here. In the end, Alex put it all much better than I could have. One thing that I can add to what he says here is that I have not, and do not, judge people who have taken the time to search for knowledge of the facts and their hearts to make this decision. I hope that you, my friends and family, will take the time to educate yourselves and make an honest decision FOR YOURSELF.
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First: This e-mail is being sent to you in love. Thank you for reading it, I know it’s a bit long, but it gives insight into my heart during this time.

Needless to say this year’s presidential election is probably the most important of recent history. We are in an unpopular war with no easy way out, an economic crisis nearing the fallout of the great depression, a healthcare system that is the worst among the civilized nations of the world, Social Security which is going bankrupt and if that’s not too much to juggle in our brains we must consider the issues that confuse even the simple elections like abortion, taxes, social services, and foreign policy. How as American citizens and Christians should we make a decision? I don’t want to tell anyone how to vote; I just want to think out loud via this e-mail, in order to lay out my decision making factors and maybe open a dialogue that would help us all consider our priorities and maybe self reflect a little bit on why we are choosing the way we are.

First of, I think its important to say that there is no correct Christian answer. I wish it would be that simple. Many Christians want to make it a clear choice based on one issue over another, but we simply have no indication Biblically that Jesus would single out that same issue and ignore others that are perhaps equally important to Him. For example, we might say that God values human life greatly and cite “Thou shalt not murder” and cite Psalm 139 and Isaiah 44 as evidence that God surely cannot stand abortion, but one can also find Biblical evidences for many of today’s issues and some of the issues are handled differently by the opposing candidates. Almost every political issue can be found in the Bible and God has an opinion on each one. As we’ve been learning in our Revelation studies, God has a clear opinion on how Israel needs to be treated politically. We all know the verses relating to taking care of the poor, the elderly, the sick, etc. God surely has an opinion on how we handle war and contrary to what many Christians say, just because there are many wars in the books of Joshua, Chronicles and others in the Old Testament doesn’t mean that God is for us in every war. Each of the wars covered in those books can be studied separately. I am not going to get into the specifics of the war we are in now or whether I think God is for us or not.

Prayer needs to be part of our decision making process. Even if we all vote differently, Romans 13 teaches us that God establishes every government power according to His perfect will. This does not mean it doesn’t matter how we vote. Our individual actions need to reflect our heart and our Lord.

What I want to layout is the process I am using to separate my thoughts on this and invite you: family and friends in Christ to think out loud with me and correct me if necessary and provide wisdom. I am interested in every opinion and every difference in priority you may have. Please respond and feed my brain and heart.

Statistically speaking, the average American votes on likeability of the candidate and not on the issues themselves. This is just a sad reality to me. I know none of us are going to vote based on that, so we can go ahead and skip that consideration.

Actual considerations to factor in (in no particular order):

1. Experience of candidate
2. Morals. Does the candidate match my moral views?
3. Economy. Which candidate has a better plan for helping us out of this crisis?
4. Healthcare.
5. The War.
6. Foreign Policy.

I want to go through each one briefly to separate which ones I’ve chosen to cancel out over others.

thoughts on politics - part 2

1. Experience. I think the experience of a candidate is crucial if the candidates have similar strategies or viewpoints for our Nation’s future. The experience of a candidate can be the difference in employing a strategy successfully or failing right off the bat. It can mean respect in the global politics or disdain and disrespect. In today’s case however, the candidates could not be more different in almost every issue and factor. If a candidate has more experience but is planning to run the system in a way you totally oppose would you still vote for that candidate just because he has more experience? Maybe the more experienced candidate is also the one you most agree with and then you have an easier choice, but just hypothetically (or really in my case) would you hire a person to be the CEO of a company who has lots of experience but will run the company completely different than the way you want? Or would you hire a younger less experienced candidate who says he plans on running the company your way? I personally would take the risk and choose the latter.

2. Morals. This is the most important of my points and needs the most feedback. This has three sub-points that I’m filtering through.

First. Biblically speaking we know how God feels about abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage and other moral issues. Does this mean that it is the job of the government to enforce these things? Maybe so, maybe not. That in and of itself can be a long-winded argument with no clear winner. That argument interests me very much, but I don’t want to enter into it here for the sake of brevity. Let’s just take the position of yes, it is government’s job to enforce these moral standards. I’m taking this opinion here not necessarily because I agree with it but because in this scenario the morality of the candidate becomes even more important. Even if we should elect a president who will enforce the same values as us, this consideration should be cancelled out based on the fact that the president has no authority over these issues at the state level. Abortion: At best, a president can reverse or influence a reverse of Roe vs. Wade and then the states would make their own laws on the subject, meaning that a teenager who wants an abortion will still get one by crossing the border regardless of who is in office. President Bush is also against abortion and there are plenty of abortion clinics right here in Miami. Gay rights will most definitely be decided at the state level. Stem cell research does get Federal funding and so does Planned Parenthood. This does seem to influence my decision some. The president also has the power to appoint Supreme Court judges, which have some authority on these issues.

Two. Does the morality of the nation actually change by who is in charge? I guess there is some good in this by keeping us from spiraling down in evil and corruption, but everyone’s heart is still just as dirty. The spiritual condition of the people is still the same, we are just trying to protect the innocent from the evil, which by looking at the previous point is not in the president’s authority anyway. Is it possible for a person who is not born again to identify with certain Christian viewpoints? I don’t think they can. The Bible describes those who don’t know Christ as being captive by the devil, (2 Tim 2:26), spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1), they see Godly things as foolishness (1 Cor. 1), why then are we surprised that when we try to force our view on them, they see us as closed minded and hateful? The Bible tells us they are going to react in this manner. When God said “I will write my law into their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10) He was talking about His people only, not unbelievers. Our morality is inherently different from theirs and it is not their fault. If we humble ourselves a little bit, we will remember that we were lost once.
Three. As my friend Abiel has pointed out, does not the moral values of a man provide a foundation where further decisions will be made? This is quite interesting. I would say yes. Without getting into specifics, I would say both candidates lack the moral standard I seek in a president and it is unfortunate we are left with only two options.

thoughts on politics - part 3

This is more of Alex's politics paper....
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3. Economy. This is extremely complicated. Here are the pros and cons I see. In the Republican system there are too many benefits for big businesses and not enough for the blue collar worker. Not to sound childish but it is basically the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We have been eliminating the middle class for some time now. In this system businesses have been laying off their American workforce and hired overseas employees for half the rate.

The Democratic system has bad downfalls as well. Unions can run the country in a dangerous direction. The welfare system is abused and seems to be enabling many people to produce absolutely nothing while collecting checks. Sure it legitimately helps some but I don’t think this is the norm.
The war is definitely a big factor in this that sways my opinion beyond these analyses.

4. Healthcare. Sorry to be so opinionated on this one but I am certain I am right on this. Healthcare will NOT work in a free market. I am not a socialist, I am actually a registered Republican, but this is logically flawed. The “invisible hand” concept envisioned by Adam Smith has made capitalism the best market system in the world for almost any product with the exception of healthcare. In a free market, supply and demand with competition between the suppliers control the system. Profitability drives suppliers to change the quality of their product, their prices, their efficiency in order to succeed. This usually works for the benefit of the buyers by providing an affordable, quality product, but in the case of healthcare it is the very FLAW in the system. Insurance companies can out-profit one another not by proving better service, but by avoiding the unhealthy, high-risk people who need it the most, by spending huge amounts of their budgets on lawyers to avoid paying out and by negotiating down the prices of service with doctors, which results in lists of doctors you can see and doctors you can’t. Universal healthcare is not perfect, but it is far better.

5. The War. I am tired of being the police of the world and the world is also very tired of us assuming this responsibility. Even if you disagree with this point, I think we can agree that we should take care of problems at home first before fixing them in other places. Borrowing 10 billion dollars a month that we don’t have to help democratize a nation that has a 72 billion dollar surplus and many of its citizens don’t particularly want Westernization does not seem smart.

6. Foreign Policy. I believe speaking to other nations is good, even our enemies in a diplomatic way. I agree that we shouldn’t “legitimize” terrorist organizations with our presence, but flat out ignoring them doesn’t seem to be ideal either. I believe we should try to do more of our “policing” in union with the other nations of the world and not think we are above them which is the perception we are certainly giving.

As we choose one of these two candidates compromises will be made. If we were to build the perfect Biblical candidate issue by issue we would end up with Jesus, who will be our King eventually. In the meantime we are left with compromises.
Okay, I’m done. Thank you so much for reading this. Please reply with your thoughts. I promise I will not be offended by anything. Love.

God takes care

It is so cool how God takes care of the little things in this lives of His children. I can't recall whether I mentioned this in an earlier post, but Alex has been working every single day for the past two weeks. He's been shooting on weekends and then trying to work on photos, oversee the patio work, and manage the school during the week. He has only been able to get to the school 3 times in the past two weeks. He's exhausted.

In addition, he was selected by Big Folio for a feature. Big Folio is a company that designs website templates and and a slew of other services for wedding photographers. Some of the biggest name photographers use them to host their websites, as does Alex. Anyway, periodically, they select a photographer and film a video about how the photographer uses Big Folio tools to maximize their workflow. So the videographer was scheduled to come on Wednesday (yesterday). On Tuesday night, Alex was stressing badly b/c he had been so busy that he hadn't even been able to think about what to say for the video shoot.

So within the first 10 minutes of getting together, Alex learns that the guy is a Christian. What a blessing - God knew exactly how to put Alex at ease. The chances of this were SLIM. The guy is from Seattle, just FYI - Seattle and Miami are the 2 most un-churched cities in the US (Seattle #1, Miami #2). It came up b/c Alex was asking what else he films - and he mentioned that the vast majority of his work is shooting Christian Snowboarders in the NW. So they had a great day - shooting footage of Alex demonstrating how he uses Big Folio tools at home on his computer while doing post-production on weddings. Later, he filmed Alex doing a photo session with a couple - we recruited our good friends Lauren and Brian from church - they were great models.

The next thing that God did to take care of Alex: after dropping the videographer off at his hotel, Alex started stressing about all that needed to be done today - mostly that he HAD to get to the school, but he also couldn't leave the workers unsupervised. So, this morning, it was super-cloudy and kind of rainy and the main guy calls and says that they think it would be best not to work today since they are laying tile in an uncovered area. It was such a load off of Alex.

It's so cool how God cares about the little things in our lives. He really wants the best for His children.

hello from Albuquerque

So, here I am in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'm attending the CityMatCH conference (the MCH is for maternal, child health). It's been a decent conference; overshadowed by the fact that I'm all by my lonesome and that is no fun. I got here Saturday, took a bus to 'Old Town' which is just that old Mexican-style buildings that now house store after store of torquise jewelry and indian art. I did find a cute little boutique of cute clothes and jewelry. I had dinner at the world's slowest restaurant - ate the BEST spicy salsa I've ever had. Apparently, NM is famous for growing red and green chiles so it was super fresh.

Last night the conference had a Friends of CityMatch dinner at a museum. I went to that and sat at a table full of other women there by themselves. We had good conversation. I came back to the hotel, ordered some milk and watched TV.

Today will be a long day, full conference stuff but then nothing to do tonight. I am thinking about taking a cab to a mall.

Things that are good: I go home tomorrow after my presentation the morning. It is officially Fall because Starbucks is back to serving Pumpkin Spice Lattes (my FAVORITE!), I am hopeful that I'm on the verge of beginning to actually look pregnant and not just fatter.

I'm SO behind...

I'm seriously behind on blogging - both reading them and writing them. But things have been busy. I'm ridiculously tired right now, but I just spent the last 10 minutes or so catching up on Emily and Lourdes' blogs and I feel guilty about how silent I've been. Here is a run-down of what's been happening.

- Alex decided that baby preparation #1 for our home was to renovate our patio. So we've been planning that. The redo involves: extending our patio by two feet and raising it two inches, removing the tin roof and installing a prettier wooden, taller roof, building in a grill and outdoor mini-kitchen (my only demand was for two ranges to cook stinky food outside), running our gas line to the grill, and then new tile on the patio. So that started on Monday.

- Working, although most of that has been nonstop meetings, I don't feel like I've been productive enough.

- Got burned out on politics during the conventions, took a politics vacation, but I'm easing back into it now.

- Went to dinner w/ my parents on Saturday, discovered when we got home that Miles had sneaked out of the house when we were leaving. Thankfully, he was found by friendly dog lovers in the MEDIAN OF A MAJOR INTERSECTION! They called us from his tag, but also took him to the vet to have his microchip scanned. We were so grateful for this. I can't imagine if we had lost him or he had been hit by a car!

- Shot a portrait session after work today for a Quince that we are shooting next saturday. Why I'm so tired right now.

- shooting a wedding on Friday night (again) after work (sigh)

- I leave on Saturday for New Mexico to attend a conference where I'll be presenting briefly on Tuesday on my school nursing program. This is the CityMatCH conference for state/local maternal child health public health professionals.

Finally!

So I have finally begun to feel better, yay! Last week, I had a fair amount of energy all week at work and through this weekend.

This morning Alex and I decided at the last minute to get tickets to the opening season Dolphin game against the Jets. I was super excited, we just picked up Chad Pennington (from the Jets) as our quarterback. And the Jets picked up Brett Favre. That's huge. If you don't know, the Dolphins and the Jets have a huge rivalry and there are a LOT of Jet fans down here.

So we left church after the first service, changed clothes and headed up to the stadium. We were there in time to tailgate some with Alex's brother-in-law. That's always great b/c they are hardcore tailgaters and always have awesome, awesome food.

Unfortunately, it was obscenely hot today, over 90 degrees. So we had to leave our seats and watch the game on the TVs inside the stadium. At that point it kind of sucked that we had spent the money to do that considering we could have gone to Scully's by our house and done the same thing. However, the excitement is still fun, so I don't feel too badly.

Labor Day happenings

Alex and I had a pretty nice Labor Day weekend, we were busy most of the time but not doing anything major.

Friday evening we confirmed in our minds, again, that the economy is slowing down. I haven't eaten fish in MONTHS and was dying for some, so we went to Bonefish Grill - one of my favorite restaurants. On a Friday night, that place usually has a 45 minute or longer wait. We got a seat immediately, which was great b/c as usual, I was starving. I got Chilean sea bass and that made me very happy.

Saturday, we went to the viewing for Alex's high school friend, Carlos, who was hit by a car a short time ago. He was killed instantly from what they say. He was jogging. It was very sad, especially knowing that he was not a Christian. I think that was my first real non-Christian funeral and I found it very hard to think of comforting things to say. There were probably 400 people there.

Sunday, we did church and then had lunch w/ Alex's parents an did some shopping w/ them. Monday we went to the Home Show with my mom and later went to Alex's parents house to swim in the pool.

The highlight for me was that each day of Labor Day weekend, I fit in a good nap. Today I was the least tired I've been for a while. I am chalking it up to getting a boost of naps for several days plus sleeping solid each night over the weekend.

1st ultrasound

So today was wonderful with our ultrasound. It made this very very real. I think that there were three just absolutely awe-inspiring moments. The first is when he first zoomed in and you can actually tell that this is a baby; the second is when you see the baby actually just moving around on its own; and the third is hearing the heartbeat. We both got all teary-eyed. Alex asked to hear the heartbeat three different times.

It was funny b/c the guy is trying to take measurements of the baby, but every once in a while it would turn around so that he couldn't see. So the tech would jiggle by belly to try to make it move back. Alex got so upset - he told me later that he didn't like that "because you're not supposed to shake babies." I am laughing again just writing that! I reminded him that I shake the baby more than that when I walk - and anyway the baby is floating in fluid so it's really just rolling around.

Will have Alex take a picture of the ultrasound picture tonight so that I can post it.

Elle's Murder Mystery Dinner

For their daughter's 18th birthday, our friends Jamie and Dave threw their daughter a murder mystery dinner party. It was VERY cool, there were about 40 guests all with assigned parts. The story: the wedding of the daughter of a mobster family marrying the son of a gold-digging family. Someone dies....

August is always our slowest month here in Miami due to debilitating heat, tropical storms etc. So we have been enjoying some time off and these opportunities to play with friends.

The birthday girl, Elle - also the bride. Check out that rock....





Wedding guests





The bride's parents (he's a mobster) during the toast.



The murder....



That's me, the grandmother of the bride (an old italian lady - I'm old-school mob). I'm also a bad actress....



The groom discovers that his bride is murdered. He's the most obvious suspect.



The investigation...





By the way...the groom was set up, his brother and father were trying to collect on a life insurance policy they took out on the bride. Dirty.

Really Good Question

This was a great question in my comments section that I wanted to post, since some people may not read them:

Anonymous said...

Dear Shaleen, quick question, who is paying for the salaries of all Trust's staff while they are working at voting sites? I agree with the Trust's mission, don't get me wrong, but I find it troubling that as a taxpayer, I may be paying for staff to conduct a political activity regardless of its good intentions.

August 19, 2008 9:02 PM
Shaleen said...

Good question! I had to take vacation time to help with the campaign. The Trust has been very strict with that. Nothing for the campaign can be done while at work or with work computers cell phones, etc.

Back to this post:
It is in fact against the law for taxpayer money to be used for campaign purposes. This is why over a year ago, a political action campaign was created. That group began fundraising and raised over $1 million for campaign ads, flyers, yard signs etc. Most of the money is for campaign ads given that they are the most expensive part of a campaign. For most of the past year, the PAC has been staffed by just two people - a campaign manager, a political strategist who is doing this pro bono. In the past month or so, they were joined by a team of volunteers (a LOT of college students home for summer).

For most of the past year, Trust staff were, purposely, left completely out of the loop with regard to anything related to the campaign - for the simple fact that we actually wouldn't be able to answer questions on work time b/c we don't have the information.

In the past month, when the campaign really got started is when many of us contacted the campaign to see how we could help - and they gladly accepted since the early polling was not looking positive.

Anything that I do about the vote, sending emails, making phone calls etc is done in the evenings and weekends. The only time I'm actually taking off of work to help is the rest of this week and election day - the 26th.

I would add, that the majority of the staff aren't working full days like I am. I just finished a major deadline so I had some 'downtime' in my schedule, so I decided to take the time off. Most people who are volunteering, Trust staff or not, are doing it during weekends when there are more people voting.

Pics of Miles

Okay....by popular demand here are the photos of Miles with his horrible haircut.





This is an older picture - this is how most of my blogging happens:

Early Voting Locations

You may be thinking that you are tired of hearing about the vote for The Children's Trust. Well, too bad. We are exactly ONE week away from the actual election day - August 26th.

I will be working for the campaign on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at early voting sites. Thursday and Friday I'll be at the Kendall Branch Library and Saturday I'll be at the Coral Reef Library. If you haven't voted - feel free to pass by and VOTE.

This week open from 11 to 7; and Saturday 9 - 1 and Sunday 1 - 5.

North Dade Regional Library
2455 NW 183rd St

West Dade Regional Library
9445 SW 24th St

Lemon City Library
430 NE 61st St

City of Miami- City Hall
2500 Pan American Dr

Model City Library (Caleb Center)
2211 NW 54st

West Miami City Hall
901 SW 62nd Ave

Florida City- City Hall
404 W Palm Dr

North Shore Branch Library
7501 Collins Ave

Coral Gables Library
3443 Segovia St

Miami Lakes Public Library
6699 Windmill gate Rd

West Kendall Regional Library
10201 Hammocks Blvd

Aventura Government Center
19200 W Country Club Dr

Coral Reef Library
9211 SW 152nd St

Miami Beach City Hall
1700 Convention Center Dr

John F Kennedy Library
190 W 49th St

Kendall Branch Library
9101 SW 97th Ave

North Miami Public Library
835 NE 132nd St

Elections Dpt. (SOE Branch Office)
111 NW 1st St

South Dade Regional Library
10750 SW 211th St

butchering the dog

I can't believe that Alex and I are actually going to be entrusted with a CHILD after what we did to Miles.

If you look on the right, you can see what a beautiful dog Miles is. You may remember a post from several months ago after we first shaved Miles at a groomer. Well, the groomer is expensive ($80!) - so we figured that we could do it ourselves.

We bought some clippers yesterday at Petsmart and went to work. Unfortunately, the clippers didn't come with a guide to raise the level of the cut from the bare razor. So Alex went back and got some, but those just didn't work. So we decided to 'go it alone'. Alex has a steady hand, right?

Basically, Miles looks like a drunk blind person shaved him. Poor thing, there are at least 8 different spots where the razor cut down to his skin and he is almost bald. The rest of him is just patchy all over like we sheared him with rusty scissors.

Poor thing. He was so beautiful. The really hysterical thing, is that he has an appointment at the vet tomorrow for his annual shots. They are ALL going to make so much fun of him (us). I'm so embarrassed.

I will post a picture very soon.

Seriously, people

Ok. If you live in Miami and you read my blog, you NEED to read this post. If you read my blog and you skip over these things - then just stop reading in general because this is more important than the day-to-day junk I do and write about here.

I have posted so many things about The Children's Trust on my blog. And I just want to get this out on the table that I don't get the word out because I work there; I do it because I believe wholeheartedly that it helps children and families. I don't just believe it, I know it. Through The Children's Trust I have seen:

-a girl who fell at school who went to the see the nurse, she had a bump on her upper thigh that was swelling. The nurse did not like the bump and was concerned. She advised the mother to take the girl to the ER. It turned out the girl, who had fallen off a slide had ruptured an artery in her leg and had surgery the same day.

-blind babies who have the opportunity to enroll in vital programs with trained specialists who help expose the babies to activities that stimulate their other senses. These skills are critical to help blind babies not to lose certain development skills they are at risk of losing without proper exposure.

-Parents who are able to enroll their children for free in afterschool and summer camp programs where their kids can do all kinds of activities like theater, art, kayaking, rowing and robotics. These would never be free generally - and it's not just for poor kids it's for ANY kid.

I don't care about my job. I love my job, but I can always work. I don't care if I lose my job, I'll find another one. If The Children's Trust doesn't get reauthorized - this community will NEVER make this kind of investment for kids. Not in my lifetime, not in yours. This costs the average homeowner in Miami just over $1 per week about $61 per year.

VOTE YES ON AUGUST 26.
TURN THE BALLOT OVER, WE ARE ON THE BACK.
EARLY VOTING IS OPEN NOW EVEN ON SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS.

Just awesome

I hope that you watched the Opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. It was honestly one of the most amazing and beautiful things I've ever seen. I know that sounds like I'm exaggerating - but I'm not. If you saw it you understand.

It was perfection. The show involved over 15,000 performers who never performed in more than one show. Each 'show' involved a sea of 2008 people who were involved in elaborate and highly complicated coordinated dances, movements, drumming, tai chi and karate. We were blown away. If you saw it, I think that my favorite was the concentric circles of tai chi and karate. All 2008 performers were involved in tai chi and karate in perfect concentric circles around the stage. But they would move together so that the circles would periodically change shapes and then return, perfectly into circles. There were no marks on the floor or anything to show when to stop - they were just perfect.

Apparently the opening ceremony alone cost over $300 million dollars. Which is completely outrageous - but I will say, that it was mind-expanding art that was beautiful, complex and really did evoke a lot of emotion.

I looked on YouTube and NBC to try to find pictures or video but I can't find any...so sorry, if you didn't see it.

A funny thing happened

A funny thing happened on my way home from work today. I was sitting at a red light on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. I was the first car and this guy in his mid-twenties was crossing the street. He was well dressed and generally well put together, except, I thought to myself "he needs a haircut" his hair was too bushy. So he crosses the street and walks straight into a Super Cuts!

Isn't that funny?!

out of sorts

I'm really sorry that I haven't posted in a while. When I started this blog (and Alex's photography blog) - people would always ask where I found the time to write for both of them and do all of the other stuff that I do. I don't know, blogging just isn't very hard, I would say. Well, lately, everything is hard. I am tired all of the time. And some days, like today, I'm beyond tired. So given that general lack of excitement in my day-to-day life, blogging has been hard.

Today, I actually fell asleep in church! I was horrified. Thankfully, I go to a leader service where we watch the service on a big screen on DVD, since I serve during the main service. I guess that I fell asleep and woke up when my head bobbed. No one noticed, but I don't usually do that!

This afternoon, Alex and I went to the Sports Grill for wings. As usual, I moved from really not very hungry to debilitating-ly hungry in about 5 minutes. This just made my tired-ness worse and being hungry kind of makes me nauseous. So we're sitting at the table in the restaurant and Alex asks if he can do anything, I say no. Then he says "you look like you're about to cry". I said, I think I am and then got weepy and just said how tired and hungry I was. What a wreck. He just laughed at me --but I'm sure he also thought I was crazy. Then I ate and felt SO much better - not a 180 degree difference but definitely over 90 degrees.

So...that's why I haven't blogged. If I do anything else as interesting as get overly emotional in a sports bar again, I'll be sure to post.

Now I think I'm going to make some brownies. That makes Alex super happy -- (and I don't mind them either!) ;)

The Miami Herald recommends

OUR OPINION: THIS GROUP BINDS OUR COMMUNITY TO A COMMON PURPOSE
Posted on Sun, Jul. 27, 2008


Six years ago, voters in Miami-Dade County approved the creation of The Children's Trust by an emphatic margin of nearly 2 to 1. This was a clear signal that our community wanted to invest in children and make their lives better. In the ensuing period, the Trust has built a remarkable record: It delivers what was promised; it has created a transparent, accountable, trustworthy organization that binds our community to a common purpose. The name says it all: The Children's Trust. Voters have every reason to continue supporting this winning project.

You will have the opportunity to make the Trust a permanent part of our community when the issue comes up for renewal on the Aug. 26 ballot. Voters should be just as emphatic as they were the first time in saying Yes.

In a way, voters took a chance in 2002. They were willing to set aside public money to provide a funding base for children in desperate need, but it was impossible to say specifically -- without the required needs assessment -- what programs and services the Trust could offer. Today, they know. As President and CEO Modesto E. Abety has said, the Trust has transformed the way services are delivered to children and families in Miami-Dade County. It invests $100 million or more a year by funding nearly 300 programs and agencies designed to help the target community.

By delivering the funding to established organizations rather than operating programs itself, the Trust ensures that 92 cents out of every dollar goes for services rather than administration. This fulfills a pledge made at the beginning that the money provided by taxpayers would be well spent.

The needs are so great, and the range of programs so broad, that it is impossible to list anything but a fraction of them in this space. They include everything from delivery of healthcare to fostering early learning to violence-abatement to promoting job and artistic skills in young people.

The 211 Helpline operates a 24-hour switchboard that connects parents and youths with programs and services that offer help. A $1 million grant to the county funded 68 community arts programs that involved more than 142,000 children in 2007. Nearly $50 million will be invested this year in summer and after-school programs.

Another $27 million will be used as part of a health initiative administered in collaboration with the school district and other community health providers. Among other things, this program helps to put nurses and health practitioners in schools. The needs are even greater today than they were six years ago as public schools cut back in practically every area of funding as a result of a reduced budget that, in turn, reflects the economic downturn.

Taking care of children doesn't come cheap, but here, too, the Trust offers a good return. It costs the median-assessed-value homeowner $61 a year -- 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value -- to fund the project. This is slightly more than $1 per week, less than what many of us pay for a bottle of water. The ballot will ask whether the Trust, the independent special district for children's services, should be renewed.

The vote should be YES.

Old news - but still news

I have no excuse for not posting lately. Well, I do, kind of. As you know I was in Dallas, and when I arrived home on Monday night I started getting a cold that hit me Tuesday. I was laid out on Tuesday b/c my flight got in after midnight, I had a cold and I was nauseous. So I guess I did have an excuse after all. I think I could have handled two out of the three of those, but not all three. I got to work late and left early.

But Dallas was great. I had such a nice time w/ Lourdes, Jamie and Sienna. Dallas is an awesome city! It is very multicultural and has lots of cool stuff to do. They live in a really cool part of town. There are TONS of fresh and organic markets everywhere. We ate a lot - they took me to have: Indian buffet (one of my faves), Tex-Mex, TX BBQ at a place with amazing southern-style rolls, Italian, super-fresh salad (after I demanded healthy food!)...what else oh yeah, I made Baked Ziti one night...yeah, lots of food.

Here are a couple of pictures that I stole from Sienna's blog on my trip:

Hello from Dallas

So I haven't posted in a while because I've been in Dallas visiting Lourdes, her husband Jaime and their 11-week old baby, Sienna.

Dallas is HOT - it is way hotter than Miami. We've had an exciting time so far - we've had a lot of fun in between numerous diaper changes and feedings. So far we've gone to the Dallas museum of art, we've gotten pedicures, we've eaten LOTS of good food - Indian, tex-mex, bbq. Oh man, I've been full almost the entire time I've been here.

Spending time watching Lourdes be a mommy has been so amazing. It's so cool to watch her with Sienna. It really is a new chapter in life - she's the same person but a Mommy - it's so cool. Watching her soothe, feed, cuddle and kiss Sienna is so sweet - but just as sweet is watching Lourdes get so upset when Sienna is crying and can't be comforted. She's such a mommy. We've been trying to get Sienna to take breastmilk in a bottle and it hasn't been going well and Sienna gets really upset. Poor Lourdes at those times.

Pictures will come later.

Time for Some Campaignin'

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

best post EVER

That's right. WE'RE PREGNANT! Praise God!

Please excuse the fact that I'm all puffy-faced - it was early in the morning and we had both been crying. We took the home test on July 4 and had it confirmed on Monday by our fertility doctor who did my blood work every 48 hours last week. My numbers look really really good, more than doubling every time. The nurse said they look perfect for a natural conception (which this was).

I know that it is really early to be telling people. But we have every bit of faith that God has brought us through the hardest time already just getting here. This is our faith-baby! Also, we told a few people at church and then it got out pretty fast, so today at church we told pretty much everyone else.

The baby will be due between March 14 and 17. The OB we saw says the 17th and the midwife that we interviewed says March 14. Whatever, babies are hardly ever born on their actual due date.

We are SO excited!

Vote YES on August 26!!!

Here is some information about my company, The Children's Trust. It is 5 minutes long but totally worth it. If you live in Miami - this is an agency that was approved by voters in 2002 and we are up for reauthorization. We are funded through property taxes - but the median homeowner contributes just $61 dollars annually.

Just look at what we are able to accomplish!



It is vitally important that if you live in Miami that you VOTE YES on August 26. This is not a big-turnout election - this is the only important decision on the ballot (sorry to all the judges on the ballot). Our fate will be decided by less than 150,000 voters! (in a county of almost 2.5 million people!)

Learning from the Master

On the 4th of July, we went boating w/ my parents and my brother Aaron and his wife Shanda were in town. We had a great day, but while putting the boat in the water, Alex dropped his phone and it fell in a puddle. As he points out - his phone the ONLY puddle of water outside of the ocean. Lucky us.

Anyway, on saturday, Shanda called Sprint to "see what they could do for us". A replacement phone would cost $300 and we didn't have insurance. She explained that we can't purchase a new phone, we have been Sprint customers for over 4 years, and we pay our bill on time each month on auto payment. They representative added insurance to the phone, then told us to go to a corporate repair center and if they couldn't fix it that they would give us a new phone.

That was a bunch of baloney. We went to the store and the manager said that the rep was off her rocker - that everyone knows that a water damaged phone has to be dealt with only through the insurance - and he has no ability to give replacement phones. He says to make a claim to our newly acquired insurance policy.

We do that and the rep there notices right away that we purchased insurance on the phone the same day as the claim. We have to fill out an affadavit and fax it to them. We do. They call Alex and say that they have access to all of our Sprint records and they see that the insurance was bought after we damaged the phone and that Sprint essentially just instructed us to break the law.

So. Just now, I called Sprint. I am SO proud of myself. I thought long and hard about how Shanda acted on the phone. She didn't get angry, but she did state firmly when she was treated poorly. She rewarded help whenever it was given. she was polite. So I called. I explained to the rep the above situation. She said that water damage had to be handled through insurance. I said, "Yes, I recognize that, however at issue now is that a Sprint representative has made a series of major errors. I need to know how Sprint is going to compensate me for that." She put me on hold - her supervisor's offer: 100 bonus minutes. I say - "You aren't offering me anything, I currently use 300 minutes less per month than I purchase - You've offered me nothing of value. I want a replacement phone at the price that you are currently offering on your website of $29.99 for new customers. Or I will cancel my contract right now, and you'll just have to send my fee for breaking contract to collections."

She sends me Account Services - where they send the desperate-almost-ready-to-cancel customers. The new lady says, How can I keep your business, I understand you have a problem with a phone." I say, "No actually, I have a problem with sprint customer service over a phone". I explain the whole situation.....she is overnight expressing us a FREE replacement phone!

I can't believe it. I am NOTORIOUS for losing my cool, my temper, and all sense of self-respect in situations like this. But watching Shanda taught me SO much about how to handle those situations! Amazing.

This blog is dedicated to my sister-in-law Shanda.

Senior Douchebag

Just listen - this is awesome. This guy is a "real catch" Listen to the whole thing, it's 4.5 minutes long but it's totally worth it, gets better and better through the message.


http://view.break.com/527579 - Watch more free videos

updates

Hey people -

So here are a couple of quick updates -

First, please pray for Alex's niece Isabella. She's been in Miami Children's Hospital since Sunday morning. She has a kidney infection, she's been running fevers off and on since Sunday yesterday it went up to 103.5 and today while I was there it spiked out of nowhere to 104.1! Poor thing. She's 7 years old.

Second, the vacuum tips have been good. This is what I've heard: several people really like the Rainbows - but I learned that it is also a steam cleaner and I don't know if I want that. Two people I know who have Dyson's LOVE them. One woman at work said her daughter has one and that it (quote) will probably be the last vacuum she'll ever buy and that if she has to replace her electrolux at anytime she will definitely buy a Dyson now that she's used it. Dang, expensive vacuum cleaner. I just don't know if I can swing that price tag. My search will continue.

proper credit

Ok - so I need to give proper credit where credit is due for that recipe a couple of posts down.

I thought that Ann Marie gave me the recipe as Billy Jack had prepared it - it turns out that what she gave me was his recipe combined with her own personal touches (e.g., feta and spinach in the pepper!) Touche, Ann Marie - that was a very good touch!

I took one of the leftover peppers to work today for lunch and it was quite a topic of conversation!

naked romantics

I don't think that this is real - but it's really well made and, yes, it made me cry:

Recipe sharing.

This blog post is dedicated to Crissa's boyfriend Billy Jack who made stuffed peppers for Ann Marie and Eddie when they visited them in Asheville. Ann Marie raved over the dinner and cooked it here - she gave me the recipe and I cooked it tonight ASAP.

I'm posting the "recipe" as I got it from Ann Marie and then I'll add a couple of comments on what I might change later. The meal was amazing (I'm not really a stuffed pepper fan - but I will be adding these to my dinner repertoire)

Peppers stuffed w/ turkey and cous cous, served with sweet potato:

Cooked a package (1.3 pounds?) of lean ground turkey meat with onions, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder....once meat was browned I added chopped spinach, a box of whole wheat garlic/olive oil cous cous (that I had already prepared on the side), and at the very end some crumbled goat cheese.

Stuffed 4 big yellow peppers with the mixture and baked at 400 for 12 minutes or so (until the pepper felt tender-ish; I like mine still a little crunchy so you might modify that part)

For the sweet potatoes (3 big ones) I diced them into small cubes and cooked them in boiling water until tender. Then once the peppers were stuffed and in the oven i put the potatoes in a baking dish and added 2 tablespoons of margarine, some salt, cumin, and cinnamon. Then I put them in the oven for a few minutes until the butter melted and stirred them up before serving.

Shaleen's possible modifications, all based on trying to make the inside less crumbly - it was delicious but messy - all the inside fell out when cut open.

Next time I would:
Cook the meat less, I fully fully cooked it, I would probably cook until just barely browned or slightly pink and then bake longer.

Maybe beat an egg in a separate bowl and add a tiny bit at a time to the mixture so that it would bind it all together.

Bake a little bit longer - my peppers were warm but pretty much totally crispy.

advice anyone?

Hello - sorry I've been gone for a bit. I haven't felt like I've had much to say lately, hmm. I did do some work on the blog, though - as you can see on the right-hand side of your screen, I've added labels to almost all of my posts. So that's a good thing.

Here is where I need some help. I want to buy a vacuum. A good one. Right now we have some super-lightweight bagless thing, but I think that the filtration is really bad - because it seems to blow out unclean air (think hot dog-hair, yuck). I'm kind of over it. Plus with the two dogs, we really need a good vacuum. They bring all kinds of dust and dirt. We have white tile floors in most of the house - so it shows!

Does anyone have a vacuum that they particularly love or hate? I want to know if you hate your vacuum too. I have been reading some reviews and I like what I'm seeing about Dyson vacuums.

Oh, Happy Sunday!

Alex and I thoroughly enjoyed our Sunday. We went to church this morning which was good. At church I lead the group of volunteers at our Downtown campus who are caring for the infants through 2 year old children. I have not always really known how to talk to kids. But I think I've found my niche with the little ones. I still am at a loss when it comes to older kids - but the little ones are cool. I'm actually getting to where I can engage a 2 year old and get them all to do the same thing. That's cool.

Then, Alex and I spent the afternoon in bed watching the tv-movie premier episode of the SciFi Channel's remake of Battle Star Galactica. Ann Marie and Eddie suggested that we watch the series. Oh man, it's awesome. We are hooked. It's your typical sci-fi story: man creates robots, robots get smart, try to overthrow mankind. But in this series, mankind and robots (cylons) come to a diplomatic agreement which stays in place for 40 years...until the cylons come back in the form of humans and launch a surprise attack. Then mankind is on the run from cylons in an effort to recreate mankind. So that's where we are now - but it's really well made and the characters are complex.

Plane crash @ gas station 8 years ago

The gas station didn't explode and no casualties. But that's not the amazing part....

Hello - so I'm sorry that I haven't blogged this week. This week has been busy, not bad or good, just busy. Work has been good but stressful. We're in the middle of tough negotiations with some of our larger contracts - these are the times when I get to really practice management and business tactics. It's good, but I'm trying to soak up new skills from my peers and also apply what I know. BTW, I totally recognize that this little bit wasn't very interesting. Alex swears that it takes months of ongoing conversation before anyone begins to kind of figure out what I do for a living.

So, this week: Alex just got a new extra-wide lens to go with his new Nikon D3. He actually just took a picture of me writing this blog. I'll post his play-time shots later.

I don't really know if any of you also read our photography blog. If you recall, we hired April Greer in Seattle to take photos of us. I blogged about those shots today on that site. Mostly b/c we are trying to get some help deciding which pictures of us we should put up on the blog.

So we NEED YOUR HELP. Below you will find four of our favorite photos that feature the two of us. We would replace the pictures of us that are currently on the blog with one of these. You, our readers, need to VOTE AND TELL US WHICH ONES TO USE IN THE BLOG.

NUMBER 1


NUMBER 2


NUMBER 3


NUMBER 4


These are some of our other favorites: Look how handsome my hubby is! She captured his playfulness but also the fact that he is really a deep thinking intellectual (which he is!)