Do You Think I Am An Automaton?

Jul - part 2

2012-01-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

Me adding the lights to the tree before we decorate

Matthew's sister, Ann, posted on Facebook a bunch of pictures from her trip here and I stole them and here they are in this post- a mishmash of stuff we did. There may be another post as she uploads more. Okay, I asked her permission to use them- after the fact. Thank you, Ann.

A flower vendor on Stroget (the walking street) gave Olivia this rose and she was so excited. She carried it around the entire day.

This is the Round Tower on Stroget. You can walk all the way up the building on a winding ramp like floor. We went up to the top where you can look out 360 degrees over the city. We stopped for Olivia to hide and look in windows in the floor and take some pictures at the Kissing Bench.

Our little family

Ann and the kids

Matthew and the kids

View from the top

Ann at the top of the Round Tower

Walking outside

Lego store on Stroget

Matthew and Graham at a church - one of many amazing ones in Copenhagen

Grundtvig Kirke - church right by our apartment

Graham without his snow suit

Ann with a Fransk hotdog. Come and visit me and you shall taste this awesomeness!

Sleepy Boy

Bug in our 'hood

Bug and her crew

BFF - Ann and Olivia

We had such a great time with Ann. As that lady from "The Titanic" said to her sinking lover who she couldn't possibly have made room for on her piece of wood floating in the water at the end of the movie "Come back! Come back!" Come back, Ann! We miss you!

Glædelig Jul!

2011-12-26T04:50:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!

Ann and Bug

We had such a nice Christmas this year! Matthew's sister, Ann, is here visiting us from Bloomington, Indiana where she is going to school at IU, working on her Master's degree. We have not seen Ann in about a year and a half. The last time she saw Olivia, Olivia threw up on her and she has never seen Graham. Ann is just so fun and laid back and the perfect addition to our Christmas celebration! We went to Sweden the day Ann arrived, December 17th, for an early Christmas at Lars' and Ulrika's house. They went to China for Christmas to be with Matthew's other sister, Lee and family. We spent Christmas Eve and Day with just our small group. Ann leaves on New Years Day so we still have a lot of fun time with her this week.

Olivia was so excited to decorate the tree. As per the Cox tradition, we had Cheese Party while we decorated the tree. It is the best tradition ever! We listened to Christmas music, ate all kinds of cheese and crackers and chips and meatballs with Julmust and Fanta. Olivia really put up so many of the decorations and was very serious and methodical about it. The three of us were kind of being slow and silly and eating and Olivia was really concentrating on it. It was so cute!

In Denmark, the traditional Christmas meal is Flaeskesteg (pork roast) with potatoes, candied potatoes, red cabbage and Ris Alamande (like yummy rice pudding). Matthew makes this every year and it is perfection!

Christmas Eve

Christmas morning

Olivia with the reindeer Ann gave her for Christmas. She loves it!

Olivia and her new backpack. She looked so old when she put this on.

Happy Graham in his new Christmas clothes from Grandpa and Grandma Cowgur

This is Olivia from last Christmas, 2010 at our apartment (we used a lovely branch as a tree).

Today, one year later in the same dress and socks. I can't believe how much she has grown!!
It was a great Christmas and I am looking forward to New Years!

Video of our apartment- do yourself a favor and turn OFF the sound. Olivia is in the background whining that she wants to watch the video I am filming.

Merry Christmas until next year!

This is NOT blood

2011-12-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Olivia has started to no longer take naps. I write it so simply and without emotion, but that last sentence is one of the saddest I have ever penned (can you say "penned" if you type it??).

Olivia still benefits from a half hour or so break in her crib with her pacifier of quiet time (so do I) so whether or not she takes a nap, she goes in her crib every afternoon.

In a should-have-been-unrelated-matter, Matthew got Olivia some markers. Olivia has used markers before and, of course, loves them but she does not own any by design because they make such a mess.Well, Matthew got her some and after she used them I put them on top of her dresser where she couldn't reach them.

Matthew put her down for her nap. We heard her talking and stuff and even yelling out at one point but nothing alarming. I went in there to get her after awhile and this is what I found (besides her 80's bedhead hair):

I jumped a little but was not too freaked out by what she had done. Apparently when she is in her crib she can reach the top of the dresser. Awesome! She was not at all troubled by what she had done- which surprised me as I thought about it. I would have thought she would be laughing and proud of herself. The great thing for me was that she only drew on herself. Not on her white crib or sheets or the white walls or the natural wood floors or even her clothes. Crazy kid!

Lighting of the Christmas Tree at Rådhusplads

2011-11-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

It is Christmastime!! We went to downtown Copenhagen for the parade and lighting of the Christmas tree. The parade starts in Nyhavn, which is a really nice part of Copenhagen right on the water. It is where you always see the tourist pictures of Copenhagen with the colorful buildings and the ships in the foreground. Santa and Mrs. Claus showed up and took pictures with kids and there was a marching band playing and all kinds of fun stuff to look at.

Graham loved all the commotion.

Then Santa climbed up on a fire truck with Mrs. Claus and a horse drawn old time fire engine followed behind along with the marching band and a bunch of cool old cars. The parade went from Nyhavn to the walking street (Stroget) and all the way down along the walking street. Everyone shopping stopped to take pictures and watch. We walked along with the parade all the way down to Rådhusplads.

Video of the parade down Stroget

Rådhusplads

Look! Occupy Copenhagen!

After some standing around and some speeches, Santa climbed up the fire truck and lit the tree. It was spectacular! After it was over we started to walk to the bus to go home. Olivia became hysterical because she thought that Christmas was over and she was very upset. On the bus I explained to her that Christmas had really just begun and we looked at Christmas lights from the window. It was so fun and reminded us of our old tradition of going to Prescott, Arizona every year for their parade and lighting of the tree. That little town sure knows how to put on a parade.

Video of Santa lighting the tree

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

2011-11-13T05:58:00.000-08:00

Graham is almost always happy. He is such an easy baby! He will be 6 months old in a few weeks and still everyday I look at this happy kid and cannot believe how good natured he is. Some photographic proof:

My favorite thing is these two laughing together. It is the best sound!

Helsingør

2011-11-11T11:53:00.000-08:00

I love this sign. There are a few of these on the sidewalk leading up to Kronborg Castle.
Once a month the trains and busses are free in and around Copenhagen and so Matthew and I decided to take a trip North of Copenhagen to a little town called Helsingør. This castle is the setting for Shakespeare's play Hamlet.
I took a trip up there in March when my friends Laura and Kiana came to visit, and Matthew has been there years ago, but it was the first time for us going together. More than that, it was just a fun place to go on the free train! I packed up some picnic food and put on the kids' snow suits and we went to catch the bus to the train. It only took about 45 minutes - an hour to get there with switching trains once. The castle is so beautiful. I am not a great picture taker, I wish I was, and I know that my scenery shots are especially lacking, so for some good pictures of the castle and tons of information about the history of it, which is very interesting, you can go here.

View from the street as you are walking around the castle to enter.

Once you enter the courtyard of the castle you come upon a moat which you can see in the background there. We enter this magnificent area and just wander around and are amazed by how cool it is. Olivia found a few tiny models of the castle and was putting grass and flowers inside the model castle. Here she is standing in the presence of this amazing piece of history that is hundreds of years old and all she wanted to do was to play with grass and flowers. Oh, and look at fountains. She just loves them. I love that kid.

We missed being able to take a tour of the place by 3 minutes- we didn't realize it was closing so early. We blame that on the 10 minutes it took to pry Olivia away from the fountains.

A couple of tourists decided that they would try and climb one of the castle walls, so Olivia ran right over there to try and do it too.

A random Indian family stopped me and asked if they could take a picture of me and Graham. I was wearing him in the Baby Bjorn. Okay, weirdos. They were very nice but I just couldn't imagine why they would want a picture. The funny thing was that they wanted to just take the picture quickly and be on their way. Nope. I don't think so. You are a stranger and want to take a picture of my baby? Well then there will be small talk. I will ask you if you are in Denmark for long? Where are you from? What brings you here? Do you like it here? It was clear that they did not want to chit chat but I was going to get something out of the exchange other than the weird feeling that came over me as I imagined them back in India showing their Denmark pictures with us in it to a large group of more strangers and what they were saying and stuff. Weird.

The town of Helsingør sits on the coast and you can see Sweden from there. I believe it is where Denmark and Sweden's land masses are closest to each other. The view is amazing!

Matthew and Olivia being sad penguins. Sad Viking Penguins.

Olivia making her most Vikingest face

On the way home on the train Matthew entertained the crowd, and more importantly Graham and Olivia, with his game of cups. Unfortunately I have no pictures of that. All in all, it was a great day!

Christmas in September

2011-11-01T16:41:00.000-07:00

Matthew's dad, Rod, and his partner, Paul, came to visit us a few weeks ago. They stayed with us in Copenhagen for a number of days and then went to Sweden to visit Lars and Ulrika and see the countryside and then came back to Copenhagen for a few days. We had such a great time! Olivia loved Grandpa Rod and Paul and was especially delighted to have them stay with us. We went to so many amazing Copenhagen sites, some of which I had still not been to. Rod and Paul were so generous to treat us to food and entertainment and even watched our kids for us one night so we could go out just the two of us. I just loved having the opportunity to spend time with them and get to know them better.

Paul, Rod, Olivia, Matthew

View from the Rundetårn (Round Tower)

Grandpa and Olivia

Paul

Boarding the boat tour in Nyhavn

Paul

Olivia

Rod and Paul

Like Father, Like Son

Bedtime

Olivia and Graham with the stuffed animals Rod and Paul brought them

We decided to make the traditional Danish Christmas dinner (pork roast with potatoes) for Rod and Paul and invite Lars and Ulrika and family from Sweden. It was so fun! Rod demonstrated how to make his awesome snowflakes and it added to the festivities.

Lisa and Olivia

Then we went with Rod and Paul to Sweden. We stayed at Lars and Ulrika's for one night and then headed back to Copenhagen while Rod and Paul stayed in Sweden. Lars and Ulrika made the traditional Swedish Christmas dinner and it was so yummy!

Olivia and Lisa

We were sad to see Rod and Paul go but had such a fun time with them and hope to see them again soon!

Halloween

2011-11-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Halloween this year was a little more mellow than last year and certainly all years before. The holiday is not celebrated here in Denmark. The Danes do have a holiday in April called Fastelavn where kids dress up and ask for money door to door. They also beat a bucket with a cat in it. We did that this year and it was fun too. Nowadays they do not actually put a real cat in the bucket, at least not at the kid party we were at) but once upon a time they did. So I think Danes can kind of relate to our Halloween but they don't celebrate it. Last year we went to Sweden to celebrate with Lars and Ulrika and family and went Trick or Treating to houses in their neighborhood. We had such a good time! You can see that post here.

For Halloween this year we dressed Olivia up as a punk rocker. Matthew egged her hair and I put a little eye shadow on her. We used one of Graham's shirts for the top and the high tops Emily gave Graham (for future use) to complete her look. Olivia was pretty skeptical about the hair at first, but Matthew distracted her with candy and all was well! We invited Olivia's little Danish friend, Alma, and her mom, Maja, that live in one of the apartments below us to come Trick or Treating with us. Both girls were so excited. I dressed up Graham as well. He seemed very happy about it, as always!

I went up and down our building to each door ahead of time and gave our neighbors candy to give to the girls when they knocked. A few neighbors were really nice and said they had candy they would give them. Here are the kids before we went Trick or Treating:

When we finished going to the doors in our building we headed back to our house for some hot cocoa and treats. The girls ran around our apartment screaming and eating candy- high on sugar. As the night progressed they looked more and more crazy...

...by the end of the night, Olivia looked like she had seen some hard days as a punk rocker...

We had a great night. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Olivia

2011-10-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

Most of the time Olivia acts her age- 2 1/2 years old. Every once in awhile, and it has become increasingly more often, she acts like a mature girl of 12 or so. If I stub my toe she will instantly turn to me and ask, "Are you okay, Mama?" and she will kiss my toe. Sometimes when I put my shoes on she will get down and fasten the straps for me. Sometimes when I am cutting a piece of bread she will reach out and hold the rest of the loaf down for me. Sometimes when Graham cries out in frustration or boredom she will pat his head and say "It's okay, Graham". Sometimes she sits in the windowsill, so wistful and carefree. Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am to have this girl.

BUG

2011-10-26T11:57:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Bug! 6 years of crazy, neurotic, sweet, awesomeness! On Christmas morning, 2005, the first year we were married, I made Matthew abandon his pork roast in the oven and drive with me to Queen Creek to "help me pick up another Christmas tree for my mom". It was an unbelievable excuse, but then that was part of the fun. As we drove out Matthew was nervous trying to figure out what was going on. We pulled up to the house and rang the door bell. Who should answer the door? Two of the craziest looking adult Boston Terriers you have ever seen- both wearing bandanas. It was awesome! Then Matthew knew for sure why we were there- to get a puppy. The owners let us in the backyard to look at the puppies and pick one. There was a big, perfect female that Matthew immediately wanted, but she was already sold. There was a male puppy with perfect markings as well. Matthew really wanted a big Boston with perfect markings. I saw this one little runt looking up at Matthew so sadly. This little puppy just sat and stared up at Matthew as he was looking at the other puppies. Matthew asked which one he should get and I said he had to decide- but I loved the little runt. Matthew picked her and we took her home right then. "The best Christmas present" Matthew ever received was named Bug on the way home. Matthew had been wanting a Boston for years and wanted to name it Bug. So... to the cutest, dumbest, sweetest, most annoying dog ever... we love you Bug! Happy Birthday- we hope for at least 6 more with you!
Please view these pictures from our adventures with Bug over the years...

This last one was taken about a month ago. She is America's Gentleman.

Note: as I am rereading this post, it seems a little like a tribute to someone who has died. I must assure you all that Bug is alive and well... I am just feeling sentimental about her right now for some reason!

Home

2011-08-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

In August I flew back to the US for three weeks for the wedding of my little sister, Ellen. The only thing that could get me back to Arizona in the Summer is the weddings of my siblings or closest friends. I was not excited about returning to that heat! Ellen wanted to get married before the Fall semester of her husband's schooling, so August it was! Seeing her get married and really just the whole day of activity was truly one of the best experiences of my life. I was a little hesitant to go only because of having to travel with a 2 month old and a two year old, but it was well worth it! Now I am back home in Copenhagen with pictures to document the trip!

Ellen and Matthijs

The beautiful bride

I had so much fun doing wedding things with Ellen! We went shopping for lingerie, her luncheon dress, wedding shoes, gloves and generally just did all the bridal shopping. I just loved it! I did Ellen's makeup and hair for the wedding and it was just so fun to bond with her in the ultimate girl's activities. Ellen looked so beautiful and I am so excited for her and her new husband, Matthijs!

Olivia had so much fun playing with Greg and Emily's kids- Zuzu and Linkin (pictured)
She also had so much fun with Marie's kids and Carl's kids. It was so fun to see her with her cousins and it made me sad that she will have so little interaction with them.

Olivia had the biggest crush on Grandpa. All she wanted to do was see him and talk to him and play with him. Here is she a little scared on the lawnmower.

Graham

Olivia eats some Dairy Queen

Weird car seat stare down

Well, there is really so much to write about this trip but I have been home for over two months now and I just don't feel like dragging it out! Maybe I will on future posts. On to other things! So long Arizona! I can't say when we will meet again!

Camo Babies

2011-07-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I put Graham's camoflauge shirt on. Olivia has a onesie that is camouflage that she has grown out of that I still let her wear as a shirt, tucked in you so can't see the snaps. It works great! I thought about sewing it into a shirt but want Graham to be able to wear it once he is bigger. When Olivia saw Graham with his camo on, she said- "Olia wear that shirt!" So she went into her room to put on her camo shirt. Once I saw them all matchy matchy I had to take some pictures. Matthew came in to take a few and asked- "Since when are we dressing our kids in matching clothes?" and then he asked "and why are they wearing camouflage?". I was kind of thinking the same thing as the photo shoot played out but I couldn't help myself!

-Oh, final thought- Matthew and I want to try and see if we can get Olivia to do that huge smile for every picture taken of her until she is at least 16. Do you think we can do it?

We're Like This All the Time

2011-07-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

I had the best day yesterday! I went out by myself for an hour and a half or so and went shopping! Matthew watched the kids for me. Graham is just about 6 weeks old. I have not been out by myself since before he was born and probably longer. It was great! I rode my bike to H&M and bought a few things. It was raining pretty steadily and I must say it felt great! On the way there it was just barely sprinkling so I had a dry shopping experience, but on the way home I got soaked. I loved every minute of it! I love riding the bike! Matthew said it best when he said that is makes everything seem whimsical. I think I smiled the whole ride home in the rain. Also, I am not going to lie, I hummed this song the entire time. I am not ashamed! I am sure I looked ridiculous riding my bike soaking wet with the biggest, dumbest grin on my face. What a fun, new combination of awesome things- shopping, raining and bike riding. If only I played tennis in there somewhere it would have been a perfect day.

Me riding in our complex, about to park my bike

Next item of business, Matthew has been growing out his beard for the sole purpose of torturing me, despite what he says. He has been growing it for about 3 weeks. So yesterday he decided to make his move. While I was sleeping he sneaked into the bathroom and shaved this atrocity. Behold the worst Matthew has ever looked:

Apparently, Ambrose Burnside, the man who is responsible for the modern day sideburns, was Matthew's inspiration. Awesome.

Ambrose Burnside

Graham Patrick Kaare Cox

Someday maybe this kid can grow such luxurious facial hair and he and his father can both torture me. That actually sounds pretty awesome if I am being honest!

Friends

2011-06-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

Graham is just about two weeks old. One of my greatest concerns about him joining our family was how Olivia would react to him. So far, it has been wonderful! Matthew and I really focused on trying not to change our routine too much the first week and to spend a lot of quality one on one time with Olivia. For the first week, I spent a lot of time breastfeeding, but when I wasn't, Matthew had Graham so that Olivia saw that we were still going to cuddle on the couch when she woke up and read books at her leisure and play outside and all the things we try and do everyday. Towards the end of the first week I started integrating Graham into the routine slowly. Olivia took it very well. She thinks Graham is the cutest, sweetest baby. She loves to check for dirt between his toes as she does her own toes, obsessively. She likes how he grips her finger and the "penguin noises" he makes. Olivia is always helpful as she will bring me diapers or pick out Graham's clothes or bring Graham some imaginary treat. Anytime he cries she tells me he is crying and will try and give him one of her stuffed animals, usually her favorite Winnie the Pooh ones. She is just so sweet and has shown no sign of jealousy- so far. It makes me so happy!

I try not to ooh and awe over Graham too much when Olivia is around but as soon as she goes to bed he is all mine! He is such a cuddly little baby and really likes to be held right up again the chest. He sleeps and eats constantly. When Olivia was just born she slept the first day but after that it was game on to get her to go to sleep. There was so much rocking and walking and singing to get her to stay asleep. Graham sleeps for hours at a time, wakes up to eat, then goes back to sleep for hours and hours. As you see, I don't have one picture here of him with his eyes open!

His hair is looking more and more red. When he does wake up, if he is not fed immediately, he freaks out. He screams in anger. Olivia slowly started boiling over after a few minutes if you didn't give her enough attention at that age. Graham the Red, his Viking nickname, is like a powder keg when it comes to eating.

I think Graham and Olivia look similar as babies, minus the hair color. Here is each baby in their first week of life in the same onesie and same pose:

Olivia

Graham

More pictures:

Him

Her

Friends

I am pretty excited about this relationship too but I will save that for another day!

Dad Times Two

2011-06-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

We had our baby on June 1st! His name is Graham. He has very blond hair that has some red in it. His eyelashes and eyebrows are white. He was 8 pounds, 9 ounces when born. Today is Father's Day in Denmark. I tried to make Matthew breakfast in bed but Graham started crying to nurse while the bacon and pancakes were on the stove so Matthew had take over and basically make his own breakfast! Lame! He appreciated my efforts though, I think.

Happy Father's Day, Matthew, to the best husband, dad and friend!

Tea Party

2011-05-28T04:39:00.001-07:00

Olivia loves feeding, diapering, wiping, putting to sleep and waking up her "babies". She spends hours doing this and it is so fun to watch! She often shuts her bedroom door so I can't watch but sometimes she humors me! It is my favorite thing!

København Brandvæsen

2011-05-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

The Copenhagen Fire Stations hold open houses with fire demonstration for kids for 5 or 6 Saturdays in the Summer. My Danish friend, Lene, told us about it and so we headed down there this morning. The open house started with the firemen lighting a barrel on fire and putting it out with different methods. That lasted about a half hour. Then the kids were free to wander from fire truck to ambulance to the fire hose and get some hands on experience with all the equipment. They gave out fire safety vests and a fire helmet- which Olivia loved! It was such a fun time! We love Copenhagen!!

Matthew wanted these fire suits so badly!

Video below: Olivia on fire hose- I was having technical difficulties with the camera and didn't get her holding the hose for very long!

Perfect Sweden

2011-05-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

Olivia, Joar, Love, Lisa

We went to Sweden this weekend to visit Lars and Ulrika and family. The weather was amazing! We have, of course, been to their house many, many times, but this was the first time we have gone when the weather was so perfect for being outside. All of the flowers and trees were blooming and it was just a wonderful time to eat some food and hang out with their family. Ulrika made Flying Jacob for dinner which is this awesomely unexpected Swedish dish of chicken, whipped cream, ketchup, bananas and sunflower seeds or nuts. It was so tasty! Then she made a rhubarb pie/crumble that was so tasty. Ulrika used rhubarb from her garden. She is definetly one of the funnest cooks I know! We always love going to their house. Olivia had a great time with Lisa. They are really close in age and make a cute and funny pair!

Olivia, Lisa

You can see my 9 month pregnant body in the background- note the tent-like drape of my dress!

Below: video of the kids jumping on the trampoline with a very quick scan of the backyard.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

2011-05-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I called my wise sister, Marie, to get some motherly advice from her. I was ready to try potty training Olivia and knew Marie was the person to call and ask about it. Marie has three kids and potty trained them all at or around 2 years old. Olivia turned 2 just over a month ago and my baby is due in 3 weeks, so I think now is a good time to give it a go.

I won't give any real details because those of you who have been through it, I am sure, are happy to never relive it and those who have not been through it should remain blissfully ignorant of the whole ordeal.

I talked to Marie last weekend and then decided I would potty train her starting the next Friday. I usually don't work on Fridays, but I ended up having to work so I pushed it off until Saturday. Saturday went okay, but we did not make a whole lot of progress. We continued Sunday morning. As I was on my knees cleaning up the third pool of pee for the day, I realized it was Mother's Day and thought to myself- why the freak did I plan this for this weekend!? Oh well. It made me feel more like a mother I guess, and I little like a maid. It was all worth it though when we went to church and I picked Olivia up from her Nursery class and she has made me this bookmark that she had glued hearts on and punched holes in. I am not going to lie, I got all teary eyed! The first handmade gift my child has ever made for me! Next Mother's Day I will have an almost one year old. Freaky!

Matthew also took me out to lunch a few days ago, made me dinner tonight, got me some candy and Danish pastries and is going to watch any stupid movie I want to! I am one lucky mother.

Happy Mother's Day to me- and to you!

Picnic in Sweden

2011-04-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

We Live Here

2011-04-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

Spring is peeking it's head out today! I am slowly coming out of hibernating for the winter and it feels so good! Today I took Olivia out with me to go downtown and drop off some tax paperwork. I did not take the stroller; Olivia and I just walked. I am 32 weeks pregnant now so I get nervous when I do not take the stroller. Carrying Olivia for any distance is somewhat painful and totally exhausting. She has been doing very well with walking on her own and listening to me and holding my hand as we walk, so I went for it!

We walked down to the bus and I put her in the window seat and sat down next to her while we traveled through the streets of Copenhagen. It was so nice outside- about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. I am so thankful that it is finally warming up! We both had light jackets on and tights with skirts. It felt so good!

Olivia and I talked about the people, bikes, birds, cars and buses that we saw out the window and especially concentrated on what colors we saw. Olivia is starting to get good at recognizing and identifying different colors. As we were riding past the water I realized that Olivia had been silently looking out the window for at least 2 or 3 minutes and just looking at the swans in the water and the green trees and grass and all the amazing buildings everywhere. Behind us a young kid was listening to his earphones VERY LOUD and we could hear a Rihanna song playing and Olivia started humming along. I just looked at her and was loving her profile and I couldn't believe how old she is and how much personality she has now. Mostly I was struck by how beautiful Copenhagen is and how unbelievable it is that Olivia will grow up here (maybe?). (I am not going to lie, I also thought about how beautiful Olivia is, but you can't say too much of that type of thing or you start looking like a weirdo. ) I did not see this kind of architecture and greenery until I went to London for the first time when I was about 25. Olivia sees it every day and she just turned 2. I am just so happy for her to have this opportunity to be living here in Copenhagen with us!

It was a really good day walking around downtown for a bit. We stopped at H&M and got Olivia a birthday present (a little belated) and she wanted to carry the bag the whole way home. I no longer have a baby, I have a little girl.

Picture from Copenhagen Cycle Chic - didn't have my camera on me today but the view was similar to this...

Olivia and Santa

2010-12-18T06:36:00.000-08:00

Copenhagen Christmas

2010-12-18T05:54:00.000-08:00

Olivia loves to look at Santa. She opens her own advent calendar and gets a piece of chocolate everyday, so she really likes Santa. It is funny though because she has no idea that he is going to be bringing her presents. We are spending Christmas at Lars and Ulrika's house in Sweden. I am so excited!! Below are pictures we have taken around Copenhagen- mainly on the walking street.

Matthew's favorite store, Royal Copenhagen, is located on the walking street and every year they decorate Christmas tables with different themes that are very elaborate. Here are a few of those tables:

Below are pictures of the lights around the walking street:

Julekalender

2010-12-15T15:11:00.000-08:00

It is Christmas time! In Denmark starting December first, the main television stations begin playing Julekalenders. Similar to an advent calendar where you open one door a day and eat the candy, you watch one episode of a series a day. The episodes are maybe 15 or 20 minutes long. One of my favorites that Matthew, Olivia and I try to watch every evening at 5:30pm (if we are home) is called Sebastian's Jul. It feels so Denmark to me! I love watching it. HERE is the link for the first episode.

To choose from the list of episodes, while you are watching the first video, put your cursor over the picture of the video and a menu will pop up called FLERE PROGRAMMER. Click there and you can choose episodes 1 -15. Epidsode 16 will be up tomorrow. It is such a fun show! There are a lot of animals and Sebastian makes a lot of tradition Danish foods and crafts. Yes, you will not be able to understand any of it, but just like me and Olivia, you will like it all the same!

Pasty

2010-11-17T11:07:00.000-08:00

I talked to my mother in law, Janet, on the phone last week and she told me that she just went to the Cornish Pasty restaurant in Tempe and I started craving a pasty so badly!! Oh man! I wanted a cottage pie pasty more than I can say! So I, of course, spent the next two evenings googling pubs and restaurants trying to find a place with pasties or bangers and mash or cottage pie to satisfy my craving. We had the absolute best pub food in London when we were there and I wanted it again so badly. My search ended in failure as I did not find anything that looked promising. Aside from pub food, there are so many other food I have been thinking about- a lot! Let me take a quick moment and list the restaurants in Arizona that I have been thinking about for the last month or so:

-Indian Grandma- (that is what we call it. The lady that is always there serving is like our dear, sweet Grandma- even though she was sitting at a booth plucking her eyebrows with a tiny mirror that one time). I think it is called Royal Taj on Broadway and McClintock. I get the Chicken saag (spinach) and Matthew gets the Tikka Masala. It is so good!!!

-Indian Delhi Palace- On McDowell in Phoenix - Matthew and I get the same dishes as above, they just taste different but awesome! Courtney knows this place rocks!

-Blue Adobe - Country Club and Main - I love the Enchanted Garden Enchilada. All tasty vegetables and cheese and creaminess!!

-Taco Bell- Mesa- I know it is wrong... but I want a bean and cheese burrito so bad! And cinnatwists! And a Tostada.

-Filiberto's- Mesa- I know it is really wrong... but Oh sweet bean and cheese burrito with their perfect hot sauce!

-Pizza Pit - Dobson and Baseline- This place has the best pizza! The crust is awesomely sweet. Their cheese bread stuff is so good too! GO there!

-Euro Cafe - downtown Gilbert - Butter garlic nuts!!!

-Cornish Pasty- Dobson and Guadalupe - Every pasty is so good, but the Cottage Pie is my favorite.

-Baja Fresh - Mesa - I want to go here with Jenny and get a chicken quesidilla with guacamole and that black salsa and sour cream and tomatoes so bad it hurts. Their chips and salsa make me so happy!

-Bahama Bucks- Mesa - Jenny! Please go get me a Strawberry Colada ice cream/shaved ice treat like in the old days (2 months ago)!

-Ted's Hot Dogs- Broadway and McClintock - Chili Cheese Dog!!!! This place is so tasty and we always seemed to go after a long day of manual labor. Mmmm!

-India Star - Los Angeles, California (on Melrose Avenue)- It was rare that we got here, but this place has the best buffet of all time. If you are ever in LA, you must go here! Lacy, take Megan and go there for me!

-And for some reason I want some gum drops- the spice drops, so badly! They have gum drops here but not the spicy ones. My friend, Rory, at work was bringing them a lot the last few months I worked at MRM and I got really hooked on them! Matthew was sweet to bring me some here and they were good but not spicy!

Back to the pasties... So, I decided to make pasties at home. I did the traditional pasty instead of the cottage pie, nothing too crazy. The recipe basically calls for potatoes, lamb, turnips and onion. It was near impossible to find a turnip here for some reason, so I went without. I forgot to take pictures of the pasties, so I am going to steal a picture off of the website where I got the recipe. My pasty looked every bit as professional as the one above, I assure you. Actually mine were pretty rough looking (no symmetry and the pinches were not great) but I was happy with them.

Matthew and I settled in to eat them that night and they turned out so good! The crust was so crumbly and buttery and delicious. Now I want to start experimenting with different savory types as well as dessert pasties. I am so excited! Matthew said that "we are really onto something here". I will translate for you- let's make this every night.

I used this recipe from Connie, an older lady who grew up in Cornwall- or so she says. It really could be some young dude from Texas who wants the Cornwall cred on this pasty site, I have no idea. The recipe is fantastic, though!

We are having our friend, Stine, over for vegetarian pasties next week, so I am starting to come up with something in my head. I think we will need apple caramel pasties for dessert!

The Talent

2010-11-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

We got a call on Friday last week from the people at http://www.workindenmark.dk/ to see if we would participate in a survey. About a month ago we contacted the WorkinDenmark organization, which is basically an arm of the labor market here geared towards foreigners, immigrants, expats- any non-Danish person that is thinking about coming to Denmark to work or is in Denmark and looking for work. We met with a guy named Martin and he helped Matthew and I with some job searching tips and changing our resumes into CV''s and other job search related items. I guess Martin gave our names to an outside consultant for Work In Denmark and they contacted us to participate in the survey. The Work in Denmark website is being overhauled and they want new video and pictures and new stories about people coming to Denmark.

Matthew and I agreed to the interview, thinking it would be very casual and only take a few minutes. The lady who coordinated everything sent Matthew an email over the weekend with an attachment with all the details. I guess we both just assumed it was not a big deal so Matthew didn't open the attachment until about half an hour before we were about to leave Monday afternoon for the appointment. As he read the attachment, he came across a list of about 30 detailed questions that we should be prepared to answer like:

- Why did you decide to move to Denmark?

- How did you navigate the green card process?

- What has been the most difficult thing about moving to Denmark?

- If you could rewind time and go back to the few months before you left your home country, what would you do differently to prepare for the move to Denmark?

- Are you doing fine so far? (I thought that was a really funny question!)

- If you have work already, how is the office culture different than the culture in your home country. If you don't have work yet, when you think about your future job, what do you think the office culture will be like?

After we read through the questions, Matthew gets to the part in the email where it says that we should be prepared to be filmed and to have HUNDREDS of pictures taken of us. WHAT?! Funny story, the night before, Sunday night, Matthew decides to shave his goatee. He has been wanting to for years and years but has been nervous about how it will look. He finally does it the night before the biggest photo shoot of our lives- besides our wedding! What are the chances?!Once his brain registered the situation he was in, there was a little bit of a freak out. We got through it. For the record, he looks great!

We took a bus to the building we were asked to meet at. It was a really cool building right on the water's edge. We walked into the lobby and were met by a nice lady and a professional camera man. They took us outside to the water's edge and had us walk back and forth towards the camera while acting natural. I was pushing Olivia in her stoller. The camera man took many different angles and got up in Olivia's face a few times which was funny. We did that for maybe a half hour. It was freezing outside, the coldest day so far here in Copenhagen. I just kept thinking how awesomely rosy my cheeks must look!

Then we went inside and upstairs to a really nice office where there was a reception area with all kinds of treats and food. There was juice and tea and coffee and coffee cake and cheese cake and cookies and fruit and vegetables- it was so fun! They told us to help ourselves. When we arrived, a second person, a nice Danish man, started asking us a lot of questions. Matthew went first and I kept Olivia with me. He was in the office for almost an hour and I just assumed he was being asked all the questions. When they came out they said that they had just finished photographing him! For almost an hour! Then they wanted to photograph Olivia and Matthew together. Then me and Olivia. And then just me. They talked to us during the shoot and got us to make gestures with our hands and stuff. It was so bizarre, but fun. When the pictures were done they sent the photographer away and then took Matthew back in the office and asked him questions with professional sound recording equipment. He wore a headset like you would in a radio booth or something. I went in when he was done to answer all the questions and he watched Olivia. We were there for about 2 and a half hours!

At the end as we were wrapping up, the people offered to pay our bus fare to and from the meeting and told us that they would like to give us a Christmas gift worth the equivalent of 1000 Kroner (about $200). He said they could not give us cash. He gave us his card and told us to email him and tell him what we want for Christmas! It was so funny! We will probably just ask for a gift card to a department store here like Illums or Magasin. We have had our eyes on a few things. This, this and this. The whole thing was really fun! The people in charge of the project were really nice and funny and they treated us like we were The Talent. It was a fun day! The website overhaul should be done next year - around March 2011. There is a very good chance we will be on the website looking very awkward! If/ when we are on the site I will post it here!

Tivoli Video 3

2010-11-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

Scroll down to October 25th to see the first Tivoli post...

Tivoli Video 2

2010-11-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Rod and Paul

2010-11-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

A few days ago we received a large package in the mail. It was addressed to Olivia Cox. She opened it and inside were four Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals shipped all the way from Portland, Oregon. She loves them! Olivia already sleeps with a stuffed dog that my friend Rory gave to her for her birthday that we brought with us to Denmark. She also sleeps with a doll we bought here in Copenhagen. Now she tries to take all four Winnie the Pooh animals into her crib and sleep with all of her favorite toys! I usually only let her bring in one or two, in addition to the dog, and she usually picks Piglet or Roo. Thank you so much Rod and Paul!! It was such an unexpected and much appreciated present! I showed her a Winnie the Pooh video on YouTube and she grabs each animal as it comes on screen and kisses it or makes it dance or pushes it up against the computer screen. You guys are great! We love you!

Halloween in Sweden

2010-11-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

We spied these cute ghost cakes at the bakery next to our apartment!

For Halloween we went to Lars and Ulrika's house in Malmo, Sweden. It was so fun! The house was decorated so cute and festive and there was candy everywhere! Olivia and Siri dressed up as mummies. Joar was a vampire. Love was a zombie/ monster of some kind. Matthew and I went to IKEA and bought a couple of cheap sheets and ripped them into strips.

Olivia sat there patiently while I wrapped her. I don't know if she was so compliant because it was already well past her bedtime or because Siri was also getting wrapped, but she just sat there and let me do it. I was so happy; I had planned on her struggling!

Finished product!

Olivia was okay holding Siri's hand for a second and then she looked up and kind of freaked out at Siri's costume!

Olivia loved Trick-or-Treating! She got so excited and just mesmorized by people putting candy in her little cauldron. It was great!

Ulrika holding Lisa, Love, Siri, Joar, me holding Olivia and Lars and Matthew behind where you can't see!

It was a really fun night and Olivia loved it!

Tivoli

2010-10-25T02:51:00.000-07:00

We went to Tivoli the weekend before Halloween. It was decorated with more pumpkins and hay barrells than I have seen in my entire life! It was so fun! Tivoli is an amusement park in Copenhagen. We went with Lars and Ulrika and the kids.

Tivoli Entrance

New Apartment- Part 1

2010-10-21T01:40:00.000-07:00

Here is our new apartment. I did not film my bedroom because Matthew is sleeping in there (sicky). I will also film the kitchen and bathroom later when I have more time to tidy up a bit!

2010-10-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some videos from around the city.

We went to the downtown area and walked around near the Hans Christian Andersen statue.

Nearby Cemetary

New Construction Area on the Water

Olivia

2010-10-20T05:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a few videos of Olivia. If you love Olivia you will love the videos. If you don't love Olivia, these may just be annoying videos of someone's kid!!

Olivia and Matthew Swing

2010-10-20T01:19:00.000-07:00

5 Weeks

2010-10-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Nyhavn - downtown waterfront

Christiansborg Palace - home of the Danish Parliment and the Royals

We have been in Copenhagen for well over a month now. I swore on my last post that I was going to write often, and I still plan to, but we have had some complications. My internet was a little funky for awhile and then my computer went a little crazy. Then we moved to our new place and didn't have internet set up for about a week and so I am finally up and running. I don't have much time right now to write a lot, so this is going to be a summary of the last 5 weeks and then I will add more details and pictures tomorrow.

Week one - two: Sleep, Eat, Walk around Copenhagen. We have walked so many miles around Copenhagen. I have seen the most amazing buildings and parks. The first few weeks I just walked around all teary eyed- I kept seeing the most beautful sights I had ever seen. I felt like a I had been wandering in a desert (literally?) and was now shown green for the first time. I am being a little dramatic, but I really could not get over how green and lush and beautiful everything was for the first few weeks. I still feel that way, but it does not overwhelm me now- for the most part. When I went to London a few years ago, it was beautiful, but this has raised my definition of beauty just a little. Nothing against London- I love that place!

We have been down to Nyhavn, the waterfront. There are cool, old, colorful ships lining the harbor, tasty looking restaurants and a ton of people. We have been to so many sights that I can't think of them all anymore. I will start including pictures here soon. We went to the Copenhagen Zoo. It was so fun and you could get so close to the animals. We went with our Swedish friends Lars and Ulrika and their kids. We also went across the water to Malmo, Sweden to stay with them a few days after that. I didn't get to see much of Sweden, but I hope to soon! What I did see was so pretty!

By far the coolest experience I have had here was in a church called Vor Frue Kirken (Church of Our Lady) in the downtown area. This church houses the original Christus statue. The church itself is amazingly beautiful. The architecture is so grand. The aisles are lined with statues of the 12 apostles and there is a woman statue 20 feet or so from the alter. Those statues alone are amazing. As you walk in a look ahead all the way to the alter, you can see the statue of the Christus up ahead. When you walk all the way up there and stand up close, the statue looks so real. It is also quite a bit bigger than the ones I have seen in Mormon temples. As you stand in front of the statue with the organ playing and look up it really feels like you are looking at the reality and not a statue. I can't adequetly express the amazing experience it was to stand there in that church and so I won't try anymore! I plan to return to that church many, many times.

During the second week we had a little bit of a scare because we went down to the local immigration office to register and receive our CPR numbers (like social security numbers, kind of) and cards. Getting these cards gets you access to the free healthcare and registers you in the area and is a vital step in the process. When we sat down with an agent at immigration and showed them our green cards that are stamped into our passports, the lady told us that our green cards are invalid and that she could not issue us CPR numbers. She said that we had to have arrived in Denmark within 3 months of having been issued our green cards. We were issued our green cards in April and we did not get to Denmark until September. They expire if you don't arrive after 3 months, apparently. No one told us that. It was not on the paperwork anywhere that we received with our green cards, the only expiration date on our green cards was 3 YEARS away. We were shocked. And scared. And angry. Mostly scared. The lady told us we had to go down to the main immigration office on the other side of Copenhagen to figure it out. They were already closed by then so had to wait until the next day. Matthew and I were both forming a game plan in our heads for what to do if we got kicked out of Denmark. We could move to Sweden- move in with our dear friends Lars and Ulrika until the green cards got reissued. We could move to the Polish countryside temporarily and find work in the fields. We could go to Germany??? At that point we did not know if they would reissue them. I think we both thought realistically that it would get straightened out and they would issue us green cards and everything would work out, but I was worried that this might delay our access to the healthcare. The rest of that day and the next morning we worried about it and hoped it would be alright.

The next morning we took the bus and then walked to the immigration office. As we walked in we could see it was PACKED. We took a number and just as we were walking in the main waiting area, a Muslim woman in full dress stopped us and told us that we could have her number. Matthew and I were like- okay, thanks. We didn't really look at our number yet or what number was up yet or anything so we just kind of said thank you and went to go sit down. As we sat down and looked at our number, the number that was up next and the number that the lady gave us, we started freaking out! We had something like number 259. The next person to go was number 198 or so. The lady gave us number 210 or so. We were so excited! We felt like it was a break and hope it continued! We met with another immigration lady and she straightened everything out, issued us new green cards and then sent us back to the local immigration office to get our CPR numbers. We were so happy!

Week 3 - Finding a New Apartment- Matthew spent hours and hours trying to find the 30 day apartment we had at first. He got a lot of responses from scammers trying to get him to send them money, but mostly did not get a lot of possible apartments. It is difficult because we have a dog and a baby and need a fully furnished place and didn't want to sign a lease or anything. We had so much to do before we left the United States that we realized Matthew could not continue to spend two hours a day hunting for apartments so he thought of the idea to contact a place he liked and just offer a lot more than the landlord was asking for. He did that and we secured the 30 day place quickly!

Matthew starting looking for our second apartment once we had been there about a week and a half. There is a lot of competition for housing here. He looked for a few days and found a cute place that had just been posted. Matthew emailed and called and he was the first to go see the place. Apparently the landlord had just posted it and received around 200 calls in the first two days! Matthew went to see it that night and came home and we called the guy and accepted it that night. We feel really happy that we got it! It is tough here and we have the dog, a baby, we need a fully furnished place and the fact that we don't have jobs. That makes landlords nervous! So, we moved in about a week and a half ago.

Week 4- Moving In - One of our friends, Stine, knows someone who has a car and she helped us move all our stuff into the new place. The furniture that is already here is okay. We don't love any of it, but we don't hate it. We can work with it- we are just happy to have a bed and a couch. Oh! And the landlord left silverware, plates, pots, pans- a fully stocked kitchen! It was such a blessing! I can't imagine how much money we would have to spend on those things! We have done a lot of moving furniture around and we cleaned every surface in the entire place. I will post video of it tomorrow, I love the windows and the light and that it is twice as big as our other place. We desperatly need rugs and art to make the place look more homey, but that will take some time. The location is good. We have a beautiful cemetary really close (in Denmark the cemetaries are like parks you can just stroll through and look at the amazing foliage). We also have a really cool church (pictures below), a fun downtown area about 15 minutes away that is all immigrant shops with Middle Eastern pastries and fruit stands and buffets and grocery stores. Most everything in that area is Middle Eastern. We are really enjoying it so far!

Grundtvigs Kirken - in our neighborhood

Week 5- Maybe We Should Stop Slacking Off and Look for Jobs - We met with someone from workindenmark.dk - a job search help resource that Danish Labor puts out there to help Danes and immigrants find jobs. The guy we met with went over our resumes and gave us good revision tips and good job search resouces. It was a very beneficial meeting. We have a ton of work to do on the job front!

Olivia got sick last Wednesday. At first it was just a cold. Then it turned into a bad cold with some kind of eye infection. The infection really kicked in last on Saturday morning. We waited until Monday morning because we kept thinking her eye would clear up on its own and the cough would subside. They didn't. We took her to see a doctor on Monday (yesterday) around noon. The doctor said her eye was infected and prescribed her some medicaiton- some for her eye and some to take orally for her cough and cold. I got her home and gave her the medicine and put her down for a nap. An hour later she woke up crying and would not stop. Then she started throwing up. And throwing up. I tried to call the doctor but she had gone home for the day. We called the after hours line and they told me to take her to the hospital to see what was going on. We walked down to the hospital- it is only about 15 minutes away (the most beautiful hospital I have ever seen, by the way). When you get to the hospital you just slide your CPR card in a little reader. No paperwork, no check in, just slide it and go sit down in the waiting room. We waited about half an hour and then saw the doctor on call. He examined her and said she had an infection in her lung and her eyes. He said that she was throwing up because she probably did not have enough food in her stomach when she took the medicine. He told me to keep giving it to her but make sure she eats more and come back if there are any problems. The doctor was not worried about her and that made me very happy. The other thing that put a huge smile on my face- not paying to go to the emergency room or to the doctors' office earlier that day.

This morning when Olivia woke up she looked so much better! Her eyes were still red but at least she could open them! I am so relieved that she is doing so much better, poor kid! Now Matthew has taken over being sick. At this moment I have two sick people in the house. Little Olivia and Ole' Soupy Sales (Matthew). I hope they both get better soon!

Well, that is the short version. I will add more about the last 5 weeks in detail later.

Finally- The most pleasant suprise about Copenhagen so far: the city is so thoughtfully constructed towards babies, strollers, and kids. There is a changing table everywhere I go ( I remember nursing Olivia in the Phoenix Art Musuem hiding in that window outcropping where you have that amazing view of the city a year ago and pretending to be really into the view for about 15 minutes). Every curb has a ramp for strollers. All the busses and trains have special areas for them where no one else can be if you need the room. It is great. There are parks everywhere. Right next to our apartment we have a park with a freaking zip line in it!! What!!!

The most unpleasant suprise about Copenhagen so far: everyone smokes. All the time. The young, the old, the very young. And usually they do it in doorways just as you walk through them! That is really my only complaint about Denmark so far. Not bad.

Copenhagen At Long Last!

2010-09-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

PHX ---> CPH

This has been an insane week and I have been wanting to write about our arrival in Copenhagen for awhile but finally have the time. I must first just say that this city is so beautiful! It is so green and full of nature! I am so excited we are here and feel so lucky to be living here.

Matthew and I have been packing up our house for over two months. In addition to packing everything, we also needed to sell or get rid of a lot of stuff. We started the process as soon as we found out that our green cards were accepted- in the end of April.

In the last month or so, we started to feel like we were really short on time and have been working really hard to get everything done. I gave my work a 6 week notice and my plan was to hire someone new and train them for 2 weeks and then have 1 full week to get everything else done. I hired a new Human Resources Manager who seemed great. She started on a Wednesday, exactly 3 weeks before I was to fly out. She worked for 3 days and then on Monday morning she texted me that she would not be returning to work. TEXTED ME!! I was so shocked she was so unprofessional that she couldn't even call me. I had spent that weekend working to prepare to turn everything over to her. I changed my access on my systems and forwarded her all my 200+ emails and basically had everything ready for her to start. I was right in the middle of trying to reconcile the new 401K plan I had implemented and open enrollment (when all employees enroll for new health insurance) was days away. I was so swamped but excited to give everything to her and then help her figure stuff out. When she quit, I had to undo everything I had done and basically get back to work on the 401K and open enrollment stuff. I hired another guy a few days later but he couldn't start for 2 weeks! He couldn't start until after I was supposed to be gone. So, I had to work a lot of hours to keep everything going. I also told my boss I would stay on until just before I left the country so they wouldn't be without an HR Manager for 2 weeks. Basically, I should have had hours and hours to get stuff done on the house and instead I had to work a lot. That put our schedule WAY behind. Up until the last possible minute, Matthew and I were scrambling to get our house packed up. Family and friends were so nice to help. Marie watched Olivia a ton and I am so thankful for that! Also my mom, my dad, Janet - my mother in law, Jenny, Ellen, Laura and my friend Tony all helped so much. Thank you Marie and Jaime for throwing us the goodbye party and to Wayne and Carl for moving the couches and to Rod and Paul for their generosity. Thank you all!!!

I think the packing up and finishing the house was hard on both me and Matthew, but Olivia has had to endure a lot of watching Lady and the Tramp and Toy Story- just general boredom. She has watched more tv in the last two weeks in Mesa than she has her entire one and a half years combined! She was bored a lot, but she got through it! I am so glad Marie took her to play with her and her kids so often.

My Aunt Ellen gave us an idea to pack our stuff in large boxes instead of suitcases because you could fit a lot more stuff. She was right. We bought 6 huge boxes and loaded them up. They each could weigh a maximum of 50lbs and we used our bathroom scale to get them right to 50lbs. We paid the extra $50 each to bring an extra box, so I had 2 boxes, Matthew had 2 boxes and so did Olivia, since we bought her a seat. We also had 3 carry ons and 3 personal items. 1 of the carry ons was our dog, Bug. We also brought a bike. It was in a huge 6 foot by 4 foot box. We had an insane amount of luggage.

My mom and dad helped get us to the airport and then we dollied all our boxes and bike into the airport. The attendant roped off a special section for all our stuff. We arrived at the airport at about noon on Wednesday, September 8th. The United Airlines workers behind the desk then proceeded to ignore us for about 45 minutes. We asked for help and they seemed to be trying to find someone to handle us. Eventually someone came and started weighing our boxes and checking us in. About half way through the process, the lady helping us told us that we could not board the plane because we had bought one way tickets to Copenhagen and you can only travel there with a roundtrip ticket. I explained to her that, no, we had green card- work visas- and we did not need a return flight booked. She should have known this by now as she had been staring at our passports for the last half hour. No matter. She called someone (Danish embassy? US embassy?) and soon she said we were okay to board. We watched them take our 6 boxes and bike box and then went to security. As any traveling mom knows, when you go through security with a car seat and stroller, which we did, you have to take the child out and take apart the stroller. So when we got to security we had to take Olivia out, put the car seat and stroller on the belt, take bug out, put her bag on the belt, take our 3 laptops out and lay those on the belt, unload our shoes, other carry ons and personal items. It was crazy! We had like 15 different pieces going on the belt. It took forever and people were so annoyed we were slowing things down. All in all, the check in and going through security process probably took us a full 2 hours.

We got to our gate and waited about a half hour until we boarded. The flight went really, really well. Olivia did so great. She went to sleep pretty quickly and slept for almost 2 hours. The flight was 3.5 hours. She just played with her stickers and books the rest of the time. I was so relieved, but also knew we were not even half way done. I have been really worried the last few months about how well she will do on the plane.

When we landed in Chicago, I realized that Olivia had gone to the bathroom everywhere- all over her skirt and legs and so I had to go to the bathroom and change and bathe her. Then we had to take Bug outside to go to the bathroom and stretch her legs a little. Also, the Chicago airport is so huge that we had to go to another terminal for our SAS flight to Copenhagen and we had to go down and out of the secured area to get there which meant that we would have to go back through security. We had a 2 hour lay over so we were not too worried, but knew we had to hurry. So we hurried to run our errands (Olivia and Bug) and then went back through security.

Chicago has a huge airport and the whole process took forever. As we were finishing up in security and dragging all our items to nearby seats to put everything back together, an airline worker came up to us and said that the flight to Copenhagen was already boarded and everyone was waiting for us. They brought out a special golf cart just for us to get on so they could rush us to the gate. We could hear our names being called over the intercom as well. We started frantically shoving all our laptops back in the bags, try to put the car seat and Olivia and Bug back together. I got my shoes on but Matthew didn't. They were rushing us like the plane was leaving at that very moment. It was the most stressed out/frantic I have ever been. We grabbed our crap (I was holding Matthew's shoes) and got onto the golf cart thing and they took us to the gate. We ran up the ramp and onto the plane. I was holding two carry ons- one hanging in front of me, one in back, 2 huge coats, Matthew's shoes, and Olivia in her car seat. I was easily carrying 100 lb. I asked the flight attendant where my seat was and she gestured up the aisle to the right so I went that way. I could barely fit through the aisles. I had to go through first class and all the people were looking at me like I was a piece of crap. I am sure I looked completely frazzled and was carrying all these things, Olivia was fussing and my shoes were untied. After first class I started going through the even more narrow aisles in the coach section and I was obviously physically unable to go much farther. Not one person offered to help. It was a huge plane with two aisles and not one person even smiled. I scanned the plane and there were no empty seats anywhere. I quickly realized that the flight attendant had sent me the wrong way. I tried to turn around which was near impossible. I was about to totally lose it emotionally. I think I am generally pretty laid back. That moment was the most emotionally unhinged I have ever been. It was the culmination of the last 2 months of moving and stress and especially the last few days where we had gotten only 2 or 3 hours of sleep each night. Finally, a nice flight attendant who knew what she was doing came and took my coats and a bag and Matthew's shoes from me and helped me to my seat. Matthew had been sent the correct way and so he was almost to our seat. The attendant put all my stuff down and then left. I still had fussy Olivia and all our crap and was trying to find room in the overhead compartments. Again, not one person helped. I loaded all our stuff and got Olivia situated, Matthew came and settled in and then I just sat there. Another nice Swedish attendant came up and brought us some water and was very nice and was looking at me and asking if I was okay and if Olivia was okay. I literally could not answer her. I just stared. Matthew answered her and he helped me get all our personal items arranged.

There were a couple of Russian men behind us in when we were going through security in Chicgo. They were visibly annoyed at all our crap. As we were frantically trying to get our stuff together and get on the golf cart the airline sent for us, the Russians went ahead of us and took our golf cart! I couldn't believe they were so rude! The airline sent another one for us. When I was trying to get all our stuff in the overhead compartment and settled in our seats, I looked to the people sitting right behind us on the flight and it was those Russians! I heard them say that our dog smells. Burn. I have never had anything against Russians and have always wanted to go to Russia, but at that moment in my crazy state I just thought to myself- at least we have been to the moon. I was in a weird mood.

We then sat on the plane for another 15 or 20 minutes and then left ON TIME. That is right, we were not late, they just boarded early and then decided to make us rush. I could not believe it. Oh well. We were on the plane and, barring a crash into the Atlantic Ocean, we would make it to Denmark.

The flight was 8 hours and it could not have been better, given the circumstances. Olivia slept a lot again and then woke up and was in a good mood and played with her books and stickers and with the tv on the seat in front of us. I could not believe how great she was. I think it was a special gift to us because we needed the time to relax. Matthew and I tried to sleep a little but mostly we just sat and stared and tried to recover from the last 2 months. It was good we had a break because it was about to get worse.

When we got off the plane, we went down to baggage claim. We saw our 6 boxes on the belt and they were extremely beat up. They had holes in them. Some were ripped open. One was completely ripped open with a little bowl next to it containing Matthew's underwear and socks that must have fallen out along the way. We were just freaking out. The boxes looked like someone had been throwing our boxes about 20 feet onto the ground as a fun game to see if they could make them pop open. I was so mad. I was just foaming. Somewhere some baggage handler is wearing a pair of Matthew's trouser socks. So, we made a pile of the 6 destroyed boxes, 3 carry ons, 3 personal items and Olivia in her car seat. Then we had to find the stroller and bike. I went to go find them and the bike box was completely ripped open too. There was a huge hole in the bottom. It looked like the pedals and wheel were still there, but it was bad. It was obvious that it had been thrown and abused. We were so mad!! We assessed the damages later and the frame is bent and the derailer is destroyed. It will cost a lot to fix it. We paid $200 to ship it so that we would not have to pay $500 for a bike here. So frustrating!

Next, we had to figure out how to move all this stuff through the airport with just the two of us. We got dollies and Matthew pushed two loaded dollies with three boxes each on them. I loaded up the car seat and stroller with Olivia and the personal items and the two of us put the carry ons on our backs. I pushed the bike box with it up against the stroller. The bike would go about 2 feet and they veer off in a crazy direction. This box was like 6 feet wide and the airport was packed and so I was bumping people and trying to steer this stupid thing with the stroller pushing it. I was carrying so much luggage on my back and pushing a baby and a bike and again not one person helped! Hundreds of people watched the spectacle that was my first day in Denmark, but not one person offered a hand. We then wheeled our ghetto caravan to customs.

We have been really nervous about this moment. The last thing we need is for them to have problems with our visas or for them to say Bug does not have all the right paperwork and not let her enter the country. We arrived there all nervous and talked to the agent and she could not have cared less about Bug. She didn't even want to look at her. All that worry over nothing!

So we started wheeling ourselves out to the curb. Matthew's friend, Anne-Greta, was going to pick us up. As I was struggling with my load and Matthew with his, I saw a lady go up to Matthew and hug him and I knew that we finally had help. I was so excited!! She helped us with our load. As we went through the main doors and out towards the parking lot, a pack of Danish frat dudes were sitting outside and started mocking us in Danish. At this point I was happy just to be done with everything and I thought it was so funny! Then they must have heard us speaking English and started mocking us in English. Anne-Greta yelled at them in Danish to get off their butts and help, which they did not. It was really funny! She brought a trailer and we loaded our stuff in and drove to our new apartment. The apartment is so cute, I love it!

This is Olivia standing on our balcony. This is the view to the rear of our apartment. The building in the picture looks identical to ours, so you can see what our place looks like on the outside.

I have more pictures and more stories, a good one about how we almost got kicked out of Denmark, our trip to see Lars and Ulrika and kids in Sweden and you see Olivia below showing off her forehead where she fell at the Copenhagen zoo, but I shall save those for another day.

Farvel!

Summer of the Pool

2010-08-08T00:41:00.000-07:00

This Summer is the Summer of the Pool at our house. We have tried to swim as much as possible for three reasons:

1) It is FREAKIN hot
2) We may never have a pool again
3) It is the Summer of the Pool

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-31T09:27:00.000-07:00

This Memorial Day weekend has been so nice to just hang out with Matthew and Olive and really just try and live in the moment. Over the last few months, Matthew and I have been watching a ten part tv series called "The Pacific". It is about WWII and the war with the Japanese. The series was very real and very well done. It focused on the lives a few soldiers in their years fighting in the Pacific. I love to read and watch the stories of amazing men and women who are so honorable and sacrifice their lives, if necessary, for their ideals. I have been feeling so grateful for what I have and for my husband and child and for God giving me this wonderful life. This is one of my favorite scriptures and one I have been thinking about a lot lately and helps me remember to live each day knowing that my life is not my own but is on loan to me. I feel the weight of the responsibility for me to live as I know God would have me live.

"I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants." Mosiah 2:21

Dating

Marriage

Bug

8 months pregnant

Olivia

Now

Olivia's First Birthday Party

2010-03-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

Olivia's first birthday was on March 20. We had a party at our house and it was so much! Everyone was generous with their time and with gifts and we really appreciate it! Olivia had such a fun day!!

Olivia and her cake:

Playing with Bug

2010-03-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

Olivia

2010-03-12T01:35:00.000-08:00

Olivia will be one year old next week! She is so much fun! She is so sweet and funny and loves to share things will me and Matthew and Bug.

I am posting a couple of videos because some friends' emails could not get them.

Enjoy!

D'artagnan

2009-10-26T00:28:00.000-07:00

I will just say it. I am an idiot. It is true. If you have not seen the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" and you plan to, please stop reading now because I am going to ruin the ending for you just as I did for my husband, Matthew, tonight.

I am a nerd. I love to read. I love books. I love how they smell. I love how the pages feel. I love the way words run together like a song. I love words. I love spelling. I love good books. I love everything about reading and writing and spelling and literature. I am not good at many things, but I am good at reading and writing and spelling and I am pretty well read. I am also a little bit of a trivia lover too. I love to take quizzes and answer questions- ESPECIALLY if those questions are about reading or spelling or writing or literature.

So tonight Matthew and I watched "Slumdog Millionaire". It was a really good movie and we were both really into it. Again, SPOILER ALERT!! At the end of the movie, the main character is on a game show and he is asked a multiple choice question about the Dumas novel "The Three Musketeers". "What is the name of the third musketteer?", the host asks. The question gave the names of the other two musketeers- Porthos and Athos. The multiple choice answers were a few other characters in the book that I recognized a little but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the third musketeer was D'artagnan. My pulse started quickening and I got all excited because I knew the answer!!! So what do I do? I say it out loud. "It is D'artangnan!!", I shout out with pride and a little giddiness. I love literature trivia! As I smiled to myself and read the question again, I think I even said it out loud again. Matthew didn't say a word. If he did feel annoyed that I had said the answer, he gave no indication of it.

A few minutes go by as the plot thickens and finally the main character chooses his answer- but he chooses a different answer than the one I said was correct! He chooses Aramis. I think to myself, oh no! He is going to get the question wrong! In my head I start realizing it and start to foresee the end of the movie. I was a little sad. Then, the host of the game show reads the answer and it is Aramis! I was wrong! The main character was right and won the game!! I am pleasantly surprised because, though I do like to be right, I was more excited that the main character won the money. As I am all excited about this turn of events, Matthew says to me- "thanks for ruining the end of the movie". It took me a second to realize what I had done. Matthew was clearly annoyed and I was clearly an idiot. I started to say I was sorry and he just sshhhed me and wanted to watch the end of the movie. I felt so stupid. The movie was only a few more minutes and I sat there waiting for all hell to break loose once it ended. The credits rolled and we sat there in silence waiting for the dancing people to stop dancing and the credits to end.

Once they did Matthew turned to me and said "thanks for ruining the movie, D'artagnan". I could tell he was still pretty annoyed but also amused at the situation. I begged forgiveness for my stupidity and he told me that he wasn't annoyed when I said the answer out loud. He didn't really care so much that I had said the answer initially. It was a few minutes later when my answer was wrong that he got so annoyed. He told me that he had done the same thing I had. He heard the main character choose another answer than the one I declared correct and so he thought the main character was going to lose and he too started thinking out the end of the movie. When it turned out the character actually got the answer correct and I was wrong, he was all confused and annoyed! I said sorry about 20 times and then he kept teasing me and calling me D'artagnan. Then Matthew asked me if I was also going to tell him that Darth Vadar was Luke's father and so I left in a huff.

Now D'artagnan is my new nickname and Matthew told me he is going to bug me about this for the rest of my life. I guess I deserve it. I can't believe I said the answer aloud when (1) it clearly gives away the ending to the movie and (2) it turns out I was wrong. I am never going to live this down!!! Good movie though.

Friends

2009-09-30T21:36:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I drove out to Las Vegas to visit my good friend Jenny. Olivia came along and was a pretty good road trip buddy. She is becoming quite well traveled- at least around Arizona. We drove to a family reunion in Northern Arizona a couple of months ago. Matthew and I drove down to Tucson a month ago to stay in a resort against the mountains with Olivia. Olivia and I flew out to Orange County, California to visit Lacy a couple months ago and now we have been to Vegas! She just needs to see the Grand Canyon and then we have Arizona covered.

We had a really relaxing weekend and it was so fun to see Jenny and Olivia become friends! It is hard with Jenny living so far away. I miss you Jenny!

Sticky Rice

2009-09-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

We started Olivia on rice cereal last week. Her first experience with somewhat solid foods. She was really excited about it and was all smiley and laughing most of the time. She really liked grabbing the spoon from me and pulling it into her mouth herself. When I wasn't paying attention she went for the bowl of rice and dumped the whole thing on the counter and the floor. I am just glad she does not know how to throw yet.

Beach Day!

2009-08-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

Well hello! I guess I am blogging again. I took a break for the last 5 months since I had Olivia. I feel like I am supposed to do a catch up entry like I do in my journal every time I write, but I am not going to! It is so liberating to resist the temptation to write the tedious, obligatory catch up entry. By the time you are done summarizing the last 6 months in a couple pages, you no longer want to write what is going on right now!

So, I went out to Huntington Beach, California to visit my friend, Lacy. We had a really good time. It was Olivia's first plane ride. She did really good on the way over (it was only a 50 minute flight). On the way back, it was an evening flight and she was pretty tired out from all excitement of the last few days and so she was pretty cranky. I sat in the very back of the plane in the last row in the window seat so that if she did freak out, I would hopefully only annoy half of the plane. She screamed for a minute or so and then gave up and went to sleep.

Lacy's place is a beach house about 2 minutes from the ocean. Lacy and I took Olivia and Lacy's dog Foxy to the beach on Saturday. It was so fun! Olivia was only in the water for a minute or so because it was really cold and she can't support her own body weight. She can't stay sitting up very well yet either. That makes for a very short time in the water. The ocean action tired her out immediately and she took a nap on the blanket while Lacy and I hung out for a couple hours. It was a great weekend. The weather was amazing- mid 70's during the day and in the 60's at night. I love California weather. Thanks to Lacy for the fun!

Domesticity

2009-03-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

One of my food blogs, At the Baker's Bench, has really inspired me to finally make a change that I have been wanting to make for a long time. The lady who writes this blog is challenging herself to make all her own bread in 2009. It seems like a very large undertaking and she is planning on baking EVERYTHING herself- down to hot dog buns. I don't know that I will be that gung ho, but I certainly plan to bake all my own bread and try out new recipes for other baked goods.

Once I have the baby, I am going to be working mainly from home, and so I am so excited to have more time to improve my baking skills! I have made muffins and cookies and pizza dough and bagels and really tasty cinnamon rolls (according to Matthew) and all kinds of baked goods, but it is pretty rare that I do it. Also, I don't really challenge myself to try anything new terribly often. The one skill I have wanted more than any other is baking homemade bread. I don't know if I have ever made it on my own. I have with my mom a few times many years ago. Matthew and I got a bread maker for our wedding and I use that a lot, but I want to mostly wean myself off of it. I will still use it as the very best motivation for getting out of bed on conference mornings! Nothing like the smell of fresh bread when you wake up! Works like a charm!

The At the Baker's Bench blog continues to have posts about her progress with new recipes and fun stuff from other bloggers who are committing to it, so check it out. Let me know if you decide to join in!

I already made my first bread from scratch this week. I made banana bread. I know, I know. What kind of aspiring baker has never made banana bread!?!? I have to start somewhere! I bought some bananas and waited a week for them to brown and then decided to get started. There is a whole story about how difficult this simple undertaking was that I shall relate.

I had the three bananas set aside for the bread and let them sit out for a week or so. I picked out a recipe that looked good. I had all the ingredients and was planning on making it last Sunday night- a week ago. That night I went over to Greg and Emily's to hang out and get some wisdom about what to do with this child once she comes out. I stayed later than I should have not realizing how late it was (sorry Greg and Emily). In my head I decided that once I got home, I would make banana bread. When I got home, Matthew had made this boxed pull apart cinnamon bread as a surprise! It was just done baking as I got home. It smelled so good and was very tasty! He is so great! He had used the last of the eggs and we now had this baked treat, so I abandoned my banana bread for that night.

A few days later, I asked Ellen to come over and to bring 2 eggs with her so that I could make the banana bread. I thought I might make it while we were chit chatting. Instead we ended up taking a walk (to get this baby out) and by the time we got back, my right elephant leg had swollen up to three times its size and so I just wanted to sit down. Foiled again!! I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to be able to bake my first proper loaf of bread!

The next day was Thursday and Matthew and I had an appointment at the hospital at 2:30 to go down and start the first step of the induction process for the baby. My doctor thinks that she could be about 9 pounds now and I was not at all dilated at the doctor appointment on Wednesday, so she wanted me to go down and get this gel applied that starts the process. Those of you who know all about this don't need any more information. Those of you who don't know about it, probably don't want more information, so I am going to stop right there.

Matthew and I went down at 2:30 and waited around in the waiting room until after 3 when a nurse came out and told us that they just had a number of women in labor come through and asked if we could go home and come back later that evening. Well, we were both more than willing to do it! I was really hungry and hadn't eaten much yet and Matthew had an eye on this car on Craigslist that he wanted to go test drive and possibly buy. So, we skipped out of there, went to go grab some food (my favorite- cheese quesadilla) and went to go test drive this '87 white BMW.

The car was really cute, in great shape, and quite a steal on the price, so we bought it! We have been looking for a car for a few months so that we will be able to take our baby home (as we share a 2 seater now) and we finally found and bought one! I am so excited! Here she is!

Back to the bread! We get home with our new car around 7pm and I decide to call the hospital and see when to come in. Matthew is outside oohing and aahhing over the car. He has wanted one of these old BMW's for a long time. Anyway, I call the hospital and the nurse tells me that it is very busy and she has no idea when it will slow down. She said they will call me. It could be 2 am or even tomorrow morning. No problem for me! I will at long last make my banana bread!

About a half an hour later I start making the bread. I turn on the oven, got out all the ingredients and started mixing up the liquids. Just as I am about to add the eggs, my phone rings and the nurse tells me that it has quieted down and we can go to the hospital! I am slightly annoyed- will I ever get to make this bread??!?!! So, I cover up the liquids and put them in the fridge and go down to the hospital. I shall not comment on the 10 hour, all night hospital visit other than to say that it was a horrible experience and I have enormous respect for women and what they put up with to have a baby- and I haven't even had one yet.

Matthew and I got home about 7am the next morning and slept until noon. I then got up and made my banana bread!!!!! Yeah!! It turned out very tasty! If it is this difficult to make homemade bread in the future, this whole resolution may not go so well. We will see! And no, I did not take a picture of the bread. I am just happy that I actually made it!

Photography

2009-03-07T16:15:00.000-08:00

I love this photography blog! The pictures are so amazing! This photographer does amazing scenery and also does weddings and engagements. I love these pictures and wish I had this kind of talent.

I really love to look at pictures of weddings. I just really like all the fun details you can add to personalize your event. I especially love to look at the food and the color combinations of things.

I am in love with this cake below. This is the coolest wedding cake I have ever seen! I rarely see wedding cakes that I really like, so it was so suprising when I fell in love with this one. I LOVE it!!!

This little picture does not do the cake justice, so go to this post and scroll down and see it in its full glory!

Snow Fun

2009-01-18T14:03:00.001-08:00

For Matthew's birthday we went up North to play in the snow. We took little Bug with us. The snow was at least a few days old and had an ice crust on it. Ellen gave Bug this pink coat a long time ago and she finally got to really use it.

As you can see, she was quite thrilled about the whole thing!

Being 8 months pregnant did put a damper on the snow wrestling, but Matthew did push me over a few times and watched me try and get up. It was brutal!

Golden Globes - Best Performance Actress TV Series - Tina Fey (30 Rock)

2009-01-14T12:39:00.001-08:00

Golden Globes

2009-01-14T00:12:00.000-08:00

The Golden Globes were on Sunday night. I recorded it and fast forwarded through most of it. I really like to see the way the dresses move and see them from every angle, which is pretty impossible if you don't watch the show! There were funny parts as well that made it more interesting. There was a lot of Tina Fey funniness, which I enjoy. Unfortunately, her dress was not so pleasing, but we will get to that. There were a lot of boring dresses that were not bad or good, but just not worth the effort of finding pictures for. To view some of those, look at the dresses that Penelope Cruz, Demi Moore, or Eva Longorio wore.

First, here are the dresses that I did not love nor did I hate. They are not boring or hideous, but they did not capture my fancy.

I have never seen Mad Men, but understand that this actress is in the show. I like the neckline of the dress with the strips of fabric, but I think the continued strips at the waist make it a little too costumey. The color is really pretty and unique and her hair looks really nice with it. I couldn't find a picture of the back, but the back was very cool.

I usually like the way that Anne Hathaway dresses. She does not dress revealing for the most part and wears interesting clothes. If you look at her gown close up, she looks lovely. I think the hair and makeup and earrings look really classy. The dress is extremely sparkly, so you don't need much ornamentation. The big problem is when you back up and look at her from head to toe.

Her skin is so pale and the dark color of the dress totally washes her out. Her features practically disappear. Her hair is so close to her head and her earrings are so small in comparison to the dress, that all you see is a glaringly white shoulders and head. She still looks nice, but she doesn't stand out. In general, I think she is really good at picking clothes that make her stand out and that balance on her body well. In the next two pictures, whether you love the outfits or not, her features and hair are balanced and look nice.

America Ferrera looks very elegant and youthful. The dress looks better in person, but looks pretty good in the picture too. She did the same kind of look really recently at another red carpet event that I also liked (below).

I like this length on her.

So you are probably wondering how I could not hate this look. Stay with me here. Just imagine that the sleeves were not pirate sleeves. Imagine that they were just sleek and long. I really like her hair and necklaces and belt. I like the long skirt. I think she looks really elegant (minus the sleeves) and very modest. I just think she looks classy and unique. I think there is a little of a 90's vibe, but the belt and hair save it. The sleeves prevent her from moving into the section of outfits I like, though.

Kate Beckinsale looks really nice. I don't like how extreme of a mermaid silhouette the bottom creates and I don't really like the neckline. I think it is architectural and different, but it reminds me of fondant on a wedding cake. Overall, I think she looks good, but I can't get past wanting to reshape the neckline into a bow or something,

I don't like a lot about this dress. The color is okay, but Cameron Diaz just wore that same color at another red carpet event not long ago. It is hard to see in this picture, but I hate that peekaboo bit of underarm fat on her left side. Above all, I hate her hair. Her roots are all grown out and her hair, once again, is not brushed. If you are going to wear a dress that busy, the hair has to be more controlled. Overall, she looks like a mess with potential.

This outfit should really be in the "like it" section but for the fact that I just don't care. I don't know why either! I like her hair and makeup and color of the dress. I can't name anything I don't like except maybe how low cut it is. She looks lovely, but it just doesn't do anything for me. It is probably the best she has ever looked at one of these award shows though, I must say.

This dress puzzles me. If it did not have the big napkin on the hip, it would be boring with nothing to it. On the other hand, the napkin is kind of different and fun. The top doesn't fit her right. On the red carpet you can see all these weird peaks in the bodice and you are afraid the dress isn't zipped up in the back. It reminds me of a couple dresses that Cameron Diaz has worn in the last few years, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Now on to the ones I hate!

My biggest complaint about this dress is that this girl is 16! 16 and showing this kind of cleavage. She was there with her mom and dad for crying out loud! I guess she is a role model to kids, whether she wants to be or not, and it bothers me that she wore this. I think the dress itself is quite unattractive, but what bothers me the most is how inappropriate it is on her.

This one pains me to do. I pretty much hate the dress that Tina Fey wore. I like the skirt of the dress a lot. It is a pretty fabric and moves really pretty, but she has no top on! The diamonds on the shoulders are cool and she could look really good if the neckline were raised up. She won an award and the camera was on her and she bent over to stand up and her whole upper body was revealed. She is clearly taped into that thing so as not to have a wardrobe malfunction, but one of the things I have always like about Tina Fey is that she would never wear anything she has to tape herself into to begin with- I thought. She has done low cut before- as in the picture below- but this is far worse. I HATE this look. She was hilarious at the event though and if you look at the post of my blog before this one, there is a funny video of her calling out her internet "haters". I wish she read my blog so she could call me out on trashing her dress.

Hmm, I wonder why Salma Hayek is famous? Above: Exhibit A. Below: Exhibit B. Ridiculous.

Why can't these poor girls from "The Office" get a stylist? Why?! It is just mean. I swear that Pam does that same hair and dress every time and it is not good. Angela just wore the bridesmaid dress from her sister's wedding last month. Just horrible. They are both attractive and would look great with a little help. Angela looks SO BAD. Looks at her chest and stomach and that seam down the middle of the dress!

This lady is so freaky skinny. The gathers in the bodice look like her ribcage.

Miss Texas.

Beyonce wears this same dress every time. Her cleavage is just obscene. I got bored typing this and have no more to say.

Oh J. Lo! What can you say!!? Is this gold lame'? It is so unflattering on her!! There is no front and no back to the dress. Just a hideous gold lame' skirt. I wonder how many times her husband put his hand on her back and just felt skin and looked down and just saw her chest bone and had a mini-freak out thinking his wife was at this event naked. I think she looks the worst of anyone there, but for...

... this disaster!!!!

Oh my gosh!! This dress is so hideous! It is actually really funny to look at! Look at her pose in this picture! Then you get in closer and look at her hair! What the freak?!!? Look at the face she is making!! What is wrong with her?! When I saw her I just kept laughing and laughing. It made the whole night!

She looks like an escaped mental patient.

Now for the dresses I liked:

I guess these two are in a movie adaptation of Grey Gardens. If you have ever seen the documentary on it, it is fascinating. This mother and daughter- cousins of Jackie O. live in a run down house that is overgrown. It is a very sad and interesting story. I am not quite sure why it needs to be remade and even more unsure of why they chose these two to do it, but that is of no matter. At the award show these two were really hanging on each other and giggling and stuff. It was very weird. It seems like they were silly 12 year old girls.

This blue dress that Drew Barrymore is wearing is so fun. I love it! I love the skirt and the material and the color. I just adore the dress!

Grey Gardens

Her hair, on the other hand, is a wreck! I can't stand it! I think she was trying to be a little Grey Gardens and was taking some license. She was trying to promote her movie. That is the only way I can justify liking this look. If you put your finger over her head, I love it! I have to really like this dress a lot to put it in the like section with hair like that- and I do!

Love the dress.

I really love this whole outfit. I hate that the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore gets to have a role in the award show just because she is their daughter, but nevertheless, she looks great. I love the color of dress and I like how it almost clashes with her hair, but not quite. I love the belt and the details at the bodice and waist. The skirt is so pretty! I think the girl's hair and makeup are great too. She is a little young for all that chest showing, but at least it is not cleavage. Very fun!

I think this dress is so airy and pretty. The color is lovely on the girl and I love the bodice and skirt. It reminds me very much of one Charlize Theron wore a few years ago- which I also loved.

You have to see this dress on the tv to appreciate how beautiful and rich the fabric is. It seems that almost every actress wore a strapless and that style is not my favorite, but this looks so nice on her. I love the neckline with the square part and the skirt falls so beautifully. She just looks so elegant.

Laura Linney looked the best I have ever seen her and one of the best dressed of the night. I love this dress! I love the color and skirt and neckline. She looks young and classy and glowing. When I first saw it, I wanted Kate Blanchett to be wearing it because it just seemed to suit her, but it is very nice with this lady's hair and skin. I love it!

I don't know who this girl is, but I love her dress! Is she from Mad Men too? I adore this dress. It is one of my very favorites. It is so retro but very current. I love that color of red. I love the sleeves and skirt. Her hair is cute with it; one of my very favorites of the night.

I love this dress as well. It is very pretty and ladylike on Elizabeth Banks. I think the jewellry and hair and makeup are perfect along with it. The neckline is a little low, as usual, but I love it overall. This one you really have to see on tv to get the full effect because of the way it moves and the color of it.

Amy Adams looks so great! I love her hair color against this dress color. I love the fullness of the skirt. She looks so elegant and beautiful. This is one of my very favorites of the night. Another dress you need to see on tv in order to appreciate the beauty and weight of the fabric.

And finally, this canary yellow dress. I love it and I want it! It is so retro and feminine. She should be dancing in this dress. I love it! I did not get to see it on tv, unfortunelty and would like to. This is by far one of my favorite dresses in the last few years.

Finally, I love this picture of Ricky Gervais and wife. They are like little happy twins. This picture really made me smile! Her dress is horrible, but I love this picture!

This Life

2009-01-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas in NYC?! Maybe next year...

2009-01-03T11:31:00.000-08:00

One of the many fun blogs I frequent is Wee Birdy by a Austrailian girl living in London. She spent her Christmas in NYC and took some really cute window decoration pictures and just general New York Christmas atmosphere pictures. Matthew and I spent 6 days of our honeymoon in New York City just before Christmas in 2005 and it was amazing! We plan to get out East and do it again next year. These pictures were fun to look at! Visit her blog for more pictures:

SNOW!!!

2008-12-21T17:44:00.000-08:00

Matthew and I are still in Arizona. It is an interesting time with the excitement of having our baby pretty soon, and the sadness of still not being able to sell our house or for Matthew to find a job to relocate us. It is a bittersweet time. The part that gets us really sick is the timing of everything. If we had just listed our house a few months earlier or started looking for jobs earlier before the entire economy officially fell apart, maybe we would have just gotten out!!

We had planned on being in Philadelphia for Autumn and Winter this year and were really looking forward to the changing of the leaves and snow and cold. When the Phillies won the World Series, though neither of us are Phillies fans (I am not even a baseball fan) we were so sad to have missed the excitment and utter chaos in the streets there. Then Obama won in November and again the energy and frenzy going on in the streets would have been so fun to be there for! Instead, we looked at pictures of it online.

With the recent storms throughout the United States, a lot of snow and ice have fallen in Philly and NYC and all over. It really makes me sad we are still here! I am so grateful for how cold and rainy it had been this winter in Arizona though, because it almost feels like we live somewhere else. I have gotten to wear my wool winter coats 4 or 5 times and even a couple scarfs! I don't feel entirely nutty busting out my warm tights this year and have worn my boots quite a few times too. I can't wait to move somewhere new, but at the same time I am so grateful for what I have and what the future holds!

Here are a few pictures that I fell in love with of beautiful snow- mainly in New York City, but a few in Seattle, California and in the Midwest. I know a lot of people who live in these areas may not be as thankful and excited about the snow storms as I am here sitting in sixty degree Arizona, but when you live in sunny Arizona your entire life, sometimes you start to crave something new.

Nesting

2008-11-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

I have been feeling very artsy crafty lately and have decided it is due to my nesting instinct. I am just about 6 and a half months pregnant, and I have been learning how to knit and been busting out my sewing machine a little more. I used to sew all of the time but have not been as much over the last year or so. I set everything up on the table, turned on the projector to a documentary about the Windsor Dynasty that Matthew recorded for me, put on my beanie (as we do not believe in turning on the heater and it was so cold yesterday for once) and started sewing away. Bug then jumped up on my lap to see what was going on. I am trying to give her some quality attention now before the OTHER baby comes! Perhaps I wil start posting some of my projects soon!

Heimstone FALL/Winter 08

2008-09-30T23:00:00.001-07:00

Heimstone's new Fall line has come out and I love many of the pieces! I posted their last line on my blog quite awhile ago and thought I'd share these at well.

My favorites:

Crafty

2008-08-26T00:35:00.000-07:00

My sisters Marie and Ellen and I took a cake decorating class at Michael's recently. Now, if you have had any experience cooking, baking, or decorating near me, you may know that I am a mess and I enjoy making a mess. When Matthew and I first started dating, we tried cooking together and it freaked both of us out. I couldn't believe that he thought there really was a "right way" to stir cake batter (I think it is clockwise, according to him) and he couldn't believe that I could get flour and sugar over the entire surface of the counter without even trying. I have a hard time doing things precisely or carefully. It is really strange. My mind kind of fights it. I prefer chaos, I guess.

So, me and my sisters took this royal icing decorating class. It was so fun to hang out with my sisters for three hours a week and just kind of goof off a little and learn something new. The sole reason I took the class was to hang out with Marie and Ellen; I could care less about cake decorating. It was fun, though, to learn a new skill. I don't do a lot of decorating of cakes or anything else and don't really plan to in the future, but my skills will come in handy for the annual gingerbread house making, I hope! I suppose when I have some kids I could decorate some things to amuse them.

Ellen and Marie are both very good in the kitchen and extremely crafty with decorating and the like. In the class, I was usually covered in frosting and behind. Marie and Ellen were generally the shining stars. Ellen is very generous and took care of us. She made sure we were signed up for the class and made frosting and bought me tips for my birthday. She was my little cake mom.

For the final project we had to make a cake, frost it, and then decorate it with all the frosting flowers we had been making in the class so far. We also had to pipe a basket weave design all over the cake. Yeah, basket weave. That killed me the most. It was so hideous! At least mine was! I don't know enough about cake decorating to know what decade the basket weave may have been popular in, but I suspect it was not this one (nor the last). The decorating of the cake went okay. I made my basket weave decently and the flowers and birds I created over the previous weeks looked okay. I loaded them onto the cake as I felt inspired and it turned out worse than I pictured it would- but a lot like the cake on the front of the brochure to the manual for the class. That comforted me a little.

My biggest problem came when I tried to get the little masterpiece home. My sister, Ellen, took off right after class with her cute little cake. Marie and I got to talking and couldn't really talk outside because it was raining, so I put my cake in my hot, humid car, sitting on my passenger seat on a precarious slant. What could go wrong? I then got into Marie's air conditioned car where her Martha Stewart Perfect, well preserved cake was sitting quite stable in the back of the car. I thought we'd talk for a minute or two, but after an hour or so, our husbands started calling wondering where we were and we eventually said good bye and left. When I got to my car, my cake had morphed into a wrecked building. No matter. I would fix it when I got home. I got home and showed Matthew my beautiful cake. I think his reply was that cake decorating has to be the lowest art form. Then he corrected himself to say that, no, Broadway was the lowest art form- an idea he has held to for years now. Then, he thought for another minute, took another look at my cake, and deliberated that, yes, cake decorating is the lowest art form. I could tell he loved it! (thanks for the reminder, Ann)

Now, as an aside, I love food blogs. They are usually so pretty and make you want to be more creative with food. I love cooking and finding new recipes. I also love the presentation of food. It is a great way to express yourself. My absolute favorite food blogs are Tastespotting , Orangette and Not Eating Out in NY . My sisters in law, Ann and Elizabeth, have a pie blog that is fun to read. They are always sure to document every pie with pretty, pretty pictures. As soon as I got home, I pushed my cake up as upright as I could make it go and then began the show. I wanted to make sure and take some pictures to show my beautiful cake for all to see. This is for you, Marie, Ellen, Ann, and Elizabeth.

And yes, those are tri- colored pansies! Eat that Ace of Cakes!!

An artistic angle, no?

During class on the last day, I misplaced a tip so I had to go out into the store and buy one. I saw a tasty bag of peanut M&M's to eat with my sisters. Somehow the icing bird got a hold of an M&M and put it on my cake. Genius, I think.

Ah! The beautiful first couple of bites! Exquisite!

Let me know who needs the recipe.

Girly Pretty

2008-07-10T23:39:00.000-07:00

I love these pictures from some clothing line by Heidi Merrick. The colors are so fun and I love how vintage it all looks, but entirely modern at the same time

I love all the details- like ruffles and bric-a-brac and piping!

Why, Women's tennis, why?!?

2008-06-30T00:23:00.000-07:00

I love tennis. I played in high school and college and it was my favorite thing about each experience. I made a lot of good friends and still talk to three of them all the time- two of which are my best friends and one that is now my sister in law. I love the rules of tennis. I love the sound when you hit the ball. I love how beautiful top spin is as you see it across the court. I love everything about tennis- almost. There is one thing that has always bothered me and always will. Those freakin' skirts. Seriously? Athletes are supposed to compete in skirts? There are other activities in which one wears skirts that I am not entirely opposed to; dancers wear skirts- but it makes sense with the fluidity of their movements. Cheerleaders wear skirts to show their bodies- I can't think of any other reason. Librarians wear skirts so they can be the sexy librarians- okay now I am just trying to be funny. Back to tennis. In this day and age why in the world would an ATHLETE wear a skirt?!?!

When tennis first began, men still wore trousers and women wore dresses and long skirts exclusively, both off and on the court.

It makes sense that they would wear these inconvenient items while playing tennis at the time due to convention and decorum. Over time, the men began to wear longish shorts and the women's skirts rose scandalously to their knees. Again, this makes sense to me based on the times.

Then, in the 1930's one of my tennis idols, Alice Marble, became popular for winning titles and was noted to play "like a man" in that she had a lot of power. She also became notorious for wearing shorts while she played tennis. She was the first female player to do so in a professional match. It was very shocking at the time and she received a lot of press about it.

As a side note, Alice Marble was also responsible for the admission of African American women into the Grand Slam tournaments. In 1950, she wrote in defense of Althea Gibson, a very good African American female tennis player, and her right to participate in the tournaments. Alice said:

"Miss Gibson is over a very cunningly wrought barrel, and I can only hope to loosen a few of its staves with one lone opinion. If tennis is a game for ladies and gentlemen, it's also time we acted a little more like gentlepeople and less like sanctimonious hypocrites.... If Althea Gibson represents a challenge to the present crop of women players, it's only fair that they should meet that challenge on the courts." [Marble said that if Gibson were not given the opportunity to compete] "then there is an uneradicable mark against a game to which I have devoted most of my life, and I would be bitterly ashamed."

Following this event, Gibson, age 23, was given entry into the 1950 U.S. Championships, becoming the first African-American player, man or woman, to compete in a Grand Slam event. (Wikipedia)

Unfortunately, Alice's brazen behavior did not catch on with the other female players and they continued to wear skirts. As time passed, the men's shorts and women's skirts got shorter.

Then in the early 90's, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and other male players started wearing the longer shorts that are worn by the men now- to every one's relief I think.

The women continued to wear the short skirts and mini dresses and still do today. As I said, there are a few players that wear shorts upon occasion.

Now to present day. Serena Williams is an amazing tennis player. I have watched her play many times and admire her confidence and power. She does have one perceptible weakness and that is fashion. Here and there she wears normal outfits, but more often than not she comes up with some crazy stuff- her own designs, I think. That jean skirt outfit is the worst tennis outfit I have ever seen.

I think she is very beautiful with an amazing body for sports. She is like a tennis machine. In her more sedated outfits like this one, I think she looks great.

As you may have heard, last week at Wimbledon 2008, she wore this white trench coat to warm up in. About the trench she said:

"I have a wonderful white coat I can wear on the court and also in New York for those rainy days...it's ladylike and goes perfect with my personality... It's a very lightweight fabric... It's woven so it has a little give in it as well. On the inside, it's stitched with gold. It has a little give on both ways. It's very movable. It's very light. It's just delectable... You know, I absolutely love trench coats".

I like trench coats too. And boots. And purses. And skirts. But you don't see me wearing those to PLAY A SPORT!!! What the freak?!

Then, in the same tournament, Maria Sharapova chose some kind of faux tuxedo option that is supposed to be really innovative for some reason. The top picture with the tuxedo pleating I think it cool and not really that unusual looking. I also like the shorts. What puzzles me is the old man blazer. I get that Serena and Maria are trying to make a fashion statement for themselves, but both seem more than a little contrived- Serena's being FAR worse.

To add to the fun this year, Bethanie Mattek wore a leopard print onesie with a neck so open she could have kept a few extra tennis balls in there. A few years ago she wore shorts and high knee socks that I thought were pretty funny and kind of liked her for it because I thought she was stickin' it to the man a little at Wimbledon, but apparently that did not get her enough attention and is now going the Brittney Spears look-a-like route. Very disappointing.

So, why do women athletes do this stuff?!?! Take a look at these skirts. They are typical tennis skirts that you will see women wear on high school teams, on city leagues, and in the pros. Why?!?!? Picture yourself bending, stretching, and running in those things. The whole time people are just looking at your underwear- oh excuse me, your bloomers. Yes, they are called bloomers and they are the same underwears to go over your underwears that cheerleaders wear. So, we are basically in the cheerleader outfit playing tennis. I know, I was there. My freshman year of high school our coach required us to wear a skirt. I wore men's boxers under my skirt. That wasn't getting me anywhere with coach, so then I started wearing longish Adidas soccer shorts under the skirt that were sometimes longer than the actual skirt. It took me a couple of years to demand that I could wear shorts and pants at the competitive level, but in time I refused to ever wear a skirt. So, what is the possible explanation for wearing one? I have been around tennis girls for the last 15 years and I still don't get it.

So, for a lot of girls I think it is the Anna Kournikova thing- they want to look cute and sexy. That is great for the 22 or 23 other hours in the day when you are not on the court, but can't you throw on some shorts while you play a SPORT?!?!?! At this point it is not men telling women that they have to continue wearing the skirts. It is women deciding that they look cute in them! Some will think it is the money thing. You make more money, get more sponsors, and become more popular if you are attractive. That is true, but it does not account for the 70 year old club player that is going to show up in a skirt to play a match with no prize money or recognition. It does not account for the group of women who get together for fun to play- and they all show up in skirts!! Is it the coaches? Are they older people who are clinging to tradition? That does not account for the many, many young coaches out there. I guess there are probably many reasons, none of which I will ever understand. When will women get rid of the skirts all together, I ask?!?! When will women want to play sports without everyone looking at their underwear **shoot** bloomers the whole time?!?! When??! Why do women have to try and make some fashion statements or express their sexuality when playing a sport?! Just pick up the ball and serve it. Though to be fair, if I was a professional tennis player, I would try and make a statement as well. I'd wear SHORTS.

Seattle

2008-06-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

My friend Laura and I went to Seattle last year. I think we went in October and I am only now posting these pictures- quite sad really. Though in my defense, Laura took the pictures and she sent them to me pretty recently. Thanks, Laura! We had a really good time! The weather was beautiful and amazing! It was raining and foggy and dark. I am from Arizona so, yes, that kind of weather is beautiful and amazing.

Now this is a first for me to post pictures of my actual life and it makes me a little uncomfortable. I guess I posted a picture of my husband, Matthew, once and that wasn't too bad. I suppose I am a little shy when it comes to blogging. I don't like to share much personal information, but I love to share pictures of things I like that are not associated with me.

As I begin to see things that are new and fresh to me (Philadelphia and the East Coast) I will start posting a lot of pictures, I think, and if I get more brave, even share some personal experiences. Look out!

The obligatory picture of the Space Needle. This is about as close as we ever got to it.

I love this picture that Laura took from the pier we ate lunch on.

Look how freaky flat my hair is (on the left). Laura was smart and wore a hat. The humidity, rain and wind was killing my hair (as you see in the picture below as well).

I love that you can find Kettle Korn wherever you go! I got this Kettle Korn at a harvest festival in a little town outside Seattle. It was a great festival with food, music, and a lot of people.

Laura with a big log with some significance that I cannot remember.

Laura had some friends just outside of Seattle that took us to Snoqualmie Falls. It was so beautiful!! The falls were really amazing. It is not far out of Seattle- a half an hour at most. We also drove into Olympia and then up into the Olympic Penninsula, but I don't have any pictures of it. Going to Seattle was such a fun trip and added a check mark for me to my list of US cities I want to go to!

Contrast

2008-06-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

My husband and I have been watching Euro 2008 and it has been a lot of fun! We watched a lot of the coverage for the World Cup a few years ago, but it was my first time really watching soccer. When I was maybe 12 years old, I had one glorious summer in St. Johns, Arizona where my cousins Anna, Satya, Lucia and Jessyka lived. It was a very impromtu game that the kids in town all decided to play and I was invited- though I had never played before. It was so fun! I still remember standing there watching the other kids play around me and just being in awe at how much fun they were having. I still look back on that as one of my favorite memories as a kid. You would think I would go on to play soccer, but no, tennis is my one true sports love.

Most of the Euro 2008 games have been really interesting and exciting. One thing that stood out to me though was the Netherlands' team uniforms (above). I LOVE the color contrast with the orange and baby blue! That is so cool! It got me thinking about color contrast in clothing (my husband is so great because he will talk about it with me while we are watching. He doesn't think it is lame because it is a "girl thing" while we are watching sports). I am familiar and comfortable with contrasting colors when it come to throwing in unexpected shoes or jewelry (as in the picture below- which is not me), but not as comfortable throwing in contrasting colors in the actual pieces of clothing and choosing clothing with very contrasting colors.

Here are a few that I really like:

I hope someday I can look this insane and yet cool at the same time.