Love is... a happy birthday to my old man

Firstly, Ty treated me to the symphony. It was the music of Harry Potter and I LOOOOOOOVED it. Emma and Isaac babysat for us. Emma was prego at the time (spoiler alert: she's not anymore!) and Jude kept asking her if there was a "bobby under her shirt". This had nothing to do with Tylers big day, but I felt it needed to be documented. 

Part of the joy Tyler experiences being married to me is the opportunity to take numerous selfies because I am vain.

Tyler is not a birthday guy. So we did almost nothing for his birthday except a wonderful lunch date with Emma and Ike. Emma made him cookies and they bought him an old fashioned hair cut... I am in love with the new do. More to come on that.

Also, Ty loves the mallows from the Lucky Charms cereal. I had the last minute idea to pick all of them out and package them. So naturally I asked Emma to do it while we drove to Provo. She is SUCH a good friend. 

We bought Ty a cake from Harmons (because aside from Gourmandise, they are the best) and Jude was pumped to blow out some candles. He is currently obsessed with birthdays. His big thing is "my surprise birthday in September. We going swimming with Fernie and Mia and fruit snacks and apple salsa and a brown cake." 

Anyway, Jude and I are so grateful for this guy. He does so much for us. I fall in love all over again almost every day. He is so selfless and hard working. There was just no one else in the world for me. He has the best sense of humor, is an epic soccer player, and let's me listen to Dave Matthews on repeat. All of those are very important in a marriage. Happy Birthday my old man! I love you and every single one of your gray hairs.

Love is... that little golden man

Did you watch the Oscars??? I sure did. I never miss them. It's probably one of my most vain habits. I live vicariously through some of those woman as much as I can on that day. Who doesn't want to get that glammed up?? If you don't, don't tell me.
However, my MIL and I were underwhelmed. Truly, I was kind of disappointed. In my opinion, no one had a dress that is going to be talked about again and again. So I picked my faves and then I thought I would highlight some of my favorite speech moments. Because those were much more beautiful than the clothes.

I love JLaw so hard. She could wear a brown paper bag and I would still vote for her.

Cate Blanchett. This was an okay dress until I got the close up and saw the small jewels dreamily floating around her neck.

I loved this dress so much And I loved her hair. It wasn't anything super amazing, but Julia Roberts still looked bangin'.

Kerry Washington should honestly just be permanently voted the worlds most beautiful woman indefinitely. 

Lupita Nyong'o. She KNOWS how to dress. I didn't really like the headband though.

Fave speech excerpts:

Jared Leto: "In 1971, in Bossier City Louisiana, there was a teenage girl who was pregnant with her second child. She was a high school dropout and a single mom, but somehow she managed to make a better life for herself and her children. She encouraged here kids to be creative and work hard and do something special. That girl was my mother and she’s here tonight. I just want to say ‘I love you mom, thank you for teaching me to dream."

 "To all the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight in places like Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to to say we are here, and as you struggle to make your dreams happen and live the impossible, we are thinking of you tonight."

"This is for the 36 million people who have lost the battle to AIDS. And to those of you who have ever felt injustice because of who you are and who you love, I stand here in front of the world with you and for you."

... Let's just take a minute to realize that Russia edited those last two paragraphs from their broadcast. 

Matthew McConaughey: "'First off, I want to thank God because that's who I look up,' he said. He's graced my life with opportunities that I know are not of my hand or of any other hand. He's shown me that it's a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates." 

"To my father who I know is up there right now with a big pot of gumbo, he has a big lemon meringue pie over there.

'He's probably in his underwear and has a big can of Miller Lite and he's dancing right now. To you dad, you taught me how to be a man."

... Let's also take a minute to realize that when Matthew McConaughey thanked God, people got upset. 

and my most favorite...

Lupita Nyong'o: "It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is due to so much pain in someone else’s"
" When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid."

... and finally, let's take a moment to appreciate her perfection.

Needs to be said

PSA: I write this blog, not really to get followers, but because a majority of my family lives in Canada and cannot share first hand in the memories that my little family is making. This is the easiest way for me to let them know what is going on in our lives and post picture updates in a less public forum than Facebook. It is also a really handy way for me to journal.

That being said...

Obviously I still post occasionally on the Facebook and some of the time those posts are about my feelings. Recently I have posted about a woman's view on Frozen. In fact, I will admit that a large amount of what I recently post about on Facebook has to do with LGBT rights and marriage equality. This isn't a post about that, so don't feel like you have to stop reading. If you want to have that talk with me, that's fine too... but perhaps in person and not through blog comments.

Anyway, since posting my frustration and disgust with this person's post, I got a lot of "back lash". It  was great enough that I felt like I needed to address it on my blog so my family and close friends could read about it and understand where I was coming from when I said what I said. To be clear, I will post what I wrote:

I thought about posting this "gem" last night and decided not to, then I woke up still irritated by it. This is why being LDS is so hard for me sometimes. It's not all the rules we follow and the numerous coffee drinks I have to give up, it's other members. I would never in a million years want to share anything in common with someone like this, let alone a religion.
http://wellbehavedmormonwoman.blogspot.com/2014/02/movie-frozen-gay-homosexual-agenda.html?m=1

1. Why I was frustrated: I was upset for two reasons, one more than the other. Firstly, the subject material in and of itself is just kind of ignorant and far reaching and that's the nicest thing that I can find to say about it. However, I accept different opinions and the freedom to express them. It doesn't mean that I won't vocalize my difference of opinion or my support, depending on what the issue is, but I value the freedom of speech and expression. Secondly, what made me angry enough to post it on Facebook was the title of her blog, which is "Well Behaved Mormon Woman". I, in NO way claim that I am a "well behaved" anything, let alone a well behaved mormon. In a side by side comparison, Kathryn Skaggs is probably a "better" mormon than I am. I freely and whole heartedly admit that. But regardless of her standing in the church, she should not be speaking for the LDS community as a whole. And her blog title does that, there is no way around it. Those are her personal feelings and like I said earlier, go for it, but don't try and speak on behalf of a religion. That is what I found extremely frustrating.

Which brings me to

2. The backlash: My parents had a few people ask them about my well being and activity in the church. "Is Kathryn struggling? Is she going through a hard time.." Well, no. I am not. And while I can thank you for thinking about me, this is really none of your business. I am old enough to form my own opinions and vocalize how I see fit without people from my old ward asking my parents "If I am struggling". Also, if I ever chose to leave the church, I will still be a normal human being and don't view myself as struggling or going through a hard time. If I ever again post something that makes you concerned enough for my salvation, please just shoot me a message on Facebook or something and I will gladly answer/clarify whatever questions you have... but don't tattle on me to my parents.
      I also received some text and messages from people trying to reconvert me and "bring me back to the fold" without asking how I was feeling in the first place. This is also inappropriate. I do not need reconverting or intervention. And if I did, NONE of the people that did this are in a place to be that person.  My parents and my husband are the only people that I am currently accepting unsolicited life advice from. Ironically enough, none of them ever vocalized a fear that my wool was getting any darker than it already is.

I have lost a couple of friends on Facebook and in life because of the things that I posted. And that's okay. They're doing what is best for them and I still love them. However, I don't take back anything that I have said and I still feel the same way.

Love is... the current events

Last week we took this little fish swimming. He freaks out every time we have to leave. Boy he loves the water.

Since he loves it so much, we decided to go with Amelia and Fern.. or Mia and Fewnie if you're name is Jude. He is in love guys. And so am I really.

We gave them a co-ed bath. Some looks of shock and surprise were shared when different "parts" were discovered. It was really funny. 

Young Jude has an obsession with the "green garbage truck" so every time we are at my parents house, my dad grabs him and runs outside to see it. They always wave at Jude and he thinks it is just the coolest.

We busted out our Canadian flags to hang in the window for the Olympics. 

Nat sent me this Valentine. The front of the card says "Dat Ass" 

Tyler threw me a Galentines and we made cookies together. He is just the sweetest.

Cougar unwillingly participated in Valentines.

I went out to my besties birthday and had a blast dancing to the 80's. And with this lovely lady. So much love in my heart. 

We went to the Copper Onion. It's true love. It's an out of body experience every time I eat my favorite cheese on the cheese plate. And then the dumplings. And the Chocolate pudding. And just things. 

Love is... a Saint in our January

Here is the thing,... I am well aware that complaints of horrible weather should not be crossing these lips. I have cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and every other non-immediate relative living in Canada. The experience in me knows that they have it worse errr day all day. However, I just cannot help but feel nauseas when I look outside at the inversion and know that breathing the SLC air equates to smoking 10 cigs in an hour, more or less. So it was only logical that we team up with our favorite friends Emma and Ike and head to St. George, where clean air and sunshine awaited us. Trust, it did not disappoint.

Take a look at that furrowed brow... doesn't it just scream "Please, take my photo". 

As a first morning in St. G tradish  we go and eat at the Bear Paw. Guys... guys. I just, I need it. It is SOOO good.

We went on some walking hikes post breakfast. It was a nice way to pretend we were working off all of our breakfast calories. There's nothing like self deceit to make you feel better about a 1500 calorie breakfast. We also went to see Brigham Young's winter home. It was really cool to see all of the old things and have Ikes dad give us the full tour via facetime before we went on the tour. He is what you might call 'a history buff' of sorts. Also, I have no idea why these pictures are smoking crack, but I cannot figure out how to line them up. Forgive me, it's a Monday.  

During this trip we learned a lot of things, mainly how to properly use a condiment cup. Did anyone else out there know that you're supposed to unfold the folds?  I have been living in darkness my entire life.

In Vegas we always go and get macarons from The Bouchon bakery and they are perfect. On this trip we went to El Segundo Sol on Ikes recommendation and O.M.G. it was delicious. I need to go back.

On our final day the guys treated us to massages and it was the perf ending to this trip. We also stopped at the Worlds Best Corndog truck, he scoffed at Tylers request for a meatless corndog so I was banned to the car. 

These guys are the best travel buddies ever and I simply cannot wait to hit the road again with them. You should all go and visit Emma's blog for better pictures and more details.