i can't breathe.

I've worn a turtleneck all day today and it's suffocating me. And the more I think about it the tighter it feels. So I googled "death by turtleneck" and my worst nightmare popped up:


It's the SUPERSIZED TURTLENECK! In all fairness, I like the tights/leggings. But I couldn't possibly make it through a day feeling so threatened by the rest of my clothing.

If this is fashion I'm fine with being unfashionable.

november

Nothing since the 6th. Lame, I know.

Here’s the Cliff Notes version of my Virginia trip: LOVED IT. The weather was perfect, the leaves gorgeous, the company great. It really was good to spend some time with Kristin—those times are few and far between nowadays. Took us right back to Thursday night take-out and TV.

Highlights were ….

• 
  
  Leaves, leaves, and more leaves.

• Virginia Beach.

• 
  
  The Iwo Jima Memorial. We were lucky enough to be there right as they were practicing for their Veteran's Day program.

• 
  
  Arlington Cemetery. It had just rained so the headstones looked especially bright white and crisp.

• 
  
  Proudly showing my Utah love.

• 
  
  The Washington Monument. The view from the top was the only way I could get my bearings with the city.

• 
  
  Holocaust Museum. I only wish that we'd had more time (they were closing).

• 
  
  More creepy white vans. In DC they seem extra malicious.

• 
  
  Scooping out the soon-to-be Obama suite .... from a distance of course.

• 
  
  This crazy we ran into at the Washington temple.

• 
  
  Repeatedly expressing my love for healthy fruit and then eating caramel Dove chocolates every chance a back was turned. You're in luck - I do not have a photo for this. Just picture me trying to hide my chocolate smeared face.
  
  
• 
  
  The Leona Lewis discussion: "bleeding, Love" or "bleeding love"? And if it's the latter, how exactly does that happen?
  
  
• 
  
  Watching while Kristin took the cake with her scratch offs: FOUR TO ONE. I'm only smiling in this picture because I'm hoping that the scratch off I purchase with my meager winnings will be the big winner. (It wasn't)

• 
  
  Peeping Thompson/Taylors

• 
  
  Being unabashedly touristy

• 
  
  Tuna fish and crackers for the plane. Yes, I suggested it. But I also don't think straight when I'm hungry.

quickly --

Here's my little Dapper Dan, Trace. Doesn't he look sharp? His 8th birthday was last Friday and on Saturday he was baptized and confirmed. After the baptism as he was walking up the font stairs, he loudly said to his dad, "That was fun!" We laughed pretty hard because it was just so .... Trace. Which is exactly why we all love him.

Happy Belated Halloween! Mine is the skull, Beau's is the crazy "thing." I realize the skull is no Comic Sans, but hey - it'll have to do. This year I didn't have to pretend I was okay with all the pumpkin guts -- mine wasn't very ripe so it super easy to clean out. Poor Beau's was pretty gooshy. And it also had a pseudo butt which was really odd and even moreso when Beau started carving a line up the middle of it.

Oh and lastly, this is me tonight. Don't be jealous.

I finally have permission to announce that we'll be adding a ........ BOY to the Venable family! Yup, Josh and Jill are due late Marchish which comes as no surprise to anyone who has seen Jill the last couple of weeks considering her bump is becoming quite obvious.

I'm so very excited to have a baby in the family again! It'll just be the cherry on top if we make it through without anyone uttering the word PREGGERS. (No Jen, that is not a challenge)

TERRIFYING

Carved it myself, thank you very much.

ah, memories

Anyone else remember the STAY AWAY FROM WHITE VANS WITHOUT WINDOWS CAUSE THE CRAZY PEOPLE INSIDE ARE WAITING TO KIDNAP YOU pandemic? At the time we lived on a street that got a decent amount of traffic. I distinctly remember crouching down by the window sill in my room and watching the cars drive by, waiting to spot a dreaded white van. Saw a few. And I remember being genuinely scared each time.

I can't help but think of the poor non-kidnapping folks who owned white vans during that craze. They must have gotten some pretty suspicious looks. When I owned my Chevy Cavalier there was a hit and run involving a Cavalier of the same color. Everyone was on the lookout for it and I got some strange looks. Not a lot, but enough to make me want to nix unnecessary driving for a couple of days.

Maybe they should add motorhomes to the "keep an eye out" list. I swear nothing good goes on in motorhomes.

What's this? A NINJA TURTLE picking up pizza at Little Caesars? Go figure. And so exposed without his shell and eye mask ....

"beer barrel belly bruiser"

I feel sick just looking at this. 15 lb burger -- 4 hours 39 minutes. And by THIS guy? I feel like that's half the surprise. Nice one, Brad.

• 15 lbs of meat
• 20.2 lb bun
• 1 cup of mayonnaise
  
• 1 cup of ketchup
• 1 cup of mustard (I support that)
• 1 cup of relish
• lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, and banana peppers
  

BEAU: Are you really gonna let Brad show you up like this? Throw some Tabasco on there and get going.

gas

It costs me $10.96 round trip to visit my mom and dad. And on the upside, it's only 42 cents to and from work. 42 CENTS.

It's a good thing my brother doesn't read my blog because this website would be the end of all rational thought he possessed. I remember him excitedly getting his picture taken with the Maverik gas sign when it was 99 cents/gallon. That was such a highlight for him and he hasn't been the same since it passed that dollar mark.

Thanks to iMatt for finding this. Now I'm going to try and forget it exists so I don't start calculating everything and therefore never leaving the house.

winter?

Already? Really? I spent a good part of yesterday curled up by my mom and dad’s fireplace trying to keep warm. And now I come into work this morning and the heat isn’t working. Right now I’m huddled over my laptop wearing a coat and blanket with a space heater blasting my feet. I don't dare move because it'll let a draft into the burrito I've created with the blanket. Reminds me of last January when we didn’t have heat for about two weeks (not real great for office productivity).

All of that freezing aside, there are a lot of wintery things that I’m excited for ... namely HOT CHOCOLATE and SPARKLY LIGHTS and WARM FIRES. I just need to prepare by stocking up on fuzzy and warm clothing. I think I’ll use Kathleen as my inspiration:

Okay, I admit that mostly I'm just jealous because right now Kathleen is in California and therefore warmer than I am. And let's be honest - nothing beats pajamas that zip up. Now if only I could find these to wear while she's gone ...

jess 101

Guess what I finally found? Jess 101! I'd probably classify this project as the birth of my computer nerd side and it's been all downhill from there.

some guys have all the luck

Remember this? Here's a nice little follow up. Maybe Kory should consider putting his earnings toward a pimped out bathroom for his girlfriend.

MISC.

The Barbie doll in the back making us all look bad is Delta Goodrem. We had the opportunity to hear her sing live this last weekend. Not only is she gorgeous, she has an amazing voice AND is a very pleasant person. Is it really fair for one girl to have it all?

Meeting Delta has inspired us to start a Wall of Fame. So far The Wall will include our autograph and meeting of Delta, Shanna’s meeting of Jay Leno, her pretend meeting of Tom Hanks, Shanna and Michelle’s meeting of Tyrone, and mine and Natalie’s pretend meeting of Wentworth Miller. It’s a good start, even if they aren’t all exactly credible. We’re not picky.

And onto something else. Sunday I went up the North Ogden divide to look at the leaves. Although they weren’t as vibrant as I had hoped, everything did look nice and crisp because of the rain. (Just pretend those power lines are beautiful trees) Also thanks to that rain, my shoes were packed solid with mud. But it was a good walk with memories of nearly passing out while snowshoeing and honestly thinking I was going to die while tubing. Oh and singeing our eyelashes during Christmas tree bonfires.

The end.

P.S. (Lydia – that picture isn’t full quality. I’ll email it to you instead.)

"Broncos Offensive Line Hoping Uniforms Make Them Look Fat"
The Onion - America's Finest News Source

"The dark pants we wear are just so slimming," said Broncos center Casey Wiegmann.

the big 2-5 for kat

Last night we took Kathleen out for her belated birthday dinner. She chose Red Robin aka Red Robster. I ALWAYS (and I really do mean always) get the Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Wrap, but this time I crawled out of my comfort zone and tried something different. Big mistake. It was so greasy I couldn't even finish it. Took it home because I can't stand the thought of not getting my money's worth, but I wouldn't be heartbroken if it disappeared from the fridge and ended up in the garbage.

Moral of the story: Never try anything new. Ever. For the rest of your life. You'll end up wasting $9.69 plus tip. And no one wants that, right?

Anyway. Happy Belated Birthday to Kathleen!