Thursday, December 17, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Birth of Margaret Naomi Burk
I had such a great time being there...and if maternal urges were rated on a scale like water rapids...I was a class V last night.
Yeah for birth and babies!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Werewolf Bar mitzvah spooky scary...
Lexy went as a beehive and Jared a beekeeper. It turned out really cute, which was good since Lex had been talking about this costume since...oh, September even though it was off the Martha Stewart site for a six-year-old. In earlier brainstorming rounds she exclaimed "You can be Hitler and I'll be beehive!" Needles to say, we think this version goes better together, although I can't really speak for Hitler's proclivities for honey cultivation.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Stonehedge
Well stonehedger....in provo....at a retirement facility. Because really -- what says "Grandma will be happy here" like a giant neolithic rock creation copied out of a England travel guide??
'Nuff said. Some pictures of Mel and I exploring this before we explore Target. Love Target. Love cute Mel's bump in these pictures more and understand I am not nearly as exciting as her impending baby largesse is but here go regardless...
(aren't you glad that I made her pose?? can't get enough of it..and no..I am not pregnant Cathie...even though I may or may not have checked out Birthing from Within from the library, a work that happens to have a nice chapter on creating your own transcendental birth art...so what are the chances of getting my spouse to one day draw a birth picture... any takers?)
Awesome.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Great statement on religous freedom from Elder Dallin H. Oaks...
My favorite line --
"[A]s advocates of the obvious truth that persons with religious positions or motivations have the right to express their religious views in public, we must nevertheless be wise in our political participation. Preachers have been prime movers in the civil rights movement from the earliest advocates of abolition, but even the civil rights of religionists must be exercised legally and wisely.
As Latter-day Saints, we should never be reticent to declare and act upon the sure foundations of our faith. The call of conscience - whether religious or otherwise - requires no secular justification. At the same time, religious persons will often be most persuasive in political discourse by framing arguments and positions in ways that are respectful of those who do not share their religious beliefs and that contribute to the reasoned discussion and compromise that is essential in a pluralistic society." (emphasis added)
Aside from my own religious testimony of this man and his mission as a special witness of Christ, he is a brilliant attorney who worked for the University of Chicago Law School as a dean before becoming a Utah Supreme Court justice. The word on the street was he could have made it to the Supreme Court had he not been selected for higher church service. I just hope that wherever future debate about religion, freedom, abortion, gay rights, etc, take us as American people that we can learn to be respectful about beliefs and argue with reason, rather than rage.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The new Idaho State Junior Miss...
(yes, little sister of yours truly, who in addition to looking fabulous and winning the judges over with her jazzy voice, garnered a bunch of cash-ola for school and a ticket to the Junior Miss nationals in Mobile Alabama! In June!)
Sweet!
We had a great time cheering her on and dressing up for Walmart (what--you don't go in costume in midnight in Pocatello??). Rock on Ruski.
The finalists.
Parental units finally getting to congratulate Madi -- you just can't resist those Leonard girl cheeks.
If you can't get enough of this hottie...check out her talent here. She sang "The Nearness of You", originally recorded by Hobie Carmichael, made famous by Norah Jones. Enjoy.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Ra-ra-ra....goooooooo cougars!!!
BYU 14 Oklahoma 13.
The only time I have ever seen Provo in quasi-rioting car-honking, student-running, impromptu dance party bliss. All that was missing was the tipping over of cars and looting (the almost ubiquitous lack of alcohol making it hard for even the most die-hard fans to break into that group of lawless activity).
So awesome.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Fourth of July - food, family, fireworks..facial lacerations
So..the story. We were doing a little homerun derby at some baseball fields and my husband was hitting (would you expect anything less?) and I was in the outfield doing my thing - which consisted mainly of looking good with the leather glove and heckling. The baseballs were flying pretty fast, mostly because my father-in-law and husband respectively don't like to be outhit by each other and the wooden bat and sunny day made for good baseball karma. Then of course, there was a ball that came my way, or really as I remember it, locked onto my face like a heat-seaking missile in a James Bond movie. I remember the ball coming towards me -- and then the nice green grass, while I watched some of my DNA blanket the field. My sunglasses were shattered and I had a nice gash right at the bridge of my nose where the frame had cut my face.
This picture is quite frightening - I'm not sure why I thought smiling would make me look any less disturbing, because quite honestly I think I made it worse but...
Four stitches later, and a fractured nose later, I was feeling alright- I had a good story and I felt like the universe had finally equalized my previous few weeks of baseball and softball activity without an injury. I mean, there are no free lunches, right? But of couse, the swelling made my cheeks reach astronomical-chipmunk proportions.
And of course, it wasn't till a few days later that I started to look like a domestic violence victim and started to worry that going out in public standing next to my husband and insisting that I got hit by a baseball didn't look good. And that's what my eyes looked like WITH makeup, mind you.
Stitchtes are out now, and the matching racoon eyes are gone and hopefully, I can avoid the akward hey-I-know-you-are-staring-at-my-forehead because you notice something happened but then are too scared to ask because I have a large menacing man leering over us. Moral of the story - stand back farther in the field and learn to get the he** out of the way when a six and a half foot man starts hitting homeruns.
We had a great week -- short, but sweet and here are a few highlights:
Mike wake-surfing
Me and baby Mylee at Tubb's Hill
Michael and Suzie at Tubbs
My Mom with baby Ryder at the parade
Me and Madison --or should I say the reigning Junior Miss - at the parade
Michael and I at the parade - in red, white and blue (even the bruises -- now thats patriotism my friends...)
Mike and I out on the boat
Leonards and us celebrating our second anniversary at Ciao Mambo's!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Ironman and family
112 mile bike.
Cathie and I going out on the town - nothing like bar-hopping Sherman to bring some HS memories back. Along with half of your high school classmates.
Went to Hannah Banana's dance performance -which was sweet! Seven dances later (and those were just the ones SHE was in...I felt ready to bust a move as well.)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
We have a piper down...
Yeah, this guy was in a full chain mail. Awesome. Think of this event as live action role play, Braveheart, and Hot Topic rolled into one event.
A month before I was having fun with my sisters at home - this was taken after Junior Miss. Serious smiles are overrated - sorry Moms.
And this was before that, call it the Dark Ages of my Spring -- the end of first-year finals. While this isn't my desk, I do think this installation sculpture summarizes my feelings about finals, and about the extensive time I spent in the library in a windowless dungeon study room.
Our study table - the pita chips and snap peas are mine but don't think I didn't pop those M&M's like there was no tomorrow. Because I did. Don't you dare judge me.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The only capital movements I see...
The news story is here. Its a sad case, but watching this guy in court is pretty crazy and the victim's son is a nice guy with an impressive sense of humor about the whole thing. Can't really say more than that...
Monday, May 4, 2009
Throw 'em the fake and then finagle...they'll never know you're just...a bagel...
Props to whoever can catch the reference...I'll give you a hint if you didn't grow up in a Broadway-house...its from a musical set in the 20s...
But anyway, I started my internship today (law schools call them externships...but for the life of me I can't decipher why they are any different other than the obvious grad school thing...I mean...small office...check...no pay...check...but you get credit..check...yep--- sounds like an internship to me!
I am working at the Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic, which is a great non-profit in Salt Lake that provides free legal services to people who have been the victims of crimes. Think of it as legal aid (you know - what Sandra Bullock did at the end of Two Weeks Notice) with a uber-specialty - helping out just the victims of crimes, and usually only violent or physical crimes of some sort, protect their rights, e.g. getting reparations from the perpetrators, preparing and reading some sort of victim impact statement at sentencing or the hearing, getting a restraining order, etc.
So its cool -- and I think I will get to go to court a lot, which is pretty fun, because you see some fun stuff there, its like the bus stop but with some random people in suits thrown in the mix. And I am excited to be working with such dedicated attorneys - folks who could be making a killing (well in any normal market anyway) anywhere else but do this kind of thing because they really want to help people, especially in a very pioneering area of the law = victims' rights.
I am excited.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
World Peace (Junior Miss 2010)
You know, some things just don't disappoint. I flew home for the weekend to Coeur d'Alene to see my little sister, Madison, compete in Junior Miss and wouldn't you know it...the girl won the whole thing. Here are some video clips --- and it really is a scholarship competition!
Sorry they are a little grainy but apparently blogger couldn't hack the full quality version.