21st century update

this is kent btw. i just wanted to jump online and blog in response to the last post by nellie. verizon did show up today and hooked us up with internet and cable. it is great to finally be a part of the 21st century and have more tv at your fingertips than you could ever possibly watch. but i mainly wanted to post because nellie made a little comment about how she is super pumped to get cable and watch sportscenter every night. she was of course joking. once sportscenter came on tonight she went and took a shower. clearly not that pumped. but i just wanted to post in my defense because the first show we watched tonight wasnt sportscenter. it was a show about free birthing. what is free birthing? its crazy women who insist on giving birth outside a hospital without any medicine or chamber maids. they just sit in their tub and do their thing while their husband films it with a video camera. it was disgusting, or fascinating depending on who you ask. i couldnt stand the sight, or sounds of the show. nellie was glued to the tv. so while she pokes fun at my shows and makes it sound like cable is going to make her life miserable, dont give her too much sympathy, there is plenty for her to watch. we guys get a bad rap because we supposedly watch TOO much sports and for whatever reason that means that women cant watch anything or there isnt anything for them to watch. but thats totally false. women are watching just as much as men, its just that all of the programs that only they like dont fall into one genre, like men with sports. their shows range from oprah, to shows about unattractive british women giving birth, to shows where they teach you choreographed dance moves from india - also the first 3 shows recorded on our dvr.

welcome to the 21st century

For the past six and a half months, Kent and I have pirated an unsecured internet connection from our neighbors and used rabbit ears to get local television shows. It has been fine (and free), but tomorrow we join the 21st century. We will be getting our own internet connection, cable and DVR box. (I've missed Bravo and TLC, and Kent has missed ESPN--he really suffered during the World Series.)

While I'm excited to get cable, I have realized it is not a necessity and not having it has lessened the amount of time I spend in front of the TV. I would say I currently watch an average of 5 hours per week. The national average is about 20 hours per person per week, so I'm below average which is great in this case, but I want to stay around 5 hours even with cable. My hope is that DVR will keep me from aimless viewing, but we'll see. I missed an entire season of Project Runway, so I might have some make up viewing to do.

Anyway, we're looking forward to joining the modern world of technology and communication, and I can't wait to watch SportsCenter every night.

rocking it

I've got a thing for music. Love it. Couldn't live without it. I guess you could say that finding new bands and songs is a hobby of mine. I'm not on the cutting edge of discovering music or anything, but I get so happy when I find great songs that you don't hear on the radio 24/7. There are a lot of good musicians out there that don't get enough air time, but that are fantastic. I would venture to say that some of the best musicians don't get played on the radio.

Lately, I've been liking bands with female lead singers. Strong, female vocals with emotion. They make me want to either A. Go out and conquer the world or B. Become sentimental. Either way, they are good and I'd like to share three of my favorites. (I'd rather post the songs themselves without the videos, but I don't have them downloaded on this computer, so this will have to suffice.)



Young Galaxy: Outside the City
This is actually a decent music video. Love the little kids.



Florence and the Machine: Dog Days are Over
I don't know what's going on in this video, it's weird. Anything with clowns is scary. You might want to minimize the video and just listen to the song.



Priscilla Ahn: Rain
Found this song on a friend's blog and I love it. I don't think there's an original music video made for it yet, but I thought this one was nice. (Please forgive the watermark. I wouldn't want to buy those images either. Getty Images are pricey!)

Love these songs. Excited to find the next round of favorites.

the book thief

This book made me sob. Literally. It doesn't matter that the characters weren't real, I wept at the end. I finished it while Kent and I were hanging out in our hotel room in Pismo Beach, but I didn't want him to know I was crying, so I turned the other direction. That didn't work though because my eyes and nose were running all over. I managed to stifle a few sniffles, but once I was done with the last page, I hopped up and headed straight to the bathroom where I let everything out. I couldn't even talk to Kent about the book after I came out because it would bring on a surge of emotion. It was that touching.

Anyway, this book is worth reading. I don't want to say much about it other than it takes place in Germany during World War II and is narrated by Death. Death. How fascinating is that? Personify death and have him tell the story. It's pretty genius. I know there are many World War II stories out there, but if you're looking for a good book that you can't put down, you might want to check out "The Book Thief". It is worth a few hours of your time.

v-day getaway

Kent and I took advantage of the Valentine/President weekend by scooting up the coast to Santa Barbara. We were originally going to fly to New York or Isla de Las Mujeres (right off the coast of Cancun) with some Delta vouchers that we have, but we soon realized everything else would add up fast-hotels, food, excursions, etc. Traveling is the best, but it's expensive!

So, we decided to stay in good old California and it was wonderful. We drove to Santa Barbara on Friday afternoon in the rain, but arrived in time to see a beautiful sunset. Travel side note: It usually takes about 2 hours to get to Santa Barbara from L.A., but Google Maps told us that it could take up to 3 hours and 20 minutes with traffic. How long did it take us? 4 hours. Google Maps is smart.

I love Kent's smile here. It's like a kid's smile when his mom keeps taking photo after photo of him repeating "say cheese!" again and again. He's a good sport.

We stayed at the West Beach Inn, which is located across the street from the beach and harbor. We didn't know much about the place other than what we learned on Trip Advisor-the photos looked nice, people gave it good reviews and it fit our price range-so we settled on a garden/patio room with two double beds. I was a little bummed about the two beds, but when we got there, they had moved us to a single king room. I liked that place from that point on. Plus, you could walk to the pier, State Street and we even had a fancy hot tub that we actually used. The first night we were by ourselves, but the second night we were joined by a couple that we couldn't figure out. Amazing the people you meet in public jacuzzis.

The fancy hot tub.

I thought I'd include Kent's favorite flower, the "Lily of the Nile". (I actually think it's called a Bird of Paradise, but Kent kept calling it by the other name, so it stuck.) There were several by our hotel.

On Valentine's Day we took a long run along the coast (training for our relay in April-woohoo!-Kent loved me for making him go 5 miles), relaxed, ate a late lunch at Ristorante Aldo's and relaxed again. We were so lazy, but it felt so nice. We were still full when dinnertime rolled around, so we just walked to a place called The Natural Cafe (fitting for Santa Barbara) and enjoyed a light dinner consisting of soup, salad, a sandwich and a smoothie. Maybe not the extravagant Valentine's dinner one might expect, but it was perfect. We even stopped by See's candies and picked out our favorite chocolates. It was a perfect Valentine's.

On Sunday, we visited the famous Santa Barbara Mission after church, then headed up the coast a little more to check out San Luis Obispo. We had heard it was nice, so we thought we would take a look. It was definitely fun to drive through, but we ended staying the night in Pismo Beach. We got an room with a partial ocean view (seemed like a full view to me) and it was great. Definitely the best Best Western hotel I'd ever stayed at.

We also had the opportunity (really, it was a chance of a lifetime) to eat at this place called AJ Spur's Steakhouse and Saloon. It was fantastic. Taxidermy animals everywhere you turned, famous cowboys and outlaws on the wall and our table top was a plastic picture of the mountains and sky flanked by hot pink/fuchsia bench seats. When we sat down we were served a pot of soup. Apparently, it comes with every meal, as does a root beer float. I forgot my camera, so you'll have to use your imagination on this place. It might be better that way anyway.

This is a partial view, but I thought it was great!

We headed home on Monday afternoon and enjoyed listening to Achtung Baby a few times. It has had a revival in our house lately. Kent thinks it is U2's best album. I'm not sure I agree because there are so many good U2 albums, but I do love it.

All in all, a wonderful Valentine's weekend. I loved spending so much time with Kent and I loved Santa Barbara. I think we'll be visiting again.

i'm it

My cousin, Nikki, tagged me so here we go.

Spouse's Name: Kent Merrill Sommer
1. Where did you meet? Corner Bakery
2. How long did you date before you got married? 8 months
3. How long have you been married? 6 months today
4. Who is smarter? I think he is, but I do all right as well.
5. What is your favorite feature of his? Eyes and dimples.
6. Who cooks more? I do, but barely.
7. Does he have a nickname for you? Darling or Love
8. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Probably him, but we're pretty even in this department.
9. What is his favorite food? He likes all genres. As for desserts, he loves Oatmeal Carmelitas.
10. What is his favorite sport? Soccer
11. When and where was your fist kiss? Redlands, California, on the stairs at my parents' house.
12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? My favorite thing is to go walking. Kent probably likes playing the Wii. Snuggling is always fun too.
13. Does he have a hidden talent? Stand Up Comedy
14. How old is he? 28
15. Who said I love you first? I'm not really sure. It came up at the same time. Maybe him?
16. Guilty pleasures? Salt & Pepper Kettle Potato Chips and Real World/Road Rules Challenge.
17. What do you admire most about him? Steady, calm nature and faith.
18. Do you think he will read this? Probably.

Three's
3 Joys
1. Kent
2. My family
3. Traveling

3 Fears
1. Losing any of my loved ones.
2. Losing one of my future kids (not to death per say, but actually losing one of them, at Disneyland or something)
3. Getting a flat tire on the freeway.

3 Goals
1. Become a better cook.
2. Travel as much as possible.
3. Be more creative.

3 Current Obsessions
1. Blogging
2. My book (The Book Thief)
3. Cherry & Passion Fruit Tic Tacs

3 Random Surprising Facts About Me
1. I can do a backhand spring.
2. I can find the harmony to most songs.
3. I can eat a package of Trident Splash in one hour.

Eight's
8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Went to church.
2. Made chicken and dumplings for the first time.
3. Went to a marriage class.
4. Picked up our palm trees.
5. Read my book.
6. Enjoyed two pieces of lemon cake.
7. Fell asleep at 9:45.
8. Talked with Kent about life.

8 Things I Look Forward to
1. Our Valentine's Getaway
2. Exercising
3. Reading my book
4. Our future trips
5. Ragnar Relay Race
6. BYU Women's Conference
7. Having more time to develop my domestic skills and hobbies
8. Starting a family

8 Things On My Wish List
1. Go to Spain and France with Kent this year.
2. Get a nice camera.
3. Get that love seat we've been looking at at Ikea.
4. Travel to Iceland, India and Greece.
5. Get a new computer and all of the fantastic programs that can be installed on it.
6. Take that Virgin flight above the earth to see the moon.
7. Play the piano better.
8. Sew those aprons.

I tag: Becky West, Kent Sommer and Paige Blaser.

mosaic

Just thought I'd join in on the fun and create my own mosaic.

Here's how you do it:

Step 1: Go to flickr.com
Step 2: In another window open http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php
Step 3: Choose 4 columns, 3 rows
Step 4: Answer the following questions in the search bar of flicker.
Pick your favorite one on the first page and paste it into your mosaic

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your nickname.

Enjoy!

amused

Believe it or not, Kent and I didn't know we were destined to be lovers when we first met. No stars, no twitterpation, nothing. We enjoyed each others' company, but my mind and heart weren't in it. I thought he was a good person, funny, smart, etc., but there just wasn't that initial romantic spark. For whatever reason though, I kept accepting Kent's date proposals. How do you say no when someone wants to take you to a Muse concert with tickets in the PIT! (Makes me sound like I was using him, I wasn't. At least, I don't think I was. He knew where I stood. Doesn't that make it okay?)

Anyway, I came across this video that Kent took at the Muse concert and it makes me laugh. Watch and listen for my obvious pause when I am supposed to respond to how awesome he is.



Funny how things can change in just a few months. Kent really is "the coolest guy in my life" now. Even better than 10.5 Matthew Bellamy.