He cracks me up!

As much as I hate to admit that I was watching New Moon, I just have to tell this little story..... 

It was a lazy night after a hard days work and I decided to get cozy and watch New Moon.  (I can't help it, it is one of my favorite guilty pleasures.) Dave didn't really want to watch it with me but he was sweet to sit with me and keep me company while he surfed the web on his laptop.  For those of you who may not have either read or seen New Moon, here is a quick sum up of what happens... 

Edward is a skinny sparkly vampire who falls in love with a quirky, clumsy girl named Bella. Edward decides that Bella would be safer without him so he leaves her.  She becomes very sad and lethargic. Lucky for Bella there is an incredibly handsome kindhearted werewolf named Jacob to be her often shirtless rebound.  Bella, silly girl, is still stuck on Edward and has horrible nightmares. She wakes her dad Charlie up on a nightly basis screaming bloody murder...

The screaming nightmare part of the movie is where my little story takes place.

Dave: "Dude, that girl is messed up. Who screams like that in their sleep?"

Me(with an are-you-kidding-me? look on my face): "Dave, you freak out and scream in your sleep all the time..."

*brief thoughtful pause*

Dave: "I know, its because Edward left me." 

I literally fell off the bed laughing... good times with my funny hubby :)

A New Car, A few Cups, and A Fun Date!

My New Car!!!

I love my new car!  I have a feeling it is going to take us on lots of adventures!  Starting with the New Britain Museum of Art!

I love art!

Its true!

I think this looks like floating blue curly fries...

What do you think?

This is the alphabet carved out of #2 pencils!  Holy Buckets!

The artist's name is Dalton Ghetti and his work is AMAZING!

So small they provide a magnifying glass to view the detail!

I am looking at a church in this one!

I think this one was my favorite!

The wall behind me is made with plastic cups!

Lots and lots of cups!

This alphabet is slightly larger than the last one :)

Not to be confused with a Pensieve...

Here's a question...

Run away kittens! Run away!

Cups, cups and more cups!

He makes the cups look good!

The coolest museum exhibit I have ever seen!

An image search of Escher will keep you entertained for hours!

Coolest bench EVER!

Every room of the museum had a different bench of awesomeness.  Art you can sit on.

My hubby is a perfect 10!

;)

So, most of the time  I like art... this seriously creeped me out!

Looking at art made me hungry...

So we ended the day with German food! SOOOOOOO good!

An Anniversary, A Homecoming, Some Pickleball, and a Goodbye.

FIVE YEARS!

As of May 24, 2010 Dave and I have been married for 5 years!  I have loved every minute of it, even the hard times.  Everyday with my sweetheart is a dream come true.  On the day of our wedding he gave me a card with a princess on a balcony and a knight in shining armor on the front.  The inside was a picture of a woman standing on a bed shrieking in the corner, and a man killing a spider.  The card said "I may not slay dragons, but I will always kill the spiders." For those of you who know me, this is the perfect card... and just so you know, he has lived up to his word.  He saves me from scary spiders all the time!  Thank you my love!  

The Scotts!

My brother Scott is home!  He just got back from a mission in the Netherlands!  He served for two honorable years teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and serving the people of the Netherlands!  (If you want to know more about his message click here)

It was so much fun to visit with my family and to have my hubby there too!  Scott is standing by the scottsman my sister mindy drew when she was in elementary school!

Companions!

One of Scott's mission companions came to his after party.  (I know, but you can't call it a homecoming anymore, so I have dubbed it the after party)

Happy about scott or the food?

Lol!  I love my sister, she is a girl after my own heart!  Food can change my mood!

The Mormon Spread!

Doesn't it look yummy!  All it is missing is fry sauce!  Oh glorious fry sauce!  How I miss thee when I am not in Utah!  

Glad he fits in!

James is a goober.... i mean Gubler... yeah thats it!

Mindy and Grams!

I love coming home and getting to see my family!  I miss them all so much!

Pickleball, and so it begins!

So, the newest game my family has discovered is called pickleball.  Yes, it is a real sport, click here if you don't believe me.  It is sort of a cross between ping-pong and tennis.  All I know is that you are not supposed to slam the ball if you are in the kitchen. (right next to the net)

Dave was really good!

I am teasing in this pic, Dave took to the sport like a fish to water!  He was super good at it!

GO TEAM RED!

Not sure if they planned it that way.

I try.

I don't have a single drop of athletic blood in my body.  I am not exaggerating, I just can't play sports.  It might be because I have asthma, but it is more likely that I just don't care about sports and therefore never played them when I was little.  But, I do like pickleball, its fun!  I am just not good at it.

He is so into it! 

What a hunk!

He can fly!

I like being on my dad's team, he usually wins :)

What the?

Must be something he learned in the Netherlands!

My mom is the champion!

I am teasing in this pic too, they are really arguing about who gets stuck with me on their team next... ;)

Ah, my love!

Aren't we cute?

To say goodbye.

While I was there, my Grandpa Dalpias passed away.  The day before he passed, I got to say goodbye.  He had Alzheimer's for a really long time, so it was good that he went home.  I am glad to know that this life is not the end.  I am grateful that my grandpa taught me about my Italian heritage.  It is something I will pass on to my children with great joy. 

Until we meet again Grandpa!

this is what i did my last day :)

Inspired by Natalie: 50 Things I Love.

1. My sweet, patient, loving husband.  I don't know how he puts up with me, but I am glad he does.

2. My mom, because somehow she made it through my teenage years and now she is one of my best friends.

3. My dad, who could beat up your dad any day!  Lol, seriously tho... no one has a better dad than I do. He is my light house.

4. My sister, I want to be like her in every way and then some! 

5. My brother... no one makes me laugh like scotty.

6. My in-laws... yes that includes you James :)

7. My grammas and grampas!

8. Going places I have never been before.

9. Museums, especially art ones!

10. Cold, snowy, winter days.

11.  Homemade ravioli, Dalpias style.

12. Getting my nails done.

13. Connecticut

14. My friends, cuz they are AWESOME!

15. Girls nights! Woot!

16. Reading the kind of book that sucks you in.  You know, the kind that you can't put down!

17. Getting off the airplane to find out that my luggage was NOT lost!

18. My job, and the kids that go along with it.

19. Ice cream from Tulmeadow farm in Simsbury, it is the best ice cream I have had in the US.

20. Facebook, it is too fun!

21. Central Air, seriously best invention EVER!

22. New England fall days

23. The yankee candle factory

24. My crime tv shows... like Fringe, CSI, and Criminal Minds!

25. Photo shoots that require little or no editing :)

26. The chicken gyro at Saeed's International market.

27. Spending the whole day with Dave

28. Finding money in my pants pocket! Ka-ching!

29. Sleeping in on cold winter mornings

30. Feel good movies... you know the kind that are so good no one feels the need to add trashy content to the mix... there are very few out there these days.

31. The fact that my itunes collection is so varied that if I play my music on random I can hear anything from The Jackson 5 to MoTab to Weezer within 15 minutes ;)

32. Playing Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii

33. Free tech support 

34. Good hair days, and my curls

35. Laughing... especially when I have one of my "laughing fits"

36. Related to number 35, Brian Regan... he has induced many a fit!

37. The ocean

38. My Mac.  My wonderful headache free Mac.

39. Photoshop, and Lightroom

40. Successful shopping trips,  you know, the ones where everything seems to fit and is on sale!

41.  The fact that it doesn't really feel like the holiday season until I smell a box of my mom's homemade chocolates.

42. A clean room.... not actually cleaning it... just when it is clean already.

43. Feeling like a kid because my breakfast of choice is cinnamon toast crunch.

44. Snow on Christmas Eve.

45. My water cooler... it has saved me from the yucky glastonbury water!

46. Watching old home movies.

47. Having good crazy dreams... I miss telling Kathy about them.

48. La Ferrovia

49. The way my primary kids light up when they sing a song they love.

50.  Family vacations :)

Washington DC

Last week I went to Washington DC with my friend Kristi.  She asked me to come along to help with her kids, but she has really good kids so it was more fun than it was work.  I tease a little in the first pic, but the kids did great on that LOOOONG car ride!  Thanks Kristi for having me along!  And thanks to your sister and her family too!

When we arrived, everyone kept asking me what I wanted to see, because it was my first time there.  I told them I wanted to go to the Smithsonian, and I about hit the floor when they said "Which one?"  I didn't know there was more than one... so I picked the Hirschorn museum of modern art.  Most people hate modern art because it "doesn't make sense" but I think it is fun and different.  I like how you can interpret it any way you want.  Like I think the sculpture in the pic below looks like a big pile of old school stamps!

I think the kids liked the waterfountain best...

I like when art is sort of interactive as well... 

In this pic I am standing in front of "Les Bourgeois de Calais" it is a Rodin sculpture that was on my AP Art History exam " I am a much better photographer when I am not also the subject:)  

I put this same picture on my photo blog, can you spot at least 3 differences?

The next day Kristi's sister was kind enough to stay with the kids so Kristi and I got to go to some more museums.  We went to The Museum of Natural History for like 5 seconds just to see the hope diamond... which was not as big, or as cool, as I thought it would be.  But there was a giant squid downstairs so it was worth it.   We spent most of our time at the National Gallery of Art.  I was in heaven.

I was surprised at the size and beauty of this Degas.  The text books never really do the paintings justice!

We thought it would be fun to drive by the White House.  We got lost first, and then stuck in traffic... and we were stuck for a long time....

So, I made an art quiz for you to do while you wait for us to find our way.  Name the artist.  Answers posted in comments.

Just when all hope was lost...

One of the coolest things we saw was the Washington National Cathedral.  It was HUGE! and super cool.  There was even a Darth Vader gargoyle!

This made me laugh. At the bottom it says "Children, obey your parents in all things."

I sent a text, and posted on facebook, that "I went to the back of a penny today..." no one got it.  But that was our first stop on our last day of touring.  We saw all the memorials, and I was most impressed by the Vietnam Memorial.  I never imagined just how long it was and how many many names there were.  It was quite the experience.

Here is me, and the very bottom, of the 16th prez statue.

This is how the little one spent most of the day.

We ended our last day of DC touring with ice cream.  I think that is the part the kids enjoyed the most!  And secretly, me too!

Vacation Madness: The Bonnie Hunt Show!

Wow, it is about time I posted something!  It has been too long!  About three months ago, on a whim, I clicked on a link that said "get tickets to the Bonnie Hunt Show" not ever imagining that I would actually get them.  Well, as you can see, I did, I went, and it was AWESOME!  

I called my mom to tell her about the tickets and she said "What are you going to do?  Fly to Utah and then drive to LA?"  And I said "Yep!"  I think she thought I was crazy, but she went along with it.  She invited two of her friends to come a long for the ride.  I was a bit worried about 4 women with totally different personalities getting along for 4 days most of which were spent crammed into my moms little toyota (which by the way has a freakishly HUGE trunk), but my worries were for naught.  Even when we met up with my good friend who recently moved to LA, adding a 5th woman to the mix, we didn't have any problems.

We all got along and had a blast talking and laughing together.  I truly believe that the women on this trip are some of the worlds best.  I was enveloped by their friendship and surrounded by their wisdom.  As much fun as all the stuff we did was, it was their company that I enjoyed the most. (ps I love you mom, and yes those statements include you... thanks for going along with my crazy idea)

This is the Culver Hotel. 

It is literally right next to the Culver Studios, where the show is filmed.  The rooms were not great, but the location couldn't have been more convenient.

We ended up going to the show twice!

The night before we had tickets to the show we wanted to make sure we knew where we were supposed to be for the next day.  When we walked over there some people on the crew invited us in to see the show.  So we went!  We sat on the very back row right next to the sound guy.  It was so fun!  Even on the back row, the experience was one of a kind!  Bonnie is so funny and quick witted!  I almost fell of my chair laughing.  Not only is she funny, but she is also sincere and kind.  She spent as much time as she could talking to the audience afterwards and shaking hands.  It is too bad her show is being cancelled. She is a ray of sunshine in the crap-fest that is on tv these days. (click here for a list of ways to help save the show)

The line!

After first show we saw on the back row, one of the crew members invited us to be VIP guests for the next days taping.  So even though we did have to wait at the end of that HUGE line, we got to sit on the front row.  You can see us in these two videos.  Video1 and Video2.  Video one is the one where you can see us the most.  Right behind the producer she talks to.  The guests we got to see were: Maria Bello, Ru Paul, Matt Lucas, Ruby Gettinger, Lauren Conrad, and Jillian Michaels.

The Ladies.

In front of the Culver Studios building, after all the tapings were over.

Meet the Cupcake Thief!

The audience got free cupcakes from Crumbs bakery.  Free!  I was very attached to my cupcake and was reluctant to let anyone else hold it... someone offered to hold it for me while I situated my luggage, but I couldn't let go... 

Ah, sweet sweet victory!

As you can see, no one ran off with my cupcake....