11 Months

Yesterday Chloe turned 11 months. I can't belive how fast the time has flown. I still think of her as a newborn because she is a sweet and cuddly thing, but she is definitely not a baby any more. To celebrate the 11 wonderful months this sweet baby girl has been filling our hearts and home with happiness, here are 11 fun facts about Chloe!

1. She is ALL girl! I didn't realize that girls are so different from boys starting the instant they are born. The dainty way she places her hands, her quickly-changing emotions, her innate understanding of gentleness, her fascination with dolls, and her loves and cuddles - she is all girl (or "grill" - as Morgan says it).

2. She is so easy-going. She gets hauled around by her brother, "kissed" by the dogs, rarely gets one-on-one mommy time, is constantly surrounded by chaos and noise and yet, she is always delightful and sweet.

3. She loves to laugh. She laughs at the dogs, she laughs at Morgan, she laughs when she sees people she loves...she loves to laugh!

4. She loves to eat. Anyone who has seen Chloe eat knows what I mean. If you don't feed her fast enough, she will grunt at you, and if you still don't meet her food spooning expectations, she will shriek at you!

5. She loves to dance. The following video was taken on Valentine's Day. She would push the button to turn on the music and then jam out! Any time there is music playing she is bobbing some part of her body!

6. She loves to talk, oh, how she loves to talk! She babbles on about everything - all the time. She talks to Callie and Roxy first thing in the morning, she clearly says "doggy" "mama" "dada" "brother" and much more, I just haven't learned to interpret "Chloe-speak" yet.

7. She loves the outdoors. Whether we are out for a quick walk around the neighborhood, snowshoing up the canyon, or just going sledding, Chloe is just happy to feel the sun on her face and the wind in her hair!

8. Her favorite food is meat. When given the choice between a bite of roast or mashed potatoes, Chloe will take the roast every time! When given a choice between lunchmeat and a cheese stick, lunchmeat wins out. It isn't that she doesn't like potatoes or cheese - she loves them - she just really loves meat. I'm pretty sure vegitarianism is not in her future - I have a carnivore for a daughter!

9. Chloe has 8 teeth and there are more trying to push their way out right now! She has had these 8 teeth since she was about 7 months old. Crazy? I know! And, they are sharp little buggers - for this reason...

10. Chloe is weaned! Yay! About 2 weeks ago she bit me and it hurt, so I went to the store and bought some whole milk. Over the last 10 days, we have cut back 1 feeding at a time, and as of Wed. we are completely done! I know you are supposed to wait until they are 1 year old, but she is close enough! She LOVES the milk!

11. Chloe wants to walk. Yesterday, she stood up all by herself (with nothing to pull up on) on our bed. She promptly got nervous and fell back down, but she is trying with all her might to learn balance so she can take off running! One of her favorite things to do is balance standing up and then fall forward into my arms. Morgan couldn't have cared less about walking when he was 11 months - with any luck, she'll care about potty trining earlier too and we can just get both of them trained at the same time! Ha! If only I were that lucky!

I sure love my sweet baby girl and love to watch her grow every step of the way!

Cuddles

The beautiful spring weather lured us outside today. We have a membership to the zoo (a must if you have kids) and love to go on weekday mornings when nobody else is there and the animals are active. Since Seth was off, we decided to load up the kids and head to the zoo to enjoy some of the beautiful sunshine and warm weather.

Well, when we got to the zoo, we realized that it was a free admission day - translation: extrememly crowded. My first inclination was to go back to the car and head to the children's museum or the aquarium (everyone in Utah and their kids were at the zoo, so I'm sure the children's museum and the aquarium were empty), but we trekked on because Morgan really wanted to see the monkeys and elephants. When we stopped to look at some monkeys perched on a branch and cuddled together with their tails intertwined, I looked down at the kids in the stroller and this is what I found...

Chloe cuddled up to Morgan with her head on his shoulder the whole time. Our zoo outing wasn't so bad after all!

Also, I have to say that, while it may get a bad rep from some, I love McDonalds. I love that I can sit in my car, order a decent lunch for my kids and cut back on my toy buying fettish without missing out on the excitement of "new toys" (that's the fun part anyway).

Oh my Gosh!

I have to run errands with kids. In my fantasy world, I think that I can get everything done when Seth is not working, but, quite frankly, that is not feasable. So, since our fridge doesn't magically fill itself with food, laundry detergent doesn't magically appear in the laundry room, I keep starting new projects, and my children grow so fast that they need a new wardrobe every couple of months, this leaves me with more errands to run than time (when I am motivated to do so) without kids.

I have been postponing a trip to Target for well over a month, but today, I decided that I couldn't live without a watch battery, diaper genie refills, and my favorite hairspray any longer! I loaded the kids in the car (after a long morning nap for Chloe, to recover from Sunday with 1:00 church - yuck!) and off we went to Target. On the way there, he said very dramatically, "Oh...my...gosh...mom, a tractor!" as if he had just seen an alien, not the tractor we drive by every time we head south! This is not an unusual expression for Morgan, he says "oh my gosh" a lot - we live in Utah and we are mormon, what else would we say - but every time he says it, I start to giggle. He is definitely my kid - a flare for the dramatic, a social butterfly, and an adventurer.

On a similar note, yesterday we decided to take a Sunday drive up Big Cottonwood canyon before church (again, let me reiterate - 1:00 church is the worst when you have kids!) and up near Brighton Seth pointed out the tip of a tractor sticking out from under the snow pack. Morgan thought that was so cool! He was also very excited when we stopped to see a moose that was chest-deep in snow. About 30 minutes later, when we were getting off the freeway exit (which is under construction), we saw another tractor. "Look Dad, the tractor got out of the snow," Morgan piped up from the backseat. Apparently his memory is better than I thought - no more excuses when he "forgets" that I asked him to get his shoes and socks on!

Finally, we have had so much fun lately! Playdates, ward activities, get togethers with nd just fun times hanging out have reminded us how blessed we are to have so many good friends! Here are some pictures from our latest adventures! Enjoy!

Bargains

I always knew that we were good technology bargain shoppers, but it has recently come to my attention that Seth and I are pretty amazing at finding deals for all sorts of things - clothes (a few weeks ago I gotsome darling brand new dresses for $6.50 a piece), technology (a while ago, when they were first hitting the mass market, we bought a portable DVD player which, after rebates, cost us negative $10, yes, we made $10 bucks buying the thing), recreational equiptment ($400 coats at REI for $70), and now books!

I have fallen in love with the library, after getting a library card a few months ago, and we go at least once a week, usually more. The problem is, I am discovering all sorts of new books that I want to own, not just borrow. Well, buying all these books could cost a small fortune and kids books are rarely "gently" used, so I went searching for good deals online. I found this great site called bookcloseouts.com. If you are in the market for books check them out. They don't have everything, but the stuff they do have is as cheap as I found. Plus they have puzzles! I can't believe how expensive puzzles are and Morgan could play puzzles for hours on end, so this is great news to me! They do charge $5 flat shipping though, so stock up and save.

Also, if you don't already, make sure you always search for coupon codes before you ever buy anything online. Just enter the name of the site and the words "coupon code" and you will get a bunch of links to codes that could save you money. There is a current coupon code for bookcloseouts that gives you $5 off an order of $25 - so it is like getting free shipping! Yay for deals!

Hope you don't mind my ramblings, but I hate to see people I love paying full price for something they could get cheaper! Oh, and if you have kids and haven't been to the Old Navy sale yet - you have got to go - the sale ends Thursday! 40% off ALL baby and kids stuff - who could ask for anything more?

We Heart Grandma

Grandma Becky took us out for a Valentine lunch today - thanks Mom - and then to Build-A-Bear to get Morgan a loveable buddy! Who says you can't buy friends :)!

Morgan named his new bear "Blue" - don't ask me why - stuffed him with a heartbeat and some kisses and got him underwear and a Dr. kit! So funny!

Don't think that Chloe missed out the getting spoiled action! Grandma bought her a whole new wardrobe at the Old Navy sale earlier this week - including this cute little red Valentine's outfit!

In Honor of Valentine's Day

I stole this little questionnaire from Erin's blog (I know I have seen it on someone else's too) and I thought I would share some random "love stuff" about us!

1. How long have you been married? 4 1/2 years
2. How long did you date? We "dated" (and I use this term loosely considering the rollercoaster that was our relationship) for about a year and a half
3. How old are you? I'm 24 and Seth is 27
4. Who eats more? Seth - for sure, but some days - and especially when I am pregnant - I give him a run for his money!
5. Who said “I love you” first? That would be me
6. Who is taller? Seth
7. Who sings better? Seth doesn't really sing and I have toured as far as Carnegie Hall so this is not a fair competition
8. Who is smarter? Seth (I got better grades, but he remembers more)
9. Who does the laundry? I do the laundry, but we each fold our own clothes and I usually fold the kids clothes. This is not because Seth is not willing, it is because I realize that I am OCD about how laundry is folded and I refold everything he folds, which drives him crazy. SO this arrangement keeps our marriage strong and happy!
10. Who does the dishes? Usually me, but Seth helps out if they ever get really stinky (or if I just ask)
11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you are standing at the foot of the bed looking at it, I do. Isn't it wierd how we have "sides" of the bed?
12. Who pays the bills? Seth is the one who does the work, to make the money, to pay the bills, but he doesn't have a clue where that money goes. I PAY the bills!
13. Who mows the lawn? Seth (what a sweetie). I have never mowed a lawn in my life - am I a girly girl or what?!
14. Who cooks dinner? Usually me, but Seth does a lot of BBQ-ing, especially in the summer. Also - I have to admit that he used to do ALL of the cooking when I was the one working.
15. Who is more stubborn? Ha! Me.
16. Who kissed whom first? Seth kissed me, but it took him freaking forever! (and by that I mean a week from our first date, but the forever part was him nuzzling noses for what seemed like 3 hours, being a big tease! I held out though and it was so cute!)
17. Who asked whom out? I asked Seth out
18. Who proposed? I am a girly girl and we are pretty conservative - you take your best guess!
19. Who is more sensitive? I cry watching the news, I worry about nothing and I can't stand it when someone doesn't like me - I am definitely more sensitive!
20. Who has more friends? Most of our friends are mutual friends, some of them were originally my friends and some were originally Seth's. If I had to give an answer, I would say Seth because he still stays in touch with more high school friends, but honestly, I think it is pretty much sixes!
21. Who has more siblings? I have 2, Seth has 9 - you do the math!
22. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Most people would probably say that I do because I am more vocal about my opinion, however, we don't often differ in opinion. If we do, Seth has a quiet way of getting me to come around (usually). One exception - I am definitely the disciplinarian with the kids. Seth is too much of a softie!

If But Only A Glimpse

Tuesday . . . the snow was melting, the sun was out, the sky was blue and Morgan went out back to ride his tricycle. It was a beautiful day!

Morgan really enjoyed the signs of spring, as did I, until the snow dumped down on us again yesterday. I wasn't very happy to see snow again, but Morgan said, "Look Mom, it's snowing! We can go sledding now!" Thanks for the optimism, Morgan, but I was loving the spring weather, if but only a glimpse!

A Morgan Moment

This entry is more for a journaling-record than anything as they are sweet and tender moments with Morgan that I never want to forget. With this in mind, feel free to skip this entry if you want - it is a little sappy! Grandparents - you will love it!

Being Morgan's mommy is such a joy. We have had our share of bad moments, horrible days and seemingly endless "phases" of inappropriate behavior, but Morgan is a uniquely sweet and caring child. His first concern is for someone else - incredible for a toddler whose world is me me me! Whether it be sharing his capri-sun with Chloe, making sure he feeds her the yogurt before spooning some for himself, including someone in his play because he thinks they may feel left out, or letting Daddy know that he missed him while he was away at work, Morgan is always looking out for others. These are a few recent examples...

~ Saturday evening, while Seth was still at work, I decided to take the kids and dogs on a walk. The odds were not in my favor. Surprisingly, though, we had a very fun time. I often ask Morgan to identify the colors we see in nature as we walk, and this day, I was asking him about harder colors like gray and brown. As we got further down the street, Morgan turned around to look at Chloe and said to her, "Chloe, look up at the sky. What color is the sky Chloe? (pause) Is it blue?" While this may seem insignificant to you, it was the most wonderful tender moment as a mother, to watch my sweet little boy teach his sister in the same way and with the same words and even inflection that I use so often to teach him.

~ Yesterday Morgan and Chloe were playing in Chloe's room and Chloe started to crawl toward her door. We don't let Chloe go onto the back landing on her own since it is home to the top of the stairs and the dog food, but the door from the kitchen to the landing was open. As he was playing, Morgan realized this, and immediately went to Chloe and said to her in a kind but directive voice, "Chloe, you can't go that way because you could fall down the stairs and get an owie." Then he wrapped his arms around her, lifted her to a standing position and helped her "walk" back into her room where he got her interested in the toy he had been playing with.

~ Today, we went to Grandma Becky's house and Morgan was identifying pictures in her living room. As he looked at a picture of Michael with one of his close friends who is now on a mission, Morgan pointed to it and said to Uncle Michael, "There you are...with your friend." "Yep," Uncle Michael replied. Then Morgan said to him, " You are my friend Uncle Michael."

~ This morning when I was getting Chloe ready, Morgan was eating some treats he got in nursery yesterday (those nursery teachers are so sweet - they sent him home with a mailbox he had decorated in nursery filled with valentine candies, a car shaped notepad, and even a cookie shaped like an M!). "Mom, Chloe wants a cookie," he told me as he offered her one of the heart shaped cookies. She was elated! A few minutes later as I was nursing her, Morgan asked is he could sit with us. "There isn't any room on the chair," I said. "But Chloe wants a 'numa num' (m&m) Mom." came his reply. This too, may not seem like a big deal, but he had waited since yesterday and then all morning until he finished his breakfast before I let him have the treats, yet his first thought was to share them with his sister!

~ Finally, the other day, Morgan woke up from his nap and came upstairs. I was working on the computer, and he came and sat next me. He put his arm around me and said quietly, "I love you Mommy!" and then he kissed me gently on the cheek. This sweet gesture is one he sees his Dad do often and I am so grateful that he has such a good example - thanks Sethy!

Scattegories

Okay, I know I told you that I almost never pass on forwards and then recently posted one on here, but this is a fun interactive one. Seth and I decided to share our answers with you!

RULES: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of thefollowing...they have to be real places, names, things nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1sti nitial. You CANNOT use your name for the boy/girl name question.

What is your name: Jennifer
4 letter word: Jump
Vehicle: Jeep
City: Jerusalem
Boy name: John
Girl name: Jessica
TV show: Journeyman
Drink: Juice or Jolt
Occupation: Janitor
Something you wear: Jewelry
Celebrity: Jennifer Aniston
Food: Jell-o
Something found in the bathroom: Jars (I know this is a stretch, but I have jars for my cotton balls and q-tips, do you have any better suggestions?)

What is your name: Seth
4 letter word: Sh** (Shoe - what were you thinking?)
Vehicle: Sequoia
City: Seoul
Boy name: Sam
Girl name: Shaquanda (there are real people with this name)
TV show: Scrubs
Drink: Shasta
Occupation: Sanitation engineer
Something you wear: Snow slacks (double bonus!)
Celebrity: Sarah Silverman (and another double bonus - score!)
Food: Salty Sardines (now I'm just showing off)
Something found in the bathroom: see four letter word. Also, Shampoo, Shower, Sea Salt Scrub (triple bonus)

Well, we had fun anyway!

The Ascent

Chloe has learned to climb the stairs. She has been doing this for a couple of weeks now, but I was pretending it wasn't really happening by stopping her before she got more than one step up. I believe the technical term for this is "denial". But today, before I could catch her, she had made it up about 5 stairs to the landing. When I found her, she turned around and looked at me as if to say, "Mommy, look at me! I made it before you could stop me! Nehner, Nehner, Nehner (I am sure this is not how you spell this word, so I am hoping you know what I am saying)!"

I am just not sure I am ready for climbing stairs. Don't get me wrong, I love it when my kids get to be mobile enough to get up the stairs on their own (less for me to carry). What I do not love is that they learn how to go up before they learn to go down! I am typically not a very worried mom: binkis that fall on the ground, RSV, colds, ear infections - they don't scare me. But, when you get to things like falling down the stairs, hitting their heads on the corners of furniture and pretty much anything else invloving blood - I am paranoid!

So, congrats on the ascent, Chloe - now let's learn the descent so mommy doesn't go crazy with worry! We'll be doing down the stairs drills when she wakes up from her nap - wish us luck!

You Know You Are Living In 2007 When...

So I am not big on forwards unless they are really funny. I don't mind reading them, but I RARELY pass them on. This one had me rolling though. It was about 3 pages of interesting stuff, so I just pulled the funniest part for you. Hope this makes you laugh!

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses (or blogs).

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and youturn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward thismessage.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

FINALLY -----

Now UR laughing at yourself.

Edge of Your Seat

Can you believe this election! I am SO not a news watcher (as I have previously mentioned) but I am captivated tonight by what is happening with the Super Tuesday elections! I have ben watching the news for more than an hour! I think this has to be the most interesting election that I can remember. What a great country we live in where we get to make our voices heard by voting! Well, I am going to stay on the edge of my seat (and keep wondering why in the world people are voting for Hillary Clinton - seriously, knock it off!).

Disclaimer: This post reflects MY opinions - not neccesarily Seth's (he is not as vocal as I am, but I think he secretly agrees with me:) ). I have very strong opinions about who should NOT be running our country...I respect your right to believe otherwise...but I do think I am right!

The Flavors of Friendship

I still need more recipes, and let's face it, so could all of you (or maybe not, but I'm guessing you can)! Sure, we could all continue to search the internet (considering we have a general idea of what we want to make) to find more recipes than we could ever try, but who has time to sift and sort through all of that only to find recipes that we may not even like. Hence, this post!

I know that many of you are wonderful cooks with recipes I covet, and, while I am just beginning this wonderful cooking journey, I have some really great recipes that I am sure all of you would love to have (thanks to my mom and internet search and sifts of my own). So, I thought it would be fun to start a blog that is basically a recipe swap. I will add anyone who would like to contribute as an author and we can just add recipes as we want/can.

The address is www.flavorsoffriendship.blogspot.com. If you want to contribute click here to send me your email address and I will get you added as an author. This should be fun and educational - I hope all of you think so too!

Obedience Training

From the title of this post, you may think I'm going to ramble on about my dogs, but I'm not.

Today we bit the bullet and bought a membership to Discovery Gateway. What a great place! Ashley, Jackson and Crew joined us for the fun adventure and the kids had such a blast! They didn't even want to leave to get happy meals at McDonalds!

Well, toward the end of our visit, the kids were playing in the "Construction Zone". I saw a yellow tube on a slant, and thinking it was a slide, told Morgan to go down. Since he has been "trained" in obedience lately, he immediately went up the stairs and got ready to go down the slide. He seemed to be taking a long time, so again I repeated, "Come on Morgan. Go down the slide!" with an encouraging tone. I looked up from the bottom of the slide and saw Morgan struggling to fit through the hole in the plexi-glass that was barely big enough to fit the blocks into (see picture). Apparently, the "slide" was actually a block chute. OOPS!

Down he came despite the roadblocks and much to my surprise! He is a very obedient child!

Morning Helper

This morning after waking Morgan up I decided to change the laundry load before I headed back upstairs to get Chloe. When I got into Chloe's room a few minutes later, this is what I found.

Morgan had moved the ottoman over to the crib and used it, in spite of the rocking, to climb into the crib. He wanted to keep Chloe company and bring her a dolly (which didn't make it into the crib with him). What a little cutie.

After getting the 2 of them out of the crib (heaven help that crib to last through a couple more kids) I took them to the table for breakfast. Morgan asked if he could feed Chloe, and since I had wet hair and a makeup-less face, I decided to give it a go - they were both in jammies that would soon be changed anyway. So, I got Morgan some yogurt and a spoon and he fed Chloe about half a jar of yogurt for me. The other half, he fed himself in between bites for Chloe.

I am such a luckly Mom to have such good kids! Thanks for being such a big helper Morgan!

The Migration

Church with kids is no picnic! Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for church and love going, but some days I can totally understand why a young parent may go inactive - it can be a lot of work. Luckily, we have church buddies and understanding neighbors.

In sunday school today, Chloe was so tired she didn't know what to do with herself, until her buddy Elizabeth came crawling under the chair to play. Judi provided lots of toys for the girls to enjoy, and they played nicely side-by-side (well, as nicely as 10-month-old girls can) until they noticed Luke sitting across the aisle. Off went Chloe to play with Luke (more accurately, Luke's toys and Goldfish crackers). Shortly after, Elizabeth made the migration. By the end of sunday school, Luke, Elizabeth and Chloe were sitting together and Jessica and Tim (Luke's parents) were entertaining the whole lot!

So, for the next 8 months until Chloe goes to nursery (maybe sooner if I can talk someone into it) I may not get much out of sunday school, but I am glad that all of our church buddies will be in the same boat. Plus, the migration means that we get to listen for a few minutes...at least until they migrate back to us.

John Paul

I am flat out obsessed with The Office. This writers strike is killing me! Regardless, Seth and I watch the DVDs of past seasons over and over and over to get our fix! I think the reason it is such a great show is because anyone who has ever worked in an office probably knew at least one person who is similar to one of the characters. Maybe someone cute and funny like Jim or Pam, maybe somone completely apathetic like Stanley, maybe someone wierd and nerdy like Dwight, or maybe someone ditzy and living vicariously through celebrities like Kellie. Maybe even a boss as frustrating and inefficient as Michael Scott.

A couple of weeks ago while having dinner with some old friends, it hit me: the reason I love the office so much is because I used to work with the exact replica of Michael Scott (a.k.a. John Paul) except he wasn't my boss and he was for REAL. Don't get me wrong, I really liked John Paul. I have made a lot of friendships through work - I mean, my very best friend started out as a coworker, but never in my life have I worked with someone who made life more entertaining than John Paul.

He was very awkward - constantly saying or doing things that made you uncomfortably embarassed for him, he was a surprisingly FANTASTIC salesman, was constantly trying to get girls (even on the FranklinCovey sales floor) with tactics that never worked, was into drama (improv), and had this very strong need to be liked! On top of it all, he even looked like a younger version of Michael Scott.

A couple of stories to prove my point (and make you laugh like crazy).

The Sandwich
One day, I was working with John Paul and he was helping a customer. The customer was holding a Blimpee bag and so, as a conversation starter, John Paul said to this man,"You just went to Blimpee, huh?" To which the man responded, "Yep."

"They have really good sandwiches. What kind did you get?"

"Turkey on white with ... (listing the toppings)." the customer said, trying to give all the neccesary information to move past this awkward sandwich conversation.

"That sounds really good."

"Do you want it?" asks the customer sarcastically.

"Sure! Thanks so much!" says John Paul as he takes the man's sandwich and brings it behind the register.

At this point I am extremely embarassed and want to hide under the nearest rock - unfortunately there were none to be found, so I continued acting as interested as I could in the report I was reading and lifted it in attempt to cover my face. John Paul went on to try and sell this customer some product for another 15 minutes. Finally the guy was ready to leave the store, stalling as much as possible with hopes of getting his sandwich back. When he realized it was not going to happen he headed toward the door as John Paul said, "Hey, Thanks again for the sandwich!" As the guy met up with his friend at the door (sandwich-less, mind you) I heard her say to him, "That was really nice of you."

As his manager, I had to take him in the back room and discuss with him why that was not an appropriate behavior! Yikes! Talk about a Michael Scott moment!

Bread Winner
For our store Christmas party, we went out to the Spaghetti Factory and everyone was invited to bring their significant other or a date. As with many Italian restaurants, they bring you a fresh loaf of bread before your meal comes. Well, at the time John Paul was also working a morning job delivering bread for a local bakery, so he wanted to show of his bread-cutting "skills" for his date. As he cut himself and his date slices of bread he added commentary on the perfect thickness of the slice and the smooth cuts. Since there were 2 loaves of bread on the table, Seth decided to challenge John-Paul to a bread-cutting contest. John Paul eagerly accepted.

On your mark. Get set. Go! Not only did Seth beat him by about 1/4 loaf, but John Paul's loaf was mangled and squished at the end. Even worse, John Paul was counting on winning, and thinking that this would be his "in" with his date.

At the next party, John Paul challenged Seth to a rematch, but since there was no bread they did a water-drinking contest. Again, Seth finished first!

2-4-08 NOTE: Seth has informed me that I left out a few details that make this story even more interesting. After the bread competition, John Paul continued to ask for "redos" to try and save face. We ended up with a LOT of bread. All of the redos resulted in the same winner, Seth, so John Paul started to challenge the quality of the cutting. We took a poll - Seth's slices were of much higher quality!

Improv
John Paul was also a college student. Many a day, he came into work talking about how he hadn't done his homework and was failing his classes. He was interested in this girl and she was taking an acting class, so he decided to take the acting class too. He came to work one day talking about how he had found the most hillarious scene, and had asked her to do it with him. We weren't very busy, so he wanted us to read the scene and tell him what we thought. I did drama in high school, so I am typically unphased by the craziness that is drama, but I have never read a more disturbing scene in my life. It was about a man who threatens to bury his wife in the basement because she irritates him and it ends with him actually doing it. Very Poe-esque! John Paul thought it was hysterical. Ashley and I were horrified! "You are going to freak this girl out," we warned. But, he continued to stalk her any way!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my reminiscing. I wish I could tell you that this has been exaggerated or embellished, but it has not. Working with John Paul was unforgettable - kind of like the millions of lines we love to quote from The Office!

P.S. John Paul - If you have found my blog and are reading this, I hope you are doing well! I sure miss working with you! I think about you every time I have to cut bread! :)