small and simple

i remember watching a skittles commercial when i was little, and being so amazed at the rainbow bursting out of the ground that i immediately bought some skittles. and planted them in the front yard. i watered and watched them very closely for about a week and was very disappointed with the pointed lack of rainbow in my front yard. after going to church, i decided that i must not have had enough faith.

my current basil FINALLY sprouted tuesday, and the flowers sprouted today! i did a dance.
lesson: i probably still need more faith. and lots more patience.

Honeymoon pt. II: The Dirty Stuff

After Rebecca and I returned from Maine we eagerly uploaded all of our freshly taken digital photos onto the computer in order to check out our handiwork. After a romantic week in one of the most beautiful locations in the world you can hardly blame me for the gritty nature of their contents, but I'm not sure Rebecca was prepared to see them. She seemed more than a little embarrassed. I guess I shouldn't hold it against her though. After all, there aren't many ways that a person can react to dozens and dozens of photos of mushrooms.

I confess. I'm a fungophile. When I see an interesting mushroom I just have to say, 'Oh my! What an interesting mushroom!' And if I happen to have a camera handy, I take a picture. Luckily for me, Maine has several hundred native species of mushrooms. Unfortunately for Rebecca, Maine has several hundred native species of mushrooms. Thus, without further ado, I present a pictorial diary of my week-long journey through the interesting world of New England fungi, complete with made up scientific names and facts. Enjoy!

Here we have a classic example of 'Fungis Normalis;' renowned throughout the world for just how mushroomy it looks. No surprises there!


'Diminitus Anti-Layssimus.' Known for it's tiny size and relative 'cuteness,' this unique mushroom was named for Roger Lay, the creator of the famous Lay's potato chip brand, who died tragically upon consuming one for dinner. Apparently, you can't eat just one...because it will kill you.


'Compulsorum Potpourriorum.' Although quite lethal, this withered species of mushroom has adapted to survive by emitting a potent neuro-toxin, contact with which causes crafters to instinctively add it to any potpourri mixture they can find.


'Dungus Simulacrummus.' While celebrated by gourmands for it's savory aroma and delicate flavor, this appetizing mushroom is only rarely used to its proper culinary extent...because it looks like poop.


'Auria Geriatrica.' Curiously, this common species of mushroom is always old, no matter how young. Scientists first stumbled upon this interesting phenomena while listening to a newly emerged cap complaining about its joints. Tests confirmed that the mushroom was, in fact, crotchety.


'Thissus Reallyisafungissimus.' This aptly named organism really is a fungus. Pretty crazy, huh?

And we'll leave it at that. If for some crazy reason you actually like this kind of stuff, I have dozens of more photos that I'd be happy to share with you. I deny all blame if you should be accused of weirdness. In conclusion, I leave you with a few pictures of non-fungi that I thought were particularly good. Bon-appetit.

Long Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

MATRIMONY, Episode I: The Honeymoon

Okay, so this is way, way overdue, as my dear sweet wife has so frequently (albeit politely) reminded me. Do you remember that wedding thing we had last year around August? Well, shortly thereafter my beloved Rebecca and I hitched aboard a Boeing 737 bound for the tropical paradise of Maine. The result? One week of nostalgia, candle-lit dinners, and breezy coastlines. I invite you to come back with me to a little place called love (actually it's called 'New England' but 'love' sounds catchier, and it was our honeymoon so I'm contractually obligated to act gushy anyway).

For those of you who are only familiar with Maine as 'that place up there,' allow me to intoduce you:

Beautiful, isn't she?

You may or may not be aware that I used to live in Maine. It's definitely the kind of place that sticks with you...for obvious reasons.

What you're seeing here is an image from Schoodic Point, just north of Mount Desert Island (ie. Bar Harbor) about half-way of the state's coastline. This is literally my old back yard. If you turned the camera 180 degrees and got rid of the trees you could see my house. An interesting little factoid: see that hill looking thing in the background? That's Cadillac Mountain, and it's the very first place the sun hits the continental U.S in the morning. Amongst other things, Rebecca and I woke up at 4:30AM to drive up to the top and spend a romantic morning watching the sun rise over the ocean. Just lovely.


Speaking of houses, this is mine. Or rather, it was mine. Originally built by J.D. Rockefeller as one of his many summer homes, the mansion was subsequently requisitioned by the Navy (after building an exact duplicate for Rockefeller across the bay) and became quarters for military personnel attached to NSGA Winter Harbor, the base over which my Captain (Ret.) Dad used to be CO. We lived in the West Wing. Pretty rad, ja?


And what would Maine be without lobster boats? Here you see them, gracefully bobbing up and down in their uniquely odorous kind of way. Oh, and that lighthouse behind them is called 'Prospect Harbor Lighthouse.' Technically, it's part of a military installation and you're not allowed to take pictures of it, lest the photos be leaked to the Russians and they steal all of the state's important lighthouse secrets. But we took one anyway. And here's a photo of the super-secret satellite station too, just for good measure. Mwahahahahaha!!!



Maine's not all rocks and water though. It also has trees, moss, and ferns that smell wonderful and will take your breath away (because they're toxic to eat). Have you ever seen the Calvin and Hobbes comics where they're riding in their wagon down an epic landscape full of trees, ponds, and treacherous morasses? Maine is like that. Here's proof.

That's just me, tra-la-la-ing along my merry way. It's hard not to tra-la-la when the air around you is filled with the scent of cedar and balsam fir. Nowhere in the world will you find a country that smells better than Maine. Go ahead, I dare you to try.


And here's a picture of Rebecca looking super cute. Yeah...I did good.








And that concludes the tour for today. In closing, I leave you with a picture of a scary tree.

i know.

there's a facebook virus going around and my account got hacked. i don't care enough to deal with it, so i shut down my account.

how nice to... run into you

jeff and i were about to turn at a corner on our way to school the other day when we were jolted from behind--someone had rear-ended us. NO! No, No, NO!
we pulled over and got out and luckily, it wasn't that bad. the lady hurried over to apologize, we traded info and hurried off to school again. but as we're looking over the card that the card gave us (she was a professor at BYU), we're relieved that we have the same insurance, And we realized that it was my bishop's wife from when i was in the singles' ward. teehee!

later that day, the insurance car-inspector called. he was in provo anyway and he could inspect our car that day. turns out it was only cosmetic damage. it didn't hurt anything except for the paint, though the paint can be expensive. he'll get the quote to us sometime next week.
accidents are no fun. but no one was hurt, we met up with neighbors again, the car isn't hurt in any real way, nothing goes on our record, and we get the insurance money! overall, it was a pretty good accident.

kissing in the rain

a friend told me once that boys just look more attractive when they're wet. i tend to agree with that statement. i'm not sure if the same goes for women though. especially in formal situations, there's a lot of time invested above the shoulders to just let everything melt. rain makes me want to go puddle-jumping.

i had to restrain myself. jeff helped.
anyway, when we got married, it seemed like the photographer took forever to get the pictures back to us. so here are a couple that i took:


i like these too.