The R & E Times

Christmas Break 2011

2012-01-21T12:40:00.000-05:00

We had a really fun Christmas and New Year's Eve this year! We ended up going to Salt Lake the weekend before Christmas to hang out with Richard's family and take some family pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:

Then, we stayed home in NOVA for Christmas and New Year's Eve. It was a strange feeling not being with either of our families to celebrate these holidays, but it was great to not experience the stress of traveling and to be able to spend it with such awesome friends.

Christmas Eve day, Richard and I headed out to experience our Christmas presents to each other... front row tickets to the Redskins v. Vikings game at FedEx field. It was so much fun to be so close to the field. Sadly, they lost (which will come to no surprise to those of you who follow football). But it was still SO much fun! I wouldn't want to go to an NFL game any other way.

One thing that was really fun about it was that we had a really good view of John Beck, BYU's former quarterback. I kept on loudly yelling, "Put in Beck!!" in hopes that he would turn around and smile at us. Alas, 'twas not meant to be. Also, I think everyone by me was very confused as to why I actually wanted John Beck to play (apparently, he hasn't been that great this season).

That night, we went over to Bethany & Ben's place. B and I have been friends since the very first day of our freshman year of college, so it was almost like celebrating with family. We had lots of fun with our old Alexandria ward friends eating fondue, playing charades and Trivial Pursuit and exchanging presents.

Fast forward to New Year's Eve... we first went to the Bell's house. Gina and I are in the PhD program together and have lots of fun together. It was great! And then we went to the Vigil's to bring in the new year in style (when Britni's hosting, you really wouldn't have it any other way). Check out her post here. Seriously, Britni should quit her job and be a full-time party planner!

The past few weeks have been considerably less exciting. It mostly consists of Richard going to work and then doing 4-5 hours of bar prep every weekday night (plus all day Saturday), and me getting ready for the new semester, watching The Bachelor, and slowly getting addicted to Pinterest. Hope you're having a great 2012!

My Promise

2012-01-17T14:35:00.004-05:00

When I was a junior in college, I wrote for our college newspaper, The Daily Universe. [Side Note: the name of the newspaper is about to become a misnomer.] One day, my editor gave me an assignment for a story to write. There was an author coming to campus to host a "literary boot camp," and I was supposed to call him and interview him for the story. So I did, and I ended up talking to this guy, who was very nice. I asked him some questions about the boot camp and what not. Then I asked him the next question on my list, which was "what books have you written?" Now, if I hadn't been a complete idiot (or otherwise distracted, as I had just started dating Richard at the time), I would have looked him up on the Internet beforehand and figured out that this guy was seriously legit. But alas, I was, in fact, a complete idiot.

He answered, sounding a little bit confused: "Well, Ender's Game."

"Ender's Game..." I repeated. "Can you spell that for me?"

Silence. "E-N-D-E-R."

"Okay, thanks!"

I then continued on with the questions for my story. It's been about 5 years, so I can't remember exactly how his part of the story goes, but I think he eventually figured out that I had no clue who he (Orson Scott Card) was, and I somehow ended up promising him that I would read Ender's Game.

This Christmas, I finally made good on my promise! And I actually really, REALLY enjoyed it! So much so that I am now halfway through the sequel, Speaker for the Dead, which is equally good although written very differently.

Anyway, moral of the story is, ALWAYS, ALWAYS Google people before interviews.

Who Wore it Better?

2011-12-18T14:39:00.003-05:00

From People! Style Watch:

Who wore it better? Emily Peterson or Malia Obama?

(From the official Obama holiday photo)

PS - I'm pretty sure we got this dress from the same store in Washington DC. The Obamas have good taste, what can I say?

A new addition...

2011-12-06T15:03:00.005-05:00

May I (Richard blogging here) now introduce you to the newest member of our family... Constance...

I have been taking Octavia (our scooter) to the Metro on an almost daily basis for over a year, but my parents suggested it was probably time to upgrade the safety of my commute. So, now I am safely ensconced in a couple of tons of steel; I am enveloped in a cocoon of leather. Our thanks for the car and for Barry driving it out to us!

Richard's Doppelganger

2011-11-28T21:38:00.004-05:00

Richard is famous!

From the December Ensign (p. 5):

Is it just me, or does this look just like him??

Thanksgiving Trip Nov 23-26

2011-11-27T19:31:00.007-05:00

Chard and I had an excellent Thanksgiving in upstate New York with the Bylunds. We ate pie, ran races, saw waterfalls, ate pie, went to the temple, saw the home of "The Office," ate pie and hiked. Did I mention the pie?

We left late Wednesday to avoid holiday traffic and made it just shy of 3 am. Thursday morning we put on our running gear and headed out to the Webster Turkey Trot Four Four (it is called the four four because it is 4.4 miles long). The weather was unseasonably warm and we had a blast - minus the very muddy ending.

That night we had a amazing dinner provided by Emily B. and learned some fun new games (you can always count on Kevin and Emily to have the best games around!).

Friday, at the request of Richard, we drove up to Niagara Falls. It was fun but VERY windy!! There was constant wind at at least 50 mph, with gusts stronger than that. Richard was very excited to cross seeing the falls off his bucket list.

Saturday morning we did an early morning session at the temple, walked through the Sacred Grove with the Bylunds and then left for our meandering trip back home. On the way, we stopped at Watkins Glen, Cornell University and Scranton, PA (Steamtown Mall) - home of The Office! 'Twas very exciting.

We made it home safe and sound in JUST under 1100 miles for the trip.

Now we get to stay put for a few weeks before we head out to Utah. We will spend the next little bit finishing final papers and tests (Richard's LAST TESTS EVER!!!) of the semester before we get to relax. Happy Thanksgiving!

Dallas Trip, Oct. 28-31

2011-11-04T21:00:00.009-04:00

Last weekend, we had the distinct pleasure of visiting the Hills in Texas. It was a great time! Best of all, I actually took pictures on this trip, as I now have an iPhone, yahoo! AND I recently (as in 10 minutes ago) learned how to create photo collages on Picasa. So, ladies and gents, for your weekend entertainment, heeeeeeeeere's Dallas!

We got in on Friday, and immediately prepared ourselves emotionally for the big game. Aaron's sister Hannah and her husband Josh were also in town from BYU cheering on the Cougs. At dinner, there was one taquito left, and we decided that whoever guessed the closest to the actual final score would win the coveted prize. These were the guesses:

Hannah: 28-24 BYU
Josh K.: 31-28 BYU
Rich: 31-21 TCU
Emily: 42-28 TCU
Jenny: 32-20 BYU
Aaron: 37-27 BYU
Kylee: 10-7 BYU
Spencer: 10-5 BYU
Joshua: 3-2 BYU (his actual guess was 2-1 BYU, but I helped him a little)

If you look up the score, you can see who won the taquito (I'll give you a hint... TCU won the game).

Saturday, we wiped our tears from the loss and headed out to a great carnival at an elementary school in Denton. Richard and I enjoyed sneaking some of the boys' Halloween treats and playing superheroes v. bad guys. (I'll try not to feel bad that I was invariably cast as a bad guy.)

After a much-needed nap and some playtime around the house, the kids suited up again for some more candy grabbin' at the church. Courtney was an adorable snuggly dalmatian, Joshua was Captain America and Spencer was Wolverine. Richard donned his best Cowboy garb, with a horse sidekick provided by the Hills. Doesn't he look dashing?

After a restful Sunday, (including dinner with Sara Zimmerman nee Zendejas and her husband), we celebrated Halloween day by carving pumpkins. I love all of the three boys' faces in these pictures. I guess the giddy joy of carving pumpkins is something that you never grow out of!

Before we left, Jenny and Aaron taught us a fun new game called Quiddler (by the makers of Set)! We love word games, so this was right up our alley. Then they gave us our very own game as a birthday present to take back to DC with us. We are excited to break it in this weekend!

Now, we are once again back in Fairfax mourning the loss of the nice weather (did I mention it SNOWED here while we were gone in OCTOBER?) and the cute antics of the Hill kids. Check ya later, Dallas!

Quarter of a Century

2011-10-20T08:41:00.009-04:00

Last week, I celebrated my 25th birthday! When I woke up on that fateful day, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and I swear I saw I gray hair. I haven't been able to find it since, but it freaked me out a little.

Anyway, this year I thought... why just have a birthDAY when you can have a birthMONTH? So the celebrations are happening all month long!

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The weekend before my birthday, we went up to a cabin in Maryland with some friends from our old Alexandria ward for Columbus Day weekend. We could NOT have asked for more beautiful weather. The scenery was gorgeous and our "cabin" (it was more like a really large house, but it makes me feel more adventurous if I say cabin) was lovely. Friday night we played games, and Saturday we went on a hike and to a haunted house/alpine slide thing. Full disclosure: I did not actually go through the haunted house as I hate haunted houses, but I had tons of fun watching Baby Izzy while other people in the group went. Sunday, we packed up and got back to DC just in time for church.

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On my birthday, we had a CGSA Happy Hour on campus. When I showed up, I found out that it was also a birthday party for me, complete with birthday cake. Unfortunately, due to a "fall fitness challenge" I can't eat sugar, so my friend Mollie made me healthy birthday muffins as a great substitute. Love these people; it was so much fun to spend my birthday with them!

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On Tuesday, Richard took me to my favorite musical of all time, Les Miserables. Shout-out to Katie, as I secretly wished you were there with us the whole time. I cried for probably about 75% of the play (no exaggeration), as it is just so powerful and wonderful. Now, Richard and I randomly burst into songs from the play when we are just sitting around the house.... "RED, the color of desire!.... BLACK, the color of despaaaaiiiir!" In fact, I am listening to the soundtrack on repeat right now. Sooo good. I could see Les Miserables every day and never get sick of it. Did you know they are making it into a movie next year with Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe? I hope they do it justice!

Richard's "revolution face"

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Finally, next week, we are headed to Dallas to visit the Hills and go to the BYU/TCU game at the Dallas Cowboys stadium. I hope they play Riley! More on that later.

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Anyway, thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes and phone calls. It meant a lot to me.

Sincerely Yours, Elderly Emily

Summer 2011

2011-07-10T20:36:00.008-04:00

Here are some things that have been keeping us busy since our return from Sweden:

I am now teaching two classes at NOVA and one class at Mason. Monday through Thursday I teach for 6 hours a day (2.5 every morning at Mason and 3.5 hours every afternoon at NOVA). It is, in a word, exhausting. I do love teaching, I just wish I wasn’t doing so much of it. I am continuously amazed at friends who teach (or have taught) K-12 and teach for 6-7 hours a day, Monday-Friday for an entire school year.

Some thoughts on teaching:
(1) I have members from the men's and women's basketball teams in my class at GMU. I'm excited to watch them all play next school year!
(2) Office Hours: why doesn’t anyone ever use them??
(3) Teaching is really difficult, but it’s also really rewarding when students say nice things (e.g. “this class is really fun!” “I’m learning a lot!” etc.). I never realized how nice it is for teachers to hear things like that every once in awhile. It can really change your day around.
(4) I have this innate maternal instinct over all my students (at least half of them, I should add, are older than me). I feel so proud of them when they do well or when they're improving, and I'm always worried that my basketball players will be injured during practice.

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The Annual Peterson Summer Book Club is well under way with weekly meetings on Sunday night. So far this summer we have read March by Geraldine Brooks (picked by Rich) and Jane Eyre (picked by me), and we are just finishing I, Claudius by Robert Graves (picked by Richard). I am in charge of picking our next book... any suggestions?

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We’ve run a couple of races, including the Lawyers Have Heart 10k in Georgetown, and the Rebel Race run in Frederick, Maryland. We crawled through mud, swam through a pond, climbed over wooden fences, jumped over fire and crawled through some more mud. Richard was interested in the race for the challenge and adventure. I, on the other hand, was more interested in the undoubtedly great pictures we would be able to take after the race was over!

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My quilting class is over, even though I’m still trying to finish the binding and machine quilting part of it. Here’s where I’m at now... I’m running into some difficulties. I think I may enlist the help of Richard’s mom (who is a quilter extraordinaire) when we go to Utah next month!

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Some other notable June/July outings include: several farewell dinners for friends and co-workers that are leaving us (tear), DC United game with the Holtkamps, summer movies, Settlers of Catan marathons, co-hosting a baby shower, birthday parties, two weddings, parades and fireworks! Summer is so much fun - I don’t want it to end!

Scandinavia Trip (In Pictures)

2011-06-08T14:16:00.011-04:00

Richard and I just got back from a great trip to Europe! We spent 4 days in Stockholm, 2 days in southern Sweden, and a few days in Copenhagen. I just downloaded 300 photos, but here are the best ones that best describe our trip:

One of the first things we saw were these buses full of students who just graduated. They rode around in trucks with branches and music blasting. It was very interesting!

Me and my mom at the royal palace for the (small) changing of the guard.

Buying dinner from Mom's friend, Esau!

Family Home Evening at the Institute building.

Me and Dad overlooking Sweden at dusk (which is at like 11 pm).

On the metro!

On our Stockholm Archipelago boat tour

I love this picture - it makes me think of a desktop background photo! Maybe I should sell it to Microsoft.

At the Stockholm Temple

The top of City Hall

Mailing a postcard back to the States!

We went to a really cool concert in Stockholm! They played only music from video games (like Super Mario Brothers and Zelda). We had pretty cool seats - right above the orchestra.

The only squirrel in Sweden...

All of the kids were wearing these jackets - it made them look like mini-construction workers!

At the Hard Rock Cafe - they had ABBA stuff!

The ORIGINAL IKEA in Almhult, Sweden.

At the Copenhagen Temple

At the Puckelball Pitch in Malmo (more information here).

We played a lot of Hand and Foot!!

Riding bikes around the University of Lund in southern Sweden.

At the Round Tower in Copenhagen.

EVERYONE bikes at Copenhagen. Check out the "bike rack" at Central Station.

At The Little Mermaid statue.

We went to the Christus Church - it was beautiful!

We rented bikes for a day to fit in. Here's Richard at an awesome cemetery right outside of Copenhagen.

Okay, that's all folks! It was a great trip!

Anniversary Trip 2011

2011-04-02T12:40:00.011-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had my first Spring Break since high school (huzzah!). It was great to have a few days off of work and to relax with Rich. Our anniversary fell on the Tuesday after break, and so we decided to end our break with a mini-vacation, as we fondly remember as the Tour de Virginia.

First, we visited the Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Virginia:

Richard making sure that the area was safe for us to walk through.

The first major battle of the Civil War.

Trying to take some "artsy" photos.

Stonewall Jackson statue.

Next, we went bowling in Manassas. Check out my score: 130!! I think that's the best score I've ever gotten in bowling.

Richard in action.

130!!

Richard's reaction to losing to a GIRL at bowling.

Next, we went to dinner at a great Pakistani restaurant. Num, num, num. It was really good!

Then, we settled in at our bed and breakfast in Casanova, Virginia. It was sooooo cute! The best part was that we got there just in time for the BYU game (Go Cougars!), and we had the hot tub all to ourselves. The next morning, we had breakfast on our private porch, spa treatments (I had a pedicure, and Rich had a massage) and headed out to Charlottesville!

Poplar Springs gets a "thumbs up!"

In Charlottesville, we ate lunch at the outdoor pedestrian mall, drove around University of Virginia campus (BEAUTIFUL!) and took a tour of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Funny story there - while we were going through the tour, Richard and I kept on checking March Madness scores (GMU was playing). Finally, the person giving the tour asked us to stop and to put our phones away. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn my ringer off and it went off (extremely loudly) about 5 minutes later. It was Jenny calling to talk about the GMU game (they won, yay!). I don't think our tour guide liked us very much...

Hardee's still exists!

Our last stop was Richmond, to visit Heather and Rich S.! We always have a great time catching up with them, and we spent the night eating pizza and watching MORE March Madness games (we couldn't get enough). Rich S. goes to VCU, and we will be cheering for VCU on his behalf tonight!

It was a GREAT trip with beautiful weather. With work and night classes, Richard and I rarely get to see each other during the week, so it was so fun to actually get to spend quality time together. We're so lucky to live in Fairfax with so much history and gorgeous scenery close by. Three cheers for Virginia!

Sweeeeet Home Alabammmaa!

2011-03-11T13:58:00.002-05:00

After watching Sweet Home Alabama, I made the completely rational decision that I wanted to move to Alabama. Immediately.

Unfortunately, Richard had other plans...

1:07 PM me: I want to move to Alabama

or 'Bama, as we call it

38 minutes

1:45 PM me: do you approve?

6 minutes

1:52 PM Richard: what??

why?

1:53 PM me: I just watched Sweet Home Alabama

Richard: From what I understand, it is near the bottom of the list in a lot of quality of life indicators

me: Reece Witherspoon

Richard: i do not approve

I am not Patrick Dempsey

1:54 PM me: swoon

Richard: nor am I Josh Lucas

blurg

me: are you looking this up on IMDB?

Richard: possibly....

i was

now it is closed

1:55 PM me: bah, fine we can stay here

but you have to talk to me in a Southern accent

I guess we're staying in Virginia, y'all!

The Key To Happiness

2011-02-23T16:19:00.006-05:00

Elvis once said, "I believe the key to happiness is: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to."

SOMEONE TO LOVE:

Richard and I will be celebrating our 3 year anniversary next month, which just happens to coincide nicely with GMU's spring break. We were originally going to be going to Chicago to see a taping of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (a lifelong dream for both of us) and to see our friends The Carrs! Unfortunately, those plans got smashed when Richard realized how cold it is in Chicago in March. So... maybe later.

Instead, we got a rocking Groupon to a lovely resort in Casanova (!), Virginia called Poplar Springs. It looks like it should be a fun and (this is key) relaxing time. We are also planning on going to visit friends in Richmond and Charlottesville.

Here we are almost three years ago on our wedding day. I never get sick of looking at our wedding pictures (although you probably do, so I'll just show the one):

SOMETHING TO DO:

We are not lacking in this category. Richard is working full-time, taking 10 credits (only 2 credits short of going to school full-time), on the moot court board, the trial advocacy board, a member of Inn of Court, the executive editor of the civil rights law journal and on the student bar association.

I am having a blast taking 4 classes and working on some great research projects. Here are a some things that I'm working on that I get really excited about:
- A study looking at parent perceptions of immunizations, and what sources they trust most for information (e.g. their own pediatricians, doctors on TV)
- An experiment with current smokers examining the effectiveness of the new graphic warning labels that will be mandatory late next year (if you remember, this was also the topic of my honor's thesis)
- Study examining adherence to medication for Type 2 diabetes patients (funded by Merck)
- A content analysis of cancer information found in Korean American newspapers, specifically looking at screening/prevention.
- A manuscript (currently under review, crossing my fingers) entitled: Communication Accommodation and Culture: Predictors of Treatment Adherence Among Mexican Immigrant Patients, using the structural equation model

I also recently found out that I was accepted into the PhD program at Mason, and that I was awarded the department's Presidential Scholarship Award. Basically, they give one award per year to an incoming PhD student that (a) doubles my living stipend, and (b) devotes my PhD solely to research (meaning, I can't teach during the school year). I'm a little bummed about the teaching part, but I will still be able to teach during summers, so that's nice. I just got my teaching schedule for this summer - I will be teaching Comm101 (Interpersonal) during Mason's "C" session, which runs July 5 - August 5. It's only a month, but the hours are kind of intense: 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. MWF. Wish me luck!

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

March 14-20: Spring Break
March 17-19: Anniversary Getaway
The Month of March: March Madness! Go Cougars! Go Patriots!
April 25: Richard's Birthday Celebration
April 29 - May 1: DC Health Conference at GMU (I've been helping to plan the conference and am really excited for it!)
May 18: Last Day of the Semester
May 29 - June 7: Sweden/Denmark Trip
June Sometime: Hopefully trips to Rochester and/or Seattle
July 5- August 5: Teaching
August Sometime: Utah Trip
October 28: Visiting the Texan Hills/ BYU v. TCU game at the Cowboys Stadium

Well, I suppose Elvis would say we are pretty happy. I think so too! Until next time...

A Very Digital Christmas

2010-12-16T22:56:00.001-05:00

I thought this was a great video:

On The Wings of Love

2010-12-04T20:01:00.007-05:00

It all started in October. I was sitting in the GTA office with Scott, an Air Force Major who is finishing up his Masters in the same program as me. He was telling me how he was dreading imputing all of the data from his thesis into SPSS (a statistical software program similar to Excel on steroids).

Around this time, I was also trying to think of a creative idea for Richard's Christmas present (yes, I was thinking of Richard's Christmas present in October! I believe I deserve the Wife of the Year Award for that). Due to our eternal starving-student status, I knew that it had to be cheap. I've also been increasingly minimalist (I think living in a big city/small apartment does that to you), so I was going for a consumable gift.

Inspired by Sue Lowden's barter system plan, I asked Scott if we could barter our services. And barter, we did. I did the majority of his SPSS data entry for a weekend straight until I was seeing numbers in my sleep. And today, Scott kept his end of the deal -- and then some -- by taking us on an amazing plane ride!

We picked him up around 10:30 and drove to Stafford's very nice private airport. There we met beautiful Robin:

Isn't she beautiful? Although Robins are very popular in Europe, there are only 9 Robins in all of the US! And Scott owns one of them!

Because Richard is a skinny guy, we had to burn off some gas before they could do all of the fun aerobatics. Which meant that I got to go on a quick sightseeing trip first!

It was so much fun!! Scott is an amazing pilot from all of his Air Force training, and I didn't feel nauseous at all. Until... he gave me a quick lesson, gave me the gear sticks and told me to drive. It was really weird flying the plane. It felt almost like a simulator or something. Very surreal. After about 5 minutes of trying to turn and move the plane up and down, we were both feeling a little queasy (sorry Scott), so we decided to bring her back down and let Richard take his much more adventurous trip.

Here's Richard's account of his ride:

I hopped in and strapped myself in snugly. Scott started up the plane and we started down the runway. I admit to being a bit nervous. I had in mind all of those old war films with dogfights in rickety and bullet-ridden planes. Anyway, we headed down the the runway, picked up speed, and took off. The take off was very smooth and so I forgot about any possibility of a shoot out with the Red Baron. Then it was time for the aerobatics. We did all sorts of different maneuvers. I can't remember their names, but each is intended to lift your stomach and turn your face green. It was a lot of fun. It is a pretty crazy experience to be in a plane doing a nosedive or stalling the engine while going straight up. We returned safely. In fact, the landing was much smoother than any commercial flight. My thanks to Emily and Scott for a great day! Also, in case you're wondering, even though my stomach was lifted and my face turned green, I did not barf, ralph, or vomit.

After the rides, Scott treated us to lunch at 5 Guys, a perfect end to the day. It was a great day, and a fun way to break up our finals studying marathon!

Note: The title is a nod to the best season of Bachelor ever!

I remember....

2010-11-17T10:35:00.002-05:00

and for the Quebeckers... Je me souviens...

Fairfax Apartment!

2010-09-19T16:15:00.000-04:00

10 Things that Make Me Happy

2010-09-10T13:28:00.005-04:00

Surrounding myself with people who make me want to be better, try harder and think differently
Living in a society where women are encouraged to get a higher education
The first cool fall day after a long and hot summer
My nursery kids at church
Reading a really good book
Paying only $2 for a used $150 textbook off of Amazon, and then getting the book with no marks or highlights on it
Creating something pretty or delicious out of raw materials
Spellchecker
Richard's laugh
My new GMU sweatshirt

Summer Reading, Had Me A Blast

2010-08-31T16:15:00.000-04:00

It's no surprise that both Richard and I love reading anything we can get our hands on. This summer, we had more time/willpower than usual (I attribute this mostly to our "No TV For You" month, see post below) to read some great books. Here are some highlights of our summer reading:

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy* (second favorite of the summer)

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins** (followed by Catching Fire, and Mockingjay to round out the series)

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens*

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky**

These Is My Words by Nancy Turner** (Favorite of the summer)

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum**

*Book selected for the R&E Peterson Book Club
**Book selected for book club with friends from church

And here are some of the books on our list for the upcoming months:
-The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
-The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand**
-Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner**
-Lots and lots of comm articles/books
-Lots and lots of law review article submissions

Summer Top 10

2010-08-18T16:15:00.000-04:00

An unfortunate side effect of having a blog is that it is one more thing in life that I feel like I am not keeping up with as well as I should. Is "blog guilt" a phrase? If not, I am coining it currently. You read it here first, folks. Moving on.

During Summer 2010, we (roughly in chronological order)...

1. ... went to Utah (twice)! Richard celebrating getting a job by jetting off to Utah (sans wife) in May for a week (well, I did join for an action packed 36 hours later that weekend). In July, we returned to our tribal homeland for an equally action packed week full of family reunioning, fireworking and lots of playing. We also took some family pictures on both sides of the family. I spy, with my little eye... 9 cute cousins who call me Auntie Em, a funny expression on Rich's face and a nephew doing secret sign language...

2. ... went to Reid & Amy's wedding. We were so happy to go to the MacHargs' wedding at 2941 Restaurant in May. Richard and Reid have become good friends through law school, and we loved seeing them tie the knot! Oh, and we were only a taaaaaad bit jealous of their 2-week honeymoon to Bali...

The happy couple!

Reid & Rich

Law school peeps. For some reason, Jake's pose/expression in this picture really cracks me up.

3. ... ran the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in Seattle! In June, I went to Seattle to visit my sister Kristen. I inveigled my other sister Michelle and her baby Caleb to come as well, by telling her I couldn't make it to the family reunion. Later, I showed up anyway (bwa, ha ha!). The main focus of the trip was on Saturday morning when Kristen and I ran the Seattle Rock n Roll half marathon (my 3rd, her 2nd). Unfortunately, Kristen's back was hurting pretty badly during the race, but she still managed to pull through and finish. Way to go, Kristen! (Pictures to come when I get them from Michelle.)

Now we are training for the Richmond FULL Marathon in November... wish us luck!

4. ... attended various book clubs! We decided to declare June a "TV Free Month," complete with a Soup Nazi "No TV For You!!" sign displayed prominently on our TV. This left us with lots of time to read. Luckily, around this time, we co-started a Man's Book Club and a Ladies Book Club with some friends. The menfolk read and discussed The Brothers Karamazov and Bourne Identity over root beer and Costco pizza while we read Hunger Games (AMAZING. DYING FOR MOCKINGJAY TO COME OUT.) and These Is My Words (also amazing) over cookies and fruit. Richard and I also started the very exclusive Peterson book club, which consisted of Anna Karenina (Levin and Kitty make me smile) and Great Expectations (meh).

5. ... hung out at Eaton Square! In our Alexandria Ward, Eaton Square was considered to be "Little Provo" because so many young couples from our church lived there. I also tried to coin it "Little Italy" because the streets are named Milan and Florence, but that never really caught on. Partly for that reason, and partly because they had a pool and we didn't, we hung out there a lot. Incidentally, the Eaton Square equivalent of our new ward is Masonvale (on GMU campus), but we were too cheap to live there. Oh well, at least we have a pool now!

6. ... moved to Fairfax! We made the trek out west in July to be closer to the Fairfax campus for my MA program. We LOVE our new apartment (especially the dishwasher and washer/dryer). Video to come soon! A BIGGGG thanks to Richard's mom who flew out to Virginia for 2 days just to help us move. I think she probably loves us, or something. Richard and I commented several times during and after the move how it probably wouldn't have been possible to complete the move without her. Thanks, Linda!! There are no photos of the move, which is probably a good thing since we didn't shower for several days...

7. ...spent a week in Hoboken! The morning after I finished work, Rich and I hopped on a bus to go to Hoboken. Richard left to go back to work early Monday, but I stayed until the following Saturday to host Auntie Em boot camp for Thurman and Nico. I think Neeks took the term "boot camp" a little literal, as he wanted to run laps for me around the track at the park every day! We had lots of fun eating at Biggies, going to the Liberty Science Museum, hanging out at the water park, Church Street park and the "big" park by the Lincoln Tunnel. On Friday night, Carma treated me to a VERY special show on Broadway called Promises, Promises. Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes together... how could you go wrong?

8. ...got new callings in our new ward! Since there is no paid clergy in our church, members of each congregation are asked, or called, to serve in various positions (scripture study classes, working with the youth, playing the organ, leadership roles like the bishop, etc.). In our old ward in Alexandria, Richard worked with young men in scouting and I worked in the nursery during church services (18 months to 3 years). Well.... I was called again to the nursery, wahoo!! I love getting my baby fix each week. Richard was called to be a ward missionary.

9. ...welcomed a new niece to the family! My sister Jenny had a baby girl on August 6 (their 5th anniversary). We are so excited to meet Courtney Lynn as soon as possible! We now have 13 nieces and nephews.

10. ...got really excited for school to start! Richard actually started his third year of law school yesterday, and I start my graduate assistantship training on Monday. Let the games begin!

What is the moral of this blog post? That I need to start taking pictures and documenting our lives (exactly zero of these photos came from me, and all of them were stolen off of Facebook and blogs). The end.

What have the Petersons been up to?

2010-05-05T19:57:00.007-04:00

Life the Past Few Months...

Farewell, Corporate America:

After two years of pining for academia (I think I might have been the only person crying in a corner instead of celebrating at graduation), I was accepted into the Health Communication Master’s program at George Mason University!

My first year, I will be going to school full-time on a (pseudo) research assistantship. My second year, I will be on a (real) teaching assistantship teaching introductory communication classes to little freshmen – although, let’s face it, they are probably going to look/be older than me.

I do like my job, and I’m grateful to have a job, but I really feel like academia is where my heart belongs. I’m excited to join Richard as a fellow Patriot!

Richard the Litigator:

Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it? Richard was offered a full-time job working at a prestigious employment law firm in Washington, DC (only about 4 blocks away from where I currently work!). He will continue working there full-time next year, and switch over to GMU law’s awesome part-time program. He will be really busy come fall (did I mention that he is also going to be managing editor of GMU’s law journal and on the moot court team?), so we’re going to try to make the most of summer before life gets too crazy!

Because he’s switching to the part-time program, Richard will be extending by a semester, which means…. we get to walk together! (Walk, meaning “graduation walking”). I smell parental trips to DC right around May 2012. Mom & Dad, I’ll get Richard to draft up a Letter of Intent to Visit Your Youngest Daughter at Graduation form for you to sign. That will be $800, please.

Born to Run

I recently finished my second half-marathon in Champaign–Urbana, Illinois. I ran it with some high school BFFs (shout out to Katie, Sara and Molly), and we had a blast! The course is touted as “the flattest race in America” (or something along those lines), and it didn’t disappoint! There was supposedly one “big” hill in the course, and we kept on saying, “hm, I think this might be the hill coming up?” but we never quite found it. I was surprised and happy to finish in 2:19:30 (about 20 minutes faster than Baltimore).

Of course, there were also several GREAT Hills in the area (I love Hills in Illinois jokes – funny every time). I stayed with my sister (last name, Hill) and her husband and two adorable little boys for the weekend. It was a great vacation!

Richard and I are signed up for a 10k over Memorial Day weekend, and then I am going to be running the Seattle Half-Marathon with my sister in June! Next up, full marathon? That’s for me to know, and you to find out…

Pack up the handcarts, we’re going to Utah

Since Richard has a couple weeks off between finals and work, he’s going to go visit family in Utah for a week in May. I will also be joining him for an action packed weekend (I couldn’t take any days off work, boo). Are you also planning a trip to Utah in May? If so, let us know!

Life Off Metro

2010-03-18T10:29:00.002-04:00

Last summer, Rich and I took a field trip to Fairfax, VA to find bikes at garage sales. I found a great red bike that had been ridden with love for many years (so much that a pedal was missing). I quickly determined that it was a "bike with character" and purchased it posthaste.

Even though we got it at a good price, I was still concerned with our ROI (Return on Investment, for those in the non-corporate world). Assets v. liabilities, people!

I determined that my ROI on my bike had to be at least 2:1 to justify spending the money. The bike cost $10, and a replacement for the missing pedal cost $2. My roundtrip fare to and from work costs $5. So, for all you math majors out there, I will be riding my bike at least 5 times to make a decent profit on buying the bike (is that right, Michelle?).

Regardless, I rode my bike to work today. It was AMAZING. I watched 2 planes take off from National Airport at Gravelly Point, ate a quick bite by the Tidal Basin and got a great view of the Georgetown Cathedral while crossing Key Bridge. And, I only got lost twice!!! That's about 5 times less than I was expecting.

Other good things:

(a) I don't have to set aside any extra time to work out today - it takes me the same amount of time to ride my bike as to bus/metro in (about an hour).

(b) I'm in a really happy, endorphin-filled mood when I get to work.

The only thing about the bike is... well, it's not a road bike per se and the gears are stuck, so I have to ride the whole way with one gear. But, it's a bike with character, and I love it! Trying to think of a good name right now for her.

Life on Metro

2010-03-04T16:28:00.003-05:00

Remember my post [http://theretimes.blogspot.com/2008/10/washington-mecca-of-metropolitan.html] from 2008 when I raved about the DC Metro, with a cleverly alliteration-filled title?

Well. It has now been about a year and a half since I posted that, and I certainly do not feel as unicorns-and-rainbows about the metro now as I did back then -- although I do still very much appreciate all of the Top 5. It's had quite its share of problems (remember the red line crashES last summer?) and an disturbingly large number of train cars break downs and fare increases.

But, despite its problems, I still do like the metro for getting me to where I need to go each day. I take the blue line (holla, fellow blue line riders!) 3-4 stops, depending if I get on at Pentagon City or Pentagon, so I'm honestly not even on it that much.

But (enter: the point of the post), I have made some interesting sociological observations while taking my 10 minute ride every morning and every night. One of the most interesting things I have found is that with each stop in the morning, a distinct demographic typically exits. I've made a game of finding a random person on the metro when I get on in the morning, and guessing at which stop they exit to start their day. It's quite a jolly time.

Here is what I have found:

Stop 1: Pentagon City. This is where I get on, so I'm not really paying attention to who gets off. I'm more searching frantically for that highly-coveted open seat.

Stop 2: Pentgon. 95% chance that anyone in military-looking clothing will exist; 50-60% chance that anyone "scary looking" will exit.

Stop 3: Arlington Cemetery, i.e. Tourist Central. In my experience, 100% chance that anyone with children will exit; 90% chance that anyone with a visible camera will exit; 90% chance that anyone with a shirt featuring Washington DC or Obama will exit.

Stop 4: Rosslyn. I would say that nearly 100% of exiters here are wearing suits, although I have yet to find another distinguishing factor.

Stop 5: Foggy Bottom/GWU. 85% chance that anyone with a backpack and/or wearing jeans will exit because of the close proximity to GW and Georgeton. 100% chance that Emily will exit here (unless she gets too caught up in reading the "Totally Lost" blog, which may or may not have been the case this morning).

I think it's kind of fun that each stop has its own personality. I should start awarding myself prizes when I guess people's stops correctly, which -- I hate to toot my own horn -- happens quite frequently.

OR, maybe I could put this sweet acquired skill on my resume in case I want to be an FBI agent or something. Hm, hm? I can be the "Emily: The Metro Hunter." YES!

Welcome, Sakura! Farewell, Sophia!

2010-02-07T18:12:00.010-05:00

This morning as we were clearing off our car from this weekend's crazy storm (over 2 feet!), Richard gave me an impish smile and said, "there's something I have to tell you!" The big news was that our new car/Christmas present, Sakura, was en route to Alexandria from Richard's parents house! Side note: Richard had known this was coming for a whole week and did a really good job keeping it a secret from me - way to go, Rich! He is usually really bad at keeping secrets!

Only a few hours later, Sakura came in all her glory (well, there is a small part of her that is NOT glorious, but we will get to that later).

With Sakura's arrival came a sad farewell to our BMW Sophia, our wonderful companion and friend, and our primary mode of transportation since our wedding. We will miss you, Sophia!

Here is Barry, who volunteered to drive to and from Utah to bring us our new baby. We love Barry (and not only because he often travels cross-country to bring us goodies), and were happy to see him, if only for a few minutes.

The last thing we had to do before the switch could be complete was to turn in our old keys for our new ones:

Except, as it turns out, Sakura actually doesn't need keys, as she doesn't have an ignition... you turn her on by pressing this handy button:

Okay, now onto the bad news. As soon as Sakura came into view for the first time, Richard said, "Emmy, you are going to not be happy in about 7 seconds." And oh boy, was he right. Upon closer inspection, I realized that Sakura has UTAH UTES plates! (To my U of U friends who are reading this, don't take this paragraph too seriously.) Needless to say, this will motivate us to change over the plates to Virginia plates VERY quickly. Luckily, when we were doing a final check through of Sophia, I found my BYU hat, so I could take this photo to express my emotions:

All in all, though, we are very happy with Sakura! She is a 2009 Nissan Altima in black. Look how awesome Rich looks in the driver's seat!

Welcome to the family, Sakura! Love, Richard, Emily, Bertha and Kitty

PS- Here's the back story for Sakura's name: Sakura means "Cherry Blossom" in Japanese, and since Nissan is a Japanese company, and Washington DC has the famous Cherry Blossom festival each spring, it was the perfect fit!

Too Late

2010-02-04T15:22:00.002-05:00

Saw this on the interwebs and I laughed. And so I share...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZfRaWAtBVg

2010-02-01T12:04:00.002-05:00

Just set up my droid to blog via txt. Hope it works.

GMU Married Housing...

2010-01-29T21:32:00.005-05:00

...so there isn't any married housing at George Mason, but it looks like it is abundant in Utah!

Potentially Awkward Conversation

2010-01-29T09:17:00.003-05:00

At my annual check-up...

Doctor: Do you have any big plans for this year?

Me: Well, I'm hoping to start my masters this fall.

Doctor: Oh, really? What in?

Me: Health Communications, specializing in interpersonal and physician-patient communications.

Doctor: ...

Me: Don't worry, you're doing a great job!

Snowicane 2009

2009-12-20T10:03:00.014-05:00

The Snowicane landed in DC Friday night. (Also called the Snowpocalypse.) Emily was already snug in a hotel room at the Hotel George near Capitol Hill. I was less snug finishing my last final for my third semester of law school. Once I finished my exam I headed home packed up for our second annual stay-cation in the city. After a few minutes of frantic packing so that I could get me and Octavia (our scooter) to the metro station before the snowicane got going in full force.

I made it safely to Emily and the Hotel George after a stinging ride on the scooter. The rest of the evening was spent watching weather forecasts exclaiming, "Worst storm of the century!" "Lock up your windows and doors, we're in for the long haul!" "One million inches for sure!" Looking out the window of our hotel room confirmed, in part, the forecasts.

We woke up in the morning to several inches, but we had great plans for our stay-cation, so we bundled up and forged into the winter wonderland.

The metro escalators were dusted with a healthy layer of snowdrift.

To our dismay, the Smithsonians were all closed. But that didn't keep us from touring the city. Here's a couple of pictures of us in front of the Smithsonian castle.

We trekked past the Smithsonians and on to the Washington Monument. (Can you see it to the left on the first picture?)

And finally, we made some snow angels.

So, now we are still at the Hotel George waiting for the Metro to offer above ground service, or for the buses to start up service again. Otherwise, we will be staying in the city for always and forever.

Top 5 Best GRE Words

2009-12-11T15:10:00.005-05:00

The GRE is over and done with... horah! horah! I made a vow immediately after taking it that I would no longer try to incorporate silly GRE words into my every day life anymore, because (a) I was probably using the words incorrectly some of the time, and (b) it tended to make me sound bombastic.

However, I have a special place in my heart for these 5 special GRE words that I will never forget (sadly, none of them were actually on the test, but no matter):

(1) Quaff- Official definition: to drink (a beverage) copiously and heartily. Why I love it: Kristen and I were reviewing some GRE words on the way down the Florida Keys a couple of months ago, and came across this gem. It was sort of a running joke on the trip, and last week I received a frantic voicemail from Kristen saying she was "going to quaff some alcohol" if I didn't call her back immediately (joking, of course). Also, it makes me think of ducks.

(2) Hummock: Official Definition: A small hill. Why I love it: As soon as I read this definition, my two completely adorable nephews (with the last name Hill) flashed into my mind. My sister cleverly added on to these nicknames, and they are now known around our apartment as Chop and Squash Hummock.

(3) Gossamer: Official Definition: any thin, light fabric. Why I love it: The day after I learned this word, I was rereading "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" for the 80th time and they use this word twice within like 2 chapters! I had been reading over it for years without stopping to think about what it meant. I was so excited that these words were actually used in real life!

(4) Pariah: Official Definition: an outcast. Why I love it: The sentence in Barron's for this word is "If everyone rejected Mariah Carey, would she then be Mariah the Pariah?" It made me laugh and momentarily contemplate a job as the person who comes up with vocabulary sentences. I have since reconsidered this career choice.

(5) Avuncular: Official Definition: of, pertaining to, or characteristic of an uncle. Why I love it: First of all, it's just a fun word to say! Secondly, it inspired the Peterson Family Mascot: "The Avuncular Canadians." [T-shirts and more info about this mascot to come]

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-09T21:36:00.002-05:00

Editor's Note

2009-11-19T10:14:00.001-05:00

If you wrote me a comment in the last blog, I have responded in the comments section!

...And we're back!

2009-11-16T20:02:00.006-05:00

Okay, okay. Let's skip the formalities - I know we have been noticeably absent from the blogosphere for the past few months. I've been wanting to update for awhile, but it seemed like the more time went by, the more daunting the task was to retroblog, so I wouldn't... and the vicious cycle continued until 5 minutes ago [for some reason, watching Donny Osmond perform on Dancing With the Stars suddenly inspired me, for what reason I know not].

So here you go: Top 5 Things That Have Been Taking Up Our Time:

1. Running: Richard and I ran the Baltimore Half-Marathon [not pictured for a reason, i.e. red faces and crazy hair] with our friend, Britni. Richard did amazing and finished under 2 hours! I had pulled my hamstring a few weeks before, so I didn't do quite as well as I wanted to, but we had lots of fun [okay, that was a lie. It was not fun running it... but it was fun after, and it is fun to think about now!]. I also ran a 5k with some friends from church a few weeks ago. I am now getting ready to run the Illinois Half-Marathon in May with Kate [although, let's be honest, the real reason for going is to see my little hummocks!].

In related news, we joined a gym - Ballys! Richie and I have a standing date to go spinning on Wednesdays and yoga on Thursdays. I must say, it makes my week to see Richard ceremoniously "cradling his leg" with a soundtrack of running water [he's actually quite good] - I knew I married him for a reason. Girls like guys with skills.

2. GRE: Okay, you've heard enough about this, so I will not say anymore except that I take it on December 5, and tell anyone who will listen to me that I am sooooo ready for it to be over! I don't even have the energy to pepper this post with will-only-be-seen-on-the-GRE-and-not-in-real-life words. You're welcome.

3. Dinners at the Petersons: We made a goal to have friends over for dinner once a week. It's been really fun for many reasons: [1] we can't afford to actually DO things with people and this is something social that we can afford, [2] I get to try out some fun new recipes without having tons of leftovers, [3] We have greatly honed our Boggle and Scattergories skills, and [4] we've enjoyed getting to know law school and church friends better!

4. Law School "Stuff": I am lumping Richard's life into one bullet point, because to be honest, I only vaguely know what he does all day. This is what I do know: he is getting ready for finals, doing stuff for Moot Court and the law journal, and interviewing for externships for next semester. Busy guy! I'll let him comment if he wishes to elaborate further.

5. Making fun of Sarah Palin's new book - Just kidding.

5. Delighting in the successes of BYU Football - REALLY just kidding. Although, how 'bout 'em Horned Frogs? Power to the MWC!

The Real #5- Work: My fab boss Sarah is currently MIA on maternity leave [okay, so I guess she's not technically "Missing in Action" since I know exactly where she is, but Mya is now performing on Dancing With the Stars], so I am now solely in charge of PRing 12 hotels in the area. It's been really busy, but it's also been really fun. Also, I'm going over to Sarah's house on Sunday to bring her some dinner and [more importantly] meet baby Christopher, my work-nephew!

What the next couple of months will bring us:

1. A final, quick trip to Omaha for Thanksgiving
2. Going to Utah for Christmas, including an extended trip to St. George [my first time there!]
3. A painted bedroom! Richard promised he would do this as soon as finals are over. There will be pictures [if he does a good job].
4. Lots of fun Christmas parties and dinners

kbye.

RyLu's Wedding

2009-09-07T19:50:00.012-04:00

Richard and I went back to Utah for Labor Day (story for another day), and while we were there, we were able to download some pictures from Laura (my sister-in-law) and Ryan's wedding last month.

At the morning brunch before the wedding

The happy couple, just married!

Some family pictures

The Coldstone bar, yum!

Utah Trip

2009-08-17T11:16:00.016-04:00

As most of you know, we just returned from an excellent 10-day trip to Utah for my SIL's wedding and a side vacation down to Lake Powell.

Here's our 10 Top exciting events from the past 10 days [in no particular order]:

1. Laura's Wedding! Of course, I have ZERO pictures of this, but hopefully will soon!

2. Eating ice-cream at the Creamery on 9th at BYU:

3. Eating lunch at Cafe Rio, yummmmm

4. Meeting our ADORABLE niece Stella

5. Eating the top layer of our wedding cake (Richard thinks it still tasted good, Emily does not)

6. Hanging out at the Petersons' pool and waterslide: Check out the pool house Richard's dad built for the wedding reception and my new, short hair!

7. Wakeboarding and surfing at Lake Powell for 4 days

8. Going to see Harry Potter: Even better the second time around! We are a happier family than we look in this picture :)

9. Playing card games every night: We learned some really fun new games!

10. Spending lots of quality time with family!

Now we are home and ready to welcome in the new school year. Three cheers for a great vacation! Thanks, Petersons!

My Current Obsession

2009-07-28T15:10:00.003-04:00

Some women have an obsession with shoes. Others drool over handbags or scarves. I thought I had made it through life without a "[insert clothing item/accessory] fetish" until I started running, and discovered the beauty that is women's running gear. I'm not sure what attracts me to it so much. Perhaps it is the delicate material that so skillfully wicks away my massive [TMI] amount of sweat or the brightly-colored tops with those adorable matching shorts. Either way, I'm addicted.

Fortunately, Richie also shares my athletic apparel ardor [note: for him it is men's running gear, just to clear that up], so we often take shopping trips to Sports Authority, Runner's World, REI and Target just to sit and salivate over the newest trends.

Sadly, we are usually not able to participate actively in said trends because they are ridiculously priced, and I can't justify the cost. Until... I came up with this brilliant idea after a particularly wistful trip to Sports Club on 19th and L. Why not buy a new outfit for each race I run, and wear it for the first time on the race? I know, great idea right? That way, whenever I wear it I can nostalgically remember that time I finished that 10k in under 50 minutes, or [more likely] passed out on mile 12 of the Baltimore Half!

Why this is a good idea:

1. I'm Emily, and I only come up with good ideas.

2. It gives me something to look forward to, and I really feel like I "earned" it [even though I will have technically earned it either way, since it is coming out of my paycheck].

3. I won't buy a bunch of running clothes and then stop running. My apparel cost will be commensurate with how actively I am running/racing.

4. The nostalgia thing, delineated above.

I've already picked out my outfit for Baltimore. But I can't find a picture of it on-line :( Let's just say it is cute and pink.

Just for the record, my dear husband does not think this is a good idea. Sigh. He says that there's a chance that a new outfit could rub wrong or would need to be broken in and I wouldn't realize it until I was too late. But he's totally wrong, right? Right?

"I want to go to there." -Liz Lemon

2009-06-25T12:27:00.004-04:00

Sometimes, Richie and I like to go driving around our neighborhood to learn more about the cool side roads and parks of Virginia. One Sunday, we decided to pack up some oatmeal creme pies and head out to explore the area surrounding the Fairfax courthouse, where Richie used to intern.

Imagine our surprise when we happen to come across a Zion Road! Being Sunday and all, we decided it was probably a good idea to drive around in that area, and not too much longer we ended up on Hill Cumorah Drive! What are the chances?? There are exactly 3 houses on this street, and I hope that when it comes time for us to buy a house, one of these will go up for sale, so I can say things like "take a right off of Zion St. and then a right on Hill Cumorah Drive and we are the first house on the left."

For those of you who don't know why I find this exciting, check out: http://www.hillcumorah.org/

For those of you who don't understand the title, check out: www.nbc.com/30_Rock/

Bichon Frise = my BFF

2009-06-22T11:07:00.003-04:00

Considering moving apartments just to get a bichon frise. (Our apartment doesn't allow pets.) Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen??

Mid-Year Resolutions

2009-06-16T14:37:00.011-04:00

Ok, it's almost been 6 months since we all made our new year resolutions... who remembers what they resolved to do? Not me! So I'm going to make this more manageable for myself and make resolutions for the next 6 months. Inspiration: Britni's goals that she blogged about this morning!

Mid Year Resolutions:

1. Take/Rock the GRE: I know what you’re thinking – haven’t you been studying for like… forever? And the answer is yes, but I keep on taking month-long study breaks because I haven’t had a goal date to take it. I hereby resolve to take it by the end of the year to make sure I stick to it.

2. Run a half-marathon: Specifically, the Baltimore Half Marathon on October 10th (Happy pre-Birthday to me!) with Richie and our friend Britni.

3. Read at least one good book a month: Including but not limited to the following: John Adams, Les Miserables (abridged version… sorry Hugo), Team of Rivals, Walden by Thoreau.

4. Keep a $40/week household budget: Couponing is the key to this! And yes, I still love it!

5. Become proficient* in sewing: To do this, I’m going to start attending the ward’s monthly sewing club to glean information from the awesome sewing queens that surround me. I already have some fun beginner projects in mind, including this adorable scrap-pieced baby bib… good thing everyone and their dog is preggers right now!

6. Make 3 homemade meals per week: I’ve learned that the easiest way to do this is by cooking on Sunday and then making two additional meals that I can freeze and reheat when I get home from work during the week.

7. Set aside at least $500/month to pay back law school student loans: Blahhhh, I don’t like this one. But it must be done.

8. Take fun vacays to Gettysburg, Salt Lake/Lake Powell, Miami, Baltimore and Omaha: Who says you can’t have fun resolutions?

9. Go through all of my stuff and get rid of anything I don't need or use: Taken from Britni’s list -- awesome idea.

10. Make sure I tell the hubs I love him at least once every day: Corny, sorry. But it’s important!

*Proficient = able to do all three of the following: basic mending of clothes (hemming, etc.); make matching Christmas PJs for Richie and I, and make several of the cute bibs mentioned above!

Bodies = Amazing

2009-06-15T17:00:00.005-04:00

Over the past few months, I've been increasingly amazed at how quickly our bodies develop and adapt to new situations, and basically just how amazing they are.

At church, I teach - mostly play - in the junior nursery (18 months until the end of the calendar year), and I am amazed at how much my adorable little kiddos have grown over the past 6 months. In January, none of them could talk, they would cry a lot and steal things from each other. Just yesterday, I noticed how they are all talking now (including their "please"s and "thank you"s!), playing with each other and basically just growing up and maturing. It's been so much fun to watch them each week during this really formative time and see how quickly they change!

As most of you know, I've also been getting into running lately and ran the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5k on June 6 and the Lawyer Have Heart 10k last Saturday (finished in just over an hour!). I actually only started running consistently in April, which means in about 3 months, I've increased my running ability from a half mile (literally) to the 6.2 that I just ran.

I really do think that one of the best things in life is looking back to see how far you've come in anything, and it's been really fun to track my progress in running. My next goal is to do the Baltimore Half Marathon in October! Wish me luck :)

Corporate Life: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

2009-06-05T08:37:00.005-04:00

The Good: Thinking it's Thursday when it is actually Friday.

The Bad: Thinking it's Friday when it's actually Thursday.

The Ugly: Thinking it's Saturday when it's actually Friday, turning off your alarm and going back to sleep.

From One Washington to the Other / One Short Weekend in the Emerald City

2009-05-31T17:42:00.016-04:00

Preface: Before I begin, let me explain the title(s). As we all know, there is a lot of pressure to get the perfect title post when you blog. The cover of the book, if you will. On the airplane on the way to Seattle, my mind drifted to "what will I name put as the title for when I inevitably blog about this trip?" In the end, I couldn't choose between these excellent (if I do say so myself) choices, so I put both up. Anyway...

Begin Post here: Basically, I <3 Seattle. It actually reminds me a lot of Alexandria because there are tons of trees, and everyone loves doing things outdoors (although, I must admit the kayaking is more popular in one than the other). After a jam packed week of working (26 hours of overtime!), we had an equally jam packed -- but much more fun-- weekend exploring the beautiful city.

After a yummy lunch in the restaurant on top of the Space Needle we headed to a duck tour. I decided to test our driver's sense of humor by answering "the better Washington!" when he asked where I was from. He did not pass my test. He just went on the next person. No friendly East Coast/West Coast banter!! Lame-o!

To get back at me, he decided to tell me that in order to get the boat to the water from the road, we would have to start going really fast and go over a ramp at like 40mph and "bump a few times in the water." At which point, Kristen leaned over to me and whispered "Oh, I hate this part!! It's really scary!" BOO. It's not true. You go at like .01mph.

Next, we got pedicures - I got my classic french tips, natch. The lady who was doing Kristen's feet kept on tickling her (not hard to do), and then all the ladies would all start laughing and then talking super fast in Korean/Japanese/Chinese. Ah, good times. Also, we learned that Nicole Richie is Lionel Richie's daughter! But she's got to be adopted, right? Anyone know the 411 on that?

Next on the list: Mariner's game. They lost. I got my souvenir of an ice-cream helmet.

Next day: Church, the troll, the temple...

Then Kristen and her roommates made me and some other guys friends some excellent dinner. Seriously. It was great. I wish I could cook. (I did attempt to make the syrup for pancakes, but bad things happened.) There are no pictures of the syrup. It's probably for the best.

On Monday, we celebrated Memorial Day by going hiking. Mark, a guy from Kristen's ward, headed it up and told us "oh, there might be a little snow on the ground." Um... you can't really tell from the below pic, but there was a TON of snow. We were walking on it most of the time. But it was still really fun!! PS- the super tall guy is our long-lost cuz. He is cool.

Then, we took a ferry ride of Seattle...

Went to Pike's Peak:

And went to sleep. Tuesday, we went kyacking which was kind of scary :( Only because I'm a wimp and kept on imagining boats coming at me at speeds of 100 mph+ to run me over. Maybe I have an overactive imagination. One of thing of note: they told us to stay to the right because the boats would stay on the left. Not true!! The craaazzzyy Seattle police drive their boats on the right! Someone needs to inform them of this. Maybe Kristen should organize a protest.

Anyway, it was a great weekend with great company!! Thanks Kristen! Now I have to make sure I plan an equally fun trip for when she comes out to DC in a month!

Well this was a super long post. Thanks for hanging in there. To reward you, I will share this lovely pic of Richard (until he tells me to take it down):

One Flew Over Emily's Nest

2009-05-08T09:16:00.010-04:00

Because of my newly-found (forced?) love of learning new words for the GRE, I was especially intrigued when I came across this quote from Albert Einstein:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

After pondering this definition, I came to the conclusion that I am, quite literally, insane. Don't believe me? Ask the dishes! (Sorry, I'm listening to my Broadway mix right now.) Really, though. I have several examples to back up this claim. And in honor of Richard's last final today, I will show it to you courtroom style:

Exhibit 1: The Sun

Don't let this guy's innocuous facade fool you; his evil death rays belie his smiling face. (And, by the way, isn't it ironic and silly that we draw sunglasses on the sun? Yes, I just realized that.) Each year, around this time, I take a look at my skin and am reminded of my extremely fair (unfair?) Scandanavian coloring and think, "oh, well, I'll just go outside and go running/the pool/the beach and get tan."

Well, you know what happens next: I inevitably turn incarnadine, and have to load on the aloe vera/moisturizer for the next couple of weeks. Let me stress again that I go through this EVERY. YEAR. And every April, I think that my skin genes have somehow morphed into those of a Amazon warrior. Maybe in 2010...

Exhibit 2: The Shoes

I have a pair of very cute brown shoes that I got my junior year of college (read: 2 years ago). After doing the mandatory "test run" of awkwardly walking 30 feet around the store, I decided that it was okay -- nay, a good thing -- that the shoes felt a tad too small for my feet because, you know, they'll probably stretch out enough and this means that they won't fall off my feet! Right?

Yeah. Right. The next day, simply walking from one class to another almost killed me. It felt like I was walking on hot coals. But, you don't understand, they were SO CUTE. So then, a week later, I only remembered the cute part and decided to wear them again to church. Again, the blisters and the agony ensued. To THIS DAY (seriously, I wore them last week), I think, "well maybe they have finally stretched out (sitting in my closet floor) or my feet shrunk or something and it won't be so bad this time." Sigh.

So, there you have it folks. You are reading the blog of an insane person. I rest my case.

The life & times of Emily's iPods

2009-04-23T12:35:00.006-04:00

iPod #1: My senior year of high school, my parents bought me an old-school (well, I suppose it wasn't old-school at the time) iPod, for which I was very grateful. It lasted the longest of my iPods to date, and was filled with lots of upbeat yet illegally-downloaded music. However, at the end of my sophomore year after my first Europe stint, I decided to upgrade to a slimmer version and gave my original iPod away to a fellow impecunious student (aren't I magnanimous?)

Birth: April 2004

Death: April 2006

iPod #2: Ah yes, "blacky" as I like to call him. Oh the good times we had: running (actually it was walk slash jogging, let's be honest), weltering and gamboling in the sun and summer car listening. 'Twas a halcyon summer, indeed. Until a certain individual* happened to murder blacky in cold blood!!! Ok, fine it was an "accident" where said person "rolled" over and "accidentally" "broke" blacky's "screen." Luckily he was revived after an emergency trip to the iPod doctor, only to have me lose him a little later.

Birth: August2006

Death: March 2007

iPod #3 aka "Baby Hermes": My sweet baby! This was actually a free iPod that came with my MacBook, but I my love for him was equal to millions of dollars. Baby Hermes was especially fun because I could watch episodes of The Office on him! Plus he had 3 gigabytes (well, I actually only ever used like less than 1, but it was nice to know it was there). Alas, he was left alone and cold one day at the gym, never to return home to his mama. If only I knew where he was now... I hope he is enjoying his new home.

Birth: August 2008

Death: October 2008

iPod #4: Richie Jr.: After hearing my sob stories of iPods past, my wonderful husband gave me his iPod (also partially because he got an iPod touch for Christmas and didn't need it anymore). We had an immediate bond, but alas, this relationship too was doomed when I (again) left him at a gym. Bye bye Richie Jr.

Birth: December 2008

Death: April 2008

iPod #5: Shuffle City: Which brings me to present. Due to my... uh, bad history of losing/killing iPods, I decided to get a cheap-o one. Enter the First Generation ipod Shuffle that I got for $10 (with running band and cord!) off of Craigslist last night.

Birth: April 22, 2009

Death: TBA

*Identities have been removed to prevent opprobrium, but I assure you this was a real person who is not me.

What Would You Do?

2009-04-10T18:13:00.004-04:00

The Cupcake Dilemma:

The Facts:

We only have a 6-cupcake tin
Each batch takes 30 minutes to cook
I had enough batter to make 19.5 cupcakes

What do you do with the batter for the last 1.5 cupcakes?

Option A: Spend an extra 30 minutes making 1 and 1/2 cupcakes batch
Option B: Eat the batter for the last bit
Option C: Throw away the extra batter

I picked Option B and I feel *sick* now.

What would you do???

Some Life Updates

2009-04-09T09:47:00.002-04:00

Can you believe we're already into April? The months seem to fly by here, although we are still waiting for spring to come. April seems to be a month full of chicanery, with one beautiful day and then several rainy and windy days immediately following. I guess we will look back on these days with fondness as the summer will surely desiccate the beautiful grass and trees we see everywhere now!

It's finals time again for Richard, which means late nights and early mornings of studying to ensure that he is not abased when grades come out. As soon as that is over, he will be interning with a judge here in Fairfax for a couple of months, and then interning at the Virginia Supreme Court for the rest of the summer. We just got a letter in the mail telling Richard he will need to take an oath promising decorous behavior during his duties as intern... very official!

Next year he will be secretary for GMU's J. Reuben Clark Law Society, treasurer for the Student Bar Association, on a law journal, working for the library, on In Of Court (law fraternity, basically), and Trial Advocacy (hopefully). Basically, I do not plan on seeing him for a year... so maybe I'll come visit all of you!

I'm still at my job, and still really liking it, although visions of graduate school dance in my head. I'm hoping that this desire doesn't accidentally prove deleterious to my job performance, but honestly I'm just happy to have a job right now so I won't be a boor and complain about anything. Another nice benefit of working, which forces me to slightly demur about going back to school, is that we are slowly but surely amortizing our law school student debt.

Some fun summer trips: a weekend in Seattle, Bylund Family Reunion in Pennsylvania, a week at Lake Powell with the Petersons and a few day trips to Pilly and Baltimore. Riding through the declivities of Virginia will be fun, too!

(PS- Okay, fine this was a semi-fake post so I could use some GRE words in context. Please don't form a cabal and overthrow this blog!)

A Summer of FUN!!!

2009-04-01T13:30:00.008-04:00

This morning, sitting in a budget meeting, my mind drifted into "spring fever" mode, and I thought, "I wonder what amusement parks are near Washington DC?"

Upon further research, I found that there is a Six Flags a mere 20 minutes from our house!

And even better, they are doing a deal right now where you can get season tickets for the cost of a one-day pass!

And EVEN better, you get 5 free "friend" tickets (on select days) for each pass.

Needless to say, we are now the proud owners of season passes (with parking cost included!), and plan to venture out a couple Saturdays a month this summer.

So you should all come out and visit us, and we will take to you 6 Flags for free.

HORRAY FOR SUMMER!

PS- Did I mention I'm excited this long winter is ending?

1 Year!

2009-03-22T19:58:00.003-04:00

Happy anniversary, happy anniversary, happy anniversary... Haaappy Anniversary! (sung to a tune which I know, but don't know the name of...) So, Emily and I were married a year ago today. It has been a very good year. Last night, Emily and I went through a list of fun and exciting (and some less exciting) things we have done over the past year. It has been so great that I have a hard time remembering what it was like not being married. Yay for being married!!!

-Richard

A Steamy Relic of the Past

2009-03-18T08:13:00.004-04:00

What you see here is the result of rational yet "heated" (zing!...you'll get in a second...) debate. Yesterday, I implored of Emily that we get an iron because I've recently gotten some shirts that require ironing. However, I foolishly advocated a trip to Target for this purpose. Alas, such a trip would cost much more than the benefits, no doubt, as Emily quickly instructed me. And so, in Emily's economical wisdom, I was counseled that we rather visit Goodwill to find the iron I desired.

It turns out that Emily's sagacious recommendation proved its worth the moment we entered Goodwill. The store had a smell that shouted "bargains!" I went straightaway to the appliances section and we were faced down by a plethora of irons. I was not prepared for irons in plethoric proportions and so we made another rational decision: each of us chose our favorite. I was immediately drawn to the beauty of the iron you see in the small picture above. It may be hard to see it from the picture but the nostalgic essence that permeated my being simply from glancing at this model of perfection was overwhelming. It beckoned a period when irons were irons, and washing boards were washing boards.

Moments later I was plugging it so that she (I use the pronoun "she" here because her name is Bertha), may prove to us that she could handle the ironing I so desperately longed for. What joy when the element was heated and we felt the warmth of an iron that had doubtless made passes at numberless concourses of fabrics. I made my exultation known to Emily through beaming eyes and smile. She acquiesced to its purchase. And that is how we came to own "Bertha."

Splurging

2009-03-13T09:09:00.003-04:00

With some unexpected car issues in the past few months (partially paid for by Mama and Papa Peterson, thank you, thank you, thank you), we've had to cut a few corners in our budget.

Then, last weekend, we were walking to Harris Teeter and saw a Johnny Rockets (50's-style diner) on the way. We looked at each other and both said at the same time "let's eat there!!" This is only the third or fourth time in our marriage that we have eaten out (unless certain parental units were paying for it... thank you, thank you, thank you again!).

All through our $20-combined meal, we kept on saying to each other "I can't believe we're eating out!!" We were pretty giddy about it for the rest of the day, and actually for a few days after. It was quite the splurge for us.

This got me thinking about "splurging," and why people splurge. My guess is that people like the euphoria of temporarily living at a higher/more expensive level than they are used to. Makes sense -- that's how we felt. Then I thought, what if we did eat out a lot? Then what would we have to do to get that same feeling?

It's interesting the splurging doesn't feel like splurging if you are "living large" all the time. I guess an unexpected benefit of being poor is that moderate indulgances like eating at Johnny Rocket means a lot more!

25 Random Things about Richard

2009-02-26T11:36:00.004-05:00

Richard was too busy to join in on the fun, so his loving wife compiled this list on his behalf:

1. His handwriting is nearly identical to the font that J.K. Rowling uses for Hagrid’s handwriting in the Harry Potter books.

2. In the year that we were dating/engaged/married (August 2007 – August 2008), he lived in 6 different homes: Academy Arms apartments, French Foreign Language Housing, his parents house in Draper, our house down the street in Draper, our apartment in New York City, and our apartment in Alexandria, VA.

3. He likes most foods but has a purely psychological aversion to sour cream. (Much to my dismay.)

4. Every once in awhile, he will go through distinct clothes phases. Last summer, he wore a solid-colored Old Navy t-shirt and jeans every day. Then, in the fall, it changed to a collared shirt under a sweater nearly every day.

5. His goal in life is to live in a red brick house and drink mint juleps on the porch every night.

6. He always signed his name, Richard Peterson, Esq., even before he realized that he actually will be Richard Peterson, Esq. after he passes the bar!

7. He named his biceps Steve and Phil.

8. He sings what he wants to say in the car every morning on the way to the metro station instead of talking. But he never sings on the way back home in the evening.

9. You know that he is upset with a car on the road if he calls them “dude buddy.” (As in: “Watch it, dude buddy!!”)

10. He doesn’t like it if I either (a) squeeze the toothpaste tube from the middle, or (b) forget to put the cap back on. We now use different toothpaste tubes to avoid conflict.

11. He hates gum.

12. His brand kind of car is Audi.

13. He beats me at nearly every sport and game we play, except Set. He now refuses to play Set with me.

14. He wants to be a law librarian as his “retirement job” after working at a firm for most of his career.

15. He does not at all like the idea of me publishing under “Emily Bylund” if I decide to go back to grad school.
16. No matter how much he eats or what he eats, it is essentially impossible for him to gain weight (lucky!), but…

17. …he still works out to “The Biggest Loser” DVD.

18. He spends at least 3 hours a day reading the news.

19. He loves Yoplait Whips and Yoplait Thick & Creamy, but won’t eat regular Yoplait.

20. He is extremely careful about chicken juice. If I touch raw chicken and anything else (knife, seasoning jar, etc.) before thoroughly washing my hands, he patiently reminds me of the dangers of raw chicken.

21. He quotes “The Devil Wear Prada” movie. (Although, this could be because I make him watch it so much with me!)

22. He is very good at being a human beat box, but rarely does it.

23. Sometimes he talks in his sleep about his Contracts class or other law school classes. Apparently, he is having very exciting dreams.

24. He absolutely loves herbal tea, especially chamomile, and often drinks it right before bed.

25. He is a wonderful husband (not random, but true!)

Best Day Ever!

2009-02-12T10:10:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was an awesome day. Here is why:

(1) I am married to Richard!

(2) My niece was born!

(3) I went to the PRSA Professional Development Board Meeting to plan out our activites for the year and managed to say several intelligent things.

(4) I pitched our Oscars Cocktail Night menu and got tons of positive responses from journalists (doesn't happen all the time!)

(5) Sarah and I spent a half-day at the spa at Lorien Hotel & Spa (opening today!) in Old Town Alexandria. They were doing a run through to prepare for opening day and needed "guinea pigs" to get massages, facials, etc. for FREE. Of course, I took one for the team and volunteered. Check out Lorien here: http://www.lorienhotelandspa.com/

(6) I got 4 Betty Crocker cookie mixes and one Betty Crocker frosting for FREE at Safeway. Check out the coupon matchups here: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/02/randalls-safeway-freeplusoverage-betty-crocker-cookie-mixes-and-frostings.html

(7) Lost was on! (Although, I have to admit, it wasn't my favorite episode...)

Anyway, it was just one of those days where everything goes right! Don't you love those days?

Six Free Valentine's Day Cards!

2009-01-26T14:52:00.002-05:00

Get six free Valentine's photo cards with free shipping when you go to (http://stories.scrapbooksetc.com/landings/valentine0209.php) and use the coupon code Valentine at check out. Valid through February 1, 2009.

I still had to put in my CC but it said the total was $0!

I had fun making ours:

Inauguration Madness

2009-01-21T11:12:00.007-05:00

In case you hadn't heard... Richard and I joined 2 million of our closest friends to attend Obama's 2009 Inauguration swearing-in ceremony yesterday.

Reader's Digest Version: Crowded, cold, awesome.

Getting There

Our adventure-filled day began when the alarm rang at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Well, it actually began the night before when we set out our clothes, toliet paper (!), snacks, camera, money, etc. before we went to bed. This ended up being a very good idea as we most surely would have forgotten everything if we rested solely on our early-morning brains.

I was very nervous about the chilly weather as I am getting over a cold, so I may have overdone it a bit on the layers. By the time we left the house, I had on underarmor, jeans, track pants, a t-shirt, a sweater, another wool sweater, a puffy coat, a scarf, ear muffs, a hat, gloves, wool socks, sneakers, and an extra blanket. I felt a bit like Randy from "A Christmas Story." Richard was similarly dressed, but somehow managed looked much more urban and chic than me in his clothes (how DO men do it?).

Our game plan was to drive to Richard's school at Virginia Square, take the metro about 12 stops (no transfer, woot!), get off at the mall, breeze through security and find a spot on the lawn. Sounds easy enough, right? I foolishly thought we would have our seats by 8-ish. Umm... yeah. Didn't happen.

I should say here that I was actually very impressed by the Metro. They managed to accommadate millions of people without any major problems, which is WAYYYY better than anyone expected. But we did end up waiting quite a while for our orange train to come at Virginia Square, which we later found out was because of a "sick passenger." Luckily, our car didn't smell like puke.

We finally were able to get onto a train car! It was insaaane. I have been on the NYC metro during rush hour traffic and was nothing compared to this. I could not move, could not see my feet, etc. Once, the train stopped abrubtly, but I didn't even move an inch because there was literally nowhere to go. It was crazy, and we were glad to get off and be able to breathe again!

Lines, lines and more lines

Since Richard was able to score us some tickets to the swearing in, we were pretty close to the festivities. Upon exiting the train, we were informed to go to the blue section, and followed a "line" which went up the street about 3 blocks and then coiled in on itself in a parking lot. As you may have guessed, the coiling didn't go so well, and as soon as the gates opened, the line dissolved and people just started running toward the security gate. It was pretty frustrating, as there was no direction, no police or volunteers trying to keep people under control or anything. You just sort of had to fend for yourself. And fend we did. We ran like our lives depended on it (well, they actually might have, because if we would have stopped, we might have gotten trampled!)

After securing our spot in line, we waited... and waited... and waited. Luckily, everyone was in a very good mood, and Richard and I met some fun people in line! It was really a festive and patriotic morning. We finally made it through sercurity, and found a decent spot on the lawn (about 1,000 feet away) about 5 minutes before the festivities began (around 10:15-ish). We were right around here:

Which was a LOT better than being here:

Well, the rest is history. Obama came, everyone FREAKED OUT (good). Bush came, everyone FREAKED OUT (bad). I felt really bad for him, and unsuccessfully tried to shush the people around me. Seriously, they were just being so rude; we're not 5-year olds. But I digress. After the Inaugural Address was over, we wiped our tears and bolted to the nearest metro stop. Since we were so close (as opposed to people in the latter photo) to a stop, we were able to get on, get a seat and head back home before the crowds hit. Good thing, too, because I heard that after we left, people were waiting in line for over 2 hours to even get on a train!

Basically, it was an awesome day!! I'm glad that I finally decided to go and be a part of such a historic moment. I felt really proud... er, pleased, to be an American and to welcome in a new president. Here's to the next 4 years!

Inauguration and Waxing

2009-01-19T10:02:00.004-05:00

Unlike Emily, I'm not having the internal struggle about going to Inauguration (or eyebrow waxing for that matter: never, never, never). My basic argument goes like this: This is going to be a very historical moment by any account. Also, it will be a good prep for this weekend's winter campout with the scouts to stand outside in the cold for several hours. Indeed, I've heard it puts hair on your brow, or something like that...

Blogs I Haven't Written in the Last Month

2009-01-13T14:47:00.004-05:00

-An Encomium to Omaha
-An Encomium to IKEA
-Eyebrow Waxing = Labor
-GRE Prep
-My ardor for arduous (well, not too arduous) cooking, thanks to a special cookbook from Kevin & Emily
-Internal Debate: To attend or not to attend Inauguration?

Be Bold, Not Beige

2008-12-28T21:04:00.004-05:00

With the holiday season comes some extra dough for cash-strapped students. What does that mean? After a late night discussion and an urgent phone call to Reid, we were finally able to transform our apartment from dentist-office white to a more colorful decor.

Note: If you are our landlords reading this... err, we're really sorry we painted our apartment. You don't have to give us our deposit back...

Couponing Update!

2008-12-15T16:20:00.010-05:00

It's been a couple of months since I last updated about my couponing/food stocking/attempts at money saving.

I'll be honest, it's not all fun and games. There are times when I want to just walk into a grocery store and buy whatever I want regardless of cost like the good ole' days. And I've had my fair share of snippy clerks who have tried to convince me that policies/coupons work a certain way when I know they don't. I'm pretty sure I even cried once after a bad trip to CVS.

BUT, I really have enjoyed myself for the most part and gotten some sa-weet deals. Richard and I have more or less stuck to a budget of $100/month on food and all household items(makeup, toiletries, laundry detergent, home fragrance, you name it) combined. This is down from $300-400 a month from September. I still have yet to get the point of many of the blogs I follow, who have the same budget for 4-6 people. But it's a good start!

Here a few things I've learned through my journey thus far:

1. Take a break when you need to: If you haven't already heard my looonnng explanations of Extra Care Bucks at CVS, I'll tell you now that it is one of my fav money-saving stores. But, just like anything else, you can get burnt out following the sales. I was feeling this way in early December, so I decided to take a couple of weeks off. I'm sure I missed a few deals by doing this, but when I went back in on Saturday, I had a renewed excitement. I guess I would say don't let it get to a point where you feel like you are doing a "chore." Just stay at home for a couple of weeks and let your enthusiasm build!

2. Don't spend money on things you don't need/won't eat: During one of my trips to Harris Teeter I had a coupon that matched a great BOGO sale on HT eggs. Of COURSE I bought them for a very reduced price. But then what happened? Oh, they sat in our fridge for a month or so, and we ended up throwing most of them away (as you can see, we aren't on an egg-friendly diet). So, in the end, paying money for ANYTHING you won't use isn't a good deal. That being said, I now get tons of things for FREE at CVS (notice, I said "don't spend money on things you won't use," not "don't buy things you won't use") . They make great presents for those who will use them, and we are planning on donating lots of stuff (we seriously have about 30 tubes of toothpaste I got for free in our stockpile!) to our ward and homeless shelters.

3. Don't expect everything to go perfectly: When I first started couponing, I would get very flustered and frustrated when things didn't go perfectly at the store. The most common problem is that the store will be out of the thing you want to get (after all, I'm not the only one couponing in my neck of the woods). I think I am now getting better and shifting my attitude to be more flexible to last-minute changes.

4. All deals are not good deals: Case in point: Recently, I had a good coupon that matched a BOGO sale at the grocery store. After commending myself for getting the product like 70% off, I looked at the store brand and it was still cheaper! Granted, this doesn't happen very often. But just because something is on a good sale does not mean it's still the best use of your buck.

Okay, well that's about all my insights for now. I've learned a lot about budgeting and such the past few months and would happy to chat more about it to anyone! The best thing I can say is make a goal for your family budget and STICK TO IT. If that means cutting out some luxuries, then so be it. It's all worth it in the end!

Reflections of Christ

2008-12-10T09:10:00.003-05:00

I love the Christmas season. Even though we don't have a Christmas tree, snow or decorations, I have been on a Christmas music only diet while in the car.

The best thing that got me in the Christmas mood was going to the Reflections of Christ exhibit (twice!) at the LDS Visitor's Center by the DC Temple. The photos are taken to reflect different parts of Christ's life, and they are absolutely stunning in person. It is a traveling exhition, so if it makes its way near your hometown, I highly recommend going. I think it's gonig to Australia next? (Carma, you just missed it!)

My favorite one -- at the moment -- is the first picture of all of the angels announcing Christ's birth. I was thinking of putting that picture up in a baby room some day (not an announcement). I love looking at their expressions. Also, one of the angels is the splitting image of my friend's roommate Ann.

Sophia Tries to Kill Emily on Several Occasions, Fails

2008-12-03T10:17:00.008-05:00

Richard must really love me for still letting me drive our BMW, Sophia. The following things have happened in the 6 months that I have been driving the car:

(1) It got broken into and our GPS stolen off the streets of Harlem

(2) The transmission overheated in Middle of Nowhere, New Jersey

(3) I got a ticket for HOV-exit (yes, still bitter)

(4) I got a flat tire on Monday. During rush hour. On the GW Parkway. With no shoulder. Also, our spare tire was flat and the car had to be towed.

(5) Yesterday, on the way home, a car hit me pretty hard from behind while I was waiting to turn right.

Anyway. I vote that I never drive again! Unfortuantely, I have to drive the whole month of December because Richard is staying at the law school every day until about 10 p.m.

I hope I live to see 2009!!!

Caribou Barbie Sighting!

2008-12-01T08:45:00.008-05:00

After a fun and exciting trip to Utah for Thanksgiving (including much shopping and chatting, but unfortunately, few pictures), Richard and I set out for the airport on Sunday morning. I was secretly (ok, not so secretly) excited for this plane ride because we were upgraded to first class since we bought our tickets under Richard's dad's account who is a gold... platinum?... member of Delta.

As we were sitting down, I heard the unmistakable sound of "You betcha" coming from behind me. My ears perked and I twirled around. It's Tina Fey! TINA FEY IS SITTI---no, wait. IT'S SARAH PALIN!

I had to immediately confirm with Richard to make sure I wasn't being fooled by a look-alike. But he also confirmed that it was, in fact, Mrs. Governor herself. I immediately decided that I would talk to her while deboarding, so I spent the next 3 hours trying to figure out exactly what to say. I still remember the time I saw Bronco waiting for an elevator by himself at the Cougareat and didn't say anything to him. Regret fills my heart to this day, and I wasn't going to miss out on another opportunity!

But, here's the problem: I don't especially like Sarah Palin. I voted for Obama, and in all honestly, I have made fun of her on several occasions. Can I call you Joe? Shout out to my third-graders! etc.

In the end, I decided to hold my breath and not talk to her. Although, I should note that my decision didn't stop me from looking back to her seat to examine her adorable outfit and watch her drool a little on her travel pillow as she slept. Richard would like me to add here that I embarrassed him by "talking loudly" (I was whispering) and "staring" (a quick peek here and there).

Unfortunately for her, the guy sitting behind me decided he WOULD talk to her. Approximately 3 seconds after she woke up, he began quizzing her on... state fairs. Yes, state fairs. Which one was her favorite? Had she ever been to the Utah State Fair? What was her favorite snack at fairs? I mean, really. Clearly, she was one of his heroes and he had one chance to talk to her about international politics, education reform or homeland security. And he chose state fairs as the topic of conversation.

It was obvious that she didn't want to talk to this guy, but he really couldn't take a hint. It was good for us, though, because she was distracted enough by this idiotic conversation so that Richard could snap this photo.

Three cheers for first class!

Just call me Katie Couric

2008-11-18T14:25:00.006-05:00

During Emily's parents' stay, Emily and her Mom spent a delightful morning at the Newseum, a museum about the media and the news.

One of the exhibits was an interactive game where you could "Be a TV Reporter." You can choose between 7 backgrounds (each with its own news story), and you take a microphone and read off of a teleprompter! Twas fun! Too bad I couldn't convince my Mom to join me, boo hoo.

Here's the video:

You know when you're driving, and..

2008-11-10T13:01:00.003-05:00

... the commercial truck/bus in front of you has a sign that says, "How Am I Doing?" and provides a number for you to call? Richard and I were behind one yesterday and I thought, "do the pros really outweigh the cons in this case?"

Let's say the person in front of you is a bad driver, and you decide to call the number to complain. Well, for at least a few minutes, you yourself will be a very distracted driver as you either (a) write down the number on a piece of scrap paper on your wheel to call later, or (b) call while on the phone and rant and rave to an automated machine.

Sure you may feel better, but what if during that time of your distraction the driver in front of you stops very suddenly, or serves into another lane (he/she is a bad driver after all, which is why you are calling). Now your reflexes are slow and a crash is more likely, if not inevitable.

Writing about this leads me to another question -- if you do call in, does anyone actually listen to the messages that you leave? Or is it just a placating and "venting" tool to make you feel better and not lash out against the company that the truck driver was working for?

PS- I desperately tried to find a picture of a truck with a "How am I doing" on the back and couldn't. Google images failed me!

PPS- Once in middle school, my friend Amy and I called in the number and rambled on for like 5 minutes about how we thought the driver was attractive. Good times.

Our Washington DC Stay-cation

2008-11-05T09:00:00.010-05:00

Richard and I have been living in the Washington DC region for over three months now. I still can't tell you how to get to the Jefferson Memorial from the Lincoln Memorial or what direction the Potomac is from my work (although, I did recently learn how to pronounce "Potomac" which I had apparently been saying wrong for weeks).

Now, this may be partly due to the fact that, well, I am a stereotypical female with a horrible sense of direction, a husband who enjoys driving me everywhere and a GPS that -- most of the time -- leads me, guides me and walks beside me.

But I am determined to get to know my new hometown better! When Richard and I first moved in, we got round-trip vouchers for a river cruise from Old Town Alexandria to Georgetown. Since they expired on November 2, and it was one of those rare Saturday afternoons where Richard could take a break from studying, we decided to do the whole tourist thing in Old Town Alexandria and Georgetown. It was probably in the top 10 best days of my life.

First of all, Old Town Alexandria is SO beautiful in the fall! My sister came down last Tuesday, and despite the horrible weather, we ate a wonderful French meal on King Street (in the heart of Old Town). Thanks Carma! But when we went down on Saturday, the weather was perfect (75 degrees, not windy), and the leaves were changing on the trees. I couldn't believe all of this is a 5-minute drive from our house.

After walking around Old Town for awhile, we hopped on our boat to head to Georgetown. While we were there, Richard met a recently-graduated law student from Michigan who had the same professor that Richard has! He promised Richard that he would send his outlines from the class (which he did), and according to Richard his outline is amazing and has really helped him! What a fortunate coincidence.

When we got to Georgetown, I decided that I would do a photo shoot of model-Richie. My favorite is the first one. I love the leather jacket!

Finally, it was time to go back home, boo. I did get some great shots of the sunset over the Potomac though (PA-tome-ICK). Basically, it was so much fun to "discover" our own city. I know I'm always dreaming of going places (Australia, Argentina and Romania to name a few). But there is seriously so much to do here in our own backyard! I love Washington DC!

Happy "Howl"oween!

2008-10-31T13:07:00.010-04:00

Last night, the Hotel Monaco Alexandria put on a "Happy Howloween" doggie costume contest to end their weekly summer "Doggie Happy Hours."

Sarah and I spent a lot of time trying to get the media to cover the event, and it was a huge success! We were expecting about 50 dogs (and, of course, their human companions) and got well over 150 dogs there!! This is great because the contest was benefiting the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, and we were able to raise a lot of money for a great organization.

I was working the registration desk -- by myself, most of the time -- and spent spend several hours trying to get everyone and their dog (literally) ready to go. But it was a lot of fun and totally worth it. I might LOVE doing special event planning and promotion.

The AWLA volunteers were dressed up as beekeepers, and brought 5 adorable puppies in need to adoption dressed up as bees. I am, and always will be, a cat lover but last night I wanted to adopt about a million puppies. So cute!

We had 4 prizes to give away for the event. Here are the winners for your Halloween enjoyment:

“The Best Dressed Couple” Award
(Awarded to the Most Creative pet/owner costume)
Owners Name: Nachelle Wilkinson
Dog’s Name: Koda
Breed: Jindo
Costume: Top Gun/Naval Aviator

“The Most Glamorous Get-up”
(awarded to the dog who best lets out his/her inner diva)
Owners Name: Beth Connolly
Dog’s Name: Isabella
Breed: Tebetin Spaniel
Costume: Designer Diva

“Best Political Pooch” Award
(awarded to the best politically-themed costume)
Owner: Nicole Cerguitella
Dogs: Mischa & Spencer
Breed: Coton & Mini Labrador
Costume: Sarah Palin, a Moose and Joe Six Pack

The “Top Dog” Award
(The Grand Prize for best all-around costume)
Owners Name: Kevin Kelly and Patricia Andronicos
Dog’s Name: Scooby
Breed: Labradoodle
Costume: Gangsters

Tonight, I am working another event that Kimpton is hosting (the 4th event in 3 days, mind you... it's been a busy week!). This one is a Alice in Helixand (human) costume party at the Hotel Helix.

Happy Halloween from the Petersons!

Habib Winners!!!

2008-10-28T08:55:00.008-04:00

My sister had her baby on October 15 and, as my nephew so graciously reminded me on the phone last night, I have not yet awarded my prizes to the winners of his family "guess the weight/date" game.

The winner of the weight..... DAVID BYLUND!!! (guess: 7 lb. 8 oz., actual weight: 7 lb. 10 oz.)

The winner of the date...... ERIC BYLUND!!! (guess: Oct. 15, actual birthday: Oct. 15)

As mentioned in the e-mail, part of the reward is "knowing that you love your future son/nephew/cousin/grandson more than anyone else in the family!"

But that's not fun.

Here are more prizes:

Thanks for playing, everyone!

We love you Joshua!

PS- For those of you that are confused where the name "Habib" came from, Joshua's older brother Spencer often says "off bib" when he is done eating. But it comes out sounding more like "Habib," hence the in vitro nickname for our newest addition.

You can take the Bylund out of Omaha...

2008-10-22T09:32:00.010-04:00

...But you can't take the chintzy and tight out of the Bylund!

No. seriously.

Over the past few months, I think I have gone to 3 seminars on how to "scrimp and save" during these lovely law school years (once at my ward, once at a work meeting, and once at a Law School Wives Association event). So, I have decided to really take it to heart. And I found out that it is actually a lot of fun to try to spend as little money as possible -- it's like a game! Plus, it makes me feel like I am fighting back against consumerism!

First of all, I learned how to cut coupons "appropriately" -- when to use them, where to use them, and which ones you should use. I have high hopes that our grocery bill can be under $100 a month! (I'll do an update next month.) I've also learned the wonders of Extra Care Bucks from CVS (Walgreens has a similar program). Some good blogs that help teach me tricks and motivate me are here, here, here and here. Check them out.

As far as entertainment goes, pretty much "dinner and a movie" is out for us. Ever. Instead, we play tennis a lot at a court down the street, go on walks and pick up free movies from RedBox. (RedBox sends out free rental codes via e-mail or text every Monday! You can sign up here.)

So basically, this is my new hobby. And it sure beats my old hobby (spending loads of money in Europe). Also, I have to have a new passion, since we all know what happened to BYU Football...

GPS: Friend or Foe?

2008-10-13T16:48:00.008-04:00

My brother-in-law recently forwarded me this news story about someone whose GPS may or may not have attempted to kill him. A little help with photoshop helped me to recreate the moment:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/30/gps-sends-another-driver-onto-train-tracks-of-doom/

About the same time that he sent me the article (literally, to the hour), I was driving around Virginia, terrified that I was speeding/not yielding/going too slow/about to die, etc. I hate. hate. hate driving in the East, and refuse to do so unless I absolutely have to. Unfortuantely, this was one of those cases: I had to (well, I wanted to) go to the mall and Richard had to stay at the law school and do homework.

"Exit left in 400 yards," Elphie2 (our GPS, a TomTom) told me. As I exited, I noticed some police cars further down on the exit lane, with a couple of cars pulled over to the side. "Suckers," I thought as I tried to pass the police cars. Then, one of them told me (ME!) to pull over. I did so with confusion, as I knew that I had not been speeding.

Our dialogue went something like this:

Cop: "So, I pulled you over because you took an HOV exit."

Me: "I'm sorry! I'm new the area and my GPS told me to exit here, and she didn't even ask me if I wanted to avoid HOV lanes (pointing emphatically to Elphie2)"

Cop: "Sorry, it's the 30th of the month and we haven't yet met our quota for tickets, so we have to give you one anyway."

(Cop leaves)

Elphie2: "Ha ha ha! Gotcha!"

Me: "Grrrrrrrr."

Okay, the cop didn't actually say that. Neither did Elphie. But I knew that's what they were thinking.

Now, before you say it: I know I should have still been looking for HOV signs even with Elphie on. But I still contend that this is a prime example of GPS: Foe.

It must be said that Elphie has done well most of the time and kept me from getting lost, helped me find the nearest Wendy's and encouraged in life generally. But sometimes she just gets me into major trouble. Besides this incident, she once got me, Richard and Carma into a major traffic jam near the Lincoln Tunnel when she should have had us take an earlier exit.

So the question must be asked: Is your GPS a friend or foe?

Washington: The Mecca of Metropolitan Transit

2008-10-08T11:11:00.005-04:00

...well, that may be going a little overboard, but seriously, the Washington DC Metrorail just may be the best system out there! Can I get an "aaaaa-men"?

Sure I've had my fair share of delays, rush-hour squishedness, and pacing back and forth waiting for a train to come, but that is most certainly to be occasionally expected of any big-city system. Coming from New York City, which may possible be the worst/dirtiest metro known to man, my spirit leaps for joy every time I walk into one of the DC stations.

I have, naturally, developed a Top 5 for why the Metrorail will forever have a special place in my heart:

(5) SmartTrip cards are plastic and can be read from inside your purse (or wallet, for those men out there), so you don't have to spend time fishing for that pesky paper card in front of the entrance.

(4) I get cell phone coverage while I am riding on the Metro. Apparently, Verizon (my provider) has a contract with them, so they have phone lines lining the cars/stations. (I recently learned this, after assuming for months that I would not have phone coverage.)

(3) They have electronic boards which list how long until next train comes. No more staring down the platform, wondering when you will see the light at the end of the tunnel (both proverbially and literally).

(2) The stations are clean, well-maintained and air-conditioned. 'Nough said.

(1) The huge, vaulted ceilings eliminates all claustrophobia you may have about the fact that you are hundreds of feet underground.

Also, yes this is a covert PR ploy to get friends and family to visit me in Washington DC. You know you want to ride this glorious system!!

Organization Heaven

2008-10-01T11:50:00.012-04:00

Yesterday, work sent me to a Franklin Covey all-day seminar about time management training. To those of you who know me even a little, you know that this is Disneyland for me (not literally). I was so excited the night before our training that my conversation with Richard went something like this:

Me: I can't sleep! I'm so excited!!

Richard: You are acting like this is Christmas Eve, or something.

Me: More like the night before the first day of school!

(Note: Yes, I was more excited for the first day of school than for Christmas morning. I am a nerd. Also, the photo is not me, but stolen off the first google hit for "first day of school.")

The workshop did not disappoint. We were all given free "starter kits" binders (which I immediately upgraded to the cute red binder and stationary, natch). The Franklin Covey system focuses on planning your life pyramid style: starting with your values, then goals, then weekly planning and finally daily planning (with each task given a A,B or C rating). We also focused on the different "roles" that we each held in our life and how to get the "big rocks" taken care of for each role (I could have sworn I have heard the same lecture in a young women's lesson...).

My favorite part of the day had to have been during our "goals and values" section where we introduced ourselves as if it were 10 years from now. I created an elaborate scenario for both me and my family/friends. For details on where you'll be in 10 years, contact me. As for me, I'll be living it up in Boston, 2 years in to my Ph.D. program, teaching university courses part time, doing PR volunteer work for a non-profit, and celebrating my 10 1/2 year anniversary... all with an undisclosed number of children.

Basically, the whole day was like an early birthday present that I got paid for -- thanks Kimpton! Oh, and don't think I didn't write "blog about Franklin Covey training" on my daily tasks for today (don't worry, it was a "B" not an "A").

SBA Update

2008-09-27T10:30:00.002-04:00

Richard and I found out last night at exactly 9:59 p.m. (as we were about go to sleep... being the party-ers that we are) that Richard WON THE SBA ELECTION!!!

There was much happiness as we celebrated by eating the rest of Bethany's birthday brownies and a cup of cookies 'n cream ice-cream (our favorite dessert).

Three cheers for a more padded resume!

PS. Here is a photo that I made for Richie that he posted throughout the school.

Vote For Pedro... er, Richie!

2008-09-18T19:32:00.004-04:00

As Richard is too busy to do anything that doesn't involve studying, it has fallen on my shoulders to create a strategic marketing campaign to get him elected to be a 1L Representative for the GMU SBA (Student Bar Association).

Whew, such responsibility!! I was originally going to follow in the footsteps of the McCain/Obama techniques and slander (libel? I always get those confused) his unsuspecting opponents, but alas, I did sign the PRSSA Code of Ethics which states that I will not participate in such behavior. So now it is on to other ideas.

Luckily, Richard has made alliances -- I'm glad The Office has taught us well -- with other people who are also running to be a 1L Representative (3 people get elected). One already made this fetching poster, below (and no, they did not ask my permission to include me in Richard's poster... probably put me in to appeal to the married demographic):

Click on the picture to enlarge it... believe me, it's worth it.

So now, I am trying to find a way to supplement this great work of art. Here are some of the things I came up with while writing the introduction to the blog:

*Maybe a poster based off of the law firm ads you see on the back of phone books?
*Free candy handed out in class... seriously, when has that ever not worked?
*Richard has thought of the slogan, "Pick Me, Number Three!" He figures, if everyone writes Richard as his third choice (he clearly isn't bothered by this), he will still get elected.

Anyway, ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? Questions? Slander?

BYU Football (Part II)

2008-09-15T08:30:00.007-04:00

So, after discussing the best ways for me to avoid heart attacks during BYU Football games (see below post), Richard and I came up with a plan that would involve putting off all our laundry until the last possible moment, and then me folding/putting away pretty much everything we own while watching the game.

I highly recommend this tactic. Richard loves it because -- let's face it -- he doesn't have to help with the laundry (and he doesn't have to feel guilty about not helping with the laundry), and I feel both somewhat distracted and productive during the game. The only problem was that I still didn't have enough clothes to last me the whole game. (Richard had to force me away from the darks until after halftime was over.) After pondering this problem economics-style, I was thinking of starting a side business, "Game Day Laundry," where (for a small fee) I will fold all your laundry every Saturday! A disclaimer is that if I don't get to your laundry during the BYU game, I probably won't do it. But the upside is that I will be offering a Friends & Family Discount.

So now on to the good stuff -- the UCLA game. As Carma so eloquently put it, this was no nail-biter game!! BYU totally and completely dominated UCLA (59 to 0!!). There was MUCH jubilation in our apartment as UCLA continued to fumble and we continued to block kicks and score touchdown after touchdown. UCLA was understandably not as thrilled as us. See below for a picture of their coach late in the fourth quarter, when they realized how bad this really was. (I almost felt sorry for him.)

Here are a couple of interesting statistics about the game (this is for you Greg, as Carma told me what your original prediction of the game was... grr):

*Max Hall (the QB) entered record books when tied the BYU record for passing touchdowns in a game

*UCLA suffered its worst defeat since 1929 when they lost to USC

It's a beautiful thing! Now, we are ranked #14 on the AP Poll and #11 on the USA Today poll (so close to the Top 10!) and will undoubtedly keep climbing our way up the charts. And I will be there to cheer them on... as long as I don't run out of laundry :)

BYU Football = Heart Attack

2008-09-08T11:47:00.005-04:00

So, for those of you who missed the BYU game on Saturday (shame!), BYU once again pulled off another crazy, block-the-shot move that won the game. Basically, Washington had scored a touchdown with about 4 seconds left in the game, but was (controversially) penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, and had to move back for the "point after" kick that would effectively tie the game.

Partially because the aforementioned kick is harder from further back and partially because BYU is AMAZING, we blocked the shot and avoided going into overtime (BYU: 28, Washington: 27).

For a biased reporting on above paragraph, check out: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cfootball/2061ap_fbc_t25_byu_washington.html

Anyway, this is not the point of the blog... the point is that BYU sports (especially football) is going to give me a heart attack one of these days. I am not kidding when I say that my heart stopped beating (well, okay, maybe I'm kidding) during the BYU/Utah game of 2006. And don't even get me started on the blocked kick against UCLA during last year's bowl game with no time left (we seem to have a knack for that).

For some reason, I become so emotionally involved in these games -- even when I watch them from the comfort of my living room -- that I literally can not think of anything else while I'm watching. BYU Players that do well (Pitta, Hall) are praised like gods and those unfortunate ones that do not are quickly subjugated to "boo"s and hisses from the Peterson apartment.

Honestly, I'm not a huge sports fan in general. I don't know what it is about BYU Football that makes me go crazy. Seriously, I'm not even a student there anymore. But just writing about this gets my heart pumping and gives me the urge to "poke" the opposing quarterback on Facebook.

Speaking of UCLA, we play them again next week, and I will hopefully be able to make it out of there alive...

Missing...

2008-08-14T17:23:00.003-04:00

...these boys. *tear*

Clarification: They are not missing--I am just missing them. Ha

Snaps for marketable skills!

2008-08-06T16:50:00.006-04:00

Horraaaayyy!

I have a job!!!!

After months (years?) of unnecessary worrying that I wouldn't actually be able to get a job offer after graduating and be doomed to a life of intern-ness, I was offered a job as a PR/Marketing Coordinator at Kimpton Hotels today. I tried to play it cool on the phone when she offered it to me, but I am SOO excited! Can you have your dream job right out of college? Because (minus the entry-level pay) this sounds like everything I love doing. Here are 5 reasons why I love Kimpton Hotels/ my future job:

5. They are a luxury boutique chain, meaning that each hotel has its own unique feel to it. It's not like a chain Marriott or Hilton where every room/hotel is exactly the same.

4. They keep Chi hair straighteners and blow dryers at the front desk of all of their hotels in case you forget to bring yours when you stay there (or come to work). Talk about a girl's best friend.

3. I basically get to work ON capital hill (I am "stationed" at Hotel George, pictured below) without having to do all that political stuff.

2. They do a lot of community outreach and plan a lot of special events for non-profits in the area in the hotels. Even better- I am the one who gets to plan most of it!!

1. Two words: family discounts!

I start a week from today--what a relief to have income to off-set Richard's law school debts! More information to come once I actually start working...

Canada, eh?

2008-08-06T10:47:00.007-04:00

This past weekend, we took a trip with my parents and our favorite Hobokenites to Canada, specifically Montreal and Quebec City. We had a great time, both on land and in car. (We drove about 28 hours in 4 hours.) Actually, I am using the pronoun "we" loosely, as I didn't drive at all. Our dear Richard drove most of the way with Carma pinch-hitting often. Since I am in the process of changing my driver's license, I couldn't (and certainly didn't want to) drive at all. Instead, I passed time reading the first book in the Twilight series. And, of course, I am now addicted and anxiously awaiting Richard to bring the rest of the series back from Utah. But I digress.

On our way down, we had lunch at a cute little town in northern New York called... Thurman. Since this also happens to be the name of my nephew (what a coincidence!), we decided to stop and take some pictures. Actually, this wasn't a coincidence at all--Carma had seen someone write a NYT letter to the editor from Thurman, NY, and we all decided it was worth the half-hour detour that it took to get these lovely pictures.

Friday night, we had a great dinner in Montreal with a family that Richard taught on his mission. The wife is a professional French-English translator, but her husband didn't speak much English (he is fluent in French and Spanish), so I spent most of the dinner trying to catch as much of the French conversation as I could. I could understand most of what Richard was saying, but less of what Nicole was saying and even less of what her husband was saying. I was also quite distracted by their lovely cats, which didn't help comprehension matters much.

Saturday, we spent an AWESOME day around Quebec City (which reminded Richard and me a lot of Edinburgh). One of the highlights of the day was taking a tour of one of the hotels in the city, with a period-style tour guide. Carma and I commented several times what a quaint and European feel the city it had to it. Who knew Europe was so close?

Our NYC Abode

2008-07-26T10:01:00.005-04:00

In the blink of an eye, this summer has come and past. In less than a week, we will be headed out (driving, not flying) to our neighbors to the north and then moving to our new home in Virginia. I recently realized that after several promises to certain parental units, I still had not posted a video of our apartment! So here is a short tour of our NYC residence in the good ole' International House. It's been a fun place to call home this summer!

We once were found but now we're... LOST

2008-07-24T11:27:00.005-04:00

Over the past few weeks Emily and I have unearthed the mythologically complex world of LOST. The ABC TV series has already had four seasons and so we are catching on late in the game, but we are catching up quickly thanks to abc.com's full episode viewing capabilities. And we are not the only one's who have been victim to the series' addictive narrative. The warp and weft have also caught Greg and Kristen in its inexorable web. The plot seems simple enough: a plane crashes on a Pacific island and the survivors are bent on getting rescued and off the island. Well, the writers have promised six seasons so I guess we should have known that it wouldn't be so easy. Four seasons in and several nights in front of a laptop plugged into an alarm clock for speakers and we still don't know entirely what is going on. True, we do know the characters fairly well (in fact, we are pretty certain that one of the characters from the show, Sayid, is also Emily's hairdresser). They've been introduced to us through flashbacks and we've seen them interact with each other; however, each episode brings out more questions with the new understanding we have for the characters.

In short, we are addicted. So, Emily and I have discussed why we think that we have bitten so hard on a hook with a slow-reeling fisherman. One of our theories has to do with Russian novelists. Have you ever read a Russian novel from the 19th century?

Chances are that it wasn't a quick read and that it was almost infinitely complicated. Such novels appeared episodically in traditional media each week and the readers were left with an appetite to read next week's post. This served everyone well: the publishers were ensured a high volume weekly readership; the writer could make considerable money if he could somehow make his "books" interminable; and the reader had a healthy dose of entertainment. I think that the creators of LOST have tapped into this far better than any other series that I have personally viewed. Sitcoms seem to reboot every week with little plot development and other dramas haven't piqued my curiosity enough. So here we are in 19th century Russia waiting for our next new instalment. Unfortunately for us we only have three episodes left to watch for season four and season five doesn't begin until February! I guess we'll have to allocate our time to other endeavors. :)

you know you're living in a non air-conditioned apartment in NYC in the summer when...

2008-07-18T15:30:00.003-04:00

5. You look forward to taking cold showers (and this is coming from a girl who loves her water scorching hot).

4. You wish it wasn't illegal to jump into the radioactive-green-colored ponds at Central Park

3. You sweat watching your husband play Wii.

2. Anything that would potentially warm you at night (blankets, sheets, your husband) ends up in a discarded heap on the floor--sorry, Richard.

1. You look forward to the fact that you get to stay in air-conditioned hotel rooms on vacation equally to how much you look forward to going on the vacation itself.

Tour de Central Park

2008-07-18T13:47:00.004-04:00

Richard took the day off work today, and we decided to rent bikes and take a quick jaunt around Central Park--something we had been planning to do for two months but had never gotten around to it. We rented cruisers (complete with wide-set handlebars and brake-by-pushing-back features). It was a great (and quick) way to see all the little-known sights of Central Park. Did you know that Central Park houses a ginormous swimming pool, about 30 tennis courts in a row, baseball fields and several nice restaurants? Apparently, in our minds, it was just... a park. To walk through and buy overpriced water and ice-cream. Sorry we underestimated you, NYCP.

This is a video I took while on my bike. Forgive us for not wearing helmets, Mom.

Boo Yankees!

2008-07-11T10:54:00.003-04:00

Last night, we traveled to a far away place (midtown) to see Damn Yankees (which will be referred to as Boo Yankees! from now on). Tickets were only $25, which was a definite plus, as was the fact that some of our favorite stars were performing in it. Jane Krakowski, best known (to us) as Jenna from 30 Rock, played the sultry Lola, and Sean Hayes, the actor who plays Jack in Will & Grace, played... well, the devil.

We gave the performance a "thumbs sidewides." Although the aforementioned actors were funny and clever, the play itself seemed to go on forever, and our seats had limited view. BUT, it was totally worth it to see our lovely Jenna perform live! Only in New York!

Lost fans will appreciate how the video opens...

After the performance, we decided to extend our date and eat a Forbidden Broadway Sundae at Serendipity, as per the recommendation of our intern friends, Adam and Becky. Sadly, when we got there, we found that there was an HOUR wait! At 10:00 p.m.! Go to bed people, seriously. Hopefully we will still be able to eat there before we leave!

P.S. YES, I learned how to link in this blog, and YES, we are blogging more often than each month! Woo hoo!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-05T16:48:00.008-04:00

As Emily realized yesterday, this is the last "first" holiday that we will spend together (the last 4th of July, Richard was in France and Emily was in Utah). We have been together more or less since last Pioneer Day, so this officially ends the first year of our adventures together. We decided to celebrate in style, and what better place than America's hometown (err, sort of), Beantown!

We came in late Thursday night, happy to escape the bus (where we were sitting next to the bathrooms... leave the rest to your imagination). We stayed with the wife of one of Richard's friends (he is doing an internship in China), and she was extremely hospitable to us. We enjoyed a tour of Boston on the "Liberty Trail," and got in just in time (2:00) before they closed the gates for the 8:30 performance of the Boston Pops' 4th of July Celebration. It was sure worth the wait. Kat was excited to see the Rascal Flatts perform live (Emily and Richard, less excited). But hearing the Pops play "The Stars and Strips Forever" while watching an awesome fireworks display over the Charles River was DEFINITELY a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Watching them setting up for the nationally-televised show on CBS

A Rascal Flatts pre-show interview

During the performance... it was AMAZING

We love America!

On Saturday, we visited a few more sites and bought matching sweatshirts (because we are THAT cool), and then (after falling asleep on the way back home) had a relaxing evening eating order-in Chinese food and watching a movie.

Overall, I would give this trip a Thurman "diagonal thumbs up." (I would give it a "thumbs up," but all of the duck tours were sold out! Bummer!)

Hope you all had a great 4th!

The Past Little While...

2008-06-29T17:53:00.002-04:00

Well, as usual, there has been a lot of things happening in our little Peterson family since the last time we posted. Here are some highlights--and lowlights--from our NYC summer thus far (in no particular order)...

A trip to Washington D.C. to check out our future hometown, find a suitable (and cheap) residence and visit our friend Beef
Weekly Sunday dinners with the Lincolns in Hoboken, NJ... mixed in with Rock Band sessions (Richard on the guitar and Emily on the drums), playing with our nephews and $8 trips through the Lincoln tunnel
Watching the Yankees play Seattle and win 13-0 (so the Lincolns don't get mad at us, we were thinking "Boo Yankees!" the whole time)
Going to the top of the Empire State Building with Emily's internship group
Attending several Broadway plays including Stomp, Wicked, Chicago, Legally Blonde (and seriously disliking the actor who plays Emmett)
Watching BYU Chamber perform at Carnegie Hall
Emily finishing her Honors Thesis and successfully defending her honor
Hiking in Bushkill Falls with Carma and Jenny (and respective families)
Having an awesome day at Six Flags in New Jersey with the Lincolns and Kristen
Booing off bad performers at Amateur Night at the Apollo (they told us to...)
Dealing with the aftermath of our car being broken into and our GPS being stolen (VIP Elphie II)

Still to come...

ANOTHER trip to Washington D.C. for Pan's birthday party
A 4th of July trip to Boston!
Going to a July 26 Mets game with the Lincolns (so they forgive us for going to a Yankees game)
A trip to Canada with the Lincolns and Emily's parents
Emily and Thurman's Week of Fun (after Emily finishes work and when Thurman is between summer camps)
A weekend of showing Beef around NYC
Continued job searching (if you know of any PR jobs in the Washington area, let us know!)
Finishing my last independent study class... Business Finance :(
More plays including The Little Mermaid, Hairspray and Wicked (yes, again.. you can't see Wicked too many times).
Moving our stuff to our new home in Washington D.C.

Will post pictures later (hopefully)!

Our Trip to Yankees Stadium

2008-05-26T08:24:00.005-04:00

Last week Richard went with his dad to Yankees Stadium and watched them suffer a terrible loss. However, the tides turned when he went with Emily and they won by 11 runs. Here is a short video clip of their adventure.

The Journey to NYC's Golden Streets and Avenues

2008-05-02T09:29:00.003-04:00

Well, since the last post a lot has happened again. Emily, Richard, and Kristen all graduated last week (well, mostly graduated for Emily). The days of graduation were long but we had a lot of fun with David and Elaine being in Provo. We had a sweet graduation dinner at the Melting Pot (even though the waiter wasn't very nice and took away Emily's and Kristen's plates after they put raw meat on them--by his reaction, we were afraid someone was hemorrhaging or something). Also, Elder Bednar was the Commencement speaker, and we enjoyed his talk. He talked about learning to love learning for life--or something very close to that. Emily's convocation was at 8am, Kristen's was at 11am, and Richard's at some time in the evening. We took a great many pictures throughout the day and they turned out well. After Richard's convocation we went to Aunt Linda's house for a fabulous barbecue. We started with ice-cream cake (for Richard's birthday) as an appetizer and then moved into the main courses. There was an endless supply of steak and chicken; there was humus and flatbread; there was salad, and it was all very wonderful. We left after being very well fed.

We spent all of Saturday (the 26th) packing up all of our things. We were surprised by how much stuff you can accumulate in a month. However, we were able to get all of it packed up and still have time to go out to dinner with Richard's parents and a couple friends (Skylar and Sabrina). After dinner we worked off the calories playing Dance Dance Revolution for our new Wii (Richard got DDR for his birthday from his parents).

Sunday morning we finished up final preparations for coming to NYC and unloaded and reloaded bags that came out to 50 lbs. exactly. Richard's parents dropped us off at the airport and the voyage began. We made it through to Minneapolis, Minnesota without any glitches, but things changed a bit when we got there. They informed us when we were checking if we were at the right terminal that they had overbooked our flight to NYC. We were then informed that we could be "bumped" with perks. They offered $600 towards future flights with Northwest, $50 in food vouchers, lodging for the night, and first-class passage to NYC. After short deliberation, we decided to take the deal and spare Carma from picking us up at the airport around midnight on Sunday night.

So we left the airport in Minneapolis for our hotel. We went to the restaurant in the hotel after leaving our bags in our room and we were treated to the greatest meal we have ever had in a hotel in Minneapolis. Seriously though, the food was surprisingly good. Emily had the filet mignon and Richard had the Minnesota walleye (of which he gave some to Emily who is a self-proclaimed non-fish-eater... she may have liked it). The next morning we went to the Mall of America to ride as many roller coasters as we could in an hour. Unfortunately, we learned upon our arrival that their ticketing system was down. Our curse turned blessing though when they let us take a ride for free. We chose the Sponge Bob ride and it was incredible. We will try to post some of our video of it later. We went on another ride that was a lot of fun too. It was called Avatar or something. After our two rides we had to run back to the pick-up point for our shuttle back to the hotel. Luckily we made it.

We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and then that time multiplied because our flight was delayed due to zero visibility at JFK airport. The wait wasn't too bad. We met an older woman who was traveling with her 20 year-old blind cat and another woman who couldn't understand why people kept walking up to the counter to ask questions. The delay wasn't too bad and it was worth the wait for a first-class ride (Richard's first ever). The flight was rather short and we made it to JFK safe and sound. Then came the mishap of the missing luggage that would continue for several days after.

In Minneapolis, they told us to go to a luggage counter when we arrived at JFK. Unfortunately, when we were walking to said luggage counter, the woman who worked at that counter was walking to meet us at the baggage claim. When we arrived at the luggage counter, they told us to go to the Information desk to have the woman paged. The Information desk told us when we requested the page that they do not do anything like that and sent us to the ticketing counters upstairs. We went to the ticketing counters and they looked at us confusedly. They didn't know where to send us so Richard asked for a phone number to call. He called the number as we walked to the baggage claim to see if we could spot any of our luggage. While Richard was talking on the phone, Emily found two of our bags, but that left one bag missing. We then ran into the woman who was in charge of lost baggage. She told us that she--not according to custom--put our luggage on the baggage claim belt and that somehow one of our bags was apparently picked up by someone else. So we had to fill out a claims form and they assured us that our bag would be found. Two days later they called us at midnight and asked if they could bring us our bags. Richard groggily (we were sleeping) told them to bring it to Carma's and Greg's (we gave Northwest their address because we didn't have one yet) either Wednesday or Thursday evening. They made several calls in the span of a couple of days (including one visit to Carma's and Greg's without our bag with them) and we finally gave them our new address and they brought us the bag on Friday morning. We are very glad to have our bag and to have the midnight calls stop.

Carma and the boys picked us up from the subway after we left the airport. They drove us to the International House and gave us brownies :) and hugs :). If you know the headache we've had getting into this place and all the frustrating conversations we've had with the Internship Office of the Communications Dept. at BYU you might know that we were expecting to have a dormitory style room for the both of us for a few weeks before getting a studio apartment. We were pleasantly surprised when we opened the door to our apartment and we saw a refrigerator, a sink, and a table... all tell-tale signs of a kitchen. A kitchen it was indeed. The bedroom portion is much larger than we expected and the bathroom is very neat. We are very pleased with our--in Emily's words, "adorable"--apartment.

We are unpacked and Emily has started work. Richard will start at the warehouse on Monday once our car arrives. We have explored the city a bit and we are planning many excursions into the city as well as other cities on the Eastern seaboard. We've already made it to Hoboken once last night for a great evening at Carma and Greg's place. Great food and great fun! We never knew we had it what it takes to be part of a Rock Band (as defined by the "Easy" settings on the Playstation 3).

Well, that should about bring us up to date again. These posts ought to shorten a bit with increased regularity.

A Kentucky Wedding

2008-04-20T12:27:00.010-04:00

We would like to begin by apologizing to our faithful readers for the long periods of time between posts. Here is a reader's digest version of our lives since the last time we wrote:
*we got married and had 2 receptions (one in Draper and one in Omaha a week later)
*we are less than a week away from graduating college/ moving to NYC for the summer
*we got a Wii (Richard thinks this is most exciting thing on the list thus far.... Emily disagrees)
*we went to Lexington, KY so Emily could present her Honors Thesis at the Kentucky Conference on Health Communication
*Emily learns that her sister Carma is a celebrity in the Health Communication world
*The Office came back on the air
*we got addicted to "Arrested Development"
*Richard sent in his seat deposit to George Mason University Law
Whoo... that's a lot. Continue reading at your own risk....

Well, first and foremost, we got married on March 22. During that week, all of Emily's immediate family and some friends came in, and we had a great time playing games, eating, attempting to watch BYU games and taking lots and lots of pictures. We can't believe how old our nieces and nephew are getting!

(apparently Nico and Spencer weren't as happy to be there as everyone else)

The night before the wedding, we had a great groom's dinner at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. The food was great (we hear... we ate very little), and it was only a little awkward to be constantly stared at for hours (something we would get more used to in the next 24 hours). It was also that night that Aaron presented Richard with "The In-Laws' Guide to the Bylund Family," a compilation of weird and funny things about the Bylund family to make his transition easier. Emily thinks that Richard needs to read the book more carefully, as he often questions her on things that are IN THE BOOK. Examples: "Why did Carma tell you to only take a dollar?" "What is the address Jenny and Aaron's blog?" "What are family team numbers?" Luckily, Emily can refer him back to this manual instead of attempting to explain.

After the dinner, Emily's friend Bethany threw a FANTASTIC bachelorette party complete with drinks, a unique game of Twister and Emmigories. Thanks Beef!!

The wedding day went by with only a few hitches. On the way to temple, Emily was driving with her parents slightly freaking out that something would go wrong. Suddenly, the car started shaking (one exit away from the temple!) and Emily's dad informed the riders that the car had a flat tire, and one of the riders began hyperventilating (we won't name names). Luckily, Emily's brother Kevin et al. came to rescue by driving in from Draper and dropping them off at the temple with seconds to spare.

The ceremony was beautiful and the weather was surprising good (albeit a little cold in the shade), and we continued to take pictures throughout the next 4 or 5 hours. Richard commented later that night that he knows what expression his smile was, because he could feel the muscles in his face hurt when he tried to smile that way again. But we sure had a lot to smile about!! We had a fun reception catching up with family and friends. There was great food (we hear) and the venue was gorgeous.

Whew. A week later, we had another great reception in Omaha at Emily's parents' house. It was also amazing (however, I'm sick of putting pictures up)

This weekend, we traveled to Lexington, KY so Emily could present her Honors Thesis at KCHC. It, too, was great. Emily met a lot of people who tried to convince her to attend various graduate schools. She had a good lunch with the chair of the health comm masters program at GMU. We also went to the horse races and lost $4. Sad day. We spent an afternoon walking around downtown Lexington (it didn't take very long), watched a few episodes of Arrested Development, and tried not to think too much about the week of finals ahead of us :)

Well, here we are. We are about to spend our last week in Utah and then a week from today we are moving to New York City (where the streets are paved with gold!)!!! What exciting lives we have!

P.S. Do people still read this? Or have you all given up on us?

11 days and counting...

2008-03-11T22:33:00.002-04:00

So I was just complaining to Richard that people should blog more often, to which he responded, "when was the last time that you blogged?" Errr....

Here we are a week and half away from W-Day. The last month has gone by so quickly and SO slowly all rolled into one. I'm keeping busy with school, a job, my internship and finishing my honors thesis. Richard is also working two jobs, has a calling with the young men in his ward, going to school and doing law school things. I think it's good that we are so busy right now, otherwise we might go crazy with anticipation.

I got back my bridal pictures last weekend. I would post them up here but apparently the thought of Richard seeing them makes people freak out, so I will have to wait :D We are almost ready to go-- I think the only things we have left are my shoes and bow-ties for the nephews. My parents, sister and nephew are going to be driving in on Friday, so that's when the festivities really begin.

It is very likely that the next time we blog, we will be married. Recently, at any given moment recently one of us will randomly say "we will be married in xx days!" to which the other person squeals in delight (Editor's Note: well, the squealing is mostly just Emily. Richard is too manly.) The Petersons' Adventures officially begins March 22 at 11:00. Until then...

REAL engagement picture!

2008-02-11T12:11:00.000-05:00

Well, after an extra week to let the weather calm down, we took our real engagement pictures on Saturday. Richard's cousin Ryann took them for us, and it was a lot of fun! Poor Richard had to live with our constant nagging: "Strong shoulders, Richard!", "Don't slouch, Richard!", "Don't fake smile Richard!", "Chin down, Richard!", etc. But he was a good sport. We took pictures for about an hour in our bright colors outfit and then changed into black and whites. Ryann got a couple of them done that night, but we are still anxiously awaiting the rest of them-- hopefully they will come somtime this week. For now, here is the one that we like the most so far:

Fake Engagement Pictures

2008-02-03T16:49:00.000-05:00

Emily was excited last night that we would be "officially engaged" after taking our engagement pictures this morning. However, due to inclement weather (a foot of snow and 30 mph wind), there has been a slight schedule change for our engagement pictures. Therefore, we will not be officially engaged until next Saturday around 9 a.m. But we were already in the mood to take them, so we will provide you with temporary photos to abate your appetites. These masterpieces were taken by Laura (Richard's sister) after 2 hours of shoveling and snowblowing. We are considering just using these instead, so be looking for them in the mail :D

Painted Faces on Parade

2008-01-27T19:17:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, we went to a Masquerade Ball charity event hosted by the non-profit that Emily worked for during the Fall 07 semester, Community Action Services & Food Bank. We had a lot of fun learning 19th-century style dancing (except that we had to change partners so much!!) and admiring every else's dresses (that was mostly Emily). We only stayed for a couple of hours due Richard's stomachache, but it was fun to get dressed up and go out for a night on the town. Richard gets the "best deal" award for his 3-piece suit that cost a total of $2.50 at D.I.!