The Family (Bell) Smith

comic challenge + zombie walk

2009-10-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

This Saturday I"m going to have to do some balancing between two awesome amazing events. It is the 18 hr Comic Challenge, but I have also discovered that it's the day Tucson is having a Zombie Walk (complete with Michael Jackson Thriller dance along).

So, I'm tailoring my Comic Challenge just a bit, to make room for a walk with the dead. I'll be doing a 12 hr draw (5am to 5pm) but still hoping to put out 24 pages (the Eastman variation "noble failure" may be an option).

Then me, the hubby, the kiddo (and maybe the dog?) will apply fake blood and head downtown. We'll watch the local undead do the Thriller Dance (in sync with thousands around the world) donate canned food to the food-bank, then meander downtown in a zombie-ish way looking for fresh brains.

Wow, what a day!
Pics of both will be uploaded throughout :)

Greer in October

2009-10-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

Heheh, this was going to be the weekend that Abel and I hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim (to rim). But after a little evaluating of our situation, what we actually did was go visit the family cabin in Greer Az.

It was a good move for us :)

The colors were amazing, the weather gorgeous, the evenings relaxing and the whole thing just supremely relaxing. PLUS we did a 10 mile hike on Mt Baldy.

We still want to get around to doing the Grand Canyon. Maybe next year? Meanwhile, for additional pics of the trip, see here, here and here.

to urban bike

2009-09-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

It's official, we're gonna be a one car family. Which also means we are going to become an Urban Biking family with Abel and I will splitting use of the car and biking to work/school on the off days (increasing our weekly biking miles to about 60+.)

Right now we're in the prepatory stage; getting a few more bike locks, fixing the tires on the bike trailer, maybe getting panniers for Abel's bike (maybe mine too), figuring out the best ways to handle inclement weather and freshen up once at our destination. I'm going to 'uglify' my bike a bit to make it not quite so much of a shiny "Steal Me!" target when I bike to school, etc...

We are also in the excited stage; I love riding my bike! I am really really excited about the increased rate of debt demolition we will do minus a car payment (plus car insurance, plus gas, etc). And the possibility of having to change a flat tire in the pouring rain and arriving to work wet, muddy and covered in axle grease is still just a vague "I'll deal with that when it happens" worry. Plus I'm thrilled about decreasing our carbon footprint in this way. We are finally in a situation (mostly regarding Max's school location) that makes this lifestyle a possibility. A challenge, to be sure (we don't live in close convenient proximity to a lot of stuff) but doable.

I'm hoping that the honeymoon phase lasts a good little while, and that we have only a few of those changing-a-flat-in-the-pouring-rain incidents.

Meanwhile... any suggestions? from you, friends and family (etc) who have done this before?

in support of the art community

2009-08-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

The Tucson Drawing Studio is doing something fascinating and new this Saturday (Aug 29 2009). They are hosting a Downtown Drawabout. Part artist community building, part downtown appreciation effort, part fundraiser for TDS.

Anyone who wants can participate in the Drawabout, and the artwork made will be dislayed at The Drawing Studio for the rest of the month.

Now, the FUNDRAISER part of this (cuz times are hard, especially for the arts); this Drawabout is a bit like a walkathon where family and friends can pledge a certain amount to be donated to the TDS. For example, say you pledge a $1 for every drawing I whip out between 9am and noon. Then I end up doing 5 drawings so you donate $5 to TDS, and yay! You've just supported a great artist community. Now, if you fear I may whip out 100 plus drawings, you can always just say "$5 flat donation please" (or whatever the budget will allow) and that will do just fine too. (BTW, you can pledge/donate via Credit Card if that's easier, either by paypal on their website or by phone. Let me know if you have any questions.)

(For your reading entertainment, an article on the Drawabout.)

So, anyone want to come draw with me? Or pledge some pocket change (or whatever)?

Bowling

2009-07-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Max and daddy day. Got our haircut, ate tacos, and went bowling. We played 2 games; the first with the bumpers up and the second time he told me to take them down. He still posted a decent score (39 or so) without the bumpers. Anyways, we had good times!

hiking and other news...

2009-07-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

So, Abel wants to hike the Grand Canyon this fall. Rim to Rim. To Rim. Two days, 50 miles. Actually, I'm excited; a few years ago I hiked rim to rim in a day with a group of women and it was an amazing experience. It was funny, we all felt so tough, I mean, we were hiking rim to rim, in ONE day (which EVERYONE says not to do), 25 miles, killer decent, killer ascent etc... Yeah, we all felt so tough. Until we got talking to other hikers on the trail with us and found that the previous day THEY had hiked Rim to Rim, and were now merely on the (25 mile) return trip (back to where the car was parked). And then, a bit later in the morning, we got passed by these hard-bodied freaks who were RUNNING from rim to rim. Hmmm... we're not so tough after all.

So now Abel wants to do rim to rim to rim and I'm thinking, yeah, sure, the next level. All right! And then I remember that the day after I hiked rim to rim the first time, I could barely walk. Hmmm.....

In other news, a few days ago I did the Firecracker Triathlon and thoroughly enjoyed it. Our Utah trip to visit Abel's family was delightful (and to all my Utah friends I neglected to call... I'm so sorry! I'm a loser that way sometimes. I'll be back next month and have more time to spend with friends.) Nana and Ish and the kids are in town and we are having a blast together, last night I cut mom's hair (and think it mostly turned out okay... mostly), this weekend it is supposed to hit 100 degrees, and I am suddenly realizing that there is only about a month left of summer vacation before Max starts school. Kindergarten. Wow. Life on fast forward...

Hope your summer is wonderful!!!

In Your Face[book]

2009-06-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

So I'm a relative newcomer to facebook, was a bit of a snob about it at first actually "no I don't facebook, I BLOG" (with my nose in the air, so superior.)

But now most every day I gotta check in at least a few times just to see what's happening in everyone's lives. (All those status updates happening every minute!)

I discovered the joys of linking on facebook; linking to articles all over the web to share with my friends and family... oh the INFORMATION that's out there! So facebook has become for me not just a way to share little annecdotes about my life and family but also a way of being able to say "hey, check THIS out!" Humor, special interest, and yes; Politics and religion too. Ya know how they say you should never discuss politics or religion at family gatherings? My family disregards that advice. Which is probably where I get the twitch to put up potentionally controversial stuff on facebook.
And a few times it has sparked lively discussion. :)
(Yay! LOVE lively discussion!)

So how do you use facebook?
To keep up with friends and family?
To share jokes?
To find and share news items?
To start discussions on various topics?
To ask deep philosophical questions?
To take all those personality quizes?
Have you ever pissed anyone off by something you did on facebook?
Have you ever been 'un-friended'?

Ah, social networking... :)

Sahuarita Triathlon 2009

2009-05-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day Abel and I did the Sahuarita Triathlon.

Galen: I finally did a Tri! I've been saying I would for several years and now I have. Woot! I was aiming just to finish, didn't push for speed at all (I came in at 2 hours and 9 min and placed 86th out of 110 women). Something I want to be more prepared for next time around: the swim. I'm not afraid of open water; have done lots of swimming in lakes etc and I'd been swimming the distance at the gym; a slow and steady breaststroke... but when the announcer said "GO!!!" and everyone took off with their speed kickin' freestyle strokes, I tried to keep up... and within 5 min I was in serious oxygen deprived trouble, Heart pounding out of control, unable to catch my breath, and the icky realization that there was 18 feet of murky water between me and the bottom. So I doggy paddled for a bit while I caught my breath, reconciled myself to being the slowest swimmer in the lake, found my slow steady breaststroke rhythm... and finished the swim. Whew! Then the bike, then the run. Slow and steady. An interesting thing about this Tri, not only do they write your race numbers on your arms and legs, they also write your age on the back of your right calf, so as you're biking and running along you know when that person who just blew by you is twice your age. Ha!
Goal for my next tri: be a much stronger swimmer, I gotta make that jump from breaststroke to freestyle. ASAP.

Abel: Since this was my 2nd triathlon (did the st george tri a few years back), I now have something to compare this against. My training was much less on this one and therefore my expectations were as well. I usually would tell myself “as long as I finish, I’ll be happy”, but this time I really meant it. Less was better as I didn’t want to take a backward step in rehabbing my left knee. So I took a casual approach and it felt nice. I definitely wasn’t exhausted at the end. I even ran for about 1/3 of the way. I came away feeling much less drained than my last one.

More pictures are posted on facebook and flickr.

Bring Your Cell Phone!!!

2009-05-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here is why you should ALWAYS bring your cell phone when hiking alone:

Yep, that's right. Because you just might run across an enormous gila monster in the trail and have no way of documenting the rare sighting to prove to everyone that you really did see it. (Instead of having to pull a stock photo off the internet.) Of course, if the venomous gila monster just happened to bite you, you'd also be glad you had your cell phone.

So, yeah. Last month I was hiking up Blacketts Ridge and suddenly in my peripheral vision I saw the slow ponderous movement of something large and low and black and pink. This movement happened to be right next to my ankle. I looked down and was staring right at a gila monster who was staring right back at me. I think we were both a bit shocked as we just stood there staring at each other (this is the point when I remember that I'm an idiot who left her cell phone in the car). Gila snapped out of it first, slowly turned tail and crawled back into the brush from whence it came. My heart-rate returned to normal levels (well, normal for having been in the middle of climbing Blackett's ass-kicking elevation) and I continued my hike.

But I learned my lesson. Never go hiking alone without your cell phone.
(Seriously. Worse things can happen than missing a photo op.)

A day in Galen's life (spring 2009)

2009-05-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

Here's what a day in my life looks like at the moment:

Mon - Wed:
6 or 6:30 am: Get son ready for school, Help hubby get ready for work (on a good day one of us packed the lunches the night before. on a bad day, well... rush rush rush.)

7:15 Leave to drive son to kindergarten. It's a 30 min drive, which is tedious. At first I would drive him to school then drive home to try to get stuff done then drive back to pick him up, etc... and that was 2 hrs of driving in a day. Totally sucked.
Now I do things differently. After dropping off son, I stay "in town". Initially I would do all sorts of things trying to be creative with the time. But now I know what works perfectly: First I work out. Then I go to the library and draw. I have decided it's time to be an artist again, and I find I get too distracted trying to work in my home-studio. So I draw at the library for 2 to 4 hours. I no longer bring the laptop or books to read; this is me being serious about starting to draw again.

1:45 I pick up son from kindergarten and drive the long drive home.

2:30 we're home and do the whole snack and homework and play with friends thing and I also starting thinking about dinner.

5:30 or 6 Hubby comes home from work, we have dinner and enjoy the last rays of sunlight (work in the back yard, take a walk, whatever.)

7:30 to 8:30 somewhere in here we get son to bed.

8:30 to 10:30 cleaning up, hot baths, reading books, hanging out, getting ready for the next day, hubby and I may watch a show or a movie together (recently we watched all 7 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer together. That provided for plenty evenings of entertainment.)

10:30 Bedtime. Except lying there together we usually end up having sex.
11:30 Bedtime. For real this time.

Ready to do it all again the next day.

Oh, Thursdays and Fridays I work as a receptionist in a nice low-stress family-run office and so those have become my days to be online, catch up with friends/blogs, write blog posts etc. Today is Thursday. Which is why I am writing this post. Maybe I'll write a couple while I'm at it.
Yay.

(And, btw, I am not looking forward to summer and having this nice routine I have established be shot to hell. But o-well.)

Parker Canyon lake

2009-05-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

It was a bit of a whim, but we decided to go the the lake this weekend. Abel found a good deal on a used inflatable kayak and the lake is only a hour away... So, there you go!

Testing out the new/used boat in the safety of the living room...

On Parker Canyon Lake.
Shadow thinks she is supposed to heel besides the Kayak...

a nap after a spin around the lake...

galen gets a turn

Day 2!! And we are at it again!

Then we packed up and went home. (tired dirty and happy.)

Cross Country Classic 2009

2009-04-26T10:54:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went as a family to the Lincoln park Cross Country Classic 5k run. Abel and Max cheered as Galen ran the 5k (a rather grueling hilly sandy rocky route) and she broke her personal record for this race. (Still pretty slow, but hey, Yay!)
Then we pigged out at the potluck, watched (but did not participate in) the egg toss (yep- messy) and max ran in the kids race .

Yay for community athletic events!!!

YAY!!! I didn't Die!!!

2009-04-04T23:21:00.001-07:00

Whew!
Tonight I ran a race, and just to let everyone know, I DIDN'T DIE! In fact, I felt amazingly good cruising along at a slow but steady pace (seriously slow, 11 to 12 min miles) I barely broke a sweat and was hardly out of breath at all (except twice when the hills got pretty steep). Which makes me think I probably could have pushed myself a tiny bit harder. Maybe that will be my goal for next time. for now, it was just really really really satisfying to know that I could go out and run 7.4 miles. Wow.
Okay, just had to let you know. Now I'm going to take a hot bath. :)

(you can see a few more pics of the race here.)

Garage band

2009-02-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

more music making. this time in the garage.

superheros wear goggles.

2009-02-10T10:15:00.001-08:00

So when max got himself dressed this morning, of course he knew he needed goggles. Because when you are flying around you need something to protect your eyes from getting bugs in them.

25 things about galen

2009-02-06T11:59:00.001-08:00

(because I keep getting tagged on facebook. So here you go.)
(if you make or already have a list, send me a link. or tag me in facebook.)

1) I hate TV. But love movies. And watching certain TV shows if I can get whole seasons at a time and binge on multiple episodes a night for days on end. Some of my favs: X-Files, The Office, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Big Love.

2) I'm not very adventurous; I have my routines that are comfortable and familiar and I stick to them and get all keyed up over alterations to the familiar.

3) My latest thing is speed bag. I find it very theraputic to beat the hell out of it and I think I am getting pretty good. I also think I have tweeked the rotator cuff in my left shoulder and should probably take it a bit easier. Damn.

4) I am unable to lie (a little different than sometimes fudging the details). I can clam up (and frequently do), but am unable to make stuff up. (I also can't fake an orgasm.)

5) The part of my brain in charge of remembering names doesn't work very well. Neither do the parts in charge of math or spelling. This is embarrassing and highly inconvenient.

6) sharpened pencils excite me. I also love rusty stuff, aged stuff, blank pages, old paper and fabric, wax, random found objects, thread, empty boxes and empty bottles, circles, the warm spectrum of the color wheel, the cool spectrum of the color wheel, children's art, outsider art, stains made by moisture, light coming in from windows, dusk, sharp objects, birds and other flying things.

7 ) I don't like Thomas Kinkade. Or Greg Olsen. Etc...

8) My house is very dull looking. I have put very little time and energy into any sort of "home decorating." I consider my self a fairly creative person but it just doesn't manifest it's self in my home's appearance at all.

9) My house is always cluttered, sometimes downright dirty (occasionally bordering on filthy?)

10) I keep a journal. Obsessively.

11) I love to read. I used to read a lot. But now I find myself easily distracted or bored while reading. This scares me.

12) I hate spending money.

13) I have a crush on both the UPS man and the FED-EX man who make deliveries to my work every day. (UPS man is clean-cut GQ guy, and FED-EX man is long-haired scruffy guy.)

14) I know how to play one song on the guitar. someday I will add another song to the list.

15) I answer my cell phone when I am driving, but don't tell melanie franti. she will hate me forever.

16) I have an aversion to talking on the phone, but I have friends helping me overcome that.

17) I constantly think about getting a tattoo but really think I may never.

18) I wished we lived somewhere we could walk or bike to most of our daily obligations. Our current driving situation is driving me nuts.

19) I'm the oldest of 8 children. the youngest is 22 years younger than me. Four girls four boys, four brunettes four blonds (tho the blonds tend to darken as adults).

20) Growing up we moved every 2 to 4 years (and I sort of kept that tradition on my own after). Az, Co, NJ, Wa, UT, (sometimes back and forth a couple times). My favorite place was Redmond Washington.

21) I'm a difficult person to be friends with. I have funks. I get morose and withdrawn. Thanks guys, for hanging in there. I love my friends.

22) I obsess about age and aging a lot.

23) I'm shy, and frequently uncomfortable about meeting new people or going into group settings. But always glad when I do.

24) Making dinner is one of my least favorite times; I hate trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Sometimes I go through cooking/baking phases where I really get into making yummy food... but usually it is just drudgery. I dislike grocery shopping too. I can spend a hundred dollars at the grocery store and come home and still not know what to make for dinner.

25) Hubby is much better with kids than me. But son loves me anyways.

sidewalk chalk and wooden blocks

2009-02-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

creation-making on the driveway. Drawing pictures, building things. Max and his friends: Dylan, Sage and Gracie Jones.

special delivery from nana...

2009-01-07T14:18:00.001-08:00

thank you sis!!!

November in Tucson. by Abel

2008-11-28T19:41:00.001-08:00

Hey guys, here are some very belated pics. I think we put the patio in the beginning of this year. Eventually, I will post some pics of the chronology of our yard. My next big project will be a wall/bench bordering the patio.

Also thought you might like to see some pics of Max and friends at the Butterfly exhibit. These butterflies were amazing! The solo pic of the brown butterfly was about as big as my hand!

change...

2008-11-12T17:54:00.001-08:00

I voted

2008-11-04T15:58:00.001-08:00

And I only had to wait half an hour.
My friend just asked me "are you nervous?" Meaning, am I now bitting my nails in anxiety as to whether or not 'my side' won. I'm not. Perhaps this is due to my personality, or perhaps I'm just feeling a little apathetic at the moment, or perhaps it's because I have so many friends and family who ARE so hugely invested in the causes on both sides of the blue/red line that I just don't have the energy to get worked up. I'll let them do that. Hmmm, that does sound a lot like apathy. But it's not. I do care. And I did vote. And now I just want to sit back and watch where the cards fall with a relatively high level of curiosity, but no knots in my stomach.
(Apathy? Ignorance? Or just a mellow personality?)

Veep Deebate...

2008-10-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

(Yeah, I'm trying to stay away from politics on this blog, but hey! it's election season- what else is there to talk about? )

This a bit belated, sorry.
for your entertainment, an brief run-down of Gov Palin's debate plan:

Hey... it worked really well. She kept a good face up in spite of going toe to toe with a vastly more experienced and knowledgeable opponent like Biden (btw... I never realized what a great smile he has). I like her. Not gonna vote for the ticket she is on (a mere case of difference of opinion, on almost EVERYTHING)... but I respect her tenacity, skill, enthusiasm and ambition.

now... for educational purposes, a little fact checking here and here (because both Biden and Palin did a bit of stretching).

Playing Michael Franti...

2008-09-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, we got this guitar a few weeks ago and I am SOOOOO excited about it. I already went through the initial sore-fingers stage, got some lovely callouses, and can strum a few chords with relative accuracy and consistency (mostly). One of the first songs I want to learn to play is Hey World (don't give up) by Michael Franti, so when my friend showed me this I about fell off my chair. (Sorry, the embedding for that one has been disabled, you'll just have to watch it at youtube.)
How old is she?!? Holy Cow! And look at how her fingers glide so confidently along that fret! She totally rocks! (Check out some of the other vids, especially ones of her playing WITH Michael Franti. OMG.)
Anyhoo... Practice practice practice...

(btw... going to michael franti tonight... sooooo excited!)

palin and clinton...

2008-09-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

okay guys, seriously... we may not all agree on politics, but surely we can all agree that this is HILARIOUS!

(I say that as one, who didn't vote for clinton, and mostly likely will not be voting for the ticket with palin. HILARIOUS! BRILLIANT! I heart tina fey and amy poehler!
Does this make me anti-feminist? not voting for either? oh well.)

When Ish and Nana came to visit!

2008-09-08T15:38:00.001-07:00

Braving the long drive from California with Aidan and Ava in tow... It was so good to see them again!
Max and Aidan especially loved catching up, you can view the photo set of them here, or watch the slide show:

(sorry, I don't have a set of pics for Ish, Nana, and Ava... you'll have to pic them out of the Bell Family Dinner group!)

(anyone getting sick of me just putting up slide shows? sorry, it's all I can manage at the moment. I only hope they work okay on everyone's computers!)

family dinner at the bell patch

2008-09-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

a typical gathering stacked four generations deep. We eat, then lie around talking, goofing off, watching 'the kids' play, etc.

morgan's homecoming...

2008-09-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

(like... he's been home a whole year, this is old news, but thought I'd put this up anyways)

where I get my blue eyes...

2008-08-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

I also got several personality quirks as well.
gotta love family.
(this picture taken at a sushi restaurant where we had a lunch date.)

building blocks

2008-08-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

constructions max makes with his blocks:

happy family

2008-08-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

we took this on the latest trip up to the white mountains, up on the Crows Nest.
(so weird, my hair has already grown SO MUCH since then.)

Homophobe

2008-08-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

Homophobia: adj; irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals.

I don't plan on getting political on this blog. (Or religious, for that matter.) This will be a one-time thing. I just wanted to be clear. And get this off my chest.

The Church's current homophobic actions in California are making me livid. And the smoke and mirrors rhetoric of 'love the sinner hate the sin' is making me sick to my stomach.

For anyone reading this who might just possibly be interested, check out Mormon's for Marriage to get a better understanding of members of the Church who cannot support their Church's historically hypocritical actions in this matter. Especially, I would suggest that you watch the series of videos on LDS homosexuality. They put a human face on the individuals who are being marginalized and hurt by the Church they belong to.

Okay, that's all.
I will now bury this in lots of benign posts with non-threatening anecdotes and pictures of our happy family; a family that is not threatened ONE BIT by the fact that these two men love each other and want inheritance privileges, visitation rights, and the tax benefits that are geared to encourage committed family relationships.

my little bro...

2008-08-15T16:24:00.000-07:00

made this.... WOW! He's awesome:

family vacation, utah 2008

2008-08-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

Max and Zoe hiking in the Red Cliffs in St George

Our family vacation. It had been quite a while since we had gone up to Utah, the trip was way past due. So we loaded Max and Shadow in the family car and drove to St George, where we had a lot of fun spending time with Abel's brother Josh, his kids Zoe and Ethan, their mom Brandi, and Aunt Becca (poor uncle Josh was sick in bed almost the whole time) as well as grandma Suzie and grandpa Mitch. We then continued up to Provo to spend some more time with Suzie and Mitch, and get a little more hiking in. Galen then went up to Salt Lake City to meet up with some friends for a few days while Abel drove home with Max and Shadow.
Whew! Well, we are home now. And DANG, a nap sure sounds good!

Galen Abel and Shadow at the trail head to Stewart Falls

For more photos of our adventures in St George and Provo go here, to see more of Galen's escapades in Salt Lake City, go here.

bad housekeeping...

2008-07-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

sometimes my kitchen looks like this

and my living room looks like this

nd my son's room looks like this

All in one day.
These types of days make me really tired.

a family portrait

2008-06-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

With gun laws currently all over the news (supreme court overturning DC's handgun ban and all) I suddenly remembered about a family picture we took a while back...

hair... the long and the short of it

2008-06-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

As some of you know... this weekend, I had a little fun with my hair...

I started by putting it up into little ponytails then cutting them all off for a chunky, edgy, spiky look. Surprisingly, this worked pretty well.

But I got to thinking... my hair has been about this short before... why not take it to the next level? I have always been a bit intrigued by the thought of going super duper short... So with the help of my lover, I made the plunge.

Why? Aside from just feeling up to experimenting, I have been feeling a growing desire to go back to my natural color, and embrace my patches of prematurely gray hairs. I've always got a kick out of coloring my hair, I have been fiery red, deep auburn, had blond highlights, been inky black, and, of course, all manner of lovely browns. My own true color is something along the lines of a ferrous metal (ie, iron) and now it is liberally sprinkled with silver especially over my ears. As the distance between my last application of warm brown henna hair coloring has lengthened exposing those iron and gray roots, instead of feeling the need to run to the store for more of that lovely herbal hair stainer I was instead feeling more and more of an urge to cut off all those tinted locks and get back to my roots (so to speak). This was not a spur of the moment thing... I have been contemplating this for several weeks (that counts as pre-meditated, right?)
Anyhow, well see how this goes... particularly as I approach the awkward fuzzy in-between stage of this buzz. But, for now, I am really enjoying this zero maintenance summer haircut!
(And you should have seen the look my bishop gave me on Sunday!)

goodreads

2008-06-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

My latest obsession is filling my virtual bookshelves at my new account with goodreads

Do you like to read and talk about books? Then join and add me as a friend. Seriously. I LOVE this kind of stuff! I am fanatically unloading my reading history of the past few years (or further, as the case may be), I now have over 90 books listed and I'm not done yet. Feminist stuff, spiritual stuff, social/political/environmental stuff, non-fiction, fiction (my biggest shelf)... There's my currently reading shelf and my to-read shelf... it's just like at home, but much better organized and doesn't need to be dusted!

Honestly, books are delicious to me. Here is my favorite quote about reading:

“Tom got into a book, crawled and groveled between the covers, tunneled like a mole among the thoughts and came up with the book all over his face and hands.” -East of Eden

Ya... that about describes it.

(Oh, and, by the way... If I gave a mean review or a low rating to a book you loved, please don't take it personally. Feel free to rip my reviews to shreds... but gently, please!)

scriptures in primary

2008-05-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

It was Max's turn to give the scripture in closing exercises today. Abel took responsibility for the task.
He picked D&C 121: 41.
"No power of influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the power of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned."

and then he took some pictures of Max to illustrate the various virtues of influence:

persuasion....

long-suffering...

gentleness and meekness...

love unfeigned...

I think my lover did a very good job.

whew!!!

2008-05-19T23:26:00.000-07:00

okay! I'M DONE! just did my final presentation in my last class of the semester, I am OUTA HERE!!!
sorry that was a bit melodramatic... but this semester has been a bit of a doosy, it really wiped me out and stretched me thin. but now it is done. And I while three months ago I knew absolutely nothing about web design, I am now able to put together a web site like this one. yes, that is a trial run at a website for my art work. It's not finished, there's no titles on any of the pieces, and lots of things that I need to change or add (like, now 'bout "contact info" for starters) and things I had to put in to fill the requirements of the assignment but don't really like... but I like the general feel of it, and will tinker with it to make it official. And will find a permanent online place for it (right now it is hosted at the class website, and that will be wiped clean soon).

anyhoo... just wanted to show ya'll SOMETHING for all the sweat I've shed these past months.

(I'm also now pretty handy at Flash animations... but still need to figure out how to post them to my blog)

WHEW!!!!

Fair is fair...

2008-05-15T15:42:00.001-07:00

well, Max couldn't help but notice that mommy didn't have any pictures with multiple eyes. So when I opened this one up to work on it, and he asked me, 'where are you eyes?' I put him on my lap and let him dictate where mommy needed extra eyes (yep, he specifically requested one on my nose).
Fair is fair...
here you go.

MUWAHAHAHA!!!

2008-05-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

(the title of this post being my attempt at evil laughter)

my little darling boy... after I got done with him in photoshop! Next stop, I import him to Flash and animate the image; get the eyes blinking and rolling around, maybe a tongue licking his lips... we'll see!

(see here for the unaltered pic of my beautiful boy)

flickring

2008-04-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

BTW... I have a flickr account. actually have had it a for a while, just getting around to letting everyone know. I'll put a link to it over on the side bar. I got groups for family pics, pics of things inside the house, pics of things outside the house, pics where I just liked the colors and textures, a whole set just for portraits, and another one just for my artwork (just to have a place to see it online for the time being). Currently I am doing a flickr earth day challenge, and so I even have a set just for those pics.

Really having alot of fun with my camera right now, incase you couldn't tell!

(and going way overboard with links too... sorry 'bout all the redundancy! couldn't help myself.)

Go Mommy Go! Go Daddy Go!

2008-04-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

We ran the Spring Cross Country Classic this morning! Very fun. The women's race was first so galen ran while being cheered on by Max and Abel (GO MOMMY GO! GO MOMMY GO!). Then Abel ran in the men's race and Max helped Galen cheer him to a big finish (GO DADDY GO! GO DADDY GO!) Good family times. Next month Abel and I plan to do the Sahuarita Triathalon together. I don't we will be able to tag team watching Max for that one. We'll have to figure something else out.

I loved it!

2008-04-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

We just saw Dan in Real Life with Steve Carrell and Juliette Binoche and I am totally and absolutely endeared. I keep replaying scenes from it over and over in my head, fully smitten. Completely charmed. (btw... What a hilarious no-contact shower scene that was!) My hat is off to Steve Carrell; annoying middle managment guy, 40 year old virgin, reincarnation of Noah, and now a single father finding love in unexpected places.

for your viewing pleasure, the trailer:

passing notes

2008-04-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

Hehehe, I love my phone. I love taking pics and videos and sending them as little messages to people. Just today in class I was a little bored with the lecture and thinking of Abel... so I drew him a little note, took a pic, and sent it to his cell phone.

Felt like being in high school again, passing notes. Which I never actually did in high school. Go figure.

making music

2008-03-31T12:54:00.000-07:00

this is what my day sounded like today...

by the time they were done, my cupboards were emptied of almost every pot and tupperware container.

fortunately, they had almost as much fun putting it all back, as they had getting it all out.

training shadow

2008-03-29T17:23:00.001-07:00

mostly this is a test to see if I can upload videos from my new phone....

YEAH!!! It worked!

now you can look forward to many humorous and touching videos of us, courtesy of my new sleek and sexy samsung flipshot.

just for kicks, here is Max watching TV while using Shadow as a pillow.

on a steel horse I ride

2008-03-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

okay... my horse is actually aluminum and formulaOne composite, not steel (thank heavens)... and I'm not a cowgirl any more and have never been wanted dead or alive, but I still heart Bon Jovi, so I couldn't resist.

I am back on my bike, getting my butt back in shape so that in June I can go up to Utah and ride in the girls only Little Red Riding Hood bike event. 'Gonna ride it with a few other feminist mormon housewives... should be a blast!

for my sister...

2008-03-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

My beloved sister Nana is going to do something amazing. She is going to walk 39 miles in two days. She is doing it as part of the Avon Breast Cancer Walk, which raises funds for providing access to care and finding a cure (see here for more info on how the funds are used). She is hoping to raise $1800 dollars in donations. If any of you out there are interested, here is her personal page where you can make a donation towards her long walk of hope.
Please help support her in this... even tiny donations help.

and for your viewing pleasure, here is a celebrity plug for the Avon Breast Cancer Walk:

easter 2008

2008-03-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

here is what easter looks like from the front....

and from behind...

and here is the easter bonnet Max chose for himself.

loving lion

2008-03-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

I can't get over this video:

the story goes that this women found a lion cub sick and malnourished, took him home and fed him and brought him up till he was too big to keep any more. she made arrangements for him to be taken it by a zoo in colombia... but apparently she still gets visiting rights!

what a hug!!!

In the office

2008-02-29T23:03:00.000-08:00

Ya, so coming really late to this party... But I have just recently become obsessed with The Office. Totally, completely.

Blame Abel, it's all his fault. I don't watch TV, it's just not my thing. But I do like movies here and there. So two weeks ago, dear lover comes home from the video store with one of the DVD's from the 3rd season of The Office. I think "Hmm, cool." I've heard lots of buzz about this show, lots of my friends like it. Let's see what they are talking about.
Oh. My. Gosh!!!

Since then I have been like a woman possessed, terrorizing the video stores to fill in all the gaps, staying up till way way way past my bedtime watching four, five, six or more episodes at a time. I am totally saturated with The Office, it is like every person and instance in my life right now I can relate to something I learned from The Office. It is like how it was when I was a missionary and every thing I saw related to something in the discussions, I am that immersed.

Just finished up season 1... (for some reason I couldn't find that one at the Hollywood and Blockbuster outlets, had to go to Casa Video which specializes in obscure and hard to find movies [love that place!])... and now I want to go back and watch season 2 and 3 all over again!!! Here's the thing, I haven't yet seen a single episode of season 4 yet! Thank heavens for the writers strike, at least I am not too far behind. My brother knows someone who has all of the season 4 episodes recorded on Tivo... maybe I can get her to record them for me so I can be totally caught up by next thursday! Yes... that's it! I need to have ALL OF IT! And NOW please!

A little side note; if I was to honestly pick out who I am from the characters of The Office... I would need to say that I am an unfortunate mix of Michael and Dwight. Which is sad, because I have such a crush on Jim that I really wish I could be Pam... but I am just not that sweet and warmhearted and cute and lovable (or normal). But, to satisfy my lust for more Jim and Pam, here is one of my favorite scenes...

and just to go overboard... here is one person's 'top ten' Jim and Pam scenes

Wait, this means I will become on of those a thursday night TV watchers... will my life ever be the same again?

My child labor

2008-02-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

I have him working for his living.

and before all this, he helped me mop the kitchen... I just hadn't thought to get out the camera yet.

Max's first talk in church

2008-01-29T15:24:00.000-08:00

Max gave his first talk in Primary last sunday. This is the picture that he and I drew to show everyone. Here is what he said:
"Hi everyone! Jesus made planet earth for all of us. So we need to take care of planet earth. And be kind to everyone on it. Including animals. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

just an hour away...

2008-01-22T21:37:00.000-08:00

okay, we really don't have seasons here in Tucson. We have blazing heat in the summer, and nice mild weather the rest of the year. (Oh, there is also the Monsoon... I do love the monsoon... but that really doesn't count as a 'season'.)

but if we drive about an hour up Mt lemmon, we can get a bit of real autumn and winter.

here is Max's first real, memorable introduction to snow:

(yeah, we really didn't have the right snow gear, but Max had a blast anyways.)

facts about Abel and Galen

2008-01-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

Abel possess the ability to charm and entertain any child in his vicinity. They flock to him in droves. He plays tag, he plays good guys/bad guys, he plays hide and seek, he plays all manner of games that the kids LOVE. And from all appearances, he LIKES it.
Amazing.
Galen, on the other hand, relates to dogs...

doing dishes

2008-01-18T18:33:00.000-08:00

yep, I really don't need to worry about rinsing the dishes before I load them.

what it takes to get shadow to take a nap...

2008-01-14T07:57:00.000-08:00

if we do this for an hour or more...

we can finally get shadow to do this...

Max loves Queen?

2008-01-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

well, at least he loves these two guys lip-synching 'We Will Rock You!'

So random! Now as we drive around I hear him singing it from the back seat. I guess I should dust off my my old Queen albums and brush up on the lyrics.

Holy Wars

2008-01-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

We went to the park today, Max, his Little Friend, and I. (They adore each other, claim they are going to get married when they grow up). A jet passed overhead, leaving a long white line in the sky. Little friend looked up and exclaimed "Look! Ice crystals!" (which is, I guess, what her mother had told her they were.) To which Max responded "NO! It's a Jet plane!" (I guess I have a less poetic imagination than Little Friend's mom.) They almost immediately began to exchange blows, each yelling respectively "Ice Crystals!" "Jet Plane!" "Ice Crystals!" "Jet Plane!" Each intent on convincing the other of the error of their ways.

come to find out, they were both right.

Aren't humans funny.

Bring your canvas bags...

2008-01-03T09:26:00.000-08:00

I started last year... first with just one bag (purchased at the food conspiracy co-op, around $10), then adding another a little while later (purchased from Tucson CSA, also about $10, but a lot flimsier, don't recommend this one), then, a little while later adding on with one from Sunflower market (about $6), which I liked so much I went back and got another so I would have two... only to be offered money for one of them at Safeway - the lady had loved hers, lost it, and Sunflower stopped stocking them for a while. I let her buy mine off me, then I promptly went and bought a replacement (Sunflower is stocking them again, last time I went).
I love my four canvas bags, and have finally gotten to where it is second nature to take them into stores with me. I think I will try to make my next bag (perhaps a longer-handled variation of this pattern ). I want to have enough that even my large shopping trips will all fit into my canvas bags. A good goal.
Some good places to get canvas bags online: resusablebags.com and ecobags.com
For further reading about 'bringing your own bag' see here and here

and for your viewing pleasure...

(this little ditty has been going round and round my head ever since I saw it. now I am passing it on to you. you can thank me later)

Paper or plastic? Go Canvas!

bell family (red)

2008-01-01T16:48:00.001-08:00

thankyou Briana for giving the gift of connectedness to the family. Matching Tshirt that double as poverty figthing softwear. Checkout the (red) campaign for more information.

for additional information, chech out ONE.org:

Thankyou, Briana... for the awareness, for caring, for everything.

winter fun in tucson

2007-12-30T21:23:00.000-08:00

Yes, we can go to the park and play in tshirts and shorts in december in tucson (though it has been a bit chilly lately. galen was standing to the side taking pictures, wearing a sweater.)
This is game max came up with, sort of a mix between baseball and tag. lots of fun.

new threads for christmas

2007-12-26T21:12:00.000-08:00

Thankyou thankyou thankyou becca for the gorgeous apron! I tried to use it to cook dinner tonight, but then panicked about getting grease or tomato sauce on it and put my old one over it. but I did wear it to eat dinner!
And briana, I love my new shirt! fighting poverty with style. sweet.

nativity

2007-12-24T23:34:00.000-08:00

Max as Joseph and cousin Alora as Mary at the family christmas eve party Nativity Reenactment.

Merry Christmas to All!

2007-12-23T17:40:00.000-08:00

Click on this audio clip for a Christmas tune that made us smile (and made Shadow very confused).....

this one is for you, Becca!

2007-12-22T22:04:00.000-08:00

we love you too becca!
As per your request for pictures of Max, quilts, Family and other... here you go!
Max has been highly intrigued with the quilts that mommy has been trying her hand at making, (and mommy has been highly intrigued with learning how to quilt, she now has [almost] three under her belt, all for neices and nephews... eventually max will get one of his own from mommy (to join the ranks of the wonderful ones he has from grandma suzi).

In other news, Mt Lemmon has snow on it now, and we have now driven up twice to introduce Max to this stuff that you just don't see down in the vally of Tucson. He is quite the fan!

Happy Birthday Max!!!

2007-12-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

December 15 Maxwell Morgan Smith turned 4 yrs old, and we had a little celebration with his friends

friends, pizza, cake, icecream... and a pinata!

it didn't even stand a chance.

can you believe it?!?

2007-12-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

heheheheheheheh!!!!

(I love the The Onion>

because max likes to clean things...

2007-12-20T22:02:00.001-08:00

so first max helped me give shadow a bath...

and then, because he is really into cleaning things right now, he washed the bathroom...

this says it all...

2007-12-20T21:30:00.000-08:00

three monkeys on the bed

2007-12-20T21:09:00.001-08:00

The kind of mom I am… when I come back into my bedroom to finish folding the laundry after answering the phone, and find that max and his friends have taken off their own clothes and are now jumping on the bed (and the partially folded laundry)… I just sigh and start taking pictures.

Galen and Abel... what a pair

2007-12-20T21:05:00.001-08:00

apparently galen is

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

and Abel is

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

It makes for a pretty good marriage, let me tell you!

profile picture

2007-12-20T20:41:00.000-08:00

this is the picture that we keep trying to add to our profile over there on the sidebar... blogger keeps blocking it every time, maybe eventually we will figure it out.
*sigh* technology...