Happy Birthday Lori!!

Like I said before ... I am not attempting to highlight everyone's birthday via my blog. But Lori used to do these great birthday posts and I've been waiting all year to do hers! Today is the day, people. This is my gorgeous sister-in-law. An example of one of the many ways I got lucky when I married Joe! So, what can I say about Lori? She is the best. As those of you who know her will agree, she is creative and fun, happy and easy-going. Usually she is not picky or hard to please, except when it is about something important. She is good at getting things done (efficient? I don't know how else to say it) and is always willing to help out. Even though she works all the time she finds time to do all sorts of other things - basically she is superwoman. ;) If it weren't for Lori sending down food every few days for me and Joe while I study 18 hours a day during finals, the two of us would probably waste away. Plus, I can complain to her if I need to and she will usually understand me perfectly!
In case you didn't know, Lori loves to decorate and she loves the color red. She has amazing taste! I could never dream up 1/10 of the the awesome stuff she comes up with. I love it! She made the collage wall in my front room for my Christmas present one year and it is my absolute favorite. Also, Lori is a great bargain shopper. You put her and Joe together, and you are bound to get a killer deal, whatever it is. Sometimes it is funny to me that she is Joe's sister, and they grew up together. I couldn't ask for a better friend but it is cool that we are family!

So in honor of Lori's birthday (25! oh my!) I decided to make her this red velvet cake. For me, it was the first time I had 1) made a cake not using a cake mix, 2) made a cake with multiple layers, and 3) poured a whole bottle of red food coloring into what I was baking. So fun!! Basically I made it because it was red but it turned out to be quite delicious!! I found the recipe on this food blog. I'm going to show off a little with a few pictures ...

The frosting was rich and delicious ... a light cream cheese flavor. I used fresh raspberries and grated milk chocolate on the top.
Lori I hope your wish comes true!!
Umm ummm good. Happy birthday Lori!!

So I Guess I Used to Have a Bunny ...

So Joe has gone back to school but I haven't started yet ... so I am trying to do useful things like organize closets and clean up the basement (not going so well!!). But the job does have an upside! Today I spent several hours reading old notes, letters, and even a few journal entries (this was all part of organizing one of my big boxes of "stuff"). I thought I would share an entry from June 3, 1992. I was 8. Spelling and punctuation has not been changed.

"Yesterday night my baby bunny died. Two days latter Elizabeth's and Vickie's bunnys died too. I'm very sad. Each of us baereid are bunnys. We don't no why the bunny's died. I don't think the bunny's got a noff to eat. We all tried to feed the bunny's with an eyedroper. One night I went to Jesse's [older brother] thing with his soccer when I got home thats when it had died. I never told you what my bunny's name is. Well, it's name is stripe. (Thats because he had a white stripe on it's head.) I'll still always be sad about him. But I'll always remember how much I loved him. And how much I always will love him. And what a good bunny he was!"

Unfortunately, I am sad to say I did not exactly keep my promise to "always love" this bunny because I don't even remember having a bunny! I'm sure subconsciously I was loving him all the while, though. From an earlier entry I learned that the three of us girls had found three little bunnies without a mother and tried to take care of them. At least we weren't intentionally snatching innocent little bunnies and letting them starve!

And one other priceless piece of correspondence, not dated (written with a multi-colored colored pencil):

"Dear Tooth Fairy, I do wonder if you're on vacation! Or maybe it's just because I said I wasn't sure if you were real. Well, now I know that you are really real. Have a good day! Lindsey Lewis."

And the reply in cursive writing: "Thank you for believing. Your friend, The Tooth Fairy."

I know what you are thinking. Pretty cool that I got a note from the Tooth Fairy! I guess I knew what it took to get some more of those shiny silver dollars and pretty rocks under my pillow. Still have them!

But let's not stop there. I found all kinds of notes that my mom (and sometimes dad) had written to me when I was little. From the large volume I had stuffed away it seemed to be practically a daily occurrence. But don't worry, I DO remember getting these notes ... I had a little mini mailbox in my room that my mom would stick them in. And these are in addition to the notes I would get in my lunchbox, which would get thrown away. Here are a few examples:

"Dear Lindsey, I am glad you are feeling better. This special pencil is to remind you of what a good job you did selling Girl Scout cookies. Love, Mom."

This one is from 1991 - I was 6. "[Insert cute "OUTSTANDING" sticker here.] You didn't get out of bed last night! Love, Mom."

Again when I was 6: "Dear Lindsey, I'm glad the toad didn't turn into a prince. Then he would have wanted you to go away with him on his white horse and I would miss you. Love, Mom." [What?! Don't tell me I actually kissed a toad...]

"I love you Lindsey. Please write me a note soon or I'll forget how to read. Love, Mom."

And finally - all these years I thought that my crazy obsession with studying and getting good grades was completely all me - but here is proof that it was a learned behavior. Hehe. "Dear Lindsey, I am proud of the good work you are doing at school. Working hard and doing well will make you happy. I love you - Mom." [It's okay, Mom, this is just healthy reinforcement!]

And one more: "Dear Lindsey, I'm glad your story at school is going well and that you're enjoying writing it. Writing is a very important skill for a Supreme Court Judge. I love you - Mom." [I used to want to be a SC Justice!]

Okay I hope that was fun for a few of you. It was touching to reread all the many sweet notes from my parents when I was so little ... and it made me excited about having fun traditions like little mailboxes with my own children someday!

P.S. I also read some old notes from my friends in high school! It must have been nice for us to have classes that were so easy we could spend all period writing and decorating our notes to each other. Too bad I wouldn't dream of doing that in law school or at BYU - even Book of Mormon was too hard for that!!

FINALLY....A FUN-FILLED WEEK!!!

I had been waiting all summer long for last week to come. All summer I felt like I was working like a crazy person...some long hours at work during the week, and weekends spent working on our house were not much easier! Even though I had good experiences at my two firms, I just could not wait for vacation and for my parents and sister to come visit us!!

The week after I finished at my firm and Joe stopped seeing his patients, Joe and I continued to work like crazy people to get the house ready for company! We had carpet installed the day my mom, dad, and sister showed up. My dad got in earlier since he was coming for a business trip and rather than sit around at the airport waiting for the other two, he decided to come to our house early and surprise us! The carpeting was about halfway done and the house was turned upside down. It was such a wonderful surprise, even though Joe and I had been hoping to get everything back to normal before anyone showed up. He left for a few hours to run errands for us, pick up the girls, and get us some takeout...and when everyone came back, the house was spotless and beautiful! (Except for the basement, which is where we stuck everything while we carpeted the rest of the house.) My dad was so shocked...from the look of things a couple hours earlier he had figured he'd be living in a construction zone for the next week! (We will be posting before and after pictures of the house a little later!)

So the fam got to stay for a whole week! It seemed like it would be plenty of time but of course it went by way too fast. I was even more sad that I thought I would be when they left on Saturday...I think just because we had such a good time. In some ways being far apart gets easier over time, and in some ways it just doesn't.

So what did we do while they were here?? Lots of staying up late to watch the Olympics, going to delicious dinners, sightseeing, and just talking and relaxing. These are a few of the main highlights:

Washington, D.C. My parents both had business to do in D.C. on Monday so Joe, Katie, and I toured a little of D.C. just the three of us. We hopped aboard a trolley tour that drove us around to lots of different stops. The quality of the tour was highly dependent on the quality of the tour guide ... we had guides ranging from excellent to borderline incompetent and extremely annoying! Here were are...Kate and me in front of the capitol.

The Library of Congress...pretty cool. Later we took the trolley past the National Cathedral and all the embassies and hopped off in Georgetown where we shopped around and had a delicious Italian dinner! Then we hurried home to catch more Olympics, of course.

In the middle of the week, we headed to Virginia to spend a couple nights away. We found a good outlet mall and had some fun there and also enjoyed our first destination: Mt. Vernon.

Mt. Vernon is George and Martha Washington's beautiful home. We took a tour of the house as well as an extra "national treasure" tour that takes you behind the scenes and also tells you about the filming of National Treasure 2 on the grounds.

I loved spending time with my wonderful parents and even being spoiled a little as we stayed at great places and ate delicious food. Just ask my dad, vacation is not vacation without good meals and plenty of ice cream (or maybe the ice cream part was the girls' idea). The car rides through traffic were a little long but gave us plenty of good time to talk (or catch up on sleep).

Our national treasure tour took us around to the ice house where we got to step inside and see this hole where Washington's slaves dropped ice from the river below to use through the summer. This is where I saw the ugliest spider ever! It was black with brown stripes, huge, and was right above my head. I ran out screaming.
Besides the two tours, we also went through the museum and saw 3 short movies about Washington and the Revolutionary War. It was so fascinating to learn more about our first president.

Next we headed to Charlottesville, Virginia (location of the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson) and stayed in an old home that is now a lovely bed & breakfast. Our tourist destination was Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home and plantation.

Monticello was beautiful and definitely worth the trip! The museum isn't finished yet, but I think we learned even more by going on three different tours and hearing everything directly from our wonderful guides and asking questions. We all agreed that although Washington's house was grand, Jefferson had better taste - his house is amazing! We also loved the gardens and I went home inspired to be serious gardener someday!

We thought this bean fort was a great idea for our future garden - and the best part is the beautiful beans! I had never seen anything quite like it.
It was also really interesting to learn about the lives of slaves at Mt. Vernon and Monticello. I was particularly interested in this topic after taking a class last semester in which I learned much more about slavery and the slave trade than what you learn in junior high or high school, particularly about the economic aspects of slavery. It was fascinating to hear about the attitudes our founding fathers had towards slavery, and the inherent contradiction of declaring that all men are created equal yet continuing to hold slaves. If you go to Monticello, I would highly recommend taking the plantation tour because you learn so much!

We left Monticello on Thursday and barely made it back in time for Joe's softball game! (Actually we were late.) We had a little downpour for a few minutes of the game but after that it was a beautiful night (aside from all the mosquitos). Because of always having to work this was actually the first of Joe's softball games I have been to! But like all games the wives don't really watch, just talk and chase after kids!! Sorry, Joe. I'm sure you were great!

Friday was our last day together. We had a more relaxing day - yummy breakfast of German pancakes, trip to Baugher's to pick peaches, beautiful drive to Hunt Valley, lunch at the Pennsylvania Dutch Market, and trip to Wegman's to pick up something to grill for dinner. It was another great day.

I can't believe the week went by so fast. Mom, dad, and Kate - we loved having you here and hope you come visit us again soon! Thanks for everything, WE MISS YOU.

You Don't Want to Miss It!!!

So some of you may know that I am a huge fan of So You Think You Can Dance. Believe it or not it is my favorite show ever (the competition isn't even close). I would be fine not watching any other show all year long as long as I could watch SYTYCD! It is that awesome. (Anyway, the only other show I watch is The Office and it doesn't even compare ... although I do love Jim and Pam!!) However the chemistry of Jim and Pam compared to Courtney and Gev (above) is like a bell pepper compared to a habanero. Courtney and Gev have been my favorite couple all season. They are ALWAYS so fun to watch - they burn up the stage dancing latin, contemporary, hip hop, whatever. And Gev is one of those guys that is actually really into his partner, so it makes for some pretty good chemistry. Courtney is in the final 4 dancers competing on Wednesday night so I will be cheering her on.
Another sexy couple is Chelsie and Mark. Basically there is no dance they haven't been able to do. Chelsie is a little firecracker and I'll miss her in the finals since she just got voted off last week (as did Mark ... he is a little weird but by the end he had grown on me). However I was willing to sacrifice Chelsie because the top 2 girls are so freaking good!
Katee and Josh. Both are in the finals! They are both AMAZING and blow the judges away every week. However I am not rooting for either of them to take home the title because I think the other two finalists have way more fun personalities.
Twitch and Kherington ... can't forget about them! They were another hot couple until Kherington got voted off a few weeks ago. Basically she had a bad week and left the competition maybe a week or two early, but she wasn't finals material so I guess it's okay. And Twitch is in the finals! Just wait until he performs his solo, you will love it! He is not only a good dancer but also a pretty funny guy.

So Wednesday night at 8:00 is the finale and on Thursday the winner will be revealed! I am telling you this is entertainment at its best! I will probably go through a few weeks of withdrawals after it is over. Luckily, I have something to get me through ... we are going to the SYTYCD TOUR in October!! Whoa, I cannot believe it, it's going to be AMAZING!!! Thanks Em for getting us tickets!!

Hope you enjoy the show. Go Courtney and Twitch!!

PS - the reason I am making this post an 11:00 a.m. on a Monday??? I am done with work!! It was a good but exhausting 12 weeks ... now is it time to finish remodeling our house which is feeling a little like a disaster zone (Joe thinks I'm being dramatic but if you saw it you would agree!) More updates to come later.

Average Joe

I hate the term "Average Joe", maybe because I couldn't fit the title better. I'm average height and weight, I have the most common eye and hair color. Got average looks, athletic ability, smarts, and wits. But I try real hard to just be Joe, and I need to know which Joe fits best.

This is the easiest new look. I've gone to it from time to time. Throw on a number 1 and go to town. I shaved my legs once as well. As you can tell, Lindsey wasn't so happy with the new do.

This is Pedro. My dad seriously wanted to name me Pedro. Pedro became one of my many nicknames in high school and I thought I could give it a try. I liked the look, but got tired of telling people that I couldn't mow their lawn cause I didn't own a lawnmower. Lindsey wouldn't look at me either.

Probably the favorite look of all time. I loved how kids ran away from me when they saw me. Lindsey couldn't take me serious though.
Then I went 7 months without a haircut. Lindsey hated it. How could she? Everyone else loved it, especially the ladies, which forced me to cut it as to not get so much attention. When I did finally cut it, Lindsey jumped up and down in unbelief for ten minutes. I guess behind all that hair was the cute guy she had married. She was glad to have him back.
Here I tried to see what kind of beard growth potential I had. Very itchy. Lindsey wouldn't kiss me either. I lasted for two weeks.
Well, actually three weeks. I tried to see if she would be satisfied with two smooth cheeks. Nope!

Believe it or not, this was Lindsey's favorite look, which explains my look of astonishment.

And this is Average Joe. I'm proud to say I cut the hair myself. First time! Apparently I look 19 though.
So if you didn't feel awkward looking at pictures of me, let me know which look is the favorite. Or maybe a suggestion of how to break the mold. I'm still itching to go blond. Could I pull it off? Wait, how old am I?

Our friendly little scavenger

Well I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately. It's not that things haven't been going on, it's just that I haven't felt like posting about them! We're all allowed a little break. Anyway, this little happening was pretty funny so it convinced me to make a post! First of all let me explain that our desk is not usually this messy ... but we tore apart our kitchen a little while ago and haven't found a place for all the trash yet (can't wait for dumpster day!). Anyway, so last night we had a bag of trash on our back deck waiting to be taken out ... with a chicken carcass inside. Joe and I were on the couch watching a scary show (first season of 24 on DVD ... thanks Paul!) when I heard something on the deck. It was this little guy: A racoon found our leftover chicken! It was sooo funny to watch him dig through the trash to get to it. We turned all the lights on and were taking pictures and all kinds of things and he didn't care one bit, he just wanted that meat.
When he got it out of the bag, he then had to get it through the planks of the deck, since the gate was locked. When he finally did it, I was so proud! I started CRACKING up. For some reason I just love watching animals like foxes and racoons be so foxy and racoonish - it gets me every time!
Well we might have to stop being lazy and put our trash in the garbage can under the deck instead of on the deck to wait for trash day ... cuz I think this little friend is going to be back. And although I don't mind sharing, I do not appreciate the mess left behind.

My Favorite Sport

So I used to be such a soccer player. Only that was a long time ago. So long ago that I was a little nervous about our friendly firm soccer game and was not going to be disappointed if I ended up being just a cheerleader. However ... there was not a huge crowd, so everyone ended up playing the whole time. And it was super fun!!! I wouldn't say I did that great, but at least everyone could tell I used to be a soccer player! That is something, right? Also, I even got a bloody injury to show for it. It was just my hand though ... not sure how it happened, I think I ran into somebody with something sharp like a ring. I got home and Joe asked me if I cried and I was able to proudly report that no, I did not. Puh-leeez. However all week I have been reopening the wound (I can't seem to get new bandaid on fast enough when one falls off) so that is kind of annoying.

Here I am headed for the ball! I will have to get out and play again soon. Although I liked playing with the firm better than when I have played a couple of times with others because there were no expectations. Otherwise I am trying to prove to Joe that I do not suck, and usually I fail at that. :) I just need some practice!

Sunny in San Diego?

So last week I got to go on a whirlwind of a trip to good ole' San Diego! My firm flew the summer associates from all over the country to stay at the Hotel del Coronado (on Coronado island) for a couple of nights. I was so excited about it (I heard from last year's summer associates that the trip was an absolute blast). I was looking forward to a short break from work and excited for the beach! What I did not know is that this is what was waiting for me when I got off the airplane:

FOG. Apparently there's this thing in San Diego called "June Gloom." Actually it mostly happens on the island, but in this picture you can see it in the city as well.
So this is what it looked like for the two days I was there! The temperatures were a little cooler than what we had packed for. (I think I was packing for Hawaii!)
I thought the fog was pretty hilarious, actually. I mean it was just so thick! I took a walk on the beach the first day we got there and even though it was a little foggy, I could still see land jutting out from the beach a little ways away. The next day all you could see was fog - you would never have known the land was there! Another thing - the fog did terrible things to my hair! I got off the plane looking pretty decent, and by the time I got to my hotel room my hair was total frizz. I mean like Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus - no joke. That's when I decided on ponytails for the rest of the week.

And this picture? This is what it looked like on the day we left. Absolutely GORGEOUS. The sky was clear and the sun was shining and all I wanted to do was lay by the ocean and the pool ... but instead I had to get on an airplane.
The hotel was awesome. I can't wait to go back someday with Joe! And the funniest thing is - less than 30 minutes after we got there, I was taking a walk around the place with the Baltimore girls and I ran into my old neighbors from Provo! I could not believe it! It was so fun to see them.
Now isn't that beach just calling to you? You can see some surfers out there ... but no, I did not get to surf. Which is fine with me because the water was too freezing. A few people did surf in the little bit of free time we had ... but apparently the surfing activity got cancelled because the waves on the island just aren't that big and where the waves are good, there was a shark attack a while ago. Whatev. I do remember being promised surfing lessons, but I guess I am over it.

At least we did get in some good beach time with the beach barbeque and sand castle contest. We got into teams and had to come up with a sand creation relating to California and DLA Piper, and had to come up with a skit/cheer/team name to go with it. Team building or something like that. Ours turned our pretty sweet, though. Our team was "Surf's down, dude" and we built a huge shark that was eating a summer associate (what a good sport to lay covered in sand for over an hour). We did not win because our skit/cheer was pretty much terrible. The winning team made a courthouse and acted out a little gay couple marriage skit ... pretty clever.
The top fin was quite a challenge.
Here's a pretty good view. Like the gills?

So what else did we do? We stayed out late eating good food, drinking, and socializing (I was drinking Shirley Temples ... yum) and then got up early to sit through presentations. We heard from Senator Mitchell (a member of the firm) and then attended an after party until 2:30 in the morning. Then we got up early again to hear more presentations. Good thing the beds were super comfy and I went right to sleep every night.

Also I hung out with my super cool roommate. I realized it has been a very long time since I have had a "roommate." It was a little bit fun to hang out with girls, but I definitely missed Joe. I barely even got to talk to him the whole trip because I was so busy and the 3 hour time difference made it a bit difficult.

So I definitely could have used another day or two in San Diego. But it was good to get home and see Joe, who had torn apart the kitchen while I was gone and installed our new cabinets and counter top! We still have a long ways to go, but he worked so hard and I am so excited it is coming along!