You snooze, you lose

Being the over-protective, cautious, and doting parents we are, we waited until Tessa was a whole week old before we took her to the Huntington Gardens. My older brother and his family were in town, and it's one of our favorite places to take visitors, so we basically had no choice but to go. Here's my favorite picture from that trip, Tessa catching a few winks by a Cattleya bloom:


Well, my parents, younger brother, and his family were here for my graduation so we had no choice but to head off to the Huntington again. Tessa's barely four months old and she's been there twice now, and as you can see from the picture above, and the ones below, it seems to keep her on the edge of her seat. Here she is sleeping in her stroller in the bamboo forest:


Here she is snoozing in her pram among the bonsai trees:


After all that effort she decided to take one more little cat nap in the conservatory:


She did wake up for one part of the trip though....lunch.

Hey, that's DOCTOR to you (Part 1)

I knowingly married a big HUGE nerd. Before anyone passes judgment, let me explain that the term "nerd" connotes a very positive meaning for our families, so I say that sentence in the highest praise. I am a firm believer that there are stark differences between being a nerd, a geek, and a dork, and if you'd like me to launch into my lengthy diatribe, just knock on my proverbial door.

This week, Ted will be graduating with Uber-Nerd status from the illustrious California Institute of Technology. He earned his PhD in Biology after seven years in the Caltech lab, growing microscopic worms to further his research in RNA pathways and how they affect the genes that drive cell differentiation. And yes, I know exactly what I just said. He knowingly married a nerd, too, though a mild one at best.

In order to graduate, Ted had to prepare his thesis (which turned out to be around 150 pages) and then defend that thesis in front of his advisor, his labmates, and a committee that has been overseeing his work along the way. It was a pretty intense process to finish up that thesis and then create a detailed PowerPoint for his defense, so I left work early that day to witness the fruits of his many labors.

He certainly didn't disappoint! I was in awe of how easily he rattled off genetic codes and acronyms describing his research, but it REALLY blew my mind when I started hearing phrases like "My contributions to the C. elegans body of knowledge..." and "I discovered that...". I don't think I've ever been more in love with him than I was at that point. I thoroughly enjoyed my role as proud wife. Oh, and he spent the last seven years studying the vulva of that little worm. Yep - the VULVA.

Ted's friend and labmate volunteered for the task of advertising the event. These are what he came up with:





Take a good look at the colorful diagram. This is something Ted designed to show the cell differentiation of the 7 cell types in the vulva. It became somewhat famous in his lab, so they did a play on that with the Skittles. Another labmate wanted to lure participants to the thesis defense with the advertisement: "Taste the vulval rainbow", which of course sounds dirty.

A replication in dessert form, compliments of one of his lab mates:

Jacarandas were in full bloom just for the occasion, and the sky was seriously that blue.

Caption for this one:
"Wow, Dr Daddy, you're SOOOO SMAAAARRRT!"

Congratulations, honey buns! You deserve a break!

Guilty Pleasure

I had to do it! We love this little morsel more than words can say.

Impending Adventure

I was in Oregon during Ted's birthday (I know, rude), so we had to celebrate the following weekend. During my trip and his birthday, we finalized our decision for law school and where we thought Ted would succeed and where I could keep my sanity as a "single mom" the best. It wasn't a difficult decision since the tippy-top schools didn't want to be intimidated by such a stellar law candidate. It really came down to two schools: University of Michigan and Duke. Here's how the conversation went:


Ted: So, the deadline to send in my acceptance is fast approaching. Any further thoughts?

me: I thought we decided we're going to Duke.

Ted: Well, I didn't know if you had any additional or different feelings, especially since Michigan is ranked slightly higher than Duke. And I'm just wondering if I'm missing something about either school, so of course I'm over-analyzing. You know how I am. Ben [who went to Michigan] loved Michigan and makes a good argument for going there.

me: Most alumni at these top schools love where they went. Remember Bim's Columbia fetish?

Ted: Seriously. But this is a big decision, and I just want to make sure I'm making the right one, not just for me, but for us.

me: Well, you know where I want to go. At this point, if you heard any argument from anyone that Michigan is this incredibly superior school and is able to blow rainbows out its butthole, would you change your mind and go there?

Ted: No.

me: Okay then. There's your answer.


These men have wives for a reason. That's not to say I know what I want all the time. Next time you and I go out to eat, ask where I want to go. Guaranteed I won't have a clue.


But I digest. I mean, digress. This post was about Ted, not me. Which is to say it's about me.

So Ted sent in the acceptance for Duke, and I was really excited, because it means for the next three years, we're going to be Dukies! (Couldn't wait to say that. I should have an "excrement" blog label) His birthday gathering ended up being celebratory for both reasons.

(Side note - Lilian brought these deviled eggs on a whim. She had no idea that we were also celebrating Ted's decision to go to Duke, whose mascot is the Blue Devil. Genius!)

And so, folks, we are off to North Carolina so Ted can learn how to blow hot air. I mean, so he can learn how to become a lawyer. hehehehehehe

Oh yeah. And Happy Birthday. I love you.

Brand New Friend

A friend of mine, Kerri (Ker-dog if you were in Hinckley Hall for the '95-96 BYU school year) just had her 3rd baby and named her Adele (so cute!). I got to bust out my only crafting ability as part of her gift:


And then it was off to her shower (which happened AFTER the baby was born, since she decided to grace us a month early) for some good food and merriment. And....some communal nursing.



Kerri and I have been friends for about 14 years now. We met on the 2200 floor of Hinckley Hall during our freshman year and became instant soulmates because we discovered we had the same blue and red argyle panties. The coolest gatherings were always in her room, and I have long-standing mental images of her dancing around the room to ska music and old school hip-hop. (You know what I'm talkin' about: "Back to the Hotel", "Do the Ditty if ya...want to because then I can see if I...want to", "Knockin' da Boots" LOVE IT!) These impromptu dance scenes also brought us Shannon's famous Running Man, which she keeps tucked under her belt and unleashes at very rare moments, propagated by our favorite Cannon Center dances.

And now here we are, 14 years later. Kerri has 3 kids, I have my one, and the friendship lives on with husbands and Rock Band. I'm glad Tessa was born into so many makeshift cousins, just in case the blood ones don't work out. :)