my new mountain bike

FInally! I've wanted one now for 2 years or so, we had the money, I test drove a bunch and found my favorite in my price range... It was 200 bucks less than my 3rd favorite and 150 less than my first favorite (though if it had ben't been last year's model it would have been as expensive as my 3rd favorite). I like that my favorite ended up not being the most expensive!

I'm loving the disk breaks and the suspension, and that I don't have to turn the handle to switch gears like the rusty one I had years ago.... Purple wasn't my favorite color, but I liked it much better than the red bikes... For some reason Red bikes look manly to me... and no, I didn't pick it based on color.

Now I just have to catch up on work from being sick so that I have time to ride it!

oh and about being sick.... I havent had the gullbladder area pain in several days... though the lower cramping stuck around. My cough is rare in comparison to before, my sinus is better.

This morning I found out what the other cramping has been about... turns out I am still a woman. I'd kinda forgotten that I get periods sometimes.

I love underdogs

you know when you fall in love with a character? A Fictional character? I've often thought about what that says about you... not the fact that you become so enthrawled with a character, BUT which characters you pick to love

A lot of people, for example think Niel Patrick Harris' character "Barney Stinson," on How I Met Your Mother is (and excuse my english)"the shiz." There are blogs and books dedicated to "Barney" quotes and "Barney" methoods for pickin' up hot girls. People think he is awesome.


I HATE HATE HATE HATE BARNEY STINSON


I would like to take this moment to tell you how much I loathe Barney Stinson. He is a prick, a douche-bag, and a self-centered-self-satisfying man-whore, and I would never ever ever date the type of person who thinks that "Barney Stinson" is their Hero.

If (pay special attention to the "if" there) I had to pick the most likable character on that show, it would have to be Ted Mosby. Nothing ever works out for Ted in Love. He's the underdog, and that I can find loveable.


BUT NOW for my true favorite TV characters....

Lee Pace as Ned in Pushing Daisys. No, he is not a manly man, and yes, there is something subtly dorky about him. He bakes awesome pies, and is an overall good person. and he was no dating machine (until of course, his childhood sweetheart Charlotte "Chuck" Charles returns)... and there is something so sad about how he can never kiss her her or she will dye.... I love it. I love him. So sweet, so sincere, so innocent. ) He's my type of dating man. and such a sweet smile.

Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowsky on Chuck



A computer nerd, shy around girls he likes. Always wants to do what is right, and despite (inspite of?) his desperation toe become a "real" spy, he still couldn't even shoot someone who was about to kill him. He and his sister are so close (except for the spy stuff)


Now Charlotte, you ask, How does Brett feel about your fictional crushes?

1. I don't think I've ever told him. I'd tell him now, but he's asleep.
2. Um... they're fictional, brett is REAL
3. I don't sit around picturing TV characters naked... no matter how lovable they are. I don't fantasy cheat on my husband.
4. Brett is Ned/Chuck. I think that is why I love those characters so much. He is my computer nerd. He's as hopelessly in love with me as Ned and Chuck are with their female counter parts. He isn't one of those stereotypically "manly men". (aka tough guy- could have any girl he wants and knows it) He's the shy-around-girls boy that I snagged. He's the boy who probably never have gotten up the nerve to kiss me (If our first kiss hadn't been an accident [and yes, I am totally serious about that,] we likely never would have kissed and thus wouldn't now be married). Brett may not be much of a pie maker, but he cooks wonderful meals. Brett is honest, never (okay, maybe once) says anything bad about anyone, he is closer to his family than anyone else I have ever met, and Is amazingly selfless. Relationships have always been sincere for B.

B's a good person who will never be that confident stapling 007/Stinson who could command a room with his elite charisma, and I don't care. B's full of integrity and sincerity. He is my underdog. He's my fictitious fantasy, my ideal character.

2 nights

2 nights of painless deep sleep, A promising Sunday with the fewest coughs I've had in weeks, and theeeeeeeeeen back to a very uncomfortable sleepless painful and coughing night... and Brett-Brett is out of town.

Good for him because he is probably sleeping well. Bad for me because I have no one to crabbily complain to.

I want to go to sleep. I want my tummy to stop being icky. As some one who has typically had better luck walking things off then getting any sort of help out of a doctor, I'm trying to decide how long I need to go with pain before I should see "one of them."

everyone should make this

I recommend using guittard milk chocolate chips, and lots of them. Iprobably shouldn't be eatting this while I am still sick...b ut hey, it is kind of like a cough drop, right?

Ever cough so much you want to cry?

Friday night, Brett burnt a good half a loaf of sourdough toast in the oven, as well as burning something else that I cannot recall. Now, usually my husband is an excellent cook, but that night when I went to bed I could still see and smell smoke in the air.

So, when I woke up Saturday morning with a little cough, I thought it was from all the smoke I'd exhaled through-out the night... after all, I started coughing shortly after Brett set off the fire alarm.

However, come Sunday night, I began to suspect I was actually sick, and not simply "clearing the smoke." I can't sleep because the coughing gets worse when I lie down. When I finally do fall asleep, I wake up a few hours later with the most mysterious cramp-like feeling right here:


When nothing I do seams to relieve it, I spend the next few hours in and out sleep feeling that strange pinching cramp. Just before I finally decide to stop trying to sleep and get up , the cramping has decided to also annoy my uterus. Around 10 am it leaves the uterus, and then slowly fades from under my ribs.
I don't get how this horrible pain repeatedly comes on around 4:30 am?

Meanwhile the cough comes and goes, and sometimes I get this rattling feeling near my voice box when I breath, but there is absolutely nothing in my throat to clear if I cough. So, while there is really no point in my coughing , I cant help it, and during some of the fits, I want to cry.

ANd my tongue is raw from all the cough drops

and my nose is raw from all the Kleenex.

Free SLC 5K

Not motivated or fit enough to pay for 5K Run.... there is a free one in SLC May 1st... limited registration.

I'm not much of a runner, but since I've been averaging a good 3 times a week at the gym recently, and according to the elliptical, I can make it through a 5k (not win, but make it, still).

So, I am thinking about it.

I broke down

... and made cookies

I was so easily distracted all day, I decided to make some doggie treats. I got out the peanut butter, then changed my mind. I made Human treats instead.

I haven't made peanut butter cookies in years. They aren't my thing. Today, these peanut butter cookies hit the spot. Such a nice texture

sUgAr SuGar yUm YuM yUm.

I really want some cookies right now. This is a problem, because I recently discovered that Brownies are easier, faster, and cleaner to make than cookies... and I hate spending all day baking.

Ok, I like it, but I need to be productive too. Someone make me cookies!! I don't want brownies...

If, by the way, you are looking for a simple but delicious brownie recipe, I recommend these brownies. I mix the whole thing in one pot on the stove in about 5 minutes, and I love that I always have the ingredients on hand and that I have minimal dishes. I like to mix in chocolate chips and butterscotch chips.

As for my goal to actually cook food (and not munch on things all day, or wait for Master Chef Brett-Brett to cook for me), I've been doing pretty well!

This week, for example, I've made French toast, Crêpes twice (I like this recipe, doubled or rippled, served with cream cheese, trawberries, and a sprinkle of sugar), Chicken noodle soup (homemade is the best!), and Spicy coconut shrimp (that wasn't very spicy—a bit bland, actually— I was disapointed).

I think I've cooked more in the last 30 days than I typically do in 6 months.

I've been enjoying cooking from scratch, I feel a lot more confident in the kitchen, and most of the food tastes pretty good—or at least decent. I'm trying to restrain myself todaybetween Brett's cooking and mine, we've got alot of leftovers in the fridge...

room Tour: Room 6B-Master Bedroom, REVISITED

So, remember how last time I posted pictures of my bedroom, I told you I had already changed it? well, here are some changes:

Some Pillows:

A painting
A squatty little black chair

Curtains and a curtain rod

Below you see I switched back to my old white duvet, and I think the pillow helps tie in the carpet a little bit. (I decided on the black bed skirt, and not on the yellow one)

My pretty corner is fun to look at as I wake up. Looks much better with the curtains, painting, chair, pillows, and table runner than it did with just grey/black walls and reddish brown carpet...

But, now my big mirror looks rediculously small, and I'm not sure what to do about that.

Pretty, Pretty Betty

So, a few months ago, there was an Episode of Ugly Betty, that featured several Betty paintings... Is it weird that I really like these?

I mean, I'm no super Betty fan, but I would totally hang this next one up somewhere. It's my favorite. I think it is super awesome.

Favorite favorite favorite awesome favorite

ATTN: scrap bookers, card makers, and other dorks

4 magazines (online editions), $1, 1 month

I'm pretty sure none of you scrapbook, but just in case... click here for details

And who do you get your advice from...

I decided to google to see if I cold find a way to get smells out of glass jars...ie. tomato sauce jars, salsa jars, pickle jars. Jars are very useful for storing food it, but when they reek, I am a little weary.

So, as many internet questions do, this search led me to several forums. I was scrolling down looking through the responses, and every single person had something rather...um.... odd as their "quote."

So, I asked myself, how is it that every single person in this forum are blatant druggies?

A moment later I noticed the address bar...


Oh. Well then... I um... Ya. I'll ask someone else about the jars.


ON A SOMEWHAT RELATED NOTE,
In church yesterday, I asked brett if he had any lotion. I was, of course, being a dork. I knew he didn't have any. However a girl sitting next to him offered me some of hers.

Now, usually I use unscented lotions, and I found that I really enjoyed the smell, and kept smelling my hands. Then I wondered If I really did like the smell, or if the scent simply had addictive properties. This was the lotion:


I mean, anything that leaves you constantly sniffing your own hands in Sunday school has got to be messing with your brain cells, right?

Seriously though, it smelled really good.

I still love Chevron

So Brett wasn't too excited about the idea of chevron paintings above the bed...But I still like my chevron patterns.... I would love something like this pillow on my couch.
If I were as talented as the etsy artist who made it, i would try to make my own, but my sewing skills are pretty sketchy, so for now I can just sit and think about how I will never pay 87 bucks for a decorative pillow....