Folding the Laundry

Why do I do it?
Because it makes Chris laugh- the kind of laugh that makes his voice all high and squeaky. The best kind of laugh.

Later that night, we made shadow puppets on the ceiling and went to bed.

The secret is out:
Most of the time, we just *pretend* to be grown-ups.

Last Five on the 'Ol i-pod.

Run to the Water (Live)
Wreck of the Day (Anna Nalick)
Weighed Down (Jars Of Clay)
The Sun (Maroon 5)
One Way (Hillsong United)

Your turn.

My Husband, the Olympics Ruiner.

(Yesterday Afternoon):

Jamie: "I really want Shawn Johnson to win a gold medal tonight."
Chris: "Why?"
Jamie: "Because she's done so well and been inched out of that spot more than once. And because she's so darn cute!"
Chris: (giggles)

(Later that evening, while watching Track and Field on T.V...)

Chris: "That Shay....Shaa....girl wins the gold."
Jamie: "Shawn Johnson?"
Chris: "Yeah."
Jamie: "Did they compete while I was on the phone?"
Chris: "No- it's coming up."
Jamie: "How do you know she wins?"
Chris: "I read it online."
Jamie: "CHHHHHHRRRRRRIIIIISSSSS!!!!!!!!!"
Chris: "WHAT!?" (genuinely stunned)
Jamie: "Thanks a lot! You just ruined it for me!"
Chris: "Oh....oops."

Doggone spoilers!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Since it was such a be-a-UUUUtiful day out today, my friend, Jess, and I took advantage of Duluth's majestic lakewalk (Duluth borders Lake Superior, for those of you who are geographically challenged). Now, Rachel and Bobby moved to Santa Cruz last year and boasted about their gorgeous scenery along the ocean. But I would argue that as far as scenery goes, they have some stiff competition from the Northland! Observe, and be amazed...




Go ahead. Compete with THAT.

I Guess I'm a Twins Fan Now! Sorry, Dad.

Hi friends!
I realize I was a bad, bad blogger last week (wrist slap!). I was just so excited about all of our impending weekend fun! We received tickets to a Twins game, as well as a hotel stay in Minneapolis for our wedding. So, we treated it as an extended honeymoon and had a great time in the Twin Cities!

We stayed with Chris' aunt and uncle on Friday night, and they gave us a lovely tour of the city. We especially enjoyed a stop at Grand Ole Creamery, one of the nation's best ice cream parlors. We always enjoy visiting with them, and are grateful for their hospitality.

Saturday was our day out in the city, and no trip to Minneapolis is complete without a visit to the nation's largest mall! But we weren't there to shop. Chris wanted to school me in miniature golf...which he did. Have no fear, I shall rise again!! I was easily consoled when we stumbled across a CHIPOTLE in the mall- it literally brought a tear to my eye. That barbacoa never tasted so good.

Later in the evening, we enjoyed a lovely dinner in downtown Minneapolis.

Our hotel was kind enough to provide us with a "romance package" of Champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. Then they were kind enough to send up a a second "romance package," which we kindly accepted :) I wonder if they've figured out their error yet...

Sunday brought us to the Metrodome to see the Twins take on the Mariners. It was quite the showdown, and very exciting for my first Twins experience. I appreciated the climate control in the dome, as opposed to sitting in the sun at Angel's stadium, or freezing from the Bay breeze in San Francisco.

Chris is very focused when he's watching the game...

...so I told him to look a little more excited to be here!

There we are, in all of our Twins Country glory.

Can I Have a Medal for That?

I GOT CHRIS TO EAT VEGETABLES!

I went crazy in the produce section this time around, and incorporated veggies into several meals this week.
I'm pleased to announce that he survived the Garlic Steak with asparagus, and the sausage skillet with zucchini AND tomatoes!

Ah, small victories.

The DOG Conversation.

If there were two things I could change about myself, they would be
1. the ability to enjoy a thrill ride, and
2. to understand a love for animals.

Believe me, I take a lot of criticism for the latter. It's not that I HATE animals...I just don't get the roll-around-on-the-ground-while-the-dog-licks-your-face kind of affection that my husband (and many others) have for the animal kingdom. I can't pin-point my aversion to pets...maybe it's the smell, or the shedding, or the begging for food, or the slobber...you get the idea.

Chris, for as long as I've known him, has wanted to get a dog. This, of course, would complete his little dream trinity of wife-house-dog. In an attempt to postpone the inevitable, I asked him to wait until we had been married a few months to start talking about it. And, unbelievably, he didn't bring it up...until this week.

Coincidentally, or not coincidentally, one of his patients owns a Golden Retriever kennel, the same kennel where the dog from Homeward Bound was born and bred. Chris interprets this as sign #1 and sits me down on the couch after work to tell me about it. Later in the week, at an outing to Burrito Union (Duluth's Chipotle wannabe), Chris saw a girl walking a Golden Retriever. Ding, ding, ding...supposedly sign #2!

Alleged "Sign #3" came last week when I was cleaning up apples from our yard, and glanced over at the tree in the corner of our yard. Chilling on the branches was the stuffed dog pictured above. I thought Chris left it there for me to find, but he said he had nothing to do with it (and, come to think of it, he probably wouldn't be that clever). Uggghhhhghhhh.

So, that's where we are. Chris is stoked about visiting the kennel this week, which I have expressed is just a VISIT. Logistically, we have a lot to work out before we get a dog. And he has a lot to conquer in me before we take that smelly, slobbery, hairy plunge.

Dog lovers...convince me.
And those of you who have obstained from owning a dog, HELP ME OUT! What's your reasoning??

Just Because I Love It.

"It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself."

-Johann Sebastian Bach

Another One Bites the Dust.

If you've ever been around me, you know that I'm a big fan of blogging. And I'm very competitive. If you roll those together, you'll see how passionate I can get when someone tells me "I'll never have a blog". And in the last few years, I've seen friend by friend slowly give in to the world of blogging and never look back. Muaaahahah.

Occasionally, I run into someone for whom I think blogging would be a natural bi-product of their introspective and witty nature. Such is the case with my good friend, John Garcia, who just started HIS blog YESTERDAY. I've been urging him for over a year to start one, with his primary excuse being "no one will read it".

Well, I'm here to pimp and pimp big time. Please help me welcome John to the blogging community. Stop by his blog and tell him not to use made-up words.

Asses and Llamas and Goats...ohhhhh my!

With Chris off work today, we got out and enjoyed the beautiful weather by visiting the Lake Superior Zoo! The last zoo we visited was in San Diego- the mothership of all zoos- so this one paled in comparison. But for a little zoo in Duluth, it was pretty enjoyable! It had most of the animals you'd come to see, minus all the weird birds and stuff. Fine with me.

Moments after this photo was taken, the snapping turtle SN-APPED at Chris...he wouldn't go near it the rest of the day. I think he has post-traumatic stress from the gorilla charging him at the SD zoo. I just sit back and laugh.

The lioness let us get up close and personal.

The polar bear did a whole lot of nothing, but sure was cute (and probably feels right at home here in the winter!!)

Of course, we had to swing by the petting zoo (for Chris). Take note of his ear-to-ear smile in these pictures.

Like a kid in a candy shop (except candy shops don't require anti-bacterial soap at the end of the visit. And they smell a LOT better.)

Chris had a special bond with this donkey. So much so that the donkey literally cried when he left. (And believe me...that is a loud, unpleasant sound!)

I'd much rather hang out with stuffed things that don't smell. :)

Why Did You Choose Those Earrings?

Today, we shook things up at the Stavenger household...JAMIE left for work before Chris! Actually, it was a precursor to "work". I had to go through the necessary HR presentation on safety, sexual harassment, payroll, etc. before jumping into my substitute teaching position come September. It's a grueling process- getting all the required paperwork filled out for this and that. But, God was dropping all kinds of blessings on me in the process. Let me share.

1. Our orientation was scheduled to end at noon. However, the HR ladies forgot about a union meeting they were to attend at 11:30. Thus, the sexual harassment and special resources presentations "had to be cut short". They apologized for this, but I don't understand why. We ended up finishing at 11. Score one!

2. We couldn't leave until our paperwork was processed. There were about 20 people in line ahead of me. But then another HR worker came to help and opened up a new table. You should have seen me get on THAT- I was so stealth. Front of the line. Awesome.

3. I got to have lunch with my favorite husband at the hospital today.

4. And I found $20 bucks on the ground. YEEEAHHH!

So, all in all, not a bad start to my educational career in this town. OH, as for the title of this post, I don't think I heard a word of the presentation today because I was too busy wondering why that lady was wearing a red, white, blue and silver outfit with those dangling, diamond-shaped brass earrings with the green stone in the middle. Why?

When Your Hair Stands Up Straight

I was asked to be a guest blogger for Brittany at perksofbeingme while she is away...so I wrote the entry below. But I thought you may be able to contribute to this brainstorm as well, seeing as you've been CHAMPION commenters lately (I love you.). Go here to see my guest post and leave Brittany some love.

Today I thought I'd address a phenomenon surely ALL of us have experienced: goosebumps.

Certainly, there are good goosebumps and there are bad- very bad- goosebumps. Let's brainstorm together, shall we?

GOOD goosebumps:
*The climax of a brilliant symphony, especially when experienced in person at a grand concert hall.
*Your sweetie whispering a kind word in your ear.
*The end of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" when they shout, "Move that bus!"
*Finding just the right Bible verse to soothe your soul
*The chorus of a song on the radio that speaks right to you.
*Finding "that spot" on your back that has been itching for hours.
*Hearing great news from a friend over the phone.
*When "your team" makes an insane comeback to win the game (that was my husband's contribution)
* (are you thinking of another one to add??)

BAD goosebumps:
*The quintessential scratching of the chalkboard.
*Nail files (ok...this is a personal quirk of mine. You probably don't share this one.)
*Duluth in January.
*The sound of utensils dragging across your ceramic plate.
*A foul note from a live performance.
*A convicting word that pierces your heart.

Alright, faithful bloggers...it is now your turn.
What would you contribute to this list?

Happy Birthday to You!

It's birthday time, with half of my immediate family celebrating birthdays this week! Fortunately, I got all my gifts and cards in the mail on time. But, since they're pretty important to me, I thought I'd give them a quick shout-out on the blog...so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favorite mother and brother!


(Mom, make sure Derek actually reads this.)

And if YOUR birthday happens to fall during this marvelous week, well, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to YOU, too! :)

California in Sepia Tone

Chris and I were fortunate to be able to visit California for a weekend...more of a work-ish event for me, as I was helping lead worship for a conference last minute. But during our short stay, we were able to attend my friend Tony's wedding, as well as spend a bit of time with some of my best friends- Daniel and Amanda Baker. The wildfires caused our flights to be adjusted slightly, and- while the valley was unusually hazy and smoky- was not brown to the degree pictured below. That's just for fun. :)

(By the way, if you've been impressed with my daily blogging lately, take into consideration that this trip was at the end of June. That should take me down a notch in your book.) :)


Chris, me, Daniel, Anne-Marie and Amanda enjoying the fountains on a hot day!

Juice-It-Up smoothies were a welcomed treat...and Anne-Marie loved walking next to "Tis".

Sure...go ahead and get soaked. Water fun!

Jamie and Shannon, and Jamie and Chris at the wedding.

And the happily married couple...Tony and Kristina!

They played the "anniversary game" at the wedding, inviting all couples out to the dance floor, and excused us by how long we've been married. Uhhh, we were the first ones off the floor. I hate games I can't win!!! But I love being married :)

Makin' Pizza

I've tried Boboli.
And Freshetta.
And Tombstone.
And Dominoes.
But I've never made pizza from SCRATCH and thought this is a challenge I'd like to undertake. In fact, I've never made anything of a dough-y substance before, so this was a whole new ballgame for me. Chris and I found this awesome recipe for a barbeque-chicken and gouda pizza...on the grill. Yesterday I started early in the day letting the dough rise and putting together the sauce. I was excited for Chris to come home so we could get everything on the grill. 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m...still not home (he was on call for surgery this day). I almost gave up hope and resorted to a good grilled cheese sandwich when he called and said he was on his way home. GREAT! Let's fire it up!! And the official review from Chris was "it's like sex in my mouth." So I guess he liked it ;)

Doing the prep work (and taking advantage of our great deck, too!)

Throwin' the pizzas on the grill.

And....tada! This pie was quickly devoured by my husband.

Oh Please, I'm No Fool...

Two morning news programs today featured investigative reports involving the use of the hidden camera glasses. I can't help but wonder, with all the modern technology we have now, is there no way to make these glasses less conspicuous? Are the Drew-Carey-Larry-King style goggles the best we can do? I have to say that, if the situation arose, I don't think I'd fall for it. That is, if there is an attractive, young woman wearing them. If you sent in an old man, perhaps I'd be more inclined to fall for it.

Then again, it might have worked on me yesterday.

5 Stupid Things I Did Today.

1. I grated my fingernail in the cheese grater. Awesome.
2. I put toast in the toaster, but failed to start it. 10 minutes later...wondering why the kitchen lacks the wonderful aroma of toast...
3. Signed my maiden name at the bank. This caused the teller to be unnecessarily suspicious of me.
4. I realized I hadn't yet gotten my hair wet before shampooing it, thus wasting a handful of shampoo.
5. I backed my car into our plastic recycling box. Don't worry...no damage done.

Yeah, it's been one of THOSE days.

Suck it in, Suck it in, Suck it in

I am proud of my husband for many reasons.
He has an outstanding work ethic.
He knows his stuff, when it comes to his field.
He takes great pride in our house.
He can really drive a golf ball.
He takes care of me in every way, without complaining.

AND, he knows every word to "Hook" by Blues Traveler, as demonstrated below. (Wait for it...it comes after John Popper's wicked awesome extended harmonica solo.)


I can't even think that fast.
My pride overfloweth.

The Goodies Keep Coming!

We thought the barrage of gifts from "wedding season" was over...that is, until the big , yellow Schwans truck stopped in front of our house and delivered an ice chest on our doorstep. Inside, we found a lovely gift from a certain parental unit in California...a steak dinner, complete with mini-bread bowls with spinach-artichoke dip and macadamia nut cookies! YUM! For you new moms (or just BUSY people), you really should check out the Schwans website- order online for doorstep delivery. Really good food, really reasonable prices. (And, Liana, you won't have to use all the pots and pans in your kitchen!)

I'd Like To Thank The Academy

Actually, I'd like to thank Brittany at perksofbeingme for bestowing on me this fantastic blog award. (You may have noticed the award in my sidebar.) She is a faithful reader and commenter, for which I am very thankful. NOW, it is my duty to pass this award on to five bloggers I feel are creative, edgy, unique, and overall make my day.

1. Look @ Me, Look @ Me! While living in Long Beach, I tediously tried to convince Keith Dickson to take up blogging. Little did I know that his WIFE was sitting on a gold mine of blog ideas, and now regularly shares her random thoughts with us on her blog. I'm putting Liana in my #1 spot because she's usually the first blog I click on for the day. Cracks me up.

2. Stuff Christians Like If you want to laugh (hard), this is the blog to follow...especially if you grew up in Christian culture listening to Carman and going to church camp. I'm hoping this collection of writings will become a book someday. Disclaimer: it's often wordy, so read it when you have time to enjoy it.

3. Midrash. Rob's blog always merits a read. He has this fantastic biblical worldview, especially when it comes to helping the poor and contributing to the world around us. I love that he is passionate about theology and the work of Christ, but approaches it in a relevant way. And, he loves The Office and 24, so it doesn't get much better than that.

4. Ragamuffin Soul I can't even imagine how many times this blog has been included on a favorite's list. "Los" is an edgy ex-worship leader from So Cal who relocated to Atlanta around the time I moved to Duluth. It's been fun relating to his change of environment from my own perspective. And sometimes, he's just crazy bizarre. I love it.

5. Snap Shots This is my dear friend Beth's blog, and if for nothing else, you must go for the pictures. SHE is the mastermind behind all of our wedding photography, and continues to amaze me with her savvy for the camera. And she knows how to make me jealous with her season passes to Disneyland.

Another Bedtime Observation.

It's been comfortably warm here in Duluth...outside. This means it's often UNcomfortably warm in our little non-air-conditioned home. This presents a problem for me at bedtime. Where as Chris can fall asleep on top of the bed, I need the weight of covers to help me. Last night, I was vitually burning up under the sheets. That is, until, I stuck one foot out from under.

What is it about feet? They seem to regulate my body temperature in the strangest ways. I can be completely wrapped in blankets, but if my feet are exposed, I'm still cold. I'm not sure there is a medical explanation for this, but it was just a thought I was mulling over as I was drifting off into dreamland.

Obviously, it's a slow blog day. ;)

Am I the only one with uber-sensitive feet?

Just a Girl And Her Piano.

And, no, I'm not talking about me!

More music...I know my last few posts have been music reviews, so I'll make this one brief. I headed down to the great metropolis of Minneapolis on Friday (sans Chris, because he was on-call for surgery in Duluth) to watch my dear friend Shannon Curtis rock her tunes on the ivory. She really was fabulous, and is continuing her nation-wide tour, heading into the Pacific Northwest- so check out her tour stops and tell her I sent you! Take a listen to her music here.

On a side note, it was refreshing to spend some girl-time with her afterwards. We stayed up WAY too late, caught up on all things life, and enjoyed coffee and breakfast in the morning. On a side, SIDE note, I conquered my first night without CHRIS since we've been married! Not something I'd choose a whole lot in the future, but good to know I can survive! (How did we EVER manage long distance?!)

Terrific Tuesday.

Yaaaay for date nights! Actually, Tuesday was more of a date "day," with Chris being off of work. So, we went out to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls.

Does it look like I know what I'm doing? Good...then I have you all fooled. :) This was my first time to the driving range- I did OKAY. Not terrible. But I can almost assure you that I missed the shot above.

We were really looking forward to a concert down by the lake, featuring some classic 90's rockers...Collective Soul, Live, and Blues Traveler. Prior to the concert, we met up with friends for a potluck dinner. Consequently, we were a bit late to the concert. We were bummed when we discovered that Collective Soul had taken the stage EARLY. We only caught a song and a half or so before they wrapped their set. Boo! But the following acts made up for it. Blues Traveler is fun to listen to, and Live got the crowd going with some of their classics. Bonus: BEAUTIFUL weather for our evening outside!

I love how Chris is rocking the "I Love You" sign. He's so hardcore. :)

Girl, Put Your Records On.

Chris and I took a trip to Barnes & Noble the other night, just to get out of the house for a while. We were on the hunt for a good barbeque (or, as they call it here, "grilling") cookbook, which we found fairly easily. But while we were there, we each picked out one new CD for fun.

I chose Leeland's sophomore album "Opposite Way". I'm almost embarrassed to report this since I'm a big Leeland fan and am JUST NOW getting around to listening to their album. Boo. Anyway, I'm loving it (with the exception of their first single, oddly enough. Not my favorite.). Take a listen if you're so inclined :)


Chris chose the album "Captiva," by Falling Up. Both are Christian bands, but Falling Up tends to be a little more edgy in it's sound. I don't know if he has gotten the opportunity to savor the album completely yet, but I know he likes the single on the album...it was featured on his myspace page fo-e-va. Here ya go:


So there you have it...the newest tunes in our collection.
What are YOU spinnin'?

Guess I Won't Be Walking.

Want to know how "walkable" your neighborhood is? With rising gas prices, the feet sure are a more feasible alternative mode of transportaion! I went to this website to get my neighborhood's Walk Score, and was a little unhappy with my results. Good 'ol St. Paul Avenue only ranks a 15 out of 100 for walking convenience. FIFTEEN!

Of course, as my friend Rob noted, it fails to take into consideration the local crime statistics. And, I'll note, that it also fails to acknowledge weather conditions, because God knows I won't be walking ANYWHERE for about 9 months of the year.

I'm sure some of you urban-dwellers can throw down some pretty high scores...

[ht: rob]