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Happy Birthday Matty!

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Today is a special day. It is my brother-in-law’s 21st birthday! I have known Matt for about 9.5 years, which means he was 12 when I first met him. A lot has changed (for both of us) in the past 9 years. Mostly I have enjoyed and appreciated watching him grow into the man he is today. He has tried new things, pushed boundaries, explored the world, seen more of the US and the world than I have experienced, and grown the peach fuzz. Okay I digress.

Matt in action

My message to the birthday boy: “Matty, you mean the world to me and to Chris. We are so excited to have the opportunity to watch you grow into yourself. You light up the room when you walk in the door, with your grin, your sassy wit, and enormous hugs. You can carry on a conversation with anyone. What I love though is that your maturity shows through because you humbly make sure you connect and engage with others in the conversation, and ask questions about their life. There are many people twice your age that still have not figured that out. Can you tell we love you? You are the little brother I never had.”

And now, a little message about Matt from his big brother:

“My lil’ bro Matty-boy is one solid fella. He’s loved by everyone and disliked by none. He can schmooze with the most elitist of adults, business owners, and politicians. The boy’s got mad social skills… and like we always joke about, he could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves. At the same time, he can hang with friends he’s known all of his life and even makes the time to entertain and engage with their younger siblings who look up to him as if he’s a rock star. Speaking of which, he’s that too. Killing it on the drums whenever he has the chance… or gets paid to do so. I’m proud to be his big bro and can only hope that the examples I’ve set, good and bad, have and will continue to help push him further in life. Happy 21, bro. Proud of ya.”

Happy Birthday Matty!

A Message to Todd Akin

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I do not even know where to start on this debate. If I were in a cartoon I would have fire coming out my ears, and fireworks coming out of my mouth. I would be censored left and right. I just am flabbergasted by this politician’s comments. Seriously? There must not be a woman in his life that has ever been raped. Either that or he just has no respect for women. If he did he would eat his words.

What I am talking about pertains to Republican Senate Nominee, Todd Akin. Akin discussed his opposition to abortion rights “even in case of rape with a claim that victims of ‘legitimate rape’ have unnamed biological defenses that prevent pregnancy.” This quote was from this article about the TV interview with Akin on Sunday. In his interview, Akin said the following:

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

OMG. I am speechless. But only speechless because all of the words I want to say just are not nice. I am working on speaking up with clear, direct words, that are not @#$#%#$@$. The article states that rape is not “rare” and that “32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year.” Maybe Akin should go through a simulation of what it is like for a woman to be raped, and then tell him he has to carry the baby he is now pregnant with – oh yeah, and Akin, remember you never consented to the sex you have just been forced into.

Why do men and politicians feel that they have any say in what a woman does with her body? What woman should ever be forced to have a baby, after being raped? Then be reminded that they must have that man’s baby in their body for 9 months and then raise it? How is that bringing a child into this world with all the love, happiness, and consensual desire to raise a child? Maybe Akin would think differently if he had to grow a baby in his belly after nine months, and then raise it. BY. HIMSELF.

I would love for someone, anyone to tell me how to look at this from another view, because right now I am just livid. I cannot seem to find any silver lining in this debate at all. I really do not like to talk about politics at all, but this is more than politics. This a woman who has been forced to have sex against her will. Oh yeah, and in Akin’s words: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Seriously? Akin, what part of the female body has a way to shut the whole damn thing down?

Please tell me.

Two Favorite Apps + Two New Tips

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I am someone who likes to share a good thing. When I find an amazing local bakery, I cannot help but share and tell others. If a great company gives stellar customer service, I tell others. I will also warn others about bad customer service. I apologize in advance that the rest of this post is going to be app/iPhone-centric. I do not know if these apps are available for non iOS devices, but they might be.

incredibooth photo

My newest favorite app is called: IncrediBooth. It is a 99 cent app, that lets you take four different pictures and puts it together in a photo booth style photo. There is something about the nostalgia of photo booths. There used to be a toy store in Portland that had an old-fashioned photo booth that gave you a black and white photo. I love the fun and spontaneity of these booths. Now I can do it right from my phone!

Wunderlist. A free app. It creates lists that you can update online or from your iPhone or iPad. Chris and I keep our lists of weekend To-Do’s, movies or TV shows we want to watch, restaurants we want to check out, etc. I could add an item to a grocery list from home and Chris could sync the list when he gets to the store to find my additions without having to call or text me.

Ready for some tips now? I have had my iPhone for a few years now, and I just learned two things last week. Someone at work told me how to close out of your apps (I always thought I had been when I got out of them). Only to find out that they are still open in the background taking up battery life. To close them, double-click the home button and all open apps will show in the bottom bar. Hold down on one of the apps to get them into close mode and they will all show up with a red X. Then close the apps you no longer want open.

My second thing I learned last week is that you can set up a more complex password on your iPhone than just the traditional four numbers. I had no idea! If you want to make it more complex, go to Settings, General, then Passcode Lock. You will have to enter your current Passcode, then turn “Simple Passcode” to Off and your iPhone will prompt you for a longer, more complex Passcode.

What other random iPhone or iPad tips do you know? What apps have been your recent favorites?

A Recipe For Longevity

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I just finished reading: “How Georgia Became O’Keeffe: Lessons on the Art of Living” by Karen Karbo. It was an interesting book, and I learned an amazing amount about Georgia O’Keeffe. She was more of a badass than I ever knew. It was inspiring to learn that she did her own thing in life, she did not follow mainstream thought and went about things in her own way. One of the quotes I appreciated near the end of the book talks about Chanel, Hepburn, and O’Keeffe and how they each lived long lives:

“O’Keeffe never lost her spunk, or her conviction that what she was up to at any given moment was somehow less important because she was older. This was also true of her fellow extreme seniors Katharine Hepburn and Coco Chanel. Hepburn  lived to be ninety-six; Chanel, who smoked, died young at eight-eight. Like O’Keeffe, they were skinny, busy, and irritated until they declined a bit, then died. They were active, didn’t eat a lot, and followed their interests. They never let anyone tell them what to do. They were always a bit pissed-off. I can only assume that this is the real recipe for longevity.” page 214

My favorite line: “They were active, didn’t eat a lot, and followed their interests. They never let anyone tell them what to do. They were always a bit pissed-off. I can only assume that this is the real recipe for longevity.” That inspires me. I do not like to be told what to do, and I can be easily pissed off. Does that mean I will live a long, full life?

Georgia is an inspiration for pushing the envelope in regards to the art she made. Whether she meant to or not, she definitely was one of the first modern woman painters, well before her time. I have added visiting the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe to the life list. If you have any interest in women, modern art, and badasses, then read Karen’s book.

Little Green Monsters

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Back in February, I posted a blog about Green Smoothies. For the past few years I have started my day with a green smoothie.

Last week a Facebook friend posted a link to a blog about kids and green smoothies. I had to watch the video included in the blog a few times. Specifically I loved watching the little boy and his intense desire to have his green smoothie. He looks like a little gentleman in a toddler’s body. I hope my kids are as enamored with green smoothies as these two precious little ones. You will also want to try the “Green Monster Chocolate Smoothie” recipe posted at the above blog link. We made it yesterday morning and this morning and are enjoying it. It gives us another option to our usual green/fruit smoothie. It consists of spinach, kale, peanut butter, chocolate almond milk, ice, and a banana. (We did not have any kale so we doubled the amount of spinach).

For background click the above link, and here is a direct view of the video:

A note about green smoothies. Buy a Vita-Mix. We literally went through about 10 blenders in a short amount of time (all that eventually died through electrical smoking) and we finally dropped the money for a Vita-Mix. It is worth every penny.