Sunday Afternoon

Sunday afternoon my mother and I rented bicycles and rode for a few hours along the canal. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon. We came back to the hotel to cool off, and my mom opened up our windows. While we had hoped to have a room facing the river, our room faces the back streets - which has turned out to be perfect! We have a view of all the little shops and restaurants and we can hear the street musicians through our window. We’ve spent a good amount of time at night just sitting on the window sill and watching everyone pass.

Well, Mother was watching a couple at a restaurant below our window. She thought the man had lasagna, but perhaps it wasn’t lasagna. She kept staring and talking about their meal and had me come and see if I thought it was lasagna. She thought lasagna sounded rather tasty and watched this couple eat. After about ten minutes, the couple looked up, right at my mother. She felt embarrassed for watching them eat and ran away from the window.

As soon as they finished their meal, we went down and took their table and ordered the same: lasagna. (A very tasty one.)
(Oh, and of course we ended the night with some gelato. Probably my favorite yet.)

I Am My Mother's Daughter

Saturday after Cirque du Soleil we decided to try out a Traditional French restaurant, complete with table d’hote (or something) - fixed rate, four course meals.

Mother ordered baked cod with cabbage and rice. I ordered smoked salmon on toast.
And it was pretty good.

We took our time and ate very, very slowly.

We left quietly, and a few blocks later my mom says, “I’ve got to admit: French food is not my favorite.”

To which I replied, “Me neither.”

Mom, “We don’t have to eat French food anymore.”

And since we have eaten pizza, cheeseburgers, and lasagna. Oh, and gelato.
I’ve had a chocolate gelato every evening after dinner.
Mmmm.

French food may be elegant, but it is mild, and (to me) tasteless. I figured maybe that’s why they serve wine with everything - to bring out the flavors. I feel no shame in sticking to what I love and just soaking in the atmosphere. We’ve got plans for Thai, Chinese, and reservations at an Indian place on Wednesday.

More updates soon!

Montreal

After three days last week, beginning in Honolulu, hopping over to L.A., then to Dallas, then up to Des Moines, then over to Chicago, and finally up to Montreal on Friday, my internal clock is exhausted and very, very confused.

today

.:. the birth of my two favorite twins.


.:. first sunday at the single's branch. not bad. few in numbers, but good people and good discussion. i was a little wary at first -- i love love love our family ward -- but i think it'll be a good experience.

.:. travis got baptized. and (naturally) we forgot to take pictures. lots of lovely faces. two of his brothers came. the youngest one asked if we could say a prayer before we left the church building, and later told us, "you should probably pray about every five hours, huh." oh and travis got lots of cool new ties.

.:. my dear friend jay dalton got engaged!

.:. sara (trav's two-year-old niece) has finally taken a liking to me. when i come in the house she drops everything and yells "hey! what you doing air-tah?" and follows me. she then tickles me no matter what i'm doing, and even tried following me into the bathroom once. she has also started giving me kisses. she'll ask me a question and then as i answer she just leans over and gives me a smooch out of no where and then acts like nothing happened. and when she gives me a hug she kisses my shoulder over and over with cute little baby kisses. if she sees me yawn, she says "time to sleep air-tah" and gives me a pillow and blanket. she tucks me in and lies down next to me. after a couple minutes she shouts "wake up air-tahhh!" and tickles me. i love playing with sara. i'm starting to like little tykes now. babies scared me for such a long time.

i need an entire post of the photo shoot we did that day with her sweet pig tails. 

.:. I started to read Believing Christ. And it is good.

48 hours

I love that Mom bought my favourite cereal and stocked the fridge with root beer and chocolate milk. I love that she bought all the ingredients for smoothies, and all the goods for cookies. I love that by the time I woke up Saturday morning, she already baked a cake, and I love that the three of us had finished it by dinner. I love that Mom says crazy silly things that don't make sense sometimes and I love that we sat down and decorated cookies Saturday night.

nicole's creations were...interesting

an attempt at a nice photo with my dog gone wrong. his head looks huge! and today he "wrestled" with me and drew blood. he's always thought i was a cat or a chew toy or something.

new hammock and chairs in backyard. it looks amazing. my favourite place to relax.


my dad's sweet creation in the "renegade garden." more detailed photoshoot of my backyard and such to come.


they planted corn instead of alfalfa in the lot around my house this year...and i just LOVE it! we are just surrounded by a sea of corn fields!
on another note: i have these black sweatpants at home. they aren't actually mine. we aren't sure where they came from, but i've gotten in the habit of wearing them when i'm home. all the time. every day. they are so comfy! and, well, i don't feel like getting dressed if i don't have to.
well, i think my mom is trying to discourage it. after wearing the sweatpants all day saturday, my mother offered me a pair of her "hawaiian" pajamas to wear saturday night. now, i have other sweats i could wear. she's never loaned me her pj's before...but, they are cute, huh! now i just want new pajamas.
but as soon as i got home from church today....i definitely put those black sweats back on.

(p.s. i need to confess something. i fell in love with country music about halfway through nebraska and i can't stop listening to taylor swift. i'm a bit embarrassed but trying to play it off cool and confident. watch.)

oh! and dad is home now. and has a very hairy face. i almost fell on the ground laughing when i saw him. he just hugged me and said "what's wrong?!" and rubbed his hairy face on mine yelling "i'm the billy goat gruff!" and i said, "you're the jimmy goat gruff!" and then he hugged me again for being so clever. and then he brought out a couple bags of dark chocolate m&m's (our family has a thing) and we all settled into down to watch this scifi movie he's been into. i told him i liked the hammock and he replied "oh you like the hammock?" "yeah i love it." "oh you love the hammock" "yeah it's great" "oh, you think the hammock is great" "yeah dad! love the hammock!" "oh you like the hammock. that's nice." hahah! he is ridiculous.

and tomorrow i get to play with my twins and wear overalls and go watch harry potter. best life ever.

"Is this heaven?"

"No, it's Iowa."

one month until i return to the homeland for a short visit. i love love love living in hawaii, but there's just no place like home.

[photos: 1,4,6,7,8,9 Todd Ehlers; 2,3,5 mine! check out Mr. Ehlers' stunning set on flickr: beautiful iowa]

the dicks

So at first I meant for this post to be an ode to real life freckles, but somewhere along the line it turned into an ode to my dear sweet family. So here's some random photos I found on my hard drive and a few little tidbits about the fambam. Meet the Dicks:

oh. that's me. this was originally in here because it showcases a few of my frecklies that have pretty much disappeared since the hawaiian sun kissed my skin. See?

Next is Nicole:

Nicole is such a ham. This was taken the summer before my senior year of high school -- so it's a bit old -- but this encapsulates Princess Nicole Marie. She's a lady, alright! And she will sure let you know it! She's the sweetest soul and is going to make an incredible mother; she mothers everyone and everything, always has. Just be careful when she bakes cookies for you. One disaster batch (with 1/4 c. of salt) has become the family joke.

This is Danielle! She's the goofiest of the bunch. She's super smart, super motivated, and super loud. Danielle brings a whole new energy level when she comes home. Even though neither of us can remember one another until her senior year of high school (it's weird), we've been super close ever since then. Danielle always says I'm the smart one, Nicole is the sweet one, and she is the one who farts on command. I think that pretty much sums her up.

And here's my Mama, Mary Lu:

Isn't she lovely? My mother is one of the most fascinating individuals I have ever met. You'd think I'd have her figured out after spending months in her belly and the next 18 years under her roof, but she is always surprising me. She is the young actress/dancer/cheerleader turned parole officer/prison inmate counselor/state penitentiary treatment director. Pretty intense. But she's so goofy and sarcastic and loves adventure novels from African safaris and she knows anything and everything about mountain climbing. She exercises all the time but can still enjoy a pan of brownies on Sunday evening. She takes pleasure in small delights and loves learning new things. She's always giving away what she has. She loves everyone so much! And she's just as lovely now as when she was young.

Oh Papa. Meet Jim. James. This is the man who gave me my eyes, nose, lips, ears, hands and feet (i know that sounds weird, but my dad has great feet! and ours match almost perfectly...mine being more feminine though of course), and my sense of humor. He is the youngest soul I've ever met. And as equally fascinating as my mother. He is the high school and college sports star turned art major/teacher/principal/superintendent. My dad loves kids so much. He is such a kid! He is one of the most well-balanced individuals I've ever met and he never stops learning. He can go from watching three hours of football to watching a musical and crying shamelessly. He reads books and then breaks out the power tools. And he's got the biggest, kindest heart. He's always worrying about so-and-so and just wants everyone to be happy.

Aren't they just the cutest? They are so in love.

bahhahah! oh nicole! her crazy curls and big glasses. so great!

and danielle the dancer.

check out that feast! no wonder my dad looks so sleepy/happy.

Mary Lu and Danielle

oh easter morning photos.

who is that cool cat?

what a fox, mom!

oh fambam. i will see you in five weeks!

wisdom from a retired navy-woman

"If I'm going to die happy, well, I'm going to die happy. Even if my teeth aren't brushed and they're full of pizza."
-- my aunt shirley

I think I may go ahead and have that ice cream sandwich for breakfast.

home video

hey guys! it's christmas time! from erika ann on Vimeo.

this just happened. really. just now.

"I don't want to be sick. I want to be an artist."

-- Danielle, my brilliant older sister.

snowed in

my mom and i made cookies. it began innocently enough....

and then my urge to get creative took over. (not playdough...cookie dough)

voila!

i just can't get enough

i was leaving my grandmother's house and she stopped me. She points to her kitchen sink.

"Would you believe me if I told you there was a Christmas tree under there?"

since i've been home

After over 24 hours of travel, I finally made it home.

::One of our cats pooped in a house plant. My dad yelled at him.

::Said cat peed in said father's shoe. (Not an accident!)

::Walked across to Grandmother's house. Dog almost attacked a

possum, who then almost attacked him. Without my glasses, I wandered

over to see the hubbub and almost bent down to pet the "cat"

when it turned and hissed at me with its gloriously hideous face.

::Wished Gram a happy birthday.

::Dad took the dog home. As he turned to leave, Mom

said "Wait." Dad: "Yes?" Mom: "Watch out for the oh-possum.

And whatever you do, Jim, do not let him in the house.

Even if he begs or offers you a treat. Listen to me!!

Leave the oh-possum outside!" Dad hung his head,

looking a little dejected. "Yes, Mary."

::Went to my home ward. Love it so much.

::The temperature dropped almost 30 degrees during church.

Dad didn't wear a coat to church (why? who knows)

and "found" one to wear home. He also "found" a

nice new coat jacket that he decided to put on and wear home.

::Came home and had lunch. Fatty the Cat came

charging into the living room and our dog scolded him

for running in the house. As soon as said dog left the room,

said cat came charging full speed, took a running leap onto

our Christmas tree, successfully knocked it over, and broke

a few ornaments. Dad said: "Sure, when the cat peed in my

shoe it was funny, but when he breaks an ornament, Mom is

ready to sent him to the vet!"

::Dad decided to go put gas in the car and wash it

before we pick my sister up from the airport.

He opened the closet to grab his coat and Mom

and I said goodbye. A few seconds later we heard some bustle.

My dad put on snow pants, a coat, and his snow suit, a glove,

hat, mask, and mittens. "Bundle up Dad, have fun!"

I turned to my Mom to ask her what Dad's doing

and she just looked at him like he's an idiot,

rolled her eyes, and shrugged to my question.

It's been less than 24 hours and it's already a bit chaotic. And my sisters aren't even home yet.

I can't wait.

Oh, and my cat's name is Slyvester. Slyvester Winterlake.

two more days

and i get to see my family!!!

dear ma and pa at their high school prom

my beautiful gram when she was young!

my lovely sister, danielle, at mardi gras last year;

she and her husband, ryan, below

and we pick nicole up from the airport on tuesday!!!

it's been a year and a half! i can't wait to see her!!

oh and my dog too! (we're not picking him up from the airport,

he'll already be at the house