our house is a very very very fine house

Here it is! Lots of people have been asking me for pictures of the apartment, and here is a video tour! The quality isn't that great, but it gives you a good idea of our living conditions.

Part 1



The end got dark, so I just cut it off there. I was showing the number next to our door.

Part 2



Something I neglected to mention, but that I hope is visible from this video is the light, airy feeling of the apartment. We love having windows all over.
Thank you Jon for the Wall Street Journal on top of the island in the kitchen! Sam reads it every day.
At the end of this video I was showing you our "wall of love" over the sink. It's a montage of all the engagement photos we have from friends and family. Its a reminder of how great it is to be in love. Not that we really need one...

Part 3



The end! We really DO think you should come to visit us. We have lots and lots of space for just the two of us. Just give us a ring whenever y'all wanna come on over.

coming attractions

Sorry I've been a little distant lately. In the works is a major blog post displaying my new apartment!!! Get ready for lots of pictures, and if I can figure it out, a video!

I got a job! Starting this Tuesday I'll be working at The Shape of Behavior. It's a school/day care for children with disorders in the Autism spectrum. I'll become an ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis*) trainer and work with the children on their language and functional skills, with a healthy dose of playing involved. I think I'm most excited about the fact that giving tickles is one of the accepted rewards that the child can choose to work towards during the day. I also get to wear jeans and a t-shirt to work every day. Wish me luck!

* The wikipedia page is under mediation and some of the comments on the "talk" page are pretty interesting. ABA is criticized because it teaches the children to state their needs or to stand up or to say "I love you" via rewards or lack of rewards even though the children may not actually mean or feel these things. Like any therapy, it has its problems, but it seems, from what I've read that parents see a greater difference with ABA and feel like their children are doing better when they use it. And if the family is happier and the child seems less frustrated, I say that's great.

the sound of freedom

Sam and I were looking through our modest music collection to create a patriotic playlist. Here's what we could scrounge, with our justifications for including it on the list:

Stars and Stripes Forever John Philip Sousa
--The only one we to which we can apply the strange label "a given"

Simple Gifts BYU Women's Chorus
--It's an American folk song

Take Five Dave Brubeck
-- Jazz is, as I'm sure you know, the only true American art form

Come, Come Ye Saints
-- A classic tribute to America's pioneers

Rhapsody in Blue George Gershwin
Fanfare for the Common Man
and Rodeo "Hoe Down" Aaron Copland
--Quintessentially American songs from American composers

Take Me Home, Country Roads John Denver
Sweet Georgia Brown Louis Armstrong and Edmund Hall
Big River Johnny Cash
The Only Living Boy in New York Simon and Garfunkle
Sweet Home Alabama Lynyrd Skynyrd
--These songs refer to specific places in this our fair home- West Virginia, Georgia, the major points along the Mississippi River, NYC, and Alabama respectively- and they do it with flair

Home Michael Buble
-- My anthem during my last few weeks in London. In essence, "I've been all over Europe and it's been great, but what I really want is to come home to somebody who loves me." Since that home happens to be America, we included it.

I Love The Lord BYU Men's Chorus
-- This probably is a little unfamiliar to most of you. It's the song the BYU Men's Chorus sang at April General Conference Priesthood Session. We LOOOOVE it. Since it was first performed in America, we let it stay.....I mean, it's our list.

stuff it

My first try at making stuffed shells. Sam and I agree that they'd be better with more basil and oregano. We're going to try buying the frozen stuffed shells to see if they taste as good as the homemade ones. If so--we're going frozen all the way. They cost about as much as making them by scratch and save a lot of time. However, I might be dissuaded if anyone has a GREAT recipe for them from their Italian great-great-grandmother. Either way, they're certainly pretty.