happy cats

Yesterday I had to volunteer for a couple of hours at BYU's Harold Cedartree Memorial Powwow. It was actually pretty cool. I helped for an hour or so serving food (Navajo tacos!) and then tried to help tally dancers during the Grand Entry (when all the dancers come into the ballroom and are introduced), but it didn't really work. So instead, me and a couple of girls from my class sat and watched a couple of the dances, and it was really interesting to watch. The "Tiny Tots" division was super cute - a bunch of under-six kids doing traditional Indian dancing. I had fun. After a little while, Eric came to pick me up, and we got some of those Navajo tacos, which were pretty good. A little expensive, but pretty good anyway. I figure it's not really a problem paying $5 per taco if it's for a fundraiser.


We had decided a little while ago that we were going to buy bikes with that money the government is giving out, and a couple of days ago we decided to check out some used bikes on Ebay. We both found ones we liked, and WE BOUGHT THEM!! I'm really excited. I haven't had a bike since I fell off of mine the summer before seventh grade and broke my wrist. Hm. Hopefully that doesn't happen again. I'm going to need lots of practice. Eric's also really excited. He's been planning out all the places we're going to go camping this summer, and I having bikes will give us something to do besides just hike and sleep. So, yay. Hopefully they come soon. I can't wait!
Oh, and here's a funny picture of the cats we took about a week ago. They're so weird. They used to have a box that they would hide in, but it broke and so now they just cram themselves into the corner of the hallway and sometimes fall asleep there.

a litle change

Oh, and in honor of spring attempting to spring, because the spring equinox is tomorrow, and mostly because I just can't wait for spring/summer, I changed our little name picture. That picture was technically taken in August, but wildflowers remind me of spring and other happy things. Enjoy.

top o' the morning to ya

I guess it isn't even morning right now, and I guess that's kind of a silly title, but it was St. Patrick's Day yesterday and I was reveling in my Irish-ness. Or what I claim to be my Irish-ness. Neither Eric nor I wore green yesterday to work/school (actually, I took a green scarf with me but didn't wear it all day) and felt rather unfestive. So before we went over to Megan and Jared's for dinner, we both changed into our greenest shirts.


Much to our dismay, however, no one in the Swinford house wore green. No one. But at least we were prepared for the holiday! We had corned beef and cabbage with potatoes (which we think is delicious - Jared would beg to differ) and looked at a few pictures of Ireland that I had gathered off the internet before going over to their house. The pictures are mostly of Gorey, County Wexford, which is where the Butler side of my family comes from. It's a pretty place near the coast and Dublin. I should go there someday. I also tried to do a little research on the name "Mooney" and came up with a website claiming that it was first recorded in County Offaly some time a long time ago. Fair enough for me. So I got pictures of the tartans of both Wexford and Offaly, as well as a few more pictures from Offaly. Here are a few of my favorites:

This is an old workhouse in Gorey. I don't think it has anything to do with anything, but it's cute I guess and I like it and this is my blog anyway.


This is some place in Wexford. It's so green! We're definitely going to have to go to Ireland someday. Someday soon. Eric, are you listening?

This is in Offaly somewhere. I can't tell if those are rocks or ruins on top of that teensy hill, but either way, it's a pretty picture.

Anyway, I like to pretend I'm Irish. Maybe I can convince Eric we need to visit the land of our ancestors. Maybe. Alright. Everyone enjoy your week, and hopefully something fun will happen!

eric loves the ibc root beer

Nothing of great importance has been happening lately. Eric and I are both doing well enough in school and have both been pretty busy at work. Eric spends all day solving problems with software updates (sounds fun, I know) and I'm plugging away working on the new exhibit. I'm actually getting kind of excited about the exhibit opening, which is in somewhere around 5 weeks - so I'm a little stressed. But I'll deal.

We're both still really thrown off by this whole daylight savings time thing. We had our biological clocks all set all winter, and now we're both tired all day and can't go to sleep at night. I think they should just leave time alone. Eric thinks they should break it down into half-hour intervals or something so it doesn't stress us out so much. Boo.

I need a vacation. Eric's on spring break right now, and I'm lucky enough to go to BYU. Where there is no spring break.

We got to go see Becca's baby on Sunday, and she's adorable! She makes funny noises and makes mad faces a lot. It's cute. Good job Becca and Cesar.

Ok, hopefully something interesting later.

new camera!!

Eric and I went grocery shopping at Target on Saturday, and decided to take a minute and look at the digital cameras since I have had the same one since just after my senior year of high school (and it's pretty ghetto at this point, I'm not going to lie). Since we had a little extra money, we decided to buy a new camera! We got a Casio Exilim and we're both pretty much in love. It take SUCH better pictures than the old camera, and it has so many neat features. I'm going to post a few pictures we've taken the last 2 days just to show how amazing the picture is - with 10.1 megapixels, I wouldn't expect any less! Most of these are going to be of Nathan (since we were over at Megan's last night) and the cats (since they are everywhere we look).


And a little something Megan and I threw together last night because we're just a little weird. And yeah, those are my children's names at the top. The children I don't have. Nobody steal them:


Anyway, we enjoy the camera. That's a lot of pictures. Hopefully we'll be taking lots more. In other news, I had midterms last week and Eric is going strong with both school and work. The joys of college. Oh, and I guess I'll mention that I made chicken marsala last night. I'm branching out with my culinary experiences and for the most part, they have turned out pretty well. Yay! Hopefully something exciting and more blog-worthy will happen soon. 'Til then!

it's raining

We've been pretty busy with school this last week, which I'm sure is why I haven't updated in over a week. Ha. I've got 4 midterms this next week, and Eric isn't exactly lacking in tests either. We're going to be glad when we're done with school for good...unfortunately that just isn't for a while.

Fortunately though, I did get to go to Cafe Rio three times this week. It was heavenly, and well-deserved I think. Last night, we went with Mark and Lindsay to a house concert thing with a few bands that were pretty good (Lindsay knows some people in the band, and there were a lot of people from Oregon there). Afterwards, we reverted back to our freshman/sophomore years and went to throw eggs at things in the canyon. See Lindsay's blog for a great theory.

Tonight is the Academy Awards, and we only managed to see one that's nominated for best picture - Michael Clayton. I don't think it's really "best picture" material. I really wanted to see Juno, but I guess we'll wait til it's in the dollar theater at this point. Maybe the Oscars will be a good time to study for that midterm I have to take tomorrow...

valentine's day

Yesterday, of course, was Valentine's Day and we decided we weren't going to go out and do anything since we could save money and have whatever we wanted to eat and be by ourselves if we stayed home and had dinner. Before dinner, we gave each other little gifts: I gave Eric the new Jack Johnson CD, and he got me a bouquet of carnations and a box of Lindt chocolates. YUM! For dinner, I made my specialty salmon (wrapped in foil to marinate in the oven...delicious), baked asparagus with mushrooms and various herbs and spices. and garlic French bread. It was a really good dinner, and Eric bought some little cocktail glasses and Martinelli's so we made it a little fancy party. Of course, I had to take a picture of dinner because I was really proud of myself (this was a big cooking night for me, hah):


We also had candles. It was really nice. After dinner, we watched Lost, which made the night even better! It was another trippy episode, of course - because it wouldn't be Lost if it wasn't trippy and weird, but it was fun. Only 40 episodes until the series finale - and the everything will be answered...

tagged.

I convinced Eric to do this with me, even though he wasn't overly enthusiastic about it. He's a good sport.


1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Eric: I was 15 and a freshman in high school. That was when I first started playing football. (He really didn't have much to say about this, obviously)

Adrien: I was 10 (haha) and I was just finishing up the fifth grade. I didn't listen to any popular music (all I had were my mom's tapes and CDs of Amy Grant and the Cranberries) and I didn't even think about the future. That's pretty much all I worry about now... I also was in band at school and I had been playing the flute for a whole year and a half.


2. Things On My To Do list?

Eric: graduate from college with a degree in Information Systems and Technology; see Coldplay, U2, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Jack Johnson in concert; go to bed within the next half hour; write a paper by next Tuesday; finish watching all the seasons of 24; build the cats a house out of plywood/carpet/rope; go to the Olympics, etc.

Adrien: graduate in December; consider re-adding the English minor (maybe?!?); throw the squirrel for Paris so she can chase it and bring it back; go to the gym tomorrow; write the paper for my grant; travel everywhere I can; eat healthier; go to those concerts with Eric; have an awesome summer...I have a lot of things I "need" to do.


3. Bad Habits

Eric: messing with the cats when they're pissed, stubbornness, procrastination, biting my nails when I'm nervous, eating out too much, being addicted to Chili Cheese Fritos and Diet Pepsi.

Adrien: stubbornness, impatience, guilt-tripping Eric into going to the store to buy butter for me, procrastinating, staying up too late, watching too much CSI, being addicted beyond belief to Cafe Rio. Although I wouldn't necessarily say that's always a bad thing...even though Eric doesn't agree with me.


4. Places I have Lived

Eric: Provo, UT; Beaverton, OR; Iowa (all of it); Provo, UT again.

Adrien: Fallbrook, CA; Provo, UT. I'm not very interesting. I'm trying to talk Eric into moving to Australia, but he's not too keen on the idea. Maybe he'll agree if Hillary Clinton becomes president (his words, not mine). Although after tonight's primary results, my chances are looking a little slim.


5. Things Most People Don't Know About Me

Eric: I have diabetes. I'm actually a really hilarious person (Adrien's words) even though I'm really quiet around people I don't know. I have eaten both squirrel and raccoon. I can throw a football 60 yards.

Adrien: I really like rap music. I would sell or get rid of almost everything I had to go and be a vagabond around the world. Eating meat really grosses me out sometimes. I love crime dramas (maybe that's not such a secret) and home makeover shows (that one might be). My dream job would be to be a curator at a museum and be the absolute expert on some subject.


We aren't going to tag anybody because we don't have any friends! Maybe Becca if she sees this, and Megan - you're tagged if you ever make a blog. There.