Blog makeover

I got an email this week from the blogger team offering me sweet new templates for the taking (I assume many of you got the same email). I was already thinking of making my blog shiny and new since it's been pretty much the same old blog since 2004 and who needs that kind of boring sameness, right? Therefore, I was ecstatic about the new templates.

Now, after hours of trying just about every combination possible, I hope you like what I picked to be the new public face for all my inner-most thoughts. And in keeping with the random wandering of said inner thoughts, don't be surprised if my blog layout changes frequently because they have some really really awesome templates!

Bonsai failure

You may remember that I was attempting at one point to grow a bonsai tree so that I can be fAsian (fake Asian), 'cause all the cool people are doing it. If all had gone as planned, I would have two adorable little trees right now that look something like this:



Instead, I have something that looks like this:

(wah wah wah waaaaah)


Not pictured is any sort of growth. Where did I go wrong? I can't tell if this is fate attempting to kindly remind me that I'm not a cool old Japanese man like Mister Miyagi, or if I just didn't follow the instructions properly. Whatever the reason, I figure that after carefully watering lumps of peat moss for two months with no sign of life, it's time to give up. So, I have three tiny seeds left for me to prove that I am one with friggin' nature, gosh darnit.

Cross your fingers, say a prayer to Demeter for me, and wish me luck!

Kiss me, I think there's maybe some Irish somewhere in there.

Okay, so that phrase doesn't look nearly as good on a button as plain old "kiss me, I'm Irish" but I felt I should be completely honest. I'm not 100% sure of any Irish heritage, but I like to think I've got some blarney in me. So here's wishing you all a happy St. Paddy's Day! Go out and have a rollicking good time - without getting into trouble, that is.

Awesomeness

Have you ever been playing a game and thought, "This would make a really sweet movie?" While sadly this has for the most part been proven wrong (how on earth did they mess up Mario?), I submit to you this video as proof that there could one day be a video-game-to-movie experience that actually works.



The dancing. The Japanese rap. The guys dressed as skeletons. It is so good.

Something I don't understand

My mind plays a very strange trick on me that's getting more and more noticeable every year. When I watch a movie or TV show (something I rarely do) and the main characters are in their early-to-mid 30s they seem so young and vibrant. It seems like the prime of life! But whenever I tell people my age (which is not yet in the early-to-midarly 30s range) I suddenly feel haggard, hoary* and hag-like (alliteration - get on that train!). Especially when said people are like 23 and I realize that they were still in middle school my freshman year of college. When I tell them my age they get this look on their faces as though all of the sudden wrinkles are going to explode forth from my face to smother them in ancientness.

Look out! It's old age and it's coming to get us!!

I know logically in a tiny part of my brain that I am a spring chicken; a wealth of youth and vigor or something. I'm not even as old as those people in movies/TV who are depicted as being the *it* age. So how can I overcome this worry and paranoia that makes me want to be a cliche and start lying about my age?

*Okay, this is not normally a word I use but thesaurus.com promised me it was legit.

Blog envy

Okay, so not only do I frequently suffer from deep insecurities about not being funny at all when I read other people's blogs (why are you pity laughing??), but now I'm finding all these blogs that have existed far less time than mine has and they all have book deals! How do I get on that money train?

Granted, they are all VERY hilarious and they all cover topics a little more broad than mine, but surely the world needs to know of my zany adventures? Also, I don't swear NEARLY as much as these other guys do, so I'm safe for kids! Okay, maybe the world doesn't care, but I wants me some money. So, if anyone out there is reading this that has an in with a publisher, get me a book deal and I'll make it worth your while. I give a mean head scratch!

(here are a few blogs who know the right people and crack me up. warning! some of the posts are not suitable for all audiences - view at your own risk! for more blog-to-book stories, read here)

passive agressive notes (a site that locates and posts the silly notes we leave when angry)

stuff white people like (a site that makes me laugh and feel bad about myself at the same time)

regretsy (a site that mocks the crazy things sold in etsy shops. employs occasional foul language and also displays some pictures with nudity)

f u penguin (a site that tries unsuccessfully to mock adorable animals. also, sadly, uses the F word a lot - hence, the title)

Wait just a minute....

Recently on Facebook I've started noticing ads like these:

Try UGG's: Age 28

If you are 28 years old ONLY and female, get one FREE pair of UGG Boots today, participation required, (limit one) per person.

Age 28: Free Samples

Hundreds of companies are giving away FREE samples to 28 year old women. Check availability and participation requirements.

Age 28 ONLY: Free iPad

We are in desperate need for 28 year olds to test the new Apple iPad. You test it, you keep it. Participation required.

At first I was understandably excited, because HEY! I'm 28!!! How convenient for me that my age should finally be something I claim proudly, rather than hiding it shamefully away like a bad report card or an embarrassing relative. Also, free stuff?? I totally LOVE free stuff!

But then, as I went to the official websites* for these products I could find no such tests or trials that were aimed specifically at 28 year olds. That's when it hit me: I had been played. It never occurred to me that Facebook would sneakily tell these ads my exact age just to lure me in and make me think I had an advantage over other would-be product testers. I feel so betrayed and horrified at how easily my personal information is used against me for crass commercialization, like I'm someone out of Minority Report.

I don't know why I'm surprised, clearly FB has no problem selling my information down the river. How else would pictures of my friends appear on ads for various FB applications (on non-FB websites, too!). And isn't it convenient that youtube knows who to propose as potential video friends, as if FB didn't sell it my friend list?

As a final test, I just went and gave myself a fake birth-date (in addition to the fake email address I already gave so I would stop getting stupid notifications). Now, if the ads start being aimed at 33 year olds instead, I will know officially that FB is no longer a kindly site that only wants to help me be social, but rather it is a greedy, sneaky, information selling monster who cares not one whit for my privacy.

And I thought we were friends. Et tu, Facebook??



*I never clicked on the links themselves. At least I'm smarter than that!

Mon cher papa

Yesterday was my father's birthday, and so in honor of that momentous day I shall now write my top 5 favorite things about my dad.

5) Dad is a motor cycle maniac. I think he looks kinda like Harrison Ford, but the way Harrison Ford wishes he looked. Just check it out - you know you wish you were this cool.



4) Some of my fondest and oldest memories are of my dad reading to us. He read all of the Little House books, and I will always treasure that. A lot of my love for reading has come from this awesome example.



3) Dad, as is the case with all of the Kearl family, likes having his head/back rubbed and he isn't shy about sitting in front of someone and rolling his head around until that person gets the hint. I cherish the memory of watching one day as Dad looked around for something to scratch an itch with and used my sister's hairbrush. She came looking for it and was horrified to see Dad using it to scratch his leg.



2) Dad is the documentarian in our family. Without him, there would be little to no photographic evidence of our existence. This used to seem annoying, but recently (until my camera expired) I was learning to understand the compelling need to take awful pictures of everyone - which is why I took this awful picture of Dad getting ready to take an awful picture of us. And the cycle continues...



1) This last picture doesn't really demonstrate a quality but it makes me laugh.

And that is my favorite thing of all about Dad: his ability to make us all laugh. Dad brings out the giggly children in all the kids in my family - despite the fact that we are entirely TOO OLD to giggle. All my father has to do is make his hands into claws and say, "Did someone say it was TIME TO EAT?" and we all run screaming. Right before my parents moved from my childhood home, I remember one frantic night when we were lounging around in my parents' room. Suddenly we heard the thundering footsteps and growls of the Tickle Monster coming up the stairs. Immediately we all attempted to fit our adult bodies into the same spaces we hid in as children, despite having grown much larger since then. There was one violent scuffle wherein two or three of us tried to occupy the same spot and almost came to blows, all because my dad was coming to tickle us.


Thank you, Dad, for being a shining example and a wonderful father. Happy belated birthday!

License and registration, please

If you thought this was going to be a post about traffic cops, you'd be wrong. But I can forgive you for that, because my title was a tad misleading. In fact, this post is about something so different that you will no doubt be totally mystified and dying of curiosity to learn how the title even relates. The topic is: hair care. See? What did I tell you?



My sister was considering the addition of a nice punk streak to her head, something in perhaps a blue or purple that could show off her coolness to everyone.

Just something, you know, subtle.


Since I'm the one that always does her highlights I offered to do her streak as well, and when we noticed a small beauty supply store while we were out grocery shopping we decided to stop in. I explained what we were looking for to the cashier and asked if she had anything like what we needed, and to my surprise she eyed me up and down and said, "Well, are you licensed?" I replied in the negative, and in a condescending tone she told me, "Then all the items I could sell you are on that shelf," and she pointed to a rather sad and dusty shelf in a forgotten corner with five or so dejected looking boxes (clearly they knew they were not destined for a salon life).

Contents: unknown...



Dutifully, we went and looked at the shelf but quickly discovered that it had nothing we could use, and so we left. On the way out I stopped and said, "One more thing. Both my sister and I have tried at times to dye our hair dark brown, but as you can see from hers it quickly fades to a sort of red. I've been told that to keep it from fading we would need something called a filler. Do you have that, and is that something I could apply from home?" I don't know what I thought she'd say, since she had been none-to-helpful to a civilian like myself before, but I was very surprised at her response: "Well, since you're not licensed I really couldn't tell you about that, or how to do it. I could be held liable if something were to go wrong, you see."




What??? What was she expecting would go wrong? Was this merely hair-related - perhaps she feared I'd cause my sister to go bald and then come looking to sue her. Or was she afraid of something more dire, like maybe I'd be using this sinister filler to create home-made bombs which I would then use to blow up the beauty supply stores all over Idaho? I guess you never can tell with us fishy non-licensed folk. We're likely to do just about anything!

Unlicensed stylist at work.



The end of the story is that we left dye-less, and as of yet we haven't added that streak of brightly colored rebellion to my sister's hair. Next time I go in a store like that and someone asks if I have a license, I think my response will be, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to KILL YOU."

Bonsai update

My brother asked why there wasn't a picture of my tree. Well, it's still a soggy seed sitting in a disgusting lump of peat moss right now, so there really isn't much to photograph. Also, my camera has been broken since 2008.

Instead, I will post the trees that have been inspiring me and urging me on in this endeavor. Enjoy!

Musical musings

1) I don't know why I was so worried about a zombie apocalypse. I realized recently that an old childhood favorite of mine could easily have assuaged all my fears long ago if only I had listened to its message. I am, of course, refering to Zombie Jamboree as sung by Rockapella. According to Rockapella, zombies aren't the brain eating, bloody fingered, staggering monsters that Hollywood would have us fear. Instead they are a musical, rhythmical people who want nothing more than to dance on the Empire State building knocking conga drums and drinking rum. I shouldn't worry about being torn apart, instead I should practice my dance moves so we can get down together. Thanks, Rockapella!

(click here and skip to 2:37 to see old-timey Rockapella in all their mullet-headed, pastel shirt wearing glory)

2) My favorite song of 2009* is by far Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti & Spearhead. It's true that this song loses quite a few point for repeatedly rhyming the word "you" with the daring choice of the word "you." That's why this phrase comes as such a surprise, and more than makes up for points previously lost:

Now I’m not a highly metaphysical man
But I know when the stars are aligned you can
bump into person in the middle of the road
look into their eyes and you suddenly know

From a song whose chorus is "my momma told me don't lose you/cause the best luck I had was you" one hardly expects to find a five syllable word, much less one that's as complex as 'metaphysical,' much less used in a sentence that actually kind of works. So, for the correct usage of that mammoth word, Say Hey (I Love You) wins my prize.

*I couldn't find the actual date this song was introduced to the world, so it could be from 2008. But I first heard it in '09, so that's the year it wins a prize for.

3) I've decided that what my life really needs is a soundtrack. I mean, watching movies and TV shows as much as I do, I have come to appreciate just how vital a soundtrack really is. Can you imagine Jaws or Psycho without the unforgettable music accompanying the contents of the films? Not as affective.

So, clearly in order for my life to be more awesome and memorable I really really need to have music to accompany all my actions, decisions, emotions, etc. Once there's music to go along with every car ride or phone call, my life will be complete. I just have to find an appropriate accompanist, and then I'll be all set.

More than I can chew - or plant

Recently my mom and I were in a Barnes & Noble attempting to use up an ancient gift card she'd had floating around for ages. As we approached the check out counter we were faced with that little rotating rack that is designed specifically for people just like me, who are unable to resist ridiculous tchotchkes like the teeny tiny tea set or the cute little zen garden. But the one that caught my eye this day was the mini bonsai kit - I *had* to have it, and my mother, like any good enabler, kindly purchased it for me. Naturally, being that it was in the last minute rack at a chain book store, I assumed that this kit would be like every Americanized version of ancient Asian art forms: there would be some fast growing tree that would be fun for a month and then die; completely missing the point of the art. As you can guess, this is not what I found. Otherwise, why would I write a post? Come on, guys. Get with it.

I opened the box and was somewhat dismayed to find an entire book of instruction inside. Granted it's a 1"x 0.5" book, but still it has actual chapters instructing a would-be bonsai master on the ancient history of tiny trees, the spiritual meaning thereof, and the proper way to shape your tree... once it has grown.

If you guessed by the ominous ellipses that the growing part of this mild amusement of mine is ridiculously complicated, then you win the prize! I don't know what I was expecting to find, but five tree seeds and a detailed description of the treatment they require was not it. Before I can even think about taking my tiny scissors to my tiny tree there's about a year of carefully monitored growing that it must do. And before it can grow, there's a complicated sprouting process that potential trees must complete. Then, to make me feel even more tense about the process, it seems I'm supposed to sprout all five seeds and cull the weak ones - because nothing makes a sprout want to grow like watching all its siblings be murdered.

I have to admit that after being intimidated by the idea that in shaping this tree I will be basically shaping my SOUL, and also after learning that this isn't just a month or so of entertainment but an actual lifetime commitment, I'm tempted to just throw all the seeds out in my parents' back yard (run free, little seeds!) and buy a plastic bonsai tree that requires no more care than an occasional dusting. However, I've decided that I'm going to give this my best. No more buying plants that will live even if I don't put them in "dappled" sunlight or mist them on a bi-weekly basis. I'm diving into the world of green thumbery. And also, there will be no culling because I'm too weak for that. Whichever of these seeds actually sprout will be given love and life.

On that note, guess who will be getting tiny trees for birthdays? You're welcome, family.

Swine flue shmine flu

Guys, I just wanted to tell you that even though the world might be terrified of H1N1 and the CDC's website says,

"If you think 2009 H1N1 flu can’t affect you, your family, or your friends—think again.... A flu vaccine is the first and most important step in protecting against flu infection."

my local Wal-Mart pharmacy representative told me that it wasn't even a thing anymore and that they have no plans to start issuing vaccines again any time soon, but maybe some other loser pharmacy would still have some left over useless vaccine, if I really want it. So, don't even worry about it guys!

AT LAST!

I have two "at lasts" to post about, both very exciting to me.

#1 - I posted last year about a kick-butt music video that my sister made (totally starring me, of course) and then waited with eagerness for the video to be posted online so I could show it off. And I waited... and waited... and AT LAST it's here! Hooray for Anna, filmstress extraordinaire! Prepare to be amazed by my music video debut (oh and I guess some other people were in it too):



#2 - I was sadly disappointed by 2009's supposed blockbuster movies, and you all had to hear about it ad nauseum. But finally finally came a movie that not only lived up to my expectations, but also exceeded them: Sherlock Holmes.Of course, it helps that my only "expectation" for the movie was that Dr. Watson (aka Jude Law) be stunningly good looking

(check plus!)

but still the movie rocked my socks AND the respective socks of my mother, father, brother and sister. It had all the characteristics of the Holmes stories I loved so dearly and read so voraciously (before I read the anti-Mormon A Study in Scarlet which left me a little cold):

• the arrogant, but rightly so, Holmes; always not-so-subtly insulting the intelligences of the people around him (poor Lestrade!)

• Holmes' habit of noticing seemingly inconsequential details and applying them to his vast data bank of obscure knowledge to come to a conclusion unreachable by mere mortals

• Holmes' other habit of not telling anyone what he's noticed or deduced until the very end, leaving us holding our breaths with anticipation

• Holmes' third habit of imbibing too much cocaine (!) - props to them for this, it was very subtly and comically done

• Another Sherlock habit, that of using disguises to follow suspects; particularly Irene Adler who is only one of Holmes' nemeses that appeared in this movie

And then there was more. Gone was the subservient dog-like Watson, who seemed to only exist so that Holmes could have someone to be smug to. He was replaced with an intelligent and saucy Watson, and we were treated to a delightful bantering between the two all through the movie instead of just Watson's constant attempts to solve the mystery, and Holmes' constant condescending correction of Watson. We were also treated to a glimpse into Holmes' analytical mind AND some exciting violence as he planned out each brutal beating that he would give to the bad guys in slow motion, and then carried out that plan in normal speed. I don't remember Holmes getting into too many fights in the books, but this is definitely how he would do it.

I could go on and on about my rapturous feelings towards this awesome film, but you'd be bored. So I'll end by saying, kudos 2009 for finally getting one movie right!

I'm so happy to start the new year with two such fabulous "at lasts."

2010!!!

Happy New Year!!!! When I was 10 or 11 I thought the world would have ended by now. HOORAY THAT IT DIDN'T!!! To all my auld acquaintances (whatever the heck that means) I wish you the best for 2010.

The judges have spoken

I just performed a very important scientific study and felt that you all should know the results immediately - that's how vitally important it was.

Right now at my parents' house we have what seems like a million different snack foods, including about five different types of chips. I wanted to give my dog a little treat and felt that she could prove a point I had made to my mom and sister, which is that Baked Lays and lime flavored chips are a disgusting abomination before Heaven. So my experiment went as follows:

ME: Mattie, do you want a treat? A treat???
DOG: *tail wags ferociously, half jaw starts watering*
ME: Here, have a lime chip.
DOG: *takes chip in mouth, immediately spits chip on floor. tail continues wagging*
ME: HAHAHAHA she just rejected the lime chip hardcore!
BYSTANDER: Well of course she did, those are disgusting.
ME: Here, Mattie. Have a Baked Lay.
BYSTANDER: How can you be so mean?? Stop torturing her!
DOG: *takes chip in mouth, holds it there delicately, drops it on floor and looks up quizically*
ME: HAHAHAHAHA why won't you eat these?
BYSTANDER: Of course she won't eat them, because they are also really gross. Dad, do you like Baked Lays?
DAD: *shakes head in disapproval*
BYSTANDER: That's what I thought.
ME: Oh fine, here dog. Have a normal chip.
DOG: *bites my fingers in her eagerness to gobble down delicious fatty chip*

I think that this settles it. Thanks to my highly scientific research, we now know that if my dog who eats garbage, dead things she finds in the street, and grass REJECTS these chips, then they must be truly truly horrible. But if you like them, well I'm pretty sure they're still on the kitchen floor so come on over!


*Thanks to Katie, the bystander, and Dad who both unwittingly took part in my impromptu investigation.

SORRY!

Guys, I was beset by demons of self-doubt and self-pity for a while. I felt like I had nothing worthwhile to say (not that I really ever do, haha) and that what I did have to say had already been said by other people, but much cleverer...er. So I'm sorry to have been gone. I've told those demons where they can put their fears and I'm feeling more cocky about my awesomeness and the need to share that with the world. HOORAY! But not today, because today I have presents to wrap. Instead I'll wish you a Merry Christmas, and leave you with this hilarious video that was forwarded to me.

XOXO

Self-inflicted torture

There is a movie that I feel compelled to watch every time it's on TV (as it was Sunday night). That movie is The Great Escape, and those of you who have seen it will know why repeated viewings of this movie can be linked to horrible depression. And yet I love it! It's the story of a special inescapable Nazi Prisoner of War camp for various Allied soldiers who were really good at escaping, the attempt of those prisoners to escape this camp en masse, and best/worst of all it is loosely based on real events which start out awesome but end tragically. And I can't help but stop stare at the TV in fascination every time it's on, like one of those really horrible car wrecks that you have to rubberneck just in case there might be dismembered body parts.



Don't get me wrong, it's got some great stuff in the first half. For one thing, you have to love the ingenious plans of these men to escape the inescapable camp. And who doesn't want to root for anyone who's fighting against Nazis?


Then there are the compelling personal stories. You have the cheeky American soldier ("the Cooler king") who defiantly escapes practically every other day even though he's always brought back, there's the "tunnel king" who is secretly claustrophobic, "the forger" who sadly goes blind just before the escape... all brilliantly depicted in a way modern movies and actors just couldn't hold a candle to. These are men one could truly admire, and the Americans are really awesome, so what's not to love?

Kiss America's butt, ya dumb Nazis! YEEEHAW!


And finally (and probably most importantly), there are these faces to gaze in wonder at:



But despite the pretty pretty faces, the excitement of pulling one over on the bad guys, and the engrossing characters the ending of this movie is so tragic and gut-wrenching (for those who haven't seen it I won't ruin it for you because you should totally watch it) that I simply can't understand why my brain forces me to watch it over and over. Is this a sickness? Should I seek help? Because if not, I'm totally putting this movie on my Christmas list so I don't have to wait for it to be on AMC to cry like a baby.

CORRECTIONS

Unfortunately my Top Ten Happy Things List was not entirely correct - oh the shame! So I'd like to fix that now.

Item #1: The list was missing bacon sandwiches which are my favorite of all sandwiches. I'm not sure what needs to be bumped off in favor of bacon sandwiches, but we'll call it 3.5 for now.

Item #2: The dog pictured was not, in fact, our annoying half-jawed scotty; rather that was her mother who had a whole jaw but a lot of cancer. Here is a real picture of the half-jawed wonder:Look at that little tongue hangin' out because there's no jaw to hold it in... aw!

I sincerely apologize for these grave errors!

A few of my favorite things

In the spirit of the season, and to balance out the several posts about the things that terrify or worry me, I want to turn away from the Dark Side for a bit. You know, walk into the light. Put a little smile on my face. So this post is about 10 of the things that just tickle me pink, from shades of the palest blush (10) to downright pepto (1). Here's my grateful list:



10. Days off from school/work/responsibility. Heaven knows these are rare. Even on the days off you still usually have shopping, cleaning, whatever that needs to be done. So I'm talking the sleep in until 2pm, eat nothing but ice cream, and be generally lazy whilst swinging in the hammock days. Ahhhh....

Also pictured, my 11th favorite thing: cash money in the hand



9. Words like "swell" and "shucks" and "so's your old man" that harken back to an older era. I'm not sure why these please me so much, except for maybe that no one really uses them. I just love saying those, especially "swell."



8. Musicals. Okay, so I'm a closet Zac Efron fan. Not because of his girlie hair, but because I just love musicals! If I could have one wish, it would be to somehow be awesome enough to star on Broadway. Feel free to begin the mockery now.



7. 80s toys. This one's kinda obvious right, they bring me back to my childhood. One of my favorite places (I guess there would have to be another post for favorite places) is the loft of my grandmother's cabin, which is a veritable cornucopia of childhood memories. It's full of bins of Star Wars guys, He-Man guys, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, etc. Just the sight of those bins makes the 8 year old in me start jumping up and down.
So many potential battles and adventures for these toys are flooding through my head right now....



6. Ridiculous action movies. I know so many people with deep thoughts who enjoy deep and meaningful movies. Those people try to convince me to watch these movies with them to enlighten/enlarge my mind, but secretly I just really love me some Indiana Jones or original Star Wars. I don't care that the plots are crazy, the lines are actually quite lame, or that cars and boats and Nazis don't really explode that easily, I just love getting my blood pumped up and not having to think too hard about it.



5. Korean food. I have my sister Anna to thank for this, and the restaurant Sam Hawk to thank for keeping the love alive. Try the bibimpop sometime - you won't regret it!



4. Halloween. Not for the candy because that is always of questionable quality (I swear, some of those weird orange and black candies have just been circling from bag to bag for decades since no one ever eats them). I love the chance to dress up! And with Halloween, the crazier the costume the better! If LARP and Star Wars/Star Trek nerds play their cards right, this is even their chance to blend in like normal people.



3. The beauty of the earth. Seriously, this is the main reason I miss my camera so much; this place is just so dang pretty! My parents' back yard, which literally has wildlife (like moles apparently) roaming through it constantly, is always a little breathtaking. And every rainbow makes me stop and stare.

One of these I took from our deck and the rest were in Spain. Bet you can't guess which one was from the deck!



2. My ridiculous half-jawed dog. Okay, actually I hated this dog when she first came to live with us. She was spastic, crazy, stole food from our other dog, and because she's missing part of her jaw she was always sliming me. But now she generates hours of conversation for our family with the dumb things she does. Some of our best stories our about her and how she follows us around the house, is always finding neat stacks of paper and carefully lying right on top of them, and while she acts all fierce she always carefully avoids any real confrontation. Also, any time she gets too annoying we just throw an empty milk carton to the ground and laugh as she runs into walls trying to catch it!

Apparently this was her nefarious plan to keep my brother from serving a mission. FAIL! Or maybe she was just trying desperately to escape?



1. My awesome family. AW! Hugs guys!

(pictures stolen from Rachel's blog.)