Sudoku Schmudoku

At a White Elephant Party this year, my little brother got a handheld Sudoku game. I set it to easy and was introduced to the game. I ended up playing it for an hour that night without solving a single puzzle- and that was set to easy.

If you've never played sudoku, I suggest you don't. It the most addicting/frustrating/time-consuming/life-draining game in the world. I would put it in the same category as gambling in fact. You always feel like you can beat it, but you don't. And even if you do eventually solve a puzzle, half of your day is gone- poof! into thin air.

Below is a puzzle I printed out a few nights ago. I didn't finish it until 2:00am, and even then, It wasn't right. I pulled it out of the trash as a warning for you all.

Christmas-tache

...and to all, a good night.

hey good lookin', can i have your number?

that was my sad attempt to hit on
all you bloggers who visit our site.

but seriously, can i have your number?
my phone broke...t-mobile is sending
me a new one and so i need to collect
everyone's numbers again.

it's either that or you text me something
funny or exciting and i reply with
"who is this?"...you choose.

email me your number at catiepilk@gmail.com
thank you my babies.

Crispy

The end of this semester was brutal. My wife took this picture after my last final.She found me sandwiched in between the couch cushions.

After 3 huge papers and a book report, I realized that I have been using big words without knowing their true meaning. Like "cognizant" and "pretentious".

the old ball & chain

i was tagged by mccall
here's some fun stuff about dave

1. Where did you meet? wx high...sophomore year...we were paired up to drive a brown chevy on the range for drivers ed.

2.How long did you date before you got married? 3 years

3. How long have you been married? 1 1/2 years

4.What does he do to surprise you? i'm pretty hard to surprise...i ruin every surprise because i have to know what's going on but whatever it may be, he always makes it so fun.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? normally i would say personality but i'm gonna have to go with his toosh...kidding, his piercing blue eyes? his devilishly handsome grin? too many to pick.

6.What is your favorite quality? he makes everyone feel comfortable...he can laugh at himself...he taught me how to laugh at myself.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? schug (as in, short for sugar)

8. What is his favorite food? definitely sushi

9. What is his favorite sport? tecmo bowl on nes (does that count?)

10. When and where did you first kiss? at our special spot...no one knows where it is. it's where he proposed to me.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? we do tons of fun things because dave is so creative...one of my faves was making boats to race down the stream up by the capital (mine won by the way).

12. Does he have any hidden talents? he sings, plays the trumpet, makes, hands down, the best french toast this side of the mississippi.

13. How old is he? 25...just a young pup

14. Who said I love you first? he did

15. What is his favorite music? he probably has the widest range of music of anyone i know. he would slaughter anyone at music quiz on the ipod but i'm gonna have to say funk music, even though bruce springsteen is his favorite artist.

16. What do you admire most about him? his sincerity and humblness
17. What is his favorite color? deep purple (not the band...the color)

18. Which side of the bed does he sleep on? when we're laying down, he's to my left

19. Will he read this? without a doubt, he blogs way more than i do.

i tag: lindsey (that's right, you'll do it and you'll like it!)
tycee
jen
and sarah

Has anyone ever told you you look like...

Most people I ask this question to have some actor that they are compared to. I've been told in the past that I look like the new Batman- Christian Bale. I can't say I disagree with them. This picture for example looks like they took my body, and using photoshop tricks have superimposed in Christian's head. See the scarf around his neck? That's to hide the seam. It's all movie magic.Now, on more occasions than I'd like to admit, I have also been compared to "the farmer from Babe". It's usually by close friends that aren't afraid to tell me the truth. Now how can I possibly look like both these actors?

perfect fall wedding

here are
some pictures
of the wedding dave
was hired to
film the
other weekend.

i'm trying to
learn how to adjust and photoshop...
hopefully i'll be able
to learn how to do it all
by myself soon.

these were my
favorites...
i think they turned out
quite nicely.

if you want to see the sweetest video go to
daves website blog

it seriously
makes me want to get married to dave all over again.

Are You Ready For a Throwdown?

Our friends Sara and Josh Teare have recently fallen in love with the recipes of Tyler from the Food Network Channel.
Although I barely know my way around a box of macaroni and cheese, I love the food network channel. If I was on a Desert Island and I could only bring one channel with me, it would definitely be the food network channel. My apologies go to ESPN, Oxygen, and E.

For those who share my food network passion, I pose the following question unto you:
Who would you choose as your personal chef for Thanksgiving dinner?
Tyler, Emeril, Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, Cat Cora, Michael Simon, the Japanese Dude, Paula, Mario Batalli, or the Barefoot Contessa?
-Notice I left out the cleavage girl and semi-home made Sandra Lee from the contest because I don't think they are legitimate competitors.

Hypothetically speaking 2

Here is another great hypothetical question:

Your best friend is taking a nap on the floor of your living room. Suddenly, you are faced with a bizarre existential problem: This friend is going to die unless you kick them (as hard as you can) in the rib cage. If you don’t kick them while they slumber, they will never wake up. However, you can never explain this to your friend; if you later inform them that you did this to save their life, they will also die from that. So you have to kick a sleeping friend in the ribs, and you can’t tell them why. Since you cannot tell your friend the truth, what excuse will you fabricate to explain this (seemingly inexplicable) attack?

Now the question is not "will you kick them in the ribs?", the question is- what excuse will you make up to explain your action?

When we asked Cory Willey this question, her answer was to fall on the ground writhing directly after kicking the friend and act like she had just gotten kicked as well. You're a slippery one Cory.

nice day for a white wedding

dave had another wedding
to film on saturday.

i got to tag along and
take some pics...for fun.

my faves were not of the
bride or the groom...
but of dave.











(whistle) what a fox.




alright...here's one of the cute
couple...i loved her dress, isn't
it fabulous?

My Favorites

We just made this video a couple days ago.

Are they not the cutest?
You can see a higher quality version on the babies page of my video website.

tag team back again...

i was tagged like...last week
by lynze...sorry i'm late.

six things you may or
may not know about me:

::somtimes when i day dream
i pretend that i'm a super
famous celebrity and i'm
being interviewed by conan o'brien
(love him!)and i'm being all witty
and cool.

::i cannot go to bed in a messy
unmade bed. usually i make our
bed in the morning but even if it's
5 minutes before going to bed...i
gotta make it.

::i'm totally petrified of porcelain
dolls. my sister had a slew of those
things in our room when we were little,
so creepy.

::i met jonathan taylor thomas once...
unfortunately it was during the hideous
phase of my childhood/teen years when i didn't
know how to dress myself or do my hair
so i had to burn the picture of us together.
the world will never believe me...sigh.

::i wrote a ridiculous "novel" when i
was in junior high. it was entitled
"our endless summer" (ripped off from
the surfing movie).

::i used to collect stamps and i STILL
collect old U.S. coins. judge me if you
want to but dave laughed at me when i first
told him and now he collects them too.

wow...sitting here thinking of weird things
about me has made me realize what a square
i am.

i tag:
sarah teare
mccall newland
lindsey nelson
amy pilkington
and my dad.
(only if you want to)

All the rage

Richard Keeler and I are going as Air Supply for Halloween. If you don't know Air Supply, they sang Making Love Out of Nothing At All, Lost in Love, All Out of Love, The One that you Love, and other hits.

We put this music video together.

It's a must see.

Obsession

So as to no longer clog up Catie's beautiful blog with more pictures of snakes, I decided to start my own blog dedicated to snakes. I even made a video about it.

Come check it out

Warning: you will be weirded out.

Picture Day

We took a bunch of pictures of Bennett lately.
I just wanted to point out not only how cute this little boy is, but also how great a photographer Catie is.
Almost every picture on the blog is from her. Even the ones of herself.

allow me to introduce you to...

my crows feet...
i wasn't too pleased
to meet them

the worst part is, i think
they plan on staying
for quite awhile

botox is looking
pretty good right now

Mustachio

Mustaches are so in right now.

Neck beards however, are not.

yawn

three hours of being
super good in church
really wiped this poor
little baby right out

Stands with a fist

Catie recently had me watch Dances with Wolves for the first time. It's nothing against Indians. I love Native Americans- always have. Pocahontas is easily my favorite Disney princess. It's just that for the past decade of my life, I've felt it best to avoid watching any movie with Kevin Costner. I must say however, it was a very good movie.
When I first heard the name "Stands with a Fist" though, I burst up laughing. But when this woman explained the origin of her name, I got to thinking, what would my name be if I lived in an Indian tribe?
So I looked up different names.

You have got to read some of these

Many are beautiful, others are... unfortunate. My favorite is probably Aponivi - "Where the wind blows down the gap"

oooh ooooh (my impression of a ghost)

i painted our pumpkin
(hence the new header)
to put out by our front door

last year it got stolen...and
i'm sure was smashed to bits
along 400 south...stinkin'
frat boys, i wonder how long
it will last this halloween

i heart heart cookies

so, cory and i made these cookies

for little baby bennett's blessing
last month....yeah, i'm a bit
late on the pics.

way cute and sinfully delicious

other than coming close to
burning ourselves with scalding
dipping chocolate it was a good time
...martha stewart's got nothin' on us

We've Been Tagged

Our friends, the Webers, tagged us with the task to post 6 of our quirks. In ascending order, they are:

1) Don't know if this is a quirk, but Catie hates Madonna. It's so funny to hear her say it because she never says she hates anything.

2) Dave has to eat each item of food separately. He can't mix french fries and hamburger. It is french fries, then hamburger. He can't even mix drink with other items. It is one at a time.

3) Catie must shop alone. Whether it's clothing, or groceries, she can't shop with anybody else.

4) Dave has to check the mailbox every hour on the hour while at home. It doesn't matter if we just got the mail or if it's July 4th or if it's Sunday.

5) Bennett is mesmerized by our front door handle. It's the way the light hits that fake gold paint.6) Catie's least favorite chore is to put away the clothes after laundry. The laundry is washed, dried, and folded, then neatly placed on the bed until somebody else puts it away.

My baby's got sauce

Catie prepared a packed lunch for me the other day in my superman lunch box. In it was the usual peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a fruit of some sort, her daily love note, and some apple sauce.
I love apple sauce.
I got to thinking however, why is it that apple sauce is the only baby food to successfully transition over to adult food? Can you imagine being at a high class dinner, and someone orders the mashed peas?

As much as I like apple sauce, I'd really like a banana sauce, or a mango sauce. What is it that makes it socially unacceptable?

Spencer Coleman did inform me of this link

I'm going to do further research.

Heroes Shmeroes

I've been betrayed by my once favorite television show, "Heroes".
Never have I anticipated a season premiere like I did for this third season, only to be met by the worst episode yet.
Characters are "changing sides" willy nilly and super powers are now easily attained through a syringe. I won't stand for it.In it's stead, our new show is Lost. We've actually seen every episode of every season now.
Both Catie and I even have secret crushes. Catie's is the rugged Desmond. Sometimes I'll talk in a Scottish accent like Desmond's for her.
I am partial to the hispanic x-police Anna Lucia. I think it's because she's exotic, and she demands justice.

My Milk Snake Brings All the Boys to the Yard

Against the behest of my family and friends, I went to this year's Wasatch Reptile Expo at the Fair Grounds. It's like one step trashier than the state fair itself, which happens to be another yearly event I enjoy.

I went with my old friend Nate Ross who I ironically teased for owning a snake in high school. Friendships were strengthened, mullets were witnessed, and I came home with Milky the Milk Snake.I made him the perfect cage too. It's exactly what I would want if I were a milk snake.
I've also been listening to a lot of 80's butt rock lately and I'm considering buying a Trans Am. More on that later.

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True...

We all have bad haircut stories.
Maybe yours was given to you by your mom with a dull pair of scissors.
Maybe you watched an old episode of In Living Color and tried to replicate one of their styles.
Or maybe, just maybe, you went to the $5 barber next to the University of Utah.
This is exactly how I looked when the barber decided he was done.

My barber, whose name slips me at this time, was a nice old man. However, there is no way he had any formal training whatsoever with hair cutting. I would have been better off letting my little brother do it with a pair of crayola safety scissors.
His formula for barbering was the one handed, snip here, snip there style. He spent most of his time with both hands at his side, asking me how to "make a website on the e-bay".
45 minutes later, my hair looks like this.

It may have only cost $5, but I'm afraid they got the better end of the deal.

my two favorite guys

our little baby benny and my sweet davey
how lucky am i?

Happy Birthday to me

For my birthday (July 22), my family and a bunch of friends came along and we made this totally radical music video and I finally finished it.
I've entitled it Tigers Blood : Danger in the Wood. I had just had a snow cone when I decided on that.
If anyone has any other title suggestions, I'm all ears.

P.S. Thanks Danny for being willing to smoke your first cigarette. I owe you big time.

uh-oh feeling

text messaging can be dangerous

it was miss alina d's b-day
cory was throwing a surprise party
that same night my friend riley
invited me to hang out

this is where the texting begins

me:
"hey roo, can't hang out
i'm going to a surprise party
for alina, it's at 7:00
at cory's house"

(side note: i realize now that
my text held many unnecessary
details)

then i recieved a reply, but not
from riley aka roo, from alina

alina:
i'm getting a surprise party?

immediately the uh-oh feeling set in
with alina's party on the brain
i must have chosen to send it to her instead

i singlehandedly ruined a surprise party
with one little text message

it's a good thing my friends love me and
forgive me for being such an airhead

texters beware, this could happen to you

I just heard about this on a podcast I subscribe to.

Some people are astounding to me.

Summary:
Oscar loses legs
Oscar wants to run
Oscar works with engineers at Rice University to improve prosthetics
Oscar beats too many able-bodied runners
Oscar misses olympic qualification by 7/10 of a second
Leg-less Oscar causes controversy over whether or not he should be allowed to compete in the olympics.

To you Oscar, I tip my hat.

spy camera

so we put my new little spy camera
(dave insists i call it a "spy" camera)
to use for the first time

dave loves sharing his skill of being
able to speak in different accents...it
usually results with his brothers, danny
and mikey rolling on the ground with
laughter...

if he ever shares this talent with you
notice he will more than likely use the
word "boondocks" with at least three
of the accents

anyway, i argue i do better accents
he thinks he does better accents
see for yourself

Back In My Day...

Catie's aunt from Japan came to visit this past week. For Catie's birthday, she gave her this tiny little camera that I think is so cool.
It is a spy camera and it made me think about my childhood. I've always wanted to be a spy. I could tell you embarrassing stories about playing spy way beyond the appropriate age ("Abort mission!"). Nowadays, kids are totally spoiled by technology. Does anyone remember "Spy Gear", the line of way expensive spy toys ranging from binoculars to crappy walkie talkies to fingerprint dusting. We could never afford them.

Compare that to my little brother's Christmas present. A remote controlled car with a wireless surveillance camera attached to the front which sends a signal to a headset with an eyepiece.
I think I would have had a stroke if I got a gift like that when I was seven... or 25.

the laziest day of my life

a few months ago dave picked me up from work
we got home and he suggested we watch an
episode of 'heroes' - his friend let him
borrow his entire first season box set

now i'm not one to get hooked on
silly t.v. shows especially because dave and
i don't get t.v. at home, however, this time
was different...seven, count 'em, seven hours
later we were almost entirely finished with
the first season...pausing only a few moments
to whip up the fastest, not to mention most
unhealthy thing in our cupboard...mac and cheese,
and then back to our marathon

since that day we now frequently think about
what it would be like to have a super power and
debate on what would be the ultimate...time
travel is definitely up there (and don't think
i don't secretly pretend to have some sort of
super power throughout random moments in my day).

side note: i'm pretty sure my friend cory's
super power is always being able to detect when
someone has altered their hair..i guess some people
are just born with the gift

what is, or what would be your super power?
maybe mine is watching seven straight hours of t.v.
this is me dressed up as storm from x-men...a girl can dream

Whose Child is This?

Trying to decipher who Bennett looks the most like is not a difficult task.
Catie's parents showed me some baby pictures today. Bennett could easily be Catie's twin brother.

See for yourselves-Versus this little boy-
Although it is hard to tell who he looks the most like because he seems to be changing ever day.

I Heart Boobs

funny story:

I got this shirt from my doctor friend before she was about to throw it out.

the day i actually put this on Bennett, i hesitated

To my embarrassment, a member of the bishopric brought us a nice dinner that night, followed by a surprise visit from many very thoughtful members of the relief society.

the shirt got mixed reviews.

Another Interesting Question

This question comes from the same author as the last hypothetical question that was asked.

You work in an office performing a job that you find satisfying (and which compensates you adequately). The company that employs you is suddenly purchased by an eccentric millionaire who plans to immediately raise each person's salary by 5% and extend an extra week of vacation to all full-time employees.
However, this new owner intends to enforce a somehwat radical dress code: every day men will have to wear tuxedos, tails and top hats (during the summer months, men wil be allowed to wear three piece grey suits on "casual Fridays"). Women must exclusively work in formal wear, preferably ball gowns or prom dresses. Each employee will be given an annual $500 stipend to purchase necessary garments, but that money can only be spent on work related clothing.
The new regime starts in 3 months.
Do you seek employment elsewhere?

Post your comments. I really want to find out what you would do.

Hypothetically speaking

A friend of mine once read me an excerpt from a book by Chuck Klosterman. In it he details 23 different hypothetical questions he asks people to better get to know them. I'd like to pose some of these questions to you.

-At long last, someone invents “the dream VCR.” This machine allows you to tape an entire evening’s worth of your own dreams, which you can then watch at your leisure. However, the inventor of the dream VCR will only allow you to use this device if you agree to a strange caveat: When you watch your dreams, you must do so with your family and your closest friends in the same room. They get to watch your dreams along with you. And if you don’t agree to this, you can’t use the dream VCR. Would you still do this?

the 411, the low down, the skinny

july 14th: i went in to labor at 1:00am

1:00pm rolls around and because of some
scary complications the doc thought it
would be best to do a c-section

2:00 rolls around and cute sweet little
bennett is born and greeted by lots of anxious
family and the happiest mommy and daddy

july 15th: feeling great - a little out of it
but happy that everything went well, excited
about going home in 2 days

july 16th:
bennett: yellow, test were done and they found
he had a super high level of jaundice
catie: freezing, chills, then super hot
and sweaty
test were done and they found out i had an
infection...tack on 2 more days to our hospital
stay to get the antibiotics needed (that is, if no
fevers come back)
davey: the perfect comforting daddy and husband
who stayed right by our side making the stay a
ton more tolerable..on not a lot of sleep

july 17th:
feeling good, feeling excited to go home,
feeling happy bennett's jaundice is going down

july 18th:
bennett's jaundice is gone
catie's fevers are back (way bummed)

july 19th:
catie's fevers gone...but now has pnuemonia
new realms of bummed

july 20th:
things are looking up and we are getting really
anxious to head home tomorrow

july 21:
home at last! and with a crazy hospital experience
to tell

it wasn't all bad... i hate to sound negative
the doctors were amazing and knew exactly what to
do for us. the nurses were even more amazing. we
got to know several of them quite well because of
our lengthy stay and i can't tell you how impressed
we were.

we had family and friends calling and coming all week
to visit us. i got to talk to my sister, krissy, who is
all the way in germany. we couldn't feel more blessed and
loved and supported. we're so excited about our sweet little
baby boy. thank you everyone for your prayers.



ps another positive/funny thing is that dave got to
see catie on pain medication...i hardly ever take any
medication and they were handing them to me left and
right...anyway, apparently i carry on conversations
in my sleep.