Meet Eskimo Amy

BRRRRRR it's cold! As I passed a bank this morning on my way to work the sign outside it flashed -8º!!!!! That my friends is AIR TEMPERATURE and does not take in to account the wind chill, which in our area is currently anywhere from -25º to -40º. Not only is that the coldest it has been since we moved to Iowa, it is by far the coldest I have ever been in my entire life!!!!!

Nothing to Report

I don't have much to blog about this week, so I guess that means it's time for another funny:

Silly Google

I linked this new super-cool hit counter thing to my blog through Google Analytics. One of my favorite features of it is that it shows you a map of the United States that shows where in the country everyone is reading your blog from. Upon further inspection today, I noticed that Michigan was looking less mitten-shaped and more blob-shaped than usual. In addition, the Florida Keys are looking more peninsula-like than archipelago-esque.

(as always, click to enlarge)

Silly Google.

P.S. I have not had any hits from the greater San Diego area in quite some time. That means that all y'all are totally busted. :-P

My New Toy

I finally got the time to test drive one of my new toys I received for Christmas this year. It's a cool graphics tablet that allows me to use a special pen that acts like a mouse. I'm really quite excited about it. :)

Stand and be Counted

Yep. That's pretty much all there is to it. Brett & I both went and Caucused today, and it was quite an interesting experience. We silly Southern Californians had no idea how the whole process worked. I had assumed that it worked just like the primary elections that I am used to. You know, where you show up at your polling place sometime throughout the day, bubble in your little circles, and go on your merry way. Caucusing is nothing like that at all. Here's what happens:

Everyone shows up at your polling place at the same time. Yes, the street we live on was a zoo and there was NO PARKING whatsoever. So we parked several blocks away and walked in the sub zero temperatures. How's that for patriotism? :-P

Once you get inside you basically stand in the designated area for your candidate (or in the undecided area if you are undecided). After everyone is in (doors close at 7:00) one person from each campaign goes around and counts how many people are standing in each candidates area. Any candidate that does not have at least 15% of the people present in their area gets eliminated. The people who were supporting that candidate have 30 minutes to decide on another candidate. During this time the campaign people do their best to persuade these people as well as the undecided people to come to vote for their candidate.

Then, everyone gets counted again (if you're lucky, just one more time), and that determines how many delegates get sent to Des Moines for the state caucus. The numbers from our precinct were as follows: Obama 198, Hillary 80, Edwards 70. Biden, Dodd, and Richardson all did not meet the 15% requirement.

All in all it was a very interesting experience, and Brett & I are both glad to have had the opportunity to experience the Iowa Caucuses. What is interesting about it is that it takes the anonymity out of the voting process. Typically you go in to your little booth, fill in your bubbles and walk away and nobody knows who you voted for. This is quite different because you stand in a room with all of your neighbors and everyone sees who everyone is supporting. One thing I kind of like about the process is that if you do vote for someone who doesn't make the cut, you get the opportunity to go on and vote for someone who is still in the running. I like that because that way everyone's vote really matters, and you don't get the feeling like your vote didn't make a difference just because your first choice didn't have enough support.

We don't have any pictures from this adventure, mostly because we were crammed into the school gym like a herd of cattle, and picture taking was a little difficult to manage. That, and a picture of a room full of people just isn't all that interesting. :-)

Happy New Year!

Here is the story of our day, told with (lots of) pictures:

It was very snowy yesterday. The crazy weather people only called for "about an inch." Well, we got a little more than an inch. More like 3-6" depending on your area. The roads were snowy and icy, so we really didn't go out much. Here is a peek of our winter wonderland:


Here is my MooseCat doing what he does best by hanging out under the tree:

And here he is looking particularly handsome:


Around 3 o'clock I got a crazy craving for French Toast, so Brett made me some. :)


Later on, we hung out with our friends Dean & Michelle. We played Battle of the Sexes:


And then we rang in the new year:


Aren't they cute?


Then we tried to take a group picture using some of my new camera toys. Here's how that went:
Maybe a little too much flash?


Is it working? Hmmm, maybe if I point my remote directly at the camera....oops!


That's better. :)


Happy New Year!

Move Over, Roentgen

After much anticipation, my boards scores and radiology certificate finally arrived in the mail. I am now officially a Registered Technologist in Chiropractic Radiologic Technology and fully certified by the American Chiropractic Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ACRRT), AND I've got the certificate that proves it.

Now I am fully certified to take x-rays in the vast majority of states (any of the ones I would live in, at least).

~Amy C.T., R.T.(ACRRT)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Love,
Brett & Amy

'Bout Time for a Blog Post?

My apologies for my recent lack of blog posts. I have been very busy with work, Christmas, yada, yada, yada... That, and we really haven't done anything interesting lately. ;)

Yesterday, however, we had a great time hanging out with our friends Dean & Michelle. We went and took some pictures in front of Palmer College & Capri College (where Michelle goes to Massage Therapy School) for their Christmas frame ornament collection. After that we went to their place for 2 exciting rounds of Settlers of Catan, yummy dinner, and good conversation. :)

Today, Brett & I decided to partake in the Christmas ritual of sugar-cookie baking. In our house, Christmas just isn't Christmas until we have baked some sugar cookies.

Other than Christmas cookies, an exciting lunch at Applebee's and a trip to the grocery store, our day pretty much consisted of watching movies. We watched 1/2 of Superbad (if you want to be disgusted, rent this movie) and Pirates of the Caribbean- At World's End (long, but good). Last night at Dean & Michelle's we watched Ocean's Thirteen (also good).

I am sure I will have more to report tomorrow. Merry Christmas Eve!

Ice Storm, Round II

Today, Brett and I had a snow day. Well, I guess it was actually an ice day. Either way, schools were closed, and I opted not to drive 20 miles to work on ice-covered roads.

Remember those snow-covered red berries from last week? Well, here they are in their current state.

They are now completely covered in ice. Last week I had to stand on my toes and use my zoom lens to take a picture of them. Now, thanks to ice weighing down the tree branches, they hang just a few feet off the ground. A grand total of 1/2"-1" of ice accumulation is expected. Other than stepping outside to snap a few pictures, I think Brett & I will be staying in for the rest of the evening.

Since I'm Pretty Sure My Brother Never Reads This...

...And even if he does, I'm REALLY sure my nephew never reads this, I thought I'd share my latest quilting creation. This is the Charger quilt that I made for my nephew, Zach, for Christmas. Thanks to our recent ice storm, I actually had time to complete it today. :-)

Again, I swear that the edges actually are square, it's just the angle that makes them look slanted.

And with that, I retire from the baby quilting business. :-P

Very Christmas-y

Is it just me, or does nothing say "Christmas is coming" quite like red snow-covered berries?

Ice Storm

The worst of the ice storm came after dark last night, and it was hard for me to get a picture at that time. It was raining, and cameras don't usually like rain, particularly not rain that freezes on contact. But I was able to capture this shot taken at Palmer of the windows completely glazed over with ice:

Every window on campus looked like this. It was kind of eerie to walk through the halls and not be able to see out any of the windows.

Baby Shower

Well, it was a crazy day for a baby shower yesterday. Davenport got hit with an ice storm, which certainly made things interesting. Originally, the shower was going to be at our friends Matt & Kelly's house, but they live at the bottom of a hill and there were concerns that with the amount of ice we were getting, people might not be able to get back up the hill. So, we moved it to our house. Not even 2 minutes before people arrived our power went out. We had 2 options: light a bunch of candles and have the most romantic baby shower ever, or take our chances and move the party back to our original location. We went with option 2 (I was voting for option 1 :-P). After all the craziness the party was great, and the baby quilts that Amber (left) and I made were a hit.

Left to right: Amber, Renee (& Abri), and Me

Oh, and it should be mentioned that on the game where you guess how big around the Mom-to be is, my guess was exactly right. I rule. :-)

Merry Christmas, Moose

We got Moose a new cat bed for Christmas this year. In the spirit of giving, we decided to give it to him early so that he could start enjoying it now.

Naturally, he much prefers the pile of laundry: