Naughty or Nice?

Every year on Christmas Eve, Santa brings our family matching Christmas PJ's. Unfortunately, it seems that the Cleveland Christmas PJ supply is less than abundant. Luckily for us, however, S. Clause is very resourceful.

Instead of Christmas PJ's, Santa left our family unmarked and unamed packages...he brought our family "Naughty" and "Nice" shirts! There was much anticipation as we opened our shirts one by one, revealing who was naughty and who was nice.

I got a naughty shirt. I have to admit I wasn't disappointed.

Here is the Quebe family breakdown:

Naughty: Mom, Philip, Carolyn

Nice: Dad, Stephen, Aubrey, Penelope

And I just have to share that Penelope has become quite the Hearts player. She almost shot the moon her first game! Way to go Penny.

An Ornament for You.

I would like to introduce you to the newest members of our Ornament Family:

Please meet Chester. He will be flying back to Ithaca with Philip and Aubrey.

And Daphne. She is quite fond of Cleveland, so she'll be staying with my parents here in Ohio.

And here is Hubert. Hubert will reside in Utah. I think he and Stephen will really get along.

A couple weeks ago, my dad found these really amazing old essays that my grandma had written. The paper was faded and antique-looking, and they were all hand written in my grandma's beautiful cursive. When I saw the essays, I had this idea to make bird ornaments out of them. So, I convinced my parent's to sacrifice a couple of pages to my creative cause.

I was really nervous throughout the whole process because I felt like if these birds didn't turn out, I could have been in some trouble for defacing rare family treasures. One look at Daphne though, and my family will totally forget about the essay chopping. At least I hope.

Welcome to the family little birds!

Welcome back SUPER Q!!

Super Q, my ever faithful computer, is finally fixed!! I missed her so!!!

Several months ago, I opened my computer to discover a very shattered screen. I immediately called Compaq to see what it would take to fix it. The estimated cost was $400...I then immediately decided that I would try to fix it myself.

I found some step-by-step instructions online (like, picture book simplicity...I kid you not), and called my computer savvy brother to see if he thought I could do it. He thought I could. Such faith he had in me :) Without further ado, I began the very stressful process of ripping apart my computer and reassembling it with a newly ordered screen.

I wish I could say I was successful on my first attempt, but I wasn't. What really happened was that I ended up ordering 3 different screens, and completely taking apart my computer 3 different times. By the third disassembly, I was like a pro. Screen bezel, Wi-Fi cables, Video cable...you name it, I know it. I had the thing memorized. Unfortunately, memorized or not, each time my futile attempts to install a new screen earned me the highly avoided "White Screen of Death", as it has been dubbed in the computer world.

With spirits broken, I brought Super Q home during Thanksgiving break to have my computer savvy brother look at it. (Funny side note: We took the computer in to a shop here in town, and they said the whole thing was busted...they told me to buy a new computer...Ha! Thanks to the advice of my dad, we disassembled my comp one more time just to double check).

On this fourth attempt, I was supervised and aided by my bro. And...what did he discover? The entire time, I simply was not connecting the Video cable in all the way. Every. single. time.

Finally, we ordered a fourth screen, and we assembled the whole thing tonight...and SUCCESS!

Sweet Victory!!

Super Q is back and loving life. And the best part is, we did it for 1/2 the price of sending it in!

What to learn from this experience? Computers are not actually that scary. The fourth time.

Thank you computer savvy brother. Thank you father for the advice. Thank you Screentek for refunding me for 3 screens. And, thank you Super Q for pulling out of your coma.

A good.

A good: I love NYC because of moments like this.

Jude Law was absolutely the most brilliant Hamlet I have ever seen. Emotional. Captivating. He, my friends, is talented.

Stuffing & Pie. Oh My.

This past week I have been home for Thanksgiving break, and thank goodness for that. Break means the following things:

1. No work

2. No school

3. Too. much. food.

My recent schedule has gone something like this: Sleep, eat, run. Eat more. Run more. Sleep more. Eat, run. Eat, run. Sleep. Yes...thank goodness for breaks!

Ok, so I actually did some things of worth this week.

I did help cook. Here I am putting the turkey in the oven.

I also helped taste.

I decorated our pumkpin pie, bird style.

We played a lot of basketball. This is sort of a family tradition.

Basketball 101: Keep your eyes open when you shoot.

I also attempted to box out. Not sure it worked.

We played many a game of Spades. Cards are also a family tradition.

Here is a feather headband that I made for my new niece, Penelope.

And the most exciting part of the break...I met Penelope for the first time! We snapped tons of photos...here are some for your entertainment.

I never watched the Simpsons, but even I can see a certain resemblance in this picture...

Love at first sight.

Penelope and I enjoyed some quality tummy time. She was getting lonely down there.

Haha, I couldn't help myself. Young Penelope is a Jedi at heart.

We all love each other

I am several weeks late on this post...you see, a month or so ago, my computer was damaged by a stiletto heel. It will be loads of expensive to fix, so I have been avoiding it. Apparently the warranty doesn't cover stiletto damage :(

Sans computer, I haven't been able to blog nearly as much as I would like. But, hopefully my little comp will be fixed soon!

The following post is so long overdue, and I would like to dedicate it to the girls. There are 9 of us chicas who met my Freshman year of college, and through the years we have become the best of friends. Although we are now scattered across the country, we were finally able to reunite several weeks ago because one of us, the now Mrs. Katie B, got married! It was the first time in years that all 9 of us had been together. I can't really describe the fun that was had, so I won't really try.

But here are some highlights:

Here we are at the Kansas City airport, eagerly awaiting the arrival of each girl.

I had to capture the long anticipated greetings on camera.

Katie D. made everybody a roadtrip snack pack, and Jill made everybody chocolate chip cookies. Just like any good mother would do! It's a good thing we all have moms... ;)

This was the night before K-Rowe's wedding. It involved Chili's Queso. That's really the most important part.

This picture holds a very special place in my heart because it proves 3 things:

1. It is possible for me to spoon.

2. It is more than possible to fit 9 adult women on 1 bed.

3. It is even more possible to take a picture of this while all 9 of us were...on the bed.

Here are some pictures of the wedding at the Nauvoo Temple.

We couldn't get over K Rowe's adorable niece. Her face never stopped showing ultimate pain and sorrow because of the bitter cold. I definitely stalker zoomed for that picture.

After the wedding, we explored Nauvoo. This included walking to the river along the Trail of Hope. We took turns reading the quotes of pioneers that left Nauvoo to find refuge in Salt Lake City. As evidenced by this picture, Jill is a most excellent reader.

As it turned out, we even had a little river crossing ourselves.

And here we are at the wedding reception. Katie looked so beautiful! What a happy day!

And finally, the bouquet toss. I snagged that thing right out the air. asap.

It was such a fun weekend. As we like to say, "We all love each other"

It's true.

Welcome Penelope!

I am an Aunt! Little Penelope Quebe has entered the world. Ah, and she is so adorable!

I think I will call her Penny, or the Penster...and bring her cute gifts, Aunt-style.

She was so tired. Being born is hard work!

And props to Aubs! Way to go through labor. And Philip for being there through it all.

DC Marathon

I promised myself that I would never run another marathon. Ever.

Yeah...I lied.

I quite underestimated how badly I would want to race again. I also quite underestimated my competitive spirit. I read recently on a former teammate's blog that she competed in the St. George Marathon and broke the 3 hour mark. She also has three children, which makes this time even more incredible! In-cred-i-ble.

If she can do it, so can I, right?!

Well, I am going to have to try because I just signed up for the DC Marathon in March.

3:09.50? Done and done.

2 Big Wins

Big Win #1

Our Stake had a Pinewood Derby race on Saturday night, and due to my friend Russell's contagious enthusiasm about the event, my roommate Vanessa and I decided to enter a car. Russell refuses to admit that he had anything to do with our car, but he really did. Here is the breakdown:

Carolyn – Bought the car
Russell – Carved the car
Carolyn – Decorated the car
Russell – Attached the wheels
Vanessa – Named the Car
Vanessa – Placed and secured the weights

Even though Russell built our car...I just can't diminish the power and strength that come from the proper decoration and naming of a car. In fact, these two elements could arguably be the most important factors of any given car's racing abilities.

You see, our little car won.

We won! Stuart (named by V, of course) took home the #1 gold trophy!!

Yep. Our Stuart. He blew the competition out of the water! Ah, and let me not forget the final contributing factor to his glorious win. Stuart was sporting a one-of-a-kind Anthropologie tissue paper decoupage finish.


A sleek, beautiful, Anthro-veneer. What derby wouldn't win with that sort of decoration?!


His only two rivals throughout the night were Sylvia and Huey (Also appropriately named by V). Sylvia took second and Huey placed third. Huey was Russell and Eric's car. Russell made Huey, but he failed to decorate him. Huey never really had a chance without an Anthro tissue paper finish though. Luckily he had V's naming blessing, or he may not have even gotten third. That's what we think anyway.

There is still time for Huey to become a number one car. His design really is flawless. He just lacked self confidence, that's all. I wouldn't want to race completely bare either. :(

Huester, with a little TLC and a trip to the body shop, you'll be a winner in no time!

Big Win #2

Now, on a completely unrelated note, I have to share the following picture. My friend Sandylee made the most amazing cupcakes!

How incredible are these? They look like they came straight from Ace of Cakes. And, please notice the blue "chalk". This too is homemade and delightfully edible.

If I ever have a pool party of the billiard type, I am going to commission Ms. Sandylee to make many more beautiful cupcakes.

Big. win.

We couldn't be happier!

All right, we could be happier. Never put a cap on the possibilities of happiness. However, as of this very moment, I am pretty. darn. happy.

Do you remember that blogpost where I reveled in my new-found haggling skills? Well, I put them to use once again. Except this time, the fruits of said labors saved our apartment...

$450.00 on rent!...a month. $450. per month.

Can you believe that? I just asked. I said, hey, we would love to stay but we can find something much, much cheaper. I gave them a ballpark figure, and that was that. I had no idea it was that easy!

Now is the time, my New York friends, to ask for cheaper rent.

I thought I was happy about getting a discount price for a headband, but this, this is just wonderful.

What a blessing.

Shoes with a little personality.

I am currently taking a window display design class, and as I hoped, it is proving to be wonderfully entertaining.

In our second class, we were challenged to give our shoes different expressions. All we could use was our makeshift window display, and of course, our shoes. Our teacher gave us four different shoe scenarios as follows:

a. Shoes that make people laugh

b. Elegant Shoes

c. Shoes that are in love

d. Dancing Shoes

Let's see how I did...

Fun Game: Match the description with the pictures.

1)
2)

3)

4)

Who knew shoes had such personality?