Seriously, folks.....

So, this is my first post on this wonderful blog. That's right... it's Hubby. Hello to all those who faithfully read Wifey's blog. We miss you all and love you very much. Right about now you might be wondering what in the world could possibly get me to post on this great blog... Well, I'll tell you. Quick disclaimer though: the opinions presented in this post are mine, and in no way reflect those of the main author (I know it's Richard AND Gretchen, but let's face it.... This is really her blog). That being said, here we go:

Last week, we went to Gamestop in the mall by us to exchange a video game we got for Christmas (Fable 2, very good game so far btw). While we were standing in the HORRENDOUSLY long line, I noticed a little boy just ahead of us. He might have been 7 or 8, 9 at the oldest. I think the woman with him was actually his older sister, but it may very well have been his mother. The two of them were looking at the games he wanted to buy. The first was called Grand Theft Auto 4, and the second was a game called Manhunt.

You may have heard about the Grand Theft Auto game. It is very violent. You can solicit strippers and prostitutes for their services. You can carjack as you please, kill cops, innocent people, and otherwise wreak havoc on anything or anyone. Needless to say, it is pretty popular with the teenage crowd. Rated M for Mature.

Now, Manhunt you probably have not heard about. They recently made a sequel that was banned in several countries, and was given an Adults Only rating when it initially went to the ESRB. I guess they toned it down a little to just get it a Mature rating to actually try and sell some copies. Anyways the premise is this: you are captured and held against your will, and the object of the game is to kill the people who are holding you hostage. Or anyone else who gets in your way. The kicker is you use anything you can get your hands on; piano wire, broken glass, guns, knives, chainsaws, ice picks.... you get the picture. Think of it this way. The only way to make the sequel better than the first was to make it so violent they had to give it an Adults Only rating. (Do you understand how violent a game has to be to get an AO rating?!?!)

I'm all for freedom of speech. I play plenty of violent video games myself. So, why am I blogging about this? Let's jump back a paragraph or two. We were talking about an 8 year old. An 8 year old whose "guardian" bought these games for this kid. Are you frickin kidding me?!?! I even listened as he explained a little about the games. All I kept hearing was "cool" and "awesome." I thought about a previous experience a few months earlier when I saw an even younger kid throw a temper tantrum when his mother didn't want to buy him the new Grand Theft Auto game. She eventually caved and got it for him. I've seen other parents go in and buy the game for their kids without even asking a question. It's just a video game, right?

Here's the kicker: All you need is someone 18 or older to get the game for you. Friend, family or otherwise, there are no questions asked if the person is 18 or older. Another funny little fact is a 16 year old employee at Gamestop cannot sell an M rated game. They need someone 18 or older for that one too.

Can we get a little education here, folks? Would it hurt to tell a mother about the game she's going to buy her kid? Would it hurt to say " Ma'am (no one says Ma'am anymore), did you know that there is explicit, graphic violence in this game? It might be a little inappropriate for Junior there." She might even say "What kind of violence are we talking about?" Then the guy might say "Well, there is a gun in the game that has a chainsaw on it. Players can use it to cut their opponents in half. Blood splashes on the screen, and the imagery is very realistic."

What would be the worst thing that could happen? The mother might say "I had no idea. I don't think I want Junior to eviscerate his friends online with chainsaws. He's too young for that. That's INAPPROPRIATE for his age." (We don't really use that word to often anymore. In the Church we do. Not out in the world though). If Gamestop did inform parents about the games that they were buying for their kids, I would imagine they wouldn't buy the games. Some might. And of course, I am assuming its the parents who are buying the games for these kids.

So, therefore what? What is the point to all this ranting? Education. Education and Ignorance. Be educated. Don't be ignorant. Oh, and if I see you in line at Gamestop buying an M rated game for a kid that looks younger than 25, I'm gonna say something to you. I don't care if your kid throws a tantrum...

Christmas Eve

One of the Christmas Eve traditions in my family is for the kids to pick a cereal on Christmas Eve that we eat on Christmas morning. It's cool because when we were growing up, the Muum didn't buy cereal with more than 10 grams of sugar per serving, so on Christmas Eve, we could get whatever sugary goodness that we wanted. The catch is that 5 kids have to agree on 1 box of cereal. There is always bargaining, fighting, and yelling, but we can't leave the store with more than 1 box of cereal. Rich & I went out on Christmas Eve to drop off some gifts and pick up our Christmas cereal. By the time we finished visiting our friends, the only store open was the convenience store (even WalMart and McDonald's were closed). We went in the store to see what cereal options they had and it was a pretty grim selection: Cheerios, Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, and Raisin Bran. We opted to pick up the cereal another day (we're going to have it for New Year's).

After the cereal debacle, we were hungry for some dinner so we looked for a place to eat. As previously mentioned, McDonald's and every other fast food place was closed. All of the restaurants looked like they had been shut down for hours. Our remaining choices were Chinese food or the Jamaican fried chicken place. We decided to go for the Chinese and it was delicious.

When we got home and finished eating our feast, I realized that I still hadn't made any cookies for Santa. And being a bit giddy we decided to give Santa our fortune cookies from the Chinese place. I don't think Santa minded too much; he still left us some nice presents.



We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and will have a safe and happy New Year's.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Rich and I bought our first full-sized real Christmas tree this year. We got a real tree our first Christmas together, but it was a potted tree that died (sad). We went out to the tree farm that Rich went to as a kid and we picked out a nice one. We named him Tany-B (like tannenbaum). Sadly, he will only be with our family about a month, but we will enjoy every moment. Especially those moments that we are vacuuming up his pine needles. We're excited to decorate him sometime this week.

Here we are with the tree loaded on the car:


Richard with the tree:


Gretchen hugging the tree:

It's Christmas Time!!!

I went to the grocery store tonight and saw the holiday decorations and treats. But I knew that it's Christmas when I saw the Peppermint Ice Cream; it's The Sassy Lime's favorite! She could probably polish off a half gallon in a sitting. :)

The One Thing I Hate About New York...

BRIDGES!!! The other day, I went to the store pick up some stuff and I decided to take a different way home. I usually take the back-roads, but I took the freeway because I wanted to try a faster way. I've gone that way before, but on my way home I thought there were two exits and I needed to take the second, but that is on the other side of the freeway. I missed the last exit before the bridge. I screamed as I realized this, drove across the bridge, paid the toll (thankfully it was only $1), and drove back home a little embarrassed. Hopefully, I'll get the hang of it soon. :)

Fall Is Here...And It's Beautiful!

I got up this morning and went to church earlier than usual because I had a meeting and I was greeted by the following:

Since I've been living in Utah for so long I have been deprived of the beautiful fall colors; I could only see them from afar on the mountains. But to see them up close and personal this morning, I was so happy. I hope you guys are also having a wonderful fall season.

The Story of Richard's Foot (Continued)

Thanks for all of your concern about Richard's well-being; we really appreciate it. Rich returned to doctor and they have changed their diagnosis. His foot bone is bruised, not broken. It hurts for him to walk on it, so he has it up most of the time.

Richard's Boo-Boo

Richard was at work a couple weeks ago and he dropped a 55-gallon drum on his foot. He was wearing his steel-toed boots, but the drum missed the steel-toe by less than an inch and slammed down on his foot. After a couple visits to the doctor, they determined that he has 2 or 3 fractures in his foot. I would post pictures, but he's foot is kinda gross. ;) He's been taking it easy at home since it hurts to stand, walk, etc. The foot doctor, who found the fractures, wanted to put Rich in one of those ski-boot casts, but Rich was like, "Man, I've got my rep to think about." The doctor generously allowed him to just have a sandal-looking shoe instead; Rich calls it his "gimp shoe." Rich is doing well; a lot of pain, but he's in pretty good spirits.

Telemarketers

Richard was home sick yesterday and today. I called him on my lunch hour to see how he was feeling and he told me about the following experience that he had earlier in the day. While he was home, he got calls from several telemarketers and he ignored them. After these calls, he decided to answer one. Instead of informing the person on the other end of the phone that he wasn't interested in their product, service, or survey, he pretended like he didn't speak English. As the telemarketer said "Hello", Rich replied with an accent "Hello?" The man on the line repeated "Hello?" To which Rich said "Thank you. Hello?" They went back and forth a few times until the sales person hung up the phone with a polite "Have a nice day." I laughed so hard when he told me about this I almost peed my pants.

How Much I Love Richard...

I sat down to blog tonight, but I didn't know what to blog about. So I asked Richard "What should I blog about?" He said "How much you love me." So that's what I'm doing.

I love Richard because he is an amazing man. He is smart, funny, and handsome. He is my hubby and my best friend. We can go out and have a great time or stay in a just laugh all night long. I love him because he is the world's greatest snuggler. I love that he likes the way that I make food, even if he could make it better. I love him because he has a strong testimony in the gospel and he strengthens me. I love him so much for so many reasons, but most of all I love him because he is kind and loving and understanding to me and my needs. I love my Richardo!!!!

Gifts from Richardo

I came home the other day and Richard had bought me a few gifts and hidden them around the apartment for me to find (which I LOVE doing). One of the things that he got for me was "The Cuddle Sutra" and I love cuddling more than looking for presents!!! We've cracked it open and it's a cute book.

Our week is going pretty well with nothing exciting to report. I hope all of you in cyberspace are also having a good week. Laters!

Hey Wieners!!

For those of you that know my husband and I, we are a weird couple. One of our quirks is that we greet each other by saying "Hey Wieners!" We got it from Homestar Runner and we think it's hilarious. Anyways, some of our new friends out here think it's funny/strange that we do this and when I was at the grocery store with one of them, she said to me "Hey Winner!" (without the funny accent that we use). It was weird to hear her say it and then I asked her, "Did you say 'winner'? It's 'wiener'!" She didn't understand why we called each other wieners and I tried to explain that it was from this online cartoon, but I started to feel like a dork, so I changed the subject.

I just thought that I would clarify for all of our dear friends and family...yes, Rich & I call each other wieners.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

My dad recently had his birthday and I wanted to wish him a happy birthday. He's really the greatest dad ever and he's only getting better with time. Music has always been a big part of his life. When I was younger, he would play Elton John or Billy Joel or the Beatles on the piano. I would sometimes sneak out of my bedroom at night to get a better listen through the vent in the floor that was above the piano room.

Since I love to sing, Dad would play music on the piano while I sang along. It was so fun to spend that time with him and sometimes when I come home, we still do that.

Dad is kind and loving. He wants the best for his wife and each of his children. He (and the Muum) taught us about hard work, the gospel, and love. I love you, Daddy, and I hope you had a great birthday!!!

In honor of Dad's birthday, I've added some of his favs to my music list. Enjoy!

Yea!!! A New Template!

I've been looking everywhere for new templates and I couldn't find any that I liked for a long time, but I finally got one. I hope you all enjoy it.

We haven't been up to much lately. Rich hates that there is country music on our blog, but the deal is that once he creates 1 post, the country music is gone (maybe not for good, but for a little while). Work is work and we're just livin' it up here. I don't have any pictures, but I'll try to get some for next time; I like the posts with pictures better. :) I'm visual, what can I say?

Tagged by Camilla

3 Joys
1) My husband
2) My family and friends
3) The gospel

3 Fears
1) Snakes
2) Losing my babies (I don't have any, but I'm scared someone will steal them. I know, it's weird.)
3) Not being on lock-down. :)

3 Goals
1) Read Milton's "Paradise Lost"
2) Get a tan
3) Start working out again.

3 Current Obsessions
1) Richardo
2) Chocolate!!! (that's really a life long obsession)
3) Finding a better job

3 Random Surprising Facts
1) I pierced my own bellybutton several times in high school (bad idea!!!)
2) I hate clothes shopping; I would much rather go grocery shopping.
3) I enjoy playing video games with my husband.

I tag TheSassyLime, Muum, and Edge.

Happy Shopper!!!

Over the 4th of July weekend, Richard and I went back to the mall and I exchanged the unopened box of chocolates for a delicious one. Richard was too embarrassed to go with me to return chocolates, so he hung out in the hat shop.

Later that night, I decided to go to Kohl's to look for b-r-a-s and I started by looking at the cute ones that are pink and white or striped or have pretty lace. After my first trip to the dressing room with those, I realized (again) that it was the plain bra section for me. So I hunted for awhile and I wasn't able to find anything in my size. I was about ready to leave, but I pulled myself together and I eventually left the store with 6 bras that fit very nicely. They were all white or beige, but hey, THEY FIT!!! Not only that, they were buy one, get one FREE! I told Richard about this great deal when I got home. I explained to him: "They were only $16 a bra; that's $8 a boob!" He laughed because really, you can't fight logic like that. I would normally post pictures of my new purchases for all to see, but this isn't that kind of blog :)

On the same trip to Kohl's, I also found the plain black heels that I've been searching for. Not only that, but they were on sale for $20!





Well, I guess that's it. I'm very happy now and let's just hope that the happy shopping continues. Laters!

Popeye for Dinner

I decided to make popeye for dinner last night & it was delicious. For those of you that don't know what popeye is, which will probably be everyone not in my family, I have visuals.

This is what the final product looks like: mashed potatoes on bottom, then meat, and finally the popeyes on top.


These are the kitchen post-cooking; what a mess!!!


And finally, Richard enjoying the meal (he's not so happy that I took this picture, so no one tell him I posted it):


So that was our popeye dinner. I love popeye; it's comfort food to put it mildly. My mother is the only person that has ever made it for me and it's so warm and filling, it just makes me feel like I'm home.

Angry Shoppers

On Saturday, Rich & I decided to go across the river to go shopping at the mall over there because they have more (and better) stores. Overall, the trip was pretty much a bust.

First, we went to the Verizon store because Rich's cell phone wouldn't hold a charge & they couldn't help us, but they repeatedly told us that we could add a texting plan for just $5 a month...we don't care about texting!!! Fix the phone!!!!

Then, we went onward to Circuit City because we're thinking about saving up for a computer and we wanted to see what was out there. A sales guy told us about this amazing deal on a computer package (tower, monitor, and printer). Anyways, it turned out that the sales guy was mistaken and there was no such deal.

After that, we forged on to the mall to go b-r-a shopping. Rich had a good idea that I should get sized before we went looking for my "special" size. So, I went to the intimates department at Macy's and awkwardly asked if someone would size me. A woman came over and sized me and told me that my size is 34C. I tried to politely explain to the woman that I was certain that was the wrong size, but she told me about how you can wear a cup smaller with a larger band size BLAH BLAH BLAH...I know, I've been manipulating my b-r-a size for the past DECADE!!! I was so frustrated at this point that I found Rich and we left the department store.

Finally, we went to the Lindt chocolate store. I think at this point Rich just wanted to make me happy and was willing to try anything. They were having a buy 1 get 1 free sale on their boxed chocolates, so we got 2 boxes (I have to share 1 with his sisters). When we got home, I opened my box of chocolates and they were gross. I have never before had bad Lindt chocolates, so I was very disappointed.

So for all of you that didn't know it before, I hate shopping. I love grocery shopping, but I don't think I'll be going to the mall anytime soon.

Local News from da'burgh

So, I finally have some news for all of you loyal readers.

We're been having some really bad T-storms lately where we would loose power for a few hours up to a day (which seems like an eternity when you have to take an ice coal shower!). Well, it turns out a tornado hit Newburgh on Tuesday night. From what I have found, there were a lot of tree branches all over town and a loss of power for a lot of people, but most of the damage was done to a local auto shop.

I heard about this other piece of news on the radio and I almost didn't believe it: Wedding party leads to bloody brawl. Apparently there was a fight at a wedding reception and the police were called; 30 OFFICERS!!! Well, that's where we live! :)

Newburgh gets a bad rap, but it's not too bad if you are aware of your surroundings and stay away from the shady areas. I haven't had any problems...and don't worry Muum, we're safe.

Delinquent Blogger :(

I have been a bad little blogger. The past month has been pretty uneventful, but busy. We were excited to see the baby pics of all of your new little darlings; they are so cute!!!

Our first summer movie was Iron Man and we loved it! If you haven't seen it yet or if you're going to see it again, stay in the theater after the previews...there's a little something extra.

Also, we miss you guys so much! Sometimes I'm going to the grocery store or barbecuing or just hanging out and playing cards and we wish that you guys were with us.

One last thing, CONGRATS to all of the recent GRADS! You ROCK!!!

Congrats!

We just wanted to say "Congrats" to our friends and fellow bloggers, the Wests; Emily gave birth to their beautiful baby boy this week. He is really handsome and we wish you guys the best. Also, thanks for posting pictures so that we can stay in touch even though we're so far away.

Music

We were so excited to hear from so many of our friends via the comments from our last entry and I wanted to say hi back, so Hi I still need to add you guys to our blogroll, so I'll work on that this week.

Also, as you have probably already noticed, I have added music to our blog. If you haven't noticed yet, turn on your speakers :) I hope you guys enjoy our playlist!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

I really appreciate all of the blog shout-outs from my blogger peeps (Thanks Muum and SassyLime!!!); that was really sweet, guys. I had a really great birthday. Richard took me to a nice restaurant called Torches. We had a delicious dinner and Richard had a dozen roses delivered to our table and they were there when we arrived; they were a beautiful arrangement of long stem red roses. Thanks to all of you that gave me a great birthday.



Beautiful flowers!

Richard and his yummy dinner

The cutest couple ever!!!

Well, for the first time in my life I was in a courthouse. I went with Richard to family court today to support Richard for his court appearance with his mother. It was actually a pretty quick trip, but still stressful. We really appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers on our behalf.


On another topic...MY BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW!!!

I have actually received a few special presents from my family & I have pictures!!!



A pretty shirt from TheSassyLime.



A bag with bell peppers that Muum made for me.



Another pretty and stripy bag that Muum made.



And it wouldn't be a birthday if I didn't put something on my head :)

Happy Birthday to me!!!

My First Meme

My sister, TheSassyLime, tagged me for my first meme.

Here are the guidelines:
1. Write your own six-word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play. (This last step is optional.)

My 6-word memoir:
Love family sunshine water music pink!

Well, since I only know a few people that blog, I'm going to tag all of you that are reading this!!! I would love to read your memoirs!

An Order of Protection...Really?

Well, it's official...Richard's mother has requested to get an order of protection (a.k.a. restraining order) against Richard. We called the courts today and there is nothing currently in place to keep Richard away from the kids, but Richard has to go to the courthouse next week and give his side of the story; basically he has to explain why this protective order is ridiculous!Personally, I don't think that the order will stick, since Richard hasn't done anything to cause such a reaction.


Just as a side note, we really appreciate all of the support that you guys have given us though this tough time. We really feel that we are very blessed to have so many friends and family members who care about us so much. You guys ROCK!!!

A Rough Week

Well, I'm not doing so well with blogging daily, but I'll try to do better. We had a rough week this past week with Richard's mother, so we're just trying to get through that right now. I hope you guys will all have a realy great week and I'm excited to read about it in your blogs! Also, pictures will be coming, but there are still too many boxes in the apartment for a tour.

Happy Easter!

I hope you had a great Easter today. We spent the day with Rich's family and had a great dinner. As a side note, Rich let me know on Friday night that we were in charge of bringing rolls to Easter dinner. Let's just say I was less than pleased with Rich at that moment since we spent all of Saturday unpacking. :) Don't worry, Rich & I made the rolls this morning & they turned out great!

I'm a Blogger!

So I finally have a blog! I don't know what I'm going to write about on this blog, but mostly what Rich & I are up to.

Well, lately we are working on getting settled into our apartment here in NY. Okay, so we haven't done much unpacking yet, but we're hoping do some this weekend.

Also, we are excited about Easter Sunday. I'm not really sure what we'll be doing, but I'm sure we'll have a great time together.

Once I find the charging cord for our camera, I'll post more pictures. The only ones that I could find were our wedding pictures, so those will have to suffice for now.

Well, happy blogging to all of you out there!