"summer"

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Let it be known that we have gotten out of the house since Utah. Thanks to Mangums for having us in the Outer Banks! Thanks to Kurt, Becky and Jonses for having us in DC! We hang out at home too:

• I feel like all I do with my turn on the computer is freelance work. This isn't a bad thing, but there are funner things. And I said I feel, which is probably different from reality.
• Ben got a HuluPlus account because the free trial is longer if you're a student. We are watching The Office from the beginning (no one had personalities in season 1) and last season of Bones (Booth's got a girlfriend)! We also love/hate Twin Peaks, which is not on Hulu, but Jacob said it was rated best drama of all time or something, so we have to be cultured, right?
• For the first time, there is a game on the iPod touch that we both like. Ben downloaded Falldown forever ago but I finally tried it and then Ben saw that it must be. We've unlocked the gold ball & the crystal ball and currently Ben has the high score, with 8,876 points.
• I do laundry, dishes, dishes, laundry, dishes. Ben makes fancy pork loin, chicken Parmesan (er—parmigiana, is there difference?), and some million dollar chocolate chip walnut cookies that could be on a restaurant menu if restaurants served cookies. Oh, and smoothies. Lots of smoothies.
• We think Cohen is teething. He has a hard white dot where his top canine tooth would be. Weird for that to come in first? Uncle Aaron/Scotty/dentist says it is indeed a bud and some babies are just vampire babies. Cohen is really happy and fun if we are holding him, giving him attention, and usually standing up too. Either that, or if he's in the (for lack of an official term), Johnny Jump Up.
  

calvin moisés

the bakers' goods

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I daydream about living next door to Ben's oldest sister Ashley. She likes to go, go, go (& do), which I love too, except she actually plans it out & does it, whereas I get stuck in the "I should..." stage. If I lived right there, I could always join in on her adventures & she could always have one more person (OK, probably at least 2 more with Cohen, duh) to enjoy the fruits of her labors. Win-win, right?

I can just see it: "Wanna walk to the library for a puppet show?" YES! "Wanna go on this awesome hike?" YES! "Wanna cook donuts?" YES! "Wanna go camping? Wanna play badminton? Wanna go on a run? Wanna paint? Wanna felt? Wanna go to this foreign film? Wanna go fly kites? Wanna go to the such & such concert?" YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!

While in Utah we got to do at least a few things together, some games, some food, and some Captiol Reef. It was GRRRREAT to be with Bakers again. Eli has a new little attitude that cracks me up. And Ivy's like her momma—go, go, go! Cohen did great (read slept & ate) on his first 1100ft elevation hike up to Cassidy Arch. (So did Josie and Maya for that matter!)

my love in utah

People kept asking what my plans were for Utah, and rightfully so. I have an endless list of places and things—activities, even—that mean a lot to me in and around Provo. But more than anything, all I found myself wanting was time with family and friends. That's where my love lies. I didn't get nearly enough (some dear friends were missed), and at the same time I had plenty (enough for some good old fashioned fighting with my sibs). We did and ate some Utah things too, of course, but these people were at the heart of our little summer getaway. It had been since Ashton was just six (5 years ago!) that my family ALL was together. Plus it had been like 17 weeks since Cohen was born and hadn't met his Utah aunts, uncles and grandfather. Needless to say this was monumental. And therefore called for a photo shoot.

I wish Ashley could have followed me to each of my little visits with friends, extended family, and our time with Utah Knudsen kin as well. She captured the best of us. And even the us that we think isn't picture-perfect. She taught me a lesson about loving our imperfect—another thought entirely.

In any case, thank you Ashley and thank you family and thank you friends. Wish you all were here. Or that we were there. Or that flights were free.

get creative

The dryer was making a scary scratchy noise when I tried to dry the clothes. We let the landlady know, but it could be weeks before anything is done. I came upstairs whining about how we have now clothes line and I was going to have to go to the laundromat and sit there all alone waiting without even a laptop to occupy my time. Ben calmed me down as he made his frittata and suggested getting creative instead.

I woke up and the clothes are all dry. All along the chairs, doors, drawers, knobs, bars, lamps... (he said to get creative!). I didn't think I'd be able to get the whole load (of whites and darks, yes, don't judge!), but I ran out of clothes and still had places I could hang them.

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Unrelated, my sore throat from earlier turned into a cold and seems to have run most of its course. Just annoying congestion left—but not annoying enough to keep us from a little excursion yesterday to Duke Gardens. You wanna see how fun it was in the 90+ weather? Too bad. You get a snapshot of laundry instead because we forgot the camera.

between our door and our car

As it turns out, Cohen's first footlong wild turtle happens to be our first one too.
This was taken one month ago, on our way out the door to Utah.

the magnolia outside

day 1

day 2

day 3

end of day 3

The fifth of June

Today would have been our anniversary had we gotten married when Kurt & Becky told us to. Oh, you haven't heard this story? It's the greatest. Before Ben and I 'announced' if/when we'd be married, they announced that they'd called the Provo temple and scheduled a sealing for June 5, 2008.
It was at the Knudsen dinner table. Ben responded, "But Olivia doesn't want to get married in the Provo temple." And then there was a Knudsen hush. Not that Knudsens are all that gabby, but it was still a stone-cold silence. {"You won't feel rushed at the Provo temple," I was assured. But I knew my preference. Yeah, yeah, yeah, everyone gets married there, but SLC was special to ME. Especially fresh off my mission—don't ask why.} So we scheduled our sealing in Salt Lake for June 5, because... when else would we do it?
Then at General Conference 2008, I found out Ben didn't want to get married June 5. So the plans changed yet again and we married on Ben's date in my temple. OK, it wasn't just Ben's date. It was our date. Our first real date. (Not to be confused with our first fake date, to the Halloween dance).

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And, I've had a sore throat since I woke up. It hurt to sing Hymns today and King of Limbs tonight.

Cheers

Today Ben casually sang a tune he made up on the spot.

The lyrics were something like this:

(Seriously, read this while singing,)

"This is the worst part of the year, because there are no sports. Just baseball, which is lame."

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In other news, I have a new goal to blog more.
It's a blog about me (and mine) in NC... Not a birthday blog.

To us!