A New Look

I have a new site design! It all started because we (meaning Rob, I don’t really think about these things) wanted to break free from the last design that was tied to our web host. It had some limitations that were frustrating to him, including the web address ending with “/blog”. Now it’s just bizzert.com which is nice and clean. Rob had me sort through the hundreds of themes to find one I liked, and this one really seemed to fit for me because it was simple and fun. It also fit in nicely with my other site, Polka Dot Island. The box about the author was also Rob’s idea, and I’m not crazy about the silly photo he used, but I guess it’s ok for now.

The Bicycle Thief

Rob and I actually got all of the kids into bed at a decent hour and watched the movie, The Bicycle Thief. It is an Italian movie with subtitles, so Rob was especially excited to see it. He said that there was a pretty thick dialect so he was relying a lot on the subtitles too. We both really liked this movie!

It’s hard to say that I love it, because it is a bit depressing. It takes place in an impoverished community post World War II and follows one man and his son as they search for a bicycle the father needs to keep a new job. There are no special effects, and the plot is simple, but the emotions of desperation and hope keep you locked into the story. The performances by the Father, Antonio, and his son, Bruno, are amazing. They really make you feel their pain. In fact, every character comes with a history and depth that you wouldn’t expect from such a simple story. I don’t want to say too much about it because it helps to go into the movie without a synopsis of its events. It helps add to that feeling of – what are they going to do next?- The movie makes you think and feel and sympathize. All things that don’t seem to be the motivation of movie makers now. If you’ve seen it, tell me what you think; If you haven’t, go out and rent it!

Vacation to Mars – The Movie

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HYz9uEeRK4

Rob got a clip of Hunter’s play up on YouTube after lots of fiddling! The good news is that the next time we want to post a video, it should be pretty straightforward. Hunter is the one in the orange ball cap. I was pushing for no hat so we could see his face better, but I can’t win them all! This is the first song in the play where Hunter announces to the family the plans for their family vacation. He came up with the choreography himself, and is such a cutie manly “Dad.”

Vacation to Mars

Hunter’s third grade class combined with another one and put on the play “Vacation to Mars.” It’s all about the solar system and mixes a lot of information into cute songs and a story about a family going on vacation to Mars. Hunter is the Dad in the play and did a super job on his lines and his solo in the first song! There were also little songs for all of the planets, and he knew all of the words for those too. His classes worked so hard, practicing every day for weeks. His teachers were also very impressed with how quickly he memorized the lines, and how well he did on stage. We have been trying to get the video we took online, but have run into some snags. Hopefully that will come later.

Office Party

On Saturday, Rob’s office had a party for the associates and their families at Dave’s and Buster’s. It’s sort of a cross between a bar, a casino (only in decorative atmosphere, there’s no gambling or smoking), and Chuck E Cheese. There are some party rooms with pool tables and a little buffet, a restaurant and bar section, and then the game room. There were traditional arcade games and a lot of the ticket giving games where you basically put in a coin and watch it fall or push a button to see how many tickets you will get. It was a ton of fun! Even Hannah and Sabrina were so good and enjoyed the crazy, loud activities. Hunter and Emma tried out pool for the first time, and we did a little chatting with the adults. Then we just went crazy in the arcade.

We ended up with a ton of tickets and two people gave us their extras when they saw us with four kids. There is a little store where you can spend your tickets, and everyone got something fun to take home. In the mix, we ended up with three extra long slinkies: green, red, and purple. They were all instantly messed up as soon as they came out of the box. I spent 20 minutes untangling one for Emma yesterday, only to have her come back with a tangled mess again 2 minutes later. I looked at her like “don’t even ask” and she said, “I’m going to fix it by myself.” Smart girl. So now that I will not untangle the slinkies, I decided to try them out as art. We got a couple of digital photography books, and I tried some things I read. I still need to work on a sharper focus (time for the tripod), but I think I got some nice abstract images. I’m planning to post on the books later, after I try some more of the advice.

Advice for Newlyweds

So, as you know my brother Matt is getting married to Ashley this August (the day after our 11th Anniversary!). I was thinking back on my engagement and remembering all of the advice I got. Ok, I don’t remember a lot of it, but it seemed like everyone I talked to had something to say ranging from: “It’s never too late to back out” all the way to: “If you focus on making the other person happy, you’ll have a wonderful marriage.”

Since we all have our own philosophies on what makes a successful marriage, I’d like to hear what some of your thoughts are. Here’s your chance to get them out!

I’ll start. Rob and I take turns saying a couple’s prayer every night. We pray for things that concern both of us, and it helps us communicate with each other as well as with Heavenly Father. Afterwards we stay kneeling and say our own personal prayers. This makes for a good balance between being united in purpose and keeping some things to ourselves.

Don’t criticize the way your spouse does a job. whether it is dishes, laundry, sweeping, mowing, or diapering babies. If it’s clean in the end who cares how it got done! (The diapering babies one stressed me out at first, but then I realized he might just say, “Fine you do it!” and then I was fine. When we were first married Rob really tried to get me to fold laundry a certain way, but I resisted and he hasn’t mentioned it since.)

And lastly, go to bed angry, but do resolve it later. Yes, I know this one goes against all logic and Rob may disagree with me on this one, but I have found that trying to work things out sometimes works best after some sleep. The rest will give you better perspective than you had at 1:00 am.