2011

It's pretty cliché to do a year end "best" list anymore. And it seems even sillier when you are not a professional reviewer, critic or otherwise. But I love reading these lists when other people do them, and it is fun to look back on past years and see what excited me in the past and if it has passed the test of time. So here we go...the best of 2011. (PS. This is a long one. Get a Diet Coke.)

Best Movie
As far as I can remember, I saw about 8 new movies this year, so take this with a grain of salt. But the movie that made me laugh and cheer and cry more than any others was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. If you don't love Harry Potter, I am pretty sure you don't have a soul and this movie was an exciting and fitting ending to a great series of movies based on even more amazing books. It was satisfying wrap up to the world of Harry Potter, until that damn Pottermore launches
Runner up: X-Men: First Class. Yes, I am officially a nerd. And the previous incarnations of X-men movies got cheesier and sillier as time went on. But this reboot was fresh and interesting. The performances were great and the action sequences were exciting without being Michael-Bay-ish.
Honorable Mentions: The Muppets (made me nostalgic,) Insidious (did you see this? A straight up scary movie.) Crazy, Stupid Love (It was cute. Real cute) The Help (I have a bit of a crush on Emma Stone.)

Best TV, Comedy
I love TV too much to pick a "Best Show" so I have to break into categories. By far the show that makes me laugh out loud every week is Parks and Recreation. If you are not watching this show, there is something wrong with you. Funnier this season than last.
Runner Up: New Girl. Holy cow. Funny. (Remember when she couldn't say "penis?") I am curious if it can sustain itself and avoid being gimmicky. But so far so good. Also, Happy Endings. You have probably never see this show, but it is a joy.
Honorable Mentions: All the classics are still good - 30 Rock, Modern Family, Community, The Office. 


Best TV, Drama
Is it too easy to say Friday Night Lights? Whodathunk that I would love a show about football so much? The final season did not disappoint, with lots of great coach and Tami moments and happy cameos from past regulars (good to see you again, Landry.)
Runner Up: There was a magical little mini-series on PBS called Downton Abbey. And it was one of the most surprising, delightful shows I've ever seen. Season 2 starts in a couple of days! Get caught up now!
Honorable Mentions: Game of Thrones - my inner nerd rejoiced. American Horror Story. Spooky fun.

Best Book, Adult
Did calling this category "Adult" make you think I was going to review erotica? That is on a whole other blog. I only mean that to differentiate it from Young Adult. And really, in principle I don't like to distinguish between the two categories. A good book is a good book, right? But splitting them allows me to ramble about books I love more. So, my favorite non-erotica, non-young adult book was The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. This book has been getting a lot of press and deservedly so. I went into it not knowing much about it except that there was a mysterious circus that appeared only at night. And that there were some magicians. I also happened to listen to the audio book, narrated by the incomparable Jim Dale, which made it all the more magical.
Runners Up: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline if you were a nerdy boy in the 80s then stop everything you are doing and go read this book. Nerdtastic.
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta What would happen if the rapture happened, but it wasn't necessarily the good people who got taken up? What would that mean for everyone else left behind. I found this book haunting, moving and thought provoking all at once.
A Visit from the Good Squad by Jennifer Eagan I guess this won a Pulitzer, or something and it is easy to see why. It is full of somewhat unlikeable characters, but it so masterfully written and executed when I finished it I wanted to start over and read it all again just to see how she did it. And the power point. Oh, the power point!

Best Book, Young Adult
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness This is the sequel to a book called The Knife of Never Letting Go that I read a while ago. I liked the first book OK. It was creative and original. But I wasn't compelled to read on. Then on a whim I picked this up and the library and it blew me away. It raises questions about war and morality and what it means to be a terrorist. All on a crazy planet where everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts.
Runner Up. East by Edith Pattou this is another book I picked up on a whim. It was actually sitting on a shelf in the house we stayed at in Bear Lake this summer. It is a retelling of the old "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" fairytale that I remember fondly from my youth. But it was beautiful and fun and a perfect bear lake beach read.
Honorable Mentions: Delirium by Lauren Oliver Post-Apocalyptic Teen novel about the outlawing of love. Divergent by Veronica Roth Post-apocalyptic teen novel about a world where everyone is divided into classes based on personality traits. What's literature without some good post-apocalyptic teen tales?

Best Book, Non-Fiction
Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe I kind of read this (OK, I listened to the audio book - narrated by Rob!) as a joke - and then I 100% loved it. It is super full of insider Hollywood tales, and Rob Lowe is funny and a pretty good writer. I recommend it to all children of the 80s, or fans of The West Wing (we'll always miss you, Sam Seaborne.)
Runner up: Born to Run by Christopher McDougal I love this book. It made me want to run more, and further, and barefoot.

Favorite Status Updates of 2011

(I was too lazy to retype them all)

Memorable Moments of 2011

• Disneyland with the family. It is always a great time, but this year was the first year we had a special needs pass for Noel and it made ALL the difference in the world. Plus, it made Noel super popular
• Dance parties with the kids
• Hosting our neighborhood Easter Egg hunt in Oregon after the family who had done it in years past moved away. 
• 2011 was the year of watching baseball. It feels like we were in 10 leagues this year (I am sure this is just the beginning)
• The phone call that signified the end of my career with Carter's
• Making the decision to move back to Utah (about 3 days before we moved.)
• My surprise birthday party. I have never had a surprise party before and it was AWESOME. Great food, great friends (some I hadn't seen in years) and a great time.
• The death of the Northwest Book club
• The birth of the Bonne Heure, our Utah book club
• Running. And loving running.
• The week of moving - I can never thank Beccy enough for her help in boxing everything up and Mark and Tony for loading the POD like a tetris master.
• The day we found La Settanta. We were so elated.
• Lagoon - I hadn't been for about 40 years and my kids loved it.
• Mike and Andrea's wedding, and how Noel became some sort of unhygienic waiter and brought everyone food from the buffet all night (That he would sample on the way to the table.)
• Our Ward here, which has been so great and so welcoming.
• Not having to travel on Christmas.

What I am most excited about in 2012

• Living near family and friends and getting to celebrate holidays and special occasions with them.
• Reliable babysitters
• The Hunger Games movie
• Reading the end of the Wheel of Time series (which I started reading approximately 20 years ago.)
• Running
• Writing. This is my one real "resolution." An author I love says he writes 1000 words a day. No more, no less. He says now that he has been doing it for a while he can do that in 1 hour. He started out at 300 words a day. So that is my plan. That may mean more blog entries. It may mean I write that novel. It may mean some really long facebook status updates.
• The launch of my NEW blog (more details to come soon) and the release of a book that I allegedly helped write.

Are you bored yet? Just wait till I am writing 1000 words a day.

'Tis the Season...to fail

I'm currently doing Weight Watchers. I have been for about 8 weeks, and so far I have lost about 20 pounds. Yes, I DO look fantastic! Thank you for noticing! I give a large chuck of the credit to my new job. I am on my feet a lot more and moving a lot more and no longer have an expense account where I can eat out every day at lunch.

But the number one thing I accredit to this weight loss in environmental control. You see, I have zero will power. If I am near cookies, I will eat them. If there are 17 pies at Thanksgiving, I will have 17 pieces. If there are tortilla chips, cheese and salsa in the house, I will make nachos. There is no ifs, ands or buts about it. So mostly we just don't have those things in the house. I eat the same thing for breakfast every day, I pack a lunch and Amy typically makes a delicious and healthy dinner. It even leaves a little room in my Points Plus (TM) points that I can have a few snacks at night and not worry. (Note: Apple Jacks are surprisingly low in points! They are better for you than most healthy cereal. Look it up!) So most days are pretty safe. And if there is the occasional dinner at book club where there is a main course of Monte Cristos, Nachos and three deserts, I can handle it.

That is why I am screwed this Christmas season. First of all, those events where there is bad for you food happen more and more frequently (like the ward party where Amy and I ate warm out of the oven shortbread and Lila danced to accordion music.)

And second of all, and this is the real killer, is the tradition of "Neighbor Gifts." In many ways, it is kind of my dream come true. You are sitting on the couch, watching the latest episode of New Girl, the doorbell rings and there is someone standing there with a cake for you. Is there anything greater than that, I ask you? And, I think it is a lovely tradition. Sharing holiday cheer with the neighbors, visiting each other during the holiday season. It's what it is all about.

But it is kind of a dieters nightmare. Like this morning, one of our lovely neighbors showed up with this:

Um. OK. The packaging says to put it on toast, graham crackers, cupcakes turkey sandwiches (weird sounding but I know I will try it.) Delicious. And then when we got home from running errands this afternoon we found something that looked something like this:

Not exactly like this, but it is the closest I could find. We ate the ones brought to us before I could get a picture. This is from Our Best Bites and I totally want to make it.

Our neighborhood is so lovely and amazing. And I wouldn't want to dissuade people from bringing me treats. Because what is more annoying than that person who is always reminding you that they are on a diet? As I said, I have zero will power. Especially when the food is a gift. If I don't eat it, I feel like I am being ungrateful. I know Gillian Michaels would yell at me and tell me it is about me and not them. But I kind of don't care. I guess I will gain 19 pounds or so this month. At least I will break even.

White Christmas Tree

We found ourselves this year without a Christmas tree. Whilst living in Oregon, we would always go cut our own tree down. Christmas Trees COME from Oregon, you know. 


So when it came to finding a tree in Utah, we toyed with the idea of finding a tree lot and getting a fresh tree, but tree lots seem to have gone out of business. So we decided to go fake. I'm OK with that. I miss the smell, but we could barely keep a tree fresh and green in Oregon where it isn't so dry and where we know the tree was freshly cut because I cut it down myself. 


So we went to Walmart and got this delight:

That's right. The white fake tree. It seemed to be just what La Settanta needed. A little Seventies chintz. A little sparkle. And it was half the price of the green trees. It's like some sort of reverse arboreal racism.

Yes, Jonah is wearing a Halloween shirt.

The kids seem to like it. And I don't have to water it. So everyone is happy.


And while we miss some of our Oregon traditions like cutting down our own tree, and...well OK. I think that was the only tradition we had that was unique to Oregon. And while we miss our Oregon traditions, we are so excited to be spending the holidays close to family.

Thanksgiving was at my house and it was delightful. First it was nice that I didn't have to cook the whole meal and I usually did in Oregon. And second it was nice in the sense that we came really close to my "One Pie per Adult in Attendance" rule. I made up that rule a long time ago and have never come close to following it. And it isn't so that you can EAT a whole pie (though if you want to, who am I to stop you?) it is so that you have the variety. 

Check that out. There were 17 pies. In the following varieties: Banana cream, triple berry, chocolate toffee cream pie, black bottom butterscotch cashew , cherry, chocolate cream, Nantucket cranberry, sweet potato (with cinnamon whipped cream,) pecan pie, sour cream lemon, chocolate peanut butter pie, pumpkin cream, pumpkin, French silk, pear upside down 

torte, and apple cranberry pie. I think we can beat the record in 2013. Start getting your recipes ready!

And we got to go to the annual Peterson extended family Christmas party, which we have missed for the last 4 years or so. It is fun and the kids get to see Santa, which is always a treat. Noel was game and sat on his lap.

And Lila was totally in. She'll sit on Santa's lap. But then she'll get really shy and talk in a really quiet voice the whole time. (Which I assume is why he is holding up a microphone to her.)

It is good to be home for the Holidays. No airplane ride on Christmas afternoon, no shipping gifts across state lines. And sure, no real Christmas tree. But I think it was worth the trade. 

La Settanta

First I was planning on blogging about Halloween. But then I thought: boring. Isn't it pretty much always that same?

We carved some pumpkins. (Read: I gutted and carved every pumpkin while the kids ordered me around. I am abolishing this tradition until everyone is old enough to do their own.)

Lila dressed as an ice cream cone.

Noel chose at the last minute to be spider man.

 Jonah was a skeleton. Again.

 We wadered the neighborhood.

 Knocked on some doors and got some candy.

So instead I though I would give you a little virtual tour or our new house.

When Amy and I were house hunting, we saw a lot of homes. But as anyone who has house hunted knows, when you walk into the right house you just know. And when we walked into this home, we were giddy and could hardly contain ourselves.

It is a really cute 70s split level on a quiet street in a great neighborhood. Because it was built in the 70s (OK. 1969) and has some fun 70s flair, (and because I have always have wanted a house with a name) we call it La Settanta. It is Italian for "The Seventy."

The yard is charming. Well taken care of with beautiful mature trees. And lovely little details like this:

And a basketball hoop. (I'll get that tree pruned before next summer.)

Here is the view as you walk up to the front door.

Look at those big windows! That is why the split level rules. Lots of windows on every floor.

The entry is typical 70s split level.

The light outside is old and globey and 70s and I love it. 

The first room you see when you come in is the living room. 

It's cozy. We tried to find furniture pieces that were modern, but seem like they really could have been in a house in 1969. The leather chair, rocking chair, coffee table and end table are all vintage from local consignment shops. The art is either stuff we made, or J. Kirk Richards. 

The console table is my old office desk from when I needed a home office. The fantastic sunburst clock was stolen from Amy's Grandma's basement. It will cut you. Literally. I punctured my hand with it while installing it. The pink bird, which earned so many comments when featured in our blog about selling our home, is from TJ Maxx and is literally the greatest thing that store has ever had. And Amy found him in the clearance section.

Across from the living room is the kitchen.

Its nothing fancy, but was in great shape when we moved in. We decided to pain the cabinets apple green, because why not? They make me happy.

Attached to the kitchen is the dining area, featuring the great consignment bench we got.

And if you follow the little stair up, you get to the giant bonus room above the garage.

We all spend a lot of our time up here and it is the kids favorite room to mess up, even though they have the whole basement to themselves. It is a combination library/office:

(Please note the books are sorted by color)

Kids homework area (really I should call it the kids YouTube watching area, because they do a lot more of that here than homework:)

And TV viewing area:

(please note: the sparkly skulls are not usual decor.)

It also has a secret door that leads to a cabinet where we keep board games and the previous owner kept his gun collection. To each his own!

Also on the top floor is our room:

And Lila's room:

That bed is the bed that Amy's Mom slept in growing up, and was also stolen from Amy's Grandma's basement.

Downstairs is a floor devoted entirely to Jonah and Noel. Amy and I feel very little need to go down there, and also it sometimes smells bad. They have a family room with a TV full of annoying shows (Pokemon, anyone? Why won't that one kid open his eyes!) and all of their toys. 

It is a little lacking in decor - it is kind of a furniture graveyard where everything we don't need elsewhere in the house goes to die. But it works for them and we don't have to worry if they destroy things. 

When we moved in we told Jonah and Noel they could paint their rooms whatever color they wanted. Noel chose green and Jonah chose red. So we backed out of that promise and told them they could get decals instead.

Jonah chose vintage video games:

 And Noel chose this lovely Arctic scene:

It is fitting because his room is the coldest in the house. It must be because of the ghosts that haunt it because of the murder/suicide that happened in there...KIDDING. I hope. Actually it is because strangely, his room has no heat vents. 

Last, but not least, is one of the best parts of this house. The backyard.

It is big and beautiful, has lots of shade (including an giant apple tree with really great apples) and tons of perennials and spots for a garden. Also, see that fence on the back? That is what separates us from a huge, amazing park. And there is a gate to get to it right from the backyard.

This is where Amy spent every warm afternoon, reading a book and enjoying a caffeine free Diet Coke watching the kids play on the trampoline. She's told me many times it is her favorite spot in the new house. Mainly because how cool is this trumpet vine?

But also because who doesn't want to sit on a chair on a shaded porch and read a book?

Of course, that was all several weeks ago. Recently the yard looked more like this:

What you can't see hidden in the trees just behind Lila is our ENORMOUS 12' satellite dish. Remember when you had to have those if you wanted satellite TV? We can't even begin to figure out how to remove it, so we may just hang fabric from it and call it a playhouse.  

So that is La Settanta. Come visit. We'll feed you good food. And we can skip the tour, because I feel like maybe I have been a little too thorough with this photo essay. I almost took a picture of the storage room. Because I love it. But I refrained. I am classy that way.