Good Morning

This morning we woke up and realized that Rocky had slept through the entire night. We were rejoicing when discovered that our bikes had been stolen. You win some, you lose some.

Peaches Come From a Can

Growing Pains

Rocky hasn't been her usual self lately. The last couple of nights she has been awake three or four times. I have several suspicions about her new behavior.
She may be listening to our upstairs neighbors play Rock Band into the night. They seem to be pretty good and it must be because they get so much practice. Right now it sounds like they are moving furniture around, or having a wrestling match. Brandon and I agreed that we like hearing them because it makes us feel less bad that they have heard our baby. She doesn't do the cute cry that she used to have. It's a lot louder and a lot less cute.
Perhaps she can read the newspaper clippings that Brandon has posted and wants to flee the crib to catch some of the great bands that tour the local venues.
She might be worried about all the fat that has surrounded her previously petite face. Her several chins seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Those peaches can do that to you. I tell her not to worry. Her vegetarian diet is super healthy and it will help her fit in with the hippies. Besides, she still looks great from behind.
She's still pretty small, but the solid food has made a big difference.


I'm hoping that the real culprit for the surliness is the cure-all excuse that all parents use for orneriness...teething. The only reason that I have this suspicion is because of the way that she treats her bottle. I usually fill it with cold water and lately she won't drink any, she just traps it between her jaws and holds it there.

That, and the drool which is clearly visible in many of the pictures.

Hopefully the trouble, whatever it is, will pass soon. In the meantime, at least while I'm up at night I have some entertainment from upstairs.

Eugenie

After a grueling experience with a Budget truck, and several days of trying to figure out where to put all of our stuff, we are finally starting to feel at home in Eugene. Although we loved our little apartment at Grandma's, once we had Rocky we outgrew it. Now we are happily found in apartment #220 of the Spencer View Apartments. We've got lots of space and are living in luxury in student housing. Our kitchen is so big that we can actually keep all of our appliances and food in it, at the same time.
Rocky is living like a queen with her own bedroom. I knew that she had a lot of stuff, but when it is all combined into one room it is pretty overwhelming. She has more outfits than Paris Hilton. She's still to small to wear most of them, but, because she is now eating solid foods, she is starting to pudge out. All the fat goes straight to her face, or more specfically, to her chins. She's a good eater and scarfs down rice, peaches, peas, carrots and bananas. She's like her parents and loves a good meal.
It's been a little tough on her to deal with all the changes, but she's finally starting to relax and enjoy herself.Our apartment complex is really big with about 230 apartments. We've met a lot of really nice people. There are 8 other LDS couples living here and they all seem like they'll be good friends. As we were moving in two girls from India, Hema and Anu, were also moving in right by us. They were really cute to help us move in some of our boxes. We hit it off with them right away because, thanks to Eric, we had seen the Bollywood movie Kutchi Kutchi Hota Hai. The other day was Hema's birthday and she invited us over for dinner. They cooked a delicious Indian meal. I can't remember what any of the foods were called, but there was rice, bread, and a special sauce made with potatoes. I thought that it was the perfect amount of spicy-ness, but the girls said that they had toned it down because they knew that it would be too hot otherwise. While we were there we met a family who were Tibeten refugees. Being in a language department, Brandon's classmates are from all over the world. He works with people from Spain, Bolivia, Italy, Peru, France, and Japan. It's fun to learn about other cultures.
Brandon has been to a bunch of orientations and will start classes on Monday. He seems to be very happy with things so far and he likes riding his bike back and forth from the school.
I've had a lot of questions about the hippie-ness of the area. I think that it is big mix of people, and the hippies are definitely part of it all. Right around the corner is a natural foods store. I think that eating organic is probably a good idea, but it is pretty hard on the old pocket book. As for us, right now we are sticking with the Albertsons and Safeway pesticide dusted, hormone enhanced, just like home groceries. The things college students will do to save a buck.
We live right by a really cool bike trail. I've taken Rocky for jogs in her stroller. We really have to bundle up. So far we only made it about a mile to the city pool. It's so cold in the mornings that the pool looks like it is on fire because of all the steam. I'm looking forward to seeing what will come next. It gives me a little bit of extra motivation to push myself further. With that, and my new ipod I should be ready for a marathon in no time.
Basically all we need to be perfectly content is all of our family and friends to move here. Let me know when you are coming and I'll start scouting out the area for houses.

Wimpy Excuses

I know that I've been neglecting this blog, and this post really will be no better. We've just been really busy getting ready to move and our computer is having some troubles. We'll be getting our new computer on Monday and then leaving on Tuesday morning. Next week I'll get back into the groove.

Meeting Eugene

Brandon, Rocky and I headed out on Sunday afternoon and had the chance to see our new town, Eugene. We looked at some condos but decided that we'd be much better off staying in the student housing. Unfortunately we should have applied for our apartment about three months ago, but because we have a kid we were immediately put at the top of the list. Rocky is already starting to pay off. She's our magic ticket to good service, strangers being friendly, and now she has even gotten us a place to live.

We rewarded her by letting her have the bed.

We camped one night on the way home and it rained so we got to have some bonding time in our little tent. While we were there Rocky started getting really giggly. I think that happens when you spend too much time in a car-seat.
All those of you who are planning to visit us in Eugene will have too look out for these wild donkeys. It is a long drive, but there are many interesting things to see along the way. There is a lot of nice scenery, and then when you hit Nevada you can see nothing. You can see as much nothing as you want. It's a great place to go when you are looking for nothing.

When I had my feel of nothing I turned around in my seat so I could look at my little girl. It was hard to pull my attention away from the Nevada landscape, but Rocky was somehow able to do it.
Eugene is known for a couple of things. First, it is considered Track Capital USA, in fact, they just barely had the Olympic trials there. It is also where Nike was started. It is interesting to see the Nike swoosh everywhere on campus. We did see an Adidas store right across the street but I don't think many people go in there in broad daylight. They probably wait until after dark and wear hoods so that nobody can see that they are traitors.

The school is also known for the talents of Steve Prefontaine. We were there for such a short time that I didn't get to see much of the memorabilia on campus, but we did see a barber shop where he got his hair cut.

The campus was beautiful and I'm really excited to get to know it better.

Here is the giggle girl and her daddy.

Artworks of the Masters

Last week we went to Salt Lake to the Museum of Fine Arts to see their Monet to Picasso exhibit. The works were amazing and I would encourage everyone to go see it before it leaves in September.

I knew that I would like the exhibit, but I had no idea how much Rocky would enjoy all the colorful paintings. Her eyes would get huge and she would stare at them intensely. She was very well-behaved and caught the attention of many of the museum's guests. I was stopped by people speaking French, Spanish and another language that I didn't recognize. Who would think that anyone would stop and stare at a baby when surrounded by art from the modern European masters? I guess babies all take on their own form and style, and they are 'limited edition' because they only stay small for a short period of time.

This was Rocky's favorite picture. Portrait of a Woman by Amedeo Modigliani



My mom really liked The Red Kercheif: Portrait of Mrs. Monet (La Capeline Rouge Portrait De Madame Monet) by Claude Monet.Jill was a big fan of Vincent Van Gogh's The Poplars at Saint-Remh (Les peupliers Sur La Colline).
Brandon and I found our favorites too, but they didn't have the pictures for me to steal from the museum's website. If you want to see them you will have to go for yourself. It's $15 and worth every penny.
Just because you're lucky I'll let you look at my greatest piece of art for free.