Poor Starving College Students

Okay, so any of you who have seen me lately know that we are obviously not starving, but, we are living the dream, firmly planted in family student housing as Brandon chips away at his degree(s). Some of you may not have experienced this growing stage of life so I thought I would fill you all in on the insider information on why it rocks to have no money.

10 - Recession? What recession? I guess it isn't hard to lose a job when you didn't have one to begin with.

9-Weekly trips to the Eugene public library which lets you take things home for free...unless you lose them like the incredibly dorky book, Alternacrafts, that I somehow misplaced and then had to pay an obscene amount for in fees. Because of our elite membership we were recently able to check out both Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Gorillas in the Mist.

Just for full disclosure, our library really does have an inclusive up-to-date DVD selection. We only have these because we went out of our way to choose them. I'm pretty sure that makes us either really cool or really un-cool.

8- Hip vintage clothes...otherwise known as old clothes that used to belong to your friends but are now your favorite new outfits. Look familiar Cara?


7- We have a lot of extra time that others might use for shopping to attend free community events and drum circles. Unfortunately the drugs are only free the first time, but lucky for us Mormons, we are just there for the feelings of brotherhood anyway, and maybe a few of the complimentary vegan hot dogs.

6- We always get to wear cute sweaters and hats inside. Most people only show off their winter accessories outside, but we get to model them all day every day.


5- Pushing your kids in a jogging stroller is a much better workout than being on a wimpy treadmill in a gym and no babysitter required. Also, saving gas money by riding your bike doesn't just help the environment, it makes for some hot buns!


4- Keeping up with the Joneses means being the first to loot the garbage pile when someone moves out. Who would throw this away?


3- If you had money for crafting supplies you would never know how many things can be made out of old garbage.


2-How could you ever ruin a souffle yourself if you had the money to buy a good one at a fancy-pants restaurant? Home cooking is cheap even if it isn't always good. Hopefully by the time we can eat out again we won't want to because I'll have become such a great chef.

And the honest to goodness number 1 reason that trumps all the others...

The other poor starving college students
There is nothing like a bunch of great friends who can have fun crammed in tiny apartments or enjoying the sun together at a local park, and who don't need a dime to enjoy being together.

My Favorite Song About Love

The Ballad of Love and Hate - The Avett Brothers

This isn't really a love song, but it is a song about love.

Share the Love

Rocky thought it would be a good idea to help me with the chores for Valentine's Day. I gave her a big hug and then went to clean up the mess she made while "cleaning."

I thought I would make something special so earlier this week I checked out a book from the library called "How to Be a Domestic Goddess." After reading through it I was so exhausted that I ended up throwing out my plans and making the easiest no bake cookies I could think of.
My aunt always called these chocolate oatmeal treats Gorilla Poops.
Who's the domestic goddess now?
I don't think it will make the cover of Martha Stewart's Living but I am going to give myself some props because it takes a lot of guts to make heart-shaped Gorilla Poops and even more to publicly admit it.

Well, they tasted good anyway.


Happy V-Day!

Another Weekend of Nonstop Adventure

We checked out the most random children´s book I´ve ever read. It was called The Mask and it had a pocket in the front with this beauty. The story was about a couple of kids that were swallowed by a wolf and then after they beat the thing to death from the inside they made a mask out of its head. I know, gross. Rocky wants to wear it all the time and growl.
I used to think that with the extremely competitive market for picture books that it would be easy to find good stories, but there are definitely some losers out there. Oh well, I guess it was worth the free ninety nine that we paid to check it out at the library just for the entertainment of watching Rocky try to see out of those eye holes.
It is important also to point out that she is wearing the p.j.´s that she got from her Oma for Christmas. Take note that they say "I'm not sheepy" a pun that is completely lost on the wearer. Every time I put her in these duds she says something different, but it is always wrong. Her favorite is "I'm not a lamb."
I wanted to get a picture of her post-hairdo-hairdo. Whenever I put it up in the little horns that I call "nubbies" it makes for some pretty cool curls.

This picture was supposed to be funny, but instead it turned out to be one of those bittersweet moments that reminded both Brandon and me how quickly she has grown up.

Here she is studying Spanish by watching the dubbed version of Shrek with her favorite tutor. (If you say that she is learning a second language it makes the hippie mom's put their judgemental stink eye away for a minute or two. It only lasts until they see that your snack bag is full of Swedish 'feces' instead of organic hummus.

Brandon is always good at finding interesting and free activities to keep us busy. This time we went to go watch BMX races at the fairgrounds. Let me tell you, this brought out a whole new crowd of people that I've never seen before in Eugene. Think more tattoos and fewer teeth.

They were all really nice and Rocky made a few friends. First she sat next to a couple of boys and smiled coyly until they gave her some of their chips. Then she latched on to this little girl who was probably 6 and the smallest BMX racer I've ever seen. She was really cute and her jersey and helmet matched her dad's perfectly.

Daisy was surprisingly interested, well at least for about the first 5 minutes.



People are always asking me if I think Daisy looks more like Brandon. I can't say that for sure, but I can say that she has picked up his talent of sleeping anywhere. It doesn't matter if it is time to eat...

or time to be studying.


Rocky gave baby Oaklee an Emo hairstyle. At least I think it is Emo. It might just be a model-sized re-enactment of the nap hair that Rocky gets every day. Personally I think she is trying to get it to look like the guy who sings her newest favorite song, All the Pretty Girls.

I know it is hard to believe that this many exciting things happened to us in such a short time, that is why I took the pictures as proof. One day when Rocky and Daisy are teenagers and they think their parents are boring I'll pull out the pictures and show them that we were always boring, but that it used to be fun.

Wild Child

I know that everyone is probably getting sick of hearing about the teeth, but they just keep getting more and more out of control. I know that in a couple of weeks they'll probably just look normal and I really haven't been able to get a great picture until now.

It isn't just the spikes, it is the way her smile takes on the look of a wild animal when she is laughing. This picture is especially effective because it highlights the way that she managed to cover her face with food. She rubbed it all over her eyes and in her hair. I think she is pretty talented because hardly anyone could be that dirty, with that crazy of a smile and still be so cute.

Sweet Tooth

I don't know what has happened to us this week but there seems to be an insatiable hunger for cookies around here. I think it might have something to do with Girl Scouts.
Daisy put her newest front tooth right to work showing those Thin Mints who is boss.


I'd bet that she would also have liked the Samoas if I would have been willing to share.

Although I would have been happy to eat nothing but treats the entire week, I did manage a pretty successful experiment. It turns out that roasting a chicken is just about the easiest thing I've ever done.

Unfortunately, in true Marci style, because the chicken turned, out the rest of the meal was a total bust. The other pan of roasted vegetables came out of the oven looking like they were about one step away from being cremated. Usually you can just scrape off charred parts (something we have done an embarrassing amount of times) and you can still eat the insides but in this case, once the charred parts were scraped, there was nothing left.
Nothing like a home-cooked meal of chicken with roasted chicken and chicken on the side. Luckily we had a few cookies left for dessert.

Go Wild-Ducks?

This morning we went to watch the Weber State Wildcats take on the Oregon Ducks in tennis. As devoted Wildcats and Ducks we were a little torn on what to wear. Rocky went full-fledged Duck but Daisy and I decided to go half and half. I wore a Weber shirt and a green jacket and she had her O with purple pants. Brandon was unwilling to make a commitment and went neutral with his Sasquatch shirt. Really, how can you go wrong with Sasquatch?

On our way out Rocky insisted that she and Daisy sit. She pointed at me and ordered, "Take me a picture."