Fun With Leah

the ward family blog

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:36:00 +0000

Good news! Ross and I are planning to start a family blog at http://leahandross.blogspot.com/. I convinced him that blogging is fun and cool, because I am persuasive like that. We're gonna blog together in the spirit of newly-weddedness. (Or, almost newly-weddeddness.)

And to my friends, I know: You get angry when I keep URL-hopping with my blogs. I understand this. So to you, I say this: Quit your whining. I have no plans to abandon Fun With Leah. (Although I still think it's a horrible name for this blog. I'm not fun; I'm unfun. Would you support me if I changed my URL to unfunwithleah.blogspot.com? I'm sure it's available.) I'll keep posting here, too.

Anyway, read our family blog! All the cool people are doing it. In fact, go there now and follow us or add us to your reader.

wedding, wedding, and more wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:46:00 +0000

I have no life right now because I am working full-time and planning a wedding. Oh, and I just moved a month ago, and there are still boxes in the spare bedroom. Everywhere. Still packed. *Sigh.* I think this is a good excuse for my lack of presence in Blog World. Emily, though, is kicking butt! Way to go, girl. You'll be a pro blogger before you know it. By the way, she's hosting a thrill-ride giveaway right now. The two people reading this should go check it out.

Today I spent about $150 buying, oh, maybe 20% of the food for the reception. HOORAY for the nacho bar! And thank you, Sam Walton, for giving us your greatest gift: Sam's Club. Where else can a person buy refried beans in bulk? Where else can a person buy both Mexican AND American Coca-Cola by the 24-pack? Nowhere! Okay, maybe Costco. But we don't have those in Arkansas.

All the remaining wedding details are coming together. Ross, my sweet almost-husband, took over a big part of the work load so I'd stop hyperventilating every 15 minutes. After another weekend of work, I think we'll be 90% there.

Are you ready?! Well GET READY, people! It's gonna be a blast!

The Cake Dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:45:00 +0000

I think we’re firing our wedding cake lady. Let me explain from the beginning.

When I got engaged, I tried to do as much wedding planning as possible. I did this because I knew that when school started, life would be a whirlwind until the wedding. (Side note: I was right about that! I like to point out when I’m right -- just ask Ross, he knows.)

Anyway, one of the things I did early on was meet with our cake lady. Keep in mind that we are getting married in Mountain Home, Arkansas, which is not exactly the cultural center of the United States. To my knowledge, Mountain Home doesn’t even have a legit bakery. (I define “legit bakery” as a bakery existing outside of a grocery store.) So, we chose a lady who was recommended to us by a few friends. When Mom and I met with her, I had a pretty bad feeling. She was wearing a wind suit. The majority of the cakes in her album appeared to have been made sometime in the 1980s. Several cakes had a fountain feature. Curiously, some were leaning.

I tried to hide my apprehension. I told myself that the leaning cakes must be some kind of optical illusion, or perhaps the photographer was doing a neat lens trick of sorts. I was so in denial that I told myself this no fewer than 8 times -- once for each leaning cake. You have to be in denial when you have no other options.

But they were just looks, after all. I can deal with a cake whose looks are a little on the disappointing side as long as it tastes incredible. This lady has built her business on buttercream, she said, and I love buttercream. Fondant cakes look pretty, but it tastes like old gum. Buttercream, though...oh, yum. So I decided I could deal, because I’m sure the cake would taste great. Right?

WRONG! My father recently had occasion to sample one of this lady’s wedding cakes. Keep in mind that my father, who has a mouth full of sweet teeth and generally enjoys desserts of any kind, is a wedding cake connoisseur. He loves wedding cake. And even if it’s only so-so, he’ll probably finish any cake you put in front of him. Then he’ll ask if you’re going to finish yours.

He took one bite of this cake and refused to eat the rest.

So, there’s the story. We’re firing the cake lady because she can’t make an edible cake. Or maybe we’re firing her because she made one bad cake. Either way, she’s getting the axe. (Or is it ax?)

At the very least, we’re only going to have her make a tiny cake, just for looks. We still have to serve cake, though. The solution? We’re going to make the rest ourselves. Are we crazy? YES. But we are foodies. Taste is important. And when all you’re losing is the Leaning Wedding Cake of Pisa, you’re not really losing that much.

Sympathies are appreciated, as are loaner cake pans!

the many negative effects of fast food

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:27:00 +0000

Besides making us extremely fat, I am convinced that the convenience of fast food has made us all terribly inept in the kitchen.

I had a roommate once who caught the stove on fire making Tuna Helper. For one thing, Tuna Helper is disgusting. I think I'd rather eat ham. And if you know me at all, you know how much I loathe all things pork (except bacon, of course). But come on...how do you set the stove on fire making something that comes out of a box?

Oh, that's right. You forget to take it out of the box.

This must have happened to someone who bought a pizza from the Wal-Mart deli, like I did a few nights ago.

You know, these ones:

As one is supposed to do, I, of course, read the instructions before throwing it in the oven willy-nilly. I expected to see something like "bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes."

But I forgot about the fast food and the whole inept-in-the-kitchen thing. So instead, the directions read:

Notice #2: Remove plastic and cardboard from pizza.

Wow. Just...wow.

wedding things

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:02:00 +0000

I found some stuff at Target today!

I thought these would be good to contain whatever we decide to let people throw at us. (By the way, suggestions -- both serious and funny -- are welcome!) I bought four:

And then I bought four of each of these cute little reusable bags for who knows what. I'm sure they'll come in handy. And, these were in the $1 bin! I love bargains.

That's it for now!

the marathon wedding planning day

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:22:00 +0000

I know it's been months since I've posted, and my excuses for not doing so become even lamer each time I repeat them. So, I'll just skip them and hope someone somewhere out there is still reading!

Saturday morning, I had my wedding dress fitting, so I decided to make a weekend of it. My friend Angie and I drove over to Fayetteville Friday night to meet up with my mom, and we had a marathon wedding shopping & planning day! I really can't write this coherently in paragraph form, so here's a list of all the things we did/accomplished/bought:

Mailed the invitations (so be on the lookout!)
Put a deposit down on a new apartment. We decided to go with a 2-bedroom, 2-bath at a cookie-cutter apartment community in Fayetteville. Boring yet reliable...kind of like us.
Found wedding shoes. We did this a mere 30 minutes before the fitting -- cutting it close, but it all came together. I bought some a few weeks ago on amazon.com, but after trying them on with the dress the night before the fitting, we decided they were too tall. And they only had one-inch heels! Luckily, I found some really cute white flips at TJ Maxx!
Bought some really great reception decor: some glass drink containers with self-serve spigots, three-tiered serving thingies, some serving platters, silverware containers, and three pillar candlestick things.
Got fitted. Needed only one alteration. Total cost: $20.
Dress was a little tight (oops!), so...bought Wii Active by EA Sports to help slim me down for the big day.
Purchased a slip. I know, I'm a little behind on all the attire!
Scoped out nacho bar supplies. Planned the whole thing. It's gonna be almost hassle-free!
Bought a veil and some decorations for the centerpieces.
Found some white wedding mints, as opposed to the multi-colored pastel kind.
Finally found some giant galvanized tubs to hold the small bottles of coke we'll be serving at the reception. I've been looking EVERYWHERE for some...and I found them at Tractor Supply Co. of all places.

It was an incredible weekend, and I'm feeling almost no stress about the wedding at this point. Now the only thing stressing me out is MOVING! Ugh! It is amazing how many possessions one person can accumulate in just two years!

that's not a latte

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:44:00 +0000

I've been meaning to write about this for a long time now. Finally, I will air my grievances against Sonic, America's Drive-In.

In November, per our usual routine, my family drove from Mountain Home to Beebe, AR to spend Thanksgiving with Granlene and Granddad. It's a long drive -- about 3 hours down winding roads through small towns the entire way. Dad, a notorious caffeine addict, got a little sleepy about an hour into the drive. He needed his afternoon caffeine fix. The only problem: we were in Mountain View, a tiny little dip in the road that calls itself a town.

We talked about where we could possibly stop for a bathroom break and a coffee fix. There was always the regular gas station, but the coffee would be out of a pot and would probably have been cooking since early that morning. Then I had a great idea: "Hey," I said, "I saw on a commercial that Sonic has 'premium coffee' now." So we decided to drive by the Sonic for a nice, frothy latte. Dad and I each ordered plain lattes and awaited our yummy caffeinated treat for the afternoon.

The carhop delivered our drinks, and Dad backed the car out of the stall so we could get back to our long drive. Just before he started to turn right out of the driveway, I took a sip. I was immediately appalled at the sickly sugary sweetness. "What the..." I thought. "This is NOT A LATTE!" I told Dad to take a sip of his before we left. He did, and immediately said, "Crap." He angrily threw the car into reverse, pulled back into the stall, and gave the "latte" to Mom. "Go get me a real coffee," he said. Mom asked if any of the lattes could be made without sugar. "Uh...I don't know; we just have latte mix."

LATTE MIX?!

So, in short, I was disappointed and mildly outraged, even. Lattes do not come from a mix. If it's from a mix, it is NOT a latte! I really think Sonic should be sued for some kind of false advertising. But, maybe I am the only one who is upset enough to care. McDonald's is winning the competition in the "premium coffee" arena among fast food joints, hands down.

hello, i'm a mac...

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:16:00 +0000

Well, blog world, I am officially a Mac Geek! My birthday was last week, and as a group-effort present from my parents, Ross, and his parents, I got this:

Isn't it beautiful?! I am a 100% convert. I have to say, those commercials are so true. My theory is that Mac's programmers & tech people have so much more free time than their Microsoft counterparts because they don't have to spend 90% of their time fixing problems. Because Mac people don't have to sit around all day scratching their heads trying to figure out what's wrong with Vista, they instead get to do cool stuff like incorporate face recognition technology into the latest version of iPhoto. It's way neat.

With my macbook, I've been able to distract myself in so many new ways! My mac came with an iSight (the fancy mac name for "webcam"), and I've had so much fun with a program called Photo Booth! Now, instead of aimlessly surfing the web when I get bored, I can aimlessly take cool pictures of myself!

Look, I'm emo:

Oooh, there are four of me, and in neat colors:

Why yes, I am holding the Eiffel Tower in my left hand!

Agh! I'm all nose!

I highly recommend a mac! They're tons of fun, and they make you instantly cool. Seriously, which would you rather be? A Mac (yay!), or a PC (lame!)?

I'm going skiing next week, and when I come back, I am sure I'll have stories to tell. Stay tuned! And watch your mailbox for Save the Dates!

coupons

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:07:00 +0000

A few days ago, I received my March Real Simple magazine in the mail. (I've always been bothered by receiving magazines entire months early, but I'll save that for another post.) Embracing the slowing economy and turning it into something marketable, Real Simple's theme for the month is all about tightening the purse strings. The cover promises various ways to save money, get more for your money, etc. It's weird, but I immediately got excited at the thought of saving rather than spending my money. Maybe slowing economies have some good effects, after all.

Anyway, inspired by my Real Simple magazine, I decided to buy the Sunday paper and clip coupons. I clipped several coupons for items I use regularly, or items I'd be willing to substitute for the items I use regularly. This week's coupon books were a wealth of potential savings! Crest Pro Health toothpaste! Whitening rinse! Bounce dryer sheets, which I was almost out of anyway!

Armed with coupons, I headed to Wal-Mart on Sunday afternoon. For the first time ever, I was disappointed by Wal-Mart's low prices. Instead of using a coupon to buy Bounce dryer sheets, I bought Great Value dryer sheets at half the price. Bounce dryer sheets for $4.50 after the coupon, or Great Value dryer sheets for $2? Come on...that's a no-brainer. Wal-Mart's store brand rendered my coupons virtually useless. Sadness!

Note: I did have better luck at Walgreens, but who really shops for groceries there? The only person I know who shops there is my crazy grandmother. I really don't want to go down that road!

In other news, Ross and I had engagement pictures made this past weekend. We should have proofs in the next few weeks. If I'm allowed to share, I'll post a link!

engagement

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:10:00 +0000

Well folks, I got engaged over Christmas break. (Yay!) Ross and I are tying the knot on August 8th. In the past few weeks, I've tried to get as much wedding planning done as humanly possible. I thought I was doing a great job! I found a dress (though I haven't bought it yet...but it's the one), I've chosen some bridesmaid dresses, and I've alerted three of the four bridesmaids that I want them to be in my wedding. I've also ordered some invitation samples, contacted Ross's graphic designer friend, and made decisions on possible centerpieces & wedding favors. And, most importantly, I've informed my future mother-in-law that absolutely no Elvis songs are allowed at the wedding or the reception. I'm doing pretty well, right?

WRONG! The other day, I made the terrible mistake of joining a wedding website called The Knot. These people are evil! I felt great about all the decisions I'd made in the past few weeks. Then I signed up for The Knot and looked at "the ultimate planning to-do list" or something to that effect. I checked off all the things that I'd done so far and clicked "submit," and I found out that I was still about 142 tasks behind schedule!

Seriously, people. What kind of wedding requires 80 to-do items per month for an entire 12 months before the wedding? Isn't the point of having a wedding to, um, get married? Geez. The world is totally out of touch with reality. (Or am I?)

neighbors

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:42:00 +0000

I long for the day when I can have a real adult residence. I'd love a cute house with a two-car garage, a yard, and a fence. But alas, I am poor. My net worth is in the negative. I keep spending money I don't have to pay for things I don't really need. I feel a little bit like Congress.

After living in my apartment for about a year and a half, I thought I'd finally gotten used to my surroundings. Then I got a new neighbor. I like to call this new neighbor Jimmy Buffett.

Jimmy Buffett likes to sit outside his apartment on top of an old igloo cooler. It looks like this one, but red.

While sitting on said cooler, Jimmy Buffett likes to "play" an acoustic guitar. I do not know much about guitars, but Ross informs me that the guitar he plays is a brand so crappy it's laughable. The guitar looks something like this:

The following is a list of songs Jimmy Buffett likes to sing:

Margaritaville
The Joker (Some people call me the space cowboy, some people call me the gangsta of love...)
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
Superman by Three Doors Down
Outside by Staind

I'll stop there, because the list continues to get even lamer, if you can believe it.

Jimmy Buffett will apparently sit outside on his cooler and sing/play lame songs at any time of the day or night, but his most preferred time is Thursday evenings, which he refers to as "Thirsty Thursdays!" On Thirsty Thursdays, it's not uncommon to see Jimmy Buffett putting on an uninvited acoustic show while drinking whiskey, beer, or a combination of both.

In short, I'm living next to the world's most annoying frat reject. Oh, did I mention he's at least 26? And still in college? After dropping out to go be a white water rafting guide for several years? After five long years in college trying to get that oh-so-impossible degree in communication, he just needed a break.

I want a house!!

halloween candy

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 18:21:00 +0000

Hello to my two friends who are reading this blog! Not much is going on in my life that's very exciting. Law school is, I have decided, my own personal hell. But I wanted to post anyway, so here's a semi-funny story about Halloween.

I forgot all about Halloween until yesterday morning. I was walking to school, and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, until all of a sudden...wait a minute...there went a stroller carrying a small child dressed up like a fairy (complete with wings!). Oddly, though, it still didn't click. My first thought was not, "Oh yeah, it's Halloween." Nope; my first thought was, "That mom is psycho." I finally realized it was Halloween after I got to school and saw one of our law school tech guys dressed up at Lieutenant Dangle. In case you're unfamiliar, Lieutenant Dangle looks like this:

And even then, it took a few minutes. At first I thought, "What's that cop doing here?" But finally, I realized: It's Halloween! Yes! I GET TO GO BUY CANDY!

I've lived in my apartment for about a year and a half, and it's not in a neighborhood where kids normally go trapsing around during the daytime, much less after sundown. So, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be getting any trick-or-treaters this year. But still, the thought of being candyless if a trick-or-treater did show up was too much for me to bear. So, I went to the grocery store after class yestesrday and bought:

One bag of Heath miniatures
One bag of Snickers miniatures
One bag of assorted miniatures, containing Milky Way, Twix, etc.
One glow-in-the-dark ghost basket to contain all this candy.

I was checked out by a Harps employee who was festively wearing a vampire costume, which was creepy enough. It got even weirder when he started talking to me using some kind of "Transylvanian" accent. "Hoow eez the weather? Eet's steel too bright for meee...muahaha!"

Of course, I had not one trick-or-treater. But on the plus side, this morning I got to eat candy for breakfast!

Dennis Haskins: The Man, The Legend

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:15:00 +0000

I will never forget the day that I met the one and only Mr. Belding. My friend Ellen and I went to the Student Union, where Mr. Belding himself was giving a lecture. Apparently, that's his thing these days -- he just travels around to various colleges giving lectures to kids who used to watch him overact on Saturday mornings.

But the real purpose of this post is so I can try out Picasa's uploader thingy. It's neat!

new blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Leah) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:09:00 +0000

Hi friends and family. (Ok, let's be honest. There's only one person reading this. Hi, Mom...)

Really, though, I'd like to try to blog once again. Lame though blogging might be, I really do like writing, and I miss it! I miss the creativity of writing something that doesn't require legal authority in the form of a statute or a Supreme Court case. I'm gonna try to do better this time. Really!

Check back in a few days for what I hope will be a clever and witty post!