The Sweeting Family

Leah Kay Sweeting

Brian — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:36:57 +0000

On February 4th, 2009 at 1:06 PM, we welcomed Leah Kay Sweeting into the world. She is our third girl, and we couldn’t be happier to have her join our family.

KayeLynne is doing great. She said this was her most perfect labor and delivery. We came in at 9:00 AM, a pitosin IV was started, her water was broken, and by 1:00 PM, she was ready to deliver. It took just 6 minutes and a couple pushes, and the baby was out.

It took us a little while to come to a final decision on her first name, but her middle name was always going to be Kay, in memory of my mom who passed away in June of last year.

Salt Lake Temple Letterpress Print

Brian — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:53:10 +0000

A friend of mine has created this unique and beautiful letterpress print of the Salt Lake Temple, using characters from 3 different typefaces.

This letterpress poster was handcrafted character by character over the course of roughly 100 hours. Characters from the Bickham Script Pro, Engravers MT, and Epic typeface families form the edifice featured in the artwork, the Salt Lake Temple. Each poster is printed on Crane Lettra Pearl and letterpressed by Bryce Knudson of Bjørn Letterpress in Provo, Utah.

It will be available December 15th for $75, but will probably sell out quickly. Read more about the process here.

New haircuts for the girls

kayelynne — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:18:18 +0000

]]>

Dancing around the world

Brian — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:53:31 +0000

This video just makes me smile. I’d love to take a year off work to do this.
Update: If you like the song, here is the MP3 from Amazon.com.

Things you may or may not know about Brian

Brian — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:06:28 +0000

I am an only child. Something fairly uncommon in Utah.
I love TV. You’ve got to be pretty good if you want to stump me on obscure television/movie quotes.
Politically, I’m a centrist, with conservative leanings. I don’t consider myself a member of any political party. I vote for the person I think will do the best job.
I grew up listening to country and hair bands, but I now only listen to those genres when I’m nostalgic for my youth.
Self-righteousness and bigotry are behaviors that really bother me. I believe we are all God’s children, and He loves us equally.
I have career ADHD. I haven’t stayed at a job for longer than 3 years, and I can’t understand why someone would want to work at the same place for more than 10 years. Maybe I just haven’t found the right job yet.
I’ve had the following job titles:
- Yard maintenance worker
- Pizza chef
- Gas station attendant
- Computer salesperson
- Webmaster
- Associate Quality Assurance Engineer
- Application Engineer
- Web Developer
- Senior Interaction Designer
My favorite desert is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cake with cream cheese frosting.
My favorite food is Pizza (especially chicken alfredo pizza).
My favorite drink is water.
I love British comedies.
I love architecture and interior design, and I think most homes (including the one I live in now) use space very inefficiently.
I lived in the same house for the first 18 years of my life.
I believe everyone should work to support themselves through college. It may take longer, and you may go without, but it’s worth it, especially if you can get a job working in the industry you want to make a career out of.
I believe everyone should spend at least a semester abroad. I never did this, and I still kick myself for it.
I use the internet for everything I can. Even for things that are simpler to do with a pencil and paper. My favorite use is for reference: Google, Wikipedia, IMDB.
When I was young and carried cash, I hated having crumpled bills, so I would get them damp and press them in a book for nice crisp bills. I haven’t done this since I was a teenager.
I have a metallic silver vest with speakers in it that you can connect a music player to. I bought this in 1988.
The first cassette tape I ever bought was Def Leppard Hysteria.
The first CDs I ever bought (all three simultaneously) were M.C. Hammer – U Can’t Touch This, Vanilla Ice – To the Extreme, and Bon Jovi – Young Guns II Soundtrack.
I love Hitchcock movies.
I hate snow and the cold (unless I’m recreating in it).
I still haven’t decided what I want to be when I grow up.
My favorite gadgets are my Mac, TiVo, and iPhone.
I love beautiful typography and design. I can easily become hung up on bad design and when people use ugly typefaces, especially when that person is trying to sell me something.
I’ve never been outside the United States. Something that I need to change very soon.
I like German and Japanese automobiles MUCH better than American automobiles.
I’d rather buy something cheap and replace it, than something expensive and touted to last for a long time.
I hate meetings. 95% of the time I’ve spent in them are a complete waste of time.
Related to that last one, I hate PowerPoint presentations. 95% of them are a complete waste of time too.
I love talk radio, except for “conservative” talk radio. I’ll take NPR over Limbaugh and Hannity any day.
I love a great story. Especially true stories.
I hate having dirty hands.
I hate clutter, but I’m also lazy when it comes to keeping things organized. It’s a paradox.
Pee Wee’s Playhouse was my favorite TV show as a kid.
For interior design, my style is modern (Design Within Reach, Crate & Barrel), KayeLynne’s is rustic/cozy (Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn), but we are able to find middle ground.
I always want the latest video game console, but then I rarely play it.
I’m MUCH more likely to buy, use, or want something from a company who cares about great user experience. Some companies that do this: Apple, Google, Netflix, TiVo, IKEA, JetBlue.
I used to watch a lot of sports on TV when I was younger, especially basketball, but now I hardly watch any sports. Maybe if we ever have a boy, I’ll start again.
I very rarely buy DVD’s. My mom bought a ton of VHS tapes, and now they are all obsolete. I think HD video on demand is the future of movies and tv.
I consider myself an early adopter of technology:
- I started a blog in 2000.
- We got our first DVR in 2001.
- I got rid of all of my CD’s after ripping them into iTunes around 2003, and have only bought digital music since.
- I started subscribing to blogs using an RSS reader in 2003.
- I’ve been subscribing to Netflix since 2003.
- I’ve been subscribing to podcasts since 2004.
- I started watching TV shows online in early 2007, before Hulu and the networks offered their shows online.
My 30th birthday was the first one where I felt old.
I like skim milk.
My favorite ice cream is Extreme Moose Tracks.
I’m not handy when it comes to building or repairing things (much to KayeLynne’s chagrin).
I’ve seen every episode of The Simpsons, M*A*S*H, and Seinfeld at least half a dozen times.
It’s commonly a test of wills between KayeLynne and I, when it comes to loading/unloading the dishwasher, and taking the garbage out when it’s full, neither of us like to do it.
When I wear contact lenses I leave them in for weeks at a time, day and night.
I never had a cavity until I was 27. So far I’ve had two.
I wish I was motivated to work out every day.

Happy Halloween

Brian — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:59:17 +0000

]]>

A Family Portrait by Maya

Brian — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:04:15 +0000

Maya captures the essence of our family in her latest work. She even made sure the bun in the oven and the dog were included.

Hiking at Zion National Park

Brian — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:55:01 +0000

We spent Friday hiking in Zion. The girls were troopers for the 4½ hours that we spent on the different trails. Finally Elin proclaimed that she had been “walking for hourk, and hourk”. (She can’t quite say her S’s, so she substitutes them with K’s and G’s). Unfortunately, I forgot the charger for our camera, so as luck would have it our battery was dead after two pictures. Fortunately the iPhone was a fairly decent backup camera.

Days of Autumn

Brian — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:16:25 +0000

Days of Autumn – The Big Picture – Boston.com

It’s so tempting to link to every post on the Boston Globe’s site: “The Big Picture“

The first snow of Fall 2008

Brian — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:30:01 +0000

Maya and Elin were super excited to see snow on the ground this morning. They didn’t waste any time getting ready to go out and play in it. Maya made sure her little sister was bundled up right. Poor Elin couldn’t see too well, but at least she was warm.