Stand By Your Man

So, BYU lost an extremely frustrating and horribly interception-ridden game to our rivals from the North. The game, the rivalry, the loss - it's all got me thinking this weekend about what it means to be a fan. After the game, though most of my heart was telling me it would only make me feel worse, I logged on to my favorite Cougar blog, Deep Shades of Blue, and read the many many comments of fans and detractors discussing the game. I was right, it did make me feel worse. But not really because with each comment I was reminded of the terrible game, but because I read so many comments trashing the coaching staff, Max Hall, the defense, the offense, the Utes, and anyone else that could be blamed for the so-called "meltdown." Too many people placed the blame entirely on Max Hall's shoulders and called for his immediate benching, and even went so far as to suggest quite vehemently that "any other quarterback" was better than Max Hall. And what all this led me to question was--these people call themselves fans? To me, being a fan means standing by your man - whether that man is Bronco Mendenhall, Coach Anae, Max Hall, the entire defense, offense, or the entire team. How is it going to make Max Hall play any better if we're all pointing fingers and booing him? Why do these couch-potato coaches think they can make better decisions than the real coaches who a.) know the players, b.) know the game inside and out, and c.) know the competition? Yes, I was disappointed and frustrated too, yes by the fourth interception I was shouting at Max too. But now that the game is over, I'm still a Max Hall fan, and I think he can come away from this, improve, and be the quarterback to beat the Utes (and everyone else) next year. Maybe it's a little naive of me, but I think it's better to stand by our team and buoy them up in what has to be a much bigger disappointment for them than for any of us.

All About James

What's your husband's name? James "The Devastator"... he wishes

How long have you guys been married? One year and three months

How long did you date? Debatable. According to me? two months and a bit. According to James? more like four months, because he counts when we started hanging out as dating. I do not.

How old is he? 24

Who eats more sweets? If we're in the same room, it's a tie. If he's in the room with the treats and I'm not, him. If I'm in the room with the treats, and he's not, me. :)

Who said I Love You first? I did, but he forced me to do it.

Who is taller? Some days he is, some days I am. It depends on who is standing up straighter.

Who is the better singer? We're both pretty darn bad... but James is charming when he sings, even badly.

Who is smarter? Depends on the subject. But I think I have the better grasp on reality ;)

Who does the laundry? Whoever needs clean clothes. :P

Who pays the bills? The blessed internet. Almost all the bills we have to pay go through automatically. It's genius.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? James, if you consider the right side to be your right if you're lying on the bed. Me, if the right side is the one on your right if you're standing facing the bed.

Who mows the lawn? The landlord, Chris! Thanks!

Who cooks dinner? Me, unless we're eating mac and cheese - James will usually at least start boiling the water for that before he gets distracted doing something else. Though, he has made several meals successfully on his own. As long as I leave the recipe and the ingredients all laid out for him ;)

Who drives? Whoever is too slow to say "1,2,3 not driving!" But James drives on Sundays, as a way to show his deep and abiding love for me.

Who is the first to say they are wrong? Neither of us are ever wrong. And we usually agree, so it works out ;)

Who kissed who first? He kissed me.

Who asked who out first? James asked me, after a few unsuccessful attempts.

Who wears the pants? We both wear pants, but I'm the only one who wears the skirts.

So there's James in a nutshell ;)

Things We Like to Eat

Ok, so I'm running low on good ideas for things to cook and eat around our house. I was thinking of cooking James, but the convenience factor just isn't there. So, I'm asking for all of your help. Every week I make these things:

Stroganoff
Curry
Spaghetti
Fried Chicken
Quesadillas
Macaroni and cheese/Ramen
Little Caesar's Pizza*

These have become sort of family-favorite, staple foods of the Johansen West home, but I have learned I need a little more variety in my life. So, I would like to ask you, my friends and family, what are your family favorites? your easy meals? your meals that you are sick of? One family's staple is another family's exotic meal, so please share!

*Yes, I make it. I make Little Caesar's Pizza. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Particularly Awesome Video

This video is particularly awesome, so I thought I would share:

NaNoWriMo: The Blog

Ok, so in addition to needing a due date, I also need accountability. . . . and feedback . . . and encouragement. Also James, rather sarcastically, told me that if I didn't share what I was writing then I was hiding my talent and displeasing the Lord. That's my husband for you. He also told me I made God cry when I voted for Barack Obama. What a man I married.

So, anyway, I did the only thing it seems I really know how to do, and I set up a blog. I will be posting each successive part or chapter as I finish it and I would love to hear from you - what you think, what's good, what's bad, what's interesting, what's boring, etc. I'd really appreciate it.

http://nanowrimoexperiment.blogspot.com

Thanks everyone!

National Novel Writing Month

So, November is here. The first thing that means is that elections have finally come and gone and Barack Obama is the President-elect of the United States of America. I for one am pretty pleased with America's choice. James was disappointed that his candidate never even got mentioned in all the press coverage of the election despite his spectacular mustache, but we're looking into therapy, so don't worry too much.

The other thing that November means, for me, is that I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month. What that means is that I'll be trying to write an entire novel before the month is over. The goal for all participants is to get to 50,000 words. I've chosen to work on a story that has been mulling around in my mind for a few years now, and I'm excited to have this impetus to really get going on it. I know you serious writers don't need these artificial deadlines and outside pressures, but one thing I've discovered about myself is that I need a due date. So for better or for worse, I will be writing throughout the month of November, and will hopefully have a finished, if not too polished, novel by the end of the month! Wish me luck.

Happy Halloween

Yay! Halloween came and we celebrated it to the fullest extent. I had a work party on Thursday, then on Friday we went to James's work party, a ward party, a West Halloween party we've decided to dub West fest, and then on Saturday to the Wilde Halloween celebration. So many opportunities to wear our sweet costumes ;) So for those of you who didn't have the chance to view us in all our glory, here are our Halloween costumes:

Here's the detail on my dress - it was a lot of fun to make and I was pretty happy with the way it turned out... I'll be wearing this one for a few years to come!
James went to school in his costume and got many comments on how awesome he looked - also some threats that his coworkers should kidnap me so James could go on a series of awesome quests to rescue me... hm....


Here's me and James at our ward party - James is so cute, isn't he? I'm sorry I can't get the size right on this picture - I imported it from photobucket (it's one our ward activities people took, so I don't actually have the file), so if you just click on it you can see the whole picture.

Here's me, James, and our little fairy Navi... I mean, Allison. Isn't she just so cute? You can't see well in this picture, but Allison's hair was all blue and sparkly... and so was Allison--sparkly, that is.

Allison, who looks good in hats, decided Link wasn't doing such a good job and decided to grab his shield, sword, and hat - and take over! She looks pretty sweet.

Here's Aunt Ann, grabbing some of the awesome popcorn balls we made, Allison, Betsey and Elna at the great West Fest!

Here's Charlotte and Laura, pausing for a picture before they head out for the evening.

Here's Brad and Shelly - Brad went as Darth Vader at Alcoholics Anonymous - he had a nice beer belly and everything.

Sadly, I did not get any pictures at the Wilde party - as I was a bit distracted by yelling at the tv during the BYU/CSU game. But there were some awesome costumes... we had Venom, a mini pirate, Jack Skellington and Sally, some crazy disco-ers, and more. Oh, BYU won, by the way. So... no sobbing this weekend. Also, the Giants won today, so it's been a good one for us Wests :)

Hope everyone had a lovely Halloween - we sure did, and I am really looking forward to relaxing now that the costumes are behind me... whew!