And the Oscar goes to...

Sunday night we went to my first ever Oscar party at our friends Eldon & Heather's house. We had to wear our pajamas, bring an appetizer, and everyone voted on who would win each category.

Surprisingly, I came in second place. I almost took first, but made two bad choices at the very end. Thanks to Andy for doing his research so I could copy a few choices off his ballot!

Chris and Barb sure enjoyed my spoils.

And thanks to Dennis who gets us into free movies, I actually saw 10 of the nominated movies this year.

How fast are you?

101 words

Speedtest

I found a link to this on my friend Amy's blog. Surprisingly, I didn't get any wrong. Quite often at work, people comment on how fast I type. Someone once asked me if gerbils were running all over my keyboard!

Hello, meet Frankenfish

At the risk of sounding like a sissy la-la, I just have to say: Ew! Gross!

While reading the news online this morning, I happened upon this little picture and story. I'm a little disturbed by this, one of Heavenly Father's creations. A few questions come to mind:

Why would a fish need a primitive lung to survive on land? Um, it's a fish - don't they have gills for the specific purpose that they live in the water?
What would you do if you saw a fish with a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth walking on land using its fins? I think I'd run for my freakin' life.
What does it taste like fried in butter and garlic? Probably just the same as the dish of snails Andy convinced us to order at dinner last night with his parents...

I just say to the fishermen in my family (um, Clint and Jared): beware the Frankenfish.

A plea for more turtlenecks

All I wanted to do was refill my water bottle. It was a simple mission: Get up from desk, walk to breakroom, fill up bottle, walk back to desk. Simple. I didn't think I'd run into any half-naked women. Who usually runs into those on a regular day in the office?

I did. I ran face-first into a tall woman whose chest was practically falling out of her extremely low-cut wrap top and right into my face. I ask you: Is this our only fashion choice when we get ready in the morning? Is this what it has come to? Are we relegated to talking to each other with our hands covering our eyes like this poor guy? Look, even he's embarrassed.

I know, it's hard to find clothes that fit properly, covering all the important-to-cover body parts and yet still look cool. It's hard to find clothes that make you feel feminine, yet are also functional. But I ask you: Why not put on a turtleneck for the office, and save the cleavage shirt for your date? Turtlenecks are great. They keep you warm, they come in a variety of colors; oh, and they also show off your figure WITHOUT SHOWING WHAT YOUR FIGURE LOOKS LIKE WITH NO CLOTHES ON.

Buy a few more turtlenecks please, ladies, so I no longer have to take the long route to fill up my water bottle.

What to blog about...

Being back on the blogwagon, I found this cartoon amusing.

Courtesy of Dave Walker.

I need help!

I have been asked to speak in sacrament meeting this Sunday, and I am completely stumped by my topic: Creating a love for yourself.

I was asked to reference the recent conference talk by Richard G. Scott: "Truth: The Foundation of Correct Decisions," specifically the section on "Faith in Character."

Does anyone have any ideas here? I've been mulling over this topic for a couple of weeks now, and I'm stuck.

Don't go to the movies

Several months ago, Andy showed me a movie preview that looked so cool. Said move continually came up in conversations with friends about how excited he was to see it, and I have to say, the excitement rubbed off on me. I think it rubbed off on everyone, and as Valentine's Day neared, a group of us set a date to go.


Last Friday we went. And all I can say is boo. Had I a basket of tomatoes, they would all have been thrown at the screen. And this annoys me. We are not like a lot of people who don't get to see movies in the theater very often; in fact, we see them quite a bit. But when I go to a movie, I want to love it, or at the very least like it.


This did not happen last Friday. The movie was terrible. There were no redeeming characters. The plot did not make sense. There were unanswered questions. The leading girl was just too darn skinny (but that's a different post for a different day). The dialogue was boring. And Andy's complaint - there weren't even any good action sequences. Even if the story stinks, even if the characters aren't people you want to know, the least they could do is have a good action sequence. Not in this movie.


Don't go see Jumper. Not in theaters, not when it comes out on video, not when it's free on cable TV in five years. It is a waste of time, not only while you're watching it, but all the time you have to talk about how bad it stinks after you watch it.

Max

As the Primary pianist, I have a pretty great calling. It's easy, I don't have to prepare much, and I get to sit in the Primary and listen to the kids singing, which fills my heart with joy.

During Christmastime, the chorister did a simple arrangement of Handel's "For Unto Us a Child is Born" from The Messiah. The kids picked up on it pretty quickly; I was impressed.

When she was teaching it to the junior primary, she explained that the song they were about to learn contained different names for Jesus. "Does anyone know any other names for Jesus?" she asked. Then she called on a little boy in the front who was raising his hand so high.

"Um....Max?" he said. Of all the names for the Savior, that is the last one any of us would have ever come up with!

I'm so grateful I get to work with those sweet little kids - they bring a smile to my face every week.

Ch-ch-ch-ch changes...

I seem to be having an identity crisis. In my search to be interesting and unique, I have changed my blog name several times. As I was updating it yesterday, I realized that it was named something that does not reflect Andy at all, and some people link to our blog as "Andy and Alicia."

That got me thinking. Forget interesting and unique, it was hard enough to come up with something that reflected me, let alone both of us. We'll just be Andy & Alicia.

So here is the new a+a blog. The address is the same, but the title is new. A for Alicia and A for Andy. In our house, a+a = TLA. Well, TLU (usually). When I'm not grumpy, which I'm really working on.

Update your blogs, and I think I can almost promise the name won't change again...

Tennis anyone?

When I was in junior high, my family bought a Nintendo. The first ever, original Nintendo. I became addicted to Super Mario games, and would stay up until 3:00 in the morning trying to get to the next level. I outgrew video games, and didn't really know many people who played them, with the exception of a group of guys into Halo, which I totally didn't get.

And then I married Andy.

Andy plays video games. In fact, when we got married, he had three different gaming consoles. And the fact that I know they are called gaming consoles worries me. Nonetheless, they sat on our shelf gathering dust. Once we broke out Dance Dance Revolution for a dance-off, and then it went back on the shelf to get dusty.

When Andy heard about the Wii, that became all I heard about. It went something like this:

Him: "We should get a Wii. I know you'll like it."

Me: "But we don't play video games. We have three systems sitting here, and I cannot justify spending money on something else that will just sit there."

Him: "I know you'll like it."

Me: "You're crazy. You don't know what you're talking about."

Then his mom bought a Wii. Thanks Hiromi! I knew I would never stop hearing about how we had to get one now. When she brought it over, I'm surprised to say that I became hooked. Winded from playing the sports, but hooked just the same.

And the hunt began. Do you know how hard it was to find a Wii last fall? We checked a million stores, and no one had a Wii. We looked all over in north Denver, south Denver, and online. Nothing. Then one night in November we drove past a Best Buy, and I suggested we stop in and look. Andy said that we were not going to find one. Lo and behold, they had a Wii! We snatched it up and have been playing ever since.

I love the Wii not just for the sports, but for the educational games like Big Brain Academy and My Word Coach, which teaches me new words. Not to mention there's a game where you have to do squats (Warioware: Smooth Moves), and another where you get to shoot plungers at rabbits (Raymon's Raving Rabbids). What a hoot! The people at Nintendo to dream up the Wii are brilliant!

What does Andy have to say about all this? "I told you so." Oh well. At least I'm improving my vocabulary and my backswing, all from the comfort of my own living room.

What I learned from President Hinckley

I'm going to just keep posting until I feel like I've made up for lost time. It might mean a dozen posts in one day, but at least you'll have something to read.

I've read a lot of tributes to President Hinckley over the last couple of weeks, and heard a lot of testimonies about him. People everywhere want to share how he touched their lives. I haven't really talked to anyone about my feelings about President Hinckley, so I figure it's my turn to share.

Women should be loved and supported. We could all see it in the way he treated his wife, Marjorie, but we all felt it every time he spoke to us. He knew we were choice daughters of our Heavenly Father, and he tried to always remind us of that.

Work is good for everyone. Any man in his late 90's should be home in his slippers, eating chocolate cake with milk and doing the crossword puzzle. Not President Hinckley. He was traveling all over the world, dedicating temples, meeting saints, and spreading the message of the gospel. Whenever I get a little tired of working, I just think of him and the tireless work in which he found so much joy, and I know I can do more.

We can all try a little harder. I have those days where it just seems hard to go on, to be nice to people, to finish what I've started. President Hinckley was always encouraging and had so much faith in the members - he knew what we were capable of, and never hesitated to encourage us to get there.

Temples and families matter. I think when you live near a temple, as I always have, it's easy to take it for granted. I take my family for granted too. Each time I heard President Hinckley talk about families, or the importance of temples, I felt a renewed sense of gratitude and respect for those blessings in my life.

We all need to have a sense of humor. Wow, what a difficult thing for me to do - be happy. President Hinckley found so much joy in everything, and I so appreciated that reminder from him every so often.

President Hinckley, you will be missed.

We're 0 for 1

A few posts ago I mentioned that my sister said Andy and I must be getting all the hard stuff out of the way in our first year of marriage. It has been an interesting year. Between living in an AC-free construction zone house during the hottest summer ever, two bouts of bronchitis, one chronic illness diagnosis, one job layoff, and a couple of nasty sinus infections (during the holidays, no less), it's been a tough year. Add to that the fact that we are newlyweds and still figuring out how to live together, share money, figure out who our friends still are, survive in a family ward (which is soooo different from a singles ward), and get through our fights in a fair and respectful manner, and it's just been plain chaos.

Which means that when I had not one, but two, positive pregnancy tests on New Year's, we were so excited. It was like Heavenly Father was just saying, "I know it's been hard, but here is something you have wanted for so long, and I want you to have it. Enjoy!"

Some of you know how this story ends, and some don't. I was about 5 weeks along, and scheduled my first doctor's appointment for a few weeks later. When we showed up, she did an ultrasound, and said that she was seeing a fetus that was about 5 weeks old, and it should be about 9 weeks. In short, I had miscarried at about the time I discovered I was pregnant.

There was no heartbeat. There was no movement. I remember how still and quiet the exam room was. I remember that my feet were cold. Someone reached out to hold my hand - Andy, warm and familiar - was there, thank heavens. After I dressed and the doctor returned, she explained my options: I could wait, which I had already done without even knowing, I could take some medicine to flush it out, or I could have a procedure. We both agreed the medicine was the best choice.

Several days later, I was no longer pregnant. I thank Heavenly Father for a husband, parents, sisters, and friends who saw me through something unexpected and painful. Who won't let me think that my chance is over. Who talked me through the pain, brought me food, and gave me a million hugs.

I debated whether I should tell anyone this. First of all, it's kind of sad. And second of all, I know people who have been through worse than this; really, I don't have much to complain about, because we're okay. In fact, we're better than ever. I'm happy to be in relationships where a trial (or two, or a hundred) can bring us closer to the Savior, in turn, bringing us closer together.

It is because of this that I feel a renewed sense of hope and that my grumpiness is fading. I'm glad you all get to experience it with me, in one way or another.

I was tagged...Who do I love?

This is what I get for checking Kamiko's blog. In the spirit of Valentine's Day...

What is his name? Andrew Hideyoshi Ahlstrom (Andy) . His middle name is taken from a samauri warrior. Anytime he gets a blessing or has to fill out paperwork with his full name, he has to say it, spell it, say it again. I know that drill from my maiden name - Sadorus.

How long have you been married? 1 year and 11 days.

How long did you date? We still date! But I guess this means before we got married, or engaged. We dated 2 1/2 months before getting engaged.

Who said, "I love you" first? Andy, the guy who is not afraid of being honest with his feelings. He wasn't from the start, and he still isn't. I'm getting a *tiny* bit better at it.

Who is taller? Andy, by 2.5 inches.

Who can sing better? Definitely Andy. The guy was in all the special choirs in high school and performed on a cruise ship, for heaven's sake!

Who is smarter? I'm more book smart, and Andy's more street smart. We make a good match

Who does the laundry? Me! Me! Me! I don't mind sorting, washing, and folding, but putting it away... What's that?

Who pays the bills? I'll take that one. And I keep saying, "You spent how much on that? Well, I spent that much on this..." No wonder I wonder where our money goes!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Andy

Who mows the lawn? Andy

Who cooks dinner? Usually me, but I love it when I get home from work and he has surprised me with dinner. He's good at the cooking.

Who drives? Usually Andy, because I just don't enjoy driving, and Andy really does.

Who is more stubborn? That's a close call, but Andy is a little more stubborn than I am.

Who kissed who first? Andy, of course. It was the best kiss of my entire life.

Who asked who out first? Andy - he called at 10:30 the morning after we met to ask me out for that night. He didn't waste any time!

Who proposed? Andy. After a huge debaucle with the ring, he finally popped the question.

Who has more siblings? Me

Who wears the pants? I think we share in that responsibility. I just try to keep them cleaned and ironed.

I tag: AnJ, Mandy, Addie, and Stephanie Ford. If anyone is even reading my blog anymore, because I've been such a slacker!

Surprise! I'm back!

Call all your friends and let them know - I'm back from my unannounced blogging hiatus. I've got some new posts, and a resolution to blog way more often than I was in the past.

Hopefully people out there still care and are still interested. Forgive me my slackerness.

Yadda, yadda yadda

Since the TV Writer's Strike started, we've been hard-pressed to find things to watch. So we put every Seinfeld episode in our Blockbuster queue, and off we went! Andy never really watched Seinfeld when it originally aired, so it's been fun to watch all of them from the beginning with him.

There are so many random, hilarious things they say on that show. What makes me laugh the most is that no matter what issues we're facing in our lives, inevitably, we watch an episode and Seinfeld addresses it. Right now we're wondering why they have such random and hilarious things happen to them, when those kinds of things aren't happening in our life. Is that true for everyone? Do you think your life is not very interesting, compared to others?

I decided to start a "What would Seinfeld say?" feature in my blog, just to give me something to laugh about every once in a while. Enjoy!

I'm not so good with the pictures

I stopped blogging several months ago for a few reasons:

• I'm not consistent with taking pictures, and when I do, they don't turn out very well. What fun is a blog without pictures?
• Since we don't have kids yet, we're kind of boring. How much do you want to read about all the TV shows we watch?
• I've been in a bad mood. Yes, for several months.

At any rate, I'm resolving to do better. I love reading people's blogs and feel guilty for not updating mine. Here's a quick update on what's been happening in the last few months:

• We still live in the unfinished house, with the mouse (or three, although we found two dead ones, I think an entire extended family lives with us - kind of like in Ratatouille).
• I am no longer unemployed. I work at Avaya now as a contractor, which is a great job. I can work from home if I want to, and I work with great people. What a blessing!
• I play the piano for the Primary, and Andy is the Priests Quorum Advisor. We love our callings!
• We found out that Andy has sarcoidosis (see previous post), and bronchitis, which has completely worn him out.
• We celebrated our first wedding anniversary - yay! I made Andy a poster with pictures from the time we've known each other. First anniversary = paper. He was sick for our anniversary, so he's actually getting it tomorrow for Valentine's Day. Hope he likes it. Thanks to our friend Daniel for helping me with it.

This time Dr. House was right

Since my last post, which was about a bazillion years ago, we have been through quite a bit, medically speaking. AnJanette suggested that perhaps Andy and I were trying to get all of our problems finished in our first year of marriage, which, I have to admit, would be totally like me. Can I just get through all the hard/boring/painful/scary stuff really fast so I can actually enjoy myself?

Last summer, Andy went to the doctor. Really he went because I suggested he might want to go since he hasn't been since he was a wee child. "Just for a checkup. Just to make sure everything's okay," I said. Well, he listened to me, and it's been one long roller coaster ride ever since.

We are big fans of the TV show House. It seems like almost every episode, their initial (and wrong) diagnosis is either lupus or sarcoidosis. After Andy's visit to the doctor turned into recurring visits, and two biopsies in January (one of his lung and the other of his lymph nodes, which, by the way, left quite the scar right below his neck), his doctors gave him a diagnosis that could only come straight from Dr. Gregory House. Andy has sarcoidosis.

Poor guy. He's been through a lot, and now he finds out that he has something that may or may not go away, something that can't be treated unless his symptoms get worse because the side effects of the treatment can be worse than the original symptoms, and that giving up refined sugar might provide some relief. What a bunch of bad news! We'll do our best, and see where it goes from here...