just for fun

I know I have posted more than usual lately, but things have been slow. (oh how I love to say that) This is just a cool thing I saw on my blogging rounds.

It is a bit time consuming but still fun. Here is what you do:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the FIRST page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Here are my answers:

1. Laci
2. Italian
3. USU
4. blue
5. James McAvoy (right now at least)
6. Diet Coke
7. Hawaii
8. chocolate covered strawberries
9. mom
10. Nathan J
11. changing
12. lbutta, but it didn't work so I tried "buttars" and it pulled up my nephew!

Then Nate participated as well:

1. Nate
2. Mexican
3. Sky View (I guess he thinks of his high school glory days....haha)
4. blue
5. Kate Beckinsale - she's gorgeous I'll admit
6. Dr. Pepper
7. Hawaii (yes we are a lot alike)
8. pizookie
9. retired
10. Laci Jae (notice the freaky/dominating cartoon woman he chose, love you too Nate) :)
11. fun
12. n8

Go ahead, try it!

A Jane Filled June

One of my friends, Dani, brought her copy of Pride and Prejudice to Virginia. I know P&P is a classic, but I found it to be slight coincidence because I had a pile of 4 or 5 books I had intentions of bringing and P&P was one of the lucky few...that is until I forgot them all. Once I heard she had her copy I asked to borrow it. Since that moment we've immersed ourselves in what could be described as "A Jane filled June"--Jane Austen that is.

Our first trip to Blockbuster resulted in a quick concurrence of Becoming Jane. Yes, it has been out for quite some time, but neither of us had seen it. Long story short--we both loved it. I loved it so much in fact, I took it home and nicely forced Nate to watch with me again...the same night.A few days later Dani and I were spotted leaving Barnes and Noble with every Jane Austen book available from the $5 classic collection shelf. Obsessed? Just a little.

The Jane-maina has also resulted in two $5 movie purchases of P&P (the new version with Keira Knightley) and Sense and Sensibility. Turns out Wal-Mart is good for something.
Yesterday, after many hours locked down in my dark apartment, Dani and I finished the A&E 6/7 hour P&P miniseries. And yes, I'm reading the book.

Some might be concerned of a Mr. Darcy overload. On the contrary however. The hours and hours of Janeisms eek out of me in more discreet manners. I just catch myself before I ask Nate, "Pray tell me what be most agreeable for dinner, sir?" :)

Or then of course, I just blog about it.

Allie Elizabeth

I am the oldest of four kids. All things considered, I love it. Besides being the "experiment" as I like to say to my dad, I enjoy being the oldest child. I'm bossy, yep shocker. Whenever my parents would leave me to babysit, I remember loving to throw around the phrase, "Well too bad, 'cause I'm in charge now." (Nate doesn't ever hear that I promise)

When I was 11, my littlest sister Allie was born. I'm pretty sure the term "little mother" would have described our situation. She is, after all, my spitting image. I always joke with her that she better think I'm beautiful because she's going to look just like me.
Well the other day I received a text message...
(she uses my Dad's phone so sometimes it takes me a second to decipher the sender)

"why dont you ever blog about me youve done cade dad mom nate and bekka but not me"

After a good laugh I responded:
"Haha you're funny Pals. I'll do one just for you. How's that?

"ya i would like that very much"

So here's to you Al. I miss you lots when I leave for the summer, but it also makes you realize that you do kinda like me after all, right? Nate wanted me to tell you that I only blog about him cause I have to, so don't feel too bad. :) Hope you're having a fun summer, and I'll see you in a few weeks!

Happy Dad's Day!

A few of my favorite memories with my Dad:
~One of my earliest memories was tagging along to an old milk barn where he kept some of his cows. I would watch him while he worked and I even named all the cows. Some were: Laci Jae (how original), Licorice, and I think even Lollipop. Either I only knew “L” names or my parents fed me too much candy. :)
~Some of my favorite afternoons were when he would get home from work and we would watch movies in the basement. I would always choose Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast. What a good sport he was...although I guess he would always end up taking a nap by the end anyways.
~ Most Saturdays we would drive to Bear Lake to my cousin's house. We would stop in Preston at the Arctic Circle, then at the convenience store to get brown licorice. We'd listen to Marty Robbins (that's why he's in my music play list) or Patsy Cline and play 20 questions on the way.
~During the winter he would move his huge draft horses to the pasture behind our house. On really snowy days he would hook them up to a sleigh and pull me and my brother all around our yard, making sure to send us flying over the big mounds of shoveled snow.
~Beginning in the winter I was in 3^rd grade, he would pick me up from school and we would go to Amalga to feed cows. I would “drive” the truck or tractor while he fed hay to the cows off the back. My driving was basically just steering the vehicle while it was in neutral or low gear. We still laugh about some of the close calls we experienced. A few included getting stuck in the snow (more than once), or when I sent us careening down a hill towards the Bear River.
~During the summer he would have me and my brother move firewood from the pile that was against our house, to a new stack across the other side of our yard. I had to use a wheel-barrow while Cade got to pull the red wagon. Sometimes I think he just had us do that for busy work. :)
~He helped us raise 4-H animals every year for the fair. The fair was, and still is, my favorite event of the summer.
~When Cade and I weren’t stacking wood or picking up rotten apples that had fallen from our apple tree, we would move the big sprinkler pipe for an older couple in the field behind their house. I complained A LOT, but now that I look back I’m so grateful my dad taught me the importance of hard work and service. Those are two traits I definitely want to teach my kids.
~Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE Christmas time. I am positive I inherited that from my Dad. Every year we would go to Rudy’s Greenhouse and pick out our Christmas tree together. He’d always let me have the final say and it made me feel pretty special. He’d also break out his collection of Christmas books and we’d read one every night for the month of December. A tradition he still continues with my littlest sister.
~I loved summer vacation because we'd always go camping or make a trip to Riverdale Resort. Dad and I were the only "brave" ones to go down the slide.
~During Jr. High and high school, he would attempt to wake me up every morning by coming down and belly flopping on my bed so I would be launched in the air. He’d laugh, I’d scream.
~These are just a few of the memories I love to look back on. Dad, you are my example of hard work, honesty, patience, fun, love, and especially faith. I take comfort in knowing you are just a phone call or even text message :) away. You give of yourself all the time and I love you so much! Happy Father’s Day Dad!

Why Nate is Great: Part Deux-

*For the original "Why Nate is Great" post click here:* http://lacibuttars.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html

During the summer my day begins after a good amount of sleeping in. I daresay if there were a competition of staying up far too late, and sleeping in way too long, I would take the prize. A sad confession, I realize. (my only justification is that it's summer and I'm more productive during the school year) After a long snooze I rouse to make Nate's sack lunch before he heads off to his daily work meeting and then continues to a 7-8 hour day of knocking doors. All the while, I try and keep myself busy by either shopping with friends or straightening the house.
Last week I spent more days then I'd feel comfortable admitting wandering around the mall, so today I knew I needed to do some serious cleaning. As I sat here at our rented, black, wooden table and scowled at the tower of dirty dishes in the sink; I was a bit discouraged to consider the long process that lay ahead of me. Scrubbing slimy plates that have sat slightly ignored for too many days, and attempting not to dry-heave (sorry to be so graphic) as gooey globs of garden salad slide down the garbage disposal, is not my idea of a good time. Long story short - I DESPISE doing dishes. Why don't we just rinse our bowls after slurping down cereal? Good question. But for reasons unknown, Nate and I just can't seem to keep on top of this specific household chore.
I was almost completely fed up with being the one who always succumbs to the soapy job. "Why can't Nate give me a break at least once?" I silently whined as I hot water seeped up the stainless steel sink. Just as I began to slide into self-pity, I snapped out just as quickly as I realized the contrast in my daily activities compared to Nate's.

Therefore the actual reason of this post - in good old fashioned David Letterman style,

THE TOP TEN REASONS
Why Nate is Great: Part Deux-

10. As mentioned above, he spends the vast majority of his day knocking doors.

9. He doesn't complain about the continually unoriginal sack lunches I make him everyday.
(a PB&J or turkey and cheese sandwich, yogurt, small bag of chips, Oreos 100 calorie pack, and a Gatorade)

8. He has 6 shirts to choose from throughout the whole summer. (There are only 5 in the pic because he's wearing one. I DO know how to count)7. He has even fewer pairs of shorts to choose between.6. To him, accessorizing with a hat is best part of getting dressed. (He had all these specially made just to stand out a bit)5. He does all this work in extreme heat. Yesterday the temp hit a high of 101 degrees, not to mention humidity. WOW.

4. He cut his own hair in attempt to stay cool from the heat. 3. Instead of sexy smelling cologne, he gets to smell like a mixture of these:2. He RARELY complains. I honestly think I complain for him more often than not.

1. He does all of this so we will have more money and won't have to work as much during the school year.

So go ahead Nate, kick back with your Dr. Pepper and NBA Live '08 on the Playstation. I'll scrub the dishes anytime.