Meet the Newest Member of our Family

Something is seriously wrong with Michael...no blogging since October! Don't worry I'll get down to the bottom of it, and until I do I will blog about the newest member of our family...

Meet Edgar



I apologize for the fuzziness, Edgar did not like the camera.

Edgar is a cichlid, but he looks like a goldfish. Michael and I received many wonderful presents this Christmas, two of them being a fish tank and a gift card to Petco (thanks mom and dad). Several days after returning home from our vacation we headed to Petco to fill our new tank. We both wanted to get an African cichlid,



but the Fish Nazi (we'll get to him later) wouldn't sell us one. So we took home Edgar, instead. It's probably for the best. Apparently African cichlids can reach up to 10 inches in length, so one probably wouldn't do very well in our 12 inch tank.

Edgar, however, seems to be doing well. We've had him for three days and he hasn't died yet. With my fish record, that is nothing short of a miracle. Every fish I'd ever previously owned died within two days.

He enjoys his cichlid fish pellets and he loves his rock. He prefers the tank light to be off and he doesn't seem to like it when I wake him at 4 a.m. as I'm getting ready for work.

Had it been up to the Petco Fish Nazi, we wouldn't have taken home a fish that night, because we hadn't let our filled tank sit long enough. He grilled us with questions about the size of our tank and the type of light it has. Michael and I scrambled for answers and probably made some up. He insisted that we purchase a background (so the fish's color would really pop) and a $30 water heater all for our $5 fish.

I was ready to give into the fish Nazi, but Michael held strong. When he wasn't looking, we ditched the water heater and headed for the register before he could take Edgar away from us.

The most awkward moment of the night was when the Fish Nazi was informing us about the different types of fish at the store. The Tetra's, he explained, needed to be purchased in groups of three. Alone, a Tetra would get so stressed that he would die in a matter of days. The thought of a freaked out lonely fish hectically swimming around and suddenly dying seemed slightly amusing to us and Michael said out loud, "Oh, that's funny." The Fish Nazi's response: "Not to the Tetra."

Until next time,

Anne

10 Things I Didn't Know...

Keeping in tradition with the title of this blog (Michael: More Than You Ever Wanted to Know), I decided that it is my wifely duty give you a little insight into the REAL Michael. These last three months with Michael have certainly been an adventure. So, I present to you a list of the 10 things I didn't know about Michael.

1. Michael is a neat freak. There, I said it. I feel like I am a relatively clean person. However, my passion for clean has been put to shame during the last few months. Clean laundry is very important to Michael. I have found myself using a bathroom towel only twice before Michael whisks it away to be washed. Michael's love for a freshly mopped floor and dusted apartment is only surpassed by his love for me (I hope).

2. Michael is always in search of new and sometimes bizarre health habits. Many of you know that Michael regularly drinks apple cider vinegar.

But you may not know about his obsession with our recently purchased Neti Pot used for nasal irrigation. Basically it's a small teapot that you fill with saline solution. Just pour the solution into one nostril and watch it flush out your sinuses.

3. Michael enjoys scaring me. I will be painting my nails in the bathroom only to finish and find that the rest of the lights in the apartment have been turned off and Michael is nowhere in sight. The first time this happened I thought that Michael had run out to get something. Before I ever had a chance to turn a light on Michael jumped out of his hiding place screaming/squealing. I'm slowly learning and can usually catch him in the act.

4. If you tell Michael you don't like the song that's playing on the radio he will likely turn it up. Just as he is likely to slow the car down when you tell him you have to use the bathroom on the way home from a movie.

5. Along with getting Michael on August 8th 2009, I also received several other "gems". One small puppet penguin that is often thrown at me during unsuspecting times, a tin man alarm clock, a dashboard hula dancer, and a bedazzeled skull named Leonard. (Ok the last one came after we were married but it was given in honor of Michael's Ed Hardy shoes, so I consider it his).

6. Michael has a very distinct bedtime ritual. He drinks a glass of apple cider vinegar, flosses his teeth, brushes his teeth, washes his face, takes his vitamin pills (and vitamin D spray), turns off the light, plugs in his phone, sends a few texts, and sets his alarm. Then he's ready to sleep.

7. Michael loves to cook and he is very very good at it. Every meal he has made was delicious, which is more than I can say about some of the meals I've attempted.

8. Michael has a special place in his heart for weird movies. Baby Jane was just the tip of the iceberg.

There was also Rumba, Lars and the Real Girl, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, Helvitica, and Year of the Dog. Check out any of those previously mentioned at your own discretion.

9. Michael loves his family. I was born into a loving, wonderful family, and I have been lucky enough to marry into another loving, wonderful family. Michael loves his family and doesn't go a day without talking to, or texting, at least one of them.

10. Michael is an extremely caring and compassionate husband.

I guess I had an idea about this one before the wedding day. But, I don't think I completely realized how amazing he was until we tied the knot. He may have his quirks, but I do in fact love every single one, except for maybe that scaring thing. Yeah, I could do without that one.

Well, there you have it. Now your knowledge of Michael is even more extensive. Feel free to bring up any of these items the next time you see him. I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

Until next time,

Anne

Michael Martin Murphy or John Michael Montgomery?

I don't know if this is a real memory, or something I made up today, but it made me laugh so much that I had to share it with y'all.

Back when John Michael Montgomery was singing about the Grundy County Auction, Robyn (my sister) had to have his album. She asked for it for Christmas, and my dad (or Santa, I can't remember) tried his best to deliver.

When Christmas morning came around, Robyn's heart was broken when she opened up a CD-shaped package only to find Michael Martin Murphy's (not John Michael Montgomery's) face staring back at her.

And wouldn't you be heartbroken, too? I mean, compare their pictures.

John Michael Montgomery looks like someone Robyn's teenage heart could have crushed all over.





Michael Martin Murphy looks like Chuck Norris with a cowboy hat on.





See what I mean?

Ragnar Relay Las Vegas 2009

On the last leg, I told my teammates that I didn't come to Vegas to drive the losing team to the finish line. Even though I was being sarcastic, they were in no way the losing team.

Besides coming to the Ragnar Relay's Las Vegas Series to be the driver of a non-losing team, I came to spend the weekend with friends and family in a seven passenger car as we worked as a team to relay across a 171 mile course that started at the Clark County Fairgrounds and ended at the Red Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

We spent a lot of time together and covered a lot of ground. Here are a few pictures to help you get a photo-recap of the weekend.













































The team ran all day and all night and then all day again. By the end we were tired and a little loopy (especially Joe before his last leg).

After seeing the race first hand, I might be tempted to do more than drive the next time Robyn asks me to participate.

Eins, Zwei, Zuffa

When you're a Mormon attending Utah's version of Oktoberfest, the only activities you're going to be able to participate in are those loosely linked with, but not at the center of, the original Bavarian celebration. That is, you're not going to be able to drink beer, so you're going to have to settle for Americanized polka dancing, $10 Johnsonville bratwursts (the least Bavarian of all the brats), and the alpine slide.

On Labor Day, Anne and I decided to give it a shot and see how well Utah could do Oktoberfest. We went with hopes of enjoying our German heritage, doing German things, and especially finding some German lederhosen for me und a German dirndl for Anne.





Our hopes were shattered after searching the Oktoberfest market, where all we could find were Mexican bracelets, knockoff sunglasses, and blankets emblazoned with wolves, bears, and other North American (or non-German) animals.

In dire need of a distraction from the very disappointing market, we headed up the hill to wait two hours to take the 30 second ride down the alpine slide. It was fun, but still not German enough.

So, in a last ditch effort to do something German, we ordered and ate the $10 brats (each with a side of $5 sauerkraut), and topped off our meal with some German chocolate cake (the least German of all the cakes--except in name).








While we ate, the polka band made us feel a little bit closer to our German roots. I mean, they did play some polka music...before they ended their set with an Irish jig.

Baby Jane Hudson

As part of my continuing efforts to initiate Anne to Michael's Weird and Obscure Movie Club, I recently rented Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

(The initiation process has been going on since we started dating, and will continue until she decides to get onto our Blockbuster Online account and add some movies of her choice to the queue.)

I first saw Baby Jane when I was in high school. It was one of those serendipitous meetings. I was flipping the channels late at night and stopped on AMC long enough to get a glimpse of Baby Jane (played by Bette Davis) doing something crazy.

The crazy factor kept me watching intently until the movie ended and led me to eventually renting and falling in like with the crazy characters, the crazy" plot, and the crazy surprise ending.

So next time you find yourself in the mood for two and a half hours of crazy (or, as in Anne's case, you find yourself with someone who's always up for crazy), go out and rent Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

If you're only in the mood for two minutes of crazy, watch this.





Welcome to Michael's Weird and Obscure Movie Club.

The Killers at the E Center

After a semi-hiatus from the blog (semi because for 6 months I put up two posts, and they were both the result of a self-imposed family birthday related obligation), I am back.

What brought me back, you ask? Anne would like me to tell you I'm back to blog about the wedding, honeymoon, and subsequent marital bliss that is now my life.

Though entertaining, those subjects will all have to wait. I mean, I like blogging about weddings, but there is something else out there that I love even more (and as that girl from 10 Things I Hate About You let us know, there's a difference between like and love).

Okay, so I'll get to the point.

Tonight, Anne and I attended our first post-wedding concert. Actually, besides the BYU Phil and the Utah Symphony, it was the first concert ever in the history of Anne and Michael.

And yes, there were two outrageously drunk, middle-aged men to the right of us that had the craziest dance moves you can imagine.

And yes, there were two daddy-chaperones (out with their daughters) on our left who had their hands over their ears for most of the show.

And no, sadly, I didn't get any pictures.

But I did live to blog about it, so please, imagine the most outrageous characters you can think of, and know that they were ALL in attendance at tonight's show.

Oh, and if you didn't pick it up from the title, we went to see The Killers at the E Center.

Imagine the glitz, the glamor, and the lights of the old strip in Vegas (their hometown), then imagine taking all that on tour, with a modern man in black at the helm. There were lights, there were fireworks, and there was music. And good music, at that.

Now, I know what you're all wondering. Your asking yourselves, "Why do they call themselves The Killers?" Check out out this Jimmy Kimmel skit below for the answer.





Common sense could've told me that.

--

So now that I'm back, maybe I'll blog about the wedding.

And maybe I'll blog about the honeymoon.

And maybe I'll blog about my summer.

And...

And...

And...

Stay tuned.