Sooooo... Tulsa.

Evidently we are moving to Tulsa.

(What? Tulsa? Yes. Tulsa.)

So, it looks like Tulsa will be Chapter 3 of the forthcoming book, Tim and Jean’s Bizarre Habit of Randomly Hopping around These United States. (That’s following Chapter 1: “From Pennsylvania to Utah: Three Years at BYU,” and Chapter 2: “From Utah to California: Three and a Half Years at Art Center.”)

Here is the extent of my knowledge of Tulsa, as of two weeks ago:

-It’s somewhere in Oklahoma.
-(crickets chirping)

Here is the extent of my knowledge of Oklahoma, as of two weeks ago:

-It’s north of Texas.
-There was a horrific bombing there.
-It’s a state AND a musical.
-Its postal abbreviation is “OK.”
-My friend Megan lives there.

Yep, that’s pretty much it. So, here’s the background story of how all this went down:

-Ever since Tim’s post-graduation job offer disappeared along with the rest of that studio, we’ve been in a mad dash to find something else. We’ve contacted literally hundreds of studios around the country and around the world, inquiring about both full-time and freelance work opportunities. For a while, the pickings were slim and the Despair-O-Meter was high. But eventually, all our constant-contacting-people-all-the-time started to pay off, and Tim found some freelance gigs. Along the way, there were also a few tiny, hopeful job leads that never materialized (here in LA, San Francisco, Albany, Montreal, and even Slovenia, haha!).

-One of the places for which Tim did some freelance work was a video game studio called 2015. He did a few pieces for them, they paid him, and we thought that was the end of it. Then, while I was searching job sites online, I happened to see an opening at that same studio for a 2D Artist. I told Tim, “Hey, it looks like that place has a job opening. You should look into that!”

-So, he contacted them. And they thanked him. And then they called him for a phone interview. And they liked him. And then they flew him out for an onsite interview. And they continued to like him (apparently), because they made him an official offer. We ironed out some of the details, and then this afternoon we said “OK!” (Haha… get it? Hahahahaha.)

So anyway, we’ve done a lot of research about Tulsa since then. Apparently it’s in the northeastern quadrant of Oklahoma. For its part, Oklahoma is just south of right-smack-in-the-middle of the country:


So, naturally (…Tulsa?), I’ve had mixed feelings about this.

Positives:
-We’ll have health insurance again. (For the past four months, I’ve been pleading with God for our safety every time one of us has stepped out of the house.)
-Tulsa is a very affordable area, especially compared to LA. (In other words, maybe someday if our student loans don’t kill us, we’ll actually be able to buy a HOUSE like all our other grown-up friends do.)
-Ten to 15-minute commute times sound so fabulous that I almost don’t believe it.
-Oklahoma kind of reminds me of Ohio… and I LOVE Ohio. (You can’t go wrong with the “O” states… well, I'm hoping.)
-In some mystical way, I feel like we’re circling around the country on our way back towards Pennsylvania.
-They’ve got Chick-Fil-A, Krispy Kreme, Carl’s Jr. (wow, we are SO healthy), and lots of ginormous superstores.

Hesitations:
-Tulsa spelled backwards is “a slut.”
-Tornado Alley!! (Whether with earthquakes or tornadoes, the earth is trying to kill us.)
-Once again we are moving to a town where we have NO family members or personal connections (except for friends-of-friends and what not). Why do we keep embarking on these journeys to completely new places? Maybe someday we’ll move to a place that I’m actually familiar with.
-It’s really hot in the summer. Like, really, REALLY hot. No, I mean REALLY HOT.
-There is no Ikea, Trader Joe’s, Costco, or Café Rio.
-THERE IS NO DISNEYLAND.

Anyway, we’ll be leaving sometime in May… we still have to get the specific scheduling figured out. And thus begins the “Go Everywhere, Eat Everywhere, and Do Everything That We Love in this Area ASAP Before We Leave” operation. We just went to Disneyland yesterday, and it was very sad to realize that now our visits are numbered (especially since our annual passes don’t expire until August).

Also, another huge negative is saying goodbye to friends here. All of you. I love you all. The other night as I was thinking about things, I realized that I’d actually have to say goodbye to my friends, and that felt like a punch to the gut. I hate that part. At least there are blogs… that’s the only consolation.

But on a positive note, I just want to publicly say again that God’s love for us is wondrous and immeasurable. I am amazed at how many wonderful things have happened during the moments of our despair these past few months. Wow… every time I think about it, it hits me again. God is great.

Sooooo… I have to click “Publish” now, and I really don’t want to, because then all this will be very real. And I apologize for not telling you all in person about this. We’ve only told our families, our landlord, and the Stake YW President so far (because of my calling obligations). Anyway, now everyone finds out at the same time, I guess. Surprise! Team Anderson is taking Tulsa!

We Went Observing

Last Saturday, Tim and I found ourselves in the mood for observing, so naturally we went to the one place that exists just for that purpose: the Observatory! (And did I mention that it's free? That's right, you can go observing for FREE!)

We've actually visited the Griffith Observatory once before, when Weston was just five months old. That was back when I was an extremely over-eager, hyperactive new mom who felt the need to expose Weston to a wide variety of enriching, intellectually stimulating opportunities looooooooong before he would get ANYTHING out of them. Hahaha! Anyway, these days I'm trying to retrace our steps a little bit, seeing as Weston is at the age now where he might actually be slightly enriched and/or intellectually stimulated (or so I tell myself).

Surprisingly, learning about our solar system is much less entertaining to a toddler than running amuck and occasionally stopping to look at sparkly things. So, this is basically what transpired during our visit:

First, some awkward forced smiles (we try so hard to make our photo album look jolly):

Then some spastic running:
Then some elusive hummingbird chasing:

Then some crouching and jumping:

And finally, some blatant intrusions on another family's fun. (Seriously. Weston saw this Asian family playing together, and he immediately bolted towards them to join in. No hesitation whatsoever. Where is Weston in this picture, you might ask? He's RIGHT behind the dad, looking eagerly up at him. The little girl on the left is staring at Weston.)

Apparently Weston is hard-up for family playtime these days. Haha! But maybe he's on to something; in the future we'll probably just attach ourselves to other families during outings like this, and see how long it goes (and how many of their sandwiches we can eat) before they call security.

Anyway, eventually we moved our observing inside, and we saw this lovely ceiling of the central dome:

We looked something like this:

Beneath the dome was a huge pendulum that was swinging back and forth, and supposedly it had something to do with the earth's axis or rotation or something. I don't know. (Do you think I actually read any placards when I'm at a museum with my hyper-hypo two-year-old? Heh heh. Nope.)

Then we proceeded to look at various sciency thingies:

"Weston, here's a picture of the sun! Weston! The SUN! Like in the sky! Weston?! Where'd you go?"

Thirty seconds later, we made our way downstairs to the exhibits about meteorites and the planets (pretty cool-looking, huh?):

I've always got to be quick about cute pictures, and fortunately I managed to get this one:

One thing that was especially neat was this size-comparison of the planets in our solar system. You can see how miniscule the first four planets are, compared to giant Jupiter. (I wonder if Jupiter is self-conscious. Don't worry, Jupiter, you're beautiful and attractive, too.)

Next we moved to the outdoor balcony for some relaxation and refreshment, and I got a picture of Tim as he pondered the vastness of the universe (or thought about whether or not he wanted a cereal bar):

Then I attempted to take a picture of the Hollywood sign in the distance, except that someone's giant Jupiter head got in the way (I mean, someone's beautiful, attractive head):

That beautiful, attractive someone got a picture of me and the kiddo, too. Just look at the delight on his precious little face:

Overall (and as usual), Weston had the most fun playing with the stupid crap in the gift shop:

Here, he's eagerly awaiting a demonstration of one of those semi-sphere bouncy things. Tim told him that he was going to make it bounce off the floor, and Weston took that to mean that he should sit on the floor to watch. So, he sat on the floor in the middle of the gift shop:

Haha! To science!!

That Wacky Weston

Tim's busy doing freelance work/baking cookies/playing Splinter Cell: Conviction these days, while I'm busy mothering/going to Disneyland/looking hot. But, we're still managing to find time to capture some of Weston's wacky antics.

For instance, one day Weston decided to transform an otherwise typical dad-in-the-living-room into a fine art display:

Here, he is carefully balancing the final piece (a yellow Megablock) on top of Tim:
I never got a straight answer, but I believe the exhibit was entitled, "Father, Living Roomed." Tim is a trooper:
Tim took this picture, and I love it, because it perfectly captures my life right now. I spend so much time sitting on the floor in Weston's room, reading books on demand or playing trains or having a "play food picnic." Like I mentioned before, sometimes playtime can feel really repetitive, but I know I'm going to miss these times later in life:
And finally... the Poser was at it again the other day. I swear he does this all on his own. We walked into the living room to find him like this:
He got a little shy for a second...
... and then ran to the doorway and struck a follow-up pose:

I don't know. I just don't know.

But that one sure makes us smile. :-)

He's Such a Poser

Earlier this week, Weston and I were playing in his room when suddenly he stood up, walked to the doorway, turned around, and looked at me like this:

HAHAHA!!!

(I cracked up, and then begged him to stay there while I ran to get the camera. It was just so adorable, and so very spontaneous.)

Will It Be YOU??

You may have noticed that my Site Meter count is slowly rising towards 20,000 visitors. Yes, 20,000. That's, like, practically a million!! (when you add 980,000).

In honor of this momentous occasion, I've spent the last eight and a half hours creating a beautiful, glorious artistic depiction of the many rewards that await that lucky person who will be #20,000 on this blog. Will it be YOU??

(If it is you, please click on the beautiful, glorious artistic depiction below, print it out, frame it, and hang it above your computer as an eternal monument to your blog-reading greatness.)

The Binky Bunny: Debrief

As it turns out, what I thought would be a traumatic, fit-inducing upheaval of Weston's routine went... well... fine. Just fine. Ha! How 'bout that? I guess you could say that the Binky Bunny (a.k.a. Easter Bunny) Experiment was 110% successful. That leads me to believe that either Weston is actually very malleable (unbeknownst to me), or the binky simply was not as essential as I'd always thought.

Anyway, here's the summary of Binky Bunny Theory:

(1) Wonderful, magical Binky Bunny requests binkies;
(2) Fascinated child relinquishes binkies;
(3) Binky Bunny delivers gifts and/or treats in return;
(4) Delighted child forgets all about binkies forever and ever.

And here's our recap of Binky Bunny Practicum:

First, the night before, I wrote out two notes to Weston from the Binky Bunny, and decorated them with sparkles. I also decorated a big manila envelope, into which Weston would theoretically deposit all of his binkies. Then, I assembled his Easter basket, which would be the "reward" for giving up his binkies (...nothing wrong with killing two birds with one stone, heh heh).

Incidentally, this is the first Easter basket that I've ever made. Tim and I don't make baskets for each other, and we skipped giving Weston a basket for his first two Easters. So, I really had no idea what I was doing. I presumed that Easter grass and various eggs would be required, and that after that, you could pretty much put in a bunch of random stuff. So, that's what I did:

(P.S. Don't buy that bouncy ball at Target... the one with the little tiny balls inside. It's as heavy as a little bowling ball, and it really hurts when a toddler throws it at you. FYI.)

So, the next morning before getting Weston, I placed the envelope and the first note just outside the front door, and I hid his Easter basket in the clothes hamper. Once everyone was up, I "heard" a knock at the door, and went running into the living room with Weston in tow, exclaiming, "Weston! What was that?!! Do you think it was the Easter Bunny?!!" I opened the door to expose the note and the envelope, and instantly Weston looked disappointed. I think he was hoping for toys and treats right off the bat, since at this point in his life he's well aware that that's what the Easter Bunny is all about.

So, I attempted to excitedly read the magical note while Weston let loose with a mini-tantrum and refused to listen:

With his wriggling and fussing, it became absolutely impossible to read the note to him, so I ended up just telling him what to do: "Weston, if you put your binkies in this envelope, then the Easter Bunny will give you chocolate!"

Finally it looked like it clicked, and I said, "C'mon!" as we ran back to his room. I made sure that it was Weston who physically placed all of the binkies (both from his crib and from within his dresser) into the envelope, so that I'd be able to remind him later (when he became frightfully upset) that he'd voluntarily given all his binkies to the Easter Bunny that morning.

Once he'd placed all the binkies into the envelope, we ran back out to the living room and put the full envelope just outside the door. I carried Weston to another room to get a tissue while Tim removed the envelope and replaced it with note #2. Then I heard him knock on the front door, and I said, "Weston!! There was another knock!! Do you think it was the Easter Bunny again?!! Let's go check!!!"

We ran back out and opened the door, and again Weston looked disappointed. (Hahaha!) I opened the note and read it as quickly as I could to get to the good part at the end:

I said, "Weston, the hamper in the hallway!! Should we go check the hamper in the hallway??!!" FINALLY he looked genuinely thrilled, and we ran back to the hamper, opened the lid for him to peek in, and then pulled out his Easter basket. (Sigh.) Success!

We didn't get many good pictures of him exploring it, but he was definitely in heaven (with a mouthful of M&Ms):

So, the easy part was over. I assumed that the hard part would come at naptime, when he asked me for his binky, only to learn that it was long gone. (And that, of course, would be followed by a screaming fit of rage.) And as it turned out...

-Sunday naptime: Nothing.
-Sunday bedtime: Not a peep.
-Monday naptime: Nada.
-Monday bedtime: Zilch.

Seriously! Since our little Binky Bunny Experiment yesterday morning, he has NEVER asked me for a binky! Not ONCE!! And he has never complained about not having it, and he hasn't even had any more trouble falling asleep than he usually does. So, am I crazy? Was this a brilliant technique, or was Weston's reliance on binkies minimal at best? I have no idea! I thought it was going to cause so much turmoil, but apparently all the worry was for nought.

So... the conclusion. This little pacifying device, which has been such a blessing and yet such a curse, is now finally out of our lives. (Haha, well, until the next baby, I suppose.) And until then, all I can say is, good riddance, you little sucker. And thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Friday Favorites

(1) Easter General Conference! Our church's annual General Conference falls on Easter weekend this year, which means that the talks from our church leaders concerning Christ's Atonement and His everlasting love for us will be especially timely. It will be a weekend of heavy spiritual rejuvination coupled with counsel, comfort, and inspiration. AND we'll be able to enjoy it all while nibbling on chocolate goodies from Weston's Easter basket (when he's not looking).

(2) The Binky Bunny! Speaking of Easter baskets, this year, it will be the Binky Bunny, rather than the Easter Bunny, who will be visiting the Anderson household. In part based on SuperNanny's "paci-fairy technique," I've come up with a whole (naive?) plan for getting Weston to relinquish his binkies. It involves special notes from the Easter Bunny requesting his binkies, and it (hopefully) concludes with the voluntary donation of said binkies in exchange for an Easter basket of goodies. I'm kind of getting sick of the binky, but I realize that the only way he's going to give it up at this point is if he has a strong incentive to do so. I figured now would be a good time, since we (er, I mean, we and the Easter Bunny) are putting together an Easter basket for him anyway. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Haha! This is a "Friday Favorite" in theory only; we'll see how it actually goes in practice on Sunday morning. :-)

(3) Baby's First Prayer! Speaking of Weston, guess what... he gave his first prayer all by himself last night!! As usual, Tim and I read him a story and then asked him to fold his arms for the prayer. Tim asked Weston to offer it, and it went something like this:

"Dear Fah-der... day... Mommy... Wetton... Daddy... Mommy... Wetton... doughnut shop... (mumble mumble)... name... Jesuh Fice... Amen!"

Naturally, we were very excited. Usually Tim whispers things in his ear to say during the prayer, but this one came from the little guy himself. And yes, he thanked Heavenly Father for the doughnut shop at the corner. (It's really fun to experience gratitude from a toddler's perspective.)

(4) The Bona Fide Activity! I did an Activity with Weston a couple weeks ago. Yes, a bona fide Activity. First, a question: do you do organized, thought-out activities with your children? Or is it more like general playtime, where you go from one random thing to another? When I take Weston out, we engage in focused endeavors, but most of the time that he's at home, it's more like unfocused playtime. He'll pull out his train stuff and we'll build a track. Then he'll pull out his play food and we'll have a "picnic." Then he'll get his lightsabers and we'll duel. Then I'll get on the computer for a few minutes, and he'll wander around and eventually play with magnets. (Does this sound familiar?)

I've noticed that while this play method is easy, it's not very entertaining all the time. So, one recent morning I set up a real Activity for him and me: Play-Doh!! I pulled out his birthday Play-Doh set, set him up at the kitchen table, and got to work being creative and imaginative with him. And it was SO FUN!!! He played Play-Doh for almost an HOUR AND A HALF!!! He has never, ever stayed focused on a single activity for that long before. It was magnificent. Most of our time was spent using the Play-Doh to re-create Weston's daily routine, except that it was for a small plastic duck instead. Here's the evidence:

I got him all set up with his Play-Doh supplies, and eventually suppressed my anal-retentiveness and allowed him to have more than one color at a time:
Here, Weston is making food for the duckie. That's a little yellow Mommy and a little blue TV there on the left:

This Activity required actual concentration, which was nice:

That is duckie's pink crib... just one of my impressive contributions (thank you, it was nothing):

So, it was really great, and I'm looking forward to more Bona Fide Activities from now on. Any suggestions for future Activities from you all-star moms out there? (Another day, I tried building a zoo with Weston in the living room with wooden blocks and toy animals and his Little People as zoo patrons. I thought it was awesome, but he lost interest after about 15 minutes. Oh well. I'll keep trying!!)

(5) Job Promotion! Tim recently promoted me from Just Wife to Business Manager Wife. This past month, he's been working on a freelance project with another LDS guy, and this guy said that his wife handles all of the contacting and job searching that entail a freelance career/full-time job search. So, Tim thought that was a pretty swell idea, and he decided to promote me, too. Now I'm in charge of all New Business Acquisition and Development, which makes me feel very powerful and important. Mostly I just email people and studios with Tim's resume and portfolio, and check job sites for new listings. It's nice to be included in Tim's ongoing job search effort, and to feel like I'm participating in the financial future of our family again. Plus, I'm starting to become really ambitious now, and I have my eyes on another swift promotion, seeing as I'm sleeping with the boss. (Can you believe I just said that?)

(6) Smitten! I am smitten with Smitten Blog Designs. I know a lot of you are already familiar with this company, but I just really want to publicly express my appreciation and respect for these ladies. Yes, I recently won one of their giveaways (YAAAAY!!!), but I have been in awe of their blog design creations since the beginning. Kate and Heather are SO TALENTED. They really have a knack for layout and color palettes, and they are amazing at coming up with creative custom designs. PLUS, they offer free templates on their site, too! Definitely check 'em out, and watch for their future giveaways!

(7) Dreams! I dream about my friends (you guys) all the time. Seriously. At least a few times a week, my dreams feature friends of mine. Does that happen to you, too? It's so fun, because it makes me feel closer to people that I sometimes don't get to see very often. (The other night, I got to hang out with Liz and Abbie in one of my dreams. They live in Indiana and New York, respectively, so it felt really special, even though it was all just in my crazy head. I don't remember where we were, but I do remember that it was highly amusing.) So, it's good times. I also have dreams where I'm BFFs with celebrities. Recently it was Tom Cruise. (Do you think that'll cause problems between me and Katie? I hope not.) :-)

Anyway, HAPPY EASTER!!!