It's a Fine Life (Carryin' the Banner)

Where has all the LewsNews gone?!?! Nowhere really.

But for goodness sake it’s time for an update. Plus, Matt watched Newsies for the first time on Friday night, and if that doesn’t mean it’s time for LewsNews, then I don’t know what would J

Matt was, how should I say it, wary, of watching not only a musical but an “old movie” (Matt’s description.) Especially when the only Christian Bale Matt knows and loves is Batman. I suppose it would be hard to picture Batman singing and dancing. But c’mon, does it get any better than cool kids in suspenders running around New York City singing about going on strike and seizing the day? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Not to mention all the sweet one liners this movies has to offer. I may never tire of saying “Soak em’ for Crutchy!”

(All of those who are lost up to this point because you haven’t seen Newsies, stop reading and go watch it; then come back and laugh at that last paragraph.)

So, Matt loved it! Okay, he liked it. I guess I’m still waiting for him to start singing, “That’s my cigar/You’ll steal another/Hey bummers we got work to do” around the house. All in good time.

Since the last post a lot has happened! Matt and I finished winter semester, and no, I still haven’t looked at my grades. Matt continued to study his brains out for the MCAT and faced the beast on June 17^th. Five hours of testing! Shudder…. We get his score back on July 20^th so we’re anxiously awaiting the arrival.

We made a trip to Matt’s house for a week and were lucky enough to go to Disneyland with our awesome friends Paul and Brianna. Matt and I rode California Screamin’ at least 3 times. But this is us making awesome faces on Space Mountain.

I got a job at 26.2 Running Company and now get to talk about running all day long (like I didn’t do that before, right?) I’ve learned A TON about shoes, socks, clothes, gu’s and so so much more. It’s ironic because Matt is the one studying to be a doctor, yet people come into the store and tell me all about their injuries and then I try to tell them what’s up like I’m some kind of athletic trainer. Mostly, I’ve just had a lot of the same injuries so I know what’s going on. Anyway, 26.2 is extra awesome because we have a treadmill in the store with a video camera set up to film people’s feet while they run. Then, using a special computer program, we can watch their feet frame by frame and determine what type of shoe that person needs.

If you’re my friend come in and I’ll give you a 30% discount (how much like an 8-year-old did that sound? Like I’m bribing people to be my friend: “Oh yeah, well you’re not invited to my birthday anymore!” You are my friends…right?) I also help write a blog for them. Check it out at www.262running.blogspot.com

Matt and I have an addiction problem. No I’m not talking about sugar! Okay, we might be addicted to that. And no it’s not eating out either! (We’ve been slacking on meal preparation lately…ah, so guilty!) But the new addiction is Nickel City Laser Tag. We try to get a big group together so we don’t have to pay the entry fee to Nickel City, and just the price to play laser tag. We also have to try and get relatively different people to come with us so we no one suspects our obsession. Okay, it’s mostly Matt. Although I like running around and pretending I’m cool, I don’t love getting beat. Yep, I’m not very good at the shooting part. Matt however, is very good. I can see him running around the dark room, the lasers from the gun lighting up the determined expression on his face like he’s in one of his favorite action movies. It’s pretty cute. After a 8-11 mile day however, I’m not the most enthusiastic player. My strategy is to pick a spot and sit there until someone walks by; then I shoot them. Consequently I get shot a lot too. One time Matt told me we should stay on one of the bridges the whole time and he would defend one side and I’d defend the other. So we ran in when the game started and staked our claim on the bridge. The plan worked for about 45 seconds at which point he asked me if I wanted to move around more. This really translates into Matt being too antsy to stay in one spot. Ah, how can I say no?

See the cute boy in the middle? This is who Matt turns into when we go to Nickel City.

So in laser tag there are black lights. This is the back of my track shirt which has my last name sewn onto it. Matt was pretty excited taht "Lew" was lit up. Picture's not so great, but it's kind of fun.

We also invested in season passes to Seven Peaks Water Park and go at least once a week. It’s great to have a pass because we can ride slides for an hour or two, and then lay out for an hour or two. Provided one of Utah’s wacky summer thunder storms doesn’t move in, that is. Oh, Utah.

If we’re lucky we get to meet up with Kyle and Andrea and the girls. Those girls are fearless! They love the water, and they go down all the slides they’re tall enough to ride. Even baby Kate can go if someone is holding her! We are really, seriously going to miss them when they move to Texas. We’re trying to steal as much time with them as we can before they go.

So up next in the forecast is my adventure to see Stacy in Wyoming, Matt and I making another California trip in August, and maybe something worth celebrating on the 25^th later this month…

Our own Spring Break

Cecily with "Baby Kate"

Jess at our house last week. Bein' cool. Gangsta swish.

Matty with Katelyn Jane Lemmon

As it is March 31st, I want to get a blog posted because I'm trying to pretend like I'm consistent and get at least one blog in a month. So just as many of you rushed out to do your home/visiting teaching today, I'm typing out some lews news.

There have been some fun adventures, let me tell you. Mom and Jess came for A WHOLE WEEK, and I, of course, was loving my life. The visit consisted of all the good stuff: running with Jess, playing our new favorite board game, Ticket to Ride (or as Matt calls it, Trains), getting mad at Jess for not listening to the game directions, eating ice cream, playing with nieces, and staying up much too late to get some extra laughing time in. Bliss. It was the best non-spring break week ever. (BYU=no spring break)

Speaking of playing with nieces, there are some stories waiting to be told. First of all, the newest Lemmon, Katelyn Jane, is absolutely adorable. Can't stop staring at her. Second, Brooklyn says some awesome stuff. Mom made a comment about how amazing it was that she could use the computer to which she replied, "Of course, I know how to do everything!" A true Lemmon. Third, we drove to Lehi on Tuesday to meet up with Bob and his two oldest girls for swim lessons. Unfortunately, a child had pooped in the pool and the lessons were cancelled. It was entertaining to watch the lifeguards dump tons of chlorine in, then attempt to "stir" the water by running kickboards across the surface of the water, around the edges of the pool. My two favorite moments were when 1. an unsuspecting boy ran and jumped right in the pool only to resurface to the wild whistling of multiple guards telling him he was not allowed in. He got out...and cried. 2. Jessica encouraging Alyssa and Emmalie to go down the slide anyway.

Matt and I are very excited for school to end-two more weeks! Matt, of course has real finals, and Cecily, in true journalistic fashion...doesn't. Good thing he's the one going ot med school and not me.

Cecily in med school:

Teacher: "Today we'll be discussing Rhinovirus"

Cecily: "Are we veteranarians? I'm not treating a rhino. "

Teacher: "No Cecily, it's not a virus afflicting the rhinoceros."

Cecily: "Oh crap, are my patients gonna come in looking like a rhino?!"

Teacher: "Once again, no. It's just the common cold."

Cecily: "Oh, well there's no cure so it doesn't even matter. Next subject."

Matt's theory is that at the first sign of a cold (sore throat) you should drink hot chocolate because the warm temperature will kill the virus. It's mostly an excuse for him to drink cocoa. I think he should market it they way Coldeze and Zicam do, but it would sell way more because it's chocolate. No one needs to know it's really just hot chocolate, right?

I also think Matt should be a model...so there you go. (So does Hollister- three out of his last four times in the store he's been offered a job)

Well, Criminal Minds is on now (don't worry, i cover my eyes at the scary parts, and Matt mutes the sound), so I...gotta go...

It's homework, it really is! I'm writing a paper on the show for my media and world religions class. Yep, that's what my final is for the class. Poor Matt will be in more than one four hour test. Hope our kids get his smarts.

And his model body.

Cecily strikes again

Today we're coming to you live from Vancouver... oh wait no we're not.
*Ahem*

Today we're coming to you live from Cecily's Kitchen of Horrors; where recipes are frequently read incorrectly and food is consistently ruined!

The top story of the day: Chicken Squares gone bad.

The fact that Cecily's interpretation of chicken squares look nothing like squares was hardly the worst thing about her poor attempt at cooking them. Her good intentions of signing up at church last Sunday to bring dinner to a family with a brand new baby was swallowed up in a gross lack of preparation and poor reading skills.

She found herself racing through the grocery store late Friday afternoon, dodging old women and workers on ladders alike to grab last minute ingredients.

After rushing home, she threw various items in a pot, and paused only a moment as she questioned the large amount of garlic the recipe called for; three tablespoons.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, how would you like three tablespoons of dried garlic in your chicken squares tonight? I thought so.

You may ask yourself why she was so rushed and as such failed to notice that it was actually dried onions required for the recipe. Well, she was due to go visiting teaching at 5 and dinner was needed at 6.

So, she set an alarm for her poor napping husband with instructions on how to finish the dish by putting them in the oven and mixing up the gravy.

It was not until, while out visting teaching, she got a text message from her loving and diligent husband who informed her that she had used garlic. When she called him on her way home, he was at L and L Hawaiian Barbeque getting food for the family that could have been unsuspecting victims of garlic overdose.

Tune in next week for and exciting report on how to burn everything; taking special examples from Cecily's horrific past mistakes including burnt cookies, burnt pizza, and burnt pancakes. Until then, Happy Cooking!

Okay, but seriously? Garlic? How stupid am I? Wanna know the worst part? The "squares" are in the oven as I type, because we decided we might as well bake them and see how they taste. Most likely awful. Our house smells.

I made peanut butter sandwich cookies a week ago to take to Matt's intramural basketball game. One girl told me it tasted like watermelon. Watermelon? It's a peanut butter cookie!!!

THREE TABLESPOONS OF GARLIC POWDER.

Okay, in other exciting LewsNews Matt recently returned from San Francisco where he presented research with some of his lab partners at a Bio Physics Convention of some kind (aka: nerd gathering). He returned bearing Ghirardelli chocolate and two bread bowls and two cans of clam chowder from Boudin's. Wonderful husband? Yes. He also brought me back an official nerd t-shirt complete with yellow tie-dye. Awesome.

Cecily has slowly begun her relationship with running again. This week's grand total mileage so far: six! Two miles every other day. Is she super slow? Yes! Does she look like a whale out of water? Yes! Can the old guy who breathes funny beat her on the indoor track? Yes! (Seriously, it sounded like he was in labor)

Speaking of racing, I believe that sometimes when people see me in track gear or with my track backpack on, they inevitably try to race walk with me. It's very annoying. Last week, I was race-walked home three times. Matt says I make it up. I say bring it on home-walkers, bring it on.

Walking to and from school can be very interesting. On one unnaturally warm day for a Utah winter, I saw a boy in shorts and a t-shirt and a ski mask walking past the tennis courts. Was his face cold? If it had been dark, I definitely would have been scared. Also, a few days ago I saw a man running, through the rain, pushing a baby in a stroller that was defnintely not meant for high speeds, with a screaming child inside. I felt bad for him, but I mostly was laughing. That will probably come back to bite me one day.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed today's episode. Time to go taste the garlic crescent chicken squares.

trying to be consistent?

Well, hello! Fancy meeting you here! Because you probably thought that since I blogged not to long ago it might be 6 months to a year before I did it again. Betcha didn't see this coming. Commence feelings of pleasant surprise.

Okey dokey so Matty and I got to go home to beautiful La Canada last weekend. I know it's really rainy there and everyone's worried about mud slides, but it's hard for me to picture because the weather was PERFECT while we were there! 65 plus degrees and guess who didn't get to run in it? yeah me. Still rockin the elliptical with my inflamed achilles tendon. Not. a. fan. Anyway, back to sunny CA. We went home to hear Matt's sister Jessica speak in church because she went into the MTC on Wednesday! Two Lews in the MTC at once? Can they handle it? Speaking of which, poor Ryan finally got his Visa that he's been waiting for since he entered the MTC in November. But he leaves for Brazil on Tuesday YAY!

So now that two of three Lews (or I guess four...I'm a Lew now too!!) are gone, that leaves Matty and I as the automatic favorites. Although this is only by default, we'll take it. In fact, we have a plan. While they're gone serving the Lord, Matt and I are the only children to love and pamper (it's already happening, cough, Iphones, cough). When they return, we will hold onto our position as favorites by having a baby. As everyone knows, once grandchildren enter the picture, children are no longer important. Okay, they are, but let's face it, we're gonna have a pretty dang stinkin cute kid. Anyway, sorry Ryan and Jess, we've got Favorite locked up for awhile.

Although it was a quick trip home, there's just something about that sunshine! And family of course. It was so rejuvinating to be there. Luckily, winter in Provo has been oh so mild. This, while being awesome, is also sadly an insult to my injury, LITERALLY. If I wasn't injured I'd be enjoying running in a 40 degree winter and ice free sidewalks. That's practically t-shirt and shorts running weather here. Crazy? YES.

So it's late but here's some fun updates:

-Mom and Dad Lew and my brother Kyle FINALLY saw our cute little provo apartment! Complete with recently printed, framed, and hung wedding photos!
-Matt discovered the cutest new dessert place over in Brigham's Landing called Cocoa Beans. It has they best hot chocolate and yummy cupcakes. It's like the Mormon version of a coffee shop. I probably want to go there everyday and write poetry or something...
-That obnoxious Hefty garbage bag commercial? Yeah, it makes Matt want Chinese food because there's an empty take out box in it. Why does trash make him want food? I make fun of him.
-My article on Verizon vs. AT&T ran in the Daily Universe front page on last Thursday. Oh so prestigious!!
-Matty had a birthday and his lame-o wifey only got him an ace of cakes book. We didn't even go to Tucanos, tear.
-Cecily is no longer allowed to use knives. I cut my finger every time, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing except that I can't handle seeing my own blood (thanks dad). I'm not kidding, we're talking serious blacking out. So I was cutting butternut squash up on Thursday night and once again cut my finger. Dude, fingers bleed a lot.
-Cecily presses the snooze button about four times every morning. I let it go long enough for Matt to move or groan so I know he's at least heard it sub-consciously. But let's face it: 7:30 am alarm means 8:00 am wake-up.
-We've discovered Jim Gaffigan! We stayed up until 3am this morning watching youtube videos of him! And, don't eat zupas tomato basil soup if you plan on laughing really hard. Jim Gaffigan almost made it come back about four times and it did not feel good.

Okay, well, that's the LewsNews for now. Stay tuned because I have a surprise for Matty this weekend (haha he doesn't get to know!!!) and in two weeks Matt heads to San Fran with his lab buddies for some kind of nerd...I mean science convention. So there's plenty in the future and I sure hope some of it includes real running because I'm basically going crazy. I mean, crazier than normal.

So, okay bye.

Marine World Lessons

One summer, Jess, Kay Nekota and I were at the world reknown theme park Marine World in Vallejo, California. After some enjoyable rides and fun (including riding Kong; a bright orange roller coaster complete with free head bashing and a guaranteed headache to follow!), we came to the part of the park that had the "sky coaster in it. This is not a ride, but a rope swing on steroids. You get strapped into a kind of body harness attached to a cable; you are lifted up to a ridiculous height; you have to pull a cord; you plummet to certain death...until the rope catches you and you proceed to safely swing back and forth through the air with a mixture of laughter, tears and urges to vomit. And only idiots do it because you have to pay extra and it's expensive.
So how does one go from feet firmly planted on the concrete baking in the Vallejo heat to being x amount of feet in the air staring down at some flamingos below and wishing it was all over?
Sibling Competitiveness...and kind of a sick secret wish to do it anyway...
So there Jessica and I were, young and invincible (sigh), playing this game:
"You won't!"
"I will if you will!"
"Yeah, I will if you will too, but i know you won't!"
"Wanna bet?"
"I would but you're not going to!"
"Well, fine let's do it then!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
(Kay laughs at our evident stupidity)
(Wallets become $20 lighter each)
Next thing you know, I'm saying prayers to temporarily become one of the tame, fat flamingos I see underneath me and screaming at Jessica to pull the stupid cord.
We lived.
I didn't become a flamingo.
So, it is in that strange spirit of loving sibling competition that this blog has come to fruition. Jess wrote one about a felt pink Jesus figurine tonight. I'm writing one about... Well I'm not sure yet. Dare to keep reading. Yes, they dare. (Bearenstein Bears Spooky Old Tree)

Well, how about some updates? Matt and I are a few weeks into our winter semester now and at about day 2 we both agreed it felt like we'd been back in classes for a month. Not a good sign at day 2.
Luckily for Matt, he's caught the study bug. It really is good because in addition to his regular classes he is preparing for the MCAT at the end of May by taking an extra prep class and meeting with a tutor. Yay.

Me...not so much. But as any true and seasoned procrastinator, I ride my deadlines with skill. Seriously though, I am enjoying my classes, all whopping four of them. Hey, it's still 13 credits, not including my .5 from track (a true credit hour reflection of time put in...NOT)

My news editing class consists of me being scared to death that we'll have one of our infamous "New York Times" quizzes in which I'm asked questions about things I don't know the answers to, even when I have been reading it. After frantically scanning headlines and leads, Professor Hughes walks in the door late, either delcares it's a quiz/judgement day, or begins presenting various real life situations that an editor would have to determine correct ethical decisions from. I spend the majority of this time focusing on his Bristih accent or resisting the urge to play devil's advocate. Example: Prof Hughes: "Can a reporter or editor ever accept Disneyland tickets for free?" Boring rest of the class: "No, never! Oh the sanctity of objectivity!" (amid gasps and various recitations of grammar rules and the latest front page NY Times article) Cecily: "Does that apply to freelance journalists? Or a journalist with no strong interest in being objective?" (The girl to my right faints, and Professor Hughes asks me to leave, British accent ringing).

My "Advanced Reporting" class is fun. It's small. It's once again Professor Hughes. It's once again NY Times anxiety attacks. But it is also writing (advanced?) and I like it. We're not talking about back when I took Comms 321 and had to crank out two stories a week on freshman or food or construction (I didn't get two stories done a week. Yeah, I got a B) No, ADVANCED reporting means two stories a semester. That is a number I can live with. I just turned in story #1 on the Verizon vs. AT&T battle. Look for it in The Daily Universe soon, student journalism at its finest. Yes, once as a lowly 321er, they scorned me for editorializing and a lack of story production. My first week attending my editing lab back in that prison of a newsroom (or so it once was for me) I was welcomed with open arms and declarations that they claimed me as one of their own once they had to start covering me in the sports section. Well, guess what? You've gotta print me again fair-weather fans, and I WILL editorialize. A little...

What is Psychological Statistics? It is that smaller class for people who didn't want the huge stats class with a teacher and TA's who don't actually care about you. Translation? If you're bad at math, you've come to the right place. Enter Ross Flom, my stats teacher. Quite a character, but good at explaining math to me as if I was six years old because let's face it, when it comes to math I am still six. "Okay Professor Flom, where did you get that number from? Oh, and all those ones too?" The sugar on top of this class is that Ross Flom runs. He likes BYU runners. He taught Josh Rohatinsky once upon a time and may or may not be tight with men's coach Ed Eyestone. Whatever the case, I'm in.

Finally Media and World Religion. I've never participated so much in a class since high school. Professor Randle reminds me of the dad on the Suite Life of Zack and Cody (would this blog be complete without a Disney Channel reference?) Basically, he's musical, looks young, but you know he isn't, and has an air of coolness that may borderline nerdiness. Anyway, he carries a stack of 3x5 cards around the classroom with him, each one dedicated to a student in the class complete with picture and probably some other kind of inside info. Does he know my favorite ice-cream? It could be on the card. The point is, he will call on you if your card comes up next in the pile, so you'd better have a comment ready to go. I have noticed though, if you voluntarily comment, your card will be passed over for someone other non-participant. So I beat the system and raise my hand a lot. Or, the system beats me because I actually like commenting now? Ah! What is on that card?!

Don't forget the enormous half credit for track. Right now that consists of anti-inflammatory pills, painful calf rub-outs, ridiculous amounts of stretching and icing, and daily sweat fests as I cling to the elliptical desperate for a workout. Yes, my achilles tendon decided to get inflamed the 24th of December. Merry Christmas to me.

That turned into a long update about mostly me. Sorry. Hope it was somewhat entertaining. I'll close with a some more fun facts about Matt and Cecily 6 months in:
-We love NCIS and Criminal Minds and darn it why do they always show them in a row? -Don't you people know we can't turn it off?!
-We finally hung some wedding pictures up! Don't ask Matt about thank-you notes though, he might get queasy. But me, the girl who made, yet never sent out graduation announcements, hasn't lost much sleep on this one.
-Matt categorizes most future events in two ways: Before MCAT. After MCAT.
-Cecily categorizes most future events in one way: I'd better be running by the outdoor season!

Sorry the "inaugral blog" has been the only blog for so long now. Thanks Jess for spurring the competition that's not really a competition. I'm glad this one yields blogs instead of us flying through the air at Marine World.