I never realized what shopping really is...

Saturday night, 9 P.M., Rancho Cordova Wal-Mart: So we go to Wal-mart because we needed to buy 1 item, a cheapy cd player for Ellen when she teaches her primary class. I go in, and I see that they have a special edition "Princess Bride" DVD on sale..in the cart it goes. "But you didn't buy clothes?" "No, but I think I'll look some more." "Because your in the store?" "No more rhyming and I mean it!" "Anybody want a peanut?"

Anyway, so after we continue and get the CD player, I'm thinking that we are done, and I slowly start back to the checkout stand. Then I notice my beloved is gone. "Hmm...I thought we were just here to get a CD player and then go...where could Ellen be...?" Ellen and I have this little whistle we do to locate each other in a store. Kind of like a mama beaver slapping her tail to warn her young, only I just do the whistle thing. I give the signal, and out of an aisle WAY at the other end of the store peers my wife, with a kind of embarrassing grin on her face. There she is, holding some duck-themed bathroom rug. It was then that I realized how different shopping is for me versus for Ellen. I go to the store with a purpose. I never go to best buy or or anywhere just to "look around" at stuff. If I don't have something to buy, I don't go. Ellen, on the other hand, enjoys shopping just for the sheer activity of strolling around looking at stuff. Last night, she determined that her bathroom needed to be redecorated in a ducky theme. So, for the next hour, you know what I was doing-helping her choose duck towels, duck rugs, a duck waste basket. I had to stop her before we did the duck shower curtain rings. I mean, we have to set a limit. After we get out of wal-mart, with much more than just a CD player, I asked Ellen about what she thinks shopping is. Then she told me that in Mandarin, the word for shopping is "to look at things and buy" and that she was doing exactly that at Wal-mart. That was my chinese lesson for the day. No complaints here, I love spending time with Ellen...I just need to plan on trips to Wal-mart, Target, or Costco taking MUCH longer than I think.

My cousin's wedding

There were many pics from the wedding, too many to post, so I created a web album where you can see them. Click here

These are pics from the BYU-UCLA football game we went to in September. I am slooow at getting the pics up, I know. It was cool to go to the Rose Bowl, one of the oldest stadiums in the U.S., and one of the biggest. It seats around 100,000 people. Ellen reluctantly wore her "Fully Invested" T-shirt. She never went to BYU, and never attended a game in Provo, but she is slowly catching the BYU bug.

HDTV is AMAZING

So, last spring, actually winter to be exact, I convinced Ellen to let me buy a 42 inch Sony High Def Television. It has been great for DVDs, because we also got a HDTV enabled DVD player with an HDMI input. You have to have HDMI to get that crystal clear picture. Maybe down the road, after I graduate law school, I'll get a HD-DVD player, which look great, but cost around 500 bones right now. ANYWAY, we never had cable until last month, when I got Ellen some mandarin channels. This week, I broke down and upgraded to an HDTV signal from Comcast. I know, Comcast stinks compared to Dish, but we have broadband internet too, and all of it is cheaper with Comcast. Well, I upgraded to the HDTV signal today, and the picture clarity is AMAZING. I was watching a little bit of the USC(thats South Carolina) versus Kentucky game, and it was like being at the game! I could see individual blades of grass on the field, the pores on people's faces. It is crazy how clear and smooth an HDTV picture is. The only problem is, there are only so many HD channels right now, so the programming available is somewhat limited..but if you are able to do it, I highly recommend HDTV. I don't know if I can ever watch non-HDTV again!!!

Ok, some people have complained about my lack of posts on this blog (namely LACEY), so I promise to get something up this weekend. Right now, however, I am studying hard getting ready for a criminal law midterm exam, (besides watching a half-hour of HDTV :) so I haven't had time. Be patient people, and I'll get some pics of our recent travels, including the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Universal Studios, and Rhiannon and Jud's wedding on the Cali coast.
Ta-ta for now.

Dark Chocolate M&Ms

Anyone tried those new dark chocolate M&Ms (DC M&M)? Of course I am referring to the peanut variety, since getting the non-peanut ones would be stupid-they both cost the same, so why not get the ones that include a personal peanut for your eating pleasure??
Anyway, at first I hated the DC M&M. It tasted just like cheap chocolate chips you get that are too bitter and take away from what should be a good chocolate chip cookie. Then, I realized that I shouldn't treat the DC M&M like the normal Peanut M&M, because the normal one is milk chocolate, and is satisfying when popped in the mouth and quickly crunched into oblivion. The DC M&M, I realized, must be massaged in the mouth, allowed to melt patiently, until the candy-coated shell's sweetness melds with the bitter chocolate, undressing the peanut from its candy/chocolate clothes until it crunches satisfyingly in your mouth. THAT IS HOW YOU ENJOY THE NEW DARK CHOCOLATE M&Ms!

Doctor Strangehate

We changed Ellen's doctor last week after a strange experience. We originally chose this Doc because he was Taiwanese like Ellen, but grew up in Japan and spoke Japanese. This is kind of the lingua franca for Ellen and I, although we primarily use English now.
We met this Doc, and I explained that Ellen was using some herbal supplements she bought from a Chinese medicine shop. The doctor looked at me (Trevor) with complete disgust and said: "Why did you let her use Chinese medicine? Chinese are the dumbest, stinkiest, dirtiest people in the world!" He then looked at me and said "You are supposed to know this, YOU ARE AMERICAN! I CAN"T BELIEVE YOU WERE SO STUPID TO USE CHINESE MEDICINE!!!"
Well, after this rather shocking episode, we promptly changed doctors. I have never been to China, but I know some Chinese, and they are smart, intelligent, kind people. I was surprised that the learned doctor said something which indicates he is not so learned.

New Ellen-isms!!

My lovely wife Ellen sometimes says some funny things in English-phrases that kind of get lost in translation. I will periodically post them as new ones are created. So, please enjoy these little Ellen-isms!


Where is the cirantro?!!!   (Where is the cilantro)
There is a died mouse in the backyard (dead)
Maple sauce for the pancakes (syrup)

There are a ton more, but I always forget, and Ellen doesn't help me remember!


"Your belly improved"-this is what Ellen said when she meant to say "your belly got bigger". I'm not sure I would call this an improvement, but it made me laugh nontheless.

"Subten" -this one took me about 5 mnutes to figure out, finally I learned the intented word-"sabbath"

"rop the benbu leaves" =wrap the bamboo leaves

"The Final Dinner"-this is the name of the picture on our living room wall (We all know it as "The Last Supper")