CDH Awareness

Today is Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) Awareness day! CDH is the birth defect our nephew Jake was born with, and in his case, there was a hole in his hernia that let organs like the intestines grow up into his chest cavity, leaving no room for his heart and lungs to develop. Hospitals like the Children's Hospital of Philadephia where Jake was treated are doing amazing things (the staff there was incredibly talented and gave him the best of care), but unfortunately many cases still end in fatalities, like our little fighter.

No two cases are alike, and there needs to be more research and improved education so that doctors can better help these children survive.



You can learn more about increasing awareness at Breath of Hope, Inc. Wear turquoise today (I know, not my best color either) to support the cause!!

water pollo

Want to hear something funny? Doug and I participated on an intramural water polo team these past few months named Water Pollo. And do you know how you play it? In inner tubes.

I kid you not!!

Because the average BYU intramural participant is incapable of treading water for a ridiculous amount of time (meaning most of us are toast if our ships ever go down), you get to sit in an inner tube for the entire game. That's the only way you can sit in it, and it makes for some hilariousness. It actually gets really competitive, and we were lucky enough to be invited to be on an awesome team. Our teammates knew the game really well and they helped rock us through our season, staying practically undefeated!


The Shafers are a bit short and a bit handicapped in water, so even though we weren't key players on the team we had a blast. Because, come on, inner tube water polo??? That's funny.

so I guess they're really moving

My parents are in the process of packing up our RI house (with the help of some very nice guys named Luck, Pocket and OJ--yes!!!), and they'll most likely be going to new Sweet Home Alabama by tomorrow.

It was a beast trying to sell this house (thanks, economy), so we were all thrilled when they sold their house and then found an awesome new one down there a few weeks ago. But my mom sent us these pics yesterday, and I have to admit I got a bit emotional. RI has had its ups and downs for our fam, but freak--we have a lot of good memories there.


Viva the RI*!!!!!

*Dear sweet Suz also once convinced a friend of ours that if RI doesn't keep up its population, it's going to go back to being a colony of Great Britain. Who wouldn't love RI just for tricks like that?!?

happy easter!

We have this hilarious picture of my sisters and I from an Easter long ago. I'm just tiny, and the 5 of us are sitting on the piano bench in our Easter dresses. I look like an oblivious baby, but the 4 of them are only giving pained, courtesy smiles because their faces are ridiculously beet red. They have white white arms and legs, but their faces are just glowing. The family had all gone snowmobiling the day before, and I was the only one to escape the dreaded glare of the sun. It's quite funny, and pictures like that make me proud to be a Dunlop.

So when I saw Doug all dressed for church today, I thought of that cherished picture:


He went up in the mountains yesterday to sled with his cousins, and no one considered the need for sunscreen. If only I had thought of that Easter picture sooner. :)

May you have an equally charming Easter!



Okay, okay... so our camera didn't catch his sunburn. Just trust me--it exists. Oh man does it exist...

the mystery of the speaker phone

What is it that makes a grown up man, a professional by some standards, think it's okay to use speaker phone for personal calls in a cubicle environment?

Oh the mysteries of Speaker Phone people...


*Note: for all of you that have endured my cell phone's speaker phone, I apologize because I know it's obnoxious. But my hope is that I'm not quite Speaker Phone person level, because I've never done that at my desk at work.

know what's better than a snow day?

...a sewer day.

We got to leave at 3 pm today because there were sewer issues in our building. So I did what anyone would do in this situation--I went to the mall. I was looking for sunglasses, but I left with a jean skirt I found on sale.

I'd call this St. Patrick's Day a success.

husband time

Alicia gave me another tag, and I’d feel like a jerk if I flaked again. So let's take a moment to discuss...

my spouse.


His name is Doug
He gives great hugs
You’re not his friend
If you do drugs.

1. What is his full name? Douglas William Shafer
2. How long have you been married? 16 months (or 1.33333 months)
3. How long did you date? 9 months dating + 3 months engaged
4. How old is he? 25. I’ve really pulled a fast one by marrying a younger man… sucker!!
5. Who eats more sweets? Doug puts sugar on sugary cereals. Need I say more.
6. Who said I love you first? I did. And he did NOT say it back at first. But he wanted to marry me long before I was ready, so we’ll call it a draw.
7. Who is taller? Doug, and yet we’re both still so little. And someday we'll have little little children.
8. Who can sing better? Doug. No contest.
9. Who is smarter? He aced his anatomy class, and I’m still in awe. Plus he knows the rules of football, which seem like rocket science to me. He also makes a mean chocolate cake. So I’m going to conclude that he is.
10. Who does the laundry? We share the duty. I start it, he finishes.
11. Who pays the bills? I do. Doug is so so fortunate…
12. Who sleeps on the right side? I do. The right side is by a window in our bedroom, and our theory was that if I could stay cold at night I could stand spooning for longer. It's been semi-successful.
13. Who mows the lawn? I hope we both do one day. I really like it.
14. Who cooks dinner? Both of us. Doug’s quite skilled for a boy.
15. Who drives? Mostly Doug, until I decide, “Hey! I never drive when we’re together!” And then I drive for a night and remember that I like it better when he drives.
16. Who kissed who first? Doug came in for the kill first.
17. Who asked who out first? Doug. And he’ll say I turned him down, but I had family in town! It was a legitimate excuse!
18. Who proposed? Doug again.
19. Who has more siblings? I’m the winner. I have 4 sisters, he has 1 brother and 1 sister. But if this were a brother contest, I'd have to admit defeat. Or if we were arm wrestling, I'd also have to admit defeat.
20. Who wears the pants? I feel like I’m going to say “We’re evenly yoked” and then you're all going to think, "Wow, she has no idea!!" So just go ahead and judge me, but I'm going to say we split the pants.

And in conclusion, please know that this guy rocks my world. :)

Now I "husband-tag": whoever the heck wants to do it!

bible-based karate

Today at work I flipped through a homeschooling magazine I got at that education show last week. The magazine is obviously Christian-based, and I was purely delighted when I came upon this ad:



I'm not here to discuss the pros/cons of homeschooling, but I am here to say that things like that make my day. What I'd give to order it... just to see...

pandora

For a good time...

go to Pandora.com and set up your own radio station. It asks you for some bands you like to see what type of music you like, and then it plays music from those bands and others than have a similar sound. They introduce you to groups you've never heard of and songs from your favorite groups you've never heard before.

It is delicious. And free.

it's all greek to me

So I'm in Orlando for another show for work, and I want to put a personal plug in for Taverna Opa, a Greek restaurant chain here in Florida. It is amazing for the following reasons:
1. It feels "Greek"--the music, delicious/authentic food, waiter with an accent that we assume is Greek.
2. The staff walks around periodically shouting and throwing napkins in the air (these often land on your plate and your head).
3. They break plates.
4. There's a BELLY DANCER that walks around. And she's really really good. She danced on the tables (not to make her sound trashy) and made the whole thing really hilarious. (She's a BELLY DANCER!)
5. They grabbed people to get up and dance.
6. The music gets louder and faster as the night goes on. The restaurant is full by the end and it really really makes you wish you were Greek.
6. They break plates.

Need I say more? It was a great night.

lyrical

As I was drying my hair the other morning, I started singing the best version of "Tiny Dancer" out there: “Hold me closer, Tony Danza…” Phoebe from Friends thought it was Tony Danza and now I can’t sing it any other way.

I then started thinking about all the “Oh, those aren’t the lyrics?” experiences I’ve had over the years. I really got myself laughing (this often happens when I have to get ready when Doug's already gone--I resort to self-joke-telling.) Please allow me to share a few that I remembered:

- I was under the impression that Ace of Base song was called “I saw the sun.” I have since learned it is not.
- [This one is a stretch, but I was 5 so throw me a bone] I used to think that one part of “Red Red Wine” was “Red red riding hood you make me feel so fine-ing hood…” or something like that. I know—I don’t want to talk about it.
- My dad used to tell us that the lyrics were “Bring me an iron lung” instead of “Bring me an iron love.” It works so well that I like to sing it my dad’s way.
- Some friends [I’m protecting your identity] and I thought it was “Big pimpin’ spinnin’ cheese.” Turns out it’s spinnin’ Gs. Apparently someone told us “cheese” was ghetto-speak, and so for a good 3 years we lived that lie.
*Get THIS: The Pfeiffers made me second-guess myself, so after searching the internet, I learned it's either "spendin' Gs" or "spendin' cheese" depending where you look. Maybe we were semi-right all along!*
- Sarah thought the Doobie Brother’s song was “Wooooahhh what the people say” instead of “Wooooahhh listen to the music.” I can’t even begin to think how she heard that. [Apparently I’m not interested in protecting your identity, sorry man.]

You gotta love how the human mind works.

So, have you been there before?