Hamburgers Anyone?

*WARNING: This post is not for the weak of stomach or the vegetarian.

Now that I've officially been in Lund over a year, I think it's time I introduce you all to a darker side of my beloved town.

Butchering.

No, no, no, this is not what you think. Lund is not full of red neck vigilantes that take the law into their own hands like Toby Keith sings about in "Beer for my Horses." I'm talking about good old fashioned cow butchering.

Actually, it's not so old fashioned. Note the equipment:

In the background, you can see Uncle/Bishop Steven using the machine that takes a piece of cow and turns it into a steak, or a roast, or meat for grinding into hamburger. Then there's the machine that I am modeling, which is used for grinding the hamburger meat into the little curlicues you buy at the grocery store. It's all very high tech.

Unfortunately, high tech doesn't mean less stinky...or less messy...


I guess there's just no way around blood when it comes to butchering...

So anyway, we get together a few times a year and cut and package meat for everyone in the family. Did I already mention that this was one of the first activities I was involved in when I came to Lund? I think it was my second time ever visiting--Thanksgiving, I believe. It was definitely good initiation. Nothing says family bonding like singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" while butchering a cow. Good times.

All joking aside though, I really do enjoy the time this particular activity allows for everyone to be together for a few hours and just have a good time. I think there's something unifying about working together as a family not just for your own benefit, but for everyone else's benefit, too.
And it only adds to the fun when you've got Sirius radio blasting in the background and a handful of raw meat for a microphone.

Not to mention, the barbecue at the end is spectacular.





*Note: No animals were harmed in the making of this post.


Just kidding.

I'M GETTING A PUPPY!

So, have I already mentioned that I have the BEST husband ever? (Please no debates about that in the comments.) He is THE best.

I will tell you why.

Against his better judgment, Blaze is letting me get a puppy! It's been a battle with us from the beginning of our marriage, because I like indoor dogs, and he likes no dogs, but if he has to have one it better be an outdoor dog. Yeah, one of those people. But, one night he came home and without me even asking said I could get a puppy if I wanted one. So my neighbor's dogs had puppies 4 weeks ago, and I already have mine picked out. He is a maltipoo (maltese/poodle mix), and sooo cute! I can't take him home for another 2 weeks, but he has already won my heart!

Here are some pictures of little Watson. Try not to smile too big...(although I'm warning you, it's almost impossible not to when you see these!):


I hope this turns out better than our fish experience. Just because I let poor Stanley freeze to death (literally) doesn't mean I can't take care of a dog...

...Right?

p.s. Please don't judge me by the way I look in this picture. Just focus on the dog, people.

Disneyland!!

Well, being the sweetheart that he is, Blaze took me to Disneyland a couple weeks ago. He knows how much I love it, so we decided to go as our gift to each other for our anniversary (which is still a month away, but we wanted to go before the craziness of summer set it!). It was soooo much fun! My parents and my little brother went with us. We had a blast. The longest line we had to wait in was 20 minutes and that was only for a couple of rides. Here are some pictures from our fun adventure!

The classic Disneyland photo. Gotta have one.

Aaargh ye mateys!

My two main men :)

In front of Tom Sawyer's island

THANKS BLAZE! YOU'RE THE BEST!

A Legend Named Ernie

Ernie has intrigued me ever since I learned about him, which was before I ever moved here. He's a pretty big name around here--a local legend if you will--and as such, I thought it appropriate to record his story in my Lund analogs (a.k.a this blog).

This is how I picture Ernie, except with a package in his arms instead of a machine gun:


To all who visited Lund, Ernie seemed like just another UPS driver. He wore the same brown uniform and drove the same brown truck. But, according to legend (i.e. folks around town), he was not your ordinary delivery man. Ernie knew everybody's name, everybody's address, and even most of the dogs. More importantly, Ernie never missed an opportunity to do his job and to do it well. Winter time around here pretty much equals Mud with a capital M. And, I think I can safely say that 90% of the people here live on unpaved roads; in other words, you have to go through a lot of mud to get to anybody's front door. For a UPS truck, this can pose serious problems in the winter, when even I sink 2-3 inches in the mud just walking around. Times me by 1000 and that's what a UPS truck weighs (roughly, of course). But do you think all that mud stopped Ernie from delivering his precious cargo? No. On really bad days, they say Ernie actually called his beloved patrons and set up a meeting spot on the highway so they could still get their packages.

Unfortunately, Ernie retired last year. Apparently he saved up something like 8 months of vacation time and retired early. We have a new driver now. Chris. Oh Chris. Poor Chris. He will never be able to escape being compared to Ernie. And unfortunately, he doesn't really help. He's gone every other day for various reasons and, as Ron puts it, he's totally union. He just does the bare minimum. Even at Christmas! We had people furiously calling down at Carter Ag begging us to have Chris leave their packages down there so they could get their presents in time for the big day. But, I digress. This post is about Ernie. Let me just say this: not a week goes by when I don't hear about Ernie. My coworkers mourn his loss, mothers teach their children the value of hard work through his example, and the townsfolk are currently building a monument to his name. Just kidding on those last two. But seriously, he's a big deal. And now you know.