The King of Pop and I share a common interest.

And that interest is whales. Yes, WHALES. And singing about whales. You see, although I have never been a huge die-hard Michael Jackson fan, he has created many memories for me. Every time I hear “Billie Jean” I will always think of Stake Dances or when I hear “Thriller” I think about watching “13 going on 30” in London and afterward all of us girls trying to choreograph our clumsy selves into a makeshift rendition of the music video. But by far the most influential memory I have of the King of Pop is from my 7th year of age. I was in second grade. My teacher was Ms. Apple. We were learning about marine life. I was particularly intrigued with whales. Killer whales to be exact…. My mother had just purchased what was to become one of my most beloved movies during my childhood (in addition to Homeward Bound) –
“FREE WILLY”

I loved Free Willy. So much that I had a dream back in 1993 that I can still remember to this day. THE DREAM: my elementary school was turned into an aquarium just for my pet whale and everyone came to see it. For some reason the dream was set at night time, but I was ecstatic that I had this pet whale. When I woke up from that dream, I was determined to make it a reality. And who was the one person that gave me hope? MICHAEL JACKSON. Jackson produced the theme song of that movie “Will You Be There.” At the beginning of the VHS the music video played. And every time that Free Willy was put in the VCR I would stand there and sing and get so hopeful that someday I too would be the care taker of a whale. At the end of the music video there was a prompter that read something to the effect of “If you would like to adopt a whale call 1-800-***-****.” I was determined to adopt a whale. So I saved money until I realized that when they said “adopt” that didn’t mean you got to keep the whale but rather your money just went to funding whale preservation. And every since then my life has never been the same. (Nor my mothers. She vows that whenever she hears that song she wants to vomit because during my phase of playing that song day in and day out she was pregnant with my brother and the tune reminds her of morning sickness. Great. I can’t wait for that to ruin my life) So to the King of Pop – thank you for funding the hope for one of my most elaborate childhood dreams!

Also, I have never been able to figure out what Free Willy means. Is FREE being used as an adjective like, Hey Willy is now Free! Or is it a verb like, Take action and Free Willy? Can anyone answer this life-long query of mine?

Some People Enjoy Expensive Toys.

We enjoy cheap toys. We find enjoyment out of the most primitive of video games - a joy stick. I think joysticks were before my era of videogames. The first game station we had was super nintendo. So we're taking it back old school here with games most people have never heard of such as pole position, galaxy and mappy - and of course the one game every respectable person should be familiar with - PacMan. I got it as a present for Christmas from my parents during the college days. I decided to bring it out and let the husband take a whirl. The screen looks like this:

When we play it we look like this:

JO beat Jake Mayorga's top score, which must have been over 2 years old. So congrats to JO! When I beat JO at Mappy he looks a little bit like this:

(This pic is posted for the sole purpose of humoring me. It's funny.)

Also, a year ago this weekend JO and I decided to transcend the world of singledom and jump HEART first into this love deal. Last year JO invited me to his family reunion in Oceanside and it was there on the pier that he told me he loved me for the first time SINCE we were 16. We started planning our future out that night. A little anxious? I'd say so.

Oh what do YOU do in the summertime? WE...

+ PLAY BED & BREAKFAST
We had our first overnight visitor last Sunday! My brother Mason drove down with us from Fresno and stayed the night on Sunday. The evening was spent preparing a quick meal and making a family video starring Mason as the guest on “The Oakden Show”. We’re working on getting our show up here on the blog soon. It’s going to be splendid, so tune in.
+ MAKE HOMEMADE CARDS
I think fathers love homemade cards the best, don’t you? So JO and I spent Thursday evening cutting and gluing our love-woven artistic hallmarks and sent them on their way to our wonderful fathers. Although JO is not a father yet and won’t be for some time, he is a future father so he scored crepes for breakfast and a homemade card from wife.

+ TAKE HIKES IN THE SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS
It was overcast on Saturday but we decided to follow through with our plans to hike the Santa Monica Mountains. We are so glad we did! It was refreshing to be in the foothills. We were greatly surprised that the mountains resembled that of a Hawaiian hillside with vines, lush shrubbery and twisted branches. We felt tropical.

+ WATCH “UP”
It was good. We enjoyed the evening out but I think we are both partial to the short “Partly Cloudy” at the opening of the movie.
+ MAKE APPOINTMENTS TO GIVE BLOOD
As much as we like helping others by giving of our blood, we like free movie tickets more. We made an appt to give blood this Sat at UCLA in return for 3 MOVIE TICKETS! Tres! Transformers, Paperheart and 500 Days of Summer – here we come!

and we... + FREQUENT COSTCO

Saturday we were getting ready to leave and JO said he was scared. When I asked why he said he was worried because he was actually Looking Forward to going to Costco and might buy something that we don’t need – you know the feeling – walk in to Costco thinking you don’t need anything and all of the sudden something you want or something you have never heard of before becomes a necessity. Good thing Costco doesn’t sell iMacs, or we would be in debt right now over that necessity.

There comes a time when...

a woman must become a housewife – when your most prized possession is your front lawn, Costco is your favorite store, nine-inch zippers are found on all pairs of pants, the discovery of a Martha Stewart recipe is your greatest joy so to impress everyone with your domesticity at the next ward function, when looking good for the husband only matters in the company of others and when you dream of freshly painted walls and new furniture. Although I have not ceded myself to a majority of these ghastly housewife stereo-types, I will admit that I do dream of olive green walls, burnt orange curtains and fluffy pillows. SO I bought this yesterday to ease my aching desire to become more domesticated.

The results are going to be Spectacular!

There's Nothing Better Than....

driving in the California Sun, singing "Hey Jude," sunroof open, holding hands with a handsome man with a chisled jaw and stubbly cheeks, on our way to... FREsNo??? We are convinced this will be our last trip home for a while as the wedding was our last call of duty to the calm world of suburbia. Jay and Luke were married on Saturday and it was a delightful wedding. We feel like the old married couple now, which is a pleasant feeling actually. I've enjoyed every minute of marriage and JO and I wish them both the same happiness.

Seeing that we were married only 6 months ago, we both can not

get over how fast time has gone by. It's unfair really. In discussing our time together, we have both vowed to never become "un-fun." That would make us TRUE ADULTS. And that is something that neither of us will be fully ready for. Sure we are a responsible and rational couple, but that doesn't mean that we need to give up on our frolicing nonsense and absurd laughter and cheer. As a wise ELF once said

"The best way to spread Christmas (or ANY kind) cheer

is singing loud for all to hear."

There is nothing that this little Oakden family loves more than to sing. This is the most advantageous way to have cheap and simple fun. Although JO is quite a better singer than I, we both can carry a tune and harmonize when necessary. JO is going to try out to sing the National Anthem at Mormon Night at the Dodger Stadium. How grand is that? Was he being for real when he said that to me? Maybe 30% real, but what a thought! And I'm waiting for my "shower thought" of he and I being folk singers to become a reality.

We haven't published our "Greatest Finds" in a while. And that is not because there has been a lack in finds, but rather TOO many.

First, my dress for my sister's wedding. Each bridesmaid had to buy their own black dress and I was having a super difficult time finding one that was garment worthy. So I posted two on a previous blog, but they were too expensive for our budget, so I resorted to one of my favorite shops - the Thrift Store. I bought my black Banana Republic dress for $9.00. Incredible.

Second "Great Find" is the word AWESOME. A great find not because we've just discovered the word, but rather we've discovered how many other words can be used in place of AWESOME. We decided last week that we were going to eliminate that word from our vocabulary in order to make ourselves more distinguished. So all week we've been using words such as "splendid, exquisite, stupendous, phenomenal, and superb" to name a few.

My BFF Emiley Morgan, who is a writer for the Deseret News (check out her latest story), can attest to this word change. She texted me this week letting me know her brother was in the MTC and I replied "That's stupendous!" and she was weirded out until I chatted with her about me and JO's vocabulary goals.

I wonder what this week's word is going to be...

I'll let JO decide this go-around.

I'm also thinking JO should write the next post too...

Shower thoughts...

Every night I take a shower. I love climbing into the sheets feeling in pristine condition. Every night JO asks “Are you going to take a shower?” and I reply “yes.” One of my favorite things about taking a shower since being married is

SHOWER THOUGHTS

TIME.

This event occurs after I take my shower, I come out to find a half-awake man lying on my bed and I continue on in a discourse about all my random thoughts in the shower. I think about all kinds of things, and mostly its thoughts that might be captured in the mind of a 5 year-old – like the fact that we should watch "Sand lot", or how much I enjoy going to the dentist because of the free toothbrush and floss, that I want ice cream with sprinkles RIGHT NOW, that JO and I should become folk singers with him on the guitar and me on the harmonica, that I should pray with all my might for my hair to look like Jennifer Aniston’s or how we should totally make our own reality show and every one could witness how in love we are. Last night I told him that we should play picture scavenger hunt all by ourselves in LA – you know, make a list of the most ridiculous things and then drive around, scavengering for these unsightly items and capture them with our camera. That shower thought did not get the response that I was hoping for from my husband… I encourage everyone to share their “shower thoughts.” It’s such a release and for a minute I can forget that I am now living in a world where demands are high, human affection is low, life can be mundane, honesty is scarce and kindness is left to the noblest of people.

This Little BLACK Dress...

SHOULD belong in my closet...

AND... this one too...

Which one, which one??

We're Becoming Refined!

Jared and I are learning new words.

After reading this month's Ensign article entitled

"Our Refined Heavenly Home"

we decided that we need to become a more polished couple.

We will become lovers of classical music, proper in our speech,

learned in literature, more appreciative of the arts and all this to

"show the world that we have talent and taste and prove to the heavens that

our minds are sent on beauty and true excellence so that we can be worthy to enjoy

the society of angels."

We decided to expand our vocabulary in our efforts to become more refined.

We either choose words that we are not too familiar with or words that we know the meaning of yet need to make better use of them.

Our two words of the week:

ARDOR

DESPONDENT

I also learned that I DO NOT want children anytime soon. I thought for a minute moment this weekend { well maybe the whole weekend } that I was ready but then I watched this movie and it was completely life-altering, in a good way.

I'm just enjoying my time with JO right now.