Author: Ali Carras

At a very young age I lost site of my mom in a local grocery store in Boulder, Colorado. I did, however, have the smarts to go to the customer service counter. The kind woman at the counter asked "What is your name little girl?" My reply: "Assi." The woman gave me a look like, "Are you playing with me you little devil?" but she proceeded to blast on the loudspeaker the "We have a lost Assi at the front of the store." Customers throughout the store gagged and giggled, but my mom knew exactly who the woman was referring to: the mullet haired little girl with a tongue too big for her mouth, wearing a leotard, skirt, tights, and jelly shoes (with florescent green laces in them...even though they didn't need the laces). A shy little character for whom every little detail in life was a huge thing. I am pleased to report that today I am able to fully pronounce Allison (aka Ali), but the Assi pseudonym has always stuck, evolving into Aszi. As for the shy little character for whom every little detail in life was a huge thing? Some things never change. I have closed my comments due to mass amounts of spam that no filter could ever control. Feel free to contact me abeckord [at] gmail.com!

home to eat some soft foods

This weekend I’m going home to help celebrate my grandmum’s 90th birthday. She is the remaining matriarch of the Beckord clan so a royal gala is in order. For me it will be an opportunity to eat soft foods with the other 90 year olds at her party while thinking about all the wine and steak Cooper will be enjoying in Argentina. Yes, I’ll be in a church hall while Cooper is in Argentina. Did I mention Cooper will be in Argentina while I am in cold cold Colorado drinking prune juice? Yeah, Cooper is going to Argentina and I am not.

put your feet up and watch

Two weekends ago I was in Colorado in a supposed “blizzard” at an Elton John concert with my mom and sis. Ali + Elton John =love.

This past weekend I was in SoCal on my feet for 22 hours straight (actually, I slept for 6 hours in between those 22 hours). Ali + 2 weddings in a row = one grumpy gal.

Today I am putting my feet up, working like a horse and finishing my taxes…but before I do all that I have to celebrate this creative video:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY]

how i feel at times…

I know this has been all over the interweb but I have to make sure you’ve seen it…watch out…you physically might weep like I did.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs]

So, a lot has happened in the past month and I’ve done a piss poor job of recording it (i.e. went to Bali, went to Colorado, bought a pair of grey jeans, attempted to cook a few times, etc). Shame on me, self. My #11.25 goal in life is to get back in the creative spirit and write/take fun (not wedding) photos. Stay tuned….(although it might take a bit of time to get going because I will soon be going home to see Elton John in concert with my women (mom and sister) and have a bit of stuff to do before then (i.e. work, shoot two weddings, work, spoon with dog, etc).

Speaking of Elton John…for some reason in my head Elton John’s name is John Elton. You don’t know how many times I started to write Elton John but had to erase it over and over because I typed John Elton. Ohhhh, John Elton.

can’t write…we’re making meatloaf

Sorry, I can’t write right now…Cooper and I are doing a “my mom’s meatloaf is better than yours” cook off so we are busy making our meat. The cook off would be best if we had an outsider around to blindly taste test but we don’t so I guess we will have to settle for Finney. Maybe we’ll give him a taste of each then see which one he goes back to for seconds.

Ok, gotta go. Cooper just finished his loaf. My turn!

oh the holidays

Since I have been amiss in keeping up my personal blog I thought I would do a monster photo post from our holiday in Colorado. This was Cooper’s first x-mas with the Beckords…and I think we quite possibly scared him away from joining in on future Beckord holidays. With everyone home to celebrate my parent’s 40th anniversary, my dad’s b-day, my dad’s obsession with martinis and x-mas….let me tell ya, it was an intense time. The pictures will give you a glimpse of all the characters involved (primarily focused around a 3 year old)…

The first of 10 days at home: survive a walk in the winter weather:

Then the dry Colorado air will do crazy things to your hair:

So you have to try and curl it (first time ever!):

Then it is time to celebrate the mystery of how my parents have survived 40 years together. They were surprised by the homecoming of their two boys who originally were not scheduled to be home to celebrate:

Two days later it is time to continue to drink my dad’s martinis (his new hobby…perfecting the art of the martini) and decorate the tree:

Then eat a tub of ice cream:

Even the impala over the fireplace was intense:

Christmas day we didn’t do your average Christmas meal. This year we were treated to my bro’s extra special brats and sauerkraut:

At this point Cooper is feeling overwhelmed…

Christmas morning we got a little crazy…

Even little baby Nora got crazy…

So we had to go sledding…

And frolic in the snow…

Now it is time to hibernate.

holiday card 2008

Oh you bet we did. Frequently asked questions: 1) Is Cooper’s hair real? 2) Is Cooper’s chest hair real? 3) Is Cooper’s necklace real? I’ll tell you that 2 out of the three of these are a yes.

videos up the wazoo

Two point five things:

1.) Not too long ago (December 4th in case you get alzheimers and need this posting as reference) Amelia turned three. Cooper and I made three “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!” videos to help celebrate. Here is one of the three:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fnwWCPd4RI]

2.) Amazing how a dog and a box can lead to hours of easy entertainment when you have company over. No need for delightful conversation anymore…leave the good times to the dog!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9NKUeX8peU]

2.5) See if you can find an Assi here: http://www.designpublic.com/shop/gifts

Cooper’s first turkey

Thanksgiving is over but my stomach is still thanking Cooper for all the good food. The C-dog’s family came down from Olympia to witness Cooper’s first turkey.

A visual play by play of this amazing event:

This is Cooper after stuffing the cold bird…

Cooper putting the cold bird in the oven…

Cooper saying “I did it! I am making a turkey! Look ma! Look at me!”

Ta da! Turkey is done. That was fast.

Ohhh…a golden brown turkey stuffed to the brim…

Cooper carves…

Ali sets the table…wait a minute! Let me say that again, Ali sets the table that they have had to live without for 6 years!

Good job Cooper…do it again next year and I’ll just do the dishes again. Ha.

I hope your turkey day was filled with family, food, and fun.

This is what I’ve been up to:

This is what I have been up to:

1.Went to Mexico for a wedding. Try taking pictures on a rocking boat while people are feeling seasick…fun stuff! But, the photos came out great nonetheless and Mexico is always awesome.

2. Ate lots of brownies during our “Brownie Bake Off” at work:

3. Have had lots of dog time. I am attached to this brown duder and tend to “accidentally” take lots of naps with him as we spoon. Serious spoonage. Thanks to Finney I get to walk to the bay more often and also thanks to Finney I got to see a dead sea lion washed ashore along with a headless dead dog or pig or weird gray/white creature with skin that was decomposing. Aye. I just got really hungry.

Sorry for all the dog photos but since I am contributing to the “Finneythedog” blog (yes, this dog has a blog!) I have to keep his parents updated with what their son (dog) has been up to, thus I take lots of dog photos. Here is a glimpse:

4. Trrrrrrying really hard to get our apartment in order but it is really difficult. So little time, so little motivation. I’ll be posting more photos of the place on Hatch but until then here is what we have to work with: