Christmas Greetings

found here:

http://bradfordandcatherine.blogspot.com/

It's official, we now have a couples blog. We'll do our best to keep it real. Happy Holidays.

California Christmas

Photo by Daniel Sofer

What a great picture. I vaguely miss winter snow, but not nearly as much as I love ocean sunsets. Brad and I are getting settled in our El Segundo bungalow, one box at a time. The question is whether or not we'll be able to fit a Christmas tree.

Happy holidays to you all.

We're Married!!!

Apologies for the radio silence, I've just been enjoying some of the most wonderful moments of my life.

Somebody at work today asked me if I feel different after being married. I thought for a second and responded, "I feel lucky."

For a link to pictures from our fabulous photographer, Jason West, click here.

Getting Ready to Take The Plunge

I just can't wait.

(In this picture, I'm the little head sticking out from behind Bradford's left shoulder.)

CHI-City

Oh, to be a tourist...

Good times to be had in CHI-city! It was oddly nice to have a reason to wear a hat and leggings again. I created a playlist, started walking, and saw Chicago... Magnificent Mile, Tribune Building, Millennium Park, Bean statue, Art Institute lobby, Giordano's, a little shopping, Gibson's steakhouse, and a great view of Navy Pier from my hotel.

One day is not enough time to spend in Chicago, especially when the sun starts fading at 4:30PM. One day, however, is enough time to make a judgment that CHI-town's a pretty fun city!

A really quick review of Gibson's... a crowded, classic Chicago steakhouse with huge portions, loud people, a piano player in the lobby, and a take on Hula Pie that's about four times the size of Duke's version. Oh, and realllyyy good lobster.

Below are a few too many photos...

Posing with Mr. and Mrs. American Gothic on Michigan Ave.

A river runs through it. I would love to take the River boat Architecture tour someday--this was another disadvantage of my visiting the city post-daylight savings time switch. Last boat leaves at 2PM!

The "bean" statue! This looks so odd from far away, but it creates the coolest images of the Chicago city skyline.

This one's my favorite. I look like I'm in a bubble.

Fall colors in Millennium Park

Shopping on Michigan Ave. (aka the Maaaagnificent Miiile!!!) Does anyone else think of Oprah every time they here this??

And....I'm getting married in 12 days!! I'm a weeeeeeeee bit excited.

Greetings from...

...Chicago!

I'm here for a last-minute trip and I've never been here before.

Does anyone have recommendations of what to do or see?? Please share.

Thanks.

"The Reckoning" Book Trailer

My aunt has posted a trailer of her award-winning novel, "The Reckoning" on Youtube. Watch it here, and then buy the book on Amazon or Kindle. The Reckoning is a page-turning, intelligently-written story that brings the obscurity of the Arab world in to a light that any caring or adventurous American can relate to. In my opinion, the best way to develop an interest and basic understanding of hard-to-understand topics is through non-fiction books.

Two Words: Cat Fight

Actually, this is more of a cat beating. A very emotional (and losing) New Mexico Lobo soccer player decided to take out her anger on the entire BYU women's soccer team during yesterday's semifinal match of the MWC tournament. I'm not sure how the refs missed every single instance of Elizabeth Lambert's rough play. BYU, of course, won the game despite sucker punching, slapping, and the hardest hair pull I've ever seen in women's sports.

Witch's Ball

Speaking of amazing women, here are some pictures from the Halloween bridal shower that was thrown for me last night. Yes, we're all in witches hats.

How lucky I am to have so many great female role models in my life. My grandmother, mother, aunts, cousins, future mother-in-law, friends' mothers, and mother's friends -- ALL are amazing women and I am blessed to have them in my life.

Thanks to Sue Paullin, for hosting this fabulous party!
What a fun night.

Terry and Kathleen made a fabulous ribbon bouquet for me.

Aunt Dani, Cheryl, Sue & Diana (aka Lovey Lovey)

Jeffree, Sue, Chris, Barbara, Cathy, Judy

The future and current Mrs. Fishbacks

Cousins: Lindsay, me & Katie

I'm thinking of wearing this hat on the big day. Yay or Nay?

Lovely.

Thanks, Amy, for this picture!

Bryn got married last weekend (see beautiful pictures here), which means I got to see a lot of wonderful friends, some of whom I haven't seen in over a year. I was talking to Rae Rae at the reception about friendship and life (we're very deep thinkers). I said, "friends just aren't the same after college." Her absolute and amazing inability to hide her emotions (a character trait that I LOVE) caused her face to look a little sad, and she replied with a sincere, "I'm still your friend." I looked at her with a half-frown and said, "No, I mean, you just don't make new friends the way you did in college." She looked relieved and said, "Ohhhh."

Thank goodness for the amazing women in my life.

Birthday Boy

This is a bit late, but Brad's birthday was on Oct. 23. We celebrated with mango cheesecake and birthday presents wrapped in a Macy's cardboard shipping box. He thinks it's cool that his birthday is on 10/23, our wedding is on 11/24, and then Christmas is on 12/25. See a pattern?

Must be good luck.

A Bike City

photo via

I heard about this system on NPR a couple weeks ago.  A public bike system.  Several European cities, including Paris, Barcelona, Helsinki and Copenhagen, have taken to the trend of renting public bikes to commuters for a small fee.  What a great way to decrease traffic, increase exercise and experience a city!  This picture of riders using the Vélib' system in Paris makes public biking look glamorous.  (Paris would make the classiest looking bikes in the system, right?)  Montreal and Washington D.C. are some of the first North American cities to try it out.

I would love to have this in LA.  

Or, maybe I would just love to live in Paris.

Here they are...

Steven Wood kind of just fell from the sky. And, really, that's not too far from the truth. After a weekend trip to Utah, my Dad sent me a text telling me he had sat next to a fashion photographer on the plane. Long story short, a week later, Bradford and I found ourselves "fake-conversing" in gorgeous Palos Verdes locations while Steven shot over 2,000 images of us. We managed to find a couple good ones.

Steven actually just posted several in an album on facebook. Click here to see them. Below are more of my favorites. Steven might not be happy about all of these being posted because they're not all edited, but I think they look fabulous.

The future Fishbacks!

42 days to go!

Substance.

Pardon the late night post. When I don't have specific plans the next day, I stay up, irresponsibly. But the wheels in my head turn. Creative juices flow a little stronger. And I love these moments.

Recent blog-surfing led me to stumble upon this picture, and the image illustrates a goal I've been striving for lately: Living a life of substance and value.

Bear with me while I share an unlikely analogy.

A few months ago while shopping for new shoes, I noticed that I am drawn to specific details on clothing and shoes. I prefer braiding, lace, rouching, and other handwork. All of these are processes that, to begin with, don't require fancy materials. The raw materials can be (and usually are) very simple. What makes these pieces valuable are the time, effort, and handiwork that goes into making them. Something which, at the base, is so, so simple, can be transformed into an immaculate work of beauty. Money is not required, just time, effort, hard work, and perhaps, a little love.

I used to live in a world where buying a cute new t-shirt meant "today was a good day." Eating out made me feel validated, and spending money, even if it meant purchasing something as meaningless as a key chain, somehow made me feel good. Well, the truth is, those things usually made me feel good for about a day. And then, after that day, all I typically felt was a hole in my pocket.

Over the past year or two, I've realized something incredibly obvious. Life is more than today. To have "a good day." That's nice. But what about having a good year, a good decade, dare, I say, a good life?? Isn't that better? I had no idea how much my quest for everyday happiness was inhibiting the much more meaningful goal of life satisfaction.

Shifting focus from instant happiness to life satisfaction has already helped me to live out some of my dreams, and I feel very confident that several more have yet to be fulfilled.

So, here's to living a life of substance and fulfilling big dreams, no matter what the daily sacrifice may be.

Sneak Peek

of our engagement pictures. They are beautiful and fabulous, thanks to the wonderful Steven Wood. More to come.

Space Cowboy

This is gnarly and it's trippin' me out.  In a good way.  With so many faux, re-touched images out there, it's hard to believe, but this photo is not photoshopped.  This astronaut, Bruce McCandless II (wonder if there's any relation to Christopher) of the space shuttle Challenger, is floating in space, farther than anyone has ever been before.  Click here to learn more. 

Signs of the Times

Online advertising has officially surpassed TV advertising in terms of sales. 

By the end of the year, there will be more Subway stores in the world than McDonald's.

Will this knitted lego minifig be the new teddy bear?

Gold Spandex and Ghetto Fabulous

Has anyone else seen this? Leslie Hall is an Iowa native, living with her parents, whose main goal in life is to never have a desk job. I guess that leaves time to pursue other passions, like being a garage-band rapper. And rap-it-up she did. This girl has style, 'tude, and most importantly, beats. You've got to listen to her. Ready, go!

A Moral Issue

When something is important to me, I find it difficult to express my feelings publicly. I'm concerned they will be misinterpreted or even worse, ignored.

But I've held out for too long on the moral issue of our times, also known as the United States healthcare debate.


I loathe those two words because there are so many unclear, confusing messages associated with them.

Instead, I’m going to refer to the control of people’s life expectancy and well-being through medicinal practices as a moral issue.

This is the moral issue of our times.

First, two simple facts:

1. The United States spends $4,631.00 per capita on health care. That’s #1 in the world.
2. The average life expectancy of an American at birth is 78.11. That’s #50 in the world.

#1 in spending. #50 in life expectancy. For a country I believe to be very efficient in other areas, This. Does. Not. Make. Sense.

Simple facts such as this make me curious, and I don't understand why others aren't more intrigued. I've been shocked in the last few months by ignorance and un-Christianlike attitudes that I've witnessed in several fellow Americans. People (rightfully so) gripe about making their insurance payments, but when asked about the best way to help others, the response too often seems to be an “every-man-for-himself” type of answer.

This is where the morality of the issue comes in. Every man has the right to life, but the current United States healthcare system (a profit-driven industry) prevents that.

I urge all of my friends and family who are unsure where they stand on this moral issue to search, ponder, and pray about a change in American healthcare. Do so without fearing change. Instead, do so with the aim of helping others.

After some brief travel abroad over a year ago, I’ve had the opportunity to observe American culture through a foreigner’s lenses (some call it reverse culture shock), and what I’ve seen is an attitude that Americans tend to ignore reality when it is “just too sad.” Joseph Smith, the first Latter-day Saint prophet said, “We cannot be saved until we have risen above all our enemies, not the least of which is ignorance.”

Please rise above ignorance and do what you can to help others.

The following story brings a visual element to the issue, which is hard to find in the mass of misinformed speeches and text flooding our news sites and televisions. Click here, scroll to 1:10:17, and watch a 2-minute story.

This. Should. Not. Happen.

People are dying prematurely in our country, and it doesn't need to happen. Our country was not founded to survive without work. Work is required to fulfill the promises of the Constitution, including the promise of life.

I urge you to keep the debate going. Stay or get informed. Pay attention to facts and don’t be swayed by opinions.

Write your congressperson. Write something on your blog, or facebook page, or twitter page. Make a comment at the dinner table. Do something.

So Long, Sweet Summer

You've been good to me.

Insightful...

Just discovered this wonderful blogger, Joanna Goddard. She just got married, is currently on her honeymoon, and is having a different writer each day add their "secrets to a happy marriage." I like this one. And this one.

I also just read this insightful essay on marriage from the New York Times. It's very raw, scary, but incredibly mature.

Go Cougars.

BYU 14 OU 13

Keep us going, Bronco!

A HopeFUL Romantic

I used to say I was a hopeless romantic. Loved the idea of being in love. I still do love the idea of being in love. But hopeless is so sad. I was never a hopeless romantic, but a hopeful romantic. Full of hope that someday love would come. And it did! Several people helped me find it. Friends, family, books, songs, moments, and even random couples who will never know I saw the love they shared; all gave me advice, inspiration and knowledge. I tucked all that information away in both my heart and my mind. And when love came, I knew it was strong because my mind and my heart were in sync.

Often, when we think about finding love, we think about finding a person. And that once you meet a person, you know. But love isn't a person, love is so much more. It is a transcendent feeling that comes when two people, sharing their lives, have mirroring images of the world.

Everyone views the world differently. To find someone that sees it the same way you do, makes the journey of life easier.

"A burden shared is half the burden. A joy shared is twice the joy."

Discovering that you're sharing your life with someone that shares your vision of the world is beautiful. Amazing.

I love you.

Things are a LOT more meaningful when...

...you have to wait for them.

It's difficult to realize the beauty of that thought, until the waiting is over.  But it is SO true.  

Six Man, Crazy Six Man

Since my days of ultra-competitive, indoor volleyball have ended, I've been able to take part in one of the most fun and hilarious beach volleyball events: the Manhattan Beach Charlie Saikley 6-Person Beach Volleyball Tournament.  Click here to get a sense of the craziness of the event.  The first year I played in it (2004), I was mesmerized by all the people and crazy costumes.  While I still love seeing the creative team uniforms and watching good volleyball, it has become a place for me to play competitive 6-Man volleyball and see friends that I don't cross regular paths with anymore.

Here are some pictures of this year's event.  My team was sponsored by OB's Pub & Grill and we had a jungle "Tiki Tarzan" theme.

For the rest of my life...

...I get to kiss him!

After 27 months, six cities, three continents, hundreds of emails, countless hours of conversation, and lots of kisses, Bradford asked me to marry him and made me the happiest girl in the world! He proposed on a tree-lined street, next to the tree where we first said, "I love you." He gave me a perfect, beautiful speech and I soaked up every word of it... sweet, genuine, and true. Then he grabbed the ring from the car, got down on a knee, and asked me to marry him. I said YES, he stood up, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. After hugging and kissing for a time, he slipped the ring on and it fit perfectly. Once I had the ring on my finger and Bradford in my arms, I couldn't stop smiling, crying, saying 'I love you,' and giggling, because I couldn't believe it was actually happening!

Once we settled down, we went out to dinner and enjoyed two hours of delicious seafood, where no one else except our waiter knew the big news. It was our beautiful little secret for two hours.

I am so excited for the adventure, passion, and happiness that will now be a part of my life forever.

"And the sea is just a wetter version of the skies..."

-Regina Spektor

To be able to see the world through different lenses, think crazy thoughts and then package it in such a beautiful way that the public just can't get enough of it.  That is the gift of a wonderful artist.  Who would have thought that Picasso's cubism would inspire so many people to look at art and the world and people in a different way?  And Bob Dylan: without such creative lyrics and soulful melodies, Dylan's words would have influenced a tiny fraction of the world that they did when accompanied by harmonious guitar and harmonica.

Today I had the privilege of watching Regina Spektor perform live.  Ever since I fell in love with her song "Fidelity" in 2006, Regina's bold vocals and unique translation of thoughts into lyrics have really struck a chord with me (haha... punny!).  Here are a few videos I shot while watching her perform.  The first one, "Folding Chair" is my favorite, but unfortunately I only had enough memory card to shoot 20 seconds.  Listen to the full song here.  You won't regret it.

"Folding Chair"

And here is a live version of "Fidelity."

Catherine in _________?

When I began this blog about a year ago, I titled it "Catherine in California" because I liked the alliteration, and I thought it was a good follow-up to my first blog, "Catherine in Jerusalem."  By including California in the title, however, I have recently felt a bit constrained to keep the majority of my posts focused on either myself (Catherine) or the state I currently live in (California).

But the truth is, much of the time, my thoughts are still in Jerusalem.  

The modest 3.5 months I spent there over a year ago ignited something inside of me and I can't/don't want to put it out.  I've often wished I had two more years left (on scholarship) in school to study Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies.  But I don't.  So my learning and fire is fueled by watching/reading news stories.  I've recently discovered World Focus which provides very strong coverage of the Arab world.  Today's show gives two solid features on both Palestinians and Israelis living in the West Bank. Watch it to get a better understanding of life in Israel.  

What makes me really sad is that 99% of the people I interact with on a normal basis don't understand the issues I care so deeply about.  It's not their fault.  If I can steal something from Amy's blog, "Everyone is doing the very best they can, according to their own level of understanding."

But what if that level of understanding can be changed, equalized to put all members of the Earth on the same level?  The people I respect the most are those that are open to hearing new ideas, new thinking and new knowledge, even if that new knowledge strikingly disagrees with their own circle of thought.  

While I'm often tempted to simply write about my daily, or weekly, activities, I'll do my best to continue posting my own personal understanding of this world.

More photos from Canovix: