Trading Card FUN!™

Welcome back to Trading Card FUN!™
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Today's card contains what may truly be THE most useless piece of information ever documented: that this was the place where I used to park my car while attending classes on campus at San Francisco State University.
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As useless information goes, it does take a rather dramatic turn when it reveals that the convenient parking lot became "Faculty Only", at which point I had to find some other place to park.
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I think the fact that Derek's student apartment building loomed large in the background made it a marginally interesting photo-op, and resulted in its inclusion in our crazy Derek and Terri™ Trading Card set.
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So with that, we proudly present Card #3: LOTS O' LUCK!™

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Caption Contest Winner!

Thanks to JANA for submitting the winning caption to this photo!
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"I already horked down the chocolate Jesus. Now I'm workin' on the cross."

Honorable Mention:

"Hmmm... It's good, but not as good as the Skittles rosary beads." - Derek

"Well I'll be... Tastes like chicken." - Brent

"If Terri hadn't eaten all the Cadbury eggs, I wouldn't have to resort to this." - Grammie

Thanks to everyone who participated!!

This Day In History: April 14, 2003 - and CAPTION CONTEST!

Derek on April 14, 2003.
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Please think of an appropriate caption for this picture and submit via Comments, below. The contest will close on April 21, 2010, and the winner will be announced the following day.
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Thanks!

Trading Card FUN!™

Welcome back to Trading Card FUN!™

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As the back of today's card explains, we were concerned at the time (1994) about the recent practice of slicing theatre domes in half, doubling the number of screens but shrinking the films.

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In its heyday, Century Theatres were the grand cinemas in Sacramento, and the epicenter of the Star Wars phenomenon there back in 1977 (and later in 1980, for The Empire Strikes Back).

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So today, we proudly present Card #2: PER-PLEXED!™

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Easter 2010!

When we weren't not feeling major earthquakes on Easter Sunday, we were going to church, opening Easter baskets, hunting for eggs and having dinner with family and friends! Here are some pics.
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Deacon and Maren before church.

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Home from church - opening Easter baskets!

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Hunting for eggs - found the eggsabers!

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Grandpa helped out in the search for the evasive Last Egg.

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Comparing their findings...

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Final score: Deacon 11, Maren 10. Maren really tightened it up this year. Deacon had better bring his best game next year.

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A happy day!

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Susie and Molly joined us (and Grandma and Grandpa) for dinner later that evening. So we celebrated Easter and Passover. And Susie brought Peeps! It was just a great day all around.

BREAKING NEWS: EARTHQUAKE NOT FELT

The 6.9 earthquake that struck Baja California moments ago was NOT FELT by the Alff Family.

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It was, however, felt by the Ribniks, who alerted us via text message!

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We'll be standing by as the situation develops.

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UPDATE 4:04p - Derek observed the neighbor's pool water sloshing quite noticeably after the temblor.

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UPDATE 2 5:07p - We are awating a report from Santa Monica correspondent Brent.

Happy Easter!

He is Risen Indeed!
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And now, here is the Alff Family Easter Egg Gallery 2010.
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The Death Star Egg.

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The Silly Face Egg.

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The Eyeball Egg.

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Eggsabers.

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Egg-cited about Easter!

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Hope you all have a very happy Easter!

Trading Card FUN!™

It may be April Fool's Day, but it's no joke!
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To mark our 15th wedding anniversary (7 months late, but I just got the idea to post these now), the AFB proudly presents a very special new feature:

You see, when we got married in September 1994, it was customary to send a nice engagement picture with your wedding invitations. But we didn't think that was quite right for us.
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And we're big Star Wars fans. What better way to celebrate our upcoming nuptials than by enclosing homemade Star Wars-inspired trading cards!! So we designed a set of nine trading cards. Each guest received two randomly selected cards, and the idea was that they could bring them to the wedding and, yes, trade them with other wedding guests if they felt like it.
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We couldn't possibly even begin to talk about these without acknowledging our friend Erik Lobo (now of Cinema Insomnia fame), a Sacramento artist who drew our Yoda, metallic border, and "burst" logo, and who also performed the nearly impossible task of crafting the cards in pre-Photoshop days using film prints, an Exacto knife, and a glue stick.
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Using the classic Star Wars trading cards as inspiration...

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We combined elements to create our own, which used the "burst" from Episode IV, the metallic border from Episode V, and the inner border from Episode VI. Here's Card #1 in our extremely Limited Edition set of 9: Special Delivery!™
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Check back soon for more Trading Card FUN!™

Art Showcase: Fresh Lemonade by Maren

Presenting... Fresh Lemonade, by Maren.
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Maren wants to have a lemonade stand... we told her maybe in the summer. So she's making signs now.
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About the sign, she said, "It's a really hot day and the guy is sweating."
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She also said that her lemonade is going to cost $5.00 per cup. Guess this enterprise will be the Starbucks of lemonade stands!

This Day In History: March 20, 2005

Deacon and Maren on March 20, 2005

Attack of the Leprechauns!

Maren's Kindergarten class celebrated St. Patrick's Day by building Leprechaun traps! AFB correspondent Derek was on the scene when the kids came back from Chapel in the afternoon to find that leprechauns had been in the classroom... and they made a mess!
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Maren is not at all enthused about the apparent visit from the leprechauns.

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Cleaning up after the messy leprechauns...

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The leprechauns left GOLD!

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In front of their ocean mural...

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Breaking News: Earthquake Not Felt

This morning's 4.4 earthquake, at 4:04 am, was NOT FELT by the Alff family.

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Looks like others in our zip code ranked it a "III", but the official AFB Intensity Score was a big Zero.

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We'll be on the scene and will report on any additional developments.

All dressed up...

From Feb. 28th - Maren was on her way to sing with the choir at St. Paul's, and we put a few curls in her hair. Derek took some pictures - here they are!

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Home Depot Saturday!

Every first Saturday of the month, Home Depot hosts free kids' workshops in which they can build something!
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Derek and the kids decided to join Michael and the Ross kids for today's workshop. Here are a few cell pics from Derek!
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Maren was SO HAPPY!

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Ready to build. As he walked out the door this morning, Deacon mumbled something about taking his lightsaber because it would be "useful for cutting."

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Indeed!

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Hope you enjoyed our coverage of this morning's woodworking!

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LATE BREAKING NEWS UPDATE 1:06 PM SATURDAY:

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Derek and Mike and the kids have just reported in from where they are currently stationed at the Northridge Mall, where Maren has run into one of her best Kindergarten buds: Leyla! Here's a pic from moments ago.

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UPDATE 2 - 6:05 PM Saturday:

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Maren's Rain Gauge Bird House, after she painted it here at home.

This Day In History: March 5, 2006

Maren and Deacon heading to an Oscar party on March 5, 2006