Some of you may have seen this, but you've got to watch this video from CNN. It is so beautiful - it gave me the chills.
http://tinyurl.com/yxewot
By the way, I believe her.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Beyond Lint
After I had put the boys to bed tonight, I hear Big J calling me. The conversation went as follows:
Big J (urgently) : "Mama! Mama!"
Me: "What, Big J?"
Big J: "I put my finger in my belly button and there was something rotten in it."
*I stand silently contemplating how to respond to this statement.
Big J: "And I threw it over there."
Ewwwww.....................
Big J (urgently) : "Mama! Mama!"
Me: "What, Big J?"
Big J: "I put my finger in my belly button and there was something rotten in it."
*I stand silently contemplating how to respond to this statement.
Big J: "And I threw it over there."
Ewwwww.....................
Monday, January 29, 2007
Diez
Here are 10 lesser-known things that you may or may not know about me:
1. I took American Sign Language (ASL) as a foreign language at BYU. If I had taken 2 more courses I would have been a certified interpretor. (I don't remember much now).
2. In October 1997, I ran in the St. George Marathon. My goal was to, first, finish, and second, finish in under 4 1/2 hours. I finished in 4 hours, 29 minutes, and 58 seconds. No lie.
3. I've always wanted to write a book.
4. I served as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from July 1995 - January 1997. I went to the Birmingham England Mission and lived in 5 different areas while there - Wolverhampton, Telford, Loughborough, Milton Keynes, and Nottingham.
5. "The Star Spangled Banner" and "O Holy Night" always bring tears to my eyes.
6. I have a sister that passed away on August 4, 1997. Her name is Nicole. She was 18 1/2.
7. There are three times I feel like my life has been spared - 2 car wrecks and one really stupid idea. Not only did I walk away from all of them, but I was uninjured.
8. I have about 1/2 the credits I need for a Master's degree.
9. I had LASIK surgery done in 2002. It has been such a blessing to be able to see!
10. In 1994 I got certified to scuba dive, went scuba diving in Cozumel, Mexico, and never went again. It was a really cool experience, but the ocean scares me.
1. I took American Sign Language (ASL) as a foreign language at BYU. If I had taken 2 more courses I would have been a certified interpretor. (I don't remember much now).
2. In October 1997, I ran in the St. George Marathon. My goal was to, first, finish, and second, finish in under 4 1/2 hours. I finished in 4 hours, 29 minutes, and 58 seconds. No lie.
3. I've always wanted to write a book.
4. I served as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from July 1995 - January 1997. I went to the Birmingham England Mission and lived in 5 different areas while there - Wolverhampton, Telford, Loughborough, Milton Keynes, and Nottingham.
5. "The Star Spangled Banner" and "O Holy Night" always bring tears to my eyes.
6. I have a sister that passed away on August 4, 1997. Her name is Nicole. She was 18 1/2.
7. There are three times I feel like my life has been spared - 2 car wrecks and one really stupid idea. Not only did I walk away from all of them, but I was uninjured.
8. I have about 1/2 the credits I need for a Master's degree.
9. I had LASIK surgery done in 2002. It has been such a blessing to be able to see!
10. In 1994 I got certified to scuba dive, went scuba diving in Cozumel, Mexico, and never went again. It was a really cool experience, but the ocean scares me.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Withering Away
Well, not really. But I decided I don't want to be fat anymore, so this is the second day of my "diet." I use that term loosely because I have never dieted and don't believe in diets. But I am writing down everything I eat and being more disciplined. Do I really need that second helping? Do I really want that Grilled Stuft Burrito? (Yes, but that's beside the point...)
Weight is a funny thing. I've never been one to really care about how much the scale says, I just cared about how I looked. I've always weighed more than people usually think I am. Kind of like people have always thought I was a lot taller than I actually am. I don't know why? But now to me my weight represents apathy and not being in control. And I don't like that.
It's not so much what I eat. I am not a big snacker and don't eat a lot of junk. I buy whole grains, low-fat or fat-free items, eat fruit, etc. I drink lots of water. I don't have a Coke, chocolate, or alcohol habit I need to kick. I like all the tasty, naughty things you can eat, but I don't make a habit of consuming them. Instead, I've noticed other poor habits I have. In the two days I've been conscientiously trying to re-train myself, I've realized two major things I need to change to make this work:
Bad Habit 1: I need to not eat so sporadically. Lots of times I will eat a later breakfast so I'm not hungry for lunch. But then I'm out and about running errands and get hungry mid-afternoon. So I eat something on the go or just whatever is around as a late lunch. Then when dinner comes, I'm not that hungry because I ate so late, so I don't eat that much. Then since I didn't eat much, I'm hungry late and eat something at like 10:00 at night.
Bad Habit 2: I get seconds and/or my portions are "American-sized" instead of what an actual serving should be.
So I'm trying to be more responsible with my eating habits, and hopefully will lose weight in the process. I have been overweight (for me) since I had my second baby - almost 4 years ago!! Depressing. I am tired of it. I don't want to be the fat mom. I don't want to be sucking wind when I am playing with my boys. I don't want to have my grandma's butt! And I don't want to be at the mercy of food. SO....
My goal is to lose 25 pounds by April 19th. I need to lose more than that, but that is what I'm shooting for now. I'll keep you posted on the progress.
Weight is a funny thing. I've never been one to really care about how much the scale says, I just cared about how I looked. I've always weighed more than people usually think I am. Kind of like people have always thought I was a lot taller than I actually am. I don't know why? But now to me my weight represents apathy and not being in control. And I don't like that.
It's not so much what I eat. I am not a big snacker and don't eat a lot of junk. I buy whole grains, low-fat or fat-free items, eat fruit, etc. I drink lots of water. I don't have a Coke, chocolate, or alcohol habit I need to kick. I like all the tasty, naughty things you can eat, but I don't make a habit of consuming them. Instead, I've noticed other poor habits I have. In the two days I've been conscientiously trying to re-train myself, I've realized two major things I need to change to make this work:
Bad Habit 1: I need to not eat so sporadically. Lots of times I will eat a later breakfast so I'm not hungry for lunch. But then I'm out and about running errands and get hungry mid-afternoon. So I eat something on the go or just whatever is around as a late lunch. Then when dinner comes, I'm not that hungry because I ate so late, so I don't eat that much. Then since I didn't eat much, I'm hungry late and eat something at like 10:00 at night.
Bad Habit 2: I get seconds and/or my portions are "American-sized" instead of what an actual serving should be.
So I'm trying to be more responsible with my eating habits, and hopefully will lose weight in the process. I have been overweight (for me) since I had my second baby - almost 4 years ago!! Depressing. I am tired of it. I don't want to be the fat mom. I don't want to be sucking wind when I am playing with my boys. I don't want to have my grandma's butt! And I don't want to be at the mercy of food. SO....
My goal is to lose 25 pounds by April 19th. I need to lose more than that, but that is what I'm shooting for now. I'll keep you posted on the progress.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Cheap Thrills
It was time for school, so I told the boys to get their shoes on. Our shoe basket is in the laundry room, where at the time, I had clothes going in both the washer and the dryer. I went to get my own shoes upstairs and can hear the boys laughing with pauses in between the bursts of laughter. When I went back down I see them both with their foreheads pressed against the washer going "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" (that's suppose to be the sound they were making from the washer shaking their heads/voices). It was the funniest thing to see and they definitely thought it was the funniest thing ever. I would like just one minute to look into the mind of a child and see the thought processes that go on there. What a ride that would be!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Blessings of basket and store
I believe in being prepared. There are many ways to be prepared, but one of the most tangible ways is to be temporally prepared. Our church leaders have counseled us to be prepared for decades, but what is more of a motivating factor for me is that I do not want to be in a circumstance (an emergency, a disaster, a war, whatever unforeseen events may come) and have to look at my babies and see them suffering because I was too lazy or too apathetic to store some food or some blankets or whatever it may be they are lacking. I have a fear of watching my kids starve to death and knowing it was my fault that I didn't make sure they were taken care of.
Because of that, my family has comprehensive 72-hour kits ready for an emergency. We have emergency car kits in our vehicles. Since we moved into our home almost 3 years ago, we have been working on getting a year-supply of food and water. I admit it is a slow process and not always at the top of the priority list, but I estimate we have about 3 - 4 solid months of food storage for the 5 of us, and probably a month of water stored (that is, if we actually fill up one of the big water barrels that is currently sitting empty in our storage).
My parents gave us $250 at Christmas. We decided to use it towards our food storage. I started looking for how to get the best bang for our buck, in addition to adding variety, saving space, and adding practical things we would actually eat. So I decided to buy some MREs (meals- ready-to-eat). MREs are not the least expensive form of food storage, but they keep for years and they are portable, convenient, and you don't need water or a heat source to prepare them (although warmed up they would be better, you could just eat them as is). I went to the Emergency Essentials website that I've gotten many other preparedness items from, and started filling up my cart with all the MREs that were on sale, because I determined that that was the cheapest way to do it , even compared to their bulk supplies. I estimated I could get about 100 MREs for the $250. That was until I came across this steal. 90 main entrees, 45 side dishes, 45 bread, 30 peanut butter, 30 jam/jelly, 60 desserts, 30 drink mixes, 15 cheese spreads.
Notice the price listed currently? When I came across it, it was marked $269.99. It was not marked as a crazy blow-out deal and there was no indication this was an unusual price for this amount of food. I bought it immediately, wondering in the back of my mind why it was so cheap. I wondered if all the entrees and side dishes were nasty things nobody wanted and they had surpluses of. I figured, though, that if we really were in dire straits we'd be willing to eat whatever it was. However, the next day when I went to show JC what I had ordered, the price was the currently listed $419.99. When I checked in the current Emergency Essentials catalog I had received at the beginning of the month, the price was also listed there as $419.99.
Was this a mere type-o that was caught after I placed my order? Or a blessing for trying to follow prophetic counsel? I like to think it was a blessing. It's just like when I want to stock up on canned food items and I go to the store and what do you know - cases of corn are on sale! These things may seem trivial or coincidental, but I believe that if the Lord knows when a sparrow falls from a tree, or could make a coin for the exact amount of taxes owed appear in a fish's mouth, then he can definitely direct me in whatever my quest may be for that day.
P.S. Our MREs came today. I'm glad to report that they are normal food - spaghetti and meatballs, breaded chicken breasts, rice pilaf, mashed potatoes, brownies with chocolate chips...
Because of that, my family has comprehensive 72-hour kits ready for an emergency. We have emergency car kits in our vehicles. Since we moved into our home almost 3 years ago, we have been working on getting a year-supply of food and water. I admit it is a slow process and not always at the top of the priority list, but I estimate we have about 3 - 4 solid months of food storage for the 5 of us, and probably a month of water stored (that is, if we actually fill up one of the big water barrels that is currently sitting empty in our storage).
My parents gave us $250 at Christmas. We decided to use it towards our food storage. I started looking for how to get the best bang for our buck, in addition to adding variety, saving space, and adding practical things we would actually eat. So I decided to buy some MREs (meals- ready-to-eat). MREs are not the least expensive form of food storage, but they keep for years and they are portable, convenient, and you don't need water or a heat source to prepare them (although warmed up they would be better, you could just eat them as is). I went to the Emergency Essentials website that I've gotten many other preparedness items from, and started filling up my cart with all the MREs that were on sale, because I determined that that was the cheapest way to do it , even compared to their bulk supplies. I estimated I could get about 100 MREs for the $250. That was until I came across this steal. 90 main entrees, 45 side dishes, 45 bread, 30 peanut butter, 30 jam/jelly, 60 desserts, 30 drink mixes, 15 cheese spreads.
Notice the price listed currently? When I came across it, it was marked $269.99. It was not marked as a crazy blow-out deal and there was no indication this was an unusual price for this amount of food. I bought it immediately, wondering in the back of my mind why it was so cheap. I wondered if all the entrees and side dishes were nasty things nobody wanted and they had surpluses of. I figured, though, that if we really were in dire straits we'd be willing to eat whatever it was. However, the next day when I went to show JC what I had ordered, the price was the currently listed $419.99. When I checked in the current Emergency Essentials catalog I had received at the beginning of the month, the price was also listed there as $419.99.
Was this a mere type-o that was caught after I placed my order? Or a blessing for trying to follow prophetic counsel? I like to think it was a blessing. It's just like when I want to stock up on canned food items and I go to the store and what do you know - cases of corn are on sale! These things may seem trivial or coincidental, but I believe that if the Lord knows when a sparrow falls from a tree, or could make a coin for the exact amount of taxes owed appear in a fish's mouth, then he can definitely direct me in whatever my quest may be for that day.
P.S. Our MREs came today. I'm glad to report that they are normal food - spaghetti and meatballs, breaded chicken breasts, rice pilaf, mashed potatoes, brownies with chocolate chips...
Saturday, January 13, 2007
W-A-T-E-R
I love to read. I've always loved to read. Someone told me once when I was a new mom and feeling apprehensive about how to relate to such a tiny person, to do things that I enjoyed with them. So I've always read to my kids - every day. I love giving different voices to characters, fluctuating the pitch, speed, or depth of my voice, even doing funny things like making the little dude in "Green Eggs and Ham" sound like he's talking under water on that part when they are under the water.
But.....
Here's one (of I'm sure many)"I'm a bad mom" confessions. Big J is learning to read. I can not stand teaching him to read! I dread it. I have no patience for it. It takes everything I have to keep a pleasant face and not pull out my hair in frustration. It's not Big J's fault. He's a smart kid. I just can't stand the process. I hate sounding out a word, for example, "look," to have him turn around and say, "little?" Or, "what sound does 'th' make? Good! So what's this word?" "Tree?" And then in the back of my mind I have all these child development "experts" shaking their heads and tut-tutting how I'm warping my kid because I can't get through the flashcards without grimacing.
He's already picked up quite a bit, so I know it will pass quickly. There are so many books I read as a kid that I can't wait for him to read. I just hope we both make it that long! If you have any secrets you'd like to pass a long to me, I am all ears.
*Who can tell me why I titled this post the way I did?*
But.....
Here's one (of I'm sure many)"I'm a bad mom" confessions. Big J is learning to read. I can not stand teaching him to read! I dread it. I have no patience for it. It takes everything I have to keep a pleasant face and not pull out my hair in frustration. It's not Big J's fault. He's a smart kid. I just can't stand the process. I hate sounding out a word, for example, "look," to have him turn around and say, "little?" Or, "what sound does 'th' make? Good! So what's this word?" "Tree?" And then in the back of my mind I have all these child development "experts" shaking their heads and tut-tutting how I'm warping my kid because I can't get through the flashcards without grimacing.
He's already picked up quite a bit, so I know it will pass quickly. There are so many books I read as a kid that I can't wait for him to read. I just hope we both make it that long! If you have any secrets you'd like to pass a long to me, I am all ears.
*Who can tell me why I titled this post the way I did?*
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Pigs and Blankets
So today Big J brought home some work from kindergarten. It had a picture he drew on it and the words "I can read My Pig." The picture he drew was of a pig holding a shovel. Underneath it he had written "My pig can have a shovel." I thought that was interesting, and I asked him why he chose to draw that picture. He said they had read a book in class that said things like "My pig can hug. My pig can run." etc. So they were supposed to draw a picture of something else their pig can do.
"And my pig can have a shovel," he explained.
Oh, of course.
"And my pig can have a shovel," he explained.
Oh, of course.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
It's the Coolest Invention of the 20th Century
So I'm trying to step into the modern world and decided to start a blog. I've held off doing so, because by nature I am a very private person and don't make a habit of sharing more information than necessary, especially with people I don't know. But, I've decided that I should do some sort of a blog - if for nothing else, to chronicle my life a little bit. I barely figured out how to create a post, much less do anything else creative, so we'll see how pretty this gets in the future.
For reference's sake, who can tell me (besides movie freak Tori) where I gleaned the title for my blog from?
For reference's sake, who can tell me (besides movie freak Tori) where I gleaned the title for my blog from?
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