Archives

My friend Stacie tagged me with this fun idea.

The instructions are to go back through your blog archives and choose five of your favorite blog posts that you've written. Here's the catch:

Link 1 must be about family
Link 2 must be about friends
Link 3 must be about yourself...who you are, what you are about
Link 4 must be about something you love
Link 5 can be about anything you choose (I chose this post because I'm trying to will it into the reality that is my current life.)

I found several that I could have posted for all of these catagories. It was neat going back through everything. Sadly, the only thing missing is all the comments that were orignally posted to each entry. I still haven't been able to move them from our old blog site. But they'll be in the blog book that I'm getting made... Anyway, thanks for the tag, Stacie!

I tag anyone who wants to do the same (is that so lame of me to not tag specific people?). Just leave a comment that you're planning on doing it so we can be looking forward to it.

Wordless Wednesday: Today's Forecast, Blizzard

The Plan

Food storage hasn't been a terribly practical thing for us to work on until we moved into this house. Our little apartment in CA couldn't even permit the unpacking of all our boxes let alone lots of extra space for a year's worth of anything. We had a few nice sets of 72 hour kits and 21 gallons of water that we kept stashed under our bed. We feel strongly about following the counsel we've been given in this area.

Now that we have the space we've been stocking up. My mom recently sent me a little booklet that she used for years to build up food storage. Its called 'The Plan'. I'll post the details and then if you're working on food storage, we can do it together.

The Plan

1. Add the weekly item to your shopping list.


2. Buy the largest amount of each week's item you can sensibly afford.


3. Replace items as you use them.


4. If you miss a week, skip to the next week. Don't get behind.


5. Share your hot buys with the rest of us.


6. If your family loves something not listed, buy it and store it.

January

Week 1

Watch for and buy 50% off on Christmas items, cards, paper, ribbons, etc.

Week 2

Detergents, bleach, cleansers. Laundry detergent, dish detergent, bathroom, window & toilet cleaners.

Week 3

Medical supplies: Aspirin, Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, Vicks, cough drops. Whatever your family needs.

Week 4

Paper supplies: Paper towels, plates, cups, Kleenex, toilet paper, napkins, utensils.

February

Week 1
Juices: lemon, orange, grapefruit, or powdered juices-like Tang, etc.

Week 2

Peanut butter- get your creamy and/or crunchy

Week 3

Solid vegetable shortening and/or oil. Buy both if you prefer, shortening is usually less expensive

Week 4

Personal products: Soap, deodorant, shampoo, lotions, shaving supplies, feminine products.

March

Week 1

First aid kit: Gauze patches, Q-tips, cotton balls, band-aids, Neosporin, Calamine...

Week 2

Mixes: Cake, pancake, muffin, Bisquick. Purchase or make your own.

Week 3

Spices and Herbs: Pepper, salt, cinnamon, bay leaves, oregano, taco seasonings, chili powder...

Week 4

Rice- buy 10, 15, 20 pounds. White, brown, instant

I know that January has already come and gone. My plan is to go back and hit those items (though we definitely made a dent in the after Christmas sale venue already--check) when I come across a weekly item that we already have in storage.

I'll post more monthly lists in March!

An Admonition

"Now, my brethren and sisters, the time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of this The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a season to be strong. It is a time to move forward without hesitation, knowing well the meaning, the breadth, and the importance of our mission. It is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow. It is a time to be found keeping the commandments. It is a season to reach out with kindness and love to those in distress and to those who are wandering in darkness and pain. It is a time to be considerate and good, decent and courteous toward one another in all of our relationships. In other words, to become more Christlike.

We have nothing to fear. God is at the helm. He will overrule for the good of this work. He will shower down blessings upon those who walk in obedience to His commandments. Such has been His promise. Of His ability to keep that promise none of us can doubt."

~President Hinckley

In Memory

We found out late last night, right as we were climbing into bed. My phone buzzed that I had received a text message. Jessica wrote the news that our sweet Prophet had died. My emotions are still so mixed; Sadness, joy, longing, gratitude, reverence. I'm sad for myself, for all of us. President Hinckley is a forever part of my spiritual growth and testimony. At the same time, I am so happy for him. He is, at last, with his cherished wife. He is undoubtedly in the company of the great leaders of the Church before him. His life was used so perfectly. A joyous and revering welcome awaited him.

June 23, 1910 ~~ January 27, 2008

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Blessings

• Progress downstairs. We're still creeping our way to completion with our basement. I think I could have gone to enough Home Depot do-it-yourself workshops to finish everything by myself at this point. But the bathroom tile is down, thus completing the flooring process. The vanity has been set in the bathroom. The plumber comes back on Wednesday to set the toilet and finish up the shower. Then we just need the electrician back, the finish lumber completed and voila. (5 months later)

• Having Cori home on Saturdays. Things are getting more and more busy at work and at Church. For example, we see him for 30-45 minutes on Wednesdays. It is so nice to spend the weekend together. Especially when he helps me clean the house like he did yesterday.

• Good food and lots of friends. We hosted a little get together last night. We had a couple that Cori knows through work as well as a couple from the Branch and all of every one's kids over for a mid-winter BBQ and a viewing of the LOST finale from last season--in preparation for this week's premier. Well, the adults watched LOST and took turns playing with the kids downstairs. Fun was had by all, and good food too.

• Our country. I had a very perplexing discussion with my friends from the Jehovah's Witness church (who have made my home a regular Friday stop). I'm in a good mood now, so I won't go into the grittty of it all, but it has built up the flame that burns in my heart for our country. The system isn't perfect, nor are the people who work in it. I know there is corruption. But I am free. I believe in being a good citizen and in fully participating in the social contract that is government. I am grateful for countless leaders and soldiers who have sacrificed to create and preserve these freedoms. I am grateful that I am free to vote. I am grateful that I was free to have those well meaning ladies in my home, and that we were free to have that discussion--regardless of how frustrating it became.

A Disclaimer

The previous post was in no way meant to be an endorsement for billion dollar government bail-out programs. If they're sending the money out anyway... I was just musing.

$$$

So, have you heard about the tax rebate that may shortly be on its way to a mail box near you? The government's hope is that we will all go out and spend it as soon as it arrives so as to stave off the recession that is knocking at our country's door. Well, I'm nothing if not patriotic and feel strongly that I should do my part to help the economy. Maybe this letter would help assure the powers that be that this is a really good idea:

Dear Uncle Sam,

I thought you might be interested in knowing the plans I've already made for the tax rebate you want to send me.

First, I would use some of it to complete the funding of our new camera (and a fancy lens) (and a tripod) (and maybe a flash). I've wanted it for so long now. I pledge to run from my mailbox to my computer and order it as soon as I see your return address on that little check sized envelope.

Secondly, we have approximately 13 boxes of books that are homeless. If dropping dough at the BYU Bookstore, Barnes and Nobel, and Borders could have helped the economy... well, we did our part. This rebate could be used to build our little library some beautiful shelving downstairs. And maybe a comfy chair to read in with a nicely appointed lamp.

Thirdly, Cori and I could really use a getaway this spring/summer. We'd love to spend a few days staying at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. We would use the rebate to take carriage rides, eat lots of fudge, pretend to be Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve in Somewhere in Time, and buy souvenirs for our friends and family.

What I'm really saying is that if you send us the money, we'll spend it.*

With thanks (and you're welcome for us paying the taxes to you in the first place)

Jesse

*Of course, I reserve the right to put it all into savings instead.

The Little Man

Our little man is 4 months old today. I can hardly believe it. Here's a little glimpse of what its like in his world these days:

• He's long and not nearly as plump as his sister was at this age. He is in the 95th percentile for height and just under the 50th percentile for weight.
• His 3-6 ms. pants fit him around the waist but look like capris. His 6 ms. pants cover his legs but fall off when I pick him up. Gracie's socks fit him best. He has really long feet.
• Grant is very ticklish and loooves being tickled. His eyes light up, he smiles and squeals and laughs, laughs, laughs all over.
• He won't take a pacifier. This isn't the end of the world, its probably better this way. But so much of the sleep training I figured out with Grace was made possible by her binki. Not only won't he take the binki, but he won't be rocked or held to settle down. So when its nap time, I put him in bed, talk to him for a minute, say good night and close his door. He squirms or cries for a few minutes and then he's out.
• Speaking of crying, he's been doing a lot of that lately too. Whining would be a more accurate description. Grant spends about 50% of his awake time whining unless I'm sitting with him and helping him play. And even then, he gets fussy really quickly if his diaper is wet, the radio is too loud, Grace is too excited... He knows what he wants and how he wants it. I'll just have to patiently wait for him to learn to tell me. Time to brush up on that sign language!
• Even when he's really fussy he'll go from frowns to smiles in a flash once I figure out what he wants. He really wants to be happy, I just know it.
• Grant is too busy to be a peaceful eater--a trait which makes nursing an adventure. He is always looking around and sometimes doesn't realize that he's sucking on his lip instead of his food source. He takes a bottle much better, because it can move around with him, but I'll keep nursing him as long as I can.

A few of his favorite things:

• the fuzzy green boppy
• the fabric colors book with the rattle on the end
• being in the Baby Bjorn facing out
• undivided attention
• talking with Gracie- he loves his big sister
• the animal mobile on his crib
• his Mommy (don't worry, Grace has always preferred Cori to me, so now we're even)

Wordless Wednesday: Bed Time

Silver Lining

Yesterday was one of those days that just didn't turn out right. I went to sleep Sunday night actually excited to be starting a new week. I had a list made of things that I not only wanted to do on Monday, but they were things that had to be done on Monday. I woke up before the kids and got ready. And everything after that is a blur of a fussy baby, construction workers not showing up on schedule (AGAIN!!!), stubborn two-year-old antics, lots of phone calls to our contractor and the flooring company, waiting around for construction workers to "maybe" show up, the kids staging back to back crying episodes for about an hour, clearing our driveway for the workers who never came, finally putting Grant into the Baby Bjorn and toting him around so that I could actually get some things done, and one desperate phone call to Cori wherein he volunteered to pick up some dinner on the way home. Of course, once Cori got home Grant fell peacefully and soundly asleep and Grace was an angel (which only added to the little insecurity that had been nagging at me saying "is this all my fault!?"). We had a lovely dinner and F.H.E.. Then, after baths and bedtime routines and good night kisses, I went to get our grocery shopping done; A task usually performed Monday morning. My children may never step foot inside a grocery store again.
Here are some of the luxuries my solo shopping trip afforded me:

• getting into and out of the car in record time, with only my seat belt to buckle
• stopping into Bed Bath and Beyond for a five minute errand, and having it take only five minutes
• once inside the grocery store, turning on my iPod and actually turning up the volume, thus tuning out the world around me. I never get to do this with the kids. I've always got one eye and one ear devoted to giving them attention--even when they are sleeping. Gracie and Grant make pretty good shopping buddies, but Chopin and Brahms were much less demanding.
• using the whole shopping cart for groceries
• not racing the clock to get home before nap time or the next feeding time
• putting the groceries away as soon as I got home--with Cori's help (I usually have to feed Grant or get Gracie into bed etc...)
• driving the 4Runner in all its 4 wheel drive glory- which was a really good thing. The roads were snowy and slippery.
• having some time completely alone

Why didn't I think of doing it this way earlier? I think our weekly routine has just made a change for the better. In any case, it was the silver lining of an otherwise disheartening day.

Words of a King

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. -- "Stride Toward Freedom," 1958.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. -- "Strength to Love," 1963.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -- "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963.

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. -- "Strength to Love," 1963.


Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. -- "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963.

The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. -- "Strength to Love," 1963.

Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. -- "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. -- "I Have a Dream," civil rights march on Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963. (Source: The New York Times)


Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals. -- "Why We Can't Wait," 1964.

Blessings

• My sister Sara, and brother-in-law Ethan who both celebrated birthdays this week.
  
  
• Our new snow blower. We've gotten so much snow this week. Its been nice, for Cori especially, not to have to shovel our long driveway. We have had to use it multiple times in the same day more than once.
  
  
• The nap I got this afternoon. We had a rough night last night, and all of us took a snooze as soon as we got home from the Branch potluck. Mine was a little longer than the rest thanks to my sweet man who got up with the kids.
  
  
• The two day blizzard that has made for a cozy weekend at home.

let's hear it for the boy

Cori atop Buenos Aires

I just have to give a little shout out to my man. Here are a few of the latest reasons I'm totally crazy for this guy:

• He calls me at least twice a day. I always get a call when he takes his lunch and when he's on his way home. Even if he's running late to a meeting he takes a minute to call and see how my day has been.
  
  

• Once he's home and has gotten kisses from his girls he goes straight into daddy duty. I'm usually just getting dinner on the table which means that Gracie and Grant are both fussy and needing attention because I'm not able to give it to them (you know how that goes?). Cori puts down his bag and dives right in.



• He pressures me to spend money on myself. I don't spend a lot on my clothes--mostly because I've spent the last two and a half years either pregnant or nursing and I don't want to buy the nice stuff I'd like until I'm going to be a more regular shape. But last summer he got an award at work that had a happy check attached to it. Cori cashed the check and put half of the money in an envelope and gave it to me with the explicit directions that it was not to be spent on anything but clothes for myself. Then, right after we moved here he claimed a bunch of reward points from his credit card and surprised me with gift cards to spend on clothes and a lovely check to put into our DSLR camera fund.



• We've spent a lot of time talking and laughing lately. That sounds kind of trite, but it gets really easy to fall into the same conversations; kids, church, work, the house, the house, the house, money... But we have spent a lot of time talking about different things lately. We talk about scriptures at night when we read. We talk a lot about politics. We talk about other random things that we've seen or read about during the day. I don't feel like a housewife when we have time alone. I feel like the more interesting person I was when he and I started dating.
  
  
• He's been really patient with me lately. The other day he held his tongue when I told him that there would be a late fee at the video store he was going to. The fee was completely my fault, and things like that are a pet peeve for him, I know. He started to say something about it, and then stopped and just gave me a smile. It really meant a lot to me.

Wordless Wednesday: Grant, 2 Weeks old

Today in Michigan

It is polling day

Blessings

• Staying at home. Being a stay at home mom is pretty great on the whole. But there are some days that I'm completely head over heels in love with what I get to do everyday. I'm so grateful that it has worked for us so that I can be at home full-time.
  
  
• The new year. Christmas is packed away. Thank you's have been sent off. Resolutions have been penned. I'm ready.
  
  
• There was 1/2 of a day this week that our laundry hampers, laundry baskets, washer and dryer were EMPTY! All clothes clean and put away for nearly 6 hours... until Grant had a blow out, and I changed Gracie into her PJ's.
  
  
• Normalcy. The kids are back into their schedules. We are all of us getting a lot more sleep. And with no travel plans scheduled at all for '08 so far (its actually the first time since before we became engaged that I can remember not having travel plans), its looking like the scenario will go undisturbed for a while.

Some Recomendations

NUMB3RS- on CBS

This is a show that I watched on DVD during our six weeks with out TV. Its a really smart crime show that has almost no explicit violence, and almost no s*xual content. I really enjoy crime drama. I LOVE Law and Order. But we swore off SVU a long time ago because it made us feel yucky afterwords, and if the crime involves a child I'm most likely turning it off. What I like to learn about is the process- not the gory details of the horrid things people do to each other. This show fits that criteria. And though I'm not a math person (at all) its still very interesting because the math principals are explained and related in complete layman's terms. And there are a lot of really nice and fun (and, again, nons*xual) relationships among the main characters. I haven't watched this season at all. The season I rented was the first or the second.



Stardust

We heart this movie! It was such a fun fairytale fantasy adventure. I'm not a huge Claire Danes fan, but Michelle Pfeiffer is ethereally perfect, and Robert DeNiro is hilarious. Its got a sweetly romantic story line full of quirky little sequences. More than once at the end of a scene, Cori and I would look at each other with the same smiley "What in the world?!" Visually, the film gave me a familiar ache. It captures the English countryside just how I remember it. (Sorry these pics are so puny)

Marie Antoinette

I was so impressed with this movie. The historical accuracy of costumes and locations was so compelling. I loved seeing Versailles full of people dressed in period wear. And it was nice seeing some furniture in Le Petit Trianon. When we were there last year, a couple of the buildings in the Domain of Marie Antoinette were starkly barren. I also loved Coppola's treatment of Antoinette's story. The movie felt like living through a teenager's perspective--a perspective so appropriate because Marie Antoinette was practically a child when she came to France from Austria.

The Human Agonies

AKA the Humanities. AKA the field in which I earned my degree. When I tell others what it is that I studied, I either get a blank smile--because the individual has no idea what the humanities entail, or I get to hit by a joke like this: What's the difference between a humanities degree and a cheese pizza? The pizza will feed a family of four. (This joke was truthfully the response of someone who once asked me what I studied.)

The humanities include the study of the arts at large: visual arts, literature, music, theater, cinema, architecture, and a whole lot of history. It is the study of the human experience in all the ways that mankind has found to express itself. And last night, I saw a show on the History channel that proved to me anew the reason why I find humanities so fascinating.

Undoubtedly, you are familiar with Dan Brown's best seller The Da Vinci Code. You are probably also a little familiar with law suite that was brought against Brown (and ultimately dropped) by a British publishing company. They claimed that he lifted the main ideas for Da Vinci Code from a book they published in the 70's titled, Holy Blood, Holy Grail by authors Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. (Rearrange the letters in the name Baigent and you can spell Teabing. Coincidence?) The show I watched detailed Henry Lincoln's discovery process as he formed the hypothesis that the Holy Grail refers to the continued blood line of Jesus Christ.

The idea first formed from a grave pillar found at a church, Rennes-le-Chateau in France, built and kept by a priest named Sauniere. The pillar contained Latin text which held a coded clue written in French as well as the hidden symbol of the five pointed star. The five pointed star was a medieval symbol for the wounds of Christ, and to the Knights Templar, of the sacred feminine or Mary Magdalene. Lincoln's research brought him to a painting by Poussin, Et in Arcadia ego, AKA The Shepherdess. A geometric study brought to light another five pointed star that touched on geographic landmarks in the painting. (This is getting long, but I'm getting to the point) Lincoln found the sight portrayed in Poussin's painting and mapped out said geographic markers. Markers which were ruins of churches built by the Knights Templar. The mapped coordinates gave Lincoln a specifically measured line which when used on a map as a radius created a circle that connected several other Templar churches. When the same line was used to connect the churches, Lincoln found, again, the symbol of the five pointed star. This was a phenomenon that he found not only in France but also in at least one other site where the Templars built churches. The angles and measurements formed in both locations are unusually exact. They are correct to a 1/100 of a degree in a time when the most advanced technology provided accuracy only to the degree.

I don't intend to talk about the whole Grail hypothesis. I have my own opinions about it. Rather, this show became intellectually engrossing to me when a certain expert from the British Museum said that if the placement of these churches means what Lincoln suggests, then Historians would be forced to change the way they look at the whole medieval era. The history of geometry and surveying would have to be rewritten. The things we build and the things we create say so much about us and our social environment.

This is one reason why I think the arts matter so much. There is information about the human experience that has been preserved through the artistic expressions of each era. In so many cases, the arts act like a lens through which we can correctly interpret factual historical information. I love that there are passionate people who study and ask questions.

Okay, I'm stepping off of my little soap box. Thanks for listening.

So what do the arts mean to you?

Wordless Wednesday: Snow Angel

Graciedotes

Little anecdotes from the daily life of Grace.



little hands- One of Gracie's new things is using her hands to direct attention and show affection. When she gives kisses, she'll often use her little hand to pull us in. She uses the little hand when she talks to Grant. The other night I was laying with her before she went to sleep. I was rubbing her back (in a very specific circular motion--"like this" she'll say and do a little wax on/wax off in the air) when she put her hand on my cheek and gave me a dreamy little smile. The little hand stayed there until she was asleep. I wouldn't have moved an inch for the world.

a mantra- When I'm said or stressed or upset about something Gracie will say, "Don't be sad mom, just be happy!" Even when she is crying, she'll brighten up for just long enough to send her little mantra my way.

F.H.E. last night- We were looking at some pictures and talking about the first vision.

Me- This is Joseph Smith.

Grace- Oh, Joseph Smith

Me- What is he doing?

Grace- He's praying.

Me- That's right. And then, (pointing to the next picture) Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ...

Grace- aaaaAAAAaaamen.

Blessings

• Cori. The day after we got back from our long trip he did all the laundry. And there was a lot.

• Our wonderful neighborhood. We came home to nearly a foot of snow in our driveway. We high-centered the accord on the plow ridge getting it in. The next day Gracie and I headed out for the first shift of shoveling (Cori was doing laundry). One of our neighbors noticed us as he was driving home and showed up a little while later in snow clothes with a snow blower. That's just how people are up here.

• Helping with the Red Cross blood drive this week. Though I wasn't able to give blood at the actual event, I'm grateful that I got to help in other ways. I was able to make calls from the Red Cross office to fill all our appointment slots and contribute in other small ways at the drive. It felt really good to be involved.

• The new Relief Society manual. I'm so excited to be learning from the teachings of Joseph Smith this year.

• Gracie's independence. Though she is sometimes maddeningly stubborn about doing things herself, I'm so grateful to have at least one child who is happy doing things on her own. (Grant, if you are reading this, undoubtedly years past the time it was written, I am indeed implying that you have been fairly clingy, whiny, and otherwise difficult to leave alone this week. But you're just getting back into your schedule while simultaneously advancing through other stages of change--so I'm trying to be patient.)

• Grant's adoration. Though he has been a bit challenging this week, I can always count on one thing from him. When I give him my undivided attention he coos, giggles, blows bubbles, smiles and is so scrumptiously adorable. It makes me feel very loved and happy.

Getting there

Last night we got both cars into our garage. Not this garage in case you were wondering how we got two cars into a one car garage. Yes, we have lived here for nearly 4 months and should have hit this little milestone a while ago. Our project downstairs has made it difficult to get everything in its place. But we're getting there!

The Joy of Giving

A little while before Christmas Cori started making comments about how cool it would be to have a remote controlled helicopter. Once we had set our gifting budget I only had so much money left to spend as I had done some of his shopping already. I had to choose between making his last gift an adult gift, or... a radio controlled helicopter. I went for the latter.

Once the layer of wrapping had been breached (the night before we left for UT) it would be another 2 1/2 hours before we went to bed.

He plays with it everyday. He gets so excited about it. I love it. It makes me happy to see him so happy about it.

This Christmas

We had a wonderful holiday in Utah and enjoyed much fun, love and family time. Here are a few snaps of our Christmas.

Gracie helping Grandma Sandy with some treats.

Christmas Eve
All the grand kids did a little production of the Nativity story. Gracie was the angel.
Grant was Jesu bambino. He slept the whole pageant through, the way all good baby Jesus' should.
The whole cast

The kids got to open a special package Christmas Eve night. Christmas PJs!
Christmas morn




We went sledding a couple of times. Gracie loves the snow. Not pictured here: Uncle Damien cruising on his 4 wheeler and the rope connecting us to him.

We spent an evening in Salt Lake with Grandpa Randy
We also spent some time on a special gift for Mom O and Ray. We took down wall paper and cottage cheese ceiling texture and refinished the walls and ceilings in a couple of their front rooms. It was a fun project. Nice looking faux effects with the paint, wouldn't you agree?
We loved having so much time with everyone. We watched movies, played games and ate tons of yummy food. It was a wonderful Christmas.