3 years ago

Three years ago I was hanging out with some friends, it was "disco weekend" on the local radio station and we were looking for a party. Luckily we had heard of a toga party from a friend of a friend and were excited to go. When we got to the house, we were unprepared, none of us had togas and had to ask the gentleman who invited us if we could borrow some sheets. He graciously complied. I was quite impressed that this recent male college graduate had spare, clean sheets that were in good enough shape that he could show them to girls.

We danced, we laughed, then we left.
We headed back to my parents house to chill out and I was to receive an amateur haircut. While we were there, the gentleman with the sheets called to see where we were and if he could come. this was odd because he was not only one of the hosts of the toga party, he was the DJ, and he would clearly be neglecting his duties.
In the end, he came, we met, fell in love, got married and had a wiggle bear.

This however might not have been if he knew exactly what he was getting in to.
In honor of this anniversary, I would like to give a partial list of things I probably should have told Ben, in the spirit of honesty, that might have kept him from marrying me.

I know I already showed you this picture, but it's so much better right side up. I need to find a baby photo contest.

• I am a bit of a money nazi, to the extent that you might think I lived through the Great Depression
• I am an everyday lazy
• I might eat sandwiches for every meal if it were up to me
• While I "enjoy" sports, it's more of a figurative enjoyment, not a "stay on the couch all day Saturday to watch teams that I have no investment in" kind of enjoyment
• I will not do my hair unless we are meeting a) The Prophet b) The President and/or c) TAMN
• I hate being cold, hungry, tired and wet - and I will get very grumpy if I am any of those
• Fast Sundays are the worst (see above)
  
• I will demand all of your spare time and energy
• I believe in cross-contamination of laundry
  
• I will recite every happening of my day and expect you to remember it, then get upset when you neglect to tell me you invited someone over for dinner
• I had never tried sushi, and had never intended to before we met
  

So anyway, he's still married to me, and I think he wants it that way, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I figured it was never too late to state what he now knows is the obvious.

Once there was a pumpkin

Anna was a pumpkin for Halloween, I haven't loaded all the pictures yet, but here are the ones we took with the computer on Thursday while we carved pumpkins (not Anna, real pumpkins).We didn't go trick or treating (except at Ben's office) but we had some friends over who miss seeing all the little ghouls since they are living near campus. We had a good time with good food.

(not Anna)

Words are overrated

this is my favorite

She's our little Wiggle-Bear

Anna and the "other baby" in the mirror

A lot of people have let us know that babies are the most fun between 6 months and 18 months.
Well, Anna just turned 8 months and within the past 3 weeks she has learned to crawl, clap, stand herself up and climb stairs.
She is quite a whirlwind of activity.

The most frustrating/frightening was her new found fondness for standing herself up in her crib, in fact, it's probably something she's doing right now. Before this morning it would have been conceivable that she could have fallen out, but I have since lowered the mattress.

We found out about the stair climbing when we went to my mom's house to do applesauce. We put Anna in the family room with Lincoln while we were working in the kitchen. At one point Robyn saw something in the corner of her eye, low and behold, there was Anna at the top of the stairs looking for us very nonchalantly. This after crawling for only a week. So today I let her climb up our long flight of stairs, hoping to wear her out and be able to put her down for a nap.

Sorry about the pictures, they were all taken on my iphone. I was trying to capture the enormity of her accomplishment on the stairs.

Nursery Notes

As some of you may know, Ben and I have been called to serve in the Nursery of our ward, these are children 18 months to 3 years old. And I would like to share some experiences a la the Sunbeam Chronicles.


Yesterday we were given the lesson "Heavenly Father and Jesus Love Me" and I was explaining that everything we have comes from them.
One little boy says (they are all pretty incoherent): "Yeah, from Heavenly Father and from Santa."

I don't think anyone else caught it but it tickled me.

Reason to Vote

If you know me, you know that although I'm a student of politics, I'm not one much for voting.
The reason for this is a very lengthy blogpost that never made it out of my head and probably still won't.
However, while on vacation, my MIL, imparted a reason for voting.

Whether your candidate is a sure winner or sure loser in your state, you should still vote. The media reports the popular vote, and the winner has more power as the popular vote acts as a mandate from the masses, much more telling than the electoral college.

So vote, it will add to their statistics and make them more powerful in executing their executive power.

I wrote all this while watching Anna stand herself up with a paint can, waiting for her to fall over and hit her head, that's why it's incoherent.

We're Back

We survived the trip back and the transition back to life.

Here is a video of Anna, eating a roll. She also likes bread. However, she thinks Bread is a little sappy.

Now I Have Been to Boston in the Fall

Here are some of the highlights from the rest of our trip.

After apple picking - that was monday, Ben, Anna and I went on Tuesday to Walden Pond for some foliage fotography and to meet Mr. Thoreau.

Ben took this one.

I took this one.

Wednesday we went to Newport, RI to see a)the oldest synagogue in the western hemisphere,

b) "The Breakers" - the Vanderbilt summer cottage -


and c)lots of stores.

Ben bought Anna a gilded spoon at the mansion gift shop.

Thursday was a "do all the little things we never got to do all week" including a visit to Aunt Rachel's school to meet all of her friends. (no pictures)

Friday we flew home, it took all day, but at least we didn't have to haul our luggage in when we got home.

I Had Never Been to Boston in the Fall

We are spending a week in Boston to experience New England in the fall.
Already this weekend we have gone to a Rugby game, walked around downtown, watched baseball playoffs, and eaten our weight in the local cuisine.

Anna at the Rugby game

Today we wanted to do a quintessential FallNewEngland activity, we went to pick apples. Obviously this was not a new experience for me, but I relished in the nostalgia of the labor.
I had never heard of recreational apple/pumpkin picking until recently, but apparently it has been around for ages here in the east.

Also, I wanted adorable pictures of Anna.
so here we go.

She got very upset if we took the apple from her.

We made an apple pie tonight as comfort food for our egos while watching the baseball game.

no baby pictures here

3 Names you go by:

• Tonadele
  
• 'atoni
  
• mamamammamamama

3 Restaurants I love

• Zupas (California Turkey Panini)
  
• Kneaders (or anywhere that serves all you can eat french toast)
  
• The Ikea restaurant (apple cake)
  

3 Trips to plan on this year

• Boston (next week)
  
• Ikea
  
• Bryce Canyon maybe
  

3 Things I want badly

• 12 hours of sleep/day without naps
  
• More time with aBen
  
• a rocking chair
  

3 pets I've had

• Audra the brick
  

• The paper fish
• Lappy the mac
  

3 Things I did yesterday

• Spent a lot of money - retail therapy for getting no sleep the night before.
  
• made and ate dinner for 2 for under $4
  
• ate a lot of double-chocolate-extra-oily cookies
  

3 Things I ate today

• WF frosted flakes
• Soy milk
  
• double-chocolate-extra-oily cookies

3 Fears

• Dogs
  
• Bees
  
• Dogs that shoot bees out of their mouths.
  

3 Things I plan on doing today

• Bread Tuesday?
  
• changing diapers
  
• I should wash the sheets but I already made the bed...
  

3 Things I plan on doing tomorrow

• Visiting Teaching
  
• hot dog roast up the canyon
  
• Late night Project Runway
  

3 Favorite Holidays

• Christmas (it takes a month to celebrate)
  
• Passover
  
• New Years Day, when it's ok to sleep in until noon.
  

3 Favorite beverages

• Milk Shakes
• Slurpees
• The good Doctor Pepper
  

3 People I tag

• Beetle
  
• Aunt Soup
  
• Mrs. Stradling

take that people who only read the beginning of my posts!

Loyalty Broyalty

I now realize how many of you just check my blog looking for pictures of that amazing baby, so here are a few from this weekend that I took with my phone.This is one of my favorites. Anna likes being upside down a lot. I also like that you can read Ben's shirt - I don't know why.


I call this one "Yoda or Dopey" she is especially cross-eyed in this one.

Anna either really likes Lincoln, or finds him very vulnerable. She beat up on him all weekend.


She fell asleep during the sunday morning session, if only she was this peaceful more often.

Insomania

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. A lot of that is, of course, Anna screaming in her sleep. But the other reason I was up thinking was the fact that I read that Superdell from Totally Awesome Computers infamy, was running for Governor of Utah as a Libertarian.
Dell Schanze is a "controversial business entrepreneur" (as Wikipedia says) living in Salt Lake with some lofty ideas.

In the Utah Voter Information Pamphlet, he issued this statement in an attempt to gain voters:

"SUPERDELL is your only choice because YOU didn't file. Huntsman took away your freedoms and raised taxes more than any governor in the history of Utah. Springmeyer has admitted that he doesn't care about the constitution. The definition of the word insane is voting for the same people while expecting change.
There is no question that Dell Schanze is different. There are only 3 people on the ballot and SUPERDELL is the only one that is NOT a socialist. If you are unsure then fill your heart with love, completely open your mind and pray to God earnestly. You can't afford to get this wrong and will be held accountable for your choice."

This guy gives me the willies.

google him, and you'll get them too.

Unbridled Success

Bread Tuesday has come and gone again.
This time, in honor of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, we attempted Challah, the traditional braided bread. And since I was already at my mom's house working on a quilt, we held Bread Tuesday there and I credit that decision with much of the success.We didn't have enough eggs to do a glaze, but you get the idea. This was the most successful Bread Tuesday as yet. And it only took 4 hours.

Behind Bars

I sincerely hope you aren't worn out with pictures of Anna. I know sometimes it seems like the same old thing.

But, Anna has recently discovered that the bumper around her crib is adjustable. Almost every time I go in there she is looking through the bars for us. Then we get to play a little Peek a Boo, one of her favorites.

So the other day, when the lighting and temperament was just right, I got some pictures.





Above is one of my favorite Anna faces, she opens her mouth really big and scrunches up her nose, that's how you can tell she's really excited.

Revitalize Historic P.G.!

Have you ever been through the historic downtown Pleasant Grove? It's lovely. Really, there's a big park next to the community center, an old grocery and a theater where they have a country western dinner every Friday night. It looks like it could be a really cool area, if it was given a little love.

Right on Main Street there is an old Victorian-era house for rent (I assume for businesses) that I fantasize about. Would it be more fun to open a used book shop or a quilt shop? ( there is also a building down the street a bit that would make a great ice cream shop, maybe a lactose/gluten free dessert parlor?)

What kind of shop would you open, if you had the time, money and energy?

Just two pictures.

'Licious

Yeah, I made this.
It's beautiful chocolatepeanutbutterdeliciousness.

You can come over and try some. I won't mind. As long as you tell me how awesome it is.

Blue!..NO! Yelloooooooooooo

Anna has been fervently trying to eat my shoelaces for months now.

It is her quest.

Long Nap, Happy Girl

After an almost 2.5 hour nap, I found the happiest baby in the crib. She was smiling and kicking and fist-banging and inhaling rapidly throughout her post-nap lunch. so happy.



So was I, after my baby took a 2.5 hour nap (I ran out of things to do) and woke up happy.

Not Retarded

Beetle and I had our second Bread Tuesday, and we were totally successful.



We know how to do stuff.





We go to college.

Marketing

Motorola should market their RAZR as a teething toy.

1 out of 1 babies in this house recommend it.

Recipes that Don't Work: 2

Beetle and Harrison came over tonight to keep me company while Ben was at school. For a project we decided we needed to learn how to make bread.

So we measured out 5 C of flour.

Then things got a little sketchy.
The conversion from grams to teaspoons led us into a tailspin and then translating the recipe from using fresh yeast to instant yeast secured our demise.

so we added some water. . . , and some milk. . . and some salt. All part of the recipe.

But it never actually looked like dough. It was very tough, dry -but not in a flaky way - and dense.

we mixed, we kneaded. Then we let it sit to rise for an hour.

When we came back. . . it was the same size, no rising.
Obviously the yeast was a bigger problem then we anticipated.

So, in a fit of genius I decided that we would, instead of make bread, we would make bread products. Since it wouldn't be rising anyway, we decided to go for flatbread/pitas and pretzels.

They turned out pretty good. While they were still hot we added toppings like butter and salt or sugar cinnamon for the pretzels and honey and sugar cinnamon or peanut butter and honey for the flatbread. The flatbread was comparable to a less oily, sweet, dessert naan. But only while it was warm. Now that the they are cooled, they are the toughest, chewiest flatbread you could ever imagine.

So don't ask me how to make bread. I'm still working on it. and we may see a series of "Recipes that Don't Work" as I try to figure it out.

Are You a Jumperoo?

Anna got a new toy, and if you know her, you know it fits her perfectly.


Anna is a Jumperoo.

Curiouser and Curiouser

What?



Eh?




huh?



Oh.

Check out my cousin's Etsy shop, Anna got to be a model for their wooden toys and they took some great pictures of her.

Preparedness

I just returned from my first Enrichment night in this ward. It was all about preparedness - i.e. food storage. Everyone was really nice, we learned how to use a canner and sealer, we heard from some ladies who had experience living on food storage and we toured someone's immaculate storage room. Everyone was really nice - also, there was a tasting table of food people made from their food storage. Mostly cookies. Someone brought Krispy Kreme.

As I was thinking about Preparation, it's something I'm ready to get started on but I understand it's a long term goal and can never truly be perfected. So I'm willing to be patient and take it one day at a time.

Then I realized that I didn't have any wipes for Anna in the diaper bag. Or a pacifier. Or any toys. Or a blanket (it was all in backyards). I did manage to grab us each a jacket though.

So maybe I should take even smaller steps in relation to Preparedness - half a day at a time.


PS. Thanks to everyone who weighed in on the last post. Thanks for your pessimism, optimism and personal testimonials. I am no longer contemplating that action.