"When baked potatoes and pudding and milk are needed, prayer will not supply their place."
—Brigham Young
Please donate what you can to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts in Japan.
American Red Cross donation page
(Sorry I don't have a fancy-pants image to display.)
I took a personal finance class at BYU from Brother Bryan Sudweeks, and I can't remember his exact words but in his class he emphasized the importance of giving, even when we feel we don't have much to give. If we don't give now when we have little (as students) it won't really be much easier to give when we have more money. As you earn more money, your lifestyle tends to change to match your affluence level. We can always find room to give; there are always those out there who are less fortunate than we are.
As an added bonus, charitable donations are tax-deductible. It's supposedly the government's way of trying to encourage us to help others out more without directly giving the population a "charity tax".
(Wouldn't it be cool if instead of medicare, medicaid, and social security, that money went to local charities that would then provide the medicare, medicaid, and social security benefits to the people? I wonder if that would be more efficient than the government's current system ... then instead of taxing us and giving the money to charity, they could lower our taxes, offer generous charitable donation tax deductions, and then we wouldn't all feel compelled and Robin Hooded into giving money to the poor via taxes. I wonder if it would work? And if it doesn't, we should be allowed to scrap that idea and vote it out and vote in a new system. WHAT IS DEMOCRACY FOR WITH THIS CRAZY HUGE BLOATED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF OURS.)
Uhm, anyway, guess what's been on my mind lately! Darn this finance brain that loves analyzing economics and the government tax system!!!
Again. Please donate. (it's our duty to provide relief to those in need - not the government's! DO IT.)
Because I have been given much, I too must give
Because of Thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live
I shall divide my gifts from Thee with every brother that I see
Who has the need of help from me
Because I have been blessed by Thy great love, dear Lord,
I'll share Thy love again according to thy word
I shall give love to those in need; I'll show that love by word AND DEED
Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.-Grace Noll Crowell
And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.
-Mosiah 4:16
Friday, March 11, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
I love that personality
Yesterday, we helped Jorgen and Nicki move a whole bunch of stuff around Jorgen's apartment.
Jorgen is a packrat. It's amazing he can fit that much stuff in his apartment. No, wait, it's not ... his place is a HUGE MESS!! (It reminds me of last year after Grandpa died when we started cleaning out the house ... and filled a driveway-sized dumpster full of crap.) Anyway. It was still fun.
We stayed for dinner and Nicki made meat for tacos, chili, and brownies. We let Carmen have her first lick of brownie batter. Oh, and Nicki did her hair.
I don't know why Nicki used a mixer, but hey! They were still tasty and I'm not complaining!
AND HOLY CRAP WHEN DID MY KID BECOME AN ALMOST TWO YEAR OLD?!
Check it out:
Jeez. I know it's not Carmen's birthday yet, but ... wasn't this day just yesterday?
I needs me another one. ((After Christmas.))
Jorgen is a packrat. It's amazing he can fit that much stuff in his apartment. No, wait, it's not ... his place is a HUGE MESS!! (It reminds me of last year after Grandpa died when we started cleaning out the house ... and filled a driveway-sized dumpster full of crap.) Anyway. It was still fun.
We stayed for dinner and Nicki made meat for tacos, chili, and brownies. We let Carmen have her first lick of brownie batter. Oh, and Nicki did her hair.
I don't know why Nicki used a mixer, but hey! They were still tasty and I'm not complaining!
AND HOLY CRAP WHEN DID MY KID BECOME AN ALMOST TWO YEAR OLD?!
Check it out:
Today:
March 2010 (last time I took a hippo picture):
She couldn't even crawl then!!
Jeez. I know it's not Carmen's birthday yet, but ... wasn't this day just yesterday?
I needs me another one. ((After Christmas.))
Friday, March 4, 2011
Re-reading the Eternal Marriage student manual from RelC 234
Yesterday, I pulled out my "Eternal Marriage" textbook from a class I took at BYU several years ago. It's full of teachings from our latter-day prophets about different aspects of marriage - from communication, to finances, abuse, education, parenthood, priorities, trust, unity, women's and men's divine roles and responsibilities ...
I'm thankful my marriage is good. I'm thankful most of my friends' marriages are good. And they're made better when people live by these Gospel-inspired principles - even when the couple doesn't happen to be Mormon. Unselfishness in marriage? Duh. Kids get along better when there's a parent at home to listen and help? Life is less stressful when you responsibly manage your finances and live within your means?
Really, we need prophetic counsel to get this through our heads? It's not obvious and self-explanatory? Really? Apparently we really do. There are so many voices in the world pulling us in different directions and it's easy to get confused when sifting through all of the information.
Anywho. Lately I've been better about studying my scriptures and praying and trying to figure out what the Lord wants me to be and do. It's brought me, personally, a lot of peace. It's also made me realize that there are plenty of greedy and selfish feelings I have that I need to let go of. When I get caught up in worldly philosophies, I start getting wrapped up in myself and it makes me miserable.
Anyway. I don't know where I'm going with any of those thoughts. I need the Gospel in my life. Although I've technically been "active" my whole life (I've always gone to church, fulfilled my responsibilities in my callings, been temple worthy, etc) there have been times when I've said to myself, "I can live a good life and be a happy person without having to do all of this Gospel studying stuff ..." and have fallen short on studying my scriptures daily and praying and truly relying on the Lord. I've been prideful. I've lost my humility and teachability because I know I'm always right and I know the right thing to do. ;) You lose that spirituality and that peace a little bit at a time. You don't realize it's missing, until one day you have an epiphany and the Spirit comes back and it's like a breath of fresh air and you go, "Oh, wow, suddenly I can breathe again. I didn't know I was holding my breath and about to faint!"
I'm thankful my marriage is good. I'm thankful most of my friends' marriages are good. And they're made better when people live by these Gospel-inspired principles - even when the couple doesn't happen to be Mormon. Unselfishness in marriage? Duh. Kids get along better when there's a parent at home to listen and help? Life is less stressful when you responsibly manage your finances and live within your means?
Really, we need prophetic counsel to get this through our heads? It's not obvious and self-explanatory? Really? Apparently we really do. There are so many voices in the world pulling us in different directions and it's easy to get confused when sifting through all of the information.
Anywho. Lately I've been better about studying my scriptures and praying and trying to figure out what the Lord wants me to be and do. It's brought me, personally, a lot of peace. It's also made me realize that there are plenty of greedy and selfish feelings I have that I need to let go of. When I get caught up in worldly philosophies, I start getting wrapped up in myself and it makes me miserable.
Anyway. I don't know where I'm going with any of those thoughts. I need the Gospel in my life. Although I've technically been "active" my whole life (I've always gone to church, fulfilled my responsibilities in my callings, been temple worthy, etc) there have been times when I've said to myself, "I can live a good life and be a happy person without having to do all of this Gospel studying stuff ..." and have fallen short on studying my scriptures daily and praying and truly relying on the Lord. I've been prideful. I've lost my humility and teachability because I know I'm always right and I know the right thing to do. ;) You lose that spirituality and that peace a little bit at a time. You don't realize it's missing, until one day you have an epiphany and the Spirit comes back and it's like a breath of fresh air and you go, "Oh, wow, suddenly I can breathe again. I didn't know I was holding my breath and about to faint!"
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
It was better than New Moon!
Mark and I love to mock Twilight. Once upon a time (can't remember when), a friend (can't remember who) lent me the Twilight books. I read them and summarized them for Mark. My retelling was much more interesting than the books were. I've never been a big romance fan. Eh.
So then the movies came out. I considered actually watching the first movie in the movie theater (maybe on opening day or opening weekend?!) just so I could watch the Twi-hards (Twilight fangirls? what should I call them?) because I figured they would probably be more entertaining than the movie itself. Unfortunately, I never quite got around to that. C'est la vie.
We used our free Blockbuster rentals to watch the first two movies. Last night, we Netflixed the third movie.
The second movie was so bad (or mediocre) that Mark and I came up with a new backhanded compliment for bad movies: "Hey, it was better than New Moon!" We like the idea of, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." and figure this is a GREAT way to put that into practice. ;)
What did we think of Eclipse?
It was better than New Moon.
Of course!
After watching the movie, I went on IMDB just to see how bad the rest of the world actually thinks the Twilight series is. It looks like the movies score 5.5 stars, 4.5 stars, and 4.8 stars respectively. Phew, the world has not lost its sense!
My favorite review is the one in which the reviewer reflects on acting skills:
So surely this movie has some redeeming features? Perhaps the acting? Wrong. Stewart's (Bella), emotions range from mildly irritated to slightly concerned whilst trying to maintain an air of vulnerability that irritates instead of earning sympathy. For Pattinson (Edward), it's all about just looking pretty and his acting skills are reduced to nothing more bowing his head slightly so that he always appears to be gazing upwards in an attempt at looking intense. As for Lautner (Jabob), well we all know he can't act so he is reduced to a shameless and topless eye-candy prop.
The comment about Edward's appearing "to be gazing upwards" reminds me of Joey from Friends, where he talks about when he's acting in his soap operas and can't remember his lines he gazes off into the distance and tries to have a serious look on his face. IT'S AWESOME. So now I'm picturing Edward taking acting lessons from Joey on Friends and drawing up a continuum to categorize all of Kristen Stewart's emotions as somewhere between "mildly irritated" and "slightly concerned." No, really.
And I have no idea where this actually originated, but I love going back and reading this every so often:
http://shaunlaurasmith.blogspot.com/2009/03/twilight-in-three-minutes.html
Disclaimer: I don't hate Twilight. I mean, it would be masochistic of me to read all of the books if it was that painful. They're not the best books ever (they're not even that good) but they were entertaining. Some day the books (and the movies) will be a forgotten footnote in history. Other fantasy book series, like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or The Hunger Games have actual timeless themes that will probably have people still reading the books 100 years from now. Stephanie Meyer, I love you and all, but not all books are going to become classics. I'm glad your series found a niche.
So then the movies came out. I considered actually watching the first movie in the movie theater (maybe on opening day or opening weekend?!) just so I could watch the Twi-hards (Twilight fangirls? what should I call them?) because I figured they would probably be more entertaining than the movie itself. Unfortunately, I never quite got around to that. C'est la vie.
We used our free Blockbuster rentals to watch the first two movies. Last night, we Netflixed the third movie.
The second movie was so bad (or mediocre) that Mark and I came up with a new backhanded compliment for bad movies: "Hey, it was better than New Moon!" We like the idea of, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." and figure this is a GREAT way to put that into practice. ;)
What did we think of Eclipse?
It was better than New Moon.
Of course!
After watching the movie, I went on IMDB just to see how bad the rest of the world actually thinks the Twilight series is. It looks like the movies score 5.5 stars, 4.5 stars, and 4.8 stars respectively. Phew, the world has not lost its sense!
My favorite review is the one in which the reviewer reflects on acting skills:
So surely this movie has some redeeming features? Perhaps the acting? Wrong. Stewart's (Bella), emotions range from mildly irritated to slightly concerned whilst trying to maintain an air of vulnerability that irritates instead of earning sympathy. For Pattinson (Edward), it's all about just looking pretty and his acting skills are reduced to nothing more bowing his head slightly so that he always appears to be gazing upwards in an attempt at looking intense. As for Lautner (Jabob), well we all know he can't act so he is reduced to a shameless and topless eye-candy prop.
The comment about Edward's appearing "to be gazing upwards" reminds me of Joey from Friends, where he talks about when he's acting in his soap operas and can't remember his lines he gazes off into the distance and tries to have a serious look on his face. IT'S AWESOME. So now I'm picturing Edward taking acting lessons from Joey on Friends and drawing up a continuum to categorize all of Kristen Stewart's emotions as somewhere between "mildly irritated" and "slightly concerned." No, really.
And I have no idea where this actually originated, but I love going back and reading this every so often:
http://shaunlaurasmith.blogspot.com/2009/03/twilight-in-three-minutes.html
Disclaimer: I don't hate Twilight. I mean, it would be masochistic of me to read all of the books if it was that painful. They're not the best books ever (they're not even that good) but they were entertaining. Some day the books (and the movies) will be a forgotten footnote in history. Other fantasy book series, like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or The Hunger Games have actual timeless themes that will probably have people still reading the books 100 years from now. Stephanie Meyer, I love you and all, but not all books are going to become classics. I'm glad your series found a niche.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
E-stalking
You know how Facebook has that friend suggestion box on the side? I have fun looking at the suggestions, trying to decide who I might want to reconnect with. It's also interesting when it finds random people I have absolutely NO friends in common with and they're from a place I've never been to.
Today was an epic day. I happened to glance at the side bar and saw a name that was familiar ... but not because I knew this person in real life.
Facebook suggested I friend The Meanest Mom!! My sister, Marissa, introduced me to her blog a few years ago before her youngest child was born, and I've loved reading her posts about how crazy and silly life is with young kids. I wish I were half as funny as she is. But I'm not. Oh well. =p
Anyway. It made my day. I adore that woman and kind of wish she were my neighbor so I could just eat popcorn and watch her crazy life unfold.
Now if only Facebook would suggest Jen from Cake Wrecks ...
Today was an epic day. I happened to glance at the side bar and saw a name that was familiar ... but not because I knew this person in real life.
Facebook suggested I friend The Meanest Mom!! My sister, Marissa, introduced me to her blog a few years ago before her youngest child was born, and I've loved reading her posts about how crazy and silly life is with young kids. I wish I were half as funny as she is. But I'm not. Oh well. =p
Anyway. It made my day. I adore that woman and kind of wish she were my neighbor so I could just eat popcorn and watch her crazy life unfold.
Now if only Facebook would suggest Jen from Cake Wrecks ...
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Cub Scouts
A few weeks ago, Mark and I were released from our calling in Nursery and called to serve as Cub Scout den leaders. This means a few things ...
1. We get to go to Gospel Doctrine ... for the first time in about 4 years! We were called to be Family History consultants shortly after we got married (and taught the family history class), then we were ward missionaries after we moved to American Fork (so we taught Gospel Principles once a month and had to attend that class), then we were in Nursery for a year.
2. We get to GO to Gospel Doctrine! Carmen's been old enough for Nursery since November, and so we get to drop her off and leave her behind! Apparently she's done great without us these past few weeks. :) (She's also had a lot of fun at the gym day care when I drop her off ... I actually stay almost the full 90 minutes and the day care ladies don't seem exasperated when I pick her up!)
3. Um, can you tell I'm excited to feel like I'm actually going to church again? Hahaha.
Anyway, tonight was the Cub Scouts' Blue and Gold Banquet. I'm still not exactly sure how everything goes together (last week was our first week, and the activity was having the boys make invitations for their families) but I'm very excited to work with the 8- and 9-year-old boys.
I think there are 5 or 6 boys who will be coming to Cub Scouts with us. I already knew one of them. His name is Sam, and he lives down the street from me. When the weather's nice, he plays outside with Jefferson, who is Carter's older brother. I love these kids. They're friendly and funny and creative. They're part of the reason why I'm excited to watch my kids grow up, and the main reason I'm not completely terrified of the thought of maybe having a son some day. Mark has this secret fear/thought that he's going to end up with 7 daughters. Actually, I wouldn't mind that ... and when we have our 5th one, I'm going to call him Tevye. ;)
Anyway. Sam. So we were at the banquet tonight, and Carmen spent much of the evening chasing the boys around. (Sounds a lot like me! Let me clarify: I wasn't boy-crazy, I just tended to have a lot of guy friends growing up. We'd go swimming and ride bikes and jump on the trampoline and stuff. SO much more interesting than Barbies!) Around a quarter to 8, I knew it was getting close to time for Carmen to come home, take a bath, and go to bed. If you keep a kid up too long, they'll get really cranky but have a hard time falling asleep because they're too tired. Carmen was sitting on Sam's lap, enjoying the presentations, and was very upset when I told her we had to go home.
"Sam! SAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!" she cried.
She does the same thing every time Sam is playing outside and it's time for dinner. It's so cute. I love how much she loves the older kids, and how much they love her too. Sam (and Jefferson, and Carter, and all of the other kids I associate with. EVER.) is so good to her!!! I told Sam's mom she could make money marketing him as an older brother for rent. ;)
Oh, and Jefferson's mom had our job in Cub Scouts right before we did. She stopped by our house today to drop off a few things she used. I love having neighbors like that. It helps me feel more confident that I'll be able to do this. :) I'm so excited to work with the Cub Scouts! SO EXCITED!!!
1. We get to go to Gospel Doctrine ... for the first time in about 4 years! We were called to be Family History consultants shortly after we got married (and taught the family history class), then we were ward missionaries after we moved to American Fork (so we taught Gospel Principles once a month and had to attend that class), then we were in Nursery for a year.
2. We get to GO to Gospel Doctrine! Carmen's been old enough for Nursery since November, and so we get to drop her off and leave her behind! Apparently she's done great without us these past few weeks. :) (She's also had a lot of fun at the gym day care when I drop her off ... I actually stay almost the full 90 minutes and the day care ladies don't seem exasperated when I pick her up!)
3. Um, can you tell I'm excited to feel like I'm actually going to church again? Hahaha.
Anyway, tonight was the Cub Scouts' Blue and Gold Banquet. I'm still not exactly sure how everything goes together (last week was our first week, and the activity was having the boys make invitations for their families) but I'm very excited to work with the 8- and 9-year-old boys.
I think there are 5 or 6 boys who will be coming to Cub Scouts with us. I already knew one of them. His name is Sam, and he lives down the street from me. When the weather's nice, he plays outside with Jefferson, who is Carter's older brother. I love these kids. They're friendly and funny and creative. They're part of the reason why I'm excited to watch my kids grow up, and the main reason I'm not completely terrified of the thought of maybe having a son some day. Mark has this secret fear/thought that he's going to end up with 7 daughters. Actually, I wouldn't mind that ... and when we have our 5th one, I'm going to call him Tevye. ;)
Anyway. Sam. So we were at the banquet tonight, and Carmen spent much of the evening chasing the boys around. (Sounds a lot like me! Let me clarify: I wasn't boy-crazy, I just tended to have a lot of guy friends growing up. We'd go swimming and ride bikes and jump on the trampoline and stuff. SO much more interesting than Barbies!) Around a quarter to 8, I knew it was getting close to time for Carmen to come home, take a bath, and go to bed. If you keep a kid up too long, they'll get really cranky but have a hard time falling asleep because they're too tired. Carmen was sitting on Sam's lap, enjoying the presentations, and was very upset when I told her we had to go home.
"Sam! SAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!" she cried.
She does the same thing every time Sam is playing outside and it's time for dinner. It's so cute. I love how much she loves the older kids, and how much they love her too. Sam (and Jefferson, and Carter, and all of the other kids I associate with. EVER.) is so good to her!!! I told Sam's mom she could make money marketing him as an older brother for rent. ;)
Oh, and Jefferson's mom had our job in Cub Scouts right before we did. She stopped by our house today to drop off a few things she used. I love having neighbors like that. It helps me feel more confident that I'll be able to do this. :) I'm so excited to work with the Cub Scouts! SO EXCITED!!!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Perceptions of reality ...
I had an interesting moment earlier today.
Carmen loves babies. I found this "Baby Slide Show" on YouTube and Carmen watches it daily. "BABIES!!!!" she squeals.
Today, Sadie (the kindergartner I watch) started watching the slide show and was interested in all of the cute Anne Geddes photos.
"Whoa, does someone really take these pictures?" she asked.
"Yes." I responded.
"Of dead babies?????" She seemed really concerned about this.
"What? No! They're not dead babies. They're just sleeping. She takes pictures of babies while they're sleeping."
"Then why did that one have wings?"
"Because they're dressed up in costumes. They're sleeping. She dressed them up and took pictures of them while they were sleeping. See, sometimes they're just sleeping, other times they have wings, other times they're dressed like flowers ... they're not dead. Just sleeping."
"Oh."
Phew.
To think Sadie could've grown up thinking all those cute Anne Geddes photos are dead babies .... O__o;
Carmen loves babies. I found this "Baby Slide Show" on YouTube and Carmen watches it daily. "BABIES!!!!" she squeals.
Today, Sadie (the kindergartner I watch) started watching the slide show and was interested in all of the cute Anne Geddes photos.
"Whoa, does someone really take these pictures?" she asked.
"Yes." I responded.
"Of dead babies?????" She seemed really concerned about this.
"What? No! They're not dead babies. They're just sleeping. She takes pictures of babies while they're sleeping."
"Then why did that one have wings?"
"Because they're dressed up in costumes. They're sleeping. She dressed them up and took pictures of them while they were sleeping. See, sometimes they're just sleeping, other times they have wings, other times they're dressed like flowers ... they're not dead. Just sleeping."
"Oh."
Phew.
To think Sadie could've grown up thinking all those cute Anne Geddes photos are dead babies .... O__o;
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