Forget Me Nots

You know how sometimes you just don't want to do something (exercise, for example), but after you do you are oh so glad you did? That was me last night. We had just had my son Isaac's birthday party (he's 2, cue stereotypical mother-freaking-out moment) and my feet were tired, the house was a mess, and I just didn't want to do anything but eat all the chocolate cake that was left.

But last night was the General Relief Society Meeting for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's part of General Conference, which is a semi-annual meeting where the prophets and leaders of the church speak to a world wide audience. The R.S. meeting is only held every other year (with alternating years focusing on the Young Women of the church). It is an uplifting, wonderful meeting, and I'm ashamed to say I haven't bothered going since my mission. Shame. So this year I promised myself I would go. Cue excuses. But luckily I have a husband who nagged encouraged me to go, and a neighbor who offered to go with me, so I went.

And, oh am I so glad that I did. All of the talks were wonderful, and I learned and felt inspired. But the cream on my cocoa was President Uchtdorf's talk. He spoke about the little forget-me-not flower and related it to 5 things we should never forget. And don't you just love the internet, cuz someone has actually already come up with a beautiful little graphic representing it all:

found here

Each of these little reminders I felt was so essential. A few of my favorite quotes from each point in his talk:

on being patient with yourself: "God wants to help us eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal." (emphasis added)

on the difference between good and foolish sacrifices: "How can we tell the difference for our own situation? We can ask ourselves 'Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?"

on being happy now: “Never stop striving for the best that is within you. Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don't close your eyes and heart to the simple and elegant beauties of each day's ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life.”

on the why of the gospel: "The gospel is a light that penetrates mortality and illuminates the way before us. While understanding the what and how of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the why. When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational pattern of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and instead becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet. ...Seek out the majesty, the beauty, and the exhilarating joy of the why of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ...The why of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic. It magnifies our small acts of obedience into holy acts of consecration."

on the love of the Lord for you: "No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, he loves you with an infinite love. Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time."

Isn't it wonderful? Honestly, I had a hard time picking out good quotes - I just wanted to transcribe the entire talk!

When he spoke of the why of the gospel, and how understanding the underlying purposes of the gospel "transforms the mundane into the majestic" and "magnifying small acts" into "holy acts of consecration," I just felt so empowered and validated. Yes, a lot of the things I do every day are pretty "insignificant" in the scheme of the world, but they are so meaningful to me, to my family, and I know they are meaningful to my God. I'm so grateful for these words.

You can watch it here, and I highly recommend you do. The words themselves are poetic, but hearing them spoken by a man who is so filled with love, compassion, conviction, and faith is just infinitely better.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you today.

Explanation

So, I'm not even really sure what I'm doing as a blogger. You may have noticed. Sometimes I am really prolific, and then other times I fall off the face of the planet for weeks at a time.

Sometimes I feel like the main purpose of this blog is to be useful to others - as evidenced by Food Storage Fridays and my somewhat lame attempts at creating tutorials. Then, other times, I think maybe this is just a place for me to come and ruminate about things I'm thinking or reading about and hopefully get a discussion going. And then there are those times when I just want to show pictures of my adorable kid.

But a lot of times, I think I am writing this blog mostly because I want my little slice of people's attention. You know, "Look at me! Look at me!" type stuff. And that's when I stop writing. Because I start to feel like, if all I'm doing is attempting to show off (and show off what exactly?) then maybe I need to get a life. Oh, and I start to feel like I really don't have anything to show off, so I should really quit.

But then I go back to all those other reasons, and I realize I do want to be useful, I do want to talk about interesting and puzzling things, and heck the world deserves as many pictures of my adorable kid as are available. That's just the truth. So here you go:

So, anyway, I guess that's my explanation for the sporadic nature of this blog. Thanks for still coming back from time to time. I can't promise those little demon voices of doubt and self-ridicule won't come back and make me take a sabbatical, but I do promise to keep trying to be interesting. It's a life-long quest.

J.A.R.V.I.S.

James and I went to see Priest yesterday. It was a movie I had been looking forward to, mostly because I was excited about the cast, namely these two:

Especially him.

The movie was about as good as I expected. Not super great - and in many ways actually terrible. Even Karl let me down. But not Paul. I decided that if I have a celebrity crush, it's Paul Bettany. Of course, James mocked me - "He's so scrawny, though!" - and fake pouted about me crushing on Paul, but I just had to remind him about his love for Kate Beckinsale, and we were even.

Anyway, I was just curious to see what else Paul Bettany has been in - maybe to add it to my Netflix queue, I'm not saying - so I browsed his filmography and discovered that he voiced J.A.R.V.I.S. in Iron Man! Now I know why I love that computer so much. :P You may recall from earlier posts that I named my sewing machine after him. Maybe I should print out a picture of Paul and tape it to Jarvis as motivation? :P

So, yeah, I was excited. What about you guys? Do you have a celebrity crush? Is he as nerdily handsome as mine? I'd love to hear, if only to justify my own girlish silliness regarding Mr. Bettany.

Left Behind?

So, I know that all the jokes about the apocalypse not coming after all are pretty old by this point. I mean, the supposed event was to have taken place on Saturday, so everyone has taken their shots, had their chuckles, and continued on with their lives.

But I still want to talk about it, so I hope you're cool with that.

On Saturday, while waiting for the Rapture, I was out weeding my garden. If that's not an apt living metaphor, I don't know what is. I couldn't help thinking as I tore knee-high weeds from the muddy ground, that I was creating my own little doomsday right there in the backyard. I was literally destroying a habitat -- in the name of creating something greater -- but causing destruction and devastation nonetheless. I watched the spiders skitter away and the worms writhe in their newly-upturned soil and I thought, I wonder if the bugs had their own little warning prophets of doom?

Side note: does anyone else feel morally qualmed while gardening? I know it's silly, but I do. I look at the weeds and I think, "How come this plant has to die? Because it's ugly? Because it has no use to me? Because I want it to?" I think that a lot about dandelions. Though the other thought I have about dandelions is "Just die already! Die, die, die."

But anyway, back to the Rapture. While I was destroying wicked weeds in my backyard, preparing fertile ground for useful vegetables, I thought a lot about Harold Camping. See, I was pretty sure that the Rapture wasn't going to happen May 21 at 6pm (Hey, I was right!). Something about "no man knoweth the day or the hour" seemed to be a strong indicator for me that either the guy was misleading or just misled. But still, I thought, maybe we shouldn't be so smug in our dismissal of the guy and his small-but-enthusiastic, van-driving following. Reports of rapture countdown clocks and flippant facebook comments got me thinking that maybe we're all missing an opportunity here.

Whatever you may believe - whether in an afterlife, a God, a resurrection, a blank and peaceful nothingness, whatever - the truth of the matter is that we all only get the one life. So when an opportunity comes along to evaluate it and ask yourself if you like who you're becoming, maybe it shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. I thought a lot about that as I caked myself in mud in the backyard. I wondered, if the Second Coming were to happen that evening, or next week, or next year - would I be ready? At the end of any day, can I look back over it and feel that I am happy with what I did, how I behaved, how I treated others, how I spent my time?

So many days I feel just get wasted, mostly on this lovely computer, and I wonder what opportunities I am missing. What I will regret when it's all over. But I don't really think about it all that often: I just go with the flow and live out my habits and patterns.

And so I think a little wake up call every now and then is not a bad thing. A little Harold Camping-style pseudo-Rapture -- as misguided and eye-roll-inducing as it may be -- might just be an excellent opportunity to ask ourselves, "Am I living it right?"

Still, funniest thing I heard after the "Rapture" - a text conversation between  my sister (AJ) and my dad.

AJ: Did u guys get raptured??!?
Dad: What do you think? Of course we were taken up. Enjoy your last 5 months of torment. We'll be eating gelato here in heaven.
AJ: Well, thank God (when u see him) that there's 3G service up there!

Ah, texting from heaven. Technology sure has come a long way.

Opportunities

In about the last ten minutes I came across two somethings amazing that I got so excited about I had to share. Plus, I have to tell you about something my very cool sister is doing. I'll explain. But you guys know I'm a bit long-winded, so bear with me. (If you started humming "What a Good Boy" by BNL, I love you.)

Sometimes I feel like, as a mostly stay-at-home mom, I don't get that many opportunities to serve. I was watching Deserving Design on Hulu the other day, and while it mostly inspired me, it also got me a little down on myself. I started to feel like I just wasn't doing enough, and then I went through the littany of reasons why I wasn't doing enough, which mostly read: baby, baby, baby, oh and husband a little bit too, but mostly baby. But the more I think about it, the more I think that I am using my inability to do anything huge as an excuse not to do anything at all. You know, you get that idea in your head - go big or go home. Or at least I do. And I think, well, if I can't spend every weekend building houses for Habitat for Humanity or if I can't move to Mexico and teach people to read, then what's the point? But that's ridiculous. I'm reminded of a motto I thought up for myself as a missionary: Look for opportunities, not excuses.

Sure, maybe I won't be as cool as the woman who moved to Laos to work as a nurse and adopted two daughters or the woman who overcame near blindness and cancer only to turn around and dedicate herself to becoming a medical researcher with a quest to eradicate AIDS, but the fact is I can serve in my sphere. And maybe it's not as grand, and maybe (ok, most likely) Vern Yip will never show up at my door with a team of designers and carpenters, but I can serve those around me and I can make a difference. 

Anyway, so here are those awesome things I was telling you about:

First, one of my favorite decor bloggers, Centsational Girl, decided to reach out to her community and found COTS (Committee on the Shelterless). She and her husband ended up working on Project Alma - they are helping three single mothers and their children fix up and beautify their home. You can read all about it here. The opportunity here is one to donate and help Kate and her husband help women and their families turn their lives around. They've already done some awesome things. Check out this beautiful and functional entryway makeover:

And the incredible media center they built using the original old TV stand that was in the house and two used bookshelves. 

And here's the best thing: you don't have to donate a lot. The girl doesn't call herself C.entsational Girl for nothing. She really knows how to stretch a buck. That media center cost a grand total of $60 to make. So a donation of $5 could go really far to helping these families. Just follow this link to get information on donating.

On to opportunity #2. 

Facebook is incredible for learning about new things. A friend posted a link recently to the Coupon Connections blog. Amber posted a really great idea for helping the homeless. If you don't want to hop over to that link, I'll explain it here. The idea is basically to use excess you have (for these people, it is excess of items acquired for cheap or free through couponing. Really gotta get into that.) to make gift bags for homeless people. You can gather items like toothpaste, toothbrushes, non-perishable food items, sanitary products, etc., place them in a gift bag and keep them in your car to give to people you see on the street. 

I know I hate it when I see someone and am not carrying any cash. That passage from Mosiah 4 in the Book of Mormon, where King Benjamin says that if we have tasted of the goodness of the love of Christ we will "succor those that stand in need": and "administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need" and "not suffer that the ^bbeggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish." I hate feeling like I have let someone put up his petition to me in vain.

So what an awesome idea, huh? When you see a really incredible sale, but you think - "I'll never use 8 packages of bandaids" - grab a few extra for someone who could really use it. Keep 'em in your car and you'll never have to leave someone empty handed.

Last little cool thing I wanted to tell you about: my way amazing sister Adrienne is participating in the March of Dimes March for Babies this weekend. The March of Dimes is an organization dedicated to helping prevent birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. I am so proud of my big sis. If you want to help her out with a donation, you can visit her site here. 

Ok, that's it for me. What about you guys? Any awesome opportunities to serve that you know of?

Gratia

Last week I had the opportunity to attend Women's Conference. This is an annual gathering of a ton of women on BYU campus, where speakers from all different backgrounds come to speak on a wide variety of topics. It's pretty much a chance to fill your lamp with oil, refresh your spirit, learn something, and be strengthened. I really loved it.

At one point during the conference, I took a little break from scribbling down notes and wrote in the margins "Everything is being distilled." I later had to go check the dictionary to make sure I really meant what I wanted to mean, and yep there it is, what I was trying to say. Distill: to extract the essence of. That's what happened to me over those two days. I was being reminded of the essence of life. The most important. What is beautiful and what is good and what is difficult but worth doing. It was like a physical feeling - everything coming together into one and having such clarity in my brain. Ah, if only that feeling could last. But at least I have my notes!

One of the sessions I attended centered around the topic "Believe in Christ." The first speaker directed her words toward the relationship between grace, the Atonement, and believing in Christ. One of the things she said really interested me. She said the Latin word for grace is gratia, and it means both favor and thanks. (Hence the word gracias in Spanish.) She said that it is appropriate that the same word is used to describe both the gift and the appropriate response to the gift.

I've been thinking about that a lot. It reminded me of a phrase I had heard in scripture, which I later found was John 1:16, "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." In that moment that meant to me that I should return grace (thanks) for the grace (favor) I have been given.

And now that I am thinking about it, it seems like this is what it was all distilling into. I attended sessions on understanding our worth, teaching children through stories, not being ashamed of the gospel of Christ,  facing grief and disappointments, and delighting in the scriptures, and everything I learned in these sessions can be distilled into one word: gratitude. If I can maintain a feeling of gratitude in my heart, I feel like I can pretty much manage all of the other things I learned and was inspired to do during that conference.

If I remember who Christ is, and what he did, and am grateful for it, I will remember who I am and what I am worth.

If I am grateful for the Atonement and I love it in my heart, it will be easy to share it with my children and everyone else I know.

If I feel gratitude for the grace of Christ, I will be buoyed up in times of grief, and I will be better able to act as He would act when those around me are suffering.

If I am grateful for what Christ did, I will treasure his words he has given us through prophets and recorded in the scriptures. I will desire to read them and study them and love them.

And I think If I always remember Christ, I will have that feeling of gratitude, and I will be happier.

So there it is. The secret to happiness and success in life. Gratia. Grace given, and grace returned.

Hello, Again! + A Tasty Recipe

Bad blogger! A whole week and no posts - and I was on such a roll there. Well, I hope you didn't miss me too much (ok, I'll admit, I hope you did, but it's ok if you didn't). The reason for my little hiatus was pretty predictable - life got busy!

Some really cool things happened - I made some sales in my little shop, so I was busy sewing and glueing and creating away. I have to admit it was super thrilling - I sent my little camera critters off to Australia, England, and Alabama! I hope they make it ok. It's really cool to think that somewhere out there (under the pale moonlight...) someone's got something I created. Happy!

Also, my mother-in-law was in town for my awesome sis-in-law Allison's graduation. Congratulations Allison! There really should be a better term for the family you gained through marriage, don't you think? Maybe sister-in-heart is a better term. It definitely describes a little better how I feel about wonderful Allison. And Jennifer, and Buffy, and Melanie, and Heidi. Oh, and all those boys I inherited, too, I guess. :)

Then there was another lovely thing going on this week:  BYU Women's Conference. Thanks to my awesome mother-in-heart who bought me tickets and my wonderful friend Alayna and my kind husband who watched Isaac for me, I was able to attend 8 hours (over 2 days) of lectures given on various topics by some incredibly smart, spiritual, educated, strong, and valiant women. I'll probably be sharing some thoughts about the things I learned throughout this week.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi, I'm back, and will try to be better about blogging. And just to make it worth your time for stopping by, I'm going to give you something that is precious to me: my dad's recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara. There are many reasons why I love my Daddy. Amazing pasta is one of them.

Is this recipe healthy? Not exactly. Is it delicious? Oh yeah. Here you go, please enjoy:

Dad's Spaghetti Carbonara

1 small box Barilla thin spaghetti
1 lb bacon, cooked to taste (Dad likes it crispy)
1 cup freshly grated Parmeggiano-Reggiano cheese
2 egg yolks
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Cook the bacon and save the grease (you will use 1/4 cup later). (I told you this wasn't healthy.)

Cook the spaghetti in lots of water with about a tsp of salt

While the spaghetti is cooking, grate the cheese, separate the yolks, and break/cut the bacon into bite-size pieces.

When the spaghetti is done, remove from heat and drain but do not rinse it. White it is still hot, stir in the egg yolks, bacon grease, and cheese, in that order. Add the bacon.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and some additional fresh parmeggiano.

Dad also recommends adding a teaspoon of hickory smoke seasoning.

There you have it! Happy Monday.

Journaling

I've never been very good at journaling. I always feel silly while I'm writing, and then later when I go back and read it I feel even sillier and sometimes even end up ripping pages out and tearing them into tiny pieces. It's that bad. I don't know, I just can't get the right tone down, I guess. I never feel like I sound like myself.

I think my best-chronicled years were my mission years. It was still spotty, and I did better with some companions than others (thanks, Heidi!), but I managed to fill a few composition books, a loose leaf binder, and of course my daily planners. Maybe it was easier then because it felt like there was always something to write about - meeting people, sharing the gospel, disappointments, joys, hilarious moments, really embarrassing ones, and of course extremely spiritual times.

And, you know, times when I got soaked.

The thing is, I feel like this time in my life is also a very spiritual, very precious time. I feel like I have extra responsibility to record these years because my children won't remember them. Isaac is not going to remember a single thing of what happens to him - it'll probably be a year or two more before his first memories kick in. So I feel like I am the keeper of these precious years. And I am not doing a very good job.

Sometimes I feel like I just need to find the right journal. Maybe one with journaling prompts included to help me on days when I'm feeling blank? (Sorry you're feeling so blank inside... anyone? Brian Regan fans?) I really love these printable journaling pages from Grace is Overrated, but after printing several of them out, I realized they weren't really helping me write about my life now. I want someone to create the Mom version, but as of yet, no one has.

So, I finally made myself a journal. It's not the mother of all journals I'd like it to be, but it's a journal and it's cute. I've been wanting to make one for a while, had the perfect fabric picked out, bought my composition book during back-to-school sales for 25 cents. So, six months later, I finally got it together.

Here it is:
 

Here's how it looks inside.

Yeah, cute journal and everything, and I still don't write in it. I want to. Does the first blank page of a journal intimidate anyone else as much as it intimidates me?

Any suggestions?

Really do love that fabric, though.

True Love

This is my husband.

His name is James.

I want to tell you a little story about him, that pretty much explains why I am the luckiest girl alive.

So, sometimes, in the morning, I am just not quite ready to start my day when Isaac is. James is weird, and he has already started his day long before either of us. But that's not the point. The point is that James is awesome, and here's why. Sometimes I use the TV to help me ease into the day. I drag my big fluffy comforter and my pillow into the family room across the hall, I put on an episode of Backyardigans (or if I want a longer rest, Veggie Tales), and I snooze for a little bit longer. I eventually turn the TV off, let Isaac lead me upstairs, we have breakfast, he takes a bath, whatever, we start our day. Meanwhile, my blanket and pillow stay in the family room, completely forgotten.

A long, wonderful day with a toddler follows. James comes home, we play, we eat dinner, the perfect predictability of a lovely life. Not everyone's cup of tea, I know, but boy do I love it. Anyway, I usually put Isaac to bed, then James goes down to bed, and I'm still up doing something - crafting, blogging, wasting time on the computer. Eventually, I decide it's time to call it a night, and I finally shuffle down to bed. I creep into the room as quietly as possible, then think D'oh! My blanket and pillow are still in the family room. Dangit dangit dangit. I creep quietly out again and slink across the hall. Only to find that my pillow and blanket are not there. Confused, I go back into the bedroom. There, laid out for me, are my pillow and blanket.

This may seem completely ridiculous, but to me, that is true love spelled out right there. James thought of me. He saw my pillow and blanket, knew I'd want them, and just quietly transferred them right to the place where I would need them. And he does things like that all the time. Little things to make my life more convenient. He brings my cell phone in from the car for me. He changes Isaac's diaper before he leaves in the morning. He unloads the dishwasher. He takes Isaac outside as soon as he gets home from work so that I can get some time to myself. He encourages me to do the things that I love and the things that I want to do. And these simple little things make me feel loved. How lucky I am.

And in case that wasn't enough to win you over, here are a few pictures of him being completely adorable:

cuddling with Isaac

 

doing dishes with Isaac

sharing his ice cream with Isaac, while holding mine

What about you guys? What makes you feel lucky and loved?

Who Would You Meet and Why?

I find that some of my most lasting memories are ones where I somehow embarrassed myself. Do you find that's true, or is it just me? Like, I remember all these random conversations just because I said something dumb in them. I remember so many times when my parents corrected me and I felt stupid about it, even though I know that the times they were supportive and forgiving were far more frequent then the times they scolded me.

Or I can't stand to listen to "I Love You Always Forever" by Donna Lewis because I once wrote out all the lyrics to give to a boy I was "going out with" (we were 12, by the way) then dumped him the next day when I got no response. That still makes me feel so stupid. I hate that song. Doug Howard, if you're out there, I'm sorry. I was 12, though, so I should get some slack, right? Not from myself. I still blush and feel ridiculous just hearing that song. Here it is in case you don't know what I'm referencing:



And I think about these episodes a lot. Try to redo them, I guess. Like, the one I really want to talk about today -- it was senior year. AP English. Probably the first week of class, and we'd been given the assignment to interview a classmate and prepare a presentation to give to the class about that person. Our teacher gave us all the same 5 questions to ask each other.

One of the questions was a pretty classic, cliche type question that you often get asked: If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

At the time, I just couldn't think of anyone at all. I was pretty shy, and I couldn't imagine myself having a conversation with anyone famous. I mean, what would I say?

So, at the time, drawing a blank, I said Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay. Yeah I know. Lame, huh? And what's lamer is that I still feel stupid about that. I mean, this was 9 years ago and I know, I know, nobody cared who I would hypothetically meet. But I still feel like I should have--and could have--come up with something a little more meaningful. You know, like one of my grandfathers who passed away before I was born. Or I don't know... Gandhi.

I think about that a lot, though. And I have realized that who my 17-year-old self really wanted to meet, living or dead, was the prophet Joseph Smith. I would say Jesus Christ, but I don't think my 17-year-old self was really ready to meet Jesus. But Joseph Smith . . . now I could have learned a lot from him. I was having a lot of doubts about the church, which I eventually figured out, but getting a read on the boy prophet would have been awesome. That would have been a much better answer.

Definitely more true than "Chris Martin". I mean, honestly, I'd have nothing to say to that guy except, "Your album Parachutes replaced REM's Automatic for the People as my go-to album when I'm in a teenage angsty mood." And I don't think he'd really care to hear that, anyway. And I'd have nothing really to ask him, either. It's not like I was really a big fan or anything. I just really liked that album. It's pretty weird that I still think about that and think dumb dumb dumb, huh?

Now, I definitely have a better answer to that question. I have lots of answers to that question, in fact. I'd love to meet the aforementioned grandfathers. I'd love to meet my mom and dad 30 years ago (come on, that would be cool). I'd love to meet Paul (New Testament guy) - you know, get some clarification on some of those epistles. I'd love to meet a peasant from the middle ages - find out what life was like there and then. I'd love to meet Joseph Smith, and that is true.

What about you? Who would you meet and why? And if it's Chris Martin, well, I promise not to think you're dumb.

Come What May and Love It -- A Printable for You

It seems like there have been a lot of things happening around me lately reminding me that life is hard. Life is really, really, really, really hard. Not mine, mind you, but there are tragedies occurring in the lives of those I love. There is sickness and disease. There are hard decisions being faced. There is sadness and regret and uncertainty. There are bad things happening to some really, truly good people.

But this one little phrase keeps coming back to me--one that I heard in LDS General Conference way back in October of 2008. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin spoke about overcoming adversity. He gave four very specific suggestions for dealing with difficult situations: learn to laugh, seek an eternal perspective, understand the principle of compensation, and trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. His talk has stuck with me, though--and will continue to stick with me my whole life--simply because of one phrase. When life becomes difficult and you have to "[drink] deeply from the cup of disappointment, sorrow,  and loss" he said: come what may, and love it. 

Man... I Feel Like a Woman?

So, I've been reading again. This time I picked up Why Gender Matters by Leonard Sax--the same author of Boys Adrift. This book was written before Boys Adrift, and it tried to focus on physiological differences between the sexes (you know, besides the obvious). For instance, did you know that girls, from infancy, have better hearing than boys? Next time you think a boy is ignoring you, maybe the truth is he can't hear you.

Edified

When we were growing up, we used to make fun of my dad for how he would casually toss out these (what we felt were) obscure vocabulary words expecting us to completely understand what he was talking about. I clearly remember my dad telling me not to "get all apoplectic", for example. Once I learned what apoplectic meant, I was simultaneously offended that  he would call me that, and thrilled that I had a new, impressive word to add to my growing arsenal.

My dad was always doing that - making me feel intelligent by teaching me something new. (He was also always doing weird things like asking me how I felt about taxidermy in order to start a conversation. me: "What do you mean, like - in general? or as a career choice?" Dad: "Just what do you think about taxidermy?" But that's a post for another day.) The reason I bring this up is because I remember very clearly a word my dad took pains to teach us growing up. He gathered us all together for a family home evening to teach us all the meaning of the word edify.

Our Weekend, and Introducing KP Photography

Hey, happy Monday! How was everyone's weekend? We had a lot of fun this weekend. In support of a neighbor who was recently diagnosed with leukemia, we decided to participate in the Rex Lee Run, a local 5k event that helps raise money for cancer research.

Friday night we got together with other participants and made t-shirts that illustrated our support for our neighbor. Saturday was the race, and James and I decided to walk it together as a family. I'm starting to really enjoy the whole 5k thing. When I was a kid, we lived in Germany, and there they have these things called Volksmarches. They're basically a 5k or 10k or whatever, and whole families go and run or walk together. Those are great memories for me, and I hope that I can pass down that healthy tradition to my own kids. Anyway, tangent over. We had a really great time walking and talking together - a really great family "date," actually. :) I am hoping things go well for my neighbor, and we are definitely keeping him in our prayers.

Role Models: The In-Laws

I am so excited right now, it's hard to sit still long enough to write this. BUT since I have this on my mind, I thought there's really no better time. So, what am I all excited about? I get to spend this weekend with some of my favorite people in the whole world: my in-laws.

My Role Models: My Mom

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last post. I found everyone's comments to be really interesting, and they caused me to think even more on this topic. My mother-in-law pointed out something I thought was important to note - that women's stories haven't really been told or recorded as men's have. Just thinking about it in a religious context, for all the many many stories we have about men in the Bible or the Book of Mormon, there are only a handful about women. And even then they mostly still relate to men - the women's relationships to a son or a husband. I'm not saying that's wrong, and maybe there's a good reason for it, but I do wish that there were more stories about women in our history and in our religious texts.

The Women

So, somehow I got on this kick recently of reading books about gender and gender-related issues. It started when I was in the parenting section looking for books on weaning (which maybe I'll discuss at some point in the future, maybe not :P ) and a title leapt out from among the sea of titles:  The Way of Boys: Promoting the Social and Emotional Development of Young Boys. I thought, hey, I have a little boy. This could be interesting. So I read it, and dang but it was. Fascinating. It gave me so much to think about, made my mind feel engaged again, and mostly it encouraged and uplifted me. You wouldn't think a book all about how tough it is to be a little boy would do that, but it did. It gave me a lot of hope for my little guy and his future and all the joy we're going to have navigating it together. Here's a picture of my cutie, just to break up this text-heavy post: