Another One Bites the Dust

It's that time of year when we all sit back and take stock of our lives--what we've accomplished (or failed to accomplish) in the past year. I know I had big plans for this year, but inevitably fell short of my dreams. However, I'm still healthy, my family is still intact, and I have a lot to be grateful for and to look forward to in 2010. I got an idea from Rozanne Paxman at scrapgirls.com. I receive her newsletter, and I love her most recent one where she lists what she wishes she had done this year and compares it to what she actually did. I think it's a great way to validate the little things that don't always get labeled as "accomplishments."

I would like to be able to tell you that in the past year I...

• Dropped a jeans size.
  
• Ran a half marathon.
  
• Read the entire Standard Works.
  
• Kept a journal.
  
• Finished the YW Personal Progress program.
  
• Took an exotic vacation.
  
• Successfully avoided eating sugar.
  
• Finished the quilt I've been working on.
  

Instead, I have to tell you that in the past year I...

• Am still working on the jeans issue.
  
• Am still working on finishing the Book of Mormon.
  
• Ate more than my fair share of candy and treats.
  
• Failed to get organized at work.
  
• Read many young adult and children's' novels.
  
• Spent way too much time on the computer.
  

However, in the past year I also...

• Survived Girls Camp, yet again.
  
• Did the temple work for my great-aunt.
  
• Took a family vacation to Bryce Canyon.
  
• Spent a weekend with my husband and saw Brian Regan live (woo-hoo!).
  
• Moved.
  
• Celebrated my 20^th wedding anniversary.
  
• Acquired another teenager.
  
• Created many fun craft projects with the kiddos.
  
• Joined Facebook.
  

In the next year, I am hoping to...

• Be more alert to the needs of others.
  
• Listen better.
  
• Spend more personal time with my girls.
  
• Date my husband.
  
• Continue to develop my relationship with God.
  
• Push away from the computer.
  
• Be strong and patient while Mike is in Iraq.
  
• Keep exercising, even if I don't drop a jeans size.
  
• Read more of what I want to read.
  
• Stop feeling guilty for things I can't control.
  
• Allow myself time to create, as creating makes me happy.
  
• Learn to keep my mouth shut.
  

Sadly my year didn't account to much, but here's to 2010!

 

20 Years With This Man

Sunday (the 27th) was our 20th anniversary. It's a milestone I'm proud of. I'm proud to say that we as a couple have made it this many years, but also that I have survived living with this crazy nut! Mike is a great husband and father, and isn't too macho to allow his girls to dress him up. What a sport!

Yes, I Am Alive

Wow, I haven't posted anything for two months! That's a long time. But it doesn't really matter because nobody reads my blog anyway. For my own satisfaction, however, I need to write something to finish up this year. Eventually I intend to have this thing published into a book so I can remember what we did this past year, so it behooves me to play "catch up."

It has been an eventful two months. Crazy things have been taking place--completely self-induced crazy things, so I can't legitimately complain. Let me start at the beginning. . .

Quite some time ago (like a year or so) Mike decided it would be "interesting" to volunteer for a four month temporary duty in Iraq. The government sends agents who do his kind of work over to do whatever they do. I can't tell you, or I'd have to kill you. But anyway, he signed up (against my wishes) and (thankfully) they kept picking other people to go. However, his name stays on the list, and every time a new rotation comes up he could be chosen. The chance arose again in October, but an agent from another office was picked, and I naively breathed a sigh of relief and went back to life-as-usual.

Also quite some time ago we started looking around at homes and land because eventually we wanted to try and move into a different home with a bigger backyard. We have always wanted to try and build, and with the market in the state that it is we thought it was a good time to start getting serious. We found some lots that we have kept our eye on for about a year now, and prices have dropped significantly. So we decided it was time to do something. But we knew we would need to sell our house before we could make any legitimate offers. So, the week after Halloween we decided to put our house on the market just to see what would happen. We figured it would take 6 months or so to sell it based on trends in the local housing market.

Long story short: House listed on MLS on Friday, November 6th. First potential buyer came to look at the house Monday, November 9th. Same buyer comes back Wednesday, November 11th to take another look. This buyer makes an offer that night. We counter the next day, and he accepts. Voila! House is under contract, and we have to be out December 1st.

Rewind to the Iraq deal. The Thursday we signed papers for the house contract, Mike received a call telling him that HE would be going to Iraq, not the other guy. Surprise! Hyperventilate! Mike was excited, I wasn't. The only redeeming thing about the whole deal is that he doesn't need to leave until mid-February. Which leaves me holding the "building-a-house-and-dealing-with-contractors" bag all by myself. Not my idea of fun, as I am not an assertive, take-charge person.

Now mind you, I didn't even have a cardboard box yet. So the next couple of weeks turned into a packing frenzy. I was completely horrified at how much stuff (a.k.a. "crap") I had accumulated! Not to mention the pounds and pounds of food storage that we had squirreled away. Thankfully we have generous friends who turned out to help pack, clean, and move us. What awesome folks!

We had to find a place to rent, pronto. We had a couple of options that didn't work out, so we ended up renting a house 4 doors down from our old house. Right after we got moved in, Mike started a two-week. 7-days-a-week Iraq training, during which he was barely home. He would leave at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. and get home at 8:30 p.m. or later, dead tired. It was a little "baptism by fire" for both of us. Mike was completely beat, and I thought I was going to go totally insane taking care of things at home, working, Young Women's, and shoveling snow (I swear it snowed almost every day!).

But we made it through that crazy time, celebrated Christmas, and currently we are waiting to hear back from a bank about an offer we submitted on a lot. We are getting bids from builders on our floorplan. We are excited about the prospects of getting into a new home, but I have to get through the four months of Mike in Iraq before I can let myself be too giddy. He knows several guys who have gone and come back without incident, but I have to be realistic and tell myself that something could happen to him. That is the bummer in this whole deal. But I can't change it, so I'll just have to deal with it. All I can do is move forward the best I can, and pray Mike comes home and we have a place to move into when he gets back. We still feel very blessed to have been able to have our home sell so quickly, and to have found a place to rent where our kids' lives didn't get disrupted too much. Sometimes it scares me when we get exactly what we wished for. It makes me have "happiness anxiety"--like we wished for the wrong thing, or that something bad is going to happen now because such "good fortune" can't be justified with some kind of suffering. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Just call me the bag lady

I've had the fabric for a year...and finally took the time to finish Megan's tote bag. It is very cute with french poodles and glitter. Glitter makes everything cute :-)

Bryce is Nice

We spent UEA weekend at Bryce Canyon. The weather was glorious, and the drive through the canyons coming home was enhanced by the leaves changing colors. I love Fall! I love the weather, the smells, the colors. . . and the anticipation it holds for the coming holidays.

We had a great time hiking amongst the breathtaking scenery--except for Megan got a pretty bad blister because her meany mom made her take some old tennis shoes instead of her new ones and they were too tight. (I'll go down in history for that mistake.) There are too many pics to post individually, so I'm making a slide show that I will link here.

After Bryce, we drove up over Cedar Breaks to Enterprise to visit Mark, Debbie, Kristin and Dustin (our neighbors from Vegas) who have recently moved out of the hustle and bustle of Vegas to the wide open spaces of Washington County. A nice change. Kristin was home from BYU for the weekend. Mark and Mike were able to squeeze in a mtn. bike ride up to the "C" on the mountain in Cedar City. The girls and I drove over to Cedar to meet and pick up Mike, then on home.

Saturday night Shane Haycock, Rob Imlay, and Dave Tanner brought the boys from our Vegas ward to spend the night at our place. They had driven up to attend the Priesthood session of Conference. Elder Holland's son, David, is the Bishop of the Las Palmas ward, and got them tickets. Evidently (from what I was told) they didn't have enough tickets, so three of the boys (one of them was Dustin) got to ride to the Conference Center with Elder Holland in a golf cart. Pretty cool having an Apostle's son for a Bishop!

It was quite a different feeling (and smell) having 12 boys in the house! Mike whipped up some pancakes and eggs for them Sunday morning, and they left by 9:00 am. It was a bit of a whirlwind weekend, but good to see some of God's amazing creations and catch up with old friends.

Sunday Evening Discussion

Last night Megan was reading her book, titled Strawberry Hill by Mary Ann Hoberman. It is about a girl named Allie who is Jewish and moves to a new town in Connecticut. After arriving, she meets Martha, who attends the local parochial school. The book is mainly about making friendships, but the author touches on the differences between the Jewish and Catholic faiths because Allie has to deal with some anti-Semitic comments from one of Martha's school friends.

Right before bed Megan came up to me sort of chuckling . . .

Megan: "Mom, listen to this" (chuckle)

Me: "What?"

Megan: "Allie is Jewish and Martha is Catholic, and they're talking about Jesus. Allie's dad tells Martha, 'Jesus was Jewish.' " (chuckle, chuckle. Like that is the most preposterous thing she has ever heard.)

Me: "Jesus was Jewish."

Megan: "He was?" (stares at me incredulously)

Me: "Yes."

Megan: "But I thought Jesus was Mormon?" (deadpan)

Me: "Well, no. He was Jewish. Jewish can mean someone's nationality or ethnicity, like we are American because we were born in America. Jesus was born in Israel, near Jerusalem. It's also a religion"

Megan: "But he was Mormon, right?"

Me: "No. . . not technically."

Megan: "I don't get it. So where did Mormons come from?"

[Simplified explanation of Christ's ministry, the Apostasy, and the First Vision ensues.]

Megan: "So how did Joseph Smith become a prophet?"

Me: "Heavenly Father appeared to him and called him to be one."

Megan: "But I thought you had to be an apostle to become the next prophet."

Me: "That's true now, but there weren't any living apostles when Joseph Smith was trying to figure out what church to join."

Megan: "Oh. So who will be the prophet when President Monson dies, Uchtdorf?

Me: "No. Boyd K. Packer, if he's still alive."

Megan: "But he's not one of Pres. Monson's counselors."

Me: "I know. Elder Packer has been an apostle longer than any of them except Pres. Monson."

[Explanation of apostolic seniority ensues.]

After that she look slightly confused, so I told her to go to bed. We obviously have our work cut out for us in FHE in the coming weeks. :)

Another Teenager

We celebrated Brooke's 13th birthday on Wednesday. She is now officially a teen, although she's been showing signs behaviorally for quite some time now. OMG! Like, I totally, like, can't believe she's a teenager. That is so, like, totally unbelievable!

She Came Back Alive & Well

I didn't need to fret. Danika had a great time, and came home extremely dirty, but pleasantly upbeat. It was a great experience for her. One teeny part of me regrets not going, but I'll get over it :)
I think she missed Trixie the most!
Nothing like feeling the sand between your toes . . . for 4 days! I have never smelled such stinky socks. Ugh!

Crafty Chicks

This summer some of us moms agreed to take turns teaching a group of the girls in Megan's Primary class some practical skills/crafts. We have been rotating on Wednesdays, and the girls come to our house for a couple of hours and we work on a project. It has been really fun for the girls to learn new things.

The first project they did at my house was embroidering their name. Megan chose to do an owl, because she already had done her name. My plan was for them to make a pillow with their embroidery the second time they came. Only one girl could come this past week, but Megan and Maddie both finished their pillows. They did everything from picking and cutting their fabric, and sewing and stuffing their pillows. They were both thrilled with the results, and that they did it all by themselves!

She's Off!

Danika left for our Stake youth pioneer trek yesterday morning. I didn't get a very good picture of her on her way out the door--she wouldn't put her bonnet on so I could capture the whole "ensemble." Anyway, she was very stoic and never complained about going, so I think she'll tough it out okay. They are trekking at Deseret Land & Livestock, which is a huge ranch near Woodruff, UT. I looked up their website and it is mostly rolling hills with sagebrush--no trees. It looks very hot and dusty. They were supposed to go about 13 miles the first day. Last night we had a crazy thunderstorm with lots of lightning, so I hope they were able to have some kind of shelter (they aren't sleeping in tents). I'm being a slightly anxious mom knowing that the weather has more lightning and thunderstorms in the forecast. The temperature is supposed to drop into the 70's tomorrow and Saturday as a cold front moves in. At least they won't be hot on Friday and Saturday. I just pray she can stay dry and warm. It could be a very long four days for them.

Peace, Love & Food

So, I'm feeling slightly like a tree hugger. If you've noticed, there are a lot of grassroots movements popping up under the "sustainable food " ilk. The point of these types of movements is to make a difference in the way Americans eat while supporting smaller, local farmers. It is an easy way to personally "kick against the pricks" of the behemoth industrial food business. By shopping at a farmers' market, buying local organic foods, or by participating in a community-supported agricultural program, you can eat healthier and help your community. It's a win-win situation, except for those huge food manufacturers who don't care about what you put into your body anyway.

I like to try new things, and I've been a little repulsed by what I've read about processed foods in Eat This, Not That, so I joined The Community Food Co-Op of Utah. Once a month I order what I want, and this morning was my first experience with picking up my food. Our drop site is in Clearfield, about 7 miles from my house. A "standard share" is $23, and this is what I got:


1 lb. ground beef
2 lb. chicken breasts
3 lbs. beef back ribs
5 lbs. potatoes
1 head cauliflower
4 locally grown zucchini
2 bunches locally grown green onions
5 pears
2 lb. cherries
8 apricots
1 pkg. cherry tomatoes
1 loaf artisan wheat bread
16 z. brown rice

I am definitely showing up early next time because I had to wait about 50 minutes in line--no fun in the July sun. I think it was a pretty good deal, but to make it worth my time I think I will order 2 shares next time, or a standard share and a half share. These types of co-ops are all about working for a common good, so they ask that you do at least 2 hours of community service each month--which can be helping on distribution days or just in your community or church. Not a bad trade off!

From what I could tell, there weren't a bunch of Birkenstock-wearing, bra-burning, environmentalist types there today, but I'm still feelin' groovy about the whole experience. It feels good, but I won't be attending any protests or rallies anytime soon!

Bagging It

I finally finished Brooke's bag. I love the colors, and I wanted to keep it for myself!

A Happy Day

Yesterday was a great day for my in-laws. After 16 years of marriage, they were sealed in the St. Louis temple! Bill is Mike's step-dad, and when he met Annette he was Baptist. He was baptized in April of 2007. Then they moved from Tucson to Jefferson City, MO. They have been taking the temple preparation classes, and finally were able to schedule a time to go to St. Louis to attend the temple where Bill received his own endowments and then they were sealed.

Needless to say, we are all thrilled! Bill is the best grandpa, and we love him so much! It has been neat watching him progress to this point in his life. We are so proud and honored to have been part of his baptism, and we wish we could have been there with them yesterday!

Trek Diaries

Danika is scheduled to go on our Stake Trek August 5th. We have one skirt & bonnet already, but we have to get another skirt, a shirt, and some bloomers made in the next week or two. This has got me thinking about when I went as a much younger person--the same age as Danika to be exact. Weird, huh? Well, I dug out my old slides--yes, slides--and had them converted to digital. It was really funny to look back on that adventure. Every summer we would come to Utah for the whole summer, so I did this with the Hyrum Stake. I really didn't know anyone at all, except I lucked out and our Bishop's wife was in my family.

Our "Family" (that's a lot of kids). Our Ma and Pa are on the left.

The terrain--somewhere near the Strawberry Reservoir, I think. We went back up into those hills. Notice those clouds? Yep, we got rained on. A lot. Even some hail.

The first day we pushed the carts into the night, and slept right on the ground under a light drizzle. It's all part of the experience, right? The next morning (pictured below), after a lovely bowl of cornmeal mush, we pushed on to base camp.

At base camp there was an old corral where we did all the group activities--including Sacrament meeting. They passed around pie tins with the bread, and communal tin cups for the water (yes, we all took a sip from the same cup--yuck). There I am, second from the left--a vision of loveliness, don't you think?

Our meals were pretty authentic. Cornmeal mush and oatmeal for breakfast (sprinkled with ash from the fire). Lunches were usually beans and ashcake--flour and water mixed until pasty and then made into a pancake and placed on the coals to cook. Just dust off the ash and squirt on some honey. Not too bad when your starving. Dinners were stews and such. So by our last full day we were all pretty hungry. That's when they brought in the turkeys. LIVE turkeys. They put them in the corral, and each family got to catch two. The kicker is that if you wanted to eat them, you had to kill them, pluck them, and prepare them to bake in a pit. Yeah. Talk about Lord of the Flies. But, it left an impression. And those turkeys did taste really good!

Chasing those gobblers

Cooking those gobblers

What's a pioneer activity without the quintessential stick pull?

I don't remember this girl's name, but the way she looks pretty much sums up how we all felt by the last day.

With all of the rain, we had a lot of mud and streams to wade through on our way back. I had mud up to my bloomers, which you can't really see, but I remember.

All in all, it was a sort of miserable experience, but I'm glad I went. And it gave me a new appreciation for the Pioneers.

Goodbye Michael

WARNING: Viewing this post may cause offense to those who deeply mourn the loss of Michael Jackson, "King of Pop." The views of the author do not echo those of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who stated: "We are the world and we are better because Michael Joseph Jackson lived. On behalf of myself and the people . . . Michael Jackson, I salute you." Since when do alleged pedophiles and hermaphrodite narcissists merit our worship? Something is very wrong here.

While the author in fact does feel sorry for the aforesaid Mr. Jackson due to his waste of a misguided and bizarre life, and for his family left to bear the loss of someone they truly cared for, she does not condone the frenetic public display of grief for a celebrity icon--especially one tied to such sordid and disreputable accusations, as well as being America's personal freak show.

Therefore, should you choose to continue reading this post be advised it is neither "reverent" nor flattering to the late Mr. Jackson. The sentiment expressed here does not in any way deny Mr. Jackson's talent or musical ability; it merely laments his unhealthy obsession with altering his physical appearance to the point of becoming a human Mr. Potato Head. Obviously, someone who would do this to themselves on the outside must be battling a lot of personal demons on the inside.

The Transmogrification of Michael Jackson: A Memoir in Ink
Artists: Maddie Grant, Danika Jensen, and Brooke Jensen

Now Showing at the Cathemer Gallery, American Fork, Utah
Authors note: I am not sure if I gave the artists proper credit for each sketch. I'm sure they will let me know when they read this and notice my error. Until then . . .


Phase 1: "Age of Innocence"
by Danika
It's hard to believe such a cute little boy could turn out so very wrong.



Phase 2: "The Beginning of the End"
by Brooke
By age 26 Michael had had his first nose job.



Phase 3: "The Thriller Era"
by Maddie
Another nose job by age 27. Notice the bridge of the nose getting narrower?



Phase 4: "The Little Richard Hair Stage"
by Danika
Could somebody get me a Breathe Right strip please?



Phase 5: "Just Couldn't Leave it Well Enough Alone"
by Brooke
That nose is so sharp, you could slice cheese on it. His skin keeps getting lighter too. Hmmm.



Phase 6: "I've Morphed Into my Sister LaToya"
by Maddie
Enough said.



Phase 7: "The Bette Davis Stage"
by Danika
The tattooed eyeliner ain't workin' for ya no more Mikey!



Phase 8: "Planet of the Apes Stage"
by Danika
Just downright scary.



Phase 9: "The Joker from Batman Look"
by Maddie
Androgyny personified--who, or what, is he?
Absolutely no trace of his brown skin; he's powdery white. Creepy.



Phase 10: "Final Transformation"
by Danika
I hope the make-up artist at the morgue is really talented.

A Dramamine Moment: Boating with the Fuhrimans

I haven't been on a boat in years, and since then I have had a weird incident with vertigo which has heightened my propensity to motion sickness. As a kid I always got car sick, no matter what--whether we were on a long trip or just going around the block.

Mike and Sheri kindly invited us to go boating for FHE last Monday night. So we packed up the kiddos and headed to Willard Bay with them. Mike had to come later due to work issues. Anyway, everything was great until I had been on the boat watching Corby wakeboard for a while. I got soo-o queasy I thought I was going to toss my cookies. Just call me the party-killer. Mike F. headed back to the marina, where they dropped me off on solid ground until I felt better. My Mike showed up with some Dramamine (thank heavens!), which I took. Then it was back on the boat for some tubing action--his time I only faced forward. Which is no fun when all the action is going on at the back of the boat. Anyway, I was okay for a while, but then started feeling a little sick again. The wind had kicked up and the water was pretty choppy, so we headed back to the marina--again--where we docked for a bit to eat. I took yet another Dramamine, which had kicked in by the time we went out again, and the rest of the time I was just dandy!

Our kids are really too sheltered and didn't even want to go at first, but they had such a good time that they want to go again. We appreciate the Fuhriman's for inviting us and exposing our kids to the fun of boating!

Danika, Megan and Kyler

Lindsee, Megan and Mikelle

The kids and Mike had a blast riding the tube! Even Brooke, who vowed she would NOT get in the lake, finally caved to our pressure and got on. Yay Brooke! What a fun time--we hope we were good enough guests to get invited again (next time I will take my medicine before I leave the house--promise!).

Danika, Corby and Kyler

Corby, Danika and Mike

Kyler, Brooke and Danika

Summer Crafts

Here are various crafts we've done so far this summer:

Danika and Brooke made these silhouettes at camp. I love them, and I'm going to make one of Megan and then frame them.





We've also made washer and bottlecap necklaces. I have seen so many cute ideas for funky jewelry on the Net and figured we could make our own. We made the washer necklaces with 1/8" metal punches from Harbor Freight Tools. I saw how to make these at Sugardoodle.

There are other cute ideas here:

recycled lovelies
you really made that
DIY Network

We found bottlecaps at Ben Franklin Crafts and then used a 1" punch to cut out whatever paper we wanted. Then we glued the paper into the bottlecap and then covered it with Diamond Glaze (this stuff is so amazing--you can use it on Scrabble tile necklaces too because it doesn't ooze off). It takes a couple of hours to dry, but then you can punch a hole with a nail and attach a jump ring. You can add charms or whatever. Danika's friend made a bracelet by hooking about 5 bottlecaps together and then adding a clasp. Very cute, cheap, and teen-friendly.

For more cute ideas, check out these sites:
Just Be Jewelry
Whitney Tate

We have also tie dyed a couple of times--once with Maddie and Bethany. Feelin' Groovy! Thanks for the cool specs guys!

Dr. Death works her magic. Scalpel!

Camp!

I finally got some pics from camp. Our theme was Boot Camp: Who Will You Be? Our scripture was 2 Nephi 10:23. We had an Army flair--most of us had some kind of camouflage clothing. We played capture the flag for a couple of hours both days--something I have never done before! It was a big hit with the girls; they just wanted to keep playing. Our camp directors are big-time into exercise, so we did morning drills too. Needless to say, I came home with very sore legs!!! But it was fun, and I think everyone had a good time. I'm just glad it's done and I can enjoy the rest of my summer!

Here we are decked out with face paint for capture the flag. We stayed at Bear Lake on some property that belongs to one of our camp lady's parents--thus the cabin--but the girls stayed in tents. It was a pretty cushy gig.



"Gee mom, I wanna go home!"--My awesome YW Board and camp committee:



My cute Laurels . . .




Ya know when you're overtired and you get a little loopy? Grapes tucked in the upper lip is always a fashion statement . . . Yikes (blackmail photo for sure)!

Summer Delights

It has rained pretty much every day of June, and now the sun is finally out. I perused my garden and things are coming along quite nicely. My tomatoes, onions, cilantro and squash are growing like topsy. I was surprised to see that the artichoke we planted last year now has a fruit on it. We tried it as an experiment, and read that they take two years to produce, and now it is! I'm assuming we are going to get two artichokes off the plant because I don't see any others--no wonder they are so expensive! (There is a smaller one right under the big one.) The plant is huge and takes up a lot of space, and considering that you only get a couple of artichokes every two years I'd say that is a pretty small return. Oh well, it's been fun to watch, and I hope they'll taste good when they're ripe.