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!