Thankful Thursday

- I'm thankful for listening ears. I've kind of had a sub-par week. I'm grateful for the friends who've let me talk through some things. I'm not all the way back to good, but I'm closer. Talking has definitely helped.

-I'm thankful that Pat refilled the tires on my stroller so I can hit the pavement tomorrow. I've missed walking with the occasional jog thrown in over the past few days. I need to keep my momentum going with the whole weight loss thing.

-I'm thankful Sam is not deathly ill. I was trying to think of something good about the diarrhea, something I've been grateful for along the way. The diapers, the ointment, really nothing was doing it for me. But then I realized he could be much much worse. A little perspective goes a long way. I'm hoping Mr. Poopy Pants will soon be a distant memory.

-I'm thankful for my car. It's been a year since we bought it, and I haven't had one complaint. I've enjoyed our seating for 7 a few times. I'm grateful we could plan ahead and buy a car we could grow into. I'm grateful it's under warranty. I love how nice it is when I clean it out (a task on my to-do list currently) and get it washed. I'm grateful that car loans are a lot shorter than mortgages.

-I'm thankful for one less calling. We got a new visiting teaching coordinator called. This is my last month doing assignments and the report and I am so excited.

Thanks to Tib for the banner.

P.S - A Little TMI

Not that you want to know, but Sam's tummy still hasn't recovered. What I thought was gone had only gotten slightly thicker, but was back today in all it's stank and watery glory. Day 6 of diarrhea has been survived. Let's hope for no day 7. I called the dr today and they said at day 10 they'd need to see us. Let's really hope for no day 10. Poop stinks. Literally.

Summer Highlights

Summer used to be my favorite time of year. Over the past few years I've gained more of an appreciation for all seasons (except maybe winter from January through March), but summer still holds a special place in my heart. I'm going to assist one of my fabulous friends in throwing a summer solstice party, as suggested in this month's Real Simple mag. If I wasn't lazy, I'd look for a link for you, but if you're interested I'm sure you can find it easily. Heck, most of you probably subscribe, and if you don't, you should. It's one of the only magazines I've chosen to keep as I've pared down recently. But back to summer. There are many things to love. My upcoming birthday (although technically still spring, summer starts less than a week later, so I always consider it a summer birthday), my anniversary, Pat's birthday. A desire to be outside and do the nostalgic and simple things that build memories- picnics, hikes, star gazing, outdoor movies, gardening. And then there's the food. Oh, summer food, how I love thee. Corn on the cob, watermelon, homemade ice cream, BLT's with fresh tomatoes, and everything on the grill. I know I recently shared a recipe, but I was in the mood for another. Beef kebabs have always been one of my favorite meals. It was always what I requested for my birthday dinner growing up. Here's the marinade I grew up on and serve my fam. Enjoy!

Beef Kebab Marinade

¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup soy sauce
2 T ketchup
½ tsp garlic powder
1 T white vinegar
¼ tsp pepper

Marinate at least 2 hours, although I usually put the steak (cut into cubes) in the marinade in the morning. Over-marinating will make meat a little chewy, so you'll have to find the perfect timing for you. On the meat skewers, I alternate onion in between the meat. Then I do separate skewers of vegetables- peppers, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, pineapple, whatever you enjoy. Delish!

Mish-mash

A smattering of the latest since I haven't updated for a while...

-After I had a tummy bug last week which I thought was caused by something I ate, I passed it to Sam. Finally today he's on the mend after 3 days of diarrhea, adding a little barf to the first day. I'm so glad we're done with that! He's finally eating again and back to his happy self- both great signs.
-I stepped on the scale this morning and I've lost 4 pounds! Hooray! I've started to try to increase my efforts to get healthier so we can do a little more family planning. I have hopefully 15 more to go (20 if I'm feeling really ambitious and a little vain), but I'm quite pleased that my small efforts the past little while have showed some progress!
-I'm as always, a little stressed about enrichment. We're having our first big activity next month- a summer picnic. I'm sure it will be great, and I have a million ideas in my head, but still no enrichment leader, so I'm hoping that key piece falls into place (maybe even with a committee- fingers crossed) and then I'll have a lot more help!
-I'm headed to a Memorial Day shin-dig this afternoon with Pat's family. I'm bringing pulled pork. It turned out extremely well- probably the best it ever has, and I can't wait to eat in a few hours.
-All soil has been purchased to concoct "Mel's mix" for our square foot garden boxes. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have everything planted. I realize it seems late, but that is part of the beauty of square foot gardening- a continual harvest, so I'm hoping everything will turn out as it's supposed to.

Happy Memorial Day! It's always nice to think about family members who served our country, as well as those serving right now. What a blessing we have to live here. Hope you're enjoying time with family and friends today.

Pork Love

Last night we had a marathon meeting accompanied by dinner prepared by one of the counselors. She is vegan, and she made delicious vegan fare- a soup with pasta and lentils and vegetables, a salad, and bread. Everything was divine, but I still know that I could never give up meat. Chicken, fish, beef, and pork, I love it all. I'm in the middle of prep work for tomorrow night's kick-off of our cooking Enrichment group. We're doing a kick-off to barbecue season and I think it will be fantastic. I thought I'd share a recipe we'll be sampling tomorrow night. I got this recipe for traditional Carolina-style pulled pork from my Aunt, and we've been in love ever since. It takes some prep work, but it's perfect for a summer bbq, perhaps Memorial Day on Monday? (when we'll definitely be enjoying it again!).

Carolina-Style Pulled Pork

Pork Rub

2 T Kosher salt (not iodized)
2 T sugar
2 T brown sugar
2 T ground cumin
2 T chili powder
2 T cracked pepper
1 T cayenne pepper
4 T paprika
2 T ground sage

Makes 1 cup. Blend all ingredients. Rub on pork butt (also called Boston butt)- I usually can cover two 5 to 7 -lb roasts with this amount. Prepare grill with hickory chips that have been soaked. We use a gas grill and put the chips in a little foil basket on one side, then place the meat on the other side so it gets indirect heat (only heat on low on the side with the chips). If using charcoal, toss 1 cup of the wood chips on the coals. You'll need to add 10 to 12 fresh coals to each side every hour and toss more wood chips on the fresh coals; add about 1/2 cup per side every time you replenish the coals. Grill (smoke) pork for 3 hours, then cover a roasting pan with foil, put the pork in, cover the pan with more foil and put the lid on, and place in a slow oven overnight. I usually set my oven around 180 and it is in for about 12 hours. Shred the pork, removing any fat that hasn't melted off. Serve with the following sauce.

Traditional North Carolina Vinegar Sauce
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup cider vinegar
1 T brown sugar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. cracked black pepper

Makes 2 cups. Place in a bottle with a small neck that will allow you to shake it out a little at a time.

You can also serve with bbq sauce, if you'd prefer. I love mine in sandwich form with coleslaw on top. Pat prefers a pile of meat with the vinegar sauce. Definitely pull out all the stops and make potato salad and corn puddin'. Delish!

Sunday Surprises

Surprises are always fun, right? Especially when they come in the calling variety, right? Pat got called to be the Elders' Quorum Secretary today. The President talked to him at the beginning of Sacrament Meeting. I rushed out from conducting Relief Society so I could be there when he was set apart. The RS President's husband also just got called to the presidency. I'm really excited for him, but we're going to be pretty busy around here! I'm off to the races again this week. Our new cooking enrichment group has it's launch this week on Thursday- a kick-off to bbq season with a meat tutorial from a butcher and then a discussion of marinades and rubs along with making rubs for everyone to take home. Plus we have our first huge marathon presidency meeting- 3 hours on Tuesday night! Plus I have visiting teaching appointments this week. And a smattering of other things on the calendar. We went and visited two sisters today who recently had babies. Being with them reminded me how grateful I am to have this calling. I know that you love those you serve. I'm grateful to serve such a wide audience right now and grow to know them and love them.

Thankful Thursday

Thanks again, Tib.

1. I'm thankful for a comfortable home. There are things that drive me crazy. There are things I hopefully will change down the road. But overall, I feel happy in my house. And I'm grateful we saved and were able to purchase a home we could grow into. As much as I can complain about it some days, I really am blessed to live where I do. And quick access to things like family, friends, freeway, and Target, are a definite added bonus!

2. I'm grateful for my heightened awareness of needing to be better. Sometimes I'm just floating through life oblivious to the many ways I need to improve. Lately it seems to be slapping me in the face on a regular basis. But it's a good thing. I need to criticize less. And build up more. And work on being "happy, kind, and gentle with all" as I'm instructed in my patriarchal blessing. When I mention that part to friends, they always burst out laughing. That's actually a bad sign, I think. It means I have a long way to go. But improvement is possible- a great blessing in my life.

3. I'm grateful for my kids. Sam is kicking things up a notch lately. I feel like personality is just seeping out of every pore. He is a ham. And a dare devil. And giving me big open mouth kisses when I ask him where his mouth is. And he's walking everywhere. And climbing my piano, my computer desk, the playground apparatus up to the top of the slides at the park, and just about anything else he can think to climb. Addie is my cuddle-queen. In the past couple of weeks I've been able to coax her back into napping some with the promise of "cuddly naps". This pretty much involves us both taking naps and getting soaking-wet-sweaty because she's so in my space that she wakes up thinking she's had an accident she's so wet. I tried to sneak out on her one day last week to "use my time," but after her nap she came out sobbing "you weren't supposed to leave me." I felt terrible. Instead I'm enjoying a little extra rest with my baby girl who won't want to rest with me before long. I'm treasuring all the cuddle time I can get these days. It will be gone before I know it.

4. I'm grateful for a patient, good husband. He's agreed to help me build garden boxes this weekend so we can jump on the square foot gardening band wagon- one I've been wanting to jump on for a few years. I'm so excited! He's also really stepped up on the occasions when he's walked in the door from work and I've walked out to go to meetings. Out of all the people who raise their hands to sustain you when you get a calling, your spouse's hand means the most, I think. I'm grateful for his help.

5. I'm grateful for good friends. Friends who teach me new skills. Friends who show me awesome things like this. Friends who provide advice when I ask for it. Friends who listen when I want them to. Friends who waste a whole day with me and it feels like no time has passed. Friends who swap parenting techniques and recipes and favorite eateries and decorating tips. Life is so much more pleasant when we're surrounded with people to enjoy the journey with.

Smart Radio Plus a Little Activism

So, a few weeks ago Pat was working late, I was up puttering around and doing some cleaning, when I finally got on the computer and wanted to try out the cool new thing I'd been hearing about. In case you're a little behind the times like me, it's called Pandora radio, and it's totally awesome. You type in the name of an artist or a song you like, and it builds a radio station with similar artists/songs. It's called the music genome project, so it's like building a family tree with music- totally ingenious in my book. You can give feedback as you go about whether you like the song they're playing or not. I played with it for at least an hour and was totally in love. My computer is in my kitchen area, and I was already planning ahead all the times I could spend cooking and changing my tunes on the computer based on what I was in the mood for.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I received an email from Pandora letting me know that based on government mumbo jumbo, they may have to shut down. But if you don't want them to close their doors, you can call or email your congressman. And then ask them to support the Brownback Internet Radio Equality amendment that will be considered in the Judiciary Committee this Thursday. For a little background, this amendment sets webcasting royalties at the same level as those paid by satellite radio, which would compensate musicians fairly and allow web radio to survive. For more info on the bill, please visit: www.savenetradio.org. This Thursday, people! As in tomorrow. Send off an email tonight or first thing in the morning. I sent my email off to Senator Hatch. I hope he got it. In the mean time, check out Pandora while you still can!

Wedding Recaps

It seems like weddings come in spurts. I don't have a steady stream of friends getting married, instead they all get married within the same time frame. Last summer I attended a wedding for one of my best friends from high school, and it was my only wedding of the summer. The last temple wedding I attended was a few years before. This past weekend was so fun to attend two temple weddings, and enjoy two days without the kids!

Friday we went to Logan and enjoyed the drive through the gorgeous canyon which had surprising amounts of snow remaining! It ended up being wet and kind of chilly, but the sun came out just as we were coming out of the temple. This wedding was for my high school friend Amber, and it was so fun to see her family in addition to her and her new husband! I love seeing all the details of weddings- the colors and how they're carried through in numerous details, etc. Amber used greens that were just beautiful in her invitations, her flowers, and even cute little green favors of paper with seeds in it so we can plant the paper and enjoy some wildflowers! We were able to stay for the dinner after the sealing, but then raced back to pick up our kids.

Saturday was a wedding for Alison, one of my college roommates, in SLC. She and Zach are just perfect for each other, and their day couldn't have been more ideal. The weather was great, and Alison looked beautiful in the awesome dress her mom made! Her colors were a deep purple along with spring green and some white, and everything was lovely. Her flowers were done by one of her friends who also happens to be one of three florists employed by the church, and they were phenomenal. This girl does all the flowers for conference, funerals, and other church events. It was so fun to see some of our other friends from college and meet other friends I'd heard about! I talked her florist/friend's ear off during the dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

I love attending sealings and being reminded of the awesome covenants I have made. Weddings are just such a beautiful thing!

Mother's Day, Part II

Although I had dreaded speaking today, it actually was a blessing to be able to reflect on and learn more about the role I hold so dear! I have a million and one quotes I could share, but I was drawn to a particular thought that I closed my talk with. I thought a lot about the words of Queen Esther during my preparation. I feel like there are a few things I’ve accomplished so far in my life that I’m pretty proud of. I hope that after a lifetime of living, there will be many more things I may add to the list of things I’ve worked hard at and been successful at. But regardless of education, hours of service, callings held, instruments played, I know that the years I’m in right now are some of the most important, if not THE most important of my entire life. Regardless of anything else, I wonder as Mordecai wondered of Esther, “Who knowest whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” This is my time to enjoy the blessings and growth that comes through motherhood. Although motherhood is an eternal role, the crucial years with my kids is right now. It's overwhelming and scary and wonderful all rolled into one. Out of all the things I may do in my life, who knows whether I've come to earth for just this opportunity- the chance to be at home and raise my children? I pray that I can do my kids right. Heavenly Father has trusted them in my care. This is my chance to prove to Him and to them that I can be trusted.

Mother's Day, Part I

Addie, January 2005, 5 weeks old

As addressed to mother's of young children:

“These are golden years for you. These are years you will probably do the most important work of your lives. Don’t wish away your years of caring for small children. Life is what happens to you while you are making other plans. This is a time of great opportunity for you to build the kingdom. When you teach children to love their Heavenly Father, you have done one of the greatest things you will ever do.”

-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful it's Thursday because it means I'm only about 3 days away from my two weeks of stress being over! Thanks again to Tib for the banner.

1. I'm thankful for a good husband. Last night all the stress/overload of the past few weeks came to a head, and I cried it all out. Pat was there the whole time, and when I offered to go to the couch so my sobs wouldn't keep him up, he just held me tighter until I was done. And then he called this morning to see how I was doing. And when I talked to him tonight he suggested we grab a bite to eat and take it to the park to let the kids play. It was just what the doctor ordered. I'm grateful he's in tune with my needs.

2. I'm grateful for support of friends and family. Monday's party was a success, but it wouldn't have been without Pat's dad coming to help us landscape over the past few weeks. Or his mom coming to help me shred pork for the pork tacos. Or my sister-in-law making the lime bundt cakes so I had one less thing on my list. Or my friend Candis for pulling out her event-planning skills and helping to decorate and pull together all the details. I feel like in the current stage of my life I don't have tons of friends as I have in days gone by, but the ones I have are high quality. I am thankful for a support system.

3. I'm thankful for my new calling. As overwhelmed as I've been, I keep recalling parts of the blessings we received while being set apart, and I know we are all where we're supposed to be. I have never been in a presidency without experiencing tremendous amounts of growth and blessings, even though it's hard. I'm grateful to know that I'm in for a lot of hard work, but a lot of growth.

4. I'm grateful for my beautiful kids. Part of last night's breakdown included my annual feeling like I'm not a good mom cry. The responsibilities are so great. It's a hard job. It's a task I rarely feel equal to. As I've been reading to prepare for my talk this Sunday, I've almost felt worse realizing all the ways I'm "failing." But in my heart I know that I don't have to be perfect to be a good mom. And I know that if I'm trying the Lord will magnify my efforts. And I'm blessed to know that my kids still love me even when I think I'm not doing a good job. And Addie tells me she loves me. And Sam hugs me. That's all I need.

5. I'm grateful that our backyard is so close to being done, or at least as done as it may get this year. It looks so nice! I actually want to spend time there. Seeing the slew of kids running around Monday night reminded me that all the hard work was worth it. Kids need a place to just run around. The world is a beautiful place, and we can create our own beautiful places in the world. What a blessing!

6. I'm grateful for the opportunity to attend two sealings this weekend. To see two sweet friends begin on this beautiful journey to an eternal family. To remember my own sealing almost 6 years ago, and to be in the temple with my eternal companion. To feel the peace that will most assuredly be there.

Cinco de Mayo+2 days

Sorry it's taken me a while to get to my Cinco de Mayo post, but I was busy Monday, and I spent most of yesterday recovering! We threw a Cinco de Mayo/going away party for some friends of ours along with a crowd of people from the ward. We had about 30 friends here, and it turned out great! The food was delish, the decor was perfect (thanks Candis), the pinata was a hit, the red carnations on the tables livened things up, and the company couldn't be beat. I'll post a couple of recipes soon from the night- totally delish.

I'm off to start another busy day. I have not been sleeping well thinking about all of the details I've got going on. We had another presidency meeting last night and I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed right now. I can't believe it's already Wednesday!!!

Being a Home MAKER

Today the lesson I taught in Relief Society was on being a home MAKER, not a homemaker, and how we contribute to the atmosphere in our home. We talked about the qualities of the temple and how we can work to make our homes have more of those qualities. We talked about the Lord's blueprints for house building with this as the foundation for our homes, and these qualities to be contained in our homes. Our homes should be beautiful, inviting, inspiring places to be. I found some fantastic quotes, especially a few great resources of old women's conference talks by Truman and Ann Madsen. This was one of my faves.

"All the things we say, the prayers we offer, the blessings that are given, the feelings we experience- both good and bad- accumulate in our homes and are felt by those who come there. We add something to the sum each day. That's a sobering thought."
-Truman Madsen, "House of Glory, House of Light, House of Love"

It is a sobering thought! I think I'm going to be much more mindful of the atmosphere I'm creating in my home. I am making it. Every day. It's an awesome responsibility. And an awesome privilege. This quote will also help me focus on the end goal.

"In the latter days there will be a people so pure in Mount Zion, with a house established in the tops of the mountains, that God will manifest himself, not only in their temple . . . but when they retire to their [homes], behold each [home] will be lighted up by the glory of God, a pillar of flaming fire by night."
-Orson Pratt as quoted by Truman Madsen, "House of Glory, House of Light, House of Love"

It was a good lesson with a lot of discussion. After Relief Society, one of the most unapproachable sisters came up to me and gave one of the sweetest and most sincere compliments I've ever received. She told me "I am just in awe of you. Your well is overflowing." Even now, typing that hours after she said it, I'm full of emotion. My well IS overflowing. Overflowing with the blessings of the gospel. With testimony. With love. And I am so blessed.

[temple picture found here- I think I may need this one for my house!]

Do you hear it?

That huge sigh of relief? I've survived the busiest patch, I think. This week will still be busy, but I think I've made it through over half of the agenda items I'd posted about which is a great feeling! As the bishop said to me today when he realized I was holding down the Relief Society fort, "we knew you could do it- strap it on and plow through." That's pretty much how it's been, but I've felt uplifted and strengthened by those around me, and it's been nice to feel so much support. Some things just don't happen (like the Enrichment activity yesterday- I just didn't make it), and I've had to let it go- something I'm working on. Our backyard is starting to shape up some after a busy day of planting yesterday- hooray! My lesson today went well- hopefully a post on that to come.

Today was a total comedy of errors, I must say. In my best efforts to make today go more smoothly, we made sure to get the kids bathed last night, lay out clothes, etc. to make things easier today for Pat to get them ready. When I was getting ready this morning, Sam found Addie's shampoo and started squirting it all over my bathroom floor and himself. Pat scooped him up to get him cleaned up, and Addie came in and promptly slipped on the shampoo mess. I consoled her, got ready, and headed to PEC. Upon return, Addie was having a meltdown because I forgot to do her hair before I left. I quickly threw it in a bun and then headed back to the church to pass out visiting teaching assignments. Pat and the kids showed up, and even more fun began. Sam broke my beaded bracelet during the sacrament, so I was busy retrieving beads and hoping the deacons wouldn't fall on them because we sit on the back pew. Addie was laying on the floor reading a book when she suddenly stood up and announced she'd had an accident all over the carpet in the chapel. I whisked her out of the meeting into the mother's room so we could change into emergency panties we stash in the diaper bag, remove wet clothes, and take her home without getting her car seat covered in pee. I got her cleaned up and we returned to church to find Pat and Sam in the lobby. Sam's pants were wet, but his diaper was dry, which meant he'd probably sat in Addie's mess which I'd gotten the best I could with a spare burp cloth from the diaper bag. I'd brought back a wet rag with me so I could clean the carpet discreetly as people filed out of the chapel. We arrived at gospel principles, and Pat had to excuse himself just as class was starting, so I was left to start class- pretty much reading verbatim the intro to the lesson as Sam spilled his tub of teddy grahams all over the floor. After much chair climbing and one poopy diaper, we made it through and I was off to Relief Society to conduct and teach. It's been a marathon day. Church felt more like 12 hours today instead of 3. But in spite of all the crazy parenting moments today, I still came home feeling uplifted. Amazing how that happens.

I'm hoping to post again tonight- I've got to make up for lost time!

Plowing Through

I haven't been commenting much, if at all, on blogs. I'm sorry. I'm trying to keep up with reading, and that's barely happening. I'll breathe one huge sigh of relief after Monday, and another one after next Sunday. I need to get back to working on my lesson, but wanted to wish you all a happy weekend, hopefully filled with family time, good weather, and relaxation. Soak up my share since I probably won't get much of any of those things. ;)