Life Via Quotes to My Missionary

 I grew up in a home where being funny was valued as a desirable trait.   I tried really hard to be funny when I was young, but at some point had to admit that quick wit that requires the ability to think on your feet is completely and totally beyond the scope of how my brain works.   Self-deprecatory sarcasm is usually about where my humor efforts land these days--like "Oh, yeah.  I can totally win a karaoke contest.  Just sign me up and I'm there."  It's total hogwash, but relies on the other person knowing I'm a terrible singer to even be slightly funny.   And because there isn't actually any wit involved, it's not actually funny at all.  And some people might actually believe me and think I'm just a really confident singer and if I'm not careful I'll be asked to be the primary music leader or something.

  But, I digress.       

Recently I came across a few of my old blogposts and was reminded of the fact that  I'm not quite as unfunny in writing as I am in person.   Don't get me wrong.   I fully know that 99.3% of the posts on this blog are about as boring as the footnotes of a textbook on ferns, but, I do have written evidence that I have  occasionally posted mildly funny content.    

Here are a couple that made me laugh... (10 commandments of a teenage boy,  princesses don't toot, three versions of how to pack, helpful advice) 

But, I still claim no real wittiness, even in writing.    Really, it's all about the kids.   Kids make life funny and the only kids left in my life are living 2000+ miles away from me, therefore I continue on blogging like an out of work botanist.  Not that I'm calling all botanists boring, but maybe some.       

So, you all know my style well enough to know that I'm not really into writing long essays on any topic, so I must be  leading this blogpost to be about something from our lives and you're right.   Today you get the privilege of reading about our lives via some direct quotes from a recent letter I sent  to my sweet missionary. I didn't really start off trying to be funny, but I do admit to feeling slightly off-kilter that night.   Long Sundays will do that to me! Vote in the comments if you have a favorite quote and whether you think I should always blog in an off-kilter state of mind or if I should stick with   blogging only when I’m well rested and feeling sedate (which would be never). 

      
QUOTE 1: 
" I am writing this letter to you today under the influence of not eating since breakfast, spending 13 hours at church (a typical Sunday of late), then stuffing myself silly at 8pm with a lunchmeat sandwich and previously frozen brownies.

DINNER OF CHAMPIONS!!!!! 💣

Do you want me to send you the recipe? Of course you do. It was fantastic and you'll probably want to make it every day.

INGREDIENTS:
lunchmeat
cheese
mayo
sauerkraut
bread (if you're me then make it gluten free)

brownies, broken into bite size pieces (frozen for at least 3 weeks)

DIRECTIONS:
Slather it all together (brownie bites intermingled with sandwich bites) and eat within 2 minutes 37 seconds.
ENJOY!


Next time I make it, I'll take a picture, so you can see how it all comes together." 


QUOTE 2:   
Oh look at that! We had a ward party on Tuesday night. 


There are cute guys in this picture that I would totally set you and Hermana B. up with....just say the word in 7ish months or so...


Sorry...that's the lack of sleep talking....you can forget I even said anything.

You'll never guess what I was in charge of for the party.

I'll give you three guesses....

1. teaching everyone the macarena?

NO!

2. bull fighting?

Good guess, but no.

3. karaoke leader?

Heaven help us all....that would be a big fat NO to the heck no!


I guess I'll just tell you and you can stop wondering.

I was in charge of making gluten free versions of all the Thanksgiving food.

Shocker, I know.

I made rolls using an expensive mix that were meh. Totally not worth what I paid for the ingredients....


But the apple pie...

It may look hideously hideous, but the taste was perfecto! 😋 Go ahead and lick the screen now. "


QUOTE 3: 
"CAN YOU GUESS WHAT THIS PICTURE IS?

It's the tea set we got Emma for her birthday. She decided that she wanted to keep working on her Britishness, so she's brushing up on her British accent and is holding a daily tea party for the entire YSA branch. 5am every day. For Christmas I'm sending her scones and clotted cream. 

 {Note:  This was meant to be the aforementioned sarcastic humor of which is my specialty, but then my own son asked if this were a true statement, thereby confirming the fact that my humor is actually rather humorless.} 

Speaking of your sister....here she is with her friends at the Boston Temple...probably pretending to be British if I had to guess. I hear she asked for the British translation of her temple session..."



QUOTE 4: Adam, on the other hand, is working on his peanut butter game. He got invited to a peanut butter party and sampled one of everything...Can you guess what he and {his girlfriend} made? HINT: It was my recipe and they borrowed my pie pan for the occasion. 



QUOTE 5: Oh, I have some life advice to give you now. Very serious life advice, which you should probably write in your journal and tell ALL of your friends. Whatever you do, DO NOT GO TO TRADER JOES ON AN EMPTY STOMACH!!!!! It's a problem. Perhaps not the worst problem ever, but a problem nonetheless. 




QUOTE 6:  "The other night, I brought Nutella uncrustables to our friend, J., for her 20th birthday. Lest you think me the randomest birthday treat giver ever, I'll remind you that J. is the one whose Mom grew up in Minnesota and her family now lives in Cami's ward, so I had sent a little text to her Mom and got her suggestions. She was actually quite excited!" 


QUOTE 7: We also went to the temple this week and had an awesome turn-out. Notice who's NOT in this picture? YOUR PADRE!!! Why didn't he come to this beautiful night at the temple? Was he too busy at work? Yes, but he was going to come anyway. Did he bruise his tailbone wrestling with Kiwi? Good guess, but NO! He was all ready to walk out the door and realized that he'd let his temple recommend expire. So Bishop G. didn't come to the temple because his recommend was expired. oops.

Okay, back to cute guys. I would give you and Hermana B the thumbs' up on any guy in this picture. CUTE AND RIGHTEOUS GUYS THAT LIKE TO GO TO THE TEMPLE! What could be better than that?! Absolutely nothing, but there I go again."

QUOTE 8: I'll close off with one more picture of a few of our ward members....


Can you tell this is kind of our lives right now? We had church activities Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.   This was taken at institute on Thursday night. If you weren't in the habit of going to institute before your mission, I highly recommend it when you get home. It's a night to be spiritually and physically fed AND you get to hang out with friends. It is awesome. And lots of cute guys."  

THE CONCLUSION:  

This blog would probably be a lot more entertaining if I blogged only after spending 13 hours at church and after gobbling down  food for dinner with minimal nutritive value.   Though, perhaps it's best for the people who love me, if I keep things more sedate.   

Also...my poor missionary!  I felt kind of bad the next day after talking about guys so many times.  That is not normal for me.  But at least I wrote a letter, so I'll pat myself on the back for that.     

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!    

The Junk Drawer Analogy

You know that random junk drawer everyone has somewhere in their house?  It's a bit of a catch-all for those things you don't know what to do with.  I just peeked into ours and found a couple of rulers, electric tape, command hooks, a pair of kids' scissors, a random protein powder scoop, a tube of chapstick, random screws, a pair of pliers, some glue, a couple of screwdrivers, a few rubber bands, and not one, but two tape measures....plus a few more random items I can't remember.  

I was just thinking that this blog is pretty much like that junk drawer there.   It's got a bit of everything from cute pictures of my littles, random vents, updates from when Spence was sick, my goofy attempts at humor, reflections bordering on serious, and  mostly just a bunch of  really, really mundane glimpses at the day-to-day of our lives. 

There was a time {a long, long time ago}, I thought I could widen my blog audience and turn it into an income stream.   I talked to someone about what it would take and they said that successful blogs have a "brand"...or a certain air that keeps people coming back.   I thought about what my brand would be and  quickly realized that a monetized blog was not what I wanted. I didn't have any desire to be beholden to any audience.  I just wanted to post whatever strikes my fancy on any given day.  Now I realize that the junk drawer style of this blog is my brand and it's also a pretty accurate reflection on the state of my brain on any given day.  

Sooooooooooooooooooooo....get ready for the randomest assortment of happenings from my least favorite month of the year...junk drawer style!  

I gave blood last week.   I made sure I was well-hydrated and it went super smoothly.  Easy peasy. Spencer had a gazillion blood transfusions during his treatment for leukemia, so I try to donate regularly, especially every January, which is the month he was diagnosed in 13 years ago.   It's a small thing, but it is a meaningful way for me to feel like I'm giving back. 

I tried to channel my inner Ellie and  decorated a friend from PA's  door for her birthday...

I also got a chance to talk with Emma L. a bit and it was great to see her!

Afterward, I had a very exciting appointment to get my yearly mammogram done.   Once again, I have been called back for further imaging.   It's an every-other-year tradition for me. 😑

Last week, I met a new friend, A., who was staying with my Mom.  She was in town for a singles' conference and her car rental had a bit of a snafu, so I drove her where she needed to be for a day or so.  She is a political refugee from Russia and her story is fascinating.   It was great to meet her!   

On Saturday, we had a Thai cooking party at our house with Heather and my Mom.  Heather had gotten a bee in her bonnet that she wanted to try to make authentic Thai food, so she got all of her ingredients from an Asian store and we made recipes that purported to be authentic. 

Emma made massaman curry...

 

 

Heather made tom kha gai soup....

Glen and Adam made chicken pad thai.

I made mango sticky rice....

Then  we ate a delicious Thai feast!  

It was all soooooooooooo  good and I ate way too much! 

I tried adding ube to my rice to make it purple, but it ended up being a weird off-color instead.   Luckily it still tasted good!    All in all...a delicious and authentic-ish meal!

After our Thai feast, Emma had a birthday party to go to that had the theme of "dress like you're going anywhere other than a birthday party", so I offered her my pink overalls and plaid shirt for the occasion. 

She looked pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself! 

Alright, alright.   We've covered food, medical imaging, donating blood, a birthday delivery, a cute farmer girl birthday outfit, and making a new friend.   Is that enough topics for you yet?   Or should we keep rummaging through the junk drawer I call my brain and see what else I can find?   

Since I can't see or hear you, I'll just assume you can't wait for more.   So, here you go....

Ellie hits one month on her mission (as of tomorrow) and is doing great.  She seems very happy, though she seems to forget that she's not in California yet and keeps wearing short-sleeves, despite it being freakishly cold right now.

 Okay.  I'm getting to the bottom of the drawer now.   Only a couple more things left. 

One of my sisters recently sent out a text on our sisters' chat and encouraged everyone to send a selfie of whatever they were doing right then.  We may look a little scary, but...no worries...we were just preparing dinner.    I knew you'd be scared if I didn't clarify.  Haha!

Speaking of a little scary...Glen is applying for a new passport and looks a little intimidating in his passport photo.   

But, it's good that he applied, because we just bought plane tickets for our next trip!   It's a destination that's been on our bucket list for a long time and we are excited!   

And that's it. 

There are a few more crumbs I could dig out, but this is getting pretty long now and  I need to save some more junk for the next blogpost.   Thanks for reading along!    

Have a beautiful day!  💗

Fourth Time Around

They say that the more you do something, the easier it gets, but I'm here to say that that is definitely not true when it comes to sending missionaries out into the world for 18-24 months!   We are on our fourth time around and perhaps the actual process of getting them physically ready is a bit easier, but certainly not emotionally.    And when I say, "emotionally," I'm not talking about her.  This girl was as ready as they come.  As with all of our other missionaries, she was very independent with the whole process of applying and submitting her papers.   With her epilepsy, she had a lot more hiccups and hurdles along the way than our other missionaries, but she navigated them with poise, patience, and independence.   By the time it was time to drop her off at the MTC (on New Year's Eve), she was excited and ready.  

Me, not so much.   With her being my baby AND having an ongoing health issue, it felt like an even bigger leap of faith to send her out into the world, than with her older siblings.   Having said that though, we couldn't be prouder of her decision to serve a mission.  We do not pressure our children to serve whatsoever.   They grew up knowing that Glen's mission meant the world to him and they certainly know they come from a legacy of missionary service (5 of my siblings, 1 of Glen's,  my parents, and many great-aunts, uncles, and great-grandparents), but we felt strongly that the decision to serve their own missions had to stem solely from them.   It's been a beautiful thing for us, as parents, to watch them as they've prayed, pondered, and ultimately made the decision to step away from their schooling and social lives to serve the Lord completely on their own.  

I'll be honest, it was a really hard goodbye for me, but I wouldn't have it any other way.     

I'm glad she is where she is and I know she's going to change lives!  💓

Snow in May and Other Such Happenings

I mentioned that my birthday marked the beginning of a short quiet stretch of time with fewer things on my schedule.   Alas, it was a pretty short-lived stretch, but it was rejuvenating nonetheless 

Here is a little glimpse at that gloriously quiet stretch...

 First off, the weather got really springy and lovely after several days of rain the previous week and it made me really, really happy.    I went on lots of walks OUTSIDE, though I'm still keeping my mileage a little on the low side for the sake of my sore foot, though I think it's getting better.   Hallelujah!  

I spent a day with my friend Sarah G.,  who came to town from Santa Fe, NM for BYU Women's Conference.   Mount Timpanogas Temple is closed currently, so we went to the one in Saratoga Springs.   It was my first time doing a session there, since it only opened a few months ago. 

After eating pretty poorly for a few weeks (while the boys were here, while we traveled, and while we celebrated two birthdays), I'm FINALLY back to eating in a way that makes me feel better.   Lots of nutritionally dense whole foods with minimal added sugar is what my body seems to crave and now I just need to keep it up!

I FINALLY got a long weekend with Glen at home.   Between his trip to Colorado, his work retreat, and his normal weeks in Saint George, I was really really missing him.  I can't wait for him to be home full-time again soon!   

We went to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point on that Friday.  The weather that day and Saturday was exceedingly lovely and we enjoyed spending some time together outside.  

Then on May 6th we woke up to this....

Yes, it snowed in May...and not just once, but a few days in a row.    Don't ask me how I felt about it, because I might start swearing.   Or crying.  Beautiful blossoms, like the ones on our tree in front of our house, are not supposed to be covered in snow.  Ever.   It's wrong.   Winter needs to go back to where it came from...like the North Pole. Or Outer Darkness.   Or wherever besides here. 

The good news is is that that same day it was not actually snowing in Provo, so we decided to take a walk while Glen's truck was getting its oil changed.    It was still quite cold, but the Provo River Trail up by the Provo Airport is exceedingly lovely and we enjoyed the change of scenery from our normal walking locales.  

We heard tons of birds, though we couldn't see very many of them, because of the tree cover.   I love the Merlin app that "listens" and tells you what birds are currently singing!   We tried really hard to capture glimpses of some of those yellow birds...next time we need to bring binoculars! 

I love walking along the Provo River

And though the trail is closed in one spot and we got a little muddy trying to figure out how to get around the closed section...

We very much loved having the water right there and all the trees.   It totally had the vibes of not being in Utah (besides how cold it was) and I rather liked it.  

And this cute pig family we came across was quite adorable.  Glen may or may not have even petted a pig before continuing onward...

Then we went back home to more snow falling.  Of course, it didn't stick, but I was still grumpy about it.   May is a good time for spring to stick around for a while. 

So that was our exciting week that wasn't actually all that exciting, but kicked off some bigger things coming soon...

Stay tuned!