copycat jack

Jack wants to do everything his older sister does.

If she is playing with babies, he wants to play with babies.



If she is dancing he wants to dance. He even wants to put on a dancing dress, but we decided we'd just let him wear Dave's old superman cape instead.



For the most part, they really love each other. In a few more months it will be really fun to watch them play together.

Ana really wanted me to post this picture, too:

connections

I've had this post floating around my brain for a few days, and though its not quite ready yet, I just need to get Jack Bauer off of the top of my blog, no matter how awesome he is.

While at my parents this weekend, I started flipping through Letters by Majorie Pay Hinckley - a collection of letters she wrote over the years. She wrote about her struggles, her testimonies, everyday life, her little joys. She wrote to her husband, her children, and her family. These letters are treasured by her family, and now can be treasured by the world. I was touched.

I have been thinking for a while at how much communication has changed, even in my life. When I was about 12, I had a pen pal that lived in Ireland. We wrote back and forth for quite a while. I don't remember her name, or even much of what we wrote about, but for a small moment, I felt connected to someone half a world away.

In some ways, we are even more connected now. I can contact people around the world in minutes. I get updates of everyday moments of a lot of people, some of whom I had lost touch with before we "found" each other again. That is cool.

But there is something missing. Through all of the "stuff" we hear about all the people we know, we miss what they are really trying to say. With facebook and email and twitter and texting - all of this "surface communication" we lose the ability (or maybe just forget) to see past the surface to the soul of a person. How many of my "friends" could I call if I were really in trouble? Or just want to go out to the movie?

Sometimes I just want to sit back with a pen and paper and write a letter. It is a lost art. And I think its leaving a gap. We are connected, and that is cool. But part of me would leave it behind for a stack of letters, yellowing with age and tied with twine, from people who knew my soul. That is what it means to be connected.

Quick Thought

Just in case you were wondering.

Also, there has been some progress on med school applications. Things are looking up this year!!

tonight's pasttime of choice

While we were on our trip to Northern Idaho last month, we went into Barnes and Noble and splurged on some new reading material. Among others, Dave chose Malcolm Gladwell's new book Outliers and I chose the classic book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. (Dave and I both enjoy reading, but we choose to read very different books.) We both finished reading them tonight. I will say that Dave thoroughly enjoyed his book, which is a book about what makes successful people different from the rest of us normal people, both in their environment/opportunities and their habits and behaviors. I'll let him go into it more, if he so chooses.

I read (or was supposed to have read, or read half of) The Scarlet Letter in high school. I didn't remember a single thing from it, other than the actual scarlet letter itself. It was mostly narrative, it challenged my reading comprehension, and I really enjoyed it. It made me think about sin and how we view others. In the concluding chapter the author states, "in the view of Infinite Purity, we are all sinners alike." While reading this statement, I remember a conversation I had in college with a friend about sin. We were discussing the scripture, "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). It was the first time I really understood that verse. The Scarlet Letter shows how we view others when we know the mistakes they have made and how we scorn people for their "sins" and love others who have hidden these same sins from view. But even the most righteous among us will come up wanting in the end. We cannot hide our mistakes and those that try live in greater anguish than those who admit their mistakes, learn from them, and move on.

whats for dinner?

The other day we ventured into a thrift store here in town looking for a specific book. We not only came away with that book, but a quick and easy betty crocker cookbook in really good shape, 5 books for the kids and a skirt for Ana - for under $5.

Tonight I tried a recipe out of the cookbook and it was a hit. I rarely follow recipes exactly, and I was pleased with my adjustments. In case anyone is interested, here's the recipe, with my subs in parentheses.

2 cups uncooked corkscrew pasta (bowties)

while pasta is cooking, cook:
1 package sliced mushrooms (i used frozen whole green beans instead and it was yummy!)
6 medium green onions, chopped (i just sprinkled in some dried onion flakes)
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped (1/8 t. garlic powder)
in 1 T oil until veggies are tender (2-3 minutes)

stir in:
3 oz. sliced proscuitto ham or fully cooked (deli) ham, cut into fine strips
1 T fresh chopped fresh basil or 1/2 t. dried basil
2 t chopped fresh or 1/4 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. salt
1/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese. (I used italian blend shredded cheese and I used more because I really like cheese.)

stir in pasta and 1 more T oil and toss.

Yum!

little things make me smile

Ana's bedroom windowsill:

I set the picture of Jesus there because I haven't gotten around to hanging pictures up on the walls.

That wedding picture usually sits on our entry way table.

I think Ana found a better place for it.

you know those days when you just feel... bluh...

I've been having one of those weeks. Almost all week last week (and most of the week before that) I felt really down. Maybe its partly the cold shift in the weather. I always get blue in the winter and its been windy and cloudy on and off the last couple weeks. I am so not ready for summer to be over.

But anyway, Dave and I had a good long talk about stuff the other night and I feel a little better. I'm gonna set some goals and make sure I have "me" time every morning. I'm hoping this week will get better. On the top of my to do list for today:

get my kitchen sink unplugged. (that's at the very top of my list. Do you know how gross it is to wash dishes by hand when the water won't drain?)
clean out my bedroom, which hasn't really been done since we moved in.
do some laundry.

Also I get to teach the 9/10 year-olds in primary now. When we moved into this ward I told Dave I really wanted to teach primary, and I kind of set out to do it. (Is that bad?) Mostly, I just volunteered to substitute, and I did for the chorister the very next week and a primary class a couple weeks later. So, naturally I am really excited for it. I thought I was going to teach the sunbeams, which also would have been cool, but I'm excited to be able to teach the older kids.

why

Ana is in the "why" phase.

What are you doing, Mommy?
Washing the dishes.
Why are you washing the dishes?
Cuz they are dirty.
Why are they dirty?
Because we ate off them.
Why are they dirty cuz we ate off them?

Or driving in the car:

Why did you stop Mommy?
Because there was a stop light.
Why is there a stop light?
To keep us safe.
Why to keep us safe?
So that cars don't bump into each other.
Why so cars don't bump into each other?

...

I don't want to squash the inquisitive nature of my little girl, so usually by the 3rd "why" I try to answer with a question like, "what do you think?" This usually stops it for a little while.

But, man, its not my favorite phase.

my baby is not a baby

Jack seems so big to me lately. The other day we were at the park and I was watching him walk around and climb up on the toys and stuff and I couldn't believe it. I see little babies and I think "wow, my baby is big." He and Ana play together happily, for the most part, and he is so sweet to her. Yesterday she was crying in time-out and he brought her favorite blankie to her. (Even though she got a time out for pushing him over.) My baby is a toddler.

five-k

I ran a 5k (about 3 miles) today. Our stake did a fun run because our stake president challenged to youth to beat him in a 10k for a cash reward. So there was a 5k run or walk, and a 10k run. I've been running the last few weeks but I had only worked up to about 2 miles, so I wasn't sure if I could run the whole way. But I did it. Hooray! I averaged a 12 minute mile (so slow!) but I was happy to have finished.