ODE TO TREE

When we first moved into this house, there was a beautiful, leafy tree in our front yard {See picture of our house on sidebar -->} . I liked having the shade, a pretty view, and a place to hang my bird feeder where I could watch it from the window. But strangely, that next summer, leaves on half of it decided not to grow. And another summer later: not a single leaf. Our tree was dead.

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It got to the point that every time a heavy windstorm ripped through this valley (not an uncommon occurrence around here), we had to move our vehicles from the driveway so falling branches wouldn't crush them. We finally saw that it was time to say farewell to our tree.

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Ironically, the same day it was cut down, we were dragging a Christmas tree into the living room. It was surprisingly sad to look out that window, to see...nothing. And we had big plans for that tree! Christmas lights were eventually going to be wrapped around the trunk. I was going to read in its shade over the summer. And I have no idea where to put this bird feeder now.

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But do you wanna hear the really sad part? We'll still have to rake leaves in the fall. Our neighbors across the street, have what I believe to be, the largest tree in the state of Idaho. And for some unknown reason, the leaves don't ever land in their yard. Every single blasted one, after dancing in the autumn breeze, lands softly on our lawn. Does anyone have a GIANT fan we can borrow?

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THOUGHT OF THE DAY

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Andrew and I attend church in the Hinckley building on campus. I found the quote below, on the door of a professor's office. It got me thinking about how polite society tends to encourage downplaying our personal strengths...especially when we're being recognized for them. For example, how many times have we been given a compliment only to argue with the giver over its validity? But after reading this quote, I'm pondering the art of balancing self efficacy with arrogant pride. It seems like such a fine line.

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“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

--Marianne Williamson
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I was curious about who Marianne Williamson is. After some research, I found she was a woman pastor of a "New Thought" church. Basically, she believed God to be a "force"-- a love that flows in and through everything--rather than an actual being. Also, Jesus Christ is not the literal Son of God or Savior of the world, but an enlightened teacher who was able to successfully tap into this "force". From what I could gather, they believe that prayer is more of a positive thinking thing then a talking-to-a-concrete-father-in-Heaven thing. They're also real big on natural healing through the mind. She has since moved on from this church to put her energy into a successful self-help book business.

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In Dec. 2003, Time Magazine is quoted as saying:

"Yoga, the Cabala, and Marianne Williamson have been taken
up by those seeking a relationship with God that is not strictly tethered to
Christianity."

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I think it's funny that TIME probably meant for a belief in God without obligation or accountability to sound like a positive indication. But doesn't that make it sound so...unsubstantial? Worldly? Ridiculous? I don't know. Basically, I've come to the conclusion that she's the epitome of a, "philosophies of men mingled with scripture," kind of thing. And with that said, I still like the quote. I guess, I just was hoping for your thoughts. I mean, I "play small" all the time around others, just because it's comfortable and safe. But is it necessarily right?

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SIGH.

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DINNER:

Peppermint Icecream and Brownies

Oh, don't look at me like that.

I'm an adult. I can eat whatever the heck I want.

And besides...it has been a BAD DAY.

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I miss Andrew.

Parent Teacher Conferences Thurday.

And a little disorder known as ADHD (not mine).

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TUESDAY NIGHT MEETINGS

7:38 p.m.

House to myself a couple more hours

pajama pants and cozy socks

hair pulled back in to pig tails

Sliced apples

Crunchy peanut butter

Quiet reading time

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Pandora for company

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8:45 p.m.
A date with Billy Blanks and my TV

(That's right. Don't want to mess with me in a dark alley.)

11:36 p.m.

Andrew's home!

Late-night snuggle and goodnight kiss

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Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

(That's Andrew snoring, by the way)

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QUESTION.

You are sitting in a restaurant with your spouse enjoying a night out. Suddenly, you both become aware of a table of young, single college girls sitting across the aisle from you. They are talking and laughing loudly about...let's just say...topics of a pornographic nature. It's becoming very distracting. Do you say something?

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BLACK OUT

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Back in December, southeast Idaho had a few significant power outages. The first one happened about 7 in the evening while we were relaxing on the living room floor.

*Andrew took this picture a few months ago.

At first, it was a fun adventure, pulling out our candles and peeking out of our windows at the black neighborhood. But after we found that we weren't getting cell phone service, and we didn't have an Internet connection either, I began to get kinda...nervous. It was an odd, lonely sort of feeling being disconnected from everything, sitting there in the dark. I knew that most likely, everything was going to be fine, and the power would return very soon. But what if it wasn't? Were we prepared?

We stayed distracted by curling ribbons on the Christmas presents for my students. We found that even this simple task to be frustrating though in the small glow of just a few candles. When that was finished, Andrew resorted to burning stuff, while I experimented with my camera in the unique lighting. But soon enough...we were bored. It was still too early to go to bed, so we decided instead, to take a drive.

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What a creepy sensation it was to drive by stores completely dark, still traffic lights, and cops closing up the Wal-Mart. There was an exceptionally stark contrast, because we had grown accustomed to Christmas lights twinkling on most stores and houses in town. Our first instinct was to check on the temple. Was it dark too? For some reason, the thought was unsettling. I haven't yet been able to formulate into words why that would be. However, my uneasiness about the power outage wasn't soothed, until we could look up and get a clear view of the temple still glowing on the hill. Backup generators we assume. I thought it interesting, that the entire population of Rexburg seemed to have the same idea. It took us ten whole minutes to turn left at the insignificant stop sign next to the temple. All we could see from up there were long lines of tail lights down where our little glowing city should have been.

*Also one of Andrew's pictures.

By the time we woke up for work the next morning, the power had returned and everything was back to normal. But this simple, silly experience got me reevaluating. If this had lasted for several days, or something truly serious or scary was causing it all, would we have been prepared? Also, it's kind of amazing how dependent we are on electricity for everything.

For example:

*It is the middle of winter in Rexburg, Idaho. If you weren't aware...it's cold here. Would we be able to stay warm? Would it be enough to remain bundled up in bed? We don't have a fireplace. Are there space heaters and such that don't require electricity?

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*What if we needed to buy something? The stores would be closed. If something was opened, I wouldn't be able to use my debit card, something I am heavily dependent on. I should probably have cash with me at all times just in case.

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*Would the gas stations be open? What if we needed to get somewhere far from here for safety sake? I try to keep my gas tank at least half full at all times in case of such an emergency...but if I was being honest, I've seen that little yellow warning light come on many a time before remembering to turn into the gas station.

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*As far as cooking goes, we would have been okay, because we have a little camping stove. But I found my mind going over the canned goods in our cold storage with a cringe. I couldn't bring myself to open the fridge for fear of letting the cold air out and allowing everything else to spoil over night. Plus, we were due for a shopping trip and in need of breads, milk, eggs, and boxed snacks. If the power outage had lasted another day, we may have been eating Spaghettios, croutons, and chow mien noodles for dinner. I'm being slightly facetious here, but without the help of an oven, fridge, or microwave, our options for a balanced meal were severely limited.

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*We have several candles and flashlights readily available. However, we found that this wasn't nearly enough light to read, play games, or cook for any significant amount of time. It just got frustrating. I found myself wishing we had a good lantern to light up an entire room with at once.

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* Did we have enough clean underwear and socks to last us for a week-long outage? The thought of scrubbing all our laundry by hand made me very grateful to be a woman living in the 21st century, let me tell you. Wouldn't you agree that the washing machine is a glorious invention?

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* I am most definitely not one to be labeled as a cell phone junkie. Quite honestly, I'm not a big fan at all of talking on the phone just for the sake of talking on the phone. But, being without it for an evening brought to my attention what a blessing all this technology is! We can stay connected with everyone no matter the distance. Without it, our family way out in Arizona...might as well be living in Narnia.

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Anyway, the whole thing just got me thinkin'...

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SECRET COMPARTMENT BOOK

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For Christmas, I made my lil' sis (also a book freak), a secret compartment book. It was really fun to make, and the final result looked great, so I wanted to share it with you all! First step: I bought this sturdy, old book from the local Deseret Industries thrift store for only a couple of dollars.

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Second: I separated the first ten pages or so from the rest with some plastic. I wanted there to be something to hide the compartment inside, even after opening the cover.

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Next: I made a mixture of about half Elmer's Glue-half water. Using a paintbrush, I brushed this on the outside edges of the pages of my closed book. It's supposed to seep in each page from that outside to glue them all together (minus those first few pages that you are keeping separate from the rest).

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As you can see from several pictures above, the moisture now caused the pages to curl and ripple. In order to keep the book from doing this permanently, we then tried several different things to keep the pages together and curl free while they dried.

heavy hanging plant on top? No good. wood clamps? made marks on the book cover. Andrew's muscular body? Perfect. That is, until he quickly got bored. So, we resorted to putting it under a heavy army chest in our bedroom for awhile. The result? Perfectly straight pages.

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After it was dry, I used a ruler and pencil to draw a line about an inch away from all four edges of the top page that had been glued together. This, and the holes we drilled in all four corners, helped to guide the razor blade, as we cut out the compartment. (I'll admit it felt slightly sacrilegious at first, to be defacing a book like this.) Cutting out those pages took some time, and Andrew and I had to keep taking turns because it was surprisingly tiring. (You can only cut a few pages out at a time.)

Then, I pulled out the glue mixture and brushed another layer on the outside edges and a layer on the inside edges we had just cut. After another drying stint under the army chest, I glued pretty paper at the bottom of the compartment (actually the inside back cover), embellished it with ric rac, and modge podged over everything.

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I also glued some pretty paper on the inside front cover just 'cause it looked nice...

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And Finally:Voila! A beautiful, personal, cost-effective Christmas gift that fits my sister's personality. Now she can use it to stash her cash, love notes, or to hide evidence of past crimes. No one would suspect that book to be full of anything

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If you're interested in such a project, you can find (better) directions like these all over the Internet. If you try it out, send me a picture. I wanna see! =)

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GABRIEL AND JOHN

After Christmas, Andrew's sister Gabriel, came to visit with her hubby John, and their two leading ladies: Riley and Laney. We played lots of games, watched lots of movies, and played lots in the new snow. (Here's a picture of my Progressive Rummy hand that will very soon kick every one's tushes.)

I'm guessing that Riley was feeling a little left out during this round. =)

Here's little Laney. She's pretty chill.

I swear, she looks like a china doll in this picture.

Outside our warm home, it looked like this:

So Andrew and I took Riley for a walk around the block to enjoy it. Little Miss Energizer Bunny didn't stop running the entire time. She was so excited. Most of the pictures from this excursion were of a cute blurry Riley backside. Here, she follows in her Uncle's footsteps.

Riley sure loves her Uncle Roo!

"Ha ha, Auntie Rachel! You can't keep up with me!"

No worries. I was content with my view from behind.

(How sweet is that? It would be sweeter if Riley would have let Andrew hold her hand, but NO...she is much too independent for such nonsense!)

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KYLAN'S WEDDING

This my cousin, Kylan. I recently posted about his mission homecoming, as some of you may remember. A couple months later, here I am posting about a wedding to his darling high school sweetheart, Karyn. Hooray for love!

This is the mother of the groom holding her granddaughter Ada, at the SLC temple. Picture in your mind the coolest person you know. Got it? Okay...Now, I'm sorry to tell you this, but my Aunt Joy here, is probably cooler than whoever you were just thinking about. She is who I want to be when I grow up.

I have made it a goal to get more pictures of my mom. She usually avoids them like the plague, so it's been a bit of a challenge. Outside waiting for the happy couple to come out from the temple, I got a few while she was distracted. I think candid shots are usually the best, anyway.

For a mother at the age of 50, it is my personal opinion that she's a total babe. Anyone know of any good, Mormon, single, rich(why not?) guys in search of a wife? She deserves it.

Amidst a swirling blizzard, the new Mr. and Mrs. Brown emerge!

Apparently, Kylan is famous for his bad luck. The weather was bad enough on a wedding day. But among other things, mechanical difficulties at the temple veil delayed the wedding by about 40 minutes (who has ever heard of such a thing??) and that morning, the lady making the cake collapsed into the cake and had to be taken to the hospital! A quick replacement cake had to found instead. They were good sports about it though. Just happy to be gettin' hitched, I suppose.

That night there was a formal dinner on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

We ate dinner surrounded by full length windows. They afforded a view of falling snow and downtown Salt Lake glowing beneath us. So beautiful!

While we were in Salt Lake, it happened to be our anniversary. To celebrate, we ate at a Chinese restaurant called The Mandarin. Yes, in case you were wondering...it was very romantic.

The restaurant was still decorated for Christmas. It's hard to see all the details in this picture, because the lighting was dim, but this place was fancy! The food wasn't so bad either (quite de-lish, actually). If you're ever in Bountiful, UT, go check it out!

That's all. =)

JACKSON, WYOMING

A couple days after X-mas, we drove Mom and Becca to Jackson, WY, for the day. The Tetons were sure majestic under that blanket of Christmas snow.

The drive was almost as fun as the destination. We read comics, rocked out to my new Taylor Swift CD, and were just plain goofy. Family is so fun. .
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And of course, I had to take some pictures. What a beautiful, sparkly drive it was! Click HERE for a few more of the trip through Jackson Pass.

For an updated family picture, we stopped on our way at the giant potato...again. Mostly I wanted to try out my new tripod. How did I ever live without one?

(Mom totally kicked Andrew in the head a second after this was taken. It was an accident of course...but sooo funny.)

Jackson is the best. Ever been? So quaint and touristy and artsy...and still so festively decorated for Christmas! Here is "take one" of Andrew and me in old town Jackson. (Andrew always needs a few practice shots first before he gets his sillies out.)

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I won't mention how many takes it required before we got this one.

Pretty Mommy.

Oh No. That giant stuffed polar bear in the middle of this department store is going to EAT us. FYI: We were lucky enough to escape unscathed.



Meanwhile, Andrew was distracted by wildlife of his own.



I was wondering why he was making such a goofy expression until I stood in the same spot, and suddenly, I understood. lol!
(Doesn't it look like he's smiling for the camera?)


I was in heaven, wandering through countless high-end art and photography galleries, outdoor sporting goods stores, and charming little book shops. But nothing compared to this glorious sight.



Now, I've been to Disneyland several times, and I'd say it's a pretty happy place. But, I don't think the guys in charge of slogans over there have ever been to this candy store.



Becca: wandering around the happiest place on earth packed wall to wall with every imaginable goody. I'll admit it. I have a sweet tooth...a really big one.



Guess what I discovered? Huckleberry Fudge. (They gave free samples of a whole parade of fudges.) Who even knew such an exalted sweet existed? This place was so magical, I just had to take lots of pictures.

The snow, the lights, the decorations, and the magic of Jackson sure made me miss Christmas. I love this picture! Nativity set, presents, ribbons, wreath, and stockings. And the TV's reflection shows our Christmas tree and the shape of a paper snowflake cut-out hanging in the window. Sigh. This'll have to hold me over til next year...