Last Post of 2009

Tuesday night Adam, Keilani, Justin, and I saw The Princess and the Frog. I liked it, though I was thinking that I can't see any of the songs being the next big Disney hit, as much as I enjoyed the jazz music. My favorite character was Ray, the firefly.

Yesterday we took family photos at the mall, and I must say, I like them! Our last family photo was taken over two years ago by a friend, and I did not like it. Unfortunately, my in-laws used it as their Christmas card. These ones came out really nice. We had photos taken of the entire family, all the kids, Mom and Dad, Adam and Keilani, me and Justin, and just Jessica. We got to keep a 10x13 and 4x6 family photo and 5 4x6 photos of me and Justin. Our photo is not my favorite, but it's still nice and the only nice one we have of us recently.

Today we spent hours watching "American Ninja Warrior." (Justin and I used to watch "Ninja Warrior" all the time in Utah. We do not get the channel in Arizona.) I recognized one guy from my stake. Unfortunately, he didn't make it all the way.

We went out to dinner at Tony Roma's. I haven't been there since I was like 10 or something. It wasn't as good as I remembered. Justin and I both agree that Goodwood in Orem is better. Now half the family is at Gramma's making donuts and playing games for New Year's while I'm here with Dad and Jessica, who are now both asleep.

I can't believe 2009 is over. It doesn't feel like a whole year has passed, and yet so much has happened this year that seems forever ago.

Family Fun

Sunday was the most fun day! Justin gave a talk in church about gratitude, and he did a great job. He hates public speaking, but that's what he gets when his dad is branch president. After church, everyone went to Gramma's for lunch and cake before the Larkins left for home. The rest of the day we spent time together talking and having fun. I played Primary songs on the piano (right hand only, of course), while Keilani and Krysta sang or guessed the song. Actually, Mom guessed most of them! We three girls and Justin and Adam played Spoons, a game I haven't played in years. We used to play it all the time at Girls' Camp. Justin won the first round. The second round Keilani got out first, but I let her play for me and she ended up winning! Then Gramma, Aunty Linn, and Mom joined us for Fact or Crap. Justin won by a lot. At home, Justin and I watched the movie about President Hinckley before bed. It was very cute and inspiring!

Yesterday I felt horrible, so I stayed in bed until 11. Mom made delicious homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch and Kahlua pork for dinner. In between were just movies (including watching Lilo & Stitch all the way through for the first time; it was ok) and Facebook and word search puzzles. Pretty much today is a repeat. I hate feeling yucky and tired.

Christmas

On the 23rd, we ate the corn bread (see previous post) and went out to dinner at Koreana, everyone's favorite Korean restaurant. Afterward, Adam, Justin, Jordan, and I watched Lion King 1 1/2. Such a funny movie! A family (the woman who did our wedding invitations) came over caroling and gave us really yummy cookies.

On the 24th, Mom made breakfast, and Justin, Jordan, and I watched Brother Bear. It was better than I remembered. Justin loves it because of the Canadian moose brothers. After the movie, I helped Mom and Aunty Laura wrap presents and then baked with Mom while the boys shoveled snow. They do so much baking here: chocolate-covered peanuts, sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses, Christmas hollies, sandies, chocolate balls, white-chocolate-covered popcorn, and divinity. We had bratwurst (first time for me--they were really fatty but very tasty!) at Gramma's. At home, we all watched an uplifting movie called The Christmas Shoes, during which the elders doorbell ditched us leaving cookies. The Larkins--Aunty Laura's family--and Keilani opened their Christmas pajamas before bed.

On Christmas day, Keilani woke us up at about 7. Everyone opened up presents at the same time, so it was a madhouse! Justin got candy and hot sauce in his stocking, a golf course GPS, and a pull-up bar from Mom and Dad and golf balls from Adam. I got candy and a little bottle of maple syrup in my stocking, a big jug of maple syrup (I hate the fake stuff but we can't afford the real stuff), a book binder/laminator, a cricut, and eucalyptus spearmint shampoo and conditioner from Mom and Dad. They also got us a framed set of the U.S. state quarters.

Then we headed to Gramma's for Uncle Kerry's omelets and more presents. Gramma gave Justin a bear ornament and me a pig one and both of us matching Aeropostale t-shirts and money. I also got a pig candy dispenser that oinks. Aunty Linn and Uncle Lee gave us cookies and the George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine. Uncle Kevin and his family gave us money. The Larkins also gave us money, the amount being such a huge blessing that I was at first completely speechless and then broke down in tears.

The rest of the day was spent in nonstop eating and hanging out. I read the December Ensign and tried taking several small naps. I was so tired and had a headache all day! Later we visited Justin's grandpa, who gave us a restaurant gift card. Afterward we went to a short, simple wedding and then ended the day with Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Today I just chilled; I slept in really late because I didn't sleep very well last night, or all week for that matter. I got to talk to the Lyles family and my grandma. Justin, Keilani, and I saw the Chipmunk Squeakquel; it was really cute. Theodore and Eleanor are my favorite. It's been a pretty laid back day recovering from Christmas.

For more photos, click here and here.

Corn Bread

This morning Gramma made the corn bread in four easy steps:

1. Mix some flour, salt, and red kidney beans.

2. Add boiling hot water.

3. Form the dough into a cake.

4. Boil for an hour.

It is so good! It has the consistency of tamales and the taste of grits. Apparently non-Oneida people (ok, specifically white people) don't really care for it because it's bland (although even Justin's family slathers it with butter and salt; then again, they do that to everything!). I think it tastes great plain or with a little butter. So much time and work to make corn bread from scratch, but definitely worth it!

Surprise!

We decided to surprise Justin's family for Christmas. At first no one but his aunt had any clue what was going on. But after some complications, the word spread to his grandma and uncle, and we told his mom we were coming out a week later than we really were. We flew out Sunday morning, and his aunt and uncle picked us up and took us to Gramma's house, where everyone congregates on Sunday (and almost every day, for that matter). The look on his mom's face was priceless. His dad came later, and that was even funnier.

Monday we went to Gramma's again and played with the Wii, a first for me. I'm not really into video games, but it was fun and I got to spend time with family members I rarely see. Then we went outside to sled. It was so much fun to be in the snow again! The weather here is not bad yet; it's similar to Utah's winter weather right now. I did have to bundle up a lot, though, and it reminded me of A Christmas Story, as much as I hate that movie. Even so, I still managed to get snow down my shirt by sledding forward on my tummy.

Today we went shopping (because everyone else procrastinated, jk) and then back to Gramma's. We helped her with the second stage of making white corn bread from scratch, and I mean from scratch! It's a three-day process: 1) partially boil dried corn kernels, 2) grind the corn and sift the flour, and 3) cook the bread. It's hard work but fun. I love Justin's heritage!

We had an early Christmas before we left for Wisconsin so we wouldn't have to pack presents. I got Justin a camera tripod so he can record and analyze his golf swing, the movies Elf and Invincible, a $5 gift card to Jack-in-the-box, and a weekly planner. He got me eucalyptus spearmint hand cream and hand soap from Bath & Body Works (I never believed in aromatherapy until I smelled eucalyptus spearmint! mmmmmmm), the dress I wrote about two posts ago, and a hair straightener. So far this Christmas has been great!

For more photos, click here.

Christmas Newsletter

Here is our Christmas newsletter! (Click on it for a larger image.) Update on our trip to Wisconsin coming soon. Have a very Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas Activities

A little update on what we've been doing in December:

1. We went to the mall a couple weeks ago, and I got an early Christmas present. There was this dress at Romy that I'd been eyeing for months. My mother-in-law offered to buy it for me last month, but I turned her down since it wasn't a need and she had already helped us out so much. When Justin and I went, I decided to see if the dress was still there to show Justin something I wanted for Christmas. It was on sale for $7.99! Definitely a tender mercy. Of course, I bought it.


We also saw these cute puppies spooning together! Awwww! And I got my engagement ring fixed for free. We went to that same jewelry repair shop a few weeks ago and got completely ignored. I decided we should try again. I asked the guy how much it would cost to get my ring fixed: it's had a loose prong for a long time. Another jewelry store had told me $15 and a week. This guy took it from me and got it fixed in a few minutes for free! Another tender mercy.


2. Our ward had a Christmas party last Saturday. We had a huge potluck dinner with lots of great food that went fast. Our bishop compared and contrasted Santa and Christ, the Primary kids sang some songs that few people listened to (I was a little upset), and then we left when Santa was coming. During the dinner, we sat by a family that is investigating the Church. They are moving, so I hope they like their new ward and get baptized.

3. The next day our stake had a community Christmas concert at the stake center. I was unaware of how they selected the musicians, because if I had known of auditions or requests, I would have done a flute duet or something. It was a beautiful, reverent concert. It made me miss the huge one my home stake does every year at the Escondido Center for the Arts. I did a flute trio for that when I was 17.

4. On Monday we saw the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple for FHE. It was wonderful!

We went inside the Visitor's Center and watched a short video of Christ's birth, saw an International Nativity Display, and watched all the new Church commercials. The nativity scenes were so ornate! There is such talent and beauty in every culture.

For more pictures, click here.

New Calling

Yesterday was my first day as Nursery Coordinator, and let me tell you, it's a lot more work than you think! We have to:

• find parents of crying and stinky kids (biggest challenge for me since I've been in Primary the past year and don't know anyone!)
• buy and prepare snacks
• wash sippy cups
• clean the toys (every ward takes turns, and guess whose turn it was yesterday afternoon for almost two hours? and that was with the teachers' help!)
• set up the rooms with tables and chairs
• put everything away after church
• make copies for and give supplies to teachers
• find substitutes
• update the roll lists (we have just as much turnover as a BYU ward)
• assign kids to classes
• help out teachers in any way needed

I will be busy, busy, busy every Sunday for two hours. The other coordinator, Primary first counselor, and I are meeting Wednesday morning to organize everything. And we're hoping for a third coordinator.

I don't mind this new calling at all, but I must admit that I am disappointed that I still won't be going to Sunday School or Relief Society for who knows how long.

I have now realized the real world is not BYU. At BYU I had multiple opportunites for spiritual involvement and personal development: devotionals, religion classes, service activities, religious literature and media everywhere, lots of ward and stake activities, etc. The environment is clean and uplifting, and the people are happy and strong.

Now I am basically on my own. I don't even have church to fall back on anymore for adult interaction. I didn't realize how important they were to my spirituality until they were taken away. This realization has motivated me to start doing visiting teaching again, to start my unsuccessful Mormon Light blog, and to be better about FHE, personal scripture study, and temple attendance. But I really can't wait to attend those meetings again!

Jewelry

There is something innate in a woman that draws her to beautiful jewelry. I especially love necklaces. I have a lot of plain and low-cut tops that could use some adornment, and I think I have a pretty neck (is that a weird thing to say?). I also like earrings, although my ears aren't pierced. (I want them to be, but it's not at the top of my priority list.) Rings are gorgeous, as long as there are not too many and they are not really big. The only jewelry I don't like to wear is bracelets, because they dangle uncomfortably on my wrist since my wrist is small.

The jewelry below is from an Etsy shop for which my friend is doing another giveaway. What I love about her reviews and giveaways is that I don't have to search for all this lovely jewelry. Although not everything she likes is my taste, some or at least one thing from the shop is. Here's what I like from New Fashioned Whispers:

Another reason why I like her giveaways is that blogging about them reveals my tastes and personality to my readers, who hopefully will someday include my posterity. Thanks, Ashley, for sharing great stuff on your blog!

Goodbye, Sunbeams

Yesterday was our last day teaching Sunbeams. We found out right before going to Primary. Justin's new calling is Deacon's Quorum Advisor, and I am now a nursery coordinator (not sure what that is--something about bringing the snacks). I don't know if this means I will be in nursery or if I will get to go to Sunday School and Relief Society. I'll let you know when I call to find out! Our ward isn't very good about preparing you for callings; they kind of just throw you to the lions, like they did that fateful Sunday they called us to teach Sunbeams.

Anyway, here are some funny things our kids have said and done throughout the year:

1. Jacob, the most innocent-minded kid, showed me a small circle on the paper he was coloring and said, "Look! He has a penis!"
2. Another time he walked into class and I asked him how he was doing. He replied very seriously, "Yesterday I had diarrhea." I laughed, which surprised him, so I made a straight face and told him I was glad he was feeling better.
3. Early in the year Jacob grabbed a girl's hand and said they were going to be best friends. Then a couple weeks ago he did the same thing to a boy. I was surprised that particular boy let him!
4. Charly, the little girl whose hand Jacob grabbed, was the Little Miss Perfect/tattletale in our class. One Sunday we took a walk down the halls to the foyer. Some boys climbed on the couches and she said, "You're not supposed to put your shoes on the couch!"
5. Another day, out of nowhere, Charly boastingly said to me, "My dad is stronger than your-- [pause as she looked at Justin] than him!"
6. Benson was the shy, very quiet boy in the class. One Sunday his mom helped me out since Justin was sick, and I sent her a thank-you card in the mail. She later told me Benson carried it around the house with him all that day! I think he had a crush on me. haha.
7. Parker is the craziest handful, but extremely funny. He likes to eat his boogers and tell us to eat them too. He always smacks himself, falls off his chair, and hurts himself in some way. He also is very opinionated. He was sitting on Justin's lap one day and felt his beard stubble. "Ouch! That's sharp. Next week I don't want sharp!" The next week he felt my chin: "Is this one sharp? Nope, not sharp!"
8. Just yesterday, William lost his tooth in the middle of Primary. I gave it to his mother, who took him away for a while to make sure he was ok. He came back and sat down looking really sad. "Are you ok?" I asked him. He gave me the most defeated look and said, "I have to go to the doctor."
9. Sam is the one with a halo held up by devil horns. He can be sweet and reverent one second and bratty and rebellious the next. Last week I had the scriptures hidden under Justin's coat and I asked the kids to guess what was hidden. Sam shouted out, "Skateboards!" I answered no and gave a clue: "It's kinda hard." "Oh!" Sam shouted again. "Then it's a coconut!" I tried one last time: "It's something you read." Sam got it. "The scriptures!"
10. The other Sunbeam class has a really cute girl, who, when asked what kind of mom she wants to be, said, "A doctor!"

There have been 7 other kids in our class throughout this year, for a total of 13 kids we've taught (the most being 10 at once; we ended with 9), but I can't remember anything funny they said. I will miss them all--their sweet smiles, energy, excitement, and eagerness to pray and help out. But I definitely won't miss all the crankiness, brattiness, and hyperness!

Rotten Luck

Today I tried having another yard sale. I had two customers, one who bought laundry detergent for $5 (a dollar short of covering the cost of poster paper and price stickers) and one who was looking for something specific.

I tried my best. Our ward is against any soliciting of any kind, so I could not spread the word to the women. And the location of my house is terrible. My neighbor (the second customer) informed me she saw some people drive by the front. I didn't think of putting a sign there because all the traffic is in the back, where the yard sale is set up. I put a sign saying to go to the back, but no one else came. Only one family was out walking, and although they passed by twice, they didn't come look. Plus the weather was freezing! It was beautiful the entire week except for today--of course.

I'm going to keep some items, donate others, and try to sell the rest on Craigslist. Wish me better luck!

Oops!

I went to the campus computer lab with Justin this morning and received a phone call, which I did not answer. I listened to the voicemail a few minutes later: it was my manager calling me asking why I wasn't at work. Oops! I wrote down last week's schedule! I ran all the way home, in boots, and rushed to work. I ended up being over an hour late. My manager wasn't mad and she was nice enough to let me make up the hour I missed, for which I was very grateful, not only because I need the hours, but also because I had a long list of things to do!

Thanksgiving

For this Thanksgiving, my family drove to our house. They came in early Thursday morning. My little sister helped me cook everything while Mom made the turkey. Justin invited his golf buddy over, so in all there were 7 of us, probably our smallest gathering since we were little. We stuffed ourselves silly, actually being able to eat together at the table since the Lyles (my brother's family) weren't there. Then we did our family tradition (the Turkey Wobble), played Loaded Questions (thanks, Francine!) and died laughing, ate pumpkin pie and pineapple, and watched Night at the Museum. It was a relatively quiet but very fun Thanksgiving.

The next day I had work, so my family just chilled while Justin did homework. That evening we posted yard sale signs, walking for a total of an hour. I took my mom to Goodwill and then we came home to eat leftovers and watch Enchanted. My mother also got Justin to finally put up some pictures, and a shelf the next day! I found the ballroom one for $15 at Goodwill months ago. We bought the shelf at IKEA in May and I decided to put all our Japanese stuff on it. There are other things we put up, but I didn't take a picture of them all.


Saturday morning we attempted a garage sale, but the very windy, chilly weather and my lack of proper advertising made us cancel it after an hour. I am trying again this Saturday if the weather permits. We put up the tree while Justin and Stevie played Stratego, a treat for Justin since I refuse to play. Then we made turkey soup and muffins while the boys played Risk. After dinner we exchanged Christmas gifts. My mom got Justin two golf books and me shirts, jewelry, stationery, and 3 more things to put around the house. Then came the goodbyes. As much as my family drives me crazy, I cried when they left.