A shout out for Recipes!!!!! AND a Husband Tag

First of all I hope that you have all been having a Merry Christmas! We sure have. Once again I have camera troubles--I forgot to bring the cable to upload my pics onto the laptop. So you'll just have to hold your horses and wait for pictures. ;)

Second of all: We are starting an EASY recipe blog. The easier the better, although I will personally be adding a few that are "moderately easy"......eventually. One of my personal New Year's Resolutions is to get the family eating healthier. But that won't happen unless the meals are easy. :) I'm talking EASY--like "five to ten minutes and I'm all done recipes". Or even "five to ten minute prep and then I can walk away while it cooks" recipes. We will accept easy dessert recipes too, after all, what is life without dessert??? If you would like to glean from the blog feel free to do so! Click HERE. It is just getting started, and we need recipes! Please leave me a comment and let me know if you would like to contribute.

Third of all: Just a quick update on what the kids are doing. William started pretending that he was a cat, a cow, a horse, and a sheep today. He got down on his hands and knees and said the animal's sound. That was cute. :) I made some rice as part of dinner tonight (it was easy, tasty, and fast---Uncle Ben's). Ellie didn't like the rice, however. I offered her a bite and she said something like, "I don't want any. It's too expensive." I thought that was funny. She knows that expensive="not good". I also like how when I ask her if she likes an idea I have, such as, "Ellie let's eat and then we'll read a story. How would that be?" And she responds, "Perfect."

Last of all (but not least), Lori (Nate's cousin and our friend :) tagged me. So here goes:

Husband Tag:

1) Where did you meet? A better question would be: "Where didn't you meet?" I first saw Nate in our Eastern View, English class. I was looking over the class for "marriage material" and I saw Nate. Although I thought he was a farmer (because he was wearing plaid), he was the only one who fit the basic requirements for "marriage material" :). I saw him next in my astronomy class and I thought to myself, "Is that the same kid??" I thought that I would wait until English the next time to make sure it was him, and it was. Then I had this feeling that I should talk to him--it was actually a Spiritual feeling. And so I worked up the courage and did it. It turned out well. :) I always have felt pretty comfortable with Nate. Like he was a long lost old friend. Then I saw him in my ward family home evening group. This was really surprising because he didn't even go to our ward. He went home on weekends, but he lived in the same house as the guys in our FHE group. I think I said something to the effect of, "It's you again!" or "You're everywhere!" when I first saw him at FHE. Then for Astronomy we had a lab. I was hoping that Nate was taking the lab portion of the class also, and that he would carpool with me. I liked him, but I also get lost easily and I didn't want to be lost alone. :) I was relieved when I asked him and that he seemed fine with the idea. So to finally get to the point: We meet all over the place. I think Someone was trying to tell me something.

2)Our first date: Was lunch at Godfather's pizza. We had hung out a lot and my friend Sheri kept asking me, "When is he going to ask you on a DATE!?!?!" And so finally we went to one at Godfathers. We still love their buffet. :)

3)How long did you date before your were married? We "officially" dated for five to six months before Nate asked me to marry him the first time. (I thought I was ready for the question but I wasn't and he gave me more time :). Then we started looking at rings online a few months later. And he asked me again at the end of October I think. (I wasn't paying attention to time and place back then ;) Then we were married in March. We had known each other for over a year before we got married.

4)How long have you been hitched for? Five years on March 6, 2009.

5)Favorite feature: He has too many. I would have to say personality, although he is rather dashing....

6)Favorite quality: He is very kind and gentle.

7)His nickname for me: Mer.

8)His favorite color: RED.

9)His favorite sport: PING PONG. He LOVES ping pong. Basketball is a close second. Ah the time he devotes to those two things......

10)Who said I love you first: I'm pretty sure he did.

11)When and where was your first kiss: Under a flowering plum tree in front of the house he was living in, in Cedar. It was just beginning to blossom I think. Neither of us had been kissed, so it was interesting. :) We have only kissed each other.

12)Favorite couple thing to do: Go out to eat at interesting, but affordable places. Curled up together reading a book. Talking together. Playing parchisi.

13)Hidden talent: Some of you probably know this, but I'm sure some of you don't: Nate is really good at playing the guitar and writing his own music. I love to listen to him play the guitar---that should also be listed under question 12. Nate is also really good with kids. One of the best Sharing Times EVER was a puppet show put on by Nate.

14) His favorite music: INSTRUMENTAL GUITAR! His most favorite artist has been previously mentioned: Joe Satriani.

15) What I admire most about him: He is patient and loving. He always sees my positive traits. He has faith in my continuing growth.

16)His favorite pastimes: PING PONG, listening to music, fantasy basketball, playing basketball, and watching basketball. AND, of course, hanging out with me and the kids. :)

17)Will he read this. Yep. I'm sure I'll show him and look to see how he reacts. :)

18) I tag whoever has been itching to fill it out since reading my most intriguing answers. :D

Lawsuit

You know that Coldplay song, Viva la Vida? My favorite musician--Joe Satriani--is suing Coldplay for plagiarizing it. It's funny because most of you know Coldplay and have never heard of Joe Satriani. I've own pretty much everything in Satriani's catalogue, including the song in question If I Could Fly. I honestly don't think I had even heard the Coldplay song until I saw a youtube video accusing them of copying it.

Joe says he wants to preserve the integrity of his art, and protect something he holds dear. He tried every alternative to a lawsuit, but Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. After the lawsuit was filed, Coldplay decided to say something. Here is their public statement:
"With the greatest possible respect to Joe Satriani, we have now unfortunately found it necessary to respond publicly to his allegations. If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him. Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write or have any influence on the song Viva La Vida. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavours. Coldplay."

I think the suit will either end in a settlement or Joe will win. The songs are just too similar. Joe is a musical mastermind. He would not have brought the suit if he didn't think he would win it. Did Coldplay really copy Joe's song? I don't know. Youtube is full of videos arguing the point back and forth.

Here's what's really weird. Earlier this year, some unknown band posted a video accusing Coldplay of stealing Viva la Vida from them. Their video immediately smelled like a hoax to me (don't ask me what a hoax smells like). It just seemed like that band was trying to get their moment of fame by pretending to have written a hit song. The court basically agreed with me as their suit was thrown out for a failure to prove their allegations. Anyway, here are some videos:

Music Theory Analysis
(Part Two)
Song Samples
A Lawyer and Musicologist Weigh In

Bedtime for Bozos

So, we were all pretty dang tired by the time we went to bed last night. Meridy was trying to put William to bed, but soon he wandered out of the room and came and said "hi" to me. Then he went and played with some toy. After a few minutes a tired, groggy Meridy came out and angrily plopped down on a chair next to me. "He didn't headbutt you. He was supposed to come headbutt you." Apparently Will had been headbutting her, so she told him to go headbutt Daddy. I guess he hasn't learned the word "headbutt" yet. Lucky for me.

Then I plopped down on the couch to read some scriptures. I was having a hard time keeping my head up and focusing on the words. When I finally managed to read a couple verses, this is what I was told, and yes, it came to me as direct instructions from heaven above:
I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which
I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.
Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have
said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your
minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again.

"Look Kid, you can't handle this right now. Go to sleep and come back tomorrow."

What do Lincoln Hawk and I have in common?

Over the Top
This was the best video that came up when I typed in "finals" on youtube. Yah, it pretty much sums up how I feel now. I took my last final of the semester at 6:00 tonight. Who's up for some holidays?

Happy, Happy Brithday Ellie Dear!!

Today is Ellie's birthday (Dec 11). Nate has two finals today and was gone all day. So we had a birthday party for her on Tuesday.

I blew up most of a balloon package and had them hanging out on the floor. I let the kids play with those for awhile. Nate stuck half of them to the ceiling. Then we played Duck, Duck, Goose. Ellie was excited for that game but when we actually started playing, Ellie decided that she didn't like the chasing part of the game. She thought it was fun to watch everyone else run, but she didn't want to run herself.

Then we played Hide and Seek. Everyone loved that game. I hid behind the bathroom door and it took them forever to find me. I found this hilarious at the time.

Nate hid under our desk and all the kids found him at once.


Then we played this crazy game that Nate made up. We all sat in a row and covered our faces. Then when our feet were touched we revealed our silly face and got our picture taken.

After that we played that game were one person draws the head, folds it over to hide the drawing, and then passes it on to the next, person to draw the body. Then you pass it on again and the last person draws the legs and feet. Here are some of the results:


Then Ellie opened a present from Nate and I. We gave her a Cinderella and a Belle doll. They are small and have rubber dresses they dress up in. It was fun to give her a toy that I would have enjoyed as a child. (She opened presents from Abigail and Annjilla when they arrived, but we neglected to take pictures of it. Sorry! But thank you for your gifts! We will enjoy them. And Cheryl, thanks for the card you sent! Ellie is excited to get an Ariel doll to go with Cinderella and Belle with what you sent her. ;))


Ellie wanted a strawberry cake. "Oh great." I thought. "How am I going to do that?" I decided to make two white round cakes and to do a layer of frosting and strawberry jam in the middle and then frosting on the top of course. I made the same kind of cream cheese frosting I make for cinnamon rolls. Therefore it was a little bit runny so I stuck it in the freezer for a few minutes and then in the fridge. Ellie wanted one strawberry on top. She ended up liking all of the little strawberry slices that I put on top. It wasn't until after I made it that I realized, duh!, I made a strawberry shortcake. ;) I was glad that it turned out so well for a first attempt.

We've had a fun time! Thanks everyone!

Hick Town at Home

So pretty much I feel like we are bringing home some "hick town" to our Las Vegas condo.......

As many of you know we have a very old TV. Some of you have gently told me it has passed it's allotted time here on this earth. This TV is perhaps the equivalent of 128.3 in people years. But hey, it's still going on pretty well for how old it is! Well, we have a some generous friends and family who have each offered us their old TVs. Their TVs may be old, but they are far newer than ours. :) We appreciate this. We just haven't gotten around to actually bring their offers into fruition. In fact, we ended up trying to bring my brother and sister in law's TV home with us, but it wouldn't fit in our car. What we did end up with was an extra TV that Cheryl had kicking around her attic above the garage. It fit in our car and we thought it might at least work better than the one that we have at the moment. We haven't actually decided yet, if that is the case. What I'm actually wondering is this: maybe it's the VCR that is causing some of the problems on the TV screen as well as the TV itself. The DVD might be broken as well. We can't get it to work on the old or new(ish) TV. I don't know for sure though about the new TV, because I can't turn it to channel three to test my hypothesis. I haven't been able to program the remote yet with all of these kids and projects about. Someday I may get it to channel three. This is starting to turn into a rambling sob story...ANWAY. We now have two very old TVs. The kids have been using the older one as a bench.

Well, I came home last night to Nate reading the kids a story with a backwoods accent. He claims he was doing this because he has a cold and it is easier to talk in a deep voice with a "hick" accent. Not only is he reading this book with a hick accent, the old TV is on the floor turned on and tuned in to static. He said that he couldn't get the new TV to work with the VCR anymore and he was trying to get it to work again on the old one. It wasn't happening. Let me just say, technical genious that I am, I was able to get it to work on the old TV on the floor. With all of this going on at once, I felt that I had brought a piece of hick town home with us. So pretty much, we now have two very old TVs. The one on the TV stand is turned off. And the old one on the floor, next to the stand, is the one we use.

Then later on last night we put on Spot or some similar show for Will. He was so excited. He grabbed is blanky, shouted "YAY!", and sat right up to the TV, with his nose two inches from the screen.

(NOW LET IT BE KNOWN: I love our little "hick" towns. I'm glad we have the opportunity to visit them often. We mean this term "hick" in a non-offensive and loving way. As Kermit the Frog says on Muppet Treasure Island, to the tribal boars, "We mean no harm to your culture. We embrace all creatures of differing nationalities...." Then the boar yells, "Silence!!" And they proceed with their elaborate introduction of Miss Piggy. Ah, what a great show....if I had it on tape, I might be watching it with the kids on the floor.)

Anecdotes and Thoughts

Just thought you would all like to know that Cheryl's candied yams are delicious! This is not an actual picture of hers, but they depict the same kind that she makes. (Unfortunately I left my camera with the picture of Cheryl's candied yams that I planned on posting at my mom's house. So there won't be any pictures coming for awhile.) I love those toasty marshmallows on the top! Thanks Cheryl (and everyone else who helped) for a very lovely all around Thanksgiving dinner! Thanks to both sides of the family for sharing a happy Thanksgiving with us! We enjoyed it greatly.

A few random anecdotes and thoughts:

Ellie asked me what her shirt said the other day. I told her that it stated, "Little Friends." The shirt depicts two birds on the same branch. She pointed to them and said something like, "Just like me and William." I was so happy that she thinks of Will as her friend, and told her so. Then she said something close to, "And just like mommy is my friend. And daddy is my friend." I promptly agreed with that. Then I thought to myself, "Wait a second.." I'm starting to think that Ellie thinks of us less as parental figures and more as these advisors who tell her what she should do, but in the end she'll do what she wants anyway. :) I might should start working on this.....

I learned a few days ago that one should not wear a black shirt when one's son has a cold. Not a pretty sight....

I learned in the past couple days that God is good (once again :)) and cares about me personally. I feel loved when He puts happy things/postive outlook reminders/humor in my way to help me overcome some saddness.

I learned (once again on this one also ;)) that I have a great husband who is encouraging, and who can be very thoughtful. Thanks Nate!

I'm remembering that Christmas Spirit doesn't always just seize you this time of year. Sometimes you have to foster it yourself, and take action.

Final Mayhem

Ooh.
That post title sounds like a cool video game. It was not a cool real life drama. I guess it didn't end up causing me any real grief, but it sure wasn't fun at the time.
What am I going on about? I had a Gift and Estate Tax final exam yesterday. It was a three hour final, and 2 hours into it the fire alarm started blaring. We were in there by ourselves, and we didn't really want to abandon our stuff. I was wishing I had grabbed some earplugs (they pass them out before the exam in case the typing gets too noisy for you) because the alarm really started to hurt my ears. Eventually they made us all leave the building. A fire engine even pulled up with firefighters in all their gear and glory. They let us back in within ten minutes of the fire engine's arrival.
I had to write the rest of my exam by hand because I saved my exam and exited the program before leaving my computer. Writing by hand was crappy.
Um...I guess that's my post...any questions?
ok then,
the end.