Levi Is Growing Up!

I really, really, really love being a mom. Levi loves having me as his mom, too, I think! He is growing and learning so quickly. It still amazes me how quickly I need to get bigger clothes for him, and that just a year ago all he could do (besides the standard cry, eat, poop, and sleep) was wave his hands around and smile sometimes. He couldn't turn over or even use his voice yet at that point.

Can you believe he was actually this little?

You may think that this is another mother's lament at how quickly her little baby is growing up, and how there's not enough time to soak it all in.

Well, it isn't.

Giving torn wrapping paper to Daddy

I *love* that Levi is growing up. I love watching him become somebody. Yes, he was super cute when all he could do was wave his hands around aimlessly and stare at lights, but I really didn't know who he was. When he was really little, I loved being able to supply his every need (or at least almost every need), but I longed to know the personality that was waiting for his little body and brain to develop enough to show it. Right now I know a little boy who is very curious, who is very tidy about some things (who'd think that a kid at this age would already want to give torn pieces of wrapping paper to a parent instead of throwing it on the floor?), who loves positive attention, new things, and anything that has moving parts, but he has so much more room to grow! What new qualities will he develop next?

I understand why some mothers feel like their child is growing up too quickly, and I don't fault them for it. However, I am so excited to see where Levi is going and who he's going to be. Isn't that the point of getting a body and living on this earth anyway? We grow and develop. I am a better person today than I was 10 years ago, and I can contribute to society, which a little baby can't do much of.

Levi has great potential. Where is it going to take him? What is he going to do with it? Who is he going to be?

I find joy in his journey. I find joy in seeing each new step that he takes to become the man I know he can be.

I wash my hands too much....

...at least for Utah winter dry-ness. Even though I put lotion on after almost every hand washing, my hands are still turning pink and getting dry patches. I do wash my hands more often than most people, though. Not only do I wash after using the restroom, I also wash my hands after Levi's diaper changes several times a day. And then if I wash the dishes (which should be done at least once a day), then my hands dry out even more.

So I guess I wash my hands just the right amount--I don't want to eliminate any of those hand washings, gross!--but the air is too dry for my hands. I guess I should put lotion on in between washings, too!

Levi makes funny noises

Levi recently discovered how to make fun and interesting noises by interrupting the air flow from his mouth with his hand. He is SO cute. Observe:

PS the mess in the background is all from Levi. You'd be surprised at how quickly a kid can get a room that messy, if he has enough "toys"!

Technology, Progress, and Keeping Up

When texting first became popular, I was a kind of opposite hipster: I was proud of not "needing" it to function socially; I was proud that I wasn't addicted to it; I was proud that I never struggled with texting in inappropriate situations because I avoided the temptation altogether.

Years later when I married the love of my life, I got a cell phone plan that included texting. I started using it more and more often as the months progressed, and I _LOVED_ it. I found out that texting is incredibly convenient, easier to check than a voice mail, and much less disruptive than a phone call. I don't feel that I suffer from any of the problems that I was so proud of avoiding by not texting at all. Many people are only accessible through texting. I would be missing out on so much if I refused to take part in it!

Austin's chosen profession requires that he stay at the cutting edge of technology, and I have learned that it's really much better to keep up with changes in technology and culture rather than being left behind, no matter how much you like the old way or are emotionally attached to it. Not only will you be able to relate to the rising generation, but your life will probably be easier, too!

This also relates to language. I remember learning that it was bad grammar when someone asks, "How are you?" to reply with, "I'm doing good." The proper response, I learned, was, "I'm doing well." I started using the proper response because I like doing things correctly. After a few strange looks, however, I learned that maybe the traditionally correct way to reply was "I'm doing well," but the socially correct way to reply was, "I'm doing good." I started using the socially correct way. I adapted. I wanted to be accepted; I didn't want to cling to my little notion that my way was always the best way because it was the right way. No; I learned that many times when it comes to grammar, the socially accepted ways to say things are generally the correct way. Did you know that saying "I guess" used to be slang? Yep, it was. The proper way to communicate that idea back in the day was "I suppose." Interesting how things change.

It's not just language and technology. Many people resisted giving women the right to vote because it was something new and different. Others balked at the idea of the novel; they thought it was frivolous and a waste of time. Now teachers and other leaders encourage children to read novels in order to expand their minds. I'm sure you can think of many other instances where change was resisted.

But wait! Katie, you say we should embrace change, but not all changes are good! What about the changes that are bad, that annihilate rich cultural traditions, or are bad for the social health of our culture?

Well, I agree that not all changes are good. However, I have learned to try to embrace new ideas and things. Of course I'm not perfect at it, but when it goes well, I learn what I can about the new idea or innovation with an open mind and analyze it: Is this good? Will it harm me or those around me? Is there anything intrinsically bad about it?

If I don't find anything wrong with whatever it is, then I figure it won't hurt to try, and it will probably hurt in the future when I'm not to be able to relate to those around me who haven't resisted the change. Sometimes it takes me a while to warm up to the idea; sometimes it takes a few days or weeks or even years (texting, for example) of mulling over something or missing out on something to finally admit to myself that it is actually ok.

I promise you, it is MUCH more comfortable and MUCH more dignified to accept change than to be forced into accepting or tolerating it down the road when it's unavoidable.

Merry Christmas!

I went Christmas shopping yesterday. Everything was going fine until I got to the register to check out. I was at the self-check out area, and it wouldn't take my debit card; I figured that Austin and I must have forgotten to transfer the money from our savings account. I decided to pay by check and verify the amount in the checking account when I got home. The attendant asked for my ID, explaining that they usually don't ask for it, but once in a blue moon, the computer gives them a prompt asking for an ID. I pulled out my driver's license and handed it to her just to realize that my maiden name is still on my driver's license (long story), but my married name is on my checks. So my ID didn't work. I did have $10.00 cash in my purse, so I decided to get the essentials with that and come back later for the rest. I started sorting my things into things I needed to get this trip and things I didn't need to get, not that I had a lot to sort. It couldn't have been meant to be for me to buy these things since nothing was working out.

Then the cashier started moving money around in her cash box and said, "Nevermind! Take all of it." Bewildered, I asked what had happened. She gestured to a rather plain but kind-looking blonde woman that had just completed her purchase at another register. "She paid for you," the cashier said.

I said, "Thank you!" trying to convey the gratitude I felt for her generous act, but I felt that it was an inadequate thanks. I didn't know what more I could say or do to communicate my appreciation for her generous act, and that I appreciated the act more than the money itself or the things that I was able to buy because of it.

The woman looked embarrassed but said, "Merry Christmas!" with a sweet smile, and walked away.

Have a Merry Christmas, everybody! (This is one of very few Christmas pictures that I have)

Soup!

I just made some really really REALLY yummy vegetarian soup, and wanted to record how I made it before I forgot. If anyone is wanting to duplicate this, sorry that I don't have any measurements. You will just have to eyeball it.

Start cooking some lentils in a pot big enough for the amount of soup you want to end up with. Make sure there's extra water for the rest of the soup, when you add it.

Spices: Garlic, salt to taste, oregano, pepper

White rice - add when lentils have been cooking for about 10 or 15 minutes.

Add these all at once (or one right after the other)
Carrots (I like a lot; they are SO good! I think I put the equivalent of 3 in here, but more would have been tasty as well)
1 can of corn, drained
3 stalks of celery
Okra (this was a really nice addition to the soup)

Milk - try to make about 1/2 the liquid in the soup milk.
Mozzarella cheese

Simmer until carrots and celery are soft and rice is cooked. Serve and enjoy!

On Thick Skin and Hurt

I read this today. It was written by a friend in reference to verbal and emotional abuse she experienced at the hands of a family member:

"My skin needs to be 1,000x thicker if I'm to live in this house."

I'm quoting it here, because lately I've been thinking about an experience that illustrates my "thick skin" -- or at least the illusion of it. This isn't really the kind of thing that I usually post, but for some odd reason, I feel like it should be posted. Here it is:

As many of you know, I graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering. What you may not know is that in a discipline (engineering) that is known for being mostly dominated by men, the more specific mechanical engineering is the major that statistically has the smallest percentage of women in it. I have been the only woman in a class of about 30-40 students. Usually there were one or two other women in my classes, but most of my classmates were male. This meant that I was the only woman in most of the class groups I was in and I was the only female in my study group. Sounds great for dating odds, right? However, I was not attracted to them, and if any of the guys were attracted to me, they didn't let me know. The closest any of them came was one guy that I considered my friend who told me (voluntarily) that he could never date me because he'd hate to be in a relationship with a girl that was smarter than him. Was that supposed to be a compliment?

Anyway, since there was such a small percentage of women--and especially women that they weren't trying to impress--the guys seemed to feel free to do and say guy things. Remember that I went to school at a secular university, not BYU. I got used to ignoring most of what they said that wasn't related to class work.

I found it difficult to find friends, since I didn't have similar interests to the people in my classes. Maybe my classmates thought I was stuck up, but I tried hard to let them know that I wasn't. Thankfully I earned good grades, so a lot of the guys were nice to me so I'd help them study. The study groups were helpful to me, too, don't get me wrong! I would have done much more poorly in my classes if I hadn't studied with them. However, the guys felt like I was doing them a big favor by studying with them, so I guess they appreciated it.

One time during finals as my study group was studying, one of the guys who was prone to lewd comments started making "jokes" about the usual things. I tried giving him the benefit of the doubt, hoping that the jokes didn't mean what I thought they might, and laughed at them half-heartedly in order to fit in. I was uncomfortable with his jokes, but didn't want to show it.

Finally, he made a lewd suggestion to me. I was horrified, but was so used to ignoring comments and pretending that I didn't notice certain things that I wasn't sure how to react. I wanted to let him know that that kind of talk was COMPLETELY unacceptable and that I wouldn't stand for it. Although it was (and still is) utterly against my nature to make a scene, I knew that was the only way to get through to him. I told him never to say something like that to me again, picked up my things, and left the room with as much dignity as I could. At that point, I wished I was the kind of person to yell and deliver scathing remarks to make him feel as bad as I wanted to. However, I never had much gift for good comebacks. Nonetheless, I hoped that my actions made him feel as awful as I wanted him to. That experience was awful.

I had such a yucky, dirty feeling even after I left the room that I couldn't concentrate on studying for my next final, which was in about an hour's time. During the time I was trying to study, a member of the study group that was actually my friend had found me and apologized for what had happened. I appreciated the gesture, but since he wasn't at fault it didn't make me feel any better. After about 5 or 10 minutes of trying to study in one of the computer labs, I gave up and went to the LDS Institute building.

It was like night and day! As soon as I entered the building, one of my friends greeted me with a smile and told me how happy she was every time she saw me (thanks, Megan Prack!). My spirits were uplifted. After some visiting and de-stressing by playing the piano, I was able to do some more last-minute studying and took my final with an undisturbed mind.

The classmate that had made the lewd comments still made the same kind of comments after that incident, but none of them were directed at me, thankfully. At one point, I remember him telling me that I was a really kind person. At the time, I didn't connect it to this incident (and it may not be connected at all), but maybe, just maybe, my actions made him think twice about what he'd said. When he told me that I was a kind person, I remember replying, "Well, I try." I didn't expect much of a reaction to that, but he looked at me like it was a novel idea. "Nice people try to be nice? Who'da thunk? I thought they were born that way!"

Word Cloud

One of my sisters made a word cloud of her blog. I thought it was really neat, so I decided to do one, too! I Googled "Blog word cloud" to find the one that I used.

The word cloud didn't actually use all of the words on my blog to make this; when I submitted the URL of my blog, it just took the text from the home page of the blog. So I copied the text from several different months to get this one. About half of the months that I've blogged have been left out. One of the posts that I included was the one about Levi burping and spitting up. I know that I wrote "up" just as much as I wrote "spit" because I wrote them together as spit up, but I can't seem to find where it says "up." 10 cool points to the first person that finds it!

**Edit** Evidently "up" is a "common English word," so it wasn't included. Silly!

Levi's words

Levi has said a few things in the past few months. Some of them he has repeated, some he has not. Here's a list of things he's said:

1. Da-da. - This has had two meanings. First, Daddy (of course). Second, dirty diaper. Levi only used the second definition a handful of times over the course of about 3 days. I was really disappointed that he stopped.
2. Ma-ma, mum, muh! - This also has multiple definitions: Mom, mommy, milk, help me! He hasn't used this one in a while, interestingly enough.
3. Ba - ball. He's only said this once or twice, immediately after I said ball.
4. Aye - hi. I don't think he's noticed the "H" sound yet. He usually says this when we're waving at each other in the mirror, or other times when he's waving and Austin or I have just been saying "Hi" while we were waving.
5. Aaa! This isn't really a word, but he repeats it after me in a game that he and I play where he grabs my toes and I squeal as I pull my foot away. He thinks it's hilarious.
6. A! - hat. Again, I don't think he has noticed the "H" sound in this word yet. Levi started saying this yesterday when he put something on his head. It's really cute!
7. Neh, nnn, nuh - no. It's really funny when he says this, because he uses it on reply to pretty much any question I ask him, even if the answer is yes.

Levi Loves Music

I was too slow to get a video, but Levi did something really cute this morning.

As background, we recently received a toy for Levi that makes music when you press buttons. There is a different song for each button. He really enjoys it, and there's one song in particular that he really likes. He will press that button over and over again while playing with the toy.

This morning was slightly different, however. Levi pressed the button for the song and started playing with something else. When the song finished, he momentarily turned away from what he was doing to press the button to start the song again. As soon as the song was started, he went back to playing with the other toys. He repeated this several times, but by the time I'd realized there was a pattern and got the camera out and ready, he had stopped.

What a cutie!

Wedding pictures!

I just found some of my wedding pictures on our photographer's blog!

You can see them here.

If you live in SC, you may want to ask her to take your (family, senior, wedding, engagement, etc.) pictures. I think she did a marvelous job!

What Modern Apostles Say About the Economy

In the Utah Valley regional stake conference that I attended a few months back, Elder Dallin H. Oaks quoted from this commencement address by Elder M. Russell Ballard. I have just gotten around to looking it up, and it's spectacular! This talk is just what I needed to buoy my faith in the future. Here are some highlights, and it's worth the read. My favorite part is where he says that we'll see a period of great prosperity soon:

Face the future with optimism. I believe we are standing on the threshold of a new era of growth, prosperity, and abundance... I think the next few years will bring a resurgence in the economy as new discoveries are made in communication, medicine, energy, transportation, physics, computer technology, and other fields of endeavor.

Many of these discoveries, as in the past, will be the result of the Spirit whispering insights into and enlightening the minds of truth-seeking individuals. Many of these discoveries will be made for the purpose of helping to bring to pass the purposes and work of God and the quickening of the building of His kingdom on earth today. With these discoveries and advances will come new employment opportunities and prosperity for those who work hard and especially to those who strive to keep the commandments of God. This has been the case in other significant periods of national and international economic growth....

So, for yet a season, possibly a short season, it will seem as though the windows of heaven will have truly opened so that “there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). I believe you graduates sitting here today will be active participants in temporal blessings if you keep the commandments of the Lord. With prosperity will come a unique challenge—a test that will try many of you to your spiritual core. As you step into this new world of prosperity and engage in converting your education into financial success, you will always have to control wants vs. needs.

You will have two choices. Will your motivation to build and acquire the blessings of the Lord be for personal gratification, the recognition of men, for power, influence and self-aggrandizement? Or will your motive be to glorify God, working to help usher in the growth and expansion of His Church?

Those who seek riches to build up their own egos will find their treasure to be slippery and easily lost in unwise ways. The welfare of their souls will be in great jeopardy....

The Lord is not telling us that we should not be prosperous or that prosperity is a sin or is evil. On the contrary, He has always blessed the obedience of His people with prosperity. He is telling us that we should seek prosperity only after we seek, find, and serve Him. Then, because our hearts are right, because we love Him first and foremost, we will choose to invest the riches we obtain in building His kingdom.

If you choose to seek riches for the sake of riches, you will fall short. You will never be satisfied. You will be empty, never finding true happiness and lasting joy. The trial of your faith, my dear brothers and sisters, in the next few years to come will likely not be that you lack the material things of this world. Rather it will be in choosing what to do with the temporal blessings you may receive....

So, I urge you to make a commitment to yourself and to Heavenly Father to dedicate your life and consecrate your time and talents to the building up of the Church of Jesus Christ in anticipation of the Savior’s second coming. Let the motive of your thoughts and actions be to glorify God and to bless your fellowman. Let this desire inspire you to greet each new morning with enthusiasm, let it fuel your thoughts and actions throughout each day. If you do this, you will be blessed in the midst of a world that is fast losing its way, and you and your loved ones will be secure and happy. This does not mean that you will not face trials and tests, but it does mean you will have the spiritual power to handle them with faith and trust in the Lord.

You can find the complete text of the talk here.

Contributing to family finances

Before Levi was born, I worked full-time to help support the family. When Levi was born, I stopped working and have stayed at home with him. He is a great blessing to our family, and I love watching him. This is the best job I've ever had, even though the hours are irregular and the work can be taxing. Sometimes, however, I wish I could contribute financially to the family a little bit more.

I had considered working from home, but it isn't really a viable option. Austin always reassures me that we don't need the extra money and that it's much more important for me to work at home than for me to be able to work from home.

After some thought, I realized that I am saving, now and in the future, hundreds and thousands of dollars for my family.

"How?" you might ask. I'll tell you.

I love to read. Recently (since Levi was born), I've had a big interest in non-fiction. I've read a lot of biographies, some books about finances, some about science, and some about child-rearing. The two books about finance that I've read so far are about how to purchase a home and how to set up a good retirement fund.

These two issues may seem to be in the distant future for my family (at least 3 years), but since I am educating myself now instead of later when there are a myriad of other things to think about, I am streamlining the process. Also, starting a retirement fund now is actually in our best interest, due to an incentive from one of my family members. Starting this fund years earlier rather than later does amazing things for how it turns out in the long run. The buying a house thing is much further off, but since I know more about it now, I can keep my eyes open and learn more from others' experiences. I will also be keeping a closer eye on the housing situation in places that I may settle for long periods of time.

Another way I'm saving money for my family now is by living frugally and increasing my abilities as a home maker. I am learning new things to cook and hope to learn more about fixing things around the house. If anyone knows of a good book about car repair/maintenance, I'd love to hear about it! (Maintaining Your Car for Dummies, anyone?)

Levi's Newest Achievement

Bringing in the groceries with a baby who can't walk yet can be quite difficult. Usually, I'm able to manage about 2 bags on one arm while Levi's on the other arm for my first trip from the car (or stroller) to the apartment. I usually leave Levi in the apartment for a little bit while I go back down for the rest of the groceries. I'm usually able to get the rest of them in the second trip. Most of the time, I don't bother to put away all of the first trip's groceries, and Levi enjoys his rare opportunity to play with non-toys.

Don't worry, I put away the all the things he could get into or harm (such as eggs or fresh produce) before I go back for the second trip.

Well, when I came back from shopping yesterday, I just put Levi and the (child-proof) groceries inside by the front door and hurried down to get the rest. I had to put the stroller away, too, so it took a little longer than usual. When I came back, Levi was entranced by the canned goods I had bought. I put away most of the groceries, but left a few for him to play with while I got some work done. At one point I turned around from doing the dishes and was surprised to find (something like) this!

This is actually a picture from a little bit later. The first stack I saw was only 2 cans high :)

I immediately got on the floor to tell him how proud I was of his amazing feat of dexterity! I told him he was such a smart boy, and that the tower was beautiful. It is, isn't it?

Since then, he's built (and destroyed, as you can see in the picture) many more towers. Most of the resulting towers were from the same cans, but he found a few of his toys that were okay for stacking, too. He is really happy about his new achievement, too.

When Austin got home from school yesterday evening, I told him I had something to show him. I put Levi on the floor with the cans in front of him, and he immediately started stacking the cans. I think he was eager to try out his new skill. What a happy boy! I'm so glad to have him as my son.

Getting the most out of Blogger

I've been blogging consistently for about eight months now, and getting the hang of Blogger (the platform I use for this blog) has taken that whole time. I know there are features that I still don't really know how to use. It's not as intuitive as some websites are (such as Facebook). Because of that, I wanted to write a post for the benefit of those who would like to know more about keeping up-to-date on friends' blogs (you don't even have to have a blog for this one!) or making your blog the best it can be.

Let's start with following your friends' blogs.

First, you have to have an account. It doesn't have to be a Google account, but I don't really know any other way since that's all I've done. I've heard that you can sign in with Yahoo, Hotmail, or AOL, so I know you can do it.

If you already have a Google account (Gmail, Goggle+, YouTube, etc), then it should be really easy to find Blogger. Sign in to your Google account, and at the top of the screen, you will see a black bar with several options listed. Go to the far right where it says "more" and click. In the drop-down box that appears, select "Blogger." It should look something like this:

When you click on Blogger, you'll get to a page called the "Blogger Dashboard" that looks like this:

Click to enlarge

As you can see, the blogs you are following are on the bottom left, and updates of those blogs are found on the bottom right/middle. This makes it very easy to check for updates on the blogs that you follow. Just click "Blogger" on your Google account, and you'll see any updates your friends have posted on Blogger. This way, you don't have to go to the individual blogspot web pages to find out if your friends have updated their blog.

To see updates from a particular blog instead of all of them, just click on the name of the blog you want to see. When you are done looking at that one, you can click "All Blogs" at the top of the list to see the most recent updates from all of the blogs that you follow.

Following a blog is pretty simple, as well, as long as there is a "followers" box on the blog you want to follow. This is a picture of what that should look like, as well as what pops up after clicking "Join this site" underneath the "Followers" heading:

Click to enlarge

As you can see, I have the following option on the right-hand side of my blog. Some people do not have the following option because they haven't added that feature to their blog, but you can find this on most blogs.

I think I will have to wait for another day to write about making the most of your blog, but here's to enjoying your friends' blogs!

Chatting the Chores Away

Rachel and I are in the kitchen talking up a storm. She is washing the dishes; I am clearing the counters and floor in order to wipe and mop once she's done. I am happy. We are planning on tackling the bathroom if we have enough time.

What could be better than cleaning with a beloved sister? I have to leave for a few minutes to start the laundry. When I come back, Rachel tells me that she forgot how much she hates doing the dishes without someone to talk to or music to listen to. We laugh, I agree, and we get back to happily chatting away the chores.

Before we know it, the kitchen is clean and it's time for Rachel to go. It was so good to visit with her, and I suspect that she feels the same way I do--it's so much easier to justify taking time out of a busy schedule to chat if there's work to be done--even if it isn't your own work--while you talk.

An unusual post for me...

I'm not really one to do these posts. I'll give my reason for doing this one near the end. Here goes --

It's a game!

Rules:
The five rules of the game are:
1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the 11 questions the nominator asked.
3. Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
4. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
5. No tag backs

Things about me:

1. I'm a mom. My son is almost a year old, and that's amazing to me.
2. My husband is my very bestest most favoritest friend!
3. My favorite pastime is probably reading
4. I love to be outdoors
5. I love my family SO MUCH (the one I live with as well as the one I grew up with)
6. I am going to break the rules of this game.
7. I really enjoy cooking, but I'm not super comfortable with baking yet.
8. I like living close enough to places to be able to walk to them (the park, church, the store, the library, etc. right now my location is perfect for that!)
9. I love playing games with my little Levi boy :) His favorite is when he drums my tummy and I "laugh" uncontrollably. Mine is playing peek-a-boo with a blanket over his head.
10. I really like playing hostess. I just wish there weren't so many dishes at the end!
11. I think family history work is really cool, and I'm trying to get in to it. I even started a blog about it! That blog is new and struggling for now, but I plan on adding SO many cool new posts to it and making it a true resource to my family.

__________________________________________________


Here are the questions for me. It was specified that why I feel a certain way is always a desired part of the answer I give, so I'll try to go a little more in-depth on these:

1. How did you come to blog? Easy! Just look at my previous post about it. Also, it's fun to keep family and friends up-to-date on what I'm doing. I also love the feeling that people are actually interested in my opinions and past experiences. It's also a kind of online journal, even though I keep a separate journal for my personal use. It's great to have these things written down where they are easy to access.

2. What is/are your favorite book/books? Oh man. I don't think I can have a favorite book. I think I'll go by genres:

Classic: Little Women. Why? Not only does it have a great story, but it has had a big influence on who I've become. I learned from that book that it's possible to love someone without being in love with that someone, and that it's more important to be truthful about those feelings than to have money, make someone else happy, or fit with society's norms. I also love that book because even though the main characters are trying so hard to be good, contributing members of society, they are also incredibly human. They have faults, and they know it, but they lean on good examples and learn to overcome their faults.

Fantasy: Probably a tie between Ella Enchanted and Princess Academy. And probably so many others.... Howl's Moving Castle for one. The first is a sweet little romance that is just so unpretentious and innocent. The second I love because it teaches so many truths: the Prince isn't always what you imagined, even if he is nice, and sometimes people are different from what they seem at the first impression. It also, of course, has a great story. Howl's Moving Castle, the third in this list, I love because it takes the traditional fairy tale and turns it on its head. All three of these books have two things in common: They are directed at children/teens and the characters are fleshed out and real. They have insecurities and strengths. And more great books keep coming into my head, like the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett, Goose Girl by Shannon Hale ... the list could go on. There are so many!

Mystery: Probably The Boxcar Children or The Hardy Boys. However, I don't really have a taste for mystery in general, so these aren't really at the top of my overall list.

Non-Fiction: I don't think I have a _favorite_ in this area yet, but I really liked Louisa May Alcott: The Woman behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen. It was really in-depth and my internal truth-ticker didn't go off while I was reading it. I've also been really interested in Louisa May Alcott ever since I first read Little Women when I was little.

Popular: I know it's been out for a long time, but I really loved A Walk to Remember. The movie's great, but doesn't really do the book justice.

3. Who do you miss being around? Oh, this one's easy, too. My family! Thankfully I have three siblings here in Provo, but I still miss everyone else. Nothing beats late-night conversations with my sisters, Laura laughing about something silly someone said, Becky and Nathan knowing everything, Heidi being snarky, Renee giving good advice, Hannah enjoying the fun, Rachel doing everything for everybody, Seth's uncannily deep voice, and Mary Ann just being plain sweet. One sister is good, seven are better. One sibling is fun, nine are Christmas in July!

4. What is your favorite food? Oh, this is a hard one. I love food. I love most things with cheese in them. I love ..... pulled-pork barbecue with a mustard base, chicken and dumplings, baked mac and cheese, fried rice, chicken salad sandwiches -- the list goes on. I also like some desserts; Austin has converted me to chocolate. I think my favorite snack (taste-wise) is barbecue potato chips.

5. What is/was your favorite job (or the one you hated least)? My favorite job is being a mom. It's stressful and demanding, but so rewarding and fulfilling. I'm going to write a post about it someday. My favorite job that I've gotten paid for was working as a secretary/cashier at Rip-A-Byte computers with my big brother Nathan. I was slightly bored most of the time because I didn't know how to fix the computers, too, but it was fun being with Nathan. It was funny; a lot of customers would see how we interacted and would ask 1. Are you dating? and then when they heard the answer was no, they asked 2. Are you brother and sister? Kind of awkward, but also really funny. Sometimes they asked No. 2 first and spared themselves the embarrassment of asking a brother and sister if they were dating.

6. What is your favorite hanging out activity? Talking. That is, if I'm with other people that like to talk. If we need to break the ice, I also like to play games. OK, even if we don't have to break the ice I like to play games, but I still like talking more.

7. What motivates you to get out of the bed in the morning? Levi's awake and needs my attention. Before that, if I stayed in bed too long, I got bored.

8. Where is your favorite vacation? Oooo! Can I pick a place that I haven't been to yet? And I'm going to pick two. 1. Machu Picchu because I've always thought it would be really neat to see that and 2. Hawaii (all the islands?). I used to think Hawaii was overrated until I had a companion from there who RAVED about it all the time. She told me that the "big island" has many different terrains and that the other islands have many unique things about them. I don't remember all she told me, but I do remember being SO curious to see this beautiful place. As to my favorite vacation of places that I've been to, going to Grandma and Granddad's in VA was always bliss. Swimming, water skiing, playing games with my family, reading books--what more could you ask for?

9. Do you like pictures being taken of you? Meh. I don't dislike pictures being taken of me. I do sometimes wish that I had more pictures of me with Levi. There are so many with Austin, and so much less with me! I know Austin would take the pictures if I asked, but I'm kind of shy about asking. Dunno why.

10. How do you keep track of important things? What kind of important things? Like things I have to do? I have a calendar by my front door that I write things on that I need to get done, or things I've scheduled for the week. It also has my grocery list on it. Other important things, like important documents? I try to have a special place for them, in some sort of filing system. For things that I've learned that I want to remember, I write down in my journal. Levi's easy; I just use the eyes in the back of my head. Austin is also easy, if I remember to tie him to my apron strings ;)

11. Why did you end up participating? Well, I've been wanting to write a blog post lately, but the things coming to mind weren't really the right thing. Also, I was asked specifically to participate in this. Not only did that make me feel special, but then if I didn't do this, I'd feel like I was letting down the person who asked me to participate.

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Ok, well, that's all, folks! The rule that I'm breaking for this game is that I'm not going to ask anyone to continue. If anyone wants to, go right on ahead! But I don't really know very many bloggers, and Hannah took most of the ones I know that actively blog.

Mountain Beauty

Austin and I went hiking on Saturday for a date. It was gorgeous, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I have been hankering after a good hike for ages.

I was surprised that I wasn't more out of breath, but after the initial "Whew! Austin, can we slow down?" I was fine. The trees are changing color, and they were breathtaking. I took a picture at what felt like every turn (but there were a lot more turns than I took pictures, so be glad I didn't actually take a picture at every turn!)

I love the rugged beauty shown in the above picture

Austin said he was making a face, but it's hard to tell. I love the yellow tree and the moss on the rock behind it.

I took this picture because there were some people ahead of us on the trail and Austin and I were waiting for them to pass. It helped that the tree was pretty, too.

I thought these trees were really interesting because their bark looks like a birch tree's, but these are evergreens. I'd never seen anything like it before.

Glorious!

This is the point on the trail where we decided to turn around. I wanted to keep going, but Austin had been bored and hungry for the last 10 minutes or so, so we decided to turn back.

I thought this outcropping of rock was especially neat.

Dry riverbed

Like I said, beauty.

Going down again

You can see Provo Lake there between the trees

I thought the way these trees were growing was really original of them, lol!

If you want to see bigger versions of the picture, just click on the one you want to see in greater detail, and it will give you an almost full-screen view of the lovely scenery.

Stories with Granddad JC

Granddad J.C. is a soft-spoken Southern man. He is kind and thoughtful, but oh! can that man have a good laugh! Many times his jokes will sneak up on you, and all of a sudden you're laughing about something he just said. I can picture the scene now: a group of my siblings and I are visiting with him and Grandma. Granddad is telling a story about his childhood in his deep, rumbly voice. He and Grandma both were excellent story-tellers and Granddad was particularly good at getting us to laugh.

One particular story I remember Granddad telling was from Christmastime when he was a child (if I remember correctly):

One Christmas when Granddad J.C. was small, his parents bought a HUGE bunch of bananas -- we're talking the size of the ones you see on the tree -- for a Christmas treat. Unfortunately, his parents got the bananas a week or so in advance, so all the kids were salivating as they waited for Christmas to finally come.

Picture from here

Sometime before Christmas, my great grandparents had to go on a day-long trip. They knew the bananas were in danger of being eaten, so they put the bananas in their bedroom and locked the door.

Well, one of Granddad J.C.'s brothers couldn't stand the temptation any longer, so after he tried the door, he tried the window to his parents' room. My great uncle could just barely wriggle through because it was a very small window, but he made it!

Well, if a boy ever had a feast, that boy did! He ate and ate, and then ate some more. He ate all the bananas that he could hold. He ate so many bananas that he couldn't fit through the window again! He just had to wait there until his parents got home, and take his punishment.

When Granddad told us this story, he had our sides aching from laughter! He's told some other good ones, like how he had Grandma convinced that 'J.C.' stood for Julius Caesar until their wedding day, when the preacher read, "And you, Julius Clyburn Connell ..." Another good one is the story of shortly after their marriage, Granddad took Grandma to a work party and couldn't remember her name when introducing her to his boss because he'd always called her "Honey."

What a great set of grandparents I have! I couldn't have picked better ones myself. And since I have such wonderful grandparents, that means they raised their kids right, so I have amazing aunts, uncles, and cousins. I am a lucky woman!

New age requirement for LDS missionaries

I am SO excited about the reduction in the age requirement for missionaries! I am especially excited that more sisters will be able to go, as that is near and dear to my heart. I had such a great experience during my mission, and it has and will continue to have a major impact on the rest of my life for the better.

With the Calderon family

I recently watched the press release associated with the announcement, and it included some really interesting details! Elder Holland also spoke directly to prospective missionaries for a good portion of it, too.

Here are some of the highlights:

-Prospective missionaries are asked to be more prepared

-Each missionary will spend less time in the MTC

-There will be additional training in the field

-Parents asked to be more involved in mission preparation

-Papers may be submitted 120 days before availability date (4 mos instead of 3!)

You can watch the full press release here.

Muggins with Grandma Kathleen

Grandma Kathleen is one of the sweetest women I've met. She is very soft spoken, but a great disciplinarian. You know, one of those where the soft, serious voice is scarier than yelling.

She fits the description for the ideal grandmother: she has a stock of sugary cereals just for her grandchildren, a candy bowl, treats after every meal, AND lots of games and kids books. She was always up for playing games with us, even when other adults might find our games childish and tedious.

My favorite game to play with Grandma is a card game called Muggins. I think it's a pretty old game, because they don't sell the cards anymore. I just did an internet search for it, and there were no results for the particular card game I'm thinking of. However, we played the game with cards from the game Flinch:

Picture taken from here

The gameplay is very similar to the game described in this Wikipedia article, except that you say "muggins!" instead of "flinch!" when a player fails to play a playable card. Also not mentioned in the article is that the person who yells "muggins!" gives their top card to the person who failed to notice the playable move. Thus, if you are good at spotting muggins opportunities, then you can get rid of your cards more quickly. There are evidently several versions of Flinch, but we only played one version of Muggins, where we would deal out all of the cards evenly between the players.

Another difference is that playing cards in the middle took precedence over playing cards on other player's discard piles. This made for a fun twist to the game, as well as more muggins-calling, since most players were more intent on giving cards to other players (giving the first player a greater advantage over the second player if no one notices that they should have played in the middle instead).

Grandma had no mercy when it came to calling Muggins on her young grandchildren, but that was part of the fun of it all. We would play Muggins over and over again just to get the chance to muggins Grandma, who was nearly perfect in her muggins playing. If we did catch Grandma and call muggins on her, we would brag about it at the dinner table that night. We also had fund piling our cards on each other's discard piles, pretending that we were doing them a great favor in giving them so many cards. So many fun, happy memories!

PS: if you are interested in trying the game out for yourself, it can be played using regular face cards. Austin and I did so with two decks of cards. Muggins is more fun if you have more than two players, though.

Friends, I admire you

I admire so many of my friends! I see your positive attributes, and benefit from trying to emulate them. Each of you have exerted a positive influence on me. I wish I could go into detail about all of you, but I only have time to name a few:

Hilary Thomas: When we were in Young Women's together, Hilary was very outgoing and fun. Not only that, but she also went out of her way to include shy Katie White in the fun. I learned from watching her example how to be outgoing and include others.

Ingrid Sorenson: What a mother! This amazing woman has 9 children, and looks like she's 30. She is fun and caring. She goes out of her way to spend individual time with each of her children. Somehow she has mastered the balance of being a fun mom while maintaining discipline in her large family. I aspire to be a mother like her someday.
Side note: 'Maintaining discipline' does not equate with perfectly behaved children. I don't think those are possible, especially if they're normal, well-adjusted kids.

Becky Gentry: All of my older sisters have influenced me to be a better person, and I look up to each of them even now, but Becky has had the biggest influence on me. We shared a room when I was younger, and she taught me by her example to study the scriptures daily and to pray to Heavenly Father each day. As a direct result of those habits, I know that Heavenly Father loves me and cares about me.

Jean Marie Place (soon to be Gatica!): If you're familiar with the character of Jane from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, then you have a good idea of what dear Jean Marie is like. Like Jane, Jean Marie has a hard time finding fault with anyone, and when she does find fault, those people did something really awful. Jean Marie is not a bit self-centered, and has an amazing ability to be interested in others--more so than I've seen in anyone else that I've met. I admire Jean Marie so much for her Christ-like love for others and her generosity. I aspire to be as kind and loving as she is.

... And there are so many more! I have seen so many amazing examples in the wards (and branch) of the Church that I've been in, in my family, in my friends from school, and in my friends from work.  I thank you  for being such good influences in my life.

Water Skiing with Granddad Jerry

After writing my post about quilting with Grandma Izzy, I thought it would be nice to make a post about something I did with each of my grandparents. The big thing that we grandkids did with Granddad Jerry--besides listening to fun stories from his childhood--was learning how to, and then actually water skiing with him.

Granddad was very patient teaching us. We'd start out standing on land, holding on to the handle while he taught us how to hold the handle and stand correctly so we wouldn't fall over once we were skiing. Then we'd go out to the boat, and once we got to deep enough water, we would put on the skis and slide into the water. It was fun trying to get a perfect score (smile, wave, no splash).

The beginners would learn how to ski on the barefoot boom. It was easier because you didn't have the extra factor of the rope going slack (and therefore losing your balance) and you could also hear Granddad coaching you, since it was right next to the boat.

Me learning to ski on just one ski. It's a lot harder than two!

Eventually, we'd get a short length of rope tied to the boom to ease us in to skiing behind the boat with the full length of rope.

I started skiing when I was about 8 years old, I think. It took me a long time to finally get the courage to cross the wake--the small wave created by the movement of the boat--but once I did, there was no stopping me. You do get a nice thrill when you cross the wake, especially if you do it fast enough! }:)

The older kids learned how to do tricks--skiing with the handle between your knees (no hands!), turning around 360 degrees, lifting up one ski for the "skier salute", just to name a few. I did a couple of them, but the skier salute was the only one that I felt safe enough doing to do more than once or twice.

One of my favorite things to do was to "double up". We would set up another rope and two people would ski behind the boat at the same time. I think you can see why I enjoyed this so much:

Hannah spraying Seth

When we were done skiing, we'd head back to my grandparent's house. Granddad taught us that we should always thank the person driving the boat. We did every time that we remembered, and would use his special nickname that we had for him--Mr. Nice Guy. One person would remember to say "Thanks Mr. Nice Guy, for driving the boat!" and then there'd be a chorus of "Thanks, Mr. Nice Guy!" as we all tried to make Granddad feel appreciated so he'd take us out again.

Thank you, Mr. Nice Guy, for all the fun times!

Homeschool

Many of my friends don't know this, but I was homeschooled for all of elementary school (except Kindergarten, if you count that).

When I tell people this, they usually express sympathy that I wasn't able to take part in the wonderful elementary school memories that most children have. Little do they know, I had an amazing homeschool experience! I feel like I not only had more fun than they did, I also was able to establish who I was--without trying to be like my friends. Don't forget that I also had less schoolwork than they did, so I also did not get sick of school and school work. My siblings and I were not allowed to watch TV, so I was able to develop my creativity, as well, with little structured time during my day.

An average day for me went something like this: Wake up, eat breakfast. Play "My Little Ponies" or Barbies (we had tomboy Barbies) with my siblings. Do a page of simple math problems because Mom told me to. Write in my journal so I could play outside. Play orphans, princesses (of course tomboy princesses) or horses outside with my sisters (mostly Heidi, two years older than me). Eat lunch somewhere in there with the rest of my siblings. Build a cool house for our toys out of whatever materials we had on hand -- blankets, the ladder that went with the bunk bed, waffle blocks, or wooden building blocks. Eat supper with my family. Read a book--some of my favorites were the Anne of Green Gables series, anything by Marguerite Henry (she wrote Misty of Chincoteage), and the Black Stallion series. Go to bed.

When I got older and was in 4th or 5th grade, I would also read a chapter from a science book and/or a book about pioneer America.

Of course, there were variations in this loose schedule. Mom would take us on field trips--I remember going to the SC state museum in Columbia, Swan Lake in Sumter, Historic Camden, and the Boykin Company Store where we watched brooms being made as they were a century ago. We also had working days where we cleaned up our rooms or worked on a big project such as deep cleaning the basement, re-arranging the storage room, or re-organizing the laundry room. One of my favorite projects was making pear preserves, and they were delicious!

When I started public school in 6th grade, there were a few gaps in my education, but I learned quickly and had straight-A's my first 9 weeks. I was very enthusiastic about this new experience, and even enjoyed doing my homework! Even though I didn't feel like I fit in with the other kids, I knew who I was and who I wanted to be. I remember at least two instances where someone tried to tease me about some of my quirks, but it fell flat because I didn't feel injured at all.

I also feel like I have a much stronger relationship with my siblings as a direct effect of homeschool. We spent a lot more time together because there was more time to be together. My older sisters would also help me with my schoolwork, giving us even more time together.

The only thing I would have changed about my homeschool experience was the amount of social interaction I had. I didn't really know how to make new friends or talk to someone that I didn't know very well. This was a difficult obstacle for me to overcome, and I had a hard time with this up through high school. I still sometimes have to make a conscious effort to make conversation! I think that is just a natural part of my personality, though.

Quilting with Grandma Izzy

I have really wonderful grandparents, on both sides of my family. My mother's parents left a legacy in the (small) town I grew up in--many people I met knew of my grandparents and admired them.

I lived just a short walk down the road from my maternal grandparents, so my siblings and I would go over to their house often to visit, to be babysat, or to help in their garden. I even took piano lessons at their house!

One of my favorite things to do at Grandma Izzy's house was work on the quilt she was currently working on. I was the youngest of all my sisters coordinated enough to do the stitch work on the quilts (no, they were not tied quilts!), and while we quilted, Grandma would tell stories. Boy, could Grandma tell stories! Unfortunately, I don't remember them, but I do remember how much I enjoyed spending time with her and my sisters. Eventually, we made one quilt for each sister except for me--I think people were running out of steam by the time they got to me, and I don't remember telling anyone how much I wanted a quilt.

Quilting with Grandma was something I looked forward to and enjoyed doing with my sisters. I could feel her love for all of us, and I loved the family bond that came from it.

Play with me!

Austin has a new game that he plays with Levi. It's called "Hot Air Balloon." Austin carries Levi around in this big bucket and sometimes there's "turbulence" and Levi comes down for a landing. Levi loves it!

Well, the other day they were playing this game, and when Austin's arms got tired, he put the bucket--with Levi in it-- down on the floor. I wasn't watching very closely because I was doing something else in another room, but all of a sudden I hear Levi saying, "Da-da-da! Da-da!" I am convinced that he was calling Austin back to play with him some more. I called Austin's attention to it, and Austin gave him some more fun rides. Those two make me so happy!

Fever :(

The saddest thing EVER happened the other day: Levi had a fever. He cried and cried, and then cried some more. This crying wasn't any ordinary crying, however. No, no, no. This crying was "Mommy I'm in pain and I don't know what to do I just want it to go away" crying. Thankfully, I had some baby Tylenol on hand that I could give to him. It helped enormously, but I didn't think to give it to him until he had been really really really sad for a while.

He woke up multiple times two nights in a row because of the fever. The second night, Levi was awake for an hour and a half just crying while I tried to comfort him. I never realized how much a little sickness could affect a baby; usually I'm able to calm Levi in just minutes. I think part of the reason he finally did calm down was that the Tylenol kicked in, not anything special that I did. However, I did let him play with my phone for a while and I also sang to him in high and low voices. He thought the low voice was very interesting.

One of the strangest things on this second night was that Levi wouldn't nurse, even though he was hungry. I ended up giving him little tidbits of bread, and he calmed down and went to sleep after that.

What's in a Name? My experience with nicknames

When I was born, my parents decided to name me Catherine, after someone in our family tree. She was a great-aunt of mine -- or something like that. I'm not sure when they decided to call me by my nickname Katie instead, but I know it was in my first few months of life or before.

When I was little and being homeschooled during my elementary school years, everyone knew to call me Katie. I knew I had another name which was Catherine, but that was used only when Mom was mad at me. I thought it was a really ugly name, too (thankfully I've gotten over that by now).

When I started public school in sixth grade, I started to understand some of the inconveniences of having a "real" name and having a nickname. Note that I say inconveniences and not trials, difficulties, or setbacks. It's not bad having a nickname, just kinda irksome.

Let's make a list of things that are inconvenient about going by a nickname:

1. When you're called at the doctor's office, the bank, school, or anywhere else that you use your "real" name, it takes you a second to realize that they mean you.
2. Your "official" and "real" name doesn't feel like your real name at all.
3. Sometimes you forget and sign your nickname instead of your "real" name on official documents. What do you do then? Scribble it out? 
4. You're asked how to spell both your "real" name (if it has variations) and your nickname when you sign up for anything new (or start a new class/school year).
5. People ask why you spell your nickname the way you do, considering your "real" name.
6. You have to keep track of which accounts/people/places/companies know you by your "real" name and which ones know you by your nickname. When you get confused, it doesn't cause any real problems (at least not for me...yet), but I've gotten some suspicious looks at my bank because my driver's license says Catherine and my bank account says Katie.
7. I don't think it's cute that my official name is Catherine but that I go by a nickname.

So, like I said, inconveniences. But super common inconveniences. They happen all the time, especially in adult life.

For example, I decided to go by Catherine starting at the beginning of a semester when I was in college just to avoid the whole thing. It didn't work, but that shows how much it bothered me.

When I signed the lease for my current apartment, I accidentally signed Catherine instead of Katie (Austin put Katie on our checks, so of course that's what I need to sign). I just signed Katie in parenthesis above where I wrote Catherine, but I was still a little miffed about it. I commented on it to the apartment manager, and found out that she also went by her nickname and had never, ever used her "real" name for anything. She seemed a little bit more upset with her parents for using a nickname than I was. Granted, they made up her "real" name while her nickname was a pretty common name, and she wasn't named after anyone.

So, I'd love your comments! If you have a nickname, let me know your feelings about it. If you've given your child a nickname and feel like sharing, let me know why you did (and PLEASE don't feel attacked by this post. It's just meant to flesh out understanding of nicknames for people that don't have them. I don't judge you for giving a nickname to your child, I promise).

"Summer People"

This past summer, Austin and I were "Summer people." We were in an area just for the summer. When we arrived, no one knew us, and we didn't know them.

We decided that although we were in a position where we weren't really expected to invest much time or effort into our ward, that we would! We requested our records on our first Sunday there, and introduced ourselves to people. We made sure that everyone knew that we were happy and willing to help. We paid tithing and fast offerings. We came to a ward building clean-up the first month we were there, and the first ward temple trip that came up. We made it a point to attend church activities. We had the missionaries over for dinner regularly, and gave them a few rides. We got to give an investigator a ride, too! People became comfortable asking us to serve in the ward even though we didn't have callings. Austin was asked to teach in Priesthood at least twice. He was also asked to give (and did give) a talk.

I played prelude one Sunday before Relief Society started and was asked to fill in for the regular RS pianist while she was gone on vacation for a few weeks. It was a wonderful blessing. I made friends in Relief Society, and fellowshipped a new member. She would hold Levi while I played the piano, and she really seemed to enjoy the opportunity to serve. I got close to another member of the ward whose children are mostly all grown up (but not married yet), and she loved playing with Levi. I loved having the opportunity to enjoy Relief Society without being distracted by keeping Levi out of trouble.

When we left, many of the ward members told us how sorry they were to see us go. The bishop's wife told us that when the "Summer people" leave, they usually don't mind so much. However, she said she was sorry to see us go because we had been so involved in the ward and because we cared so much about the ward.

We felt so good about our summer experience with that ward when we left.



Now, let me say this: even though the ward didn't mind much when the other "Summer people" left, they were still very welcoming to everyone. It was an incredibly friendly ward and I was impressed at how they handled the situation of having many people there just for the summer, who wouldn't be able to hold callings or do much for the ward long-term. We loved the Christ-like attitude of that ward.

Da-da

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to Levi, and I said, "Look at Daddy!" and pointed. I saw recognition on Levi's face as I said the words, and he looked over at Austin and smiled. I don't know how I knew, but I just knew that Levi recognized the word "daddy" and knew that it meant Austin. I was SO excited!

Yesterday, Levi was looking at Austin, then said, "Da-da." Austin said, "Yeah, that's me, come here!" and Levi speed crawled to him. He was so excited. I was even MORE excited! This is the first time that Levi's said something that we could tell meant anything. Levi has been saying da-da-da (and other variations of that) for quite some time now--at least a month or two--but it never seemed like he attached any meaning to it. I'm so excited that he's starting his first words, and he's only 9 months! From what I've read, 9 months is the early beginning of average for a baby to start attaching meanings to the words he or she says. I'm so proud of my baby boy :)