Quotable Me

Haha. That title sounds so pompous. But I just thought of something and think it'd make a great Pinterest quote ;)

It is always best to end the day with chocolate and prayer.

:) Am I right or am I right?!

Anyone want to create a little picture quote of that? Haha

M.L.K. Day & Printable

To honor Martin Luther King Day, Jason & I watched his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. It was moving. He was very inspired to write and say all he did. I am so grateful for his inspiration, his speech, his courage, his legacy. (Go to the above links to see/read what I'm talking about.)

I realized something from watching it, though - I don't think I've EVER seen or listened to his speech before! How could that be?! How did I never watch it in high school?! I feel totally gypped in my education! EVERY kid should be familiar with his speech. There is SOOOO MUCH in there that is amazing! So many amazing analogies and ideas. It should be studied in American History, in English Lit, in Social Studies.

That sparked a desire to make something I could hang in the house so that at least Jason & I will be familiar with some of the GEMS that are in it.

There are lots of gems, but not all of them would fit on an 8x10 piece of paper ... I tried ... so these are just my most favorites ... maybe.

This is possibly my favorite, but it didn't get included:
"Unearned suffering is redemptive."

Tree Music, Sand Music...

This is so so awesome. And frankly, astounding.

NPR interviewed Italian-born, Diego Stucco, who makes music from trees, sand, dry cleaners, and who knows what else. That description alone may not have piqued your interest, but if you listen to it, you'll be floored. Here's the link to listen to it at NPR's site (from minute 12:30 to 18).

The interview is interesting and there's a funny story behind his music background, but if you'd rather watch how he does it, here's a youtube link, where you'll also be able to listen to / watch his other instruments, like sand, etc.

Let me know what you think!

YMTH

That stands for You Matter to Him - my other, side-bar blog.

I've put up some stuff if anyone's interested. The page "My Story, part I" is up, as well as one little post.

Me

This is kind of a silly post, since it's just about me, but I wanted to write it down, and this is the place. I was thinking recently about some of my friends and how I'd describe them to someone who didn't know them. Then I asked Stephanie how she would describe me. Here's what she said (i.e. texted):
"honest; goofy in an endearing way; open to hearing others' opinions, but unyielding about those things where you believe applies an absolute higher moral law [that is very true]; wholly faithful and dedicated to anyone or anything you trust; detail and aesthetically aware; and give off a unique but groovy vibe of what can only be described by my own oxymoronic term of a modern, straight-laced hippie."

Haha! I love that last part. Stephanie, as you can probably tell, is very good at wording things :). Which is one of many reasons why I like her. Our discussions are usually very thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating. :)

Funny!

A while ago on NPR's comedy show "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!", their guest was Dick Van Dyke. It's a funny show by itself, but a few things from this particular one were hilarious:
(listen to it here, or read the really funny parts below. But I just gotta say, listening to it is probably funnier [and only 11 minutes long].)

PETER SAGAL, host:
And now the game where we invite on great people to do silly things. It's called Not my Job. Our guest this week is a man whose TV shows and films are so beloved by so many, and watched over and over again by so many succeeding generations, that they named DVDs after him.
(laughter)
Dick Van Dyke's movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is being released next month. His musical memoir "Step in Time" premiers in December at the Geffen Playhouse in L.A. Dick Van Dyke, welcome to WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!
(applause)

Mr. VAN DYKE: Thank you, Peter. Hello everybody.

SAGAL: Hello. All right, I just got to be personal. I have watched you for so long. "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was my favorite movie when I was a kid and I've watched "Mary Poppins" so many times and "The Dick Van Dyke Show." So my first question to you is will you be my dad?
(laughter)

Mr. VAN DYKE: I'm a little busy right now, Peter.
(laughter)

SAGAL: I understand.

Mr. VAN DYKE: I can be your grandpa.
(laughter)

SAGAL: That would be fine. I would take that at this point.
(laughter)

...

SAGAL: Dick Van Dyke, what a pleasure to have you on our show.

Your first question ... is about ... when a young man, Dick Nixon fell in love with one Pay Ryan, who was acting in a play with [him]. He courted her fiercely, including doing what?
A, composing a song in her honor, titled "Pat, Pat, You Make My Heart Go Pitter Pat."
B, driving her to and from dates with other men. Or
C, making what some say might be history's first ever mixed tape.

Mr. VAN DYKE: I think he wrote a song.

SAGAL: You're going to go with that?

Mr. VAN DYKE: Yeah.

SAGAL: Sadly, no, he did not write a song. He drove her to and from dates with other men.
(laughter)
She wasn't sure about him, but he sure did love her. So he would drive her to and from dates with other men and wait around, like in a bookstore or a movie theater, until she was done and drive her home.

Mr. VAN DYKE: Are you trying to say he was a pimp?
(laughter)
(applause)

SAGAL: I'm sorry, but in the universe in which I live, you, Dick Van Dyke, do not know that word.
(laughter)

Blogging Missionary Work

I've been wanting to do this for a while. So I finally sat down to figure out the logistics of it, and came up with this: My sidebar will have a link to another blog that I'll be doing called You Matter to Him. I had lots of ideas for what the blog could be called -

Seek Happiness
True Happiness
Peace in This Life
Your Potential, Your Privelage
Through Him that Loved Us
Seek This Jesus
Guardians of Virtue
A Consecrated Life
Things that Matter Most
Never Leave Him
He Lives -

But I think the one I chose is so inviting and warms your heart before you even go there. :) (Thank you President Uchtdorf!)

I don't know how exactly to describe what I'm envisioning for it, except what I said in the sidebar gadget. I guess I want it to have the discussions/lessons sort of the way I gave them on my mission. I want friends from home or others to be able to come to this here blog and click on that blog to check out, even if just casually, what I believe and have them feel like it's really me talking. And maybe as a spiritual journal of sorts with things that I think are really important for the world and even Latter-day Saints to know.

Nothings up yet, so for now it's just blank. (*sad trombone sound* womp womp womp) But it'll be an ongoing Sunday project for me. Hence, this is its first Sunday debut :).

I am excited.
!!!!! :D

Ghost Bean Bag Toss

I made this for the ward Halloween party. It was demolished by the end of the night. :) Oh well.

the pencil work and cutting - scissors and exacto knife

spray painted white

 

Bought dowels, broke them with my bare hands!, then hot glued them to the back. I thought it kinda looked like darth vader, and if it hadn't been demolished, I would have sprayed that back side black and called it darth.

Above: One strip of hot glue under the dowel wasn't enough, so I had to do it down each side. Used lots of hot glue.

After a few tosses, the dowels started coming off, so I had to tape them on again.

Halloween!!

A few pictures from the church Halloween Carnival & Trunk or Treat:

face painting station

craft station

The craft station was this idea:

from Martha Stewart

from Simply Creative Insanity

But instead of cheese cloth, we used white plastic grocery bags that the kids cut up and then put the balloons on balloon stick thingys, so they were kind of like balloon wands.

Yep, their mom MADE all their costumes. Not pictured above was their brother... was he Luke?? I can't remember. She told me she'd put them up on Pinterest soon, so you should see better pictures of it all there.

I don't let Jason have sweets very often (he's crazy and rambunxious enough without sugar), with the exception of fruit or a few bites of an occassional dessert. But at the Halloween party, he had:

some doughnut

some cupcake

a laffy taffy

a milky way bar

& one other candy thing

He cried almost all night that night.

Never. ever. again.

He went trick or treating tonight, but was not allowed to eat any candy. Sadly, though, he is still sobbing terribly in his crib right now. Why? Because for some inexplicable reason he decided not to take a nap today. Translation - CRANKY! Oh, and I forgot to put his blanky in the drier, so he has a substitute one, which is NOT okay with him. Oh and he can hear kids knocking at the door and saying "Trick or Treat!!" so he understands that there's fun stuff going on without him. Poor guy.

Here are some cute pictures of him from the Halloween party.

with his favorite neighbor friend

green scales with fire coming out his nose

The tail was a GREAT way to keep him running away from me.

He is saying "OFF! OFF!" to me, so I'll open the wrapper.

note the laffy taffy in his mouth

wearing someone else's helmet

Ah, the sobbing has stopped. As have the trick or treaters. It's only 7:45! Back home we weren't done till 9:30 at least! But I'll take it, especially since it means Jason will sleep :).

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween Carnival & Trunk or Treat

I have a new calling - I'm in the Primary Presidency. (For those unfamiliar with Mormon lingo, that means I'm in charge of certain aspects of our local church children's organization [18 mo-12 yrs]. Me and three other women.) I have mixed feelings about this new calling. Foremost, I really miss teaching the 7 & 8 year old sunday school class. I love those kids!! Man I miss teaching them. Teaching in any form is my possibly one of my favorite things. Luckily, I'll still get to teach every once in a while with my new calling, just on a slightly bigger scale. Also, I feel totally inadequate and overwhelmed. But I suppose those are normal feelings for almost any new calling.

Anyway, we have the Primary Program coming up (where the children sing and speak and sing and speak for the hour of our local church's main meeting) as well as the Halloween Carnival & Trunk or Treat. [Big things, lots to do.] For the Halloween activity, I've put together some cute signs and flyers that I want to share :).

Flyers/Invites:

Obviously I still need to fill in the address part.
Highlighted so I don't forget.

For the pictures behind the words: pictures from google image searches. Then in Picasa, I used the "Glow" Effect, which made them gray. Then in Word, I inserted a picture. Right clicked on the picture, and under Text Wrapping, chose "Behind Text", then moved it to where I wanted it and made it the right size.

Lanyards (we'll hang these around the kids necks and then when they go to the various activity stations, we'll punch a whole next to that one, so we know where they've been already and what they should go to next):

Don't know why those are blacked out...

Signs for the room doors:

To be made in the shape of a ghost.

Opted for a non-spooky font so they won't
think it's a scary halloween movie.

Face Painting Ideas (for the kids to pick from):

The blacked out one was a witch's hat.

I got all of these by doing google searches for things like "halloween skeleton outline". And some were solid black (like that witch on the broom) so instead of using tons of black ink to print them out, I used Picasa and then clicked on the "Edit in Picnik" option. From there, under "Effects" I chose "Invert" and then "Pencil Sketch".

Mis Representation (part II)

Here are a few more tidbits to pique your interest in the "Mis Representation" post below:
(all from the interview)

-Teenagers spend 10 hours a day using/interacting with some form of media!
-The US population is 51% female, but women in media are found at a MUCH lower percentage, and are usually given minor roles - as props.
-Even in cartoons, females (whether in human or animal form) are often given the "Barbie" proportions.
-Women who are self-objectifiers have lower cognitive functioning and lower ambitions! and are even less likely to vote because they don't believe that their voice matters!

Mis Representation

I am thrilled, excited, grateful, relieved to hear someone FINALLY address this issue. A woman's WORTH IS NOT BASED ON THEIR BEAUTY, SENSUALITY, SEX APPEAL. And it is an ABSOLUTE LIE the media spoon-feeds us that women are powerful when they exploit their bodies. In fact, we become powerLESS when we become objectified. And I would say virtually ALL shows and movies propogate the lie. I can't watch much anymore without being incredibly offended by the way women are portrayed and the message it sends to other women & girls as well as men & boys.
(Thankfully, most of the Food Network shows are unoffensive.)

So that's my soapbox. Here's what I'm referring to in the first sentence above. PLEASE, PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS!
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news.newsmain/article/184/0/1853413/RadioWest.(M-F..11AM..and..7PM)/91911.Through.the.Lens.-.Miss.Representation

*KUER, an offiliate station of NPR, did an interview with Jennifer Siebel Newsom about her documentary, "Mis Representation". Here's a quote from the above link: "Siebel Newsom's documentary explores how women are portrayed in the media and the very real consequences this has on leadership in our society. Siebel Newsom says her film is meant to be what she calls a 'change agent for our culture.' It's a change she says will empower women and help America's productivity, creativity and bottom line."
There are also related links at the above link for ways to get involved. Please do so! I think this is REALLY important.

Hypermiler Hypermiling

Ever heard of this?? I hadn't. Until...yesterday? I think. It was on NPR (of course). Interesting stuff about how to get the most gas out of your car. Or maybe I should say how to KEEP the most gas in your car / how to take the LEAST gas out of your car. Here's a handy link for more info, tips, and tricks:
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/marketplace/business-news-briefs/2011/09/increase_your_gas_mileage_a_guide_to_hypermiling.html

Stuff like, don't wait till the last second to break for a red light, try to keep your RPM's under 2, anticipate hills by accelerating BEFORE the hill so your car doesn't have to accelerate up the hill and work harder, remove excess weight from your car (I guess I should take that vacuum out of my trunk...), etc. Lots more tips at the site.

Some people take it to an extreme, which can be dangerous. So don't do that. And sometimes it'll irritate other drivers, but if it saves you hundreds of dollars every year in gas, it might be worth it. I know I'm definitely going to try some of their suggestions.

Thank You!!

To everyone who has left ideas, advice, and sympathy on my post about Jason,
THANK YOU!
It has made me realize how many wise, amazing mothers I am privileged to know.  And I think things are already getting better. Thank you all so much.

How To Win Friends & Influence People

by Dale Carnegie

Aside from scriptures and the words of our prophets and apostles, this is one of the best books ever to be written. This, and Sheri Dew's 'No One Can Take Your Place.'
It's not just really good - it's INCREDIBLY eye-opening and insightful.
And I'm only on the 3rd chapter. (Although my parents read parts of it to us as teenagers for Family Home Evenings.)
Well written, easy to read, and GREAT stories.

If you haven't read it, I STRONGLY suggest you make it the next book you read (aside from scriptures, etc). And whoever reads this post, I'd be really interested to know if you have or have not read it.

Here are just a few of my favorite parts so far:
"Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous because it wounds a person's precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment."

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving."

"'The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement. There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. I never criticize anyone. I believe in giving a person incentive to work. So I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault. If I like anything, I am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise'" (Charles Schwab).

"Of course flattery seldom works with discerning people. It is shallow, selfish and insincere. The difference between appreciation and flattery? One is sincere and the other insincere. One comes from the heart out; the other from the teeth out."

"Emerson said: 'Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn from him.' If that was true of Emerson, isn't it likely to be a thousand times more true of you and me? Let's cease thinking of our accomplishments, our wants. Let's try to figure out the other person's good points. Then forget flattery. Give honest, sincere appreciation. Be 'hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise,' and people will cherish your words and treasure them and repeat them over a lifetime - repeat them years after you have forgotten them."

Bruises & Scrapes, But Still Alive

Ugh. I fell down the porch stairs today while holding Jason. Scary and painful. I was holding him in front of me and was at the edge of the top step, just about to go down when I somehow lost my balance. I think maybe he lunged forward to grab something, but the details are sketchy. When I started to loose my balance, my first instinct was to use my hands to catch myself. But I was holding Jason, so I quickly brought my arms back to keep holding him, but that made my balance worse. I fell forward - head first and sideways. I tucked Jason in close to me and tried to roll around him so I wouldn't crush him. Then tumble tumble tumble crash. There are probably 8-10 wooden stairs with cement at the bottom.
Somewhere along the way I had lost my hold on Jason and he came tumbling down behind me. So when I hit the cement and stopped rolling, I reached behind me to stop his rolling b/c I did NOT want him to crack his head open on the cement. He was crying/screaming. And was on the last step, on his tummy. I lifted him off the step and held him while I checked him for blood. None. Wow, what a blessing.
My body hurt everywhere. I kissed him and tried to comfort him as best I could amid my shaking and trying to breathe. He semi-calmed down fairly quickly; I could tell he wanted the bucket of dirt right in front of him, so pulling that to him did the trick. Haha. He's so tough - it amazes me. My shoulder, my elbow, my foot, and my head all got hit pretty bad. I hobbled us back in the house and checked myself out. Also no blood. Just lots of big scratches/scrapes, bruises, and a big goose egg on my head.
After we got inside, I stripped Jason down to further check for damage. Nothing but one long not-so-bad scrape on his forhead and a little red spot under his hair. That might be a goose egg tomorrow though, we'll see. And as soon as I let him go free, he was running and playing like nothing had happened.
Man am I grateful that Heavenly Father answered my prayer for safety today. Obviously he does every day since I'm still alive and well. But that fall could have been SOOOO much worse. No one died, no one was knocked unconcious, nothing broken, no need for stitches, no concussion. I feel so very blessed. I am so, so grateful that Jason is okay. So so grateful.
So grateful.

One lg one and one smaller one above it.



This is just to show the size of the goose egg.

This doesn't look that bad, but it's swollen and bruised.



Weird Dream - Snoop Dog

In this dream, I was somewhere in Europe - it felt like a mix of London/Vienna. Three of us (two friends from high school, one of which was Shelley Creque) sat down in a cafe for lunch and talked. Then Snoop Dog came and sat w/ us, across from me. His entourage remained standing nearby. Without introductions, I inlcuded him in our conversation by asking, "So Snoop, do you believe in God or have you ever had any spiritual experiences?" (I'm pretty sure I was a missionary or something in the dream.) My friends were shocked that I would ask him that.  But he replied completely nonchalantly by saying the words to his rap song that was simultaneously playing in the cafe. Turns out, he had recently written and released a rap song addressing that very topic! He really is a deep thinker, you know. ;)

Unfortunately, I don't remember what his answer was.

Mae Bean Hinman

I LOVE my Grandma Hinman. And I miss her immensly. She was so incredibly witty and quick and active. She was 92? when she had a heart attack and died, but was on her way to get her driver's licence renewed when it happened. And if she had gotten there, she probably would've passed.
She was the first woman to serve a mission in mainland Europe. (France and Belgium, I believe.)
When she came home, she was a secretary to Laurin Hinman, a fiesty man of 5'7". Grandma was still at least 5'10" when she passed away. A mutual friend and business man of theirs, and a member of Mae's ward, gave Laurin a copy of the Book of Mormon. He read it, knew it was true, and got baptized. After that, EVERYone wanted them to date and marry. Someone sent him tickets to some event, two tickets, with the stipulation that he had to bring Mae.
They later got engaged, and married 3 weeks after that. Grandma married a man shorter than she was, a high school drop-out, who had been divorced, and was a convert who couldn't yet take her to the temple.
She called him Lorny and he called her Mae-day.
Prior to their courtship, in a letter to her sister, she wrote, "I have the nicest boss. Too bad he's shorter than a parking meter."
She also once said, when depressed, she feels "shorter than a duck's instep."
She climbed to the top of Mt. Hood once. Said it scared her out of her wits. Some years later, she did it again. Why? She said she wanted to know if she could ever be that scared again!
After her husband passed away, some 20? yrs before her, she told him that he couldn't come to take her until after the turn of the millenium. She died in 2001. :)


And this isn't about Grandma, but it's along the same humor-lines:
"The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list."

p.s. Grandpa Hinman, although a high-school drop-out, still got a degree in Electrical Engineering.

Ironic Allergy & Heel Spur

I just think this is really ironic: I am allergic to the Johnson & Johnson ORGANIC baby wash. I like to use the regular J&J baby wash on my face, but when I bought the organic kind, it made my face sting and turn red. Then the other day when I was bathing Jason and used it on him, apparently some got on my arm and didn't get washed off. My arm was itching and red. Jason, however, who has sensitive skin, has no problem with it. Weird.

Also just discovered why I have a horrible shooting pain coming from the heel of my foot. Extremely. Painful. It's called a heel spur, or plantar fasciitis. The plantar fascia is some kind of tendon in the bottom of your foot and when it gets overworked for whatever reason, it *smarts*.  Oh, and they seldom occur in people under 25 - another reminder that I'm nearing middle-age. Ugh.

p.s. While bathing Jason today, I noticed that the J&J Organic Baby Wash states "Allergy-tested".   ???  So they tested for allergens, found that there were some, but did nothing about it? except to say that they had tested it? Gee, thanks.
p.p.s. I'm not really bitter about it, like the above p.s. may indicate. I just thought it was chuckle-worthy.

The Book of Mormon, The Broadway Musical

No joke. The two producers of South Park have made a Broadway musical comedy titled The Book of Mormon.
Heard it on NPR today.
Neither of them are or ever were LDS, but they think Mormons are a great source of material - the "American Religion", naively optimistic, unusually friendly, etc, etc. The musical is NOT a retelling of the stories w/in the BoM through song, but it sounds more like a non-LDS, R-rated version of The RM or Other Side of Heaven. It's about two missionaries in Uganda - one straightlaced, the other not so much. I don't know much detail other than that and that there are lots of f-bombs and LOTS of offensive, sacrilegious things. The producers haven't released ANY pieces of the music because they think it would be "too vulgar out of context". And if they think it's vulgar, I can't imagine what most Mormons would think.
The Church has released this statement: "The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon, as a volume of scripture, will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ."
The producers called the Church's statement "BRILLIANT!" And said it just made them like Mormons even more. :) Aah, I love this Church. :D

p.s. One LDS New Yorker comedian said she thought it was funny and that even though it has all that low humor and makes light of spiritual things, in the end, it has a good moral to the story. (I paraphrased, liberally.)
Isn't that how Satan works? Makes something bad seem ok?  My favorite quote from an EFY speaker, refering to a plate of spaghetti: "There's only just a little bit of poop in it!" Why not! Dig right in. :/