I had a realization yesterday.  I have always wondered why mothers always seem to have so much confidence. More than once, I have ran into a high school friend with three kids and they are so outgoing and friendly and seem to exude so much confidence.  I alway thought "why do I feel so intimidated by them? I have my degree, a career, I've traveled the world."  BUT I realized yesterday its not so much confidence as it is desperation to talk to another adult! I saw a friend in Ikea yesterday and I was so excited to talk to someone besides my baby and husband that I chatted her ear off for 15 minutes.

We went to get-together with my college roommates a couple weeks ago and while we there my friend's husband, Scott,  gave us a gift that was one of the most special, amazing gifts I've ever gotten. Heather and Scott had come to our temple wedding and he took notes during the ceremony of what the sealer talked about. I was so excited about getting married that I couldn't remember a thing about what was said during our sealing. And I thought I'd never know and had wished a few different times that I could remember even a little bit of what was said.  Scott had taken notes and then right after wrote down word for word what he could remember. He typed it up, put a picture of the Salt Lake temple behind it and framed it for us.  How amazing!  I tear up just thinking about how thoughtful that was.

2004 Pictures

I've been looking through all my old disks of pictures in a search and keep coming across gems.  These are all from 2004 when I lived in SLC and worked for FNB and was in my single girl prime.

Below are pictures of a night of snowman building at 2 am.  Bryan had a great idea to build a firing squad of snowmen.

This is my adorable niece, Elise, back when I was the favorite aunt and took her to things like "Disney's Princesses on Ice" and rode on Trax to get there.  Oh how they wish I was still that cool.

Halloween 2004: Bryan & Sara Banker. I believe Bryan was a dude from Jersey and Sara a football fan, which they are in real life, so it wasn't much of a stretch.

Danalin, a sad clown. Me, a devil, I was being ironic.

Michelle, Abby, Monica, Me, Sara, Bryan, Bryan's girlfriend of the year.

Monica

Isabell- CUTEST 3 year old in the world.

Sleding with Janey & Monica in Sugarhouse park (I have no idea who's pink coat that is).

Elise, Chase, Aidan and Uncle Nate....somewhere?

Monica & I at a raging concert.

A friend of my mom's was recently in the news, she fell to her death from the Angel's Landing hike in Zions Park. I was trying to explain how the trails were to my mom and how skinny they are at points and how it could easily happen.  I ran across these pictures today while looking for some others.  I didn't have any pictures of the narrow trails.  The one of me is on the lower landing.  The picture above is the trail you take to the top. It isn't as skinny as I remember, but I do remember using my hands a lot to get up the trail and looking over the edge that was a foot from me.   

We went to our ward Christmas party last night. It was a night in Bethlehem.  They had us wear robes and clothes that maybe they wore in the time of Jesus. We were taxed a can of food to come into the city.  We were given eight gold shillings to pay for our food that we bought from street vendors.  Dinner was pita bread with hummus, meat, cucumbers, tomatoes, & avocado.  They also had olives and dates.  We ate on the floor on blankets and listened to the scripture story of Joseph and Mary.  It was such a great idea and we had a good time.

This picture doesn't do the mess justice.  Quinn got spaghetti sauce on every surface available except the ceiling, thank goodness.

This is a typical picture of the "day in the life of Quinn."  He has been a movie maniac lately.  We specifically choose not to have a TV so we don't waste our lives in front of it.  However, its hard for me say no to watching a movie when I know it will keep him out of my hair and stop the whining for a little while. We can't wait for summer so we can get out of the house!

This is an awesome tent that was my oldest brothers at one point.  Its gone through all of my siblings and some of their kids.  Quinn takes his blanket in there and pretends to go "night-night."

SNOW DAY!

Our sister-in-law, Rachel, and her kids came to visit us in November and while they were here it snowed.  Cool Uncle Thurm took the kids outside and made a sweet fort and igloo.  They are  a really fun family and we were SO glad they came to visit!

Quick Update

I feel obligated to update my blog occasionally just for the fact that it is my journal, scrapbook, and only record of my life.  Lets pray the World Wide Web never crashes!

Thanksgiving was great. I'm still full. Seriously.  I don't know if I'll ever been able to eat yams again.  The thoughts of them makes me sick to my stomach.  I made a delicious new yam recipe this year, but I don't think I'll ever want to make it again.  Maybe I should fast for a few days.

We came home early from our vacation because Thurm's cousin died in a caving accident. The funeral was really uplifting and made me love the family so much for their positive and spiritual attitudes.

We came home to our renters moving in. They've been really great so far.  However, we can hear everything they do and I'm sure they can hear us too.  So we've decided that maybe our attic might be the new hang out.  We are going to get a couch and TV to put up there and make it a little more cosy.

I've been really bored the last couple weeks because I haven't been working on the house and there is only so much cleaning and cooking a girl can do. And I haven't felt motivated to do much else. Tooele doesn't have much in the way of entertainment.  I have been thinking about babysitting again lately.  A little extra money would be nice but it would be so great for Quinn to have someone to play with. He gets so bored with me! And it would give me something to do.  However, we will soon be fixing our roof, insulating, and building a master bedroom upstairs, so I know the boredum won't last much longer.

Quinn is a little bookworm. He would read books all day long if I had the patience.  He is constantly bringing me a book to read to him.  He has also been into watching Disney movies. He doesn't have the attention span for longer than 20 mins at a time, but he asks to watch it a few times a day.  His vocabulary is expanding. His latest words are "cheese, teeth, and crocs (shoes)".  He understands pretty much everything.  His latest trick, which got rave reviews over Thanksgiving, is pulling his sleeve over his hand and saying "eh, eh, eh" until someone asks "where's your hand" and then he whips it out like a magic trick and a huge smile on his face.  He came up with that all on his own. Cutie.  He eats pretty much anything I give him. He doesn't really like bread, but loves fruits and vegis.

PS what happened to spellcheck on blogger?

Asian Recipies

We made some Asian food for some friends the other day and she asked for the recipes. So here they are. Sorry they are very "free-style" but I never measure things.

Lettuce Wraps

3TB oil

1 lb small diced meat (I always use chicken)

1 can water chestnuts, diced

1 bunch green onions, diced

Optional veggies-green pepper, carrot, onion, mushrooms

1 head lettuce

5 TBS stir fry sauce (I have to use House of Tsang--so good!!!)

Heat oil in wok, brown meat, add stir fry sauce and cook till meat is done.

Add a little water and simmer for a few minutes.

Add veggies- just cook them till they are heated through.

Serve a few spoonfuls in a lettuce leaf with peanut sauce.

**Key is to dice everything really small. And I always just use whatever veggies I have. And I usually use way more stir fry sauce than it calls for. I like it saucy.

Peanut Sauce

1/2 c peanut butter

1/2 c water

1/4 c sugar

1 tsp pepper flakes

1/2 tsp chopped ginger

1/2 tsp garlic

Bring boil, let simmer 3 mins.

***I almost always just use the first three ingredients***

Teriyaki Stir Fry

**warning- I never measure anything, so just throw in whatever amounts you have***

Chicken

Veggies-broccoli, onion, celery, carrot, whatever else you want to use.

Stir fry the chicken in some oil and water. Add veggies, steam fry them till tender crisp. Pour sauce over top, stir and serve.

Sauce:

1/3 Soy Sauce

1/3 Water

1/3 Sugar

I'm guessing on those measurements because I have no idea. It's different every time. Just taste it.

Bring to boil, thicken with corn starch.

Curry (Red, Yellow & Green)

***I'd follow the directions on your curry paste, they are all a bit different. But this is the gist.

1 can Coconut milk

Curry paste to taste

2 breasts chicken chunked

2 potato diced

2 carrots sliced

Simmer till potatoes are soft.

Drove around the valley the other day taking pictures of all the temples. I drove up a hill to get a higher picture of the Draper Temple and this was at the end of the road. This gluttonous mansion. Unless nine families are living in this, or its a hotel, its ridiculous!

Just noticed that Quinn is somehow watching "Enchanted" in the Spanish version. Funny.

Surprisingly Good Wheat Bread

Found this recipe on a ZOOM box. I bought Zoom a long time ago (sort of like creamed wheat, but gross) and needed to get rid of it. It's just cracked wheat, but you find it in the cereal isle. Took it out of the cupboard and saw a honey wheat bread recipe on the side. Its really good.

2 TBS oil
2 TBS honey
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 c zoom (or cracked wheat)
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2-3 cups flour

Blend oil, honey, water in mixer. Sprinkle yeast, let raise 3 mins. Stir in zoom, wheat flour, and salt. Mix. Stir in 1 1/4 c flour and mix for 1 minute. Add enough remaining flour to make an easy to handle dough. Cover with cloth, let raise till double. Punch down. Shape into loaf. Let raise again till double. Bake 375 for 35-45 mins.

Quinn as his Dada

We laughed and laughed, and are still laughing over how clever we are for dressing Quinn up as Thurm for Halloween ; )

Vintage Christmas Balls

Found these original 50's satin ornaments and added ribbon. I want to sell them on Etsy but am not sure how much people would pay for them. Do they look retro enough? Or just "found them in my mom's basement?" How much could I price them for?

I refinished this little cupboard in "shabby chic" style. Thought about selling it, but I like it so much I think I'll keep it.
Before

After

patience

I had a dream last night about wanting to leave for a trip, getting left behind by others in the group, and doing everything I could to get my family to get out of the house. It was all I could do to contain myself and be patient while waiting for others to get ready. Hours and hours went by and I was losing my mind, going crazy, I just wanted to leave so bad!!!
I think dreams are usually just your emotions coming out in another form. I have been feeling impatient alot lately. I REALLY want to refinish our hardwood floors, but we have run out of money for the moment and I have to wait. I think about how great it will look EVERY DAY! When doing projects around the house, I do it the quickest way possible. And then Thurm usually has to fix the mess I made of things. When I cook, I cook on high so it will cook faster, but I usually end up burning it because I get distracted. And I get distracted because I usually have seven different things I'm cutting, cooking, stirring, etc. because I want to fix dinner as fast as I can.
I used to work at a company where I had alot to do and was usually stressed (I was getting stress headaches and grinding my teeth at night!!!) It was too much work to actually get done in a day, but I busted my butt to get it done. I usually skipped lunches, came in early, etc. After making a few mistakes in a row, my boss said "you need to slow down and get it done right." Which he was right, but I was so pissed because he was the one giving me an impossible amount of work to get done in 8 hours.

Thurm is Mr. Laid Back. He is as chill as they come. He is rarely in a hurry, unless I'm with him. He has been a good influence on me and I have gained ALOT of patience being married to him. I think my dream was a reminder that I need to chill out.

On a different note: Thurm & I have been married for THREE years! He took me to a movie and Thai food. Which, by the way, was EXCELLENT Thai food. We consider ourselves Thai food connoisseurs, and we were both impressed that Tooele's restaurant was so good! We saw "Where the Wild Things Are." We both really liked it, but agreed that it wasn't necessarily a movie for kids. Not that there was anything bad in it. It was just moody, symbolic, and seemed more aimed at adults. I just don't think an eight year old would enjoy it.

Quinn has been SOOO cute lately. He has added "hi" to his list of words. He now has "mama, nigh-nigh(night-night), hot, hat." He has said other words in the past, but has either forgotten them or just chooses not to say them. He has been climbing out of the bathtub all by himself. I had my back turned and felt his hand on my leg, I was so surprised to see his wet little self out of the tub! He loves to read books in the morning when he wakes up. He lies next to me and cuddles in real close while I read to him. In the evenings he likes to watch TV on the laptop while he drinks his bottle. Its so funny how he just develops his own routines and likes and dislikes. What a little person. He eats pretty much anything I give him now. He LOVES fruit snacks, which I don't give him very often, so they are good bribery snacks.

Our basement is ALMOST DONE! I can taste it! Thurm is figuring out how to plumb the kitchen sink. I need to give everything a good cleaning and we are DONE! I posted an ad on KSL, so if you know of anyone in Tooele that needs a 2 bedroom, 1 bath for $675, utilities included, let us know.

Upstairs Kitchen Before and After Photos

I've posted before and after photos of my kitchen, basement living room, and basement bedrooms. We are almost done with the basement and can probably get it rented for November! YAY! I'm sort of dreading having it rented though because it's been so nice having this huge house to ourselves!

I'm hoping that the kitchen isn't a case of "shoulda just stayed with the before." After I bought the blue and put it on my wall it suddenly reminded me of my mom's kitchen in the 80's. Does my kitchen look 80's or modern? I can't tell. But it doesn't matter because I'm not painting it again for a LONG time.

Before

After

Basement Living Room

Thurm & I took different angles of the basement living room, so its hard to see the dramatic difference. But basically we painted and carpeted the living room and two bedrooms. You can't tell how bad the walls were in the before pictures, but being down there, you can really see the difference.

Before



After

Bedroom #2

This room also had a huge hole in the ceiling that we had to fix.
Before

After

Basement bedroom #1

I keep seeing traces of this teal color ALL OVER the house. I'm pretty sure the ENTIRE house was this color at some point! CRAZY!

Before

After

And the Award for "Mom of the Year" goes to....

I was feeling pretty good about my day yesterday. I woke up, read Quinn books in bed. Made a healthy breakfast. Made a batch of peach freezer jam from the peaches on our tree.I did several loads of laundry. Gave Quinn a bath. I went through our storage and found our boxes of winter clothes to switch out. While Quinn napped I finished edging the blue paint in the kitchen. I gathered dried flowers and plants from our yard and made many decorative soaps. And all of this before 3pm.

THEN I left the front door open because it was a beautiful day and I wanted the warm air to come in. I wasn't worried about Quinn because he always stays in the front yard. I heard him go outside and I made a mental note to check on him in a minute. But before I could, I heard the door bell ring and a woman yells "hello! are you missing your baby?" I ran to take him and asked where he was. "In the street! Maybe you shouldn't leave your door wide open!" was the accusatory reply. I gave a really lame "he's never left the lawn before," while she stormed off, very holier than thou. I was embarrassed, relieved that Quinn was ok, mad at myself for leaving the door open, and ashamed that I was a negligent mother. So that completely ruined my day. And to top it all off, I glanced into my room later and Quinn had the string from the blinds around his neck and was swinging his head around. I cut those off immediatly. He is getting so tall! I'm going to have to baby proof a little higher!

I guess pride comes before the fall : ) I re-learn everyday that Quinn is not to be trusted. Just when I feel secure, he mixes it up.

Past owners of our house have left pieces of themselves for us to either clean up or adopt. One owner left corn cobs & old antenna's hanging in the attic (those will be cleaned up). Another owner left Christmas wrapping paper. One owner left green house lights. There were some soap making supplies left so I decided to use them. I gathered leaves, petals, etc. from our yard and made a bunch of little soaps. It was pretty fun, but now what? What do I do with all of them? Christmas gifts?

I stole some pics from Amy's blog of our cruise. Go to her blog to see Thurm & Ben doing "Ice, Ice, Baby!" It's awesome!