Thursday, May 27, 2010

I'm off

I am off to Halifax Friday morning for a funeral for a good friend's mom. I am happy to be going to see her but sad that it is under the circumstances that it is.

I am grateful to my MIL and some friends for helping me out with the kids while Regan is at work.

And Regan for supporting this sudden decision that I feel is really important.

I'll be home Tuesday night.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

In the Craft Room: Eli's Crib Pocket

This is a snapshot into Eli's room. It was already this marvelous color when we moved in. And I just happened to have this marvelous Amy Butler fabric that just matched so perfectly that I HAD to make something to put in there.
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I have hung a blanket over the side of my kids beds since I first had a kid. Then I can peek in to see if they are asleep or not without the light hitting them in the face. Or leave the room quietly without them knowing I left.

So I made this hanging thing
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That has pockets on the other side for books.
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I'm hoping that he'll start looking at them at 6am instead of crying and waking me up that early.
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I got the idea from a blog (which I can't seem to locate) but I adjusted it to fit my needs.
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I'm like that. Thinking about what I Need.
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Isn't this fabric the CUTEST :) But still little boy-ish!
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And regan told me I should stop posting so you all would see his post and comment on it. So if you haven't read it and commented, then could you go do that and boost his ego :) Thanks!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Garage Sailing

Did you know I LOVE a good garage sale?
One of the best things about Nova Scotia was the sweeet garage sales! One of my favorite memories out there was getting up early and having my friend Jodie pick me up in the morning (early-ish) and we would drive around Eastern Passage (and sometimes other places) to get stuff. It was AWESOME :) Especially since Jodie loved a good deal just like me!!!

This weekend I was wanting to go to garage sales and I did for a tiny bit with my friend Jen (who by the way really just needs to have her baby already :) ). But i was a-itching to do it MORE.

But no go.

Instead holiday Monday we went out to my mom and dad's and spent the day helping them clean up and de-junk. And it's like I went to a garage sale for free. And that's even better.
Garage sale finds

I got crafts supplies galore, Some great old cook books (AWESOME ones!) Handles for the purse I am making. Many things that will make great projects. So look out. Some are coming YOUR way :)

And on a side note? Isn't Reg just the best :) I am just so stinking lucky.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Five and Five

Rhonda asked me to do this, I hope she's not disappointed with the result.

A little background to start. When I began medical school I met new people and made some new friends. One of the new friends I made was Ruban Gnanakumar. We were destined to become friends. He's Hindu, I'm a Mormon. He's single, I'm married with three kids (two when I first met him I guess). He's going to be a rich radiologist (and rarely actually see patients), and I'll be a hopefully financially stable family doc (seeing lots of patients – if things go well). You’ll see soon why I’m telling you this. I'm not sure why it exactly started, but every now and then when I read something interesting on the internet I send a link of it to Ruban. Over the past few years I've sent him lots of links, here’s a sample:

1. An article about new research on MS (I won't comment about what I think about this)

2. A "This American Life" story about a Chinese guy that patrols a bridge to stop people from committing suicide. Strangely compelling stuff. I should add that “This American Life” is about the best podcast out there.

3. A book's website that assesses social trends in the U.S. and claims that people are becoming isolated, in the sense that they only associate with people who hold the same values and viewpoints as themselves.

4. Even an obituary about the famous research patient HM

5. Lots of it has a medical slant to it, but I send him other stuff as well. Like an interesting article about E.B. White who is most likely best known for being the author of Charlotte's Web (the first interesting thing about him is that he's a he - I always thought the Charlotte's Web author was a she)

Well, that's more than enough random background.

So, similar to what I do with Ruban, I thought I’d find an interesting link and pass it along for the blog post and make a few comments about it. Today, I came across something about friendship and so that's the topic for the rest of the post.

1. The article I came across gives a brief review of how the concept of friendship has changed over the course of history and then explores the current status of friendship. He's a bit academic at times and may exaggerate the impact that the internet and particularly websites like facebook have on friendship. However, he says some interesting things about friendship in the different stages of life and shares some interesting tidbits like this, “A study [from 2004] found that one American in four reported having no close confidants, up from one in 10 in 1985.” I see people around my stage of life who struggle to have meaningful friendship amongst all the other demands of life and some of them use the internet to establish, maintain or nurture friendship (I have no idea if this is good for friends or not)

2. A number of years ago Marlin K. Jensen gave a talk about friendship. The whole talk is worth reading, but here is a sample quote, “I think in all of us there is a profound longing for friendship, a deep yearning for the satisfaction and security that close and lasting relationships can give.… if the consummate Christian attribute of charity has a first cousin, it is friendship. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul slightly, friendship “suffereth long, and is kind; [friendship] envieth not; … seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; … [friendship] never faileth.”

3. I can’t talk about friendship without mentioning Rhonda. Our relationship began as a friendship before becoming romantic in nature as well. Many things have changed around us over the years we’ve been together, but during that time she’s always been my best friend. I also have the good fortune of watching Rhonda be a good friend to many other people.

4. Again from the Jensen talk he said, “I think one of life’s most satisfying accomplishments for my wife and me is to have lived long enough to see our children become good friends.” He’s lived much longer than I have, but I enjoy being able to watch our kids develop friendship. Alden and Lucy sometimes clash, but it’s great to watch them laugh and have fun together – which they do pretty regularly. Eli has also recently been establishing himself a bit more in the family and now whenever he hears Lucy get upset he grunts, “hug” and will find her to give a brief hug. He then checks to make sure it worked – it often does.

5. Rhonda often likes to end with something to get people to make comments, so I’ll try to do the same, perhaps a poll of sorts. Does the internet (i.e. facebook, blogs, etc.) enhance friendship or just provide a weak substitute when other interactions are too difficult to fit into the rest of life?

One other thing I’ll add about my friend Ruban. I’ve probably sent him over 50 links in the past few years that I’ve known him. He’s never read one of them.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Spiritual Sundays

“ I have learned that it is by serving that we learn how to serve. When we are engaged in the service of our fellow men, not only to our deeds assist them, but we put our own problems in a fresher perspective. When we concern ourselves more with others, there is less time to be concerned with ourselves….. God does notice us and watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve one another in the kingdom… So often, our acts of service consist of simple encouragement or of giving mundane help with mundane tasks, but what glorious consequences can flow from mundane acts and from small but deliberate deeds.” – President Spencer W. Kimball.

“ I am confident it is the intention of each member of the Church to serve and help those in need…How many times has your heart been touched as you have witnessed the need of another? How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet how often has day to day living interfered and you’ve left it for others to help, feeling that “oh surely someone will take care of that need?” - President Thomas S. Monson

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Photo Talk: A little Photo Tip

Here is my beautiful Sister in law Jen. Looking great at this wedding.
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She looks great but it is just an average shot. I am looking straight at her. I am tiny bit taller but not too much. And here we are shooting straight on with the setting sun behind me.

Now look at her here.
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Look how much better she looks posed when she is a bit below me and I am higher shooting down. So much more flattering than the last photo. She is crouching down (quite lady like if I remember right!)
And we are taking advantage of the beautiful evening light as well by shooting so the setting sun was coming on the side of her to the right of both of us.

Taking a picture from above is a much more flattering way than just straight on. There's your photo tip for today!

And on another note I nnnnnnnneeeeeeeddddddddd to make these badly. But really should I be baking MORE treats??? I've gotta stop finding so many things to make and then EAT :)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

In the Craft Room: Scrapbooking Share

I've recently felt my heart return to scrapbooking. :) I hadn't bought any supplies in QUITE a long time. It's not really in the budget as of late. But since I stopped designing for Scraptivity I stopped getting free supplies every month and that made a real impact on my pile. I have lots of sets of stamps but my paper was running low!! And it was a bit good to take a break and do some other stuff. Like sewing and other crafts. But last week I got to spend a little bit at the scrapbook store and it was marvelous. And since then I've been enjoying scrapping again. So I thought I'd share some pages as of late.
And since I took the pictures late.... they aren't the best. As the overhead light was BADLY reflecting on the photos. but here they are anyways :)
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superlucy2
twogoofballs
justsolucky
And I just have to add that i LOVE my MM slice!!! I use it on every page!! I can't wait to buy some more cards for it!


And yesterday it was quite hot out and Lucy on the deck. She wanted to pose for me....
Summer is here
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What a goof!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

In the Kitchen: Navajo Tacos (aka Indian Tacos)

The first time I made Navajo tacos (or as you call them when you grow up in Cardston area - Indian Tacos) Regan took one bite and said to me "why have you kept this from me for so long?" And then he went on to devour 3 more of them.

By then we'd been married for four years and had lived in Lethbridge and then moved out to Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia (8 months pregnant no less) and then moved into our own house in Eastern Passage, NS.

I can't remember why I thought of making them. But some day while was making a sweet dough, probably for buns or donuts or cinnamon buns (since I use the same dough for all of those that you can find here) I made Navajo tacos for dinner. And apparently Regan was smitten.

Well since then I've tried to make them for dinner most days that I bake anything sweet dough related.

If you don't know what a Navajo Taco is, then you obviously didn't go to high school in Cardston, where they had Native American Awareness days and would serve them in the lunch room.

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It's basically a scone or a donut without a hole (and no icing or anything) with a taco toppings on top! You could read more about them here or here. But really it's some deep fried sweet dough topped with the taco guts on top. Easy peasy! And you can convince your kids to try them when you tell them it's a no hole donut with some stuff on top. That is unless you have kids who actually just eat what you make. And if that's the case I am extremely jealous of you.

Have you tried these or heard of them before?

Monday, May 17, 2010

The last two weeks

have been absolutely packed. And this last weekend I had so many things going on I just plain old didn't blog. It's the first time I've missed a few days in a while. I always post Sunday - Thursday with Friday and Saturday off. Don't know if you've noticed or not. BUT that's been my posting. Just to show you a little list of all the things we've had going on in the past two weeks.

* Soccer Pictures for Alden
* Dad and Alden date - went to the movie
* Dad and Lucy date - went to Wendy's
* I went out to dinner with my SIL
* Regan started Internal Medicine - which has been fairly busy. I've heard it's one of the worst but it hasn't been ridiculous yet. Just busy.
* Alden has had 4 Soccer Games (two of which got canceled from bad weather and then reschedule on this past Saturday)
* Regan went out of town both the last two weekends - one in Calgary for teaching days and one in Vancouver for the ALARM course (something about delivering babies)
* Mother's day Celebrations for both Lucy and Alden in one day (thank goodness grandma could come and be with Eli during) and I watched someone's kid that morning so she could go to her mother's day celebrations
* Had my parents over on mother's day, a couple over on friday night and a family on a Sunday night for dinner
* Reg and I went out to dinner with my inlaws
* Regan met with the Stake President
* Regan got called and set apart as the new Elder's Quorum president in our ward yesterday
* went to a movie night with a couple girls where we just chatted, ate and played games instead of watching a movie
* did 4 different photo shoots - one pregnancy (with two girls), one engagement, one new baby and one grad one
* went to the temple with some of my family to remember Kelly since it was her birthday this past Saturday
* hosted a craft night at my house (which was tons of fun!)
* attended a birthday party in Raymond and had to miss another one since they were at the same time
* had my online chat with my photo instructor for my class
* worked on my assignment for my photo class
Plus just plain ol' regular cleaning the house and meals and laundry and all that.

Phew. I'm glad this week has a lot less going on! And even a long weekend coming up! :) Hopefully Regan will get some of it off so we can enjoy relaxing!!

What have you been up to?
And did you miss my posts.... hahahahaha

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Spring Soccer

has been filled with canceled games from lots of bad weather. Snow and rain. We had a game on Monday. A really really really wet and dirty game.
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The best thing about the soccer season this year (Alden's first) is that he has two friends on his team. Colton and Kaden. And the good thing is that it is great for us moms and dads to hang out and visit. AND for the little sisters to giggle and run around and play (and pee in the bushes - oh wait that WASN'T good) and eat snacks and giggle.

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And I made all the flowers from on line tutorials. Would you like the links?

And the t-shirt was totally from an online tutorial right here

Looks like a little guilt encourages ya'll to comment hey? :) Nice work!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

In the Craftroom:

First off - no I did not serve a mission. Always wanted too. But it wasn't right every time I prayed about it!

Secondly, thought I'd share some of the craftiness I've been enjoying around here.

Made necklaces for Young Womens
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Lots of different kinds of hair flowers and broaches
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And altered a t-shirt (kind of a funny picture of me. hahahaha)
My altered t-shirt

And I've been back in my scrapping groove yesterday and today and i was itching to spend more time down there in my scraproom but I've got a long list of things I should be doing instead!

What have you been up too? (Besides reading not commenting?)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Mother's Day

A great quote I wanted to share via Christal's blog

Elder M. Russell Ballard on mothering:
"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family. Many are able to be “full-time moms,” at least during the most formative years of their children’s lives, and many others would like to be. Some may have to work part-or full-time; some may work at home; some may divide their lives into periods of home and family and work. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else." “Daughters of God,” Ensign, May 2008, 108–10

I am grateful to be a mother. And to have a wonderful mother my self. We have a marvelous relationship. She truly is one of my best friends. And I am grateful we have grown closer over the years. I am also blessed with a marvelous mother in law. She is so upbeat and energetic. So generous and kind.
How blessed I am!

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I had breakfast in bed (it was even waffles with whipped cream and fruit - Way to go Reg!), got a Sunday afternoon nap and lots of presents. I am lucky!

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I gave my oldest two kids a little quiz about me and motherhood.
Lucy
Lucy
How old am I? 32
What is my favorite food? Kind of every food, right mom?
What do I love to do? Read and bake cookies and watch movies.
What did I do before I had kids? Get married.
What do I do all day? Walk around
How could I do better as a mom? nothing
What am I good at? baking and cleaning up the house
I love it when my mom.... does stuff.
:)

apr24
Alden
How old am I? 32
What is my favorite food? i don't know
What do I love to do? Read and nothing else
What did I do before I had kids? Serve a mission
What do I do all day? cleaning and reading and crafts and nothing else
How could I do better as a mom? be a really good artist
What am I good at? crafts and hugs and baking
I love it when my mom.... hugs me.

How blessed I am with my little family!!!
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Sunday, May 09, 2010

Spiritual Sundays




"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Ode to Scrabble

I love playing scrabble. In a lot of ways it is strange that I do. I am not a good speller. In fact math and spelling would totally be my worst subjects. Unless you count physics 10. In which my high school teacher, bless his heart, made me a deal that he would pass me if I promised to never take physics 20. Took that deal!

Anyways.

I love picking out the little letters. Yep. I like the little cute tiles. A surprise waiting for you in that little brown bag.
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Some times words come right away. And some times not so much. You just end up with all vowels or no vowels. (We play with 9 tiles in Super scrabble... but I have 10 for some reason....)
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I like sitting down with Regan and doing something that exercises our brains and isn't just the tv. I like that we are interacting with each other. I enjoy the conversation that we have while we play. It is good to spend time just doing fun things together. And this is one of them for me. Regan doesn't enjoy it as much as me, but he plays with me because he knows I love to play it.
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I love it when we can fill up most of the whole board. We have super scrabble which makes the board bigger and has more of each letter.
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And well, truth be told, I like it when I win (I mean he's smart, I am married to a doctor) ;)
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Do you have any board games you love??

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

On Tuesday...

... there was ANOTHER rain/snow storm
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.... we ate leftovers for supper
... there was a bit of sewing of baby gifts for friends and family during nap time
Today's sewing pile
... Lucy had a fit cause we had to leave the house and then had another one cause we came home
... Regan and I got surprised by something that is good but will take some time to get used too (and no I am not pregnant)
.... I finally got Lucy and Eli to leave the house to drive across town to Costco and get in the store only to realize that I had not in fact put the two things I needed printed the most on my memory stick
... so I made two trips to Costco
....there were many emotional ups and downs with this one (as is usual)
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... I edited over 100 photos today
... we ate our leftovers as a picnic on the floor in the kitchen, well Alden and Lucy did. Even on a read checkered blanket. And I did not want to let them do it. But I realized.... does it really matter. NO. so they did it.
... after fighting a bit after school and both of them ending up in tears they hugged, made up and then started playing together like they normally do
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... I actually had a showered before 10 am
... I ate an obscene amount of candy (in fact it gave me a stomach ache)
... this one and I ran around the kitchen island about 30 times today. He comes over, taps me and says "RUN! RUN!"
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... I did in fact not feel like running around and around the island. But I did it anyways... almost every time he asked
... i reloaded and unloaded the dishwasher 3 times today
... besides my trips to Costco I really didn't talk any adults today until Regan came home
... Eli wore underwear for about 1 hour today and then decided he didn't want to anymore so he went back into his diaper. And he used the toilet twice
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... all the kids were in bed asleep by 7:30pm
... i talked to my mom and dad on the phone
... i washed and dried 2 loads of laundry and didn't fold a single one
... i got another wedding photo shoot booked
... i procrastinated doing a few things AGAIN
... i laughed and giggled with these two
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... i NEED some sunshine and outside time. I am starting to feel quite housebound and nutty!

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

In the Kitchen: Sunday Dinner

consisted of all Greek food. Reason?? Not sure. Just had a hankering. :)
So I made....

Greek Salad
Greek Salad

Pita Bread
Pita Bread

Mama Voula's Spanakopita (it's like a spinach and feta pie)
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Pork Satay
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Tzatsiki
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And of COURSE we had to try Baklava!!
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Monday, May 03, 2010

MSBH Update

So today I am guest posting over here at Frankly Entertaining. So go check it out and then look around at the great site. Two sisters post lots of great recipes and cookbook reviews and other tips about working in the kitchen.

AND since I am over there today I thought I'd just give an update here on my MSBH Challenge.

107: Cherry Streusel Coffe Cake
108: Milk Glaze
109: Mexican Wedding Cookies
110: Torta Sbrisolona
111: Linzer Cookies
112: Classic Apple Pie
113: Olive oil Bread
114: Fruit Turnovers
115: Sfogliatelle

And since it's way more fun with a picture.... here are two.
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Sunday, May 02, 2010

Spiritual Sunday

"Each of us will face trials and tests, and... it is how we react to those difficulties that will determine our success and happiness. Each of us will face adversity no matter where we are. We are taught in the scriptures that there “must needs be . . . an opposition in all things.” We will each face times of difficulty, and the question is not when we will face them but how we face them." - "All Things Work Together for Good", Elder James B. Martin Of the Seventy