Home Furnishings

There's nothing I love more than walking around IKEA in the middle of the week, pretending to be able to furnish my home. I pick out different rugs and couches, find a new bed frame...pick out my dream kitchen. 

Unfortunately, I walk out of there with only a few hangers and lamp.

The only piece of furniture I've ever owned was a junky dresser I fixed up and eventually had to discard when I moved. Every place I've lived either came furnished, borrowed, or I made due without. For example, I had a completely empty living room for almost my entire Las Vegas experience. 

The moving around business makes it difficult to own nice (un-dented) things. This past move to Utah, I only brought my clothes, a few books and some art supplies. 

I don't mind the "minimalist" approach to my living. It definitely makes it easier to move around. 

And we all know I'm probably not done moving. 

Today

Today was a good day. I didn't have to go to work. But that's not why it was a good day. 

I woke up, drew a little, organized my dresser, had a newborn photoshoot (where I literally sweat out 10 lbs all over their house. It was gross. And I want to publicly apologize to them and to anyone else I've ever sweat in front of. It's not pretty and I don't know why I was because it's not like I was running a marathon or anything.) edited said photos, and made lunch (where I also sweat some more because my house is blazing hot and turning on the oven made it almost unbearable) for me and my friends at work tomorrow. Last week I brought in the pot pie that I made, and they've requested it again. This time I made one that was lactose free-which I was skeptical of tasting good but it DOES. It's delicious. Instead of the cream of mushroom and sour cream and milk I use for the gravy stuff, I blended up some sautéed onions, oil, cashews and chicken stock. I'm hooked. And I'm not even a fan of pot pie. In fact...they kinda gross me out. But I'm excited to share this meal with them. 

So it was a good day. 

Tomorrow will be a good day too.

The Great Cookie Fiasco of 2014.

I'm not sure what happened. The dough was delicious but the first batch I baked, burnt completely. The other turned out part burnt, part mushy. On the third I felt so defeated I just dumped a bunch of dough on the cookie sheet to see what would happened.
And do you know what? It came out looking like a cow pie.
The final batch I'm not sure about because I gave up and threw it in the trash.
I took a bite of one of these "cookies" and promptly spit it out.
And I never spit out my food.
This kind of sums up that whole day. Nothing went right, and everything tasted like like a dirty sock.
I almost never want to make cookies again.
Almost.
My love for cookies might get me back in the kitchen again someday.

Probably tomorrow.

You get a muffin...

And you get a muffin, and YOU get a muffin...

Today I thought I would make some muffins. I wanted to try out a new recipe. Blackberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins. Delicious.
They turned out pretty good-although they looked a little flat and weird.
It's what's on the inside that counts, right?

Today I learned that pouring flour into your measuring cup is a bad idea. Sometimes you lose control of the flour bag and drop in-basically the whole thing. And then, instead of wasting all that good flour, you have to add in a ton more ingredients...which will give you dozens upon dozens of muffins.
Good things I have friends to force my wares on.

I should have taken a picture. But I didn't. I was a little preoccupied with my armfuls of muffins.
Instead, here's a photo I took just a bit ago.
I love this photo.

This Valentine's Day

I read five stories, shared four strawberries, changed three diapers, tickled two bellies and watched one garbage truck.

 Happy Valentine's Day!

S is for Sunday

S is also for Sugar

I made a rookie mistake today in primary by giving my kids candy at the beginning of class.

And while we were waiting in the hall with the other classes for junior primary to let out, I gave them more candy. 

I'm a genius, I know.

Next week they get treats after church is over...on their way out the door....so they can be on sugar highs at home.

After lunch today, I was reading through some conference talks from last October. I love this talk by Elder Edward Dube. I also love this quote:

Happy Sunday!

Fridays

Today I spent the morning with Strega Nona and Big Anthony. I played with puzzles, rolled on the floor and rocked a baby to sleep. 

Routine

I love routine.
And not just because I'm OCD.
I'm not talking switching lights on and off 12 times before you enter or exit a room.
I'm talking basic, daily routine.
Get up.
Go to the bathroom.
Eat breakfast.
Brush teeth.
And so on....

But its the night time routine that I love the best.
I love the settled feeling.
I'll brush my teeth and wash my face and lay down with a good book. Currently I'm reading three different ones. American Childhood by Annie Dillard.
Totally recommend it....I've read it twice since I was first introduced to it my junior year in high school.
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. Absolutely my all time favorite. It goes on the top of any favorite list.
I'm on my fourth read.
And a Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. I've read it once...but I had to read it for some class in college and don't remember what it was about. I was in it just to finish the assignment and move on.
I wish I paid attention the first time because its beautiful. 

I used to think that once I read a book, I couldn't read it again...I always had to find a new book. Obviously I don't feel that way anymore. I love finding new books to read...but sometimes you just need something familiar.

Tonight I'm reading Dillard.

Don't Sit on My Head

And Other Rules From The Nanny Archives

I'm a nanny again. 

I only have to stare at a computer part-time now. The rest of my time during the day I get to play outside and eat snacks.

I nannied my way through college on my off-track so I wouldn't have to work during school. I wanted to be able to focus on my "studies". 

Let's be honest here, I was an Art Ed major...I had no studies. I went to school and drew stuff. It was awesome. I just didn't want to get a job when I was at school.

As a nanny/babysitter, I've worked with a variety of different families over the last 10+ years. I don't have any horror stories...or at least none that I remember. I'm sure I've suppressed the really horrible ones. I'll probably remember some after I post this-but we can save those for Story Time. I think mostly I have a ton of awkward incidents from working for new people.

Parents are funny creatures. 

For the most part, I've had great experiences being a nanny and I've learned a ton of nifty tricks to get kids to eat or stop hitting each other. 

With every family I've worked for, there's the basic set of rules to follow: wash your hands, no hitting, put your dishes in the sink, pick up your shoes etc

But every family I've worked for in the past develops a more personalized set of rules and it's fun for me to figure them out. 

And by "fun" I mean physically  painful and gross. 

Top 10 rules:

1. Don't sit on my head
2. No farting on people
3. Don't pee on the fence
4. Keep your fingers out of my ear
5. Keep your fingers out of your sisters nose
6. No flinging boogers
7. Don't put worms in your pocket
8. Don't staple your clothes together
9. Keep the Legos away from your ears
10. Don't lick your feet

I've had to repeat these phrases more than I probably should ever have to. But figuring out that they are necessary phrases is the "fun" part. 

All I know is that whenever I start having kids, mine will come out clean, polite and potty trained.

I can dream, can't I?

Halloween

It's October. The time for jack-o-lanterns, candy and scary movies.
I'm a wuss when it comes to scary movies....as we learned from my last post. I employ all the pitiful ways to watch them: The Long Blink, the Finger Fan, The Eye Squint etc.
Yet, in the spirit of Halloween, I decided to give scary movies another try. I don't know why, exactly.
I do this every year and every year I lie to myself.
"It won't be that scary."
"It will be fun!"
False.
I should have known that this year would be no different.
I revisited Halloween a few days ago. It was on T.V. and I figured it was a great time to face my fears.
I watched it.
With all the lights on.
And only through my peripherals.
I just didn't have the fortitude to keep my eyes looking directly at the screen. It took me a while to really get in to the movie. I kept switching the channel when the scary music started playing. I watched a good chunk of the original and was proud of myself. It turned out that there was a marathon of all the Halloween movies so I figured.....why not watch more? My heart rate is already elevated....all this adrenaline might help me lose a few pounds. So I continued to watch, and the fear eventually subsided enough to where I could actually look at the screen.
Turns out, the movies aren't that bad.
You know what, though?
I'm still scared of the dark.
And curtain-less windows.
In fact, I closed all my curtains when I went to bed and considered barricading my closet shut with my bookcase.
But that would've been too much work....and I was already safely under my covers. I wasn't going to risk the chance of something under my bed grabbing me when I got up.

Besides...I had my nightlight.....

A Book Review

In Which I Assess a Written Work Glued or Sewn Together Along One Side and Bound in a Cover

"You can read? I had no idea! Good for you!!"
Thanks.
After watching a movie, ask me what I thought and I'll tell you, "I liked it". That's pretty much it. I like being entertained while double fisting handfuls of popcorn into my mouth.
When it comes to books, I'm a little more opinionated...probably because it takes more than 90 minutes to get through a novel.
So. Plus side of not having anything to do: I can read whenever, and however long I want! I finished
the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon a few weeks ago.
I honestly loved this book.
Set against the backdrop of WWII, the two heroes, Kavalier and Clay are so entangled in their own victories and catastrophes that they barely recognize that they are the ones pioneering a new art form, creating characters in their own comic books that rival that of Superman.
I feel like there was a bit of a lull towards the last quarter of the book. I found myself resisting the urge to skip over a few parts, wanting to find out what happens in the end. I skimmed through about 30 or 40 pages because I didn't see how relevant it was to the rest of the novel, and the excitement kind of wore off.
Other than that, it has definitely become one of my favorite books...beautiful, fascinating, graceful, elegant prose and definitely an entertaining plot.

Except for the 30 or 40 pages.
I'd probably put it in the list of books I'd read again someday.

Now, I'm halfway through the Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Definitely liking it so far.(Hmm, maybe I should review a book I dont like...)
I've been kind of bored through a few parts...but there are also a few passages that are beautiful and I want to read them over and over.

I see a lot of similarities to the Stranger by Albert Camus (I think I've read that book about five times. Top 10 favorites).
We'll see how I feel after I finish it.