Hmm...wow...huh

i read this article about reproduction, women's rights, family planning and how eco-activists are saying we need to have fewer children to save the planet and honestly, i am not sure of my reaction.

D&C 104: 17 says "for the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves." Throughout D&C we read of using what we have with 'prudence and thanksgiving' (D&C 89 to begin with).

for generations, population control was managed naturally-either you could have kids or you couldn't. if you are like me and have had a hard time conceiving you are infinitely grateful for God's gift of modern medicine.

how does this fit? am i being a over-consumer? will i teach my family to consume too much? what is behind the green movement? does it really matter? is the environment God gave us going to fail? how does all this impact me in my life? isn't it just another way to spend more on a product? who are the experts and why does their opinion matter?

globalism. reproduction. life cycle. class-status. gospel weaved in all this.
so, i want to know, what do you think?

Marriage is...

Marriage is the culmination of a lifetime of searching, worry, effort, insecurities, hope and sublime, unadulterated joy.

it is the summation of two parts: completion

it is this completion we defend.

it is a state of such joy the natural law of opposition pulls constantly to rob us.

it is a privilege to fight for the joy and completion of being married.

Toughy

we had the 12 month checkup today.

weight: 20 lbs
Height:30.5 in
heart: perfect
lungs: perfect
belly : perfect
hips : perfect
ears: double ear infection.

me and dr. cosgrove burst out laughing. Caleb had been wandering around the office, exploring, babbling and being happy and full of energy. you would never have guessed caleb has a double ear infection. he has had a cold lately (he gave it to me-thanks kiddo) but i thought it was almost over. ha!
my brother, jake, is notorious for having a rediculously high pain tolerance (ie. broken arm for a week withough knowing at 10 yrs old). i think caleb will take after uncle jake.

One Year older and wiser too....

Today caleb is one year old. i have been having flashbacks for a couple days of "where i was a year ago". it is pretty incredible to remember. don't worry, i won't bore you . i wanted to share pictures of caleb's 'birthday party'. we had pizza and cupcakes with some friends. enjoy















not sure bout the hat





























reaction to cupcake being put in front of him


video of caleb eating his very first piece of cake.















pulled the hat off















new play toy















documentation of mess made by birthday boy














all done.
happy birthday caleb

American Idol

i used to never watch tv. i used to scoff at those who had regular 'shows'. i always wondered how people got 'sucked in' and considered myself above such frivolity. well, my pride has been cut down. i am now an average, tv loving, energy consuming, read-all-about-it-later american.
proclamation: i love american idol (among other shows: Bones and The Office).

On tuesday nights the contestants of american idol perform. unfortunately i am not near a tv for the exhibitions so i watch them on the internet that night if i can find them. then again, the next day on americanidol.com and i also read someone's opinion piece about the performances on msn.com. then i watch the results show on wednesday night. i am a faithful follower-like someone's pet dog-call me fido.

pathetic

i figure i am participating in a great american tradition. i don't vote for any contestants but Rob and I (yes, rob is just as hooked as i am) frequently have decidedly intellectual discussions about contestants, the contest itself, music, performance, pop culture, american culture in general vs. our family culture. overall it is fun for us.

in honor of the shake up last night here is what i think about the contestants:

Adam Lambert
i love him. granted, his makeup makes him look a little feminine, the tight pants last night were a little weird but i love love love his voice. if you like the band Muse, you'll know why. i like his wailing sound mixed with harder rock-so just--speachless. he is totally theatrical which makes him awesome to watch on tv. his obvious confidence on stage seemed to give him an edge earlier in the competition but by now this seems to be evening out. i am not sure that he will win though. he has mad talent but i honestly can't see him as a pop star.

Danny Gokey
i like him. like the back story (wife died few months previous to his audition; church music man) but his voice... don't get me wrong, i think he is totally talented but i dont' love him. i like the glasses but i don't feel a pull when i watch him. i don't want to have him sing another song (unlike adam and kris). perhaps it is a genre-crossing issue between me and Danny that stops me from fawning over him. :)

Kris Allen
love him. i totally think he has the most opportunity to win idol. he reminds me of jack johnson, jason mraz, colbie callet. an easy going, talented, come-from-behind-and-surprise-you type. i love his mellowness. he is confident, cute and overall, i like him. he doesn't interest me on stage much-not showy like adam or even danny but i would probably listen to his music a lot more. it isn't moment specific. i could listen to him while i cook, clean, change poopy diapers, fold laundry and share popcicles with Caleb. his appeal is cross genre-most people like mellow music at some time in the day. he is the contestant with the biggest chance.

there you have it people. i am a true-blue tv watcher. i realize this has no bearing on life in general, helps nobody and watching it probably contributes to dying brain cells and growing fat cells but i love it. perhaps there will be a day when i dont' watch quite as much tv (even if it is on the internet) and when that day comes, i vow not to think less of any other american who chooses to veg in front of the tube.

my insane husband ;)

i have to take this moment to tell you all how crazy my husband is.

our first winter in our condo rob decided he had to get the irrigation system in asap. it was December but he felt like he had to get it in. so, he put it in. it was so cold he took my blow dryer outside to warm up the pipe and glue so it would adhere. he was outside, breath showing in the air and my blow dryer blaring on a Saturday morning with me looking out the window worried about his health. he was lovin' it. he loves to work on his own yard and takes such pride in it, and he does so good.

today, it is raining buckets outside. the yellow and dark green represent heavy rain on the radar-we have the dark green over us right now. rob has been working hard in our yard for a few weeks so he could lay sod today so we can have an outside party for Caleb's 1st birthday. it is raining, muddy and cool outside and my husband is grading topsoil in a t-shirt getting ready to lay sod. when i asked him if he was going to come inside he said 'only if i have to' which means he won't be in until tonight, cold and hungry. if none of this makes any sense here is another way to think of it: when it is raining outside landscape crews stop working-my husband included. yet, today, it is raining like crazy and rob is outside-working.

while i am really excited to have my yard done, i think rob is crazy. it will be one of those stories i tell for a long time. i love Rob. i love how hard he works and even though i think he is crazy for working outside in weather like this i am deeply grateful! really, he is building me eden and i am thrilled.

Animal Crackers+Dog=mischief

caleb loves to feed gabby, our dog. he thinks it is hilarious. before caleb started solids, gabby really never had human food and she was satisfied that way. Caleb has changed that. every time he is in his high chair, gabby is underfoot waiting for the droppings.

today, i was giving caleb animal crackers while he was playing and he decided to share (awww). he gives gabby a bite then he takes a bite and so on till gabby or caleb gets the whole thing in their mouth. disgusting, i know.

what i don't have is the mischievous grin Caleb gets when i give him a cracker. he knows exactly what he is doing, he knows i am asking him to just eat it. he loves to ignore it all and honestly, i can't help but laughing. i suppose someday it will matter more-for now, it is free comedy.

cooking venture

Sunday Nap-i was cleaning up from my baking fest the night before where i made mile high apple pie.





My second mile high apple pie. i love to cook, but i especially love baking. i found this recipe on the internet around thanksgiving.

Rediculously pathetic but everlastingly innocent

i just love the gilmore girls. it is such a relatively clean show. it makes my heart quiver. i love romantic, melodramatic girly shows. i am watching season 7. i already finished season 6.

rob approved of the show. he got his grin that is so supportive, tolerant and amused at my girly obbsessive nature. i just love that smile. i feel like a teenager all over again. thank you to the gilmore girls for giving me my moment of rediculously pathetic but everlastingly innocent enjoyment.

Betty Crocker Jill style

i love berries. so far as i can tell, jam is the best way to preserve berries so every year i embark in jam making. i always make strawberry jam but this year the local market had my favorite berry: blackberry-on sale therefore...we have blackberry jam. this is the fruit of today's labor.

i make freezer jam so it is very simple, no heat required. just fruit, sugar, pectin and time. follow surejell's recipe's exactly and whala! homemade jam.

Walking

This is caleb walking with his truck (thanks uncle jared!). it was 3.14.09 this acutally happened so this post is about a month old. For my birthday, he crossed our family room all on his own. he is all over the place and loving it!

Birthday's and Family

i just love my family. i love my immediate family and my extended families! today is my 26th birthday. my brother jokingly called me and old fart. haha-right. i am thrilled with my life as it is right now. when i got married i thought there was no way i could ever love rob and my life more than i did then. i am convinced that we have much more joy in store for us than we are capable of conceiving.

for my birthday we had my family and my in-laws over for cake and ice cream. the cake was my favorite cake-homemade carrot cake from my mom and ice cream. i was in heaven. it brings me such joy to have my two beloved families around me to celebrate my life on earth.

i am so grateful for my parents and their efforts to raise a balanced, confident and happy daughter. i am so grateful for my parents-in-law and their loving acceptance of me and who i am. i love my in-laws and all they exemplify. if i can be a mother like my mother and mother-in-law my children will be fortunate.

so, on this my birthday, i think of my son and the joy he brings to my life. i think of my husband and the bliss i live in with him. i marvel and am deeply grateful for my Heavenly Father and his wisdom-filled plan of salvation for all His children. truly, joy is all He wants for all of us. i am deeply grateful for this gift. I am grateful for an older brother-Jesus Christ-who chose to be the hinge that makes the plan possible. i am grateful to be alive, in love and trying to be a good person-despite the challenges i am consistently offered without hesitation. :)

long time no...write

well people i have not died or been visiting another planet...i just have had no idea what to write. honestly! i have written a few blog entries in my head a dozen times. clearly none of those came to fruition. the most exciting thing going on for us currently is Caleb is trying to walk. he has successfully taken 5 steps in a row but prefers to hold one of his parents hands to wander around the house. when he really wants to move, he crawls. the kid can move!

other than this detail we spend time working out, shopping, planning stuff for the house that won't happen for a while.

you know how life goes...phases. i had the conversation heart candy phase now we are entering the peep bunny stage. funny how phases are connected to candy and holidays. i just love the spring. we have birthdays all the months of the year but me, Rob and Caleb are all spring kids so it extra fun. Plus...spring means plants are budding. Rob is planting me Eden in my yard and i can't wait to see everything explode! and we are just getting started! the benefit to marrying a landscaper is you are guaranteed a beautiful yard because you can get everything cheap or free!! so if any of you are ever stressed and need some nature sounds to calm down, wander in my direction.

i just wanted to say hi.

Family Pictures

as promised here are some family photos.

Warning: Political Opinions Ahead

commentary from MSN.com article on Feb. 4 about delay of switch from analog to digital tv

Ok people. the democrats are putting off the switch from analog tv to digital tv until June 12.
Why? because people aren't ready. would you like to know how many people allegedly are not ready for the switcheroo: 6%. SIX PERCENT! You HAVE to be kidding me! (arms waving). i am stunned into slience.

clearly someone in the upper echelon of government did not get the memo on the art of Procrastination. until the switch actually happens people will not be ready. why? two reasons:
1) it is in the nature of people to put something off until it MUST happen NOW
2) now nobody will actually believe said switch will happen because when june comes around people won't be ready (see reason number 1) and then they will want to put switcheroo off until EVERYONE is ready and the cycle will continue. (how do they know 6% are not ready anyway?)

apparently the government is being blamed for not enough public education. HEEELLOOO!!! If people have questions where is their personal initiave to go figure things out themselves?!!! i swear...grr... who wouldn't love a freebie right?! well...wake up world-life 'aint that way. public education is the issue?! go talk to a rep at best buy, circut city, costco, wal-mart (be careful here though) compare info and take care of it. better yet...get on the internet. OH if you are one of those rural people who doesn't have the internet yet...just wait, president obama will save your hide here in the next few years and you'll be taken care of. yes, getting internet to rural people is part of the stimulius package-who knew the government would take the place of private business (see glenbeck.com for specifics). and in the meantime while obama is getting you the internet go to the library!!
(napoelon dynamite like GOSH!)

now lets add insult to injury. part of the trillion dollare simulius package (we are now owned by china!) is going to cupons for people to buy converter boxes. do you know how much those cupons are? $40. yes you read that right $40. but now, the original program for cupons is out of money and people still need money for said boxes so...that is part of the stimulus package. (gag).

now let me clarify. i like getting free money just like everyone else but my worry is we are living in a country that is pretty heavily in debt. that trickles down to a cross-country culture of over-the-top debt living which is something i don't believe in. so as nice as it was to recieve money from president bush the long term consequenses of--more debt--don't exactly thrill me. i'd rather go without.

First Family Fotos

finally we have had family pictures taken! we found this photographer from our friends and she did a fabulous job! we just love the pics of baby K. on her blog: http://andeesphotos.blogspot.com/ are a few of our pics.

when we get the disk, we'll post some on our blog.
yay!

The Tortilla Chip

i was snacking today and i had a moment to reflect on the crunchy, salty, corny goodness that is the tortilla chip. i do enjoy tostidos, fritos and doritos however i have discovered Kirkland tortilla chips otherwise known as Costco's store brand.

Do not mistake the simplified name (i try to save my fingers when i can). these triangles of terriffic taste are Kirkland Signature Organic blend of yellow and white corn tortilla chips. now, these are not normal tortilla chips. the salt to corn ratio is perfect. thick, plenty of crunch, good for dipping as they do not break easily and they work well for nachos as they do not get too soft when the cheese, salsa, and occasionally chili and sour cream are administered.

Doritos have their place
Doritos flavors nacho cheese and black pepper are without a doubt excellent crunch craving satisfaction. they have a flavor or sinfulness that can only accompany the most excellent junk food thus i do not buy them unless it is an occasion.

Tostidos are super salty. although, i do mightily enjoy the white corn and they are excellent with Pace Picante Sauce aka salsa. when shopping at costco, they are a decent price however, i frequently find there is little else to reccommend them.

Fritos...ah Fritos. they have a way of destroying your breath (even if you just used Listerine) with just one bite. however justification is reached when the eater realizes each bite is a delectable dabble in the perfectistic rich balance of both sodium and yellow corn made crunchy (probably by frying or something taking lots of oil). the only way to truly enjoy fritos though is to combine their rich salty-corny goodness is with chili. it is true people, i said chili. preferably crunched up and put on bakes potatoes. (my parents are from idaho, the love of potatoes is obligatory.) fritos contend well with all tortilla chips but their richness is overwhelming thus firmly putting them in the category of "occasion" foods.

SO how do these particular cruncy snacks content with the newfound chip of the century (aka Kirkland Signature Organic blend of yellow and white corn tortilla chips)?
well friends, over the course of being married to Rob i have developed a taste for the less-salty end of the food world. don't mistake, my love of the aforementioned chips remaines in tact however it is pushed to the side for the crisp balanced taste of costco's knockoff brand. thus...i am converted. next time you find yourself shopping in costco looking to spend a few dollars on chips, may i recommend giving these a try.

One of those mornings...

It is 8 am and i now am ready to go back to bed. so to generate some semblance of humor and pity i share with you the following:









7:30 am Caleb pulled this lamp over on himself









7:40 am Caleb found the cord for the space heater behind him. thankfully it did not come unplugged from the wall.








7:50am Caleb found the cord for rob's tools and tried to eat them(sorry for the weird angle of the pic).

it is now 8:04 am and we have had two crying episodes and he has tried to get to computer cords twice.

Phew!

Caribbean Pics

we are now home from our globe-trotting adventure. we had a great time and caleb did great staying at his grandma's houses. i didn't have cell phone service so it was much easier than i had thought to not worry...here are pics from the trip
this is what the driving experience is like...and this was mild! this is sugar cane fields in barbados. they drive on the left side of the road...trippy at first!
us at crane beach, barbados
crane beach barbados-probably the most beautiful beach we have ever been to.
sunset kiss

at the port of St. Lucia-pic taken from the boat
this is where we had our daily golf challenge. i never won--i tied rob twice-until the last two holes but alas, he always won. we did play a couple of times when the ship was sailing...definitely made things harder!
this is rob and the ship we were on.
this is us at the port of st. thomas--we took a ferry and a taxi to get to trunk bay on st. john's.

Promised Video +bonus feature

as promised, this is a video of caleb crawling


now for the bonus feature



hopefully you enjoyed those.
Happy New year! my celebrations consisted of writing in my journal and going to bed at 10p. on top of this, i slept on the floor in a separate room...rob had food poisoning and i wasn't about to share a bed with a puking man (no matter how wonderful and good looking he is). no worries, he is all better.