Blu Berry

So that's me and Benjamin, who just turned 5 a couple weeks ago. Rather than ice cream, he voted for a place called Blu Berry -- which is frozen yogurt. It's pretty cool, really. You choose your yogurt and your toppings and then you pay by weight. Benjamin picked some really random stuff. Chocolate and vanilla -- pretty normal. Then some strawberry lemon sorbet on top of that. With marionberries (7 of them), mint chocolate turtles, and Cap'n Crunch cereal. yummmm. Haha... Mine was mint and chocolate all the way. It's the only way to fly ;).

Benjamin was a chatterbox the whole way there and the whole way back. But then he chose to sit at the kid table and leave me at a big person table. So I ate alone :(.

Ummm... There are probably a bunch of other things I could blog about. But I'm not feeling very bloggy right now. But I was wanting to post this picture, mostly for my dad :).

From Kitty Litter to Nose-Rings in 15 Minutes (Etcetera)

Sometimes at the end of the day of work -- especially on a Thursday when everyone else in the office has pretty much jumped ship -- you just feel like you've run out of steam and the clock has stopped ticking. Blah. Time. Stands. Still.

And so it's awesome when a co-worker is feeling similarly and so you strike up a conversation that leads to memory lane-type stories. And those are always fun to tell and laugh about! Because you might start by talking about the kitty litter cake you and April enjoyed (along with Courtney and Greg) back in the day when you had your The Office themed party. But you somehow end up talking about the library-themed feast you had also. And then you mention that you two (that being you and April) have been planning a Scrubs-themed party for about 2 years -- and you share some of those ideas. And she asks you how that show ended up, and you tell her about this Peter Gabriel song that you love, love, love that you had never heard until the final episode of that show (or what should be the final episode, because, in my book, Season 9 shouldn't have even existed...). Which, of course, makes you think of another Peter Gabriel song you love and the movie it was in -- so you comment on that. And she (the co-worker) totally agrees and talks with you about other John Cusack movies that are good. And when you mention Serendipity, she shares that she isn't a fan of the female lead, but that he really carried it for her. And that brings you to your strongly-held opinion that you never go see a movie for who is in it. And you reference movies you saw with Juliebean back in 1999 (oh those younger years...). You know, the summer of the chick flick. And your co-worker agrees that was a great summer with all those movies. But you had told that story to tell the one about the time you went with Juliebean to see a movie (just like old times) and she picked the movie, and it was Three Kings and that was a movie you couldn't understand why she picked... And when she said why, it's because of George Clooney, Ice Cube, and Marky-Mark. Uhm... Yeah. So not impressed (still!). Which leads to the story of another time Julie picked a movie: The Guardians of O'Hoole -- you know... That ridiculous owl movie you guys didn't like. Which then leads to the memory of how Julie had her broken movie card and how it was such an embarrassment to Alysha (because there was a teenage guy behind the counter helping us). Which makes the co-worker remember a time when her dad embarrassed her in front of a guy she was totally flirting with; because her dad said they were leaving soon, and maybe she should go to the bathroom. In fact, he insisted that she needed to go to the bathroom. In front of that "totally cute guy." Mortifying! (Why do parents do this ;)?!?) And then you tell the story about David the nose-ring Army guy who totally thought you were older than 15 and asked you out (and that was cool back then, but it's not so cool anymore, like when you get mistaken for a grandma...).

Yeah, this is how you alleviate some of the time that seems to be frozen in place. It's also how you laugh and remember and even make new friends. And it's also how you go from kitty litter to noserings in 15 fun-filled minutes :).

P.S... Those links will take you to various blog posts from my past that will tell these stories :).

Anyway... so on Friday Lea and I went to a play. It was Aladdin, Jr. Which is just a shortened version of Disney's Aladdin. I knew the two lead roles -- they used to be in my Sunday School class before I got called to Primary. So I wanted to go out and support them and invited Lea along. And it was so fun! They did a great job. And we even took a picture with them at the end :). I think this is going to be a tradition for me and Lea... To take a picture with cast members of whatever play we see together (if possible).

Then this weekend was Stake Conference. Oh so fabulous! I always feel so uplifted and spiritually fed. And it's seriously wonderful to get to go to church with Jeremy and hold his hand or lean against him when he puts his arm around me :). Definitely a treat.

And it seems like I had another few thoughts I was going to share, but they are gone. Must not have been important. Or maybe I'll remember it for next post :).

More Nilla Life

Benjamin turned 6 last week. He has really grown a lot and matured over the last several months. He has become quite loving toward me. Not that he wasn't loving before, but now, whenever he sees me, he says, "Aunt Hila!"and reaches up for me to pick him up for a hug. He's quite a cutie too.

Here are all the kids with Benjamin's cake. He picked out everything he wanted on his cake.
He's a pretty happy kiddo. It was a simple little party -- just family. And short, because his mom was going to be picking him up to spend time with him on his special day. But it was nice to get to be there and celebrate with him. And I told him that, next week when he's with Brad again, I'll pick him up for either ice cream or frozen yogurt (there's a new place locally where you pick your stuff and pay by weight...).
In other news...

I don't like swing shifts! Okay, so I've never had to work them. But I'm unimpressed with the fact that Jeremy does. Boo! But it sure does help us look forward a lot to our weekends when we can see each other :).

In light of the above, however, I have a list of items I will work on, since my evenings will be lacking Jeremy time. Gotta find something good in a bad situation, right ;)? I will be working on filing all my papers and getting that all organized; the Marvelous Monday Meals cookbook; and organizing my recipes -- and flagging the ones I want to use for future Monday Meals :).

I get highly annoyed when I'm trying to rush out the door with two pans full of food (one covered in melty cheese) and the top pan smashes into the bottom one and makes the foil stick to the cheese and pull that layer off and, grr..... Getting out the door for tonight's Monday Meals was an annoying experience for sure! And it didn't help that I was already unimpressed with the asparagus!

Hmmm... I thought I would have more random stuff to share. Oh! Desiree gave her first talk in Primary a couple weeks ago, and Emily said opening prayer and scripture yesterday. I am glad I get to be in Primary to help them with these firsts :).

Celebrating Those I Love

So last Sunday (the 12th) was the birthday of two of my favorite people in the world. One turned 27. And one turned 7. That would be Christina and Desiree, respectively ;). So following are a few pictures of the celebrations.

Christina and I hit up the mall for gourmet bacon and cheese fries, lemonade, and Baskin Robbins ice cream. And checking out a couple of stores.

Desiree and I hit up Coldstone and she got a special birthday girl waffle cone cup.

In case you don't recognize it from the hideous pizza, this was taken at Chuck E. Cheese. I don't enjoy Chuck E. Cheese. But I love the kids. Above is Autumn (Brad's new step-daughter), Saria, and Benjamin.
Desiree's party was at Chuck E. Cheese and it was a total mad-house!

Emily is adorable.

And she loves her Aunt Hila. And her Aunt Hila loves her.

Blowing out the candles.

And all the kids wanted a picture with Chuck E. Cheese, who brought the cake over. Brad says this rat freaks him out a bit. Haha...

[I've] Gotta Swim

Sometimes life seems unnecessarily hard.

I am reminded, as I write that sentence, that I set a goal this year to work on being more humble. Why do I keep setting that goal?

Anyway, I have resumed blog-stalking a blog I hadn’t visited in a few years. She is a woman who is married to a 3rd cousin of mine, or something like that. And her blog is inspiring. The focus of her blog is adoption and infertility, because that is her (and her husband’s) trial in this life (or at least it’s one of the big ones). But I always come away from reading her posts with a sense of hope. And a few other good odds and ends, like the song that belongs to this blog post title.

So I am loving that song.

Because right now, I feel like I’m swimming in the dark. I feel like the current is trying to pull me away from my love, and I’m trying to keep my head above. Frankly, I feel like I’m under attack. And that’s probably because I am. I have never experienced such intense attack before in all my life. And while it’s exhausting and, at times, quite discouraging, it tells me something:

It's worth fighting for. And I know in whom I have trusted.

So go ahead, currents. Surround me for a while, dark. Try to tear down the dawn, tidal waves.

But…

“I haven’t come this far to fall off the Earth… [So] I swim for brighter days despite the absence of sun; choking on saltwater… I’m not giving in. I swim.”

According to Facebook...

...I'm engaged. I'm just letting you know. Because it's not even something I wrote.

I woke up this morning, went to the Temple with Jeremy's mom and my mom. Went to Costco. Went to Fred Meyer. Finished up laundry. And while doing laundry, checked my FB (you know, because that's a high priority in life...). I had a ton (read: 10 -- which is a ton for me, since I don't do all that much on facebook) of updates. Imagine my shock when they were all on my new profile picture (and I use the term "new" loosely, since it was posted in December, but I managed to fly under the radar for quite some time) outing me as engaged. Hmmm... A most interesting development ;).

That's what I get for posting about making winter squash rolls!

Just thought I'd keep y'all in the loop. :).

Observations of the VaNILLA Variety

When you make instant hot chocolate, the best part is that chocolatey layer that gathers on top that has some of the chocolate powder still not mixed in :). This is usually indicative that you used too much hot chocolate mix… But can you ever really have too much hot chocolate mix ;)?

Although it is nearly tasteless (to me, at least) once cooked in a chowder, a turnip is not a pleasant smelling thing. I used one for Monday Meals, and I was totally turned off by the smell of the raw turnip. I had my doubts about how this smelly vegetable(?) would influence the chowder and if my efforts for a tasty meal would be tainted by such a stinky thing… Happily they weren’t. But a raw turnip still stinks.

I think it may not be a good sign when your car starts surging while you drive down the road and your "check engine soon" light keeps coming on sooner and sooner. It's probably an even worse sign when you have a hard time starting your car in the morning and when you finally do get it started, it chug-a-lugs for a bit and you give it gas, but really... should you have to do that for a fuel injected vehicle? Actually, I'm seriously asking that question, because what do I know about fuel injection?

Miracles still happen. And I'm thankful I can witness so many of them in my life. I am thankful for my Heavenly Father who blesses me so abundantly.

It is useless to send a woman who has never had a baby out to help a woman who believes her water just broke... Yep, that was one of my grand adventures at church. One of the bishopric members told me one of the sisters in the ward was in the parking lot and had asked for him to send out a woman. I was the first person he saw who didn't appear busy, so he told me about it (I don't think he knew what was going on). So I went out there and she was leaning against her truck and said, "I think my water just broke." Holy. Cow. Like I know what that looks like! (Well, I do now... And who knew you could make that massive of a puddle!?!). So I told her not to be embarrassed (because she said she felt embarrassed) and I hurried in to get the Relief Society president (who thankfully has had 4 children of her own and would know what to do...). Add that to my knowledge about child bearing. I knew about water breaking, but I had no idea as to amounts. Now I've seen it. One good (maybe?) thing about not having babies until later in life is that I get to hear all the facts that nobody seems to share... I hear them from all my friends who have had babies. I'll go ahead and say that most of the stuff I've heard is pretty horrific sounding. But I still want to have babies one day :). I'm pretty positive the joys will far outweigh the grossness and trials.

My little tiny house may be the animal kingdom... So we have aforementioned rodent (who hasn't returned and I'm pretty sure was a squirrel -- the fattest squirrel I've ever seen). And this weekend, we discovered aphids galore on my garlic. We put the garlic outside in hopes it would freeze overnight and kill the aphids. It froze overnight (I know, because I had to scrape my car before leaving for work), so hopefully the aphids bit the dust. Also, I have had slugs manage to find their way in the front door (can you say drafty?). Any bets on the next wild creature to venture inside?

My car runs better after the "service engine soon" light comes on. Jeremy and I learned this when we drove my car to his parents' house. I still have AAA, though, as we expect that car to die any time. We're hoping to put 180K at least on it (it's at almost 178). Getting to 200 would be phenomenal, but that may be a little far-fetched, considering we know the coolant is leaking into the oil.

Listening to the conversations of children is awesome. Here's a conversation involving me, Emily, and Desiree after Sacrament meeting: Emily: "Time to see toys?!?!" (said with great enthusiasm and a smile on her face... Referring to nursery, as that is what she associates with nursery). Me: "No, it's time for Sunbeams! You're my big Sunbeam girl now!" (trying to be equally as enthused about Sunbeams, because she is 3 now, and she is no longer in nursery and therefore there are no longer toys and snacks). Emily looks down solemnly and covers her face with her hands. Desiree, soothingly to her sister: "It's okay Emily. It happened to me too." Hahaha.... Purely awesome. Maybe a "you had to be there moment." But it was it was awesome. Just the way Desiree so matter-of-factly stated it like it was this horrible event we all must pass through. Oh these girls are getting so big. And Emily does great in Sunbeams. She's just still adjusting to not going to nursery, but once she's in her class, she has a grand time.