Kind Words

I got this email today...

Dear Jessica,
You are doing such a good job as Provident Living Leader. You keep the subject current in everyone's mind and have great willingness to help the ward get prepared. I have had your calling, and I know it's a big job. Just wanted you to know how much I appreciate all your hard work and dedication.

It made me feel good. But it also made me think. When was the last time I went out of my way to thank someone sincerely for the work they put into their callings? I think about.....never. Why have I never done this? I'm sure my children's teachers would appreciate a kind note. I don't know a person that loves being called to nursery and yet every Sunday there are devoted teachers there to willingly take my son and teach him. People are planning things like crazy for my families benefit and while I might stop to say thanks in passing, how much more meaning would the thanks hold if I took the time to send a card or write a quick email. I haven't done anything outstanding as far as my calling is concerned, I'm pretty sure I've done a standard job. And yet this kind woman took the time to write me a nice note. And now I think I'll write someone else a nice note. If you feel like it, you could do the same!

Chubby

I'm slowly getting chubbier and chubbier. Pregnancy will do that to ya. Well, I think it does to most of us anyways, but lately there seem to be a ton of skinny little pregnant women around me, or women who have just had babies that look a little 'too good' if you know what I mean. I've decided I don't like these skinny pregnant/immediately post pregnant women (I apologize if you are one of these women of which I speak...I can't like you anymore. :)

I thought pregnancy was a time to bask in beautiful chubbiness? That's what I'm trying to do anyway! This is most likely my last kid, so I might as well enjoy being fat while I have an excuse...BTW, I'm pretty sure this is just a lame attempt at trying to cope with the fact that I'm only 18 weeks and I've already gained 21 pounds. It's not pretty folks. It's just not pretty. Because to be quite honest, I was planning on this being my skinny pregnancy. I was sure I could do it. I got quite large with Owen and was determined that I could be one of those women this time around. I think my dreams were first dashed when I realized that the only food I could eat was hamburgers. I don't know any dietitian that recommends 8 weeks of eating only hamburgers. I remember eating a leftover hamburger at 10:30 in the morning on my way to church. The thought makes me sick. While my eating habits have gotten slightly better as the sickness has faded, I still have to regularly eat 4 meals a day and those hamburgers still sound mighty good. Although, I have added fruit and exercise back into my daily regimen.

So that's it...I've come to grips with reality, rather than this be the skinny pregnancy I had dreamed of with the quick recovery and weight loss, I'm going to once again slowly turn into what feels like a cow. And I guess I'm just going to have to accept it. I guess I could shoot for record weight gain this pregnancy...is there such a thing?

First Swim of the Summer

Nice!!!

(Oh, and I guess we were celebrating the fact that Syd graduates on Tuesday...congrats Syd!)

Swan Falls

We stayed in town this Memorial weekend so we tried to make some fun plans to keep us busy. Yesterday we headed out to Swan Falls with the kids. I'm not sure why it's called Swan Falls because I didn't see any falls. There is just a dam there now and a huge grassy area where the kids played. It was the perfect day to be outside. The temperature was in the 80's and there was a breeze to keep us cool. John enjoyed the chance to get some shots with this camera...so here are way more pictures than you care to see...

The dam and part of the river.

A lizard we saw on a walk...exciting!
Some of the group out on a 'hike' across the dam and down the river.

Owen was most concerned about climbing a mountain, this bunch of rocks filled the need.



Picnic on the lawn.

A little croquet anyone? I think we need to teach Ains some better form.

I spent extra time on my hair that day, it was really hard to achieve that look.

A lovely scenic shot
The kids had fun getting their feet wet...although Owen was a little overly cautious.
This is where we got in some good rock thowin'
This is where Owen and I sat while he threw rocks in the water. He managed to hit me in the head 3 times, I wasn't a very happy camper.
Even though I got hit in the head several times it was a great afternoon and we all came home exhausted. We picked up a pizza on the way home, had dinner, put in a movie, and John and I fell asleep while the kids enjoyed the Jungle Book. I guess it wore us out more than the kids!

Analyze this.....

I don't remember having tons of crazy vivid dreams with my other 2 pregnancies. But lately I often wake up giggling when I realize the absurdity of what I had dreamt the night before. I've had 2 dreams that have stuck with me and make me laugh every time I think of them. Maybe they are just funny because I lived them, but I thought I'd share anyways. So in years to come I can read this and laugh...and you can read this and think, "Man, Jess is weird!"

Dream 1:
I am sitting in Fast and Testimony meeting with John when a friend of ours gets up to bear his testimony. Suddenly an older man in the congregation stands up and starts quietly singing 'A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief'. The man was moved and is trying to provide background music to the testimony. The man bearing his testimony is caught off guard and doesn't know whether to keep talking or stop. The man providing the accompaniment is trying to get louder or softer depending on the level of speaking. Both men end up trying to awkwardly coordinate this impromptu performance, and I'm just sitting in my seat laughing hysterically at this while no one else seems to think it's the least bit weird! I can't help but picture this happening in real life and imagining how awkward the whole thing would be!

Dream 2: (I think this dream makes me laugh because of the random jumps in my train of thought.)

I'm on a morning walk through my neighborhood when suddenly I realize I'm walking along the freeway in Salt Lake. I'm walking with a friend and we run into the second counselor in our bishopric and his wife (who is actually the bishops wife) while they are picnicking on the side of the freeway. I remember that they were having fried chicken and jalapeno poppers (so this must have been significant). Moments later we are suddenly in the church kitchen. The counselors wife has spilled all the poppers and is in need of help. There are also 2 annoying dogs in the kitchen and for some reason I am not interested in helping. So while my friend helps pick up the poppers I make up the excuse that I need to find out if I have class or not first. Then Barack Obama enters (he is my music teacher) and informs me that we will be having class that day. So we have to climb up through this tiny opening near the ceiling of the church kitchen to get to class. We then both climb up this ramp and try to slide through the tiny opening when I think, "Good thing I'm not pregnant or I wouldn't fit through this!" We enter the auditorium that looks like a red lit movie theater. Barack proceeds to play lots of different songs and interpret their meaning and I'm feeling pretty cool because I know most of the songs (which isn't too impressive because they were like songs from Music Man). Suddenly, a guy in the front of the class starts making snide remarks. Which makes Will Smith (Fresh Prince version) upset and Will jumps out of his seat and lunges toward the snide remark guy. Barack is not happy with this and lunges after Will. As I'm watching Barack Obama and Will Smith have it out in front of me I look around at the members of my relief society that are sitting around me suddenly and think, "This is quite a show!" Then I wake up. I'm pretty sure there's some deep meaning in that dream!

He might look cute

This one has had a mind of his own lately. Talk about terrible two's. I think that John and I are both ready to pull our hair out! I've never met a more determined child. Telling Owen 'No' does not mean he is unable to do something...it just means that he will not be receiving help for the object of his desire and he will have to find a way to do it himself. This is why I am constantly finding candy wrappers, popsicle wrappers, ice cream sandwich wrappers (all kept out of reach BTW) in the freezer or in my cupboards. That is why he wears his underwear backward with his dress socks for hours on end. Nothing is out of bounds for him....except the top of his closet, he has yet to get that high.

And to top it off he talks now, and is a little embarrassing too.

Picture this...
Sacrament meeting,
During the middle of the sacrament,
The chapel is unusually quiet,
Owen LOUDLY announces...
"I TOOT!"

Not at all embarrassing!

I like to ride my bicycle...

(Am I the only one that knows the Bicycle Song or are you singing it in your head like I had intended with the title of this post???)

John has been working with Ains on the whole bike thing for a few weeks now. Her progress was slowed some due to bad weather and illness, but she hopped back on Saturday (and after an initial breakdown) she did pretty well. She still can't start or stop by herself, but once she gets going she can ride for quite a while by herself! She got to the point where she was having fun and had more confidence (thanks to her lucky rock she found) and John got quite the workout. I think that will a little more regular practice she will be riding by herself in no time!

Holy Cow...Slacker

Okay, I've been lazy at recording our family fun as of late. I've been caught up in spring, Gilmore Girls, and a nasty cold. And so, even though there were things I wanted to post about, I just sat on the couch and did other things instead.

To begin with, last Saturday we had a fun ward activity. They did an ice cream in the park social. It was at a park that I'd never even heard of, now I plan on going back often. The afternoon was particularly nice for me because Ains pretty much played on her own and Owen is such a daddy's boy that he just wanted to hang out with John. Even when I tried to relieve John from swing duty Owen would want off the swings as soon as John left so that he could follow him around and be his little buddy. This left me childless for most of the activity and so I was able to sit and relax and talk...nice!
I think Ains loved the activity because 2 of the older girls in the ward that she idolizes let her tag along with them for a while. They are cool 2nd graders after all!
That night Ains and I went to help Syd get ready for the Prom. I can't believe my parents will be empty nesters in a matter of months! I helped her answer her date a couple of weeks ago. It was awesome...it was just like I was in high school again. We answered him by tying a bunch of balloons to a string that we were going to attach to his door and let fly up so high in the air that you couldn't see them. Instead we encountered a barking dog, the balloons kept blowing into the tree in his front yard, there was much chaos and confusion, I ended up peeing my pants from laughing too hard for old time's sake (although I think that any pregnant woman who had to pee, was laughing hysterically, and had to crouch down behind some bushes would have done the same thing). It was an awesome night. One that I will never live down!

I just took this picture because I thought it was funny that this girl could barely fit in the front seat because her dress was so poofy. From what I hear Syd was the lucky one to help her go to the bathroom later.

Next we have mother's day. John had the kids make these awesome cement stepping stones for my garden with their hand prints on them. I think they turned out great!

On Monday night we had Ainsley's dance recital. She's been excited about it for weeks. The theme of the night was dances from around the world. She did a little China dance and the Mexican Hat Dance. Her costumes were adorable.

She really did a fabulous job. Although I wish her teacher put as much effort into making sure her dancers knew their dances as she did on the costumes. We keep sending Ains back to her because she's cheap...but I think if we want to keep going to dance we need to look for one that teaches a little more skill.

The following morning we had Ainsley's last preschool field trip. We went to the MK Nature Center. The kids had fun running along the paths, looking over the bridges, and watching the fish through the observation glass.

I can't believe she only has a week of preschool left. Kindergarten here we come!

And to top it all off...I've had our Stake's canner in my garage all week for people to stop by and can their food. The saddest part of this is that the main reason I checked out the canner and volunteered my garage (other than I should because that's my calling) was because I happened to see a message on facebook from the woman that had my calling over 2 years ago (and has yet to let it go) mentioning that she was going to try to get the canner for people in our ward to use. And because I'm completely sneaky in my rudeness and trying to prove a point, I called and reserved the canner that moment, put a message in the program, and sent out a ward wide email. How pathetic am I???? So, because of my hasty reaction, I have had 10-15 people come to my house this past week to can their food. It really hasn't been that bad. Although I feel obligated to help everyone that comes by. It just seems weird that I sit inside while someone is out working in my garage. So I've just had a week of canning. It did force us to clean out the garage though! So I can't complain.

I just hope that the gung-ho women that bought a WHOLE PALLET of cans (seriously, 450 cans, $400!!!) come and get them out of my garage by tomorrow...I'm ready to have my garage back.

What's surprising is that although it seems like we've had a lot going on lately, I really have had pleanty of time to sit on the couch and feel sick...weird!

Found it!

I have been looking for the perfect fresh salsa for a while now...and I finally found one that was pretty close. I say pretty close because there is always the chance that in a few years I might be introduced to a new and wonderful salsa. But this salsa is the one that will be gracing our home for now. It is AWESOME!!! I've tried salsa with mangoes, avocados, etc. But this one takes the cake. I used to rely on my recipe that used avocados, but it had to be eaten that day. I needed a recipe that could sit in the fridge for a few days. (I know you have all been deeply concerned with my salsa recipe conundrums...now you will be able to sleep at night!) So, enough rambling on my part, here's the recipe, which I already have memorized BTW, it's very exact.

Chop up 5 Roma tomatoes and 5 tomatillos. I think its the tomatillos that drew me to this recipe. I knew there was something different in there I liked. The tomaillos give it a little kick without making it too spicy. Plus I've learned they're pretty cheap, I should have been cooking with them for years. I think I might have had a slight aversion to them because I used to have to peal the papery leaves off of them when I worked at Senor Fresh in high school. They are sticky underneath the leaves and I would peal them for so long that my fingers would be sticky for what seemed like days.
Then chop up 1/2 a bunch of green onions. And chop up a few cloves of garlic. You want a spoonful of garlic (or less, add to your liking).
Throw in a handful of cilantro leaves and a teaspoon or less of salt and you're ready to mix.
Place in a food processor and mix until you have little chunks.

It will look like this when you are done. Then squeeze in the juice from half a lime.
Give it a taste and see if you need to add anything. Really exact recipe huh? It's the one I was given. You can play around with it a little to get it how you like it. I think it tastes even better the next day when the flavors have had time to mix.
It's delicious. Seriously try it! I swear...buying the ingredients for this big bowl full of salsa is cheaper than most salsas you can buy, and it tastes like something you would get at a restaurant!

Content

I often don't have a feeling of contentment when my life is concerned. I'm usually focused on whatever it is that happens to be coming next.

But for some reason this week I have finally felt content.

John and I sometimes get hung up on the fact that we just might have to retire in our 1300 sq ft house because it seems that there will never be enough raises or a big enough turn in the economy to get us out of this one. Soon after we moved into this house my focus was fixing it up in a manner that would promote resale.

But this week I felt content.

I was sitting in church on Sunday and for no apparent reason (my mind was completely wandering, I have no idea what the lesson was about) I had the realization that I really do have so much. I might not have the biggest and the best, but I have all that I need. I have a healthy family, a nice home, I live in a great community near family, and we have made some great friends here.

I felt perfectly content.

And then again today I had a moment where I thought, "Ahh, I made it." I realized that I finally have all that I dreamt of for so many years. I was sitting at the table trying my hand at sewing, (that's another post) the kids were playing happily, the back door was opened and I could hear a neighbor's lawn mower humming, and I could see little green leaves poking out of our garden. For so many years I yearned to be at this point of my life. Settled, raising a family, done with school, in a home with a yard I could do what I wanted with. I can't believe I've been to this point now for 2 1/2 years and this week was the first week that I truly felt content. Maybe I've settled because I realize that I will be here for a while, but no matter the reason...

It sure does feel nice to be content.

Fearless

My fearless little boy has had two terrifying encounters the past two days. One involved (and I quote) a "kitty" and the other involved some baby chicks. My little Owen, who is the most determined and independent child I know, is terrified of all living creatures. He wants nothing to do with puppies, kitties, baby chicks, or any other soft cuddly animal, but doesn't think twice when it comes to knives, scissors, heights, or any other form of danger. No, it's the kitty that brings my son to tears.