Seems like I am always trying to re-cap over here, so I'll remind you once again - friend me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter or read my political blog (OK, actually, that one won't keep you up-to-date on the fam, just on the political world....)
So - in the last couple of weeks Aaron has gotten engaged - last week, actually. The wedding is set for Dec 30 in the Mt. Timp LDS temple close to our home. In a week's time, they have managed to find a dress, get someone to do flowers, get the fabric for table covers, have me get fabric for dresses/vests/bow ties, schedule the temple, book a church for the reception, interview DJ's, pick a photographer, and look at invitation possibilities. I remember how much planning went into ours almost 25 years ago - and now I wish I had enjoyed the ride a lot more....no one else even remembers or cares what we did at our reception - I should have focused on what *I* wanted instead of doing it the same way everyone else did.....They are taking that advice to heart. Should be lovely.
The blogging thing has really taken off for me. In fact, a post I did the day Obama won the Peace Prize (the same day we dropped a bomb on the moon), got picked up by CNN. I was the first blog they linked to after their moon story for about 6 hours. I got 850 hits. Wow! Now, I'm back to my 100-200 hits/day, which for a local political blog that has only been around since February is not too bad. Nowhere near what well-known national blogs get, for sure....
I'm still surprised, I must admit, at how this has become my "brand". I'm not a lobbyist, a campaign manager or political junkie - I'm a blogger. (really, though, I am all those other things, including "political activist"). Even the kids introduce me as "Holly on the Hill". If people are involved in politics in Utah, they generally know who I am, from the precinct chair in Provo, to our mayor to the governor of the state. Lots of fun - takes lots of time, though, to stay on top of the avalanche of political news...
The family is doing well. School is 1/4 done for the year. Holy cow - that was fast. I've got sewing to do this week, but only about 5 new costumes this year. Cool. If we hadn't lost almost 20 years worth in the fire, I would barely have to sew at all....and when the Halloween sewing is done, I have wedding sewing to do. Lots and lots of wedding sewing to do.
Nafe ran cross-country in the state finals this week. His team took first and set a new record. :-) He came in 5th for his team, 21st overall, with a time of 16.23 on a 5K course. He and his team are headed to regionals in Arizona on November 21.
That's all that comes to mind at 3 in the morning. TTYL.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Getting married!!
Our oldest is getting married! We've been asked multiple times if this is a "good thing" and if we like her. Yes, and we do, but that's immaterial. :-) He loves her AND they are getting married in the temple. We are thrilled!
For your viewing pleasure, here is the proposal video:
For your viewing pleasure, here is the proposal video:
Preparedness Challenge, Oct 25
1. Garden work: not this week, but we'll be "winterizing" soon
2. Preserve something: Got a bunch of frozen berries from the cannery.
3. Work on food storage: Stocked up on potatoes ($3 for 20 pounds), the frozen berries that I hope don't get ruined cause the freezer warms up, cereal for $1.25 a box
4. Other preparedness tasks: working on getting the storage room organized so we can clearly see how much we have of soap, deodorant, laundry detergent, etc. Not to be confused with the food storage room that is filled to over-flowing....
5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Several, but none come to mind. Oops.
6. Financial preparedness: Still out of debt except the mortgage. Thinking of re-financing the home.
7. Work on local food systems: Grateful to have gotten boxes and boxes of free apples. Hoping for more, LOL.
8. Learn something new: Helping our son plan his wedding reminds me of planning our wedding - surprised I remember so much - and interesting what my take is 23 1/2 years later....
2. Preserve something: Got a bunch of frozen berries from the cannery.
3. Work on food storage: Stocked up on potatoes ($3 for 20 pounds), the frozen berries that I hope don't get ruined cause the freezer warms up, cereal for $1.25 a box
4. Other preparedness tasks: working on getting the storage room organized so we can clearly see how much we have of soap, deodorant, laundry detergent, etc. Not to be confused with the food storage room that is filled to over-flowing....
5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Several, but none come to mind. Oops.
6. Financial preparedness: Still out of debt except the mortgage. Thinking of re-financing the home.
7. Work on local food systems: Grateful to have gotten boxes and boxes of free apples. Hoping for more, LOL.
8. Learn something new: Helping our son plan his wedding reminds me of planning our wedding - surprised I remember so much - and interesting what my take is 23 1/2 years later....
Monday, October 5, 2009
October already
Here we are, already 5 days into October. There is some serious time-warp stuff going on in my head. I can not believe it!! Christmas stuff is already in the stores, the weather changed, the kids are already more than half-way through their first term, Halloween costumes in the planning, but I just am having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that we are only 2 1/2 months from Christmas and 3 1/2 months from the start of the legislative session.
And btw, on the change in weather? That's an understatement. On Monday, it was 89 degrees for the high. On Wednesday, we had our first frost and the high was 40-ish - a 45 degree drop in 2 days, most of it in just one night...
Oh - I just realized I didn't update about Mira. She had her baby two weeks ago, little Emma Rose. She is a dolly! They are both staying with us another week or so to really help her recover from her C-Section, since it will be just the two of them once they go back to M's apartment. But, that's grandbaby #2 and I'm still close enough to adding babies that it's tempting to think about doing it "just once more". Not so much for Starfish Daddy....
I did a gazillion parent-teacher conferences this week. Taiza is funny - she has been in school 6 weeks now, skips off totally comfortably, chatters on about it once she home, but does not say one word while she is there. She is SOO shy. It's not really bothering her to go, but she just won't talk.....some of the kids are doing great (like Nonee - straight A's, 7th grade student body prez, wildly popular), most are doing ok and a couple are bombing, mostly because they refuse to do the work, not because they can't.
We are getting ready to go to DC in about a month. It will be me and the 3 kids that are in journalism. We're gonna have a lot of fun. :-) I'll sure miss the baby, though and am kinda worried about leaving her for a week, since she has really turned into a mama's girl. (Or still is, I guess). She still has lots of fussy times, though, and while I always think I'll be able to blog or otherwise work online while all the other kids are at school, her crying frequently precludes that. Poor baby....when she's happy, she's very happy, but when she's sad, she's almost inconsolable. Unless I go for a drive in the car - then she's happy.
Aaron is super-serious about his girlfriend. They are openly talking about marriage and her dad is flying up from Texas just to meet him. Her parents aren't thrilled - they want her to go on a mission and date more people (she's 20, Aaron is 22). I'm offended that someone would be less than thrilled with my awesome son. :-) (And I'm actually not joking.)
In the blogosphere, the more I take a stand politically as the conservative I am, the more I get "hit" by the liberal left. I have one commenter who likes to hit EVERY SINGLE POST and point out not only how crazy I am (if he only knew - ha!), but likes to say that my picture is unflattering, I'm smug, sanctimonious and fat. I finally had to put the comments on moderation and stop letting the personal attacks through. He calls it "freedom of speech" - I call it the right to not be abused. I might be a wing-nut, right-wing domestic terrorist extremist, but stop saying I'm ugly too. Just sayin'....
And speaking of politics - it's insanely busy and will only get more so! Oh my. Some days I regret my weakness for sleep - after all, I need 5 whole hours a night and it feels like such a waste of time. :-) Seriously, there is SO much happening, I literally can not keep up. One reason I am up doing the family update at 2:30 in the morning......I did tell one of my political friends that I thought summer was supposed to be the "down" time and I had not found that! He said that in the 8 years or so that he had been involved, it always had been - but not this year....the speed with which things are happening, the speed with which our country is being driven into the ground is truly breath-taking (but not in a good way).
We just had General Conference, which I'll post on separately, but it was awesome. Loved it - one of the most powerful ever, esp the Priesthood session and the Sunday afternoon session. I literally shouted "I was RIGHT!" when Elder Christofferson said that the "rules have changed" in economic, political and social arenas and that we can't look to the past to predict the future. I have been telling the hubster that for months - not only have the rules changed, but I think the entire game has changed.....nice to have some "validation" on an opinion/feeling that flies in the face of what the experts are saying (like "ride it out, we always recover", etc....)
So - have a great week!! Hope all our friends and family are well.
And btw, on the change in weather? That's an understatement. On Monday, it was 89 degrees for the high. On Wednesday, we had our first frost and the high was 40-ish - a 45 degree drop in 2 days, most of it in just one night...
Oh - I just realized I didn't update about Mira. She had her baby two weeks ago, little Emma Rose. She is a dolly! They are both staying with us another week or so to really help her recover from her C-Section, since it will be just the two of them once they go back to M's apartment. But, that's grandbaby #2 and I'm still close enough to adding babies that it's tempting to think about doing it "just once more". Not so much for Starfish Daddy....
I did a gazillion parent-teacher conferences this week. Taiza is funny - she has been in school 6 weeks now, skips off totally comfortably, chatters on about it once she home, but does not say one word while she is there. She is SOO shy. It's not really bothering her to go, but she just won't talk.....some of the kids are doing great (like Nonee - straight A's, 7th grade student body prez, wildly popular), most are doing ok and a couple are bombing, mostly because they refuse to do the work, not because they can't.
We are getting ready to go to DC in about a month. It will be me and the 3 kids that are in journalism. We're gonna have a lot of fun. :-) I'll sure miss the baby, though and am kinda worried about leaving her for a week, since she has really turned into a mama's girl. (Or still is, I guess). She still has lots of fussy times, though, and while I always think I'll be able to blog or otherwise work online while all the other kids are at school, her crying frequently precludes that. Poor baby....when she's happy, she's very happy, but when she's sad, she's almost inconsolable. Unless I go for a drive in the car - then she's happy.
Aaron is super-serious about his girlfriend. They are openly talking about marriage and her dad is flying up from Texas just to meet him. Her parents aren't thrilled - they want her to go on a mission and date more people (she's 20, Aaron is 22). I'm offended that someone would be less than thrilled with my awesome son. :-) (And I'm actually not joking.)
In the blogosphere, the more I take a stand politically as the conservative I am, the more I get "hit" by the liberal left. I have one commenter who likes to hit EVERY SINGLE POST and point out not only how crazy I am (if he only knew - ha!), but likes to say that my picture is unflattering, I'm smug, sanctimonious and fat. I finally had to put the comments on moderation and stop letting the personal attacks through. He calls it "freedom of speech" - I call it the right to not be abused. I might be a wing-nut, right-wing domestic terrorist extremist, but stop saying I'm ugly too. Just sayin'....
And speaking of politics - it's insanely busy and will only get more so! Oh my. Some days I regret my weakness for sleep - after all, I need 5 whole hours a night and it feels like such a waste of time. :-) Seriously, there is SO much happening, I literally can not keep up. One reason I am up doing the family update at 2:30 in the morning......I did tell one of my political friends that I thought summer was supposed to be the "down" time and I had not found that! He said that in the 8 years or so that he had been involved, it always had been - but not this year....the speed with which things are happening, the speed with which our country is being driven into the ground is truly breath-taking (but not in a good way).
We just had General Conference, which I'll post on separately, but it was awesome. Loved it - one of the most powerful ever, esp the Priesthood session and the Sunday afternoon session. I literally shouted "I was RIGHT!" when Elder Christofferson said that the "rules have changed" in economic, political and social arenas and that we can't look to the past to predict the future. I have been telling the hubster that for months - not only have the rules changed, but I think the entire game has changed.....nice to have some "validation" on an opinion/feeling that flies in the face of what the experts are saying (like "ride it out, we always recover", etc....)
So - have a great week!! Hope all our friends and family are well.
Preparedness Challenge, Oct 4
1. Garden work: The garden is done - first frost hit this week. Harvested tomatoes and lots and lots of melons that we'll have to do something with this week.
2. Preserve something: Pear sauce, tons of salsa the week before last, more tomatoes.
3. Work on food storage: Added important stuff like cake mixes. :-)
4. Other preparedness tasks: Thought about actually putting together 72-hr kits. Didn't actually do it.
5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Several. Just did dumplings in pear puree - pretty good.
6. Financial preparedness: Wondering how much $$ to keep in savings and how much to turn into tangible goods.....listened to Elder Christofferson say in General Conference that the old "rules" no longer apply to economics and wondering what that means for the future....
7. Work on local food systems: Not specifically
8. Learn something new: I learned that when you take a stand, you get hammered for it. :-)
2. Preserve something: Pear sauce, tons of salsa the week before last, more tomatoes.
3. Work on food storage: Added important stuff like cake mixes. :-)
4. Other preparedness tasks: Thought about actually putting together 72-hr kits. Didn't actually do it.
5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Several. Just did dumplings in pear puree - pretty good.
6. Financial preparedness: Wondering how much $$ to keep in savings and how much to turn into tangible goods.....listened to Elder Christofferson say in General Conference that the old "rules" no longer apply to economics and wondering what that means for the future....
7. Work on local food systems: Not specifically
8. Learn something new: I learned that when you take a stand, you get hammered for it. :-)
Monday, September 14, 2009
Preparedness Challenge, Sept 13
1. Garden work:Starting to harvest - didn't plant a lot of variety, but have eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes and peppers. Need to weed...
2. Preserve something: My total for the week: 80 pints of jam, 9 qts of tomatoes from our garden, 60 qts of pears and 208 qts of peaches. Yes, the kids helped me....assembly lines can be a good thing.....(I would get two batches done during the day - once the kids got home from school, we'd quickly get 4 full canners going - cool.)
3. Work on food storage: yes, as mentioned in my "mid-week" posts - lots of sales worth stocking up on at the local grocery store. They are also starting their fall "case lot" sale this week. Not all the items on sale are the best price of the year, but some things definitely are. When I checked out with (seriously) 4 baskets full earlier in the week, the checker mentioned she is seeing a LOT of people coming in and really stocking up on food storage. Think people are feeling the way I have for a while? (Better have it!!)
4. Other preparedness tasks: Probably doing a refresher CERT course this week.
5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Yes - just tried a new recipe for pear cake tonight - it was yummy
6. Financial preparedness: Still outta debt....
7. Work on local food systems: That's where I got my peaches and pears.
8. Learn something new: Tomatoes do better with good support - staking, cages, etc. (Actually, I already knew that, but was reminded again this year.) Also, San Marzano Paste tomatoes don't produce nearly as well as Amish Paste....
9. Serve someone: Took dinner Friday night to some friends who have a new baby that is having feeding/growing issues.
2. Preserve something: My total for the week: 80 pints of jam, 9 qts of tomatoes from our garden, 60 qts of pears and 208 qts of peaches. Yes, the kids helped me....assembly lines can be a good thing.....(I would get two batches done during the day - once the kids got home from school, we'd quickly get 4 full canners going - cool.)
3. Work on food storage: yes, as mentioned in my "mid-week" posts - lots of sales worth stocking up on at the local grocery store. They are also starting their fall "case lot" sale this week. Not all the items on sale are the best price of the year, but some things definitely are. When I checked out with (seriously) 4 baskets full earlier in the week, the checker mentioned she is seeing a LOT of people coming in and really stocking up on food storage. Think people are feeling the way I have for a while? (Better have it!!)
4. Other preparedness tasks: Probably doing a refresher CERT course this week.
5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Yes - just tried a new recipe for pear cake tonight - it was yummy
6. Financial preparedness: Still outta debt....
7. Work on local food systems: That's where I got my peaches and pears.
8. Learn something new: Tomatoes do better with good support - staking, cages, etc. (Actually, I already knew that, but was reminded again this year.) Also, San Marzano Paste tomatoes don't produce nearly as well as Amish Paste....
9. Serve someone: Took dinner Friday night to some friends who have a new baby that is having feeding/growing issues.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Finding Hope
A man describes his journey from the tragedy and trauma of 9/11 to hope, healing and renewal.
I will never forget.
I will never forget.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
