Saturday, September 18, 2010

This week at a glance

This week was a busy week (that's the reason why blog posts didn't happen on the true day that they were supposed to happen).

Just a quick overview.

Sunday was Grandparents day so we had Bob and Virgie over for dinner. Busy day trying to clean in advance.

Monday was laundry day and then we spent the night at the Utah State Fair with the greater Larson Clan.

Tuesday I was called into work. I work a crazy 6 hours. It nearly killed me. J/K. But later that night we ran some errands and then laid around all night.

Wednesday was our date night/concert day activity. We left at 330PM and didn't get home til 2AM...thank goodness for Lorraine. She babysat and spent the night so we could be wild and crazy.

Thursday I went to work. This one was pre-scheduled. I work 5 crazy hours. :) Came home and ran more errands. Tried to clean the house and then got lazy and watch television all night.

Friday I went to work, again. Crazy huh! Almost like I had a real job again. Seriously crazy. This lasted only about 4 hours. Good thing too, I don't know if I could have handled much more. JK.

Saturday is the real "get caught up on everything at my own slow pace day." Boring huh. But seriously laundry must get done today.

That was our week at a glance...

Friday Movie Review: Marmaduke


I thought this movie looked lame. LAME! But one night while Brian was passed out and comatose and Aidan was wide awake, we decided to rent it and watch it.

What a delightful little movie. Aidan enjoyed it. He watched it start to finish and giggled the whole time. If you like animals or if you don't (I don't) you will enjoy the comedy of this movie. Spend a dollar later this month and get it from Red Box. You won't be disappointed.

Thursdays Nostaligia

Cousin AJ took this photo last summer at Redfish Lake. Good times! I miss this wonderful destination and good company.

This was also fun because it was Brian and Aidan's first time swimming at the lake. Brian enjoyed himself. Aidan on the other hand didn't like that it was so cold. But after being subjected to the cold, he quickly warmed up to it. Hopefully next year we can have more great times at the lake!

Wednesdays blessings

1. Power of prayer. Some times, most of the time, I take advantage of prayer. I always try to have a prayer in my heart, but sometimes laziness gets a hold of me and I don't have a good heart to heart with my Heavenly Father. When I do pray this way, I always come away from the prayer being refreshed and calm.

2. Answered prayers. Sometimes during my prayers I get nervous asking Heavenly Father for help or requests. I truly believe that the Lord has a greater understanding of my life and my path, but that doesn't change the fact that I think he likes me to learn things the hard way. I have many experiences in my life where I have been "thrown for a loop" with Heavenly Father. And so it takes a lot for me to plead, ask, beg, request, or bring something important to me to his attention. But this week I asked for his help with something and it came forth. Brilliantly. Thank you Heavenly Father.

3. A well behaved son. I would normally NEVER refer to my child as a well behaved child. He is just independent enough to make me crazy. But I am so thankful for Aidan going to "school" on Friday with a more than adequately happy mood. We were only there for about 4 hours and only for the last 30 minutes did he need to come be with me. And that wasn't because he was naughty and melting, but because it was nap time and he didn't want a nap. I can handle that kind of behavior.

4. Grocery stores. I love having a garden and a decent food storage. But when it comes to cravings, especially abnormal cravings, having a grocery store nearby and open 24/7, I love it. I was craving a yummy roast beef hoagie sandwich. Not a Subway sandwich, but a fully loaded homemade sandwich. Good, inexpensive roast beef was only about 20 minutes away. Yummy!

5. Good books. Nothing helps pass late nights alone like a good book. Nuff said.

6. FHE. This week for FHE we went with the greater Larson clan (minus Matt, including Mark) to the Utah State Fair. I haven't been to the fair since 1996 when my friend Kristy won some tickets to see the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and then we just went to the concert we didn't peruse anything. This time we walked around, enjoyed the ice cream tasting tent, had dinner at Moochies (a local resturant featured on Triple D...they make yummy meatball subs and philly cheesesteaks), visited with friends, say another old friends amazing quilting accomplishments (Janis O. you rock!), let Aidan see the farm animals and had a good time. Thanks extended Larson Clan.

7. Date night. Brian's brother Matt hooked us up with some tickets to an amazing concert. Brian and I were so excited that we made a Date night out of it. We got Lorraine to babysit (and spend the night) so that we could be out late. Our night started at 330PM when we went to a late lunch at Red Iguana in SLC. Another Triple D stop, but we have enjoyed this location for years. Then we headed out to the Uproar Festival. We saw Halestorm, Stone Sour, Avenged Sevenfold, and Disturbed. I was not disappointed in this concert they all rocked, especially Disturbed! After the concert we headed home but stopped at Denny's, a concert tradition, and ate some food. By this time it was coming close to 2AM so we headed home and quickly passed out! We had a blast.

Tuesday Book Review: Jayson Wolfe Series





Because this is a series by Anita Stansfield that I read fairly quickly, I will give you a general review of the series, not of an individual book. I will do this mainly because some of the topics have blurred together and I can't remember what book everything came from.

Jayson Wolfe plays a young, troubled teenager. He has always had a passion for music. These books follow him throughout his life as he begins to understand his need for music and his love for it. These five books take him through many challenges in his life and Anita Stansfield, the author, does a fantastic job of incorporating basic words of wisdom and scripture examples into his understanding.

If you life good fluffy churchy books. These are pretty good. Highly recommended.

Molly Monday: Wtiches Shoes




So easy and so fun to make!

Check the link here.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

September 11, 2001: I Remember


In memoriam of
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS DAY.

September 11, 2001

Aidanisms

This last week Aidan has been struggling with sleeping in his own bed. One night I said that he could sleep with me but he needed to go right to sleep. I was in the middle of a good book and didn't want to stop on a count of a ornery two year old. Once we were comfortably in bed Aidan wiggles close to me and says "You read me, you read me mommy book." Which translates to read me your book mommy. I giggled and began. I can't explain how happy I was knowing that I was reading something good and not embarrassed to share with my two year old.

At this point in the book my two main characters just declared and extreme liking for one another and talk about the first kiss. They finally agree on it and the book describes the kiss by saying something like he closed his eyes and puckered and she did the same and that first kiss what remarkable. Blah Blah Blah. As I read this part to Aidan he tells me to "stop read mom." I stopped and looked over at him. My sweet ornery two year got into a sitting position and then with all he little ability closed his eyes and puckered his little lips. Keep in mind that this is two separate motor skills happening, and he wasn't very good at it. Especially because he was trying to find my face to kiss. He would close his eyes into a squinting formation and then focus really hard on puckering up only to realize that he wasn't closing his and try it again. He finally managed to kiss my face. I began to cry. What a sweet heart! I learned some things that night.

1- he really does listen to my words
2- he is a little bit of a romantic
3- he loves to kiss his mommy
4- he is up to any challenge
5- no matter how naughty he is, I am wrapped around his little fingers. I am a sucker. I love that kid!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Friday Movie Review: Date Night

I wanted to see this when it was in the theater, but alas we didn't make it. We never do. I find it so much more relaxing to just get a Red Box movie and cuddle with Brian on my couch in my pajamas.

This movie was entertaining for about 80% of the movie. There is a "chase scene" in the middle of the movie that I laughed at for about 5 minutes straight. I even have a smile on my face now just thinking about it. But one of the last scenes of the movie took most of my appreciation away.

Steve and Tina play the Fosters. The boring married couple with two kids, a mortgage and two equally tiring and boring jobs. They try weekly to have a date night, but reality gets in the way and they go every week to the same old boring steakhouse and order the same ol' thing. One night Steve decides that this Jersey couple will head to the major city and eat and that really talked about place and ENJOY themselves. Well they don't have a reservation and so they take someone else's. The movie begins to spiral out of control as this married couple begins to try and out wit the bad guys (who are coppers) and try and make this all go away. Mark Wahlberg has a relatively large part in the movie, which I wasn't aware of (those scenes were funny). I don't want to ruin to much for you, but the last major scene was too much for me and my two year old. I am glad we waited until we could rent it so that I could fast forward to the next scene. The wonders of the DVD!

Overall good movie, final grade B-.

Why do they do that anyway? Take a good movie, pretty clean and then dirty it up in five minutes with a unnecessary scene? Oh the frustration! Does everyone out there really need at least one inappropriate scene to make a movie "tolerable"? Silliness I say!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Thursdays Nostaligia


I love these games. I really didn't get "into" them until after my mission. After I came home, life started. Life got hard and complex, easy and simple. But I always had something on my mind, usually boys. I am a thinker. In the way I mean thinker I don't mean I have a great mind, just the opposite. I have the ability to find a topic that interests me and "think" it into the ground. I don't often find a solution or an answer but my mind goes over the topic over and over again. Now this problem with thinking would often happen about the time that some major paper was due. And because all of my mind energy was wasted on the wrong thing I couldn't study or function until the endless cycle of nothing was broken. Enter mindless strategy games. TETRIS and DR. MARIO. Maybe its the colors or the music or the repeated motion, but these games I would play for hours until I couldn't think anymore and I just needed a rest. Mission accomplished.

Thank you Tetris and Dr. Mario for helping me survive the dating scene and the academic life.

If you want to play Dr. Mario I found an online site that will let you do it for free. SWEET!
Click here to play. Just a heads up; the left and right arrow keys will move your "pill" left or right. To rotate the pill buttons "z" and "x"do so in a clockwise/counterclockwise fashion. Enjoy and have fun.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Wednesdays blessings

1. Good books. Not just entertaining but a book that makes you happy when you walk away from it. A book that inspires you and guides you too.

2. Dedicated husband. Brian has been studying ever so diligently for a major test he has for work in three weeks. Nothing bad will happen if he fails, except failing it the first time. But if he passes it means a substantial raise and another certification for his career. Good luck honey!

3. Sweet child of mine. He read me a story last night. He was so cute about it. He was very animated and excited. I really only caught certain words, and those words had NOTHING to do with the words written on the pages, but it was highly entertaining and brought tears to my eyes. Hopefully soon he will have a love of books, the same way that Brian and I do.

4. Personal inspiration. Sometimes it is easy for me to get answers and other times, no. Sometimes this inspiration comes because I need to apply it in my life or because a light bulb went off. No matter the reason, I love personal inspiration/revelation. Nothing makes my heart happier.

5. Grandparents. I am blessed with half of my grandparents still. What a blessing they are! Aidan is blessed with four grandparents and three great grandparents. I love to see the interaction he has with them. He enjoys spending time with them and considers them his friends (his words not mine) and I love it! Mission nearly accomplished.

6. Aidan's new word. Need. I love this word half the time. The other half not so much. When I do love it, it is because he "needs a hug" or he "needs time with daddy" or he "needs Grandpa Jeff to play with me" or he "needs to go and play with Bob and Grandma." These needs I love and I will continue to help him with these needs. When he "needs Coke" or "needs chocolate chips before bed" or "needs to go to the park at bedtime" not so much.

7. Lists. I love organizing my day with a good list. I always make sure that I put big stuff and small stuff on the list. What a sense of accomplishment when I get a list completed or mostly complete.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Tuesday Book Review: The Associate

When I was in junior high I started reading John Grisham novels. This helped to fuel my desire to become a lawyer. One thing that I have noticed as I read his novels, and those of you who have read his novels will understand is that he writes basically the same novels over and over again. Very little character and location creativity go into writing his books. But that being said I still find myself reading everything he has written; fiction and non-fiction alike. I got a little behind during and after my mission, but I am within two books of being able to say (while caught up 100%) that I have read EVERYTHING he has ever written.

The Associate is about a young soon to be law school grad who is top of his class but has a bit of a secret in his past. During his undergrad days, some frat brothers alledgedly raped a sorority sister. Kyle, our protaganist, was not involved in the rape but he was in the room passed out. Just prior to his Yale Law School Graduation he is approached by some bad dudes wanting him to change his plans for after school and work at the arguably largest law firm in the world, located in NYC, to be involved in one of the largest, scariest, most important and quiet lawsuits ever filed. It is between to government contractors for the rights to a super secret super awesome jet plane. The plot. These bad dudes want him to steal documents and other information. Major dilema? Kyle is a very upright kind of guy and has no desire to submit to this kind of strong arming without any kind of plan. He is also very worried about ethics and honor.

The book is a pretty easy read for Grisham. He finally is starting to realize how boring Canton and Ford County can be. He is going out of his box and expanding his horizons. Good job Grisham. If you like Grisham, check it out. The library here has lots of copies, and they are always there.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Molly Monday: Reflections

This is going to be another one of my "journal type entries"- beware.

I recently just finished reading the Jayson Wolfe series by Anita Stansfield. I do enjoy reading a good book by a good author, but I sometimes need to pace myself. Too much fluff is irritating and too much Mormon fluff is nauseating. I don't mean any disrespect but in between all my reading of fluff, I need to pull out a good history book or text book and read.

I won't go into too much detail now about these books (there are 5 in the series) but they are coming soon on the Tuesday book review days; but I will say that one good thing about reading a good Mormon book is the not so subtle scripture references that are put inside the story, to help the characters cope with life.

One of the scriptures stood out in my mind and gave me some comfort. D & C 122:7;here the Lord talks to Joseph Smith who has been imprisoned at Liberty Jail.

7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good.

For the sake of understanding none of these things have happened to me and I am aware that I am not experiencing anything even close to the persecutions that Joseph Smith had, but during recent times I have felt picked on and misunderstood. I have felt incredible sadness and that my trials have been for some reason but in the middle of the trials and persecution it has been hard to see the "light at the end of the tunnel." But as with the character in the book, this scripture touched my heart in nearly the same way that the song "Be still my soul" touched my heart. My patriarchal blessings says "Beware! Do not suppose that life will be easy. It never is. Your life will not be free of stress and pressure and work and sorrow..." It further goes on to say "Now, go forward, knowing that all will be well and that you will never be left alone and that you will have peace to your soul." I guess having the reminder that I can over come and that the Lord is with me has helped me today, feel peace.

I may not be able to control some events and situations, but I can control my reaction and how my heart feels later on.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Aidanisms

Playing Sorry: the board game with Aidan for the first time, Brian wins the game. Aidan says “No, I win.” To which we reply, No daddy wins this time. Aidan states loudly “No, I win. I boy. I win.” Okay enough said. When we play games with him, we play by the rules, legitimately, and he usually wins. I guess next lesson, sometimes the boy doesn’t win. Maybe we should listen to Kenny Rogers “Gambler.”


I went to work at the day care for about an hour yesterday. Aidan freaked out and wouldn't leave my side. They let him come with me to the older child classroom. After my hour I started gathering our items to leave, when Aidan freaked out even more. "I no go mommy. I play with my friends. I need them. Please." We compromised on visiting Grandpa and Grandma Arnold. " I love Virgie's house. Bob my friend." I love that he thinks of them in such high regard.



Friday, September 3, 2010

Friday Movie Review: Pride and Prejudice 1995


I love Jane Austen. The first time I saw Pride and Prejudice was on a tour bus traveling to Nauvoo with my singles ward. I watched it play on one of those little tiny 13 inch televisions with no volume. Just the imagery was stunning and had me begging for more. When I had the opportunity to rent the film I did and wasn't disappointed.

I thought about seeing this movie in the theater, but Keira Knightley irritates me sometimes. Luckily, this isn't one of those times. I found myself completely engrossed in all the characters of this movie and every time I watch it I still get goosebumps. If you haven't seen this movie, please do! It is a classic and is done extremely well.

Highly recommended!

Thursdays Nostaligia


I miss you. I can't believe I have to wait another year! I love you.

Wednesdays blessings

1. Fabric flowers. These are so fun to make. They are a blessing because (aside from occasionally getting burned) they are relaxing to make and I don't need a lot of fabric to make them. For the tutorial click here (they recently re-did the tutorial. It used to be a video and now it is easy to follow pictures. They use fabric glue, I carefully use hot glue).

2. ACE. Or Aviation Center for Education. This is located at HAFB and is within the museum walls. Back in the day, when I volunteered at the museum, I helped run the program. It helps young children understand the basic dynamics of flight. Aidan and I had the opportunity to go up and play in the Center for about 90 minutes. He loved it. He really enjoys science, just like his dad. And I vow to feed his hunger for more science and space. Maybe he will be a pilot or an astronaut!

3. Follow through! What a blessing this is. Sometimes I get myself in over my head, but I am grateful that my parents instilled in me a desperate need to follow things through to the end.

4. Hope. Need I say more?

5. General Conference. I realize it is a month away, but I am getting so excited to here the words. Who would have thought that not so long ago I dreaded watching conference (I could have been sleeping) and now it is something I am eagerly looking forward too.

6. Food storage. Money is tight right now. And what a blessing it is to be able to cook meals according to our food storage. I am grateful that it is pretty stocked.

7. Garden. Going along with food storage, what a rush it is to be able to go and pick fresh produce at my (and natures) convenience. I love me some fresh pico de gallo. :)