I've been resisting the Facebook craze for a while now, mostly because without internet there didn't seem to be any point in bothering with it. Now that I have internet, I'm not sure what to do... I like the idea of keeping in touch with my friends better, and especially of seeing the pictures that they post. But I really hate the idea of having to befriend the people from high school who I never really cared about much and still don't care about. I know, I know-- I can always ignore them or whatever. But that seems a bit harsh, don't you think? I don't actively dislike them, I'm just completely indifferent to them. But I certainly wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
Having said that, I'll be the first to admit that if none of them tried to "friend" me, I'd be totally offended. And I hate myself for feeling that way. Maybe it's for that reason alone that I'm afraid to join? Hmmm... Chomp on that for a moment, Freud!
Anyway, it's been on my mind. And then this morning, I was reading the Weekly Standard and there was this whole long rant about how stupid and boring facebook is, complete with an example about the guy's wife, Alana (!!!), who was a complete facebook junkie and then suddenly quit because the thrill was gone and she realized it was a big waste of time. What are the odds? It was spooky. But, on the same day, I also got two emails from friends telling me I should join. Who's opinion do I go with? I'm stuck!
So that's why I put up the nifty little survey. Feel free to express your opinion (or just put it in a comment, or send me an email, I don't care how you do it!). And if you don't care enough to respond at all, then that's completely understandable, too!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Hallelujah!
Driving home from Craig's parent's house on Sunday, they started playing Handel's Messiah on the radio. Can I just say that I love, love, LOVE Messiah. It is some of my favorite music. And the recording they happened to be playing was a really good one, from the little bit that I heard. I was a little surprised at first that they were playing it at this time of the year, but then I remembered that in England, this is considered Easter music, and it's only in America that we sing it at Christmas time, so then it all made a little more sense. (Maybe the D.J. is British?)
Anyway, listening to it and feeling slightly drowsy from eating too much at my in-law's, I began reminiscing about the experience I've had with this amazing music. So I may as well share it with you, right?
I only knew a few of the songs-- the Hallelujah Chorus, "For Unto Us a Son is Born," just the obvious stuff, really-- until my mission. My first Christmas in the mission field, the ONLY Christmas music we had was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing Messiah, so as you can imagine, we listened to it a LOT. And it was fun. Sister Howard and I spent many a night riding around on our bikes singing "All We Like Sheep" to our heart's content. We got some weird looks, but we were already foreigners (gaijin!) riding around on bikes in dresses in the snow and wearing helmets to boot, so we were pretty much going to be freaks no matter what we did. May as well have fun doing it, right?
My favorite songs, along with the two I just mentioned, are "And He Shall Purify," which just builds and builds and becomes more and more beautiful and intense as it goes along, and the Overture. I love how the very first bars are very slow and sad and even a bit melodramatic, until suddenly this one violin starts playing this cheerful little tune and the whole orchestra takes it up until it becomes more and more joyous. I could listen to that one little violin for hours, it just makes me so happy. I would want to learn to play the violin just for that one song, I think.
Anyway, since my mission, I've had some wonderful opportunities to continue my love affair with this music. My first Christmas home, my good friend from high school, Elizabeth, told me that her family had an extra ticket to a performance of it at Benaroya Hall and would I like to go. Would I??? Can you get much luckier than that? And then Craig and I got tickets to the National Cathedral performance last year, which was amazing. But I think my absolute favorite performance was the free sing-along that they hold at the Kennedy Center, which Craig and I were able to attend this last year.
To get these free tickets, all you have to do is stand in line for a really long time. (You used to have to camp out, but they changed that this year-- what luck! Camping on December 22nd in D.C. sounds like a very cold version of hell to me... And the wait now is inside, so it's not too bad at all!) So we enlisted my ever-helpful in-law's aid, and were able to score some seats in the fifth row! (And, extra-bonus, our friends the Fords were able to join us, so that made it even better!)
And now that I've done the sing-along, I have say that the whole thing was just incredible. It probably would have even been worth camping out for. And I hope to be able to do it many more years to come!
The main conductor (they had three throughout the course of the performance) not only conducted the orchestra and the audience, but also added his own advice and his own reading of the songs in order to help you get the right feeling for some of the pieces. So, for example, he began by asking us to turn to our neighbors, smile at them, and then remember that we would never see these people again. So if we messed up, who cared? "Sing your heart out! This is the most joyous message of all time!" he advised us. And I took it to heart! I don't think you can really fully appreciate the joy of the Hallelujah Chorus until you've actually sung it all the way through yourself. It truly is amazing. I can't remember the last time Craig and I had such huge smiles on our faces!
And speaking of joyful messages, in one of my classes at BYU, we talked about Messiah, and my professor explained that it was first performed in Dublin, and then as it became a hit in England, the proceeds from the show would go towards helping people get out of debtor's prison in Ireland. My professor commented that he thought it was highly symbolic that music about our Savior helped people pay the debts that they themselves couldn't pay.
Layer upon layer of why I love this music. I couldn't have asked for a better treat Easter night.
Anyway, listening to it and feeling slightly drowsy from eating too much at my in-law's, I began reminiscing about the experience I've had with this amazing music. So I may as well share it with you, right?
I only knew a few of the songs-- the Hallelujah Chorus, "For Unto Us a Son is Born," just the obvious stuff, really-- until my mission. My first Christmas in the mission field, the ONLY Christmas music we had was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing Messiah, so as you can imagine, we listened to it a LOT. And it was fun. Sister Howard and I spent many a night riding around on our bikes singing "All We Like Sheep" to our heart's content. We got some weird looks, but we were already foreigners (gaijin!) riding around on bikes in dresses in the snow and wearing helmets to boot, so we were pretty much going to be freaks no matter what we did. May as well have fun doing it, right?
My favorite songs, along with the two I just mentioned, are "And He Shall Purify," which just builds and builds and becomes more and more beautiful and intense as it goes along, and the Overture. I love how the very first bars are very slow and sad and even a bit melodramatic, until suddenly this one violin starts playing this cheerful little tune and the whole orchestra takes it up until it becomes more and more joyous. I could listen to that one little violin for hours, it just makes me so happy. I would want to learn to play the violin just for that one song, I think.
Anyway, since my mission, I've had some wonderful opportunities to continue my love affair with this music. My first Christmas home, my good friend from high school, Elizabeth, told me that her family had an extra ticket to a performance of it at Benaroya Hall and would I like to go. Would I??? Can you get much luckier than that? And then Craig and I got tickets to the National Cathedral performance last year, which was amazing. But I think my absolute favorite performance was the free sing-along that they hold at the Kennedy Center, which Craig and I were able to attend this last year.
To get these free tickets, all you have to do is stand in line for a really long time. (You used to have to camp out, but they changed that this year-- what luck! Camping on December 22nd in D.C. sounds like a very cold version of hell to me... And the wait now is inside, so it's not too bad at all!) So we enlisted my ever-helpful in-law's aid, and were able to score some seats in the fifth row! (And, extra-bonus, our friends the Fords were able to join us, so that made it even better!)
And now that I've done the sing-along, I have say that the whole thing was just incredible. It probably would have even been worth camping out for. And I hope to be able to do it many more years to come!
The main conductor (they had three throughout the course of the performance) not only conducted the orchestra and the audience, but also added his own advice and his own reading of the songs in order to help you get the right feeling for some of the pieces. So, for example, he began by asking us to turn to our neighbors, smile at them, and then remember that we would never see these people again. So if we messed up, who cared? "Sing your heart out! This is the most joyous message of all time!" he advised us. And I took it to heart! I don't think you can really fully appreciate the joy of the Hallelujah Chorus until you've actually sung it all the way through yourself. It truly is amazing. I can't remember the last time Craig and I had such huge smiles on our faces!
And speaking of joyful messages, in one of my classes at BYU, we talked about Messiah, and my professor explained that it was first performed in Dublin, and then as it became a hit in England, the proceeds from the show would go towards helping people get out of debtor's prison in Ireland. My professor commented that he thought it was highly symbolic that music about our Savior helped people pay the debts that they themselves couldn't pay.
Layer upon layer of why I love this music. I couldn't have asked for a better treat Easter night.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Disappointing Dye
I absolutely LOVE dying Easter eggs. As a kid, my Mom decided one year that eggs were cheap and it was something we all liked, so she started buying a dozen eggs for each of us. How cool is my mom? We loved it. And probably because of her attitude, I have so many happy memories wrapped around this tradition. Like the time when my oldest sister Leah, in High School, announced that she was too old to dye eggs any more. We accepted this. It wasn't a very big deal. So then when Leah's friends came over and saw the rest of us dying eggs, they all got excited because their parents wouldn't let them dye eggs any more (what kind of parents are these?) and asked if they could join in on the fun. We were actually a bit annoyed, because that meant less eggs for us, but it was worth it to watch Leah eat her words as she and her friends joined us!
When I was a grad student I decided to throw my own Easter egg dying party, and my Mom once again came to the rescue by offering to pay for the candy I wanted to buy for it. (Thanks, Mom!) So I invited a bunch of friends over, and we had a nice time. But the highlight of the party was afterwards, when Craig was leaving. No one else was ready to go yet, but Craig and I were going on my ward's temple trip to Manti the next morning, so he wanted to get to bed. Rather than kiss him good-night in front of everyone, we opted to sit in his car and chat for a few minutes before he took off. We'd been dating for about four months by then, and as we sat talking away, Craig suddenly got quiet. I finally asked him what was on his mind, and he turned it around and asked me what I was thinking about. Being way too up-front, I told him I was just wondering where our relationship was going, to which he responded, "Yeah... It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"
Then he paused (probably gathered his courage a bit) and said, "So I'm thinking, maybe get engaged next month and then get married this summer?"
It was one of the happiest nights of my life.
And since then, dying Easter eggs has taken on a whole 'nother joyous aspect.
I did have Easter egg parties the next couple years, but then when I should have had the 4th one it was so soon after Kendra was born that I just couldn't pull my act together in time, and this last year seemed too soon after having Kendra's Birthday party (go figure), so it just hasn't happened. But I'm determined to do one next year! Consider yourself warned!
Anyway, we did, of course, dye eggs as a family. Unfortunately, they were all out of the Paas brand at Target. The only egg dye kits they had left were either the weird ones (who really wants to bother with marble and tie-dye?) and then some other brand called Dudley's. Well, the Dudley one had nine colors, which is my only real requirement, so I went ahead and bought it. Bad idea. I should have looked more closely at the kit.
Let me just ask you: who really wants to dye their eggs brown??? And even if you did want to, you could just dip the egg in all the other colors! You don't need a cup of brown dye! And then there were colors listed on the box that weren't even there-- no purple, and if there was both a red and a strawberry, then I certainly couldn't tell them apart! But there were two greens, which was not mentioned. (Was one of the greens meant to be something else?) And some of the colors were just plain wussy. I like my colors to be as vibrant as possible-- my favorite thing is to leave an egg in each dye for as long as possible so they get as much as they can out of it. They're so pretty that way! But that wasn't going to be worth it with this dye.
Anyway, I was disappointed. But the kids didn't really know or care, so I guess it doesn't matter. Next year I'm getting the good stuff. For my totally awesome party, which you can consider yourself invited to. Till then!
When I was a grad student I decided to throw my own Easter egg dying party, and my Mom once again came to the rescue by offering to pay for the candy I wanted to buy for it. (Thanks, Mom!) So I invited a bunch of friends over, and we had a nice time. But the highlight of the party was afterwards, when Craig was leaving. No one else was ready to go yet, but Craig and I were going on my ward's temple trip to Manti the next morning, so he wanted to get to bed. Rather than kiss him good-night in front of everyone, we opted to sit in his car and chat for a few minutes before he took off. We'd been dating for about four months by then, and as we sat talking away, Craig suddenly got quiet. I finally asked him what was on his mind, and he turned it around and asked me what I was thinking about. Being way too up-front, I told him I was just wondering where our relationship was going, to which he responded, "Yeah... It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"
Then he paused (probably gathered his courage a bit) and said, "So I'm thinking, maybe get engaged next month and then get married this summer?"
It was one of the happiest nights of my life.
And since then, dying Easter eggs has taken on a whole 'nother joyous aspect.
I did have Easter egg parties the next couple years, but then when I should have had the 4th one it was so soon after Kendra was born that I just couldn't pull my act together in time, and this last year seemed too soon after having Kendra's Birthday party (go figure), so it just hasn't happened. But I'm determined to do one next year! Consider yourself warned!
Anyway, we did, of course, dye eggs as a family. Unfortunately, they were all out of the Paas brand at Target. The only egg dye kits they had left were either the weird ones (who really wants to bother with marble and tie-dye?) and then some other brand called Dudley's. Well, the Dudley one had nine colors, which is my only real requirement, so I went ahead and bought it. Bad idea. I should have looked more closely at the kit.
Let me just ask you: who really wants to dye their eggs brown??? And even if you did want to, you could just dip the egg in all the other colors! You don't need a cup of brown dye! And then there were colors listed on the box that weren't even there-- no purple, and if there was both a red and a strawberry, then I certainly couldn't tell them apart! But there were two greens, which was not mentioned. (Was one of the greens meant to be something else?) And some of the colors were just plain wussy. I like my colors to be as vibrant as possible-- my favorite thing is to leave an egg in each dye for as long as possible so they get as much as they can out of it. They're so pretty that way! But that wasn't going to be worth it with this dye.
Anyway, I was disappointed. But the kids didn't really know or care, so I guess it doesn't matter. Next year I'm getting the good stuff. For my totally awesome party, which you can consider yourself invited to. Till then!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Easter Surprise
Craig was outside with Bentley yesterday and guess what he found in our backyard??? A little nest of baby bunnies! How amazing is that? When I was really little I wanted a pet bunny so badly. I loved bunnies. (Later on whales became my favorite animal, and it turned out that my parents wouldn't let me get a pet orca either. I had a rough childhood. But that story should probably be a different post...)
Anyway, I feel that these are my pets now, even if Craig says we can't keep them. They're so tiny and cute! And their ears are so big and folded back and perfect! I love them. It's all I can do not to run out and check on them every fifteen minutes, but I'm worried I'll just scare their mommy away, so that wouldn't do anyone any good... (Although maybe if he thought they were dying, Craig would let me keep them?)
We took a picture. You can't see them very well, but trust me, they're in there. And speaking of the wildlife in our backyard, we had four deer wandering around all day in the woods behind our house. I've also seen a fox (he better not come near my baby bunnies), and a groundhog, not to mention a ton of birds. I love our backyard and all our wildlife! Manassas is so much fun!
Anyway, happy, happy Easter! If you want a pet bunny, just let me know!
Anyway, I feel that these are my pets now, even if Craig says we can't keep them. They're so tiny and cute! And their ears are so big and folded back and perfect! I love them. It's all I can do not to run out and check on them every fifteen minutes, but I'm worried I'll just scare their mommy away, so that wouldn't do anyone any good... (Although maybe if he thought they were dying, Craig would let me keep them?)
We took a picture. You can't see them very well, but trust me, they're in there. And speaking of the wildlife in our backyard, we had four deer wandering around all day in the woods behind our house. I've also seen a fox (he better not come near my baby bunnies), and a groundhog, not to mention a ton of birds. I love our backyard and all our wildlife! Manassas is so much fun!
Anyway, happy, happy Easter! If you want a pet bunny, just let me know!
Guess Who's Finally On-line
WE HAVE INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hallelujah. As my sister Leah said, "Welcome to the world of the living." For all of you who I haven't kept in touch with at all-- hopefully all that will change now! I look forward to actually keeping up with my friends again! And looking up stuff-- addresses, recipes, history, WHATEVER I FEEL LIKE! Yay, yay, yay!
Hallelujah. As my sister Leah said, "Welcome to the world of the living." For all of you who I haven't kept in touch with at all-- hopefully all that will change now! I look forward to actually keeping up with my friends again! And looking up stuff-- addresses, recipes, history, WHATEVER I FEEL LIKE! Yay, yay, yay!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Inheritance
So it’s becoming more and more obvious to me that Kendra has inherited things from each of my sisters. Genetically, I realize that's probably not likely. You have to see it to believe it, but it's definitely there. It would probably border on being spooky if I didn’t like my sisters so much. So here’s a list of what I’ve noticed recently.
From Favorite Aunt Leah: Personality. If Kendra’s birth hadn’t already tipped us off that this girl does things her own way and on her time table, you can prove it really fast just by trying to take her toy away. She has an amazing grip and a very loud squeal of rage when she thinks it’s necessary to use it (and growing up with Bentley means that it’s used about twenty times a day). Kendra doesn’t put up with any crap. And in this day and age, I think that’s a great thing for a girl. I like that about her. Thanks, Leah!
From Favorite Aunt Tracy: Skin. I am capable of tanning, eventually, but it takes months, and usually several sunburns and I don’t really even try for it any more (No need to lecture me about the evils of tanning, Leah!). But even coming right off of winter, Kendra has the most beautiful olive-toned skin ever. I’m so jealous. I first noticed this last summer when I realized that she had a diaper tan line from the two times we’d gone to the pool! And it’s not like we hadn’t slathered sunscreen all over her! Tracy has this same easy-to-tan skin that I’m pretty sure skipped all the other Bentley sisters, but somehow popped up in Kendra. No fair. But very pretty. Thanks, Tracy!
From Favorite Aunt Natalie: Early-riser. Kendra didn’t sleep through the night until she was about eleven months old and I was finally too exhausted to wake up to her cries any more. She did finally give up on the night-time feedings, but got me back by changing her wake up time to 6:30am. I’ve gotten her to back down to 7:00, but she’s been stubborn about this time. Natalie is the same way. Her favorite thing to do in middle school was to practice the violin at 7:00am on a Saturday morning right under my bedroom. It was a source of contention, at the time, if I recall correctly. To this day, I think the latest Natalie’s ever slept is, what, 7:30? (Correct me if I’m wrong about this, Natalie!) Anyway, Kendra certainly didn’t inherit this trait from me or from Craig! Um, thanks, Natalie, I guess…! ;)
From Favorite Aunt Rachael: Fashion. I make it a point to try to time my clothes shopping with when Rachael is in town and can go with me because I trust her fashion advice implicitly. It’s a little early to tell if Kendra actually has any fashion sense (I still get to choose her outfits for her), but any time I put a bow or (heaven forbid!) a hat on her head, the only way to get her to leave it on is to show her her reflection in the mirror and tell her how pretty she looks. This will actually amuse her long enough for me to even get ready for church! Again, I should stress that this is not what Rachael does (at least, to the best of my knowledge… hmmm…), but if Kendra got any fashion sense whatsoever, you can bet that she didn’t get it from me. Thanks, Rachael!
From Favorite Aunt Jeni: Loving. I’ve seen Jeni take care of her girls, and she is a very kind and caring mother. (I like my kids a lot, but I certainly wouldn’t claim to be a particularly patient mother. Especially after my last post…!) Kendra is like that, too. She loves to snuggle with her mommy and daddy. One of her favorite games is to hug her stuffed animal doggy and then pass it around so everyone else can take turns giving him hugs, too. She’s a very loving little girl. Thanks, Jeni!
This is by no means an exhaustive list of Kendra’s aunt’s good traits—- they have many other wonderful qualities that are hard to spot in a one-year-old (like, say, punctuality). But so far she seems to have gotten more than her fair share of good things from her aunts. What a lucky girl!
From Favorite Aunt Leah: Personality. If Kendra’s birth hadn’t already tipped us off that this girl does things her own way and on her time table, you can prove it really fast just by trying to take her toy away. She has an amazing grip and a very loud squeal of rage when she thinks it’s necessary to use it (and growing up with Bentley means that it’s used about twenty times a day). Kendra doesn’t put up with any crap. And in this day and age, I think that’s a great thing for a girl. I like that about her. Thanks, Leah!
From Favorite Aunt Tracy: Skin. I am capable of tanning, eventually, but it takes months, and usually several sunburns and I don’t really even try for it any more (No need to lecture me about the evils of tanning, Leah!). But even coming right off of winter, Kendra has the most beautiful olive-toned skin ever. I’m so jealous. I first noticed this last summer when I realized that she had a diaper tan line from the two times we’d gone to the pool! And it’s not like we hadn’t slathered sunscreen all over her! Tracy has this same easy-to-tan skin that I’m pretty sure skipped all the other Bentley sisters, but somehow popped up in Kendra. No fair. But very pretty. Thanks, Tracy!
From Favorite Aunt Natalie: Early-riser. Kendra didn’t sleep through the night until she was about eleven months old and I was finally too exhausted to wake up to her cries any more. She did finally give up on the night-time feedings, but got me back by changing her wake up time to 6:30am. I’ve gotten her to back down to 7:00, but she’s been stubborn about this time. Natalie is the same way. Her favorite thing to do in middle school was to practice the violin at 7:00am on a Saturday morning right under my bedroom. It was a source of contention, at the time, if I recall correctly. To this day, I think the latest Natalie’s ever slept is, what, 7:30? (Correct me if I’m wrong about this, Natalie!) Anyway, Kendra certainly didn’t inherit this trait from me or from Craig! Um, thanks, Natalie, I guess…! ;)
From Favorite Aunt Rachael: Fashion. I make it a point to try to time my clothes shopping with when Rachael is in town and can go with me because I trust her fashion advice implicitly. It’s a little early to tell if Kendra actually has any fashion sense (I still get to choose her outfits for her), but any time I put a bow or (heaven forbid!) a hat on her head, the only way to get her to leave it on is to show her her reflection in the mirror and tell her how pretty she looks. This will actually amuse her long enough for me to even get ready for church! Again, I should stress that this is not what Rachael does (at least, to the best of my knowledge… hmmm…), but if Kendra got any fashion sense whatsoever, you can bet that she didn’t get it from me. Thanks, Rachael!
From Favorite Aunt Jeni: Loving. I’ve seen Jeni take care of her girls, and she is a very kind and caring mother. (I like my kids a lot, but I certainly wouldn’t claim to be a particularly patient mother. Especially after my last post…!) Kendra is like that, too. She loves to snuggle with her mommy and daddy. One of her favorite games is to hug her stuffed animal doggy and then pass it around so everyone else can take turns giving him hugs, too. She’s a very loving little girl. Thanks, Jeni!
This is by no means an exhaustive list of Kendra’s aunt’s good traits—- they have many other wonderful qualities that are hard to spot in a one-year-old (like, say, punctuality). But so far she seems to have gotten more than her fair share of good things from her aunts. What a lucky girl!
Good Advice
The other day as I was trying to get out the door, Bentley somehow slipped into ultra-slow toddler mode. I will hazard a guess that those of you who have had children understand this state, but for those of you who have somehow never experienced the aggravation, let me just clue you in: it’s really, really annoying. How can it possibly take anyone (even a two-year-old) five minutes just to climb into the car, climb up into his car seat and then SIT DOWN??? That’s all I was asking him to do, but to hear me trying to nag him into actually doing it, you would have thought I was Craig trying to get me to write my master’s thesis! I was practically begging, and since I was trying to reach over from Kendra’s side of the car to help him out, I was literally on my knees for this, so it looked AND sounded like begging. In the midst of my despair of ever actually getting him buckled in and going anywhere, Bentley suddenly held his hand up against me and in his very authoritative voice commanded, “Don’t cry, Mommy.”
Sound advice if I ever heard it. I could only laugh in response. Did my two-year-old really just say that to me?
Sound advice if I ever heard it. I could only laugh in response. Did my two-year-old really just say that to me?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Knowledge
Bentley suddenly started singing the tail end to the alphabet song today. I've never sung it for him, so I don't know where he learned it. But the best part is that he sings it, "Now I know my a-b-b-c's!" I guess, since he doesn't know his abc's yet, it isn't false advertising if he messes it up while claiming he can do it. Right?
Bellydance Superstars
It occurs to me that I should probably explain my fascination with bellydancing. If you already know or if you simply don’t care, then just skip this post!
Anyway, it all started when I was in Spain with Paula (and some other girls, but they don’t really play into this story, so I’m going to leave them out of it all together since that will make for an easier read. If you ever want to know about them, then that’s a whole ‘nother post!). Paula and I saw a bunch of posters for a show called “Bellydance Superstars” all over Barcelona, and when we found out that it wasn’t very expensive, we decided to go.
It turned out to be one of the best nights I had in Spain. Not only was the bellydancing super fun and awesome, but then that night was some sort of festival (I think for St. John, although I don’t remember very well any more), so the entire walk back to our hostel was accompanied with oodles of fireworks. And not the kind you see at a professional show, these were the neighborhood, little kids in the streets setting them off variety of fireworks. A little scary at times since you never know where the next explosion would come from, a lot loud, and lot of fun, too. I think the subways were closing down, also, so it took us forever to make our way back home and we enjoyed every minute of it! (A few days later my purse (with my passport in it) would get stolen and Spain would take on some darker memories for me, but that night in Barcelona was pure magic.)
Just for the record, bellydancing, at least the kind that I saw, is not erotic or gross or bad or anything. It’s just really cool. Those women shake their bodies in some amazing ways, and it was just a lot of fun to see. I enjoyed it as much as I’ve enjoyed ballet and hula and a lot of other dancing. I just want to emphasize that there was nothing weird going on here, lest you get the wrong idea about me.
And the group, Bellydance Superstars, is actually an American group that just happened to be on tour in Spain. So later, when I was back at BYU working on my master’s degree, I happened to look them up online and found out that they were coming to Salt Lake! Well, I couldn’t miss a chance to see them again, so I decided to take my boyfriend to the show. As the date drew nearer, it turned out that my Mom and little sister were going to be flying into Salt Lake that same night, so I figured we’d just go straight from the bellydancing to the airport.
Poor Craig. I’m pretty sure it was the weirdest date he’s ever been on. Because it turns out that the people who follow bellydancing in America are very different from the people who follow it in Spain. In Spain, the performance was just in some big auditorium and everyone attending looked pretty normal to me. In Salt Lake, the show was put on in a Masonic temple. Yeah, right there the “weird” flag starts waving a bit. And the people who go to a bellydance show in Utah, besides Craig and me, are really weird. Women with strange dreadlocks sporting feathers, beads and who knows what else stuck in their hair, and who also bring their two-year-old daughters with matching crazy hair and sad skanky outfits that I would NEVER put on my sweet innocent little girl… Yeah, it was enough to make me feel slightly uncomfortable, and enough to make Craig (good old EFY counselor Craig, who still likes to say things like, “Modest is hottest” and “Hazards of the horizontal”) wonder about the girl he was dating. In my defense, though, the bellydancing itself was still really cool. So I don’t think you can blame Bellydance Superstars for a bunch of wacko Utahns.
And then after that we headed straight to the airport where Craig got to meet my mother for the first time! But no pressure or anything! (At least Craig had already met Rachael, so she shouldn’t have been too scary. I hope.)
Before all this I’d told my humanities class about my Friday plans for me and my boyfriend. As I recall, there was a pause and then one of boys simply said, “He must like you a lot.” That turned out to be true. And we did get married, so I guess I didn’t scare Craig too badly.
Anyway, shortly after Bentley was born, Paula came to visit me. She brought me a bellydance skirt telling me it might help me lose weight, which I thought was about the coolest thing ever. We talked about going to see Bellydance Superstars again, since they were coming to DC, but I was feeling too poor (and too overwhelmed by being a new mother!) to manage it. But now that I’ve been practicing my bicycle hips and my crescents, I’m thinking I should start saving up for the next time they come…
Anyway, it all started when I was in Spain with Paula (and some other girls, but they don’t really play into this story, so I’m going to leave them out of it all together since that will make for an easier read. If you ever want to know about them, then that’s a whole ‘nother post!). Paula and I saw a bunch of posters for a show called “Bellydance Superstars” all over Barcelona, and when we found out that it wasn’t very expensive, we decided to go.
It turned out to be one of the best nights I had in Spain. Not only was the bellydancing super fun and awesome, but then that night was some sort of festival (I think for St. John, although I don’t remember very well any more), so the entire walk back to our hostel was accompanied with oodles of fireworks. And not the kind you see at a professional show, these were the neighborhood, little kids in the streets setting them off variety of fireworks. A little scary at times since you never know where the next explosion would come from, a lot loud, and lot of fun, too. I think the subways were closing down, also, so it took us forever to make our way back home and we enjoyed every minute of it! (A few days later my purse (with my passport in it) would get stolen and Spain would take on some darker memories for me, but that night in Barcelona was pure magic.)
Just for the record, bellydancing, at least the kind that I saw, is not erotic or gross or bad or anything. It’s just really cool. Those women shake their bodies in some amazing ways, and it was just a lot of fun to see. I enjoyed it as much as I’ve enjoyed ballet and hula and a lot of other dancing. I just want to emphasize that there was nothing weird going on here, lest you get the wrong idea about me.
And the group, Bellydance Superstars, is actually an American group that just happened to be on tour in Spain. So later, when I was back at BYU working on my master’s degree, I happened to look them up online and found out that they were coming to Salt Lake! Well, I couldn’t miss a chance to see them again, so I decided to take my boyfriend to the show. As the date drew nearer, it turned out that my Mom and little sister were going to be flying into Salt Lake that same night, so I figured we’d just go straight from the bellydancing to the airport.
Poor Craig. I’m pretty sure it was the weirdest date he’s ever been on. Because it turns out that the people who follow bellydancing in America are very different from the people who follow it in Spain. In Spain, the performance was just in some big auditorium and everyone attending looked pretty normal to me. In Salt Lake, the show was put on in a Masonic temple. Yeah, right there the “weird” flag starts waving a bit. And the people who go to a bellydance show in Utah, besides Craig and me, are really weird. Women with strange dreadlocks sporting feathers, beads and who knows what else stuck in their hair, and who also bring their two-year-old daughters with matching crazy hair and sad skanky outfits that I would NEVER put on my sweet innocent little girl… Yeah, it was enough to make me feel slightly uncomfortable, and enough to make Craig (good old EFY counselor Craig, who still likes to say things like, “Modest is hottest” and “Hazards of the horizontal”) wonder about the girl he was dating. In my defense, though, the bellydancing itself was still really cool. So I don’t think you can blame Bellydance Superstars for a bunch of wacko Utahns.
And then after that we headed straight to the airport where Craig got to meet my mother for the first time! But no pressure or anything! (At least Craig had already met Rachael, so she shouldn’t have been too scary. I hope.)
Before all this I’d told my humanities class about my Friday plans for me and my boyfriend. As I recall, there was a pause and then one of boys simply said, “He must like you a lot.” That turned out to be true. And we did get married, so I guess I didn’t scare Craig too badly.
Anyway, shortly after Bentley was born, Paula came to visit me. She brought me a bellydance skirt telling me it might help me lose weight, which I thought was about the coolest thing ever. We talked about going to see Bellydance Superstars again, since they were coming to DC, but I was feeling too poor (and too overwhelmed by being a new mother!) to manage it. But now that I’ve been practicing my bicycle hips and my crescents, I’m thinking I should start saving up for the next time they come…
Deep
So I’ve begun exercising. Don’t be impressed—- if I manage to do it twice a week I count it as a success; three times a week and I get so proud of myself that I eat ice cream to celebrate. So naturally, I haven’t lost any weight at all. But even if my weight doesn’t change, I still think it’s good to be moving a bit, right?
Anyway, so you’re not allowed to think that I’m completely insane, but the workout video that I bought for myself is a bellydance DVD. And I think it’s really cool. Notice that I don’t say I’m any good at it, because I’m not, but I do have fun trying. I figured there was a better chance that I’d actually work out if I thought it was fun. (I like doing aerobic dance, too, but I wasn’t sure there was enough room in the basement for that!) The funny thing about this DVD is that I really like the instructor—- Dolphina, if you’re up on your bellydancers—- but I only like her when she messes stuff up. For example, she teaches one move and says, “Let’s practice that once!” and then, after you’ve done it once, she laughs at herself and says, “Okay, just kidding, let’s do that four more times.” And I love that—- it just makes me laugh. There’s another time when you’re practicing tucks and pops and she’s telling you to imagine that you’ve got a precious ruby tucked into your navel, but then you realize that it’s flawed, so you’re going to pop it out. After doing that eight times, it’s time to tuck the ruby back into your abdomen, at which point Dolphina announces, “You realized that it wasn’t flawed after all!” but she’s laughing as she says it, so you know that she knows it all sounds ridiculous too, and it’s just hilarious to me.
So I like that.
But what I hate is when Dolphina tries to be DEEP. Every so often she needs to throw in these really stupid remarks that I just know are aimed at being deep. The worst is the very end after you’re done cooling down. Clasping her hands in front of her in what I can only imagine is meant to be a ponderous yoga stance, she announces, “When you awaken the goddess within you, magical things will happen. Peace.” This last word is spoken as she slowly closes her eyes, in case you hadn’t already figured out that this was a deep moment. Yeah, thanks, Dolphina. I’m sure magic is just around the corner. (If I’m going to believe in any sort of magic, it’s going to be the Harry Potter variety of magic, not the peace and yoga fitness variety!) On a similar note, during the warm-up, as she’s talking about sucking in your abdominal muscles, she announces that these are your core muscles. “They’re also,” she says, “your chi energy.” Now, I do not claim to know much about yoga, or chi, or even feng shui, but I’m pretty sure that the concept of chi is a lot more complicated than just your abdominal muscles. Anyone out there who can back me up on this? It just makes me want to yell, “Stop trying to be deep and just teach me some cool bellydance moves! You’re not my spiritual adviser, you’re just some chick with an exercise video!”
Anyway, I wonder if people with no religion take this more seriously. I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry for them if they do.
But I will also admit that few things give me greater joy than when I can do the “bicycle hips” move really well!
Anyway, so you’re not allowed to think that I’m completely insane, but the workout video that I bought for myself is a bellydance DVD. And I think it’s really cool. Notice that I don’t say I’m any good at it, because I’m not, but I do have fun trying. I figured there was a better chance that I’d actually work out if I thought it was fun. (I like doing aerobic dance, too, but I wasn’t sure there was enough room in the basement for that!) The funny thing about this DVD is that I really like the instructor—- Dolphina, if you’re up on your bellydancers—- but I only like her when she messes stuff up. For example, she teaches one move and says, “Let’s practice that once!” and then, after you’ve done it once, she laughs at herself and says, “Okay, just kidding, let’s do that four more times.” And I love that—- it just makes me laugh. There’s another time when you’re practicing tucks and pops and she’s telling you to imagine that you’ve got a precious ruby tucked into your navel, but then you realize that it’s flawed, so you’re going to pop it out. After doing that eight times, it’s time to tuck the ruby back into your abdomen, at which point Dolphina announces, “You realized that it wasn’t flawed after all!” but she’s laughing as she says it, so you know that she knows it all sounds ridiculous too, and it’s just hilarious to me.
So I like that.
But what I hate is when Dolphina tries to be DEEP. Every so often she needs to throw in these really stupid remarks that I just know are aimed at being deep. The worst is the very end after you’re done cooling down. Clasping her hands in front of her in what I can only imagine is meant to be a ponderous yoga stance, she announces, “When you awaken the goddess within you, magical things will happen. Peace.” This last word is spoken as she slowly closes her eyes, in case you hadn’t already figured out that this was a deep moment. Yeah, thanks, Dolphina. I’m sure magic is just around the corner. (If I’m going to believe in any sort of magic, it’s going to be the Harry Potter variety of magic, not the peace and yoga fitness variety!) On a similar note, during the warm-up, as she’s talking about sucking in your abdominal muscles, she announces that these are your core muscles. “They’re also,” she says, “your chi energy.” Now, I do not claim to know much about yoga, or chi, or even feng shui, but I’m pretty sure that the concept of chi is a lot more complicated than just your abdominal muscles. Anyone out there who can back me up on this? It just makes me want to yell, “Stop trying to be deep and just teach me some cool bellydance moves! You’re not my spiritual adviser, you’re just some chick with an exercise video!”
Anyway, I wonder if people with no religion take this more seriously. I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry for them if they do.
But I will also admit that few things give me greater joy than when I can do the “bicycle hips” move really well!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Kendra got this outfit for her birthday (along with many other cute ones that I will probably need to post pictures of eventually. Consider yourself warned;) so I’ve been putting her in it as much as possible before March 17th…! Gotta love a chance to celebrate my Irish heritage!
Doesn't she just look like she should be saying something like, "Here's looking at you, kid."???
And I couldn't resist-- Bottom's up!
Doesn't she just look like she should be saying something like, "Here's looking at you, kid."???
And I couldn't resist-- Bottom's up!
Uh-Oh!
Kendra finally has a first word! And if you read the title of this post, you probably already figured it out, but yes, the word is, “Uh oh.” (As my Dad pointed out, that’s two words!) The funny thing is that now that she’s mastered this word, she keeps trying to find ways to use it. I guess if I only had one word in my vocabulary I’d do the same thing (what is that story about how if you give a little boy a hammer, you’ll be amazed at how many things there are out there that need hammering?). Anyway, her favorite is just knocking anything over and yelling “Uh oh, UH OH!” But she also drops things off her high chair tray, and then at church on Sunday she slid slowly off my lap proclaiming “Uh oh” the entire way down. So she’s having fun with it!
Finishing Touches
Are you completely bored from hearing about my living room yet? I thought I was done telling you about it, but then we put up curtains and I was so surprised at what a difference it made in the room! Having never once bought curtains in our entire lives, neither Craig nor I was prepared for how much we would love them. So I have to show you just one more picture of our living room. The funny thing was that I bought a set of red curtains and a set of beige, just so I could see how they both looked. Wow, nothing says “boring” like curtains that blend in perfectly with the wall! So red was the very obvious choice—and I sure love Target’s easy return policy!
Bentley-Talk
The first thing about Bentley’s speaking these days, is that he suddenly is asking “Why” about everything. I’m not sure if he even understands what he’s asking or if it’s just fun to say because it keeps Mommy talking to him instead of doing other things. My favorite is when he asks why about something I’ve just said that he likes to do. Then I get to respond, “I don’t know. Why do you like doing that???” That usually stumps him!
The other day we were singing songs from nursery together. He likes all the usual ones—“Do as I’m Doing,” “The Wise Man Built His House upon the Rock,” etc. But my favorite that he sings is, “Icky Fidah! Icky Fidah!” (For those of you not sure, that’s “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Obviously.)
Recently when Bentley got hurt, I asked him if I should sing “Baby Mine” from Disney’s Dumbo to him. He said, “No. Baby song.” I explained to him that it was actually his song before it was ever the baby’s song, that I used to sing it to him when he was a tiny baby and couldn’t sleep (not that that ever seemed to help, but I tried). And now he suddenly loves it! He’ll ask me to sing it and then say, “Tiny Baby. No sleep!” I guess it's better to be appreciated late than not at all!
And last but not least, the other day we were eating pizza for dinner when Craig decided to casually lean back in his chair. Bentley frantically began to speak, realized he couldn’t with the big bite of pizza in his mouth, spit out the pizza and then hurriedly warned Craig, “Daddy! No fall down!” He looks out for his Daddy!
The other day we were singing songs from nursery together. He likes all the usual ones—“Do as I’m Doing,” “The Wise Man Built His House upon the Rock,” etc. But my favorite that he sings is, “Icky Fidah! Icky Fidah!” (For those of you not sure, that’s “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Obviously.)
Recently when Bentley got hurt, I asked him if I should sing “Baby Mine” from Disney’s Dumbo to him. He said, “No. Baby song.” I explained to him that it was actually his song before it was ever the baby’s song, that I used to sing it to him when he was a tiny baby and couldn’t sleep (not that that ever seemed to help, but I tried). And now he suddenly loves it! He’ll ask me to sing it and then say, “Tiny Baby. No sleep!” I guess it's better to be appreciated late than not at all!
And last but not least, the other day we were eating pizza for dinner when Craig decided to casually lean back in his chair. Bentley frantically began to speak, realized he couldn’t with the big bite of pizza in his mouth, spit out the pizza and then hurriedly warned Craig, “Daddy! No fall down!” He looks out for his Daddy!
Kendra and Chocolate
For those of you who were sad that you couldn’t be here to watch Kendra eat her first cupcake(s), here are a couple pictures to help you visualize it better… She actually had two parties, one with Grandma and Grandpa Smith, and one with our neighbors and friends from church, so that’s why the two messes are so different, and why she’s wearing different clothes.
Bentley benefits from his sister's birthday. Is it just me or does this look like a really bad goatee???
Just for comparison’s sake, I’m tossing in one of Bentley on his first birthday—I guess they look a little alike!
Ah, nothing like chocolate smeared into one's eyes to really soothe the soul...!
Bentley benefits from his sister's birthday. Is it just me or does this look like a really bad goatee???
Just for comparison’s sake, I’m tossing in one of Bentley on his first birthday—I guess they look a little alike!
Ah, nothing like chocolate smeared into one's eyes to really soothe the soul...!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
New Experiences
Just now as I was driving to the library, a rather startling thing happened! The library is maybe a half a mile from my home, but Manassas has managed to pack a whopping seven traffic lights into that half mile, so it can be frustrating and slow trying to drive that short distance. The busiest intersection is crossing Sudley Road, the main road through Manassas (as anyone who has ever been here can tell you). So I'm waiting to cross Sudley and suddenly an ambulance pulls up behind me with its sirens blaring and proceeds to honk at me! I was sandwiched between two other cars and the light was very red, so I wasn't really sure what to do about this. So I turned on my blinker and began nosing my way to the right, mostly as a token effort to show the ambulance that I was fully aware that I was in their way and as soon as the light changed I would do everything in my power to remedy the situation. As it turned out, the car next to me gradually pulled forward and to the right, effectively stopping the on-coming traffic (who also gradually noticed the ambulance) so I was able to follow that car and the ambulance finally got around me. Which left me in the middle of the intersection! So I did the only logical thing, which is to just drive through it before the oncoming traffic could start moving again.
Who slowly runs a red light crossing Sudley?!?!?!?!?!
The only thing that can compete with that for weirdness is the time I was coming home from the grocery store and Kendra started crying because she was hungry. I promised her that the second we hit a red light I'd give her some Goldfish crackers (still a staple in my home), so-- you guessed it!-- we hit all green lights the entire way home. It must have been at least ten of them, all of which are usually red.
Traffic lights are weird. I miss Bainbridge Island.
Who slowly runs a red light crossing Sudley?!?!?!?!?!
The only thing that can compete with that for weirdness is the time I was coming home from the grocery store and Kendra started crying because she was hungry. I promised her that the second we hit a red light I'd give her some Goldfish crackers (still a staple in my home), so-- you guessed it!-- we hit all green lights the entire way home. It must have been at least ten of them, all of which are usually red.
Traffic lights are weird. I miss Bainbridge Island.
Just In Case...
Alright, so if you missed it, I was on the air! For, yeah, maybe five seconds. I said one sentence. But if you want to check it out, here's the link:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/
And click on "Some Find Silver Lining in Dark Economic Cloud."
I should mention, also-- I was embarrassed to discover that I wasn't interviewed by Jim Lehrer at all, but rather by one of his correspondence reporters, Paul Solman. Oops! Can it still be cool, anyway?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/
And click on "Some Find Silver Lining in Dark Economic Cloud."
I should mention, also-- I was embarrassed to discover that I wasn't interviewed by Jim Lehrer at all, but rather by one of his correspondence reporters, Paul Solman. Oops! Can it still be cool, anyway?
Abandoned
A few weeks ago, I was doing my grocery shopping at SuperTarget with the kids. Now, I hate to admit it, but usually I try to get my grocery shopping done in the morning, which means I usually have not yet taken a shower. (Showering doesn’t happen until children, or at least one child, is napping, later in the morning.) So we'll set the stage by explaining that I’m not usually looking my best at Target.
So we’re strolling along and I’m grabbing food and tossing it into the cart while simultaneously trying to read my shopping list and keep the kids from grabbing food, poking each other, dropping anything important such as binkies and teddies, etc., etc. It’s a bit chaotic, to say the least. And Bentley and I usually keep a dialogue running throughout. So this time, he suddenly announces (with a hint of wonder in his voice), “Daddy... run away.” I look around in embarrassment wondering who has overheard this statement and quickly try to correct him, “No, no, Daddy didn’t run away! Daddy just had to go to work! Daddies do that sometimes.” But he must have caught onto the panic in my voice, because after that he continued to insist that Daddy had Run Away. And all I could do was stand there wondering how many people were looking at me and secretly not blaming Craig a bit for running away from this poor unhygienic woman! Maybe it’s time I started showering before the kids woke up…
So we’re strolling along and I’m grabbing food and tossing it into the cart while simultaneously trying to read my shopping list and keep the kids from grabbing food, poking each other, dropping anything important such as binkies and teddies, etc., etc. It’s a bit chaotic, to say the least. And Bentley and I usually keep a dialogue running throughout. So this time, he suddenly announces (with a hint of wonder in his voice), “Daddy... run away.” I look around in embarrassment wondering who has overheard this statement and quickly try to correct him, “No, no, Daddy didn’t run away! Daddy just had to go to work! Daddies do that sometimes.” But he must have caught onto the panic in my voice, because after that he continued to insist that Daddy had Run Away. And all I could do was stand there wondering how many people were looking at me and secretly not blaming Craig a bit for running away from this poor unhygienic woman! Maybe it’s time I started showering before the kids woke up…
Spring
At the beginning of February we had some unexpectedly good weather. While Craig seized the opportunity to wander around our yard dreaming about how he’ll landscape it some day, he noticed that we had some tiny purple crocuses beginning to bloom! He showed them to me and I was absolutely delighted. I guess that’s one of the fun things about owning a new home—- happy little surprises along the way! (For all you Arrested Development fans out there, YES, that reference was on purpose.)
So now this week the weather warmed up again, and the crocuses have managed to surprise me once again by taking over the yard! They’re all over the front yard and sprinkled pretty liberally around the back yard, too! There are even some struggling to poke their heads above all the leaves we raked out into the woods past our fence! I still really like them because they’re so delicate and pretty, and I love any sign of spring. But I have to admit, they’re starting to look more like weeds than flowers, now that they’re in the lawn and everywhere. Craig thinks they make our yard look more like a country meadow and is threatening to mow them. And he has a point—- especially before they open up, they do look a bit like mushrooms. But I just can’t bear to let him cut them all down. They’re so fun!
Yesterday we did some more exploring (and Bentley got to find sticks that he could wave around, an endeavor in which Craig soon joined him) and there are some other flowers coming up, too. I think they might be tulips or daffodils, but I’m not really sure yet (all you gardeners out there can shudder at my lack of knowledge). I’m very excited for my flowers, though!
So now this week the weather warmed up again, and the crocuses have managed to surprise me once again by taking over the yard! They’re all over the front yard and sprinkled pretty liberally around the back yard, too! There are even some struggling to poke their heads above all the leaves we raked out into the woods past our fence! I still really like them because they’re so delicate and pretty, and I love any sign of spring. But I have to admit, they’re starting to look more like weeds than flowers, now that they’re in the lawn and everywhere. Craig thinks they make our yard look more like a country meadow and is threatening to mow them. And he has a point—- especially before they open up, they do look a bit like mushrooms. But I just can’t bear to let him cut them all down. They’re so fun!
Yesterday we did some more exploring (and Bentley got to find sticks that he could wave around, an endeavor in which Craig soon joined him) and there are some other flowers coming up, too. I think they might be tulips or daffodils, but I’m not really sure yet (all you gardeners out there can shudder at my lack of knowledge). I’m very excited for my flowers, though!
Adventures with a Crock Pot, Part II
Okay, so I know you’re all just dying to know what other feats of gourmet cooking I managed to pull off while I had that crock pot! So I’ll give you the rest of the story…
Day 3
This time I decided to make pork chops. I’ve had pork chops sitting in the freezer for months while I tried to figure out what to do with them. (I HAVE already explained that I’m about the least adventuresome cook in the world, right?) Most of the recipes for pork chops involved cans of Cream of Mushroom soup, which sounded just fine to me, but I was curious about one that used a bottle of Italian dressing. Craig thought that one sounded interesting, too, so I went with that instead. The recipe claimed that you could throw in carrots and potatoes as well, so in an attempt to be slightly healthier I went ahead and did so.
In retrospect, I think that buying the cheapest bottle of Italian dressing that they sell at Super Target was probably a mistake. Because that dressing seemed mostly like a load of oil with a few spices thrown in. (Craig says that that’s really all Italian dressing is, and he didn’t have a problem with it, but I’m convinced that there are better dressings out there somewhere…) Anyway, the pork chops themselves were really good—- tender and flavorful. I guess they picked up all the flavor those few spices had to offer. But the carrots and potatoes mostly just tastes oily and a little too crisp still for my liking. So I’d rate this meal as fifty-fifty.
Day 4
Chicken cooked in butter, Cream of Chicken soup (is that redundant?), and cream cheese! What more could you ask for in a recipe? And then put it all on buttered egg noodles to eat. This is my kind of cooking! Anything that involves cream cheese is sure to win me over, and this recipe was no exception. Easy and yummy. And Craig loved it, too, so that made me happy.
Conclusion
It’s kind of funny with all this crock pot stuff, because for being the “easiest thing in the world,” I sure managed to screw it up a lot! But, even though the meals didn’t always turn out perfectly, I have to admit that I loved the mindset of using a crock pot. There was something very liberating about doing all the work for dinner in the morning, when we’ve just eaten breakfast and no one is hungry or tired yet, and then being able to clean up the kitchen and relax for the rest of the day and still have a good (and fairly nutritious) dinner whenever we were ready for it. I always get so stressed out trying to get dinner ready—everyone’s hungry and/or cranky, and then trying to enjoy my meal but knowing that the kitchen is a big mess that I’ll have to tackles as soon as I’m done eating… (Not that this is always the case; one of the things I like about casseroles is that I can clean the kitchen while they’re baking. I guess the real question here is, Why does a dirty kitchen stress me out so much?) Anyways, I felt like using the crock pot made everything WAY less chaotic.
So, yeah, I’m a fan. And I’m sure that, given enough time, I can even master using it so my meals consistently turn out good, too! So now I just have to talk Craig into buying me one. They’ve got nice ones at Costco. And I did buy all the ingredients for one last dish, only to realize that there was no way it would fit into the crock pot I’d borrowed… So I guess I’m just going to need to buy a bigger one!
Postscript Bought the one at Costco yesterday. AND it came with a little tiny crock pot for dips! Woo hoo!
Day 3
This time I decided to make pork chops. I’ve had pork chops sitting in the freezer for months while I tried to figure out what to do with them. (I HAVE already explained that I’m about the least adventuresome cook in the world, right?) Most of the recipes for pork chops involved cans of Cream of Mushroom soup, which sounded just fine to me, but I was curious about one that used a bottle of Italian dressing. Craig thought that one sounded interesting, too, so I went with that instead. The recipe claimed that you could throw in carrots and potatoes as well, so in an attempt to be slightly healthier I went ahead and did so.
In retrospect, I think that buying the cheapest bottle of Italian dressing that they sell at Super Target was probably a mistake. Because that dressing seemed mostly like a load of oil with a few spices thrown in. (Craig says that that’s really all Italian dressing is, and he didn’t have a problem with it, but I’m convinced that there are better dressings out there somewhere…) Anyway, the pork chops themselves were really good—- tender and flavorful. I guess they picked up all the flavor those few spices had to offer. But the carrots and potatoes mostly just tastes oily and a little too crisp still for my liking. So I’d rate this meal as fifty-fifty.
Day 4
Chicken cooked in butter, Cream of Chicken soup (is that redundant?), and cream cheese! What more could you ask for in a recipe? And then put it all on buttered egg noodles to eat. This is my kind of cooking! Anything that involves cream cheese is sure to win me over, and this recipe was no exception. Easy and yummy. And Craig loved it, too, so that made me happy.
Conclusion
It’s kind of funny with all this crock pot stuff, because for being the “easiest thing in the world,” I sure managed to screw it up a lot! But, even though the meals didn’t always turn out perfectly, I have to admit that I loved the mindset of using a crock pot. There was something very liberating about doing all the work for dinner in the morning, when we’ve just eaten breakfast and no one is hungry or tired yet, and then being able to clean up the kitchen and relax for the rest of the day and still have a good (and fairly nutritious) dinner whenever we were ready for it. I always get so stressed out trying to get dinner ready—everyone’s hungry and/or cranky, and then trying to enjoy my meal but knowing that the kitchen is a big mess that I’ll have to tackles as soon as I’m done eating… (Not that this is always the case; one of the things I like about casseroles is that I can clean the kitchen while they’re baking. I guess the real question here is, Why does a dirty kitchen stress me out so much?) Anyways, I felt like using the crock pot made everything WAY less chaotic.
So, yeah, I’m a fan. And I’m sure that, given enough time, I can even master using it so my meals consistently turn out good, too! So now I just have to talk Craig into buying me one. They’ve got nice ones at Costco. And I did buy all the ingredients for one last dish, only to realize that there was no way it would fit into the crock pot I’d borrowed… So I guess I’m just going to need to buy a bigger one!
Postscript Bought the one at Costco yesterday. AND it came with a little tiny crock pot for dips! Woo hoo!
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