Feeling Independent

I love Independence Day! I'm sure you just assume it's because it's my birthday, but there's more to it than that. I'd actually be fine if my birthday were any other day, though it's kind of funny when people find out my birthday is on the 4th and wonder what my parents were thinking when they named me.

I love small town parades. We went to Malad, ID at least once when I was young and I had such a great time at their parade. They really went all out. It was cool to see what seemed to be ancient men in the bed of a truck proudly waving VFW flags. Those men were proud and you could see it. Provo, UT also has a great 4th of July parade. The kids end up with handfulls of candy by the end and there's a great sense of community along that parade route.

I love seeing the flag flown. When I lived in Boise, a scout troupe in my neighborhood put flags in the yards of anyone who signed up on all the flag-flying holidays. There were a lot of them and made me feel great to see them all. I miss that in the neighborhood I live in now. I don't see quite as many flags as I'd like, even on the 4th.

As a kid, I thought it was great that we lit fireworks almost all day (it seemed!), then ate rootbeer floats and stood out on the deck to watch the city fireworks. It was fun to walk over to the bench and chat with friends while watching them from there, too.

That sense of belonging to a community that loves this country we live in is pretty great. I'm looking forward to a(n extended) family BBQ and family and city fireworks this 4th of July. I think I'll feel great!


This is one of my favorite renditions of the National Anthem. Jennifer Hudson rocks it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Loving My Country

Last weekend, the DH and I spent time in NE Oregon enjoying a lot of the landscape. This weekend, we'll be heading to Idaho to tour a portion of the Southern part of the state. It's my home and I have a certain longing for that landscape. I'm looking forward to sharing that land that I love with my DH.

I've also been thinking lately how much I love my country. We forget so often how very blessed we are and what a great land of opportunity we live in. Even the worst off among us are better off than many in war-torn or third-world countries.

I can't get through the national anthem without tearing up. I loved seeing the original Old Faithful being restored at the Smithsonian when I was there last. I may even be a bit of a sap when it comes to thinking about the ideal of America, even knowing it's only an ideal and that for many it is far from their reality. I truly love this land of mine.

Not the Surprise We Had Expected

The DH and I are heading to his sister's house just outside Hermiston, OR tonight to visit for the weekend. A couple of weeks ago, the DH's older half-sister (H-S) called to say that she and his dad (FIL) would drive up to surprise the DH's sister with a nice visit. It sounded great and we were looking forward to the family visit.

Fast forward to Wednesday night. H-S and the FIL left California to drive to sister's house, but went really far out of the way. Additionally, H-S and the FIL weren't getting along and H-S wanted to drive, but FIL said no, so she actually said she'd rather get out of the car. At a gas station in Wells, NV (yes, very far out of the way), she left FIL alone. She went to a hotel for the night and called the DH's sister to let her know that, SURPRISE!, they had been on the way to visit, but she had left the car and had no idea where FIL was now.

Needless to say, that left everyone in the family considerably worried about the wellfare of the FIL. He is diabetic and has issues with low blood-sugar that can leave him disoriented. We prayed and worried and hoped for the best.

Well, he ended up being just fine. He spent the night in Twin Falls and then drove to OR and landed at the DH's sisters house in the early afternoon on Thursday. The H-S, however, is sleeping in that bed she made in Wells, NV. I'm not sure how she's getting home, but she'll manage somehow.

As for the DH and me, we're headed Southeast this evening to go have a lovely visit with my in-laws. I'm sure we'll have a great time. We'll go the direct route though. We're not taking any detours.

Don't Tell My Mom!

Yesterday, I ate ice cream for lunch. It wasn't just any ice cream though. It was Molly Moon's in Wallingford. And, it was salted caramel flavor ice cream. I fealt like I was really breaking the rules (Hi, mom!) by eating dessert first and then forgetting about any other real lunch all together. It's typical for my dad to eat ice cream for breakfast, but we usually have real meals for lunch and dinner.

I can't even describe how wonderful the salted caramel ice cream was. I usually don't like to mix my sweet and savory, but this salty flavored confection was great. It left me feeling like I'd had a real treat with the buttery, salty, sweet flavor and wonderfully smooth texture. I highly recommend it!

Happy Father's Day!

I'm not sure why, but I always think of my dad when I read this poem. He's such a great example to me and has helped me become the person I am. I look to him as the voice in this poem and, though I'm not aspiring to be a man, I have watched him guide my three brothers to be the great men they are.

I love you dad!

If
-- by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinews
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

Fun With Food!

Last week, I got a bee in my bonnet about making something asian for our themed ward party. I saw a blog that showed the really great dessert sushi and I just had to make it! On Saturday, I bought all the ingredients, but then ran out of time before we had to go to the dinner, so I just took cashew chicken instead.

Since I had everything to make the sushi, I just had to do it. It was actually kind of fun to make and turned out pretty cute. The DH was even impressed (after thinking I was a bit crazy to want to do this).

The first bit of sushi in the middle of the picture was made by putting a slab of rice crispy treat about 10 inches by 2 inches on my silpat, then running gummy worms down the middle and rolling it lengthwise into a roll. I then wrapped that with fruit roll-up and then sliced it into pieces. After that, I put orange sugar on top to look like fish rowe.

The other sushi was made by making a little wad of rice crispy treat, putting a swedish fish on top and then slicing a bit of fruit roll up to make a little wrap.

To work with the rice crispy treat, I put on a surgical glove and sprayed the glove (especially the ends of the fingers and thumb) with PAM cooking spray. When I tried to work with the rice crispies without that, it was just a gooey mess that wouldn't stick together. I also appreciated the help of my able assistant Bop as it was a little tricky at times.

I really like the finished product! It turned out to be pretty cute and took about 20 minutes total in effort with one batch of rice crispy treats. That batch made about 30 pieces of the sushi roll and 20 of the fish pieces. I had to go to two stores to find green fruit roll-ups and that was probably the hardest part of getting it done. I highly recommend it for a time you want something a little different and creative for a treat.

Song of the Lark

I graduated with a degree in English Literature. I love to read and my favorite literature is Western American Literature. I think Willa Cather is one of my favorite authors, so I was really looking forward to reading Song of the Lark. I even read the really long foreward. The story is supposed to be semi-autobiographical, so that drew me in.

The writing is great, but I just could not get behind the main character. In the end, I found her quite unsympathetic. In this story, she is an opera singer instead of an author, and there is a heavy focus on what the woman sacrifices to be the artist she was born to be. The sad thing is that she really loses out on all the intimate relationships she could have had because she is so focused on her art. I guess I just question the either/or mentality. If someone is meant to be great, then I don't think that having real relationships with people would put that in jeapordy. I do realize that the lifestyle of an artist comes with some sacrifice, but there was just too much for my liking.

One thing I really liked about the book was the side story about how the girl goes to sing with the Mexican community in her small Nebraska town, much to the dismay of most of the Scandinavian town folk. Her mother doesn't mind it, so she's not having to sneak away. She really seems to connect with several of the Mexican characters, but they are still shown as very marginalized in the context of the story. I think that's just part of the period she lived in.

Willa Cather really is masterful at setting a scene and taking you there in every way. I could almost feel the rain when she described the stark Arizona landscape and the afternoon rain shower in the canyon. If you want to read Willa Cather, I would recommend My Antonia or Death Comes to the Archbishop before this book, though.

A Couple Days Late for Memorial Day

Please read this very beautiful blog post. Thank you Sean for what you do. Thank you Nathan. You're the only two people I know personally who are in the military right now. I think you're pretty great for doing what you do.