the spending hiatus.

Not to be all doom and gloom and stuff, but I truly feel like we are on the brink of financial meltdown in this country. It seriously scares me. For some frightening enlightening, check out this movie I.O.U.S.A. (if you have netflix you can watch it instantly online). It's terrifying and captivating.

What scares me is that we used to be a nation of producers, and we are now a nation of consumers. Someday, I fear, our rainy day will come and we have a string of generations that not only don't have savings, but they have serious debt. What will our Great Depression look like in a nation of citizens that don't know how do acquire something without money? What happens when money isn't worth anything?

This is the bigger reason for me to want to buy land in Washington. I have this deep, burning concern/desire/inspiration to learn how to be more self-sufficient. I want to be able to take care of myself and my family. I want to buy land, in a place where things grow, and learn how to work the land. I realize that it sounds so "Far and Away", but that's exactly what I want. I want land. Land of my own.

I want the security that comes from having water from my well, food from my garden, milk from my cows, eggs from my chickens, etc. I want to know that if this monstrous government (and growing bigger by the day) fails me in a huge way, that I can take care of my family. That's what is concerning to me, that during the Great Depression, people knew how to get by with less. With next to nothing, actually. Our generation doesn't know how to do that. That's scary.

Erik and I have never been huge consumers, but there's definitely room for improvement. But more than reducing consumption, I want to shape how our family views things, how we see our needs and wants, and how to "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."

Hence the spending hiatus. I like a blog called Simple Lovely, and she's done what she calls a spending hiatus a few times (click here to read all her posts about that) and I've always been interested in the idea. More than the outcome, I've been interested in her purpose and what she wanted to achieve.

Joslyn outlined her goals, and the one that really struck me was,

"We’ll spend even more time ingraining in our girls the value of things, how lucky we are and how quickly life can change…how to adapt."

That's exactly the goal. To really understand how lucky (blessed, really) we are and to learn to not take it for granted.

Stay tuned for how this spending hiatus plays out, what tempts me to buy it, and what I don't really miss.

If the soda thing doesn't work out...

then I'm going to open a frozen yogurt place EXACTLY like this one. I've never been there, of course, because it's in Berlin. But isn't it perfect? Clean, modern, streamlined.

I think this should be an and instead of an or. I'll open a frozen yogurt place AND have the soda business.

Now I'm thinking.

Check it out.

found on Black Eiffel

my plan for the future.

I put a link to this in a post a while back, but I think it's awesome enough to make a bigger deal of it, so I just embedded it. Heck yes I did. I embedded it, I'm all blogger awesome like that.

I don't remember how, but I came across this video and I'm a bit obsessed with it. I think this guy has found the American Dream. A small business doing just what you want, and it's fun!

For years now I've had the dream of when Erik retires from his current job in 12 years or so, that we'll own a family business. When I saw this, it clicked...

we're going to bottle our own soda, and it's going to be awesome.

It's going to be so rad. I want to make organic fruit soda. The only way I know how to describe it is like this. You know how real lemonade looks like actual lemons made it? And how Country Time Lemonade looks like a robot made it? I want a fruit soda where you can see that there is actual fruit in there. Not like chunks, but real fruit, just like real lemonade. Do you see what I mean? When this guy shows the "Hot Lips" soda, I think that's pretty close to what I'd want to do, except awesomer. This is my long term business goal, I mentioned a short term business goal that I'll discuss in a separate post someday.

Check out the video and then read about the rest of the dream.

Okay, so here's the dream fleshed out.

As of now, I think I'd like our family to settle in the Pacific Northwest. I've always had a romantic notion of the area, plus I'm kind of stalking my friend Jill who lives there. I want to settle somewhere where we can have a small family farm, some chickens and maybe a cow and pig or two. I want to live where things grow. Jill lives in a lovely part of Washington, and it's kind of become the location of my daydreamy plans for the future. A rural part of Washington, where I can have a bit of land, and make things grow. Sounds like heaven.

So, when we build the bottling plant and as our soda company takes off, we're going to need some help. Don't worry, I have that all figured out:

The O'Neils - Jeremy, you'll be the completely overqualified CFO. You can take care of all things financial/legal/private jets. Hey, someday we may need a company jet, you never know.

The Crandells - Jonathan, you'll be the Facilities Manager. Our bottling plant will be your baby and I know you'll take amazing care of her.

The Olsens - Zach, you'll be in charge of the sales team and everything computery. Marketing, company website...you'll put us on the map! Nick, you'll be our shipping and logistics genius. We'll have tons of orders, and you'll get them to the right place. Errol, you'll be our insurance guy, you'll keep us protected. And we're so lucky to have Brent, our ace in the hole. Brent will bring with him his decades of experience in food science and production.

The Hornbys - What's up Mark! I don't even know you, but you'll be our produce source guy. You'll make sure that we're getting the best fruit the pacific northwest has to offer, and ideally...we could just buy the fruit from your farm!

How does that sound? If you're in, then just wait 15 years or so and you're hired!

I've had this whole scheme floating around in my head for a few months, and it's gotten a little out of hand. I now imagine all of us living on a big piece of land, with our homes all nearby, and maybe a common gathering place and a common farm that we all work on. Then, I realized that it kind of sounded like the movie "The Village." Not good. Is the word "commune" ever not creepy? I like the idea of a group of people with common ideals all combining their efforts for a common good, but throughout history I can't really think of too many time when that didn't spell out creepy/swinger/Village-y/babies crawling in the dirt naked National Geographic style/disaster. Do you know what I mean?

Can I just say that I want us to establish a non-creepy commune?

Deal.

Spread the love.

Okay, seriously. Is there a fresh & easy store near you? Are you there like all the time? You should be! It's my new favorite store.

Here's what is so perfect about this store:

-great produce that's easy and accessible

-the produce isn't in huge mounds (like apples for example. I hate going to the supermarket and seeing a ginormous mountain of apples. I'm always like, "I bet that's the exact same shipment of apples that I saw last week and probably the week before that." I don't know why stores do that. Does the feeling of bounty make people buy more? I love how f&e (how we'll now refer to it) has apples in a pack or a bag of 4, with a set price, and the label has an "eat by" date on it and every time I go it's a new shipment with a new date.)

-OH! AND...they have this thing called 98¢ produce packs. Have you seen Food, Inc.? You know that Hispanic family that goes to the supermarket and explains how crappy food (McDonald's) is cheaper and more accessible than good-for-you food? Well, f&e has made it easy for you. A family can buy 10 things from the dollar menu, or you can buy a 3 lb. bag of potatoes, carrots, apples, grapes, lettuce, oranges, bananas, tomatoes, etc. for that same $10. Cook some beans or lentils, buy some cheese and that's like my favorite way to eat.

-it's like a step down on the pretentious scale from Trader Joe's. Don't get me wrong, I love Trader Joe's. It's like a fun, specialty store. But this is a fun everyday store. I bought a boatload of food tonight for $132. A TON of food. I think I'll try to scan the receipt to post it. Because I know you care that much. Oh, and like half of what I bought is organic. Beat that!

-OH! And they carry Stretch Island fruit leather. Mom, isn't that exciting?
Secondly...are you a quilter? More specifically, are you a quilter that's obsessed with Heather Ross? Well, I am.

I think I have a new favorite to add the the group, however. I submit this awesomeness to you for your viewing pleasure.

The designer is Lizzy House, and that's just a cool name anyway. This is her third line, and her first two lines were pretty rad, but not produced by megacompanies like Moda or Free Spirit, so I don't think they got their fair share of attention. I hope this third line gets more notice, because it has all the right ingredients to be a hit. So check her out. She keeps a cool blog, she's a printmaker, she's Mormon, she's a BYU-I grad, her mom has a sweet line of quilt patterns, what's not to love?
Some Emily thoughts for the day. Look for a post about real life stuff in the very near future.

a little premature.

So I'm almost to my 200th post, which I think is a big deal because I'm not really one to stick with things once I've started them. Like at all. For example, today I took the seats off of our dining chairs to recover them, and I'm not sure exactly when I'll get around to the recovering and putting back together. But I got the undoing done, and that's progress!

Anywho, I had this big exciting post planned for the 200th post, but when I was looking back at the list of posts, I had a few drafts that I never finished, and when I deleted them then I was a bit premature in my 200th celebration. Dang.

One of the posts I never finished was about how the Arnett Family needs to have a family reunion where the entire purpose of the reunion is to put on the musical "The Music Man". Seriously, it would be so awesome. Not to brag, or anything, but I come from such a talented family that we could totally pull off something that ambitious in a 4 day weekend. Choreography, costumes, and everything. Our only downfall may be that we've got a lot of chiefs and not enough indians in our large family. But that can be worked through. Anyways, it was a rad post where I chose my picks for the cast (like I would be in charge of that at all. Ha! I'm definitely an indian in the Arnett Family. In some circles I'm a chief, but there are way chiefier chiefs in my family, and I'm happy to be an indian.)

Do any Arnetts read this?

If you do, here are a few casting teasers...

Harold Hill - Greg Arnett

Marian - Emily Moffat

Zenita - Megan Clifford

Mayor Shin - Roc Arnett

Mrs. Shin - oh, that's a tough one. It could be any of the sistahs, but I'm going with Peg.

the lady that plays the organ - Glenna

the sha-poopie guy - Max

Amaryllis - Lynne's Chandler

choreographers - Lynne Wolfe and Madison Jackson

Music director - Rob (big duh)

Costume director - Sally (I'd like to be on her team, oh and my mom needs to be one of the pick a little talk a little ladies, too. All the aunts do. That number would be memorable, believe me.)

edited to add:

after talking to my mom, who is pretending to be not totally excited about my idea (although it's clear she really is...) we came up with some more ideas

Tommy Geeliss (no idea how to spell that one, could look it up, but, meh...) - Joe

Widow Peru (also wrong spelling, but you know who I'm talking about) - Joy

the School Board Quartet - William, Brent, John, ?

oh, and while talking to my mom, she was completely cracking me up. I would suggest someone for a part and she would be like, "no, he's too old" or "no, she's too tall" and then when she realized that I had Glenna for the organ lady and Max for the sha-poopie guy, she was like, "uh, but they're like boyfriend/girlfriend, too. That won't work" Killed me. I kept having to remind her that this is just a goof. Uncle Max and Aunt Glenna (brother and sister to each other) aren't really together, it's just pretend for a musical. The thing is, my mom is a musical theatre pro, and I think she's having a hard time with the idea that this is just for fun and that it won't be Broadway ready in a reunion weekend. Love it.

Come on, wouldn't that be amazing?

Well, now I'm only 2 posts away from the big 200th celebration!

some people are delusional.

I saw this on craigslist while looking for an awesome/vintagey/scrolley headboard. This is funny for so many reasons.

Oh, and I saw an updated post where they dropped the price to $675.

Nice. Now maybe I'll consider it. Considering they still have the receipts and all.

Crazy.

you'll thank me.

Oh, this is going to make your day. I promise. Whenever I see something like this, something wacky that happens out of the blue, I think "where was I? why does this stuff never happen when I'm around?"

keep a lookout for extra funny moments:

a girl running in fear (0:26)

an old dude in a suit and a sweat band (0:53)

a juicy girl shakin' her thang (1:00)

And then, have you heard of Zee Avi? She's great. You're going to love this video. She has the warmest, most casual lullaby voice. It's perfect. I love singers that sing so effortlessly. Like they could be sitting on the couch next to you singing so gracefully like that. I think that's why I like singer-songwriters so much. It's the effortlessness. As opposed to the American Idol type singers that try to sing their heads off. And yours.

But back to the point, Zee Avi is great. Matt, if you read this, I think you'll like her.

If you're like, "dang, there are a lot of posts lately..."

There's a reason for that. When I'm feeling trapped in the house with lots of cranky kids (see previous post) my escape is the computer. I've become quite efficient in finding something fun to watch, or a cute outfit to pretend to buy, or a new (to me) blog to read. And reading blogs is fast, too. It's like speed dating. I can look at a blog and know in the first 5 seconds if it's a blog I'll read again. And if it's a match with my interests and stuff, then I bookmark it. I'm a big bookmarker.

So, there are some tips for all you out there that feel my pain and have those moments in the day when you need an instant pick-me-up. Something beautiful to look at in between poopy diaper changes. Or a funny video to watch in the 90 seconds when miraculously all three children are content.

Or you could just come here. I'll try to keep the instant gratification coming.

just Me, Myself, and I

The last few months or so my body started to give up. Well, not as in give up the ghost, but give up nursing (if you're uncomfortable with this story already, then scroll down to the boring post underneath this about music I like).

I had been beating myself up trying to make enough milk. Taking fenugreek pills...two pills, three times a day. Drinking Mother's Milk tea...three times a day. Drinking a million glasses of water a day. Nursing both babies one of the feedings for the day and then pumping for the rest of the 4 feedings, trying to stay a feeding or two ahead of the schedule. Just in case.

It was crazy. And my body knew it. I had been pregnant and/or nursing since late July '06, when Reid started growing in my belly. So, two weeks ago my body and I had a pow-wow and we decided to call over 6 months of nursing good and to just let it go.

It was a really hard decision. Though I'm a little bummed about it, I can feel a little spark coming back to me already. I think that in a few weeks, I'll feel more like myself than I have in years, and that is so exciting. It's amazing to just take care of your own body and not to ask your body to sustain anyone else's.

Which means, I've officially stopped eating meat. I tried to before, but again, cutting back on anything reduced my milk supply, and I desperately needed to eat meat while I was pregnant with the boys.

But now, I have my chance. It's nice to be able to do what you want to do. You know?

Oh, here's a little something. A few months ago I came up with a system to make meal planning/shopping easier and to prevent having potatoes 3 nights in a row, or whatever. It goes like this:

Sunday - pasta

Monday - rice

Tuesday - soup

Wednesday - beans

Thursday - potatoes

Friday - pizza

Saturday - leftovers or eat out

Erik and I sit down and make a month's dinner menu at a time. We usually do one category at a time, like pasta for example, and pick four pasta dishes that sound good. Then on to the next category. When they're all done I rearrange a little to make sure that there aren't 3 chicken dishes in a row, for example, and then it's all done. A month of dinners. Just like that. Now that I don't eat meat, meat becomes like a topping for the dish for Erik and Reid.

Example: last night I made one of our favorites, Thai Peanut Chicken (if that sounds good to you, too, then comment and I'll make an effort to post the recipe). I made a peanut satay sauce (Julie's awesome recipe, what would I do without you, Julie?), sauteed chicken, steamed rice and steamed broccoli. Then for my plate I just put down rice and topped it with broccoli and sauce, and Erik and Reid had chicken with theirs, too. Not that different from before when I would mix the sauce and chicken and broccoli all together and then we'd put it on top of rice. This no-meat-for-Emily-thing is going to work out.

These are dinner categories that we like, but it would be easy to modify for your family. We really like homemade pizza, and that's become our weekend food. Very fun and celebratory for a Friday night. I saw on ali loves curtis (a super rad blog) a link to a pizza place that looks delicious. Just how pizza should be. Not all Pizza Hut-ish. Yuck.

I have a type.

Sometimes I'm a little slow.

The other day I finally realized that when it comes to music, most of my favorite artists have a LOT in common:

solo artist

female

great hair

usually plays the piano

moody

Here are a few examples.

If you're into moody chicks, too, then give them a try.

If you don't limit your interest in moody singers to just girls, then give The Weepies a try. (a moody boy and girl. Also, I should mention, that while I'm not quite prepared to say that the Weepies are my favorite band, theirs are definitely the CDs I listen to more than any other. Probably by double.)

If you like your female moody singers to be backed with a more full-bodied sound (not just a moody piano), then try Hem. (I've mentioned them before, but they're amazing and you should probably just buy a CD of theirs right this minute. Doesn't matter which one. They're all completely wonderful.)

What's your type?

How did I forget this?

Yesterday, when I was all talking about Jane Austen and stuff, I should have mentioned something. I don't know how it slipped my mind.

The BBC is making a new Emma.

Holy crap. I mean, holy cow.

It's going to be in four parts, and I'm so excited. I like the Gwyneth Paltrow version, a lot actually. But I'm excited for a less Hollywood-ish movie, and I'm excited for the new take on it. Have you seen the old BBC version? I haven't either. I tried the super old version (not super super old, the one with Laurence Olivier) of P&P and I couldn't take it, so I haven't tried this one either. It was like a bad stage play and someone just set up a camera and pressed record. Not even I can sit through that.

But how about the A&E version with Kate Beckinsale?

It's okay. I love that Andrew Davies wrote the screenplay (he also wrote the screenplay for the P&P (the good one) and for the version of S&S that I praised yesterday). I love his screenplays. He does a great job. I trust him with the story, unlike whoever wrote the Keira Knightley version of P&P. I don't think they "get" it. Anywho...

Kate Beckinsale as Emma Woodhouse is...eh...okay.

Harriet Smith is perfectly naive.

Mr. Woodhouse is kind of forgettable.

but, Mr. Knightley is perfect. Very masculine, which I think he would be. Sometimes, the gentlemen in Jane Austen's novels are a little too gentle. Not quite manly enough. This Mr. Knightley gets it right. As does the Colonel Brandon in the S&S I mentioned yesterday. You can see why Marianne would fall for him, as opposed to Kate Winslet falling for Alan Rickman. It just feels icky.

I'm excited for the casting in this new Emma. Here's the lineup:

Romola Garai as Emma Woodhouse.

I love her. Have you seen the embarrassing to admit to watching, but delightful Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights? Julie, I know you have, at least, because I watched it with you. And I'm willing to bet that Annie has seen it since she went to see Ice Princess. By herself.

I know.

Romola has been in a lot of period films since, and I think she's going to be great.

Michael Gambon as Mr. Woodhouse. Perfect. I only recognized him from Cranford, and Wives and Daughters (Where he has the best line of the whole movie, "I'm not saying that she was being very silly. But one of us was being silly, and it wasn't me.")

But when I looked him up there were a bunch of pictures of him as a wizard. So I guess he's in Harry Potter. So, for all you nerds out there, you'll know him from that. I hope the Harry Potter mania is officially over. Now I just have to endure this vampire mania, and then I'll be safe. Until whatever comes next. Aliens? Trolls? Leprechauns?
And lastly, Johnny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightley. I'm kind of concerned about this one. He seems a little too pretty boy for me. A little too Frank Churchill and not enough Mr. Knightley. If you know what I mean. And if you've read to this point, then you must take Jane Austen to heart as much as I do, so you probably DO know what I mean. But, I saw an episode of Eli Stone once, and I liked him in it. So, I'm willing to give him a chance.
And there you go. Oh, and the writer for this series is some lady (don't want to look it up again) who also wrote the screenplay for North and South. For those Austen fans out there, are you also into Elizabeth Gaskell? If you haven't seen any of her books-into-movies, start with Cranford. Then give me a call. We'll talk.

blasphemy.

I can't even believe I'm about to say this. Uh, type this.

Have I talked about how much I love the book Pride and Prejudice? Or Jane Austen in general? (minus Mansfield Park. I kind of hate that one.) And I love Jane Austen movies.

The A&E version of Pride and Prejudice is just so good. Like it's in a class all of its own.

Until now.

The PBS Masterpiece Classic version of Sense and Sensibility is at least as good. I promise.

I've rented it from Netflix a few times now, and this last time sealed the deal. I'm ready to put it on the same level as P&P.

And I may even like it more.

If you're thinking, "I've already watched the Emma Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility, why would I watch this one, too?", here's a few good reasons:

1. I love me some Emma Thompson. As an actress, I really like her and all of her wackiness (I need to rent Stranger than Fiction again). I like that she wrote the screenplay for her version of S&S, and I think she did a really wonderful job. I just think she was a good 10 years too old to play Elinor. It shows. Elinor is like 19 or something, and I'll bet that Emma Thompson was in her mid to upper thirties. Not that that's a bad age, just not right for a 19 year old character. The new version's Elinor is much more fitting.

2. Another mis-cast in the 1995 version is of Colonel Brandon. He's played by Creepy McCreepers, Alan Rickman. Who is also too old for his character. The new version's Brandon is much, MUCH better.

3. The setting of Barton Cottage is pure magic. I would die to live in that cottage by the sea. Seriously, it's worth renting just for the scenes of green rolling hills by the rocky sea.

4. You still get all of your favorite wacky characters. Sir John Middleton is great, as is Mrs. Jennings. The guy who plays Edward Ferrars is no Hugh Grant, but still very likable as Edward. Oh, and Fanny is even better in this version. She was great in the older one, but even better this time around. Deliciously nasty.

So have I convinced you? It's worth it, I promise. Even for those of you who detest these kind of period films. Matt.

And while you're at it, watch some P&P, too. Because, why not?

The Emily craziness as promised.

Okay, so I say Emily craziness but I mostly mean Emily nonsense. The silly stuff that floats around my head. Now you get to read some of it, hot dang!

You know, I think everyone out there thinks that they are a little nuts. Right? But I think that most of us are nuts in a pretty normal way. I think I'm a normal amount of crazy. The good kind of crazy.

Although, do you know who is weird in a perfectly honest way?

Regina Spektor.

Seriously, could someone be any cooler? She seems weird in a very genuine way, as opposed to like, say...the weird dude from the Black Eyed Peas that has the long crazy hair and he's just weird all the time. Do you know who I mean? He seems to put a lot of effort into being weird. And it's just dumb. Regina seems weird in a lovely, natural way and I can't get enough of it. Check out this song, and if you don't love it then I think that we shouldn't be friends anymore.

Harsh, I know, but you just don't "get" me if you don't see the awesomeness and attractiveness of Regina's weirdness.

And because one good video deserves another, here's a Regina classic. Oh, and by the way, I'm on this Regina kick because she has a new album this week and you need to buy it. It will make you happy. I promise.

Check out these rad boots! I love them. I've never seen anything like this and I just love them.

Then, as if the cool boots weren't cool enough, read about the company and you'll be sold. Let's all get some wacky ACE bandage boots and help some kids get a new pair of kicks, too. Huh? How 'bout it?

I saw this the other day and thought it was crazy. We were talking with the Heaths the other night about how people just don't build "starter homes" anymore. They're all McMansion ginormonsters. I love our mid-century house with it's mid-century flow and mid-century style. Just not the mid-century plumbing. Okay, one point for the McMansions.
This was in my saved pictures and I just liked it. When you come to visit we'll take wacky pictures like this. That'll be fun.
Have you seen this photo series? So interesting.

Snow White, I know the feeling. I have had those days.

True business.

(via Swiss Miss)
I love this a hundred million. I like people who think of something to do in their home, maybe a little bold or off the beaten path, and just go for it. And I like the bike in the hallway.

I don't remember where I found this picture, I'm sure some design site, most likely designsponge, but I better start being better at showing where I get pictures from. I guess sometimes people get pretty cranky about that. I get it, but I don't really get it.

I guess I kind of get it.
Come on, did you think we could go a whole Emily crazy post and not talk about hair? Get real.

In August Erik's sister Dana is getting married (Yeah!) and we're going to Denver for about 10 days. I'm totally looking forward to the wedding and the week afterwards playing with Erik's awesome family.

And shopping for a dress for the wedding.

And getting my hair done by the awesome Natalie.

She's like the Bobby Fisher of hair. I think I know what that means. I mean to say that she has a gift and it is hair. She's amazing. Do you live in Denver? Or within a 500 mile radius? Why aren't you going to Natalie, then? You should. And you could play with her cute baby while you're there.

So, when I get the chance to have Natalie do my hair, I'm going to go big. I'm going to lighten my hair. To me, in my hair weirdness, this is a big deal. I'm thinking something like this shade.
Or this-ish.
Oh, and I'm loving braids lately. I used to braid my hair all the time in funky ways like this, and I think it's long enough to give it a go again.

This is a fun picture I found that just makes me smile. I actually like graffiti most of the time, and this I really like. It's kind of sweet, right? Besides the fact that it looks like it's on someone's fence.

The defacement of private property isn't the part I think is sweet. To clarify.
And lastly, my feelings about macarons. This is important.

They seem to be everywhere lately, you know? Like it's the hip sweet thing to eat. You know how cupcakes kind of blew up a few years ago and seem to be holding on strong? I think that macarons are going to continue to be a trendy thing to eat. Weird how even desserts are hip or not hip, huh?

A few weeks ago we were in LA so that I could go to the temple and afterwards we stopped by Paulette's. I was excited to give them a try, mostly because they are so beautiful. Take a moment to look at the world's prettiest cookie before I give my review.
This kind was Violet Cassis.
Sweet Wedding Almond
Rose
Okay, and now for the review. First of all, the ones with names that are flowers...they mean it. The rose and violet ones taste like you're eating perfume. Kind of gross. The wedding almond one was, however, perfectly wonderful.

The bottom line, though, is that it's a lot prettier of a cookie than it is a yummy cookie. I would rather have a sugar cookie any day. Please make this recipe. Today. You will love it, I promise. I guess if I'm going to have a treat, I'd like it to be yummier for my mouth than it is for my eyes. Even though my eyes think these are spectacularly yummy.

That's all the nonsense for today. Hope you enjoyed it.

summer of miracles.

Could you use a miracle?  

I'll make you a promise.  If you join me in this challenge that our bishopric gave our ward, you'll see miracles in your life this summer.

Seriously.  

I know it will happen for me, and I know it will happen for you, too.

(It was originally given to the youth in our stake by our stake president at seminary graduation a few weeks ago.  Our bishop thought it was worth giving to our ward as a ward-wide challenge.  I'm so glad he did.  I know in my life that I've seen over and over again that when I show Heavenly Father that I really mean it, when I put in the work to let my faith grow...miracles happen.  It's always good to get a reminder of that, and that now is always a good time to try harder and to love more.)

Here's the challenge: (my thoughts are in blue)

The Summer Formula

1. Daily Private Devotional

  a. Read and ponder the scriptures - The Book of Mormon (There is something about reading The Book of Mormon that connects me to my Heavenly Father more than any other scripture.  We read a chapter a day as a family and I know that we've received mountains of blessings just for that one effort.)

  b. Prayer that connects ("What can I do to be more clean and pure before God?") (I loved this phrase, "prayer that connects".  Sometimes doesn't it feel like your prayers don't even go past the ceiling?  You know what I mean?  I love the reminder that prayer is a conversation, a communion, and, when we put our hearts into it...a connection.  Oh, and one more thing.  Part of my efforts to be "more clean and pure before God" is to clean up my language.  I don't swear, but I do say crap and turd a lot.  I think they're funny, but they are also rude and not very...well, clean and pure.  So, I'm doing it.  I'm going to clean up my language.  If you hear me say either of the aforementioned words, then get me in trouble.  Okay?)

2. Daily Christian Service

  a. Eliminate selfishness (Wow.  That will take a lot of work.  But even small steps toward unselfishness are going to make a big difference, no?)

  b. Contribute to love and peace in the family (We can all do a little better, right?  And imagine if everyone in the family each did a little better.  That's a LOT better!)

3. Keep the Sabbath Day Holy

  a. Prepare, serve, magnify, worship (I am proof.  Miracles happen when you prepare.  We've been working really hard to try and be more reverent during the Sacrament.  Usually that's exactly when the babies are hungry, so that means that during Sacrament Meeting we (and everyone around us) hears a lot of LOUD slurping, burping, spitting up, pooping, farting, fussing, etc. etc. etc.  Not very conducive to worship.  So we've really put a lot of effort into changing our schedule so that the babies will be ready to sleep about the time that Sacrament Meeting starts.  That's tricky, though, because that means they're tired, and it's a risk.  Sometimes tired babies fall asleep.  But, sometimes, tired babies want to scream.  Our miracle is that for two weeks now! the babies fell asleep in their car seats parked in front of us.  Like it was no big deal.  Their eyes were open one minute and closed the next.  And they slept all of Sacrament Meeting.  For me, that's a miracle.  A big one.  I'll tell you what, putting in the work necessary to have a fulfilling worship at your Sunday meetings it worth the effort.  It makes a difference.  I don't know why I forget that sometimes and have to be reminded.  But I guess that's just how it goes.  We just always have to try a little harder and remember things we used to know.)

  b. Duty to God, Personal Progress (These are programs for the youth, but the first thing I thought of was things that I should be spending my Sabbath time on.  My goal?  My journal.  I know I'll want to look back on this time and remember all the little details of my sweet little ones and our wacky life.  One thing I know, is babies don't keep.  Our babies our six months already.  SIX!  I desperately need to write our family's story.  It's a good one and I'm going to want to read it in the future.)

So there it is.  I hope you'll join me.  And let me know how it goes.  I'll post about the miracles I'm seeing in my life, and I'd love to hear the ones that happen in yours.  Believe me, it's gonna happen.  

True business.

Oh, and do you have a Book of Mormon?  If you don't I would love to send you one.  Send me an email with your mailing address and I'll get one out to you right away.  And I'll send a fun little present in there, too.  How about a cute little pincushion or something?

Okay, that's misleading.  I am not sure that I could make a pincushion this cute.  But I'll sure try.

While we're on the subject...

While I'm getting all churchy and stuff...

this last weekend was General Conference. Twice a year the leaders of my church address the body of the church (and the world at large, actually) and give counsel, love and support. It's wonderful. I heard someone call it "spring cleaning for the soul" and that's exactly right.

You can listen to clips here.

(in a few days you'll also be able to watch clips or read in .pdf files)

Feeling a little overwhelmed with the current economy, feeling financially and emotionally strapped and wondering what your family can do? (listen to Elder Robert D. Hales from the Saturday morning session)

Feeling alone, lonely and a little forgotten? (listen to Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from the Sunday morning session)

Feeling like life changes so fast and not always for the better? Are those changes getting you down? (listen to Elder Steven E. Snow from the Sunday morning session)

Feeling like life is just too much to figure out on your own? Wondering how to find your path? (listen to Elder F. Michael Watson from the Sunday afternoon session)

I promise you'll feel like your soul just got a big drink of Gatorade, a renewed sense of purpose, energy, devotion, peace and joy.

If you did watch Conference, what were your favorite talks? I usually feel like there's a theme that sort of surfaces (one time like 4 people used the parable of the Good Samaritan in their talks) and this time it seemed like the theme was temple attendance and understanding temple covenants. What did you think?

Okay, now I'm done.

It's true, it's true. It's all true.

The other day I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Black Eiffel, and saw this post about a few movies she had seen recently. Erik and I had seen "The Visitor" just a few weeks prior, so it was interesting to read her thoughts. Want to know my thoughts? Probably not, but I think I'll post about it someday because I have a lot to say about that movie. Anywho, so I was reading some of the comments for good movie suggestions (the huz and I are always looking for something interesting to add to the netflix queue). Someone had suggested the movie "Defending your Life" saying it was a sweet and inspiring movie. So, I put it in the queue and last week Erik and I watched it.  These days it takes us at least 2 or 3 times to watch a movie because of lack of free time, or because we are so exhausted that we fall asleep every time we try to watch something.  But when I finally finished it, I have to say that I was mad.  Really annoyed.  This movie is such crap.  I know I said I'd try to say crap less, but this movie is total garbage.  

I don't want to "spoil" (that was sarcasm for ya) this movie for you, but the storyline is that this guy dies, and goes to Judgement City where judges review his life and determine whether he's ready to move on or if he needs to go back to earth as another life and try again.  Interesting concept, but it's full of lies.  

It feels to me like this world is full of noise, full of people trying to tell you what to think.  Trying to convince you of something.  Propaganda, really.  It's not always malicious, but the problem is that it's not always true.  Like this movie.  

It's a seemingly harmless movie, just a mindless way to spend a couple hours.  But that's just how lies creep into our lives.  We mindlessly listen and allow them to root in our minds.

Lies of this movie:

1.  It shows all the previous lives that the characters had before.  Women were men in previous lives and vice versa.  Lie.  I just don't believe it.  I believe (with all of my female soul) that "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."  

2.  The main guy dies, meets a girl and they fall in love.  Seems sweet, right?  Except that this girl (Meryl Streep) was married with two kids.  Did they just disappear from her memory?  She hardly mentions them.  She's all of a sudden like a schoolgirl, giddy in love with this guy she just met in Judgement City.  So what, when we die all our dearest relations here on earth are just faint memories?  What a sad thought.  I can't imagine my life without Erik and our sweet boys, let alone imagine an eternity without them.  I believe that "The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave."  I know that that is true.  I know it.

So, the point...

My faith in the truthfulness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is powerful force in my life.  It's not just a faith, really.  I know that it is true.  It's all true.  We can agree to disagree on this point, that's fine with me.  But I had a moment while the babes were sleeping and Reid was eating breakfast and something in me just had to write this today.  

I hope we are all careful of what messages we allow to come into our homes/minds/hearts.  The truth is just so freeing and beautiful that I hope we don't waste time on the lies...whether they are malicious ones or just time and energy wasters.  

If you, of my small but wonderful readership, are not of my faith and are curious about what I'm talking about...please ask me.  You can email me, comment on this post, or check out lds.org

In the meantime, please read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", I believe this with every bit of my being.  It gives me hope and happiness.  It makes my everyday worthwhile and meaningful takes away the uncertainty of the future.  

Bottom line...Families are Forever.

...and thank heaven.

Good Distractions.

Man, these babies are wearing me out lately. Have I told you (at least a hundred times, I'm sure) about how these babies are a lot of work? Seriously, a LOT of work. And they are both screamers. Alec is a super-screamer, but Dane is a pretty decent screamer, too. I reach a point every day where I think, "I don't think I can make it one more minute!" But then a minute goes by, and then an hour, and next thing I know it's time for bed and after 4 hours of sleep I feel a little better. The thing is, no rescue squad ever shows up (or when they do show up, in the form of grandparents, they always end up going home. Why do you guys have to have lives of your own? Couldn't you just be grandparents full-time? We have a guest room waiting...) to save the day so my little band of boys and I just keep going.

One day at a time.

Actually, one nap at a time. I'm always just trying to get to the next nap for a little breather.

Of course, there are moments - shining moments - every day that make it all worth it.

Things like:

-when Reid puts his fists in bottles and they go up to almost his elbow and I say "I am a robot" in a robot voice and he CRACKS UP. Now his new favorite thing is to be a robot with baby bottles on his arms.

-or how Alec can scream and scream and then I'll put him on the changing table to change his diaper and give him a new (un-spitup'ed) outfit and he'll giggle, I mean really laugh, right to me. Oh, it's heaven. His goopy eyes (still has trouble with tear duct drainage, hopefully he'll grow out of that soon) are so twinkly and happy and those smiles - for the moment - makes me forget the screaming.

-or how Dane is getting so awesome at tummy time. He bends his head up and his legs up and makes a moon shape with his body. It's so funny to see how high he can get his legs up behind him.

-or here's a good one. Reid has become obsessed with pants. He goes back and forth between not wanting pants, very passionately NOT wanting pants...to desperately wanting to keep whatever pants he has on and not change into other pants or take them off to get a new diaper/take a bath/etc. Erik and I can't figure out what the deal is with this pants craziness. The thing is, however, is that I'm learning that you can either laugh or cry, and I'm choosing laugh. Like the other day when Reid saw me getting dressed and as I put on my pants he moaned and cried (for the next 10 minutes), "no pants mama, no pants." Over and over again. That, I choose to laugh about.

In between the moments when I find the wherewithal to laugh about how I'm going crazytown, I like to distract myself. I think distraction can be a healthy thing, at least for me it is. If I took my workload too seriously I think I'd have to be committed soon. (ooh, that's actually a good idea...lots of sleep and no dishes - the dishwasher broke again, or rather, the dumb dishwasher man never really fixed it. With the exception of the 3 loads we were able to do before it went kaput again, we've been sans-dishwasher for like 9 weeks. I don't recommend it.)

I like to think of ways that I could spend my time, in case I find some someday. Or I like to think about things that make me happy. Or I just think about things that don't involve laundry, dishes, poop, or screaming. Here's a round-up of things I've been thinking about lately:


Erik's younger brother Zach and his wife Natalie just welcomed a beautiful baby girl to their family. Baby Jane. Get a load of that hair! Tons of blonde hair! Couldn't you just die! Grandpa Olsen called it last night "silky blonde hair that always stays in a mohawk." Perfection.The cute family of three.
I can't wait to meet her! Oh, I hope I get a girl someday. Someday in the far distant future when I've had a nap or something.

So that's a happy thing, how about some distractions? Things I'd do if I had time to do stuff.

I've been thinking a lot about writing. I'd like to become a better writer. I don't know what I would ever write about, people always say to "write what you know", but does that mean that people would want to read about my thoughts about my hair or how much poop I have to deal with on any given day? I'm not sure about that. But if you want to become a better writer with me, check out this awesome blog. I love her.

I am working out the details of a goal, a big one. It involves me starting a business (laughable, I know). I have a bunch of ideas that I'm always churning in my head, lately about quilting. My goal is to get myself to a Quilt Market in the near future. It's when a bunch of designers/companies/local store owners/etc. get together for a trade show. My kind of heaven. You'll hear more about the details as I work them out, but in the meantime how about an awesome blog about quilting? Here you go.

Another delightful thing about my plan to go to Quilt Market someday is that I'm going to need some cute clothes to wear. Seriously, I'm planning on starting this company for two reasons: to go to something awesome (Market) and to wear cute clothes while I'm there. Those two things are totally not a part of my everyday life and it would be such a treat. Cute clothes! With no one spitting up on them! And meeting Anna Maria Horner! Heaven! Want to dream about cute clothes? Go here. Could the main page of their site be any more gorgeous today? I don't think so. I love it all...the romantic, vintage, and artistic.

Lastly, have you been here yet? Seriously, THE best distraction. Where were we before etsy? Etsy is my instant mood-lifter. Sure thing, every time. Don't you just want to make something?

Well, there you go. Now you're thinking, she just whined about how she doesn't have any time. How is she writing this much on her dumb blog, then? Good question. My sister-in-law Ann commented on that once. First of all, I'm not the engineer of a project inventing an alternative source of energy. Seriously, amazing. Secondly, this blog is a result of hundreds of 60 second chunks of spare time found throughout a few days. I don't ever have like, say, an hour to do anything. But I can check out my favorite blogs, one at a time, scattered throughout the day and I can type a bit at a time on my own blog. That's how I'm managing and except for the mountain of laundry that I need to fold (mountain is not an exaggeration, trust me) things are working out pretty well.

Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

2nd attempt.

Last night I wrote an especially unfascinating post about my love of electric blue eyeliner. It was so bad that at some point in the evening, when I couldn't sleep because Rod and Todd were tap dancing on my innards, I got up and deleted the whole thing. Seriously, it was a new level of "Emily talking about nonsense"-ness. I'll save you the rambling and sum up what I wrote last night. Once these babies are born, I'm afraid I'm going to start looking like this guy (image from this major rad blog). But imagine him in Erik's ginormous BYU sweatshirt...yep, that will be me. (Except hopefully no beard/mustache - but the hairloss will, I'm afraid, occur. I lost SO much hair after having Reid. I hope it's not twice as bad with twice the babies, or else I would have to cut my hair like this dude. Not good.)

Nevertheless, I think I'm going to order this (from Sephora) for Erik to put in my stocking. I love a crazy cool eyeliner. I thought that I might be the only one (well, maybe me and some "women of the night" - see Lynn's comment from last post. I'm afraid she just might be right).

But then yesterday I saw this on instyle.com (a favorite place to go waste some time and look at pretty clothes and fun makeup). See? Eva Mendes thinks it's cool, too. So, hopefully I'll get to a point in the upcoming months where I look more towards the Eva end of the spectrum. Although I have a feeling it will take quite a few months at least.

So that's it, that's my best 2nd attempt. Riveting, huh?

The music of your life.

Nice. I like that title.

In college I had a roommate Shannon (who is the coolest combination of hippy/cowgirl/social activist I've ever seen) who had an idea that it would be fun to make a soundtrack to the events of your day. Then, somehow as you went about your day the music would play in the background, like in a movie. I don't remember many of the songs she would have put in her playlist, but I do remember that she would wake up to Edvard Grieg's "Morning." Appropriately enough.
(if you click on the link and scroll down a bit you can find the song and listen to it. If you scroll down a bit more you'll see "Nocturno" which is my show-off song on the piano. I'm not really as good as this song might make you think, but I try to keep it brushed up and ready to play for times like after I'm practicing new songs and I feel like I'm the world's worst pianist. When I'm all done I play Nocturno and then say to myself, "Check me out! I'm awesome!")

So what would be some songs in your soundtrack? Songs for big moments would be interesting, too, but I'm mostly curious about what would play while you're doing the dishes, or laundry. Or brushing your teeth. Or changing a poopy diaper.

Have you seen the really dumb movie "Maid in Manhattan"? You know that very contrived scene where all of a sudden J. Lo and her co-workers start dancing to the song that goes, "I'm coming out. I want the world to know-oh, got to let it show-oh..." I think that would be a good song for while I'm getting dressed. Besides that, I'm going to need some time to think, but I'd love to hear your ideas.

Never say never.

Are there things that you assumed you would NEVER do, but time passes...you get a little wiser (maybe), or you just plain change your mind? I've had a lot of those lately. Most of the time I don't feel that different from the Emily at 20 years old - footloose and fancy free away at "school". I actually didn't get much school done in those days (or any other day, for that matter), but I sure did have fun deciding what my life would be. Now, I'm a married 27 year old mother of 3 (almost, within a few weeks!) and I've realized that while the core Emily is still the same, some of the details have changed. Here's some proof:

This one shouldn't be that much of a surprise, it was only a matter of time, anyway. I always said that I didn't want to be the "kind of parent" (such judgement...) that would use the TV as a babysitter. Well, here I am, 34 weeks along with babies sucking the life right out of me. My feet and legs are so swollen that yesterday at church I wore my fanciest flip-flops because nothing else would fit. Before the first speaker was even finished, I looked down and saw that my sandals had left deep, DEEP impressions in my chubby, swollen feet. I nudged to Erik and we both got a good laugh, in the middle of church. The doctors want me to stay off my feet, modified bedrest-ish, and so in the mornings Reid and I watch a movie together. He's had as much TV in the past couple weeks as I used to think he'd have his whole toddlerhood. Oh well.

This one will probably surprise you. But I have finally succumbed to my inner granola, and am making the switch to vegetarianism. Well, actually, to "eat-meat-VERY-sparingly-atarianism." For years I've thought about it, about how much I wouldn't really miss eating meat that much. But my hesitancy was because I've grown up in a very "meat and potatoes" family, and married a manly "meat and potatoes" man. I would think of the dinners that I knew how to make, and I just couldn't really figure out how to accomplish my wifely duties without meat. Plus, I don't like that many vegetables. Okay, so maybe that was the real concern. Then, I got pregnant with Reid, then nursed Reid, then got pregnant with twins (with no lapse in between)...and figured that even though I was ready, it just probably wasn't the time. "The babies need the meat!" (do you remember that Friends episode, when Phoebe is pregnant with the triplets and Joey offers to stop eating meat so that she can eat the meat that he would have eaten, and thereby not feel guilty in animals dying for her consumption?)

Now is the time. I'm ready. I don't really have ethical objections to eating meat, I just don't really want to eat it anymore. I've always had meat issues:

-I can't eat meat off a bone. I feel like a rabid dog, or like we're back in Medieval times. Have you been to the Renaissance festival, and everyone's walking around eating turkey legs? I can't handle it.

-I can't handle big slabs of meat. I could only eat meat when I just saw it as another piece of food. A steak or big roast just made it impossible to imagine it as anything other than a big slab of animal. Oh, and those illustrations that show where different cuts of meat come from on an an animal? Torture.

-I get the heebs touching raw meat. Everytime I see raw chicken, I imagine the dancing chickens in that claymation Peter Gabriel video. Not good.

So, there it is, I am now an "eat-meat-VERY-sparingly-atarian." I've got some things to figure out, like how to get enough protein to nurse 2 babies. But I'm sure someone has done it before. It'll work out.

Lastly, and probably the most surprising, is that I'm ready to be a gun owner. Not a crazy huge gun like this chick is holding, but a small handgun. I have always been vehemently anti-guns. But now I have this mama bear thing going on, and I've come to the conclusion that if I'm ever in an "it's either him or me" situation, you better believe that it's going to be him. We read the Book of Mormon as a family each night, and this time around is the first time that I've really seen (or allowed myself to see) that we need to be brave enough to stand up for ourselves. I've never been good at that. But some things are too important to not defend them, at whatever cost. My family being one. So, sometime after these babies are born, I'm going to train on a small handgun (Erik is already very Jason Bourne. For work he has to be current on an M-9, whatever that is, and he's always tested at the expert level.) We'll proceed from there. The tide started turning this way a year or two ago when Erik and I watched the movie "Red Eye." Not the world's best movie, but I was really inspired to be braver. I kept thinking during that movie that if I had been her, I would have just fallen into a puddle and cried. That's no longer an option, I've got little baby bears to protect. So, I don't think I'll be out hunting anytime soon (although living in Alaska did change my perspective on that, as well) but I may soon be a gun-owner. Bad guys beware.