Matt and Faroe

Moab

2011-12-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

Double Arch

Landscape Arch

So Matt and I randomly decided to go down to Moab before it got really cold and it was a blast. Matt is getting really into mountain biking and he bought a new bike and wanted to go do Slick Rock. We went with two other couples and had five kids under three, but we had great weather and did some fun hikes. On Friday the boys went and biked Slick Rock and the girls went on a walk with the strollers along the Colorado River. Then on Saturday the girls hiked Devils Garden in Arches which I thought would be fairly challenging, but it wasn't really. But we saw Landscape Arch which was really cool, it was huge, and Double O Arch which wasn't that cool. Then all of us went to Double Arch and hiked to Delicate Arch. I've been to Arches before, but I didn't ever remember seeing Double Arch, I think it is really cool and Delicate Arch is always amazing, but I didn't remember the hike being as long or as uphill, but I guess I did have Dean strapped to me. It was really windy as you can see form the picture, so we didn't stay long at the top. It was a little tricky carting two three-month-olds around and trying to feed them and keep them happy, but they did pretty well.

Two Months

2011-10-14T10:00:00.000-06:00

The twins are now two months old and I actually have started getting some sleep, hence the return to blogging. They have been sleeping about 6-7 hours straight now and its amazing the difference I feel. When they were eating every three hours I would only get two hours of sleep straight and I seriously felt like a zombie. I worked the graveyard shift a few years ago and I would work 11pm to 7am then sleep from 8am to 5pm and I think I have felt way more dysfunctional and tired these last two months. I didn't realize how much your body needs REM sleep.
I'm not sure quite what to say about having twins. Overall, it hasn't been as bad as people said it would be. A lot of people said it would just be miserable for the first few months, and its been hard, but you just love them so much that changing or feeding them in the middle of the night isn't as bad as I thought. Granted in the middle of the night when one is scream-balling while I am changing him and the other is scream-balling I have to really take deep breaths to not want to pull my hair out. I guess I needed to have twins to develop more patience. Its funny though how when they both cry at the same time during the day I almost laugh. Its crazy how frustrating something can be in the middle of the night when the same thing makes you laugh the next morning.
At first I was nursing them one at a time unless someone was there to help me, but now I have figured out how to feed both of them by myself and that has saved me a lot of time. Also, I'm not sure how I would live without the baby swings, the swaddle me's and my awesome jogging stroller my parents got me. For the most part the boys are actually really good babies. Except for the occasional tummy/gas problems, they really only cry when they are hungry or need to be changed.
It is weird to be home so much and be able to be in PJs all day and I miss working sometimes. I have gone a few places, but its just so much effort to go somewhere that I would rather be a little bored at home or just go for a walk with them. I went to the grocery store for the first time with them and of course it started raining right when we were leaving. So I am taking Dean out of the car seat into the carrier while trying to hold an umbrella, then getting Kaiden in his car seat into the grocery cart, it was quite the production. Then I get all these weird looks because the car seat I found out really doesn't leave much room and I am stuffing food in around it, hoping it doesn't fall in on Kaiden. It was pretty funny. Is it bad that I just pulled the cover over the car seat so Kaiden was a little hidden so people would just think I was weird was carrying one baby and had his car seat too, instead of answering all the questions about twins? I don't know why I really don't like talking to strangers. Especially when they come up to you and stick their heads five inches from the kids faces and say, "Twins! God Bless you, God bless you," and then walk away.
We are crazy and took the twins to California when they were a month old. Matt's whole family was going for the USC game and they really wanted us to come so we went. It really wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be. We did get to the airport late and then somehow Matt's brother ended up with his ID after curbside check in, so I had to go through security without Matt, hoping he could find his ID and get on the flight. My parents ended up coming with us as well and everyone was so helpful. My two sister-in-laws even watched the boys so I could go to the USC game! They are awesome. Its kind of nice that the twins don't have two many other cousins right now cause they get lots of attention. We put a pack n play in our room, but I kept waking up with every little coo so we put them in the shower! The next night was much better. We went to the beach and it was kind of cold and windy, but Matt insisted on giving the twins a little dip in the ocean, so he dipped their feet in. It was pretty funny.
Anyway, things are great and I think I am getting the hang of this whole Mommy thing.

The Boys

2011-10-11T21:00:00.000-06:00

I finally feel like I have time to blog again! I guess I will just start from the beginning. I had a scheduled C-section cause they were both breach and it was kind of weird to just have it scheduled and know the night before that you are having the babies the next day. It was just like Christmas and of course I couldn't sleep, then we had to be there at 5 in the morning so I was really tired just going into it. The one bright spot of the morning was that Matt's decans brought him over an amazing waffle breakfast at four thirty in the morning! They are such amazing young men. But I couldn't eat it ... stupid surgery rules. I thought a C-section would be no problem, but it was actually kind of scary. I started shaking quite a bit, which they said was normal, but I also just felt really out of it, I can't explain it. Its weird too cause you can't feel pain but you can feel pressure. I don't know if this happened to anyone else, but I didn't have a "I'm a Mommy" moment when they first showed me the kids. They were gooey at first, but then I was still kind of shaking and feeling weird and numb so I didn't feel comfortable holding them right away. It just took a day or so for it to set in. And it was actually hard to hold them for a while because you can't put them across your stomach cause it hurts. It was funny though, when Kaiden came out, he grabbed the nurses mask and wouldn't let go! I was actually really grateful that I had to be in the hospital for 5 days because having the boys in the nursery between feedings really helped. But Dean had to be under the lights for Jaundice and I think the nurses got him addicted to his binkie because he can't do without it and Kaiden could care less most of the time. Dean will seriously start throwing limbs and going crazy if it falls out for one second. Its amazing how different they are. Kaiden is a chill angel baby and just kind of starts grunting and fussing for about ten minutes when he wants something but Dean will just freak out. He will be sound asleep and then just start wailing. Its pretty funny. I guess that is all for now, but more to come.

The Lost Art of Consideration and Manners

2011-05-17T13:04:00.005-06:00

A while ago I went to my niece's birthday party. My sister had carefully planned everything, made gift bags for the people who said they were coming and planned food accordingly. Then, the day of the party several people and their kids who had said they were coming didn't show up. It's not a huge deal, but she especially planned for a certain amount of people, and it makes people feel bad when people don't come to things.

Two other examples: Recently a friend of mine had a dinner party and one of the guests brought two other people the host didn't know without telling her, and without much explanation. Another friend had a birthday party and a few of her friends came to the party, but never came up and even said hello to her.

I feel like things like this are getting more and more common and more and more acceptable. I know everyone is busy, busy, and everyone thinks their life is crazier than everyone else's, but I just feel like people blow things off easy and don't even call or act like they are sorry. If you say you are going to be there, be there. If you are going to bring more people, make a quick call and ask, or at least warn the host. I just feel like it is getting more excusable to be a flake, also with responsibilities.

I may have a little tainted of a view because I feel like I was brought up on the very proper side of the spectrum. My grandma corrected me when I said yeah instead of yes, and we were always taught how to be a proper host and have good manners. But is this just not being taught in families, do people think manners are overrated?

I recently found an article on Yahoo titled, "25 Manners Every Kid Should Know By Age 9," but I think it applies to everyone.

Here are some of my favorites:
Manner #3
Do not interrupt grown-ups who are speaking with each other unless there is an emergency. They will notice you and respond when they are finished talking.
This is true of adults too, since when is interrupting ok? I have also been in a group of people talking and then someone starts a completely different conversation with me when I was trying to listen to what someone else across the group was saying. Then it makes it hard for everyone to hear because their are two conversations going.

Manner #4
If you do need to get somebody's attention right away, the phrase "excuse me" is the most polite way for you to enter the conversation.

Manner #8 When people ask you how you are, tell them and then ask them how they are.
Sounds simple enough right? I know sometimes there isn't enough time to really ask back, but sometimes I feel conversations are so one-sided.

Manner #16 Even if a play or an assembly is boring, sit through it quietly and pretend that you are interested. The performers and presenters are doing their best.
I have seen so many people at events, or even at church or with friends texting or on their phones and it really does make others around you feel bad.

Manner #17 If you bump into somebody, immediately say "Excuse me."
I have noticed this a lot especially being pregnant, people bump into me and don't even say anything.

Manner #18 Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, and don't pick your nose in public.
Or bite your nails, gross.

Manner #19
As you walk through a door, look to see if you can hold it open for someone else.
This one I think people actually do pretty well, but its always good to remember.

Manner #25
Don't reach for things at the table; ask to have them passed.

Maybe it is just a few recent events that have clouded my opinion, and I really hope people are still teaching their kids good manners. I also realize that even though people may know what should be acceptable in situations they don't always do them or they forget, but I just hope people at least know, even if they don't always act on it.

Easter

2011-04-26T21:40:00.001-06:00

For Easter my whole Mom's side of the family got together and had a yummy Lamb and pilaf dinner. Its really fun because there are 6 kids under the age of 5 and my cousin and I are both pregnant. It is going to be crazy with three more babies! I love Easter Sunday, even though it wasn't very warm, its fun to see everyone in spring dresses. I also taught a lesson on the temple endowment and it really made me think about how grateful I am for eternal families and for Matt and I to start our own. It was also fast and testimony meeting which was different for Easter, but I really liked it. The people in our ward are amazing. I wish Easter was a bigger holiday. I feel like we talk about Christmas so much, but not Easter as much. I have loved the Mormon Messages on Easter, they have been really touching. Here are two videos from Easter of my Mom making my nephew Zander laugh. They are really cute, he is such a happy, giggly baby.

Strangers Ask the Weirdest Questions

2011-04-15T11:53:00.005-06:00

I've never really understood why strangers come up to people with babies and ask all kinds of random questions and that has been one of my fears with twins. I will be a complete spectacle. Carrying two kids in and out of the grocery store and other places. This is a pretty funny video my friend sent me about the random questions people ask.

Story from Church

2011-04-14T14:24:00.000-06:00

So I am in Young Women's the other day and a lady from the Stake Relief Society comes in to make an announcement. She says that the announcement is for the girls who are seniors this year and for the Young Women's leaders. She then looks around and says, "I see a few of you ..." looks straight at me and says something like, "you're one right?" then looks down at my pregnant belly and says, "Oh, yep, you are." Everyone starts laughing and I say, "well, hopefully I am." It was pretty funny.

Two Funny (get it? hehe)

2011-03-30T17:03:00.013-06:00

I have heard that twins can communicate with each other at a very young age and can even sooth each other so they should sleep in the same room, but this video is pretty funny. I hope my twins can do this!

Waddily Big Foot

2011-03-14T22:36:00.000-06:00

My awesome friend Melanie invited a bunch of us from our ward to go up snowshoeing in Little Cottonwood Canyon this Saturday. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical because I thought it might be a little boring, especially compared to skiing or sledding, but I was wrong, it was so fun! We went up at night and it was just snowing a little and you could hear the river and there was powder and we had a blast. It was hard to get used to your feet being so big and I had to waddle even more than I do normally being pregnant (okay, I don't waddle that much yet, but a waddling pregnant snowshoer is kind of a funny image right?). The best part is that there were these boulders you could jump off of into the snow. Don't worry, I didn't jump, but I did some awesome sliding, and it was fun to watch everyone else jump. We hiked to this little spot where you can see the valley lights and drank hot chocolate and ate girl scout cookies, yum Samoas ... Here are some pics.

I definitely need to branch out and do more random things on the weekends. Any ideas?

Davies Debacle

2011-03-07T12:08:00.003-07:00

I think most of you are familiar with the BYU basketball player who was suspended for the remainder of the season due to an honor code violation, having sex outside marriage. I have been meaning to share some thoughts, and I am a little late but thought I would post them anyway.

I just think it is so interesting the timing of this. I haven't heard a clear answer on weather Davies went forward and told BYU, or if someone found out and told him to turn himself in or how exactly it went down, but it's just interesting that this comes out when BYU basketball is #3 and a few weeks before the NCAA tourney. Some people may think the timing is horrible, that he should have waited to tell or BYU authorities should have waited to suspend him, but this is the time that it would receive the most attention in the national spotlight, which I think does the most for the church and for BYU. Sure I have heard many national sports commentators condemning the decision, but I have also heard a TON showing respect for BYU for enforcing the honor code and not giving sports figures special treatment. Here is some ESPN commentators doing just that http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6174077.

A few years ago I heard that BYU was deciding whether to keep their sports program, I think about the time that two BYU football players were accused of rape in 2005. But it was rumored that it was decided that the BYU sports programs were a way to spread the gospel by bringing non-LDS students to BYU and by putting good upstanding athletes in the national spotlight. But recruiting at BYU also became more strict about who they would recruit and made sure the honor code was explained to players committing to BYU and committing to live the honor code. National commentators, Jim Rome specifically, have asked questions about how a guy like Jim McMahon could have lived the honor code, but I think it wasn't as strictly enforced then. As sad as the situation is for all BYU fans, I really think that this happened to help bring BYU into the national spotlight for being a moral, honorable university. And I think that is way more important than any national Championship.

Here is an interesting article in TIME: Brandon Davies: Is BYU's Premarital Sex Controversy Good For College Sports?

And one of my friends posted this clip of a girl from BYU on Jim Rome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf3jnTpoxFw&feature=player_embedded

I think it is interesting that so many people ask the question, how can 30,000 BYU students live the honor code, but it is interesting that they don't realize that 14 million LDS members around the world live the honor code. Not to mention the several million people of various belief systems who live the principles of the honor code. The interesting thing is we look at them and think how can you live a life sleeping with different people drinking and doing drugs? In some cases I think we are both considering the extremes, they think we sit home and nit and we think they are high all the time, but their is a ton of middle ground that makes our lives similar. They ask, what could you possibly do for fun without alcohol and sex? We do the normal things you do, just without alcohol: watching sports, going dancing, eating, going bowling, whatever everyone does.

Another article by Trib columnist Gordon Monson brings up a lot of interesting points, but basically argues that BYU's honor code is stricter than the church's and has harsher penalties. Although I don't agree with everything he says, I do think some of the stricter rules are weird like facial hair for men, and I think they should coincide exactly with church standards. He does talk about how people who have sinned feel their Bishops are there to help and the Honor Code office is their to punish, and he argues that their shouldn't be a need for an Honor Code office that people should just work with their Bishops. That I think is a good idea.

Although it is really sad for Davies and for the team, I think overall this may have introduced people to BYU and their standards who wouldn't have normally known, especially basketball fans.

Seriously, Doubly Blessed

2011-02-20T20:51:00.009-07:00

TAMN has for reals stopped blogging :( so this post is in honor of her.

The past couple weeks have been CrAzY! Honeybuns finally let me start telling everyone and it was so awesome! I am so glad I'm not having a regular pregnancy, cause when I tell people I first say I am pregnant, and they gasp and say congrats, THEN I hit them with TWINS and we start jumping up and down and screaming, which is so much funner than just announcing your just preggo, LAME!

Then some people ask me if I was on fertility stuff, or if they were "natural"
Um hello ...
NO!

Some people might feel that is nobodies business, or that fertility is a private matter but it's not that big of a deal to me cause most people probably look at how cute and perfect I am and they assume that there is no way I would need enhancements of any kind! I have always known that I was super super fertile, and this finally proves it! And p.s. I hate it when people call them "Natural" twins, I like calling them OrGaNiC twins cause it sounds WaY cuter and more trendy!!

The best thing about having twins is the BABY GEAR! Things are so much cuter when you picture two babies in them than just one. Check these out!

This is the T-shirt I got for Matt! (Although our twins are most likely fraternal, so it was totally ME being fertile, not him, but shhh... don't tell)

This is already on my car, so cute!

And of course this is my new necklace.

Plus there are so many cute onesies!

This is the awesome twins bunk crib I found!

Then there are some things that are HIDEOUS. This is supposed to be a twins feeding table ... are you kidding me? This is the frumpiest high chair thing ever! Eww!! No cushion or pattern or anything, it looks like it belongs in the projects daycare.

Being a preggo Mom of twins is so fun! Everyone keeps telling me how small I am for having twins, and asking how someone so tiny to begin with could have twins! I just hope I have them pre-mature so I don't get tooo HUGE! Gross! I have joined all these new clubs for twin Mom's and 5 different gyms (for different pregnancy yoga and pilates classes). This month is Multiple Birth Awareness month so I am doing a 5k walk to raise awareness to the issues that twin Moms have. We need support and awareness too! It will be awesome, I'm so excited! Oh, and this is the AWESOME new workout I have been doing since moving on from Body Flex (so last week).

p.s. if you haven't figured out by now, this post is completely sarcastic.

Are you sure?

2011-02-11T22:41:00.008-07:00

Matt and I found out I was pregnant just before Christmas! I was actually a little scared about going on the Middle East trip because I thought I might get sick, and low and behold, the last six hours of the 16 hour flight there were awful and I was sick most of the trip. It was still an awesome trip, and if I would have known I would have been sick I definitely still would have gone, but man those middles eastern smells, like garbage, sewer, body odor, food, were really overwhelming. After getting back I was still really sick and we found out why at our 8 week doctors appt...

Normally I actually have a really good memory and I remember details, names, what people wore, etc, to an almost creepy extent, but I forgot that my doctors appt was at ten, not nine like I had told Matt. He had scheduled an appointment with one of his biggest clients thinking he would have plenty of time to get there, but he came for a while then I told him he could go ahead and leave.

I am not really a big talker when it comes to discussing pregnancy and babies and breastfeeding etc. Actually it even creeps me out to write the word on my blog, so I had no idea that they might do an ultrasound on the first visit. I just thought they did some tests to make sure you were actually pregnant, gave you some tips and you were out the door. So when I thought the appt was almost done I went ahead and told Matt he could go. The doctor came back in said he was going to do an ultrasound and and asked me if my husband had left, I told him yes, whoops, but I thought, oh well, he can see the next one. Then the doctor told me I was having twins! It was so funny the conversatiosn went something like this:

Your having twins!
Oh my gosh, are you sure?
Yes
Really?
Yep.
So how sure are you?
100%

I seriously couldn't believe it! He explained that twins means twice the hormones which is why I have been so sick. So I am due Aug 22nd, but most twins average being born at 35 weeks which would be mid-July. He printed out the ultrasound, I finished up at the doctors, then I took a picture of the ultrasound and texted it to Matt. Then I called him I think 5 times in the next twenty minutes until he picked up. He was driving and I asked him if he had looked at my text and he said he hadn't so I told him to pull over so he could look at it. And don't worry that at this point Matt is thinking our baby has down syndrome or something, so he pulls over and I say, "See those two big circles?" And he says, "No, are we having twins?!" I say yes and he was just completely dumbfounded like I was.

The funny thing is that Matt and I have wanted to have our kids close together, and we had joked about just having twins so I wouldn't have to be pregnant as much, but its so crazy, especially because twins don't really run in either of our families. We both have some in the Pioneer era, but we really didn't think there was a chance we would have twins. Oh, and that chance by the way is 2.2%, only 2.2% of women have twins naturally.

Anyway, there is our big news! I am really excited and a little overwhelmed and this completely puts a MAJOR cramp in my Nursery Design Plan, but at least I get to put one of these signs in the back of my car!

Middle East Part 3: Oman

2011-01-14T17:00:00.006-07:00

Oman was very interesting because we were really able to learn more about the middle eastern culture because Ali, my dad's business partner showed us around and we got to spend a lot of time with his family. It was also interesting to see a lesser known middle eastern place, and a place that doesn't have as many Americans. People have asked me since I got back if I ever felt threatened or out of place, and I guess sometimes people looked at us, but it was never malicious. I never felt scared or anything. I think more it was that we had bare arms and legs. It was actually more Indian men that looked than anything; there are a lot of Indians in Dubai and Oman. It is crazy how much people like the Sultan, he has his picture everywhere and every home has a picture of him, not to mention the cheesy billboards of him all over the highways. We went and saw his old palace which looks 1980's middle eastern if that is even a style, but don't worry he has a new palace being built that is gorgeous.

The landscape in Muscat, Oman is very rugged rock mixed with white middle eastern houses, it is really unique. Then on almost every mountain there is a little fort or watchtower. The highways are immaculate and you often saw people sweeping the streets by hand and painting the curbs yellow and black, yep, they are mostly all painted. They also have amazing flowers all along the roads and highways. It is very pretty. We went and saw some of the expensive hotels in the area and they are amazing. It is crazy to think they have enough travelers to support them, and one of them looks like a church is was so elaborate. My dad says that one of the hotels we visited is where are the sultans from other countries stay when they visit Oman. They have very pretty beaches and sunny weather and the temperature was perfect.

One of the most interesting nights we had was when Ali invited us to have dinner with his family and his brother's family. We were all invited to the front room and chatted with the men for a while, then the women were taken to another room to eat with Ali's wife, his brother's wife and his nephew's wife. They had a big rug on the floor and then big pillows against the walls for us to lean on. Then the feast began. They brought out juice that I have no idea what it was, but it was dark purple, and then we had meat kabobs three different kinds of pita-like bread and then they had a quesadilla-like meat in a pita thing, but without the cheese. Then they had all kinds of dips and yogurt and hummus-like sauces.

The best part though was taking with the women. Although my dad has told Ali about his religion, we explained Mormonism to them and it was interesting how many similarities their are between us and Islam, specifically in moral conduct. They were very surprised that we had dress guidelines and that we didn't have sex before marriage and that we don't drink or smoke. They were very nice and had a lot of questions about where we lived and the culture there. It was interesting because they asked us if people think of us as oppressed, and we answered yes and told them that some Americans feel religion is stifling or somehow makes us not have free agency, but as we explained it they agreed and although they didn't really say it, I'm sure they explain their religion and wearing a burka and dress the same way we explain our beliefs. They don't feel it is oppressive, it is something they want to do.

Another thing that was interesting was the interaction between the men and women. Ali and his brother came in the room where the women were eating every once and a while and their were a few kids running around and the men were so nice to their wives and Ali spoke very highly of his wife and their one-year-old. The men would come in and play with the kids and Ali's brother brought the dessert in. The men don't have a subservient attitude.

After dessert Ali asked us if we wanted to go to an Omani wedding with the women and we said sure. So my Mom, Marin and I and Ali's wife and Waffa, which is Ali's nephew's wife, drove us to the wedding. One the way there they told us that this wasn't a really traditional wedding and that only women go to the wedding receptions. The men gather at the mosque to celebrate the wedding, and the women were gathered in a usual reception hall. We asked about the actual marriage ceremony and they said there isn't one. I was a little confused, but from what we understood the men gather in the mosque and either call the bride or have a signed document for her giving her permission to be married. Then the groom comes at the very end of the reception for the women. As we were driving there the women touched up lipstick and sprayed purfume which I thought was interesting because it was a party of women, but I really think that for their culture it is more about competing with each other rather than for other men's attention.

The room was decorated in bright colors, pink and teal and had round tables set up like any wedding reception. Then there was a stage where there was like a little thone/gazebo type thing with a sparkly bright pink backdrop. Then the bride came in and she walked down the center of the tables while the photographer was taking pictures of her, but she wasn't smiling, I'm not sure why. Then she went and danced with all the women and let me tell you the music was so loud and thumping, it was like a dance club and some of the women were going a little crazy. We went and danced for a while, but we weren't wearing skirts so they tied scarfs around our hips. Some women who even had dresses did that I think to accentuate their buts as they shook it? Besides the women who were really dancing, most of the women kind of walked around in a circle while shaking their hips and moving their arms a little. It was really funny. Then the bride went up on the stage and proceeded to have her photo shoot with her family and then her with a parasol, and other props. It was kind of funny to have her up on the stage having a photo shoot in front of everyone. The other thing that was interesting was that some of the women were in strapless dresses, but some still in headdresses and the black robe-like dresses that they wear. We asked about it and they said those women in public and around men would wear a headdress and be covered up, but I guess at a wedding with women they flaunt it. Also, I don't think I have ever seen such big hair-doos. Big poofy up-dos with very Jasmine like eye make-up. And every dress was sparkles and bright colors and sequins. It was a very interesting night.

The trip and that night kind of got me thinking about modesty. During most of the trip we were in shorts and tee-shirts and most people didn't look at us weird, but it was just funny to be on the other-side when someone did look at us a little weird. I have definitely had that look when a girl walks by me scantily clad and it was weird that they were thinking about me like that, when I am thinking I am dressed modestly. Isn't it weird that their are so many levels of modesty?

After Muscat we went down to Salalah which is the southern part of Oman. They have beautiful beaches, but we mainly went down there to see the Wadi's (valley) that Lehi might have traveled down where they built the ship to sail to America. There are two places that are probable according to BYU scholars are Kori Rori and Wadi Sayq. The area has a lot of iron ore and wood that could have been used and is filled with caves where bees make honey. In the monsoon season the area is very green and lush compared to the stark desert around it, which makes it very probable that it would be the land called Bountiful. It was really cool to think about Lehi and his family being in the same place I was standing. We basically four wheeled all over the place and through farm land to see it and get a good look. Then we went down to the beach area and ran into about 30 camels on the beach, it was pretty cool.

Wow, I could go on, but those are my main comments from the trip. It was so fun to see where my Dad has been working and now when he calls me from his office I can picture it. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Middle East Part 2: Dubai

2011-01-13T17:41:00.003-07:00

I cannot believe how much money is being poured into Dubai. Those Arabian gulf countries have so much money! The first night we took a little water taxi on the river in Dubai and saw the older downtown area and skyscrapers and I thought those were big and nice, but then we went to the new downtown area which was insane. They have the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, which is over 2,000 feet and like 160 stories. We ate dinner overlooking the building and the downtown area from the mall and the Burj Khalifa made the other huge 100+ story skyscrapers next to it look like lego buildings. It almost diminishes the skyline really. The whole area is really cool they have a huge mall with every designer store you can image and amazing fountains, an aquarium, and star atrium. It was by far the coolest mall I have ever been to. Then you walk outside and their is a big lake that has fountains way better than the Bellagio that overlooks the whole downtown skyline. We sat and ate dinner and watched the fountains, it was a great night. The fountains are huge and cover a large area, are set to music, and have flames included. It was really cool.

We also went and looked at the Palms and the Burj Al Arab which are the developments that they brought in sand for and made man-made peninsulas in ocean. The Palm looks just like a Palm tree and each arm has different houses that each has access to water. Then they did the same thing, but off the coast and in an outline of the world with sand. It is crazy. It makes me wonder if they are going to sink, especially the Burj Al Arab which is the big sail-like skyscraper. We also went to this used car dealership in Dubai that has Aston Martins and Porsche's with less than 10,000 miles on them because their owners are so rich they only use them for a year. We also went to Ski Dubai, which is their indoor Ski slope. It was steeper than I thought, but still not comparable to a normal ski run. The snow was pretty weird too, but I guess it works. Dubai was also really clean and well taken care of, one of the best big cities I have ever been to.

Next post Oman ...

Middle East: Part 1 Egypt

2011-01-13T17:24:00.005-07:00

As most of you know my dad has been working in the oil business most of my life, but the past few years he has been working to drill on some land in Oman of all places. You know, like by Saudi Arabia? Anyway, we decided that it was high time we see where he has been working so after Christmas we went to Egypt, Dubai, and Oman for two weeks. It was amazing and really allowed me to learn a lot about middle eastern culture and Muslims because we spent a lot of time with my dad's business partner Ali and his family.

First we went to Egypt, and although we had been there three years ago, we got to see a few pyramids we hadn't seen before and it was nice to get another perspective from a different tour guide. We went to Saqqara the step pyramid, the bent pyramid in Dahshur, and the Red Pyramid. It was interesting to see the succession to the Giza Pyramids. We had a great dinner right on the Nile and we also hit up the Bazaar, but we weren't to into people yelling at you to buy stuff so that was short lived. We also went to the Mohamed Ali Mosque which overlooks Cairo, so it has a great view of the city. One thing that is interesting about Cairo is that when people used to come visit their loved ones graves they would stay so long that they often built a little concrete structure to shield them from the sun as they read the Koran and thought about their ancestors. What is sad is that the city is so overcrowded that poor people now live in those little structures in the cemeteries.

After Cairo we went to Luxor and saw the Valley of the Kings, which is where all the tombs are. It is so amazing how deep they went and how big the tombs were with so many jewels and riches. We saw the gold from King Tut's tomb in the Cairo museum and it is incredible how much gold he had in his tomb, and he wasn't even a very beloved ruler. Can you imagine Ramses Tomb before it was robbed? Then we saw queen Hatsheput's Temple, Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. I really like Hatsheput's temple because she is the only woman who has a temple, and its built into a mountain, but I think Karnak is my favorite. Karnak is just so huge and the main room when you walk in has hundreds of huge columns. I can't imagine it in its hay day painted and with a roof! The Egyptians really were so amazing. It was so fun to be with my family seeing Egypt for the first time too. My Dad was blown away. I don't know how long he has wanted to go to Egypt, but he was really amazed by what we saw.

Next post Dubai ... and if you want to see pics they are on Facebook, or I might post a slideshow later, there are too many.

The Snowblower from Heaven

2010-11-30T15:21:00.001-07:00

As most of you know I tore my ACL and MCL knee ligaments longboarding in 2005, but then last Thursday I was playing Volleyball and I dove for a ball, but I dove kind of sideways (hard to explain without showing) but my knee hyper-extended out to the side. I heard a little pop and didn't think much of it, but it felt weird. The next morning it was bad, so I went to the doc and sure enough, partial MCL tear again!

The reason for this post isn't to wallow, but to express gratitude for all the amazing people there are in this world. Maybe I am tainted because I work in the church office building, but people have been so nice, they open doors, they ask if they can help me, they hold the elevator, it has been so nice how many random strangers have asked about it and tell me they are sorry it happened.

Then on Sunday Matt and I woke up way late after three days of over sleeping from Thanksgiving and we were rushing around to get ready and straighten the house before people came for my Laurel presidency meeting. Then we realized that it has snowed a ton and Matt was finishing his lesson so I just thought I would shovel a quick path from the road to our door. I was in my skirt so I threw on tennis shoes and a big coat. I had just started when the man who was snow-blowing the neighbors yard came over and started to do our driveway just as my Young Women's President arrived! I went over and thanked him and I kind of recognized him, but the neighbors didn't have any males under 40 so I asked them the next day who was snow-blowing their driveway and they said it was a guy in our ward who lives up on the next street that has done it for them for years. I was blown away. This guy not only snow blowed his own house, but theirs and ours that morning. People are amazing and it just inspired me that I need to kick my service into high gear.

Sporty Mammas

2010-11-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

I was recently talking with a friend who likes this guy who is a pretty hard core hiker and mountain biker. She likes hiking and biking too, but she isn't hardcore about it. We were talking about how much that matters to guys. I think its interesting that when you are dating, guys seem to really like girls who have their same interests and they think it is cool when girls want to watch sports or go skiing, etc. However, when you get married it really is logistically easier if the wife doesn't want to do those things, right?

I was talking with a friend of Matt's and he said at first when he was dating after his mission he thought he wanted a girl who was a hardcore mountain biker, but then he realized he wanted a girl who was more womanly for his wife. I'm not sure those are mutually exclusive, but do guys sometimes see it like that?

Since Matt and I don't have kids yet, it isn't a problem, but I have a lot of friends who are athletic and love sports, but have kids and never seem to get to sporting events, or play sports. But it is mainly that they like it, but their husbands like it more so they stay home with the kids? I think in some cases it is weird that husbands get two nights a week to play a sport, plus most of the day on Saturday, but their wives don't get the same amount of free time.

Is it easier on a marriage when the wife likes cooking and hanging out at home and doesn't want to go sporting events or go skiing so they are happier staying home with the kids?

NPR Story on Halloween for Disabled

2010-10-28T09:28:00.002-06:00

I recently posted about how people treat the disabled in different countries. As I was driving to work I heard a piece on NPR from Ben Mattlin who was born with spinal muscular atrophy. He talks about how he never looks forward to Halloween. I thought it was pretty interesting, here is the text, or you can listen to it, which I think is more powerful here.

"I never thought about a connection between disabilities and Halloween until I learned of the once-common fear of deformities — the limping, hunchbacked, hook-handed or one-eyed monsters of ancient fairy tales and old horror movies. Even the word "creepy" comes from the same word as the oldest term for folks like me, the politically incorrect "cripple."

As a kid, I tried not to think about what people might make of me, sitting in a wheelchair in my Batman or Lone Ranger costume. A hero who can't walk? Why not? Halloween is a celebration of the imagination, after all.

Sure, some kids teased. But I often scored more candy than my brother, who is not disabled. I saw no reason to complain about being treated differently.

Yet as an adult, I began to feel uneasy about the creepy exhibitionism of Halloween, the way it encourages staring at all things weird. I can't help wondering if Halloween doesn't promote ridiculing differences — even a kind of conformity. Yes, I know, for most people Halloween is an escape from conformity, but for those of us who don't quite fit the norm, that's nothing special. In fact, demonstrating that you're not exactly what people expect is pretty much what disabled folks do every day.

When I take my own kids — who do not have disabilities — trick-or-treating, I often attract as much attention as they do.

It's not the same in daylight. When kids see me on the street, careering in my power wheelchair, they often say things like, "Wow! Can I have one of those?" Hey, my chair is an amazing, transformative device.
"Cool, isn't it?" I'll say back. I figure I should do my part to make kids comfortable with people like me. Sometimes I have to tell the adult with them that it's OK, that kids shouldn't be forced to look away. I encourage them to ask questions, to learn.

Maybe I should see Halloween as an opportunity for grown-ups to do that, too. The holiday challenges us to stretch our perceptions. Maybe it can also teach us not to shrink away from the unfamiliar or judge appearances.

This Halloween, I'll try to remember that I really have nothing to fear."

Forgiveness

2010-10-03T21:38:00.006-06:00

As I was driving to work the other day I noticed a new billboard that had a picture of the rubble left of the World Trade Center Towers and text that read: "Remember 9/11, No Mosque on Ground Zero."

This year the last day of the Muslim holiday Ramadan fell on 9/11. After a month of fasting the last day, Eid, is a huge day of celebration for them, like our Christmas.

In light of this NPR was interviewing a Muslim leader in charge of a Muslim cultural center in Fresno, California. He said that because 9/11 feel on a day when they would normally celebrate, he had decided to move their day of celebration and their traditional carnival to the day before.

As I was listening to the interview I thought, wow, that is so great that he has so much reverence for 9/11 and that is so respectful. Then he was asked why he did it, and he said out of respect, but he also said out of fear. He also said that Muslims in the area had been persecuted since 9/11.

Back to the billboard reading "Remembering 9/11." The billboard is asking us to remember 9/11 by not allowing a Mosque to be built several blocks away from ground zero. If we were truely "remembering 9/11" we would remember that life is short and bad things happen and their is no time in our lives to hold grudges. Why do so may Americans feel animosity towards Muslims, when it is one extremist group that is to blame?

9/11 should inspire us to be better and to rise above hatred. Why are some compounding the hatred surrounding 9/11 by hating back? Wouldn't it be great if we were so forgiving as to allow a Mosque? We should learn from it to be more loving and forgiving of everyone. Two scriptures come to mind: I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men' D&C 64:10 and D&C 98: 40 And so on unto the second and third time; and as oft as thine enemy repenteth of the trespass wherewith he has trespassed against thee, thou shalt forgive him, until seventy times seven (also Matt. 18: 22).

What do you think about it?

Treatment of Disabled

2010-09-30T21:17:00.004-06:00

We recently interviewed this amazing woman who was playing softball, slid into third base, broke her leg bone, then developed a bone disease that should have been curable. This led to her having her leg amputated. In the interview she talked about how hard this was and how she turned to the Lord and has been able to be an advocate for the disabled and help others, which is why she felt it happened.

After the interview she showed us her leg and I couldn't believe the technology. She said she had five different feet that fit into the leg for skiing, hiking, running, church, etc. Then we started talking about disabilities in general and she talked about how she is often stared at.

While Matt and I were in Turkey we saw a lot of disabled people. One had legs that basically were stuck bent and he was hurrying to cross the street in the middle of a bunch of traffic. It was really sad. I started to think about the difference between the way governments and people treat disabled. In the U.S. I would say we do a pretty good job of providing help and programs, especially compared to other countries. But why do we in the U.S. stare more at the disabled? In Turkey no one was looking at the disabled people begging, or just going about their lives. Is it because we are less exposed to them because they are getting help and are off the streets? Or does the fact that we are less familiar and therefore stare mean that our society needs to get more involved in serving and interacting with disabled? Or in Turkey are people just ignoring the disabled because they don't care and are desensitized? I think the main reason people stare is because they are seeing someone who they feel is different, and a lot of times they are just inquisitive.

After the interview we were talking about this and Tami said the different reactions that children and parents are interesting. Children are very inquisitive and almost excited to see her fake leg and think its cool. Parents react by thinking they shouldn't touch or ask to see or look at someone who is disabled. We shouldn't stare, but we shouldn't look away either. We should just smile and say hello and also help and serve the disabled so our society interacts more with those who are disabled.

Kind of random topic to blog about, but I just have been thinking about it lately.

Mediterranean Cruise Part 2

2010-09-03T18:00:00.012-06:00

Greek Isles
We stopped in Santorini, then Mykanos, then Corfu, and I have to say the Greek Isles were a lot dryer and more brown than I thought they would be. Matt said if you took away the ocean and the cute white and blue houses it would pretty much look like Nevada. Santorini is on top of a huge cliff so we rode donkeys to get there because their are no roads. They have a cable car that some people took, but riding the donkey was really cool. Is it weird that it wasn't my first time riding a donkey? We rode them in Petra, Jordan too. I got the smallest donkey and half way up he pretty much stopped. But don't worry, he just had to pee, then he went up the rest of the hill great. And don't worry, I lifted up my feet just in case! Ewww. Corfu by far had the best beaches, and it was actually pretty green and the water was beautiful.

Athens and Olympia
I didn't realize how high the Acropolis is above the city of Athens. It is pretty cool looking. I can't believe the Parthenon was in tact until WWII when it was used to house ammunitions and got blown up, how sad! It had a complete roof and everything. We went to the Agora, which is their ancient forum and the whole area is really cool.

One of the best things about Greece is the amazing food. We had an epic lunch in Athens, shish kabobs, amazing yogurt sauce, fried zucchini, it was so good. I have to say that I really don't like Italian food in Italy. The portions are small, its expensive, the pizza crust is very thin, they put next to no sauce and less cheese. The panini's are good, but the only ones I liked were tomato and mozzarella, and you can only eat those so much. The other ones were mostly made with prosciutto, which I hate. I tried a Chicken artichoke dish and it looked liked mashed up green stuff on weird chicken, it was gross. The saving grace was the amazing Gelato. I really had just Gelato for two lunches. Matt and I think that besides French food and Greek food, America takes any food and makes it better. Olympia was pretty cool, but I thought there would be a little more to the ruins. The place where they had the stadium was kind of cool , but it was a dirt field with hills on the side, when I was imagining a theater-like building. I think most of us know that the Olympians competed in the nude, but what you may not know is that the crowd watching also was in the nude. Apparently only men could watch the other man Olympians competing, but they one of the Mothers of the competitor snuck in so they made a rule that the crowd have to be naked.

Turkey - Ephesus
Ephesus was really cool. It was so cool to stand where Paul would have preached in the stadium and walk the streets of the center of Christianity after Christ. We were also able to go to the cave of Saint Paul which is above Ephesus where there are frescos of Paul dating to the 1st century. It isn't open to the public, but our guide hooked us up so it was pretty cool. The temple of Artemus was really cool too and very well preserved.

Turkey - Cappadocia
This was probably the most interesting stop on the trip. It is an area where there is sandstone rock, but it is capped with basalt so the top stays in tact and the sandstone can be carved into caves. It is where some of the early Christians hid from persecutors and people later hid from invasions. They not only have caves, but complete underground systems with different connected caverns, ventilation and wells for water. The tunnels between the little rooms are only about three and a half feet tall so that big stones could be rolled to block the passages from intruders. It was a really cool area. There are so many caves that now they have been turned into businesses and hotels. Matt and I stayed in a cave hotel room, which was pretty cool, but the air was a little stale in the middle of the night even with the window in the front room open.

Turkey - Istanbul
Istanbul is really cool because it has European influence and also Middle Eastern influence. Some parts look European, but then there are tons of mosques throughout the city and women wearing burkas. We went to the Topkapi Palace, which has Arabic writing, intricate tile work, a harem, and just really cool designs. It was nice to see a palace that wasn't European Baroque style. We also saw the Dolmabache Palace, which was the biggest palace I had ever seen and it was so expensively decorated, even though the country had to borrow the money to fund it. They had an entire staircase where each banister was made of crystal, 2 ton crystal chandeliers, and a huge dome room, it looked like a cathedral. Can you imagine borrowing money to build a crazy ornate palace when your country wasn't even that rich? The sultans were jerks, for more than that reason. I about gagged when you heard that the Ottoman Sultans were all huge, over 300-350 pounds with a harem of hundreds of women. Gross! We toured their huge beds and it was sick. Matt was appalled himself, but also kind of laughing at how disgusted I was.

The Hagia Sophia Mosque is really cool. I love how it is dark and parts of it are peeling, then it has Arabic writing, I just like seeing architecture and designs that don't look European and all the same. It is crazy how far the European style went if you think about America, St. Petersburg, Istanbul. I am grouping European as Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque, but you know what I mean. They said the Hagia Sophia was early Byzantine architecture so it is European, and I save seen Byzantine stuff before, but I guess it was more how the interior had dark colors and a middle eastern feel that was cool.

I have to say that I don't really like Turkish people. They were really pushing and were always butting in line, even if it wasn't a crowded line. Taxi drivers were always trying to screw us over and we had to sit in a taxi for ten minutes arguing with one guy because he said we gave him a 50 when we gave him a 100. He finally gave us the right change, the prick. A lot of the people smelled really bad, and I know you will get that in some poorer countries, but I have been to Thailand, Brazil, Peru, Cambodia, and it was never that bad. The other cool thing was the Grand Bazaar. It is enormous, I swear you could get lost. I really want to come back and buy a sick Turkish rug, they were pretty amazing.

All in all it was a really good trip. There are pros and cons to a cruise cause I get motion sick, cruises are hokey, and you don't get to spend time in the cities at night and eat dinners, or sit and watch the sun go down, but then you don't have to spend time traveling and hauling bags and checking into hotels. It is a good way to see a lot of places to know where you want to go back and spend some real time.

Mediterranean Cruise

2010-09-02T16:36:00.016-06:00

You know how when you first get home from a trip you are so excited to show people pictures and talk about it. But I was so busy I just barely went through the pictures. I was thinking wow, I will have so much to talk about, it will take three posts, but now I have kind of forgotten what I was going to say. Hmmm well see how it goes.

French Riviera - Nice and Monaco
I knew we were going to Monaco and I was really excited because of James Bond and Iron Man being filmed there, but I didn't realize that Nice was so close, and I was really excited to see it. Monaco blew me away, you couldn't go two seconds without seeing a car over $100,000. Aston Martin's and Rolls Royce Phantom's were like Civics. Nice was really cute. We went to the farmers market and I got a really good crape. Matt tasted Violet Gelato and said it was the best ice cream he had ever had.

Rome
Matt and I love Rome. It is amazing. The ruins and history, the Coliseum, Pantheon, Vatican, the fountains, the Gelato. We got to see some of the lesser known churches and areas that we hadn't before. We were mad because the Mamertine Prison, where Peter and Paul were thought to have been held has been completely commercialized and ruined. They built a ramp into the basement so you can't stand on the floor, what a joke. We saw the Baths of Caracalla, which are these huge ruins of not just baths, but the gym of their day. It was really cool.

Pompeii and Amalfi Coast
Pompeii is really cool, last time Matt and I spent like 7 hours there. What was not cool was that our bus broke down on the way there. The coolest thing is that the ash settled around the bodies of the people who died, but then they decomposed leaving air pockets where the shape of their bodies once were. They fill those with plaster and they can see the body positions people died in from the casts they make. It is very powerful to see them. The Amalfi Coast is beautiful! It is little stacked Italian colored houses and beaches and steep, steep cliffs. If you have seen the movie Only You with Robert Downey Jr. it was filmed in Positano.

Florence
Florence was okay, I think it is over-rated. It has the Duomo church and cool bridges, but the Ufitzi museum is a bust. Just unimpressive naked man statue after naked man statue. I am reluctant to share this story, but it is pretty funny. So when Matt and I were engaged we went to Europe with my family. We went to the Ufitzi and all the naked man statues are on pedistols so you know what is right at eye level. I was walking around and I asked Matt, "Is that what they really look like?" Cause honestly it looked weird to me. He starts laughing because it actually did look weird because the statues are uncircumcised. Anyway, it was pretty funny.

Venice
I LOVE Venice. I was going around taking pictures and I was going a little crazy because every corner I wanted to take a picture. I love water and boats, I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up, so there is just something about Venice. Narrow streets, bright colored buildings. Glass and mask shops, some of which were kinds creepy. I think Venice is my favorite city in Italy by far.

That is all for now, I sure got a second wind. Greece and Turkey next.

I Can't Believe This ...

2010-08-30T10:48:00.003-06:00

I don't know how many of you have read about two recent stories in the news but they have both really hit me hard.

The first just happened yesterday in California where a man entered an LDS chapel, asked for the Bishop, waited outside as he interviewed others, then went in and shot and killed him. He later called police and told them he was the shooter, then was shot in a confrontation with police. The man hasn't been identified, but people say he wasn't a member of the church and it looks like the Bishop didn't know him.

Witnesses are saying that the man went hours before to the chapel, agitated, asking for anyone in charge, then came back later and shot the Bishop. It looks like the man was mad at the church and went in to shoot the nearest Bishop. I honestly can't believe things like this happen. Are church buildings soon going to need some type of security as you enter? The Bishop was a father of six boys, the youngest six months old. Here is the Des News story:

The other story is of a man in Vegas suing the church after his back hurt the day after going with a youth group to perform baptisms. He claims the church failed to warn him "the repetitive motion required for performing baptisms for the dead could cause serious damage to a person's back …," and that some of the youth weighed over 250 pounds. He also said that the officiator wouldn't let him stop doing baptisms. Are you kidding me? Maybe the officiator asked him to do a few more baptisms than he wanted to, but they always rotate them out pretty well. No one was forcing him to do more baptisms, he could have walked out whenever he needed to. Its not like he slipped or their was a specific incident that was the church's fault.

I guess what is done is done though and if this guys back is hurt after doing baptisms maybe the church could help with medical costs. But no, this guy isn't stopping at medical costs, he was going to law school and claims that he can't go anymore and is suing for loss of employment! I just interviewed a quadriplegic going to law school on the Mormon Channel, and this guy is suing the church? Unbelievable. Are we going to need a disclaimer sign as you enter the font? Here is the story.

Youth Conference

2010-08-04T11:32:00.003-06:00

Matt and I got called to be in charge of Youth Conference this year and I have to say I think it was the most stressful thing I have ever done, but it was also really fun and rewarding. We had 45 youth end up coming and about 15 leaders coming and going. We played kickball, games, had speakers and classes on divine nature, friends, dating, decisions and then went boating at Jordanelle. The theme was "Seek the Higher Ground" from the Mormon Message by Elder Cook and on the last day we went for a hike and the Young Women and Young Men's Presidents gave really good devotionals.

On Monday I was so worried because the weather looked really bad, the weatherman even said it was going to be monsoon season in July. I started praying that there would be good weather, but then I also started solidifying Plan B's for everything that we were doing. I really think it is true that not only do you have to pray for things, but also do everything in your power to make them happen. It only rained a little during one of the speakers when most of the kids were under canopy, but the rest of the time we had fabulous weather. It was crazy because as soon as Matt and I were done returning the porta-potties, yes porta-potties, speakers, tables and everything it started POURING! Its amazing the little tender mercies Heavenly Father gives us.

I was so stressed about logistics and making sure everyone had a good time and felt the spirit. I have to say that our speakers did an amazing job and their were a bunch of youth who bore their testimonies on Sunday about how they were strengthened by Youth Conference. I am so grateful everything went well, except for one thing ...

I may or may not have backed into a tree while we were up at the cabins ... in my in-law's Sequoia. I was backing down this steep gravel driveway and it is an older car and the breaks weren't holding very well so at the very end of the driveway I let off them a little and just the last couple feet of the driveway got me going way too fast. I over-corrected on the narrow road and hit an aspen with the back right corner of the car. Luckily my in-laws are amazing and didn't care that much.

It was so funny, when I came back we had a bunch of lost and found items so I threw all the towels and sweatshirts in the washer. Soon after I started hearing something banging around in the washer and I opened it to find a can of Pam! Woops, I guess I should have made sure it was just clothes. Good thing it didn't explode or something.

Babies

2010-07-26T14:18:00.005-06:00

So Matt and I have been married for over three years and I just have to say how funny I think it is when people ask us when we are having kids. Our families tease us a little bit, which is fine, but I am a little bit dumbfounded when people seriously ask us.

What do people want you to say?

If we were trying then it would ruin the announcement when I really was pregnant (which I guess most people do).

If we were trying and things weren't working out, that is none of their business. And if that was the case, it would make me feel really bad to have people asking about it, especially when they joke about it.

Or what if I was actually pregnant, but wasn't ready to announce it yet because of the chance of a miscarriage?

The other answer would be that we are not trying. Maybe we haven't felt prompted to have kids yet, maybe we aren't ready yet emotionally, etc. But those reasons don't need to be shared with others either.

So basically there is no good answer, right?

Brighton Lakes

2010-07-24T15:50:00.000-06:00

My friends from my study abroad in New Zealand came into town last weekend and we had a blast. It had been years since we got together and we decided to go on a hike to Mary, Martha, Catherine Lakes. It was supposed to be like 4 miles, but it didn't seem that long. It was beautiful and perfect temperature with cloud cover.

Facebook No No's

2010-07-20T15:13:00.005-06:00

1. Don't Post about your kids "poops" "blowouts," vomiting or other bodily functions.

"Little Johnny's blowout was crazy intense."

I know I'm not a Mom yet, and I might understand someday, but still .... its gross. What if I checked Facebook right before dinner? Really does all of Facebook have to know?

2. Don't post about how sore you are and how many millions of miles you ran.

It just seems too egotistical. I don't post when I decided not to eat chocolate cake or about how I am tan after a day at the pool and the same principle applies. What is the point except for tooting your own horn?

3. Don't post your undying love for your spouse publicly.

I think about the talk by Elder Bednar: "Sometimes in a sacrament meeting talk or testimony, we hear a statement like this: 'I know I do not tell my spouse often enough how much I love her. Today I want her, my children, and all of you to know that I love her.'

Such an expression of love may be appropriate. But when I hear a statement like this, I squirm and silently exclaim that the spouse and children should not be hearing this apparently rare and private communication in public at church! Hopefully the children hear love expressed and see love demonstrated between their parents in the regular routine of daily living."

4. Don't post completely abstract things.

"I'll walk across the landscape into another world, strange to me, new to me, and yet ... familiar in so many ways."

"I kept my secret because I was afraid. Now I'm only afraid that it's too late."

Are you just trying to get comments? Are you really trying to deeply express yourself in a Facebook status? I don't get it.

5. Don't post things for comments.

"The most horrible thing happened to me today."

Then everyone answers: "Oh, no, what happened, are you okay?" Then the person ends up telling everyone anyway about the boy who broke their heart/stupid boss etc.

p.s. I may have gotten a little caught up in being annoyed in this post. My apologies.

Washington D.C.

2010-07-18T22:47:00.002-06:00

D.C. was amazing. We started out in Williamsburg and went to Yorktown, Jamestown, Monticello, Mt. Vernon and hit up Bush Gardens and Virginia Beach. It was pretty funny because all 10 of us were piled in a van and we kept getting lost. We were also dying of heat. The area was having a major heat wave and all the grass was yellow, plus the humidity. I have to say my favorite part of the trip was walking around D.C. at night. We went to the Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington and FDR Monuments and sat at the Lincoln monument for a while. I loved the FDR Memorial with all the quotes and waterfalls and stone, plus he has my initials!

We got a tour of the Capitol and went to Ford Theater and the top of the Washington Monument. I hadn't been to D.C. since I was about 12, so it was great to go through the museums and monuments and really appreciate them. It feels like you never have enough time and there is always more to do. I could spend days and days just in the museums. Our friends Dave and Rashelle live in D.C and they were able to hang out with us a lot, which was so fun. It was a great trip and made me want to go to New York and Boston again.

The Way We See Ourselves

2010-07-15T15:25:00.005-06:00

I never thought I would be one of those people that is crazy about blogging, but I really like it. Not just posting, but reading other people's posts. People share things on their blogs that they probably wouldn't share, or may not come up when just hanging out. In lieu of this I have decided to try to post more about my life and my thoughts, not just vacations or fun things. So, here we go.

"My teacher says real beauty is on the inside."

"That's just something ugly people say."

- Liar, Liar

On one hand I know the church teaches that we need to focus on inner beauty and be happy with who we are, but we are also commanded to obey the Word of Wisdom which not only tells us to obtain from harmful substances, but eat healthy and get enough sleep. Sometimes I feel conflicted with these two ideas.

Whenever I am dieting and trying to lose weight I feel myself also focusing more on how I look and being more shallow. I notice all my imperfections and sometimes I give up because I feel that I will never have the body I want and it's not worth it to work so hard.

We should always be striving to improve ourselves and be healthy, but where is the line with being happy with who you are?

As Mormons we abstain from so many things and I feel I am constantly bombarded with choices. Scriptures or TV. Journal or a movie. For the most part I feel I make really good choices when it comes to being righteous, but sometimes I feel that treats are the one thing I can give in and have that won't effect my spirituality. Sometimes it serves as a release. I know this is a bad way to view food and it shouldn't be an emotional release, but I wonder how many of us have this same train of thought. There are a lot of overweight Mormons and I wonder if this is one of the reasons. We also don't go out drinking or partying so we go out to dessert instead.

I went on LDS.org to try and look up some talks that might deal with this and I did find one talk I thought was interesting. It talked about how we use desserts as a reward (if you finish your chores we will go out for ice cream) or a punishment (finish your broccoli or you don't get pie) and how we need to take the emotion out of eating. I was definitely raised this way and I think it has effected me more than I know. When I have a bad day or if I am bored I turn to food.

Maybe I am thinking about this completely wrong and if we have a good self image and are living righteously then maybe we will automatically eat healthier. I often think of what President Packer said, "I have long believed that the study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than talking about behavior will improve behavior."

Ugly Bags

2010-07-15T10:17:00.002-06:00

p.s. I think these are the ugliest bags I have ever seen. Why are they popular?

Bill Child

2010-07-15T09:37:00.003-06:00

We just interviewed Bill Child the other day on the Mormon Channel and I was so impressed with him. He took over a debt ridden R.C. Willey in 1954 and built it up and sold it to Warren Buffet. Our audio engineer was sick and he told him he hoped he felt better at the end of the interview, as we were walking out we complimented the floor buffer on what a good job he was doing. What a class act.

The interview was on Integrity and he shared countless stories where the company took losses to honor their commitment to customer service. One an outside warranty company went bankrupt and R.C. Willey honored the warranties at a cost of $1.5 million. He talked about his strict no debt policy and how none of the buildings were mortgaged. He said he hired people based on their work ethic not their resumes.

He talked about how prayer was crucial. He did a lot of innovative things, like offering purchases on credit and having an in-house finance department, and he said he felt prompted by the Holy Ghost to do each of them.

As I was listening I couldn't help but think about how the Holy Ghost had prompted him to do these things that led him to become very wealthy. I think the reason why is so that people would have an example of how having integrity and ethics in business can make you successful. I also think he was blessed because he didn't allow the store to be open on Sundays, even when they expanded to other states. We had to convince Warren Buffet to branch out to other states with a no Sunday policy, which Warren thought wouldn't work.

At the end of the interview he talked about how many comments he has received since the book "How to Build Business Warren Buffet Would Buy" was published. He said he gets letters and thank you's all the time. One company in Seattle actually decided to close its doors on Sundays after reading the book.

He also said one piece of advise I liked. He said that you need to be the same person in every aspect of your life. You often see these great men in the church who are different people in business and have ended up doing shady things. I think its hard sometimes because you often have to be aggressive or demanding in certain situations at work, but think if we applied the same patience in the workplace as we do with people in our wards or family.

The interview will be posted in a few weeks and I will put a link to it.

Why do we like Twilight?

2010-06-30T09:45:00.007-06:00

"Twilight is like soccer. They run around for 2 hours, nobody scores, and its billion fans insist you just don't understand."

I read a recent blog in the Deseret News that tried to explain why so many people love Twilight. Its interesting that the novel is young adult fiction novel but so many grown women love it. Here is what she wrote:

"But not all women are crazed fans. In fact, I think it's pretty safe to say that most women feel like I do -- we hate that we love "Twilight."

We hate that we occasionally identify with clueless Bella. And most of all, we hate that Edward got us. We like to think that we are too mature to get sucked in by the cliche of a hot vampire. But it gets me. And while the sexual tension is thick, that's not what really gets most women.

Here's my theory: women can't help falling in love with the bad guy who is willing to give it all up for the woman he loves. Women are suckers for that streak of danger in a man who will put aside his naturally devilish desires to be with the women he just can't get enough of. Throw in a little protective nature and a hot body and you've got a recipe to make every housewife in America swoon -- right alongside her teenage daughter."

My old professor at BYU has a blog for The Mormon Times and he mentioned how so many news agencies have written about the Mormon themes in Twilight:

A writer at USC's Media and Religion Blog, Jennifer Hahn, says journalists have missed the spiritual undertones of the "Twilight" series and encourages them to mine the spiritual and Mormon themes in Meyer's work. She writes: "Seen in this light, the 'Twilight' phenomenon is fueled not (just) by teen hormones and melodrama, but also by spiritual longing. While it is no doubt true that many 'Twilight' fans are active in traditional religious settings, an increasing number of spiritual-but-not-religious Americans feel that traditional religious organizations are failing to satisfy their spiritual needs. If this trend continues, we will likely see more pop culture offerings that address spiritual needs through supernatural storytelling."

Ironically, some journalists and bloggers continue to suggest that "Twilight" is veiled Mormon propaganda, but I can't help but agree with a column from the Scottish Sunday Express. "The books have been criticized for being veiled propaganda for beliefs held by the Mormon church. The central characters must remain chaste because losing control could have fatal consequences. Yet it's an odd world we live in where chastity is seen as the grounds for reproach."

Twilight Just an Abusive Relationship?

2010-06-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

According to the National Domestic Violence hotline, these are some signs that you may be in an emotionally or physically abusive relationship.
Does your partner: Look at you or act in ways that scare you? Check.
Control what you do, who you see or talk to or where you go? "Stay away from the werewolves. I love you."

Make all of the decisions? Check.
Act like the abuse is no big deal, it’s your fault, or even deny doing it? "If I wasn't so attracted to you, I wouldn't have to break up with you."
Threaten to commit suicide? "I just can't live without you. In fact, I'll run to Italy and try suicide by vampire if anything happens to you."
Threaten to kill you? On their first date.
Has your partner... Tried to isolate you from family or friends. Bella doesn't have time for anyone else!
Damaged property when angry (thrown objects, punched walls, kicked doors, etc.). Check.
Pushed, slapped, bitten, kicked or choked you. Does tossing her through a glass table count?
Abandoned you in a dangerous or unfamiliar place. "We're breaking up. And I'm leaving you in the forest."
Scared you by driving recklessly. Check.
Forced you to leave your home. She had to run away with him to flee from the other vampires in the first movie, and she had to drop everything and run to Italy in the second.
Prevented you from calling police or seeking medical attention. Check. Even in the hospital, nothing is a big deal.

Accuses you of cheating or is often jealous of your outside relationships. Check, wolf-boy.

Mormon Channel Highlights

2010-06-22T16:08:00.001-06:00

I think you all know how much I love my job. It is amazing. I get to walk by the temple every morning and today I saw a missionary couple praying in their car before going in. For those of you who may not know exactly what I do, I produce programs for The Mormon Channel, record voice-overs and interview people. The two programs I am in charge of are Why I Believe, where we talk to converts of the church or people who have a testimony building experience about a certain gospel principle. I also produce a show called Into All the World which talks to Stake and Mission Presidents about church growth and missionary work around the world. When I say produce that means finding guests, writing scripts and coordinating the show from start to finish. I also do a show called Classic Conference Talks where I search through old talks and find good ones and then record a beginning and end. Its pretty cool that I get paid to read and find good conference talks from the 70s and 80s. Here are some links to my favorite episodes so far.

Why I Believe Alex Boye - Grew up in London, parents from Nigeria, converted while working at McDonalds, got disowned, joined a boy band, quit because they wanted him to swear, moved to Utah, joined the MoTab and got married. Very charismatic, almost like a Baptist preacher.

Why I Believe in the Sabbath Day - Four BYU Womens Rugby players talk about giving up the National Championship because they would have to play on Sunday. They focus on standards and how to make and keep them. Great episode for youth.

Into All the World Cambodia - The Winegars talk about their mission to Cambodia and the interesting cultural challenges the missionaries face.

Conversations Gary Ceran - A terrible traffic accident took the lives of his wife and two of his children on Christmas Eve. He talks about forgiving the other driver and dealing with tragedy. Very touching episode, listen with Kleenex handy.

Conversations with Elder and Sister Oaks - I love Elder Oaks and it is so interesting to hear these personal interviews with Apostles. Kristen, his wife talks about marrying for the first time later in life.

P.S. If you right click on Listen to Episode you can save target as and save it as an Mp3 and put it on your iPod.

Are Sports Ever Really Going to Be Fair?

2010-06-17T11:54:00.004-06:00

The past week Matt has basically been pacing around the house waiting to see what would happen in college football. He checked the internet before we would leave and would check it the second we got home. It was pretty humorous. And when it was finally announced that Utah was going to the Pac-10 yesterday he was so excited.

On the other hand, me as a rival BYU fan went through the first wave of jealously, and then while listening to sports radio they started talking about why Utah was picked over other schools. Some of the obvious reasons are that the Salt Lake City TV market is ranked 31 in the US and Boise isn't even in the top 50, they are close to the conference and of course the BCS bowl wins. As far as BYU not being considered, they honestly probably won't ever be considered for top conferences because they can't play on Sunday and recruiting will always be limited because of the Honor Code. But with Boise joining the Mountain West I think the conference will still be good.

The next thing that came to mind is if the push for a playoff system is dead. Utah was one of the 2 BCS busters with Boise State and now that they are in the BCS will they still care? It is great for Utah, but I can't help but thinking they are sell-outs. My friend posted this video on You tube about the situation, and he's right, it's like George Bailey taking a job for Mr. Potter. Sure, everyone is against the BCS until they are in it. When the Pac-10 announced Colorado was going to join they talked about them being a good athletic fit. What a crock, Denver is TV market 16 and Boulder has been horrible the last few years. Its all about money and the biggest TV markets. Are sports ever really going to be fair?

Anniversary Conversation

2010-06-08T11:12:00.003-06:00

Matt and I went out for our three year anniversary last night and after we got home we were talking and our conversation went something like this:

Faroe: "I'm really proud of how well you are doing in insurance, you rock."

Matt: "Thanks."

**long pause**

Faroe: "I was talking to my boss today and I said it was our anniversary he was saying how the first year is always the hardest and I agreed. What do you think?"

Matt: " Your boss was saying that?"

Faroe: "Yeah."

Matt: "Yeah, the first year was HORRIBLE, it was so hard."

Faroe: "What!?"

Matt: "Yeah, building up clients and everything."

Faroe: "I was talking about our marriage!"

We both laugh. Yeah, he still doesn't listen.

Moab

2010-05-03T10:07:00.006-06:00

We went with Matt's family down to Moab for a little Four Wheelin'. It was still too cold to swim or anything, but we four wheeled a ways into a place called Gemini Bridges. We rented this side-by-side, which basically looks like a souped up golf cart, but it was awesome. Matt and I got it to 53 miles an hour on one stretch. I think it is supposed to be safer, but don't worry that Tyler still tipped it. He has pretty bad four wheeling luck. When he was eleven he basically drove off a six foot cliff into a puddle of water and flipped the four wheeler! Luckily he wasn't hurt. We also watched the Jazz Playoffs and went to the Moab Brewery, which is delicious. Thanks Brent and Shan!

New Eyes!

2010-04-26T17:30:00.002-06:00

Dun dun duh dun! (like trumpets for a king) Matt and I got Lasik! We actually have been talking about it for quite a while and I had been putting off my next eye exam for way too long, so we just decided not to spend one more cent towards contacts or eye exams. It seems like a lot of money, (we paid $1800 an eye) but you just have to think of it as an upfront cheaper payment. If you do the math, $150 for an eye exam each year, $100-200 a year for contacts, (and mine are basically the most expensive because I have a astigmatism) then add in $500 glasses every few years it only takes 7-8 years to get your money back.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous. I mean its your EYES! But Matt and I checked with a few different places and finally settled on Hoopes Vision. We looked at Eye Institute of Utah, but they hadn't been doing Lasik very long, we checked at the Moran Eye Center, and heard that the main Doctor was great but that a lot of students actually do the surgeries. I am normally afraid of places that advertise a lot like Hoopes, but they were very professional and nice, plus they were just ranked one of the top eye centers in America for Lasik by Forbes AND they gave me a freshly baked hot cookie after my surgery.

The surgery itself went really well. Maybe I am retarded, but I really didn't know much about eyes before. Like the reason I couldn't see was that my eye was too curved, like a football rather than a ball. All they do with Lasik is just re-shape the outermost tissue layer of your eye, the cornea, with a laser. The process only takes 15 seconds to make the flap and 20 seconds to shape the eye. I honestly thought they would have to mess with the pupil or retna, I had no idea. So they just made a flap with the laser, then pulled it back and took a little tissue off the top (which kind of smelled like burning, gross!) and voila I could see! Oh wait.

So I did have one minor complication. Matt was seeing perfectly within about 12 hours, but my right eye is apparently challenged. My left was perfect the next morning, but my right eye was stinging and blood-shot and pretty blurry. So I went into my follow-up appointment pretty scared, but they said what had happened was the numbing drops had made some of the eye cells scuff off and it would just take a little longer to heal. So they gave me a bandage that is basically a contact to put in my eye and said that it just needed more time to heal.

The problem is that it is really hard to have perfect vision in one eye and blurry in the other. It was making me sick, so I patched my right eye (yep, and I said RRrrrr too) and then spent a lot of time watching movies that I knew really well so that I could just lay their with my eyes closed and listen. It was pretty funny for Matt to come home and see his patched-eyed wife laying on the couch with her eyes closed listening to a movie. Then the next challenge was that I was making cake balls for my sister-in-law's wedding shower and I couldn't pour the chocolate over them because the patch made me have no depth perception whatsoever. So Matt stepped in and made 75 percent of them. He is amazing.

All in all, things are fine now and I am really glad I did it. Another fun fact, did you know that your tear ducts are pretty closely connected to your throat, cause after taking so many eye drops, you can totally taste it in your mouth after. Weird ... and gross. Oh, and after I told my boss I got Lasik he said, oh yeah, I had noticed that your eyes looked irritated before when you wore contacts. Excuse me? Well at least now they will be pristine.

Smart Teacher

2010-04-21T13:41:00.000-06:00

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked, and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich --- a great equalizer. The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade, so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset, and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less, and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too, so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings, and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Zia Turns 2!

2010-03-24T17:04:00.007-06:00

Zia is so stinking cute these days. Her vocabulary is really good, she even said Happy Birthday! She also kept saying Happy Birthday Cake instead of birthday cake, it was really cute. Marin and my Mom got her this tent/crawl thing for her birthday and I was army crawling through it with her and she was loving it. Believe it or not her favorite movie or one of her favorites is Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang and she requests it by title. She calls ketchup this weird made up name, scabe. Karina thinks she might be saying "scoop it"? Well, at least we know she is a Decker because she loves condiments.

Health Care

2010-03-22T12:24:00.004-06:00

I really am not understanding why so many people are supporting the terms of the health care reform just passed in the house. Here's why:

In 2014 people with pre-existing conditions will not be able to be denied. I think pre-existing conditions should be divided up into behavioral pre-existing conditions and non-behavioral pre-existing conditions. People with problems from smoking, obesity, and alcoholism shouldn't be subsidized from taxes or insurance premium by people who exercise and make good choices. If you choose to smoke or drink you should be able to pay a little more to cover your health expenses due to that choice.

Starting in 2013, flexible spending accounts will be limited to a $2,500 maximum and you will no longer be able to use the accounts for over-the-counter medicines. Seriously? Matt and I have a high deductible plan so instead of paying $350 a month we pay $170 a month with a $5,000 deductible. We then put the monthly difference in an Health Savings Account we can use for those things that aren't covered (like over-the-counter medicines) tax free. Why should we not be able to do this? Caping the amount you can put in will just make people put in less and not allow them to pay their bills is they are on a high deductible plan.

They didn't address malpractice. I blogged about this back in Sept, and I still think it is a big root problem, but democrats are basically in bed with lawyers, so nothing will change.

The Country's Triple A rating. This health reform bill is going to cost a lot of money that we don't have. State and federal governments keep passing legislation for more and more entitlement programs without the money to back it. When Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security were first implemented the life expectancy was 65. Now that life expectancy is 75, why can't we move back the age to 60 or 65 instead of 55?

There is a good synopsis in The New York Times if you are interested.

Book Recommendations

2010-03-02T17:30:00.003-07:00

I have read a few good books lately and I thought I would share.

Twilight First off, yes, I read Twilight. Yes, all of them. I hate to admit it and I really held out for a long time, but I liked it. It was a quick fun read, but I am not obsessed with it. Does it seem weird to anybody else that women my age LOVE the book and think Edward and Jacob are hot? They are cute, but to me they just seem too young to be hot.

Mansfield Park I am not a huge Jane Austen fan, but I liked this book. Its about Fanny Price, a girl from a poor family who is sent to live with her rich uncle. Interesting twist at the end, and its always interesting to hear the language in the day.

My Sister's Keeper A lot of you may have seen the movie, but the book has a completely different ending and they left out a ton of things. Its about a girl who was genetically made to be a match for her sister who was diagnosed with cancer, and then sues her parents for the rights to her body. Although a little extreme and dark at times I think it did a good job of portraying how a family deals with cancer and the intricacies of family relationships.

The Last Lecture This is the book about a guy who was dying of cancer and gave one last lecture to his students about his advice on life. It wasn't morbid, but mostly funny stories tied into principles that we should strive for. Pretty quick read and definitely worth it.

1776 We all know that this one is about the Revolution, but it really gives a lot of details that you wouldn't normally hear about. I was so surprised at how much you could see that the hand of God was involved in so many battles. Take the Battle of New York where weather conditions enabled the troops to build fortifications overnight without the enemy seeing, then retreat in a vial of fog.

A Marvelous Work and a Wonder This is part of the Missionary Reference library and was originally part of a training document for missionaries. LeGrand Richards, an apostle in the 70s and early 80s goes through different aspects of Mormonism and proves they are in accordance with the Bible, and explains them. Includes great scripture references to prove the point.

Jesus the Christ This has been a really hard book to get through and I am almost done with it. It is amazing. It combines the scriptures and basically goes through the birth, life and resurrection of Christ. It is so detailed and I have learned a lot and I have been able to understand principles of the gospel better. Do you know that it is pretty much considered the closest book to scripture other than the scriptures? It was written over several years mostly in the temple.

The Lost Symbol I just started this one, its Dan Brown's new thriller. I always find his books interesting because he makes them seem so plausible by adding in a lot of information and research that is true. I liked Di Vinci Code and Angels and Demons so I thought I would give it a whirl.

Cake or Fruit Experiment

2010-01-27T16:59:00.004-07:00

I was listening to NPR the other morning on the way to work and Morning Edition was talking about an interesting experiment. These scientists gave participants either a 7 digit number or a 2 digit number to remember, then they were told they needed to memorize the number and then go to another room an recite it. On their way to the room, they were interrupted by a person who asked if they wanted a snack. Participants could choose between chocolate cake or fruit. What is interesting is that people who had to remember a 7 digit number were twice as likely to choose the chocolate cake, and those who had to remember a 2 digit number were twice as likely to choose fruit. The theory is that if you have more on your mind, or are more stressed you are more likely to make irrational decisions (like wanting gooey, yummy chocolate cake) that you probably shouldn't. The idea is that rational part of your brain is occupied with trying to remember the 7 digit number and it can't make the rational decision that fruit would be better for you. What really baffles me is that it only takes 7 numbers to make us choose chocolate cake. I feel a lot more justified in my food choices now. To listen to the story click here.

Seriously, So Blessed

2010-01-19T10:29:00.008-07:00

For any of you who have not heard about this blog it is hilarious. It's this lady who fake blogs and makes fun of the Mormon Mommy Blogs. She has a frumpy sister-in-law, two ex-fiances and a single spinster friend who has brown hair and is going on a mission - weird! Check out some of the posts that made me laugh.

Happy Anniversary To Me ... Well Us

To My Searching Sisterz

What Mite Have Been View Blog

He's Back ....

2010-01-12T11:22:00.012-07:00

Can you believe it has already been two years, that went fast. Jesse has been really the only person close to me that I knew before their mission, wrote to during, and welcomed home at the airport. Can you believe that was my first time welcoming a missionary home at the airport, it was so fun. We all tried to hide from him behind the escalator, but then he saw us and said, "Nice try ladies," and danced down the escalator. Great to have you back Jesse!

Christmas!

2009-12-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

Christmas was great! We got a real tree the day after Thanksgiving and it smelled amazing, until we went to Hawaii and it drooped so much that some of the ornaments fell off. It was really dead and a mess to get out, but I still vote for real. The night before Christmas Eve the Robinsons all went to Benihana, on a carriage ride and then to see the lights. Christmas itself was a little crazy. We went to six different houses and ate way too much food, but it was fun to see everybody.

Hawaii

2009-12-27T00:05:00.002-07:00

My whole family went on a vacation to the Big Island the week before Christmas. It was amazing! My favorite thing was the scuba dive we went on. First, we were driving to the spot and we ran into a huge pod of dolphins. The boat was small with a square front, so Matt and I laid on the front and we were able to reach down and touch the dolphins, it was so cool. Then on the dive we saw about 12 sea turtles, 2 reef sharks, about 4-5 feet long, and an eagle ray! Plus it had tons of cool caverns to swim through. Needless to say, it was the best dive I have ever been on. We also went on a cool Helicopter ride over the steep rain forest valleys with gorgeous waterfalls. Then while we were flying along the coast we saw a huge whale that surfaced several times. We also went on some little hikes to amazing waterfalls and spent a day in Volcano National Park. There weren't any live lava flows, but we stayed till dark and got to see the red grow coming out of the Kilauea Iki crater. It was really cool. Our resort was amazing as well, you could snorkel and see sea turtles from the beach and they had the most amazing breakfasts, we never ate lunch. Thanks Mama and Papa D!

Things I Love Right Now

2009-11-25T08:48:00.001-07:00

My friend did this a while back and I thought I would too:

My Job - after not having one for four months I find myself a little too happy to go to work sometimes. My job has been such a blessing. My boss from two years ago randomly called me to see if I wanted my old job back. It was so unexpected and we were really getting desperate. I know that the Lord heard my prayers to help me find a job. Besides that, my job is awesome. I am in charge of a show called Classic Conference Talks on The Mormon Channel and basically I find and read cool old conference talks and select the ones that should be on the show. So basically I am being paid for reading conference talks.

My toaster oven - want something warm, yet crisp? this is the greatest invention ever.

My electric heated mattress pad - I love to be really warm when I sleep and Matt hates to be warm, so this mattress pad is perfect cause I can just heat up my side, not his.

Jesus the Christ - if you haven't read it you should, so much insight

Snow - its beautiful and I love skiing in powder

Our Couch - cuddling has never been so enjoyable

My Digital Photo Frame - it on my desk at work and it seriously keeps me entertained sometimes

My cute niece Zia - she is so funny and brings so much joy to our family

Newest Member of Our Family

2009-11-19T16:59:00.004-07:00

I would like to introduce my birthday present, a new Mac. I love it so much. My previous computer was purchased in the year 2002! Can you believe that! People drive cars for 8 years, not have the same computer. It has so many cool gadgets and features I have been totally obsessed. My birthday was awesome - my family cooked me the most amazing Sunday Dinner with my favorite dessert, Creme Brulee. Then, Marin surprised me with a creme brulee blowtorch and little dishes! We all know I can't cook very well and don't like too, but I think for creme brulee I would. Besides, the recipe is pretty easy. I also got a new tennis raquet, ski passes and some money for clothes. The Robinson's took me out to dinner at the Silver Fork Lodge up Big Cottonwood and it was so yummy. It is a quaint rustic lodge with a view of the valley and they have great food. Matt and I had planned a fun day visitng the Zoo, but we got sick and it was snowing. I love elephants and I wanted to see the new baby one. Click here to see the video. They also have a baby snow leopard, a baby giraffe, and tigers. Now its way cold, but we may just wait until the Christmas lights are up to go. Thanks to everyone for making my birthday great!

The Abs Diet?

2009-11-16T13:02:00.003-07:00

I am not the type of person that tries fad diets, but I just finished reading this book called The Abs Diet by the editor of Men's Health magazine and I think it makes some very good points. Basically, it tells you to focus on muscle building rather than endurance or running and tells you to increase your protein, fiber, and whole grains and limit carbs that are high on the Glycemic index. He says Carbs like white rice and white bread are high on the glycemic index, which means they create spikes in blood sugar levels. This gives us quick energy, but then leaves us hungry and in need of energy sooner. Proteins and fibers help us feel fuller longer because they are harder to break down and give us longer lasting energy. He says our body also burns more calories to digest these foods and they also help our metabolism. High glycemic foods are also more likely to turn into fat. He recommends concentrating on lifting weights because he says after the first 20 minutes of aerobic exercise our bodies start using our muscle mass for energy. That is why runners are so skinny. He says weight lifting also burns more calories in the long run because your body uses a lot of calories repairing muscles broken down by lifting. I have only been trying this for a little while, but I can really tell that I do feel fuller longer by eating more protein and whole grains and fiber. If you know me my favorite things are cereal, rolls, and high glycemic foods, but I have tried to eliminate those foods, and changed them to whole grain, not just wheat. Anyway, well see if it works, let me know what you think. Now if I can just keep away from the leftover Halloween candy.

Too Many Jobs?

2009-10-16T16:04:00.002-06:00

I never thought I would say it but I now have jobs coming out of the air. I have been working part-time for the Deseret News, then this guy in our ward hired me to do some part-time marketing consulting, then my friend who works for Utah travel wants me to do some video editing for his company, then my previous boss from the Church Audiovisual Department called me and asked for me to come back part-time, then I got hired as a ski instructor at Solitude part-time. Then the Church called back and said they had another part-time position working for the Church Radio Station. I think I hadn't had offers to do anything for so long I just said yes to anything! So basically I decided to do editing, marketing consulting, and then both Church jobs. I start full-time on Monday and I am a little scared. After not working full-time for 4 months that will be an adjustment. So I celebrated my last week by playing tennis three times, and playing golf and volleyball. Not too bad for my last week of freedom. Goodbye PJ's, Hello Pantyhose.

Pandas are Amazing

2009-10-06T09:52:00.000-06:00

Why are babies dancing so funny?

2009-09-24T12:53:00.001-06:00

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

I Got a Job! (kinda)

2009-09-17T14:48:00.002-06:00

So I applied at the Deseret News as a reporter, and they had 250 people apply from all over the nation, some with 8 or 9 years experience, so I didn't get that job, but I met with the Editor and he said that he liked my samples and since I haven't done newspaper before he wanted to train me and see if something could work out. So I am working part-time for them until December. Well see how it goes, I am hoping it gets me a foot in the door, but now I have to try and find another part-time job, which could be even harder. Anyhoo, here is a link to my first story.

Health Care

2009-09-09T19:21:00.002-06:00

Overall, I thought Obama wasn't as one-sided as I thought he would be. He didn't say a government health care system was mandatory, he didn't say illegal aliens should have coverage, and I like how he called out both parties to stop bickering. One of the main problems was his idea that insurance companies are "profit mongers" and have all this room for savings and improving efficiency. He also thinks Medicare has room for cost savings measures that could save hundreds of billions of dollars? Are there huge travel budgets and bonuses we are not aware of, because I don't think there are. I sat in on the Utah State Legislature when they had to cut their Medicaid and Medicare budgets, and let me tell you, there is not much fat to cut.

The other main problem is that Obama will not get behind limiting medical malpractice. Obama thinks Heath Care is expensive and continues to be more expensive because of increasing administration costs, inefficiencies, etc, but the main problem is that medical technology is improving and Doctors are ordering more tests to cover themselves from junk lawsuits and malpractice. If malpractice lawsuits were capped, Doctors probably wouldn't order quite as many tests. Malpractice Insurance is a huge cost to Doctors that could be minimized.

Polymorphous Light Eruption!

2009-09-08T22:31:00.000-06:00

Over the last few years I have been getting what I thought was a heat rash after spending a lot of time in the sun at Lake Powell, or Hawaii, or wherever. Turns out, I went California and visited my Aunt Jeane Anne and she said she has the same thing. So I went to the Doctor and he said basically that I am allergic to the SUN! Basically my skin thinks that UV rays are the same as something like poison ivy, and it creates a rash to get rid of it. It is a genetic chemical reaction! Crazy huh? The Doctor says it can appear when people are in their twenties, and it NEVER goes away. His solution: wear 75 spf, stay out of the sun or wear long sleeves ... awesome. I have been prescribed to the life of a hermit. The rash doesn't really ever get that bad, unless I am on a beach vacation, so maybe I can find a happy compromise. I guess I will never really be that tan again, not that I ever was but don't laugh if I am pasty white in July next year.

Summer Project Done!

2009-08-31T17:32:00.007-06:00

Our summer project was to refinish our deck, which I don't think had been touched for 15 years since the house was built. At first I wanted to sand the entire thing so that we could stain it because I love the look of natural wood, but we couldn't get the paint off. We first rented an industrial sander from Home Depot, and then we did the rest by hand. The problem was that the wood was so worn that it had grooves in it that you couldn't sand very well. It was kind of sad, but I think the brown paint ended up looking really good. The only bad thing was our renters having to put up with all the sawdust and tarps for painting, thanks Dan and Cassie! And thanks to my wonderful parents who came and helped paint.

Grand Canyon & Saint George

2009-08-24T11:00:00.006-06:00

The Decker clan finally went on a vacation together! We went down to St. George and then to the Grand Canyon. It was so fun! We played a ton of tennis, did some serious lounging by the pool, and biked and hiked in Snow Canyon. Then we rented a sick boat and went boating two of the days. The wake was huge and we did a bunch of wakesurfing. Then we went down to the Grand Canyon. I called the Lodge that is right on the North Rim of the Canyon and they magically had a cancellation when you normally have to make a reservation two years in advance, so we got to stay right on the rim. I can't believe I have lived 6 hours away from the Grand Canyon and had never been there. Oh, and don't worry that on our way my Dad drove us through Colorado City. It was really sad, all the polygamist women were stnading in line with boxes for food. I'm not sure how that worked, but it was sad. When we first arrived at the Canyon it was a major downpour and we were afraid we weren't going to be able to see anything, but that evening it cleared up so we got some great pics of the sunset with the clouds. It was pretty cold though, most people don't know that the rim is at about 9000 ft, which is the base of Snowbird. There are tall pines and it looks just like Yellowstone. Anyway, If you haven't gone, go, it is breath taking.

Fat Kid Diet!

2009-08-15T17:52:00.004-06:00

Everybody knows that I would never blog on U football unless it was to dog them, but this article touched another one of my passions besides BYU football, eating. The U has just named true Freshman Jordan Wynn as their number one QB and I just thought I would share the 10,000 calorie diet he went on to gain 43 pounds since April. He was 6'1" 152 and is now 195. Amazing. Here is his diet:

2 a.m. » 2 protein shakes

Breakfast » 2 eggs, 3-4 slices of bacon, 3-4 sausages, 2 biscuits and gravy

Mid-morning snack » 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Lunch » Whatever the cafeteria serves, such as a two chicken sandwiches or cheeseburgers, and lots of milk

Mid-afternoon snack » 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Dinner » Cafeteria food again, lots of cheeseburgers or pasta

Bedtime snack » Peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a protein shake

Imagine if you could eat that much food, it sounds amazing, but it actually makes me a little sick thinking about it. Fat Kids do love Peanut Butter so 4 PB & J's a day would be awesome.

Michael Jackson

2009-08-11T17:41:00.001-06:00

I wrote this post a while ago, but Matt, being the Micheal Jackson fan that he is said it was too harsh, so I took it down, but after the topic being brought up with a few friends of ours the other night, I re-wrote it and I want to hear what people think.

We all can admit that Michael Jackson is probably the most innovative, amazing dancer in the world, and he has a great voice, but I guess I am struggling with everyone celebrating his life like he was the most amazing person ever. Granted he was never convicted of anything, but have you seen that clip of him saying that there is nothing wrong with him sharing a bed at age forty with an unrelated 12-year-old boy? Matt is a hard core Micheal Jackson fan and we were debating whether his contribution of great music overshadows the shady things he may have done. He may have made people happy with his songs, but I don't think that makes up for the weird things he may have done with boys. Although I like his music, he just creeps me out. He did give a lot of money to different charities, and I know he has a lot that he has had to deal with being a child star and the abuse of his dad, but does that justify his crazy behavior? What do you think?

Stories From Our Callings

2009-08-04T15:13:00.005-06:00

Our ward had youth conference at Camp Williams, which is a Army training base. It was really cool, we went rappelling and did an obstacle course and one of the nights we had a dance with another stake and some of the priests were hanging out outside the dance being too cool and one of the leaders from the other stake who was a big burly guy with a go-tee comes out of the dance and yells to the priests, " either you guys get in here and ask girls to dance or your dancing with me." And all the priests ran inside, it was hilarious!

Then Matt was giving his Sunday School Lesson to the 14-15 yr olds and he was talking about how he and I had just watched special on WWII on a Saturday night (it related somehow I promise). Then at the end of the lesson he asked one of the kids to pray and he prayed that Matt would take his wife out on a Saturday night!

Also, my young women are seriously awesome. They know so much about the gospel and they are such good examples to me and I actually sometimes say things that get me in trouble. For example, one of the girls was talking about a guy at EFY who was hitting on her and he was almost nineteen and I said, "Isn't he a little old to be going to EFY?" and one of the other girls said something like they wanted to go to EFY as long as they possible because it is so amazing. Oops, put in my place again. Anyway, I thought those were funny.

McCall

2009-07-27T11:00:00.004-06:00

The Robinson's good family friends the Hyde's live in Boise and their son Landon was leaving for his mission to Brazil so we went up to McCall and Boise for the farewell. McCall was beautiful, we stayed in this amazing cabin and we rented waverunners and went boating, with some amazing tubbing thanks to Brents driving skills. We also went golfing at the Jug Mountain golf course, it was so nice, but a realy hard course. Basically the rough is 3 feet of bushes so if you hit it even a foot off the fairway you lose your ball. Matt, Cole and I lost so many balls. I also made Matt go on a hike with me up to Louie Lake. It was 4 miles round trip and so pretty. We were sitting by the lake and we kept wondering why their were so many flies until we stood up to leave and I saw a nasty dead squirrel right behind us. Gross. Then we had an epic River Rafting trip. All of the kids got thrown in at least once if not twice adn everybody got soaked, it was so fun. Here are some pics and a video.

Cali!

2009-07-27T10:59:00.000-06:00

Marin, my mom and I headed out to Cali to visit my mom's best friend Carol and to hang out with my friend from college Aubrey who is going to Brazil on a mission. It was so fun, Marin and my mom ate amazing seafood, we hung out on the beach and I went surfing. We also hung out with my aunt Jean Anne and uncle Walt and their family. We tried to make it to the Getty museum but it didn't work out, maybe next time. Thanks Carol for letting us stay!

Bear Lake

2009-07-27T10:41:00.007-06:00

We have been going a little crazy on the little weekend getaways, I am actually really excited to be home for a while. The first trip was Bear Lake with a bunch of Matt's group of friends from high school. Taylor, Jessica and Azariah were in Utah from China so we all got together. It was a blast, I think I got a shake every day. The water was fairly choppy, but we still got in a few good runs, we played tennis and basketball and then played on the sandbar beach. Here are some pics.

Bahamas!

2009-06-27T17:50:00.005-06:00

So the next day after the race Matt and I headed off to the Bahamas! Matt has been in a insurance sales training program for a year and the top salesmen get to go on a Bahamas cruise for free. It was great we went from Miami to Nassau, where we walked around the town then snuck into the Atlantis Resort, which is really cool. They have an aquarium, great beaches, and amazing water slides.

The next day we went to Coco Cay which is the Royal Caribbean's private island thing which is kind of cheesy and touristy, but the beach was beautiful. I took my goggles and would dive down and look at the fish, then come back up for air. It was quite exhausting, but made me feel like I was a dolphin, and since I wanted to be a marine biologist growing up the trip was amazing.

The next day was Key West and it was raining pretty hard so Matt and I walked around town, got some amazing key lime pie, and went to the Aquarium where they had huge sea turtles which are Matt's favorite so we spent a while just watching them. We heard this story about how Key West became a rich city in the days of treasure hunting because the people would direct ships into the reef to crash so they could steal their treasure. The ship got into Miami at 9 in the morning and our flight didn't leave until three so Matt and I decided to go hang out at South Beach. But we didn't have anywhere to put our luggage so we drag it to the beach, only to find out that it was the gay section! So then we had to lug our luggage through the sand to the non-gay section. We were only there for about an hour and a half when this huge storm came up and we had to leave, but it was fun while it lasted. Here are some pics.

Wasatch Back

2009-06-27T17:22:00.004-06:00

So these ladies in my ward called me last Thursday and said that one of their team members for the Wasatch Back Relay dropped out and asked if I could run in her place. We all know how much I obviously don't run, but I decided to do it anyway, but I really had no idea what I was getting into. It was a 12 person 188 mile relay race from Logan to Park City. I was crazy! But so much fun. I of course got to run the easiest legs, my first one was 5.1 miles and I was really proud of myself that I just ran the entire way. Then my next leg my IT band (the ligament on the outside of the leg from hip to knee) got really tight and by the end of the next 4.2 mile stretch at eight pm the same night it was really hurting. We slept from about midnight to four in the morning then got up and by then my knee was really tight and hurting so by the time I ran the next leg. I was seriously gimpy and one of the other runners ran the last 1.6 miles of that stretch. Anyway, it was really fun and a good experience. Here are some pictures of the team, called Tortuga after the place where pirates hang out.

We Were Trying to Lay Low ...

2009-06-15T10:19:00.002-06:00

We have been in our new ward since December and we were kind of liking the fact that we hadn't received a calling yet, then the storm hit. I got called as a Laurel Adviser, Matt was called to teach Sunday School for the 15-16 year-olds, we both were called to the Youth Conference Committee, and then we were asked to speak in sacrament. I guess you could say they found us. It has been awesome so far though, its amazing how many more people you meet once you have a calling and how much more you feel included in the ward. My Laurels are awesome! So Sunday was our talk and the Bishopric asked us to speak for 8-10 minutes each. So we get there and the third speaker must have canceled or something cause there was one youth speaker, then us. It was so funny, Matt and I were sitting on the stand scribbling on our papers, trying to think of more things to say. Don't worry that I wipped out an 18 minute talk and Matt spoke for 15 minutes. Amazing. Anyway, I also read this article in Time the other day that talks about The Church and Gay Marriage. It was actually pretty fair. The Church and Gay Marriage: Are Mormons Misunderstood?

South America Pics

2009-05-29T20:51:00.005-06:00

I posted the pics on facebook, but here are the links if you aren't on it.

Peru

Brazil and Argentina

Argentina

2009-05-29T20:35:00.004-06:00

Argentina was the whole reason we got to go on the trip. Matt's Insurance company won an incentive trip and it was amazing. They put us up in a really nice hotel, gave us three course meals for every meal, and more meat that I have ever seen or eaten in my whole life. Some of the meat was kind of fatty proving our theory that America takes food from every country and makes it better. Rodizio in Salt Lake was better than the Churrascarias in Brasil and the Rodizios in Argentina. We toured Buenos Aires, which has a very French European feel and then we went to an area outside of the city that had a buch of little rivers that is only accessible by boat where tons of people lived in cute littel houses with docks. We also went to Colonia, Uruguay which is a quaint old city with cool houses and a cool old lighthouse. I would have to say the highlight of the Argentina part was the Tango shows we went to. They were amazing, I didn't know the things they were doing were possible (in a non-sexual way). It was pretty cool to see. Well, I guess that is our trip.

Peru

2009-05-28T15:27:00.005-06:00

We flew into Lima, checked out the historical district and the Gold museum, which was awesome. Its crazy how much European influence the cities in South America have, but then again I guess most cities have European influence because they are the ones that settled them. We also visited this Church with a crypt below which was pretty creepy. Then we went to Cuzco, which is a city at about 12,000 feet and a ton of the buildings are built right on top of Incan walls. Then we went into the Sacred Valley where we stayed in this little Peruvian cottage with our own cook and everything, she was so cute. The next day we headed off to Machu Picchu. The ruins themselves weren't that amazing, but the location and the scenery are what make it so cool. Also, not very much is known about the people that lived there so its not as interesting as Pompeii. Matt's birthday present from his parents was a one night stay at the Sanctuary Lodge, which is the only hotel at the entrance of the park. It was awesome and it was so nice to be able to get up early and walk to the entrance rather than take the windy hour bus ride from the town below. That was we got to see the ruins when they were really uncroweded. We made a critical blunder though. We came from Cuzco, which was really cold, and we were told just to take enough stuff to Machu Picchu for 2 days because the train wouldn't be able to hold all our luggage. So we packed thinking Machu Piccu would be cold and I took two long sleeved shirts adn jeans. Little did we know that it was a few thousand feet lower and in the middle of the jungle so we were so hot! Plus we didn't know there were amazing hikes in the area, which we ended up doing in our long sleeves and jeans. Oh my gosh, I can't remember the last time I was that hot. One of the hikes was amazing, we hiked the main peak behind Machu Picchu called Wynupicchu, and the views were amazing.

Brasil

2009-05-27T20:59:00.012-06:00

Since we saw so much on our trip to South America I thought I would start with Brasil. We first went to Sao Paulo where Matt served his mission. It was so neat seeing where he served, but it was really sad because he served mostly in very poor areas called favelas. We couldn't get out and walk because it would be too dangerous, but we drove through the area and I couldn't believe how small and cramped the houses are with little winding alleys between these little shacks. Matt said that the government had actually paved some of the roads and improved the area a little because of Brasils economy so that was good to hear. Its crazy, Matt talked about seeing little kids so happy to be playing soccer in the street with a two liter bottle, and how it reminds us of all the things that we have, but how a lot of us are still not happy. Sao Paulo is also one of the worlds largest cities with something like 25 million people. We went up to the top of this tall building to get a view of the city and there was this really nice restaurant at the top that we decided to eat at, but it was really funny cause we were both in shorts and tee-shirts and the matradee looked at us like we were crazy that we wanted to eat there. It was so cool though, we had a 180 degree view of continuous skyscrapers. Here is a picture of it. Next we went to Rio de Janiero which is amazing. It has beautiful soft sand beaches, big green steep peaks in the middle of skyscrapers. Then we went up to the statue of the Christ that overlooks the city, which they blindfold during their carnival celebration, and got a view of the city. We also saw a soccer game in the Macana stadium, which is one of the biggest in the world, once cramming in 200,000 people. The game was as intense as the fans and it was way more enjoyable than a Real Salt Lake game mainly because they were always being agressive with tons of shots on goal. After Rio, we headed to Iguazu Falls which was so cool. There is a big part that is amazing, but then probably 40 other smaller to medium sized waterfalls in the area. Even after seeing amazing waterfalls in New Zealand, this one blew them out of the water, literally.

Integrity

2009-05-06T22:45:00.004-06:00

in⋅teg⋅ri⋅ty

adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty. Everyone knows that non-profit organizations struggle in economic recessions, so I have been a little worried about my job for the past few months. However, the one thing that reassured me was that when I asked in staff meetings how we were doing that everyone told me we were fine, that our pledge drive revenue was down and we were cutting expenses, but that we all shouldn't worry. Imagine my surprise when I got called in and laid-off. During the meeting I told our management that I was very upset with the way they handled the situation. They should have let employees know that the company was in trouble. Our finances were so bad that they had to lay-off 2 people, cut salaries for others, and cut programming; does that sound like everything was fine? When I asked them about it they said they didn't want people leaving. Are you kidding me? That is basically lying to your employees and putting the company before employees. I wouldn't have jumped ship, but I just wish I would have been a little more prepared or looking around at the job market. I really like our management otherwise, but what a huge lack of Integrity. Here is a blog in the Salt Lake Tribune about KCPW's lay-offs.

Interesting Stories

2009-04-27T15:56:00.004-06:00

I usually don't do this, but I have done a couple interesting stories lately and I thought I would post links to them. You can also follow KCPW on Twitter, or I post the more interesting stories to my twitter, FaroeR.

Utah is above the national average in one violent crime, rape. Here are some of the misunderstandings about it.
My personal belief is that Global Warming has not been proven to be related to greenhouse gases. The founder of the weather channel agrees, here is what he had to say about it.
If you are freaking out about Swine Flu, here is some advice on symptoms and precautions that people should take, as well as what Utah is doing about it.

Lone Survivor

2009-04-17T16:37:00.004-06:00

I don't know how many of you have heard of this book, but Matt and I just read it and I thought I would share some perspective I have gained from it. It is the story of Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal who is sent into the mountains of Afghanistan to find the leader of a Taliban village. While he and his team are scoping out the village, a couple goat herders come by and see them. The team is faced with the decision of whether to kill them or risk that they will tell the Taliban where they are. The team decides to let them go, against their military instincts, and soon after hundreds of Taliban are attacking them. Marcus says that the only reason America isn't winning outright in Iraq and Afghanistan is that American's have Rules of Engagement and they don't. He talks about how groups of Taliban will pass right by the American troops, disguised as goat herders or as a camel caravan and nothing can be done about it because of outlash from American politicians and media. He says that the Taliban have learned that they can claim they have been tortured and American Troops will get in trouble. The other main problem chronicled in the book is the cooperation of local tribes. Marcus says if the tribes were able to stand up to the Taliban with support of the government the Taliban wouldn't be powerful. Whether Iraq or Afghanistan are funding the Taliban and Al Quaeda is ebside the point, they could help stop the problem if they wanted to.

Wicked!

2009-04-13T15:14:00.003-06:00

So one of the only cool perks I have ever gotten from my job is getting free Wicked tickets! It was awesome. I was totally skeptical as I am with anything that could be cheesy, (like a musical) but it was honestly hilarious. I was resiting the Wicked bandwagon and how trendy the soundtrack has become, but now I can see why. It wasn't just some regular musical that kids giggle at, it was really clever. The only thing that made the experience not so enjoyable was the teenage girl singing to all the songs a row behind me! Are you kidding? And when she sat down she said, "Mom, I thought you said we had good tickets?" and the seats were honestly great. What a brat, what is our society coming to? I must admit that I think Utah does need a better theater for touring Broadway shows. The capitol theater is really nice, but the seats are so close to one another that my knees touched at 5' 8". Also they had eight bathrooms in the entire building, so there was a huge line. I don't know if a new theater would need to be 2,400 seats, or if Capitol or another theater could be renovated, but the show sold out and the managers said if Utah had a bigger stadium the show could have stayed longer.

Matt is Officially a Fat Kid

2009-03-31T09:46:00.003-06:00

We all know Matt loves to eat as much as the next guy, but last night he made it official that he is a Fat Kid. We were eating burritos and he got some sauce on the side of his mouth and he took the burrito and wiped the sauce back on the burrito from his face, then continued eating. Fat Kids don't waste any sauce. Shortly after that he was eating a some of Zia's birthday cake with his hand over the sink. Welcome Matt, welcome.

Zia's First Birthday Party!

2009-03-30T06:54:00.012-06:00

Great Spring Skiing

2009-03-30T06:22:00.009-06:00

What is with this weather, its teasing me, warm two weeks ago, now freezing. So much cold and snow, but the only good thing about it is great spring skiing. Here are some pics of Matt and I at Snowbird.

Randoms Why's

2009-03-26T10:00:00.001-06:00

Why does the toilet-paper holder in public bathrooms always get stuck and only give you two squares at a time?
Why do the Cafe Rio employees ask you what you want on your meal like a drill Sargent, don't they know I can't make food decisions that fast?
Why do I say that I don't need help from a stranger moving a huge box out of my car when I really do?
Why are the little drape things over windows called window treatments? That sounds so weird.
Why do people think it's okay to talk on a cell phone in a bathroom stall?
Why would anyone want their death advertised on a billboard?
Why don't you ever see baby pigeons?

Draper Temple Dedication

2009-03-23T10:44:00.003-06:00

Even though the Draper Temple was just dedicated this weekend it has already been so cool to have it right by our new house. Sometimes when I have been coming home I have looked up at it lit up on the hill and it just brings a sense of peace and calm into my usually exhausting day. Matt and I volunteered for the Open House and again for the Dedication and we didn't have tickets for the dedication in the actual temple, but we ended up getting in and we were sitting right by the baptismal font. I'm sure many of you watched it, but President Monson's promise that regular temple attendance would help us be more spiritually aware and be able to keep the commandments better really made me want to go more often. He also spoke of the sacrifice of people who have to save up and go to the temple, when Matt and I could walk there. Its crazy how blessed we are, and also also that being close to a temple makes me feel an increased responsibility to go. I also thought it was interesting that President Monson talked about people trying to desecrate the temple and its importance. The Church came out with a YouTube video on the importance and sacredness of temples right when the Big Love episode was going to air. Click here to view it. I wonder how many of the 75,000 hits are actually people whose perspectives might have been changed by it. Probably not a lot. It was funny, during Sunday School the teacher was talking about the Open House and what a great blessing it was and how many of us who didn't take a non-member should have. She said, "When is the next time we are going to have an Temple Open House in Utah?" and it was funny because everyone answered that there would be one in July for the Oquirrh Temple. Crazy. I also had an interesting conversation with my boss. He said temple ceremonies weren't necessary because when Chirst came he got rid of rituals. I answered that Christ got rid of hypocritical ceremonies and animal sacrifices, not all rituals, stating how Christ showed the Apostles how to partake of the sacrament. He seemed to agree with what I said, but who knows. Anyway, Temples are awesome.

This Even Grossed Out a Fat Kid

2009-03-15T20:36:00.004-06:00

So I am in the bathroom at the legislature, and there is a woman talking on her phone in the next stall over. Why people think this is okay is beyond me, what if the person on the other end hears something, gross. Then she proceeds to order a hamburger from Hires. She is ordering take-out from the bathroom stall. Disgusting! What is this world coming to, don't people have any manners, or inclination of what is appropriate? p.s. If you don't know what a fat kid is click here.

Guns

2009-03-13T14:15:00.002-06:00

I promise I am almost done ranting, but the other issue in gun control. The Utah legislature actually lessened restrictions on guns this session, allowing a loaded gun to be concealed, and for a gun to be taken to and from work, and even those were a fight. I don't understand the government's stance on guns. Why limit where and when a regular citizen has a gun when the real problem is with criminals. Criminals aren't going to obey the laws anyway, so why regulate citizen's use. The more citizens that have guns, the more intimidated a criminal will be to go into a store and hold it up. If a gun doesn't give a criminal power because others have guns, then crimes are less likely to happen. When Matt and I went to Israel there were tons of Israeli citizens who were in the Army walking around with huge machine guns. At first it was a little scary, but after a while it made me feel really safe. If the guns are in the hands of the right people it is a safety measure, not a threat. I feel the issue needs to be addressed by more detailed background checks for people wanting a gun, and limits on who can have one after committing a crime, but the criminals who want one are still going to get a gun. That is why our second amendment rights shouldn't be as limited. Why do you think the expression exists, "its like bringing a knife to a gun fight."

Immigration

2009-03-13T13:45:00.002-06:00

The legislative session is over now, so hopefully I won't post two many more long rants, but I have to touch on a few issues. The first is immigration. I must preface my comments with this: I am sympathetic to the lose-lose situation that Mexican Immigrants face. They can't get good jobs in their own country, so they are almost forced to sneak into America. Having said that, I feel that too many people are condoning the illegal acts that come along with it. If you think about it, if you come here illegally, you are either forging documents or stealing someone's identity to work, which is a felony I might add, or you are being paid under the table, depriving the country of much needed tax dollars. If an illegal immigrant doesn't work, then they are most likely involved in criminal activity in order to make money. Why is the Utah legislature passing legislation allowing illegal immigrants to get in-state tuition, when legal citizens from neighboring states can't? Why are they arguing that legal immigrants should be immediately able to get on state welfare programs, without a wait period? I'm not saying I have a solution to the whole problem, but why is Utah becoming a sanctuary state? Legislators did vote for a strike force to combat crimes associated with illegal immigration, but then some legislators were concerned that they would crack down on employers who have illegal immigrant employees. Why shouldn't we crack down on them? Like I said, they are either stealing ID's or being paid under the table.

Big Jerks

2009-03-10T09:35:00.004-06:00

I'm sure most of you have heard that the HBO show Big Love is supposed to show a LDS Temple Ceremony in their upcoming episode on March 15th. The executive producer, Mark Olsen was quoted as saying “But it’s not for shock value. It’s really a very important part of the story." I wanted to post a link to the comments section to HBO. I'm not sure if our comments will do anything, but here is the link. Also, here is an article about the show. And here is the Church's response to Big Love in general, and an overall response to these type of things.

My Day in Nouns

2009-03-04T14:17:00.002-07:00

My friend Kendal did this and it was pretty cool. Alarm. Snooze. Snooze. Shower. Make-up. Kiss. Commute. Traffic. Illegal Carpool Lane. Coldplay. Committee. Bills. Lawmakers. Discussion. Legislators. Bills. Debate. Facebook. Blog. Dose. Interview. PB and J. More bills. More Debate. More Lawmakers. Commute. Traffic. Cell Phone. Matt. Mom. Home. Stories. Kiss. Stories. Dinner? Crap Dinner. Leftovers. Couch. CNN. DVR Movie. Toothbrush. Scriptures. Prayer. Kiss. Love. Pillow.

Snowbasin With Zac

2009-03-01T20:30:00.011-07:00

It was a pretty crusty snow day, but Zac and I started out on JP and it probably took us close to an hour to get down to the bottom, it was like skiing on rocks. I had to pretty much jump turn to edge through it. But after that we hiked up to Middle Cirque and found some good snow. Here is me coming down it, I was kinda sucking it up, but you get the idea.

Interesting, Yet Dumbed Down Version of Credit Crisis

2009-02-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Stimulus Shmimulus

2009-02-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

I am just full of opinions today. Every legislative session US Congressman and Senators come and speak to the local legislators, and this year it has been all about the stimulus package. All of them voiced their concerns saying how crappy it is, and know that I have heard their complaints I can't believe enough people supported it for it to pass. The main thing that chaps my hide is that only seven percent of the funds will be used in 09' just 20 percent in 2010. Economists are predicting that the recession will be over in 2011. What are we thinking? Another thing is that it doesn't address the housing problem. It focuses money of government, not money for individual families. If someone has their house foreclosed on them, how is it going to help them to have new road protects, or new state buildings. I understand that this helps create jobs and specifically construction jobs, but how many people who lost their job in housing construction are now going to do road work? Also, with the bailouts, why are we afraid to let anyone fail? Banks failing cause they did risky loans is part of cleansing the system. They did something stupid, they should have to face the consequences.

This is Pretty Sick

2009-02-22T20:39:00.002-07:00

JT Holmes is an amazing skiier, and now he does this? Fast forward to about 1:00. I wish I had enough guts to base jump, then I could fly! wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Buttars Comments

2009-02-22T13:48:00.004-07:00

(Read background on gay rights bills below before reading) How did Senator Buttars get re-elected? I know it was narrow, but who voted for this guy? Last year during an argument in the Senate over a school-funding bill he said, "This baby is black . . . It's a dark, ugly thing." Buttars says it wasn't meant to be racist, but come on. Now while gay-rights bills are being debated, he is interviewed for a documentary and calls the gay-rights movement "probably the greatest threat to America," likened gay activists to Muslim radicals and dubbed same-sex relationships "abominations." I understand that people have the right to free speech, and that is why he was only kicked off his committee seat rather than kicked out of the senate, but this whole debate has gone too far. At least he didn't say his comments while he was in his role as a legislator, but still. I have been in these meetings where legislators say that they have been getting hate mail for those in support and opposition, calling the gay people fagots, and calling others homophobes. Why do we have to have so much anger and hatred on both sides of this argument? It isn't going to get anyone anywhere. Did the vandalism after Prop 8 get anyone anywhere, or do anything. No. Why should anyone, let alone a Senator speak out in this way? Make a point, tell us the reasoning behind it, be civilized. That is the only way anyone on either side of the debate is going to understand each other. In covering these issues for my job I have to remain neutral and I think it helped me to see the other side of things more clearly. If you feel you understand the other side and still feel the way you do that's fine, but I think that if people strived to at least understand the other side, they wouldn't be able to say hateful things about them.

Gay Rights Bills

2009-02-22T13:26:00.004-07:00

I have been reporting up at the legislature for the past month now, and I must say that the biggest issue has definitely been a group of gay-rights bills called the Common Ground Initiative which all failed in committee hearings. They consist of hospitalization, inheritance, fair workplace and housing rights, along with a state-wide domestic partnership registry. Another bill in the initiative to repeal the last part of Amendment Three, which states that marriage is between a man and a woman and no other domestic union may be recognized as marriage or be given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect, was withdrawn after people speculated that all the bills in the initiative were meant to undermine marriage. I have to say that while I was attending the committee hearings on the bills I found myself torn on some of the bills. As far as hospitalization and inheritance rights I heard a lot of testimony stating that gay couples can already fill out forms to designate their relationships, and make out wills to give themselves these rights. Although I haven't checked into it completely, it sounded like they already have these rights and the argument that it was expensive isn't true. All you need is a notary fee for the forms which is minimal, and an attorney is not needed to draft a will. Some argued that married couples get these rights without doing anything, and I agree, we have a lot less effort, but we still have to apply for a marriage license and everything, and put our spouse in our wills, change insurance benefits, life insurance etc. The one bill that I was strongly in support of and was very amazed that it failed was the fair workplace and housing rights. It is one thing not to give further rights, but allowing people to discriminate against gays is whole other thing. An employer can fire someone specifically because they are gay, can tell that to their face, and nothing ca be done. It would be different if Utah was not an at-will state, but you can fire someone for any reason you want, so how does this cause a problem. People shouldn't be kicked out or fired because they are gay.

Ski Weekend!

2009-02-17T17:12:00.010-07:00

My family wanted to go out of town for President's Day, but it didn't work out, so we pretended we went out of town and just spent a lot of time together and went skiing on Saturday and Monday. Here is a picture of us skiing and a cute picture of my niece Zia. Oh and of course we weren't really skiing GadZoom, we were just using it to get to Little Cloud ... of course.

Beyonce and Justin on SNL

2009-02-13T23:10:00.005-07:00

This is the funniest video, click here to watch Beyonce's Single Ladies video first if you haven't see it.

Stupid Exercise Bike!

2009-02-11T14:47:00.002-07:00

Matt got an exercise bike for Christmas and we finally decided to put it together. Now you would think that a petal would not be hard to put on, but it was! I was trying to thread the screw that is attached to the petal and I realized it wasn't going on right, so I tried to put it apart and it came apart so forcefully it hit my lip and cut it! It is really bad, it started bleeding and I have a bruise below my lip and on the inside of it. I would take a picture and post it, but it would be gross. That is what I get for trying to exercise. I think its a sign.

Correction, Micheal Allred on Mormons

2009-01-23T16:07:00.013-07:00

If all your dishes have your name written on them with masking tape...

You might be a Mormon.

If you post date your checks while shopping on Sunday...

You might be a Mormon.

If your Mom was pregnant at your sister's wedding reception...

You might be a Mormon.

If you pray that your food might "nourish and strengthen your body "before eating doughnuts...

You might be a Mormon.

If at least one of your salad bowls is at a neighbor's house...

You might be a Mormon.

If you've ever written a "Dear-John" to more than two missionaries on the same day....

You might be a Mormon.

If you have never arrived at a meeting on time...

You might be a Mormon.

If you have more wheat stored in your basement than most third world countries...

You might be a Mormon.

If you think it is all right to watch football on Sundays as long as a direct descendant of Brigham Young is playing... You might be a Mormon.

If you have to guess more than five times the name of the child you're disciplining...

You might be Mormon.

And my own addition:

If you say "We had the opportunity" when you want to brag... you might be a Mormon

Jiminy Cricket!

2009-01-20T15:17:00.007-07:00

We all know that I love Carol Mikita, and I think she has the coolest job ever, traveling and covering the church, but I couldn't help but laugh when my co-worker Eric said that she looks like Jiminy Cricket.

Donate to the Band?

2009-01-14T11:29:00.002-07:00

Maybe its because I have been covering so many stories on the effects of the economy on shelters and food banks, but does anybody else think it is stupid that the U of U marching band has received over $85,000 in donations? They were invited to play at Obama's inauguration, but had to pay their own way, which would cost $150,000. In a week they received 85 K when shelters and food banks are struggling. I guess I am sounding like a crazy do-good liberal, but seriously, we are in a recession, people are struggling, and people are giving money to a marching band! In a good economy, sure I'd be fine with it, but at a time when donations to non-profits are at a standstill, it just doesn't seem right.

Hawaii! (to see more click on our Shutterfly page)

2009-01-08T10:57:00.004-07:00

Go Utes?

2009-01-08T10:39:00.003-07:00

Although it is well known that I am a huge BYU fan, I couldn't help but be ecstatic about the Utes win. Matt was obviously really into it and with all the hype and everything I was really glad they won. As much as I don't want to hear it in future discussions about BYU vs. Utah I think it is good for the Mountain West and for critics to realize that non-BCS teams can compete. My family went to New Orleans and this is their picture from the game.

We got Elfed!

2008-12-24T12:01:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards