Don't make me call my flying monkeys...

I have always been a Wizard of Oz fan.  I truly have no idea how many times I watched it as a child/teenager.  I haven't watched it a lot as an adult, mostly because my kids weren't very interested in it, not like I was.  I love that it starts out in black and white, then magically changes to full color when Dorothy landed in Oz.  

I love the Munchkins, Almira Gulch and her bicycle, flying through the air, and Dorothy's interaction with each of her Oz friends - the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.  I don't know how old I was when I realized the farm hands in the beginning of the movie were those three characters in Oz.  I LOVE Dorothy's ruby slippers and the fact that she can tap them 3 times and they will take her home.  

I also love the soldiers marching into the castle singing Oh-Ee-Oh, Oh-Oh.  (maybe its the song I love more than the actual soldiers.)  I don't love the wicked witch, but I do love the concept of her ability to call out the Flying Monkeys when she needed a little back up.

Now, I can't claim magical powers, or that I know the secret to getting yourself back home when you lose your way, but I have been known a time or two to warn my kids that they don't want me to call my Flying Monkeys!!  :)

Enter this sign that I ran across at the BYU Bookstore the last time we were there!  I truly couldn't resist buying it because now I have something physical I can flash when the need arises to call out the FMs.

So perfect when my inner wicked witch surfaces!! ;)

Happy Birthday Chelsie!!! - day 13

Happy Birthday, Chelsie!!  #24, and going strong!  She is smart, funny, has a strong testimony, is a great wife, and will be a mama soon. (She is ignoring the fact that she was a really crabby baby and relying on the knowledge that Dallin was a very happy baby!  :) She works hard, plays hard, and loves life. (If you don't believe me, just look at this picture...it is indicative of Chelsie and her husband, Dallin.  They love to goof off.)

Despite being a crabby baby, she got over that, and for the most part has been a most pleasant family member.

Chelsie spent many, many hours on the soccer field.  She started in Kindergarten and played all the
 way through her Sr. year in High School.   

Dressed up in their wedding clothes at Allison and Ryan's Mexican Fiesta reception.

Of course, I could go on and on about her, and these few pictures don't really tell her full story, but in the spirit of shortness and sweetness, let me just say how much we love her and are so grateful she is in our family, and how much I love that I get to be her mom!! 

Here's to many more, dear Chelsie!  We love you!!!

A lesson learned a little too well...Day 12

Some of you may remember this post wherein I told of the great lesson I learned to live in the moment and not always try to capture it on the camera.  Well, I am here to tell you, there must be a happy medium somewhere, but I have yet to find it.  

There are ZERO pictures from Allison and Ryan's open house because I DIDN'T TAKE ANY!!  Really! None of the dessert table.  None of Alli and Ryan chatting with some of the guests. None of the present table, or the Mexican banner strung along the bottom of the deck, or my 3 friends who slaved in the kitchen to keep things organized, or Ryan's parents who traveled from Southern California to be here, and, you guessed it, none of the beautiful flowers my friend, Roberta, put together!!  AAUUGGHH!!!  I am so sad about this!

The best I can do is show this picture of the lanterns the girls made for the trees.  This is actually the day after the Open House, when we lit them.  Logistically, we just couldn't work out getting them lit for the actual event.  I know - Lame!!  And truly, this picture doesn't do them any justice, but you will have to take my word, they are charming, and will be perfect next time we need them.

Here is a sweet little moment from my day.  As I was cooking the usual Saturday night hamburgers, I noticed a bird on the edge of this lantern.  The bird kept dipping into it as if it was eating, but all I can figure is that there is water in there from our recent rain, and it was getting a little liquid refreshment.





I decided that this moment is one benefit of my blogging experiment...I notice little things like this and run to get my camera.  I truly had to run Trevor over as I was getting it.  It was not my finest moment. :)

Day 11 and a strange coincidence

This morning when I opened my email, I found this waiting for me to read.   The TED talk is short, and really good.  I have been thinking up 30 day challenges all day.

Now just a little background...
Stacy lived in our ward for about a year way back in the late 90's.  She is talented beyond my wildest dreams, and developed a scrapbook education company, and is in demand by scrapbook companies galore.  She is a mom, a wife, and a strong member of the Church, which is about where the similarities between us end.  Well, she is only a few years younger than me, so there is one more.  She was a great friend to have for a year, but sadly she moved away and we lost touch.
Fast forward to 2011...my good friend, Sue, moved to the same town as Stacy and in a crazy twist of fate, moved right across the street from Stacy.  Our friendship was re-kindled.  Yay!

Now, those of you who may know me well, will know that I am often a day late and a dollar short, and NEVER on the cutting edge of anything, but miracle of miracles, I set the same goal as Stacy, and even did it before her!!  I am sure this sounds really stupid to you, but I feel a certain something, although at this point, it must remain unnamed because I really can't define it.  Suffice to say, I feel a little on the cutting edge, and a little more on par with Stacy.  (Not that I am comparing myself to her...no, no, no...that would be foolish as our lifestyles aren't really comparable.  I will admit that seems a lot like what I am doing, but you will have to trust me, I am not.)

So to wrap things up...
-I loved the TED talk.  Have you discovered TED talks? I have only seen a few, but they are good.  I should spend a little more time with them.
-I am happy to have a rekindled relationship with Stacy.  She is really a very motivating person to have in your life.  And I am NOT comparing myself to her.
-I am happy I followed through with the idea to blog for 30 days and look forward to more 30 day challenges.

Day 10 - GBE

Well, we knew it would happen, I just really thought it would take me a little longer, but it's happened, and I'm going to just keep moving forward.  So in that spirit, here is Day 9...

You may just think this is a blurry photo, but if you look closely you will see that raindrops are making it look that way!  The weather all week has been muggy!  Hot and muggy.  Tuesday it rained, and it was still a little hot, but the sun was hidden by the clouds, and it was nice.  Sadly, by the time I walked out of the grocery store, the sun was out, and the rain was gone.

Yesterday, Amber and I traveled to Walla Walla for some desperately needed dental work, and were entertained the whole way home by a very cool lightning storm.  Then in the middle of the night, it rained again.  (The Walla Walla trip is my excuse for skipping my blog yesterday.  I was very tired and had a killer headache by the time we got home, and I completely forgot about doing it!  Darn!!

That brings us to today, and this is what it did all morning.  Lovely, steady rain!!  My windows were open, there was a breeze going through my house, and I even pulled on a sweatshirt as I felt a little chilled.  "Mmm..Fall is falling", I thought to myself!!

But like many good things, it was only temporary, and by noon, it was warming up again, and I was peeling off my sweatshirt, and the sun came out for most of the afternoon.  "Shoot", I thought to myself, "so much for Fall!!"

The sun was hidden by clouds all through Kristin's soccer game, which was not only nice for the players, but the spectators as well.  But as I type, we are back to heavy, hot air.  It was good while it lasted.

The New and "Improved" Library

Anyone who knows me well, knows how I feel about the library in our fair city.  It is an old hardware store that was supposed to be a temporary arrangement, but ended up being there for decades.

You can read more of my rantings in this post. (Sorry if that doesn't work, I've never tried it before.)

Fast forward to June, 2013.  There is finally a new library in town - downtown, in fact.  It is also a former hardware store (ironic) but it has been remodeled into a really beautiful building.  It is large, spacious and looks like a library, not a cinder block building.  I was ecstatic to hear there was finally a solution to a big problem, I was able to volunteer a little when they were getting ready to move to the new building and I was eagerly awaiting the opening day...
You can see it was a great effort, and it is about the farthest thing from looking like a hardware store.  You can't see the benches in front, but there are quotes, and mosaics, and the round thing in front is a sort of fountain.  Who wouldn't love this library in their town???

Here's the thing - it is a huge disappointment to me.  Maybe I am being overly sensitive about the whole thing, and not grateful enough.  I am not sure what to think.

The first thing that was hard to swallow was the fact that instead of using the dewey decimal system to catalog the books, they used a new system called BI-SAC.  It categorizes the books by subject.  A book about quilting may have a label on it like  QUILTING
                                                               HOW TO
                                                               BURNS
It basically dumbs things down so people don't have to find the call number, then find the book.  They still have to look it up on a computer, and still have to find the book.  I learned about this because my job as a volunteer was to put the new labels on the books.  It made me sad.  I can't tell you why, but I have always loved the Dewey Decimal System.  It really makes sense to me.  BI-SAC seems like there could be a lot of mistakes, and I know for a fact more than one book was mislabeled during the process.

The other thing that is stuck in my craw is the quantity of books.  This new building is huge, and there is a second floor, and there is ROOM FOR LOTS OF BOOKS.  I know (also as a result of volunteering) that many titles were deleted because the library powers that be wanted the library to be open and spacious.  Not crowded...even with books!!! ) I find that totally oxymoronic, if that may apply here!  What better use for space in a library than for books? (I am almost certain the chapter book section is smaller than the old space.  Trevor was sure there were more books upstairs, but after today, I will have to tell him that is all there is!  :(

I really don't understand either of these things.  Maybe I have been an ostrich with my head in the sand, and libraries are on their way out.  This last disappointment may be the evidence that is true.  There are two big screens in the teen area for video games!!!  Really???  That is about the last thing I would want my teenagers to go to the library for!  And, really, I don't have any qualms about taxes that may go to the library, but video games is not something I am excited to pay for!  We don't even have them in our home - except WII, which I suppose is considered a game system, but I don't consider it like I would a PS3 or X-Box.

Anyway, since it was a busy summer, I really haven't had a chance to explore our new library.  Today I had to pick up a book on CD so I took a few minutes to look around.  Well, you know how I feel.  Really sad that something with so much potential is not living up to it!  Really, really sad.  :(

Even better red peppers...Day 7 GBE

I'm not sure anyone is keeping track besides me, but it is day 7 and I am still getting it done!!  Believe me, no one is more surprised than I am!!!

Now on to more peppers and a summer recipe...

I was so excited with my previous "best red pepper ever" but I have to amend that and say that the pepper on the left is now the best red pepper I have ever grown!!  Of course, it isn't perfect, and I photographed its best side, but who doesn't like that to happen?   I have to say it is definitely the best one to date.  I can't even hope to top it, but what a treat it will be if I do!!!  (Let's give credit where it is due...I have a feeling my pepper success has to do with the fact that John had a big part in making sure the garden got watered every day, and my kids who were often the ones I sent down to turn on that water.  So really, maybe its the best red pepper they have ever grown!!  :)

At any rate, here is a favorite summer recipe that uses garden veggies, and is really yummy!  (I could have used a red pepper in it, but chose to save these to roast and use on paninis!!  Also yummy!!

Fire and Ice

6 large firm, ripe tomatoes (I like to use romas I often use two smaller ones to equal one)

1 large green pepper, seeded

1 red onion (I always use a yellow, or a Walla Walla Sweet if I have one.)

1 cucumber

DRESSING:

3/4 cup vinegar

1 1/2 tsp celery salt

1 1/2 tsp mustard seed

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

4 1/2 tsp sugar

1/8 tsp red pepper (cayenne)

1/4 cup cold water

Cut tomatoes into 4 or 8 parts.  You can skin them if you want, I never do.  Slice green pepper into strips.  Slice onion into rings.  Place in a bowl.  Heat dressing ingredients until boiling.  Let boil hard for 1 minute.  While hot, pour over vegetables.  Chill, stirring occasionally.  Just before serving add sliced cucumber.  (I often add them with the other vegetables.  (The tomatoes will keep for days in the fridge.  Fresh cukes can be added as they will get soft.

Serves 8

Enjoy!!!