Create Smiles

We have been doing a lot of cleaning and packing and moving things to a storage unit and sorting and just starting the whole process of selling our condo and moving.  It's been AWESOME!!!  I LOVE being prepared!  I LOVE being organized -- can't STAND disaster areas that require warning signs to avoid law suits.  Our office WAS such an area -- I mean, I didn't even dare step in there to take a picture.  But NOW . . . well, it is going to be my creativity suite . . . right after it's Lexy and Kenzie's bedroom for a week and a half while my sister stays with me to help me recover from upcoming foot surgery number 2. Yay for sisters and nieces and nephews and surgery . . . wait, maybe I wouldn't go QUITE that far! :-)

As we sorted through things today, I found this poem that I wrote for David while we were dating.  He was having a hard time with "dead week" and finals week, and I wanted to do something to cheer him up.  So I went to the Dollar Store to look for things for that all-time favorite dating tool - the "Good Luck Kit."  I couldn't find the "right thing" there for the life of me!  Instead, I found these cute stickers of toddlers playing at the beach.  I bought a pack of 12x12 paper, took out the sun-shiniest piece (bright yellow, of course) in there, and wrote the following:

Lessons from the SEA:

When life doesn't go

Exactly as you've planned,

And the only castles you are building

Seem to be in the sand;

When the waves come in

And the sun is setting low . . .

You look down to find

That a crab just got your toe!

When you've got your diving gear on

And feel you are prepared to dive,

Then the storm comes in and . . .

Swimming as fast as you can . . .

You come out barely alive!

You think, "Hey!  Wait a minute!

This was supposed to be FUN!"

But you forget you're doing more

Than just basking in the sun.

And though you really could just stay atop

And play all the day long . . .

The adventures lying just out of reach

Beckon oh so strong!

So you shake off the sand,

Tell your toe to let it be,

And you just keep

Swimming, swimming, swimming

Like other fish who have

Joined the SEA!

Okay, I will be the FIRST to admit that it's corny!  And I am sad to admit how much I fought back and was victorious over the urge to alter it here to present a better poem to you than the one I originally wrote.

But what would be the point of that?  Because the other truth is that I wrote it in like five minutes and it made me SMILE.  It actually lit me up inside to write it for him!  And it made Dave SMILE.  It made him laugh and lit him up inside to receive it!  And it made us both smile time and time again as we have found it in the office and re-lived that little memory of me trying to make him happy when there was nothing else I could do to make the situation better.  And reading it in terms of finals and education and career dreams and LIFE . . . it's a great pick-me-up poem! :-)

And I re-learned something about myself today: I like to create smiles and laughter through creative writing!  I have always written these crazy little poems and done "Get Well Baskets" and "Candy Bar Posters" and "Singing Telegrams" and songs and date stories and things like that.  I kick myself for not keeping copies to help preserve a little bit of "me" for both myself and my children to discover time and time again.

But that means I have to make up for lost time, right?  And I am really excited tonight to remember this.  This is something that is me!  This is a  talent!  This is a desire of my heart!  This is a hobby I can have that doesn't compete with Dave's hobbies!  I like to write!  I like to make people smile!  I like to make people laugh!  I like to create in this way!

So I need to get back to developing it.  My friend Anne and I have talked for years about writing Children's books -- a talent Dave has told me almost since we started dating that I definitely have and would be really great at.  And I think I'm ready to start exploring that again!  I mean, I have children -- and they love books!

Crafty Crafty

I know I already have a laundry list going for things I want to do in the very near future, but I found a few other things this morning.

#1 -- Christmas Tree ornaments, focusing on our family this last year and Dave's family (since they are coming here for Christmas) for the last . . . . forever.  I found an idea to take six inch blocks of wood, paint them black, trim a picture, paste the picture on the block with Modge Podge (not sure what this is, but I am sure I can find it at Michaels on Black Friday and probably get a good deal), and staple a ribbon on the back to hang them with
. . . . EXCEPT . . . .
I am going to put scrapbooking paper behind the picture and buy a stamp pad to fudge up the edges around the picture a bit.  I think this will make a really personal, really fun tree with ornaments I don't have to worry about my kiddos breaking!  Need I say more? ;-D  I'm thinking I'll print all the pics off in black and white or an antique-looking brown and buy a brown or magenta ink pad, and then I will send a lot of the ones from Dave's family home with -- well, his family! ;0)

#2 -- A family values canvas.  Check it out here.  I really love this idea -- and if you have a cricuit-type machine (or know someone who does), you can make one a year with goals/absolutes for your family for that year and make a tradition of evaluating/changing it each New Year's Eve.  I just thought of that, actually, and I think it is a FABULOUS idea! :-D

More to come, I am SURE!!!!

Too Many Choices

I have decided (and Dave has agreed) that one of the WORST things you can do is give me options and ask me to make a decision. I don't know why, but it is just nearly impossible for me to choose one thing from many good things.

For example, I decided that my hobby for the next year is going to be quilting -- I am going to make a quilt for each of my babies. And, if I get ambitious, a few other quilts for my future children (don't have them yet, but I figure that now is probably the easiest time for projects in the next 10 years because I only have TWO children right now). THERE ARE SO MANY AMAZING QUILTS OUT THERE -- and I really don't know what I want. I want cute for now but also something that will work for them for years to come. Like maybe until they get a queen-size bed and need to switch things up a bit. Idealistic? Maybe so - but that's what I'm thinking. And I want it to have meaning beyond the face value and the fact that Mom made it for them. My other problem is that I am, for all intents and purposes, a beginning sewer. I say all intents and purposes because I have watched and listened and assisted with SEVERAL sewing projects through the years. But I've never spear-headed something, least of all something like this.

So in the meantime, here are some of my FAVES!!!! Feel free to help the decision process along by casting your vote. For Abby, it's going to be pink and brown -- and I'm thinking more subdued pink vs. bright, here-I-am pink. For Isaac, I'm thinking green and blue -- though primary colors in deeper tones are also calling my name.

Abby Quilts

 Isaac Quilts

With the airplanes, I am thinking of alternating between star, airplane, rocket, kite. I think I'm leaning towards the crazy stars pattern, though.  

 

The Latest

Well, it has been a while since I had time (and a computer) to write. So - an update on us!

The Thursday before Easter, Isaac started to Army crawl! That's right -- in literally a matter of hours my baby boy became mobile! And he hasn't stopped ever since. I should have known when he came out with a wrinkled brow that suggested he was trying to solve every mystery in the universe before his first birthday that I was in for a non-stop ride! And what I am sure is going to be just that for the next -- FOREVER -- has already started. He gets this look on his face when he decides he wants something, and within seconds, he's after it at mock 20! If you've seen him, you're laughing because I am NOT EXAGGERATING ONE BIT. If you haven't seen him, you are laughing because you think I'm just a new mom and don't understand yet that he's a typical boy. Whatever the reason, I assure you that my little man IS A PROBLEM SOLVIN' GENIUS who already DRIVES HIS MOMMY CRAZY in the best way EVER! But as soon as I start singing and he decides it's time to join in, he melts my heart!

And Abby -- well, Abby is just DYING TO JOIN HIM in his crusades. She's more into solving the world through wise and calm observations than tackling it literally HEAD ON! She watches him move around and, after a few moments, tries so hard to follow -- she just doesn't quite have the knack of moving forward yet. But she gets excited and kicks her legs and babbles and pivots and rolls around to get as far as she can. And what a talker! She makes sounds I didn't know existed until recently -- some of them I discovered just today, actually! Her eyes get wide and her legs start going and . . . . They're both so cute!

This house isn't big enough for Isaac to explore. And when they both get mobile, it's going to be day in and day out at the park for us. I don't really care which one; any will do, really. They just are going to need to be OUT for playtime and to explore the many crevices in this SMALL LITTLE WORLD and IN for naptime. I decided on yesterday's walk that being out for snack time isn't bad either -- I mean, the sidewalks make great landing marks for cracker crumbs, much easier to clean up than my kitchen or living room floor! ;-D

We went to Dave's parents' for Easter. We were joined by is sister Sarah and her family and his sister Elizabeth and her finace, Clinton. It was fun, especially when we went out shooting and they handed me a gun that was bigger than me by a few inches and had quite a lot of KICK to it! Okay, maybe not quite bigger than me, but it was BIG, friends, REALLY BIG! A shotgun or something like that. And I actually had a really fun time. Pictures pending -- prepare to be amazed! The cutest picture, though, is probably of the babies with noise-protection on their ears. They are adorable! Again, pictures pending!

Other than that, well we're just going going going going. I've been working on editing a dissertation for quite a while now. I think we're nearing the end of the first four chapters -- only two to go after that. It's quite fun, really, when I have time that I don't feel guilty giving up with the babies.

We also found out that Dave doesn't have to complete an internship in California this summer, so we'll be here in Moscow. He'll finish his internship at Schweitzer and then we'll have one more year before he graduates and we move to California for a year. Then, if all goes well and is in the Lord's plan the same way it is in ours, we'll be back here for Dave's M.S. After that -- the sky's the limit! We'll see where it takes us.

What else? Well, I started a new blog: The Mommy 15. It's fun! When I have a computer, I find myself researching and thinking about all sorts of questions revolving around health and and fitness and weight loss and nutrition and all sorts of things. I think some people read it, but I mostly just enjoy researching, discovering, and working really hard to put into practice what I read in hopes that I will someday be totally successful!

I've been serving in the Stake Primary Presidency. Tonight was our last night at Stake Council as a presidency, since the President is moving when her husband graduates in May. It's been a lot of fun, though I have a few regrets in the sense that I feel like so much has happened in the last eight months that I haven't given it my all. I know I could have done so much more! And that's not a feeling you want to have when you leave a calling from the Lord. But I guess that just fills me with a determination to do more with the next calling! And I will -- and my babies are getting to a point where I think I will be able to, I think Dave and I are managing things a lot better now than we did even two months ago! That's a good feeling.

On a final note: My uncle passed away on Monday. He has been battling diabetes for more years than I can remember. Finally, his heart started to give out as well, and his wife was left with the difficult decision of whether they should operate, with no guarantee he would make it through it, or just let him go. They decided to stop dialysis and not operate and just let him go. Unfortunately, it took 18 days for his body to let his spirit call it quits. I can only imagine how hard that must have been on his wife, children, and grandchildren. I know it really affected me, and I wasn't even there with him, watching him each day. He was a great man, an avid reader, a die-hard scouter, witty, full of random facts and a lot of knowledge about money and camping and dutch-oven cooking and just life in general. He always had good advice for you, whether you were standing in the back yard or washing dishes, facing large life decisions or just getting ready to go to a movie - he just had good advice and wanted to share it to keep people from making the same mistakes he did. He was just a good man.

Sir Belvis' First Publication

ssssssssK - wanna laugh at a corny story? You know you do! I found this in my e-mail the other day and decided it was time to pull it out and dust it off. :-)

Context: My friend Russell is quite possibly the sweetest guy in the entire world. He was one of my best friends when I lived in Virginia. He'd been wanting to make me his mom's famous brownies for . . . well, since I got there. So, the night of the Priesthood Session of General Conference, my roomie and I decided to throw a pajama party for all the girls that wanted to come. I asked Russell to make his mom's brownies, and he did. However, the recipe made like 60 - and we thought that we might get 60 girls. He worked on them for more than the two hours between sessions, and he was 20 minutes late to Priesthood Session because he wanted it to look just right and had them all cut up and laid out on a silver platter. I had offered to help - but he said his mom really didn't want anyone to know the recipe. We felt so touched by his extra efforts and so bad that he was late for Priesthood that I suggested we bag the girlie plans and heart-attack him. So, I wrote this story and the girls cut out hearts and wrote all sorts of crazy things on them -- they even came up with some REALLY great pick-up lines. Like, "If you were a library book, not only would I check you out, but I'd never finish paying the late fees." It was fun! I wish we'd written them all down. Then we snuck into his house, plastered the stairs and walls and bathroom and doors and everything with all of these hearts, and left the story on his bedroom door. What was really funny is that his dad came home before we were done. We thought it was Russell! So, we darted into the spare bedroom, but of course his dad had already heard us -- it's a really old farm-type house. I don't know whose heart beat faster -- his as he ascended the stairs to see what was going on or ours when we discovered it wasn't Russell and dashed out of there as fast as we could. I went back later to help with dishes - he left the kitchen turned upside down! Anyway - Russell told Lauren once that his middle name started with a B and was like a singer. So, she guessed things like, "Bolivia Newton John" and "Belvis." His middle name is literally "Beesinger," but Belvis stuck. . . and Sir Belvis was born. You don't get the great illustrations we made, but here's the story:

Sir Belvis' Daring Rescue

Once upon a time in Walnut Valley, there was a house full of girls, tucked between three English hills.

On Belvis Hill lived a true knight . . . appropriately dressed in balloon pants and a hoodie. But don't let his attire fool you. If this knight's heart was a food, it would be the most delectable brownies a girl could ever ask for.

One rainy afternoon, the girls in Walnut Valley were overcome by the mighty, roaring thunder clouds that had covered the valley for far too long to recall. They poured down unfathomable rain, the kind that strips trees of their blossoms and leaves nature lifeless.

Their hearts sunk deeper and deeper, like a bowling ball thrown from a bridge into a dark abyss of still water.

Their moans drifted from the valley to the top of Belvis Hill and woke up our fearless knight.

"What to do . . . what to do?" he thought. His first thought was flowers, but the rain had killed them all. His next thought was food . . . .

But what could possibly be potent enough to kill the pains the hunger cloud had left behind?

He opened his magic book of spells and secret family recipes, but nothing seemed to fit.

He searched the house - upstairs and down - and finally, beneath the century-old pixie dust and cobwebs in the basement, he found it: The Magic Chocolate Brownie Mix held secret in his family for generations.

He whipped and he stirred and he pureed and he mixed . . . words cannot describe the great sacrifice this knight put forth for these girls.

The sun set and rose; the day turned to four, and finally he rose from the basement with a silver platter filled with the magic brownies. He even managed to dig up a pink bow somewhere in that basement of forgotten treasures.

He mounted his . . . stairs, entered his blue Cadillac, and drove through the rain to the deep trench of Walnut Valley.

When he reached the house, he knocked seven times, but so great were the moanings within that the girls could not hear him.

"What to do . . . what to do?" he thought. It really was very Winnie the Pooh-esque.

Just then lightening struck -- figuratively speaking, of course.

He gently placed the brownies on the doorstep and dashed back to his Cadillac.

What do you think happened next? ------- No - he didn't drive through the front door. He's not a mean knight!

He honked his horn -- a magic horn, of course, that released the most beautiful melody ever heard in that valley.
So powerful was the tune that the girls immediately stopped their wailing . . .

And the rain stopped falling . . .

And ------ No, not quite. Not everything was restored to life; that would just be silly.

However, each and every one of the girls was left with an incredible smile on her face, smiles so bright and enduring that no hunger cloud could ever penetrate the valley again.

---- The End ----

So - I'm thinking I might start a children's book series some day: The Adventures of Sir Belvis. It might not get farther than my front door, but I think it would be really fun! And kids don't notice that things like this are corny! They're the most forgiving of all audiences. ;-D

I hope you all at least smiled -- even just one time.

Melinda :-)

25 Million Dollars

Tonight my friend Melissa asked me what I would do if I had $25 million dollars every year for the rest of my life. What would I do with it? Though I couldn't tell her right that second what I would do, now that I've had time to think about it, I know a few things I would do with it:
1) I would first make sure to put my home and family in order. I would build the house of our dreams, a modest one that would be sufficient for our needs and have a few extras. I would never want my children to know from the way we lived that we had a ton of money. I would also figure out a budget for our costs of living and set aside in savings the amount of money we would need to live without income or the ability to buy food, etc. for two years. This would include an amazing food storage, 72-hour kits for the number of children we want to have, money for missions, education, etc. It would also include plans for/money for my childrens' extracurricular interests, talents, and hobbies. I don't want to spoil them -- they'll have to work for things and learn that life's decisions (daily decisions) have consequences, but I also want them to have opportunities to develop themselves and share what they have to offer the world in the best way possible.

2) I would buy my mom and dad homes on land that they could do whatever they wanted with and would never have to worry again about rent or being homeless or not being able to live freely. I would also make sure all of their medical expenses were taken care of. The rest would be up to them.

3) I would set aside enough money to send 10 missionaries on missions every year so they would have the opportunity that someone gave me to share the gospel in spite of economic circumstances that might otherwise not allow it.

4) I would establish a printing and editing company, with a dual emphasis on good children and young adult literature and higher education.

5) As part of this company, there would be a charitable foundation on the side. From this, I would finish setting up the program for impoverished youth that I began to design while I was in Virginia before I came back to Moscow to date and marry Dave. The focus would include education, leadership, talent development, and community involvement and volunteerism.

6) I would set up a scholarship fund for non-traditional students (like my brother) to help more people be able to have the jobs they want and not just the ones they have settled for in order to have a pay check to take care of their families.

7) I would set up an orphanage project to send students to work for a semester to a year in an orphanage in a third-world country. This project would have to include a focus on educating the children and preparing them to succeed in the world (if they don't get adopted) after they grow up and move on.

8) I would take my family on a family vacation every year to a new place, somewhere we had researched and learned about for the entire year before.

9) I would start a chain of bed and breakfasts with rates that corresponded to the guests place in life/economic circumstances. For example, I would have excellent student rates and excellent rates for young couples with young kids that need to reconnect as husband and wife. I would also have great rates for empty-nesters because they need to reconnect as well and probably wouldn't have any money after getting their kids out on their own. ;-D

10) I would purchase a life-long membership in a gym. Or, better yet, I would start a gym specifically designed for new moms and moms with young children and busy husbands. That way, they could have a place to come and get away without worrying that their children are being neglected and could pull themselves together enough to have the energy to go back and give to their families.

Well, Melissa, that's what I have thought of in the last hour.

What would you do?

Eight Items

My friend Summer invited me to do this -- not sure when, but I saw it today on her blog. So, here it is:
1. Answer the six "8" items
2. Let each person know they have been tagged

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. T.V. - what? I don't even have t.v.

8 Things I did yesterday
1. Sat up with a sick baby all night
2. Watched the old school "Miracle on 34th Street" - yep, black and white version
3. Caught up on some sleep
4. Snuggled on the sofa with Dave
5. Worked with Dave on an Emergency Preparedness 72 Hour Kit list for FHE tomorrow
6. Talked to my Monique on the phone
7. Ate choc. chip cookies (we tried sub. apple sauce for half the butter - interesting)
8. Read an article from the Ensign

8 Things I look forward to
1. Seeing my family this weekend
2. Christmas break
3. My babies' smiles
4. My Anniversary
5. Time at the Gym
6. The day I don't have any more post-pregnancy OR pre-pregnancy weight to lose
7. Seeing my husband every day
8. An end to all the pending house projects (kitchen island, pantry, painting, organizing babies' room, etc.)

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. New Garden (Chinese Rest. that's so good!)
2. Olive Garden (don't eat there much, but I love their food)
3. Wolf's Lodge in Spokane (the only place I actually enjoy eating a steak)
4. Appleby's (Half-price appetizers . . . mmmmm)
5. Hmmmm . . . I don't eat out much. That's all I've got.

8 Things on my wish list
1. Piano music
2. Harp lessons
3. New makeup
4. Highlights in my hair
5. A marathon - if I could swim, I'd shoot for a triathalon; but I can't
6. Publishing children's books with Anne
7. A family portrait
8. Children who love the Lord, love us, love each other, and always want to come home

8 people I tag (if you choose to participate and haven't already done so)
1. Monique
2. Katie
3. Debi
4. Meagan
5. Amanda
7. Sarah
8.Tennille

Drifting Along with the Rambling Tumbleweeds

I don't know how many of you know this, but I have been doing some freelance editing/writing since I graduated. I guess that was kind of my "big dream" from forever ago, and since I didn't get the "professional" experience most places wanted to hire me permanently, I decided to get my own experience. I have mostly done things for people I know. It's been really great! I've done papers, a book, chapters for an anthology, dissertations, theses, and even done some technical writing.

My thesis focused a lot on literacy. It's a HUGE topic, and there really isn't a general consensus on what it means to be literate. You can ask a million questions about it, like literate in what respect? Literate to what end? Literate in what genre? Literate regarding written material? Literate regarding your ability to perform in a technical world (that's for you, Shawna)? Literacy has become a VAST and BROAD topic in America. And it is fairly controversial on all fronts. However, as I have edited student papers and even professional papers that professionals have written and feel are ready for and worthy of publication, I find myself thinking that there is a need to emphasize and focus on academic literacy. Literacy in its most basic sense could be just the ability to read and write. Literacy in an academic sense would be the ability to read and write (i.e. converse and communicate) in an academic setting. In fact, if I were to do my thesis again, I would focus on this. I think that this specification is what was missing from my thesis to connect all the dots and get one committee member in particular off my back! ;0) Still . . .

I am surprised that you can graduate with an M.A. in English without ever having taken a grammar course. In fact, the only grammar course I took was Advanced Grammar in the T.E.S.L. (Teaching English as a Second Language) curriculum. And that class was not a required course for me to take. I don't consider myself the all-knowing on all things grammatical. Just reading this blog entry should more than demonstrate that. However, that's okay in this setting because of my purpose and my audience. I'm not writing for an academic audience. I'm not writing to convey an academic idea. I am not citing sources or trying to prove anything. I am just writing stream-of-consciousness venting ;-D. So I can get away with imperfection here. However, the papers I am editing are written in and published for an academic audience. And the message is often lost in the delivery. In fact, in some instances I wonder if the author even read over the work being produced or simply threw it together and expected to have some sort of license because of his/her title, reputation, etc.

That is what I find so amazing. People are graduating, even writing papers as professors in their fields, without having a knowledge of how to manipulate and work the English language in order to communicate an idea to a specific audience without losing that audience in all of their contextual and grammatical errors (including but not limited to run-on sentences; dangling modifiers; lack of cohesion and, sometimes, coherence; lack of parallelism in lists, etc.). And yet, perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps what is missing is not a knowledge of HOW to do this but an accountability for applying that knowledge. Though I am thankful for the paycheck I get every once in a while to correct these mistakes, I would much rather have my faith restored in the Educational System and its ability to EDUCATE and hold people responsible for applying, not just acquiring, that education.

My sister would be one, as many of the rest of you probably are, to disagree with me. Or at least she would say that she herself cannot do what I say needs done. Why does she feel this way? Not because she isn't very bright and capable but because the system has failed her. It has decided that it isn't necessary to focus on such things, that the general public cannot learn such things, that it is only haughty intellectuals and purists that would ever suggest such a thing is necessary, and that it is just a waste of time, as study after study has "proven," to even try to educate the "general" academic public regarding such things.

Still today, two years after my thesis defense, I hear these arguments and see them as nothing more than society's way of not being accountable for its past actions while simultaneously being unwilling to just accept responsibility for and admit to having made mistakes. In all fairness, I guess that's what an emphasis on Writing Across the Curriculum is trying to accomplish; yet there are still so few who adopt and apply that practice. I don't know; I just don't know. And I don't want to join the ranks of those who point fingers without offering solutions; but acknowledging a problem must always come first. I guess I just come back to monitoring what is taught in my home and to my children in their schools. Sometimes that's really the best you can do anyway.