Tweeze Me

Charles read my post about "Muppet-eyes," and he said that I made him sound mean. Let me set the record straight . . . Charles loves me, and he thinks I am gloriously (super-ultra-mega-gloriously) beautiful -- especially my eyes. (Even if the are Muppety.) He really meant it as a compliment. (Even if it didn't sound like one to me.) He clarified his comment, and made it all better. Proper communication, it is key, and can be complicated. :-) 

Anyhow, moving on from that . . . .  

While we are talking about Charles, I wanted to mention one of his most outstanding qualities. Of the millions of things that he does for me, and our family -- I wanted to point out just one that I love about him probably the MOST . . .

He plucks my eyebrows. 

Yeah, he is awesome. He carefully sculpts my eyebrows into marvelous works of art. (I bet you are scrolling-up to look at my eyebrows now.) I did not even know about tweezing before I met Charles! I was going all-natural all those years -- shame on me! (Charles was/is very familiar with tweezers . . . they are good friends every morning!) I don't have quite the luscious brows that Charles has, but a little clean-up for me really does the trick . . . especially when the hair starts growing in weird places. (Yeah, he plucks my chin, too.) I have noticed as I get older, I get hairier, and I don't like it -- at least not on my face. Before you know it, I will have to full-on shave! (Or possibly wax, never tried that?) 

It's a good thing I have my own personal beauty consultant to help me!

And while hair is growing nicely on my face, it is falling out in large clumps -- from my head. Good thing Charles also knows how to unclog a shower drain. 

Big Eyes

When I was in elementary school, I was often teased about my big "bug eyes." Of course it hurt my feelings -- no one wants to be teased for any reason. But I would shrug it off, and move on with life (though I am sure it was (and is) emotional-baggage stored somewhere in the depths of my soul). Being a young girl, I did not want anything to make me stand out in any weird way. I wanted to be just like everyone else -- normal. So, I was a little paranoid about my big eyes (to name only one body-part).

Anyhow, time passed, my head started to grow, and my eyes seemed a little more porportioned in my head. I was feeling good about myself -- and my eyes -- until just the other day. Charles (of all people), brought the "big eyes" subject to my attention again . . . . I was innocently getting ready for church, when he said that I have (and I quote): "Muppet Eyes." 

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"You know," he said, "like Miss Piggy eyes."

"Ummmmm . . . is that supposed to be a good thing?" I inquired. "It does not sound like a good thing!"

"It is a really good thing!" he promised. "Your eyes are beautiful!" he wisely added.

OK? Thanks, Charles . . . now I have beautiful Miss Piggy eyes? Wow. Not sure how I feel about that . . . compliment? 

 

And to think I was just getting over my childhood insecurities . . .

Buying Affection

William running to the car after Kindergarten -- love this kid! 

I went to the store for some chocolate chips. I was feeling unusually nice -- so I got William some Mike And Ikes. (Buying middle-of-the-week candy is not a common occurrence in our house.) When we got in the car, we had this charming conversation: 

William: "Mom, I actually like you now." 

Me: "You like me because I bought you candy?" 

William: "Yes, I actually like you!" 

Me: "Well, that is nice . . . but you should like me just cause I am your mom."

William: "Yeah, I guess. That too." 

I guess William's love-language is gift receiving. Either I need to teach him better, or I better start buying him more candy. 

Borscht Review

"Mom, why did you cook guts?" 

She was right. It was nasty. 

Live and learn, right? 

The Hobbit

It is coming . . . who's coming with me?? 

December 14, 2012

For awesome trailers and extras go to: 

http://www.thehobbitblog.com

Borscht and Plans

No, that is not art . . . it is dinner! 

The snack bucket has been such a huge success (see here), that I thought maybe I could take it a step further, and really get organized . . . with a weekly menu plan! (It's about time, don't ya think?)   

Life has begun to get really busy around here -- mostly because of our distance from the school and church (and everything else!) I feel like I am in-and-out of the car ALL day, and it is hard to function without a plan. In the past, I had plenty of time for "creative cooking" (cooking whatever random food we had), but now I need a plan -- or dinner will be pasta every night! 

Our Church Schedule this week:

Monday: Family Home Evening

Tuesday: Activity Days (Sammi), and Scouts (Daniel)

Wednesday: YM (Charles)

Thursday: Stake Activity Day (Sammi)

Friday: Scout Camp-out (Charles)

Saturday: Temple Open House helpers instruction meeting (Me)

Sunday: Church, Teach Relief Society, Teaching Fireside (Me)

Our schedule made our plan necessary! 

This Week's Menu: 

Monday: Meat and Veggie Kabobs

Tuesday: Sweet Potato and Chicken Crock-pot Stew

Wednesday: Borscht

Thursday: Stuffed Peppers

Friday: Tacos

Saturday: Portobello Mushroom burgers

We wrote it down on the calendar on the fridge, so it turns from plan to action! It has been working beautifully! (Imagine that . . . a plan making life easier! Yes!) It also relives the pressure of me having to be creative on a daily basis. (That can hurt my brain!) Now we just get the proper ingredients beforehand, and we are good to go for the week! Even with specialty items, our food budget was about the same.

 I am curious to see how our Borscht will turn out tonight (it is a crock-pot recipe, my favorite!) . . . it smells super yummy, and it is so pretty! I love pretty food. 

My hands are all red from grating the beets. 

 The real trick . . . 

Will the kids eat it?? 

Whoever invented the crock-pot . . . I could just kiss you! 

American Dream

If I allow myself to dream about what I really want, I come up with a few different lifestyle options. When I say "want" I mean that very unrealistic "in my dreams" place -- where everything is perfect. The perfect home. I am talking about the place where if I allow myself to go there in my mind too long, it could take away from my happiness now. I know I should be happy with what I have now . . . I know it. And I am. I really am.

But let me just dream for awhile, let me dream big . . . we all have dreams, right?

I have a few different "perfect" lifestyle dreams. These are dreams that I think I would love to come true. These are dreams that are semi-realistic options of how I would love to live . . . nothing too crazy, or ridiculous, like living on the beach in Hawaii, or something.

In my dreams, Option 1: Living on a farm, in a beautiful farmhouse. My mind has always steered towards this dream, first. I imagine lots of land, and some animals, but nothing too labor-intense. A horse would be nice. There must be trees, possibly a pond, or some source of water. I would love to decorate the interior of the home in a farmhouse style, and make it feel warm and cozy. A fireplace is a MUST! I imagine warmth, comfort, hard work, and having jobs for the kids to do. (Like gathering eggs from the chickens.) I know this would take a lot of physical-work, but there is something very satisfying, I believe, in having your own land, working it, and making it productive and beautiful. Some of my happiest moments were working hard on the yard in our little house -- I loved watching the grass seed grow. This dream makes my heart happy . . . this is, perhaps, my number one dream.

In my dreams, Option 2: Living in an old Victorian-style home. I fell in love with this dream while living in Spokane, Washington. The streets of the South Hill are covered with beautiful craftsmanship, and a rich history -- you can just feel the depth of time as you walk about the neighborhoods. I love it. A lot. I would love to remodel, decorate, and restore a home to its full glory. I would love to have a home full of time-period pieces, pictures, draperies, and furniture, and create an authentic experience when you walk through the doors. I would want all who enter to feel like they are stepping into another time. Everything would be done in rich, deep, colors -- with lots of wood trim, chandeliers, and everything beautiful. Oh, how I would LOVE to do this.

In my dreams, Option 3: Living in the "Home Alone" house. If you have ever seen that movie, you know what I mean. The house is amazing! I absolutely love this style of home. This house says to me, "Christmas." Christmas time would be magical . . . lights, trees, music, and every good thing. Oh, and sliding down the bannister would be fun, too. 

In my dreams, Option 4: Living in a row-house in San Francisco. This is a wild-card, just throwing it out there. This would be a more "extreme dream" that would not really be what I would consider "ideal" for real life (especially with kids) -- but fun to imagine. I would love to live in a big city, surrounded by the millions of things to see and do . . . especially riding the Trolleys around all day. These houses are just cool. Maybe I like them because I grew-up watching Full House. :-)

In my dreams, Option 5: A cabin in the woods. I am back and forth on this dream. I love the way cabins look and feel, but I am not sure how I really feel about being surrounded by wilderness. I am kind of (a lot of) a pansy when it comes to bears, moose, cougars, and critters. But I love the coziness of a cabin, and the warmth (I use that word a lot) of how they feel. Perhaps if the "cabin" was like this one . . . I could deal with some wildlife. :-) 

My dreams may never come true in this life (and rightly so!) . . . but it sure is fun to imagine!