Go to My Brethren, and Say Unto Them, I Ascend Unto My Father, and Your Father; and to My God, and Your God

I love Easter. Growing up, Easter was always a big deal in my family. To me, Easter means coloring dozens of Easter eggs, having a huge Easter egg hunt (for real eggs, none of that plastic filled with sugar nonsense)  and brunch with neighbors, friends and family on Easter Saturday, and an Easter basket with new church clothes (and hopefully a chocolate bunny!) on Easter Sunday.

 I want that for my family, but I also want more. I want my kids to REALLY understand the reason we celebrate Easter. So, In an effort to make Easter more about Christ, Ash and I have come up with a plan to do an Easter activity every day starting the Sunday before Easter (Palm Sunday). 

Palm Sunday

We went to church! When the sacrament came around, I briefly explained the story of Easter. 

Watch the Lord's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

This is a fantastic Sacrament talk written about the use of palm leaves. It was great for me to read, and repeated a few simple concepts while doing this craft for the donkey, and simply cutting and slicing green (and purple, because it's Ash's favorite color. And why not? Purple is a royal color!) construction paper into palm leaves and then gluing them onto the paper.

Result:

Monday

For FHE we colored Easter Eggs! It's good family time. 

Tuesday

Watch Jesus is Laid in a Tomb and Jesus is Resurrected

We printed out and colored this coloring page. We talked about Christ being resurrected  and how that made Mary happy, and how Christ dies and was resurrected for Mary, and also for Ash, and also for me. 

Wednesday

This is about as fancy as I get with crafts. First, we colored and cut out the tomb and stone from the image below. 

Then, inspired by this craft,  we cut a paper plate in half, stapled the two halves together, and pasted the tomb onto the paper plate. We then cut out the door of the tomb and glued He is Risen by Del Parson  inside. 

Result: 

All the while we talked about the Resurrection, and how Jesus dies and was resurrected so when we die, we can be resurrected. 

Maundry (Holy) Thursday

Watch the movie The Last Supper

Color and cut out the images below, the whole time talking about Jesus's Last Supper and the sacrament. 

Good Friday

Today we decided to try watercolors! We painted the images below, talking about the story or the atonement, the crucifixion, and the Resurrection. We then cut them out and glued them on Popsicle sticks!

Result: 

We also made Hot Cross Buns. They were cooked too long, so they turned out harder and crispy on the bottom, but they had such great potential! 

Easter Saturday

Easter Egg hunt and Easter Brunch! 

Easter Sunday

Go to church! In the March 2008 Friend, on page 30, is the Story of Christ. Print out on cardstock and fit together with a metal band. Give to Ash right before church. Read it during Sacrament meeting and look at the pictures during the Sacrament. 

This morning I got a text from a number I didn't recognize. It said: "I'm on my way"

I didn't remember setting up anything with anyone for today, and I didn't have anything on my calender.

I'm going to say that text was from the baby.

You're Wasting Your Time, Man. If You Pick the Lock on a Halliburton, I'll Put You on My Back and Fly us to L.A. You Better Find Yourself a Runway, Daddy, 'Cause there Ain't a Lock I Can't Pick

Guys, I've been so good lately! I haven't lost my keys in over a year! I haven't lost my credit card in over four years! I haven't lost my purse, and I've even managed to hang on to my phone!  I lost Drek's keys for a few days, but not mine, so it doesn't count!

And so every streak must end.

First, let me just say that Ash has really been on a power struggle lately. She will argue with everything I say, no matter what. I've tried to teach her to say "Yes, Mama." whenever I tell her to do something, instead of arguing, but it's not working to well. The other day she offered me one of her grapes and I said "No, thank you." and she said "No! You say 'Yes, Ash!'" Sigh. I've been having a hard time figuring out where the line is between "pick your battles" and "be consistent."

Ok, enough excuses. On to the story:

Ash and I went to the post office. We needed to wait in line to mail a package, and then ring the little buzzer to pick up a package. The former usually takes a while, the latter takes around a minute.

So we got out of the car, struggled to take the boxes inside, and waited in line. It was our turn and Ash was tired of waiting  so I gave her my phone. She has a few Sesame Street episodes on the phone so she happily watched those while I finished up with the clerk. Upon finishing, I realized I didn't have my little slip to pick up the package, so we went back out to the car and I dug around in the front seat and emptied out my purse until I found it. During that time, Ash (who was absorbed in her show) had climbed from the front seat to the back seat, and buckled herself into her car seat (because she is just that amazing). After I found the paper, I realized what she had done, and told her we actually weren't ready to leave and had to go back in to the post office. She argued. Of course, she argued. She told me she would wait in the car.

I think I've had Ash wait in the car once. Actually, now that I think about it, twice: once when she was a baby, asleep, and I was dropping off dinner to someone, and then once a few months ago when I needed to run inside the post office and drop of a package in the package drop. Both took less than two minutes. I really don't like having her wait in the car because I am afraid with our tinted windows, someone will steal the car without realizing there is a child in the backseat.

But I was tired. I'm very pregnant and walking around the car to unbuckle her (she can buckle herself in but can't get herself out) and argue with her for a less than two minute errand didn't seem worth it. It was a nice cool day, so against my better judgement I locked the doors and ran inside, leaving Ash in the car to watch her show.

You see where this story is going.

I came back out, around a minute later, and realized when I emptied out my purse, I had emptied out my keys. My car keys were locked in the car. Along with my daughter. And my cell phone.  Worst. Parent. Ever.

So I tap on the back window to get Ash's attention and explain she needs to unlock the door. She tries reaching, but of course can't reach the button from her seat. I tell she needs to unbuckle herself from her car seat. She sets the phone down and follows my directions for about a minute, until she announces "No, I don't want to. I want to watch my show." She picks the phone back up and ignores me.

Well, at least she isn't panicking, unlike me.

I go back inside the post office and ask to borrow someones cell phone. I call Drek at work and tell him what I have done and where I am. He doesn't have the car, but says he will borrow one and come rescue us.

I go back out to the car, find two bobby pins on the ground and spend the next twenty minutes alternating between trying to pick the lock on the trunck, and trying to convince Ash to get out of her car seat. I am unsuccessful at both attempts.

Finally Drek shows up. He seems surprised at how calm I am, and even more surprised that Ash isn't screaming and crying from neglect. He unlocks the door, opens it, and Ash looks up and blinks at him.

"Oh! Hi, Daddy! Do you want to watch this show with me?" The inside of the car is a comfortable temperature and she didn't appear to be suffering from malnutrition or dehydration.

Lesson learned: it doesn't matter how secure your car is against thieves if you can't get in either. Just avoid the whole thing and don't leave your kids in the car. Especially if you have a history of losing things and very especially if you have pregnancy brain.

I Suppose in the End, the Whole of Life Becomes an Act of Letting Go

Happy Pi Day!

For obvious reasons, I didn't have a party this year. Although we did have shepherd's pie for dinner with fresh blueberry pie for dessert.

Still no baby. We were hoping it would come today. If he was a boy, we would name him Percival Ichabod (First name after the Scarlet Pimpernel; can't get a better hero than that) and he would go by his initials. And for his birth announcement it would say: Introducing the Life of Pi. And every year on his birthday we would celebrate Pi's day.

Sigh. These children. They just never cooperate.

Breastfeeding in Public

The really worried over is breastfeeding thing.  I couldn't breastfeed my first, but I am determined to breastfeed this next one (whenever it decides to show up!) Breastfeeding this one will mean the opportunity to breastfeed in public. (Breastfeeding in public means not using a cover or a blanket when you breastfeed in a public area or in front of other people. It can be very discreet, but not hidden). I feel that breastfeeding in public is a very personal choice, and there isn't a right or wrong decision. If given the choice, I will choose to breastfeed in public. And this is why:

Back in the 80's, in a zoo in Ohio, a female gorilla born and raised in captivity gave birth. That gorilla had never seen another mother gorilla feed a baby gorilla. Her instincts told her she should, but she had no idea how. Unable to feed it, she killed it. A while later, this same gorilla became pregnant again. The zoo keepers, not wanting this newborn to be killed, decided to try something new.  They called the local La Leche League and asked for volunteers. Those volunteers came to the zoo, sat on one side of a glass wall, and breastfed their baby in full view of the female gorilla who watched from the other side of the glass wall. This was done throughout the gorilla's pregnancy. When the baby gorilla was born, the female gorilla could do what she was unable to do with the last baby: breastfeed it.  Monkey see, monkey do.

I feel a lot like that gorilla. Before my baby was born I never saw a woman breastfeeding. I knew breastfeeding was important to me. I knew I wanted to breastfeed my baby. Yet, when my baby was born, I couldn't. I utterly failed at breastfeeding. How could I have been expected to succeed when I had never seen it done?

For thousands of years, women breastfed their children. It was, and still is, the natural thing to do. Historically, breastfeeding was never an issue of modesty. In certain cultures walking around without a shirt was completely unacceptable, but in those cultures, having one breast exposed to a suckling child was normal. That's how babies ate. There was nothing immodest about it. That holds true for the Mormon pioneers. Exposing your ankle was immodest but exposing a breast to feed a baby? No one thought anything of it! They believed very strongly in modesty, but breastfeeding your child in full view of other adult males simply wasn't an modesty issue. It was normal! LDS Women openly breastfed in sacrament meeting and while crossing the plains.

Why? Why didn't they think that exposing a secondary sexual organ has anything to do with modesty? Because it's just that: a secondary sexual organ, just like a mouth. You eat with your mouth in full view of others and don't think anything about it being modest or immodest, because it's not a modesty issue. Babies eat with a breast (so to speak). It's the same thing.

The more you read the scriptures the more you get the idea that God thinks a breastfeeding is a beautiful, wonderful, GOOD sight.

"Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb." (Genesis 49:25)

"O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised." (Song of Solomon 8:1)

Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.
For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her alike a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 66:10-13)

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. (Isaiah 49:15)

Clearly, God does NOT think breastfeeding is immodest.

Early LDS men and women picked up on that language and held the image of breastfeeding in high regard, as we can see in LDS works of art which are prominently displayed at Seagull Monument in Salt Lake City; in a wall mural in the Cardston, Alberta temple; and even in the Book of Mormon Reader (That image is on Page 31 [Enos 1:11-12] if you want to look it up yourself!).

So what happened? Formula has been around since the late 1800's, but  it was generally considered  inferior to breastmilk. In the 40's and 50's science was the hero of the modern world. In 1951 scientists announced that formula was the better than breast milk. If you wanted the best for your child, you gave them formula, not breast milk. And who wouldn't want the best for your child? Every parent wanted to do the best thing, and most parents thought the best thing was formula. But formula was expensive, and not every mother could afford it. Suddenly, a mother could not breastfeed her child in front of other, because that would be admitting that she wasn't feeding the baby formula; she wasn't "giving her baby the best". Breastfeeding became a status of low income, or of the uneducated. It was hidden away in back bedrooms where the ashamed mothers could feed their babies without the disapproving looks of society.

And then, years later, scientists realized, "Hey, wait a minute. Formula is NOT better than breast milk. It's not even the same as breast milk. Formula is worse that breast milk. Breastfeeding is actually way better. For a lot of reasons. Sorry about that." But the damage was already done. Breastfeeding was no longer the norm and when mothers began to once again nurse in public, suddenly there was an issue of modesty. But  modesty was never the reason women breastfed in private.

Still, seeing a women breastfeed had become a rare sight, and seeing an exposed breast was no longer normal. In our modern society breastfeeding is once again becoming normal, but with nursing covers or with blankets. Especially in church, it a rare sight to see an exposed breast nourishing an infant. That makes it immodest in society's view, but not in God's. How do we change that? How do we make breastfeeding in public normal again? How do we overcome that bias of immodestly? We breastfeed in public. It wasn't so long ago that women wearing pants was considered immodest by society. How did that change? Women wore pants. Simple.

Why is that important to me? Why do I want to make breastfeeding in public accepted, encouraged, and considered normal?

Women need to see other women breastfeeding. Just like that gorilla, they need to see it so they can do it. They also need to see it to know that it's normal, that it's how babies eat. If more women breastfeed in public, more women will be able to breastfeed. That means saving billions of dollars and one thousand lives a year.

Little girls are taught from such a young age that their breasts are to tantalize boys. Everywhere they look women are sexualized. In the words of  M. Russel Ballard: "It is, unfortunately, all too easy to illustrate the confusion and distortion of womanhood in contemporary society. Immodest, immoral, intemperate women jam the airwaves, monopolize magazines, and slink across movie screens—all while being celebrated by the world. The Apostle Paul spoke prophetically of “perilous times” that will come in the last days and specifically referenced something that may have seemed particularly perilous to him: “silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts” (2 Timothy 3:1, 6). Popular culture today often makes women look silly, inconsequential, mindless, and powerless. It objectifies them and disrespects them and then suggests that they are able to leave their mark on mankind only by seduction—easily the most pervasively dangerous message the adversary sends to women about themselves."

We have to fight that! Little girls need to see breastfeeding to understand that breasts are not (only) for seduction! Breasts produce an antibacterial, antiviral liquid that nurtures babies with a perfect blend of nutrients. They make a liquid that builds immune systems, expands life expectancy and cures cancer. They are a completely green, renewable resource of food. Little girls need to see that so they can respect it.  So they can respect themselves. So they can demand more respect.

The sexualization of a women's body is everywhere. You cannot shield your little boys from all the graphic images, immodestly dressed women, and degrading videos seen everywhere.  Every little boy will be exposed to those images. The best you can do is to teach them how to respond to those images.

Little boys need to see breastfeeding so they can see the proper use of breasts. They need to see breasts in a context that is not sexual, but nourishing. Not degrading, but peaceful.  If little boys could see that as a common sight then when they saw a degrading image of a woman's breast they would not think that was normal. They would think something was very, very wrong. They would have a way to fight off those offensive  images. They might even have a way to avoid the plague of pornography.

This study showed that when a man sees a women in a bikini, the part of his brain that responds is the same part that responds when he sees a tool like a hammer. He doesn't see that women as a person, but as an object. In our society, scantily clad women are everywhere. That is all a man sees.

But when a man sees a women breastfeeding, he sees her not as an object or a tool, but a human being; as a mother. That is huge! He is looking at an exposed breast, and seeing a human woman, not an object. THAT is how we raise the level of respect for women. THAT is how we stop crimes against women.

I've never breastfed in public before, and the thought of it is scary, but I know that it is my choice to make. I am choosing to breastfeed in public becasue of these issues. I want to help other women breastfeed their babies. I want to help a little girl understand her value. I want to help a little boy grow up with respect for women. I want to help men understand that I am not a tool, but a human being. I think there are other ways to accomplish all of these things, but this is how I feel I can help change my little corner of the world.

What to Expect Says That Readying the Baby's Room is an Important Process for Women. It's Called "Nesting."

When I was pregnant with Ash I had a dining room set that needed to be sanded and stained. I'd never done anything like that before and was a little hesitant to take on the project. The day after I thought she would be born I dragged the eight chairs and table into the driveway and began stripping, sanding, varnishing  and whatever else you do to wood. My neighbor thought I was insane. I probably was. I just felt like AI had to get it done! 

Well, I didn't get it done. It was a huge project and the baby came before it was completed, leaving the sanded half-finished chairs in the garage to rot. I never did finish that project. 

This time around I've once again had that feeling that I just have to get things done! Since finding out I was pregnant, I've repainted the entire front room, kitchen, hallway, and bathroom. I really, really want to paint the doors in the hallway, but since I'm now full-term, I'm thinking I should wait until after the baby is born, lest the project go unfinished forever. 

The bathroom was a real challenge. I hated the way our bathroom looked. The whole thing needs to be remodeled, but that costs money. Paint is cheap.  Here are a few before shots: 

 And after:

I'm stuck on the towels. Should I have black towels? Cobalt Blue towels? White towels?  What do you think? I am obsessed with this towel thing. I MUST finish this project!

Do We Have Enough... Bread-Making Vikings, or Small Home-Repair Vikings...?

We've been in this house for one year, eleven months, and one week. During that whole time, I haven't had and oven, and the stove has been risky to use.  Also, the whole range is ugly: 

Well, after one year, eleven months, one week, lots of trips to Sears Outlet, a fantastic President's Day deal, a visit by the delivery and installation people, a visit by the propane company, a visit by Sears repairman, another visit by the propane company, and several phone calls to both Sears and the propane company, I have this:

And the best part is that IT WORKS. 

I will use this new power to bake cookies.  Or will, as soon as I get some cookie sheets. 

Dance, You Squealing Goat!

Drek finished the play structure last Saturday. This Saturday he bought sand for the sand box. He was supposed to just dump the sand in, but he wisely noted that that would add lots of weight to the play structure, and then it would be immovable.

The play structure is massive:

I thought it was immovable already. And why would we want to move it? 

Drek pointed out it would look better more to the right, and then we could have a bigger garden. Still, I estimated you needed at least ten people to move that beast. Where were we going to get ten volunteers together at the same time? 

I shouldn't have worried. I am married to a genius, after all.  With his technique, he could have built the pyramids all by himself. 

We moved it about fifty feet. Drek broke it down into three piece and moved it piece by piece.  My job was to move the slats under the structure so it would slide, and add support to the bridge so it wouldn't topple over while being scooted across the yard. Ash took the position of task master and yelled "SUPPORT!" from the porch whenever I wasn't supporting the bridge with both hands.  We both gave up our jobs at the end to film. 

And it worked! Drek assembled the three pieces back together and added the sand to the sand box. It really does look better on the right side of our yard. And it's easier to push Ash on the swings. 

And now we can make the garden bigger! That will be next Saturday!

*note: Several years ago Drek and I were watching the Ten Commandments. At one point the Egyptian task master yells at the slave making bricks to "Dance, you squirrely goat!" Drek and I thought that was so funny. We've quoted it to each other several times over the years. Today, when I looked up the quote to use as the title, it turned out to be "squealing" not "squirrely". Not nearly as funny. 

Erin Go Bragh

I wanted one last party before the baby was born. I also wanted to make St. Patrick's Day a big deal this year. So I threw a  St. Patrick's Day party at my house for all the mothers of young children in my ward. We had about fifteen adults and thirty kids. I held the party on March 1st, way to early for it to be a real  St. Patrick's Day party, but I wanted to make sure it happened before the baby was born! I tried to make it more of a "Irish Heritage!" theme. Well, more like attempted. 

The invitations said "please bring a healthy green, white, and/or orange snack to share!" (the colors of the flag of Ireland) I wanted to do a fruit salad, so I picked green apples for the green and white, kiwi for the green, and oranges for the orange. While making it I realized the oranges were more white then orange. I paused. This fruit salad was siding dangerously with the Protestants. Maybe I should use mandarin oranges? Mini oranges? What other fruit is orange? Carrots? Not a fruit, but would it taste good in a fruit salad? Are there really no other orange fruits besides oranges? Drek passed by after I had puzzled over this for a few minutes.

"Drek! What fruits are the color orange?" I asked. 

"Mangoes, cantaloupe, tangerines, papaya, apricots, peaches. " He rattled off without hesitation. 

My mouth dropped open. 

Drek shrugged "Orange bell peppers are technically fruit. Orange tomatoes." 

My husband is a genius. Sadly, I used his resource too late, as I didn't have any of those fruits on hand. I think it still turned out ok: 

Next time I would add some mangoes to have a little more Catholic representation. 

Honey, These Are Our Kids We're Talking About. They Deserve The Best!

Drek and I want to encourage our children to play outside. We live in Sunland, after all, they should get a lot of sun. 

Drek decided Ash needed a simple play structure for Christmas. One with a swing and a slide. He looked at prices, and decided to design and build one himself. 

Several Saturdays later, it was complete. Several more Saturdays later, we finally finished painting it: 

I had no idea he could build something so amazing. I'm trying to convince him that his next project should be a house. 

And Send It Soaring

Sometimes you just want to go to the beach, but it's just to windy to play in the water. That's when you bring kites: 

We love it when family comes to town to play with us!

For Whose Sake The Very Sun Doth Shine

Drek left on a business trip the Sunday before Valentine's Day. He was supposed to come back Wednesday the thirteenth, but complications arose and he stayed an extra day. Thus, my real Valentine's Day present was my husband coming home! 

He called around two in the afternoon, saying he was on his way home. When he arrived at five, he had a flower with him!

 

He has also made reservations at an Italian restaurant we had been to once before and had arranged a baby sitter for Ash. How amazing is that?! For a guy who hates planning/arranging things, he sure did a wonderful job! 

We went to the restaurant and had a wonderful time together. The waitress was an idiot and because of it I ended up accidentally eating meat for the first time in years, but even that could not ruin our date night! 

After dinner Drek said he had bought me a present, which really surprised me. I was still in shock that he had come up with a date idea all by himself, let alone made the reservations and arranged a babysitter. But there was also a present! It was a pearl necklace:

But that's not the amazing part. The amazing part is that back in December,  Drek bought me a few books for Christmas from my "want to read, but the library doesn't have it" list. Two of those book are non fiction books about human trafficking. I'm just getting in to this enormous issue, but already feel very strongly about it. So strongly, I even helped to get a proposition on the ballot for the last election that dealt with human trafficking. Drek bought me those two books, and then read one of them. In the book, he came across NightLight, which is this amazing organization that helps women and children who have been rescued from sex trafficking. 

Drek bought the necklace from NightLight. His purchase goes to support these women and their families. Isn't my husband the best?!  That's got to be one of the most thoughtful gifts a man has ever given a woman. 

And from my last post, the answers are: 

1. Holes

2. Disney's Pocahontas

3. Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls

4. Love Actually

5. Another amazing gift from a husband to his wife. Pharaoh Ramases II built the Temple of Abu Simbel and on the wall wrote: for Nefertari, for whom the sun rises. 

You are My Sunshine

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm not really a romantic person. I don't love Romantic Comedies. I'm not a Jane Austin fan. I have a really hard time reading Romantic novels. I don't like listening to overly-mushy songs.

But occasionally I do hear or read something that melts my cold heart. So, a trivia game! The following phrases are the most romantic things I have ever heard. Can you guess where they are from?

"Oh, Sam, My heart's breaking." "I can fix that." 

"Look at me. I'd rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you." 

"And I don't want the world to see me 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand When everything's meant to be broken I just want you to know who I am" 

 "To me, you are perfect - And my wasted heart will love you - Until you look like this"

And a tricky one, but my all time favorite:
"For Whom the Sun Rises"

As a reward for playing, or, just reading this, a recipe I made up!

K La's White Chocolate Raspberry Hearts

2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Butter
4 Eggs
4 teaspoons Vanilla
3 Cups Flour
3 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
2 cups White Chocolate Chips
3 cups Frozen Raspberries
1/2 c milk chocolate chips
Heart shaped cookie cutter

Cream together butter and sugar. Add wet ingredients and blend until smooth. Add dry ingredients and blend until smooth. Add Raspberries and white chocolate chips. Stir with wooden spoon until more or less mixed in. Smoosh onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 325 for 30 min or until toothpick comes out clean. let cool. Cut into heart shapes. Drizzle with melted milk chocolate chips.

That Was the Best Vacation Ever! I Love Our Family

When I was in High School, My sister, my mom, and a friend of mine took a trip to another state to visit a college campus. I don't remember a whole lot about the college campus part, but I do remember hanging out by the indoor pool in the hotel, playing games with Starbursts and soaking in the hot tub.

The experience stood out to me because it was so relaxing. High school can be very stressful and it was amazing to just relax and do nothing. I've never had another vacation like that.

I'm actually not very good at relaxing. For Vacations and Holidays it's all about efficiency! Must ride maximum number of rides! Must see maximum number of sites! Must play maximum number of games! I love to have fun, and it seems my version of having fun isn't very relaxing.

Present day story: Back in December Drek casually mentioned he had a business trip in Virginia and did Ash and I want to come along? Um...sure. Why not? I've never been to Virginia. I've never heard of Fredericsburg. Let's go!

I hope you rolled you eyes at the "I've never heard of Fredericsburg" sentence. As it turns out, after I did some googeling, it's a very famous city. It's played an enormous roll in American History. I should have heard of it. After reading all about the town, I made a list of sites to see and places to visit. I even prioritized the list so we could get to the most important ones first.

We left last Monday. The day before, Sunday, I nearly jumped off the bench when the speaker in church told a story that happened in Fredericsburg, Virginia during the Civil War. He told the story of Richard Kirkland, which is an amazing story. Not having run across that story in my search, I quickly moved the Statue to the top of my list, gleefully thinking I would see it in just two days!

It was eleven at night before we got to our hotel. The next day it rained. Drek was at work of course, and Ash and I didn't have a car. I had looked up public transportation before we left, but didn't really want to find the bus stop in the rain with a toddler. So we stayed in our hotel all day. We played little toddler games. We read little toddler books. We went swimming in the indoor pool. We took a nap to recover from Jetlag. It was...relaxing.

The next day it was still raining. I asked Drek to drop us off at the bus stop on his way to work, but just as we turned the corner, the bus was pulling away. Drek dropped us off anyway, because I assumed the next bus would be there in fifteen minutes. Once Drek drove away, I checked the schedule and realized the next bus wouldn't be there for an hour. It was very cold. And wet. This was not Sunland weather. I didn't want to wait.

So we walked back to the hotel with intention of walking back in thirty minutes. But the walk was long. And wet. And cold. And Ash was cold and wet and wanted to be carried. And I am thirty weeks pregnant. So we got back to the hotel and spent another day taking naps, playing games, reading books and going swimming. I didn't have dinner to make or laundry to do. I didn't have errands to run or people to call. It was amazing. It was relaxing. It was the best two days of vacation I have had since that trip in High school.

Friday the rain stopped and the sun came out. It was still very cold, but Ash and I spent the day visiting the sites: a trolley tour of the historic town, a living history apothecary and tavern, the oldest pharmacy in the United States, it was awesome. I LOVED the history. When Drek came home I talked his ear off, retelling all the stories. Ask me about the history of bowling. It is an awesome story.

Saturday Drek didn't have to work, so as a family we visited the Statue of Richard Kirkland, along with a few other civil war sites. It was wonderful!

And now I think I need to find more of a balance: Yes, efficiency is wonderful, and I have a blast doing fun things on vacation, but maybe I should make more of an effort to just relax.

I'm Not Going to Stand Here While You Rationalize Yet Another Brush With Death

And just because I'm sure all the readers of this blog are eager to hear my medical updates, I thought I'd share this little story:

In August I went in for my thank-goodness-this-is-only-once-a-year physical. Being a female, my check-ups consist of female tests. You know what I'm talking about. Anyway, it was a very short, very easy doctors appointment. The only thing unexpected was the doctor sort of insisted I pee in a cup so they could test to see if I was pregnant.

Me: But I am pregnant.
Doctor: That's why I need you to take the test.
Me: But...I already know. I promise, I'm pregnant. I can throw up in front of you to prove it, if you want.
Doctor: Cup. Bathroom. Go.

So I did. Guess what? The test was positive! Wow! What a shock!

So when I got the bills I was suspicious. The appointment was scheduled as preventative care. I went for my one a year preventative care check-up. I was given a preventative care check-up, and two preventative care tests. This is important because once a year preventative care check-ups and preventative care tests are all covered one hundred percent by my insurance.

But the bill from the laboratory came back as three tests, not two. Two were covered by my insurance, one was not. The extra test was not, as I originally suspected, a pregnancy test. As it turns out, they didn't bill me for that test.

I called my insurance and asked why the extra test wasn't covered. The answer was it wasn't preventative. I asked what test was performed. After looking up the number, double checking, and asking a supervisor, the answer came back: it was a test for the Adenovirus. I had never heard of the Adenovirus before. Neither had the guy on the phone. Huh. Why they test me for a virus without asking me first? Am I a guenie pig? Has the CDC ordered everyone to take this test? Is this some horrible epidemic authorities are keeping mum about to the population doesn't panic? Is This the Zombie outbreak we've all been waiting for?

Naturally,  I Googled Adendovirus. I became even more confused. It's a kids disease? It's no big deal? I have no symptoms? I have no reason to have symptoms? What?

My next step was to call my doctor and ask why I was given a test I didn't ask for, without my knowledge, without informed consent, and without ever telling me it was done. She was even more confused. My medical records show no such test was ever requested or given.

Her conclusion was it was a mistake on the lab's part. I called the lab, told them it was a mistake, and they informed me that my doctor would have to call in and tell them it was a mistake. I called the doctor back, this time talking to "Pat" at the front desk. She asked that I bring in the bill so she could fax it over. I drove down there, handed her the bill, thanked her and left.

That was in October.  I kept getting bills. I kept calling Pat. I kept emailing pat. She kept saying she was taking care of it, and she would keep me updated.

The first of December I received a "PAST DUE LAST NOTICE" bill. I called the lab and explained the situation. Once again they said only the doctor could call in, and that they could not do anything to stop the bill from going to collections. I called the doctor, this time demanding to speak to the actual doctor, instead of Pat. I explained what was going on. She asked me to bring in that bill so they could take care of it. I drove down there, handed the doctor the bill and said "Please, PLEASE take care of this today."

Last week I got another bill. This time from collections. I was so angry. I took the bill down to the doctor's office, walked in, and told them I wasn't leaving until they cleared this up. They had five months. Ridiculous.

So a nurse called and was told it was my co payment. I'm afraid this is where I got a little forceful. "Have you not listened to anything I've said? That is not the the problem. The doctor knows the the problem, she confirmed it back in October. Call again."  But Pat came into work and took over. She insisted she had to call a specific rep, not just anyone at the lab. She called and left a message. I wouldn't leave until the situation was resolved, so we sat there. For  four hours. Finally Pat called back, and the rep answered the phone. I insisted on listening to the phone conversation. Because I seriously could not understand why she didn't do this five months ago.

The rep put a hold on the bill, and filled out the form to have the adenovirus test marked as a bogus charge. I was informed I would get a revised bill in thirty days.

Le't hope that revised bill is for zero dollars, since that is what it is supposed to be.

If it takes six months, four trips to the doctors, dozens of phone calls and emails, and a wasted morning sitting in a doctors office with a bored three year old to clear up the billing problems from a yearly physical I think I might switch to once a decade physicals.

The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah. - EZRA TAFT BENSON: Prepare for the Days of Tribulation

A few weeks ago I was asked to give a Relief Society activity lesson on Long Term Food Storage.  It came as a surprise. Sure, I have long term food storage, and sure, I'm probably an expert on which TVP tastes good and which ones to avoid, but a whole lesson? I'm no expert. I don't have an entire year's supply of food storage for my family.

So I started by doing research. One night I was on several different sites, clicking on links, scanning articles and helpful hints, browsing forums, while in one of my many tabs a Youtube video played. Suddenly, stopped. I gasped. Could it really be this easy? I clicked on the youtube tab to actually watch. This was it! This was my lesson! Not only that, but this was what I needed to get my food storage ready!

Much more preparation was needed. I typed up a copy of my lesson and read it to Drek. His reaction: "Wow. You really need to slow down and breathe while talking." He also gave some valuable edits. I did a second draft and practiced on Jenny. Her reaction: "Wow. You really need to slow down and breathe while talking." She also edited a huge chunk out of my lesson. Draft three was presented to Anna. This was the reaction I was hoping for! She was just as excited as I was about this system! She also edited my lesson, and told me to slow down when I talk.

Yesterday was my big presentation. I was scared to death. I got up and started talking, and only a few minutes into it I got a lot of "Whoa! Slow down! I can't take notes that fast!" comments. So I took a deep breathe and tried my best to slow down.

I think it went well overall. I got a lot of comments on how overwhelming all the information was, which I suppose means I did my research well enough, but that my presentation was more of an information dump. It's better in written form:

Long Term Food Storage

How do we do a year’s supply of food storage?
Start by picking 7 dinners your family likes. Look up the ingredients.  These are meals the whole family likes to eat. Soups, stews, chilis = cheap, tasty, easy to make, easy to cook, one pot to clean. These meals can be as easy or as complicated as you want to make them. Don’t exclude favorite recipes just because you think you can’t have one of the ingredients in long term food storage. We’ll get to all that in a minute.
Example:
Spaghetti:
1 lb of spaghetti + 1 can of ragu
There are 52 weeks in a year, so if you are eating it once a week, times by 52.  
1 lb of spaghetti * 52 = 52 lbs of spaghetti
1 can of ragu * 52 = 52 cans of ragu

Now add 7 breakfasts. You can do 14 meals instead of 7 if you don’t like repeating. You can add in lunches. You can add a bread a day, either in addition to or to replace lunches. You can add desserts! Dessert are SO EASY with food storage! In fact! I encourage you, if you’re new to making meals with powdered milk or dehydrated butter, start with a dessert! Don’t try to healthy it up. Sometimes people have a stigma about food storage because people will put pinto beans in fudge. Guess what? You can make fudge from food storage without pinto beans. Just go with basic dessert goodness. It’s easy, Your family will want to try it, and it has a very high success rate. Everyone likes it, you get more confidence and try something else!

Now that you have your recipes in front of you. go through them one by one. and list all the ingredients timesed by 52. I did mine on an excel spreadsheet, (Column A = all the ingredients needed in all recipes, Row 1 = The different recipes) but whatever works for you!  Basically, it should look something like this: Salt:  52 tsp, 104 tsp... Keep a running tally. When you are done with all your recipes, add up all the salt you will need: For an entire year's supply of delicious food for my family, I need 512 tsps of salt. 1 ½ tbsp of salt = 1 ounce. 1 container of salt = 26 oz = 39 tbsp or 117 tsp. So I need 5 containers of salt.  5 containers! at 70 cents each, That’s only $3.50. For a year’s supply of salt! I can totally afford that!

Great! We have a plan! We know what to buy! Take your shopping list with you everytime you go shopping; When ragu or salt  goes on sale, you’ll know how much to buy!

Set a goal: You don’t have to buy everything tomorrow. It’s totally fair to take a year to build up a year’s supply food (but try hard not to take more than a year!) Count up your items, and say you’ll buy 2 a month, or 1 a week. Or set a budget.; $60 on food storage per month. Once you have everything on your shopping list stored, you just rotate through as part of your grocery list.

How do we store  a year’s supply of food?
There are a million ways to store food storage. You can have a 1 year supply of food storage for 1 person in 10 boxes. 10 boxes fit under a twin size bed. An entire year’s supply of food for 1 person, under 1 bed.

Ideally, store in 75 degrees or cooler, hidden from light, an inch off the ground. It’s not hard! store #10 cans in boxes (no light) on a wire rack, under a bed. Your house usually stays that cool. Those conditions will get you maximum shelf life. if not stored in those conditions, it’s okay, just don’t leave it for 30 years. that problem is solved by rotating your food storage.

Label! Always label! Bought on this date, expires on this date. With your booklet of recipes that you’ve printed off, keep a list of the items you have: year’s supply of pinto beans bought on _____ expires_____ under Little Tommy’s bed.  So you’ll know. Now, since pinto beans last 30 years, and since you already love a recipe where you use pinto beans all you have to do is use them! Use your long term food storage in everyday cooking! It will SAVE YOU MONEY. Just rotate it; buy an extra can of pinto beans, or container of salt, or 5 gallon bucket of sugar, and keep it in your pantry/cupboard. Once it’s gone, get another one out from under Tommy’s bed and make a note to by another container to put under there. Voila! Rotating food storage where nothing goes bad and you never have to throw anything away!

When you open a can that is 12 years old, it might smell bad. Especially oats. It’s okay! it’s simply taken on the smell of the can. Put it in a bucket, let it air for 24  hours.

How to get the ingredients for our meals into long term food storage?
Here’s the deal: Long term food storage is a booming industry. You can buy almost anything in #10 cans. Cheese, hashbrowns, cornmeal, strawberries and on and on. it’s amazing. But, those are not your only options. Usually it’s cheaper to can your own food.  I’m not just talking about peaches or pickles, I’m talking about any ingredients you have in your meals.  Go to google. There are endless forums and how-tos on how to store (almost) anything. You need to figure out which ones work best for your tastebuds and your budget.  

Let’s talk about just a few options for a few ingredients that are the majority of lists.
Wheat: From the standpoint of food production, storage, handling, and the Lord’s counsel, wheat should have high priority. “There is more salvation and security in wheat,” said Orson Hyde years ago, “than in all the political schemes of the world” (in Journal of Discourses, 2:207).
Don’t let wheat scare you! It’s so easy! If you are unfamiliar with wheat, go hard white wheat. It’s just better all around. Storing wheat is easy, it can be stored anywhere and has a shelf life of 30+ years. 30+, meaning, it will outlast you.  If opened will last about 3 years. However, once ground into flour, wheat loses most of its nutrients within a few days so only grind small amounts at a time.
You probably want a wheat grinder to go with your wheat. But, no grinder? No problem!

Wheat Without a Wheat Grinder

1. Crock Pot Wheat
Bring 1 c. of wheat kernels, 2 c. water, and 1 t. salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Pour into a Crockpot, turn on “warm”.  In the morning, pour off any additional water, add butter and honey, and serve hot.

2. Wheat Berries
Add some of your plain dry wheat kernels to a pot of water. Bring it to a boil and cook for a few minutes. Let simmer for about 45 minutes. Drain the wheat berries and stick them in a container in the fridge. These are delicious to add to yogurt or to use to replace some meat in recipes. You can also use it in place of brown rice in recipes.

3. Popped Wheat
Take 1 cup of your cooked wheat berries (see above) and add to a frying pan or pot with two tablespoons of oil. Cover with a lid and cook over a hot stove shaking the pan while it cooks. After about 4-5 minutes the kernels will be nice and toasted. Put the popped wheat on a paper towel to get the extra oil off, and sprinkle with your choice of seasonings. Try it with salt, seasoned salt, garlic, barbecue salt, onion salt, cinnamon and sugar or any combination you desire. These are delicious on salads as a topping, mixed with trail mix, or as toppings for a desserts or just as a healthy snack.

4. Wheat Sprouts
You can sprout wheat just like any other vegetable seeds, legumes, or other grains. Most people like wheat sprouts to be very small, just barely sprouted. These are delicious to throw on salads or to add into your whole wheat bread for a little extra texture and flavor.

5. Wheat Grass
It’s so healthy! Just sprout your wheat and let it keep growing until the grass grows! Snip off the grass and add them to fruit smoothies or juice it (in a special wheat grass juicer) for healthy wheat grass juice.

6. Cracked Wheat
Put in about 1/4-1/3 cups of wheat in a blender and pulse it until it looks like little cracked kernels. These kernels will cook much faster than regular wheat, and cook up in the same way that you cook rice on the stove or in the microwave. You can use cracked wheat to make hot cereal, add it into bread, or cook it up and use as a meat filler.

7. Blender Wheat Flour Waffles or Pancakes
Add liquids for your waffle or pancake batter recipe in your blender. Blend. Add wheat kernels instead of flour. Add in your wheat kernels and blend for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients from your recipe. Blend and Pour onto a griddle or waffle-maker.

To store anything in  #10 cans or in 5 gallon bucket with an oxygen absorber, it must be less than 10% moisture, or it will cause botulism. so how do you store things with higher oils or moisture content? Things like Chocolate chips, nuts, peanut butter, raisins, cornmeal, brown rice, sesame seeds:  Food saver, jar sealer. Deni JarVac Vacuum Sealer. Put food in glass jars, seal them = 10 year shelf life. open the jar, take out what you want and vacuum it again; same lid.  You can buy Halloween candy or Christmas candy the day after the holiday, when all the candy goes on sale. Can it using your Deni JarVac and next holiday it is fresh!

You can can muffins and brownies, and cakes, and breads and corn breads. It’s crazy. Look up jar bread recipes. The trick is there are no eggs, it’s usually a product called Knox gelatin or mashed beans or applesauce. Those three things are a fantastic substitute for eggs in recipes, by the way.   You bake it in a jelly jar, add the ring and the lid, and it will seal itself. Delicious, moist, amazing. Shelf life 2 years.

Fruits and vegetables: There are three different options: Purchase #10 cans. FYI: Freeze dried usually has a better taste, higher nutritional content, and a  longer shelf life than dehydrated.  It’s also more expensive.
Second option is to can or dehydrate your own. You can grow and can them or buy in bulk and can them. Canning them means in glass jars, dehydrating them means cutting them up into pieces, drying them out in a dehydrator and canning them in #10 cans with an oxygen absorber.
Or you can Grow your own (best option). A huge part of self reliance is having your own garden. We have been urged over and over again to grow a garden. Your recipe will taste so much better and be so much healthier if you grow your own produce. You don’t have to have a backyard to grow a garden. Two years ago, before we moved into our house in this ward, we lived in a 900 SF apartment with a teeny tiny balcony. How teeny tiny? It fit two playpens, side by side. I found this thing called global buckets, where you can grow a produce garden in an urban setting. Basically it’s cheap, it only requires a rooftop or a balcony or even a ledge, and you get amazing results. When we moved into the house in the ward, the first thing we did was plant a huge garden in the backyard. We did not get as much produce from our giant garden, as we did from our tiny balcony. A lot of that is because I’m new to gardening, and global buckets are basically idiot-proof, but, that just goes to show that where you live doesn’t matter, we should all have a garden.  
Also, consider storing seeds in your food storage so you can plant them to grow food.
From your food storage, you can sprout dried beans, lentils and wheat. Sprouting anything is amazingly healthy and very simple.  These are considered vegetables.

Cooking your food:
Solar oven is best long term, as propane and butane is best for your 3 month supply. As long as the sun is shining, a solar oven will heat up to 350 degrees. If it’s hot, it will heat up faster, so in cold weather just give yourself longer to cook.

non food items:  Paper Towels, Toilet Paper, Feminine Products, Bleach, Dog/Cat Food. How much do I need? Easy! When you go to the store to buy because you are out, buy 3 times what you would normally and store 2 of them. When you need it again, repeat. After 6 months you’ve stored a year’s supply (twice what you used in 6 months!) Works for anything. You can shorten or lengthen the time it takes as your budget dictates by changing the multiple you buy. Twice as much as usual will take a year, 4 times as much will take 4 months, etc.
Also in your food storage you need medical supplies. Stock up on: First Aid Kits, Hand Sanitizers, gauze, Face Masks, Cold medicine...

You can also make your own household cleaners, laundry detergent, and dishwashing soap.   It’s cheaper, and doesn’t use all those terrible toxins. Learning how now will prepare you for when you can’t buy lysol in the store. and the ingredients to make these things are easily kept in long term storage.

Same goes for Toothpaste, Shampoo/Conditioner, Deodorant, Facewash/Bodywash/Soap

Here is more information than you ever wanted to know about me: I haven’t used store bought shampoo or conditioner in over three years. cheaper, healthier, greener.

In conclusion! You don’t know what type of disaster you are planning for. You don’t know if you are building up this year’s supply to feed your family after your husband loses his job, or to feed your neighborhood in the week it takes help to arrive after a major disaster. You don’t know if you are preparing for a total economic collapse and the end of civilization as we know it, or if all your preparations will be washed away in a tsunami. The bottom line is: It doesn’t matter.  D&C 38:30
“If ye are prepared ye shall not fear” If you do what is asked of you and have your long term food storage, no matter disaster happens, god will take care of you.