Happy Birthday, Eric!!

Today is Eric's birthday! And tomorrow is mine. He jokes because for a whole 24 hours he gets to be 4 years older than me instead of 3.

But seriously, it is hard for me not to count my blessings when I think of my sweet husband. He has changed my life in so many ways and has shown me a level of happiness that I never knew existed.

Three years ago we found each other by accident online and started a long-distance friendship. In December of 2009 he came down from Washington to California to visit me. This is a famous picture of that trip. It was New Year's Eve day, 2009, and we were at the Arboretum in Arcadia--one of my favorite places. I set up the tripod and camera in front of the waterfall to take a couple of pictures. After getting one photo, I set the camera's timer again and, a split second before it went off, Eric surprised me with a kiss on the cheek and this shot was immortalized forever:
One month later, Eric returned with a ring and asked me to marry him. Accepting his proposal was the most spontaneous thing I've ever done (and I am one of the least spontaneous people I know,) but I knew it was the right thing. He was (and is) my best friend. He was the person I wanted to share every victory and defeat with first, and my life had taken on new meaning just by knowing him. How could I not marry him?

Over the course of the next few months, from the proposal in January to our August 2010 wedding, we've calculated that Eric flew down to California about 10 times. I was still teaching and about to get laid off from my district. And, although the original plan was to live in California, we realized that it was time to look at Plan B, living in Washington.

Meanwhile, we had a wedding to plan, his house to sell, a house to buy for the two of us, and we needed to spend time together, despite being 2 states apart for our entire courtship and engagement:

Eric and I in Seattle during my first trip to Washington, April 2010. At this point we still thought we'd be living in CA after the wedding.

Two of the photos from our engagement picture session in May 2010. That was the craziest weekend ever! In 3 days we had to get the marriage license, book a place for our rehearsal dinner, pick out flowers, pick out tuxedos for the men in the wedding party, pick out wedding invitations, and take our engagement photos. I had a calendar in my kitchen to keep us on schedule during those crazy days. And we got it all done without losing our sanity. The black and white photo accompanied the invitations to our 150 guests. I honestly don't know how we were able to look so relaxed in these pictures.

Eric and my cute nephew during another CA visit. This may have been the visit where he came to support me during the long and horrible lay-off hearing at my school district. It did not turn out in the teachers' favor, but I'm SO glad he was there! And as my family got to know him, they liked him more and more.

And before we knew it, the big day had arrived! Our photographer, Nick Charrow (his website is HERE, and his blog about our wedding day is HERE) took several pictures of the wedding party when the guys and gals were still getting ready in their separate areas. This is probably my all-time favorite picture of my husband. Why? Because his sweetness and goodness shows in his expression. This is what I get to see every single day. Boy, am I lucky.

And then it was honeymoon time! We stayed our first night at the incredible Langham Hotel (formerly the Ritz-Carlton, Pasadena). It was the poshest hotel either of us had ever been in, and we wish we could've been there longer than one night! The service, the room, everything was amazing. Here's Eric being silly the next morning as we ate breakfast in the courtyard.

We honeymooned throughout the California coast. Our rationale was that we wanted to have a quiet honeymoon where we could focus on being together after having to spend so much time apart. We drove to San Jose the day after the wedding and stayed one night there. The next day we visited the very interesting Winchester Mystery House (I had seen a documentary on it a few months before and asked Eric if we could please stop there. It is definitely unique!)

The majority of our honeymoon was spent in the sleepy town of Mendocino, CA at the MacCallum House B&B (Murder, She Wrote was filmed there, along with many other films and shows.) We stayed there for about 7 nights, driving back to Los Angeles by way of Carmel and San Francisco.

We love being silly together. About 10 miles north of Mendocino is Fort Bragg, where we visited a couple of times to do laundry and go to the famous "glass beach." At the tiny mall there was a studio that did antique-y looking photos. We couldn't resist!

So why am I writing about these things on Eric's birthday and not on an anniversary? Because as we celebrate our birthdays together another year, I am just reminded of how blessed we are to have found each other and to be able to grow old together.

I have learned so much since marrying this wonderful man. I love his intelligence, his spirituality, his humor, his generosity, his work ethic, and so many more things that I can't even list. I love that everything he does is about being good and kind to me and to others.

He is my rock, my partner, and my best friend. He makes me feel protected, beautiful and very loved. Happy Birthday to my darling Eric!!

Indexing--A Fun and Valuable Service...

Ever since leaving my teaching career, I've been on the hunt for ways to use my time in a creative, fun, and interesting manner. I've really enjoyed being a more dedicated Visiting Teacher (in the LDS church, ladies are assigned other ladies to visit each month and serve if possible,) and it is fun to attend stamping parties once again.

But last week I happened upon a new adventure that I'm enjoying immensely...indexing. The church magazine, The Ensign, had an article all about indexing and what an important service it is. I had heard of it, but had never tried it.

So, what is indexing? Here is a direct quote from the article:
"FamilySearch indexing is the process of reading digitized versions of physical records—such as census, vital, probate, and church records—and typing the information they contain into an online searchable database. Through this work, indexing volunteers make it possible for members [of the LDS Church] and other family history researchers to easily locate their ancestors’ information on the Internet.

Indexing has brought a simplicity and ease to family history work. “In the past if you were looking for relatives, you had to wind through microfilm. When you found a family member you were looking for, you might be able to find connecting names. So you would rewind and wind the microfilm again and again,” says József Szabadkai, an indexer in Hungary.

Today FamilySearch continues to gather historical records from governments and record custodians all over the world. But instead of simply filming the records and making the films available to researchers, FamilySearch employees scan them into the indexing program. Volunteers pull up these images on their computers and type in the information as they see it. In this way, the information is digitized and can be found through the search function on FamilySearch.org while researchers sit in the comfort of their own homes."

I was intrigued, a fun and interesting service that I can do from home on my computer? (I love anything related to computers!) I wanted to try it. So I went to FamilySearch.org's indexing page HERE to see what it was all about. There I was met with a page that looks like this:

This photo is a link, so clicking on it will take you directly to the site. All of the other photos in this post are not links. You can click on them to see them full-sized, which I highly recommend to get full understanding of what I'm explaining. =)

This is a page that invites anyone who is interested to join the world of indexing, which, as the article states, is a worldwide project to translate scanned documents into digital information, thereby, overtime, eliminating the need to look at hard-to-read microfiche while working on family history.

Family history is an extremely important work in the LDS Church, as we believe that everyone, even those who have passed on, should have the opportunity for baptism, eternal marriage, and being sealed eternally to their families. Still, even if you are not LDS and don't believe these things, family history is important. Knowing where we come from is important, and genealogy (putting your family tree together) can open doors to finding out more about yourself.

So indexing is a way to make important public information, like birth and death certificates, war records, census records, etc. more available to everyone and anyone looking to work on their family history. This is something anyone can do, even kids (probably about 13 and up.) Again, this is something for anyone, regardless of religion, age, education level, and you only need basic computer skills and a computer on which to work.

On that opening page that I posted above the first thing you are invited to do is a "test run," where the site gives you an old document and asks you questions about it to see if you are able to find the necessary information. It is very easy and the site helps you through the first steps. Then, if you decide to continue, you are led to the page where you download the program to your computer. The download time is very short. I left the icon on my dock (the Apple desktop) so that it is very available whenever I have a few free moments.

Once you click on the icon that appears, you will see this page (my screen shot already shows the projects I'm working on): Click on the image to see full-sized...

At the top it says "Download Batch," which you click on to get your first set of items to index. A batch is a group of documents (usually around 10-20) that you will see in order to start indexing. For instance, right now I'm part of a project where I'm indexing names from Texas death certificates between 1890-1976. This is what I see with the batch I'm working on:

This is a death certificate of a man who died in 1954 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The red circles are mine, because morbidly curious that I am, I find the causes of death very interesting! (Aside from the natural causes, I've seen gunshots, "burned while house caught fire," and "fell while in a drunken state." ) And, of course, the saddest ones are the death certificates of children. I find the death certificates fascinating, because the loss of a loved one affects so many people.

There are many things that the site does to make it easy for indexers. For instance, there are tutorials. which I highly recommend. My accuracy greatly improved after watching one of the tutorials. And, if necessary you can send a batch back unfinished (although they discourage against it.) I will admit that I did do this a couple of times at the beginning. I was given a household census that was extremely difficult to read, even though it was in the Beginner category, and I just didn't feel like I had the skills to do it justice.

So how do you know how accurate you are while indexing? First of all, when you input names, places, and dates, the field you are working in may turn red. This just means that the database doesn't recognize it, it does not mean that what you inputted is wrong. At the end of the batch, when you're ready to submit it back, it goes through a quality check, which gives you a chance to double-check red-highlighted fields. It is important to do this, and not to just assume that you got it right the first time. For instance, I accidentally listed someone's name as Carfield when it should have been Garfield.

Lastly, you can check your accuracy once it has gone through arbitration. Each document is indexed by 2 people, and then a 3rd person, called an arbitrator, compares the 2, finds discrepancies, and is basically the tie-breaker.

This screen shot shows that I have a 97% agreement between the names I've indexed and the arbitration check.

You can also click on the results and see exactly where the discrepancies were, which is a good way to correct future mistakes. This is a list of batches I've already submitted and how accurate I was. As you can see, I started off terribly! 77%! That's like a C+!

But the value of looking over my mistakes is seeing what they were and not repeating them. A lot of them were very basic, because there are certain rules you have to follow. For instance, if you see VA, you have to type out "Virginia." If you see Wm., you have to leave it as is, and not type out William. You are also not supposed to leave a field completely blank. If the document is missing information or a section is unreadable, there are "blank" and "unreadable" icons that you are supposed to click.

The beauty of it is that every single time you click on a new field, there are guidelines off to the right to help you. So when I was on the field of a person's state of birth and saw VA, if I had read the guidelines properly, I would've seen that it said plain as day to type out the entire state.

Pretty cool, huh?

FamilySearch does encourage that you not bite off more than you can chew. They ask that the batches you download be returned within a week. So, although you can download up to 50 batches, I usually download anywhere from 3-5, just so I'm not overwhelmed, because as soon as you feel overwhelmed you don't want to do it anymore.

One great thing about indexing is that it really got me jazzed up to find out more about my own family. I'm lucky, because I am the owner of 2 books that were written about genealogy, one for each grandmother, and my maternal grandfather did a lot of research when he was alive. Still, there are HUGE gaps of information. We know literally nothing about my paternal grandfather and his family tree.

This is a book written by my cousin, Leopoldo, who did years of research into the Amayas, my maternal grandmother's family.

My great-great-great-great grandparents. Don't they look fun?

A book of genealogy on my maternal grandmother's side.
I had an uncle who invented the machine that tied the string on the newspaper. And, the Bunn coffee machines that you see everywhere? That started out as a family company!

A picture of my great-great grandmother Alice (Bunn) Gale. And for a colorful explanation of another relative, read the page opposite the picture, starting at 234. Isn't family history fun?

Some old (original) family photos of my dad's side of the family in our living room. I love that picture in the middle of my great-great grandmother Alice.

Family history is such a great and worthy work. I love knowing about my relatives from days passed that I would never know of if it wasn't for the efforts of those who have done family history. So indexing is a great way to be part of something bigger and better to help others who are doing their research. In the past 3 days I have indexed 246 names. I think that is awesome. It is relaxing, and a lot more productive that playing Words With Friends or Solitaire (I'm not dissing those games, they are a lot of fun and I play them too! =)

In this big world, where we often feel so small, it is quite fulfilling to be a part of something that connects us all. Whenever I start a new batch, I try to stay very focused and go in with a frame of mind that what I'm doing will help someone else, just as the work someone else is doing may help me in the future.

As it says on the indexing home page "Every person matters."

Here is a 5 min video explaining the process once more. I encourage you to see it full-sized, because it really walks you through each step.

Hopefully this post will recruit a few people! It really is a lot of fun getting a glimpse into the past as you do this important work. Happy indexing!

ChocolateFest 2012...friends, fun, and lots and lots of Chocolate!

A few weeks ago my friend, Turia, told me that she was having a little chocolate party at her house called ChocolateFest. It's so simple that it needed explaining. I thought it was something like a Tupperware party but, no, it was just a party celebrating the wonder that is chocolate. You bring something made from chocolate and come and enjoy what other people have brought with no guilt (Guilt? What guilt?) . She has done this for 4 years now, despite having moved with her family several times.

I have my go-to recipes, we all do, when it comes to chocolate and when it comes to desserts, but I felt the need to try something different. Brownies out of a box felt like a betrayal to what this gathering was all about. So I have been keeping my eyes open to see if any new recipes crossed my path. Luckily one did as I was flipping through an issue of People magazine. There was a recipe for chocolate fondue. It was definitely different and, best of all, quick and easy.

12 ounces of high-quality dark chocolate (60% cacao)

2/3 cup heavy cream

3 tbsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp Amaretto (optional) -- I used 1 tbsp of Kahlua

Melt the chocolate over low/medium heat, stir constantly, add the cream and stir until blended and smooth. Add the vanilla and Amaretto or Kahlua (if desired.) Serve with dried fruit, bread or cookies.

And here is how it turned out: (Click on the pictures to see full-sized)
I made it right before I left so that it would be warm upon arrival to the party. It took about 15 minutes from start to finish.

When I got to Turia's I saw that everyone who came had put a lot of thought into their contributions. Oh, the chocolately goodness! There was cake and cake pops, brownies, cupcakes, candy, ganoche, hot chocolate, chocolate ice cream. Turia really went all out, making chocolate dipped apples, chocolate dipped potato chips, chili with chocolate, and chocolate noodles with mango sauce (the hit of the evening.)

After gathering around the table and each taking turns explaining what we brought, we noshed and feasted in the crackling light of the fireplace and lit candles. Every so often you would hear a "Wow" or "MMM!"

Turia, our hostess for the evening, showing some of her creations, including chocolate dipped potato chips. They were really good!

My plate with several different samples. Everything was great and I wish I could've tasted it all!

Some Inspiration for Today...

I hope these brighten your day. I was led to artist Greg Olsen's site this morning and was reminded of how talented he is. These are some of my favorites. Wednesday often feels a little anti-climactic for a lot of people, so what better day to get a little pick-me-up?

Stampin', Stampin'!

Like I mentioned in my previous blog post, I signed up for a stamping class today, and, boy, was it fun!

About 2 weeks ago I was having a little bit of the blues (totally unjustified blues) and felt like I needed to do something else--something creative, and to meet some new people. I have my church girls, and they're great, but it is good to have different circles of friends. So I thought about things I like to do...I don't want to sew or quilt, since I don't know how and really have no desire to learn (yet...ask me again in a few years,) but I have always enjoyed stamping.

Several years ago I went to a few Stampin' Up parties and bought a few little items here and there. Although it seemed like you had to buy a lot of stuff to make really cute things. One of my friends eventually gave me 2 big boxes of materials, which I got a lot of use out of. But, as usual, Life got in the way and other interests prevailed. Other interests and responsibilities, like my very draining job.

So I went to the Stampin' Up site, nosed around on it, and found a few distributors in the area. One of them had scheduled a class for today. Perfect!

I spent the morning going back and forth between finishing up my Relief Society lesson and watching Whitney Houston's funeral online (interesting...) Then I got ready for my foray in the world of stamping.

After a few wrong turns trying to find the right house, I finally arrived and was greeted by 4 lovely ladies sitting around the kitchen table. They were sweet and welcoming and it was a relaxed and cozy atmosphere. Just the kind of thing I was hoping to find.

We spent the next 3 hours getting to know each other, making cards, swapping materials, and noshing on cheese and crackers, pasta salad, and chocolate chip cookies. The time flew and it was fun to be creative (and, admittedly, to not have to deal with the mess, because stamping leaves little pieces of paper everywhere.)

If you're interested in seeing these in more detail, click on the pictures to make them larger. =)

2 of today's cards, plus a little box we each made to hold the cards and the envelopes

We made 10 cards, using a kit and working from ready-made examples. A lot of things have changed in the many years since I have done stamping. For one thing, the existence of these kits, which makes even the most uncreative person look pretty darn talented.

This kit was so easy to use! You just pop the pieces out and they are self-sticking.
A great way to make a quick homemade card.

I was grateful for the ease of it, because it has been a tiring week. But, after the first couple of cards, I started to do more of my own variations and take some liberties with the ready-made designs. It is an extremely relaxing hobby that doesn't create a lot of clutter. Plus, you get to give away what you make and know that people are enjoying the fruits of your labors. In this highly digital world, it is nice to get a real card.

3 cards using little decorative brads.
Everything was provided, we just put them together.

The ribbons add more dimension and a nice little "something extra."

So hooray for getting out of my comfort zone! Apparently these make-and-take classes happen every other month, which is just enough. I'm excited to do more! Meanwhile....do something nice for me so I can give you a homemade Thank You card. *wink*

Ta Da!! All done. =)

Today Flew By!

After a few days of sleeping terribly (I could blame a certain white cat, but it is my fault for being too indulgent with him and staying up too late,) I finally got a really good night's sleep last night. It felt great! Today was the day I needed it the most.

I'm teaching Relief Society on Sunday and am *maybe* 25% done with my lesson. Usually I am finished a lot earlier. There have just been a lot of obligations this week--all good and fun, but more than usual. I had 10 ladies over last Saturday for food and chatting, we fed the missionaries on Wednesday, yesterday I had singing practice and my book club meeting, and today an old friend from CA joined us for dinner.

Today, especially, has really flown by! I washed linens, cleaned house, my Visiting Teachers planned an impromptu visit, and I tried to work on my lesson. I had every right to look like this:
But, thanks to a good night's sleep, I felt like this:

Although I suspect that I REALLY looked more like this:
Still, I felt like I was able to focus on the task at hand and not get too sidetracked, which I have a tendency to do when I have a long list of things that need to be done.

Ironically, when I did sit down once to spend a few minutes on my lesson, my printer ran out of black ink. Isn't that always the way? So those precious minutes were spent, instead, running to the store for a new cartridge.

The good news is that now the house is clean, today's other tasks are done, and there is nothing to stop me from giving my complete focus to the preparation of my lesson.

And, wanna hear something funny? A couple of weeks ago I was thinking that I needed more to do, so I signed up for a stamping party in the area....it's tomorrow!

Music, Voices, and Whitney

With the announcement of Whitney Houston's passing and the Grammys the following day, I've been thinking a lot about music, voices, and what true vocal talent is. There is no doubt that Whitney had it, although her lifestyle choices had caused it to deteriorate.

This is an INCREDIBLE performance where she sings for 10 minutes straight at the AMAs in 1994. She does a medley that includes songs from Porgy and Bess and Dreamgirls, plus her hit I Have Nothing. The first time I saw this, I was so entranced, that I couldn't believe it was 10 minutes long. It's phenomenal...


Whitney singing the National Anthem in 1991. It is the most flawless performance at a sporting event ever. There are plenty of online videos of her sounding off key with a ravaged voice in the last few years, but this is the way I like to remember her:


As Eric and I watched the Grammys on Sunday, we cringed at some of the acts. The Grammys have really become a popularity contest. There is so much talent out there that never gets recognized, yet we have mediocre singers and unimaginative songs that are crammed down our throats, winning awards, and marketed as the voices of today. It's ridiculous.

After an hour of watching the Grammys, I changed the channel and indulged in the 2-hour episode of my beloved Downton Abbey--a reminder that quality TV still exists.

The next day, Eric and I were browsing around on YouTube when we came across Nicki Minaj's Grammy number. Again, confirmation that the lines between "Music" and "Performance Art" are becoming extremely blurred. Her wack-a-doodle number, with all of it's references to the Catholic church, was definitely more performance art.

My own CD collection, which is fairly large, exists because I'm trying to maintain a standard of what I listen to. I personally, prefer Music. I like good songs and great voices. If a great song and a superior voice are brought together--all the better!

So, in the interest of trying to preserve these things that I feel are important, here are a few of my favorite songs sung by some pretty great singers...

Russell Watson: "Always There"


Barbra Streisand: "My Man" from Funny Girl


Josh Groban: "Anthem" from Chess


Linda Eder: "The Man of La Mancha"

Cutest Couple Ever...

If this doesn't put a smile on your face, nothing will. This is a 90-year old couple who has been married for 62 years. They went into a doctor's office for a checkup, saw a piano, and decided to have some fun.

It's not about age, it's about attitude!

Dave's Killer Bread

This happens to me all the time...I'll learn about something new and then it seems like I'm hearing about it from all directions. And this time it is about bread.

Bread?

Yes. Bread.

To me, there are 2 kinds of bread...delicious, unhealthy white bread and dense, boring wheat bread. And that's it. Eric, on the other hand, is always on the lookout for better and better wheat bread. His search has evolved over time, but it always involves reading the label and seeing which have the most protein.

Because the nearest Trader Joe's is now 40 miles away, any organic shopping is done in the organic section at Fred Meyer. The other day Eric went grocery shopping with me and we decided to do an aisle-by-aisle tour of the organic section. He came across some bread that had so many seeds stuck to it, it reminded me of something you would feed your pet parrot. But he liked what he read on the label, so we decided to try it. I didn't look at the brand, I was just imagining all the seeds I would have to wipe off of the kitchen counters.

Fast forward a few days, and we're eating breakfast--eggs and toast. The new bread had come out of the freezer to replace the old wheat bread. Eric was taking his first bites of it and I was eating my bread--the yummy, but unhealthy kind. I hear a "Wow! This is really good. Try this!"

He was right. It WAS really good! Had I been converted?

Last night at the Relief Society dinner, the ladies at my table were enjoying the rolls and we got on the subject of bread. One said she didn't eat much bread. I thought of the loaf Eric had been experimenting with, when another lady said, "Have any of you tried Dave's Killer Bread? The owner used to be a convict or something. Anyway, it is really good."

Always on the lookout for new bread for Eric to try, I asked where it was sold. Little did I know that it was sitting on my counter at home.

I know you're asking yourself how I can spend an entire entry talking about bread, but the stuff is heaven. Definitely, hands-down the best wheat bread I've ever had. And, research geek that I am, I, of course, had to go to the website and learn all that I can. A pretty inspiring story, actually. I have a lot of respect for people who completely turn their lives around.

Lunch was an open-faced sandwich with Dave's Killer Bread (Good Seed flavor,) tuna with mayo and a dollop of sweet relish, topped with some Craisins. Or, as I call it, Kristie's Killer Sammich.

UPDATE: Saturday, February 4, 2012

Today Eric and I bought the "Sin Dawg" Cinnamon Roll. Oh baby, that thing is incredible! Slice it as thin or thick as you like, put the slices into the microwave for about 10-15 seconds, and then enjoy the sinfully delicious sticky goodness. We're hooked.

A night with lovely ladies...

I just came home from a lovely night with our Relief Society ladies. A simple dinner of soup, salad, and bread, plus great company and conversation. I'm just so grateful for my church family and the way they have embraced me since I moved to Washington. Ladies, if you're reading this, I love you and am so thankful for you!

Downton Companion...

One of the fun things about watching Downton Abbey week after week is that, unlike a movie you watch again and again, you never know which way the story is going to turn. But what to do during those 6 days between episodes?

I purchased the companion book and, what a delight! Gorgeous pictures and fun behind-the-scenes tidbits. My favorite parts, though, are the sections that talk about real-life people who lived in those times. The series creator, Julian Fellowes, purposefully chose the 1890-1940 time period (DA begins in 1912) because it was the time when many new inventions were being introduced to society, and because it was when the aristocratic lifestyle was becoming more and more obsolete.

Nothing deep, nothing earth-shattering, but a lot of fun and pretty darn interesting. Happy Thursday, everyone!

Call Security!

This is one of those small, but important, life lessons: When you buy a new item of clothing, make sure the checker removes the security tag.

The other day I was in my closet, putting away laundry, when I saw a black security tag staring back at me on a skirt I bought last summer. I don't know what haunted me more--the fact that I didn't have the receipt or that I had worn this out in public several times. (Cue "loser" finger on forehead.)

The sad thing is that these annoying little things are becoming more and more pointless. There are actually tutorials on the web on how to remove them (I didn't take the chance,) most of which have the disclaimer "Don't Steal!" (Um, OK.) When I left the store many months ago, the tag must have set off an alarm, right? Does that even matter anymore? Guess not. After all, my old Blackberry used to set off store alarms all the time and nobody cared.

So today I put the skirt in a bag and sheepishly returned to the store from which I bought it. The alarm went off when I went in. No one cared. I had to go through another section with a sensor and it went off again. No one cared. Good thing I'm not a thief. I had half a mind to just jump back and forth in front of the sensor and see how long it took before somebody noticed.

When I found someone to help, he didn't care that I had no receipt. When I bought a couple of items, the other person who helped me didn't care that I had a piece of clothing in a bag with their store name on it.

The whole experience was a little weird--and eye-opening. And the reason I'm not putting the name of the store in this entry is obvious. They just make it way too easy to walk out with items you haven't paid for! (That's YOU, the thieves. Not me, the gal who goes out in public wearing security tags.)

A Brave Social Experiment...

Today was a nice day with my hubby. We drove down to Vancouver, had sushi, went to Trader Joe's, and came home and had a nice long nap. And now I'm back to indulge my writing craving.

I finished the book I've been reading about a journalist who hitchhiked across the country without carrying or accepting money. Pretty interesting! My review is HERE on my book review site.

Next up? The Alchemist. And then? I just heard about a fascinating book called The Orphan Master's Son, by Adam Johnson. It is about North Korea and is getting glowing reviews. I'm intrigued. Think I'll check that one out soon!

So true...

I can't improve on this, but I thought it was worth sharing.

Bomb o' Sound

I just had to share this cool little find. I was in line during one of my rare WalMart trips, while staring at me through the cellophane of a little box I saw these hypnotic eyes attached to a little black ball. The box said that it was a speaker...the Mini Bomb Speaker. $7...tempting.

I've been looking for a speaker to use at church when I want to use a hymn or church song in my Relief Society lessons. Even most of the small ones are cumbersome.

The girl who rang me up said this little thing works great, is rechargeable, and returnable if I don't like it. I decided to try it.

I brought it home and plugged it into my Mp3 player and let the sound ring out in my kitchen. Wow! Pretty impressive for a $7 speaker that's the size of a golf ball.

As my grandma use to say when I'd show her a cool, new gadget..."Aye, these times and days!"

P.S. There are lots of faces to choose from. Mine is like the disillusioned-looking one on the far right.

How to Make Mexican Rice...

After living in Washington for a couple of months in 2010, I started to get a little homesick. So I called my mom and asked her to give me the recipe for Mexican rice. I've tweaked the recipe here and there since then and now my rice turns out awesome nearly every time.

Authentic, really authentic Mexican rice needs to have popped rice kernels. A lot of restaurants don't do this. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Note: the image above was not taken by me (and will come down if SOPA passes, grrr...) but it looks almost identical to the way my Mexican rice looks. That is what you are aiming for if you follow this recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup long grain rice
approx. 1 1/2 cups canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups water
1 small onion chopped
1/2 can of Hunts Petite Diced Tomatoes
1/2 cup frozen corn (or any small frozen or fresh veggies)
Garlic Salt

Instructions
1. Chop onion ahead of time so that it is ready when you need it. Also have the Petite Diced Tomatoes handy.)
2. Turn the stove to a medium flame. If you're using an electric stove like me, "6" or "7" setting is good.
3. In a medium sized sauce pan, pour in the rice and oil. Use *just* enough oil to barely cover the rice. Stir and watch rice for few minutes.
4. When you see a few kernels start to pop (a few, meaning 4 or 5) strain the oil out of the pan. make sure you strain it thoroughly.
5. Return the strained rice into pan, along with the onion and tomatoes, stir for a few seconds.
6. Add the water. Stir some more.
7. Add about a tablespoon of garlic salt and the frozen corn. Stir.
8. Bring the mixture to a boil for a few seconds.
9. Then, very important, change the heat on the stove to the lowest possible setting. If you're using gas, then "simmer." If you're using electric, then "low" or "1."
10. COVER the pan (very important) and let simmer on low flame for 25 minutes. Do not stir during this time.

Serve as a side dish.

This recipe can also be cut in half very easily, using 1/2 cup rice and 3/4 water and less garlic salt. The salt is optional, but the rice tastes pretty bland without it. It tastes better when you salt the rice during the process than just using regular table salt on it later.

Enjoy! If you use this recipe, I would love to hear about your results. And, of course, there are hundreds of variations on how to make Mexican rice. This is the recipe that has worked the best for us.

Microwave Meatloaf Recipe

It is getting to be the end of the week and we're all looking to make life a little simpler, right? Well, just to prove that I really DO cook--a lot--I thought I would share a recipe. This is actually straight from a cookbook that came with my mom's very first microwave oven. (Yes, remember when microwaves cost $500? That's a while ago...)

I make this meatloaf for my husband a couple of times a month and it is a great, easy way to get dinner on the table:

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 cup of bread crumbs or wheat germ (I use the wheat germ, much easier)
1 egg beaten (I'm a rebel, I just toss it in unbeaten)
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped onion (I use a whole very small onion so there are no onion leftovers)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Ketchup

Instructions
1. Mix all of the ingredients, EXCEPT the ketchup, in a bowl. (I use my hands to mash everything up--take off your rings first. Trust me on this one.) Transfer mixture to a glass bowl with lid or a 2 qt. Corningware bowl with lid.)

2. Cook in the microwave on High for 15 minutes.

3. Remove and drizzle ketchup back and forth across the top.

4. Cook in the microwave on High for 5 more minutes.

Serve with tater tots, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, green beans or veggie of choice. Dip bites into ketchup for extra flavor.

A hit every time and easy cleanup. Yum!

The Interest in Pinterest

OK, the last thing I want is to be left behind when it comes to trendy new sites, so I started an account on Pinterest. I've been on for about 24 hours and, yes, it is slightly entertaining and, yes, it is a terrific way to kill time, but I'm still trying to figure out it's actual purpose.

What I know so far is that you basically use the site to categorize things you see and like on the Internet. Basically a fun and colorful way to bookmark things. You create a board for each category and you name the category anything you want. You can search for things within the site that other people have already found and "pinned," or you can go to any website and pin something there. (The "pin me" feature is something you add to your bookmarks when you sign up, so that you can pin anything from anywhere.)

A lot of my craftier friends pin craft ideas that they want to do for their homes. I'm not crafty. Or things they want to sew. I don't sew. Actually, when I saw some of the things others had pinned it made me feel pretty boring!

If you look at my boards, what are the first ones I've filled in? Favorite films, books, historical figures. But still, if I didn't have these boards, would I go seeking out these sites? (Probably not.)

The good news is that I'm definitely enjoying Pinterest much more than Twitter, a site I still don't see the value in. The bad news is that it is a little overwhelming in showing me what I have not, and will probably never accomplish. So if you have a Pinterest board called "Optimistic Slackers," you can add me to that one.

The Kindness of Strangers...or not

I'm almost finished with a book called The Kindness of Strangers, Penniless Across America, which is about a San Francisco journalist's odyssey as he hitchhikes across America without a penny. It has been giving me a chance to think about what it means to help your fellow man, especially someone who is a stranger.

The WA town I'm living in now definitely has more families living below the poverty level than my city in CA. I think about that because lately there have been several times when someone has asked me--or my husband and I--for money.

It is a slippery slope. One of the things that the book's author talks about is the distrust of people's intentions. I admit that I'm full of distrust when people ask for money. I don't know why, but it is my first instinct.

Lately, the new thing seems to be to not just come out and ask, but to have a story: the teenagers that came up to Eric and me asking for gas money because they lost their ATM card, the guys that came up to us at rest stops asking for spare change on our way to California, and the guy that came to the door today asking for $10 to buy asthma medicine for his *supposed* daughter.

There is a part of me that stands firm on not giving handouts, a part that worries about the safety issues, and then there is that other part....shame. Shame that I have fear, distrust and may be passing up the opportunity to truly help someone in need.

I will admit that when the man came to the door today, where we have a prominently affixed No Soliciting sign, it really bothered me. I guess, technically, he wasn't soliciting. He just wanted 10 bucks. Eric didn't have any. And I have purposefully taken to not carrying any cash so that I can honestly answer, "Sorry, I don't have any cash on me."

Mostly I was bothered because it felt like a line had been crossed. It is our house, our home, our refuge, our place to be where we shouldn't be made to feel like heels if we don't give someone money.

And yet, there is still that little voice that says, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

It is true. When it comes to this issue, I am in conflict.