Yes, he's one of the Good Guys--they do exist. Overly kind, overly generous, overly thoughtful, and overly attractive/attracted--all toward ME! And he's kept it up for 28 years. He's a wonder.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Hey! It's Our Anniversary!
Yes, he's one of the Good Guys--they do exist. Overly kind, overly generous, overly thoughtful, and overly attractive/attracted--all toward ME! And he's kept it up for 28 years. He's a wonder.
People Are Just People
Do we have to classify people by something other than good or bad? Friend or foe? I get so tired of discrimination and so-called "reverse" discrimination (you know, instead of "we're good and they're bad" it's "they're good and we're bad").
I understand applying identifiable descriptions to people ("Oh you know--she's an American, black, about 35, drives a red Corolla."), but to actually put character attributes, positive or negative, to people because of the color of their skin, the country of their birth, etc. . . . come on.
I'm not totally unaware of general cultural effects on people's behavior--Americans tend to be more assertive, Japanese more fastidious, Islanders more laid back, etc.--but to either hate people because of a circumstance of birth or wear your "love" of them as a badge of honor I don't get.
There's been a lot of efforts, in the U.S. anyway--I don't know about other countries--both promoting and attempting to do away with discrimination over the years, but unless we can rail on someone or praise someone because of their choices and not their circumstances, I don't think it's going to happen. Wouldn't it be great to put aside "political correctness" for just plain old goodness? Couldn't we recognize our diversities, but celebrate our commonalities? Until we do, I doubt we'll ever have what I'd like to think we're all looking for.
"I hate them, they're black." "Handicapped people are so sweet." "I can't stand people from California." "Poor people are so humble." Oh really? Ugh.
I understand applying identifiable descriptions to people ("Oh you know--she's an American, black, about 35, drives a red Corolla."), but to actually put character attributes, positive or negative, to people because of the color of their skin, the country of their birth, etc. . . . come on.
I'm not totally unaware of general cultural effects on people's behavior--Americans tend to be more assertive, Japanese more fastidious, Islanders more laid back, etc.--but to either hate people because of a circumstance of birth or wear your "love" of them as a badge of honor I don't get.
There's been a lot of efforts, in the U.S. anyway--I don't know about other countries--both promoting and attempting to do away with discrimination over the years, but unless we can rail on someone or praise someone because of their choices and not their circumstances, I don't think it's going to happen. Wouldn't it be great to put aside "political correctness" for just plain old goodness? Couldn't we recognize our diversities, but celebrate our commonalities? Until we do, I doubt we'll ever have what I'd like to think we're all looking for.
"I hate them, they're black." "Handicapped people are so sweet." "I can't stand people from California." "Poor people are so humble." Oh really? Ugh.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
My Tag
Susannah tagged me!!! (How DARE she!) Okay, here it goes:
Seven (!!!) random--and/or weird--facts about me:
- I don't remember when I first met my husband.
- I have eight children and every time I hit an even number I had an equal number of sons and daughters--i.e., 2 kids =1 boy, 1 girl; 4 kids =2 boys, 2 girls; etc. Cool trick huh?
- Eating raw carrots and fresh homemade bread makes me hiccup.
- I throw like a girl and sew like a man. (I don't want to read any comments about female pitchers or male seamstresses--you get my point.)
- I've had this blog since January of 2005.
- My office at BYU was once searched for a bomb. That's what you get working for the History Department I guess.
- I once ended up in the ER here in Saipan for a suspected heart attack that actually turned out to be my weird body's reaction to the caffeine in a bowl of Jamocha Almond Fudge ice cream. That wasn't even the most embarrassing part of the night, but that's one of Levi's most entertaining stories and I just can't do it justice.
Oooohhh--now I get to tag people (yet another fact about me--this is the first time I've done one of these tag things). Cool. I tag:
Monday, September 08, 2008
Alooooo-HA!
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
And in The End...
...I got the blueberries (see below)....I didn't get out to the beach, but the kids did.
...I didn't get to go to a movie downtown, but I did get to play Scrabble with Mom and Hope and Steve. I can go to the movies anytime.
...Jake got his blessing.
...Mom, Kait, Ez, Eden, and I went shopping on Monday until I couldn't stand it anymore! I'm not really much of a shopper.
...The trees are changing in the marshy areas. The ones on the roadside are getting that yellowish cast to them. They'll be really incredible in a few more weeks....I bought some new apples at the grocery store--a hybrid variety called JonaMacs. They were good. Mom bought some Duchess from an orchard. The orchards look like they're loaded!
...Hope and I are now thoroughly sealed to our parents. I don't know the words to express how I feel about it, so I won't.
...I took the kids to the fair (again, see below).
It's hard to leave--again.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Did It!
One last trip to the temple before I leave here. We've been waiting for this particular trip ever since my mother joined the Church 38 years ago. It was wonderful.
Boston Temple--The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints
Just a few more things to do--leaves, beach, apples, shopping--before Wednesday!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Check. Check. Double Check.
We (Sam, Jake, and I) drove to Farmington on Wednesday, August 20th for Jake's patriarchal blessing. It was a lot of fun being with the boys and it was a beautiful drive. They were very impressed with the UM-F campus.
Yesterday I took Eden, Kait, Ezra, Moses, and Sean to the fair. My kids have really been looking forward to this all summer. Promising them a trip to this fair got me out of having to go to the Liberation Day carnival back home, so I was locked in. I'll try to post a couple of the pictures I took of them on rides when I get back home.
I had told Kait about entering flowers in the fair when I was a kid
and so she went along the old railroad track bed and picked as many different wild flowers as she could find. She also included a pine tassel here and there when I told her that was the Maine State flower (we couldn't find many good cones at this time of year). From what she picked she made up 4 arrangements using assorted containers from around Grammie's and ended up winning 2 blue ribbons (1st place) and 2 red ribbons (2nd place). If you click on the photo above you can see one of her blue ribbon arrangements right in the center of the picture. (It's the one with Queen Anne's Lace and the jar it's in is sitting on the edge of the ribbon.)
Yesterday I took Eden, Kait, Ezra, Moses, and Sean to the fair. My kids have really been looking forward to this all summer. Promising them a trip to this fair got me out of having to go to the Liberation Day carnival back home, so I was locked in. I'll try to post a couple of the pictures I took of them on rides when I get back home.
I had told Kait about entering flowers in the fair when I was a kid
and so she went along the old railroad track bed and picked as many different wild flowers as she could find. She also included a pine tassel here and there when I told her that was the Maine State flower (we couldn't find many good cones at this time of year). From what she picked she made up 4 arrangements using assorted containers from around Grammie's and ended up winning 2 blue ribbons (1st place) and 2 red ribbons (2nd place). If you click on the photo above you can see one of her blue ribbon arrangements right in the center of the picture. (It's the one with Queen Anne's Lace and the jar it's in is sitting on the edge of the ribbon.)
I entered braided French bread from the same recipe that I entered before we moved to Mt. Desert all those years ago--I guess the judges still like French bread! I'm still not a carnival fan, but I'll admit that it was pretty fun to take the kids to a place where I had so much fun and excitement growing up. It marks the end of summer here in Dover--school starts Monday!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Got the Blueberries!
Check. They're not only delicious (and soooo much better than the big cultivated kind you find in the stores), but blueberries are without a doubt the most beautiful of the berry plants. 
In the spring they flower and even when the berries have gone by the leaves turn a beautiful red to end out the summer. Every time I lift a stem laden with plump, juicy berries I want to break it off and take it home just like that. So pretty.
Today we picked over at Blinn's, friends of ours in Brownville. Even being as far into August as we are the picking was incredible. It took us just over an hour to hand-pick 5 1/2 quarts!
Fall is coming--the sky seems to be getting clearer and clearer by the day as the humidity of mid-summer evaporates. My favorite time of year in Maine. Beautiful.
(Blueberry barrens in the Fall)
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Before I Leave I Really Hope to . . .
...pick blueberries.
...go out to the beach.
...go to a movie downtown.
...get Jake's blessing.
...do some more shopping.
...see some of the trees change.
...buy/pick some new apples--preferably Macs.
...have one last temple trip.
...go to the fair.
...did I say pick blueberries?
...go out to the beach.
...go to a movie downtown.
...get Jake's blessing.
...do some more shopping.
...see some of the trees change.
...buy/pick some new apples--preferably Macs.
...have one last temple trip.
...go to the fair.
...did I say pick blueberries?
Monday, August 18, 2008
Picture Tag
I saw this on Susannah's blog and it looks like fun so I thought I'd give it a try. The rule is to post the info by searching Google images and choosing from the first page only. It takes some time, but here we go:
my age
my favorite color
my favorite vacation spot
where I live
where I grew up
where I'd like to travel
my favorite food
my favorite treat
my favorite animal
a past love
my first name
my middle name
my last name
a bad habit
my first job
college degree
what I'm doing right now
my age
my favorite color
my favorite vacation spot
where I live
where I grew up
where I'd like to travel
my favorite food
my favorite treat
my favorite animal
a past love
my first name
my middle name
my last name
a bad habit
my first job
college degree
what I'm doing right now
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
MAINE RECEPTION PHOTOS
Visiting
Mallory & Michael's open house was very nice--Brother Pratt (he used to live in Ellsworth) was there as well as Elder Arnold and his family, Joe , my cousins Justin and Eric and their families, one of my former Seminary students, Julia and her husband, the Willden's, and Sister Knickerbocker's parents came because she couldn't make it. We went to Spanish Fork and picked up Moses so he could come. Mallory and Michael have posted some pictures that were taken at the Maine reception on their blog at www.mikeandmal.blogspot.com.
The day before the open house we toured around Temple Square in Salt Lake City. We went to the Conference Center--WOW! What a place! It's huuuuge, but very beautiful. On Friday we spent much of the day in Provo walking around BYU and on the way home we stopped and had a very nice visit with some friends that Casey used to play in a band with when we lived here.
On Saturday we helped Michael and Mal move their wedding gifts and other things into their apartment in Idaho. We set up and made the bed and got a shower curtain and some towels up in the bathroom so that when they get back from their honeymoon they'll be able to at least have a place to sleep and get clean. The rest of the apartment is filled with boxes and stuff, so they still have a lot of work to do there.
It's been a lot of traveling around from here to where the open house was held (1 hour both ways) and from here to Idaho (4 hours both ways), so we were happy to stay here yesterday and just go to church and rest. I've been having a great time watching Veronica cook--she should have her own show on the cooking channel!
It's been wonderful being in Utah after all these years. It's so great here--the scenery is spectacular. So many amazing places in the world and all so different. I think our spirits thrive on variety as well as beauty and I'm happy to be able to enjoy as much of this earth as I have. Tomorrow it's back to beautiful New England!
The day before the open house we toured around Temple Square in Salt Lake City. We went to the Conference Center--WOW! What a place! It's huuuuge, but very beautiful. On Friday we spent much of the day in Provo walking around BYU and on the way home we stopped and had a very nice visit with some friends that Casey used to play in a band with when we lived here.
On Saturday we helped Michael and Mal move their wedding gifts and other things into their apartment in Idaho. We set up and made the bed and got a shower curtain and some towels up in the bathroom so that when they get back from their honeymoon they'll be able to at least have a place to sleep and get clean. The rest of the apartment is filled with boxes and stuff, so they still have a lot of work to do there.
It's been a lot of traveling around from here to where the open house was held (1 hour both ways) and from here to Idaho (4 hours both ways), so we were happy to stay here yesterday and just go to church and rest. I've been having a great time watching Veronica cook--she should have her own show on the cooking channel!
It's been wonderful being in Utah after all these years. It's so great here--the scenery is spectacular. So many amazing places in the world and all so different. I think our spirits thrive on variety as well as beauty and I'm happy to be able to enjoy as much of this earth as I have. Tomorrow it's back to beautiful New England!
Friday, June 20, 2008
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