Nate + M.C.

grumble grumble grumble

2012-02-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been telling Nate that I feel like I complain too much. Yes, you heard right: I complain that I complain. My name is M.C. and I have a problem.

Last year I read this post on frolic! about how Chelsea made a pact to not complain for a week. I like the sound of that. A complaint fast, if you will.

I used to think that complaining was fine as long as you were witty in your criticism. But the truth is, being around a complainer is completely draining--especially if that complainer is yourself. (Does it count if I complain about complainers? There's a lot of metacomplaining going on here.)

I'm not saying that complaining isn't justified. It's just that I've found that it holds me back. I want to be a person who looks at the world and sees opportunities rather than obstacles. My hindsight is 20/20, but I usually struggle to see the luck staring me straight in my face.

This next week is going to be complaint free (but the goal is to have it last longer than a week). If you hear me utter so much as a slight annoyance in the next seven days, feel free to call me out on it. And I'll make sure to update you on my experience. Hopefully I'll be sporting a chic pair of rose-colored glasses this time next week.

she likes to leave you hanging on her words

2012-02-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

It was weird to not post yesterday. After posting every weekday for three weeks straight, it felt a little like I had forgotten to brush my teeth or something. It's funny how quickly something becomes a habit.

I liked posting some diys for everyone--it's definitely fun to share ideas. I liked hearing your ideas as well. But I really missed writing for the last couple of weeks. You know, my random ramblings about my life and the world around me. So I'm committing to posting more on this blog of mine. But not just posts, I am going to really focus on writing--my thoughts, ideas, etc. I'm constantly writing throughout my day, but there's something about publishing to my blog that makes me push a little harder. I really like that feeling.

My apologies in advance if there are fewer photos and more words around this blog. Actually, no apologies. My words are worth a thousand photos.

love fest, day 10

2012-02-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Today is the day! It's a little gloomy outside, but I won't let that get me down. I'm wearing my red scarf and leopard print ballet flats so life is good.

If you haven't been following along the whole time, here are the links:

Day 1: my heart's a stereo

mix cd + diy cd sleeve {printable}

Day 2: p.s. i love you

diy ways to show your love {printable}

Day 3: my paper heart

diy conversation heart banner {printable}

Day 4: straight to the heart

diy origami heart

Day 5: the sweet love you give to me

diy Valentine ideas {printable}

Day 6: even the wrong words seem to rhyme

diy poetry

Day 7: love is like a battlefield

fun Valentine's Day activity {printable}

Day 8: it's Friday, I'm in love

ideas to spoil yourself

Day 9: hot + fresh out the kitchen

Valentine's Day menu ideas

I've had so much fun doing these posts. Thanks for celebrating with me. More than a few friends have shown me Valentines, decorations, or treats they have made because I supposedly inspired them. I can't take credit for anyone else's creative genius, but it has been fun to share a few of my own ideas.

Today I don't have any new ideas--only a wish that your Valentine's day will be filled with just a little too much chocolate. And just in case you procrastinated and need a last minute Valentine, visit Kate Spade for 10 sassy e-Valentines you can't help but love.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

xoxo, M.C.

love fest, day 9

2012-02-13T07:50:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a great weekend and spoiled yourselves. I ended up watching the last two episodes of Gossip Girl. It was just the guilty pleasure I needed. And I have to say that Blair's wedding was probably my favorite episode of all time (well so far).

As promised, I have a really fun post for today--it's your complete Valentine's Day menu plan. (Does anyone else hate coming up with meal ideas as much as me?)

Breakfast: Love Pancakes

This was really easy. Just spelled out the word love. You could do hearts or names or whatever. Then serve them with some strawberries and whip cream or just plain old maple syrup. Or, coconut syrup. That's my all-time favorite.

Lunch: Tomato Soup & Heart-Shaped Grilled Cheese Sandwich

This is the best combo, especially on a cold winter day. If you are packing lunches, you could cut any sandwich into a heart shape using a cookie cutter or knife. Maybe throw a toothpick in to keep it together? One of those fun little frilly ones, perhaps.

Dinner: Heart-Shaped Meatloaf

This is the pièce de résistance. My mom made this for every Valentine's Day growing up. She just made a meatloaf and then shaped it into a heart. I'm not normally a huge fan of meatloaf, but I always looked forward to it on Valentine's Day. {This photo is from Nate's and my first Valentine's Day together. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.}

I'm just realizing that I probably should have included a dessert. But here's the thing: I never need ideas for desserts. I always have about 10 new dessert recipes that I've been meaning to make or some classics that I've been craving. So I'm going to leave that part of the meal plan up to your imagination.

Tonight Nate and I are heading out to a nice dinner. We figure we can beat the Valentine's Day crowd by going tonight and then get to enjoy both a nice night out and a nice night in--the best of both worlds.

love fest, day 8

2012-02-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

I'll be honest, I really wanted to phone this one in today. Call in sick. You know, just link to Valentine's Day ideas on other blogs. Mentally, it's already the weekend for me.

But here I am. And since I'm so ready for the weekend, I figured you probably are as well. So I'm going to make this simple: do something nice for yourself. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. Spend 15 minutes being just the slightest bit selfish. Start off the weekend by making yourself happy.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I promise I have a really fun post planned for Monday. See you then!

love fest, day 7

2012-02-09T09:14:00.000-08:00

Today I have a fun activity that's a little less "Awww" and a little more "Ouch!" Even those of you who are self-proclaimed Valentine's Day haters will have fun with this one.

Here's the plan: Break out your Nerf guns (if you don't have Nerf guns handy, you can use rolled up socks). Next, crank up the tunes. (I suggest Battlefield by Jordin Sparks, Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis, and Love is a Battlefield by Pat Benatar. After those three songs you will probably be too out of breath, or too wounded, to keep playing.) Turn off the lights, assume your battle stations, ready, aim, fire!

It sounds silly, but it's so fun. And if you want to take a more cute approach, you could use the Nerf bow and arrow and pretend you are Cupid. Just please don't dress up in a diaper. That would be awkward for everyone involved.

Download Danger sign.

love fest, day 6

2012-02-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

Today we are creating poetry. I absolutely love poetry. I know that is a little nerdy to admit. I also know it can be rather intimidating to attempt to write or that I sometimes feel my writing doesn't exactly say what I want it to. So my idea today uses another's writing to create our own poetry. It's not a sonnet (or even a limerick for that matter), but it's still pretty fun.

First I found a newspaper article. The topic really doesn't matter. As you can see from the photo, my article is about rock climbing.

Next, I circled words and phrases that I liked. In my case, I'm talking about Nate. (I circled in pencil first, but you couldn't see that in a photograph. Go for it in pen if you're a rebel like that.)

Finally, once I had circled all of the words and phrases I wanted to use, I took a marker and crossed out the rest of the text. It would be cool to black it out even more, but my Sharpie was low on ink as it was.

Here is what my poem says:

longing for You

It's like a disease takes hold

fall

crash

abundance of strength

constant stability

understanding

wanting more

dedicated

trying really hard

unique

relaxed

intense

kind

good

perfect

Completely fun and completely stress free. And one more thing: you could also cut phrases and words out of magazines. That would be more colorful and give you more freedom of expression. Ready, set, ~~write~~ cross stuff out!

love fest, day 5

2012-02-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

Today I have some Valentine ideas I came up with. Just a warning: These probably aren't the best ideas to make for your kids' classes at school. You should probably stick to the box ones you find at Target for them. Young kids (or the school) might not appreciate my sense of humor.

You're So Fly

This first one is pretty simple. Just make a paper airplane and attach a note that says, "You're so Fly." I'm sure there are other phrases you could do, but the song Suga Suga has always been one of my faves so I went with it.

I've Got a Crush on You

I can't take credit for this idea. At my high school, you could pay to have a Crush soda delivered to your "crush." Your coolness was completely judged on how many Crushes you had to drink at lunch. They had the cool glass bottle back then, but those are kinda difficult to find these days. And if you aren't up for confessing your undying love to someone, you could do the same thing on a rockstar with "You Rock" or "You're a Rockstar."

Baby, You're a Firework

For this Valentine, I just filled an empty toilet paper roll with candy, wrapped it in tissue paper, and then tied it on either end to make it look like a firecracker.

You Melt My Popsicle

This one cracks me up. I love California Gurls, maybe because I am one? You would need to give this Valentine to someone quickly so that it didn't melt first.

Your Love is My Drug

For this Valentine, I filled an empty pill bottle with candy. Make sure to switch out the pills. Someone might be offended if you gave them a bottle of Prozac for Valentine's Day. I wouldn't be, but others might.

{Download my tags here.}

love fest, day 4

2012-02-06T13:41:00.000-08:00

When I announced my upcoming Valentine's Day posts, my friend Margaret told me I needed to include a tutorial on making origami hearts... so here it is. It was pretty simple so I'm not even going to write out the instructions. Just follow the photos below (fyi-- pink is the back of the paper and green is the front). I think it would be fun to make a million of these and hang them up in our house or even write notes on them to hand out as Valentines.

love fest, day 3

2012-02-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

Last year, Nate and I baked some Valentine's Day cupcakes that we decorated with conversation hearts. One of the hearts said, "Page Me." That was when I realized conversation hearts needed a revamp.

I thought it would be fun to make some hearts that had sayings that were specifically for us so I came up with this festive decoration. I love how colorful and sassy it is

It was really easy to make. All I needed was some colored paper, a pair of scissors, and a computer/printer. I brainstormed some fun sayings to put on the hearts and then just typed them in a document. (I used size 100 pt. font and centered the font on a landscape document.) I printed out each of the sayings on a different piece of colored paper like this:

After I printed out the words, I cut a heart template. I am not very good at cutting freehand so I figured a template would save me from having to reprint the hearts again and again. I just folded a piece of white paper hamburger style and then cut half a heart.

I then traced the template onto the printed sayings and cut them out.

Next I just used some sticky tack to hang up the hearts on our fireplace. You could use tape or even some ribbon to make a banner. I hung them in a rainbow, but you could do alternating colors or whatever your little conversation heart desires. Here are some upclose shots of my finished hearts:

And my personal favorite:

You can download my conversation hearts here, but it's pretty fun to come up with your own. I highly suggest it.

love fest, day 2

2012-02-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

This post was inspired by Ingrid Michaelson's "Everybody." I love that song. Whenever I'm having a bad day, I play it and it instantly makes me feel happier. Especially this part:

Happy is the heart that still feels pain
Darkness drains and light will come again
Swing open up your chest and let it in
Just let the love, love, love begin

Everybody, Everybody wants to love
Everybody, Everybody wants to be loved
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh

Can't forget the Oh oh oh part. And it's true. Who doesn't want to love and be loved?

When Nate and I first got married, I started a list on my computer of all the reasons I love him. When I would think of something, I would go type it in. I started this little task because I spend a lot of my day away from Nate and it seems like I'm always thinking of reasons I love him, but I always forget to tell him when he's actually around.

The list on my computer was fun to make, but I'm not sure how often I actually told him the reasons. This year I was thinking about how it would be nice to make a list and hang it on the fridge. So when I wake up and the dishes are clean or I notice that he vacuumed our bedroom, I can write it on the list. Then he can be reminded some of the reasons I love him every time he goes to the fridge.

{Here's my list for Nate.}

And this doesn't have to be just for spouses. I think it would be fun to post the list on your kids' bedroom doors. Or you could spend a week or so filling it out and then mail it to someone. Ingrid said that everybody could use a list of reasons why someone loves them (at least that's what I think she meant). {Download my list template here.}

This next idea requires a little more effort on your part. My mom used to do this when we were growing up (but not just for Valentine's Day). She would ask us to do nice things for each other and then leave a little something behind. I loved trying to come up with small ways I could make someone's day better. I like that she got me in this habit because I feel like it taught me to look around and see what I could do to make someone else happy, no matter how small my act was.

So I made some heart-shaped notes that say "p.s. i love you." Make someone's bed, bake someone a cake, or empty the dishwasher...then leave a sweet little reminder that you love them behind. You could make your own that say something special or you can download my heart-shaped notes here.

{I checked out this book for Nate from the library because he had been wanting to read it.}

Love Fest, Day 1

2012-02-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do for Valentine's Day is to make a playlist of fun love songs--kinda like how Christmas music gets you in the mood for the holidays. I usually pick out a few all-time favorite songs and then add a lot of current songs (I tend to make them upbeat and nothing too sappy). I turn up the tunes and before I know it I'm dancing around my kitchen.

But the music isn't the best part. Remember the mix CD? I know that we all have our iPods and Pandora that basically make CDs irrelevant, but there's something nostalgic about it. I love when I find one years later and the music immediately takes me back to when it was made.

And just for fun, I have created a fun CD sleeve.Go download it here.

Simply print it out. I recommend cardstock, but any paper will do.

Next: Cut. It. Out. (Thank you Uncle Joey.)

Fold along the dotted lines.

Glue the tops of the tabs and press the sides together.

(Don't feel bad if you can't find your glue stick; staples and tape work, too.)

Slide in the fabulous CD you burned.

Finally, use the back of the CD sleeve to write your personal mix.

Need some song inspiration?

Here's what my playlist looks like this year:

Everybody, Ingrid Michaelson
We Found Love, Rihanna
Moves Like Jagger, Maroon 5
Pumped Up Kicks, Foster the People
Rolling in the Deep, Adele
Oh It Is Love, Never Shout Never

Mine, Taylor Swift
The Man Who Can't Be Moved, The Script
Good Life, One Republic
Start Me Up/Livin' On a Prayer, Glee

where is the love?

2012-01-31T09:36:00.000-08:00

We are two weeks out from my favorite holiday: Valentine's Day. I have posted about my love for this holiday in past years (here and here). And before some of you start complaining about how Hallmark created Valentine's Day or how it should really be called single awareness day, just hear me out.

Valentine's day is the best excuse to eat chocolate and watch chick flicks and get creative and most importantly, let those around you know how much you love them.

And just to prove to you how awesome Valentine's Day can be, I've come up with two weeks' worth of valentine ideas to help spread the love. Nothing fancy--they are simple, easy ideas. Most of them are free (or really inexpensive). In fact, you could do most of them with things laying around your house right now.

{And just to be clear, I'm not talking about things that are laying around at Martha Stewart's house. This is coming from someone who has moments where she can't find a glue stick at her house.}

It's going to be delightful. And delicious. And de-lovely.

time to face the music: I'm no longer your muse

2012-01-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

Nate and I both get a kick out of being creative. It fuels us. It gives us energy when life starts getting old.

I often hear people say, "I'm just not creative." That's sad because life requires creativity--not just in design or art, but in everyday activities. I think that everyone is creative--even if they failed art class or can't master Photoshop. (I always tell Nate that I want to be a really creative mom. I don't want to always rely on timeouts or counting to three. There have to be more creative ways to discipline children.)

Creativity can be learned just like any other skill. The problem is that it's a little more ambiguous or abstract than playing the guitar or cooking. It's difficult to instruct someone how to be creative. And if you become too focused on creativity for creativity's sake, you might be completely unsuccessful in your objective.

I'm sure none of you have spent hours on Pinterest getting all kinds of great ideas only to never actually do any of them. Ya, me neither.

I'm convinced that you could type in "cute bowling bag ideas" and get thousands of results for tutorials on how to make cute bowling bags. It's amazing the quantity of inspiration that can be found on that site. It's also completely overwhelming and can become discouraging instead of inspiring.

It may seem a little counter intuitive, but I find that the best way to increase my creativity is to give myself limits. Sometimes life gives you natural limits, but other times you have to impose them on yourself.

So how do I limit myself to increase creativity? Just pick some aspect and limit it: time, money, space, tools, etc. Like I said, often life provides natural limits.

When I threw the shower last week, I limited myself by only doing flowers and candles. I could have made a million decorations and the guests would have been overwhelmed (and I would have been too). Instead, I was able to focus and achieve my original vision (even when I was momentarily derailed by daisies).

When I threw the Halloween party last October, I gave myself $15 and headed to the dollar store. (That's 15 things! I was able to get napkins and spider rings and table cloths. Oh, and food was not included in that budget.) I could've spent a ton of money or time. Instead, I found a photo of a creepy path in a magazine and used that as my inspiration for the party.

The experience that has probably taught me this lesson the best is redoing our house. It's easy to design and decorate a dream home in your mind. But things get a little more hairy when you are limited by square footage and plumbing and, most importantly, money. We've come up with a lot of really great solutions and ideas that I don't think we ever would have considered had we built our own house with a huge budget or bought a turnkey property.

The funny thing about limits is that they almost always produce a better end result. They allow us to focus and do one thing really well.

Sometimes I look at my limitations as restrictions. Instead, I need to remember that they give me focus in a world where I am constantly overwhelmed by options. I need to start viewing my limits as advantages--they force me to change my perspective and think beyond the norm. All of the sudden my excuses for putting off my great ideas become the very motivation I need.

So browse Pinterest and blogs and get inspired. Then use what you have (including your limited time, limited money, and unlimited creativity) to create something.

Of course then you can feel totally awesome about posting it to Pinterest for others to ~~copy~~ be inspired by.

secrets from a stylist stalker

2012-01-27T07:45:00.000-08:00

When I found out that Emily Henderson from HGTV's Secrets from a Stylist was going to be at ALT Summit this year, I tried to sign up. Unfortunately it was too late and they were all sold out. I really have no business being at ALT Summit anyway. It's for the real bloggers out there. But I was totally willing to go tag along with the cool kids just for the chance to meet Emily. Plus it's in Utah. Besides Sundance Film Festival, very few exciting things happen around here.

With my failed attempt at registration, my dream of meeting Emily died. Then last week I went to quilt night and Nate's Uncle Stacy told me he had spent the day being a driver for all of the ALT attendees. I about fell over. I said (in a really serious voice), "Did you meet Emily?" He said he had met a girl named Emily so I looked up a photo of her on my phone and showed it to him. Yep, he had met her.

All of the sudden I turned into a fourteen-year-old girl. Other people dream of meeting George Clooney and Emma Stone, but I just want to meet designers.

Stacy said he was going to drive again on Saturday and he would look out for Emily for me. Saturday morning he called me to tell me he met her best friend, Anne Sage from the City Sage and Rue magazine, and she gave him this photo for me:

And then wrote this on the back:

I love this. And now that I have a personal invite from Anne, I will definitely be attending next year.

But since I didn't get to actually attend this year, I did the next best thing: I googled. And I found this interview with Emily. I love what she says about Design Star, "People would tell me they were a really competitive person and I thought, 'Why? Just be a really hard-working person.'"

I love that. I've always believed that. The moment I start to feel the slightest bit competitive, I put my head down and get to work. Usually I work so hard that I completely forget who I was competing with in the first place.

And later in the article she admitted this:

After Design Star, I went to Barnes and Noble to buy some style books, basically the ABCs of Interior Design. And I thought, 'PLEASE don't anybody recognize me.' I had a pretty good idea but the details--like what specific carpet patterns are called or the proper names of chair styles--were good for me to know.

The idea of her going to Barnes and Noble to buy design books cracks me up. I like that she doesn't take herself too seriously. And she'll probably be writing one of those books in the not-so-distant future. Perhaps then I'll meet her at a book signing? A girl can dream.

Check out her blog here. It's very inspiring and completely entertaining.

breakin bread

2012-01-26T08:55:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I read In Defense of Food. I have to be honest: I'm a little tired of people using scare tactics to win my support for their cause. Don't drink that or you'll get cancer! You better only eat organic or you're going to die an early death! And I thought I was dramatic.

I make a good attempt to be healthy. One thing I did learn from In Defense of Food was what to look for when I buy bread. It was something along the lines that you should look at the ingredients and the first thing should be whole wheat flour. I can't really remember exactly. But I took the book with me to the grocery store and found a loaf that fit the criteria and we have been eating that same bread ever since.

It was a little on the expensive side (about $3.50 per loaf), but I figured I was saving myself all the money I would later spend on medical bills...right? Well last week I went to the grocery store and this little loaf of bread cost $4.79!!! Really? For bread?

I cannot spend nearly $5 for bread. We are not a low-carb/no carb household. I need my toast and my sandwiches (and if I'm being completely honest, my French toast). So I started looking into other options and it turns out very few breads have whole wheat flour as the first ingredient. Luckily, in a well-timed post, Our Best Bites put up this recipe for multigrain bread last week.

I wish I were one of those cool people who could say how much each loaf of bread cost me to make, but truthfully I had all but one ingredient on hand (the 7-grain hot cereal mix which cost about $3.75, but I'll probably be able to use it for about 20 loaves). So I have no idea how much this bread saved me or if it even did save me any money. What I do know is that it tasted really good. And it was easy to make.

I have never thought I was one of those women who makes her own bread. (I don't really know who those women are that I am referring to. Maybe just women who are so on top of things that they actually make their own bread?) It wasn't nearly as difficult as I had imagined. It's kinda like doing laundry: not a lot of effort or skill required, but a lot of time. It took probably 4 or 5 hours from start to finish. BUT, it probably only took 25 minutes of actual work. You could potentially make a lot all at once and then save yourself a lot of time. I do recommend using a KitchenAid or some type of stand mixer, though.

So as I was in the middle of my breadmaking adventure, I got an email from my dad about Mormon women and cooking. (I seriously couldn't have timed all of this any better. Why can't this good timing apply to something of a little more importance in my life?) Have you read this? It's a NY Times article all about Mormon tradition in the kitchen.

I grew up in California and I somehow missed out on a lot of the Mormon traditional cooking. My mom was a really amazing cook, but few of her recipes included cream-of-something soup (I LOVED that reference in the article). We ate lots of salads and fish and grilled chicken.

Then I went to BYU and a whole new world of food was opened up to me. Goldfish in the salad bar? Dessert at every meal? All canned vegetables? Yes, yes, and yes. (And by the way, are Hawaiian haystacks really from Hawaii? They totally seem like something a creative/desperate mom concocted one night.)

Anyway, the Canon Center (our dining hall) introduced me to quite the cuisine. There were some dishes I quite enjoyed and others I hope to never have to eat again. But what I loved about that article was that it pointed out how Mormon women understand how important good food is. Now that I am pretty much the one in charge of buying groceries, planning meals, and cooking, I realize how much thought and effort go into all of it--and what a difference it makes in our day-to-day life.

There's just something about a good meal at home that even the best restaurant can't provide. And there's something about a well-stocked fridge that makes me feel good about life. It can be a little overwhelming at times, or even seem unnecessary with a McDonald's on every corner. But food--good food--is important.

I found this remake of a vintage poster here. I want to hang it in my kitchen as a good reminder. This is the type of food philosophy I can really see myself following. So much better than a sign on my fridge that says, "Eat this and die!" :)

party like a rockstar

2012-01-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

This last weekend my friend Ilene and I threw a shower for our friend Katie. When Ilene and I met to plan the shower, I told her that I wanted to keep it simple (but nice) so we didn't get all stressed out. (Did I mention that we invited all the women in our ward? Over 100 invitations!)

What was Ilene's response to this? She said, "I was thinking we could do a crepe bar."

I thought maybe she hadn't heard me, but it turned out that her mom is a caterer and she was going to be in town from Florida for the shower. So I was in charge of decorations/invitations and Ilene and her mom handled all the food. (Which was so much more than a crepe bar--we had quiches and all kinds of fresh fruit and multiple kinds of syrups and lemon curd and whip cream and breads and muffins.)

Then a few days before, my friend Amanda called and said she's starting a cake business and would I mind if she brought one of her cakes to the shower? I said, "Yes, I would mind." Just kidding. I told her we would love it.

So my advice for throwing an awesome shower: have really talented friends (and moms).

The funniest part is that no one at the shower knew how to use a DSLR camera. We're in Utah and we didn't have any photographer moms? I seriously couldn't believe it. So unfortunately you get my unskilled attempts at photography (made while I was rushing around getting things set up and making sure people had chairs).

As I was getting ready to host the shower, I had in my mind that I wanted it to be really simple but pretty. I wanted candles and fresh flowers (because fresh flowers in the middle of January feel so indulgent). I went on Pinterest looking for ideas at one point and about lost my mind. There are so many creative people out there, but sometimes I just like simplicity. So I was all set for simple. {This is what we call foreshadowing in the world of literature.}

I had this vision of blue vases and white hydrangeas. The week before I had found a great deal on white hydrangeas at Costco, but when I went to buy them the night before the shower, Costco only had random pink and yellow flowers. So Nate went to a florist and picked me up some white daisies. Then, as I was setting up, I just had this moment. I was like, "I planned on white hydrangeas and white daisies are not the same as white hydrangeas and now everything is ruined." I really try hard not to have these girl moments, but sometimes they just happen. Luckily Nate has gotten very good at not pointing out that I'm being dramatic or that everything is, in fact, not ruined. I think the daisies turned out very pretty and I'm sure no one else thought twice about it.

I have to tell you about what Ilene's mom did. She cut up oranges and pink grapefruit the night before and then sprinkled them with cinnamon. It was amazing. I love me some pink grapefruit, but the sweetness of the oranges and the hint of cinnamon was so good. Seriously. Try it.

Ilene took care of the food, but I was in charge of the water and hot chocolate bar. That cocoamotion is quite the champ.

Invitation template found here.

These two women are awesome. They enjoy the social gatherings more than any of us young girls. I really need to blog about what Dorothea (the one on the right) gave me for Christmas.

Another talented friend! My friend Karrey made these adorable little newborn shoes.She sells them here.

And this is the cake Amanda made. I thought it was perfect for our little gathering.

The hostesses and the mama-to-be (in the middle--she hardly looks pregnant, but she's getting induced on Thursday!)

my love affair with winter

2012-01-20T08:36:00.000-08:00

This year I decided I was going to embrace winter. Not just survive it; actually enjoy everything it has to offer (which isn't much in my opinion).

Every time people try to convince me how awesome winter is, they always talk about skiing or staying home and watching movies curled up on the couch. I can get behind that. The problem is when it's 6 a.m. and I'm shivering as I scrape snow off my car and I haven't seen the sunshine in three damn days. (That's a quote. I feel it's completely acceptable to say bad words in quotes. Technically I'm not saying it, someone else is.)

So my question is, what do you do in those moments? Summer is so carefree and requires minimal clothing. Winter is Summer's rigid, imposing, unwelcome cousin who overstays his welcome. I'm not a fan.

I find it very humorous that the year I finally decide to fall in love with winter, we have the driest winter on record. Sure it's been cold, but there has also been more sunshine than the last three winters combined. (I know I am setting myself up here. The very moment I press "Publish" on this post, mother nature will send her snowstorms and I'll be wearing Uggs well into June like last year.)

For those of you who are in my "I hate winter" camp, I've come up with a few methods that seem to make it a little more tolerable.

1. Drink tea. Hot cocoa is good, but it gets old really fast. I've started drinking a glass of tea every morning. This little ritual helps me to get out of bed even though it's frigid outside of my nice warm covers.

2. On that same note, drink water. In the summertime, I easily drink 100 oz of water a day. In the winter it's a different story entirely. Even though my body needs it just as much, I don't seem to crave it the way I do in the summer. But drinking water makes me feel a million times better.

3. Buy really good boots. Don't buy the knock-offs or the fake leather. You wear the same coat and boots 98% of the time in winter. You will want to burn them by the end of February, BUT they make a huge difference. I am terrified for when the whole tucking-your-skinny-jeans-into-your-boots trend goes out of style. It keeps my feet and pants so much drier. I may just have to keep rockin this look for the sake of my sanity.

4. Use a humidifier. So I have occasionally used a humidifier the last few winters when Nate and I sleep at night. It helps a lot with my dry skin. But I went over to my friend's house and she had it running during the day with essential oils. I haven't gotten around to buying the essential oils yet, but her house felt amazing. Seriously.

5. Speaking of dry skin, I have discovered the best exfoliator. We all know Nate works for a skincare company, but even their exfoliator doesn't always get the job done for me (their other products are amazing, though). In the winter, my skin gets so dry it actually hurts. I talked to a dermatologist and she said that a good exfoliator would make a big difference. You know what I finally started using? 1 part sugar with 2 parts olive oil once a week. It has completely changed my skin. It doesn't smell the best, but it works wonders. I'm not sure where I discovered this recipe--I think it was on one of those Yahoo! question boards or something. Totally legit.

6. Move to a warmer climate.

So #6 isn't a real possibility for most of us, but the rest of the advice is pretty sound and easy to follow.This is what I've learned after nearly eight winters in Utah. I talked to a man who grew up in California and has lived here for probably 40 years. He still dreads the winter. Still! I just can't handle dreading nearly half of my year every year. Hopefully these ideas help someone else who gets the wintertime blues. And if you have any winter wisdom, post it in the comments. I would love to add a few more tricks to my arsenal.

bad news never has good timing

2012-01-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

I bet you were excited to read a post that had "bad news" in the title.

Unfortunately, it happened again: I miscarried a few days before Christmas. I've wanted to write about it, but my thoughts have felt pretty scattered. I haven't really told very many people. I don't know why it's so hard for me to get the words out. It's much easier for me to write them down.

This experience was completely different from the first. Don't judge me when I say this, but it wasn't nearly as hard. (Well, that isn't entirely true--the physical part was way worse. If you ever are in the terrible situation and have the option, go for the D+C. Naturally miscarrying is even more awful than having a D+C.)

I'm not sure why it didn't seem as difficult this time. I'd like to believe that it was because Nate and I learned a lot from our other experience and were a little stronger this time around, but who really knows.

I was reading a biography of Audrey Hepburn recently, and in it she said that the closest she ever felt to going crazy was when she kept miscarrying. Don't report me or anything, but I could sympathize with that feeling. It's just that you feel such a loss, but the world keeps spinning and life goes on. You feel so different, but everything else is the same. It's hard to explain and even harder to experience.

We found out we were pregnant on Nate's birthday. It was the best present ever. I wrapped up a bottle of Izze's soda and tied a note to it that said, "You're going to be a 'Pops'--hopefully for real this time!"

I tried really hard to make sure I was just as excited for this baby as I had been for our first. This time we were able to go to an ultrasound. I wish I could've relaxed and just enjoyed seeing our baby and the heartbeat. Of course, I'm not sure if relaxed and pregnant ever belong together.

There were so many blessings this time around: having amazing doctors and nurses, spending time with family at Christmas, enjoying endless days of sunshine in the middle of winter (some of those on the beach in California), having one of my closest friends in town from Ohio (who cleared her schedule to spend time with me the day after it happened)... I could go on and on.

The biggest blessing, of course, is Nate. He is strong for me when I just can't be. When it all started happening, I looked at him and said, "I can't do this again. I can't." I was completely serious, but I guess I should've thought about that before getting pregnant because I didn't have much of a choice at that point.

The next day I was listening to music and "On the Radio" came on. Even though she's not talking about miscarrying, a few lines in the song felt like they applied:

This is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took

And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone else's heart
Pumping someone else's blood

And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again

Perhaps that's why me and Audrey feel crazy: all this pain and we just do it all again.

As painful as it is, it's completely worth it. Although, I wouldn't mind if our next baby hung around a little longer than the last two did. I'm starting to take it personally. Just sayin.

ringing in 2012

2012-01-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

We rang in the new year just the way I like it-- two hours early with New York. I figure it's the most exciting place to celebrate so why not join them? I'd be lying if I said I was sad to see 2011 go. In a lot of ways 2011 has been one of the hardest years to date. Still, in some ways it has been wonderful. Life is often funny like that. I'm just hoping 2012 is ... a little calmer.

I've talked about how I struggle with resolutions before. I'm sticking with my idea that they should be fun. So here are my three resolutions for 2012:
1. Settle on a signature scent. (I used to have one and I so miss it.)
2. Write more poetry.
3. Kiss Nate every chance I get.

I hope your new year is off to a good start!
image via anthro

have yourself a merry little christmas

2011-12-23T11:04:00.000-08:00

xoxo, Nate and M.C.

joyful + triumphant

2011-12-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

So I'm really proud of myself. Yesterday I taught the Christmas lesson for my primary class at church and I wanted to do something extra special because it was the Christmas lesson and our last lesson as a class. I came up with the following idea all without the help of blogs, pinterest, or the internet in general. The kids LOVED it, it was really easy to do, and I made all of them for under $10 (I have four kids in my class, but the cost would decrease per item because you could buy the candy in bulk.) I was thinking that these would even make really cute gifts for neighbors and friends.

For our lesson, I wrapped each part of the nativity and included the scripture that went along with it from the Christmas story. The kids each took turns unwrapping the nativity and reading the scriptures.

At the end of the lesson, I told them that I had a nativity for each of them, but that they were a different type of nativity. I made them promise that they would read my letter before they opened their nativities. (I know, I'm such a strict teacher.)

In each nativity, I had different candies that represented different parts of the nativity. Then, the letter explained what each candy symbolized and had the scripture that went along with it. It looked like this (I typed the scriptures out in their letters, but I just put the references here to save space):

When you eat the Starburst, think of the star that led the wisemen to Christ. (Matthew 2:2)
When you eat the Sour straws, think of the manger where Christ was laid. (Luke 2:7)
When you eat the Look! bar, think of the angel that proclaimed the Savior's birth. (Luke 2:10-11)
When you eat the candy canes, think of the shepherd's crook and how they came with haste to meet the Savior. (Luke 2:15)

When you eat the three candy bar presents (I just used the Dove candies that are wrapped like gifts), think of the wisemen who traveled to see Christ and brought Him gifts. (Matthew 2:1)
When you eat the Mr. Goodbar, think of Joseph who was so good to Mary and helped raise and teach Jesus. (Matthew 1:24-25)
When you eat the Mamba, think of Mary who was the mother of Christ. (Luke 1:28)
Lastly, keep this picture of Christ at His birth to remind you of His love for you. (John 3:16)

I put in a picture of Christ so that they had something to keep that wouldn't be eaten. :) Like I said, they were so excited about these. They kept coming up with new ideas for candy and trying to guess what each candy symbolized. I'm going to miss teaching kids that get so excited about the simplest things. (They are even impressed by my artwork.)

holiday hoopla

2011-12-15T12:41:00.000-08:00

Presents wrapped. Decorations up. Christmas cards sent.

This is our tree. I'm completely obsessed. People keep telling me how pretty it looks from our front window and I can't help but agree. So glad I waited patiently for the after-Christmas sale at Target three years ago.

Does anyone else feel like they are just running around in circles the minute the Christmas season begins? I don't know why it's even that busy for us. It's all good stuff so I really can't complain. Every year I say I'm going to be more on top of things, but every year I'm scrambling to finish up all the details.

So you know how there are those people who are always going on and on about playing Christmas music at Halloween? I never understood it. I thought I loved Christmas music as much as the next person, but I also believe there can be too much of a good thing. Then, all of the sudden, this year I get it. I believe! Christmas music is the best. I play it when I'm getting ready. I play it when I'm cleaning the house. I play it when I'm working. I play it when I'm driving. I play it all the livelong day. And I'm not sick of it yet.

With Nate in young mens, I get to make some fun treats for the boys fairly regularly. Teenage boys are the best crowd to cook for--they really love food. Last week I made these peppermint Rice Krispie treats.

{btw--told you I was obsessed with Instagram}

Nate had to stop the boys from eating mine! (Not that that really says anything about how good they are. Like I said, teenage boys love food. They eat just about anything)

Try making a batch. You won't regret it. (And I couldn't find peppermint marshmallows so I just put peppermint extract in and they tasted awesome.) Seriously easy and seriously good. Just make sure you have a holiday shindig to take them to or you'll end up eating the entire pan. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I just thought I should warn you.

always have to steal my kisses from you

2011-12-08T12:45:00.001-08:00

Just got back from a little lunch date with my boy. Nate and I try to meet up for our lunch breaks once a week...but it's usually more like once or twice a month. Sometimes it's just for chili at Wendy's, but it always makes my work day go so much faster. Maybe some day we'll start that business together and get to spend our whole work day together.

{This is my first photo on Instagram. I'm always behind on trends, but I think I'm a fan of this one.}

quoteworthy

2011-12-06T07:48:00.003-08:00

I was watching War and Peace last night and I heard this quote:

I want to discover why I know what's right and still do what's wrong.
I want to discover what happiness is, and what value there is in suffering.
I want to discover why men go to war,
and what they really say deep in their hearts when they pray.
I want to discover what men and women feel when they say love.
There's enough to keep me busy.
-Pierre

Made my to do list seem a little less important. :)

baby, you'll be famous

2011-10-31T08:52:00.000-07:00

last friday night

2011-10-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

Nate and I (mostly me) have been wanting to have a fun party at our house ever since we moved in. Finally we decided to throw a big Halloween bash. We invited cousins, some new friends from our ward, and a few other close friends.

And can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that I have so many photographs of this event? They aren't necessarily works of art, but at least we don't just have to rely on my word that it actually happened.

Get ready for picture overload...

The Invite

The Costume Contest Winners-- by a landslide

Iron Man and Justin Bieber (Everyone kept asking if that was Nate's real hair?!?!

The Ladies (I was Selena Gomez--I know all the Bieber fans out there are jealous.)

Just Dance

The Haunted House Decorating Station

Haunted House Decorating

And More Decorating

The Fruits of Their Labors

So Scary...or Pretty :)

I found this little guy the next day while I was cleaning up. I seriously thought it was a giant spider or some other creature. Turned out to be just a stray mustache. :)

My cute boy helping set up for the festivities.

So I wanted to do a photo booth so that we would have pictures of everyone at the party. I asked my friend Shalynna for the how-to (she had done one at her son's bday last year). She gave me the idea of using our MacBook rather than a camera--so genius!

But Nate had to take it a step further . . .

Yes, we had an actual green screen. We are legit. (I need to post the pictures that were the result of this little photo booth, but they deserve their own post.)

In fact, we are so legit that Justin Bieber actually performed at our party. For your personal enjoyment...

hey shorty, it's your birthday

2011-10-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

Last week, Nate and I headed down to California to visit my parents and celebrate my birthday. We went to Disneyland, we shopped, and we relaxed. We also ate a lot. I cannot overemphasize how good the food was.

We hadn't been to Disneyland since we were dating. It was actually a little crowded for a Thursday in October, but not too bad. We went on the new Star Tours. It was a lot better quality, but I really missed the old ride. Good news is that Captain EO is back. I know we've all been missing that artistic display of talent.

I don't know if anyone has had the hand-dipped corn dogs at Disneyland, but they were pretty good. Nate saw some people walking around with them so we decided to go try them out. We actually waited longer for our corn dogs than we did for Space Mountain and Matter Horn combined. But two giant corn dogs and $16 later, we were some very happy tourists.

For my birthday, my mom took me shopping. It was so fun to get to go pick out some new clothes. Although, it did take some hunting for me to find what I wanted. (I'm still on the hunt for some new boots.) For dinner we tried a new sushi place called Riptide Rockin Sushi. Megan informed me that the Real Housewives of Orange County go there a lot. I say, if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me! haha It was really good. I would definitely recommend it to any housewife anywhere.

We also hit up the beach twice and went to BJ's. I had forgotten how good BJ's is. It was so wonderful to sit and look out at Main Beach while enjoying some amazing pizza and pazookie. Life doesn't get much better than that.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't sad to come home. I really love it down there. No wonder they call it the happiest place on earth.

the freakin' weekend

2011-10-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was a good one. My parents came in town for General Conference and we got to go to the BYU football game. I'm glad we didn't give up on those cougars because that last touchdown was amazing. (Riley Nelson for QB1, anyone?) I had been complaining to Nate that even though we had won the weekend before, their football playing wasn't "beautiful." Luckily Nelson gave us some beautiful football with only 11 seconds left in the game.

We also got to enjoy General Conference from the comfort of our new couch (I really need to post about our new couch!) and from the car while enjoying the Alpine Loop. It seems like every year we miss the window of changing leaves in the Alpine Loop so it was nice to catch it this year.

What was your favorite part of Conference? I didn't have a stand out moment like I usually do, but it felt good to just listen. I am very excited about the new Provo temple. Talk about turning a negative into a positive. And I'm jealous that when Nate looks out the window every day at work it will be directly at the temple.

There was one conference quote in particular that I loved. I can't remember who said it so I'm looking forward to Thursday when the talks are published online. Anyway, I'm sure whoever said it won't mind not getting credit. He said (obviously I'm paraphrasing here), "Compared to God we are nothing, but to God we are everything." [Emphasis added to the quote that I pretty much made up.]

I thought that was such a insightful way to phrase that sentiment. I think it's a delicate balance between "I'm less than the dust of the earth" and "the worth of a soul is great in the sight of God." In fact, sometimes I think the exact opposite of myself. I think to myself, God has so much going on that I'm pretty far down on the list. Yet, I still remain completely consumed by thoughts about my own life and seem to forget there is an entire universe out there.

Somehow I'm OK knowing I don't quite measure up when compared with God. And even though I'm not all knowing, all powerful, or all perfect, He is still fully invested in me (and everyone else) as an individual. I think that's a good reminder we all need from time to time.

Those are some wise men. I feel very lucky to have their inspiration so abundantly twice a year. How do people survive without it? Unfortunately, I never seem to study the talks quite as well as I intend to. Hopefully the next six months will be different.

here's to finding a good man

2011-09-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

Monday was our third anniversary. I know everyone says it, but I can't believe how fast time flies. Before we know it we'll be dancing the funky chicken at our 50th.

We took the day off work and headed to Salt Lake/Park City to check out a few consignment shops I found online. This may seem like a strange way to celebrate, but it makes total sense for us. Nate and I spend a disproportionate amount of time discussing our house and how to decorate it.

Random Tangent: We sold our couch recently and a few couples came to look at it. When each of the wives would ask their husbands what they thought, the husbands would say, "I don't care. Whatever you want." It was so strange. Nate is just as much involved (if not more) in all of our house designing. I could never buy a couch without his opinion.

So we found some fun new shops. We have been struggling with the fact that we purchase too many of our home furnishings from Ikea. The selection in Utah just feels so limited. (I so wish we had a West Elm.) But we did find some new places where we could make some future purchases so I think it was a successful day.

We did make one purchase:

Did you know that the traditional third anniversary gift is a ceramic elephant? Ya, I didn't either.

We want to incorporate more yellow into our house and this guy seemed like a surefire way to do that. Plus he makes me smile. I need more things in my house that just make me smile.

It was a fabulous day. We kept trying to take a photo of ourselves, but they all came out blurry. (Think The Ring.) Nate did get a video of me acting out an electronic hula girl lamp in the middle of a store. It's pretty classic.

It's been a good year with lots of ups and downs (hopefully more ups). Nate is my BFF, my better half, my rock, and a lot of other cliches that would potentially embarrass him. Love you babe. Here's to a million more years together!

They're baaackk!

2011-09-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

Last night Nate and I watched the first two episodes of this season of Modern Family and they were just as good as ever. By the way, did it freak anyone else out to hear Lily talk? So strange.

Anyway, there was the best quote in the show from Gloria.

Gloria: Try to look on the positive side. This could be your haha moment.
Manny: What does that mean?
Gloria: It means you will look back on this one day and laugh.

So funny, but also so true. The other night Nate and I were talking with some friends about our first year of marriage and all the disagreements that come along with that. Even after only a couple years (we're celebrating our 3rd anniversary on Monday!), it's already funny to look back. Who knew getting our car towed three times in one month (and the accompanying hundreds of dollars of fees) would ever be a haha moment.

Well, call us gluttons for punishment because we are headed to another BYU game tonight. (I'm feeling another haha moment coming.) Hopefully the cougars do a little better this week. If not, we'll at least get a brat tail out of it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

BS

2011-09-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

Today was our baby's due date. I know that practically no babies are born on their actual due date, but that doesn't really change things in my mind. It's just weird thinking that I should currently have a big baby bump and that our guest bedroom should be transformed into a nursery by now.

The past six months have been pretty hard. It seems like it always hits me at the most inopportune times. There have been moments when I have wanted to slap pregnant girls/moms for all of their complaining. I know that isn't nice, but it's the truth. It's also true that I will probably find myself complaining about pregnancy and motherhood in the future.

If you are wondering about the title, that is the nickname my sister gave our baby--you know BS for "Baby Sommers." She thought it was hilarious. Then it became terribly ironic when we lost the baby. I remember about four or five weeks after losing the baby thinking to myself, "Did that actually happen? Am I actually this heart broken over someone who didn't have a name? Someone that I technically never met?"

I don't want to make this day too depressing, so I am posting the video we made to announce that we were expecting. We found out we were pregnant on our cruise so we filmed it while we were there. Then we told our parents we wanted to show them our trip (and at the end they got a big surprise). We were going to post it for all of our friends and family, but we found out we had lost the baby about a week before our planned announcement.

I love this video. I love that we captured how excited we were before the bad news came. We worked so hard on this video because we wanted to get it done quickly to show our parents. I was so exhausted from being pregnant and I remember laying on the couch watching Nate work on it and barely being able to keep my eyes open. This is so strange, but the music actually makes me a little nauseated. I remember hearing it over and over again while experiencing morning sickness. Such a funny memory.

Enjoy the video. I wish we could be celebrating in the Caribbean today. I feel like that would be totally appropriate. (Shalynna, I hope you especially enjoy the shots of the Cayman.)

we <3 you, Baby Sommers

you drive me crazy

2011-09-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

Before the game--I was trying to think positively.

To say that BYU lost is an understatement. It's like those boys got out on the field and absolutely lost their minds. It was so painful to watch. Can we just not talk about it?

On the long walk home from the game, I told Nate that he opened me up to a whole new world of pain when he started me watching BYU football. (I always went to the games when I was in school, but mostly for the Cougar tails--amazing.) Those cougars kill me.

And here I am talking about them when I said I wasn't going to. Do any of you do that? Nate will bring something up and I'll say, "I just don't want to talk about it." Then it's ALL I can talk about.

So besides football, life has been pretty good lately. I've kinda become obsessed with our ward. I have to admit that I was nervous about having my neighbors also be my ward members. I've never really been one to like having people involved in all aspects of my life. But I'm actually loving it. Our little ward/neighborhood kinda has a Gilmore Girl-Stars Hollow feel going on. Neighbors come drop off vegetables from their gardens and we swap recipes and we run into each other when we are out on walks and we have Sunday dinners together and last night we were even invited to a CandyLand luau. I'm not sure how those two fit together, but I think it's genius. Any way, we just really lucked out with our ward.

This weekend Nate and I (mostly Nate) finished a few projects around the house that we have been putting off for months. Makes me so happy. We tend to work in fits and starts when it comes to home projects, but getting something done just seems to give us more inspiration and motivation. (The only thing we really lack at this point is money.) I really love our home. I love the vibe. I love when people walk in and say how much they love the way it feels. (I think that is why I never post pictures--I am not a good enough photographer to capture the "feel.") Now if I could only tackle the yard. At this point I am just going with the fact that it will be covered in snow in no time. Ugh. That thought makes me cringe. Luckily for me it's only fall. I love everything about the fall--food, holidays (including my birthday and our anniversary), ~~football~~, and great television. I think this year fall should just continue right on through the winter!

Well that's enough rambling for a Monday morning. There are too many things on my to do list that I need to get to. But at least I can check off blogging. ;)

boys of fall

2011-09-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

BYU and the UofU play tomorrow and guess who is going? That's right: yours truly! We have a BYU flag hanging in our front yard and I bought a new BYU shirt. (I figured it's about time--I'm in the same jersey in every football game photo for the last five years.)

I have never actually been to a BYU v. UofU game before. They have always been on Thanksgiving weekend and most of the time I haven't been in P-town. I'm a little nervous about it to tell you the truth. I have heard too many stories about crazy fans (from both sides). And BYU hasn't exactly been stellar so far this year. I'm not counting on a big victory or anything, but I can't help but get my hopes up.Those cougars will get me every time!

Of course, if we do lose I know I can come home to this guy:

That would be Coach Taylor. Yes, Nate and I are on our second round of watching Friday Night Lights. And yes, it's even better the second time around.

Have a fabulous weekend--and hopefully a big W for the Cougs!

state of happiness

2011-08-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

Did you know that according to a recent Gallup index, Utah is the happiest state in the country? See for yourself here.

Lately I have been reading all of these books on happiness. It started with the Happiness Project. My friend Sarah was reading it last year and it looked pretty interesting. My turn came on the library wait-list a little while ago and so I was finally able to read it. It was decent, although nothing too earth shattering. I did find myself identifying with the author, Gretchen Rubin. I have always thought that I was the only person who took copious notes on every book I read--including fiction. Turns out that other people (or at least one other person) share that same quirk.

Basically she takes a year of her life to increase her happiness. She reads and researches the topic and then attacks it Benjamin Franklin style. There were a few pieces of wisdom in the book, but not as many as I had hoped for. One thing she talked about has really become apparent in my life lately. She said that frequently her happiness is based on her mood which is generally based on something as insignificant as how tired, hot/cold, or hungry she is. I actually had just read the book when I went to visit my sister and I noticed how whenever Elle would start getting cranky, Megan would instinctively ask about those things, "Are you hungry?" or "Does someone need a nap?" I wonder why we stop worrying about those things when we become adults. Sometimes I am in the worst mood and all I need is a glass of ice water for me to chill out. Am I the only adult who is still like this?

Rubin provides a pretty good bibliography with all of her research and so I continued my reading. Those books had a lot more to offer--especially The How of Happiness. Sonja Lyubomirsky, the author, pretty much writes Happiness for Dummies. Again, this might be obvious to the rest of you, but she explained how we have to make a conscious decision to be happy. It's like exercise or learning a new skill--it comes easier to some than others, but it is something we all have a lot of control over.

I feel like there is this reluctance to be happy in life because it means you are naive or oblivious. Then again, who really likes being around a pessimist all day? I think I always struggle with that seemingly-polarized relationship. (Plus, I find that I am very strongly influenced by those around me--I'm happy when I'm with optimists and less happy when I'm with pessimists.) Lyubomirsky summed up my dilemma quite nicely, "[Optimism] is not about providing a recipe for self-deception. The world can be a horrible, cruel place, and at the same time it can be wonderful and abundant. These are both truths. There is not a halfway point; there is only choosing which truth to put into your personal foreground."

I like that. I guess it is a polarized relationship after all. But, it's also our individual choice. Sometimes just knowing you are in control of something makes all the difference in the world.

It's funny how when you start thinking about something, you begin to see it every where. (I've always wanted to create a good word for this phenomenon.) I guess if I am being honest, my interest in happiness began when I was reading President Hinckley's biography. (I have this goal to read a biography of every single prophet. So far I've only read two!) He was such an incredible person, but I was most impressed at his outlook on life. It made me want to be around him because he made me feel better and happier about things in my own life. I think that is such an incredible talent. Of all the books I've read, I think his life is the best resource on happiness. I've noticed that my journals and scriptures are littered with quotes from President Hinckley and almost every single one has to do with happiness. Here are just a few of his wise words:

Through all of living have much joy and laughter, life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.

Stop looking for the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.

Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine.

Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.

And my personal favorite:

You can be smart and happy or stupid and miserable. . . it's your choice.

That pretty much just sums it all up, doesn't it? The funny thing is, life goes on whether we are happy or not. I don't mean to say that we should aim at being happy all of the time no matter what difficulties we are facing. I just like what President Hinckley says, "Stop looking for the storms of life." There really is so much good in the world and in our lives for us to be happy about.

p.s. I wrote this mostly for myself, but maybe someone else will find it interesting. Could one of you please remind me of everything I have learned about happiness come the cold, cold days of February? Thankyouverymuch!

days spent out on the lake

2011-08-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

Nate and I got back from our annual Bear Lake trip with my dad's side of the family. (My friend asked the other day whether it was a family reunion and I said no. She then asked, "Is that just because you don't have matching shirts?" Pretty much.)

I recommend bringing my sister, Megan, on any of your vacations. She took fabulous photos and I didn't even have to worry about a camera.

Nate doing a little wake surfing.

I love being with Nate on the lake. Seriously my favorite.

Chillin with my cousin Annie on the boat.

Safety first: Gaga and Elle holding up the flag. I'm so jealous of how tan both of them get. Why did that gene have to skip a generation?

We had lunch with my Aunt Nan. She's pretty much the funniest person I know.

We tried to take some photos in our backyard after church. We'll have to photoshop in Scott. I love how Elle did the "#1" with her finger for no reason at all. She's totally ready for AYSO.

What will this family do if we ever have little boys?

I really want to get this one framed. I'm pretty much obsessed with that little girl.

BFFs--we don't even need the necklaces to prove it.

Nate learned Beiber just for Elle. She's pretty much smitten with him.

Until next year. . .

Introducing. . .

2011-07-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Tyson Robert Terril 

He was born to Mike and Danielle on Tuesday. He's adorable and we can't wait to meet him!

mixing metaphors

2011-07-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

Both Kristin and Heather pointed out that I got the metaphor wrong yet again in my last post. (And that's why Kristin is a journalist and I'm not--I've always been terrible at checking the facts.)

Of course, I still like my version better. Selling ice to an Eskimo? I picture some dude with a bag of ice from 7-11. Selling an igloo to an Eskimo? I picture an adorable little family with a toddler and one on the way. They are all in matching parkas checking out a quaint little igloo with an iceberg view. My metaphor provides such better imagery.

And I think we are missing the whole point of the post--which is that Nate is very talented.

Speaking of talent, we saw Captain America this weekend (Nate and I have been spending a lot of Saturday afternoons at the movies lately and I'm loving it). After the credits there was a trailer for The Avengers next summer. Guess who will be in it?

Summer 2012 cannot come fast enough.

workin' hard for the money

2011-07-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

For Nate's work, he has to create quite a few videos. This is one of his latest, and my favorite to date. Makes me want to quit my day job. Well not really. I couldn't sell an igloo to an Eskimo. (I used to think that expression was ice to an Eskimo and I never understood it.)

Anyway, here's his creation:

forever young

2011-07-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

When Nate and I first started hanging out, he had a mohawk. I kinda loved it. Unfortunately he had to shave it after only a few days. Ever since then I have had to settle for the faux hawk. Until recently. . .

So hard core. I'm totally kidding. Nate could never be hard core. He ended up buzzing it so I only got to enjoy it for a few minutes. But the next day at church I totally couldn't tell him apart from all of the teenage boys. Have I mentioned that all the teenage boys are kinda obsessed with Nate? When he was called to be a YM leader in Sacrament meeting, one of the boys said "Yesssssssss." It was seriously one of the funniest moments ever. Have you ever heard an audible sustaining like that? I know that no one was that excited when I was called to primary.

Expecto Patronum

2011-07-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

So we saw Harry Potter and loved it. Except for the epilogue. I try to not read the books any time close to when I see the movie because I have a terrible memory so it prevents me from saying, "Such and such part was better in the book." BUT I do remember really liking the epilogue in the book and I thought it was lame in the movie. (Also, I wish Harry and Ron had just kept their shirts on. That's all I'm going to say about that.)

Right as the movie started, I was thinking how cool J.K.Rowling must think this whole phenomenon she started is. I mean people line up for hours just to watch this world she created. It's probably really difficult for her to watch the movies, too. I'm sure it could never live up to her vision.

When I was sitting there waiting for the movie to start, I randomly remembered this really cool speech she gave at a Harvard commencement. I watched it several months ago and was inspired. I know I have several friends who are fans so I thought I would share. {It's kinda long, but I promise it's totally worth it.}

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

And when I looked up that link, I found another site I had bookmarked about her. Evidently this is how she organizes her writing. I love reading about how other writers actually write. The process is almost more fascinating to me than the actual product. Maybe that is why I am always writing and never publishing? Let's just go with that.

So what did you all think of Harry Potter 7.2? Did it live up to your expectations? Were you a little sad when the final credits rolled?

Mrs. Brightside

2011-07-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

My friend Margaret commented that in all the photos on my blog I am always wearing sunglasses. I just found this photo on my computer:

I guess this isn't a recent thing for me.

Reminds me of this print I heart from Urban Outfitters:

Hope you have a nice and cool weekend.

{We're headed to see the final Harry Potter this evening. I actually had a dream last night that I beat up some guy that tried to steal my tickets. It would be an understatement to say I am excited.}

Cause baby you're a firework

2011-07-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

Isn't it nice having the entire weekend to celebrate the 4th of July? I seriously don't know what we'll do next year when it is on a Tuesday. And I absolutely love Provo on the Fourth. The weather is perfect and there is pretty much anything you could ever want to do right in your own backyard.

Speaking of backyards, Nate's grandma threw a big family reunion at her house. We played games, watched an outdoor movie, and ate a lot of food. On Saturday we all went on a hike to Stewart Falls. I guess all of the excitement was a little overwhelming because Brielle decided to take a nap on Nate's shoulders.

That night we went to Stadium of Fire ... well kinda. Nate and I just waited until we could hear Brad Paisley and then he grabbed his longboard and I hopped on my bike. We were right outside the gates in 3 minutes flat. I think I actually enjoyed laying on the grass with Nate more than being inside the stadium. (Of course, if they could get Miley to come back I would probably cough up the cash.) The fireworks show was a little random this year-- to the tunes of Louis Armstrong, Neal Diamond, and Kati Perry. Nate and I decided that no firework show compares to DisneyLand's show. After the fireworks were finished, we got out of there in record time. As we rode past each car we could hear them saying "That's such a good idea." haha only like six years in Provo to figure that one out!

The next day was Nate's mom's birthday. I made this cake. My mom had seen the idea on a blog, but I think I did particularly well with the execution.

At least Macy liked it.

Oh and I made a quilt for Danielle's baby that is due at the beginning of August. I really liked this one. I've decided my choice of fabric has the biggest influence on how my quilts turn out.

I'm not sure why, but Nate and I decided to sign up for the Freedom Run 10k. If that becomes a tradition, then the three-hour nap we took after needs to become a tradition as well. It was pretty fun. Especially when we ran through the parade route. But then they ran out of water for the last 4 miles and I thought I was going to die. They were so excited about all of the medals and shirts and all, but next year they really need to buy more cups!

After our naps we headed over to the Freedom Festival on Center Street. This is Nate eating a taco. We like to eat Mexican food for all American holidays.

Then we headed home for a BBQ with our friends the Steeles. This is us trying to light off some fireworks.

I thought it was pretty awesome, but Nate wasn't very impressed. So he went and made friends with some neighbors who had some amazing fireworks. Seriously. They were legit. We took video, but that's Nate's department. Maybe if you bug him I'll have something to post in the next day or two. ;)

the way you move ain't fair, ya know

2011-07-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

So I've been faithfully working out with Jillian Michaels again. I really do love her workout (even if she is a little abrasive). And when I went to San Francisco I was telling my sister how I really needed a new pair of yoga pants. {I thought I had learned to not mention things like that with Megan.} But a week later a pair of Lululemon yoga pants showed up on my doorstep. And they are incredible.

Megan sent them with this note, "My friend told me these pants will save your marriage...not that your marriage needs saving." haha I had to call her to clarify what that meant. I guess once you are a mom you pretty much live in workout gear/pajamas. (I'm not a mom, but I like wearing workout wear a lot--mostly because it gives people the idea that I work out.) And these pants make you look great. Plus, they come with a five-year guarantee (translation: they hold up really well). I've never even heard of pants being guaranteed, let alone for five years.

So I tried them on and I basically haven't taken them off. I'm picky about my yoga pants. I think that a lot of them are just bad news in terms of looks. And not only do they make you look great, they are so comfortable. Have I convinced anyone yet?

I have always loved Lululemon's manifesto:

See a larger version here.

And although I have admired from afar, I've never actually owned anything from there. But I'm definitely a Lululemon lover now. (I do, however, have this weird internal guilt that I should be working on my lotus pose if I am going to wear their clothes. I'm sure that will pass.)

Have a fabulous Fourth of July weekend everybody!

what's cooler than being cool?

2011-06-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

I figured it was time to blog about a few recent happenings. Once the weather improved I couldn't blog about how much I hate the cold any more so I was fresh out of material.

So just pretend our life is like one of those ridiculous reality television shows. Here's what you've missed on Nate & M.C. . . .

My dad called me in May and asked if we wanted to hit the slopes one last time. Leave it to someone from California to actually want to go find snow in May! It actually ended up being a great day of skiing. It's always fun to spend some time on the slopes with my favorite guys.

The next week we headed down to Nevada to go boating with Nate's parents. Yes--one week we were on the ski slopes and the next week we were laying out on the lake. My mom and dad gave me a wakeboard for my birthday back in October and I finally had the chance to use it. It seriously made such a difference for me. I'll be throwing flips in no time.

I went to San Fran twice in one month. (It was a flight booking accident that ended up being pretty awesome.) It wasn't all play though--I helped my sister move for her millionth time. I think she and her husband are going for gypsy status or something. Moving boxes aside, I got to hang out with this munchkin. And we snuck into the city one day to do some sightseeing.

Nate signed up for the Utah Valley half marathon a few months ago. I was pretty impressed with his commitment to training and it seemed to pay off--he beat his goal time by like 20 minutes and was actually smiling as he crossed the finish line. He had run a half marathon earlier in the week in preparation so I think he technically ran a full marathon-- at least according to me.

Last week we got our cowboy on and hit up the Lehi Round Up rodeo. That always makes for some awesome people watching. And we didn't really get our cowboy on because we weren't wearing any boots or hats or belt buckles or wife beaters or anything else attractive like that. But right now I could really go for one of those snow cones the man behind me in the picture is eating.

None of these photos are really that great so I decided that I would jump on the polaroid train (about three years too late). I'm sure you have all heard of Poladroid, but it's kinda awesome. You download it to your desktop and then drag photos over it. It makes this sound like you took a photo and then you have to be patient while it develops. You can even shake it like a polaroid picture. Shake it. Shake, shake, shake, shake it.

You so wish you could've seen my hip action just then.

latest obsession

2011-05-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is one of my favorite hymns and I'm in love with this version by Sufjan Stevens. (I heard it for the first time on my sister's friend Chrissy's blog). Whenever I get stressed out, I just listen to this and it calms me right down. It totally makes me wish we played hymns on the guitar at church.

livin on a prayer

2011-04-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my cell phone may have gone off in the middle of church--at an extremely inappropriate moment. And it may have taken me an eternity to find my phone in my purse and silence the ringer.

Luckily my ringtone right now is "Livin on a Prayer." (So much better than "Dirty Little Secret" or "Paparazzi" like it's been in the past.) At least "Livin on a Prayer" has a good message. You know, "Cause we gotta hold on to what we got; doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We got eachother and that's a lot."

A guy actually came up to me after the meeting and asked what song it was. I think he was touched by the message. Or maybe that is what I am telling myself to keep from dying from embarrassment.

you steal my sunshine

2011-04-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we finally had some really good weather (as in I was actually outside wearing flip-flops without shivering). So Nate and I did what any card-carrying adult would do: spring cleaning. We cleaned out the garage and the shed, mowed the lawn, washed both cars, and even swiffered. (We never swiffer. Don't judge.)

It was amazing. I'm convinced that I am solar powered (this is a nice way of saying that I think I suffer from SAD) because the minute the sun comes out I turn into the Energizer Bunny. Nate finally made me sit down at 9:00 Saturday night.

As I was cleaning out the shed I couldn't stop thinking about how awesome the weather was and how happy it was making me. Then I started thinking about this issue I always have with packing for vacation. Both of our parents live in California and Nevada so it seems like Nate and I are frequently heading to warmer climates. Am I the only person who has such a hard time packing for 80 degrees when it's snowing outside? I seriously can never fathom that in a matter of hours I will be able to walk outside without a coat. It takes complete trust to stop myself from packing tights and boots in the middle of December.

I realized that this is how I have been feeling about life lately. It's like I almost forgot what happiness felt like -- how to not worry or not feel completely overwhelmed. Sometimes life hits you harder than you anticipate and it takes you longer to get your bearings than you expect.

But then one day you feel the sun shine on your face and you are completely content without even trying. Somehow life stops being such a struggle.

For weeks now I've tried all the cliches: counting my blessings, looking for the positive, eating lots and lots of chocolate, indulging in retail therapy, etc.

In the end, all it took was a sunny day.

This made me LOL

2011-03-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

via here

I am thinking of framing this and hanging it next to my television. I wonder how Snooki would feel about that.

Kiss Me, I'm Irish

2011-03-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

I have to write something new! I am not really sure what to write, but it's time for a new post at the beginning of this blog.

First of all, thank you for all of the love and support. I can't tell you how much all of the cards, food, visits, phone calls, e-mails, and treats have meant to us. We have definitely felt all of your love and prayers. And, as a result, we are doing much better. Nate and I are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives. This experience has made me recommit to really going out of my way to help those around me. It's silly, but I can't explain what even the smallest gestures meant. Just a text saying "I'm thinking about you" got me through some of the hardest days.

There are still moments where it seems to hit me with a wave of emotion, but for the most part I'm feeling good again. Life seems to have returned to normal, which I am grateful for. I know I shouldn't say this, but the weather seems to be improving. (No weather ever seems to last in Utah.) Spring is {hopefully} almost upon us. That has to be one of the best feelings in the world.

Speaking of spring, we have this one flower in our front yard that is insisting on blooming. It's the only one. It popped its little head up some time back in February. Every day as I would come and go, I would tell it, "Please go back down. It's not time for you to bloom just yet." But it insisted. Somehow it has managed to weather all of the snow and wind and cold temperatures. I guess I should be grateful it didn't listen to me because it's bright pink and it makes me happy every time I see it.

Before Nate went to work this morning, I hadn't had time to put on anything green -- so he left me with a pinch. Oh St. Patrick's Day! We had some corn beef, cabbage, and potatoes last week so tonight I decided to make green enchiladas, sweet onion rice, and green Kool-aid instead of the traditional meal. I haven't had Kool-aid in years, but it felt festive. Hopefully it's not as bad as I remember.

I also considered just serving Lucky Charms, but enchiladas sounded better. I don't know why I love the smaller holidays. Probably because there's no pressure. Serving Lucky Charms for St. Patrick's Day? Clever! Serving Lucky Charms for Christmas? Disgrace!

Of course, I think St. Patrick's Day is a lot better holiday when you are in high school. All the girls wear the pins that say "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" (even when they clearly aren't) and all the boys say you can't pinch them because their underwear is green. It's funny how behavior like that is totally acceptable in high school but is considered inappropriate everywhere else. Some days I think I still belong in high school.

I hope you all have a {*lucky*} St. Patrick's Day!

the post I'd hoped I'd never write

2011-03-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

I have gone back and forth on whether or not I should write about this on my blog. I finally decided that it would be a good way to let everyone know without having to tell the details again and again.

Last week we miscarried. (I say we because although I was the one who was pregnant, it was just as heart breaking for Nate.) It was plain awful. There really are no words. Nate and I were so excited to have a baby. We actually found out I was pregnant on our cruise. I realized I was two weeks late when I was packing for the cruise, but I didn’t want to take a test without Nate there (he was away for business). The first night when we were going to dinner on the cruise, I started crying and told Nate that I thought I was pregnant. He said he had been wondering.

Being pregnant changes you. From the moment I found out, the baby was on my mind constantly. Like I said, we were both so excited.

I went to one doctor’s appointment and they said all of my results came back great. Then, a little over a week ago, we went to a second appointment to hear the heartbeat for the first time (we were ten weeks along). When the doctor did the sonogram, she couldn’t find a heartbeat. I was hoping that maybe it was just too soon or we were wrong about the dates. She ended up having us get an ultrasound “just to make sure nothing was wrong.” Right up until she told us the news I was really hopeful that maybe it was just a mistake.

I was so confused because I had felt pregnant even though the baby wasn’t developing any longer. I guess sometimes your body will keep producing the hormones to help the baby grow just because you want it so badly. In a way, it was a relief when I started miscarrying the next day because I actually felt like what the doctor was telling me was actually going on in my body.

As if the emotion of miscarrying isn’t enough, the physical part is an ordeal all by itself. After being pretty sick, I ended up having a D&C last Monday. I hate hospitals with a passion, but I was so grateful for modern medicine at that point. And luckily I started to feel better immediately after the D&C.

We only told people as we needed to. I should say that Nate told people. For some reason I just couldn’t get the words out. Even now it feels like a really bad dream every time I tell someone. I’m really grateful to all those people who were so wonderful when they found out. We’re especially grateful to my mom who dropped everything to come up here and take care of us. We both keep saying that we don’t think we could have gotten through everything without her.

I’m grateful for all of the support Nate and I have had. There’s really nothing anyone can do or say, but just having people let us know they love us has helped a lot.

I’m so grateful for Nate. Just when I think he can’t be any more amazing than he already is, he goes and proves me wrong. He has been so incredibly wonderful this entire time. He truly is the best person I know. He is so strong and I’m so grateful to have him at my side.

Right now we are doing a lot better. There are still moments when it hits me and I feel like nothing could ever possibly be okay again. Then someone does something to make me laugh or Nate tells me he loves me and I am okay. Of course, I don’t think there is anywhere else on the planet that is harder to have a miscarriage than Provo, Utah. Right now, literally 86% of my friends are pregnant or have recently had a baby. Going to church or even going to the grocery store hurts so badly. I know those people will be us someday, but sometimes that still doesn’t help in the moment.

Speaking of getting pregnant again, Nate and I have decided to give ourselves some time. I only mention this because people keep telling us that we can get pregnant in just a couple months and things will be just fine. I know everyone says this to be supportive, but for some reason it has the opposite effect. Maybe we will feel up to it in just a couple months, but for right now we aren’t even going there.

I know that people have different beliefs and thoughts on when a baby is actually a living person. Some people believe it’s at conception and others believe it is much later. I know some who have had miscarriages and believe that same spirit was born to them later. I know others who believe each miscarriage was an individual baby, no matter how far along they were. I’ve always believed that it’s probably different with every single pregnancy. I think too often we search for hard and fast rules. There is nothing hard and fast when it comes to creating a person. I thought maybe my feelings would change after this experience, but they really haven’t. I have thoughts about this particular pregnancy, but I feel like I should probably keep those to myself. What I can say is that Nate and I have felt a major loss. I can’t even think of September 21 (the baby’s due date) without my eyes filling with tears. To know that that day will come and we will not have a baby hurts more than I can describe. So many hopes and plans have been lost. However, somehow the love continues. That is a really strange, but amazing feeling.

I’m not yet at the point where I can say I’m grateful for this experience. I’m somewhere between “Why me?” and “Everything happens for a reason,” but I think that’s an okay place to be at the moment.

be my valentine

2011-02-14T11:52:00.000-08:00

I've had a difficult time getting into the Valentine's day spirit this year. I'm not sure what it is. I think I'm just tired of the cold (although it has been unseasonably sunny the last few days and I have found myself daydreaming about spring). So Saturday night I decided enough was enough and I was going to enjoy this holiday I love so much.

Nate and I made a trip to the store where we purchased all the fixings to make some festive cupcakes. Then yesterday afternoon we embarked on our cupcake baking/decorating. I was ready to give up when we realized I had forgotten cupcake wrappers, but Nate was creative and used wax paper (which I think ended up being even better than the traditional wrappers). I'm not sure if Nate would appreciate me telling the whole wide blog world this, but he is a FANTASTIC cupcake decorator. I mean he has some real talent. Those puppies looked better than Sprinkles or whatever the trendy cupcake shop is these days.

Of course, the candy hearts we bought left something to be desired. I nearly broke a tooth on one. After I found one that said, "Page Me" we decided they had to be at least 10 years old. Bleh!

It definitely made up for my whole lack of Valentine's day spirit lately. Now we just need to decide how we are going to celebrate tonight. Nate and I have been gchatting and we can't decide if we are in the mood for an evening in or a night out on the town (I use the expression "night out on the town" loosely considering we do live in Provo). I have always wanted to continue my mom's tradition of a fun Valentine's dinner at home, but during the winter I will take advantage of any opportunity to get out of the house.

I'll have to let you all know what we decide later. But for now, I hope you all have a lovely holiday!

xoxo, M.C.

p.s. If you find that you have been slow in getting ready for the holiday, you should go here. Normally I am not a huge fan of e-cards, but the fabulous Kate Spade has made some seriously adorable Valentines. You won't be disappointed.

super bowl 2011

2011-02-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

Did you watch the super bowl? We did at our house. Although we DVR'd it and kept getting distracted. Nate and I mostly like it for the commercials. There were so many awesome ones this year.

My favorite commercials had to be the Groupon ones. I know that they have been accused of being politically incorrect, but I thought they were hilarious. In my mind, I thought they were making fun of those commercials that ask you to save the children by sending them money (and then like 10% of the money goes to the children). I didn't really feel like they were making fun of the causes themselves. But whatever. I love Groupon. Some of the best deals around.

If you weren't lucky enough to catch these on Sunday night, here you go:

meet lindsey

2011-02-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

I had asked a few friends to write posts for my blog while we were out of town last week. I have really awesome friends and I thought it would be fun to feature some of them on here. Unfortunately, I didn't get all of the writing before I left and we only had wi-fi for a few brief moments on the trip (while we were trying to sort out a last minute change to our trip). That's what I get for trying to be tech-savvy and sneaky while I'm away. Oh well! The posts are still just as entertaining now.

This pretty girl is Lindsey. She is pretty much living the dream right now. She was my upstairs neighbor for a couple semesters in college and she would always come down to hang out and chat. She was always so passionate about life and school. She's still passionate, but now she is living in DC studying for her Masters in Art History and working at a bakery. You should meander over to her blog Embrace Your Liberty for some interesting reads.

Lindsey  Christensen reporting, happy and honored to be here on M.C.'s blog  today. I met M.C. in 2006, shortly after I moved into the apartment on  top of hers in Provo. M.C. is kind and genuine to everyone she meets  (M.C. don't you dare delete this part, I will be watching for it), she  throws picture perfect parties, and has the most fabulous laugh, which  I'm sure you all know. I got to witness the entirety of her and Nate's  courtship, which was, to say the least, WAY cute. My favorite memory of  them together was when they were not actually together; she and I were  attending our friend Katie's bridal shower one night, and we were  playing that game where Katie had to guess what her fiancé Colby would  say during a videotaped interview. Nate, Colby's BFF, was the one taping  and asking the questions, and during one point in the interview  (probably knowing his own darling fiancée M.C. would be watching), Nate  turned the camera around to grin into it and say something cute about  his friend's good fortune. When he appeared, I turned to look at M.C.,  and sure enough, she was smiling sweetly, even blushing, if I recall, at  her new fiancé's grinning visage, probably knowing that all too soon it  would be her turn to play this game. It was adorable.

  But enough reminiscing. M.C. asked me to write something about my own  life right now. In December 2008, after saying good-bye to the world's  most fabulous people in Provo, I moved to Washington, DC, first to  intern for the Smithsonian Institution and then to attend George  Washington University. I am currently halfway through a graduate degree  in art history there, and on top of that, I run a bakery, whose cute  name I am not allowed to publish on a personal blog, per a legal piece  of paper I signed when I came on with the company. BUT, I can tell you,  it's very cute, VERY delicious, very popular in NYC, and REALLY hard  work. Life out here has taught me a lot about patience, fortitude,  faith, and friendship, as detailed in my blog.

  M.C. suggested I write about art history or baking or both. The  following image was the first thing that popped into my head when I read  that stipulation:

It was followed shortly by this image:

  Both have personal and professional meaning to me. Both are by the American Pop artist Wayne Thiebaud; the first is entitled Pies, Pies, Pies (Oil on Canvas, 1961, Crocker Museum) and the second, Cakes (Oil  on Canvas, 1963, National Gallery of Art, which is a short 15 minute  metro ride away for me! Yay!). Obviously, these are still-lifes of  the confectionery variety. (We art historians delight in running wild  with grammatical and spelling errors: still-lifes, Orientalism, Ælfgyva... My spellchecker absolutely LOATHES me come paper-writing season, I tell him to "Ignore All" every other word). 

I love these two  paintings, first, because they are quite the apt visual reflection of  the glorious sugar I see every day at work, and second, because, as you  would see if you stood before them, the artist painstakingly-- even  fastidiously-- uses his paint just as a baker would, in great, smeared  swaths, reminiscent of the act of icing a real, edible cake. There are  simply GOBS of white, pink, and chocolatey colored oil paints knifed and  piped across the canvas. I wish I could show you a view of Cakes from  the side, the paint seriously juts off the canvas to the point where  you want to stick your finger out and swipe an iced flower right off one  of his cakes. Oh, thank you, Flickr, you always provide me with  close-ups when I most want one. This isn't from the NGA's Cakes, but a similar Thiebaud:

You get the idea. 

Now,  on to Wayne's story. Though he protested the label of "Pop artist" that  was more prominently applied to his contemporary Andy  Warhol, Thiebaud's works exhibit the same type of concern with  commercial products and pop culture (do these remind anyone of Warhol's  obsession with Campbell's soup cans and Marilyn Monroe?). Thiebaud, like  Warhol, was slightly disturbed by rise of mass-produced goods and  consumerism in the 1950s and 60s , and in response, he chose to paint  those items which, in their very mundanity and simplicity, could both  exemplify and subvert the materialistic mania that he saw rampant in the  world around him (or at least that's the line of analysis that  mainstream art history commonly uses). Pies. Cakes. Gumball machines.  Lipstick. All portrayed quietly, colorfully, semi-realistically, in  still life.

  Do you believe these paintings have anything subversive to say? I  didn't, when I first encountered them back in undergrad. What did I see  then? Bright colors, simplified planes of paint (not a lot of gradations  of color) and, let's face it: happy, perky subject matter. Take a  closer look at Pies, Pies, Pies:

  See that shadow? In almost all Theibaud's works, the subjects are  rendered in weird, glaring, almost surgical white light, which casts  dark shadows.  Notice how, in both paintings, the objects are placed up  against blank walls, on blank counters or floors, onto which the shadows  are projected, still and ominous. The backgrounds in Thiebaud's  paintings are unusually bereft of decoration or location.  If these  treats were in MY store, they would be surrounded by quaint doilies,  silver platters, striped gift boxes, and little decorated labels. I'm  always struck by the disks of shadow underneath the cakes in Cakes especially. Opposition in all things, I guess.

  This is where my favorite part of being a trained art historian comes  in. I am wonderfully free to protest, in writing, against the idea that  formal inclusions like harsh light and vivid shadows necessarily mean  that Thiebaud's paintings inherently reflect the artist's  dissatisfaction. I can see what other art historians are talking about,  but I just can't buy it. Such is the glory of good art; you make your  own meaning of it.

  Maybe I'm too much of happy person; I see cakes and pies on a plain  background, but this, to me, means that the artist was a very  painstaking and interested artist, overly concerned with shapes and  color. Perhaps he just wanted them to pop off the canvas, away  from their shadows. Perhaps he, like me, found the juxtaposition of  object and its shadow fascinating.  Dissatisfaction? That's for each  person who comes into contact with these works to decide. What did you  think was the overall effect of these paintings when you saw it? What do  you think now, after you've had time to take a closer look and consider  what others see in it?

  To me, the only sad thing about the work is what is NOT in  it: humans. Believe me, a cake that no one eats is one of the saddest  sights in the world. I HATE throwing away cakes, but it happens, quite  often, at the end of a long work day. Sigh. Such a waste. 

And  there you have it. That is, roughly, what I think about when I think  about baking and art history together. Beauty, simplicity, hard work,  bright, exciting colors, and the challenge of answering mainstream art  history's smart but questionable assumptions. I remember taking issue  with a similarly laughable idea that Alexander Calder's whimsical  mobiles-- one of my most favorite forms of modern sculpture-- are a  reflection of post-WWII jitters.

  This is one of Calder's largest works, hanging in the NGA East  building's atrium. Before becoming an artist, Calder used to create flea  circuses for kids, then, he translated his sculpting dexterity into  massive, balanced, twirling sculptures! The effect, to me, is joyful...  not jittery. But that's a soapbox and a research paper for another day.

  This is what I love about art and cupcakes. They bring joy into people's  lives. You've got to pause and smile, think and then move forward. 

... and this is  what I love about Wikipedia- it brings further light and knowledge into  my life. Thiebaud, I've just learned, was born to Mormon parents in  Mesa, Arizona! Just like me! He's officially my muse during this small  section of my life. To my friends in Utah, DC, and everywhere else, I  invite you look at shadows today. Consider the sugar. Lindsey, signing out.

just another day in paradise

2011-02-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

I haven't finished unpacking (or even started). I may or may not have fallen asleep at 6:30 last night.

Here are the pictures I promised. I didn't take a ton of pictures this trip. Actually, we took a lot of video. Yes. We were those tourists.

By the way, we took all of these pictures with our point and shoot. For those of you with DSLRs, do you get really scared to take it with you places? We were way too paranoid to take it off the cruise ship. I hate that. I feel like the moments I want it the most are the ones where I don't feel comfortable bringing it along. Any suggestions for that? [It probably doesn't help that I'm very accident prone and I broke one of Nate's cameras by getting sand in the motor. UPDATE: Just dropped my camera on our wood floor. Oh man.]

just another manic monday

2011-01-31T14:21:00.000-08:00

But I guess I really can't complain. I did just spend the last week in the Caribbean with Nate. We got back late last night and today has been a little painful. A week without Facebook, blogs, e-mails, texts, or phone calls was just what I needed. We ate too much, explored beautiful places, took daily naps, basked in the sunlight, and just spent every single moment together. Vacations are always good for breaking up the routine and clearing my mind. Our trip couldn't possibly have been any more amazing.I can't believe it's over. It went way too quickly.

I guess the good news is that today is the last day of January. That feels like a huge accomplishment to me. And pictures are coming. I promise. Right after I clean out my inbox, unpack our suitcases, and make a trip to the grocery store. Looks like we are officially home. At least I have the lingering tan lines to remind me how amazing it was . . .

meet brooke

2011-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

When I decided to re-post Heather's post, I thought it would be fun to ask some other friends to add to my blog as well. This is my friend Brooke (and her fiance, Troy). Brooke and I were roommates my freshman year of college. I really believe it was fate that we ended up as roommates. We spent way too much time in our dorm room painting our nails and watching Gilmore Girls. She is one of the most genuine people I know. She's also getting married this April and I couldn't be happier for her!

[I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. --E.B. White]

I read this quote recently, and I immediately identified with this internal struggle (and wondered which good old E.B. was trying to accomplish with Charlotte’s Web). From a young age, I have had an acute sense of injustice and a dogged determination to right life’s great inequities, whether it was unequal distribution of presents at Christmas, or the homeless people I saw on the streets of Baltimore city. I had more luck protesting one of these, than the other.  

Somewhat inconveniently, I also am afflicted with an equally powerful love of fun and gaiety. M.C. as my college roommate will remember the day I boldly declared a day of independence from school, and cut all my classes to spend the entire day making valentines in my pajamas, eating lots of ice cream and hanging out with friends. In retrospect, I should have picked a day when we didn’t have an in-class midterm, but I guess it turned out okay. 

Can we do both? Does true and comprehensive enjoyment of the world require you to turn a blind eye to its problems? Can you critically analyze the world enough to make meaningful change and still be in genuine awe of it? The idealist in me thinks that we can. Thinking about this has led me to reminisce about a time when I felt, in some small way, I was doing both.  

I spent about a month in Ghana, Africa two summers ago. I was with a group of MPA students assigned to consulting projects for 2 nonprofits. I gave these projects by best work—feeling a huge weight of responsibility to share what knowledge I had gained by virtue of a life of privilege and opportunity, to those who had not been equally blessed in that way.

Disconnected from modern conveniences (internet, ipod, TV, toilet paper!!), I felt that I was enjoying the world and its people in their purest form. I was totally overwhelmed by the raw beauty of the untamed Ghanaian countryside, and the happiness of the people there, despite how little they had. Rarely have I felt so inspired and empowered. I saw so many organizations and people accomplishing great things for the benefit of others. I felt awe and respect for the uniqueness of Ghana’s culture, and still recognized human suffering and felt an urgency to do something to alleviate it.

It’s a little hard to remember how I felt then and compare it with what I’m doing now. Currently, I work for an NBA team, ultimately functioning to help make more money for people who already have more than they know what to do with. I don’t know what I will end up doing “when I grow up”. But I hope—as I believe most people do—that it will be meaningful. I hope that it will show me the good in the world, so I can truly enjoy each day. I hope that I will always search for the things, big or small, that I can do to make the world better than it was before I came along.  

meet heather

2011-01-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

This is my friend Heather. She and I are kinda  soulmates. Last year I went over to hang out at her house and we lost  track of time and I ended up staying until 4 in the morning. She  originally posted this to her blog about a week ago, but her blog is private so not very many  people had the chance to read it. I really liked it. It's about an article that has been  making its way around the worldwide web and getting a lot of attention.

{p.s. does the title "meet heather" remind anyone else of those American Girl books?}

I had some thoughts after reading this article about Internet Culture and "Why I can't stop reading Mormon housewife blogs."

While I appreciate her general "praise" of Mormon Mommy Bloggers, I thought some of her conclusions were a little misguided.
I  had an interesting experience this past week. My next-door neighbor,  whom I've had "hi" "goodbye" contact with, recognized me from a popular  "Mormon (non-mom) Blogger"'s blog. She didn't know the girl behind the  blog, but she knew me...the girl in the blog, standing outside "her"  apartment complex, next to "her" lake.

I realized right then and there, the blogging world is a lot closer to home than I thought.
She,  like the author of this article, is "completely obsessed with their  blogs. On an average day, [she'll] skim through a half-dozen Mormon  blogs, looking at Polaroids of dogs in raincoats or kids in bow ties,  reading gratitude lists, admiring sewing projects." Blogs of women she  has never met yet knows an odd amount of personal information about.
It's  this premise that I'm going to talk about. The idea that they 'think  they know' about these women and what life as a Mormon would be like by  reading their blogs, or being married to an ex-member of the church.

I  think what this "from the outside in" article seems to be missing is  the understanding that some Mormon Mom's have the understanding of what  "life in the real world" is all about. That some Mormon Mom's are just  as "overly-educated" as she claims to be. She seems to think that  they're ignorant to what life in the working, godless, world means (not  that the world outside of Mormonism is godless, the author just labels  herself as an atheist). That somehow these blogs are a look into the simple kind of life completely ignorant of the world around them.
She tells that her friend G. says, of her fascination with Mormon lifestyle blogs,

"'I'm  just jealous. I want to arrange flowers all day too!' She doesn't,  really. She's just tired from long days spent in the lab, from a decade  of living in a tiny apartment because she's too poor from student loans  to buy a house, from constant negotiations about breadwinning  status with her artist husband. It's not that she or I want to quit our  jobs to bake brownies or sew kiddie Halloween costumes. It's just that  for G., Mormon blogs are an escapist fantasy, a way to imagine a  sweeter, simpler life."

Instead of viewing Mormon Mom's as  existing in a fantasy land, I would view it as a choice. A choice of how  you can live your life if you choose family, God, and happiness. And,  according to her, homemade Halloween costumes, robot themed birthday parties, and cupcakes.

My  view of being a stay-at-home mom is that I chose to be a mom, so that  is what I want to be. I don't view it as competing to "have it all." Or  even a rejection of having it all. I view it as a conscious choice to be  a mom. I don't think you can be a mom, when you're not being a mom. You  can't say you're a better chef when you're not in the kitchen actually  cooking. That's what I don't get about the argument that taking a  "break" via a 9-5 job makes you a better mom. You're not there for 8+  hours of your kid's life. Assuming that they're awake for 11 hours a  day, that's 3 hours that you're "on the job." I just don't understand  it.

The author of this blog rejects the idea that she is drawn to  the Mormon Mom world because she might actually buy in to the idea that  you "can't have it all." She says:

"'There's been a lot of talk  in recent years about 'the New Domesticity' -- an increasing interest in  old-fashioned, traditionally female tasks like sewing, crafts and jam  making. Some pundits see this as a sign that young women yearn to return  to some kind of 1950s Ozzie and Harriet existence, that feminism has  'failed,' that women are realizing they can't have it all, after all.'  That view is utterly nonsense, in my opinion..."

However, she  doesn't have kids yet. She hasn't made that choice of mom or career. I  think more people need to look at motherhood as their full-time job  rather than a side-job. I don't understand what is more important than  being just that, a mom. If you're not being mom, then someone else is  doing the job. It could be daycare, it could be grandma, it could be  anyone else besides you, but why would you choose that? I know that not  everyone has a choice. There is death, there is abuse, there is  addiction, there is adultery. Those complicate the situation. But with  those situations there is still the choice to be a mom. And sometimes  choosing to be a mom is choosing not to "have it all" but to "have what  is most important."

I don't think the author of this article is  trying to be demeaning or patronizing, but I feel that she is a little  misguided in her assumptions of what it means to be a Mormon Mommy  Blogger and why life looks the way it does on the computer screen. She  seems to think it's not real life, and while yes, not every part of someone's life is put up on the computer screen...what you see is real. It might be the happier times, but they are real.

I'm  sure I've been, inadvertently, satirized all over the blog "Seriously  So Blessed," but in general...the average blog-going American really is  blessed.

I just think there's more to her love for "Mormon Mommy" lives than just a fun little escapism habit.

twitter-pated

2011-01-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

image found here

Two years ago Nate sent me a link to something called "Twitter" and he said it was going to be a big deal. It's not that I doubted him, I just thought it seemed unnecessary for me. I definitely wasn't in the market for another social media site to have to maintain. So Nate signed up and I didn't.

Now I am coming to the realization that he was very smart. Not so much because I regret not having a twitter account all of this time, but because I finally went on to start an account and there are no names left. Seriously. Nada.

I keep finding people I am interested in following, but in order to follow I need my own account. I'm afraid I'm going to have to use one of those corny AIM user names like mclovesyou or something. That would be embarrassing if my kids ever found out. I just can't risk it.

I even googled "how to choose a name for twitter." People kept advising me to use my name or my business name -- but both were taken so no dice. Who are all of these people who all of the sudden have the name "Mary Carol"? Where have they been all my life?

So the moral of this rambling is that if you snooze you lose with social media (just ask the Winklevoss twins). Also, listen to your husband.

Oh, and I think everyone should leave their suggestions for my twitter name in the comments section. Hit me with your best shot. If it's genius or completely ridiculous or still available, chances are I'll use it.

What does your Thursday night look like?

2011-01-20T13:22:00.000-08:00

My Thursday night is spent at Nate's Aunt Brenda's quilt studio (aka basement). And it's my favorite night of the week.

I hang out with several girls in Nate's family. We chat and sew and it's seriously like our own little "GIRLS ONLY CLUB." I really like belonging to exclusive clubs.

Brenda has the most amazing quilt studio and she's a really fabulous teacher. Even when I screw up majorly, she just lets me keep working away and I swear no one even notices my mistakes in the end. Plus, it's handmade. Handmade is just the charming word for imperfect, right? That's what I tell myself. Otherwise I would just skip all the hard work and buy a quilt at Pottery Barn or something.

I just finished my second quilt. I made two baby quilts. The first one was really simple and the second was a lot more detailed. I like making baby quilts because they take about half the time and cost about half the price. Plus I figure I'm in the stage of life where I can give them as gifts to pretty much everyone I know.

So here are my two finished products. If you want to "ooh" and "ahh," then feel free to comment below. If you think you can do better, well you're probably right.

And click here to read Brenda's blog. She is an amazing quilter and gives all sorts of fun tips. Her blog was even mentioned in a quilting magazine. And did I mention she teaches me for free? She just does it out of the goodness of her heart and her love for quilting. I'm one lucky girl!

I'm excited to start my third project tonight. It might bear an uncanny resemblance to my second quilt above ;)

somebody call the fashion police

2011-01-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite shows is "What Not to Wear." It seriously never gets old. I love how people are so unwilling to let go of their bad fashion habits.

I told Nate that I wish they would do a show with people who were already fashion-forward but just needed some refinement. Nate said no one would watch that because the transformation wouldn't be as impressive. He's probably right, but it started me pondering on the fashion rules I choose to ignore. What would Stacy and Clinton tell me to ditch in my own wardrobe?

It's hard to critique yourself. After all, I picked everything out so I must have at least liked it at some point. And without the 360-degree mirror, how can I really tell what looks good?

It seems like every time someone spouts off advice about style and fashion, there is a rule that is consistently repeated:

I really hate this advice. Why does mixing and matching use your wardrobe the most effectively? I think it is all wrong. I used to try it and do you know what I ended up with? A lot of boring pieces that all could go together but really weren't meant to. And then I would find that "perfect black sweater that goes with everything" and the issue was that it DID go with everything. Thus, it was always dirty. I had five skirts I could wear with it in theory, but only right after laundry day. This whole mixing and matching thing has never been a successful practice for me.

So do you know what I started doing? If I find a skirt I love, I buy a shirt specifically for that skirt (unless I already own something that goes perfectly). Then, whenever I want to wear that skirt, I have something that I can wear with it that I know will look fabulous. I don't have as many "options" as others might have (or think they have), but every option I do have is usable. I know it seems to defy logic, but it works for me.

And it brings me to my next secret -- I wear A LOT of dresses. People always comment on this. They act like it is so hard to wear dresses. But really it's not. With a dress, you only need to pick out a pair of shoes and a piece of jewelry and you are set. It's amazing how much it simplifies your life. A dress always looks pulled together and you can dress it up or down.

Also, I mix black and brown, I wear white after Labor day, I don't match my shoes and my bag, and I really have no idea what fruit shape my body resembles.

Am I the only one who likes to break the traditional fashion rules? Do you have fashion rules you choose to throw out the window? Are you guys going to report me to Stacy and Clinton? Actually, a chance to shop with their money for a week in New York? I could definitely be okay with that!

documented: the sartorialist

2011-01-18T10:43:00.000-08:00

I have this obsession with documentaries. Everything from political stuff to True Hollywood Stories. I find them fascinating. I know they are usually biased, but I still feel like I'm learning and it makes me feel smart (even if it is about Tori Spelling).

This documentary on the Sartorialist is so awesome. I have wondered about his process as an artist. I always love seeing how other people view the world. It's intriguing how a photographer views the world through a lens, a painter through a canvas and brush, a writer through words, a chef through a dish, a musician through notes. It's even more fascinating how they are all able to share their perspective with the world.

In this documentary, the Sartorialist (Scott Schuman) brings up the fear that many people have that the internet is causing the world to be too homogenized. He dismisses that fear saying, "It [blogs] has given us what I like to a call a digital park bench.” I thought that was such a fabulous way of saying it. (I generally think of it as a digital couch since that is where I am usually viewing blogs from; his version is much more poetic.) Art has always afforded us the opportunity to learn about other parts of the world, yet now it is available for free in such massive quantities. We truly are surrounded by so much inspiration and creativity.

And now, for your viewing pleasure . . .

slow reading

2011-01-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get comments that my blog is "too wordy." And it's not from teenagers. It's from literate adults. It makes me squirm a little. I don't think one of my posts is even the equivalent of an average chapter. And I don't think I'm too wordy. I actually think the Internet has redefined our expectations of writing length.

And by the way, a large number of words does not equate to wordiness. A writer is wordy when they use too many unnecessary words.

I came across an article entitled, "The art of slow reading." It's really fantastic. The author, Kingsley, discusses the idea that taking the time to read is becoming more and more a thing of the past. I don't think anyone really understands the impact of this. Reading is not merely the ability to recognize words on a page (be that paper or web). Reading is the ability to understand a text (sometimes multiple texts) and then reach conclusions based on what you have read. It is an actual process and something that must be practiced. It also requires all of your attention to be done well. As Kinsley puts it, ". . . although . . . we have become very good at collecting a wide range of factual titbits, we are also gradually forgetting how to sit back, contemplate, and relate all these facts to each other."

Reading allows us to make good decisions for ourselves. It helps us become responsible citizens, effective workers, wise parents, and influential leaders. Really. Reading helps us in all of those endeavors.

I love books. I absolutely love them. For the last few weeks I have been purging our home of anything that we don't need. When I came to my bookshelf, I was only able to part with two books (and one of them was a duplicate). I am not very sentimental about most physical objects, but books really have a special place in my heart. When I open one, I can remember where I was when I read it. I can remember what I felt. I can read my notes in the margins and think about how that book has influenced my life.

Another quote from the article sums up my feelings, "The binding of a book captures an experience or idea at a particular space and time. . . . When the reading is complete, you place it with satisfaction on your bookshelf." While the internet has a feeling of fluidity and constant change, books provide a feeling of stability. And still, so many of my favorites have seemed to grow and change with me over the years.

I get asked constantly for book suggestions. I read really random books and I don't always have good suggestions for people. I feel like that is something I should be better about. I am constantly getting updates from several of my friends on goodreads.com about books they have read. Sadly, I don't think I have updated my account since I started it. I suppose I will have to add this to my ridiculously long list of resolutions: Review the books I have read!

Are you on goodreads? We should be friends. Then maybe you can keep me accountable!

Pandora and her box

2011-01-13T08:10:00.001-08:00

So do you guys listen to Pandora? It's my favorite thing ever. I've never been very good about organizing my iTunes or charging my iPod so Pandora has become my best friend.

Except for recently. She won't stop playing Colbie Caillat. I'm not sure why. I can type in any artist and Pandora plays Colbie. Ingrid Michaelson? Colbie. Michael Jackson? Colbie. Beatles? Colbie.

And every time one of her songs comes on, I give it a "thumbs down." Well, Colbie is not deterred by rejection because she just keeps coming back. In fact, I gave her a "thumbs down" yesterday and the very next song was Colbie! My friend Meredith thinks that Pandora is playing a joke on me. I don't find it very funny.

The other day Nate was making fun of me because I hate that song "Firework" by Katy Perry. (No, Katy, I never feel like a plastic bag. Worst. Metaphor. Ever.) Nate said he can't understand how I can love Taylor and Miley and not care for Colbie or Katy. I told him I don't understand the question.

In completely unrelated news, last night I had to take the trash can to the curb. Seems simple enough, right? But there was like 4 feet of snow surrounding the trash can so the only way to get it to the curb was by moving my car. I moved my car (leaving it in the middle of the street), quickly wheeled the trash to the curb, got back in my car . . . and it was stuck. Would not budge. It was being completely stubborn. After about an hour, Nate's uncle finally had to come help me move it. I then texted Nate "I hate Utah." I seriously would've sold our house for $100 last night I was so completely frustrated. When I finally came back inside, I found Colbie rocking out on my Pandora.

[Except not really. But wouldn't Colbie's "Fallin' For You" have been the perfect ending?]

good tidings of great joy

2011-01-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

So these were our Christmas cards this year. With the hustle and bustle of Christmas time, they didn't arrive at our house until after we had left for the holidays. I love visiting family at Christmas time, but it is a little hard getting everything finished a week before Christmas.

I sent them to family and to the friends that I had addresses for, but then I somehow got busy getting back into the swing of things and haven't collected the rest of the addresses. So here you are! Happy {belated} Christmas! [Really I'm just trying to keep the spirit of Christmas going all year.]

Oh, and my favorite response was our friend Amanda. When she opened the card she said, "You can't even see your faces!" Classic.

And a shoutout to our photographer, Courtney Brooke.

shave and a haircut

2011-01-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

or a yo-yo

what? your husband doesn't keep a yo-yo in his shave kit? strange.

I found this in our bathroom one morning while I was getting ready. It's Nate's shave kit he brings with us when we travel. It seriously made me laugh so hard when I saw the bright pink yo-yo tucked in there between hair gel and a tooth brush. Who couldn't add a little yo-yoing to their morning routine?

Of course, my niece Elle called this particular yo-yo a "ball." Anything that is even remotely round is "ball" to her. Sometimes I wish things in my life could be that simple.

When I was little I always wondered why my parents didn't have any toys in their room. What did they do for fun?!?! To me, toys equaled fun. Maybe that's why Nate and I had a Nerf fight last night. (Or maybe it's because we're going stir crazy in these freezing temperatures.) After running around the house dodging bullets for quite some time, Nate kissed me and thanked me for play time. {Which I would like to note was NOT his response when I sprayed him with silly string the other day.}

Sometimes I feel like I'm getting old (I know several of you just rolled your eyes). But then I spend an afternoon getting all caught up in a Disney movie (have you seen Tangled?!?!) or playing with some old school toys, and I realize I'm still a little girl at heart and this world is just one big ball for me to explore.

Glo-ing Review

2011-01-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

So I met this girl Glo when Nate and I first got married. We totally bonded over our love of Gossip Girl and Target. I ran into her a few months ago at the mall and she mentioned that she was starting her own flower biz. Then these gorgeous pics popped up on her blog:

And she managed to make those after her flower order was messed up. Ya, I love having talented friends.

What screams Christmas Eve. . .

2011-01-02T17:42:00.000-08:00

more than ugly Christmas sweaters?

I think this was the first of a very long-lasting Ferguson family Christmas tradition. I owe my cousin Alex for my beautiful sweater and Nate owes the women's section of Wal-Mart for his fabulous turtleneck. It was definitely a holiday to remember!

Here's to the New Year!

2011-01-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

I have a feeling it's going to be a good one . . .

too much resolve

2010-12-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

So I know that last year I blogged about how I never make resolutions in January. It's mostly because I find it a depressing time of year so adding unaccomplished goals to the dreariness seems like a miserable proposition. Well about a week ago, I was struck with some sudden motivation. I started thinking about all of the areas of my life where I would like to improve. Before that motivation could dwindle, I opened up a Word document and began typing out some of my lofty aspirations (things like "finally update to Google Chrome").

I just opened the document and it is over two pages. The goals remain in their daunting single-spaced, size 11, Calibri typeface. However my ambition seems to have waned. (By the way, what made Microsoft make the switch to the new font with Office? For years it was Times New Roman size 12. I always wonder what goes into decisions like that.) Anyway, I'm thinking that I should save my list of goals for April. Things always seem much more hopeful that time of year.

Does anyone else struggle with making goals as much as me? I guess my struggle isn't necessarily with making the goals, but with deciding which goals to pursue and which goals to place on the back burner. I think it's difficult to strike a balance between motivating myself to improve and being happy with where I am currently. I seem to vacillate a lot between Type A and free spirit.

Last night Nate and I were talking about this a little. We have a lot of dreams. (I think I just decided that I prefer dreams to goals; goals sounds too much like a required writing assignment from your high school teacher.) Sometimes it is really hard to know which ones to tackle with all our ambitions and which ones to let go for the moment. I say for the moment because hopefully there will come a time for each of our dreams.

I think the most difficult task is to place to the side a dream that you have worked really hard to accomplish. I think it takes a lot of faith to know that at some point that dream will still become a reality. Timing is a funny thing in life. It never seems to go the way we had planned, but it always seems to work out better than we had hoped.

I'm not just trying to be optimistic; I truly believe that. Sometimes we just have to thank God for unanswered prayers before we can see the perfectly lighted, carefully edited, beautiful, big picture.

Enjoy your last day of 2010! We're hoping to spend it on the slopes so we can finally enjoy all of this snow that has been forced upon us. {That makes me wonder--perhaps our resolution for 2011 really should be to move back to California. That is a resolution that would be easy to support in January.}

Lingering Christmas

2010-12-29T13:39:00.000-08:00

So Nate made this video for his work and I kept meaning to post it to our blog. There's just never enough time to do everything you want to this time of year. (I still haven't posted pictures of our tree! You can see it in this video, but it really doesn't do it justice.) Oh well. The weather outside is frightful so I figured we could all still benefit from a little holiday cheer. Enjoy!

It's beginning (or continuing) to feel a lot like Christmas

2010-12-16T02:18:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you have seen this already, but I really loved this talk from the Christmas devotional. As we were sitting on the couch watching it, it felt almost as if President Monson was in our home sharing a story. I really appreciate his great love for literature and how it influences all of his messages. This season I have been reading A Christmas Carol. Dickens is probably my favorite author of all time, but I had forgotten how truly inspiring it is to read the words from Dickens himself--that man had such an inviting way of expressing the world. (Of course if it comes to movies, then A Muppet Christmas Carol is the only way to go.)

I hope you are all having fun preparing for the holidays. I know I have had a lot of fun this season. I've loved getting to decorate our home for Christmas for the first time. I'm obsessed with our tree--nothing has made me this happy in a long time. I really want to post a picture of it. Can you hold me responsible for that post? You are all so good about getting on my case when I don't post.

And just in case you were wondering, I am actually posting this at 3:15 am. I can't sleep. As in I still haven't fallen asleep for the night yet. I've always been a pro at sleeping so I'm not sure what this is about lately. Maybe too many things on my mind. Or maybe I'm just too excited about Christmas--only nine sleeps until Christmas day!

Happy Birthday to Nater-Skater

2010-12-01T10:11:00.000-08:00

Nate looks so great in this picture; me not so much. But this isn't about me...

It's Nate's big day today. I love having an entire day where I get to focus on celebrating him! I really think the celebration should continue for weeks. You okay with that Nate?

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect husband for me. You make me laugh, you make me think, you make me want to be such a better person. I can't remember my life without you and I don't want to imagine life without you. Every morning I look at you and smile 'cause boy you came around and knocked me down.

Thanks for being you. You are amazing. (Yes I used bold, italics, and underline. That's just how amazing you are.)

p.s. I wrote this entire post without mentioning how hot I think you are just so I wouldn't embarrass you ;)

Too much to be thankful for ...

2010-11-28T20:57:00.000-08:00

I don't even know where to begin. Life is good. Right now I am loving life in our little home. The house is completely clean and we have put up all of our Christmas decorations (this is the first year for outdoor lights for us -- woohoo!). Outside is completely covered in snow, but today Nate and I got to go to church, make sugar cookies, visit with some of his family at his gma's house, and eat turkey noodle soup (thank goodness for tgiving leftovers). I feel like all I have done this entire break is cook -- which I am completely happy about. I'm not sure what it is about being home with some good music playing and measuring, mixing, and cooking that makes me so happy and relaxed.

Of course, I'm having a hard time relaxing about all of the butter I used in the last five days -- 2 whole pounds! I did, however, make our entire Thanksgiving dinner from start to finish (and brownies and cookies for some others that we didn't consume) so that's a good excuse for a lot of the butter. You are going to think I'm crazy, but cooking the entire Thanksgiving feast has always been a dream of mine -- I don't have a very exciting bucket list. I felt very accomplished after the whole thing was done. So accomplished, in fact, that I took a very long nap. But seriously ... all of the food was ready at the same time and we only have one oven. Not trying to brag here, I was just really ecstatic about that. I never could have done it were it not for all of the years watching my mom. She beats Martha any day of the week.

You want to see pictures? What?!?!? I have pictures?!?! I know! I was feeling very generous considering it's the holidays and all :) Luckily while I was cooking away in the kitchen, Nate was snapping some proof of my creation (and it's a good thing because we were done in like 20 minutes flat).

Centerpiece: So I came up with this really good idea for a centerpiece the night before Thanksgiving. I went to like four stores asking if they had any plastic pumpkins. I was actually laughed at! However, if I'd wanted candy hearts for my centerpiece I would've been just fine. This centerpiece was my first runner up created from some decorations I already had. I guess my great idea will just have to wait until the next time I host.

Ferguson Family Traditional Turkeys (aka See's Chocolate Turkeys): I like these guys so much better than the real turkey. And it's a known fact that the head tastes better than the rest of the turkey.

Place Setting: I am being very thorough here. Nate had lots of time to take pictures. Don't worry; I removed the leaves from the glasses before I poured our Martinellis.

My 12-lb. Turkey: We get a free turkey from Nate's work and this was the smallest one he could find. So, I did what any American would do and roasted him up. Does anyone else get sad when cooking the turkey?

The Whole Deal: I kept trying to cut dishes out, but in the end I just felt we had to do the entire thing. We had turkey, stuffing, rolls, yams, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and apple pie. And yes, those rolls in the lower left corner are the size of your head.

Happy Thanksgiving! Love, Nate and M.C.

'tis the season

2010-11-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. I'm fast-forwarding through Thanksgiving to Christmas. Believe me, I'm definitely looking forward to a feast on Thursday.

But I have to ask, have you ordered your Christmas cards yet? No? Well you are in luck!

Why? Because today is the launch of

After many requests for custom designs of Christmas cards, party and shower invites, and birth announcements, I have put together an official store and blog.

For the launch, I have just included holiday designs (I will be adding designs for other occasions around New Years). Right now I'm doing special prices on holiday orders placed before December 5th and a giveaway for a free holiday design to one lucky winner.

It's been pretty fun putting together the sites and the designs-- it even motivated me to spruce up my personal blog and it has definitely provided me with a creative outlet which has been nice. I don't know why I love designing and sending out cards so much. I seriously spent way too much time on our Christmas card last year and this year looks like it's going to be a repeat.

So check out the store and blog--maybe you will be the lucky one to win the giveaway!

You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream

2010-11-15T13:44:00.000-08:00

{Don't judge that I love this song. Maybe my most-played genre on my ipod is "tween." Lots of Taylor and lots of Miley. I never claimed to have good taste in music.}

This weekend I realized that the level of happiness in our marriage is strongly correlated with the success of BYU football and the Jazz. Both of them have been doing really well lately, so things at our house have been pretty good. All I can say is "Keep it up, boys."

This is the point where I am supposed to apologize and then offer my excuses for not blogging. The truth is, I don't have any. I have been writing A LOT, but it's all been in my personal journal. It's way more fun when I can include names and details without worrying about privacy or others' reactions. I don't really care what others think; I just don't need every detail or bad day recorded for the world to see. So if you want those details, you'll have to break into my house and read my diary ... or wait until my memoirs are published one day. It's going to happen.

Somehow winter is here again, even though he knows he wasn't invited. As much as I hate the cold months, I find that every year I adapt to it a little better. Sometimes I like the way my life is controlled by the seasons. The whole "to everything there is a season" theory never made much sense to me growing up in California. However, here in Utah I understand how I'll put certain projects on my to-do list for specific months of the year. In the summer you feel almost guilty sitting inside reading, but during the winter it feels completely acceptable.

This is true with food, too. I love how my body naturally craves specific food according to the time of year--I've been really enjoying cooking for the fall months. We've tried at least one new soup a week. I've never been a huge soup fan, but I have found some amazing (and simple) recipes. Of course, my sweet tooth also seems to be stronger during the colder months,too.

Speaking of fall and a sweet tooth, we had a great Halloween. It was our first year getting to hand out candy and it was pretty fun -- until the last teenage girl showed up on our doorstep (not dressed in a costume), said "Hello," and stuck out her hand. At that point, I turned off the lights and called it good. Oh, and every person that came to our door commented on Nate's pumpkin. He's kinda amazing. See for yourself:

Besides cooking, we've been watching Friday Night Lights. Have you seen this show? It's awesome. I love all of the characters and, although it has taken Nate a long time to convince me, I am starting to love football. I may even let our sons play one day. (I've only ever wanted to prevent it out of fear for their safety.) Anyways, this show is fabulous. I'm sick of a lot of the junk on tv these days, and Friday Night Lights is not without junk, BUT there are several characters in the show who are actually trying to do what's right--genius! haha I love the show so much that I keep asking Nate if he thinks he could change career paths and become a football coach. He says that he can't because he never actually played football -- details, details. I would make such a fabulous coach's wife...

Here I am talking about football again, which means I've come full circle. Have a great Monday. Enjoy this post. Savor it. Who knows when it will happen again ;)

love + basketball

2010-07-09T09:56:00.001-07:00

Did you hear about LeBron? Because I did. I heard all about him. I even watched "The Decision," which was the melodramatic name ESPN decided to give his press conference. And he ended up deciding to go hang out with his friends Dwayne and Chris in Miami. It sort of reminds me of the time in elementary school when my best friend and I promised each other we would grow up to marry twin brothers and be next-door-neighbors. Except for the millions of dollars thing. I guess I dreamed too small.

Speaking of childhood dreams, have you seen Toy Story 3 yet? It was amazing. I cried and laughed and had an intense desire to go to the toy store. My favorite part of the entire movie was Ken and Barbie. Nate and I can't stop quoting Ken. He was amazing. Like when he and Barbie met and he said "It's like we were made for each other." That kind of connection can't be feigned.

I've never agreed with the argument that young girls shouldn't play with barbies because they contribute to body image issues. When I was a little girl, I didn't pay nearly as much attention to Barbie's physical attributes as her corvette, dream house, and fabulous wardrobe. Why can't I be an astronaut, singer, teacher, vet, and ballerina? And why can't I do it all while wearing heels? Man, Barbie sure does have the life. According to this article, I could live like Barbie for $4,000 a night. Screamin deal, huh?

Luckily for me, there is a cheaper (and closer) solution. At the end of our street there is a shaved ice stand. The other night Nate and I decided to stop for a treat after playing some tennis. Before I got up to the front, I had decided to order a mixture of cotton candy and bubble gum. Nate says I have the taste of a four-year-old. I love sprinkles and frosting and anything that you could purchase at a carnival. Meanwhile, back at the shaved ice stand, we get up to the front and check out the menu. Evidently my combination already existed. Among "Sunrise Surprise" and "Ocean Potion," my shaved ice of choice was listed as "Beach Barbie."

And I enjoyed every last bite.

2010-06-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

Last night we had BBQ'd chicken (from our new grill), edamame, and grilled peaches. It all tasted like summer. Why is it so much easier to cook amazing yet simple food in the summer?

Yesterday ended up being a surprisingly good day. Nate Google chatted me about 9 am and asked if I wanted to join him for a seminar. Luckily my boss was totally down with me taking off work for the afternoon (which isn't always so easy in the summer months). I was excited about the speakers, but I was really excited to spend a work day with Nate :)

The line-up of speakers was pretty awesome: Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Apolo Ohno were just a few. [Yes the speakers swung a little to the right but this is Utah after all.] Sarah Palin was pretty annoying and Apolo Ohno had less than 30 seconds of wisdom in his entire presentation.

BUT Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney were both awesome. The advice they offered wasn't too earth shattering, but listening to the experiences of those two men was extremely engaging. I had read about Giuliani's success in decreasing crime in New York before, but I loved hearing about his experience with 9/11. He spoke a great deal about preparation. He said that when we prepare, we only need to apply our preparation during a crisis. It's difficult for me to imagine a crisis that would be larger than 9/11. He said that he had about 20 minutes to come up with a strategy and begin reacting to the situation. 20 minutes! I think most people would have been immobilized by the pressure he experienced. He said that he was able to get everyone united by explaining that they had already done everything they needed to accomplish, just under different circumstances.

Then Mitt Romney discussed business strategies as well as a little bit of politics. He seems so down-to-earth to me -- with a calm yet motivated demeanor. He discussed focusing your efforts on aspects of your life that aren't subject to luck -- your faith, your marriage, and your family. Giuliani's secrets to success were (1) reading, (2) listening, (3) debating, (4) writing, and (5) thinking. Romney's secrets to success were (1) getting a life, (2) taking opportunities as they are presented to you, (3) focusing on your strengths, (4) figuring out what's important in your enterprise and doing it, and (5) focusing on making the grass greener on your side of the fence. Like I said, nothing too earth shattering, but their advice intertwined with their experiences made for some really great presentations.

One of the other presenters was Zig Ziglar. I had never heard of him, but Nate said that he was a really famous motivational speaker. He actually had an accident a few years ago and suffered memory loss. As a result, his daughter now interviews him on stage to keep him on track. It was pretty funny because every question she asked him he would somehow find a way to work in how lucky he was to have married his wife, or in his words, "his American Express that he never leaves home without." He kept pointing to her in the audience and saying how he was successful because of her. At the end, his daughter asked what his final words of advice were. He first said, "My wife will never leave me because if she does I will just follow her." His daughter said that wasn't what he usually said and then he responded, "I was trying to say that in life you always need the home court advantage -- never stop courting your spouse." His daughter was getting a little frustrated because that obviously wasn't the advice he usually gave. She kept saying, "Dad, you already said that." He then replied, "You're right, but those people over there weren't listening!" hahaha The audience was rolling, but I thought it was pretty amazing that a man who could have talked about so many areas he had been successful in, only wanted to talk about the success of his marriage.

2010-05-21T15:00:00.001-07:00

Just finished all of the laundry.

Status: Only two socks were left without matches

That, my friends, is what I like to call success.

Have a fabulous weekend!

A post for Katie

2010-05-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

So my friend Katie left a comment on my last post asking for book suggestions. I have had trouble coming up with any -- not because I don't know of any good books, but because recommending a book is difficult. It completely varies from person to person. It depends on if you want something for mindless entertainment or to learn about a specific topic or to really immerse yourself in. One of the best fiction books I have read recently was the Hunger Games. I know a lot of other people who loved it, too. There are three books in the series, but I haven't read the second and third ones yet because I am somewhere around number 124 in the request line at the library. Hunger Games was really good and if I described it, you would think it would be horrific. I am not a person who generally is okay with violence, but for some reason it didn't bother me that much in this book. I seriously couldn't put it down and I even talked Nate into reading it (and he loved it).

I always get people asking me which books I recommend, and I never have very good suggestions. I think reading is so personal. It's amazing to me how the degree to which I like a book can be so greatly influenced by my life and experiences. I have read and hated books only to re-read them years later and absolutely love them. I think reading is 50% what the author gives us and 50% what we bring to the literature. I think we can use past reading experiences to choose the books we read -- we just shouldn't always judge a book by its cover. We never know when we might find our new favorite book or author. I recommend reading about the background of an author and the society of a book before I begin reading it. For some reason it always helps me get more out of the book. I also really like the library because I can check out a book and if I don't like it, I don't have anything more invested in it than the time it took me to read the first few pages. Of course, some books take longer than others to get into. Hmm... how many times have I contradicted myself in this paragraph? Oh well. {By the way, my friend Passelly recently wrote about how she felt the library had so much potential for germs. Surprisingly, I had never thought of this, but she brings up a good point. Of course she offered the solution of cleaning off all the books with antibacterial wipes which is nothing short of brilliant. }

My mom used to tell me that if she learned just one thing from a book, she felt it had been worth reading. I think that's true. I love to read because it's one of the few ways to see inside the mind of another person. I can hold in my hands a world that normally seems so far away. I really enjoy reading for the purpose of connecting with a writer. It's amazing to think that someone you never met has felt the exact same way as you do. I also like reading about ideas I completely disagree with -- it helps me understand others, changes my mind, or reaffirms my own beliefs.

Saying all of that, here is a [very condensed] list of my favorite books:
A Tale of Two Cities
Tuesdays with Morrie
A Brave New World
The Secret Life of Bees
The Alchemist
Billy Budd Sailor
The Scarlet Letter

There, Katie! Now I think everyone should leave comments with their favorite books. Or we could all become friends on goodreads.com :)

p.s. I also love poetry and short stories. Before my college literature classes, I never would've believed I would say those words. In high school, my knowledge of poetry consisted of Robert Frost and Shel Silverstein. Now I love Emily Dickinson and Anne Bradstreet.

2010-05-17T09:49:00.001-07:00

I got an e-mail from my mom today with this quote:

“I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” ― Anna Quindlin

We were a little obsessed with reading in our family growing up. I remember all of us filling our suitcases with books when we would go on vacations and spending rainy days in bookstores or libraries. Every room in our home was filled with books. This is why I have such a hard time with the Kindle. I completely understand it's convenience, but I think if my parents had read Kindles growing up, I wouldn't be a reader now. Well maybe that's a lie. After all, my mom was a first-grade teacher so she read with us while we were still in our cribs. She stressed not just reading but a love of reading throughout all of my growing up years. However, frequently I read simply because there were books everywhere in our home. When I would get bored, I would pick up whatever my parents had left lying around. That is how I ended up reading Jane Eyre in the fourth grade (and understood hardly any of it). I would read my dad's books on computer programming or church history to procrastinate doing my homework and I would read the mystery novels my mom left on the backseat of our car while she ran errands. My parents didn't have pretty books -- they had books that were loved and read. We didn't have a beautiful library -- I lost count of how many bookshelves we ended up buying at Ikea. But the point is that we read a lot.

The other day Nate came home and looked at our kitchen table. There sat the 23 books I currently have checked out from the library. He said that someone probably went to check out a book and the librarian had to explain that I had all of them. Ha ha. (I'm not sure if Nate even knows about the hundreds of books I collected growing up that are waiting patiently in my bedroom closet in California.)

So mom, in response to your quote, “I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves,” I think you can be content.

Mad mom in a mini van...

2010-05-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else ever listen to that radio show? haha I always dread the thought of ever having to own a mini van. We did when I was younger and that thing broke down every single vacation we ever took it on. And this one time the back flew open and all of our groceries spilled out onto the busy road. Definitely not a dream car.

Of course I never asked these people...

This reminds me so much of Phil on Modern Family.

p.s. I cannot get it to be the right size. I've never had this problem before. Oh well. Go here if it helps.

If you're happy and you know it ...

2010-05-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

I guess my last post resonated with more than a few of you. I had a couple friends give me shoutouts on their blogs and write about what you don't see in their lives. I think my favorite comment was from Brenda, who said that she could either have her family or her house look put together, but never both at the same time. Life really is about trade-offs, isn't it?

I was thinking about that today when I read this New York Times article about Sandra Bullock. It asked the reader (so us) if we would take "her deal." Basically, would we want her fame and fortune (and a gold Academy Award figurine on our mantel) in exchange for marital disaster? I don't necessarily think it's always an either-or situation, but the question is definitely thought-provoking. And hopefully simple for us to answer.

{By the way, I love Sandra Bullock and in no way hold her responsible for her disappointments.}

Sometimes when I start to take things for granted, I think back to my glory days of dating (yes, I'm being facetious) and think how happy I would've been to look into the future and see who I ended up marrying. It makes me a flirt a little more with Nate and realize how great I've really got it. A few months ago I had a really rough day and Nate went above and beyond the call of duty to cheer me up. At some moment, I remember coming to the vivid realization that no matter how many times I failed throughout my life, I had succeeded when I decided to marry Nate. For all of my mistakes and shortcomings, I had made the right choice when it really counted.

And that isn't just the romantic musings of a newlywed. The article even says, "Marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining personal well-being. If you have a successful marriage, it doesn’t matter how many professional setbacks you endure, you will be reasonably happy." Right there in black and white. And the author even has research to back it up. Research! haha... I love how we never believe anything until there is data to support it. As if after centuries upon centuries of matrimony we needed someone to say: marriage = good

The article then explains that evidently "being married produces a psychic gain equivalent to more than $100,000 a year." $100,000?!?!? That is a lot of money! And it's not $100,000 over the course of your marriage or your lifetime; it's $100,000 a year. That's incredible. I started thinking of all of the things I could do with $100,000 -- the vacations I could take, the clothes I could buy, the universities I could attend, the cars I could drive... and then it hit me that none of it would matter without Nate. So ya, I'd have to agree. He's definitely as great as $100,000. (Note for Nate: Don't even think of trying to use this little fact to convince me that you should be able to buy a new .... well whatever the newest gadget is this week.)

Now I'm not saying that if you aren't married, you need to run out and marry the first person you meet so you can be happy and get the equivalent of a $100,000 raise (hmm... sounds like the next government stimulus package). I do think that the quality of marriage must play a role in this whole equation -- after all, Sandra Bullock was married. What I am saying is that maybe we are all a little richer and happier than we realize. If spouses are worth $100,000, then what are kids, moms, dads, siblings, friends, grandparents, nieces, nephews, cousins, and neighbors (even the overly critical ones) all worth? Is it possible that we are all the millionaires-next-door and don't even know it?

Dead flowers and things like that ...

2010-05-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

No comments on the post about onions, huh? I guess none of you found it nearly as interesting as I did. Future reference: No more writing about onions. Noted.

So I was reading through a few blogs today and I found a link to the following article:

What you don't see
By Tiffany Gee Lewis

What you don't see, when we all march into church on Sunday morning, is the chaos of the morning that happened just 10 minutes earlier. What you don't see, when you look at my four little boys in their suits, is that the 7-year-old is wearing Dad's socks because we couldn't find his. And they go all the way up to his knees.

What you don't see, when I pull out the lovely quiet book I made a few years back, is that below it, in my church bag, are five baggies of smashed raisins because I haven't cleaned out the bag for months.

When you enter my house, with its shining entryway, you don't see the three loads of laundry dumped on my bed. Or the dirty pots I stashed in the oven. And you will never see the interior of my minivan, not until I find the time to vacuum it out.

When you admire the hand-sewn pajamas I made for all the kids, we don't talk about the three nights I got no sleep to make those.

If you look on my blog, you will see pictures of homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles. You won't see my confession to popping in a frozen pizza THREE times last week for dinner. Or the night we ate Cheerios for dinner, dry, because we were out of milk. There is a zoom on my camera for a reason. There is a delete button for a reason.

I don't think we're all playing a part. We naturally want to put our best selves forward, so that is what other people see. They don't see what's going on behind the scenes. I like to think that good parenting is like a duck on the water. What you see is the gentle, almost effortless gliding, not the furious paddling that happens underneath.

I keep a mental list of about ten people I want to stalk by camera, from morning to night, to see how they do it all. Are they up at 4 a.m.? Can they survive on three hours of sleep? Do they have a housekeeper? Because I drop balls just as fast as I can grab them. My intentions are of pure gold, but they come out as tinkling brass, at best.

I started a blog last fall. I dragged my feet into it for many reasons. One of the main reasons I hesitated was I didn't want to be another contributor to the cyberspace guiltosphere out there. Especially where mothers are concerned, do we need one more reason to feel guilty? Because from the looks of things, other families are happier, their houses are cleaner, their marriages are better, their clothes are more stylish and their craftiness is even more crafty. Their lives are perfectly lovely, while my kids are running around screaming in their diapers.

My worst fears were confirmed last week when I got an e-mail from a friend who asked, "How do you do it all? Your column, your blog, all the things you do with your children? You're amazing!" I looked around at my house, at the six bins of winter clothes waiting to be transported to the garage, at the sewing projects stacked against the wall, at the state of the toothpaste crusted to the sink ... I let things go, a lot of things.

A spanking-clean house is not a high priority for me. I'm a big believer in mud and its importance in a child's life. The time I take to write is time away from scrubbing that bathroom sink. I would rather read with my kids than shop at the mall, so I am certainly not up-to-date on the latest styles. I've been listening to the same music for 20 years because I can't seem to keep up with the latest music scene. And I require a lot of sleep.

We all have priorities. For some, it is keeping a spotless house, and they are good at it. For others, it is writing, or exercising, or serving others. And yes, there are some who seem to do it all, the Benjamin Franklins of the world. I tell myself I don't have to be them. And also, Benjamin Franklin was not much of a family man. Even he let things go.

What we don't see, when we look at each other on Sunday, or on blogs, or in our shiny kitchens, is that we all have different talents and unique situations. I tell my kids all the time: Life is not a race. The only person you are competing against is yourself. What we forget to see, when admiring others, is our own personal finish line.

Can I first just say that I love how she spoke of Benjamin Franklin? People always quote his autobiography like he's a saint and I always want to ask them, "Have you actually read that book?" Because if they have read it, then they know that yes, he was a very disciplined man, in addition to being obnoxious, egotistical, and completely self-centered. Probably the Donald Trump of his day.

But Benny-boy aside, I like the point Tiffany is making. Sometimes I wish we could go back to the days of film cameras. You know, pictures with eyes shut and bad lighting. Those would make for some awesome blog posts.

I remember the first night I moved in with my now BFF (besides Nate), Brooke. She was on the phone with her then boyfriend, telling him how a book he had given her as a present had gotten water damage in the move. This was probably something that most teenage girls would've cried over, but Brooke simply said, "I think it gives it character." I remember thinking to myself that we were going to be really good friends.

Currently all of the flowers that I have in my front yard are dead. Lame snow. I'm sure neighbors walk by and think I'm a delinquent gardener. In fact, I know they do. You want to know why? Because they have actually knocked on my door to tell me what I need to do better. (Which may have resulted in a few bad words muttered under my breath. I'm sharing this detail simply in an attempt for candor.) The truth is, I have a few other things right now that are more important than my flower beds. And plus, it gives our house character. Maybe the neighborhood kids refer to us as "the house with the dead flowers." Except probably not seeing as how kids don't usually notice those things.

I'm not saying I don't struggle with the idea of trying to keep up appearances. I think it's a human tendency. But I always try to ask myself, "So if I actually succeed at appearing practically perfect in every way, then what?" I mean do you just sit in your home and not move? Life isn't a blog that can be perfected and then posted for all the world to see. Between the family photographs and the straight A's and the dinner parties, there are dishes to wash and laundry to fold and flowers to revive. {And I don't know about you, but I don't usually look very pretty doing those things.}

Speaking of dinner parties, I had some friends from college over for dinner last week. We started talking about life post-college, marriage, jobs, and all of the experiences we have had since we lived together two short years ago. We were commenting on how things are different than we thought. Then my friend, Stephanie, said something that made me laugh, "But look at M.C.! She has this house and everything!" Oh man! If everyone could just see me on a daily basis. When I'm at the grocery store at 6:00 p.m. in my sweats sans makeup and trying to decide the best deal on chicken. That is a picture I might actually be willing to post to this blog.

I'm not a fan of self-deprecation because I think we should try to focus on the positive. But I am a fan of honesty. And the honest truth is that sometimes it's hard to see the moments (or years) of insecurity that occur before that "Big News" blog post. But those moments are there. They are just hidden beneath each edited photo and well-chosen word.

Onions really do have layers... who knew?

2010-05-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

Okay so lately I have been trying to cook even healthier than normal. I'm not so much a calorie counter (though I probably should be) as a five-a-day enforcer. I try really hard to build all of our meals around fresh fruits and vegetables. I love tomatoes, strawberries, apples, oranges, bananas, mangoes, carrots, celery, broccoli, artichokes, spinach, etc. Even if blueberries cost an arm and a leg, I usually buy them because I have read article after article of how good they are for you. However, up until now I had no idea that onions are so good for you. In fact, I thought they were mostly for added flavor and left them out of a lot of things to prevent bad breath. I mean I would cook with them because that usually lessens their potency, but I left them out of most dishes in their raw form. Well maybe I'm just going to have to buy myself some breath mints because did you know that onions:

Are anti-inflammatory and help to reduce inflammation of upper respiratory congestion, asthma, and arthritis
Contain quercitin that works with vitamin C to kill harmful bacteria, translation: fewer and less severe infections
Contain tryptophan to help us sleep better and elevate mood
Lower blood sugar, cholesterol, and high blood pressure
Reduce the risk of developing colon cancer and 8 other cancer types
[info thanks to Good (&CHEAP) Eats]

Seriously, who knew? All of that and they are significantly cheaper than blueberries. Go onions.

What has become the monthly blog...

2010-05-03T08:47:00.001-07:00

I have been reprimanded for my lack of blogging by several individuals. I'm not really apologetic, seeing as how this is my blog to do with as I please. Still, since you are all sitting on the edges of your seats dying to know what is going on in our lives, I will appease the masses (or the three of you who read this blog). I'm sure after reading this post you will wonder why you ever cared in the first place :)

Currently there are only two television programs that are worthy of my viewing. (Do not misinterpret this statement to mean that I only view two television programs weekly, for this is not the case. I simply mean, that of the hours upon hours of dvring that I do each week, I only feel that the following two programs are actually worth my time.)

Modern Family -- this show has me rolling every week. I can't even describe it. The casting was so well done it drives me crazy. Plus, the set design and wardrobe are awesome.

9 by Design -- So there are very few shows on Bravo that I actually don't like, but this show is even more amazing than usual. I go back and forth with whether I think the mom is amazing or insane. I've settled on fascinating. The dad is a complete tool, but whatever. And the kids. Oh their names! With names like these they could start the next Partridge family: Talulah, Breaker, Five, Major, Bellame, Holly (for a boy), and Wolfie. And I did all of that from memory.

Besides my new found television programs, I've been reading up a storm. I'm kinda funny with the way I read. I go through phases. Sometimes I've got like five books going simultaneously; other times I don't even have one. My biggest problem is with finding good books to read. But, my friend Sarah introduced me to goodreads.com and it upped my appetite for books. (Plus Nate has been spending more time with D. Will than with me, so I needed some distraction.) In the last two weeks, I have read In Defense of Food, Freakonomics, Gift from the Sea, and I am working on Under the Tuscan Sun (which is proving to be a disappointment). I am just trying to get through Under the Tuscan Sun so I can start A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (and then A Room of One's Own once it is available at the library-- I have it reserved). Oh how I love the library. It is seriously like heaven to me. I come out of there with my arms loaded like little Matilda.

If you haven't noticed, most of these activities are inside and sedentary... that is because the weather here has been awful. No other word for it. Full of snow and rain and cloudy days. It's making me go a little stir crazy. That is why I am grateful for my good friend Jillian (as in Jillian Michaels). I have been doing the 30-day shred and it's amazing. I pretty much want to kill Jillian by the end of every workout, and thanks to her, I now I have the strength to do it. Haha. But really, I've never had any tone or definition in my arms until her workout. I've done 30 days now (although it took me a little longer than 30 days because I only did the workouts about 5 days a week). I will probably have to start doing other workouts, but it was a good way to get back into the groove of working out. Oh, and Jillian, stop working out so much-- you are starting to look like a man. Your good friend, M.C.

I have many other thoughts right now. Too many. I have come up with quite a few excuses as to why I refuse to post pictures of our house, but it basically comes down to the fact that I don't want to. However, I would love to have you come visit. You can sleep on our guest "mattress," help yourself to anything in our fridge, and put your feet up on our coffee table/ottoman. And while you're here, feel free to snap some pictures and post it on your blog. I do love our home. It's starting to actually feel like our home. I just have an aversion to photographs for some reason. I need to get over this before we decide to have children. From blogs of mothers, it seems that pictures are an important part of childhood. Maybe I'll just have my sister around more because she takes amazing pictures of her little girl. How do you do it, Megan?

She won't be answering that for a while. She's vacationing in Florida. And then moving to California. Yes, she and her family are moving back to California. Where snow is not welcome. Can you sense my jealousy?

I do have one funny story for you. A few weeks ago, I was having a "girl" day. You know, where you are emotional and crazy and really have no reason for it? Nate was trying to be patient, which just ended up annoying me more. Finally, in a moment of pure craziness, I told him he wasn't my best friend. Even as the words escaped my mouth, I knew they weren't true. Who tells her husband he's not her best friend? I mean obviously Nate is my best friend. (Unless Taylor Swift would like to take the position. Then you're out, Nate. Sorry.) Luckily Nate has a pretty good sense of humor when it comes to things like this and it's become a joke around here.

The end.

2010-04-12T15:45:00.000-07:00

A door-to-door salesman just came to our door.

~

When I answered, he asked if my mom or dad was home.

~

(And yes, I am fully dressed with my makeup and hair done.)

Up close and personal...

2010-03-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

Take a gander at these photos...

No I did not download these from the internet. Nope. Nate took these on our camera last night at the Jazz game... FROM THE SECOND ROW! Nate came running in the door last night and said we had to leave right that minute. He then showed me tickets he got from work.

Now I probably wasn't as excited as I should have been because the Jazz have been on my bad list lately. They have stolen my husband for the last month and it seems like it is never going to end. Why do there have to be sooooo many basketball games? It's such a commitment. At least with DVR we don't have to schedule our lives around the games any more and the games are significantly shortened by fast-forwarding through the timeouts and commercials. I'm starting to like them again. At least Boozer.

So anyways, we hurried up to the Energy Solutions Arena. We got to park right across the street and headed up to the 100 Club before the game where we got to eat and eat amazing food all for free! I just wanted to stay up there all night, but the boys wanted to head down to the game. You can tell where my priorities are haha

Nate has made me try to sneak down to better seats in past games and I hate it. We always get caught (probably my fault -- I'm not very sly). So as we were walking down, I wanted to go flash my ticket in the face of those ticket holders. It would've been easy considering the 100 Club gave us lanyards to hang our tickets around our necks like this:

I call this photo "Backstage Passes." Wayne's World anyone?

I seriously couldn't believe our seats. I mean the Jazz players are actually real people! And let me tell you, those players are uglier than they look on our high-def television. Luckily they are talented, famous, and rich so looks probably aren't a huge priority for them. It was so fun to be down in the middle of the action. I felt like a Jazz dancer -- my dream job :)

The Jazz ended up beating the Knicks and we went home full and happy. All and all, it was an amazing night!

Congratulations are in order...

2010-03-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

For Mike and Danielle!

They had another little girl, Brielle Sommer Terril, last Thursday (I've wanted to post, but figured it was only fair to let them be the first to share the good news on their blog). We're so excited to have another niece and can't wait to go down to Logandale in a few weeks to meet her! :)

Moving on up...

2010-03-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has been an entire month since I posted last! Where does the time go? I'll tell you where it goes: ripping down walls, laying our flooring, painting walls, moving electrical, putting up baseboards, installing our appliances, sweeping and sweeping and sweeping and sweeping the never-ending dust, and so many other things that I can't even remember (because I choose not to) .

So many nights Nate and I would look at each other at 1 in the morning and not know what to say. By day we worked our normal 40-hour, demanding jobs; and by night our lives became episodes off of DIY Network. There were moments when I seriously questioned if it would ever look like a house again... but the good news is that it does! We are all moved in (I use that term loosely because there are still lots of boxes to be opened and organized) and we are loving our home.

I know, I know. No pictures. Who am I? Honestly? I actually found our camera's charger buried in the bottom of a box on Saturday night (which is why I hadn't posted pictures), but it is at home and I am not. I promise pictures soon...

{although I think it's much better in-person, so that is an invitation for all of you to come visit}

I guess I do have one picture for you today. One of my wedding photographer's claimed that I looked like Nicole Richie and I never agreed. And then my mom told me that someone told her recently how much we look alike, but still I didn't agree... until I saw this picture:

I'm actually starting to see it. Of course my boy is a lot cuter than hers.

My friend Heather sent me a picture of a model that looks just like Nate. The resemblance is crazy. I seriously had to look twice. See for yourself:

My mom said she also saw Nate surfing in Australia in a magazine recently. I guess while we were busy working on our house, our dopplegangers were at least enjoying themselves.

Be back soon with pictures! xoxo, M.C.

2010-01-29T06:54:00.003-08:00

Remember how I said we were going to have to sit on cardboard boxes in our new house because we don't have any furniture? Well, problem solved:

image via here

Pretty clever, huh?

As of last night, Nate and I are officially homeowners! After holding the keys in our hands for a total of 30 seconds, we ripped up the carpet to see what was underneath. And our suspicions were confirmed: there is hardwood! We then made the crazy decision to refinish it this week rather than moving in (we figured it was easier to do it before we get all of our stuff in there).

We couldn't be more excited! Pictures soon to follow of Casa del Sommers!

2010-01-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

My mom says I don't post enough pictures. I feel bad, but I just hate carrying a camera around. Plus it's awkward when it's just Nate or I in a picture because we don't have anyone else there to take it. So I posted a picture of the new shoes I bought while down in California. Aren't they fabulous? They looked so good with my freshly pedicured feet that I couldn't pass them up -- even though it will be months before they get to make their debut up here in Utah.

Since Nate had to go away on business (that sounds way too grown up for my liking), I decided to head down to California for the weekend as well. Although working in education doesn't always have the highest paycheck, I do get Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day off. And since Nate was working down in Anaheim, I got to see him for a night.

I also got to go garage saling in Laguna Beach. I picked up two water colors for our new house. Nate says they look like a little kid did them. I guess I am easily impressed after my BYU water color class where the teacher said he loved my abstract technique -- and I was NOT trying to be abstract.

Unfortunately my dad was not feeling well and we actually had a tornado warning because the storm was so bad down there. The people on the news kept telling us to go to our basement. (When was the last time a home in California had a basement?) Therefore, I spent most of my time down there eating good food and catching up on DVR with my parents. And I did manage to get a little shopping done because there is no where in the world better to shop than California ... well maybe there are lots of places like Paris and New York, but California beats Utah every day of the week.

Also, my mom and I scoured lots of decorating pictures while I was down there. I'm getting so excited about this house I can hardly stand it. I can't believe I actually get to decorate my own home. I have loved design from the time I was a little kid and used to help my mom around our house -- I would seriously stay up all night rearranging furniture. Today I was reading a blog and they were talking about this one designer, Barbara Bestor. She has basically coined the term Bohemian Modern. I have always had this strange design style, but I've never known what to call it. I guess Bohemian Modern is defined as "a mixture of modern design elements with vintage California styles from the 60’s to the early 90’s," aka M.C. Sommers. But don't worry-- I won't be using any peach and forest green from the early 90's. Man those were the days!

xoxo M.C.