An introduction of sorts

One of the things I have disliked about moving after my kids were raised is that none of my new friends know my children. To those of you who don't know my daughter, Katie, let me introduce her. Click here and read a few of her recent posts. I especially like her thrown together birthday party that she did this week. But she also has posts from Christmas, playing in the snow, a picture of her in her new coat, and some interesting facts about her. She is a great mom and a fun daughter. Lucky me!

Singing...

...in the rain!








1. Rainy Days and Mondays

2. Singing in the Rain

3. It Never Rains in California

4. Laughter in the Rain

5. Raining in my Heart

6. Stormy Weather

7. Have you Ever Seen the Rain?

8. Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head

9. Here comes that Rainy Day Feeling

10. Fire and Rain

11. I Love a Rainy Night

12. Rainy Day People

Perfect rainy day songs. Can you think of any more?

Paradise

The college I work for is Paradise Valley Community College. They really play up the PARADISE part of the name. Today was the first day of a new semester so when I came on to campus, there were welcome and information signs for new students that read, Welcome to Paradise. Doesn't that sound like a great place to work?

I spent a good amount of my day in the student center doing informal surveys of students as they came out of the financial aid office, admissions, or academic counseling. We're trying to get a feel of how students feel about the services Student Affairs offers. Some of these kids had been standing in lines for more than 45 minutes and yet when I asked them how they felt about the service they had received, how knowledgeable the staff was, the length of the wait, and their overall feeling of their experience, I got a very positive reaction...only one disgruntled student.

This really is Paradise!

Oh...and my job discription is already changing and evolving. I was hired to work in the Early College program but that is only a small part of what I do. I am working with the VP of Student Affairs on special projects as well. My official title is Student Affairs Programs Coordinator. I love my job!!!!!

Blogging my way through...

The TOP CHEF Cookbook

I have mentioned before that my son, Jeff, is a connoisseur of fine foods; he likes to eat good food and cook good food. And he loved watching Top Chef. Well, last year he bought me the top chef cook book for my birthday. He happens to have one too and we were talking on the phone one night and started talking about some of the recipes in the book. We both pulled it out and mentioned the things that looked especially good. I laughed and said, "maybe we should blog our way through the cook book like on the movie, Julie and Julia." We decided that the mother/son aspect would make us famous.

Well, Jeff came for dinner today (along with two of his buddies) and we prepared our first recipe from the book--fennel crusted pork chops with apple-fennel salad.
Let's be honest here...I made most of it before I went to church. However, when I got home, Jeff was making the crepe batter and Zane was peeling potatoes. And Jeff put it all on the plate.
It made a pretty presentation and tasted divine.
The consensus from the 4 of us was that it was DELICIOUS.

And for dessert, crepes with peaches and almond cream drizzled with raspberry sauce. I have to admit, it all tasted pretty fabulous.

Don't worry, we won't be making or blogging about every recipe in the book...some of the things in there look disgusting.

In search of the perfect Kiss

Today at work, when I needed a break from my computer, I grabbed my Good Housekeeping magazine and my lunch and went outside to enjoy the beautiful Arizona winter weather. As I flipped through the magazine, I found a short story to read. It was sort of cheesy but the title was what caught my attention: In Search of a Kiss...

I think that should be my quest this year. What do you think?

HONESTY

My darling friend, Ashlee (who, by the way is helping me with a huge production of Joseph and the Amazing ....this spring. More about that later) tagged me for this "honesty post." I've thought about it for a few weeks trying to decide how much information I'm really willing to disclose. I finally came up with a list that I can share so here you go.

First of all, there are two parts to the tag. The first part is

Ten things that make me happy.

1. (A)Having all of my kids home at the same time... happens rarely so (B) Going to see my children and grandchildren. (C) A phone call especially when Skyping is involved. I need to do it more.
2. A day without an alarm clock.
3. Unexpected money in the mail. But in reality, how often does that happen?
4. A clean house
5. Finishing everything on my "to do" list before I go to bed
6. Being told I look nice
7. A job well done
8. Starting the day with a brisk walk
9. Running in to an old friend
10. When I think of something nice to do for someone without waiting for an assignment

The next part is

Ten honest facts about myself

1. Sometimes I have too high an opinion of myself.

2. There are nights when dinner consists of chocolate cake or some other un-healthy option because I don't like fixing dinner for one.

3. I take so long to fix my hair in the morning, that often my bathroom is a disaster when I leave for work

4. I hate to empty the dishwasher. Sometimes days go by that I wash the dishes by hand just so I don't have to empty the dishwasher.

5. Although I do my laundry regularly, I don't like to fold it. Some weeks I take my clean clothes out of the basket for several days before I get around to folding it. (I've developed some bad habits since I've lived alone).

6. I can't click my fingers

7. I don't smile enough. I'm happier inside than I look on the outside.

8. I haven't read or watched any of the the Harry Potter or Twilight series nor do I intend to

9. Often when I clean the house, I turn the music in my house up full blast until the walls rattle.

10. I had dreams of being a Broadway dancer. Apparently I think I can dance way better than I really can.

Well, this is probably too much information but there you have it.

Debbie Whipple, this one is going out to you. Tag, you're it!

You Can Learn Many Things From a Child...

...Like how much patience you have, for instance!

As a member of the LDS church, each of us has a call to serve. I have spent most of my adult life working with the youth 12-18 in various positions as well as in the women's organization. I feel well suited especially to working with young people.

Somehow all these years, I have managed to dodge the bullet in working with the little people in the church. I don't feel that my strength is in working with children. So--imagine my surprise when I was asked to teach the 4 year olds in Primary. I'm spending 2 hours of my Sundays with FOUR YEAR OLDS!!!!!!!

As I looked over the lesson manual, the emphasis for the year is on choosing the right. I decided to make CTR super hero capes for each kiddo to wear in class as long as they were "choosing the right." Check these out!

Last Sunday I got eased in to it because of the 5 children in my class, 3 were out of town and I only had 2 sweet, well behaved little girls. They weren't so interested in being super heroes but loved the idea of being a CTR princess.

Wish me luck...I'm going to need it. And stay tuned, I'm sure I'll have some interesting/funny stories to share.

Ring in the New Year!

Two Thousand Ten!

2010!

How did this happen? Weren't we just preparing for Y2K a few months ago? Has the Earth really rotated around the sun 10 times already? Are we already one decade into the "new" millennium?

I've reflected on the past ten years several times over the past few days and I'm not gonna lie...this has been a challenging and often difficult 10 years. I became a widow, made a move, went back to school, entered the work force, faced unemployment, lost a lot of money in the stock market, experienced terrorist attacks on the US, and watched my children struggle with difficult things.

These experiences have shaped and molded my life and have had a profound effect on who I have become. What have I learned through it all?

1. I can do hard things

2. To have greater faith and trust in my Heavenly Father

3. That there is much growth in challenges

Even so, I'm ready for a break. I'm hoping that 2010 brings much joy and happiness.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!