Graceland

Monday, September 3, 2012

DIY Weekend

This weekend we did a couple of Do-It-Yourself projects. I painted our bedroom. We'd had an eggplant colored accent wall since we moved in, but I've wanted to tie the room together a little better. I found something similar to this online and gave it a try. I LOVE it.

The best thing we did to help was to purchase a laser level. It made the prep work much easier. We also purchased Frog Tape since it advertises it repels paint and gives you clean lines. Not true. I still had quite a bit of touch up. Does anyone have suggestions on how to get clean paint lines? This project was just a warm up for what we have planned for the living room.

Zane had his own DIY project his weekend. He customized his new car with some red rims. He did a very nice job.

Rick went between both projects with advice and help when needed.

Sort of along the DIY lines, we had our first taste of the homemade syrup.

Rick made banana waffles. We had fresh whipped cream and the blackberry/raspberry syrup, along with some fresh-squeezed orange/grapefruit juice. Delicious!

A very satisfying holiday weekend.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Ride Report- Legacy Highway Trail

Last night we debated about riding the airport ride, but opted for something a little different. We started at the same place- East side of the airport, but then rode out 2200 W until we met up with the Legacy Highway trail. It was a nice smooth path, but not much by way of vegetation. We rode out about 10 miles to this point.

You can't really see it, but it says to the left is the Bountiful Pond. How could we not explore.

The path went under the highway to the frontage road and this. What a fun surprise. We rode back on the frontage road as far as it we could then hooked back up to the trail.

Rick made a funny point. Along the route, I pointed out a fox and several birds, some of which were pretty well camouflaged. Rick said, "You notice every single animal along the way, but nothing else." I laughed. That is so true. With all of our riding to work this summer, I probably couldn't tell you most of the stores or buildings we pass, but I never miss the wildlife. Priorities I guess. I credit Annie Dillard.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Remembering

When I was single I was a champ at daily scripture reading. Even if it had been a very late night, I'd at least read a verse or two before turning off the light. Since being married, I've not been so diligent. Maybe it's having someone to talk with until the lights go out. Maybe it's just having the emotional support of my husband making me think that I do not need additional spiritual support. Maybe I had so many crazy changes in my life that I just forgot.

Regardless of the reason, lightening up on my daily spiritual maintenance definitely took its toll. About a year ago, I found my faith wavering. Even turning to my scriptures seemed empty. I didn't know what to do to get it back. I am blessed to have a Heavenly Father who knows just what I need. I had a turn in life circumstances last fall that sent emotional turmoil my way- almost more than I could handle. It is just what I needed.

I needed to be reminded that I can't do it alone. Married or single, I need strength that I can't find on my own or through my husband, regardless of how wonderful and supportive he is. I found my faith again. I was relieved to know that I still had the faith to rely on Heavenly Father when I was emotionally spent. I turned to Him and He got me through, just like he always has.

I don't know how much I've posted on here about my continuing search for happiness. It's been a quest of mine for many years. I feel that if I'm not happy in my life, something needs to change. Often what needs to change is my attitude. I believe I can be happy regardless of my circumstances. Not that it is easy, but I believe it is possible if I can maintain peace in my soul. I'm so glad that I remembered how to find that in my life again.

During my nightly scripture reading, I can again feel the strength coming off the pages. I am very conscious of how wonderful that is. I have committed to keep up on my daily personal spiritual maintenance. Now that school is starting, it will be easier to maintain our family scripture study as well. If there is anything I want to pass on to the kids, it's how to find and maintain inner peace. It changes your life more than anything else.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Blackberries!

Last night my mom called and said their blackberry bushes were overloaded. This morning we got up, went over and picked, and picked, and picked.

This is a result of about 20 minutes of picking. There will be at least this many more ripe next week and at least that many that were overripe and should have been picked last week.

Some of them are huge!

We love having a big breakfast on weekends, so I decided to make some blackberry syrup.

I had enough blackberries for 7 batches! I can almost taste the banana waffles with whipped cream and this syrup.

There was plenty left over for Rick to make us a yummy Sunday evening treat! We each had our own blackberry cobbler. Not bad for a spontaneous Sunday activity.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Summer Family Theater

We had such a fun family party tonight. My amazing mom had Grandma Day once a week during the summer. Over the years, these have gotten harder for her to plan. How do you keep 2 year olds and 16 year olds entertained once a week. Grandma decided they would put on a play this summer. Tonight was the performance. It was a version of Little Red Riding Hood. Check out the photos.

It started with Mother (Kasey) sending Red (Krista) off to grandma's house, and warning her to stay on the path. Kasey sang, "Mother Knows Best". (note forest animals in the woods behind them)

Red got on the path and wondered why her mother didn't like the wolf when she thought he was kinda cute. She sang, "He's a Rebel"

Bears (Will, Isaac, Asher, Kane & Luke) came out of the woods on the way.

They sang, "Teddy Bear's Picnic"

Then they danced to "Bad to the Bone". It was so cute!

I need to bring a real camera to this kind of stuff.

They all had little solos.

Then a woodland fairy (Maya) came out and danced.

Some cute forest birds (Luke and Mason) came and sang, "Let's all Sing like the Birdies Sing." (We all got to sing along- just like in the Tiki Room)

They did the cutest dance to "I'm Like a Bird".

Here comes the wolf! (Zane). He sang the Gaston song from Beauty and the Beast, but substituted "wolf" for "Gaston" in the lyrics. He did great.

Krista and Kasey did back up.

The Woodsman (Isaac, Asher, Will & Kane) sang, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf"

Then Will did some break dancing to "Cooler than Me"

I didn't get the shutter time right for his back flip. (That kid is amazing)

Katie played Grandma (loved the costume). She cleaned the house to get ready for Red's visit and sang, "Happy Working Song"

The wolf chased her off and got in bed to wait for Red

"What big eyes you have"

The woodsmen saved the day and the wolf decided to be known as "the Big Good Wolf" (very Disney ending)

Everyone sang "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" as the finale.

All the kids with grandma after the show. I was so impressed. I thought it would be chaotic, but they all did so great. We have some talented kids- voices and dancing. It doesn't hurt to have a dance teacher/choreographer sister and the worlds best g-ma for a mom!

My Movie Reviews

Quiet Earth. B-. Another SciFi recommended by Netflix, although this one was actually interesting and enjoyable. A guy wakes up and everyone is gone. Made in New Zealand, it claims to be one of the top ten movies in the US in the year it came out (sometime in the 1970s). After it was over, we agreed that it was good, but the ending was a little confusing, so we watched the ending again with the directors comments. Lame. Apparently the whole movie was supposed to have an anti-nuclear message and the director takes credit for his movie making New Zealand nuclear free. So.... pretend you don't know that and enjoy the movie.
Sunshine. C-. Netflix. That's it. We are not trusting Netflix's rating of sci-fi movies again. The sun is dying so a crew is going with a nuclear missle to "re-start" it. I kept hoping aliens would show up or at least something would happen to draw me in. A lot of things almost happened, but when they did, it did not make much sense.
Warm Bodies. B. Red Box. I was surprised by this movie. I'm a fan of a good zombie flick, but when I heard about the plot, it seemed a bit too much. It turned out to be very entertaining. I'd rate it pretty high on the must see zombie film list and very high on the cheesy teenage romance film list.
Wolverine. B. I'm a fan of the X-Men movies. I'm also a fan of Hugh Jackman. It was hard to go wrong going in with those two biases. The fighting sequences were too long, but that was expected. If you've like the X-Men movies, you should like this one too.
The East. B. I forget how much I love the indie flicks at the Broadway. This also had an environmentalist-based plot, but was written well and I liked how it ended. A women goes under cover in an environmental terrorist group. It goes with the obvious plot of her having sympathies for members of the group and trying to balance that with her personal beliefs. Worth seeing.
World War Z. B. I was in the middle of the book and didn't want to see the movie until I finish, but I couldn't help it and saw it opening weekend. Not a big deal as they are very different. This is a different kind of zombie movie. While most are horror flicks, this was more of a suspense movie. They cut out the gratutious gore associated with most zombie movies and gave it more of a plot. Fun for zombie fans and non-zombie fans.
Silent Running. D. Netflix. I have no idea why this is rated so well on Netflix. Sci-fi movie made in the sixties with blatant environmental message. Forests have died on the earth so they are growing them in a space station orbiting Saturn. Earth decides to abandon the project and for some reason that means they have to blow up the forests. One man understands the impact of losing all our forests so he kills everyone. My description made it seem way better than it is. At one point, he programs his robot helpers to play cards and you watch them play cards for about 10 minutes. Skip this one!

My Book Reviews

The Rent Collector. B. I loved this book while I was reading it. Then the author's comments on the back disappointed me. It was fiction! I was so inspired by the "true" story of this woman living at the dump in Cambodia and learning to read. The whole way through I thought it was true. I was mad when it wasn't. Although toward the end, it started getitng a little unbelievable. It was based on real people which bothers me wondering how much is true and how much is fiction. I still recommend the book, but know what you're getting into.
Divergent. B+. Fun, quick read. YA fiction. Your basic strong female in post-apocolypic world fighting to make change. Even though the story's been told over and over, this one was very engaging. I can't wait to read the next in the series!
World War Z. B+. For staters, this is very different from the movie. It's 10 years after we won the zombie war. The book is a series of interviews with survivors. I was hesitant about the way it was written and that I wouldn't stay involved without a central character. However, the book created a very real world. So much so that when I was getting off the freeway one morning and saw some homeless people waking up under a bridge, for just second, I thought they were zombies. I also wanted to bring it up in conversation. Like when someone was talking about North Korea, I wanted to say, "Did you hear how they handled the Zombie Apocalypse?' It was a fun book. I've never read a zombie book before and I may never again, but I'm glad I read this one. It also was welcome to read a book that isn't a strong female character overcoming incredible odds. I'm seriously weary of that plot line.
Waiting to be Heard. B+. I've followed the Amanda Knox case for several years. I thought, since I knew most details of the case, this might be boring. I was surprised at how engaging and well written it was. She is a quirky girl and, while the complete lack of physical evidence makes me sure she is innocent, I can see why people think she is hiding something. The book was haunting to think the someone who doesn't understand a culture coupled with a corrupt prosecutor could put an innocent person in jail for years.
Girl Gone. C-. Maybe it was called Gone Girl. I don't remember. Book club book. I've never gotten into mysteries. This one took a while to get into, then I couldn't put it down, then it ended and I wished I never picked it up. Ridiculous ending.
The Kitchen House. B-. I have no idea how to rate this book. It was slow to start. Once things started to happen (murder), I found myself sucked in and not wanting to put it down; however, once I did put it down, I didn't look forward to picking it up again. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it's similar to a bunch of other books I've read. I'm just getting weary of the genre and need to mix it up a little. Overall, an interesting read. The story of a young white girl who is indentured when her family dies on the boat from Ireland to America. Her relationship with her new family (the slaves whom she is sent to live and work with) and how her life is different from them because of the color of her skin.
The Happiness Project. D. I'm reviewing the book, but I'm not going to finish it. I knew this wasn't my favorite genre, but it was the book club pick this month so I thought I'd give it a chance. I didn't see the point of reading someone's goals. I sometimes feel like these "self-help" books are an excuse for people to feel like they are doing something to be happier, when really they are an excuse to avoid working on yourself by living through someone else's experience. Instead of reading the book, how about spend that time working on your own "happiness project". As I read, I kept thinking it should have been a workbook for readers to complete their own project while reading hers. I'll be interested to hear how others in book club liked it.