Here's to good food, tonight is kind of special!

So Jaime has been frustrated that I never post anymore so I thought that I would do a little weekend update.

Friday-

Renee and her kids came over and she tutored us on how to make authentic homemade Mexican food. She made chicken, refried black beans, rice, and homemade tortillas. Absolutely amazing! Then Jaime and I went out on a mini date in Radford/Fairlawn.


Saturday-

It snowed major on Friday night. This has by far been the heaviest winter in a long time. I love it. We woke up to the sounds of our home teacher shoveling our driveway. After helping him finish the job I thought it would be nice to "pay it forward". I drove across town to help some friends shovel their driveway and then got stuck in the snow in various places for the next two hours. Jaime accused me of "joyriding" when I got home. Thanks to our neighbor Justin for helping me the last hour of being stuck. The roads were okay enough to make it to Ann and Tyler's for games that night. They taught us an invented card game called "Poohead" (yes that is really the name) and we ate cookies, ice cream, and some killer pumpkin bread with chocolate and nutella filling that Jaime had baked.



Sunday-

I woke up and drove by the church parking lot to see if it had been plowed. It had but no shoveled sidewalks. As I proceeded to clear tiny walking paths, Ryan Watson drove by and helped me with the job. Thanks Ryan! We held church even though many area churches canceled. We had really great meetings with a pretty good turn out. After church I made our new favorite potato soup recipe. I don't gush about too many recipes but this one seriously rocks.


So, as you can see our weekend highlights all center around food. What else is new?

***JACK CREATED THIS BLOG POST USING "IPAD FOR MEN"...C'MON GUYS HAVE YOU ORDERED YOURS YET?***

Here we go again!

We rented the local natatorium with some friends who also have little ones clammoring to escape the winter doldrums. We were supposed to go this evening...

Can't even get down the street so guess we will have to settle for swimming in the front yard powder.

(borrowed the pic from local news)

It's official! We're approved!

After completing in 7 weeks what normally takes 6 months (thanks to working several hours a day for numerous late nights on it), we are officially an approved adoptive couple with LDS Family Services!

Check out our profile on itsaboutlove.org and pass the word along to anyone you know or who you run into at the mini-mart who is looking to place their baby with our family!

Who cares? I'm telling the world anyway...

We wanted to make this grand announcement and send this awesome email to everyone to announce our big news. We have been waiting to send this since the 18th of January, when we first thought it would be official. Then we thought we would be able to send it today. We can't. So screw it-here is our news before it is "official."

We've Decided to Adopt a Baby!!

Well, try to anyway. We have been working with LDS Family Services and are awaiting final approval, which now looks like it will be NEXT Monday. Everything is done, just waiting for paperwork to be stamped. But we are tired of waiting to spread the news. When it is official, we will send you the link to our online profile. Once we are officially approved, we wait for a birthmother to choose us.

So I imagine I am screwed since I can't even wait to announce we are "trying," nevermind "expecting."

"Haiti don't need no more photo ops!"

Said Wyclef Jean on Oprah today. He said they need more resources actually delivered to the people. Essentially, less people getting their picture taken "doing good" and more food and water and medicine in the hands of the people.

Sometimes my church gets criticized for not "being out there" or not helping enough. The issue is not that they aren't giving help, it's that their marketing strategy is too humble. The Church "don't need no photo op." We quietly send millions of dollars and pounds of supplies when tragedy strikes, we just don't broadcast it on CNN. If you want to read about more of the things the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is doing in Haiti, see our Humanitarian website.

Lots of places are taking donations, but if you are looking for a trusted place to donate, with an intact infrastructure already in place for delivery of good, including deployed self-supplied units of doctor, donate to the LDS Emergency Response Fund.

"SALT LAKE CITY 18 January 2010
Haitians gather outside of the LDS Centrale Ward chapel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. © Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Shipments of relief aid from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived in Haiti over the weekend, including a large shipment of 85,000 pounds of supplies from Miami. That shipment included emergency resources such as food, blankets, tents and tarps. Latter-day Saint missionaries assisted in unloading the supplies.

Two more shipments of food, medical supplies and other items have been trucked in containers from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. The latest of those shipments arrived on Saturday. Additional Church shipments from the United States and the Dominican Republic are planned for this week and will include supplies specifically requested by local Church leaders on the ground.
“We’re encouraged that aid is reaching the ‘end of the row’ and helping those who are in need,” said Nate Leishman, manager of the Church’s humanitarian emergency response efforts. “In disasters like this one, the logistics of moving aid to where it is most needed can be difficult, but we’re now having success in getting supplies in.”
A team of doctors sent by the Church to help the injured in Haiti left the Salt Lake airport on Sunday evening and is scheduled to arrive in Haiti this evening. The team includes 14 doctors and nurses and two family services specialists. The group is self-contained and carrying their own medical supplies, which will be augmented by additional supplies being sent separately. (See a Deseret News story for an account of the doctors’ departure.) Another small group of physicians from the Dominican Republic and coordinated by the Church is already working in Haiti.
Seven Latter-day Saint chapels in Haiti are being used as shelters for over 4,000 people from the community. All of the Church’s chapels in Haiti are left largely undamaged by the quake, and many are being used in the relief effort.
As with any emergency or disaster, details and events can quickly change. While the Church strives to provide the most accurate information available, real-time specifics may vary from what is provided here. For instance, some of the dates and the origins of Church shipments announced last week have changed, but the general substance of what is being sent remains the same.

What S will NOT be getting for his birthday

Alternative title: A cleansing breath

On our way home from Colombus today we stopped at the mall in Charleston, WV to get out and walk around. It was about the half way point in our 5.5 hr journey so planned to eat lunch at the food court and do some browsing to break up the day a little bit.

Found the toy store (which incidentally was called "Kid Country Toys" but I thought it was "Kid's Country Toys" and figured it would be tractors and farm animals etc-I was wrong) and we indeed browsed.

As many of you know, we are gamers and I wound up purchasing 2 games for S's upcoming B-day.

While unpacking the car I made the harsh realization that I left the bag of games in the food court. Yep. No games. There was a string of one thing after the next, and bottom line: I left the games. I am so mad. This is not a story that ends with me just being happy we all got home safely, realizing material things are just things, and understanding that someone probably took them home and the games ended up saving their life or their childhood or their marriage.
I left the games and I am just mad. I am also mad that I am so worked up over something that in the long run, is something so trivial. But, I can't sleep and I am hoping this post will help me vent my anger and frustration with myself so I can take a cleansing breath. I will let you know.

Eddie Bauer fulfilled a life long dream of mine

What was that dream, you ask?

To own a pair of knee high leather boots.

Nothing much to most of the world. In fact, you probably have owned several pairs throughout your lifetime. Not me. Even when I was a size 6 (yep, that is how I started college), I couldn't fit into knee-high boots because of my calves. I always "explain" my big calves as resulting from my years and years of dancing. Jack always corrects me and "explains" it is a result of my short and stubby father. Fine. Either way...

But this weekend Eddie Bauer did for me what no other store ever has--got me into a pair of black leather boots. Thank you, wide calf leather. You have changed my life.

Next dream: to find wide calf rain boots that actually fit my man calves...

Toddlers and Tiaras and Newspaper Ads

I succumbed to the pressure to post a throwback pic of me on facebook. While I was looking I stumbled across this gem. Since I couldn't fit it on FB, thought I would post it here.

Beth, my dreams of fame ended here.

PS-Could this get-up be any shorter?

A little slice of home

Yesterday I was working on a project that required some family photos and so I spent several hours going through old pictures to find "that gem" of a photograph. While I never really found the one I was looking for, I did find this...

and I LOVE it!

I love it because:

• it is perfectly classic Jack


• it shows my in-laws' house that everyone just loves (and misses as they currently serve a mission in India)


• if you could cut a slice of life pie, this feels like it represents our flavor.

Yep, I remember that...what about this?

A new year means new memories.

Remember walking down the street to buy candy at the gas station (Minute Man) when you were like 8 and you didn't think twice about being kidnapped or molested?

Remember eating candy ALL the time?

Remember bobbing for cherry tomatoes in the backyard kiddie pool?

Remember watching Tootie and secretly wishing you lived in a girl's home with her?

Remember swinging on the playground and declaring whoever got the highest was going to be adopted by Michael Jackson?

Remember playing Barbies for so long and so elaborately you made props with paper and blocks and begged your mom to let you keep it up over night so play could continue in the morning?

Remember "Well, you're no Miss America yourself!"?

Remember trolling the Heart of the Burg and watching people try to parallel park?

Remember when Gillies sold Hagen Daaz ice cream?

Remember laser tag in the mansion and Diane, Jiane?

Remember the trampoline at my grandparents late one night (yes, you remember ladies!)?

Remember going shopping Saturday night to buy a new dress for church, almost every week?

Remember Ben Folds 5 and Echo and the Bunnymen at the Zephyr?

Remember Swedish feet and a 32 oz Dr Pepper?

What do you remember?
-thanks Beth!

Hokie Hokie Hokie High

We got tickets to a Hokie basketball game for Christmas. Turns out the boys will last through either half time, or 40 points, whichever comes first. Still some good times. It was our once a year sporting event with players past puberty. Sorry to Summer and Dustin who had to leave early with us.