Today my daughter, Hannah, and I made one of our very favorite treats: Chocolate clusters. They are no-bake cookies, extremely easy, and are delish!
Every time I make them I think of the movie Waterworld, with Kevin Costner. I am probably one of the only people on the entire planet who thought this movie was really good. I was a teenager when it came out, and I remember making chocolate clusters that day, putting them in the freezer, and then eating like 10 of them throughout the course of the movie. Sooooooooo yummy! I blame it on classical conditioning: I have definitely paired the movie with these treats, and now remember it with fondness!
You know the treats must be good if they helped me to like this particular film! Here is the recipe in case you want to try it out.
Ingredients
1/3 c butter
15 large marshmallows
1 bag of chocolate chips
1tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c of coconut
1 1/2 c of oats
1/4 c water
melt butter in large pot on medium heat. When melted, stir in marshmallows and mix until smooth. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Add vanilla, coconut, oats, and water and stir until mixed. Spoon into balls onto a foil covered cookie sheet and put in fridge. Enjoy!
After some serious peer pressure, my friends talked me into going to see the Avengers. Which if you know anything about me, is seriously not my type of movie. But everyone I had talked to had said it was sooooo good, so I thought, fine. It's been awhile since I've been to the theater so here are some thoughts I had.
1. $9 a ticket to see a movie???? ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!? This is highway robbery.
2. $7 for popcorn!?!? See above comment. This has got to be marked up at least 10,000%.
3. Because of 1 and 2, I am only going to see movies at our local Water Gardens theater. $3 for tickets, $3 for a large popcorn...definitely worth the wait.
4. Do not bring your baby to the movie theater. Especially if it is to a packed out movie theater, on a late Friday night. The same goes for 2 year-olds who run around and yell the entire time. I would guess that Utah County has the biggest offenders of this annoying and disrespectful practice. It's not fair to your kids and it's not fair to everyone else in the audience. I didn't spent $25 on a babysitter so I could listen to your kids ruin the movie for me.
5. The Avengers is not appropriate for your 5 year old. Or your 6 year old. Or your 7 year old. It's rated PG-13 for a reason. I could not believe the number of really young kids in the theater! The movie is FULLLLLL of violence....what are these parents thinking?
6. The Avengers was just okay for me. Honestly, I was kind of bored at the end. I mean, just how long can you extend one battle scene? Too much action, and WAY too little plot. However, there were some really funny moments, that made up for a lot. Robert Dowey Jr. was the savior of that film...hilarious! It almost makes me want to go see Iron Man.
7. Snuggling at the movie theater with your husband and without three kids hanging off of you....worth sitting through all the above! :)
My husband was watching some random show last night. Suddenly he turns to me, and says, "What do you want to do with your body when you die?"
I turn to look what's on his screen and it is somebody spreading his wife's ashes in the ocean.
So, then we have like a 30 minute, rather morbid conversation, about what we want our funerals to be like, and what we want to happen.
I didn't want too post too morbid of a picture, so chose a cute one of Jack Skellington....how cute is this guy?
Me, I'm very traditional, happy to be buried in Spanish Fork cemetery. Paul, on the other hand, just wants to go the very cheapest route. What's the point of spending anywhere from $6000-$10,000 on a funeral? He decided that he wants to be cremated, and I should spread half of his ashes in Ireland (where he was born), and the other half in the center of Old Trafford (where Manchester United play....though I'm pretty sure if I tried this, I would get arrested!). And some on his dad's grave so he can haunt him in the after life! :) Okay, I think he was teasing about most of that, but I thought it was a really interesting conversation to be had, all spurred on by.....the media!
I went shopping at the mall today. Before I got to the checkout at the Children's Place, I thought I would check online on my phone to see if I could find a coupon. It took like 2 minutes and BOOM, 15% off! I tried the same trick at Bath and Body Works, and found a coupon for $10 off my purchase! One of the many reasons why I love my phone!!
Did you hear about this on the news?
A 6-year-old girl in Sacramento saved her best friend’s life by performing the Heimlich maneuver earlier this week, something she learned from watching a Disney Channel TV show.
“She was choking and then I helped her,” Beanie told ABC News. “I asked if I saved her life and she said, Yeah, you did.”
However, the question remains, how exactly did a 6-year-old know how to do the Heimlich?
“I saw it on A.N.T. Farm,” Beanie said. “I asked my mom, Can people really do that? And she said, Yeah.”
Chalk one up for the Disney Channel!!
My husband and I are both media buffs, so we always like to have a show that we watch together. It's probably not the best use of spousal time, but sometimes after a long day of work or taking care of three crazy kids, it's about the only thing we have energy for! We just finished watching The West Wing through (2nd time now!) and are looking for another show. In the meantime, we are watching "John Adams". This is a miniseries that is a few years old, obviously about our 2nd president of the United States. It is EXCELLENT! I'm not really a history buff at all, but I'm loving this show. I feel like I'm learning so much about John Adams himself, but also about the birthplace of our nation. We just watched the episode where they draft the declaration of independence, and it was thrilling (never thought I'd say that!) Besides being informative, it is just very well done, and I would highly recommend it.
Unfortunately, it's only a few episodes long. So, does anyone have any ideas for shows that my husband and I could watch together? Right now we are considering Friday Night Lights cause we've heard good things about that.....but I'm not going to lie: Football and Texas are not really two of my favorite things! (no offense to all you lovely Texans out there!)
I saw this on KSL news and it was really eye opening for me!
Did you know that there are more than 1,800 LGBT students attending BYU (WAY more than I ever would have thought!!!), and 74 percent of those students have contemplated suicide (and 24% have attempted suicide)? I had no idea. Being LGBT at BYU must feel like an impossible thing.
This type of video would NEVER have been created at BYU a few years ago, but I think it's a good thing that BYU is becoming more accepting of LGBT students. No, we don't condone the behavior, but we are getting better about not rejecting the PERSON now. I love how one of the students says, "I don't go to school with a bunch of hateful people, which is what I thought before, I thought I was surrounded by homophobic people who would hate me if they knew." I still think there are plenty of people at BYU who are homophobic, but I do think "it's getting better" as they say in the video. Definitely worth a watch! Love to hear your thoughts on this one.
I've loved reading all your cute posts about conference! I'm glad so many of you had such a wonderful and inspiring experience with General conference this weekend.
Well, girlies, enjoy it while it lasts!!! Conference with 3 very small kids is NOT the same experience as when you don't have kids!
I REALLY tried. We downloaded conference packets for the kids, played conference bingo, had snacks, games, special coloring books, puzzles, etc. Lots of things to keep the kiddies quiet so we could listen. But that's not exactly what happened. I literally do not remember a single talk on Sunday. How sad is that?? I heard that Julie B. Beck got released, which was sad, but I couldn't tell you about anything else. Let me tell you: Sitting quietly and listening and a 1 1/2 year old do NOT mix. Which I already knew. I'm a child development scholar for crying out loud! But for some reason I thought if I really tried hard, it would all work out.
Conference bingo sort of worked. But the kids don't read well, so they kept asking me to jump up and check to see if they had one. Which I did happily about every 30 seconds until it got old. Then Aidan kept snatching the Froot Loops the kids were using as Bingo markers....even though he had a whole cupful for himself! He stole their markers, ripped their pictures, and generally wrecked havoc. Which is exactly what toddlers do, so I don't know what I was expecting! Funniest moment. Paul was on the couch eating a bowl of Cheerios. During conference, Aidan wanders over to Paul to get a bite, trips and falls right on the bowl of Cheerios. It tips and dumps ALL over the poor baby's head! So he's crying and crying (I'm trying not to laugh). Paul is pissed because there is milk and Cheerios all over the floor and we JUST had the carpets cleaned. I get Aidan cleaned up and dressed in new clothes. Then he climbs up on the stool at the counter and falls off and whacks his head. Which wasn't funny at all. But this gives you a sense of how conference went!
I love this mischievous little monkey!
So I'm feeling particularly sorry for myself and jealous of all you lovelies who get to just listen to conference. Then the closing hymn came on. It was "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". One of my favorites. If you remember, there is a part where the men's section comes in really strong. When they started singing, suddenly everyone in my entire house was quiet. I really felt the Spirit here, especially the part that says, "here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above". It hit me that my heart was in the right place and Heavenly Father knew that I was trying my best even though things didn't exactly work out as planned. I had a strong feeling of His love for me and a peace that my family was exactly where we needed to be.
Here is the choir singing this beautiful song (from 2007, but it's the same version. I LOVE IT!)
Well, that was the morning session, and the afternoon was pretty similar. But conference was a success in my opinion....I'm just glad that the Ensign publishes all the talks cause I'm going to need to read them! :)
Last weekend I threw my sister, Laura, a surprise Murder Mystery Party! She was turning 30 so I knew I had to step up my game!
Luckily, I found a great website: www.dinnerandamurder.com and found the perfect murder mystery. The website is great: they give you all the character backgrounds, evidence, "weapons", confidential information, instructions, nametags, and more. There was even an online RSVP center where you could manage the party! It was NOT free, which is the only way it could have been better!
Here are some pictures of the party! The theme was the 1920s, and we had a blast getting all dressed up! Enjoy!
My sister the birthday girl! She was totally surprised!
Just some of the many decorations
Okay, my dad was HILARIOUS! He is generally very straight laced and serious, but he totally got into his "role" as an Italian mob boss. He did an accent the entire night and totally cracked us up!
My dad and Paul...partners in crime.
I totally could have lived in the 20s! LOVE the clothes!
Me and Paul...who ended up dying! SAD!
The boys...and my sister Marlena who ended up playing a boy!
The girls...how I love you all!
So, if you've never done one of these, they are a TON of fun, so have a look at the website for your next party! Also, a TON of work (I was there for hours decorating!) but it was seriously a blast!
Today I skived off work early and Paul and I went to the temple (haha, don't tell my boss! :) There's not a lot of media in the temple! It was so refreshing to leave my phone in the car, and completely disconnect for a few hours. I had the distinct thought that sometimes it is so sweet to turn off all the media in our life and to just.......listen.
You all know that the West Wing is my absolute favorite show in the whole wide world (well....tied with Girlmore Girls). It has helped me become interested in politics and now I actually CARE what is going on in the world. Paul and I are re-watching the whole series. We are currently on the 7th and final season, where surprise, there is an election! We just got through the part where there are the primaries, and the debates, and it is so well done that I actually enjoy watching it, even as we are watching the REAL primaries and debates for the current presidential race!
In the real world, I've been following the primaries with great interest: I would love Romney to win.
Not because he is Mormon, but because his political ideals lie fairly closely with mine, and because I think he would be a great president. Rick Santorum is okay, but will never win. Newt is....well Newt. Seriously, who is voting for this guy?!?!?
So, I actually voted for Obama in the last election (don't send the hate please! :) Apart from a few things, I think he's been a very good president, and I honestly think that the Republican nominee would have to be excellent for me not to vote for Obama this time round!
I definitely call myself an independent and carefully consider all the candidates regardless of party. So with this in mind, and after the multiple announcements in church, I decided to attend my local caucus last week. I had no idea what to expect. But it was kind of cool! And.....somehow I got elected to be my precint's delegate for the state convention in about a month! Talk about getting involved!!! I'm pretty nervous, but excited to actually be getting involved in the political process. I mean, realistically, it won't matter much: we all know how Utah is going to vote! :) But thanks to the West Wing, I am doing my part to be civic and politically minded and I'm feeling pretty good about things so far! Now....who to vote for???
I'm working in my office right now and am listening to pandora. I just discovered this like 3 months ago....where have I been?!?!? It is the best thing ever! I listen to it all the time in the office now. Right now a group called "Honor by August" is playing. I've never heard of this group, but am loving it! Pandora is great because it takes your musical preferences and finds similar songs and so far it has been great! (except for that one Brittany Spears song that came on....FAIL!)
I'm baaack! This last week I attended the SRA conference (Society for Research on Adolescence) in Vancouver. Not very many media talks, unfortunately. However, at one I learned that there is something called "transportation" that is very predictive of media effects. This means you feel like you are actually "transported" into whatever media you are watching. The woman who came up with this concept is a big Harry Potter fan and felt transported to Hogwarts whenever she watched the movie or read the book. Interesting!!
Laura Walker and Larry Nelson were there as well, and we took one afternoon off the conference to do a little sightseeing. Nobody brought a camera, so good thing I had my phone to take these pictures! Yay for new media! Here are a couple from our trip.
Note the flag in the background....Oh Canada!
Cute market on Granville Island
Read the sign, and think back to our fear and media lecture! Blah!
Fish and chips for lunch...I specifically took this picture to make my husband jealous!
Steaming clock...very random
By the totem pole made the the first nations people
Okay, this is after I got home, but how cute does Aidan look as a Canadian? :)
Overall, a nice conference: I learned a few more things about media and adolescence and importantly met some very big names in the media world. I'm glad to be back, though! See you in class next week!
Kind of a funny title to my blog post, as I've felt a little broken this week! Earlier this week I just stood up and my neck went POP! and I've been flat on my back for a few days now! YUCK! Luckily, I'm on the mend so am excited to see you all tomorrow! But I digress......
I am in two different book clubs (I told you I love to read!), and both of them are reading the book, "Unbroken" for March. I just finished it, and let me tell you, this is one of those books that sticks with you for a long time.
It is a true story about an Olympic runner, Louis Zamperini, who enlists in World War II. His plane goes down and he is a prisoner of war for like 4 years.
There were some very difficult parts in the book, like when he gets abused at a Japanese POW camp, as one officer tries repeatedly to break his spirit. But he remains unbroken no matter what happens to him. It is a wonderful testament to the human spirit, of someone who endures to the end, and who never gives up no matter how bleak things seem. And it's a true story, which makes it all so much better! (the guy is actually still alive! Here is him, lighting the Olympic torch at 94 years old!)
SUCH an inspiring book! No matter how hard things get, and however hopeless life may feel sometimes, LIFE is always worth it!
Too scary!!! And no real plot!!!! I am not a fan of scary movies, but my sister totally made me watch this with her! I wanted to go see the zoo movie (we bought a zoo, or something like that?) But noooo, so I spent the whole movie like this!
(note this is not actually me, in case you were worried!)
Does anyone else feel like Valentine's Day is kind of obnoxious on Facebook? It almost seems like a contest to see who got the best gift, who LUVS their husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend the most, and who has the best husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD! Don't get me wrong: I'm a romantic and love Valentine's Day as much as the next gal, but Facebook takes PDA to a whole new, overly cheesy, drippy, annoying level!
Yes, we should tell our loved ones that we love them on Valentine's Day. But I feel secure enough in my relationship that I don't need to prove it to the hundreds of "friends" that I have on Facebook, many of whom have never even met my husband! Sorry to be a downer, I'm just kind of annoyed with reading the same post over and over again: Seriously, all of you CAN'T have the best husband in the world: besides, he already lives at my house! :)
I just found out that my favorite media website, www.commonsensemedia.org, reviews some books as well! I typed in "Tweak" (the book I talked about in class) and the review was fairly on key, though they recommended age 15, whereas I would put it higher. Seriously, this website is CRUCIAL for navigating the media world and every parent should know about it! Now that it reviews books, I love it even more!!!
In other news, my husband Paul was in Vegas this weekend, watching the Rugby Sevens tournament with his friends. So, I watched a couple of movies while he was gone (courtesy of Netflix)! First I watched "You again".
I was intrigued with the description as it is about a "mean girl" in high school who gets her comeuppance in the end. I liked Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis, but besides that it was pretty mindless. Lots of relational aggression too!!! Hmmm, maybe I could use some of the scenes for one of my studies.....
I also watched "I am number four" which I was excited about cause I thought one of my sisters said it was good (I later found it she was talking about a different movie!)
This movie had potential, but there is this huge alien fight scene that turned me off (I got really bored and started surfing facebook on my phone!) and there is one alien character that REALLY objectifies women: she is in a skintight black leather outfit most of the movie, has looong blonde hair, rides a motorcycle, shoots a big gun, etc. When I described this to my husband he said, "you know a guy wrote and directed this movie!!" Boooo!
For Valentine's Day, I think me and Paul are going to dinner and a movie (Yes, I know....but we actually NEVER go to dinner and movie! Add babysitter on that, and it usually costs way too much!) I think I want to go see that new Tom Hanks movie (Incredibly loud and extremely close). Anyone heard good things about this? After these two films, I could use a good one!!
Tonight Paul and Nate were out, so it was just me and little ones this evening. While I was making dinner Hannah put on her Disney CD, changed into a dance outfit and just went to town! She put on the song, "I see the light" from Tangled and really danced her little heart out. I danced all throughout my childhood and adolescence, and it makes my heart so happy to see my little girl twirl!
Hannah dancing!
After I put Aidan down for his sleep, Hannah decided that she wanted to watch Tangled (can you tell we are a bit Disney obsessed? Those of you on my Disney Princess project will so understand this!)First, in honor of all the hair in the movie, I gave Hannah a little haircut. She still wanted it long like Rapunzel so I only took a bit off.
After the haircut...it's more even than it looks!
Then, we made smoothies, cuddled on the couch, and then put the show on. I seriously love Tangled!
Okay, I'm not thrilled that we have yet another blonde, thin, princesses, but Rapunzel has so many great qualities; she is loyal, brave, self sacrificing, kind, persevering, and she's just so darn cute! I love the music and the entire movie is visually breath-taking! Hannah ended up falling asleep cuddled up next to me, and I was thankful for Disney for helping us have a wonderful night in!
Apparently the US Court of Appeals is going to hear a case proposing putting graphic images on cigarette packaging in the United States, exactly what we talked about in class earlier this week! The images definitely don't seem as graphic as some I've seen. Here is one example:
From what I've heard, the case probably won't be approved because of First Ammendment Rights, but we'll see....
So interesting that we were JUST talking about this, and then I hear it in the news that same week!
