We are a COVID House Now (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: We have our first case of COVID in the house, so we are quarantined until at least January 30. I don't feel like blogging about it right now, so hang tight. I'll tell you more later... maybe.

Fact #2: I'm getting a rapid COVID test tomorrow. I don't have any symptoms. That will be my first COVID test!

Fact #3: The plate monster returned. But now the plate monster is quarantined.

This is my Wingspan set-up 

This is my Valentine's Day set-up

Fact #4: Speaking of Wingspan, yesterday we bought it on the Nintendo Switch as a quarantine consolation prize (It's only $19.99 to download from the Nintendo e-Shop). Nicky gave it a test run. I haven't played it yet. 

Fact #5: For my birthday I ordered the Oceania expansion for Wingspan, but they weren't going to be in stock until January 28. Every few days since I placed the order, I've gotten a new email moving up the shipping date. Yesterday I got an email saying it had shipped, and it is on track to arrive tomorrow.

A quarantine blessing.

Fact #6: I've been making my kids watch the Chronicles of Narnia. I never realized it, but my kids haven't really been exposed to war or battle scenes. They don't know or understand what war is, so in the beginning of the first movie, when the Pensevie family is running to the bomb shelter, my kids had so many questions. I had to explain where their dad was (fighting in the war), and later, I had to explain why the children were taken from their home and sent to live somewhere else. 

I wish they could hold on to that innocence forever. 

Fact #7: For Christmas Nicky got a slackline. We set it up at the park last week and tried it for the first time. It came with a training line that goes above your head to help you learn to balance. I thought it would be easy with the training line. I expected to hop up there and walk back and forth with no problem. 

Boy, was I wrong! My body was OUT OF CONTROL! I was so wobbly, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was shocking! 

Not me

Fact #8: Tomorrow I will be 135 days soda sober - which is how many days I made it last year before I drank a root beer, cried because it tasted so good, and then went off the deep end for three months. 

I love soda. LOVE it. So it's incredibly hard not to have it, and I have to make the choice every day to not drink any. I can't moderate it. I've tried. It's all or nothing for this girl - I either drink three a day or none at all. There is no in between for me. 

Fact #9: Nicky made a goal last year to go one year without soda. He hit his year mark this week. 

Fact #10: I've stared at the computer screen trying to think of Fact #10 for way too long. There is nothing. I'm going to go stare at a wall now.

Hell's Bells

I don't remember when my last visit to the temple was before the temples closed for COVID. It may have been when Scotty and I went to the Jordan River Temple with our friends Chad and Carlie, which I think was February of last year. I do remember that I went to the temple twice that week, and I thought I was off to a good start for temple attendance for the year. I don't recall if I went again after that. Regardless of when my last visit to the temple was, I definitely didn't know that it would be a really long time before I would be able to step foot in the temple again. 

Prior to COVID, temple-going members of my Church could, in most cases, attend a temple any time during their open hours and perform some type of temple worship. It has been a very big change to not have such easy access to temples. As things stand currently, nearly a year later, a few temples (four, to be precise) across the world are in "phase 3" of reopening, which means they are doing living and proxy ordinances by appointment. The rest of the 160+ operating temples are in phases 1 or 2 or remain closed. All of our temples in Utah (save for those being renovated) are in "phase 2" which means living ordinances are being performed by appointment with no proxy ordinances.* 

While I'm at peace with this and know that it won't remain this way forever, I can't help but wonder why God has allowed His work to pause in this manner. I never would have fathomed a world-wide shut-down of our temples. A temple here and a temple there, yes. It happens due to political upheaval and the need for renovations, but across the world? All at once? I never would have thought. 

Even though our temples have gone through closures, the building of many temples across the world has continued moving forward. I get to witness this everyday in my home since Scotty is a buyer for temple materials and has been working from home for the past ten months. The total of existing temples, those under construction, and those announced is 231. 

Not too long before the temples closed, we learned that we would have a new temple built in our area - Taylorsville, Utah. 

Rendering of the Taylorsville Temple - I think it's gorgeous!

Brigham Young once said, "We never began to build a temple without the bells of hell beginning to ring."** During a later discourse, he said, "I want to hear them ring again!"***

The ground for the Taylorsville temple was broken in October of 2020. It's only a few miles from my home, and the site is visible from the I-215 freeway. Every time I drive past and peek over the edge of the road at the progress, I feel a bit of a thrill, and I think, "Hell's bells!"

With each phase of temple reopening, I think, "Hell's bells!" And someday, when I get to return to the temple, I will think, "Hell's bells!"

I look forward to doing my part to make them ring!

"Every foundation stone that is laid for a Temple, and every Temple completed lessens the power of Satan on the earth and increases the power of God and Godliness."

-George Q. Cannon

*"Living" ordinances are performed for yourself. "Proxy" ordinances are performed for the dead.

**Discourses of Brigham Young, 410.

*** Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, 299.

I'm a Zombie Mom Today (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: As a mother and a blogger, I need to be responsible about what I post about my kids on the internet, right? I'm sure I've written a lot of things about my kids that I should have been more cautious about. Like, maybe I shouldn't have written about how often my daughter pooped in the bathtub as a toddler because, when she's 17, she might be livid. And maybe I shouldn't document the ridiculous tantrums of my five-year-old because it could someday drive wedge between us. 

So, with that in mind, I probably shouldn't write about my son's first zit. 

But let's just say, hypothetically, that on Monday, my son came home from school complaining that his nose hurt. And in trying to figure out why his nose hurt, I asked him questions like, "Do you remember getting hit in the face?" and "Did you run into something recently?" 

And let's say that for the next three days, he wouldn't stop talking about his nose hurting until finally, his dad looked closely to check for a bruise and announced, "Well, by golly, son! You're getting a zit!" 

And let's say that that son is traumatized by the appearance of his first zit, and asks, "Why is is there? How do I get it to go away? Why does it hurt so bad?" 

If that happened, it might make a funny blog story. But if that happened, I wouldn't write about it because I wouldn't want to embarrass my son - no matter how special the milestone of a first zit may be!

Fact #2: I've been watching Lord of the Rings, and it just dawned on me that the first movie is almost 20 years old (it was released in December of 2001). This made me realize that making my kids watch Lord of the Rings is like my parents making me watch movies from their high school years. My kids look at the screen and see outdated special effects and actors who were significantly younger than they are now. 

We've gotten old, Frodo. We've gotten old. 

Fact #3: Speaking of getting old... last night Scotty and I were driving in the truck when "Don't Speak" by No Doubt came on the radio... on Oldies 94.1. 

No Doubt is oldies now.

Fact #4: You know those five-year-old tantrums I maybe shouldn't be writing about? There's one going on right next to me. 

Fact #5: My kids are home from school today, and they are B-O-R-E-D. 

It's 9:19 a.m. and they've already been on electronics for over two hours. I don't know what to do with them. 

Update: We've settled on perler beads. Hopefully that buys me an hour.

Fact #6: You know what stresses me out? Pictures of charcuterie boards. 

I'm not opposed to food touching, in general. Some foods can touch, and that's just fine. But the touching of the food on a charcuterie board gives me anxiety. First of all, I imagine all the hands going in for that food. Then I imagine the backing up of the food line that is caused by the crowding of the food. I mean, if you're doing a charcuterie board at a baby shower with 20 people, the flow of the buffet table is going to be really spotty. I'm an advocate for proper movement in a food line. But the thing that makes me most uncomfortable about charcuterie boards is seeing moist food touching dry food. Meat and cheese resting against crackers... strawberries bumping up against breads... The foods that are supposed to be dry are going to be soggy if you leave them like that, and I can't deal. And let's not even mention the fact that as soon as a person removes one cracker from the display, the entire presentation is ruined! 

Fact #7: I currently have 1,111 posts in my blog folders. They are not all published - 62 are drafts. 

Fact #8: As a teenager, I had pretty bad acne. I tried all sorts of remedies and medications (including dabbing toothpaste on my zits and rubbing a raw potato on my face). 

I went to multiple dermatologists and tried all the prescriptions. Nothing worked for me, and I have scars from years and years of breakouts that lasted well into my twenties. So if, in theory, my son had his first zit, that would definitely bring forth some old emotions as I worry that my children will suffer my fate. 

Scotty, on the other hand, never had a problem with acne. Please bless that my kids got his genes and not mine. It will break my heart to have my kids suffer the insecurities that come with acne. Life is hard enough without a pockmarked face. 

Fact #9: I love when my children help each other without being asked. It gives me hope that they're growing up to be good people. 

Fact #10: The reason I started blogging today is because I'm incredibly tired, and I was hoping that blogging would help wake me up. It works sometimes, but it didn't work today. I want to wrap up in my best blanket and pass out on my couch, but instead, I need to go do some second grade math. 

Lots of Things - but Mostly Bananas

Ahhhh. Happy Wednesday.

My kids are back in school, and I have enjoyed these past three days to the fullest. After having my children home for 17 days in a row, I'd forgotten what I do while they're gone. Christmas prep definitely didn't help the situation, as I spent the week before they got out of school making sure I had all the shopping and wrapping done so I wouldn't have to do any of it once they went on break. So my schedule and routine haven't been "normal" for a long time (whatever "normal" is). 

For this brief moment, I'm caught up. My house is clean, the dishes are washed, and the laundry is done. On top of that, I've exercised, my budget is on track, I'm in a good mood, and dinner is prepped. Heck, I even took a shower today!

I'm not sure If I've ever experienced this, now that I think of it. Not all at once, anyway. I usually have one or two things "under control," but not this many at once! This is not my life! But wow! It's amazing! I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. I'm sure things will fall apart when my kids are home for "distance learning" on Friday, and then it will get even worse when they are out of school for another whole week starting next Tuesday. 

(What am I going to do with them while they're home for a week? I have no creative parenting left in me).

24 hours later...

Ahhhhh. Happy Thursday. 

I never finished my post yesterday because A) riots and B) I didn't know where I was going with that post anyway. 

I'm not as "on top" of things today as I was yesterday, but I'm still keeping it together for the most part. My house is clean-ish, the dishes are washed, and the laundry is not completely piled up. I have a dinner plan, my budget is still on track, but I haven't done any exercise. 

Now hang on while I slowly decline into Friday...

This morning my kids were rather difficult. Eva woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was cranky from the moment she became conscious. Our conversations today have gone a little bit like this:

Eva: I'm tired.

Me: Why don't you go take a nap?

Eva (yelling at me): I don't want to take a nap! I'm too lazy!

(I'm still waiting for this child's sense of logic to kick in. This same child was crying at the dinner table the other night saying she was hungry... while there was a plate of food in front of her. That same night, she threw a tantrum at the top of the stairs, and when I asked her what was wrong, she said, "No one will carry me upstairs." Heaven, help me!)

The other day my neighbor brought us a case of bananas and two bags of sugar. A different neighbor recently brought us a bag of flour, so obviously the fates wanted me to make banana bread. 

Thus began my first baking catastrophe of 2021. After I dropped Zoe and Daisy off at school this morning, I went to WinCo to get some buttermilk to make banana bread. I had eggs on my grocery list, but we live right by an egg farm, and I try to buy eggs from the egg farm as often as possible, so I didn't buy any from WinCo. The farm opens at 1:00, so I planned to swing by this afternoon. 

When I got home from WinCo, I started prepping the bananas for a quadruple batch of banana bread. After I got the bananas peeled and mashed, I looked at the recipe and remembered that I needed eggs... eggs that I was planning to buy after 1:00... it was 9:00 a.m. I ran outside and checked the chicken coop, just in case there would miraculously be 8 eggs waiting for me. There were, indeed, 8 eggs... 8 eggs that had frozen and exploded and were covered in feathers and poop.

I face palmed a few times and then went to the store for eggs. Then I came home and continued working on the bread. After I got the wet ingredients in the Bosch, I could see I was really pushing my luck by trying to quadruple the recipe. The bowl was pretty much full, and I still needed to add 7 cups of flour. I gritted my teeth and just went for it! 

Y'all... it worked. But just barely. Luckily I'd cut the sugar down by a cup, or I'da had a banana batter volcano on my hands (or on my counter, to be more accurate). If a speck of dust had fallen from the ceiling and landed in that bowl, it would have overflowed. 

I ended up with 6 loaves of banana bread, and after taste testing, I declare them edible. 

I made a goal to become a better baker during COVID, and I'm happy to say, I've much improved. But I still find myself in crises every time I bake, I still try to make way too big of batches of everything (I can't make a single batch of anything - no, never! I must always double at minimum), and I still make a really awful mess whenever I bake. I have to dirty every dish in the house. I can't help it!

After all that, I still had 36 bananas left in the box, so I set aside six to make a triple batch of banana pancakes for dinner tonight, and I put the rest in bags to freeze for smoothies. I already had 10 qts of frozen bananas in the freezer. Now I have 17. Have I ever told you that I hoard frozen fruit? Because I do. 

And that's enough about bananas.

In other news... here are a few things I'm feeling enthusiastic about currently:

Our family room - I'm just really loving having a family room. Sometimes I go down there and just bask in the fact that it exists; that we have this space to spread out a little (I'm in the family room as I type this). 

Using up stuff - For the past week I've been trying really hard to use what we have and not spend a lot of money. I've gone through our freezers and our pantry and made meal plans. I want to use up the stuff we've had around for a while, and if that means we have a dinner of garlic bread, hash browns, and banana smoothies, so be it! 

Books - I'm excited for a new year of reading. I've already finished two books - The Snow Gypsy by Lindsay Ashford and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. 

My birthday presents -  I got some really fun things for my birthday. My friend Julie made me a quilt, and it goes great in my family room (it's on my lap right now, in fact). My friend Christie gave me three pairs of joggers that are super comfy. My mother-in-law gave me a penguin butler (I know you have so many questions... someday I'll write about the penguin  butler). Plus, lots of other nice things from family and friends. 

Aaaand I just got the low battery notification on my laptop, so this is where the fun ends. Things I'm not enthusiastic about: going upstairs to get my charger. If you've made it this far, I thank you for enduring through this mod podge post.

Top Board Games of 2020

A big part of having regular game nights with our friends is arguing about who wins the most. A few years ago we decided to start keeping a Game Night Ledger to help us work out these disputes.

(Scotty wins 45% of the time, which means the other three of us split the remaining 55% Chad has really increased his winnings in the past year, though, so we need to update our stats).

Last year we looked back over our ledger and determined our top ten board games of 2019. We calculated it according to how many times we played each game, but we knew that wouldn't give us the most accurate results because you can't rank a 20-minute card game against a 2-hour strategy board game by counting the number of times played. So for 2020, we looked at how many game nights featured each game rather than how many times we played each game. 

(Don't think too hard about it... just go with it!)

Based on our new method of calculation, these are our top board games of 2020:

Honorable Mentions

I had to give two honorable mentions because these two games just barely didn't make the list, yet I love them both immensely: Hacienda and Ticket to Ride: Europe. 

#10: Codenames

#9: Risk

#8 Agricola

#7: The Princes of Florence

#6:Mariposas

#5: Bohnanza

#4: Splendor

#3: Love Letter

#2: 7 Wonders

#1: Wingspan

Codenames, Mariposas, and Wingspan were all new (to us) in 2020. Other games we learned in 2020 were Azul, Mysterium, Sushi Go, and Trash Pandas. Scotty and I also learned 7 Wonders Duel, Castles of Burgundy, Chameleon, and Race for the Galaxy, but Race for the Galaxy was during the worst of our COVID stress, and our brains were complete mush, so it kind of traumatized us, and we haven't touched it since. 

Here's to great gaming in 2021!

Currently {January 2021 Edition}

Reading:

Buying: cereal. I had some decent coupons for General Mills, so I bought ten boxes for $10 this morning. Who wants to come over for a Cheerios feast?

Missing: being able to freely invite people over. I keep having thoughts of all the people I want to have over when COVID isn't as much of a concern. I want my kids to have movie nights with their friends. I want to force everyone I know to come play board games with me. I want to feed people. I want to host book club on my couch. 

I even want to hug people. 

Big dreams!

Craving: silence, a hot shower, and a nap. 

Listening to:

Wanting: nothing. I feel like I have everything I want and need right now. 

(Ask again tomorrow). 

Watching: Lord of the Rings. It's been five years or so since my last viewing, so it's time. 

Annoyed by: a long list of things. I am so annoyed right now. I can't even.

I really wish I could write about it, and tell you all the things, but I can't. 

Playing:

We brought Power Grid out of retirement for New Year's Eve (the last time we played it was in 2014). Tonight we're going to play it again to get the rules solidified in our simple brains (and to hopefully not botch the game - we botch this one in some way every time we play). 

If we survive Power Grid and still have brain cells left, we might try Terraforming Mars. I bought it several months ago, and we haven't ever played it because we have COVID brain. 

Loving: the nice weather today. It's sunny and warm (by the January definition of warm). 

Feeling: a plethora of emotions. I am energized and excited about a new year. At the same time, I am annoyed (as stated above) and have felt a lot of unease the last couple of days. I'm frustrated with a few things, but I'm also really happy.

I'm all over the place!

Wearing: a University of Utah t-shirt and my favorite pants. I love these pants so much - they are $10 joggers from Sam's Club, and they are made out of a tech fabric. I want more of them, but I can't find any more! 

Eating: leftovers from New Year's Eve. We had hamburgers, guacamole, eclair cake, and sauteed veggies. 

Looking forward to: my kids going back to school. The fighting over the past month has been out of control. They need to spend some time away from each other. And away from me. 

Winter break has basically been a 17-day cage match between Eva and Zoe. I have no clue what to do with them. I'm tired of being a referee. They're screaming at each other even as I type this. 

Enjoying: having a few new small appliances around the house. I got a new toaster for Christmas and a new electric skillet for my birthday. 

Worried about: something bad happening. I know that's a pretty general thing to worry about, but really, I just have this constant underlying fear that when things seem calm, it's because something horrible is just around the corner. I think this concern is amplified with the changing of the year. 

Grateful for: health, safety, and miracles. 

21 Before 21

Happy Hugh Year!

In September I set 21 goals that I wanted to accomplish before 2021. Here's how I did:

Goal #1: No soda for the rest of the year.

I made it! My last soda was a Dr. Pepper on Labor Day. I haven't had any since. 

I did allow myself some Martinelli's on New Year's Eve. Some may consider that "soda." Though it is carbonated, I'm not counting it as soda. That is the only carbonation I've had since Labor Day, and since I don’t intend to make a daily habit of Martinelli’s, I decided it was okay.

Goal #2: Finish reading the book Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage.

I finished on December 28th. 

I really enjoyed chapters 1-6 and 31-37. I had to fight through the rest. The book is 747 pages and 42 chapters long. It was written in 1908, and there are so many big words. I looked up about a hundred words and added definitions in my notes. Now, I love learning new words, but I have to say... when I die and join the spirit world, I'm going to march up to James E. Talmage and say, "Alright, pal, tell me... did people actually use those words in 1908, or were you just showing off?"

Goal #3: Try ten new recipes.

These are the ones I tried (and I’ve tried at least ten more since):

1. Pressure Cooker Mac & Cheese 

2. Gluten-Free Fried Zucchini* 

3. Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal*

4. Thai Mango Curry

5. Slow Cooker Creamy Lemon Chicken*

6. Company Pork Roast*

7. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins*

8. Sweet Citrus Chicken Salad 

9. Southwest Chicken Cobb Salad

10. Smashed Potato Salad

*ones I liked enough to make again

Goal #4: Get a Haircut.

I did. But now I'm waaaay overdue for another one. 

Goal #5: Don't Eat Out for a Month.

We did this as a family in October. We even took a road trip without stopping anywhere for food. 

Goal #6: Finish the Closet Doors in the Basement.

I'm so glad I set this goal because we'd probably still not have them done if I hadn't. 

The first set of doors (see #21 for the second set)

Goal #7: Get the Door Hung on the Storage Room.

We just got this done on Tuesday. It only took us five years to put the door on. The problem is... now I’m confused every time I try to go in the storage room.

Goal #8: Hang the Doors on the Kids' Closets.

Again, it took five years. Our kids don't even know how to function with doors on their closets. This is a big adjustment for them.

Now we need to get the knobs put on them, but I wanted to give the paint a few days of drying time first.

Goal #9: Weigh Less on December 31st than I Weighed on September 29th. 

Here's the thing... I don't weigh myself very often. I am much better off in my relationship with my body if I don't use weight as a measurement of success. I find that if I've been doing something that's good for me for a while, and then I weigh myself, I immediately derail - even if weight loss wasn't my goal. I can't tell you how many times I've ended a good routine or habit simply because I shifted my focus toward weight. 

So I never should have set this goal. I know better. 

Here's the other thing... since I don't weigh myself very often, I don't remember what I weighed on September 29th. I should have written it down. So I don't know if I met this goal or not. And if I did lose weight, it obviously wasn't by any large number, or I'd notice. So I'm probably just hanging out in the same 5 lb range that I was on September 29th. 

And the final thing... because of everything I’ve written above, I’m not going to weigh myself to assess this goal. I’m not going into 2021 thinking about weight.

So maybe I failed this goal. But I don’t feel bad about it.

Goal #10: Walk 250 Miles.

I didn't make it. And I realized early on that I probably wasn't going to. My total was 210.5 miles.

Goal #11: Do 2,000 Push-Ups. 

Yes! I did it!

On NYE I did my 2,000th push-up while Eva was screaming her head off for her daily hour-long tantrum - a perfect homage to my life’s chaos.

Goal #12: Do a DI Run.

(In other words, do a thrift store donation). 

I did two.

Goal #13: Clean Out the Garden.

I accomplished this one early in the game, and I'm glad I got it done. I pulled out all the plant carcasses and cleaned out our composter and gave it to our neighbor. 

Goal #14: Try Something New.

I tried using an acupressure mat. 

Goal #15: Finish 9 Books. 

Done.

Actually, I finished 18.

Goal #16: Clean Out the Box of Junk That's Been Sitting on the Window Seat of my Bedroom Since July.

Done.

It was full of stuff I had no idea what to do with. Hence the procrastination. It would still be there if I hadn’t set this goal.

Goal #17: Go to the Doctor.

I went twice. Some of my medical concerns have been resolved. Some haven't. 

Goal #18; Complete a Study of Temple Symbols.

For this goal, I read 175 Temple Symbols and Their Meanings by Donald Parry and then listened to a podcast with the author. Honestly, I didn't love the book (other than the introduction, which I really enjoyed), and the podcast was just a lot of stuff from the book, so it was repetitive. 

I also listened to Understanding the Sacred Symbolism of Temple Clothing by Kim Gibbs. I had listened to it before and wanted to listen to it again, especially since some changes had been made to the temple clothing since the first time I listened. 

Goal #19: Buy a Dishwasher Participate in the Light the World Initiative in December. 

I changed this goal because the dishwasher I wanted was never in stock, and it’s not a financial priority.

As for the updated goal... I did it! And it honestly made Christmas so great. I made sure to stay ahead with planning so I knew what I was doing each day. Some of the things we did were:

• Put together food and hygiene kits for students in need
• Donated meals to families in our community
• Decorated neighbors doors (but we got credit for far more doors than we actually decorated, so I'm just going to throw this out there for some of my neighbors who kindly thought it was me... it was Shirley)
• Took treats to friends
• Shopped at some local businesses
• Took cards to the nursing home
• Made a video of us and our friends reading Luke 2

Goal #20: Finish a Self-Reliance Class.

I started taking the Church's new Emotional Resilience class in September and finished in November. 

Goal #21: Hang the Sign Over the Washer and Dryer That's Been Sitting on the Floor for Two Months. 

Done. 

———————————————-

I really want to set some goals for the new year, but 2020 has messed up my relationship with the future. I don’t want to look at 2021 as a whole. - it’s too scary. I feel like I have to approach one week at a time. So with that in mind, I’ve been thinking about how to best incorporate some goals now that this list is complete. Before that, though, I’ve got a birthday to celebrate! Here’s to 2021 (eek!) and being 37 (eek!)