portland

last monday we decided that we needed to go to portland so our girls could see their family. tuesday we set up our schedule so we could leave and wednesday we were out the door by 2 after jayson finished catering.

jayson's parents live outside of portland. both of their parents live within 10 minutes of their home. also jayson's brother and his wife, aunts and uncles, and many friends live there. we were able to visit many of them and hit all of our favorite spots. mostly we just enjoyed hanging out together.

a four generation shot with great grandpa edwards.

the girls with great grandpa edwards.


and a four generation shot with great grandma rudolph.


watching for the squirrels at mom and dad's. mae was memorized.


usually portland is very rainy. not this weekend--we had sun everyday. it was so wonderful.


at the park two houses down.


mom and dad picked up a powerwheels for free! mae loved it.

we swam in the hot tub twice.


we went downtown a couple times. the first time we walked by the river for a bit. the second time we went to heaven--a.k.a. powells books (68,000 square feet full of books) and sur la table (any kitchen thing you could ever want).



we found this fountain and mae had a blast playing in it. the clothes slowly started coming off as she got more and more wet. it was maybe 55 degrees outside.





the pants even came off. i was hesitant, but everyone said "this is portland!"

penny just hung out.

i have three restaurants i love to eat at when in portland.

1. e-sans thai cuisine.

2. bob's red mill (we ate here twice).

3. burgerville.


we hit all three and i had an obscene amount of tilamook ice cream. i was in food heaven/food coma.

sunday we had many visitors. we are very lucky to know so many wonderful people. monday it all had to end and we started our drive home. it was a fantastic trip. i found my inner hippie. we love portland!

great decision

i've made a few really good decisions in my life: marrying jayson, serving a mission, going to byu and volunteering for the 2002 olympic games.


in truth, most of those things weren't decisions at all. i knew way too quickly that i wanted to marry jayson. i knew when i was 12 and my sister was on a mission that i would serve too. i always knew i'd go to byu--there wasn't another option in my family.

i remember so clearly sitting down at my computer in my dorm room the day they opened registration for volunteers. i was 18, and i can't remember ever wanting to do anything like i wanted to volunteer. i watched the olympics as a kid with the same wide eyed fascination as most. i loved the olympics. i loved that the common man could compete and become a champion. the stories are so inspiring. the athletes are so amazing. and i had to be a part of it.

i waited what seemed like forever before they sent out their invitations. i was selected to be a full-time volunteer. you probably have heard that they had 20,000+ volunteers so you might assume that everyone who volunteered was accepted. not so--my mother wanted badly to be a full-time volunteer and ended up being invited only to be part-time. it was a big deal to me that even though i would be young--20 years old, that they would let me assist full-time.


byu was fantastic and asked all faculty and staff to work with their students and employees who were volunteers. my job was amazing and let me miss multiple shifts. my teachers were so gracious with me as i missed several classes (and slept in those that i could attend). byu also cancelled school for an entire week so that we could enjoy the games.

being a volunteer was a huge time commitment. we had several training sessions before the olympics--general and job specific. we started our shifts weeks before any athletes or officials came to town. we woke up at 3 a.m. most days to be in our post by 4:30 a.m. we had to go to salt lake multiple times to pick up our uniforms and credentials.

however, they rewarded us well. we all received one ticket to a metals ceremony where a famous artist/band would play. we were invited to see the dress rehearsal of the opening ceremonies. we got a uniform valued at $1000. we got a watch and a participation metal.

(we saw n'sync at the metals ceremony. killer.)

but those things really pale in comparison to the experiences we had. i was based out of soldier hollow, and i got to see many cross-country races and biathlon events.

one morning the today show did a piece on soldier hollow, and guess who was there? our friend al roker.


green jello was the big joke during the olympics, so i made a poster that looked like a green jello box to be on the today show.

almost all of my friend took advantage of the week off of byu and went home. i can't blame them. but i do think they missed out on an experience of a lifetime. and i'm not just talking about volunteering--everything about utah those weeks were electric. my friend harmony stayed and we both worked at soldier hollow together.

i lived really close to the peaks ice arena and we picked up cheep tickets one evening after a hockey game started. sweden and someone. after we went to salt lake and went to a whole bunch of free entertainment events.

my mom helped put together the packets for the opening and closing ceremonies. she received a ticket to the closing ceremonies but didn't want to go alone. i told her i'd gladly go alone, so she gave me her ticket. the best show i've ever seen live.



i've been thinking about my experiences a lot this week as i watch the vancouver games. i think i was so lucky that everything fell into place for me. i think i was pretty young to grasp the kind of experiences i would have.

now, i believe they were once-in-a-lifetime. i most likely won't live in a host city again. i know how much hotel rooms cost in salt lake during the olympics and realistically i will never afford to visit a city during the olympics. watching the games on t.v. is great, but it pales in comparison to being there and experiencing it. i was so lucky. it really was one of the best decisions i've ever made.

i love the olympics.

bountiful basket

today was my first experience with bountiful baskets. karrie told me about it a few months ago, and i finally signed up for pick up this week. here's a nutshell version--they're a co-op who bargains with the suppliers for grocery stores and restaurants. they buy produce in bulk, and then distribute it to various locations in arizona (hello BECKY!), utah, idaho, and washington biweekly. because they can barter lower prices, they give you large amounts of fresh produce for extremely low prices. it's a volunteer organization, so if you sign up you are expected at some point to go do your time. i plan on it.

they acquire produce "locally" meaning arizona, texas, california, and northern mexico. hey, that's better than chile, right? the food is therefore seasonal, which is a wonder to me because california seems to be able to grow anything all year long. i'm grateful for this aspect of the co-op, because one of my goals this year is to cook food in it's season.

here's the catch--you don't get to choose exactly what you get. you show up and there is a basket full of fruit and a basket full of vegetables (everyone's the same). here's my basket this week:



1 large head romaine lettuce
1 bunch broccoli
2 cucumbers
2 zucchinis
10 roma tomatoes
7 red peppers
7 bananas
8 tangerines
5 grapefruit
1 package strawberries
7 braeburn apples
11 bosc pears

total=$15

they also offer fresh bread, granola, and often ethnic baskets. this week they offered a mexican basket. it had:



1 bunch green onions
1 bunch cilantro
4 limes
1 head garlic
1 package homemade flour tortillas (oh.my.gosh. so good.)
10 tomatillos
2 yellow onions
3 avocados
6 green chile peppers
4 jalapeno pepper

total=$6

i haven't tasted everything in the basket yet, obviously. i made some salsa verde today and mae ate half the box of strawberries. i also tried some tangerine and grapefruit. i will say this. the produce is extremely fresh and very tasty...sooooooooooo much better than the produce i've found in springville.

if you're interested, go to bountifulbaskets.org and sign up on their mailing list. you'll get an email next tuesday or wednesday saying the co-op is open. sign up for a basket (you only have until thursday, i think). they go saturday morning to reagan academy and pick up your booty.

then come home and stare at it in amazement and wonder what the heck you're going to cook with all this delicious looking food.


but don't forget a basket. then you'll look silly like i did.

issues.

I had a post all scripted in my head. It was all about whether I should cut my hair or not. I'm a short hair lover. Which you might think strange if you've only come to know me in the last couple months, because my hair is not short.

It's longer than it's been in at least 15 years, perhaps my whole life. It all started a couple years ago when I was going on and on about how much I love short hair, and how I think short hair looks better on me, etc. To which Jayson asked if I ever had long hair. Uh...not really. At least not when I knew anything about doing hair. So we both decided I should try it. For research, you know. I vowed not to cut until I had another child.

I kept good on my promise, but now my hair is driving me crazy and I'm ready to cut. I have all of the reasons ready to list off to you; why it's cheaper, easier, and sassier (I'm all about sassy).

But I have a dilemma. If I cut, I will look like everyone else. I swear everyone I know has short hair. Or maybe it just seems like everyone I know has short hair because I'm always admiring the bobs. Is it so bad to look like everyone else? Doesn't short hair rock? Don't I need it?

So I was searching for photos to show you what I looked like with short hair so you could give me your opinion. And I found my answer. I don't need to cut or not cut, I need to lose 30 pounds so my face is thinner again.

Thanks for solving my dilemma.

But then I found these two pictures and I have a new set of issues.

I miss this kid something fierce. I can't talk about it. I start crying. Work hard Drew, and then hurry your butt home.

And this........this...........this................. I can't talk about it. Then I might voluntarily offer limbs for someone to get me back to that island. And I kind of like my legs, especially my ankles.

resolutions

today i woke up before my girls and read my scriptures (goal #1).

then i loaded them up and went to the marriott center and walked/ran for 45 minutes while pushing my girls in my $40 double jogger i found on ksl.com classifieds (goal #2).

my meals today have been clean, healthy, made from scratch, made with what i had around, and perfectly balanced.

i just got back from walking to the library. i got my book club book, the odyssey (goal #5) and three books about cooking foods in season and grown at your local farmers market (goal #7). oh, and several books for mae. don't i usually buy books? maybe frugality should be a goal because i'm doing it so well.

later, i'm going to learn how to oil paint, do yoga, and sing kumbaya.

hello new years. good to see you. it will be sweet while it lasts.

Penny is blessed.

Sunday was one of the most beautiful days of my life. In the LDS Church, we bless our babies in infancy. It is an opportunity to give the child blessings and advice with love and inspiration. The baby is typically blessed in Church by the father and is assisted by family and friends. So Sunday we blessed little Penny and we were surrounded by dear family and friends. It was one of those days where I felt a tremendous amount of love from all around, especially Above.

I have kind of weird ideas about things sometimes, and for some reason I wanted to bless all my children at home. I felt like a baby blessing was a really intimate and special moment, and I felt awkward sharing that with so many people. So Mae was blessed at home and it was lovely. But after many conversations and considerations, we decided that we really should bless Penny at church. I'm so glad we did.

I also didn't understand why you would spend $$$$ on a dress or outfit for a blessing that they'd wear for one hour. Mae was blessed in a dress I found for $20, and I really didn't like it very much, but it was inexpensive so it worked (I had the same ideas about my wedding dress).

Awhile ago my mom let me borrow a beautiful tatted bonnet she wore as a baby. I've loved it immediately, and I really wanted my girls to wear it. Mae never wore it, but I was determined to have Penny wear it. I really wanted her to wear it when she was blessed, but I could never find an outfit that fit the style or color of the bonnet. I figured if I really wanted Penny to wear it, I'd have to make something. But I'm not really a seamstress, so I knew it would be a struggle.

My mom stepped in and offered to help me make a blessing dress. So we searched high and low for a pattern and fabric that we liked and would work. My mom was so patient with me being wishy-washy and indecisive. In the end, we found lovely dotted swiss fabric and a pattern that would work. My mom worked hard all week to sew Penny her lovely blessing dress. We embleshed it with lace from her wedding dress. We found the shoes that matched the bonnet that, as it turns out, were the shoes I was blessed in. And she had the bonnet. Her outfit was extremely lovely and very sentimental and special.

Here my mom and I are getting Penny dressed and ready for her special day:





With Jayson before the blessing:

We had lots of family in town--Jayson's parents came from Portland, his sisters from Provo, and his brother and his family from Lehi. Also, my parents came from Provo, my sister and her family from Long Beach California, my brother and his family from Ruby Valley Nevada, and my other brother and his family from Heber. We hosted them at our house for a breakfast before church. It was a pretty full house.


The blessing was beautiful. It's an incredible thing to see your infant taken in the arms of people who love her, and to hear the individualized and special blessings given to your sweet child. I feel, and I'm sure others do too, that it's a moment when you feel like you get a glimpse into the future of your child. You can see more closely who they will become.

Because of the nature of the blessing, I don't feel like I should share much of what was said. But Jayson did talk a little bit about her name--Penelope Kay and since I haven't shared why we named her that, I feel like I can now. Kay is Jayson's mother's middle name. We love and admire her tremendously, and hope that Penny will learn from her humility, kindess and thoughtfulness. Penelope is the wife of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey and stays faithful to him (and fights off 108 suitors) for 20 years while he is off fighting the Trojan War. We hope she will develope the same fidelity.

After the blessing, we came back to the house and Penny had a photoshoot with her Pappa (J's dad). She was in an extremely good mood and Pappa took incredible pictures.





Here are the shoes (I love the peep toes!). Also, you can see some of the lace from my mom's wedding dress on the left.










Of course, Mae had to get in on the action. She really is a sweet older sister and she loves Penny.




and lastly, one of my favorite picture of the day...my girls.