2010 In Review

I've loved having a wrap-up post to look back on each year.  Here's what 2010 was like at a glance:

1.  What did you do in 2010 that you've never done before?  Went as a Ma on a youth pioneer trek.  I was cold at night and exhausted during the day and dirtier that I have ever been, but it was a choice experience.  I'm also serving in Young Women's for the first time ever.  As Young Women's President!

2.  Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and will you make more for next year?  According to last year's post, my resolutions for 2010 were to shave 15 minutes off my Bolder Boulder time and to get Christmas cards out by December 15th.  Apparently, I need to check on these resolutions before December 31st of that year to remember them.  No.  I didn't keep either resolution.  I am making a resolution for this next year.  It's a lofty one too.  I am going to send a Thank-You note to someone everyday.

3.  Did anyone close to you give birth?  I went to at least a half-dozen baby showers here locally and brought meals to several new mothers.  I have a new nephew, Caden, and several of my close friends who don't live close had beautiful babies - from their first to their fifth!

4.  Did anyone close to you die?  I was blessed to enjoy another year with all of my loved ones living.

5.  What countries did you visit?  2010 was supposed to be a travel year (my goal is to travel abroad every three years) and I did not leave the country!  I barely left D-town.  Still, it was fun to travel to Boston in April, Disneyland in November and Memphis in December.

6.  What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?  A truck for Jay.  Even though that was my answer last year, this year it's really going to happen.

7.  What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory and why?   May 4th.  We closed on our forever house.

8.  What was your biggest personal achievement of the year?  Hosting a successful family reunion at my home.  I believe everyone was comfortable and had a great time.  It was a lot of work, especially holding it just two months after moving in, but it immediately made this house become a home.

9.  What was your biggest failure?  Gaining back the weight I lost this summer.  I had so much momentum going for me.  I'm still not sure what happened to it.

10.  Did you suffer injury or illness?  No.  It's been a good year health-wise.  None of the kids have been to the doctor since last November (I'm overdue for their check-up) although we did discover that Sammy doesn't make IgA antibodies.   After reintroducing gluten to his diet early in the year and not really noticing a difference, he has since returned to eating gluten-free - his choice.  He says he feels better.   Jay seems to constantly be nursing a sore muscle or something, but he's also ran nearly 1700 miles this year so......I guess that makes sense.

11.  What was the best thing you bought?  Far and away, our house.  Obviously.  But I really like the Blend-Tec blender I picked up this summer and my new fireplace tools make me giddy.

12.  Whose behavior merited celebration?   Well...I completed my first triathlon.  So, I'm gonna say...ME! But, it's not all about me, right?  So, I'll just say the little people.  Jay completing his first Boston Marathon. Seth with his hard work at Destination Imagination, Sam and his mad soccer skills and Henry for learning his "f", "th" and "l" sounds.

13.  Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?   Let's see...it was an election year so....all of those guys.   The Gulf Oil Spill... whoever's fault that was.   Scam charities exploiting good people after the Haiti earthquake.

14.  Where did most of your money go?  To the government.  Seriously.

15.  What did you get really, really, really excited about?  I've come to love this question because I get to wonder what sorts of things make me giddy.    In no order of importance, watching SYTYCD (especially any dance with All-star Alison),  how many stars I can see when I sit in our hot tub at night, having TWO friends come and visit me this year (thanks Van Wagenens and Hannah!!!), singing Durufle's Requiem with the Choral Society, skiing with the ladies and Disneyland!

16.  What song will always remind you of 2010?  "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas made me and my kids happy. Plus, it led off the family dance at the reunion, a forever happy memory.

17.   Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? 
b) thinner or fatter? 
c) richer or poorer?  a) happier.  It's been a good year.  b) about the same.  It's all about to change though (dun dun dun), c) richer.  We're probably one of the few in this economic mess, but I'm grateful for Jay's stable and good job.

18.  What do you wish you'd done more of?  I really did learn out how to knit and even made two scarves but I haven't done it in months!  I also learned to crochet, but after my one mess of a hat, never tried again.  I really felt creative doing those things, and I'm not very good at crafty things so I wish I had kept at it.  Who knows if I still remember how to knit?!?

19.  What do you wish you'd done less of?  I could have done with a little less D-town.  I love it and all, but my wanderlust was severely stifled this year.

20.  Did you fall in love in 2010?  I did.  With two separate groups of teenagers.  It's been quite a shock.

21.  What was your favorite TV program?  I have almost stopped watching TV.  I watch a ton of sports with the boys, because that is mostly what is on, and I always insist on my SYTYCD when it's on.  Other than that, I think I watch The Amazing Race and that is it.  Glee became a huge disappointment and I stopped watching it.

22.  Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?  Nope.  I love people.  That means you.

23.  What was the best book you read?  So many good ones this year with the classics. Best classic:  Gone With The Wind.  Best Non-Fiction:  The Price We Paid.  Best Children's Book:  Number The Stars.  Best YA fiction:  The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau Banks.  Best Parenting Book:  NurtureShock.  Best Historical Fiction:  Someone Knows My Name.  Best Memoir:  Goodbye, I Love You.  Best Fiction:  The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Room, and The Lonely Polygamist.  Was I supposed to whittle it down to one?  Impossible!

24.  What was your greatest musical discovery?  That with a cheerful disposition and a bit of will, I can get the Young Men to sing in Sacrament Meeting with the Young Women!

25.  What did you want and get?  The Gillelands as neighbors and a freezer!

26.  What did you want and not get?  A fun birthday party.  It should have been fun but I was in a mood.  At one point, I shut myself in my room and cried.  I'll be doing things differently next year!

27.  What was your favorite film of this year?    I adored Toy Story 3.  I laughed.  I cried.  Great movie.  Inception was my favorite grown-up movie.

28.  What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?  For some reason, I did not document my birthday as I should.  I think we went to the lake during the day.  I know I had a party at my house that evening and invited friends and their families over.  It was too much.   I was tired and almost set my house on fire with an out of control grill.   I turned 35.

29.  What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?  I think if I felt more confident with the friendships that I have, both local and long-distance.  I'm constantly feeling like a bad friend because with each relationship that isn't exactly what I wish it to be, I'm the common denominator.

30.  How would you describe your personal fashion concept for 2010?  Well, I haven't jumped on the jeggings tucked into boots craze but I did buy a few tops with embellishments.  Still, I'm a GAP top and jeans kind of girl.

31.  What kept you sane?  Swimming with Lori once a week.  Having Seth baby-sit so Jay and I can go to dinner or a movie.   Having incredible in-laws close by who bless my life.  My faith and my beautiful, wonderful and loving family.

See What I See

Confession: I don't always watch your blog videos.

I know! Horrible! It's a control issue for me. I really do struggle when I'm not in charge of pacing the information flow. With reading and picture viewing, I can determine how long I take, whether I skim or study. Videos don't give me that freedom so unless I know what to expect, I hesitate to watch. Even funny YouTube videos. I haven't watched a single Christmas song video posted on Facebook by friends for this very reason. Horrible!

BUT....I got a Flip video camera for Christmas. I haven't taken even two hours worth of video of Henry since he's been born and I have that mother's guilt from not recording his progress with speech, developmental milestones etc. There is something timeless about video in that it records more than the image of the moment but allows most of the senses of the memory to become involved.

These aren't fancy. Just me playing around with the camera on Christmas morning. They make me smile.

Post Edit:  ARGH!!  These are really good quality on my computer.  HD quality.  Why does uploading them to blogger make them so crappy looking??????

What Happens On A Day When Nothing Happens?

About a month ago, Jay asked me to guess what happened on April 11th, 1954.

Any guesses?

Personally, I hate to guess things.  Especially when there is zero chance of me guessing correctly.  To humor him, I made a few half-hearted guesses.  Considering it was the fifties, I took a stab at a new discovery, a possible defining moment in the Korean War or, perhaps something historical happening in the world of rock and roll.  Then I told this game annoys me and just to tell me the answer.

Turns out, it is considered the most boring day in history (that is, recorded history since the year 1900).  Even though I chided Jay for having me guess the unguessable, I have to admit it is a pretty interesting story.  Three-hundred million events were entered into a computer and with some algorithm I'm sure I wouldn't understand, nothing notable happened on this day.

December 27th might be a worthy competitor, though.  Christmas is two days past and three-hundred and sixty three days away, New Year's has a long work week ahead of it and while there is still no school, there is also the stale contentment from already having had a week off.  At least, that's the vibe in our household.

But, life just doesn't stop.  While they may not seem like the most memorable or note worthy events, this is what has happened today so far:

Seth got his braces tightened.  Has it been five weeks already?  I think the best part of having braces is the fun one can have with changing the color of the bracket bands.  Seth went from having a rainbow mouth to alternating colors of green, yellow and black (oregon's colors).  We are taking sides for the NCAA national football championship game.  Go Ducks!

My bank called me and someone had turned in my debit card.   The last time I used it was on Christmas Eve to get gas and must have left it...there?  I don't know how exactly.  Maybe it fell out of my pocket after swiping it outside.  Whatever happened, each time my spaciness is forgiven by someone's good works, my faith in humanity is restored.

Jay and I ordered ourselves new skis for the ski season this year.  The last pair of skis I owned were purchased my freshman year of college (1993) and were 185 cm in length.  I stopped using them about eight years ago so whenever we skied, including last year's prodigious season, we rented.  Anyhow, I have a sweet new pair of skis much shorter in length (164s) and they are pink and have "Sweet Mama"  written along the top.  I picked them up with their bindings mounted on them and plan to use them for the first time tomorrow!

It has been a disappointing Christmas card year. Today I was pleasantly surprised to have eight arrive in the mail. Yay!

A few Christmas toys already have lost pieces, but the first casualty of rough play was reported this morning. Seth's new Stomp Rocket was broken by an overzealous four year-old and since Santa can't redeliver a new one until next Christmas Eve, Amazon.com came to the rescue.

I have not done laundry in over a week. Thank goodness the boys got a new outfit for Christmas. I have the machines running but it's overwhelming when the piles are this big.

We are enjoying our plethora of meat. I am thawing two pounds of ground beef tonight to make homemade meatballs for dinner tonight.

I'm not sure it's worth the trouble as I have to use a dirt road that has been constantly muddy to get to my house, but I washed the minivan today. Between the road, my kids, and two cats who like to crawl on top, it is never, ever clean.

I can't stop eating the Chocolate mints from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory that our friends, the Gillelands, delivered. They are delicious. Help!

I don't know.  April 11, 1954's notoriety might just be in jeopardy.  

Merry Christmas 2010

We had a really great Christmas this year.  Nothing very exciting happened.  We didn't go anywhere.  No one came to visit.  There were no spectacular, once-in-a-lifetime kind of gifts.  I suppose what made it so great was that I realized, in the moment, that we were having a great moment.  My boys are all at wonderful ages to celebrate Christmas.  They enjoy the festivities - the fun, traditional, Santa side of things, but they are also old enough to recognize the deeper and more important reason for the season.  At family prayer, Sam would always ask for help in remembering that Christmas is about Christ and not about getting presents.   I'm not saying my kids aren't at all materialistic, they certainly enjoyed their gifts as much as the next four, seven, and ten year-old,  but knowing they weren't too caught up in the getting, getting, getting made the giving more fun.

We kept with family tradition by gathering on Christmas Eve only this year we gathered at our home.  Patty and Vaughn invited another family over, which made the spirit of the evening even stronger.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I never think to do this on my own.  Good thing I have relatives who do so I can benefit from the blessings of joy that always seem to come from extending love and friendship to those who need it.

After the meal of ham and roast, potatoes, salad, red cabbage in vinegar, asparagus, rolls and jello, we mosied into the living room for the program, carols, pinata, rice pudding and story from Grandpa.

I love this picture of Henry making Jay and Vaughn laugh.  He was probably dancing to Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Grandpa settles in for a a few musical numbers.  Sam is getting ready to start things of by playing The First Noel and Rudolph.

Seth played Angels We Have Heard On High

Delanie sang  These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Derek kept Seth entertained in a way that only Derek can.

I channeled my inner Billy Joel and played while I sang I Wonder As I Wander.

Introducing our guests to the joy of the Christmas Eve pinata.

Henry takes a swing.

My happy four year-old (For two more weeks!)

Seth makes a valiant effort.

Delanie does some damage.

Oh the joy that comes from free candy!

Mother Patty and daughter, Delanie.

We opened our Christmas PJs and once everyone left, changed into them for our annual family timer shot.

Testing out the timer function which caught Jay in a blink.  But I love the coordinated kneel.  One day, I hope to create the perfect photo for Awkward Family Photos.

I barely made it into this one.

It was so hot in our house that night and my bangs are the result of my over exertion from running to and fro for these timer shots!

The children are nestled all snug in their beds and the quiet calm after Santa comes is one of my favorite views.

Henry's stocking was lone man on the couch.

Every year, my boys are convinced they will wake up at four in the morning to check their stockings.  And every year, they sleep until they are ready to wake up, this year waiting until 7:15 to rouse from their beds.  I must admit, it is nice to get those few extra hours after such a late night before.

Henry's favorite toy of the day:  a remote control truck from Santa!

Seth and Sam shake out their stockings. (notice the basketball hoop in the background.  That was what Santa brought only he didn't bring the sand to make it stand upright.  Yes, water would work but Jay doesn't want to use water.  When we get the sand, I'm sure the boys will enjoy having an opportunity to work on their shot and some friendly games of P-I-G with their mother).

Sam works on his Perplexus: a three dimensional maze that keeps perplexing Jay:)

Vroom, vroom all day long!

Seth builds a circuit on his new circuit board and explains to his dad how he made this lightbulb come on.

Sam ate his entire package of beef jerkey in one sitting!

Headlamps from Grandma!

Trucks and Toy Story 3 games were the theme of the day for Henry.

Fuschigi anyone?

We all enjoy guessing random bits of trivia throughout the day.  No?

Sam gets a thank-you from his dad for getting him a hat he wanted.

Lots of Bob-It!  I must say that I am proud to hold the record (so far).

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Emoting and Kung Pao Chicken Tutorial

Ah, It's Christmas time, Christmas week and my emotions are all over the place.  Most of the time, I'm delighted.  By life.  By my children.  By the white lights that adorn my mantle and tree.  And then, with no fanfare and little warning, surges of sadness will envelop me.  Today it happened as my children and I drove from place to place to place delivering this years from-our-house-to-yours family gifts.  I was passing the mall, the rinky dink, JC Penneys is the best store of the lot mall and my mind traveled back to shopping in my rinky dink, Hennesey's was the best store of the lot mall of my youth.  I remembered shopping for all five of my siblings in one stop shopping, picking up tacky gifts along the way while simultaneously hoping someone had bought me that sweater from Maurices.   The one with the peach flowers.  And they did.

Yesterday, it happened while I was fishing for addresses from an old file on our ancient-in-computer-years computer.   I scrolled through names of people I fastidiously entered into a database probably six years ago and felt sad that within such a short amount of time, there were people I have completely lost contact with.  Cards from years past have been returned and the connection....gone.  Poof.  The envelope with their name once written now directed to go to another home.   I know it's the nature of long distance friendships to come and go, but, it still filled me with a bit of melancholy as I remembered why they had ever been sent a card in the first place.  We liked them.  We had intentions to stay in touch.

Those are just moments of the day.  Like I said, most of the time, the boys and I are having a great break.  The presents are under the tree and I think this might be one of those Christmases that stays forever imprinted on my mother heart.  All three joyously shake their gifts, guessing what's in the largest box and counting the number with their name on it.  Each night we read a Christmas story and I've seen tears in Sam's eyes as story after story seems to end up showing that love is a lot more important than gifts.  One night, Christmas music streamed from Pandora and I never thought teaching a boy how to curl ribbon while Mariah Carey belted in the background could be so fun.  So...good moments fill our days too.

I want to capture each memory.  Write about it.  Find the humor in the little moments that I prefer to remember.   I sit here and try tonight and feel stressed that it's not as easy as it once was.  Kind of like those friendships of old....

But enough of that.  See, I didn't want to do two separate posts but I did want to clear my mind.  I've had these Kung Pao Chicken pictures waiting for upload for a week now and so I'm combining the two.  Who said emoting and Kung Pao Chicken couldn't go together?

Kung Pao Chicken


First, gather all of your ingredients.  You will need:


two large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 onion (I prefer white)
2 cloves of garlic
1 T of chopped fresh ginger root
1 t of crushed dried chili pepper (or more if you like it extra spicy)
4 T of soy sauce
2 T corn starch
1 T sugar
1/2 C chicken stock
1/4 - 1/2 C of oil.

Once everything is gathered, you start your rice.  I use jasmine and always use a 2:1 ratio.  Two cups of water for one cup of rice.  Or four cups of water for two cups of rice.  You get the idea.  Bring to a boil, add the rice, bring back to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover.  It takes about a half hour.  Sometimes less, so if it's looking done, turn the heat off and leave the lid on and your rice will be perfect.

Next, I start chopping.  It's really necessary to have everything chopped before you begin cooking because everything happens quickly once the cooking begins.  First, I chop the chicken into about 1 inch cubes.

Once they are chopped, I transfer them to a plate, add 2 Tbs of soy sauce as a marinade and then add between 1-2 Tbs of corn starch to coat each piece.  This is an essential step.  I have skipped it before and the chicken comes out rubbery and tough.  The cornstarch cover will make the chicken so, so soft.  Delicious.  Leave to marinate while chopping the vegetable.

Next, I chop the peppers and onion about equal size as the chicken.  It's not a science so just eyeball it.  If one piece seems huge, cut it in half.  For the onion, I cut it into fourths and then I cut the fourths into thirds.  Once chopped, transfer these on a plate as well (or leave on the cutting board if you have more cutting boards to use).

The last thing I chop is the seasonings.  I chop two cloves of garlic and take about three to four slices of a ginger root to cut up.  On this particular evening, I used five dried chili peppers and crumbled them in my hand.  It was a mistake.  Not only was the chicken really spicy, I absentmindedly touched my eye later one.  Yowzers.  I had to do a full head immersion under the sink to get the sting out.  DON'T DO IT!  I think three peppers is safe to start with and add more if you want it extra hot.

I add probably 1/4 of a cup of oil to my wok and heat it on high.  I would add more oil than that to begin with and decrease to 1/4 C as you get more confident with the timing.  You don't want things to burn is all.  

 Once the oil starts looking wavy in the pan, I add the three seasonings (crushed dried peppers, ginger root and garlic)

Stir for about ten seconds and then add chicken.  Like I said, you do not have time to dilly dally.  Be prepared.  Stir fry the chicken and seasons for about three minutes or until chicken is cooked.

Transfer cooked chicken to plate.

Add about a tablespoon of oil to the wok, or don't, depending on if you have any oil remaining from cooking the chicken, and add your vegetables.  Cook these until they reach the desired level of crispness. I usually stir-fry them  for about two minutes.

While vegetables are cooking, make your chicken gravy.  Depending on how much gravy I want or need, I usually do a 1/2 C chicken stock/1 T cornstarch ratio.

Return the cooked chicken to the wok and stir together.  Add 1 T of sugar and 2 Tbs of soy sauce to chicken/vegetable mixture.  Stir.  

Shift the food to one side of the wok and add the cornstarch/chicken stock to the wok.

Bring to a boil and then mix in chicken and vegetables.

For the final step, add 1/2 C of peanuts or cashews.  Then eat and enjoy!

Yes, I eat with a dessert fork when necessary because I only have five dinner forks remaining from my original set.  I know, Mother.  I should go buy some more.

I'll have you know, cooking while simultaneously taking pictures is no easy task.  Hands are frequently dirty and...well....things start to burn.  I'm just saying.  That Pioneer Woman makes it look so easy.  I swear she has help.

I learned this dish from a Taiwanese woman in my relief society.  It took me several attempts to get the hang of it, but now I consider it one of the easiest things I make.  The cornstarch/soy sauce marinade is the critical step.  Once you get the timing of the cooking down, it's practically impossible to mess up.  Unless you add too many peppers. But, I like spicy food so I don't even consider that a mess up.

Try it.  It's really tasty.  And, except for the oil, it's really healthy.