We Love You Uncle Rodney

It's been another interesting morning today. I learned late last night that my Uncle Rodney had passed away. He's been fighting the aftermath of open heart surgery and some congestive heart issues. He has been preceded in death by many other immediate and extended family members. I really hate watching family members have to suffer from health issues when they get older, especially in the final days and hours of their lives. It makes me really appreciate each day that I’m granted to live and try to make a difference.

Uncle Rodney passed away at the hospital surrounded by his family who loved him dearly. Mine and Holly's best thoughts and prayers are with Aunt Verla, Mary and her family, Gayle and her family and Carolee and her family not only today, but in the weeks and months ahead. We love you guys, and are so saddened for the loss of your Dad.

I have so many fun memories of Uncle Rodney, particularly at the many family summer parties and holiday parties, him being “King” of the BBQ. His love for the outdoors, camping and scouting have all benefited the broader family collectively with experiences we might not have had otherwise. I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of familial ties, our ancestors, our memories and traditions you develop due to your experiences with your immediate and extended families, and carrying these on to the younger generations. As well as the importance of temple worship and genealogy work in our lives. Earthly and eternal family relationships are the most important thing one could ever hope for in this life.

Since Mom died in 2006, we’ve also lost Aunt Steph, Uncle Bill, Uncle Mike and now Uncle Rodney. In my 30s, I’m starting to realize that I’m becoming the oldest generation which is a surreal feeling. Due in part mainly to parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles passing away. I need to ensure that I live my life to make in impact on my family, my religious community, my general community and neighbors alike.

Baby Shower

I had the opportunity to host a baby shower this past weekend for my good friend Kelly. I had a great time looking up baby shower things online and spending way to much time with Martha Stewart getting ideas. In the end I tried to keep it simple with a green and white theme nothing overly frilly or baby, just modern and hip like the new parents to be. Dan made all the food which was a total hit. Check out the yummy goodness he shared with all the ladies.

Bruschetta made with pureed peas, asparagus and ricotta cheese. Yum!



Spanakopita and pesto chicken skewers.




For dessert we had melting moments (2 butter cookies held together with butter cream frosting) and homemade pistachio gelato. I made the gelato, it was a lot of work but tasted really good!



It was a good spread.



We decorated in green and white using beautiful flowers. The favors also brought the green and white theme home with squatty canning jars filled with lemongrass salt scrub topped off with a green label and ribbon. These were easy and fun to make. You can find the recipe here.







As for an activity. I thought it would be low key to have cards for the guests to write down their best advice for the parents to be and a favorite children's book. I think it helped get people talking to each other since we had quite a mixed group of women.




I think it went well, and Kelly got some great gifts. It was a fun thing for me to do since I have never had the opportunity to give or even go to a baby shower for my sisters or sister-in-laws and Kelly to me is my sister in Seattle.

Loving the SLUT

Today I took the formerly known SLUT (South Lake Union Trolley), now known as the SLUSC (South Lake Union Street Car), today from Dan's office to the downtown shopping area. It was so easy, clean, fast and crazy people free. I then walked across the street to the metro bus tunnel which was a polar opposite experience. It is also clean and nice in the tunnel, but the bus experience itself is never crazy people free. I sat down on the bus and happened to notice out of the corner of my eye a guy talking to himself. He must have noticed my sidewards glance as he then proceeded to wave at me for the next two stops until I got off. Why do I attract all the crazy people on the bus?

New Designer Slacks

I'm feeling pretty fancy in my new pants that are much, MUCH smaller than what I was wearing prior. I finally decided to splurge on some new tailored slacks, as well as jeans and casual pants. With the weight loss I really had no idea what my pant and shirt sizes were. It's nice to be in pants that are, get this, SIX INCHES OR THREE SIZES SMALLER. I'm definitely encouraged to keep this weight loss reduction up.

Doing Your Part

This past weekend was a good resurgence of long term energy that I needed. We had the opportunity to attend Stake Conference at our church. Stake Conference occurs twice a year, where multiple congregations in a geographical area come together for two days of counsel, leadership and instruction from church leaders, as well as others who have been invited to speak. This occurs in three, two hour meeting blocks.

The thing that had the most impact to me was at the Saturday evening meeting where all adults 18 and older were invited to attend to talk candidly about the issues that all of us face in the world. Most recently the pending economic uncertainty, to youth and young adults who may be having a hard time with addictions that are prevalent in the world today, everyone is bombarded with family or friends who are struggling and having a hard time. The phrase, “Every Member [of the church], needs to be a Member,” really stuck out in my mind. It cannot be a handful of people in our religious community trying to make a world of difference. It takes initiative from everyone to make an impact not only in a religious community, but in all other social circles.

I immediately thought of taking this to the next level. “Every Human needs to be a Humanitarian.” If we all made a concerted effort to be more involved in the lives of other people, not only in our chosen religious communities, but in all circles of life, things really would be better for everyone around us. Despite hard times, we all truly have so much in our lives. People’s attitudes towards others would also change and be more optimistic in general. When I get involved and give of my time and talents willingly, and not begrudgingly, I truly walk away from the opportunity uplifted and am glad that I took the time out of my personal schedule to help someone else. Whether this be helping someone move, taking a meal to someone who is shut in or financially having a hard time, giving someone a ride, visiting a widow or widower, or doing some yard work for someone. I’m really exited to look for ways that I can help other people have a better life, even if it’s only a few moments at a time. The long term benefit this can have in my own life is incalculable. I have so much to be grateful for in my life. The least I can do is pay it forward from time to time.

An Amazing Day in History

For the first time in my life I watched the inauguration of a president. In past years I could have cared less, each president I've seen seemed like a slimy politician that could talk a good talk but in reality couldn't care less about me. Not that our new President can't talk a good talk, but for some reason to me it feels different. I really do feel that he cares about this country and will do all he can to make it a better place.

I really enjoyed his speech today and the encouragement it gave me to not just expect my government to make a change, but that I too need to do my part in changing the world to be a better place. Now I'm not deluded enough to think our new President is going to make the world rosy and perfect, but I do believe that as cheesey and overused as it is, there is a new hope in the air.

For me, right now, today, 2009 is looking to be a good year. If you missed his speech, check it out here.

Me Snarky, Never...

Snark⋅y, pronunciation [snahr-kee] –adjective, snark⋅i⋅er, snark⋅i⋅est. Chiefly British Slang. Testy or irritable; short. Origin: 1910–15; dial. snark to nag, find fault with (appar. identical with snark, snork to snort, snore).

I've been called "snarky" twice this week at work which is pretty funny I've decided. Of course my retort has been, "You are NOW just figuring this out? Sheesh!" :)

Stationery Woes

So there is this really cute stationery place by my office that is locally owned and run by women. I love walking by the windows and seeing what lovely goodies they have to tempt me with, which usually tuns into going in and buying a card or two. They have had the best selection of Snow & Graham, which are some of my favorite letter press cards, than any other store I've been to. Well, the "loud" girl in my office announced that sadly they are going out of business and that everything was 50% off. It was kind of all I could do to not jump out of my chair and head straight to the store. When I got there it was so sad to realize that they really were closing and that the women who run the store were losing a place they loved. I hope they land on their feet and wish them the best of luck in their next endeavor.

(I did get some pretty good deals, I tried not to look too elated as I sifted through cards and note books)

Dubliner Creamy Goodness

My latest foodie treat that I've been gravitating towards has been Dubliner Irish Cheese. I can't seem to get enough of this creamy cheddar / gouda style cheese. And it's super tasty on any type of cracker I'm finding, and even used this cheese to make, in my opinion, the best fondue we've ever had on New Years Eve.

Last week I was in a little of a "huff" at Costco while we were waiting for photos to develop, and much to my surprise I found this cheese at Costco. A huge brick for the same price as the small brick we buy at the regular grocer. The "deal" on cheese made the Costco trip much more bearable. It's the simple things in life that seem to please me most!

Snow/Rain/Floods

Massive flooding in the area, after massive snow has created quite a miserable mess in the Pacific Northwest. Not so much in Seattle city, but all the surrounding communities. The passes have been closed for avalanche danger, freeways closed with standing water. It's going to take quite some time to get the region back to normal. A lot of these areas are just recovering from last years flooding. I remember our home being flooded as a child from a massive snow pack melt in 1983. It takes months/years to put it all back together. I feel sorry for all the people affected in the area.

Photo Courtesy Seattle Times. Where the bridge is in the center of the photo, is the normal channel of the river.

Addicted to China

China, flatware, glassware, table linens, serving pieces, and entertaining often, have been embroiled in me since I was a child. One of the many things I learned from my Mother. Holly and I have enjoyed purchasing and using china since we married and have been building our home together. I have to say that I love after Christmas sales, we were able to finish off our latest Kate Spade holiday china at a great cost. We both love this pattern, the inspiration came from traditional Amish quilts.

A Few Resolutions

Since January is a time for resolutions and to spend time focusing on things we all strive to change in our lives, there are five things that I'm most interested in this year, for continued change in my life. Though these could be classified as resolutions, it's really just being aware of what is going on in peoples lives around me, and being less selfish with my own personal time.

1) Be more directly involved with our immediate neighbors in our neighborhood and broader Ballard community.

2) Continue my lifestyle changes of eating better, exercising more, spending less and becoming even more self reliant. Seeing the outcomes of our efforts, truly has been gratifying.

3) Do my part to make our ward congregation function better, and develop a better attitude about church attendance in general. One truly gets out of church attendance, what they put into it. Help people commit to, regularly attend, and keep an ongoing schedule of regular temple attendance in their lives. The temple is such a great source of peace in my life, and I want others to enjoy it as much as I do.

4) Be more involved in the lives of all my family members, from siblings to nieces and nephews. Actually send a physical birthday card to everyone and not fret about the expense.

5) Get back into custom wood carving, and make my Noah's Ark and sets of ark animals that I've been taking about for a few years now. I need to go check out Little Shavers down in South Seattle. I apparently can purchase my pattern blanks down at their retail outlet.

Jordan River Temple Trip

As a family, we enjoyed a temple session during our Christmas vacation at the Jordan River LDS temple in South Jordan Utah. Holly and I have been to this temple before on a prior trip to Utah, but this was the first time we were together with most of Holly's family. I didn't get a picture of everyone, but here is a picture of Holly, her sister Renae and her Mom. We met Kyle and Alicia at the temple. The backdrop of the actual temple in the background was beautiful as it was turning dusk and was lit up with lights. It was FREEZING cold! For those of us in our family that are able to attend the various LDS temples, and are interested in doing so, we enjoying attending the temple with family whenever we can. Afterwards we congregated at Kyle and Alicia's home and had dinner with all the nieces. This temple outing was a nice compliment to our recent family visit.

In Ghost Colours

I've decided that I'm really liking the genre of "Indie Rock" music lately. This CD, "In Ghost Colours," by Cut Copy is a lot of fun, if I do say so myself. This is perfect work out music at the gym, as well as car commuting music. Holly and I have this on our iPod's to randomly listen to. I need to check out and see if their other released albums and imports are just as fun.

Homemade Organic Yogurt

After numerous tries, some great and some total disasters, I've finally gotten my homemade yogurt recipe exactly to where I want it. The correct texture, flavor, tartness and sweetness. My batch from this past weekend is the best yet. It all has to do with the quality of the milk I'm using to start the culture, as well as the quality of the other ingredients. I don't sweeten it with sugar at all. I do all the sweetening with honey and a little pure vanilla. I'm enjoying this with some diced apple and grape nuts. I'm pleasantly surprised that using organic milk made all the difference in the final product. I need to not squawk or complain about the cost, when the end result is so much better, and all the more healthier for me/us in the long run.