Another home story

This is just a quick story...my uncle and cousins have snow mobiles. Dad and I went out with them today. No, that's not the story, I just wanted to post a couple of pictures-notice the helmets. We're responsible adults!
When dad and I got home and started talking to mom, I said "Turns out a snow mobile can go 75mph...who knew?"

Anyone who knows my mom can imagine the pained face she made. She expressed her exasperation at my love for speed, then asked whether we had helmets on. Dad and I assured her we did. Dad then said "You always have to beat me. I only got up to 70!"

For all you Texans, that white stuff on the ground in the pictures is snow. It's what happens when precipitation comes and the temperature is below freezing. Not the freezing when you go outside and say "It's freezing out here." The freezing where it's actually below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (Zero Celsius...273 Kelvin, you get the point).

I love being home.

The Joys of Home

I promised pictures in my last post-I realized it doesn't matter if I brought the camera cord home, because lappy has a card reader. Don't you just love modern technology? Pictures will follow, but there are also stories that need to be told.

For reasons I love being home, family is at the top of the list. I'm pretty close to my cousins. We had a party last so we could all get together. My cousin Owen called and left my dad a message earlier in the day, asking if his sister Mindy could bring her boyfriend. I returned the call-it went something like this:
Owen: Hello?
Me: Hey Owen, this is Janelle. Dad said he got a message from you asking about bringing Mindy's boyfriend...he's welcome to come.
Owen: Who's your dad?
Me: Your uncle...Doug.
Owen: Oh!
Conversation continues, but is not funny past this point.

Yeah, that was the first laugh of the day. When Owen, Rachael (his other sister), Brad (one of his brothers), Uncle Kieth (his dad) and Aunt Jo (his mom) arrived, I was in the kitchen helping mom cook. The conversation kind of stayed in the kitchen area. We asked about significant others. My lack of said other came up, and they offered to set me up with someone (like any good family would). I said sure, as long as he's Mormon. Owen said (with much surprise) "Janelle, you're Mormon?!?! When did this happen?" and everyone burst out laughing. I said something like "All my life". Aunt Jo said "She went to BYU!". Poor kid, he then started asking other family members if they were Mormon too. Turns out he had no idea. I wish I had been able to see his face, I'm sure he was pretty surprised-he sounded pretty surprised. I guess we can't give him too hard a time-he is 10 years younger than I am, which means that he was about 10 years old when I left for college.

Now, for pictures.

Below is a picture of my uncle Dennis and our dog, Zeke. He usually doesn't come in the house (the dog, not my uncle), and we were super surprised when he came right in the open door after someone said his name. He is part chow part lab and probably something else too. He's quite camera shy. I've tried to get pictures of him several times, but he runs away from the camera. This was the best one.


Below is how we often spend our cousin parties. Pinochle is a favorite with my cousins, and we almost always play a game (or eight) when we get together. There was also a table playing Five Crowns, and eventually the Farming Game came out too.


As I mentioned before, Mom and I always make copious amounts of cookies and candy. What's in the bowl below is divinity.

These are my favorite Christmas cookie. Not only do the look neat, they taste great too!

What Christmas cookie plate would be complete without ginger snaps?

The finished products, awaiting delivery.

And, no trip home would be complete without several trips to town in the Mustang. I love the way this car feels. The seats are comfortable, the steering wheel feels good in my hands, and all the world is right (even when she won't start easily because it's cold-she can be coaxed). Sitting in front of Shubert's eating my milkshake behind the wheel of the Mustang. How can Texas ever hope to compete?

Life is Good

Home for Christmas...all I can say is it's great to be home! I miss California when I'm not here! I love the farm land, the trees, and the weather-it finally feels a little like winter. I realize that it's nothing compared to other places, but it's more wintery than San Antonio. Mom and I are baking cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. I'll have to see if I brought my camera cord so I can post some pictures. I love being with my family, and it's nice to have a break from the reality of being a grown up.

A Proud Graduate

I heard on the news this morning (NPR or WOAI, I can't remember which I was listening to) that a researcher at the University of Queensland, Australia (the university at which I chose to pursue my Master's Degree), just came out with findings that removing a band-aid quickly is less painful than removing it slowly. Ah, the wonderful research that takes place. I'm sure this finding will change the world (can you see my tongue in my cheek?).

Is it interesting just to find these things out scientifically? Why do people study things of little to no significance when diseases like cancer and HIV still need better treatments? Just wondering.

Turducken Tuesday

My wonderful Cajun friend brought me a turducken from his trip home to Louisiana for Thanksgiving. I've since been looking for an excuse to cook said bird(s). We did so on Tuesday-which I dubbed Turducken Tuesday. I put it in the oven bright and early, and let it cook all day. The house smelled amazing when I came home that night. When we cut the bird, it looked like this:

You can see all the bird and stuffing layers. I cooked several side dishes, and made a trifle for dessert. I love how it looks through the dish. I topped it with whipped cream-delicious.

Here's a shot of Keri loading up her plate.
I can now highly recommend turducken. It was amazing!

As time goes by

My grandma's 90th birthday is on Sunday. My grandma is amazing. I remember her making clothes for my dolls when I was very young. She crocheted baby blankets, afghans, and clothes, and made intricately beaded jewelery. She can no longer do most of these things. Between her failing eyesight and carpal tunnel syndrome, things just don't come together like they once did. My grandmother is still an amazing woman-she serves in her church callings with dedication, and loves my family. I am grateful for her example and lessons.

All of this has me thinking about my genes. I have long life genes from both sides-my dad's mom is not far behind mom's mom, and his aunt lived to over 100, as did my mom's great aunt. I am...over 21. I have started to realize that I can't do things I used to be able to do, or that they aren't as easy as they used to be. I remember soccer in high school, and when I play now I just can't do some things I used to do...easily. I imagine this problem worsens with age. I can still see relatively well (as long as I'm wearing my contacts), I can crochet, knit and sew without trouble. I can French braid my own hair, which is neither grey nor falling out. Running is only sometimes painful (outside of the normal soreness because I don't do it regularly enough), and yoga keeps me pretty flexible. There will be a time, I'm afraid, that these things are no longer true. At this point, I hope to have figured out what it means to grow old with grace.

Meanwhile, my goal is to live a life that I will be content to look back on. I do not want to regret my actions, nor do I wish to mourn things I should have and could have done, but didn't for whatever reason. This means I have to know myself well enough to confidently decide when to take action and when to hold back. I think I'm well on my way-I have lived an amazing life up to now. I am grateful for the blessings that have made this possible. I look forward to whatever my future holds, because I know there are things waiting that I can't even imagine right now.

More Moments of Decision

Wednesday night was my last Institute class for the semester. We talked about the last week of Christ's life. There was an interesting discussion about decisions that made me think. Interesting how we know things, but hearing them at certain times makes them more poignant. There are some decisions that only need to be made once, and others that we make over and over again...what university to attend is usually a "once" decision. Even if it is made more than once, there's usually a finite limit. What I'm having for breakfast is a decision that gets made every day (not as important a decision as school, but still a decision). Some of the more interesting decisions are the ones we wish we could make once, but we usually make over and over. One such decision (in my mind) is my life outlook. I learned at BYU that happiness is a decision. I may have known before I attended, but it was explained once there in a way that I really understood. I made a decision to be happy. I wish that were a decision I could make once and never have to think about again.

It's not!

I don't remember exact circumstances, but I think the decision lasted about a week or so-then something happened. Again, I don't remember what. My reaction was un-happy. I remembered my decision to be happy, and made it again. This time it lasted for about 10 seconds. I made the decision again, and it lasted a little longer. Each time the thing that made me un-happy came to mind, I pushed it out with a decision to be happy. It seemed to get a little easier each time, and yet I wondered (and still wonder when I'm in the situation again) if this was really being happy, or if it was something else. I don't remember how long it took, but things went back to normal, and my decision to be happy was easy again-I no longer had to think about it. As time has passed, things have continued to happen to make me un-happy. I made the decision to be happy several years ago, but have to stick with it over and over again. It is not a decision I regret, though sometimes it is a trying one. Looking at others I sometimes wonder what the harm would be in wallowing in my unhappiness-but I realize that those people are usually un-happy for most of their lives. What's the point of being miserable all the time? It takes too much energy!

I think I've digressed. The point I wanted to make when I started was that I think many of us make good decisions ("I'm going to be happy") and expect them to be easy (i.e. we'll only have to make them once, and magically they become our nature). Many of these good decisions go against human nature (in its most raw form, at least), but paradoxically make us happier for the struggle. We are more grateful for things we have to work for because we appreciate the cost.

It's a funny story....

I bought myself new wiper blades several weeks ago-at this point, it may have been two or three months. When I tried to put them on, I realized the release mechanism for the old blades was different than any I had encountered before. I messed around a while before giving up. I asked an un-named individual to help me. Said person agreed, but hasn't followed through (not that I've reminded them...). I was driving home in the drizzle today, thinking about how poorly San Antonians drive when the road is wet. I turned the wipers on the mist setting-just to clear the windshield a bit. The driver's side wiper blade fell off.

That's never happened before.

When I got home, I figured out the release mechanism for the right blade, and replaced both with the semi-new ones that had been riding around behind my seat waiting for help. Sometimes help comes from unexpected sources.