I'm Picky, Are You?

 
I never thought of myself as a picky eater, until recently, when I made a discovery:  I am a picky eater.  

I used to think picky eaters were the kids in my family, who won't eat half of what is served to them (or less than half), or the adults in my family that don't like all of the same foods that I like.  I thought that if someone else was doing the cooking, I would eat just about anything, and anyone who doesn't like my cooking is just simply ungrateful.

I know I'm not the world's best chef (which is understandable since I don't even aspire to be considered a chef of any sort--cooking is my least favorite chore), but why would it matter if:
-I didn't follow a recipe exactly?
-I don't use the same recipe you're used to?
-I included an ingredient or two that doesn't TASTE good to you?  (ham, tomatoes, or noodles--heaven forbid, etc.)
-I burnt the food just a teeny tiny eensy teensy bit?
-I brought home the generic brand instead of your favorite name brand food?

In my mind, those were all the characteristics of a picky eater.  None of those quirks bother me in the least.

BUT, I finally recently realized and decided that I have to be in the picky eater's club, whether I like it or not...just for different reasons.

You see, for me, it generally doesn't matter if something doesn't taste quite right, or look quite right even.   But I discovered that I do have two criteria that all of my food choices center around: is the food A) "healthy" enough, or B) is it so incredibly delicious that I will let the health-aspect slide (and this usually only applies to sugary foods).  Oh, and C)-if the food is overpriced, I probably don't want to buy it (this doesn't apply to wonderful restaurants, where the atmosphere makes up the cost difference). 

Even if it tastes kind of yucky...if it's good for me, I will love it.  Brussel sprouts, tofu, whole wheat everything, fat free/light/low calorie--bring it on.  On the other hand, if it's not good for me, please don't offer it (unless it's sugary).  Extra butter on the popcorn--are you trying to kill me?  Deep fried whatevers?  Get me out of here!  White bread? Pass, but thanks anyway.  Greasy cheesy pizza?  Well, if you'll lighten up on the cheese, make the crust thin, and load it up with vegetables (and less greasy meat), then I'll probably eat 4 slices ; ).

I'm hoping to discover that everyone is picky in their own way.  That will make me feel better for realizing I've been in the picky eater's club all along.

So I'm just wondering...what kind of eater are you?  Picky with taste, picky with nutrition, picky with ingredients, picky with where the recipe came from, picky with cost?  Does this thought represent you: "I don't care how healthy it is, as long as it tastes good"?  What matters most or doesn't matter to you?  (Please reply...pretty please?)

April Birthdays

Happy 11th, Didi!

Top 11 reasons why the world is a better place since the birth of Didi Lovell, who was born 11 years ago this month:

1.  When she was born, we knew our kids wouldn't be all boys.  That was exciting!  We were hoping for at least one of each : ).  (We ended up with 2 of each, which of course was doubly exciting!)
2.  She adds one more soft voice to the world.  There are definitely plenty of loud people out there, and very few soft-spoken people.  Her tenderness is a rare treasure.
3.  Her gorgeous smile, bright eyes, and not to mention her amazing waist-long hair, add real beauty to our world!
4.  She is confident in her singing talent and is willing to share it with those around her--we can't wait to hear her perform the singing role of Kaa the Snake in her school musical in a few weeks!

5.  She loves our Heavenly Father and cares about following his commandments, which makes the world a safer and happier place for everyone!
6.  She speaks kindly to everyone.  She is a great friend to have!
7.  She is intelligent--getting straight A's in school!  So whether she decides to perform, calculate stuff, keep records, teach people stuff, or help people out both now and in the future, we can all trust that she's going to be smart about her choices and we'll all be better off for her service!
8.  She is thoughtful!  She always writes me nice letters when I am sad, and she makes fun and beautiful gifts for other people when she is feeling artsy and crafty.  You can always count on Didi to lift your spirit when she's around.
9.  She joins me in my hobbies and responsibilities, which gives me the blessing of companionship. Stamping classes, cooking in the kitchen, anything crafty...recently we made clay figures together, and we are looking forward to using her Shrinky Dink stuff that she got for her birthday.  Fun!  She likes to shop with me (we both love to shop together at the thrift stores), and walk with me to go places.  I love having her by my side!
10.  She adds music to our world!  I already talked about her beautiful singing voice, but you should hear her play the piano!  She's going to put on some truly amazing concerts someday.  For now, I just love hearing her master song after song.  Her piano playing talents are truly a gift!  (Her saxophone chops are brand new, but also coming along nicely : ).)
11.  She is sensitive and kind, beautiful and happy, organized and pays good attention to detail when finishing any task, she's creative, funny, smart, helpful, and amazing!  Our world is definitely blessed by the presence of our Didi!

birthday gift in the box:  "good kids"

And now, on to our second birthday person of the month--JAZZ.  Instead of writing out 37 of the reasons we are all lucky to know Jazz (that might take too long), I'll just offer 11 favorite reasons as they come to me, as I did for Didi.  Here goes nothin'...

1. His amount of gray hair makes the rest of us feel younger, ha ha!
2. He has great piano chops.  He's even willing to share them as accompanist now of the ward choir!
3. He still has saxophone chops, when he needs them. 
4. He is the world's best husband!
5. He loves his parents and siblings, nieces, nephews...he cares about all of them deeply and tries to stay in touch with them. 
6. He is an amazing father.  So loving, fun, and a great teacher of values.
7. He is fun to talk with on the phone!
8. He is Superman.  Where would the world be without him?

 ice cream on chocolate waffles doesn't hold candles well

9. He understands the scriptures and the gospel and helps me understand them.  He lives the gospel and is a worthy priesthood holder.  We are all blessed by his righteous example.
10. He is willing to fulfill his callings in the church to the best of his ability, even when it's hard!  (Right now he wonders if there is anything more challenging than his current calling--Primary teacher of the 5 year old boys!)
11. He is a great scholar!  The world is about to find out what a great researcher, writer, and reporter he is--as he is soon to have his dissertation published.  Can't wait!

And one more 'cause he deserves this big bonus shout-out:

12. He is a favorite professor among his students.  I'm not kidding! Time and time again, students have come to him and thanked him for his guidance, even after times when he has had to be tough on them.  One student said these things in an email to him this week:

  "I just wanted to take the time just to say thank you. Thank you for all that you have done for me specifically to become a better musician... I never thought theory would be fun, or interesting but I just wanted you to know that you have made it this way.  ...[Other students and I] want your approval more than more than any teacher, student or mentor on this campus.
     "So again, thank you for your patience through our struggles as musicians, students and young adults. I will always be grateful for your input and knowledge. I hope that in the years to come you will always be a resource and mentor to me as I build my path of musicianship."

Wow!  Way to go, Prof. Lovell! 

So happy birthmonth to our two April-ites.  We LOVE you so much!!

Who Moved My House? Part II

Since I had some major plans fall through this week (missed my flight and had to cancel a 4-day trip--boo hoo!), now's probably a great time for me to get to write this post that I've been wanting to write for weeks.   Here's the rest of the story that I started by telling of my childhood homes...now on to my grown-up homes.

PROVO, Utah*--It's 1992, I'm in college now, and living on my own for the first time.  I got to live in the dorms my first year, so I remained naive a little longer to the life skills of shopping and cooking for myself, etc., but at least I managed to work a part-time job while I studied.  My first job was in this very stadium, in the concession stands.  Good times!  I can still remember trying not to lick my fingers when selling those yummy cinnamon and sugar-coated churros.  I don't think I ever got used to the winter weather there, but who wouldn't want to look at those beautiful mountains every day?!  Gorgeous.  I lived in Provo for almost my entire college career, until I got married (which came in my 5th year of studies).  I just want to finish my Provo segment by saying that the BYU campus is my favorite place on earth.  It has everything I would ever want from the world--superb music & other arts, racquetball (& a few other sports), education (of course), an amazing library, religion, and the BYU Bookstore is something like I would imagine the mall in heaven to be like ; ).  I LOVE BYU.  I hope my kids get to go there!
 *Before I/we left Utah for New Jersey, Jazz and I also lived awhile in Springville and Orem, but those really aren't too different from Provo.  Except that now I was a newlywed, and a couple years later a mother, so of course that was a whole new world!

Paella de Marisco--yum!

SPAIN--Madrid, Salamanca, Leganés, Toledo: In the middle of my college years, for 17 months I had the privilege of living in Spain as a missionary for our church.  I got to work in 5 different areas (2 in Madrid), and once a week if we didn't have too many other responsibilities, we missionaries were able to play tourist just a little bit.  Some of my very favorite things I loved seeing or experiencing while I was there were the windmills in Castilla la Mancha, eating their delicious food, speaking their beautiful language of "Castellano", and meeting and growing to love the Spaniards.  I really miss them.  I loved the castles and the grandiose Catholic churches.  Oh, what I wouldn't give to return there someday to see it all again.
    Spain is indeed a glorious place...but when my mission was through, I was very ready to move forward and return to my native land.

Jazz 'n Jenna with our two babies in 2004

North Brunswick, NEW JERSEY--wow, I love the trees!  I finally understood why some people (not I) think Utah is a desert...hello POPCORN TREES in the spring! The shores (I had to unlearn the term "beaches") were great.  And we all learned by listening to those around us, how to say "How you doin'?" just like Joey on Friends.  We felt that the biggest perk to living in NJ was being close to all of the other northeastern states that have cool sites--like in Washington D.C., in New York City, and in Philadelphia.  So one might think most of our fun was had outside of the state itself, but I should at least give props to Rutger's University in Newark, which granted Jazz the title, "Master of Music" after he completed his degree there in Jazz History and Research.  Thanks, NJ!
       We were in NJ for 2 1/2 years for the completion of that degree, and when it was done, we made a quick stop back in Utah for 8 months before moving on to California (long story...in short, let's just say that the "2nd Master's Degree" plan at BYU didn't work out). 

Sacramento, CA Temple     (I got to sing at its dedication!)

Orangevale, CALIFORNIA-- Here we got to experience life outside of college for 2 1/2 years.  Jazz investigated studying at UC Davis, but that wasn't in the stars for us, so he got to work full-time as a piano teacher, and later I joined him in a family business for awhile selling cookware!  We started out living with Mom & Dad for a few months, and were excited later to have (rent) our very own house (not apartment!) with a great backyard.  The weather in California was a little too hot at times, but that's okay.  We thought of buying a house at one point, but, well, houses in California are just simply too expensive!  No worries, we weren't meant to stay in California anyway.  Hey, how about giving that doctoral degree one more shot?  The University of Oregon thought that was a great plan for us, and they said OKAY!

Eugene, OREGON--We planned on three years, but we stayed for five.  We were very happy there, living once again in student family housing!  There was quite a bit of culture shock when we first arrived to Eugene--some nuances we grew to love, others not so much.  We were definitely in the minority as practicing Christians, politically conservative, and sometimes we even felt like the minority being Caucasian (lots of foreign students shared family housing with us).  We learned to become more environmentally conscious (joined forces with the tree-huggers, just a little bit!), and living in Track-town USA taught me how to become a runner.  Very cool!   A few times we went to the beach the shore the coast, but it was usually too windy and cold. Springtime allergies here were a first for me (NOT fun), but the summers were PERFECT, the pink & red fall leaves were unbelievably awesome, and the rainy winters made me happy!  Like I said before, we were so happy there, but knew we were not meant to stay, and we were so happy to move forward once again...on to PA for...(drum roll...)...a NEW JOB!  Hooray!

PENNSYLVANIA--has introduced us to lush corn fields and country life, which is a beautiful change of scenery.  This is our "adventure in progress", and it's been lots of fun so far.  The kids are thriving in school here, and Jazz loves his job.  I'm fascinated with learning about the new-to-me cultures of the Pennsylvania Dutch, the Amish and Mennonite faiths, and feel so happy to no longer be in the minority as practicing Christians.  Mormonism isn't very prevalent here...yet...but I'm always up for the mission of sharing the gospel when I can : ).  The weather?  Except for the fluke catastrophes we experienced last fall (flash flood, earthquake, snow before Halloween), so far so good.  Last winter broke us in gently.  We think it's cool to be near Hershey (yum), and again close to our US history sites in D.C. and Philly, and all--there is much sightseeing to be done!  And a wonderful life ahead of us to be had, here in Pennsylvania.

      Will there be more moves?  Don't ask me.  For the first time in my life, there are no planned moves, and I'm just reveling in this new feeling of what it might be like to "settle down".  I'm not comfortable with that idea, really, so it's possible I'll get the itch again in a few years to pull out the cardboard boxes and go through the whole process again.
     Okay, I just remembered YES, we have one more move coming up, when we'll change from our rented home to owning our first, but that's not for a couple of years.
     Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is making its way into my heart as one of my many homes.  I feel luckier than most, to have so many!

My Best Choir Day Ever with My Favorite Conductor in the Whole World

Yesterday was pretty much one of the BEST days of my singing life.  I got to spend the day singing with one of my dear friends and one of my favorite musicians in the whole world, Mack Wilberg.  I was blessed to sing in his choirs for 3 years at BYU, and when he left BYU to lead the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 1999, I didn't know if I'd ever get to sing with him again.  He is currently one of the most well-known and loved choral sacred music composers in the world.  (You can just Google his name to see how famous he is.)  Well...our timing in moving to Pennsylvania ended up being PERFECT, as it brought Mack and I together for a blessed reunion!

Here's how our timing was so perfect:  Just a couple of weeks after we arrived here, we attended Stake Conference.  Even though we hardly knew anyone, and although I was not liking the new one hour drive between our stake center and our home, I decided I would love to be part of the stake choir performing that weekend.  That was the best choice, right there!

There was only one rehearsal for the stake choir, and that was when I heard the announcement:  Dr. Wilberg would be coming to PA!  The ONLY time they passed around the sign-up sheet for this opportunity of a lifetime was at this rehearsal, and they had room for only 40 LDS singers from our stake to join the large inter-faith choir that would perform with Dr. Wilberg on March 10th.  He was going to come for an American Composer's Choral Festival, hosted by one of the Lutheran churches in Camp Hill, PA (a bit of a drive for me, but HELLO!  SO WORTH IT!!!).  At this concert, SEVENTEEN of his fabulous compositions would be featured, and MOI would get to sing 11 of them, all under his direction.  AWESOME!!!

I don't know if you can imagine how excited I was about this day, I just knew it was going to be perfect.  AND IT WAS!  We rehearsed together for 2 sessions in the morning (that's not much rehearsal time, but it was enough because we had all rehearsed with our local groups on a few other occasions so we'd be prepared for that day), and then had our concert in the evening.  Jazz got to attend the concert, thanks to our rare find of a good babysitter for about 6 hours that night (which also allowed us to go to dinner with our friends and my fellow choir participants before the concert-FUN!).   

I thought I was going to be crying all day from the excitement, but I didn't get choked up until the opening number of the concert, the middle number, and the end number : ).

Aside from the music, the other highlights of the day were getting to speak with Brother Wilberg on two occasions, very briefly.  Even though I was one of probably his million choir students during his time at BYU, he totally remembered me and was surprised and happy to see me on this side of the country.  Awesome.  I got/gave him two hugs, yes I did!  That was so great.  What a perfect day.  Even today I'm still reeling with the beauty of the experience, and remember how on top of the world I felt being there with him, making music--his music--with him once again.  If I never get to sing with him again, this was enough.  It was the BEST.

This is a bunch of very excited LDS friends who were in the festival choir with me, and our completely amazing guest conductor, Mack Wilberg.

The night before our big day, the Lutheran church people had a reception for Brother Wilberg.  They were so impressed with what a remarkable person he is.  So genuine, kind, and wonderful to be with.

The Trinity Lutheran Church in Camp Hill, PA, where we performed.  The acoustics were great, and the setting was beautiful!  I heard that it was big enough to seat 600 people, but they sold out with 800 tickets!  I think they had an overflow room where the extra 200 people got to enjoy the concert. 

After the concert.  I couldn't resist one more chance to speak with my friend. It was fun to discover that there was also a former member of his BYU Men's Chorus participating in our 235 voice choir that night, and another former Men's Chorus member in the audience that night.  I bet he gets to enjoy those kinds of reunions wherever he goes--how fun for him!

LOVE!

Beautiful and Healthy

I presented to my youth group of girls tonight at the church a lesson on how to recognize and cherish "real beauty". It's a subject that means a lot to me, and I hope I was able to pass on some true ideas that will help them.  

We discussed a lot of important ideas, and then we made a craft together:  I had them decorate large paper hearts, and on the back we glued a little list of what we decided helps bring out true beauty.  I told them to keep it in their dresser drawer so that they can discover it often, and re-read the list for years to come, so that they can always remember how beautiful they are!  Here is the message we glued on the back of their hearts:


 

BEAUTIFUL AND HEALTHY

That’s what I am!

1. I think nice thoughts about myself.
2. I don’t talk badly about myself in my mind. 
3. I don’t say negative things out loud that are critical of my body, or anyone else’s body.
4. I know that magazine cover pictures aren’t always true to life!
5. I “fight for fitness!”  I set goals to keep myself active.
6. I compliment others on their beautiful character traits, not just how they look.
7. I know that there are other important things to think about besides how I look, such as being kind, doing well in school, helping others, and choosing the right.
8. I believe in serving others, which helps me feel good about myself.
9. I am picky with what media ideas I view and accept.  I choose media that values women for their talents and personality, and that present women in real-life ways.  I reject and run away from media messages that show women in inappropriate and unrealistic ways.
10. I promise to set a good example for others by not being critical of myself or of others.
11. I know that being beautiful and healthy means more than just how I look!

Here's me with one of the most beautiful people in my world, my Grandma Limb!

 Here's to all of the truly beautiful people in this world who inspire us!

P.S.  I also shared a quote from the following talk, and gave copies of it to the girls that were interested in reading it to pass off a requirement for their Faith in God program.  It's a great talk for all women!  It's called "To Young Women", by Elder Jeffrey Holland.

           

Organized, and I Love It! My Menu Planning System

STEP 1: Choose a filing system.  For now I've got it all on index cards because they fit so nicely in this organizer thing that I bought at a yard sale about 100 years ago.  I'm so happy with the use that I FINALLY found for it!                You will have 3 things to file: Theme Lists, Shopping List cards, and 2-Week Meal Calendars.

Here's the inside of my organizer pouch thing.  The alphabetized tabs turned out perfect for my system.  I file my Shopping List cards* alphabetically (I find this makes the meals easier to find than filing them according to theme).  In the front there's a compartment for my Theme Lists*, and in the back, there's a compartment for my 2-Week Meal Calendars*.       (*shown below).

                       STEP 2:  Choose Themes.  You could choose 7-14 themes, and assign them to a day of the week, or just rotate them.  I just rotate mine.  I just added an extension card to my "Mexican & Misc." card because I've been learning new recipes, but later I'm sure I'll want to just separate that into two different categories.  Some other category suggestions are: Fish, Meatless, Kids' Favorites, Foreign Foods, Grill...  The important part about my theme cards is that I have a visible LIST, not just loose recipes to choose from.                       

Just a closeup of two of my theme cards.  My dots on the right side mean that we had them recently.  I want to do each recipe on the card before I use it again, then I'll mark them in a different way next time around.  When it gets too marked up, I'll either re-write the card, or come up with a different marking system.                   Another option I'm considering is writing my THEME LISTS on a full size sheet of paper, put it in a sheet protector in a binder, and then I could put removable stickers on the meals as I use them (with sheet protectors, stickers can be removable, or you could even use dry erase markers to make a check-mark or something.  When each meal on that theme gets a sticker/mark, then I'll take them all off). 

STEP 3:  Plan your meals for 2 Weeks.  These are my 2-WEEK MEAL CALENDARS.  You can see that I haven't chosen 14 meals for my 2-week span, because surely there will be a Left-overs Night or two in there, or a "We only have time for a 5-minute meal" Night so we'll just  insert Quesadillas or something in there.  For our family, planning 10-12 actual meals for the 2-weeks is enough.  I SAVE THESE, because someday in the future I'll be able to just grab a 2-week Meal Calendar and just re-use it AS-IS, or I can modify it slightly, and BAM!  Planning time is all done in 1 minute for that next 2 weeks!

I write my meal calendars on the cards that can be filed, but I also write the plan bigger on this mini dry-erase board on our fridge.  Now I don't have to answer the kids 5 times a day "what's for dinner tonight, Mom?"  They can just check the fridge.

 As a quick aside, I want to add a plug here for DRY ERASE CRAYONS!  (That's what I use on my fridge menu board).  They are AWESOME!  They won't ever dry out, and I think they're going to last 100 years!  They write beautifully on glass and plastic, and they wipe off dry or wash off completely with water, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them.  If you ever see some in a store, buy them, and you will love them too! 

STEP 4:  Make a Shopping List Card for each meal.  Notice:  These are generally not full-recipe cards.  For recipes that are found in my cookbooks, this is just a list of ingredients for the meal (the recipe location is referenced in the upper right corner of this shopping list card). 

If I don't have the recipe in a cookbook or other location, then I can write the whole recipe here, and this will just be my recipe card and shopping list card at the same time (the "R" in the upper right corner means this Shopping List Card is also the recipe itself).

The best parts about this system for me are:

1.  I do my planning and major shopping now only once every 2 weeks.

2.  We're saving money on groceries because I'm at the store less frequently.

3.  It's SO much easier for me to try new recipes now.
I used to avoid new recipes like the plague because we never had the right ingredients, but now I am using probably 3-5 new recipes every 2-weeks, and my planning ahead assures that we have all the stuff we need. Now we don't have to eat the same things all the time!  Even the kids are getting more brave about eating unfamiliar foods because we're discovering lots of yummy new meals.

4.  Now I am so much happier at pre-dinner time.  So much less stress!
Feeling less stress at dinner time makes me such a nicer person.  No more "I don't know what's for dinner and everyone's already hungry" worries.  

I'll admit, my planning sessions still take some work, since at this point I'm still in the process of making my shopping list cards during my planning sessions (I have just been making my shopping list cards as I plan the meals).  When those shopping list cards are all made, it will cut down my planning time considerably.  BUT STILL, this is only planning stress once every two weeks at this point, and no longer every night!

Please let me know if you have any questions...and good luck in your organizing endeavors!

L-O-V-E Continues...and Giveaway Winner

I really enjoyed reading everyone's replies to my last L-O-V-E post!  Thanks for everyone's visits and Blog Hop giveaway entries.

 I had my winner chosen the old-fashioned way (I have never used the online random number chooser things that everyone else knows how to use):  I wrote everyone's names on little slips of paper, and I asked my 10-year old daughter to draw out the winning name.  The person who won 5 of my hand-stamped cards is...Mhairi!  I was excited when I found out which person she was, because she had left such a nice comment on my Happily Ever Stamping blog:

"I love your dinosaur cards. I have a little boy who would adore these. Have you done any Lego cards - that is the other thing he loves?
My little girl loves spiders, so I will keep an eye out for some of them.
Love your blog. Thanks for taking part in the bloghop."

Thanks, Mhairi, and I hope you enjoy the cards!  They'll be in the mail within the week after I hear back from you.


------

Now that everyone's replies are in, I feel compelled to add an addendum to my post.  I feel so silly for some of the major things in my life that I forgot to mention in my original LOVE list... I was in a such hurry to get the post composed and published that I forgot some of the most important things!  So I'm adding to my own list some of my favorite things that were mentioned by all of my new blogging friends:

*God's perfect love!  I love Him so much and forever, and His love for me means everything to me.  I strive to love others the way He does! 

*Hobbies love.  The things we love to do, or make, or witness, or experience.  My hobbies include performing music (especially singing), attending concerts, taking walks, exercising, reading, rubber stamping/making cards, scrapbooking/making photobooks online...

And some of your favorites that you listed that I thought were great ideas are:  gardening, taking walks, QUILTING (of course!), traveling, sewing, drawing, living on a farm, watching critters out the window, and winning giveaways (ha ha!).

Most of the other things everyone listed I think would fit under my previous categories (Family love, Things love, etc.) but I thought a few more of your ideas merit repeating here.  I wish I could give prizes to all the answers that made me smile and laugh : ), including:

*Star Trek!
*The smell of my husband's neck
*The stranger who might need help
*Laughter
*Being able to homeschool
*America!
*"My grandmother's quilt.  If there was a fire, that's the thing I'd grab first even before the family albums."
*The color of fall where I live.
*Peace & Quiet
*Church
*Smell of vanilla
*Putting puzzles together
*Long, hot bubble baths (yes!)
*Smell of rain, sound of rain

I hope you're all feeling the LOVE like I am!  I hope to "see" you all again soon!