Oscar Birth Announcement

Once upon a time, I had a baby and he was the most gorgeous creature on the planet.
And we live happily ever after.

Baker Girl Blog

Sometimes, I go a long time with no motivation to bake.

Then, I visit this blog {Baker Girl} and I suddenly cannot think of anything else.

And I'm craving beyond belief whatever she showcases.

I blame her wit and amazing kitchen photography skills for making me want to spend my life in my kitchen, taking pictures of menial baking steps, even when I have nothing to bake for and no one but myself to eat my creations.

Adie and Ella Faces

I have the cutest nieces on the planet, who also happen to be absolutely hilarious.

The end.

Brainless Males Being "Macho" with No Regard for Sense and Reason

I might make a few enemies because of this, but...

this would be hilariously funny if only Taken was at all a good movie.

There was hardly a plot line or anything of worth. It was basically just an excuse to watch Liam Neeson beating up people. Not only that, but it was him beating up people way more often and more violently than what was necessary to get his point across. I hated that movie, so much so that it gives me the creepy crawlies just thinking about it, and has ever since I wasted 2 hours of my life suffering through it.

...and now they're making another one.
Fine. I understand the world is going to pot and people love gory pointless gross violent movies.

But why do SO many of my friends and acquaintances have to be glorifying it? I do not understand what good, upstanding, loving people could possibly see of worth so much so that they're just as excited about this movie as ones that actually have something of worth to them.
Ugh.

Have I mentioned that villains in movies that make me despise the movie as a whole are the ones that are brainless males being "macho" with no regard for sense and reason, only a regard for violence and instant gratification? (ie the General or whatever from Avatar)
...and they want to make the hero the one who is like that?

So your daughter got kidnapped. Sure, go after her and save her. There could be worth in that. But why kill every single creature in sight, and why kill them with as much gore and brutality as possible?
I don't get it.

Michele's Favorite Things

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but my sister-in-law Michele's weekly letters inspire me and simply make me happy. This week she focused on some favorite things the kids love. I loved reading it, so I'm going to share, especially the parts that make me laugh.


"Joanne’s journals cracked me up because she wrote a lot about our journeys this year in our family motor home. No we don’t have a motor home but apparently she really wants us to have one."


"Rebecca: Loves [...] playing with my Tupperware. She loves to put her arms up in the air and throw herself on the floor while she kicks and cries. She loves to be out of the house and run after Dad and the kids on the way to the car in the morning. She practices laughing in the car. She loves to just sit by mom or dad and have us all to herself.

"Michael: loves cereal and LOTS of it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He also loves red bell pepper and cries for his red pepper sandwiches. [...] He loves his sword and will only try to get dressed in the morning if I promise to get his sword out of time-out. [...] His favorite whiney phrases: “It takes too long!”, “I can’t!”, and “Ugh!”. 

"Katherine: Loves to change her mind, (so all this changes minute-by-minute). She loves oatmeal—sometimes, and rice—sometimes, and chicken nuggets—sometimes, and crepes--all the time. She loves to help mom cook, and loves to clean the baseboards. 

[...]

"Joanne: loves pink and fashion. [...] She loves to put on shows and sing silly songs.  She loves [...] the smell of garlic, dill pickle sandwiches, peanut butter on pancakes, and “diamond cheese” sandwiches. Her favorite phrase at dinner time is “I’ll make something else”. [...] She loves going to the temple. 

"Ben: Loves computer games.  [...] He loves to read before bed. [...] He loves to make mom happy. [...] He loves getting a drink before bed, and he always wants to stay up and watch movies with mom and dad."

I hope you don't mind, Michele! It's just because I love you.

Jenny's Baby Girl eCard

My niece Jenny sent me this a couple days after we announced that I'm pregnant. I just remembered it. 

My nieces make me happy.

My Setu Heart

This is my good friend Setu.
Though I haven't seen him in who knows how long, tonight I owe him.

As I was thinking, trying to figure out why I can't make friends like I used to, my mind started wandering. Somehow I ended up thinking about a girl I know and how she gushed about hugging Avi from Pentatonix and he laughed or said something and it vibrated through her. It reminded me of Setu.

Setu has one of the most wonderful voices on earth. He's a rumbly, heart-breaking bass whose falsettos rival mine. No, his falsettos totally bite mine in the butt.
His personality is much the same. He's this huge intimidating Polynesian who is really just a sweet tender teddy bear.

I love Setu with all my heart.

I thought about that. Truth be told, I know hardly anything about Setu. And yet I do absolutely adore him and wouldn't hesitate to tell that to anyone.
This is true about many of those I consider my good friends. Or it used to be true.
Really, though I would say that it's true, I haven't thought about many people that way in a while, with love gushing out and me just being thrilled to know and be around them.
I realized: I've forgotten how to love people.

Somehow in the past couple years I've gotten tentative and critical -- of others, but even more so myself. And so, I've forgotten how to love. I've forgotten that it doesn't matter if I know them well and we have deep conversations or if they have faults or if they see my faults or if we don't perfectly match as kindred spirits. It doesn't matter. I can still find the tiniest things to absolutely adore about a person and add them all up until I grow a new heart just for them and I love them with all of it.

Once upon a time I had someone tell me that because I loved so many people, I couldn't love any of them very much because everyone has a limited amount of love to spread around. This frustrated me to no end. That's exactly the opposite of how love works! Christ, the ultimate example of love, loves more people than any of us will ever know, and He loves every one of us more than we can fathom. I believe we can love like Him, to a degree.

That's why I need to start growing hearts again. Lately I've been trying to cut up my heart so that I can give pieces to everyone I want to love. I can't love anyone enough that way. I need to take everything about them and grow a new heart of mine just for each person I want to love.

Then, it doesn't matter whether they or I have faults or whether we're perfectly lined up to be friends. I'll just love them with all my heart, and everything else will work out.