A few of my favorite things

Hello World!

Well, Natalie set up this joint blog almost a month ago and I haven't posted yet. Thus said, I, Jack, the husband, am hereby posting my very first blog post. Kudos to me and mine.

Since we left home late on Dec 21 to join the West clan in Georgia for Christmas, we decided to have our own Christmas that very morning.

How exciting it was! We woke up, looked at each other, and screamed simultaneously (as if it had been rehearsed) "Presents!". Okay, so I made that all up. Maybe next year.

We did get up early (both of us had to work at about 8:30), prayed (it's a Christmas tradition afterall) and went to see what Santa had brought for us. Yes, kids, Santa can arrange to come a few days early...it's about who you know, not what you know.

We decided to open gifts from friends and family before opening gifts from each other. But before any wrapping paper was torn or the first bow untied, I had a feeling I should open the front door. And to my surprise I saw one of my favorite things. No, not warm woolen mittens or a single bright copper kettle, but there was no mistaking a single, bonafide, brown paper package tied with genuine string. Needless to say, Christmas had officially begun. Thanks Jeff!

But the real winner of the gift giving contest was my wife. Sure, I'm biased, you're saying to yourself. Well, you're right. But honestly folks, Natalie outdid you all, and that includes you, Santa.

The more I reflect on it, the more I feel that Natalie's gift to me was a gift of love...and that's not just mushy married people talk. She gifted me a gorgeously framed print by Walter Rane: "The Desires of My Heart". I've coveted this picture far longer than is good for anyone's soul. Truly the picture is worth more than a thousand words. But the words is says most to me aren't ones describing the print itself. Nothing about the background trees or the expression of worshipful awe on Joseph's face.

More than anything, the gift says, "I love you. I believe in you. I believe in us and the Celestial nature of our marriage. I believe we can achieve greatness and we don't have to wait for some great future event to be happy. I'm happy with you. I know you're balding, but I'm glad I chose you and I'd do it again. I know you're not perfect, and you don't have to be yet. We'll get there together. I love YOU."

Perhaps that's not how Natalie would phrase those things at all, but that's what I heard over the wrapping paper and bubble wrap. And that's what I hear every time I look at it. They may not be the sounds of doorbells and sleigh bells and wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings, but they are indeed some of my favorite things.

Boooooooo!

It all started Friday night. We went to the Ward Christmas party. Innocent enough, right? After the Primary did their program and we were all eating our icecream, a friend in the ward (or I THOUGHT she was a friend) came over and squatted down by my chair. ...made a little small talk, tried to butter me up, and then...asked if I'd sing in church with her the next day. Her husband was going to be out of town at the last minute and they were supposed to sing something Christmasy, and now she wanted me to do it with her. I volunteered Jack to do it, and then it was all 3 of us doing it... we didn't know what to sing, but decided we'd meet at their house after the ward thing to figure something out real quick. We went over there Nate (Emily's husband) had picked out a song he sang in his high school choir. ...after at least 2 hours of practicing and Nate's little brother joining in, we were too tired to continue so we decided it must be good enough and we'd meet before church to practice with the lady who was going to play the piano for us. 8:00 Sunday morning (actually we really got there at 8:07...not too bad for us--or for me, rather) we get to the church to practice. We run though it a few times and realize we really could have used some more practice or a song that we had actually heard before...either one would really help. The chapel starts to fill so we run to the Relief Society room to go through it one more time. This time it actually sounds kind of good and we gain a little confidence. Then we get up to sing in Sacrament meeting. Tra la la la la...it's over, we sit down. And then, after the meeting is over, the comments come... "That was a nice song; I've never heard it before." and "Those were really nice lyrics. Great message." and "I enjoyed listening to the words of that song." and...the kicker... "Wow, you guys chose a really difficult song..." Ouch. I knew it wasn't great---I could have told you it wouldn't be great before we even knew what song we were singing... but I didn't think it was that bad. Apparently it was. Good thing I won't be at our ward for the next 2 weeks. I may never be able to go back. Ok, so I'll go back, but I think if there is ever a next time for an opportunity such as this, I'll only do it with a whole lot more practice. And I song I've heard of.
Oh...come to think of it, we're supposed to sing in Sacrament meeting for my branch in Georgia this Sunday. Suddenly I'm not feeling very well. cough cough

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

2 cups crushed pretzels
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 cups cool whip
6 oz pgk strawberry jello mix
2 c hot water
1 16 oz bag frozen strawberries, sliced

Mix pretzels and butter & spread in 9x13 pan. Bake at 350* for 10 minutes and COOL COMPLETELY.
Beat cream cheese and sugar to mix, add cool whip, and spread to completely cover the cooled pretzel crust...make sure the cool whip layer doesn't have any holes in it or the jello will leak through.
Mix jello with hot water and stir in frozen strawberries. Refrigerate a few minutes until it has firmed up some but not set all the way. Pour over the top of the cool whip layer and refrigerate.

A few of my favorite ornaments

Here's a few of my favoritie Christmas Ornaments, collected from years gone by...

Now I know why it is called the rat race

So I was at work today and it was very quiet...in an effort to wake myself up a little bit and get a slight change of scenery, I stood up on my desk. The view I had from there got me to thinking...there was just an uncanny resemblance... see for yourself:

A new beginning

Well, we've done it. We've started a blog together. Problem is, I don't really know what to say. I suppose I'll start by summarizing the half-way noteworthy events of my life. Jack had a scout camp out last night so I spent the evening alone. I did have plans to play with friends whose husbands were also doing the scout camp out thing, but it was one of those struggle-to-keep-my-eyes-open-at-work kind of days, so I came home and took a nap, read, and bummed around. This morning I woke up feeling ambitious and so I did some hard-core cleaning. The kind where you get out an old toothbrush and scrub away the grime between the edge of the kitchen sink and the counter, use pliers to pull out the bristles that got stuck in the little cracks, and then try not to think about how gross your kitchen sink was or wonder how long it has been that way, and if that was actually our grime, or a compilation of grime from tenants gone by. Wow, I really didn't think that deeply about it before, and now that really is sick. Moving on, I cleaned the sink and stove and counters and bathroom mirror & counters...and while they are now clean and sanitary, they are also somewhat cluttered again. Sigh...
I've really felt like cutting my hair lately. A major chop. I was going to wait until June or something so it'll be long enough to donate to Locks of Love, but I might not be patient enough to wait that long. I'm still trying to figure out how I want it cut. It's pretty much been the same style since I did The Big Chop in highschool, just different lengths. I'm ready for something different. I'm ready for change. I'm ready to shave my head! There was a girl in my ward over the summer who had a really cute, shortish haircut, but I can't remember what it looked like. I know I really liked it, and I remember the green dress she'd wear frequently...but i can't remember her haircut. I've been looking online to try to find ideas, but most hair cut sites are of weird pale women with freaky makeup and spiked hair...I just want something normal. Here are 3 options I have found. Opinions, please.

What do you think?