Guess what?

Like Ali said, I knew when it was the one, and this is the one. Hooray! Finally!

Robotic Surgery

If you watched the video you saw a little news report about the hospital in my town. We have a new robot in our community! Of course Greg was very excited about it, so we stopped by SEL in the morning and got to try it out.



You put your hands in these little controls that have two loops. Two fingers slip into the two loops--like a thumb and forefinger, and then you can move the robot arm by moving your arm, and open and close the robot "pincers" by pinching your fingers closed or opening them. There are three arms that you can control, but of course you can only really use two at a time. If you want to use the third arm--perhaps because it has a different tool on the end--you push the toggle button on the floor with your foot to switch arms.

Greg and I were wondering what happens if the surgeon sneezes during surgery...Does his arm flinch and cause the robot to use it's amazing strength to rip open the patient? Well, no. The fail-safe is the eye sensors in the control station. The robot is activated when it can see your eyes, but if you move your head and look away, the robot will freeze until it sees your eyes again. Another helpful thing is that the robot filters out "noise" in your movements. For instance, if you are an aging surgeon and your hands shake, the robot will not mimic your shaking. It makes all movements fluid and smooth.

You can see in the picture that there is a screen that shows live what the surgeon is doing, and then you can touch the screen and point out something to the surgeon. The surgeon is also able to control where the camera arm is, and zoom in or out according to his needs.

I just can't get over how much it makes me think of science fiction. This is the thing the aliens use to dissect the people they beam up from earth. Right? That's the image I get in my mind when I think of this robot. The helpful thing to remember is that the robot is not acting of its own accord, it is just a tool being used by a surgeon. (They don't program it to do anything--it responds directly in real time to the surgeon's hand movements.)

I could tell you more but this post might get too long and boring. If you're interested you can find a lot online about this guy--including videos.

A Book of Mormon Story

I was preparing my lesson for Sunday when I came across this video on the church website. I thought it did such a good job of explaining what the Book of Mormon is, and the "story part" is cool. I like the animation. Mostly I just like the way he explains his testimony and how he learned about the gospel, because it is the way I feel too.

Speaking of Choir...

Here is a link to a recording of the last concert. It's not the professional recording, but you can get an idea of how it sounded.

Eternal Light Concert Link

Click on Choir Palouse Choral Society, then Recordings, then Performances, then PCS Concert_Eternal Light mp3


The concert started with the Chamber Choir--which I'm not a part of. The chamber choir sings for about 26 minutes, and then at 26:45 is when the Chorale starts.


Here's the program:

Chamber Choir
Missa Brevis St. Joannis De Deo
By:Franz Joseph Haydn

Puisque Tout Passe
By: Paul Hindemith

The Coolin (The Fair Hared One)
By: Samuel Barber

Bright Morning Stars are Rising
By: Traditional, arranged by Paul Siskind


Full Chorale
Let their Celestial Choirs all Unite
By: george Frideric Handel

Lux Aurumque
By: Eric Whitacre

Luz Aeterna
By: Morten Lauridsen

True Light
By: Keith Hampton

I miss high school choir--Journal entry

I can hardly believe it's been 7 1/2 YEARS since I sang in my high school choir.

This is a video of the choir at my old high school in Texas 2010.



When I was in choir, I used to be one of those girls in the background doing a silly dance and singing backup. I always thought it would be cool to be one of the soloists that sing with power and confidence, but those are hard things for me to find in myself. I sang my "Senor Solo" at our last high school choir show ever, and that took every ounce of courage I could muster. I was the Blue Fairy from Pinoccio singing, "When you wish upon a Star." I wore my blue prom dress that happened to look like the fairy's dress in the movie.

For me, choir really started when I joined the Musical Theater and Dance class with Ms. Gillis in Junior High. It was so fun to sing AND dance. I also enjoyed the new experience of singing in small groups and ensembles. We had an awesome group and an awesome teacher. She took us to State--the only freshman choir to make it. Then I went to high school in Bremerton and the choir kind of fell apart. We started with 27 girls in the "Elite Audition-Only" girls choir. By the end of the year we only had 9 girls left because all the others dropped out of choir. On the CD of our competition at the end of the year you can hear me clearly because I'm one of 3 altos, and the other two were really shy.

I moved to Texas when I was 16. I also moved from a mediocre girls choir of 9 to an amazing girls choir of about 50. Our teacher was very strict, but I loved having her nit-pick at us until we sounded perfect. Every note, vowel, dynamic, etc...had to be PERFECT, and we were capable of doing that when she pushed us.

(This is one of the songs my new choir in Texas sang--so cool. This version was the closest I could find to the way we sang it. Nobody had cell phones to take video back then.)



I loved learning how to sight read music and use solfege to figure out the notes without a piano. ("Solfege" = Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do) We went to choral competitions with music memorized, but we also competed by looking at new music we've never seen/heard and singing the whole song a capella. Amazing! I didn't know that was possible! I learned so much from being a part of the choir in Texas.

I really wanted to be a part of the Show Choir too, but I didn't have room in my schedule for a 2nd choir class. (Instead I was focusing on Health Science classes.)

Here is the Show Choir from my school in 2010.



These days, now that I'm old and not in high school anymore I am part of a very "mature" community choir. (Median age: 65 yrs?) We wear fancy dresses and stand nicely on the risers to sing 20-30 minute songs in latin. We also mix in "normal length" songs that are really beautiful too. My favorite from the last concert is Lux Aurumque--the one I posted on the blog a few posts ago.

(I couldn't find any youtube videos, so here's a picture of us last year in St. Boniface Church. We always sing there at Christmas. It has cool echo-y acoustics.)



I enjoy this choir too, and I'm definitely learning and improving my music skills....I just miss swing dancing on stage while I sing, or wearing fun costumes sometimes. Our last choir concert was about a week ago and we got to "dance" a little. We were singing, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." and at the exciting part we got to step in place to the left and the right on the risers. After the concert we were congratulated by our conductor for doing so well on the dancing part. haha

ShapeMatch Puzzles

By Diana Weddle


We went to the craft fair on Saturday and came across this booth. Most things you just walk by and say, "Oh that's nice." But this booth caught my eye and I wanted to take home everything they had! Diana Weddle draws these amazing pictures made up of lots of little characters and then cuts them out as a puzzle. The puzzles were over our price range (cheapest was $60) but they also sold prints of the pictures for $15. It was so hard to decide on which one to pick! I loved the elephant, and the horse, and the moose. She had lots of animal shapes to choose from: dinosaur, sea horse, cat, pig, hedgehog...etc. I expect to collect a few more of her pictures in the future. They are just starting a website: http://shapematchpuzzles.com/. It doesn't have any information or links yet, but it has the picture I posted above. I would love to have some of her puzzles too, but I wouldn't want to let the kids play with it! It would just be my special puzzle that only careful hands can try.

The Monster in my closet

I found this story online and thought of Dad--it seems like something he would write. I also thought it was appropriate for the upcoming holiday.
Happy Halloween!


The Monster In My Closet

by Wil Wheaton

There is a monster in my closet. It’s standing in there behind my clothes, and it wants to come out. I don’t know where it came from, I don’t know how it got in there, but I know that it’s been there for a long time, waiting.

Mum and dad don’t believe in monsters (and until yesterday, neither did I), but during dinner tonight, I had to tell them.

“A monster,” dad said, wiping mashed potatoes off his beard. “Like, with claws and fangs? That kind of monster?”

“I haven’t actually seen it,” I said, “but I know it’s there.”

“How can you know it’s there if you haven’t seen it?” Mum asked.

“It’s like…” I thought for a moment. “It’s like when it’s cloudy, and you can’t see the moon, but it sort of glows behind the clouds, so you know it’s there.”

“So your closet was glowing, eh?” Dad said.

I shook my head. I could tell that they thought I was making the whole thing up. “No, dad,” I said, “but I could feel it in there, and --”

“And what?” He said.

“And if it comes out,” I said, carefully, “It’s going to kill us.”

“Well, I should expect so,” dad said. “Monsters are usually very serious about that sort of thing.”

Mum scowled at him. “Richard! Don’t make fun.”

Then she looked back at me and said, “you can have a night light in your room to keep the monster away.”

“And keep your closet door shut,” dad said, gravely, “everyone knows that monsters can’t open doors.”

“But --”

“But nothing. Now stop all this chattering and eat your peas before they get cold,” mum said.

I’m trying to deal with a monster, and all mum cares about is me eating my peas. Typical parents.

They walked me into my room when it was time for bed. Dad made a big production of opening the closet and looking inside. “Well, it looks like we scared it off,” he said. He didn’t notice that the lid of my toy chest was lifted up slightly, and I didn’t bother telling him. He pushed the door and it shut with a click. He shook the knob and pantomimed looping a chain around it that he secured with a pantomimed pad lock. He swallowed a pantomime key and rubbed his belly.

Mum brought in one of my old night lights, the one with the blue pony on it, and plugged it into the wall next to the bed. “There, sweetheart,” she said as she turned it on, “let’s just leave this on tonight.”

She kissed me goodnight. Then dad kissed me on my forehead.

“There’s a good girl,” he said, “sleep tight! Don’t let the monsters bite!”

“Richard!” Mum smacked him on his arm. “Sorry, sweetie, he’s just having a bit of fun.”

“Good night, mum,” I said. I tried not to frown too much at dad.

I heard them talking as they walked down the stairs.. “She just has a wonderful imagination, doesn’t she?” Mum said.

“She’s a dreamer, that’s for sure,” dad said. I heard ice clink into glasses, then, a moment later, the creak of their armchairs as they sat down to watch television.

I was starting to fall asleep when I heard it.

“Psssst.”

I thought that maybe I was dreaming, but I pulled the covers up to my neck, as tightly as I could, and listened.

“Psssst.”

It came from the closet. “Psssst. Hey, kid. Come and open the door, hey?”

I felt my eyes widen, as a chill ran down my spine.

“Come on, kid, I won’t hurt ya, I just want to get out of here. Open the door and I’ll be on my way.”

The voice -- its voice -- was gruff, but not as gruff as I thought it would be.

“No,” I said in a small voice, barely a whisper. “You… you just stay in there.”

The handle shook a bit, and I screamed. Mum and dad were in the room before I knew it.

“It’s in there!” I cried, “it’s in there and it told me to open the door and let it out!”

They looked at each other. Mum walked across the room to me and sat down on the edge of my bed. “There, there, sweetie,” she said, “you just had a bad dream is all.

“Richard, open the door and show her that there’s nothing inside but clothes and toys.”

“No! Dad! Don’t open it!” I practically screamed.

“Fear not, my petal,” he said, gallantly, “Any monsters inside this closet will get the thrashing of their lives!” He walked to the closet and knocked on the door. “Anyone in there? Hmm?”

He winked at me and shadow boxed the air in front of him.

“Richard, stoppit and just open the door. She’s had an awful fright.”

“Daddy, don’t do it,” I said, suddenly feeling like I was seven years-old again. “Please.”

He smiled and said, “it’s all right, sweetheart. Daddy’s just going to show you that there’s nothing to be afraid of, and then we can all go back to sleep.”

Mum squeezed my hand. An audience laughed on the television downstairs. Dad turned the handle on the closet door and opened it. “Now, see? There’s nothing to--”

The monster was covered in dark scales, like a lizard. Its eyes were jet black, but reflected something red in their centers. It grabbed my dad by his shoulders and bit into his neck with long, sharp, white teeth.

Dad screamed and struggled against it. Clawed hands held onto him and a spray of blood shot across the back of the closet door, black and shiny in the dim light.

It slurped and gurgled and crunched, and in a few seconds, dad stopped moving. I realized that my mum hadn’t made a sound, but had let go of my hand.

She stood up, and walked toward the monster. It dropped my dad’s body to the floor and grinned at her, dad’s blood dripping off of its teeth and running down its chest. They stood over my dad’s body and embraced.

“I’ve missed you, darling,” the monster said to my mum.

“I missed you, too, my sweet,” she said, in the same gruff voice.

“Mu-- mum?” I said. She ignored me.

“I would have come sooner, but you know that we can’t open them from the inside,” the monster said.

“Everyone knows that!” Mum said, and they laughed together. She turned to face me. Her skin was starting to crack on her face, revealing dark grey scales beneath it. Her eyes were turning black, reflecting something red in their centers.

“Come on over here and give us a hug,” she said, as sharp white fangs pushed her teeth out of her mouth and onto the floor where they bounced around like marbles. “Come and be mommy’s little monster!”

“WHAT IS HAPPENING?” I screamed.

“Stop that horrid racket and say hello to your dad -- your real dad,” she said.

I reached around for something, anything, to use as a weapon to protect myself. When I stretched out for the lamp on my night stand, the skin on my arm cracked and split open. There were grey scales underneath it.

“Oh no. No no no no no,” I said.

I reached up to touch my face, and pulled the soft pink flesh away. I felt the rough scales underneath.

“What’s happening to me?!”

I looked at my mum.
I looked at my dad.
I looked at the body on the floor.
I realized that I was ever so hungry, and my food was getting cold.
I got out of bed and joined my family for dinner.

Things as they really are

Here is the whole talk: Things as they really are By David A. Bednar

I loved this talk the first time I heard it. I feel like I really learned a lot and caused me to think about these things more than I have before. Do I really want to spend all my time watching tv or browsing online when I could be spending meaningful time with family and friends instead? Or working, or studying, or doing service... The scriptures say that, "...the natural man is an enemy to God..." It's our mission to overcome the natural man that is in each of us and become a servant of God, because that is the thing that will bring true and lasting joy in this life.

We used this talk for a youth activity a couple years ago when it was first given. We handed out a worksheet for the kids to do while they listened to the talk. They had to listen for answers to questions or fill in the blank on their page. It was a good activity and got the kids thinking and talking about how they use different kinds of media or how it affects their life.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir - 'Lux Aurumque'

I was looking on Youtube for videos of the songs my choir is singing in our concert this month, and I found something even cooler. This is one of the songs we will sing, but it's amazing how it's done. I wish I thought of it first!



If you liked that, you should listen to the next one, "Sleep."

Face Feed...

Oops, I mean Faye's Feed.

My mom found this really good recipe for granola cereal and she started calling it "Faye's Feed" because it reminded her of bird feed. When I told Greg about it he said, "What? Face Feed?" So it's been kind of a joke since then.

Anyway, this stuff is really good. It takes a little bit to find all the ingredients, but you could alter some things if you can't find it and I'm sure it'd still be good. (We can't find rolled wheat, so we use a 5 or 7-grain cereal that includes rolled wheat.)

4 cups rolled oats
4 cups rolled wheat
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup unroasted sunflower seeds

3/4 cup thawed unsweetened apple juice concentrate
2 tsp vanilla (or more if you like)

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix apple juice concentrate and vanilla, then pour slowly over dry ingredients and mix well. Don't worry--it's impossible to evenly coat every piece wheat and oat.

Spread out granola on 9 by 13 baking pan or cookie sheet and bake at 275 degrees for an hour.

While granola is baking you can measure out and mix the following ingredients in a large bowl:

3/4 cup chopped dates
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup dried apples, cut into bite-size pieces (We haven't tried the apples yet.)
1-2 cups slivered almonds
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Cinnamon--a lot if you like it

I also added a cup of ground flaxseed to add more good-for-you stuff. Feel free to play with quantities, and/or add other things that sound good to you. I added twice as many dates because I love them, and half as many slivered almonds because I don't love them. Of course, you could probably add an extra bag or two of chocolate chips by that logic, but this is supposed to be a somewhat healthy breakfast.

Once your granola is done baking and COOLED, mix it all together in your large bowl with the dates and raisins...etc. This is very filling--not to mention it takes a long time to eat, so 3/4 cup is a good serving size for breakfast. (You will be sorry if you fill up your whole bowl.)

Hope you like it! I made a double batch because it keeps for a long time in the fridge in a sealed container, and it's sooo good! Thanks Mom for sharing!

Sound Equipment

Greg found this cool piece of sound equipment on Craig's List for an awesome price. It was cheap because a part was damaged, but of course Greg knew how to fix it! He's been spending a lot of time in the evenings playing with this and reading the manual to figure out how it works. When he figures out something new, we spend some time together so he can teach me what he learned. It's great! We make a good team because I like singing and playing the piano, and recording my music, and he likes editing my music and doing the technical stuff. I sure have come a long way from the days in middle school when I would sing into one tape recorder, then play it back while singing along into a second tape recorder. (The sound quality was significantly worse each time, so by the 3rd recording I had to stand across the room and sing so it would be the same volume as the tape that was playing...Hope that all made sense to you.)
Anyway, I'm glad we have a hobby that we can both enjoy and be a part of.



(Yeah, that's my sewing machine box that is being used as a table for the sound stuff. Greg plans on building a small table this week so I can actually use my sewing machine to sew.)

Other news is that I am thoroughly enjoying choir again. I like most of the music pretty well, and it's fun to sing now that I'm starting to get the hang of this soprano thing. (I prefer alto, but the director made me sing soprano. I wanted to rebel at first, but I think I just might be good at singing soprano after all....well, after a LOT of practice.)

Our first concert is in October, and then we'll have another one in December of course. Our choir recently changed its name to the Palouse Choral Society, so the daily news thought they would write an article about it Here. They took some close up pictures of my friend and one of the director.

Team iLuminate

This is a find on America's got Talent. They are so cooooool.

Unexpected Adventure

About 6 hours...and 32 miles...


Wendy came up from Texas to visit at Summer's house, so I met them and our parents so we could all visit together. On the last day of my visit Wendy and I decided to go on a bike ride...you know, quality Sister Time. Summer asked if we wanted to pack a picnic but we said no because we'd be back in time for lunch and to put little Heidi down for her nap. We left the house around 10:40am.

It felt good to be outside and get some exercise. We rode for about two hours until we had to stop for a potty break for Heidi. We talked about if we should turn back, but it seemed like the time had gone by fast, and it might not be that far if we just kept going and followed what seemed to be a big loop. It would be more fun to follow the loop than to go back the way we came. So we kept going.

Eventually we stopped at a house to see if we could get some more water. I was looking around to see if anybody was outside when a friendly looking guy pulled up on a dirt bike. He told us where we could get some water and then said, "You wouldn't happen to be Summer's sister would you?" The guy was a friend of Summer and Glen's that I met on a visit earlier this summer. Wendy thought it was so funny that way out on this dirt country road, someone would recognize me as Summer's sister.

Around 1pm we decided to call Summer for help. We were hungry and Heidi was being a good sport, but we felt bad having her ride in the bike trailer for so long. It looked like our loop was a lot bigger than we first thought, and we couldn't decide if it would be better to turn around or keep going forward. Summer brought us food and took Heidi home, and we kept riding. (There wasn't enough room in the car for everybody and the bikes and trailer.) She went home in the direction we were headed so she could call us back and say what was coming ahead. We followed the loop forward 12 miles back into the main part of La Grande.

We got home around 5pm, sweaty and exhausted. We had gone from one end of the valley to the other.


It was actually a nice ride and we got to see a lot of pretty country roads and fields...but maybe next time we'll plan a little better. I'd love to do it again with my own bike that fits me better, some food and maybe a little sunscreen.

Safety First!

This is one of the reasons I think Decagon is such a great company. In how many other workplaces have you seen a sign like this! Decagon really cares about the well-being of it's employees.

Mom's Pasta Salad

My mom made a delicious pasta salad to share on our camping trip at Alder Lake. Everybody wanted the recipe so I thought I would post it here, and anybody else who reads my blog can get it too. Really--this is good. A couple people who normally don't like pasta salads loved it, so give it a try!


Bistro Chicken Pasta Salad

4 cups cooked pasta (penne, spiral, bow-tie...whatever)
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1 pkg (4 oz) crumbled feta cheese
1 cup prepared GOOD SEASONS Italian Salad Dressing Mix
1/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (not oil packed)
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, grilled or broiled, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Toss all ingredients except chicken
Cover pasta mixture with chicken. Serve warm or chilled. (We like it cold) Makes 7 1/2 cups

Arrrrrr Matey!

For Greg's birthday I decided to throw a big Pirate Party. We just moved into a house, as previously mentioned, so we wanted to have a big party and invite lots of friends because we can.


It was fun to plan and find piratey things for the party. Greg found out about most of the things I was planning, but he didn't know what I was going to do with the cake. I thought it would be cool to make a treasure chest cake, and it turned out pretty good! (It was actually very easy to do.)



Max was good at helping me get ready for the party. He put the cupcakes in the oven while I frosted other cupcakes and worked on the cake. It was fun to have him in the kitchen to keep me company.


We had hot dogs for dinner--roasted over the fire, and everybody brought something to share.


I think the most interesting thing was "Dessert Sushi." I really thought it was sushi until I picked it up. It was rice crispy treats rolled up in fruit leather with little pieces of red vines. It was weird how much it looked like rice and fish, but it tasted really good!

I thought this was a cute picture of my pregnant friend.




Special Guests include: Greg's brother, David, The Summer and Glen Posse, and Max from Texas!

Ginger looks so cute!


(David is to the right of Greg with a black bandanna.)

Ok, last video post

I left Greg home alone for a few days and when I came back Greg was singing this goofy song about chicken. This kid cracks me up--his eyes and facial expressions. Greg likes this video because it reminds him of his mission in inner city Baltimore.

Provo, Utah Girls

You know that song by Katy Perry and Snoop Dog?

Harry Potter

We saw Harry Potter in the IMAX 3-D in Spokane Saturday night. It was mostly like I pictured. Mom sent me this video made by some kids at BYU. It's hilarious, but it's also just how I feel!

It's been awhile...

It's been awhile since I posted on my blog because I kept thinking I was going to get a job, and I wanted to wait so I could announce my new job! But, I still haven't gotten a job. I've had a number of great interviews, but there's always somebody out there who is a little more impressive than me, or who is happy and excited to work the night shift when I'd prefer to work during the day...


Anyway, besides the job thing, my other news is that we moved! Hooray! We found a 3-bedroom house to rent that costs just a little bit more than our tiny lame apartment. I've been working in the kitchen for the past few days, unpacking and organizing. It's fun this time around because there is actually enough room for all of my kitchen things! Hooray! My pots and pans fit nicely in the over-large drawers. They don't have to be stacked and hidden in the bottom of a hard-to-reach cupboard. We have lots of space in the rest of the house as well, so we are looking forward to inviting friends over for dinner and games, and inviting family to come stay in our extra bedrooms.

This is a good change. We used to invite people over to eat dinner with us at THEIR house. haha. Recently Greg left this message on my friend's phone: "Hi! This is Greg Kelley! I have an urgent invitation for us to hang out with you at your house! Please call me back to find out the details!" If you know Greg, you know that he's about the only person who could get away with that. haha.

Well, I don't have any real pictures to share because I don't know where the camera is at the moment, but I might get some pictures later with Greg's phone. Because blog posts without pictures are boring, here is a picture that sort of looks like my house.


That is the neighbor's cat that always comes around and tries to sneak into our garage...

Again

I'm going to work as a CNA again. I worked as a CNA about 5-6 years ago before I was married, and like all jobs there were great parts and not great parts. The main down side was the work environment and the management, so I'm hopeful that I will have a good experience this time around. I took a CNA class in Lewiston for the past few months and just passed the state tests last week. Now I'm working on transferring my license to Washington. Wish me luck as I look for a job! I applied at the Pullman Hospital. I'm not sure where the available position is in the hospital, but I hope it is in the BirthPlace. I haven't gotten to work in that area yet but I think it would be a fun new experience.

Scouts

On Saturday Greg and I took the 12-13yr old scouts down to the river to learn how to paddle a raft and how to make a fire. It was ok weather, but the wind was blowing so hard. It was relentless! The river sort of flows in a direction, but not enough to move your raft much. So we paddled into the wind towards a small alcove where we planned to let the boys out of the boats and go exploring. We were not even halfway there when I started thinking, "This is not going to work. We will have to turn around and head back before we get there." The wind kept blowing harder and harder. Sometimes it would let down for a minute, but we could look at the water ahead of us and see it coming. We pushed ourselves harder and amazingly we made it! It was fun to be around the boys and see how they interacted with each other. They sort of reminded me of puppies--the way they had so much energy and just took off in all directions to go play and explore. I'm somewhat new to this thing of hanging out with 12 year old boys, but I think it was fun overall.

(We thought we would be the only adult leaders on this trip, but the dad of one of the boys came and another adult leader. I was glad...I felt a little overwhelmed at the idea of being responsible for so many boys on this trip!)


When we got back from our paddling adventure Greg gathered the boys around and showed them how to build a fire. With all the wind, our fire lit up right away and we were roasting hot dogs before we knew it! After all that paddling it was a good thing we could eat so quickly...Everybody worked up a big appetite!

We had a couple hours left so we let the boys run around and play. I was amazed at how well they could stay entertained in just a small area outside with rocks to climb and water to throw rocks in. We could have left them alone for a few days and I think they would have had fun the whole time.

Greg earned the boys' respect by jumping off the cliff into the water after dinner. We all thought he was crazy, but the boys had fun cheering and yelling when he did the deed.


Once the rafts were dry, Greg showed them how to fold them up and load them back in the trailer. We broke out the s'mores and the fun continued until our carpool parents showed up. It wasn't until we were starting to drive away that all the boys came running to get in the cars. Next time I think we'll plan an overnight camping trip.

At the end of the night I was worn out and sore from paddling and chasing boys. (Well, I didn't actually chase any boys, but you know...) It was a lot of fun and I look forward to going with Greg again.

Tro Lo Lo! You've been missing out!

My parents came to visit last week and we shared this with them. I thought you should all have the chance to enjoy it as well. I think it's nice that so many people can be inspired and brought together by this song that was censored in Russia.






Crazy version live--in case you couldn't get enough of it.









Is that song stuck in your head yet?

Happy Mother's Day!

This is what I wore to church today. My pink sweater and pretty heart necklace are both from Mom. I liked wearing them today especially because I thought of Mom whenever I saw myself in the mirror or got a compliment on the necklace. Maybe I should wear it every day. =)



I love you Mom!

Osama bin Laden is dead

Last night at the end of my choir concert I went next door to the building where the choir hangs out for intermission. I was starting to help straighten up the green room and gather trash when the man who owns the building strutted in and announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed by US Forces. Bin Laden was shot in the head as he tried to hide behind a woman in his complex in the city of Abbottabad, Pakistan. What a loser.

Glen Beck was emotional on the radio this morning as he announced the victory, and recalled the events of September 11th when Osama made war on our beloved country. One news article said the mission was to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, but I have to say I'm glad they killed him.


From Wikipedia:
"Nearly 3,000 victims and the 19 hijackers died in the attacks. According to the New York State Health Department, 836 responders, including firefighters and police personnel, have died as of June 2009. Among the 2,752 victims who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center were 343 firefighters and 60 police officers from New York City and the Port Authority. Another 184 people were killed in the attack on the Pentagon. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 70 countries. In addition, there was at least one secondary death—one person was ruled by a medical examiner to have died from lung disease due to exposure to dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center."

As Glen Beck said this morning, "Thank God that Osama bin Laden is dead."

Gretchen

She looks like a little doll! So Cute!


I don't really have time to do a whole post about visiting Summer and family in La Grande right now, but I'm tired of seeing that post about the disgusting okra on my blog. haha.

I thought I would put this cute picture of Gretchen up so we can all have something cute to look at instead. =) I loved visiting and seeing Summer's kids again over the weekend. I'm surprised every time at how much they have all changed since the last time we were there. Ginger keeps looking more and more like a little young lady, and she has lots of funny stories to tell and songs to sing. Jack is no longer a toddler, but looks more like a little boy. He's talking a lot and is fun to tickle and chase! I can just point at his tickle spot and he giggles and runs away. hahaha! And little Gretchen isn't a tiny baby anymore! She's cute and playful. She can crawl pretty fast, and likes to interact, talk, and play. I could have sat and played with her for the whole visit.

Greg had fun playing with the kids too.


I miss them already, and we've only been home a couple days.

Oh Okra!

On our quest for better health, Greg and I have been trying a number of new vegetables. For the most part we have been happy with our new discoveries, but tonight was definitely a failure. We've never tried okra and had no idea would it would taste like. While it was cooking I thought it smelled "Green".


Greg dished up first and ate all of the okra on his plate while I happily ate my delicious Tilapia. Greg asked if I had tried the okra yet and I said no. He didn't want to tell me what it tasted like or if he liked it, so I knew something bad was coming. I took a bite and started chewing. The flavor was fine, but in the few seconds of chewing, somehow the vegetable in my mouth turned into a big mouthful of snot. Gross! It was so disgusting! I had to jump up and spit it out to keep myself from gagging. I didn't even try to swallow.
(This is a picture of some okra slime. It happens just by cutting into the fruit once. Sick.)


I'm not sure who decided okra is an eatable food, but I think they were crazy. It reminded me of those "snot fish" we saw on Dirty Jobs and MythBusters. Those fish are a type of eel that continuously produce slimy snot as a defense. And that's exactly what happened with the okra when I started chewing it. Gross gross!


If you happen to like okra, please comment and explain yourself. Maybe you have a good recipe that keeps the snot thing from happening...?


On a positive note, you may have noticed I mentioned my delicious Tilapia. We've tried a few recipes that were all good, but this is the one we made tonight:



3 tablespoons coarsely chopped mint leaves
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Pinch red pepper flakes
2 tilapia fillets (about 1 pound total), halved
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Some extra virgin olive oil
Some lemon juice (Oil and lemon juice were not measured. We just poured it until it looked good.)

We mixed up all the spices and made a kind of soup by adding some lemon juice and the olive oil in a bowl. Then we brushed the mixture onto the fish and baked it at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. You can flip it halfway through if you want. If your fish is thicker it might need to cook longer. Our fish was really thin on parts and really thick in the middle, so it had to cook longer.


Sorry, I didn't get a picture. I found this online in case you were wondering what raw tilapia looks like. When it's done baking, it should be white (not see-through at all) and it should flake easily. When I took it out the first time I tried to cut a thick part and it was kind of chewy and hard to cut. That means it's not done.

After we got over the grossness of the okra, I steamed some broccoli to have with our fish instead. Definitely a good choice. I think my favorite vegetables to have are steamed broccoli and cauliflower mixed.

What are your favorite vegetables and how do you like them? (Raw or cooked in a special way?)

What's new with Choir

I'm singing in the Idaho Washington Concert Chorale again. It's been fun to see all my old friends again, and interesting as I sing in the soprano section. (I usually sing alto, but this time I auditioned the director said my voice "Really wants to sing soprano.")

Anyway, I thought I'd give you a sneak preview of the beautiful music we're going to sing. (This is not my choir.) Actually, I think it's probably going to scare all the kids in the audience. It sounds like crazy chaos for most of the song. It's like the soundtrack for an action adventure movie with religious undertones. (The words are sung in Hebrew.)



There's a part in the 2nd movement where they write in the music for the women to sing "Blissfully unaware of Danger." At the same time the men are supposed to sing, "Savagely." Do you think you can recognize that part? The women's part really is pretty.



I won't put the rest of the song and give it away for the people going to the concert. I have to leave a few surprises to jolt you awake for the rest of the song. (Don't you love how it lulls you to sleep and then surprises you with a bang? haha.) We really are singing other songs that are pretty, so don't be afraid to come to the concert. One of my favorites is, "Sure on this Shining Night." It's soft and peaceful.



The other exciting thing is that we will be getting new dresses for the choir. Our current dress is like a big black tent, best fit for wearing to the funeral of someone you don't like. They haven't made an official decision yet, but I think we will get the dress that I like the best. It's a velvet top and a separate skirt with pretty sparkles.

Treasure Hunt!

I forgot to finish and post this! This is from the first week in January. I made a treasure hunt activity for the kids at church for our Wednesday night activity. It was lots of fun--to plan and to participate!



I started by looking up scriptures that could be used as clues. For instance, one clue was Hosea 7:6. "For they have made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait; their baker sleepeth all the night..." So they would go find their next clue in the kitchen of the church around the oven. I came up with 13 clues so they would stay busy for about an hour.

This activity involved all the kids (girls and boys) 12-18 yrs, so I had a large group to work with. I divided them into 6 teams, each with an adult leader to keep the group on track. Each team had their own set of clues to find around the church, and each group leader had a cheat sheet in case they couldn't figure out the clue, or the clue was taken by another group or person. With each clue there was a small assignment. Some of them were silly, like, "Jump up and down while patting your head and rubbing your stomach." Most of them were serious, like case studies about what to do in a certain situation. It was fun to walk around the church and see groups of kids excitedly flipping through their scriptures and running to the next clue.

At the end we all met in the gym for a closing prayer and treats. My partner in crime (another adult leader named Kathy) made the treasure chest cake, along with a bunch of cupcakes for the treat. I thought the cake was so cute! I wish I had a good excuse to make one now.