Calling all Utah Schneiders!!!!!!

I found the following review online and for a second wished we lived in Salt Lake City. Please allow me to live vicariously through you Utah Schneiders - (my apologies to Coleen and OJ for posting this after your road trip - you did make it to Salt Lake right?)

ACME BURGER COMPANY
275 South 200 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

"It was luscious. I never thought I’d say that about a burger joint, but take a look at the burgers here, and tell me, just tell me, if the burgers were to live up to their descriptions, would you be interested? Because the descriptions totally fall short of the actual experience. I was really tempted by the truffle burger, because I LOVE truffles, but I finally settled on the 3-bean burger, because it was house-made and every house-made veggie burger I’ve had has been awesome (except the ones I tried to make myself, too wet, didn’t hold together) and, at the server’s suggestion (because she likes it that way), I added bacon. Then she came back to me and said, she’d been thinking and she knows I like truffle flavor and they flavor the truffle burger with the truffle oil blend, and would I like them to cook my 3 bean burger in the truffle oil? Oh sure, twist my arm. And it came with little sautéed tomatoes and artichoke hearts and swiss cheese (extra) and some sauce, and with that truffle oil…. I just don’t know how to tell you how amazing it was. I swear, it was Burger Nirvana.

I asked the server if they do truffle-3bean combo often, and she said no, she’d only thought of it because I’d told her I love truffles. And I asked her, can I request it again? And she smiled and said, sure. Which means, you can have it too. If you want."

Modern Art?

To the untrained eye, this pretty picture may just look like some crazy photo or painting from the modern era. However, little did you know that it's actually an electron micrograph image of the small intestine! This, and similar images of body tissues, is what I get to look at in my microscope every week in my Tissue Biology class. I feel like I am now zooming in on the body after my Anatomy experience. It's a cool class, but the lab quizzes are pretty tough! We'll see how it goes.

A day off

So wednesday the program gave us the day off. It came after we just turned in a huge project. Wednesday did have a bit of a weekend feel to it. I was able to do my laundry, and not have to worry about assignments due for the day. I even got to watch the second half of a soccer game. I was also able to do the unthinkable, get a little bit ahead in my studies. Unfortunately the weekend will consist of lots of studying again. But now the stress level has gone down a bit so that is always nice. The accounting program continues to deliver a few benefits, today I received another free lunch from them. So things are still good in that regard.

First Day of School

It's amazing that after roughly 18 years of school I still get nervous on the first day. Ar first I was very annoyed how all these pictures would get taken and Mom would take us shopping and summer would be over and I wouldn't get to do what I wanted anymore. Now I definitely miss the photo taking and Momma taking me shopping but I don't miss having to sit at a desk and be a good boy because that was kinda tough as a kid ....... and still is as an adult. However, last Wednesday is very likely the second last time I will ever have a first day of school again.

In second year it so far seems more manageable like they don't scare you by firing off questions that you don't know the answer to just to make sure that you're in law school now and you better work your butt off so I like that but I think overall this semester will be more work because I have to write two major papers and there are a lot of readings. And I want to do better than I did my first year so it may be a long couple of months but just remember Mom I still love you and Goo I'm happy you're getting married in Edmonton and Christmas this year will be wonderful.

ON OUR WAY HOME

Nana and I have been on our way home for the past week, road tripping through the Southwest. One of our stops was at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City. We loved the production of Macbeth.

The story is set in 11th century Scotland. Two Scottish generals, Macbeth and Banquo, are returning in triumph from battle when they are met by 3 witches. They give Macbeth 3 prophecies, two of which are shown to be true. The last prophecy, that he will be king, takes hold in his mind and becomes an obsession which leads to his destruction.

I recognized several gospel principles in the play. One is that Satan will often try to deceive us by using some truths amidst his many lies. Our minds are fertile ground for good and bad ideas. If we're to have success we must fill our minds with good thoughts and ideas from the source of light. We must recognize the darkness and shun it. Macbeth failed to do that, and the result was one of the greatest tragedies in literature.

This is good stuff to know when you're trying to find your way home.

We highly recommend the festival. Hope you all get a chance to go there.

"L'arte d'arrangiarsi"

Here's a post from my blog that was fun to write:

"There’s (a) wonderful Italian expression: l’arte d’arrangiarsi – the art of making something out of nothing. The art of turning a few simple ingredients into a feast, or a few gathered friends into a festival. Anyone with a talent for happiness can do this..." Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

I once bought 'idea' cards listing fun activities to do with kids using household items. Sensory boxes, flashlight exploration, ball jars, crumpled newspaper in handkerchiefs... They all sounded good but unfortunately I was far too disorganized to actually do any of them. The flashlight batteries were always dead, I couldn't find anything resembling a handkerchief (although I could have sworn I had something I wore in college in this drawer-or was it this one?) or none of the balls fit in my jars. If I actually could pull it together my kids rarely got engaged. When I was baking they loved to smell the spices, but if I gave them cinnamon sticks at random they ran away. Of course, I'd be irritated they didn't appreciate my efforts of running around frantically.

I'm just one of those intense people whose instinct is to go big with the planning and use idea card projects and see everything turn into the best memory ever. But I'm learning that as a mom of so many kids, sometimes simple is the best way to get to special, and focusing on my kids is better than focusing on a handkerchief-hunt. By simple I don't mean giving up or being uninspired but listening to the moment, using what's within arm's reach, and following my kids' cues to find inspiration. Maybe, by practicing l'arte d'arrangiarsi I can have more fun and be less stressed when I let go of expectations and follow what works at that moment.

Yesterday when our 'Creative Play' time popped up on the schedule, I had nothing planned and wanted to keep it simple. At first I panicked, I couldn't think of anything and my kids weren't helping! But I closed my eyes and tried to listen. My older boys seemed up for a little project, nothing big but something they could sink their teeth into. I remembered during storytime last week they'd asked a lot of questions about what a scarecrow was. When I saw an old lamp we were getting rid of just sitting out on the driveway something told me it would be the perfect scarecrow stand.

With the scarcerow photo as reference they helped me find a random cardboard tube for the arms. Julian solved the problem of how to attach it to the stand by handing me a firewire cable (how oddly genius!) It was strong yet easy to work with.

Caleb brought shoes with laces like the photo and Julian set up the pants with a coat hanger. Caleb coloured in hands and ripped a paper for the face, which was a little small but the right shape. He drew it in himself. I was surprised at how 'into it' they were, going beyond the photo with their own creations. I was proud of their solutions for the little issues we hit. Who knew a junky old lamp, cardboard tube, and firewire cable could turn into an easy hour of fun and a way to connect with my sons? Our combined interest, investment and enthusiasm was what made the project a success. At one point I got a little giggly when they started singing "What works? TeamWork! What works? Teamwork!" (I have no idea where that came from...) because I thought I felt a tiny, tickly sprinkling of l'arte d'arrangiarsi magic hit us just then.

Start of Fall Semester

So the fall semester has started for me now and I didn't get my second post in for august. Anyway, I have now started the accounting program here at byu and things have already been really intense. I don't know how my life will be more than eating, sleeping, and studying accounting for the next few months, but so it is. I thought I'd try to get a post off before my classes start this afternoon. I will be working alot with 4 other people, because we have been assigned to work together for all group projects this semester. All of them are guys. In fact they told us that 79% of the accounting program students are male. There are 275 students in the program. Although the program is crazy insane and consumes pretty much all my time, there has been one notable benefit in that the program has provided us with free lunch on two occasions in less than a week, and the lunches were really good. So hopefully we can get more free food.