Potlucks

  I have a love-hate relationship with potlucks.  I don't appreciate the bring-what-you-will affair because I like meals balanced.  I want to see a spread of main dishes, side dishes, and desserts.  I like to have an idea of what to expect from other people.  At the same time, I understand the desire to give people their freedom to bring what they choose.  (I get the whole agency thing--make your own choices, etc., but even Heavenly Father has rules lined out for us.)  Seriously can't a little bit of planning go into making the meal so that people won't all bring desserts?  Can't you say, "if you are attending, let me know what kind of dish you want to bring"?  Or "we're making burgers, bring a side dish"?

  I'm attending a potluck-type gathering, and I look forward to it because I like the people attending the gathering.  At the same time, I dread the next few days because I'm so indecisive about what to bring. The next several days will be me thinking about the food I'll bring.  I'll be really indecisive about what I'm going to make, and then decide on bringing a bag of chips (chips go with everything, right?) because I don't have the energy to put any more thought into making something for this potluck.

  Greg once had a potluck lunch at his work that I was also invited to.  I texted (nagged) this poor man to tell me what everyone else had brought so that I could bring something that would balance out the meal later that day.  I will do it again.  I will find out what everyone else wants to bring, but until then, I plan on bringing a dessert and main dish.

 I have a love-hate relationship with potlucks.

Five Years Ago

    I never expected to get married at nineteen.  I always knew that I wanted to get married, but my plan was whatever happens, happens.  My plan for marriage is unusual for me because I like to plan a lot of stuff out.  So, anyway, I wanted to share my story of official engagement with the internet world even though I have shared it with a number of acquaintances.  This story isn't as humorous as the story of my meeting Greg for the first time, but it is still funny. This story took place five years ago, so I thought I'd finally write this story up with all the details.

   A few of things you should know first before I dazzle you with my romantic husband's planning.  Greg and I first met in late October 2008, and by Christmas time of the same year we realize that we did want to get married (so much for the ideal long courtship and short engagement).  When we returned to Provo from our holidays, we went ring shopping together, but Greg did want to attempt to give me my ring in a beautiful fashion so I couldn't wear it right away.  Second, Greg told me that he was going to pretend to propose to me to throw me off when he really proposed to me.  I was told that our marriage would be built on "deceits and lies". For instance, while we were in the Costco parking lot, he got down on one knee and said, "Suzy, I need to tell you something...I have to tie my shoe."  Ha ha. And later, he also teased me that if I didn't cry when he proposed to me then he would spray me with mace.  Great!  The third item is Greg was supposed to call my parents, and ask them if it was okay for him to marry me, etc., etc.  I can't tell you how much I nagged for him to do it, and he had so much fun saying he'd get around to it.

    The night before he proposed, Greg told me that he had a reservation at 2 p.m., and that he was going to wear a suit.  So, I decided to ride my bike over to Shopko the next morning to pick up a pair of new black heels so that I could look divine at our reservation. Before Greg came over to pick me up, my roommate said to me, "I think he's going to propose to you."  I promptly replied, "But he said he was going to trick me into thinking he was going to propose to me, and then he wouldn't actually propose!"

   I texted Greg that I was ready to go, and Greg came over and picked me up a couple of hours early, and we drove straight over to the University Mall.  When I asked him what was going on, he said, "I don't know, but do you have somewhere to be?"  So, while we waited for our reservation, we walked around in the mall for what felt like eternity.  My new shoes were so uncomfortable!  I couldn't handle walking around in heels any longer.  Not only that, Greg was keeping more secrets; he stashed a black light in his coat pocket for "no reason".  About two o'clock, Greg and I headed over to P.F. Chang's for our reservation.  Our lunch was nice until Greg demanded his fortune cookie from the waiter.  "I want my fortune cookie--not this one!"  I told Greg to calm down and that we should go--after all it was just a fortune cookie.  But Greg insisted that we stayed for this fortune cookie.  So we waited another five minutes or so for a fortune cookie that said, "A diamond is in your near future."  When I asked Greg what this meant, he replied with "I don't know; I'm not the old Chinese guy who makes these fortunes."

  We left P.F. Chang's and head over to B.Y.U. campus.  I pestered Greg the whole way with questions to which he ignored or gave vague answers.  "Where are we going?"  "I don't know.  Do you have somewhere to be right now?"  "No, but I just want to know where we are going."  "You'll find out soon enough." We ended up at the Museum of Art; the place we went to for our first real date.  We rushed downstairs where I was ushered into a small room to admire bust of Abraham Lincoln while Greg prepared the proposal setting. At this point, I knew Greg was up to something, but I had no idea and my feet really, really hurt.  So when Greg told me that we could sit down on a bench in another room I was pleased.  While Greg and I were together at this bench, Greg's roommate was secretly taking pictures from another small room. I didn't notice him until later, however; I noticed this blanket tucked underneath, and I asked Greg what it was.  He knelt down first, and said, "Suzannah Michelle Packwood will you take this bouquet of flowers?" He pulled out a bouquet of flowers for me.  They were lovely and contained my favorite flowers: lilies.  I also noticed a book laying on the blanket as well, so he showed it to me.  He told me to read the last entry which was an account of a dream of his about how he knew I was literally the girl of his dreams.  I won't divulge this dream for Greg's sake, but it was a beautiful dream, and I did cry when I read his entry (no mace!), and I also had to use the black light he had carried in his pocket for a portion of the message which was written in invisible ink.  Afterwards, as he was still kneeling, he asked if I would marry him.  I said yes, of course.

Right after he proposed.  

Oh there's Greg's roommate secretly taking photos!

I'm so happy!!  Greg looks so shy. 

  Later that afternoon, after we called our families to tell them the news, Greg gave me a foot massage for making me walk around the mall "just because it seemed like a lot of fun."  He also informed me that he called my parents a couple weeks prior to his proposal.  When Greg was bouncing ideas around with his roommates about his proposal, he said he initially wanted to take me on a drive and propose in his car.  I'm kind of glad he proposed to me like this.  I definitely like his creativity.  I love this man.

So what kind of proposal did you get from your spouse?  Or if you aren't married, what kind of romantic or loving gestures did someone do for you that you appreciate[d]?

Sugar update: Jaunary

  This month I really focused on my eating habits because I'm now reporting to the internet.  I wanted to do my best at refraining from white refined sugar.  And I've gotta say this is difficult, and it takes a lot of preparation.

At the beginning of the month, I thought I was good.  Like all goals we attempt to make this goal was easy to keep for the first couple of weeks or two.  And then I kind of cheated a couple of times...  My excuse was this month was incredibly stressful for me.  Greg was sick again and I also had applied for a job, had an interview for that job, and then I waited and waited for them to call me back.  I just felt incredibly worried over this job, so I would talk with friends and family about it which would make me become really hopeful, and then I would become doubtful.  In short: I went through a cycle of emotions several times this last month.  Needless to say, I didn't get the job.

So each month, I will review my goals by telling you a couple of things I did well at and a couple of things I can improve on.

Things I did well at:

I consistently ate breads that I made from scratch.  I realize bread doesn't have a lot of sugar in it, but when the bread lists "water" as a part of their natural ingredients, I become a bit worried that they couldn't list anything else.  Also since carbohydrates are so addicting, I really wanted to make it from scratch (plus the cost of decent tasting bread is like $3 a loaf). I know baking bread is probably one of the easiest things to bake, but this still takes effort to do.  I'm proud of myself.

I have been eating more fruit lately to get my sweet tooth fix.  Yes, this is an area I want to be better at especially since I am picky about fruit.  To help myself out a bit, I like to cut up my fruit.  So when I want an orange for lunch, I'll cut it up into slices and enjoy it like that.  I have learned that I love pears now.  I don't know why I didn't buy them much before.  

Things I can improve on:

Being a bit more prepared or learning to just be patient even though I feel hungry.  I don't need to be gratified instantly with food the moment I start to feel hungry. Sometimes I think, "If I don't eat this crappy food right now, I'll have to wait another twenty minutes or something before I'll eat something and I might get really cranky!  Or I'll even get a hunger headache, and I don't want a hunger headache!"  This thought process happened to me when Greg and I attended a baptism a couple of weeks ago that was directly after church (Our church meets from 9:30-12:30).  The only food they had for refreshments after the baptism were a bunch of cookies, and I basically talked myself into eating these cookies even though I didn't need eat them, and thus I cheated by going over my only two sugary items a month rule.  I wasn't starving, but I was afraid I would be.

The one thing I noticed is while I cut out the refined sugar from my diet for the most part I also made what felt like a lot of sweets with substitutes sugars (coffee cake and cookies).  I think I should either find opportunities to share these sweets with others or half the recipes if I want to.  


Fortunately February is short!  Now that I have a record of how my body works, I can be better this next month.

What about you?  What are your resolutions and how are you doing at keeping them?

Lesson

    The first Sunday of this month, the Relief Society in my ward gathered all the women together to have a lesson on visiting teaching.  Initially, I was excited to hear what the lesson was about.  I wanted to hear what the presidency had prepared, but then I saw the questions on the chalk board, and I lost interest.  I actually really like visiting teaching, and I've had wonderful experiences visiting teaching, but I felt like this lesson was going to be another slap on the wrist, and I didn't want to stick around for it.  So, I folded my arms, sighed a lot, and pretty much showed off how bored I was.  At one point I "went to the bathroom" because I was falling asleep.  I told myself a couple of times that this behavior wasn't nice, and that I couldn't I even learn anything with my total rejection of the lesson.  I thought Greg was lucky because he got to stay in primary and have lots of fun with the kids... 

  When I returned home, I thought about my behavior and my actions.  I was most certainly acting like a baby.  I was pouting and rude towards the presidency.  I thought about those who taught the lesson.   Perhaps this wasn't the subject they care to teach/talk about with all the women in the ward, but they were most likely inspired to do so.  All of the members of the presidency took turns to present--they were unified in teaching the lesson for us.  I doubt the leaders in our church want to chastise/remind everyone to do their visiting teaching, but I am sure they recognized that there was a need for the women to hear this lesson.  

  I didn't want to hear this lesson because I was being prideful.  I actually rejected the message before receiving it.  I thought I was a decent visiting teacher who at least tried to contact her sisters and visited them more often than not.  I know I can improve in that regard. But I am more disappointed in the fact that I went to church, but refused to learn.  I mean, one the main purpose of my going to church is to learn of Christ with the aide of the Holy Spirit!  How can I be open to promptings if I'm not willing to listen to the lesson?  

  I'm sure we've all had these revelations before, but for me these thoughts were a slap in the face.  I hope if I am ever invited back to Relief Society for another lesson that I will listen and care, and that I will feel inspired because that's one of the reasons why I go to church.  

My quest to give up sugar

Yes, I want to give up white, refined sugar, and no this isn't a resolution I made four days ago.  But it has been a process I've been going through since this last summer.

Let me first say, I agree; I am crazy for doing this especially since I like sugary things.  I remember the first couple of nights after giving up sugar dreaming of cinnamon rolls and other wonderful treats.  This has been a very rocky road.  But I have a couple of reasons why I wanted to give up sugar.  First, I recently learned that I have three grandparents with Type-2 Diabetes.  I recognize Type-2 diabetes isn't genetic, but it is a wake up call for me since I do share their genetics.  I also recognize that white sugar isn't the only thing that causes Type-2 diabetes, but I figure that giving up white sugar cuts out a lot of junk food from my diet.

The second reason I want to give up white, refined sugar is sugar makes me feel terrible in a few ways.  The first thing I've noticed when I go long periods without having white sugar that my teeth hurt after eating candy or even a homemade cookie made with refined sugar.  If I have a sweet in the afternoon, I feel exhausted in the evening.  I am way more emotional/crabby after eating sugary items.  I'm sure there are plenty of other side effects from sugar, but these are the three effects I have notice whenever I have sugar.  I hate having these side effects from white, refined sugar.

I'll allow myself to consume of other sweeteners such as pure maple syrup, honey, and sucanat (dehydrated cane sugar juice) which haven't given me similar side effects as white, refined sugar.

I'll allow myself to consume sweets with refined sugar a couple of times a month at most.

I want to focus on eating more fruits as well.

I also want to make my own breads to avoid consuming HFCS (a.k.a. glucose-fructose).

I want to feel healthier and be healthier.  Giving up white, refined sugar isn't a temporary thing, but rather white refined sugar is something I want to remove out of my diet.

Christmas

 

    As I was reflecting back on past Christmases this year, I had mixed feelings.  I felt bitter and disappointed when I thought about missing out on sharing Christmas with my mom and brother for a number of years or the fact that my dad worked several Christmases so that he could support his family (I am grateful for his hard work, but still, disappointed he couldn't have this holiday off).  But I do have plenty of happy memories of Christmas like going Christmas shopping with my family and finding a nice present for each person in my family that was $5 or under and going to a  candlelit Christmas Eve service with my grandparents.

  While not everything is perfect or fair in life, I know I can be happy and create my own happiness.  And yes, I think this Christmas was hard for me to prepare for because I knew that I wouldn't have my family around.  And some days, I really was sad about not having my family around me, but other days, I tried to focus on the meaning of Christmas or on what we would have instead of what we wouldn't have.  I set up our tiny Christmas tree around Thanksgiving, hung the lights on my window, and put our Advent calendar up.  The Relief Society in my ward had a really cool activity early in the month where we learned how to create Christmas center pieces.

The flowers are fake, but the greenery is real.  The white pine unfortunately dried out really quickly.  

I thought it would be great fun to make little Christmas presents for my primary class, so I made rice krispy treats with drizzled chocolate and sprinkles on top, and I also made salt-dough ornaments.

I used semi-sweet chocolate chips for the topping.  I added a little bit of coconut oil to the chocolate which made the chocolate very spreadable.  

I have made salt dough ornaments in the past, but the recipe wasn't that great.  But I found a new recipe at mommypotamus.com that I really like.  I bought a couple of acrylic paints--a mint green color and a light purple with glitter in it-- from the store, and I used some of my water colors, too.

Stars are my favorite shape, and I have recently learned that I find birds to be fascinating creatures.

I had a lot of fun painting and watching Jane Eyre.  

Unfortunately, church was cancelled the Sunday before Christmas because of an ice storm, so I couldn't give the items to our kids (I gave them cookies the following week, though!).  I ended up giving treats and ornaments to the families that invited us over for Christmas.  Greg and I had a fun time playing a game with the Arseneault family on Christmas Eve, and we ended up staying a bit longer helping our friends wrap presents from Santa. When we arrived home, we opened up our presents as is tradition in Greg's family to open presents on Christmas Eve, and we talked with  Greg's family briefly at 1 a.m. our time.  Fortunately, we were able to sleep in. The Skogstad family had us over for Christmas dinner, and we had a lovely time playing with their daughters and their new Christmas toys.  I also was told I looked like a princess with my paper purple crown.

I am really sad that I didn't go Christmas caroling this year, but alas, I couldn't really sing due to my cough.  I hope to make caroling a tradition because I love to sing and I love Christmas music.  However, I was able to complete a couple of projects that didn't require talking or singing over the Christmas break.  ; )

Here is my new infinity scarf.  I really wanted a purple scarf that would go with my new coat.  

The pattern is simple: double, single, double.

Our family is "set in stone".  I had actually created a water color similar to this before, but it was a rough draft.  It's hard to create something from scratch, and I really want to improve my technique.

  Here is snowy, grey Canada on Christmas (view from my back door).  I loved that we had a white Christmas, and it snowed on Christmas day, too!  

 One of our Christmas presents this year was sausage.  I wish I had a better picture of it, but anyway, the Arseneault family shared a pig with another family and this is one of the beautiful things that came from their pig.  I ended up chopping up the sausage and put it in spaghetti as recommended.  I've never tasted a better dish of spaghetti before. Someday, I hope to own a pig and name it 'Bacon'.  

Another one of our Christmas presents!  Free new dining room chairs!  I'm so happy I don't have folding chairs at my table any longer.  I came home one night after work, and I noticed these chairs next to the garbage bins (one of the many trash donations from our neighbors that are moving), and I thought, "These are perfect!"  What a wonderful Christmas miracle.

I love that each year ends with a celebration of Christ.  I think Christmas is placed perfectly in our calendar.  I'd love to hear from you.  How was your Christmas?  What did you do for the holiday?  

Bagged Milk

   I apologize for my hiatus for the past month or so.  Sometimes, I have a hard time blogging here because my life doesn't feel that interesting to share with the world.  Other times, I felt that my journal to satisfying for my outlet for sharing thoughts.

  Anyway, today I wanted to share a new 'adventure' so to speak.  So for my American friends, I'll share with you a new experience.  Bagged milk.  I had avoided buying milk in a bag since we have been here because we don't drink 4 Liters (1.057 gallons) of milk fast enough.  The reason why I bought bagged milk yesterday is because the grocery store didn't have the brand of milk I buy in a 2 Liter container and I really needed milk, so I bought this bag.   Canadians have special pitchers for the bagged milk, but I'm considering just using a regular pitcher with a lid 'cause I hate that the bag stays open while you are still using it.

I buy whole milk; I like the taste and knowing that it has fewer alterations than the other kinds... Hopefully??

Perhaps I'll make yogurt with this extra milk??