Highlights of our Thanksgiving Break:

Logan with the Wood family:

• Bowling with my brothers and sister. I've been promising the boys I would take them since Kent and I got married. But every time we try to go, something gets in the way. My overactive guilt producer wouldn't let me delay it any longer. And we had a blast! I lost by a lot. But my team ("the Squirrels"-Me, Jonah, and Josh) won!

• The impromptu Wood Family Musical during Home Evening. My dad reading Luke 2 = perfect time to hum "Silent Night."
• Dad making barbecued turkey since I wouldn't be there to have some of my grandpa's.
• Playing "Whoonu"
• Helping with Nathan's kindergarten feast and eating school lunch with Jonah.
• Most of all, convincing Dad to let us set up the Christmas tree before Thanksgiving so we could decorate it, drink egg nog, get new matching pajamas from Mom, read Mr. Wilaby's Christmas Tree and sleep in the living room together.

Oregon with the Andersens:

• Noticing how many things reminded us of Twilight. (The movie was filmed in St. Helens)
• Burgerville pumpkin shakes. Mmm.
• Gift basket waiting in hotel room for us from Shannon.
• Anna showing me her pink room at least six times.
• Just enjoying our time in Shannon and Scott's beautiful home. I was glad to have time to finally get to know their family a little better. It was wonderful, and so fun!
• Gingersnap cookies and wassail.
• Incredible Thanksgiving dinner.
• Watching Payton direct the orchestra on the Wii.
• Seeing Teresa and Dan. It's always so nice to get together with family.
• Conner's sweet baptism. I played the piano, and during the prelude music Conner stood by me and sang along to his favorite Primary songs. It was very, very sweet.
• Anna and the Christmas lights.
  
  (Sorry, this picture is blurry-there was so much water in the air that I couldn't turn the flash on)

We had so much fun with both our families! I was sad to leave, both when we drove from Utah to Oregon and then again when we drove from Oregon back to Rexburg. But, only two more weeks until the semester is over! Wahoo!

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too!

Gratitude

"Those who live in thanksgiving daily have a way of opening their eyes and seeing the wonders and beauties of this world as though seeing them for the first time.


"I encourage you to look around you. Notice the people you care about. Notice the fragrance of the flowers and the song of the birds. Notice and give thanks for the blue of the sky, the color of the leaves, and the white of the clouds. Enjoy every sight, every smell, every taste, every sound.


"As we strive to open our eyes, hearts, and arms, our step will become a little lighter, our smile will become a little brighter, and the darkness that sometimes broods over our lives will become a little lighter.


"Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t been an especially grateful person. Rejoice and think of what an impression you will make on those who thought they knew you. Think of how delightfully surprised they will be.


"Be grateful. Every day is a new canvas—a new opportunity."

-Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Live in Thanksgiving Daily,” Ensign, Sept. 2001, 6

Me, tonight.

It is Saturday night (I know when you're reading this it will be Sunday night, so don't get confused.) It's Saturday night, and this is me:

• Finished: with writing my magazine articles for English 450. Now I just hope they get accepted by the editors!


• Listening: to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. For the third time in a row. I needed a little Hawaii in my system.


• Full: from pigging out with Kent at Craigos. You should have seen that boy's reaction to the Oreo dessert pizza. I was afraid I'd have to carry him out of there on a stretcher.


• Stressed: there's only 35 days until the end of the semester and I have at least 45 days worth of stuff to do by then.
• Wearing: the shirt that Kent likes best. We made "top three" lists today of shirts that we like most on each other.


• Thinking: about Christmas. It's coming! I know this because there's a huge tree at the grocery store.


• Hoping: that people come to choir practice tomorrow night.


• In love: with my sweet husband who I keep trying to talk to but forgetting that he's got his headphones on in the other room.
• Content: I've got a good life, people to love, a warm house, healthy body, money for food, and church to go to in the morning.

It's a good night here tonight.

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You know what I love?

To go to the grocery store, spend $40 and have the bottom of my receipt say "You saved $43.86."

That is fun to read. So fun, in fact, that I'm going to go get that receipt and read it again.

Soda Cracker Toffee

I've started my health goals again. I had five eating healthy goals all summer, and they were tough, but so good for me. Moving up here, though, I kind of gave up on them for a while. But now, I'm back again. Five servings of fruits or vegetables per day, portion control, not eating after a set time each night, eight glasses of water each day, and only eating one sugary treat per day. I know some people can cut sugar from their diet entirely, but I've got things like Soda Cracker Toffee that I just can't stay away from.

To make this incredibly easy treat, start by placing a single layer of saltine crackers on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 425. In a saucepan, bring one cup brown sugar and one cup butter to boil and let boil for three minutes. Pour this directly over the crackers and place baking sheet in the oven for only 3 to 5 minutes. The crackers will begin to sort of "float" over the mixture. Be careful, because this can burn really fast, and the sugar will get grainy and bleh.

Let the crackers cool for a while, then spread with melted chocolate chips. Place in the freezer until it hardens, then break apart and eat!

YES!

"Some portray legalization of so-called same-sex marriage as a civil right. This is not a matter of civil rights; it is a matter of morality. . . that is of critical importance to the future of the family. . . . We are compelled by our doctrine to speak out."
-President Gordon B. Hinckley "Why We Do Some of the Things We Do." Ensign, Nov. 1999

I was reading a book by Elder Bruce C. Hafen, of the Quorum of the Seventy titled Covenant Hearts: Marriage and the Joy of Human Love. One of his final chapters is about how same-sex marriage weakens what marriage means. What Elder Hafen says in this chapter makes sense to me. I wish I could just copy the entire chapter here for you to read.

Some quotes:

"Because gay marriage is fundamentally a moral issue, laws on this subject can alter both personal and public moral attitudes."

"Same-sex marriage blurs the distinction between what society tolerates and what it endorses."

"The obligations of parenthood, marriage, and biological kinship are fundamental to preserving a civilized order. Such weighty societal obligations are worthy of being highly protected, not merely being tolerated or permitted. One consequence of the law's protecting marriage is that the state is a party to the marriage; and the state must legally approve both starting and ending it. These formalities are not required to create or dissolve other legal contracts. Society actually has a greater stake in the creation and survival of each marriage than it does in the survival of each business agreement."

"To marry is to accept a public responsibility to the community and its basic social values, especially its values about what is best for children."

"Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun wrote in 1986 that he would protect homosexual behavior not because it promotes any social value but precisely because it dissents from the established social order: 'We protect these rights not because they contribute. . . to the general public welfare, but because they form so central a part of an individual's life, including one's right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.'" Marriage, Elder Hafen explains, is fundamental to the survival of society, and the autonomy argument for gay marriage undermines that social obligation.

"The power of the law to communicate society's endorsement tells us that our system does not and should not protect everything it tolerates. If we merge tolerance with protection, our system will end up removing marriage and childrearing from the most protected legal sphere, because the lowest common denomiator effect of 'individual autonomy' denies the possibility that some relationships are more significant to society than others. So, the closer our society comes to approving gay marriage, the more we will actually reduce our expectation that married people owe anything at all to society, including their utmost effort to succeed in their marriages. That is how gay marriage undermines the sense of personal and social obligation that is fundamental to our thinking about what marriage is and what it means."

"From the perspective of prophetic teachings, state endorsement means the government would be promoting serious immorality."

-Bruce C. Hafen. Covenant Hearts. pp 249-255

Please vote YES! on Proposition 8! And please vote tomorrow even if you aren't in California. It is our right to choose the government we believe will make the best choices for our country!

Husband Tag

Jocelyn tagged me to do this post about Kent

1. Husband's full name: Kent Garrett Andersen. A good, strong name.
2. How long have we been married? Almost 11 months.
3. How long did we date? 11 months. (counting engagement).
4. Who eats the most sweets? Kent, for sure. He has a separate shelf in the kitchen he calls "instant goodness" with all of our candy and snacks.
5. Who said "I love you" first? I said it first, but Kent was the first to want to say it--he was waiting for me because he wanted to be able to say it back to me right away. Sweet, huh?
6. Who's taller? Kent, by only 3 inches. A good excuse for me to wear flat shoes.
7. Who sings better? Well, I enjoy singing in choirs and at church more, but there's hardly a moment at home that Kent isn't making up a song or singing something silly.
8. Who is smarter? Oh boy. Let's not go there.
9. Who does the laundry? Kent has actually kind of taken over this semester because he has less schoolwork.
10. Who pays the bills? Kent.
11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Kent. But it switches if we're sleeping in a bed where the nightstand is on the right--I always sleep where the nightstand is.
12. Who mows the lawn? We don't have one, but I hate mowing, so I hope Kent will take over that job. :D
13. Who drives? Kent always gets nervous when I'm driving, so he likes to take over as often as he can.
14. Who admits they are wrong? Kent's answer to this: "I'm never wrong." Truthfully, though, we're both good at apologizing.
15. Who kissed who first? Kent kissed me--I had never kissed anyone before, and I didn't know what to do!
16. Who asked who out first? Kent asked me to go ice skating and to lunch at Big Judd's.
17. Who wears the pants? Good question. As the oldest child, I'm pretty bossy. But I'm learning to let Kent lead while I "encourage."

Welcome to November!

Just look at the mess my "Raven" pumpkin left on my doorstep!

I crack myself up sometimes.