I Love You More Than Blank

My submission has been put up on I Love You More Than Blank! Right now it's in the eatables category, third row down, all the way on the right. If you know me, you know that it really shouldn't be in the eatables category.

If you submit your own, or at least know what you would submit, leave it in a comment. Fun fun!

McDonald's Trip Planner

No, I am not a McDonald's addict. We are driving from IL to ID and I've been looking for places along the way for the girls to stretch their legs and be entertained. When we literally strap them to a chair so they can barely move (Wouldn't you hate that? Having no control over when you were freed and when you weren't?) for 24 hours straight, the least we can do is entertain them a little.

I just discovered this nifty McDonald'strip planner where you input you're trip route, and it shows you all of the McDonald's along the way. You can specify if you want McD's just .5 miles off your route, or 2 miles if you're willing to get off the beaten path. Among the created list of restaurants, you can see which ones have playplaces.

Unless it has a playplace, I might as well be down the road at the cheaper Wendy's, or the better-food Burger King, or Subway, or KFC, or Pizza Hut, or Olive Garden (Yeah, that last one is wishful thinking. We just tried Olive Garden and learned that Mari is not at a good eating-out age.) Most likely I'll be pigging out on their salads. I'm not afraid of hopping from one McDonald's to another... it reminds me of a childhood cross-country trip where Dad wanted to win the McDonald's Monopoly game. Yum.

Burger King and Carl's Jr. (aka Hardees) have playplaces, too, but they don't specify online which locations have playplaces. So for anyone interested, there ya go!

Book Review: The Testament

This John Grisham book is a rare adult book that I thoroughly enjoyed! I rolled my eyes at the beginning when the setting was that of millionaires and billionaires (because, really, how in the world are we supposed to relate to three houses and a jet?!), but quickly he alternated chapters with third world Brazil. Grisham did a great job of comparing the two different lifestyles. If you got depressed with the impoverished life in Brazil, you were quickly navigated to the life of America's wealthiest. And then when you were beginning to feel sick from the millionaires wasting money while you struggle with your rent, Grisham switches you back to Brazil.

I liked learning a little more about the Brazilian "outback" and the Christian missionary efforts taking place there. I also enjoyed just enough legalese to work my brain. To my surprise, the main character (of course a lawyer) actually converts to Christianity and Grisham explores his spiritual progression. I kept waiting for some anti-organized-religion spin (as we so often find in media these days), but it never came! Not only that, but it includes anti-drinking, anti-smoking and anti-adultery sentiments. Sweet! According to my limited knowledge, that's a pretty different take for Grisham.

Beware: the book has a sad little twist at the end, but I thought it was a good sign that I got emotional about it. (A lot of times when sadness comes at the end I just yell, "Ah, c'mon!" and throw the book out the window.)

So check it out, it'll give your brain a little exercise, or vacation... whichever way you see it.

Red Rim Rising

Planet Beautiful Brickfish

So my brother entered a photography contest to try and make some money to help pay for schooling and his upcoming wedding. If you like...
1. the Teton mountains,
2. Idaho/Wyoming,
3. BYU-Idaho students,
4. a temple marriage hopeful,
5. scenic photography,
6. surfing good web pages
7. clicking on buttons that say "Vote,"
8. helping people make money at no cost to you,
9. my brother, or
10. me!

...then think about voting for his beautiful photo. Thanks!
P.S. I think you can vote every eight hours. ;)

Young Women Blogs

Yesterday as I surfed for new sites worthy of my RSS feed subscription, I came across this massive list of Mormon blogs. Check it out, you'll most likely find something that relates to you.

Since I have a Young Women calling, I looked up and found some really great related blogs.

The first one, Go Ask Laurel, looks great for Young Women. I sent the link to my Young Women Facebook friends. They can write into Laurel (a Deseret Book employee and seemingly really cool gal) with questions about boys, family, friends, etc. I see how valuable this is because so often the girls ask questions about their life and my mind just pulls out a great big, "HUH?" So not only can the girls peruse and possibly write into Laurel, but I can look through and get ideas about how to respond to the Young Women.



The second blog, Beginnings New, looks like a great resource for us YW leaders. The author is a YW advisor, so she talks a lot about the lessons. This is very refreshing to me. Many of the online YW resources have great hand-outs, clip art and activity ideas. But it's hard to find discussion about the lessons, the theme, and the spiritual and emotional purpose of Young Womens. After reading a few of her posts related to the recent Sunday lessons, I can see how valuable this could be as a teacher. Her posts allow you to exercise your brain power and thoughts in relation to the subject you'll be teaching the Young Women. Whether or not you want to use any of her resources for her lesson, it gets you thinking on the subject.

I thought I'd just pass these resources on to anyone who's interested. Enjoy!

Love Is Not A Fight

Who's tired of snow?

My sister sent me this picture:

I think it's pretty fitting, since Sara got stuck in a bad storm driving from Idaho to Wisconsin. Her escapade included unplanned stays in Billings, Bismark, and a new set of tires. I hope we have better luck when we make the reverse trip in a a few weeks, especially since we'll have a three year old and one year old in the back seats.

Now this is my brother's picture:

He's a Recreation Management major at BYU-I, and over the break he did a week long "Winter Summit" trip in the Idaho mountains. He earned three well-deserved credits in that week. Where are my sister's credits for surviving her trip across the plains?

As of three days ago our snow had nearly all melted away. Then Grace said, "It's snowing, it's snowing!" I didn't even look out the window because, frankly, I didn't believe her. I figured she was looking at a little pile of snow outside, or more likely, has just begun to see snow floating in front of her eyes ALL THE TIME. In the end, she was right, and it is still going strong.

I haven't been out in the snow too much this winter, but I wouldn't mind being done with it. Yesterday I was daydreaming about hiking trails and playgrounds. (And NOT the hiking trail pictured above.) Soon enough! For now I need to enjoy the beautiful white winterland. I know that come August I will be daydreaming of sledding, snowball fights and snowmen.

Need to vent about your own little (or big) snow experience this winter? Do share. :)

Book Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I suffer from nontheateritis.  Many of us parents of young children suffer from it.  I rarely get to the theater.*  I've been itching to read The Curious Case of Benjamin Button since hearing that it's written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I got it from the library today and read it within an hour.

In case you've missed the movie previews, it's a fun little short story about a man that is born old and "ages" backwards. The natural first question seems to be "How was he born?" Well in the story Fitzgerald conveniently ignores that topic. For those not suffering from nontheateritis, how does Hollywood answer the question?  

I was pretty depressed at the end, as I read of the death of a "newborn" baby.  Sorry if that was a spoiler, but I had assumed that ending before opening the book.  It was a downer for me, and to pep myself up I plan to start the Harry Potter series within the hour.  It was a good quality read, though, so I'll recommend the short story to anyone.  

The time it took you to read this post, you could have read a third of the Benjamin Button story.  So stop reading mediocre internet writing and crack open some Fitzgerald.

*The past six weeks being an exception.  I went to Twilight twice with my sister.

"Brooke-Lynn"

I came across this picture in my room today, and the memories came flooding back.  We were the inseparable pair self-titled, "Brooke-Lynn."  

I really like this picture, which is probably ten years old.  Do you remember, Brooke?  We created so many memories out of our high school hours spent singing, dancing, acting, prowling BYU-Hawaii campus, beach hopping, and being English nerds.  It wasn't surprising that we ended up at BYU majoring in English together.  There we gradually followed our separate paths.  We've endured our own little ups and downs, and now we're miles apart and go months without talking.  But, I think our friendship will withstand it all.  Love you Brooke.