St. Patrick’s Day and Why Shamrock Cookies Rule

March 18, 2014 By

Just as I was slowly digging myself out of a hole, I spent most of yesterday in bed. Though my lovely virus is no longer keeping me up a night (blessings!) a deluge of spring allergies and cramps have taken over. You win some, you lose some, right?

Though I’m still feeling under the weather and am now (count ‘em) several weeks behind on getting caught up, I’m counting my blessings. I had a mammogram a couple of weeks ago that revealed “irregularities” so had to go to the Breast Cancer Center for more tests. For almost two weeks, I lived under the dark cloud of “I may have breast cancer” and was relieved when my new tests turned out normal last Friday. On that same day, my mom was released from the hospital and yesterday, I tested negative for whopping cough.

You could say I’d just like to forget last week even happened.

Through it all, we’ve been having some fun festivities. I’m a holiday gal but if I was to list out my favorites, St. Patrick’s Day would be near the bottom so I don’t put much effort into it. That said, I’m not one of those naysayer moms who poo-poos holiday revelries. While my kids are little and still want to believe and build leprechaun traps, far be it for me to squash their imaginations and enthusiasm for the whimsical, fun parts of childhood.
Of note: Bode did not catch a leprechaun. This time.

Because I was feeling sick, I kept the mischief to a minimum. Knocked-over traps, green milk, a chocolate gold coin trail leading to their treasure in the basement (highly-coveted Nutter Butters) and Lucky Charms for breakfast. We kept it simple but my kids were thrilled.

We also made shamrock-shaped sugar cookies for friends who’ve helped me survive the last couple of weeks.

Confession: We ate far more than we gave away.

That night, we had the missionaries and a friend over for dinner. I have always hated Irish food but at a recent Costco visit, the kids and Jamie begged me to make corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day dinner. I relented and paired it with potatoes and a green salad. To tie it all in, I made one more Irish item: soda bread. Since I haven’t met a homemade bread I haven’t liked, I figured there would be at least one Irish food I liked.

I was wrong.

Next year, I’m sticking with shamrock cookies.

Filed Under: holidays

Valentine’s Day is for lovers…and crafters…and eaters (14 ideas for celebrating)

January 30, 2014 By

I have decided there is no more polarizing holiday than Valentine’s Day. When I took an informal poll from my Facebook friends about how they celebrate the holiday, I felt like a Seahawk in a field of stampeding Broncos. I received a few helpful suggestions but mostly I was lambasted at even the thought of celebrating.

And that made me pretty sad. Whatever your relationship status, Valentine’s Day should be about love. Not just romantic love but motherly love. Sibling love. Love of self. Lover of chocolate. (Note: the last two are unremittingly linked).

So, whether you’re the Grinch that sulked on Valentine’s Day or you’re a lover at heart (ha, get it?), don’t miss these 14 ideas that will keep you swooning.

Click to keep reading.

Filed Under: Foodie, holidays Tagged With:

Temple Square: The Most Beautiful Place on Earth at Christmas!

January 7, 2014 By

I don’t care what denomination you are (or aren’t). If you want to get into the Christmas spirit, Temple Square in Salt Lake City will send you into overdrive. The headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has literally thousands of festive lights, nativities, lanterns and garlands that set the city ablaze. In addition to the visual feast, the Church organizes a lineup of holiday concerts and other events that offer visitors acoustic experiences full of holiday cheer.

We made an evening of it with Jamie’s sister, the Twinnies and his mom by starting out at the newish City Creek Center’s Deseret Book. Our family tradition is when the kids turn 8 and get baptized, they each get their own beautiful set of leather-bound scriptures from the Deseret Book flagship store (Bode will have to wait until this summer to be given his).

Though we’ve been to Temple Square several times, the kids have never done an official tour so that is what we did. Two  hundred “sister” missionaries are called from all over the world to serve here and speak more than 40 languages. I walked into the South Visitor’s Center and I queried the sister at the front desk.

“We are wondering when you are offering your next tour?”
“They’re actually on-demand.”
“OK, I’m demanding it.”

I assure you it came off funnier in person.

It has been years since I’ve toured the various buildings on Temple Square and I loved how technologically advanced the exhibits are and the beautiful spirit as we learned about the Assembly Hall, Tabernacle, North and South Visitor’s Center, Welfare Square, Family History Library and of course, the cornerstone of it all: the fairy-tale-esque Salt Lake Temple, which took 40 years for the Saints to complete.

The famous Christus in the North Visitor’s Center

We visited all my favorite haunts including the Lion House Pantry, cafeteria-style dining in the Historic Home of Brigham Young. We didn’t stay for dinner but grabbed the most delectable item on earth: Lion House rolls.

I’m not kidding when I say I could have eaten every single one of them.

The top floor of the adjacent Joseph Smith Memorial Building offers the best views looking down on Temple Square.

Photographer Bode’s photos of Temple Square

On the top floor, the JSMB has the elegant The Roof Restaurant or the more casual Garden Restaurant but we were thrilled to discover the new Nauvoo Café on the main level was offering quick-serve hot chocolate in addition to their fast-casual menu.

Lion House rolls and hot chocolate for dinner?

This was a picture-perfect evening surrounded by beloved family and sites that warmed my heart.

Filed Under: Family travel, Foodie, holidays, LDS, travel, Utah

CHILL: New Year, Same Old New Me

January 3, 2014 By

When we rang in 2013 a year ago, I had a sense of foreboding that it would not be among my best. And it wasn’t. But there were personal victories as I learned to harness some of my lifelong weaknesses, making it one of my favorite years despite the lack of externally awesome summits.

I was at boot camp the other day and my instructor Robyn casually struck up a conversation about her “spirit animal.” I blew if off as some pagan metaphysical mumbo jumbo  but what she said next resounded with me. Her sensei asked her what her word was to define herself. She thought of all the things she is but her spiritual leader led her to the one word she was not and what she desperately needed to learn to be or do. Her word was REST.

The mere thought made her uncomfortable and that was the entire point. She already knew who she was but she needed to become so much more and that was how she could do it.

Robyn and I are a lot alike. I love this quote on Pinterest:

I thought of all the things I am. Happy. Ambitious. Adventurous. Fun-loving. Fierce.

Robyn continued, “It’s tough to come up with your own word so ask the person closest to you what your word should be.”

What would Jamie say? Immediately CHILL popped into my head. He is constantly streaming a barrage of “you need to chill out” and he’s right. Last year was such a powerful year because I really acknowledged some of the things I am not and slowly, deliberately started to make some necessary changes. Learning to chill is not something that comes easily to me. I lack patience, want responses now and am unsatisfied with procrastination and mediocrity.

Professionally, I’m at a crossroads. I have been blessed with some amazing opportunities while working from home and feel strongly I need to keep doing that while my kids are young. But some doors have been closed, I’ve shut a few of my own and I’m straining for a glimpse out of an open window. Should I continue on the same path or take another one entirely? Keep building or start over?

I don’t have the answers and the only impression I’ve received is “wait, it will come.”  So, that’s what I’ll do in 2014. Be hopeful. Be adventurous. Be happy. And learn to CHILL OUT.

Last year, I started on my path of healthier living–mentally, spiritually and physically. I’m learning it’s OK to take baths, curl up with a book and just do nothing sometimes. I’m learning to say “no,” to always put my family first and to be present by stepping away from my computer and turning off my phone. I am aspiring not to be overscheduled because an open, uncluttered and free mind allows for peace and revelation to flow. I am disheartened by so much around me, am often overwhelmed with fighting what feels like losing moral battles but I have resolved to be a force for good. I am practicing being kind instead of right. I am embracing fear for the professor that it is.

I am learning to let fear be my my cue. Any time I feel even a whisper of fear, I try recognize it as a teacher that shows up to instruct me in the areas where I am ready to grow the most.  Fear is energy that, when I allow it, can be harnessed and used to create powerful momentum to thrust my life forward into positive change (think of first learning to ride a bike!). So with my heart palpitating, my palms sweating and my eyes smiling, I welcome this new year.-Mindy Gledhill

Bottom line, I will chill as I learn not to focus on what I want to do but rather, focus on who I want to be.

And the rest will come.

Filed Under: Family, Favorite Posts, Health, holidays

Christmas 2013: It’s a Wrap!

January 2, 2014 By

Christmas isn’t quite the same unless you have little kids. With Hadley and Bode, along with the twinnies, we had the perfect ensemble for memorable festivities.

In Canada, Christmas Eve is almost a bigger deal than Christmas with a huge spread of food (everyone’s favorite appetizers), and so many fun traditions including playing the bells, the left-right game, the always-hilarious gift exchange and my seamstress niece Emily sews everyone matching PJ bottoms. Jamie’s family doesn’t really have any traditions so are always gracious about adopting a few of mine.

Apparently someone was happy to get the popcorn in the gift exchange. We won’t mention the heartbreak when it was taken away.
On a positive note, I spared everyone my regular white elephant gift: a framed picture of Jamie and The Great Pumpkin.

And of course, the kids had to change into their Christmas Jammies before bedtime.
As you can clearly see, Bode is rocking out to the hilarious video #XmasJammies that has gone viral. The kid’s got moves.

Christmas was low-key, fun and topped off by a delicious prime rib. Bode was given the coveted role of Santa and distributed the gifts in a systematic fashion. There were lots of clothes, candy, stuffed animals, building toys, the 31-disc Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection and new carry-ons for Maui. Hadley isn’t much of a video game fan but got a Nintendo DSi XL with the game Animal Crossing, which she LOVES. Screw those Mario-types (sorry, B; though he does love his new Super Mario 3D World from Grandma). It’s sooo much more fun to start a new life as mayor of your own town and create the perfect place to live. I like it because she’s actually learning life lessons like acquiring building permits and budgeting money.

But don’t tell her that. It will stop being fun.


Sibling gratitude. I just had to document it because it rarely happens.

Jamie surprised me with a couple of gifts including a much-needed food processor but overall, we decided not to get each other anything besides stocking stuffers so we could save for our trip. Allegedly. A couple of packages arrived in the mail for him a couple of weeks ago and I inquired about them.

“Amber, you should know not to ask me such questions around this time of  year.”
“Oh really? Remember how we’re not buying each other gifts?”

Busted. He was buying new pumpkin lights and using Christmas as a cover.

Speaking of which, check-out the sign his mother left in the gift-wrapping room.

Some things never change.

Filed Under: holidays, Humor

The Grand Brunch and Fun at the Grand America

January 1, 2014 By

Our family has already established we have a love affair with the opulent Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. If Utah has an equivalent, it is the Grand America Hotel. Built in the lavish manor of Europe’s grand hotels, it has the distinction of being the only AAA Five Diamond hotel in Salt Lake City and has more than 450,000 square feet of hand-tooled marble and granite.

On the day before Christmas, my generous mother-in-law treated the whole family to a delicious brunch.

I thought the extensive buffet would be the highlight and it was one of them. But what followed next was truly magical for the kids.

Every year, the Grand America unveils 13 whimsical hand-crafted window displays in their retail windows that are open to the public. This year was a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Santa’s workshop with 36 elves building everything from toy ray guns to motorized stockings to elf flying machines to my favorite: a yeti made of faux fur with marbles for eyes and press-on nails for teeth.

To make it even more fun and interactive, there is a scavenger hunt where the kids answered easy questions at each display and upon completion, they received a chocolate prize. They played at JouJou, a fantastical toy boutique, and gawked at the life-sized gingerbread house made of 1,200-lbs of flour, 400 lbs of sugar, 1,200 eggs and 25 lbs of chocolate.

Believe me, we’ve almost consumed its equivalent this holiday season. Thanks to my in-laws for the wonderful memories!

 

Filed Under: Family, Family travel, holidays, travel, Utah

Top 5 Reasons to Crash Your Sister-in-Law’s Ward Christmas Party

December 30, 2013 By

We had planned to drive to Utah last Saturday, the day after the kids got out of school for the holiday break. But there was a complication: Utah’s weather. They were getting slammed by snow storms and both routes through Colorado and Wyoming were risky. On Thursday, I worriedly watched the weather while Jamie was at a Christmas party and when he arrived home at 6:30 p.m., I told him our dilemma.

“So, let’s leave tomorrow (Friday) then,” he suggested.

I was shocked, then elated. I had hoped he’d say that but when you’re self-employed it’s tough to get away earlier. But then I panicked. I had to do all our packing and round up all our gifts in just a few hours?! Somehow we pulled it off and despite a few precarious stretches of road in Wyoming, we arrived in Utah in a very small window between two very big storms.

And how glorious our arrival was!

Sledding at Sugar House Park, Utah

Dear (brown) Denver: this is what a white Christmas looks like.

We stopped by Jamie’s sister Tammy’s house and she was exhausted after setting up her ward (congregation) Christmas party. Did someone say party? We just happened to be there early…and available. And so we did what any moochers would do: we invited ourselves.

The party we crashed was actually a Christmas breakfast. Here are the Top 5 Reasons to Crash Your Sister-in-Law’s Ward Christmas Party.

#5. Hot chocolate bar. All the food at the potluck breakfast was amazing–from bananas foster French toast casserole to Jamie’s sister’s delicious potato casserole with Gruyère cheese. But my favorite was the darling hot chocolate bar with delicious, high-quality cocoa, peppermint marshmallows, syrups, whipped cream and candies.

I tried to take a picture before the table got ravaged but darn people kept coming and coming and coming. Talk about moochers (it takes one to know one).

#4. Hanging out with our edible twin cousins.

At a recent Santa encounter, Berkley asked him for a goat.

“Why do you want a goat?”
“Because I don’t have one.” Duh.

#3. The glorious snow. The ground looked like a puffed pillow, icicles framed the backdrop of the Christmas party and we later built snow forts and appropriately went to see Frozen.

Tammy is a pro interior designer.  If Mother Nature hadn’t lended assistance for our winter wonderland, I’m sure Tammy would have pulled off something just as good.

#2. Anyone who knows me knows I love bringing out my pipe chimes to play “Jingle Bells” every Christmas. But I have a new obsession: COWBELLS. Since my LDS mission in Switzerland, I’ve loved cowbells and at every Olympic games I’ve attended, the Swiss are always there sounding their mellifluous rings. But I never knew they could be actual instruments.  A colorful German-loving character in Tammy’s ward regularly gives cowbell performances and with his professional sound system, that guy was amazing.

I later cornered him. Where did he get those genius cowbells? (Ernst Licht.) How did he learn how to do them? Did he perform on German Idol?

I’m very serious about saving my money to purchase a set ($600–awk!) Jamie knows I’m very serious but has been my husband long enough to know he can’t change my mind about something as important as cowbells.

Me: “Bode, when I purchase my cowbells, will you play them with me?”
Jamie: “Bode, don’t be a sheep.”
Me: “Technically he’d be a cow.”

#1. We sat with some of Tammy and Jeremy’s friends. Jamie’s mom also joined us and at one point, their buddy leaned over to Jamie and asked if he was Tammy’s dad.

After picking himself up off the floor, Jamie later pointed out this guy’s clothing.

“For someone wearing a Yale shirt, he’s not very smart.”

 

Filed Under: Family, holidays, Humor, Jamie, LDS Tagged With: , , ,

My Merry Christmas Wish of Living Outside of Yourself

December 25, 2013 By

On our long drive to Utah, I read an article in Outside magazine, “The Pursuit of Happiness–launch the year with these simple, life-improving tips.” It. Was. Awesome. (Read the full article here). One of my favorite excerpts:

“In a 2013 study, researchers at UCLA and the University of North Carolina reported that happiness levels have powerful effects on genes and our health. But there was a catch: the specific kind of happiness mattered a lot. The unselfishly happy, whose feelings of well-being involved a deep sense of purpose in life, had a strong expression of antiviral and antibody genes.”
“Happy hedonists, meanwhile, wrapped up in materialistic pleasures, had weaker immune systems, resulting in inflammation that can lead to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. ‘Even pleasures that seem virtuous, like looking at a sunset, can be hedonic, because they involve one’s own emotional gratification,’ explains UCLA professor of medicine Steven Cole, the senior author of the study. ‘The real distinction is whether your happiness is tied into purpose and meaning outside yourself.’”

Bottom line: like so many things, how happy you are comes down to how you choose to live your life.

One of my favorite days of the year is the Christmas program the Sunday before church. We attended Jamie’s parent’s ward and I loved the humble, inspiring messages on Mary, Joseph and Jesus. As I set there looking around at this room of strangers, I just felt happy and grateful for everything the gospel of Jesus Christmas has brought to my life.

I mentally listed out all the things the LDS Church is teaching my children: Gospel principals. Morality. Honesty. Service to each other and in our community.  Goal setting. Public speaking. Leadership. Friendship. Eternal families. The worth of a soul. The purpose of life.

This Christmas, I am grateful to the many, many people, places and things that are teaching me to live a life with meaning outside of myself.

Merry Christmas!

 

Filed Under: Family, holidays, LDS

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

December 24, 2013 By

My very most memorable Christmas wasn’t even Christmas as I spent the evening in Shepherd’s Field outside of Bethlehem.

However, spending time with our LDS ward family at the Christmas party is always a highlight of the holiday season.

Sure, the Shepherd looked ticked.

Note: He was pretending he was looking up at the herald angels in awe. The kid may need acting lessons.

The girl who aspired to be Mary (remember that little debate?) was assigned to be the star, which she forsook when she learned there were animals was not very pleased about her “cheesy” sheep costume.

Baaaaaaaad. Sorry, bad pun.

Sure, our rehearsals were a disaster (but they pulled it off) and the manger was made of a hula skirt.

And that heathen Santa made an appearance.

But somehow I think baby Jesus would have loved our ward Christmas party as much as I did.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Humor, LDS

The Holiday Piano Recital: The Story of Meltdowns, Stresses and Triumphs

December 23, 2013 By

For my kids’ holiday piano recital, their teacher gave each of them challenging holiday songs to memorize. After several Hadley meltdowns, I told her to just focus on Silent Night instead of the assigned two and that seemed to work like a charm.

Until she actually started regressing a few days before the recital. And then the freak-outs began, followed by mind games as she started thinking she couldn’t play it at all.

Bode was another story. While Hadley had lost her confidence, he was overly confident he could knock out Jolly Old St. Nicholas and Angels We Have Heard on High. The complication: he’s totally ADHD on the piano. He is always playing (just ask driven-to-drink Jamie who just wants a moment of silence) but Bode is all over the place and rarely focuses on just one song for long. At times, he was more focused on memorizing Hadley’s song than his own which, as you can imagine, went over stupendously well with her.

So, I was nervous before the recital but then I forced myself to calm down. What was the worst that could happen? So, they screwed up. Many of our friends would be at the recital so it’s  not like they were performing for strangers. I assured myself that failure and learning to pick yourself back up is a good growing experience at any age.

At the beginning of the recital, their teacher announced how proud she was of her students and how they had been assigned pieces a bit beyond their level of expertise. Finally, a ray of hope. Maybe my kids wouldn’t be alone!

And they weren’t. Though all the kids did great, there were definitely a lot of mess-ups and do-overs.

Hadley was nervous but she knocked it out of the park until the final few bars of her music, in which case she had a pretty minor flub. Most amusingly, though, was when she crossed her legs in the middle of her piece. Then there was Bode. The last one to perform, he could either be the grand or much less-than finale. He confidently strode over to the piano, plopped himself down and started pounding away with the intensity of Schroeder from Charlie Brown. The piano bench was pushed sideways, his brow was crinkled but gosh darn it if that boy didn’t pull his songs together in the 11th hour. Like Hadley, his flubs were relatively minor and he was all “I told you I could do it” grins when it was over.

He was in such an exuberant mood that as he was downing his refreshments after (one of each treat, of course), he jokingly called out “FOOD FIGHT!”

I’m sure the owners of the venue with their $25,000 pianos would have been thrilled.

As we were driving home, Hadley was in a much better mood. “Our teacher is the perfect piano teacher,” she raved. “She not only has us learn songs from the piano books but different ones as well. Then she has us perform them at a recital!”

We’re counting this one as a very surprising win.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Humor
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »