The Pioneer Woman And Other Stories

Some time last year I began following a website/blog called The Pioneer Woman. I started reading the story of how she met and married her husband, I made some of her recipes (she has pictures of every single step!), and I fell in love with her photos of life on a ranch. Last night I tricked my friend Angie into going to The King's English Book Shop in Salt Lake City to attend a book signing for The Pioneer Woman's (Ree Drummond) new cookbook. I figured she had other fans, but I had no idea that hundreds (HUNDREDS) of women would be there jockeying for position to see Ree and get her signature. (She is skinny in real life. Especially for someone who uses a lot of butter. My hero.) Like an idiot I brought my child. (In the end it was a good move because Bridget got us moved up in the line for looking so pathetic.)

It was more of a pleasure to spend some quality line time with Angie and read childrens' books with Bridget at a small table in the back of the store than it was to spend five seconds with Ree. I got wondering why The Pioneer Woman would inspire so much hubbub. I've decided it's because she is so open about her life. With all her distinct style and talent, she still has laundry and dishes piling up. Sometimes her dogs poop in the house. It's refreshing that she doesn't hold back. It's even more refreshing that she seems to have herself figured out. I'd like to have myself figured out. I'd also like to be more open, but something is still holding me back from that. Hmmmm.

I like that I'm friends with Angie. We worked together in the Missionary Department for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (That's right, I wrote the whole name. I checked my site meter the other day and noticed that I don't know anyone who lives in Sunnyvale, California, or Costa Rica, and yet they're reading my blog. My name is Nicole and I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's nice to meet you.) Angie and I were secretaries for the In-field Representatives in the Missionary Department - they're the guys the mission presidents call when they have a problem.
Before Angie came to work, I was friends with mostly senior citizens at my job. Lucille (or "Lusill" as it's said here in Utah) used to get a muffin with me every morning until her knees got too bad to walk. Lynn was on a mission in the Missionary Department (talk about a disappointing call, eh?) and she road the bus with me every day. The summer before we got new buses, Lynn and I used to sweat it out in the "accordion" bus. For real - it was 115 degrees in there one day. That bus used to break down regularly and once it broke down at the point of the mountain right next to an exit. Everyone sat there in silence (all commuters on these buses - rarely crazy people). I called Brian to come get me at that exit and then I wasn't sure if it was okay for me to get off the bus - it was so quiet and no one else seemed to be contemplating exiting. I leaned over to Lynn and asked if it was okay for me to get off the bus. "They don't own you!" she replied. Indeed.
Angie and I are much closer in age and we share the same sense of humor. Very often we'd email each other like we were passing notes between desks. Sometimes I'd laugh so hard I couldn't speak. Even after I moved to a different section of the Missionary Department, Angie and I still ate lunch together regularly. As you can imagine, we probably know way too much about each other.

Bridget was born on a Sunday. The next morning I came to work and said I was quitting as of that day. (My wonderful bosses knew our situation and still gave me a promotion. Those same men wished me well when I left to be a full-time mom with one days notice.) I was very happy at my job. I loved the predictability of some of the people there - one of the guys used to sing the same two lines of the song "Come Let Us Anew" every single time he came out to get a fax. That same guy used to ask me which bus I took to get there. Every day. One of the other secretaries used to pretend to come over to say hello when she was secretly looking for food. There were others whose unpredictability was just as comforting. When I found a mouse in an overhead cabinet (we were eye to eye for a brief moment - I think we both screamed) one day, I alerted our supply lady. Her advice to me was to "find it and kill it." Words to live by. That woman once said a prayer at the Monday devotional that lasted 17 minutes.

I saw and worked with General Authorities every day. For our social get-togethers I was often involved in a musical number or a prayer. Because of that, I got praise and once a grandpa bear hug from members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. For someone who was waiting, sometimes impatiently, indulging in self-doubt about my worthiness to be a mother, working in that environment was a sweet deal.

This post is too many words, so I'll conclude by thanking Angie again for being a good friend. :)

Halloween!

First stop, Grandma's house. It took a while to get up the driveway wearing those awesome heels.

Nathan as Dracula. If it wasn't for Hal's finger you'd think he was flying, right? Hee!

Sitting on Grandma's lap with cousin, Abby.

The mask Brian's wearing has been making me laugh for years! What is wrong with me that I seriously couldn't breathe because I was laughing so hard at Bridget's reaction. "I DON'T LIKE IT!"

Here is Bridget on our front porch trying to see through the window if Daddy is still wearing the mask.

Cinderella and Snow White out to get the candy. I made their trick-or-treat bags to match the dresses and somewhere Bridget got the bag mixed up with the magic words. When she went to the houses for candy she said, "TRICK-OR-TREAT BAG!" They were irresistible. And fast.

Sweet Edward looking at the coolest jack-o-lantern in the neighborhood. No one was home, so no candy. Boooo.

Look how both of Ed's hands are in that bowl. The man can't even walk yet, but he knows how to get candy! One of the houses gave tiny things of play dough. Clara stood there and waited for a full minute after the other kids had gone. Then she said, "You don't have any candy?" Do not mess with Snow White on Halloween! :)

Thank You For Taking Care Of Me, Peasants

We started celebrating Halloween today by getting pictures with Clara and Bridget (in costume) at Busath's studio and eating lunch with Daddy at his work (also in costume). Every day for the last at least two weeks Bridget asks me before breakfast if she can wear her Cinderella dancing dress. Once the dress is on there is very little she can do because it is so bulky and big on her. Today was the day, though. Finally, everyone got to see her wearing the dress. (Clara ordered her to twirl as soon as she saw her. Hee!) The photographer asked if he should call her Bridget or Cinderella. She was barely speaking to him, but she replied, "Cinderella." Rich fantasy life, that. :) It's going to be a few weeks before we have the fancy photos, so I took a couple of quick photos myself to hold me over.
Isn't she cute?! Look at how she's holding her hands. That's how princesses do it. Wish me luck getting her to wear anything else ever again.

Fourteen years ago I came home to North Carolina after an 18-month mission to the Colorado Denver North Mission. My youngest brother, Aaron, was 5 years-old at the time. Look how cute he is in this picture (bonus that everyone else looks so rough - sorry guys):

He didn't remember me much even though I'd spent the time I had between semesters at Ricks College taking him to the park, Talkin' Bell (Taco Bell), drawing trains in the driveway with chalk, playing hide-and-seek with him and Allyn (remember when Allyn hid on top of the fridge like Endora from Bewitched and Aaron didn't see her, but I was laughing so hard I almost died?). When I got home I was just another girl in the house to little Aaron. But, there was something... I'd sent him a sweatshirt with a map of Colorado on it for Christmas in 1995. Once we got home from the airport I sat in the living room showing everyone pictures from my mission and telling stories. (Mom pointed to a picture of Brian and said, "Who is THAT?!" It probably wasn't the picture I put in here, but this one makes me laugh. That elder had no idea what he was doing with a barbeque. Look at Brian supervising like a pro. Brian's the one on the far right holding a can of Sprite. Not the Dwight Shrute look-alike in the background holding a can of Sprite.) Aaron appeared in the doorway (it was late June in North Carolina, btw) wearing his Colorado sweatshirt. I like to think he loved me, but he didn't know why. He also took my word for it that he had to give me a hug every day. I'd been home for a few weeks and hadn't seen him one day. It was very late one night when he knocked on my door and said, "Nini, you haven't given me a hug today." Sure he was probably trying to avoid going to bed, but little Aaron lives on in my mind as the sweetest little boy ever. (Then he became a teenager and... meh.)

Aaron is going on a mission himself in a few weeks. We went to watch him speak in Church last Sunday. He was well-spoken, funny, intelligent, full of a great spirit. It wouldn't take much to make me proud of him, but it was still nice that he blew me away. :)

Makenzie, Rob, Aaron, and Me on Mom and Dad's porch after church.

Ladies in the kitchen - Rhonda, Mom, Aunt Julie, Aunt Candace.

The Grandpas - Curtis and Lloyd.

Delicious Baby Claire in her Auntie Claire's arms.

My sweet husband helping my sweet Grandpa. Love feelings.

Aaron and his friend, Kade (check his pocket square) showing off the traditional "farewell" food.

Media Consumption: Fall 2009

1. Music

I thought everyone knew what Pandora was. No? It's a website where you type in a genre of music, an artist, a song, and Pandora will "open the box" and give you similar songs (or artists). So far my favorite stations have been Beauty and the Beast (I created it mostly for Bridget, but I ended up discovering some beautiful stuff), Franz Ferdinand (who knew I like The Strokes? Pandora, that's who), Enya (I needed to calm down one day and boy did this do the trick), and George Gershwin. Be warned, you only have 40 free hours per month. I guess that means I have been sewing for 40 hours in the last month.

If you do run out of free minutes, go to Grooveshark. It's also free, but you have to create your own playlist.

2. Books and Magazines

I love magazines. One of my many diseases (that and entering contests). On our trip to Bear Lake in August I picked up a copy of Vanity Fair because it had more words than pictures. (In contrast, I also bought a copy of In Style, which is all pictures. Booo.) It's very much a "New York" magazine, but even though I have nothing to do with New York City, I still found just about every article fascinating. There is real reporting in it! And the writing is good - I need my dictionary close by most of the time. The September issue (the one with Jacqueline Kennedy on the cover - did anyone else watch The Soup or The Amazing Race and see those bozos on The Amazing Race not recognizing a picture of Jacqueline Kennedy?) made me want to read Death of a President by William Manchester. It's out of print. But my search on Amazon (since I don't want to pay $50+ for a used copy of Manchester's book right now) led me to The Best Autobiography by an American Politician (according to smart people and also the lonely ones who write 10 page reviews of books on Amazon). Guess who wrote it? Ulysses S. Grant. I just ordered The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant along with some Rowenta iron cleaner from Amazon.

3. TV

I've had to scale back my TV time. Toward the end of the summer Melissa alerted me that The West Wing was starting over on Bravo, playing two episodes a day at 6:00 and 7:00 in the morning. I set my DVR to stun... record and then Brian and I got lost in the fake world of President Bartlet and his White House staff. It's odd to me that they acknowledge former presidents like Lincoln and Eisenhower, but they never mention other former presidents starting at about Lyndon Johnson. In The West Wing's world, Farmer Hoggett is a former U.S. president, but Bill Clinton is not. Interesting. Anyway, the show has piqued my interest (again) in American politics and history. I'm convinced that I would also be C.J. Craig's bff if we ever met. They have a continuity problem that drives me crazy. Or maybe Bravo has a problem playing episodes out of order or not at all.

Speaking of politics, the only new show (in addition to my old faves) that I started watching this fall is The Good Wife - the one with Julianna Margulonglastname and Chris Noth. It's really just a courtroom drama, but the stories and the acting are quite good. And Logan from The Gilmore Girls is on it. And he's a weasel in this show as well. I'm starting to think he's a weasel in real life.

4. Internet

Sometimes I like to browse in etsy. There are plenty of strange things people are making, badly photographed strange things, etc. But! Every once in a while I find something so beautiful that I would never be able to make myself. Ever. Just a few examples:
Isn't that beautiful? And there are a dozen more equally beautiful things in that shop - M Stevenson Designs.

So so so pretty. I think they called this one a wedding scarf. The shop is called Victoria Jackman Knitted Textiles. She's from England - I'm guessing that's why her name is Victoria and also why she uses the word "textiles."

If you haven't been checking Akward Family Photos (link list on your left) at least once a week, you're denying yourself some good laughs. This is one of my favorites from the last week or so:
There is totally a raccoon in that picture. And acid-washed jeans. I'm laughing again and I just barely saw it 15 minutes ago.

So! There you go. I hope you feel encouraged to sit around and be entertained.

Random And Wandering Thoughts

1. Where does one find elbow-length gloves for a 3 year-old? Bridget has the Cinderella costume and the crown, but we still need gloves, heels, and a necklace. (Stupid JoAnn's wouldn't sell me a little bit of black velvet ribbon. I would have had to buy the whole thing.)

2. While Brian was hunting last weekend Bridget and I did the Santa Claus Lane Shop Hop. We visited 16 fabric/quilting stores from Payson to Roy over the course of 4 days. I have not been contacted about the prizes, which means I didn't win anything. Again. Someone stop me from doing it again next year.

3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is more about the seven dwarfs - they get more air time, anyway. And Cinderella is about Gus and Jack. That's right, the mice. I think they have more lines than Cinderella. Yesterday I saw Bridget's Cinderella doll's glass slipper (only one) on one of the stairs. I wonder if Bridget put it there...

4. A few of you have asked about the boutique - it was a very cold day and we barely found the location, so not great. However, in the last week we've had a lot of sales in our shop. Enough sales to make me feel justified (and since I was armed with my 20% off coupon from the shop hop, even more justified) in buying more fabric. MY PRECIOUS.

5. It's too cold outside to wear flip flops anymore, and yet I am.

6. Sometimes I let Bridget play dress up in her Halloween costume. I know it's tempting fate, but when she and Leah were playing the other day and wearing their princess outfits it was too adorable to resist. Leah ran and hopped and chanted, "PRINCESS! PRINCESS!" Then she collapsed next to the fence.