Past The Moon

Undercover Boss

Well, it’s not like anyone really needs anymore reality TV shows to watch. But WE ran across this show – Undercover Boss - and I think it’s a pretty cool idea. The premise is that a high-level exec (so far, it’s usually been the CEO) in a large corporation grows alittle facial hair, grabs a cap, and heads for the production line.

They get to see for themselves what it’s like to do the real work. Most of the entertainment comes when the boss can’t hack it or when they simply get put doing the really dirty job. (This CEO of Waste Management actually got fired his first day by the trash picker-uper manager because he wasn’t gettin’ er done fast enough). I don’t know how they’ll be able to keep everyone’s attention for more than a season since it seems that each episode seems to pretty much be the same thing. But it is pretty fun to imagine your CEO on the show.

Actually, they’ve almost all been Dallas based companies on the show so far so it’s not out of the realm of possibilty

Wheat Grinding

So, for FHE this week WE and I used a borrowed ‘Back to Basics’ wheat grinder (from my awesome Visiting Teacher!) to hand grind wheat into flour. I admit that I’d probably really only want to use that thing IF 1) I really needed it and 2) because of the dire situation, I had nothing else to do all day.

But it was kind of fun too.

We both took our turns cranking and then used the freshly ground flour to make this cookie recipe.

The cookies were actually SUPER yummy. I used golden raisins instead of brown though because 1) they taste better and 2) they look better. Also, I didn’t worry about soaking the raisins in water/vanilla either. Too much effort

The best part was that the cookie stayed gooy on the inside and yet crispy on the outside! Yummmm

So yeah, we haven’t actually bought a wheat grinder or any wheat yet (we are still doing our homework). So if you have advice or tips on hand wheat grinders, do share. Maybe we’ll have to continue our little experiment and test a few more grinders based on how well the cookies turn out

I’ve noticed

that Peppermint Lifesavers that are slightly stale are much more tasty than the just-unwrapped.

Talk Take-A-Way

I gave a talk (sermon) in Church yesterday. My assigned topic was “How I live the For the Strength of Youth Standards, especially regarding Entertainment and Media.” I spent a lot of time preparing an outline (ever since my mission I never actually write out a talk/lesson plan anymore) which ended up being really good because you never know exactly how much time you will have and then it’s alot easier to use less of what I had prepared/studied including only the most important points.

In fact, our Bishopric was reorganizeed (same Bishop but new counselors) so I ended up only speaking for about 7 minutes.

Anyway, one thing that I learned and wanted to share is that there are 4 specific things mentioned in the FTSOY pamphlet that the Spirit of God cannot be entertained by. In contrast, the 13th Article of our Faith includes 4 types of things that DO entertain the Spirit of God in our lives.

The bottom line when it comes to Media and Entertainment is: that God wants us to enjoy good entertainment in medias of all kinds. But more than to enJOY he wants us to have JOY.

We can only have true, lasting joy if we always entertain the Spirit of God by replacing things that are: 1) immoral with that which is virtuous 2) pornographic with that which is lovely 3) violent with that which is of good report and 4) vulgar with that which is praiseworthy.

BYU Racquetball

I was checking out the new BYU racquetball site and it made me REALLY miss being on the team. In fact, it’s funny because when I was on the team, I played with the assistant coach (Paul) and the head coach’s brother and sister (Brady & Tawnya). Those were the days. Besides the competition and the awesome feeling of being part of an athletic team, I also just miss the workouts and being in shape all the time.

Here’s a flash back in pictures I pulled from the old team website:

The Team:

2003 Collegiate National Champions

Men’s Team

Women’s Team

Tawnya

Paul

Paige and Laura

Oliver

Mike

Marci

Eileen

Audrey

Brady and Nat

Champions! (I didn’t have a solo pic of Karen – top left)

The Workouts:

0600-0800

Running Stairs

Running Hills

Running More Hills

Personalized Coaching – Thanks Fisher!

Morning Instruction

More Morning Instruction

Lunge Walks

Line Sprints

Ladder Drills

Court Practice

Ball Toss X-Over

So, there you have it. I’ve just decided that once WE is done with school, we are going to move back to Provo, I’ll go to grad school at the Y and you guessed it – play racquetball again! There’s no age limit for competing at Nationals, you know. You just have to be a student.

Sounds like a plan stan.

Streep QOTW

I read this article in the nytimes and and can’t help but comment. For a few years now, I have lamented the fact that the average joe can’t seem to differentiate a great actress from her cleavage. I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Scott about the talented Ms Streep. By far, she is my favorite actress of all time and I couldn’t have said it better than he did. Think about it, unlike many of the other idolized ‘actresses’ of our time that seem to play the same role over and over, she has nothing left to prove.

QOTW:

“But real movie stars know no such limitations of context. They belong to everyone. The genius of Julia Child was to demystify her art, to insist that anyone could cook the way she did, and Ms. Streep does something similar. Not that any of us could act with such consummate skill, resourcefulness and dignity. We can’t be Meryl Streep. And yet, whoever she is pretending to be at the moment, however she is, with sublime calculation and faultless craft, being herself, we can’t help but feel that she is one of us.”

CIA

I’m a 3/4 member of the CIA. I only have one more part to pass since I passed my third part yesterday! Whaahhoooo!

My Buddah Board

For my birthday, my grandma got me a Buddah Board. WE and I first saw one at the Japanese-American B&B we stayed at in Connecticut and I determined then that I wanted one for my own. I was fascinated by how perfectly this board portrays the concept of living in the moment. It ‘magically’ evaporates leaving a clean slate moments later to be lived again.

I also love the parallel idea that words of kindness like ‘I love you’ and ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ have a ‘best if used by’ expiration date and last only for the moment. These are words that should consistently be shared and re-lived over and over and over again rather than assuming that your spouse will remember when you said that yesterday or last week or last year.

My college roomie just wrote a blog about her hubby’s juvenescence – it was exactly what I was thinking of when I consider the benefits of the zen concept.

If you are like me and wonder how to better live in the moment, here are a few ’starters’ for the week (one for each day):

1. Take notice of the world around you

2. Focus on whatever it is you are doing

3. Smile when you wake up

4. Commit random, spontaneous acts of kindness

5. Minimize activities that dull your awareness of the moment

6. Be thankful for what is

7. Forgive

Stinky Feet

Well, last night for the first night ever in our 11 months of matrimony… Read the rest of this entry »

Vision Board 2010

WE and I finished our vision board last weekend when we were snowed in with nothing else to do. It hangs in our bedroom so we can look at it everyday.

It’s simply a picture version of the “Stuff we want to do in 2010″