Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Great Food Storage Tips...




My friend Denise recommended this powdered milk for our food storage when I asked for her advice. It is available at Bowman's and has quite a long shelf life. My dad found THIS blog post where a taste comparison was done. There are a few cheaper alternatives and the recommendation is to have a few of those on hand for bread making etc... but for drinking/price per gallon and nutrition... This is the winner. If you are interested in the price break down. Let me know and I will email you a list.




Then, if you are working on your storage. THIS food storage calculator is so helpful. I still have quite a few things to do.




Also learned this week: Bugs won't touch your sugar according to two sources. My parents have had sugar stored in just the paper store bags they come in and nothing has touched it. I bought 10 pound bags (best sale ever at Bowman's this week.. cheaper than the case lot sale) and tied them in grocery sacks just to prevent spillage and put them in a large plastic bin, but apparently that is more than you need to do.

Despicable Me...



Very, very cute. Worth it just for the part where Gru reads the kitten story. Laugh out loud in a few parts and fun in the rest. Great show.

Megamind... no mind at all.



They hired Will Ferrell. They hired Brad Pitt. They hired Tina Fey. They forgot to hire a writer. All the best bits are in the 20 second commercial. Pure torture. .. not as bad as Wall-E, but close.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

A Tale of Two Cities International Studio Cast Recording...


I can't get over this music. It has completely taken over my heart. My favorite book in music that I love... a gift from heaven!

Available HERE...

War & Peace...

The sad thing is that I've never read this very famous book. I should have, but... Anyway, there were so many holes in this three-and-a-half-hour-long-epic that I had a difficult time following the story. Still Audrey is worth it. She is so beautiful and the costumes and sets are stunning. But, it took me three days to watch it. Henry Fonda is very good in it.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir...


It's worth it to see this film for Rex Harrison's performance... and I truly love the ending and the cottage is so beautiful. I understand there was a later re-make of this film. I will have to check that out. Gene Tierney is so graceful and elegant, she's fun to watch.


I love how the proper Mrs. Muir publishes a book called "Blood and Swash" the memoirs of the ghost. Cute.

Morning Glory...


I thought this was darling. It's too bad that Hollywood had to besmirch it with foul language and other stuff. But, the story is really sweet. Harrison Ford's character was brilliant. I loved the added touch of the crazy socks.

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Wonder of Wonders Miracle of Miracles...


I loved Elder Bednar's message about personal revelation in General Conference this past Sunday, “As you appropriately seek for and apply unto the spirit of revelation, I promise you will ‘walk in the light of the Lord.’ Sometimes the spirit of revelation will operate immediately and intensely, other times subtly and gradually, and often so delicately you may not even consciously recognize it. But regardless of the pattern whereby this blessing is received, the light it provides will illuminate and enlarge your soul, enlighten your understanding, and direct and protect you and your family.”

I find some of that delicate personal revelation in the beauty of the natural world. I love this forsythia bush. It fills my heart with joy every spring. Its great beauty whispers to my heart how much our Heavenly Father loves his children and of the bounty He has provided and will provide for us. The majesty of the mountains in every season, the painterly vision of the sunsets, the miracles of a single blade of grass testify that He is here. He tends his garden with great care. His heart is truly aware of everyone and everything in it... a miracle and a wonder indeed.


It was when I was happiest that I longed most...The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing...to find the place where all the beauty came from. ~C.S. Lewis

Monday, April 04, 2011

Get Low...


Felix Bush is a man who has done something so horrible, so unthinkable, and so unforgivable that he builds himself a prison and stays there for 40 years. ... "The first 38 are the hardest."

In an effort to find some kind of peace, he comes out of his recluse to host his own "funeral party".

Even though the script is spare and quiet, there is humor and great heart delivered with care by some of the finest actors of our time.


The Tea Rose...


Jennifer Donnelly knows how to write a page turner. That's for sure. You'll keep turning the pages just to find out what happened. But, in the end I was disappointed. It was a little gimmicky... too many teasers and too romance novelly. Even though I think Donnelly has a lot of talent, she's a little dark for me and while her books are entertaining, they lack light and truth... without which there cannot be greatness. In addition, the sex and language is gratuitous and she can't pull her ending together in this one. Despite the recommendations from Simon Winchester and Frank McCourt, Donnelly's books are more entertainment than literature, think John Grisham/Stephenie Meyer. This is a trilogy, but I'm going to leave it here.


I would recommend Donnelly's Revolution, but while it's written for young adults... I think 16 and up.

Holly Christmas Bear...



Merry Christmas!

Christmas House...

Safe & warm surrounded by love...

Friday, April 01, 2011

Easter Basket in Tiffany Blue...


The Hand That Rocks the Cradle...

This picture is dear to my heart. It's not just that it's a photo of two of my very dear friends. (They happened to be related by marriage.) The photo shows them with their calendars. They are planning and coordinating to see that each of their children (there are 10 between them) gets to music lessons, doctor appointments, school, plays, and all of their other activities. They make sure there is time for the most important things. They ensure that family needs are met. They take care of extended family and friends and neighbors and church responsibilites. These two do about as much good as people can do and not collapse. They make it work some pens and calendars and organization and big, big hearts. And, what they accomplish is amazing. When I think of the legacy they are creating at the kitchen counter.. It moves me to tears. I have many friends who do this every week. Here's to you my friends. You rule!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Little Sarah...









Love BoxES SHoP...


peg dolls, doll, little peg people. peggies, wedding cake toppers, cake toppers, cupcake toppers, birthday, decorations, painted, anniversary, available in love boxes shop...

Easter Basket...

Something new.. is coming to

Friday, March 25, 2011

The Flip Side of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know and Men Can't Say

A liberated woman is one who has sex before marriage and a job after. ~Gloria Steinem
No woman should be authorized to stay home to raise her children. Women should not have that choice, because if there is such a choice, too many women would make that one. ~Simone de Beauvoir
I have a university degree and worked for a number of years after I was married. We waited until my husband had graduated and started in his career to begin our family so that I could be at home. I knew that I would never be able to leave my child in daycare. I realize that some women don't have a choice (This book is not a diatribe against working mothers).
It's true that my brain isn't stimulated by laundry (although books on tape help :) I don't love to change diapers and do dishes. But personally, I do love to be with my children. I love to watch them learn and grow. Teaching them their colors and numbers and then to watch them read, ride bikes, have friends of their own is amazing.
Even though I loved my work-life outside the home, mothering is the most creative, complicated, rewarding work I've ever done. I'm grateful that I have a husband who has prepared himself professionally and is willing to support our family. He has my great respect.
I hope that my daughters will find a man like him when they grow up. Will they? I see our feminist culture as the kryptonite to the supermen our boys want to become. By treating their rough and tumble elementary school games as bullying or expelling them for throwing snowballs (ridiculous). Banning recess?
There is a teacher in our school who has recognized this problem. She runs her class around the track before math. The class moves between every subject. She incorporates music and jumping jacks. Her classes are always filled with the "behavior problem boys" who turn out not to be problems in her class at all. The boys love her and they love school.
But, elementary school problems are just the beginning, the world has become hostile to men.
Feminism doesn't recognize the inherent differences of boys and girls, men and women and both suffer because of it. Feminism has been shoved down our throats until what was once considered shocking is a normal part of society to great cost. Broken families abound creating poverty, crime and other social problems at an alarming rate. Women put off having children for careers and advanced schooling to the point that infertility is rampant. 1.2 million abortions are performed in the United States every year. And, yet feminism has been considered a great step forward in society.
It's just the beginning of the lies that any fan of old movies, like myself, knows for what it is. Watch Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, Bogart and Bacall, Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur in films made before 1950 and you will know that American Women had equal rights long before Gloria Steinem came along.
I could go on forever, but I'll say this. I heard a stranger say the other day, "I don't want a woman who walks in front of me. I don't want a woman who walks behind me. I want a woman who will walk beside me." READ THIS BOOK!