Anniversary Success

Our 5th Anniversary was a wonderful success.

Well, we started our adventure with a family trip to Jimmy John's for some sandwiches. Then, we dropped Quinn off at Chris and Avery's house at about 4, and left for the rest of the night. I surprised Tim with a trip to Lagoon. Lagoon is the only amusement park in Utah. It is totally ghetto. We had never been, and it made a great backdrop for talking, catching up and celebrating the last five years of having fun together. We sat in an hour of traffic, and then we got completely soaked in our clothes on the very first ride. We were the only people fully clothed and the only people who got so wet. Most of the people at the park enjoy both the water park area and the regular rides, so they walk around half wet and half dressed (which beautifully adds to the ghetto feeling in the air.) We hit a couple rides and had an Icee before leaving and heading to the Pie Pizzeria for a late night snack.

It was weird to sleep at our house without Quinn in the next room. I was sore in the morning because I am not used to sleeping through the night. I woke up at 8 a.m. and couldn't wait to go get Quinn. Tim and I enjoyed the morning and our Pizza breakfast, and then we went to pick up Quinn at about 11. You never saw a tireder baby. We brought her home for a nap before finishing the weekend with a trip to the petting zoo at the Thanksgiving Point Farm.

It really was a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I'm grateful for my marriage and my family, and I look forward to a huge celebration in 5 more years.

Happy 5th Anniversary

Happy 5th Anniversary to me and Tim today.

Five years and: 1 house, 4 kittens, 7 jobs, 1 baby, 8 fruit trees, 2 vacations, 4 televisions, 1 funeral, 6 computers, 5 blogs, 3 cars, 1 Avery, 3 anniversaries, 1 Tivo, 8 clothing sizes, 1 perfect cat, 5 road trips, 19 frames pictures, 1 basement apartment, 11 Dorado T-shirts, 8 pick poodles, 5 house guests, 2 white poodles, 3 iPods, 1 Chris Merritt, 10 church callings, 5 health insurance companies, 9 cell phones and dozens and dozens of steaks.

We're no movie plot, but we work.

May all of your marriages be happy (and freakin' crazy.)

Seriously, So Blessed

Blog satire gets me thinking...


So, a friend sent me a link to the following blog: seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com.

It is a satire making fun of a certain type of married Mormon women in Utah. I read it. There were some funny parts. But reading about it just made me as annoyed as meeting this kind of person. But the comments are pretty funny because some people don't realize that is it fake even though the "about me" section describes the person as a composite and she refers to her husband as the initials of 4 men that fit the mold. It's weird that someone would get on the blog of a person they don't know and then just start judging and commenting without really even getting the joke. I don't get it.

I think this blog does say something about blogging in general, though. As time goes on all new media will find new ways to fulfill certain comedic or dramatic or human needs that we have. This one is sort of a Saturday Night Live character for bloggers. I just think that is in interesting thing to think about.

I also want to take a minute to share the definition of satire: criticism to produce reform.

The goal of satire is to change something. Just a thought. I think we forget that sometimes. But trust me, if there is any part of this composite girl from the blog in me, I will remember it next time I act like her. Maybe it will stop me, and maybe it won't. But I think it is interesting to think about that find of effect within a new medium.

Anyway, check out this blog and use it to ponder the great media divides/expansions/changes/needs/purposes/ or whatever.

The Boy at the Door

A young boy at the door confused me when he was ... well ... confused.

There was a knock at the door this afternoon. I love visitors, so I jumped up to see who was there. I looked out the window and saw a 10-year-old boy holding a small flier. I opened the door and said, "Hello."

The boy said, "Is your mom or dad home?"

I paused and then said, "No."

Before I could clarify, he said, "Oh, um, could you give them this flier when they get home."

"Sure, no problem," I said.

"OK, thanks, bye," he said.

I closed the door. I put the flier on the table, and I walked to the bathroom.

I looked in the mirror. "Really?"

I'd rather be listening to the MoTab

So, Quinn hates to go to bed these days. That's fine with me that she has her opinions and all. I welcome that, but I veto this specific desire, of course. Plus, after a long day, I am always counting down to nightsy, nightsy time so I can watch a show and grade papers.

Last week after Tim had been gone for 9 days in Japan I sort of hit my limit when Quinn would not take a nap before church. So, I did what any self-respecting, spirit loving Mormon would do. I blasted the Music and the Spoken Word as loud as it would go to DROWN HER OUT. It worked like a charm, and I have no idea how hard or how long she cried. I walked around the house getting stuff done and listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with no care in the world and a smile on my face.

I saved yesterday's broadcast in case I might need it again this week while Tim is off working, and sure enough at about 8 p.m. Quinn was once again forced to surrender to Lloyd Newell and the gang. Her screaming left my mind, and my heart was filled with some (very loud) peace. With in five minutes, she was done. (And I was too because it was REALLY loud.)

A BYU religion professor once told me that people need to be willing to sit in silence to receive answers to prayer. He used to say, "Sometimes even the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is too loud." Oh, how true that rings in my house. Literally.

Christian Gyms

Hey, there has been some media coverage lately about gyms designed for Christians. Interesting. Here is a link. What do you think?

Christian Gyms Story in the New York Times

IUI for Father's Day

The following blog with be written in formal Fertileeze, a language women use when talking about fertility so their men won't run and hide. Read at your own risk because I can only be so cryptic:

So, we decided last month to start trying IUI. It cost $220 and basically rocks. But we thought this month was a lost cause because Tim was going to be in Japan when I would receive my LH surge. Well, turns out the calendar was off, and I got my very first positive OPK today! It was quite exciting because I am just not used to any kind of positive result after peeing on a stick. Cross your fingers. The procedure will probably happen tomorrow -- On Father's Day -- and we are hoping for the best. I'll let you know in two weeks.

If you are interested in knowing more about this super personal process, check my other blog jillfellownewfacts.blogspot.com where I will spill it all in the name of new knowledge and hope for others.

Twilight, New Moon and Blah, Blah, Blah

Reading the third book in the Twilight Series makes me wonder if the male hero of the story is a substitute for both Jesus and the perfect husband. What more could you ask for? (How about strong relationships with Jesus and my real husband?)


So, when all the girls ages 12 to 18 at church were talking about these books Twilight and New Moon by Stephanie Meyer last summer, I decided to check it out so I could relate to them better or whatever. As I read the first book, I thought to myself a few times, "Is this actually a good book?" I couldn't decide. I liked parts, and I knew they were really popular, but I kept asking (quietly) what is wrong here? Should these books be as popular as they are?

Anyway, I read them and enjoyed them, which has got to count for something. But I didn't jump at the third book in the series when it came out in August 2007. But now my daughter is going through a new stage, and I need a book to read so that she can't come up and slam my laptop into my face yet again this week when I am trying to enjoy some free time. She is much less interested in my book, and, for the record, I can already see her making connections between my book and her books and her games that have letters, which is very cool.

So, I opened Eclipse and almost barfed. It is common for the first chapter in a series book to be trite and hard to swallow because the author has to word things funny to remind you what happen in the last book without boring the people who remember, but this was crazy bad. I think the line, "I'll pay you back if it takes 100,000 years" or something close to it was in there somewhere and I almost cried because I was actually excited to read, and I thought that line might be my limit of cheese for the day. But, hence, I persevered, and made it to the point where I am reading and smiling and laughing. But let me tell you: that Edward, sorry ladies, is not real. NOT REAL.

Just a few pages into my reading today, I totally picked a fight with my husband, and I bet if I could read into the depths of my little mind, it had something to do with how my man doesn't hold me, watch me sleep or smell my hair the way Edward does for Bella all day long (or ever).

Come on, ladies? We've got to admit. No one has a man like what... unless they read the bible. Last summer when I was reading a friend of mine pointed out that Edward, as a character is perfect (like Christ), and that many of our friends were using him as a substitute Savior figure to fill lulls in their spiritual lives ... the same why that Bella does with her personal life. Anyone who thinks the perfect actions of a romantic hero will make their troubles and pains go away is not of the right page. The whole concept of Bella and Edward is that he is the perfect lover. He has perfect love. No matter what she is or who she is, he will love her. That story is not new. It has been told... in the bible. (And since the Author is Mormon, like myself, I think it is more than far to make these comparisons.)

So it comes down to this. The writing is fine and entertaining but sometimes cheesy, and the main character is a substitute for what will really make the reader happy, which is selflessness, charity, pure love in there own lives and not in Edward and Bella's. How many people really put that book down and then think "I should be more like Edward?" I bet most people walk away from the book thinking "I deserve an Edward... so, dear, be more like Edward!" Maybe I'm just sensitive because I'm not very good at keep up on my spirituality AND my I an a band widow.

I might just stop reading the book in order to save my soul and come closer to the real God. Probably not, though, because in reality the book is pretty clean, and the alternative outlet for my relaxation is Grey's Anatomy, which could single handedly chop down the tree of life (a metaphor for eternal life.)

Your thoughts about the series? Please comment.

Lost is not Lost

Once again my friend Lizza brings up a great topic...but in this case I think she has the wrong idea.

On her Blog she posted about how she hates the ABC television show Lost. She said she watched the first season and got sick of the mysteries, bad acting and fat guy. She said she has cuddled up to watch a few partial episodes since then but not much else and still feels strongly that the show should get "lost." I told her exactly how I feel about her rant with some of these words, and then went on my own rant.

Come on now, Lizza, my love. Don't you think you are being harsh? Don't you think judging a 4 year old show off of 1 year of viewing is like judging a 16-year-old girl on the way she looked when she was 12. Not really fair. The show has evolved for sure. Plus, since you gave up, your not really a source of the matter anymore, true?

I didn't like the first season and a half, but I have been pretty entertained since then, and hey, if this baby turns 10 and I don't like it anymore, I can at least say for sure that years 3 and 4 rocked.

And I see where you are coming from with Hugo Hurley and his growth (how does he stay fat with barely any food?), but I actually really like the acting.

You've got to hand it to Lost that it is creative and entertaining to those who follow it AND it is different, which I really admire. What more can you ask in a show? I think it is important to judge a show based on both its relationships to other shows (1) and its relationship to itself (2). So as for Lost here is an evaluation:

1. Relationship to Other TV Shows: Better than a lot of other shows. Interesting. Different. Creative. Has fun media extensions on the Web, which might change the future of the industry. But doesn't have as many episodes as most shows in a season and makes you wait a long time for the next adventure. Sometimes doesn't go very far in an hour episode. Creatively challenges the format of linear storytelling, which is cool, but also challenges the format for actually linear time, which is annoying. Great job at keeping people posted on what has happened in the past will recaps and and pop up video style reruns, which I have not seen anyone else do.

2. Relationship to Itself: Challenging and stretching itself and creating a new format. Totally getting better all the time. Started answering its own questions at the end of the second season. Pretty consistent. Great Season finales. Not afraid to break genre rules and kill people's favorite characters but created its own rules so those people can come back in flashbacks, flash forwards, ghosts, weird island spirits, which is all kind of annoying.

Honestly, if anything, you have to give Lost credit for creative storytelling even if you hate the story itself. They have created a way to engage a multitasking society and generation in a new whole new way, so even with its weaknesses in story, I've got to give Lost props for breaking the mold.

Count Von Count

A new love affair with the Count opens my eyes to the passions of life.

So, I never really watched Sesame Street as a kid. I was the third child in a home with few TV watching rules, so by the time I came around my siblings were watching Saved by the Bell and Charles In Charge and that was what I got (along with a scandalous dose of Three's Company). As for Sesame Street goes, I knew who the characters were, but that was about it.

But I started watching this classic show with my daughter a few months ago. It took me awhile to get the hang of it, but I basically love it. I cave to the masses with a love for Elmo, and in spite of criticism from some, I also love newer characters like Abby and the Mexican puppet.

But my very favorite character is the count -- formally known as Count Von Count. What little I knew about the Count as a kid reminded me of the grandfather on the Monsters TV show. Transylvania? Vanpires? Well, that has always been a little scary for me and generally out of my league. But after I started watching Sesame Street, it did not take long for me to fall in love with this purple puppet. And this is why:

The Count is -- beautifully and simply -- passionate and dedicated. He loves numbers and counting with all his soul, and he wants to share that love with everybody else. I can't think of a better example for my child or myself. My heart just sort of jumps every time he takes the screen because I can feel that love. He feels real to me ... in a puppet kind of way.

Cookie Monster is passionate, but it is in a glutenous, uncontrollable way. Oscar is passionate, but it is about sadness and trash. Ernie is passionate about his duck, but it is in a sort of weird way. But the Count is passionate is a really beautiful and simple way, and I love it. Of all the characters, whenever he says, "I am just so excited" (in his cute little accent) I totally believe him.

I hope that Quinn finds something in her life that she loves so much that it makes her giggle with happiness (other than a boy.) I hope she finds a passion she wants to share with the world. Something that makes her want to jump out of bed in the morning to get the day going.

Of course, since we're Mormon, I hope she feels that way about church and God and Jesus. But I hope she finds something else too on her road to church and God and Jesus ... and Harvard.

Anyway, Ode to the Count. I love you and your passion.


Check out the most modern version of the count at http://video.sesameworkshop.org/. Or check out this Youtube clip of the count counting on a game show.

Post Script: More Youtube.com research showed that the count was in fact much creepier when I was a kid, and he is probably the real reason I did not watch the show. The beginning sequences of his segments are all thunder and lightening and scary. Over the years this theme has mellowed out, and the Count's face has become rounder and more purple.

Social Penetration Theory

For years I have taught my students about social penetration theory, which basically says that relationships become more intimate when you share information about yourself. There is a lot more to the theory, but that is the main gist of it. As self-disclosure goes up (from both people) intimacy goes up.

In a different course today I had my media students consider how blogging affects -- proves or disproves -- social penetration theory. Remember the theory doesn't say "hanging out together makes friends feel closer." It says, "Sharing about yourself makes friends feel closer."

So, I think blogging is evidence that social penetration theory is true. Blogging might also have all kinds of positive and negative impacts or society and relationships, but at least in this case it proves the theory correct.

My UVSC students pointed out that the sharing has to be felt on both sides. I write, you read, you comment. You write, I read, I comment. It seems that this is the only appropriate way to use blogging to strengthen relationships, according to my UVSC students. But of course you can use Blogs to share information, make money, learn something, or whatever, and that would be different.

We also pointed out that blogs can be used to create pseudo relationships, which are one sided relationships in which one person feels connected to another because they know a lot about them, while the other person does not know the first person. For example, If were to run into Jon Peter Lewis at the airport, I would want to talk to him about his life and his time on American Idol Season 3. I might even get a little star struck. I would be showing that I have a pseudo relationship with him while he has no relationship with me.

In the case of Jon Peter Lewis, I might send my cute daughter to break the ice outside of Gate 54A at LAX. He, he, he.

Anyway, I guess my students decided that the blogisphere can show us multiple examples of how the underlying concepts in the social penetration theory are correct. Do some research. It's interesting.

Fatballerina@aol.com

More insight from my soul mate Lizza.

So Lizza's first email address was fatballerina@aol.com. It cracked me up and made me cry all at the same time. Lizza was an amazing ballerina and never felt pretty enough or skinner enough. She blogged about ballet the other day, and I wanted to send the message forward.

She went to the ballet, and had this experience:

"The last piece was done by some up and coming artist whose name escapes me. I really liked the movement, found the music a little lacking, but the most memorable thing was the costumes. The girls wore no tights, just pointe shoes and a super cool leotard. The men wore a mesh-like tank with spandex.

So, the no tight thing with the girls. I don't know if it was the lighting or what, but ALL of them were fleshy. Not Lizza fleshy obviously, but still jiggly and some even had the slightest hint of cellulite. I was SHOCKED! Can you think of another group of women who are skinnier, more flexible and more athletic-especially in their legs? I can't. And every single one jiggled and had just the tiniest bit to pinch. So here's the moral ladies, we are destined to be fleshy. It's in our blood. Those photoshoped swim suit issues are FAKE. No matter how hard you work out or how healthy you eat, your body wants to be fleshy. The whole experience was kind of relieving, actually. I'm so not worried anymore. I'll be resurrected one day anyways. So let's go back to the time when a little meat was super attractive. I'm not saying let yourself go and gain 100 pounds, but if you think you have "those last 10 pounds" to loose, just let it go. 'Cuz man, they shouldn't go anywhere."

Quinn visits the Hospital

A trip to the ER and a stay at the hospital helped me feel like an adult, a TV star and a much more grateful human being.


Well, I had a milestone as a mother. I had to make the call to rush my 14-month-old daughter to the emergency room. She was making the loudest possible noise a person could make with their lungs when she was breathing, but she was still walking around the house with a big smile. But at one point she took a turn for the worse and her little chest was caving in with each breath. I jumped into some crazy mom flight mode, and next thing I knew we were in the car and calling my mother to find out where the heck we should go since we were out of town and I didn't know where the hospital was.

I parked the car at Torrance Memorial Hospital, threw Quinn in a stroller and ran to the front door. But I wasn't sure what to do when I got inside. On TV the frantic mother runs in holding her limp child and screams, "Somebody help my baby! My baby can't breathe." I figured that was not the way it go (since most things on TV are not accurate), so I calmly walked in and told the lady at the window, "Hi, my little one here is having a hard time breathing. I think she needs to see a doctor." But I guess I could have gone with the first thought because they all jumped to it to check her in. Some poor women with stomach pain got booted behind us. (I heard her say her pain was an 8 -- sorry about that, Lady.)

The TV show continued when they put is on a bed in the ER hallway because there were not enough rooms. They sort of left us on our own for a minute, but we quickly got everyone's attention again when Quinn started to have another attack. We got a room and several nurses to help me hold Quinn down while she got an IV along with breathing treatments, chest x-rays and some steroid shots.

We ended up getting admitted into the pediatric ward and staying for two nights! Good Grief. I guess I made a good call by getting in the car when I did.

Our nurses were wonderful. The two we spent the most time with were Lisa and Elena. They really made me feel comfortable so I could do everything it took to make Quinn feel comfortable. They even searched for an Elmo DVD, which got Quinn through several of her breathing treatments.

The whole experience really made me feel grateful for health and good fortune. I felt very connected to the other parents and children in the pediatric ward. I was very aware that some kids spend far more time there than Quinn did and with much worse illnesses. I really am grateful that my little one is so healthy. I hope I never have to sleep at a hospital again (except to have more babies.)

It really is interesting to see a new world or situation from the inside. I've never donated to march of dines or to the Pennies by the Inch program they have here in Utah to raise money for the Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake. But now just after a few days in that sick kid world, it seems to be the first place I would donate. I felt myself making a mental list of things the toy room and book cases needed for future kids, and I really wish I had any money at all so I could give. If anyone reading this has any money, send some books to the Torrance Memorial Pediatric Unit. They could also use some more baby dolls. A pink poodle, too. (For the books I would send good, quality chapter books that have won awards. All they had was some old chain books like Babysitter's Club.)

It reminded me of a special moment of clarity I had when we were in the hospital after Quinn was born. She was in a low level NICU, and she was given a handmade baby blanket to cover her warming table where she slept. I was so touched by the fact that someone in the community had taken the time to make it and donated it even though in the past I, myself, had sort of mocked those kinds of service projects. Everything changed once I saw the experience from the inside.

So, to sum up. I guess you can dramatically run into the ER and Thank God for health and for chances to see more clearly the love and lives of others.

Fertility from the past

I was watching "Little House on the Prairie" on Sunday like I always do after church. The episode was the one where Caroline has baby Grace, her fifth and final child. Her fourth baby was a boy who died 4 years before. The episode was emotional. It touched briefly on how little women back then knew about what was happening to them. It also dealt, of course, with grief and death and wanting a boy to help your husband on the farm.

Anyway, I thought about women in this time period, and it really caught my attention. I could say more, but my point is that I found this interesting little Web site with the history of how women, motherhood and fertility have been thought about and understood medically and socially since the pioneer days starting in 1600.

Check it out:
Fertility History Web site