The Private Practice Plunge

I'm gonna do it.  I know I always say that, but I really am.  I was at work last Thursday and I kept thinking that I hated working in the schools and I missed my babies.  There is so much paperwork and there isn't enough time to actually do meaningful 1 on 1 therapy.  So, kids are on the program for years and hardly make progress.  That isn't how I roll.  I like to work one on one.  I don't like paperwork, laws, and red tape.  No Child Left Behind?  It's more like, Child Left Behind.

So, despite financial insecurity, I'm gonna do it.  I already have 3 clients in the works but haven't had enough time to initiate things.  I am that busy.  I felt like I was barely treading water this past week.  I probably needed a breathing session with E, but I didn't even have time for that.  I'm gonna do it.  Innovate, Communicate will be up and running and I will be in charge, and making a difference one child at a time.  They won't get left behind on my watch.

A

"I wouldn't Recognize Her..."

One of my sisters made this comment to me today and it made me very sad.  I can't wait until the beach house in August.  Then everyone will be able to know and love my sweet girl.  Here are some pics from Christmas to the present.  She is always smiling, screaming, climbing, and giggling.

I can't get enough of those blue eyes.... 

I guess the bird's debut will have to wait another week.

Yogaville, VA

 
Lets just get a few definitions out of the way before I jump into this post shall we?

ash·ram [ahsh-ruhm] noun 
1. a secluded building/compound, often the residence of a guru, used for religious retreat or instruction in Hinduism.

yo·ga [yoh-guh] noun

1. a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.

2. any of the methods or disciplines prescribed, especially a series of postures and breathing exercises practiced to achieve control of the body and mind, tranquillity, etc.

3. union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.

med·i·tate [med-i-teyt], med·i·tat·ed, med·i·tat·ing.

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in thought or contemplation; reflect.

2. to engage in transcendental meditation,  devout religious contemplation, or quiescent spiritual introspection.

These are three words you need to know if you want to understand anything I'm about to write.

So, last weekend, I went to an ashram in VA, about four hours south of DC. This came about because my roommate Sarah is a yoga instructor, and a social worker. She found out that the ashram, or Yogaville, as it were, was hosting a yoga master who also happened to be a well known mental health therapist in NYC. He was giving a weekend seminar on using CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and yoga to treat anxiety and OCD disorders. 

I've been doing lots of yoga this year, and I use CBT all the time in my work, so I told her I was in! I got even more excited when she told me the ashram had a temple built in the shape of a lotus flower, and that it was PINK! For reals.

For an entire weekend I got up at 5:30am to meditate for an hour and then do yoga for an hour and a half, all before breakfast. The food was all vegetarian, all the time. It was pretty good. Meditation was an interesting experience. There was lots of Om-ing, which I liked the vibration from it wakes you up, and feels cool. You know, especially on the mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm part. Then there was all the chanting, which I decided to refrain from participating in. I figured I didn't really know what they were saying, (it's all in Sanscrit) or who they were saying it to. 

Their leader, Guru Dev, who is dead now, was a Yogi. He decided to set up the ashram on the basic belief that there are "Many paths, one truth" So, I don't know, I guess you would call that a Non-Denominational Hindu-Jewish-Muslim-Christian-Atheist (and 10 other religions I've never hear of) ashram. There were lots of pictures of this guy...everywhere, and little altars with his picture, an pictures of him doing all these crazy yoga poses. I thought it was a bit odd, but I thought, well he must be like their prophet. Because they talked about God all the time at meals and such. 

He was a pretty happy guy.

I was standing with Sarah in front of a big stain-glass window of him on the last day. The conversation went something like this...

Me: Wow, they really like this guy don't they?

Sarah: Umm, well, they worship him, so, yeah.

Should have seen that coming.

Over all, it was a really great weekend. The seminar was great. The guy who came to teach it was really talented, and I got a lot out of it. I met a lot of very cool people. 

The peeps I went down with.

Sarah and Jessica are super bendy!

But I did finally figure out how to do this:

Next time you want to spend your weekend breathing, eating vegetables, doing yoga, and breathing some more, Yogaville is your place. ;) I'm telling you it's a good time. But we can do all that at my house too, if you really want. So just come visit me instead.

E-

PS: Laugh-A-Yoga was maybe my favorite thing that happened all weekend. But don't worry ladies, it will be unveiled at the family reunion. And you will like it.

Blah . . .

My day started like this . . . 

2 loads of laundry.

 Ok, lets be honest. That basket of clean clothes has been sitting on the couch to be folded for 2 days now, and there are two more baskets worth of clothes that need to be washed. As I sat and starred at the basket I decided I didn't want to fold them, I wanted to play with Reese instead. So I ventured down the hall . . . . 

I sat in this room while she made me cookies for a bit until the mess drove me back into the family room to stare at the laundry again. 

Now granted these tasks are somewhat simple to remedy, it takes about 5 min or less to throw her toys back into the baskets. Another 15 min and the clothes are folded and put away. Instead of doing it though I just get flustered by it and then discouraged and then I put it off and then the tasks double. This is a problem because this is when I go into a little bit of a "rampage" as Christopher likes to call it. I think a few of you have witnessed these on occasion. Why do I do this? Why can't i just stay on top of my house and all the other stuff I have going on? On the bright side though at least I kept two kids alive and everyone got fed today! We may not have gotten dressed today either, but we prefer princess dresses and stickers rather than clothes to adorn ourselves anyway. Hopefully my procrastination problems with cleaning made you feel better about yourself today and if they didn't and you are just like me, well, now you know you are not alone.

 Poor Henry, he is in for it with this chic as a sister. At least he is not afraid to tell her how he really feels. Lets see if you notice.

you will probably get home and children posts for the next couple of weeks still. Sorry if you are bored, but at least I'm not skipping out . . . I won't mention any names.

-L

Wassup

So first off, I thought you guys would get a kick out of this.

 I hope you did. I have never been able to read dads hand writing, usually takes quite a while.

And I am watching this video. He speaks like every main language! Our fam has 3 down (almost 4 with my italian) So Phil, you learn dutch. Mary, you learn swedish. Eliza, you learn russian. Think you can do it? I hear rosetta stone has quite the program.

Speaking of the whole italian thing, I have recently been thinking of taking off spring semester and studying there for a few months...maybe five or six. The language and culture fascinates me. Sometimes I wonder why I wasn't born there. Hey we have a big, beautiful loud family. Why weren't we al born there? We even all love the food. Lets move there. Mary and I have talked about all pitching in on a european summer house, we should get one in italy on the adriatic coast! Now I am thinking.... it could look something like this:

We could have breakfast right there. Wouldn't that be awesome?

My life is boring so I just like to humor you guys with random...potential things. haha.  Keep you thinking about things that don't really matter. Lighten up your possibly hectic stressful day.

Love you guys!

Your one and only.....P

Random

I've been thirty for a week now.  Isaac LOVED my birthday!  He picked out some red roses as a present and said Happy Birthday all day long.  Jonathan also spoiled me.  I went out to some awesome restaurants and had a ladies night with some friends.

IZ, Izzie, Izy (debating how to spell it, suggestions?) falls asleep in random places.  He really shouldn't give up his nap.  This is the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles...the man we worked with called everyone over to see him.  It was apparently, a 'first.'

This has been on my want list for awhile.  I love flower adornments.

 No, I don't want to bring up Christmas.  Just the fact that there is an eye sore in this space now.  Our bird and her cage has perched on top of this dresser.  I've been researching hanging cages but they also seem to be rather large and the only other place to put her would be in the dining room.  I don't know how I feel about that...Bird, anyone?

That being said, I need to get some videos of Kate with the birdie.  It is absolutely to die for.  She squeals and screams for her.  Neftali has quickly become part of the family.  I wish she was a chocolate Labradoodle...but then again, I spotted a man picking up his dog's droppings while I did the dishes last week.  It reminded me why I didn't want one of those either.

Did I mention that I was 30?

It Must be Love, love, love

 . . . . you have to sing the title like the song. And just like that it will be stuck in your head the rest of the night. 

So all of us over here are so in LOVE with this little man! And despite how H looks in these pictures I'm pretty sure he is in love right back! He never cries or gets upset when Reese is mugging him up with kisses and squeezes. In fact the other day he was pretty sad and I wasn't really doing it for him and he wouldn't stop crying. Of course Reese woke up from her nap at this moment as well, so I took H in and laid him down by her and they both stopped crying and just snuggled for a good 10 min. No complaints on either side. Reese was pretty excited to tell him all about her pink polka dot sheets and her baby stars on her bead spread. She also told him about the pictures on her wall of her when she was a baby and the picture of Jesus and how he loves the children (her words exactly). Henry stared off into to space but was so content just laying by her listening to her talk. I think they will be good buddies. 

I can't believe that this is my life sometimes (in a good way). I feel like I am just standing still and someone is pressing fast forward on everything else. I can remember like it was yesterday finding out we were having a little girl and falling so incredibly head over heals in love with her when we met her for the first time. Then bam fast forward and I remember calling Christopher as I was leaving the doctor to tell him we going have a little boy. I'll never forget how happy Christopher was when I told him. Even though it was over the phone I could feel his heart just melt at the thought of a son. Now little sonny is here and life is crazier but somehow it just keeps passing faster everyday.  My little baby girl is not so much a baby anymore, and my son is quickly surpassing his sister on chunk status (How do i get so lucky to have the chunkiest babes around!). I guess I am just in awe of how much has changed since I married my love 5 years ago but at the same time I don't feel that different. Does that make sense? I feel very blessed right now to have so much love and happiness in my life. Just wish it would slow down. I know I will miss these days when they pass. 

I have to leave you with Reese's latest find on you tube. She is constantly finding random videos on the iPad and they are usually in some foreign language. 

This is the new craze . . . She plays it like 500 times a day, I kind of like listening to her sing in vietnamese though so I don't mind too much.

This is Reese, Christopher and Henry dancing to it. Sadly my video ran out of juice right when it was getting good but you get the idea. I am still trying to figure out what this song in vietnamese mean in English. 

The First's of the First's For A and L

I found these on accident today. And I thought it was pretty awesome that they are of A and L's first born children, on their first birthday's respectively. 

I had to share.

Get ready for some seriously, serious cuteness...

"The Fatness"

"Buggsies"

Postage for Pants

Hi everyone, E here:

Dear little Laura is in the throes of final exams this week. So being the nicest sister ever, I told her I would post for her.  In reality I don't have to do too much work to convey to you the week that Laura has had. First of all, I remember finals, they generally made me feel like I wanted to punch someone in the face multiple times a day. Luckily I usually only took it out on my computer, throwing strings of explicatives at it when it would freeze on me, erase entire papers, and do anything in a slower than acceptable manner. Secondly, Laura has expressed her experience quite accurately with faces from the past. All I have to do is show you. (And never mind the other girl in the photos, she is just the back drop for all the good drama going on up front, even better, she is the universe laughing at you when you have know idea whats about to hit you, and then, out of no where, life really does suck that bad, and you know it's your own fault for procrastinating. In fact it was her face, the Universe's face, that I would shake my fist at and yell, "Curses!!!!!!!!.") But I digress. I give you...

Laura's Week In Faces!

Finals? Whatevs, I gots this, yo.

 

Uh...what? We never covered this in class! I don't remember saying I would re-write that paper! I have to get a what on my final to pass your class?!! Flllbbbbttt!

I don't gots this , yo.

Now Pants, don't worry, all will be well, and you will end up having time to do everything you need to get done, even though it doesn't feel like it. (Same goes to you, M.) But while you're in it, study hard, take breaks to do head stands and other crazy things, and then study hard some more. You can do it!!!!

Before you know it, they will be over. It will be SUMMER time! And your face will once again do this:

Awwwww yeah!!!!!!!!!

(That smile back there is now the "Universe" saying "See, I'm not that bad, you survived didn't you?" Smack her.)

Late. Yes! But better than never.

Well Tuesday has come and just about gone! Things have been kind of crazy at my house with finals and the upcoming weekend! 

Wedding season has arrived! This weekend marks the first and most important wedding of the summer. My best friend Marcia Wilson is counting down the days until she will become Marcia Milne! 

Marcia and I first met as little girls in the City of Joseph Pageant. Our friendship grew over many summers together whether in Nauvoo with our families or off on our own adventures at EFY! After we graduated from high school, we both moved out west and started new adventures together parent free! We have had a blast the past four years being so close to each other.  We have been through a lot together and she is feels more like a sister than a friend! Chandler you are one lucky man! 

Marcia is getting married in the Salt Lake City Temple for time and all eternity to her sweetheart.

 I am so excited for her to start this new chapter in her life. 

Now on a more creative note...Marcia asked me to make her wedding cake. Yes I have a culinary degree and that includes baking, but I am NOT a baker. E is the person with the real skills, and with her and my dear friend lisa's help I think we just might pull it off!

 So sorry for the lack of creativity today but look forward to next week! If you haven't guessed already it is going to be about cake. : ) I have learned some cool things and cant wait to share them with you! 

Until next time!

-M-

As They Are: 8:30 a.m.

I was waiting for the call yesterday when I didn't post on Monday.  Sometimes when I am overwhelmed with a task and my vision isn't possible...I shut down.  Does anyone else do that?

Well, during a conversation with E this morning, it was decided that I would take a picture of what the kids were wearing right at that moment.

I felt good about Isaac.  He had even picked out his own clothes (from his newly organized drawers) and did a pretty good job!

 Then, there was Kate.  I just started laughing as I looked at her:

1. Purple faux-converse crocs.

2. Pastel pink lacy fold over socks. Creating a moccasin-like look...

3. Hip jeggings from L.

4. Cute shirt

5. 2 center spikes produced by dried milk.

6.  Adorable happy smile.

The worst part: I thought I did a good job...

During the spontaneous photo shoot, she ran to her special spot.  I organized her closet and clothes last week during spring break.  To the side of her AWESOME plastic dresser, is a plethora of shoes.  If I can't hear her, I know that she has crawled in and started trying on her shoes.  She also will be found playing in Isaac's closet and my closet in the tightest spaces.  I don't think she will be ever be claustrophobic, in fact sometimes I feel like she seeks out close spaces.  Maybe it helps her relax like Temple Grandin.

(note: you can only see one spike.  The other is two inches in front of this one!)

My kids are super cute.  Kate said, "Mom" and signed, "milk" independently on my birthday.  It was quite the present.  She is always climbing into and on everything.  She runs around pointing and screaming.  She adores her daddy.  She kicks and throws balls into the basketball hoop.  

Isaac's newest saying is, "Aw, coconuts!" and "That's terrible." when something goes wrong.  He can pedal a bike and he has started rough housing with his little sister...she likes it.  I'm trying to decide what to do with him for preschool next year...

Love you all,

A

The 13 Men In My Life.

I have thirteen men in my life right now. Not too bad right?

So what if they are all short, scrawny, and think the word "fart" is the funniest thing they have ever heard. Big deal if they have a conflicted love/hate relationship with me, and I have to constantly tell them not to wipe their noses on their shirts (allergy season). Most of the men I've dated could fit the same description, and were not nearly as entertaining.

They are little men of course, all under the age of twelve to be exact, and more like under the age of eight, if you factor in their emotional capacity.  But I still love them, even when they hate me, which is often. These thirteen little guys are the boys I work with at a therapeutic school for kids. They yell, kick, and scream all week, just begging for me to hate them...but I can't. Especially when mid-throwing a fit, (with Enya playing in the back ground to distract the others from all the obscenities being flung) one of my little guys yells "For the love, could you at least play some Marvin Gaye instead of this $^%$!"

I wanted to quickly introduce these guys because they are the reason I am mostly brain dead by Friday afternoon, and have zero creative energy with which to give you insanely witty, and well crafted posts. I'm planning to fix that by writing my posts on Wednesday's or something and scheduling them to post on Friday. For the time being this is a little glimpse into my daily life.

I quite like it actually.

-E

School is ending soon....

....and I am very busy. That is why i slacked yesterday, but I plan on posting when i get home tonight. Promise :D

Here's a song for you to listen to while I am thinking.

While you're at it, you should listen to this one too.

I saw Edward Sharpe in concert a couple weeks ago, and it was one of the most mind blowing experiences of my life. They way they make music and perform together is simply amazing. You might know of the song "Home" another song they do. But I am obsessed with them. 

And them too....M83.
I'm going to see them in concert at the end of the month.
It's my treat for surviving Freshmen year.

I love them. You should learn to love them, too.

Okay, so until tonight... Or maybe I will just count this as my post. I stayed inside the music library instead of walking 15 minutes to watch my Anthropology film because it is raining cats and dogs, and I am wearing complete summer apparel. So I didn't want to die out there. I signed up for Fall semester...every single class I am taking is music related, that really excites me, because you know I love music and all, and I don't have to sit through any boring generals. WUDDUP. I love learning the evolution of it, and especially being a part of it, a part of something that is simply personal and so freeing. Sometimes I wish I was cool like the people that sing in these kinds of bands, but I love opera more.

I am singing this song right now,
 It is called In Uomini, In Soldati from Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart

I have to go to choir now. I think my time in the library was well spent.

Lahve,

P

Behold the Lizard

It was a dark and stormy night.  That is my first lizard memory.   I don't actually remember her specifically that night.  Just being left in the VW bus with moose and gimpy while dad went to retrieve mom and my new sister.   I remember a green dumpster to.  From then on there was another blue eyed Jones.   (We eventually got a third but its not her birthday.)
You were worth the wait.

Happy birthday my fellow even numbered Jones kid
Stair sitter
Geese chaser
Leash wearer
Ball kicker
marathoner
Pewee impersonator
Bag puter inner

Happy birthday

"Shhh, I'm listening to reason "

The XY

Spring has sprung!

I love spring. The warm weather,light breeze,bright colors, and anything fresh! Mostly rhubarb. Growing up in Michigan came with our own special picking of rhubarb in the backyard. I would eat it plain I loved it so much. ( Be aware though it is rather tart) Mmmm yummy! Well enough of my ranting...and more cooking!

Rhubarb

 WHAT

 Although the slender pink stalks are considered a vegetable botanically (they're in the buckwheat family and related to sorrel), rhubarb tastes best cooked more like a fruit for compotes and pie fillings. Rhubarb is seldom eaten raw.

 WHY TRY

 Rhubarb's tartness is delicious when tamed with sugar during cooking. And it can go sweet or savory—rhubarb tastes as good with braised vegetables and roasted meats as it does in a compote or tart.

 HOW TO BUY

 At the market, look for firm stalks that are glossy and smooth. Stalks of a medium thickness will have the best texture. Hothouse-grown rhubarb, which comes to market in winter and early spring, is light pink or light red and often tinged with yellow-green. Field-grown, which appears in late spring, is a more vibrant color. Both are flavorful. Wrapped in plastic and unwashed, rhubarb will keep for three to seven days in the fridge. The leaves, which are toxic, should be removed and thrown away.

This week I prepared rhubarb two ways. Rhubarb Crisp which is a classic way of using rhubarb in baking. As well as a Spicy Chicken with a Fresh Cucumber Rhubarb Salsa. For those adventurous enough to try it in its natural state. Enjoy!

Rhubarb Crisp

Combine 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup oats, 3/4 cup sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Stir in 6 tablespoons melted butter and 1/2 cup chopped pecans; squeeze into large crumbles and place in the freezer. Toss 2 pounds chopped rhubarb, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon orange zest and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 8-by-8-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Scatter the crumble on top and bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven until golden and bubbly, 45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes; serve with vanilla ice cream.

You could also do half rhubarb and half strawberries for a little more sweetness!

Spicy Chicken and Fresh Cucumber Rhubarb Salsa

Ingredients

1 habanero, Scotch bonnet, or Thai chile, with seeds, stemmed

2 garlic cloves

2 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts divided

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

6 large skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

Kosher salt

1 1/2 cups 1/4-inch cubes rhubarb

1 cup 1/4-inch cubes unpeeled seeded English hothouse cucumber

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice 

Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with foil. Pulse chile, garlic, and white parts of scallions in a food processor until finely chopped. With machine running, drizzle in soy sauce, then olive oil; process until emulsion forms. Transfer sauce to a bowl.

Place chicken thighs, skin side up, on a work surface and slash each crosswise at 3/4-inch intervals down to the bone. Season lightly with salt. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush with sauce. Bake until skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165°, 30–35 minutes. Broil on high for an additonal 2–3 minutes for crisper skin, if desired. Let rest for 5–10 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss rhubarb, next 5 ingredients, and green parts of scallions in a medium bowl to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and let stand for at least 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld.

Serve chicken with rhubarb salsa alongside.

You can do this with other cuts of chicken as well just don't forget your slash marks!

I hope you all enjoy trying something new or even just learning about a new ingredient to cook with! 

Happy Cooking!!

-m-

Blast From the Past

What more can I say, classic.

A

The Bunny

I am guilty of only exactly what I said I would be guilty of. A blip in the schedule. I was traveling, visiting L, her new munchkie, and Reese of course. L is doing well, and both of the babies are darling.  So, I'm home now and it's Easter. I was thinking about all of our past adventures with the Easter Bunny, which apparently Reese is now calling Bunny Easter. My first remembrances are from Grandma U's house. The "Bunny" visited in their back yard in Iowa City. It is a pretty hazy memory, I could have only been three or four, but I remember the big white garage out back, and the grown-ups sitting on the lawn furniture while we ran around. In NY I remember mom making 10 bajillion white frosting bunnies with pink eyes, and pointy ears for the chocolate Easter egg fundraiser the church did every year, and the Easter baskets she made for us. That darn bunny always hid the baskets first, so we had to find them before we could claim any of the eggs we saw lurking about in the process, but alas. The last one I remember as a kid was when we lived in Tully, in that big house on the cul de sac, with the cow mail box, and the pink door. The Hausers' had come over and Dad decided that the only way to keep the older kids from getting to all the eggs before the younger kids was to make them all hold hands oldest to youngest (about 10 kids total) and they had to hunt thus connected. The Easter bunny is a weird cultural tradition if you ask me. I would look up the origins of the little guy, but I'm too lazy. Maybe one of you can and enlighten us all with a comment about it.

On a more serious note, I went to church today. I couldn't help feeling overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude for the resurrection of our Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ.  One of my favorite scriptures is Alma 33:11. The prophet Zenos spoke these words as part of his testimony, stating gratitude that he could access a loving Heavenly Father, who, through the perfect sacrifice and resurrection of His son, was able to hear and answer his prayers with justice, forgiveness, and mercy. I know that Easter is more of a celebration of the risen Lord, but I can't help but think about the fact that He was able to break the chains of death, because of the sacrifice he made for each of us in atoning for our sins. Eternal life is ours only because He descended below all things to rise above them again, and be our Savior. God can be a just and forgiving God because of the sacrifice of His son. What this means to me is that not only can I have eternal life, but I can be with my family forever if I choose to. If I keep my covenants, repent, forgive, and continue to learn what God wants me to know about myself and His gospel I can have joy in my relationships with Him and my loved ones, always. I can't think of anything more important, or wonderful.

Happy Easter!

Just Had a Baby? Get Out Of Blogging Free Card!

I. Am. Tired. I think my creative juices are blocked along with a few ducts this week. My sweet baby boy is a week old and is hungry. My other sweet baby girl is two and a half and is wild and crazy, and is in need of any extra energy I have today. Good thing I have my mom, dad and E here taking care of us. I know, I know I am spoiled but I need them and I am so grateful for everything they have done this past week. I will probably be tired next week too so I have given my self a week off and will be calling in a backup for next Thursday. Maybe he will even post on the actual day, Thursday. Sorry for my lameness but frankly I am not sorry cause did I mention before? I. AM. TIRED. I know all the moms can sympathize  and if you are not a mom just feel bad for me anyway, ok?!?

-L

The Origin of Pants

Yo sistas! and friends...and family, but family is friendly. Anyways, I'm Pants, the youngest of the sistas. I promise you my real name is Laura, my mama wouldn't be so cool to me if she named me Pants for real, but it is my most preferred name in the fam. Pants came from a long history of names. The first, Meg, also Meggie, Meggers, and Mega. It was based off of my middle name, Margaret. Meg stuck throughout my whole childhood, until around age 7, when A went to college. She came home on one of her breaks with a new nickname for me, Marge, also Margie and Madge. The story to this name, if I remember correctly was a misunderstanding of my name by one of her roommates. Don't quite know which one, but she thought my actual name was Marge...for some odd reason. So because of this roommate I was forever called Marge/Margie/Madge. Maybe until the age of 14, which then became Margie Pants. I guess adding Pants made the name sound more fun, or maybe they said that to make fun of me, I really don't know. But with the previous pattern of nicknames, it obviously had to change into something else, Pants. I think M started it, or maybe E. I think they might know this story even better than me. But none the less, I'm the one, the only...Pants. I am glad to have gotten this story written down, so maybe I don't have to keep repeating it as often for the rest of my life, but hey, maybe a new one will come along soon, and another soon after that one. So maybe I will have to keep tabs on it until the day I die. Oh, it'd be cool to have all my nicknames on my gravestone, I like that idea. Do you guys? Also, I really only like it when my rents and siblings call me Pants. They say it in this cool kinda twangy way that I really like. Makes me feel cool.

I have a good idea, I'm gonna post the highlights of my day.
Today definitely has some great highlights worth sharing.

Highlight #1: I woke up ten minutes before class, rushed out to my trusty car that I take to school when this inconvenience happens...sometimes a lot, and guess what I found. My car had a beautiful new accessory....wait for it...wait for it...a BEAUTIFUL orange boot on my back left tire. It was awesome, could not have started my day off any better. But hey, it led to a prettty good ending. Which leads us to..

Highlight #2: I went to my FIRST Korean restaurant, with an awesome Korean family from back home who were visiting, and had my FIRST Korean meal. Man oh man was it the most delicious thing. Perfect amount of spice...on most things, which I love lots and lots. So yeah, I will be hitting up Korean House a lot during these next 3 years in the good ole SLC. Yeah, its my city. If you didn't know.

All About M

M here! Welcome to A.M.P.L.E. Ideas!! For my first post I couldn't help but think that there was any better way to start then to begin by telling you a little about myself. I am M, younger sister to E,A, and L, older sister to P. And then there is also our brother, (I don't think we have a letter for him quite yet...) We all grew up in a home full of creativity, there was singing, dancing, acting, running, painting, reading, sewing, laughter and much more. As I went through middle school and high school I fell into the footsteps of my older siblings and was definitely burning a candle at both ends with all the different activities I was involved in. Come senior year I began to get frustrated because all my older siblings had their "thing." E with anything related to art and literature, A with her beautiful singing and acting talents, E with her amazing ability to push her body to new limits through soccer and running, and P was still figuring out high school and hadn't quite found her "thing" yet. As for me, well I was just sort of a mix, until I realized my love for food! I loved going out to eat with my father and seeing his face grow in happiness with a perfectly cooked piece of fish, a tender piece if beef, or a chocolate dessert with just the right amount of bitterness.  I wanted to be able to do that for him. I wanted to be the one that made his face light up at something cooked just the way he liked it. So off to culinary school I went. I picked up and moved across the country to Utah Valley University. A whole new world was opened up to me that I couldn't even fathom. I loved it.  I baked, cooked, served, and ate my heart out! Now after living in Utah for the past four years I have had some wonderful experiences both in and out of the kitchen. In those four years, I increased my knowledge and love of food, gained and lost about 25 pounds, married the love of my life (R), and have found a new love for life and creating!  I hope that my experiences and ideas that I share can help inspire you in your own projects, or in the ones the Jones sisters have to share with you! Until next Tuesday!

Look forward to next week when I share something new for your kitchen table!!

 -M-

Happy Birthday!

Not only is this the potential birthday of our aspiring blog....it is our mother's birthday!! Isn't she a looker?!

Love ya Mommers.

A, M, P, L, & E

Seeking Inspiration

Inspiration is not hard to come by in our day in age.  Fashion, interior design, DIY projects, cooking, literature, achievements of others, etcetera, it can be found in abundance by anyone who seeks it.  One thing that is lacking, however, is the proximity of family.  I don't know about you, but I feel like that sucks the life out of me at times. Life is hard.  Life is demanding.  Life should be fulfilling.  Life should feel exciting.  I feel most complete when I interact with my sisters in real life.  A hole, I didn't even know existed, is usually filled.  Phones, Skype, and email are ways to compensate for this, but I'm excited to embrace the nature of this new outlet.  I believe it is a way to experiment, give an outlet for my creative bursts, and share professional and matronal ideas.  I hope it is a way to fill that hole that I sometimes feel, by allowing me to experience life with my sisters on a different level, while soaking in their tremendous talents and love of life.

A