March 24, 2011

Sharing

Brian and I are pretty good at sharing.
See... we even share our awards!
Brian is will receive his scholarship at this luncheon.
And yours truly is getting a Society of Professional Journalists award given to an outstanding journalism student.

It's so fun to be able to share this moment together.
And be happy for each other.
YAY for sharing!
YAY for cash money's!!!

Love much,
Beth

March 23, 2011

ValueSpeak

IT GETS WORSE – AND BETTER

By Joseph Walker


My colleague, Sharie, was tired. You could see it in her eyes, on her face and in the way she walked. She was weary. Worn down. Exhausted. Drained.


No question about it: a classic case of NPSS. You know: New Parent Shock Syndrome.


“Long night with the baby?” I asked.


She nodded. “I think he’s teething,” she said.


I understood. I had been there myself. Five times, in fact (well, OK – six; but I don’t remember much about the first time because I was the one doing the teething). So I tried to say something encouraging. Something compassionate. Something soothing.


“Well, brace yourself,” I said. “It gets worse.”


This was not what Sharie wanted to hear. Her eyes started to glaze over, and I thought I could detect a slight shudder. So of course, I continued.


“Yeah, teething is tough,” I acknowledged. “But wait until potty training. And the first day of school. And puppy love. And the raging hormones of adolescence.” I paused as one small tear trickled down her cheek.


“Yeah,” I continued with wizened sagacity, “it gets a whole lot worse.”


She looked at me curiously. “If it’s so tough,” she said, “why are you smiling?”


I wasn’t aware that a smile had betrayed the memories that were flooding my mind as I spoke, and I tried to wipe it away. But then I thought about our youngest, Jon, “anointing” his big brother, Joe, as only a potty-training 3-year-old can do the first time Joe tried to help the little guy do his

duty, and once again I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.


“Well, OK,” I said, chuckling, “I guess potty training isn’t so bad. At least it doesn’t seem so bad now that I look back on it.”


“But what about the first day of school?” Sharie wanted to know.


“Well, the thing about the first day of school is . . .” I stopped to remember how I anguished over our eldest daughter AmyJo’s first day of school, and whether or not she was ready for bullies, dodge ball and cutting up her own meat when she ate school lunch (the answers, it turns out, were “yes,” “yes,” and “who cares about cutting meat when you’ve got perfectly good fingers that can rip and tear?”). “Well,” I said with a bemused sigh, “I guess school isn’t that traumatic, now that I think about it.”


“And puppy love?”


“Now puppy love is really, really . . .” Suddenly I remembered Andrea’s written response to the third-grade boy who asked her to be his girlfriend (“I like you, Nick,” she wrote, “but I’m not ready for this.”). And the time Beth pretty much clocked the 5-year-old neighbor who tried to give her her first kiss. “. . . well, that’s actually really fun,” I had to admit.


“And adolescence?”


By now even I could see the trend that was developing. I shrugged and smiled.


“Adolescence has its moments,” I said. “But it also has . . . well, other moments, too. It’s just that for some reason, when you’re going through it, the bad moments seem REALLY bad. But then time passes, and when you look back at it from a distance, the things you remember are the good times, and the bad stuff doesn’t seem so bad. Or so important.”


Sharie nodded, and a slight, tired smile brought new life to her face. “I’m sure you’re right,” she said. “It’s just hard to remember at 3 o’clock in the morning with a fussy baby in your arms. But I guess from your perspective you can even look back on teething with fondness.”


I thought about that for a second.


“Nope,” I said. “Sorry.”


Hey, there are some things that even time and perspective can’t improve.


###

March 22, 2011

What the Homemaker?

When did I become an adult?
When did I start doing these things that I grew up watching my mom do?
What am I talking about?

Well my day went a little something like this.

I woke up bright and early to get ready for work.
I got ready.
As we're rushing out the door I remembered I have to take dinner to a sister in my ward tonight.
I throw stuff together to fix when I get home.
I go to work.

I get home from work.
Throw the stuff in the oven and do the dishes from the mess I just made.
Run the food to the sister and chat with her for a minute.

Rush home to start dinner for my guests and me.
Get dinner cooking and wash the dishes I made from making dinner.

Start on the cookies that I owe to people in my ward:
1: Our landlords son who fixed our heater
2: The wonderful lady who accompanied Brian and I this last Sunday during our song.

Finish the cookies.
Breathe for a minute while I lick the beaters.
Set the table for dinner.
Take dinner out of the oven.
Put cookies in the oven.
Eat dinner.
Rotate the different trays of cookies in and out of the oven while trying to eat my dinner before it gets cold.

Finish dinner.
Stow away leftovers.
THANK my guests for cleaning up the dinner dishes and help dry.

Finish frosting cookies.
Sit down and blogstalk about other creative, crafty, cheap things I can make for my house.

Ignore homework.

Blog.

See what I mean?
Busy... yes.
Fulfilling.... Double Yes!
I know I have said this before but the events of these past few days and conversations I have had with friends have made me realize how GRATEFUL I am that I had a mom who taught me how to manage a household and plan out meals wisely.
Oh and who was the BEST example of CHARITY anyone can ask for.

Just call me MOM....

... well.... not literally....

:)

Love much,
Beth

March 13, 2011

Taylor Tribute

Our major is full of absolutely wonderful people.
The problem?
They all seem to be leaving us behind in Utah.
The latest one to leave?

The Jake Taylor.

Never heard of him?
Well... You're very lucky that you are my friend and are reading this right now because SOMEDAY this guy is going to be famous.
I'm telling you.
It's true.
See for yourself.


Jake got a job in Pocatello.
And he's going to rock it there.
Watch out Idaho!

Luckily he's not going to be all alone.
I know of at least 2 other BYU Alum that are working at that station.
And even one person who is applying to work up there as well.
So it will definitely be a party.

Speaking of parties....
We couldn't let Jake leave without celebrating him.
And all his favorite things.

Ice Cream.
Us.Batman.Dr. Horrible's Sing-along blog.

And some really good conversations.

Warning: This next part may only mean something to those who were there.
Mark: I wonder if we could all sit in a room together and never say a word.

Beth: I don't think some of us could sit in a room by ourselves and not say anything.

(Brian and Mark raise their hands.)


Jake: I HAD TOO MUCH FIBER!


Kika: Hair! Stickshift! Hair! Stickshift! Hair!

Jake: You know? Bananas is a hard word. You have to count the "ana's." Banas. Dang it! Banananas. Dang it!


Mark: Wait.... you guys are married? I thought you were testing some new honor code pilot program?


Needless to say... Jake... We are going to miss you.
We wish you the best and can't wait to "like" your KIFI fan page.
And one last shout-out.
Never want to forget this.
It's more funny if you have seen the original PSA. Which we CONSTANTLY see during our newscast commercial breaks.

WE LOVE YOU JAKE TAYLOR!

Love much,
Beth

March 11, 2011

A pay off

A very good one.
Where do I start?

I started working in a new department at work.
It's not necessarily a better job, but just something new.
And I love learning new things.

Brian and I have spent a lot more time together this week because our both our schedules were somewhat light.
(Which means we both only worked about 30 hours so far)
And we still aren't sick of each other.
That's good, right?

I found a new TV series on Netflix that I love.

I finalized my internship for this summer.
I will be working with KUTV 2 doing all sorts of fun things here in Salt Lake.
Brian is still searching for his... but we're thinking he'll be in Dallas for a couple months.

Brian found out he got a scholarship for Fall Semester.
Which means we may be to put food on our table without having to sell our kidneys.
And you... you out there... you know who you are.
THANK YOU for the part you played in all of this.
I don't think we'll ever be able to tell you thank you enough.
For everything you've done.

It's so nice to see all of our hard work, long hours, and stressful weeks finally paying off.
And BOY is it a good feeling to know that we are going to be so prepared when we go out into the work force.
I love that our major is hands-on and that good things happen to those who work hard.

I love that I married such a hard worker.
And that I was raised to work for what I want.

P.S. Remember this?
Ya... guess what I got in the mail today?
I know... My sister-in-law is amazing.

Love much,
Beth

March 9, 2011

Ash Wednesday

I'm bossy.
I will be the first to admit it.
I have attitude like out the waa-zoo and sometimes can't contain it.
And my wonderful husband will be the last to admit it... simply because he knows better.
He is more care-free and doesn't get uptight like I do.
But this post isn't about confession.... it's about improvement.
Last night Brian reminded me that today is the first day of lent.
Ash Wendesday.
Simply put: giving up something to be more God-like.

I always thought people who gave up chocolate or sugar or Dr. Pepper for lent were crazy.
Who would subject themselves to that?
I mean... if you couldn't keep your new year's resolution, what makes you think you can keep this goal?

ANYWAYS....
I suggested to Brian that we each give up something for lent.
I was thinking something silly like eating-out or something that would cut back on money expenses.
Brian's response:
Beth, lent isn't superficial.... It's about giving up a vice and working to improve yourself.
Beth:
OK then.... what vice would you like to give up?

Brian:
I don't have any I need to work on.

Beth:
*rolls her eyes"
(Yes.... he's still learning...)

This got me thinking though.
If I could choose one vice to get rid of, what would it be?
What holds me back the most?
What's ruining my relationship with my husband?

Yup....
I'm too bossy.
I try to control everything.
I try to manage everyone.
And I hate not knowing what's going on.
I want to be less bossy.
I want to be less competitive.
I want to be more loving and understanding to my employees and students.
I want to be someone that people can turn to and know they'll be understood, not judged.
I don't want to be the manager or producer that everyone is afriad of becuase I'm so "intimidating."
I want to do stuff for myself rather that continually asking for "favors" from my husband.
Do not fear; I'm not giving up who I am.
I just want to lighten up who I am.

Just a bit.

Love much,
Beth