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

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

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

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

The Cougar Faithful

For those of you who haven't noticed yet....SPORTS are a pretty big deal in our home.
The first and last website Brian looks at every day is ESPN.com.
(Specifically the Dallas/Fort Worth page)
He talks about sports constantly, he reads about sports constantly, and he writes about sports constantly.
Even in term papers.
Ask Brother Curtis.
He will confirm this point.

BUT
Brian is very good at prioritizing.
He doesn't let his sport addiction get in the way of church.
Or me.
For the most part.

I'm used to sports.
I never actually played them... but I'm a big fan of, well, being a fan.
I love the emotion and energy that exists in any sports arena or playing field.
It's also fun to yell at the refs from your couch, knowing they can't hear you, but thinking it may change the outcome of the game anyway.
So...
REALLY.... I don't mind.

We were having an interesting conversation the other day though.
BYU teams are very clear in their Sunday Play beliefs.
We DO NOT play on Sundays.
Ever.
The NCAA tournament recognizes this fact and makes sure that BYU is never scheduled for a Sunday game.

But there is one thing they forgot to schedule around this year.

General Conference.

If BYU makes it all the way to the Final Four... some of the games are on Conference Saturday.

Probably during Priesthood.

And Brian would go to Houston to cover the games for our department.

And possibly miss conference sessions.

But conference sessions are re-printed, right?

Women never listen to the Priesthood meeting, but are able to read about it later.

Can men play by the same rules?

On the other side, there is this wonderful new invention called DVR.

Guys can record the game, got to Priesthood, then come home and yell at the TV without knowing any different.

However, if your family is similar to mine...

The boys have said that if BYU is in the Final Four.... they're going to Houston to watch.

Which means they catch the sessions later.

I mean, some areas of the world don't get the sessions til a week or two late.

Justifications?

Maybe.

But how "Cougar Faithful" are we?

And what does "Cougar Faithful" even mean?

Just some thoughts for you and your man.

Love much,

Beth

Girlies

I don't usually get along with girls well.

I can count on one had how many really close girl-friends I've ever had.
But I definitely lucked-out when I picked my major.
There are so many wonderful, talented, beautiful people that I've come to love.

Brian is out of town for the SDSU game and one of my closest girl-friends has a husband that travels a lot for work as well.
So we decided it was time for some good, solid girl time.

My home-making self went crazy!
Cheese fondue and all the fixings.
Chocolate fountain (borrowed from Mom and Dad) and all the dippings.
Oreo cheesecakes.
Home-made cookies.
Mocktails.
Now.... I didn't make everything, but let me tell you, it was quite the spread.It really was a blast to get together with other passionate, driven, energetic women
Attention all other broadcast girls: You were invited.... You missed out....

BUT
We've decided to make a tradition of this.
Brian's out of town next month for the NCAA tourney.
Who's in?

Love much,
Beth

Valuespeak

A LITTLE ACT OF KINDNESS

It was a dark and stormy night.

No, really – it was. Dark and cold, with a mid-winter snow storm swirling about, blanketing the world with its oppressively heavy wetness.

And not just outside. Inside my soul it was dark and stormy, too. It had been one of those days – you know what I mean? Nothing terribly tragic, just lots of hassle and frustration. Long, boring, unproductive meetings at work. Starter problems with the car. Bills. Children of various ages, with various problems and struggles. A nagging cold.

You know – dark stuff. Stormy stuff. Inside, and out.

As tough as the day had been for the inner me, it was the “out” part that was really bugging me as I made my way down the snow-covered street to the church, where I had a meeting. I’ve lived in snow country most of my life, but I’ve never developed much affection for what I consider to be a white, fluffy annoyance. Maybe it’s because I don’t ski; I could never understand why anyone would want to go out and intentionally get cold and wet. I think I inherited this attitude from my Mom, who used to say that the best place to be during a Rocky Mountain snowstorm is indoors.

In San Diego.

My meeting at the church went reasonably well. I almost forgot about the slush that was running down my leg and into my sock as a result of the spill I took on the un-shoveled sidewalk that led from the parking lot into the church. I was getting ready to go home when I heard the unmistakable sound of spirited teenage boys coming into the building.

“Hey, guys – what’s going on?”

They weren’t expecting to see me, and they were trying to hide something behind them. “Uh . . . nothin’,” the smallest of the four teenagers said. “We’re just . . . uh . . . coming in to . . . uh . . . get a drink of water.”

“Yeah,” another boy said. “We need some water.”

“We’re thirsty,” added a third.

“Uh-huh,” I said. “I can see where you’d get thirsty out there in that hot, dry weather.”

The boys laughed nervously. I would have laughed, too, but I wasn’t really in a laughing mood. “Come on in and get a drink,” I said. “I’m locking up, and I need to get going.”

“Well, we need to go, too,” said the shortest boy. “We can get water at my house.”

“Yeah,” said one of the other boys. “You’ve got really good water.”

The boys all turned and ran toward the street as fast the ice, snow and the snow shovels (snow shovels?) they were carrying would allow. I could hear them laughing and speaking loudly to each other as I clicked off the lights in the church and pulled the locked door shut behind me.

As I walked out to my car I noticed that something was different in the parking lot. The sidewalk had been scraped clean of snow and ice, and a thin layer of rock salt had been spread across the cement. I smiled as a mathematical equation formed in my non-mathematical mind: boys plus shovels plus clean walks equals a mid-winter service project.

No wonder they were thirsty, I thought as I smiled a refreshing, heart-felt smile.

When I got to where my car was parked I had to stop and laugh out loud. One of the boys had shoveled a path all the way from the sidewalk to the door of my car. He had even cleared away a little spot for me to stand while I unlocked my car and climbed in. Suddenly, my day didn’t seem nearly so dreary, and the night didn’t seem nearly so cold.

It was just a little act of kindness, requiring no more than a few minutes worth of shoveling. But somehow it was enough to make a difference for me.

Even on a dark and stormy night.