On spooning with a moose

By popular request, I would like to share my thoughts on spooning with a moose. I thought this topic might grab some interest, but it really is the least substantial of all my possible posts. (I will also respond to the other requests.)

I have this moose that hangs out on our bed, up by the big decorative pillows. I've had him for a while; he usually sits on my desk or bookshelf. My moose has recently been invited to the bed because I was getting jealous of Blake's stuffed tiger Hobbs. Hobbs came home from Disneyland with Blake years ago, and, unlike my moose, his fur is matted down with love. Hobbs is quite the little trickster, and he and Blake like to play jokes on me or get into fights over who gets to cuddle with me. I needed the moose on my team.Well, the other morning when I woke up, Blake and I were both sleeping on our right sides. The moose was right in between us, also sleeping on his right side. It was the most awesome three-way spoon ever! There was a pretty amazing six person spoon happening at the ward activity where I met Blake, but he wasn't involved, and that's a story for another post. So, there you have it: spooning with a moose.

On a related and more substantive note, Ben's former fiance Liz had a stuffed bear that she liked to sleep with. Apparently she is quite attached to it and not keen on the idea of giving it up after marriage. I heard it through the grapevine that her family felt this was unacceptable and that efforts should be taken to break her of this habit. I was left wondering what the big deal was. If it's important to her and Ben doesn't care, then why make an issue of it? But then again, that's just me. And I cuddle with tigers and willingly get spooned by a moose.

On my "thoughts"

I noticed that based on the frequency of my posts it looks like I don't think very much. Actually, I've thought of lots of possible posts that somehow never make it to the page, the web page that is.

By now the list is a little overwhelming, and I have no idea what would be interesting to other people. I have thoughts on my personal crusade for justice (including a Festivus airing of grievances), on life relived through financial records, on spooning with a moose, on healthcare reform, on Couple Communication training, on Easter, on the wonders of the internet, on a real home. Any requests?

On "The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce"

I picked up this book, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25 year landmark study, from the bargain bin at the BYU bookstore several months back. First off, I love bookstores. Secondly, I always check the bargain bins/shelves. Third, I am pretty serious about wanting to be a good therapist, so I buy and read books about families and therapy in addition to my textbooks. (I'm only going to school part-time right now, so this is a possibility for me.)

Self-righteous side note: I have been surprised by some of the students in my class this semester who seem so blase about the readings and course work. It's one thing to blow off reading for your freshman biology course and a completely different thing to blow off reading for a graduate course in family therapy. I really admire one of my classmates at Loma Linda who was so serious about completing all the readings. She said she felt that the had a moral obligation to do so, that not getting as much information as possible about how to help people could hurt them. She feels she owes it to her clients to be the best therapist she can be. I agree. And I read books and get extra training because I genuinely find it interesting. End side note.

The author of The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce has been studying divorce and its effects on children for most of her career. There's even a center in California named for her. Anyway, she'd been working on this longitudinal study of children from divorced parents and is reporting her findings in this book. What is particularly interesting is that at 25 years, the participants in her study are now adults with families of their own. There hasn't been much research about how divorce continues to effect individuals at adults. The previous studies all stopped at adolescence or the early 20s.

I bought the book as a professional development kind of thing but am finding it hitting some very personal issues for me. Let me give just one example. The story is told of a woman named Karen who lives a great, happy life but experiences a constant dread that something bad will happen. She's waiting for the bottom to drop out and can't allow herself to just sit back and fully enjoy her happiness. I completely identify. The author went on to say that she found this to be a very common feeling among adults whose parents divorced when they were children. I had no idea. I thought it was just me, that I was neurotic and unhealthy in this aspect. I was reading this book just before bed, and I laid awake in the dark crying for some time. It was such a relief to know that I wasn't alone and that this wasn't something "wrong" with me.

The reason for writing this post is mostly just to share that. It was such a powerful moment, and I felt like sharing. If anyone is interested, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book and reading it. In the introduction the author states that she wrote the book for several audiences: children of divorce, their spouses/significant others, couples considering divorce, mental health professionals, and policy makers who influence how children are treated in divorce proceedings. Even though the book is based on research findings, it doesn't read like an academic journal or textbook. She presents her findings through case studies, the stories of individual people who represent common themes among the different types of families. One of the most powerful things to me is how she compares these children of divorce to their peers from intact families. The comparisons aren't always depressing but sometimes very dramatic. If you're interested, it's a good read. It was the only copy in the bargain bin and the best $1.99 I've spent on a book in a long time.

On vomit

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I kind of like vomit. When you're just feeling crappy and toxic, there's nothing better than a good barf. It just makes you feel so great to get that junk out of you. But then again, cleaning it up is a most disgusting experience. And the aftertaste is just gross. And there are very few things in the world worse than someone else's puke.Well, I guess it's not so much that I like vomit as it is that I like vomit stories. I'm not sure what it is about them, but they kill me. Listening to someone talk about how they yakked all over their friend's car or how they hurled in their sleep is comedic gold. It's Gold, Jerry, GOLD!

My favorite personal puking story comes from my first date with Blake. We went out for sushi and then went dancing. I don't do so well with motion, specifically spinning. The dancing made me sick. After Blake dropped me off, I went straight to the bathroom and hurled. When you have a real powerful vomit it comes out of whatever orifice it can. I was cleaning up a little after the barf fest and realized I had something in my nose. I shot a few grains of rice out my nose, little projectiles. It was actually pretty awesome. I was seriously disappointed that no one else was around to enjoy the moment with me.My sweet Blake is getting sick. He woke up this morning and could hardly talk. I made him some mint tea, which he said helped him feel much better. I also sent him to work with a thermal mug of mint tea. He told me this afternoon that he tossed his cookies at work. Apparently, with the mint tea in there, the experience was almost pleasant. He said his throat felt refreshed and warm and recommends mint tea to anyone who thinks he/she might need to blow chunks in the near future.Mmmm . . . minty! Feel free to share any awesome barf stories with me. I promise I'll like them. (And, yes, I know I'm weird. My sister-in-law writes poems on her blog and posts about medieval tapestries and teaching art history. So cultured! The best I've got is puke. Hm, I am what I am, and that's why you like me, right?)

On an awesome weekend

We had an awesome weekend! I stayed home from work sick on Friday and spent lots of time in my bed and taking naps and watching ridiculous daytime TV. In my day at home I was also successful in selling our dining table and chairs on Craigslist. After my awesome husband came home from work we went out to pick up some things at the Walmart and discovered an awesome new restaurant/drive-in/dive. We'd noticed this place on 13th and about 60th South called Woody's a few weeks ago and finally tried it out on Friday. It was so delicious! We both got double cheese burgers that were the epitome of greasy spoon goodness. We're so excited about it that we're thinking about going back there tonight.

Saturday night we went to the family hearts tournament and ate some more delicious food. After we went to hang out with Patti and Alan who were in town for the weekend. Pat and I subjected our husbands to old home movies. It was actually really fun. We were super cute kids! There were a few moments that made me a little sad (I was actually a pretty sad little three year old), but overall it was a great night.

Blake and I didn't have much to do on Sunday except go to church. We slept in. We played Parcheesi and Battle of the Sexes and Rockband. We took a nap together. We cooked. We read my Sunday School lesson for this week. We were both in good moods and had so much fun. We were giggly and silly and fun. We're looking forward to our vacation this month so we can have a string of days like these.

On my awesome husband

Although I have been thinking these thoughts for a while now, CappyT's post from a few weeks ago got me thinking that I should blog about them. I love Blake. He is just perfect for me. We have so much fun together; we even have fun going to the grocery store. A few weeks ago we tried out the SuperSaver grocery store. That was one of the most awesome grocery trips we ever made. The SuperSaver is in the same category as Food4Less, if anyone is familiar with that. Even though some of the products were awesome to behold, the most entertaining part of the trip was the other customers there. We overheard some of the best conversations. I should have blogged about it right after it happened, because I can't remember any specifics of the awesomeness now.


A while back I went out for lunch with one of my mission companions. Blake knew I was going out for lunch and came and did this on his lunch.


There were little sticky notes all over the house. They mostly said "I love you," but some also said hilariously sweet things like "You don't need a remote to turn me on" (that note was on the TV remote, of course). It was such a nice surprise to come home to.

This last week he did it again, well kind of. The Relief Society was coming over to visit that evening and I was NOT looking forward to cleaning up the house when I got home from school. I walked into the house and it was spotless. Blake had come home and cleaned on his lunch. He also left me a note and a flower. I was all stressed out and seeing the house clean and knowing that he had done it for me made me cry. I just burst into tears.


I'm taking two classes from BYU's Marriage and Family Therapy department. For one of my classes we write a small paper for each class period analyzing the usefulness of the theories we study. These papers sometime include questions that we have to answer about ourselves and our families to help us personalize and see application of the theories. I was answering some of these questions last week, and they brought up some hard stuff. I was so grateful for Blake when he came home. I didn't even have to tell him anything; I just asked if he'd hold me for a minute. He did, and I felt so much better. I love this man! I am so grateful to have him in my life and hope I don't ever take him for granted.

On setting up house

Now that all the business of the wedding and the holidays is over, Blake and I are getting to the real business of setting up our house. I feel like I've become the queen of small appliances. We registered for most of them; I guess I didn't think about how many that would be if we got all of them. I'm pretty sure we did. I was organizing the kitchen yesterday and had to find space for the following small appliances (including some we already had): toaster, George Forman grill, crock pot, hand mixer, blender/food processor, knife sharpener, KitchenAid, ice cream maker, waffle/sandwich maker, popcorn popper, electric skillet, electric griddle, fondue pot. I used the KitchenAid for the fist time yesterday. It was glorious. I made white bread, ginger bread, and whipped cream with it. I'm already in love.


We've got the biggest portion of our bedroom set up. I painted it the week before the wedding. We shampooed the carpets last week and moved furniture in on Saturday. We could not have done that without the help of our wonderful friends Kim and Kyle. Thanks guys! We bought sheets for Family Home Evening on Monday so we could finally sleep in our bed in our bedroom. We've still got to hang this awesome light that we bought in Mexico on our honeymoon. (There are pictures of the honeymoon on facebook for anyone who is interested.)


We're also setting up house for our fish, 'Lil Jackie Sparrow. He made his debut at our wedding reception. We bought him a treasure chest for his bowl and were SO excited when he finally discovered that he could swim through the hole in it. His bowl gets dirty fast, and he really doesn't like getting it cleaned out. He's so stubborn. I'm really glad that 'Lil Jackie likes his treasure chest. He's been much more active since we put it in there (or maybe it was since we moved him in front of the TV speakers; they happened on the same day). I like to think that he swims around it singing "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!"