The Boys + Olympics + Modesty + Austenland +Day 11

"At the Olympics in China, every color was represented... and that was just the drinking water." -Evan Sayet

Hello there.

David's language skills are picking up exponentially, it seems. He can say No, More, Wow/Whoa, Sock, and when he says Hi and Bye, it actually sounds like the real word, like Hah-ee, and Bah-ee. He says more, but I just can't think of them right now. It's so cute. Most of the time the sounds coming out of his mouth are garbled and don't sound like anything, so it's fun to hear the words he does know how to say.

Andrew is still potty training. Some day, he'll wake up one morning and just get it, I think. I'm pretty happy though - earlier today, it had been a few hours since he had gone, and I was busy doing something when he suddenly said, "Potty!" He ran to the bathroom, and by the time I was able to go in there to help him, he was already in there doing his business! Oh, I know it's silly, but I can't tell you how happy that made me.

The Olympics are nearly here, and I'm dying from excitement! We'll be at a family reunion during the opening ceremony and then going to another reunion at the end of week 1, but hopefully we'll be able to catch at least SOME of the games this year! My favorite events are probably the swimming (Michael Phelps, anyone?) and gymnastics. So great.

These are the two times in previous Olympics that have stuck in my memory best:

Kerri Strug, helping the Team USA women's gymnastics team win the gold medal for the first time ever.

And of course, I would be stupid to forget the 4x100 relay the USA men's swimming team miraculously won against France at the last summer Olympics. This was seriously classic.

Ahhh! I can't wait!

Oh, and just because I thought it was interesting, I found a YouTube video that promotes modesty. I know, I know, it's kinda a weird topic to talk about, but this one has statistics from a study, so it scientifically shows that it's probably a good idea to cover up! Just watch it, ladies.

As another side note, I'm rereading Shannon Hale's book Austenland for probably the 6th or 7th time. I love this book, obviously. It's just so funny and witty, and whenever I'm feeling the need for a Jane Austen-ish fix, this is my go-to book. I just had to post one of my favorite passages from the book.

Yes, I am aware that this is turning into a rather long post. Sorry about that. Also, I have no rights to this passage whatsoever, so sorry Shannon Hale if I'm not allowed to post it! If that's the case, I'll delete it immediately! Here it is:

"No more whist, I beg you," Aunt Saffronia said after dinner. "Let us have some music."


"Indeed," said Captain East. "I believe, Miss Erstwhile, that you promised me a song."


Jane was quite certain that she had never promised any such thing, but it seemed a fitting remark to make, and so Jane rose and made her graceful way to the piano.


"If you insist, Captain East, but I must beg you forgive me at the same time. And you too, Mr. Nobley, as I know you are particular to music played well and no doubt a harsh critic when a piece is ill executed."


"I believe," said Mr. Nobley, "that I have never been witness to a young lady about to play without her excusing her skill beforehand, only to perform perfectly thereafter. The excuse is no doubt intended as a prelude that sets up the song for deeper enjoyment."


"Then I pray I do not disappoint."


She smiled expressly at Captain East, who sat forward, forearms resting on knees, eager. With professional suavity, Jane arranged her skirt, spread out the music, poised her fingers, and then with one hand played the black keys, singing along with the notes, "Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater, had a wife and couldn't keep her, put her in a pumpkin shell, and there he kept her very well."


She rose and curtsied to the room.


Captain East smiled broadly. Mr. Nobley coughed. (Laughed?) Jane sat back on the lounge and picked up her discarded volume of sixteenth-century poetry.


"That was..." said Aunt Saffronia to the silence.


Hilarious! I love it. And that's just a taste of what the rest of it is like, my friends. You should really check it out from the library. Or borrow it from me. Just know that I have an ARC copy, so there are some slight errors in it every once in a while...

Ok, on to the Challenge.

Day 11 - What is your favorite quote?

I have a lot of quotes I like... Shoot. Here's one by Henry Van Dyke: "Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best."

Here's one by Oscar Wilde: "Who, being loved, is poor?"

And here's one by Mother Teresa: "If you judge someone, you have no time to love them."

I like a lot of other quotes, but I mostly post them at the beginning of these posts, not at the end...

Secret: I have a slight phobia of bees. I was stung once when I was a little girl, and ever since then, if a bug flies close to me, even if it's a fly or a ladybug and not a bee or something with a stinger, I still sorta freak out. I'm not very proud of it, but there it is.

Aaand We've Got the Internet! + Day 8?

"Anything is good if it's made of chocolate." -Jo Brand

"Fettuccine Alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults." -Mitch Hedberg

and

"Food should be fun." -Thomas Keller

Hello again, my friends. I'm back.

I've been a little MIA. First, Jason had finals. Then he started his practicum (kinda like an internship). Then the people we were sharing our internet with moved.

And the internet was JUST started again. Hurray!

Let's see. What have we been up to?

My younger sister came to town from Salt Lake. She was a bridesmaid in two weddings two weeks apart, and she had some things she wanted to do and people she wanted to see in between, so she was around for a couple weeks. She and I went to Zoombezi Bay one day, and it was great. It was just the two of us, and I haven't spent that long without the boys with just Carrie in... well, I don't think it's ever happened. We had a great time! And I got a little burned - on one shoulder! - but I don't care.

She also gave us all haircuts. Except David. His hair is still too short, poor boy. Mine is a bit shorter - I got a couple inches chopped off. But Andrew looks so much better without all that shaggy hair. I have a picture of him getting his hair cut, but none of him after the cut. Weird.

Yes, that was Andrew's version of a smile. He's not grimacing

The second wedding Carrie was a part of was for a good mutual friend of ours: Rachel. Rachel and I were great friends growing up, starting in third grade when she moved to my hometown. She became best friends with Carrie when Rachel and I started college and I went out to Idaho and Rachel stayed here. She might as well be a part of our family. I was really happy to be able to attend her wedding and reception. Derrik is one lucky guy!

Coming out of the temple, for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Young!

Along with that, my parents have been in England and Scotland for the last week, and will be there and in Ireland for another week. It's ridiculous. My mom sends us texts and pictures a few times a day just to let us know that they're still alive and kicking and having fun. They've been doing all these cool things!

Anything else? Oh yes, I got sick a few days ago. It was lovely. I'm sure you want to hear all about that...

Day 8 - Three things you want to say to different people.

Eh... I don't feel like doing this one. Or Day 9 - Pet peeves. I'm pretty sure I've done this one a hundred times. So let's do Day 10.

Day 10 - If you could only live off of one food and one beverage for the rest of your days, what would they be?

The beverage for me is obvious - water. I love water, especially if it's cold. Yummm. I like other drinks too, but most days that's all I have.

The food issue is a little harder. I would say some sort of dessert, because I would really miss having dessert if I couldn't have it for the rest of my life. But then I'd be really unhealthy, eating only dessert, and I'd probably be really fat and ugly and sick and unhappy, and I'd probably die in a year. Or less. So I'd say that's not an option.

Those who know me well know that I like variety when it comes to my meals. I dislike eating leftovers because it feels like I JUST ate the thing I'm eating again. So this is Really hard.

What could I put up with eating every meal, every snack, for the rest of my life? Country Fried Chicken sounds pretty good right about now, especially if it tastes as good as Texas Roadhouse's! (It probably isn't much better than a dessert, huh? Haha.)

Secret: I have a hard time finding peep-toed shoes that look good on me. They'll fit just fine, but my toes are too stubby to "peep". Haha.

Success! + Day 7

"Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. No man is free who cannot control himself." -Pythagoras

Ok, guys. This is such a sad fact to share, but I am so happy, it makes me want to skip around my apartment:

The TV hasn't been turned on today.

Sure, Andrew's played a few games on my phone instead (ugh), but really, this is a huge accomplishment.

I have to admit that most of the time as a mother, I have no idea what I'm doing. I think after having Andrew, I had a bout of postpartum depression, and I still struggle some days where things feel terrible. I should probably get that checked out... So a lot of the time, I end up reading books for a long time, or taking longer on the computer than I should, or getting lost in the pile of laundry that needs to get done (and focusing on it too much). It's like because I don't know what to do with the boys (or I don't have the energy), my brain shuts down. It's too much to contemplate. I've let the boys fend for themselves much too frequently, hence the TV time.

I'm trying to mend my ways. Today, I've done a load of laundry - hurray for poopy underwear! - done a load of dishes because no more bowls or spoons can be a problem, and discovered a new "sauce" to make for pasta. But I've also gotten down on the floor to play with Andrew's cars with him. I've chased David around. I took Andrew outside to play while Jason studied at home during David's nap time. I took the boys out to our complex's pool, and spent the majority of the time chasing the boys around the pool.

I know that probably sounds like a normal day to you, and it probably is. But I've started to see what my behavior is doing to my kids, and I don't like it. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself, and start being a mother. And today, I hope, is just the beginning of that.

Day 7 - Do you read? What are your favorite books?

As you saw from what I just said, yes, I do read. A lot. A lot more than I probably should. Thank you, Goodreads, for making me an addict again.

As for my favorite books, that's a hard one. I've come across a lot of really good books in the last couple years, so it's hard to narrow them all down. And there are some REALLY good books out there that I would say were very masterfully written, but they're not my favorites, so that's a hard question to answer.

Let's see... there's:

• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
• Tiger's Curse series by Colleen Houck
• Austenland and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
• The Truth About Forever and Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen
• Divergent series by Veronica Roth

I know there are tons more, but really, I don't want to take more time looking them up when I can be playing with my boys.

Secret: Sometimes, I wish that friends were easier for me to make. When I was younger, I used to make friends easily and quickly, but as I've grown older, I've been jaded by lost friendships and hard times. I have a hard time letting people in, unless they approach me and almost spell out that they want to spend time with me and be my friend. Is that sad?