First Family Update Post

I have decided to combine my blogs since keeping up with both seems to be more work than I am willing to devote to blogging.  I refuse to let myself feel bad about it because we have been busy as bees with other cool things.  So.  With that said, let the family updates begin!

I'm glad they take him seriously
 at work since he is clearly a
goofball at home.  

J is officially an SIT.  I'll be honest, I can't remember what the acronym stands for, but it should suffice to say that he has moved up to a managerial position thanks to a lot of studying, effort, and extra hours on his part.  In fact, at least one of his interviewers remarked that J was the BEST interview he ever had!  That's no small potato in his line of work.  We are really proud of him.

I made these for the
Young Women Fundraiser

I have been hard at work opening an Etsy shop where I sell skin care products and amigurumi.  I've really been drawn to the doll amigurumi, although the wigs are the bane of my existence.  My sister a while back did a write up of my skincare products on her blog.  I'm nervous and really excited at the same time to be working toward selling my products.  It is a new adventure for me, one that I particularly enjoy.  When I work out the kinks, I'll be sure to post my Etsy Shop website here.

As for E, the real reason for our family updates, he is doing wonderfully.

E at 21 months

Things E Loves:

1.  Nursery:  He is in Nursery now at church, and he has made some friends that he runs after every time we drop him off.  He taught the other children how to put their snack in their drinks.  The nursery workers subsequently stopped giving drinks and food at the same time.

2.  Clean Teeth:  I am not joking;  this kid loves to brush his teeth.  After watching Mama and Daddy brush their teeth with electric toothbrushes, he really love brushing with a buzzing toothbrush.  We ended up picking up one that glows green and red while he's brushing.  Now anytime he is in the bathroom, he grabs his toothbrush and toothpaste and goes to town brushing.  Getting the toothbrush away from him is the hard part.  

3.  Dips:  He dips any and all of his food in something (be it water, sauce, or my dinner plate).  His favorite snacks right now are hummus and salsa shoveled in with one pita chip.  Forget double dipping, we're talking double digits dipping.  He is actually sipping the marinara through a straw in this picture, but, hey, that's kind of like an extra serving of veggies, right?

4.  Soos:  While most would pronounce the word "Shoes," E isn't one of them.  He is, however, infatuated with all of his shoes, my shoes, and his daddy's shoes.  He carries them around shouting, "Soos!  Soos!"  He tries to put them on himself, and we really can't resist helping him out.  Once the shoes are on, he stomps around in a celebratory dance.  

5.  My sister's Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato, and Ginger Soup:  We have been blessed with a kid who loves all kinds of food.  He drinks this soup like water every chance he gets.  

Happy Easter!

Achievable

This is not my family dynamic.
Picture taken from mormonnewsroom

If I close my eyes and envision my family and self, I would see a well put together family sitting in a church pew ten minutes before the meeting starts.  Our bellies are full of a homemade from scratch breakfast, and we're the perfect example of conscientious, faithful church-going, earth and health conscious people.  Then I would open open my eyes and see my real family.  My real family probably still has banana and cheerios lurking about their faces.  One or more of us may be half or fully asleep, and we are generally still preparing for church whenever Sacrament Meeting begins.  This past winter, I actually kept Toddler in Pajamas to conserve time, warmth, and sleep until we got to church where I would change him into appropriate clothing.

Yeah, that's definitely more our speed.
Picture taken from crazyfamilypicture

Being a SAHM gives me a lot of room to think about how to improve myself, my life, and the life of my family.  I have so many goals.  So many things I want to be and accomplish.  So much so that anything I do in the way of working towards this person I see myself becoming seems... inadequate?  minuscule?  Well, simply not enough anyway.  I often identify my efforts as whims because even when I believe in something hardcore, fully committing seems so out of reach.

Picture taken
from cognitivedissonance

In psychology we discussed the concept of cognitive dissonance, which says that we want to keep all of our attitudes and beliefs in harmony.  Whenever they are not in harmony, we changes our opinions to create harmony.  I would like to extend this idea to our actions.  I think we cannot possibly act on behalf of all the causes we find worthwhile so we change our opinions so that we are not uncomfortable with our lack of action.  Or in the words of my psychology professor, we can only have so many priorities.

A friend and I were talking about the idea of perfection one day a few years back.  He said that in his religion, he did not believe that we were capable of being perfect ever.  He, therefore, did not understand why anyone would stress themselves out trying so hard to be just that.  I told him that I do believe that we can become perfect in the life after this one.  However, it is my belief, and the belief of my religion, that perfection is a concept we must work towards in both this life and the next to become like God.

Picture taken
from impossible

That is why my life takes a different approach.  I embrace my cognitive dissonance.  I can't outrun it or even change my opinions enough to incorporate all I believe.  I am choosing all of my causes.  It's completely overwhelming, and it quite possibly means that I will never be great at any one thing.  Most days end with me having contributed little to nothing to each cause-  sometimes (most times) it can be quite discouraging.  However, sometimes I have a day when it all comes together.  Sometimes it all makes sense.  Yesterday was one of those.  All the little changes I've made in the last year came together, and I caught a glimpse of the person I want to be.  Never quit setting goals, even when they seem impossible.  

Women to Pray in General Conference

I am reblogging......

Credit Where Credit is Due


Check it out.  How do you feel about the new policy change?  

Post Secret Sunday

Less (rumoring chasing) is More

My social skills are not fantastic.  That is a truth about me.  I have a hard time making real friends, though given the chance, I am pretty good at getting people like me.  A while back when I was working in as a server, I used my break to make cookies for the rest of the staff.  I have found that it is really hard to be rude to someone when they bake you cookies.

I live within the boundaries of a pretty transient ward.  About every year and half or so about 80% of the ward changes.  That can make it somewhat difficult for someone like me in the friendship area.  It makes it even more difficult when my belief system makes me stick out, so I work hard to be there whenever people need me.  I try hard to not say no when anyone needs something.  I have felt like the ward I have now is the best I have had since Hubby and I got married...    until the chitter chatter started up again.  And now, I feel a little blue.  

My first instinct is to do some research, ask a few questions, and figure out exactly who said what and when.  Then I ask myself, what good will that do?  The only thing that will come of that is that I will feel more hurt and more awkward.  

A couple years ago I toured a high security state prison for a sociology class.  When the guard was explaining his job, he told us that several inmates swear up and down that they are innocent and that his response was always the same:  Whether you are innocent or guilty at this point does not affect his job.  That was a very interesting take away for me;  His job is not judgment.  His job is to guard.  Likewise, my job is not judgment.   

I think I need to establish my expectations of myself for how I treat people.  Once I do that, I should treat everyone the same, which means the less I know about who has said mean things, the better.  The same reason I got off of Facebook:  I tend to like people more when I have less information.  That means that my behavior is independent of how others treat me.  That is how I will continue to progress.