Happy Anniversary!

If it is seven years of bad luck, then what is eight years equal to?

Mr. Finn and I are celebrating 8 blissful, uneventful, peaceful and not to mention positively joyful years!  

REWIND

Mr. Finn and I are passing by that 8 year marker of time spent growing, learning and still loving each other after all these years.  That sounds more like it now doesn't it?

We have had ups and downs, highs and lows, and yes, even joy.  It took a long time for us to become Mr. and Mrs. Finn, but I am glad we DID.

While I was serving a mission in the Dominican Republic I received a letter from Mr. Finn.  He knew it was mission rules for return letters to be sent, so he knew it was an "in" with me.  He wrote me a couple of letters a week that I looked forward to and even some packages to make the dominican experience more enjoyable.  He even sent me a puzzle that asked me to think about marrying him right before I left the mission field.  

I was thinking about it, but I also had a Mother that didn't like him.  Who doesn't like Mr. Finn?  LOL  Even with all his charm, we ended up in an argument (a.k.a. knock down, drag out fight) in front of the Star Wars ride.  Disneyland, the happiest place on earth!  Hmmmmm!  

Then, ten years later we ended up on the same page...finally.  

By the way, his story is much different and mine is quite abbreviated, but I wanted to get a bit of it down for posterity.  At least get it down before early onset hits.  

Happy Anniversary my dear Mr. Finn.  

It's all about the Fine Print!

I finally got Mr. Finn on board for getting my eyes fixed.  By LAZIK surgery!  He was/is afraid I will go blind.  Completely RATIONAL, I know!?!  I was pretty excited until I realized that I will have to have "cheaters" to read for the rest of my life.  I thought that wasn't a big deal as I have to take my glasses off to read now.

And then, I started paying attention to how much I read during the day.  It could get a bit frustrating to have to look for glasses to read the little things.  Labels on bottles, etc. 

It brought to mind a memory I have about my Grandma Laverne.  She always had big magnifying glasses laying all over the place.  Now I get why they were there, so she could read all that fine print.  I wish she were here so I could ask her if that was annoying.  I'm sure she would say it was just the way it was.  She was this funny, crazy little lady with tons of spunk.  She passed away over 20 years ago on Christmas Day.  I miss her! 

It brings to mind another story about her or maybe just a factual one.  She used to dye her hair auburn.  I don't think I ever saw her gray!  A woman after my own heart!  LOL  Anyways, Grandpa had a culdesac (you all know what I am talking about.) so after she was done with her hair, she would throw the rest on his hair and his eyebrows.  I remember visiting right after it had been done and was talking to Grandpa.  I couldn't help but notice the dye job, it really accentuated the eyebrows and his lack of hair.  The only thing I could think of to say was, "So, Grandma dyed her hair today?"  He gave me the funniest look and said "Yup!".  He never had much to say, I wonder what he was thinking.  

If he were a woman, it would have been thoughts of "Oh No! Does it look that bad?"  "What does she mean by that?"  We are so neurotic I think.

Back to the subject at hand.  Because I should be wearing bifocals at this stage in my life it changes the way I can have my eyes fixed.  They can be done differently so I can see both ways, but it can cause nausea and lack of balance.  You basically have to use one eye to see far away and one to see up close.  It can take a while for your eyes to adjust, but some never get used to it.  The other option which I spoke of earlier, makes them so I can see long distance and use cheaters to read.

I want to be able to enjoy this time while my kids are little, swimming, biking and playing with them without the hassle of glasses.  Is it worth the other?  Anybody have any experiences they would like to share.  I have a couple of months until it will happen, so all thoughts are welcome.

Bread recipe

I had a request for the Banana Bread Recipe on my previous post. It is truly "Manna from Heaven", just see for yourself. I got permission from Enid to post her "secret" recipe on my blog and she being so willing to please me (just kidding!), actually because she is so willing to share what she can, gave me her blessing.

Banana Nut Bread

2 1/4 cup Flour

1 2/3 cup Sugar

1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

2/3 cup Shortening

2/3 cup Buttermilk

3 Eggs

1 1/4 cup Mashed Ripe Bananas (I find frozen black bananas taste better, make sure you defrost them first) (When you are saving the bananas, just leave them in the peel and throw in freezer, makes for easy storage.)

2/3 cup Chopped Nuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour loaf pans. Beat Bananas first in mixing bowl. Add all ingredients except flour into mixer bowl. Blend 1/2 minute on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Add Flour and beat 3 minutes on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pans. Bake 45-50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool and wrap in plastic wrap to keep moist. (we know how yucky dry banana bread is!)

Manana Bread

The Dude discovered Banana Bread today. I make it every year from the black bananas that appear on my counter every week. I chuck them in the fridge and once a year I make Enid's recipe for Banana Cake and...Voila, the neighbors are gifted with the many loaves a year full of bananas will make.

And, for the first time when offered a bite of this delicacy, I received a "sure" versus "eeww, yucky"! I felt like I had received some kind of minor award to have a child of mine try something I had baked outside of a chocolate chip cookie.

We had to run the christmas tree that has since worn out his welcome to the local gathering spot for trees. Ryan was so excited by his new discovery of banana bread and goes running out the door shouting, "Dad, Dad, I have Manna Bread!". We corrected his pronunciation to which we were quickly re-corrected by the 2 year prodigy. Ha! I told Mr. Finn that we should be so lucky as to have an Israelite amongst us. The Dude LOVES Manna Bread and makes sure to tell us often.

That brings me to my next thought. I was thinking of this sweet little boy and the joy he has brought to our life and that led to Miss Boo and all of the huge blessings we have received in the last year. While I was living the year, it felt really hard and unbearable at times. I guess that is normal!? I don't remember many of the details, but I do feel differently about life today and that is a blessing of all the trials of the past year. If we don't grow while we are hurdling those obstacles in front of us, we are squandering our time here on earth.

I pray I will be a better steward of my time in this new year that I have been blessed to live in. If you are still here, your work is not done and much is to be accomplished. I truly believe that and with that "pearl of insight" I challenge everyone to live as if you have been gifted 2009 as the year to accomplish that one "thing" that you just haven't had time to start/finish.

I want to be a Fruit Snack

My New Years Resolution is to be more like fruit snacks.  Yup!  I said it!  Fruit Snacks.

One wonders what could be so great about a fruit snack that I would aspire to be one.  Well, I will share the secret with you.

1.  A fruit snack is always welcome by my offspring with great enthusiasm.

2.  A fruit snack is squishy in a good way and publicly accepted for its very squishiness with above stated enthusiasm.

3.  A fruit snack has many different colors and all are yummy.

4.  A fruit snack can be found anywhere, even in my bed and doesn't get the disgust of, let's say a pretzel.

5.  A fruit snack is close to perfect and most imperfections are overlooked for it's inner goodness.