Only half the alphabet?

Heading to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta for fun time with my family.

  Be back on the 12th to finish L-Z!

In My Heart On Thursday

"Curiosity is not a preparation."

-Elder Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple

Kitchen Kismet

I have been trying for hours to come up with something interesting that starts with "K".  All I can come up with are kitchens and kids.  Or koalas.  Kismet.  And Kit-Kats.  On a love/hate list my kids obviously go on the love side.  Koalas and Kit-Kats somewhere in the middle neutral ground.  My kitchen?  In a heartbeat I would trade in my kitchen.

First let me say that we live in a rental so we have what we have and that's what stays.  Size-wise, it's okay.  There are a lot of cupboards and drawers for storage.  The cupboards are painted gray, which seems like an odd kitchen color to me, but we've decorated in blacks and reds and I guess it's working.  We have a decent amount of counter space, which is an improvement from places I've lived in the past.  And, our stacked washer/dryer are in our kitchen and surprisingly I absolutely love that!

So what are the problems?  Two I can think of.  First, the cupboards are hung over the bar and require a person to bend over nearly parallel to the floor before speaking to the person on the other side-even when you're sitting.  Second, we don't have a dishwasher.  I used to feel spoiled complaining about not having a dishwasher, but not anymore.  It's seriously a problem.  Dirty dishes eliminate all that usable counter space and reality is that they just don't get done everyday.  Plus, if you remember my statement on the proper order of hand washing the dishes, you know my marriage would be much better off with an automated machine doing my dish cleaning.  

In the end, I love cooking, and so love being in my kitchen;  even if I don't love the kitchen itself.  I'll keep making do and dreaming of the day one of these kitchens is part of my home.

Other A-Z

Joy

On my new blog, Eating the Nibbly Bibs, the focus is 100% joy.  Both for my two boys and for me.  I'm working out of a fabulous book named Teaching Your Children Joy where I do a daily activity with them and then record my thoughts and observations on how it went.  

Here is a post from last week:

I'm InWhat I'm learning about parenting is this:  You have to be all in.  Children grow up whether you're intensely involved or not.  The opportunity we have is to be a part of that during the short amount of time we have with them.  And we choose the degree of intensity.

During the past four years I've had ups and downs-periods of complete attention and periods of viewing from the sidelines.  The last year I'd evaluate as fairly well checked out and the results are there to prove it.  Beck and I argue like he's a teenager.  Indeed I look at him and can see exactly what 14-year-old Beck will be.  But the good news is that that's true for the good times too!  I've noticed before, and I'm seeing it now...when I'm anxiously engaged in being mom to my two boys, they smile and laugh and want to be anxiously engaged with me.  It's a lesson worth learning, and one I'm sure I'll need to keep learning again and again.

Today's Teaching Your Children Joy activity was to "make spontaneity a high priority."  Be open to letting it happen anytime and anyplace.  It's hard to get past the point when you holler "No," or "Stop," "Sshhh!", but when you do it makes the world more interesting for both you and your child.

So try it.  Let them splash in a puddle.  Follow the direction of their pointing fingers and over-enthusiastic shouts of "LOOK!"  Clear the way and let them spin the kid cart while walking through the grocery store.  They'll be happier and you might just find yourself barefooted squishing mud between your toes.  

If you have little ones, or if you don't, I'd love to have you come on over and check it out... 

Eating the Nibbly Bibs

For earlier A-Z posts...

Yummy Yummy Ice Cream

Who on the planet doesn't love ice cream?  Or gelato, or Italian Ice, or frozen yogurt?  Well, anyways, I love ice cream enough for anyone out there who does not partake.

My favorite?  Definitely Chunky Monkey from Ben & Jerry's.

I was going to explain the inner struggle I have supporting Ben & Jerry's (loving their strong corporate culture while hating a number of their political/social stances), but, really, it's just ice cream, and I'm not strong enough to say no. 

In the end, I don't patronize their scoop shops anymore, but if my husband brings a pint home to smooth over our latest disagreement, I'm hardly going to turn down the cold and creamy treat.  Can you blame me?

Missed A-H?

H Takes Us Up, Up, & Away

I LOVE hot-air balloons!   Last year we went to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta for the fiesta and I'm hooked!  That festival has hundreds of balloons lifting off every morning of the 10-day festival.  You can sign up to be part of a balloon chase-team and then get in free for the entire festival.  Last year I pushed my reluctant husband into volunteering and he was addicted after his first day.  He ended up chasing with a team from the Netherlands flying a 10-story-high Rooster balloon.

Last Christmas my husband's boss bought hot-air balloon rides for all his employees.  Oh, that was fantastic for me!  We saved our vouchers and went last week for my birthday!  I think most people have a romantic idea of what it will be like floating in a balloon.  It was exciting and fun, but not necessarily peaceful.  We were in a basket with 10 other people.  The burners control the rate of conversation (or at least how much of the conversation you hear) and they're pretty hot!  One man on our balloon was nearly bald and the pilot had to scrounge up a dirty smelly baseball cap for him to where instead of roasting his head.

I know hot-air ballooning is not for everybody.  It happens in the EARLY morning.  It's more successful in cooler temperatures.  It's not face-paced and you are thousands of feet off the ground suspended in a basket propelled only by a little propane.  But it's definitely worth a try!  The balloons are enormous!  Watching the first balloon of a dawn patrol alight before dawn is mesmorizing.  The coldest air is actually on the ground and warms as you make you way upwards.  And though I'm not afraid of heights, several people have told me that once you're off the ground, height is all relative and not really a problem.  

I think you should try it!  Get up close and see how it happens.  And if you find yourself at this year's Balloon Fiesta (Oct.1-10), look for me!  I'll be there.

In My Heart On Thursday

-Penny For Your Thoughts

G Is Easy

Letters E & F were travel-related posts and today is, too, but then I promise to move on to some other interesting part of my life. The thing is, I live next door to a huge white mountain "G" and am taking a shortcut today by grabbing a post from my Utah travel blog to share with you here....

                                          The Pleasant Grove "G"

The Pleasant Grove "G" has been an important landmark for our family.  As a marker for home, we can point to it from across the valley when our little one asks how much longer until we get home.  He knows the closer we get to that letter on the mountain, the sooner we'll be home.  Along with the BYU "Y", the "G" has also served as an educational tool.  When Word World was teaching him his letters, our little one started spotting them from the freeway and hollering them out proudly.  And most recently, the giant white letter has turned into a fun game of "I Can See a G" as it moves behinds trees and buildings before reappearing a few moments later.  

We have intended to make a trek to the "G" several times.  The lack of clearly defined trail always dissuaded us, and once we discovered the much easier and well-marked BattleCreek Falls trail leaving from the same parking lot, the "G" was pretty much off our radar.  Finally this summer the giant "G" called us so scouted out a route to take us all the way there.  We left our excuses in the car and struck out on a trail that kinda sorta looked it was the right way to go.

The first part of the trail is really steep.  Our little one kept telling us it was "pretty steep," but he kept on trekking.  

 

It's interesting to get up close to a mammoth wild consonant.  On the way up we each took a guess what it would be made of-wood, rocks, concrete.  It's actually made with long strips of white-washed metal, and coming into full close-up view our little informed us we were all wrong....it's made out of chairs.  He could be right-if you think of the nylon weaving of a lawn chair painted white and giganticized, that is what the "G" is made of. 

 

We spent the rest of our time there having lunch in the center of the oversized capital letter.  It is beautiful to get above your regular life-all the traffic, the stores, and the noise; to look across the valley and realize how big Utah Lake really is, how intricately the roads are interlaced, how many reservoirs there are, and where all the dirt trails go. The opportunity to take it all in made the trip worth it, no matter the difficulty we had in getting there.   

Come visit me!  We'll take a hike and you can see it for yourself!

Click Here for More A-Z

Far, Far Away

I mentioned yesterday that I've done some overseas traveling.  Today I thought I'd share some thoughts on the foreign countries (and one self-governing commonwealth) that I've visited:

Belgium-My senior English teacher docked me a point on a paper for typing the Grand Place instead of the Grand Palace. It really is Grand Place and I still want my point back.  Make sure to see the night-time laser light show!

Luxembourg-Teeny tiny, but beautiful.  You know the capital city and country are the same, right?  Making it officially Luxembourg, Luxembourg.

France-After two trips to Paris I can officially say I could care less about ever going back there.  The Normandy Coast and the French Riviera, however, are definitely worth repeat visits.

Netherlands-My paternal ancestry and I LOVE this country!!!  

Canada-The thoroughfare for my multiple drives to and from Alaska. I'm still grateful for kind strangers 50km north of Edmonton who helped me change my flat tire.

Mexico-Anyone who tells me they're taking a Mexican Riviera cruise will probably never have to worry about me asking them for travel advice.    

England-I haven't made it out of London, yet, but definitely on my list to go again.

Bermuda-A GREAT cruise destination because all the ports are on the same island.  Get off at the first one and rent a scooter for the rest of your stay.  You don't have to be on the ship when it moves-but know that the island is a little step back in time and all-night gas pumps may not be readily available...

Bahamas-Okay, this is a little cheating because I've only been on the beach Princess Cruises leases.

Guatemala-Does anyone have insight on how safe it is to travel independently here?  Not knowing, we were overly cautious.

Costa Rica-Definitely do the zip-lining.  I went 5 months pregnant.  My husband and I were the only English speakers and after listening to a 20-minute safety speech in Spanish we were told, "Hold here, don't touch here. Go!"  

Panama-Traveling through the canal is amazing!  Tip for my LDS readers-the Panama LDS temple is viewable as you're entering/exiting the east end of the canal. 

Puerto Rico-I mostly remember it being dirty.

Taiwan-This also should be considered a cheat, but a 10-hour over-night layover anywhere counts in my book.

Thailand-Go here!!  Get out of Bangkok right away.  I went north to Chiang Mai and did a jungle trek.  Next time I'll go south to Phuket and the beaches!

Malaysia-Aqua blue beaches, snake temples, and English architecture-a surprisingly interesting destination.

Singapore-As clean as the news reports lead you to believe.  

Spain-Gaudi was such a freak!  A big-dreaming freak!

Australia-Really incredible-Perth was my absolute favorite.  Great opposite-side-of-the-road driving in Tasmania.

New Zealand-The mist in the fjords is worth getting up early for, but I'd spend the rest of my vacationing days on the north end of the north island if I could.  

Tahiti-French-speaking and you'll REALLY benefit from being french-speaking, too.

Italy-Where to start?  Go here...that's all I can say.

Portugal-All the blue & white tiles in Lisbon-enchanting!

Albania-Such a sad looking country.  The fall of communism, the rise of capitalism, and now?  Deserted developments as far as the eye can see.

Croatia-Everything wonderful that, for me, Albania was not. 

Switzerland-Idyllic and the greatest place to have family!

Gibraltar-Okay, the Rock of Gibraltar is a real place!  And at the top is a mess of wild monkeys. Totally awesome!

Elephant Starts With E

In 2002 I took a 4-month backpacking trip with friends.  The trip included stops in the Caribbean, the Mexican Rivera, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.  By far the most memorable event of that trip was my ride on an elephant's head.

Most rides on an elephant (or camel, or any other exotic animal) take place on some sort of wooden bench or chair for two strapped to the animal's back.  Indeed, my animal did have that.  But, traveling in a group of three that day, one of us was going to be left out.  Not to be discouraged, our guide used a little creativity.  Looking straight at me and taking note that I was wearing "trousers", he found a special seat for me...

Look at the photo again.  Yes, that's my hand on top of an elephant's head!  My front-row seat for an hour-long elephant ride was hovering over the elephant's neck.  Let me tell you, it was invigoratingly harrowing!

To start with, I'm not an animal person.  Add to that the fact that elephant hair is coarse and wiry and their skin is extremely dry; not the nicest resting place.  Then consider that an elephant is considerably wider than your normal riding-type animal.  And finally, let me explain to you that when an elephant is nervous, or concentrating, or struggling down a riverbank, he will wrap his ears back tightly against his body and around whatever else he finds there...in other words, he will wrap those rather strong ears around your legs and hold them still until he's comfortable again and feels like letting them go.  

Now looking past all that, believe me when I say my elephant ride was one of the most INCREDIBLE experiences of my life thus far.  I would do it again in a snap and absolutely recommend you jump at the opportunity should you ever find yourself in the wilderness of northern Thailand. Just be sure to travel in an odd-numbered group and wear your trousers...

(My one piece of advice is this:  Elephants are large animals and so logically have large poo.  Large poo makes a big splash when dropped in a river.  Elephants may be tall, but an elephant poo splash will always be taller-look away and keep your mouth closed.)

More A-Z

Getting On A Jet Plane

On my way to Denver for the weekend,

 and since it's time to write about the letter D it seems quite fitting.

Any suggestions what to do while I'm there?

More A-Z here

In My Heart On Thursday

It was my birthday yesterday, this is what I did, and it'll be on my mind for awhile!

C-C-C-Cats

I hate cats.  I'm not an animal person in general, but I especially could do without cats.  The great thing is that my husband shares an equal disinterest in furry felines and so I'll never have to worry about having one in my home.  Even better, our mutual hatred has spawned quite a bout of conniving and trickery.  Take for example the birthday cake I bought him the first year we were hanging out together...

and the t-shirt I made him a few years ago for Christmas which reads, "Real Men Love Cats."

Pretty much anything ugly or ridiculous merchandised to cat-lovers is fair game to sneak into a family gathering.  And what my husband doesn't know yet?  I've indoctrinated the children!  How long before he figures out it's no coincidence his birthday cards, Father's Day cards, and "Daddy, I just love you so I bought a card" cards are decorated in cats wearing frog costumes or cute kitties mewing with hearts around their heads?

For more ideas on exactly the kind of images that make us vomit, and hence are fair-game for the next hideousness to make it's way into our home, check out these cats.

Click here for A-B

B=Blogs

I started this blog four years ago, then quit this blog for a long time (like, years).  Then this year rolled around and something exploded!  Not only did I brush the cobwebs off of this address, I dove head-first into a world of new blog endeavours.  Here are the cyberspace locales where you can keep an eye on me...

Wandering Still-That's here, so of course you know already know a whole heck of a lot about me.

6 In the Kitchen-A cooking blog project with my sisters where we share our VERY different tastes.

A Local Wander-My passion in progress.  After a little re-tooling, it's going to be a contributor-oriented Utah activities blog.  If you live in Utah, or visit here, I want to hear from you!

Eating the Nibbly Bibs-My newest project sharing my experiences at home preschooling and following the book Teaching Your Children Joy.

I'd love to have you check these out and let me know what you think!

Click here for Letter "A"

Let's Do A Little A-Z

We've all seen it-People out in blogworld playing a little game of A-Z.  There are lots of variations, but the idea is always the same: Starting at the beginning of the English alphabet, work your way through to Z, sharing little snippets of yourself along the way.  In the past I've had little interest in jumping onto the bandwagon, but something in my mind recently said, "Hey, go ahead and give it a try!"  So for as long as it takes me to get through the 26-letters, here is A-Z, Wandering Still-style...

My last name growing up started with double-A's.  Aa.  I loved ALWAYS being the first name called on the roll-call list.  No waiting  around or worrying that I'd quit paying attention and miss someone calling my name. I had no sense of humor for substitute teachers cleverly trying to "switch things up" by calling out names in reverse, starting with "Z".  No one else was buying it were they?  If I were a Wilson or a Van Wyk or a Young I'd probably have been annoyed because I wasn't used to being first and so I did just miss you calling my name...

My married name is a good-ol' middle-of-the-alphabet name.  Not too far in to bore me, but enough in that I have to stay on my toes.  But,as I sit here thinking about it, there aren't a lot of moments in adult life that call for a long line of attending names to be called out in succession, are there? 

Huh.  Glad I had my double-A name back when it meant something.

In My Heart On Thursday

"We have free will, and the Devil also has things in his mind too."

-Donald Kraybill, Amish Grace

Child-Friendly Entertainment

I was contacted recently to review a new animated video project by Sun Swing Media, and though I've tried not to turn this blog into a commercial venue, I appreciate what they're trying to do and agreed to share their concept and my thoughts with you.

The concept is to take a previously published story from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' children's magazine, The Friend, and produce simple animations of the story for parent's to download and share with their families.   The creator's are hoping to provide simple entertaining animations with a clean and positive message.

The first video Sun Swing Media has completed is "The Decision."  The story follows three boys walking home one day, happening upon an inappropriate magazine, and their reactions as they decide what to do with it.  The animation itself reminded me of the "Home Star Runner" animation clips.  And at about 4 minutes long, it's short enough to keep children's attention.

I love the idea behind these videos.  My little boy is 4 and loves getting his Friend magazine in the mail each month.  These videos will be a great supplement to the stories he sees in there.  If you're not familiar with the Friend magazine, don't be scared away.  The intention is to produce animations of topics that our kids are encountering in their lives today.

I'll be upfront with you.  I did not show "The Decision" to my little boy.  I agree that we need to be open with even our small children about the threats awaiting them in the world.  I don't feel, however, like he needs to be introduced to words like pornography quite yet.  For children at the higher end of the target audience, though, (6-10ish) the video does deal with the subject tastefully and appropriately.  Also, the creators are honest about not being screenwriters.  The dialogue pretty closely follows the story, but I don't feel like the simple animation style necessarily lends itself well to the depth of emotion the creators were striving for.

Would I buy this video for download?  For the $1.00 price tag, absolutely!  Not because this particular video was 100% captivating, but because I know that as Sun Swing Media produces more and more videos, the quality will become better and we NEED more child-friendly entertainment options available for our families.

Interested in finding out more?

Download "The Decision" Now

Link to the original story printed in the Friend

Family Lesson Material to go along with the video

Official Press Release

Other Reviews Here and Here

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this video or anything else you want to share about the media options available for children today!

*Sun Swing Media, while having permission to work with stories from a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints publication, is an independent production company and not an official representative of the church.