On to the Final Four

Duke won.  Who else is happy, besides me and my bracket?

Duke and dunking

I had a fun conversation with a 7th grader as I was taking her to school this past week.  She and her two younger brothers (as well as her parents) are avid sports fans, including that of basketball and football.  Taryn is almost 6 feet tall (her dad is 6'4" and her mom is 5'11") and plays basketball and volleyball year round.  I was asking her how her teams are doing and if she is making more goals to play in college (as she has mentioned this to me in the past).  She said that she still really wants to play college basketball.  I said, "Taryn - can you dunk yet?"  She said, "No, but my dad told me that when I can dunk, he'll buy me a dog."  I thought to myself, Now that is the correct way to parent!  (haha)  This sounds like a conversation that I will be having with my seventh grade son(s) when the time comes.  (Please ignore the part that I love dogs and will probably have one long before my son is in seventh grade).

If you did not watch the Duke/Purdue game last night, you missed out on a lot of excitement!  Of course Duke pulled through in the end - on to the Elite Eight.  Go Blue Devils!

Falling in love...

I bet I know what you're thinking from the title of this post: oohh, does she have some juicy gossip to share or what fun story is she going to write about today?  haha.  It's probably not as fun as you think.  Hate to disappoint, though!  I'll attempt to make it interesting:

I recently overheard a conversation about how someone was having a hard time falling in love again and getting his head "back in the clouds."  (Apparently it was in the clouds in college, but not anymore...) Perhaps age has made him feel less romantic and more realistic.  I hope that age doesn't do that to me!  I love the term "hopeless romantic."  It conjures images up in my head of walks on the beach at sunset, San Francisco days and evenings, driving up the Pacific Coast Highway, hugs and kisses, passionate looks, Romeo & Juliet, love songs, ie KOST 103.5 (j/k!), love poems, candy hearts.....ok, you get the point.  :)

Then I started reading all of these marriage articles in the Ensign for April 2010.  (I think there's 4 of them - whoa!  Are we supposed to be paying attention to something here?  haha)  Anyways, going back to the idea of falling in love, I came across a concept in one of the articles:  "Remember that we come into this life hardwired, so to speak, to fall in love.  Don't make it harder than it is!"  Cool!  I love these two sentences because: a) It is being spoken by an apostle of God, thus divine revelation, so we really better pay attention, b) When we realize that we are meant to fall in love here on earth, doesn't that make life simpler in a way?

I think that this phrase sums it up:

"Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love." - Leo Tolstoy

p.s. Maybe someday I'll have some juicy gossip to share.  ;-)

Blueberry muffins and In-n-Out

For those of you who are Laker haters and decided to delete my blog off your blog list altogether, stop for a minute and read the title of this post.  You may be inclined to leave my blog link on your blog.  I know that you probably like In-n-Out and blueberry muffins.  :) 

Remember how I used to post something on my blog about ever 2-3 months?  I've decided that there are too many interesting things going on every day to wait and post.  If I do, then I forget everything that happened the past 2 weeks, so I'll try to continue to update daily.  

So if you don't live at 5011 La Canada Blvd., here is what you missed so far this week: 

1) A trip to the emergency room (I thought Ems had broken her wrist, but fortunately it was not - after 3 fun hours of waiting and x-rays.....it happens.  That's life sometimes)

2) In-n-out - it's becoming more than a weekly trip, especially since Ems discovered how amazing the fries are.  I still think the vanilla milkshakes are the best vanilla milkshakes on the planet.

3) A fun dinner at Roscoe's chicken and waffle house - I had never been there before and am not a huge fan of heaping amounts of butter on top of anything, but they were actually very good.  After that dinner, I tried to ignore the phrase, "A moment on the lips - forever on the hips"  

4) Laker wins.

5) Looking forward to more March Madness tomorrow.  You know where my party will be tomorrow afternoon.  (on my couch with Emma; you know, I have to indoctrinate her with all the good stuff while she's still so young - haha)

6) LCHS basketball banquet

7) Making blueberry muffins (see picture and recipe included below)

8) Jumping on the trampoline with 6 other kids (don't worry, it didn't break - they're all pretty skinny)

9) Watching the BNP Paribas Open (too bad Roddick lost)

10) Shooting hoops

The Berry Best Muffins

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 c. flour
1 c. milk
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4-5.5 c. fresh (or frozen, but I always use fresh) blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or cranberries

If frozen, partially thaw.  Berries should be well rinsed, drained and well dusted w/flour.

Cream butter and sugar in large mixing bowl.  Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla.  Blend thoroughly.  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Alternately add flour mixture and milk to first mixture.  The batter will be very thick.  Blend well.  Fold in berries.  Grease muffin tins.  Because batter will need to expand over the rim, it is best to grease or oil muffin tins beyond rims of cups.  So that muffins will take on a mushroom shape, heap batter above rim of muffin tins.  This should produce a beautiful shape.  Sprinkle generously with sugar.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes of baking, turn oven temperature down to 375 and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until muffins are done in center and a rich golden brown on top.  Enjoy!

You're probably wondering what the picture below is; I found these sitting on the counter and tried them.  I didn't make them, but they're SO good!  Some sort of a rich brownie with powdered sugar on top....

Thought I should take a picture anyways....haha

    

Phil Jackson

Obviously, from the title of this post, you know what I am about to write. So, for those of you who are Laker haters because a) you severely dislike Kobe, b) you don't live in Los Angeles and feel that you have to hate the Lakers in general, or c) don't like the Laker coach, Phil Jackson, please stop reading and blog stalk someone else.

I would like to address an article that I read about Phil in the L.A. Times today.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/22/sports/la-sp-simers-20100323

The author seems to be scrutinizing Phil very closely and his lack of wins and energy that his team has put forth in the last few games. Yes, the Lakers blew some big leads the past games to pull off some close wins - nevertheless, wins. (If you don't know, I will admit that the Clippers beat the Lakers, but they also beat the Jazz, another Western conference team that has shown some big strides this season - it happens, teams get beat, even the best). The press seems to feel worried about the lack of energy from the Lakers, namely Pau, Kobe (why is he only taking 1 shot during a half?) Bynum, and the inconsistencies of Odom. Phil is being partly blamed for this, ie why can't he step it up now, why can't he be a little less lax about these close games, etc. However, if you have followed the Lakers throughout the years, you know only too well that they are, historically, a "clutch" team. They always come through in the end (see the number of titles they have won in the last 10 years). I am not worried at all about the Lakers. True - they may have some tough games in the playoffs, but that should be expected of any team. Let's just ponder recent Laker history for a minute and think back about June 2009.

Covenants = celestial credentials

Ever since I have been attending the Glendale 7th singles ward, I have been so amazed with the Spirit that resides during all three hours and the lessons that I have learned. I feel impressed to share a few thoughts from today's sacrament meeting. I believe that it was a few of the members of the stake presidency who spoke. They spoke about temples and the importance of attending the temple often. One thought really struck me and it is the idea that "covenants become our credentials for admission into the celestial kingdom." What a brief, but profound statement! As I continued to ponder this concept, I thought about all of the worldly degrees that many of us have or are attempting to obtain. Yes - it is important to bring all of the education with us from this life, but if we do not keep our covenants, then we cannot enter the celestial kingdom, even with two hundred degrees bearing us down.

It is interesting to hear other people (mainly girls) speak about their break-ups, flings, or relationships that went sour. Yes - this can be tragic and I can empathize, but I feel so strongly that we need to see the "big picture" of what our life is really about and how we are missing out on so many wonderful things if we sit around and cry for those that are long gone, never to come back. Let's remember our covenants when we have trials in relationships - let's remember that Christ will never turn His back on us and break up with us. Our covenants connect us to Christ. When we are connected to Him, our souls can become whole and our Spirits will remain alive. We must not allow our spirits to become coarse and empty; so often, we allow others to take over our emotions and thoughts (which can also be a good thing - there is just a right time and right place for these moments). We need to have the strength to remember that the one person who we should allow control of our thoughts and emotions is our Savior.

Our Savior is consistent. He is steady and will always remain so. I love these two terms: steady and consistent. These adjectives should define who we are and who we will become. When we are steady and consistent with our covenants, we will always be connected with our Savior. What greater blessing is there than that?

Why I'm really not a BYU hater

I have a feeling after today that several friends think I'm a "BYU hater." I'll explain this in a second, but here are some reasons why I do not technically hate BYU:

1) I graduated from this university in 2005
2) I faithfully attended most of the basketball games while I was attending school there
3) I still follow BYU sports
4) I still stay in touch with professors
5) I still own BYU apparel (although I admit that I never wear it)

Hopefully you are all following these (AMAZING) March Madness games! And Madness it is! Double overtimes, major upsets, and disappointed brackets have made this first day intense. I was almost having a heart attack this morning as I watched my thoroughly researched, well-chosen, perfect bracket fall to imperfection, then lowered my standards to the hope that my bracket would have at least 50% wins by the end of the day. The major heart attack this morning included BYU's (lucky?) win. I insert the word "lucky" because FL lost two of their best players in the overtimes and were forced to work with what they had left. BYU also missed several free throws, even though they are the best free throw shooting team in the NCAA right now, yet they were up by seven with two minutes in the second overtime. Possible luck?? (and a LOT of prayers...)

I need to state that I did not pick BYU to advance to the second round. Here are my reasons: a) BYU is not historically known as a clutch team, b) the last time they advanced to the second round was in 1993 when some of my older friends were graduating high school (but I will say that I am not THAT old - I just have some older friends...haha) c) they tend to lose big leads, ie the 13 point one today lost late in the game. Upon reviewing these facts, I chose not to advance BYU. And I got a lot of crap for it. Why? Most people tend to think that I need to be cheering for my alma mater, even when it seems clear that BYU will not pull through. As long as I back up my reasons, shouldn't you be a little more supportive, please? ;-)

I will bet you serious money that, after Kansas State wins their first round, when BYU meets KS, they are toast. Don't even think about debating me on this. That's analogous to asking me to debate whether Kobe is the best basketball player in the NBA right now (sorry to all you Lebron fans out there) and why he is such a dominant necessity for the Lakers.

We dressed accordingly today

Some (probably more "un" ) interesting things that we did on (not for) Saint Patrick's Day:

1) drove to Alhambra to get the car serviced, took a walk for an hour and found some interesting people/places: Guadalajara Dental Care....a few questions came to mind about that one; Caesar - he even posed for me :) (see pictures below)

2) dressed in green (pictures below)

3) swam

4) watched 24 - season 1 (not the whole thing)

5) found out that the first Irish parade took place in New York City

6) wanted to watch "Waking Ned Devine," an Irish comedy that is one of my favorite movies...

Kobe Bryant dilemma/debate

Some of you were probably wondering when I would start a discussion about the Lakers, ie Kobe Bryant. Well, here it is. I was talking with a friend on Facebook (of course - where else do we talk to people anymore? haha) today and he persisted in telling me that Pau Gasol is a much better player, overall, than Kobe. He only mentioned this because Kobe had 29 points last night (against GS), but 9 turnovers. Pau only had 3, I believe. (I don't have the stats in front of me, so I apologize if I'm a little off...I'm pulling them from my head right now. ha) Because Kobe had 9 turnovers last night, my friend insisted that Pau is a much better player than Kobe. I also need to mention that my friend's head has become clouded with the fact that Kobe is an immoral individual. I am not denying that he is not. Whenever I say that like Kobe, I am simply referring to his athleticism, not his personal life. I think that most of you would agree with me that the Lakers would not be able to win a championship without Kobe. I know that some of you are thinking back to a few years ago when the Lakers produced the amazing All-Star team, but did not win the championship. Some say that Kobe was too selfish. Perhaps he was, but the Lakers have gone on to win a few titles since then without the big All-star team. Some also say that the Lakers have built up a team around Kobe, which may be true, but I will admit that there are so many other good players on the team right now who help make a difference, ie Fisher, Gasol, Odom, and Bynum. Anyways, I could go on and on about the Lakers and how no one should hate Kobe - purely for his athletics.

Yes - I will admit that Kobe does not have that fun-loving, warm personality, but "he's clearly the best clutch player in the game," ie breaking a tie 3 times with 4 seconds against Miami, Sacramento, Memphis, Toronto, etc. (Los Angeles Times, March 13, 2010)

Note: this will not be the last post about Kobe and the Lakers. Several more to come...esp. during playoff season.

A pencil in the hand of God

I picked up a book this morning at a friend's house, entitled "I am a Mother." As I started reading it, I could not put it down. It is an easy read, but has so many profound ideas. Before I post what I have learned, I would like to give a little background of my feelings toward being a mother. If you had asked me 5 years ago if I had wanted to be a mother, I would have said something like this: "Yes, but I want to get a master's degree, then a Ph.D. and travel to a few countries." If you had asked me 3 years ago if I had wanted to be a mother, I would have said something like this: "Yes, but I'm applying to graduate programs right now, so it will have to wait for a few more years." If you had asked me 2 years ago how I like being a mother of an infant, I would have said something like this: "I love it and I would give up one hundred degrees for having the blessing of motherhood." When I was in college, I had two very important professors: one who wanted me to attend a university in England and one who supported the idea of marriage and family. The two would argue back and forth about which lifestyle was better for me. I think that the one who supports the family more wins. :) I must admit that when I found out I was pregnant 3 years (wow! that long ago?) ago, I was in shock, but excited at the same time. I had already applied to grad programs and had been accepted to a few on the east coast and knew that I would need to put that off because I knew, deep down, that my unborn child would take ultimate priority over any schooling. Yet, I was still sad at the same time. My dreams of attending these programs might never come to fruition after my baby was born. Once Emma was born, I knew that she had come at the right time for so many different reasons. One reason was that Heavenly Father was trying to humble me and give me the strength that it was took to raise this tiny infant. Two years later, Emma is still the greatest blessing and joy that has ever come to me and I still feel that I would give up anything else in my life to have her. After reading "I am a Mother," I learned several lessons and the most important one that I learned was to be proud of motherhood and when people ask me what I do, I will not say, "I'm just a mom." I am a mother.
Sorry for the rather extensive list, but I feel that all of these ideas need to be included from this book:

- Trust in the Lord, rather than the world
- Motherhood is near to divinity
- The immediate rewards are: love, joy, laughter and assurances, but there are no Christmas bonuses or vacation
- "Motherhood: 24/7 on the front lines of humanity. Are you man enough to try it?"
- We hold the power to change the perception of women
- God's kingdom will fail without righteous mothers
- Protect this role
- Let's not be apologetic about our own motherhood
- There are no rewards for the "best diaper change of the day"
- Money cannot buy motherhood
- As we sacrifice, we will be led by the Savior
- It's ok if we have unfinished projects
- We are co-creators with the Creator Himself
- "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And it will make your children whole as well"
- The greater the submission to the Lord's will for mothers, the greater the expansion
- We are pencils in the hand of God
- We must allow the Lord to use us
- The most important things we have are relationships with families and loved ones
- If it looks good to the world, but doesn't feel good to the soul, it is not success at all
- "Place all that we have on the altar of God, kneel there in silent submission, and willingly walk away"
- When did caring for children become a labor of love smothered under a blanket of of sentimentality that hides its economic importance?
- Motherhood = enobling endowment
- Rely on Him, Rely on Him heavily, Rely on Him forever
- Rest if you must, but don't quit
-The hand the rocks the cradle is the hand the rules the world
- It's about seeing the big pictures
- Look beyond today to eternity
- There is no such thing as Supermom
- It's ok to take a break
- We need to take care of ourselves to take good care of our babies
- Live in the moment
- I do not lose my identity, but have an opportunity to more closely identify with God
- The Spirit must be present to magnify our calling as mothers
- Mothers who pray in faith receive revelation
- Love and support each other without judging
- Choose to be charitable
- Rejoice in this sacred calling
- How do we fulfill ourselves? By turning ourselves over to the Lord
- We are all mothers - there are no "just moms" involved

I wanted to include some pictures of Emma's first day, January 24, 2008. These were all taken within the first 24 hours. I have never posted these pictures anywhere because I didn't have Facebook or a blog back then. :)

Got pizza? Got peace?

I have been eating SO much pizza the last few days, but I'm still not sick of it. :) I will never get sick of cheese or pepperoni pizza, no matter where it comes from, although Costco does make good pizza. haha

I was contemplating on what to write on my blog tonight and I really wanted to write something about what I learned in church today, but nothing really stuck out in my mind. I remember the topics about thankfulness, husbands/fathers/priesthood, and a few quotes from "Alice in Wonderland" (which I want to see in 3D, btw), but I couldn't pinpoint one thing that I really felt necessary to share.

I think that we all have days when we are frustrated and part of me was feeling a little discouraged today - I could not figure out why. Perhaps it was just the adversary working on me and wanting me to feel disheartened and troubled. Then a simple thought came to mind: if you read your scriptures, your frustration will go away. Then I thought, "Oh, I read mine earlier, so I've met my quota for the day." Bad way to think about reading the scriptures - I admit it! So I started reading later today; my frustration left and my soul was filled with peace.

What a simple resolution! Then I thought about all the little instructions that we are given in our lives that will truly make us happier than when we don't follow them. I know that I will feel less frustrated if I follow the simple instructions in life.

What a girl wants

What a whirlwind of a trip to Utah these past two weeks! Emma and I did so many fun and special things (see list in previous post) that it was hard to leave. I wanted to focus this post on how lucky I am to have good family and good friends, especially my mom. I had an early morning yesterday (Friday) and knew that I would be driving back to Los Angeles with Emma. Emma did not sleep well the night before, so she slept with me most of the night when we got home that evening. I was ok with this because I had not seen her much that day and I missed her. However, I had to get up at 6 a.m. and knew that if she was still in bed with me when I got up, it would wake her. So I finally placed her in her bed at 2 a.m., which she did not like, but fell asleep after 5 minutes. I actually started driving at 11 a.m. yesterday. I was really fatigued, but knew that I had to get back to Los Angeles safely. So I drank a lot of Coke, but it wasn't really kicking in. My gram, mom, and dad called a few times to see how I was doing, and I said I was tired, but that I would be fine. At about 2 p.m., I got a call from Gram, telling me that my mom would meet me at the airport in Las Vegas to drive the rest of the way. I said that she didn't have to do that, but was secretly relieved. Emma and I stopped in St. George to see some good friends who took us to Cold Stone's (yum!) and Ems ran around with Tara's kids for a while, then we starting driving about an hour later. Once I met my mom in Vegas at about 5 p.m., I asked her to drive and almost fell asleep instantly. However, I must admit that we did stop at the outlets at state line for about 45 minutes. (I did find some pants at the Lucky store for $6.99....I am a bargain shopper....haha....was still tired though) I fell asleep once we we got back in the car. Fortunately, Emma was almost asleep at this point and if she had been crying, I don't think I would have had the energy to help her. I woke up when we were on the 210 passing Santa Anita and the song, "What a girl wants" (Christina Aguilera) came on the radio. I used to really like this song, and I contemplated it for a few minutes. I'm aware that she is singing about a boy, but I thought about other people that this song could refer to. (Sorry for using a preposition at the end of a sentence - that drives me nuts and I just did it). I have written some of the lyrics below. I thought about how we - girls - want so many different things in life, but some of the things that we take for granted in life aren't usually thought through as wants, ie our family. Usually our families, whether parents, siblings, relatives - are there for us at many points in our lives, so we tend to take them for granted, or at least I do - so I do not tend to view them as a want. But as I was listening to the lyrics, "what a girls wants, what a girls needs, I'm thankin you for being there for me," I thought about the people who have always been there for me: my family, good friends, and people who really care. Yes - we have probably all had rough times with our families, but they are still there when we need them. Why is it that we want and need our families so much, but don't think about it all the time? I have decided that it's the consistency with them. They are there with us through thick and thin. We can always come back to them when other people come and go in our lives. It's the same with good friends and others who really care about us - they are consistent in the way they treat us and care for us. We want them in our lives, but more than anything, we need them in our lives.

Thanks, Mom - for driving the last 5 hours. I don't know if I would have made it....

What a girl wants, what a girl needs
I'm thankin you for knowing exactly
What a girl wants, what a girl needs,
Whatever keeps me in your arms
You're ready and willing to give me
What a girl wants, what a girl needs
You let a girl know how much you care
About her - you're the one who always knew
I'm thankin you for being there for me...

too long....

I know, I know. I promised that I would post every day and I have not made good on my promise. I'll make up for it somehow. More pictures? 3 posts a day? haha. So here's my excuse for not posting: trip to UT (still here), but here is what you're missing if you're not in UT right now: (note: not in any specific order)

1) Happy hour at Sonic, 2-4 pm daily (diet cherry limeade - AMAZING)
2) Emma having fun in the snow
3) Olive Garden - I know this restaurant is everywhere, but it really makes a difference who you're with... ;-)
4) In n Out - UT style (not bad, I must admit)
5) sour worms
6) board games
7) DownEast Outfitters
8) good friends who let me stay with them forever.....and ever.....and ever. :)
9) Cafe Rio
10) playing basketball (I won't say who won - I'll just let you guess...)
11) bowling at the BYU Wilk (I barely recognized it, but I promise that I'm really not that old)
12) seeing more than half my family up here (4 of the 5 of my siblings were here during the same week...Utah must be the happening place for the Andersons right now...haha)
13) seeing good friends' cutest babies for the first time (some are age 3 now and some are 3 months)
14) million dollar brownies that are probably only worth $500,000 - haha
15) watching fun movies
16) having lots of "Disney" conversations
17) $5 Little Caesars pizza with crazy bread and A&W root beer - yum! (the nearest L.C. to my home in CA is about 30 minutes away; there's practically one on every corner here)
18) BYU Creamery - how can you not love that place! esp. for the mint cookies n cream
19) Jordan River temple
20) Pazucchi (sp?) cookies (if you live in CA and have been to BJ's, that's nice, but I thought they were an authentic UT commodity - oh well, still DELICIOUS)