Sunday night dinner in front of the laptop

Trish and I don't have a TV, so as we sat down to a late Sunday dinner tonight, we decided to entertain ourselves by pulling up the laptop to see if any friends had posted on their blogs. Nothing. Sunday must really be a day of rest.

Anyway, I fixed us Ramen with carrots and corn. This is the first time I've cooked Ramen for us. Trish's reaction? "I kind of like Ramen. Is that weird? It's weird. I've decided it's weird. I should have more discerning taste."

Christmas letter

Trish and I enjoyed our first Christmas together. Being so close to both families is nice; we spent Christmas Eve with the Newmans and Christmas Day with the Sederbergs.

Tricia's brother Dave surprised us by giving us a digital camera for Christmas; we're excited to start having more pictures on our blog again!

Below is the first edition of our annual Christmas letter. Click on it to go to the full-sized image.

Proof of poor cell phone coverage

Trish and I have a landline, not because we need it (we both have plenty of cell phone minutes), but because neither one of us gets incredible cell phone coverage where we live.

I just discovered on the T-Mobile website that you can check to see how strong their coverage is at your address. This is interesting--if we lived 1/2 mile northwest, I'd have full coverage. As it is, the best I can hope for is below-average signal strength.

why I like ward Christmas parties

Monday night our ward in Springville gathered to celebrate the holiday with its annual Christmas party. All of the wards I have been in have this tradition, although the party is unique to the ward. This year, as Matt and I participated as "adults", we came away with a very robust feeling. I wanted to share just a few unique reasons why I liked this year's Springville celebration so much:

1. N - Z is in charge of salads. Our ward has a tradition of assigning food responsibilities to every family. The ward itself provides the main dish and usually vegetables and bread, but the rest of us bustle out with salads, jello, dessert, and other side dishes. I experimented wth a creamy lime jello that seemed to be well received (maybe because it was green...).

2. BYOP. Bring your own plates. Our ward doesn't expend money on plates, cups, or utensils, or the labor to wash them all. We all bring our own to each ward-eating function. Pretty smart.

3. Fetish with desserts. Before even half of us had been through the dinner line, a Swiss cake--made by an authentic Swiss man in our ward--was almost all the way eaten. We were warned of our ward's special hankering for desserts BEFORE dinner is over, so we snuck some cake for ourselves. DELICIOUS! We were glad to be so nicely informed of the unknown-to-us tradition.

4. Dancing grown-ups. For the festivities, each table was assigned a part in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Out table had 9 ladies dancing and were assigned to stand up and do some action, while singing our part, during that particular part of the song. Our table leader, Brother Stewart, is older but still encouraged all of us to get up and dance around. He himself led the troupe with some ballerina-type twirling. It was inspiring--and entirely entertaining--to see.

5. Clean-up crew. With over 150 guests, the clean-up for such a party would seem to be overwhelming. But within a half hour, the decorations were gathered, the tables cleared, the chairs stacked up and put away, and the piano rolled back to its room. A few solitary men--with Santa hats--were mopping the floor as we took our leave with little more for us to do. (Hint: when 50 of the 150 guests stay to help clean-up, it is a lot more efficient.)

6. Being with my husband. Perhaps best of this year was the chance to share this experience with my husband. For the first time. We socialized with other couples, moved aside for running kids, clapped in enthusiastic appreciation for the performances, and danced our part in the song with gusto. And we were 2 of the crew who stayed to clean up. I love having someone to share all this with, and I love him wanting to be so involved. (Sigh. I really love my husband.)

So, if you're thinking about dodging your ward Christmas party this year, pause to consider some of the reasons why ward Christmas parties can be one of the funnest parts of the season.

Sunday morning

Yesterday, for the second Saturday in a row, we had a significant snowstorm. The snowfall continued until Sunday morning, so I woke up and helped shovel the church sidewalks across the street, then came and cleaned off our own driveway. Shoveling snow is my favorite exercise to do on Sundays.



I came into the house and encountered the smell of hot biscuits just coming out of the oven. This was Tricia's first time making biscuits from scatch, and they were great! I had four. Here's how many were left.



Finally, Tricia gave me a hair cut last night. Here I am, in a tribute pose to Seth Godin (one of my favorite Internet marketers), showing it off.



Here is Seth Godin, for your comparison.

Our reaction to Mitt's speech

Thursday, Mitt Romney gave his much anticipated speech, "Faith in America," in which he publicly confirmed to a nationwide audience that if he wins the presidency, he would not be unduly influenced by the Mormon prophet in his decision-making. Almost every news source compared the setting of the speech to JFK's similar address when he was running for President, in which JFK declared he would be independent of the pope.

Tricia and I listened to a recording of Mitt's speech over the Internet while we did dishes that evening, and we applauded it.

First, he did an excellent job of steering the conversation to where the issue truly lay, which is how he would act as President. Though some critics were disappointed that he didn't go into details on the beliefs of the Mormon church, other pointed out that Mitt had nothing to gain by becoming a spokesman for his church (something he has consciously avoided) and applauded his decision to focus on the more relevant picture of how his faith would inform his presidency.

Mitt also found time to praise other religious traditions in America, and mentioned that as many adherents to Lutheranism, Judaism, and Catholicism were honoring the religion of their fathers, so was he in his conviction to Mormonism.

Here are some of my favorite lines from the speech. You can find the complete text of the address here.

"No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith, for if he becomes president, he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths."

"Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin."

"I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind. My church's beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history. These are not bases for criticism, but rather a test of our tolerance."

"Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world."

Readership

Thanks to StatCounter.com, a free web analytics tool that tracks how many people visit your website, this map shows where people live that have been reading our blog over the past few weeks.

Our Christmas houseplant

Al Gore would be proud. In this season of consumption, we elected to not "consume" a Christmas tree this year. Instead, we dropped $10 at Lowe's and took home our Tannenbaum, tucked on the floor of the front seat in between Tricia's feet.

This little plant isn't a bush--it's a Norfolk pine tree. If we keep watering it throughout the year, we can use it again for years to come.

The only downside is that we discovered most of our ornaments, and all of our strings of lights, are a bit heavy for the tree's branches. So you'll notice a few ornaments ornamentally leaning next to the pot, and Trish placed the tree under our spotlight to add some special lighting to the scene.

Thanksgiving in Zion

Tricia and I enjoyed spending Thanksgiving day in Zion National Park in southern Utah. We hiked Angel's Landing, which has turned into somewhat of an annual Newman (Tricia's maiden name) family tradition.

This was a great hike! 2 miles to the summit, a very steep vertical climb, and chains in the near cliff-like terrain for the final half mile.



My little brother Michael, age 12, is starting to get excited about hiking as part of his enthusiasm for Scouts. At the beginning of this climb I was really looking forward to bringing him along next time, but after I got to the chain parts and looked around me to see steep drop-offs on both sides, I realized I would need to wait a bit before bringing him. I can control my fear of heights in general, but when I have a child around me whom I feel responsible for, I get scared that he will get too close to the edge.

My most lasting memory of the hike was to see my white-haired mother-in-law charging ahead on the trail on the way down at a near gallop, and all of her kids scampering behind her to try to keep up.

Thanksgiving

Trish, I'll go ahead and finish this off for us:

V: Violet. Trish, isn't that one of our favorite colors?

W: Warren Sederberg, my grandpa. Some people know a little about a lot, my grandpa knows a lot about a lot. I love talking with him.

X: C "X" O. One of my coworkers likes to joke that if we gave him a title, he would choose Chief eXtreme Officer, CXO. I've learned a lot from this coworker, Tom Finnigan, both about computers and life.

Y: Yellowstone. Can the country's first national park also be one of the most underrated? Yellowstone is amazing, from wildlife sightings, to geyser walks, to raging waterfalls, to seeing the new, strong growth emerging from the devastating fires of the 1990s, to the venerable Old Faithful Lodge. I'd hoped to take Tricia here for our honeymoon, but hopefully we can go together soon.

Z: Zim's crafts in Salt Lake City. Every time my siblings and I played the alphabet game to pass the time on trips to points north, we always knew we could bag a hard-to-find "Z" when we passed the big Zim's sign by the freeway.

благодарность

P: Prayer. I spent an hour or two yesterday looking for a little notebook with important information. I put in a very sincere prayer this morning and found it. If God cares about helping me find a notebook, how much more does he care about my greater pleas?

Q: Quik. Chocolate milk is the best at any meal.

R: Roux. Who doesn't like a thick and creamy sauce? (Hmmm, I'm thinking a lot about food.)

S: Sunshine. The sun can make many things (including me) perk up.

T: Tide. I love the cleanliness and I love the smell of cleanliness.

U: Understanding. The ability to have someone understand you is perhaps one of the most fulfilling sensations.

agradecimiento

G: Google...and google skills. It's amazing what you can find and learn about using a computer and the internet.

H: Husband. My husband shows me he loves me through his words and actions--every day, all day. I love him.

I: "Ignominious." It is a fascinating word. Fascinating. We are grateful for the richness of language.

J: Jesus Christ. He is the whole reason and purpose for our existence.

K: Knowledge. Matt and I thoroughly enjoy opportunities to learn about and experience new things.

L: Love, meaning the deep, sincere love described as charity in the scriptures.

M: Moms. We both have moms that are GREAT! We are so grateful for what they've taught us and how they continue to support us.

N: Newspapers. We like that feeling of connection with the world.

O: Optimism. What better way to confront life's challenges?

gratitude

'Tis the season to be grateful, and Matt and I have embarked on a little fun adventure to engage fully in Thanksgiving gratitude. We are participating in "Pay it Forward: What are you Grateful For?" The idea came from Matt's sister Bec, and we are paying it forward, too. This is what to do--each day of this month make a list of things you are thankful for that start with each letter of the alphabet.

A: Apples. I have made two fresh apple pies so far, and I have enough for a third. Yummy!

B: Bible. We are learning a lot from studying the New Testament this year, and we have loved the teachings of those ancient prophets in the Bible.

C: Clocks. They help us be more efficient with our time.

D: Dirty laundry helps us appreciate clean laundry that much more.

E: Exercise. Matt and I try to exercise every morning to get a fresh and invigorating start on the day.

F: Fall, especially fall colors in Utah.

Here's the Pay It Forward Idea: I will send a handmade gift to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. You may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. (So, you must have a blog to participate.) I can't wait to see who I will be giving to. To join, just cut and paste this on your blog and comment away. So get posting.

the 1st twelve months

I met Tricia 365 days ago yesterday when she opened her door to greet me on a blind date. To note our first year in review, I made a Powerpoint on my Mac full of pictures from each month (using Keynote, some Apple software that I highly recommend for constructing your .ppt presentations) and set to two of our favorite songs: Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini by Rachmaninoff, and Home, by (Trish, help me out here!)

Anyway, I had so much fun making it that I made Trish watch it twice in a row when I presented it to her, then I showed it to whomever would watch at my parents' house that night. I think I'll do a powerpoint year-in-review for us every year!

4.5 pounds of spinach

In an effort to be necessarily conservative (and healthy!) with our monetary resources, Matt and I have worked on making smart food purchases. The other day, when at Costco, Matt noticed that a 3-pound bag of spinach only cost $3.00. Falling in line with our food purchasing goals, Matt bought the bag and brought it home. What he didn't realize, is that the day before I had found a 1.5-pound bag of spinach on sale, and so we now had 4.5 pounds of spinach on our hands.

I have since been scrambling to find recipes with spinach. So far, we've had a spinach salad every night (although the toppings have changed from almonds and mandarin oranges to mozzarella cheese and mushrooms), and I cooked up some "spinach and eggs" for breakfast the other day. I always send Matt to work with some spinach salad (while I eat some at home), and we are planning on lasagna (with spinach) and a spinach salad for this weekend.

I hope this means we are getting enough "dark greens" in our diet.

Sederberg family weight loss secret

Trish got us a nice digital scale a few weeks back with some of our gift certificate money at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Since we don't have any reading material in the bathroom, when I think "bathroom," the only item that keeps "boring!" from popping into my mind is our scale. It really is the only interesting thing to do in there, so I've gotten in the habit of weighing myself at nearly every opportunity.

After a few weeks of weighing myself at night, in the morning, after a shower, and other times, I'd like to share a secret. The best way to lose weight is to sleep!

That's right! Last night, I weighed 198 (unfortunately, my all time high). I went to bed, woke up, went for a very short wake up jog, and weighed myself again. I was down to 192.5! That is 5.5 lbs of weight loss from basically just sleeping. Trish didn't go for a jog this morning, and she weighed 3 lbs less than when she went to bed.

So anyway, maybe we should be a little more skeptical of what all those so-called experts tell us to do: eat healthy, exercise, etc. From now on, I'm just going to hit the hay when I'd like to "lighten up."

PS This works! Go ahead and try it yourself, then feel free to report on our blog below!
PPS After talking with Trish last night, I realized that this is a rather deadpan post, and since we just sent our our thank you notes from our wedding with a link to our blog in it, this may be a little confusing if people outside the normal traffic are reading. While all the "facts" inside this post are true, my conclusions are a bit tongue-in-cheek.

the sky is falling...or maybe just the camera

Last night Matt and I came back from a work day to get ready to play tennis. On the way in the house, I dropped my camera on the cement. It has ceased to function since. While on our way out, Matt dropped his phone on the cement. Although sporting a cracked outer covering, the phone still works--but we left before anything else could happen.

I suppose this means I will not be able to visually document our life, but will need to focus on a writing style so good, it will suck the reader in without visual encouragement.

This does mean our budget plans have changed. Instead of placidly trying to lock away a bit of money each month, we now have a focused goal of a specific amount to be able to afford a new camera next month. That's what I call motivation.

Rocking out at work

Last week I learned how to *render* for the first time. At my job, I've learned how to model 3d objects rather serviceably, but usually they just look bland. Rendering means basically to paint the 3d objects.

So I wanted to share my first render here on our blog. I modeled these chairs using T-Splines (the software my company makes), then rendered them using a software called VRay.

success!!!

Just as I wrote I would do yesterday, I discovered a way to connect to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail within close proximity of our house. But there is an adventure that goes with it.

First, when I got to the end of the road, there were these buckets with "No Trespassing" and "Warning" signs on them. I hesitated, because it looked like there was a trail leading off of them, but I decided I better not risk it.
But just as I turned around, a nice man who lives on the corner and was mowing his lawn, came over and asked if I had turned around because of the signs. When I answered yes, he told me there was no problem with me going up as a walker or a biker or a horse-rider; the signs were to deter motorized vehicles and druggies. So, I turned around and headed up the mountain. I headed for that crevice in the mountain in the picture below.
And it turns out there was a trail to the right of the crevice! So I headed down it. It was narrow and on the top line of the hill, as you can (kind of) see below.
It afforded a FANTASTIC view!
But I could see a trail below and didn't any connecting trails, so I made a trail of my own through this grass (the view is at the bottom looking up to where I had come down from)
and I made it to the clearly marked trail. I followed it for a while, then turned around, headed back, and was met again by the nice man who told me about how he had helped the BLM dig out the trail. He also told me of various rocks I should try and see by following the trail toward Provo. They are rocks that came down in rock slides and made the news.

And so the adventure must continue...

discovering Springville

This morning was one of discovery. Our neighborhood sits quite close to the mountains of Springville, and I wanted to see how to get up to them (if possible) from the neighborhood. So I took a 30-minute walk around my neighborhood. I followed a route that covered a good chunk of the neighborhood, but I didn't see any feasible place to get up to the mountain, even though people's backyards WERE the mountain. (Jealous.)

So I came back and used my googling skills to see what I might find online. I found out that if I head in a more northern direction, I have a good chance of connecting with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail--up in the mountains! On the map below, I've mapped out my proposed route tomorrow morning.

I will try to take pictures when I go so you can see what it looks like. :) AND Matt and I are interested in either hiking around here or up Hobble Creek Canyon on Saturday, so more pictures are sure to follow.

New Eritrea

SAN FRANCISCO --

I've been away from Trish the past week at a conference for industrial designers in San Francisco. It's been great to reconnect in the evenings with my cousin Sandra, her husband Justin, and their hearty three-year-old, Carter, who were kind enough to put me up.

Tonight we went to an Eritrean (African) restaurant. I had never heard of Eritrea, turns out it is a country in eastern Africa that gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. 5 million people, about the size of Pennsylvania.

The food was interesting--and spicy. We had a platter of beef, lamb, and chicken that we ate without silverware by tearing off a part of a sourdough crepe and using it to pinch off some meat. We agreed that likely this was more meat than these Africans got in a month, but it was tasty!

gardening

Today I finished the project I started in the front dirt plot (see a few entries ago were I weeded the area): I planted bulbs! This is my first experience so I was perhaps obsessive compulsive about the instructions (I measured every hole and width from bulb to bulb), but I was so pleased to put in some work that (hopefully) will result in some beautiful spring flowers.

I chose the following:

Daffoldils: These little guys (I bought the smaller kind) make me so happy when they start poking out of the ground! I believe they will come up "early" spring.

Chionodoxo luciliae: I picked these purely for how they looked on the package. They will bloom in the assorted colors of purple, pink, and white. They're cute little guys (I think). They should come up "very early" spring.

Hyacinth: I chose these because deer don't eat them. (It turns out that in the middle of the block we live in is a little "forest" (a wilderness, if you will) that is occupied by a group of deer.) These beautiful guys should come out "late" spring.

So, I should have a symphony going on come spring. I'll be excited to post pictures of the REAL flowers in my yard next spring!

bob

I am dedicating this post to Bob, one of the students I tutor. He is from Malawi, Africa, and arrived in Utah at the end of August to study English at UVSC before taking regular courses. The beginning was rough for him, but he survived the first term: he was passing all four of his classes! However, in each class he had a glaring weakness: he is horrible at taking tests.

So, we've been tackling that problem together by taking practice tests, learning the material in and out, using testing strategies, and finding patterns to be able to remember in a crunch. The result? After scoring a 60% on his first test in Listening and Speaking, Bob got a 95%! And, after failing his first two grammar tests, Bob got an 86%!!! I was so happy for him I was screeching--and we were studying in the public library. (So much for decorum...)

Here's to Bob, who has worked hard and stayed focused and is now beginning to see the fruits of his efforts.

smokey

This past weekend, Matt and I headed up Provo Canyon to Hope Campground for some good 'ol campfire fun. We went with the Sederberg side of the family and met up (unexpectedly but pleasantly surprising!) with Nephi, Matt's old friend. Michael, Matt's brother, needed to go on a mile hike for scouts, so a group of us headed out while the rest stayed behind to start the fire. On our hike, we discovered beautiful aspen trees, a bit of trash, piles of wood (purportedly left by land beavers...), trees to climb, and a limb that was perfect for limbo! Here Maria shows us her talent:

Then we went back and gathered around the campfire for hot dogs and smores. I'm not going to lie: I ate 3 hot dogs. Yup, 3. I downed them with pretty good speed, too. While around the fire, we played various games that kept us laughing.


After our campfire fun, we headed back to our house with Maria, Ang, and Michael to have a sleepover. We all were drenched with smoke, so we took showers and didn't get to bed until after midnight. On Saturday morning we had a waffle breakfast with all the fixin's. After we took the troupe home, Matt proceeded to pick the rest of the garden that was left by the previous tenants of our duplex. He found some peppers that looked small and innocent--they almost looked like green peppers that hadn't matured yet. He was curious about their hotness and so took a small bite of one. I could guess the hotness of the pepper when Matt immediately started jumping, stuffed a bagel in his mouth, and went to the fridge to grab a piece of bread. His lips burned the rest of the night. We're not sure what kind of pepper it was, but it was hot.

Entertaining

Thanks to all of Trish's work in assembling our dining set and directing the couch delivery men in the right direction, we decided our house is finally put together enough to entertain friends.

This happened with perfect timing, since some of my favorite college roommates happened to be in town. So we invited Joe, Tim, and Tristan over, and met Tim's neat wife Rachel for the first time. Maria and Amanda were also there.

So here's a picture of the Tim and Joe talent show. Unfortunately, the camera was still on night setting from my jump roping escapade that morning.



But the MOST important event yesterday: we had our one month anniversary! Here's a picture of Trish all dressed up for me when I came home, making one of our favorite dishes: chicken divan. Unfortunately, you can't see that Trish is wearing a skirt that is one of my favorites. However, she is (deliberately) wearing earrings I bought her in San Diego. I know they're not the neatest earrings ever, but she made me feel like I was a really appreciated gift giver.

creative solutions

My husband likes to go running in the morning to get in some exercise as a fresh start to the day. (Morning usually means 6:00 or 6:30.) He has graciously invited me on a few of his jaunts, but I do not have his stamina nor desire to go as far and fast as he would like to. But his invitations were welcoming to me as exercise that I could do with my husband before he left for work in the morning.

And so we had the dilemma: what can we do for exercise? We first thought of other sports--like frisbee or basketball. But at 6:00 in the morning it is too dark to see the ball (er, or frisbee). Then we decided we could run together every other morning and then Matt could do harder runs on the days we didn't run together. That got a bit jumbled, so we were back to Square One.

And then came the solution: last night it dawned on Matt that we got a jump rope for our wedding. So, in order to increase the intensity of his run but still maintain my pace, he could jumprope while I ran. We tried it out this morning, and it worked beautifully! Matt was even tired before I was. (And I still made him jumprope a bit more so I could snap this shot when we got back.)

'twas the fourth of October

'Twas the fourth of October and all through the city,
Many people were stirring--they were all very busy.

Many people took advantage of the beautifully crisp air,
To spend a bit of time to make their yards look rather fair.

And in the city center, people hurried to and fro',
Making purchases in preparation for the season's upcoming snow.

The construction workers toiled in the heat of the day
As busy car drivers honked for the right of way.

And just outside the city were fields of golden pumpkins,
Harkening my memory to days of trick-or-treatin'.

I drove to the WalMart to buy some gift card treasures,
But the day was just so beautiful, I took in the outside pleasures.

When outside my window there arose such a building,
I focused my attention on the scenery unfolding.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a Wendy's and Gandolpho's--and both were so very near!

All the sudden in my mind, I could appreciate this place,
(Even more than before), and I felt a big smile grow on my face.

And so you have the story of me driving to WalMart in Springville and encountering two places that I love to eat at! It harked back to memories of wandering through streets in Santiago, Chile just to see if--instead of the ubiquitous McDonald's--there was a Wendy's to quench my cravings. The incident in Springville seemed to add icing on the cake of the day (as it were), and I immediately thought of the words from the poem Twas the Night Before Christmas that say, "When what to my wondering eyes should appear..." So I started constructing this poem in my mind. I suppose it lacks climax, or at least disappoints in that regard, but I decided to keep it true to the source of inspiration.

In a different strain, I didn't realize being a "homemaker" required as much manual labor as I have encountered. A lot of our furniture has required me to put it together, and I am familiarizing myself with the intricacies of wood-working. I put together a 6-shelf bookcase, a drying rack, a shoe rack, a closet organizer with four shelves, and (just this morning!) a bench and a table. I am appreciating the plethora of tools Matt has available.

generosity

Last night Matt and I began the pleasant task of writing thank you's to all those who gave us gifts for our wedding. In the process of opening gifts, we were touched by so many people's generosity, but going back to review that generosity was a sweet experience. (Plus we found some gift cards we didn't realize we had...) THANK YOU to all those who were magnanimous in their support of our marriage! We are off to an EXCELLENT start due to your open hearts. (Please notice the lovely pillows to my side that we received as a fabulous accent to the couch we also generously received.)

Lest you think I might not be carrying my load in this relationship (since Matt is in all the previous pictures), please take note of the weeding I did yesterday in the front of our home. The little plot was covered with weeds, and it took me no less than an HOUR to dig them out (most of them had intricate root systems that required a fair amount of digging to get them out completely). Today I plan to get bulbs so we will have flowers in the spring.

Tuesday evening adventures

After downloading the pictures for today's post, I realized this is a shout-out to my husband: he is the sole visual representative of the family for today.

Last night was a full and adventurous evening: we "organized" our billions of books (or put them in general piles for taking care of today), ate Borscht for dinner, put the garbage out (it seems uneventful, but the pictures below show the fun), and opportunized on the generosity of a sister in our ward who was getting rid of a reclining chair.

About that garbage...since we are still moving in, we have a lot of garbage that piles up each week. Springville allows garbage cans to be overflowing, but they don't take responsibility for "spilled out" garbage, so it is to our advantage to keep the garbage maximum to the level of the lid. So, my adorable husband stomps down the garbage by hanging from a tree. (See pictures below that were, unfortunately, posted in reverse order and taken LAST Tuesday. BTW: the garbage man just came and successfully dumped our garbage out without any spills.)




The borscht Matt and I made was delicious! It is a hearty Russian stew with lots of beets and cabbage and dill, eaten with sour cream. We used our crock pot for the first time and let the soup cook for 10 hours. Unfortunately, now our house smells like it. (I have the windows open to get some fresh air in here today.)

An older lady in our ward, Sister Bennett, had a reclining chair that she wanted to get rid of, so we happily consented to help. We called her and drove to her house (two blocks away) and rang her doorbell. When she saw the car that we proposed to use to carry the chair away, she was reticent to have us even try. But she eventually conceded and helped us tie up the chair to the back of my trunk. After getting a wonderfully quaint tour of her husband's carved wood masterpieces, we headed home with me driving slowly and Matt walking/running in back. We made it home successfully, got the chair in successfully, and now I am sitting on it in our front room.

And, finally, this morning Matt wanted to have a "warm" breakfast. So, right before we sat down to read scriptures, he pulled out some frozen cookies we have and put them in the oven. You will notice that the sun is streaming in the window, thereby clueing the onlooker that the 8:43 on the clock is A.M., not P.M.


As a final thought, here is a scripture taken from Romans (our study for this week): "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

tuna fish

Our first blog post is on the theme of tuna fish. Today at lunch I had the opportunity to decide between eating last night's leftovers of Mexican food (which Matt loves) or eating a tuna-fish sandwich (which Matt hates). Wanting to develop long-term marital habits that would invite happiness, I chose the latter. It was delicious!

Here are some pictures of other goings-on in the Sederberg household last week, including the first snowfall of the season, catching a bug for Angie's bug collection, and the mess that is our apartment as we sort out our "stuff":

This is our dishwasher. :)

And this is us relaxing at night on our bed.