Mosiah 29

I read this post from the Scriptorium Blogorium about Mosiah Chapter 29 in the Book of Mormon and thought it was pretty good. After the election I quoted verse 27 to a British person and they unfriended me on facebook for not liking President Obama's policies. I was kinda amazed, and confused, that they were so passionate about someone who is not their Prime Minister. Anyway, go read it, it's good.

Black Box

Here is what the Black Box looks like when I am collecting data. We were bored waiting for the participants to show up, so I took pictures. They never did show, sometimes that happens. 

Can you see Dave playing on his phone?

Activity Days at the Museum

Our calling at church is Activity Days for the 8-11 year old kids. One of the requirements for the Faith in God award is to go to a museum, so we took the kids to the Walsall Museum when they had a school break back in February. 

This was a media style art that they are all watching.

On the top floor you can see town out the windows. The boys said this was their favorite part.

Looking toward the town square.

Looking straight down

It was foggy the other day

The Shower

We have had problems with our shower ever since I moved in with Dave after we got married. Here in England you have to pull the cord on the ceiling to turn the shower on. Don't ask me why you can't just turn it on in the shower, that would be too easy. My old roommates would turn it on only when they took a shower, but I noticed if you kept it on the water stayed warm. So when the plummer came to fix the turn on pull he said it's better to keep it on all the time. This feels like a vindication for me telling them to keep it on when they wouldn't!

Can you see the pipe coming out of the tiles under the white box? Yeah, that exploded twice and the box had to be fixed twice. After you pull the cord you have to push the middle button on the box to turn the shower on. The bottom dial changes the water temperature and I don't know what the top dial does. Good thing the shower head can move up and down because Dave is super tall.

Guinness Record

While I have been here in England I have made a bunch of dancer friends. Dave and Katie decided to go for the Guinness Record for the "Furthest Distance Danced by a Couple" and to raise money for charity. I went to support them and take pictures. I only stayed for about 6 laps, but I think they did a total 20 laps which equals 8.1 km. They ended up making it into the Birmingham Mail newspaper. 

This is a good one, they look like they are in the air. For this straightway the did a fast quickstep.

snow falls

At the end of March it snowed, hopefully for the last time this winter. 

This is at 3am.

By 3pm it had melted off the streets.

By the next morning it was covered again. Our driveway has a slight slope, but still makes it hard to drive up it when there is snow on the ground. 

It finally warmed up last week, Yippee! Now I can go run outside!

Squirrel!

I saw this squirrel on top of the garbage bins one day while walking to school and couldn't resist watching and taking a picture. I know it might be hard to see, but squint your eyes and turn your head like so and you can see it.  :o)

Pasta Salad Variations

 I got a recipe for a yummy pasta salad from another Athletic Trainer when I lived in Texas. Over the years I have altered it. I really try to make it different every time. 

 The day I made this version I used spaghetti and bow tie pasta, tomatoes, potatoes, sunflower kernels, cucumbers, beef strips, cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing. I usually add the sunflower kernels in the winter because they have zinc and zinc is good for your immune system. 

I have used spaghetti, vermicelli, fettuccine, linguine, tagliatelle, cavatappi, rotini, gemelli (personal favorite), penne, rigatoni, farfalle (bow tie), and radiatori pasta noodles. You can make it with your favorite type, then add whatever veggies are your favorite or in season. Usually in the summer I cool off the pasta and keep it warm in the winter. 

I have used broccoli, cauliflower, corn, spinach, lettuce, green beans, watercress, onion, celery, asparagus, potatoes, radish, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, pepper (various colors), and avocado veggies. I try to mix colors so it's not all green or else it looks boring. Plus, if you need to make it for a big group of people you can add more veggies or pasta. 

Be careful of adding mushy avocados if kids are going to eat it. The mushy avocados turns the salad brown and kids (specifically my nephew) have no desire to eat brown food unless it's chocolate.

Occasionally I will add chicken, but lately I have added beef to help increase Dave's low iron count. The spices on the beef in the picture is Ina Paarman Garlic & Herb Seasoning, I guess you could call it the secret ingredient I brought back from South Africa. There is a shop in London where I get it.

Almost last ingredient I add is cheese. I have used mozzarella, provolone, cheddar, stilton, monterey jack, feta, and parmesan, but again add to your taste buds. 

Lastly I add a dressing. I have used ranch, french, creamy italian, thousand island, russian, various vinaigrettes, honey dijon, and parmesan peppercorn, again add to taste. One time I didn't have dressing in my fridge, but I did have avocados and that worked just fine. Then I toss/mix and eat. 

Enjoy, Dave & I do!

Valentine's Flowers

Dave got me flowers for Valentine's Day. I was still recovering from surgery and feeling like crap, so we didn't really celebrate, but it still felt good to get pretty flowers!

BHX

A while back Dave and I were in Birmingham and I decided I wanted to take pictures of what I call the Bubble Wall.

Pretty cool huh!

2nd

We are still not very good with taking pictures with the iPad. I finally gave in and joined Instagram. Here is another picture we took to commemorate our 2nd Wedding Anniversary. We didn't do anything special because my family is coming to visit next month, we can party then!

To Be List

I got an email today about the defense of my PhD. I am getting a little excited about graduating, especially now that Dave has his visa.

Right after I graduated from high school I was at Youth Conference and we had some quiet time where I wrote a To Do List. I was 17 at the time and I finished that list with graduating with my BS from BYU in Athletic Training when I was 25. When I was graduating with my Bachelor's degree I was more nervous than excited because I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. My list was done, so I struggled to come up with a new list of things to accomplish. I think I finally have a new list.

Back in January I wrote about needing to come up with a To Be List, then I read this post from Heather on the Women in the Scriptures blog. She writes about doing pre-school for her kids using the Preach My Gospel handbook, specifically Chapter 6 about Christlike Attributes. Frankly, I hadn't read Preach My Gospel yet and really wasn't inclined until I read her post. Plus I had been watching Sister Beck's General Conference talk from October 2007 "Mothers Who Know" like everyday for the last couple of months on YouTube. And to top it off with the fertility problems, I started to read Chapter 6. It actually has some interesting things, especially Virtue. Well the chapter only lists 10 Christlike Attributes, but at the end it lists some scriptures on where you can find the others, so that's what I did.

Mosiah 3:19
Alma 7:23
D&C 4
D&C 121:41–45
Articles of Faith 1:13
Philippians 4:8
2 Peter 1:5–8 (This is actually a YW Personal Progress Divine Nature scripture.)

This is the list of Christlike Attributes I came up with after reading those scriptures. Let me know if you think I should add more.

1. Faith
2. Hope
3. Charity
4. Love
5. Virtue
6. Knowledge
7. Patience
8. Humility
9. Diligence
10. Obedience
11. Submissive
12. Meek
13. Gentle
14. Entreated
15. Long suffering
16. Temperate
17. Thankful
18. Pure
19. Brotherly Kindness
20. Godliness
21. Honest
22. True
23. Chaste
24. Benevolent
25. Believe
26. Endure
27. Praiseworthy
28. Just

So this is my next list, but it is a To Be List. I want to be a better person, not just worldly accomplishments like graduating with my PhD, but more Christlike. It's gonna take a while, but I think I can do it! This is my bucket list.

Conference Memes

These are my favorite memes I've seen of quotes from General Conference talks this past weekend.