25 Random Things About Me

In place of a favorite thing this Friday, I decided to take a nod from Facebook and post my "25 Random Things About Me" list. For those who aren't aware, this is the latest facebook fad. It's been fun to read new and interesting things about people I thought I knew pretty well, and to think of things I wanted to write about myself. Of course, as soon as I posted my list on facebook, I thought of 6 more things I should have put on the list. Oh well. Maybe it will make the rounds again in a few years. So, here goes:

25 Random things about me:

1. As much as I love to sing, I never sing in the shower. I am in there to do one job: get clean. Once that's done, I get out.

2. You wouldn’t know it by looking at my house, but I love to organize. Organizing a cupboard, drawer, or closet shelf fills me with joy.

3. I gave birth (c-section every time) to my three children in three different states (MI, WA, and CA).

4. I have never had a great haircut. Ever. Even when I thought I did at the time, I look back and realize, hmmmm, not so much.

5. I aspire to love running.

6. I love food. I love to eat delicious food. Heck, I love to eat crappy food. I could never, ever be anorexic.

7. I love to make people laugh. I will say and do ridiculous things to elicit a laugh.

8. I have never taken a drink of alcohol or smoked a cigarette…and honestly, I don’t feel like I’m missing out. The sleep depravation and stress of motherhood has done enough to warp my brain, I don’t need any help there.

9. I love a good backscratch.

10. I never had weight issues until I graduated from college. Growing up, I was always the skinny kid. Now, I’m the chubby mommy. But I'm working on it.

11. I never dream about my husband or children; however, my siblings and our childhood home often make an appearance.

12. I love doing home improvement projects, although I am a major 90-percenter. Those final details never seem to get done.

13. I love lists. I make lists constantly. This list is taking me to my happy place.

14. It drives me crazy when people equate “open-mindedness” with “you accepting my liberal point of view while I mock your conservative one.”

15. Chocolate and mint is my favorite flavor combination, followed closely by chocolate and peanut butter.

16. I am a huge fan of ziploc bags. I have them in every size.

17. I don’t share covers. My husband and I have separate blankets.

18. I am still an active member of the church in which I was raised. This includes (but is certainly not limited to) attending church for three hours every Sunday with my husband and three young children. Yes, even when it’s during naptime.

19. I’m very directionally challenged. Even when I have a map, I get lost.

20. I am not a pet person. I have no desire to own a pet because, let’s face it, I deal with enough poop as it is.

21. I love algebra.

22. All those years of piano lessons paid off. I accompany for church events and musical numbers at least once a month (usually more like weekly) since I was 16. OK, more like 12. And 95% of the time, I love it.

23. I am generally a very timely person and am bugged by people who are perpetually late.

24. I’m left-handed.

25. My childrens’ laughter is the sweetest sound in the world to me.

Way Back When-sday: Lake Powell

It's that time of the week again, and at my husband's suggestion, I decided to post a blast from my family's past. Since the time I was 10 years old, every other summer our family traveled to Utah and spent a week on a houseboat on Lake Powell with my mom's side of the family. Now, this wasn't just a couple of aunts and uncles and a cousin or two. My mom is one of eight children, and most of them have several children of their own. We would pack upwards of 40 people onto one (sometimes two) houseboat. That doesn't leave a lot of extra breathing room.

These trips provided some great childhood memories. We loved being with our cousins. We would swim in the lake, go waterskiing, play board and card games, perform in the traditional family talent show, and basically laugh our heads off the entire week. Just last Christmas, my parents gave each of us a DVD of clips from two of those LP excursions. It was so funny to look back and remember the fun times we had as kids and teenagers. And to see through an adult's eyes how crazy it must have been to spend an entire week living literally on top of one another, sleeping all in a row like sardines, being with your family and in-laws every moment of every day for seven whole days. Not to mention we were all wearing our swimsuits the entire time.

This picture was taken in August of 1992. That's me in the middle with the pasty white, gangly arms spread like an eagle. I was 18 years old and am doing one of our favorite activities: riding the banana boat. The speed boat would pull us and we would bounce up and down and the guys in the back would lean to the side, trying to tip it over. Fun times.

As a side note, my cousin Shannon (the other one with her arms spread out) is a semi-famous author. Ever heard of The Goose Girl? Princess Academy? Austenland? She wrote all of those, just to name a few. I'm sure she'd be thrilled I'm posting this picture. But I can say I knew her when. And at least her arms don't look as freakishly long and white as mine do.

Blessing

I ask myself at least once a day how in the world we got so lucky to have such a happy, smiley kid join our family. Ben has truly been a blessing to us, and I'm so incredibly happy he's ours. I love the two-toothed grin and his bright blue eyes. What a sweetie.

Friday Favorites: TV Show

My favorite TV show of all time is no longer on the air, but I loved it for seven seasons and still miss it. It is.....drumroll please.... the beloved Gilmore Girls!

This show is so great: fast-moving, clever, funny, touching... It is the story of a mother and her teenage daughter and their adventures in friendships, dating, and family relationships. They live in a small town full of quirky, hilarious characters. Plus a whole slew of pop culture references are always included, which are really funny when you catch them and kind of confusing when you don't get it. When I watch too many episodes in a row I find myself talking faster and trying to be clever and quippy like my best gals, those Gilmore Girls. I've bought most of the seasons on DVD's and watch them while I run on the treadmill. It works out pretty well to watch one full episode while I run and stretch out afterwards. And then I sit there and watch the last few minutes because I can't just stop it when I'm almost to the end, right?

If you've never watched it, they show re-runs on TV on a fairly regular basis, or you could borrow them from me. If I decide I can part with them for a short time.

Way Back When-sday: Freshman Year Fun

OK, this is a goooooood one. This little gem comes from my freshman year at BYU. Being teetotaling (is that a word?) freshmen, we thought it would be crazy and fun to dress up in clashing clothes and go play up at the JKHB. This means we basically did karaoke and danced around. Allow me to introduce you to my friends. Left to right we have Amy, Cathy, Coralie, Aryn, and Yours Truly. Sorry about the awkward shape of the photograph. This was my first attempt at scrapbooking, and for some reason I thought I should cut out the background from every photograph.

What cracks me up is that this was seriously big fun for us. I remember thinking we were so cool and fun to think of something so crazy. Of course, I'm sure it was all Aryn's idea. But I remember Amy drawing funny pictures of all of us on the chalkboard, and Aryn and Coralie rocking out. I think I sat at the piano and played hymns, since every decent-sized classroom on campus doubled as a chapel or Relief Society room and thus had a piano and hymnbooks. Funny how one picture can bring back random memories. Ladies, what do you remember from this night?

Bowling

The kids have been asking to go bowling since the last time we took them, and I believe it's been a couple of years (is that right, Lori? It's when we went with your family, and I think Jared was a baby). So we took advantage of the holiday and (after a slight glitch) found a nice bowling alley to play at. We brought our friend Caden along with us and had a swell time.

Check out the professional form my children are displaying. I am so proud. We played ten frames and everyone did great! I didn't even look at the final scores, but what really matters is that we had fun. Ben even had a great time.

We had to show off our fun bowling shoes, such a fashion statement.

Oh, No He Didn't

Yesterday afternoon. 4:45 p.m., to be exact. My darling four-year-old son comes over to me and says "Mommy, my nose is bleeding." I look, and there is indeed a bit of blood, but it looks more like he'd been picking his nose too hard (a definite possibility) than an actual nosebleed. He looks frightened, so I ask "Did you put something up your nose?" He glues his lips shut. Me, with stern eyes now: "Caleb, did you put something up there?" He moves his lips the tiniest amount possible: :"yes." I tilt his head up and inspect and yes ideed, there is a toy wedged about 2/3 of the way up his nose. I notice the time and know we've gotta hurry.

I call the pediatrician's office that closes in 15 minutes and say all in one breath "My-four-year-old-put-a-toy-up-his-nose-and-I-can-see-it-but-I-can't-get-it-out-I-can-be-there-in-15-minutes-can-we-come-in-right-now?" I am imagining spending the next four hours in the ER if we can't get into the doctor's office before it closes, so I breathe a huge sigh of relief when the receptionist agrees they will wait for us.

I have Olivia wake up Ben from his nap, quickly call Erik and ask him to meet us there, and throw everyone into the car. Caleb is nervous and scared, so I put on a brave face and try to act nonchalant. Due to all of his hysterical crying he needs to sniffle, so I tell him to just do little sniffles. All we need is for him to sniff the toy up higher. Olivia has her hands over her ears just in case Caleb starts wailing again. Ben, who was just rudely woken up from a deep slumber and hurriedly shoved into his carseat, smiles and coos.

Long story short, we get there, Erik comes, they get it out, and all is well in the world. They even give him a lollipop and a certificate for 10 free Chuck E. Cheese tokens for being so brave. I wonder, are they trying to encourage him to do this again??? So I tell him if he puts something up his nose again, I think he might have to get a shot (he's terrified of shots). Hopefully that will scare him into hiding his treasures elsewhere in the future.

And I'm thinking maybe he's not quite ready for the pirate action figure playset yet. Let's stick with toys that have big pieces for the next few years.

Way Back When-sday: Snow Day

It being January and all, I figured it would be fun to post a picture from a previous January. This picture was taken back in January 2005, when Caleb was 6 months old. We were living in Seattle and had gotten a dusting of snow, so we spent some time playing in the front yard. We built a snowman, threw a few snowballs at each other, then came inside and drank hot chocolate. It was a perfectly fun winter day.

This January has been strange to say the least. The temperature has been in the 70's and even up to 80 some days. It is very windy which cools it down some, but seriously folks! It's January! Crazy weather. Sometimes I think it would be nice to live in a place where it snows.... but then I remember that I can wear flip-flops all year round and I get over it pretty quick.

Making Me Cry... In a Good Way

I think it's pretty typical for mothers and daughters to have somewhat tumultuous relationships. I know that with my own daughter, sometimes I am so proud and filled with love for her that I feel my heart might burst. Other times, she makes me so mad I want to rip my own hair out. This past week has been a little bit rough... she is starting to spread her wings, wanting to be more indepedent and not listen to authority as much. This often leads to yelling (mine) and tantrums (hers). Sometimes I honestly don't know how we will survive the next 12 years intact, and I just want to cry.

This morning she showed me something that she wrote yesterday. As I read it, I smiled, then I felt a little tug on my heart as I thought how cute it was, and finally I got a little choked up. This is what she wrote: In case it's hard to read, this is what it says:
"I have two brothers and no sisters. my brother that's fore is Caleb and my other brother that's zero is Ben I Love my brothres. My favorite thing to do is make projects and go on the chrampalen my favorite place to go is school. my favorite thing to do with my famliy on Monday's is to have familyhomeevening. My name is Olivia. I am six years old. And I know the chrch is chrooe." What can I say? I was pleasantly surprised. Which means that most likely, when she gets home from school today she will be beating up on her brother and telling me (yet again) that she wants new parents.

Friday Favorites

Now, I haven't been very good about doing my Way Back When-sday's and Friday Favorites the past couple of weeks. I'm sure all four of you who read my blog have been very concerned. But, I'm back in the groove and have a new favorite to share with you. I thought with the new year and all, this one would be appropriate. Ladies and gentlemen, behold the Biggest Loser Cardio Max Workout DVD.
This is a great workout. The steps are uncomplicated but really work. I never even use the weights, and skip some of the moves... jumping lunges? No thanks. However, my muscles can always tell they've been worked the next day. I do the first two levels, which takes 30 minutes. The third level is boring and slow, so I skip it.

If you're looking for a new workout to try, this is a great one!

Way Back When-sday: Grandma Stratford

My grandma is one of my heroes. She was one of the kindest, most loving and accepting people I ever knew. Talk about spreading the love. She was a wonderful cook, and was always offering her delicious food and a warm smile to everyone: her neighbors, friends, the mailman, the grocery story clerk... this was a woman who embodied Christ-like love. Although we saw her every year at Christmastime, I didn't really get to know Grandma until I went to college.
She hosted weekly Sunday-night dinners at her house and all of the cousins who attended BYU came. These were elaborate affairs, with fancy tablecloths and crystal goblets, not to mention the delicious food. We sometimes brought roommates, friends, and, when applicable, significant others. It was great to hang out with my cousins, see Grandma, Grand Dad, and Aunt Marilyn, and partake of their love and warmth. Grandma always made us "sing for our dinner." We'd sing "The more we get together, the happier we'll be." This song embodied Grandma's philosophy on life. She also loved to play matchmaker. She would move my cousin Travis's roommates so they were sitting next to me, explaining "Cynthia's lonely."

Another song we always sang was "Have I Done Any Good?" Whenever I sing it, I think of her and am reminded to look outside myself and try to help others.

Grandma died a year after I got married, when she was 93 years old. I still miss her and appreciate her example. I gave Ben the middle name of Calder, which was Grandma's maiden name. I figured that was one way to keep her legacy alive.

Hip hip hooray, Graaaaaaaaaandma.

Phase Two of Christmas Vacation, a.k.a. Guess Who Learned How to Make a Collage?

A couple of days after Christmas, Erik's brother came from Utah and his sister came with her family all the way from Texas. The kids were excited to see their "far-away" cousins, and I even got to meet Liam for the first time, and he is almost three years old! Now that's just embarassing! We spent some time at the beach at sunset. It was beautiful. The kids all got soaked, of course. That's the mark of a good time, right?

After some more time visiting with family members, a few of us met up for a day at Disneyland. It was so much fun! We all had a great time at this magical place. I love Ben's look of awe as he watched the parade.

Here are a few for the Rasmussen relatives. This collage thing is so much fun. And a great way to post lots of pictures at once. I'm loving it.

We did see more family after this, but I was all pictured out by then. Suffice it to say that we saw almost every Rasmussen relative, and half of my family, within the last two weeks. It was so great. We loved it! Our lives will seem boring with just us now. I hope you all had a fantastic holiday! Since I didn't get around to sending a Christmas card this year (terrible, I know, especially since we had a baby this year), here is the picture I would have used. Pretend it has a nice newsy letter and our love and good wishes along with it.

What I Did During Christmas Vacation, a.k.a. Guess Who Learned How to Make a Collage?

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. We had a very busy, and very fun, two weeks of Christmas break. We saw lots and lots of family, and then we saw some more family. The kids had so much fun playing with so many of their cousins. First we went to a cabin up in the mountains, where we played in the snow. That is a rarity for us, so it was fun and exciting. The kids built a snowman, and even Ben got up close and personal with the cold white stuff.

Here are most of the cousins we were with. They're great. And fun. And very, very tall.

The kids even went sledding for what may have been their first time ever. How sad is that? They had a blast. Caleb was all into it, going down the hill again and again. Very unusual for our physically cautious child. We were very proud.

After that we came home and celebrated Christmas at our house. Most of Ben's toys were hand-me-downs from his older brother and sister. Don't worry, I had them clean them off with disinfectant wipes first. :)

This was phase one of our Christmas break. Get excited for phase two.