Heavy Laden

Wednesday we had our first snow of the year. Many of our leaves had not fallen, which trapped the wet snow in the trees, weighing down branches. I spent 10 or 15 minutes shaking the snow off this tree. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to reach high enough, and that branch snapped.

It was miraculous to watch the other tree respond to my efforts to remove the snow. Branches that had been hanging low to the ground rebounded into almost normal positions once their burdens were lightened. I wish I'd been able to save this one.

I don't know numbers that demonstrate the extent of the damage, but here is a link to the local newspaper with photos showing damage and cleanup. Parts of CSU were closed because of the damage to campus trees. We know a family whose tree falling broke through a window of the house. Loveland schools were closed because power was out. My hairdresser took the day off because of the school closure/power outage, and stayed home in her cold house all day.

I remembered a quote I wrote down in high school, "Learn to bend, it's easier than breaking."

Peace and Quiet

This weekend Nathan had a professional conference at a hotel/conference center about an hour away. My mom (and dad) came to watch my kids so I could go with him. I'm not sure if it's because I knew I was going away or not, but Thursday seemed extra crazy. The conference was 8 to 5 both Friday and Saturday. We drove early Friday morning. We took one wrong turn, but it turned out to be a happy accident. Thankfully, we had enough time to correct it before the meeting started. We chatted in the car about how much less stressful traffic seemed since we had planned extra time into the schedule.

The view out of our window

We were able to check into the hotel when we arrived.
It was delightful to be by myself and hear myself think.
First thing I did was a little shopping. It's more enjoyable when I'm alone.
Then, back to the hotel for lunch (which I had packed that morning), and time to study. I am taking another class for continuing Ed and just needed time to work on it. A little nap later, and it was time to meet Nathan. We stopped at a grocery store for a quick snack and then went to the temple.
We did sealings together.
Finally, at 9:00 p.m. we went to dinner. I chose the Cheesecake Factory, because an acquaintance from Texas works for them, and I'd never been there. Nathan ate a giant burrito, and I had chicken and biscuits. We shared a BLT salad.


This morning Nathan went for a run on the golf course (in the dark). Then, he left pretty early for the meetings, and I took my time getting moving. At 8:30 I went to the hotel's gym and lifted weights for 30 minutes. They had really nice weights--I was excited to use the leg press and hamstring machines. Then, I went on a three mile walk. I went back to where we'd made the wrong turn, so I could photograph this wall.

Every now and then I wish I had an excellent camera. Today was one of those days.

I love everything about the photo above--the colors, the reflection of the yellow tree and blue sky in the window.

It was a visual feast!
Maybe that turn wasn't so "wrong."
After cleaning myself up, I went to breakfast in the hotel, again by myself.
I ate oatmeal and a fried egg.
More reading, and then I checked out. I went to buy my lunch, but the restaurant I wanted to try is in the Tech district, and is only open M-FR, which I found out at their front door. I went to the mall, (which was PACKED), and wandered through my favorite stores to browse . . . Williams-Sonoma, Crate and Barrell, Pottery Barn. More visual loveliness.
Lunch was a Philly cheese-steak. I wondered how many others were like me--once in a blue moon mall eaters, and how many were there every Saturday. Even amidst all the noise, it was still a quiet meal for me.
I went back to the hotel to listen to Nathan's presentation. He did a great job and acknowledged my being there. He spoke about Diabetic foot screenings. After him there was one more presenter, so I slipped out to read a little more for my class. When he was done, we drove home. Because of another commitment my parents had, I needed a babysitter for the last couple of hours.

I like having time to be by myself. I need to study and I enjoyed a little more freedom to set my own schedule and choose activities I didn't have to convince anyone else to do with me. It was nice to be interrupted only by my own thoughts. I learned I enjoy cooking and eating by myself and with my family. It sometimes is stressful to cook dinner with the many other demands at that time of the day, but I like the process of preparing food. It is very quiet to eat alone. And yet, I enjoy that peaceful time. I will have to find another time to sneak it in again.

I remember a conversation I had with my dad shortly after staring my first job. I asked him how he was able to work so much, day in and day out. I can't remember word for word, but he told me that he just did it. "And there are breaks."
Nice to have a break.

Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation, 2011

"I Know the Scriptures are True"

The scriptures are the word of God

The scriptures are the word of God,

I read them every day.

To learn what he would have me do,

In all I do and say.

The scriptures are the word of God,

You should read them too,

To guide your acts, and words and thoughts,

To keep you safe and true.

A Messenger From God

Since Heavenly Father is not here now,

He sent us a prophet dear,

His message of peace, and joy and love,

He wants us all to hear.

I love to hear the prophet speak

And tell me stories, too.

He brings us guidance with his life,

An example of what to do.

First Principles and Ordinances

Faith is the first step

That leads to the door,

Repentance the second,

Forgiveness is sure.

Baptism by immersion,

Christ showed us the way,

Then the Holy Ghost is given

To guide us here, today.

My Body is a Temple of God

My body is a temple

And I can treat it so

In the way I dress and act,

The places I choose to go.

My body holds my spirit,

May I keep it habit free,

By choosing carefully the things

I watch, read, do, and see.

My body feels the Holy Ghost,

When I kneel to pray,

Or hike high in the mountains,

While I help, work, and obey.

My body is a gift from God,

It is able, and fit and trim,

I treasure its use each day,

May I return it clean to Him.

I wrote these poems while writing the Primary program for our ward this year.

I have two favorite parts of it: receiving promptings about who should say what, and watching the children from the audience. Both were inspiring. Since I was willing to do the first, the president let me do the second.

Four of my children participated in it this year. Andrew and Bryn in the back, and Diana on the front row. Next year, Andrew will be a deacon by the time we have it, but Ed will not be in yet, so we will be down to three.

Homecoming 5K 2011

(Or . . . . Running Circles around Me)

We did it!!! With the help of my parents, Nathan and I participated in five 5K races this summer. It's been great fun. We ended with the Homecoming 5K in perfect race weather. Caitlin decided to join in. She didn't have to walk until 2.5 miles. She stopped to walk a couple more times after that, but plugged ahead. We also ran into a friend from the ward, and Andrew's former 4th grade teacher. It is a large race--which makes it fun.

It was not my finest race, but I am happy to report I was able to run(jog) the whole way. Nathan hasn't run since his car accident. He stayed with Caitlin the whole time, so he was in a different pace group than he's used to. 
Our times were:
Caitlin:  36:37
Nathan: 36:39
Beth    37:51

My favorite part of the race was hearing the announcer read Nathan's name: "Here comes Dr. Nathan Hunt, crossing the finish line. And, his daughter, Caitlin. She's only 7 years old!"
I think that was happening about the same time this photo was snapped.

I knew they were ahead of me, but didn't know how far. I was excited to hear them mention their names--since I didn't get to see their finish.

And I learned that "pre-race" photos are better than "post race photos."

We've never taken pre-race photos before, but maybe that will change

Just under half a mile to go and still going strong!

It feels good to have completed our goal. We love the racing community. Last running season we did two races. This summer we planned five, one for each of our children. I would like to try a 10K next summer.

September in my kitchen

I spent an hour and a half shredding zucchini and squash to put into our freezer. We did not grow this ourselves--it came from 2 friends and my parents. I also lent my shredder to a friend who put enough zucchini into her freezer to make 29 loaves of zucchini bread.

I taught a friend how to pressure can beans--we did pintos and black. I need to do some more--we have lots of empty jars, and lots of bags of dried beans.

My sister in law, Tara, started a food blog, here. She's a dietician and enjoys good food. (Which is pretty much a perfect combination). Check her out.
My culinary skills improved just by living close by her for 2 years.

I made this delish lasagna the other day. My dad gave me zucchini and squash from his garden so we tried it. I think you could cut a lot of fat and not miss it. (The heavy cream and the mozzarella cheese. Milk instead of cream, and about half the cheese). Next time--because I think there will be one. I didn't use her method for the chicken, but I want to try it. Bay leaf and lemon sound interesting together.

I made a breakfast casserole from America's Test Kitchen a few weeks ago. It was good--but I wanted to try some tweaks and make it again. We had Round 2 for dinner tonight--and it was near perfection. (Left out half the sausage, salt, hot sauce, pepper, and the entire onion). If you come visit, I will make it for you. I think it's earned a spot in the regular rotation. The boys love it and the girls picked at it--but ate more tonight than last time. You toast the bread before putting it in--which solves the soggy problem most breakfast casseroles face. And, you have to make it ahead of time--which is a beautiful thing when it's 4 pm and dinner is already made except for baking.
(I think Test Kitchen hits technique RIGHT ON, EVERY TIME. Most of the time there are steps that could be streamlined and salt that can be removed. Do you agree? And I try to avoid their website so I don't think I need any new cookbooks. They have a slow cooker book that caught my attention--thank goodness my library has it. I love using the slow cooker).

This week, I learned that by adding a little cocoa powder to your morning oatmeal, you will not believe what kind of response you will get. Children who normally may loathe it might ask for seconds.   
(I am not planning on repeating every time we eat it, but it sure is nice to not have to fight a battle when oatmeal is served).

Caitlin's birthday cinammon rolls turned out really well. She's not really into cake, which is OK with me.

Andrew asked for
chocolate cake,
chocolate frosting,
and chocolate ice cream for his. That all went smoothly.

But, I had two snags on the homemade pizza he asked for. First, I ran out of cornmeal. My mom quickly went to Target and saved the day. Then, when I was putting the pizza dough into the pans, I remembered I left out the salt. Since Nathan wasn't home yet, I asked him to stop at Little Caesar's to solve the pizza emergency.
I still had all the toppings and sauce, so we had pizza later that week. I think Andrew was OK with that part.  (I remembered the salt the second time). His two closest friends were able to make our last minute invitation, which was nice.

I bought the worst breakfast sausage in the world. It was so bad I gave a thought to reconsidering vegetarianism. Two children would not eat it. Some of the others thought it was great and had extra. Nathan and I wished we hadn't broken our fast eating it. 

This dressing is very good. Can't say anything about the salad, I haven't tried it. But the dressing changed my mind about rice vinegar.

This month I have been REALLY bad at meal planning. I just haven't done it. I think it's less stressful to take the time to make a plan and carry it out than not plan. So, I will try again, and let you know.

When we studied the Word of Wisdom this week Andrew asked, "Why are we only supposed to eat meat in the winter?"
(We don't do this, by the way--but perhaps we should try a little harder).
His was not the only question, however, we also got, "It is OK to drink hot chocolate?"

And, if you have read this far, you might also be interested in reading this, my Mormon.org profile, complete with my apron.

16

The number of pink shirts I washed today.
Includes pj's and regular shirts. They all belong to the nine and under crowd.
I usually think of one load of laundry the as the "pink" load, here is the evidence.

Sculpture Garden

We went to the Benson Sculpture garden yesterday morning. The weather was delightful and we enjoyed looking at the artists' work.

Diaphanous Yo Tien, by Susan Pascal Beran

Duet, by Jeff K. Laing

Louis Papa, by Pat Kennedy

Flora, by Jo Hess

The pavilion was artwork, too

Circle of Peace by Gary Pierce

Bryn spotted this tiny detail in the Circle of Peace

High Four, Louise Peterson

Big Wish, by Linda Prokop

Rice Ritual, by Carla Knight     Love these stepping stones!

I found the garden through an article in the paper about the "Best of Loveland." I wondered how many of the visitors that day were just like us--going there because of the newspaper article. A lovely walk.

I didn't know that Loveland had such an appreciation for art--but it does. Click HERE to learn more if you are interested in the art of Loveland.