Deep Thoughts from the Candy Aisle

I really like plain M&M's. They're small and tasty, and there's no nut in there to interfere with the chocolatey goodness. I expressed my love of plain M&M's to a friend a few days ago while we were selecting movie treats, and she said that M&M's are white trash chocolate. I was completely stunned. Like, really.

I said, "You're classifying me by CANDY? I don't think it's going to work out between us." Then I told her I didn't like what she picked out because they were white trashy. I know- good come back, huh? This is a good friend of mine and I think our friendship can endure this rocky patch, but it's gotten me thinking.

Obviously this runs deeper than chocolate. So what if I like them? Does that make me of lesser quality? I live in my happy little world most of the time, and I don't really care what people think of me. Once in awhile something bursts the bubble and all those little insecurities start to surface, as if they define me. The thing is, when we judge people it's based on our insecurity, not theirs.

Another example: Another good friend of mine was telling me that her sister thinks she and her husband are of lesser socioeconomic status (aka white trash) because they like to go 4-wheeling instead of playing golf and eating at the country club. That really bothers me, because my 4-wheeling friend is a fantastic person. She's fun, kind, funny and talented, and I hope she's still my friend for exploiting her story. WHASSSSUUUUUP LAURA!

We all judge other people. I do it, you do it, your mother does it. So the next time I catch myself passing judgment onto someone else, I'm gonna get a big fat fistful of M&M's and stuff 'em in my face. Hmph.

The Tree Room

I'm not a very festive person. I don't want to sound all bah-humbug, but I think holidays are kind of a pain in the neck and they just don't excite me that much. I also hate parades. But I digress. So with Saturday being Valentine's Day, and the kids having their school parties over and done with by Friday, I was ready to hunker down and pretty much ignore the fact that it was a holiday. Add to it that on Sunday Nils and I had to speak in church and it was my week to teach Gospel Doctrine, I planned on spending Saturday night locked away preparing for all of that fun-ness.

Nils surprised me by asking grandma to watch the kids, and said he wanted to go out to dinner. Then he said, "Let's dress up and pretend we're rich", which is funny because the very sentence is the complete opposite of reality. I'll cut to the chase. We dropped the kids off, and by this time Nils told me he had made reservations somewhere. We kept driving and driving and driving until we got to Provo Canyon. I finally guessed that we were going to Sundance, and then as a joke I said, "Are we going to The Tree Room?" Why, yes. Yes we were. And did.

When we asked for water, the waiter asked, "Sparkling, bottled, or tap?" We were confused. We ordered an appetizer, and when they brought out the plate with 1/2 cup of food on it, we chuckled (softly, of course). Nils ate a duck- part of a duck, anyway. He didn't like it. I ate a steak, and I liked it. We got dessert, and it was delicious. We got our bill and almost had a coronary. It was lots of fun pretending to be people we're not for 2 hours, and Nils kept telling me to enjoy it and not think about the money. We noted that on the previous night he was at a monster truck show, and that night we were at The Tree Room. To finish off the night we stopped at Wal-Mart to get diapers and dish soap, and knew we had come full circle.

Sometimes, ya just gotta live and enjoy it! But next time we'll spare the duck.

SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!

Well, it's official. Anders and I are truly American now. Last night we went to Monster Jam - a flippin' sweet Monster Truck show. I gotta say, those monster trucks are pretty amazing machines. The show was awesome. There weren't nearly as many traileresque folks as I was hoping for but it was fun just the same. Thank you so much to our anonymous giver who left us tickets to the show. We had a blast. Check out pics of our Monster Jam night here.

Holly's Etsy

My friend Holly opened up her own Etsy shop! She's got mad skillz and great taste! You should stop on by and take a look.

Oh, and I won her free giveaway! OWWWW! YEAH, BABY!

Oh my. Things are so exciting around here. I can hardly contain myself.

I'm full. Full of these! You probably already know about this website because you're so smart, but just in case you don't, I'm passing along the word. I think I rely on it 85% of the time for ideas on what to make for dinner. Last week I planned a week of dinners and went shopping for the ingredients. Guess how much I spent? $30! For a WEEK of dinners for 5 people!

And that, my friends, is about how exciting our lives have been lately. As soon as something equally as amazing as dinnertime quesadillas happens, I'll let you know ASAP.

This Week

On Monday Nils won a Little Giant ladder from our bank. Sa-weet! We're not the type of people that win things, so this was pretty neat-o.

On Tuesday that little piece of crap groundhog saw his shadow. Now, I know this is all for fun, but who decides whether or not he sees it? And how do I get me one of those top hats?

On Wednesday we had parent-teacher conference. Anders' teacher said, "Well, other than the crying, I think Anders really likes kindergarten." Yesterday when I went to pick him up, I could see from a distance that he was red in the face and bawling. He told me he missed me. But the reason he "missed me" was that the singing teacher wouldn't let him lay on the floor during music time. I'm so confused.

Today is still in progress. So far there has been a lot of screaming and hitting between little girls. Supposedly the smaller one is the aggressor. I'm so excited for the future of sisterly cat fights. Okay, 3 seconds ago they were both screaming, and now they're laughing. Again...confused.

And another thing: I'm afraid of kidney beans. I mean, they're called kidney beans. I'm cooking some minestrone in the crock pot and I just dug them all out, even though I just put them all in about 2 hours ago. I've been afraid of dinner for the last 2 hours...but no longer.

Tomorrow I'm getting together with my BFF's from high school. Can't wait.

Thanks

Dear Gift Giver,

We have no idea who you are, but we want you to know that we've been touched by your generosity. You made the night of a 6-year old boy and 30-year old boy tonight. Nils and Anders will soon be enjoying some of this:

Our Christmas was made merrier and memorable by a bin 'o' presents left on our porch. We were shocked, humbled, and very thankful that someone would be so generous. It's an act of service that we'll never forget.

Since we can't pay you back, what with you being anonymous and all, we'll do our best to pay it forward.

Thanks again,

Nils and Katrina