Because of a Push Pin

While I was going to college, I worked at Promised Valley Playhouse, as an usher, during the summer and Christmas break. It was a great job. I think it was the easiest job I will ever have. I had to help people to their seats for an hour or so, then sit and watch the production and clean up afterwards. I look back on this job with fondness, mainly because it changed my life.

On the evening of July 27th, 1994, I had to turn in my time card. The time clock was located back stage. I clocked out and handed my time card to the cute guy that collected them at the end of the pay period. I had a huge crush on him. I handed him my time card and he told me that he always had a hard time reading the name that I had written on the card. My heart fluttered because this was the first time that he had ever spoken to me. I told him that I would write it more clearly the next night, when I got a new time card.

The next night, 14 years ago today, I filled out a new time card. The cute guy was there waiting at his office door as I wrote my name. He took the time card and inspected the handwriting to make sure it was legible. He nodded in approval and then put the time card in the highest slot in the holder above the time clock. I asked him to move it down to a lower slot because I wasn't able to reach the high spots. He moved it down.

After the show, I went to clock out and I couldn't find my time card. I looked through all of the slots. Finally, one of the other ushers found it. It was pinned to the wall, almost to the ceiling. I had to go and find someone to help me get it down. One of the boys on the stage crew jumped up, with the help of another crew member, grabbed the time card and pulled it down. By this time, all of the other ushers had gone. We were supposed to walk to the parking lot together, escorted by some of the crew-guys because we had to park across the street from the Playhouse in a dark parking lot, in downtown Salt Lake City. As I walked back to the front of the house, the guy that had pinned my card to the wall, and had teased me earlier about not being able to write my name clearly, or reach the tallest time card slot, was waiting. He asked if he could walk me out to my car.

When we were walking out, he asked if I knew his name. I did, of course, because I had looked it up in the program, since I had such a crush on him. I told him that I knew his name was Dwight. He and I talked for awhile and he asked me to go and see a movie with him. I did, and now I have an even bigger crush on him. He and I were married one and a half years later.

A few years after we were married, Dwight was packing to leave his job at Promised Valley Playhouse. We were moving to New York, and the building was being torn down. As I was standing in the hallway by the time card machine thinking of how much my life had changed because of having to clock in and out, I looked up to see a push pin in the wall. It was the push pin that Dwight had used to pin my card to the wall.

A few days later, Dwight came home with a gift for me. It was the push pin. He didn't just pull it out of the wall, he carefully cut it out and put tape around the piece of wall surrounding it. I will always treasure that pin. I think it is one of the best gifts Dwight has given me.

I think back over the past 14 years and I am amazed at how the simplest things can make the biggest difference, even something as small as a push pin.

Family Camp Out

This week, my parents hosted the annual family camp out. We didn't have to go very far, and we didn't freeze at night, because they held the camp in their backyard. We were even able to sit on comfortable furniture and take a shower in the morning. That is my kind of camping!

All of my brothers and sisters and their spouse and children were able to be there. It was wonderful to have all of the family together. I enjoy spending time with family. It's fun to reminisce about the good times we had growing up. I especially like the opportunity to talk about what we are doing now, and to see my siblings as adults. It's still a little strange to think that we are all so old.

The camp out is called the King Benjamin camp out. We put our tents so the doors faced each other and then we all sat at our tents and listened to my parents teach a story from the Book of Mormon.

We were also able to take some time to celebrate the retirement of my Dad. I am especially blessed to have a Dad who worked hard and taught me so much. I can't believe that he has retired. He worked from the time that he was 14 or 15. He put himself through college. He got his Masters degree while working full-time, serving as a Bishop, and helping raise 5 children (Jessica wasn't born yet). He taught me the value of hard work, how to save money, how to pay bills and how to balance a check book. We always lived in a nice home and in a nice neighborhood. He supported us in our choir concerts, or ball games, and in other activities. He is one of the most generous and thoughtful people I know.

One of my favorite parts of the camp out was watching the kids play together. They crack me up. I loved watching the older kids pull the younger kids in the wagons. They would run through the back yard. Some of the kids in the wagon got daring enough that they would raise their arms in the air like they were on a roller coaster.

July is a time when I focus a bit more on remembering those who paved the way so that I can live the kind of life I live today. In the beginning of July, we celebrate the forming of our country. How grateful I am for great men and women who risked their lives to create an independent and free country. At the end of July we celebrate the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers in the Salt Lake valley. How grateful I am for those faithful people who carried the gospel across the plains, so that I can have a knowledge of it today. I'm also grateful for good parents, who gather their children around to remind us of the teachings of those who came before.

This week, I truly enjoyed my freedom to happiness.

Dwight Makes Me Laugh

So, I don't know if this is a "you had to be there" moment, but I am still laughing about it so I thought I'd share it.

The other night while Dwight and I were getting ready to go to sleep, I beat him to bed so he had to turn off the light. We have a box fan sitting on our bedroom floor (along with central air conditioning, a ceiling fan and another air conditioner just outside our room - Dwight likes to sleep cool. I can't wait to get the electric bill). Dwight turned off the light and I heard a thud and some struggling in the dark. I turned on my bedside lamp, and saw Dwight hunched over the fan. He had tripped over it in his trek to bed. I made sure he was okay and then started laughing. When I am tired, I can't control my laughter. It usually comes out in high pitched squeaks (if you need an example, just watch the video where I poked myself in the eye while playing Rock Band.)

I knew it was going to take awhile to get the laughing under control. Even though I never saw the struggle in the dark, I replayed it over and over in my mind. I imagined Dwight trying to carefully make it through the room, only to come in contact with the fan. In my minds eye I could see him struggle to gain control.

I kept taking deep breaths and tried to keep from laughing. Finally, after a few minutes I had it under control. The room was silent, except for the roaring of the fan. Then, I heard Dwight's voice in the darkness.

"Aren't you going to ask me if I'm all right?"

I thought for a second and then said, "I already asked you if you were okay."

"But, aren't you going to make sure I'm all right?"

"Oh, okay, Dwight are you all right?"

"I'm FANtastic!" He exclaimed.

It was virtually impossible to stop the giggling after that.

Yummy Ezekiel Bread

Here's a recipe for one of our favorite breads, it's easy to make and it's packed with grains. I got the recipe from a bread class at Kitchen Kneads. I have especially liked making it with the price of wheat so high.

I half the recipe so it only makes 2 loaves (the recipe posted below will make 4 loaves), and I use lecithin instead of butter or margarine (I use 2 Tbsp. in a half recipe).

Ezekiel Bread (Ezekiel 4:9)

7 cups wheat
1 cup barley
1/4 cup pinto beans
1/4 cup soybeans
1/4 cup lentils
1 cup rye
1/3 cup millet
5 cups warm water
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
3 Tbsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. salt
1/2 cup gluten flour
2 Tbsp. dough enhancer

Combine the grains and beans and grind into flour. Combine the remaining ingredients. Add flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead 6-8 minutes. Shape into loaves and let rise until double in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Makes 4 loaves.

Nice Surprises

This afternoon, I was riding through the Daybreak development with my sisters and we saw that cranes were getting ready to place Moroni on the top of the Oquirrh (pronounced oaker) Mountain Temple. We drove to the Temple site and Jessica, Tabby and I got out. Amy ran home to get her camera. I was so disappointed that I didn't have my camera with me. Jessica started snapping pictures with her phone, which reminded me that I have a camera on my phone.

I started snapping pictures. As I have said before, I'm not really technically savvy, I have never sent a text message. I wasn't sure how I was going to get the picture from my phone to my computer. This evening, I remembered that a memory card came with my phone. I found the card in the box the phone came in. It is the smallest memory card I have ever seen. It also came with an adapter that will fit into my computer. I'm pretty excited!

So, here are some pictures of Moroni being placed on the Temple. It was a neat thing to see. It's always nice to get surprises like that.

Recovering

The tonsillectomy went much better than I feared. I'm still having to make myself take it easy. It's hard for me to stay still for very long.

The hardest day of the recovery period was day 1. We got home from the hospital at around 4:00. I decided to lay down and sleep. I couldn't sleep and I kept looking at the clock. It took forever for the clock to read 5:00. I did some quick math in my head and thought, "One hour down, only 336 more to go. I think I can do that." I didn't sleep at all that night. I would start to drift off and then I would snap back awake.

The pain wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I was able to stop taking pain killers on Sunday. I'm not sure what the next stage will bring. I hope I am done with the worst.

I am looking forward to being able to chew food again. I'm not a big fan of having to grind everything up to eat it. Dwight has done a lot of cooking. Last night he made me mashed potatoes and gravy that tasted sooooo good. He also introduced me to my favorite new snack, frozen yogurt. He put the small containers of yogurt in the freezer. It felt wonderful on my sore throat and it is much healthier than the popsicles I was craving, even though I eat them too.