The Meandering Thoughts of Jan

Hi Friends, So I entered a photo contest the other day.  (It's what I do when Danny is at class to keep me from getting bored.)  Anyway here is my nature shot I submitted.  So if you are bored, click that nice little orange button and it will direct you to a webpage where my  dreams come true. Sorry friends, I hear the button below isn't working, so just click here instead. Contest details

My husband Danny and I have a favorite cashier at our neighborhood grocery store.  He is hilarious.  (I've already told one story about him.)  So this evening I went to his line, there was a man in front of me buying pipe tobacco.  When our favorite cashier was helping me, the man came back and got back in line behind me.  The following conversation ensued.... Funny Cashier:  You are already back? Man:  Yeah, this tobacco has been opened.  It's all dry out. Funny Cashier:  Oh yeah, you wouldn't want that, it will hurt your heart. Man:  Excuse me? Funny Cashier:  Yeah, it's the dry stuff that will hurt you. Man:   (half laughing)  Umm, yeah right.  It is suppose to stick more when you pull it out. Funny Cashier:  Oh wait, no, all of it will hurt your heart. (Me busting up laughing, because I couldn't believe he just said that.) Funny Cashier:  Well, if you are going to hurt your...

Last week I shared the intriguing/thought provoking things that I found online and I liked it so much, I'm doing it again. So here are a few internet items that peaked my interest this week. #1 - I loved this article from the New Yorker.   It is kind of long, but you should take a minute and read it.  It is about what studies on the brain teach us about happiness, relationships and skills that bring fulfillment (in a nutshell).  Seriously fascinating. #2 -  This video is called "The Birth of an Island".  It is a video of a volcanic island coming to surface in the Solomon Islands.  Apparently this is a very rare sight.  (I know I've never seen it before.)  Very cool. #3 - I'm sure most of you have heard about the Salon.com article  written by a  woman who is a self-proclaimed feminist and atheist but loves Mormon Mommy blogs.   I'll be honest, I read it about week ago and it didn't sit well with me.  While th...

This is my final installment about my class decorating class, because we had our final class tonight.  (Shed of single tear.)  Tonight we learned how to do a few more frosting flowers and worked on writing with frosting.  Then we decorated our final cake.  Here is the grand finale! This is how my final cake turned out. This is Talena's final cake, it's so pretty! We owe all our cake knowledge to our fabulous teacher, Allison. We even got certificates!  Yep, this is going up on the mantel . (If we had a mantel, that is.) After our final class Talena and I went back to my place to celebrate our advancement in the world of cake decorating by eating cake, of course!  Danny got to join in the fun and eat cake with us too. Here I am cutting the cake.   This moment was really tender for me. We have leftovers for anyone who wants some. I must say the cake decorating class was a hit.  While I'm still very novice, it was fun t...

My good friend Talena (knowing my affinity for online quizzes) sent me this picture quiz that defines your style, home style that is.  I was enlightened to know that my home style is:  Informal Seaside.  What this means, well I'm exactly sure, but luckily the website also game a description for a little further insight... A quiet life… more simple, with your priorites in place. A cottage kitchen - but nicer than that. A fantasy, the bedroom combines an invigorating mix of styles. Music provides the backbeat to everything you do. Modern subtleties extend to your table. Watch the grass grow in the hot summer sun. Pre-war, upper east side attitude. Bookcases, reading nooks and private studies provide a learned atmosphere at home.  Hmmm, interesting.  That does sounds nice, especially if it was by a seaside.  It is entertaining to daydream about; however, for now I will embrace the idea of my own little apartment.  My lovely friend Krista , recently did ...

As we are nearing the end of January, I have felt the January blues starting to set in.  The holidays are a distant memory and spring is still too far away to be nothing more than a mere thought.  All I have to look forward to is Groundhog's Day, which isn't much.  This is the time of year I really start getting tired of winter, which I know is quite whiny of me.  I don't remember always feeling this way, when I was little I loved sledding in my backyard and accepted the fact that seasons happen and didn't complain about that fact.  I decided something must of happened sometime in my youth that would turn me so negatively towards winter.  Then this memory came to mind. When I was in 4th grade and my sister Michele was in kindergarten, I was given the great responsibility of picking up my sister from her classroom and we would walk home together.  Our walk home was quite the ascent up a big hill.  (If I was 80 years old it would be up hill both w...

For this cake decorating class we learned how to make different frosting flowers and focused on cupcakes. Now I too can enter the world of trendy cupcakes, which seems to be quite popular. I especially like that we learned how to put filling in the cupcakes, making it a doubley sugar delight. Here a few pictures of Talena and my cupcake creations. Me and some of the cupcakes I decorated An up close look at the cupcakes I made. Talena and her cute cupcakes A closer look...looks delicious!

I have spent way too much time lately researching for work purposes and in doing so, I've come across some interesting articles/websites. So here are the top three things I found today online. #1 The story of Julia Mavimbla Julia is one of the most inspiring women I have read about. She has lived a life of service and doing good in the country of South Africa. I think my favorite story from her life was when there riots in her community of Soweto, in 1976, Julia's biggest concern was for the youth and the effect the violence would have them. She acquired an abandoned church yard and gathered the young children and taught them how to garden. Soon other children were joining to get away from the violence. She would teach the children, "Where there has been a blood stain, a beautiful flower must grow." And over time there were gardens across the community that she and the children had created together. #2 Freerice.com I remember hearing about this website and t...

It is one of those evenings that I should be going to bed, but instead I feel the need to write and so I will. I was thinking of the most recent little tender mercy I received just yesterday. Ever since Danny and I got married last autumn, things have been crazy busy. I was hoping things would calm down after planning a wedding, but not so. Life moves on. I have been enjoying our outings, the enriching activities I'm taking part of and socializing with friends. Especially lately, I'm really glad we have had company over to help me eat all this cake I've been making. However Monday (Martin Luther King Day) I woke up completely worn out. We didn't have work, but we had made plans to go snowshoeing with friends. While nature is usually one of my escapes, I just didn't know if I could muster the energy to be outdoorsy. Then my friend called and shared with me that it had been raining all night, washing away the snow in the valley and making it stormy in the m...

This week at class #2 we learned a few more skills using different decorating tips and actually decorated a cake this time. I have to say one of the hardest things for me is actually frosting the cake. It is so hard to make it look smooth. I was getting a little obsessive about making my frosting job look perfect when my teacher reminded me,"This is why we decorate our cakes, to cover up the mistakes." Good advice. For our cake in class, I made frosting fish as seen below. Applying the border. A closer look, squiggles are my expertise. The final product. I had a lot of extra frosting, so I decorated another cake last night to practice. This is how it turned out. I was going off of Van Gogh's "Starry Night"...kidding. Side view. I feel like the cake decorating class is going pretty well. Not only am I gaining a fun new skill, but I'm pretty sure I'm gaining a few pounds all in frosting. Perhaps it will make me sweeter. Next week we are...

I have a dear friend, Melina, who lives far far away in a distant land called the East Coast. She and her husband are expecting their first little one next month, the due date being Valentine's Day. With Melina on the other side of the country, I was saddened at that thought that we wouldn't be able to throw her a proper baby shower. But then the greatest idea I have ever had came to mind, inspiration really. A virtual baby shower if you will, got to love technology. Talena helped me with this fine event. We put together a box full of treats and decorations and mailed it out to Melina. We then invited a few of our close friends. We were all sure to mail gifts out to Melina beforehand as well. Then on the appointed evening, we all came together and used video chat to see Melina open up her gifts, chat, and even play a baby shower game. Talena did a great job with the food, which Melina got to enjoy as well (since we sent some to her in the post, as already mentioned ab...

The other night I ran over to the grocery store to pick up a few items, one of those items being brown lunch sacks in hopes to encourage Danny and I to take lunch to work every once in awhile. (This is important detail to the story.) I then had the following conversation with the cashier. (A funny young man with thick framed glasses who was probably 20ish.) Cashier (as he was placing the lunch sacks into a grocery sack : I love bagging bags. Me : A bit redundant isn't it. Cashier : Yes, it is like a never ending cycle of bags. I think it is a symbol of the drudgery of my job. (Yes he really did say that.) Me (trying to be sympathetic ): I once was a cashier at a grocery store too. Cashier : So you understand then. How did you escape? Me : Ummm, I got a new job. (I should have mentioned the importance of getting an education at this point.) Cashier : Yeah, I want to get a new job. I think I want to be a bus boy at a pub. Do you think I'll be happy then? Me : In m...

Last week Talena and I started our cake decorating class! One night a week, we enter the fascinating world of frosting. Our first class went well. We were taught the basics of cake baking and how to properly frost a cake. We then practiced with the star tip to make all kinds of pretty designs. We practiced on sugar cookies for this class. Since Talena and I are working women we didn't have any time to make homemade sugar cookies. We found Christmas shortbread cookies at our local Target for 90% off, you can't pass a deal up like that! So our cookies were more on the festive side. They didn't taste the best, but it was really for practice anyway. I have to add that back in the days of high school, whenever Talena and I had a class together, our teacher always ended up hating us, which is a shame because we were such nice girls. We just really liked talking mainly to each other and even more so sharing our witty little side comments with each other. I'm proud to...

Last week I had book club with two of my dearest friend, Melina and Talena.  With Melina on the other side of the country, we formed this celebration of literary works so we could enjoy doing something together even though we aren't together.  For our book club meetings Talena and I gather around my laptop with Melina on video chat.  (I love technology.)  Our conversations revolve around what is going on in our lives, inside jokes, a few random stories, a little reminiscing and then we get down to business and discuss the latest book we read. This time around we read Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.  It was unique story.  The story is about a boy named Reuben who struggles with asthma and his unusual family.  Reuben's older brother Davy is a runaway fugitive who has been charged for murder, which is a controversy itself.  Reuben finds himself along with his father and sister on a cross-country search for Davy.  Duri...

So far I've only posted the craft making pictures from our visit to St. George last weekend.  We did a lot of other fun things as well, which I put in a nice bullet point list below. We went to the New Year's celebration in downtown St. George to ring in the New Year.  Highs from the evening: the fireworks and Magician Max.  Lows from the evening:  freezing and the Rock band projector breaking right before Jared, Dan and Noelle got up on stage to show the crowd their skills. Ate lots of junk food and played games.  The preferred game for the weekend was the card game, Bohnanza. Indulged in the delicious frozen treat of Nielson's frozen custard.   Ate breakfast at the Bear Paw Cafe.  I highly recommend the crepes; just know they are huge.  I some how missed this important tidbit and ordered two.  I could barely eat one. Luckily I have a husband and brother-in-laws that helped eat the other crepe. We went hiking and enjoyed natur...