I am moving our blog. In reading about potential internet fraud with adoption, I have changed our blog address to something without our last name. Also it will help us retain some anonymity during the adoption process until we feel comfortable with sharing our last name. I will leave this up for about a month, but all new posts will be posted on our new blog.
http://danielandashley-thisisus.blogspot.com/
See you there!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Feedback requested
As part of our online profile for adoption there is a section of questions like:
If your house were burning down, what three things would you grab?
Favorite meal?
Favorite music, quote, color, etc.
There are spaces for five questions of our own contriving. If you were wanting to know fun random things about a couple you might place your baby with, what would you want to know? What questions would give insight to personality?
Any suggestions, by ANYONE - whether I know you or not - would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a bunch!!
If your house were burning down, what three things would you grab?
Favorite meal?
Favorite music, quote, color, etc.
There are spaces for five questions of our own contriving. If you were wanting to know fun random things about a couple you might place your baby with, what would you want to know? What questions would give insight to personality?
Any suggestions, by ANYONE - whether I know you or not - would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a bunch!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday's Tidbit!
On time.
Expanding your knowledge. Push your Brain further than you did yesterday. Buy a dictionary.
Last night Daniel was reading from the works of John Taylor. Our first Christmas married my grandparents gave us a set of the Teachings of the Prophets. It has a volume for every prophet through President Hinckley and an index an inch wide to all of them. Daniel has been reading random sections here and there to learn more of what the Prophets say. He read me a sentence that had there three words in succession: multitudinous latitudinarian principles. Can you pronounce them? I have a hard time, as does Daniel. They make sense to me because I just look at the original words, multitude=lots, latitude=line, principles. Lots of straight lined principles. But that takes translation. In order to minimize translation, we need to expand vocabulary.
My little sister (17) is a pruduct of this. She is the youngest in a family that likes to learn. We all have a decent vocabulary. My dad teaches at the U, my mom reads prolifically, as well as having to keep up on her job knowledge for certification, I lived at home all five years of college, Taylor's hobbies include looking things up for fun. I mean really. She says she uses words that many of her friends don't understand and then they ask her to use smaller words. At girls camp one year she was given the title "Grammar Queen." I have a grandmother who taught English before having a family.
I remember when some of Taylor's friends were over and we said something that they did not know the definition of. So we pulled out our well used dictionary and looked it up. He thought we were crazy for doing that. My grandparents also have their dictionary easily accessible. It's great.
Now I'm just rambling. Buy a dictionary that you can have on hand. Actually look things up when you don't know exactly what they mean. Make the next book you read just a bit more difficult, deep, or extensive than the last one you read.
I told Daniel that a friend of ours was going to incorporate the study of physiognomy in Victorian England in her senior paper this year. He didn't think it was a word. We pulled out our dictionary and I proved to him it was and then read him the definition. I love learning. I challenge you all to do the same.
p.s. Can I confess that I really want a hard copy of the complete Oxford English Dictionary? It's on Amazon. It's 20 volumes and includes the etymology of each word.
Expanding your knowledge. Push your Brain further than you did yesterday. Buy a dictionary.
Last night Daniel was reading from the works of John Taylor. Our first Christmas married my grandparents gave us a set of the Teachings of the Prophets. It has a volume for every prophet through President Hinckley and an index an inch wide to all of them. Daniel has been reading random sections here and there to learn more of what the Prophets say. He read me a sentence that had there three words in succession: multitudinous latitudinarian principles. Can you pronounce them? I have a hard time, as does Daniel. They make sense to me because I just look at the original words, multitude=lots, latitude=line, principles. Lots of straight lined principles. But that takes translation. In order to minimize translation, we need to expand vocabulary.
My little sister (17) is a pruduct of this. She is the youngest in a family that likes to learn. We all have a decent vocabulary. My dad teaches at the U, my mom reads prolifically, as well as having to keep up on her job knowledge for certification, I lived at home all five years of college, Taylor's hobbies include looking things up for fun. I mean really. She says she uses words that many of her friends don't understand and then they ask her to use smaller words. At girls camp one year she was given the title "Grammar Queen." I have a grandmother who taught English before having a family.
I remember when some of Taylor's friends were over and we said something that they did not know the definition of. So we pulled out our well used dictionary and looked it up. He thought we were crazy for doing that. My grandparents also have their dictionary easily accessible. It's great.
Now I'm just rambling. Buy a dictionary that you can have on hand. Actually look things up when you don't know exactly what they mean. Make the next book you read just a bit more difficult, deep, or extensive than the last one you read.I told Daniel that a friend of ours was going to incorporate the study of physiognomy in Victorian England in her senior paper this year. He didn't think it was a word. We pulled out our dictionary and I proved to him it was and then read him the definition. I love learning. I challenge you all to do the same.
p.s. Can I confess that I really want a hard copy of the complete Oxford English Dictionary? It's on Amazon. It's 20 volumes and includes the etymology of each word.
Spring
I know it feels like spring will never come. It's my favorite season. New life, flowers, my birthday and my anniversary. Could it get better? Well as part of my avoiding depression the last few weeks of the cold, I planted Crocuses. (I do love snow and how peaceful and beautiful it is - I like to enjoy each season as it's here - but Spring is AMAZING!).
For the last two weeks my crocuses have been pushing up through the bark and snow. This morning they achieved full spring glory.
They are small flowers but so happy. The yellow always come up first, then the white, and next I should have some purple ones. So for those of you who are spring lovers, I suggest planting to snow crocus. They come up in early February and are guaranteed to bring hope of spring. There are also other early bloomers, in bulb form. Look in the fall at places that sell plants. It's great! You plant them once in late October and then they come up every year with no more effort on your part but to keep them weeded. Yay flowers!!
For the last two weeks my crocuses have been pushing up through the bark and snow. This morning they achieved full spring glory.
They are small flowers but so happy. The yellow always come up first, then the white, and next I should have some purple ones. So for those of you who are spring lovers, I suggest planting to snow crocus. They come up in early February and are guaranteed to bring hope of spring. There are also other early bloomers, in bulb form. Look in the fall at places that sell plants. It's great! You plant them once in late October and then they come up every year with no more effort on your part but to keep them weeded. Yay flowers!!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tidbit #6
Although belated, I hope it's a good one.
Pickles.
I absolute adore pickles.
Especially Dill Spears.
In fact we like them so much at our house we buy them by the gallon.
We were watching "Good Eats," a great show on the Food Network. When Alton Brown covers recipes, he covers the history and the chemical reasons behind the food. Great show. That's the show that taught me about Macaroni and Cheese.
Anyway, the history of pickles is fascinating. Who likes pickles? Every generation since 4400 BC has had something to do with pickles. The highlights are:
-Julius Caesar's troops were fed pickled cucumbers as nutritional supplements while on duty. As were Napoleon's troops, and US soldiers during WWII. Cool huh?
Pickles.
I absolute adore pickles.Especially Dill Spears.
In fact we like them so much at our house we buy them by the gallon.
We were watching "Good Eats," a great show on the Food Network. When Alton Brown covers recipes, he covers the history and the chemical reasons behind the food. Great show. That's the show that taught me about Macaroni and Cheese.Anyway, the history of pickles is fascinating. Who likes pickles? Every generation since 4400 BC has had something to do with pickles. The highlights are:
-Julius Caesar's troops were fed pickled cucumbers as nutritional supplements while on duty. As were Napoleon's troops, and US soldiers during WWII. Cool huh?
-Pickles in America were a favorite of guess who? THOMAS JEFFERSON!! Cold crisp tart pickles on a hot Virginia day. He just keeps proving to be my favorite historical figure. Many of other prominent men of the time also liked pickles. Yummy.
There are many recipes on Food Network.
When I return to Virginia I might have to buy a cookbook at Thomas Jefferson's Home, Monticello.
This is a link to a more fleshed out history of pickles.
Pickle Time Line
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Two quilts...
When we went to the birth mother panel they all talked about gifts that the adoptive couple gave them. They each got something that really meant a lot to them. A couple got jewelry and some got quilts. My mother in law was there and liked the idea of quilts. She sews and my family sews - between the two families there have been many quilts made for others. So I went to the fabric store and looked through some quilt books with my mother in law. We came to this conclusion:
This pattern -
With these colors.
We tried to keep it gender neutral because we don't know what we will get first. We could prefer, but isn't the surprise part of the fun? It maybe is early but in the event that we have little warning about placement, we will have a gift ready. The best part is how we are going to involve everyone. I will be doing the applique for all the hearts (yes, I will sew 55 hearts on by hand, but it's about love, right?). My mother in law will piece the top of the baby quilt. My mother will piece the top of the birth-mother quilt. My grandma Budge will bind them both (because she does a wonderful job) and I am enlisting the help of my grandma Arave for help with the embroidered flowers that come out of the tops of the hearts. They will essentially be the same quilt, with more borders on the birth-mother's, and only one small one on the babies. It's a good way to pass the time. I'm quite excited.
This brings me to another point. A question I'd like to put to you all. Maybe I'm jumping the gun, but I'd rather be over prepared than under. What sort of preparations would be appropriate? What am I justified in purchasing and when? Daniel says I can shop furniture sales after we get approved. What do I do to keep from getting my hopes up too high for a baby so soon? We aren't thinking there's a chance until probably next summer. If it happens sooner it's a surprise. Once we reach a year and a half, I might start to worry. What are the ways in which you prepared for your baby, knowing or hoping for one?
Thanks for any input.
This pattern -
With these colors.
We tried to keep it gender neutral because we don't know what we will get first. We could prefer, but isn't the surprise part of the fun? It maybe is early but in the event that we have little warning about placement, we will have a gift ready. The best part is how we are going to involve everyone. I will be doing the applique for all the hearts (yes, I will sew 55 hearts on by hand, but it's about love, right?). My mother in law will piece the top of the baby quilt. My mother will piece the top of the birth-mother quilt. My grandma Budge will bind them both (because she does a wonderful job) and I am enlisting the help of my grandma Arave for help with the embroidered flowers that come out of the tops of the hearts. They will essentially be the same quilt, with more borders on the birth-mother's, and only one small one on the babies. It's a good way to pass the time. I'm quite excited.This brings me to another point. A question I'd like to put to you all. Maybe I'm jumping the gun, but I'd rather be over prepared than under. What sort of preparations would be appropriate? What am I justified in purchasing and when? Daniel says I can shop furniture sales after we get approved. What do I do to keep from getting my hopes up too high for a baby so soon? We aren't thinking there's a chance until probably next summer. If it happens sooner it's a surprise. Once we reach a year and a half, I might start to worry. What are the ways in which you prepared for your baby, knowing or hoping for one?
Thanks for any input.
My Valentine's Day
My cute husband made me breakfast Saturday morning. I was headed out to meet my mother in law and was running late. So he made me breakfast - Valentine's style. He made "Toad in a hole."
It's a fried egg in the center of a piece of toast. He used my heart cookie cutter for it. Our day was low key and very restful. We watched TV, napped, watched a movie and cuddled like we did when we were dating. It was nice. I fixed one of his favorite dinners. It was the best kind of day. (Drastically different from last year when we ate at the Moroccan restaurant at Epcot in Orlando! I think I liked this year better. Quiet and inexpensive with the same wonderful man!)
It's a fried egg in the center of a piece of toast. He used my heart cookie cutter for it. Our day was low key and very restful. We watched TV, napped, watched a movie and cuddled like we did when we were dating. It was nice. I fixed one of his favorite dinners. It was the best kind of day. (Drastically different from last year when we ate at the Moroccan restaurant at Epcot in Orlando! I think I liked this year better. Quiet and inexpensive with the same wonderful man!)
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