Deep Thoughts

By: Jack Handy April Millar 

*Does 90% lean beef mean the cow has only 10% body fat? 

So really we should take it as a compliment if ever called a cow.

*Really soft lips and a really scruffy beard just cancels each other out to make an OK kiss.

*Do general authorities of the LDS church, when writing a talk ever think "This is going to be made into a vinyl sign."?

*If one couldn't roll their "R's" in Ireland would that be the equivalent as having a lisp?

*Every time I write an email or text to someone who I know got their degree in English I am way more aware of my grammar and punctuation. I feel like they are analyzing  me the way a psychiatrist would analyze someone's words and body language. 

Stresses me out.

*One day when Trevor was telling me about his day at work he mentioned Sunday, a lady who works in accounting. When he was done I asked him, "What do you think of the name Sunday?"

"Meh, I don't really like it."

Pause

"Uh..... I mean..... I think month names are way better than week names."

Wicked

 I got lucky, I married a man who enjoys the theater. 

Think of it? A manly man who will go to plays with me, and like it.

When I found out Wicked was coming to Salt Lake I jumped on it. 

As soon as I secured our tickets I cranked up the show tunes.

At first Trevor tried to tell me that it would be better if he knew nothing about the story / songs so that way he could be surprised and have anticipation and suspense, like a movie.

I had to explain to him that the theater is like a piece of fine art. You could go to a museum and walk by masterpiece after masterpiece if you didn't know what you were looking at. But once you know something about the piece, the artist, the background, how it was made, what it took to create it, you go from glancing at a work of art to really looking at a masterpiece and having a love and deep connection for that treasure.

The more you know, the more it means something to you.

You enjoy a museum one thousand percent more when you know what you are looking at. 

It's the same with plays.

With Trevor, we had to start from the beginning.

He had never even seen The Wizard of Oz.

Can you believe that there are people in this world who have never seen The Wizard of Oz??

"How did you like it?"

"I may have thought it a little boring, there was only one story line."

Our seats? Eye level with the chandelier. 

 It was perfect! Amazing!

When I asked him how he liked....

"It was way more funny than I expected it was going to be."

(Which is true, if you have ever heard Trevor's laugh.... he thought it was pretty funny.)

"I am really glad I watched The Wizard of Oz there were a lot of inside jokes and parts that I wouldn't have understood if I hadn't seen the movie."

Considering the few tears he shed there at the end, and his humming Popular on the way home, I am going to interpret the above statements to mean that he LOVED IT!!!

Millars in Pictures

I had to give back my mom's awesome Cannon camera. I'm not sure why she would want that back, weird.

So thanks to the camera phone we have our lives somewhat documented. 

Life is really exciting over here. 

10 months

I remember when you were brand new, 5 weeks old, we went to visit your auntie and cousins. I changed a diaper of one of your cousins. I could not believe how off it felt holding his ankles high in the air as his legs felt like they kept going forever. It threw me for a loop, I was used to your froggy legs that weighed a few ounces each. I could not fathom you ever being big enough like that.

But now you are. 

Already. 

I think it might make me sad if you weren't so awesome. 

It's funny because every day feels the same with you, then I realize what you have learned or how much you have grown in just a few days or weeks it literally blows my mind.

It's amazing to me how you can do new things like it's no big deal. 

You act as though it is something you mastered long ago, but you are just letting me in on it. Oh yeah, that? Of course I can do that. See?

You have a some hilarious sass. Sometimes I feel like you are teasing me.

I have a feeling you will be talking long before you walk, mostly because you mimic the words and sounds that your daddy and I make on a regular basis. I am serious you usually sound spot on, then daddy and I look at each other amazed and you go on like whatev, no big deal. Of course I can say that and know what it means.

Me thinking you'll talk before you walk has nothing to do with the fact that at 10 months old this is how you crawl: 

Chocolate Mint: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have you ever seen the herb chocolate mint and thought what the heck do you make with chocolate mint?

Besides it becoming a weed and taking over your herb garden you can actually use chocolate mint in your cooking. 

Lucky for you, I have a delicious cookie recipe for you.

 Pick your chocolate mint leaves.

Chop them finely to make 1/4 cup.

 Just a few simple ingredients:

butter, sugar, salt, mint extract, flour, chocolate mint, and chocolate chips.

 Cream together 1 cup butter & 1/2 cup sugar

Add in 1/4 tsp. mint extract & 1/4 cup finely chopped chocolate mint.

(I used about 5 drops of peppermint oil, worked perfect.)

 Add and mix well:

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups flour

6 oz chocolate chips

 Chill dough for 1 hour.

(*I have done it both ways, chilled and not chilled the dough, I think it turns out the same so there is a good chance I will never chill again.)

Form dough into 1" balls. 

Roll in Mint Sugar.

Mint Sugar

1 cup sugar

4 mint leaves

add to a blender or food processor until finely chopped. Lay on cookie sheet to dry overnight.

Place on greased cookie sheets and press with a fork in crisscross manner.

 Bake 350degrees for *12 minutes.

*they may not look completely done but do not over cook them. They have a shortbread texture and are SO GOOD when not crunchy or too dry.

Chocolate Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

-1 cup butter

-1/2 cup sugar

-1/4 peppermint extract

-1/4 tsp salt

-1/4 cup chopped mint

-2 cups flour

-6 oz chocolate chips

Mint Sugar

-1 cup sugar

-4 mint leaves

add to blender until finely chopped. Lay on cookie sheet to dry overnight.

Blurb

I decided I wanted to print out my blog, year by year, into a hard bound book. 

A few weeks ago I spent a couple days on Blurb.com putting together "2009"

I just got it in the mail and I LOVE it!

I am so glad I made this a priority.

They have a great option where you can completely upload your blog into a book.

But I wanted a little more control over the layout so I put together a custom book. 

On to 2010!

Pinterest: Fail?

I have been figuring I needed to provide more activities for Bridget to stimulate her senses. Of course to Pinterest I went to give me some ideas. 

I came across this, so I pinned it.

Seemed like a good one, this baby looks younger than Bridget and is playing so nicely, plus I had some cornmeal. 

via

Do you want to see how Bridgey did?

Awesome.


It's not a sensory experiment unless we taste it.

YUM!

I don't know what constitutes a pinterest success or fail? 
It doesn't look anything like the picture but I'm sure it stimulated her senses. 
However it's not one I would probably recommend.
Mostly because I think she had more fun in the tub over the cornmeal, and she came out of the tub clean when my kitchen floor continued to be a disaster.

Before / After: Bridget's Room

BEFORE

AFTER

I actually have great plans for a DIY overhall of this frame, I will post those another time. I mean, lets be real, I can't have The Lady of Shalot in a plain 'ol black frame, she deserves to be as ornately gold as the rest of the room.

You can barley see it, but I have my old trundle bed from when I was a girl under the window. I didn't take a picture of it because I need to change the bedding. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Career Change

You may be surprised to find out that I have decided on a career change. 

Surprising? Yes. because currently I am living my dream job as a stay-at-home-momma. How, and why would I ever want to change that career?

But this new endeavor is a great compliment to being my baby's mama.

I am in the process of becoming a certified...... DOULA!

I can't even tell you how excited I am about this. 

For those of you who don't know, a doula is basically someone who provides continual physical, emotional, and informational support to the laboring mother and husband before, during, and after birth. A doula also helps the husband or birth partner assist the mother.

I thought that one would just use a doula if they had decided on an unmediated birth. But apparently doula's are wonderful no matter the circumstances even in c-section deliveries. When I thought about it I realized you have your husband but he is probably as afraid as you are, after all it's his wife and baby undergoing major surgery. So how comforting it would be to have someone there that you trusted that could talk you through what was happening, help keep you calm and relaxed.

I have to thank my friend, Jennie Taylor, she let me assist her and her husband in the birth of their baby recently . I came home and for three days that's all I talked about. Trevor finally said, "Why don't you just become a doula?" 

What? I was taken aback. 

It was so simple. 

Why didn't I think of that? 

Why don't I become a doula? 

For a few days I thought about it, discussed with Trevor what it would mean for our family. Researched what it would take to become certified. 

Then made the decision. 

Oh the incredible joy and excitement I felt. 

The birth process is, I think, the most awe inspiring thing in this world. 

It is an experience that is incredibly physical, intensely emotional, and overwhelmingly spiritual all at the same time. 

It does not matter if it's natural or with an epidural, vaginally or with a cesarian section, at home or in a hospital. 

Every woman is different, every pregnancy is different, every birth and baby is different. But each birth has the ability to bring us closer to God, our husbands, our babies, and even ourselves. 

I cannot wait to help women bring their babies into this world. If I can make the birth experience that much better for someone, what an amazing achievement that would be.  

Summer Drizzle

Mmmmm. 

I love a nice summer storm. 

I especially appreciate the rain when the state is on fire. 

I love when my garden gets watered for free.

 I feel a little less excited about the free fertilizer provided by the neighbors cat.