Have a Little Faith

I love author Mitch Albom. I read his book "Tuesdays with Morrie" back in high school. I recently read "The 5 People You Meet In Heaven" too. There's just something about his style of writing that pulls you in and keeps you completely and totally sucked in his world.

Last night I finished "Have a Little Faith." I wasn't sure what to expect when I first started this book. I actually saw the book listed in a magazine and thought I'd better see if I could find it. The library once again came to my rescue.

This book reminded me of "Tuesdays with Morrie" a little bit. In the beginning of the book he is asked by his childhood rabbi if he would give the eulogy at his funeral when he passed away. Mitch Albom was thinking the man had weeks or days left and decided he'd best learn about "the man" rather than just "the rabbi." Thus begins his visits. His visits continue for EIGHT YEARS. Along the way you begin to hear about a pastor named Henry Covington. I couldn't quite figure out the connection between the three until about 3/4 of the way through the book, but I finally got it.

I think the reason I enjoyed this book so much is because 1-it did remind me of Tuesdays with Morrie & I love that book and 2- ever since my AP European History class in 10th grade with Mrs. Morgan, I have had a growing curiosity to learn more about other religions.

This book gave me the chance to see that religion isn't static and it isn't a completely different idea in my LDS church from what it is in a Jewish synogog (sp?) or a "Christian" church with a Baptist like pastor. The main idea is the same and the people are the same. Mitch Albom mentions that he always separated "us" from "them" and I can see how so many people do that (and how easy it is to do). Perhaps if more people could erase the "us" and "them" line, things would be much better in different places of the world. Easier said than done, I know!

Anyway, I thought this book was a really good one and wanted to tell you that if you have the chance, you should read it. And, if you haven't read his other books, give them a try - I can almost guarantee you'll be hooked just as quickly as I was!

Favorites Tag

My sister tagged me before Halloween & I just noticed! For some reason my blog doesn't show when she updates her blog so I have to check it randomly. Guess I never scrolled far enough down to see this one! Sorry I'm slow Cass!

1- What is your favorite picture?

I actually love all the pictures Shalamar did. I can't wait to have her do them again after baby is born. Actually, I'm thinking of having her do some maternity ones. Anyway, I love, love, love this picture. It shows the true personality of the kids. Even though they fight with each other and act like they don't want anything to do with each other sometimes, I know they still love each other. This picture shows how loving Sam & Nash are to Caleb and how much Caleb wants to be just like his big brother and sister. I'm contemplating blowing this up to an 11 x 14 for my front entryway (right now it's just an 8x10).

2- What is your favorite book, and why?

I LOVE the Children of the Promise series. I love reading Historical Fiction and this is not only based during my favorite time period to study, but it's also about an LDS family in SLC.

After all the books I've read this summer/fall I have several others that I love as well. However, I must say that I still think this is my all time favorite. I'm thinking about reading it again.

If I had to pick an author (aside from Dean Hughes) I'd pick Mitch Albom. Right now I'm reading his latest book Have a Little Faith.

3- Post your favorite recipe.

I LOVE the chicken enchilada ring from Pampered Chef!

2 c. coarsely chopped cooked chicken

1 c. shredded Cheddar/Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 c. mayo (not miracle whip)

2 roma tomotoes

2/3 c. finely crushed corn tortilla chips, divided (I usually don't use these)

salsa

1/4 c. chopped olives

1 can (4 oz) chopped or diced green chilies, undrained

1 TBSP Pantry Southwestern Seasoning Mix (this is pampered chef brand - you can use taco seasoning too, but it isn't quite as good)

1 lime

2 pkgs (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent rolls

sour cream

Preheat oven to 375. Chop chicken and olives using food chopper, place in mixing bowl. Add cheese, green chilies, mayo and seasoning mix.

Chop 1 tomato. Slice lime in half. Juice one half of the lime to measure 1 tsp. of juice. Reserve remaining lime for garnish. Add chopped tomato and lime juice to chicken mixture.

Reserve 2 TBSP crushed chips; add remaining chips to chicken mixture and mix well. Sprinkle reserved crushed chips over flat side of large grooved cutting board. Unroll crescent dough. Place dough sticky side down onto crushed chips; press down lightly so chips adhere to dough. Separate dough into triangles. Arrange triangles, chip side down, in a circle on classic round stone (or round pan) with wide ends overlapping in the center and points towards outside. There should be a 5 inch diameter opening in the center. Using medium scoop, scoop chicken mixture evenly onto widest end of each triangle. Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough at center of ring. Filling will not be completely covered. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

For garnish, cut remaining tomato into 8 wedges. Cut remaining half of lime into 4 slices; cut in half. Arrange between openings of ring. Cut using spatula. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

4- What is your biggest pet peeve?

I REALLY hate it when Trav goes in my kitchen and turns a can 1/4 turn so I can't see the label. Drives me NUTS! I have quite a few pet peeves though.

5- What are you going to be for Halloween?

I contemplated being a pregnant nun. But, I went with the kids and didn't dress up because of the rain and because I never made it to my mom's house to get the nun costume.

6- Describe your dream vacation.

I'd love to go back to New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii. If I couldn't do that then I'd like to go to France, Germany and Italy. I don't think I'd take Trav though. He HATES foreigners and he doesn't care too much for travel. I think I'd take my mother and leave the kids home with Trav!

7- What is your proudest accomplishment?

Graduating college? Getting married and staying married to the same person for 11 1/2 yrs? Having children and not selling any of them to strangers? Not too sure.

8- What is something you are looking forward to?

Despite my initial feelings, I am excited to stay home with the kids. I'm looking forward to having the boys' room finished downstairs and them moving into it. I'm looking forward to finding out if this baby is a boy or a girl. I'm looking forward to getting this baby here and losing the atrocious amount of weight I know I'm going to gain!

Here are my 8 new questions (those tagged answer these instead of the same ones I answered, yes, some of them are the same):

1-What is your favorite picture and why?

2-What is your favorite movie and why?

3-Would you rather go on your dream vacation with your husband or take the family and why?

4-What is something you are looking forward to?

5-What is your biggest pet peeve and why?

6-Post a favorite recipe or craft directions.

7-What is your favorite Christmas tradition and why?

8-What is one new Christmas tradition you would like to begin and why?

I Tag:

1-Ashlee

2-Tannie

3-Heather

4-Natalee

5-Nic

6-Angela

7-Amy

8-Anyone else who wants to play!

The things kids do...

Caleb has become addicted to Charlotte's Web. I remember all too well Samantha's phase of this...I have a dog that reminds me of it every day! He doesn't call it Charlotte's Web though. Nope, it's "The Piggy Movie." He wants to watch one of them (we have 3 different ones) every night before bed. When I won't let him watch it, he insists on taking the dvd to bed with him!

When I took the kids to the book fair at the school on Monday, Caleb picked out a True or False Farm Animals book. It is affectionately referred to as "Piggy Book." I think God miscalculated when he placed this farm boy in our home! Not only does he now sleep with his "Tractor Book," but also his "Piggy Book," "Piggy Movie," Lamb (all 3 or 4 of them - depending on how many we can find at bedtime), his pink Care Bear which he calls his "Buffalo," his horse, his green dinosaur that Grandpa Larry gave him when he got tubes, his monkey and his cow. Whew! Even my mom commented on how little room there was for him in his bed the other day when she was here and helped tuck him into bed. Little does she know that when he wakes up in the middle of the night and comes to snuggle with me he brings EACH and EVERY item from his bed to mine! Granted, sometimes I find a trail from his room to my bed, but generally speaking most of them end up in bed with us.

This boy is a farm boy at heart. I feel bad that we don't live on a farm because I know how much he loves EVERYTHING (yes everything - from the cowboy boots to the cow poop) that has to do with farm life. He is in 7th heaven when we go to Manti and he can become Grandpa Butter's little shadow. I think that perhaps I should make more trips to Manti just for Caleb!

Caleb has recently rediscovered the Fisher Price Little People farm that we got when Sam was little. He was thrilled! I don't think he's going to allow me to put it away for quite some time. In fact, I'm wondering how long it will be before he manages to get the entire farm, zoo and all the people and animals that go with them upstairs! Today I picked up the farmer, the tractor, and several animals. I don't think it will be long before the rest appears.

Despite all his farm "quirkiness" I can't deny how much this little boy makes me smile every day. He will be a great big brother - especially if he can manage to pass his love of farming on to his sibling!

FYI

Last night I was messing around and clicked on the link in my list "How does she". If you click this link it pulls up a blog & just under the slideshow to the right is a link called Free Calendar = Perfect Present. I was feeling venturous and went ahead and clicked. I ended up at vistaprint (I've bought business cards from them and have been happy). Anyway - you can get a wall calendar that you personalize with your photos (you choose background, add birthdays/events, etc.) or a desk calendar for only the price of shipping! I did one for my mom & one for my father in law. I know it isn't as awesome as when I did the scrapbook calendars, but lets face it...I don't have the time or energy (or the empty calendar sitting in my office not to mention that would mean I would have to finish shoveling out my office so I could work down there) to do the scrapbook calendars this year!

Anyway, I still had fun creating it and I know they'll love it anyway because it has all our beautiful smiling faces on every single month of the year! I thought I'd pass along the info - you know, just in case you're feeling venturous too!

In a completely random side note - I sold my 2nd item on my etsy website! It was even one I designed this time! HA! It was one of my baby tag blankets.

On another completely random side note - I left Caleb with my friend today & came home to sew (did I mention I might get a booth in Paradise this Saturday?). Anyway, I finished 8 (yes, 8) baby tag blankets & 3 burp cloths! I was excited! I have 2 blankets I'm going to finish tonight & I've also cut 6 inch squares (7 x 7 size for the finished product) for 3 more baby blankets that I'm piecing (yes Cass, you can pick one - all 3 are girlie!).

Baby updates

Today I went to see my dr. (Dr. Fowers). He had a hard time finding the baby's heartbeat, but after some searching was able to catch it long enough to make sure it was a strong heart beat. Apparently baby was doing somersaults - not looking forward to that in the near future!

The "highlight" of my appointment was when Dr. Fowers looked at my chart and then back at me and said, "You know you're on the track to gain a LOT of weight, right?" Um..yeah, last time I gained 62 lbs!! After I reminded him of that he asked me if I lose it all ok. I had the pleasure of telling him that although I gained 62 lbs last time, I also lost 80. His kind reply was "I guess gaining a lot is just your norm then." Thanks...I hadn't figured that one out. I have to remember that he didn't see me with my first two pregnancies. In fact, he didn't start seeing me until half way through Caleb's pregnancy. So, I guess I'm still "new" to him! I think the reason he pointed this out to me is that I've already gained like 30 lbs. Yeah, I said 30. Normally I gain a pound a week until the end of the second trimester and then it kicks into overdrive. I guess this baby might hit the 10 lb mark! He asked me about my diet and as I explained to him, I eat fairly normal. I'm not freaking out on treats - unfortunately the sound of many of them make me want to puke. I'm going to blame it on the fact that my body knows I'm pregnant and is just gearing up for the long winter!

I was able to schedule my ultrasound for Dec. 13th. Unfortunately, Travis won't be home. That's the day before he gets here. I didn't have many dates to choose from though, so that's what we took.

Since my appointment was this morning, I left the boys at Laura's house. She was kind enough to let me leave Caleb until 3. In that time I managed to get 3 burp clothes and 8 (yes, 8) baby tag blankets completed. I cut them all out last night (Caleb REFUSED to stay in or go to bed until midnight). Now I have 2 baby blankets pinned and ready to sew and 2 more that need to be cut (6 inch blocks of 2 different fabrics) and pinned. My girlfriend from next door told me she might be able to get me a booth at the art/craft/music thing in Paradise on Saturday. I'm crossing my fingers since the Lewiston booth didn't work out! Looks like I've got a few long nights ahead of me. I guess if the booth doesn't work out at least I'll have more items for my etsy.com website!