Covered Books

A couple of months ago I heard about a plan for reading the Book of Mormon. Get a paperback Book of Mormon and read it twice. The first time, look for every reference to Christ and mark it in red. The second time, mark all of the doctrines and teachings of Christ in blue.
I loved the idea and wondered what I could do to motivate my family and me to do this. I decided to cover the books with fabric. I google "how to cover a book" and came up with a site to turn a paperback into a hardbound book. Some of you might remember I pinned it on pinterest.
I ended up doing about 12 books for family and friends. I covered books in brown suede cloth for the boys.
I gave them as New Years gifts to family, friends and the people I visit teach.

Remember the Savior

Frank and I went to the Devotional at the MTC tonight. Elder L Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy spoke.
There were a couple of things that he said that I know you all would like to hear.
He talked about how often we hear people complain about how early the Christmas season seems to start. We hear things like "It is still Halloween" or "Can't they wait until after Thanksgiving?" He said that one of the apostles heard someone talking like that and he said "Is it ever to early to begin to celebrate the birth of the Savior?"
Later Elder Clayton said "Have always in your heart some feeling for the meaning of Christmas."
It should be Christmas all year long.

White Christmas

Why is it that when I watch the movie "White Christmas" the song that gets stuck in my head is the one about "Mr. Jones?"

Don't you wish you had a dress like the red ones at the end and a place to wear it? (And an 18 inch waist to go with it?)

When Beckie and I were little, our Barbies were "Sisters" and we tried to dress them and make them dance like Betty and Judy. Barbie had almost the same hairdo as Judy and Judy had almost the same figure as Barbie.

My Nightmare Before Christmas

I was just finishing my Christmas decorating. I was getting the last box out of the back corner, by the outside wall in a basement closet. The box was damp on the bottom.
First I should tell you about the box. I know it is silly, but the box was sentimental to me. Our first Christmas when we were married, Frank gave me a Bosch. The Bosch died long ago, but I was still using the box to store decorations. I used the box to store decorations that were not valuable, but were sentimental to me. Like the elf I got at a party in Gemany when I was 8. And the ornaments the kids made in school. And the refrigerator magnets with their school pictures. I also stored the Advent Kranz that Clyde made for me in that box.
Well, when I opened the box it was FILLED with mold. Black mold, brown mold, and fluffy cotton-like mold. It was terrifying.
I had to go through the box to look for anything that was salvageable. Not much was. Anything made of glass or ceramic was untouched. The Advent Kranz was washable. Frank's little boy doll that his great grandmother made him was in a ziploc bag so it was ok. Almost all of the rest of it had to go.
When I was finished I felt creepy, so I had to take a shower.
SO---lesson learned. I am buying plastic bins to store everything from now on.

Water Aerobics

Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays, when I am Salt Lake, I go to water aerobics.
There is a pool here in our apartment building.
I am at least 15 years younger than anyone else who comes to the class. (Most of the people in our building are old.) One lady who attends the class is 98 years old. There are usually 3 old men and 4 old women in the pool, besides myself.
Norma teaches the class. She is probably 70 or 75. One time she told me proudly that she swims 20 laps every day. (The pool is about the length of a motel pool, but it is square. It takes me about 3-4 strokes to swim the length of the pool.) Norma pays close attention to how I am doing the exercises and corrects me all the time. I think it is because I am the only one in the class capable of actually doing the exercises right.
Connie is about the same age as Norma and is Norma's best friend. She often does something completely different than the rest of us are doing. Norma told me not to do what Connie is doing because it is "too hard."
There is an old Japanese man who comes. He doesn't speak much English, but every time he gets into the pool he says "Herro, everybody." He doesn't know how to do most of the exercises so he mostly just walks around the pool, watching everyone, trying to figure out what to do.
Norma is funny because she always says exactly the same thing about each exercise. For example she tell us every day, as we are doing what she calls the "super kegel" that Dr Oz says this is the most important exercise you can do.
But after all that explanation I must say that is actually a really good workout. I can really tell that it does me a lot of good.
It is wonderful to have a pool so convenient. I love it here.

New Furniture

We got a new couch and recliner for our Salt Lake apartment today. And the amazing thing is, they delivered it on time. They said they would come between 7:45 and 9:45. They came right at 7:45. Amazing.
Yesterday I waited all morning for Direct TV to come install TV for us. They never came. So we decided not to go with Direct TV. I don't need more poor customer service. I have wasted too much time on poor customer service.

Perfect Popcorn

A few weeks ago we got a new microwave oven at Walmart. I also bought a Presto PowerPop microwave popcorn popper. (It is sold next to the microwaves.) It makes the best popcorn I have ever eaten. Here is the recipe my family likes best.

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup Orville Redenbacher popcorn

Pop according to the directions for the popper.

When we first got the popper we tried air popped popcorn, but it wasn't good.
I tried popping corn in butter. Good, but no better than olive oil.
I tried popping in theater butter oil. Also good, but olive oil is better.
The olive oil only has 120 calories per Tbsp, and the recipe serves about 3 people, so it is actually quite healthy.
I tried Jiffy Pop corn, but it isn't nearly as good as Orville Redenbacher.

If your family likes popcorn consider getting this popper. But I warn you, it will ruin microwave popcorn bags forever.