Ready For Summer

Taken in front of the mirror, because there are few things she loves more than her own reflection.

"Mom, apparently you just bought me this ensemble for picture taking and not actually ever going swimming."

She has a hungry look in her eyes as she reaches for my keys.

Oprah, I'm On To You!

HEY YOU! I know this post looks too long to read, but I encourage you to read it and follow through with I am doing to help make my America a better place!
....

I hate these types of "rant" posts.... or do I? Sorry, I just have to get this off my chest and into the minds of others. Oprah is trying to make everyone gay. Just kidding, but actually not really. Oprah has made herself the Pope to many, so today's (Wednesday March 25) episode on "Women leaving Men for other Women" is no bueno for society.


First of all, I've been boycotting Oprah for about 2 years, but sometimes- darn it all- I just catch myself watching her! Anyway, I started my boycott when I saw this show she did about this mom who, after being married for many years and having two children, just "realized" she was gay. So what did she do? Immediately divorced her husband, left her kids, and pursued a relationship with a woman. And THEN she somehow convinced her ex-husband that he was gay too. The woman was so darn proud of herself! And Oprah validated her pretended courage. I still remember her sickeningly smug smile to this day. Essentially Oprah was celebrating this woman's selfishness. And then, in the middle of it all are these two boys whose parents are divorced and they are supposed to be happy that their mom "found herself." Whatever.



The second Oprah-ism is how she had a show on how mad she was that prop 8 passed. (Ironically though, she had to cut into that segment because her house almost burned down from a wildfire and she did some quick interviews with her neighbors- act of God? Possibly...)





And third, Oprah is going to have another show on soon about all these middle aged woman who have kids, husbands, "regular suburban lives" and who just "found out" they are gay! Hurray! They get to leave their families and start new selfish lives!


Anyways my point is that who do these women think they are? Do we as a society really think the most important thing in the world is attraction? And if we follow what we are attracted to we will be completely fulfilled? Oprah seems to think so.

And just to further clarify, love is not attraction. How could you explain Brett loving me after the stretch marks Marie gave me? Seriously though, the best advice anyone every gave me is that LOVE IS A CHOICE. It's true, and it works on every level. Attraction may not be, but love is always a choice. So Oprah-women - get over yourselves!



Think I'm wrong? What if we replaced the "gay moms" with men who "realized they were attracted to brunettes instead of the blonde women they married?" Can you imagine Oprah headlining this story? Or what if it was about a middle-aged family guy who realized he was supremely attracted to goats? Should he leave his family and start a goat farm? And should Oprah validate his courage?

I don't think you'll be hearing anything like that except for on Jerry Springer.

P.S. Oprah likes to "diss" Mormons. It's true. I think she might have mentioned it in her "I can't believe Prop 8 didn't pass" show. However, she did a show with reporter Lisa Ling on the FLDS compound. In it Ling said she interviewed the children about their History Class. She asked what book they were reading and they replied "The Book Of Mormon." And of course, you would have to see the clip, but the way Oprah and Lisa talked about it was as if they were reading a book called "Brain Washing 101." Anyway, I hope that made sense.


A long time ago a friend told me she heard about a talk Sherri Dew gave that referenced shows like Oprah. It implied that LDS women need to pay less heed to these type of shows. If you are familiar with this talk or know where I can find it please let me know.


So my point here is not to be annoying, but i guess to examine what main stream media 's agenda is: accepting homosexuality. But MOST importantly it's important to recognize what perspective these women are living in. I think they are thinking "happiness is NOW" no matter what stage of life you are at, or what commitments (like being devoted mother to your children) you have made. I guess it's up to us to tell them there is more than this life, and there are better things than fleeting excitement.


Let's start by letting Oprah/NBC know the flaw in their logic (that they are implying).

Go HERE or paste in these to your browser.

https://www.oprah.com/ord/plugform.jsp?plugId=215

or https://www.oprah.com/contactus

AND
http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Contact_Us/ or click HERE to become a TV panel viewer.

Feel free to wait after today's show, but on second thought, don't! Just write!



Remember- their logic is flawed. Today's show "Women Leaving Men for Other Women" is essentially reminding everyday suburban moms that lesbians are people just like them. Whether you agree with that or not you have to admit the logic of women leaving husbands and children just because they are gay does not make the divorce any less horrific for the children. Even if the children are grown and out of the home. Don't let being gay be the "free card" and allow anyone out of their commitments which affect their children's lives.


Elder Robert S. Wood of the Seventy on Upholding, Nourishing and Protecting the Family.
"For too many, responsibility seems to end with hand-wringing and exclamations of dismay. Yet talk without action accomplishes little. We need to be vigorously engaged in the world. If our schools are inadequate or destructive of moral values, we must work with fellow members of the community to bring about change. If our neighborhoods are unsafe or unhealthy, we must join with the civic-minded to devise solutions. If our cities and towns are polluted, not only with noxious gases but soul-destrying addictions to smut, we must labor to find legitimate ways to eliminate such filth... We have the responsibility to be a blessing to others, to our nations, to the world." ("On the Responsible Self, Ensign March 2002, 30-31).

It is the Month of March.

Update for the sake of an update. It's been busy. We got home from Bama and did a quick U-turn back to Utah for Grandpa Millburn's funeral. It was as good as a funeral can get. A small gathering, considering Grandpa outlived most of his friends. The stories told over the pulpit were funny and comforting. He planned every detail of his funeral decades ago so everything went smooth. Grandma seems alright, but I'm sure it's not easy.

When we got home we were greeted by visitors. I won't say their names because they ditched work to be with us. They told their boss they had a funeral to go to. Ironic?

In other news, Brett and I have been thinking about how many children we are going to have. It would be so easy just to have two or three. But when we think about our families, the last three are always the most interesting, or at least the most fun. We can say that because we are near the oldest. So are we on the road to 6 kids? We'll see.

My youngest sassy brother Malcolm. Always a hoot.

So now, with our first 2009 visitors gone, we would like to officially invite anyone who reads this blog to come stay with us.
We'll take you to the bridge. Week days in the Spring are best, because the weather is good (or as good as it gets) and there are actually parking spaces!

We could take you to Santa Cruz to see the boardwalk and the beach.

We'll even bring you to the starving hippies at Haight and Ashbury. I think they are about to eat that dog.

Or we'll even go to the Mystery Spot. I went to the Mystery Spot when I was pregnant I really didn't "get it." I guess my center of gravity was so strong I couldn't tell the difference. But i went last week and it is AWESOME. So weird! At the end, I was so dizzy I had to leave. I think it made Marie sick too because she was freaking out at the end. Don't understand what I am talking about? You will just have to come and experience for yourself.

Well I gotta go. I have to give a talk tomorrow on Temples. I assume everyone is going to hear about Temples because of the "Big Lame" episode that is about to air. Oh well, anyone that is looking for inspiration from Bill Paxton is already a lost cause. Hey! I should use that in my talk tomorrow! Just kidding. That's going to be painful enough. I do admit I really like the sound of my own voice though. So its just going to be a test of patience for my ward.
In other thoughts, I've been thinking alot about Mormonism and immigration. It's pretty obvious that most Mormons in America are politically conservative. But I don't want to have a conversation about how all Mormons are not conservative, because I'm already set on the fact that I'm right, and I like it that way. However, apparently it doesn't matter if members are illegal immigrants in matters of church assistance and temple recommends. I guess you're a member first before all else. It kind of makes me think that The Church is already making exceptions against the government because our country is going down the crapper anyways. Don't worry, I won't get into this in my talk tomorrow.

Lastly, Marie is not crawling yet. Just rolling around and being awesome. That is all.

25 Things About Avery

I have been "tagged." I'm always tagged. It's hard being so popular. Just kidding. Seriously though, I guess I have to write 25 things about my friend Avery. She's on your left.


1. Avery is my friend. It is also the name of printer labels.
2. I met Avery at a friends house in Moscow while Brett and I were dating. Like all my best friends, I remember the first time I saw her I immediately wanted to be their friend and I did whatever it took to attach myself to her until she was my friend. (I wish I was kidding about that, but it's true. If you want to know where and when I wanted to be your friend I will tell you. Unless you're related, then I probably met you when I was too young to remember).
3. Avery has 3 cute boys whom are going to marry the 3 girls that I will (eventually) have. I hope everyone is OK with that.
4. Avery is going to be so embarrassed that I made this post.
5. Avery is a good person to pick for this because she is the only person that reads my blog that doesn't know any else that reads my blog.
6. We once went on vacation with Avery to a town called Avery.
7. Avery is Brett's favorite cook. I don't mind this because it means that she cooks for the both of us.
8. I once sprayed Avery's son with a hose and he cried and cried. He was only 4. I felt really bad, but it still kinda makes me laugh.Hey, it was just his legs! And he had just sprayed me in the face, soo... yah.).
9. I shouldn't tell Avery #8. But hey, she was there.
10. On the same subject Brett once hit a 12-year old girl in the head while playing dodge ball, and gave her a bloody nose. Even though it was years ago THAT really REALLY still makes me laugh. But I don't tell Brett because he felt SOOO bad. In fact I should stop.
11. Ok, that rudeness calls for a little self deprecation.
12.I once got a bloody nose in the baptismal font. Most embarrassing thing ever.
13. I once made a leaning wedding cake. Yikes, I still need to redeem myself for that.
14. Speaking of wedding cakes, I think there is a chance I might need vodka for Cassie's wedding cake. Everyone who is coming to the wedding get ready to PARTY!!! WOOO HOOO! But seriously, I MIGHT need it to paint on some decorative sparkles.
15. I don't think I am going to make it 25 (things).
16. Wait, I just thought of something- Marie related of course.



18. Marie likes dangerous things, like chewing on wires.
19. Marie loves her mommy more than anything... except wires.
20. Marie had her 6 month appointment at 7 months old. Woops.
21. She is only 14 lbs!
22. Her body weight and height is in the 10 % percentile.
23. Her head is in the 90% percentile. She thinks that's funny.


24. She is so proud of her mommy for having NO CAVITIES at her last checkup! I sure learned my lesson with a root canal.
25. I'm pregnant. Just kidding! But my good friend Nicolette is! Congrats!!!

Well this concludes my random list!

Lessons in Socialism

We are home now. Home-home. This morning I put on pants, not because I had to, but because I chose to. It felt great.

California is awesome. Green fields in February would lift anybody's spirit. It can be as much of a Zion as Utah or Idaho. Even though last night I got "the finger" at a stop light for glancing over at the car next to me (I was just seeing if I could turn right on a red light). That could happen anywhere.
I'm only saying this because we had Northern California Stake Conference today. A main theme was "Zion is where the Stakes are." A.k.a. "don't move out of California because it's so messed up." Which is a concern. I've had so many people ask me about moving to Idaho, like "what's it like? where should we live? And how can we escape without the Terminator finding us?"

I don't know what to tell them. I am not the person to ask for advice. Hence Marie has to learn the hard way how to sleep in her crib again.

Poor girl. She's spent the last 2 months in bed with Mom and Dad, so this new independence is not being well received. Brett put her down, and luckily it only took 20 minutes for her to cry her tiny self to sleep. I'm so proud of myself for not picking her up. Brett told me later to go peek in on her. He said "It's like she feel asleep trying to escape the crib... to find another mom that won't be so mean." He's joking. I'm having a hard time with this "cry it out" method. As I suppose most people do.

I will just have to think of her in happier days, like being held by Grandma Parry.

Which seg-ways me into my next item of business. The name "Perry" is a possible choice for my brother's new baby BOY due in July. Congrats to him and Maresa who have a sweet little girl already. The only other Perry I am aware of is Perry Como, who my mom loves.

Here are Beth and Marie watching something that is "jaw-dropping" amazing. Poor cuties were both sick with a bad cold at the same time! It was fun to put them together and watch them interact.

In other news, Brett just put Marie to sleep for her second nap. I don't know how he does it, but sometimes he just lays her down and she falls asleep. However, last time I announced Marie did something equally amazing, that is took a pacifier, she never did it again. So I'm not saying that Marie goes to sleep when Brett puts her down, I'm just typing it.

P.S. Just watched the movie "Fire Proof." Super bad acting, but it was a great movie. I recommend to all couples. If anything, you will bond over how ridiculous the acting is.

Oh my gosh, Marie just woke up. This blog is such a curse!

Route 66

We drove from Alabama to Mississippi to Tennessee to Arkansas to Oklahoma to Texas to New Mexico and finally to Utah. Marie loved every second of it. When we needed to stop for a break Marie was begging to get back on the road. She wanted to race us in this cop car. She rolled up her sleeves and hit the road. Hardly a fair race and there is an asterisk next to her victory because she had a siren.

From Arkansas to New Mexico we celebrated Valentines Day. The Valentine Fairy brought us these special gifts. We topped off the romantic country cruise in style with a personal pan pizza from the Pizza Hut/Taco Bell shop.

A simple 10-hour Sunday drive later landed us at my Dad's house in Draper. There we were greeted with a roast dinner. That's the way we like it.

Rachel writing now. Marie disagreed with her Dad writing. We are in Draper now and just in time to visit friends and family we are all sick.

We got to meet John's better half Sunday. It's really fun to see people you love find love. (Is that too gushy? Um yes.) It's funny to see who the Millburns marry, at least if you look at who they were in high school. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but this is roughly how I see it:

Bubs: married sweet shy bio-chemist

Stephanie: married a class president

Brett: married a gothic band geek

Mike: married a sassy valley girl

John: to marry a cheerleader.

Matt, you have your choice of marrying a jockette, a foreign exchange student, a cowgirl, or a drugged-out loser. Choose wisely. We'll try not to put a label on her.

Off to the Philadelphian! Yum Yum!