Food Fads

My sister and I were talking this summer about the gluten-free frenzy.  Doesn't it make sense that if a body is used to white flour and then quite suddenly as a whole the food industry moves towards whole grains... mightn't you feel some distress for a little while?  Hang in there.  Grind some wheat.  It's good for you.  I thought this article was interesting.  I remember when butter and eggs were evil and the only sensible thing was to use margarine.  Those were the days.  It's interesting when a new food is the "it" food of the moment. Coconut oil, chia, Greek yogurt, acai berry, pomegranates, and the list goes on and on.  One of the most satisfying things I do as a mom is to make a meal that has as many components as possible in it that I grew, raised or baked myself.  I know that my family is being nurtured physically and emotionally in that moment and that is a wonderful feeling.  It's something that I need to concentrate on doing better and more of.

Postmodern Parenting, Man Babies, and Heart Checks

The election is over and Jared will be the new mayor come January. This experience has brought up several unique situations that I have never encountered before.  I have never been bullied online or had a member of my family bullied online.  Now I know what that is like and the conclusion I have come to is much the same as it was when I was in elementary school. With guidance from my wise mother, I was taught that bullies act that way because they don't like themselves. I believe her. As an adult, it is a bit more complicated than that, but not much more. Increasingly I understand why a MOM and a DAD that love each other (or at least politely tolerate each other) and who love their children is vital to a well functioning adulthood for their children.  It can not be over emphasized enough. Damaged children grow up to be damaged adults and man baby tantrums cause much more damage.   I wouldn't go hang out in the bathroom at school if I knew that is where the bullies were. Same goes for sitting behind a computer screen in my home.

My generation is in another unique situation in that our parents can offer very little specifics as to raising children in a digital world.  Our parents could go to their parents for wisdom in most parenting situations. Online situations are a whole new ball of wax and my generation is flying blind in a lot of cases.  I am so thankful to have the knowledge that the Gospel of Jesus Christ offers.  I am thankful to have the opportunity to have the Holy Ghost.  I am thankful for a Mom and a Dad who loved me and loved each other.  They taught me that I was going to leave their home with some baggage.  It's inevitable. The defining moment was when they taught me that I always had a choice.  I could put the baggage down and do what my Savior taught or I could pack that baggage around and try to heave it at other people for the rest of my life. That goes for everyone no matter what a given childhood was like. Were they perfect?  Nope. But they were just right for me.  They taught me timeless principles that are principles of success no matter what technology brings. I am so thankful for my Mom and Dad.

I've also discovered that you can never really hide your true intentions.  If you are serving for the sake of serving and doing it for the sake of doing the right thing, you don't have to remind people about it.  Self-aggrandizement has become so common place in this Facebook/Twitter/YouTube world that we now live in but it still leaves a bad taste.  There is something in the natural man that is fed by posting our "awesomeness" and  watching as the "likes" tally up.  It's a fine line between genuinely sharing something positive and saying, "Check me out."  It comes down to where our heart is and it's not something that can be hidden for very long.  It's something that I have to do a "heart check" on frequently.  It's painful when the diagnosis comes back as:  needy, grasping and desperate for validation.  Ouch.  

Hardy Edibles From This Year's Garden

I always get so emotionally involved with the plants that beat the odds and thrive in our short, cold, Bear Lake growing season. I bought a 6 pack of basil plants and planted them too early. Of course they froze. Or so I thought. I saw the damage and figured there was no hope. By the time I saw them again it was the middle of summer and the near by zucchini and pumpkin plants had taken all of the attention. To my surprise, they were growing! I had spicy globe basil, purple basil and a lot of Genovese basil. I used some to make red sauce and the rest I made into pesto. I use walnuts or almonds instead of pine nuts because of the difference in cost. My Grandpa Baker used to go "out West" in Utah and harvest pine nuts. I would eat them until I got sick. I wish then I would have realized what a luxury they are. I freeze the pesto in ice cube trays and store them in freezer bags. We had some purple pesto tonight and it was so good. It is spicier than the Genovese basil. I love the will to survive that those basil plants had. I thought they were goners for sure.

The other plant that did really well, given the low expectations it was planted with, was Chinese longbeans. I thought they would be far too tender for these climes. I really just bought them out of curiosity. I trellised them with a hog panel and sat back to see what would happen. I wish that I had taken a picture of them on the trellis. They were prolific and beautiful to look at. Pretty exotic for a southeast Idaho garden, in my opinion. I blanched them and then stir fried them in a soy sauce/brown sugar mixture. I want to plant them again next year and try this.  It's one of my favorite Chinese buffet dishes.

Local Politics

My husband is running for mayor of our small rural Idaho town. It was not an ambition of his to do this. The current mayor has been in office for eight years and has spent our city into a severe situation and now wants to raise the sales tax by 1%. My husband's education and career are in finance and insurance. We have a home and a small business here. It looked like no one was going to run against the current mayor and my husband knowing the situation couldn't, in good conscience, let him run unopposed. So here we are. If he is elected, it's not going to be fun. But he will do it and he will do a good job. He understands personal responsibility and he understands this:

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

I've learned some very valuable things through this experience.

The first thing; I have married a noble man. He cares more about the eternal nature of his decisions and his behavior than he does about "winning" an earthly contest. In this election I have seen such disgraceful behavior and mourn for the husbands, wives and children that have to live with these individuals post election. Our actions follow us. We can't leave them behind unless we sincerely repent. My whole heart is thankful that I married a man who strives to not trust in the arm of flesh.

Second thing; There is peace in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know this to be true. It is very easy to fall prey to the crab mentality. Contentions, jealousy, strife, malice, persecutions and pride are all fruit of the adversary and I am so thankful that the Gospel teaches me how to avoid those pitfalls, if I will. I am so thankful for the Atonement of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I have felt the empowering effects of it when the pain of hurtful or unkind words or actions have driven me to my knees to seek relief. As I have asked for help and followed the commandment to love my enemies and pray for them, I have felt peace and comfort and I know my Savior's promise is true. I have felt comfort and strength as I have sought out those I have offended and sought to reconcile and repent. Live the Gospel and you will live with peace and joy.

Third thing: I do not want my children to grow up to be apathetic to the sacrifices that have been made on their behalf. People have given their lives that we might have the freedom to vote and have a voice in our government. It appears to me a horrible form of ingratitude to be indifferent and uninformed. This experience has given me a renewed resolve to teach my children to think for themselves. To give them the opportunity to disagree with me and come to their own conclusions, backed by logic and reason rather than emotion. I am astounded by the resentment and defensiveness that arises when a problem that needs to be addressed and fixed is brought up if it somehow questions one's political affiliation's values or asks one to look at an issue outside of themselves. This idea of "if you disagree with me, you hate" is an unintelligent and lazy device to simply quiet someone who disagrees with us. The only thing this accomplishes is decay because there is no attempt at mutual understanding and without that that there can be no moving forward or mutual respect. I want my children to know that honor matters. It matters here and it matters in the next life. Behavior that seeks to provoke rather than address an issue honestly is dishonorable. Hiding behind bogus online profiles is dishonest and honesty is the most important virtue there is. The level of discourse that our nation and even the community I live in has fallen so profoundly. It's a natural consequence of our pride but I want my children to know that there is always a choice. There is a better way:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith"

I know this is true.

We are what we repeatedly do.

A little reminder from Aristotle....

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."

It was an excellent day of school. I am so thankful for Jared, that he makes it possible for me to teach our children. We are going on our first field trip tomorrow. Photos to follow....

"Time flies. It's up to you to be the navigator."

I deleted my facebook account. I feel lighter. I have been acted upon rather that acting lately when it comes to my time. I was reading a Time magazine book review on a book called "The Circle". It's about a fictional corporation called the Circle "that bears a strong and, as far as I can tell, entirely intentional resemblance to Google, if Google had eaten and devoured Facebook and Twitter." This quote from the book resonated with me; "The tools you guys create actually manufacture unnaturally extreme social needs." I would rather act than be acted upon.

This is my favorite photo of the summer.