12-12-12

Wednesday was Alaina's 1st birthday! We celebrated by blowing up a few balloons (which terrified her), going to the park (which was fun, but freezing), and having a party. The party was actually more for Caleb and his classmates to celebrate the end of another semester, but we invited a few kids and threw in a cake and some presents for Alaina too. Since she has no idea what a birthday is yet, I didn't feel like planning a grand party in December. I have too much on my checklist.

 It took 24 hours, but she finally likes balloons now!

Don't laugh at my mini cake. It was a first attempt at decorating, and I ran out of frosting. I don't like cake anyway.

 Alaina apparently does.

The Party:

I just love her.

Miss Spectacular!

I'm so sad I missed my little sister's special night!

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/temecula/temecula-special-needs-girls-shine-at-miss-spectacular/article_c5cfa4a1-9f52-59cc-9486-772dc1b5a755.html

Gloria

I am trying to blog more regularly. I have to get away from the notion that my posts must include some significant historical event such as announcing a pregnancy, sharing Alaina's newest developmental milestone, or putting a cute fall outfit together from my wardrobe. (Ok, that last one was a joke. I just see a lot of those lately.) So all I have to say is that the David Archuletta Holiday station on Pandora is the best ever. And that I miss my sister McKenna. That's it.

Edison failed like 1,000 times too.

I have all of these great entrepreneurial ideas in my head, but then I always find out that someone else has beaten me to the punch. Like I wanted to invent a toothbrush that played a tooth-brushing song, so kids would know how long to brush their teeth for. Then I saw one at Walmart. I also thought of starting a website that replaces all those sorry "Lost Dog" posters you see everywhere. A sort of Craigslist for the abandoned animal world, if you will. That way if someone finds or loses an animal they can log it in on my website, called LittleDog.com. (You know, like, "Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone?" That was Caleb's contribution. I told him I wanted to call it PoodleInAHaystack.com, but he just dropped to the floor in laughter. Anyway, a quick google search dashed all of those dreams thanks to petamberalert.com (really people? it's a dog, not a human), petfinder.com, lostmydoggie.com, and fidofinder.com. Apparently I'm not as innovative as I thought. There's still the sock mops I hope to invent so I can mop my floor as I walk around the kitchen. Wait. Just checked Google. Alas, they already have those too. I still have high hopes for a combination razor/shaving gel contraption so I can skip a step when I shave my legs. Maybe then it might happen more regularly.

White Friday

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but I am NOT a Black Friday shopper. Every year when I read headlines like, "Gang fight at Black Friday sale," "Man punched in face pulls gun on line-cutting shopper," and "Shoplifter tries to mace security guards," I shake my head with embarrassment for America. I'm all for getting good deals (I shop mostly at garage sales and Goodwill), but nothing kills the spirit of the Holidays like watching human  beings attack each other over the latest Apple product. Also, maybe it's the Triptophane, but I'd rather not wake up at 4am. I also have beef with the big stores that make their employees work on Thanksgiving evening just to extend profits by a few hours. Like I said, Thanksgiving is sacred. Besides, I can usually find the same deal online.

Instead, this morning I got in a good hour-long, sweaty workout. I ate back all the calories I had just burned with a delicious early lunch of turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes... and 2 pieces of pumpkin pie. I'm sitting at Caleb's grandparent's home listening to kids playing, teenagers laughing, and the happy babblings of my daughter who has now learned to climb down the stairs (thank Heaven). 

This is my kind of holiday.

Bumpers, ballots, and babies

Halloween was a quiet affair for our family. We went to our ward trunk-or-treat, and then went home. You know what made me mad? A ton of families came to trick or treat from other wards/surrounding neighborhoods, and they didn't bring any candy to share. Hence, there were hundreds of children, and not very much candy, so the event lasted about 15 minutes. The takers outnumbered the givers. But since candy doesn't even exist in Alaina's world, we still had fun. And everybody loved our costumes.

 

 

On November 6th we voted. This is us at 6am outside a polling place. This is the second polling place we tried. The first one already had a 1.5 hour wait by 5:45. I loved watching so many Americans voting. I didn't love the election results, but what can you do? Just keep living life, working hard, and hope to make a better world for your kids.

 

  

Alaina found her favorite hiding place. It's the one cupboard that doesn't have a lock on it (she yanked it off). She is walking all over the place now. I can't wait to go home for Christmas so our families can see how adorable she is.

Miskin, Party of 2

Do you have any feelings of social inadequacy? Mine is hosting parties. This one time in college my roommate Mandie and I hosted an Olympic-themed party. We invited the whole ward to join us in watching the Olympics and snacking on patriotic food (layered red and blue jello with whipped cream on top, red, white, and blue, M&Ms, etc.). I thought it was a genius idea, but apparently I was the only one. A single person showed up: Mandie's cousin. I don't know why I take these things personally, but in my mind nobody showing up to my party translates to "you're a loser, and nobody likes you." I've been terrified of hosting ever since.

So this week Caleb told me he wanted to have a party. He gave me a list of a few families he wanted to come over for an "Ethnic Foods Night," where everybody brings a different dish from around the world. I sent out the evites three days ago, and so far I have 3 "no's" and a "maybe." The rest simply haven't responded. This is how my sensitive female brain translates:

No: a few people had valid excuses, so I can't really get upset about that. The excuse-less "no's" mean "I don't find you interesting enough to spend the evening with."

Maybe: this means, "I have no intention of coming, but I don't want to hurt your feelings by marking "No."

Unresponsive: Also means, "I have no intentions of coming, but I don't want to hurt your feelings by marking "maybe" or "no." So I'll just ignore you.

Looks like Caleb and I will share a lonely evening over Fe Jiaoda and Tim Tam Slams.

It's hard to be mad at my witty husband.

I asked Caleb, "Do you still love me as much as the day we were married, even though I weigh more now?"

Caleb replied, "Yes. Just less per pound."

Mental Shrapnel

I think the Backyardigans is my favorite children's TV show. I've been humming their theme song all day. Weird-looking characters, though.

I also think that I'm being poisoned, unless someone else has a better explanation for some recent alopecia. I have to unclog my shower drain (the most vile job in history) every week. I've read that women grow more hair in pregnancy and lose it afterwords, but it's been almost a year. I've had it.

BYU Football is breaking my heart this season, but I still watch them every week. My dad has given them up completely. He says he has more un-Christlike feelings during those games than any other time in his life. 

My book club is reading "The Happiness Project." The author shares her experience of trying different methods to make herself happier over a year. It's not my fave. 1) Yes, anyone would be happier if they spent a fortune on a personal trainer to help them get into shape, and 2) all of her other methods seemed to mirror gospel principles. I think I'll just stick to reading my scriptures. I've never really cared for self-help books anyway.

My garden is dead. A frost wiped out anything that was left. I did manage to save the biggest bell pepper I've ever seen in my life. On the left is a normal-sized pepper that you'd buy at the store, and on the right is what I picked in my backyard.

We're still trying to finish it.

The Gr8 Deb8

Ok, I'm a political junkie. I hesitate in blogging my thoughts because I 1) don't want to alienate friends/readers who disagree with me, and 2) tend to get a little worked up about certain political issues. That being said...

Did you watch the debate last night? I did (as always). This time I actually took notes on my thoughts during the debate, so I thought I'd share some of them. Who knows, maybe I'll have my own talk show someday.
__________________________________________

*Winner? That depends on what you're looking for.
Winner on style? Obama. Winner on substance? Romney.
Obama had some witty one-liners that got the audience laughing. He also seemed much more at ease than at his last debate. It was such a dramatic difference from the first debate that he definitely gets the "Most Improved" award. Romney also had a solid performance, but I did feel like he was on the defensive more than in the first debate. That being said, Romney called to question many of the president's policies, and I didn't feel like Obama could give convincing answers. The most disturbing example of this was the question about the tragedy in Libya. Most of the conservative media is criticizing the mediator Candy Crowley for favoring Obama, but I didn't really agree with that except in the Libya question. Americans want to know why the Libyan ambassador was denied more security, and why we weren't given answers sooner, but I felt like Candy gave the president a pass on that question, and ignored Romney's very valid arguments.

*I wish that both candidates would just give a pep talk to the American people. I know it would mean political suicide, but I would love to hear: "Yeah, times are tough, but you know what? We need to be tougher. That may mean eating ramen, rice, and beans for a while. That may mean temporarily taking a minimum wage job out of college instead of moving into your parents' basement and complaining about sky-high student loans. That may mean saying no to the latest iphone because you can't afford it, or shopping at a thrift store or garage sale. WE CAN DO HARD THINGS! America is only as good as it's people. No matter who the president is, if we aren't a moral and a fiscally responsible people, our country will still fail.

*I'm sick of all the demonizing of rich people! We all hate them until we are one of them. The millionaires are huge job creators. Don't we all want to make more money? If we tax the snot out them, they can't pump that money into the economy. We need them. 60% is already a plenty high tax rate. And for those saying Romney isn't fit for president because he's too rich, I would say:
1) The fact that he didn't take a salary for being governor of Massachusetts shows that he isn't in it for the money.
2) His record shows that he knows how to manage money. I trust him with my tax dollars.

*Debates shouldn't change our minds on who we will vote for. They are more for entertainment, not for enlightenment. Look at the candidates' policies and beliefs, and vote based on that. But I sure enjoy watching. :)

Walking, she is.

I've always wanted to be a Star Wars family for Halloween. I've been Princess Leia like 5 times already, but this year I'll be joined by Luke and Yoda. Caleb has refused do dress up, (something about me ripping up his man card) but I'll convince him. I want to recreate this photo:

The hat is a little big. I made it out of a pillowcase from Goodwill. I'm all about costumes on a budget. Apparently she looks more like Shrek than Yoda. Oops.

Caleb turned 27 last month. He's been in mourning on every birthday since he turned 25. He thinks he's old or something. I tried to lighten his mood this year by taking him kayaking. He loves that kind of thing. Due to some poor planning on my part we spent 3 hours driving/setting up/taking down, and only 1 hour in the water. I also should have checked water levels. Who would have guessed that after Indiana's biggest drought in 100 years the Wildcat creek would be more like the Wildcat puddle. Despite all the setbacks we still had a really good time.

I also must showcase Alaina's latest outfit that I made... or rather I helped with. Caleb's mom did most of the work. 

She has some room to grow into it.

And lastly, Alaina started walking. This is the best video I got, but her record is 10 steps so far.

six kids and a sister

I'm back. Things have been a bit crazy for us over the past two weeks, and it's nice to finally catch up.

First things first. I read the Old Testament front to back for the first time. I always used the excuse that it was too long to read, but after finishing Atlas Shrugged's 1100-or-so pages, I figured Heavenly Father might raise his eyebrows at my excuse. There are some gems in the OT, particularly in what my institute teacher calls the "major" prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel). Especially Daniel. I like him. I also realized that every chapter in the Old Testament is exactly the same: God is upset with Israel because they forsake Him for idolatry, and then invites them to repent. I found myself thinking that the Israelites were idiots until I realized that every day of my life is exactly the same: God isn't pleased with Lindsey because she sins, and He invites her to repent. Serve up some humble pie, please.

We watched my bishop's 5 kids for a week this month. It was busy, but good. Going from 1 to 6 kids wasn't as terrible of an adjustment as I thought it would be. I could totally have six kids if I gave up sleep and all of my hobbies. The highlight of the week was this: Caleb set his contacts and contact case in the kids bathroom one night. The next morning one of his contacts was missing. No idea where it went. The next day I was changing their 2-year-old's messy diaper, and I found Caleb's contact in her poop. She ATE his contact! Caleb didn't want it back.

Then until yesterday my sister and her baby were in town visiting. We had a blast. We toured Purdue, went garage sale-ing, and shared frustrations about our friends/family who brag about abusing entitlement programs. It's funny to think that I'm such good friends with a sister who used to punch me in the face and put toothpaste in my hair while I slept. She took all the pictures, so maybe later I'll get some from her and post them.

Bloggin while the baby sleeps

Lately nothing really blog-worthy has occurred in the Miskin household, but here are a few things on my mind lately.

Somebody named Brenda Denison is in big trouble. I think she used to have my cell phone number, and I get calls DAILY from creditors and collection agencies wanting Brenda to pay up. Debt is a bad thing, people.

The other day I hit the Pandora goldmine on my Celtic Woman radio station. Feel free to mock me, but yes, I love them. They have this song called "Nella Fantasia" that makes me want to cry. It's from the movie The Mission. Don't watch it unless you REALLY want to cry... and see a lot of topless tribal women. But the theme song inspires me.

I'm halfway through the unabridged Les Miserables. Everybody who thinks they know the plot of Les Mis from the musical/movie/abridged version is so wrong. They leave out SO much! This book is a must-read. I love it I love it.

Now that my sister Mckenna is on a mission I need to fill in my #2 speed dial slot. I miss her.

I saw a trailer today for the movie Lincoln. Oh good. Something to offset the atrocity Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

I think therefore I win.

I was talking to my sister Rylee yesterday about hair school. Here is our conversation:

Me: "How is school going?"
Her: "I LOVE it. I'm at the top of my class."
Me: "Wow! That's great, Ry! What decides class rankings?"
Her: "I do."

Let's hear it for positive thinking!

Fleeting thoughts

I've been missing my long hair lately. My blow dryer hasn't though.

Somehow I got roped into being on the HOA board. I'm the secretary, and all I will do is take minutes and listen to a bunch of old retired men complain about the college ruffians and their loud cars and unkempt lawns. It's amusing for about an hour, and then it gets annoying.

I tried to watch a replay of olympic speedwalking, but I couldn't. It's just unnatural.

I kind of miss school, surprisingly. Especially writing, because let's be honest: blogging isn't super intellectually stimulating. I decided to write a book... or an essay if I can't make it long enough. I'm only on page 4, so we'll see. It's a collection of stories from my life, so I guess it's an autobiography. No Pulitzer material here, but I'm having fun. Here's a sample--the story of my first date:

"Near my 17^th birthday I finally got asked on my first date. His name was Leroy, and he had short-term memory loss. Really, he did. He got in a serious car accident and when he woke up, all he remembered was French. It was a rather bizarre case, but I did not know any of this at the time, which is why I found it odd that he called several times to confirm our date. The night I had been waiting for came, but my date didn't. My parents were probably more devastated than I was, though. They left me on the couch eating ice cream and watching Steel Magnolias, and went to a wedding reception. Little did I know that I would go on my first date that very night. The doorbell rang an hour or so later. I wiped double fudge brownie off my face and answered it. A handsome young man stood before me.“I heard you got stood up on your first date,” he said. “Put a dress on. We’re going out.” My first thought was wishing I had not been wearing my Mickey Mouse pajamas. They were bubble gum pink with an image on the front of Mickey and Minnie kissing, and “Pucker Up” in giant cursive letters. My parents gave them to me as a joke for Christmas, obviously referencing the lack of “Puckering up” I had done in my lifetime. I felt like a textbook symbol of desperation as I stood there at the door. But I did put a dress on, and I did go out that night."

Family Fun

We went camping last weekend. I have a love/hate relationship with camping. Loves: hiking, biking, foil dinners, sitting around a campfire with my hubby... the hates: sleeping on the ground, and smelling like smoke. This particular trip was so fun. We went with some friends to Turkey Run State Park. 

 Alaina doesn't like wearing her hat, but she didn't mind the doo-rag. So adorable.

 I think this state park is the only place in Indiana where the elevation fluctuates at all.

 Caleb caught his first catfish on the trip. He cooked it up for dinner.

It was delicious.

We also went to the annual Tippecanoe County Steam and Gas show. It was SO HOT, but Caleb loved every minute of if. I enjoy how excited he gets at things like these.

 There were like 1,000 tractors there.

A nice man let us take a picture in his 1908 Buick. Caleb almost cried.

Retail Therapy, sorta.

I recently found that getting new baby clothes satisfies me just as much as going shopping for myself. This is great, because it's cheaper, and I can use fabric scraps to make cute baby dresses and not even feel guilty!

I had scraps from making these for my twin friends who just had babies...

And so I made this:

I know it looks weird. But, just like shopping, it looks cuter once you try it on.

Also, I hate Coats and Clark thread.

That is all.

Thoughts of a mommy blogger

The most recent BYU Alumni magazine had an article about mommy blogs, reporting that moms who blog about their children, favorite recipes, etc., have less incidence of depression and anxiety. Well, it's cheaper than medication, and I don't have any ice cream on hand. So here's my weekly personal opiate:

I'm now enjoying the firstveggies of my labors. I love having a garden. I've learned a lot (mostly through trial and error), and there's something so satisfying about eating food that I grew. The yields so far:

Basil pesto. We put it on chicken sandwiches. Can somebody tell me why pine nuts are so expensive?

Compliments of the garden jalapenos, lettuce, tomatoes, and basil, last night's dinner consisted of Jalapeno poppers, bruschetta, and a salad. Caleb is still singing praises about the poppers. I just seeded them, filled them with a cream cheese-garlic-parmesean mixture, and wrapped in bacon. Bake at 375 for 8-ish minutes, until bacon is crispy. Here is where learning by trial and error comes in. Take my advice: use gloves when removing seeds from a jalapeno, especially when you have a paper cut. My fingertips are still on fire.

Another thing that has been consuming my time lately was helping plan a wedding for a woman in our ward. I threw the bachelorette party. No, not that kind of bachelorette party. We made facials and watched a PG movie.

I have oatmeal and lemon juice on my face. I have no idea if it has any beneficial effects on skin, but that's what Google said.

Lainey was even allowed to join with her friend Gelisse.

I am also reading a book that I LOVE called Unbroken. It's a WWII biography of the coolest guy ever. In fact, when I started reading it I thought for sure that it was fiction. There's no way anybody's life is that exciting. But sure enough, he's real, and he's awesome. That being said, I'm not done yet, and I've learned that I shouldn't recommend a book until I finish it. Recently I recommended a book I was reading, only to find that the next chapter was no bueno. Oops.

Hot.

We hardly got any photos from the 4th of July. To be honest, it was so blasted hot that we didn't do much at all. You know, I thought I knew what hot was. I grew up in California, so I expected that I could easily manage 100+ temperatures. Not so. I think if the devil himself left the fire and brimstone of the infernal pit, he would set up camp in the Midwest. For the past few weeks I feel like I am swimming in flames when I step outside. And that's why we didn't even watch fireworks this Independence Day. Sad. We did, however, go to a potluck, which had so many adorable pinterest-esqe foods that I thought I would die. My particular favorite was the layered flag drinks found here. Caleb, of course, appreciated the  drink for its chemistry-based demonstration of liquid densities. Anyhow, these are the only photos of the day:

I've also been meaning to share this video of Alaina laughing. Nothing humors her more than violence, I guess.

And lastly, I will share that two teeth recently popped up in Alaina's mouth. All I have to say about that is, well, it makes breastfeeding darn-near excruciating at times. The worst thing: my baby thinks it's funny.

Views on Obamacare—one nurse’s perspective.

I've been meaning to write this for some time, and in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling I thought now would be an appropriate time. Let me first preface my comments by saying that our current system has some gaping problems that need to be addressed. Also, while I disagree with a healthcare mandate, I do not think it inherently evil, and I would remind people to be respectful of others’ differing views.

One basic problem with health care in America is that many people choose not to buy health insurance. When an emergency strikes, they seek medical care, rack up a huge bill, but then can’t pay it. Those unpaid costs are factored into everybody else’s costs, making both health care prices and insurance premiums skyrocket. Obamacare seeks to eliminate this problem by mandating that everybody purchase health insurance, and then fining anybody who doesn't.

I see a few problems with this. One: there are plenty of people who still won’t get insurance, and the small fine would never cover their medical costs, which means we would still be stuck trying to cover unpaid medical bills. Two: this bill will drastically change the healthcare system by essentially putting it under the power of the federal government. Now, many don’t mind having a socialized health care system, and I can understand why. Everybody is covered, which is great. But the downside of socializing medicine is that it erases any competition in the market. Thus, American innovation in the health care world will plummet. So I guess you can either give everybody mediocre care or most people excellent care. I know which I’d rather have. In nursing school I studied abroad in Australia, which has a socialized health care system. Don’t get me wrong; health care is fine there, but it wasn’t great. I felt like I had stepped back in time about 30 years. Elective surgeries such as knee replacements had year-long waiting lists. Amputations were much more common because doctors didn’t have the technology to repair limbs like they do here. If you really wanted good care you went to a private hospital rather than a public one because care was so much better there. The fact of the matter is that the private sector ALWAYS does things more efficiently than the federal government. Case in point: the DMV and the Post Office. If any business was run like those two, they wouldn’t last a year.

Another problem I see with this bill is that America simply can’t afford it right now. We are TRILLIONS of dollars in debt right now, and we want to spend another couple trillion to make health care more affordable. I admire the goal to make sure everyone has access to affordable health care, but if it doesn’t fit in the budget, it should wait. Now just isn’t the appropriate time.

I have heard people argue that this bill isn’t any different than forcing people to buy car insurance. But it is. Driving is a privilege. You choose to drive, you don’t choose to be born.

I have a lot more to say, but already this is getting too long, and I actually want people to read it. Lastly I will say that the biggest reason I disagree with this bill is because, in my opinion, it does not align with constitutional principles. Nothing says America like “Federal Mandate,” right? When the government claims to provide free or more-affordable benefits to the American people, all it really means is that our taxes will increase, and we will end up paying for it anyway. 

The new doo

Ok here are finally some pics of my hair. We were gone all weekend, so I didn't get a chance to post them. I'm actually glad I cut my hair,which is good news considering I wanted to cry when the lady cut it. I told her to take off 10 inches (the minimun for Locks of Love) and she took off 12. Those 2 inches nearly did me in, because they still had to take off more to style it. I can hardly put it in a ponytail now. But I'm ok with it. I don't look like a boy, and the humidity of the midwest doesn't bother me as much with short hair. And of course, hair will grow back. Another reason I donated it is because my cousin Tara is battling brain cancer at age 22. She is such an inspiration to me, and it seemed rather pathetic to keep my hair long for purely vain reasons. Since I can't donate blood again until December, at least I can do something small for humanity.

 The "Before" shot.

 I never thought I would cave and get the "mom" haircut.

Another plus is that we will save a ton on shampoo and conditioner! And Caleb won't have to unclog the shower drain as often, which is probably his favorite thing ever.

Lately Alaina has had some decent exposure to the country lifestyle, thanks to her daddy:

 Doesn't she look so excited? (not. it was past bedtime.) At least Caleb enjoyed it.

I was a little wary about getting this picture. Sure enough, as soon as I took it, the mama horse tried to bite Lainey's head off. Nice.

A Drastic Decision

I wonder what Caleb will say when he comes home today.



Snell Girls; No Slugs allowed.

I love my mom and sisters!