Teeth chattering

I've decided to become an advocate for global warming. Yes, you heard me correctly. For global warming. After Jack Frost killed my favorite season with subzero temperatures and icy winds, I decided that a warmer world doesn't sound so bad. So I'm buying an SUV. And I'm cranking up the furnace. And I'm all for the Keystone pipeline. Burn those fossil fuels, baby, burn!
Ok, clearly the cabin fever is getting to me, but really. It is SO COLD. I've never read Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, but I'm pretty sure the logic is that Venus is closer to the Sun. And, I'm pretty sure they're lying about the whole fire and brimstone thing; I bet hell is just like the Midwest in January.

Dumb phone

Last week I gave my smart phone a lobotomy, and I'm very pleased with the results. It's still a mildly intelligent phone, but less of a time-sucking vortex.
1. I uninstalled my Facebook app. This doesn't mean I cancelled my account; it just means that now I have to make a deliberate choice to get on FB on my laptop, rather than just browsing every time I look at my phone. I waste much less time.
2. I put my phone in airplane mode whenever I go to church or read my scriptures on my phone. Less chance of distraction.
3) I only turn my data on when I am home or when I need something specific. It's liberating to be off the grid every once in a while.
I have, however discovered Overdrive, which has changed my life. No need to whistle while I work when I can read!

From the plains of Minnesota...

Tennessee is America's best kept secret. We went there this past weekend, and I would share pictures, except for Jesse gave my phone a bath so I have no photo evidence of our trip. But can you say rolling hills of autumn heaven? We learned a few tidbits of wisdom while down South. 1) the southern accent is contagious. It wasn't long before Caleb picked it up. Now I'm worried he'll grow his beard out and start wearing camo regularly. 2) bringing kids on a vacation will nullify the "vacation" part. 3) eating Sonic cheesy french fries on a hotel room floor with a one and two year old is way more fun than trick-or-treating in snow. 4) for the first time since Jesse's birth I witnessed my baby actually sleeping "like a baby." Both of our kids zonked out for hours in a stadium filled with thousands of screaming (mostly BYU) fans. Glorious. 5) when you get drowsy on your drive home, you can a) do the rational thing and pull over for a nap, or b) do the Caleb thing, and run laps around a gas station in 25 degree weather. So embarrassing. On the bright side, that same crazy man also showed some brilliance and resurrected my phone by running it through a "desiccator" or "decimator" or some other aggressive-sounding machine in his lab. So endearing.
At least the one photo we got was a cute one.