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Touching story. So, over the last few years, I am beginning to forget words.  People tell me that this is a normal part of aging, but being the crossword enthusiast I am, it's terribly frustrating for me.  I can be mid-conversation and not be able to form a specific word that I want. Then, over the past four months, I have been crazy busy.  Like so busy, I don't even have time to post, or do genealogy, two of my favorite things.  I have been forgetting more things than words. I forget where I parked my car in the Target parking lot. I can't even remember if I actually parked my car in the Target parking lot. I forget that I had Glo mail a letter to Ethan and consequently spend 10 minutes looking for it in the house. When I realize that it's in the mailbox, I don't remember how it got there. When I'm sending out bulk emails to the youth leaders in our stake (as the Stake YW secretary--my fifth calling in the church at the moment), I forget to send it

Hannah has been waiting for November 28, 2011 for several months now.  At least since August.  This was the day that she was to get her braces taken off! Seriously, the original plan was for Hannah to get them taken off in August, a year after she had them put on.  But things (namely her teeth) didn't move as fast as the dentist liked, and she was told she would need to wait three more months. If you haven't had braces, you have no idea of the anticipation. If you have had braces, you remember. The sore gums and the globs of wax. The nasty food stuck in the wires. The days of Ibuprofen after getting the braces tightened. The "metal mouth" look in each and every photo. Much to my dismay, Johannah caught a nasty bug from Mark over the weekend.  I didn't think she would want to get out of bed and make the trek to the dentist, but honestly, nothing was going to stop her! The beginning of the end. Success! The crazy thing was that after Hannah go

The night after Thanksgiving, when Johannah and I were compiling, organizing and packaging our Advent books to send, John and Glo headed out to the garage to carve our pumpkins. Yes, one month after Halloween, and six weeks after we bought them, Glo finally got her wish to make Jack-o-Lanterns. We had Christmas music playing in the background for heaven's sake! They proudly sat on our kitchen table for two days (and were lit two different nights). John always goes the good and traditional route... ...while Glo carved Cookie Monster and Elmo on the same pumpkin ...with no stencil.  Just a knife and her creative mind. Happy Hallo-giving-mas!

In seventh grade at Park Forest Middle School, the Cardinals team hosts "Market Madness".  Glo has been eagerly anticipating entering something in this fundraiser. Any child who wants to participate submits a prototype of something they want to make and sell (again, as a fundraiser for their team).  Glo knew from last year that she wanted to make clackers, two golf balls on a string that click together. The biggest problem?  She had to be able to create 30 clackers for the price of $5.  Yes, the school would give her the $5, and it was up to her to figure out the rest.  There was actually more that went into the business side of the project:  she took polls to see how much kids would pay, what she thought her price point should be, could she actually make them for that price?  Good stuff in my opinion.  With golf balls selling at 10 for $35, it seemed impossible to me.  Not to Glo. Glo, having a memory like a steel-trap, remembered when we first moved here to State Coll

This post made me so incredibly happy, especially considering the trying circumstances in which Ethan has been serving.  Glad to see he's still rocking his "cheesey" grin... Too, I would like to give myself "props" for figuring out exactly which hymn Ethan was playing within two minutes of looking at the photo.  See if you too can figure it out... A Visit to Szczecin! The Branch in Szczecin is the farthest place in the mission that we visit. Here President Nielson can only put Elders that he trusts will do a good job. Last month, Szczecin had 2 baptisms and there are more to come! Looking down from the church window, we see our two faithful Elders who serve in this great city....Elder Kennedy and Elder Fletcher. They are met at the front door by Lukasz, a recent convert. It was an exciting day for Lukasz. Today he was giving his first talk in Sacrament Meeting. (And it was great! We could not believe it was his first time speaking in church.) Lukasz is

Anna reminded me of this video (or reminded Mark which reminded me).  Good times, good times. I can't wait to see him in three days.  Let the laughter begin!

I am energetic and creative. I wonder what it is like in different countries. I hear people laughing at my jokes. Ha, Ha, Ha. I see the monsters and creatures in the book I am reading. I want to be able to draw amazing sights. I am energetic and creative. I pretend to travel to different places I have gone before. I feel frustrated when I can't get a line of music I am practicing on my violin. I touch the scales of my fish when I try to get them out of the pond filter. I worry about my homework when I can't find it. I cry when I think about how I am not with my brother in college. I am energetic and creative. I understand that one day I will have to decide big choices. I say we need to reach our full potential. I dream that I will get through the next class til the end of the day when I go home to see my dogs. I try to get better at math by doing my homework and having it checked. I hope that one day I will be a successful musician or cartoonist or engineer. I am energetic and

Every Wednesday, I spend 3 1/2 hours driving the girls down to Philadelphia for their violin and viola lessons.  I then spend 90 minutes in the city, dropping them off at the different studios, and picking them up at the different studios.  It can take me 20 minutes to drive 0.7 miles.  People ask why we don't walk from one lesson to another, and I remind them that there's no place to park for less than $20.  Afterwards, it's a mind-bending 3 1/2 hours back to State College, in the dark, with the girls asleep in the car. I don't mind doing this because of the teachers.  Their teachers are the best, and they make the trip completely worthwhile.  As was proven with Mark, the commitment pays off, both literally and figuratively. However, I definitely don't LOVE the drive.  While it's become routine, and we know what to bring and pack, and the girls are adept at doing homework in the backseat, I don't enjoy sitting in the driver's seat for 10 hours strai

So, after spending most of my Saturday buying gifts for "the 12 days of Christmas" for Ethan and his companion, and helping Anna and Johannah wrap the gifts, I'm now thinking about the Advent Book. For me, this book was a pure delight last year.  It turned out better than I could have imagined, and the stories were just perfect. If anyone who reads this blog would like to contribute a story this year, feel free to do so! (send it to my email:  thenewmamaaris@yahoo.com)  Even if you wrote a story last year, don't feel like you can't write this year.  The stories can be anything--sentimental, funny, personal.  They don't even need to be about Christmas.  It's just a bit of home for my boy who is so very far away from it.

Stormi, Anna, Larisa, Johannah and Claudia So, today our quintet played in church.  Oh my goodness, words can't describe how beautiful it was.  People were completely overcome. I gave all credit to my friend, Claudia.  The piece was her "find", and she figured out who should play what in it.  I wasn't sure that it would work, but having worked with Claudia long enough now, I know to trust her judgement.  She was our choir director for several years, and even on days when she didn't know what the theme would be for the meeting, her song choice would be perfect. So it was today.  Stormi on clarinet, Anna and Johannah on viola, Claudia on cello, and me on piano.  It was one of those unforgettable moments.  Claudia was once again directed by inspiration, and we were all enriched because of it. As a funny side note, we didn't plan our outfits at all.  Can you believe it?  This is Christmas-card worthy organization, and I don't think we could have done

Over the past couple of years, people have complained that my blog posts are too happy.  It makes them feel bad, and for that, I feel bad.  I never write to brag, or boast, or make anyone feel bad.  I write because "my cup overfloweth".  My life is so blessed, and I feel that I need to publicly thank my Heavenly Father for all that he has given me.  Yes, I feel gratitude for even the smallest things, but I can't help it.  Life is a blessing. I am so thankful for music.  Because Anna is here with us this weekend, I arranged for us to perform a musical number at church tomorrow.  I asked a good friend of mine, Claudia, who also happens to be an amazing cellist to help me find a good musical number.  In the end, she found an arrangement of "Beautiful Savior" which could be voiced for a clarinetist, two violas, a cello and ... me!  Today, everybody showed up at our house for rehearsal, and I was so happy to hear all those beautiful sounds that wouldn't typical

Today, when Glo found out that John was winterizing our pond, she couldn't resist running out to help him. From what Glo said, that water was COLD!

John jokes that when I die, he will have no pictures of me.  I HATE to have my picture taken unless I've had my hair done, and I'm skinny (which is basically never).  Hence, the photos of me are few and far between. I give him one day.  Our anniversary.  He always takes the day off, and after exercising in the morning, we get showered and head out to take our picture.  I wanted to take it in a different place today (than in our front yard), but the weather is blustery, cold and overcast.  This was more of a kamikaze photo shoot, and by the end, after falling over down a hill, it ended in laughing and running inside to warm up. As I was setting up the camera, I couldn't help but see how handsome my honey is.  I swear, aside from "growing" a bit, he looks the same as when I first met him.  His legs are still legs of steel, he still has hair on his head (which he likes to point out), and he's a man-dawg (to quote Mark).  Anyway, I had to sneak a photo of hi

What an exciting date, eh?  It's been fun to see all the hype that is leading to this date.  John and I just smile at each other, because you see, besides being a really cool phenomenon on the calendar, today is our 22nd wedding anniversary! Little did we know, 22 years ago, that our wedding date was on Veterans' Day.  After John joined the Air Force, it was like a funny little aside that he ALWAYS had our anniversary off of work.  He didn't have to request it, or anything--it was just a given.  He keeps the tradition going by now requesting the day off which means he's home today! Too, all kinds of restaurants in the area are giving free meals today to veterans.   Again , an expected gift.  Free food?  On our anniversary?  Perfect. I love my honey.  I say it all the time.  I frequently post about him.  Again, I am so thankful that he called me up almost 24  years ago, and despite my lack of interest in him, stubbornly pursued me.  He has given me all kinds of gif

I'm not quite sure how to say this but I had a VERY interesting experience at rowing today. We were doing our 6K test, which I've been mentally preparing for for almost a week now. In terms of distance, it's not SUPER long; every week we're required to do a 10K, not to mention with it being a test, you naturally have more of a drive to do well. I did everything I should: drank lots of water today, got lots of sleep last night, and recently, been working really hard on my split time (which is the time it takes me to row 500 meters throughout a rowing piece) One oversight I forgot? I ate a pretty sizeable meal just an hour before. I didn't think much of it as that's normally what I have before practice. Come to find out, that was the WRONG decision(: During the warm-up, I started feeling a little sick to my stomach. Thinking it was nerves or just my body getting pumped up for the test, I shook it off. We start going on the ergs, and 1000 meters in, I start to REAL

I like being peaceful.  I like sitting by and letting a breeze wash over my face.  I like listening to birds in the trees, and frogs in the pond.  I never mind waiting in the car for my kids because it gives me a moment to chill.  A beautiful “side effect” of this vacation has been the opportunity to enjoy some peace. Yesterday, we woke up to a howling storm.  Sheets of rain were falling, the sky was dark and the wind was high.  John was terribly disappointed, realizing that scuba wasn’t going to be a possibility.  The despair he felt in being cooped up in the resort all day was obvious. Then, this morning, we woke up to the same conditions.  We called the dive shop, and they said they were still going out which made John happy.  However, 30 minutes later they called back to say that fog was rolling in and it wouldn’t be safe.  John called the vacation a wash.  He felt guilty that he had planned such a disappointing vacation. Disappointing to him.  For me, inside or out, under the w

 Because we arrived in St. Thomas in the late evening, I had no idea what to expect when I first woke up.  Even then, the curtains were drawn.  I threw on my workout clothes and rushed outside.  This is what I saw: This place is beautiful.  It’s known for its white, sand beaches, and what a surprise to find one of them right outside my door.  If I hadn’t already committed myself to the fitness center, I would have jumped right in the water.  However, exercise helps control my allergies which I need to control when scuba diving, so it was off to the elliptical.  There is a shuttle that runs from our bungalow back to the main hotel, but who in the world would give up the 5 minute walk along the beach?  Not me!  It was one of those moments where words just can’t describe the scene.  Between the waves lapping on shore, the sun rising over the ocean and the breeze on my face, I felt like I was in heaven. After a good workout (in a great fitness center), it was back to the room.  As I jump

From Mark: Superman and Batman are great, but in the end, MOMs are the true heroes in your life. They may not have super strength, but they do have super love. They may not be able to leap from building to building, but they will leap across the nation to help, comfort and support you. And they may not be able to fly, but they carry you out of all the worst times. Thanks, Mama, for always being my superhero!

As the last post on this blog mentioned, my phone, wallet and keys, along with my fancy new backpack, were stolen at a regatta last weekend, leaving me without a form of transportation, a form of communication and without any form of identification. To say it shortly, this all left me feeling very isolated and violated, like the last post also mentioned. I know that losing physical objects shouldn't be such a big deal if they didn't have any sentimental value, but these three things are some of the most useful tools to me at college. They enable me to talk with my family and organize things, have money and a way to pay for things, and to drive myself where ever I needed to be (which by the way, is a LOT of places) I honestly didn't know what I was going to do. The next day, Sunday, was our orchestras Halloween concerts. This is where there are two concerts spread out through the day where all the members of the orchestra and the audience dress up, and the orchestra plays fu

Today, John and I left for St. Thomas USVI for a five day stay.  John found a medical conference here, and while I’m sure he’ll find the information that he learns fascinating , we’re really here for the scuba diving! We are also here, celebrating our 22 nd wedding anniversary!  22 years!  It hardly seems possible considering we still work on our relationship and occasionally don’t see eye to eye.  When we first got married, I thought, for sure, that we would have these things worked out by now    However, we have both learned that marriage is work —it takes lots of work to keep marriage fresh and fun (and flirty—that’s for you, Johannah).  With that, it’s been the happiest 22 years of my life, and I feel blessed to think back on the time when John first called me on the phone to get to know me. One thing I quickly learned about John when we were dating is that he doesn’t like to travel.  You may think I’m completely mistaken, but let me clarify.  John loves going new places with m