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Man, something I love about America is that we can pick and choose different ethnic traditions that we like and keep them as our own--kind of like the buffet at Furr's Cafeteria.  Yes, I'll have three starches, but hold the green beans. Hamtramck is less than an hour from us, and with Ethan's love of all things Polish thanks to his mission, and with my recent discovery of John's Polish ancestry, it's fun to pretend that I'm a Pole for the day and claim my paczki!  (As a side note, many others who are obviously not of Polish descent--I'm speaking to my chocolate-skinned, ghetto brothers--also like to claim this tradition, but when they exit out of the bakery announcing that they have their POO-SKIES, they are quickly corrected by those who actually know and have the custard and fruit-filling running through their veins.) This year, my birthday fell on the weekend of the Paczki run, a 5K that winds through the very flat streets of Hamtramck, ending with fr...

In honor of the world's best mother-in-law on her favorite day of the year, fifty reasons (number chosen completely at random) why Larisa is AWESOME! 1.She loves with her whole heart. There isn't anything she wouldn't do for someone in her inner circle. 2. She makes the best cookies - chocolate chip, ginger snap...YUM! 3. She gives some pretty great dating advice. Granted I didn't need dating advice by the time I met her, but boy would it have been helpful ten years ago... 4. She is super smart! I'm pretty smart, but she frequently loses me in conversation talking about things way over my head. 5. She is the best musician I know. She lives and breaths music, and it is beautiful. 6. She is incredibly generous and thoughtful with her generosity. She seems to know exactly what you need, when you yourself don't know that you need it. The Christmas after Annie was born, she gave me four beautiful canvas prints from the day Annie was born. They were and st...

One of my favorite books is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It’s a book about a magic competition between two people that takes place within a circus, which magically appears in cities and is only open at night. The entire circus is painted black and white, down to the ground on which the circus takes place in each new location. My favorite part is not the competition, or even the characters: it’s the descriptions of the Night Circus tents, and the experiences people have within them. They are fantastical, but not  so unbelievable that I ever felt these tents could never actually appear. The book sparked this longing in me to take part in the Night Circus, even if it’s not an actual place. In the book, there are people who are not a part of the circus, but who follow the circus and create a community with others who love the circus and make i t a point of emphasis in their lives. They come to call themselves reveleurs , or “dreamers,” and they dres...

Woo!  Just woke up from a FAT NAP! Good stuff! Mama, happy BIRTHdaY! Man, I cannot believe I have literally been away from you for more than a year!  My nap buddy, my fellow grocery shopper, my Panera/Culver's trip-maker, my piano player to my Bruch concerto, my morning walker, my tuna fish and grilled cheese lover, my partner on trips down to Philly, Art Fair goer.  I love you so much, Mama.  You are literally the Star I always try to follow in life.  Thanks so much for being there with me every step of the way.  Those long nights while Daddy was on call, or when you had a broken ankle, or time spent at the Interlochen cabin.  I literally cannot imagine my life without you.  Thanks so much for always being so patient and loving and just always being there.  You are the rock we can always count on and the anchor of our family >3. I love you, Mama.  Thanks for taking everything good you've had in your life and shari...

For the past month, Glo has been deeply involved in compiling the information for her family tree, because as a mission, California Santa Rosa is trying to use family history to make connections with people while sharing the gospel.  The idea is that pretty much everyone wants to know where they come from (hence all the genealogy TV shows, and the fact that genealogy is the second greatest use of the internet...after pornography....), and by showing people the Family Search app, they will be more inclined to let the missionaries into their home.  It's kinda brilliant and so NOT surprising to me who has always felt the spirit of Elijah in my own life.  Yep, that spirit of Elijah--for me, it's more like a locomotive feeling than a feather ;-) I think a lot of us have been doing some of the things that the church is putting out right now as "new" for a long time.  For several years, I've been helping people find their ancestors, or I've been finding them for th...

A few months ago, I was speaking with an acquaintance--I know his wife has a desire to travel, but neither of them does.  I was ripping off cool places they could go and see, but nothing seemed to spark an interest in his eyes.  So I asked him where he would like to go. He responded, "Nowhere.  I have no interest in traveling." I'm not found speechless very often, but I kid you not, I didn't know what to say to him.  How?  Why? Wait, WHAT???? Paulo Coelho, the author of one of our family's book club choices, The Alchemist , said, "Culture makes people understand each other better.  And if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers.  But first they have to understand that their neighbor is, in the end, just like them, with the same problems, the same questions." Whenever I meet someone from another country, or even another part of our country, I pepper them with questions about t...

Hey Glo, How are you?  Hope all is well.  I have had a great week at work this past week.  Everything is going well and my surgeries and deliveries are all going well.  Everyone I work with is very complimentary and I am very happy I am working at this job.   I taught youth Sunday school today and it went well.  I showed the movie clip from Dead Poet's Society about Carpe Deum - seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.  I then spent the rest of the lesson talking about how all the youth are at a junction right now.  We talked about David the King giving up all he had for Bathsheba, and about Esau giving up his birthright for a mess of pottage.  Then we talked about how foolish Esau seems to us whenever we read the story.  And then we talked about how we can all sell our birthright for a mess of pottage, if we give up the gospel and the church for sex, or vaping, or cigarettes, or alcohol, or pornography or laziness. ...