My Cute Hubby

Andrew hiked to the top of a mountain this weekend. He was in need of a much-needed break from homework. He left at 5 am! Yikes! He was scoping out places for photography this winter to get pictures of the back of Mt. Timp. He NEVER takes self-portraits and rarely lets me take pictures of him, so I had to post this. He's been working on a website for his photography and needed a self-portrait. Looks like he found a great spot! (By the way, this is my very unskilled photo edit--I'm sure he will make it look a lot better.)

This picture is of my grandparents after a fishing trip (when they were dating, I believe)--aren't they cute?

Well, I've decided to really put some energy into the oral history editing business. I don't know where it will lead, but I have felt really good about pursuing this course. I felt inspired when I first thought of the business, I loved working on the book, and now that I have a final product to show people--I am ready to go!

So I made a blog for the business-- http://yourstoryyourwords.blogspot.com/. I tried to set it up as much like a website (and not a blog) as I could. Andrew will make me a website eventually, but until then I will refer people to the blog. We are starting out not charging very much just to get some more experience, get a little money flowing, and sort of test the waters--see how much people are willing to pay. I've seen sites where they charge thousands of dollars, but I don't know if people actually pay that...

I've even started networking (I've always been really scared by this concept). Next week I am going to meet with a lady from Salt Lake who runs a successful business of her own doing personal histories. She was very kind, and I think the meeting will be very helpful.

The new blog is still a work in progress, and I am sure I will be changing a lot of the text, but I wanted to get something up because we have had several people express interest since they have seen the Losee book. We even have a meeting set up for this afternoon with a potential client and will hopefully have more in the next couple of weeks!

So if you know anyone who needs to get their personal history done--send them my way! :)

Small Kate Update

Kate is increasingly difficult to take a picture of! Out of MANY pictures that I took today at the park, these are the rare few where she wasn't totally glaring at me. We had a lot of fun today running around the park and playing on the swings. Kate kicked her legs out and threw her body back (trying to make herself go higher), but she scared herself when she went a little too far back. She told herself in her cute little voice, "Uh oh! Careful!" Sadly, just moments later she let go of the chain on the swing and went flying to the ground (and I think she hit her head on a rock--yikes)! It was her first accident on the swings, and she was quite upset by it.

Kate is really talking up a storm now. She'll say words seemingly out of nowhere. They are words I have said in the past, but not right before she says them. It can be startling. Like when she warned herself to be careful. I hadn't said for at least a couple days! :) Or how she said "chicken" yesterday when she saw a picture of it, but I know I haven't said that in a while! Anyway, she can now count all the way to ten! As in 1-10! Amazing--but I think pretty typical for an almost two year old. But still--amazing! :)

She has been less excited to give hugs on demand and more interested in doing whatever she wants. 'Sigh.' She goes potty at least once a day, just before bath time. She LOVES Cinderella and I hear "Wewwa, wewwa!" at least ten times a day. She thinks the mice are hilarious. I showed her a picture of Andrew and me on our wedding day, pointed to the dress and said, "Cinderella." So, now she thoroughly believes Mommy is Cinderella and Daddy is the Prince. Heh, heh. That might be one of those awkward realization moments in a few years--"Wait a minute. You mean my mom isn't Cinderella?" when she's like 12 or something. I told her she looked like Cinderella in a big poofy dress she wore to church, and she would NOT let me take it off her afterwards. She still won't let me touch her hair, though, so it's always hanging in her eyes.

I had to take her out of church on Sunday (for the first time in like 6 months!), not because she was fussing or anything, but because she was reading her book VERY loudly. I could tell it was disrupting people, so I opted out.

Oh yes, and lately she loves to tell Mommy to "Shhh!" as she puts her finger to her lips. She usually does it when I'm singing to her--oh well.

WOAH...WHAT did she just say??

Kate has a swearing problem. No, she didn't hear me, Andrew, or anyone else for that matter say the words she's saying. And so now you're probably wondering if she didn't hear it or learn it from someone, then how does she know swear words? Good question. She doesn't. It's just an unfortunate case of poor enunciation--I mean, she isn't even two yet after all.

I do yell out a lot--especially when I am cooking. Cooking usually = water boiling over, cutting myself, burning myself, or burning food. So Kate hears a lot of "Oh shoot!" and "Oh CRAP!" and "Oh NUTS!" She's mostly opted to repeat "Oh nuts" which I am happy about. But lately, she has been trying to say "Oh shoot." Only, it doesn't sound like "shoot." When I first heard her say it, I probably looked at her with a bewildered expression for a good five minutes. I realized she did in fact learn that word from me, just not exactly the word that's coming out of her mouth.

As I have mentioned previously, Kate loves animals--and she's learned the names for just about all of them. I didn't realize when I was innocently teaching her the names of animals that this would be a problem. The biggest problem being with the word "frog." Doesn't look like a swear word, does it? Well, when the "r" isn't clearly pronounced, and the "g" sounds more like a "k"--yeah. Andrew heard her say it the other day, and he stopped whatever he was doing and stared. "WHAT did she just say?!"

I covered my face, "FROG."

He shook his head slowly, "That didn't sound like frog."

So, we are working with her on "r" and "g." I can only imagine these words spilling out in nursery--ahhh!

Weight Loss Update...

Boy, I have lost my motivation for this Biggest Loser round; it's been gone for a few weeks now, actually. It hasn't been as motivating for me this time because I'm always ranked in the 20s--not even close to competing. The only way I keep losing some weight is because I had the stomach flu two weeks ago, and this week I have the cold flu. That helps with weight loss, at least. :) So, I think there's just one more week to go. I've lost 12 pounds so far this round--not great! Yikes. Just wanted to update you all in case you've been wondering what's been going on with that. Still 16 more pounds to go to reach my ultimate goal...

Can I get a HALLELUJAH????

HALLELUJAH!!!

Three years ago I had an epiphany while I was taking an oral history editing class: I wanted to start a business interviewing people about their lives. I wanted to make books out of the histories. So I decided that first I needed a sample to sell people on my business. Andrew and I decided to offer my services for free to someone to get experience and a final product. We chose a man in Andrew's old ward. Anyway, we spent hours interviewing him--it was such a neat experience! This man is so incredible. I edited and designed the majority of the book right after we interviewed him. (Andrew's incredibly fast-typing mom transcribed the whole interview--THANK YOU!!) Then something happened. I didn't work on it very much after I started remodeling our house, and then I had Kate...*insert additional excuses here*. There really is no good excuse why this has taken me so long. But I am here to say that it is DONE!! I ordered the books for his family this week. The picture above is the dust cover for his 6x9 hardcover book. The green at the top is cropped off.

The subtitle started out being "A Hardworking Country Dog" because he joked in an interview that that's what he wanted written on his tombstone. But, by the end, we opted for a more traditional title that ties into promises in his patriarchal blessing. The picture on the back was a picture Andrew took a long time ago in Zion National Park. Ferril's family has a tradition of going there--so it worked well. The book ended up being 115 pages. The picture of the first page of the chapter is just to show you how the book looks/reads (click to see larger).

Now that it is finally done, it makes me want to do another one. Crazy, I know. But if I was actually paid to do this--I would totally be motivated and love it. I did really love working on this history. I will probably never meet most of his family, but I know an awful lot about them!

Letters from a #1 fan!!

Ha--I was just going through old letters and what not and found some funny stuff. Below are two letters that I wrote in October 1988. I was almost nine years old. Hope you get a kick out of these, like I did. My personal favorite is the one to Debbie Gibson. After you read the letters, I don't think you'll be shocked to learn that they never wrote back.

"Dear Mr. Swayze,

I am writing this on my computer.

You are one of my favorite actors. I love the movie "Youngblood." It's cool! I saw the TV version. What movie that you've made do you like the best? I've not seen "Dirty Dancing" because I'm only 9. But I've heard it's wonderful, and I want to see it. I wish you were in more PG movies.

I have a poster of you! I collect "Teen-Beat" and "All-Stars."

What is your favorite sport?

I live in Omaha, Nebraska. It's very nice out here.

I love horses. I think they are so pretty. I hardly ever get to ride them though. How much do you ride your horse? If I had a horse I would ride it all day and night.

I want to be a famous dancer--it looks really fun. I also want to be a singer. I want to play more sports. I think they are fun. Is your wife a dancer also? I think you should make more movies together. I think she is pretty.

How many people are in your family? There are six people in my family. I have a sister and two brothers and a dad and a mom. My sister is 16. My brother is 13. My other brother is 11, and I am 9 years old. I do not act like a 9 year old at all. My friends and I act like big teenagers.

On the bus to school we always look at Teen-Beat. My friend likes George Michael. She wrote to him, but he never answered her letter, but of course it has not been a long time. Because he lives far away.

What do you do in your spare time?

Do you think Rob Lowe is nice? I was wondering how do you dance like that? It looks so hard. I tried it I could not do it. Do you have a child? I don't think you do. Just to make sure I thought I'd ask you.

Because of integration, I go to Conestoga school. It's okay, but I like my other school better. It is called Catlin. I have more friends there. My friends has one of your tapes too! She enjoys it very much.

Have you met Debbie Gibson? Well, if you have do you think she is nice? I was wondering if I should write her also.

I like your song "She's like the Wind." It's neat.

Are you going to make a "Dirty Dancing II?" I sort of want to be an artist! I love all the movies that I've seen you that you have made! I think that is neat that you and your wife have been married for so long.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, PATRICK SWAYZE!

Your fan,

Jenny Ericksen

P.S. Please write back!"

Dear Miss Gibson,

I love your music! It's awesome! I don't have any of your tapes. But my friend does, but one of her friends accidentally took her tape so now she doesn't have it.

Do you think Brian Bloom is nice? Because I wanted to know if I should write him. I probably am going to write him anyway. But I was just wondering.

So now about you. What do you do most of the time? What school did you go to? I go to Conestoga school. I am in third grade. It's not the best school. But it's okay.

I think you are pretty, so do my friends. Your family is as big as mine. I wrote to Patrick Swayze on Ocotber 9, 1988. It was two pages long! The letter was pretty good!

I play soccer, baseball, and I want to play basketball.

Your fan,

Jenny Ericksen

P.S. Keep up the good work!