Dancing through life

Just in case you need something to make you smile today...

 

 

Buying a house and breaking my foot

We started looking for a house in April, but none of the houses we looked at worked for us. Even if we liked it, we just were not fast enough in the current market. It seemed like every house we looked at already had an offer in. Our realtor (Adam's aunt) called us one day and wanted us to look at a house immediately. We would be the first potential buyers to see it, because it was for sale by owner and not being advertised on the real estate websites. We liked it, but couldn't afford the asking price. We offered $10K less, and he counter-offered. We still felt it was too high and decided to back down. Adam kept thinking about it though, and wanted to submit another offer a week later. That offer ($144K) got accepted!

We wanted to close in 30 days, but our credit union was up front that they were backed up in the loan department. We ended up closing in six weeks... but not before I broke a bone in my foot. Our loan officer was nice, but overbearing. She waited until a week before the finance deadline before going through our paperwork and needed SO much documentation for different things, one of which being an account statement for the account our down payment money was in. We sent it in two different times before mid-June. On June 17th, the day of our financing deadline and one week before closing, she needed it for a third time. I'm still not sure if she misplaced paperwork, or possibly just needed to make sure we hadn't spent the money in the week since we had submitted it last. I printed an up-to-date statement and sent it with Adam. Somewhere between him and the bank's scanner, something went wrong. Some pages were scanned twice, some not at all. I was so frustrated. The loan officer said it could wait until tomorrow, but I just wanted it done. I got Brayden ready to go and we headed outside. We had to walk to Adam's work (5-10 minute walk) to get the paperwork and the car. I fell while walking there. After taking a long break, I kept walking (mistake) and eventually got the paperwork in. I figured I would just be sore for a few days. When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't put any weight on it. I called in to my work and headed to an urgent care clinic. After x-rays and a CT scan, they decided I had a lisfranc fracture. I was given crutches and a referral to an orthopedic doctor. They fit me in the next day and let me know I would be in a hard cast for a month to six weeks and a walking boot for a few weeks afterwards.

The timing couldn't have been worse. We had only packed about 5% of our stuff and we were supposed to move the next week. Work was picking up because of summer reading and another shelver being on vacation, and they were all of the sudden short a shelver for four-six weeks. I knew it would ruin the summer for Brayden. I felt like I was letting everyone down, but we made it through.

We closed as planned on the 24th. I did what I could packing-wise (not much) and I cancelled/set up utilities. We moved a lot of our stuff on the 27th. It took Adam another few weeks to get everything over though. We had a break in moving for Brayden's 4th birthday on July 2nd. Adam thought he finally had the condo ready to list on the 11th, so we had our realtor (and Adam's aunt) come by. She gave him a long list of things to do, so from the 11th until the 18th he was basically at work, working on the condo, or asleep. It was a very hard week for all three of us. We listed it on the 18th, though, and got multiple offers over the weekend. We signed an offer today. It's less than what we paid for it four years ago, but sometimes that happens.

As for my foot, I get to start bearing weight on it soon and plan to go back to work (in a walking boot) next week. Honestly, I can't wait to go back. Now that Brayden is older, I am a better mom when I work. It was so hard for us to be stuck inside most days for the last five weeks. It was also hard on me to have no control over what was happening over at the condo. Adam may have been working slow sometimes, but it was still a lot faster than I was getting anything done. Asking for help is another thing that does not come natural for me, yet was something I had to do. Breaking my foot was definitely a learning experience, a very trying one. I'm so glad our families kicked in and helped as much as they did. My parents drove me to my doctor's appointments and took me out to eat after. My brother let me borrow his wheelchair. Adam's family helped him with the condo. My sweet coworker brought a wonderful dinner and her daughter (our babysitter) took Brayden swimming to give me a break as part of a YW service project. Another friend brought Iceberg shakes and sat with me to visit while our boys played.

Moab

I don't know how many readers I have anymore, seeing as I last wrote here in February, but a few people have asked me to keep going. I don't really know where to start, but I guess I'll write a few update posts and then try to get back to book reviews, typical mommy posts, and my political rantings. For right now, I only have access to a tablet, so my posts might lack pictures for awhile.

We went on a trip to Moab in March. It was the first time I have ever been there and I loved it. I do t know why I'm always surprised when I find new places/sites in Utah that I love, but I am. We spent our first night at Goblin Valley State Park. We stayed in a yurt, which was really fun. Brayden loved exploring the "goblins." My favorite part was laying in the sand in a small canyon behind the yurt with Adam and Brayden looking at the stars. It was also nice to be so disconnected. I think the only other place I haven't had cell service for an extended period of time (more than 12 hours) in the last few years is at Adam's family ranch. 

The next day, we made it to Moab. Over the next three days, we hit Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, and Canyonlands National Park. I loved all of them. I love the park system and (political rant coming) I'm disappointed in Governor Herbert's attempts to take away what is now federal land. I just don't trust his administration to not try to make money off the land. Anyways, back to our trip. We did a lot of hiking (for us, anyways). More hiking then I have ever done in a three day period other than Pioneer Trek. I was so sore by the end of the trip, but I was glad I did it. I know it's cliche, but I think the Delicate Arch hike was my favorite. It was a little nerve-wracking to hike that trail with a three year old, but worth it. 

I also enjoyed the town of Moab. We hit up many eateries (my favorite being the Moab Brewery), a thrift store, the local library, and bookshop. On our last evening there, we took the scenic drive to Castle Valley. I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but one of my favorite non-fiction authors (Terry Tempest Williams) lives there and writes about southern Utah so beautifully that I wanted to see the town. One of the books I read on the trip was her book Red.

I really fell in love with Moab and hope I get to go again someday. I went to the children's museum in Ogden with a friend six weeks ago. In one room, they have a map of Utah on the ground. It really hit me how little of Utah I've seen and how much I want to see. I hope we will eventually be able to travel more.

Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Sometimes, you just have to admit how wrong you were. Here is my confession: I was wrong about Hillary Rodham Clinton. As a Republican, I had typical Republican views of her. Even when I became a Democrat (and a feminist), I didn't like her. Part of it was that I was caught up in the Obama craze of the 2008 campaign. I insisted that I didn't want the first woman president to be someone riding their husband's coat tails. When she did an amazing job as Secretary of State, my view of her started to change. After reading her memoirs, I can't believe that I continued to think of her in that way for as long as I did past my Republican days.

She was accomplished in her own regards before she even met Bill Clinton. She kept her name after marrying him until giving into pressure to add Clinton for HIS political future. (Myth I used to believe: She only added Clinton when she wanted the name recognition for her political career.)

One part I loved and completely relate to right now was this part: "I joked about the Irish television personality who had recently welcomed a group of women lawmakers to his show by asking "Who's minding the children?" I smiled and said "I long for the day when men are asked the same question."

It drives me nuts that Adam is hardly ever asked this, even though we both work. And as much as I love the man, he annoyed me recently when he wouldn't tell his boss the reason he needed a specific night off each week was that he needed to be home with Brayden because I was going to have to work that night each week. All he would say to his boss was that he needed Thursday nights off. His boss ket scheduling him anyways, which I think might not have happened had he explained his reasons for needing it off. (Anyways, back to the book review-)

I also related to her take on abortion. I had read a quote by her last year that I agree with- "abortion should be safe, legal, and rare." It was interesting to read a longer explanation of her views. "When I defend my pro-choice position in the debate over abortion in our country, I frequently refer to Romania, where pregnancy could be monitored on behalf of the state, and to China, where it could be forcibly terminated. One reason I continue to oppose efforts to criminalize abortion is that I do not believe any government should have the power to dictate, through law or police action, a woman's most personal decisions."

She went into more detail of the Lewinsky scandal than I thought she would. Reading that part was hard. It made me wonder something, though. One argument against her is that she only stayed married to him for her own political career. I don't know if I believe that anymore. I think that she got flak from both sides of that issue. At the end of the day, it was her decision to make and she made it. I almost think people (not me, but some people) would have respected her more had she left him.

I wanted her to write more about her first few years in the Senate. Hopefully she'll eventually write another memoir that focuses on her time in the Senate, her time as Secretary of State, and maybe even her time as President. I know I'll vote for her if she runs in 2016.

Utah Senator Mike Lee and the Violence Against Women Act

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was first signed into law in 1994 by then President Bill Clinton. From Wikipedia: "The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress in cases prosecutors chose to leave unprosecuted. The Act also established the Office on Violence Against Women within the Department of Justice."

The bill ended at the beginning of 2013 after failing to be reauthorized during the 2012 legislative session. All of the women in the Senate (with the exception of Nebraska's Republican Senator Deb Fischer) co-sponsored the bill to be brought for a vote during this session.

Utah's own Senator Mike Lee was one of only eight senators to vote against considering the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. It is likely that Lee is against added provisions that expanded the number of visas available to illegal immigrants who are victims of domestic abuse (a provision that has already been dropped), as well as provisions that protect LGBT victims of violence and Native American victims of domestic violence. However, Senator Lee is somewhat infamous for explaining away his very partisan votes with his extreme beliefs about unconstitutionality.

Lee has not spoken about his vote today, but his argument against the 2012 bill can be found here: "The Violence Against Women Act oversteps the Constitution’s rightful limits on federal power. Violent crimes are regulated and enforced almost exclusively by state governments. In fact, domestic violence is one of the few activities that the Supreme Court of the United States has specifically said Congress may not regulate under the Commerce Clause. As a matter of constitutional policy, Congress should not seek to impose rules and standards as conditions for federal funding in areas where the federal government lacks constitutional authority to regulate directly."

For ways to contact Senator Lee, look here. You can be sure I'll be sending him an email myself. If I get a response, I'll be sure to post it.

Cross-posted from Remember in November

Currently

Humming Mumford & Sons- When I don't have an audio book to listen to at work, I usually end up shuffling through Mumford & Sons songs

Drinking Nothing at the moment, but I seem to have gotten myself hooked on Diet Coke again

Worrying about doing our taxes and what bills we'll get for Brayden's surgery

Working on my first coursera class, the Remember in November blog following the Utah State Legislature, and getting back into going to the gym

Wondering about preschools

Reading Letters From Exile: The Correspondence of Martha Hughes Cannon and Angus M. Cannon and Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson (Just goes to show the very wide variety of books I read!)

Wishing that I had a few more hours in the day

Remembering the good things in life

Beginning to think about my identity outside of "Mom" a little more

Getting more and more interested in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

A pigeon, a panda, a paper bag princess and more!

Brayden and I have a thing with picture books right now. Seriously. At this very moment, we have 43 picture books checked out from the library. I think it's because we are so cooped up with all of this snow. Anyways, I just wanted to document some of our favorites.

Chu's Day by Neil Gaiman- Written by the famed author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Adam Rex, this book is a winner for my preschooler. It's so simple that it's brilliant. Chu is a panda bear who is prone to big sneezes that cause bad things to happen.

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka-Brayden is really into fairy tales right now, especially The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. I brought this one home not knowing if he would really get it. It's about the wolf and his side of the story. He's not as bad as he made to be, you know? I doubt that Brayden does understand all of it, but he likes reading it and has requested it a few times.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch- This book is a classic. If you haven't read it to your child, please do! It's all about a princess saving her prince (who may not end up being her prince after all). Thanks to my friend Miri at through the looking-glass for pointing this book out to me.

Now Catch a Cold by André François-If a book could be called subtly hilarious, it would be this one. It's like those kid's movies that are actually funnier for adults. In this book, colds are animals. The book starts out with some extinct "animals," but explains that colds have survived "because, from the time we are little children, we are taught to never catch a cold." All of the different colds are described and drawn, like the common cold, the hay fever cold, and Brayden's favorite- the head cold.

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! by Mo Willems- We're on a major Mo Willems kick right now. Brayden loves all of the Knuffle Bunny books, but he especially loves the Pigeon books. His favorite is The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! He likes to read the part of the Pigeon. It's so adorable I decided to record him reading it.

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! from Megan Bishop on Vimeo.


This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers- This book is about a boy, his many rules, and the moose he thinks is his pet. The Illustrations are my favorite part of this book, but you've got to love lines like this: "Sometimes the moose wasn't a very good pet. He generally ignored Rule 7: going whichever way Wilfred wants to go."

Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier- The librarian at my work who maintains our Facebook page chooses a book of the week and posts it up on the page every week. Last week, she couldn't narrow it down and ended up picking three- this book, Never Catch a Cold, and another picture book called Black Dog by Levi Pinfold. All great books for different reasons. This one is cool because it's more interactive than most books. It's very meta: "Open this Little Red Book and read about Ladybug, who opens a Little Green book and reads about Frog, who opens a Little Orange Book..."

Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin- This is a very cute book about dragons and how much they love tacos, parties, and especially taco parties. You just have to be careful what you put in the tacos, because they hate spicy salsa. Brayden loves this book. It makes me want to have a little playdate taco party with storytime and a dragon or taco related craft. I might just have to do it.

No Sleep For the Sheep! by Karen Beaumont-This book is about a poor sheep that can't get any sleep because of all of the other animals waking him up. It's got a great rhythm and Brayden loves piping in with the different animal noises. Thanks to Janssen at Everyday Reading for recommending it.

Movie Monday

The Perks of Being a Wallflower- This movie is definitely my favorite movie out of the four I have seen this month. It's based on a novel of the same name by Stephen Chbosky. It is one of the best book to movie adaptions I've seen, probably because the author of the book wrote the screenplay and directed the movie. This movie reminds me of my high school experience, even though I didn't do drugs or anything. There's a scene in particular that was me in high school. Really, it still is like me. It almost made me cry how much I could relate to it. The main character is at a dance, standing against the wall by himself, bobbing his head a little bit. He sees two kids that he hung out with once at a football game and decides to be brave, slowly making his way over to them. I know it may sound like a silly scene, but it was really beautiful.

Game Change- This movie is also based on a book that was written about the 2008 election. The movie focuses on the McCain/Palin campaign, specifically after McCain announces Palin as his running mate. I'm a political junkie, so I loved this movie. After loving Tina Fey's hilarious take on Palin, I didn't know how I would feel about Julianne Moore actually trying to play Palin seriously. She pulled it off, though. And for those who might think I loved it because I'm a democrat who hates Palin, think again. I don't like her, but this movie had an effect on me like the movie W did. I actually felt sorry for her (and for President Bush in the movie W). If the book/movie is at all truthful, she was really thrown into the fray without much vetting or preparation.

Take This Waltz- I was browsing on Netflix when I saw this movie. I hadn't heard of it before, but I saw it had Michelle Williams in it and took a gamble. It's a very interesting movie. (It is rated R for some explicit scenes at the end, which may or may not be real). This review says it better than I can. I will say one thing, though. Michelle Williams is one of my favorite actresses right now. Her performance in this rivals her performance in Brokeback Mountain, in my opinion. (This reminds me, I still need to see Blue Valentine). She has definitely moved on and up from Dawson's Creek, and that's coming from a Dawson's Creek fan.

The Queen of Versailles- This is another Netflix pick. This movie started out as a documentary of a rich family building what was to be the biggest house in America, a replica of Versailles. It ended up being about the recession, the real estate bust of 2008 (including the time share business), and a family trying to build the biggest house in America. The family in the movie is super rich. hey have maids, nannies, drivers, private jets, etc. They've started work on their new house when the real estate bust happens. Their money comes from the time share business, so they start losing. Banks start pulling out funding for a new resort in Vegas and they don't have enough to continue working on their new home.  Throughout the movie, I went back and forth hating the people (fishes and lizards found dead because no one thought to take care of them with the maids gone) to feeling a little bit sorry for them (he mom compulsively buying even though she knows she shouldn't).

Alex Webb

Another exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art that I was pleasantly surprised by was a collection of photography by Alex Webb. From the introduction to the exhibit: Alex Webb uses his camera to explore the poignancy and color of street life, co-mingling cultures, and socio-political tension in places that fall on the periphery of Western culture.As a photographer Webb resists the tendency to merely illustrate or document certain conditions such as poverty or oppression, rather viewing his role in parallel with that of a novelist creating evocative images that reveal what is intensely tragic, beautiful, or perplexing in a particular locale.

I don't think that this exhibit had much of an effect on Adam, but it did on me. These photos are real- they have flaws. I'll admit I don't read more global literature very much, but photographs of daily life in other countries just fascinate me.

I love this photo. The spinning ball, the architecture in the background, the boys all just doing their own thing.

I am so curious about the story behind this photo! Do all of these shows belong to one woman or do they belong to many women? Why are they there?

 He has a blog called Two Looks with his wife, who is also a photographer. He'll be giving a lecture at the museum in March, if anyone would like to go with me.

Nativity by Brian Kershisnik

We headed down to the BYU Museum of Art last week to see a Heroes exhibit. Although the statue of Captain America holding Saddam Hussein's decapitated head was, shall I say, interesting, the exhibit was just okay. However, there were so many other things there I was so impressed with. One painting in particular really touched me.

This is a painting called "Nativity" by Brian Kershisnik.Honestly, I wouldn't have expected this painting to affect me. I'm in a somewhat resigned place with my faith right now. One of my many issues is that I don't really believe the scripture stories in a literal sense. However, maybe that is why I love this so much. This painting goes against the literal story in some ways. Baby Jesus is not "white," for one. And while it is very likely that Mary breastfed Jesus, I don't think I've ever seen an image of it in art ever before. I love that two women and a multitude of angels are present with Mary and Joseph.

I'm not sure if this is a permanent piece at the museum or not, but I recommend going down to see it in person if you can. This painting is one that you have to see in person. The magnitude of it is just astounding.

2012 favorites

Books

Fiction-
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Nonfiction-
How to Be a Woman and Moranthology by Caitlin Moran
Refuge and When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
The Book of Mormon Girl by Joanna Brooks
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
From Housewife to Heretic by Sonia Johnson

Television
Modern Family
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Portlandia
Parks and Recreation
Downton Abbey
Mad Men
Homeland

Movies
Pitch Perfect
Miss Representation
The Dark Knight Rises
Jeff Who Lives at Home
Safety Not Guaranteed
Ruby Sparks
Brave

And since I didn't see as many movies as I have in years past, a list of movies that I still want to see and may have ended up on my favorites list: Zero Dark Thirty, Les Mis, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Lincoln, Skyfall, Bully, Silver Linings Playbook, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Argo, Flight, The Hobbit

2012 Roundup

- I decided to go back to work at the library system this year, and I'm so happy I did. I quickly got hired on at the Millcreek Library. I got to help stock the library. It was an amazing experience.
-We bought a new (to us) car this summer, a 2003 Mercury Sable.
-Brayden did his first soccer "season" this fall. It was so cute to watch 3-5 year olds running around the field.
-Brayden announced one morning that "superheroes don't wear diapers" and has been potty-trained ever since. I am a huge fan of waiting until they are ready, even if it means they are almost 3 and a half.
-Brayden had his first ER visit in October (pneumonia) and his first surgery in December (an abnormal but benign growth of hand tissue and muscle at the base of his thumb). It was a short procedure, but we were still so nervous. In the waiting rooms, Brayden played with the most adorable two year old girl that was down at Primarys from Montana to have open-heart surgery. I'm so grateful he has been as healthy as he has and also grateful that we have such an amazing children's hospital.
-I read 124 books this year. Not my highest, but close. Over half of that was non-fiction.