Spring Break

Last week, James was out of school for spring break, so we ran away to Tennessee! It was a wonderful excursion.

My in-laws moved to Tullahoma last summer, and we just love their house. They have 21 acres in the middle of rolling hills and fields. I took some photos of the property last August when we visited for the first time.

Unfortunately, the weather did not favor us. The temperatures have been in the 60s and 70s for weeks, but for our spring break, they were mostly in the 30s and 40s, and it rained the first two days we were there. Boo! It denied us a few of the outings that Momo and Papa had planned. But we still made the most of our trip!

Monday and Tuesday we did a lot of relaxing. (It was raining, so not much opportunity to go outside.) The boys watched movies with Momo and Papa. James did schoolwork, and I worked on my novel. We got to hang out with James's brother Nicholas and his wife Jo. Joel and Xander spent lots of time playing with Papa. =)

On Tuesday evening, James and I got to go on a date! (Without the kids!!) We went out to dinner and then saw Logan.

Shadow has mixed feelings about visiting Momo and Papa's house. On the one hand, there are more people to snuggle with, which he likes. On the other hand, there are three other dogs there. He does not really love Baron, who is a sweetheart and just wants to play! Joel, on the other hand, loves ALL the dogs very much.

Shadow, Baron, and Liath.

On Wednesday morning, Papa took us and all the grandsons to the local hands-on science museum. It was surprisingly fun! There were tons of interesting things to toy with. Joel absolutely loved spending time with his cousins. Then we all went to Chick-fil-A, and who can complain about that?

The only photo I got at the museum, on my phone. (I was too busy building a miniature train.)

Thursday may have been the highlight--we went to the Nashville Zoo! It's just over an hour from my in-laws' house. Many of the animals weren't out, because of the cold, but we still had fun. I took loads of pictures. (My version of fun!)

Our last day was St. Patrick's Day. I completely neglected to pack anything green. Oops! That evening, James and I made dinner. It was quite a party! Momo and Papa, Nick and Jo, Victoria and her three boys, plus the missionaries! James made burritos, and I made a traditional Irish apple tart. I even had a (somewhat misshapen) shamrock on top!

What an excellent trip! We can't wait to visit Tennessee again in May. Hopefully it will be much warmer!

Fondue Night

I love fondue.

I can't remember the first time I had fondue. It was not something my family did, but I seem to remember being introduced to it during high school sometime, or maybe it was during college. But my first oh-my-gosh-I-love-fondue-! moment came on our honeymoon, when James took me to The Melting Pot in Salt Lake City.

You guys. It was amazing. It was almost (another story) the most expensive meal I have ever eaten. It was decadent. It was delicious. It was delightful. And I was forever changed.

The first thing that James and I bought with one of the gift cards given to us by amazing people who came to our wedding was an electric fondue pot.

It's been ages since we had fondue, so James and I decided to splurge and have it for dinner this week. I used this recipe (see below). I'd found a number of delicious-looking options, but all the ones I looked at first called for alcohol. While I do not object offhand to alcohol in recipes where it will cook out, James asked me to look and see if I could find a family-friendly recipe. I followed it precisely, and it turned out fantastic.

Here is my (very slightly) modified version:

Ingredients

• 2 cups lightly packed shredded Gruyere cheese (about 8 ounces) *
• 1 1/2 cups lightly packed shredded Swiss cheese (about 6 ounces) *
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup low-sodium, good-quality chicken broth
• 1/8 teaspoon lemon juice (don't leave this out! I just gave a quick squeeze of a lemon without properly measuring)
• 1 tablespoon finely minced or pressed garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black or white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Dash of paprika

Directions

1. Place both the shredded Gruyere and Swiss cheeses in a gallon-size resealable bag with the cornstarch and shake until evenly coated.
2. In a medium saucepan (or stovetop-safe fondue pot), bring the chicken broth, lemon juice, and garlic and to a simmer.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the cheese, a small handful at a time, stirring constantly, but not briskly. It works best to use a wooden spoon and stir in an S-shaped motion, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot so it doesn't burn.
4. Once the cheese is melted and begins to just barely simmer, add the remaining spices and move it immediately to the table in the fondue pot. It should be the consistency of warm honey.
5. Serve with your favorite fondue dippers. Our favorites include bread, apples, and cubed ham.

*Do not use pre-shredded cheese. The consistency is very different!

Fondue night this evening was a hit! Joel loved the finger foods (he did not get any of the cheese) and James and I had a great time dipping away. :)

1st Birthday!

Our Joel Riley turned 1 on Wednesday! It is incredible to look at the last year and realize how much our lives have changed. This little man brings us so much joy, even amidst the frustrations of parenthood.  We had a blast celebrating Joel's birthday.

 

The day started out not so birthday-like. Joel had his 12-month doctor's checkup, including his shots. My mom thought I was crazy to schedule his immunizations on his birthday, fearing he would be cranky and feeling unwell for his party. But, like all his past times getting his shots, he did totally fine. He cried monstrously when it happened, fell asleep in the car on the way home, slept for a couple of hours, and when he woke up, he was our happy birthday boy!

We invited our families over Wednesday evening. The weather conspired against us (we decided that Joel must have wished for snow for his birthday) and so out of necessity we held the party inside. It was a little crowded (James has lots of siblings!) but it worked all right. James and I were actually quite surprised by how many of our family members came. It was wonderful to see how loved our Joel-baby is by our family.

 I made a couple of ice cream cakes, as well as a pan of cupcakes. I wanted Joel to be able to have a cake smash, but a cupcake just seemed more reasonable to me! So, after everyone had arrived, we sang happy birthday to him, lit the candle (which he tried to touch) and Daddy helped him blow it out.

 He went after his cupcake with gusto, although his enjoyment of said cake was slightly more questionable...

 "Not sure about this, Mama..."

After everyone had cake, we settled down for present-opening. I have to confess, I was surprised at the number of gifts that Joel received. James and I only got him a couple of things, ourselves. Our goal is to always keep birthdays fairly low-key for our children. This birthday definitely did not fit that mold! But that was all right. This is probably the only birthday where we'll be near family, so it made us really happy.

  Joel loved going through the bags, although he seemed more interested in the tags than the presents at first! And of course, had to munch on some wrapping paper.

 He was pretty studious about examining each of the gifts. Joel's a very curious little boy, and he was fascinated by several of his presents.

Joel got totally spoiled! Yesterday, we got all his new things out of the boxes and left them in our living room. He had a blast playing with everything off and on all day. I suppose eventually I'll get it all put away, but right now it's fun to watch him explore and experiment.

Here's to the next year! Can't wait to see what adventures this little man has in store!

Adventures in Motherhood: Eating out with my son

Joel is an active little boy. Unless he is unconscious, he is constantly exploring, babbling, and getting into things. While this sometimes can be exhausting, for the most part, it is a trait that I adore.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had what I would call an adventure in motherhood. Another way to phrase it might be "experiences you didn't know you'd be having until you became a parent."

Last week, James and I went to Oteo in Lindon for dinner. It's a little family-owned Mexican place right next to our taekwondo studio; we've eaten there once before, and both times, I've been impressed by the unique qualities of their food. It's a pretty small place, probably a dozen or so tables all told, and fairly quiet.

James and I got seated, and Joel settled in a high chair. Needless to say, Joel is not really a quiet diner. He babbles, and his current form of asking for more food is to shriek. (We sometimes refer to him as "Veloci-baby.") He enjoyed sharing my empanada, even the peppers!

Still, I could not help but notice the looks garnered by our vocal baby. There was a woman seated behind James (so, directly in front of me) that craned her neck around a couple of times to glance at Joel. Kitty-corner from them, there was a young couple that outright stared at Joel multiple times, and "whispered" behind their hands afterward--loud enough that I could catch at least a few of the words, including "baby" and something that sounded a lot like "I would never."

Yesterday, James and I went out to lunch for Valentine's Day to our new favorite sushi place, Sakura in Orem. I have been sick, so this was about all we did to celebrate Valentine's Day. Again, we had Joel. (Actually, I'd been looking forward to letting him try sushi...he wasn't a fan!) And, of course, he was his usual self. While the reaction wasn't as bad as when we were at Oteo's, he still got a number of sideways glances and clearly some comments from the couple across the way.

I'll admit, I was embarrassed, both times. I would hate to sour anyone else's dining experiences, especially if, as it was for us yesterday, they were celebrating a special occasion.

That said, I was also a little upset to be at the brunt end of such rudeness, especially at Oteo. James and I love to eat out; it's one of our favorite ways to spend date night. We love to enjoy different foods, different atmospheres, and each other's company and conversation. Even if we ate out less (and we don't eat out an unreasonable amount as it is), I still don't think it would be reasonable to ask us to leave our son behind every time. We simply cannot afford, in either money or favors, to get a babysitter every time we want to go out.

If your suggestion would be, "just don't eat out," I have one thing to say to you: Get. Real. I am not going to spend the next X years stuck inside because I am a parent. Besides, adults can be just as obnoxious as kids. Have you ever met my brother? He's louder than any 10 babies. (Love you, Kyle!) 

Babies are not like adults. They don't have social skills yet. Joel doesn't understand that he shouldn't shriek or throw food on the ground, much as we try to prevent him doing so. I may know that he is annoying you, but that won't stop him from doing his thing. Giving me the stinkeye and whispering behind your hand about how you would never be "that parent" does nothing except sour the experience for me AND for you.

So, for future reference, if you're at a restaurant and there's a shrieking baby, how about instead of acting annoyed, you instead give those parents an encouraging smile, letting them know, "you got this!" You'll probably feel better about the experience than you would otherwise, and I know that I, as the parent, certainly would as well.

Weekend play

We've had a couple of eventful weekends! Last weekend, we had plans to go camping with Patrick & Shaylee (James's brother and his wife). It turned out to be something of a catastrophe! First of all, we weren't able to get a campsite. There was a snafu with trying to reserve one, and by the time we all got off work, all the first-come-first-served sites were taken. So, we ended up camping in our backyard: "Camp Holley."

As we were getting set up, however, James and Patrick discovered that their tent (borrowed from Shaylee's parents) was broken. Guh. Fortunately I was able to zip over to my parents house and borrow one of their tents. Meanwhile, Shaylee was working on dinner, which unfortunately was taking forever--we discovered that the fuel on my campstove was running low, which was why things weren't cooking. However, it was getting pretty late by the time we got it all figured out--about the time that the boys finally finished putting up the tent, after a couple of tries. So, it was about 10pm by the time we ate!

Shaylee had made homemade fries to go with the burgers that James and I made. When she finished with the fries, we needed the campstove, but her pan of grease/oil was still hot. So she laid the pan down on the patio to cool while we continued making dinner, intending to dispose of the grease once it was cool. But after dinner, we went straight into our campfire--the one truly pleasant part of the evening. We roasted s'mores and Starbursts and watched birds (we think) flying back and forth in front of the stars.

James and I had already settled down in our tent when we heard Patrick and Shaylee rustling about for awhile--dealing with their belongings, I thought at the time. But the reality was a sad state indeed. It turns out that Shadow had consumed most of the pan of grease, and proceeded to vomit several times in the house, as well as in Patrick and Shaylee's tent. They hadn't noticed when they first went in and it got everywhere. It was awful, James and I were so embarrassed. After they got cleaned up, we got them settled in our guest bedroom for the night.

Needless to say, our "camping trip" did not turn out at all as planned. The next morning, we dropped the pretense of camping, and determined to just enjoy the rest of our time together. We had breakfast, played games, and hung out most of the afternoon, which was a much more pleasant experience than the evening's adventures!

Sunday evening, we had decided to make our first attempt at Chicken Bryan, our favorite dish from Carrabba's. We get the same thing every time we go. So we decided to try to make it ourselves! (And so maybe we can try other things when we go next time.) It turned into a very special evening for us. We got all dressed up. We ate from our wedding china and silver, with candlelight. And to our delight, our chicken bryan was delicious!

This past weekend started off with a trip to the Call's new house. A few days ago, I posted a plea on Facebook--James and I have wanted to go swimming all summer, but it just hasn't happened. We finally made some time, but lo and behold, it turns out that the pools have limited their hours because school's in session, and we wouldn't be able to go. Fortunately, we have awesome friends! The Calls were very kind and invited us to their house to swim. Their pool is warm enough that Joel got to give it a try! He was not a fan of the life jacket, as you can see, but once we took it off and just held him in the water, he enjoyed splashing for a few minutes.

After classes on Friday, we got to visit with our friends the Estradas. It's been AGES since we've all hung out, since before Joel was born, in fact. We had a blast playing games and whatnot. But one of the best parts of the evenings was watching our babies interact! Savannah is 2 1/2 months older than Joel (though he's bigger!) and just on the verge of crawling. They were so cute together!

Saturday was a day that James and I have been eagerly anticipating. We had tickets to the national tour of WICKED, playing up in Salt Lake. We were so excited to see it! Of course, there was some nervousness attached--we had a babysitter (non-family) for the first time. I was a little anxious about it, but everything turned out great. The show was amazing, and we came home to a happy baby.

It's just nice sometimes to have a great weekend. =) That's all!

Baby Shower Happiness

We are feeling very grateful today.

Yesterday was my baby shower. First of all, I'm grateful to my mother, who decided to throw me the shower. She and my dad put together the invitation with a little creative input from yours truly. Mom arranged the whole thing and made a ton of delightful food. And it turned out wonderfully!

Baby showers are a hit-and-miss thing for me. I've been to some that have been truly enjoyable, and I've been to some that were, frankly, rather torturous. Every new mother is different, as are those ladies who throw the showers, appreciated though they always are. Everyone has their own ideas about what a shower should involve.

For me, the important things were 1) having a chance to visit and spend time with the lovely women in my life, 2) eat yummy things, and 3) NOT play any ridiculous games.

(Please forgive me if you are someone who loves baby shower games. I just don't care for them, personally.)

With those things in mind, I would say that my baby shower went off GREAT. There were no silly games, there was much yumminess to consume, and lots of pleasant visiting. It was almost unfortunate that so many people came, because I hardly hard a chance to visit with many of them. Except that it was actually incredibly wonderful that so many people came. =)

I will admit honestly that I was hoping to receive a few gifts to help us get ready for Baby J's arrival. Yet I was in no way prepared for the generosity of my friends and family. It was a mountain of presents! And so many fantastic things that we needed and wanted. I was a little overwhelmed!

Last night, James and I were in the nursery looking over the things that we received. One of the best parts of my day was when he looked up from the pile of darling baby clothes with a big smile on his face and said, "I'm going to be a dad!" You should have heard the excitement in his voice! It matched my own level of anticipation. Six weeks and counting!

To those of you who came to the shower yesterday, a heartfelt thank-you, for your company and for your thoughtfulness. To all, thank you for your love and kind thoughts. We are grateful for you all!

Honeymoon Caribbean Cruise

First of all, red-eye flights suck. At least James got some sleep. In between feeling like my legs were going to fall off and various cricks in my neck, I got maybe an hour of sleep through our entire journey from SLC to Atlanta to Miami. No bueno.

Arriving in Miami was a relief. Arriving at the Port of Miami and seeing our enormous cruise ship was even better.

But then the waiting began. We arrived in Miami at about 9am, and had intended to grab some breakfast at the airport before heading over, but that didn't happen. So as we sat waiting at the docking area, I was getting hungrier and hungrier, crankier and crankier. (Not doing so well going without food these days.) It was about 1:30pm or so before they started boarding (about 2 hours late). Fortunately boarding didn't take too long. After stopping by our stateroom, our first mission was to find the buffet!

Let me make first mention here of the food. If you know me and James, you know that we like to eat. I've always said that one of the reasons I do Taekwondo is so that I can eat whatever I want. :) The food was one of the top things both of us were looking forward to on the cruise. And we were not disappointed!

There's pretty much food whenever you want it. Breakfast options include a breakfast buffet or room service delivered to your stateroom. Lunch is the buffet, which has everything from Chinese to  burgers to Mexican to fish & chips to carved meats, plus a dessert buffet and an endless ice cream machine that's open 24/7. Dinner we had every night in the formal dining room, and frankly, it was one of the highlights of every day.

Day 1, after settling in (and the mandatory awful safety briefing) we went topside to bid farewell to Miami. It was pretty cool, watching the ocean open up in front of us. Of course, we then took a nap in a comfy deck lounge.

That evening, we enjoyed a couple of shows onboard, including a really fun magician/comedian. Ask me sometime about the Grapefruit Guy. Hilarious.

Day 2 was one of my favorites. We visited our first island: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. It was seriously the most paradisaical place I have ever been. When you see a movie with those white sand beaches, palm trees, and turquoise water, they could've been at Half Moon Cay.

Day 3 was a Sea Day, which were definitely not my favorite parts of the cruise. While we found some entertainment aboard (comedy shows, swimming, etc) we also just spent time reading and watching movies in our cabin. The highlight of the day was Elegant Evening, where everyone dressed up for dinner, and they served one of my favorite meals of the trip: Lobster!

Day 4 was our day in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. It was overcast most of the day, though fortunately we did not get rained on. We started out by walking into downtown St. Thomas, did some souvenir shopping at a local bazaar, then had lunch at a Jamaican restaurant. Then it was time to walk back for our excursion.

We boarded a sailboat with about 15 other people, and set sail for a private island called Buck Island, which was about an hour's sail from St. Thomas. There, we snorkeled in the bay with sea turtles. It was so amazing! I wish we could've gotten pictures of the turtles, they were so close to us! We also swam through a coral reef, and the fish were incredible, I loved seeing all the different varieties. But the sea turtles were absolutely the best part.

Day 5 we spent in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There we enjoyed a 2-hour private walking tour of Old San Juan. (It was truly private--the tour was me, James and Victor, our local guide.) It was fantastic. I loved San Juan--the statues, the architecture, the history, the ambiance. After our tour, we had lunch in San Juan and did a little shopping before heading back to the Liberty.

Day 6 we visited Grand Turk Island, of Turks & Caicos. It was another beach day, which we enjoyed. If I'm being honest, though, I much preferred the beach at Half Moon Cay. The beach at Grand Turk, while beautiful to look at, was much rougher, rocky and uneven. We spent a little time in the water, but mostly we hung out on the beach and in town.

Day 7 was a Sea Day. We did a few fun things that day, but the big event came that evening. They had an exhibit of Thomas Kinkade's artwork in the art gallery on board. We both enjoy his artwork, so we went to the exhibit. We were informed that they'd later be having a brief seminar, followed by a raffle for a Kinkade. So we came back that evening for the seminar and entered the raffle. To our surprise and delight, James won the raffle! We were ecstatic to win the Kinkade.

Then at last, we arrived back in Miami. We had one last breakfast aboard before heading off to Miami International Airport. Of course, it took us all day to finally get home, and boy was a relief when we finally pulled up to our Holley house.

We loved our cruise. It was fantastic, a truly unforgettable experience. I'm so glad we were able to have this vacation at this point in our life together!

Music, Food, Books, Writing, and Thoughts

I've been wanting to write a blog for several days now, but I've been struggling with a lack of anything profound to say. So welcome to a rambling blog about a bunch of random (and mostly unimportant) things that have been on my mind.

1. Music

I have a complete obsession with The Piano Guys. I've been following them pretty much since they got started two years ago, and I was a huge fan of Jon Schmidt long before that. Their music inspires me. Their music unfailingly makes me happy. I really enjoyed their newest video, a cover of "Home" by Phillip Phillips--a song that I insisted go on our wedding playlist, even when James protested that it didn't really have anything to do with a wedding. But I won that one, mostly because we both like the song so much. And even though I don't prefer TPG's version over the original, I like it equally well for different reasons.


2. Food

I get bored with food easily. Eating the same things over and over again without alteration makes me crazy, and if I don't get something different, I feel utterly lackluster. The problem is that is often ends up with us eating out more often, because that satisfies my need for variety, however, it creates the problem of us eating out too much.

In an effort to resolve the issue, I've started seeking more creative meals to make at home. Nothing that I haven't made before, I just have to think about it a little more. Recent efforts have included homemade pizza, salmon & asparagus, and just last night, chicken salad on croissants. All have turned out well, satisfied my cravings, and made my husband happy. :)

3. Books

I recently read "Bitterblue" by Kristin Cashore, which is the sequel to a novel called "Graceling" that I read sometime last year.

I really enjoyed the first book, and while I found "Bitterblue" to be engaging, it was also really messed up. At the same time that I picked up "Bitterblue" from the library, I also got the prequel, "Fire." James asked me last night if I'll be starting to read it, and I replied that maybe I'll pick it up again another time, but after the psychological nastiness of "Bitterblue", I'm a little iffy about another book in this series. At least for the time being.

On the day before Mother's Day, James took me to Deseret Book. I picked up "Choosing Motherhood" at random, and could not put it down--even after taking it home!.

I am in love with this book. It's a selection of stories by women (mostly from Yale) who all had education and successful careers, but who each, through different circumstances and series of events, chose full-time motherhood instead.

I love the idea of choice. None of these women felt like they had to be stay-at-home moms. None of these women caved into pressure from family or church leaders (indeed, most of them felt the opposite sort of pressure from their coworkers and colleagues). Each of them sacrificed their own personal goals and ambitions for their children--and none of them regretted that choice.

I strongly identify with these women. Not because I have any difficulty with the idea of becoming a mother; on the contrary, it's something that I am anticipating with great excitement and eagerness. No, I identify with the choice. I desperately crave our children. But having them, staying at home with them, will mean the sacrifice of other things that I greatly enjoy and value. I have a full and rich life, I have talents with great scope, I have prospects and ambitions. I want to be an acclaimed author. I want to become an international referee in Taekwondo. I want to serve as an adoption advocate the way I have in the past. There are many other things which I hope to accomplish in my life. And the thing is, I know that if it is God's will, I will accomplish those things. But there is a time and a place. And when my children are in my home, my place is with them. My time is for them. I choose to give my life--my time, my talents, my education, everything the Lord has blessed me with--to those precious souls He entrusts to me.

My sister-in-law Shaylee blogged (raved might be a better word) about this book, "The Gift of Giving Life" and so, having sufficiently piqued my interest, I decided to pick up a copy. I'm still only about a third of the way through it, but I'm finding a lot of things that I really enjoy and appreciate about this volume.

There is great emphasis placed on natural childbirth, though I notice the authors are careful to caveat with the notion that any birth experience can be a spiritual one. It's been interesting for me, because I have always believed strongly in natural childbirth (though I will probably always deliver in a hospital. Both James and I are of the "just-in-case" mentality) and I really appreciate feeling like I'm not a totally backwards nut for not wanting drugs and interference when I give birth. I do have to say (don't take it personally, Shaylee!) that some of the ideas presented in "The Gift of Giving Life" are a little weird for me to digest (blessingways? I can't quite get my head around that one) but overall, I'm really enjoying the book, especially the spiritual and scriptural connections that I've been making.

4. Writing

I should actually call it Publishing, because I haven't really been doing a lot of writing lately, but I have been doing a lot of detail-follow-up nonsense with regards to the publication of my second book, The Scourge of Narak. I received the almost-final draft of the cover art a couple of days ago, and I'm really excited--I'm looking forward to sharing it soon! I've also been seeing drafts of the new maps, which is nearly as exciting as the cover art. There is just something special about seeing artwork somebody else has created based off ideas from my head.



I guess that's all for now. I will probably have some big-ish news next week, but in the meantime, live life to the fullest, and have a great day. :)