Anonymous

It's been a great girls' weekend. No, not the old school girls from Vegas. Just my regular posse (Jane and Danin). Brian drove to Manti, Utah on Friday to attend the wedding of a friend from his mission--Celia Bishop. We had not seen her since close to the time that we were married almost nine years ago. Celia was one of the several sister missionaries with whom Brian had a good relationship on his mission.
I remember going with Brian to one of his mission reunions soon after he returned home in March of 2000. Brian had told me that he wanted to marry me and I was in the process of trying to sort out all of my feelings and make the decision. I had been praying for guidance, and I remember that before that reunion, I had prayed and told Heavenly Father that I was going to the reunion, and that I wanted to be able to make my decision based on my experience that night. (It was one of those times when I was trying to corner Heavenly Father into giving me an answer in the way I wanted it. Risky, I know.) But anyway, after a few minutes of having been at the reunion, I remember thinking--OK. This is the deal breaker. Brian is just too loud, too casual, and too obnoxious. There is no way I could live with this forever. Later on, though, we went out to dinner with a bunch of people from the reunion, including many of the sister missionaries, and all they talked about was how wonderful Elder Lacouture was. They talked about how he showed them so much respect, how he served them, and what a good leader he was. And I left thinking: Yep. He's mine. And I'm keeping him. I ultimately decided that a man might be loud and obnoxious and a bit inappropriate at times, but if he treats his wife well, none of that other stuff matters nearly as much. And you know what? He is definitely loud, and a little obnoxious, but he definitely makes me happy. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for obliging me.
But anyway...
I suggested he take Camp with him so that he (Camp) could stop and spend a day with Collin. From what I hear, it was quite the reunion. I'm hoping Brian stuffed Collin in the back seat on his way home so that Camp doesn't have to live without him any longer.

Oh. Have I told you that I've discovered something new about myself? I don't like to cook. And I don't like to bake, either. In fact, I like baking less than I like cooking because I don't feel as free to eat all of the fruits of my labor. It's the weirdest thing. For most of my adult life, I had somehow been tricked into thinking that I liked to cook because of how much I love to eat, and how much I love to host people for dinner. It's only been over the last several months that I've realized I don't like to cook at all. It's just the eating and the socializing that I love so much. It's kind of a depressing reality, really. I'd much rather clean all day than have to cook three meals. And I've realized I'm not a very good cook. Good cooks use all kinds of ingredients and spices and stuff. My sister Sarah always uses shallots and fresh ginger and veggies from her garden (said in a snotty mocking voice), Maryanne knows exactly the right amount of olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette to dribble onto her salad, and Erin and Nikki can't wait to bring home fresh basil or squash from the farmers' market. Well, you know what? I've decided to broaden my horizons. I'm going to broaden my repertoire of ingredients, and I'm going to like it. My family is going to become more healthy and less picky, and I'm going to smile while I'm at the stove. You guys have inspired me. There probably really is so much more to life than cheese and sour cream.
As chance would have it, my mother-in-law got me Julie and Julia for Christmas. I actually had no idea what it was about, but upon watching it, I thought, How did she know?! It was so perfect for my new resolve. So I'm becoming a new woman. I started by finally making one of the dozens of recipes that I've ripped out of my BH&G magazines, called Coconut Chicken Chili. It wasn't something I'll likely make again, but it was pretty good and definitely different, and I'm on my way to better cooking.
What else.....
Aside from the cooking thing, I didn't really make a new New Year's resolution, but I feel good about continuing to work on two other goals I've been working on: to be on time and to bridle all [my] passions (I'm talking jealousy, greed, pride, anger, impatience, etc.), that I may be filled with love. (Alma 38:12)

And one more thing. None of us can pretend that it doesn't mean something to us that anyone ever reads the things we post to our blogs. So it really is a blessing and a treat to have someone leave a comment. Well earlier tonight, I was looking back on a few of my old posts (it it therapeutic for anyone else to go back and read stuff you've written in the past?)and I read a comment from an old post that had been posted on January 3rd. It was from an anonymous person who commented that she (presumably) liked my more recent posts and that they have been more interesting than some of my older posts. (Hmmm...is that a compliment? It reminds me of when I was about 15 or 16 and my aunt MaryLou commented that I was starting to blossom--or something like that--after always having been kind of awkward looking. I'll take what I can get, though. You gotta appreciate someone who will tell you like it is. ) Now I fully agree that this person is likely just my grandma or my dad, or someone who knows me but just doesn't quite know how to sign in or leave their name, but wouldn't it be cool if it were some girl who had randomly found my blog and has been following it faithfully ever since?! Oh, man! That would be so exciting! I know, I know--the chances are slim, at best, but you just never know. Thank you, too, Anonymous, for making my day.