Electric Toothbrushes

It's funny how some much changes because of the economy. So many businesses are scrambling to keep business going. It's kind of nice to get things for cheaper than normal. For example, I just got a 2 year subscription to Reader's Digest for $15! That would normally be like $90 or so. I can imagine a lot of people are trying to save money and cancel their subscriptions. 

On another note, I just wanted to write about how great electric toothbrushes are! My brother gave me one for Christmas and I've been using it since. Let me give some background. I feel that I take excellent care of my teeth. I have been an avid flosser for almost 9 years now. Every night for 9 years! I brush twice a day and for the last 2 years, I have used mouth wash every night. Unfortunately, I still get cavities-a lot! It's extremely annoying. I went to the dentist back in October and had 7 cavities. Aaaaah! So it's taken a while for me to get them taken care of. Last week I finally got the last one filled. And then it was time for my 6 month cleaning. I went yesterday and the lady working on me commented how clean my teeth were as compared to the last time I came in. It took barely any time for her to clean them because they weren't that dirty. Yeah! I told her I had been using an electric toothbrush and asked if that was probably the reason. She said yes and her reasoning was that a. they have the rotating head and b. most electric toothbrushes have a timer or an indicator of 2 minutes. Most people with a normal toothbrush don't take 2 minutes to brush their teeth. However, with the electric they feel more compelled to brush for longer, because of the indicator. I know I do. 

I'm just really glad that I have the electric toothbrush and am now brushing for longer. I really hope that this will solve my problem of getting so many cavities. I think it's genetics. I know people who never floss and never get cavities. It's like my dentist said when I complained that I was trying so hard and still got cavities-"think how bad it would be if you didn't floss!" Good point. :)  I just need to keep these pearly whites, looking nice and pearly. 

Dating Memories

I had a dream last night where I got a text from a guy. I originally thought it was from a guy that I had liked and somewhat dated in college. In the dream it turned out it was from a different person with the same name. So while I was getting ready today, I started thinking about that guy and other guys I had dated or gone on dates with and some of the funny experiences I've had. 

The first one that comes to mind wasn't actually a date. This guy named Jason moved into the ward. He was roommates with my friend Steve, so I got to know him a little. One day, a week or two after he had moved in, he was out in the parking lot washing his car. I ended up helping him (mainly because I was avoiding my schoolwork). Afterwards, we end up playing a game at the kitchen table. I can't remember the game, but he pulls out some ice cream and says whenever someone got a question right, they get a bite of ice cream. Okay, sounds good to me. Then came the caveat. The one person had to feed the ice cream to the other person. AWKWARD! This probably wouldn't have been so bad if I was interested in the guy, but I wasn't. In hindsight, I guess he was just trying to be kind of cute and flirty. However, I didn't really know what to say, so I kind of went along with it. Then, his other roommate comes home and sees us and asks, "Uhhh, what are you guys doing?" I felt so stupid! Needless to say, I never did that again. 

Another time, a guy I had a class with saw one of my friends and wanted to go on a date with her. We ended up doubling, and he was going to set me up with one of  his roommates. Well, the night of the date, like a half hour before we are to leave, his roommate's car breaks down somewhere far away and ends up not being able go. So my friend is scrambling to get a date for me. He finds one and off to Salt Lake City we go. I'm not even going to try and be nice about it-my date was a nerd. I had no interest in him whatsoever. So I had to try the whole evening to be interested in what he was saying and keep up a conversation with him. Luckily, we went to a concert at the Tabernacle, so we didn't have to talk the whole time. Afterwards, we went to the Olive Garden and he was very kind and paid for my meal, even though he didn't have to. On the way back to Provo, I was so tired and his conversation wasn't exactly exciting, that I ended up actually falling asleep! I don't know how long I was out for, but I know that he didn't even notice!!! He just kept on talking. Needless to say, it wasn't the best pseudo blind date I've been on.

Which leads me to my next story. I've actually only been on one official blind date. My mom's best friend from high school had a son at BYU. They schemed together and we ended up going on a blind date. The first half hour went well. We went to Red Robin for dinner and had movie tickets for King Kong afterwards. Well, after a while, he keeps telling me how he can finally tell his mom that he went on the blind date and now she can get off his back about it. He doesn't mention this once, but multiple times! He did it in such a way that it made it sound like the ONLY reason we were on this date was to make his mom happy. Now, I can understand if that were the case, but you don't have to keep reminding your date about it. It was such a turnoff. So we finish dinner, and he looks at his clock. We still had some time to kill before the movie, so he suggests dessert. However, he did it in such a way, like, "hmmm, how can I kill time on this date that I don't really want to be on?"I was pretty fully, but never turn down a free dessert. We finally get to the movie and man, that movie is so freakin' long!!! By the end, I was tired, falling asleep and could care less how it ended. I think he felt the same way. We both had to work early the next morning. It was about 1:30 a.m. by the time he dropped me off and that was it. Never saw or heard from him again, and I was okay with that. 

Another time, I went on a date with this guy, who was funny, but in a kind of weird way. He  apparently hadn't dated for a long time and kept repeating how he was getting back in the dating game. He kept talking about previous dates he had gone on recently, the whole time during our date. During dessert, I mentioned Tiramisu', an Italian dessert and how much I liked it. Well, after that, he kept trying to get me to go on another date with him by making Tiramisu'. I was able to get out of it, by just kind of changing the subject. What's funny about his guy is probably a month or so later, my roommate Shara went on a few dates with him. However, it had a sour ending when she told him that she wasn't interested in him and he got really really mad. Shara if you're reading this, remember Nate? He kept telling her how she had been leading him on, etc. Now, at BYU,  you can go on a few dates with someone, but that doesn't mean  you're dating. You're still just testing the waters. I guess he was still getting back in the dating game. 

About 6 months after coming home from my mission, I started dating this guy. He was extremely funny and I liked laughing with him. However, I knew that I probably shouldn't be dating him because he wasn't the kind of guy I could marry. It's kind of hard to explain because he was a good guy and all. Anyways, so after a month of dating, I ask him why he's dating me and his response, "I don't know why. I guess because I was interested in a few girls and you're the first one that held my hand." WHAT??? What kind of guy says that? Nice to know I won all because of the hand holding. I knew I needed to break up with him. However, since I had never actually had to break up with someone (it was usually the guy or just a mutual understanding that it needed to end), I kept putting it off and just having fun. Luckily, a month later when it did happen, it went extremely well! 

One time on a date, we were at a baseball game and some idiot on the balcony above us decided it would be funny to pour out the remains of his coke on us. However, it mainly landed on me. All over my legs, shirt and hair. Yeah, good times. :) Fortunately, I could laugh about it and it eventually dried. I think my date thought it was funny, but didn't say it. Man, if I ever find out who did it, I will punch the idiot. 

Okay, so when I finally started dating Dan, I knew he was the one! He was so kind and sweet to me. However, he didn't get away with funny things that he said to me. I made focaccia and he was eating some the next day. He takes a bite and tells me, "This is surprisingly good!" I start laughing. What he meant was that it kept well for being a day old and it was, surprisingly good! :) I made fun of him for that for a long time. 

While we were dating, Dan started to teach me how to play the guitar. I was a slow learner. One day I was practicing and he told me, "You're going to be really good, someday." I still make fun of him for saying that. 

So, here are some funny dating memories. I'm sure as soon as I post this, I'll think of more funny ones, but these are the ones that come to mind. All I can say is that I'm glad I'm married and out of the dating game. It was fun during the time, but marriage is much better. :)

Dan and I, our 5 month anniversary of dating. 

Lessons Learned

For those of you who may not know, my husband was told last Thursday that he would be losing his job at the end of the school year. The state of California is having some major issues with their budget and are in a major financial deficit. In the district my husband works for, 96 teachers were given notices of losing their jobs. They went entirely off seniority. My husband is in his 2nd year of teaching, even though he is fully credentialed, as compared to other teachers who have taught longer, but are not done with their credentials. As of today, Monday March 9th, things have worked out and it looks like his job will be okay. 

I wanted to write a little bit about some things I learned from this experience. 

When Dan first told me he was losing his job, I was just about to eat lunch. After getting off the phone with him, I suddenly viewed my lunch making resources a lot differently. Should I use less peanut butter than normal? What if our situation got so bad that we couldn't afford peanut butter anymore? What about the jam? We buy a slightly more expensive kind because it tastes SO much better. All of a sudden, the comfort of having a steady income, was slithering away from me. For the last few months, I've heard about thousands of people losing their jobs. I've always felt bad for them, but was comforted knowing that Dan still had his and we didn't have to deal with that. Now, I have experienced a little more what people go through. Our situation was nowhere near what some people go through, but I was starting to understand and feel more for them. I'm now feeling a lot more THANKFUL for what we have and feel so BLESSED that it appears Dan's job will be okay (fingers crossed). 

After hearing the news about Dan's job, we started to assess our situation. We have no debt (other than our mortgage), a good amount of savings and food storage. I've been working really hard on getting our food storage going and now have a good substantial amount. After thinking about it, I wasn't as worried as I first was about Dan losing his job. I knew that we would be okay for a while. Which leads me to my next point.

"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." 

Isn't that what we've been hearing for years now? Get out of debt, have money in savings, get your food storage, etc. My testimony of following the prophet has really been strengthened the last few days. When you do what they tell you to, you don't have to worry. I didn't have to worry about how were we going to pay a credit card bill if Dan lost his job. I didn't have to worry about not having enough food. I was a little worried about our mortgage, but I knew our savings would cover us a for a while. We don't live month to month on Dan's paycheck. Heavenly Father knows what's going to happen with the world and wants His children to be prepared. I think we are finally starting to see how quickly the stability we're used to can change so rapidly. 

However, being prepared, has come with a price. What I mean by this is we live pretty frugally, compared to the world's standard of living. I've always been pretty frugal. My family would always make fun of me for this. We don't eat out a lot (maybe once a month). I don't get my hair or nails done (my hair doesn't require a lot of maintenance). If we go to the movies, it's usually to the dollar theater. I make a lot of meals from scratch, so our food bill isn't usually too high. I have always felt that when it came down to it, I would much rather have savings and food storage, more than really nice furniture or expensive clothes, the latest cell phone, an expensive ipod, a new car, etc. Sure those things would be nice, but I don't dare buy them till I'm in a financial state to afford them. And only after I've put priority over the more important things. 

Let's say Dan did lose his job and it took him a long time to find another one. What if we hadn't been prepared for this? I think I would have a lot of regret, having spent my money on less important things. I can't eat a car or my clothes. An ipod won't pay the bills or buy diapers. Furniture I couldn't have afforded to begin with won't pay the mortgage. The world says I NEED these things and I need them NOW. I say they're nice to have, only if you can truly afford them and if you've first prioritized what the prophet has counseled us to do. Because we were prepared, we didn't have to fear. Of course we were worried and concerned, but we knew we had done our part and Heavenly Father would help us. 

I'm so thankful that we've been blessed for Dan to not lose his job. I really feel for those who are not so fortunate. I hope that these difficult economic times will pass and that we can all learn a lesson from them. 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

For some reason, I absolutely LOVE to recycle. I don't know where this came from. Maybe because I grew up in Washington state and have always recycled. I think it's a great idea. Why fill up landfills with waste that can be reused? 

There was a time when I didn't recycle, but not necessarily due to my own choice. When I lived in Utah, while attending BYU, they didn't offer recycling services where I lived. In fact, Utah doesn't recycle, which I think is retarded. I guess some people can now, because my mother-in-law does, but I believe you have to pay extra. Anyways, I always felt awful for throwing away an empty can of corn or a plastic bottle because it seemed like such a waste.

Fast forward a few years to when we moved to CA. We lived in an apartment and for the first 5 months of living there, I didn't know there was a dumpster specifically for recycling. I was so happy when I finally found out. 

As I have resumed my recycling endeavors, I have been extremely surprised at how many things are recyclable-my floss container, the bag my baby carrots comes in, the produce bags they offer at the store for you to put your produce in, the plastic wrap covering a head of lettuce, small lotion bottles, some lids to milk jugs, the tiny bottle of contact cleanser, plastic grocery bags, most hard plastic type coverings on different products (the kind you have to cut with scissors because it's too difficult to tear by hand), the protective plastic on dry cleaning clothes, plastic bread bags, etc. The list goes on and on! I've also noticed that just about any small ziploc type bag (ones used to hold game pieces, screws, small parts) have the recycle symbol on it now. In addition, I have seen the recycle symbol on a lot of plastic tupperware containers. Many times the recycle symbol is very small and not very obvious. A lot of times I have to search to see if there is one. Most of the time I just put something in the recycle even if there isn't a symbol. I figure, heck, if it's not recyclable, the people at the center will know better than me and can throw it away. If it is recyclable, they'll know that too (most likely). 

Basically, just about anything plastic is now recyclable. There are also the obvious items-water bottles, cardboard boxes, empty cereal boxes, large plastic bottles, even the cardboard from toilet paper rolls and paper towels, etc. Honestly, whenever I see that something is recyclable, it makes me happy. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. I guess I feel like I'm doing my part to not create more waste.

It's easy to not think about it and toss it in the garbage. I encourage everyone reading this to start looking for things that can be recycled and to recycle them. Even if it means keeping a bag around to put it in and when you're out running errands, drop it off at a recycle center (if you don't currently have services to pick it up).  I keep a paper bag next to our garbage for such items. I've also found that since so many things are recyclable, that our garbage doesn't get very full and I go through a lot less garbage bags, thus saving money. :)

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE!!!

Anna Banana

Life has been going well lately. Anna is getting bigger and bigger and advancing in her development. It's so fun to see and observe. Just the last few days she's been starting to balance all by herself for a few seconds here and there. I have a feeling she's going to be an early walker.  Here are some pictures of her doing her little thing. 

Here, she is playing with a bag of carrots. I don't know why, but she LOVES playing with it. She saw the bag on the table and reached for it. I took it and was trying to get a twisty tie on it, so all the carrots didn't fall out. She got so mad. She started crying and was really upset, until I gave it back to her. She doesn't normally do that when I take things away from her, so I guess she really really likes the bag of carrots. Then, for 10 minutes she just sat on the floor playing with it. Silly baby. 

She has discovered the kitchen (not the cupboards yet, thankfully) and loves to crawl around on the floor. Lately, she's discovered how fun it is to crawl under the table. 

Here, she is taking clothes out of a box that I'm going to send to my sister. She had so much fun just pulling  them out. :)

This is one of my favorite pictures. I let her play with an extra phone book that we have. She loves it and is constantly pulling out pages. I probably recycle 5 pages a day. Here she is with her daily destruction of the phone book. 

This picture is funny. One morning Dan was carrying Anna and had the bright idea to fit her into the inside of his bathrobe. It's tied securely around his waist and she just fits inside. An innovative idea for a baby carrier. :) So cute.