My Womanhood Has Been Feeling Threatened

As long as I've been in a relationship with Tim, my womanhood has felt slightly threatened. Here's why: he's a FANTASTIC baker! Although there are a few things that I like to bake (simple things, like cake-mix bundt cake and cake-mix cookies), he's really the baker of the household. He delights us with sweet treats every week or two, and he can even make chocolate chip cookies (really GOOD chocolate chip cookies) without having to follow a recipe.

So naturally, I've felt a little displaced, because isn't the wife supposed to be the one who makes the beautiful, scrumptious cookies? Unfortunately, for as long as we've been married, whenever I try to bake chocolate chip cookies, they ALWAYS spread thin on the baking sheet and get overly darkened edges. Tim lovingly refers to them as my "cow flop cookies." Really, they're just so sad-looking. I don't know why, but it always happens.

The other night, in an effort to reassert my supposedly innate feminine ability to bake perfect cookies, I decided to give it another go. In order to prevent any cow flops, I took two important steps: (1) I followed the good ol' Tollhouse recipe, so that I would be kept on the strait and narrow; and (2) I busted out a secret weapon in place of the chocolate chips: Trader Joe's mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups!!

Can a peanut butter cup possibly get more darling than this? I think not. Plus, I have heard many people rave about these little delights, so I knew they'd be the perfect complement to my cookies.

So, I mixed and mixed and baked and baked. Tim waited with bated anticipation, teasing me occasionally about my knack for producing cow flop cookies. But when they were all finished, guess WHO SHOWED WHO!!!

Tim showed me. The cow flops are back again.

Hahaha!! EVERY TIME!! Why?? They're so ugly looking! Why do they get so flat and browned around the edges?? WHHHHYYYYYYY???!!!!

But don't fret; there's a happy ending. For you see, Tim still ate one:

And he still really liked it:

... because fortunately, they were still really tasty (especially with those melty little peanut butter cups!). Okay, womanhood restored, at least a little bit. But I think we'll just make it Official Team Anderson Policy that Tim continues to handle the chocolate chip cookies. :-)

Puddles

On Wednesday, Weston learned a very important equation:

rain = puddles = OH MY HEAVEN ON EARTH!!!

We captured this moment of realization for your viewing pleasure. I promise, you will NOT regret turning up your volume. Get ready for the stompin' and the hoppin' and the bippin' and the boppin'!



P.S. This one's for you, UNCLE BRETT.

Lovin' the Farmer's Market

I was never particularly interested in farmer's markets until I moved to Southern California. Then I discovered that they're actually REALLY fun. Plus, they're all over the place around here, and many times, they're a pretty big to-do. (One exception: the sad, scrawny little farmer's market that opened several months ago, just about two blocks from our house on a vacant lot. Despite my excitement, it did not last long.)

Our favorite, by far, is the Monrovia Farmer's Market (Fridays from 5-9 PM). Monrovia is a charming town that is about a 15-minute drive from us, and every Friday night, the main street (Myrtle Avenue) is blocked off to make room for the produce stands, craft/retail tables, and food booths that comprise the farmer's market. Here's a recap of one of our recent visits!

This is looking north on Myrtle Avenue, with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background:

Weston is a pretty good farmer's market trooper, as long as we keep him loaded up on snacks and free fruit samples:
"Tim, take a picture of me looking at the peaches." (That's how pictures of me usually come to fruition.)

One of the vendors at the Monrovia Farmer's Market is Dolce Monachelli's, which makes these scrumptious, moist bundt cakes and then sells them online and at farmer's markets all over the area. The little ones are $3.00 each, or 4 for $10.00. SOOOOO GOOD!!! (If you're not interested, you MUST at least try their samples!):

At the top of the street, there's a small "family festival area" with a petting zoo, pony rides, and inflatable bouncy structures. We never "pony up" for anything (HAHA), but Weston does enjoy watching the animals from his stroller.

Interestingly, one of the highlights of the farmer's market isn't even part of the market, per se. It's an amazing toy store called Twinkle Twinkle Little Store, which is located along the street:

We ALWAYS stop in there, and Weston is usually content to stay for a half hour or longer. Twinkle Twinkle Little Store is a beautiful shop with lots of higher-end toys (like Plan and Melissa & Doug), and with LOTS of display tables and things that he can actually play with. I love it. I LOVE THIS STORE:

There's even a wee piano:

And a big corner of awesome food/kitchen toys:

Sigh. I love that store. Anyway, that evening we stopped at the Jake's Roadhouse booth for some grub. They grill and barbecue the meat right out front, so it smells SO mouth-wateringly GOOD there:

I ask him for ONE nice picture, and... well, you know what happens:

After we ate, we checked out the live band for a little while:

And JUST as we were about to leave, we spotted this stand:

Holy apple, Batman:

And did we get one? (Is our name Anderson?):

(I've decided that that's how I'll take my apples from now on. Drenched in chocolate, caramel, marshmallow, and nuts until they're twice their original size.)

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to the farmer's market! We were treated to a lovely sunset from the freeway:

The General Conference Tradition: Official Announcement

Remember how I was looking for a General Conference tradition for our family? Well, I think I've found it: accepting and DEVOURING the soft, sweet, gooey cinnamon rolls made by a couple of friends of ours!

Seriously, Sherri and Josh are awesome (although heads-up, they are private bloggers!). They have been graciously delivering homemade cinnamon rolls to us for the past couple General Conferences, simply because they are very thoughtful and very generous people.

(Interesting side note #1: Sherri was one of the nurses who took care of me after I had Weston! Yay! And side note #2: Sherri also serves in the nursery at church, so Weston, who met her when he was a day old, also gets to hang out with her every Sunday. Extra yay!!)

So, we love it. And we love them. S&J, we can't thank you enough! (But we can try!) THANK YOOOOUUUUU!!!!!

(If baking cinnamon rolls is their family's General Conference tradition, then eating them can certainly be ours... right?) :-) Hooray!

Lots O' Tidbits

Y’know how your blogging mojo comes and goes sometimes? (Or is yours permanent? Because as much as I love blogging, mine definitely waxes and wanes.) Well, I completely lost my blogging motivation last week, and I didn’t have the willpower to compose anything. (Shocking!!) I think it’s because I was majorly stressed out and depressed, but fortunately that’s passed for now. I don’t know why it passed; I think I just remembered (once again) that everything will work out when we are faithful. (Easy, right? It’s easy being Mormon.) Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. That’s my warm blanket, right there.

So, now I’m back at the ol’ blog! I don’t have any actual stories to recount or experiences to photo-document, so I’ll just share a bunch of random thoughts and tidbits from my life of late:

The weather is FINALLY starting to cool down!!! It was 90 degrees a couple days ago, but today I think it only reached 80. And tomorrow it’s only supposed to go up to 70! (At what age did talking about the weather result in such WIDE-EYED EXCITEMENT on my part??!!)

It’s General Conference weekend again! Yay!! Weston was so well-behaved this morning that Tim and I were able to watch the entire Saturday morning session on the computer. While we were watching, we decided that we need to institute some sort of General Conference tradition to observe every April and October. So, what do YOU do for General Conference? Do you bake homemade cinnamon rolls? Do you have a picnic? Do you take a scenic drive? Do you put on a play, reenacting excerpts of pioneer history? Do you have a family slumber party? Please enlighten me. We need a good tradition. :-) Thanks!

This past Monday, Tim and I started (for good this time) our Monday night tradition of Family Home Evening. (We used to have it when we were newly married, and we tried it a few times when Weston was really little, but it kind of fizzled over the summer when Tim was gone until 8:30 every night.) We talked about being a child of God, sang a hymn, colored a little, and ate some Joe Joe's. Short and sweet. I’m really grateful for FHE, and I’m grateful that we’re going to do it regularly, and I’m especially grateful that we started it just in time to feel encouraged by Elder Bednar’s talk on consistency, instead of guilty. (Haha!)

And now for a few Weston anecdotes:

Y’know how Weston is always obsessed with something? Well, right now it’s Toy Story, and especially his little Woody doll that I got him at a flea market. He carries Woody around with him everywhere, and he insists on sleeping with it at night. He wants to bring it to bathtime, and he cries non-stop that he isn’t allowed. If he misplaces it, he searches the house and repeatedly asks, “Wuzhy?” until we manage to find it. If he could have it his way, he’d probably keep Toy Story 2 constantly streaming throughout the day. (Why Toy Story 2 instead of Toy Story, you may ask? Toy Story 2 has a shinier box. Like mother like son.)

Weston has become more snuggly lately (to our immense delight). Sometimes when I’m on the couch, he’ll come up with his blankie wanting to be held, and I’ll pick him up and recline a little, and he’ll actually lie on my chest while I rub his back and lean my cheek against his soft little head. He’s never really done this before, and Tim and I LOVE IT. The snuggling usually only lasts 15-20 seconds, but we’ll take what we can get!!

Weston has been joining me on my Costco trips for many months now, but on Friday his presence became very beneficial. I think he has figured out that the sample tables = free food, so he was pointing them out left and right during our shopping trip. A couple times, he spotted sample tables that had escaped me, and he’d point and say “More!” (which actually sounds more like “moyn!” for some reason), and I would turn the cart around and head over. It was great. I like taking on the Costco free samples as a team (and he likes getting to eat Veggie Straws and Three Musketeers).

Like I mentioned, Weston loves Toy Story 2; it’s just one of the DVDs that he is constantly grabbing off the DVD shelf in the hallway multiple times a day. (The lowest shelf of DVDs are those that are Weston-approved – mostly Disney and Pixar movies – since he is tall enough to reach them.) One time, Tim asked Weston to put two DVDs back on the shelf that were in the living room. He carried them into the hallway, attempted to fit them back onto the shelf with the other DVDs, and (realizing he needed more space), began to knock off all the other DVDs on the shelf to make room for the two he was holding.

A not-so-cute thing that Weston is doing right now? Saying that dreaded four-letter word (M-I-N-E) all the time when in the presence of other children. Sometimes he’s holding a toy (whether his or not), and he’ll say “Mine!” at other kids, and then swat at them if they still want it. Other times, he’s on a playground, and he’ll yell “Mine!” if another child even approaches the slide. Sometimes it’s a much more abstract sentiment (like when he’s in the living room with his blankie and yells “Mine!” for no reason). It’s horrible. He’s no good at playdates right now, unfortunately. I’m ready for him to get over it and learn to share.

And now, a few movie and TV musings (because I haven’t done anything interesting this week because Weston’s been sick, so this is what’s interesting in my life right now):

Tim and I watched City of Ember last night. I really liked it! I especially liked the style of the underground city (kind of a grungy art deco), the color schemes, and the costumes (like the main character’s messenger cape). Plus, it was a neat plot – basically the kind of movie that I would have fallen in love with when I was 10. I also love Saoirse Ronan now, and I really want her to play Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games movie. Seriously.

Tim and I have started watching two new shows this fall (among our other regulars): Community on NBC and FlashForward on ABC. Community is HILARIOUS. Out of the three episodes so far, I think the premiere was the best, but it’s still really funny overall. It stars Joel McHale from The Soup, and it’s about community college students who form a study group (and then let the wit fly!!).

FlashForward, on the other hand, is a drama starring Joseph Fiennes from Shakespeare in Love. We’re still trying to figure out whether we like it. We LOVE the premise (that everyone on earth passes out for two minutes at the same time, during which they have telling visions of the very same moment in the future). But, I’m not very fond of some of the unrealistic plot developments, or the just-plain confusing plot developments, or the hackneyed melodrama. So, the jury’s still out on this one. (Interestingly, starting this Thursday, both shows are going to be broadcast at the same time, so I guess we'll need to make up our minds! I choose Community. But, maybe I’ll keep watching FlashForward online.) What new shows do you love or hate?? Do tell!!

Finally, FUN WITH GOOGLE! (Thanks to Tim for sharing!)

Go to Google, start typing in these search topics, and see the suggestions that appear beneath the search box:

"I like" (check out the first one)

"I'm terrified" (check out the first one)

"When will J" (check out the second one)

Hahahahaha! Why....?