Jude and the Park

Today Jude and I went to a little park by our house. I was pleasantly surprised to see a baby swing actually open. At Liberty Park, ALL the swings are being occupied ALL the time, so it's been frustrating to go there. I think this new little park might be Salt Lake's best-kept secret.
Jude became better acquainted with grass. He loves to feel the grass between his fingers and he cries if I take him away from it.
Here he is looking a little more intense.
Oh those pudgy little fingers!! I want to EAT them!
Here's the little baby swing at the park. I think it's not quite up to safety code, but it seems to work for us.

Thanks for reading this!

The Great Salt Lake

Here's something weird. . . up until last Saturday, I had never been to the Great Salt Lake. Carl and I decided to go to Antelope Island for my maiden voyage. It was SO COOL! I think the reason I liked it so much is because I got to be in the middle of the very unique ecosystem that gave our city its name. Here are some pictures we took. . .

It's kind of hard to see, but there are some seagulls (our state bird) flying along the shore there. I always viewed seagulls as the rude, annoying birds that try to steal your food when you're trying to have a picnic. After seeing them in their natural habitat, however, I realized what cool birds they are. . . perfectly adapted to that salt water and all the brine flies, brine shrimp, and grasshoppers they could possibly eat. They are so much better to see at the Great Salt Lake.

And here is the sego lilly, our state flower. They don't grow very many places in Utah, but at the Great Salt Lake, they are abundant and beautiful. They are smaller than I thought, with maybe a 1" diameter.


Here are Carl and Jude with one of the many buffalo statues placed throughout the state park. There are between 550 and 700 American bison on Antelope Island. We saw one, and its herd was nowhere to be seen.

We went on a short hike on a trail that would probably be way more fun to bike. It was nice to be out there with the salt air and breeze. We saw lots of lizards and got landed-on by grasshoppers.




Jude was having a lot of fun on this hike. I think he smiled for about 30 minutes without stopping! Of course, that's probably because his dad was doing such a good job of keeping him entertained.






As we were leaving the island, I thought the water looked so smooth and glass-like, and I had a new appreciation for the interesting natural phenomenon that is the Great Salt Lake.

The shoreline kept getting smaller as the lake got bigger and reflected the sky.

My eyes were going crazy when I looked at the lake because I couldn't tell where the horizon was. It just looked like sky out there. The only way you could tell where the water was, was by the waterfowl floating on top of it.

If you haven't been to Antelope Island, you should go! I always thought the Great Salt Lake would be too stinky to even get near it, but the smell is just salty, like the ocean. People tell me the brine shrimp are totally disgusting and they would NEVER swim in the lake. Well, I really want to feel the unique buoyancy of the salty water there, plus the state park has really nice showers for when you're done swimming. So. . . we're planning to go back when it's really hot outside, and I'm going to swim in this amazing lake! Let me know if you want to come!

Some Funny New Stories

Carl often surprises me with stories from his past. Just when I think I know everything about him, he throws in another zinger, and sometimes makes me laugh so hard I cry. I thought I would share with you two stories Carl recently told me. I will never be able to tell them in his style (which is WAY better!), but there must be someone out there who enjoys these. So, here goes. . .

When Carl was little, he was learning to play the violin. He had been playing for quite some time and couldn't figure out why it always sounded so squeaky. He began learning a certain song, and his mom checked in on him while he was practicing. She noticed his fingers were not going down in quite the right place. Carl thought you're supposed to put your fingers down on the fingerboard BETWEEN the strings instead of ON the strings! After clearing up this misunderstanding, Carl's tone greatly improved.

Now, that's just a cute little story. What I think is funny about this story, which Carl left until the end to tell me, is that the name of the song he was learning was called "A Sad Song with a Happy Ending." How fitting.

STORY #2

I personally think the next story is much funnier than the first one. When Carl was younger, probably in junior high or something, he and his sister, Laura, and two of their cousins were riding in a van. The driver of the van was Carl's older cousin, a girl, who was in high school at the time. Carl and Laura lived at the end of a long country road with big irrigation ditches on either side. Can you guess where this story is going??

The driving cousin noticed a fly buzzing around and started swatting at it, at which point she lost control of the van and drove it nose-first into an irrigation ditch. You can imagine the activity that must have followed as water began rushing in through the broken windows. After some scrambling around, everyone got out okay. Carl and Laura split responsibilities. Laura walked the two younger cousins the rest of the way home and got help. Carl stayed with his hysterical cousin in hopes of calming her down.

Now, if you were the driver of this van, you might be thinking, "Holy Moly! We could have died! I can't BELIEVE we all made it out without any injuries!". Or perhaps, since you were a teenager, you might be thinking, "Oh geez! My parents will NEVER let me drive again! I will be riding the bus 'til my dying day". But Carl's cousin's thoughts were more noble than these, and turned toward the poor van, smashed, filling with water, never to be driven again. Even at this point, you might be thinking, "Dangit! We probably can't even salvage the parts, they're so smashed and wet." But no, in this moment of hysteria, do you know what came out of her mouth?? Over and over again, Carl said, his cousin repeated the phrase, "Hundreds of dollars in carpet damage! (sob, sob, sob)".

Carpet damage? Carpet damage?? Really? Now, I'm no mechanic, but it seems to me that there would be other parts of the van more deeply affected by the crash than the carpet, but what do I know? Sure, even if the axles were intact enough to pull the van out of the ditch with any ease at all, and even if the electrical system had any tiny glimmer of hope of surviving, even then, the carpet WOULD be damaged. So I guess I see her point.

Making Yogurt

My mother-in-law (who isn't afraid of trying ANYTHING!) introduced me to yogurt-making. At first I thought, "Why should I make it instead of buy it? What is the benefit?" I quickly found the answer to my own question. . . IT IS WAY CHEAPER! Also, this yogurt tastes considerably better than anything you'd buy at the store, plus, if you're into this kind of thing, it is totally organic and you know exactly what is in your yogurt.

Now, I will never go back to buying yogurt. Carl and I have pretty much perfected this homemade yogurt recipe, and I want to share with you how we do it, and also encourage everyone out there to try it, just once!

I will put this foreword on it. . . just start with making a quart at a time because your first batch will inevitably be a flop. Well, it was for me, anyway. If you learn with just a quart at a time, you won't waste a gallon of milk if it goes wrong.

Carl & Hilary’s Homemade Yogurt

Ingredients (for 1 gallon of yogurt):

1 gallon of milk (I use fat free)

1 cup instant dry milk powder

1 ½ cups sugar or your choice of sweetener

2 Tablespoons vanilla

6-8 oz. plain yogurt or you can use a start (6-8 oz.) from your previous batch (with the sugar and vanilla in it and everything)

*Just a note: If you’re going to add fruit (which I always do), wait until the yogurt is totally finished. You add fruit at the very end.

Supplies:

Large pot

Candy thermometer

Insulated Cooler with towel to drape over the lid

4 quart jars or other glass or plastic containers

Here is our candy thermometer

This is the insulated cooler we use. I thought the Mother's Day flowers in the background would add a nice touch. . . ha!

Directions:

1. Pour milk into pot and add the powdered milk. Heat the milk on medium or medium high until it reaches 185 degrees F. You have to stir it constantly or it will definitely burn. This is the part that takes the longest and is the most boring. It really can take up to 45 minutes to do this part.

2. Take the pot off the stove and set it into a sink full of cold water if you want. This is the part where you let it cool. It’s a good time to prepare the insulated cooler (#5 below).

3. Add the sugar and vanilla and stir them in until dissolved. Let the sugary milk cool to 115-120 degrees F.

4. Add the yogurt start. If the start is cold, it can bring the temp. down a little, so prepare for a 2-3 degree drop after adding the start. Stir it in so it’s evenly distributed. The yogurt start needs be a little clumpy so it has other bacteria to “breed” with. So, small clumps are good.

5. Prepare the very technologically advanced thermal regulator. . . the insulated cooler! Fill your cooler about half full with water that is between 105-110 degrees F. Don’t worry, it will stay this temperature for a long time in a cooler. No need to keep adding hot water to it throughout the entire culturing process.

6. The mixture in the pot should be right around 115 degrees F when you transfer it into your quart jars. Fill your jars/containers, screw on their lids, and place them in your cooler full of water. The water level should go at least as high as the lids on the jars. I’ve also found it doesn’t matter if your containers are floating.

7. Put the lid on your cooler, put a towel over the top to insulate it a little better, and wait 4-6 hours while the yogurt cultures. The longer you wait, the more of a “bite” your yogurt will have. I personally believe that 5 hours makes the perfect balance between mild and bite. But everyone is different.

8. Refrigerate it after it comes out of the cooler. I add fruit to it 1 jar at a time so my no-preservative fruit doesn’t rot in the other jars before we eat it. You can thaw some frozen berries and add them, put in some canned peaches, you can even try putting pie filling in your yogurt.

Here's what the finished product looks like when you first take it out of the cooler. Then you just stick it in the fridge and eat it when it's chilled.

Here's the finished product with pureed strawberries mixed in. I have to say, this is the BEST flavored yogurt we've ever made. You can tell because it's already half-way eaten!

Anyway, thanks for reading this. Happy yogurt making!

Here is a bonus picture of Jude waiting for the yogurt to culture.

Something funny

Here is the most annoying conversation a wife can possibly have with her husband. . .

Husband: "Wow! (baby's name) didn't wake up once last night! That was a really good sleep for him!

Wife: Actually, he woke up twice; once at 1:30 and once at 4:30. I nursed him back to sleep both times.

Husband: No way! I must have been in such a deep sleep! (laughs hysterically)

My One True Love: Carl Barlow

This entry is long overdue. I've been meaning to write it since I started this blog. This entry is all about why romantic love is so wonderful, and why marriage is the right thing to do. I suppose what brought on my urgency to post this was my run-in today with a guy I dated about 5 years ago. I've been thinking about how when you first start dating someone, it's kind of for selfish reasons, i.e. you like the way they make you feel. It's exciting because you're not totally committed yet, and you're still testing the water, discovering this mysterious person you want to know more and more about.

You think that's love. Then, when you decide to get married, and you are committed to each other, that's where the true love begins. It's not selfish anymore. You give your whole life to the other person. . . your time, talents, friendship, nurturing, every little characteristic you have now belongs to the one you love.

I am dedicating this blog to my incredible husband of 3 years, Carl. His patience, humor, leadership, and honoring of his marriage covenants have impressed me from day one. He just gets better and better with age. And I love him.

Carl wrote this poem for me just before our son, Jude, was born. I love the depth of his introspection, and I can't even get through the first two stanzas before I'm crying. This poem exemplifies true love, and I feel so honored that he wrote it for me!

Summation

When, I, as a child, to earth did come

The number to which I belonged, was One

--One King of The Mountain, alone I would be

--One winner of all things I wanted for me

--One boy to be cared for—my needs to sustain

--One boy to be heard—all my joy and my pain

And what’er the problems of others might be

The real ones counting—they added to me

For when weighing the listings of tasks to be done

Important ones seemingly upheld my ONE

And all was quite perfect, for shouldn’t it be

That that which was worthwhile supported my Me?

And life, I had figured, was fantastic and fun

As long as it nurtured the concept of One

And then came the day that I flew into you

My One bursting into a beautiful Two

For two on life’s lakes far outshines the one

Bearing twice the joy with a bigger sun

And ideas of One: so soon surpassed

By the wholeness of us two, at last

And blessed with your love I’ve grown stone sure

That I’ll return to One no more

For like a weak broth has One become

Next the banquet of Two—its joy and its sun

--The best part of me I’ve now offered to you

As I’ve happily rambled this world of Two

For even in moments when wand’ring apart

I now beat for Two, within my heart

And my anthem become something much richer and true

By embracing the treasure of living for Two

And to this moment we’ve come at last

When our love of two has been surpassed

Like a conqu’ring sea against the shore

Our family’s love now beats for more

So to us, my love, no wonder it be

That the marvel of Two now blossoms to Three

And like the castle on bulwarks stands

The pow’r of three it takes command

O’er an accounting of life’s most important of parts

And affixes them, soundly, within our hearts

No longer partakers alone will we be

But Creators and Stewards to care for our Three

And I wonder—though trav’ling lands mystic and tall

If this won’t be our greatest adventure of all?

--One to out-do the luster of life’s former shines?

--One to forge a foundation outlasting mere time?

Yes, a symphony much more complete will life be

In tending our priceless garden of Three

And so now, with hands held, and hearts free to soar

We shall nurture our Three, God’s entrustment of More

And to you—my love—all respect do I give

The purpose and reason I now choose to live

For life’s greatest treasures I attribute to you

My perfect, miraculous treasure of Two

For what’er life’s torrents might possibly be

With you at my side, we’ll now revel in Three.

Isn't that incredible? Besides being really hot, Carl is also SMART! In fact, I had a dream last night that we were at church, and I went into the bathroom, and there was a man in there having a heart attack (it was a dream, that's why there was a man in the womens' bathroom, you know, one of those weird unexplainable things). Well, I got kind of scared because I knew I had to put my training into practice, and I just called out, "Help!". Carl was the only one that heard me, and he ran into the bathroom and immediately started CPR while I was timidly fiddling with toilet paper or something. I only mention this dream because it is symbolic of our marriage. When I am hesitant or confused on how to do something, Carl seems to know exactly how to take charge and take care of it. He saved that guy's life in my dream, just like he's saved me too many times to count. He is what a man is supposed to be. . . a protector, a leader, a sense of security.

Here are some pictures I love. . .

Us on our wedding day, December 21, 2005.


The man I love with our little son on his blessing day


Carl took this picture of our blooming orchid. What I love about this orchid is that Carl has had it as long as we've been married, but just this year, the year our first child was born, did it bloom.

Our little family together on Jude's blessing day, just a few weeks ago.


Thank you for letting me tell you why I love Carl so much. I hope that everyone who reads this will understand what a blessing true love is, and what a miraculous and divine institution marriage is. There are a lot of things people do to feel like they're married, i.e. shacking up, spending the night, buying each other groceries and steak dinners, but there is NOTHING as sacred, honorable, and beautiful as the real thing. And I am the luckiest woman in the world to be married to my One True Love for time and all eternity.