Fraises et Myrtilles

Happy Birthday to a Little Lady

2011-09-25T17:24:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Miss gabby turned two. It's hard to believe it's already been a year since they left for Croatia last year. It's amazing to see how much this little girl has changed since then. Kids grow way too fast.

It was a nice party at home with all her closest family and friends. We sang Happy Birthday first in English and then in Croatian, because Gabby asked her mom to.

We had Brazilian, Togolais, and Croatian food, with some good old fashioned sugar cookies by yours truly. To top it off we had a strawberry and chocolate cake just for the birthday girl.

Happy Birthday Gabby from all of those that love you!

~ Fraise

Crunch Time!!!

2011-09-12T09:28:00.000-06:00

So I'm sure most of the world knows that school has started for most universities, colleges, high schools, etc. Work was hectic for the first few weeks of school but fortunately it has calmed down some. Just in time too since I myself am finally going back to school, this time hell bent on actually finishing. So yeah it's a re-balancing act now as I figure out school, work, homework, family life and some kind of minor social life. Pretty hard core. Now I know why most people try to get their schooling done before they get married, and start families, etc. It's a roller coaster ride without all the extra stuff, and now I'm finding a better appreciation for those moms who manage to balance their lives with everything they do.

So yes, onto English, Astronomy, Pre-Algebra, and Anthropology. I have finally gotten my schedule worked out and things are now stable, so full steam ahead! Here are some fun photos of Marina and the girls I've taken on my shortened visits in between work and class.

Yes that's a goat on a doghouse staring at Gabby.

Taken with camera phone.

Marina decided to get braided hair extensions for fun.

Gabby just started pushing Mirna in the little car. It was so funny to see them going around the backyard like that.

It is hard to get good picture of this little girl. She just won't stay still long enough.

We were having a picnic in the backyard.

It's rare to get good photos of these two together.

Giving Gifts

2011-08-28T10:12:00.001-06:00

Has anyone ever noticed how the gifts we give for weddings, babies, birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas have all become so commercial and assembly line. I know that gone are the time when a young woman spent most of her youthful man hours amassing linens and making blankets and quilts as part of the dowry she would bring to her marriage to help her setup a home for her new family. True that with weddings and bridal showers the couple is trying to acquire what they need to set up their own home, and the gifts tend to roll with the times, and technology. It's surprising however how less and less people are considering handmade gifts as suitable for young couples. Less so for babies or birthday gifts, but it seems like everything has to be based on a monetary amount or value.

I think making gifts means a lot more, considering not only the money spent, but the time spent in making the gift. I'm not sure what it means to others, but I think that a handmade gift shows a lot lot more thought and feeling towards the receiver that had that person just gone to the store and purchased the gift. besides it's fun for the giver as well, in the planning and execution of the crafting of the gift.

Yesterday I went to a cousin's baby shower, representing my mother as well, who had a prior engagement she couldn't get out of and bearing the gift that we were jointly giving to my cousin. Now before I get into what we gave her, it needs to be understood, that neither of us has much spare cash. Due to the economy, and my father's line of work my parents have fallen on somewhat harder times, and likewise, as is the current trend, my husband and I due to school and other things are attempting to dig ourselves out of debt. Now my sweet cousin like many brides had the forethought to register before hand to make it easy for her guests to know what exactly she and her soon-to-be husband needed to establish their home. Unfortunately like many brides, a lot of the things were a little out of my mother's and my price range. We thought instead of buying one or two cooking utensil's each, we might try to think of something she might need that she or I could make.

So I called my aunt and asked what colors her kitchen and bath were and then headed over to the Walmart craft section to buy some peaches and cream cotton yarn. As many of you have witnessed due to prior posts, I like to knit and crochet, and I thought I could knit my cousin some nice soft washcloths for her bathroom, using a basket weave pattern. Fortunately for me Walmart had just the right colors.

I'm very proud of us. I'm proud of what we accomplished with the little that we had, and I hope that my cousin loves the gifts we came up with as much as the fun we had making them.

Hope you have a lovely Sunday.

~Fraise

Rio Tinto Family Night

2011-08-15T13:23:00.000-06:00

We all look forward to this every year, a fun night to go with the girls and play games and eat lots of free food. In the past they have held it at the soccer stadium and put up soccer stations or obstacle courses, had live music and balloon artists. They would open up all of the stadium concessions and we could pretty much eat all our hearts desired.

This year, however Rio Tinto rented out Utah Hogle Zoo for an entire two days! We decided to go on Friday with some friends and we had a blast!

Admittedly we didn't see tons of animals, but like Marina, the friends that came have a little girl of two, so we mostly rode on the train and carousel, ate free concessions, and played with the water spraying dinosaurs.

We got to see a really funny family of spider monkeys though, the baby kept climbing the fence and jumping on the adults.

A lonesome looking silver-back gorilla.

Multiple birds, like grouse, turkeys, peacocks, and some other tropical birds, like a talking cockatoo who whistled and then waved his wing and said good-bye when a little boy waved at him.

Gabby really liked looking at the bald eagles. We were fortunate enough that the nocturnal tigers in the Asian Highlands section of the park were out.

The little girls kept getting side tracked whenever we would pass a shop. It was pretty funny, especially when Mirna found a pink plastic explorer hat and tried it on.

We had a good time, even if we only got there at 4 pm. One of Mirna's favorite things was the water misting fans. She kept playing in front of them and wanted to be up high so she could get a full blast from them.

Little kids and water, .....never a dull moment.

Well I hope that where ever you are in the world, you get the opportunity to go to your local zoo before summer is out. As well as some other fun and interesting summer activities.

Anyway happy Monday everyone!

~ Fraise

Lack of Connection

2011-08-02T06:32:00.000-06:00

Devil's Gate, one of the rock formation and land mark that marked the Mormon Pioneer Trail.

I know I promised to post photos, etc from my trip two weekends ago weekend in Wyoming, however unfortunately there was really no wireless connection I could use. So I apologize from the bottom of my heart, it was completely out of my control.

Anyway without further ado, here is my report.

My trip's primary purpose was to visit my grandparents who are serving a service mission for the LDS church at the Martin's Cove Historical Site in Wyoming.

The trail into "Martin's Cove," a rock formation that forms a natural cove out of granite, that provided protection form the weather for the Mormon Pioneers in the Martin Handcart Company. Many that died from exposure and starvation were buried here.

Visitor and humanitarian center and Sun family museum.

This is a historical site dedicated to the preservation to a section of the historic Mormon Pioneer Trail. There is also a museum and out buildings displaying artifacts of the Sun family that previously owned the ranch land the site sits upon, as well a replica of the Fort Seminole.

Families and youth come here to participate in pioneer trek re-enactments, in which they dress, and live as a pioneer in a handcart company for three days. Camping out and eating what would have been eaten at that time, they get to experience first hand what physical trials and sacrifices were made by our predecessors. It acts as a way to understand as a people the members of the Latter Day Saint church were willing to save everything they had and give up so much for their faith and to come to Zion in the Salt Lake Valley. It's a very spiritual and building experience, especially for the youth.

The missionaries live in a small "village" of mostly their own motor homes and campers as well as a few mobile homes. Last year my grand parents lived in their motor home the entire time, this time they were able to live in one of the mobile homes, and only had to stay in their motorhome for one week while they were helping out at the other property in Rock Creek Hollow where the Willie Hand cart Company stayed.

My grandparents are in charge of the 45 bathrooms located all over the Martin site and property. They make sure the bathrooms are stocked, manage and delegate the cleaning schedule, and power wash the bathrooms and monuments around the property once a week. I have a lot of respect for them, this is not an easy job. In addition when not attending to their "bathroom duties" they fulfill their shifts in ferrying visitors in the rovers, serve shifts in the humanitarian center making quilts, clothes and toys; as well as the facts that my grandfather helps to serve as a fix-it guy for the property. An LDS missionary's day is always full.

Thankfully they serve in shifts and so that allows them to have a little free time in the afternoons, and we were able to visit some of the local sites like the amazing waterfall created by the spillway at the Pathfinder Reservoir.

It was breath-taking, and the hike down over smoothed granite spans among the juniper, sage and cactus was really something. The geography in that area is mostly flat lands with rocky outcroppings, like the famous Independence Rock, as well as the cove part of Martin's Cove.

Most of this is a pretty pinkish granite that's been rounded though time. The rest of the buttes and topographic anomalies were hills that looked like they had been formed underwater and then covered in grasses.

It's interesting to see how the water shapes the granite, rounding it and creating odd depressions in the rock that probably create all sorts of little pools during thaw and run-off. It's a very solitary feeling environment.

There were antelope running around and bunnies that frequented the little village of campers and trailers that make up the area that the missionaries live while they stay there. I thought it was funny that an animal like an antelope that can jump so high would chose to scoot under the fences instead of jump over them. Sort of like like the quail that live around me house, who chose to run rather than fly to get away.

Then there were the bugs. Anyone who has been to Wyoming, knows about the bugs. My grandmother told me that they had been putting down stuff in that area to keep down the bug population. However I've never seen so many crickets. I can't even begin to imagine the bugs that the kids who come up there for a handcart trek get to enjoy.

Down stream from the Pathfinder Reservoir spillway.

We also went to the Alcova Reservoir to look at how full they were. We were amazed to see so many sail boats in such a land locked place. We stopped for lunch at the lake marina and I had the most yummy, crunchy fish and chips I've had in a long time. It was really fun to go out to lunch like that with my grandparents and parents.

"Split Rock" was another rock formation used as a landmark of the the Mormon Pioneer trail used by pioneers to orient themselves.

In short, it was a nice, relaxing, and delightful little vacation. It's just too bad that my husband worked that weekend!

I hope that you've had a fun time with some sort of vacation this summer. *^^*

~Fraise

Ferris Wheels and Fun

2011-07-22T04:36:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Marina and I took the girls and a neighbor boy to Taylorsville Dayzz, sort of a "state fair" for the city of Taylorsville. They bring in rides and food, have competitions, a petting zoo, an outdoor exhibition area for vendors and artisans that want to sell and promote their stuff, a concert for the adults and fireworks. We've gone before but the girls were a little too small to ride on the rides.

This year however Mirna rode on everything they had for the little children. We even all rode the ferris wheel together. (I will say that though I enjoy ferris wheels, this one was not as fun during the loading stage, as the seats would swing back and forth as they moved the ride slowly backwards to load the people on and off).

Mirna had a blast though. Gabby even rode two rides with her sister. We had a good time riding the carousel together as well, though for some reason, Mirna chose to ride on the fancy bench they had on the ride, as opposed to one of the animals.

We had fun watching a dace troupe, do everything from little girls standing on stage trying to follow their teacher on the ground in pink tutu's to adults clogging and doing various line dances. Mirna told me she wanted a pink tutu like the little girls had. Gabby had fun on my shoulder, I was moving to the rhythm of the music that the adults were line dancing to and, when I went to put her down she wanted back up again to watch the ladies dancing. It makes me wonder if these little girls will end up in dance in the future.

We had a good time, and it was fun to see the girls try new things. We kept laughing because Mirna always had such a serious face when she was riding the rides. I think it's amazing what things you can see about a child's personality, based on what they want to see and do.It makes you wonder what the future brings, and how those little personalities and characters will develop.

Hope to enjoy this weekend with my grandparents. I'll be posting from Wyoming!

~Fraise

5 Years ^^

2011-07-21T05:32:00.002-06:00

Hard to believe it's been five years already since we got married. Also hard to believe it will be our last "Harry Potter" anniversary too. Every year since we were married a Harry Potter movie or book release has fallen on or around our anniversary. The year Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book 7) was released, (and our second anniversary) we spent the entire day hanging out at Borders and Barnes and Noble getting our books, and then listed to the audio book together almost all night. That was really fun to do together too.

This year since Harry Potter came out on the 15th we decided to wait an see it on our anniversary, since this was the last year we would be able to do continue this tradition.

We had a good time at the movie. I wish they could have included some more of the details from the book, but I know I was lucky they kept what they did. My husband says he's gong to get us both halves of the Harry Potter 7 movie for Christmas this year. Amazing that it's finally over.

We continued another tradition too, in that we went to Takashi, the same sushi restaurant that we go to every year as well. That started the little "stay-cation" honey moon of a few says that we had after we were married since we had to wait until my husband's finals were done to go on our real honey moon three weeks later.

It's our favorite sushi and the one I took my husband too while we were dating, that go him to love and appreciate sushi. It's a place we've taken numerous family and friends to and one that our cousins and his wife, Sachiko go to whenever they can make it up to Salt Lake to get away.

It was so yummy and we had a good time reminiscing about past years when we've gone and the change of decor for the seasons as well as some of the various chalk paintings we've seen on the Specials menu on the wall. I think this restaurant will always hold a special place in our hearts.

I'm happy and blessed to have found the man I have. It's been a rocky five years and I know neither one of us has had a stress-free time, but we're continually pressing forward, hand in hand.

I'm only too proud to look back at the terrain we've covered together, and to see our hard work paying off in all aspects of our marriage. It makes me excited to see what we can accomplish together in the next five years.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!

~Fraise

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-05T06:40:00.001-06:00

We decided to keep it low key this year since we have to go to bed so early usually and we had Mirna and Gabby over, who are scared of the big fireworks. So it was quiet but nice family party consisting of us, my brother, parents, father-in-law, and Marina's family.

Unfortunately due to the fact that my father-in-law's grill died, we were unable to barbeque, but the chicken still turned out nicely in the oven and we were able to make a salad from the garden. It was nice to just enjoy a meal together and to talk and spend time together.

The girls got their own table, with chairs their size and plate to match their chairs. I think it was especially relaxing for Marina since she really didn't have to do anything except feed her kids. (They brought their own macaroni since she didn't think the girls would eat what the adults were eating).

It was also fun to introduce the girls to sparklers. They were a little scared at first, but we had a lot of fun after we showed them how neat they were.

I think my mom had a lot of fun interacting with the girls too. I think it would be fun to start doing a family night all together, once a month.

So while the men talked about freedoms we enjoy in this country, we girls had tea parties, and read books and went on a walk around the backyard.

In all the freedoms I was most thankful for was the freedom to spend time with my family, no matter that we are different. I hope you had a fun 4th and that you were able to enjoy the company of your loved ones.

~Fraise

Horsey, horsey, on your way.....

2011-06-17T07:17:00.000-06:00

We got to take the girls to feed horses for the first time on Tuesday. Some one has a pasture whose fence lines the the corner of the park near their house. We decided to go look at the horses and when she saw me feed some grass to the horse Mirna of course wanted to try.

At first she would hold it out long enough for the horse to smell it but if he got his mouth any closer, she would squeal and drop the grass.

It took me having her hold the grass with me and show her that the horse wasn't trying to her her by allowing the hose to nibble the grass from my fingers and touch my hand with his lips. After I explained that she had to hold the grass steady so that the horse could take it from her she was so excited to try again and a gain. She kept insisting that I procure more grass for her to feed the horse.

Each time she successfully fed the horse a handful of grass, she would say, "Sisi, I did!" and then give me a hug.

I tried to do the same thing with Gabby but even when she was holding the grass with me she would still jerk her hand away when the horse's mouth got close. Marina ended up feeding the other horse in the pasture while Gabby looked on, wandering between us.

Oh well, I suppose even though for the most part Gabby, who is the more fearless of the two, still has her own reservations.

Well, I hope that you find something today to give you a smile!

~Fraise

Sprinklers!!!!!

2011-06-16T07:06:00.001-06:00

Ever let go and allow yourself to become a little kid again? Ever just let yourself run through the sprinklers fully clothed because a 3 year-old asked you to? I had almost forgotten how much fun it was to run through the sprinklers and get wet just for the pleasure of it all, especially when it's hot.

Tuesday we ran through the sprinklers for the second time in Mirna's life. We had a lot of fun. Last week when we tried it she was too scared to hardly even get wet until I held her hand and ran through with her. After that she was willing to approach a sprinkler and even dance in the water. This time we had the run of the entire back lawn. It was a blast. Mirna has overcome her fear of the sprinklers getting her wet!

It was nice to indulge in a little bit of the exuberant behavior of a small child and take pleasure in the simple act of getting wet to cool down. ☺

~Fraise

Catching Up

2011-06-15T05:05:00.000-06:00

Does it ever feel like if you focus on one task and complete it another one or more seem to pop up out of nowhere? Or even if you focus on one that you are neglecting 10 others. I'm struggling to work on and complete some of the projectson my sewing table right now, partly as a means to feel like I'm getting the things people ask me to get done and partly to have some sanity in that corner of my house. Though in doing so I feel like I am neglecting the mess that has crept up in the office as well as the ironing that I need to get done, and sorting the portion of baby clothes that I just washed. As you can see the list goes on and on.

This is not to complain but to illustrate how my mind works, and how sometimes this line of thinking can lead me to sort of freeze, get discouraged and then get nothing accomplished at all in the end. Like I go to start one thing then think of another thing that may or may not be more important that maybe I should be doing instead, and so forth, then never start any of them because I cannot seem to put them in an order of importance. Does that ever happen to anyone else?

It's just a frustrating aspect of my personality, I think that also might be one reason I have so many projects started, and then it takes me a while to finish them. I get them started and then run out of steam if I don't have an approaching deadline to get them done, so I stop working on them because I'm bored, them something else will strike my fancy, so I start a new project in the mean time. I mean well and I fully intend to finish the first project, it's just that I'm eliminating the boredom factor, so in trying to work on them each, trading off I end up taking much longer to accomplish projects than I could and more often should.

I should probably just do what I did on my mission to help myself to not think of distractions like movies, books, art and craft projects, music or just random ideas for things that I had no time for, as well as being an inappropriate use of my time. I had a note book that I kept on my desk, and later on in my mission my companions had fun looking through the stuff I had written in there as a means to keep myself focused. I wonder if I should start a new notebook, to serve the same function. That way I wouldn't forget the projects, etc that I am interested in and I could use that to help me steadfastly stay focused on the projects I start as well and use my time wisely as I go. I might also be a way of remembering how much time and effort are still left to complete tasks I have already started, as a means to motivate myself to actually finish in a more timely manner.

Wish me luck!

~Fraise

Tinted Windows

2011-06-14T05:03:00.000-06:00

About a year after we were married and still living in my father-in-law's basement the first time, he had tint put on the windows of our bedroom and kitchen. Why would you need tint on basement windows you ask. Well, since the house sit basically on a hill the front of the house is at ground level, but then it slopes away downward from there so that at the back of the house where you enter our apartment it looks like it is at ground level and that my father-in-law is on an upper story. Thus the windows at the back of the house are western and southern facing, larger and fully exposed to that lovely, hot sun. In the winter I'm sure this is partly a god-send, as it probably helps to keep us warm, but during the summer it can make things miserable. So yes the tint does help to keep the heat down in our home during the summer. Unfortunately, the drawback is that the amount of light is greatly reduced.

One really funny thing about having tint on your windows is that for some reason it affords you a lot more bird watching opportunities, provided you are on the inside of the glass. I'm not sure why, but we get a lot of birds that like to perch on the brick sill outside the window and look at themselves. More often than not this random introspection turns into a fight or an outright dominance battle royale, dependent on the particular bird. It's so funny though to be on the opposite side of the glass and watch a bird peck at the window.

So far we've had come to visit (that I've seen that is):
- the male of a breeding pair of Gabel's quail that lives in our cul de sac (he's come back at least two or three times at either one of our bedroom windows)

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- a male American robin (though I'm sure he's come back a few times too and always to our kitchen)

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- a Chipping sparrow

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We've also had at least one casualty to our tinted windows (but he could have flown into the tinted windows upstairs at my father-in-law's) and that was a male Broad-billed hummingbird. It was really sad, we just found his little body dead on our sidewalk.

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What with our woody area beyond the back fence that lines the banks of the canal we get a lot of animal and bird life, on a regular basis. I've seen jays, sparrows, robins, hummingbirds (thanks to the chestnut tree particularly), all sorts of bees, chipmunks, and I think we occasionally get racoons (though thankfully they only leave poop behind instead of property damage). It's actually kinda fun to think what kinds of natural visitors we get. I can't wait to see what other bird species I can identify.

Happy nature watching!

~Fraise

A Dog She's Not Afraid Of

2011-06-13T06:13:00.000-06:00

Mirna has always been at least a little nervous around dogs even small ones, ans she has seemed even a little scared of the bigger ones. I'm not sure where the fear came from other than perhaps a big dog barking loudly when they were on walks when she was smaller perhaps, heck I think her mother might even be nervous around those bigger dogs too. The funny things is that Gabby loves dogs, so I'm clueless as to how that all happened.

When we got to the park on Tuesday, there was a family with a Yorkie Schnauzer mix puppy (adorable!!!) that both girls were so intrigued by. Mirna insisted on holding it and they could not stop petting it. We had to explain how to hold the puppy and that one does not throw the puppy, but in the end she didn't want to stop holding it. The little four year-old that owned the puppy was very protective, and followed Mirna everywhere.

In the end I told Marina she would be lucky to get out of there without Mirna wanting to take the puppy home, but it all ended well. I think they eventually wanted to go play on the slide and the puppy was forgotten. It was just so fun to see her around a dog she wasn't nervous about. With the exception that I think her parents aren't too keen on having a pet, Mirna would love to have a puppy.

~Fraise

Progress

2011-06-11T05:36:00.000-06:00

I thought I would do one of my garden "before and after" posts for you. However I will be comparing this year to last year. Amazingly enough it doesn't look like the same area, you'll be surprised. I'm still learning about the amount of sun the various parts get since as the sun moves the big tree covers more of the bed. I've decided that to know truly how much sun I should try to document at which point in the day the shadow covers each area. This way I will be able to determine better where to put plants that need more sun and other that prefer more shade.

It's also been a job to take care of the milk weed type plants that we have in this yard. My father-in-law loves them, and so to placate him I've chosen to keep some as feature plants, but the go to seed early and are pretty prolific, so I have been trying to make sure to cut off the flower/seed parts as soon as they appear. They also have a rather long spongy tap root that will break off if you don't pull it right or dig deep enough around them during their removal. The problem with this is that the the remainder of the root will inevitably grow a new shoot and leaves the following year and then you have to try to dig them up again. A problem I didn't quite grasp last year, and so now the area that I clean up last year has a number of them that have grown back and I am slowly getting them out.

Mosquito season has officially arrived and gardening at about any time of day in our back yard is tricky as we have a canal just 10 ft behind our back fence. I'm not sure how our neighbor's sons who are always out building and gardening handle it, because for some reason the bugs seem to love me. So now I'm resorting to working in long sleeves and pants with lots of bug spray. My husband jokes some times that he's going to buy me a hat that has a mesh that hangs and protects your face just like a beekeeper hat.

Anyway, enough chatter, and on to the before and after shots!

2010

2011

2010

2011

2010

2011

I hope that you have enjoyed examining my work so far. It's been grueling but awesome. I can't wait until I can see what the next year brings with the garden!

~Fraise

A New Bed

2011-06-10T06:37:00.001-06:00

A little girl, dear to my heart, was so excited to show me her "big girl" bed when I visited on Tuesday.

She had to show me how she slept in it and her new mesh canopy.

It's so crazy how fast children grow. Pretty soon it'll be Gabby showing me her "big girl" bed. Marina says that Mirna is more serious in her attempts to style her hair and pretty soon I don't doubt that will spill over into clothes as well. Where does time go.

For now we will just have to celebrate them and how sweet and cuddly these precious little girls are. And how the world is so new to them.

~Fraise

Poppies!

2011-06-09T07:30:00.001-06:00

One thing I miss about train rides through the french country side are fields of sunflowers, lavender and....poppies.

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If you've ever looked at the work of Claude Monet and his works depicting the scenery around his home Giverny as well as early paintings of his son and wife you'll notice the poppy fields and how pretty they are.

These two photos were taken on my mission outside of Nîmes, France in May of 2005.

That was something I truly loved about southern France.

Our small "field" of poppies is blooming right now and it's very pretty. Though not the traditional red of the countryside in Provence, the orange is stunning against the green. ☺

~Fraise

Privilege to Serve

2011-06-08T10:00:00.000-06:00

Don't you love the opportunity to take one person's un-needed goods and help to fill someone else's needs? Marina mentioned that she had a bunch of baby clothes she wanted to get rid of since she didn't plan on having any more babies and asked if I knew anyone that was having a baby girl. Of course me being 30 that's not that hard to come by, but I thought of my mission companion, Melissa.

This was the scrapbook page I did for our companionship in my mission journal, forgive the poor execution.

She above all would be a person who would welcome the clothes. Up until now she wasn't sure if she could have children, and so her pregnancy came as a complete surprise and delight to her and those of us that love her dearly. So for the last couple of weeks I have gathered, in a few trips to Marina's, the baby clothes and other gently used items she wanted to pass on.

It has been fun to go through the clothes. I decided to help Marina out in that I would take them, however she could give them to me and launder all the clothes myself, since most of them had been sitting in her garage in bags for the last 6 months.

Oxyclean soak for brightening and stains ☺

I also thought it would be a good opportunity to check for any extra wear and tear, make repairs, and set aside a few items to make Marina and the girls a little surprise. Can you guess what it might be?

Here's a hint.

I'm so excited to get it done. I'm still working out the design, but once that is finished I will be able to get started on it. ☺

Anyway, here's to helping to pay it forward and help other people!

~ Fraise

Turned Photographer

2011-06-07T05:48:00.004-06:00

Do you remember this little girl? And how I wrote about how she loves to be the center of attention when the camera comes out? Well either her Aunt Sisi (me) is wearing off on her or she's starting to discover her own creative bug, because her new favorite thing is to be the photographer whenever she sees a camera. She asks if we can take pictures all the time even when it isn't out too.

The fun thing is that even though she's just pointing the camera at random and clicking, she has a unique and some times quite brilliant eye. I thought I would show you some of her photographic work (click on the images to see a bigger, clearer version):

She may turn out to be quite the little artist as time goes by.

I'm excited to see what times brings with this one!

~Fraise

(This one was also taken by Mirna.)

Showered with Gifts

2011-05-29T13:59:00.000-06:00

The other day my boss was talking about cleaning out her dad's home after they had installed him at a care center. She mentioned that they had found all sorts of things including two hand-crank wheat grinders. This week she showed up with this in tow and gave it to me as well as a 13 gal trash bag of yarn skeins and balls.

She said that some of them had belonged to her late mother, and that some looked to have been in some sort of kit. We think they might have been a rug kit as the texture of them is far more coarse that that of the other yarns.

She further explained that the yarns she was giving me were the worsted weight yarns that were in colors she found ugly or could see no use for as well as a select few smaller gauged yarns of the same description.

I tell you it is a marvel at how many lovely colors and varied textured yarns she gave me! ☺

I can think of a few uses for them such as as a variegated wheat colored flower, or as some sort of colorful flower combo. I'm so excited!

Hope that your Sunday is lovely and filled with color.

~Fraise

Belated Easter Stuff

2011-05-09T18:25:00.002-06:00

Seems like I followed the general trend this year and made the Lamb Pillows from the Purl Bee tutorial.

Though truth be told I've been dying to make them ever since they published that pattern last year. I've had a sort of lamb obsession ever since I got married, since our last name is Lambert. I know, kinda cheesy, but lambs are too cute!

~Fraise

Helping Mom...

2011-05-07T23:20:00.000-06:00

I love how little children are such a good example of how we really see our parents.

This week when I visited Marina, the girls kept arguing about who got t help put the flour in the crepe batter.

Later they were both helping Marina clean up the grass left over from weed whacking the front yard. I guess we all love our moms and want to help them, and show them how much they mean to us!

Happy Mother's day to all you moms out there in what ever form you come.

~ Fraise

Awwwwwe, I feel ...better!

2011-05-03T21:24:00.001-06:00

Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU

My husband and I went down to the BYU Museum of Art on Saturday to see the Carl Bloch exhibit. It was so nice to be able to go to a museum again, I haven't been to one in a long time.

It was a lovely and fairly simple exhibit, as far as BYU stuff goes, but it was awesome to be able to get that close to the real paintings and see how the artist used his paint, and how he used color to indicate a change of light.

I thought it was interesting how many people were willing to pay the extra $3 to rent an iPad. Aparently it gave insights and additional information about the paintings and etchings that according to my mom you wouldn't normally notice. We chose to take the tour as it came and save money (since the tickets were already free). I figured that I had been going to museums long enough without having extra technology like that to help me appreciate the art, that it wasn't really necessary.

I guess it was a good test to see how much I remembered from my Art History, Art Theory, Design and Figure Drawing classes. I loved his religious pieces. However my favorites were probably his portraits of his parents in their home and of his wife.

He had some other fun, satirical and though evoking pieces of the street life he observed in Rome while studying. It was really fun. I just wish we had gone earlier this year, because it was a little crowded.

We also decided to visit one of the other exhibits going on in the lower level, called, "At War! The Changing Face of American War Illustration." Mostly highlighting the use and adaptation of illustration for use in ads and posters. For those of you that know my art tastes well, know that I kinda geek out on poster art, so this was right up my ally. (I love it especially because it combines illustration and design). Some of the imagery was a little gruesome, they were war posters after all, but some of them were simply breath taking.

They even had posters done by famous illustrators like Norman Rockwell and the surprising one for me was Dr. Seuss. My husband's favorite Rockwell was this ammunition ad (appropriate since he served in the US Army and Airforce).

They also had some illustrators that I wasn't as familiar with and I really liked:

J.C. Leyendecker

Howard Chandler Christie

It was also very interesting how they used advertising, everything from buying bonds and stamps to saving rubber and not wasting food. Behold the power of advertising:

Oh to live in a time when advertising was as much an art form as it was a form of persuasion!

~Fraise

(all images were from the BYU exhibits pages)

Bigger Than I Imagined

2011-04-30T12:14:00.000-06:00

So I decided to take a little break from working on the flower bed on the south part of the yard to try to get the roses cut back before they really start growing. I thought it would take me a half of an hour to cut all the stems back and I'd be done with it. Little did I know....

I had to "dig" to find the ground and the base of the bushes so I knew how short to cut them!

Not only were the rose bushes ridiculously overgrown, but the with the 7+ years of dead leaves piled on top of the ground in those beds the ground cover had started to overgrow the base of the rose bushes just so that they could get light and air too. It's a much bigger mess than I imagined.

It took me an hour to clear out this area that's about 3-4 feet wide and about 5 feet to the wall. When I saw how much farther than down the wall this expanse of rose purgatory went I decided what I aught to do is try to do a little on each side of the yard, every time I was out working. WOW, talk about underestimating a job. Though I'm learning quickly this is what I should be expecting with this yard.

I also decided to clear out the branches my father-in-law cut down and cut back the other bush, since that seems relatively straight forward.

Slowly but surely this yard is coming together.

~Fraise

Plumble Pie

2011-04-27T21:09:00.006-06:00

Don't you love how the staple for regular left overs is usually to make something like meatloaf or casserole? But what do you do when your leftovers are fruit? I've never heard of a "casserole" for fruit. True, you could make Kitchen Sink cake or muffins (basically a yogurt cake with your fruit cut up and mixed in), but with delicately flavored things like peaches, the flavor kinda gets lost in the baking process.

I happened to have some canned mandarin oranges and pineapple and some coconut milk left over from making a chicken curry dish, and some plums my husband bought to put in his lunches but the end decided not to eat since they "taste funny." So I decided to try making a tropical plum pie. It turned out pretty well, though the "tropical" kinda didn't come through as strongly as I hoped. I think I would definitely serve it with vanilla or coconut ice cream next time, though. ☺

So without further ado, the pie that my husband has decided to name "Plumble Pie"......

Plumble Pie

This pie takes a few days to make but any one whose made pie crust before knows that you have to leave it in the freezer over night, right? Also, be forewarned there are two kinds of coconut milk, light and whole, just like regular milk. It is important to make sure you get at least one can that has separated and is heavier on one end. Please don't shake this one!

Ingredients

Pâte Brisée Crust:

2 cups of flour

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 whole egg

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2-3 tablespoons very cold water

Filling:

6 medium sized plums cubed

1/2 cup cubed canned pineapple drained & cut into slices

1/3 can of mandarin oranges drained & halved

2 cans whole coconut milk

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

pinch of salt

3-4 tablespoons crème fraîche

Streussle

1/4 cup powdered or confectioners sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1/4 cup fridge cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions

1. Take your can of coconut milk that's more heavy on one side and cut your pour holes into the top and pour out the water. Since this part is also flavored you may choose to do something else with it. Then using a can opener cut the top open so that it can bend back. You should have a coconut goo left in the bottom of the can. Go ahead and push the top of the can back down most of the way and set aside for a day or two so that it can dry out a little. You need it it be more like the consistency of sour cream so that it is spreadable. (If you live in a warmer climate I would try it in the fridge, but the drying process takes longer).

2. Make the crust: a pile in a mixing bowl of the flour, salt and sugar. (You can sift them together, I would if I had a big enough sieve, that's my next kitchen purchase, I think). Make a well in the top of the mountain and add your egg there. Add the butter, cut into pieces (or you can break it apart with a fork in the bowl as you work the dough), and work the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and blend quickly using your hands. Work to firm dough in bowl until a smooth dough has been achieved. (you may also choose to turn it out onto a floured work surface once initial kneading is done if you are not comfortable working in the bowl). Work into a round shape then wrap completely in cellophane and place in fridge over night.

3. Preheat oven to 400˚. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/8" thick. Fit to a 9 - 10 inch pie dish (about 1 1/2" deep). Trim or fold over edge and crimp as desired. Pierce bottom several times with a fork. Cover edges in tin foil. Line crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or if you, like I, don't have them just use dried beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove weights and paper, then bake for an additional 5 - 8 minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and place on rack or trivet to cool. Remove foil and set aside, and reduce oven temperature to 375˚.

4. Make filling: Combine cut up fruit in a mixing bowl and add 2-3 tablespoons of coconut milk, salt and sugar. Toss these together then let sit for 15 minutes.

5. Make Streussle: Sift or mix together sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using a fork cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

6. Make spread: In a bowl combine your slightly dried coconut goo and your crème fraîche.

7. Coat the bottom of your pie crust with your coconut spread. Then sprinkle about 1/3 of your streussle on top of that. Next stir your filling one more time to make sure your parts are evenly mixed and place your filling next into the crust. Spoon dollops of your remaining spread onto your filling, then coat with remaining streussle.

8. Recover your edges with the foil. Bake pie until crème fraîche is bubling and streussle is golden brown, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack or tivet before serving.

9. Drizzle with coconut milk or serve with coconut ice cream.

*This pie is messy like a cobbler and does not hold it's shape on the plate very well, unless it has just come out of the fridge.

Anyway, hope this little endeavor inspires you to come up with your own solution to fruity leftovers. *^^*

~ Fraise

Updates and Garden Stuff

2011-04-26T14:55:00.001-06:00

So, I know it seems like I dropped off the face of the planet for a week and a half, but the blood donation I gave ended up as anemia. I bore you with the details of the ordeal, just know that I slept a lot and didn't really feel like doing much, because I was so dizzy most of the time. I will say that after while I got a real longing to go out and work in my garden. Last Saturday I went outside and happen to see this:

My father-in-law, decided to help me out by cutting the rest of the large branches of the bush I was working on., This makes, in part, my job a little easier. However I will still have to clean up the rose bushes and hopefully will be able to pull out the branches that are folding down the top of the wooden fence. ☺

I was able to go out on Friday and do a little bit of weeding. I was able to get rid of the horrible crop of grass that was taking over my little square-foot garden boxes. In the process I made several interesting discoveries.

That some of my lettuce greens that had survived the winter were actually other plants like a broccoli, and that two of my radishes had also survived the winter, although they were very woody at the bottom, and kinda dry so we decided it best not to try to eat them. How funny.

I also in my daily little walks outside, to get some air, I realized that in looking at the beds that those bushes were in I had caught the vision of what I would like to do with them. This got me really excited. I started imagining, wattle towers with trails of morning glory and clematis.

Wattle Tower by DAVID CAVAGNARO

I could see where some ground covers needed to be placed and how I wanted to shape and define the path. I was so excited. So I decided that I needed to map out and and sketch my ideas.

I know that this sketch doesn't really do justice to the plan I have in my head (besides not scanning very well). But you get the general idea. The archway would have a wisteria vine growing on it and I would be adding rose bushes, as well as the ground cover and some wild flowers too.

Well, I'll keep dreaming away until the rain lets up here. Happy Tuesday.

~Fraise

Paques

2011-04-25T05:43:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter everyone! Hope that you were all overstuffed with chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. We went to my folks home and I couldn't help thinking about the vitality and growth of the season.

My mom's yard had tulips, daffodils, violets, forsythia and more. It helped me to think about the real reason so many celebrate this special holiday.

It helped me appreciate the special message and gift humanity was given, and helped me to appreciate my own testimony of the Savior.

~Fraises

image credits

Bloodletting

2011-04-15T05:31:00.000-06:00

So yesterday I went to my church's blood drive to donate blood, and as a result was sentenced to bed pretty much for the rest of the evening. I don't usually have quite as severe tiredness afterward as I did last night, but because my hemoglobin count was 16.5 and I weighed enough, I was asked to donate what they call "double reds."

(WARNING: If you, like my husband, feel light headed or blackout at the mention of blood, blood donation, or any discussion of the process there of; have a fabulous day, I'll see you tomorrow. If not, you have my permission to proceed....)

I any case, it was quite the experience. They actually draw blood from your body into a centrifuge machine, that spins your blood and takes out what it needs then re-injects the remaining liquid plus a saline solution back into your body through the same tube. I hadn't done it before and so I asked tons of questions as they were doing it, like: what does it feel like when it comes back; does it hurt more, does it incapacitate you more, etc. It was actually really weird feeling the fluid go back into my arm, because it was at that point the same temperature as the room, and it was cold! The tech said that the body runs hotter than room temperature so that the liquid returning "feels" cold when in reality it wasn't. (Although he told me that they do keep the room temperature lower than normal too, in order to prevent people from passing out). I ended up having to ask for a blanket, something I have never done in all the times I've donated blood. I proved once again that I babble when I'm nervous, or to cope with odd situations. The tech and I chatted about traveling, what he wanted to eventually do, his skydiving adventure this summer, places we would like to visit and the "horrors" of international travel with small children. (At this point one of his fellow techs had come over to process the double blood of the guy that had been on the other side of the machine from me, and she had more internationally, than he had).

I felt bad for the tech because for some reason with me he couldn't get the bevel that they use to position the needle "just so" to withdraw and re-inject the blood was vibrating while it was "sucking" out my blood. It was like a straw that had too much air and it was going almost with a pulse. He tried everything, and ended up having to hold the tube when it would go through a withdrawing cycle to help it vibrate less. I joked that it felt like my arm was an engine that was revving...but (an my husband would be proud) it really felt more like a sports car with racing cams at idle.

Overall, even though it was kinda weird, I would do it again if they asked. The tech told me that the minimum weight requirement though is 175 lbs. in women. So, if all goes well, and I reach my goal of 135 lbs, by the end of the year, I probably won't be asked to again no matter how high my hemoglobin are.

I'm glad that nature permits me to be able to donate blood and that I am able to help other people.

Happy Thursday.

~Fraise

PS: I'm was at 182 lbs the last time I checked on Tuesday! 7 lbs lost since January.

Sweet Cookie Dreams

2011-04-13T20:33:00.000-06:00

Ever realize how fun and funny making sugar cookies with a 3 year old can be? I never did either until yesterday, when Mirna helped me make the sugar cookies dough left over from her birthday party on Friday.

We had fun picking out the cutters she wanted to use and she even designated who was to eat what shape from the first batch out of the oven.

Here she decided to try and roll the dough out herself. She was a lot more forceful and abusive with the dough than I thought she would be.

I taught her to keep her hand flat when I handed her the cookies to put on the cookie sheet. Sh had started out pinching them between her fingers and they would fall apart halfway to the sheet.

I also had to show her how to press hard enough that it would cut the dough and not just leave an impression.

She even picked up some smaller pieces that had not stuck to the main ball and tried to press and shape them together like I was doing in prep to roll it out again.

Oh, they're done!

Happy Wednesday!

~Fraise

PS. We got our first order on the etsy store after posting the new stuff! Yay!

Happy Livingroom

2011-04-12T07:41:00.000-06:00

Previously I hinted that I would be showing you something to do with an Ikea Billy bookcase. I'm afraid to disappoint you if you thought I was going to "re-vamp" one with paint or something but I think you will be pleased with me all the same.

It has been said that "Cleanliness is next to godliness." This I am inclined to agree with, as it seems a house of order and cleanliness is also a house of peace and tranquility. Besides it's so much more inviting right? Here is my case in point:

Enter my livingroom, since we've moved back to my father-in-law's basement apartment, it has managed to look and function more like a storage unit than a functioning reception and lounge area. We have slowly sorted and thrown out a good deal of things, and continue to go through the stuff we still have boxed. However I decided that I needed to have a livingroom. Especially since we had guests coming this last Saturday and well there just wasn't enough room to sit four comfortably in that room. So on with my quest.

I purchased a Billy bookshelf from Ikea that matched the one we already had, but at half of the width so as to fit between my husband's sub woofer in the corner and the window on the other side.

Now those of you that know me, also know that I collect books and love to read. So In addition to the small library shown originally on the bookshelves, I also had several boxes of books on the floor. Needless to say I felt they deserved a home too.

(sorry for the bad lighting and blurriness)

Here is what we have after sorting and arranging the books alphabetically by author, yes, by author. (I feel it relevant because I have several books by the same author and it would be silly to organize them by title if I know that they were all written by the same person...simple logic, but I digress.....yes I know I am a bit OCD when it comes to my books). It is also important to note that my library is always in a state of flux, we still have one box to sort through and I have about four stacks of books 1.5' high next to my night stand. Books that I wasn't sure whether to keep or donate, so I will read them to help me decide.

Here is the teak bookcase that you saw in the original photos, all cleaned, sorted and redressed, in a much more pleasing manner. I also reorganized, our photo albums, magazines and family history research, so that it is most easily grabbed when we want it. I am especially proud of the second shelf of the book case, which I discovered was a bit too short to accommodate most books, so I spray painted some baskets I had, that were just collecting dust, and turned them into easily accessible bins for my Etsy store stuff. Over all it just feels nicer, and I find it more pleasant to sew in there now.

I hope that your week is proving to be as unusually productive as mine has been. ☺

~Fraise

The Currant Bush

2011-04-05T06:53:00.000-06:00

For those of you that watched the LDS General Conference this last weekend, you will undoubtedly know what quote was my favorite!

"I was living up in Canada. I had purchased a farm. It was run-down. I went out one morning and saw a currant bush. It had grown up over six feet high. It was going all to wood. There were no blossoms and no currants. I was raised on a fruit farm in Salt Lake before we went to Canada, and I knew what ought to happen to that currant bush. So I got some pruning shears and went after it, and I cut it down, and pruned it, and clipped it back until there was nothing left but a little clump of stumps. It was just coming daylight, and I thought I saw on top of each of these little stumps what appeared to be a tear, and I thought the currant bush was crying. I was kind of simpleminded (and I haven’t entirely gotten over it), and I looked at it, and smiled, and said, “What are you crying about?” You know, I thought I heard that currant bush talk. And I thought I heard it say this: “How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. I was almost as big as the shade tree and the fruit tree that are inside the fence, and now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me, because I didn’t make what I should have made. How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.” That’s what I thought I heard the currant bush say, and I thought it so much that I answered. I said, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and some day, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down, for caring enough about me to hurt me. Thank you, Mr. Gardener.’”

--Hugh B. Brown (January 1973 New Era)

Sorry, I actually looked for the condensed conference quote, but have yet to see the transcripts of this weekend to posted on lds.org. I loved that quote not only because it was the precursor on an amazing object lesson on accepting that God has a greater plan for you than you do yourself, and that sometimes not getting exactly what you want and when you want is a blessing in disguise. It really was one of my favorite talks, I think because it might be one of the things that I most needed to hear. Just maybe.

The other reason I loved it, was because it was a perfect way to allay my husband's fears about my recent back yard venture. Look at the photos and see what I mean.

I know that I haven't finished, yet. However, I'm finding at this point it's a matter of figuring out, rather like undoing a knot, which branches to cut and pull out first in order to easily pull out the others after it. Unfortunately, the climbing rosebush on the other side of the fence and the branches on the back half of the bush are so intertwined, that I have to piece out the branches, one by one, and brace myself pulling with all my might sometimes just to pull it out from between everything. Thankfully with each one the mass thins. ☺ It's a happy thing.

Anyway I can't wait until I can get this bush done because I would like to still be able to tackle the other bush nearby, the rose bushes on the other side of the yard and some of the black berries before the growing season gets into full swing. (not to mention the cleaning, weeding, and transplanting I'm going to have to do, too). Now worries. At least every little bit of progress I make helps me out for the next season.

Anyway, wish me luck!

PS: I've lost 7 pounds since my yearly in January! Slowly but surely!! Here is a teaser for the project I'm working on inside the house.

New Stuff, Fun Stuff

2011-04-01T21:04:00.000-06:00

For anyone that doesn't know yet I decided to revamp my Etsy store, and have been hard at work trying to come up with some fun stuff to share with the masses. I recently posted some felt clips, and some of my crochet work. I think my inspiration lately had been my sketchbooks and doodles.

I have a whole lot more ideas, and I can't wait to get them finished and up.

I also had fun in the photography session I did as prep work for the Etsy post. My husband's cousin has four daughters and when I asked for their help they were more than happy to oblige. I couldn't finish the clips fast enough. The got the real model treatment; I picked out their clothes, then did their hair and make-up. I had a blast figuring out how to take their typical clothes and try to to make outfits that would help me showcase my stuff best.

The funnest was when I took my own tank off after putting it onto the eight year old turning it into pretty race- back dress/tunic. Paired with with her older sister's bolero sweater, we came up with the perfect look.

I even lucked out that she had three day old swim hair, and so we celebrated the messy look in all of her pictures, from a messy bun, to crazy hair and loose pig tails.

I even got some unique photos because the oldest who is a gymnast kept doing funny things like hanging upside down, to top it off she couldn't stop laughing.

They're mom was generous enough to lend me their camera for this and then gave me a DVD with the photos (so she could keep the photos of her daughters). She even went as far as to compliment me and say that I should come down when they have their family photos done, to help out with hair and stuff.

I've even finally gotten tags, and cards printed so that my stuff feels more professional and put together!!!! YAY!

Well, I hope that you like the new stuff. Tomorrow I hope to get some photos up of the progress I've been making in the yard and the secret project in the living room. Wish me luck!

~Fraise

Ready and Rarin' to Go!

2011-03-28T19:37:00.000-06:00

Well, I will tell you, I can't wait for the weather to sort itself out enough, for me to go out on a day off and start cleaning up the yard. My mom came over two weeks ago and looked over what I had accomplished last year, and gave me pointers for what I could try to work on this early spring season to help the garden flourish.

Most of the bushes although we cut them back a ton, are still way over grown looking, and the roses that I never got around to last year are looking definitely deranged.

I look forward to going out and cleaning them up before they can get to big a start on growing so that they will fill in the right way and hopefully we will get a lot more flowers.

I know I need to make a fresh attack on the weeds that are trying to over run my garden boxes, and the blackberries over in the corner of the yard behind the shed. With any luck we might have a bigger produce with those as well! ♥

Any way I have a lot of progress to make, wish me luck!

~ Fraise

The Greatest Endeavor of Our Lives

2011-03-25T16:03:00.000-06:00

wedding photos by Bret Baker

They took the first step towards creating a family of their own. Yesterday, my dear friends, Matt and Megumi were married and sealed for time and all eternity. I was so proud of them and I can only imagine how pleased their parents must have been. Her dad married them, and I was told that there was not a dry eye in the room. Unfortunately we worked and were only able to make it to the reception. I haven't been to a funner one in a long time. They had a photo booth setup that took four separate photos, one set printed went into the photo-book being put together by Matt's sisters and one set had their names printed and the date for guests to keep as a souvenir of the evening.

wedding photos by Bret Baker

Meg's pretty bouquets and all the corsages and boutonnieres were made of silk flowers specially by her mother.

wedding photos by Bret Baker

Everything was so lovely and the food so good, I hated to leave as early as we did. We had to leave early because we have to get up at 4:00 am so my husband can get to work at 5:00. Afterward my husband and I looked through some of our own wedding photos and reminisced about our own "first day." We talked about what we would do over, like having some one to help us make a wedding video, as well as talking about our favorite parts of that day.

I wish Matt and Megumi the best. A toast to the great adventure ahead of them!

~Fraise

Japan Tribute: Sashiko

2011-03-23T20:15:00.001-06:00

With all the natural disasters happening across the world, Japan has been on my mind lately. I have two friends that are from there, and went through some pretty scary days with them while they were waiting to hear from their families. In addition to donating, I thought I would do a post to celebrate one of the beautiful art forms originating in Japan as my tribute. Sashiko or a type of Japanese quilting/embroidery uses traditional repeating motifs to create a unique pattern, originally used to quilt together layers of fabric and decorate clothing at the same time. Most of the patterns pull from nature and the seasons such as: waves, flowers, rice paddies, cranes, etc. Two years ago I checked an awesome book out from the library, by Mary S. Parker, called Sashiko: Easy and Elegant Designs for Decorative Machine Embroidery. It give a history of the art form as well as at least 20 pages of pattern examples. (Even though it was for machine embroidery I found it very informative). I have been intrigued ever since.

Sashiko is pretty easy in that it is done all with a running stitch, but can be complicated dependent on the complexity of the pattern. You can purchase sashiko kits online at places like the Purl Bee, but if you don't have the luxury of ordering things like this online like me you can try my method. Here is how I have adapted the techniques in the book to hand stitching. or in other words, here is Sashiko my way...

You will need:

a copy of a sashiko pattern (in my case I copied it from the book)
a computer with photoshop or an image manipulation software and scanner
a comfortable chair
a sheet of at least 12" X 12" NON-fusible interfacing that is thin enough to see a pattern through
a piece of cotton fabric preferably solid but if not a very low key pattern such as black on navy
(cut to the size you will want later for what ever project you use it for, bear in mind that it may shrink up to at least 1/4" smaller due to stitching)
embroidery floss in the color of your choice, typically some thing to contrast with the fabric
graphite pencil
light box, or window with really good light
16-18" ruller
masking tape
thread (for basting)
a good embroidery needle with a larger eye
thimble
optional: an embroidery hoop

1. Dependent on the final size of embroidery piece you want you can use your photocopy if you want to practice or you may scan in and layer duplicates of the pattern until you attain the size you want. I wanted it to be printed on 11"X14" so I took it to a copy center to print.

2. Tape your printed pattern onto you light box, or window. (I just happened to be borrowing an overhead projector from my church library, so I used that). Then center and tape your interfacing square over the pattern.

3. Here is where you will need the chair. Trace you pattern onto the interfacing with the graphite pencil. You want to make sure you trace is as clean as possible so take your time. I also traced the lines around the pattern so that my finished product would feel more clean.

4. Once your pattern is traced, carefully take the tape off of your interfacing. Position (in my case, center) your interfacing trace side up to the wrong side of your fabric, and bast in place. I usually do an "x" or cross through the pattern itself and then go around it. If you are using an embroidery hoop go ahead and set that up.

5. Separate out 4 strands from your floss, and thread your needle. Take a moment here and look at the pattern to see if you can find an easy pattern to go across in rows whether they are straight or diagonal, this really helps you get a rhythm and keep your work neat. Note: I personally found it too hard to get even stitches with an embroidery hoop so I just don't use one. Insert your needle and pickup one stitch on the interfacing side keeping you knot on top. You want to stitch all of you connecting stitches and knots on the interfacing side so that you end up with a perfectly stitched pattern on the right side of the fabric.

running stitch

6. Typically stitches are done from 2 - 5 at a time, this allows you to follow a line on the pattern more smoothly and helps to keep all you stitches pointing the same direction. Remember it is just a running stitch so you can pick more than one up at a time pretty easily. Don't worry if you have to do tight areas one stitch at a time. Continue on in the pattern.

7. Once you have finished, (and don't forget to stitch that box around the outside that you traced) take out your basting stitches and press your embroidered fabric with the interfacing side on the board away form the iron. This helps to smooth out and block the fabric so you can get a true measurement of the fabric block for what ever project you intend to use it for.

I hope you find this as fun as I have. (I hope that my Japanese friend likes these pillows for wedding presents tomorrow.) Anyway, happy Wednesday everyone!

~Fraise

Spring has Srung!

2011-03-16T21:47:00.000-06:00

I just thought that I would briefly share with you what greeted me upon my arrival home from work. I was so excited I called my mom. I had never seen any crocus before in the few years we have lived with my father-in-law. My mom says it was probably because they didn't get enough sun before since they were technically buried under a bush up until now.

My garden boxes are also showing a bit of "re-birth" that I had not expected. Though I have a lot of work cut out for me I am over joyed at what I have been discovering!

I apologize for having disappeared for two weeks, but I got a cold, and took some time getting over it. Amazingly enough my weight has remained stable at 185 lbs. As of this last Monday I resumed my weekly work out routine, and hope that my renewed activity will restart my slow decent to my goal weight.

Hope that you are seeing miracles outside your door!

~Fraise

Going Second

2011-02-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago my husband and I went to a concert put on by the band Going Second. As luck would have it my cousin, Scott Brimhall, is the bass player. Going Second is a high energy alternative rock band popular among the tween and early teen age groups. They put on a fun show, and they're music was awesome.

Getting ready to go to the show, I wished that I had some accessories to wear that would fit the vibe, but not make me look like a 30 year old that was trying to hard. So since we plan to go to more of their shows in the future, I thought it would be fun to make myself some cuffs to wear.

I really like how they turned out!! I ended up making three of them since I happened to run across the striped fabric and a red lace ribbon when I was looking for my black fabric. All I need now is a band t-shirt, and I'm set.

Here's how I did it:

Measure your wrist, and add on about 1 1/2 to 2 inches for the overlap of the snap and the seam allowance. For my width measurement I based it on the width of the Eveline lacy cuff I have in my Etsy store. So I ended up with 9" X 2.5".

For my basic black fabric I used some old black microfiber pants I had, that way it's really soft on my wrist. Cut out two pieces, in the case of the stripey fabric I chose to cut my second piece out of the pant fabric.

Pin the pieces together and stitch around the whole thing leaving an opening at one end to turn it right side out later.

Clip the corners so that they are less bulky when you turn it.

Then turn the piece right side out and using your shears or a pencil push out your corners.

Press the seams open and then flatten the piece.

Blind stitch your opening closed with coordinating thread.

Then finally add your snaps, following the directions on the package. I chose some large muted metal ones so I only used one for the closure.

You're done! Don't they look cool?

Now I can't wait until the next concert.

~Fraise

Weekly weigh-in and update

2011-02-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

Ever have cleaning cause more severe harm than a couple stiff muscles and aches? Well, a week from this last Monday, I somehow managed to do just that. Thanks to a severely pulled back muscle I have not exercised once this week, or gotten to any of my cleaning. My husband made the edict at the end of last week when he realized exactly how much pain I was living with. However, I am pleased to say that last week after my fifth consecutive week of exercise I weighed 184.9 lbs! I have gone back up some over the last few days, but have tried to regulate my eating in the mean time so that I can some how manage not to undo my hard work over the last 5 weeks.

You'll be pleased to know that while I have been taking it easy, I have also been trying to catch up on some of my hand projects and come up with some things to put into the Myrtilles Etsy store. You'll have to go over and check them out.

Thanks for your support and for coming to visit. Hope that you enjoy your end of February 2011.

~Fraise

Shower Season

2011-02-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

You know you're in Utah when the season for baby and bridal showers starts in February or March. I've been to a few over the last few weeks. Just this Saturday I had a double header, a baby shower at noon and a bridal shower in the evening. Kinda crazy day. Thankfully I had at least a week's notice and was able to get a hat, some headbands and flowers done.

I even had someone at the shower ask if I had an Etsy shop. I kick myself that I didn't tell her the name of it even though I currently have nothing in the shop. I need to start taking myself a little more seriously, and take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. I hurt my back last Monday, so my husband forbade me from doing any cleaning this weekend, and thus I'll be able to do some catching up on some of my projects today!!

~ Fraise

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in

2011-02-16T21:47:00.001-07:00

Hello again. Sorry for the Two month long vacation, but I thought it high time to get back to a regular blogging schedule. I'm pleased to announce that I am in my fifth week of exercising consecutively! True it varies from week to week but my average is five days per week. I am so happy!

It all started when I went to my yearly, and lo and behold my weight was tipping an all time high of 189 lbs (technically it was 191 but that was with clothes and shoes on). Now for some this is an okay weight, but for my body, personally, it is quite heavy. So I decided I needed to start really make good on my goal to slim down, and to make a concrete goal to achieve. I decided that I wanted to get down to 135 lbs. by the end of the year. I have worked hard to manage my portions and food intake and have continued riding our stationary bike as well as doing some aerobic and weight training exercises on the side.

As of last week my average weight for the week was 185.8! I know it's slow, but progress is progress!

Anyway, hope you're Valentine's was delightful, I get to finish celebrating mine on Friday, CAN'T WAIT!

~Fraise

PS Sorry for the quality of the photos, they were taken with my phone.

Camera Shy

2010-12-18T14:39:00.002-07:00

Isn't it interesting how as we get older we get less and less accommodating when someone tries to take our picture? It seams like for the most part we all start out oblivious to the camera, and then once we learn what it means when that gadget is whipped out, we either love it or hate it. As time goes on we get goofier and sillier and as kids and we find it amusing to do do weird things for a photo. Later on our ridiculous behavior either gets worse as teenagers. Or instead, in embarrassment we tend to hide or to blend in with the furniture, like chameleons. Finally as adults we either give up and ignore the camera completely, accept our lot and suffer through, or good-naturedly smile and strike a pose. What triggers this continual love/hate relationship through life with being seen on film (or rather at this point in time digitally).

Mirna's favorite toy to play with me, whenever I am over, is either my phone or my camera (though the latter is more so probably because it meows when it turns on). She loves to look at the photos on my phone and she loves to have her photo taken. If I try to take a photo of someone or something else she always says, "No, Mirna."

I wonder what direction this little girl's love of seeing herself captured digitally will evolve into. For now, I think I'll just have fun while it lasts!

~Fraise

PS. Sorry about posting twice in one day, the post before this one was some thing I started a few days ago, but have been down with a cold and only got it posted today.

Let there be light!

2010-12-18T13:59:00.003-07:00

Tuesday we decided to go down and look at the lights at Temple Square, since Marina had never seen them before. Fortunately for us it wasn't too cold and we were able to get down there at about 1730, before the crowds swarmed in.

It has definitely changed over the years to encompass the part of Main Street between the Salt Lake Temple and the Joseph Smith Memorial building, as well as the grounds around the Church Office Building and the Conference Center.

I love to see the temple lit upon a sea of Christmas lights.

I wish that we would have been able to show Marina, Malik and Sergio more but the girls started getting antsy and we decided it was best to get them home. Who knows maybe with girls being older next year we'll be able to see more.

~Fraise

(Again I ended up having to take the photos with my phone).

Winter Wonderland

2010-12-06T17:49:00.004-07:00

It's amazing how winter paints things in frosty and subdued colors. The light makes it feel as if there is as an ethereal white haze over everything. I decided to take a walk in the back yard to see what winter had wrought while I was gone and this is what I found!

Why do you think that the rose hips change color when it's cold? Do you think that like their fruit bearing neighbors, they think to attract animals in search of food, or is it Natures way of being festive....your guess is as good as mine.

I think that our plants are going to have a very confusing winter this year. It snowed pretty hard around Thanksgiving and now this morning it was raining, which hastened the already melting snow. I hope that it doesn't end up hurting the leaf buds on the trees.

It seems that the moisture and abnormal temperature changes, are also encouraging lichen and moss growth. I would laugh if we ended up with greenery on our soil and cement like they had in France and Croatia, even during the winter.

Well, sorry for the lack of profound thought today, I was just mesmerized by nature's pallet and tableau.

Hope that you are enjoying the winter scenery where ever you may happen to be.

~Fraise

Making Adjustments

2010-12-05T00:35:00.000-07:00

Well it was an adventure. Sorry to leave you high and dry for three days, but I felt that I should give myself a little bit of time to recuperate and reajust to my life here in the States again. Needless to say that after flight delays, missing flights, sick kids and 24 hours without sleep, it was a necessary respite.

I am excited to start December, it has always been a special month for me. It reminds me of years past attending the Nutcracker with my mom, cardboard sledding with my younger brother, and decorating for Christmas.

It's a time that most associate with good will and commercialism, but I like to think of it as a time to use my talents to bring a smile to those around me. It has always been fun to sleuth out what each family member might like or need and come up with a creative way to give it to them. Be it a scarf for my mom. or a painting for my dad, I always like to put a lot of thought into Christmas gifts each year.

Most of all I think the things that make me smile the most are the almost magical transformations of the winter season. All that might have been dirty, or confused, is covered in a pristine blanket of white. It adds a mystical quality to the same neighborhood I see every day. As if the events of the past are made clean in preparation for the coming new year.

I wish you a happy beginning of December, and hope that you are warm and cozy tonight!

~Fraise

1 Day and Counting

2010-11-29T15:24:00.002-07:00

Today I ended up mostly walking around down town on my own. I went to lunch with two of the friends that I had made at church and then decided to shop around a little bit.

I was nice to be able to get out and see things one last time. I suspect that most of tomorrow will be spent packing and cleaning and getting ready to go.We already weighed on of the big bags and it came out at 22,5 kilos, and the limit is 23. We may have some rearranging to do.

Zagreb is really a wonderful city, charming and full of such a rich history. I has been such a pleasure and a priviledge to be able to come here not just as a tourist but to be able t get to know it, a little from the "inside," by living amongst some of it's people and being able to share in their customs and traditions, and well as share some of my own. I have come for the most part to think of Marina's family as my own extended family.

Me, Zdenko, Tete Ana, Marijah, and Mirna

I think one of my goals when I get home is learn more about the country of Croatia, and to learn more about Zagreb itself. I know for now I have only scratched the surface. I will miss getting to know it better personally, face to face. I hope that I will be able to return here very soon.

~ Fraise

The Last Sunday

2010-11-28T16:24:00.003-07:00

It's hard to believe that I leave in only three days. It seemed like I would be here forever when I got here! It seemed to slip away so fast. Today was my last Sunday to attend church in this delightful branch of the church.

Me, back: Elder Pasche, Elder Hadley, front: Elder Nita, Elder Wood

I decided to give the missionaries a final parting Christmas gift, and drew some visual aids for teaching the Plan of Salvation, as some of them mentioned wishing for something like that. I also wrote down some of the activities that we had done when I was in the mission field to encourage members and investigators.

Sister Nelson, Me, Sister Stratton

They were so happy! It felt good to be able to contribute to the missionary work here.

Me, Daniel, background: Ljubica (Daniel's mom)

I have made some awesome friends here. They have been so kind and have made me feel really at home. I got the chance to spend a little more time with Daniel and his mom today as we were riding the same tram, they even waited with me until Zdenko came to pick me up.

Jasna and Me

I have come to realize that there are two kind of people in this world those that are content to stay where it is comfortable and safe, in surroundings that they are accustomed to. The other type is one that can fit in and feel comfortable almost anywhere, even if they don't speak the language or know the local customs, they adapt and grow through their experiences. Marina said that for her she needs the support system and comfort of her family and friends to help her feel at peace.

I'm coming to realize that I am more of the latter. It's true I will always miss my family no matter where I am, but I feel at home, and an adjust my life to where ever I happen to find myself. I think the reason that I am able to adapt so easily is not just my love and excitement for the adventure of discovering a new culture and language. I think it is also the way I "find my center," as Marina puts it, is in the local ward or branch or ward in the church. I feel like I belong no matter where I am and I feel connected through the members and the friendships I make there.

Maybe it helps that I am a free spirit too. Always to some extent "doing my own thing." What ever that special something is, my genuine personality and and original zest shine through and I find my place even when I am quite literally "out of place."

~Fraise

A Little Shoe Therapy

2010-11-27T13:20:00.006-07:00

Yesterday after a long and boring day waiting at a clinic for Gabby the see a doctor (she has the remnants of a cold and has not been able to kick it) Marina and I decided to go with one of her friends, Branka, for some good old fashioned "shoe therapy." We went to a new shopping center called Garden Mall. It has a lot of fun stores inside, including a favorite of mine from my previous European life: Promod.

It is a french store that I have long followed ever since my first January sales on my mission. I was so excited to see it. Unfortunately, they seem to run the same trend here that they do in France, in that they may have a little bit of a sale on merchandise here and there but their big sales are in January and July. Things start off at 25-30%and then move through the month to 75-85% at the end of the month. Of course even though the prices may be great at the end of the month, the selection usually isn't. All of us had a good time going through the store, neither Marina or Branka had ever heard of or been to a Promod before and they were delighted by it's originality and compatibility with different styles and layering. Unfortunately the pricing still wasn't in our favor. I told Marina that either the next time we came to Croatia we would need to come in January "or," she said, "we need to bring enough money!" Still to see a store I love here, made me smile.

We had fun going to a few other stores to look at things, and then to Müller, a German sort of grocery store a where I found some really pretty straw Christmas tree ornaments. While we were at Promod I had explained to Branka, who was struggling to remember my name, that Mirna had taken to calling me Sisi instead of Lacee, as a way to make her laugh. Well the name stuck and when we were in line at Müller she picked up some chocolate santas saying, "One for , Mirna, one for Gabby and one for Sisi." It made Marina and I giggle, but in the end it was easier for her to remember than my real first name, and frankly I didn't mind.

Our main order of shopping was to help me find a more suitable substitute for my current, walking long distance and getting around in the wet, shoes: my 8 year old worn out sneakers. I mainly brought them to exercise in but unfortunately most of the other footwear I brought caused pain if worn and walked in up and down hill and all over the place, as well and could deal with the semi constant rain we've had. So I have shoes for going out to look nice and shoes for church, but not much else. This just would not do, and my dear friend thinks too highly of me to let me substitute these grungy old things for everything else. We were on a mission.

We were lucky enough that Branka also knew about a magazine for sale at the news stand that had a 30% off coupon for Banta, where coincidentally I had found a pair of ankle boots that I really liked. Then as luck would have it I found a British brand pair of walking shoes that fit perfectly and looked really nice.

It felt so good and liberating to get new shoes and to go shopping with friends. Marina even mentioned that This really as theraputic. Mission accomplished!

~Fraise

Because I Have been Given Much....

2010-11-25T19:34:00.004-07:00

As I have reflected today over the events of this last week and the affect it has had on me. I look at how blessed I have been with coming here and with the many opportunities I have had to meet so many wonderful people and see so many amazing things. Life is truly about experiencing things. It's what adds flavor to life.

I was given the opportunity today to visit Mirogoj the main and I think probably the biggest cemetery in Zagreb. It was a very peaceful place. Unlike the cemeteries in the US it is paved rather than filled with grass. The graves usually consist of a vault that is used more for the family than for one person.

Here at this cemetery people are buried either in the free standing graves in the grounds or in the long wall-like arcades.

The funerary process starts out in a separate building across the street where the viewing is held and the family can come to pay their respects and leave mementos and flowers. Then the procession walks across the street to the small crkva (chapel) located in between the two arms of the arcade. There the actual funeral is held. Mourners may then proceed to the final resting place of the body.

The art on many of the graves is quite breath taking. On many of the graves in the arcade there are iron lanterns placed on either side of the grave (Marina's father said they were just the trend of the day as decoration, that they do not hold any special meaning or symbolism).

One can purchase colored lanterns with candles inside to either place into the iron ones or to put them onto the graves themselves.

It felt very fresh and green there with all of the moss growing on the pavement and in some cases the graves themselves. I thought it would have been a wonderful place to walk and think. I joked that the foggy weather we were having today was perfect for visiting, as it lent an air of mystery to the place.

There are actually many famous people buried here. I got to see the grave of the first president of Croatia, of Marina's old pediatrician, a professor her dad had in university, Drazen Petrović (a famous NBA star), and an original care taker of the cemetery itself.

There are even monuments for unknown communist people and a war memorial. Marina's dad showed me that usually a person's grave was designated as being communist with a star instead of the usual cross. It was very interesting to go and see.

I was given the unique experience of having a turkey grown and slain just for my Thanksgiving lunch. Grown by Marina's aunt in the country, it was honestly the most delicious flavored meat for a turkey that I had ever had. Marina's parents even had an aperitif and toast before the meal (though my glass was only filled with water) which made it feel very special.

Later on I was also able to attend the ward Thanksgiving Activity. It was very nice, and I was able to get to know the members of the branch better. Some of them expressed the wish that I was staying longer than Wednesday, and I will admit that part of me wishes I was. I will miss it here.

It has been a full day. Mostly filled with good cheer and self reflection. It was a good day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Fraise

PS I apologize for the photos, I forgot my camera when we left for the cemetery this morning and had to take the photos with my iPhone.

Kuća Stara

2010-11-24T17:05:00.006-07:00

(old house) Marina took me for a walk in her neighborhood today and showed me a kindergarten that she attended in playgroups when she was little. It was fun to see the little kids paying games and running around.

Then she showed me and amazing piece of property where the owner has chosen to leave the original farm buildings on it.

There was a main house and a well, a chicken coop, a barn, and a small house that might have been to store and prepare food, since it had an old brick oven outside it.

Wow, talk about history. I was so shocked and in awe that it hadn't been ripped down and developed. It even still had he curtains left at the windows, inside. The whole thing was made of wood, with a stone foundation. I only wish that we could have gone onto the property and looked around the outside of the buildings and I could have gotten more pictures.

Later on when we were downtown running errands Marina ran into her best friend from when she was younger. Tomaslav (Tom) and his wife, Martina, and their little girl Carla were so awesome. He said he felt honored that I told him that Croatia reminded me of France. They were so gracious and generous. Tom asked me where I had been so far, and they decided to take me to the old part of the city, uptown. It was wonderful. Unfortunately because it was at night I was unable to really take pictures. It was so cool. Marina told me that they don't really allow many cars up there just mostly for those hat live there and maybe the press. They showed me the parliament building, St. Mark's Church (where Marina's parents were married),

(compliments of the internet)

St. Catherine's church, and the oldest apothecary/pharmacy in Zagreb (founded in 1355AD per the guide book). There were gas lamps every where and they told me how it had been the job of one man to light all of the lamps. One of the most special places they showed me was the Stone Gate, one of the last remaining gates of the city and the gateway one uses to enter the upper town.

(Internet also)

Inside is located a small chapel with pews on one side of the "street" and on the other a shrine to the Virgin Mary. Inside it has a painting of Mary and the baby Christ (in the more iconic eastern orthodox style) that was miraculously saved from a terrible fire. There were bricks all around with inscriptions of thanks, for protection and help. I am not catholic and therefore personally don't believe in the Virgin Mary as a deity, but I do hold a special place in my heart for her as a pure and righteous woman, one to whom I can look up to as an example of endurance and strength.

Marina's friends then took us for a dessert at Vincek. I somehow ended up with two slices of different kinds of fruit cake (I think Marina bought one to try too). I hope that I can go back to see those things during the day time and take some photos. Keep your fingers crossed.

~ Fraise

PS: Check out the latest piece I posted on my art blog entitled "jaboka" and tell me what you think!

Something Smells Good....

2010-11-23T15:36:00.002-07:00

I have one word for you...Aromatica.

Today, Marina had to go to the dentist, so I got to walk around the area with camera in hand and explore a bit. She showed me where the old LDS "chapel" was (really just a flat on the third floor that they were renting until the congregation grew and they could build the current building). She said it was where she used to go for English lessons back when she lived here with her parents.

I happened upon the offices for the Croatian Olympic Committee, and generally found fun little details to take photos of. There was also an underground shopping center i.e. mall that was connected to the tunnel that runs under the train yard at the main station in Zagreb. This tunnel allows people to get downtown without having to go clear around the station, etc. The mall is very confusing maze and you get down to it as you would a subway station. just past the stairs from the end of the tunnel. The tunnel itself is lined with shops and eateries, selling everything from underwear to groceries and baked goods. It was a good place to get out of the wind when I was waiting for Marina.

Afterward she showed me a couple of famous small parks, museums and the French embassy. We ate roasted chestnuts on the way and window shopped as we walked. Then we got to Aromatica. Wow. From the moment you walked in the door, you were embraced by the relaxing smell of Lavender. It was intoxicating.

Aromatica is the brand of organic herbal products produced locally in Croatia by the company BIOAROMATICA. Established 18 years ago, they produce a multitude of toiletries, oils, and even kitchen herbs and spices, from the plants grown in Northern Croatia. The products are wonderful, and made by hand here in Croatia as well (for full details see the website). They even had some unusual flavors such as: Quince, Cedar, Melissa, Sage and Rosemary. Marina had told me about them before, but I was really impressed.

It really made our evening. It even turned out that the lady running the shop had family in Salt Lake, and she said she would write and put them in touch with Marina when we got back. The world is truly a small place.

~Fraise

Mic - Mic Mačka

2010-11-22T17:39:00.002-07:00

(pronounced: mitz mitz matchka = kitty-kitty cat) Meet Fusa, a super social, sweet and soft new friend of mine. She was Marina's baby when she lived here before leaving for the States.

She's mostly an outdoor cat, though she comes into the kitchen some times with people when she's hungry, or wants attention. Marina says she was the kitten of the cat they had before and the first and only cat she had taken to the vet. My little friend even has her own house out in the garden, which she sleeps in a lot of the time when it's been raining.

She's gotten used to me and will come over to me when I call either "Fusa," "mic-mic" or make kitty noises when she's in the vicinity. She also very friendly and loving when she comes up to me rather than being skittish like some cats are.

She seems okay with Mirna too, though Marina told me that she scratched Mirna at first when Mirna pulled her tail. I'm glad that Mirna had gotten used to having a cat around, since she's kinda scared of dogs. I'm so happy to be half-way around the world and still be able to get some kitty love. ☺

Dance, Dance, Dance!

2010-11-22T17:38:00.002-07:00

Today's big event was to go to a traditional folk dance and singing concert put on by the World famous Lado folk ensemble. It was held at the Vatroslava Lisinskog building.

They have these amazing looking lights hanging on the upper floor where we went to wait for them to open the house doors for seating. It turns out that they are plastic rods cut at an angle on one end and then there are florescent lights inserted in between them, so that the rods bend and diffuse the light in a really pretty way.

This evening particularly featured dances from the eastern continental part of Croatia, where Marina's mom is from. Wow, it was really cool! The way they had the mics setup on stage I think we could have heard a pin drop. The singing was really interesting and the way they had a chorus setup as part of the background representing the village watching the young people on the stage was an interesting take. They did sing as part of the opening and closing numbers, though.

The first dance number sort of played out workers in the field cutting and harvesting wheat, then a celebration, then leaving with the harvest ast the end of the day, always accompanied by song. I liked that one a lot.

Almost every new number had a different costume, I think to represent a different region of the East. There was even one that Marina told me was a very traditional dress for a wedding. This was the shortest and fullest skirt the women wore.

There was almost always a couple or several couples representing the elders or leaders of the villiage off to the side seaming to look on though occasionally participating in the dance. The dancers both men and women almost aways had something metal on them that would make a cinking sound when they hopped or moved. There was even a dance where women danced wih what looked like sabers with ong pretty ribbons in the red, white and blue stripes representing Croatia.

In between numbers the string "band" accompanying the dancers would come to center stage to perform on their own. We heard two types of whistles that sounded either double-reeded or double piped. Croatia even has a wind instrument very similar to a bagpipe, except that the bottom pipe is bell shaped like the pipe you smoke.

I had a really good time. Out in the lobby they had honey apple sok (juice) and apple čips )chips) for sale. Marina had never had apple chips before and asked if we could sample some. They were the best ones I had ever had, much more flavorful than the ones I've had at home. I think they have especially good apples here.

Well, due to the continuous applause and the encore that was done of the last dance, we got out at 2215. It was an incredible opportunity to be able to take advantage of the fact that it just happened to be playing the week that I was staying here. I am so lucky!

~ Fraise

Meet Marina

2010-11-21T16:32:00.002-07:00

I would like to introduce you to one of my best friends. Marina was born and raised here in Zagreb, but now lives in Salt Lake City, with her husband and two little girls. She is a marvel. She has very strong personality, and has her own way of doing things.

She is also very kind and some one I admire greatly. I find it interesting that once I was given strong counsel to find friends that would help to strengthen me and help me to be my best and when we met, she had just been placed in my path. I will be forever grateful.

I actually met her because I met Malik at an IT job I had doing french support for a Canadian company. We became fast friends as she had few in the States, being relatively alone and new in the country. Thanks to our friendship, I had been afforded opportunities and so many occasions to learn and grow.

I even have the opportunity to share the joy of her children and rich heritage. I have been able to share unique experiences and have a valuable friend to bounce ideas off of when I need a brain to pick.

I feel that her honesty and her forthrightness are some of the qualities I admire most in her. I am truly blessed to have such a friend!

I Stand All Amazed

2010-11-21T15:17:00.001-07:00

It is amazing what a spiritual recharge just from going to church can do for you. I don't often share anything about my spirituality here where anyone can see, usually because I feel that there is a time and place for it, but those that know me in real life understand how my personal faith is very much a part of who I am.

There is nothing to help one break away from bad and self indulgent thoughts, or self deprecating inner talk than to go somewhere that is just like going home, even if you don't understand a word that's being said. I was a little apprehensive on the way to church today, about the language barrier, not to mention finding the new chapel location, when the internet didn't give a specific street number. As soon as I walked up to the missionaries and then into the chapel door, even though, I only understood very little, everything felt right. Thankfully many of the members speak English, and I was befriended by a delightful investigator that is going to be baptized this Saturday (who also served as my translator and ride home). There were six missionaries there, four elders (young men) and two sister missionaries. They were all so nice and helpful. I felt right at home. Almost as if I was on my own mission again. (In fact I almost reverted back to my own mission slang a few times, but they wouldn't understand franglais = french + english).

I had a wonderful time. They even had Croatian hymn books (apparently they are just printed for here, not sold at the LDS (Latter Day Saint or Mormon) distribution center in Salt Lake City). I think that this week I will definitely have to work on reading aloud and sounding out so that I can keep up in singing next week at meetings. I felt so welcome, and I enjoyed getting to know some of the young single adults and youth. I was invitied to the activities this week as well as the baptism on Saturday. How wonderful it is to be so far from home and truly feel like to are still with family, and included. Both my wonderful hosts here in Marina's family and at church. It is truly the best. I can see clearer and I feel the warmth inside my heart that I have been needing.

Marina said that I have coined my own unique phrase while staying here: super fino. A euphemism that is in part an adaption from French slang using "super" to indicate a heightened or extended version of something and "fino" which is common Croatian slang for "good" or "fine" (usually indicating one's food). I feel like that indicates my taste for life right at this moment....SUPER FINO!

~ Fraise

On A Side Note.....

2010-11-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

I thought I would take some time to show you the wonderful people I am staying with. Today, I would like to introduce you to the cutest little girls I know. My nieces, Mirna and Gabby.

Mirna is the older daughter of Marina, and the more rambunctious goofball. She's always full of energy and she loves her baka (grandma) and daddy very much. She likes to color with me and we can spend up to about 30 straight at one time coloring and drawing together. She looks the most like her dad and we suspect has her dad's personality too.

She is definitely not a morning person and we are lucky if we can get hr eat anything other than her herbal tea for breakfast. In fact she has her own ideas about organized meal s times all together. She will sometimes sneak things if one of us leaves sweets out and I've gotten her to eat, when she decides to mimic me on occasion. We have a lot of fun going for walks and to the park and she loves the swings. She's a little scared of dogs (in all varieties) but loves kats and frequently shouts out "mic-mic" (pronounced mitz-mitz which means kitty kitty) whenever she sees one.

Yasmina Gabriela or Gabby is our usually peaceful and contemplative girl. She is Marina's younger daughter, and the most like Marina when she was little. At a year and two months she is already walking (mostly holding your finger, but she has walked on her own) as well as mimiking words and sounds we make.

Baka sings them a song when she swings an plays with them that starts out "we-we we-we....." Both Mirna and Gabby are always saying "we-we, we-we." It was so amazing for me to get here and to see her walking and hear her saying words. When I saw her last she refused to learn how to crawl and would stand on your lap if you held her. It's curious how fast babies grow and develop, I find it just astonishing. She's usually pretty happy and she loves to be tickled. If she's not being held, sleeping or in her high chair she's always got one adult by the finger dragging them around in the garden or the house. It's a marvel.

Mountain Climbing Anyone?

2010-11-20T13:50:00.002-07:00

Today I had the opportunity to go see the summer house that belongs to Marina's parents, located about 45 minutes outside of Zagreb. It was something of a mystery. We left Zagreb with a bright and sunny day outside and as soon as we got closer to the hills it turned foggy. It burned away some during the day but came back as the temperatures dropped back down towards evening. It was really fun. Since Marina's brother Daniel needed to practice driving, the party consisted of myself, Marina's parents, and Daniel. When we got there we discovered that there was some sort of issue with the shower pipes flooding the bathroom upstairs and so after I swept their porch and Daniel finished picking apples for his dad, we went for a walk and Daniel showed me the village.

We walked to the new swimming pool, an old mini-golf area (just cement no astro-turf folks) and soccer field in the adjoining park, then over to the old swimming pool where there is a hot springs. Then back up the hill past the house to a look out point, then back down to the house.

He made sure to show me the group of slightly feral cats that like to congregate around and sometimes inside the dumpsters down the hill from their house. When we got there he counted 7 cats, he said they get in through the top slot when the dumpsters are closed for the rain.

That was a work out for me, I realized how out of shape I am when we climbed the hill and I was tired and had to rest halfway and Daniel said he didn't even feel tired. We had fun exchanging info on learning languages and my attempts to learn Croatian so far. Then we all climbed into the car and went to eat lunch at a local restaurant where three of us had pork chops and I tried a bit of her dad's black sausage. We all laughed when Marina's mom took the carrot and salad leaf garnish off of Zdenko's plate and offered them to Daniel. Daniel who is more of a vegetarian most of the time said, "Finally some food!"

It was pleasant to drive back (I fell asleep, from my mountain hike I think) and come home to Mirna and Gabby, Marina's daughters (essentially they are my nieces). Mirna and Teta Ana made apple streussel with philo dough and some of Zdenko's apples, that was super yummy. I feel really blessed to be able to have such a fun and relaxing day.

~ Fraise

Svježe Mlijeko, Dobar Tek!

2010-11-19T13:49:00.003-07:00

(Fresh milk, bon appetit!) See, I sound Croatian already. These are a few of the words I have learned over the last two days. I am having a wonderful time trying to learn, retain and use everything I am being taught. I'm sure I'm doing better than I perceive, but at least I'm really making an effort, and that's what counts.

Today we went to visit a small open market and a grocery store the size of an average regular Walmart, Konzum. Apparently they have three sizes of this store, the regular which is the size of a large convenience store, the Super, and a Maxi which I assume is the size of Costco. That was kind of fun. Marina walked up and down the aisles with me explaining things about various products, foods and departments, meanwhile looking for good things to take home as souvenirs. We even picked up some different small honeys at the open market for a souvenir.

The market was fun though. It made me think of one I went to regularly in Nîmes, France that was located in an almost garage-like space on the bottom floor of a shopping mall, and they had everything. Marina says she wants to take me to a huge market that's downtown, as well as the large fish market they have here. I was able to get some fun photos as well as try the Croatian version of a "pain au chocolat" (a french pastry using the same dough for a croissant but with a bar of dark chocolate wrapped in the middle before baking it). The Croatian version was more like the chocolate was spread on the dough before it was rolled into the croissant shape and then a zig-zag of chocolate icing is drizzled along its length after it was baked. It was pretty good.

After lunch Marina, her mom, I and her little girls went to the best park ever!!!!! Called Maksimir, it was the estate of an Archbishop who eventually donated the park to the city ( I think at his death). Any way It's like walking into the forest in the middle of the city. It's their own version of Central Park.

They have a zoo, historical buildings (designed by a Swiss architect to look authentic), and 7 small lakes. It was beautiful. Since it was very wet today, the ground was muddy and spongy in places. I saw the biggest slug I've ever seen. It was bright orange and about the size and roughly the shape of a 8 - 9" medium sized carrot. Marina says that they are actually fairly common in forested places here.

It was so pleasant and peaceful there. Marina told me that during the summer the inside of the park is at least 10° cooler and that it's the best park to ride a bicycle in. I told her I would come back to Croatia just for the park.

Finally dinner arrived and we had the fish we bought this morning at the open market. Eaten with potatoes, and a kind of green like giant spinach that you wilt and a bean and scallion side. The fish were fried in an oven outside, both a large fresh water and tons of smaller sardine-sized fish that you bend and strip off of the bones. Both very tasty with the potatoes and a little bit of olive garlic pesto.

I almost forgot, I had Prošut (prosciutto ham) and Kulen as my meats this morning with we also later tried with a mayo with herbs called Mediterranean, I think this was my favorite breakfast so far. I also tried another soured milk/yogurt drink called Kefir which had even more of a buttermilk flavor than Kiseli. Marina told me that kulen comes from eastern Croatia, where they eat spicier and heavier food than they do in Zagreb.

Well, I supose that about wraps it up here. Laku noć, everyone.

~ Fraise

Boy am I full!!

2010-11-18T14:59:00.003-07:00

I just haven't been able to stop eating! Between the different meal schedule culture here to trying new things to the different and heavier food we've been eating, I find I'm almost always full, almost to bursting. I know that doesn't bode well for my girlish figure, but I'll have you know that I am exercising too. Hopefully they will balance each other soon. I tried to wake up at 4:30 this morning and almost did (next time I'm just going to get up even if it is just twenty minutes before my alarm goes off) but ended turning off the alarm and sleeping for another three and a half hours. I still did the aerobic exercises I've been doing in the States, I also went for a walk this morning with my friend, Marina, and her daughter, and then later went for a walk around downtown Zagreb. It's a really neat old city. According to Marina, I didn't even get to the beautiful, old portion yet.

They eat breakfast (we ate ours a little late) of dried meats cheese and bread. Then we ate lunch around noon and had burek sir a kind of fresh cow's cheese baked in a philo dough crust. Very tasty. Along with some more dried meat, cheeses, pickles, a red minced sauce of sorts called ajvar and a kind of sauerkraut called zelje kiseli that you put pumpkin seed oil on, and of course bread. Then a snack of home-made cookies with jam in them and chocolate milk, with a nice guest named Radmila. Then on my downtown walk I tried some bread with chocolate in the middle, another kind of burek sir (this time with bits of pumpkin in it) and a yummy drink of soured milk that tastes like buttermilk. Then Marina wanted to stop at a cake and ice cream store called Vincek whose specialties include a chestnut ice cream and chestnut paste eaten with a dollop whipped cream (they even taste good when all mixed together).

Finally after coming home and falling asleep at the computer desk in my room, we ate a more German style dinner of sausage with mashed potatoes, cooked cabbage with beans and some mustard, horse radish and really tasty mayo...and of course bread. Needless to say, I don't think I can eat another thing. Especially since my stomach has gotten used to smaller portions and sparsely spaced meals, over the last two or three months.

However, as overloading as my food intake may sound, I was able to squeeze in some fun sight seeing and photo opportunities. On my walk this morning, my friend showed me an old military base turned University, that was in used during the Yugoslavian occupation originally built for WWII.

Most of the larger buildings are slowly being converted, but there are several smaller buildings that lie dormant, and are, in most cases, in disrepair. There was even an old bunker and random street lamp we saw all over grown in the more wooded area that Marina tells me was used for training at one point.

Downtown, I was able to see the beginnings of Christmas decorations being hung and other traditional businesses that spring up around the Christmas season. We went to the post office so I could look at stamps and even went into the big cathedral in the center of town. I was very impressed here. In contrast with many of the cathedrals I saw in France; this one was clean, dust free and inside, everyone was very reverent. Marina said, that because since religion generally plays a bigger role in peoples lives here, more donations are made and better care is taken of the church as a consequence.

I had fun with my Croatian lessons today. I looked up the word for "name," and while Radmila was here, seemed to delight everyone with asking the names for everything on the table. That and trying to say thank you and "tastes good," for the food we were eating, in Croatian.

I was also able find a unique connection with Zdenko, Marina's father, in talking to him about the apples on the table that came from his garden and house in the country, then sharing about my own horticultural adventures of this last summer. He had a good time going through the flash cards I had made and helping me to try to master the Croatian alphabet. My friend's Teta (aunt) Ana is convinced that I'll forget how to speak English by the end of two weeks. Overall, I'd say it been a filling but wonderful day.

~ Fraise

Coming to you barely alive........

2010-11-17T12:50:00.001-07:00

That's right folks, I said barely alive, as you would be too after spending about a day and a half in airports or on planes. I'm so glad to be on solid ground, even if it started raining just before I touched down here in Zagreb, Croatia.

So how did I get here, you ask? Well, a good friend of mine happens to be from this delightful country and needed help kid wrangling. Long story short I got the job, so here I am. ☺

I started out in the good old Salt Lake airport, from there stopped in Minnesota for a three hour layover, then a 8-9 plane flight to a thankfully almost empty flight to Charles de Gaul in Paris. From there thanks to my excellent french and a few wrong directions from the crew at the Air France desk (I think she was just having a bad day), for another hour and a half layover. This gratefully, allowed me to sample a bit of heaven on earth, (French yogurt is to die for!!!). Then lastly onto a noisy puddle jumper with BritAir along with about half the plane full of silly southern french men out on holiday to go game hunting in Croatia, all of which with the sense of humor of a 14-year-old boy. ^^0 True men always do as my husband likes to say.

So here I am in the lovely home of my dear friend's parents, about to bed down for the night at what is here 8:30 pm or 20:30 for you die-hard euro-standard people, like myself. I can't wait to see what happens next on this exciting two week saga in in the old Austro-Hungarian empire (aside from this rearranged keyboard, that is).

Wishing you laku noć, and slatki snovi.

~ Fraise

Yes, I'm still alive

2010-11-01T18:39:00.024-06:00

so yeah.....
I know, I know. I'm falling back into my old habits. But it's my birthday today, so you can forgive me right?

I've been busy too. We had to move locations at my job and I'm getting ready to go out of the country for two weeks on the 16th. I've also been busy with some projects, which are here for your viewing pleasure:

I've made this hat pattern several times and it has always turned out really cute. This time however I decided to use my baby yarn and add a Scandinavian snow flake design. I know it's hard to see since the pink doesn't exactly stand out against the white but it was my first time ever doing a fair isle style knit pattern. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I only wished I had done one more row of cables as the hat is a little shallow.

A bracelet that I crocheted using a baby headband pattern that my boss had me try out with some yarn she had to see if she had the right gauge yarn. (She didn't). However, I loved the pattern and decided to see what it looked like using a gold pearl cotton I have that has metallic gold fibers wrapped around it. I love this one especially since when you hold it in the sun it actually looks like crocheted gold.

This one is a hat I made for a gift. It's the same hat pattern I've always used except I added a colored sripe and used some pretty shiny ribbon to knit some of the rows. I think it really turned out nice, as it was hard to come up with a fun thing to do with brown neutrals.

This is a type of scarf that you knit on circular needles that connects and forms a pseudo turtle neck that you can wear scrunched up or up over your nose. I tried a pattern with a new stitch called he feather and fan, that results in this sort of wavy look. I had knitted several rows and couldn't figure out why it kept decreasing. I looked up a yarn over and lo and behold I was doing it all wrong and had to start over again. I had fun working in a bouclé yarn to make subtle stripes.

I finished the crocheted embroidery floss yarn scarf and thought you's like to see it on. Over all it went really fast and I like the way it looks much better than before I re-did it.

These last two are head bands that I did using store bought elastic head bands from the dollar store and adding crocheted flowers leaves beads and buttons.

Overall I feel like I've been very creative and that I have learned a ton. Now if I can only get caught up with Christmas presents. ^^0

It's been a While

2010-09-27T14:10:00.001-06:00

I'm sorry that I have been so out of touch, I know that two months is kind of a long time. I was busy with work and then due to other stresses going on in my life have been putting off writing. From college rush to sending friends off to visit family in Croatia......I hope to get myself back on schedule though, from this point on.

You'll be pleased to know that I was successful in starting a daily work out routine that I have been able to stick to. I worked out every day for 6 days straight the first week but the second week after two days, got a cold, that I am still trying to get over. I hope after all this resting that I will be able to resume my exercise routine sometime in the next few days I had my husband make us a work out calendar so that I have to color in each day that I exercise. It's been fun to see the green triangles fill in.

Over the last week I was able to work on a few hand projects too, that I can't wait to share with you....I just need to to find a model to help me take some pictures.

Hope your week goes well.

~Fraise

Blackberry-ing!

2010-08-13T14:15:00.000-06:00

I forgot to tell you how much fun we had pick blackberries with my mother-in-law yesterday.

Sooooo yummy!!

Purple fingers!

Next week: blackberry and apricot jam!

Fraises et Myrtilles

Happy Birthday to a Little Lady

Crunch Time!!!

Giving Gifts

Rio Tinto Family Night

Lack of Connection

Ferris Wheels and Fun

5 Years *^^*

Happy Independence Day!

Horsey, horsey, on your way.....

Sprinklers!!!!!

Catching Up

Tinted Windows

A Dog She's Not Afraid Of

Progress

A New Bed

Poppies!

Privilege to Serve

Turned Photographer

Showered with Gifts

Belated Easter Stuff

Helping Mom...

Awwwwwe, I feel ...better!

Bigger Than I Imagined

Plumble Pie

Updates and Garden Stuff

Paques

Bloodletting

Sweet Cookie Dreams

Happy Livingroom

The Currant Bush

New Stuff, Fun Stuff

Ready and Rarin' to Go!

The Greatest Endeavor of Our Lives

Japan Tribute: Sashiko

Spring has Srung!

Going Second

Weekly weigh-in and update

Shower Season

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in

Camera Shy

Let there be light!

Winter Wonderland

Making Adjustments

1 Day and Counting

The Last Sunday

A Little Shoe Therapy

Because I Have been Given Much....

Kuća Stara

Something Smells Good....

Mic - Mic Mačka

Dance, Dance, Dance!

Meet Marina

I Stand All Amazed

On A Side Note.....

Mountain Climbing Anyone?

Svježe Mlijeko, Dobar Tek!

Boy am I full!!

Coming to you barely alive........

Yes, I'm still alive

It's been a While

Blackberry-ing!

5 Years ^^