Pizza Without the Red Sauce

This is a recipe that Dave and I made for one of our date nights.  It's so delicious!  Disclaimer: the sauce is still red, it just isn't the traditional red sauce most pizzas have.  I adapted it from a recipe at allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. butter (melted)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. sun-dried tomato pesto
2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 unbaked pizza crust
Diced tomatoes
Fresh spinach, torn
1 sweet onion, diced
1 (6 oz) package feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:  Mix the butter, olive oil, garlic, tomato pesto, basil, oregano, and Parmesan cheese together to make the sauce.   Spread over one medium-sized pizza crust, and then add the toppings.  Bake according to the directions for the pizza crust.

Note: obviously you can add other toppings that you like, these are just my favorite.  Dave and I like to make personal pizzas so that we can vary both what we put on and how much.  Enjoy!

The Earring Chronicles

Well, first I have to show you this:

My earring collection.  One of the first things I'd grab if our apartment caught fire, after Kate and my scriptures, that is.  What can I say?  I love them.  I'm exactly what the scriptures are talking about in Isaiah 3:

18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,

  19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

  20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

  21 The rings, and nose jewels,

  22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,

  23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

Of course I like ornaments of the legs, the wimples, and let's not forget the crisping pins, but mostly the earrings.  I collect them wherever I go.  I have some from Italy, Mexico, Peru, and many places in the United States.  I'm not sure how many pairs I own, but I definitely have to go through them from time to time, to make sure they'll all fit in my jewelry box (a very painful process - I'd compare it to having to get rid of a child).  If you look closely at the picture, you'll notice most the slots have two pairs.  It's like a crowded prison in there.

If I were lying down on a sofa and you were my shrink, you might ask me where my love of earring comes from.  I can answer in one word: deprivation. Yep.  That's how deprived I was growing up.  If you want to read about parents who deny their kids food and water, education, a social life, or cable, you're reading on the wrong blog.  My parents deprived me of earrings.  Namely, pierced earrings. 

I'm sure my parents had their reasons, but the rule in our house was that you couldn't get your ears pierced until you turned 18.  What did this do to my desire for earrings?  Made me want them much more, naturally.  And not just simple studs, I wanted the dangly kind, as my mom called them.  Now don't get me wrong, as long as I didn't get my ears pierced, they didn't really care.  I wore the clip-on kind to dances sometimes, but ouch - the pain they inflicted will not be forgotten anytime soon. 

After many years of pleading and begging (my parents unwavering firmness on the matter was NOT due to my lack of trying), I finally resigned myself to an earringless adolescence.  Fast forward to right after my freshman year of college.  I had just turned 19.  All of the sudden a light went on.  I had missed my big moment!  I had turned 18 (and now 19) and hadn't immediately gotten my ears pierced.  It was almost as bad as if I had turned 17 and forgotten to get my drivers license.  I got my ears pierced the next day.

As my college roommates can testify, I loved my earrings.  They were carefully and lovingly left all around the apartment, in all sorts of random spots.  I have a fond memory of a night before the cleaning check where one roommate tactfully suggested we go on an "earring treasure hunt."  I believe the number we found was in the double digits. 

Fast forward now to present day.  I still love earrings.  I also love not having my earlobe ripped apart.  That's right, I'm a mom now.  And I can only guess that Kate has inherited an equal if not greater love for earrings than I possess, if her frequent desire to rip off my earrings are an accurate indicator (the one difference being that she likes to eat them and I like to wear them).  And here lies the dilemma: do I stop wearing earrings?  My one great love (besides Dave and Kate, of course)!?  This seems unbearable.  For heaven's sake, I mean, I buy my outfits around my earrings!  I'm not ready to let them collect dust bunnies in an old jewelry box!  They need love, they need attention, and they need to be worn. So?  Any ideas?  What's an earring-loving mother to do?

Here are a few close-up pictures of my earring collection:

 Considering my quote of the day, this post seems quite ironic.

My Mom Resume

I don't know if anyone else has had to put up with this, but every once in awhile, you run into somone that thinks being a stay-at-home mom has got to be the most boring and easy thing in the world.  After slugging them in the face, I want to let them have at it for one day, just to see how they'd do . . . there is a great I Love Lucy episode about that, by the way. 

Well, if any of you reading this believe that to be true, let me just set the record straight.  My mind is not rotting.  I don't bore myself to tears every day.  And I certainly don't sit around with my feet up while doing my nails.  I am improving myself.  In fact, I'm constantly learning new things and developing my talents.  And I made a mom resume to prove it.

Heidi M. Kimball

Occupation: Mother

Education: High school diploma, Bachelors from BYU, 9 months on-the-job training

Experience: 9 months

Skills:

- Professional grape peeler: Can peel and cut up a grape into small pieces that babies won't choke on in 10 seconds flat.  Can even do so under the pressure of a baby yelling for more and banging hands on the high chair.

- Can perform most tasks one-handed.  This includes undressing a baby, grocery shopping, making a bottle, vaccuming, and doing my hair.

- Car seat buckler: Can fasten baby in a car seat in 15 seconds, even when baby is yelling, wiggling, and arching back.  Side note: this is not easy.

- Multi-tasker: Can keep house relatively clean while simultaneously making sure baby does not choke, swallow hazardous material, fall down stairs, electrocute self, or get injured in some other manner.

- Sleep charmer: Can get baby to sleep even when baby is determined to stay awake, and is determined to make you feel like a bad person for wanting the baby to take a nap for their own good.

- Very funny: Can make numerous weird faces and noises to entertain and distract baby in all types of situations including: at church (when baby is two hours overdue for a nap), after baby falls down and gets hurt, during long trips in the car, in the grocery store checkout line, when baby is starving, etc.

- Other sleep skills: Can perform most tasks while still asleep, and perform most tasks on little to no sleep.

So there you have it.  I am a professional mom, and proud of it!

Kate Update

Kate and I have been busy the last few weeks.  Here are a few of the things we've been up to:

1 - Visiting the Living Planet Aquarium with Carol and Ellie and Courtney and Barrett.  I got an annual pass because it was only $23, and I figure it will be worthwhile during the winter months when I'm going stir crazy.  Especially once Kate learns to walk.  Funny side note: Because Dave is Dave, he made me promise that I would visit at least 6 times this year in order to make it worth it (even though the regular fee is $9 - does that make any sense to you?).  If I don't, I owe him dinner.  So please, call me.  I'd be happy to go anytime :)

Here is what we saw: 

We loved the penguins, the giant frog, the glowing jellyfish, and best of all . . . we found Nemo!

2 - Kate learned to share. No really, she did.  Here's how it happened: every morning Dave has a bowl of cereal which is followed by an apple.  As soon as Kate sees that Daddy's got an apple, she crawls over as fast as she can, begging for a few bites.  So Daddy eats the outside, and then Kate sits on Daddy's lap and gnaws on the apple with her two bottom teeth (and by the way, she would probably sit there happily for two hours if I'd let her . . . I should try it and see how long she'd really keep at it).  Well, just last week, as Dave was holding her with the apple, Kate took a bite, and then reached up to offer Daddy some.  It was so adorable!  Crazy thing is she does it every single day.  A bite for Kate, a bite for Daddy.

A bite for Kate



A bite for Daddy

So this past Sunday at church, I picked up some tape from the library to use for my lesson.  Kate promptly stole it from me and decided it was delicious.  After a few minutes of enjoyment, Kate felt bad about hogging all the goodness, and offered some to me.  Thanks for sharing the tape, Kate!

3 - 9-month appointment, and Kate is now in the 5th percentile for weight (15 lbs 8 oz) and the 10th percentile for height (27 inches).  The doctor told me to slather butter on things that I give her.  I wish the doctor would tell me that.

4 - Three teeth!  One of Kate's top teeth broke through this week.  Kate, remarkably, has been a very happy girl, and mom's not complaining.  Pretty soon her pictures will look a lot different . . .



5 - Mom overcomes her fear of immunizations!  Since our insurance doesn't cover Kate's immunizations, we decided to do them down at the health clinic, where they are free (call me crazy, I don't like to pay out a lot of moolah when I can get something for free).  Unfortunately, because immunizations scare me to death, I've procrastinated for quite awhile . . . 9 months to be exact.  I just had this fear about Kate screaming and me feeling like a horrible mother.  Unexpectedly, Kate only cried for about 2 seconds, and then she was fine.  I guess I had nothing to be afraid of after all.

A Walking Disaster

Who knew that a simple walk in the stroller could turn out to be such a bad idea?

Kate has never been one for the stroller.  She doesn't like to be "put" in anything - the carseat, the stroller, her swing.  She's been this way ever since she was born, and I keep telling myself it will change, but so far no such luck.  However, every month or so, I give her stroller another go, telling myself that maybe, just maybe she'll like it this time and I can be like all the other moms who take their kids out for a nice afternoon stroll.

So I tried it again one day last week, and lo and behold, we walked for about half an hour before Kate got tired of it.  Compared to my past experiences, this was like winning the lottery, and I was thrilled. So naturally, I thought we'd try it again the next day, to see if we could keep a good thing going.  Big mistake.  It started out just like the day before.  Kate was perfectly good as I buckled her in.  We're walking along calmly and peacefully, when out of nowhere comes an ambulance and fire truck with lights flashing and sirens screaming.  Poor Kate was so scared and started wailing at the top of her lungs.  I stopped to comfort her, and probably spent about five minutes calming her down.  When things seemed to be under control, we continued.

At this point, Kate's mood was a little more fragile.  But no, I thought, the walk will now be peaceful.  We'll walk along, I'll point out different things to her, and all will be well. All of the sudden from behind the fence comes a huge BARK.  We're not talking a cocker spaniel bark, a chihuahua bark, or a poodle bark.  We're talking a Great Dane bark.  Kate starts wailing again.  I go to the front of the stroller to comfort her, saying, "Kate, it's a doggy!  Like in your book,  ruff, ruff!"  Somehow the sound coming from behind the fence sounds nothing like the cute "ruff, ruff" sound the doggy in the book always makes.  She continues crying, and I decide we should just hurry and get away from that fence as fast as possible.  Of course, the next section of the fence has a dog as well.  Not a Great Dane this time, probably just a Rotweiler.

Story book dog "ruff, ruff"    Scary dog "Bark, bark"

Aaaaah!  Time to head home.  By this time Kate is so frazzled that every passing car causes her to look around nervously and start whimpering.  I'm trying to feed her yogurt bites to distract her as I push the stroller.  Soon the yogurt bites are no longer working, and Kate is crying.  By the time we turn onto our street, Kate starts all-out screaming and I have no choice but to get her out, and push the stroller the rest of the way with my one free hand.

I think we'll wait another month or so before we go on another walk.

Happy Anniversary!

Tomorrow, Dave and I will have been married for two whole years!  Pretty hard to believe how fast the time has gone.  Dave, I just wanted to say how much I love you and how blessed I feel to have married you.  And thank you for the beautiful daughter you have given me.  XOXOX

Here's a little wedding day clip for a trip down memory lane: David & Heidi

Fall is in the air, and in my house

I love fall.  By far my favorite season.  I love the colors, I love the food, I love the trees, I love the temperatures.  And fall is one thing I've never really decorated for.  I mean, I have for Halloween, but not for fall or Thanksgiving (unless you count the little decorative sign I stole from my mom's house last year).  So I decided to celebrate my favorite time of the year by falling it up in our apartment.  I didn't do a lot, but hey, the little things add up. 

I decorated a few candles, and displayed them on our desk/hutch:

Box of fall flowers with a candle:

And finally, a jar of cinnamon sticks with a little ribbon:

Nothing big.  But I love it.

Our Date Night Experiment

Picture from theplaylist.blogspot.com

The reality set in a few weeks ago when Dave and I sat down to do our budget.  We both feel very strongly about the importance of date night, and we have a specific budget category set aside for it.  But all of the sudden our costs were going way up.  It wasn't that we were going out more often.  It wasn't that we were doing more expensive things.  It was that we are now having to pay a babysitter  (Side note: it is very annoying to have to pay a babysitter to come over and watch cable, because Kate just sleeps the whole time.  But somehow I don't feel good about leaving her alone in the house . . .)  And in case you didn't know, that can add up pretty fast.  Even if we only paid a babysitter $5 an hour, and were only gone for 3 hours every Friday night, that's still an extra $60 a month!

So, we came up with a new game plan.  ONE Friday of the month we do a temple night.  Not only do we get a spiritual boost, we save some temporal bucks.  ONE Friday of the month we do a stay-at-home night.  This may not be the most exciting, but we try to do more than just reach for the remote control.  ONE Friday of the month we get out, but the date has to be completely free.  This has forced us to think outside the going-out-to-dinner-and-a-movie box.  And finally, ONE Friday of the month we get to go on a regular date and throw around a few GWs.

It's only been a few weeks, but we've already had some success.  For our stay-at-home night, we made personal  pizzas (a really good recipe that I need to post), had popcorn, and watched Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.  I had never seen it before, and I loved it!  I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.  Take a look at our pizza creation:

To make things a little more exciting at home, I bought these adorable popcorn holders at the dollar store.  Eating out of these made it feel like we were in a movie theater.  Except that we got to wear really comfortable pajamas and sprawl out on the couch. 

For our free night this month, we went to a free violin concert up in Salt Lake.  We're finding out that there's quite a bit of free stuff out there, if you put in the effort to look.

Our temple night . . . well that was a failure.  I know, I know, you're wondering how a temple night could possibly fail.  Let's just say that you need a current temple recommend, not one that is expired.

And as for our ritzy date night?  That's this weekend . . . perfect, because it's our anniversary! 

I'll keep you posted on our ongoing quest for cheaper date nights.  I'd love to hear if any of you have any really great ideas.  In the meantime, I can't wait until Kate turns 12 and can babysit herself :)



Mama Mia!

So, we fed Kate spaghetti for the first time last night.  No, let me correct myself.  We let Kate feed herself spaghetti for the first time last night.  Pretty exciting stuff and she LOVED it.  I loved watching her eat it and suck down the noodles.  I loved watching how excited she was.  I loved watching how messy she got.  The only part that I didn't love so much was the clean up. 

After assessing the damage: red face, red hands, red tummy, red diaper . . . We headed straight for the bath.  We got Kate clean, but after the bath, the bathtub needed a bath.

Cinni Minis

Okay, so the other night I had some leftover dough from the Pillsbury seamless dough sheets I had used for dinner.  And what sounded good?  Cinnamon rolls.  So I decided to experiment a little, even though I had never made cinnamon rolls before (unless helping my mom when I was 6-years-old counts).  It is such an EASY and delicious dessert!  I totally recommend trying it out for yourself.

What you'll need:

1 Pillsbury Seamless Dough Sheet
1 tbsp. butter (melted)
Cinnamon
Sugar

Frosting:

1 tbsp. butter (melted)
1 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
powdered sugar

First things first - preheat your oven to 350.  Then, get out your dough sheet and unroll it.  Take your 1 tbsp. melted butter and spread evenly over the dough.  Next, spread some sugar and cinnamon over the dough, as evenly as possible.  Be as liberal or conservative as you want.  Finally, roll it up.  Like so.

Okay, this next part sounds weird, but hey, it worked for me.  You need some type of string (don't just cut the rolls, you'll smoosh them!).  I didn't have any string lying around, but I had some floss, so that is what I used.  Put the string around a small section of the roll, then tighten it until it cuts the roll off.  Does that make sense?  Lay them out on your baking sheet. They'll look like this:

Finally, pop them in  the oven.  I let them cook about 10 minutes, but my oven tends to run a little hot, so you can adjust accordingly.  While they are baking, I make the frosting.  Combine the melted butter, milk, and vanilla.  Then add the powdered sugar - I never measure it, I just mix more and more in until I like the consistency. 

Here's the finished product:

So good!  Enjoy them with a glass of milk.  Best thing about them is that since they're "mini," you can have more than one without feeling guilty (or at least not very)!

Variation: Okay, there's no way around this . . . I might as well just admit that I have been making and eating these a lot recently.  Here's a fun thing I tried the other night.  Instead of rolling the dough the long way, I rolled it the short way so they were thicker.  Then, instead of making individual rolls, I actually just baked it as one big roll.  When I got it out of the oven, I drizzled it with frosting.  The idea was to be sort of like chocolate roll, except cinnamon roll.  You know?  Anyway, I wish I would have taken a picture, because it looked pretty cool.  But I think you get the idea.  And besides, taste is really all that counts ;)

Columbus Day (a day late)

Okay, I have no anti-Columbus agenda, I just found this on my cousin's blog and had to share it.  Enjoy a laugh!

My Transition to Motherhood

Kate turns nine months old this week.  It is rather mind boggling.  Sometimes it feels like I've been a mom forever, and at the same time, it feels like I'm still brand-new at this.  So, I decided to sit down and write about a few of the things I've learned and a few of the ways I've changed since becoming a mother.

Change #1:  Less consumed with myself.  I might as well just come right out and admit it.  I was probably pretty dang selfish before I had Kate.  And I'm probably only slightly less selfish now, but hey, it's still a big change.  It's actually pretty wonderful being forced to think about someone else and their needs constantly, rather than thinking about yourself and what you want all the time.  And of course, marriage helps with that too, but when it comes right down to it, you can be as selfish (hence the high divorce rate) or as unselfish as you want in marriage.  Not so in parenthood.  And it's actually a beautiful thing.  It's no wonder the Lord wants us to have children - they help us to progress at an infinitely faster rate.  Now don't get me wrong, sometimes it is hard, and sometimes I'm sure I resent it a little, but on the whole I love it and I love how it is changing me.

Lesson #1:  Being a mother has actually really helped me better understand my relationship to Heavenly Father.  I sometimes make the mistake of thinking of God as full of justice, and forget the mercy part of the equation.  Of course, in those instances, I can never measure up, never be perfect enough, or righteous enough, or good enough.  But being a mother has helped me to better understand my Heavenly Father and how He views me.  I don't get upset or angry or frustrated at Kate when she falls down, or when she bonks her head, or when she doesn't know how to clap.  And I have come to understand that Heavenly Father doesn't get angry when I make mistakes, or don't know how to do certain things, or when I'm just learning something.  I believe that He must look down on us and see us more as babies, who are just learning and experiencing and figuring out life.  And more than anything, He wants to help us pick ourselves up, or hold us, or lovingly teach us.  I love that.  And I think that becoming a mother is the only way I truly could have learned that.

Change #2:  Different view of my husband.  Of course I love Dave, I mean, I did marry him.  But I'm not sure I expected that us becoming parents would help me to love him more.  There are two sides to this - first, I think that becoming a parent actually makes you more capable of loving your spouse.  Somehow, when you love your child, it also expands your love for your spouse.  I'm not sure how that works, but it does.  And second, I think that seeing Dave as a dad has helped me to see him in a whole different light, and I love him because of that new role.  I love watching him play with Kate, and kiss her, and cuddle her.  It's so incredible!  I love the dad that Dave is to Kate.

Lesson #2:  Don't sweat the small stuff.  This might be the oldest lesson in the book, but there is a reason it is there.  Sometimes babies spit-up all over their whole outfit right before you were supposed to walk out the door.  What do you do?  Change them and get wherever you were going a little late.  That's life with a baby, and you just have to roll with the punches.  Not to say that I'm perfect at it, it still stresses me out some days, especially depending on what we're late for.  But it is an important lesson to be learned.  Some days you won't get a shower.  Some days the laundry won't get done.  But your family is the most important thing, so cherish them - even in those "moments."  For example, Kate pooped on me when we were getting these pictures taken :)  

Change #3:  Desire to create.  This one was totally unexpected, and it may not be the case for every new mom.  But all of the sudden, I want to MAKE things.  I used to think, "I'll never bake bread, sew, or make cards."  Not only did I not think I could, I didn't WANT to.  But now I do.  I want to make things for Kate, I want to make my home beautiful.  It's the coolest thing, and I love it.  It brought to mind a talk given by President Uchtdorf at the General Relief Society meeting.  Here's what he said, "Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty . . . The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you."  To read more of the talk, click here!

Well, I don't want to get too long-winded, but it was nice to take the time to sit and reflect and realize what I've learned and how I've changed over these last nine months.  I would love to hear what you've learned and changed since becoming a mother, father, wife, husband, teacher, etc!

I'm so lucky that I get to be the mother of this beautiful girl!

Boo!

So, I was trying to bring in the spooky Halloween spirit, and I decided our apartment needed more than the two Halloween decorations I got for our wedding (we were married in October).  So here is my creation, inspired by looking at ideas from a few other blogs.  I took a few ideas from each and put them together, and to be honest, I'm PROUD. 

One of the reasons I'm so proud is because I did this so cheaply, as follows: The gravestone, skull, candle holders, confetti thing, and picture frames I got at the dollar store.  The candle I had lying around, and just added some ribbon.  The pictures I just printed off from my computer, and the spider web covering was from Joann's, on sale for $3.  Granted, the little glass bowl and figurines I already had, but other than that, I did the whole thing for $10, which is perfect.  Hurray for Halloween.  It seriously makes me happy every time I look at it.

Here are a few more pictures:

 

If you want to see one of the blogs I got some of the ideas from, click HERE!

In Defense of President Packer

Over the last few days it has been interesting to hear the many different viewpoints on the talk given by President Packer in Conference.  I must admit, I was surprised at the swift and strong emotions his talk seemed to evoke from people from a wide variety of backgrounds.  Perhaps the reason I was so surprised was because all he did was reiterate the long-standing position of the Church on the matter of homosexuality.  He really said nothing different from other talks I have heard on the same topic.  For my curiosity's sake, I looked up same-gender attraction on the lds.org website, where it had a simple quote from President Hinckley:

"People inquire about our position on those who consider themselves so-called gays and lesbians.  My response is that we love them as sons and daughters of God.  They may have certain inclinations which are powerful and which may be difficult to control.  Most people have inclinations of one kind or another at various times.  If they do not act upon these inclinations, then they can go forward as do all other members of the Church.  If they violate the law of chastity and the moral standards of the Church, then they are subject to the discipline of the Church, just as others are" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Nov. 1998, 71).

Compare this to what President Packer said:

"We teach a standard of moral conduct that will protect us from Satan’s many substitutes or counterfeits for marriage. We must understand that any persuasion to enter into any relationship that is not in harmony with the principles of the gospel must be wrong. From the Book of Mormon we learn that “wickedness never was happiness."

Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn temptations toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Remember, God is our Heavenly Father.

Paul promised that “God . . . will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” You can, if you will, break the habits and conquer an addiction and come away from that which is not worthy of any member of the Church. As Alma cautioned, we must “watch and pray continually.”

One of the reasons I'm so confused about the uproar is that I feel that President Packer actually gave this talk with the purpose of love and encouragement to those that struggle with same-gender attraction.  I love how he talks about how God never tempts us "above that ye are able."  This is true of ANY sin.  I don't understand why President Packer is receiving so much negative press for speaking out on something the Church has declared to be a sin.  He didn't change the position of the Church in any way, and he said nothing to try and alienate or make people feel unworthy.  He was simply stating the doctrine.

I love the way Elder Holland put it in a simple story (I also love the quote he shares from President Packer):

"A pleasant young man in his early 20s sat across from me. He had an engaging smile, although he didn’t smile often during our talk. What drew me in was the pain in his eyes.

“I don’t know if I should remain a member of the Church,” he said. “I don’t think I’m worthy.”

“Why wouldn’t you be worthy?” I asked.

“I’m gay.”

I suppose he thought I would be startled. I wasn’t. “And … ?” I inquired.

A flicker of relief crossed his face as he sensed my continued interest. “I’m not attracted to women. I’m attracted to men. I’ve tried to ignore these feelings or change them, but …”

He sighed. “Why am I this way? The feelings are very real.”

I paused, then said, “I need a little more information before advising you. You see, same-gender attraction is not a sin, but acting on those feelings is—just as it would be with heterosexual feelings. Do you violate the law of chastity?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t.”

This time I was relieved. “Thank you for wanting to deal with this,” I said. “It takes courage to talk about it, and I honor you for keeping yourself clean.

“As for why you feel as you do, I can’t answer that question. A number of factors may be involved, and they can be as different as people are different. Some things, including the cause of your feelings, we may never know in this life. But knowing why you feel as you do isn’t as important as knowing you have not transgressed. If your life is in harmony with the commandments, then you are worthy to serve in the Church, enjoy full fellowship with the members, attend the temple, and receive all the blessings of the Savior’s Atonement.”

He sat up a little straighter. I continued, “You serve yourself poorly when you identify yourself primarily by your sexual feelings. That isn’t your only characteristic, so don’t give it disproportionate attention. You are first and foremost a son of God, and He loves you.

“What’s more, I love you. My Brethren among the General Authorities love you. I’m reminded of a comment President Boyd K. Packer made in speaking to those with same-gender attraction. ‘We do not reject you,’ he said. ‘… We cannot reject you, for you are the sons and daughters of God. We will not reject you, because we love you.’ ”

We talked for another 30 minutes or so. Knowing I could not be a personal counselor to him, I directed him to his local priesthood leaders. Then we parted. I thought I detected a look of hope in his eyes that had not been there before. Although he yet faced challenges to work through—or simply endure—I had a feeling he would handle them well" (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Helping Those Who Struggle with Same-Gender Attraction,” Ensign, Oct 2007, 42–45).

Now I realize that this is a sensitive issue.  Dave has an uncle who is gay (and I will be the first to say that you will not find a kinder or more thoughtful person), but does that mean we push him away?  Absolutely not.  The Church is clear on the issue of this sin, as with any other.  We love those who struggle, but we do not accept the sin itself.  However, it is not wrong for us to profess and live our beliefs, which includes the fact that homosexuality is wrong.

To close, I would just like to say that I believe President Packer is a good, caring man.  He has devoted his life to the church and has served very faithfully.  I also believe that President Packer cares about all of us, including those with same-gender attraction.  I truly believe that he is a man inspired of God, and that he was inspired not only with what to say, but when to say it.

Here is a link to his talk, please read it for yourself.  I would love to hear your thoughts.

 Cleansing the Inner Vessel

Here are a few links to other talks/articles the Church has on the issue:

 Helping Those Who Struggle With Same-Gender Attraction

Compassion for Those Who Struggle

My Battle With Same-Sex Attraction

When a Loved One Struggles With Same-Sex Attraction

Same-Gender Attraction

Animal Playmates

Okay, so here is something I made for Kate.  I wish I could say that I did the whole thing from "scratch" (closest word I could think of to describe it), but unfortunately, these came in kits.  I pushed aside my fear that I would stick out like a sore thumb in a craft/fabric store, and bravely opened the door to Joann's.  I loved the kid craft section - it makes me so excited for when Kate's got a few birthdays under her belt - but most of them are for kids 3+.  So I found little stick head animals (for lack of a better name) and thought they were adorable.  They were $1.99 each and easy to put together with a glue gun.  Then, you add a few extra embellishments with a sharpie (like the tiger stripes), and voila, you're done!

Kate loves them!  She gets so excited every time she sees them.  I learned the hard way that I can't let her play with them alone (she likes to bite pieces off and suck on the sticks, which are painted), but we have a great time playing with them together.  We named the tiger Timmy and elephant Emily.  Kate loves how the eyes make a rattly noise when you shake them.  Tons of fun, and it mixes up our playtime :)

Down on the Farm

Kate and I decided to take advantage of the unusually warm weather last week, and we went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point with some friends in the ward, Carla and Jersey (6 months).  It was so much fun, and it was definitely nice to get out of the house!

I can't wait until Kate is old enough to actually ride on the ponies herself!  Instead, we took the wagon ride.  Kate insisted on standing up and holding on to the side.  I insisted on holding on to her.

We saw lots of cool animals, but especially liked the llamas, pigs, goats, and horses.

This llama is too cool for school.  Look at that shaggy hair.

I love the curly tail!!

Cute little old man goat.

Kate thought the horse was so interesting, but didn't like it when he would breathe on her :)

So fun!  I would recommend a visit to anyone, we had a great time.  Plus, they have an ice cream shoppe with 50 cent ice cream cones, yum!