Seriously! It's FREE!

I was just thinking about what I was going to do for my Christmas cards this year and then I read on Kara's blog about how I could get free cards! Talk about good timing. Who would not want free cards?!

Suzy from Jack and Jill Photography is offering FREE digital Christmas cards designs that you can have printed anywhere!!! You can find out the details HERE. It is never too early to start checking things off your list. (Thanks Suzy! and Thanks Kara!)

Let them eat cake. . .

For Dan's Birthday party at my house, Ellen made him an Oreo cake. Ellen made two chocolate cakes, then she whipped whip cream and poured it into a cake pan lined with plastic wrap. She then froze the whip cream. When it was time to assemble the cake, she put the frozen whip cream in between the two chocolate cake rounds and then frosted the cake with rich chocolate frosting. It was gorgeous, delicious, and it deserved some photo time on my blog. Good job Ellen, even Amelia wanted to get in on the action.

Happy Birthday Dan! May this be your funniest year yet!

It tastes like birthday. . .

As the story goes, my mom's Uncle Loran and Aunt Mary were Mission Presidents in Argentina after they lived in Uruguay while Uncle Loran worked for the State Department (I asked my mom if Uncle Loran was a spy and she just laughed and said no). While they were there, Aunt Mary learned to make a dish called Milanesa. Well, when they returned home, they brought back the recipe. The dish soon became a family favorite now for four generations. I can only think of one birthday as I was growing up that I did not have Milanesa for my birthday dinner and I would probably guess that my siblings would say the same thing. It is a special treat and even though it is a labor intensive meal, it is so worth the effort. Two weekends ago, my brother Dan and his wife Ellen, and their sweet baby Amelia came to D.C. to spend Dan's birthday weekend with me. Dan wanted Milanesa for dinner so we all pitched in and made a delicious dinner. Every time I make the recipe, I am amazed that my mom went to all the work for each child's dinner and special occasion. (Mom, I am sure you were exhausted but we all really appreciate you spending your time to make our birthdays so special!)

Now, let's get on with the show.

1 high grade boneless beef roast, sliced thin
Flour
Garlic Salt
Oregano
Marjoram (Very Important)
Parsley
Onion Salt
Salt
Pepper
2 Eggs
3/4 cup milk
Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying
Thin-sliced ham
Sliced Swiss cheese
Tomato, sliced

Season flour with spices to taste. Mix eggs and milk in separate bowl. Place bread crumbs in third container. Dip meat slices in seasoned flour, then egg mixture, then crumbs. Fry breaded meat. Drain on a paper sack or paper towels. Arrange on a cookie sheet. Top each piece of meat with a slice of ham, Swiss cheese, and then tomato. Place in oven until the cheese melts.

I usually make the Milanesa the day before the special occasion and keep it in the refrigerator. Then I just warm the Milanesa and melt the cheese before serving. It also freezes very well. My Grandma Todd use to always have Milanesa in her freezer for a quick special meal.

Bon Appetite!

Seminary Blesses My Life

My mom sent me this article by Orson Scott Card which was written in the Mormon Times. I thought it was a great way to start of the year.

Seminary's at our house this year, and we couldn't be happier.

And not just because that means we don't have to drive our high school freshman daughter to somebody else's house.

Seminary was held in our house before, back in the fall of 1992, the first full year we lived in Summit Ward. Our firstborn, Geoffrey, would get himself up, turn off the house alarm, turn on the lights and open the doors. My wife and I didn't even have to get out of bed, though usually Kristine was up before seminary was over.

Then, after two years with other teachers, my wife was called to teach seminary and continued through five years. Seminary only moved out of our house when Kristine was called to teach institute instead.

Seminary left its mark on our house -- literally. There's a dark line on one wall where chairs got bumped up against it, day after day for seven school years.

We also learned to make some rules. For instance, nobody was allowed to sit on the couch -- it was too soft and too deep, and hardly anybody was able to get through seminary awake while sitting there.

Now, after eight years as stake Relief Society president, Kristine is back teaching -- just in time for our youngest. This gives us a perfect record -- we never had to drive our kids anywhere before 6 in the morning.

And since I was never the teacher, I mostly saw the seminary kids when I stayed up working (or not working) really late the night before.

There were adventures -- like when the sprinkler system reset itself and came on right when a big bunch of the kids were walking to the front door.

Or the time Geoffrey groggily punched the wrong code into the alarm system and summoned the police. Not a SWAT team, despite how the legend has grown.

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And as a very young child, our youngest used to sneak down and sit at the foot of the stairs, just out of sight, listening to the lessons. A seminary spy. Now she gets to be in the room.

This year it's New Testament -- and Kristine was relieved that this time around the Church Educational System (CES) manuals don't try to "harmonize" the gospels.

It's just too confusing to keep skipping from book to book in the New Testament. Much better to take the gospels in order, one at a time, so everyone can read straight through the New Testament and stay right with the rest of the class.

The class began again as it always does, with a review of the plan of salvation, so that everything in the scripture can be viewed through that lens.

Kristine has always given her classes a "quiz" at the end of that first week, consisting of each student drawing their own graphic rendition of the stages of the plan.

She keeps them -- so it was fun for her to pull out examples from a decade ago just to show what's possible. Jon Lewis, for instance, now a senior in high school, got to see his older brother Jason's drawing.

(Our youngest daughter would have seen what her older brother and sister drew, but apparently they took theirs with them when they left home.)

Fortunately, the assignment does not depend on artistic talent (though you aren't penalized for it, either). These are graphics, not art, and you can use labels if the art doesn't communicate the full idea.

A lot of kids had fun with spirit prison. One drew and labeled his high school to represent the concept. Paradise, of course, was represented by more than one tropical island.

Most drew planet Earth to represent mortality, "where," as Kristine said, "we all live."

Well, this year, Augustine Cortes, remembering a song that says where "we all live," represented mortality on his drawing with a yellow submarine.

(And in the priests quorum class the next Sunday, when I was talking about marriage and said, "That's what it's all about," it conjured up a song even older than "Yellow Submarine." I challenge anyone to make a coherent medley out of that combination of tunes.)

I'm not going to get mystical and talk about the "spirit" that these faithful teenagers bring to our home. Our feelings are entirely subjective, the direct result of having them here.

When I look at our living room, chairs arranged for seminary class, I see my home through their eyes, or as I imagine they see it.

Because they study the gospel here, our home is a place of learning.

Because they pray here, they experience our home as a house of prayer.

Because they sing a hymn each day, it's a house of song.

Because they come so early and reshape their lives so they can take part in seminary, it's a place of righteous sacrifice.

Because they laugh together and help each other understand and provide rides for each other, because there are waiting parents at our kitchen table for the 50 minutes of class, and because they are kind, it is a house of love.

Those ideas would never appear in a real-estate listing. It doesn't add a dime to the cash value of our house.

But our house never feels so much like home to me as when the seminary students come.

Problem Solved

Whenever I make cookies I usually try and double the recipe so I have some dough to freeze for future use. I made frozen logs of dough for a long time but I thought that the cookies never baked up like the originals. Frustrated, I told my mom of my dilemma. My mom told me that my cousin Andrea (who is an amazing homemaker) would freeze the dough in balls and then she was able to pull out of the freezer how many cookies she wanted and they also bake up nice and round like the originals. Problem Solved! Saturday I had a family come look at my house and I wanted to have some cookies baking for good measure.

This is what I did with the rest of the dough. Note: The white board is my cutting board turned upside down. Remember to line the surface on the board with Saran Wrap or the dough will stick. It is always nice to have homemade cookies in the freezer. I can't count the times these balls of dough have saved me when I have needed a treat for a party, mix n' mingle, seminary, etc.

The first lesson every year. . .

The first lesson of every seminary year is a lesson on the Plan of Salvation. The reason that this lesson is first is that it gives the students an over-all perspective on what they will be learning that year. When I taught this lesson last year, I was pleasantly surprised last year how much the students already knew. So, this year I drew the diagram on a poster board but I left off all of the labels. I handed the students markers and asked them to come up and fill into the diagram. It was shocking that the class completed the entire diagram with little help and in under five minutes. I then had a student read a story from Bishop H. Burke Peterson. The story can be found as part of lesson one in the Family Home Evening Manual.

"My parents and grandparents were born and raised in Utah. However, my mother and father began their married life in Phoenix, Arizona. That is where my three brothers and I were raised. Almost every summer my father and mother would take all of us to Utah ... to enjoy the association with our cousins and other relatives. "... One spring before school was out I asked my father if I could go to Salt Lake City to work and then return to Phoenix at the end of the summer to be with my family and begin school again. After thinking it over, my parents decided it would be fine. When school was out in May, Dad took me with him to the [bus station] and, since I had no money of my own as yet, bought me a ticket to Salt Lake City. I was somewhat taken back when I found out that he had purchased for me a one-way ticket instead of a round trip. He said he would take the responsibility to see that I arrived in Salt Lake City but it would be up to me to do what was necessary while I was there to purchase the ticket for a return home to Phoenix at the end of the summer. As you can imagine, I was most anxious to come back home after my work experience as I had burning in my memory the happy experiences we had always enjoyed in our home. I enjoyed the association with and loved my three brothers and was most happy and comfortable being with my parents. "When I arrived in Salt Lake City I immediately set about to find work. This I was able to accomplish, and as soon as my first paycheck was given to me, guess what I did. First I paid my tithing, and then I took the rest of the money to the bus depot downtown in Salt Lake City and purchased a return trip ticket to Phoenix. I wanted to be sure that when summer was over there would be nothing to stand in the way of my returning home. I loved my home very much. For the rest of the summer I was particularly mindful of taking good care of myself and doing everything necessary to insure my return home to Phoenix. More than anything else I wanted to enjoy again the experience of being with my family. We all had an experience similar to this long ago before we came to this earth. We were in a gathering where we were being instructed by our Father in heaven concerning the earth he had prepared for us. ... He let us know that the decision to come here would be ours, and if this was our wish, he would see to it that we arrived into this mortal experience safely. Like the experience I had in Phoenix as a boy, our Father in heaven would provide a one-way ticket for us. Whether or not we returned again to him at the end of our mortal experience on earth would depend upon the things we did while we were here" ("Return Trip Ticket Home," New Era, Apr. 1974, 5)

We talked about leaving home and about the desire to go back. I love the idea of a one-way ticket so I made tickets up on the computer with a quote from H. Burke Peterson’s story.

It was a great object lesson and at the end of the lesson, I gave the students a ticket and a milky way bar to remember that they need a purchase their one-“way” ticket home. By the way, I don’t have kids but I think this would make a great family home evening lesson.

Ice Breakers and Seating Charts

The first day of seminary after going over expectations and class rules, I handed out a get-to-know you sheet that looked surprising like the one word tag I posted on my blog (Thank goodness for blogging). I made some age appropriate changes and I passed out the list of questions: 1. Where is your cell phone?, 2. Your Hair? 3. Your mother? and I added at the bottom 29. Your scripture study?, 30. Your alarm clock? and I asked the students to respond to the questions by only using one word. The responses were hilarious and it was a great way to get to know the students better. It was fun to do an ice breaker that made the kids think even at 6 in the morning.

I have 6 girls and 6 boys in my class and instead of assigning seats; I decided to allow my students to sit anywhere they want to sit as long as the pattern is boy-girl-boy-girl. It is entertaining to watch the seating shuffle. The girls usually arrived first so one by one the boys had to decide which girl they will sit next to. It is priceless. I really should not find it as funny as I do because when I go to single adult events, I actually have to participate in the shuffle. Somethings never change.

Two Weeks In. . .

Two weeks into seminary and boy am I glad to be back! I know that I complained and moaned about accepting the calling again and that I had a really bad attitude during the month of August. (I apologize to all of you who had to listen to me whine). It wasn’t that I didn’t love teaching but with everything else going on in my life, it just seemed like too much and I was too tired. Well, I have to repent because I have a new group of students, a new book of scripture to teach, and basically as Patti LaBelle would say, “I Got a New Attitude.” You may ask what would make me change my attitude so quickly.

For me, seminary forces me to prioritize my life. How I spend my time determines not only what kind of teacher I am but also determines how sleep deprived I am. Since I was in high school, I have had the same conversation with some of my friends. How do you create and maintain balance in your life? Is there room for the priorities as well as room for the levities of life? I have decided that I think there is room but it boils down to constantly shifting and re-evaluating one's life. In church a few weeks ago, my friend spoke of her mother and she said and I am paraphrasing, "Family Home Evening, scripture study, prayer, temple attendance were not things my mother found time to do in her life, they were the foundations of her life." So often I find myself finding time to do things that should be nonnegotiable items.

Seminary brings a focus back to my life and that focus helps me work on those foundation items. Daily I go to teach the gospel but daily I feel that I am the one that is taught. We always talk about “likening the scriptures unto ourselves” and seriously the best way for me to do this is to figure out how I can relate the gospel principles to the lives of my students and in turn, I apply them to my own life. I am also excited because I worked out a schedule where I only teach Tues, Wednesday, and Thursdays. I am exhausted for those three days but it allows me to have some of a life and some recovery time. Here is to week 3!

To Lift A Nation

On September 11, 2001, I was sitting at my desk in my office in Bethesda, Maryland when I received a phone call that said that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. I remember chatting about the possible causes of the crash and feeling uncertain. That feeling of uncertainty would quickly turn into disbelief and shock as the events of the day unfolded. It is strange to me how clear my memories are of that day. I remember being concerned about my company's employees who worked in the World Trade Center Building Number 7. My mom called me from Utah to check in on me and I remember crying and telling her that everything was fine and that I was ok. I remember that within an hour of the second plane crash that my church congregation had started a calling tree and every member was located and safe. At first, my office tried to continue to work but it soon was too hard as the rumors started that the White House, then the Capitol were hit- just to find out that the Pentagon had actually been attacked. I started to panic a bit and sent my co-worker back to DC so she could pick up her child at school. She took the last taxi at the hotel by where we worked and she said that the taxi drive had to drive all the way around the city to find a way in. That afternoon, I sat in a traffic jam as people emptied out of the city. Once I got home I was met by a friend who could not get back to her apartment in DC because of all the road closures. I remember the terrible images of people dying on that day and I can still see the terrible images created by my mind of all those people who died inside of the buildings and on the airplanes. As we ate dinner that night we listened to the helicopters and the fighter planes flying overhead. Those sounds would continue for days and it took me a long time to not jump just a little when I heard a plane overhead. I remember praying that they would find survivors and that our country and my family and friends would be safe. I remember as a child that I was amazed that the adults I knew remembered December 7th as Pearl Harbor Day. I didn't realize until the days after September 11th that anyone who was old enough to remember that day will never forget it just as those who were alive or had parents who remembered Pearl Harbor would never forget that day. I could go on and on about my memories of September 11, 2001 but I know that my experiences are not unique and that most people have their unique story and memories of that day. Below is a picture I took at St. Paul's Church in New York City which served as a volunteer station after 9/11. The church is about a block away from Ground Zero.

In October 2005, my parents came to visit me and while we were touring the city, my Dad started looking for a site for one of his friend Stan Watts' statues. We went to visit the Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland and my Mom and I were quickly convinced that we had found the place for the statue. Two years later, my dad came back and together we went to the dedication. On Stan's website, this is what is said about the statue, "After the tragic events of 9/11/01 brought on by terrorist attacks, the people of the United States of America were in shock. As rescuers from across the nation worked to save those who were still alive amidst the wreckage of the World Trade Center, a flag was raised by three firemen. They did it as a symbol of hope to help themselves and their fellow rescuers to go on amidst the destruction. They did not realize they were being photographed at the time. But Thomas E. Franklin, a photographer for the New Jersey Record saw and captured an image of that flag being raised which went on to remind the people of the entire country that we are united."


The dedication ceremony was incredible. Several families and friends of 9/11 victims attended as well as one of the firefighter in the original photograph raising the flag. I heard heartbreaking stories of lost firefighters as well as lost husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, children, and friends. It was solemn occasion which I was honored to be apart of. If you are ever near Emmitsburg, I suggest a stop at the National Firefighter Memorial and see this amazing statue dedicated to those who were lost on that day. Below is a slide show of the dedication. I suspect that each year on this day I will remember the tragedy and the loss but I also hope to remember the courage of that day and the hope of our tomorrows.

Hanna but not the palindrome. . .

Usually the first thing I do on a Saturday morning is write a fresh to do list for the day. I always have a running to do list or actually several running to do lists. However, for some reason I always feel that because I have one day a week to accomplish so much that I should really try and focus and have one dedicated list for Saturday. This Saturday after the cleaning, the laundry, the shopping, the errands, the seminary lessons, came the to do list item- BLOG! Listed under BLOG was a combination of ideas and events that I have missed in the last few weeks. I was really looking forward to an evening of blogging and maybe a chick flick. Well, you know what they say about the best-laid plans. . . I finished the bathrooms and went to start on the laundry when I noticed that the floor of my basement looking like a big puddle! Tropical Storm Hanna hit DC pretty hard and my basement became a bit like an inside wading pool. So, I called my trusted basement flood specialist (I am sure he can't wait for me to move to a place without a basement:)) and we went to work. (Side note: they sell floor squeegees and they are AWESOME!) So, the basement is dry but I am still behind on my blogging. I promise, I will make a new to do list this Saturday and add blogging to my list.

My Seminary Room

This post is long overdue as is a thank you to my friend Jennifer who came and helped me put together my seminary room. I was a bit overwhelmed before seminary started this year and it was so helpful to have someone show up and just help me get through it. After we finished the room we went to this amazing and seriously I mean amazing restaurant called Cava. This restaurant has made it on my top 5 restaurants in the DC Metro area. If you come and visit, we should go to Cava. Thanks Jennifer- I really could not have done it without you.