Happy St. Patty's Day!

There are some traditions from growing up that I hold sacred, and one of my favorites is having corned beef for dinner on St. Patrick's Day! Mom always made this New England Boiled Dinner of corned beef & cabbage. YUM! I've been making it on my own every year since I moved out - I have always loved it! This afternoon Garrett called me from school because his friend had brought corned beef for lunch today, and Garrett was sad because he had forgotten about this tradition (he was worried I had forgotten, too). He was very excited when I reassured him that there would be a big pot of traditional Irish food waiting for him when he got home. I also made some really good Irish Soda Bread to go with our corned beef, and it tasted great, too!

I'll admit... we didn't wear green today, and we didn't go to any parades or look for 4-leafed clovers. But I was NOT going to skip out on making this dinner! Thanks Mom, for passing this tradition on to me. Garrett loves it as much as I do!

Landscaping

When we moved in to our house, the front walkway really needed some landscaping done, but we sure have taken our time getting it done! I am not very good when it comes to deciding what flowers or shrubs to plant, so we've been doing it slowly but surely (and as things go on sale!). Anyway, we finally got some pretty flowers to line the walkway with. They're African daisies and I love them because they're supposed to be in bloom from the beginning of spring until late fall, which is a very long time - especially here! Since we planted them they have already gotten more full and large, and have TONS of flowers on them! Now all we need is a little more mulch to make that area look better.

Pat the Bunny

This is my stuffed rabbit from when I was growing up. For a while it sat on a shelf in Abby's room, but the other day when she woke up from her nap she was pointing to it and talking to it, so I brought it down for her to play with. She seems to enjoy hugging and kissing it, which is really cute. I should probably wash it, though... I don't know if it ever has been washed. Mom?

New Laptop!

Well, a few months ago our laptop start having some problems on the right hinge. Eventually, the hinge broke, but that was okay for a while because we just had to be really careful when we opened it, used it, closed it, or carried it around. Then, it could only be used on a still surface (not our laps) because if it wasn't, the screen would slam down on our fingers (or it would fall backwards). But that was okay too... it was still usable. But, we had resigned ourselves to the fact that it was time to start looking for a replacement. This laptop was more than 5 years old, so it's not like it's brand new. So the other night, as Garrett was using the decripit laptop to research new ones... it broke all the way. The other hinge completely snapped. Now, the only thing keeping the screen and the keyboard together is a little wire. I thought it was kind of funny that the laptop broke as he was searching websites for a new one (you can see it on the monitor)... Garrett didn't quite see the humor in it all. Anyway, the laptop is still usable, and we are using it - it just has to be propped up on the couch and we can't move it. But hey, whatever works, right? It's fine... but unfortunately, the whole point of having a laptop is that's it's portable. So, last week we went to Best Buy and Circuit City to see what's out there, and we finally found a great one for a pretty good price, and Garrett would only have to upgrade one or two things to make it ideal. However, when we went to the store, it turned out that we had to order it from them, and that it would take 2 weeks, AND it would cost $75 for shipping and handling! What a rip-off! So, we ended up buying the laptop that was a step up from that one... it already had the features Garrett wanted, plus we could walk out the door with it. And, after the rebates, the price was still ok. So now Garrett is the proud owner of a new hP! He is very happy with it so far. Hopefully it will get us through residency! And what has happened to the old laptop? Well, Garrett jimmy-rigged it to stay open (it just can't be closed) so now it's mine!! Woo hoo! It's joined my "old things people didn't want anymore so they gave them to Hannah" collection. So now I have a 10-year-old car (love it!), a 7-year-old iPod (yes it's a first generation - antique!), and now a 5-year-old laptop (really, that's not that old, it still works great). I like having old things... sometimes new things make me nervous that I will break them!

Daylight Savings

Don't forget to move your clocks ahead one hour tonight! Sorry, Garrett... I know how much you will miss having that extra hour of studying for your test on Monday!

Happy 26th Anniversary!

Congratulations Mom and Dad for 26 years! There are many things I love specifically about each of my parents, but here's a little list of reasons why I love both of them (some of these things I really didn't appeciate when I was younger, but looking back I appreciate them):

1. When we were in high school and had that huge lawn to mow, we thankfully had 2 riding lawnmowers and we would sometimes race each other while mowing, which made it fun (as fun as mowing can be, really). Then my parents decided that, as a family, we weren't getting enough exercise, so we sold the riding mowers and bought 3 push mowers. We HATED it! Looking back, I only appreciate it because I think it's funny.

2. On Valentine's Day, at TCCA, there was a program where kids could buy carnations for $1 to give to their friends. If we wanted to give them to our friends we had to use our own money, but Mom and Dad always gave us a dollar or two to give a flower anonymously to someone that we knew would probably not get a flower from anyone. I think that was a great lesson for us.

3. At the Church worldwide leadership meeting last month, Elder Oaks said that he doesn't remember ever learning anything at Church that he hadn't already learned at home. That's definitely true for me, too. Mom and Dad frequently had gospel discussions with us, whether it be at the dinner table or in FHE, or just driving in the car.

4. They let us have friends over and parties pretty much whenever we wanted. Mom would buy snacks for us, and Dad would clear out some space in the barn for our parties or concerts, and would even get lots of seating out so that everyone would be comfortable. Dad would also spend hours getting a big bonfire ready for us, if that's what we wanted.

5. I remember one time my dad drove me to someone's house to babysit (a young couple in the ward). He walked into the small apartment with me, and as they were getting ready to leave, he took me aside and told me to do their dishes for them, and to not let them pay me for babysitting. Similarly, Mom was always helping people in the ward, whether it giving people rides, making meals for them, or helping them clean their home.

6. Whenever we had friends spend the night, it could be expected that they would be included in the Saturday morning chores. That was embarrassing.

7. Dad was always willing to play the piano for us girls to sing in Church, and mom was always finding really nice songs for us to sing together.

8. On Saturdays Mom and Dad would take us to walk along our mile-long road and we'd pick up trash. That taught us a good lesson about taking care of the environment.

9. Mom and Dad supported each other. Dad used to play the piano for Mom's school concerts, and sometimes Mom would bring Dad lunches at work, or they'd meet and go out for lunch together.

10. We cleaned the Church building... a LOT. And when it snowed, Dad was always one of the first people to check on the Church building, making sure the sidewalks were shovelled and salted.

11. Even on long car rides, we weren't allowed to have anything with headphones (discmans, walkmans, etc) because Mom and Dad said it "shut us out" from the rest of the family. We didn't really like that rule at the time, but looking back I'm grateful. I hate when all some kids do now is listen to their iPods and don't really know how to have a conversation.

12. Dad drove us to seminary every single day, and then when we got home, Mom always had a nice hot breakfast ready for us.

13. In a nutshell, Mom and Dad taught us the importance of hard work and service. They taught by example, and also by just making us do it.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for everything you have done for us and taught us. We love you!

See Bach

I have been trying to practice the piano more often, but it's nearly impossible to do it while Abby is awake. Every time I start to play, she comes up next to me and fusses until I pick her up so she can sit on my lap and play, too. She'll be giving her own concerts in no time!