listening to my dad watch this movie was actually the best part

This was my favorite part in "The Hobbit":

Something about singing dwarfs just really speaks to my soul. Did you see it? Did you like it? I like Bilbo a lot more than I like Frodo. He's a cute hobbit. Also, isn't Galadriel great? I just love the elves. I wish they got more screen time.

Hurray for Christmas movie going!

two years ago today

We got married. And hey, guess what. We still like each other quite a lot.

Happy anniversary, Aaron dear!

all the non-sad things i haven't blogged about in the past couple weeks

Heaven help the girls who believe this. 

This is the most adorable nativity video I've ever seen. (that accent!) It held all but one of my primary kids' attention. I count that as victory.

I got my haircut a couple weeks ago (finally), and it took 2.5 hours. Haircut + blow dry + straighten. TWO AND A HALF HOURS. This is why I hate going to the salon. Also, one side of my hair was longer than the other when I got home, so after crying about the hours of my life I had just wasted, I ended up cutting it myself. I can totally keep cutting my own hair for the rest of my life without any training whatsoever, right? That's definitely a viable option?

Also, I've been moved from teaching primary to being the nursery leader at church. When we first moved into the branch, Aaron and I taught the adult class. Then I taught primary (usually 7-10 year olds). Now I'm in nursery (18 months-2 years). Hmmm. Hmm. Hm. 

Pants in church. For some reason I'm annoyed with both sides: everyone who's super gung-ho about it, and also those who are like, "This is so stupid!" I'm like, it's not about the pants, people who think it's so stupid! But I'm also like, I don't want the priesthood, I've never actually felt demeaned as a woman in church, and I like wearing dresses. So, there you go. 

I have nothing intelligent to say on the topic apparently.

My last paragraph for your reading pleasure is about reading! I've been going crazy with Penn's interlibrary loan-esque services these days and currently have 7 books checked out from the library, mostly in preparation for our flights to/from Utah for Christmas. Well, actually, three are cookbooks: Barefoot Contessa at Home, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter, and The Science of Good Cooking. They're all excellent, but I'm especially in love with The Science of Good Cooking. I kind of want my own copy. It's from the Cook's Illustrated people, and they present 50 different cooking techniques along with recipes that use each technique. The idea is that mastering these techniques will allow you to cook almost anything really well. With each technique they explain why doing it a certain way leads to superior results, and they describe the specific proteins that are involved, and I LOVE IT. I love it so much. It's made me sort of wish I did nothing but investigate the chemistry of food all day. 

Other books on the menu: The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver (of magical predicting fame), Messenger by Lois Lowry, A Guide to Scientific Writing, and a collection of Robert Frost poems. Probably not going to take the writing guide or Robert Frost with me on the plane, but good reading nevertheless! As always, I'm open to book suggestions. (Messenger is less than 200 pages long, so...)

Adorable New Zealand children, haircuts, teaching progressively simpler lessons in church, Mormon feminists, books. I think that about covers it all. Thoughts? 

it should be a law of the universe that bad things don't happen in december

I've been meaning to blog, but I just keep crying too much and being too dramatic. I will just say this: I am sad for all of the parents who are missing a child at Christmas this year.

merry christmas to us!

skillet. pasta maker. quiche dish.

You know you're getting old when you're really excited about getting kitchen things for Christmas. Christmas came early this year for me and Aaron, as we've gotten the three picture items already (didn't want to have to carry home with us on the plane from Utah, so our moms just had them shipped straight here). Thanks Mom and Wendy! We love, love, love them. Aaron is now a pro at making fresh pasta, and I love using the skillet (though I still haven't made a skillet cookie yet). I have yet to use my pretty quiche tart dish, but I just saw this Saveur recipe and am sorely tempted: chocolate caramel tart.

I should probably wait until we get our Thermapen thermometer on December 25th, though. (!!!!! so excited)

Anyone else getting kitchen-related Christmas presents?