Tales from the Cottage Cheese Cottage: Jon

Showing posts with label Jon. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

FIve Years

I can't believe that Jon and I have been married for five years.

Sometimes it seems like we've been married forever and then other times the time feels like it has gone by so fast.

I really love this boy.

I put together a slide show for him for our anniversary. It was so sweet to go back and look through all the pictures we have together.

I hope we get 5x5x5x5x5x5x5x5x5x5 more years together

...at least

Friday, November 19, 2010

The Big Squat, a Birthday, and the Water Balloon Cake

My husband turned 29.

Wow.

That is almost 30.

Crazy.

He should probably graduate.

If you will remember from last year his birthday also happens to be World Toilet Day. Which when your name is Jon and you are an Environmental Engineer emphasizing in waster water is just too good to be true.

Every November 19th The World Toilet Organization sponsors events all over the world called "The Big Squat", in which people publicly squat for a minute, to draw awareness to the 2.5 billion people in the world (40% of the world's population) who don't have any form of sanitation. Last year we did a Big Squat, but it consisted of me, Jon, Asher and baby Rose squatting in our dinning room. This year Jon told me that all he wanted for his birthday was to organize a Big Squat event up on the university.

So we did.

Before the squat Jon talked about the plight of people in the world and how this "was a unserious way to talk about a serious issue." While we were squatting one of Jon's professors talked to us about the seriousness of the problem and how more people (mostly children) die every year from diarrheal diseases (caused by poor or no sanitation) than from HIV and malaria combined. He said as we squatted there for a minute four people would have died from totally preventable diseases. It really is such a tragedy that people don't have access to these basic sort of human needs. It is something that we take SO much for granted here in the United States. We don't realize how privileged we are and how grateful we should be for the ability to have safe water and safe sanitation.

We got a lot of interesting stares, but it made people stop and ask questions. It was so much fun for me to see Jon get to share his passion with other people. It really isn't a glamorous topic, most people would just like to never have to think about it, and so it was fun to see the light go on in people's minds and for them to catch the importance of what Jon and his colleagues are doing. We had about 25 people come and the local and campus newspaper, which was pretty good considering it was just Jon and I organizing it and we only started to advertise it on Thursday. Next year I think one of the engineering clubs on campus is going to sponsor it and turn it into a bigger event. I think Jon would be thrilled if that was the only legacy he left behind when he graduates.

The rest of Jon's birthday was really great too. I got overambitious with his cake and made two this year because Jon's cousin had a great idea for a prank. She suggested making a cake and hallowing it out inside and then putting a water balloon inside that would pop when you cut the cake. It sounded like fun and so I tried it out. I made the most hideous cake possible (not on purpose) and hid a balloon inside. I told Jon that I'd tried to make a toilet paper roll cake but that it hadn't worked out and that I was sorry he was going to have to have such an ugly cake.

He had no idea there was a balloon in it until he started cutting it. I probably should have given him a sharper knife so it would have popped easier but still it was really hilarious. It was one of the best pranks I've ever pulled.

After he'd popped the other cake then I brought out his real cake which I'd hidden in the cupboard. In keeping with our newly established tradition it was toilet themed. I'm definitely not a professional cake decorator by any means but I think my toilet paper roll turned out kind of cute. ( I found a great recipe for making fondant out of marshmallow cream if you ever need it)

I'll admit that I was sort of hesitant to turn Jon's birthday into a "World Toilet Day" celebration as well. Yet seeing that it is what Jon is going to be doing for the rest of his life-- and has such a passion for it-- I guess it is sort of appropriate. Besides, it sure makes the day much more interesting.

Happy Birthday Sir!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Our Reenactment of the First Relief Society Meeting

I've been waiting to post about this till I got the pictures and it has just about been killing me.

Every year in March LDS women around the world commemorate the birthday of the Relief Society which was organized by the prophet Joseph Smith on March 17, 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois. In the past our local Relief Society has just had a nice dinner and a simple program... but this year someone got the brilliant idea to reenact the original meeting. I got SUPER excited about this and volunteered to write the script and organize the actors.

As I started to write the script I realized that I wanted it to be historically accurate and that I wanted the actors to say the words that the real people would really have said. So being the overachiever.... super nerd... that I am, I made a trip to Salt Lake City to look at Eliza R. Snow's (the original secretary) minutes taken at the first meeting. The church has them digitized at the new Church History Library and it was so incredible to be able to see Eliza R. Snow's handwriting and read what was said that day.

I copied her notes word for word and then wrote my script making sure that the right people said and did the right things. In almost all the cases (I had to make a few exceptions for the times they used parliamentary procedure) everything that people say is exactly what Eliza said they said.

Getting everything organized was a lot of work but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

Besides... I got to be Emma.

And Jon was Joseph...

Doesn't he make the perfect, most handsome Joseph?
I told him that if he was a better actor he could totally be in all the church movies.
It was kind of strange kissing him when he was in costume :)

This really was such an amazing project for me and it turned out to be an incredible experience for our Relief Society. I think one woman, who was one of the actors, explained it best. She said, "It felt like Joseph and Emma and all the rest were really here. Like they were standing in the background watching us."

It really did feel like they were there and it is kind of hard to describe how beautiful it felt. We had our own little piece of history.

Researching, writing, planning and participating in this reenactment really strengthened my testimony of the Relief Society and of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I realized what incredible people these early Saints were and how my life has been so blessed because of their courage and faith. I am so grateful to have such a great spiritual heritage. It makes me proud to know that I am helping to carry on the work that these women began more than 150 years ago. It is just as important today as it was then and seeing what they went through has made me a more dedicated follower of Jesus Christ.

If you would like to read the full script that I wrote you can access it here or email me at heatherlady at gmail.com for a copy. You are free to use the script for your own use as long as you give credit to where you got it from. In fact... I hope you do use it because learning about the incredible history and mission of the Relief Society is really powerful and helps women understand that as Emma Smith said, "... sisters, we are going to do something extraordinary!"

If you want to see some professional pictures they took of us go here

Oh, and just because I'm kind of proud of it... I made my dress. I've always wanted to sew a civil war era dress, call me crazy, and I figured this might be my only valid excuse to do it. It was so much fun to wear!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Happy World Toilet Day!

I bet you didn't know yesterday was World Toilet Day.

Then again you probably aren't married to an environmental engineer

who has a passion for waste water

whose name is Jon (another name for a toilet in the US)

and whose birthday is the same day as World Toilet Day.

Jon thinks that this is a cosmic coincidence and takes great joy in it.

He insisted that we incorporate World Toilet Day into his birthday celebration this year.

So how do you celebrate World Toilet Day and the birthday of a "poop engineer" (as my brother calls Jon's chosen profession)?

You squat.

For a minute.

To bring awareness to the 2.5 million people with out proper sanitation (that means no form of toilet or latrine... at all... nada... it means on the ground... in the water... you get the idea) and the 1.8 million people, mostly children, who die from disease related to poor sanitation.

So we squatted,

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of us squatting, but here are people squatting for World Toilet Day. I think next year Jon wants to get a group together at the university for a Big Squat event.

Decorated with toilet paper streamers,

and ate a toilet cake.

I am pretty proud of this cake.

It was my first attempt ever at making a cake that wasn't round or square. It turned out pretty good but after I frosted it the bowl began to crack in the middle. I had to hold it together with saran wrap. I figured that somehow saran wrap and toilets kind of go together so it was alright. Next year I'll have to engineer it better. By the time Jon is 60 I am going to be amazing at making toilet cakes!

I think he had a really good day. He loves it that he shares his birthday with World Toilet day. He really has a passion for water and for finding ways to provide people with clean water. He gets so excited about it. In fact we have a rule at our house now that you can't talk about waste water, toilets, flocculation, or bio-solids at the dinner table. I don't mind talking about it at other times, it really is fascinating and goes hand in hand with my Public Health background, but I just can't handle it while I'm eating.

It's not too late to celebrate World Toilet Day.

Today as you use your toilet take a minute to think about how blessed you are

about how much you take your toilet

and your clean water for granted

because there are millions of people out there who don't have it.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

I'm a Four Chicken Coop Woman

In the classic LDS movie "Johnny Lingo" the village women are sitting around talking about how many cows their husbands paid for them. There is one woman's whose husband paid 2 cows, while another brags that hers paid 3 cows for her. So imagine their surprise when Johnny Lingo pays 8 cows for Mahana, commonly thought the ugliest woman in the village. By the end of the movie this ugly, shy girl has blossomed into a beautiful and happy woman. Johnny says that it is not being beautiful that determines a woman's worth, but that what a woman thinks she is worth that makes her beautiful (or something like... I kind of paraphrased :).

Well, if Mahana was an 8 cow woman, then I am a 4 chicken coop woman.

In the last several months my husband has built me 4 chicken coops. I haven't asked him to build any of them, he's just done it. I'm sure there were other projects that he would have like to have gotten done before, but he knew how much the chickens meant to me (yes, I'm kind of a weirdo) so he's worked like a madman to get them done. Basically... he loves me.

Coop #1 -- The Raccoon's McDonald's

First there was this one

which he surprised me with after coming home from a trip. But because we didn't put a cover on top of the run all the chickens got eaten by a raccoon. It was awful, and I think it has been his motivation for making me increasingly better and more raccoon proof chicken boxes.

Coop #2--- The Mini-Cooper

Not long after the chicken incident I got 6 new chicks. Once they out grew their cardboard box in the basement Jon built this one for them.

It is quite ingenious for being thrown together from the scraps we had lying around our yard.

Coop #3-- The chicken cathedral

After all our chickens got eaten by a raccoon (sob) he decided my chickens needed a better home. So he built this one, which he just finished last week. One side is a chicken coop and the other side is a shed.

He has really done an amazing job on this. It is quite the chicken palace, because one the side with the windows the ceiling is 10 feet high. It is big enough for me to have lots more chickens! Oh, and check out Asher in pursuit of the little black chicken. Don't worry he didn't catch her... this time.

Coop #4--- The Magical Egg Machine

This really isn't a coop, it is our nest boxes, but it took Jon about as long to make as did coops #1 and #2. So far it has been working great... eggs magically appear in it every day.

Our chickens are really getting grown up. We've heard some of them crowing in the morning, so I'm pretty sure we have at least 2 roosters. But it is still hard to know which ones are hens and which are roosters. I'm hopping we start getting some new eggs in the next little bit so that we can be 100% sure.

We call our Polish chickens the "Rock stars" because they look SO cool and have the attitudes to got with it. If there was ever a McJagger of chickens, this rooster is it.

This is Mrs. Featherstone, the Cochin

Remember when I thought I had 4 silkies? Well it turns out that 2 of them were actually Cochins. The Cochins are actually my favorites because they have feathers on their feet and look so ridiculous when they run! I'm pretty sure we have a rooster and a hen, so this spring they can have babies... maybe.

Mr. Featherstone, the Cochin rooster, hanging with the older ladies.

And then just because it is so completely adorable. Here is a video of Asher with one of his freshly caught chickens.

Monday, October 19, 2009

How Holy is the Sabbath Day?

I am really proud of my husband.

He spent all of last semester working on a design competition with several other students at his University. The project wasn't for any of his classes, it was something he took on in addition to his regular school work and his graduate research. He and his teammates worked really hard on their project and as a result they won the State design competition and got to go to Florida to compete in the National competition--- all expenses paid. Jon was thrilled.

A few months later I checked "Chariots of Fire" out from the library and Jon and I watched it one Friday evening. The movie is about Eric Liddell, the "Flying Scotsman", who refused to run the 100 meter dash (the one everyone thought he would win) in the 1924 Paris Olympics because it was scheduled on Sunday. Liddell was a committed Christian and refused to run on the Sabbath despite the pressure he got to do so. Instead he ran the 400 meter, one of his worst events. Right before he ran it one of his American competitors came up and put a paper in his hand with 1 Samuel 2:30 on it which said, "Those who honor me, I will honor". He ran with that paper in his hand and... well... I won't ruin the ending for you.

This story really impressed Jon and I and made us re-evaluate our dedication to our own beliefs and faith. Would we have been able to do what Liddell did?

Then just a few days after we watched the movie, Jon was looking up the schedule for the conference he was going to attend to find out when he would be presenting his design... it was scheduled for Sunday.

He turned to me and said, "Heather, I can't do it. I really can't present on Sunday."

Me, being the supportive and righteous wife that I am, said, "Well, why not! God won't mind this one time. You've worked so hard and you deserve to do this."

But he stuck to what he knew was right. He told his teammates (all of them are also Mormons) that he couldn't present on Sunday. They were understanding and said that they would present for him. But they felt that since he had put so much work in to it that he still deserved to attend the conference. So, we went to Florida and he didn't present on Sunday, instead we went to visit his aunt and uncle. I kept hoping that maybe because he had made such a big sacrifice that God would bless his team and they would win.... didn't happen... but they still did a really good job. Later Jon had the opportunity to meet the president of the organization and told her that next year they shouldn't have the student competitions on Sunday. She said she'd think about it.

I really admire my husband's decision to keep the Sabbath day holy because, if the truth be known, if I had been in his position... I would have presented on Sunday.

It makes me feel sort of bad to admit this, but I probably would not have given the fact that the presentation was on Sunday a second thought. I would have easily justified it... I'm on vacation... I've worked so hard... It isn't that big of a deal... God won't mind this one time... Everyone else is going to do it and they are Mormons too.

But watching my husband stand his ground, especially when all the others on his team were of the same faith, really made me re-evaluate my feeling about the Sabbath day.

Do I really understand why God ask us to keep the Sabbath day holy?

How "holy" does he expect us to keep it? Is it up for personal interpretation?

How do you stand up for what is right, when everyone else is of the same faith as you, without sounding "self righteous"?

These are the questions that have been floating around in my mind, and I am still searching for answers.

What do you think?

What has been your experience?

Would you have presented?

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Trip to Florida and Why Going on Vacation isn't as Much Fun When You Have Children

Entrance to Cocoa Beach

I'm going to make you look through all of the pictures from our trip ( don't worry there aren't too many) before I tell you why going on vacation when you have kids isn't as much fun (and it probably isn't what you are thinking).

We went to Orlando because Jon won a competition for school and they sent him and some classmates to a conference to present their work. Rose and I just got to tag along. It turned out to be a really fun trip. The first night we got there we dropped Jon's classmates off at the hotel and then rented a car and drove to 2 1/2 hours north to visit Jon's aunt and uncle and cousins. We hardly ever get to see them and it was so much fun to spend time with them. They also invited my cousin and his family over to dinner one night (Jon's uncle is a professor at the law school my cousin goes to, and since there aren't very many Mormons there they know each other). Jon's littlest cousin Eleanor really loved Rose and was so cute with her.

They also took us to see the most AMAZING tree

It is called "Treaty Tree" because supposedly an Indian treaty was signed beneath it, but we read on a sign that what really happened was that around the turn of the century a journalist wanted to protect the tree from being cut down so he made up the story. There really wasn't any treaty, but the name stuck anyway.

It was really a fantastic tree, here you can kind of get a feel for how ENORMOUS the thing is.

The branches go all the way to the ground.

These are Jon's cousins Issac and Eleanor. They are about the same difference in age as Asher and Rose are and watching them play together got me so excited for how my two will be in a few years. Once Asher is past the "lets sit on her" phase... um... actually it just dawned on me that stage might never pass, my brother still sits on me... and he's 23.

Later we drove back to Orlando for Jon's conference and stayed at a beautiful hotel.

This picture really doesn't do it justice at all. The place was incredible. It had two private lakes and the coolest swimming pool I'd ever seen. It was called The Fountains and is a time share hotel. One of Jon's teammates found it on the Internet and got us a great deal-- less than $100 a night. Jon and I were so impressed we talked (briefly) about someday (when we are much older and hopefully richer) buying a time share in a place like this. It was really family focused and I'd highly recommend it (You know they really should be paying me to say all this! ).

The plan was that while Jon was at the conference that I would drive out the the Kennedy Space Center, which I've wanted to see ever since I was little, but by the time I finally got out there I only had an hour or two to spend and didn't want to pay $40 for such short time. So I opted instead to go to Cocoa Beach. I hadn't brought my swimming suit and I was just planning on wading a little bit, but the first two waves that hit me drenched me up to my waist and so I figured "what the heck" and went swimming in my clothes. Rose was asleep in the car seat on the beach and so for about an hour I frolicked in the ocean, in my clothes, by myself. It was grand.

I can see why people fall in love with the ocean and don't ever want to move away from it. I think I could almost be willing to trade it in for my mountains if I had to.

Then last, but definitely not least, we went out to eat at Boston Lobster Feast where I tasted oysters and muscles for the first time. I'm not a big fan of them, I thought they tasted like really big fish flavored boogers. When we were coming out of the restaurant we saw this

Can you imagine this thing cruising down the freeway! Especially if you were driving at night and saw it coming at you in your rear view mirror! Scary.

All in all we had a really good trip, but I've decided that going on vacation just isn't quite as much fun as it was before we had kids. It's not that taking Rose along was hard or held us back from doing what we would normally do, but Jon and I both found that we missed Asher a lot more than we thought we would. We couldn't help but think to ourselves how Asher would have loved the moving sidewalks at the airport, how he would have gotten a kick out of riding the trolley, how he would have loved the incredible swimming pool at our hotel, and how he would have been in heaven chasing all the frogs, lizards and other creatures that come out in the Florida heat.

I was fine for the first few days, but then after being away from him for almost a week I really started to get bit homesick for him. That little boy has become such a huge part of my life and without him life just isn't quite as rich. Even though I LOVED being able to go on vacation and have a break, after awhile I felt like a part of me was missing. It made me think of a quote I wrote down in my quote book a long, long time ago by Elizabeth Stone

" Making the decision to have a child-- it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

Our children are really parts of us and there is such a feeling of wholeness and completeness when you have them near you. It made me realize why my parents and in-laws get so excited when all of their children are going to be home at the same time. Being all together as a family is the ultimate feeling of connectedness and wholeness. I can only imagine what an incredible place heaven is going to be when whole generations of families will be together for the first time... it will probably be a blast.

I'm sure Jon and I will take more vacations together without all our kids and will have a fantastic time, but I realized this trip just how much becoming a parent changes your perspective on life. As nice as it is being by yourself or with your spouse, it is just more fun being all together than apart.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Helpin' Dad

Jon brought home a half broken wheel barrow from the metal recyclers a few weeks back and fixed it up a bit to get it "running" again. As soon as Asher saw the screwdrivers and hammers come out he HAD to be helping. Both of my boys seem happiest when they have something to hammer on! I really love how much this little boy looks up to his Dad and how much he loves to be involved in ANYTHING Jon is doing-- especially if it involves tools.

Lately Asher has been going through a real "daddy phase" and wants to be with his Dad and doing what his Dad is doing ALL the time. As I was watching them work the other day I realized that Asher is learning from Jon, even at this young age, what it means to be a man and how to be one. His character, his identity, and his perception of manhood are already being shaped and molded by how he sees his parents interact and by what his Dad does. As I thought about this I realized how INCREDIBLY grateful I am to have such a wonderful man for a husband and to father my children. It gives me such peace to know that if Asher grew to be exactly like his Dad, I would be PERFECTLY happy. In fact, I've decided that now I have one important question to ask any young woman (probably just my little sisters-- so listen up!) thinking about marriage-- Would you be happy if your sons turned out to be EXACTLY like your potential marriage partner? Because the chances are that they will be a lot like their dad, (but probably better because each generation seems to improve in some way). I think that if you can answer "yes" to this question then you know you are marrying a good man, with a good heart-- even if he does have SOME annoying habits (which hopefully won't get passed on :). I know that BOTH mothers and fathers have a huge impact on the development of children's perceptions of manhood and womanhood, but there is something VERY important about the relationship that boy has with his father and that a girl has with her mother that helps shape what type of man or woman they are going to become. This doesn't mean that boys with good dads will always be good men or that boys with bad dads (or no dads) will always be bad men, but I do believe that having a father (or another strong male figure) who is a good role model makes a BIG difference in what type of man a boy turns out to be. As a woman and a mother I am so grateful that there are SO MANY wonderful men out there who really do a wonderful job of teaching little boys how to be good men. I feel even more grateful that I happen to be married to one, and that my little boy has a good role model to look up to.

Now I guess the pressure is on me now to be an example of womanhood to this little girl who is coming in September! Yikes!

Monday, November 03, 2008

Halloooooweeen

This was one of the best Halloween's I've ever had. I think that it was the combination of having a really fun costume, a baby to dress up and take around, and a great neighborhood trunk-or-treat. Also, the fact that Asher hauled in the candy and we (the parents) got to revel in the rewards... hehe. In fact, the very first thing I did when we got home was sort all the candy into piles! Ha, it made feel like I was 10 again. Jon and I even got in a fight over who got what candy. We ended up having to divide it equally, and then each of us hid our horde. Yep, it was 10-year-old heaven all over again!

Jon and I dressed up like mad scientists. I coated my hair with egg whites (which is a really good gel) , rolled it up in curlers, and then ratted it like mad. It was amazingly huge. It looked fantastic, but washing it and brushing it out is an experience I don't think I want to repeat anytime soon. I broke all but three of the tines on my pick! Ouchy mama.

Jon also got a dose of egg whites in his hair, and he wore these spooky orange contacts he got free from Wal-Mart a few months ago. He really played it up at the trunk-or-treat. We had a little table set up with his "experiments" (baking soda and vinegar, and milk, food coloring and dish soap). It was a big hit. I've decided I am a fan of the trunk-or-treat, especially when people decorate their cars and really get into the fun.

And Asher was Baby Einstein! I told you he was a genius! ;) I'd say his costume was a hit, and his hair just kept getting messier and messier as the day went on. He was adorable. I think his facial expression looks down right "Einsteinian".

I had to include this picture, I think it shows how big my hair was, and my facial expression is...um... scary!

Oh, and just for kicks and giggles, here is a link to Asher's costume last year!
And for even more kicks and giggles, check out what Asher WILL NOT be wearing next year-- and yes this is a shameful plug to get you to read my other blog :)

Thursday, October 16, 2008

What One Does on One's Weekend When One is Married to an Environmental Engineer

Go to the local waste water treatment ponds and collect buckets of sewage! Yippee!

Last Friday I went to "help" (I was mostly along for the pretty ride) Jon collect duckweed (the green plant that is floating on top of the ponds-- you didn't think that was something else did you?) for the project he is working on at school. They are doing an experiment to find out if duckweed can remove phosphorous and other nasty things from waste water. He needed about 75 gallons of waste water to take back to the lab. He thought that there would be a pump that he could use, but discovered much to his chagrin that he would have to bucket it out by hand! The water that goes into these ponds has already been treated a little, but is still really gross. Needless to say, I let him do all the dirty work.

I just enjoyed the view of the mountains!

I do have to say for being a waste water pond it sure was beautiful, and it didn't stink--just in case you wondered.

So, I've learned a lot in the past year about water treatment. It is actually really interesting, and I bet that most of you don't know where things go once you flush them down the toilet. And in all honesty I bet most of you don't care, but you should-- so keep reading.

Surprising, there is actually very little that is done to sewage. In most medium sized cities (big cities usually have money to buy fancy equipment) the sewage goes to tanks where stuff settles to the bottom, is filtered and chlorinated. Then it goes to big ponds, like the ones shown, where it moves VERY slowly from one pond to the next until it is dumped back into a river or stream. The UV rays from the sun kill a lot of the bacteria. EXCEPT, things like birth control and other medications (excreted by humans) which stay in the water and end up back in the rivers. They actually have been finding fish with three heads as a result of the birth control medications that are being excreted into the water! Jon's project is trying to find plants and other natural ways to clean the medications out of the water.

Okay, so that was probably A LOT more than you ever wanted to know about water treatment, but I think it is really important for people to know that when they flush things down the toilet that they don't just disappear. In all honesty, I think everyone should have to take a tour of their city's water treatment facility and landfill. I think it would make people realize that just because something is out of sight doesn't mean that it should be out of mind. Be careful with what you throw away, you never know when you might be seeing it again!

I can almost picture the look on your face right now. I think it might kind of look like this.

I'm a doula!

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