Genealogy is... The Introduction

I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for nearly six years now, but I’ve been a genealogist since I was a little girl. I have always enjoyed learning about my family and listening to stories and asking far more questions than any child should.

After the many conversations I’ve had with members of the Church concerning genealogy, I think I should endorse a paradigm shift on the subject.
So. Beginning May 7th, for five weeks I will be publishing a brief post on Genealogy each Thursday, besides my other posts. At the end of the five weeks, I’ll publish a challenge.

I’ve installed a button on the sidebar that will direct you to all the posts of the series, in case you miss a week.

Disclaimer:
Although my posts will refer to practices and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they are no way an official statement. These are my unique experiences, and interpretations concerning genealogy.
For more information about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints please visit mormon.org or click the button on the sidebar.

Old Acquaintance, New Neighbor

Old Acquaintance: Spring
After church this week, we grabbed some grub (egg salad sandwiches for us and PB&J for Caleb), some juice, and a blanket and had lunch on the side yard.

Godzilla returns!

My mom complained that I never post pictures of me. This has to do with my genetic make-up. You see, I was cursed with my mother’s large gums and father’s small teeth- so no matter how I smile, I look hideous.

And, not only is my DNA against me, the elements are also conspiring. Rain or shine, frizz or squint, no matter the weather a bad photograph delivers!

New Neighbor: MR T (any Arrested Development fans out there?)
This past week, a new neighbor moved in down the road. He is really starting to invade our personal space. He struts around our yard, puffed up.
I welcomed last night’s rain- hoping he would look up and drown.

Mister Gobbles

Yeah. “Mister Gobbles” as Mike dubbed him, is a wild turkey and he is also our residential rooster, gobbling only before daybreak… every morning… for the last week.
Were turkeys included in the whole “Love thy neighbor” bit?
We are not pet-people. We both grew up with a number of pets. And from my experience I determined that they just aren’t worth it. Just have a kid, instead, people.
Also, despite my mad tamagotchi skills, I have a bad record with pets, especially fish. I can’t cope with fish. They die, I feel tragic. Yes, tragic. These are the things my nightmares are made of- literally. I have a dream about a koi fish that would make you shiver (with horror with laughter? who knows). Maybe I’ll share it sometime, if enough people are interested.


Speaking of koi, you should check out Mike’s koi fish on his tech blog.

Attack of Asides

Today is Biscuit Day! The day I make a boat-load [okay, a freezer full (okay, a freezer shelf full)] of biscuits. I freeze the fruits (er, grains?) of my “labor” (really it is super easy) and pull them out for dinner or an easy biscuit and gravy breakfast… or maybe brinner?

Best idea ever? I think so-ooo! *sing-song voice*
I’m not the only one who looks forward to Biscuit Day, either...

Mooches.

Biscuit Recipe
-3 cups Self-rising Flour (or just add 1.5 t salt and 4.5 t baking powder to 3 C of regular flour)
-1.5 t sugar
-6 T mayo
-1.5 C milk
Mix flour and sugar. Cut in mayo. Add milk, stir until a sticky dough.
Grease a muffin pan, spoon dough into pan portions, bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes.

Boredom Busters just when you think I couldn’t be a lazier parent…

Art Fry Guy
Yep. I stick a grid of Post-its on the wall. Don’t knock it till you try it. Speaking of knocking…

Yep, that's pretty much the idea (as in knocking down).

Maraca-roni
A box of Mac N’ Cheese, a distraction and a meal? Why, thank you.

Not to mention a collectable.

Easter Weekend

Friday
Spring is definitely settling into its eastern residence. Caleb and I grabbed a blanket, a baggie of apple slices, and some toys and headed out to…

our side yard. You see we really don’t have a backyard… and our front yard is a slope, so we have a side yard. Funny, now whenever I say yard in my head, I hear “yahd.”

While we were outside our neighbor, Buddy, came over and sat down with us and chatted. Buddy is an older fellow, born and raised in Millis. He serves on the town’s Historical Commission. We looked over the land that lies below our property, as he pointed and spread his hands wide; he enlightened me about the Wampanoag that hosted the very land that we rested on. He happily answered the questions I had about local structures, and was glad to be reassured he wasn’t boring me. “No,” I said, “not at all. I love history. I spend a lot of time doing genealogy.” He invited me to help the historical commission set up flags for Memorial Day at Prospect Hill, and I replied that I just might.

As he departed to go to his home, he asked, “You said you did genealogy? ... Well, my daughter has been trying to do ours, and has gotten a lot done too, but she can’t get past my great grandfather.”
I smiled, “Give me the information. I’ll see what I can do.”
I wish I hadn’t said that. Because, I have seen ‘what I can do’ and I’ve tapped my resources, so I’ll have to pray about it. Luckily, all my genealogical prayers have been met in the past, so I have faith this one will too. In fact, last night before bed, while I probed the recess of my mind – you know, the endless lists, the day’s events, tomorrow’s soon-be’s- I came across a possible answer to my genealogical hitches I’ve been experiencing recently. I’ll have to try it today. I’ll let you know if it’s successful.

Saturday

“We live in the greatest town in America,” that’s what I told Mike as Millistonian families tracked for tin-foiled chocolate eggs in the afternoon drizzle at Oak Grove Farm (this is also where they have their Civil War Reenactments, and no I'm not kidding about that). Caleb sat content on the wet grass, picking up eggs placing them nonchalantly in the basket- like he does this every day or something! He collected 22 eggs in total. His parents were grateful for the pre-Easter treat.

Yes, those are all tin-foiled chocolate eggs!

"MmMmMm... chocolate!"

The goods!

Oh, the Easter Bunny was there too! (I’ll post the picture some time, promise)

Sunday
I asked a really great question during my Primary lesson… well, hm, maybe it wasn’t the question that was great, but the audience I was inquiring. Let’s face it, the person who is answering the question usually makes or breaks it. Anwyays.
As I held a picture of Jesus Christ blessing the Nephite children, I asked, “If you were with Jesus, like these children, what would you say to him?”One of my CTR5’s said, “Teacher, I would say, ‘Jesus, thanks for the lesson… (a long string of dialogue I couldn’t follow)… and my family,”
Another one answered simply, “Jesus, I love you so very a lot.”


I sure do love Jesus so very a lot, too.

Today’s post is brought to you by the letter G

Big G, little g
what begins with G?

Godzilla, General Conference, Groceries
G, g, g!

Godzilla
Bipedalism a’ here we go! Caleb took his first step a few Sundays back (bet you guess who he walked to, it begins with a ‘d’ and ends with an ‘addy’), and now he is *strolling across the kitchen, and taking treks from the couch to the desk. And as he does it he sounds like this. The wide strides, the clumsiness, the destruction…
Godzilla was a toddler, people.

*okay, more like wobbling

General Conference
It’s Wednesday and the text of the talks are still not up, which is odd because I’ve given a talk right after Conference before on a recent Conference talk [on the spur of the moment (story of my life)] and they are usually up pretty soon afterwards.
I guess this means I’ll have to trifle through my notes and my mommy brain now and dish you some one-liners later.
Okay. Elder Hales’ talk was grand. Yes, grand. He covered several topics that Michael and I have been discussing since we moved into our house last November. I posted this on Facebook as my status last week and I’ll post it here: Angela thinks that this country needs a recession/depression to get our priorities straight.
In my opinion, entirely separate from Elder Hales’ talk, I think we, as a country, have become a people who do not plan. We lack forethought. And I think tough economic times turn out a different caliber of people. Think of your grandparents, or great grandparents. Think of the house they lived it, think of the meals they ate or recipes they left behind, think of the ways their family spent time together. Now think of your house, what’s in the pantry, and the ways your family spends time together. How different are they?
I’ve mentioned to Mike before that I do not think it is coincidence that President Monson was called to be the prophet during this time, as Elder Hales mentioned, he [Pres. Monson] learned service in his youth during the Great Depression and as he served the widows of his wards.
This leads me into my next topic in a round-about-way…

Groceries
With the economy the way it’s going, here’s some grocery tips from my own kitchen, some I’m sure you’ve already heard, but they work!
*Plan a menu. I do a monthly menu, but weekly works too. I usually plan 13-15 dinners (on average each meal I cook lasts two days of eating—that means some meals are more bounteous than others), three types of breakfast, sack lunches for Mike, weekend lunches, FHE refreshments and snacks. Yeah. I’m pretty OCD.
Here’s our dinner plan for May: 13 meals
Roast and mashed potatoes with gravy (1)
Italian sub with cheesy broccoli side (2, Mike’s favorite)
Tortas with Spanish rice side (1)
Pizza with salad side (2)
Stuffed bell peppers with salad side (1)
Baked Alfredo with lazy breadsticks (4, now, we typically eat this twice or thrice a month, but I have one backup that we use for compassionate service or an ‘easy’ meal)
Spinach Pesto with salad side (1)
BLT with potato salad and BBQ beans (1)
Beef and barley soup with cornbread (1)

*Keep receipts. By doing this you can figure out how much each meal costs to make. For example, Baked Alfredo with Lazy Breadsticks (aka New England hotdog buns baked/broiled with a homemade garlic spread) costs $5. And lasts three days with our family of three.
* Skimp on meat. Ever heard of Meatless Mondays? Not a bad idea. And when you do eat meat, freeze some for later and sub in some more veggies or filling in the recipe… which brings me to my next tip…
* Portions. I’ll buy one roast a month and get at least five meals out of it. How? After making it, I separate the roast into five portions and I freeze the portions to use later in the month. When I want to use it I pull out a freezer bag of roast and make Beef and Broccoli with rice, Beef Burritos, Italian Subs, Stroganoff, or Tortas (mMmMmMm… tortas… sorry, I don’t have a link for that one yet, I’ll post one soon).
* Do some research. I don’t buy anything that I can’t dice three ways. What I mean is… well, look at my May dinner menu, break it down to its essential ingredients and you have: beef, broccoli, onions, bell peppers and potatoes, over and over again. And these ingredients are used throughout the month but in different ways. There are a lot of books out there with plenty of cheap, easy recipes that revolve around ingredients that your family will enjoy and that you can also stretch.
Here are two books that are amazing:
Cheap. Fast. Good!
Miserly Meals

Check them out at your local library.

The only recent picture you'll see of me, where I look somewhat decent. Of coure, Caleb on the other hand... well...
This concludes today’s broadcast.

Ahem

I will not change my blog design for three months.
I will not change my blog design for three months.
I will not change my blog design for three months.
I will not change my blog design for three months.
I will not change my blog design for three months.

I will not change my blog design for three months.
How long until July 7th?

More later, I still have to blog about conference sometime this week.