Combatting the Winter BLUES

The Missionary Care Package I did for January was BLUE.

He likes to open them on his "click date" (the 27th) and I thought I still had several days, but then I realized the few days before his "click date" was a weekend when mail isn't delivered, so I had to do it really fast all in one morning.  I literally bought the stuff at the store, took the picture in the parking lot, filled the box, then drove it to the post office.
So you get really nice backgrounds this time for these photos!!

{The contents}

Why the 2,000 Flushes? (well, it is "BLUE plus bleach!")  And because I REALLY AM afraid of those Elders' bathroom conditions!!

Disney's Frozen cereal?  (well, it BLUE, as well!)  Also, "Frozen" was the last movie his 1st companion had seen before leaving out on his mission in Jan. '14, so that is the movie that got quoted by the two of them together, so that makes it a bit fun.

{The packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four flaps say:

"You are a BLUE ribbon missionary!"

"Our life would be BLUE without you!!"

"You're the 'BLUE-eyed boy' of the Brenchley family! (and our Heavenly Father's)"

"Keep teaching the Gospel 'til you're BLUE in the face!"  :)

Ryan, actually guessed that it would be WHITE this month, probably because of Winter and the snow......but, NO! That wasn't on my mind.

The SNOW is where he is in West Virginia, NOT here in Utah (see the grass showing in my great photo background, at the side of the parking lot?)  A WHITEOUT is not something I have seen for a month!  (Very UNUSUAL for Utah this time of year!)

Links to past care packages:

December

November

October

September

It Owns Me

Ever since I started wearing my new Fitbit (first full day was Dec. 26) I HAVE to get my 10,000 steps a day.
 
If it is 11:00 p.m. and I haven't yet achieved my steps, I will "sneak out" to go walking around the neighborhood to get them.  Apparently, the first time I did this, someone at home "needed" me (WHEN don't they need me?) and they couldn't find me, and no one knew where I was, and mayhem broke loose.  When I returned, Matt requested I please inform them in the future if I am going out.....ya know, in case something happens to me.  Like what?!?  Get abducted by aliens up the street?!?
If the day is almost over, and I don't have my steps AND we're experiencing inclement weather, I will pace back & forth on our covered porch.  Or run up & down the stairs.  Or do laps in our garage.
If I'm thirsty and need a drink of water, I STOP myself from asking someone else to get it for me......because if I get up and get it myself, that tacks on several extra steps.
If I need something while I'm making dinner from the cold storage room in the basement,  I don't call for Kyle anymore like I always used to......I want the steps myself!
It's no longer one of my kid's jobs to go and get the mail.....because if I get it, I know that's another 250 steps!

I'm telling you - I'm a SLAVE to this Fitbit.
I WILL NOT let myself NOT get my 10,000 steps a day.
EVERY day.
EVEN on the weekend.
If I let myself go just one day without getting my steps, then it'll just be easier to go another day, and then another, and another.....and I DON'T want that to happen!

 (BTW, it says 0 on the water because I would have to manually enter it in....and I don't.  I just like the Fitbit to crunch all the numbers for me.)  

I mostly wanted to start doing it for health & fitness, but ya know what's ALSO happened?  That was a pleasant surprise? 

I'm spending MORE TIME with my family and children!  The kind of TIME where I'm really WITH them.

Because I'll ask if anyone wants to go out and walk with me - and someone usually does.  Katelyn & I just walk & talk about her favorite subject - The Pioneer Woman (she's the one who "introduced" me to the Fitbit in the first place).....and then Katelyn asks when we can do that again!  ;)

Matt has decided he has to protect me against those "aliens," so he'll come out walking with me at night and we walk & talk.

One day, I needed a bunch of steps, so Brookelle, Katelyn, & I went up to our church.  I thought we'd just do laps around the church, but, NO, they had a grand idea to play "Tag."  So I obliged.  We were up there all night.....or at least an hour!  And I was "It" the majority of the time! (Because I kept getting caught!)  They LOVED it and didn't want to quit, even though I kept "suggesting" we did. (my bladder can only take so much "Tag!")  Again, Katelyn repeatedly asks when we can do that again! 

I ask her, "WHY?" 

And she tells me, "It was so fun." 

And I say, "Really?!?  'Cause I totally stunk at it."  

And she says, "No, you didn't.  You were really good.  You can run fast.....for a Mom your age!" 

And I say, "No......you always tagged me, and I couldn't catch you very much."

And she said, "THAT'S why it was so fun!"

Instead of driving my child to her friend's house to play, I walk her over there......and then I walk back when it's time to come home.  And Brookelle talks my ear off the whole way.

Same goes for getting Katelyn to Activity Days.

I'm also walking to the school after school to meet my girls and walk home with them (& their friends - gotta take advantage of that while it's still happening).  I heard Katelyn explaining to one of her friends, "Ya know how some moms pick their kids up from school and give them a ride home?  Well, our mom picks us up from school and then makes us walk home!"



I'm liking this "by-product" of my Fitbit (more time spent together with my fam) that I didn't realize would be one of the results.  My family is all on board with the idea.  They will frequently ask where I'm at for the day - and WANT me to accomplish my 10,000 every day.  Good thing, because my obsession dedication would exist with or without their support. ;)  I love it!

I ALSO overheard Katelyn tell one of her friends, "My mom has a Fitbit, and she HAS to get 10,000 steps a day.  She's going to do that EVERY day until my brother gets home from his mission, and then she's going to be SKINNY!"

Oh, WOW!  The pressure's ON!

They're Barking Up the Wrong Tree

WHY did we receive this magazine in the mail this week?

And WHY have we previously received two other issues of this same magazine before this one, too?
At first I thought it was a one-time sample that we sometimes get of various magazines, but, NO, it looks like it's now a regular delivery.

We have no interest in "How to enjoy wine."

We don't order wine when we dine out.

You won't find any wine in our home.

We don't pair wine with our chocolate.

We aren't even wine drinkers.

In fact, we decidedly abstain from alcohol of any kind.

That's why I just shake my head in confusion when these arrive in the mail....and ask, "WHY?!?"

Someone sure got their "customer profiling" wrong.  Dead wrong.

A real case of misdirected "marketing."

They need to study our "shopping trends" a bit more carefully next time.
Now, magazines about Ranch, Hershey's products, or Cherry Ju Ju hearts would be much more productive/enticing with us!  ;)

Gone With the Wind

Here is a conversation that went on in our neighbor's house when they looked out their window towards our yard the other morning and saw this:

Wife:  "Why do the Brenchley's have a clump of stuff all arranged in that one spot of their yard?"
Husband:  "There used to be a shed there!"

Shortly afterwards, I got a text from our her.
Neighbor:  "What happened to your shed?"
Me:  "It was obliterated!"

The crazy thing was, we only found two [broken] pieces of it in our yard.  Did it disappear?  So where did it all go?

Well, another neighbor (who live two houses over in our cul-de-sac) will tell you it all went in their back yard (at least four bigger-ish pieces).

But, THAT wasn't all of it......

And as I've been doing my walks (for my Fitbit steps) around the neighborhood, I have found several other pieces in various sizes, small to large, all over the place!

Now we've had to move everything into our garage (boo hoo!) which also sustained terrible damage to it's door from the wind, as well.  (It's nonfunctional!)

Is it possible to have P.T.S.D. just from hearing the wind?  After what happened three years ago to our old home, too!

 The basketball standard [even with water in it's base to weigh it down] couldn't remain upright through it all, either!

#weliveinawindtunnel

Watcher in the Bedroom

I got a Fitbit for Christmas.  Yay!  It's just what I wanted!

It tracks my steps, calories burned, distance, and even my sleep.  I've heard so many good things about it, so hopefully I think so, too, after using it myself.

I didn't get it set up until late Christmas night, so the first thing it was going to track on me was my sleep.  I was a little bit anxious and very curious about what the "results" would be the next morning....

Here they are:

As I was looking at this, I was telling Matt, "So, the Fitbit says I went to bed at 1:12a.m., it took me 18 minutes to fall asleep, and I was awakened 12 times at 1:40, 1:42, 1:44, 1:46, 3:00, 3:05, 4:10, 6:40, 6:42....."

Then Matt burst out, "HOW does it know all that?!!?"

And he got the creepy feeling that we were being "watched" during the night.
Then I started to feel a bit wary, too.
But, not enough to dwell on it to the extent he was because......
......mostly I was disturbed by the fact that I woke up so much and only got 6 hours and 3 minutes of sleep!!  AND that's even with sleeping in because it was the holidays!

Uh Oh.......that does it!  NOW I'm on a mission to get those # of awakenings down!  I'm going to be tracking it religiously.
EXCEPT will knowing I'm being "watched," only create more anxiety and lack of ability to stay asleep all night long?

A vicious cycle.

These are a Few of my Favorite things -- THIS Christmas

My favorite "Neighbor Gift" we received:

It's Rudolph the Red-Nosed [E.O.S. lip balm] Reindeer!

The Christensens are always so clever/cute with their gift & "packaging."

My favorite reaction to a gift I gave:

Haylee was SOOO happy (like jumping around & talking giddily) about her PJ's this year!  Namely, she loved the hood, the pockets, & the owl print.

She opened them on Christmas Eve and actually said that she'd be JUST FINE if that was her whole Christmas!  She was fulfilled!

It reminded me of a Christmas several years ago when she had a very emotional reaction to a ROBE she received.

{She doesn't have extravagent wants!  I LOVE it!}

This is not MY favorite, BUT the kids' favorite Christmas wish came true:

The kids were having a hard time FEELING like it was the Christmas season because we hadn't had any snow in December - AND it had been in the 40's & 50's (no coat weather!)

But, THEN they got a WHITE CHRISTMAS.  

It literally started snowing late Christmas Eve, and we woke up to a blanket of snow everywhere. 

THEY thought it was the best thing ever!

My favorite part about Christmas 2014:

Talking to/Seeing Ryan (Elder Brenchley) via Skype!!!

We waited forever - he'd told us it would be in between 3-3:00p.m.......we finally heard from him at 6:05p.m.

BUT, it was worth the wait!

It was so fun to talk to him - we got to be reminded of his playful, amusing personality, but also got to see HOW WELL HE IS DOING and how mature and solid in the gospel he is becoming! 

He absolutely loved the #sharethegift focus this Christmas season.

He testified again & again to us that HE IS THE GIFT.
We got about an hour with him, and 10 min. with his companion (he talked to us while Ryan HAD to go to the bathroom - some things never change! ;) haha. 
We didn't want to hang up and have him call us back because it took SO LONG for him to do it the first time!!)
He also witnessed Haylee smack Kyle while we were skyping....he laughed his head off about that!
Like I said, some things never change!  ;)

**********

What were your "favorite things" about Christmas this year?

Why My Husband is Awesome - Reason #419

Night before last I kind of had a little (read: major) Freak Out to Matt.
It had to do with how close it was getting to Christmas and how much work there was to do still.
It had to do with THE LIST.
It had to do with everyone's expectations.
(The Fam wants everything to be the same even though everything is NOT the same!)
It had to do with the demands on my TIME.  Namely, I don't have the same kind of TIME that I used to have to get things done - I now work my job during the school day hours, whereas before I "did Christmas" (and the homemaking/laundry/cooking) during those same hours.

So, after this "diarrhea of the mouth" (that took a good amount of time, with Matt "trapped" in our room) Matt's face had a look of bewilderment on it.
He doesn't want me to quit my job.
He doesn't want to quit having dinner.
He doesn't want me to quit showering.
He doesn't want to quit Christmas.
As a man, he feels he's suppose to come up with a solution - that's what men do, they "fix" things, but, at the moment, he didn't have a solution. 
That night, it got left like that - UNfixed.

The next afternoon, I got a text from Matt:
"I will be home from work around 5:00 to make dinner.  I will make whatever you have on the menu schedule if you leave me with the recipe.  Feel free to go and run any errands you may have."

Ahhhh!

That's what I needed!
He figured out a "solution" - sometimes in marriage, you need to re-divide the household responsibilities. 

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup (from "The Girl Who Ate Everything") was on the menu schedule, so, admittedly, I was a little nervous for him because.......well......let's just say it wasn't SPAGHETTI!  ;)

He realized dinner takes a long time to make!!  Whew!
But, that was OK - I was busy doing other things, remember?

When we sat down to eat, and I took my first spoonful -- it tasted A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
It's like the lemon enhances all the other seasonings/flavors!

And I exclaimed this multiple times - as he sat there, hardly smiling about my compliments, BECAUSE he was drained from making dinner - it is A LOT of work - especially with multiple children all around needing help with homework, zippers, & urgent dilemmas.  Them asking, "What's for dinner?" or "What is THAT?" and telling you they're hungry don't make things any easier, either.  Poor Guy! :)  I can relate.  I love you, Matt!

Well, I thought I'd share the fabulous recipe with y'all.
I still haven't decided if it was SO GOOD because it really is SO GOOD or because I didn't have to make it!
Either way, here it is:

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Yield: about 6 servings

Ingredients

• 9 cups chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/3 cups carrots, chopped
• 1 1/3 cups onions, chopped finely
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 1/2 teaspoons lemon rind, grated
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 rotisserie-cooked chicken, shredded (about 3 cups)
• 8 ounces orzo pasta, uncooked (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely cracked (optional)
• 1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or large pot.
2. Add the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, lemon rind and salt. Saute ingredients over medium heat until vegetables begin to soften.
3. Add the chicken stock and lemon juice. Bring to a boil.
4. Add the chicken and orzo. Simmer until orzo is cooked through. (see Note not serving soup right away)
5. Just before serving add parsley and remove bay leaf. Garnish with salt and black pepper if needed and Romano cheese if desired.

Notes

If you're serving right away you can add the orzo pasta and chicken at the same time until the orzo is cooked. If you plan on serving later it at a later time you may want to cook the orzo separately and add right before serving. The orzo pasta tends to soak up all the liquid and can become quite thick if you simmer the soup for a long time. You can always add more chicken stock if you want to thin it out a little.

Have YOUR husbands make it for your family, too!!  Enjoy!

This Weekend:

YES!  I am actually going to write a post that is not about Elder Brenchley!  ;)

THIS WEEKEND:
*Matt & I were in charge of our ward Christmas party this year.

It was on Friday night, the 12th.

But, I worked on getting it ready all day Friday.

And Thursday.

And Wednesday.

And the whole month before.

We had an awesome committee, though, who contributed a TON!

{Thanks Christensen's, Derrick's, Evans', Floyd's, Becky & Gina}

Some of the HIGHLIGHTS:

  ~"Neighborhood Trivia" was projected up on a movie screen up front as people arrived.

First, the "clue" would come up on the screen for people to read, and then a while later, the answer (person's name) would go up on the screen.
(THINK: movie theater before the movie starts.)

It was a great "mixer" to get people talking to start the party!
The ones from our family were:

This woman had a leg hair growing contest with a guy – and WON!

This person drove 140 m.p.h. in a blue Mustang GT – and lived to tell about it.

This [non-native Japanese] married couple both know how to speak Japanese. 

This person played on an ALL-GIRL baseball team (with pink uniforms) in a BOYS’ league.

This person has a purple belt in Karate.

This person cracked his head open doing a flip off the couch. 

This 6 YR. OLD likes to eat tomatoes, green peppers, avocado, cauliflower, & green salad! 

This missionary has now picked up the “Southern” patterns of speech. 

(Can you guess them all?!?)
~A "Green Screen" Photo Op

(THINK: weatherman on the news)

People literally just posed in front of a green screen......THEN......

it turned into THIS:

~Dinner with food from Mo' Bettah Steaks

I broke tradition and did away with the chili & soup (not my favorite) they'd done in the past!  I'm such a rebel!  But, that's one of the perks of being in charge!  

PLUS, this menu had the "gluten free" crowd in mind.

~Entertainment/Musical Program

{The Primary sang, "Stars Were Gleaming"}

Katelyn is 3rd from the left (fuchsia pants, turquoise vest).  Brookelle is 5th from the right (pink camo pants, navy shirt).

We also have this TREMENDOUSLY talented Sister Missionary serving in our area - she plays the ukelele, she sings, she plays the piano, she does it all together!
(Too bad [for us] she is returning home this week.)

She performed, "A Hallelujah Christmas."  Have you seen/heard this song?!!?

I've been watching/listening to it on YouTube ever since the party!
 

 You won't be able to get it out of your mind, I tell ya!

*On Saturday, we spent the whole day in bed recovering from the ward party.

HA!

NOT!

I WISH!

But, we had the Fowers Christmas party at our home that night.

We barely got all the dishes & small appliances from the night before washed up & returned, then started cleaning up our house before the people started to come!

{Scenes from the evening}

One of the highlights from the evening was when my Aunt Louise shared experiences

from her mission to Australia back in the late 60's and her news reporting career at KSL television.

(She started at age 22 and was the 1st and ONLY woman reporter at that time in the Salt Lake area!  She was just the 2nd woman in the nation to do it, and the ONLY woman on the air at that particular time.)

Many of the youngest generation did not know any of this family history, so it was great to have her share it!

She brought a few clips of her news stories she reported on from the past, too.  They were fun to watch!

She is also a talented musician, and we always gather around the piano and sing a Christmas song that she wrote, "Waiting for the Child."

She's written other songs, too.  You can see one of her pieces on YouTube here:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsWIvnQHEa8

and here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cZm8Ny0CoI

(That's my cousin singing the song!)

*On Sunday, we finally rested & recuperated all day.

(HA! again.....In my dreams)

Our darling niece, Megan, recently returned from her mission to Madrid, Spain on 12/9....

 YES!  I cried at the sight of the reunion between missionary & parents - THIS one AND strangers I don't even know!

 {COUSINS!}

Megan had her "Homecoming" (reported on her mission at church) on Sunday - at 9:00 in the morning!!

We got to attend that and hear her testimony (in Spanish - don't know what she said!) and her contagious enthusiasm for the Gospel!

We went to my brother's house afterwards for food and visiting and stayed well into the afternoon.

*We had Tithing Settlement with the Bishop later Sunday evening.

GOOD THING we discovered those missing checks so everything really could be "settled." ;)

*I realized I have 9 days to get ALL the Christmas stuff done, now!

THE LIST for this week started rolling through my mind at extraordinary speeds!

It's a "Gray" Area

The missionary care package I did for December was GRAY.

I sent it early this month because we'll be sending his Christmas presents in a separate box later next week.....and I want to Spread the Cheer throughout the month!

 {The contents}

{The packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four gray flaps say:

"You make me happy when skies are GRAY"  ~Johnny Cash

"Remember: Be careful...and use wisdom...Please don't give us [anymore than we already have] GRAY hairs!"  :)

"GRAY skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face."  ~Tony Bennett

"Way to use your 'GRAY matter' on your mission!!"

I knew he'd be getting two packages from us this month, so I thought I'd send a smaller box (medium size) than I have in the past months and choose a color that I thought wouldn't have very many things.  Interestingly enough, I didn't have any trouble filling it up with gray stuff!  In fact, I could only fit two small cans of the diet Coke instead of the entire 8-pack I bought.  (It's OK, Ryan doesn't even drink diet Coke, but some of the other missionaries or his "peeps" might, and it's kind of a "community" care package anyway, AND it was the RIGHT color!)

I'm In The Money!

Several months ago, I could not get my checking account to balance.
My check register said one amount, and THE BANK said another amount.
THE BANK said I had $145.00 more than my check register said I had.
Could it be TRUE?!?

I went back through my check register and re-added, and re-subtracted all the deposits and debits for the previous several months and did not find any errors - I STILL ended up with the same balance that I was showing in my check register.

(These kind of discrepancies almost make me go BONKERS!)

Something my friend, who used to work at a bank, once said came to my mind; "The bank balance is right!  The bank's not going to make an error."  (Something to do with scanning all the routing numbers, account numbers, and using high-tech calculations.)
So, going off of that.....fortunately, the difference was in MY FAVOR - and I just added that amount into my register.

Cha-Ching!

THEN tonight, again, as I was going through my checking account, I found the balances were OFF again!
THIS TIME, the bank said I had $375.00 more than my check register said I had.
It couldn't be TRUE twice, could it?!?  I couldn't be THAT fortunate, could I?!?  My friend says THE BANK isn't wrong, so it must be my money.

So, again, I double checked, and triple checked all the addition & subtraction I had done in my register over the last several months since the last "incident."  And again, I STILL ended up with the same balance I was showing in my check register.

How could it be?

I started to really wonder if the "Christmas Elves" were secretly padding my account.  I've heard of that happening with other people before.

How exciting!  Cha-Ching!

But, I pulled up my online banking and carefully looked through the list of transactions, and saw no "mystery deposits."  THE BANK would have to show these even if it was an anonymous donation, right?

(AGAIN, These kinds of discrepancies practically make me go INSANE!  I'll spend hours on it trying to figure out the error.  I like the Math to work out just perfectly.)

Should I just add the extra money into my register and let it go?

No.  I HAD to figure it out.  It was after hours, so I couldn't call THE BANK - I would have to figure it out on my own.

I did have one check, still in my possession, that I had written out, but hadn't actually given it to the corporation I was paying, yet.  But, it's amount did not equal $375, so that wasn't the answer.......

.......but it DID get me thinking.......Were there other checks in this same situation?  Checks that I [unknowingly] still had, or the corporations still had, or had been dropped, taken, lost, forgotten in a pocket somewhere?

Frequently, I will write out my tithing check sometime during the week, and then I set it in a certain place on my desk, ready for Matt will pick it up on Sunday, so he can submit it with his tithing/donations check when we go to church.  He keeps all the receipts, so when I asked him if he has submitted all my checks, he went back and looked through his receipts.  He found there were "gaps" of time where there weren't any checks from my account.  Strange, because I wrote a tithing check EVERY month.

Long story short, we scoured my whole desk; lifted up the computer keyboard, the mouse pad, computer tower & monitor, the lamp, the speakers, went through files and stacks of papers, etc.

AND we found THREE checks that were "hiding."  Checks that had somehow fallen back behind the computer equipment and were out of sight.  Including one dated back in July from when I first discovered my "bonus" $145.  

So, THE BANK really was right.....my checks just hadn't ever cleared.  But, they WILL when we MAKE SURE to give them at church on Sunday, and my account balance will be quite unexciting once again.

So, unfortunately, the FANTASY of the "Christmas Elves" is over.  It was good while it lasted!  ;)
Instead it was a case of inattention, distraction, and disorderly confusion.