Jenn Speaking:

For the first time in a very long time I am finding myself with extra time. Oh, I have plenty to do, I guess--but I get to decide when and what I'm going to do. I'm not finishing classes, showing a house, packing boxes, moving, or unpacking boxes. I don't have friends to spend time with (sorry I ended that with a preposition, but it seems so snobbish to say "I don't have friends with whom to spend time"). I am making friends. But you know how it is... it takes a while to feel like you are really friends. The house is mostly unpacked and mostly painted. I want to wait until the house is perfectly organized to take pictures... so sorry, I may never take pictures. Logan is excelling in school. Madison and I are trying to do our own school at home. Grant loves the racetrack that is the layout of our home--the kitchen has two entries that go through 4 rooms to make one speedy circle. We met the local library, and we are enlisted in the Friday 10:30 story-time. I've decided to learn a little about Interior Design (did I mention I hate the kitchen in this house?) and have requested every book the library has on the subject--4--let's just say this is no Cuyahoga Library system. I've also reawakened my interest in writing. And I'm excited to do my visiting teaching next week. Although, I am definitely less excited about the talk I am giving on the 28th of February. Bishopric members should definitely think this out: I gave a talk my last week in Ohio because I was leaving. And now I am giving another talk because I am new. Maybe it is a way to discourage people from moving--a punishment so to speak. '

Anyway.

So tonight, over dinner, I started telling the kids stories about my life. I tell them a lot of stories--many they hear over and over. I have written some of them down, but I really need to make a personal history for my family. So, I thought I would tell you some of mine (since I've got some time).

Do you use a Kitchen Aid or a Bosch? My family had a kitchen aid when I was little... they gave it away when they bought a Bosch and figured out it pretty much ruled. So I grew up mixing foods with a Bosch. One day, when I was in the sixth grade, I invited Meghan Scott over after school. We decided to make an angel food cake (from a box). We mixed it up in the trusty Bosch and got ready to bake it. I told her how cool the Bosch was because you could just mix that cake up and put it in the oven in the bowl. She was a little hesitant, but I quickly convinced her when I explained that Angel food cakes had that hole in the middle--the same shape as the Bosch bowl (my parents were still at work, I think). Sure enough, 20 minutes later, the alarms started beeping and the smell of burnt plastic started smelling. Apparently you should not put a Bosch bowl in the oven.

Madison broke (another) dining chair yesterday. As you may or may not know--she has bad luck with chairs. I couldn't be mad at her, though, because as you will soon realize, I've had my fair share of breaking things.