I Can't, I'm Allergic

It's true, I really am allergic.

I used to tan with the best of them. I spent summers running around with no sunscreen, peeling off my sunburned skin, and enjoying the tan underneath. Let's be honest, I was pretty much skin cancer in the making. Anyway, I was generally baked a nice golden-brown. And I never even had to use a tanning bed. And then I turned 20.

While in St. George this weekend (a wedding, some family time, and a baby blessing. Oh my!) I spent a little time relaxing on the patio between events. I plugged in my ipod headphones, grabbed a book, and basked in the warmth.

That's when the trouble always starts. Every year I forget that the sun and I no longer get along. That lovely golden, glowing orb was my best friend all spring, summer, and fall. Now it's my worst enemy. If I spend more than about 5 minutes in direct sunlight I break out in a lovely allergic rash.

My upper arms and my chest turn red, bust out in little bumps, and itch like mad for days on end. I began to wonder if there was any respite from my ailment. I did a little research, and lo and behold, it actually is a real condition. It's called Polymorphous Light Eruption, or PMLE for short. (You can read about it here if you're curious).

So, back to my original story: somewhere in the midst of white weddings, lots of food, and seeing baby Jenna blessed, I got attacked by the sun.

I guess it could be worse... it hit my mom for the first time on her honeymoon in Mazatlan.

Life Unplugged

I've received a lot of good feedback about our e-free week. I've had several people tell me that they want to try it, I've been asked throughout the week how it was going, and I managed to do the most important thing: I reconnected with Curious George.

Let me quickly give you a little background into what the day-to-day is like in our house. I work three 12-hour shifts a week. Two of these are at night, and one is from 11 am to 11 pm. This works pretty well for us, because Curious George generally works from 4 am to 1 pm. So, generally speaking, I spend a lot of time at home alone during the day. This is traditionally my peak internet usage time. However, I would usually leave it open in the background, just in case.

Anyway, this week I can't believe how much I accomplished. I pieced and sewed (completely, from start to tied and finished) 2 baby quilts. I had a great time learning how to make fabric flowers and experimenting with different fabrics pairings. And I started working on my soon-to-be china hutch. My phone rang a lot more than I was used to, because people couldn't just shoot me an email or facebook message. It was nice to actually hear some voices. I also did some serious reading.

As for my marriage: we actually talked. It was more than just he occasional "Mmm-hmmm" or "Sure." We spent some time together doing things we both enjoy. I spent a lot less time being angry, annoyed, or bugged by little things. Our house stayed cleaner, we both got more sleep, and we enjoyed some quality time with friends and family.

We also set down some new ground rules for the internet:
1. When I'm home alone my time online is limited to 2 hours. (I know, that seems like a lot, but I'm taking baby steps)
2. When we're home together the internet is turned off unless we're looking at something together.
3. Any purchases I want to make, I have to see if I can buy it in the store first.

And now a few highlights from the past week:
1. I was featured on Mormon Mommy Blogs. You can check it out here.
2. Our tax return came. Hooray!
3. We decided to stay put in our apartment for awhile. We'd love to buy a place, but I think we're in a good place for now.
4. A (wretched) dinner at Chili's (but the company was great) and some fabulous bowling at Sue Rich. I actually beat Curious George by 20 points.
5. A phone call (and a very sweet letter) from Hawaii letting us know that Elder Hatch would be safe from the tsunami.

All in all, a great week. How was yours?

Communication is Key

I like facebook. I like to blog. I like shopping online and the anticipation of tracking a package.

I also like being able to communicate with my husband. Somewhere in the 18 months we've been married we've lost the ability to look at each other like this:

Often, we'll be sitting side by side on the couch, each of us with our respective laptop open. I've lost him to the online world of guns, reading reviews, and KSL Classifieds. He's lost me to the online world of crafts, mommy blogs, Facebook, and Amazon.

One of us will talk to the other during this time, and get a vague "Mmmm-hmmm" or "Yeah" in response. This isn't how we started out. We used to be able to talk about anything and everything for hours. We'd listen to music together. We'd cook together, do the dishes together, do everything together. Somewhere, we lost that to the worldwide web.

So, in an effort to rekindle and revitalize our communication, and to maximize our together time, we will be going internet free for a whole week. This period of no e-communication will begin on Monday, and will run for 7 days (duh). So, miss me while I'm gone, and I'll see you when I get back.

Odd (Wo)Man Out

I can be a bit abrasive in social situations. When I'm uncomfortable, I tend to get loud and I use sarcasm to build a little bit of a wall around myself. This is not a news flash for myself, or for anyone who knows me well.

That being said, I have a problem with feeling left out. If some friends get together without inviting me, and I'm around when they're talking about it later, it bugs me that I wasn't invited. If there's a party or a get-together that I'm not involved in, I wonder why I never heard about it. Even if I am invited, and I can't make it, I feel left out when they talk about it.

I also have a slight paranoia that people are talking about me behind my back. If there's a whispered conversation going on around me I (usually without even thinking about it) cock an ear and try and catch what bits I can, just to make sure it's not about me. If I see a conversation happening somewhere out of my earshot, I worry that I'm the topic of conversation.

And my biggest worry? That my abrasiveness has shut me off from others socially. That the reason I think about these things is because I do them to others. Or that people just don't want me around.

So, I'm open to suggestions. Any ideas on how I can stop putting myself in the position of odd woman out?

At Home in the Hive

I would like to introduce you to my old pillow shams.
Now that you've met them, let me tell you a little bit about what's going on. Our bedroom is incredibly blah. I love our duvet cover, so I've slowly been making over our room centered on the colors in our duvet cover. As you can see from the above pictures our shams were old, worn out, and totally didn't match. A few weeks ago at the Downeast clearance center I found some hidden gems.

Meet my new (Pottery Barn!!) pillow shams, that I bought for $3 each:They are mismatched in pattern, but the colors are identical.And they match the green in the duvet perfectly. Hooray!This is the reason for the discounted price. One of them had a tear in it about 2 inches long. I guess it's a good thing I can sew, huh.Doesn't that bed look delicious and inviting? I think so.

My other project that I've been working on are these miniature apothecary jars. I found the idea on Blue Cricket, where one of her readers had found it on Shanty2Chic. Thanks to Kendall for the empty baby food jars. Since I don't have a baby to eat the food, she sort of saved my bacon on this one. Anyway, I think they turned out cute and I'm excited to find little sparkly things to put inside them for the holidays.
And the best news about all of these projects? I completed them in one evening while Curious George was out learning to be a good citizen with the scouts. I was quite the busy little bee. Now, I need to go fold the laundry I've been avoiding.

Under a Bushel

I have, I think, quite a few talents. I have been rather blessed in this area.

I can sing.
I play the piano decently.
I'm a dang good cook.
I'm a whiz with my old Canon film camera.
I make pretty rad baby blankets.
I can sew a little.
I think I'm rather humorous.
I have a million brilliant craft ideas (although, my follow through might be a little lacking).
I can decorate with the eclectic best of 'em.

However, something I seem to be struggling with (and I honestly didn't think I would) is digital photography. My amazing husband bought me one of my dream gifts for Christmas: a Canon Rebel xti. Beautiful! I'd been dreaming about one for months, pricing them out for almost as long, and cruising KSL Classifieds for the deal of the century. Well, lo and behold, there was one waiting under the Christmas tree for me.

Now, considering my luck with my older-than-the-hills film camera I thought I'd be fine. I love to experiment, and I'm a big fan of instant gratification, so I thought this would be fabulous. Oh boy, was I wrong.

I couldn't figure it out on my own, so I signed up for a community-ed digital photography class. Unfortunately for me, the teacher has opted to focus more on Photoshop and the editing aspect of photography. Ack! What's a girl to do?

So, I'm learning on my own how to set the shutter speed, how to change the aperture, how to read the light meter.

And maybe someday I'll be able to add digital photography to my list of talents.

Confessions of an Addict

When I was in college I seriously dated a boy who, I discovered, had a serious problem. We'd been together for awhile when he finally felt like he should come clean with me. He was addicted to pornography. In fact, he'd been sent home early from his mission for it, and he was currently in the church's 12 step program. Then he dropped the big bomb: He wasn't sure that he wanted to continue the program, and he wasn't sure he wanted to give up his beloved porn. When I gave him the ultimatum, either me or the smut, he wanted both. So, I showed him the door.

Curious George saw his first R-rated movie at the age of seven. He was watching it with his parents. When he looked away from the screen, embarrassed by what he was seeing, his dad told him that he was going to be seeing a lot of that in his life and he might as well get used to it. This young-age-exposure, coupled with easy access to more porn and a life lived well outside the standards of the church, bred itself into a full-blown addiction by adulthood. When George "converted" he quit his addiction cold turkey. He is still very careful about what movies he will watch, avoiding all R-rated movies and even some PG-13, and is well aware of what his triggers are.

I didn't realize it until recently, but I had an addiction of another kind. In my quest for what I thought was "real love" I became addicted to Harlequin Romance Novels. It was my own secret little porn addiction. It took me a long time to realize that what was portrayed in these books wasn't real love, eternal love, or even healthy love. So I, like Curious George, quit cold turkey. I still get tempted from time to time, to pick up one of these pieces of filth. I avoid the romance section at the library, and I'm very careful about what I'll allow myself to read.

Pornography is out there. It's not some myth that's been invented to keep us on the straight and narrow. It is a real addiction, with real physical, mental, and emotional triggers. It is readily available to anyone, without even having to look to hard for it.

I hope you will all take the time to visit this site and educate yourselves about the dangers of pornography.

(And thanks for taking the time to read a serious post...)