feminine taming of the boo

ever wonder what happened to all that knowledge women during the victorian period must have done something with? (other than gossiping and setting up fortuitous marriages, of course.)

i just discovered it: embroidery. i mentioned my passing interest in embroidery to my mother in law, who just happened to have a copy of the complete encyclopedia of stitchery that she has given me on loan. i have decided i am going to give it a try. i tell you only because i know you will hold this confession in the strictest confidence. and you (hopefully) won't laugh at me. and you will hold me accountable to actually make something.

and because patterns like these little guys make me really excited.

pattern found here.

things bright and beautiful

earning my cake

birthdays had a very specific tradition growing up in the davis household. we would all gather together with cake, presents and family to honor the day's special someone. and while we all stared at the lovely, sweet cake, my parents would spend about thirty minutes sharing all of their loving memories of their child. (but when you are waiting to consume cake, it was actually about 290 minutes.) when they were done with their sweet words, we went around in the circle and shared a memory or two of the honoree.

when it got to us kids, our memories were generally quite brief in an attempt to expedite the period before cake consumption. you would usually hear "yeah, so, you're usually pretty nice i guess. and i remember one time you got mad at me for something. but i got over it, because i love you. next?"

this took about 400 cake-time minutes (six kids, you know). when it got to my grandparents, it increased to about 3,000 cake-time minutes. (yep, that's 50 hours. can you tell a pregnant diabetic is writing today's post?) after a total of 3,690 cake-time minutes, we would finally open gifts (add another 70 of those minutes) and eat CAKE.

well, as we have all sort of grown up and kind of moved on, we don't do this very much anymore.

today, my brother cameron would have turned 30 years old (what an old man!) and i have been thinking about him a lot this week. and missing him. and dreading today.

but i was blessed to have a wonderful and thankful attitude today. so i will share my memory (if you have made it this far, you have already lived through 45 cake minutes. nice work.)

exhibit a: cameron looking suspiciously sweet with jil circa 1984.

cameron used to look like a sweet, unsuspecting child. but i always knew he was something more than that. something much darker. something that fed my barbie dolls to our mean dog. something that perfected the art of the "indian burn." something that paraded jil's new supergirl underwear in front of all his friends. something that had a brain too quick and a tongue too sharp for my own good.

he kept us all on our toes. it was wonderful.

one time, my oldest brother tried explaining who satan was -- a deeply perplexing concept to five-year-old boo. after a frustrating period of time, he finally blurted, "he's just the meanest, worst person you can imagine." stunned, i replied, "what?!? worse than CAMERON?" it resonated. but i was still recruited to be the president of The Official Cameron Fan Club during one long road trip. it is still an office i wish i could put on my resume as one of my greatest achievements.

over time, cameron grew up to be a bigger child who was a little worse at hiding how soft his heart was. he made me lunch (sugar cookies and sausage) when my parents were out of town. he gave my friends nicknames. he booby-trapped my door a little less. he stopped being the enemy and became my ally.

exhibit b: cameron looking deceivingly tough with his three sisters circa 1998.

the last thanksgiving we spent together, cameron and i had been watching an inappropriate amount of celebrity gossip television. we got endless entertainment from the fact that a recently separated britney spears and justin timberlake had a dance off at a local club. later that day, at the movie theater, cameron challenged me to a dance-off on a video game. in his camo pants, white t-shirt and mohawk, he completely annihilated me. and entertained everyone in the lobby. what a guy.

so, cameron, happy happy birthday. i know you are still keeping everyone on their toes here and on the other side. i can't wait to see what antics you have planned for when i see you next.

(after a brief 340 cake minutes) let's eat some cake.

p.s. i plan on posting some new photos of me/baby/some projects i have been working on this weekend. you know, if you're interested.

so much to say, so much to say

did you ever write yourself a letter in school that you were supposed to seal and not look at for about ten or twenty years? but then did you take it home for about two months until you found it again, ripped it open, realized how stupid the contents were and threw it away? (thus denying yourself the joy of reading it ten or twenty years later.)

i think i did that about a dozen times. and sometimes that's how i feel about my blog -- like it's this weird letter to myself that i am embarrassed to look at a few months after it's gone up. this time i am trying not to destroy sections i don't like. i think i (or jesse, or the little one(s)) might like to see it later.

so, here is a new time-capsule letter to capture how wonderful i feel today.

dear boo,

i feel that i have so very much to say, but so little of it may be of interest. maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, or maybe it's just a sliver of understanding of how much i am really blessed, but this thanksgiving was a blissful occasion.

last weekend, jesse spoke in stake conference with a general authority -- a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles to be exact. it was, in short, wonderful. he was given very little time to prepare, because apparently elder nelson wanted to see all the proposed speakers and take their names to the temple before any could be approached about speaking. nonetheless, jesse was perfect. he made me sob through the entire five minutes. (again, blaming the hormones here.)

we recently got the latest letter from st. jude children's research hospital asking for our donations. we love st. jude's and try to give when/how we can, but it has been much closer to home since my dear friend's little daughter, emma, has spent the last year getting some intensive treatment there for neuroblastoma, a pretty wicked cancer. when we opened the letter, we were so excited to see emma's little face (we know her!) peering back at us above a short description of her story. you had better believe that will sucker us into a better donation this christmas. i hope that my friends would consider the same. (yep, stepping out of letter speak there.) i am a huge fan of modern medicine and consider it nothing less than a miracle. it saves my life every day, and i know it has saved emma's four-year-old life a few times now.

last week at work, my boss pulled me into her office (generally a sign i'm getting a buttload -- that's a real term -- of work coming my way). i was shocked and delighted to find that instead of a huge project, i got an award for "working hard" and "running myself ragged" and "not sucking." and it came with a bonus! A BONUS! i didn't even know that those existed! it's not much, but i think it might be enough to buy myself fruit snacks for the rest of my pregnancy.

oh, and did i mention that we had three thanksgiving dinners this year? pie + elastic maternity pants = oh crap, i'm blaming that weight gain on the baby.

finally, the swell season concert jesse took me to for a late anniversary gift was phenomenal. seriously brilliant. but if they have hyperlinks in the future, and you have about thirty minutes, you can just watch this video and remember. see? didn't you love it?

anyway, i hope things are going well for you now. i also hope that they have finally developed the hovercraft and an easy way to remove all stretch marks.

love,

boo

another year over, a new one just begun

it seems i get mushy about my husband fairly regularly on here lately, but i feel justified today. three years ago, the dashing jesse jones (unwittingly) married awkward little me. i am still shocked and thrilled about it. the last three years have been the most wonderful adventure of my life. i can't wait for the next three (and the three after that).

jesse: i'll eat you up, i love you so.

busy times call for busy photos

full heart

ovember is one of my favorite months. it is a wonderful season for reflection -- an opportunity to be grateful for things we have been blessed with (and boy, have we ever been blessed!). and though i know there is so much i already have to be grateful for, i am overwhelmed by the cool opportunities ahead of us that keep me so very optimistic about the several weeks ahead.

on our schedule:

seeing these guys in concert in a couple of weeks.

a well-earned thanksgiving break for the mister.

our third wedding anniversary.

gestating the little one and enjoying all the little squirms and not-so-little jabs in the ribs. (it seems like this opportunity would be blessing enough.)

jesse acting as opening speaker for this guy at an upcoming stake conference (a super cool story i will have to share in more detail later).

with so much excitement on the horizon, you would think that i wouldn't need anything else these days. really, i don't need anything else. but with the most wonderful friends in the world, i have gotten TWO packages in the mail this week. you read that right. Dos. Zwei. Deux. (and i even stole the idea for the lovely drop cap at the beginning of this post from one of the lovely ladies. it's shameless, really.)

so, i really could try to make this post a bit more witty or interesting, but my heart is just too full. i am grateful for that. and i can't wait to find ways to share it with other people. until next time, may your november be merry and bright.