2013 favorites

Books

This was definitely a year of nonfiction for me. For fiction, all I had listed were Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver and  Rainbow Rowell's books- Fangirl, Eleanor & Park, and Attachments. My nonfiction list is much longer- The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne, Bomb by Steve Sheinkin, The President Has Been Shot! by James Swanson, Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward, The Fight For Home by Daniel Wolff, Zealot by Reza Aslan, Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh, and Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton.

As for children's books, Brayden loved any and all of Mo Willems' books, the Scaredy Squirrel books by Melanie Watt, the Ladybug Girl books by David Soman and Jacky Davis, Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, Chu's Day by Neil Gaiman, The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin, and Journey by Aaron Becker.

Movies

Without a doubt, my top two were Fruitvale Station and Before Midnight. I also enjoyed The Place Beyond the Pines, The Great Gatsby, and Frozen. Movies from 2013 I want to see but haven't gotten around to yet include: 12 Years a Slave, Long Walk to Freedom, Mud, The Dallas Buyers Club, The Butler, and American Hustle.

Brayden also loved Frozen, as well as Despicable Me 2 and Home Alone.

Television

Thanks to Netflix and Hulu Plus, I watched A LOT of television in 2013. I finally watched all of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and loved it. I re-watched Veronica Mars because of the movie being made. I binge-watched House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Arrested Development (re-watching the original three seasons and watching the new fourth season), Scandal, and The Walking Dead. I continued watching and loving Parks & Rec, The Daily Show, and Modern Family. The last week of the year I started Doctor Who and The Big Bang Theory and have continued catching up on those.

Brayden's favorites were Phineas and Ferb, Super Mario Brothers, Dora the Explorer, and The Aquabats Super Show.

Podcasts

Citizen Radio, Rachel Maddow, This American Life, Radio West, One Bad Mother, and Welcome to Nightvale

Dancing through life

Just in case you need something to make you smile today...

 

 

Buying a house and breaking my foot

We started looking for a house in April, but none of the houses we looked at worked for us. Even if we liked it, we just were not fast enough in the current market. It seemed like every house we looked at already had an offer in. Our realtor (Adam's aunt) called us one day and wanted us to look at a house immediately. We would be the first potential buyers to see it, because it was for sale by owner and not being advertised on the real estate websites. We liked it, but couldn't afford the asking price. We offered $10K less, and he counter-offered. We still felt it was too high and decided to back down. Adam kept thinking about it though, and wanted to submit another offer a week later. That offer ($144K) got accepted!

We wanted to close in 30 days, but our credit union was up front that they were backed up in the loan department. We ended up closing in six weeks... but not before I broke a bone in my foot. Our loan officer was nice, but overbearing. She waited until a week before the finance deadline before going through our paperwork and needed SO much documentation for different things, one of which being an account statement for the account our down payment money was in. We sent it in two different times before mid-June. On June 17th, the day of our financing deadline and one week before closing, she needed it for a third time. I'm still not sure if she misplaced paperwork, or possibly just needed to make sure we hadn't spent the money in the week since we had submitted it last. I printed an up-to-date statement and sent it with Adam. Somewhere between him and the bank's scanner, something went wrong. Some pages were scanned twice, some not at all. I was so frustrated. The loan officer said it could wait until tomorrow, but I just wanted it done. I got Brayden ready to go and we headed outside. We had to walk to Adam's work (5-10 minute walk) to get the paperwork and the car. I fell while walking there. After taking a long break, I kept walking (mistake) and eventually got the paperwork in. I figured I would just be sore for a few days. When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't put any weight on it. I called in to my work and headed to an urgent care clinic. After x-rays and a CT scan, they decided I had a lisfranc fracture. I was given crutches and a referral to an orthopedic doctor. They fit me in the next day and let me know I would be in a hard cast for a month to six weeks and a walking boot for a few weeks afterwards.

The timing couldn't have been worse. We had only packed about 5% of our stuff and we were supposed to move the next week. Work was picking up because of summer reading and another shelver being on vacation, and they were all of the sudden short a shelver for four-six weeks. I knew it would ruin the summer for Brayden. I felt like I was letting everyone down, but we made it through.

We closed as planned on the 24th. I did what I could packing-wise (not much) and I cancelled/set up utilities. We moved a lot of our stuff on the 27th. It took Adam another few weeks to get everything over though. We had a break in moving for Brayden's 4th birthday on July 2nd. Adam thought he finally had the condo ready to list on the 11th, so we had our realtor (and Adam's aunt) come by. She gave him a long list of things to do, so from the 11th until the 18th he was basically at work, working on the condo, or asleep. It was a very hard week for all three of us. We listed it on the 18th, though, and got multiple offers over the weekend. We signed an offer today. It's less than what we paid for it four years ago, but sometimes that happens.

As for my foot, I get to start bearing weight on it soon and plan to go back to work (in a walking boot) next week. Honestly, I can't wait to go back. Now that Brayden is older, I am a better mom when I work. It was so hard for us to be stuck inside most days for the last five weeks. It was also hard on me to have no control over what was happening over at the condo. Adam may have been working slow sometimes, but it was still a lot faster than I was getting anything done. Asking for help is another thing that does not come natural for me, yet was something I had to do. Breaking my foot was definitely a learning experience, a very trying one. I'm so glad our families kicked in and helped as much as they did. My parents drove me to my doctor's appointments and took me out to eat after. My brother let me borrow his wheelchair. Adam's family helped him with the condo. My sweet coworker brought a wonderful dinner and her daughter (our babysitter) took Brayden swimming to give me a break as part of a YW service project. Another friend brought Iceberg shakes and sat with me to visit while our boys played.

Moab

I don't know how many readers I have anymore, seeing as I last wrote here in February, but a few people have asked me to keep going. I don't really know where to start, but I guess I'll write a few update posts and then try to get back to book reviews, typical mommy posts, and my political rantings. For right now, I only have access to a tablet, so my posts might lack pictures for awhile.

We went on a trip to Moab in March. It was the first time I have ever been there and I loved it. I do t know why I'm always surprised when I find new places/sites in Utah that I love, but I am. We spent our first night at Goblin Valley State Park. We stayed in a yurt, which was really fun. Brayden loved exploring the "goblins." My favorite part was laying in the sand in a small canyon behind the yurt with Adam and Brayden looking at the stars. It was also nice to be so disconnected. I think the only other place I haven't had cell service for an extended period of time (more than 12 hours) in the last few years is at Adam's family ranch. 

The next day, we made it to Moab. Over the next three days, we hit Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, and Canyonlands National Park. I loved all of them. I love the park system and (political rant coming) I'm disappointed in Governor Herbert's attempts to take away what is now federal land. I just don't trust his administration to not try to make money off the land. Anyways, back to our trip. We did a lot of hiking (for us, anyways). More hiking then I have ever done in a three day period other than Pioneer Trek. I was so sore by the end of the trip, but I was glad I did it. I know it's cliche, but I think the Delicate Arch hike was my favorite. It was a little nerve-wracking to hike that trail with a three year old, but worth it. 

I also enjoyed the town of Moab. We hit up many eateries (my favorite being the Moab Brewery), a thrift store, the local library, and bookshop. On our last evening there, we took the scenic drive to Castle Valley. I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but one of my favorite non-fiction authors (Terry Tempest Williams) lives there and writes about southern Utah so beautifully that I wanted to see the town. One of the books I read on the trip was her book Red.

I really fell in love with Moab and hope I get to go again someday. I went to the children's museum in Ogden with a friend six weeks ago. In one room, they have a map of Utah on the ground. It really hit me how little of Utah I've seen and how much I want to see. I hope we will eventually be able to travel more.

Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Sometimes, you just have to admit how wrong you were. Here is my confession: I was wrong about Hillary Rodham Clinton. As a Republican, I had typical Republican views of her. Even when I became a Democrat (and a feminist), I didn't like her. Part of it was that I was caught up in the Obama craze of the 2008 campaign. I insisted that I didn't want the first woman president to be someone riding their husband's coat tails. When she did an amazing job as Secretary of State, my view of her started to change. After reading her memoirs, I can't believe that I continued to think of her in that way for as long as I did past my Republican days.

She was accomplished in her own regards before she even met Bill Clinton. She kept her name after marrying him until giving into pressure to add Clinton for HIS political future. (Myth I used to believe: She only added Clinton when she wanted the name recognition for her political career.)

One part I loved and completely relate to right now was this part: "I joked about the Irish television personality who had recently welcomed a group of women lawmakers to his show by asking "Who's minding the children?" I smiled and said "I long for the day when men are asked the same question."

It drives me nuts that Adam is hardly ever asked this, even though we both work. And as much as I love the man, he annoyed me recently when he wouldn't tell his boss the reason he needed a specific night off each week was that he needed to be home with Brayden because I was going to have to work that night each week. All he would say to his boss was that he needed Thursday nights off. His boss ket scheduling him anyways, which I think might not have happened had he explained his reasons for needing it off. (Anyways, back to the book review-)

I also related to her take on abortion. I had read a quote by her last year that I agree with- "abortion should be safe, legal, and rare." It was interesting to read a longer explanation of her views. "When I defend my pro-choice position in the debate over abortion in our country, I frequently refer to Romania, where pregnancy could be monitored on behalf of the state, and to China, where it could be forcibly terminated. One reason I continue to oppose efforts to criminalize abortion is that I do not believe any government should have the power to dictate, through law or police action, a woman's most personal decisions."

She went into more detail of the Lewinsky scandal than I thought she would. Reading that part was hard. It made me wonder something, though. One argument against her is that she only stayed married to him for her own political career. I don't know if I believe that anymore. I think that she got flak from both sides of that issue. At the end of the day, it was her decision to make and she made it. I almost think people (not me, but some people) would have respected her more had she left him.

I wanted her to write more about her first few years in the Senate. Hopefully she'll eventually write another memoir that focuses on her time in the Senate, her time as Secretary of State, and maybe even her time as President. I know I'll vote for her if she runs in 2016.

Utah Senator Mike Lee and the Violence Against Women Act

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was first signed into law in 1994 by then President Bill Clinton. From Wikipedia: "The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress in cases prosecutors chose to leave unprosecuted. The Act also established the Office on Violence Against Women within the Department of Justice."

The bill ended at the beginning of 2013 after failing to be reauthorized during the 2012 legislative session. All of the women in the Senate (with the exception of Nebraska's Republican Senator Deb Fischer) co-sponsored the bill to be brought for a vote during this session.

Utah's own Senator Mike Lee was one of only eight senators to vote against considering the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. It is likely that Lee is against added provisions that expanded the number of visas available to illegal immigrants who are victims of domestic abuse (a provision that has already been dropped), as well as provisions that protect LGBT victims of violence and Native American victims of domestic violence. However, Senator Lee is somewhat infamous for explaining away his very partisan votes with his extreme beliefs about unconstitutionality.

Lee has not spoken about his vote today, but his argument against the 2012 bill can be found here: "The Violence Against Women Act oversteps the Constitution’s rightful limits on federal power. Violent crimes are regulated and enforced almost exclusively by state governments. In fact, domestic violence is one of the few activities that the Supreme Court of the United States has specifically said Congress may not regulate under the Commerce Clause. As a matter of constitutional policy, Congress should not seek to impose rules and standards as conditions for federal funding in areas where the federal government lacks constitutional authority to regulate directly."

For ways to contact Senator Lee, look here. You can be sure I'll be sending him an email myself. If I get a response, I'll be sure to post it.

Cross-posted from Remember in November

Currently

Humming Mumford & Sons- When I don't have an audio book to listen to at work, I usually end up shuffling through Mumford & Sons songs

Drinking Nothing at the moment, but I seem to have gotten myself hooked on Diet Coke again

Worrying about doing our taxes and what bills we'll get for Brayden's surgery

Working on my first coursera class, the Remember in November blog following the Utah State Legislature, and getting back into going to the gym

Wondering about preschools

Reading Letters From Exile: The Correspondence of Martha Hughes Cannon and Angus M. Cannon and Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson (Just goes to show the very wide variety of books I read!)

Wishing that I had a few more hours in the day

Remembering the good things in life

Beginning to think about my identity outside of "Mom" a little more

Getting more and more interested in Buffy the Vampire Slayer