Engagement

So I have some great news! I'm engaged. Actually, I've been engaged for about a month, but I'm not very good at updating my blog. I just don't feel like I have that much to write about. Life's been really different lately. I just realized I hadn't even posted since I started dating Greg. Hmm... I really do need to improve here.
Well, then, to give you a brief update...
Gregory and I met via a mutual friend, Tiffany. We were just friends for a few months but started to really talk during May. At the end of May we were dating. By the beginning of August, it felt like a forever, this is right moment. We talked about getting married and he felt the same way. So he talked to my parents and we went to look at rings the next day. He proposed on a Sunday. We'd been spending time with his family and on the way out I kissed him and he said, "I just can't take it anymore. Will you marry me?" He got down on one knee and slipped the ring he had picked onto my finger. I was sort of surprised but my immediate reaction was to call my grandmother. (After I said yes, of course!) On the way home, I started this weird, so -happy -I -can't- stand- it- don't- know -whether- to- laugh- or- cry- so -I'll -do -both thing. Wedding planning is going well so far, though we need to hear from the temple regarding their schedule before we can do much of anything else. I have my bouquet done, the dress pattern picked out (Thanks to the amazing sewing abilities of my mother!), bridesmaids dresses patterns, flower girls, veil, head piece, photography (thanks Tiffany!), invitation picked out, etc. So now it's just the date so I can finish refreshments, book the cultural hall, mail out invitations, etc
But honestly, I'm more concerned about being a good wife and homemaker than I am about the wedding. I'm working now, but I still feel strongly tied to home. I'm still working on educating myself to be the best I can, something I think I'll always be doing. Marriage is for eternity. My Wedding will just be one day. I want to make the wedding nice, but the marriage even better.
Cate

LDS.org - CES Fireside - The Reflection in the Water

LDS.org - CES Fireside - The Reflection in the Water

We are children of our Heavenly Father who loves us.

New Rule... Nutrition time!

   It shocks me how basic some of the things in life I miss are. I've been thinking about improving my health and fitness overall, and part of that involves trying to shed a few pounds. I've been taking it slowly, exercising 5 or 6 times per week and improving one meal at a time. Lately, though, it feels like I've been counter productive, thanks to the Easter Holiday and a mild bout of the blues. I think I need to pay a lot more attention to what it is I'm eating. So I've put a new rule into effect, starting today- if it isn't nutritious, I don't eat it. It sounds simple enough, and I can put it into place for the two meals per day I prepare myself, as well as any time I'm asked to fix dinner. I hope to learn a lot more about nutrition and the body, as it has such a powerful effect on both the mind and the Spirit. Hopefully it will go well!

New Education Resource

As readers of this blog may well know by this time, I am an advocate of self-education, of obtaining as much knowledge as possible. I have recently found some great resources for those wishing to pursue their own education at home, or just to enrich their lives. I find that this education is uplifting, inspiring and in general makes me happier. To paraphrase a quote in the McGuffy Reader series, which was popular in nineteenth century education, "If a day passes where you have not learned or done something useful, it is a day wasted and you ought to be very sorry for it."

So, the list of self education websites:

Yale Open Courses:
I like this resource because they have recorded the lectures in a downloadable format. You can listen to the professor, read the transcript, see the assignments in part, as well as the midterm and the answers in some cases and see which textbooks are used. So far I find the recordings to be clear, which is an advantage over some of the other open courses I've found, but the number of classes is fewer.
http://oyc.yale.edu/

U Moodle: provided by the University of Utah
I have to brag a bit about this site, allow me to plug my Alma Mater! Even though I haven't completed this set of courses, there are a few categories such as teaching and learning that I haven't seen on other open course ware sites.
http://my.courses.utah.edu/course/category.php?id=3

Utah State Open Course Ware:
I have used a few of the Family and Consumer Science courses and I loved them! The topics were interesting and the materials clear. There is a fee, as required, for some of the courses but the vast majority are free. Bonus: There are links on the homepage to other open course ware sites!
http://ocw.usu.edu/

John Hopkins Open Course Ware:
The classes here are, as might be expected, primarily medical in nature, but the topics looked interesting. I haven't checked this one out yet, but I hope to soon.
http://ocw.jhsph.edu/

Notre Dame Open Course Ware:
One of the categories that intrigued me here was a Medieval Studies category. They had some courses in categories I didn't see on other sites, including Catholic Tradition, Africana and Theology.
http://ocw.nd.edu/

Harvard Open Learning Initiative:
This one had very few courses but if you've wanted to sample Harvard, this is a great resource for you!
http://www.extension.harvard.edu/openlearning/

MIT Open Courses:
This was the first site I discovered and it has many courses. You can search courses by department, audio video and more.
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

UC Berkeley Open Courses:
The recordings here tended to be a bit garbled, but the courses are interesting none the less. I especially like how you can search the large number of classes by the term they were offered.
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/

Project Gutenberg:
While not an open course site, I love project Gutenberg for it's reading material. They have great books in classic literature, but also historic homemaking manuals (a favorite of mine!) and even a free CD or DVD download. It's entirely legal and fascinating! Audio book feature is nice for on the go education!
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

And a closing thought on education: "If formal education is not available, do not allow that to prevent you from acquiring all the knowledge you can. Under such circumstances, the best books, in a sense, can become your “university”—a classroom that is always open and admits all who apply. Strive to increase your knowledge of all that is “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.” Seek knowledge “by study and also by faith.” Seek with a humble spirit and contrite heart. As you apply the spiritual dimension of faith to your study—even of temporal things—you can amplify your intellectual capacity, for “if your eye be single to [God’s] glory, your whole [body] shall be filled with light, … and [comprehend] all things.” - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

New Blog

I'm thinking about creating a new blog, historical story of the day. We have so many amazing stories in our past, so much to learn from and to inspire. I hope this blog can get more of a readership.

Soy Creamer Potato Soup

So, cooking with soy has always been somewhat of a challenge for me. I find that most soy products have a sweet aftertaste, which can be off putting if I'm trying to prepare a main dish. Today, however, was a potato soup weather day. So I adjusted a recipe from Southern Living Cookbook and created some of the best potato soup I've made yet!

Here goes:

2 large potatoes, or 4 medium ones

about 4tsp chicken bullion

1tbsp basil

1/2 a medium onion

2 cups Soy Creamer ( I used Mocha Mix original!)

about 1/2 cup carrot

3 bacon strips cooked and chopped

1/2 tsp hot sauce

3 cups water

1/4c flour

Wash and peel potatoes. Chop into bite size pieces. Boil for about 5 minutes and drain.

Chop onions and carrot, add to potatoes in large pot. Add in soy creamer, water, flour and stir. Stir in bacon, hot sauce, chicken bullion and basil. Cover and let simmer for 40 minutes... enjoy!

I also made cornbread, but the only substitution I made there was using water instead of milk!

So it's time to be a bit more realistic.

Getting up at four o'clock am is not happening. I'm getting slightly better at going to bed on time, but I think four am is just too early for me. I've also decided that rather than set these huge, lofty goals, I ought to set some smaller ones. For today- Restore order! I've let my room go a bit. It's time to put things to rights. Housework it is, though I think I'll take a slightly slower pace today, I'm a bit sick.

Let's go

I realized today, to an extent, the futility of excuses. I either am or I am not. I either do or I do not. I either learn or I don't. I have the ability to choose, to make the most of my abilities and talents, or not. So I think I will post a list of what I would like to do and to learn.

To learn:

Sewing. I don't have the faintest idea when it comes to sewing. I think it would be a valuable skill to learn.

Physics. I think as an individual, my education in the realm of science and math is seriously lacking.

Calculus and beyond. Math is everywhere. I shouldn't always be trying to avoid it. I am not too stupid to learn it, if anything, what I lack is discipline. So to calculus it is.

Chemistry- see above comment.

Gardening and plant care.

Biology- life is amazing! Yet I know so little about how it works. How does a cell function? What is the roll of DNA or RNA?

Cooking. I am going to have to eat for the rest of my life. I may as well learn to make food that is tasty and nutritious

Spanish- What I know means nothing if I am not able to communicate and apply it. A growing portion of the population of the United States speaks Spanish

Greek- It would be amazing to be able to read the New Testament in Greek

To play the organ- it's the primary instrument for Church music.

Music theory- I love classical music, it would be great to learn how it works. I've tried in the past, but lacked the discipline.

Cleaning- How can I make a space visually appealing? I believe that environment impacts behavior. How can I create spaces that promote the behaviors I seek?

Church History- One of the things we are told to do is remember. How can we remember what we do not know?

To do:
Start getting up at four in the morning. There would be so much more time in the day.

Go to bed at 10:30. Otherwise four in the morning will not go so well.

Be able to run a mile in 10:00- not very fast I know, but I've never been good at running

Be a size 6. I'm not sure anything smaller than that would be good for my 5'9 self.

Serve 100 hours in 1 year.

Go back to school by January 2011

Out of the mouths of babes

I volunteer in a kindergarten classroom where I am often surprised at the wisdom that children inherently possess. The enthusiasm they have for learning and for life inspires me to want to be better and see the joy in simple things. Today, for instance, was a day where I just didn't feel like I was doing much of anything worthwhile. One of my students sat down next to me and said, "I'm here for you Miss Cate." She meant, that she was sitting next to me. To me, though, it was a reminder that Someone is here for me. Always.

Thought of the day

I am, no matter how much I try to deny it, a hopeless romantic. This is one of those things that I think I move past and then realize that no, I don't. I love hearing stories of people finding real, families are forever happiness. I think perhaps one of the greatest tragedies we can encounter is selling ourselves short of what we could be. If, as it says in Moses 1:39, the Lord's work is "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man", it would make sense that he would provide some guidelines to assist us in reaching his objectives. It would make sense to pray every day to seek some help in being what He wants us to be. Heavenly Father is trying to help us become all that we could be, to be more than we can at this point imagine. He wants to exalt us in families. Eternal families. In the Doctrine and Covenants section 19:10 it says that "Endless" is one of the Lord's names. Wouldn't it make sense then that Eternal Families would be God's family? He promotes marriage! The Lord's glory is to bring about Eternal Life. Doctrine and Covenants section 132 talks about his plan for marriages. I think I need to stop worrying about the future and trust God. I need to work on being all I can be, to prepare all I can, but then to put it in the hands of Heavenly Father. He knows everything. He knows everyone, better than we know ourselves. I heard a quote that I can't remember the source on, but it said "work like everything depends on you. Pray like everything depends on the Lord." Anyhow, those are my thoughts for today.

Jobs

Today I had a job interview. I was excited and ready to go. Then the interview came and there was an hour wait, which promptly caused me to be unnerved. Alas. I have decided that most of the time, feelings of nervousness or discontent seem to come, at least for me, when I am idle. The more productive my time is, the more secure and content I feel. The more I cross off of my to do list, the better my day is. Anyhow, the hour draws late and I ought not further rob tomorrow by staying up too late today.

Playing Catch Up

It's been some time since I last posted on this blog. I've relocated to Texas and am taking a break from my formal education until I can pay for it without debt. Meanwhile, I've been volunteering at an elementary school and trying to continue my studies as much as I can, work on my homemaking skills and seeking employment. I'm trying to develop a better sense of discipline and organization, get in shape and become more like the person I imagine I can be. I'll let you know as this happens, and I hope to post more on this process daily.