Sharing Gifts, the Gospel and Love for Christmas

This Christmas season I felt especially blessed with temporal needs (food, clothing, finances), the gospel and love (from family and friends, most of all Brittney). I felt a great desire to share these three things with as many people as I could. It is not appropriate for me to share all the experiences I had, but I felt the Lord guided me in who I could help and how.

Brittney bought me too many presents for Christmas. I felt like a little kid again as I opened Lincoln logs, a wooden train, and the snap pants I've been asking for since last Christmas as well as CDs and books. I gave Brittney wooden spoons, a mixing bowl, a deep skillet, running pants, the game Life on the Farm, and Santa Claus brought us a toy dairy farm set and Illinois pullovers. Just a comment about the wooden spoons. I knew Brittney wanted some more of them, so I went out and got some for her the Monday before Thanksgiving to give her for Christmas. Two days later we were having a conversation and Brittney mentioned something she was thinking of buying, and I told her not to buy anything for herself during the month before Christmas, because someone might be giving it to her for Christmas. The very next day she went out and bought herself some wooden spoons because she needed them for our Thanksgiving dinner. I laughed so hard; I had to explain to her why, even though it spoiled the surprise.

Brittney signed up to take dinner to a couple people in our ward who were unable to leave their houses on Christmas. I invited some people from my lab and other friends over for Christmas dinner. I was worried how we would be good hosts and take out the meals while it was still hot, until finally it dawned on me that we could have our guests go with us to take the meals out. We had a feast, then I took Ming Feng and Yaodong, both from China, and Andulfo, from Hondorus with me, and Brittney took the Jacks with her to deliver the meals. We tried singing "Jingle Bells" at the house I went to, it was a humble version with only one native singer. It was a good experience though for everyone. When we got home, we all played Life on the Farm, and Dr. Ming Feng won. It was a great Christmas.

Proposition 8

Our local newspaper ran an editorial a couple weeks ago wherein the author questioned why the Mormon church was so concerned about the passing of proposition 8 in California when there were so many people sick and in need of help, so I wrote an answer and it appeared in the Savoy Star today. I thought you might like to read:

To the Editor,
I applaud the passing of Proposition 8 in California. God set the standard for marriage when he commanded Adam and Eve to cleave unto each other. Children are most likely to succeed in a home where there is both a father AND a mother, neither being wholly dispensable.

The people in California are choosing to not endure a breakdown of the true definition of marriage between a man and a woman. Alexander Pope reminds us that first we endure, then pity, then embrace. Embracing an alternate definition of marriage would jeopardize propagation of the human race because same sex relationships cannot produce children on their own.

People of different backgrounds are standing together on this vital issue. Legalization of same sex marriage imposes on rights of educators, adoption agencies, and civil servants to follow religious beliefs. For example, Catholic Charities in Boston stopped adoption services because advocates and government officials challenged their right to follow their religious beliefs, placing children in homes with both a mother and a father.

The joys of marriage between a man and a woman, and the ensuing joys of having children are worth every cost. I have been married to my wife for three years now. It is hard for me to remember now how I ever survived without her. Our differences compliment each other and help each of us become a better person.

Anyone interested in learning more about why Mormons would spend so much money promoting Proposition 8, the importance of family, and what we are doing to relieve the sick are invited to talk with our missionaries or visit www.mormon.org
Sincerely,
Bruce Richards

Thanksgiving

I know I have posted a lot today, but I have the day off, Bruce is napping, and I have nothing else pressing my schedule to do. Bruce and I wanted to stay here for Thanksgiving, but we wanted to have something more than just the two of us. We decided to schedule the church building and invite anyone in the ward who wanted to join us for a Thanksgiving feast. We had some volunteers, so we gave everyone food assignments, brought a lot of games, and had a great time. I cooked a 23 lb. turkey which was ready way too early, and we had more food than we could possibly imagine between turkey, ham, duck, stuffing, potatoes, salad, etc.


We visited for a couple of hours before hand and played a friendly game of basketball. We played card games and more basketball after dinner. Bruce and I were at the church from 10:00 am until 7:00 pm, but it was loads of fun. We had a member in our ward from Taiwan bring a friend from China, and Bruce brought the Akbar from Iran and Dr. Ping from China (they work in his lab) also. They brought the duck and some other Chinese desserts. We had plenty of pie, and I took a boat load of leftovers home. I was really glad we were able to stay here for Thanksgiving. It made things a lot easier, and despite the preparations, it was actually a very relaxing day. I had the day off of school on Wednesday, so I made some of the dishes then. I'm glad we were able to express our thanks to every one sitting at the table. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.


The Saturday before Thanksgiving, we played in the Elder's quorum annual Turkey Bowl. I ended the game with 2 Touchdown, 1 TD pass, and 1 interception. Bruce and I were actually on the same team this year, but our team lost by 2 touchdowns. It was extremely cold in the morning, but we warmed up as we were running around. We enjoyed some great apple cider and donuts during half time.

Bruno!

Bruce has a new friend named Bruno. Let me explain. 5 years ago, I was driving home to Wyoming from a friend's wedding reception in Bear River City. It was close to 10:00 at night and I was traveling through Morgan canyon. As most people know, a lot of deer roam the canyon roads. When I was half way through the canyon, a deer jumped over the cement barrier right in front of me. It was still in the air when I hit it. It took out the front end of the car, broke the hood latch, and ended up totaling the car. The amount of damage far exceeded the worth of the car. This picture doesn't justify the extent of the damage, but it is all I have.
It was perhaps the most frightening experience of my life. In order to reference this deer in the future, my dad named him Bruce after my brother pointed out that I gave him some abuse. From that point on, I have referred to all deer as Bruces. Keep in mind that this was before I actually met my husband or anyone by the name of Bruce. That year my dad said that everyone at school would hear how much abuse I gave Bruce and no one would date me. He also thought it would be funny if I met someone named Bruce. Needless to say, that year in college was the year I had the most dates, and the year I met my husband Bruce. I lived through that experience and hoped that it would never happen again. Unfortunately I was dead wrong. Monday night I was driving home from our regional basketball game (we lost). Sellers road goes between corn and soybean field, and a small orchard. On the left side of the road I saw a deer starting to walk across. I slammed on my brakes and felt them lock up, but I didn't come to a complete stop. I was able to slow down to about 30 miles an hour. While I was slamming on my brakes, I saw the deer stop momentarily. However, right when I got next to it, it dropped it's head and ran full force into the side of my car. That blasted deer hit me. Poor Frank (the car)! I screamed and nearly let go of the wheel. The deer made me slow down to about 10 miles and hour, so I quickly gained control and pulled over to the side of the road. Although it was dark, I tried to make out the extent of the damage. Nothing too bad, except that now our car is ugly with this nice little hole in the side of it. It is hard to see, but there is also a slight scrape all the way across the driver's side door.

As is customary procedure, Bruce and I gave that deer a name. I had to think of something that went well with Bruce, so we came up with Bruno. If you are wondering why there is a hole in the side of our car, you can thank Bruno. Luckily no one else was injured in the slightest, and I think Bruno ran off anyway because we couldn't find him.

Louisville Kentucky

For the second year in a row, Bruce and I traveled to Kentucky for the All American National Livestock Expo centered in Louisville. Also for the second year in a row, Bruce was presented an award from the American Jersey association. Last year, we spent way too much time (3 whole days) with the animals at the Expo center. This year I told Bruce that I wanted to do something else in Louisville. I browsed the internet and found the Louisville Slugger Museum, a tourist attraction, and where they make baseball bats for the major leagues. I forced Bruce to take me, and there we spent an entire afternoon. We went on a tour of the Slugger factory where they showed us up close each step of the bat making process. Originally, they used to turn bats by hand, making one bat in 30 minutes. Now they have machines that do the same thing (with better accuracy) and it only takes 30 seconds per bat. Most bats were made of Ash. However, Barry Bonds uses maple bats and they have become increasingly popular. Maple is a little weaker wood than Ash, so most of the bats that break in the major leagues are made of Maple. The tour guide tried to tell us that Rawlings made all the bats that break. It is interesting to see how the bats have changed over time and which major league player has the most influence over the types of bats used. A major league player can call the factory and have a load full of bats delivered within two days. The longest part of the whole process is staining the bats which needs an entire day to dry. They are still dipped in the stain tank by hand. The major league players who have contracts with Louisville have an engraved autograph which the factory brands on the end of their bats. In the factory, they have separate machines and areas for major leagues, minor leagues, and retail bats. If you want to pay $60.00 or more, you can purchase a signature bat that is custom made for you. In the museum they have a presidential exhibit where it talks about the presidents' opinions on baseball and has their signed autograph from when they threw out the first pitch of the World Series. I didn't actually know that so many of our past presidents played baseball in college. William Taft was the first president to throw the first pitch of the World series, and Herbert Hoover was the only president to be booed while throwing the firs pitch because he shortened the baseball season during WWI. JFK and and one other president were ambidextrous and threw out a pitch with both their left and right hands. In one area of the museum, they have a cage that shows you how fast a 90 mph fast ball is. You stand behind the cage as if you were the umpire, and it takes 1/3 of a second for the 90 mph fastball to hit the catchers glove. No wonder a person who can hit the ball 3 times out of 10 is said to be a great hitter. They also have batting cages where you can use the same signed wooden bats as the professionals. Here is a picture of me batting using a Ken Griffy Jr. bat:

At the end of your tour, you get a free souvenir (a miniature Louisville Slugger). Bruce and I had tons of fun. If you are a baseball fan, you should definitely find your way to the Louisville Slugger museum.
We took a walk downtown Louisville, and enjoyed the view of the Ohio River.
We found the fake Derby horse to be quite funny, especially since it was placed in front of the bank.
Later, we drove for around an hour (supposed to be 12 minutes away) looking for the Louisville temple. Using Mapquest, we put in a Louisville zip code. The temple is not actually in Louisville, which is why it took so long to get there. After making 2 phone calls to the temple to ask for directions, we finally found it sharing the same parking lot as a church. We eventually did make it to the Livestock Expo, and I watched a Llama show. It was funny to watch a Llama try to go through an obstacle course even though I had no idea what they were being judged on. Our 3 day weekend to Kentucky was quite fun, but the Louisville Slugger Museum was definitely the highlight of the trip.
Enjoy the pictures:

Halloween

I know, I know... I am extremely far behind. The month of November brought 10 basketball games in about 16 days of school. We seemed to travel somewhere or do something every single weekend, and now I can't believe that the month of November is nearly over. I guess that is a good thing that life passes me by so quickly that I don't seem to notice the time of day, but at the same time I wonder what have I accomplished today? Surviving another day in front of a classroom is at times accomplishment enough, but I would like to find other things to do in my life than teach, grade, plan, and coach. That is why it is November 28 and I am now getting around to posting about Halloween. Where do I even begin?

To be completely honest, I'm not a big fan of Halloween. I don't really see the point of dressing up as some other object just to get a bunch of candy. In fact, I hate dressing up, and every year it is a debate as to what to dress up as, or if I should dress up at all. I don't want to be a complete "Bah Humbug", so I always go as something. However, I usually decide what I am going to be about an hour before the Halloween party, and then I am never very convincing with my costume. This year however, was slightly different. About a week before Halloween, I was talking on the phone to my 11 year old brother in law, Paul. He suggested that I should dress up as a pink Flamingo. At first I just laughed, but then I thought, what a great idea? No one will expect it, and no one else will be dressed like that. I went to the store 2 days before Halloween, and bought a few pink items of clothing. And Voila!



Bruce wanted to go as a type of clown and wear his "hot pants." However, while we were at the store buying pink clothes for my big debut, he found a small white hat and looked like Gilligan from Gilligan's island. Hence:


We enjoyed the Chilli and cornbread at the ward Trunk or Treat and we brought along some friends from China and Iran who work in Bruce's lab. They wanted to experience as much American culture as possible. They were delighted by the many creative costumes others dressed up as, and took plenty of pictures. They even handed out small Chinese treats.

That night I was invited by the woman I visit teach to go with her to the Illini football game Vs. Iowa. I excitedly accepted. When we got home Bruce went trick or treating to our neighbors house, and they gave him 2 tickets to the same football game because they were going out of town. Bruce had to find someone else to go with because I was already going with someone. We were both at the game, but we didn't sit anywhere near each other. Bruce was one one end of the stadium and I was on the other. Either way the fighting Illini pulled out a close victory 27-24. It was a very exciting game and a fun Halloween.

What kind of pie are you?

I saw this on my friends blog, so I thought I would try it out. I'm not really a big fan of pie, unless it is banana cream or peanut butter - those are the ones I like the best. Apple pie is good occasionally.

You Are Apple Pie

You're the perfect combo of comforting and traditional. You prefer things the way you've always known them. You'll admit that you're old fashioned, and you don't see anything wrong with that. Your tastes and preferences are classic. And classic never goes out of style. Those who like you crave security. People can rely on you to be true to yourself - and true to them. You're loyal, trustworthy, and comfortable in your own skin. And because of these qualities, you've definitely earned a lot of respect.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Bruce on the other hand loves pie.
Bruce is:

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and quality. You're able to relate to many types of people with many different tastes. But you're by no means generic or ordinary. In fact, you're one of the most original people around. Those who like you are looking for something (or someone) special. You tend confuse people when they first meet you. But you're not as complicated as you seem. Even though you have a lot of spice and flavor to you, you're never overpowering. You are a calm and comforting force in people's lives.

What Kind of Pie Are You?