Category: Personal

Happy birthday yesterday, “Aunt” Amanda! & thanks for stopping by last week!

In case you want to get a hold of Joy or I today, I wanted to let you know how you could. Try Google talk, email, or just stopping on by. We are in the middle of a phone transition and have limited access to phones. SORRY!

My parents’ land is gorgeous. I feel like I can brag about it because I have nothing to do with it! They’ve done a great job with landscaping & maintaining their place. It’s particularly beautiful at dusk when the setting sun highlights everything. Seeing the beautiful light cast across the land and breathing in the fresh, fragrant air makes me feel sentimental.

And just a few daytime ones for good measure:

Been pretty quite around these parts, including the blog. That’s probably b/c Joy and the kids have been out of town for a couple weeks. They took the camera, otherwise I’d post pics of all the fun I’ve been having. Can’t wait till these guys get back tomorrow!

My flip flops have been starting the process of breaking down, and it’s that time of the year when I go looking for the best flip flops I can find. I always have a hard time finding ones that are a good balance between well made, comfortable, and priced right. During my quest I was talking with my carpool buddy who is a runner. He mentioned his freaky weird running shoes called Vibram Five Fingers.

Wow, those are odd I said to him. Then I started drinking the kool aid as I read how modern shoes relax the foot as it walks and so we smash the heel into the ground and that shock travels up the leg. While if you have no shoes on you tend to land on the ball of your foot and the shock is absorbed more with the bending of your ankle and your calf muscles. I’ve linked a study from Harvard below, this page really swayed me. Now I walk barefoot a lot already b/c flip flops come off so easily and I thought, yes that is true. I agree and it makes sense. I’m going to order some and walk around all day in them. And that’s what I did. While it might take Joy a bit to get used to my new shoes, I think I like them so far. Don’t worry honey, they make a kid sized version too!

5 Reasons to Walk Barefoot:

1. Strengthens Muscles in the Feet and Lower Legs—Going barefoot will stimulate and strengthen muscles in the feet and lower legs, improving general foot health and reducing the risk of injury.
2. Improves Range of Motion in Ankles, Feet and Toes—No longer ‘cast’ in a shoe, the foot and toes move more naturally.
3. Stimulates Neural Function Important to Balance and Agility—When going barefoot, thousands of neurological receptors in the feet send valuable information to the brain, improving balance and agility.
4. Eliminate Heel Lift to Align the Spine and Improve Posture—By lowering the heel, your bodyweight becomes evenly distributed across the footbed, promoting proper posture and spinal alignment.
5. Allow the Foot and Body to Move Naturally—Which just FEELS GOOD.

Harvard Study on Barefoot Striking
Videos examples
CNBC Article

Happy Fathers Day Dad! Ever since my parents migrated from NC to UT we’ve been able to spend more time together. It’s been very enjoyable. Some of the fun is talking about family events that we all remember or don’t remember. Dad always tells me I’m remembering it wrong. Just to prove him wrong, here are some things I remember from growing up.

I remember having the coolest toys. I could play for hours by myself imagining all the different planets and battles that my toys would have. Thanks for providing such great tools of fun Dad.

I remember going fishing with my dad. I remember one time specifically, the city of Charlotte had just opened a new belt system around the city. My dad and I got up early and decided to take that new road that not many people knew about. It was a foggy morning and as we drove on this deserted 4 lane highway with about 50 feet of visibility it seemed like the rest of the world was gone and it was just the two of us off to hang out on a boat for a while.

I remember food being on the table. This might not seem like much to list, but my Dad got the job done. He worked hard to make sure we always ate. I only have one boy, Dad had four to feed. I know we ate a ton of food, so that must have cost a lot. Thanks for always bringing home the bacon, and eggs, and milk, cheese, cereal, doughnuts, juice, pizza, etc.

I remember having parties. Not only could I throw a party at our house any weekend I wanted, but I remember my friends asking if they could come hang out with my parents. Everyone loved my Dad. He may act Eeyore-ish sometimes, but he can really turn on the Southern charm.

I remember one time most of our scout troop got in trouble for something and we had to leave scout camp early. The scoutmaster called my dad to see if he could come get us. He said he would and we were all worried about how angry he would be after driving a few hours to come pick up his rowdy boys. After hearing why we got kicked out of scout camp he just laughed and took us all to Pizza Hut. I later had a friend tell me he was glad his Dad wasn’t available to pick us up b/c he would have yelled at all of us during the ride back. Thanks for being a real person Dad and understanding.

I remember standing in my goalie equipment on the ice thinking it was the most boring game I had ever played in. Then I looked up to see my Dad taking pictures and cheering like it was the most important game he had ever been to. Thanks Dad for being a fan.

I remember my Dad taking us to eat before going to Priesthood Session, giving us blessings, and giving talks. I remember Dad teaching Young Single Adults and priest quorum. I remember him teaching me to catch and throw a baseball and the best way to open a talk in sacrament meeting. He taught me how to take things apart and how to fix things.

Dad this fathers day, I hope you remember that while we’re hard to live with, your four boys love you very much. Thanks for being there for us and doing your best!

I made a cake today. I might have had 3 slices…

This is a special cake recipe, because it’s from my dear friend, Amanda E. Stonesifer. She was a bridesmaid for our wedding 6.5 years ago, and she has a definite knack for whipping up delectable desserts. So I had her make our wedding cakes for us. She did a great job!

People ranted & raved about this moist, flavorful cake they ate at our wedding reception. Usually wedding cake is on the grosser side, because people sacrifice taste for looks. But not OUR wedding cake!

It looks a little odd in this photo, but I just had to show the multiple layers of moist poppyseed cake & fresh mixed berries & crème. Hands down the yummiest cake I’ve ever had (or made). Basically, I was just so excited that it turned out well! OK, bragging is over.