Awards Show

I recently was given my first blog award by my dear friend and most excellent food blogger, Prudence Pennywise. Who, me? I'm not worthy-- especially with the sluggish pace I've had lately when it comes to posting. I will pass along the award, however, as it gives me a chance to praise other bloggers who are more deserving. (And if you haven't checked out Prudy's blog, you should. I have tried three or four of her recipes in the past week and have found each of them to be phenomenal. Then again, I have been using many of her recipes for years, because everything she touches is bound to be delicious.)

One of my favorite bloggers is a fellow classical homeschooler. I love reading her blog and feel like we have been friends for years even though we've never met. Sonja at the Wonder Years has lots of wonderful ideas, a gift at bringing images to life through words (and with her new SLR camera,) and has such an uplifting attitude toward motherhood. I always feel better for having read her blog.

Another blog whose posts I look forward to is Mindyluwho. Her posts have not been very frequent lately, but they are always meaty and inspiring. She has an entire series of posts on the writings of Isaiah with the insights she gained as she studied Isaiah chapter by chapter in 2007. I definitely think you should take a gander at her blog if you want to be spiritually fed.

My last "E for excellent award" goes to Daring Young Mom, who never fails to crack me up. Her blog has far more readers than this humble little blog of mine, and she may not want to even post this award--chances are she has received it before. But I wanted my readers to wander over and fall in love with her wit. She is easy to relate to and finds the humor in everyday mothering situations.

So go forth and read. You won't be disappointed.

Woman of the Year 2007

If you've been on my blog lately, you'll see that I've been giving awards for 2007. If you've missed these, check this post and this one. My award for Woman of the Year 2007 goes to Julie Beck of Alpine, Utah. In March of 2007, she was called to be the General President of the Relief Society (the LDS Church's Women's organization.) This is a responsibility that comes without formal training or pay. Since members of the Relief Society live in countries all over the world and number over 5 million women, her stewardship is far spread and surely a heavy burden to bear. (I thought it was hard when I was responsible for the 150 women in our congregation--I can't imagine what that must be like on such a large scale. I wonder if she can ever sleep!) She oversees an organization that assists in providing for the humanitarian and welfare needs of people all over the globe, in and out of the Church. The Relief Society helps women across the world with literacy, employment skills, and homemaking skills so that they can improve the quality of their lives and the lives of their families.
This assignment comes without a salary. It comes with little glory and frequently with much criticism from those who would do it differently. It is not something that you apply for, rather it is something that she was asked to do, called by a prophet of God. It requires great personal sacrifice of time, energy, and a willingness to subject oneself to the criticism of others. Sister Beck handles all this with grace and gratitude because of her testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the things that I love about Julie Beck (and, incidentally, has brought much criticism against her) is the way that she stands up for motherhood as a divine calling. She asks us to honor all that is good and godly in mothers. When she addressed the Church as a whole in October of 2007, her talk was bold and simple and extremely heartfelt. I sensed that she felt deeply about the importance of the subject of mothers, and more than once her voice wavered as she held back tears. She taught us how vital our role is as mothers. She spoke of how important and desirable are even the seemingly mundane tasks of housework, as keeping an orderly home contributes to the atmosphere in the home. (Incidentally, she did not say or imply that our husbands were not responsible to assist us in these tasks, although many women have been resentful that housekeeping was even mentioned, as if it will just get miraculously done.) She talked about the importance of choosing wisely how we as mothers will spend our time and energy, as well as making careful choices about the time commitments of our families, so as to ensure enough time for family dinners, Family Home Evening, family prayer, and other critical family times that enrich and build our families. I loved that she essentially rejected the idea of the "Supermom", who can do everything and pointed out that we need to make choices if we want to do the most important things well, rather than spreading ourselves too thin. She offered hope and peace that we can "have great power and influence for good on [our] children," inspite of the world in which we are raising them, if we will strengthen our own faith in God and seek to strengthen our families. Her talk was inspiring and motivating, and I have listened to it on my mp3 player and studied it online many times since then.
I sustain Sister Julie Beck as called by God at this time to lead the women of the world, to stand up for women and mothers, to strengthen families across the globe, and to testify of Jesus Christ. Because she does this without apology, even when some of the things that she teaches are not popular, I have chosen her as 2007 Woman of the Year.

Awards Show Continued

Here are a few of my favorites for 2007 that didn't warrant their own separate posts:

• Favorite New Recipe--I discovered the recipe for Beef Carnitas in Cooking Light this year. It was published last year but I didn't make it until this year, so I'm counting it. It is definitely my favorite new recipe of the year. I actually make it as written, which is unusual for me. The only modification that I make is to double it so that I can (hopefully) stretch it into two or three meals. But the meat is so good that it doesn't last long! Given that I try at least a couple of new recipes every week, this is a significant award.
  
• Favorite Kitchen Tool--This would have to be my Cutco Santoku knife. It makes chopping, dicing, and slicing a dream.
• Favorite Blog Post (somebody else's)--although this was hard to choose, my favorite has got to be Debbie's Got Milk? post. I could not stop laughing, and even now, remembering, I chuckle. I can't wait for her book to come out.
  
• Favorite Reality Show-- Although we really enjoyed Dancing with the Stars and were inspired by The Biggest Loser, my favorite reality show remains The Amazing Race. (Which, painfully, we had to miss this last weekend because our satellite was out after the wind storms, as was our TiVo.)
• Favorite Comedy--Hands down, the award goes to The Office. I just laugh out loud every week at Michael, Dwight, and the gang. Curse the writers' strike! I guess I'll just have to be happy watching webisodes for a while.
  
• Favorite Drama--We've got a two way tie here for Lost (can't wait for January 31st) and Heroes.
  
• Favorite Technological Toy--As much as I love my cell phone and new Zen, now that you see how much TV we watch, this award must go to our TiVo. We couldn't do it without you, little box!
• Favorite Children's Book-- This is hard for me because I love so many of them. A couple of new board books that I got for Bronwen this year have been wonderful, both for their beautiful illustrations and their lilting text. They are Mommies Say Shhh by Patricia Polacco (one of my favorite children's authors) and Goodnight Goodnight Sleepyhead by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Jane Dyer.
• Favorite New Thing in My House (baby not included)--is still definitely this. With this being a close second. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so this was a no-brainer.
• Best Thing To Happen To Me in 2007--Besides having a daughter and having my sister move near by, I think that the best thing that happened to me is that I really fell in love with mothering and came to terms with the mother that I am, even though she's not perfect. After seven plus years of beating myself up over my faults (which are too many to be named) and worrying about the years of therapy my children will probably (read: definitely) require later, I have really felt a sense of peace that if I am trying my best and seeking the Lord's help and counsel, that it will be enough. Not perfect, but enough. After all, plenty of people turned out well even though their parents were just doing the best they could, right?

So there you have it, folks. Now you know some of the things that made me smile this past year. I still want to dedicate a post to my pick for Woman of the Year--maybe tomorrow. I've got laundry to fold!

Michal's Book of the Year 2007

I decided that I am going to do my own "awards show" this year. Why not? It seems like everyone else out there gets to do one. The first three months of the year you can't turn on the television without accidentally finding an award show. Mine will not have a red carpet with scantily clad superstars on it, but I hope you'll tune in anyway!
I'm going to start with my Book of the Year award. It wasn't published in 2007 and it wasn't even the book that I enjoyed reading the most, (actually, I haven't even finished it yet!) The award goes to Covenant Hearts: Marriage and the Joy of Human Love by Bruce Hafen. This is the book I read this year that I felt made the biggest difference in my life (not including scripture.) I actually bought the book for Jared for Valentine's Day and then decided a few weeks later to pick it up and read it myself. I'd read a chapter here and there throughout the year. I really like Elder Hafen's perspective on marriage. He spends the first several chapters making the case for why marriage is so important and why it has been so undermined by Satan. Once the reader sees the covenant marriage with new eyes, the author identifies the "wolves" that can tear apart a marriage. He draws from his experience as a marriage and family therapist as well as from the Scriptures.
This book helped me become more aware of the ways that I was unintentionally hurting our marriage. As I read it a chapter at a time, spread out over the course of many months, I had time to ponder each chapter and how its teachings applied to me in my own relationship with my husband. Reading Covenant Hearts has truly changed my heart, and has helped me unlock a deeper love and joy in my marriage--even though I was already in a loving and rewarding marriage.
This book is written for an LDS audience and includes scripture and teachings that are specific to the LDS Church (such as the doctrine of eternal marriage) as well as Biblical references. I believe that whether you are LDS or not, your marriage can benefit from reading this book if you believe that the marriage covenant is the most important relationship in your life and one worth making better, and that God has a desire to see you succeed in your marriage.
This past year has really been one of the happiest of my life so far, in spite of having my share of trials and struggles, and I believe that this is partly due to my experience with this book as I try to apply the principles in it. I wish I could give a copy to every married couple that I know!
So, check it out if you haven't read it. You'll be glad you did.