Tales of a Shoebox Princess

It's the end of the year, and amid tonight's bingeing on store brand Doritos, cheese puffs, and sour cream dip, I'll be thinking about the past year. Just for a lark, I decided to look at my first post of 2009, and whaddyaknow, I had made some resolutions. Hmmm. I don't remember doing that. Might as well check to see if I actually completed any of them. from my first post of the year: Therefore, I, Shoebox Princess resolve to: 1. Buy a new pair of pretty pretty walkaround shoes this spring (maybe even two pairs!). My old sneaks are disintegrating after severe bullying and multiple piledriving by the teegage boys' muscular tennis shoe-boats. Why did I not remember making this a resolution? I love shoes! I actually did buy a new pair of walkaround shoes but not until November. And I threw out the pairs that were destroyed by the boys' shoes. 2. Restrict the use of pizza delivery to once a week, unless I really need a break from making dinner. Hey! I did rea...

We've decided that Nomrom is a family version of a linger-longer to celebrate the cultural aspects of being a Latter-day Saint. Or it's a larger Family Home Evening--one that includes dinner. Our Nomrom feast had: A cream of mushroom soup based casserole topped with cheese (in this case Chicken Divan) funeral potatoes (also with cheese) green jello with mysterious fruit chunks a pop-and-sherbet-based punch all eaten on golden plates. Except the punch, of course. That we drank out of paper cups scrounged from our food storage. Before we ate, though, we had to sing a Nomrom carol, "Popcorn Popping" complete with actions. Then the feasting began. We all sat around a large table with the extra leaf put in to symbolize large families and our "extra" children. Next year, I hope to add a recitation of family history and a talent show for the showing off of new skills gained from Personal Progress, Duty to God, or Faith in God programs. We were lucky enough to ...

Christmas afternoon and evening brought cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles to our house for a very informal (I hadn't showered until people had started showing up, and nor had I done anything for food except heated up the punch and I certainly hadn't cleaned anything or done the least bit of housework) buffet dinner. Here we are. And dangit, I forgot to get a picture of us siblings and our spouses. Oh well. Sorry, Steph, Travis, and Jim. Anyway, here am I with two of my siblings, Jake and Jen, and my dad and stepmom, Sharon. I'm glad you all came to my house so I didn't have to drive anywhere. Sorry if my house was a mess. Actually, I'm not all that sorry. My house is what it is and we are happy here. Next up are some of the grandkids with their grandparents. Names in alphabetical order (aside from grandparents): Dylan, Hayley, (Other) Jim, Maddie, Matt, Maya, Morgan, Paul, and Rozzie. The children are not sitting in alphabetical order so if you...

I don't want to give short shrift to my other post of today so if you haven't seen it or don't know that it existed, go here . Please don't think I am tootin' my own horn here and saying that you should read this post because it's really good; I'm just saying that it's a little slice of what I believe to be the real reason for celebrating Christmas. The stuff I am posting now is a return to my self-centered writing exercises and my desire to show off my children to their grandparents and aunts and uncles and friends, etc. I wish I had remembered to bring my camera to my mother's house so I could get video footage of the drumming. Step-brother-in-law Todd (drummer for an 80s hair band that was big here in the Twin Cities and all around great guy) brought some percussional instruments, and Owen and Maya (nephew and niece respectively) had a mind-blowingly good time thumping them pagan skins (obscure Beatles reference. Name the context for 12 points...

Merry Christmas, one and all (and probably just one person will read this today--me, as I'm writing it. But no matter. It's my scripture study for the day and whether or not anyone else reads it is not important)! I hope you have enjoyed your holiday. So I thought I'd ponder a few scriptures about the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ today. I will start with what is in my mind the quintessential Nativity scripture (and not just because it's a well-known part of The Messiah oratorio): Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. I can find so much in just this one scripture. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:" his birth was for us. We are born into this world for our own progression, essentially we are born each for him or herself, but Christ was born for u...

The snow is gently falling, making the Currier and Ives vision of Christmas complete. Paul just got up and said he's going out to shovel the driveway. He can be such a pragmatic boy. I imagine that he wakes up, looks out the window, notices the snow, and thinks, "The driveway will need shoveling," and then does it. I don't think he realizes that he could sit around, playing Wii, or texting or generally laze around on the couch until I asked him to shovel, and even then, he'd have like two chances to pretend he didn't hear. But no, he's putting his boots on right now. He hasn't even eaten breakfast! I wonder if he's being good for Santa? But then he's like that all year long. He doesn't do bribery. He just does. Every family should have a Paul. They are so nice to have! I'd even rent Paul out. Today's scripture (Luke 2:21-39) isn't considered part of the Nativity story, but it occurs so close to the night Christ was bo...

This has been a challenging, but rewarding, series of blog posts for me. Normally, I write in my notebook as I read the scriptures, and I miss days more often than I remember to do it. Hopefully (if you stick around long enough to read what I write) you don't find anything offensive or way off the mark. This is just a regular person searching for meaning and trying to personalize the scriptures. Matthew 2:1-12 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. I wonder if the wise men were surprised that Herod apparently knew nothing of this King of the Jews? I wonder if even they expected that the Jews would have at least known as much about the coming of Christ as they did, having known of the signs and watched for them, presumably by reading of the prophecies of prophets before...