School starts in a few days and I have been thinking back on this last year. It has been a hard, crazy year. I am very glad it is over!! Besides the tough life lessons there have been a few fun things I have accepted about myself.
So on the lighter side...
Lettuce. I used to think I really liked all types of lettuce and salad. This year (since I believed it would be eaten) we tried many different types of lettuce in the garden. I did not like them. My kids really like romaine and ice berg and are okay with a few others but I discovered that I also only really like romaine and ice berg. I can take all the other "fancy" stuff once in awhile and enjoy it but eventually even I would only eat the romaine and ice berg and just let others die or bolt :) So much for me being a gourmand...It is clear I should not be taken to expensive places regularly because they always have crazy salads. pride. flushed.
Warm Tomatoes. I think I may like tomatoes warm over coming out of the fridge. Of course, this isn't always possible but this summer I have eaten most of my tomatoes warm. When I go out to water the garden in the morning I just grab a handful of grape and cherry tomatoes right off the vine and stuff them in. I don't even wash them. Gross. But I love it, they taste so good. I did that with the broccoli too and it was very tasty. I am pretty sure the same applied for peas this year too. I only really love them when we sit outside and just eat them straight from the plant. We had lots of fun eating straight out of the garden this year (and my mom's garden) so maybe I just like warm veggies ;)
Frosting. I used to think I didn't like frosting. I was the girl who always scraped it off cakes. It would give me a gag reflex. Then I had children. Eventually they started wanting frosting on things :) My friend made a cake one time with the most delicious frosting (she is a trained chef) so I got that recipe. It was the only frosting I thought I could stand but I didn't make it often cause I still thought "I don't like frosting." A few years later I remembered that I always really liked the frosting my mom made for my dad's special birthday cake and I like the cream cheese frosting I made for pumpkin bars. It occurred to me that maybe there was something different about these frostings. Eventually I figured it out. They were homemade with butter. It is store frosting that I don't like. I am not trying to be a frosting snob although I know it sounds like that. Those are the facts though. Just a few weeks ago I bit into a cupcake I thought had homemade frosting on it and I basically had to hide my face to keep everyone from seeing me gag. See, it isn't my fault. Even in a blind test where I thought I was getting something different it still caused a gag :) I can stomach costco frosting but that is about it. Once I accepted this fact I have spent the last year or two discovering the lovely world of all different frostings from cooked to peanut butter to whipped cream (and especially this summer with my SIL trying to copy gourmet cupcake frosting ;) Just a few days ago my neighbor brought me some cake with frosting and I consumed in an Olympic like time (need recipe Ang). It finally sealed the deal. I love frosting ;)
Soft M&MS. When I moved to Texas suddenly every M&M I ate was soft. I hadn't really had soft M&M's. I thought I didn't really like them soft but there was nothing I could do about it except store them in the fridge and that made them too hard :) When we moved to Boulder my M&M's were not soft anymore so I was happy but then after awhile I realized I missed the warm M&M's. Now if my computer is on I'll set them next to it so they will get warm. Gross I know. Or I'll do other things (Ferris Bueller. Bus. Gummy bears :) Even MORE gross.
Showering. I don't really like it. It feels like a job. I know so many people love it. They feel refreshed or it wakes them up. Man, I just feel like I used up energy. Fortunately, I can type all these sentences without adding a "gross" because I do it plenty often but I have finally accepted it does nothing for me unless I am actually really nasty.
When we were dating, John (tactlessly) asked me if I thought I would eventually become boring to him after he knew me for long while. My only reply was that I had lived with myself for almost 2 1/2 decades and I still didn't bore myself. I added in my head (tactfully) - and please realize that I had known John for 4 years by this time - that I often got much more bored of him than I ever did myself :) And here I am again...decades later still not boring myself :) It is fun to change and grow albeit painful most of the time. I can just imagine how un-boring my mid-life crisis or menopause is going to be!!
Navigating mortality, marriage and family always requires communication :) As some of the major life decisions are back in the discussion at our house we had the opportunity to review our lives...We just realized that we are in a sweet spot...John and I have known each other for literally half our lives. It won't be long till we cross over and have actually known each other longer than not. The best part isn't just that we have known each other that long but we have been good friends and in constant contact since the day we met. At BYU we saw each other basically on a daily basis all the years we were there (even the years when we were not dating). When separated by missions we averaged writing each other between monthly and every other month. It is sort of a crazy thing!! I have known my good friend Amy for longer but I think that is about it...all my other good friends I met about the same time as John (except maybe Hilary, she's a little earlier and this doesn't count many of my cousins who truly are some of my best friends :) I mention it just because in the next little while many of you are about to hit this milestone of having your spouse your best friend/archenemy for over half your life. Figure it out and throw yourself a party...it is an amazing feat!! (Sarabeth, Amy, Katherine, Leah and mom...and maybe Patti & Anne...you'll have to throw yourself a retroactive party) I think it calls for a gourmet cupcake!!
