"Tolerance"

"Those who favor homosexual marriage contend that “tolerance” demands that they be given the same right to marry as heterosexual couples. But this appeal for “tolerance” advocates a very different meaning and outcome than that word has meant throughout most of American history and a different meaning than is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Savior taught a much higher concept, that of love. “Love thy neighbor,” He admonished. Jesus loved the sinner even while decrying the sin, as evidenced in the case of the woman taken in adultery: treating her kindly, but exhorting her to “sin no more.” Tolerance as a gospel principle means love and forgiveness of one another, not “tolerating” transgression.
In today’s secular world, the idea of tolerance has come to mean something entirely different. Instead of love, it has come to mean condone – acceptance of wrongful behavior as the price of friendship. Jesus taught that we love and care for one another without condoning transgression. But today’s politically palatable definition insists that unless one accepts the sin he does not tolerate the sinner."

- A statement from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

FINISHED!

I proudly present for your viewing pleasure, this adorable sweater I made for myself! Somewhere in my excitement, I gauged the stitches wrong and the final product ended up probably a size or two small.






Oh, man. I tricked you guys so bad. I made this for my niece, Elizabeth. In the process of making this sweater, I've discovered a few things about myself. The first is that I am on the accelerated track to old lady-dom. I would often knit on the bus on my way to work and the look on people's faces screamed: "Ok, early-twenties wannabe, I can see right through that face lift and dye job. You're not fooling anyone!" The second thing I've learned is that sometimes I take on projects and gravely underestimate their time of completion. This definitely is true when it comes to cooking. I have yet to have a meal ready and on the table when we have friends or the missionaries over for dinner. I've convinced myself that this is just the learning process of cooking, but who knows, maybe I'll never figure it out. Anyway, I think I started knitting this sweater about six months ago and anticipated being done with it four months ago. Oops.

But I loved making it. Knitting is a great release... as long as you don't have to rip out too many rows along the way.

And hey, now that I think about it, if my arms were just a little skinnier, I definitely think at least my head could fit through the top... don't be surprised if the next time you see me I'm sporting this sweater as part of my ensemble.

Yes on 8

22

My little wife Snort turned 22 years old this week. She's growing up so fast. It seems like just yesterday she was a wee 20 year old wandering the world of Provo on her own... until a sharp young gent' threw her in the saddle, straightened her compass and directed it southwest to Los Angeles. That once aimless 20 year old developed into a 22 year old metropolitan and chique woman of the west. She is the pride of Los Angeles, a true diva in her own right, and the best wife a husband could ask for. We celebrated her birth with the Ashby's who were conveniently in town and joined us for a slumber party. The following night, we had our USC friends over for dessert and The Office - only to find out The Office wasn't actually on - whoops. Oh well... here's to you Snort.
Photo courtesy of the Paparazzi:

PS Those aren't Japanese peace signs. She's holding up two 2s or 22.

Courtney's Coupon Conquest

I don't usually shop at Albertson's because it's so expensive, but this morning I braved the snooty shoppers (jk) and made the trip. Here's what I bought:

9 boxes of cereal (good kinds!)
1 box of Bisquick
2 bags of spinach
1 lb of strawberries
1 gallon of milk
1 bag of chips
2 cans of diced tomatoes

All for a grand total of... $25!!! Everything I bought was on sale and I also used some coupons. I love saving money!

TODAY I DID 43.5 POUNDS OF LAUNDRY

All Hail to Dr. Fjeldsted!!!

John and Trudy visited us last week as Paul took the next step to becoming a dentist at his white coat ceremony as he took the dental oath. I can't remember it exactly, but it went something like this: "I promise to be the world's coolest dentist by having games in the waiting room and flat pannel tvs on the ceilings in the oporatory rooms. I promise to get people excited about flossing! I promise to work only Monday through Thursday from 10-5 and snuggle my wife all day every other Friday. I promise to go boating every Friday I'm not snuggling my wife. I promise to take long and frequent vacations. And last but not least, I promise to put in long hours while I'm in school and graduate with lots of debt!"

It really was a great ceremony and it got us all so excited about Paul going to USC! I had no idea what an accomplished school it is- I was thoroughly impressed. After the ceremony, John and Trudy took us out to an AMAZING dinner at The Chart House. It's right on the ocean near Malibu and as we ate we could see the waves crash onto the shore. WOW!

I'm so proud of my hubby! Someday he's going to be one great dentist!