In Remembrance

James E. Faust

1920 - 2007

Apostle of God

A couple of my favorite Faustian ideas:

"Doing things sequentially—filling roles one at a time at different times—is not always possible, as we know, but it gives a woman the opportunity to do each thing well in its time and to fill a variety of roles in her life. A woman does not necessarily have to track a career like a man does. She may fit more than one career into the various seasons of life. She need not try to sing all of the verses of her song at the same time. " - A Message to My Granddaughters: Becoming “Great Women”, Ensign, Sep 1986, 16

"Our love of God must be pure, withour selfist intent. The pure love of Christ must be the motive in our devotion" "Where Do I Make My Stand?" Ensign, Nov. 2004, 18 (S.W.K quote above this one in the text is also profound!)

LDS Newsroom - President James E. Faust Remembered

LDS Newsroom - President James E. Faust Remembered

Grandma and Grandpa Jones

Thank you

Happy Grandma

for all your generous trips to the TOY STORE!

Thank you
Helpful Grandpa
for all your watchful care!

THANK YOU

For helping us

slow down

for two weeks and

e-n-j-o-y

each other.

THANK YOU
For spending a G R U E L I N G summer vacation with us

Tagged

This was quite a self-indulgent exercise but that’s what blogs are all about, eh?! Well, my family will probably think, "hooohhhuuummm where are the babe details?" Sorry. But I’d like to thank Jess for tagging me (a long time ago) for all these wee bitty me details.

(I know you did too Mara, I'll get to it, yours are harder!)


Jobs I have had:
1. Admin. Asst/Event Planner for the Hospitality Committee for United Nations Delegations, Inc. (current)
2. Commerce Marketing Coordinator for the Government of Dubai , UAE
3. Receptionist for Middlekauf Lincoln Mercury
4. Sales Representative for Nordstrom
5. Waitress for Golden Corral (that's where i first saw npj!)


Movies I can watch over and over:
1. Pretty in Pink
2. Children of Heaven
3. A Christmas Story
4. Star Wars Trilogy
5. Hannah and her Sisters
6. The Daytrippers
7. Long, rambling, gorgeous British-esque sagas


Books I can read over and over:
1. The Rainbow - D.H. Lawrence
2. Meatless Days - Sara Suleri
3. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
4. A Rebels Silhouette - Faiz Ahmed Faiz
5. Book of Mormon


Places I have lived:
1. Cedar City, Ogden, No. Salt Lake, UT
2. Rostock, Germany
3. Philadelphia, PA
4. New York, NY
5. Siberia (impending!)
6. Kazakhstan (impending!)


Places I want to visit:
1. New England, US
2. Quebec City, QC
3. Istanbul, Turkey
4. Prague, CR
5. Budapest, Hungary
6. Samarkand, UZ
7. Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, Iran!


Places I have visited:
1. Hawaii
2. Lotsa US
3. Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Canada
4. Wales
5. Germany
6. Italy
7. Austria
8. Slovenia
9. Denmark
10. Finland
11. Lithuania
12. Latvia
13. Estonia
14. Russia
15. Dubai, UAE


TV shows I watch:
1. PBS everything (love Tues nights: Charlie Rose, Frontline, Wide Angle, P.O.V!)
2. Masterpiece Theatre
3. America's Next Top Model (!)
4. American Idol (!)
5. Slings and Arrows (via Blockbuster.com)
6. Star Trek Deep Space Nine (blockbuster again)


Foods I like:
1. Funky Cheese
2. Yummy Bread
3. Grapes
4. Broccoli Rabe (broccoli rabe Saturday nights!)
5. Greek Yogurt with Honey
6. Dark Chocolate
7. Korean BBQ (wrapped in lettuce!)
8. Beans
9. Salmon with a side of jasmine rice, fresh sliced kiwi, and mesclin salad w/oil&vinegar. YUM!
10. Sweet Plantains
11. Rice Pudding with Pistachios


I'd rather be:
1. Sitting in a hard old chair in the reading room of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library surrounded by big beautiful books
2. Browsing through Dean & DeLuca or the Gourmet Garage
3. Lounging in my mother's garden
4. Hanging out in an old book store
5. Walking in the park with Desmond&Zoe
6. Eating at Prune
7. Watching a little film or play in some obscure theatre in NYC
8. Riding a horse
9. Playing tackle on my bed with Desmond&Zoe
10. Cuddling on the couch with Nathan while listening to Gershwin or my fav Verdi opera
11. Enjoying the Manhattan skyline from my dreamy 3-bedroom apartment (as if!)
12. Learning Arabic


Websites I visit daily:
1. my email
2. UN email and news
3. friends blogs
4. nytimes.com
5. craigslist.com
6. newyorker.com
7. amazon.com
8. nypl.org
9. imdb.com
10. youtube.com
11. wikipedia.com

Desi Candor

I was saying a prayer because Grandma and Grandpa left and I’m so sad about Grandma and Grandpa leaving.

After a big bear hug Des says breathlessly, “Mom, I almost got hug-sick.” I asked him what that was. “It’s when someone hugs you too tight and you throw up in their arms.”

Its ok, it’s ok. Big brother is here. Its ok, it’s ok.

Dad lets go shave.

My ninja guy doesn’t like our apartment very much – he likes Heidi’s best. I should have left him at Heidi’s.

You look like hot sauce.

"Mommy? What temple will I marry Lexi in?" Playing along I mentioned a few on the east and a few on the west coasts. He was thoughtful and said, “Maybe I can marry Lexi in the North Pole Temple”.

Do you love me Zo?

When I go to Jesus’ place I think he’s gonna show me off!

Zoe you’re naughty.

I was dreaming about something unusual happening.

Me: ahhhhoooohhh… Zoe! You need to pick these things up!
Des: What does Zoe need to pick up?
Me: These things on the floor
Des: Don’t worry, I can pick them up!

Mommy my spoon broke. Spoon overboard!

A girl with ponytails in her hair is poking me! (Zoe)

When I go marry Lexi in the temple, I’ll bring my beverage just in case.

Me: What did you have for lunch today?
Des: Nothing
Me: Dad didn’t fix you anything?
Des: No
Me: I want to know so I don’t make the same thing again tonight because I’m thinking about Mac-n-… (then I fell silent thinking I’d revealed too much)
Des: (Catching on) We had . . . peanut butter sandwiches
Me: Are you sure? (Feeling dubious)
Des: Yeah
Me: I’m going to ask Dad. What do you think he’ll say?
Des: Ummmmm… Mac-n-Chz!

Wouldn’t it be funny if we lived in a shoe?

I’m pretending to be a naked bad guy – the Hulk!

Zoe? Are you leading the way?

Des sometimes likes to pretend he’s a baby. One afternoon after repeated ear-razing “waaaaa waaaaa waaaaa” phony baby cries, I was really getting annoyed. But before I could act, he came into my line of vision with the loveliest smile and said, “Baby want mommy” and threw his arms open. Ahhhhh… heart melting.

Des: Mommy, can I go potty for just a sec?
Me: Mmmmhmmm.
Des: Thank you, mommy!

We’d been reading a story about a family going grocery shopping and one of the children after repeated antics was warned about getting a spanking if she didn’t stop misbehaving. Des finally asked, “Is spanking hot sauce?” I chuckled and replied that it wasn't. He continued, “Is it spicy? What is spanking?” Lest he try it on Zoe, I explained it was a punishment and left it at that.

"That’s a good one Charlie!" After our friend Charlie just climbed the walls.

Zoe you’re a sweetheart

The Many Faces of DesmondPJones

Quick Snap

Ayden and Desmond taking their sisters for a swing.

A Memory

Ingmar Bergman died this week. One of the first films I saw of his was "The Virgin Spring". It was on late night cable television and I happened to be visiting my Grandpa Riggs in Las Vegas. I was laying beside him on his firm, king sized bed. I didn't know anything about the film or Bergman but as we were clicking around there was something about it that made me ask Gpa to stop.

Before we got half way through the film I was writhing on the bed completely worked up and taken over -- it was such a heartbreaking film! I can't remember ever being so emotionally rattled and my Grandpa lay there peacefully, contentedly -- totally unaffected!

I finally cried out, "Grandpa! This is so sad, so horrible!! These poor people!!" I think I was probably crying.

Grandpa looked over at me, eyebrow cocked, and in his deep voice said, "It's just a movie dear."