GC foodfest '09!

So, I titled this whole blog thing "Mormon Girl in the Bible Belt" and I haven't really posted much about that entire subject. So here's a nice Mormon-y post for your reading pleasure (I think I just heard half of the six people who read this click the window closed).

Anyway, General Conference is this weekend. So on Saturday and Sunday, for two two-hour sessions each day, we hear from the prophet and authorities of the church (and then you go to the women blogs and watch them pick apart the Sisters' talks).

I've marked my life by these semi-annual conferences. I remember thinking, "Gee, when the next conference comes around, I'll be married," or "when I am watching Spring conference I'll have a baby," or "when October conference rolls around I'll have THREE KIDS." A sobering thought if there ever was one.

Growing up, there was no satellite or cable, or BYUtv in which to view conference. So everyone outside of Utah had to watch it on the projection screen at church. I actually remember these days fondly. My mom would pack some serious "kid activity bags" for us to keep busy with during the broadcast. During the two-hour break in between, we stayed at the church since it was too hard and far to drive home, snatch food, and drive back. So all the families there would pack amazing picnics with soft blankets and wonderful desserts, and would picnic out on the lawn in between sessions. Wonderful memories of this. This was the way it was, and we were used to it. It was not until just a couple of years ago that this changed when the BYU channel was offered in our area. A Mormon channel??? What a bizarre concept for us, and we're Mormons! It was so different to turn on the channel at any time and see programming that had to do with our religion. Weird. On a side note, this is a great thing for me on Sundays. Gary is at meetings all morning and I have to get the kids and me ready alone in the morning. It's nice to listen to the choir while we get ready so I don't descend into screaming at my kids before church.

So with this new crazy general conference worldl opened up to us, my friends and I created GC FOODFEST. It is awesome. We all bring truckloads of our favorite appetizers, desserts, munchies, dishes, and lay them out on a long counter. We discuss what we're going to make for weeks ahead of time. Kinda like Christmas, or Thanksgiving. But better!! We all stuff ourselves and stretch out around the TV while the kids play happily around us. We discuss the talks together, compare thoughts, etc. It's two times a year of AWESOMENESS.

And so this year was going to be the same. EXCEPT IT WASN'T. One week ago, one of my friends came down with the swine flu. And then my other friend's daughter did also. I personally think this is very selfish. I mean really, they could have planned this better. But now, we have had to accept that for this time, it is cancelled. Cue the funeral dirge.

So, we are doing it by ourselves instead. I cooked for hours last night. I made the most awesome homemade salsa, bean salads, pumpkin chocolate bars, etc. Yum yum. In between timers I went out in the family room and watched Saturday conference. I felt moved as the choir sang the most beautiful version of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." My soul stirred when the speaker reminded us that there is One who is always with us, One who knows our struggles and sorrows when we feel most alone.

Just in case your wondering, my friends are doing fine. One felt like the walking dead but is now doing much better, and my other friend's little girl is doing great. And now I have a cold. Guess that's karma for whining! That's okay, my pumpkin chocolate bars will make it all better.

And next March?? GC FOODFEST SPRING 2010!!!
*one of these days I'm going to start a food blog with some of these awesome recipes, lunchbox ideas for kids, etc.

Balance

attending church in paris. not sure what that has to do with this post.

First the weird:
Couldn't have church this Sunday because someone stole all the air-conditioners!! Guess the compressors/copper wiring is hot stuff these days. This is Florida in July, so it's unbearably hot. We met to take the sacrament, sang a hymn and went home. That's a first!!

Now for a little bit of awesome:

A link to some old friends of ours' blog. They are humanitarian missionaries in Europe. The posts show the amazing poverty in areas like Croatia and what the church is doing to assist. Wheelchairs, building housing, etc. You don't hear much of about this kind of thing because our church does not publicize. Take a moment to check out the gorgeous photos. I love my church.

http://durrance.blogspot.com/

The road to salvation...

So let me tell you a little about myself. I am a second generation member of the LDS church. I am a seventh generation native Floridian, and outside of mostly my immediate family, I am surrounded by a family full of Methodists, Presbys, and a sprinkling of Baptists.

My small town has the usual "four corners" that every southern town has: A big Baptist church on one side and a medium Methodist on the other, both here for a hundred years or so. Every Sunday I fly down the road in between them (usually rushing to get to church on time) and I see the many rows of cars parked on each side.

When I cross the bridge into the next town I pass the Really Big Baptist Church on that main road, with usually a man helping a little elderly woman across the road in her Sunday finest. Next to it is the Presbyterian, across the street the Methodist. All beautiful, about a hundred years old or so.

My favorite church to pass is next; the African American church. I don't know the denomination, but I do know those women KNOW how to dress for church. No denim skirts or flip flops in sight. These ladies are head to toe in their Sunday finest; high heels, stockings, pastel-colored suit, and topped off with a hat in a matching color. Their little children flock around them, sons in three piece suits and girls in frilly petticoated dresses with tights and shiny black shoes. The women are usually congregating by the front door, waiting for the men to come around with the cars. They are busy laughing and chatting; the sight always makes me happy.

The last church I pass is a "casual worship" church. The patrons enter, barely clothed in ratty shorts and t-shirts, tennis shoes and flip-flops. Here I grimace a bit. I can't help it, I am the daughter of an etiquette teacher and I come from generations of a proper Southern family. This is just simply unacceptable. I know what you want to say, At least they are at church, right? But as my great-grandmother, a staunch Presbyterian would say, We get six days a week to dress however we want. We give him only a few hours one day a week (obviously she never had a calling in the LDS church!!), so we give Him our best out of respect for Him, but also out of respect for ourselves and all He has given us.

I drive five minutes more into our parking lot. I scurry my children out of the car. Smile, and wave at those I know. Straighten bows, tie sashes, pull up stockings, hurry hurry we are going to be late, don't you dare jump in that puddle! and we enter the hallway to the noises of organ music, the other ward's primary session, and the greetings of those I have come to know. All is well, and as we bunch together on the pew, I am grateful to be here, can't imagine being anywhere else, even though it would have been nice to sleep in.
Wait, is that toothpaste on my daughter's cheek? Ugh!