Christmas Time is Here

This is our very first Christmas that we will be home with our little family. So we are trying on traditions. Of course getting a tree is an important tradition. This year we got one of those nifty permits to go chop one down from up in the mountains. And we did. On our way up we saw lots of sage brush which Martell thought would make a fine tree. I thought maybe we shouldn't start that sort of tradition...

Here is Martell upon arriving in tree country searching for the perfect little guy for us. He kinda blends in with the trees in this picture, but don't worry. He's there.




After much deliberation we found a good one and took it home with us.



My family has a tradition of making mexican hot cocoa when we get home from tree hunting. It's a yummy way to warm up while we decorate and if you've never had mexican hot cocoa it is better than the regular stuff. Either get your own and find out for yourself or come over next year when we get our tree. Martell strung the lights while I made cocoa and then he hung the meager supply of ornaments that we have. Most of which my mom sent us last year because she probably didn't want to be held responsible for throwing away the ugly old things I made in 3rd grade. I'm serious. Look.



You can't see it in the picture but that little angel does actually have a unibrow. I told you it was bad. Naturally since Martell was hanging them, all the ugly ones went straight to the top...on purpose.

Well, our tree didn't have a skirt and the ornaments we had were sparse and ugly, so I got to work. And now I'm done! Here it is in all it's completed glory.



And here's a close up of some of my awesome ornaments.





Hooray for traditions and Hooray for Christmas! Oh, and Hooray for my in-laws who were all completely on the ball this year and had presents to send home with us at Thanksgiving.

Sunday Miracle

The Lord really blessed me today and I thought that I should share my experience.

It started snowing today when Katie and I where at church and by the time we got out the roads where covered in about an inch of snow. We headed home and had lunch. During lunch, I received a phone call from a ward member informing me that it was our ward's month to be in charge of snow removal and he asked me if I could come shovel the walks. I actually like to shovel snow. It was my favorite service activity while on my Mission in New York. We used to drive around with a couple of snow shovels in our trunk and stop and help people - older ladies in particular - shovel their snow if they were trying to do it themselves. There is something satisfying to me about shoveling snow, and if I can do it at the Lord's house, that's all the better.

After my lunch was finished, I jumped in my trusty pickup truck and headed down to the church. The roads were pretty slick by this point, so I was driving cautiously (no joke. I think that I annoy people with how slow I drive in the snow). It was during my drive to the church that my miracle occurred. I was sitting at a 'T' intersection waiting for a break in the traffic so that I could make a left hand turn. While I was sitting there, someone tried to execute a right-hand turn onto the road where I was sitting. Trouble was, the guy was going too fast for the slick conditions and he wasn't able to execute the turn, but instead barreled into the side of my truck.

I saw him coming and realized that he wasn't going to make the turn, so I did my best to get out of the way, but there wasn't much that I could do. I think all managed to do was get my wheels spinning and move forward a couple of feet when he hit me. I heard a sickening thud; the sort of sound that is produced when two heavy objects collide. I was jarred in my seat as the truck spun sideways.

When my truck came to a rest I immediately jumped out. The driver of the other vehicle was exiting his car at the same time and we made sure that neither of us were injured. Once I was satisfied that neither he nor his passenger were hurt, I turned to survey the damage to my truck. The first thing that I noticed was that my truck box was ajar. Then I looked down at the back right panel where his vehicle had struck mine... I couldn't tell where he had hit me, but there were some pieces of car strewn about the immediate vicinity. Upon closer inspection I noticed a small area where some clear coat had been transferred to the area where his car had collided with my truck. The panel that he struck was bent in a little, but there really wasn't any major damage at all. I closed my truck box, we exchanged information, and I proceeded on my journey.

When I was done shoveling the walk, I showed an acquaintance of mine the damage that my truck had received. At that point, I grabbed ahold of the affected panel and gave it a tug. I heard an audible "pop" as the panel snapped back into place. I then proceeded to rub the offending clear coat off of my truck's paint job with my thumb.

So there you go. I was t-boned by a guy going five or ten miles an hour. He hit me hard enough to spin me sideways and pop my toolbox open (and smash up his bumper pretty good in the process), and you can't even tell that my truck was in an accident accept for a little bit of clear coat that I haven't rubbed all the way off yet (maybe I'll leave it on there. Heaven knows my paint job won't suffer from having a little extra clear coat).

Needless to say, I'm pretty happy about the whole situation. I feel bad for the guy who hit me and all, don't get me wrong, but I truly believe that the Lord was looking out for me in this situation and I'm so grateful that no one was hurt and my truck wasn't totaled or even damaged significantly.

Katie and I were headed back up to the church for tithing settlement a little later. I was still talking about the incident and I mentioned to her that, "The Lord throws us a bone every now and then." Of course, Katie informed me that it probably happens a lot more often then we realize, to which I had no choice but to agree.

So there is my story. I should also mention that I was wearing a seatbelt at the time. I hope that you all do the same. No matter how safe a driver you think you are, you never know what could happen.

Anyway, that's probably enough from me. I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving, and please travel safely.

Love,

Martell

Things I Like

Sleep.

Ok, but really, things that I'm a little more acquainted with of late.

1. Cream Cheese Chocolate "Muffins".

This is what Starbucks call these(or something much like these differing only by their "grande" size) minus the quotation marks. I have a hard time calling these muffins without quotation marks given that they are actually decadent cupcakes. And delicious to boot. I found the recipe here. They claim that they are self filling. Ha! The cream cheese yumminess did not fill my cupcake. It did, however, elevate it to a level of incredibility that is pretty tough to beat.

2. Stake Conference.

In particular several talks that discussed the need to prioritize and do the important things in life and not really worry about the rest. It was also quite service focused which was a subtle reminder that serving others is in fact one of the big important things in life.

3. Un-even stitching.

In particular, my Mom's apron. She made this apron I think when she was in college (correct me if I'm wrong here, mom). All my life she was the one to teach me how to sew. I would get so frustrated trying to do it right and do it well. I never did get it. My mom would show me and hers was just perfect to my novice eyes. It probably was pretty close. But now I'm really trying to sew and trust me, it's still not that good. But I was wearing that apron that my mom gave me (ok, ok, that I stole from her...with permission, alright?) that she made years ago and I noticed the stitching on it isn't near as straight as the stitching I'd come to know as hers. It's nice to remember that it takes time to get it right. Also, I like my Mom's apron because it's a lovely red and white plaid and it looks just like a quintessential apron should to me. It looks like the good old days.

4.Crocheting.

I really like crocheting big things that have a repetitive stitching pattern. I love the familiarity of doing a stitch over and over so that my hands know just what to do with out thinking. That is when I find I think of other things and I am generally content. I have a hard time stewing about things when I'm crocheting. It ruins the mood. So crocheting is quite a meditative process that I rather enjoy. (on a side note, something I don't like: the spelling of "crocheting" it just looks like you should say the "t" doesn't it and that just sounds dumb)

5. Hiking Socks

I love how thick and warm and supportive hiking socks are. Why aren't all socks like this? I also really like that they aren't white and they also aren't all cutesy with hearts or frogs or some kind of cartoon character on them. Besides that those over the top cute socks are never thick, warm, or supportive. Also, Hiking socks remind me of, what else? Hiking.

6. Hiking

I adore hiking. It is one of those things that keeps me balanced. Again, a fairly meditative thing. Physical activity at a bearable pace in the beautiful out of doors. Does it get much better? I submit that it does not!

7. New books

I love owning books. Ok? Yeah, the library is great for books that I want to read, but don't necessarily want to own. It's also great for scoping out books that I'd like to own. But there is something incredibly satisfying about looking at a shelf full of books and knowing they are yours. Books are cozy, they are informative, they are comfortable, they are bedtime and waiting for the cookies or the laundry to get done. They are learning something new. They are things I like.

8. Haircuts

The feel of your hair when you get a hair cut is like nothing else. First of all they wash your hair. When you have as much hair as I do, if anyone else is willing to wash it for me I will gladly let them. Then they get rid of all the stupid snarly tangley ends and after all that they style it for me! And it looks better than when I do it myself. How do they do that? Beats me, but I'll take it.

9. The Kitchen

It's the best room in the house. It is easiest to clean as you work (try that in the bathroom!) and when I'm done there I often find myself in a clean room with good food. What more could I want? Oh, right. A hike.

10. Handwriting

Handwriting is some much more personalized than typing for instance. It is relaxing and thoughtful. I love the way it looks on paper. I love the beauty and elegance in each word and in each letter. I love the way it all meets with the space in between to make something both lovely and functional.

11. Gardens

Much like handwriting, gardens are both lovely and functional. Also meditative. Also Balancing. Also a thing I like.

I was going to stop at ten, but I just couldn't leave out gardens. There are a lot of things really, but that's a good start.

What are things you like?

At Least Hansel and Gretel got Candy

So We've decided to start feeding rice cereal some Sally... wait... Let me start over. We've decided to start feeding rice cereal to Sally in an attempt to get her to sleep longer durring the night. She has been waking up about three times in the night lately to eat, which is bad. She used to only get up once and sometimes she would even sleep through the night. Well, no longer. She has developed quite the apatite, so we have decided to stuff her gullet with rice before we put her to bed. Tonight is the first trial run, so wish us luck.

In other news, Katie is just getting over a cold. This was not just your everyday average cold mind you; I'm pretty sure that the virus responsible for this particular cold was spawned in the nether regions of Heck (that's right; I said it) and allowed to culture in a petri dish somewhere out in the desert between Battle Mountain and Winnemucca, Nevada before it was carried by demons to Idaho where it eventually found its way into my wife's body.

Basically, Katie slept for about three days straight and when she was awake, she could only communicate to me via whisper. I'm sure that there are a lot of guys out there who would pay a substantial amount of money if it meant they didn't have to listen to their wives speak for a few days, but I'm not one of them. I actually enjoy having conversations with my wife and it got kind of lonely around here with no one to talk to.

The good news is that Katie is feeling better now and I'm as pleased as punch... er... happy as a clam... Well, let's just say that I feel good about the whole thing (Katie is not standing behind me with a rolling pin). Well I'll chat with all these fine people who like to see Sally's face later.

Love,

Martell "I'm not Joking" Strong

A New Song

Katie likes this song a lot. Maybe you will like it too.

Later,

Martell

New Post!

Some of you may have noticed that it has been a while since we have updated our blog. You see, Katie, Sally and I have moved to a new apartment and we have decided to go without internet for the time being. The internet was included in our rent at the last place and it cost much less than it would if we had gotten it ourselves. Now with the prospect of shelling out an extra forty of fifty bucks a month, we decided that we could get by without having it.

I use the internet up on campus when I am at school, but I don't have any recent pictures loaded on my laptop, and I know that you all just want to see pictures of Sally, so I didn't feel the need to update the old blog. Katie would have done it, but she maybe gets on the internet once or twice a week now, and I'm usually rushing her out the door; so as you can see, the lack of updates is all my fault.

Anyway, Sally is getting really fun... when she isn't crying (we think that she might be teething right now, so she has two modes; "torqued off", and "asleep"). When she isn't throwing a fit, she likes to smile and laugh. Sometimes when I'm doing homework, I'll look up and Sally will be sitting there smiling at me for no apparent reason. I guess that means that she likes me... but maybe it means that she has gas... probably the latter.

Anyway, sometimes I can get her to laugh pretty good by doing stupid things, aka - being myself. If Katie is around she will usually grab the camera and try to record Sally's laughter. Often the camera will distract her and she will stop laughing, but Katie's been able to capture a couple of videos that we thought you all might enjoy.

So, that's really the point of this post. I finally loaded some videos and pictures onto my jump-drive so that I could upload them to the blog for your viewing pleasure.

Well, I hope that you enjoyed the update. I can't promise that I'll stay on top of updating this thing, so I hope that this will last you all a while.

Love,

- Martell

A Trip Back In Time

Here are some photos from my research trip. I spent a week in Montana studying a limestone formation from the Mississippian. The Mississippian is a period of geologic time that began about 360 million years ago and was the period of time from which most of our oil, natural gas, and coal deposits were formed.

The professor that I was with, Dr. Forest Gahn, has expertise in the field of paleontology, with a particular interest in crinoids. The Mississippian also happens to be known as the "age of crinoids," and there were plenty of crinoid specimens to be found in this formation.

I realize that most of you don't care about any of this, so I'll just end this blog post. I hope that you enjoy the pictures. We were doing the majority of our work at roughly 11,000 ft above sea level.

If you want to know more about my research, just ask me. For the rest of you; don't worry, we'll post some more pictures of Sally soon.

Later,

Martell