Earthquake support

We had our first earthquake here today. I was outside with A at the playground and R had just left for work. Of the other moms I was with at the time, only some of us felt the rocking, which tells you exactly how big the quake was (tiny). When we came back inside, nothing was out of place - not even the DVDs in our notoriously unsteady DVD rack.

Then I turned on the TV and noticed all the stations were running "special reports" on the quake, saying that we haven't had anything this big since 1994, etc. The Governator even had a long press conference saying he didn't remember anything as big since the 1970s. So I guess the earthquake was a big deal, but the epicenter was far enough away from us (in San Bernadino) that we only felt little rumbles.

All this to assure everyone that we are doing okay and that we didn't even get a DVD knocked off the shelf. I can only hope that those at the epicenter in Chino City were as lucky.

Church Callings and the Governator

Yesterday was an action-packed Sunday. A and I were on our own for Church, as R was on call. The bishop asked me to come to his office, and we all know what that means: calling! I was afraid that he was going to call me to the nursery (they released the nursery leader yesterday), but it turns out that I get two easier callings. I am now the pianist for Relief Society and the Temple Liaison (not the Temple Coordinator, which is a whole different calling). This means two things for me: I need to find myself a cheap electronic keyboard so that I can practice piano (I don't think I've played since my mission), and I have to find out what a Temple Liaison is (from what I understand, my biggest responsibility is to set up some kind of babysitting for Stake Temple Night). This also means something for A: she needs to get really comfortable in nursery so that I can go to Relief Society. Yesterday was the first time we've left her with just the nursery teachers, and she seemed to do pretty well - no crying, just shy and withdrawn. She'll get better over time.

On another, almost completely opposite, note, we went to a BBQ with some of the other anesthesiology residents. It seems that one of the residents is from here, and his parents have quite a bit of money. We went to their house, situated up a small canyon overlooking LA. The food was great and the view was breathtaking! As part of the "tour," they pointed to a really large house just across the way: "That's Arnold Schwarzenegger's house." Yep, we had dinner with the Governator's neighbors.

Texting Fool

R and I always said that we wouldn't let our children have cell phones until they were responsible enough to use them. We do have a play phone that we let A use so that she won't want to take our phones, but it looks like she may just be more proficient than we thought:

I believe she is trying to text Grandma to tell her to take her to the beach. Did you get that text, Grandma?

My New Favorite Appliance

Christmas came early this year for us! R found the perfect gift for A and me and couldn't wait until December to give it to us. Plus it's best for summer anyway. What is the perfect gift?

R got us an ice cream maker! We found a recipe that requires only milk, sugar, and flavoring. No heavy cream, no half-and-half, nothing to really increase the calories, and it's perfect for soft-serve ice cream. Mint chocolate chip is our next adventure!

If you have a great recipe or idea for my new favorite appliance, please share it! I am looking forward to really experimenting.

Name Help!

I come to you pleading for a little help. R and I have started discussing names for our little one, but we are coming up short when it comes to good names. A few things that we are trying to keep in mind:

1. We are having a boy.
2. We already named our daughter Alexea, so this one can't be named Alexander.
3. We would like his middle name to be Clayne, so the first name should sound good with that.
4. Our last name is Jensen, so we can't name him Benson (this is really a reminder for me more than you).

Please help us!

July 4th and Name Change

First of all, a very happy Independence Day to all of you (although it is a little late). A celebrated by dressing up, then making a new friend at the playground to go down the slide with.

We also have changed the name of our blog due to some philosophical inspiration from none other than A: The other day A found a ball to play with at the playground. At one point it rolled into one of the landscaped areas that has a little step down from the regular playground. A went after the ball, falling on her face after taking the unexpected step down. Instead of crying and asking to be picked up, however, she walked back over to the step and made her way back up, then down, then up, then down, at first crawling, then walking, then jumping. She worked on that step for a good 15 minutes (which is a very long time for a 19-month-old; I was even starting to get bored watching her) until she had finally mastered the step. She then picked up the ball and worked on walking and jumping up and down that step while holding the ball, just to make sure that she had truly mastered it. Once she had figured out that she could do it on her own, she took great pleasure in carrying the ball up and down that step, making sure that I was watching her show off her new talent.

This really inspired me (I get inspired easily, I guess) about what we are all doing in our lives. Do we sometimes fall flat on our faces when we try something new or have something unexpected thrown in our paths? Do we then cry and ask to be picked up? Or do we stop what we had previously planned to simply overcome and master the added little step? I am guilty of crying and asking to be picked up much more often than I would like to admit. I want to be more like A was that day; I want to master the obstacles in my way, then take great pleasure in having stretched my limits.

What have you done recently to stretch your limits, instead of crying and asking to be picked up?