The Phoenix Farnsworth's Periodical

Giving a Book of Mormon for dummies "newest edition"

2009-03-05T14:11:00.000-08:00

Before I left on my trip, I knew that I wanted to give a Book of Mormon away. I have always wanted to serve a mission, but my life wasn't meant for me to serve as a full time missionary at this time. While I was on the airplane coming to Boston, I wanted to talk to the lady next to me, but she got really sick and passed out and I had to aware the flight staff because she was scaring me. Not really a great opportunity to share the gospel, oh well, the next flight from New York to Boston might be more promising. So on to the next plane. There was nobody seated next to me in the entire row. No one to talk to, hmmmm. Oh wait here comes a gentleman with a crew of flight attendants. He seems really friendly and very talkative, maybe I could give him a Book of Mormon. He smiled and smiled at everyone around and sat in the isle across from me, I'm not all alone now. The flight attendant that was sitting in front of him was putting some luggage in the overhead compartment and was leaning over him. Unfortunately he "checked her out" and laughed saying, "cool do that again!" Oh no! he is a slime bag. He's lucky he didn't get smacked in the head by this woman since she gave him the look of death. Well I don't feel comfortable talking to him or felt like he is a real religious man. So, put the headphones on and listen to the radio for the next 45 minutes when you get in this situation.

No luck with handing out the book while I was traveling around the Boston area either. I kind of started wondering if it was not meant to be. My flight was then delayed numerous times on the way home and I even had an entire day at the airport with the opportunity to talk with people who were also waiting for their flight to be available, but everybody had their ipods or mp3 players on and did not offer a chance of any type of interaction between other individuals. I started wondering how the full time missionaries must feel day in and day out not having a way of breaking through to people. I never did speak with anyone in the terminals gates. Quite boring! Especially for a talkative hairdresser like myself. Finally I did board the plane going to NY from Boston. Again, I had a row to myself and was with a flight that was connecting to Moscow and most of the individuals were Arabic, German, or Asian. I was very much out of my comfort zone now, really no one to talk to. As we were about to depart, one woman finally came onto the plane and was very talkative and open as to how she was feeling to everyone around her. She ended up in the row next to me and leaned over with her east coast accent and said, "I hope that you are religious because I poured holy water all over me today along with a couple of Margarittas to brave getting on the plane today." Wow, I haven't had a single person speak to me all day and the one person who does, has mentioned religion. What a segway. I told her that she was in luck because I believed myself to be a very lucky person and that I have always brought good luck to those around me. She then engaged into deep conversations with me about way I think, and found out that she was planning on meeting a gentleman in Britain that she was dating online and was hoping for a new life. I explained to her how my mother ended up marrying someone that I lined up for her online, and that things turned out okay for her. After speaking with her during the entire flight, I said, "I am so glad that I had the opportunity to meet you. I wish that I could know how your story ends up since I will never see you again." She said, "well give me your email address and I will write to you." The only piece of paper that I had was amazingly, my book of mormon. I wrote in the cover of the book, "Take this book since you can't carry holy water on the plane, Good luck with your new life and hope all goes well." and then my email. I handed it to her and she was very grateful for the book and said that she said that she might really need the extra inspiration in her life and that she had always wondered what we believed. She continued to walk out of the plane with me and talk with me about what I was doing the rest of the day. I now know that I was suppose to go to Boston and give my new friend, Brenda a book of mormon. I fulfilled something that I have always been challenged to do but never have. What a great accomplished goal for my 30th birthday.

We like art "weather" it is good or bad!

2009-03-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

I woke up bright and early today knowing that I need to catch my plane back home. But then remembered "oh yeah they canceled my flight." So on the prowl to find a new way home but then the next flight out got canceled as well. So I get an entire day of sitting on the couch and watching movies and blogging. WOW, now that's what I call a vacation. It wasn't part of the plan, but what a great addition to my need of rest and relaxation. Yesterday, I was looking out the window of the dining area and could see the street signs but today the snow on the roof below was almost covering it. It was also fun to watch Kalynn get ready to shovel the snow. She looks cute no matter what the weather is. Look fellas she even does the heavy work. She is truly amazing and guys you are missing out.

Not only did she shovel the snow, she even got up and made us gals a great breakfast. She made Pumpkin pecan waffles, bacon, juice and fruit. Wow I am spoiled to have such a great friend.

It's a good thing we braved the cold when we did or else we would have never gone to the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). Again, compliments of one of Kalynn's friends with tickets. Great Friends! This lion was found on a wall in Iraq.

This was the Egyptian gallery and they tons of mummies of not just humans, but cats, dogs, crocodiles and weird stuff.

I took this picture in hopes to inspire one of my students to try and duplicate this hair do. I thought it was cool.

Take a nice long look at this picture because I took a verbal lashing from a museum staff member for taking this picture of these egyptian walls. Had no idea photography wasn't allowed. Oh well, got one now! ha.

I liked this piece of work not for the work per say, but for the shadows it created. If you stood there long enough it looked like the flames were flickering.

Out of all the art in the museum, who can refuse the Statue of the Lady de la Armstrong. She is so life like and it too, seems to move if you look at it long enough.
I finally have experienced what real Indian food tastes like at a restaurant called Poonjabs. It was really cool to see all the decorations and try authentics tastes. Their mango drinks, potato filled samosas and curry and rice. I thought of my sister Makayla because everything the eat has cilantro in it and she loves that.

Boston

2009-03-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

If you are a fan of Everybody loves Raymond, you always hear about Marie's Cannoli's. Well, I had never experienced a cannoli before so we went to this extremely popular bakery called Mike's Bakery. People were shoving their wave in....all over Pastries! I had never seen anything like it. These were sure to give Marie a run for her money. "Move over Marie, Here Comes MIKE!" (you need to read that last line like Frank Baron)
We also went to restaurant called Giacamo's.Very Italian and the people were very friendly and loud. The place only had about 8 tables (or less) so we sat at the bar, which I think we got a better view of how they made the food. We lined up out in the freezing cold for about an hour and we made the second shift of people get into this little fantastic place.
Kalynn doesn't really appreciate this picture but I love how it shows her love for food and her french flare in hats.
Kalynn ordered Pumpkin filled tortellini with cream sauce. It was so different and unusual but it was awesome!

I ordered Butternut Squash filled ravioli with a soft spice sauce. HOLY CRAP Amazing!!! I really am going to try to make this at home when I am feeling very gourmet and ambitious. I think the nice, buff Italian waiter was a little shocked when I told him not to take my plate so I could lick the bottom.
There aren't many pictures of Kalynn and I together, but here is one. The irony is that it is with a bunch of stuffed animals. Nothing says bonding with Girlfriends better than a turtle and a shark...I guess?!
We went to the New England Aquarium. Kalynn is so lucky to have friends who have tickets to these things so we can enjoy all these neat things. I love seahorses.
Most of the pictures I took here are meant to be my screen saver.
This big white fella was kind of a nuisance. Every time I got ready to take a picture of a bright colored fish he would swim right in front of them. I got the impression from him, that he didn't get as much attention as the other colorful fish. So I gave him some face time especially since he was willing to perform better than the rest. He also liked following my finger.
Here is the bully of the group. I mean, just look at the booger! He is called a rock fish. He would charge toward you and act very aggressive when you stood there long enough. He did scare me because he would hold really still and then pounce. AWWW! It was kind of embarrassing when I was the one that sort of screamed among all the children.
Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming:)
Another great screen saver. Don't you just feel relaxed looking at it?
Feeding time with the penguins is always entertaining.
Now for the jellies!

These jellies were different than the rest. It was like they had flowers growing out of them.

This was the view on the way to the Aquarium. I was told that these small condos were over a million dollars to live in. I thought of only one person in my life that would probably want to live here. It would be my brother Morris, so he could look out the window and say, "That's my boat!"

Since Kalynn and I are now 30 years old we decided to do the responsible thing and have just chocolate for lunch. These were especially great! These were called Frog Bogs with cranberries, nuts, chocolate and Carmel. Isn't she so cute?!
This was Paul Revere's house. I thought it was cool how it was just stuck right up against the other house. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of this house. I don't know how they do it with 16 children in such small quarters. Obviously not all of his children lived but 11 of them made it to adulthood.
Here was a bell that was in the backyard of Paul Revere's home. I believe it was the one that was in the nearby church.

This was another view from the top of the hill above the Old North Church. This is where the lanterns were hung to warn the patriots of the British redcoats.

I found this display sort of interesting. It was hundreds of Dog tags representing all of the men and women soldiers who had died in the Iraq war. People who have paid homage to this display leave all sorts of articles around it.

Statue in memory of Paul Revere's midnight ride. View of the city.

This was a food market where people again were shoving their way through to get the cheapest food they possibly could. The fish smelled awful.

Kalynn works for the FBI which she claims has the ugliest buildings in town. I told her to point to the building and act sort of proud of her employment, so she did.

We came across this memorial along the freedom trail that kind of made me sick to my stomach. It was in memory of all the victims of the Holocaust. It contained some awful stories of what the Germans did to the Jews and the steam coming out of the vents was representing the gas chambers that they used on these people. It had 6 tall glass structures with numbers on the sides representing the individuals killed during that time. Each pillar was completely covered in numbers.

These were some of the quotes and stories along the way. They were very compeling. I didn't feel much like smiling.

The only reason why I took a picture of this artifact was to remind me that I love my job and have good tools. I also wanted to remind Marquessa and Felicity that they have great combs and brushes and shouldn't complain about me doing their hair, when others had their hair done with these types of rollers and combs.

These are pictures from Faneuil Hall. They had statues of many of the presidents and the art was very inspiring.

This is the Old state house where the declaration of indepedance was first read.

This is the democratic donkey and something came over me to have me sit on it. One of the funnest things I did in Boston.

Statue of Benjamin Franklin. This building used to be used for government meetings but is now a fancy stake house, which I hear is amazing and amazingly expensive!

There were many stones like this one along the red lines marking the freedom trail.

These were tombstones found in one of the cemetaries along freedom trail. The first one is of Samuel Adams, cousin to John Adams and the second is for Mary Goose, whom we know as "Mother Goose" the author.

This is a monument marking Paul Revere's tomb. His gravestone is honored by people throwing coins on it even though it is small.

This was the monument marking John Hancock's burial site.

Here is a view of what the Granary cemetary looks like. There are cemetaries everywhere you look in Boston. We even drove by the one that was based for the Legand of sleepy hollow.

We were walking through Boston Commons and saw the State house for Massachusettes. Kalynn says that's where all the crooked politicians meet.
Here is Frog pond. I especially liked watching the little kids because they weren't afraid to try any manuver on the ice.
This was a view of the park in Boston common with the ice skating rink. We ran into the missionaries here. They were doing their thing. YAHOO go elders!
Boston Mass. Temple
After going to Bunker hill we went home and got ready for a session at the temple. I just wish I wasn't so tired because I literally nodded off throughout the entire session. They probably thought I was an abomination. This temple to me, is simple and concentrated on the woodwork instead of it's light fixtures. Kalynn took me on a little tour since she works there every thursday night. I learned plenty of the protocals of the workers that I never thought about because I am always trying to do everything right. The theme of the Tree of Life is evident in the woodwork, walls, and carpets.
This is a great gal named Shantell Odgen. I met her in a pub called All Asia and she plays the guitar and studied to be a songwritter. She is LDS and she wanted to tap into the phoenix market and get her big break as a musicial. She is very easy to listen to and I really liked her style, it was very realistic yet touching. I especially liked her song about old people called, "I'm taking what matters the most".
This was the small platform that she sang from. It was just like "so I married an ax murderer."
I know it's strange that I took a picture of this pub, but I had never been to one before and seen all the displays of alcoholic drinks. Unfortunatly, the pub didn't sell much that evening even though they had a limit of one drink for events. All the people who came were from the ward.

This is the sight of plymouth Rock. The locals call it "the pebble" I think for the fact that it is half the size of the original and people have chipped away at it. I enjoyed hearing Bridger tell me about what he knew of this place when I talked with him on the phone.

This dock is where the Mayflower usually rests, but because it was winter they relocated it.

The "pebble" has 1620 engraved on it.

While in Plymouth, we decided to try our taste buds for seafood. Kalynn and I aren't much of seafood lovers but we gave it a go because we have to try something new ya know!

Kalynn orders the Apple Maple Salmon with veggies. I order the sampler of shrimp, scallops, haddock and clam strips. I had never eaten scallops to my knowledge and I loved it.

This was our view while we ate at the restaurant.

Here was the yards of the Adams house. I loved the random haystack and that the barn house had a dog house as well. I think that might be an addition since John Adams resided there.

These were more pictures of the yard and the side of the Main house.

I wished I knew what these little red looking berries were. I think they make a beautiful addition to the yard and the fact that they grow in the winter makes them amazing. If you look closely you can see one of the Adams desendants in the middle pictures window, scary.

Here is the front patio and the gate front entrance. I love their style!

Here are both of the houses that Adams had. The one on the left is the barn house and the one on the right is the residency.

Here is John Hancock's statue. I liked the reflection on the bottom half below his famously large signature which he is so well known for.

Here is the Adams Academy which is still in use today. It was used as a library I believe. The statue of John Adams doesn't depict his short, round, toothless stature that I have heard so much about.

The sons of the revolution were buried in the cemetary in the town of Quincy. I think I was bonding with some of my past relatives alittle too much.

The cemetary was the worst of all the cemetaries we went to. I think the homeless people around there made it smell bad. It reminded me of an alley way Ryan and I went down when we went to San Fransisco and got lost. However, I liked the archway's saying, "Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return."

We saw the liberty tax guy out on the street advertising for tax season so of course I had to have a picture with uncle sam in the land of liberty. As we walked away from his he yelled out, "don't forget to pay your taxes!" Trust me sam, we don't.

John and Abigail Adams are kept here in this church across the street from the cemetary. We again couldn't go in because it was closed for the winter. Still a neat building.

I am a huge Abigail Adams fan. I loved that she gave her husband and run for his money and that she fought for women's voices. I think her blood runs through mine just a little, or I would like to think it did. I loved this quote about education on the monument stating to improve your education to help others in your life.

We also stopped into the Gift shop near the Adams homes and read and learned more about their lives. I saw the red seal that John used to write letters and I thought of how my husband one time tried doing the same thing for a nice letter he wrote to me once.

This is Kalynn's bedroom and she let me stay here and she made sure I was snug with a space heater, down blanket and an electric blanket. I stayed warm here.

I really enjoyed this couch. Funny as it seems, a couch can make or break the way you feel. If you have ever seen Just like heaven with Reese Witherspoon, I relate well with the gentleman in that show. Plus I knew these were my kind of gals when all the furniture is from Ikea.
Here is the hallway.
The dining and living area.

This cannon was held at the top of Bunker hill monument. When your relatives have the last name of Adams, I guess one gets picture happy when ever you see something of rememberance. This Cannon was used in the battle of Bunker hill.

It was a nice and warm day leaving Phoenix, Az. It was about 80 degrees and I knew that I was going to be frozen after I got off of the plane for I was heading to Boston, Mass. to spend a weekend with one of my best friends. I thought the clouds were thick until I got to Illinois and then they were REALLY thick. It was snowing from underneath but I was happy to be on top of the clouds.

I couldn't even see anything for miles. It was a strange phenomenon for someone who rarely flies or sees snow. Then seeing all of the establishments on the edges of the ocean and bays were a sight to see as well.

These were the nooks and crannies of the Boston bay. I always thought that magazines and movies made the houses out to be more than what they really were but, they were exactly as they were when this country was established. They are beautiful and all are very unique with their own styles and shapes and colors. Not like Arizona at all. I don't think I saw a single taupe or beige home at all.

After coming off of the plane, we headed straight to Bunker Hill monument. The steps leading up to the monument were kind of steep, but I think that was intentional to get your legs warmed up to the idea of climbing 293 steps to the top of the monument.

Bunker Hill Monument At the bottom of the spiral staircases was a tombstone of someone I did know, but I felt like Kalynn should stand in front of it let me take a picture of it with her.

This was the view from looking up the stairway. If I could've seen how many more steps to encounter I might have thrown up except I wanted to prove that I can still do at 30 as I did at 18 with my friend
.Here is the entrance to the monument.

This statue of Joseph Warren is in the entrance hall of the monument along with many portraits of the soldiers generals who led in the battle of bunker hill.

When we were coming down, which was much easier, I thought about how hard it was to climb all of those stone steps. Whenever I think about emergencies in tall buildings, I always thought, "why didn't people just take the stairs and run?" It is not easy! That's why. I also felt like I was in the dungeon with sleeping beauty's prince and Malificent was just around the corner and she was going to get me. I thought about how scared Marquessa was at Disneyland, going into the castle with the pictures of that villianesse all over the walls. I feel bad for giggling at her now. It was also very cold and I wanted to hold on to the handrails but it almost made the ache in my legs worse, so I just endured it. I'm still glad I did it. This was the
view from the top of the monument which made it all worthwhile.

Disneyland for Christmas!

2009-01-03T18:52:00.000-08:00

It has been some time since our last blog and we are adding pictures this time!
For Christmas this year we decided to go totally non traditional...and...we loved it! We recommend spending Christmastime at Disneyland at least once in your life, if not more. We had an absolute blast and if you want the details, you came to the right place.
To start:

We woke the kids at 4 a.m. and they saw these three boxes, each with their names printed on tags and a note from, who else but, the fat man himself, Santa Clause.

Now, they had been told
that they were going on a "magical journey" and they could expect snow. They had no clue that their journey would take them to Disneyland! Check out their faces after reading the note

The kids were tired before they read the note but they were more that a little ready to go once they found out where they were going.
We also recommend driving early because the kids are still sleepy and they are even quieter with a movie going and their mouths filled with treats.
It was not anticipated, however, by either of us, that our little Marquessa would be throwing up most of the "Magical Journey" to Disneyland. Krispy Kream Donuts don't smell very good after they come back up to take a bow.
After a smelly drive and finding any container we could for Marquessa to kindly fill up instead of getting all over herself (who knew the gift boxes would have multiple purposes) we arrived at the parking structure.
We got to the bathroom and cleaned Marquessa up, changed the kids clothes out of their pajamas and we were off to the park.
We headed straight for Nemo and being the bright parents we are, we thought 'how much sick can we make Marquessa"? She spit up a couple of times in line and fortunatly it was'nt on anyone. The ride was fun and moved so smoothly that Marquessa must have forgotten she was sick because she was just fine. She did fine on the Materhorn and then when we got to Its a Small World, she found a corner and made her mark again. Talk about leaving an imprint! Mariona took her to the bathroom to clean her up again and Bridger, Felicity and Ryan went on IASW. The ride was made over for Christmas and not only was it visually fun but they also pumped smells of cinimon, peprmint and pine throughout the ride. That's the kind of details that make us want to keep coming back. Well we met up with Mariona and Marquessa and Bridger and Mariona waited 40 minutes to drive a car at Autopia. The longest line they waited in the entire trip. Marquessa wanted to lay down so we reclined the stroller and it wasn't long before she wanted to throw up again. This time I quicky asked a custodial cast member for a paper towel but befor I could get it from him, Marquessa managed to throw up in his hand. He was totally cool and maintained his composure really well. Again we love the staff at Disneyland! We managed to get to the first aid station and get some of the nicest barf bags I've ever seen. Too bad they were never used for what they were made for because Marquessa never threw up the rest of the trip.
We took a break after a few more rides, ate at Rancho Del Zocolo and went to our hotel, the Anabella Inn, which is just next to California Adventures and just a short 5 minute walk from Disneyland. The hotel was nice and made for a good place to stay.
Mariona stayed with the girls while Ryan and Bridger headed back to Disneyland for Bridger's first rides on Space Mountain

and Indiana Jones in which he decided were the best rides he'd ever been on in his life! Strangely he wasn't too interested in the fireworks but I think he was more tired than anything from such a long first day.
Day two was for pictures and We'll let them do the talking:

We've made a memory with our family that will last for years to come!
Thanks for spending a few minutes with us. Come again and we'll be sure to have many more memories to post this year.

Blame it on the moon, yeah, yeah!

2008-10-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

Do you remember that Milli Vanilli Song "blame it on the rain"? Before this amazing sham of a hit group was exposed, I recalled the words to one of their(or somebody's) songs, Blame it on the rain. Now don't pretend you don't know what I am talking about all you 80-90's music fanatics, because I truly believe that we have all on occasion danced in the bathroom to this type of song. Seriously...I love that fact that we have something that is safe to blame, since this is a day in age where we have to find someone to blame. Why not the rain? I have decided that everyone needs to find one thing that is safe to blame since it is now a pre-requisite to being considered normal in today's society. I have chosen the moon and for good reasons. Here's why: First of all, I sound like I actually understand things beyond this world; like all of my horoscope, nature loving constituents that somehow have found their way of convincing sappy people into looking to the moon for all of their answers in life. Second, I know the moon has no power without the sun. I don't dare blame the sun, because if I blamed the sun there could be major repercussions if it heard that it was blamed. Last of all, maybe I might be able to learn more about the man on the moon. I never could see him up there and have often wondered why he even exists. One thing that I have found, is that 3 things that will happen while it is a full moon. These things may be weird, freaky, or just plain strange. But it always seems likes people are off their rockers, during a full moon. So next time you are asked a question, and you don't have a definite answer, just try blaming it on the moon, and you'll be surprised how people react. Maybe that's why Milli Vanilla wrote the song in the first place.

Let us "blog-ertain" you!

2008-10-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

There are times in my life that I think that I would like to tell people about some of the experiences that I face in my slightly dull, but yet adventurous lifestyle. (depends on where you are coming from) I was proud to find out that my husband set up our family's blog. I believe that we are innovative and slightly odd people, that tend to find a way on entertaining the simplest of minds. I mean, who else do you know that loves to watch crudely made foreign films and put it on mute and insert our own dialogue, on a regular basis. We can entertain cheaply....but we don't think of it that way, because we don't like to put ourselves down. We simply call it resourcefulness! Just like this blog, it's simply meant to feed you a new form of entertaining yourself. Am I not correct in this way of thinking? So for all you so called "Resourceful" fellow readers, looking for a new mind bend, we invite you to join our periodical insights to our life.
Mariona