Dustin, Alicia & James

I’m having a free giveaway to promote www.reallifefoodstorage.com. Enter here.

I’ve found it’s getting harder to take pictures of little Mr. Bud–now when I get the camera out, he immediately wants to see it and gets very upset when I don’t allow it. Here is the result of my attempt tonight:

I want to see the camera!

Why can't I play with it?

He’s also learned some new skills:

Reading the Scriptures

Sleeping with a Blanket

Sorting the Spoons with One Sock on

‘Twas Halloween morning in our little house,
Trouble was brewing, worse than the mouse.
Upstairs the toilet was flushed with great care,
Downstairs a witch’s brew went everywhere.

Maybe we can fix it with a big slithering snake
So a morning trip to Lowe’s our family did take.
Although slither it did, we just had more brew,
Left on the floor was one great big eww.

So we made a phone call and a plumber did come,
And this little old house made for some fun.
Off with the toilet and off with the door,
The plumber’s bill became even more.

As if this great mess weren’t bad enough,
The plumber’s big snake broke with a puff.
Roots can bore through an old pipe, you see,
A new one is needed to drain properly.

So as witches and goblins knocked on your doors,
We were too busy sanitizing our floors.
Now things are clean and we’ll get a new pipe,
And although it’s a pain, we’re not going to gripe.

So what is your scariest Halloween scene?
Ours was the basement that became a latrine.

Dustin here.  I know I’ve posted about this before, but I keep feeling that this is incredibly important - that I need to get my voice out there.  I’ve read a lot on both sides of the aisle about California’s upcoming Proposition 8.  I am a strong proponent of Proposition 8 - a resounding “yes” from my corner!  I believe this is one of the most critical historical moments of my lifetime.  If this Proposition fails, I believe it will instigate a great social experiment that will negatively affect people on both sides of the debate.  As I am not the most articulate person, I am referencing one of the best articles I’ve read about this.  You can visit this person’s blog directly by following the link below.  Please read and share your comments.  And more importantly, urge anyone you know in California to vote “YES” for Proposition 8 this Tuesday!

The War of the Ring: In Defense of Proposition 8

By Brady Brammer

Does anyone else think that it is ironic that Mormons are seeking to defend traditional marriage so ardently? After all, 100-150 years ago the Mormons in Utah were criticized for their views on marriage to such an extent that the 1856 Republican party ran on the platform of “prohibit[ing] . . . those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery.” There are many differences along with some similarities between the two issues. Nevertheless, that is a discussion for another day.
As a background, I have been involved in this issue since 2004, working for the Marriage Law Foundation. I have also published a piece in the BYU Law Review entitled: The Religious Right and the Gay Rights Movement: Finding Common Ground. I do not believe myself to know all of the issues or all of the angles, but like many, I believe that I have some angles that may be persuasive, or at least helpful in understanding the issue.

Initial Admission: We (Religious Groups) are not without Blame
I know that you have all heard the line before that “this isn’t anti-gay, this is about protecting marriage.” For many I believe this is true. For others however, I fear that it is pretextual. I believe that to some degree anti-gay feelings exist. Not the anti-gay feelings of “I still love them, but I disagree with that aspect of their life” (which is sort of how I feel about my friends involved in MLM marketing or those driving minivans), but rather, there is an actual and a violent hatred for gays that still permeates both the religious right along with many other groups. I sympathize with my friends that are gay because I don’t think that they have been given a fair shake. I truly believe that God and Christ will have a level of mercy for them and the choices they make that far exceeds the bigotry and judgment that they have been dealt by religious groups and society in general.

Arguments
Different Goals:
Traditional marriage is a bestowal of rights. These rights are given in hopes of providing social good. In this instance, the social good that these rights are given are (to name a few):

1. The right of a child to be brought up and know his/her biological parents,
2. encourage the optimal situation for child rearing (social science consistently shows that this is a home with a mother and father),
3. bridge the male-female divide,
4. help children to develop the positive aspects of their respective genders, and finally,
5. providing a socially acceptable means of responsible sexuality and reproduction.

Admittedly, traditional marriage as a whole fails to live up to these ideals, despite this, it has the potential to live up to these ideals and commonly does. At its core, same-sex marriage cannot meet the same goals that traditional marriage has espoused. Specifically, it cannot encourage parentage by biological parents of different sex, nor can it bridge the male-female divide. This is not to say that same-sex marriage cannot have benefits of its own. It is merely to show that the goals must, by definition, be different.

Specificity:
As discussed above, providing for a separate institution, such as civil unions allows for the law to seek social goods that could come from civil unions. These goals include among others:

1. fostering relationship stability,
2. when procreative powers are used, it provides for more stability in the lives of children than they would otherwise have.
3. providing a framework for more responsible sexuality

While some may agree with civil unions, and others would dispute them is a debate for another day. The point to this is that civil unions allow for a legal framework that addresses fundamentally different goals than marriage does in a more specific way.

Muddled Legal Framework:
Family law is based on certain presumptions specific to traditional marriage. The addition of same-sex marriages into the legal framework brings with it challenges. How does the law deal with divorce issues for same-sex couples? Issues that arise more frequently would be tied to child custody issues such as biological parenting rights, surrogate parenthood, and artificial insemination. For example, in Massachusetts, gay couples are having to spend much more money to divorce because the established laws and cases are difficult to apply, causing further litigation. For example, for traditional marriage, most child custody issues are decided presumptively in favor of the mother. In a same-sex marriage between two females, the court is forced to determine who is in the role of the mother first, then apply the law as if the other partner were the man.

Additionally, what about the situations where one partner gives birth, while the other provides support, but is not the biological parent; under the current law, the biological parent is at a great advantage. Having a separate institution allows greater flexibility and responsiveness to deal with issues that are largely same-sex specific.

It Does Hurt, and it Can Hurt me in the Future:
One of the strongest arguments against the protection of traditional marriage is the question “How is the marriage of Janice and Janet going to hurt the marriage of Brady and Nicki?” The reason why it is a strong argument is because in reality it won’t hurt me or my family directly. However, that is not to say that it won’t hurt us indirectly. Taken as a whole, the societal consequence is that I must view marriage in a way that I don’t believe that marriage is.

Just as most do not believe that polygamy is marriage, and most would not want it to be called marriage, I don’t believe that same-sex unions are marriage. Forcing me and my family to change that definition hurts my belief in marriage as an institution. I am not a bigot for believing that the role of a mother and the role of a father are essential in the lives of the children they create.

I recognize that many of the arguments against same sex marriage are “doomsday” or “slippery slope” arguments are not applicable now and are largely given for dramatic effect. Despite this, I do not wish to huddle with the people that agree with me and try to persuade my children that “real” marriage, as has been in effect for centuries is acceptable while “new” marriage is only acceptable to our belief system in certain circumstances. This truly does hurt how I raise my family. Whether the schools teach it, or society teaches it, same-sex marriage will be taught as marriage as long as it is legal.

Precedent:
As an attorney, I look first to precedent. Currently, three states allow same-sex marriage (California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts). To my knowledge, 26 states have passed constitutional amendments protecting marriage and 19 have passed statutes, totaling 45 out of 50 states with some form of marriage protection. California and Connecticut both had laws protecting marriage that were overturned despite wide margins supporting those laws when passed. Additionally, federal law defines marriage as a legal union of one man and one woman. That being said, precedent isn’t everything, so let’s go on.

Different Actors in the Legal Relationship:
At its core, marriage is a legal union, just as a partnership, an LLC, or corporations are legal unions. The choice of which legal union is applicable depends upon the actors and the rights that are sought. Here, the actors are fundamentally different. While the rights may even be identical, the actors are different, thus a legal difference in name is appropriate—not discriminatory.

Rights, not Acceptance:
I don’t believe that the government has the job to tell people to like me. I believe that the government is in place to give me rights. Rights to do things without government intervention, and in some cases, like marriage, the right to do things with the help of the government. Here, the same rights exist under both the civil union framework and the marriage framework. With that in mind, seeking to change the name of those rights is a play for acceptance and not a play for rights. I do not believe that the role of the government is to sanction my lifestyle or anyone else’s. If the government seeks to end all marriage benefits that is fine. Changing marriage to something different in hopes of lending credibility and acceptance extends beyond the role of government.

Conclusion
These are just a few of my thoughts on the subject. I hope that they are received in the proper context and that they are not perceived as being bigoted. In sum, my support for Prop 8 comes down to 1) a belief that a father an a mother in a committed relationship meet the social goals of marriage, 2) same-sex marriage has different actors and goals that can be addressed more effectively under a different legal identity, and 3) seeking acceptance by changing the meaning of accepted terms is not the role of the government.

Having a roast in the freezer that was begging to be eaten, I began perusing the Internet and most of my cookbooks for a roast recipe that sounded good. In case you’re wondering, about 95% of them involve some combination of dry onion soup mix and/or cream soup, and although I can enjoy a roast cooked that way, I was so not in the mood for it.

Finally I resorted to making up my own recipe, and basing it off a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, The Improvisational Cook, came up with the following. It was a major hit. Super tender and a wonderful flavor that really hit the spot.

In a small bowl, mix:
2 tsp salt
½ tsp rosemary
½ tsp marjoram
¼ tsp thyme
1 tsp minced garlic

Rub on a 3 pound pot roast

Top with three cored and sliced apples.

Cook in slow cooker for 8 hours on low.

The apples are pretty much pulverized by the end–I left the peels on them this time around, but will try peeling them and perhaps blending them up with the juices to make a gravy.

A month or so ago I started thinking that I ought to compile all of the recipes, tips and tricks I’ve learned relating to food storage. In thinking about all of the things I’ve learned by trial and error, it seemed like a great idea to share what I know with others, especially now that the economy is slower and everyone is looking for ways to save money. And thus, www.RealLifeFoodStorage.com was born.

When I started experimenting with food storage shortly after we got married two years ago, I discovered that by integrating long term storage items such as wheat, rice and beans into our every day meals we could eat better for less, be prepared in case we ever had to rely exclusively on those types of items, and rotate our food storage all at the same time.

My interest in cooking with long-term storage items has expanded to freezer cooking and gardening, which you’ll see on the blog as well. I still have so much to learn, but I’m hoping that by launching this website I can help others who are trying to make sense of it all and that I can learn from others (if you have anything you want to contribute, don’t hesitate to share!).

Take a look, and let me know what you think!

A couple of weeks ago we made it to the canyon for a fall picnic.  It was gorgeous!

This past week we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary.  It’s hard to believe it’s already been that long.

Since our anniversary fell in the middle of the week, we opted to celebrate on Friday night with dinner, ice cream and a surprise I bet you won’t guess.

We enjoyed Magleby’s for dinner, then SubZero Ice Cream for dessert.  We went on our third date to SubZero, and it was a pivotal date.  It was one of the first times we really got to talk, and all kinds of embarrassing stories spilled out.  It was fun and ignited more sparks.  I came up with a great combination this time around–premium cream, mint flavor and oreos.  Delcious!  It’s actually my favorite ice cream, but you have to get it just right.  Sometimes the mint flavor isn’t quite right, but it was perfect!

After eating out, we picked Bud up from Dustin’s parents who kindly watched him for us, put him to bed and I discovered the date wasn’t over.  Dustin banished me to the basement while he worked on things upstairs.  After a while he came down with some warm clothes for me to put on.  He then escorted me out to the backyard where we huddled to keep warm, watched the stars, and remembered some favorite moments.  Once we got too cold, it was time to come inside and roast marshmallows on the stove!  I love roasting marshmallows on the stove and it’s been way too long since I’ve done it.

Then he surprised me in our bedroom with this:

The tent set up on top of our bed!  It was an anniversary camp out!  Dustin knows I love camping, but that was rather hard this year with Bud.  It was hilarious.  I couldn’t believe that he had done it.  We got the best of both worlds–we don’t have very comfortable sleeping mats, but we have an awesome, awesome bed.  So it made for a pretty sweet set up.  The bottom of the tent is a tarp though, and it was kind of crackly every time we moved.

“We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society”

California will be voting soon on Proposition 8.  The outcome of this vote could have very significant consequences!  Voting “yes” for Proposition 8 will protect the definition that marriage is between a man and a woman.

What voting “yes” for Proposition 8 will do:

• Protect the definition that marriage is between a man and a woman
• Safeguard religions so they can continue to teach doctrine that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God
• Continue to allow California citizens involved in civil unions and domestic partnerships the marriage-related benefits that are already afforded them

What voting “no” for Proposition 8 will do:

• Mandate public school curriculum to place homosexual marriage and heterosexual marriage on the same plane.  Children will be taught that they are equivalent and that either is an acceptable relationship
• Put religions on a collision course with free speech.

The negative effects is Proposition 8 is defeated could be terribly debilitating to our society in the long run.  Please read more about this issue here and urge anyone you know in California to vote “YES” for Proposition 8.