{m stands for}: December 2010

Now We're Really Regretting ...

... that we missed the Living Nativity at the Provo Tabernacle this year. We were counting on them holding a Sunday night performance like they used to, but when we pulled up, the scenery was already taken down, so no dice. I was disappointed that we didn't get to take Eliot to experience his first live nativity -- he would have loved the live animals, even if he would have had to brave the cold to see them. The Provo one was especially meaningful to us because Grant and I got to depict Joseph and Mary in 2005. Last week the Tabernacle was declared a total loss after this heartbreaking fire broke out in the middle of the night. Farewell to our beloved Tabernacle, that housed so many warm memories for us during our first married years. How I wish we had been able to attend the nativity one last time ... so sad.

Worth Repeating

I posted this last year, though I've noticed it has undergone some changes since then. I love the music and message just as much, maybe even more, as I did then. Have a merry, Christ-centered Christmas. May His Spirit and the beautiful music and meaning of this season fill you with joy, hope, and peace.

This Holiday Season, I'm Looking Forward to ...

Being HOME for the entire Christmas season. I get to decorate my home and enjoy it the entire month of December! It has been wonderful of my gracious in-laws to host us for the past few years, and a part of me will miss being in "vacation mode" (you mean I don't get to ditch my calling and housework responsibilities for a month?!), but, "there's no place like home for the holidays." We're looking forward to forming some of our own traditions as a little family. Plus (yahoo!) no cleaning out our fridge, no packing a month's worth of clothes (and praying we don't go over the weight limit), no stressful holiday travel, no worries of coming back to frozen pipes, mold, etc. ... just staying cozy at home! I feel so relaxed already!
Breaking out all my favorite Christmas music ... Amy Grant, John Denver, James Taylor, Peter Breinholt, Kurt Bestor, the Tabernacle Choir, random mixes from over the years ... can't wait!
Watching It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, White Christmas, Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street (Dylan McDermott version, please), and The Muppet's Christmas Carol.
Going to one of our favorite local performances-- Peter Breinholt in SLC with my family.
Getting to use our "Cocoa Latte" machine to have Stephen's Mint Cocoa and the Cannery's super-rich hot chocolate ... nummers!
Making all the goodies I grew up making with my mom and pawning them off on neighbors and friends! Thumbprint cookies (with my own special touch of Marionberry jam in the middle), Wedding Cookies, Snickerdoodles, and fudge, if Lil will let me help her make it.
Taking Eliot on a surprise excursion on the "Polar Express" on the Heber Valley Railroad. Grant and I went when I was expecting Eliot, and I have dreamed of taking him ever since. I don't know who will be more excited ... Eliot, or his mom and dad!
Receiving Christmas cards in the mail from friends and family.
Going to the Living Nativity at the Provo Tabernacle, and hopefully running into friends from our former stake in Provo, who host the event.
Walking around to see the lights on Temple Square, even if it's fa-reezing!! (I think I've become acclimatized to mild Oregon winters!)

Officially Geeks

Please don't judge me, but Grant and I went to a midnight showing of Harry Potter 7 the night it came out. We started listening to the audio books back in March as a road trip diversion, and I got hooked (nope, this English major/secondary ed teacher had never read Harry Potter before!). I finished book 7 the day of the movie, and, as geeky as it may make us, we were SO excited to see the movie! Grant got free tickets from a radio station, my sister-in-law came and stayed the night with Eliot, and we, along with all the college kids and other Harry Potter "freaks," waited in line for hours. We may or may not have felt a wee bit out of place, seeing as we weren't in full-fledged costumes (I did bring a pair of oversized glasses and forced Grant to take pictures), and we were among some of the only parents there without children. A little silly, but worth it. We loved the flick, even with the unnecessary and "controversial" scenes (wow, Utah can blow things out of proportion ... the added scenes were laughably lame). The miracle of it all, considering I usually fall asleep on anything we watch at home, even if we start it early, was that I stayed awake for the entire thing (might have had something to do with the giant Coke I drank). I'm just glad I have a husband that doesn't mind being a nerd with me ...

Here's what I learned from my first-ever midnight showing experience:

Bring food -- pizza, snacks, whatever. Even if you ate dinner and plan on getting popcorn and drinks to stay awake, it will be torture smelling everyone else's food and not having something of your own to munch on.
Bring more than one card game.
Tell the single guy who asks if he can sit in the lone empty seat at the end of your row that it's actually taken, even if it's not. His commentary throughout the entire show will sour your experience that you stayed up all night for.
Don't go for the popcorn refill, as tasty as that first one was. The rumbling in your tummy in the wee hours of the morning when the movie lets out just won't be worth it.
Be prepared for lots of movie-goers in costumes, many of which you will not recognize from the books or understand. Just go with it.
The catnap in line worked like a charm. Next time, though, bring a more comfy purse to use as your pillow.

{Mantras}

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

-- Aristotle

What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?

-- Robert H. Schuller

Real life isn't always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only to survive but surmount our difficulties.

-- Sarah Ban Breathnach

One of the most important gifts we can give our children is the simple knowledge and security that their parents love each other.

-- Merrill C. Oaks

Though no one can go back in time and make a new beginning, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

-- Carl Bard

That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you; it is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems of life.

-- Harold B. Lee

Of this you may be certain: The Lord especially loves righteous women -- women who are not only faithful but filled with faith, women who are optimistic and cheerful because they know who they are and where they are going, women who are striving to live and serve as women of God.

-- M. Russell Ballard

You are doing God's work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you, and He will bless you, even -- no, especially -- when your days and nights may be most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master's garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and weep over their responsibility as mothers, "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole." And it will make your children whole as well.

-- Jeffrey R. Holland

The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.

-- Thomas Moore

There are seasons in life. Don't ever let anyone deny you the blessings and joy of one season because they believe you should be in -- or stay in -- another season.

--Jane Clayson Johnson

We can do no great things, only small things with great love.

--Mother Teresa

A mother relating to her child in the private intimacy of her home, with no audience but unseen angels, is the predominant influence for all that is good and decent in the world.

-- George D. Durrant

Faith in God means faith in His timing.

-- Neal A. Maxwell

We know about our Savior, but it is often in our adversities that we truly find Him and know Him and love Him. ... Some of our heaviest burdens, disappointments, and heartaches can in time be replaced with "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding" (Philippians 4:7) while we "wait upon the Lord" (Isaiah 40:31).

-- Ardeth G. Kapp

I have come to realize that not every unhappy experience in life need remain unhappy, but is, in all likelihood, the training ground for a better and happier day.

-- D. Arthur Haycock ("Papa")

If our lives and our faith are centered on Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong. On the other hand, if our lives are not centered on the Savior and his teachings, no other success can ever be permanently right.

-- Howard W. Hunter

The doctrine of the Atonement is a doctrine of healing. The Savior heals us from the effects of sin, when we repent. He heals our weaknesses and mistakes. He heals broken promises, broken lives, broken hearts. When we demonstrate the faith to seek after Him, and try our best to follow Him, He will heal us.

-- Sheri Dew

Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.
-- Tori Amos

I love being a mother. Aside from the love I have for my husband, I love mothering more than anything else in the world. ... I treasure every moment. ... Being an always present, always loving mother is the most demanding, fatiguing, and draining obligation that was ever placed upon my shoulders. Mothering, I believe, requires engaging every muscle, every nerve, every fiber of our being, and through it all we pray.
--Patricia T. Holland

The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.
-- Margaret D. Nadauld

I have wept in the night
For the shortness of sight
That to somebody's need made me blind;But I never have yet
Felt a tinge of regret
For being a little too kind.
-- Author Unknown

It is a good and safe rule to sojourn in every place as if you meant to spend your life there, never omitting an opportunity of doing a kindness or speaking a true word or making a friend.
-- Author Unknown

The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. . . . I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.
--Anna Quindlen

When God makes a promise,
It remains forever true,
For everything God promises
He unalterably will do.
When you’re disillusioned
And every hope is blighted
Recall the promises of God
And your faith will be relighted.
-- Helen Steiner Rice

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
-- John Lennon

It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning.
It will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers.
-- Gordon B. Hinckley

Life is fuller and richer and better for those who are not afraid to make a new beginning.
-- James E. Faust

The evidence of God's presence far outweighs the proof of His absence.
--Author unknown

Once there has been illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts. Certainly don’t give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness. Face your doubts. Master your fears. 'Cast not away therefore your confidence.' Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you.
-- Jeffrey R. Holland

Jesus is my friend. None other has given me so much. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. He gave His life for me. I hope that I am deemed worthy of being a friend to Him.

He is my exemplar. His way of life, His absolutely selfless conduct, His outreach to those in need, His final sacrifice all stand as an example to me. I cannot measure up entirely, but I can try.
-- Gordon B. Hinckley

The Lord’s love is often delivered through others as they respond to the promptings of the Spirit. Are we hearing and following those promptings? I fear sometimes we see the Lord’s love only in the big events of our lives; we must also see His love in the smallest of things. Don’t underestimate your ability to share His love through a simple, genuine gesture.
-- Bonnie D. Parkin

I'm Currently Reading ...

My Simple Joys

Hugging Grant and having him rest his chin on my head
Eliot's slobbery kisses (which he now gives me voluntarily, and which he gives to the picture of Jesus on one of his books -- melts my heart!)
The smell of newborn babies
Sitting at the kitchen counter at my parents' house and talking with my mom
The McEuen girls' "sister hug"
Playing "Steal the Bacon" with my nieces and nephews
The smell of the pine trees in Flagstaff, Arizona, and hearing them sway and creak in the wind
How good it feels to stretch after a solid run
Remembering Grandpa's laugh
Climbing into a bed with fresh, clean sheets
The smell of home-baked bread
Watching "It's a Wonderful Life" at Christmas time with Grant
Eating a just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookie
Taking Eliot to get his picture taken
Wave running and barbecues at my in-laws' during the summer
The look on Grant's face at Disneyland
Listening to Don Williams while floating down Lake Powell on the houseboat . . . miss those days!
Buying Christmas presents for Eliot
The sound of laughing with my mom and sisters
Any homemade dinner by my mom -- even if I use the exact same recipe, it never tastes as good as Mom's
Decorating for Christmas while listening to Christmas music
My mother-in-law's pie crust (and the pie that goes in it, obviously!)
Watching Eliot sleep
A freshly cleaned bathroom
Sunlight trickling through Oregon pine trees (it doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it's beautiful!)
My nephew Nate's power hugs
Seeing Eliot with his Nanny and Ampy and Grandma and Grandpa
Grant's huge, contagious smile
Fresh-squeezed orange juice and/or Hna. Dupont's fresh-squeezed guava juice
Getting a hand-written card or letter in the mail, especially from my mom (who has the most perfect handwriting I've ever seen!)
The smell of rain (and I'm in the perfect place for that, now aren't I?!)
Hearing Eliot laugh
The memory of holding Eliot for the first time -- one of the sweetest and most sacred moments of my life

Why This Blog

The title and concept of this blog came from an idea that grew and then seemed to gel when I found the quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley's book, "Standing for Something." Since a blog is a way of representing through words and visuals who someone is, and thereby what they stand for, I thought I'd let this blog be about what "M" stands for (Monica, Mom, Marriage, McEuen, Mormon, and many, many other things).

For so long I've hesitated to get this blog going, wondering if the whole premise was too "preachy" and wondering if that might turn people off. It was at the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley, the prophet of the church I belong to (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) when I realized how much more I truly DO want to stand for something, just as he always did. I want to be associated with and stand for good things -- marriage, motherhood, family, love, honesty, creativity, joy, etc. -- and I'd love it all the more if I could stand for those things in the way that President Hinckley did: without apology, but humbly, sincerely, and always with a gentle sense of humor. So in honor of his life and in an effort to follow along that same path of goodness, here I go, attempting to stand for something in whatever small ways I can.

{m stands for}

Now We're Really Regretting ...

Worth Repeating

This Holiday Season, I'm Looking Forward to ...

Officially Geeks

{monica}

{mine}

{married}

{mother}

{mceuen}

{member}

{missionary}

{Mantras}

I'm Currently Reading ...

Monica's bookshelf: currently-reading

My To-Read List

Monica's bookshelf: to-read

Just Finished ...

Monica's books

My Simple Joys

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