{m stands for}: May 2011

Who Does This?!

This week, Grant and I got to enjoy one of the best date nights we've ever had. One of our joint birthday presents to each other this year was tickets to the off-Broadway production Les Miserables. We listened to an audio version of the book in preparation, which, even though it was an abridged version, was an accomplishment for me.

At the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake just before the play. The weather was beautiful -- truly a perfect night! I'm feeling very pregnant in this picture ... as I also felt squished in my seat with minimal leg room -- Grant and I both struggled a bit!

The whole night was a DEFINITE splurge for us, especially considering that besides getting to see Les Mis, 1) We got to ride in our friend's parents' limo (our bishop and his wife, parents of our good friends Mark and Tasha, own a limo ... and why not?!) ...

Our Bishop, aka "Chauffeur" for the evening ...

... and 2) We got to eat at The Roof restaurant, a mouth-watering, fancy schmancy buffet at the top of The Joseph Smith Memorial Building at Temple Square.

At The Roof. Can you see the faint sillhouette of the temple spires behind us? Too bad we didn't get our picture before they lowered the shades.

Three things I must mention about The Roof:

1. Eating there was nostalgic for two reasons -- 1) My parents took me there when it was the restaurant at the Hotel Utah for my 8th Birthday. I got to wear my white baptism dress, got a rose from my dad, and had my first taste of shrimp cocktail. 2) Grant took me to The Roof for our Prom (aww ...), and this was our first trip back together. Now knowing how much it costs, I did feel a twinge of guilt knowing he paid that much for me in high school! All the more reason to love him, right?

2. Here's how to make a trip to The Roof affordable: Join the Frequent Dining club on the Temple Square Hospitality website, and make sure you get signed up for the birthday promotion -- a two-for-one postcard! Makes the $40/plate much easier to swallow!

3. The DESSERT BAR was heavenly! Apparently, the JSMB has on-site pastry chefs that whip up the most delectable spread I've ever seen. My choices, though there were at least 20: the Chocolate Decadence cake, fresh fruit tart, and fresh fruit. The Oreo Mousse cake I sampled from Grant's plate was pretty insane, too. Wishing I also would have tried the Creme Brulee. The shockingly high stats on some recent blood work held me back , though (if three desserts is "holding back") ... bummer.

At the theater. We were supposed to be looking "miserable." Grant either just missed the memo, or he is incapable of looking anything but happy. At 8 1/2 months pregnant, however, apparently I have no trouble looking miserable.

The limo ride home. Okay, as if riding in a limo isn't indulgent enough, Tasha and Mark had stocked the refreshment bar with fancy chocolates, cookies, mints, and sparkling cider. Thanks for being such amazing hosts, guys! Obviously you made Grant happy!

Thumbs up to a spectacular evening! Hooray for one final BIG splurge before baby takes over our world!

Happy Birthday to the Man I Love

Today is Grant's birthday, and I couldn't be more excited to celebrate the life of the man I love and adore. I honestly just love him to pieces, and I admire him for all he has accomplished in his life. He makes me a better person and is one of the happiest, kindest people I know.

Here are some of the many reasons I love Grant:

He is the most understanding and thoughtful husband.

Grant does so much for me and always finds so many ways to make me happy. No one can make me laugh like he does. I have loved him for so many years and will love him forever.

He is very intelligent, yet doesn't take himself too seriously!

He's kind of a nerd, but it works, 'cause I am, too!

He's a bit of a rule Nazi,

especially when it comes to board games ... which I'll admit can be buggy, BUT, it's what makes him good at his profession, right?

He is a pretty darn good cook ... and not afraid to wear an apron.

Grant has a contagious smile and a childlike enthusiasm for life!

He sure gives our boys lots to live up to ...

and not just 'cause he's tall! Grant is the best, happiest, most patient and playful dad.

He is so gentle and tender ...

as a father, husband -- he really is such a compassionate person.

Grant is amazing.

He's my best friend, the love of my life, a remarkable dad to my boys, a loyal son and brother, a successful and honest attorney, a humble and diligent Church member, and my favorite person in the world.

Happy Birthday, Grant!

I love you!

Glimpses of Spring

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like this has been an especially wacky spring ... even for Utah. One day we have 70 degree temps and trips to the park, and the next we wake up with two inches of snow on the ground ... most recently on April 30th! Maybe Oregon made a wimp of me, but that's just wrong!!

Despite the crazy weather, we have gotten some glimpses of Spring this past month. Just having tulips and daffodils spring up in my yard has brought warmth to my heart, even if the weather has brought anything but warmth! I've decided I truly am a sunshine girl -- I'm just so much happier when the sun is shining, and even more so if it's warm!!

I have been waiting for this beauty to blossom since we moved in ... it's so wonderful to see this beautiful tree out my living room window!

My blue-eyed boy checking on our spring flowers. Every day, he has to give me an update on their progress!

This picture makes me feel like a bad mom ... Eliot has been sporting the "orphan look" more frequently than I'd like to admit. Normally I pride myself on having him look respectable, but like many priorities in my life right now, that one has slipped ... I'm just too tired to comb his hair!

This week, we took advantage of the one day with nice weather, and trekked to Temple Square to meet up with friends. My friend Brittany and I worked together at Church Magazines, and ended up expecting our baby boys -- my Eliot and her Jackson -- at the same time. Brit and her family just moved back to Utah after being back East the past few years, and we are so excited to get to see more of them! Eliot and Jackson have become quick friends!

While we waited for our friends, Eliot was delighted to play in the fountains and run from one open area to another ...

... while I tried to catch a few pretty shots of the breathtaking flowers on Temple Square. They smelled as amazing as they looked! Being there and soaking in the beauty of Temple Square in the Spring made me miss the days of lunch with friends and daily walks amid the gorgeous gardens! It's hard to believe that used to be my reality!

This is me and Brittany (with babies Eliot and Jackson in our tummies!) at our joint baby shower at Church Magazines. We were too busy chasing kids to get a recent picture together, but here are those little boys together ... very reverently climbing the statues on Temple Square! How fun to see them together at the place where their mommies met and became close friends!

The highlight of the day for the boys ... riding the light rail train back and forth through downtown Salt Lake!

Eliot and Jax on Trax!

{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}

Who Does This?!

Happy Birthday to the Man I Love

Glimpses of Spring

{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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