Camp Anderson

I just returned from a week at Girls’ Camp with my Stake in Pennsylvania. When my good friends, Toni and Bekah, were called to be the Stake Directors, I was bummed that I would be in Texas all summer and wouldn’t be able to go with them. So when someone approached me and asked me to cook, I couldn’t resist. My friend Stephanie, who cooked at girls’ camp the last two years and is amazing and helped me prepare, told me I would feel like I climbed Mt. Everest when it was over. She was right! It was totally physically tiring, but exhilarating to accomplish.

Below are some lessons I learned along the way.

1. IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN ASSISTANT COOK THAT DOES!!! I originally thought I would do all the food by myself, with Stephanie and other camp leaders lending a hand when they could. Stephanie was wonderful at helping me to prepare, but I couldn’t have done it without Suzette, my full-time helper. She’s done this a million times and was absolutely awesome! I kept telling her all week that I wouldn’t have gotten out of the grocery store if it weren’t for her. By the end of the week, she even let me call her Zettie.

2. Token Priesthood Holders (Men) are great help in the kitchen. Brother Brant manned the grill every morning and President Roming chopped watermelon or did whatever else needed to be done. Some mornings, they were in the kitchen before Zettie and I were.

3. Go SIMPLE and cook recipes you’ve already made and know how to do. And remember that cooking times are longer for the big recipes. I made my family’s favorite Frito casserole one night. I’ve made it tons of times, but since I multiplied the recipe by 12, cooking took longer.

4. Teenage girls like green peppers. Who knew?

5. The night the girls cook tin foil dinners over the fire is a good night for the leaders to get take out from a local favorite BBQ place. (Toni’s idea was to wrap up one of the BBQ pork sandwiches in tin foil, pull it out of the fire, and say, “Hey! Look how mine turned out!” We didn’t think the girls would laugh very hard, though, so we didn’t do it.)

6. Keep a supply of “contraband” in the fridge--Diet Pepsi, extra cookies, ice cream, and, of course, the leftover BBQ--etc. for the leaders.

7. “Shoe String” potatoes are not hash brown. They’re French fries.

8. Teenage girls think it’s super cool to be served French fries for breakfast.

9. French Toast cooks up quickly. If you need a morning to sleep a little later, opt for French Toast.

10. Campers and other camp leaders willingly pamper the cooks. Zettie and I had 35 minutes on Thurs. afternoon before we had to help the girls put together tin foil dinners. It was the first free 35 minutes we had had all day. My feet were killing me, so we decided to soak our feet. We grabbed the buckets that the girls use to wash their dishes (they weren’t so thrilled with us when they recognized the buckets) and sat out on the patio with our feet in warm water. At the end of the 35 minutes, we had a sign that said, “M&Z Spa,” a plentiful supply of Almond Joy, Chocolate Candy, and Good & Plenty, a girl to change our water when it cooled off, another girl giving us shoulder rubs, and another girl making us tie-dyed t-shirts. Camp goes well when the cooks are happy…

11. At Stephanie’s home, passing gas is another way of saying, “I love you.” We all agreed not to let our own families in on this, for fear that they would tell us they love us.

12. The cooks’ bedroom, off the main room of the lodge, is not soundproof, especially during testimony meetings. No, I wasn’t “telling anyone I loved them.” I was singing silly songs to Chase, Bekah’s baby, to make him laugh. I made a few other people laugh, too.

So, girls’ camp is supposed to be for the girls, but the leaders have a pretty dang good time, too. Thanks Zetti, Toni, Bekah, Kelli, Cynthia, Greg, Pete, Stephanie, Katherine, Becky, Dawn, Melissa (the great), Ashley, Megan, Meagan, and all the wonderful girls!

PS - Check my recipe blog for camp recipes.

June 23's edition of "Why My Husband is a Poopoohead"

Before I left for PA, I told him that I was leaving clothes in the dryer because they wouldn't be dry in time for me to get them out and fold them. He responded by saying, "I'm sure they'll still be there when you get back." I laughed. It was funny. A clever joke.
Or so I thought.
Today, I go to do laundry, open the dryer, and, sure enough, there are the clothes still there for me, now that I'm back. Just like my husband, the Poopoohead, said.

And that is today's reason why my husband is a Poopoohead.

Big Trouble, Little China: Big Stupidity, Little Merit

I need a guy's help. I don't get my husband right now. He's sitting on the couch, as I type this, eating a bowl of ice cream. That's pretty typical. But he's watching Big Trouble in Little China. And ENJOYING it! This is a movie with the stupidest plot on record and lines like, "Are you ready?" (As Kurt Russell and his side kick rush in to save the girl.) "I was born ready." What?!?
I don't understand how Sammie is enjoying this. This is my film-school graduate, worked on movie sets and in the Technicolor film lab, loves to hate stupid movies, cinema snob husband Sammie. Is it a guy thing? Someone help me. After almost three years of marriage, I thought I knew this guy...

Oh. And I should add that we OWN the copy of the movie he's watching.

My universe just turned upside down.

Chihuahua?

We think we figured out Phoebe's other half. We know she's part Corgi, but have been pretty certain she's not a thoroughbred. The other night we went to see the new Narnia movie (FABULOUS! by the way) and, to our horror, made the discovery. Check out this movie trailer and see if you agree...



(Sorry to make you sit through that, I know it's painful.)

Just so you have a reference, here are some pictures I posted of Phoebes.

Adventures in Houston

This weekend was filled with adventures and memorable moments. Perhaps Jacob, our nephew, summed it up the best in his prayer on breakfast this morning, "We've had a lot of fun with Uncle Dammie and Aunt Melissa and Phoebe's a really cute dog!" Sammie's older brother Dave lives with his wife Carolyn and their 4.5 kids in Lake Jackson, just south of Houston. We traveled through pretty back roads on Friday afternoon, arriving at their beautiful brick home in time for smoked ribs and grilled vegetables. (HOW COME NOBODY HAS EVER INTRODUCED ME TO GRILLED CORN?! I'VE HAD A DEPRIVED LIFE UNTIL NOW!) The next morning, "Dammie" and I went to the Houston temple and then drove by Clear Lake, where Sammie grew up. We parked in front of his old house, walked around the back to see the gazebo and deck he helped build with his Dad, brothers, and Todd (the carpenter they hired to do the job) and gazed into the bayou where Sammie used to see alligators and water moccasins. He also drove me by the KFC where he used to work, his junior high, his high school, and the parking garage where he and his friends rappelled down the side. That evening included swimming, meeting Aunt Mary, Cuban sandwiches, strawberry shortcake, and the Far Side movies. (Yes Boyers! They exist!) This morning, we went to the Brazosport ward to check out the rumors of a new bishop in town. Indeed, Dave had been made bishop the week before. Sammie celebrated this important milestone in his brother's life by making faces at him from the audience. We were also there for Carolyn's first Sunday School lesson. I think she's relieved to trade in her 6:00 a.m. seminary kids for a room full of adults once a week. She began the lesson by saying, "I taught seminary all year. So when I ask a question, keep in mind that I'm not scared of silence!"
This picture was taken as Sammie and I tried to watch the kids while Dave set Carolyn apart for her new calling. Sammie ended up as a jungle gym... Will's on his head, Jacob's on his right foot, and Matt's on his left.Sammie's greatest church adventure, though, involved taking Jacob to the boy's room. When Jacob asked Sammie to take him, he assured him that it was only #1. Carolyn said he'd only need help washing his hands. All the way down the hall, Jacob chanted, #1! #1! #1! However, as he pushed open the bathroom door, he smiled up at Sammie and chanted, #2! Let's just say Sammie took another important step towards fatherhood today.
After a yummy crepe lunch, some coloring, and a walk around the block with Phoebe, we said our goodbyes and made our way back to Austin. Thanks Dave, Carolyn, Will, Matt, Melanie, and JJ! We love you!

So Where Are You Guys From?

It's an easy enough question, usually, and a very popular conversation starter. But this weekend, it was too confusing for Sammie and me to answer. A year ago we moved from Va to Pa and a week ago, we moved to Austin, Tx for the summer. This weekend, we were in El Paso for a wedding of friends we had in Virginia. So, when anyone asked us where we were from, and how we knew the bride and groom, it was difficult to back track and get to a semi-coherent answer.
It was a beautiful wedding and one of the best days we've had in a long time. I like to tease Jesse and Echo (bride and groom) that they are Ken and Barbie. When I was a little girl, my sisters and I loved to play Barbie and especially loved to plan and execute Barbie and Ken's wedding. Well, Saturday I saw Barbie and Ken get married and it was more beautiful than anything I ever imagined as a little girl. Sammie would say that Barbie could have found a better Ken. (He and Jesse have that kind of relationship.) But I think I'm proof of the miracles that a fabulous woman can do with her husband. :)
Maybe Sammie (who was the wedding photographer) will let me post a picture of them on this blog. In the meantime, here's a video that Jennie (my baby sis) took of Sammie and Jesse playing in their band, Barefoot. We uploaded the clip to youtube.

I Have a Feeling We're Not in Pennsylvania Anymore, Phoebe

If Sammie's mileage countdown across the country ("52 more miles to Texas... 48 more miles to Texas...") had somehow failed to tip me off that I was in Texas, the following 2 clues would have surely given it away. At our hotel in Dallas, I made a Belgian Waffle for Breakfast (I think I blogged about this when we drove home for Christmas). Texas has special waffle irons, though. The waffles come out in, yes, the shape of the state of Texas. Then, yesterday morning, Phoebe and I went on an exploring walk. We found lots of cool places by our apartment and lots of fire ants found us. When I got home, shaking fire pants out of my pant legs and socks, Sammie said, "Welcome to Texas, Melba!"

We had a wonderful trip across the country and got to see lots of friends: The Choates and the Kidds in VA, the Andersons in NC (who showed us around the Duke campus), and the Markhams in Dallas (we got to see Ella's kindergarten graduation!). Highlights of the trip also included the monsoon we drove through in Mississippi, leaving my purse at Jonas and Rachel's in North Carolina, and the absolute jitters we both had as we drove into Austin.

We have a nice apartment, very close to Dell and lots of shopping. We miss State College, though. We knew we loved it there, but we didn't realize how much until leaving. We'll see all you Penn Staters in the Fall!

Feeling Lucky?

Melba and I took Phoebe on a walk today and as we were finishing I decided to look for 4-leaf clovers. Melba kinda mocked me -- so I reminded her of the time when I once found 3 three 4-leaf clovers in one day. She walked a little bit further ahead, and then in no-time I saw her pick a clover from the ground and start walking to me.

"Did you find one?" I asked.

"No, not really. Look."

Then she showed something that isn't a 4-leaf clover.



There are 5 leaves here. Four symmetrical ones, with a fifth leaf growing above them. Crazy. (The clover is a little bit mangled, and it wilted a little bit by the time we got home to take the picture, but I assure you -- it is for real.) I kept looking for a little bit longer until I found a 4-leafer. I decided that it would take too long to try and out-do Melba........

32 Down, at least 16 (but more like 24) more to go

I’m officially done with the first year of MBA School. Um, that’s it. And we’re leaving for Texas Monday. But that’s not why we blog – we blog to tell people the funny things we do. So here’s a part of the conversation Melba and I had about finishing up the first year of MBA School:

Melba: So, you’re done with the first year of MBA School.

Sammie: Yes, I’m done. So what does that mean?

(Pause)

Melba: I don’t know – what does it mean?

Sammie: I don’t know either. That’s kinda why I asked. They taught us a lot in the first year, but they didn’t teach us that. I hear it’s an elective for the 2^nd year.

OK, I admit that’s not really funny. In fact, it’s not even kinda funny. In fact, I wonder if I should even post this blog. Spending the past two weeks taking finals has made me pretty boring. I ought to be funny again by the time we make it to Austin.

As I write this stupid blog, Melba watches a stupid chic flick. I laugh at the cathartic scene where the bratty step-daughter finally has a heart-to-heart with her step mother (right then, the step-mom goes into labor – funny) and Melba wishes me away. Then she says, “I like Emma (the step-mom). Of course, she’s too good to be true, but everyone needs a character that’s too good to be true.”

So I say, “Melba, you have someone in your life who is too good to be true.”

Melba looks at me, smiles, and says, “Yes – my sister, Carrie.”

This blog sucks.

I’ll post something better sometime later.

Dinner Time

Melba and I recently got invited to dinner and were asked if we like steak. Her response is very much 'blog-worthy.'

Are you kidding? Could we eat steak? I married a Texas Boy! In Texas, the 13th article of faith says: "We believe in buying red meat, storing red meat, marinating red meat, barbecuing red meat, and eating red meat. Indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of certain 80s fast food commercials: 'Where's the Beef?' If there is any red meat, we seek after this thing."

"I Married You Because You Don't Act Like Me."

(Sammie on the way home from church today.)

Chippendales and Mom

One of my favorite things about my parents is what good people they are. They never watch TV or go to R-rated movies or participate in anything that is not uplifting and inspiring. That's why it was so funny that on their first visit to VA after Sammie and I were married, Sammie took them to a sports bar to watch the BYU/Utah football game. Fortunately, they loved it! I wish I was better at following their example.
When I flew out to Utah to take care of my Dad, I landed in Vegas, because it's closer to St. George. Martha, Marian, and Mom drove over to pick me up. I was reminded yet again why I hate Vegas so much. The large advertising screen next to my baggage claim carousel kept playing clips of the Chippendales. And as we were leaving the airport, we saw numerous billboard advertisements for "Chippendales" and "Thunder from Down Under." Martha and I started complaining about/making fun of the Chippendales. Mom asked very innocently, "Well, don't you like the Chippendales?" I had to explain, "Mom, they're male strippers." She was horrified! Thought they were a folk music group and didn't even know there was such a thing as a male stripper.
It reminded me of one of my favorite moments from General Conference (semi-annual world wide broadcast of messages from our church leaders.) Here's the quote: "I love the story told at the funeral of Henry Eyring’s father. When he was a young man coming across the border from the Mexican colonies to the United States, the customs man said, “Son, do you have any pornography in your suitcase or trunks?” He responded, 'No sir, we don’t even own a pornograph.'" (If you want to read the whole talk, you can find it on the church's website.)
I love you Mom!

Facts of Life?

I'm in Utah right now, taking care of my Dad. He had a mountain biking accident and broke his hip. He's doing very well, but just has to hobble around on crutches and needs a little extra help doing things.
I dropped him off at a stake (church) meeting last night and went over to my sister's to see her and her husband and play with their five kids. I've really missed them! I had fun playing wii with my nephew Matt, watching Lucy take some of her first steps, and reading stories to Lizzie, Josh, and Sam. Josh and Sam (aka the "cage fighters") are true guys - i.e. tried the whole night to impress me and outdo eachother with their flatulence.
Anyway, when I put Lizzie to bed, she asked me to cuddle with her, so I lay down by her and we talked about whatever comes in to an 8-year-old girl's head right before she falls asleep. We started talking about wedding receptions and she told me how much she liked mine and remembered being on the boat. She then told me that she wanted to have a large reception so that she and her husband could sneak out in the middle and... (of course at this point, I was wondering what in the world she was going to say.) ... go to the slurpee store for slurpees! She then assured me that brides and grooms will sneak out of their wedding receptions to go get slurpees or candy. When I asked her how she knew that, she said she just listened carefully, like when her Mom was on the phone, and just found these things out.
Of course Lindsay, her Mom, denies any such phone conversation.

Our Dog is Crazy

Phoebe loves stuffed animals!! And they're even more fun if they make noise. In fact, the more annoying the noise, the more fun the toy is. Grannie (Mom Boyer) sent this toy frog to Phoebe for Valentine's Day. Hopefully you can hear the clip and experience the "ribbit" for yourself... Also, my sister Martha is obsessed with pointing out and mocking nerdy laughs. Mo - check out my laugh after Sammie's joke. WORST EVER!!!!!

In this next clip, which is shorter, you can hear Sammie in the background, telling me about Luke losing his appendix. (Welcome to the A- team, Luke!)

Finally, last December I had a huge stack of papers to grade, so naturally, I was looking for unimportant things to do to avoid grading. I ended up taking pictures of Phoebe and thought it was funny how well she posed for the camera.

Sammie's Christmas Present

Sammie and I have had a deal since we got married that I would keep my hair long as long as he kept his face shaved (when we started dating, he had a goatee). Every once in a while, I would tease him about wanting to cut my hair. Finally, on Christmas he granted me permission to cut my hair, promising not to grow out his facial hair. Well, once I had the permission, I lost my nerve. It wasn't until he was in Istanbul and I was contemplating a hot and humid Texas summer that I finally did it. And I'm glad I did! It hasn't been this short since about 1999...

My R-Square is bigger than your R-Square

Just remember, when you're forecasting demand from historical data that includes trend, level and seasonality -- you darn well better be sure that your independent variables cut the mustard or someone like me is going to have a different forecast result and as we all know, he who has the bigger R-Square wins. And, FYI, if you have multiple sets of demand and need to find out which of them, if any, contain trend, level and/or seasonality, I would recommend using a bivariate correlation to measure significance on all variables in one shot rather than doing things the long way and running multiple linear regressions until one of these pops up. (Yes Mike, that means you.)

That pretty much sums up my life for the day. No kidding. That's what I did. And my R-Square was bigger than Kyle's so we ended up using my forecast results for the assignment instead of his.

Perhaps my father is the only who understands what this all means which makes the picture below all the more amusing.




My mom took this picture while my parents were here last week. It begs for a humorous caption -- specifically one that reflects what Phoebe is thinking. Please post whatever caption you think fits. The ones we have so far are:

"Who ARE these people? And when will Melba come home and take me on a walk?" -- Vernon P.

"8 Billion people in the world -- and I get stuck with these two?" -- Melba

"How do I get online?" -- Grandma Dewey

"Hey, a quarter!" -- My brother Jeff

"Well, it could be worse. At least these guys aren't lawyers." -- Vernon P. (that one is for you, Jeremy.)

"Phoebe's the only one in the picture I can relate to. It's the story of my life." Larry (Mom Boyer)

And this is my favorite -- from my sister:

Back from Istanbul.

Istanbul is a cool city. I spent the first week of March there as part of the MBA Program -- it was a graded course. Here's a picture for you.

.

School has started up again. Time to hit the books.

Enough About You... Let's Talk About Me!

I had a tedious project to do at work today. I thought it would be more palatable if I opened up some blogs to glance at while I worked. 45 minutes later, I was caught up on my blog reading and the project still sat in front of me, untouched. oops. I especially liked the "all about me" posts so I'm inviting myself to the party!

6 quirks. My sisters Carrie, Martha, and Anna all posted their quirks and tagged me. I had a hard time coming up with some, even though I could list a lot of quirks about people around me.

1. When I grade papers, I have to grade with a mechanical pencil and a pink eraser. I can't grade in pen.

2. I love to walk Phoebe and listen to my ipod. But I usually don't listen to music. I listen to lectures from The Teaching Company. Right now I'm switching back and forth between The History of Africa and History of World Literature.

3. I'm scared of being alone in the dark. The first summer I lived in DC, all the power went out one night and I was home alone. I literally had an anxiety attack, convinced that there was someone in the house waiting to attack me. I was on the phone with my summer fling and he was trying to calm me down. He reassured me by saying, "Baby, when the power goes out those kinds of people aren't going after you, they're robbing electronics stores."

4. I love playing spider solitaire and other time-wasting computer games. I also love crosswords, sudoku, and any kind of word game. Sammie makes fun of me, but at least I'm warding off alzheimer's.

5. I crochet while I watch the Superbowl.

6. I'm really particular about my temperature at night and will sometimes get up in the middle of the night to change clothes if I'm too hot or too cold.

I'm definitely tagging Sammie for this one. He's my favorite quirk!!

I also liked this fill-in-the-blank...

Places I've Lived:
- Torrance, CA
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Jerusalem, Israel
- Campinas, Brazil
- Harrisburg, PA
- Falls Church, VA
- State College, PA

Job's I've Had:
- Drycleaner
- Candy Jar
- MTC Teacher
- Software Trainer/Project Leader
- College Instructor
- Reading Enhancement Instructor

Most-loved Vacations:
(what's not to love about a vacation?)
- 2 tours through Brazil with my parents
- Some wonderful trips to Europe
- 2 weeks spent in Maine when I was 11
- Some great Moab trips with College friends
- A crazy trip to China
- Puerto Vallarta
- Israel in June 2007 with some of my family
- Roadtrips across the country! Once with my Mom, once with Sammie and Phoebe
- Numerous trips to Charlottesville to visit the Kaelberers
- Outer Banks
- Condo in St. George
- Lake Powell
- And, of course, our numerous trips to Balboa Island, CA

Lifetime Aspirations:
- Have kids!
- Learn, read, teach always
- At the end of my life, I want to say, "But as for me and my house, we [served] the Lord."

Tag - All of my favorite people. (You know who you are!) :)

Funkweiler in the Dell

OK, lots to write and little time to do it. I just finished Mod 3. It was quite a killer. Not only was it a complete overload of assignments and such, but it was also when the big recruiters came to campus. Each class was really challenging and they all required a lot of homework. The cases aren’t easy anymore… They are really tough. They require a lot of thinking, calculations and everything you recommend has to be supported by quantifiable data. Ugh.

I spent a lot of time perfecting my resume over the break (the Boyer’s will probably remember me in their basement on Christmas Day working on my resume…) in anticipation of the recruiters coming to campus. I applied for just about every opening thinking that I could play the odds and get a handful of interviews. I ended up getting an interview offer for every position I applied for. (Thank you, Career Services, for all of the resume workshops.) Trust me when I say interviewing is very time consuming – it requires the interview, online applications, dinners, info sessions, researching the company, etc.

By the middle of the Mod I was overwhelmed school and interviewing and I decided it was more important to get an intern than it was to get good grades. I got 2 offers in early Feb – both of which were good, but not exactly what we wanted. I kept approaching other companies and got 2 more offers – from Dell and ExxonMobil – that were both exactly what we wanted. Dell’s offer was in Operations and Exxon’s was in Procurement. (Exxon has A LOT of money, believe you me…) I flew to Austin last week to visit Dell and signed papers with them while I was there. So we’ll be in Austin this summer. Intern starts May 19^th and ends August 1^st.

My brain really hurts right now because I just finished 2 finals and had another one yesterday. I don’t know what my grades will be like, but I have an internship. Melba is really sweet – she drove me to school today (eyes hurt too much for contacts so I couldn’t drive…) and when she brought me home there was a big bunch of green balloons in the living room with sayings like, “YOU ROCK!!!” and “Me loves You.”

Now I’m off to Istanbul for a week and then Spring Break and then Mod 4 starts. I’m glad I’ll time to sleep on the airplane – because I really need some. I’ll write more later and try to give a better update. Sorry there’s nothing really funny in this blog. It was more of an update –I have been way too slammed than to do anything but study, study, fly out to interviews, study, do more interviews, and study.