Honor

I didn't go to BYU. In fact, in my younger years, as an employee of the University of Utah, I used to cheer for anyone other than BYU. Not anymore. I changed that years ago. Yes, Jacob attended BYU and loved it, but that isn't what swayed me. I came to the conclusion that I liked cheering for a team that was made up of athletes who had made a commitment to live by an honor code. I wanted to support that. I wanted to show my respect for young men and women who would make that choice. And so for many, many years, my cheers have been for BYU.

This morning I read this article. I was very impressed with the gentleman who wrote it and I am in agreement with him. Like he said, it isn't about whether you agree with the actual honor code, it is about someone making a commitment and then making the choice to not abide by it. And the school doing the right thing, no matter the month, the upcoming tournament or the ramifications.

I'm one who feels heartbroken for Brandon Davies. I can't imagine how hard this is for him and respect anyone who is honest and upfront about what they have done, even though it had to be terribly difficult. But BYU has just moved up another fourteen spaces on my respect ladder. In this day and age it is so easy to look the other way or to justify changing consequences to lessen the blow, I'm impressed. Incredibly impressed.

If more of us did the right thing (and I'm talking about BYU's actions here, not judging the actions of Brandon Davies), no matter the time, the day, the number of people looking on, the lack of people looking on or what it cost us, this world would feel different. It would be different.

(And please keep in mind, the lady who wrote this is March Madness crazy
and wanted BYU to take the tournament by storm. But right is right. Even if
my March Madness wish appears headed down the drain.)

**Update: apparently the above author isn't alone in his opinions. Refreshing.

This morning I...

1. Got up as soon as my alarm went off (cue the hallelujah chorus because I do it every day now).
2. Called my husband who caught the 5:24 train to New York (and I thought getting up at 6:00 was early).
3. Ran 4.26 miles on the treadmill (I wasn't feeling like I even wanted to run today, so hurray for me).
4. Interrupted my run to sweep up a broken cereal bowl (man those things shatter on tile).
5. Listened to a fabulous conference talk during part of my treadmill time (I seriously love listening to conference).
6. Helped two kids get ready and on the school bus (well, I didn't help them get on the bus, they could manage that on their own).
7. Gave one sick boy his antibiotics for strep throat (and then called the school to tell him he was going to skip on coming in today).
8. Answered three emails (my inbox is empty, I sure love that feeling!).
9. Wrote a riveting blog post (can you even stand it?).
10. Felt overwhelmed with gratitude for my life, my husband, my children, my Heavenly Father, my Savior, the temple, the scriptures and the gospel (life is so good!).
    

The rambler is back (as opposed to the gambler)

My blogging has been stellar lately, no? I can tell it is winter, because I am not feeling bloggy. Yes, we have had plenty going on, but somehow I haven't had those feelings of "I can't wait to get a record of this on the blog." The feelings have been a little more like "Blog? We have a blog?" And so, despite that mindset still hanging around, I believe folks, it is time for a little blog ramble.

And the crowd goes wild. Or not. Either way.

The kids were off school the entire last week. They call it winter break here. If only it were a break from the winter. Bleh! Actually, the weather wasn't that bad last week. I'm just overly bitter about the snow we received last night. I was so done with the snow. When you spend weeks with snow banks higher than you, you quickly tire of it. The snow is dead to me. And I'm sure that last sentence has completely devastated it.

Where was I? Oh yeah, the kids being off school. I actually love having the kids home. And not just because I don't have to wake up at 6am to get my exercise in (although I wasn't crying about that). I truly love being around the kids and especially love watching them together and how well they get along (when they aren't fighting). Both times it happened, it warmed my mother's heart.

And the definite highlight of the week was that Jacob's mom came into town. We sure loved having her! She has so much energy and is always doing fun things with the kids. Which makes it even easier for me to continue to do nothing, so win-win for all. It is like my normal life on Benadryl. Nancy is fabulous and we are so grateful she would come and spend time with us.

One of the favorite things we did while she was here was to head on over to the CoCo Key Water Resort. (Yes, it was indoor, what do you think we are crazy? Don't answer that.) The kids had the best time and Jacob and Nancy were fun and exciting and rode all of the tall slides with them. Ben and I hung out together. The younger kids water area wasn't quite as exciting, but we had long talks about Phineas and Ferb and why he needs to quit growing up, so all in all, we're going to call it a success. And here is a cute picture I took before we left the house. Yes, Ben has hit that age when the camera is about as fun as seventeen immunization shots. Give me strength.

And while the water park was fun, there is no question that the best part of the week for Jacob and me would be the time we were able to get away for the night. Actually, it was more like leaving Thursday afternoon and returning late Friday and it was heaven. We had such a fabulous time, just talking and laughing and being together. And to not worry about the kids for a single second (they didn't want us to come back after spending so much fun time with their Nana) was wonderful. Thank you Nancy—we are beyond grateful!

We were sad to see Nancy go home yesterday, but are so grateful she came. And less than an hour after I returned from taking her to the airport, Jacob, Campbell and I were able to attend a multi-stake fireside with Elder Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Eyring, our area president. It was for the youth (Cam still has six months), but apparently there are some privileges when you are the bishop. I'll take them. It was not only a wonderful and spiritual night, but so fun to be with just Cam and talk and laugh together.

On a side note, previous to the fireside, Jacob attend a four-hour leadership training for the stake presidencies and the bishops. He came away with such love and appreciation for our leaders and the wonderful things he learned from Elder Christofferson, Elder Costa, Bishop Burton and Elder Eyring. He told me that while they shared such helpful ideas for bishops, it was also quite funny. One of his favorite parts of the night was during the question and answer portion. Apparently a question was asked of a bishop in our area, Bishop Danny Ainge. Someone asked why in the world he (as general manager of the Celtics) would trade Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder? You just never know what you are going to learn at a bishops' training do you?

So, in spite of the lack of blogging, life is good. We are really happy. We are together and we have the gospel. I truly couldn't ask for more. I'm so grateful.

Oh and to top it off, every morning when I wake up, I count down the days to March Madness. Sad, but oh so true. I feel excitement to the deepest part of my soul. Nineteen days, if you lost count. It is like Christmas and the first day of school and summer vacation and Valentine's Day and my birthday all rolled into one.

With sugar on top.

Wa.

Hoo.

!!!!!

Spelling B-E-E

The beautiful girl below was chosen to participate in our town wide spelling bee. They picked twelve students per school, put them on two teams and then had the three elementary schools in our town compete again each other. Annie was chosen as the team captain and was pretty excited about that.

The format was different than most spelling bees (I'll explain verbally to anyone who cares to know, as it would take some time to explain here) and there were not words to study beforehand (they wanted them to focus more on the rules, which makes perfect sense because the English language is a stickler for the rules), but it was good. And Annie was darling and confident and did her best. Her team didn't end up winning, but we were sure happy to be there to cheer her on.

We sure L-O-V-E our Annie girl!

Annie and horses

If you wanted to describe how Annie feels about horses, love wouldn't be a strong enough
word. She is absolutely obsessed with them. So naturally, when she was assigned the task of
making a Valentine's box, it had to be a horse. We think she did a pretty amazing job.
No surprise there, she is a pretty amazing girl.

Our Mad Hatter

Two weekends ago, our darling Cam was in his second school play, Alice in Wonderland.
As you can tell from the photos below, he was the Mad Matter and he did so well! I truly
would have been proud of him no matter what, but he was honestly just incredible.
He didn't seem a bit nervous, played his part perfectly and had a great time.

We are so grateful for Campbell and the great things he chooses to do with his time!

Loved

Yesterday, as I hopped off of the treadmill and came upstairs, I was greeted with an incredible number of post-its notes over every surface of the house. They were everywhere! Walls, counters, cupboards, tables, books, pictures, doors, mirrors...you name it, they were on it. And as I looked closer I realized every single one of them had a reason that I was loved. Jacob had filled out an unreal number of them and the kids had tried their best to catch up to him. I don't have the words to tell you how much I loved it or how much it meant to me.

Below is just a small sample. And the picture isn't to focus on the actual kind things my family wrote, although I'm beyond grateful and it brought me to tears, but just to show you how loved I felt and how thankful it made me to be the proud wife and happy mom to the five people I love most in this world. Honestly, I told Jacob an expensive piece of jewelry or a car or a trip around the world wouldn't mean more to me than my sticky note attack. And I wasn't even remotely kidding.

Best. Valentine's. Gift. Ever. Hands down.

Happy Valentine's Day!

These darling Valentines are what our kids are giving their classmates today.
I borrowed the idea from here and the kids thought they were pretty awesome.
They were fun to make, they didn't involve candy and they were different.
Win, win, win for sure.

And these are what awaited our kids on the table when they woke up.
Yes, we are still doing our yarn ball tradition and it still appears to be as exciting
as it was the first year we started it. Maybe even a bit more with Ben old
enough to really get into it. Tonight can't come soon enough!

Happy Valentine's Day friends!
Here's to hoping your day is as sweet as ours.

Baptism

Jacob's favorite

Trying a new look

Just plain darling

In line

Happy Birthday Linn!!!

One of the best days in my life happened exactly 34 years ago today...and I wasn't even born yet
(I'm much, much younger than Linn, you know). And for the last 13 years, I've been able to
share in the celebration of that wonderful day--both because you deserve it (and far, far more)
and because I'm eternally grateful that somewhere in there you said "yes" while looking at me.
My words inevitably fall short, and my meager gestures even shorter. But...I love you—always!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINNY!!!

One of my favorite photos I've ever taken

I love my mom and dad.

I've been through the desert...

...on a horse with no name.
Well, maybe it had a name. I really don't know.

A few weeks ago, Jacob had a business trip to India. He was gone about a week and finally headed home. Unfortunately, the day he was supposed to land in Boston we had a huge snow storm on the East Coast. He made it as far as Dubai and was stuck there until his flight could go through to New York. From the time he left India, until the time he stepped into our home, was 57 hours. Not his quickest trip back home.

But the craziest part of the story is that while he was stranded in Dubai, he just happened to ride horses through the desert with his brother, Justin. Only in the Allen family would you get stranded halfway across the world, at the same time your younger brother happens to be there on business. And instead of going out to dinner, like a lot of people, you would of course rent horses and ride them through the desert. It makes complete sense if you are an Allen. I promise.

Thanks for bringing along your phone, Justin, I love this photo.
And I feel bad we don't often see you and your cute family.
But no worries, I'm sure Jacob will be headed to Mongolia
 sometime in the future. And (Allen) odds are, you'll be there.

My Hope is Found

I happen to love Owl City. Our whole family does really.
And just when I didn't think I could be more impressed with
Adam Young, he went and recorded this song. I love it.

Bishop Allen

Today the handsome man I married was sustained as the new bishop of our ward. I've had several people ask me if they should congratulate us or extend their condolences. I understand both, believe me, but I have to say it is a happy thing. Do we feel completely overwhelmed and humbled? Beyond belief. But honestly, we have so many blessings and Heavenly Father is so incredibly good to us, how could we not feel it a privilege to serve? Especially to be able to serve the wonderful people of our ward who we have grown to love.

Not once since we met with the stake president have I questioned Jacob's ability to be the kind of bishop he is supposed to be. I know it as deeply as I know anything. My only sadness lies with the heavy weight that I know it will be for him at times and selfishly, because I adore my husband and love spending time with him. The kids and I will miss him for sure. But my mom told me something quite a while ago that I've thought of many times since Thursday night. Several years back, Billy Graham's wife said, "I decided a long time ago, I would rather have 10% of his time than 100% of anyone else's." That is how I feel about my husband.

Because after all, I'm Bishop Allen's biggest fan.

Six point two

That is how many miles I ran today, folks. Without stopping. Now pick your jaw up
off the floor and be assured that for many people I know, that distance is no big deal.
For Linn Allen? That is a miracle of incredible proportions. My entire lower body hurts.
But I ran 6.2 miles today. Did I already mention that?

Guess who got glasses?

No big surprise considering both of his parents are blind, but we were surprised he has one eye
with perfect vision and one that could use some help in the distance department. Cam was
always one cute boy. And I think the new glasses just add to his handsomeness.

And one more

That, my friends, is a lot of snow. Enough to cause yours truly to
have to shovel it off of our cars for almost 45 minutes.

We've had two blizzards this year already.

That will do, Mother Nature, that will do.

If only it would snow a little

How cute is this?

I gave the three oldest a poster board and asked them to come up with something fun to
surprise Ben with on his birthday. This is what they created and Ben absolutely loved it!
In fact, it is hanging on the back of his bedroom door as I type.
I love it with my kids are good to each other.

Thirty-six

That is how many books I read this past year. Phew, I'm doing a little better in the reading department, which has been something I've really wanted the past couple of years. Because maybe I haven't mentioned it, but I love my time spent reading.

I enjoyed a lot of the books from this past year (which would only make sense, as I usually put down a book I don't enjoy). And so I wanted to share with you my top five (yes I'm aware no one asked me, but since when did that matter?), but it was harder than I thought to come up with them. But I finally did, and so, without further rambling...

Both Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea. I feel happy just typing the name of those books. I have read them before, for sure, but just felt a need to read a couple of them again. They make me joyful beyond words and laugh out loud on a regular basis. I need to read a few more of the series this year. I really need to read them with my Annie, you know, spread the happiness around.

The Year My Son and I Were Born. This book is about a woman that unexpectedly gives birth to a son with Down Syndrome and what she goes through following his birth. It is honest and emotional and beautiful and made me think hard about my being a mother. I loved this book.

The Forgotten Garden. Definitely one of my favorites of the year. If I remember correctly, it was over 700 pages, but felt like 100. I couldn't put it down. And it surprised me over and over again, which doesn't happen often with books these days. I especially loved the writing style.

Mockingjay. I am one of the many that liked this series. Not only could I not put them down, but they honestly made me think a lot about how our world runs and what we are capable of (both the good and the bad). I surprised even myself by liking this book. About three-fourths of the way through, I was convinced I would hate it. But that didn't happen. Trying not to ruin anything in case someone has not read it, my opinion is that this book was written about how life really is--there are disappointments and heartache and we just keep trying and pushing forward and we find joy. Quiet joy.

Believing Christ. Why I waited until now to read this book I will never know, because it is truly one of the best books I have ever read. There were so many ideas that I never would have thought of on my own, but when I read them, they made perfect sense. I love reading anything that helps me to understand and appreciate my Savior more. This book did just that and I am so grateful.

And now I'm curious, what fabulous books did you read this past year?

Ben's day

Our darling Ben turned three years old today. And so, in honor of this boy that
melts my heart, I give you ten wonderful things about our Benjamin Allen.

When he was born, his sweetness overwhelmed us. He was so peaceful

and calm and we felt so grateful he had joined our family.

And yet, he's never been afraid to show how he feels.
Ben has always been one that wears his feelings on his face.

Mostly that feeling is happiness.
It just shoots out of this boy, to everyone around him.

Ben loves balls. He has spent a majority of his life with a ball in his hand.
And at a very young age could throw and kick those round things like a pro.

Ben loves music. Always has. And he has dance moves the likes of which
have seldom be seen. He dances all of the time. It is like he can't help it.

He wears a faux hawk like no other. Enough said.

Breaking his leg was not our list of favorite things to happen, but after the first
day, Ben just moved on with his life, never letting that silly cast hold him back.

I have a feeling that is how our boy will handle life.

Ben pulls the best faces ever. If you have ever seen his rock star face,
you won't soon forget it. Ask to see the video sometime, if you'd like.

If a family could have a class clown, Ben would be ours. He lives to
make people laugh, and lucky for us, he is constantly succeeding.

Three years ago today, this handsome guy joined our family.
And our gratitude is almost more than we can stand.

Happy Birthday sweet boy! You are loved.

Our year in numbers

2010 arrived.

Cute Ben turned two.

Linn celebrated her old age of 33.

Jacob celebrated his young age of 33.

Sweet Matt turned six.

We took one wonderful trip to Utah.

Handsome Cam turned eleven.

Darling Annie turned nine.

My parents visited us two times.

Jacob traveled quite often to New York and DC and also visited three far off countries (Brazil, China, Nigeria).

I flew to Ohio to be at the wedding of one of my nieces.

We celebrated twelve years of wonderful marriage.

We gave thanks countless times for our Savior, our Heavenly Father and the incredible number of blessings we have.

We excitedly anticipated the beginning of 2011. Bring it on!

This man makes me happy

Jacob has the entire week off from work. His company actually closes the office and tells their employees not to come in. It is like they know my innermost thoughts. Yeah for you, Bridgespan, yeah for you. But mostly for me.

Sunday night Jacob asked if we could talk. He wanted to spend some time making a list of our plans for this week. Making a list, people. It is like he knows my innermost thoughts. It was Christmas all over again.

But my husband makes no ordinary lists. This one had a table (categories are important you know), along with things we needed to talk about (upcoming purchases, goals for 2011, kids' activities, etc.) and items to buy at the grocery store (the man asked if he could cook dinner each night this week). I don't know what is better than Christmas, but that is what I was experiencing.

{Cue the choir of happy people singing}Just now I was walking through the kitchen and saw Jacob's list on the cupboard. And do you know what the first thing on the "Things to Talk About" list was? (Now honestly, folks, I know he typed this while I was sitting there, I'm sure I even commented on it, but it must not have registered. In my defense, it was late.)

Linn, Jacob, relationship, how we're going to get along for the next 12 years...

I feel sick from laughing. Not a lot of people know this, because he tends to be more serious (tends? now that is funny), but Jacob can make me laugh harder than anyone I know.

I can't wait for this talk to take place because seriously, I think what he really meant was "How in the world am I going to get along with this crazy, OCD lady for the next 12 years?"

The best part is we get along swimmingly. (I have always wanted to use that word in a blog post. I said it in a British accent in my mind, just so you know.) There is no one in this world I would rather spend time with than Jacob. He is brilliant, happy, kind, good, handsome, thoughtful, thrify, brave, clean, reverent. I adore him.

Plus, he makes me laugh. Seriously, "how we're going to get along for the next 12 years." That is funniness like I can hardly handle.

I'll let you know how it goes.

{Cue more hysterical laughter}