National Student Dialogue Conference

"Nice Thumb!"

Last weekend in Salt Lake a conference was held where LDS and Evangelical students and professors could get together and discuss the issues surrounding the interactions between our two faiths. It was really the first conference of it's kind and a big accomplishment for the people who put it together. A special recognition was given to Erik McHenry who really gave his heart to our efforts and brought so many people together. The conference was his last project before leaving Standing Together so it was hard to see him go. (We love you Erik!)

There was a lot of cool stuff going on during the weekend and unfortunately we didn't get as many pictures as we would have liked. Still, we did snap a few that we thought we'd post. A big part of the conference was listening to talks given by both LDS and evangelical professors who discussed the philosophy behind our discussions and/or doctrinal issues. One of the speakers was Truman G. Madsen and he was kind enough to let me get a picture with him. I know the man looks ancient (which he IS, by the way) but his mind and voice are still all there. He gave a great speech on the importance of discussing beliefs with others. He was a lot of fun to talk with afterwards as well. He's quite the joker!

Joanna spent some time on small roundtable discussions where students of the different traditions could ask questions of each other and understand one another better. My experience has been that those situations are sometimes the hardest settings to be in because you don't know what to expect. From what people said though she rocked the casba. Unfortunately I wasn't able to be there because I was invited to be on a panel of students, clergy and professors to discuss change in the churches and answer questions. It was a fun experience for both of us to participate in and to catch up with and meet new friends.
One couple that we got to know a little better was Jordan and Erin Barret (I hope I spelled that right guys) from Wheaton College near Chicago. Jordan led groups out to BYU for five years to interact with students there and to learn more about the LDS. We talked a lot about religion and heard one another's perspectives on different doctrinal issues. It was most enlightening. There's even a chance that we may live near one another next year. If they stay in Chicago and I end up going to Northern Illinois University we would only be a short drive apart. I think that would be pretty cool!
Well, I think I've said enough. Even if I did keep going I don't think I could really convey how great and important I think these kind of discussions are. Religion really can be one of the hardest subjects to discuss but that shouldn't stop us from trying to do it in an open and understanding way. Okay, so there was my little soapbox. I'm now getting of it and sliding it under the table. Until next time!

The Hogle Zoo

So a few weeks ago we and our friends the Rogers (Filios Evangelicus) went to the Hogle Zoo in SLC on a weekend. I really like going to the zoo. It's just another way that I'm more like a child than an adult. A list that doesn't seem to get any shorter over time. So here's some of the stuff we saw. The white alligator was a traveling exhibit and was part of our motivation for going. It was pretty cool. Apparently it's a genetic mutation (not an albino) and wouldn't survive in the wild.

Next, I really liked this elephant. He (or maybe she?) would scoop grass into little piles with his/her trunk and then eat it. Can you imagine doing all that with your nose? I thought it was pretty cool.
Another fun part of the day was getting up close and person with this Giraffe. It was munching on a branch near the wall where we were. I never realized how weirdly shaped their heads were. I think they look like big birds.
Finally, while hanging out with Daniel and Heidi at their place their pup, Roxy, figured out what suckers Jo and I are for dogs and took full advantage of the situation.
Afterwards we went to Famous Daves which, for those who know my history with the institution (Graham, nudge nudge, wink wink...), can always be a dangerous adventure. It was tastey of course.

Piedmont Girls Hangout

A few weeks ago Joanna and some of her friends from Piedmont came over to hang out. One brought her husband so I had some company. Anyways, the girls had fun chatting and reminiscing so I thought I'd post the pictures.

Jo, Katie and Susie

Jake is on the News!!!

Jake was on KLS news this weekend for the Evangelical-LDS conference we attended. Jake is currently the leader of the interfaith program at BYU, so he was chosen to be the Latter-day Saint student interviewed. You can see the article and view the video clip by visiting the following link: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=343&sid=2002175.

Scary Dreams

At 2:30 in the morning last night I was awoken by Jake talking. He was stabbing the air with his fist and saying in an intense voice, "I'm gonna get you Mr. Riddle. You better watch out Mr. Riddle, I'm gonna get ya." I immediately woke Jake up because he was honestly scaring me. He woke up and said in a nice soft voice, "Hi honey. What's wrong?"

This isn't the first time that Jake has talked in his sleep. It makes me want to put a pad of paper next to my bed so that I can record any other crazy episodes. I'll keep you all posted if this happens again.

The Jake and Joanna Show (sung to the theme of Itchy and Scratchy)

In the long tradition of stealing other people's blog ideas, I have decided to copy Ashley. Here are some fun tidbits for you to learn more about the smoldering inferno of passion that is our marriage (just kidding).
1. How long have you been together? We've been together for almost 3 years. However, we've been married for a little over 2 years.
2. How long did you date? We dated for 5.5 months, and then got married 3 months after Jake proposed. However, we talked on the phone for a month and a half before we were officially dating.
3. How old were you when you got married? I had barely turned 21, and Jake was 22 years old.
4. Who eats more? Jake claims that he wins the cake on this question...or rather eats the cake. However, I can pack my cookies too. I think Jake is just a little more "uninhibited" in his eating.
5. Who said I love you first? After we had been talking on the phone for a month and a half, we were finally going to meet each other. In the phone conversation before that crazy event occurred, Jake asked what my feelings were about using the "L-bomb"--as he put it. Take into consideration that we'd yet to have our first date!! As far as who actually said "I love you" first, we can't remember.
6. Who sings better? No contest, this would be me. Not to brag or anything, but... Jake says it's debatable, but I think he his vocals have improved greatly.
7. Who is smarter? This is such an awkward question. I choose not to comment for the good of our marriage.
8. Whose temper is worse? Jake can get pretty testy if I don't leave him alone if he is trying to do something. And I get pretty miffed if I need attention and he doesn't give it to me. You can see where this is going. And yet miraculously--against all odds--we have a wonderful marriage.
9. Who does the laundry? We usually do the laundry together. But if we don't get it done Saturday, Jake usually does it during the week.
10. Who does the dishes? I'll admit, I have to give Jake props for this one. I'll do the dishes, but Jake does it more often because a full sink of dishes makes him more stressed.
11. Who pays the bills? I do. For shnizzle.
12. Who mows the lawn? Don't got one.
13. Who cooks dinner? We usually cook Sunday dinner and lunches together on Sunday. It's one of our best bonding times. As far as dinners during the week, we just scrounge or eat left overs.
14. Who drives when you are together? Jake always drives. I only drive when I pick him up from something.
15. Who is more stubborn? Jake is more stubborn when it comes to winning debates, but I'm sure I more stubborn about most other things.
16. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Jake is really good at admitting when he's wrong, even when he's right. However, once I've admitted I'm wrong, I REALLY admit it and Jake has to spend the next few hours convincing me that I'm still a good person.
17. Whose parents do you see the most? It's about even. We spend smaller amounts of time with Jake's parents, but it's more often. When we go to California to see my parents we are there for a longer amount of time, but we go less often.
18. Who kissed who first? I gave Jake the kissy eyes--as he calls them--but he made the first move.
19. Who asked who out? After our phone courtship, we both new that we wanted to check each other out in person. We figured out that I'd fly into Salt Lake at the same time Jake was in Salt Lake with his family for Thanksgiving. He picked me up from the airport, so the first time we met was in the airport. How dramatic.
20. Who proposed? That is definitely a man's job. Jake had dropped some hints, and I had been quite clear that I would welcome a proposal of the matrimonial kind. I don't think there was any fear of rejection. Actually, come to think about it, Jake threw out a couple of fake proposals to psych me out. Unfortunately I fell for it a few times, much to my chagrin.
21. Who is more sensitive? I am more sensitive. End of statement.
22. Who has more friends? I think it's pretty even. Most of our friends are mutual friends.
23. Who wears the pants in the family? Honestly, we share power and responsibility pretty evenly. But seeing how I am currently the suga' mama, I think I wear the pants at this time--which is unfortunate because Jake doesn't have very attractive legs.

Playing with Mud

I was doing so well...

...until disaster struck...









...But then I finally got better.

"Quick Robin, to the Bat-Couch!"

Ah, if only the life of a psychologist-to-be was that exciting. Instead of utility belts, cool jet-engine cars and masks we get to attend conventions and present research. Oh well, we've all got to battle evil in our own ways I suppose.
Going to the conference was actually a really awesome opportunity that not many undergraduates get the chance to do. Plus the convention was in San Francisco so I got to stay with my wonderful in-laws across the Bay in Oakland. Part of the fun was hanging out with Wiley, the Criddle's Shi- Tzu. He only weighs ten pounds but he thinks he's a Saint Bernard. I grew up with a big Rottweiller and never really thought I would want a small dog but if he was as cool as Wiley I just might change my mind.
Also, due to the generous benevolence of BYU's CCC (Kudos Dr. Chapman!) I got an allowance to spend on some grub while I was in SF. The beautiful part was that since I staying with my in-laws I could go out to some swank restaurants and still come in way under budget. Apparently, John 's Grill here was the setting for the 1930 novel Maltese Falcon (eat your heart out Graham) which later became the more well known film noir. Either way, the steak I had was awesome. Culture and cuisine!
Finally, I got to hang out a bunch with my cool sister-and-brother-in-law and their two kids, Christian and Elizabeth. Dan and I got up and went on an early morning hike through the redwoods and later in the visit we all went to this cool park and rode a kid-size steam engine. Christian was loving it (obviously). All in all, another great trip to the Bay Area, although the best part is always coming back home to my bodacious wife.

Susie's Home!!!

Yeah, we're pretty excited about it. After 18 months of missionary service in the land (way) northward, our dear friend Susie Baer has returned to us. We attended her homecoming and she (and her mother who served a mission concurrently with her) gave a wonderful address. We love you Susie!

101 Jo-ations

1. I have a husband named Jacob Kent Farnsworth.
2. I fantasize about having a dog--currently a pug.
3. I grew up in Piedmont, California.
4. Red Vines are far better than Twizzlers.
5. I was planning to go to Thailand to teach English through music until Jake came into my life and ruined that plan.
6. Jake and I used to be the proud parents of a pet snail named Polk.
7. I killed around seven fish in the space of 2 weeks while doing a 3rd grade unit on the environment while student teaching. The unit was ironically supposed to be about living vs. non-living things. One day I came in from recess to find yet another fish dead, and I ended up having to teach my kids about death impromptu.
8. I have had 13 teeth pulled.
9. I have been to Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, China, Scotland, Ireland, Caribbean, and Canada.
10. I graduated from BYU Cum Laude.
11. If I had been born a boy I would have been named Peter.
12. I hinted to Jake that I would marry him over a game of basketball.
13. I eat Rice Krispies--otherwise known as cardboard--every morning for breakfast.
14. I have eaten eel, and it was actually quite good.
15. I had to have braces twice.
16. My biggest weakness is chocolate.
17. I try to exercise everyday, although I'm not always so good about that goal.
18. I have a freckle on my eye lid.
19. I love art and enjoy sketching.
20. I graduated in Elementary Music Education and Elementary Education.
21. I enjoy Evangelical-LDS dialogues.
22. I won first place in the musical theater category of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singers) in the Bay Area.
23. My concentration for AP Art was distorted faces--not the sort of art that you would want hanging right above your bed at night.
24. I love shitzus, especially my dog Wylie.
25. I believe that couches should be purchased based on comfort.
26. I cried like a baby when I first went off to a two week choir camp when I was 5 years old. My parents sent me a stuffed animal rabbit. I wrote them a letter saying: "Thank you for the rabbit. I used its ears to wipe away my tears."
27. I have a tendency to lose something, ask Jake if he has seen it, and then find it the next second.
28. I have a deep faith in God and Jesus Christ.
29. I got my ears pierced as a reward for getting a perfect score on my spelling test in 5th grade.
30. I think there's something beyond this life--and I believe it's something beautiful.
31. I have climbed to the base of Half Dome. I was too chicken to climb the rickety ladder up to the top--I was young. Although to be honest, I may still be too chicken.
32. I stared as Fern in the play Charlotte's web in 3rd grade.
33. I was shy as a child and socially nervous in adolescence.
34. I'm excited to have children--as my husband will attest.
35. My favorite kind of Ben and Jerry's ice cream is Wavy Gravy, but I don't know if they make that any more.
36. I worked at the BYU Creamery for one year and ate way too much ice cream.
37. My husband is my best friend.
38. I got a C+ in 6th grade math. I remember being so confused.
39. When I sing and get really nervous I feel like saliva is accumulating at the back of my throat.
40. I own a violin and can only play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. One day I will take lessons.
41. I watched Grease 9 times in one day when I was a young teenager.
42. Lisa D'Annunzio and I had a dance and lip sink to Summer Days from Grease when we were in 8th grade. I was Danny.
43. When I was a sophomore in college I would eat a banana sandwich almost every day for lunch.
44. I threw up both times that Jake and I went to California to visit my family while we were engaged--one of which was right next to the plaque that is by Coit Tower in San Francisco. Remember me next time you are there.
45. I can crack my hips really loudly, even if I don't mean to.
46. My favorite kind of flower is a red Gerber Daisey, and Jake brought me one for our first date.
47. I love it when my husband ambushes me with kisses.
48. I was entranced by the 7th Harry Potter.
49. I have a love for children's books: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Bronze Bow, StarGirl, Enchantress of the Stars, Harry Potter, and Journey to the Other Side of the World being some of my favorites.
50. I have conducted a children's choir.
51. I love Cafe Rio salads.
52. I went through a candle kick while decorating.
53. Jake and I get really competitive while playing Othello.
54. I go to BYU football games for the atmosphere and friends, not so much for the game.
55. Somehow Jake and I managed to spend $20 a week on food for the first year of our marriage. Looking back we have no idea what we were thinking.
56. I am the suga'-momma in the family for the time being.
57. Mr. Bean is classic.
58. I am fanatical about my dental hygiene. Every time that I don't want to floss I just think about losing my teeth when I'm old.
59. My love languages are words of affirmation, quality time, and physical touch.
60. When I want Jake's attention I will put my hands on his face and turn his head so that his eyes are starring right into my eyes. Then I will smile and say "hi".
61. My maiden name is Criddle.
62. My grandfather invented Astroturf.
63. I am currently obsessed with Brian Regan.
64. It took Jake and I until two months ago to come into the twenty-first century and get cell phones.
65. I have committed my husband to dying a day after I do. Not one day before or after that.
66. I am offended at my husband's wish to have his childhood dog greet him in heaven--what about me!!!
67. My house was almost in a Will Smith movie.
68. I have an alligator head on my entertainment center--not of my choice.
69. I'm an avid fan of So You Think You Can Dance.
70. I fall asleep while watching any movie--my husband suspects narcolepsy
71. I'm married to a Transformers addict.
72. We are trying in vain to stop talking like babies. It's twoo.
73. I laugh at my husbands jokes even though he doesn't laugh at mine.
74. Sometimes I have way too much energy for Jake to handle.
75. The best season is Fall.
76. Winter in Utah lasts way too long.
77. One of my regrets so far in life is not knowing people better in high school.
78. I like saying "Sir, I say Sir" in a deep southern accent like Foghorn Leghorn.
79. I constantly improvise songs and lyrics and sing them to Jake, but for some reason this doesn't bring him as much joy as it does to me.
80. As of right now we want to name our first born boy Luke Owen Farnsworth and our first born girl is still up for debate.
81. My favorite lotion right now is Midnight Pomegranate.
82. I completed 196.5 credit hours to enter the work place in a field with no relation to my degrees.
83. I sang with John Denver with my children's choir growing up.
84. My nickname growing up was Joanna Banana, as well as Joanna Bean.
85. My favorite color is red.
86. The first and only time I tried to give blood I nearly passed out.
87. I steal all the covers at night.
88. I will do almost anything for a foot or forehead rub.
89. I never really learned to swim. I can doggy paddle and keep from drowning, but I can't get anywhere very fast.
90. My favorite kind of pizza has artichokes, blue cheese, and mushrooms.
91. My husband and I are constantly debating the meaning of "in moderation".
92. I'm more of a Christmas Story than It's A Wonderful Life person.
93. I'm really bad at keeping in touch with people.
94. Grocery shopping is one of my favorite past times.
95. I have never had so much fun in my life as I have with Jake.
96. My husband intimidates me by making snakes out of his hands and pretending to bite me. I have absolutely no survival instinct.
97. I have a husband that for the life of him can't remember which pants to put in the dryer and which not to, even when I remind him right before he leaves to change the laundry.
98. My hardest classes at BYU were Music History.
99. My greatest fear about going to the mid-west for grad school is having frizzy hair from the humidity.
100. I am Frisbee inept.
101. Life is a beautiful event worth living.

San Francisco Zoo

Last winter Jake and I celebrated Christmas with the Criddle clan. As part of the fun festivities we visited the SF Zoo with my nephew Christian. While there we saw some crazy animals. On the left you can see the hippo that surprised us by leaping out of the water when we were about 8 feet away from it. Then there was the Lion House. Everyday in the early afternoon there is feeding time at the Lion House. Everyone is jammed into one room while one by one lions enter their cages and start roaring at the crowd. There are little girls watching from on top of their father's shoulders. A short time later the lion trainers toss a dead white rabbit into each lion cage and--as illustrated in the picture to the right--each white rabbit is
eaten for dinner. While we were watching this horrendous scene we heard one little girl start to cry and ask her dad what was going on. Her father replied, "It's just the food chain." That little girl must be scarred for life.

30+ lbs. of Watermelon

Jo's sister in law, Anika, stayed with us last night as she was in Utah for a family reunion and some other fun stuff. Anika also brought along her daughter Elin who, despite being in a different state apart from her dad and brothers and surrounded by strangers, was a lot of fun. That day we'd gone shopping and picked out a HUGE watermelon. I didn't quite realize how big it was until we got to the check out and it maxed out the scale. Apparently, if your produce weighs more than the scale can measure then you just get it for the max weight the scale can give. Sweet! Anyways, we took a picture just to show how big this mega-melon was compared to our niece, Elin. We could have hollowed it out and made a canoe out of it for her.

Mud Masks

So, the other night Jo was feeling restless. After a second, the idea came to her that mud masks were the answer to her plight, and guess who got brought along for the ride? I'd never had a mud facial before (obviously) and apparently my time had come. I don't know if I would have gone along with it though if it had been some kind of vegetable thing where I would have put the cucumbers over my eyes. But it's just smearing dirt on your face. Heck, I did that all the time when I was a kid. So why don't I have marvelous skin now if mud's the answer to beauty? I guess it doesn't matter, I didn't do it for the glory... I did it for the pictures.

The Story of Jake and Jo

Once upon a time there was a girl named Joanna (Jo for short) who was growing more and more disillusioned with the male population. Sinking into despair, she had almost resigned herself to the nunnery when her neighbor Heather and the glaring reality that she was not Catholic presented her with another option. Lo and behold, Heather's strapping young male cousin Jake--who had just returned from wrestling alligators and serving the Lord--was seeking a little lady to scratch his back and stroke his tummy.
When Heather insisted that she had kin who might tempt Jo away from a life of celibacy, Jo immediately took the initiative to make contact with the prince charming. Needless to say, it was a success. They talked, and they talked, and they talked on the phone. Some of their deepest conversations included motherhood, the size of wedding rings, whether or not Jo would actually be goofy--boy did she show Jake--and family dynamics. Everything clicked. All that was left was for them to actually meet.
The perfect opportunity arrived when Jake picked Jo up from the Salt Lake Airport on her way back form Thanksgiving break. Jo was to be wearing gray corduroy pants and a purple shirt, and Jake would be wearing a light blue shirt and--in his own words--would be dashingly good looking. It was love at first sight....

...MORE TO COME...