BYU beats Utah and other Thanksgiving traditions and news

What a Thanksgiving week, capped off by a GREAT football game on Saturday night! This blog will have it all: a weekly rundown of big events, witty repartee, and sports opinion. It is like you are tuning into Sportscenter: John edition.

We spent from Wednesday to Saturday up in Kansas City and had a great time. For all of you who do not know, which is most of you outside of family, I have received a job offer in the Kansas City area as an HR specialist at the Office of Personnel Management for the Federal Government. Just this last Friday I found out that I passed my background check, which means that my previous "tentative offer" becomes a full-fledged offer of employment. We hope to be moving after the baby is born and start my new job after the beginning of the new year. OPM has not let me know what their timeline is, but I should find out more from their home office in Washington today. We are VERY excited about the job. We are excited to move to Kansas City. Yet every move like this brings mixed emotions. Carrie, for one, does not like change and she keeps bringing up all the things and people we will miss here, which is a long list to sample from if you want to feel blue. No doubt we will miss our good friends, especially from church. We will miss being so close to Pat and Stephanie Zysk who have become our close friends. But you can't have everything exactly the way you want it. As the Rolling Stones said, and as I used to sing to my whining younger siblings which made them want to murder me in my sleep: "You can't always get what you want." (Sidenote: I have been told I look like Mick Jagger. I am not sure I see it)

We spent much of our time in Kansas City looking for new apartments. Because of the imminent arrival of our son, our moving situation gets complicated very fast. There is a reason people tell you do not try to make multiple life-altering changes all at once like a new job, a new home, and a new baby (quite the trifecta). We managed to find an apartment in Overland Park, Kansas just 10 or so minutes from the Cranes. Here is their website: http://www.aspenlodgeapts.com/. It seems relatively safe, the apartment seemed nice, and they made us an offer we could not refuse: 2 months free rent plus $500 off our February rent, so that we get $1900 off our yearly total rent. This agreement allows us to have the flexibility we need to move in when we want to. We want to move as soon as we can after our son is born, but there is no telling exactly when that is going to be. We will have to wait until Carrie and he are ready. Having the peace of mind of knowing that we have an apartment reserved and we can move in when we want, and that we did not have to pay extra for such a convenience is a huge blessing for us. They also have a small 24-hour gym and SAUNA!

I am so excited to have a sauna to use whenever I want. They said that only two tenants use it ever, which means it will be mine all mine. I hope the infrequent usage does not indicate that it stinks. I checked it out, and the kiuas (sauna oven) is electric and looked normal. I asked during our leasing process if people threw water on the hot stones on top of the kiuas, and our leasing agent had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. For those of you who do not know, visiting the sauna is a Finnish tradition that I loved as a missionary there. "Sauna" is the only common Finnish word I know of that is used in English, though I bet "Nokia" is said more, but it is just a company name. I plan on building a sauna at our home should I ever have the means and opportunity. Going to sauna can be a refreshing, relaxing moment, and I look forward to using it at least weekly in Kansas City. Friends up there- you will be invited. Maybe we will have to buy some Fanta and grill makkara (Finnish kielbasa-esque sausage) as well to make the experience complete, though I doubt our complex allows people to use the sauna in the buff like Finns do. But they do have some showers and pool right outside, so I could dunk myself in cold water to also do sauna Finn-style.

When I was not searching for apartments and signing leases I helped Laurence put some of the finishing touches on the exterior paint job of their home. Painting an entire home by hand is a painstakingly time-intensive project, especially for people who are intermittently obsessive-compulsive like myself. Laurence and I are a good team since he is more of a "get'er done" home improvement type. I am way too slow and careful, but maybe that is also because it was not my house. But the house looks great and Laurence has done a TON of work, and I think the whole Crane family should be pleased by how it has turned out. The whole project was a clear reminder that realtors (pronounced like the He-Man villain "SkeleTOR" according to the frequent radio spots I hear) are a bit misleading when they try to sell you a house by suggesting to put your rent money towards something permanent. There are A LOT of costs associated with home ownership that come outside of the mortgage. It is not as simple as taking your rent money and making it your mortgage. We do have plans for homeownership, but while we have a small family I think we will hold off until the right moment comes along. Kudos to Laurence and co. on a job well done!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. Since Carrie's stomach is squished and mishapen by our growing boy I had to eat more to make up for it. Actually, BEFORE the week started I weighed in at 164 pounds, which for me is the most I have ever tipped the scales at. I estimate that I have gained about 15 pounds during Carrie's pregnancy. Sympathy weight? Probably not. My lifestyle has gotten much more comatose since graduating from grad school, and I do not exercise enough. Hopefully I can use the health equipment at our new complex to get a bit more healthy. Note on sauna: you use more calories sitting in a sauna for half an hour than by running the same amount. It's less cardiovascular, but it's a lot more relaxing. Granted I will more than make up for the calories lost when I consume makkara and soda, but that will only be when we have guests, which I hope is frequently. In fact here are some health benefits of sauna:

Health Benefits

Though the sauna experience is different for everyone, most will agree that there are many health benefits that come from regular sauna usage including the following:

• Aids in skin ailments such as acne, eczema & other wounds
• Relieves stress
• Burns calories and encourages weight loss
• Conditions the heart
• Induces a deeper more relaxing sleep
• Relaxes muscles & can relieve joint pain caused by arthritis, rheumatism, over-exertion & muscle fatigue
• Sweats out toxins, impurities and chemicals
• Cleanses skin
• Fights illness
• Recreational and social benefits

the epitome of awesome.

But Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. The Cranes do a good job of helping me, the new guy in the family, feel at home. They added to their holiday spread what they call "Tony's beans" which is a green bean casserole with onions on top, just like my family makes.

The icing of the great week cake was the BYU victory over Utah. For those of you who like to discuss these things read on. If you don't skip it, it won't hurt my feelings. I feel that the game was very close and played by two teams who were of very similar talent levels. BYU was aided by some stupid personal fouls by Utah early on, and then nearly gave the game away with overly-conservative play-calling, reminiscent of the Crowton playcalling. Remember those screen passes on 3rd and long? (I just threw up in my mouth) I wish I had some roofies like G.O.B. from Arrested Development so I could re-forget what I just remembered. Dark times. I think we need to fly my father out for every BYU-Utah tilt, seeing as BYU is undefeated in contests he has attended recently in both football and basketball. As a Ute alum my father has suffered through seeing all of his children attend the hated rival of his alma mater, and he has done so with dignity. After the game, contreversy bubbled up as QB Max Hall said that he hated the U- the team, the fans, the whole university. To read more check this article out: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4699865. I had some thoughts about this incident:

1. These are understandable emotions to have. I would be livid if my family had been treated in such a way- being spit on, having beer poured on them, and being harrassed to the point that they needed a security team to escort them out of the stadium after the game.
2. Unfortunately those fair emotions blossomed, like they often do, into unfair generalizations in his public statements. I am sure that Max Hall was speaking off the cuff and did not plan to say that he hated everything the U stands for. That is a ridiculous statement. As heated as the sports rivalry is, the U is a fine school with good students. My parents met and married and I was born while at the University of Utah. It is a preposterous, irrational statement to make, but do we expect everything that comes out of a tired football players mouth after a game to be calcualted and smooth and exactly what they mean? Isn't that why everyone dislikes Alex Rodriguez so much? Hall's statements will undoubtedly fuel a fire that is burning, and this rivalry will continue to elicit vitriol from both sides for a long time. His statements will undoubtedly be bulletin-board material for every Ute player and fan going into next season's game.
   
3. Hopefully this publicity will put an end to that type of behavior if it is going on at Ute games. I have been to many BYU-Utah games in Provo, and while there is not much love shared between fans, I have not witnessed any innappropriate behavior besides that moron who assaulted the U male chearleader, and then got beat up by him. i always root for idiots to get their due justice. Are there annoying BYU fans? YES. I get annoyed with some Cougar fans when they are playing anybody, but nothing like what Hall's family supposedly experienced. My friend Darren and I still laugh about the Ute fans who cleverly quipped when BYU was stopped: "That brings up another BYU...FOURTH DOWN!" While they were making fun of our team, everyone around laughed. We definitely exhanged good-natured verbal barbs with those guys, but I would characterize BYU fans as docile and good-natured and sometimes even lame. The closest I ever came to conflict was with a crazy Utah fan who clearly wanted to fight me during a BYU-Utah basketball game. Alicia was visiting BYU and my friends and I were making jokes. I wondered out loud if Utah was trying to win by being repulsively ugly. They had a markedly ugly team at the time. The Ute fan in front of me got agitated and started yelling at me, asking me if I was gay, and wanting to know if I wanted to fight. I laughed and said no. It was bizarre behavior, but I did not leave that interaction thinking that all Ute fans were as dumb as that guy. But there are definitely bad eggs. On both sides one should be very careful before characterizing a whole group of people negatively. BYU fans must realize that there are some crazies who attend our games, who, if given the chance, might act like those who harrassed Hall's family. Utah fans should not deny that those people exist at Rice-Eccles. Newsflash- there are annoying, stupid people at every school in the nation. The sheer number of students and the population of the metro areas associated with each school makes it inevitable. That does not excuse that behavior. The opposite should happen as both schools should make extra efforts to see that it is safe to be a fan of either team while watching the game.
4. I always find the anti-BYU club very funny. The chatboards quickly turn into BYU hate: Mormons, polygamy, blah blah blah. I have news for Utah fans: Half your school is LDS as well, including your football coach and many players. What is also laughable is the complaint about how BYU students are so homogenous. It is true- 30,000+ active members of the LDS church are going to be more homogenous than the population of a major city. But don't hold up the University of Utah as the pinnacle of diversity in comparison. Utah is a mostly commuter school from the Salt Lake area, where local high school affiliations still matter, so don't bring that trash in here! My best friends at BYU were from Boston, Houston, Fresno, New York, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Seattle, etc. While pretty similar, there were planty of dissenting opinions religiously, politically, etc., a truth that is lost on many haters.
5. This will rile up my Utah-loving family and friends, but the point still rings true. When it comes to the fan bases Utah hates BYU much much more than BYU hates the U. Just like Red Sox fans hating the Yankees more (e.g., I fight with my wife every time she playfully asks if we can name our son Derek) and Finland hates Sweden more. They all have little brother syndrome. And I include myself in that group of irrational Red Sox fans. I think as BYU students come from a variety of places, they don't grow up with Utah hate in their blood. I grew up rooting for the Utes. Most Utah fans grew up in Salt Lake, and they have been feeling the hate for a long time before they even start at the U. Those feelings are part of the reason they applied to the U and not the Y. If I had not gotten into BYU I would not have hesitated to go to the U. It's a fine school. For me these athletic events are fun games made more fun by the rivalry, but it is more than that for some.

Carrie is doing fabulously. Our son is progressing well. Carrie has become increasingly uncomfortable the past few weeks. Her tune has changed from: "I hope he stays in as long as he can because inside me is the healthiest place for him" to "He needs to go ASAP." I don't blame Carrie one bit. We hope he comes soon, as that would make the transition to Kansas City and the new job easier, but life rarely works out that way. You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need.

Pumpkins, possums, and pregnant...

Although our blog doesn't show it, we've been keeping busy these past few weeks.

1. Pumpkins

Last weekend we went with our friends to the pumpkin patch. We took a hay ride to pick our pumpkins, watched a cheesy magic show, and the kids jumped on bouncy things. Good times were had by all.


Of course, it was no Roloff Farms, but Tony has been told he looks like Zack Roloff before. So.......maybe it's like I have a piece of Roloff Farms with me wherever I go. :)

2. Possums

We have had several encounters with these henious beasts lately. On the way to the pumpkin patch we saw roadkill possum making the craziest face I've ever seen roadkill make. Anthony captured its essence well in this photo:


Later that same night we went for a walk and ran into one. At first I thought it was a cat, but cats are so much more stealthy and possums have such unmistakable beady eyes. If I believed in or was in charge of reincarnation, I'm pretty sure I'd make really vain and mean people be reborn as possums.


Anthony told me that whenever he thinks about possums he thinks about Gator Possum, some cartoon charachter in a movie he and his sisters used to watch when they were young. Maybe he'll blog about it someday.


3. Pregnant

Our son is getting bigger every day. And stronger. With all the kicks and movements I've been feeling lately I wouldn't be suprised if he busts himself out soon. Although I think I still have enough tone left in my ab muscles to keep him in for a few more weeks. That's right, we're down to 52 days until his due date. We may or may not have a paper chain. Here I am in all my 32.71 weeks (that's 32 weeks, 5 days) glory.

Walking on Sunshine

A few months ago the wellness coordinator at my work was recruiting people to participate in the St. John's Sunshine Run. At the time, it sounded like a great idea--it would be a good motivator to help me stay in shape during my last few months of pregnancy. Fast forward 10 weeks and give or take 15 pounds (not to mention a 30 degree drop in temperature). I had no idea how hard it would be to walk 3 miles without experiencing serious distress of the bladder. Luckily Anthony and some ladies from work agreed to walk with me.


It ended up not being that bad. A definite high-light was the end of the race--as you crossed the finish line they announced your name over the PA system for all to hear. It was fun, but I look forward to future walks pushing our son in a stroller instead of carrying him on top of my bladder. After the race we celebrated the way any pregnant woman would want to--with delicious food. Now...time for a nap!


**Shout out to Laura and Mom who did the JDRF walk in KC this morning too!

Recent happenings

We've spent some time in Kansas City the past two weekends hanging out (me) and helping my dad paint the house (Anthony). To reward us (Anthony) for our (his) hard work my dad got us tickets to see the Red Sox play the Royals when they were in town last week. It was hard for me to sit still due to my expanding waistline putting pressure on my ribs. We walked around the stadium and found some photo-ops.
The Royals lost. Anthony sang "Sweet Caroline." It was a fun night. Here is a picture of Anthony painting. He pays such attention to detail. Laura and I did lots of baking while the men painted. We made 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies, a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting, and pumpkin snickerdoodles. I should have taken pictures of the treats while they lasted, it's too late now. And that is most likely the reason I gained as much weight in the last two weeks as I did the month before.

Here is me at 28.5 weeks:

Comfort foods

You would think that being 6 months pregnant this post would be about me........but it's not. It's about Anthony. After a stressful Monday at work he came home and needed a little time to "decompress." Being the thoughtful wife that I am I offered him some cookie dough I had made earlier because I know he loves it. I asked him if he wanted a spoon and he said no. I look over to find him eating the dough like a hot dog.

FYI: We usually don't keep this much dough on hand. I made it yesterday because we were supposed to have people over for dinner, but they ended up canceling on us. I would never make this much cookie dough on purpose because I can't eat it right now. The reason it is still dough is because I can eat cookies and the last thing I need right now is 3 dozen cookies on the counter tempting me while I do my homework. At least someone got some enjoyment out of it. And thank you for indulging my need to justify myself.

Totally Random

Here are a few totally random things that have either made me laugh or think this past week:

• When I walked into the Primary room at church last Sunday I was greeted with the STRONG smell of men's cologne. At first I thought it was a dad waiting at the back with his daughter, but I soon discovered that the smell was actually coming from one of the 7 year old boys. He had a bottle of AXE and when I asked him what he was doing with it he read from the label, "Spray all over your body." He had taken the directions very literally and we had to confiscate the bottle from him because the other 7 year old boys wanted it sprayed all over their bodies too.
• When I was talking to one of the six year old girls (at church) about the lesson they had the previous week she told me I should "ask my dad" about it. Tony had substituted their class the week before. This made me laugh really hard.
  
• TMI facebook statuses. (Or is it stati?) And not just TMI, but leaning to the facebook world for advice. I've never really been one to put up a status and I don't really get Twitter (which seems really similar to me). Anyways, after a few I've seen this past week I've been toying with the idea of putting how I really feel or questions I need answered out there for all my facebook friends to see. I mean, I work part-time so I spend the afternoon by myself either studying/cleaning/wasting time. That's a lot of hours where sometimes I just need feedback and there is no one around to give it to me. I guess what I am saying is, don't be surprised if you start seeing things like "Carrie Crane John really wants another Kit Kat, but she will feel like a fatty if she does since she hasn't worked out today. What should I do?" pop up on your mini-feed. And I do want your feedback.
  
• Bling Bling the Credit King. I love Springfield's cheap local ads and sketchy businesses.
• A girl who was clearly on a date wearing a Bumpit at the St. Louis Cardinals game.
  

August Rush

The month of August is drawing to a close without much action on our blog. But don't think that's because we've just been sitting around. Oh no. We've been busy. The thought of separate posts for each "event" is too overwhelming for me right now, so here is a hodgepodge of what we've been doing lately.

Becoming an Uncle and Aunt

This didn't actually happen in August, but we haven't updated since she was born. That's right, on July 29th Carly gave birth to our first niece, Sadie. We've spent many hours this month stalking their blog, waiting for the latest updates on our little niece. I'm not sure when we will get to officially meet her, but we can't wait. She is adorable and takes the best pictures (and when I say "takes" I mean, her parents do a great job of capturing her candid moments). I only hope our son is half as entertaining and Anthony and I will be half as good parents. Congratulations, Nielsons!!

Growing

The month of August brought several milestones for me, some more fun than others. I now feel our little guy moving. All.the.time. A mover and a shaker for sure. For the most part this is very exciting. I wish he didn't press on my bladder so much, but it's not really his fault. There isn't much room in there. A less fun milestone is that my back is really starting to hurt at the end of the day. But we're all happy his growth is right on schedule.

In the first picture I am 23 weeks along and in the second I am 25 weeks.

Camping

I spent a few days early this month with our ward young women at Girl's Camp. I had a great time! Teenage girls are so fun. It was a great week--the weather was beautiful, I didn't get any headaches, and the girls from our ward have such good attitudes. My main regret is that our camera stopped working so I have no pictures. I am working to get some pictures from girls in the ward, so we'll see. Hopefully I'll get some up here at some point, but that is a big reason why I was so slow to blog this month. It feels weird to blog without pictures.

Celebrating...

three years of marital bliss. That's right, we've made it three years. We didn't do much to celebrate the day of, because our anniversary fell in the middle of the week, but here is a picture of us that night. If we look a little tired it's because we are, we helped some friends move that night, but I still wanted to take a picture to commemorate the occasion.

Sister Time

Jill and Emily came to town in mid-August so we made a weekend trip to KC. It was fun to be with all my sisters before they all start another year of school. Next time I see them I will have a baby. Crazy. It was a packed weekend. My mom organized a "family baby shower" where we got lots of clothes and a few other "essentials" for our boy toy. You know, like nursing pads and nose suckers. :o) My dad made some of his delicious apple crisp which I am still craving. We also got some family pictures taken.

Road trip '09: St. Louis

All summer we've been talking about taking some kind of trip. Being the recessionistas that we are, we decided that a weekend trip to "The 'Lou" would be the best vay-cay we could afford right now. We had a great time. We went to a Cardinals game, where Albert Pujols won the game with a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the ninth. We went to the temple. We visited the arch. Anthony was excited because the designer of the arch, Eero Saarinen, is Finnish. He was less excited about the height, and didn't like looking out the windows. We had a lot of fun.



And now, I guess you could say, we are ready to take on the rest of 2009.

Thoughts from a Father

I am so excited to be a dad. At least I know that.

My other emotions, and there are others, are difficult to pinpoint exactly. I cannot blame an emotional, hormone-driven roller coaster like my wife can for an inability to describe the emotions that accompany our child. No. Like Ron Weasley I probably have the emotional capacity of a teaspoon.

I think I am scared as well. I am scared because I am still an idiot. I have made positive strides in my life, most of which have been accelerated forward due to the BEST decision I ever made- to marry Carrie. But I know too well my own shortcomings. I fear that my flaws will be exposed and magnified by our child. I could hurt him, and that scares me.

But I am hopeful too. I hope that my fears are in some ways similar to my fears that my actions somehow affect whether the Red Sox win or lose. While I may take a Red Sox playoff loss personally because I did not do my due dilligence (e.g., wear "winning" clothes, sport the needed rally cap, watch the game from a "winning" location) in reality I had no effect on the game. Of course my personality and parental choices will affect my son, but I believe he will come to our family with a soul or even some genetic tendencies, that I can do nothing about. I guess I am scared about his genetic endowment/soul, partly because half them genes done come from me, too. But I can't do anything about it.

But I can. I have long thought that children, while they have their own personalities, are like sponges. I do not like the blank slate analogy because that negates the individual makeup of a person that I believe we each have. And kids come to earth, and they want to learn. Like sponges, they soak up all that is around them. If parents do not work to surround their children with useful, good information to "soak in", kids will let other sources fill up their heads: TV, friends, internet, etc. that often have alterior motives. So I can have a positive influence on my son, but I guess that increases my responsibility level as well which is scary.

So at this point in my inner dialogue about my feelings I am feeling all sorts of both excited, scared, and hopeful. What is weird is that the things that sometimes help me feel at peace are sometimes the very things that intimidate me.

I think what gives me the most hope is my own parents and especially my father. I know a bit about their weaknesses, as I was a teenager once, however mild-mannered. They are not perfect. And yet I am not too crummy a person. My siblings are all reasonably well-adjusted people, outside of Meredith (a sure-fire axe-murderer/Dartmouth chainsaw massacre instigator- mark my words). I am sure that my father felt stress when I was born about his part in my life, and I turned out okay. If he can do it, I can also. In fact I think that both my father and mother did a great job, especially with my siblings besides the aforementioned future axe-murderer.

I also hope that my psychology professor at BYU was right when he told us not to over-think parenthood and that humans naturally understand how to parent their children and that children are very resilient even when you make mistakes.

And if this post is emotionally confusing, welcome to my world.

Be-LATE-d Birthday Shout Out

We owe a much belated (but not forgotten) Happy Birthday to EMILY!

I missed blogging about it last week because I was at Girl's Camp sans internet access.

But we know she likes spreading out holidays by doing things such as carving a pumpkin with a turkey in November.


Emily is the third sister in my family and always does her best to keep everyone on their toes.
She is vivacious and entertaining

and fun to be around.

Even when she tries to ruin my pictures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Emily!!

Sunday stroll with the Johns

We've been going for more walks lately. In part because I need to get exercise so I don't balloon too much while I'm pregnant and in part because we've had decent weather here in the evenings.

Here we are at the start of our walk.


Anthony is trying to air out his latest softball injury. His team only lost their last game by 1 and Anthony went 2/3 with 2 doubles.


One of the things I love about Springfield is all the church signs and how clever they try to be. Please ignore my awkward pose, I am getting used to my bigger bod and almost instinctually cover it up with my hand these days.