this I believe

I love NPR. I especailly love the "This I Believe" segment.
This is a great one about adoption. Click here. Then click "Listen" to the radio segment.

conteporary art

My wonderful and beloved 5-year-old nephew Sam decided to express his artful side on his playroom door by using a permanent marker to draw a self portrait of himself playing the guitar. My sister, although very displeased with his choice of canvas posted a clever art review of his work.

I love this incredibly expressive kid.

-Alisa

guate slide show

My first trip to Guatemala was in the summer of 2000. I went with as part of a BYU field study project. I lived in the Mayan vilage of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan. I feel in love with the people, the land and the complexity of cultures.

I've gone back several times since; working for the national literacy organization, working to start a fair trade buiness and just to visit friends.

This slide show is of some photos taken during various visits to Guatemala over the past 7 years.

The slide show is way too long and choppy in places, but it has some good photos of some wonderful people.

We have some friends coming over tonight for dinner who lived in Guatemala about 30 years ago. I wanted to show them some of the people and places that I love in Guatemala.

(to turn off the rustedsun blog background music scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click the pause button on the sonific player)

-Alisa

remember the alamo

My parents were in town for a visit this week. We had a great time going to NASA, playing games, and going out to dinner. We also made a road trip to San Antonio for the weekend. We had a great time exploring the old missions, strolling along the river walk, and eating good Mexican food.


Mom, me, and Dad inside the courtyard surrounding the Alamo.

Lonnie and me in front of the Alamo.

San Antonio's Riverwalk is a beautiful area right in the middle of the city. The Riverwalk is lined with restaurants, pretty gardens, and interesting architecture.


Sparkly pinatas in the Mi Tierra restaurant.
Mexican culture is more openly displayed in San Antonio than in Houston. Part of the difference is because there are so many cultural backgrounds in Houston that the Mexican culture is part of a panorama of many cultures rather than the focus, as in San Antonio.

The Mision San Jose is the biggest and most beautiful of all the San Antonio missions. They call it the Queen of the missions.

Although many of the buildings are in ruins, the chapel is still used today.

My favorite guy and me in front of the chapel.

Me and my mom in her Southern Bell sun hat.

My parents were in town for about a week. It always feels so quiet when they leave. My parents never stop going. Because none of their kids live near them, they are constantly traveling to be around their kids. We have only lived here in Texas for five months, and they have already come to visit twice. My parents have always shown a great example to me of how important family is.

let's go to the movies

I finally figured how to download photos of my camera.

What do you do when it is so hot in Houston that you can't even breath??? You go to the movies!!

Mom, Dad, Mike and I decided we wanted to have a quite day after spending the previous day at the Houston Space Center and NASA. So we decided to go to a movie. We went and saw Harry Potter in 3D on a huge Imax screen.



My Mom, Dad and Homer


Cookie Simpson


On a side note....
I tend to have very vivid dreams. They are almost always in color and usually involve people I have been spending time with or thinking about recently. A couple of times after watching the Simpsons my dreams will be as if I too lived in Springville and was a Simpsons character. It happened again the other night. Am I crazy? Has anyone else ever dreamed in Simpson???
-Alisa

my brother

My youngest brother Mike is on a break from his Navy schooling right now. He only has a little over a week off, but he came to spend a couple days with us here in Houston before heading home to California.

Mike is 10 years younger than I am. When he was born, I was convinced that he was my own personal doll, brought home for me to love and adore. I used to fall asleep on the floor of his room so I could be the one to take care of him in the middle of the night when he woke up. I would even ask him to call me mom.

He has always been the peacemaker in our family. I remember several times as a child, after getting in an argument with one of my family members, that little Mike would come into my room, rub my back and tell me that he loved me. He is not so little anymore, but he still is a great person to have around when things are tough.

Mike joined the Navy about a year ago. He wanted to do something meaningful and service oriented. Although we worry about him, we are proud of the service he is willing to offer.

My sisters and me kissing our cute sailor.

Me, Laura (sister), Mike, Aimee (sister) and Abby (my sister-in-law, wife of my other brother Andrew)

We took these photos over Christmas when we were all in California.

-Alisa

summer concert, old friend.....

Summer Concert Series at Bayou Bend. Bayou Bend is an amazing old home with beautiful gardens that was donated to the city of Houston by a woman with the unfortunate name of Ima Hogg. Luckily she didn't let her unfortunate name destroy her sense of self worth, because she amounted an amazing antiques collection and built the most beautiful gardens that I have ever seen. The jazz music was great. I love finding little city treasures.



Even though it was past 6:00pm it was still very warm outside. Fortunately, this was the one day all week that it didn't rain. We had sprayed ourselves down with bug spray and managed to avoid getting eaten by mosquitos.



While we were at the concert we met up with my friend Michelle, who was in town visiting her sister. I taught Michelle in the MTC welfare program several years ago, before she served a mission in Venezuela. We had a very nice visit, and it was so great to get caught up.

agency.....

I found this blog posting and wanted to share it. I like the emphasis on personal choice and revelation: My Choice: Placing My Baby for Adoption with LDS Social Services

the best gift

"The only gift is a portion on oneself"
Ralph Waldo Emerson

let's be honest- I don't have supermom skills

I spent three days watching my cousin's kids while she went on a business trip. Usually she works during the day and her husband works at night. When Loretta has to go out of town for work, their delicate family balance gets thrown off. Since we moved to Houston, I have been able to take care of the kids several times when Loretta has gone on work trips.

So I spent my days this week making meals that were mostly left on the kitchen floor, cleaning the house and then cleaning the house again, answering the same questions over and over again, stopping fights and tantrums, putting kids to sleep for naps and then trying to get them to stay in bed at night, changing stinky diapers and then changing diapers again, helping with sidewalk chalk art while applying bug spray, taking the kids to the pool (a major ordeal involving trying to remember to bring swim suits, towels, sunscreen, bug spray, treats, water, swim diapers and another diaper for after swimming) and then trying to convince the kids that it was time to leave the pool because my pale skin was turning into boiled tomato.

It was wonderful to see their simling faces and hear them laugh but by the end of each day, I was tired and worn out and yet still most of the things I had on my to-do list were not done. Going to the grocery store was in itself a major task. When I talked to my dad on the phone yesterday, I said that I had decided that, instead of wanting to be mother so badly, I have now decided that I want to skip directly to the grandparent part. We could just adopt adult children who are already self-sufficient, post-pubescent, and potty trained. They would have cute kids that we could visit but not be directly responsible for all of their actions.

But the best part of the day was when Lonnie would come home from work. The kids screamed and jump up and down, yelling his name. Lonnie chased them around the house as they yelped with delight. Their playing eventually wore them all out. Together, we gave the kids a bath and put them to bed. I sometimes joined in the pretend roughhousing fun but mainly I just sat and looked at my wonderful, patient, fun loving husband, regained my strength, and I felt like I wanted to be a parent.

I also realize that I can't do this alone. I'm not going to wake up one day with the skills of a supermom. Learning to be a great parent will be a process. But luckily I work on a team, and together I think Lonnie and I will be pretty good parents.

-Alisa