Christmas List

Swiss Cowbell and Vancouver Keychain

 I love Christmas traditions. A few years ago at my parents house I wrote a whole bunch of stories, movies, and activities on a December calendar. I've lightened up about some of it, and now make a calendar as a general guide, to help us remember some of the activities we like to do throughout the month to bring the feeling of Christmas. Included are movies such as "White Christmas," "Nora's Christmas Gift," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Mr. Krueger's Christmas," and Zak's favorite, "The Muppet Christmas Carol." I love to read stories, and this year made a recording of The Gift of the Magi, and then read Christmas Jars, which Mom Porter gave me last year. I baked several gingerbread houses using the family cast iron mold, but Zak and I were a little tired by the time it came to making our own. I have several nativity sets, and put them around the house. Husband discovered a love of burning scented candles (carefully), and we put up our little tree with ornaments collected from our travels and lives. To add a personal touch to some gifts to co-workers and others, I crocheted snowflake ornaments, which I then ironed and painted with glitter paint. They have a lot of room for improvement, but I enjoy the process and seeing the final outcome. I do love this time of year. May you spend time with family, and have a Merry Christmas and Happy 2013!

Moveable wooden man from Liechtenstein

Mickey Mouse hat from Sister's travels to

Disney World, Bear family given by a

wonderful family I met on my mission

Wooden Stars made by Dad Porter

Bunny in our backyard!

Before iron and paint

Gingerbread with the YW

This year as a Young Women group, we gathered at one of the amazing leaders' houses, and built gingerbread houses from what the sister had prepared. They turned out to be adorable A-frame houses with doors, all different. Admittedly, I used up about 70% of the smarties as roof tiles. Some of the girls' philosophy that only delicious candies they would want to eat would make it onto the gingerbread houses  brought inspiration. Thanks for the houses and fun, ladies!

Christmas Letter

We're Debt Free!

WE'RE DEBT FREE!

...Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice...

Our goal has been, for about a year-and-a-half, to pay off all of our debts by the end of 2012. We did it!  WE'RE DEBT FREE! Great job, Husband, and thanks for all of your help! When we got married, I had a loan from when I studied abroad in Germany, and I knew that Zak had some student loans, and a loan on Beefy. He told me, but I don't think I realized how many thousands of dollars of debt we had until we consciously calculated every loan. Those, along with the loan we took out to pay for one of us so we could both go to Switzerland added up to over $26,000.00. That is ridiculous.

Growing up, I tried to be frugal, but I never made or stuck to a budget. I'd put money in my savings account, but use it whenever I needed it, such as to pay tuition. I got my first car, which was as old as me, from my generous uncle for an extremely good price. When that died, I was already in college, and didn't have money saved up for a new car, so I took out a loan for $1,800. I paid it off in about five months, making larger than minimum payments. I was relieved to get the title in my name and to not worry about the payments, but not upset enough to avoid loans in the future.

Because Dad's job is associated with the university, my student fees were 50% off. That meant that instead of paying $2,500-$3,000 per semester like most in-state students, I paid between $1,200-$2,000 a semester. Yes, that is a fabulous cost for a university education, especially without the scholarship I lost early on when I failed calculus and practically failed biology. I worked full-time as as a life skills instructor/assistant manager before my mission, and didn't have to take out any more student loans, outside of my two-month stay in Germany. That loan started at $3,500, but by the time I paid it off in March, I know I'd spent so much more on interest. I paid $1,000 before my mission, and then $1,000 shortly after. When I met and married Zak, it was close to $2,000 or more owed.

He drove an older red Beefy on our first date, and before our second date, he had traded it in at a local dealership for our newer black Beefy. He got a discount for the trade-in, but was charged more than necessary for newer Beefy.

Reading Financial Peace Revisited at the cabin

Mom and Dad Porter gave us Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Revisited book, which we read together last July at the cabin. We saved up our $1,000 emergency fund, and then started on our debt snowball. You're supposed to pay off the smallest debts first, and then pay off the biggest one at the end, compounding the money from your paid-off loans into the one you're currently destroying. We chose to pay off Beefy first, which was actually our largest loan, and then attack our Switzerland trip and other student loans. Beefy has driven much better since we paid  him off.

Dave also insists that you have to get mad. You have to get so mad that you never want to take out another loan. You don't need to build credit, because it only gets you more debt. Even a mortgage can be managed without credit by manual underwriting, where they make sure you have a steady job, have been paying rent on time, and can pay for it. We still have a few steps before saving for a house, including increasing our emergency fund to cover 3-6 months of expenses, but we're excited to make it to this point. Thank you, Dave and Sharon Ramsey.

We made our last payment to Fedloan today for $1,026.70, and I'm glad to kick them our of our home. I've looked forward to budgeting twice a month whenever Zak gets paid, just so I can see the progress. We still can't go overboard yet, but buying Christmas presents, work clothes for Zak, and a pair of jeans for me will be a lot of fun. Our loans totaled over $26,000 when we first counted, but I don't know how much we paid in interest for all of that. Not anymore; no more financial slavery. Now the interest will be working for us. Dave has been a regular in our home and on our trips with his free radio podcast, proclaiming the path to financial peace with a little bit of "Stupid!" and humor along the way.

We reached our goal to be done with loans by the end of the year, and we did it! WE'RE DEBT FREE!

...Live like no one else today, so you can live like no one else tomorrow...

Giving Thanks 2012

Thanksgiving week heaped up blessings for my family on both sides. Zak and I visited his family while celebrating the wedding, and then went back home where they joined us for the Thanksgiving meal. We found out one of my cousins had a baby, and another just got engaged. Add that to our sister's mission call to Ohio(!), and it's been quite eventful.

Since Zak and I have been married, we've always stayed at his parents' house, had Thanksgiving lunch with his immediate family, and then driven to my Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner with the extended family. Because we're so close to paying off our student loans and other debts, we decided that this year we'd just stay home and travel around Christmas time. His parents offered to drive up to us on Thanksgiving so we could still celebrate together.

Mom and I made food assignments, so I found recipes on Pinterest and gathered the ingredients on Monday before we left. Thanks thepioneerwoman.com. We got back late Tuesday night, and then I worked about ten hours on Wednesday, so I didn't have much time to bake the food beforehand. That morning, Niki helped make a salad, Zak set the alarm so he could get the turkey in the oven early enough, I prepared the potatoes and sweet potatoes for baking, and Mom organized the half of our meal which she brought, fit for royalty.

At Mom and Dad Porter's house, we get to write in permanent marker on the Thanksgiving tablecloth each year, listing blessings for which we are grateful. I love it! Zak and I pulled out a tablecloth I had already ruined with a bleach spot, and everyone wrote messages of gratitude.

Grandma's and Grandpa's babies.

My in-laws are so sweet, they left us with all of the leftovers, so I, rejoicing, didn't have to make dinner for a week. I'm grateful that we have a holiday all about eating food, spending time with family, and remembering blessings.

Delicious, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, thepioneerwoman.com

Soul Sweet 'Taters, thepioneerwoman.com

Thanksgiving Tablecloth, est. 2012

Jake and Katie

 Zak and I were privileged to be invited to his cousin's wedding a couple days before Thanksgiving. We finagled our work schedules in order to be free and clear for the short visit with the Porters and wedding party. This was our first time meeting the bride, but I'd seen Zak's cousin a few times at the cabin, probably when I walloped everyone at Phase10. The stunning Katie smiled and shone. It was a joyous day at the Temple. 

Mount Timpanogos Temple

Waiting for the Bride and Groom

Zak and I

Jake and Katie

Jake and Katie have both done several theatrical 

productions, and you can tell by their party. The carnival reception included balloon animals, a strength-testing hammer (I'm a big boy!), sensationally sweet lemonade, and a photobooth complete with props. Jake and Katie have both done several theatrical productions, and you can tell by their party. The carnival reception included balloon animals, a strength-testing hammer (I'm a big boy!), sensationally sweet lemonade, and a photobooth complete with props. 

Dad the Wrestler

Naming Alice

My middle name, Alice, has been in the family for a few generations, given to various female family members. I love it. Recently I've started researching name histories and origins, and I'd like to find out more about the name, it's meaning, and where it started in my family.

Recent History

Utilizing the charts on babynamewizard.com, which have been created using information from the Social Security Administration, I looked at the history of Alice in the U.S. throughout the last 130 years or so. In 1880, Alice was the #10 most popular girl's name in the country. This may have been influenced by Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" being published originally in 1865 (1), or perhaps the girl for whom the title character had been named was an effect of a previous Alice. I hadn't realized this before, but there's a slight blue bump around 1890, showing that 43 out of every million babies in the U.S. born those years were males named Alice. So it was briefly a mainstream boy name.

Obviously, the rate of babies named Alice decreased greatly in the mid-20th century. Variations of the name continued in differing forms as the "original" became antiquated. Names like Alicia/Alisha, Alison/Allison, Alissa, as well as Alycia, Alyssa, and Alysson took the forefront.  None of those, even combined, reached the original popularity of Alice in it's heyday, but did greatly out distance Alice in the 1980s to 2000. Those names started to fall in the 21st century, giving way to other "A" names, such as "Aliyah" and "Ava." In the mean time, "old lady names" were making a comeback. (2) "Alice" has started to return to the charts, (3), and in 2011 reached 142 in the Social Security Administration's popular baby names chart. (4)

Popular Alice personalities in the past have been Alice in Wonderland, Alice Kramden of the Honeymooners [1950s], Alice Nelson of the Brady Bunch [1970s], heavy-metal band/singer Alice Cooper [popular in 1960s-present], and recently Alice Cullen of the Twilight series. (5)


Origins and Meaning
The book, "A World of Baby Names" by Teresa Norman, describes Alice:

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

"A name that has evolved through a series of variants of the Germanic Adalheidis, a compound name composed of the elements adal (noble, nobility) and heid (kind, sort): hence, "noble one." Adalheidis was contracted to Adalheid, which the French changed to Adelaide, then contracted to Adaliz, and contracted yet again to Aaliz, Alia, and Alix. The English then changed the spelling to Aeleis, Alys, and eventually to Alice."

So "Alice" isn't exactly the original name or even original spelling.  It has the same root as the Edelweiss flower of musical fame. Noble one...I could see that in the women of my family:  regal, royal, and honorable. Adelaide has also been making a comeback, reaching the 407th rank in the most popular names of 2011 in the U.S. (4). In fact, the entire "noble family" of Adel- has much the same trend as Alice.

My Family

Alice Rozella Smith Empey, (7)

Alice Rozella Smith Empey's death certificate (6)

The first Alice I can see in the family line which carries the name is my Great-great-grandma Alice Rozella Smith, who often went by the nickname "Zella." Born to a father with around five wives, she had nine immediate siblings, of which she was the youngest, and up to fifty half-siblings, some of whom died in infancy. Her family had come from England before she was born, and settled around Brigham City, Utah. Her mother, Sarah Jane Ingram (Ingraham) Smith passed away at the age of 36, when Zella was just 2-years-old. She stayed nearby after she married, living in Ogden with with own family. She married William Empey on Christmas day in 1888 and had seven children.

Alice's mom, (8)

Sarah Jane Ingram (Ingraham) Smith

I am honored to carry the name Alice, to be called noble after my brave, hard-working Grandmother, and hope to bestow the name Alice in my family line.














(1) https://sites.google.com/site/lewiscarroll1steditions/first-editions-of-alice-published-elsewhere
(2) http://www.parenting.com/article/20-old-fashioned-baby-names-are-back-style
(3) http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2010/2/names-on-the-verge-alice-0
(4) http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi
(5) imdb.com
(6) http://thoth.library.utah.edu:1701/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=MWDL&docId=digcoll_usa_24187405&fromSitemap=1&afterPDS=true
(7) http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=editGr&GRid=22204324
(8) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
~rhutch/famhistory/d&ssmith/sarah_jane_ingram_history.html