Femininity

 

As I have been enjoying my baby boy and all the boy things he does like throw balls and drive cars. It caused me to reflect on how I am different from Shane. When we go for a walk I love to stop and smell flowers..he comments on the weeds that are growing around them. When we get ready to go somewhere I am matching shoes to my outfit and searching for just the right shade of lipstick...he is hoping to dress as casual as he can get away with. I don't know if some of my quirkines is just me or if it is relatable to all girls. I hate the smell of my kids after they have been playing outside. I hate ants, earwigs, spiders, etc. especially in my kitchen. Some name brand foods are worth it ie: Best Foods Mayo, Oreo cookie, Honey Maid Graham crackers to name a few. Telling me that I look "fine" is not a compliment. It doesn't matter how many times I have seen Dumbo, Rocky II, and Apollo 13 I cry every time!!! Is it just me or did every girl want to marry Gilbert Blythe? I don't care who calls it a chick flick, "Message in a Bottle" is not a flick for this chick! Okay girls, what do ya think?

Just Pretending...

 

I know I am an adult, but sometimes I like to pretend. As a child when I would have to do my chores I would create elaborate soap operas in my mind to help me get through the drudgery. I find myself still "pretending", to trick myself into trying or doing things "not me". This picture was me pretending that I am a photographer with a fabulous camera trying to capture on film what I saw. Sometimes when I clean my house I pretend I am ????(anonymous friend who is a fabulous house cleaner) and I take care of the little junk piles that normally I am immune to. I find that I use this technique more times than I will share (can't give away all my secrets)probably because I am surrounded by such fabulous women each with their own unique gifts. Do you have any secrets or tricks to becoming a better person???

Hot Potato

I guess this means that I'm supposed to answer these questions now. I'm sorry in advance for that the lack of interesting things to report.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? Ten years ago I was in college at Ricks and was just about to meet the person I would marry and spend forever with.

2. 5 things on your to do list today? Take Justin to the airport, nap:), church, email some reminders to Primary teachers, and make a countdown calendar for Alice. Justin will be gone for two weeks and Alice wants to cross off each day until he comes home.

3. 5 snacks I enjoy? Swiss cheese on Wheat-Thins, almonds, peanut butter on apples, anything salty, and my Dad's baklava.

4. What would I do if I was suddenly a billionaire? First, I would pick my self up off the floor. I would buy our perfect house for our little family. Then save the rest for gas money.

5. 3 bad habits? I watch way too much tv. I don't clean the dryer vent each time I dry a load...or even ever five loads. It's drives Justin crazy. I buy way too many hand bags, I love them.

6. 5 places I've lived? Littleton, Colorado; Thousand Oaks, California; Delafield, Wisconsin; Plano, Texas; Woodbridge, Virginia

7. 5 jobs I had? My first job was in fast food, Arby's. I was also an elf that took pictures of kids sitting on Santa's lap during Christmas time at the mall. I was a delivery girl for a dental lab. During college I was a Resident Manager for a company that supported mentally handicapped folks living on their own. And now I'm a mom.

8. 5 things people don't know about me? I'm not sure I can think of much here, but I scrape the barrel. I danced ballet when I was a child. In my gymnastics class when I was young, I held the push-up record for a very short time. 68! Now I can't even pump one out, it's sad, I know. I hate to pay full price for anything. My heaven is a great thrift store. I've never cooked a turkey. I've never traveled out of the country...unlike little miss Jessica over there. Humph!

I tag...Breanna, Mary, Jeff, Naoki, and Wendell.

Posting by Proxy

Quite a while ago I tagged a few people to answer 8 questions about themselves. Dad responded but he did it as a comment. I am sure my extended family would like to read it but are not blog savvy as to find it. So hear goes... I am supposed to tag 5 people at the end of this. Instructions:
1. Post the rules
2. Answer all the questions about yourself
3. After you are done posting tag 5 people

1.What were you doing 10 years ago? Ten years ago I had moved up here to Alaska and was waiting for my family to join me. I was living in the Marine View apartments, where we had a great view of all the marine traffic up and down the Narrows. Julie was the first to come up here and join me and we went Orca whale observing out in the Narrows and had a pod of Orcas pass right under our boat -- with Julie sitting out on the bow.

2. 5 things on your to do list today? Finish the hospital budget; have family home evening with someone other than just Jeanne and me (Jessica arrived yesterday); finish the King Salmon we were given yesterday, but it was way too big to eat in one sitting; plant some more spring flowers; enter something in this blog.

3. 5 snacks I enjoy? Jeanne's chocolate-chip cookies, pickled hearing on crackers, summer sausage on Ritz crackers, Fritos and Coke, V-8 juice (how did that get in there?).
4. What would I do if I was suddenly a billionaire? Set up an endowment that would help this poor, financially strapped hospital; buy Jeanne a new car; retire and learn how to fly fish.
5. 3 Bad habits? Writing in "blogs" when I should be working; falling asleep in sacrament meeting; being too critical of others.
6. 5 places I've lived? Layton, Utah; Logan, Utah; Heidelberg, Germany; Indianapolis Indiana; Des Moines, Iowa.
7. 5 jobs I've had? 1. meat cutter at Smith's Grocery; 2. laid railroad track at Free Port; 3. painted girls dormitories at Utah State University; 4. painted dairy barns in Logan; 5. worked in the computer lab at Northwestern University.
8. 5 things that people don't know about me? Secret #1, Secret #2, Secret #3, Secret #4, Secret #5.

I tag.... Jeanne, Justin, Jenny Bringhurst, Spencer, Justine

Faraway thoughts

 

Dear Mom,
My thoughts have been on the Johnson family this week as they lost their mother to a long battle with cancer. My thoughts then shift to you who lives so far away and who I long to see again. I am saddened thinking of Jennifer, Heather and Amber who no longer have their mother close to watch movies with or share childhood stories with or to call when no one else understands. I have such gratitude in the knowledge of The Plan of Salvation that our loving Heavenly Father has put into place in all of our lives. I know that I lived before I came to earth and that my existence is not by chance. He sent me here to be a wife and a mother and prove to Him that I love Him before all else and someday I can return to live with him. I miss you Mom but I am grateful that the Lord has seen fit to keep you on the earth so that I may still watch Enchanted April with you and can tomatoes with you and bake a berry pie with you. Just as the Johnson's did not expect to live their adult life without their mother I don't know how long I will have you for. Mom, I am blessed to have you and I miss you. I baked this three berry pie today from berries I picked with my boy yesterday. I baked it in honor of my love for you. I wish we could enjoy a slice on this beautiful Sabbath Day....

Cricket

Happy 4th of July

 

I know that I am a day early but I am headed out of town. I love, love, love, this holiday. I have always been very patriotic. Different experiences in my life have contributed to my ever increasing patriotism. One such occasion was a trip with my dad to Boston. We saw several historic spots that made history come alive...Boston Harbor where the tea party took place...Concord where the shot heard round the world happened...and you can't feel more patriotic than watching the Sox play on their home turf. Later I spent the fourth with Shane in Germany and Austria. I remember very distinctly we were on a bus in Germany headed for Austria where there is no evidence of it being an important holiday to us. As a choir we began to sing in four part harmony our National Anthem. Tears welled up in all of our eyes because of our deep love and respect for our beloved country. I know our country has a lot of problems and we are so far from perfect but I also know the freedoms which we do enjoy had a high price tag on them and I am forever indebted to those who have and continue to preserve those freedoms. God Bless America!!

Your tax $$$

You can rest easy knowing that your tax dollars have been well spent on my 8-day paid vacation! I just got back from an amazing trip to a place called Tebenkof Bay. My partner, Karisa, and I spent 8 days exploring various islands, inlets and bays around the area in order to monitor solitude. That's right, solitude. We work within wilderness areas which have very specific guidelines for human activity. So I paddle along and count boats and planes, record the various wildlife, check out known campsites and recon archaeological sites in the area. I saw a ton of humpback whales, sea otters and pups, seals, black bears... The only downside was perhaps digging your own 'ladies room' every time you gotta... you know. Also, body odors seem to exponentially rise each shower-less day. But, overall it was an unreal experience! The beauty of the outdoors and the solitude of the wilderness invite some real soul-searching opportunities.