Owl City - Vanilla Twilight

Stake Conference

Here are some things that I learned at stake conference:

1. I miss the days when I could just go in a room with the other kids and watch the Living Scriptures.

2. I like distractions.

3. When distractions don't work, I like to listen to talks.

4. Sometimes the talks don't go so well.

5. Sometimes they do.

6. I am crazy tired and taking a nap. And there is no better rest in the world than a Sunday nap.

So Tired

So I discovered last night that I can seriously act just like a tired 5 year old when I have worked for 13 hours straight. Really, I was so cranky, hungry and tired when I got home I may as well have just told Jameson I was going to pee on his foot. For those of you not in my family, one of our favorite stories revolves around my brother Rob when he was about 5 or 6 years old. He used to get really tired and hungry, becoming totally irrational, rude and cranky. My mom would put him in his room with a peice of bread. He would cry, eat his bread and fall asleep. Well, my father was unaware of this process, and was left alone with a tired, hungry and cranky Rob. Finally he was fed up with him and told him to go to his room. My brother then looked up at my father, glared at him and said, "I'm going to pee on your foot".

Anyway, I am still pretty 5 year old tired-ish, but I think I can overcome it to get some things done today, like that 3 mile run . . . bah, humbug.

Good Music to listen to: Air in G by Bach, good for cranky, sleepy girls

10 K Training

So this is my first week training for the 10k. I won't lie, it's not gone as well as I hoped. I walked half of my 2.5 mile run and skipped my cross training on both Wednesday and Friday. However, I did do my strength training and all of my 2 mile run . . . so I'm not a complete failure. Yet. If I get the 3 mile run in on Saturday, I won't worry.

Anyway, it will get better. I just tell myself that I am easing my way into the program, and that next week will be better. I am planning on doing a 10k in American Fork on the 16th of October. I am actually pretty scared. A 5k is pretty straight forward, but a 10k . . . that's 6 miles. I'm sure I can do it, I'm just not sure how fast it will happen.

Jameson had his first day of school yesterday for the semester. He goes to school on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Today is his scary class. I am going in to work early for a co-worker today. Making my work day today extra long. I will work from 11 am to 12 am between the branch and Nickelmania. So not excited. If Jameson wasn't cutting his work hours down to two days a week, I would quit Nickelmania. Oh well . . .

Great Music: 1234 by Fiest

Red Butte Gardens Amphitheater

Jameson and I went to a free outdoor showing of The Motorcycle Diaries at Red Butte Gardens Amphitheater. It was fun and there were free churros. But it was also very cold.

I actually didn't know that much about Che Guevara, other than a quick look at Wikipedia before the film. I still don't know that much about him, other than he had a pretty amazing adventure in his early twenties across South America.

Jameson was pretty jealous -- and it gave both of us a bit of a travel bug. Of course, we will be going down to Arizona in about a week to see my sister, Cami and to see her new little baby boy, Paul be blessed. We are pretty excited :) But I think we were thinking of someting a little more adventurous . . . but probably not on a little motorcycle over the course of a year . . .

Great Books To Read: Dark is Rising Series by Susan Cooper -- my mom gave this to me for my birthday and I just started rereading it -- sooooo excited! It nearly killed me to put it down yesterday to go and clean our room (yes, I voluntarily clean my room these days, mom).

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible live in an elevator!

Not exactly my A game

So in case any of you are wondering, I am not always on my A game. Seriously, I sometimes just don't bring the thunder. Today was one of those days. There are days that everything you touch turns to gold and days when everything you touch rusts, withers, and dies in a ruin. So there you have it. My day was a withering day. Minus all the books I got for super cheap. My day at worked just kinda stunk. I couldn't seem to do anything right. I hate having to redo work because I didn't do it right the first time and that happened to me quite a bit today. I am just ready for some nice, easy normal days. Just a regular schedule kind of thing. I think there has been a lot of change in our lives, and my psyche could use some stability.

Jameson had his meeting this morning with the air traffic controller. We learned a lot about that possibility. He needs to take a test to be selected for training in Oklahoma. So it looks like we might be in Oklahoma this time next year. We will see. But it is all very exciting. But forget that stability . . .

Pink's Glitter in the Air Performance at the Grammys this year

Goat Boy

I thought that I would document this moment in history. Jameson generally doesn't grow facial hair. This is mainly because he doesn't have the patience to grow it until it looks good (which takes two to three days). However, in the absense of razors down at Lake Powell, he grew a doosy and will be keeping it until Tuesday when he has an important meeting with an air traffic controller.

Isn't he so cute? He is pretty fanstastic. However, I can't decide if I am happy with the goatee. I personally won't get the time to decide, as it will be gone shortly.

We went to church and had a hard day in the nursery. Jameson is another one of the kids and great with them, but we have a few girls that are in foster care and have some trouble with hitting. We finally put one of the girls in time out and you would think that we were ripping her hair out. Then we went to dinner with my brother, Robby since he was in town for some crossfit training. We went to Cafe Rio (eat your heart out, Chris) and then went to see Dinner for Schmucks. It was one of the most painful movies I have ever sat through. It was very very very funny, but it was also so painfully awkward as horrible things continously happen to the main character. There was one point where I was told that I couldn't touch Jameson because it was just too awkward. However, super super funny. I laughed hard and had some good conversation with my brother. It was fun and nice. Even though it was on a Sunday, it was good to have some time with Rob.

Good book to read: The Walking Dead: Book One a graphic novel by Robert Kirkman Remember when reading this, that I have a morbid fascination with and irrational fear of zombies. This is a subject that will probably be treated in depth in October as we approach Halloween.

Lake Powell 2010

We had such an amazing time at Lake Powell. There were gorgeous waterfalls during storms, sleepless nights during storms, did I mention the storms?

Jameson and I spent all of 5 days at Lake Powell where his Mom and Dad have a time share on a house boat. It was way way fun. I nearly got up wake boarding and am very grateful that one of Jameson's friends Robbi brought some gloves that made gripping a load easier.

I went there with every intention of having some wonderful adventures, and was very satisfied. I got to frolick about in a swimsuit without too many judgy-judge eyes about. Jameson nearly killed his sister and I on a tube -- literally made us do a simultaneous front flip off the tube. I ripped skin off my hands from it. We swam a lot and I got to read nearly all of the Kaye Gibbons books that my mom sent me for my birthday. So far my favorite one is A Virtuous Woman. I fell even more in love with my super awesome husband.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was that I got to wake up early every morning, just naturally on my own (this reminded me that in my natural state, I am a morning person). Everyone else was still asleep and I would go down by the lake, which is at it's calmest early in the morning. I would read my scriptures, ponder the gospel, and think of how incredibly blessed I am to have such amazing opportunities in my life.

Thank you to Jameson's family and friends for making this one wonderful trip.

This feels like love gone right, in the beginning

J is for Journal

My mother gave me a wonderful book for my birthday, which at first glance looks like a children's book. The title is S is for Story authored by Esther Hershenborn and illustrated by Zachary Pullen. It is an alphabet for writers. It has some great tips and inspirational quotes on writing from famous and some not-so-famous but still wonderful authors. I feel it is important to mention that this book is signed by the illustrator.

One of the pages that stuck out to me the most was on Journals. I think it is widely regarded as true (mostly because it is true) that a large part of writing is just that. Writing. I remember in my Advanced Composition class in highschool, taught by the illustrious, if often high as a kite, Mr. Mork, we wrote 2 pages a day in a writing journal. It didn't matter so much what we wrote as long as we wrote something. This, almost more than anything else we learned in class, improved our writing. I believe that every good writer is also something of a journalist. Collecting the things that they love and then reflecting on them.

I therefore am trying to blog more. And perhaps one day this will even lead to a proper journal. Or perhaps it will dissipate and I will go back to once a week. Who knows?

"When I open my journal, it feels like I'm a child going into my room and closing the door." ~ Jacqueline Woodson

Jar of Hearts -- I was kinda sad today, and this fit

My Birthday Was Today

This is not a reminder. Just a note on my life. For my birthday, I did the following:

1. I ran a 5k (accomplishing the first step in my four step process of running a marathon).

2. I opened my presents, which included many books and a tile with one of my favorite scriptures printed on it. Also, one of the books reminded me of how much I need to begin writing again.

3. I went to dinner at Olive Garden with Jameson. Oh, how wonderful it is to gain 5 pounds in a single meal. So delicious.

4. I went to go and see The Other Guys at my favorite cheap mom and pop theater. It was good, but more rent good than see in the theater good.

5. I gave a talk in church. Not so much to do with my birthday, but it is something that I did.

6. Talked to each member of my family. I miss them all a lot. And love them very much.

7. Watched The Princess and The Frog and part of Star Trek with my new friend Katie Simmons, who just got back from her mission a few weeks ago.

I hope that everyone out there is doing well, and knows how much I appreciate the birthday wishes!

10K training plan: www.halhigdon.com/10ktraining/10knovice.htm

My Birthday is Next Week

The title is just a reminder. I actually wanted to discuss something else: Winston Churchill. For those of you who need a refresher, click here:

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/

On my facebook, I recently published a quote from his famous speech.

"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in anything, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

I love this quote, especially when I feel like giving in. Of course generally speaking, he said it in response to letting the Nazi's into England. I generally say in response to eating a second swiss roll. Regardless, here are some facts about this amazing man that I think are really great.

1. He came from an aristocratic family -- and his mother was American :)

2. He had a speech impediment that he worked on his entire life.

3. In 1899, Churchill went to South Africa as a war correspondent, and was captured and a POW during the Boer War. He escaped rather bravely and then continued to fight. Impressive.

4. His daughter starred in a movie with Fred Astaire (whom I love) in 'Royal Wedding'.

5. He painted more than 570 paintings and has been sold at major auctions.

6. Churchill once proposed to actress Ethyl Barrymore.

I chose to discuss Churchill because he overcame some pretty poor odds and I think that is something I can look up to and use. Of course, I like to think I have pretty good odds. This week hasn't been very special. And that may be something to celebrate. It means that my life continues to be hopeful and happy. There are always things to rock the boat, but never anything we can't overcome with friends, family, and God.

Great Series that we bought for funsies: Firefly by Joss Whedon