Wind Wuss

It has been so rainy lately.  For the last 2 weeks almost every other day has been threatened by rain.  It often comes in the evening when I’m home alone and is usually accompanied by lightning and wind.  I can still remember a few terrifying tornado warning nights as a little girl when we had to go to the basement and listen to the radio to see if it was coming towards us. I’ve been afraid of wind ever since.

I remember once in 7^th or 8^th grade ( in Utah ) I was playing at a friend’s house down the street when it started to get windy. I looked at the sky and could see the dark storm clouds racing in like there was no tomorrow.  You know what I did?  I turned around and booked it home like a wuss. My friends still tease me about it to this day.

One time when I was in New Zealand we hiked to the top of a mountain and encountered 50-60  mph wind. I’m not exaggerating. It was like sticking your arm out of the car window when you’re driving on the freeway.  You can imagine my worries were at top notch, especially considering we were walking along the top of a mountain with cliffs on either side. 

We moved along the ridge in little spurts. Our professor gave the cue when he noticed a lull in the wind, and we stood up and advanced as far as we could on the trail until the wind was too strong. We crouched down behind a rock and held on to each other until we could move again.

Eventually, as we continued down the mountain the wind lessened.  I remember sitting on a rock and watching the remnants of the wind gently blow the leaves on the tree. I felt so proud of myself for getting through that. I faced my fears, came out safe, and had a great time. 

I thought I conquered my wind fear, until these rain/wind storms of late.  I usually close the blinds and turn up the TV so I can’t hear what’s going on, or think about driving to my dear Watson's work just so I’m not alone.

Tonight though, I’ve opened the blinds and I’m embracing the storm. It’s quite beautiful actually. 

It’s amazing how something awful, and scary, and stupid, becomes beautiful when you have a little bit of courage and trust that everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.  I trust that tomorrow I’ll have a bountiful cherry tomato harvest. 

Just a few things I love from this summer. 

                                                                 

Proud to be a Woman

I just wanted to make it known that I know I am a daughter of God, Who loves me, and I love Him.  I will stand as a witness of Him at all times, in all things and in all places. I will live the principles of the gospel which will prepare me to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple and enjoy the blessings of exaltation. I believe there is a divinity and nobility to womanhood that if we truly understood, would never make us question our worth to the Lord or in His Church.  I am separate but equal in my roles and responsibilities -- I am not the same as the men in my home or in the Church and I don't desire to be the same as them. We are different and endowed with different gifts and responsibilities; as such, I am happy to exist in a separate but equal realm. I know the Lord doesn't view me as any less important, worthy or capable as men in the Church. I don't need to see a woman pray in General Conference or be a Sunday School president, have the priesthood or wear pants to church to feel like I am contributing to building His Kingdom.

When Cain and Abel were asked to make sacrifices to the Lord, Cain brought the fruit of the ground but Abel brought the firstlings of his flock - the best of the best in honor and respect to the Lord. "And the Lord had respect unto Abel".  I choose to sacrifice my best, wear my best, do and be my best all for the Lord because I love Him and I know He loves me.

Every woman possesses within them the ability to build God's kingdom on earth; to make a significant impact on generations if they will but rise to the occasion.  Embrace your unique strengths, talents and divine nature and rise to the top; teach our young women to shine bright in whatever purpose they discover they have come to earth to accomplish.  As a woman I don't need to hold the priesthood, or any high calling for that matter, in order to accomplish a great work and receive all the blessing available to me.

My exaltation is not contingent upon my ability or opportunity to do everything that men can do.  It's contingent upon my doing whatever the Lord has instructed me to do. I feel like I have every blessing that comes from the priesthood already.  I know the Lord has something incredible in store for the faithful; no matter their gender, roles, responsibilities, or leadership positions.

The Church is true, so what else matters?

The Year

We had such a great Christmas and New Year. The best part was all the time off from work. I actually got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed my kitchen, bathroom and laundry room floors.  I cleaned my refrigerator and organized some of my closets and corners.  We relaxed, watched movies (Les Mis is amazing. Like really amazing. And Lincoln was the coolest president ever), played games and spent a lot of time with family.

**Side note: it was New Years day (12:05 am) 2006 at the Woolley's house that my dear Watson first told me he loves me.

2012 was a fun year. We had some fun vacations, I got a new job; my dear Watson got a CNA and made the dean's list two semesters in a row; we made new friends, paid a lot of tuition, finished the Book of Mormon, and strengthened our faith, our relationship, and our muscles.

In 2013 we will go on more dates, finish the Doctrine and Covenants, go on more vacations, be healthier and WORRY less (that one's for me).

Everyone needs to go to Farr's Fresh in SLC and try their hot ice cream. It's the creamiest most delicious tasting basically-hot-chocolate you'll ever taste. But don't waste your money on a cookie - no bueno.  We rode Frontrunner (utah's new cross-county train!) to SLC with some friends. It was super fun and cold.

Here are some pictures of a few of my favorite things during Christmas and New Years.

These are so light! I feel like i'm flying with every stride.  

We crammed into trax so we didn't have to wait 15 min. for the next one to come. It was so funny and I'm glad we did it.  

So I guess we didn't get pictures of FrontRunner...this and me and Alisa on Trax. 

My dear watson and I are in this picture....it's just hard to see us. I love the Salt Lake Temple

My favorite corner of the house. Isn't it beautiful?  Peg board made by my sister in law, quilt made by my mom, shelf mad by my dear watson.  Soon I will make a decoration to go on top :). 

At Worlds End

I’m glad the world didn’t end today.

There are a lot of things I want to do before the world ends.

In fact, there are a lot of things I’d like to do before this day ends, but I probably won’t be able to do them all. Working full-time is kind of time suck. Oh but don’t worry, I have a GIANT list of projects to do…someday…when I have more….time.   (You’re all probably laughing right now: when the heck does she think she’s ever going to have more time?) 

Back to the things I want to do before the world ends.  Some of them are awesome and some much less so.  Many of them have to do with travel. I’ve got travel fever (I’m saying that like the ‘I’ve got cabin fever’ quote on Muppet Treasure Island. Because I’m weird).

Christmas is coming. This is our 3^rd Christmas together and the first Christmas since we’ve been married that I haven’t been in tears trying to arrange schedules between two families while trying to squeeze some of our own family traditions in there somewhere too.  I think part of the reason is because I haven’t really had time to think much about our own family traditions and I guess by now I know what to expect as far as other family stuff.  It’s relaxing not to be stressed about it but sad that I haven’t had a chance to really carry out our own family stuff. I think that’s why I’m having a hard time feeling like it’s really Christmas.  There’s snow now, so that will help.

I get to sing on Sunday with a harp as my accompaniment. This will be a first for me. It’s super cool.

Peace, love and harmony to you all this Christmas season. 

Here are some kind of ugly pictures of us. Funny, in both instances we're eating food. Neighhhhhh, i'm only here for the food. (name that movie)

My work Christmas dinner.

Eating at Gloria's Little Italy.

 

Miracle and Halloween

We had a real life miracle happen in our family this last week.  My sister is pregnant with twins and got an ultrasound last week that showed that baby B (or the one that will come out last) had VSD (ventricular septal defect); basically, a hole in her heart. The hole was so large that the Dr. said there wasn't really a chance that it would close on its own like some VSD's do.  It was also at greater risk of having Down Syndrome or Trisomy 18 because she also had cysts on her brain last month.

My sister would probably need to get amniocentesis (which has a small risk associated with it for the babies) to know for sure whether the baby had a chromosomal disorder, and she'd need to visit a cardiologist to learn what this hole meant for the baby now and once she's born.

We had a family fast (learn more about fasting here) for baby B and for my sister's family as they learned more and made decisions. We prayed for them and I know I at least prayed that if possible, the Lord would close up that hole.  Some of my nieces and nephews even participated in the fast with such great faith and determination it was so inspiring.

My sister visited the cardiologist about a week after the ultrasound where they found the hole. When the cardiologist did another ultrasound he searched and searched and couldn't find a hole. He said if there is a hole, it's so small that it's not really something to be concerned about. And the heart definitely did NOT look like a down syndrome heart or as if it had any other abnormalities.  The cardiologist will do an echo cardiogram when the baby is born just to make sure, but he was really positive about the situation.

We all know that this wasn't coincidence or a mistake on the part of the first Dr. Mom and my sister saw that hole and now it's pretty much gone.  That's a real life miracle and a sweet blessing that came in part because of the combined prayers and fasting of many faithful people. I can't wait to tell my children about this and teach them the blessings that can come from prayer and fasting.

I was Merida for Halloween (from Brave) and my dear Watson was originally just one of the Brave guys...but it kind of morphed into Bravehart as more and more people thought that's what he was :).

Takin' a Break

It was so nice for us to take a break this weekend and have some us time. Here are the dets: (deats?)

Day #1
Stayed in Park City at a cute little condo I found for way cheap (under $60)

Ate dinner at El Chubasco's.

We are weird.

Their salsa bar was amazing. I got adventurous and tried the black salsa of death.  It tasted like mud and dirt someone scraped off a tire after a rain storm.

Day #2
Drove to and stayed at Beaver Creek Lodge, just 12 miles south of Bear Lake. On the way we stopped at Smith and Edwards outside of Brigham City. That store is amazing. The sign on their building says "we've got everything you need.....if we can find it" and that was the truth. It's huge and filled with all sorts of cool stuff.

The lodge we stayed at was awesome. They had a lounge where we played foosball (my dear Watson won), and the manager said we might hear some Elk bugleing at night (is that what Elk's do? Bugle?)  We didn't hear any though.

Ate dinner at La Beau's in Garden city - chicken cordon bleu sandwich: AMAZING!

The next morning we went Horseback Riding across from the lodge.

Our guide took pictures of us while she was bouncing around on her horse...so some of them ended up blurry :).

Day #3
Drove to and stayed at The Blue Heron Inn in Rigby, Idaho. On the way we stopped at Pepperidge Farm and got some Gold Fish!

The Blue Heron is a cute little bed and breakfast that some friends of ours own: a couple that my dear Watson lived with while he was a missionary.  This place is so beautiful and I think you ALL should go stay there for a night or two.

The backyard. 

The front yard.

We dug rocks out of a hill and built them into a fire pit, we learned how to make a bed - hotel style and fold bath towels and rags into cool shapes. We also learned how to make eggs Benedict and actually really enjoyed eating it.  We ate dinner at a cool golf shack along the river, and looked at the stars through a big telescope.We saw a bald eagle, lots of cows and cute little kittens!

I drove in to Rexburg and saw the temple and a little of BYU-Idaho...and Walmart.

We watched the BYU game and then drove home!

It was so fun for us to spend time together without the stress of our every day lives.  I love my dear Watson and I loved this vacation!

We're in love.

You'll Never Guess...

They're baaaaacckkkkkk!

Caught 2 mice yesterday in the pantry :(. Running total is 25.

Meanwhile, I'm back to this:

I don't look like that when I run.
I'm just doing 1- 2 miles three or four times a week.  I'm building up slowly so I don't do anything bad.  It feels great to run again.

We're heading here this weekend:

and a few other places too. 

We'll do a little bit of this:

Only we won't wear that silly hat.

And a whole lot of this:

Eating in general, not just eating pasta.

Can't wait!!!