All the Small Things

Sometimes it's the small things that make a great day.

Take yesterday for example.  I got a new blackberry.  It's really cool, has a touchscreen and I get to keep my old one.  I got an email that said I had sold a book on amazon.com.  It's my first online sale!  And a miracle someone is going to pay that much for a book that is just on my shelf.  I got another email that said my costco photo account was reinstated.  I had created a few calendars for family and had some family members upload a few hundred pictures and then costco deleted my account because I hadn't actually ordered anything in a year.  Bad timing.  So now I can print off some belated Christmas presents and not have to pester my siblings who already had me nagging at them for a few months around Christmas.

It was a good day.

Couches

I've been asked to post pictures of our couches.  We got them from RC Willey. They are microfiber.  Scotchguard and all.

What the sales guy actually said: the cushions would be a little still, so if we wanted, we could walk on the without our shoes on to break down the molecules that bind the cushion fibers together.

What I heard: It's ok to jump on the furniture, actually, I'd suggest you do.  Just take your shoes off first.

So we did.

Just the camera didn't get us in the air.

More Days like this...

...with people like this....

where I can see views like this....

that make me smile like this ....

Or just more holidays in general would be nice. 

Special Place - Found!

My 'special place' where I put my tickets was actually my drawer at work.  And yes, I drove all the way to work on a Sunday night to check.  And now I feel a lot better knowing they are safe.

I know everyone has been really worried the past few hours.

Last week I was on a trip to Nevada.  I went running two of the evenings I was there.  I was surprised how hilly the area was when I thought it was a flat desert.  No, I was in the mountainous high desert. I took my phone along, and snapped this picture. 

It looks so empty and forlorn now.  But it was really pretty then.  I loved being able to see the snow capped mountains in the distance.  I couldn't see those from my hotel.  It was sunny and pretty warm the first two days.  Then it snowed.  Winter is still here in the west.  I am really sad I have to miss out on the beautiful spring in the South.  But I did enjoy being away from the big city and out in the open fresh air.

The left boots are my size 9 MENS HUGE boots that I wore on our mine tour.  They are really heavy steel-toed boots and were a smidge too big.  They don't have many women my size that visit, so I had to make do with what was available - and still safe.  Safety first.  Tall rubber boots are so great for traipsing around in mud puddles without care of getting dirty.  Everyone wears them and the mud just washes off!

A special place

There are times when you have something important that you put in a special place so you don't lose them.  And then you don't remember what the special place is and you have essentially lost them anyway!  I'm hoping some tickets are in my desk at work, but I don't think they are.  And I have no idea where I put them at home.

A Glimmer of Good Things to Come

I had my first ride of 2011 today.   Today's high was 65 degrees.  After getting delayed by skyping with my niece and nephew, I took my bike outside and it had actually turned chilly and cloudy.  A lady saw me putting my bike on the rack and said - this doesn't look like very good weather for a bike ride.  What?!  I wasn't going to let her negativity stop me from going on my ride.  I had been looking forward to it all day.  Besides, there was no rain yet.  So in the car I got, and to the park I went.  I got in a great ride given I only had an hour before I needed to be at my Ragnar planning meeting in West Jordan.

I am on a team for the Wasatch Back Relay.  This is my first relay.  And tonight I met my team for the first time. I will be with some fabulous ladies!  I don't know what I'm doing, but everyone else does, so I'll just follow along.  There's a lot of coordination that goes into these things, especially if people get really into it with costumes and t-shirts and decorating the cars.  I don't usually put that much effort into things.  I kinda felt lazy when they were all talking about it.  I think I like things simple.  But it will be great fun!  I'm exciting to have a goal for running.  I will have a long 7 mile run and then two 3-4 mile runs.  So I'll essentially run a half marathon over the course of 24 hours.  AND one great part is that I get to run through Kamas and Francis.  I don't know why I'm excited about that, but I am.

I think another goal I need to have for sometime in my life is when I get a road bike, I want to ride from Kamas up to Trial Lake.  The first time I came out to Utah for my freshman year at college, my sister and I drove out and went straight to the cabin to meet my family who had all flown out already.  As we drove up from Kamas to Trial, there was a bike race and I've always kind of wanted to do it.  But maybe I should make the ride, just the opposite direction - downhill!!

Back to skyping tonight.  I love that it's a given when I skype with my niece and nephew that we read books. I think I will have to make a trip to DI to get some children's books because I look like a bad aunt when they ask me to read a story and I only have The Night Before Christmas.

Mutual

My roommate is a teacher for the 12-13 year old girls at church.  About 15 of them are downstairs making cookies and watching Enchanted on the projector (we have a tiny tv).  I have had little interaction with girls this age since I was that age.  I don't know what I'd do with that calling or any calling that involves people under 20 or over 35.  This family ward business is really different.  I think I need to be in the primary with 4-5 year olds.  I can play with them.

Except I don't think they're watching Enchanted.  There's too much laughing and talking going on down there.  Hopefully the cookies will be done soon!

I miss this little girl

Your Approach

How do you approach life?  Are you one that runs at what life is about to bring at you or do you just hang back and wait for it to come to you?

I'm trying to figure out what I do.

I think I always wanted to be a go-getter and be in control of my destiny and all that jazz.  But I don't really do that.  I might be more reactive that I'd like and I'm not sure if I like that.

Can't Wait

Sunday mornings I usually wake up and get on my computer.  I have church at 11 a.m. so I don't have to get ready first thing like I used to for 9 a.m. church.  But time seems to go by pretty fast and before I know it I have 30 minutes to shower and get to church.  Who is late to 11 a.m. church?  Well, me.

So this morning I just got really excited about the spring/summer.  Yesterday I was really itching to go on a roadtrip.  I just had that need to drive and go somewhere different.  Maybe it was a little cabin fever after such a long week at work and being sick.  I have a few things on my list of interests for the year: sailing, backpacking, horseback riding.  Last night I was looking up sailing clubs in the Salt Lake area.  And yesterday I almost bought a backpack off rei.com until my dad offered to bring one of his out in a few weeks.  So now that I have a backpack, I'm all sorts of excited to go backpacking.  And my next 3-day weekend is Memorial Day, which is not until the end of May, but I really want to do something fun, so I started researching some hikes down near Moab/Canyonlands.  I've only driven through that area and really think this is the summer to get a little more familiar with it.

And now it's 10:06 a.m. and I want to keep reading, but I need to shower.

Things to do this summer:
1. buy a frisbee
2. join the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club
3. find a backpacking buddy
4. run the Wasatch Back
5. befriend someone with horses
6. give my car a tune-up so it will take me on some great roadtrips!

Friday Deals

I just went to the grocery store to buy butter, napkins, and cheese.  What I found were fabulous deals on much more than that.

Butter was $2.50 each instead of $5.00
Napkins - normal price.
Cheese - $1.50 each!!!  for the two cup size package.  I put some in the freezer.
Honey Nut Cheerios - $1.50 each!!!  Normally $4.00.

I got a few other things too.  I have a massive amount of tortillas and I think it would be a good idea to make a tortilla pie casserole.  I bought some salsa ($2.00) and avacados and black beans (which I will mash to make my own 'refried beans').  Lettuce wasn't cheap enough to buy so I'm going without.

I needed the butter for my cookies.  This week was a tough one.  I got a cold (always bad news) and mixed it with some late nights at work and an early 6:30 a.m. conference call yesterday.  Luckily last night my boss told me to go home and get some sleep.  And I did.  I came home, climbed in bed at 5:40 p.m. and slept.  As in I didn't get out of bed until almost 7:00 a.m. this morning.  Boy did I feel a lot better!

By the way.  I didn't grow up using Afrin when I had a cold, but that is the only thing I need to make me feel better these days (on the rare occasions that I get a cold).  It's an amazing drug - non-drowsy and works for about 12 hours.  The next time you're feeling congested, try it!

Ok, now for the cookies.  I deserve them.  Lots of them.

Back Online

Since I moved in January, I haven't had the internet.  I am officially BACK ONLINE!  Thanks to a wonderful brother-in-law that sent me a router and modem, I'm able to do more than check gmail and facebook on my blackberry.  

Recently...

I went to the Hale Center Theater to see 'A Tale of Two Cities' last weekend.  It was really good - if you're in the Salt Lake area, you should go check it out. 

We got couches last week. They might be a little stiff still, but will be super comfy soon enough. Thank goodness for a well-timed President's Day sale at RC Willey.

I am learning to play the guitar.  I might have embarrassed myself at a little guitar night recently with some friends.  Luckily they are kind and supportive. Brown Eyed Girl was the song.  The next step is for me to actually sing along while I play the chords. Hmm...might be a challenge. 

Almondmilk is my new love.  Vanilla or chocolate.  Silk or Blue Diamond.  A half glass is a nice treat.  Try it!

I went skiing the past two weekends.  We have some good snow here in Utah.  

I super excited to Skype with my fam again.