Currently...

~Listening~

The Civil Wars by The Civil Wars, Songs of Innocence by U2, and Monk's Hood (Brother Cadfael Mystery #3) by Ellis Peters

~Eating~

anything I can get my hands on lately, I'm a bit of a munch mouth!

 

~Drinking~

water

~Wearing~

my navy polka dot skirt, ruffled white blouse, lime green sweater, red shoes, and pearls.

~Feeling~

extreme gratitude for being blessed with a wonderful extended family--I am eternally grateful for aunts, uncles and cousins, and my beautiful grandma. 

 

~Weather~

lovely, crisp and warm.  Fall is my favorite time of the year.
 

~Wanting~

all of the answers to all of my questions
 

~Needing~

 to practice a little more faith and kindness.
 

~Thinking~

about my dream house

 

~Enjoying~

the fall colors on the mountains as I drive home from work

There was a little house in the middle of the woods

Things I want to remember about our family "Camping trip" to the White's Cabin on Independence Day...

Hummingbirds everywhere
Playing in the Bear River with Sophie
Games: Ticket to Ride and Chiluli Dice
Yummy food: Tamalies and Breakfast Casserole
Bambi wallpaper
Photography "lessons" with Sophie
Just being together

Sophie turns 4!

Today we celebrated Sophie's 4th birthday. She got a new bike and a very colorful unicorn helmet.

Something WICKED this way comes

Today I had the opportunity to see several of the costumes from the Broadway musical "Wicked" on display at the City Creek Mall in downtown Salt Lake. To say that I am in love with Elphaba's dress would be a complete understatement! (Seriously though, check out those ruffles!) 

Cool Quote

I found this lovely quote one day I as I was going about my daily routine and thought it was really cool.

"What is called my character, or nature, is made up of infinite particles of inherited tendencies from my ancestors--those whose blood runs in my veins. A little seed of laziness comes from this grandfather, and of prodigality from that other one. One of them may have been a moody person and a pessimist, while another was of a jovial nature who always saw the sunny side of every event. One may have had a most satisfactory life as a philosopher, while another ambitious one never was contented with actual conditions whatever they were. Some remote grandmother, perhaps, has stamped me with a fear of dogs and love of horses. There may be in me a bit of outlawry from some pirate forefather and a dash of piety from one who was a saint. My so-called particularities, my gestures, my ways and my mannerisms, I borrowed from all, without any exception. So everything in me passes on through my children.

I am sewn between ancestry and posterity. I am a drip of water in the flowing river of time, a molecule in a mountain, a cell in a great family tree. As we enter life we find all these fears and fancies, likes and dislikes, dispositions and temperament already made in the human beehive and crawl into them, so that they become a part of our true fiber, part of our personal texture, part of our frame of mind and body. This is our birthmark; this is our heritage."

Oliver Wendell Holmes 1841-1935
United States Supreme Court 1902-1932

I Think of Swings

When I was a little girl I loved to swing.  It didn't matter whether I was at Gailey Park or on the swing set in my own front yard (I was one of the lucky ones—swings in my own front yard!)  I loved the feeling of the wind in my hair as I glided back and forth and the power in my legs as I created my own motion.  It didn't matter to me whether the seat was strong canvas (like the ones at school) or hard blue plastic like the ones on Grandma’s swing set.  Nothing mattered as long as I could swing.  

Every year when the air was touched with the first twinge of spring (about the time the snowdrops appeared by our front steps), my best friend Sara and I couldn't resist the pull of the swings; we used to say we could hear them calling to us.  On sunny afternoons we would rush home from school, drop our school bags, hug our Moms and rush out again to meet at the corner of 3^rd West and 1^st South to dash over to the park to spend as much time as we could filling our lungs with the freshly scented air.  To say we learned valuable lessons as we pumped our legs rhythmically back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, would be less than truthful, we were silly girls after all!  The pumping was often accompanied by laughter or just quiet-time as we felt the rays of the sun on our faces.

At the park we could have free reign of the swings—at school it seemed the swings were reserved for the bigger kids, perhaps this had something to do with the fact that they were bigger and faster than us little kids and made it to the swings before everyone else. I was not uncommon for me to spend an entire recess (about 15 minutes) swinging myself breathless on the big swing set beneath the trees that must have been a thousand years (they seemed at least that old to me!)  I loved riding the teeter-totter swing with my little sister Liz, it was fun to get going so fast that the swing set would “bump” what a thrill! (back in those days no one’s swing set was anchored to the ground—it is a wonder I survived such a dangerous childhood!)

I can recall spring and summer afternoon (even into Junior High and High School) when some quality time was spent swinging on those familiar park swings. I even took my nephews and nieces there a time or two to share the swings with them. Now days the park is not the same, my beloved swings no longer exist, the swings under the trees at the school have long since been gone and the playground covered with parking lot.  But even as an adult (I’ll be thirty-eight this year) I can hear the call of the swings if I listen carefully.

Umbrella Day

The Calendar tells me that today is "Umbrella Day" which seems fitting since it is very rainy and dreary outside.  The perfect day to pull out my Sky umbrella (or as I like to call it my bumbershoot) and take a walk at the rain (don't I wish).

What a Way to Start a Week!

What happens when a Dad falls in the backyard and no one's around to hear him...he scoots himself back into the house and lays on the floor until a Mom comes home to find him.

True story.

The bad news: My dad broke his hip today. 
The good news: He gets a shiny new one in the morning.

Another Year Over, A New One Just Begun

Hello 2014, It's Nice to Meet You!