One year ago...

One year ago today, I was waking up to this sight

and the sounds of these.

365 Days ago, I was ziplining through the canopy of coffee plantations

at the base of this volcano.

Yes, it was just one year ago that I was relaxing in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, swimming in this

with a view like this,

being mesmerized by clouds like these,

enjoying the sunsets,

and basking in the glow,

with these fine people.

Let's go again. Come on, let's.

Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Nobel Peace Prize Winner.

Last semester, in a class I was able to read the biography of Rigoberta Menchú Tum, (I, Rigoberta Menchú), who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her work as an advocate for Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation in her native Guatemala and throughout the western hemisphere. Born into a poor family in the Mayan culture, she became active in the resistance to oppression in Guatemala after her family was murdered during the struggle for Indian peasants' rights. Her life story was recounted in the book, and she also narrated the powerful documentary film "When the Mountains Tremble" about the struggles and suffering of the Mayan people.

So obviously, I was thrilled when I saw that the keynote address to kick off the University of Utah's 25th Anniversary Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be given by Rigoberta Menchú Tum on Thursday, 15 January at Kingsbury Hall. The presentation (reviewed here)was quite inspiring. Her story and presence are powerful. As she herself said in the address, "You can read all the books you want, but it's not until you experience another culture firsthand, that you really begin to learn." She spoke of respecting other, of how to live in peace and promote peace. Interestingly, although there was an English translator, I was able to understand much of what she said in Spanish. (I've decided that I need to officially learn to speak Spanish.) I'm glad I heard about this and jumped at the chance to attend.

Paz : Paix : صلح (solh) : Taika : Мир : Friður : Pokój : Miers : Maluhia : Frieden : שלום (Shalom) : Pax

Peace

Discoveries of 2008.

Friday night, I went to a party hosted by my friend Amber. It was a Girls Night with the theme of "What I Learned in 2008." We were asked to bring a favorite dish discovered in 2008 along with the recipe to share with everyone. Next we were to bring a top ten list of what we discovered in 2008 (with copies to hand out to everyone). Possible thoughts included: favorite new book, cool websites, additional recipes, make-up, great buys, favorite music, cooking secrets, trip ideas, diet plans, favorite toilet paper, parenting secrets, or any nugget of knowledge we felt worthy to pass along. The last thing we brought was a little gift basket to give away. The basket consisted of items listed on our top ten list.

I was so excited anticipating this party. What a fun idea! I loved sharing what I've learned and I learned lots of new things, some of which I've already checked out. Very fun, it was!

And I know you're all just dying to know what my top ten list looked like, so here you go:

eclaires's Discoveries of 2008

1. bareMinerals makeup by Bare Escentuals – With bareMinerals, your search for the perfect foundation is over; you’ll never go back to your old stuff again! Made from 100% pure bareMinerals it’s free of preservatives, oil, fragrance, talc and other skin irritants. I have fallen in love with the look of beautifully bare skin.

2. L'Oréal Telescopic® Clean Definition Mascara – I'll admit, I was very skeptical considering the No Clump Brush™ is so thin and long, with few bristles. But I found that the thin brush allows you to easily coat the lashes without weighing them down, resulting in a very natural look. The sparsely placed bristles allow for a combing effect, keeping lashes separated and clump free. And it perfectly lengthens my lashes (up to 60% they say). So I'm sold. Dare I say, I've found a new favorite? I know... hard to believe, but I think it's true.

3. www.Coupons.com – I have become a coupon clipper. Okay, I always have been, but this year I discovered online coupons. And they generally have stuff that I actually buy! Don’t go to the grocery store with checking here first.

4. Curves – The Women’s Only Health Club and Fitness Center with Aerobic and Strength Training Workout. This was actually a discovery of 2007, but worthy to share. No more worrying about people looking you up and down at the gym. Go to Curves and get a great workout in 30 minutes without the uncomfortable “meat market” feel of other co-ed gyms. And you’ll see results!

5. All things Google – I can’t live without my Google calendar, gmail, Blogger, and my iGoogle homepage brings those all together. My life has been made much easier and more fun!

6. www.Pandora.com – Internet Radio. Listen anywhere you have an internet connection and speakers. No commercials. Pick the genres and artists you like. Find out about new artists and songs you haven’t heard before.

7. Winter Squash – Butternut, Spaghetti, Acorn, etc. Delicious! Top puréed cooked winter squash with cinnamon and maple syrup. Steam cubes of winter squash and onion wedges in oven with a little bit of olive oil. Top "strings" of spaghetti squash with pasta sauce. Add cubes of winter squash to your favorite vegetable soup recipe. Slice strips of butternut squash and bake to make Squash Snacks. There are endless ideas for these nutrient-filled vegetables.

8. Salt Lake Choral Artists – I have found my niche once again. I love choral singing and discovered SLCA this summer. I auditioned and am now a member. Salt Lake Choral Artists is one of America’s premier community choirs, delighting audiences with outstanding choral performances for many years. The choir focuses on classical, contemporary, and culturally diverse music and emphasizes collaborations with other performing groups from the community. As Artistic Director and Conductor, Dr. Brady Allred has applied his wealth of choral conducting experience, remarkable range of musical talent, and exceptional leadership to bring the Salt Lake Choral Artists to a higher level of artistic excellence. His skills have generated new enthusiasm among choir members, serious interest from the media, and the attention of donors who recognize the importance of promoting top-quality performing arts in this community.

9. Calcium Chews – One a day increases your daily intake of Calcium, Vitamin D, and Vitamin K and satisfies your sweet tooth. Costco’s Kirkland Brand tastes the best and are sugar-free!

10. Smart Balance Natural Peanut Butter – Peanut butter with no hydrogenated oils, thus no trans fat, no added refined sugar, and 1000mg of Omega-3s per serving. You can’t pass that up! Plus it tastes great! Check out their butter spread products as well.

100th Blog Post!

So I just realized that I was about to post to my blog for the 100th time and thought... it's 100... I should celebrate. Shouldn't I?

Wahoo!

There. Was that good? Okay, I'm done. Party over. On to regularly scheduled programming. Er, ... blogging.

I'm a fermata. Hold me.

I love touch. I suppose my family is a "touching" family. I grew up like that. I'm used to it. Physical human contact. Lots of it. Hugging, pushing, shoving, holding, sitting-on, lying-on, leaning against, hitting, poking, grabbing, cuddling, hair-brushing, stroking, petting, arm-tickling, wrestling, massaging, boosting, kissing, hand-holding, nuzzling, tagging, squeezing, rocking, snuggling... you get the idea. I'd venture to say that I'm the one in my family who likes/appreciates/needs physical human contact most and is most readily willing to ask for/initiate such touch. Apparently, I have always been a "cuddly" person. As a baby, I'd snuggle up as close as I could into my mom's neck and nuzzle for as long as I could. I think I still do that. I've learned that touch is one major way I feel/give love. I love it, and it's all so wonderfully normal, and comforting, and human.

Social life is a bit different from family life, and there are different acceptable levels of contact for different people. As I grew up and learned about things like "personal space" and "bubbles," there was by simple social necessity less casual invasion of other people's space. Which is fine, I guess, but sometimes strange to try and remember that not everyone is as okay with bodily contact as I or the people I grew up with.

Generally, I am not as "in need" of physical affection, as I was when I was a child. I guess I'm more comfortable with myself and know how to comfort myself. But I won't deny that there are days when I need a hug, a gentle embrace, a pat on the back, a stroke of the neck, or to have my hair played with, be held, or be able to sit close to someone and lean against them, to hug them, to push them, poke them, hold them, touch them, or slide my feet under them as we're lying on the couch. I need it to relax, to calm down, to be comforted—to comfort. It doesn't take much. But some days, I need it to keep my sanity.

Yesterday was one of those days.

Thank you M!

Christmas: Memories Old & New and an Answer to Prayer.

I love the smell of fresh pine. I love the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping. I love Christmas lights. I love the opportunity to focus more on Christ and remember His birth. I love listening to good Christmas music. I love giving really fun gifts to people I love. Christmastime brings all these things as well as wonderful memories.

Most Christmases as a child, I spent the first part of the vacation with my mom, my brother, and my grandparents. Christmas Eve meant Aunt Edie's corn chowder and new pajamas. I slept in the northernmost bed in the blue bedroom with my brother in the twin next to me. There were years I could hardly go to sleep that night because I was so excited. Santa would always leave our stockings at the foot of our bed, so waking up several times in the middle of the night, straining in the dark to see the foot of my bed was not uncommon. We were allowed to open everything in our stockings any time after 6am, usually, but we had to wait until everyone was ready to open all the gifts. Oh the torture! As I got older, I didn't mind waiting. None of this I-just-woke-up-look in pictures anymore. Most years, my aunt, uncle, and cousins would arrive the day after Christmas and we'd do it all over again.

The second part of Christmas vacation was generally spent with my dad, my stepmom, my brother, and my sister. We'd spend the afternoon at Auntie Vicki's house waiting what seemed like a century to a little kid for dinner to be served. Playing pool, smiling when Nono went on his rantings and ravings about how I should eat more peaches. Eating Noni's delicious risotto. Meeting cousin John's new girlfriend, just about every year. Going to the movies. And more relaxing.

This year was a little different.

Katie and I braved the snow and bought a fresh Christmas tree. Katie not only braved the snow, but she braved being seen with me in one of my wacky moods.

Then we decorated.

Christmas Eve was spent with M's family. We had a great dinner followed up by singing of Christmas carols around the piano. In keeping with Dutch tradition, they open all their gifts from each other after dinner that night. So M and I exchanged ours as well.

M and I had been giving each other hints about our gifts for each other and allowing one other to ask one question per week for the preceding five or six weeks. Neither one of us had any real clue as to what we were getting. M got me an FM Transmitter. It's actually quite cool. It transmits from any audio source to an FM radio station up to 150 feet in all directions. This means I can listen to my iPod in the car. I can listen to the TV in "surround sound" if I have a couple of radios nearby. I can broadcast what's on my computer to the stereo in the kitchen. It's great!

I got M the moon. :) Truly. Well, it's a Moon in My Room, a detailed light-up moon that shines like the real thing. Using the remote control, you can select any of 12 different phase settings. I think it's very cool.



Christmas morning began very early. Katie, her brother Andy, our friend Jovanni, and I went to the Christian Life Center and helped set up for the Christmas meal. Hundreds of homeless and struggling individuals and families were expected to arrive by bus to eat that day. I was happy to be able to help out.

Later that evening, M and I drove down with another friend, Sara, to my mom's for Christmas dinner. Dinner with my mom, Stephen, Agnė, M, and Sara was very nice. We exchanged gifts, ate a delicious cherry dessert (my grandma's recipe), and played Bananagrams, one of my favorite word games. Agnė got it for Christmas from my mom. And don't think that just because she's not a native English speaker that she won't give you a run for your money!

On our way home, snow was coming down pretty heavily. Luckily, M is a rockstar! He managed to get us all home safely, along with help from "God's holy angels" in the form of four massive snow plows ahead of us. We had all knelt in prayer before we headed out, to wrap up our wonderful Christmas and prepare for our drive home. Stephen offered a beautiful prayer, in which he requested the blessing of safety for us as we returned home. As he made the request, he asked Heavenly Father that "even thy (God's) holy angels would accompany them (us)" as we drove through the storm. About fifteen minutes into our journey, we were in whiteout conditions for ten minutes or so when all of a sudden, four ginormous snow plows entered the freeway just ahead of us. They began to work forming a barrier ahead, plowing the snow out of our path. We traveled along behind them for about 45 seconds, when M turned to me and smiled, saying, "Do you want to call your mom and tell her that 'God's holy angels' are accompanying us home in the form of four snow plow drivers?"

A blatant, yet beautiful answer to prayer was Heavenly Father's gift to us on Christmas Day. How very fitting!

The Schultz Philosophy.

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today.

It's already tomorrow in Australia."

~Charles Schultz

The following is the philosophy of not my friends the Schultzes, but of Charles Schultz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read straight through, and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of Miss America.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do? The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

7 Random Things

So Brooke-let tagged me awhile back and I'm finally remembering to think of and post seven random things about myself. Here goes...

1. I smell everything. Beware. May you always smell divine.
2. I love all things WWII, especially first-hand Resistance stories. May we have such resilience of spirit.
3. I still rock out to Debbie Gibson. Sorry, I'll never be able to call her Deborah.
4. I first got glasses in the 4th grade. Seeing street signs and the chalkboard was so much more fun after that.
5. I've been known to cut my English Lit class, hiding in the stairwell to read. Ironic.
6. I don't believe in unpainted toenails. On women, at least. May yours always be painted. (Especially if you're wearing open toed shoes.)
7. I was in a car accident once when our car landed on the roof after fishtailing out of control at 80mph. I crawled out the back window unscathed. Thank you.

Pucker-up: It's New Year's!

I had a great New Year's Eve. M and I spent the first half of the evening with his family watching the last part of the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice and playing Super Boggle (four-letter minimum). The second half of the evening was spent at our LDS Singles Ward party, playing Rockband, singing karaoke, dancing, and eating a pancake breakfast.

Oh and of course a little midnight smooching. We were all puckered up...

I love the smell of gasoline!

It's true. I do love the smell of gasoline... especially when it's only $1.35 per gallon and falling! AND when I can FILL UP for just $15! That's about half what it was last year at this time. How's that for a Christmas gift?!

Hodie Made My Day.

"When we take part in music, or listen to an absorbing performance, we are temporarily protected from the input of other external stimuli. We enter a special, secluded world in which order prevails and from which the incongruous is excluded. This in itself is beneficial. It is not a regressive manoeuvre, but reculer pour mieux sauter; a temporary retreat which promotes a re-ordering process within the mind, and thus aids our adaptation to the external world rather than providing an escape from it." ~ Anthony Storr, author of Music and the Mind

This last Saturday night was our December (Christmas) concert at Libby Gardner Concert Hall. May I just say that Dr. Brady Allred is amazing?! He is a wonderfully talented conductor, who masterfully brings out the best in every group of singers he leads. We (The Salt Lake Choral Artists) performed Hodie, which means "This Day" in Latin, by Ralph Vaughan Williams. (It's pronounced "hoe-dee-ay." Not "hoe-dee" like M says nor "hood-ee" like Katie says.) Hodie is a cantata, which tells the Christmas story mainly through poetry and biblical texts from the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John. With challenging choral movements, it has grown on me during our rehearsals for the last two months. I really love it and am excited that I ordered the CD, so I can listen to it again and again. Being able to share this piece with so many of my friends and family was great!

Salt Lake Tribune Review: A glorious telling of the Christmas story

Deseret News Review: 'Hodie' artists wonderfully expressive, lyrical

"If music and the other arts were more closely interwoven with our daily activities, we might not need this temporary retreat so much." ~ Anthony Storr

Grandmas and Grandpas.

"Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children." ~Alex Haley

"What is it about grandparents that is so lovely? I'd like to say that grandparents are God's gifts to children. And if they can but see, hear and feel what these people have to give, they can mature at a fast rate." ~Bill Cosby

My maternal grandparents:

My paternal grandparents:

Aren't they lovely?!

Mirror tricks.

Do you ever look in the mirror, and are forced to take a double take, saying to yourself, "Whoa. Is that me?" Yeah, that usually happens to me on a Saturday morning, having woken up after a late night, with old makeup and hair bent in weird directions. But the other day I glanced in the mirror as I was passing, and I was speechless because I saw my Grandmother.

My Grandmother died when I was fourteen years old. We have very similar personalities and apparently didn't get always get along. I don't really remember that part, although everyone reminds me. I remember the hugs, the stories, the trips, the shopping, and the last visit before she died. We crocheted afghans, told stories, and laughed. Yeah, we laughed a lot.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

M showed me this the other day, to get me in the holiday mood as we wrapped presents. My mind started hurting a bit, since I had to concentrate and sometimes re-read. :) But it was rather funny at parts. I've put the original poem, written by Clement Clarke Moore (1779 - 1863) in RED, so that you can make the comparison yourself. Enjoy! Happy holidays!

'TWAS THE NOCTURNAL SEGMENT OF THE DIURNAL PERIOD

'Twas the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period preceding the annual yuletide celebration. And throughout our place of residence, kinetic activity was not in evidence among the possessors of this potential, including that species of domestic rodent known as mus musculus. Hosiery was meticulously suspended from the forward edge of the wood-burning caloric apparatus, pursuant to our anticipatory pleasure regarding an eminent visitation from an eccentric philanthropist among whose folkloric appellations is the honorific title of St. Nicholas.

The prepubescent siblings, comfortably ensconced in their respective accommodations of repose, were experiencing subconscious visual hallucinations of variegated fruit confections moving rhythmically through their cerebrums. My conjugal partner and I, attired in our nocturnal head coverings, were about to take slumberous advantage of the hibernal darkness.

When upon the avenaceous exterior portion of the grounds there ascended such a cacophony of dissonance that I felt compelled to arise with alacrity from my place of repose for the purpose of ascertaining the precise source thereof. Hastening to the casement, I forthwith opened the barriers sealing this fenestration, noting thereupon that the lunar brilliance without, reflected as it was on the surface of a recent crystalline precipitation, might be said to rival that of the solar meridian itself; thus permitting my incredulous optical sensory organs to behold a miniature airborne runnered conveyance drawn by eight diminutive specimens of the genus Rangifer.

Piloted by a minuscule aged chauffeur so ebullient and nimble that it became instantly apparent to me that he was indeed our anticipated caller. With his ungulate motive power traveling at what may have been more vertiginous velocity than patriotic alar predators, he vociferated loudly, expelled breath musically through contracted labia, and addressed each of the octet by his or her respected cognomen; Now Dasher, now Dancer, et al. Guiding them to the uppermost exterior level of our abode, through which structured could readily distinguish the concatenations of each of the 32 cloven pedal extremities.

As I retracted my cranium from its erstwhile location, and was performing a 180-degree pivot, our distinguished visitant achieved, with utmost celerity in animal pelts soiled by the ebony residue from oxidations of carboniferous fuels which had accumulated on the walls of the smoke passage. His resemblance to a street vendor I attributed largely to the plethora of assorted playthings which he bore dorsally in commodious cloth receptacle.

His orbs were scintillant with reflected luminosity, while his submaxillary dermal indentations gave every evidence of engaging amiability. The capillaries of his molar regions and nasal appurtenance were engorged with blood which suffused the subcutaneous layers, the former approximating the coloration of Albion's floral emblem, the latter that of the Prunus avium, or sweet cherry. His amusing sub- and supralabials resembled nothing so much as a common loop knot, and their ambient hirsute facial adornment appeared like small, tabular and columnar crystals of frozen water.

Clenched firmly between his incisors was smoking piece whose gray fumes, forming a tenuous ellipse about his occiput, were suggestive of a decorative seasonal circlet of holly. His visage was wider than it was high, and when he waxed audibly mirthful, his corpulent abdominal region undulated in the manner of impectinated fruit syrup in a hemispherical container. He was as short,neither more nor less than an obese, jocund, multigenarian gnome, the optical perception of whom rendered me visible frolicsome despite every effort to refrain from so being. By rapidly lowering and then elevating one eyelid and rotating his head slightly to one side he indicated that trepidation on my part was groundless.

Without utterance and with dispatch, he commenced filling the aforementioned hosiery with various of the aforementioned articles of merchandise extracted from his aforementioned previously dorsally transported cloth receptacle. Upon completion of his task, he executed an abrupt about face, placed a singular manual digit in lateral juxtaposition to his olfactory organ, inclined his cranium forward in a gesture of leave taking, and forthwith effected his egress by renegotiating (in reverse) the smoke passage. He then propelled himself in a short vector onto his conveyance, directed a musical expulsion of air through his contracted oral sphincter to the antlered quadrupeds among the seed-bearing portions of a common weed. But I overheard his parting exclamation, audible immediately prior to his vehiculation beyond the limits of visibility:

"Ecstatic Yuletide to the planetary constituency, and to that self same assemblage, my sincerest wishes for a salubriously beneficial and gratifyingly pleasurable period between sunset and dawn."

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Darn!

verb. 1. to mend, as torn clothing, with rows of stitches, sometimes by crossing and interweaving rows to span a gap.
interjection. 1. A colloquial euphemism for Damn. An interjection used to express dissatisfaction or annoyance.

So do you know where the expression "darn" came from? I was once told that it is somehow connected to the infrequently used word meaning to mend. You know, like darning a pair of socks. Inevitably, someone would prick her finger with the darning needle... ouch... and attempting to avoid using profanity, she allowed the minced oath, "darn", to slip out :)

I'm a darner, according, of course, to the first definition. I haven't always been, but that's what happens when you're a missionary and you wear the same four or five pairs of winter weight tights (sometimes all at once) all winter (and winters are a good six or seven months long). Your toes poke through; it happens. Those tights are expensive! Besides, they were perfectly good tights; they just had toe holes. So, darn away, I did.

I'm still in the habit. Although, I generally don't get to it as quickly as I forced myself to on my mission. Having your toes stick through holes for too many days in a row gets to be rather annoying, not to mention cause for little Lithuanian močiutės (grandmas) and Russian bobs (you know them if you've seen them) lecture you about your toes freezing off.

So, two weeks ago when Katie J (the other one) came to visit, I was getting dressed while she sat on my bed, chatting it up with me. When I pulled on a white tank top out of my closet and began putting it on, she suddenly stopped conversation and said, "You're NOT wearing that." "Yes, I am." "Emery!" "No one is going to see the holes." "That thing is a mess. You need a new one." "No I don't. 'Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.' I just need to... ahem... darn it."

And darn I did. :)

Before:




And after:




Is that better Katie J? ;)

Soda vs. Pop.

I say soda. What do you say?

The Lord's Peace Brings Comfort.

"Life often feels like a great pile of obligations, frustrations, and disappointments. But the Lord is there, always the same, His arms still outstretched. When we feel overwhelmed, we have to remember the peace He has spoken to us on previous occasions. His peace brings comfort and strength; the world cannot give that to us."

~Kathleen H. Hughes

Free Books!

Thought I'd pass this along to anyone interested.

Pay just $15 for shipping and receive 25 "free" paperback

copies of Richard L. Evans's bestseller The Christmas Box.

I think the offer expires tomorrow, 6 December.

Happy Holidays!

http://richardpaulevans.com/freebooks/

Let us have music for Christmas...

Ethereal - Hopeful - Transcendent

Under the direction of Dr. Brady R. Allred the Salt Lake Choral Artists, the Salt Lake Symphony, children from the Madeleine Cathedral Choir School and guest soloists Carol Ann Allred, Todd Miller and Darrell Babidge present Ralph Vaughan Williams' exquisite Christmas Cantata “Hodie” (This Day) and his English folk tune compilation "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" Saturday, December 20, 2008 7:30 pm at Libby Gardner Concert Hall in the David P. Gardner School of Music on the University of Utah Campus. In conjunction with the concert, a pre-concert lecture by Dr. Sue Neimoyer, Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of Utah will be held at 6:45 pm in room 270 at the School of Music, as well as a reception immediately following the concert in the Edgar Thompson Chamber Hall.

For ticket information please visit http://www.saltlakechoralartists.org/ or call the Kingsbury Hall Box Office at 801.581.7100. If you'd like to come, it's quite possible I'd be friendly enough to get you discounted tickets. So let me know ASAP!

Jumping for joy is good exercise.

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
~Abraham Lincoln

About ten years ago, I found myself swimming in what I can only describe as the blues. I decided to conquer my depression by starting a Happy journal and search for the little things in life that made me happy and for which I was thankful. With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I feel I want to share some of those things that brighten my life:

1. Word games
2. The Internet
3. The guarantee of a 60-second massage every Tuesday at Salt Lake Choral Artists rehearsal
4. Clouds
5. Rodgers & Hammerstein
6. Josh Groban's ability to bring me sweet memories of winter in Lithuania
7. The ability to use chopsticks with ease
8. Receiving genuine compliments
9. Prayer
10. Friends who are on my side
11. Touch - playful, soothing, and healing (both giving and receiving)
12. Lotion (didn't know I would be so thankful for lotion until I moved to Utah)
13. Having a car that runs and doesn't have a monthly payment
14. Getting paid
15. Having a unique first name
16. Falling leaves
17. Being debt-free
18. Drive-thru ATMs
19. Torrential downpours
20. Cake with frosting
21. Flowers
22. Calculators
23. Spider Solitaire
24. Being a native San Franciscan
25. Dancing
26. The scriptures
27. Lithuania
28. Alias
29. Veronica Mars
30. Having faith and then having the courage to truly exercise it
31. Green stoplights all the way to my destination
32. Using coupons
33. Writing
34. Earrings
35. Pictures to provide good memories
36. Measuring tapes
37. Thermometers
38. The moon
39. Lone trees
40. Knowing what time it is
41. Laughter
42. A great pair of jeans
43. Holding hands
44. Snow-capped mountains
45. Cool maps
46. Google
47. Quiet time just spent remembering past experiences
48. Food storage
49. Kisses on the cheek
50. Any opportunity to share, listen, and be with people I care about

Wanderlust has taken hold and will never let go.

Wanderlust has taken hold of me and will never let go... So I like to travel. Doesn't everybody? My perfect day would involve a passport, a book, a hammock, a view of the ocean, and some sort of dairy product. I got that perfect day in January 2008 in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. That was, by far, the most relaxing trip I've been on. (Thanks Dad and Nancy!) I hope to have many more repeat perfect days all over the world for the rest of my life!

Lately, I've been lamenting my lack of travel the past six months or so. I realized the other day that I haven't been on an airplane in seven or eight months. That may sound funny to some, but it's very unusual for me. And as my plans are right now, I will not be traveling anywhere for the next couple of months. The beginning of 2008 went like this:

January - Los Angeles and on to Nicaragua
February - Orange County, California
March - Michigan
April - nowhere? (I don't believe that.)
May - nowhere? (I can't believe it.) I was going to go to Virginia and Pennsylvania, then had to cancel.
June - two trips: Las Vegas and Orange County, California (flew in and out of Long Beach)
July to November - nowhere. Not even any further north than Ogden, and no further south than Springville.

As you likely know, I'm a list person. So this post is more for me than for any of you and is not meant to be a bragging list or anything. I just like to keep track of my life on lists. So there you have it.

States I've been to (at least two feet on the ground):
1. California
2. Nevada
3. Utah
4. Arizona
5. Idaho
6. Washington
7. Montana
8. Colorado
9. Kansas
10. Texas (one night at a hotel in Dallas after a delayed flight)
11. Missouri
12. Iowa (drove through Keokuk with Grandpa, got out and did a little tap dance, so I could say I'd been there)
13. Illinois
14. Wisconsin
15. Michigan
16. Indiana (Indianapolis airport only, I believe)
17. Ohio
18. Pennsylvania
19. Virginia
20. Maryland
21. Delaware
22. New Jersey
23. New York
24. Massachusetts
25. Connecticut
26. Georgia (Atlanta airport only)

So you may notice that this West Coast native hasn't included Oregon on her list. Nor does she have Wyoming, a state with which she currently shares a border. Yeah, who knows how I skipped Oregon altogether. I'll get there. Hopefully on a trip up the coast. And Wyoming, well that's just a matter of planning a trip to AnnMarie's. :)

Countries I've been to:
1. United States
2. Mexico (Tijuana only, so I'm not really sure if that counts)
3. England (including British territory Gibraltar)
4. Lithuania
5. Latvia
6. Spain
7. Czech Republic
8. Poland
9. Sweden (Stockholm airport only, so no passport stamp)
10. El Salvador (San Salvador airport only, so no passport stamp)
11. Nicaragua

No, I haven't been to Canada. Surprisingly, Estonia isn't on there either. I just never made the long bus trip up there. And sadly, I haven't been to Russia or Morocco, though I've seen both. Just didn't cross the border. Someday...

That our children might fly.

I read this today:

"Rosa Parks sat in 1955. Martin Luther King walked in 1963. Barack Obama ran in 2008. That our children might fly."

Lessons from the Great Depression.

Since, I've gone back to school, most of you know that I'm only working part-time now. (Read: I've been earning half my salary since September.) This means, I've been extra money-concious and am always trying to find ways to cut expenses and save money. Why spend, when I could save, right? So I found this article listing the top ten lessons we can learn from the Great Depression and I thought I'd reprint it here.

10 Money Lessons From the Great Depression
By Jeffrey Strain

The U.S. may not technically be in a recession. After all, the U.S. Commerce Department says the economy grew at a 0.6% pace in the first quarter.

But most people look at things more like legendary investor Warren Buffett, who defined a recession as when "people are doing less well than they were three months, six months or eight months earlier."

For most economists it is no longer whether there is going to be a recession, but what type of recession it is going to be: short recessions like the one from 1990 to 1991 and the one from March to November 2001, or something like the Great Depression.

No matter which it ends up being, one of the best places to look for sound advice is from those people who have survived the worst of economic times - namely your grandparents.

Here are 10 ideas you may want to take from them:

1. Frugality Is Not a Bad Word
There was a time when a person who was frugal was looked upon with esteem rather than someone without the means to buy more. Many people seem to equate frugality with "cheapness," but that couldn't be further from the truth. Being frugal is simply getting the most out of what you have and purchase, and not purchasing things that you really don't need. While your grandparents learned frugality during the hard times, many of them continued to practice it even when times got better, which helped them build wealth. Learning to be frugal could help a lot of people who haven't learned to live within their means.

2. Use What You Have
In a consumer society, whatever problem you may have can always be solved by buying something else. If something breaks, go out and buy a new one. If something isn't exactly right, go buy something that is. In your grandparents' time, when something broke, they first took a look to see if it could be fixed. If it couldn't be fixed, before it ended up in the trash can, they would consider whether it could still be useful for something else. There is no reason to go out and spend money on something new if you can get the same thing accomplished with the things that you already have.

3. Doing It Yourself Is the Way to Go
When it comes to fixing things, the first people that your grandparents looked at were themselves. Instead of calling someone to fix something that broke, they fixed it on their own most of the time. In a society where we now hire people to do most basic repair and maintenance, it's important to remember that most repairs aren't nearly as difficult as they may appear and that you can do much of it on your own with a how-to book and patience.

4. Things Have More Than One Use
People tend to buy stuff with a specific purpose in mind and use it exclusively for that intended purpose. What your grandparents knew is that most things can have multiple uses throughout their useful life. That T-shirt can become a night shirt when the collar gets worn and can't be worn outside, and then a painting shirt when it starts to get holes and eventually rags when the holes get too big.

5. Debt Is to Be Avoided
In the age of credit cards, where spending what you don't have now is encouraged left and right, it's hard to believe there was a time when people actually believed that debt was to be avoided, but those are the words that your grandparents lived by. If they didn't have the money, then they would simply need to figure out a different plan on how to get what they needed. It might be borrowing it from a friend, saving up money or finding something that could be used instead. Going into debt to get it accomplished was not an option.

6. Save for Rainy Days
As many people are finding out, rainy days eventually come. Your grandparents were well aware of this and specifically put aside money for these rainy days. It's now what is commonly referred to as an emergency fund and something that comes in quite handy when your financial plans don't go exactly as you imagined they would.

7. Used Can Be Just as Good as New
This concept isn't completely foreign even to today's generation. The notion that buying a quality two- to three-year-old car has become basic mainstream financial advice when it comes to car ownership. Your grandparents knew that just because something happened to be pre-owned doesn't make it something to be dismissed as unworthy. They also know that this concept doesn't stop with cars and can be expanded to almost any other area where a second-hand market is available.

8. Functional Trumps Fashion:
When it comes to making purchases, your grandparents knew that it wasn't what the device looked like, but what it could do that mattered. It was much more important to buy something that did what needed to be done regardless of what it actually looked like. That Rolex may look great, but it doesn't tell time any better than a standard watch bought at the local discount store. Learning to buy for function rather than looks is a great way to save money.

9. Bargains Are to Be Sought-After
When it was time to purchase something, your grandparents didn't just go out an get it that day. They took the time to look for a bargain. That meant doing research and waiting until the price was right rather than pulling out a credit card and buying it even when they didn't have the money. Bargains take planning and time to find, but when they are found, you know you have gotten a great deal.

10. Homemade Cookies Are Delicious
In a society where everything is pre-made and sold for convenience, it may be hard to remember the last time you had a meal made from scratch. What your grandparents knew was that not only is it less expensive to cook this way, the resulting meal is also a lot more delicious. Think of it this way; would you ever consider trading in a plate of your grandmother's homemade cookies for any store bought brand?

While the way that your grandparents handled money may seem unsophisticated with all the financial tools that are available today, the basics of living below their means, saving for a rainy day, getting an education and investing in their future are values that a lot of people could financially benefit from today.


What ideas are you implementing in your homes?