Oh how I love the sun.

I am one of those people who feels much much better when the sun is shining. If I wasn't so afraid of getting skin cancer someday, I would still lay out for hours at a time, in the summer, like I did as a teenager. I am a sun worshiper. I love it. Okay, so I don't actually worship the sun in a religious way, but I do thoroughly enjoy it when it comes out. It's an interesting phenomenon, me loving the sun, because I love it when it rains too. And when it snows. I love most weather. I say most, because when I lived in Iceland, I have to say, I got sick of the wind. I appreciate it much more now. Wind can be cleansing.

I went on a walk again today. That is what this excellent weather does for me. It helps me want to get out and do something. Miaya took her stroller, which keeps her occupied and makes it much less likely that she is going to run away from me. She loves her stroller too much to leave it behind. hahahahaha. Our neighborhood has no sidewalks, so we have to just walk in the street. I'm okay with it, since we don't have a ton of traffic for the most part. Miaya takes the no sidewalks thing as an opportunity to walk smack dab in the middle of the road. It can be quite terrifying. She is usually up to being coaxed back to either side, though, so that's good. Miaya likes to walk in the gutter. That is why she's there in the pic. I was talking to my neighbor, Sheila, and I asked her what she has her boys do, because she walks to the elementary school with them most days. She tells them to walk in the gutter. It's like a mini sidewalk for the kids, and it keeps them out of the street. It works for us.

No Mamma, I don't need a nap

Miaya insisted she did not need a nap.

I was organizing Mamma's books on the bookshelf, and Miaya was incredibly interested. They are accessible to her now, and apparently she is as much the bibliophile as any of us. :) I keep finding stacks of books around the house. These were on my bedroom floor. Another stack was found in the bathroom.

My pretty Moose girl. We went for a walk today, and she is so content today. The weather was lovely, so how could I resist?

What I try to live by

Respect others.

Love.

Be kind.

Enjoy stuff.

Cry.

Let people know how you feel.

Laughs lots and lots.

Read good things.

Hope.

Listen to music.

Be.

I have come to realize more and more that I am weird. I don't think I'm immature, but I am somewhat naive, I think. I like to look for the good in people, and although I am much more cynical than I used to be, I still hope for people to be generally good. I think there are many good things all around, and it must be taken with the bad. I am constantly hoping for things to be better. I look for the good in bad situations. Maybe that's just optimism. I am not always this way, but in general, I think I am. Even when I get depressed for long periods of time, somewhere deep inside I hope for things to get better. I am greatful for having this in me.

Oh, and have some fun here. I google things many times a day, and today there is a Jackson Pollock link, that is where I found it. So paint to your hearts content on the virtual canvas.

My Best Friend

I hopped in bed nice and early and was completely prepared to fall asleep....and then couldn't. Don't you hate when that happens? I do. But, there is a plus. My mind won't sleep, and so I have many fantastic epiphany's. My mind comes up with the coolest things right when I am falling asleep, or should be, and right before I wake up. The only thing that is sucky about it, though, is that I can't ever remember anything. At least I get to think about them in the first place, though.

So tonight, my thoughts turned to my best friend. He was already far away in sleepy land. As corny as it all may seem Dustin is my best friend. I remember before we started dating, we would "hang out" and it was loads of fun. We were friends before we were more. There was a point in our relationship that I was worried about getting more serious with him because I valued his friendship so much. (I thought if we didn't end up getting married, that things might turn out badly) Being friends first has been invaluable. Something that crossed my mind tonight was that he takes me as I am. There are things about me that bug him, I know I can be annoying. But he is so quintessentially good. He's sweet, funny, sexy, kind, caring, loving, self-sacrificing, respectful and respectable, honest, and lovely. Oh, and patient. Endlessly patient. :)He's not perfect, but who is? As I laid there, I was compiling a list of his many awesome traits. It was great. I know I don't tell him, or more importantly, show him, how much I appreciate him, nearly often enough. And so I will.

A Massive Undertaking

I'm not sure what I was thinking, but today I decided I wanted a copy of all the blogs I've written to put into my journal. I did 43 entries in 2008 and that equalled 29 pages, and that's shrinking the letters to size 8, making all the pics 1/4 the size, and putting it all on half sheets. Apparently I just have nothing else to do. Oh wait, that's right. I'm just crazy.

And so we go.

Yesterday, Miaya and I ran a few errands in the afternoon. One place we went was Granger-Hunter Improvement District to pay my water bill. They have a very small pond outside and two water jets shooting in the air. It's reclaimed water, and it's untreated. Miaya loves water, so she wanted to go and take a look. She was so very excited, that we went and walked around the pond, even though it was absolutely freezing, and the moisture from the pond made it even colder. It was fun. :)

While the running of the errands was occuring, I noticed the car was sluggish to start. It was only slightly discorcerting, because it had only started doing that the night before, so I went on my jolly way. Last night after mutual, however, the car didn't start at all. I had Miaya with me and Dustin was still working, so I wasn't sure how long we'd be there. Luckily, Dustin was already on his way home and other leaders were able to take the kids home. My car died last night. hahaha. Not really, but we will see. We're hoping it the battery, but it could be the starter or the solenoid on the starter. Hopefully it isn't a lost cause. :)

Melisa and Victoria came over during the day on Tuesday, and while Melisa went to go and pick up Tuimana, I took some pics of the girls.

Watching something. I think it was Baby Shakespear.

Hugging. Unfortunately, this is posed, not spontaneous. hahahahha.

Such a pretty smile. :)

Tuimana has decided to try out Harry Potter, so I let him borrow my Sorcerer's Stone. He asked me if he could borrow a couple. I told him to just take one and then he could borrow the others as he finished each one. He's very ambitious. hahahhaha. It was so fun to have them over. They stayed for dinner. Melisa gave me a great recipe for salmon and rice and veggies and it was soooo yummy.

It rained a teeny bit this morning, and I hope it rains more. I have sinus problems going on right now, and I attribute them to this inversion we have going on. The air around here has been unhealthy for days now. It's just plain gross. I try not to drive when I don't have to in general, and even more so at this time of year. The pollution gets stuck in the valley because the air above the smog and moisture is warmer, and traps it all in. But, apparently the inversion phenomenon is something that's been happening since long before cars were around. Well, according to Dustin's co-worker who is interested in the history of Utah, before pollution was as bad as it is fog and smoke would get stuck in the valleys. I haven't found anything to back this up, but it sounds believeable.

My New Camera

I love it. It is beautiful, and takes beautiful pictures. And I love black and white photos. soooo much.

Collections

The thought occured to me sometime this morning: I have some odd collections. Some are quite run of the mill, others, just odd.

The first: coins. I like all sorts. New, old, foreign, and defaced.

Second: stamps. I got a letter from Lete when she was in England, and that's where I got those queen ones. I like the fruit ones. They are fun.

Third: worry dolls. This one is an interesting one. When I was in 8th grade, I took Spanish for the first time. The teacher of the class, Mr. Felix, used to let us play Bingo with the dinero he gave out in class. As a result of one of these Bingo tournaments, I won these worry dolls. Apparently you tell these little dolls all your worries, and then stick them under your pillow, and by morning, when you wake up, the dolls have taken the worries away. A little strange, and yet I still have them, and have accrued more when I find them.



Fourth: dice. I don't know how, but somehow I have a small collection of dice. I can't remember why or how I have any of these.

Fifth: pins. This is too is an accidental collection. And yes, I really do keep them in the carquest fuse box. Except the three largest ones. The lid won't close with them in it.

Sixth: books. I like them a lot. These are just the ones I have organized on my pretty bookcase.


I have other collections too: pictures, postcards, scrapbooks, tins, scrapbooking supplies, rocks, shells, and the list goes on. I try not to get too carried away, but sometimes, one does.

Her New Favorite Thing

At Halloween, we acquired quite a few sets of vampire teeth. They had been floating around the bottom of Miaya's diaper bag for a while, until sometime this week, when I put them on the sewing table by our front door.

They are next to the little car. By the way, Miriam and Daniel, Bubba left all those little toys he brought over last week so they are all right there. :) And does anyone know who likes Old Spice? I think Dad does, but we won't see him for a while. Dustin doesn't use it, so it's up for grabs.

Anyway, Miaya found them. (the teeth)

Although they are much too large for her mouth, she loves them.

lerly lerly loo loo

It seems I have nothing to blog about anymore. I am not as depressed as I have been for the last 9 months or so, and it seems that my need to blog is drying up? Or maybe I just have the desire to do other things, or the energy?

Whatever it is, I like it. Not that I don't feel like blogging much lately, but just that I can do lots of other things too. For a while there, all I could do was take care of Miaya, and Dustin, and do the young womens things. Now I am able to enjoy it all more. Having my sisters and their families in town has been a BIG refresher for me, and the webcam, and being able to see and talk to Mamma and Dad and Melanie, Henry, and Lete, and being able to talk to Maliana across the seas, and hear her play her guitar.

You are so talented Maliana. For reos. Oh, I just had a thought. Melanie, Henry, and Lete: you guys should make more videos. They are highly entertaining. Your pictures of your adventures are soooooo fun. And I hope Melisa will put up tons of pictures from Vegas.

I need ideas for mutual on Wednesday. We have not planned it, for some reason. Anyone have any? Something that can be pulled together quickly. We have February already planned, but this one week has been forgotten. It's just the young women. Miriam, you mentioned your Where's Waldo thingy, and that sounded fun. :)

It felt almost like Spring today. The sun was shining so bright. There is no snow left in my front yard: it has all melted. There's smooshy yellowed grass, and brown mud. My driveway is half ice-rink half dirty concrete. My backyard is still mostly covered in snow, the hard crunchy kind of snow. It seemed out of place today. I am sure another snow storm or 10 are on their way. I love it all. I love the cold, cold snow. I love the blistering hot summers. I love the cool earthy fall, and the warming rainy spring. I think this year is going to be a good one. :)

A Friendly Kid

She's just too friendly. It's great that she's outgoing, but it worries me sometimes too. She's the one in the middle. She has insisted on wearing this hat today. It's her cowgirl Dora hat. She didn't match at all today. HAhahahahaha. Oh well.

Here you go kids

For you Twilight lovers out there. I am pretty excited. It comes out on my anniversary. muahahahahahahahaha!

http://www.twilightlexiconblog.com/index.php/2009/01/07/dvd-cover-art/

Like her Mother

Miaya was looking at this book before bed tonight:

Dustin walked by and he thought she said a guy was Dumbledore. So he asked her if the guy was Dumbledore and she proceeded to inform him in a stern voice "Not Dumbledore" and Dustin was like "Oh, alright..erm..." He said to me "What do you say to a two year old who just told you it wasn't Dumbledore?" hahahaha. What indeed? Dustin has gotten his head almost bitten off by our daughter, and she's only two. I can be that way, so I think she is quite alot like me.

Uh-oh.

Letting go

Today the Questar guy came to replace our meter. Dustin called them in November to let them know he thought we were being billed incorrectly: we weren't being charged enough. The guy he spoke to said that our meter was moving, and so it should be correct. I called them today to see what was going on with our bill, because we haven't received it in the mail yet. They then informed me we owed 250 dollars. I was so frustrated, and I wanted to yell at the lady I was speaking to. But it wasn't her fault so I bit my tongue, asked her a few more questions, and then hung up. It's so interesting to me, because when the customer makes mistakes, we are raked over the coals. When the companies make mistakes you get this:

The correction listed on this statement is due to an
inaccurate transponder on your gas meter. We
apologize for any inconvenience this may have
caused you. If you have any questions please call
your local office. Thank you.

And the lady on the phone also said "Sorry about that." And that's due on the 21st. She made sure she informed me of that part. hahahahahahahaha. So silly. Oh whale. Just wanted to vent my frustrations about this silliness. I have very little to blog about it seems. Well, more accurately, I just haven't been blogging. It's not like my previous blogs were earth-shattering.

We've had some excellent snow lately. I lurve the snow! It's all white and cold and sometimes fry and fluffy and sometimes mushy and wet. Miaya likes to eat it. Even the disgusting gray snow off the road! I take it away from her, and she cries and wants to eat it. I still won't let her. She sneaks it when we are not looking, though. Little grossie. I love her so much. : )

So here's to a great new year. Each one gets more and more interesting, and I learn a lot and forget somethings that I learn again in much more difficult ways, because I am an adult now. It seems harder to learn and stay open minded the older I get. I hope to have continued health, love, family, fun, and happiness. I hope to have greater gratitude, strength to bear whatever comes my way, communication, faith, and wisdom. I hope to have less grumbling (on my part), time wasting, and life wasting in general. I hope to see lots of family we haven't seen in a while. I hope to see many places I haven't seen before. I hope to continue to learn lots. I hope to read more great books than awful books. I hope to become more calm and centered. I hope to exercise each day. I hope to cook more. I hope to make and meet many goals.

Last year was a tough year in some ways. And so excellent in some ways. I got pregnant, and it was a happy time. I had a miscarriage, and it was a very difficult time. I became incredibly depressed, but didn't realized it for a long time. I am on my way up right now, and hope to stay up. I'm becoming healthier in lots of ways. We got so much done on the house, thanks to Dad. He came and did some really beautiful stucco on my house. We love it so much. We got our new furnace, which we really needed. We got much more organized. We're trying to find balance in everything, and it's difficult, but excellent in the moments when we find it. We refinanced the house and are so much better off financially. We have a lot of goals we hope come into fruition this year. And in the years to come.

I feel so much better.

So much better

I went to the viewing tonight, and she could have been sleeping. Her parents were doing really well. I am so greatful families can be together forever. :)

A sad loss

On New Years Eve, Dustin got a call from Marsha Elwell. He said she sounded upset, but she just said they had a set back and that she didn't want to talk about it because it was New Years Eve. She wished us a Happy New Year and hung up. I got worried. But I figured I'd call her the next day.
Thursday came and Dustin was home, so we were just spending time together as a family. Thursday went by, and then today Dustin reminded me to call them. I called, and got the answering machine, so I left a message. I called Melisa, because I needed to tell her something, and while I was on the phone with her, Marsha called me back. I finished talking with Melisa, and called my voicemail, because Marsha had left a message.
It was so sad. She was letting me know that Rian and MeLea had lost their daughter earlier in the week. She was only 6 years old. What a shock. They are worried that people won't find out in time for the funeral tomorrow morning. So I am passing the information along. The obituary can be found here. I called Marsha back, and they are, most understandably, so sad. After I got off the phone with her, I called Dustin, because I was upset. And then when I got off the phone with him, I just sat and hugged Miaya for a while. I'm so greatful for the fullness of my life, even though I think it's hard sometimes.