Blog Changes

Sorry for all the blog changes I've made recently. I seem to have some combination of Spring cleaning and ADD. Hopefully it will all end soon. (Have you noticed that my sisters are going through a similar problem right now?)

So, So Busy

Okay, so the 1 hour nap I took this afternoon probably isn't going to win any points of sympathy but I swear it was totally justified. Last night I went to see Annie at Kingsbury Hall--so good I highly recommend it (although it probably didn't justify the standing ovation that it was given--Americans are a bit liberal on giving standing ovations and that only serves to make the ovation worthless. I didn't stand.). My favorite song was "Your Not Fully Dressed Without a Smile" which totally surprised me as I thought Tomorrow would be the hit of the night. (Didn't get home until about midnight had to get up at 6 am: justification for nap this afternoon)

Tonight was my monthly crochet group were I began a bookmark. It doesn't completely look like a bookmark but it is a start. I am really getting into this crochet thing. The nice thing was that I almost finished the entire thing in 1 1/2 hours--guess what everyone is getting for Christmas!

And now I must run to watch one of my pretend boyfriends on CSI-NY. Just in case this doesn't fill your blog fix visit Stephmodo whose husband did a great post about cheeses that are available at your local Harmons (or at least in Salt Lake). I heart cheese.

Challenge no. 3

It is Peanut Butter Finger day at the cafeteria today so how could I not be happy? Somehow I even managed to save my PBF until after I ate my lunch so I am not only happy but rather pleased with myself.

So it is time to introduce a new challenge. I decided to take it a little easy on myself this time and so the challenge (once again from upumpitup.com) is to write 3 letters. I love getting letters and of course the best way to get letters is to send them out (well unless you are sending them to me cause I have the hardest time being good about responding--but that changes today!) So here is the challenge:

Put it on Paper

1. Write a letter to an older relative

2. Write a thank you note

3. Write a letter to a long-distance friend

See. How easy is that? Now the trick is to do it. If this one is just too easy you are welcome to join me in another challenge that I have just started: Learn a new language. My mother and I have been working on our Family History and for the most part it is going really well (it gets a bit difficult once we trace our roots to Ireland--where all my dad's family is from). There is this one branch, though, that has very little work done on it and my Grandmother has been hoping that we would be able to progress that work a little. The thing is, this line extends into Denmark. The Church has Danish records but guess what they are in Danish. So my mother convinced me that I should learn a little bit of Danish. I started yesterday and already I know how to say "Do you understand English," "Do you understand Danish," "Yes," "No, I don't understand" "a little," and "Are you an American." I am currently using the Pimsleur method (the same method my 2 year-old niece is learning French from--a 2 year old saying au revoir is the cutest thing ever) and so far it is going really well so here is hoping that this language will stick.

Of course all this learning of another language has put me in the mood to travel--a mood that was not helped when I noticed Border's Books has some of their travel books on sale--and then I was told about this little gem of a website. I think I will just have to follow suit and offer the service of mailing postcards from Denmark to anyone who will donate $100 or more to send me.

(photo via www.iho-ohi.org/)

Any takers? No?

Weekend Round Up

I had a lovely weekend (but then I always find conference weekends lovely as well as far too long and far too short all at the same time). It was so wonderful to sustain President Monson as the new President of the church and get to meet Elder D. Todd Christofferson our latest apostle. I found President Monson to be rather amusing (particularly when he was ad libbing) and I think President Uchtdorf is becoming one of my favorite speakers (is it OK to have a favorite). My more academic side truly appreciated Elder Ballard's talk but really they were all so good and I can't wait to get them in print and go over them again (I feel some challenges coming on).

Apart from the great opportunity of watching conference, I did do a little bit of celebrating (and after all that celebrating I am still completely organized). It started off with a quick trip down to a local boutique where I couldn't afford anything but where they were handing out treats to everyone from Dippidee (I picked the sugar cookie because I am a bit of a creature of habit who fears change when I know I already have a good thing) then I hit Smart Cookie. Yep, that's right folks I had cookies from two of my favorite bakeries that night--and I don't even regret it. I then swung by California Pizza Kitchen for their hummus appetizer and headed home to enjoy my organized home and my treats. After I finished my treats I settled in for one last indulgence: Le Parapluies de Cherbourg.

It is a fabulous little French film from the 60s and a musical no less. I love musicals; I can't get enough of musicals. The twist on this one is that all dialog (every single word) is sung (does that make it an opera?). The slight downside is that it is another one of those movies about stupid teenagers, but it is not too bad as no one actually dies in this one (okay strictly speaking that isn't true but our teenagers don't die)--I think that perhaps this is the outcome that Romeo and Juliet would have had if they had managed to live. Now I will admit to it being a bit cheesy (and sometimes the songs do go on) but it is really quite a good watch. And by a good watch may I just point out that especially for this movie I mean that it is very pretty. I loved all the colors. In fact it made me realize a few things: First (and this one doesn't have anything to do with colors but really must be said) if anyone ever proposes marriage to me by asking me to share my life with him if that wouldn't be too much of a burden I will probably say no. Second, I need a new, bright umbrella. I'm thinking one that is a nice robin-egg blue. And third, I need more color in my wardrobe (not that the wardrobe for the film were spectacularly colorful because it was really the walls that stole the show, but since I don't have loads of walls to color I will have to settle on my wardrobe--lots of digression going on here sorry). After the film I went to my room and took this picture of my closet:

Do you notice anything (besides it being very, very organized)? There is an awful lot of white, brown, and black going on here and not nearly enough color. So here is the plan: buy color. The first problem I have, though, is I don't actually know what colors look good on me. How do I find that out? Any suggestions?

A Bit of Monday Fun...

...until I get a moment to do a real post. (Just in case you haven't seen the Grand Central Station clip go here to check it out.)

Celebration Time

(image via http://chromatism.net)

Well, I'm nearly off to celebrate my new-found freedom from clutter--it feels oh so good. To celebrate I'm hitting Smart Cookie and then California Pizza Kitchen for their hummus appetizer before coming home to enjoy the treats and this little gem (I hope) of a movie. If you didn't complete the challenge that is okay. I give you permission to celebrate anyway. Have a really nice weekend.

Meet Henry

Have you ever seen the Sandra Bullock movie 28 Days? Well if not the premise of the movie is a drunken Sandra (and a bunch of other drunks or addicts) goes to rehab and after many ups and downs is eventually "cured." It is perhaps not one of the greatest movies ever made but it was a Sandra Bullock movie and so I dutifully saw it. As the group is leaving rehab they are given a set of instructions to follow before they are allowed to enter into a relationship with another person. Step 1. Get a plant. When you can properly take care of a plant you can move on to Step 2. Get a pet. Once you can properly take care of a pet you are prepared to enter into a relationship with another person without falling down drunk again. So I present to you Henry or the reason why I am still single:

Henry is a plant that I have had for something like 8 years and when he is healthy he blooms with lovely white flowers. The problem is he is not healthy often--I tend to forget to water him. While I was studying in Ireland my merciful Grandmother took Henry in, nourished and loved him, and he thrived under her care. Unfortunately, I came home and Henry came back to me. When he was returned to me he had lovely flowers and beautiful green leaves. Now look at him. The picture actually doesn't do full justice to the state he was in because I took the shot shortly after I had trimmed away all his dead leaves. He had been delegated to a room that isn't used much and that is where most of the forgetting-to-water-him trouble truly stems (I thought the morning sun in the room would be good for him). Now, though, I have moved him to my bedroom where I will hopefully be more mindful of watering him. Another possible problem would be my continually calling him Harry. I don't know why I do this (obviously he doesn't even look like a Harry) but it is an on-going problem--maybe in a way similar to some music helping plants to grow calling them by the wrong name works to stunt their growth (I promise I'm working on it Henry). Anyway, I wonder if this could be why I am still single: I haven't yet learned to care for a plant so why on earth would I be trusted with the care of another human being (although I would hardly be responsible for watering another human being). With this argument in mind I have decided to take a new interest in helping my Henry to thrive. Once I get that under control I will branch on to a pet (probably a fish or something--that counts right?--probably doesn't because it doesn't actually require more care than a plant) and then who knows what will follow.

A Little Something

I didn't do a whole lot yesterday (aside from watching the Yankees, cleaning the bathroom floor, and organizing my financial papers--not too bad) so I thought today I would post a few things that I have spotted lately that I think are great. Such as these cards at CarolLeeDesigns.

Wouldn't that be a great card to have handy when you are out and about. Flip through her other cards here as well. They are hilarious!

Plus This

And who wouldn't love getting these Art-Nouveau lip tins as a gift:

I may not even wait for some kind-hearted individual to buy these for me--It would help me solve my habit of carrying a tube of chapstick in my pocket until my pocket shows permanent wear from the tube.

One Last One (Okay Two)

And you know how Crocs are the ugliest shoe ever created but are supposed to be really comfortable? Well it seems there is such a thing as a stylish Croc. Check these Alice Crocs out:

I can absolutely see myself walking around (the entire town of) Boston in these. They also come in red, brown, and black but I like the purple ones best. Here is the thing, though, I don't know what size to get. They only come in whole sizes and I wear an 8 1/2 (sometimes and 8 but not often). Having never tried on a pair of Crocs before I don't know if I should go with an 8 or a 9. Does anyone know where I might be able to try these on in person or any Crocs in general?

And for those of you (us) that love shoes but don't have enough space to store all your (our) pairs here is the answer to all your problems (at least all your shoe problems).

It holds up to 30 pairs of shoes and adjusts to hold different types of shoes. Very cool.

Organizing Tip

It seems that with Spring on its way (we hope!) that everyone has organizing and cleaning on the mind. Click here to head over to Tip no. 9 from Stephmodo on organizing--this one deals with keeping control of your mail but she also does a recap of all of her tips at the end of her post.

(Photo via Grooveshark)

Resolution Report: March

(photo via http://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk)/

Well, it is that time again. Time to report on how I am doing on my New Year's resolutions. I actually really like this reporting thing as it is rather motivating. So here goes:

Will not be lazy: I tend to measure this by how much time I spend in front of the television so in that regard I am doing quite well. For a couple of weeks now I haven't watched more than 1 hour a day and some days I haven't even watched any. (It should be noted that today I will be watcing several hours of television as the Yankees are playing on ESPN2 this afternoon--but watching baseball can hardly be considered a waste of time)

Will stay in control of mail in-box: For a couple of days this week I left 2 letters in it (gasp) but I took care of that and it is back to good.

Will not get annoyed with family: Really I think this is an ongoing thing that will never end.

Will not get upset over men: Yeah! My easy one. Done.

Will be positive about everyone: One of these months I am going to really focus on this one (but probably not this coming month).

Will develop inner poise: Again need to work on this.

Will lose 10 pounds: I've lost 6 pounds (hurrah). I seem to be at a little plataeu but I really can't complain too much. Only 4 more pounds to go sometime this year.

Will purge flat of extraneous matter: Done (or will be done by Thursday). I can't believe how happy and calm this one has made me. To look around and know that everything has a place (and is in its place) and there isn't a lot of "stuff" just hanging around is just so nice.

Will give away horrible clothes: Gave another batch away. This time I went through my wardrobe and got rid of anything that didn't make me happy or excited to wear.

Will improve career and find new job: Still taking classes.

Will read books and listen to classical music: I'm doing a very good job reading, but I'm not doing a great job listening to classical music. My classical music collection is a little sparse though so I really need to take a trip to the library to check some out. Does anyone have a favorite piece or composure that they would recommend?

Will go to the gym: 2-3 times a week!

Will make music mood mixes: Did this already and I'm still loving the mixes so I haven't needed to make new ones yet.

Will read Book of Mormon: Finished!

Will read Joseph Smith lessons: Started the book on Sunday so I'm hoping to have good things to report for April.

Will read from Preach My Gospel: Started this on Monday (I really had to get myself into gear after I challenged my ward in my Sacrament meeting talk to be doing this one).

Will write in journal: So so bad at this one in March.

Will do Family History work: I think we went twice. Once to BYU and once to Salt Lake. Good work continues.

So not too bad. I have very high hopes for April.

Get Organized

Sorry about so many posts so close together--I'll try to spread them out a bit more for the rest of the week--but I spotted this great website and it applies so well to the challenge that I posted below. It is called Organized Home and has great articles, tips, printable to-do lists on everything from spring cleaning to de-cluttering (plus great ideas on doing these with kids). Check it out here and good luck on your challenge.

Weekend Round Up

So I had a really nice weekend and I thought I would share a bit of it with you. It started out with a "lovely" trip to Jamba Juice for a shot of wheat juice. Fortunately they provide a slice of orange with the shot because it was absolutely disgusting--really bad disgusting. But hey, anything in the name of health right?

(Photo from http://www.aromathyme.biz/)

Then Saturday was spent running around doing chores and errands and feeling very productive about the whole day. The highlight was definitly taking my niece out for pizza at Pizzaria 712. I have been wanting to try this place for such a long time and I finally got around to it. First may I just say that really I am bound to love any place that gives me free hummus and pit after ordering is going to have a special place in my heart. Really, I think that if I were forced to choose just one food to eat forever I could actually do it with hummus. Now back to what I ordered. I don't typically order salads because I find so many salads in restaurants to be less than interesting but on a whim I decided to order the mixed lettuces, roasted squash, gorgonzola, pecans, and vinaigrette salad and can I just say WOW. It was nearly to die for good. I followed that up with tomato sauce, hand-pulled mozzarella, and basil pizza. It was just as good as the salad--I especially like the thin crust. So yummy. I can't wait to go back--I might even branch out and try something different because really everything looked so good.

Saturday was also when I began my nightly impersonations of Laura Ingalls. You see, my hair is starting to get a bit long (it is at my shoulders which is long for me) and it really bothers me at night when I am trying to sleep to have it wrap around my neck. So I've begun braiding it into a single braid each night and that is working wonders. I think, actually, that I might be impersonating Mary Ingalls--didn't she have one braid? and Laura had two?

Anyway, then came Sunday. Dreaded Sunday. It started out rather poorly when I awoke and found this:

Really. Are you kidding me? It is nearly April. We really should be past this kind of weather.

Then the hours ticked by and my nerves really began to kick in. Since I have not yet learned to stop time, the time finally came. I gave my talk at Church. I am told that it went really well and that I didn't even sound nervous (I can hardly believe that since I could clearly hear my voice quivering but I attend church with some really nice people). After it was over I was tracked down and invited to join the women's writing group and the women's book club. I guess my talk must have passed some sort of test and I was proved worthy. Really I felt a little bit like Anne of Avonlea after giving a dramatic reading--without the puffed sleeves. I did however have on a great skirt that made me happy the entire day not only for how cute it is but also because when I bought it I couldn't actually zip it up and now I can (You needn't lecture me on how one shouldn't purchase items one can't actually fit into. I know. But I just couldn't resist.)

As a side note: the skirt is an excellent skirt for twirling in. And that brings us to Nursery. I think The Lord must have realized what a traumatic experience speaking was and had mercy on me in Nursery. We only had 4 kids. 4 kids! It was great. We laughed, we played, we twirled, we had a lesson about how we are grateful that Heavenly Father and Jesus made the fish for us and they got it. It was brilliant. I don't know how I am going to go back to having 12 kids (which I know is still not a lot, but the difference between what we could do with 4 and 12 is amazing).
So there it is. My weekend at a glance. There are a few things I didn't get done (for example, I found mold growing in my wheatgrass. Mold. Yuck. I was going to throw it out on Sunday but couldn't face having to wade through the snow.) but all in all it was really great.