The Last Olympic Post

(well, maybe)

What I have loved:

The Speed Skating (the long track version). I have a special love for the sports that don't get judged and this one is my favorite. Wish they would have aired more (maybe more Speed Skating and less Curling?).

Who I have loved:

This time around it goes not to an athlete but to an "announcer:" Stephen Colbert. Too bad NBC had him on the Late Night show because he was hilarious (and smart) and should have gotten some prime time airing. Maybe in 2012.

Who I expect to see perform during the closing ceremonies:

Micheal Buble and Barenaked Ladies--I will be very disappointed in you Canada if you don't deliver.

What I am looking forward to after the Vancouver Olympics end (besides London 2012):

Sleep--especially sleep at a normal hour.

A Few Things I Should Have Tweeted

I don't really have very much to say--at least not much to say on one single topic that could possibly be turned into an entire blog post. If I were better at Facebook and Twitter I would, though, have had plenty to say over the last week or so. Sadly I am very bad at Facebook and Twitter. Still, for posterity's sake (or something) I thought I would write down a few of the thoughts I should have tweeted (most of them on the Olympics):

The Opening Ceremonies were lovely--especially the whales, the trees, and the poem. SLC's were better though (not that I am biased at all).

USA! USA! USA!

Must remember to breath while watching Olympic competition.

Crossing my fingers on my right hand seems to offer the best support to US athletes (the baseball in me is very superstitious).

Exactly what are the rules for Curling?

Really must remember that going without air for 4+ minutes is very bad. Just breath.

Russian whining is pathetic.

I hope the Russians finish below 4th place in the medal count--usually I try to be a good sport when watching sports (root for someone not against) but the Russians are really starting to annoy me.

Am heartbroken for Noelle (perhaps more so than she is) who finished in 4th place by 1/10th of a second.

Had lovely cake at The Chocolate with lovely friends (including Nemesis, Goddess Divine, Foodie--I know you are jealous).

How is it that I remember so little of the Torino Games? (A few days after having this thought I remembered I was in the UK during the last Games and they don't cover the Games nearly as well as the US does--also my Visiting Teachers decided to pay me a 2 hour visit during the women's figure skating 4 years ago and I couldn't figure out how to get them to leave.)

I love the sounds of hockey (and not just the sounds of players smashing each other into the glass).

Go USA hockey!

I can't believe the Olympics are nearly over.

Is it possible to love your book group too much? (If you can believe it, I love it even more than the Olympics)

Raising Them Up In The Way That They Should Go

We are an Olympic watching family. I dare say that I have watched every single Olympics since I was born--and watched a good deal of those Olympics. Some of my earliest memories even revolve around watching the Olympics. This is a happy tradition that we are now passing on to the next generation of my family. And here is a little bit of proof--not that you needed or asked for any (we are watching Ski Jumping):

And here are the girls "watching" some Figure Skating (please note the dramatic finish by the brunette and her instance on applause):

Mormon Athletes

This raises that political question of which is more important religion or nationality (where do your true loyalties lie) in a couple of instances, but just in case any of my Mormon readers are interested here are the Mormon Olympians competing in Vancouver.

David Bissett - Bobsled - Canada

Torah Bright - Snowboard - Australia (carried the Australian flag in the Opening Ceremonies--which were so beyond beautiful!)

Erik Fisher - Alpine Skiing - USA

Chris Fogt - Bobsled - USA

Christian Niccum - Luge - USA

Steve Nyman - Alpine Skiing - USA

Noelle Pikus-Pace - Skeleton - USA (cheer extra loud for my friend from the Singles Ward days!)

Shauna Rohbock - Bobsled - USA

Utah Athletes

A full third of US Olympians were born in Utah or now call Utah home so should you have a basis for my home state you have lots of home boys and girls to cheer for (4 of the 6 US medals have these ties).

An Olio

I hereby give you fair warning: The Olympics start today!!!!

(I tell you this in case I go missing over the next couple of weeks)

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I finished my crochet projects:

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I did not finish the 3rd book that I had wanted to by today. However, I feel just fine about this.

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I think I have come up with a new blog name, but I am going to think on it for just a bit longer to be sure.

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Have a lovely weekend!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

The cookies are gone.

I'm over the losses.

I've finished 2 of the books.

And I now only have 4 1/4 crochet projects to finish by tomorrow--eek!

Sorry it is not a real post.

But you can go here for a real post (by Stephmodo) to check out some lovely kitchens that I wish were mine.

See you later.

Blah

BYU lost.

The Colts lost.

I have 3 books to read by Friday (2 of them long adultish books).

I have 4 1/2 crochet projects to finish by Thursday evening.

There are more cookies in my house right now than I want to eat.

I'm feeling cranky and emotional.

Emma's conclusion on PBS was entirely unsatisfactory.

And it is Monday.

Recommend a Foreign film

On Jenny's fine recommendation I watched "The Pope's Toilet" over the weekend. It was a fantastic film and on finishing it I felt as if I had just made a little trip down to Uruguay. I find that this feeling of having traveled after watching a foreign film is one of the reasons I love watching foreign movies--that and the emphasis on things like plot, dialogue, etc (not that I don't like our big blockbusters with their special effects and big stars). Anyway, upon completion of the movie I wanted to run down to my local library and pick up a few more titles--except I didn't because it was midnight and because I wasn't sure what to pick up. So, what should I pick up? What are your favorite foreign films?

And if you are interested, here is the trailer for "The Pope's Toilet."

Reporting Day: January

Fear not! I will not be reporting on every single resolution every single month (partially because there are some that I haven't even looked at and partially to spare you the pain).

So January wasn't really a great month for my resolutions (too cold!) but I did have some good forward movement on a few:

4. Drink 5 cups of water daily--I know that it is supposed to be more than that but I am a water drinker so I'm just trying to be realistic--and so far it is working out for me. I could be doing better (I'm not really sure how much water I am drinking) but I am drinking water more regularly throughout the day.

10. Complete Young Women Personal Progress. Check off 2 (Divine Nature, and Knowledge)

15. Compile a collection (40) of tried and true recipes (1/2 of which will be vegetarian). I have gotten a really good start but I need more vegetarian recipes.

19. Wake up, shower, get dressed at 7:30 every Sunday--I have the dreaded 1pm worship time on Sundays this year and I know if I don't get up Sunday mornings will just be a waste--worked so nicely this last Sunday that I'm thinking of not dreading the 1pm time slot. I was soooo very good at this until the last 2 weeks. I do love doing this and have really started enjoying my Sunday's more.

22. Read 1 poem a day (love, love, love doing this). I think I missed 5 days in January (forgot to take any with me on vacay) so there is some room for improvement.

28. Bake fresh bread weekly. I rock at this. So for I have made Challah, tortillas, French bread, Lion House Rolls, bread sticks, cornbread, and soft wrap bread. (notice the trend in websites there). Tonight I am making pizza dough for tomorrow. Really love this resolution.

So there you go. I still have a lot of work to do but I feel like I am at least moving forward (and reporting here definitely helps that).

V-Day

Take a look at these so very cute V-Day garlands and then go and print them out for free here courtesy of Whisker Graphics.

New Temple in Utah

The LDS Church announced a couple of days ago that they would be building a new temple in Utah--in Payson to be exact. This will bring the total number of temples in Utah County to 3. The write up in the Deseret News following the announcement included this little gem of information:

"Some temple-going members have been driving to Provo, some 14 miles away..."

So my question (to those of you who are LDS and have real drives (or airline trips) to make) is this:

Do you hate us?

To be fair I'm pretty sure that driving distance did not factor into the Church's decision to build a temple in Payson--I understand that the Provo temple is one of the busiest in the world and they are simply trying to lighten the load.

To Do:

Finally finish The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Eat yummy leftover chicken gyro for lunch (thanks Janssen--I am now stalking that blog)

Tweet (already done--twice even)

Think about working out--but then put it off until tomorrow

Stay warm

I'm on Twitter

I know what you are thinking: She doesn't even do Facebook right (only get on once a week) how can she go and sign up for Twitter?

You are right, except that Twitter has Tracy Morgan, the British Monarch, and Anderson Cooper and I've just always (since sometime last year) wanted to follow them on Twitter.

What can I promise you if you should decide to follow me on Twitter? Not much. I promise 1 Tweet a day--I think I can do that. Maybe someday in the future I will really pick it up (don't start holding your breath now though), but for now I just want to know what Stephen Colbert is saying.

Anyway, should you want to follow me (and I can't say that I know why you would) you can find me, and my one tweet, here:

Making Their Happily Ever After

(How awesome are her red shoes? So lovely)

My sweet, sweet cousin and her husband are hoping to bring a precious little baby into their home through the miracle of adoption. As part of the process they have create an adoption blog which you can visit here (I am also putting a button on my sidebar should you want to refer someone to my cousin at some point down the road). They can also be contacted at robbyandangeeadopt@gmail.com.

Please send them all your prayers, good thoughts, and happy hopes.

Post-Vacation Blues

Is there anything quite as difficult, sad, horrible as the day after a vacation? Okay, so if I turn on CNN I would have to say yes. However, for me, on this day, the answer is no.

I am just back from Aspen Grove where I enjoyed a long weekend with this view:

I'm really not sure how I'm going to recover.