How you know if you're in love...

I nanny a little girl named Sophia. She is 6. She has a crush on a boy in her class named Zeke. Here is her explanation of how she knows she loves him:

Sophia: I am going to marry a boy in my class.

Me: Really? Hmm. Well, do you love him?

Sophia: Yes. A lot. I keep staring at him.

Me: Oh. Well, that is a good reason. How do you know that you love him?

Sophia: When I touch him, I close my eyes. That is how you know you are in love with someone, you close your eyes when you touch them.

Me: (wondering if I ever closed my eyes with ex-boyfriends) Well, that is a very strong feeling. Love. Are you sure you are ready to marry him?

Sophia: Yes. I love him. I love looking at him and when I am near him I just want to touch him.

I have realized over the past few days while thinking about this conversation, that she might be onto something.

New Music, From my iPod

This is Adele. I have heard her one or two times on the radio and I just totally dig her voice. It is rich and soulful, and I love it.

I love to discover new music and new artists. Enjoy!

Dasvidania-До свидания!

Well friends, my wait is over. My Blake is home. Home from 2 years on a his mission to Yekaterinburg, Russia. (for those of you that don't know, that is in Siberia)

I can hardly wait to pinch him and just love on him for a bit. all of my boys are home.... and I could not be more happy! WELCOME HOME ELDER SAVAGE!!

God was just showing off...

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am not a "celebrity" chaser. There really isn't anyone that I can say "Yes, he can keep his slippers by my bed"

Except Hugh Jackman. He is one very very very good looking man. I cannot NOT watch this man when he is on screen. (I am getting all flustered as I am typing this entry because of the picture I am typing next to!)

Honestly, Just look at him!! He is so handsome! I'll even take him when he is dressed as Wolverine!

He hosted the Oscars last night, and did such a flawless job. There were no dirty references or crude jokes, just charming. And he was in a tux. I don't think television can get much better than that. Hugh in a tux, singing and dancing and using his native accent. Yup, I was hooked.

Let's just take a minute and look at the picture on the right. This day is staring to look up....

"Sole" Mates

I have something to admit.

Having lived on the east coast, I have become some what of a "snob". (Ugh! There I admitted it!) I have fallen in love with expensive things. I love the way expensive leather feels. I love the smell of nice cashmere (YES, it has a smell). The absolute thrill of walking into a Tiffany & Co. store and seeing all of the sparkle glint off of the diamonds.

Now is where the sad part starts. I have developed Champagne tastes, while living on a beer budget. It is a really hard thing to get rid of. Once you have actually had a cashmere sweater on, I dare you to go back to the cotton of Ralph Lauren sweaters. (g'head, I dare you).

Now for the "happy" part of this post.
While walking through Macey's today, I came across the most unbelievable sight I have yet to see since moving to Utah. A shoe sale. Yup! (yes I know, not unusual. Keep reading) While stopping something shiny catches my eye. Upon closer look I discover what must be a mistake. One pair of giraffe print MICHAEL KORS loafers. As my eyes about bug out of my head, I calm myself down. This cannot be true! I have been looking for these for years! And here they were... on the sale rack. I crossed my fingers and moved to the size 9. And as the angels above sang in complete harmony, I found my size 9. I am quite certain that what ever this shoe and I are made of, it is the same. We found each other at last.

I took my shoes up to the counter and as the sales person rang me up a miracle happened. The shoe guy looked at me and said:

"It's your lucky day! All the sale shoes are an extra 40% off today."

At this point I knew it was destiny. I handed the clerk my card and as the shoes rang up for $37.64, I felt like a little bit of heaven was now mine. So now, I just look expensive.

My new obsession... my old friends!

I am an Army brat. That means: I've made a lot of friends in my years of school, none of whom I know where they now live.

This is where Facebook comes in. I have found over 300 friends since I have been on that site. Some I have not spoken to in 10+ years.

Examples:

Kim Holman: 19 years

Adam Neal: 14 years

Emily McLoughlin: 18 years

Melanie Anderson Taylor: 11 years

Lisa McKinley Saunders: 11 years

Now I am just as disturbed as you are that I am actually old enough to have known someone for 19 years, but alas, I am. It has been such a great thing to reconnect with these people. And post pictures on the profile pages so you can actually SEE that they have 4 kids!

So a huge thank you to the kazillionaire that came up with Facebook. You make me feel like maybe I did have friends when I was in Jr. High and High School.

Curly Girl: Wisdom on a card

This is my new discovery. I guess I shouldn't say "new" because I've known about them for a while. But today is when I am going to share it with my blog readers.

Meet curlygirldesigns.com!

I have just fallen in love with this little card designer. I think that the words and things on the cards and prints are just charming. I encourage you to check out this website. It is so cute... and make sure you look at all the cards. You'll find yourself smiling soon. ENJOY

Oi, Aussie!

I have come to the decision that I am going to go to Australia over Christmas of this year. I have never been. My dear friend Jai lives in Perth. And we have talked about meeting up again often. I have a hard time passing up the opportunity of going to Australia when I actually have somewhere to stay and someone to show me around. I guess I can actually see if they say "G'day, mate". Though Jai says they don't. OH! And I wonder if the toilet really DOES flushin the opposite direction than it does here in the States.

And the Tim Tams. Oi! They are TASTY!

Wish me luck!

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity. ~John Ruskin

There is something very charming about getting flowers.
Something exciting. It has been a rare occasion that I open the door, and the flower deliver guy has something for me. But here I was... with my jaw on the floor.

Only one problem: No card. I have no idea who these are from. So if they are from you, and you are reading this-- Let me just say "Thank You". They are lovely and I have them sitting right on my dresser so they are the first thing I see when I walk into my room. They are wonderful and I think of how I am loved each time I see them. What a beautiful gesture.

Pure hell in the form of excersise

Whoever invented squats for a good work out I have one message for you:

I hate you

You suck

And your breath stinks.

Window Knobs..... gone the way of the Albatross

Hand signals. I often wonder where they came from... and how do they die? And when they die, do the old people get to still use them?

Example: When I was in High School, the common hand signal for "roll down your window" was to pretend that you were using the window knob to .. well.. roll down your window. (For my younger readers, this has been replaced by the button on the door of your car. I know, can you believe we had to actually roll down the window?!)

Now let's talk about what the signs have evolved to.

Tonight, I was driving home and pulled up to a friend in her car at a red light. She rolled down her window using the handy dandy button on the door and then looked at me and stuck her arm through the window as if to say "Mine is down. See? Now you do it..." After a split second of confusion, I rolled my window down and we proceeded to have a conversation at our red light.

Now, at what point in time, did I reach the hand signal threshold, where some are dying and others are replacing them? Does this mean I am getting old? Does this mean that I need to look on the Internet for the "new" signals? I surely don't want to be caught not knowing what signal replaced the one I have been using for the past 30+ years. (sigh)

For future reference, if you are caught at a red light, don't be the moron in the car that is still using the signal of the window knob roll down. It has been replaced.

I was picture tagged...

Here are the rules:
1. go to your my document/my pictures
2. go to your sixth file
3. go to your sixth picture
4. blog about it
5. tag six people

This is my friend Nathan and I at the Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, NY in the summer of '08. This picture stirred a lot of gossip in our ward that summer. I have to admit, it still makes me giggle that it did. Of course, Nathan and I never said a word to straighten it all out. Ahh.... single ward's rumor mills-- Gotta love 'em!
(I am sooo attractive after being in a car for 6 hours and no make up!)
I tag Melanie, Lisa Lewis, Lisa Saunders & Christine. Have fun!

I love Jesus, but I drink a little...

I am a runner. I run.

Mkay, well. I have been training for the 5k for about 2 months now. (only that long!?) And I was complaining to my trainer that my knees were starting to be sore and ache a bit, thinking that it was just because my body was trying to get used to the jarring that I now call "running". So just kept at it, and the sore knee never went away. So I thought, Hmm... wonder if it had anything to do with my shoes. What a naive "runner' I was!
When I went to Denver for my little visit, I thought I would have my dad take me shoe shopping. He is pretty knowledgeable in that area, having been in the Army and doing PT 3 times a week. So we head over to the local sports shop. Boy did I ever have a fast education in the way of running shoes.

Sales clerk: " How do you run?"

Me: "Um, with my hands clenched at all times, and breathing through my nose"

Sales clerk: "Mkay, I mean, do you run heel to toe? Or do your toes hit first?"

Me: "I have no idea! I am just trying not to look at the clock, and making sure I don't fall off the treadmill. Which I have done, I don't recommend it"

Sales clerk (not finding me amusing in the least): "Can you run around the store for a minute so that I can see how you run?"

Me: "Now? Seriously?"

At this point, the Sales clerk rolled his eyes. Uh, yeah. I am REALLY nervous to go shopping for a sports bra. I should probably think about stretching before I do any more shopping for work out clothes.

P.S. I chose a pair of Asics and I think I might have fell in love with them a little...

ТАК МНОГО СНЕГА

This is my little Russian, Blake. He is coming home from the Yekaterinburg, Russia mission in 24 days. I cannot express how unbelievably excited I am! He is my baby brother, and as much as he is 21.. he is still little in my head.

Blake is also my hero. I could try to put into words how proud I am to be his sister-- but there are no words to express it fully. I always get my inspiration from him. If he can make it through is life... so can I. He was so much younger when we lost our Mom, and he has turned out wonderfully. I am sure our Mother is proud of him. And he served in RUSSIA for heaven sakes! He is amazing. And now I get to have him home. So just look at his picture, he is so cute! I love love love him! Yay!! 24 days!

Harley + Sunshine + Dad = A Perfect Saturday in Denver

I went to visit my dad yesterday. It was such a quick trip, but a nice time. There has been a lot of stress on our relationship the past few years. But being there on Saturday, was like being a little girl again on the back of my Daddy's motorcycle. Only this time, his bike was MUCH cooler. There is something about sunshine, and wind in my hair that just always puts a smile on my face. (anyone who says money can't buy happiness has clearly never been on the back of a fast motorcycle!) It was nice to be "dad & daughter" again. It has been too long...