In Defense of Autumn

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I love fall if it means eighty degree perfect sunny weather! I also love fall if it means friends and family give me free tickets to BYU football games as well as delicious fresh-picked peaches. (Thanks fund manager, sister, Lynn, and Deni!) I love that I can smell sweet peaches each time I walk out of our home, thanks to the abundant orchard in our neighborhood. I just wish the days could stay brighter longer and the chill could stay away until Christmas.

I also love hiking in the fall. In Utah, the colors quickly creep down the mountains into the valleys. It seems to come so fast that if you blink and forget to appreciate it, fall will be over.

Lately, I’ve been favoring a particular hike that’s part of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail that starts in Orem and meanders up Provo Canyon. I found this trail back in June when the mountains were green and lush. Over the past few months, I’ve observed the changes in the grass and brush from green to yellowish brown, but last week I was astounded by the spattering of orange that was taking place in the mountains. Throughout the week I watched the colors double each day! On Friday, I decided to make my hike three hours which took me all the way to a point where I could see Bridal Veil Falls, and the entire time I wished I had a camera to capture the changing beauty.

Yesterday, I decided to take my usual two hour hike and bring a long my camera so that you too can appreciate the beauty of Utah’s mountains. Of course, there is nothing like an east coast fall with the millions of trees and myriad of colors, but I love my adopted mountains here, and I love climbing them.

I still love the promise of spring with its pink trees as well as the fireworks of summer, but I can appreciate the festivals of fall…and I find basketball season helps me get through the doldrums of winter, but that’s another story…. I wish I had a better camera, but this is the best I can do. Enjoy!

The Dog Drawing

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This is a blog for all of my dog-loving blogging friends out there, because I know you are numerous and I know you love your adorable pets.

I found this art print for sale in an Overstock.com catalogue (uh, yeah I was thinking since when did they start sending catalogues in the mail?). By the way, I think they should rename the company, “Overpricedstuff.com,” but that’s just my opinion.

Picasso The Dog Drawing on Paper Framed Art Print

Our Price: $59.99
Compare at: $101.43

Savings: 41% off

I mean, are you as dumbfounded as me? $59.99 for a print of a childish—look at me I didn’t take my pen off the paper—drawing of a dog in a chintzy frame! Sheesh! I can't even imagine what the real Picasso is worth. :-0

I don’t wish to offend, so if this is an item you’d like to purchase, let’s make a deal. I will personally make an exact replica of this item complete with black frame for the low price of just $24.99 (a savings of nearly 60%!). Not only will it be authentic (hand drawn, not a print) but I’ll even customize it for you in your favorite color. Sound fair?

This is for my cat loving friends and epitomizes my reaction to overstock.com. I’ll even be so kind as to let you view it for free right here on my blog. No kidding!

Ha ha! Baby animals make me smile everytime! Hylan thinks this is a "doctored" image, but I think it's just plain cute so it doesn't really matter. I also think this is the image we should all think of whenever we have that dumbfounded shock feeling. Tiger cub image = chuckle, ie diffuses a stressful situation. :)

Painting Summer with Words

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I have this image of summer that goes something like this:

I imagine a front porch filled with women and rocking chairs. The group consists of grandmas, aunts, moms, daughters, and sisters. It’s just after dinnertime and before twilight—that blissful time when the weather cools, the world calms, and the sun begins to set. We’re all sipping homemade lemonade as we reminisce about the past, telling stories that makes us laugh so hard we cry. The children are playing nicely with each other in the large and lusciously verdant front yard. The house is clean; the dishes are done; and our only care in the world is to laugh and watch the sun set. The men folk are nearby, pretending to work on some sort of important project, but they’re really sitting on the back porch sipping lemonade and listening to the grandpas tell tall tales. In this idyllic scene, time seems to stand still, and there is complete contentment in the souls of all those participating in the sweet simplicity of the evening.

That is my idea of summer. I don’t know from whence it sprang, but it comes to me every year, and usually intensifies near the end of summer as I cling tightly to the last remaining days, foolishly trying to prolong the inevitable fall.

I love summertime! It has always been my favorite. It’s that care-free, no school, sleep-in, and play outside all day time. All year, like most kids dream about Christmastime, I dream about July 4th barbecues and fireworks displays, as well as July 10th (my birthday) filled with good food, family, friends, and ice cream cake. This is the stuff my dreams are made of. In the winter of my mind’s eye, summer is always idyllic, and the reminiscences always make me smile.

That is my midsummer night’s dream.

Fall has its beauty, its football, and its harvest—all things that I also love—but summer has my heart.





Go Cougars and Eagles! (And for Hylan, go Seahawks and Utes!)

Satisfying Deeds and A Look Back to 2000

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Isn’t it interesting how the most mundane chores—the kinds that come up randomly and are always inconvenient—how once completed, it is strangely satisfying? Today, I successfully filled my power steering fluid reservoir, inflated my tires to a satisfactory psi level, and changed the refrigerator light bulb. Of course those are a few of the many things I’ve completed today, but for some reason they have filled me with the most satisfaction. I think it’s because those kinds of things are usually nuisances that don’t fit into the regular routine of a day, so to get them done makes you feel so good.

I remember when I was single and after having accomplished things like this, I would think to myself how great and independent I was, “look at me, I don’t need no man.” Well, the tides have changed, and I’ll graciously and happily admit that I do need a man, or at least my man, but that’s a whole ‘nother bag of apples….

This week my fitness classes have once again begun. I’m so glad to reincorporate Pilates, Yoga, and Powertone into my workout. Although it’s funny, because during the Olympics I saw tremendous gains in my cardio endurance, muscular strength, and flexibility, simply because I kept thinking about how the athletes wouldn’t give up or give in too soon, so consequently, I kept going longer, harder, and stronger at the gym and on my many two hour hikes. I even began running up the top of a hill on one particular trail that I had previously almost passed out at the top. Now that’s progress! Or maybe I just remembered to eat more, inspired by Michael Phelps’ 12,000 calorie plan. HAHA!

Anyway, with the fall semester starting at BYU and seeing all of the kids back on campus, it takes me back to the year 2000 when I started my freshman year. Those were some wild and crazy days that I’ll never forget filled with dances and late nights, but I’m glad to have moved on, because my life keeps getting better and better with each passing year. Here are some pictures from that time that I dug out of the vault. Too bad I don't have any of my dorm room in David John Hall floor 3100. I just remember that during the first week I covered my cinder block wall with Reggie Miller photos and had a pink bedspread covering that super elevated bed. I wonder how my roommate felt about my decor choices...Cara was one cool New Jersey girl, so I think she was okay with me expressing my personality like that. :)




Okay, so I did look like a little kid, but here is me pictured mostly with my bestest Delaware buddy, BrodieLynn. Oh those "W" hall boys that we used to hang out with way more than the boys of our own wards. And by the way, I don't think I've eaten spaghettios since that time. Something about me getting on a healthy kick and never looking back. :)

That last picture is me and my sister Mandy, when we used to coach b-ball at Pleasant Grove High School. Now that was a unique experience for an eighteen year-old to be entirely in charge of a group of sophomore girls, while my sister, with all of the collegiate playing experience, was the head varsity coach. What a great opportunity, though. I loved it. Thanks sis!