Book Block: Sibling Fights

Ha! I think the timing of this book block prompt is hilarious. Today my sister, Natalie, posted this picture, and I think it describes my sisters pretty well. We probably aren't funny to the rest of the world, but to each other we think we are top class comedians! :)

I am choosing my sister, Dayna, to help me with this post. She is exactly 2 years older than me, and together we are hilarious; however, when we were little we didn't always think so highly of each other. I have been told, but I do not believe any of it, that I would bite her all the time! Hard enough to bruise and draw blood sometimes. I think they are lying, but I do remember fighting with her over the TV years ago. I remember I was sitting on the far end of the old brown couches in our living room watching Scooby Doo (my favorite cartoon) when she decided she was going to take over the flipper (most people call a flipper a remote, but in my house we call it a flipper). Granted, I was probably on my fourth or fifth episode of Scooby, so she might have been justified in wanting a little variety, but I was not having any of that! We argued for awhile, and then she tried to grab the flipper from me. I remember watching her hands slip of the end of it, raising it in the air and purposefully popping her in the mouth with it! I must have hit her hard, because she started bleeding and crying. I felt so bad! I think I even cried with her! I don't recall ever hitting her again, well, on purpose anyways. :)

I have a few favorite memories with Dayna, and when we talk about them we usually end up laughing.

• Double Date...
• Tipping the dresser over on me
• Fencing in the snowstorm
• "Who is buried in Ulysses S Grants' grave?"
• "Peter, Peter! Wait till people get off!"
• Butt to butt, cheek to cheek
• Ozella's horn
• Scooootchy over!
  

Now I am sitting here laughing out loud and people think I am crazy!

Adios, Provo!

A couple weeks ago a friend asked if I wanted to go to Las Vegas for a weekend and see The Lion King on broadway. Of course! We got a couple other people together and planned to go this last weekend. It was a wonderful break from school and work! We left on Thursday afternoon in a very nice rental car, which made the long drive almost bearable. We stopped in St George and played around in Zions. It was beautiful! I have actually never traveled south of Springville/Provo area! I flew to Texas this last summer, but other than that I haven't seen much of the south west. Southern Utah was very pretty and still warm. We spent two days in Vegas, and I would love to go back again. A lot of people said that by the end of the first day you would just want to leave, but I can people watch for hours. I guess my mom didn't teach me not to stare at people! The first place we went was the Pawn Stars Shop, and it was pretty awesome. Every time I go home we have a Pawn Stars, Swamp People and Dancing with the Stars marathon. We watch all the episodes I've been

missing since last time I was home. I secretly love it, but don't tell my br

other or he'll make us watch Swamp People a
ll day long, and that could get old fast. Sadly, I did not see Chumlee working in the shop, but it was still worth a walk through of the store. Saturday night we saw the play, and it was so beautiful. There was so many colors and intricate details on the costumes. There was a little boy playing the young Simba, and he was only 9 years old! I couldn't believe that a 9 year old could remember all those lines and movements. My favorite part were the birds. They would swing the tall poles with colorful birds at the top, and at one point the whole theater was swirling with colorful birds. I loved it. We couldn't take pictures or anything, but it was so colorful and beautiful. It was looooong drive back home Sunday, and I think I slept for most of it. It was a great weekend. I did a lot of playing and am ready to finish out the semester now. :)

Oh! I got my grade back from my teaching block class, and, for once, I am no longer the bottom half that makes the top half possible. 98% A :D

The Book Block and Clyde

Last Christmas my roommate, Jas, gave me The Writer's Block. It is a wonderful little block book with 786 ideas to write about. I decided that this is a great time to start using it. The first page is a prompt asking the writer to describe their first brush with danger, so here goes.

The first memory I have of danger left an impact for sure. I don't think anyone ever forgets the first time they found themselves looking at the sky when only seconds ago they were sitting atop a horse. I loved days like that day so many years ago when Kendall Ward would trail his cows from Bloomington to Paris. It seemed like a long trail to me, but looking back now it was at most two miles with the majority being on highway, but from my young eyes I felt like I was John Wayne. I had to have been very young, since for the most part my dad was still leading my horse from his. I remember the rope even. It was a white, thick, cotton rope that was at least ten feet long with a big knot at the end he would hold. Sometimes my dad would loop it around the horn of my tiny kid saddle and I would reign Clyde, but I also had a short attention span and would forget to reign or drop the reigns, so from the back of our yellow palomino, Bo, he would lead me and Clyde along. We were nearing the end of our trail when my dad needed to ride ahead and help at the front of the herd. He looped the big rope around the horn, and told me to slowly bring Clyde to the corrals. I told him I would meet him there, and in a flurry my dad whipped Bo around and spurred him into a gallop across the field. I knew something was wrong the moment Bo dropped down below the hill's horizon. I could feel Clyde tense. His ears pricked up, his nostrils flared. He side stepped and tried to go faster than I was willing to let him. I pulled as hard as I could at the bit, but it was no use. Clyde bolted up over the hill and I remember thinking how mad I was at my dad for leaving his tiny daughter alone to handle this rather large, mostly fat, horse! Clyde didn't jump, and he probably wasn't even running that fast, but as we cleared the top of the hill I fell off the left side. It was a long way to the ground. I remember watching the stirrup flap past my face and Clyde's four white stocking feet flying past my nose. I landed hard on a rut and among the dirt and grass. Before I could really register that it was over, my dad was helping me up. He had heard my yells and watched Clyde peak over the hill with me flopping around on the saddle. He picked me up off the ground and turned my palms over to see the scrapes in them from the dirt. I'd like to say I wasn't even crying, but pretty sure I was and I just blocked that out. That was the last time I would ever ride Clyde for many years. I was at least 14 before my dad finally convinced me to get back on Clyde--he had been branded as a wild demon in my eyes!

Clyde and I spent five years riding in 4H and trailing cows until his back leg became infected. It was serious enough that he would never put weight on it again. I remember stopping at the vet's when my dad bought a huge syringe filled with bubblegum pink liquid. Euthanasia looks beautiful for such a deadly drug. My dad brought home a back hoe one day and dug a large pit in our lower fields. The next day a man came and helped my dad lead Clyde into the pit, and place the beautiful, pink syringe into a vein. Clyde was not a wild demon. He was beautiful, and I will never forget the feel of his mane in my hands or the way he took flying leaps over the tiniest of puddles. He hated flies, and he loved eating. He is my first memory of danger, and also some of the best memories from growing up on a farm.

My Old Man Crush

I did some research on music and its affect on people, and I realized why I love music. Did you know they use music as therapy to treat some diseases? The meaning or essence of the song can have a strong enough impact on a person to make them feel better. It creates a psychological change in a person. I love music. I love finding and hearing new songs that have meaning to me. I listen to Country music, and I know, I know most people hate that genre, but get over it. I love it. I play it in my office whenever I work at the desk, and the only thing better than country music is country Christmas music!

A couple weeks ago I told my sister, Holly, that Alan Jackson is incredibly attractive. I've thought that since I was a teenager, and he is kinda like cheese. The older he gets, the better he gets :) His latest song, "Long Way To Go," has been on replay on my computer. At first the lyrics seem sad since he is trying to drink away the memory of a woman, but you almost don't realize since the music is so up beat. As he starts drinking away her memory he finds a bug in his margarita. Dang it. That's gotta be depressing. His escape has a bug in it! He continues to sing about the bug and woman, but by the end he "threw back [the] margarita, the bug just made it sweeter, and we both sang a happy song." It starts out sad, but by the end, the bugs became sweet and the song became happy. I love this song and Alan Jackson :)

Halloween Cake Pops

Yesterday was a day well spent. I promised myself that if I do my homework over the weekend I can spend Monday night cooking. I few weeks ago I bought food markers so I can write on chocolate. My mom also sent me a picture of Halloween cake pops, so I skipped FHE and baked instead. Much better plan :)

They obviously need some more practice, but they were still fun.

My Life is Good

1. There is snow in the mountains.

2. I didn't even ask, but my friend, Mac, filled my car with antifreeze.

3. "Perfect love casteth out fear" (John 4:18).

4. My Aunt Darla. She has no less than 30 nieces, nephews, kids, grandkids, great-nieces and nephews, yet she still send out holiday, birthday and just-because packages. I only have five

nieces and nephews, and here it is 3 weeks past Will's birthday, and I still haven't mailed his birthday package. Darla makes me want to be a better person. I love her lots.

My Halloween Package of Goodness!

I will love these since the snow hasn't even stuck yet, but my toes are already cold!

Every package Darla sends is filled with confetti. You would think after years of opening confetti filled envelopes in my car, kitchen, post office ect ect I would have learned to open the over the garbage can! Nope, opened this one on my bed, and you can't see it very well, but there is a large amount of purple glitter in my bed now. Slow learner. :)

My toes will be warm! :)

My life is good. In fact, it is great!

For Dr Burton:

Professor Burton,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)

What I've Realized

I think it is this post that made me start blogging again. I wanted to share some thoughts, but I didn’t want to post them via facebook. This is what has been on my mind for the last month or so.

The other day I had an epiphany. I am not using this word because I think it sounds cool; I am using it for the dictionary definition which defines it as “the sudden realization or comprehension of the larger essence or meaning of something.” It came while watching CMT music videos and Martina McBride’s latest song “I’m Gonna Love You Through It.” The song tells the stories of cancer survivors and patients who come to realize just how much they are loved. Some explain that they were at first afraid of being a burden to those around them; however, they soon understand that those who love them are not burdened by their health. In fact, they rise to the occasion and strongly stand next to those that need them most.

I have come to understand just how much my family loves each other. I was shocked at the support I personally received in the last six months, and even more shocked by their love in the last month or two. Pre six months ago, I have never been on the active receiving end of family love. By this I mean that I have watched other family members experience pain, and I have struggled to let them know how much I love them and wish I could help more. I think it is harder to be loved than it is to give love. It is easy to love someone and to stand by them in their struggles. It is harder to be humble enough to accept help and love and then to turn around and try to make the givers understand just a small amount of your gratitude for not abandoning in times of need. It is much easier to love than to be loved.

I’ll be honest—I may or may not have gotten a tad teary eyed at the gym. I realized how much I have depended on those loving me, and how brave they are for doing so. I wish I could make them understand my gratitude.

I'm Back

I didn't think I would keep blogging after my spring class, but, believe it or not, I missed blogging. However, I am not making any promises of consistency. I am also not publicizing this blog like I needed to do with my first class blog. I got over my fear of public writing, but I don't know if I am brave enough to self promote my public writing.

I don't know what it is about sleeping next to Daffy, but it they are the most peaceful naps I take. :)