I've gotten a crazy hair to camp this weekend. Well, not so crazy. I've been planning it for about a month now! <--for me to be focused on anything non-male that long is truly astounding.
I'm going to head to Glacier for a few days and hike my rear off. I'm really looking forward to the chance to shoot a few photos in such a pristine location. And this will be the first time I've ever been camping solo--which I'm anxious but excited about. I must confess to making sure that I had an extra hatchet to keep in the tent with me--and I wasn't thinking about the bears at that point. For the sake of my Grandmother, I'll point out that I'm going to be camping in spots that make seeing bears in camp about as likely as a grizzly popping out of the shoe section in Saks Fifth Avenue. The later part of the week I should have myself ensconced in a more 'she-she' camping spot which may have wi-fi. If not, I bid you all a great Labor Day weekend and say unto you, "Get married already!"
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Taking advantage of the fact that she does not have this blog address.
Recently my Dad hurt his back doing some yard work with my Mom--lifting a two-ton boulder or some such thing. Dad is traveling this week and staying with Grandma (his Mom) as a base of operations. My Grams is one of the sweetest, nicest people I know. She's one of my best friends and knows me better than almost anyone. She is also amazing unaware sometimes.
In order to accommodate Dad, Mom called Grams to tell her about his pain-relief regimen and make sure Grams had everything on hand. Finding one deficiency in her stash, my Grams proceeded to call every drugstore in her area and ask for a 'heating vibrator' for Dad to use on his back.
In order to accommodate Dad, Mom called Grams to tell her about his pain-relief regimen and make sure Grams had everything on hand. Finding one deficiency in her stash, my Grams proceeded to call every drugstore in her area and ask for a 'heating vibrator' for Dad to use on his back.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Bad Brie, Good Wedding
This Saturday I had the chance to attend (and help photograph) the wedding of a friend. The setting was amazing--the private home of a long-time friend with fantastic, wispy trees in front of a pond in the shadow of the Bitteroot mountains. Bride and groom were gorgeous and it was so much fun to be around their family. I lived with the grooms younger sister (who remains one of my best, good friends) and I've loved the chaos that comes with them for many years and they didn't disappoint this time!
A tent was set up on the lawn for the reception and the food--yummy! That's where the brie comes in. It's all I had time for between the photos. Well, ok. It's brie. I made time. Apparently too much time because today I haven't been able to function. Happily, I saved $50 and did my own pedicure! Also, I haven't spent a single penny on food today. Always a silver lining folks!
Blech.
I leave you with the happy thought of the first dance. If you're linked to me on Facebook, other photos appear there.
A tent was set up on the lawn for the reception and the food--yummy! That's where the brie comes in. It's all I had time for between the photos. Well, ok. It's brie. I made time. Apparently too much time because today I haven't been able to function. Happily, I saved $50 and did my own pedicure! Also, I haven't spent a single penny on food today. Always a silver lining folks!
Blech.
I leave you with the happy thought of the first dance. If you're linked to me on Facebook, other photos appear there.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Church as an Obstacle
When I get too frustrated I try to turn it into something positive--usually cleaning. And when I'm frustrated like I am today, my godson could lick most any surface in my house without causing me one iota of worry. Truly. You could eat off the floors under my radiators. Now that is CLEAN.
It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I miss my ward in DC very much. Not the social aspect, oddly, but the lessons, the reverence and the Spirit. When I attend a family ward, as I did today, it is sometimes frustrating beyond my ability to process. Children are running everywhere, their parents unworried. The general din of noise is nearly impenetrable by the speaker at points. And the content--good heavens.
Please don't misunderstand. I've attended to multiple children during meetings and I understand the difficulty of controlling them. I understand that children are a joy and I like the little tykes. Most of the time I even find their antics more amusing than annoying. As a rule, however, I deeply respect parents that instill in their children reverence so that they don't detract from the personal, spiritual moments of others. There was a family when we lived in Southern California who had AMAZING children. Truly. They would sit still without treats or quiet books. They remained on the benches. And two of them were boys under the age of four. I think they did it because their Mother expected it of them and wouldn't accept anything less. And the consequences for misbehavior were ones they didn't want to pay. Even at 14-years-old I appreciated that family and I very much hope to model mine after them. I talk about this only because today I needed to work on tweaking my attitude at church, which I will get to later, and I had a horrible time because, literally, it was difficult to hear the speaker (let alone the Spirit) over the children.
At one point today a speaker said, "As we all know, when you get to the end of your life you'll spend most of your time considering how your children turned out." I wanted to stand and scream, "UNLESS YOU DON'T HAVE CHILDREN!" So, clearly things weren't off to a good start. The second speaker spoke in awe about grasping a concept that I've understood clearly (as have most sentient beings) since Primary. It was here that I decided my attitude needed adjustment.
I understand that eventually I'm going to have to become comfortable with family wards. I'm going to have to swallow the unintentional comments of others because I am not the only one that can take offense to things--and I don't typically. I just can't help but feeling like Church is an obstacle to my testimony right now. I miss reverence. I miss being challenged by lessons and learning from my peers. As I was cleaning, however, an interesting thought solidified in my mind.
When I started on the floors I thought angrily to myself, "I hate being spoon fed the damn basics of the Gospel." Then the little voice in my mind said, "Consider it this way--when you were in Langley, you *were* being spoon fed. All you had to do was lean forward a tiny bit and there was nourishment. Now you've gotta work for it." Then, as the main portion of my mind was reacting, I heard the little self-righteous laugh of that voice as it knew it had a very good point.
Church may well be my obstacle but I'll be damned if I'll let it stand between God and me.
It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I miss my ward in DC very much. Not the social aspect, oddly, but the lessons, the reverence and the Spirit. When I attend a family ward, as I did today, it is sometimes frustrating beyond my ability to process. Children are running everywhere, their parents unworried. The general din of noise is nearly impenetrable by the speaker at points. And the content--good heavens.
Please don't misunderstand. I've attended to multiple children during meetings and I understand the difficulty of controlling them. I understand that children are a joy and I like the little tykes. Most of the time I even find their antics more amusing than annoying. As a rule, however, I deeply respect parents that instill in their children reverence so that they don't detract from the personal, spiritual moments of others. There was a family when we lived in Southern California who had AMAZING children. Truly. They would sit still without treats or quiet books. They remained on the benches. And two of them were boys under the age of four. I think they did it because their Mother expected it of them and wouldn't accept anything less. And the consequences for misbehavior were ones they didn't want to pay. Even at 14-years-old I appreciated that family and I very much hope to model mine after them. I talk about this only because today I needed to work on tweaking my attitude at church, which I will get to later, and I had a horrible time because, literally, it was difficult to hear the speaker (let alone the Spirit) over the children.
At one point today a speaker said, "As we all know, when you get to the end of your life you'll spend most of your time considering how your children turned out." I wanted to stand and scream, "UNLESS YOU DON'T HAVE CHILDREN!" So, clearly things weren't off to a good start. The second speaker spoke in awe about grasping a concept that I've understood clearly (as have most sentient beings) since Primary. It was here that I decided my attitude needed adjustment.
I understand that eventually I'm going to have to become comfortable with family wards. I'm going to have to swallow the unintentional comments of others because I am not the only one that can take offense to things--and I don't typically. I just can't help but feeling like Church is an obstacle to my testimony right now. I miss reverence. I miss being challenged by lessons and learning from my peers. As I was cleaning, however, an interesting thought solidified in my mind.
When I started on the floors I thought angrily to myself, "I hate being spoon fed the damn basics of the Gospel." Then the little voice in my mind said, "Consider it this way--when you were in Langley, you *were* being spoon fed. All you had to do was lean forward a tiny bit and there was nourishment. Now you've gotta work for it." Then, as the main portion of my mind was reacting, I heard the little self-righteous laugh of that voice as it knew it had a very good point.
Church may well be my obstacle but I'll be damned if I'll let it stand between God and me.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Many, many moons ago
Tristin tagged me to do this. So Tris, here is it!
Joys:
1) Perfect peace in my clean apartment.
2) Hearing the voices of my loved ones.
3) My fur-babies (Duke and Ziggy).
4) My new camping gear!
Fears:
1) Spiders
2) Death of others
3) Celibacy for the rest of my life! ;)
Goals:
1) Attain my elusive degree!
2) Hit the '100 countries' mark.
3) 26.2 miles in less than 6 hours.
Obsessions/Collections:
1) Obsession- Carrots and Cool Whip!! <--just trust me and try it. You'll be happy.
2) Obsession- Stories-I love to hear about other people!
3) Collection- Books and some more books. And a couple of books.
Random surprising facts:
1) Please, don't touch the header felt in a car when I'm in there. I *hate* that sound.
2) I have seen every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the musical is the best one.
3) I was once Bugs Bunny.
4) At no point in my apartment are you more than 10 steps from one of my many stereos. It's bordering on insane. I like it.
Joys:
1) Perfect peace in my clean apartment.
2) Hearing the voices of my loved ones.
3) My fur-babies (Duke and Ziggy).
4) My new camping gear!
Fears:
1) Spiders
2) Death of others
3) Celibacy for the rest of my life! ;)
Goals:
1) Attain my elusive degree!
2) Hit the '100 countries' mark.
3) 26.2 miles in less than 6 hours.
Obsessions/Collections:
1) Obsession- Carrots and Cool Whip!! <--just trust me and try it. You'll be happy.
2) Obsession- Stories-I love to hear about other people!
3) Collection- Books and some more books. And a couple of books.
Random surprising facts:
1) Please, don't touch the header felt in a car when I'm in there. I *hate* that sound.
2) I have seen every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the musical is the best one.
3) I was once Bugs Bunny.
4) At no point in my apartment are you more than 10 steps from one of my many stereos. It's bordering on insane. I like it.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Bitter Ampersand Worries
I've been wondering if I was going to announce this blog to my friends--if it would even continue. It's been some time since I blogged but I'm ready to talk again.
One of my concerns when considering this blog was the perception of bitterness on my part--I'd like to say right now, I'm not bitter. I hope my married friends are as happy as I am. I just want a venue where I can talk about thing like ampersands. Things that single girls notice.
Tonight I was cruising around some of the blogs of my friends here in Montana (or from Montana) and nearly all of them are married. As I looked over their blogs each of their blog rolls had dual name listings "Barry and Marry", "Bobby and Sue," "Wedded Bliss and Green Envy." You know. Stuff like that. And I must say, I've kind of grown to dislike the ampersand. Maybe it's because it's one of those thing reminders Singletons hear when Marrieds don't even know they're transmitting. Maybe it's just me.
But tonight it's raining and there's a round of saddness running in my friends and it feels like a perfect night to unburden on someone obligated (by their own choice) to listen to my stories, offer solutions for my friends and then hold me tight. I long for that again but it's not my time. Truly, I'm ok with that in the broad scope. Tonight is feeling narrow.
One of my concerns when considering this blog was the perception of bitterness on my part--I'd like to say right now, I'm not bitter. I hope my married friends are as happy as I am. I just want a venue where I can talk about thing like ampersands. Things that single girls notice.
Tonight I was cruising around some of the blogs of my friends here in Montana (or from Montana) and nearly all of them are married. As I looked over their blogs each of their blog rolls had dual name listings "Barry and Marry", "Bobby and Sue," "Wedded Bliss and Green Envy." You know. Stuff like that. And I must say, I've kind of grown to dislike the ampersand. Maybe it's because it's one of those thing reminders Singletons hear when Marrieds don't even know they're transmitting. Maybe it's just me.
But tonight it's raining and there's a round of saddness running in my friends and it feels like a perfect night to unburden on someone obligated (by their own choice) to listen to my stories, offer solutions for my friends and then hold me tight. I long for that again but it's not my time. Truly, I'm ok with that in the broad scope. Tonight is feeling narrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
RSS Feed (xml)