Plus on Thinking About it...

I really don't need much that I don't already have...except for maybe a house someday with a garage! ; )

A Good Reminder...Give Over Get

So, are there some Christmases where you end up spending a lot more than what you ever receive? I truly don't mind. That is how it pretty much always is. 

So a sweet couple in my neighborhood just dropped off a Christmas treat to my door after church today (they finally found me home!). And they also gave me a copy of their Christmas newsletter with a good reminder thought in their message... 

You know how at least one or two people (at least) probably ask you the question each year, "What did you GET for Christmas?" Well how about subbing out a word in that sentence to "What did you GIVE for Christmas? I loved that reminder. And no, this isn't the time to rattle off a brag list of all that you might have done or bought for others. That is not the purpose at all. But instead a good reminder that it is always better to give than to receive. Oh I know- it is fun to get presents. I agree. But I think it is a good reminder that, for me, giving is where I get the most deep-down true joy.

Anyway, I am waiting for my (unknown-so far) millionaire husband to come along and lavish many gifts on me...kidding. I am just so funny!

And FYI...

The lights you see are only at the side of this house. Around the corner there are a ton more lights but I wanted to try to get a picture of the home. Better to see in person.

Looking at the Lights

So once in a while I go with some friends on Christmas Eve night, after all the presents are wrapped and there is nothing left to do for the morning. We drive around town and look at the lights. This home is on Dry Creek Road. They rent out a radio frequency for the month of December. They set up a ton of lights on their trees and add additional displays. Then people line their cars up on the road and slowly move up to the house and watch the christmas lights turn on and off to the music. It is pretty fun. A ton of work for that family! But just a fun little Christmas tradition. FYI, the home is like an amazing white castle! I think the owners were with Tahitian Noni from the very beginning. Apparently very down to earth people.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Just wanted to say that.  

I am out of work in 3 hours! Yes! Bring on the festivities of the season!

Stocking Stuffers I Could Never Afford

So I don't get it...every year it is the same thing where the stores, tv, radio, and newspaper/magazine ads advertise that, for example, an expensive video game would make a great stocking stuffer...or maybe a $300 necklace...or tickets to Hawaii or something like that. 

I am not sure who these advertisers are advertising to but I must run around with much less of an income than these people that they are advertising to. I could MAYBE see a single one of these items as a main Christmas present but certainly not as a little last minute stocking stuffer!

Hello! Sounds like I need to get another side job at least to keep up with everyone else?

Free Shoplifting Lessons

So a friend of mine, Erin who I worked with at the temple at who is a fellow blogger, related a store about a glass from a restaurant that she mistakenly walked out with. Funny!

Then it reminded me of my little incident a week ago...

I have one of my brothers for christmas this year. He mentioned he could use a knit hat, gloves, and a scarf. Okay. Sounded pretty simple...

I heard that Old Navy might have just what I wanted to purchase...I drove over- in the snow and cold- and went inside to start my search. In one section of the mens' clothing i found some scarves but not much else. So I grabbed a long black smooth fleecy one. I had almost given up hope in finding a hat or gloves. In another section of the store the items were all there but not coordinating. Rude. Finally I saw some customer trying on a guy's hat and hope came back that I might find a matching hat and gloves. I went to the area and began looking. All of a sudden in my rush, I had no idea where I put that long black scarf I had been clutching. I even stopped to look a couple of times but figured it fell on a shelf in my haste.  I guess I was distracted with being a little aggravated spending so much time looking for what I needed which seemed like such a simple task.  So I finally found a couple of items that didn't coordinate but I just wanted to leave. I paid for my purchases and even talked to the cashier saying how I didn't really find what I was looking for and walked out. (So yes, just a side note-she had time to really notice me and what I was wearing which will make sense in a second.) Back to the story...I figured my brother could return them if he needed to. 

Just a few steps out of the store, I wondered why my left shoulder felt a little weighed down and bulky- So I kind of pulled at my jacket...Yes, on my shoulder of my black fleece coat was the scarf I had misplaced. I guess in my haste I had thrown it over my shoulder! Oh great! I had apparently become a shoplifter! I felt like a total doof!

I quickly walked back into the store and deposited the contraband on a display shelf and walked out again. Just odd that no one noticed me leaving with it or returning it either. They need to beef up security around there for us shoplifters!

I walked out kind of embarrassed. (And FYI, I went to Target a day or so later and found all matching and much better priced items for my brother and could actually add on a nice grey sweater for the same amount of money...so I ended up returning the Old Navy items...and that same cashier was there and remembered me...she apparently remembers faces but not that I was sneaking out a long black scarf on my shoulder!)

The only other time I have done something close to this was when I was going to BYU and I was at the bookstore and walked out with a pencil in my hand. I walked right back in and put it down on a shelf..but in that case I was always so used to walking around with a pencil in my hand that it was very natural to me.

So there you go...anyone need shoplifting lessons? Watch out though...I may take something from you...accidentally of course!

Enjoying Christmas

So...at the last minute I got to attend the yearly Christmas Concert at the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City. It is a yearly event and it is sometimes very hard to obtain tickets. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and The Orchestra on Temple Square put this event on. I went with friends on Friday, December 12. It was wonderful. Yes, we were in the nosebleed section but it didn't matter. The true spirit of Christmas really fills my heart when I attend these concerts. I have been able to go the last 4 years. This year we had the soloist Brian Stokes Mitchell (the range on his voice is amazing!) and we had the actor Edward Hermann who was the narrator for a couple of parts. I know him well considering I am an avid fan of Gilmore Girls (a 7 year tv series and yes I saw every episode!). It is a quirky show and I love all the characters in it. Mr. Hermann narrated the story about my favorite Christmas song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". The song was written by Longfellow and it is a sad story but a sweet one too. The choir and orchestra, of course, put on an amazing performance as always. I also took some photos of where we were sitting and some of the lights on Temple Square. Amazing how the lights are on every square inch of the trees. It is a magical fairyland of lights. You honestly just want to skip around...okay maybe not but I kind of wanted to. Not sure my iphone camera captured it all too well but it is the best I could do. I also love it when the temples are lit up at night. The Salt Lake Temple is so stunning. It was a nice night.

Yes I was in a mood...

I just get tired of how some people are treated. Some totally ignored and some totally worshipped. That is all.

For the 2 or 3 of you that probably look at my blog, I apologize for my little outburst. Doesn't change my feelings about the situation but it wasn't the nicest for me to post that.

On the earlier entry

I meant to title it..."Don't you think everyone is amazing and..."

A Street or a Holiday

...how everyone is equal---or should be...and is just as amazing as the next person, but that once in a while you come upon a situation where the very earth seems to revolve around a single person. And for non-important reasons too. Sometimes you almost expect that eventually a holiday will be named after them or at least a street.  Just a weird occurrence that I have been observing for the last year.

Oh well, maybe that individual needs that attention. I like to hope that is the reason for all of this.

Peoples priorities are interesting to observe for sure. I tend to try to focus on different priorities I guess.

I know we need the snow...

but I am so glad that the roads were dry to and from work!!!! Thank you very much!

Following a 2 year old around!

One of my nephews turned 7 on Thanksgiving. So he got to have a party last night. This is a photo at Classic Fun Center where I was the busy aunt following the 2 year old brother all around during Ben's party. Yes, nearly the whole night Wy was glued to this car! He is into "Cars" right now so he kept thinking this was Lightening McQueen. He even kissed the car a few times. He wasn't too happy when he ran out of tokens to make the car move. He is sitting in the car with his 6 year old cousin Marcus.

Let me tell you, when Wy wasn't sitting in the car, he was all over that fun center. Pretty quick walker for a 2 year old! And VERY independent. He is a sweetie.

I am Groly! Hear my roar!

Sounds like the name of some monster... and maybe that IS what I am. hehe

My nephew Marcus calls me Groly. Now that is funny!!!

Yummy Butter?

So at our family Thanksgiving feast today, Baby Wy-Wy (my youngest of the nephews) who is 2 years old, ate a gob of butter that was left on the table after everyone finished eating dinner. Ewwwwwww. And to top it off, he wanted more! Oh my.  Hey I like butter too...but not like that!

We had a fun feast. No pictures to post since I forgot to take any. But it was a memorable occasion. Just a good day.

I am very thankful for so many things.

It was hard but it is okay...

I really did hope that BYU would win yesterday. It would have made me happy. But Utah won...by a lot. Everything went their way. And I am happy for them. I know they are ecstatic. So, good for them. Woohoo to all my co-workers who are Ute fans. Working in SLC you tend to have a lot of Ute fans for sure.

But no matter what, I know that I am ALWAYS a fan of the BYU Cougars whoever they play against. I think BYU is great and I am proud of them. Poor Max...I bet he isn't feeling very happy. Good job to Harvey Unga for bringing in 2 touchdowns and for Austin Collie's 70 yard dash. That was exciting!!!

But just like any Ute fan that is true red, and even though BYU did not win, I am FOREVER TRUE BLUE! Go Cougs!!! You are all great! And good job, Bronco! You have lead a great team this year. I appreciate what you stand for. That is always the top of my list.

I Love This Quote

"The most important things in life aren't things."

Just Grateful List

I am grateful to be healthy.

I am grateful to have my religion and to have the gospel in my life.

I am grateful to serve in the temple. It truly centers me.

I am grateful for my family.

I am grateful for my friends.

I am grateful for my job.

I am grateful that I was blessed with the talent of drawing and designing.

I am grateful to breathe.

I am grateful to have a roof over my head, a warm bed, food to eat, all the comforts.

I am grateful to have a reliable car.

I am grateful for the sunshine.

I am grateful that even though the world is a bit wacky, and even more so it seems lately, that I know in my heart what I believe and don't have to prove it to anyone. 

I am grateful that even though some things have not or may not work out in my life, I am good and most importantly okay with it.

I have a lot more to be grateful for but that is a good start of a list...how about you creating your own list...'tis the season!

Costco makes me HAPPY!

I just love Costco! Gas is at $1.90 a gallon now! Fun things to look at in the store. Fun to visit with friends in the area. Fun stuff to buy. It just makes me HAPPY!

Tove Jansson is great!

The Playing Cards painting roses for the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.

Bilbo and Gollum drawing for the Hobbit.

Just a fun and funky illustration style by this Finnish-Swedish woman. I grew up reading the books and am in the process of collecting her books. The Moomintrolls are cute little creatures and they have all sorts of adventures and they are the books I read.

A couple of links to the author/illustrator: http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=27031 and  http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/tjansson.htm

(Kind of a fun connection too since my father is from Finland as you know and in his background we also have Swedish blood in us.)

Tove also illustrated The Hobbit and Alice in Wonderland...and other books as you can see above. Here are more links: http://www.zepe.de/tjillu/hobbit/index.html and http://zepe.de/tjillu/alice/index.html

Just Made Me Smile

So I went to Cafe Rio on Saturday night with my pal Sherry. And it was a packed place for sure. Lots of people apparently can't resist that food ; ). Anyway, just after we finished eating and were taking our trays away, I saw a cute family who lives just down the sidewalk from me. I stopped to talk to them. The mom wasn't there but the dad brought all the kids with him. (I think the mom was getting her gospel doctrine lesson put together for Sunday without her 4 kids wanting her constant attention.) They are a fun family and their oldest- Isabella who is 7- is a crackup. Just a precocious child. She saw me and had to get out of her chair to hug me. Just a sweet little girl. So at church on Sunday, I saw Isabella with her mom and mentioned I had seen them last night. And Isabella's mom said,"Oh yes, Isabella told me she saw the pretty girl who was her primary teacher one time and played the witch in the play this last summer."

Okay, that made my day. I haven't been called "pretty" or a "girl" for quite a while now. (Not looking for sympathy or anything when I say that...just the truth.) Anyway it was just cute. 

Yah yah---I posted too quickly.

I meant to spell the word Multiplying.... and the Domo Paula gave me is to the RIGHT of my original Domo. Hello.

Domo is Multipyling...

I think Domo is soooo cute! A co-worker had a Domo on her desk a while back and when I laid eyes on the little Domo, I just had to own one. Just a funny little guy. So I went to Target and bought the little fellow. He is the one on the left. Then my boss and friend Paula surprised me today with a Domo bag (to the left of my Domo) and cute little Domo candy necklaces that were inside. You just can't resist Domo!

The Best Trick or Treaters!

Fun to see all the kids in their Halloween costumes! Here are two nieces and a nephew experiencing their first Halloween. Mulan x2 and Batman ready to fly down the street with his cape billowing behind.  No matter the age, anyone catches on to Halloween at the first door they come upon.

My friends Christine and Mark have such cute kids! They stopped by that afternoon. Two fighting Ninjas ready to battle the world and Red Riding Hood there to keep the peace. ; )
And here are three more nephews...Batman the caped crusader, Indiana Jones off to also save the world...and of course, sweet little Woody who was just glad to be there. When the youngest was asked if he wanted to be Woody, he exclaimed with big eyes and a happy grin, "Okay!" He was thrilled beyond belief because he ADORES Woody. I love it that the 6 year old and 5 year old HAD to show me their fighting positions. Pretty humorous!

A Great Halloween Day!

Work was okay yesterday. Not inspired AT ALL yesterday. Also had a few issues I was dealing with that totally irritate me. 

But today is AMAZINGGGGGGG!

Got up. Went to the track. Voted early. Bought cafe rio! Put on my pumpkin shirt for the day. And am now enjoying my Cafe Rio and am going to do some cleaning in a little bit. LOVE TODAY!!!!

Happy Halloween to all!

Pumpkin in a Can!

Okay this cracked me up...I saw this poor little rejected and dejected pumpkin sitting in a garbage can. He looks like he is trying to pop out. Well, at least he has a good attitude about his predicament and is still smiling.

Happy Halloween from me and the pumpkin in the can!

I Tag You!

I think I am the Lori that Jenny tagged...if not, I will do it anyway... ; )

6 TV shows I watch:

Crusoe, Privileged, Amazing Race, The Office, Survivor, Music and Spoken Word

6 Restaurants I like To Eat at:

Cafe Rio, Rumbi Grill, Macaroni Grill, Red Lobster, Apollo Burger, Cheese Factory (most of these places I go to for the salads...but I do like Apollo Burger Fries which I have about once a year.

6 things that happened YESTERDAY since it is kind of early today...

Came to work, didn't fall asleep at my desk, did some work, went to the track, watched tv, didn't work on my christmas card.

6 things I am looking forward to:

Winter being over! Spring coming back. Things working out for a family member. Thursday night. Having some dreams become reality. To keep remembering to be grateful and to get my christmas card done.

6 things on my wish list:

To find a cute boy with my same beliefs and dreams someday. To laugh at things I get tense about. To just be silly. To have my car paid off. To have a house with a garage. To always have a testimony and not worry about the silly world around me and it's beliefs. To always be happy and realize I have so much!

6 people I will tag...though everyone should do this...

Christine, Julie, Erin, Che' and Jared, Marilyn, Eden.

Good to feel good!

So Sunday morning I woke up with a headache. Just enough of one to be irritating. I took something for it but the headache didn't go away. So all during church I felt tired. The headache continued through all of Sunday. I woke up Monday morning...still with the headache! Rude! But the trooper that I am ; ) I went to work and from the minute I got there I wanted so badly to fall asleep under my desk. So then at about 1:30 I couldn't take it anymore...I went home and fell right into bed. Slept till about 5pm. Ate something. And then went back to bed till 5am this morning. I woke up still not up to par but decided to go to work. I am more than happy to report that my headache is basically gone and I am a little tired but NOTHING like the tired I felt yesterday! And my stomach is still a little queezy but not too bad.

It is GOOD to feel GOOD! or at least better! So watch out if you feel a little headache coming on.

Speedboat in the Blue

Okay, this might be a little hard to see...there is a white line in the sky made by a plane. Whenever I see those lines in the sky, it reminds me of a speedboat in the blue air instead of a speedboat in the blue water.  So there you go- an off-the-wall thought by me. This particular speedboat (air boat?) in the "blue" is upside down...though in China it might be right side up depending on what side of the earth you are on at the moment. Ha ha.

Jealousy among the trees?

Even though our Fall season means that the cold and snow are coming around the corner, I do have to admit that the Fall colors are pretty. Wow- look at this amazing pink and orange tree that lives in the grass beside the track that I work out at each afternoon! I think the "still-green" tree behind it might be a little jealous. (The tree behind it also might be the kind that doesn't change colors, but we won't go into that...)

Ha!...You can even see the shadow of me taking the photo. Funny.

The Sun is Shining!

Things are fine. Hey, we all have our trials and testing to go through on this earth. I know things will work out. 

All I know is that I am so happy I have a paid day off from work today and that the sun is shining and it is warm outside. And that I think my washing machine is doing okay...a day or so ago I was worried I would need to get a new one.

Just thinking...

So, our family went through a tense experience this last weekend. Actually the experience has been going on for forever it seems...but at some points it hits very steep peaks and is even harder to get through. And this last weekend it felt extra-extra tough. Yesterday we were able to come up for some air and I slept so much better and I was able to eat dinner. (The night before I couldn't eat.) I am so very grateful and thanked my Heavenly Father. Who knows what the future will bring but I keep praying that this situation will finally have a good outcome in our family. It is a situation where tension, anger, and feeling helpless are poking us on all sides. Not to mention everyone feeling exhausted.

So if you don't have to go through something like this, be extra grateful. 

I know that we can get through this because we have so far...but I pray that the best outcome happens...and soon. 

Canadian Thanksgiving is today...

So today it is Canadian Thanksgiving in Canada! Last night most of my family met up with a whole lot of Canucks in Alpine, Utah. It was a fun time. Good to see friends that we don't always see and to appreciate that we could all talk freely with our Canadian accents. ; ) 

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! If you know any Canadians, wish them a good one today....and happy Columbus Day too!

A Sketch I Did A Bit Ago.

This is a sketch I did not long ago. I just thought the little girl was sweet. It would be fun to do a book in this style. Just simple pencil sketching. 

Dimensionally Fun!

So I went to a friend Julie's baby shower last night. It was fun to make this card for her. I am not the least bit crafty in the way that people can add a button or a ribbon to something but I do like to draw pictures and use dimensionals (little foam pieces that are sticky on both sides)...which when you stick them under a layer of paper, like I did with the baby drawing, it just makes the card a little more spiffy-looking and more "dimensional"... thus the name of the product. The shower was fun and I got to visit with friends and laugh and talk and eat food. Isn't that what baby showers are for anyway? ; )

Thinking about the rain we had this weekend.

Not really much to post today. I am just working on stamp sets and ready to leave to go home for the day in 20 minutes!  But can you believe all that rain we got over the weekend? Oh my goodness!!! It just never stopped. Reminded me of the rainy Vancouver streets where I grew up. This picture shows Canada Place. Just thought I would look up a rainy photo in downtown Vancouver...for fun. Here is some info about Canada Place... http://www.vancouvertour.net/canada_place.htm

It was fun to draw!

Here is a birthday card I drew for my boss. It was fun to put in all the different colors on her face and hair. That is great fun to me! She liked the card. I am glad.

Now to make a living at doing fun stuff like this. Sigh. 

Rock that Canyon!

Not really sure how this layout will turn out with dropping in 3 photos like this...

Anyway this is the beautiful hike I went on with my friend Sherry on Saturday afternoon. It is Rock Canyon behind Provo Temple. Gotta love nature! Haven't been up Rock Canyon for a while and it was the perfect day to revisit it. I love that shaft of light that came through the trees. So pretty! And the rock formations are so amazing. And the Fall colors on the foliage. Just breathtaking. I was thankful to reminded of our beautiful world on Saturday.

Everyone should have this tablecloth!

Kind of fun I think! Though not too practical if you like to keep things neat and may feel the need to constantly try to wipe up the spill coming off the cloth. Hehe. Who comes up with these things? I think it is fun though.

It's Friday!

Always nice to come to that realization! 

My sister and her husband and 3 little boys are madly packing to move today. I am so excited they will live closer to me. I love my sisters and really miss being further apart from them. They could move into their home this weekend! I am excited to see it.

Happy Friday to everyone!

Stop it!

My two year old nephew Wyatt has this thing about people singing. His mom (my sister) starts singing a song, like for example: the other day it was our older brother's birthday, and my sister and her two other sons started singing the birthday song...and in the background you could hear Wyatt every once in a while saying, "Stop it." 

For some reason, that just cracks me up! This little two year old with the attitude. Now my sister wonders if Wyatt also does it when the kids are singing in nursery! Hopefully not. Ah the things that can amuse you so easily.

Woohoo for B Y Wooooo!

Yep, my good ol' alma mater just won again! Go BYU! They played Wyoming today and it was a total shut out again! Just kind of fun!

Rise and shout, the cougars are out... (not "out" for sure, but you know the song!)

Just doing good.

Just had a good evening. Went to the track for my 5 miles and then stopped at Cafe Rio to get my favorite salad...veggie salad with black beans and creamy dressing. Came home, ate my favorite salad, and picked some peaches from my tree to take around to the neighbors and now I am at my computer checking on email etc.

Tomorrow is my night at Mt. Timpanogos. My 6 trainees are doing great. I feel like the mother hen with them even though they are all older than me. They are very sweet. They are like my little baby chicks. They are working hard and I am proud of them.

(One little sad thing is that I dropped my iphone yesterday on the cement. Just a couple of little knicks on the side of it. Hey, it is personalized now!) I need to keep it in its case...like I always do except then obviously!)

BYU pounded UCLA!

Go Cougs!!! What a game!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy25nQp5qxg

Anne of Green Gables...new movie!

So I am quite excited...a new movie is coming out in the Spring about Anne of Green Gables "pre-Megan Follows". The little actress, playing the young Anne, looks and sounds a lot like Megan Follows. I am including the link to the webpage for you to peruse at your leisure.

(Of course I loved the movies Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea, but the 3rd one that Kevin Sullivan produced didn't even follow the books and was not the fun and uplifting kind of movie I came to love so I don't own that one and can't even recall the name of it. Ah well.) 

I do hope to fall in love with this new 4th one and that I can proudly own it when it comes out on dvd.

So here is the link...http://anneofgreengables.com/news_article.php?news_article_id=64

I didn't realize how lucky I am...

I guess I do get blessings in my life...

So the other day, I noticed a lovely old spider web strand floating down from my bedroom ceiling. Oh joy! Me and spiders are tight! Not. Anyway I thought it was best to give the room a once-over dusting...Of course it is always good to collect the dust from the ceiling fan blades. So I proceeded to also do that. The first blade edge...the 2nd blade edge...the third...oops, just slightly brushing the blade edge of the third one sent the whole fake wood blade down onto my bed...I was so surprised. And no, the fan had not been running at the moment. But what a scary thought if that blade had flown off during the night or something while I was sleeping. And the really odd thing is that if you look at the photo, the place where the once present blade was, looked like it was cut off on the metal part. Eek. It shocked me, and of course I am not sure when I will get a new ceiling fan to replace it, but I am also SO grateful that it didn't injure me like it so easily could have. 

I feel very lucky and VERY blessed. Goodness. I am still surprised by it.  

Once in a while...

Don't you sometimes want to be praised and get a few kudos for being responsible? As you can tell I am feeling a little run over with some personal stuff right now. 

I am okay...I just need to stop being selfish...though I think being able to be selfish should be okay once in a while. Maybe someday soon I will get to be a little selfish...just a little...

Seriously....I was walking fast!!!

In fact I am trying to get my form down on how a speed racer walks in the Olympics. One foot right in front of the other...kind of difficult but it works your whole body better. Takes concentration though and if I ever get it down, it will be good...

So to explain, this morning I was at the track...I love going in the morning but because I love so much to get out of work by 4pm each day, I have to sadly wait to go to the track at 4:45 every night...which is fine...but anyway, back to the story...so I was at the track at 7am...doing my daily 5 miles. (I really should quit being lazy and build up to running again...sorry, I once again went off on a tangent of sorts.) Anyway...I am at the track, and as usual I keep passing people as I want to keep my heart rate up and get a good workout. So I am doing this when all of a sudden I hear this guy and girl behind me and it seems without any effort...they have the nerve to PASS ME! And continue to get further ahead. Frustration, can we say! Hey, they weren't even doing the correct form of Olympic Speedwalking! Anyway after about half a lap I gave up (the track I go to it is half a mile per lap.) and kept up my pace but after a while I realized I was getting sloppy in my form and gave up trying to stay on their heels. 

Oh well. It gave me time to think too...and it was a good analogy for life...You need to go at your own pace in life. There will always be people better than you and people not "as better" as you. (You like that wording?) But the lesson is that you just need to do your best in all things. And that is truly good enough.

My only solace is that guy and girl will not have their form down for the 2012 Summer Olympics when speed walking comes around again...haha. As if I will be.  But really, I was walking fast!!!!

Fun facts about your heritage?

My father is from Turku, Finland. Through his line, one of our ancestors lived in a castle and at one time the ancestor's face was on some coins. My father and his parents moved to Vancouver when he was about 8 years old.

My mother is from Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Of where I was also born and raised. On my mother's side, her father was born on Prince Edward Island...and through his side of the family, a first cousin of LM Montgomery, of Anne of Green Gables fame, is our ancestor. Also on my mother's side, there was a long-ago ancestor who was one of George Washington's bodyguards. And my mom has ancestors who sailed on the first Mayflower ship. Just fun to have those facts in my background. 

So I am half finnish and canadian-born. I like that combo. Just because it makes me different. But then everyone has fascinating backgrounds...I think.  I truly don't get why I don't get moving on family history. In a lot of ways, it is so interesting to me. I am proud of my heritage. We just got a pep-talk on Sunday about it  and there is a new program coming out in about 5 or 6 months that will make it even easier to do family history...so for now I need to organize papers etc and figure out what has been done... 

My sister and her husband and 3 little boys got an offer on their house!

And will be moving down to Utah County in the next month hopefully. So exciting. I can see my 3 nephews a lot more and one of my sisters more too! And my fun brother-in-law who makes us all laugh. We are so happy for them. The offer came in today. More of Ander, Baby Wyatt, and Ben! How fun!

Memories of Childhood...

I was thinking about this today...and I wanted to put the question out there...so I am tagging whoever wants to post it on their blog...

Things I remember when I was a kid:

1) Growing up in "Rain World" in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, everyone had raincoats. Mine kind of looked like a secret agent coat...a more dressy kind. So once in a while, my older sister and older brother and younger brother used to pretend to be spies. Sneaking around the house. Funny!

2) When we stayed in a hotel, waiting to move back to Vancouver (we moved to Penticton, B.C. from when I was 4-8 years old), I was almost 8 years old and me and those same siblings played super heroes...I was Robin, my younger brother was Batman, and my older siblings were the villains. Pretty funny. I also had this cool superball that I would bounce into the pool that had no water in it. I remember that too. I probably lost that superball doing that!

3) My brother Gary and I used to pretend that mom and dad were giants...any adult was a giant. We would hide under the dining room table and watch their feet go by.

4) Gary doesn't remember this but I used to make him hang out with me and we would speak garbly no-nonsense words and pretend we were speaking a foreign language. HaHa.

Just fun to remember those childhood memories...what are yours?

Happy birthday to my sweet sister Karen.

She is such a sweet sister. I was just thinking of her. I am very lucky to have my sisters. They listen to me and care about me so much. They have more faith in me and in my future than I do a lot of times. I am really grateful to have my sisters in my life. 

My mom only has a brother and sometimes I wonder how fun it would have been for her to have a sister. You just can't compare having sisters. My dad was an only child. I guess my parents made up for it by having 7 children!

I also have 3 brothers. They are good guys and a couple of them are still figuring out things in their lives and it is fun to see them accomplish things in their lives...just as it is with my sweet sisters. 

Our whole family tends to be interested in the creative side of life...we can all draw and design and we enjoy writing too.

Growing up in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, in a family of 7 children, we did tend to raise eyebrows I guess. All I know is that I always had someone to play with and we had fantastic times playing down in the creek. I was never bored.

Draper Temple Fire Insurance paid up!

Okay this is kind of hard to see, but there was a fire today just north of the new Draper Temple. This is looking at Redwood Road. I was at the light on Bangerter. At about 4:10pm today. The little image in the pink circle is the temple. Almost under the street light , on the far right, you can see the edge of the fire. Luckily the smoke and fire blew to the north instead of possibly blowing to the south towards the temple. It was kind of cool! And who knows, maybe the wind doesn't blow to the south normally up there...all I know is that it was really cool to see it totally staying away from the temple. Sorry the photo is so small.

True That!

Okay, I have to admit that I laugh at this saying. "True that"  Just makes me wonder why you can't say, "That is true." Ah well. I have heard it a couple of times in the last while and it just cracks me up each time. The english language and correct sentence structure is flying out the proverbial window...

Oh well..at least it provides me with humor!

The Busy-ness continued this weekend

So I reported on my busy Friday...well, the busy stuff continued throughout the whole weekend... 

So Saturday came, clear and sunny, and I was off again...

7am-track

8:30-went to BYU to pick up the family friend (yes, I got to at least rest a little Friday night since the friend didn't need to be picked up till Saturday morning. I was grateful.)

9:15 or so-stop at McDonalds for the friend's breakfast then dropped off my mom and her friend at my mom's house.

10am to 12noon- a break and I stopped quickly at Costco for some things and then went home and worked on a mailing card for the www.signbabies.com products.

12noon to 5:15pm-running my mom and her friend to the postoffice, store, and then visiting a family friend in Alpine who had surgery on her ankle.

6pm-dropped mom and her friend off at mom's house.

6:15-ran home and got jeans on and a long sleeved shirt and blanket and a bottle of water.

6:25-ran out the door to the outdoor scera shell for "Dancing Under The Stars". That was fun to see. Lots of dance groups and some Utah talent that performed on Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance. That ended at 10:30.

10:45-got home and quickly got to bed. Can't remember my head hitting the pillow.

Sunday:

5:30am-up again to get ready and eat breakfast

6:30am-ran out the door for temple training that went till 9:45am. (for trainers and coordinators)

10am-walked in the door, drew a couple of little bday cards for my sister Karen and her husband whose bdays are in the next few days.

-tried to rest a little since I had a bit of a headache. (tired I think)

11am-hometeachers. They stayed about 45  minutes.

-tried to get a little catnap in but it didn't happen.

1pm-church. only stayed for Sacrament meeting cuz we had a family get-together in slc at 4pm.

2:30-tried to grab a quick nap...maybe 10 minutes tops. Just so tired!

3pm- headed out the door to get my mom and her friend and a brother.

4pm-mom's friend hadn't packed yet so we waited about a half hour at my mom's. stopped in AF to have my sister Tracey and her boys follow us.

4:20- traffic at standstill on the freeway. oh great!  finally it started moving about 4:35 or so. A trailer came off of a truck.

5pm- got to my other sister's house where we were all meeting...in Cottonwood Heights.

-ate dinner and visited. I had a slight headache. a couple of nieces and nephews were playing with my iphone.

8:20-got home and next thing I knew I was hitting the pillow again and now it is Monday morning! What happened?

I think I would enjoy a less event-packed weekend. It is a little quiet here at work...maybe I can close my eyes for a bit...

OOps- I guess i only typed "a bush"

Ignore that I typed "a new bush"

I was trying to post a comment from my iphone and it didn't quite work...

how embarrassing!

Though I bet I could come up with some text about a bush...

Anyway, today was my day off from work...I went to the track, got my car's oil changed, went for an eye appointment, got my chimney trim fixed though the guy said it needs more work so he will be back the end of next week, went grocery shopping, went to find a piece of glass or plexiglass for my outside porch light holder-thingy (that is the technical name..haha), also bought some bug spray since the spiders of the world think that they can run rampant in a bush of mine. I gratefully don't see the spiders but the webs are there... and I am now drawing. Or am after I post this. And as soon as my mom's friend from our street in Vancouver finishes with Education Week, I will go pick her up to take her to my mom's. So that was my day off. I got a lot done but not the day of leisure I had hoped for.

By the way, the temple went okay last night even though I was running like crazy to keep up with my 7 trainees! 

A bush

This is a fun video! I hope this works...

This is a very cute video from youtube.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW58Kj822Rc

Utah Symphony at the Scera Shell

One more post for the day....me and a couple of friends have season tickets to the Scera Shell in the summertime. So fun! Last Friday we went to see Pride and Prejudice; The Musical. It was great! Just so fun to sit outside under the stars.

And last night, some good friends of mine, Mark and Christine,who used to be in my ward, that came to enjoy the Utah Symphony for Mark's birthday (that is coming up this Wednesday) joined us at the concert.  It was just fun to visit with them and to enjoy the summer night and listen to the beautiful music...and to let them play with my new iphone. It was fun to talk, listen, and laugh along with my friend Sherry and her mom and her mom's friends too. Just a nice night.

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY, MARKUS PARKUS! Yah, I call Mark that once in a while...go figure. 

ARE straight from Heaven

Hello Lori, pay attention as you type...

Babies are so sweet...

I know they can sometimes be a little bit crabby and I know they can sometimes drive parents a little crazy and I know that when they are close to the dreaded terrible twos that they are extremely unreasonable at times (kind of like the teen years I have observed), but something about them is just so endearing. It truly warms my heart when you catch the eye of a little boy or girl and get them to smile. It honestly melts my heart.

Last Sunday, I was sitting in front of this couple that I tend to end up sitting nearby a lot, and their little son Cameron, who just turned 1, was sitting there almost directly behind me. He has the cutest personality and once he knows I have noticed him, he makes little cooing and giggly sounds until I turn around to acknowledge him. He really is a cutie.

And then in Sunday School, I sat by this recently new mom with her 10 1/2 month old son named Jonah. They are only in our ward for a short time. I smiled at Jonah and at first he just stared with wide eyes at me with his binky suctioned into his mouth. (I don't think you could have pried that binky out of his mouth!) Then he just continued to stare at me. So I would look over at him and smile. He warmed up and started smiling back every time I looked in his direction. Just so cute. I guess he felt even more comfortable because as the class went along, I ONE TIME only just slightly tilted my head and smiled at him. From then on, when I would look over at him, he would tilt over so far that his head was almost pointing to the floor! It was pretty funny and I did apologize to the mother for her having to hang on to him as he turned upside down each time. Goodness. After a while he got tired of attempting his gymnastic moves...but it did make me smile. 

Seriously- kids just have this way about them with their sweet little chubby cheeks and their ready smiles. Like my little nephew Wyatt from a year ago. Now he is a busy 2 year old (and by the way, he is a sweetheart...other than when my sister Karen sings to him, he says, "No!" A person could get a complex... ; ) Truly these little people our straight from Heaven! No question.

Yay for Sundays!

Even though it is a sad reminder that work is tomorrow (Yes, my dream is to be independently wealthy [though I am grateful for my job since it does pay my bills], travel the world if I want, spend more time with friends and family, do my own drawing projects and build up my freelance, and live in a house...with a garage...ah. the list goes on...but I am getting sidetracked obviously. Dream, dream, dream...), Sundays are wonderful days. It is just good to go to church and be reminded of the important things in my life.  I am grateful for this foundation in my life. I have much to be thankful for!

I do wish though that the Friday afternoons and Saturdays of the week would slow down their hours a little more though so that the weekend would last as long as the work week does. Now that would be great! I heard once though that you shouldn't "wish your life away". But I think sometimes it is okay to wish to make your life a little better...just fulfilling more dreams, goals ...etc. Right?

Oh, I went to the musical Pride and Prejudice on Friday night. I thought they did a fantastic job. I ended up sitting right next to the lady who wrote the script and words to the music. Wow! And then Robb, a good friend of mine, his aunt wrote the music for it. And it turns out he was there that night with his wife. I didn't happen to see them. And then another friend (Myrna) was there last night too. I did get to visit with her for a bit.  She and her husband Todd are good friends of mine also.  Funny! I always think it is so fun to visit with friends. They are the best.

Kind of fun

So when I was busy running to all corners of the temple last night, I happened to see Alan Osmond and his wife. He is the oldest of the performing Osmond brothers. I have never met him in person. In fact, I think I have only met Marie once. Just kind of fun to meet them in person.

Anyway I actually talked to them for a little bit and told them how amazing the Osmond/Motab concert was on July 26 up at the conference center. He thanked me very graciously. It was very fun to meet him. I also told him later (I saw them again) that Lisa is in my ward. So it was fun to have those subjects to talk about. I totally forgot to tell him that I also know John Whittaker. Lots of connections.

Just a nice man. And his wife is very sweet also. I kind of worry about him. He looked a little tired. But you can also tell he is a strong person. They both are. The Osmonds are a great example.

I was very impressed with how nice they were. The picture I have on here is from the year 2000.

Just thinking

I look at some peoples' blogs and realize that my thoughts are extremely random and odd at times. Why can't I be a writer with a vast knowledge of how to put words together in an amazing way? Oh well. Take me or leave me. ; )

Today is Wednesday. I have really been enjoying the Olympics. Summer Bejing 2008! I watch these athletes and I feel like I could be pushing myself so much more physically...but instead I just do what is necessary...or maybe not as much as is necessary (hmm) and not that I will ever be an olympian...but I could try harder. These athletes do motivate me though. And want me to try harder. Michael Phelps is AMAZING! A human dolphin! Making short work of each swimming race. Wow! I am in awe! And the synchronized divers! Just so much to be amazed about! I worship these athletes! 

Lori is a Witch!!!!!!

Well hopefully not normally....but yesterday I did play a witch for The Princess Festival at the Hatfield's farm. Watch this video, it talks about their whole reason for this festival...

http://videos.heraldextra.com/p/video?id=2053181

They had this event at their farm this last week and it's for such an amazing cause! They adopted a little village in Africa and are constantly raising funds for it.

I volunteered to help yesterday and had no idea I would be cast as a witch for two sessions of the event. A blond witch no less! So I don't have a photo of me as a witch and no I did not draw this nor did I look for a look-a-like of me...at least I hope I didn't find a drawing that looks like me! Well maybe when I am not wearing makeup and my eye hurts...

I had to hone my non-acting skills. And I think I frightened a few of the kids when I asked if I could put some of their toes in my brew...

eight eight oh eight

Wow- today is August 8, the month is the 8th month, and the year is 08! I wonder what fun things will happen today...other than the Olympics start! Love watching them!

So have a happy eight eight oh eight!

It is almost Friday! ...and iphones are multiplying...

And technically it is my Friday today! Every other Friday, I get off cuz i work 9 hour days/9 days in a row (excluding weekends) so that lets me have every other Friday off! How fun! Love it! A 3 day weekend every other weekend is so great!!!

So I am finding that I now know of 5 friends of mine who have iphones! What a fun epidemic. I just loaded a piano game on mine and a bowling game. Very fun! Like a miniature Wii that I can carry around.

Happy one day early Friday!

Sketching in meetings...

Just a little sketch I did in a meeting during work...I have to be sketching in meetings at work...it keeps me awake. This style kind of reminds me of Trina Schart Hyman. Though her technique is better than mine. But I love her wispy detailed style. I want to illustrate a book someday in this style! I think it would be so much fun.

High School Musical On Stage....at the Capitol Theater

Yes I got tickets with a friend to the touring High School Musical On Stage up in SLC today. A friend of a friend has season tickets but could not make it. But WE made it. It was a lot of fun! We had front row center seats! Woohoo! I have never had that good of seats for anything!  I was thinking of my little friends Jessica and Ashley while I was there. They are my friends Mark and Christine's little girls and they LOVE High School Musical. So I went in honor of them.

Here is a photo of the stage front...I didn't take it...but instead swiped the image from the internet. Right about where you see the big letter S and I (in the word MUSICAL), that is about where we were sitting. So fun. We could look down just before the stage and see the orchestra playing too.

Rabbit, Rabbit

Had to send this out today so that when you wake up tomorrow on the 1st of August...the first thing you say should be, "rabbit, rabbit" then you will have good luck the whole month. My cute friend Keddy from Idaho told me this once. I think I do it more than she does. Anyway it doesn't hurt to get a little extra luck in a month.  Try to remember to do it the first day of every month. Can't hurt.

Okay, I got tagged tooo...

from my friend Christine who moved out of my ward with her family and now it seems like most of my friends have left the ward and it makes me sad...okay enough about my issues.

How to play this game...post these rules on your blog: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5-6 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

3 JOYS:

1. Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Life is hard sometimes and gratefully happy a lot of the time, but without the gospel, I would be totally lost. I am grateful that it grounds me and makes me the "real" kind of happy. And I have to add in working at the temple. Sometimes I am tired after work but I know that it is the best place to be. I learn so much and am growing so much from the experience.

2. My family. I am very close to my sisters especially. And they help me through things. It is just fun to keep in touch with family. I love all my nieces and nephews and am so proud of them. I also love my friends. And care about them so much.

3. Being able to share a talent from our Heavenly Father of drawing. I feel very blessed and overwhelmed that he would allow me to share this with others.

3 FEARS:

1. Getting lost when looking for a location I need to be at. Yah it sounds silly, but I get stressed. Just the feeling of being lost scares me.

2. Possibly never finding someone to share my life with and being alone. It makes me sad sometimes. But I also know that it has not worked out for me yet for a reason. Don't know the reason but I know there is one. Heavenly Father has a plan for me. And I KNOW this to be true. Somedays it feels like it would be nice to get a hint...but I can be patient. I am learning that at least.

3. Maybe some day of not making ends meet financially. But so far it has worked out for me and even when I lost my job at Novell and wondered how in the world I would survive, I did. And I did it on my own. And this is where I think sometimes how nice it would be for someone to take care of me. I get tired of taking care of me sometimes.

3 GOALS:

1. Getting in better shape. I feel like a human slug. Gross. But I do feel like I need to be consistent with exercise. So that is something I really need to get moving on.

2. Being better at reading my scriptures and praying more consistently. I am not always the best. I have good intentions..but slack off when I am tired or in a hurry.

3. Be a more considerate friend and sister and daughter. Sometimes I get caught up in my own stuff and need to be there more for others.

3 CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS:

1. I love eating cut up watermelon before I go to bed. Lately it just hits the spot.

2. Lying in bed and watching shows I have recorded. Yes, I should be drawing!

3. Don't know if it is a collection...well, maybe it is since I now own an iphone and have an ipod and a shuffle. Goodness. All things Mac for me...including my mac computer at home too.

3 RANDOM SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT ME:

1. I love the smell of the ocean. Don't like to go into deep water- in fact I basically don't swim much (Dogpaddle 101) but I grew up around the ocean in Vancouver BC and I miss that ocean smell.  I love the beach though and shallower water. (Maybe this should be listed under a fear partly.)

2. I love to watch the Discovery channel and watch the specials on sharks/whales/odd fish and also the dinosaur specials. Don't want to meet a shark or a raptor, but they totally fascinate me.

3. I love coconut ice cream from Good Earth. It is a certain kind that is flavored with agave. Yum! I like it especially when it is a little bit melty.

SOOOOO, now  I am tagging some people....Julie Baldwin (so excited for her to have her baby though I will miss her at the temple), Erin (that I also work with at the temple and I hope things work out for her and Patrick with their adoption plans), Marilyn (who I also work with at the temple and is so fun), Ché and Jared (who are so wonderful), and Fer (who I met at TP who is so funny). So I didn't do links with it....but hopefully people will read this and respond.

Oops...

Yes the first photo below is the whole group of our family- minus a sister who couldn't be there. The 2nd picture below is obviously Deb and her family. Yes I am still getting used to how you set pictures up in blogs etc...

The really cool part of last Saturday

So here is my sister Deb and her husband Troy and children. For those who don't know, Deb and Troy had the blessing of receiving these 3 beautiful siblings, from Ethiopia, into their home the beginning of December. They were adopted about 2 weeks ago and then the crowning touch was that they were all sealed as a family this last Saturday. The perfect family. Welcome officially into our family: Lana Haymanot, Lissa Betsalot and Marcus Beruk! Lana and Lissa got baptized a little while ago too. Marcus has to wait a couple of years. We are so happy for them!

Such a fun weekend!

So I got my iphone! Yes, it is not a personalized photo of it...rather I nabbed it from the internet. But this is what it looks like. The cutest thing is that on Sunday at my mom's, I was showing her some of the stuff I loaded on it...like the phone saber (I am truly debating if I will even show my 6 year old nephew Ben [notice his intensity as he holds the light saber in the picture] who is totally into Star Wars...because the way you use it is you wave the iphone around and it makes the sounds of a light saber and I can see my phone accidentally flying across the room if he gets too excited.) and she asked if it really was a phone cuz of all the gadgets on it. I proved to her that it was and called her right away on it. Anyway it is VERY fun! I have 4 movies on it and a bunch of songs now too and it just has a lot of gadgets to play with. It will keep me entertained for sure. It is fun to send email and texts from it too. I am getting used to the keyboard. Just a fun thing. Like I said, my one splurge of the year!

So the ABBA concert was great fun!

We got into the pre-show dinner cuz my friend Sherry knows the person in charge. Yummy free dinner and we got to meet the group. We got our picture taken with them (don't have the picture yet) and right after I said to them, "My father is from Finland." And the blonde singer girl said, "Oh, that is why you have such blonde hair." That was funny. I guess anyone who has blonde hair apparently has Finnish or Swedish backgrounds. So just remember that.

So we sat with about 15 people that I know at the concert. Believe me I know since I was carrying 6 of the chairs to the area we saved and was trying to run down the grass hill with them. It was great fun at the concert. We sang out loud and danced around a bit. Dancing Queen was the last song of the evening. Of course everyone loved that.

So now I need to run to the AT&T store to pick up my iphone. It is in. Be excited!

Oh happy day!

My iphone shipped today! I will have it soon! Fun stuff!

Just looking through older illustrations...

I drew this of my nephew Nicholas for one of my Christmas cards one year. Yes I know...kind of wacky with the food items on top of his head. But then they are at a close proximity in case he got hungry...

Just thinking

...about my week...CRAZY-BUSY...but fun... A bbq tonight with some friends. Wednesday I think is non-planned. A day off on Thursday to get together with sibs and families for the day and then rushing home to go to the ABBA concert that night. Friday I have the day off (doing the 9/9 schedule at work so I get every other Friday off to save on gas in a small way) and I will be working on a freelance project most of the day, going to the track of course, and not much else. Saturday will be running up to the Salt Lake Temple in the morning where my sister and her husband will be sealed to their 3 adorable and amazing children. And then that night I will go to the Motab/Osmond concert. Busy...but fun!

I ordered an iphone...my one splurge of the year. I just checked online and they haven't even begun to ship it. I think I have a long wait in store.

Happy Eeyore Day!

Whenever it is rainy or cloudy- or better yet both...it is a Happy Eeyore Day in my book. So I hope you have a happy one! Good old Eeyore. The grass and flowers are happy for sure today!

Saturday is a special day...

Man, I need to get a lot of drawing done today! I keep slacking on a freelance project that will actually pay me money! The problem is that they haven't given me a deadline so I put it off more than I should. But hey, I need the money so I need to get moving on it. My goal is to draw two of the pictures today. I have about 10 total. I can do it!

Pretty day. I like to go to the track on Saturday mornings early when it isn't hot out yet. So I am off to do that...and then the Saturday morning grocery shopping...and then home to draw and mow the lawn etc.

My sweet momma's dad

So this is a drawing I did for my family for last Christmas. This is my Grandpa Biggar. He was born on Prince Edward Island. And a fun little fact is that through him our family is related to LM Montgomery who wrote Anne of Green Gables. Kind of fun to have a connection to that. And my middle name is Anne with an e!

Nice day today

Just finished two stamp sets at work that need to be priced. Now to start on a new set. Hmmm- kind of not sure what to do on it. Ah well. I will eventually figure it out...I hope.

The power went out at work yesterday so we got to leave half way through the day. I went to look for ideas. 

Wow!

So my only aunt I ever had, (barring such a thing as half aunts or uncles in Finland who I don't know but most likely exist since my dad's dad was married before and had children) who was married to my only uncle I knew, passed away recently. She was very private and we did not know she was sick. She lived in West Vancouver.  Kind of makes me sad. At least we can do her work in a year.

Hey, it is Tuesday!

I went to the play Footloose at the outdoor Scera Shell last night. It was a cute play. Not one of my faves that they have put on there but it was fun.

Looking forward to the play Pride and Prejudice though that is later in the summer.

I know- a boring posting this morning.

I guess I should show the drawing

That I drew (from the picture I showed a couple of postings ago) of my cute finnish dad.

I replaced the ball he was holding in the photo with a drawing of one of the wooden cars he used to make when he was an adult.

And then I put in christmas greetings in english and finnish.

It works!

Just a quick blurb on driving slower---So I tried driving slower last friday and today. between 60 and 65 mph...and both times, it still took me a half hour to drive one way to work. Just like if I was going 70 mph (which has been my normal speed). I think I will keep up the 60-65 speed for a month or so and see if it makes a difference. I do notice one thing...I feel less stressed on the road. Here is hoping that it will make a difference with gasoline costs.

Happy Monday!

If only life turned out the way movies/books do!

I just watched the movie Persuasion this morning. Love it!!!! Such a sweet story of hope and not giving up.  And I watched Sense and Sensibility a few days ago. Such a great movie! A wonderful 2 pack movie set I picked up from Costco a while back! Truly worth the money! sigh. Yes I am a hopeless romantic. And I cannot deny it.

My dad as a boy

Just thinking of my dad today. Missing him and his hugs and him telling me that everything will be okay. I drew him on my christmas card this past December. He is from Finland. The city of Turku. In this picture he is in Finland. His eyebrows look very finnish to me. I can still hear him snickering at one of his silly jokes.

Just thinking about stuff

I saw a friend this morning, who works at Costco at the gas station. We were just talking about stuff and he was bringing up how some people (glad it is the minority) are just unneighborly (a nice way of saying it) and unsafe- and sometimes refuse to turn off their cars when filling up with gas. Not only is it unsafe to them and to anyone else filling up, but there are huge signs posted asking us to PLEASE turn off our engines. 

As I drove away, I was thinking, how often do I ignore signs? Hopefully not much. But it made me think about how it is sad that people can be so unkind to others, thoughtless really. And it made me think about how I can sometimes be in a grumpy mood and am not the nicest to others around me. Or maybe someone has not treated me the best—but you know what? I should not let that affect me. I really need to try harder to be kind to others. And to quit being a crab about things. Maybe smile a little more. Maybe be more thoughtful.

If I think about it, I have SO much to be grateful for. So many blessings. So what if it is a pain to "turn the car off when filling up with gas". Hey, I just think I can do my part and maybe like President Hinckley told us , totally paraphrasing here, maybe we can be a little kinder each day.

Or considerate of others. Who cares if so-and-so is crabby...I need to try to not let that affect me. (And not saying I don't care..but you know what I mean.)

Anyway, that is my thought and hopefully a goal I can work on. And try to do what the signs ask of me. 

Hey, and just a thought, if the speed limit sign says a number, then why do we go faster? Doesn't limit mean don't go any faster? I am actually trying to drive slower on the freeway. If anything these days, to conserve gas...I tried it yesterday and I got home at the exact same time and it was hard to slow down...but I did. I heard 55 is a good speed and makes the most difference but I hovered in between 60 and 65. Yes I took the slow lane. So if you see a silver honda cr-v putting along on the freeway, it is me, trying to slow down and save some money. I am trying...

Funny computer guy!

I saw this illustration on the internet the other day...I love the style. And sometimes it feels like that is how it feels at work somedays—hehe. Just staring at that monitor.

Jonah and the Whale idea

And this style I really like. I like the rough edges and the quirky characters. I need to do more. It is a fun style to play with.