Civic Hesitancy

I am proud to be an American, as goes the song which is in tune with my heartfelt sentiments. However, I’m NOT excited to serve time as a juror. The judicial branch of the U.S. government is a blessed operation and I fully support justice in all its forms. Let it be known that I dutifully sent in my acceptance form yesterday, but I dragged my feet all the way to the mailbox. My assigned dates are anywhere from October 1 through December 29. Wow.

"You said the loud part soft...

...and the soft part loud." That is a quote from Simpson's that used to crack my sister, Rachel and I up. What cracks me up now is how aptly it applies to having a four-year old whose social skills are all but absent. The odd timing and volume choice for many of Alli’s comments made in very public places gives me discreet hysteria for prolonged periods of time. Good golly, I can’t let her know how funny it is to laugh at something inappropriate like gas, burps, silly names…oh it all goes back to bodily functions! I guess I’m exposing myself as somewhat immature in confessing my mantra for coping in all situations I’ve been in, “Gas is ALWAYS funny”. I was a teacher of both first and sixth graders—gas had to be funny or I would have gagged all day long. I was a sister missionary surrounded by 180+ Elders—after sitting in Zone Conference all day after a starchy Mormon lunch, gas had to be funny. I’m married to a healthy male—need I say more?

I digress in overly focusing on flatulence.

Back to Alli’s awesome comments… She has this thing with Asia. We have a world map that we use occasionally when we try to pop our Happy Valley Bubble and think outside the box. Asia is the biggest and brightest on our map. For a while she thought our neighborhood was inside Asia. Now she wants to live in Asia after she’s married. So, when we went to the Storytelling Festival and she was delighted to listen to a talented Japanese woman (who btw was a guest on Mr. Rogers, may he RIP…he’s dead, right?). The next woman who got up was a vivacious Southern African-American woman. Right after the applause died down, she turned to me, and in a not-so-soft voice said, “She’s from Asia too, huh Mom?!” Wow, stifle those snickers, because it’s not funny! ;D


She was all too delighted to visit the Hogle Zoo and their new Asia interactive community!

This is an awesome first day of Preschool shot, aye? She's a doll!

I've been tagged!

My amazing, wonderful, and lucky-to-be-related friend, Samantha (my sis-in-law) tagged me in her latest post.

8 facts....
1. I am married to a man who makes it easy for people question if we are still on our honeymoon. We love to breathe the same air and we start to miss each other if one is gone away for several hours. I hold to the opinion that when we are made fun of, it's just jealousy because everyone wants to have someone the way Nick and I have each other.

2. Alli is my tangible sunshine. She is a daughter only God could give to me. My love for her grows even when I thought I reached the limit.

3. I am blessed to have frequent moments of quiet even in the middle of the day because God knows me and knows what I need. I am not ashamed that I get to take naps on days when I am too tired.

4. I read the last pages of books…but keep reading even knowing the end. I guess it’s my way of feeding my desire to know what life will be like for me in the future.

5. I buy fun paper and fabric from all over…and rarely use it. Everyone needs something to collect, right?

6. I have bare front room walls because my vision doesn’t fit our budget and I prefer visual sterility to bankruptcy. If only we relied on a barter-based economy, I could cook tasty food to pay a savvy interior decorator.

7. Speaking of tasty food…I could eat rice and beans everyday until I die.

8. I can’t replace sentimentality for practicality. I know that my scriptures are worn and torn and have no room to write anymore notes, but the new scriptures I bought remained closed and rarely read. I know that I could sleep with any small blanket that would scrunch up just right under my arm, but my Grammy made my baby blanket that I still sleep with. I know that I could completely clean my bathroom mirror, but that would mean erasing the love notes Nick has left for me in dry-erase marker.

***This “8 Facts” tag can be passed along to anyone waiting to create a post but lacking direction in what to blog about. Or, like myself, anyone who has fallen so far behind in summer blogging even thinking about chronicling the past couple months seems overwhelming and a simple and undirected “8” theme is sufficient.***

A hop, skip, and a jump

We’re teaching Alli to skip and despite the defective teacher (me) she has, she is surprisingly good. For whatever reason, I’ve never been a great hopper—jumping and bouncing around haven’t ever been super appealing to me. Today, whilst merrily watering the cucumbers in my garden, a teeny tiny garter snake quickly slithered inches from my Chaco exposed toes. I jumped and the height I reached in that air time might have qualified me for the China summer games. I HATE SNAKES. Loathe, despise, abhor, detest…there is nothing I like about them. Two distinct memories vividly flashed in my mind during that Michael Jordan “hang time” in the garden. Once, when I was seven, my mom and sister Rachel were at the cabin in AZ and went creek wading. A very harmless, very unknowing water snake made its way back home via the top of my immersed foot. I vaguely remember learning that snakes have ears and I’m sure he, regrettably, heard my unending screams. That’s the closest I’ve ever come to fainting. The second memory was of a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to learn to surf a couple years ago. In the quaint downtown of that seaside city there are “snake people” hanging out on the street with boxes (really, boxes) full of snakes. They let people see how many they can drape on their bodies and my friends really got into it. I sat on a bench on the street corner, trying to control my breathing. Am I just as abnormal as I’ve always joked I am?

***What are some of your phobias?

***Have you had any close encounters with unconsciousness in dealing with them?

PS I had a really hard time putting the picture of the snake up, it creeps me out!

The Land of Enchantment

New Mexico is called the land of enchantment for several obvious reasons. By unanimous approval it is the best state in the United States (yes, folks, New Mexico is a part of the USA) based solely on the fact that it is the home of green chile—no need to say more, but, no worries, I will say more. It is where you can find some of the best pizza and sandwiches (thanks, Dion’s), made even better because of green chile. And let’s not forget the best place for dining anytime of the day or night, Flying Star, who, by the way, also has some great green chile dishes.

Eating aside, New Mexico also offers some other really great attractions, like family. Alli loved playing with her cousin, Rachel, and the two were inseparable from the time we got there. Nick and I love spending time with my parents and brother, Matthew and his wife, Samantha and their adorable family. We really feel blessed to have such a wonderful extended family.

One of the highlights of our vacation was the time spent at my grandparents’ cabin in the White Mountains of Alpine, Arizona (on the NM/AZ border). The real perk (for me) was no internet and no cell phone reception (since I got more Nick time). Activities there included hiking, relaxing to the big band tunes played on the 8 Track, hiking, fishing, and hiking. We even got to hike Chapache Peak (a pretty rigorous hike close to the cabin) on our one year anniversary (never fear, I plan to create a post exclusively based on our one year of marital bliss later—prepare to vomit—we’re still head over heels!).



At the amazing Albuquerque Zoo....move over, Hogle, this is a REAL zoo! Alli is soaked from having played in the water park they have there.

It's not a vacation unless you go swimming with cousins! Alli wins the 180 degree award becasue last summer Nick and I used to have claw marks on our shoulders after going swimming, but now we can't keep up with her!

Carson and Landon celebrated thier birthdays cowboy style and the party was decked out with hats, bandanas, horse back riding, crafts, a BBQ........and 60 mph winds which honestly only dampened some of the party.
These two were best buds the whole time. Thanks to Rachel, Alli had the Barbie awakening. It was so fun to see them use "Barbie" voices and trade dresses and make Barbie houses.
At first, Carson wasn't so sure how he felt about being in a boat. Being as daring as he is, I was shoked to see him being so timid.

Hope Brightened by Pain

Yesterday I spent the majority of my evening reading a most remarkable blog that I had found while “blog hopping” (thanks, Force for Good for the link!). The author is a mother of four children. During the pregnancy of her fourth child, she found out that the baby would be born fatally ill and would not live beyond a few hours after birth. This woman, Angie, painfully and spiritually follows the grief journey of a mother losing her child. She is an adept writer whose talent is amplified by her experience as a psychologist. Her husband sings in the Christian group, Selah, which adds a very meaningful gospel perspective into gaining wisdom despite the hardships of life. The bitter pain of Angie’s loss is eased by her deep and ongoing relationship with the One who knows all our pains and a Father who also watched life being taken from His Son.

Angie’s anguish and unfathomable strength mirrors another mother who admirably has dealt with countless trials that have helped her become who she is today. My amazing mother has taught me about the Gospel in many ways. It has been through my mother's example of enduring a life of hardships (accompanied with countless blessings, of course) where others might crumple, she has risen above. Nephi explained best what my mother busies herself doing, “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2N 31:20).

This coming weekend will mark seven years since my sister, Rachel, passed away in a car accident. I have never felt as close to my Father in Heaven with such a clear understanding of the Plan of Happiness as during the weeks and months following her passing. My greatest understanding that led to peace in continuing on with life, despite having lost my best friend, was my need to keep up with her progression. She has the advantage of being relieved of many of the cares and burdens we carry in mortality. Her spiritual journey will continue and surpass my own if I am not diligent in daily communicating with my Maker and studying His Word through the scriptures and living prophets.

Rachel is a bright example of love, joy, beauty and side-splitting humor. Do I miss her? Yes. Am I disappointed at the way life sometimes turns out? Yes. Do I believe in a God whose understanding can turn my nighttime sorrows into an eternity of joys? Yes.

My heart right now is reaching in prayer to mothers and fathers who have lost their children. I believe that Christ “…will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces…” (Isaiah 25:8)

Discovery in the Deluge

With all the nostalgia associated with rainy days, it is darling to see that Alli loves them as much as I did as a child. The Eyre’s tell me to foster her creativity and imagination that are innate gears built into a child’s mental engine. So, when she devised a way to keep her eyes dry while playing in the rain, I didn’t comment on the perceived “waste” of two circular Band-Aids (what use are those things, anyways?) but praised her on her adept use of her resources. The result was one happy child who successfully performed her first hands-on science experiment.