I Have Things to Say

But I will likely say them tomorrow or the next day. 

For now - please don't go away. I very much like you.

And thank you for being patient with my spotty posting :)

If All Jobs Paid the Same

What would you choose to do?

I was talking with the Husband about various employment options and other than my irrational desire to someday become a waitress (which will occur, I guarantee you) I think I'd like to be a bus driver for a while, or something of that nature. 

Sure I like to use my brain. Sure I like to think, solve problems and produce outcomes. That's why I wouldn't do it forever and would also dabble in filmmaking, dermatology and archaeology. But if I could drive busses, I think it would be fascinating.

Think about it! You'd know your city, and surrounding areas, like the back of your hand. I'm sure you'd find many great places to go that you wouldn't otherwise know about. And think about all the people you could watch, observe, and get to know! 

photo link here

You could also learn about things you want to learn about. You wouldn't have to spend your spare time trying to fill in your gaps of knowledge so you can solve other people's problems. All you've got is a bus route. When you're done, you're done, and then you can read as many novels or encyclopedias as you dang please!!

Maybe I'm just crazy, but it sounds awfully appealing.

A Conscious Addiction

No, it's not weed, snus, or glue.

It's Lost.

We started it yesterday and we're already 4 episodes in.

Aw man.

(But in other news I read an article about a 2 year old Indonesian boy who is already addicted to cigarettes. Oh boy this world is wonky.)

I think I'll call her "Liv."

I got to do this all weekend. 

Tah-DAH! and HOORAH!!

Meet Sprout.

We adopted him from a shelter because he was the coolest dude there.

He is perfect in every way.
Everyone who knows him loves him.
He knows all his tricks, has never had an accident and the most obedient.

He is small and cuddly.

10 pounds of furry joy!

He likes "L" words: leaning, loving, looking, leering, listening and licking.

His only flaw his is his bad "dead-garbage" breath. 

And the fact that he sheds something awful.

Isn't he regal?

The World has Problems.

And I think those problems could be solved with gratitude.

I think everyone, on the whole, would be ten million times happier and more content if they were grateful for what they had and just tried not to complain or get angry or ticked. It IS good to treat people who wait on you at restaurants and stores kindly. It IS good to say "Thank you" to your Sunday school teachers and professors on your way out the door. It IS good to put on a happy face when someone does something nice for you, even if it's not the way you would have done it yourself. 

Maybe it's not gratitude, but common sense? Beyond that, I think gratitude is a BIG verb. Get out there and show your appreciation. DO things for people!! Cookies may seem cliche, but MAN it's nice to get a plate from someone, don't you think? Give back to your community. I know I can do better with this - I'm not saying (in any way) that I'm some sort of standard. But I think even making a meal for friends, or making an effort to call someone can let them know how you love them.

And about "friendships" - let's look at the good things people do for us and for others and choose to look at those things and NOT choose to let them bring us down or find nit-picky complaints. Seriously. I know what it's like to be suspicious of my standing in a friendship at all times - wondering "Hmm...what have I done, now..." - and it's real, real lame.

None of us are perfect, right? So what gives us the right to complain about anything at all?

And I don't mean we shouldn't pout occasionally. I'm a girl. I know the deep, mystical, healing powers of the occasional pout. HOWEVER - endless grumbling gets real old. Real fast.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I feel like life is WAY too short, and there is NOT enough time and the earth is TOO beautiful to be ungrateful.  Again, we're all trying to do the best we can. But I think I can say with a guarantee, even though I'm a lowly citizen of this universe, that if everyone would be thankful for what they've got, the world would be a better place!!!!!!!!!

The most incredible!

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

Oh - And by the way...

You'd think that when a little dude like this:

needs love, attention, care and a home - the organization would respond to multiple calls and emails, proffering an intense interest to help out with the little ones in any way possible.

Yeah. You'd think.

Verbal Associations

Long story short, a thought came into my mind today. You know how you associate memories with smells and songs and such? Well - I realized that I associate people with words, and phrases among other things. 

For instance, 

I associate my Dad with abbreviations (get a bottle of "wat" or taking a "show")

I associate my sister with a sound akin to "GWA!?"

I associate a friend with the phrase "Riiiiiiight?!?!"

I associate a choir director I once had with the word "Gang." (As in "Hey gang, here's what we'll do today!")

I associate a band director with the words insert (he pronounces "in-zert") and mature (he pronounces "ma-too-ure")

And I associate one of my grandmothers with the phrase "B.M." Yes. "B.M." as in "bowel movement."

Don't get me wrong - I also associate these people with other things; baseball hats, high kicks, eye makeup, facial expressions, canes, skinny dipping and hairspray, to name a few. 

But what I'm saying here is: I hope that the life I lead and the legacy that follows doesn't, in any way, associate me with the excretory processes of the human body.

(In thinking about it, I guess that is only if I don't pursue a profession in proctology or urology. Which are both big dreams of mine, of course. But hey - I did name one of my stuffed animals (a chocolate brown dog) "Procto," as prompted by my parents. They knew I didn't know any better. They thought they were being funny. And they were.)

People are SO CREATIVE

Is this not the most GORGEOUS?!

Yeah. So neat.

GreenWeddingShoes

How to be Fascinating

I follow this blog by this cool guy named Guy. He wrote a post about being fascinating. Surprise, surprise - I found it fascinating. 

But not in the way that I think it wanted me to be fascinating.

The post talked about having fascinating content, basically. Named sources like StumbleUpon or SmartBrief - places to go to find new, great content (both great, by the way). It suggested hiring an intern to find great content for you (probably through those sources.) It said you should know what you're talking about unless you're a recognized celebrity, then blogging/tweeting about stupid things, i.e. getting coffee, is cool. This is true. 

But why?

Why do we look at some normal, ordinary people and deem them "the coolest" than other normal, ordinary people. Is the difference really only the fact that their careers put them on a big movie-screen? Is our society so bizarre that we all but worship those who entertain for a living? There are the tech-stars - people who run Adobe or Mac are practically worshipped, too.  But it's SO interesting.

Entertainers and inventors. 

People who think outside the box and refuse the run-of-the-mill 9-to-5 lifestyle.

Maybe it's not being fascinating that gets your blogs/tweets/whatevers noticed and followed but it's more about thinking outside the box and merely getting yourself out there and exposed in cyber-space. 

Today

I feel invigorated!

Mostly.

I went on a big ol' long run and will pretty much feel it tomorrow. REAL bad. But it was inspiring and great. I like to make myself prove to myself that I can do hard things! 

Also I made a batch of brownies and chicken enchiladas. Yay for treats and dinner parties.

Short post, I know. Sorry. I'm just planning a great soliloquy about "To Kill a Mockingbird" that I'll hopefully post soon. In the meant time you should all go see the play! Click Here! - one of the best shows I've seen there!

A Beautiful Day for a Wedding!

This morning I went down to Mona, UT (a place that holds a dear spot in my heart) to photograph a wedding for a friend from younger years, Michelle.

Needless to say, the sun knows when it needs to be out because - despite today's chilly morning - the day was GORGEOUS and the ceremony was even lovelier. Here are some of my favorite pics!

CLICK HERE to visit my website, and please get in touch if you need a photographer! :) It's a BLAST!

For all my Gluten-free friends!!!

Sounds Delicious!!

1 stick (115g) unsalted butter

1 cup (100gr) unsifted powdered sugar

1/2 cup (60gr) ground almonds

1/3cup (50gr) sweet rice flour

pinch of salt

4 large egg whites

1 cup poached rhubarb (recipe follows)

Preheat your oven to 375F and position a rack in the center. Lightly spray or butter the inside of 12 financiers molds or muffin cups with cooking spray and place them on a baking sheet. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan set over medium high heat, melt the butter until it turns to a rich hazelnut brown color, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes before straining it to remove the little dark butter particules at the bottom of the pan and reserve.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the powdered sugar, ground almonds and salt on low speed until just combined. Still on low speed, add the egg whites and mix until all the ingredients are coming together. Add the brown butter, increase the speed to medium and beat until smooth.

Divide the batter among your molds, divide the poached rhubarb pieces evenly among the top and bake for about 15 -20 minutes or until golden brown.

Read more at Design*Sponge http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/05/in-the-kitchen-with-my-tartlette-part-2.html#ixzz0nvtcfxiD

Sometimes I feel like a 20-something Grandma.

Oh sure my body gets unusable sometimes. (Cranky joints, locked SI joint, cracky back, achy knuckles, you know....)

But it's mostly because NEW TECHNOLOGY seriouslyseriouslyseriously BLOWS MY MIND!!! 


To the point that it can. not. be handled by me in my brain.

After watching "Iron Man 2" tonight, I was inspired to check out the latest and heeyyyy guess what?! All that "wowza" Iron-Man-ey technology is so real. 

Part I and II. I highly recommend watching both. And, he mentions the technology isn't too expensive or too hard to make. Anyone want to have an interactive digital interface making party?!?!

A Basic Belief

I like to believe that people are basically good. Isn't that a nicer way to see the world? To be able to go out and about and believe you'll come home alive with your house untouched?

Frankly, I believe in the great, good potential of humanity.

I wish that more people would believe in this, too. I also wish that more people lived in a way that proved it to be true. I hate to say it, but sometimes I hear things on the news or see people do any say things and I have to consciously remind myself that I believe people have goodness within them.

Sad that I have to remind myself of that. 

More sad that some people act in a way that make it so I have to remind myself.

No, I'm not Dead.

Life has just been so busy!! But isn't everyone's life super busy? 

I know, I know. No excuses.

So allow me to update you!

Lame things that have recently happened:

1. My cool supervisor's dumb supervisor willy-nilly decided to cut everyone's hours they're allowed to work today. 

2. The show ended. 

3. I ordered a SIGG water bottle and custom SIGG skin for my Dad's birthday (May 2nd) and not only did it take FOREVER to get here - the skin was cut poorly and now I've got to call the company and deal with it.

4. The weather is beautiful and I work in an office cave in the basement of a building. Wah!

5. This is also sort of lame, but funny, but not part of my life but i read it in my friends blog and it made me sad! 

6. TOMS are backordered at Nordstroms - no navy or red size 7s. It's probably better that way. $40 to spend elsewhere.

Cool things that have recently happened:

1. The show ended. It went REALLY well and I'm so lucky, grateful, blessed and happy to have been cast in it. It was a great stepping stone for me and I really feel as though I'm figuring that whole "theater" thing out. And I like it.

2. I started my internship with Justin Hackworth and it already rocks. He's had me doing intern-ey things like packaging things and sending things and running errands and making calls, but even still - I'm loving it. He's the neeeeeeeeatest dude and I'm SUPER looking forward to spending more time with him this Spring. TaDAH!

3. I'm on level 36 of "More Bloons." Granted, I'm stuck on it because my computer runs a little slow so it disallows me from really controlling the game, but hey - it's still level 36.

4. I finally saw "The DaVinci Code." Is it bad that I thought Tom Hanks was great? I heard a lot of people didn't really like him in it. I didn't like his hair, but I sure liked him.

5. Nachos tonight.

Life is good, people. I mean - it's really good. 

Also - I gained some followers! Thanks for coming, guys! You rock!

Anything, in particular, ya'll want me to blog about?

I was going to blog about my mom, see. Lots of people did yesterday because it's mothers day. However, you can read/see all about my mom here. And yes, she is as cool as everyone says she is.

But as for now, I'm just going to keep on keeping on, dream about traveling the world and buying a new, great lens for my camera. If you want to buy it for me, you can feel free :)

I Can Do and Say Happy Things Each Day

So even though school is out for the summer and I'm not taking spring classes, I'm still exhausted. This probably has to do with the fact that I'm in a show (which is SO FUN AND WONDERFUL but closes this Saturday) and I got sick (probably my body shutting down a little because the semester ended - typical) and the Husband and I like to stay up late doing fun things like watching "Glee," or "Big Bang Theory," eating bowls of cereal (LIFE, please!!), playing Bloons, More Bloons, or Even More Bloons or Yahtzee, and cuddling :)

But despite my tiredness, I will list here, for you splendid, fabulous people, the happy things that have crossed my path this week. And by path I mean either my eyes, my mouth, my mind or my general "way."

1. My new desktop background from Design*Sponge a fav. design blog of mine.

2. My upcoming internship with Justin Hackworth (It was going to be this fall but his Spring intern dropped out and he ask me to step in!!!!)

3. The FIVE YAHTZEES I rolled whilst playing the game. I took pictures of every single one of them on my phone. If I were cooler I would load those picture into my computer and onto this blog as proof. Or you could just trust me.

4. The DELICIOUS Goulash I made for dinner last night. Ground beef, macaroni pasta, 1 c. ketchup, 3 c. water, 2 tsp. dry mustard powder, a dash of chili pepper, a sprinkle of crushed red peppers and a cup or so of chopped, fresh tomato. DELICIOUS!

5. Rehearsal with Synthesis - the jazz ensemble I'm in at BYU - and thoughts of our impending tour to Scandinavia this July!!!

6. The amazing, loving people I am friends with and got to eat lunch with today at Tucanos (and NO I did not gorge myself this time, thank you very much.)

7. The progress I'm making at work. I feel like I'm accomplishing things right and left and it feels GREAT.

8. The clean apartment we have, thanks to the Husband and his incredible laundering skills. 

9.  Thoughts of my future and the fact that maybe I DO want to be a teacher, after all. (Not music. Maybe history, technology, english, drama, or something.)

10. The gorgeous weather. I couldn't ask for anything more satisfying than the new, warm, sun!

God bless you all! May your days be glad this week :)

But Really

Do you ever have to stop yourself and just say "Self - it's OKAY."

I sure do.

The MOST Thankful

So I have realized how lucky I am, lately.

See - I've been in this play called "Once Upon a Mattress." And in this play there are people and they are wonderful. And the husband and I have been blessed enough to get to know some of them pretty well. We hang out and play games and I feel happier about it than I have been in a long, long time.

I'm just so insanely grateful for the influence of good friends and for the huge blessing it is in my life.  I want to be better because of them and do good things for them because I love them.

And I mean that! I truly love these people and I am overwhelmed that they love me, too. And it's so neat that it's the I-like-you-and-want-to-be-around-you love instead of the you're-a-human-too-so-I'll-love-you-because-I should love.

I feel so so so so lucky and blessed and I just had to say to the world THANK YOU!!!!!!