Honey I’m Home!
I came home the either night with all the lights on in the house and the door wide open, but I couldn’t find my husband anywhere. After calling a couple of times I finally see him coming downstairs holding something odd. “Honey, I could not get in without this thing following me in here!” He came down the stairs holding a soaking wet cat in a towel. When Ry got home the cat followed him to the door meowing like crazy and rubbing against his legs and even by throwing the cat away from the door he couldn’t get inside without it sneaking by in time to close the door. So like the nice person he is, he tried to dry the cat off.
The cat just followed us around meowing and begging for food but once you do that they never leave. It climbed in and out of my cabinets and fridge as I tied to make dinner. Then as soon as it jumped on the leather couch it was out the door. It lingered there for an hour or so scratching, clawing and meowing at the door. Yes, we felt really bad and we thought about taking it to the humane society, but we don’t know if it is someone’s cat or not. We haven’t seen it for a while but we don’t know what happened to it. It was a cute little cat, not a kitten anymore but young. It was a funny night and good to see Ry take care of a cat even though he hates them. Merry Christmas everyone! Not sure when my next post will be. Love you all!
A Good Experience with a Bad Cut
Yesterday I had an extra hour on my lunch break so I decided it was time for a hair cut, especially since I am visiting the in-laws this weekend. We are so excited to be going! But I don’t have a stylist here and I decided it has been a while since I got a cut so I will go to a real place this time. I still walked in however. They got me in with a great lady. She was really nice and she offered me her opinion which I really appreciate. It is their expertise and I am usually up for something different. So she suggested something and I was like ok. And it happened and I don’t like it at all. It might just be stuck in my head differently or something; like a mental problem I am having but I really don’t like it. So I am thinking about going to day and just getting it cut a little more. But I don’t want to call that lady and be like, I don’t like this, fix it! I don’t like confrontation like that at all. And I don’t want to pay as much as I did yesterday either. Anyways, what do I do? The plan right now is to go somewhere else but much cheaper and not have them style it just cut and go type thing. What do you do in this situation?!! Any experiences others have had?
Mountain is open!
The mountains here just got a foot of snow! Finally! So it will be open tomorrow. We are excited and ready to go. Friday they open night skiing and that will be our first go. So, just know that I will probably start feeling really bad about myself and in pain and will talk about it on here. But right now I am just excited and willing to give it a try. This is our little mountain.
Christmas is Here!
Ry and I had a great weekend, besides trying to shop on Saturday in the shopping district here in Boise. It was crazy and we avoided the mall as best we could. The Boise mall is the only mall in the Treasure Valley and there are not enough parking spots to support the massive amount of shoppers during the holiday season. We did make it through shopping at Wal-mart. We had to pick up supplies for dinner on Sunday. Micron, the generous company it is, gave us a free turkey for Christmas. So we decided to share it with some friends and use our fancy new meat thermometer to try making our first Turkey (pics to follow). Cooking big meals is stressful on a marriage! We didn’t always like each other in the process but we did make it through and presented friends with a totally eatable but maybe not delicious meal. Turkey was not to dry no thanks to our new meat thermometer. It broke as soon as we put it in the oven but luckily the turkey came with a pop-up one that did work. And the store took back the meat thermometer that worked once and gave us our money back. First however, I had to go through a lecture from a lady that worked there. It of course was our fault that it broke and how silly we were to use it the way we did! I was so angry. She could finally tell and started talking to me like a human being. Here is our pretty turkey:
Anyways, Christmas is definitely here b/c we had a great meal with people we love and enjoyed wonderful and company. Last night we continued the holiday festivities by going Christmas caroling. This is such an old fashioned display of service but what that should be revamped and kept forever. We visited four houses and each one smiled and enjoyed our pretty but not amazing voices. We just sort of organized it in the ward and invited whoever could come to do so. Eight people showed up which is just the right amount to not overwhelm your audience. We visited Juanita first, just a little lady who we raked leaves for. She said, “thanks for remembering me.” She loved it and had little tears in her eyes. Then we went to my bosses house and then to Ry’s friends house. It was a great night. I worried all day about people coming and how awkward it might be but it exceeded my expectations so much that I wanted to let everyone know how great it is and if you need a way to bring the true holiday spirit to you and your family this is a great way!
A New Form of Expression
I have already told you how fun it is to work with Dr. Mofid b/c he introduces me to all sorts of new people and culture I otherwise probably wouldn’t get subjected too. Recently, I met one of his good friends who is a Mosaic artist. I don’t know how much Mosaic you have all been introduced to, but it truly is an amazing, beautiful, creative art art form that takes a ton of work. This artist is Reham Aarti Jacobsen who was born and raised in Kuwait. Apart from being an extremely talented and creative mosaic artist, she is also a fabulous person. Reham opened one of the first mosaic working galleries here in Boise a few years ago. This is her studio but she also teaches a class there and opens the area up to her students as a studio for them as well. The other day she stopped by and invited me to come take the class which I am very grateful for. I really wanted to take it but it just wasn’t in the budget right now. So thanks to her generosity, I attended last night and had a great time learning about this ancient art form. I haven’t actually started a project yet, but I will soon and we will see how it goes. Her work is amazing; I would post some pics but can’t so here is her website. http://www.mosaicessential.com/about.html
Unfortunately, to be good at this you have to be pretty nit-picky and I don’t have that quality; at least in projects I do! Here are some pics I just got online. The cool thing is that you can do anything; simple, detailed, functional, fun, gifts, etc. But I feel like it might be pretty pricey. Just like in any hobby there are specific tools and materials you use pretty much only for that thing. So if I really really like it I will do it for a long time but I have to really really enjoy it. I would love to do a patio table sometime!
I think this one is so amazing. It is done with Smalti; a material that is made out of molten glass. It is expensive and different b/c you don’t use grout with it. It used mostly when you need perfect shading. And if you look at this face, you can see the perfect shading and how real it looks.
Please Note: This Mosaic Image may not be reproduced in any form without the legal authorization of the artist. Please be aware that Mosaic Artists worldwide have united to form an International Mosaic Art Watch Group that will support the prosecution of anyone who does so.
Rocks and Priorities
Some of you might have heard this before but I thought it was really great.
A professor of philosophy stood before his class with some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks about two inches in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was full.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly and watched as the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the rocks. The professor then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They chuckled and agreed that it was indeed full this time.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. The sand filled the remaining open areas of the jar. “Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar signifies your life. The rocks are the truly important things, such as family, health and relationships. If all else was lost and only the rocks remained, your life would still be meaningful. The pebbles are the other things that matter in your life, such as work or school. The sand signifies the remaining “small stuff” and material possessions.
If you put sand into the jar first, there is no room for the rocks or the pebbles. The same can be applied to your lives. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are truly important.
Pay attention to the things in life that are critical to your happiness and well-being. Take time to get medical check-ups, play with your children, go for a run, write your grandmother a letter. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, or fix the disposal. Take care of the rocks first – things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just pebbles and sand.
Finding time in the day for fitness or participating in other athletic endeavors should be considered a “rock” for us all. Physiologically, working out releases endorphins in the body. These endorphins are natural pain-relievers produced by the body. This is what gives us the natural high experienced after a workout. This natural high has the potential to positively influence our daily interactions by making us feel better about ourselves. Make fitness a rock solid priority in your life and reap the benefits.
I got this in an email today from my daily Spark People motivational encouragement to stay fit and eat healthy. What a great story to tell in a talk at church; I am sure it has been told before. I hope you enjoy it.
Fun on the Farm
Obviously I haven’t been spending as much time lately doing this. There has been alot going on. We are getting over colds but mostly I have just been focusing alot on Christmas the last few days. I have been spending my lunch break working on some things that I can’t talk about until after the holiday! Anyway, I did want to report on our Thanksgiving getaway and post some pics.
Traveling during the busiest time of the year was no big deal for us. We left on Wednesday at 3ish and missed all the peak times for flights so the airport was nice and normal. And our flights were all on time with good service. We were very grateful. My sis picked us up at the Northwest Arkansas Regional airport- this is a small airport in the Rogers/Bentonville area that was mostly built to cater to Wal-mart-its nice and closer to my parents than Little Rock. It was still a 2.5 hour drive to the farm. Sleeping at home was a bit difficult. The first night was on an air mattress in the living room which was interrupted early in the morning by the big turkey being put on to cook. Ry was such a trooper the whole time. Getting enough sleep is probably his biggest frustration but he was relatively perky for the amount we got over our trip. That day we just hung out on the farm, checked out the cows, and watched football. Dinner was great apart from a slight gravy catastrophe that resulted from my mom salting it 3 TIMES. I thought it was fine. That night after a few rounds of Spoons, a favorite McClanahan game, Ry introduced us to BS which was highly entertaining due to my mom’s total inability to lie! She put two cards down every time no matter what and always puckered her lips into a little grin afterwards-every time no kidding! Anyways, the next day we spent a few hours burning a field my parents are clearing to run cows on. This is a fun activity for any pyrotechnic prone person looking for a good time. Here are some pics:
It was really cold so we didn’t do the normal amount of 4-wheeling we love to do. The next day my folks put us to work building fence. We had to move tons and tons of rocks-wish I had a pic to show you are accomplishment.
Over all we really did have an awesome trip. The night before we left we saw lots of my friends from college. We stayed with my old roommate who got married just three days before us. It was like I was never gone. I felt so comfortable with my family and Ry which has not always been the case. Sometimes its hard bringing families together but it was fun this time.
