a year of happy

airborn

Guatemalan puddle jumper.

Second thoughts?

 

Worth it!

 
 

what's cool in america

While our Japanese student was here,
we took him to see
all sorts of
cool American sights.

We saw dinosaurs, and
mountains,
and waterfalls.
We went swimming,
and hiking,
and shopping.

And we ate
hamburgers.
They were his
favorite.

I asked him if he
brought a camera.
He said no.

So I ran around like a
madwoman,
taking pictures of
everything
so he could have some
memories
of his trip.

On the last night,
we were getting on the
freeway
to drive to his
closing banquet.

It was rush hour,
and we had to sit in line
at the metered lights
to get on the
freeway.

He rustled in his bag,
and pulled out a
beautiful digital
camera...

and took a picture of
the traffic lights.

 

One photo of America.
Metered traffic lights.

What's cool
about America
to you?

(post script: do you think we had a communication gap?)

photo from flickr creative commons -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chainedreactions/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

social experiment

There is something
about this video
that makes me so
happy.

Maybe it's that
I grew up
listening to this...

 

Or maybe
it's because I love
to see the expressions
on people's faces
when they decide
to let their hair down
and have a little fun!

think hawaii

I'm looking for the good...
looking for
good...
looking
for good...

It's SNOWING in OCTOBER.

I grew up
in a place where
winter
was brutal.

I remember
trick or treating
in snow
up to my knees...

walking up the hill
with the wind
trying to blow me
back down...

driving in the snow
and sliding the suburban
right into a
snowbank.

(*Update: Yes, I did it all uphill both ways!)

Winter's not my favorite.

But
ever since
those days in Idaho,
I have tried
this trick
to get through it.

.

.

.

.

THINK HAWAII!

 

TRY IT!

daily grapefruit

 

I love to read.

I would choose
a good book
over television
anytime.

The only bad thing about it
is that once I start
a book
I can't put it down
until I'm done.

Lately
I don't have time
to get involved in a whole novel.

So I'm getting my
reading enjoyment
from a few good blogs.

One of my favorites is
The Daily Grapefruit.

I just discovered this blog
about a month ago.
Already
I love it!

The writer
has such a way with words.
She knows how
to savor life.

She writes about food
in such a way
that I can almost
taste it.

When she writes
about parenting,
it makes me glad
I'm a mom--
even on the bad days.

The Daily Grapefruit helps me
find the everyday
happy
in my life.

Thanks, Grapefruit!

bad prose

The Deseret News
and Ann Cannon
just held a writing contest,
"The Worst Novel Ever Written"
Contest.

It is really good for a
laugh!

My favorite?
The Second Best Uh-Oh Moment.

It starts like this:

"As soon as Mindy met her
freshman college roommate,
she realized that she had been
premature
in assuming
that her roommate would be her
new best friend
and..."

It's written by
Diane Coles
and you'll have to
click here
to read the rest.

Believe me, it's
worth it!

photo from flickr creative commons - lisa's photography photostream

temple square for someone new

I have visited
Temple Square
in Salt Lake City
many times.

I have visited with
youth groups
and with family.
I have gone at
Christmas time
to see the lights.
I have been to
concerts and I have
been to
Conference.

But it is a
totally different
experience
to see Temple Square
through the eyes
of someone

new.

dinosaurs and waterfalls

Have you been
to the Dinosaur Museum
at Thanksgiving Point?

As long as I've lived here,
I've never been.

But today
we decided to go
with our students from
Japan.

Very impressive!

Then we took
everyone on a hike
to Stewart Falls.
Of course it started
raining
as soon as we arrived.

That didn't stop
the brave ones!

And the storm made the mountains
so beautiful.

a night at cabela's

gifts from japan

Our student from Japan
arrived tonight.
He is staying with us
for one week
while he experiences
American culture
in all its varieties.

So we're doing
our part
to make sure
that happens.

We started with
burgers
at Fuddruckers!

I think
he loved it!

You know we did!

He brought us
some neat gifts
from Japan.

Rice treats and chocolate....

And his mother
handcrafted a beautiful
flower pin
and a necklace
for me.

I love them.

We're trying to plan
more fun activities
this week...

maybe the
Dinosaur Museum
or a hike
to Stewart Falls?

How about a visit
to Cabela's--
that would surely
be top of the list!