a year of happy

it's the grand opening of...... THE BLOG CAFE!

Welcome to The Blog Cafe!

We've been looking forward
to this for days now....
and it's finally here!

Have you heard about The Blog Cafe?

It's a virtual get-together
where we meet up every Monday
for some good treats
and fun conversation.

Each week, we're gathering
at a different blog--
our host blogger gets to choose
a local hot spot
where we're going to "meet",
what we're going to "eat",
and what we're going to talk about.

Then the rest of us
will stop by sometime
during our Monday
to leave a comment
and share our thoughts
on the day's topic.

Anyone who'd like to
take a turn can
choose a week to be the host.
And this week, it's me!

I decided I'm going
to take you to a place
that has one of my
favorite treats....Smart Cookie,
and the treats are on me!






You can have your choice of
all kinds of yummy cookies....





or choose two
and create a one-of-a-kind
ice cream sandwich.....
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Or you can have my favorite:
frozen hot chocolate! Yum!
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Now, just picture it....
we're sitting around the table
with these guys
hanging around above us.
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And we're talking and laughing
and shooting the breeze.
Listen in---
here's what we're talking about....


So several years ago
when my kids were really small,
my husband gave me
the best gift for my birthday.

He gave me the gift of
an evening ALONE.
I sat in a bubble bath
with my favorite book
and the door LOCKED.
And he didn't let anyone
knock on the door
or call out my name
or need me for anything
for what seemed like hours,
(but it was probably just one.)

It was wonderful.

Just thinking about that
gets me wondering....
if you had the gift of a day,
not just an evening,
but a whole day
to do anything you want,
what would you do?

No responsibilities,
nobody needs you,
there's nothing you HAVE to do.

Where would you be,
and who would you be with,
and what would you do?
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If I had the gift of a day,
there are two things I'd choose out of.
And since I'm making the rules,
I'm going to tell you both!

If it was a day
when I had lots of energy,
I'd be in Italy,
walking through a
quaint little village
with my camera--
or maybe driving
through the countryside
in a red convertible
with the top down.

I'd be with the locals
so they could show me
the best places,
and of course, I'd speak Italian.
I'd eat great food,
and I'd take tons of beautiful pictures
that I'd hang on my walls
to get me through
until the next time
I had the gift of a day.

But---if I felt like I needed a rest,
I'd be on a beach in Hawaii,
with my toes in the sand,
sitting in the shade of a palm tree,
a cooler of good fruit
and ice cold water beside me,
watching the waves until sunset.

Yes, indeed. That's where I'd be.
.

Now it's your turn:
if you had the gift of a day,
what would you do?


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Remember, it's The Blog Cafe!
Everybody is welcome--
come introduce yourself
and let's get to know
each other better.

Would you like to
be a host sometime soon?
Send us an email at
theblogcafe@yahoo.com
and Jenny the Calendar Girl
will get you on the list!

You can learn more about
The Blog Cafe here.

And next week,
we're meeting at
Jenny-Jenny's place--
Be there or be square!

meet me at the blog cafe!

One of the great things about blogging is becoming part of a wonderful virtual community of friends. Sometimes it feels like we're sitting around a table at our local cafe talking and laughing and having a great time getting to know each other better.

But in reality, we're sitting at home, in front of our computer screens and leaving comments on each other's blogs.

We're in countries all over the world, from Norway to Australia, and all across the U.S. But we're still talking and laughing and getting to know each other better, just as well as if we really were sitting around that table together.

Last week, we had a virtual get-together over Molten Chocolate Cake. It was so much fun, we decided to make it a regular event--and we hope you will join us!



We're calling it "The Blog Cafe," and here's how it works:

Every Monday, we're going to gather at somebody's blog for some food, fun, and great conversation. Each week, we will have a different blogger act as our host for our virtual get-together.

When you are the host, you will choose what we're "eating" and where we're "meeting", and you'll get us started on a topic of conversation.

We hope you'll share some photos of where you're taking us and what we're having--give us a taste of the local fare and maybe give us a peek of the world in your neck of the woods!

Then the rest of us--anyone and everyone is welcome--will pop in for a visit sometime throughout the day and leave a comment. We'll share our thoughts and insights on the topic you've chosen, and we'll all get to know each other better!


A few questions:

• How will I know where we're gathering each week? Jenny and Tracy and I are the coordinators--visit our blogs each Monday morning, and we'll give you the blog address of where we're meeting up. We'll post at 12:01 our times, so hopefully wherever you are in the world, you can join us sometime during your Monday!
  .
• How do I have a turn as the host? Send an email to theblogcafe @ yahoo . com. We'll get you on the list and give you a hosting date!
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• Who is invited? EVERYONE! We hope you'll feel welcome to join us anytime. You don't have to sign up to play along. Just join us when you can. If you miss a week or if you're new, you are always welcome. The fun is all about getting to know new friends!
  .
• Do I have to meet at a certain time? No! We are not having a set meeting time. Just pop in anytime during your Monday, read the post and the previous comments, and make a comment of your own. If you'd like, check back later and follow the conversation throughout the day.
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The Rules
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We just have one rule--and we'll rely on our weekly hosts to make sure it's followed:

We want to keep our conversations positive and uplifting. if you're looking for sarcastic, snide, or snarky conversation, you won't find it here.

And that goes for criticism of other commenters. Those kind of comments will be deleted. So just keep it nice! Also, many of us write family blogs, so please--let's keep it  children-safe!

We're looking forward to seeing you on Monday--we're starting here at "A Year of Happy" on April 19.

I'll go first, then the next Monday we'll be at Jenny-Jenny Who Can I Turn To, and for week three we'll be at Pink Purl. Who knows...maybe the next week could be you!

Can't wait to see you for treats and talk on Mondays! And be sure to tell your friends--everyone is welcome at "The Blog Cafe"!

Grab a button for your blog!

When you install this button on your blog,
please link it to our Blog Cafe page
so your followers will be able to join us!

http://www.ayearofhappy.com/the-blog-cafe.html

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right in the middle of town

I took "A" to school this morning.

The sun had just come up,
and the shadows on the mountains
were so beautiful.

Carrying my camera around with me
has made me stop and notice things
that I hadn't paid any attention to before.

For instance,
about a mile away from my house
right in the middle of town
and across the street from the cemetery
lies this open field.

I drive by it several times a day.

And yet I've never paid attention
to the beauty of it all.

But when I look at it
through a camera lens,
I realize how breathtaking it really is.

Right in the middle of town.

Some people would pay
big bucks for a view like this!

running free

"A's" favorite activity
is parkour or free running.

Have you heard of it?

This is the Wikipedia definition:

Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment. It is a non-competitive, physical discipline of French origin in which participants run along a route, attempting to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way possible, as if moving in an emergency situation.

Skills such as jumping and climbing, or the more specific parkour moves are employed. The object of parkour is to get from one place to another using only the human body and the objects in the environment. The obstacles can be anything in one's environment, but parkour is often seen practiced in urban areas because of the many suitable public structures available such as buildings and rails.

The term freerunning is sometimes used interchangeably with parkour. While superficially similar, freerunning places more emphasis on the aesthetics of movement and finding creative ways to overcome obstacles than on efficiency and simplicity.

"A" and his friends
love to practice their
free running skills.

They're getting strong by
doing handstands
every day during their lunch hour.





They like to go to Discovery Park
which has lots of wooden obstacles
they can run and jump over.

They also go to a gym
that has pads
where they can practice
without getting hurt.
(That makes their mothers happy!)

And they each have their
own signature trick.

"A's" is a side flip.
We decided to try to get some
action shots of his moves.











Pretty cool, don't you think?!

someday

Last year, I took my son
to a new doctor's office
down in Provo.

On the walls hung
the most amazing paintings.
They were huge
and just filled up the space
with their beauty.
I couldn't take my eyes off them.





Finally I went to ask
the girls at the desk
if they knew
anything about the artist.
I decided I really wanted one
of these paintings for my home.

It took a bit of tracking down,
but I finally found out
that the artist is local
and his name is Christopher Young.

And I discovered
that a painting I had
fallen in love with years ago
was also by this same artist.





I haven't yet been able to
get one of these paintings for my home--
but someday, someday,
I hope to have a huge
40" x 60" painting
hanging front and center.
Wouldn't that be wonderful?!

Visit Christopher Young Art
and view all of his beautiful paintings--
then I'd love it if you'd come back
and tell me what is your favorite!

My favorites are his landscapes
and scenes from Italy in Gallery 1.
Be sure to look at
"Venetian Boats" and
"Duomo, Firenze."

I wish you could see them
in all their full size glory--
the computer screen
just can't do them justice!

ten things to do if you come to visit--or even if you live here

There are probably
at least a dozen travel books
that could tell you what you should do
when you visit Utah.

But wouldn't you rather hear it
from someone who lives here?

So here's my list:

List 5: Ten Things to Do in Utah
If You Come To Visit
(or Even If You Live Here)

1. Visit a National Park. Utah has amazing scenery of all kinds--and a National Park for everyone! Like Arches, Capitol Reef, Zion's, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, and more--I haven't even been to them all.
   
   
   
   
2. Have a root beer freeze with french fries and fry sauce, a Utah delicacy!
   .
   
3. Try speed skating at the Utah Olympic Oval, or if you're really brave, try the luge at Utah Olympic Park.
   ..
4. Go for a bike ride up (or is it down?) Gravity Hill in Salt Lake City. A few blocks northeast of the Capitol building, there is a small road that goes around a park in lower City Creek Canyon called Memory Grove. It seems like you are going downhill when you are actually going up!
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5. Go for a hike in the High Uintahs. Have you ever hiked above 10,000 feet? This is what you might see--it's beautiful!
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6. Go for a walk in The Avenues of Salt Lake City.
   
   
   
   
7. Visit the famous Temple Square and attend a Thursday night practice session of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
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8. Hike Mt. Timpanogos (in the summer).
   
   
   
   
9. Go to Smart Cookie for frozen hot chocolate.
   .
10. Go to Lavell Edwards Stadium and take in a BYU football game--go Cougars!
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Okay, now it's your turn!
Tell me three things
I should do if I visit you!

what's in the attic?

Ever since I was a teenager,
I've wished for an attic
full of old things.

Not "old" like the junk
that's stuffed in boxes
in my storage room.

I mean really old.

Like antique clothing and furniture,
and old photographs,
and long forgotten love letters.

I remember when I first
got on this kick,
my mom and I went to visit
my elderly great aunt,
who lived in the house
where my mom grew up.

We slept in a little upstairs bedroom,
where there were lots of
cupboards and closets
and secret places.

I started snooping,
and that made my mom
really nervous.
But I kept at it.
Who knew what I might find?

And find something I did.

Tucked way back
in a closet on the highest shelf
was a box.
it was about the size
of a large shoe box,
and on the lid it said,
"Memories of Hazel."

Hazel was my mom's mother,
and she had died when
my mom was thirteen.

Inside the box, we found
letters written by her sons
during the second World War,
notes and cards from little daughters,
and all sorts of memories
from days long gone.

THIS was a treasure.

You just never know
what you'll find
in a good attic!

____________________

The other day
I went for a walk
through The Avenues
of Salt Lake City
and took a few photos
of some attics
I wish I could visit.

Aren't they curious?

Click on the photos
to see them up close.










Wouldn't it be fun
to go on a treasure hunt
in one of these attics?!









Have you ever found a treasure
when you've been
searching through
something old?

Hosted by Cecily and ???

the busy biddy

If it's somebody's birthday,
if my sister is in town,
if the girls want to go shopping.....

we always go see Janet
at The Busy Biddy!

Janet has turned
this little house in Orem
into the cutest shop
of gifts and home decor!

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Why do we like
The Busy Biddy so much?
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It might be
because of all the
cute holiday decor
Janet always has in store.
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Maybe it's because
she always has
clothes that are
to die for.
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(Look at these cute aprons!)

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Maybe it's the jewelry
and darling accessories...
like this purse!
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And these pins!
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And these bracelets!

(Just click on the photos
to see all the cuteness up close...)
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But I think the main reason
we like The Busy Biddy
so much is because of
Janet herself!
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Janet is always smiling.
She's always positive.
And she always
makes you happy.

Really....
she makes
The Busy Biddy
the place to be!





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This is what
I'm giving my mom
for her birthday.

It's Busy Biddy bling....
and I can hardly wait!
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one winter morning

Early Saturday morning,
D was out shoveling the walks.
He called in to me.
"Grab your camera!"

So I slipped on some shoes
with my leopard print pajamas,
grabbed a coat,
and ran outside.

When I saw it, I said,
"I need to get in the car for this."

I thought I would just drive up the hill
so I could get a better view.

An hour and a half later,
with my shoes soaked through,
and still in my leopard print pajamas,
I finally got home.

It was one of those snow days
that there really are
no words to describe.

You just have to see it.

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__________________

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