excerpts (2008)

from my journal

1 January: "Got Dad to put cat food in his mouth. Sooo funny, but he was rather peeved."

1 February: "Arlette will be married when I wake. Crazy, eh? Congrats to the new bride."

10 February: "I chopped my hair. Took off about a foot and now it's about chin-length. A big change. Not a huge fan as of right now but I suppose I'll grow accustomed."

9 March: "________ dropped the F-bomb in class. Took her out in the hall. She's going through a lot. Don't want to make things worse."

11 March: "Yesterday I had quite the experience at the gym. I'll cut and paste it into here. I can't tolerate intolerance. (Hypocritical, no?) Sometimes I just wanna punch people in the face."

16 March: "I am thankful for walks
for Sunday/family dinners
for beads
for blue sky
for clean clothes that I didn't have to wash by hand
for speed scrabble
for music
for friends
for fam
for exercise

Bonne nuit!"

27 April: "Sierra's pregnant! And I'm not supposed to tell anyone yet, so I'm writing in here because it feels like I'm telling someone in some way."

4 May: "Ready for haphazardness?
quotes from spring break:
Joli, on driving away from Todd and Susy's on the hilly, winding roads: 'Let's enjoy the theme park ride, Josh.'

Josh to Joli: 'At least I have 20 dollars to comfort me.'
Joli's reply: 'It's ok, Josh.'"

27 May: "Rock climbing rocked! Man, I'm addicted. Just like last year when I went bouldering and wanted to buy climbing shoes. Well, yesterday was my first time really rock climbing [outside and not at the gym]...and yep, I've been bitten by some bug that makes me want to really get into it."

1 June: "Went to bed at 12:20 and awoke at 6:30...couldn't fall back to sleep even though I tried. So I'm up on the west side of the basin in RC Park. The water's coming down here from the canyon so there's a nice little roar going on. The sun has hit the lake but hasn't yet peeked at me. It's lovely being up here. Rode my bike up. Just wanted to get away for a few moments to write. And study holy writings."

16 juin: "Big 9-stake FHE was tonight and I'm too crazy and have to get all sweaty. Can't be a normal girl, sit, be pretty, bat eyelashes, talk to boys, be talked to by boys. Nope, I must off and play soccer and frisbee."

22 June: "Cracked rib...went camping...highlights of my day w/Mags:

• buying a little gas stove and a head lamp
• driving and chatting
• talking
• Mags putting this big old log full of ants on the fire
• seeing the stars
• watching the moonrise
• enjoying all the beautiful scenery
• sitting by the fire"

6 July: "Friday was the big holiday, if you want to call it that. I went on a nice long ride w/Dad out to 'west fields,' as he terms them; it's west of Spanish Fork. It was fun despite my right foot having an irksome tendency of falling asleep."

31 July: "Went on my longest run ever: 10.5 miles. It took me about 1:40. I actually felt pretty good, but I didn't do any swim or bike beforehand so that's probably why."

6 August: "Slept in like a baby this morn. Went on a 1:30 bike ride w/Dad. Played at 'our' beach: swam, gin, speed scrabble, sand. Came back to camp. Picked huckleberries. Made and ate dinner. Went to the south beach and had ice cream cones. Played with my camera along the shore.

10 August: "Well, it's done. I did it! It wasn't nearly as terrible as I thought it would be. I thought it would hurt a lot more, but I guess I'm in better shape than I reckoned. It was sooo fun! I had the usual nervous, jumpy stomach feelings Fri night and Sat morn before it began..."

13 August: "Thursday I biked out to school. I worked on getting the classroom ready and other various things. We had a lil dept mtg and a mentor/mentee mtg. I'm really excited for the starting of the school year."

13 September: "'Kiterunner' was ok. Don't think I can compare it w/ the book which seemed much more deep emotionally. I really really liked 'Diving Bell and Butterfly.' I want to read the book now. It was amazing. Editing compromised a bit of my understanding, so I'm going to have to ask Liz if she saw it edited or not and see if she can fill in the hole for me."

22 September: "Just had the best FHE EVER! We ripped nails from boards. It was pure delight and muscle. Loverly."

12 October: "The Sacramento Temple is gorgeous! The grounds are lovely. It's just grand. The ceremony was beautiful and Kenny and Kari were so happy. Everything was just dandily good. Kari's grandpa sealed them so that's pretty special...He mentioned something President Hinckley said while he was sealing hes granddaughter to her fiance...that out of everything he'd done in his life, performing the sealings of grandchildren and and great grandchildren was the finest thing he'd ever done. So right."

2 November: John Muir 1894: "Few places in the world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain-passes. They will eliminate care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action."

4 November: "Election Day! Nervous and excited!"

23 November: "I am thankful this day for:

sunshine
frisbee
family
sleep
scriptures
prayer
church
walks
a healthy body
friends
Elijah Paul Abel
Sierra and Joe
my students
my Savers pants (vain)
mountains
a nice bed
Thanksgiving break"

1 December: "The high was 55 today. I just got back from a delicious run--6 miles in shorts and tee :). Can you believe that? Madness pure madness."

8 December: "End w/ a baby rushwrite. Yet there will always be a cloud in the sky. Whether it's over your head or over the head of someone a country away, you'll clutch your umbrella tighter than before."

24 December: "So fun. I love my friends. I love the snow. I love the break. It's so nice to not have stringent plans."

29 December: "Smile. Have patience. Be thankful. Rejoice. Spread cheer."

sometimes i miss

my summer legs.

(my legs the eve of my half-ironman...ah!)

especially after spraining my ankle saturday at soccer. it's all fat and i'm bummed because i wanted to run like a maniac this week. trying swimming tomorrow; i just adore one-leg push-offs.

delicious

my break thus far has included the following (and more, of course, for I'm never able to remember everything):

eating huckleberry pancakes. drinking hot chocolate. building a snow cave/igloo/fort/whatever you'd like to term it. delivering lil presents whilst taking a rambling two hour walk through the snow. snowshoeing up Rock Canyon. running with Ma before all the snow dumped down. sledding with the aunts, uncles, and cousins. reading Unaccustomed Earth and Me Talk Pretty One Day. teasing a sleeping uncle. playing dominoes with Josh and Dad. being a long-underwear twin with Josh. listening to "Christmas Song" by Dave Matthews. eating Thai with Mags and walking to the library, both of us wondering what in the devil those people were chanting/doing/ wearing all white. enjoying time at both sets of grandparents homes. making a scarf for Jo. singing hymns and Primary songs with the family. taking a nap whenever I feel the urge. running at the gym with Heather and Becky. getting the almond in my rice pudding.

people are beautiful

http://www.joytoeveryone.com/en/

hyde park

Ah, how I love my family. We enjoy breaking out into song (sorry about how obtrusive my voice is over the loveliness of the others'). We like playing dominoes (Gramma is especially competitive). We just seem to have an all-around jolly-good time when we get together. Yesterday was grand, up at Gma's and Gpa's. I love you all; you know who you are.

you have 10 minutes to write

Today’s writer’s notebook entry (for my students):

Write three small stories about yourself. Two of them should be true; the other should be false. Write at least seven sentences for each story. (Please write more than the following: I kissed a toad today. It was juicy.) Trick us into thinking the lie is a truth.

Here’s my example:

1. I was about ten years old. It was summertime. My brother’s and my chore was to pick up the apples that had fallen off the tree. We hated this job because a couple days on the ground and in the sun turn apples nasty and sticky. One day my mom and dad said we had to pick up the apples before we could visit our grandparents. I really wanted to go, but I procrastinated the dreaded apple chore. My parents left without us. I was steaming mad. I went outside after they left and started picking up the apples. This wasn’t a dainty game of pick-up, though, as I chucked them hard into the bucket. Then I started hurling them at the house. Harder and harder. And harder and then: CRASH. I broke the window.

2. This story happened a few years back. I was mountain biking in southern Utah with three friends. We’d been going for about four hours and I was starting to get tired. We were riding down a pretty steep section and I lost control. I tried to brake but my wheels were already sliding. I couldn’t do anything to stop the inevitable fall, so the crash came. I hit the rocky ground as well as some unfriendly vegetation; my right leg came in direct contact with a lovely, prickly cactus. Surprisingly, I didn’t cry—probably because I wanted to keep on my tough mask. I pulled out the five cacti needles as quickly as possible.

3. A year and a half ago I was lucky enough to travel around Europe with my dad. One of our stops was Nice, France. After taking a little hike, we arrived back at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. I put on my swimsuit and dove on in. The water was saltier than any water I’d ever swum in, but it felt cool and refreshing after the hike. I had taken only a few strokes before I spied a fat brown jellyfish only a few feet from me. I didn’t know what to do. Then I saw another and another. I decided the best thing to do was to turn around and go back to the beach. I resorted to simply wading at the sea’s edge because I didn’t want to risk any contact.

So which one is the lie?

home two years

So it's Sunday morning. I'm still figuring out what to include in today's Relief Society lesson, but I need a little break. I've been meaning to write on this subject since Thanksgiving because it was that time of year when I returned home from my mission in Ukraine. I've been home for over two years now!

Visiting with Valentina, a Russian woman, Friday night has made me feel the urge even more to write on this topic. I'm not sure what will follow, but this I do know, I think of Ukraine and my brothers and sisters there every day. Usually it's even countless times within a day.

I'm grateful for journeys. Here is a bit of something I wrote in May 2006 (while on my mission):

"Journeys to conquer fear. Journeys to fight for love. Journeys to new countries, different people, strange languages. Where you can't always say what your heart feels and you wish you could speak and be understood. Tall apartment buildings. The inside stairways and us descending, going from door to door to Tell people about what we believe. Boys spit on us. Ladies yell at us. But sometimes, someone's door stays open as they listen to our weak Russian as we tell them about the book we carry in hand. Journeys can last a day or a lifetime. All our little journeys make up one big journey--our journey from this our earthly home back to our Heavenly home."

Even though I'm not journeying in Ukraine anymore, it's still a part of me. And my life still feels like a dream to me as Jacob writes in Jacob 7:26, "The time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream."

I'm living a dreamlife. And I hope I'm journeying how I ought to be. Hope to attain my fondest dream.

This wasn't much, but a nice little diversion. Back to lesson planning. Happy Sabbath!

one more candle on the [pie]

I couldn't get this poem out of my head while I was running yesterday:

First Fig
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light!

oak leaves on a Sunday morning walk

Went walking with Mom, Dad, and Josh. I spaced taking my camera last Sunday when I went with Dad and Josh, and was happy when I remembered to take it today. It rained last night and I thought these droplets were rather pleasing to the eye. I simply adore Sunday morning walks.

thanksgiving

my day in brief:

2 a.m. finally crash to sleep at Jo's, along with Carrie and Emily, after playing with them and Liz, Nat, and Rachel (remember, "It's from Pier 1...")

7 a.m. attempt to sleep for another hour (I have issues with sleeping in)

8 a.m. roll around and start talking with Carrie. play with the lovely dogs Tori and Emmett. talk with Carrie, Emily, and Jo

I don't recall specific times after this so it's going to be more of a list:

bike with Dad and Josh to Provo pool to meet up with Alistor and Mauri

bike to Springville (Evan and Corinne's) with the boys. I felt like a mother duckling for some reason.

play football in the backyard of my mother's childhood and the now-backyard of my cousins.

play kickball.

eat delicious dinner.

play Candyland and Imaginiff.

eat pie: rhubarb and banana cream.

play hearts.

play speed.

play kick the can.

play mission.

pile into the van and return home.

close eyes.

it was all lovely fun. I am thankful for so many things. Family. Friends. Peace. Sunshine. Mountains. Books. Music. Prayers. Hope. Scriptures. Bikes. Games. Laughter. Earth's beauties. Home. Ukraine. Smiles. Hugs. Understanding. Babies. Sharing. Temples. Testimonies. Trees. Water. Hikes. Runs. Swims. Sleep. Students. Learning. Teaching. Writing. Memories. Faith. Past. Present. Future. Eternity. Encouragement. Comfort. And so on and so forth.

here he is!

the most important news!

Elijah Paul Abel

was born 20 November.

He weighed 7 lbs and will

be going home with Sierra

and Joe today. As soon as

I get pictures from them

I'll put one (or some) up.

I'm a cousin!!! But it seems

I'm more than that somehow

and so I'm honored that Sierra's

dubbed me as Aunty Lynny.

one more: BIG hair

Amber and my hair!

talent?

Last night we had a spancy ward activity. We enjoyed some Thanksgiving dinner and then talents. The whole night was fun. I love experiencing the outright sharing of talents. I got to dance with Amber, Laura, Liz, and Rachel. It was too much fun. We danced to Amii Stewart's "Knock On Wood" (don't worry, I had never heard this song till they played it for me). Here are a couple pre-performing pictures and then most of our dance. My camera's been a punk lately and so I didn't get the whole thing. I love these girls dearly. Enjoy (i.e. feel free to laugh and/or shake your head in disgust)!

OK, it's not uploading my video, so I'll have to figure that out later.

catching up: football with mags

Mags and I went to the BYU vs. SDSU game. I'm not the greatest football fan in the world, but I do enjoy spending time with a good friend. Plus the weather was simply fantastic. We didn't sit in the snow like we did last year, so just that fact made it that much better. We had fun riding our bikes to and from the game.

We also had the lovely luck of being stalked by a binocular-bearing fan who sat totally opposite us in the stadium. Mags received a text stating: "I know where you are." She replied: "What am I wearing?" The response which came astounded us and had us looking every which way to try to find this creeper (ok, he's really not a creeper, just one of Mags' friends). We didn't think he had binoculars and then we realized he must because he texted back: "You're wearing a BYU t-shirt with a long sleeve white shirt underneath. You're friend is wearing some weird black thing on her head. Immediately to your left is a fat guy in gray."

He was exactly right. He had us laughing for a good five minutes. We were much more self-conscious and ceased picking our noses for fear we'd be seen by BinoculoRex.

So why the "weird" black thing on my head? To protect my fair skin.

Maрджи моя любимая!

catching up: Joli's baptism

Joli got baptized 1 November. It was a gorgeous Saturday, and her baptism and confirmation were great. She was so happy and smiling. She had lots of support from family and friends. She's such a lovely dear, and I'm so glad she made the choice to get baptized. Love you Joli!

love=understanding

“To [Granma and Granpa], love and understanding was the same thing. Granma said you couldn’t love something you didn’t understand; nor could you love people, nor God, if you didn’t understand the people and God” (38).

from The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter

your darkest fear: c'est moi

This is NOT me on drugs. This is me after a day of teaching. I promise it really is. But I guess I ought to inform you this picture was taken after all the Halloween festivities of the day. I did some really awkward makeup jazz (which you can't see very well in this b & w photo, but oh well) and did my hair up in almost ten top-knots; I took out those knots and my hair was huge. I know you're thinking, um, Lyn, your hair is already huge. But I'm telling you, think large, large mane of hair. That's my hair Halloween night.

albany, boston temple, walden pond, lovelies

I don't have much time to write a full report of the splendid time I had in Albany. I most enjoyed simply spending time with Sierra and Joe (and baby...I felt him kick/move around). Here are a few pictures from my trip. It was oh so gorgeous this time of year (my favorite season EVER).

employment enough

My friends ask what I will do when I get there. Will it not be employment enough to watch the progress of the seasons? –Henry David Thoreau

walden pond

more to come. got back today from visiting sierra, joe, and baby (still in the oven) abel. this is one picture from our trip to walden pond. so grand.

kenny and kari

They got married in the Sacramento temple Saturday 11 October. My dad drove my mom, Bags, and me out Friday afternoon. They picked me up from school and we picked up Andrew from the Sacramento airport around midnight PDT. We stumbled into the hotel and promptly fell asleep.

The Sacramento temple is gorgeous and I fell in love with the grounds and the landscape even surrounding the grounds. As we pulled up to the temple that morning we saw some wild turkeys and deer making their way through the countless oak trees. One of my favorite things about the grounds is this old oak tree left standing rather close to the temple itself. I'll put the picture in.

Kari's grandpa performed the sealing. It was really special and I learned things I need to do to become a better me. Sealings are always quite the tear-jerkers for me. It's just so special to see two worthy people join together in one moment that links them for all of eternity. Kenny and Kari were happy of course.

Pictures, pictures, pictures came after that. Then we went over to Kari's parents' house. We had a fine feast and then just chilled while the reception played out. They had it from 1-3 and that was nice because we didn't have to bum around all day. It was sunny but a bit nippy. I got sunburned even though I was kind of cold all day long. I enjoyed talking with the Evan/Corine Clark family. I have such a great family!!!

We decorated the car, bid the newlyweds farewell, helped clean up, and headed back to the hotel. I desperately wanted to find a bookstore and the guy at the front desk told me there was a Barnes and Noble only a 3-4 minute drive away. So off we went for a little walk. Well, turns out we never found the B and N. It was at least a 10 minute drive away as we found out the next day while leaving town. Oh well. I enjoyed myself out in the fresh air. Andrew was being kind of a babypants, but I guess I should be used to it because he's my younger brother. No, he wasn't that bad--just his usual, teasing self.

Sunday was a long drive home. We saw the snow that had fallen on the mtns. Glorious. Not quite ready for the cold, but come what may, eh?

I leave tomorrow night for Albany (Sierra, Joe, and baby-not-yet-born!!!). I'm grateful for fall break. I'll have a lot of papers to grade, but Term 1 is almost over. Can you believe I've almost survived another term of school? Crazy daisy.

Listen to some Guster. It will make you happy (at least it makes me happy). Laters.

after rain: Sunday morning walk w/ Josh

This morning Josh and I went on a little walk. We had fun taking pictures along the way. It rained last night and so everything smelled clean. We walked to the temple and admired the lovely grounds there. I am especially fond of the gorgeous grasses--too bad I don't know what kind they are. It was a nice, peaceful morning. I'm happy Josh was willing to spend some time with me; it was very relaxing.

honoring Papi: first REAL crash

Well, it happened. I crashed. Dad gave us all a stern lecture about wearing our helmets even if we weren't going that far. And so I wore my helmet yesterday to and from Days Market even though it's only a block or so away from home. On the return, I was going a little too fast and I didn't slow down enough for a left turn. I soon found myself crashing to the road. The road bashed into me in three main spots: my right elbow, my right hip, and the right side of my forehead (protected by the aforementioned helmet). I am most grateful that my shoulder stayed in its socket since it has a history of not doing such kind deeds. Today it's been achy, and I hope nothing's torn. So, yes, blessings do come from honoring the padres.

I figure it's actually nice that I crashed. I figure it this way: (a) it wasn't really too bad of a crash, (b) I now know I can't take turns that quickly (c) I will forevermore wear a helmet. I suppose what I'm saying is that I'm an idiot and it takes a lil' fiasco like this to help me gain some knowledge/experience.

School's swell. I'm really enjoying it.

9 days till Yuba! And a 3-day weekend coming up!

playing again

Last night I had the happy chance to play soccer with girls I played with in high school. We had a lil' game which pitted alumni against the current varsity team at Timpview. The highlight of the night was when we scored two goals to bring us to one behind: 3-4. Jim brought us off the field and told us to not let our heads get too big because we'd had 13 on the field. I didn't even realize anything, but I guess he made a sub and someone didn't come off that was supposed to. That gave him a good idea because the ref didn't even notice, so Jim purposefully used the same tactic to give us two more players on the field than the other team. So sneaky. After we scored the goals, he restored things to their proper order with 11 playing. It was loads of fun to see the "girls" I played with.

Tomorrow's the first day of school, huzzah!

camping and iron(wo)man

The family and I spent four happy days in McCall, Idaho. We camped at the splendid Ponderosa State Park. We filled our days with biking, huckleberry picking, cliff jumping, running, swimming, and playing at the beach. It was all rather relaxing and enjoyable. My personal favorite activity would probably be the huckleberry picking. It's so soothing somehow and I just adore the berry stain I get on my fingers. The lake is gorgeous and it was so nice to be able to jump in it whenever desired.

Yesterday I completed my first legitamate triathlon ever and it was a half ironman. So that means I swam 1.2 miles, biked 56 miles, and ran 13.1 miles. I finished in 5 hours and 41 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised by being more prepared for it than I thought I would be. I had concerns about my rib injury bothering me, but that area of my back didn't start aching until I had about 2 miles left on the run, so I was happy about that. On the whole, I just thought it was going to hurt like mad, but it wasn't too bad. The hardest part for me actually was probably the first couple miles of the run; it's a hard transition and my left quad was having a grand old time cramping up. It was seriously fun and as I started out on the bike I couldn't stop smiling because I was so excited. After I finished I couldn't believe what I'd just done. Yay for triathlons. I'm doing my next one in September in Yuba. It's Olympic length, so 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 10k run. Huzzah!

I'm back at school in meetings this week and then the real thing starts 18 August. This summer I've possibly enjoyed myself a bit too much, but it's been a much needed mental break and I'm looking forward to teaching again.

baby smile

Just holding Livvy, my youngest neighbor, last night. She's so precious.

I went riding all the way up South Fork this morning. It was my first time going all the way, so that makes me happy. I had some nice company as Jeff Hammond came along for the ride. The morning was ever so lovely with clouds scattered about. My rib is feeling better, but I'm still rather nervous for the half ironman. It's going to be quite a feat. I haven't even done a full tri! Oh well, it will be a (good) experience to say the least.