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!