Merry Christmas and Happy New Decade

My favorite Christmas carol has always been "Angels We Have Heard on High," I love the joy of it, the idea of the mountains rejoicing in the birth of the Savior, and how happy it makes me feel to sing it. However, this year the song that has touched me the most is "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" based on the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow :

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men! ...

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Longfellow wrote this poem during a particularly gloomy moment during the Civil War, and while life for me this year hasn't been anywhere near that difficult, singing this last verse in church brought me to tears.

I was listening to a radio program today that said that Time Magazine declared the last ten years to be "The Decade From Hell." Apparently they pointed to the September 11th attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the economic crisis as their proof of this. While this last year has been a little crazy for Tracy and I, I look back at my life over the last ten years and see a decade full of joy and growth. My life is undeniably better. Do I think the rest of it will be perfect? No. But I do feel a sense of hope and optimism. Like Longfellow I know that in the end "The Wrong shall fail, The Right Prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men."

Favorite Things of 2009 - Part I

I'm calling this Part I because I'm sure I'll think of some other things, but two of my favorite things (pop culture wise) of 2009 are:

1. Forest Born by Shannon Hale
This might be my favorite Shannon Hale book, and that is saying something. This book was on my brain for about a week. The thoughts it created weren't always comfortable, for example the main character is a teenager who manages to find absolute balance between, in fantasy terms anyway, public and family life. Something I haven't even come close to figuring out. This book was absolute page-turning entertainment but it stuck with me, a major achievement.

2. "Welcome to the Future" by Brad Paisley
This isn't the first Brad Paisley song that unexpectedly moved me to tears, and it probably won't be the last. In terms of both my own life, and the world in general, this song makes me very grateful to be where I am today. Surprisingly deep for a song that starts out talking about a Pac-Man game. His story about singing this song at the White House was one of the few "celebrity" news stories that actually made me happy. www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/23/brad.paisley.white.house/index.html

I Love Bookstores

I love bookstores. I went tonight for a Christmas/Birthday shopping run and crossed six presents off my list as well as donating one of my favorite books (which was a hardcover on sale for $7.95) to a kids charity for Christmas. Even when I'm not buying the books for myself I still love bookstores!

Cards

I have my Christmas cards written, finally. Now if I only had stamps!

You're a Writer...And This Thing Is Your Blog??

Just for the record, the title of this blog wasn't actually said to me, it's just been running through my head this week. I watched the movie Julie and Julia about a woman who cooked her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and wrote a blog about it. The woman, Julie Powell, had aspirations to become a writer and her blog eventually became a book, and of course, a movie. I'm also a reader of a couple of blogs, like author Shannon Hale's and (my friend from graduate school) Melanie's that are sometimes so clever or touchingly written that it does reach the level of literature.

While I liked the movie for the most part, it made two things very clear to me. 1. I will never blog like Julie Powell (and not just because I've heard she used some nasty language in hers) 2. I will never cook like Julia Child. I'm generally happy enough just to know this blog is read by my mom and my grandmother and that my cooking is good enough to keep my husband and I chubby and happy.

Still, I've found myself wondering why it is that I'm more comfortable writing about fantastical people and places than my own life? Maybe it's because I don't think my life is that adventurous and exciting, which is kind of a good thing actually. I don't know. I don't have any grand cosmic answers to this, it's just been on my mind this week.

New Resolution

I solemnly swear that I will stop reading the largely idiotic comments that usually follow news and entertainment stories online. They almost always make me cranky at the lack of diplomacy, civility, compassion, and (if I'm being honest and snarky) intelligence that people display in writing 90% of those things.

Christmas Decorations

Today I was able to get some Christmas decorations up. Tracy was nice enough to put up the outdoor lights, which always make me happy. I also finished one Christmas present today, worked on another one, and was able to actually wrap two of them. Now, if I can only keep at it I might actually finish in time.

Thanksging Weekend and The Blind Side

We had a great holiday weekend with our families, and actually got to see virtually everyone. We had dinner with Tracy's mom, dessert with my mom and the gang, breakfast with my Dad and Pam and got to see my cousin Lee give a seriously awesome talk as his mission report. And of course how bad can any weekend be when you get to taste five kinds of pie (pumpkin, apple, chocolate cream, pecan, and cream cheese) along with a lot of other delicious food.

We also went to see the movie The Blind Side. It gets my wholehearted recommendation. Based on a true story about a family who went out of their way to help a young man in trouble, it's a remarkable true success story. Its one of those movies that helps you rebuild your faith in humanity. I loved that it was so uplifting without being sticky-sweet.

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope that everyone has a fantastic holiday. Here's a quick list of things that I'm grateful for.

1. An amazing husband who has no remote control issues and hugs me every day.

2. A family that's as delightful as it is dysfunctional.

3. Jobs that let me do things I enjoy.

4. Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

5. Books, books, books, books

6. Living in one of the safest parts of the world

7. My husband (Hey it's my list I can say it twice)

8. Good friends who are now spread from one end of the country to the other. (Thanks to Becky K. and Michaele for moving to such far flung places)

9. That winter is not a permanent condition

10. Having a holiday that's all about remembering and appreciating the good things in your life.

Inevitable New Moon Post and Other Stuff

I had a fantastic day today, I went clothes shopping and actually found exactly what I was looking for, plus the cute red t-shirt I couldn't bear to leave behind. I could even, mostly, afford it. I'm lucky to have a husband who always tells me to buy whatever I need. (Do I really NEED the sparkly red t-shirt? Ok, no, but I'm delighted to own it anyway.)

We also went to New Moon tonight. It was supposed to be a double date with Greg and Chrisann, Tracy's brother and sister-in-law, but Chrisann got sick, so it was just Tracy and I. We missed them, but we're glad we went, at least I am, you'll have to check with Tracy.

The movie was a lot of fun. I think that part of why I love the Twilight series so much is the setting, I love the beaches and the gorgeous green forests. I thought that this movie was truer to the spirit of the book than the first one, and a bigger budget certainly didn't hurt things at all.

One moment that made me laugh was Tracy's ad-lib of Jacob's thoughts, "What does he have that I don't have? Is it the fangs? Cause I've got fangs." Then I just told him that Edward doesn't have fangs and his response was "What good is a vampire with no fangs? It's like a fire truck without a ladder." Yes, I have a funny husband.

And, last but certainly not least, I called my wonderful Mom today, because it was her birthday. Happy Birthday Mom!

The Pop Culture Edition

Lois Lane has my ring tone. Ok, so only those of you who know how Superman happy I am will appreciate this, but for the last few months I've had Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" as the ring tone on my phone, because it's cheesy and was in Lois and Clark and it mentions Superman. Last Friday on Smallville Lois Lane's phone rang and she had the same song. It made me smile. Luckily I've already found my hero (see the previous blog post for proof of this :)

Also, I just bought four tickets to New Moon on Saturday night, I'm willing to wait two nights to avoid the really crazy fans...but not any longer than that which makes me a mid-level crazy I guess. I'm also looking forward to the double date with Chrisann and Greg. Should be a good time.

My Husband Rocks

Sorry, I couldn't resist the obvious pun here. Tracy has spent the last three weekends perfecting our front flower bed including shoveling two tons of decorative stone. The result is highly satisfactory.

Unexpected Day Off

Today I found out the archives is closed tomorrow for Veteran's Day, I'm sort of glad I didn't know ahead of time because it feels like I've gained a day of extra time, which is awesome because I'm still catching up a bit from the lost swine flu weekend.

Lending Books

Today I was able to lend my friend Becky three of my books. Not just any three books, but three of my very favorites: Shannon Hale's Forest Born, Juliet Marillier's Wildwood Dancing and Robin Mckinley's Beauty. I realized I get a lot of joy out of lending my books to people. I think there are several reasons for that. The most selfish is that it helps me justify buying them. This is at least the sixth time I've lent out Beauty (which says a lot for my uber-responsible friends and family that I still have it to loan out), and it helps me feel like I'm getting a return on my investment. Another, slightly less selfish reason is that for me books are a great way to connect with people, they are fantastic conversation starters and a great way to share a piece of your personality. Lending books makes me so happy, I feel like the person borrowing them is doing me a favor. So Jenel's Lending Library will definitely remain open for business.

Oh and maybe all of this book lending will cancel out any bad overdue library book karma I might have accumulated over the years.

Not the Best Combination

Halloween and Swine Flu, just for the record not my favorite combination.

Happy Halloween and Stuff

This weekend Tracy and I went to our ward's "Trunk or Treat" activity. Since we don't have kids it was the first time we'd been to one (it looked like they needed the help so Tracy signed us up) and it was fun. Tracy had the idea of making blood tipped teeth (white cardboard and red marker) to put on the top and bottom of our trunk so it looked like a scary mouth. We didn't actually dress up, but we did wear silly hats and passed out candy to the adorable kids. We also have pumpkins that we're going to carve and I even decorated our house a little. Nice to be a tiny bit in the holiday spirit.

Wild Things

Tonight Tracy and I went to see Where the Wild Things Are, we hadn't been to the movies in forever, and it seemed like a safe enough choice. It was an ok movie but we both had the same impression, "Uh..I don't really get it." After seeing this movie and The Polar Express a few years ago, I think I'm getting more and more dubious about the idea of taking beloved children's picture books and turning them into feature films. I think 90% of the charm of these two books is the simplicity of the story and the beauty of the artwork, something that just doesn't quite translate when you try to blow them up into feature films.

It was VERY fun to go on a date though!

Tracy's Birthday and Blasts from the Past

So, long silence in blog-ville. I've been in a tired and whiny mood and didn't feel like inflicting it on others.

Tracy's birthday was this week though. On Sunday we had Greg and Chrisann over for dinner and took the new grill for another spin and made two racks of ribs. Yum and yum. Have I mentioned we like the new grill? :)

Yesterday as part of my new project at the American West Center our group went up to Fort Hall. It was a productive day, and everyone was very informative and gracious. I never knew that my knowledge of huckleberry picking near the South Fork of the Salmon would come in handy as a PhD student. Also ran into somebody with whom I had some classes at ISU. Driving by Pocatello with a car full of people from the U was a little strange, the old life and new life colliding in an unexpected way.

Incomplete

I watched all four sessions of General Conference and while there was great stuff in all of them, the Saturday morning session was, for me, the highlight of the weekend.

I loved Richard G. Scott's talk on being guided by the spirit. My life feels a little confused right now, so it's great to get some counsel on how to receive direction from my Heaven Father. I was especially motivated by the idea of writing down the impressions we receive, praying about them, and asking for more. Of course he also made the point that we need to ACT on our impressions, which is sometimes the hard part.

One of my favorite lines from Conference (beyond President Monson's simple but powerful "What have I done for someone else today?) was when President Uchtdorf said:

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely."

The Dread is Sinking into my bones...

Ok, so that's a touch on the dramatic side, but I really am feeling that "oh no, it's about to be winter again" panic. I know that with the world in general chaos it's super whiny to be complaining about weather that hasn't even arrived yet, but the promised 30 degree in 24 hour temperature drop has my weather related anxiety on full alert.

I know there are people who like snow, who actually welcome it even, but I am not one of them. The idea that for six months (if I'm lucky) I have to wake up every morning wondering if the roads are going to be ice covered death traps does actually drive me a little nuts. And I think Tracy hates it even worse than I do.

Anyway, I'm just feeling icky today, and the weather seemed like a safe place to vent it.

"Compelling"

I got another rejection letter today, it was a nice one, as rejections go, the agent said my work sounded "compelling," which is a good thing I guess.

Anyway, the next one is already in the envelope and ready to go but I was feeling a little gloomy, then I clicked on Shannon Hale's blog http://oinks.squeetus.com/2009/09/verified-reject.html#comments . In her blog she posted two of the (really quite painful) rejections she recieved from publishers even after finding an agent. My little blessing and shot of hope for the day.

My Husband is Very Happy

Tracy and I have been looking for a new grill for a while, our little one has been good but it's worn out a bit and has a pretty small grill surface for the projects we've been attempting. Today, Tracy's mom came to visit, and as an early Christmas present, helped us fund the grill Tracy had been eyeing at Home Depot (it also helped that the thing was FINALLY on sale). So here it is, in all it's shiny glory. We should be enjoying rotisserie chicken off of it any minute now :)



Anyone want this one?

Evil, Evil, Project

Ok, so in keeping with my new goal to send out more query letters for Rell, I'm finally trying to write a synopsis. Apparently some agents want to know the entire plot of your book before they bite, which I get, but this has been a painful process. It basically means taking my 330 page book and distilling it into a 2-5 page double spaced summary that covers all the major plot point and is, in itself, utterly fascinating.

You'd think if I could write a 330 page book, help make the horrors of Native American first contact easier for fouth graders to digest, and write a thesis, that I could manage this thing, but it hasn't happened yet.

And I'd better finish it before my husband gets sick of hearing me grumble about it and takes my laptop away!

Macaroni and Cheese

I used to think I didn't like macaroni and cheese. When I was growing up my wonderful Mom (who is in all other ways a fantastic cook) always made the kind that came out of the box. You know the kind that has the atomic orange powder pack? Anyway, when Tracy and I got married he thought it was a little nuts that I didn't like macaroni and cheese, but that's because his family made it with actual cheese.

About a year or so ago, emboldened by a semi-successful attempt at making cheese sauce for a different recipe, I made macaroni and cheese for real. (Except I don't do that annoying baking part most recipes call for at the end.) Yum! Today I made it with mozzarella and cheddar cheese, with bacon and peas thrown in as well. Now I get why people think mac and cheese is comfort food.

Terrific Sandwich

Roast Beef + Havarti w/Dill + Croissant + Mayo = Sandwich Nirvana

And my oh so serious posting streak continues :)

A Wild Kingdom Moment

So I was standing there talking to Karri at the archives and she says, "Look, we have a bat." I didn't have any idea what she was talking about, so I gave her an odd look and she pointed to the ground right by the table I would have been sitting at, and there, crawling along in a really sad and wierd fashion was a little bat. Luckily the guys at the Archives scooped it up and took it outside, but the little guy hardly moved. I don't have a lot of hopes for his ultimate survival.

Now if it had been a mouse I would have been like, "Yeah, nice knowing you guys." But I don't know, the bat was kind of cool. The big question we all had is how it got into the Archives in the first place, I mean we have loading doors that are open sometimes, but you think someone would have noticed a bat fly in.

I felt a little better for my earlier lack of mental clarity when I went to tell Darryl about it and he gave me the same look that I must have given Karri. "A bat...like as in Batman," was the statement that finally got the message across. Yeah, I'm definitely a pop culture junkie.

What on earth?

Today I read that they are repackaging Wuthering Heights with a Twilight like look and the words "Bella and Edward's Favorite Book" on the cover. http://shelf-life.ew.com/2009/09/01/twilight-wuthering-heights/

Now, I love Twilight and all but this seems the height of weirdness to me - -

#1- Uh, anyone obsessed enough to read a book just because it was in Twilight would know that the statement isn't even accurate.

#2 - I thought using fictional people to hype products was generally considered, well, fraud.

#3 - IT'S WUTHERING FREAKING HEIGHTS!!!!! Using the flavor of the month (albeit a delicious one) to advertise a classic that has been popular for over a century seems like an excellent example of how annoyingly disposable our culture can be.

Ok, sorry, rant over.

Curriculum Project

If anyone is interested in taking a look at what I was doing last year, the Utah Indian Curriculum Project's website is up. It's at http://utahindians.org/Curriculum/index.html.

I wrote (with lots of feedback, input and editing help of course) the Navajo lesson plans for all three grade levels as well as the Ute High School lesson plan. I worked on some other stuff to, but those four lessons were the ones I was the most involved in. Just thought I'd post it in case anyone was curious.

The Utah Indian Digital Archive is up as well, which I wasn't involved in but is also extremely cool.

Hope

The new Writer's Digest (that I bought on our mini-vacation weekend before last) had an article that gave me a great deal of hope. It was called "Life After Almost: The Next Best Thing to a Book Deal - An Encouraging Rejection."

Two of my favorite quotes:

- "I'd guess that most agents add a personal and encouraging touch to no more than 5 percent of the queries they read...By itself, a personalized rejection is actually a good thing: It means you've got the writing chops or some other compelling factor on your side that will likely lead you to eventually becoming a published author."

-"If you're a writer who has received personal attention or an 'encouraging' rejection from even one reputable agent, this is a good indication that publishing has become a numbers game for you. It's now just a matter of finding the right agent or editor at the right time. I'd strongly urge you not to get even a little bit discouraged until you've received 50 - maybe even 100 - rejections on the project in question."

So with some help from the world's best writing buddy (aka Jennie Anderson) I've resolved to send out some more query letters for Rell. I have a long way to go to reach 50, I'd better get to work.

New Printer

Yay!! We've been wanting to buy a new printer for months now, and now that we know where our next go round of bill paying money is coming from we finally did it. We looked at Consumer Reports for a good model, did some comparison shopping with the stores and found a new Canon Pixma MX860 for a good deal!

It can fax, copy and scan too! No more running to the grocery store to fax at $1 a page. Plus, it has individual color ink catridges that are $13 to replace. I think we're going to like it.

Time Flies

Maybe it's because it is the last month of summer, my favorite season of the year. (Well, anytime it isn't snowing is my favorite season.) Or maybe it's because I'm working more, but the last couple of weeks seem like they almost vanished they went by so quickly. I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I posted here!

Things to be happy about -

1. We could pay our bills and we know where the money for next months bills is coming from!

2. One of my best friends, Becky Criddle will live about a half an hour from me by the end of the month. (From Arizona! She claims she's missed snow, I think that's a little crazy, but I'm glad she's going to be close)

3. Thanks to the public library I always have good books to read. And even with a couple of library fines here and there it's still significantly cheaper than buying them.

4. As always, I'm married to one of the world's sweetest husbands!

Visitors

I'm excited that my brother Brett and his family are coming to stay for the weekend. Should be a lot of fun!

It's been a crazy week. Tracy finally gets to start his new job on Monday after a week and a half of paperwork wrangling. As he put it you'd think he was applying for the "unsupervised, night shift gold handler at Fort Knox" with the level of background checks they had to go through, but hopefully everything is on track now.

I started working reference at the Archives this week, which was really fun. I like helping people and getting to look into different things, it's a great experience.

Haircut

So I finally got my haircut this morning. I made the woman who was doing it nervous when I told her how short I wanted it. I had to reassure her, "I'm not a crier, and it grows really fast" before she was actually willing to cut it as short as I wanted it. It's shoulder length and fun, and I feel like I've lost ten pounds of hair weight!

Insanity can be fun

So I'm just working like crazy this week, more hours at the archives and 70 pages of lesson plans to proof for the curriculum project, but I'm actually enjoying it quite a bit. (Hopefully that feeling will last!)

My Family is Awesome

While Tracy and I were visiting the Boise area (this photo is technically in Middleton) we had a chance to go to church with my family. I don't think we've ever had this many of us there at the same time so it was pretty exciting. Next time we'll have to bribe Eric to come along too :)

Don't we look like a fun bunch?

Employment is a Wonderful Thing

Huzzah! An employer has finally clued in to just how wonderful my hubby is. Tracy should be starting a new job next week.

Back from Boise

Another whirlwind trip to the Treasure Valley. We took Julia back (sniff, sniff) and went to a family reunion for my Dad's side of the family. It was a good time, but we are a bit on the tired side. We should have stayed an hour later or left an hour earlier because the end of our trip was capped off by a painful wait in rush hour traffic. Still we survived and we're glad we went.

Adventures with Julia - II

Today was the Hogle Zoo, slushes from Sonic, and other excitement.

Here are Julia and Tracy with our new friend. He's hairy and grumpy (I mean the gorilla)

I Think I Can Handle That

Today I went to a meeting about the new project I'm going to be working on for the American West Center next year, and found out that as part of my duties I will probably have to go to Washington, DC.

Well....I suppose...if they twist my arm...

Adventures with Julia

We went to Gateway Discovery and the Planetarium with Julia today. Lot's of fun, but we felt slightly cooked by the time we were done.

Here's a picture of Tracy and Julia contemplating the universe while on Mars.



Tracy and Julia prepping for takeoff.

Happy Birthday USA!

Happy Independence Day Everyone!!!

I hope you get to eat something grilled, hug someone you love, light something sparkly on fire, and direct some grateful thoughts to an American hero or two.

A Town Like Alice

I read (well I guess listened to, technically) a great book last week called A Town Like Alice. Trying to describe what it was about is tough without giving the plot away but it's a romantic adventure story about two people who meet as prisoners during World War II and what happens to them after the war. A large part of the novel is set in Australia, which as I mentioned before, is one place I'm kind of fascinated with. It also has some great portrayals of peoples kindness in the worst of circumstances, which I found particularly moving in a world that I sometimes think has a bit too much cynicism in it.

New Favorites

I decided recently that if I'm going to blog, I need to make an effort to post more often, as you might have been able to tell from the last few days. In keeping with that here's some of my new favorite things:

-HGTV and Food Network shows on Hulu!! Who needs cable when you can watch online?
-Apple Juice Slushes at Sonic. Really good for my no soda resolution.
-Chicken Salad on Multi-grain Tortilla Chips. Frighteningly addictive.

Morbid Fascination

So we went up to the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine today, which for those of you who don't know is the world's largest man made excavation, so deep that the Empire State Building stacked twice wouldn't stretch from top to bottom.

I'm not really the environmentalist type but I found this thing more disturbing than anything else. I know that the laptop I am currently using requires copper, as well as the electric wiring that powers it, and at the same time I kept thinking - uh, is it really a good idea to replace a mountain with a giant hole in the ground surrounded by rubble? Kind of staggering to think about what mankind is capable of ... for better or worse.

Under the Rainbow

No pot of gold, but after a windstorm that almost swept us off to Oz, we did end up under the rainbow - or rainbows in this case.

Finally on the Wall

So this post is mostly for my amazing Mom. She gave me this cool poster for Christmas, and with the major construction on our house completed it finally made it onto the wall. It's a poster from a series that illustrates heros from the Book of Mormon. Strangely enough, in spite of it's difference in subject matter, it goes really well with the X-Files poster that hangs next to it :-) Thanks Mom!

The Good, the Bad and A Denial of the Bandwagon

Today I read an article in the Mormon Times about the "surge" of LDS women writers on the young adult fantasy market. (http://mormontimes.com/arts_entertainment/news/?id=8045) The author sounds like a fantastic person, and I'm sure I'll be checking her book out in the very near future. However, it made me think about a few conversations I've had about my poor little agent-less book over the last year or so when I've had people make comments like, "Yeah, that's really popular right now" (in a just short of thoroughly dismissive tone) and "Just like Stephenie Meyer, huh?"

Don't get me wrong I love the Twilight books (as previous posts will attest) but when I hear stuff like this is makes me feel like grumbling. The first draft of my book was done before I'd even heard of Stephenie Meyer. While her success is inspriring, and I look at her and Shannon Hale as proof it can be done, it does make me feel aggravated that people assume that my books are simply an attempt to copy that success. It sometimes makes me want to stick Rell in a drawer for ten years and see if the craze passes. I swear I can hear the agents reading my fantasy query letter, looking at my Utah address, and rolling their eyes while muttering, "Just what I need, another Mormon chick who thinks she's Stephenie Meyer."

Now I think there's a good, uplifting reason that there are a whole bunch of us LDS writer girls from the same generation who have grown up to write these kinds of stories. (Besides the fact that we all seem to adore Robin Mckinley) As the mainstream market, especially for adults, begins to revel more and more in sex and violence, the young adult fantasy market seems like one of the few places where a person with high standards can find a place.

However, my rant today was inspired by my need to shout "I WROTE THIS STORY BECAUSE I LIKE IT AND NOT BECAUSE I WANT TO BE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!!"

Ok, sorry. I'm done now.

Another Yard Picture

Ok, so we're strangely proud of our yard in spite of its weeds and with nothing else to post I thought I'd give you another pic of our flowers and such. Yippee for summer!

Home Again

We made it back from Boise on Monday safe and sound and found all well at our house, though our plants (and weeds) made us feel like we'd been gone for a month instead of a week. We had a great time with our families but are glad to be home.

My J. M. W. Turner print that Tracy gave me for my birthday was here when we got home, thankfully undamaged by the automatic sprinklers. We bought a frame for it yesterday, and it looks great. I'd post a picture, but I'm too lazy to go take one.

In Boise

Just hanging out with family in Boise. Tonight we're headed to see two of the nieces play softball.

Birthday Adventures

I had a great birthday all and all, lots of thoughtful cards and gifts and my Mom and John showed up on Saturday to take Tracy and I out to dinner.

On Sunday we took the truck up the canyon for a picnic. We found a great spot, but Tracy decided he wanted to turn the truck around and when he turned the key the truck wouldn't start. My kind husband insisted that we have a good time first and then worry about the truck. We ended up catching a ride home with some nice strangers and having the truck towed home today.

Anyway, here's some pics from our picnic spot in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

I Passed!!!

I took my oral exams this morning, my commitee was actually quite nice and things went pretty well, and I am officially a PhD candidate now! Yipeee!

View from the Hammock

Tracy created this flowerbed last summer and planted some tulips, it's right next to our hammock so on nice days its down right idyllic. (Yes those are my toes)

Oh, and those bright yellow flowers are part of our current wildflower meadow design ... uh huh, right.

Exams and other news

I received an e-mail from my advisor today that explained the whole grading process of my cumulative exams. Apparently, I don't get to find out about my writtens before the orals. I go in, do my oral exam and then I have to go out in the hall and wait while they decide whether or not I've passed. It was a nice e-mail that made me smile though, so hopefully that's a good sign.

In other news, I found out last week that I received a $450 scholarship to attend the Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists next week (May 15th). They take out the conference registration and then give me a check for "expenses" so I'll actually get some take home money out of the deal. It makes me happy, not only do I get to attend the conference with the cool people I work with at the county archives, but I also get some cash, and a snazzy line for the resume/cv. Yay!

One down (I hope)

So I completed my written comphrehensive exams on Tuesday, I hope that means I'm done, but I won't know that for sure until I hear from my professors, so I'm holding off on totally celebrating until I know I'm entirely through the hoop...now I just have to start thinking about the oral exams.

I told my Grandma the other day that my birthday present this year (May 17, 4 days after my orals) is going to be having survived until my birthday.

More gushing about springtime...

Tracy had to move this tree last fall and shortly after he moved it all of the leaves fell off. We figured it was dead. So we were delighted when the first little green buds appeared, and now we have a fully blooming tree in our backyard. Yay!

Horray for Spring...now let's hope it sticks around.

Today it is actually nice here, sunny and not freezing. It makes me smile amidst my stressing!

My Husband is a Miracle Worker

So yesterday my laptop crashed, like as in, black screen, no communication, major freak out on my part kind of crash. However, my miracle husband was able to somehow get the computer to give up my entire My Documents folder before he had to reload it, so everything vital has been saved. (We think!) I had been backing up my stuff, but I do it once a week, and in my world lately a week of lost work could have been very annoying.

I'm still putting the pieces back together, but less than one day after said crash I am up and running again, and everything seems to be alright...someone ought to hire a guy who can do that, don't you think :)

Forks

So, I wrote this blog post once and then deleted it, because it was so fan geek I almost couldn't stand it, but well, (since I sat at my computer all day fiddling with stuff for a curriculum project map and re-writing stuff I'd already written) I don't have anything more interesting to say, so what the heck.

I bought the Twilight movie last week and, after watching the vampire baseball scene about 10 times and deciding that the kid who plays Jacob Black is so good I can almost forgive him for not actually having much of a Native American background, I've been on a renewed Twilight kick. Last night my friend Becky and I were talking about it, and it reminded me that Tracy and I had driven down Highway 101 between Port Angeles, WA and Seaside, OR on our honeymoon. Now for those of you not Twilight crazy this meant I had been to Forks (the town where Twilight is set).

Now I didn't remember Forks, but on a lark I dug out the video from that trip and, for no explicable reason other than that I was playing with the video camera at the time, there was Forks, WA in all its tiny glory. It's was a sunny day, which sort of ruins that whole Pacific Northwest vampire ambiance deal, but still it was fun to hear myself vaguely mocking its small size and then declaring it "kind of a nice little town."

Maybe the reason I think this is so fun is because so many of the novels I like are:
A) Set in places that don't exist, like Robin McKinley's Damar, or Shannon Hale's Bayern
B) Set halfway across the word, like Jane Eyre and The Count of Monte Cristo

Anyway, it was kind of fun.

Oh, and as an example of the universe's sense of humor, I know Stephenie Meyer started writing the book at the beginning of June 2003, which was the same time we were there on our honeymoon - and the book has a minor character named Mrs. Cope :)

Exams

I finally have dates for my comphrehensive exams, my written exams will be April 27th and my oral exams will (probably) be May 13th. I'm fairly nervous about it, especially with finishing up my preparation in the midst of all the other craziness that's going on, but I'm glad to know what the deal is.

Redesign

I liked the vintage feel of the brown, but it was starting to give me a headache. Plus, in the land of March snow and sagebrush, I needed the reminder of oceans and green things.

Procrastination for a good cause

One of my favorite sites is http://www.freerice.com/ ...because I can goof off for a few minutes and feel like I'm supporting a good cause. One of my favorite new things is their Famous Paintings quiz. I've discovered I really like J. M. W. Turner and that I really really am not a fan of Van Gogh.

And the adventure continues...

I think that heading is more exciting than my life actually is, but some cool things have happened lately...

-Tracy and I had the chance to be ushers for the Draper Temple Dedication on Sunday, and President Monson (and several other General Authorities) walked right past me two different times...definitely not something that happens every day.

-Tracy had a phone interview today so keep sending prayers and good thoughts in our direction

-We had a great trip to Boise, and on top of that, Tracy's mom came by to see us today. Family is definitely a great thing!

Interesting quote today

This is kind of a long story, but bear with me.

I'm usually not one for turning sports figures into heroes (in fact a person I work with and I were complaining about Salt Lake's John Stockton Blvd. just this week), but before I married a guy who didn't like football and before it was slightly painful I was a huge San Francisco 49ers fan, and as such, a fan of Steve Young. After one particularly brutal game with multiple nasty injuries, the commentators began to talk a little trash about Steve Young. At the time I was writing lots of poetry and the game got me thinking about the way in which our society sometimes looks at failure or adversity as a sign that someone isn't really worth looking up to. So I wrote this poem, and while the poem came to be about much more than some football players, it was originally inspired by that game:

The Hero

Heroes are human,
The dismal conclusion
They come to when he’s been knocked down.
He’s broken and bruised,
Tired, confused and
Picking himself off the ground.

But it isn't on victory, on pride, or on glory
That the title of hero should rest.
For it’s easy to shine when you win all the time
Triumph’s no true heroes test.

So when he climbs to his feet
When it seems he’s been beat.
Don’t say, “He should give up the fight.”
He’s got class under fire, courage, desire
And a vow to champion the right.

In spite of the pain he’ll commit once again,
Even though he has his doubts.
And he’ll give you his all
Come win, lose or fall,
Because that’s what a hero’s about.

I've been thinking about this poem a lot over the last few weeks, as Tracy and I deal with different challenges, reminding myself that hard times give you a chance to really see if your as faithful and hopeful as you claim to be.

Then today in an article about Steven Young speaking at some sort of business gathering here in Utah, they quoted him saying this, "Those of you that own businesses, those of you that have professions, in this tough time, find out if you're a pro and see how good you can be. Because I can tell you, over time, looking back on my whole career -- in business, in sports, in family -- the real, true test is I will find more about what I did in adversity than I ever did in success."

March Madness

Nothing earth shattering on the home front, Tracy and I are both job hunting and we still don't have word on when his job is officially going to be over. Both my exam studies and the Curriculum project I'm working on are in crunch time, so I'm generally either shackled to my desk, running around the U for meetings or library books, or numbly re-watching Gilmore Girls in the hope that my eyes and brain will recharge.

Tracy has been busy constructing and painting (for those of you who don't know our back windows had a problem which necessitated replacing the back interior wall in three rooms), and the room is starting to look really great. It was an ugly green before and now is a pale, but still cheerful blue. It makes me happy!

Good News

So amidst being crazy busy and wondering where we will be in four months I did receive some good news today, my Teaching Assistantship at the U was renewed for next year. In this economy having your tuition paid with living expenses on top of it is definitely a blessing.

Love and other mushy sentiments.

Give someone an extra hug today!

Happy Valentines Day, everybody!

Changing the Subject

So nothing's really changed on Trace's employment front but I'm determined not to mope about it, and be optimistic that everything is going to work out.

So speaking of optimism in the face of potential doom and gloom, I've been studying for my exams and awhile back I read a book about the War of 1812. It reminded me of the circumstances in which the "Star Spangled Banner" was written. Washington D.C. had just been burned by the British as part of a siege to basically destroy the Chesapeake region, the British navy was wreaking havoc on U.S. trade, and the mish-mash bunch of militia and tiny standing army was losing more than they were winning. I think it's an inspiring thing to remember that one of the most patriotic symbols of our country was created in one of its most uncertain moments. I just thought that was appropriate for today.

Our Personal Economic Downturn

Looking at the title of my last post I sort of want to cringe. I know it doesn't work this way but I do wonder if my brief moment of positive energy was some sort of curse.

I don't even really want to talk about this yet, but I suppose a blog posting beats a dozen individual e-mails or phone calls, so here's the deal -

Tracy went to a meeting this morning at work and found out that sometime in the next month all of the jobs in his department are going to be outsourced. There's some chance that they will be able to apply for the outsourced positions, but it isn't overly promising. If he is laid off, they'll give him a few months severance, so there's some time to plan...but it just REALLY sucks!

You know things are looking up when...

So I have a cold that includes one of the worst sore throats I've had in a long time, however, I still feel like I've had a good couple of days, I've made good progress on my research for the Indian Curriculum project and in studying for my exams (finally!) Though things aren't perfect, there's hope for me yet :)

Poem

I used to write poetry all the time, but its been a long time since I tried my hand at it. A couple of weeks ago I bought this teeny tiny notebook when Tracy and I were wandering about downtown. The other day I took it with me when I went to eat my lunch at work. Maybe it was because such a tiny notebook seemed the right size for poetry, or maybe it was my general moodiness of late, but a poem just kind of appeared. Strangely enough I hardly ever write poetry that rhymes, especially serious ones, but this one just kind of came out that way. Anyhow, since my Mom and John are always asking if I've written any new poems I thought I'd post it.

Stir
Dripping and slipping, sliding away,
The failing of light at the end of the day.
Stark scattered snow and skeleton trees,
An echo of mountains on the frigid tight breeze.
Unstructured longings and half-informed dreams,
Stir. Nagging for life at my raveling seams.

Taking the risk of a political comment

So I figured that since I posted a warm fuzzy temple post, I could risk a political comment. Also, hopefully this makes up for my relatively lame posts of late.

Though I'm not entirely jazzed about everything our new president has done in his first days I was very happy to hear that plans were in the works to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Any of you who have talked to me about politics know this was a major issue for me, as I felt it was that thing (like Wounded Knee and Japanese Internment) that our generation as going to be apologizing for forty years from now. While I may not entirely agree with all of President Obama's positions, this was one of the reasons I voted for him, so I'm glad to see follow through so early on.

Tiring but worth it

I worked at the Draper Temple open house today. For the first four hours I was at the very end of the tour and for the last four hours I was at the beginning of the tour. Strangely enough I said the same thing in both places. (Hello. How are you today? Just step this way please. No, I'm not sure where that is, let me find out. ) I wanted to walk through the building, but by the time my second shift was up I was ready to sit down. What I saw of it was lovely, and it was awesome to be a part of it. A couple of fun comments I overheard were one really cute little boy that just kept saying "Oh! Wow! Oh! Wow!" and another guy who very grudgingly said "Well, I suppose it is impressive." Both those reactions made me smile.

Crazy

I will not whine, I will not whine, I will not whine (I'll spare you writing it out 100 times and stick with three.) I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed this week. However, I get to volunteer at the Draper Temple open house tomorrow which should be a great experience.

Sunshine and Books

Today was a bit of a roller-coaster day for me, my anxiety issues reared their ugly head in a fairly serious way, plus I was feeling a little physically blecky as well. (I woke up this morning from a nightmare that included both multiple fiery plane crashes and multiple nuclear bombs, no kidding.) I felt bad that I didn't go to work today but I hope I built up some good reserves so that I can go forward stronger and better adjusted. Well, a girl can dream. However, on the plus side it was also gloriously sunny today and I threw open the curtains and used that to help me settle down and get readjusted. I love sunshine, and as my uncle Erv once pointed out, though Utah has a ton of snow it also has a lot of sunny days in the winter.

On another topic I've also had the rare opportunity over the last couple of weeks to read 2 books by one of my favorite authors. The books were Heir to Sevenwaters and Cybele's Secret by Juliet Marillier. She writes amazing historical fantasy novels that generally knock my socks off. These two were especially enjoyable as the heroines were definitely people I could identify with and these books also avoided any racy situations. (Not that her other books are trashy by any means, but some have strayed into PG-13 territory on occasion.) I wish there were more books like these in the world. Although, if there are don't tell me until summer :-)

Just proving I'm still alive

So I know the last couple of weeks were supposed to be downtime, but I have been a seriously lazy soul the last few days. I read a couple of books, made some small effort at maintaining the house, and did manage to get the Christmas decorations down, but that is about it. I'm hoping this annoying inertia fades away because I seriously need to get my butt in gear.

Tracy and I went to see Australia the other night, which was fun. When I was an undergrad an eon ago I had a massive love affair going on with that country/continent (which has since been somewhat upstaged by my love of Scotland) and this movie brought some of that back. Though I can't say the plot was massively original, as it was something of a cross between half of the western romance novels every written and The Man From Snowy River (though, no offense to Jim Craig, but Hugh Jackman is a lot more fun), I still really enjoyed it.

Home Again

We made it home safely on dry roads, which was nice as Tracy and I were driving separate vehicles. Tracy bought a truck from his Mom, she gave us a great deal and he's really excited.

We had a terrific time with both of our families, and our parents were especially fun and hospitable. Here's one my favorite pics of my side of the family. (This picture is proof that I'm the midget throwback of the family. Though my Dad isn't in this picture he's a semi-giant as well.)