Idaho

According to Leonard J. Arrington's History of Idaho, Idaho was the last of (what are now) the 50 U.S. States to be visited by European-Americans.   How did an Idaho girl like me make it to graduate school before learning such a cool factoid?

Speaking of Idaho, Tracy and I had an adventure trying to get home this last weekend.   The usual route we take was closed due to weather so we took the route that goes through Pocatello.  Things were going pretty well until the last hour and half when a storm set in and reduced us to driving 25 miles an hour in very limited visibility.  So we stayed overnight in Pocatello on Sunday night and finished our trip home on Monday.   It was a great weekend though, we had lots of fun with our families!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I was thinking this morning about things that I am thankful for.  The big, important things never change.  I'm thankful for my husband, my family, my friends, the basic necessities of life (especially a warm cozy house) and for the knowledge that I am my Heavenly Father's daughter and He loves me.

This morning, however, I tried to think about other blessings I needed to count - and became really thankful for books and for reading.  This will come as no surprise to anyone.  However, I realized that 90% of my life is tied up in my love of reading and writing.  

- My job pays me to read.  This week I was reading about Chief Pocatello, strangely enough. 

- My schoolwork is almost entirely reading and writing (especially now that I'm at the dissertation stage).  

- For fun I read novels, write novels, and journal in scrapbooks.  

- My communication with family and friends, thanks to e-mail and blogs, involves a great deal of reading and writing.

- To feed my spiritual needs I read the scriptures every day. 

In fact I can't think of a part of my life that isn't profoundly impacted by the ability to read and write.  Today I stopped to realize that I am very blessed to live in this day and age.  For most of the history of the world, ordinary people, especially women, didn't have the resources they needed to learn how to read and write even at a basic level. Not only that but, thanks to the miracle of libraries, I can read books for free.  (Well, for $4.50 in library fines :)  I can't imagine a world without words.   So my special bit of gratitude for today is to be thankful for books and the fact that I can read them.

My Favorite Time Sucking Websites

First, let me define "time sucking."  These are not the sites, like CNN, or the Internet Movie Database, that I duck into for a quick fix and can get back out in reasonable time.  Oh no, these are the ones that suck me in and an hour later I'm still browsing or whatever.   The problem is I wait until I actually have a little time to do it.  Unfortunately that's time I could spend writing, cleaning the house, or trying to actually finish The Undaunted.  Oh well.

Goodreads - There's a reason I've only logged in a few times in the last couple of months.  I could spend hours on that site, looking at books and quotes etc.  I just spent an hour there, which inspired this blog topic.

Amazon.com - If I'm actually shopping this isn't a problem, but if I'm just browsing, or looking at recommendations, that's when I need a timer

Real Estate Websites - It's like my own little fantasy version of House Hunters.  I have my favorites.  The ones who let you be specific on your search criteria without asking for your name, address and social security number :-)  The current favorite location - Orcas Island. The classic version - the Washington D.C. metro area. Occasional guest appearances - Boise, Portland and Seattle.

Is it a Good Thing or a Bad Thing?

When I went to that writer's conference, the novelist who was so kind about my book asked me "What other books are like this book?" and I didn't really know how to answer. I made a stab at suggesting some action heavy teen books I have read and then suggested that this is a bit like the television show Smallville, when of course, really it isn't.  She then suggested I should read more young adult novels like my book.  It's a first rate suggestion, and I should seek some out, but I do a lot of browsing both online and in the library, and I have to say I haven't read or seen too much like my book.

And yet, superheroes are absolutely everywhere these days, just not in my quieter, and I hope, character centric way.  Yes, my book is like every story that has kids with extraordinary abilities, there's some stuff that's a little X-Men, a very small amount of Harry Potter (I have two boys and a girl as the main characters), etc. etc.  And yet, my book isn't really like either of those and I feel like saying that it's similar isn't fair to either those creations or to mine.  Shouldn't it be a good thing that there isn't anything else out there that's exactly like my book?  It makes me wonder.

The "Fish Out of Water" Manifesto

It seems like every so often in my life I battle a "fish out of water" problem when attending church.  This isn't about the gospel of Jesus Christ, or my testimony of the Book of Mormon, or my firm belief in the efficacy of prayer, or anything like that.  Those have always remained solid, and for that I feel blessed.

No, this is about the social, cultural, and I'll be honest, political, soup that sometimes comes as a package deal with attending church.  The gospel is perfect, but church members are people, and all of us, definitely including myself, are imperfect, and we don't check our personalities at the door.   I don't have kids, I'm chubby,  I'm a political independent who (in Utah anyway) skews Democrat, I can't sew or bake very well, and I see my own academic and professional work as part of what my Heavenly Father expects of me, even if it makes me unavailable for service projects from time to time.

Let me be clear, I don't think anyone, at all, is trying to make me feel out of place or excluded.  On the contrary, I routinely get compliments on my Sunday School lessons and if I've ever visibly been out of sorts, someone usually checks on me. When I had my surgery in the spring, we received multiple kind offers of help and support.  My ward is full of wonderful compassionate people, all of whom, I know, are also just doing their very best. 

But an awareness of this doesn't make those "fish out of water" feelings go away, in fact, it tends to make me feel guilty about them, which as I mentioned in a previous post, is not helpful. 

So what keeps me going every week?   Well the fact that right as I'm feeling like this President Monson gives this talk - http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1298-39,00.html  - about not being judgemental and critical of each other.  Or the Church becomes part of an act of political reasonableness like this http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700080754/Community-leaders-urge-moderate-approach-to-immigration-reform.html .  Or a fellow sister in the gospel, unaware of my own views, "confesses" to me that she is a Democrat and supports federally funded health care.

And though these things don't always make it easier to walk into Relief Society on Sunday, they remind me why it's worth doing.   It also reminds me to do my best to keep my fellow fish feeling safely in the pond.

The Beautiful Destination Known as Home!

Yes, I am home from my excursion to the wilds of Salem, Oregon.  I am so glad to be home I almost want to cry.  Thanks to everybody who kept me sane with the phone calls, e-mails and blog comments. 

I think one of the hardest things about travelling by yourself is the fact that not one person you see on any given day knows who you are.  I mean the archives staff started to recognize me and they were nice and all, but it's weird to go through an entire day and not see one person who knows your name.  I never knew exactly how social of a person I was, on however small a scale, until these trips I've been taking for work.

Rambling

One of the problems with having no one to talk to is you write big rambling blog posts, then second guess yourself and delete them.  The short version - All is well, I'd rather be hanging out with the people I love, and I'm a little nuts.  So basically nothing has changed.

Here's another pretty picture.  Just so everyone knows I'm really alive out here.

Rubbing It In

That sign in the middle is just rubbing it in don't you think? You'll notice that, unfortunately, I was in the right lane.

However, at least my devotion to work was rewarded today. I actually found some useful stuff. Nothing like a war to make people pay attention I guess.

Atmosphere

This morning it was really foggy here, and as I was driving to the archives this morning I had music from the Twilight movies playing.  (Thanks to my smart husband for reminding me to bring music)  Is it possible for something to seem both melancholy and delightful at the same time?  Anyway, it was gorgeous with all of the trees peeking in and out of the fog.  Which is a good thing because I had a sucky research day.  I didn't find one single piece of information that even applied to our project - yuck.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better. 

I hope you all aren't tired of tree pictures yet, because I'm about to inflict another one on you.

The Glory of Trees Part II

So whatever my hotel room lacks in the scenery department the Oregon State Archives makes up for.  This is the building itself.

And right across the parking lot is a little stream with a gorgeous mossy bridge going over the road.  It also rained like crazy on my way home, so I feel like I'm getting the Pacific Northwest experience.