Sister of Mine

When I was a little girl, I idolized her.  I followed her around everywhere she went and always tried to tag along with her and her friends.  She is the reason that I love 80's music, she always knows how to make me laugh, and she is there for me when I need to talk.  We have an endless supply of memories that we will always share, and I know that there are many more to come.

She is my big sister.

As sisters we have obviously been through our rough patches, because that's what sisters do.  It's okay though, because we always find a way to work it out.

Happy birthday sister!!  I love you.

Mardi Gras 2011

Shay and I have decided that Mardi Gras is our new tradition.  It gives us a good excuse to have a party around my birthday, and since Halloween is right by her birthday it works out perfectly.

This year the decorations were more intense and there was an abundance of beads to go around.  Almost everyone came with a mask, and if they didn't Shay had some backups ready.  That bitch is always prepared!

Every time we get together with this group of people, a great time is had by all.  It seems as though each party we have is better than the last, and as a bonus there was no one puking in the sink or bathtub at this party.

Thanks again for the killer party Shaymus!  It was awesome, as usual.

{Kaylyn and Brett}

{Shay and Kaylyn}

{Brett and Chaz}

{Emily and Kate}

{Danielle and Ryan}

{Jen}

{Shay and Kaylyn}

Out With the Old....

In with the new.....

Kindling

Yesterday as I sat on the couch reading, I found myself trying to remember where my love of books began. What was it that kindled my fire?

Like most kids, I have a lot of memories from my childhood of being outside in the summertime climbing trees or riding my bike. I don't remember reading much until my teenage years. I've always liked to read, I just don't remember always being in love with it. Most of the memories that stick out to me involve being outside, without a book in my hand.

After a few minutes of digging through the filing cabinet of memories in my brain, it hit me. I was 13 years old.

For the first time in my life I was boarding an airplane, and I was terrified. I couldn't fight the tears from falling on my cheeks and I was squeezing my mom's hand so hard that to this day I am surprised it didn't break. We found our seats and my mom continued trying to sooth my fears to no avail. She tried distracting me by telling me all of the amazing things that were going to unfold after we landed, because we were going to be in the happiest place on earth.  I could not focus on all of the happy things that she was telling me, because I was convinced that we were on our way into the air only to plummet to our deaths. Why get excited about Disneyland if I was never even going to make it there?

After a few minutes, the woman sitting behind me tapped me on the shoulder. When I turned around I could see that in her outstretched hand, she was holding a book.

"Reading always helps me when I'm upset."

"Thanks."

I took the book that she had given me and started to read it, then the next thing I knew we were in the air and my nerves were completely calm. She was right, it did help.

After our flight had landed I tried to give the book back to the woman, but she wouldn't let me. She told me to hang onto it and finish the story.

I'm really glad that I did, because it sparked something in me that changed me forever.

Burning History

Brett has been working on a project for one of his art classes in which he has to depict a historical event with mixed media.  From the beginning he knew that he wanted to choose an event that no one else in the class would be doing so that his could stand out.  We spent some time brainstorming and he decided to go with Hitler's book burnings.  While doing some research for ideas I came across this quote, and I really loved it so I decided to share:

"Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings"    

- Heinrich Heine

Eff You Snow

I remain unconvinced that spring is on it's way.  This morning I woke up to the sound of my neighbor's snow blower clearing off their driveway.  Definitely not the way to start off the morning.  I am going to continue to attempt to defy the winter though.  I wore a knee length skirt and open toed heels to work today.  Take that, winter. 

The longer that I live in Utah, the more I wish that I didn't.  Shay, let's take our husbands and go to California!  There's a good idea.  We can come back once a year to go to Moab, and then we can be warm and happy for the rest of the year.  No more snow.  Wadya say??

Born This Way

Lady Gaga will be here in concert the day before my birthday.  Tickets sold out at year ago.  Now the only tickets that you can get your hands on are from scalpers who are selling them for twice the price.  Why do people have to do that?  It's not cool if you ask me. 

Anyway, I wanted to share this video because this little girl is so adorable and so talented.  She is doing a cover of Gaga's new song Born This Way. I was looking for the official music video on Youtube, but when I typed in the name of the song this was the first video that came up and I loved it.  :)

A Change

Last night I took Belle for a run.  Outside.  As in, not inside on my elliptical, but outside in the sunshine.  With no snow on the ground.  It was glorious.  Well, as glorious as running can be when you are out of shape and struggling for breath.

I am not a good runner, but I have decided that I would much rather run outside and be in pain than be inside on my elliptical.  It's just too boring.  At least running outside gives me things to look at and keep me entertained.

I am really hoping that March brings the spring along with it, and I can continue running outside. I am really looking forward to it.