Let Us Run With Patience the Race that is Set Before Us...

I am list maker. I make lists of groceries to buy, things I need to do, places I'd like to go someday, people I need to catch up with, assignments I need to grade, and (apparently) things I make lists about. :) I put them on sticky notes, post them where I will see them, and get to busy accomplishing all the many things I want and/or need to do in life.

The bad news: I can do anything that I want to in life, I just can't do everything I want to.

The good news: I am never bored.

The bad news: I stress myself out with all of the things that I try to get done.

The good news: I still have a long time to accomplish most of the things on my many lists, and I am learning how to rely on other people to help me accomplish things, not to mention that the company is nice along the way!

In honor of the struggle to overcome getting overwhelmed by the tasks of life, here is a link to a great sports article in the Deseret News that addresses the topic through the metaphor of running a marathon. May we all remember to enjoy the journey a little bit more and "run with patience the race" of life each day!

You can take the girl out of California, but you can't take California out of the girl!

Sometimes, you just need to get back to your roots. This weekend, for me, that meant heading home to California--at least in my imagination. Here's how it turned out...


Yes, that is a 30 foot long pin up mural of a beach on the wall of my dining room! The rest of my California adventure was complete with a dinner of steak sandwiches, sourdough bread, orange juice with little umbrellas in the glasses, potatoes and salad. I decorated with sea shells, colorful paper lanterns, beach blankets, and stars on the ceiling to gaze at while lying on the "beach".

It was quite the adventure to plan, and I had SOOOO much fun! There were a few moments when I could almost hear waves crashing on the cliffs and smell the fresh sea air.

I love California! Even after seven years in Utah (which I have loved), I still consider California home. It has so much personality. Here are a few of the things I miss about the Golden State:

STRAWBERRY SEASON - There's nothing better than eating juicy perfection fresh out of the fields, still warm from the sunshine.

FARMERS' MARKETS - Not only did I love the fresh nectarines, white peaches, plums, etc. that we got from the market, I love the ambiance there as well. It was fun to wander down the streets of Old Town Clovis during the summer months listening to folksy music and meeting people from the community as you shopped for tasty food.

GRAPE PICKING - Every August is grape picking season in the valley. While the smell of the winery was nauseating, I loved going to the welfare farm run by the church and picking grapes. It was dusty, sticky, spidery, tiring work, but it was so satisfying to work down a row side by side with other ward members, knowing that you were doing your share to help out. Plus, the Slurpees from 7Eleven afterwards weren't too bad either.

NO SNOW - Try as I do to enjoy it, I still don't like the winters in Utah. I love being able to go outside year-round in California without worrying about losing appendages to the cold. Brrrr. I'm trying not to think about winter yet.

DIVERSITY - I love how different everyone is in California. Not to say that there isn't a fair amount of diversity in Utah, but it's completely different. I loved going to school with people of all different religions, races, and backgrounds. It was fun to talk to people with such different life experiences than mine. I need to look for it a little more here in Utah.

SUNSHINE - I am addicted to sunshine, and it seems to abound in California. That's all there is to it!

What do you love about California?








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Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood

Every fall, I look at the leaves changing colors and I remember one of my favorite poems: The Road Not Taken. It's not really about fall--just about life. But the opening line always makes me think of fall. This last weekend, I went for a drive in the canyon and once again was reminded of Robert Frost's poem when I saw this picturesque landscape...

Isn't it perfect? It makes me much more willing to deal with the chilly weather when I can see such beauty. It's about time to break out the woolly sweaters and hot cider for the coming winter, I think. Not to mention, time to stock up on some good literature to read by the fire (anybody have a fireplace I can borrow?). To start off the literary marathon induced by cold weather, here is Frost's poem for your enjoyment.

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

P.S. - Here are some other fall pictures of my trip up the canyon.

How to pursue a career as a pedestrian

One of my favorite parts of being a teacher is reading my students' writing after they have worked really hard on a project. Partly, this is because I like to see them succeed in writing. Partly, it is because I like to see if what I taught them actually transferred into their brains and pencils. But, mostly, it is because I LOVE to see the crazy typos and mistakes they make. In my last batch of essays (where each student wrote a magazine article about another student in the class after interviewing him/her), the winner was the following:

"When Brooke grows up, she has the great goal to become a pedestrian, so she can travel to Africa and fight diseases."

Now, color me confused, but I'm not sure that a pedestrian could easily get from here to Africa, and once he or she got there, I'm not sure how being a pedestrian would cure any disease, as healthy as exercise may be. But regardless of whether it makes any sense, I got a good laugh out of this student's mistake of "pedestrian" for "pediatrician".

Can't you just picture the business cards now?

I would that we all were so creative in defining our lifetime goals!

Rise and Shout the COUGARS are Out!

I didn't grow up a BYU fan, and I certainly don't spend much time keeping up on sports statistics (it's all I can do to know which sport is which), but I bleed BYU blue.

Today was the opening game of the football season, and I was lucky enough to get tickets. It's been a long time since I've been to a football game in that stadium, and it felt good to be back. There is something about the sound of the fight song echoing off the walls of the stadium, the sight of the team running onto the field with pride, and the smell of concession stand pizza and hot dogs (even if they are overpriced). I don't go for the football; I go for the camraderie, for the sunshine, and for the chance to be a part of a unified mass cheering a group of athletes on toward success. It's not about the sport for me.

I'll be honest, for years I never understood the allure of sports, especially one as violent as football. But, as I have come to appreciate BYU's program, I have realized that it's REALLY about much more than football. Sure, the game is entertaining, but there is a greater purpose. It's about the chance to be a part of a group working toward a common goal, learning leadership skills, developing talents, building friendships, sacrificing for the greater good, decision-making, determination, perseverance, and becoming the best person you can be.

So, I am a reformed sports fan. You will probably never hear me quoting any player's stats or a debating a school's strengths and weaknesses in their offensive line, but I can truly say now that I enjoy sports. Well, at least I enjoy BYU sports. And that's the only one that matters anyway, right?
(By the way, in case you didn't know, BYU beat Northern Iowa University 41 to 17. Go Cougs!)

Murphy's Law

So, you know that old saying that anything that can go wrong will? Well, that was definitely true of my trip to Lake Powell. Between losing half the group for 8 hours somewhere in a 200 mile long lake, attempting to drive back to the boat on Sea Doos during a storm, running out of gas on the lake, two car accidents (with one totalled car), one water-logged cell phone, an alarming carbon monoxide detector incident, and various other crazy occurrences, the fates seemed determined to complicate our lives.

The amazing thing, though, is how so many little miracles occurred so that everyone managed to get home safe and sound. Plus, now I have a ton of great memories of adventures I never would have dreamed.

Between potential disasters, my week was filled with...
Model poses at the world's largest natural arch...

Dance parties in a cave...

Boat driving lessons...

Imitations of figureheads of old sailing ships...

Water skiing shows...

Watermelon basketball...

And so much more...

I'm in love with Lake Powell!

I'm Back!

Well, I'm back from all of my many adventures--two weeks of EFY and a week at Lake Powell. I'll do a post on Lake Powell soon, but this one is simply a quick tag from my sister's blog.

Here's how it works...come play!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you have of me.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don’t want to play on your blog, or if you don’t have a blog, I’ll leave my memory of you in my comments.