The Meandering Thoughts of Jan

Danny and I went to the Natural History Museum up at the U of U this evening.  It was a nice change of scenery.  We had a fun time wandering around looking at historic things, because that's what you do at the museum.  And in my case, take lots of pictures. An impressive building. A wall of cool stuff. Me, solar panels and mountains, a nice mix. There are some poor, disrobed turtles somewhere in this state. How embarrassing. Danny, the wild is calling to him. Where they filmed Jurassic Park...kidding. Don't eat me! A break from the bones for a pretty sunset. Oh my! A wall of dinosaur heads for every occasion. In my spare time during our outing, I made a little discovery for the museum. You're welcome. Danny and his new friends.  They are a bunch of bone heads. (Some times I think I'm so funny, this joke is for my dad and Danny's dad, because they will appreciate it.) Something is amiss underfoot. Footpr...

This past week was Melina's birthday!  Since she lives far away, Talena and I put together a hula party in a box and mailed it to her.  We found all of these treasures at the dollar section at the front of Target.  My favorite moment was when we heard a lady gripe about how the discount section was full of a bunch of useless stuff that no one would buy.  At that very moment we turned the corner, with our hand basket full of awesome stuff we had found.  We just smiled. The party supplies The party agenda I was having a bit of a low evening and Danny suggested we go get my latest craving Sonic blasts.   (Ice cream + candy + whipped cream.)  I know you aren't supposed to feed sorrows with food, but this particular evening I made an exception.  Whoever made that Sonic blast was heaven sent.  It had more Reese's peanut butter cups than actual ice cream.  It's like they sensed my heavy heart and tried to heal it with choc...

Item of Business #1 - A funny story.  I was sitting in primary with our class waiting for the lesson to start when the little boy in the class that sits in front of us turned around and had the following conversation with me... Little Boy:  "Did you know I know how to make my own light saber?" Me:  "I didn't know that." Little Boy:  "Yes, all I need is a laser, some crystals because that is what decides the color of your light saber, some plasma, and metal for the handle." Me:  "How did you figure this out?" Little Boy:  "I thought about it for a long time...So do you know where I can get some plasma?" Me:  "Hmmm, I'm not sure, do you mean plasma as in plasma TVs?" Little Boy:  "Yeah, that's what I need." Me:  "You should ask your mom."   (My go to answer in primary.) Little Boy:  "Do you think things will turn to plasma with the solar eclipse today?" Me:   (Biting my lip so ...

I noticed that I put a lot of pictures of food on this blog.  Just to show to show that Danny and I do other things than eat, I'd thought I'd post pictures from our latest date up to Park City (even though we did get dinner while we were there.)  One of my favorite things to do in Park City is to visit all the art galleries and that is just what we did.  Some of the galleries were closed since it is considered the off-season right now.  However for the ones that were open, that meant less crowds.  The art and photography we encountered was awe-inspiring.  It was a good evening. Images of Nature gallery  The Hope Gallery was one of our favorites.  There was a Carl Bloch exhibit which was beautiful. Danny observing art or art observing Danny, that is the question. This photo entranced me or that is how it appears. I highly recommend the Fatali Gallery, especially if you have a love for Southern Utah like I do. Taking a...

Fruits of my labors... I recently planted a couple of strawberry plants in our backyard, just to see what would happen.  Today I was talking a little walk around my backyard (which took about 30 seconds, because it is a very small backyard) and I was excited to see the first ripe strawberry!   (The black on it in the picture is just dirt, don't you worry.)   I brought it inside and cut it in half so Danny and I could both have a taste.  It tasted like a strawberry, so that was a good sign.  I take that as a gold star for my novice gardening skills. Also, Happy Mother's Day!  I got to talk to my mom, mother-in-law and my grandma, all remarkable women whom I'm grateful for. I hope all the mothers out there felt love and respect for all that they do!

Did the chirping of crickets keep you company while I was away?  I actually wasn't away, just on the verge of being overwhelmed with one crazy week of life. Needless to say, I am tired.  For those who care, here are a few glimpses from this past week. Danny, myself and our friend Rachel got to go a Jazz NBA playoffs game.  The Jazz ended up losing and are now out of the playoffs, but it was still a lot of fun to yell and scream and get mad at the refs.   At the game. I helped with a production at work, which meant two long days of, well, work. (15+ hour work days.)  There was a funny moment when the crew was filming a scene in my home.  Our neighbors saw a big van in our driveway and could hear people moving things around in our house and they came over to see if we were moving out.  I probably should have warned them about the production beforehand, oops. I visited my mom today to wish her a Happy Mother's Day.  She provided lunch fo...

This past weekend was a fun one.  I had goals that included cleaning and weeding, but those took a backseat to ummm, fun things.  These things happen. We had another picnic in the park, this time with KFC.  The husband  had the great idea to make our picnic classy and brought some sparkling  apple cider.  The classiest glasses we had were ice cream sundae glasse s,  but it worked for me.  My favorite of the evening was Danny opening the apple cider using a broken pair of finger nail clippers I found in my purse.  It was sanitary, don't worry. A fast food picnic Danny and I went and saw the new movie "The Avengers".  I see a lot more action movies now that I'm married.  The movie was entertaining.  It's not one that is really intellectually stimulating, but the graphics are cool and overall it's fun.  Iron man is my favorite of those make-believe comic heroes. Saturday evening we went to a Cinco de Mayo ...

A (symbolic) picture of a partial robin egg I found in our yard yesterday I had an epiphany today.  I will try my best to explain. Awhile back a friend in church gave a talk explaining an aspect of the 12-step program, the ability to surrender.  While I don't think I'm really addicted to anything, (although I'm really craving chocolate chip cookies right now) I found it interesting.  This type of surrendering isn't giving up, but instead it is an act of faith.  When one is placed in a situation when cravings, temptations or negative thoughts come to mind, instead of dwelling on it one turns to the Lord admits their weakness, that they can't handle having that thought or craving at that time and gives it the Lord.  It is a sign of humility and in doing so, it is how one gains strength over their weakness.  I thought to myself, well that's a nice idea. *** I came to a realization today that if I did have an addiction, it would be to certainty. ...