For Sunday's Valentine celebration I spent some time with my awesome cousin Hillary.
Here is an awesome collage of Hillary:
First we went to the fireside (it’s a speaker who talks about religious topics for about an hour) and heard Brad Wilcox speak- it was a GREAT talk. Afterwards this guy who speaks Russian and used to hit on my old roommates (with creepy Russian compliments) introduced himself to Hillary, lucky for her he didn’t say any “you have beautiful hair and I love your face” sort of comments to her IN RUSSIAN…I can’t explain him- maybe he’s handicapped, if so- I’m sorry, I’m terrible, but he’s creepy!
After the fireside we went back to Hillary’s and after an entertaining family dinner, in which Hillary tried to shiest her little sister’s ribs, we watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! I haven’t seen it forever so it was fun to see it and chit chat.
So it was a fun night of familial friend time.
What I loved about myself on Sunday was my hands. I know they’re pudgy, but I like them. My hands are short (which I actually like) and I don’t know- I just like them. They do everything for me! They paint and draw and cut and cook and hold things! They’re something to be grateful for, that’s for sure! I LOVE MY HANDS. Without my hands writing, riding a bike, driving, creating art, playing easy hymns on the piano, doing my hair, shampooing, typing- it would all be that much harder to do without my hands!
Today I hung out with my mom and sister- a celebration of women and family! I'm pretty tired so I wont go on and on, but it was fun. We went to day two of Time Out for Women- a LDS (not officially affiliated with the LDS church) womens conference thing. Mormon music celebrities and authors talk about life and hope and being a woman and mom etc. I had a fun day and most of the speakers made me laugh! Except for the lady from Sierra Leone, that was just sad, but hopeful I guess. Death and all that just isn't hilarious all the time...
Becky wasn't ready for the picture, haha:
I love that the women in the background secretly posed in our picture and look better than we do!:
2000 women in one room for hours and hours! Send a man my way!!!
After Time Out for Women we went to a teacher store and my mom bought me some stickers and pencils! One of the pencils says Save Our Rainforests! and has rain forest imagery. Another had raptors on it and says Raptors! The last one has feathers, glasses and owls and says Spells! and Magic! And I love the stickers! I can't wait to put them on cards I send people! Want a card? Let me know! If any of the stickers especially appeal to you, you may also request them (remember, Valentine's are coming!). Stickers include Narnia, children with emotions, space and creepy crawly bugs- but of course I have oodles of other amazing stickers in my stationary box!
After the teacher store we went to my house and had cake with some of my friends visiting from southern Utah and Logan, Utah. Then we went to some store and then my cousins- I love ym cousins and we had good times!
Here Becky is with Spock in Hillary's room! Love him! I have pictures with him on facebook!:
Peace out, I'm going to read some Haveli and go to bed!!! Oh, yes, Nico from the Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack is on!!! I LOVE IT!
Oh wait! What do I love about myself today...can I say that I love that I love my mom? Well I do. My mom is a big part of me and I love her. She's patient and beautiful and talented. She dresses cute and is funny. She bought my some canned organic soup and construction paper! She has always been faithful in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints- at least as long as I've known her ;) haha. Additionally, earlier I was feeling grumpy about something (hormones) and I talked to my mom for like 25 seconds and it made me feel better! My mom is amazing and I love her. I'm a lot like my mom in a lot of ways, so I must be amazing too...hehe, NIGHT!
For today I made a yummy cake and ate it with my mom and sister (and tomorrow, hopefully I will be able to eat the rest with some more friends!) I made a chocolate cake with mint chocolate butter cream filling (from scratch- mint extract and everything!). It is really delicious and I put dinosaur sprinkles on top!
Mom and Becky came for Time Out for Women at Weber State
Becky enjoyed two kinds of chocolate:
John Bytheway was super funny!
So, what I love about myself on February 5, 2010.
I love that I can recognize that discussing or debating with someone will get me nowhere (even if I have spectacular retorts), and I hold my tongue. Like the other day I said something in my institute class and this kid freaked out about it and got all debatey and oversharey. I had splendid retorts. I said nothing. Why, because then maybe he will feel good about himself for that much longer. Because I recognized that he's not going to change his mind, no matter what I say. Because religious classes, like institute and gospel doctrine, aren't the place for debates- the hallways and homes etc. are. I'm in class to feel the spirit, to share, to learn- not to argue about something we won't agree on. Obviously I think it's important to share opinions sometimes, but the world isn't a personal forum for you to shove your opinions about and smother people who didn't ask for it. It's frustrating because I feel like my silence says, "I don't have a retort- you win," but that's just something I have to get over. I have to push my pride aside and get over it. I just don't see the point in debating something when it's so obvious they're not interested in what you're saying- they just want to fight. So yeah, it's hard, but I do it all the time. Just remember that, my silence doesn't mean I don't have an intelligent answer, it just means I'm LETTING you have a little victory because I don't care if you agree. I most likely have a million things to say, and I say them...in my head. Haha. So I like that about me, I LIKE THAT I CAN SWALLOW MY PRIDE AND AVIOD POINTLESS DEBATES (the key here is, pointless- I'm not saying all debate and opinion are bad).
So I kept mentioning the Eccles Art Center in Ogden and I couldn't get it out of my head. I went there this morning and took loads of pictures. Don’t worry, I won’t post all of them- I'm sure you don't give a hoot about it ;)
Here's a collage of the house overall- it's an art gallery now, so it's not fully furnished:
Bathroom goodness:
Gloruis angles, archways and hallways:
Amazing secret compartment!:
Great fireplace:
Beautiful staircase with nook/balcony that connects between a bedroom and powder room:
Closet hideout under stairs:
Wicked sweet mirror and great crown molding:
Built in shelves in dining room:
Egg shaped archway leading to wrap around balcony:
Spectacular sink in bedroom:
Skylight:
Post script: While I love this old Victorian, it doesn’t mean I want a house full of busy wallpaper and Victorian furnishings. I want my house full of Laura and family found and created treasures from any era…well, excluding orange and mustard yellow crap…eclectic, art, thrift store etc.
For today's Valentine Celebration I am going to describe my dream house. I don't know why this is romantic, maybe it's because it's a dream. I'm describing all of my possibly impossibles. As a way to divide up the description of my dream home, I am going to describe it room by room. No boundaries, no budget.
Eccles Art Center
Here are some random things. I want the vibe of the inside of the house to be a mixture between the Eccles Art Center in Ogden, UT, and the Royal Tenenbaums house in one of my all time favorite movies- The Royal Tenenbaums (preferably edited). Yes yes, The royal Tenenbaum house, only in the country and with a color scheme more similar to that of the upstairs parlor room and hallway in the Brigham Young house in St. George, Utah. I want interesting shapes all over- archways, slanted ceilings, etc. I want a secret compartment/cupboard playroom. I want a door that leads to nowhere. I want a bookshelf that leads to a secret annex. I want a round tower room in the top with lots of windows and walls lined with books. While I love all sorts of colors, I love the outdoors and I want my house to feel peaceful with blues, greens, browns and other natural colors. Natural wood triming all around.
For the kitchen I just want it to have the modern usuals and extras, garbage disposal, huge sink, two wall mounted ovens and if possible, a booth for eating. I love booths. I like retro, but I also love natural wood cupboards and floors.
The Master bath is one of the most important rooms because I love long baths. It has to have a giant bathtub- either a classic free standing, infinity or floor level tub. It just has to be huge and smooth- no jets. Lots of hot water, and a skylight above it; also the bathroom would have two windows because I hate bathrooms with no windows. The sink would be a pedestal sink and there would be ample storage room for my toiletries. There would also be a vanity station with a large mirror and a smaller pedestal mirror. The overall look would be old fashioned, just like the one on the second floor of the Eccles Art Center (Oh, I wish I had pictures of it!) It’s tiled everywhere with nice light pastel turquoise and white tiles. Also I would have a Homestar Spa Planetarium because they’re wicked cool!
For the master bedroom I don’t care that much I guess. I want a king size bed with some sort of canopy. I would want it to be painted with soft and soothing colors, and no TV in the bedroom. I would definitely need a wicked amazing closet that could organize all the goods- one that’s big enough to dance in, hide in and dress in.
Living room: Eclectic, full of my chotchkies and treasures, fireplace, rug, books, art galore.
Dining room: Hand crafted fireplace by actual carpenter who uses real wood and builds to last and look good. One of a kind. Lot's of light. Unique and wonderful chandelier. Like this, only with more color and less eggs things...
In the family room I’d like a giant projector and screen with simple DVD, vhs and sound system. You see, I’m a big movie buff and I want to view them at their best, but I also want to be able to just turn the dang thing on without having to look up the instructions in the manual every time. It’s really annoying when there are 1300 settings and buttons. Give me volume, play, pause, on, off, stop, rewind and fast forward- the basics.
In the backyard, which would be several acres with trees and room to run and play, I would want an awesome tree house, pool, hot tub, slide, swings and garden
I think that's about it. And you see, the thing is, I could be happy anywhere. I used to hate living in St. George and now I love it. I though I would hate the snow and I don't. I loved living in Virginia. I think I could be happy anywhere- but I wouldn't mind living in Pine Valley :)
Speaking of being happy anywhere...I guess that's what I like about myself today. I have learned to be happy anywhere (so far ;))I was rethinking my blog about my dream guy. I mean yeah, it would be nice if I found a great guy who dressed well, but the reality is, I don't care that much. Recently I have been attracted to a guy who dresses pretty average. Yeah, I'd like a James Dean, but I'm a okay with a Jim Halpert. Ya know? A good man is a good man.
Speaking of style:
You know who doesn't like Billy Joel? Douchebag music snobs.
One is FAR superior to the other. Can you guess which one?
I hope that you picked the one on top as the victor, because it is superior. The fruit one went south with the rotten grapes :(
Today's what i love about myself is my creativity. I love that I can think of things that are "creative." Like in elementary when I won a reflections contest because I drew panda bears on an island eating the wrong kind of leaves...haha. Or like in middle school when I won an award in the science fair for attempting to make meat smelling perfume. PS. I did not succeed, but it was creative :) Here is some of my old creativity:
Tonight I watched a documentary called Food Inc. (thanks for the reminder to watch it Hayley). Food Inc. has been on my Netflix queue for a while now and tonight after reading Hayley's blog about it, I finally watched!
I totally agree with everything Food Inc. featured. We don't eat food- we eat hormones and crap. I am just baffled that people think when they pump growth hormones (designed to make animals, and just about anything you can harvest, grow at rapid rates, like 3 times normal) into something, that the hormones just disappear somewhere along the way. Sorry, but that just doesn't follow logic. The hormones and chemicals aren't going away; they're going into your body. If the hormones and crap make something grow at an abnormal rate, what do you think it's going to do to your body!? Uggh, okay, I need to quit while I'm ahead. Since about August I've been trying to eat healthy; I eat as much organic, raw, fresh and from scratch as possible. My goal to love myself and treat my body with more respect starts with eating even more healthily. Like stop buying so much processed food and start buying my meat organic and local if possible. Additionally I miss my vegetarian days and I'm going to attempt to cut more and more meat out.
AWESOME BOOK!
It's okay if you don't agree with me, or if you think something like Food Inc. is just liberal propaganda. I just think it's logical. I'm pretty conservative myself and tomorrow I'm going to blog about my dream house. It might surprise you to know my dream house is in the country with a lot of old fashioned things. But like I said, that's for tomorrow’s blog.
