the weekend

mr. r surprised me with a weekend getaway.

yes he is the best possible husband for me

we spent a night at the homestead

the theme of the trip=relaxation

have you ever been to the homestead?

i really enjoyed my time there

definitely a place to return to

we swam in the crater... slightly creepy

easter was celebrated with family

egg tosses

delicious food

too much sugar

and of course some michael jackson dancing on the wii

a blast from the past

remember these great things!

confession

i'm sorry to admit but it's my fault that it's still cold and dreary outside

i prayed that spring wouldn't come until after tax season was over

future forecast april 19th=sunny. 

hope you all can endure one last week of winter

future forecast is based only on my prayers for spring time.

sisterly love

for saturday night, priesthood night,
i wanted to do something fun with my sisters and mom

i thought making doughnut holes(which i've never done) would be fun for everyone

and it sure was

we decided to not just fry doughnut holes but why not zingers, and girl scout cookies?? 

well by the end of the night things got a little caddy 

and one sister ended up slapping me so hard on my tush i was furious.  

well of course we got over it a couple minutes later
but i was still a little ticked that she did that when i left

saw her yesterday and things were completely back to normal. 

i love that about my family we forgive each other and move on

i hope that the quick forgiveness never changes

to be or not to be

this past weekend we enjoyed watching general conference.  originally we planned to head to the cabin for the weekend as a mini-getaway but are plans changed and we enjoyed it from home, which hasn't happened many times in our marriage.  it was wonderful to lounge around our home together and allow the voices of church leaders fill our walls.  the messages of peace and love couldn't come at any better of a time than during this time of turmoil and disasters in our world.  I always walk away from conference weekend with a couple messages in the front of my mind, they are motivation that I can persevere and keep moving forward and upward in my life.  and I really love being able to revisit the messages during the months to come.  words seem to take a new meaning as I experience new things and challenges.

I'm not one to share much about religion on this blog.  I have a spiritual journal that I like to keep my spiritual thoughts and inspirations all together in one place.  however one message from conference applies to everyone religious or not.  the talk was centered around 'to be or not to be'.  he discussed the difference between doing something and becoming something.

i am a list maker and huge talker, i seem to always have great ideas! but i have the hardest time executing these great ideas.  lately it's something i've been working on.  it's one of the reasons we've planned this trip to europe.  instead of just talking about how wonderful a journey through europe would be together it was time to start planning it and making preparations.  this is quite a dramatic example and quite different than the point of the speaker but along the similar lines.  his message stretched my way of thinking and reminded me of something that is a life long process.  from just doing something to get it done, check it off the list, to becoming and being someone better through a task that has to be done.

anyone can do something and complete a task but it takes someone special who completes it and becomes a better person because of it.  

good luck to each of us as we try to become better through everyday things rather.

conference talks are available for viewing and listening on lds.org

and reading this thursday

monday

sometimes, monday's are a little daunting.  especially when you are embarking on a 6 day work week.  and when you're recovering from an evil cold that decided to take over your body on your one day off.  but if you break down on monday what does that say for the rest of your week.  you gotta keep on going.  so here's some pictures that made me laugh on this monday morning.
here's too a good week.

power

The pioneer theatre had an amazing production of the diary of anne frank.  I've never been to the play and was excited when offered tickets.  Of course I didn't take any pictures, but I wish I would have.  Maybe one day all the regret of forgetting the camera will make me remember it!  We went to red butte cafe for dinner and i didn't even order the soup because the weather was so warm.  it was perfect for walking up to the theatre and back.  i love not being cold all the time.
the play was amazing.  if you ever have the opportunity to see it DO!

i've always been fascinated by world war 2.  despite the tragic stories and statistics i always want to learn more.  whenever i'm out of town and there's a holocaust museum it's top on the list for me to see.  like plays do it brought anne frank to life for me.  i knew that she was a real 13 year old girl but i never stopped and thought what that meant.  watching young anne on the stage developed her into a 'real' person.  she was just like one of my young women; boy crazy, loud, energetic, naive, and trying to figure herself out.  yes she was living during WW2 but before she went into hiding her life was very similar to any 13 year girl.

i can't imagine living life and then all of the sudden one man, just one person decides to take control and gets a group of supporters.  all the sudden you can't walk on the sunny side of street, you can't be out past 8, you can't go to the movies, you can't go to the same school... all of the sudden your life is filled with all these things you can't do.  it gets so extreme that you can't live at your house anymore and that you go into hiding, where you can't talk from 8 to 6, use the bathroom from 8 to 6, wear your shoes from 8 to 6, go outside, look out the window etc. etc.

anne frank had so many admiral qualities.  she was brave and strong.  she was smart and amazing with words.  she was thoughtful and a concerned friend.  she was loving and kind and forgiving of those around her.

her family, the von don family and dr dussle all stayed in hiding for over 2 years before they were captured.  when they were captured britain and america were invading the germans in france but the nazi's were still killing and capturing in the eastern parts of europe, they were just moving more rapidly.  Only Anne's dad survived until the end of the war, Anne died three days before her concentration camp was saved.  Anne's diary was the only piece of the family left for her dad.  The play ends with her dad coming back to the annex and finding Anne's diary.  i didn't even want to clap, it was moving.  words can't express how it felt to sit and watch this family struggle to survive and then all die within days of freedom.

it's amazing to me how much power one person can half.  naturally it makes sense.  when i was in sixth grade there was one girl who didn't like me.  i don't know why.  i never really knew her or did anything to my recollection to make her not like me.  but she happened to be in a class with all my friends but one.  that year ended up being so hard for me, all my 'friends' started to treat me different, they wouldn't talk to me sometimes, or wait for me to do to recess.  and when you are 11 that's devastating.  of course now i've forgiven the girl, i haven't seen her since 6th grade but it's a small example how much power we all have.

we have the power to do what's right or wrong.  and although those choices might not impact thousands of people they will impact those close to us.  one of the most important things about history is that we learn from it. this is part of my application to world war 2.  i have power.  i am going to use that power for good to better those around me.

back to it.

this week was back to normal.
spring break has come and gone, even though spring has stayed away
yesterday i enjoyed the warmer weather with a jog after work
afterwards i just sat on my stairs letting the sun beam onto my face.
i forgot what the sun felt like.

mr. r. spent most of his days and nights at the library studying for tests
and i spent most of my time after work and dinner doing this and that
and some much needed time in the tub

i adjusted quickly to going to bed without mr. r.
but being such a light sleeper he never failed to wake me up when he came home
here are our nightly tales from this week.

monday night:
mrs.: sits up rather abruptly when the door opens with a 'urrrggghh'
mr.: 'babe it's okay i'm home'
mrs.: rather annoyed, 'urgh i know' followed by collapsing back into bed and back to sleep

tuesday  night:
mrs.: woken up by mr. reaching around me poking at my eye, 'what are you doing?'
mr.: 'i'm just looking for the screen, where's the screen.'
mrs.: laughing, 'what are you talking about, I can't wait to make fun of you in the morning.'

i think he was washing windows or something.

wednesday night:
mrs: I was over tired at YW on Wednesday.  You know how sometimes when you are so tired that you can't fall asleep!, I hate that. It makes me so mad, you toss and turn and just stress over not being asleep yet. well apparently i fell asleep earlier than i thought because when mr: walked in the door and told me he was home, 'oh okay, are you back from picking up the ice cream'
mr:'haha no but I can go get some'
mrs: snoozing away.

thursday night
we were rather disappointed that neither one of us could recollect anything exciting from the night.

I should note that every night this week I woke up around 5, be grateful you don't have a bladder the size of a cashew, with the same dream that my desk at work was overflowing with tax returns and that the partners of the office were lined up to give me outside my door...

I used to have reoccuring dreams about tetris, probably cause I was playing too much, this dream must mean that i'm working too much... 17 more days!!