A Little Life in Everything

It was a fantastic weekend!  As all General Conferences tend to be.  We were edified by the words of our Apostles and Prophet.  The video of our home state made me realize that we don’t live there anymore.

I have adapted to my new Washington home with ease, which is something I have to admit I was a little worried about.  And yes I do continue to love all the new and different things that this amazing place has to offer.  I can’t get over all the diversity and unique things the state has.  Green hills for miles, ocean beach fronts pebbled with sand and rocks.  Off in the distance towers Mt. Rainier seeming to stick out of nowhere!    We have fallen in love with this new place.  Upon my reflection of this new home of ours I often think of my home state of Utah.  Now in growing up there I think I always loved it, yes but I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I do now.  Utah too is incredibly diverse in it’s regions.  From literally the best snow on earth, and you can that that to the bank because it is just fact, nothing is like Utah powder!  To the red rocks of Zions National Park, Lake Powell’s majestic waters or MOAB with the deep red sandstone that kisses the clear blue skies is a truly amazing sight of nature’s colors. I recently read an interview with Robert Redford, a Utah import who settled in the beautiful Timpanogos canyon area.  He too fell in love with Utah and his words to the articles author regarding this place resonated deep in me.

 “I know,” says Redford when I get to Sundance and try to describe what the drive felt like. “It’s almost biblical.”

I mean, it’s foggy the whole way — it could be Los Angeles….

“Or Beijing. When we get in an inversion, which is the hot air keeping the cold air down, then all the fumes from traffic, all the pollution just sits there — and then you rise above it. It’s a wonderful feeling.

“We’re in Redford’s office at the Sundance Resort; the festival films show in Park City, about thirty miles north. The five-thousand-acre resort, packed with Saturday skiers, sits on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos. Redford’s office, a creaking one-floor affair hung with icicles, is a far cry from Santa Monica.

Redford has homes in Napa Valley and Santa Fe, but here is where, long ago, he fell in love hard with Timpanogos.”Before I got kicked out of college, I would drive from Colorado home to Los Angeles, and I always loved taking different routes. There was a canyon road, a little shortcut. I looked up and, Whoa — I saw the back of this mountain. It reminded me of the Jungfrau in Switzerland. Its strength and its gruffness are masculine, but it also has an embracing shape to it. If you sit at the base of it, you’re going into the womb of this mountain.”Robert Redford Interview – Esquire Magazine April 2013

 I grew up at the base of the mountains he describes.  Watching the sun crest over their tall craggy tops and escaping into the night by disappearing behind their canyon creases like a blanket tucking it in for the night.  It was an incredible place to grow up. 

My Mr. and I have often discussed our conflicting feeling for our 2 states.  Almost like we have to throw out the qualities that we loved so much about one to fully adopt the other.  And is just isn’t so.  These two places make us appreciate the other more for the unique differences they each offer to us.  We feel lucky to get to have both places to call ours. 

“I think they could be a little bit more well groomed-—if you know what well groomed is, you just take a look in the mirror. Their hair doesn’t look neat, they look like they are all messed up. I don’t think messy is pretty, I think they should study themselves a little more and not wear something that’s in fashion because it’s in fashion. And you see some enormous young women wearing the skimpiest clothing and it really looks dreadful.” – Iris Apfels

Agreed!  Irsid Apfels a fashion maven recently made this comment in this article caught my eye while reading online.  Though this 90-year-old Lady, yes she is a lady, is born in a different time I think she is absolutely right!  What’s wrong with dressing up and looking nice and put together?  My Parents are all about this and often, to my dismay, make comments about how that “person looks like they just rolled out of bed for the day.”  Or that “they need a belt because their pants are falling off”, or “Is that a boy or a girl I just can’t tell.”  This is not a judgment on the person’s character or quality.  But we all have to admit that first physical impressions make a difference.  When I hired employees to work for me I saw the whole gamete of people.  I had some in full suits and some come in sweats, yes really sweats!  Can you guess whom I hired?  That being said I had people come in who fit a nice, well kept in-between and I hired them too.  It’s just this messy or skimpy looks that seems to be what so many now days feel is ok is I’m sorry just not.  Recently I have noticed these shorts that barely (barely is the correct word) cover these young gals’ bottoms are completely inappropriate to me!  No I don’t want to see the bottoms of your cheeks, Thank You!  I understand if you have a day where you’re a little under the weather, sure, get feeling better.  But as for Iris and me I think we are going to enjoy dressing it up a bit and enjoying just looking Well Groomed.  Well Said Iris!

Another successful trip to COSTCO and an abundance of fun cart observations.  You can read previous COSTCO posts if your tuning in for these fun real life observations as witness by Me and My Mr.  Here are some of the best. 

Diapers & hot wings – interesting combination, hopefully your not feeding the wings to your baby.
Bread sticks and a tent – interesting camping food.
Tomatoes & red vines – red fetish
Waffles & a connect – waffles and video games, perfect mesh
Spinach and a human sized stuffed moose – Are they planning on feeding that to the moose?
Chicken pot pie and an ice scraper – Something warm after you scrap off your car too!
Green house & socks – Gardening in your new socks!
Adult and baby diapers – I don’t want to know
Jerky and Gillette razors skim milk – beef and milk while shaving your legs?
Grapes and basketball – Can you say Soccer mom (in charge of refreshments)
2 apple trees and a rotisserie chicken – nothing like a rotisserie chicken after planting trees!
Baby food and salsa – both options don’t need teeth!
Bacon and roasted seaweed – if a vegetarian and carnivore lived together.

After a bit of a rough ending to my Tuesday work day I went home a little defeated and tired.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to salvage the rest of the evening after such a day.  Then with a walk with friend Kendra and just chatting girl talk and growing up, yes I still feel like I’m growing up, the evening was looking up.  The walk was lovely and as the sun was setting the world was in a better place for me.  Then I entered my complex to see my friend Christina saying goodbye to her hubby and toting her little guy back up the stairs.  We started chatting and continued to do so for the next hour or so, and again I was fulfilled!  My cup that was emptied by the days exhaustion was filled again by the friendship of others.  I have often felt that I am bad with girl friends, having never had any sisters to practice on or to call my closest friends I have had to rely on girl friends to help fill the void.  Unhealthy I’m sure as they have sisters of their own who they actually have blood to connect them.  But the girl friends I do have I treasure as they are the sisters I never had and who help me to feel, even if just for a couple hours, that love.  So thanks to all my girl friends local and out of state you make me feel loved like a sister!

Here was the parking situation for my office last week, cars as far as the eye can see.  Craziness!  I went into work an hour early to ensure I would get a spot and beat the BYU Education Week traffic.  Luckily it’s a new week, and hopefully parking will be back to it’s normal emptiness!  But only for 3 days, Freshman move in on Wednesday, heaven help us!  Can’t believe it’s fall semester already, I’m going to live in denial;

THE SUMMER ISN”T OVER!

This is a topic that I have often found interesting, particularly in the office environment.  When using the communal microwave in heating up your lunch are you a heat it and leave it person? Meaning do you, at home or elsewhere, pop you lovely leftovers in the microwave and forget them?  Let them run the full 3+ minutes without double checking them?  Or are you a stirrer? Do you stand by the microwave and every 30 seconds or so give it a stir or move to make sure your stuff is frying?  I myself find that I lean more toward the stirrers.  I don’t want the outer edges to be scalding and the inner part to be FREEZING, YUCK!! But I find that there are a lot, and I tend to think they are male (no offense, this is purely observational).  That pop it in and let it fry.  Which is kinda a hard concept as a stirrer to grasp, maybe they don’t care if some is burned to a crisp and scalding hot.  Who knows. This then brings me to proper microwave etiquette. Do you pop your food in and walk away?  Or do you wait for it to be done.  Again I’m the latter.  I just feel so awkward for someone to have to debate whether it’s OK to pull your food out or not.  And then lastly if the person heats and leaves is it OK to pull out there food? I mean I don’t know if it’s fully cooked and as a stirrer I think that is important to be sure of to fully enjoy your lunch.  At the same time I hate waiting by the microwave or having to come back and check if they removed there food or not.  I mean SERIOUSLY just watch your food and save everyone the trouble right?!  So these are all my microwave quandary’s. I wish there was just some written rules somewhere that we all could abide by.  It would save us a little confusion and me the hassle of having to complain to you all about it!

Today we say Goodbye to Grandma Fowers.

LuAnna Kindred Fowers

I didn’t know her middle name was Kindred, I love that!  Kindred is such a positive, happy word.  And she was a kindred spirit to me, having come from Utah County originally, yeah a UTAH County Girl! She made sure to tell me that when My Mr. and I got engaged and I felt like I wasn’t the only girl from down south in the family.  She was lovely and sassy, and always had a dish of candy at her house for her grandkids.  We will cherish our time spent with her and remember her always!  We love you!

Did you know May is National Bike Month? Well it is!  So with our Utah weather finally warming up to bearable temperatures I’m getting ready to dust off the trusty bike and head up the canyon with My Mr and the Pup!  There is nothing like riding a bike through the cool spring air!

The graphic is by Eleanor, check out more of these fun colorful backgrounds here!  I just love her stuff, at least I think it’s a she.

This year my work life has been full of frustration after frustration.  If it’s not one thing it’s another.  And I have found out quickly who actually cares and who doesn’t! For as much as I figured this is just a job until My Mr. is done with school and that what did I care about. But the truth is I do.  I care about my performance, my clients, my interoffice relationships, my employees. I care about it all.
A couple of months ago there were extreme problems, and I mean extreme! I was at my wits end and I honestly didn’t know what to do.  So as a last effort I went to an administrator I discussed how I felt and what the issues were. He listened and we discussed, we worked through a problem and we discussed.  In the end he thanked me for bringing this to his attention and with that he set into motion big changes that made a difference.  He cared.  Now I think most will think that my appreciation would be because he made the changes happen and though that helped it was not the key. The key was he said Thank you! He thanked me for my hard work and forgiving him my perspective.  He even said he was grateful for taking care of his problems!  You can imagine how grateful I felt, to be thanked personally and recognized for my hard work.  To me open appreciation and just saying the words Thank You mean a lot and open the doors.  If that is said to me I will do anything for you because I know you recognize the work I have done.  Thank you is a mark of a true leader, Abraham Lincoln was a big user of the words Thank you and I think he is a great examples that define the word leader.  There are other great leader examples and I know if you researched it they used the word Thank You.  Why do they say thank you? Because a leader cares.
I put that experience into stark contrast with a recent, yesterday, meeting. This was on a much smaller matter than the last. However through it all there was no thanks for this, or we appreciate you allowing us to use this.  No, it was a obligatory how can we make this work and get what we want. It was discouraging and made me feel like an insignificant member of the office.  By the end I felt that we had come to a resolution but not had the positive affects as I did with the other Admin.  And why you ask? Because no thank yous were used, no hey we know this is going to be an inconvenience but we appreciate your help. Nothing. Did they even care? Thankless work is so damaging to morale and I think with all the techniques and ideas about team building one of the largest defects in the work place is the lack of appreciation.  Even if work is expected a simple thank you can do the trick to giving you the boost you need to get through a tough situation.  Making you want to work harder because someone cares.
I suppose this is not a big deal to most but a few years ago my only living Grandma said she was so proud to have grandchildren who said thank you even if it was just because someone opened the door for them. That has always stuck with me.  It is such a small thing but means so much.  So I remember to thank because someone like me might care.

While at my local grocery store I popped over to the meat counter where they were offering some fantastic fish deals.  While scanning the window case below a voice from above asked what I was looked for, without looking up I listed off the things we wanted and pointing the pieces out.  Taking the last few second to peer through the glass the gentlemen asked me if there was anything else, for the first time my eyes went up to see the spitting image of Josh Groban, in a hairnet (yes, imagine his long locks pulled back and you got it!).  My eyes caught his and for a second I though he was going to bust out “You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains!” I was startled and shocked, everything paused and for a second I looked around and thought “am I being punked?” “Is Josh Groban helping me with my salmon slices?“  All this pondering was going through my head with what I’m sure was a matter of seconds in reality but for me I felt star struck and lost track of the time.  He looked at me again and asked “is that everything” looking confused and like Josh Groban.  I quickly came to the decision to get my meat and get out of there, I figured since candid camera did not appear at that moment and no one else around me seemed to be having the same utter confusion and bewilderment I just needed to get out before I made a spectacle of myself.  I nodded indicating I was good, since my voice failed me and looked away.   He packed up my meat and said “you have a nice day!” I smiled and thought I heard in the background “Your still you, after all your still you!” Though I missed the opportunity to snag his photo for you all to compare believe me it was pretty close, if you can imagine Josh Groban in a hair net in Provo,UT this was him.  I walked quickly over and told the tale to My Mr. and he had a good laugh!  From now on he will always be know as the Groban Grocer.

Side note; I’m not a massive fan of Josh Groban, meaning I’m not obsessed with him.  Yes, he has a good voice, and is talented but not like I have a scrapbook devoted to his existence.  That is why this odd experience is so funny to me, I mean how does Josh Groban just show up working at your grocery store, I can’t answer it but it is a recession and heck if Josh wants to get a side job more power to him.

The weekend was defined by a tidal wave of errands.  Things that need to be done during the week that due to illness haven’t gotten done.  I also missed out on the amazing snow as My Mr and my dearly loved cousin Shawn headed up to enjoy the skiing/snowboarding.  Will this bronchitis ever go away?!  But on the upside I did get a lot done, which made me fill fulfilled since I’m such a cleaning neat freak.  My POOR Mr returned from the mountains tired, happy and a purple throbbing big toe.  He handled the pain for a couple of hours before he couldn’t stand it any longer and realized he was probably going to loose the toe nail all together.  The solution; he had to relieve the pressure built up under that pulsing phalange.  Now the options for doing that aren’t exactly pleasant and having never done anything like that on myself let alone someone else, I mean I’m no surgeon, I couldn’t do it.  My Mr needed it and figured he would have to do it himself, after looking through the options he decided on his method of “surgery.” He would do what I thought totally nuts he wanted to use a hand drill.  Yes you know it, the kind you use to drill into the wall or put a screw in a board that kind of drill.  But neither of us could do it, I mean come one that is totally unnatural to drill into yourself let alone the one you love.  We were stuck.  In enters the man with a lot of drill experience, My Dad!  My Mr explained what need to be done and My Dad, as always, was up for it!  He pulled out his drill bit set and they selected the tiny little bit perfect for the toe.  I excused myself, there was no way I was going to watch My Dad drill into My Mr’s toe.  They tested (don’t ask me how) and then went for it, I waited for what felt like forever but in all reality was maybe a minute.  My Mr let out a yelp and I knew it was over, went back to the kitchen and My Mr declared that the throbbing was gone and only a little sharp pain from being drilled into, mind you My Dad did a great and gentle job, the pain is just part of the process.  So with the drill bit being cleaned and the wound mopped up it was decided that the old 1980′s ski boots that I had been trying to get rid for a few years now would have to go.  And with the painful reminder residing on his toe those boots are headed to the DI today with no struggle from My Mr.  So that was how we spent our weekend, what did you do?
Did you watch the Oscars?  I love watching, mostly for the dresses, I love pretty dresses!  It’s fun to see who wins and what movies are out there, we have added a few to our watch list after watching the show.  Favorite dress of the night?  Cate Blanchett – amazing texture and color, and Amy Adams how can you not love the sparkle!  Did you have a favorite?

Somehow I injured my shoulder over the weekend, and it wasn’t even something eventful. Just the simple wear and tare I put on my body on a regular basis.  I use to think that my body’s warranty was just up with all my bodily ups and downs, but this week with my rotator cuff on the fritz I decided that it’s not my warranty, nope it’s that I play hard and that just like a pair of jeans I play hard and get some tares and snags regularly because I am a using this body I got to live my life to the limits!

So here I sat getting my rotator cuff electrocuted back into submission.  After another trip or to so the physical therapist and consistent exercising I will be back in action!  Until then I may be taking a little time off from the heavy lifting and pulling this right shoulder usually handles.  But I’ll be back and better in no time!