Great Deal

If Movies are on your stocking stuffer list this year, you should get them here:

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Free stuff is cool!

I just entered to win $200 cash or a Kindle Touch from UtahSweetSavings.com!

Long time no blog.....

This is Manhattan at sunrise, from about 30,000 feet above....

I wish there was a better reason for the blogging hiatus, but the only excuse I can offer is that I was just too lazy. Tiki Farm on Facebook has kept me sufficiently obsessed at night when things are quiet at work, so I end up staring at that screen and waiting for my crops to blossom so I can harvest them and buy all sorts of fun things, like a Tiki tent, surfboards, cool tiki statues, etc. It's a real waste of time, but surprisingly entertaining!

To say that I'm excited that I am starting the first of my last 2 weeks working the night shift is a severe understatement! I thought, when I got the shift 4 months ago "Ok- that's cool- I'll work at night, and be able to get tons done during the day!" W-R-O-N-G!!!! Working all night does funky stuff to your body, so I have been feeling more and more tired every day, even to the point that doing something as simple as FOLDING LAUNDRY seems like it takes too much energy to do. I'm excited, because starting June 8th (after a 4 day weekend with the Smiths in PA!) I will work Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7 am until 5:30 pm. Not so excited about working on Saturdays, but at least I'll be off early enough to still have a date night or be able to do fun stuff with friends. I'm just really excited to join the world of the day-livers again. This night life stuff is WAY overrated!
Paulo and I had a fun spur-of-the-moment overnight date this last weekend. Since Paulo hadn't ever been, and the flights looked good for going there and coming back, I offered to treat him to a slice of New York pizza pie- in NEW YORK! We hopped on the plane in SLC, flew through the night, and landed in JFK at 6am Saturday morning. After an adventurous ride on the subway, we had a marathon walking day of seeing all sorts of fun sites: Times Square, Rockafeller Center, Radio City Music Hall (Where the Dali Lama was speaking that morning), Manhattan Temple, Little Brazil, and then we zoomed back to JFK to catch the flight at 3:00 that afternoon back to SLC. It was a little scary at the airport- the flight was very full, but luckily (for the standby passengers!) some people missed their flight, so we got on! I was praying like crazy that we would get on, because I had to be back at work on Sunday night, and we certainly hadn't planned to pay for a hotel room in Manhattan. Heavenly Father heard our prayers, and not even 24 hours after we had left, we were back in good old Salt Lake City! I'm really grateful for this new job with JetBlue, and the opportunities it is going to give us to see different places and have some really fun memories through the years.

My miracle for the last month has been Paulo. He is a great example of humility and patience and I love him so much!

April Showers

. . . . . . ... bring fear to the hearts of little Yorkie Doggies who haven't heard thunder in a long time. . . . . .....

My little miracle today was that I (almost) got the yard mowed before the thunderstorm came in. Here we go again . . . . it's gonna be a long summer!

Being Tough

Paulo suggested that we get out the lawnmower and garden gloves and work on the yard yesterday. After picking myself up off of the floor and trying to hide my shock at such a gesture, I said "Sure!"

Then I almost swore when it started snowing.

THEN, when he suggested we try it again today, I almost asked him "who are you, and what have you done with my husband?!?!?" Luckily, I was smart enough not to tease him and bruise his ego. Today's weather cooperated and we got the lawn mowed, edged, and lots of weeds pulled out/ decapitated. Paulo was so cute watching me pull out weeds- he started talking about how they don't have weeds in Brazil and he honestly thought that a lot of them (the dandelions namely) were actually plants that BELONGED in the flower beds! I gave him a quick lesson on the correct technique to picking a weed vs. decapitating it. My theory is that if you just decapitate a weed, it comes back, with an ANGRY vengeance! So it's worth the sore back to get them out by the root if you can! He was really intrigued. It was cute.

I was glad to see that one of my bushes in the front of the house is actually making a comeback this year. After last year's negligence I thought that this one bush that produces some of the prettiest and most tropical looking flowers that you can get on a plant in Utah was certainly kapoot. I mean DONE. DEAD. DONE FOR. MUERTE. All of the above. Imagine my surprise when I saw this:

Well, it turns out that Mr. Tropical Flower Maker was only mostly dead. I looked at the bush, pulled off some of the left over and now hardened remnants of the weed that I thought had taken over the plant last year. Then I kind of had a moment. I looked at that bush- it was covered in weeds last year, to the point that it probably couldn't breathe very well. If plants have thoughts, this one was definitely thinking "man, I should have taken out a life insurance policy or something!" But here it stood in front of me, 6 months later, proving that even though at one moment you may be covered and drowning in something that feels like it might even do you in for GOOD, it's possible to recover and have a rebirth.
I've been through some pretty tough moments over the last few months. Some of them felt like they were getting close to doing me in for good. But, like this plant- I've had someone come and pull off all of the schtuff that was suffocating me, and now it's time for me to start showing my pretty flowers again!
My miracle today was family. I love them all so much and am grateful for a Mother and Father who worked so hard to teach us all to love each other, and always help those in need when we can.

What the....

So, Paulo and I have been trying to do something outside the normal 'go to the store, get a movie at the Redbox, come home and go to bed' date nights. Last night we went on a walk up in Bountiful around the temple. Tonight, we broke out the crayons, markers, and coloring pages. Sounds funny, but you would be amazed at how wonderfully therapeutic coloring is. I bet if you took my blood pressure and heart rate while I was coloring, it probably was the lowest it's been in a LONG time tonight. We put the ipod on shuffle and sat for about 2 hours making our creations.

Here's one of the pages I colored:

And here's the one that Paulo colored:

So the question, now, is this: Should I call this "creativity," or should I call a therapist? :)
My miracle today was this simple childhood activity and the great effect it had on both of us. I think sometimes I expect too much of whatever can help me bring things back down to normal.

Clusters of Crocus

I planted crocus bulbs in my front yard about 5 years ago and every year they come popping up around this time. I can see them from my front window, and they make me happy every time! At the same time, however, I always want to yell to the tiny, delicate flowers "Hold on! Springtime isn't here yet!" Because, no matter how hard they try to wait until Springtime is actually here, they always bloom, and then get snowed on. Last week, these two little gems were covered in snow. Today, while the sun shines, they are soaking up the rays and loving it!
I've got other gems coming out around the yard too- tulips, irises, and daffodils are the ones that I know about. I'm really excited to work in the yard this year and make it a pretty one again! Last summer was really busy so I totally neglected it.
Yardwork- making things grow and bloom- it's my summertime miracle!!!