Work Work Work!

Christmas is the busiest time of year at Florences.  In one day, we made almost $11,000, just on chocolates!  I've heard that chocolate sales are recession-proof and I believe it.  Everyone is willing to buy a little bit of their favorite treats, even when money is tight.  Almost everyone there has been working overtime.  We get so many orders from businesses getting something for their employees or clients or people just getting a little something for their friends and family!  It's good to spread the Christmas cheer, but it makes me very tired.  In the last 2 weeks, with all 3 of my jobs combined, I worked 115 hours.  Let me tell you something, I am exhausted!  I think I'm more excited than anyone for Christmas to get here.  Needless to say, my house is not clean, I don't remember the last time I cooked, and David has been feeling a little neglected (expecially since he's out of school and spends all day at home alone).  But there are some good things that come with working that hard:

-We have money to pay our bills!  That's always a good thing.
-I have gotten to know so many different kinds of people and hear a little bit about their lives.   Some of it is very interesting.  I like hearing other people's stories.
-I have pushed past what I thought was my limit and am realizing I can do more than I thought I could (although I couldn't do it all year long, sorry Dad)

I'm sure there are more, but right now I'm kind of on veg-out mode.  I have one more day of crazy schedule till next Christmas!  Anyways, that's why I haven't been blogging, or playing Scrabble, or cleaning my house.  So I'm looking forward to a break for Christmas and then a trip to Utah!

Funny Little Things

I have to share a quick story.  David and I were watching a movie last night and David fell asleep half way through.  I quickly made him get up and move to the bed so that it wouldn't be as much of a struggle since he was still a little coherent.  We got in bed and I had a hard time falling alseep.  About 30 minutes after we went to bed I bumped David while turning over and he woke up a little.  This conversation followed:

Me: Oh, sorry! 

David (sitting up a little and looking very confused): Where are....where are the....the.....

Me (knowing David is still dreaming): It's ok, just go back to sleep.

David (still very confused): But where are the fishies?

Me (trying very hard not to laugh, but still knowing he's dreaming): David, just go back to sleep.

David: But where are the fishies??

Me (laughing even harder): We don't have any fishies.

David (getting very upset and almost crying): NO!!! But why?!

Me: I'm sorry David, we don't have any.

David:  But they're always here!!!!

Me (trying not to let David see me laughing because I'm afraid he'll start crying): It's ok David.  Just go back to sleep.

David (laying back down and kind of falling alseep, while wimpering this): But where are the fishies?  Where are they?

I was trying so hard not to laugh, but it was very difficult!  I always try to figure out why David dreams about the things he does, and I think this happened because we were watching the first X-Men and a man turns into a fish-person and that's about when David fell asleep.  Anyways, it sure made my night!

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad...Week....

This week has been...difficult...It's one of those weeks where every single thing that I try to do ends up falling to pieces.  Monday and Tuesday were just some of those days where I wasn't feeling great about life.  Wednesday was where things started getting worse.  I was still feeling not so great about life and then I couldn't find my wedding ring.  I usually take it off when I do dishes or anything that will get it really dirty but I always know where it is.  Not that day.  I was worried, but I knew it was somewhere in our apartment so I knew I could find it later.  I was getting ready to go to work and realized I didn't have any jeans that didn't have a hole in them.  But luckily my mom had called saying that she had finished hemming some jeans I had given her a few weeks earlier.  So I pulled on my capri's (which I didn't really want to wear because it had been snowing all morning) and some cowboy boots.  The reason for the cowboy boots is because I didn't want to wear my flats out in the 5 inches of snow and those were the only other boots I had.  Needless to say, I looked ridiculous.  So I headed out the door to my first job.  That job is kind of weird.  I go up to this weather station that records data like wind speed, precipitation, and temperature and I submit that data to NOAA.  To get to the weather station, you have to go down this dirt road, up a little hill, and down the other side.  I thought while driving up the hill that I should stop at the top so I don't get my car stuck.  I usually have to take the Bronco and it does not do so well in the snow.  But I ignored the feeling and drove down.  I'm sure you can guess what happened.  I got stuck.  Not just kind of stuck, I was essentially trapped.  I was also by myself and there was almost no way for anyone else to see me to help.  I tried for 30 minutes to get myself out.  After that I burst into tears and called my mom.  David was in class so I knew he wouldn't be able to help.  My mom was very understanding and told me she would try to get my dad to come help.  After I hung up I decided that I would try one more time to get out and 15 minutes later, I was out!  My mom came and gave me my jeans and everything was ok.  Later that night I realized I lost my chapstick so that was kicking me while I was down, which I did not appreciate.  I did find my ring later that night.

Thursday was also very fun.  I had a dentist appointment.  I hate the dentist.  A lot.  I wasn't there 15 minutes when I was told that I had a cavity starting and they would have to fix it.  The first cavity I've ever had and it had to be this week.  I almost started crying in the chair.  The only time they could do the filling is right before I have to work on Monday, so I'm anticipating that Monday won't go too well either.  My mouth hurt for pretty much the rest of the day, I think I have a sensitive mouth. 

Friday night was probably the worst of it.  I worked from 1 to 6 and then we had to leave at 6:30 because the Idaho Falls Symphony had a concert that night.  I didn't have time to eat anything so I was hungry and tired but I love playing in concerts so I was trying to be really happy.  We were getting our instruments out and I, being the incredibly clumsy person I am, dropped my bow.  When I went to pick it up, I saw that the tip had broken off.  I stood there in disbelief at what had just happened.  I turned to Lisa and just showed her my bow because I didn't know what to say.  My mind was totally blank.  She must've understood what was going on because she immediately started saying things like "it's ok, don't worry, it can be fixed, we'll just have to find you a bow for tonight" which put me into a panic because for some reason I didn't even realize that I had nothing to play with for the concert in 30 minutes.  But one good thing about having 30 people witness it was I had about 3 people offer me their extra bows!  I was very appreciative of the girl who lent me hers and of Lisa who was my bouncer and kept everyone from making a big deal about it which would've sent me into a fit of tears very easily.  I was in shock pretty much all night and did not play very well at the concert.  But Lisa bought me dinner, David bought me a pop, and I stayed up late eating my feelings.

The next day at work, I managed to burn the tips of my fingers (which didn't even bother me because I knew something bad had to happen) and I was worried that it would hurt playing in the concert we had tonight, but it didn't bother me too bad.  And then when I got home and was curling my hair I burned my neck pretty bad and at that point I wanted to give up at life completely, but I didn't.  We played the concert and it was amazing.  I played very well tonight and I got to play in the Barrus Concert Hall which is a wonderful hall and I don't get to play in it any more because I'm graduated. 

Anyways, things are better now.  I don't know if it's because I've become immune to feeling or because of some other reason.  But I'm really hoping next week goes better.  Lisa said as my Christmas present she would get my bow fixed.  That made me really happy.  She said that when I get it fixed, I would also get it re-haired, so that's a plus!  In fact, on Wednesday I was telling David that I needed to get it re-haired soon.  I just didn't expect it to happen like that.

Lots of Changes!

I wanted to put a few pictures on here of things that have been happening in my life!  For the last 4 1/2 years I worked at a food place that served pretzels and frozen custard and things like that.  But things have changed!  I now exclusively work at a place called Florence's Exquisite Candies! (it used to be called Mom's Kandy Kitchen)  They serve the best chocolates I've ever eaten.  It's a terrible place to work because I just eat chocolate all day long.  Here are some pictures of shop.  They redid all the decorations about 5 years ago and it's super cute. 

This is one of the back kitchens where they make caramels and fudge.  It gets very messy....

This is where they dip the chocolates.  It's fun to see them all covered in chocolate and making all the clusters!  Oh yeah, and I made those chocolate suckers on the counter there.

They wanted to make this part look like Italy, I think they did a pretty good job!

The front counter!  This is where I spend most of my time.  That case is full of chocolate!

This is a random tree that has lots of little candies in all the nooks and crannies.

This is probably the most popular decoration!  Since we use Swiss chocolate they decorated this like the Swiss Alps.  Everyone loves the castle, especially the little kids!

David also had the annual Halloween concert at the college.  It's the one concert where the whole orchestra dresses up in costume and it's basically a mini play.  There's usually a plot and the conductor is the main character.  They played Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.  The plot of the concert was like A Christmas Carol but for Halloween.  It was pretty funny!  Part of the cello section dressed up as characters from The Wizard of Oz and David got picked to be the Wizard.  Here's his costume!

The day before Halloween we had a rehearsal with the Idaho Falls Symphony.  They told us that we could dress up if we wanted and about half the symphony did!  As part of Crochet Olympics (something me, my sister, and Mom still do) I made this hat.  It's supposed to be the Treehugger from the movie The Lorax (I've never actually seen the movie) and I think it turned out pretty good!  It got quite a few comments and most people loved it.  I wore it to work all Halloween too!   The week before in Crochet Olympics, we did wrist-warmers and Lisa had to do some with kitty paws on them, so she crocheted some ears and a tail and was a cat for the rehearsal!  Her costume was really good!  It's been an interesting few weeks around here and hopefully it will keep getting better! 
 

Ledger

My sister Joni had a baby about a month ago.  It is her first child and we are so excited to have this new addition to the family!  These are some pictures I took for her.  So here he is, little Ledger!

 

Another Concert!

This will be a short post because I'm still recovering from the last few weeks.  I am now working 3 jobs and have very little free time.  Well, I did.  The place that I work is changing things around and yesterday was the last day as a fast food place, it's now all Florences Chocolates!  I'm pretty excited because my job will get a million times easier and I won't have to work nights any more.  I also play in the Idaho Falls Symphony and work a little bit for my sister doing cleaning stuff.  So anyways, I'm glad that my 12 hours workdays will stop for awhile.

The concert last night was amazing!  We played Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture (which I'd never heard before but loved it instantly), Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2 (with a guest artist who plays amazingly), and Brahm's Symphony #2.  It was a huge concert that took a lot of preparation and concentration, but it was all worth it.  No one played perfect, but I think overall we all felt good about it.  After the Rachmaninoff, the guest artist played an encore piece.  It's aparently well known by everyone but me, but I loved it.  It just made me feel at peace with everything.  I forgot what was going on with everything else in my life and was able to just appreciate beautiful music.  This isn't who played with us, but it's the same arrangement.  It's Bach "Sheep May Safely Graze".  Hope it makes your day a little bit brighter!

Clay or Mitchell?

Since I've gotten married, I've found it interesting to see how things progress in our little family.  We both had ideas about what we wanted our family to be like, and as I'm sure you can guess, most of that came from what we liked or didn't like about our families growing up.  That got me thinking, are we going to be more like the Clays or more like the Mitchells?  Well, here are a few observations:

-We are definately more Mitchell in our eating habits.  David said that all growing up, his family had dinner almost every night.  I commend his mother for going through all that time and effort to feed all 9 kids!  At the Mitchell house, we religiously had Sunday dinner together, but during the week we were all so busy with work and school and sports and music that it was a rare moment to find us all home at the same time.  David and I are like that now.  Nights are hectic because I work half the nights during the week, David has rehearsal with Chamber or Tabernacle ensambles, or we have the Idaho Falls Symphony where we are gone from 6-10.  So I hate to say that I do not cook dinner every night.  David gets lucky if I cook once a week.  But I do make him breakfast and lunch almost every day so hopefully that makes up for it!

-Carbonated beverages is absolutely Mitchell.  When we were dating David would go with me maybe once a week to the gas station to get a pop.  Now we go......a lot more often.  Probably not healthy, but I've turned David to the dark side.  He says it's all my fault he drinks as much as he does, and he's right!  I can't help it, it's in my blood.  I told David that when I was little and had the flu my dad would always give me a glass of Pepsi because it said it would make me feel better.  My dad also says the reason he never gets sick (which he seriously never does) and the reason he never gets bit by mosquitos (again, he seriously never does) is because he drinks his Pepsi!

-Quality of merchandise is Clay.  David is a "save up for something nice" instead of "buy something not so nice right now" kind of guy.  That's especially true with electronics (computer, TV, etc.)  I really don't care if we have something crappy and I will run it into the ground before I buy a new one because I grew up a Mitchell.  But since I don't really care and David does then I go with him on this one.  And I must say, it is kind of nice having things that work!

-With regards to sports we are more Clay.  David will keep up generally with sports, but he doesn't watch them all the time like my family.  And I'm ok with that, I do like to play, but I'm not a huge fan of watching.

-Our humor is Mitchell.  We are sarcastic, nerdy, quirky, and may sound mean at times but we know it's all in love.  We have had more than one person say that we act more like siblings than husband and wife.  I don't know if that's a good or bad thing....

All in all, I have to say that I think I've turned David into a Mitchell.  I've gotten him to pick up cats and cuddle with them (and every time it still amazes me, even though the whole time he's holding my Burnsy he's telling me that he needs to die), he said he wouldn't mind living in Idaho, drinks pop regularly, and every so often says he's going to murder me (don't worry, I tell him that too and then we laugh and kiss).  We have an odd relationship, but I think it can stand the test of time.  Here's to hoping our future children aren't completely messed up!

Personal Growth

For those of you who know me, you know that I love music.  I love playing it, I love listening to it, I love music talk.  I sang choir in high school and we even made it all the way to Carnegie Hall in New York City.  I've played the violin since 5th grade, and played in Missouri, California, Utah, and all over Idaho.  But I have a secret.  Something that doesn't quite make sense if you look at all my performing experience.  I get stage fright.  Bad.  I've tried to get over it and take in every suggestion people have told me, but none of it really works.

When I'm performing with a group, I don't really feel nervous at all.  I get excited and happy.  But when I have to perform by myself or when I have an important part, I get nervous.  Not just butterflies in my stomach nervous, but palms sweaty, stomach-achy, shaky, feel like I'm going to faint nervous.  I remember the first time I performed on my violin in public.  It was at my sisters high school senior recital and I was probably 11 or 12.  I was playing my violin (I was playing because she was my teacher at the time) and the song I was playing was pretty easy.  But I got nervous and couldn't read the notes on the page.  You learn later that when you mess up, you're supposed to keep going, but I couldn't.  I kept trying to play that one note right, and I couldn't.  Lisa had to stop playing the accompaniment and tell me what note it was.  I was so embarrassed. 

I took private violin lessons for years, and I hated it every week.  Not because I wasn't prepared, I could always play it great at home, but because it made me so nervous to be stuck in a room with my teacher for a whole hour.  And all of the stuff I could play perfectly at home would sound like garbage.  I would start stressing about my lesson days in advance.  And that was every single week.

Even in church, where nobody cares what you play, I freak out.  When I sing, my legs lose all feeling and I feel like I'm going to pass out.  When I play my violin, I shake so bad my fingers can't play the notes and I can't pull the bow across the string.  So a couple of years ago when David and I were dating and they called me to be the ward pianist and play in sacrament meeting, I thought I was going to die.  I was recently given that calling in our ward too.  I told David today that the calling I have now scares me the most out of any calling I could've gotten. 

About a month ago I was supposed to play in church.  The girl who picks the hymns didn't tell me what they were till the night before so I didn't have hardly any time to practice. And the hymns weren't the easiest.  So I went to church an hour and a half early and I practiced.  When church started, there was maybe half the chapel filled.  After the bishop finished with announcements, they had opened the overflow.  I was shaking even before I started.  It was bad.  I messed up a lot and even stopped playing at one point.  I wanted to leave the room and cry because I was so embarrassed.  But I stuck it out and had a lot of people tell me how good I did and how I'm doing much better than they could ever do.  That didn't really help, it just told me they really noticed how bad I did.

This story does end happy, though.  I play in the Idaho Falls Symphony.  It's the highlight of my week.  I love playing in it.  Our first concert of the season was yesterday.  When we had our first rehearsal, I was supposed to be sitting 2nd chair, 2nd violin.  When I got to rehearsal, they told me I would be sitting first chair because the principle had to drop out.  I was shocked.  I'm a good player, but not really a principle type.  So I was nervous.  And I didn't do so well that first night.  Partly because I wasn't super prepared and partly because I was so nervous.  Then the conductor came up to me and told me that one of the pieces we would be doing with the soloist also had a 2nd violin solo.  And I was going to play it.  I thought I was going to die from shock.  I kept making little, stupid mistakes when we had rehearsal so I thought for sure I would die in the concert. 

So yesterday, at our Symphony Hoe-Down concert, when Ashokan Farewell came up, I played.  And I played well.  Not amazing, but well.  I did it.  I played in a concert with tons of people watching, and I didn't choke.  After my solo part was done and the rest of the section came in, I thought I really was going to pass out, but I did it.  David said you could hardly hear me because we were playing in an outdoor setting and we weren't miked well, but I don't care.  I'm proud of myself.  I did something I didn't think I could do.  I am so proud of myself because I made it.  Little steps.  Little steps over 15 years.  I don't feel comfortable with all of that yet, but I'm working on it.  Maybe someday I'll be like Lisa or David and won't have to deal with stage fright at all!  But not yet.  I'll take my victories which may be small to other people, but they are big to me.

My Visiting Teacher

My visiting teacher is a wonderful girl.  I met her one sunday when she came to sit by me in Relief Society.  I usually don't talk much to the people around me, but she started asking about me so I started talking back.  I immediately liked her!  She's funny and down to earth and real.  I like it when she comes over because we end up talking about all sorts of things.  The first time she came to visit me, she told me that she was not able to have children.  She's been married for just over 2 years, graduated with her Bachelors last April, and is now looking to adopt.  She told me they had a private adoption that fell through at the last minute last winter, but now they are trying a public adoption.  Because of the private adoption, they already have all their baby supplies complete with crib and changing table!  Here are links to their adoption webpages:

http://maryandbenjaminsadoption.weebly.com/
https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/27992566/ourMessage.jsf

She told me that people get the best results by being proactive and getting their name out there, so I'm trying to help them out!  If you know of anyone who isn't able to keep their baby for any reason, please contact them.  They are wonderful people, faithful members, and will be such loving parents.

Introverts

Yesterday I went to get my hair cut.  I'd been putting it off for a long time.  I hate getting my hair cut.  It's not that it's expensive (I go to the beauty school and only have to pay $5) and it's not that they do a bad job, it's that I think getting your hair cut is one of the most awkward experiences!

For anyone that knows me or my family, you know that we are all true introverts.  It's not that we don't like people, it's just that we like them in small doses and we tend to stay away from situations where we are stuck with a stranger for long periods of time.  I have talked to my sister about this and we both agree what I mentioned above about haircuts.  You sit there with a person you probably won't see again, and even if you go to the same person for your haircuts, you only see them every few months.  So you try to make conversation and ask about their lives, but it's usually just one word answers.  She's thinking about other things and you're desperately trying to come up with some question that will get her talking or you just ramble on about yourself, not because you think your life is terribly interesting, but because you don't know what else to say.  I've thought about bringing headphones and listening to my book, but I think that might come across as rude. 

So I made myself call and make the appointment.  And do you know what?  I found a girl just like me!  Pretty much the whole time I was getting my hair cut, it was silent.   I loved it!  I got to people-watch (one of my favorite things to do) and there was no awkward conversation.  I gave her a $3 tip for my $5 haircut.  She didn't even do that great of a job, but it was just what I wanted!  I know, it sounds weird, but that's how introverts are.  Forced social interaction is a stress.  We like to be in our own thoughts. 

I'm bad at talking with strangers and I know it's something I need to work on.  David is so good at it and he loves being in social situations.  He is the perfect extrovert and I am the perfect introvert, I don't know how that happened but I think we're seeing the good in both ways of life.  Maybe someday haircuts won't scare me as much and maybe someday in the far future I'll even enjoy them!  Until then, it's awkward conversations for me!

Weekend Fun

This weekend was pretty fun.  Friday morning, Lisa, my mom, and I decided we wanted to go pick huckleberries.  If you're not from Idaho, you've probably never seen one.  They're kind of like blueberries, except smaller and EXTREMELY hard to pick.  Here is a picture of the ones I picked last week:

This little bowl that I'm holding in one hand took me about an hour to get.  Huckleberry picking is not about size, but about enjoying nature!  Well, on friday we drove around for a long time looking for any sign of huckleberries, but we were not successful.  We did find a lot of cows and almost got run over by one!  But no berries.  Huckleberry picking is pretty popular around here and all of the bushes were very picked over.  We did have a lot of fun laughing and joking and enjoying being with each other.  Hopefully next year will be more fruitful!

Looking for any sign of the berries!

It was fun, even though we came home empty handed.

On Friday, Lisa told my mom and I that she'd never been on a small hike that our family always talks about.  I don't know how she's never been on it, but we decided on Saturday night that we needed to go on it!  We wanted to go at sunset because it's really pretty when you reach the top and can look out at the river and farming fields with that beautiful setting sun.  Unfortunately, because of some health issues, my mom couldn't come.  But my 2 sisters, their husbands, and David and I made it up to the trail and had a lot of fun! 

I know you love this picture, Lisa.  This is your excited face before we started Cress Creek Trail!

This is the only picture I had of Joni, but I was very impressed she made it all the way to the top at 31 weeks pregnant!

As you can see, the first part of this hike isn't very hard.  The paved walkway makes it accessible to anyone!  Farther up it goes to a dirt trail and is more of a real hike.

This picture isn't so much about David, but I thought the sunset behind was really nice.

I love this shot.  My handsome man, beautiful country, and a colorful sky!  It was a good night!

Sunday was an exciting day for my mom and Lisa and I.  In honor of the Olympics (and also because we needed more motivation to finish projects) we started our own crochet Olympics!  All we did was pick projects for each other at the beginning of the week and we had to bring our finished project to dinner on Sunday.  I think we did pretty good!  My mom did the spider, I did the turkey, and Lisa did the snowmen.  I think I might end up making the snowmen because I thought they were so cute and looked pretty easy! 

As you can tell, the unofficial theme was holiday decorations.  This week we're doing jewelry and I think it's going to be pretty fun!  All in all, it was a good weekend.

Sweet Dreams

I've found it to be very true that people dream about things that they see, hear, or think about during the day.  They usually aren't random dreams that have nothing to do with anything.  I've noticed it most about David.  He tells me his dreams and I can almost always directly relate it to something he was telling me about earlier.

One thing I've noticed about sleep is how funny some people are when they sleep.  My sister used to sleepwalk when she was little and when she was in high school, she would lie about not having to get up to go to school and then have a panic attack when she did wake up and realize she almost missed a test or something. I know most of us kids talked in our sleep.  I would hear my younger brother talking in his sleep from the next room over!  I've been told that I talk in my sleep a little, an even starting singing a little one time. 

But I think the most entertaining sleeper I've ever seen has got to be my husband.  He likes to get in the most awkward positions in order to fall asleep and when he does get to sleep, he twitches so much I almost think he's having a seizure.  That stuff is fun and all, but the real fun starts at about 3 in the morning.  David is a very vivid dreamer.  He remembers so many details about his dream that I know when he's having them they appear VERY lifelike.  So lifelike, in fact, that he acts them out!  And sometimes I get to join in, whether I want to or not!

I remember one time I was fast asleep when I wake up to David sitting up and shaking me.   I thought the house was on fire or something so I yelled at him to tell me what was the matter.  All he said was "You have to leave!  They're coming!"  "Who's coming?"  "You just have to leave!  Go to the gate!" "What gate?  Who's coming?"  (at this point I knew he was dreaming and was trying not to laugh)  "Go to the white gate!  THE DRAGONS ARE COMING!!!"  If I wasn't so tired I would've cried from laughing so hard.  I told him I would go to the gate and that quieted him down and he went back to sleep.  He had been reading the Eragon book series which is about a dragon.

David can talk in his sleep with perfect clarity.  When he talks in his sleep, it takes me awhile to realize he's not awake because it sounds like his normal speech, not slurred or anything.  About a week ago I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep, David having already been asleep for a little while.  Very quietly, David starts whispering something with a worried look on his face.  I leaned in and asked him to repeat what he said (he usually answers my questions and responds while he's talking in his sleep).  He then says "The mosquitoes are getting in.  You have to keep them out."  "David, there aren't any mosquitoes."  "Yes there are.  They're getting in through the pump!"  "Oh....ok"

Those were fun and all, but the best experience happened last night.  I was sleeping with my back to David, enjoying our very comfortable bed.  All of a sudden I felt myself being shoved across the bed and almost off it!  It was quite the rude awakening!  I turned around to make sure David was asleep (because if he wasn't then we were going to have a problem) and he was!  Sound asleep.  I moved around so that I was facing him (so I could defend any more attacks) and he wakes up and says "I'm sorry!  I dreamed I was fighting a guy with knives and I got stabbed."

I imagine there will be many more stories in the future, but I know that our lives will never be boring, even when we're asleep!

Killing Me With Cuteness

Almost every day I am reminded of what a sucker I am for cute fuzzy things.  When David and I are driving around, I can always spot the wagging tail or pink nose waaay faster than him!  David likes to make fun of the oohing and awing I do when I see kitties or doggies, but I don't care!  I love animals!  And I know it's a family thing because on the fourth of july, I went to the parade and park with my parents and sisters.  Whenever one of us saw a cute little doggy being toted around we all had the same reaction, which is a high pitched squeal and pouty faces.  I'm sure to anyone watching we are ridiculous, but I don't care!  I can't wait to get a pet of my own.  I told David that I don't care where we move next, we are going somewhere where we can get a pet.  Luckily, he agrees!  Although he said we aren't getting a cat, but I think I can change his mind....

So in honor of all those who get killed by cuteness, I'm posting these pictures for your pouty-faced pleasure!

I told David this is what I wanted for Christmas!  A cup full of kitty!

For anyone who's slept at our house, you know this is coming after you feel Burns jump up on your bed!

For my Mama, who loves elephants

Good Day

This morning, David and I both left for work.  It was pretty exhausting for both of us, but we decided to make the best of a beautiful, sunny day!  We took a trip to St. Anthony to go swimming for a little bit.  The water was freezing (it was in a river) but after a hot day it felt good!  After that, we went to my parents house and got some free stuff!  I pretty much love anything that's free.  I got some shoes (thank you Grandma!) and we got a mat to put under our rolling computer chair.  David has been wanting one of those mats for a long time and almost bought one a few times so when my parents acquired some he kept asking me if they would sell him one.  We got it for free so it was a good deal!

We don't get the chance to have dinner together very often because both of our work schedules are kind of weird, so tonight we planned it out and actually sat at our table to eat.  It was amazing!  David cooked some beautiful pork chops and I made some accordion potatoes.  Since then we've both been relaxing and doing our own things.

I like the summer for that reason.  Neither of us are in school and, when we're not at work, we just get to relax with each other.  Once the fall hits, we're so busy with work, school, concerts, etc. that it's hard to even get conversations with each other.  This is a nice time of life when we can just enjoy each other while we have the time.

Bystander Effect

Every week my mom sends out an email with some of her thoughts on life.  This last week, part of her email was about Group or Herd Mentality.  Here's an experiment she mentioned that explains it:

"They did an experiment years ago, where they invited people to show up if they were interested in participating in a psychology experiment.  When someone came to the office, they were given a form and escorted to some chairs in a separate room to fill it out. This WAS the experiment, although everyone thought they were just filling out the form so that they could participate.
                There were two parts to this.
•         First of all the “subject” was in the room alone.  Smoke started pouring in from under one of the doorways.   The subject, within a few seconds of noticing the smoke, went over to check it out, and then left the room to report it.
•         Second circumstance:  The subject was taken to the same room which was now full of other students all ostensibly filling out the form, but were actually in on the experiment.  Their job was to sit there and take no notice of the smoke. Just pretend that it was commonplace and not out of the ordinary.  This subject noticed the smoke and then kept glancing around at everyone else who seemed to take no notice.  She was highly agitated and kept looking at the smoke and then the people, but did not move to report it. At one point the smoke was so thick she had a hard time seeing her paper. She sat there for over 20 minutes, and only left when they called her name.
Here’s a YouTube link that shows a bit of that experiment:   http://youtu.be/KE5YwN4NW5"

Related to this is a story I heard on NPR a few years ago that has always stuck with me.  A man who was writing a book about the "bystander effect" was walking around some big city (I think it was Chicago but I can't remember).  He noticed a man lying unconscious on the street.  No one stopped, no one hardly even noticed.  People were even stepping over his legs.  He watched for a few minutes and then went over to the man.  As soon as he knelt down, he said at least 10 other people stopped as well, within minutes they found out the man only spoke Spanish, so they got a translator, an ambulance was called, they discovered he hadn't eaten in days so someone went and got him some bread, and he was all taken care of. 

Here's a video that demonstrates the same principle-



I've found that, even though I know all these stories and know what the normal tendency is, I still find that it's incredibly hard to go against to grain.  To be that person that reports the smoke or to help that person on the street when no one else will stop.  I think that's the natural man in all of us, those instincts that tell us to blend in and not take a chance because we might look foolish.  I can say that I hope I would be that good person, but I won't know until the opportunity presents itself.  Till then I'll just have to remember that it doesn't matter what others think or do, I need to do what I think is right.

NPR

David and I currently have 2 cars.  One is our '04 Corolla that is still in pretty good shape.  The other is my parents '84 Bronco that they lent to us until we move away or until the engine falls out the bottom.  I usually drive the Bronco because my work is closer than David's and that thing is a gas hog.  But when I do drive the Corolla, one of my favorite things to do is to listen to NPR!  I know, that sounds weird.  It's also our classical music station and, unless they're playing jazz, I always listen to that.  My favorite thing about NPR is the stories you get to listen to.  I love telling other people the things I learn, so that's the main topic of my post.

While David was finishing up some work at the cemetery, I was waiting in the car listening to the radio and I heard something really interesting.  They were talking about how a lot of parents in China aren't satisfied with the school system there.  It sounds like it's a lot like American schools where you basically just get information, memorize it, and spit it back out.  They were unsatisfied because it won't help their children learn to be creative and adapt to new situations, which is what they need in order to keep up with the current job market.  China tends to model its school system after other countries, those that have figured out a method that works.  It makes China very flexible and helps their children learn to adapt and change.  China changed to its current system back in the 90's after American schools, but they feel it's no longer effective.

That was one aspect that they talked about.  The other I found even more interesting.  A thought was brought up that culture plays a large part in your thinking patterns.  Americans, for example, largely believe that if you are smart, it's because of your genes.  That genetics plays a large part and those people that are smart simply lucked out.  Europeans tend to go with tradition.  If your father was a plumber, then you will be a plumber.  But the Chinese believe it is all about work.  If I want a good job, I have to work the hardest.  I have to put in the longest hours and be a team leader.  This isn't true for every person out there, but as a majority, that has been the trend.

I thought that was so interesting.  It helps me to understand that culture, as well as our own, a little better.  Anyways, I love to tell people these types of stories so I'm sure you'll get to hear more in the future, but for now I hope that gives you something to think about!

How Blessed We Are

David has been working at the cemetery this summer.  It's not bad work, he mostly just keeps the water going and occasionally filling in graves.  He doesn't mind it and it pays better than the job I've been at for the last 5 years... Sometimes I go out to the cemetery with him and walk around while he changes the water.  I've noticed something while I've been walking around, especially in the older parts of the cemetery.  There are so many graves of babies and small children.  I would guess that almost half of the graves out there are from children under the age of 10.  Some of those headstones don't have the names of the children, presumably because the child was still-born.  Those graves are marked as "Baby Smith" or "Infant Gray".  Usually there will be a headstone for the parents, and then 3 or 4 right next to it of children of theirs that died. 

It makes me feel so sad to see those.  Whenever I see that, I try to imagine what it must have been like for that mother.  To have so many children die at such a young age.  I don't have any children so I don't know what it's like to have that bond, but I know what it's like to have a husband and family that I'm very close with.  I know that at the turn of the century, the child mortality rate was very high compared to what it is now.  I found a few different sites that all stated basically the same thing.  Here is one site's statistic- 165 per 1,000 children died in the first year.  That's 16%.  Other sites say anywhere from 10-16%.  In 1997, the mortality rate was 7 per 1,000.  Less that 1%.

It's amazing what advances have been made.  Amazing that people don't have to suffer like they once did.  Of course, we have all new sorts of ailments now, but I'm just so glad our medical system can help as many people as they do.  It's amazing. 

As for those small little graves, I always think of my mother when I see those.  She wrote a blog post that I like. She found an app for her phone (it's called BillionGraves) that lets her take pictures of the headstone and, along with her GPS coordinates, she uploads it to a website where people can look and see where their ancestors are buried.  I think it's a great way to do family history.  My little brother even started helping her!  I would help, but I'd have to go a long way to find a cemetery she hasn't already visited.  Maybe when (someday) we make it back to North Carolina I'll start on the east coast and we'll meet up somewhere in the midwest!  If you look at her blog you can hear lots of stories about her adventures while doing this. 

I just hope when people see my grave in 100 years, that they'll try to think about how I might have lived just like what I try to do with others.  I think it helps bring all of humanity together.  And helps us realize what's really important.

Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago my brother and his family came up from New Mexico to visit.  While they were here my dad wanted to get a family picture since we were all together.  It's the first time we have all been together because my younger brother was on his mission when Joni and I got married.  It was a lot of fun, we giggled and yelled and made good memories that day.  I'm glad I get to see my family all the time and it will be sad when David and I move away, but I just figure that when we move away they all have a new vacation spot! 

We wanted this to be pretty casual so all the family pictures were set-up and taken (with a tripod and the timer on the camera) by yours truly.  I don't think they turned out half bad!  The last picture Was really fun, I had to set up the tripod on a little deck, hit the trigger, run around a tree, over a stream, and up some rocks, all in 10 seconds!  Here are some of the after-pictures pictures.  We were all hanging out and talking and my mom was snapping pictures.  This is us when we're all by ourselves!

Nathan thought this was hilarious.  David (my bro) tried doing this with his other son, Zach, but that didn't go so well....

This is Emily, David's wife and Nathan's mom.  I love this picture because there is more than meets the eye...if you look in the background, you can see Nathan loved the water so much he wanted to take a swim!

My mom wanted a kissy shot.  Lisa and Tyler were all ready for this one!

Joni and Chade.  They'll have a new addition to their family coming this October!  She hides it pretty well for being 5 months along!

David wouldn't do a kissy shot with me, so I smashed his face.

But he smashed my face right back so I guess we're even.

I really like this photo, except Zach looks scared out of his mind...

This is my favorite picture.  All 13 1/2 of us!

Van Gogh

I love learning about artists and what they did with their lives.  And I realized I haven't put a post on here in awhile that spotlights and artist and that makes me sad.  So here we go!  This time, I wanted to do someone that I absolutely adore.  Vincent Van Gogh.  Born in 1853, died in 1890, and one of the most well-know post-impressionist painters.  Van Gogh was a Dutch painter by birth, but traveled around Europe throughout his life, with his journey ending just outside of Paris. 

At age 16, Vincent began working for an art dealer, Goupil & Co.  This is the same art dealer that his brother, Theo, would work for later.  Theo and Vincent were very close and Theo financially supported Vincent throughout his short life.  There are hundreds of letters written between the two of them, and this is where most of the information about Vincent comes from.  At age 20, the firm moved Vincent from London and later to Paris.  It was then that he became increasingly interested in becoming a minister.  Not long after, Goupil & Co fired him for lack of motivation.  He spent the next few years pursuing a career in the church, but after 6 months his pay was dropped but he continued on anyways.  He lived in a small mining town and became very worried about the miners living conditions.  It was during this time that he started fiddling around with charcoal drawings. 

A couple of years later, he took the advice from his brother and started painting in earnest.  He lived in Belgium where he took painting lessons.  The most famous of his paintings during that early period was "The Potato Eaters".  You may notice the absence of bright colors, which is typical for his later work.  But during this period, he mainly used earthy tones and sharply lit. 

Shortly after he finished this painting, he moved to Paris where he lived with his brother, Theo.  While in Paris, Vincent met some of the most prominent painters of the day.  The list includes Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Bernard, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin.  Gauguin was later to become a good friend to Vincent.  Vincent bought a house in Arles, France where Gauguin later accompanied him.  They both lived in the house for a short while and painted a lot.  It was in this "yellow house"  that Vincent painted a majority of his sunflowers.  As a tribute to my mother, who loves sunflowers, I have to post a picture of one of the most famous from that collection - "Vase with Twelve Sunflowers"

While spending all this time together, Gauguin even painted Van Gogh painting a sunflower.  Here is "The Painter of Sunflowers".

It wasn't long until the two painters started fighting.  One thing that fueled the fire was Van Gogh admired Gauguin greatly and wanted to be treated as an equal, but Gauguin was too arrogant.  Van Gogh (who most likely battled with bipolar disorder most of his life) was afraid Gauguin was going to leave him, so he confronted him with a razor blade, but dismayed at what he was doing, he ran off to a brothel, cut off a portion of his own ear, wrapped it in newspaper, and handed it to a prostitute for safe keeping.

The only painting  Van Gogh ever sold was called "The Red Vineyard".  It was created in 1888, 2 years before his death.  It's sad to think that he probably didn't realize what an impact he was making on society and how well known he would become.

Vincent van Gogh now exchanged painting dots for small stripes. He suffered from depression, and in 1889 on his own request Van Gogh was admitted to the psychiatric center in France. During his stay here the clinic and its garden became his main subject. Pencil strokes changed again, now into spiral curves.  

In May 1890, Vincent moved to a different clinic where he could be under the watch of the physician Paul Gachet.  Gachet had treated artists before and was recommended to Vincent by Pissaro.  His depression, however, continued to get worse.  On July 27, 1890, Vincent Van Gogh shot himself in the chest.  Two days later, with Theo at his side, Vincent uttered his final words "La tristesse durera toujours" translated - The sadness will last forever.  Theo, unable to come to terms with the death of his brother died 6 months later and his grave was placed next to his brothers.

In one decade, Van Gogh produced over 2,000 pieces of art.  The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is dedicated to Van Gogh's work and that of his contemporaries. On May 15, 1990 his Portrait of Doctor Gachet was sold for $82.5 million at Christie's, thus establishing a new price record.

 It's interesting to think that Van Gogh didn't know what he was giving the world while he was alive.  Most artists don't become famous until after they have died, which I find sad.  Hopefully they know what they have given the world now they are in the afterlife.  I want so badly to talk to these people and see how they view the world.  Van Gogh's most famous painting "Starry Night" can be viewed in many different ways.  I found one article that I like a lot.  It talked about how Starry Night wasn't just a painting.  Van Gogh was a religious man, almost to a fault.  Some people say that having eleven stars is no accident.  In Genesis 37:9 it states "And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me."  I like to think that, even though Van Gogh had such a deep depression in this life, that he still had faith in God.  That he wasn't scared of dying because he knew there was something after this life.  That all the beautiful paintings in this world are just a glimpse of the beauty to come.