Vignette

Question: why is "vignette" in my blog title?

Answer:
Practical Answer: definition of vignette: A brief evocative description, account, or episode.
Emotional--I am old fashioned, and I love words that become lost as time goes on! I first heard this word in Anne of Green Gables and have loved it ever since--sigh.

So some of the things in my blog may seem dull, but to me they are the threads of my life that make my life tapestry. Here are some of my life threads as of late:

1) I have been trying to run at least three-four times a week for the last couple months, which has been. . . good for this main reason: I love to be outside and look at the beautiful view we have in North Ogden. However, with all great views come hills--steep ones. When I go up the hills I walk, and then I run on the same streets a few times that are horizontally straight (the neighbors must get sick of me passing by three times in ten minutes and petting their dogs--it makes running worth it!)I still don't love running. at. all. I like petting the random dogs, looking at the view, and feeling accomplished after I come home. These are the ONLY things I enjoy about running. I hope this changes.

2) New Beginnings was last week, and I absolutely LOVE my laurels. My fellow young women leaders are amazing decorators. These 5 laurels are just amazing, and I love hearing about their prom dates, their schooling, feelings etc. I went to the temple with them a couple weeks ago where they did baptisms for the dead. There was such a wonderful spirit there. It was neat to think how much my life has changed in the past year, and how just a year ago I was doing baptisms and although I loved doing them, I felt left behind as most, if not all, of my friends had gone through the temple by that point. You never know when the next big turn in the road is. My life has changed so much in the last year--masters degree, teaching certificate, the end of schooling, marriage, a house, a move, etc. The Lord knows what we need just when we need it, and all our plans and tapestries are different, but they are a perfect pattern for us, even when it seems tangled and messy from the side we see.

3)Ben and I just received an additional calling: Youth Conference Directors. If anyone has ever been to Lava Hot Springs, feel free to give us tips of what to sign up for there! This will be a fun calling; starting the planning is always the hardest part.

4)We went to City Creek with my parents last week the Friday after it opened, and it was so fun to feel the energy there, fueled by thousands of people. It will be fun to go back when we have more time. There were people dressed up as flower pots who cleverly posed sporadically. How do people get jobs like these?!?


5)I learned how to make coffee from Polish and German business men at my dad's company meeting where I was in charge of the food. Apparently, instant coffee does NOT go in a coffee maker; it is like hot chocolate where you pour it into hot water. I will never forget standing in the kitchen for twenty minutes with my dad's business partner, a stake president, trying to figure out how to work the coffee maker, reading all the instructions, the Europeans coming in, daring each other to try it first, tasting it, and then teaching me the REAL way; they thought it was hilarious, luckily. Good thing they knew we were Mormon :)

It is the end of March, and I am SO excited because so many fun things are happening:

General Conference with Ben's family
Time with Ben's mom while the men are at Priesthood
going to the Conference center Sunday!
Sheree's wedding
Seth and Leslie's wedding in Idaho Falls
Easter (one of my favorite holidays)
Going to California with my family (minus Seth and Leslie)
Ben's Birthday
My friend Katie's baby shower
Seth and Leslie's Open House in Alpine
Tommy and Jamie's Wedding
Ben and Katie BYU Date

New Victories

This, my friends, is a miracle.

I have been experimenting with yeast for the last few months, making bread sticks and rolls, and to my dismay, each time the dough is supposed to double in size, mine increases by 1/8th. Today I decided that even though I wanted to master yeast on other bread products before attempting homemade bread, I could not wait any longer. So when I saw that my dough doubled every time it was supposed to, my heart leaped. I have had a few proud moments in my life, graduating from college, teaching high schoolers successfully, but THIS moment has made me proud of this:



This with homemade honey butter was heavenly. This was a small victory, and it felt different than getting an A on a paper after many A-'s, but I liked it.

On another note, this was my first sign of spring:



This made me happy and panic simultaneously. Ben and I have a yard + I have never been in charge of taking care of a yard = me scared. So my sweet visiting teacher, who used to live in our home, came and gave me a tour of the yard and what I need to do to prepare it for spring. I did my first hour of yard work in our yard today: it was more fulfilling then I thought it would be--weird how maintaining a home can be that way. Along the way, I discovered these small treasures in the front:





I have a feeling this is going to be a new but exciting learning experience for me.

Also, we are getting a new sister three weeks from today--exciting! Leslie Ricks will become Leslie Connors, and I got to go on a road trip (by myself) to Idaho to her bridal shower. Another small conquering of driving through fields and farm lands by myself for over five hours in one day. It was worth it! Yay for another sister!





Last but not least, Ben got his new iPad yesterday at seven in the morning with his dad. He loves technology more than anyone I know--and I reap the benefits! I have been hearing about this monumental occasion for a while now, so late Merry Christmas, Ben! He is bequeathing me his old iPad, which I have no idea how to work, so here's for more new learning :)Even though the knowledge I have acquired in the last few months has been totally different than the learning I was used to for multiple schooling and educational work years, I have found it surprisingly exciting, and although life is a slower pace, joy in the journey still is found.

With the Olsens

A few weeks ago, dear friends, Erica, Russ, and their sweet daughter McKenzie came up to Ogden to visit. They were so gracious to come all the way north to see what Ogden had to offer. We had so much fun with them and cute Kenzie, who learned Ben's name (he quite loved that). We went and saw Ben's family's llamas, walked down old 25th Street, went to a Mexican restaurant, and then visited at our home. The time flew by, but it was so fun doing something with them; they are seriously amazing.

Erica has been a best friend to me since BYU. We met freshmen year, had the same major and many of the same classes, worked at Special Collections together, went to devotional together, and had many, many chats together. When I think of BYU, I think of Erica because of all those memories :)I remember the first day of my new life in Ogden, I received a postcard from Erica: so thoughtful. I am going to miss these three when they move to Texas, but this friendship is the kind you know you'll have forever.

Curly Karma

I one time received this comic from a co-worker. How true it is!



I have just spent over an hour having this straightener on my hair. Yes, that says 404. That's degrees, Fahrenheit. That's the same temperature I bake my baked potatoes, transforming hard brown rocks to mushy goodness. This is one hundred degrees hotter than it took to bake my first cheesecake, caramel peanut butter swirl (shown below), this week. My hair gets so hot that it burns to touch it!! Oh, the sacrifices.



Sometimes I wonder. . . why couldn't I have been born in the Victorian Era or the 80s? This hair could have been accepted by humanity!





Instead, I grew up in "the straighter the better" mentality, which is great and all, but I never have had the time to have an hour and a half a few times a week to straighten my hair.

I remember when I was fourteen and my friends straightened my hair for the first time at GIRLS CAMP! It took four and a half hours (this was back in the day with straighteners didn't get as hot as your oven). Even after all that, it was still frizzy straight. I remember the second time when my friends and I watched Princess Diaries (fitting) when I was fifteen and we blew out three circuits in my house because they were using so many blow driers and straighteners. I remember the third time, a few months after that, when my friend IRONED, with a real iron, my hair on the carpet, which melted. Oh hair, you have gone through so much turmoil, just to fit in.

Remember my wedding day, hair? Remember how you looked when the stylist came?

Exhibit A:


Remember what you looked like when I came out of the temple, three hours after you got done?

Exhibit B:


Where did the curl go from Exhibit A? Maybe I am biased, but I think curly haired people should have EXCLUSIVE rights to have their hair hold curl when curled. Seriously. The injustice found in this world.

Other curly haired injustices are included here:

1. When I straighten my hair, the straightener turns off multiple times because it thinks to itself, "This is so dangerous. There is no way I can actually be used for this long; I shut off after twenty minutes, and you have to re-start me if you really want to dare using me longer."

2. When I straighten my hair, it rains or snows; thus, all my hard work flattens and frizzes with a few droplets. When I straighten my hair, I receive comments like "Your hair looks SO much better straight!" I say "thanks!" and think, "I wonder what they think of me the other 95 percent of the time with the curls? Why can't I have time to do this more often?"

3. Then I start thinking should I chemically straighten my hair? I realize I look like I fit in more with it straight, and I do like it straight; however, from the time I was a little girl, curls have been a part of my identity. I was the one called Curly Sue growing up. People look for me in crowds by looking for the curls. How would people find me otherwise? Most of the time people associate curls with a crazy personality; I don't think that's me, but I do think curls can have a classic elegance to them (although mine rarely find that), and that's what I try to go for. I guess the bottom line is--curls have become part of me. Even though my hair is stubborn, I have tried to embrace it, and although I straighten it sometimes for a different look, I will always picture me, the real me, with the curls--an appendage of me.