Portland, bicycles & books.

Many many years ago, Nolan & I went out to Portland, Oregon to visit my sister. While we were there, not only did we fall in love with the area, but we had discovered this interesting concept that the Portland Police Dept. had put into effect. They painted up dozens and dozens of bicycles with a bright & cheerful sunshine yellow paint scheme, and appropriately named them "Courtesy Bikes." These bikes were distributed all over the city. The idea was that if you saw a yellow bike not currently in use, you were welcome to pick it up, ride it to your destination, and then leave it there for whoever may need to use it next. What a great idea! We need to do more things like that. "Okay, I'm done. Your turn!"

Well, the other day there was a book that decided to end up on top of the mailbox where I work. It had a sticky note on the front that said "I'm not lost, I'm on a journey" along with some information about a traveling book program. Same concept as the bikes in Portland, except it's sharing literature! Instead of junking a book you never read anymore, just leave it somewhere (like on a Chiropractor's mailbox) and let it be available for someone to pick it up and read it, then return the favor and leave it somewhere for the next lucky finder. What a great idea!

The book that was left is called "The Shadow People" by Joyce McDonald. Britty is reading it right now, and she says it's pretty intense, but loves it. She'll probably "randomly" leave it on my bed for me to find so I can read it! LOL!

For more info on this traveling book concept, click here.

Dipping back into my photography talent...

It's been a while (a LONG while) since I've done some serious photography. Mostly because I haven't had a decent camera for years. But now that I have taken care of that dilemma, I am reacquainting myself with the world of photography. I am having SO much fun with my new camera, that I decided to go out on a spontaneous photo shoot in my yard (in the RAIN) the other day. I spoiled myself and bought macro lenses because I'm obsessed with detailed up close images. Especially with dew drops. Here are just a few pictures that I took. 

Aaaaah, I'm pleased with how these turned out. :)

~Iris~

~Vinca~

~Geranium~

~Viola~

~Lilac~

~Lily of the Valley~

~Honeysuckle~

~Aspen~

~Bleeding Hearts~

~Tulip~

~Fuschia~

~Strawberry~

My beautiful Utah!

I've been thinking lately about how unique Utah is with it's climate & landscape variations. One person will describe Utah as having huge snowcapped mountains that are generously covered with pines and aspens. Another will describe Utah as a vast red rock desert with delicate rock formations and arches. I completely agree that everyone takes for granted what they have, until they're away. I was remembering a trip I made to Ohio 8 years ago. I remember very well feeling vulnerable and lost with no mountains. It was then that I realized how much I love living against the Wasatch range, and how much I would miss my mountains if I were to leave. 

I've been out the past couple of days with my camera, taking pictures of what I see on a daily basis, so I can share them with those who have never visited Utah, and especially for those who are away from Utah and could use a good dose of mountains. This is just what we see in Utah County alone.

My view to the North: Mt. Timpanogos~

My view to the South: Mt. Nebo~

My view to the East: Freedom Peak, Visible through Rock Canyon~

(Squaw Mountain on the left, Y Mountain on the right)

Another view to the East: Provo Peak, visible through Slate Canyon~

(Y Mountain on the left, Buckley Mountain on the right)

And last but not least, my view to the West: Lake Mountain~

And this is just a small glimpse of what I get to see surrounding my home on a daily basis.

(Sorry for the dingy East pictures, the wind brought in a lot of dust and junk, most likely leftovers from the HUGE fires in Southern Utah last year. When it clears up, I'll take more.)

Isn't it beautiful?

I'm not sure I'm ready for this.

I am being put in a position that I am not comfortable with. There are those who wrong me, some by misunderstanding, and another by malice. It would be the human way to run in the opposite direction of the accuser to avoid any further confrontation. To hide to avoid any further pain. It gets tiresome to have to keep defending myself. The defenses are getting weaker and are starting to sound more like excuses. It's unfair to have my character attacked by someone who cares less about trying to get to know me, and who I truly am, and cares more about their status symbol as being superior. 

My instinct is to cocoon myself up in a thick protective layer, and allow my own personal metamorphoses, to really become the beauty that I know I possess. Yet there is one who is determined to stop my growth before I awe the world and show it what I'm capable of. There are those who don't appreciate or even care for that matter, about the personal changes and sacrifices I made to become who I am today. 

Is it wrong of me to want to avoid such an enemy? I don't have camouflage enough to hide the hurt I am feeling, and the attacker would be elated to see such weakness in my eyes. I am not sufficiently armored to protect myself from further lies, deceit, manipulation & unfair accusations. I am not healed enough to take on more wounds. I really feel that I need time to gain more strength, wisdom & acknowledge my inner beauty, so that I will be more prepared to defend myself against my personal adversary. 

...I am so not ready for Sunday.

Don't like Utah weather? Wait 10 minutes, it'll change.

First of all, Utah has the most bi-polar weather I have ever experienced. It is not surprising that the body has a hard time adjusting to the freezing temperatures, to the heat, back to the freeze, back to the heat, etc. It's even worse when this vicious cycle is happening all in the same day! I laugh at the days (which are very frequent) that I have to scrape ice off the windows in the morning, then run the a/c in the afternoon. Combine this idiotic weather pattern with the massive amounts of pollen in the air from all the blooming grasses and trees, and you get one sick individual, which has a heck of a time shaking the illness. Which leads me to my lovely weekend.

Nolan has been battling the allergies and also a deep chest cold combined for over a month now. Because of the crazy weather fluctuations, (and him working outside in all the elements), he hasn't been able to shake it. His coughing was becoming so violent that it was causing him some frightening head pain, which he was dealing with for a week. Well, Friday he comes home from work with the sinuses cemented shut, so much congestion in his throat that he was "hacking up a lung" trying unsuccessfully to rid himself of the mucus, a fever accompanied with the sweats & chills, all over weakness, and of course, difficulty breathing. I talked with the on call Dr, and he wanted Nolan to go straight to the ER to be treated for PNEUMONIA! So I spent most of Thursday night in the ER with Nolan. Thankfully he did not have pneumonia, but a very aggressive bronchitis that was closing up his airways (and was well on its way to becoming pneumonia). The ER Doc described it as taking a straw, filling it with play dough, poking a hole in the dough with a pin and trying to breathe through it. The sinus crap from the allergies weren't helping the cause either. 

So I was taking care of a very sick hubby all weekend. How was your weekend? Anything eventful?

Avoiding responsibility

I have been sucked into the world of laptop convenience. I can sit anywhere I please and get sucked into the technological world... and avoid all responsibility. Like now. (As I am lounging on my couch staring at a large pile of sheets that need to be folded and taken to my office.) We definitely live in a lazy world, a world of enabling, a world of convenience. Long gone are the days of going to the library to do research. Long gone are the days of standing at the end of a 3 ft. phone cord and making the conversations short because you're tied to the wall. And now, long gone are the days of big bulky computers, and I am elated with the extra freedom my laptop (and my cell phone) have given me. And now to go fold those sheets...