dear friends,

When I was in second grade I danced in The Rag Coat, which was inspired by the picture book with the same name. If you haven't read it, there's a girl who needs a coat to go to school and so all the quilting mothers decide to put their scraps together and make her a coat. There's more to the story, but I love the idea that her coat has pieces of all these different people's lives. There's pieces of a baby blanket, a fancy dress from New York, a woolen jacket, fishing pants, and her dad's old feed sack for the lining. Here is a description from the book:

"Each day I hurried home to see my coat. It was looking like the colors of the fall days--the yellow-golds of the birch leaves, the silvery grays and purples of the sky, the deep greens and browns of the pines, and the rusty reds of the chimney bricks--all the colors Papa would have chosen. I decided to put a piece of his work jacket in there. It just seemed right."

I'm telling you this because I just want those of you who read this to know that you definitely make up part of who I am--I would be missing pieces without you! Thanks for donating pieces of your lives to mine! Especially with this mission, I feel so much support from friends and family, and that is what will "keep me warm" inside when I'm there. That's what patches me up, so to speak. Okay, enough with the puns and metaphors.

Te amo. (I love you.)

from Leah

A little girl in my ward (age 6) drew this for me in church on Sunday! I had never met her before, and I loved this drawing! Especially the spelling of "tething th gosple" and the way the girl on the left is turning but her legs stayed straight. Adorable!

Today's Creation

I love these corsage tees and I found out at http://enchantresses3.blogspot.com/2009/06/corsage-tee.html

that you can make them! This is the one I tried.

And unrelated, a pic of the sunset the other night! It was so cool (I think it was last Thursday).

P.S. Works as a ribbon headband too!

Make-Your-Own Zebra

Reader's Digest had a great story in it's Laughterpedia for the letter

Z:

Mohammed Bargouthi didn't let a little thing like an Israeli embargo keep him from having a zebra in his Gaza zoo. Using ingenuity and guile, he made his own. His recipe: one donkey, some masking tape, and a little black hair dye. "The children don't know, and they are happy to see something new." Source: Ananova News Service

I'm a little sad that there's an embargo on bringing zebras to Gaza, but then again maybe this is a new way to keep wild animals in the wild. Just use animals that you have around, like donkeys or maybe here it would be dogs... and dress them up/paint them/dye them to look like all the other animals you'd want to see in a zoo!

Sounds like modern art to me!

"Kites"

After you have watched the clip below, watch this one for more of the story! It's also just a minute long and it pulls from the whole video. Not quite as good of quality as below, but you have to see it to see what happens!

“Kites”

2009 Student Academy Awards® – Animation Category – “Kites” | Video | The Academy

My great-aunt showed me this five-minute movie made by BYU animation students. It's a beautiful story of a boy who finds that his grandpa really isn't gone; or at least he has left him with the skills he needs to soar! This clip is only the first minute or so, but you should watch it! You'll like it.

A Fin-tastic Time

On Monday I drank some of this salty sea water--sometimes the waves get the best of ya! So worth it to be swimming in the ocean on a beautiful California day! Pictured below, by the way, is not me.
This dolphin is from the whale watching cruise, for which we got a "whale check" for another time since no whales showed their faces.

Blackbird by Bobby McFerrin

Blackbird came up as roadtrip music this weekend, and I mentioned this recording but couldn't remember who sang it. I first heard it in Survey of Jazz and have no idea how he does it!

Yellow

It all started with the picture on my desk. It's a watercolor print and I love the colors in it. I was thinking how cool that would be if the colors in my room matched the colors of the picture. I thought maybe I could paint the furniture blue. In our basement we have half-used cans of paint, so I went hunting. All I came up with was yellow--or spiced butternut, to be exact. I thought it would work! So...

I woke up and took everything out of my drawers. Should I just do the bookshelf too since I'm taking all day to do the dresser anyway? Okay. Took all the books off my bookshelf (and there are a lot--binders and stuff. I need to get rid of some. But that's for another day!) and put everything on my bed or in a box. My room looked more spacious when I took the furniture out to the garage. It was a little windy this morning, so my mom suggested that I do it in there. She helped me get started and by 9:30ish am the primer coat was done! It took a little longer than I thought--of course. Layer 1 of yellow at noon, and I just finished the second layer! I'm so excited to see what it looks like when we move it back in my room at 10 tonight!

I keep wondering what will happen to that newly-painted furniture when I leave. Will it stay in "my" room? Will someone repaint it? Will I take out all my belongings and box them up so someone else can use my room?

wait until dark...

I finally saw Wait Until Dark. I think at one point in my life I decided I was never going to see it (I am way on the wimpy side when it comes to scary movies). But now I'm glad I've seen it! Some things I loved about it--hope this doesn't spoil it for anyone reading:

1. Most of the action takes place in this one apartment, mostly in the same room.

2. I loved how the movie actors had to act in the script--does that make sense? They had to act to convince Audrey Hepburn, or Susy, that they were people doing things that they really weren't. And sometimes they blew it, and she realized and figured out the whole plot!

3. One of the mildly bad guys (?) who didn't care if he had to hurt someone to get the job done ends up, I think, falling for Susy and protecting her. I really wish he hadn't had to have gotten killed by the really bad guy.

4. I like Susy's outfits. That might go without saying since it's Audrey Hepburn, but then again I don't think I really loved her outfits in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

5. There's a part where she becomes friends with the little girl upstairs who ends up helping to save her life. Aw.

And that is why I call my blog "random thoughts." Thanks for reading! :)

silly putty faces

watch out Newport!

11:44 am

These sun-lit leaves look like they're dancing in the breeze through my bedroom window.

El Verano

words my dad and I learned on our bike ride today (well, I guess he already knew them and we looked up a few more on the internet)

cielo: sky

montanas: mountains (sorry I can't spell the spanish word with the little ~ sign above the n)

bicicleta: bike

arbusto: bush

sombra: shadow

pajaros: birds

hace calor: it's hot

carton de basura: garbage can

campo de futbol: soccer field

happy first day of verano!

the Muir Woods

You guessed it... from the pod falls the tiny seed which takes root and lives for thousands of years, growing up to be a redwood tree!

These pictures are from the Muir Woods, named for John Muir who inspired people to take care of nature. One of my favorite quotes is from John Muir: "This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on seas and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls."

no place like home

I heard the temple described as the place where heaven meets earth. What a blessing to be able to go there and think that this earth really isn't our home! Only temporary... "this is just a stop on the way to where I'm going" (thanks to the country song).

Summer

Even though it doesn't look like it, and the calendar doesn't say it yet, to me summer has started! Summer in the sense of a change of schedule, and a time to make new choices about what I'm going to do with myself for the next few months. Here's one proof of it's being summer: my sister left today to study abroad and backpack around Europe! I will be looking for a part-time job this summer. Except I need one that will allow me a few precious family vacations, including St. George and Hebgen (yay!). To start off summer though, I have been continuing my spring cleaning in my room. It's amazing to me how there is always more paper to throw away, more things to give to the D.I. I love to do this. I feel like I'm letting go of clutter and lightening my load. There are probably some things I've thrown away that later I'll wish I still had, but that is where reinventing and planning in new ways comes in! The internet makes a lot of things possible. :)

Hope whatever season you're in right now is going well!

contacts

I was just thinking about the contacts I'm wearing, and how nice it is to be able to read the words on the screen as I type. I feel lucky to live in the age of corrective eyewear. I wonder who came up with contacts? Stick these flimsy pieces of bluish-clear stuff on your eyes--they fit like a charm--and you'll be able to see better than 20/20. Sounds incredible, but it works. This is my thank you to the scientists who figured that out, whoever they were.

Three-Town Saturday

My dad loves to find new ways to invite me to do yardwork. Today's was another unique one, and sadly I had to turn him down because I had so much to do today. I think one day I'm gonna wish I had said yes more times to his yardwork offers. So... next time he "invites" me!

However, many good things happened today, including a first-time visit to a newer than new temple! The baptistry is beautiful. [That was in one town.] Also, a wedding dinner for my dear friend who's getting married on Wednesday. The love song she sang was amazing as usual. [That was in another town.] And, started putting together my last official project for college! Until I go back one day to get a master's, maybe. [That was in the third town, the one I live in.]

Last, I think my friends are great. The ones I see regularly, and the ones I don't (although on that note, we should see each other if you're reading this!). xo

a break

I decided to take a break from Facebook. I don't know how long it will last. I just wanted to try it. So... be sure to update me on your lives! We still have blogs :)

"Landslide"

I heard this song on the radio today while driving and it reminded me how much I love these lyrics.

1975 by Stevie Nicks

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life~~~
Mmmm mmm mmm

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too

Awh, take my love, take it down
Awh, Climb a mountain and turn around
And If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide bring it down

sentences

I'm just reading over some sentences written by third-graders telling about their ideal day, and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you! I kept original spelling for authenticity.

One of my favorite lunches is tortillas. The warmth of them creeps around me.

Then I practice my swirly and challenging cursive.

Then I go inside and have juciy steak and cruchy brocclie with melted ward butter on top!

I wake up to the noise of my beeper. Then I eat steaming eggs and crunchy bacon.

Then we might go to McDonalds crunchy warm fries!

I have some deliciouse and I mean delicious spagetti.

The smell of sweet smoth hershey's chocalte melts in to my theeth like a squeshy ball of carmel.

My frinds laght with joy when ther trying too teach me a word.

I wake up to the nice warm smell of salty eggs and baccon.

I wake up to the yumbilieveible smell of hashbrowns.

The weather is bad pounding rain and terribble thunder.

And then I dash down the stairs to play Scrable.

And I go have the time of my life swiming.

I decorate a cake. Then I put it in the fridge and let it sit over night.

In the winter I like to make cold, big snow igloos.

When I wake up I eat golden waffles that are squishy and smell like something sweet.

When it rains I go outside to shoot hoops because the rain is nice and cold from a hot day.

I eat for breakfas is crispy wafles and and ornge and milk. The orang splurts in my mouth.

I run around the naborhood and say hellow.

I love to wake up and see some frosted flakes on the tabel!

I mite go to the mian, if it is a spechel day!

For diner I'll have a big plate of lazanya!

I like to play basket outside too. It feels so good wen you run in the wind in the summer.

This year for valintine's day I got a electric scooter from my grandma. It's fun to ride on with lots of friends.

I am going to a utah utes game I think there going to win.

I get in my pajamas and robe and slippers.

When I wak up I go dowen stars and eat two sogy peces of towots with butter on them and some cold milk.

I sart a new piano piece. My parents love to hear me play.

Then I like to go outside in the windy wether on the swings and sandbox.