The Cutest Hike Ever!

Last Saturday I took Bear on a hike up Waterfall Canyon. It was perfect weather for hiking - not too hot, not too cold. I think Bear was a mountain goat in her past life, because she climbed over rocks like they were nothing. She probably could have done it with her eyes closed. The only thing that held her back was me.......holding her back......on the leash. A few times she went to jump over a particularly large rock before I had caught up to her and she abruptly slid backwards off said rock. Sorry Bear. Maybe someday I will reach your level of turbo speed or I will be able to let you off the leash because people will stop being such sissies about dogs. But for now, a little strangulation never hurt anyone, right?

Here is proof that Bear made it to the waterfall in one piece. She even looks pretty happy after all the leash pulling.



This is the waterfall. Pretty impressive. If only people would stop trying to climb that rock wall and falling off and dying. That makes the place a little bit of a bummer.



The view is amazing up there. It looks just like it should be on a postcard.



I'm glad I went hiking Saturday because I woke up today to.....SNOW! WTF UTAH?! It's also been raining all day, complete with wind and thunder. I don't mind it, but it makes Bear want to hide on my bed -



I won't say "this is how I found her one day when it was really windy" because for some reason it bothers me when bloggers say things like that. It's just too cutesy and fake to me. It's like saying "This is how I found her, all cuddly and snuggly and shaking in her skin! It was the cutest surprise ever!" Gag me. I'm all for a little cute here and there, but when a person is gushing about how cute something is, it makes me want to hit them over the head with a sauce pan.

SUCK IT! (Only If You're Mean)

The weather is SLOWLY warming up, but it can take it's time. I like changing seasons. I think they give variety to life. But if it were up to me, summer weather would never get above 80 degrees. Hot weather and I just don't get along. Perhaps that trend started when I was a kid and didn't understand that the sun would always burn my ghostly skin if I stepped outside for more than 15 minutes. Many sunburns later, I hold a grudge against the sun since it has burned me so many times. (No pun intended. OK, maybe a little. he he) If I want to be outside for extended periods I have to either:

A. Put on loads of greasy, slimy sunscreen, or
B. Cover every inch of my body in some sort of clothing.

B is really not an option since I hate being hot almost as much as I hate being sunburned. If it were legal, I would probably run around naked when it was hot. Nudist colonies don't offend me because I figure those people are just too hot to want to wear clothing. Ugly bodies also don't offend me because I don't think there is any disgusting body part that I have not already seen on t.v. or the internet. Also, I try not to judge others by physical appearance. A person can't help it if they were born into a body that is not considered "beautiful" or if they were in an accident that disfigured them. Differences are beauty to me. The same thing over and over gets really boring. I think that may be why computer-generated graphics don't appeal to me much. They are so perfect they take out all the beauty of flaws.

That was a bit of a tangent. Anyway, the point is, too much heat and sun is bothersome to me. I'm lucky that I am still young and skinny, because even if I were overweight and ugly, my disdain for heat would probably still allow me to dress skimpy in the summer. And even though I don't judge others by their bodies, that doesn't stop them from judging me. Yes, I care what other people think of me. No, I am not strong-willed enough yet to not let mean people get to me. Guess I'll have to work on telling those judgers to SUCK IT!

Simplicity

Sometimes I wish I lived 100 years ago. There were bad things about living in that time period, but one of the good things was simplicity. Back then people had far less choices to make then we do today. They didn't have to choose which grocery store to go to because there was only one grocery store in town. They didn't have a choose which car to buy because there were no cars. (Or very few cars.) Today our choices become infinitely complex. Take eggs for example. 100 years ago, if you wanted eggs you simply went to the local farmer or raised your own chickens. Today, if you want eggs, you have to first choose from thousands of stores or farmers. Once you choose one of those, you have to choose what kind of eggs you want - cage free, organic, white, brown, spotted, large, medium, chicken, ostrich, pheasant. Or you could have eggs sent to you from across the country. Or you could choose to raise your own chickens, which is a whole other set of choices. Maybe this doesn't seem overwhelming to some people, but to me it is. The information that is surrounding us on a constant basis these days is staggering. Internet, books, phones, t.v., ads. It all competes for our attention.

My grandpa would have been 100-years-old last Saturday. To celebrate his life, my dad held a party in his honor. There were pictures of my grandfather at the party, and what struct me was how few pictures there were. 100 years ago they didn't have the technology or the means to be taking pictures all the time like we do today. These days some people take thousands of pictures of their kids before they even turn a year old. Then you have to keep all those pictures organized and even then they start to pile up either in physical form or on the computer. Who wants the burden of so many pictures when a few portraits were sufficient in the past? I like photography, but I feel like fewer photos wouldn't be a bad thing.

I guess what I am trying to say is, try to keep life simple. Turn off the computer or t.v. more often. Take a few less photos. Meditate to help you face all that information. Always remember what is really important in life so you can focus on that. Do less. Collect memories instead of objects. I probably sound like a broken record because I have written about this before, but I don't mind being reminded, and I hope readers don't mind either. I'm happy my grandpa could remind me that simplicity is important.

Reap What You Sow

I have come to the conclusion that people who complain all the time are really annoying. I am aware that by saying that I am complaining about complaining, but I can do that here because this is MY blog and I make the rules! So there! This is the one place where I am in charge and just about anything goes, so if I complain a lot, don't hold it against me. In real life I swear I am less whiny. If you want to be the boss of something and complain excessively, go start your own blog.

So where was I? Oh yeah, complainers! No one wants to be around someone who complains a lot because they ruin a good mood. They ruin a good mood because you can never please them. A complainer could be a millionaire with the perfect spouse and the perfect kids and good health, and they will still find something to complain about. Complaining is really a sign of a bad attitude toward life. Most people would much rather hang out with someone who is optimistic and thankful. So, you see how people reap what they sow. Call it karma, or coming full circle, or whatever you like. The basic idea is if you don't complain you attract positive people. If you project happiness and kindness, you attract happiness and kindness.

I, like everyone else, am still working on projecting what I want to attract. I have already shown that I still complain. Sometimes it is almost torture to smile at someone who is being rude or to smile at all when you are in a bad mood. But I really believe in giving what you want to get. I believe that if I am good to life, life will be good to me. So I will continue trying my best to put out those good vibes and hopefully they will come right back to me.

Amazing In Training

So does anyone have this thing called "life" figured out yet? I just thought I would throw that out there and see if anyone has any advice, because from my experience, life only seems to get harder and more complicated the more you live. I should probably not whine about life since I am 29-years-old, reasonably good-looking, fairly healthy, and somewhat intelligent. I know so many people have it so much worse. Then again, maybe life is easier if you are not so intelligent. Then you would be ignorant of most of the bad stuff. Ahhhh, blissful ignorance.

I have been working a little bit on being a better person. You know - more spiritual, kinder, stronger, happier, more peaceful - all the things everyone would be if we lived in a perfect world. But it seems like for every step forward, I take two steps back. Turns out being peaceful is not so easy when the lawn mower has died for the 100th time because it's a piece of s***. Being strong isn't easy when you don't know what the future holds. Being happy isn't easy when you know millions of people are suffering from countless illnesses and problems. Being spiritual isn't easy when you wonder what the meaning of everything is.

I'm not trying to be depressing. Really. For all the bad things in life, there are just as many, if not more, good things. People overcome all sorts of horrible trials. They learn to be happy even when life is kicking them in the butt. They can be peaceful even when there is chaos surrounding them. They can be strong even when they thought they had no strength left. People can be AMAZING. I'm just wondering......can I become one of those amazing people?

Going To Extremes

This day sucks so far because of the constant drizzle outside that seems to continue FOREVER. BLECK! That's all I have to say about that. Let's move on and distract ourselves with some blogging. Shall we?

Last Sunday I watched the show Extreme Couponing for the first time, and was AMAZED. (FYI Apparently 'couponing' is not a word since it keeps underlining itself in red. Still, that doesn't stop them from using it in a show title.) The women on that show could get THOUSANDS of dollars worth of groceries for mere pennies or even for FREE! One woman got so much free stuff that she gave most of it to a food shelter and then made a mini store in her own house where her family could shop for free. Adopt me strange couponing lady!

As soon as the show was over I was all ready to run out the door and start couponing even though it was 10 o'clock at night. After all, I am a very organized person, I am good at planning things out, and I like getting things for free! But once I thought about it for a little bit, I realized couponing would not be a good activity for me for these reasons -

Number One: Couponing is a lot of work. Most of the women on the show spent at least 30 hours a week working on it. While I am not opposed to hard work, I'm not sure if I want couponing to be my full time job. I am a lousy boss. I would never crack down on myself for not getting something done.

Number Two: Couponing is complicated. One woman had to plan out 18 DIFFERENT TRANSACTIONS at the store to get the prices she wanted. She also had a detailed list of everything she would buy and how all that would fit into her monthly meal plans. It took her HOURS to go through the check-out. I salute her for her commitment, but I couldn't take on all that. While I love organization, I also love simplicity. I would never wish to plan out what I would eat for an entire month and then search through thousands of coupons to find the best prices for what I want.

Number Three: A necessity of couponing seems to be buying in bulk. I'm not sure why that is other than you want to get the most of something that you can for a good deal. But I only feed Mike and myself and the occasional friend. If I went couponing, most of the stuff I got would go bad before I ever used it. I could give it away, but I'm not THAT committed to charity work. Also, you can't be picky about what you want to buy when couponing. The coupons dictate the majority of what you get. I like to stick with certain brands and products that I like. If I couponed, I wouldn't be able to do that.

Number Four: Couponing just seems wrong. Let me explain. I have no problem with getting free stuff. But the fact that it is possible to get all your groceries for free bothers me. It means that grocery stores are being tricky, and if you can be more tricky you can beat the system. I don't like trickiness. I value honesty and openness in myself and others. We shouldn't need to compete to see who can be more tricky. If there were fair prices for everyone, there would be no couponing. I guess that's just how it is with capitalism, but I can still dream of a better world, right?

So there you have it. No extreme couponing in my blood.......although that mini store of my own is very tempting.

Close To Home

Many people I have met feel like they want to move away from where they grew up the second they are old enough to be on their own. I might be in in minority, because I have never felt that way. It may come from the years of moving around when my dad was in the Air Force, but I would just as soon stay rooted in a place close to family rather than moving here or there. I also seem to get attached to places more than other people. I still remember my address from where I lived when I was 9-years-old and I still miss the lemon tree that was in the backyard there. Sometimes I will miss things about the places I have lived like the baseball fields that where by my house, or flying kites in the field behind the high school, or my bedroom that had the huge closet, or the room above the garage with the stairs that pulled down. Its like I leave a tiny piece of me wherever I live and I'm afraid if I move too much I won't have any pieces left.

I like staying in one spot because I become familiar with the area, the people, the schools, and the businesses. I like Utah specifically because I love the mountains and the people seem kind and friendly in general. Also, being the shy girl that I am, staying in one place makes it easier to have friends because once you move where you know no one, you have to start all over with the friend-making and social connections.

Many people move for the excitement of a new place, but I think that's what traveling is for. As much as I love to travel, it always feels good to come HOME to where I feel most comfortable. Some people also move for work or school. I can understand moving for those reasons, but it would take a really amazing opportunity to take me away from my family and the place I know. I know it is hard for some people to understand why I like staying in one place. What can I say? Maybe I have gotten too comfortable or I am too resistant to change. Whatever it is, it keeps me rooted where I am.

Stating The Obvious

I have been noticing lately how so many things now have obvious instructions on them. Like when I took Bear on a walk to the park and there was a dispenser of little plastic bags to use to pick up dog poop. Pretty obvious, right? Yet there were step-by-step instructions posted on how to use the poop bags. REALLY?! If there is someone out there who is older than five and doesn't know how to pick up dog poop, then I have serious concerns about the human race.

One thing Dr. Phil always says is "common sense just isn't common enough anymore". I have to agree with Dr. Phil on this one. While there is a whole other debate about where common sense comes from, (Is it learned or are we born with it like an instinct?) it does seem like it is becoming more and more scarce.

What should be obvious isn't so obvious anymore. The instructions for my curling iron state, "Do not use while sleeping." Ummmmm, seriously? Because I was thinking of using it while sleepwalking or possibly trying to curl Mike's hair while he is sound asleep. Maybe all these obvious instructions come from companies trying not to get sued or trying to be overly politically correct, but the common sense logic still applies. If you use a curling iron in your sleep and burn yourself, DON'T SUE THE MAKERS OF THE CURLING IRON! Common sense would dictate that you stop using a curling iron in your sleep! People shouldn't need to be told that.

It is aggravating that this is the world we live in. It's a world where people have to constantly state the obvious or else someone could use it against them. I'm not sure what the solution would be to bring back common sense. (Perhaps to stop stating the obvious to competent adults?) In the meantime, just be glad if you have it already.

No Future In Movies

Is it just me or is America becoming the Land of Movie Stars? I don't mean that everyone who lives here is a movie star. I mean all we care about are movies and becoming movie stars. We are the land of entertainment. The land where every person wants their own reality show. The land where dozens of new movies come out every week. So what's so bad about that? I'll tell you. Our priorities are all messed up. Movies are fun, but they are not what is most important to the human race. Wouldn't it be wise to stop spending so much money on making and seeing movies and spend more on education and the future of our country? Do we need more scientists and doctors or more movie stars?

I'm all for creative expression. Life without art would be very sad indeed. But it seems obvious to me that we are wasting huge amounts of resources on excessive entertainment. In the future, when we have used up all of our resources, will we be glad that we spent so much on entertainment instead of educating scientists who could have discovered new ways to help us survive? It seems everyone is living by the saying "Eat, drink, and be marry for tomorrow we shall die". I'm just saying, maybe a little more planning for the future and a little less entertainment wouldn't hurt.

Computer Confession

This weekend Mike and I went to Park City with some friends and I got this bracelet at the Fossil store -



Pretty cool, huh? I just wanted to share that because even though I am not a person who wears a lot of jewelry, I totally love this bracelet. It has just the right amount of shine and sparkle and it goes with almost anything. I would probably wear more jewelry if it was all that pretty and simple.

In other matters.....I have a confession to make. I don't like computers. I considered saying I "hate" computers, but as is often stated, "hate" is a strong word. Besides, I can appreciate all the things computers do to make people's lives better. I would just rather deal with them on a minimal basis myself. Computer class was the only class in high school I didn't get an 'A' in. Although it may seem extreme that I got so many A's, I don't think high school was terribly difficult. All you had to do was finish all your assignments and do good on tests, and I was good at that........except for computers. That was difficult for me.

You may be wondering what I don't like about computers since obviously I use them on a regular basis for this blog, e-mail, facebook, banking, games, photo and music storage and such. Well, first of all there is the actual hardware and software. I don't know a modem from a processor. I have no idea where files go when I save them. If I need to install something, forget about it. Mike and countess others have been very patient trying to teach me about these things, but I never seem to get past the stage of Computer Kindergartener. It's not anyone's fault really. My brain just rejects all computer knowledge.

The other thing I don't like about computers is many of them contain the internet. I know, I know. The internet is only like the greatest invention in the history of mankind. How could I not like it? Well, frankly, it scares me a little. I am one of those people who gets easily overwhelmed when you throw too much information my way, so I have to be really careful about what I take in. Give me too much information and pretty soon I'm balled up in corner sobbing because I couldn't learn Chinese, astrophysics, and brain chemistry in the space of two hours. The internet is about the worst place you can go if you get information overload. It is like hell in digital form. You may go on there just to check your e-mail, but before you know it it's 5 hours later and you haven't seen your e-mail, but you've seen a whole lot of other stuff you wish you could un-see.

So, yes, I use the computer and the internet, and, no, I don't wish they where never invented. But when it comes to computers, I like to keep things simple - Look something up here. Type something there. Any problems, refer to husband.

Hector's Search For Happiness

As you probably know, I usually write a post every other day, but since I plan on spending time with my husband tomorrow, I thought I would write a post today. Yay for you!

This post is another book review because I'm good like that. No really, it was an easy read at less than 200 pages. The book is called Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord. It's about a psychiatrist (Hector) who goes on a trip around the world to understand what makes people happy or unhappy. It is written in a children's book fashion to keep it simple and light, but it has some real insights about happiness. One of my favorite insights was when Hector visited an old monk in China. He and the monk went for a walk through some beautiful mountains and the monk said, "True wisdom would be the ability to live without this scenery, to be the same person even at the bottom of a well. But that, it has to be said, is not so easy." I like this quote because it basically says that a person can learn to be content and happy even if all that person sees is the darkness at the bottom of a well. Even though the monk said that is not easy to achieve, I still think it is a comforting thought.

Hector writes down lessons he learns about happiness as he travels. He comes up with about twenty-three lessons, give or take. Some of these lessons include - Lesson#1: Making comparisons can spoil your happiness. Lesson#2 Happiness often comes when least expected. Lesson#8 Happiness is being with the people you love. Lesson#13. Happiness is feeling useful to others. Lesson#20 Happiness is a certain way of seeing things. I won't go into all the lessons because you can just read the book yourself. Also, not all of the lessons are things that a person can control. Therein lies the only thing I didn't like about this book - It doesn't really tell you HOW to be happy. It goes into great detail about WHAT makes people happy, but not much detail about how to be happy if you don't have the things that make people happy. For instance, Hector visited a professor who studies happiness, and the professor said "some people have more of a gift for happiness than others." In other words, some people are born with a better ability to see things positively. My question is, what then can someone do who is not born with that ability? The monk said it could be achieved, but how?

So in the end, the book was fun to read and helpful in reminding you what is important in life and what may help to make you happier. But, it is not meant to be taken too seriously and does not have all the answers to happiness. So read it, enjoy it, take what you can from it, but don't expect it to make you deliriously happy.

Goodbye Trees

Back in November I wrote this about raking leaves out in the yard. (I love how Bear is in almost the exact same spot in both pictures.) Well, I don't have to worry about that anymore because the trees are no more.



One tree was dead and the other was rather sickly, so the landlord decided to have them removed. You would think I would be happy that I don't have to rake ever again (except for the neighbor's leaves which are sure to find their way into our yard), but really I am pretty sad about it. If you read my blog, you know that I love nature, so I really miss the trees. The yard just looks boring and bare now, and the sunshine is brutal on my pale, wimpy skin. I wanted to buy another tree, but since we only rent our house, it would be pointless to spend money on something we can't keep. Maybe I will get over it, but for now, don't be surprised if I burst into tears when I walk into the yard.

There Is Hope

It's another blah sort of day outside which is kind of depressing, but I'm not giving up hope that someday warm weather will arrive. No matter how bad things get, I'm the sort of person who always has hope that things will get better. You could call it blind trust or wishing for the impossible, but I think hope is more than that. Hope gives you a reason to live. Hope can be uplifting and empowering. Hope can not be taken away. So why not have hope? Even if things don't turn out how you hoped, just that act of hoping still makes the journey more bearable.

I was playing that game called Mahjong the other day, and it made me think of hope. For those of you who aren't familiar, Mahjong is an old Chinese game where you find matching tiles. If tiles are blocked, you can't match them. You have to match all the tiles to win, but you loose if all the matching tiles are blocked. Anyway, I used to give up on this game when I saw a tile that had no match. I would think that I would never get to the match. But the more I played, the more I realized that if you just keep playing, the match usually turns up. In other words, I learned to not give up hope at the first sign of distress. It took a game to teach me this because, unlike life, games are easy to start over and over again. I didn't often give up hope at the first obstacle, but now I have learned to hold on to hope even longer. You never know what solutions or help may come your way and you may just do what you thought was impossible.