32 Miles

My work is doing a 10,000 steps-a-day program, and my grand total for the first thirteen days of June? I've walked 32 miles. Allergies aside it has been great. If the cottonwoods around here ever stop "blooming" and the caterpillars on the Provo river trail would not be hanging on threads at about face height then it would be perfect. Now I'll just have to take some pictures to show the beauty I'm seeing. It sure is nice that it has finally warmed up and stopped raining.

Viet anyone?

Okay so most of you know that I sometimes speak Vietnamese. Sometimes I speak well and sound fluent and sometimes my tongue decided that it really doesn't speak any languages at all and it sounds like mush. So, I need your help. What are some ways you study foreign languages? Have you seen any good/clean Vietnamese films with or without English subtitles? I have some cramming to do before General Conference (the Young Women's meeting on the 27th particularly). And since I know some of my friends are, in fact, native Viet speakers, what do you suggest.

Any translators/interpreters out there, how do you prepare? What do you do to keep from getting nervous and racing/swallowing words. I'd like to sound like I do understand the language when I read this time. What do you suggest.

And if anyone wonders what I'm up to this month??? I'll be home, studying Viet, stop by and say hi if your in the area.

Birthdays

In the world of everyday people there are birthdays which are milestones, 18th you are an "adult", at 21 you are really an adult and can now make all choices, at 25 you are 1/4 of the way to 100 so of course all 25-year-olds should celebrate their age. Then we start celebrating and mourning on the 10s, 30, 40, 50 etc. This year I turn 31 and in Utah's single and LDS culture I have to say that 31 is harder than 30 or any previous birthday. I think this is because I now should be getting kicked out of the singles ward and get to start attending the normal (family) wards whether I want to or not. I enjoy attending wards with families and children and many different ages and viewpoints. I am just worried that since my dating opportunities are scarce in a group of all singles, it should really be fun in a mostly married world. So here I go into the world of couples and kids and me.

Fantastic Cabin Retreat

Every year my friend Amy invites all her North Dakota buddies up to her husband's family's cabin for a weekend of fun in the snow. This year we let all the boys go play in the snow and the girls had a spa day. Thanks Amy!! I love all our white lips from our lip masks in this one. And, yes aren't my eyes nice and allergy swollen, sigh, one day I won't have to take drugs to spend time in the great outdoors.

Gratitude

In the crazy economy and riffs at my job. I am happy to be gratefully employed this Christmas season. Actually, I even got a promotion last month. Due to the economy their was no raise with promotion, but there is greater job security. The downside is now I am on the first tier of those who choose who will be riffed. So far we haven't been required to make any in my department. I hope it remains that way.

With the promotion I also will be traveling less next year!!!! Yeah!!! I actually may get to spend more that half of the nights next year sleeping at home. Though, I will miss the perks of the airline miles and the free hotel nights.

So if anyone has ideas on how to integrate back into home life, let me know. I get to begin integrating at the start of the year. I have two weeks of travel left this year -- luckily they are in the direction of Missoula, MT and family. With the promotion I even get to work from my parent's (therefore sort of mine also) home.

Merry Christmas!

Going back

So, I thought I'd try to post in a timely manner to what is happening in my life. I'm heading back to Nashville for another two weeks. The best part is that I get to rent the car this time. The next best part is that I am the only one staying the weekend. This means I will get to visit the Nashville temple and go to all three hours of church and wonderful things like that. Yeah!!

On another note. I went to Idaho this week to visit my grandparents. I love visiting "the ranch" but it is hard to see them getting older and older and not able to do as much. It was fun to take them souvenirs from Nashville. The have been country music listeners and watchers for as long as they have been alive. So it was very exciting to them that I had visited the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman and Ernest Tubb's record shop. It was fun to take them postcards and chocolates and small things that just showed I was thinking of them.

The Good Ole Boys

When I heard I would be visiting Nashville I did what any self respecting woman of my age would do--I checked out the tourist info online. And I found a jackpot!! There is a "Dukes of Hazard" museum in Nashville. It's called Cooter's Place and it is owned by the man who played Cooter. Why was this such a jackpot to me? Because I have always loved the Dukes--since even before I can remember. My favorite childhood memory, that I don't remember, (too young and all that). Is that the Dukes of Hazard used to play at 10:30pm on Saturday nights--after the news. So, every Saturday when the credits were rolling for the news I would wander out-security blanket in hand-and crawl into my dad's lap to watch the show. Unfortunately I was too young (under 3) to remember these fabulous bonding moments, but I do remember always fighting with my brother to try to watch the show when it used to be on Saturday morning re-runs (not much more than 3 but I do remember). It has long been one of my favorite childhood shows. So, Saturday morning bright and early we went to Cooter's Place. The photos are below.