State of Obvious

I know you all wait the whole year for this special post.  Let me assure you, this year it's really good.  Unattainable, but good.  Without further ado, my Christmas list: 1. A new sofa, something sort of like this: This isn't exactly right, because I'd also like it to have recliners - but I don't want an overstuffed, lumpy back end looking sofa.  Basically, it probably doesn't exist and if it does, I certainly can't afford it.  But, Carly keeps asking for a Barbie dream house too, so I figure why not aim high? Santometer says: Even you know it's not possible. 2. This, so much this:  In the interest of full disclosure, I shall disclose that I had a Ford Edge before.  And it was my most very favorite car that I've ever owned/driven/ridden in.  I hope to someday repeat the experience.  Hopefully this whole educating myself to get a job plan will yield one in the future.  But if not...maybe a hotwheels version? Sa...

This was one of those years that sort of just flew by.  It was January - and then it was January again.  That is not to say we didn't have experiences.  Good and bad.  They just seemed to come and go so quickly. A glimpse at 2011 in words: January - On a High Stool   February - Served March - College is April - What it means to me May - In Profile June - Jotting it down July - In Memory: The Water of Life August - Birth Days: Part Two September - Dear Josh, November - Tilt Oh Whirl December - Dear Carly, (My personal favorites were January, May, July and August.) My hopes for 2012 are simple: I hope to be more fiscally reasonable. I hope to yell less. I hope to do well in school. I hope to be happy. And, of course, I hope to win million dollars.  (But if not me, maybe you!) Happy New Year!

We are so fortunate to be friends with an amazing (and now local!) photographer.  She was inspired to create the S.I.P. (Service is Painless) Project.  The SIP Project is basically a pay-it-forward, she takes beautiful pictures of you for free and you pay-it-forward with a service project of your choice.  I can't say enough about this project - it's brilliant and wonderful and inspiring.  DeAnn, the SIP creator, took pictures of my kids way back in October.  We finally got our end of the bargain completed and the final results can be found by following this link .  You can help this project out in two (or three) very simple ways:  First, follow her blog.  And second, leave questions or comments for her.  Third, if you're local, sign up for the SIP Project.  You won't regret it!

Some fun stuff from around the web for your holiday enjoyment: Make your own snowflake , scissor and mess free.  (Available all year too!) Talk to Santa on the phone .  Or ask him to talk to someone on the good list. The cutest little winter bunny you'll ever meet. Where in the world is Santa right now? Funny e cards and videos using your silly face. Videos portraying the events leading to Christ's birth . All free! (except for some of the activities on Jib Jab)  

Not everything around here is Debbie Downer.  I mean, it is almost Christmas.  Once you get past the anxiety over presents, dinners, and decorating, it's a pretty fun holiday.  (Insert uplifting message here about the true meaning of Christmas.) I'm sure the whole world is curious to know what is on my wish list this year.  Let us not forget the unreachable glory of the last few years.  So far Santa's elves have pretty much failed to produce. Ever hopeful, here is my officially official Christmas Wish List 2011including the Practical gifts and Super-Fantastic-Holy-Smokes-I-Need-That gifts, respectively. Practical: 1.  Kindle Fire .  Oh, yes.  It really is practical and I don't even have to pretend!  Textbooks of the e variety!  Apps!  Other books!  Lighter than  laptop!  (I'm not 100% sure it can handle bluetooth, but if so I can even add a keyboard and pretend it would be good for taking notes.)  Entertai...

Not so long ago I was wrangled into attending the General Relief Society Meeting portion of General Conference , an event sponspored by our church and aimed at men.  Just kidding, this meeting was aimed at women.  They do this every six months.  And I usually don't go.  What can I say, I'm a rebel.  Nevertheless, I set aside the rebellion and went to this meeting.  The first two speakers were ok.  One of them looked like she probably would be the type to carry chocolate chip cookies in her purse for emergencies.  I liked her.  But I digress.   The concluding speaker for the evening was Dieter F. Uchtdorf.  And first, it helps that he is nice to look at.  He's kind of what I picture Prince Charming looking like later in life.  Second, he's got a great accent.  What is it about accents that make people more interesting?  I wish I had one.  I mean other than the midwest-meets-New-Mexic...

A friend of mine, also an adoptive mother, recently blogged about the sad state of her garden this year.  She's got her hands full with her own baby girl while she mothers some foster children too.  I'm full of admiration and empathy, having thought of the foster route myself.  Anyhow, I was thinking of her tonight as I inspected the sad little harvest from my own garden and this popped into my head.  This is specially for you, Harmony.  I hope you like it. Harmony's Harvest My hands are full of a different harvest. Once, my garden was full of blossoms in the rich soil Bursting forth with leaves and buds Vines that wound their twisted hands on wooden gates Fruit and pod abounding. Now the beds lie still Solemn rows beneath the azure sky And sleeping soil. Here and there a restless bud, adventurous leaf, a ripened fruit Not dead, only waiting for the new harvest To complete. New beds, now made indoors, are filled with other seeds Row on row of...

Cruising around the 'net, I stopped at Fantasy Casting and found this little meme.  Sounds fun, gonna do it, here's day one. The best book you read last year: This is hard.  What does 'best' mean?  Best read?  Best grammar?  Best twist?  Okay, okay.  Best new book I read last year (that I can remember) must be The Hunger Games .  It is highly likely that I reread a few of my all time favs last year, but I have also reread Hunger Games (and it's sequels) at least twice since last summer.  It was that good. Here's a full list of the meme if you want to participate too (or feel free to post in the comments and participate that way):   Day 01 – The best book you read last year Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times Day 03 – Your favorite series Day 04 – Favorite book of your favorite series Day 05 – A book that makes you happy Day 06 – A book that makes you sad Day 07 – Most underrated book Day 08 – Most overrat...

I found this skirt at my local Salvation Army (my favorite place to shop if you don't count Target). I paid .25 cents for it. It's J. Crew, pin striped, and so cute. It's, sadly, not my size. So I listed it on ebay (thanks to some inspiration from My Dear Trash ). And it sold. For $26.99. No foolin'!

A while back b-happy, a very talented photographer and writer and mom, posed the question "Is it worth it?" and I've been thinking about that off-and-on for a while. Is it worth it? On days like today when I did more yelling than talking? On days like today when I'm trying to write a paper and forgetting to pay attention to my kids? On days like today when my husband is making dinner again, not to mention helping with homework, doing errands, getting children to school on time in the morning with lunch in hand, holding down a full time job, and just generally doing all the things I don't do? Is it worth it? Despite all the yelling, all the frustration, all the dirty floors and bathrooms, all the questions I can't answer, all the moments that have nothing to do with me and everything to do with them, it's totally worth it. I read skimmed an article about a woman who decided she didn't want to be a mom.  After she already popped out two kid...

1.  There is a bug in my house somewhere.  The biting kind.  It's systematically eating my body, bite by bite.  No one else has a single bug bite.  I'm really annoyed and I don't know where said bug lives.  But when I find it! SQUISH! 2.  We are out of computer paper.  I really like printing things.  It's really quite sad. 3.  Carly has just informed me (in a rather insulted voice): "Mommy I am going in my room to play!"  She has such a sad, sad life. 4.  If, like me, you have mortality on your mind and you don't have your will prepared, you can do what I did and visit this site .  It's free, it's easy, it's simple.  A more complicated and expensive version can come later, but I highly recommend the peace of mind. 5.  I am a closet QVC addict.  Sometimes between the old lady clothes and Joan Rivers appearances, they have really cool stuff.  Like this here computer that I'm just salivating over....

Pstttt.  Psssst.  Psssssssst! {I'm the featured contributor on MMB today.}   Better check it out quick before they realize what they've done and take it down!

Love both these songs, don't love the commercials you have to watch with them but whatev.  Enjoy!

In my own little room, I can be whatever I want to be. Maybe today, a photographer catching just the right moment like water in a basin. Maybe tomorrow, a writer pulling moments like thread . Maybe yesterday, a daughter .  Tomorrow, a mother .  Sometimes messy, sometimes organized (mostly not), occasionally funny and a little bit sassy .   In my own little corner, I'm an astronaut, a doctor, a southern belle, a flaming-liberal-conservative.  I choose who to be, what to say, where to go. "In the night I sally forth to seek my quarry And I find I forgot to bring my gun I am lost in the jungle, all alone and unarmed When I meet a lioness in her lair Then I’m glad to be back in my own little corner All alone, in my own little chair" - Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella

...we jumped in the car, sort of early-ish and started driving.  We went west, then south, then west some more and came across the little phenom known as the VLA (or Very Large Array).  To say this was fascinating is like calling Big Bird yellow.  Well, duh!  Upon our arrival we discovered our little, faithful red camera won't focus.  So, we have no pictures of the VLA.  But you can find it here .  We walked around, our mouths open, and wondered what it be like if one of those giant things suddenly moved.  And then one did!  It was swell. ...we went south some more, kinda curving around.  We drove through many, many mountains on curving, twisting roads that ride the edges.  It was amazing.  We split off on a random side road and found Cooney's Tomb.  We wondered what it would be like to discover a gold/silver mine.  We fantasized about buying property right next to the stream and digging through the rich earth....

This brought a smile to my face on a day when I didn't feel like smiling. OK Go is just awesome-sauce.  And that is all.

A story of hope, always essential when we're bogged down in the Christmastime Crazy. Go Here

It is Random Comment Day over at Is it Just Me? . Here is my favorite of the bunch: "Yoda said... Do or do not... There is no try. Except when it comes to Nobel Peace Prizes." Pop on over to create your own randomness and read some other funny shtuffs.

1801 Teachers for 1 year 453 US Senators for 1 year 131 US Presidents for 1 year (including a $50,000 annual expense account, a $100,000 non-taxable travel account and $19,000 for entertainment) 30,120,481 gallons of unleaded gas 3,001,200 flu shots at Walgreen's 2,410 Ford F 150 STX trucks 171,232 Glock 27s 1,086,956 Hot Air Balloon rides 333,333 Gold Bus Passes (in Albuquerque) good for unlimited bus rides for one year 239,693 plane tickets from Albuquerque to New York City (tomorrow on Delta Airlines) 2,777,777 NYC 7 day Unlimited MetroCards 1,041,666 tickets to Disneyland 227,963 Dell Mini Netbooks , Nickelodeon Version 18,796,992 bottles of Cover Girl Nail Polish, Candy Apple Red (tax not included) 651,324 cases of Big Red Chewing Gum (That's 78,158,880 packs of gum) 15,000,000 Subway $5 foot longs 57,915 pairs of hot Manolo Blahnick Suede Boots 44 Bugatti Veyron sport's cars , the most expensive car in the world OR 1 NASA trip to shoot a missile at the moon

I stumbled across this on Maniac World , which is my husband's very favorite website. Take a minute, it's simply amazing! And the one dude ... yeah, you'll know who I mean when you watch it ... he's funny.