The Sunny Side of the Street

Big snow storm last night. Check out the difference between my yard this evening and the yard across the street.

My house

Directly across the street!

And now to offend my pet-owning friends

The other day I was in Sam's club and there was a lady there with her dog. The dog was in the baby seat of her cart. She was standing at the food counter laughing and feeding her dog pieces of her pretzel. I admit, it was a very cute dog, but I was amazed at how this woman was flaunting it a place that was clearly inappropriate for pets. It seems more and more often pets are showing up in public places that are not designated for pets. I see them in the mall, grocery store, Home Depot. It drives me crazy. Your pet is not an accessory, it is an animal and for many reasons you should leave it at home when running your errands.

1. Some people have a very real fear of animals. Whenever I see someone with their dog in a public building, I think about people I know who would freak out regardless of the dog's size or cuteness. Even if the fear is irrational, people should be able to go to a store and not worry about dealing with their fear of animals.

2. Cleanliness. I realize you may not be disgusted sharing food with your pet or kissing them on their mouths or having their hair all over your clothes, but not everyone feels that way. By nature, animals are dirty. They lick themselves and everything around them, they sniff and scratch all manner of vileness, and their version of cleaning up after going to the bathroom often involves getting their feet in it. There is also the constant shedding. Please note that most of us do not want all those germs and hair in our grocery store.

I understand many people feel differently about pets and cleanliness, and if I'm in your pet-friendly home, I will be respectful that you've chosen to live in filth (joking, settle down.) However, if you have a cat, I will not eat anything made in your kitchen. You may think those fresh-out-of-the-litter-box paws aren't on your counter tops, but I assure you that when you're not around, your cat is on the kitchen counter. I remember one of my dad's employees used to make candy for the office during the holidays. More than once, we found cat hair in the candy. Ick.

3. Allergies. I am allergic to animals, cats mostly, and I know people who have strong allergies to many animals.  I don't expect people to de-pet their home for me to come over. I know that if I am going to someone's home who has animals, I may have to take Benadryl, or not stay long. But I think people should be able to have a reasonable expectation that when they go to the grocery store they will not have an allergy attack. My sister has allergies. She does nails out of her home and a couple of her clients bring their dogs with them to their appointments. I am baffled that people are not more considerate of other people's space. It's like a pet-owner bubble where they can't see anything beyond their own feelings for their animal.

4. Not everyone likes to be licked and/or pounced on. I've been hiking with friends who bring their dog. I get that the dog wants to run around outside and I don't generally have a problem with it. What drives me crazy is when their dog runs through a stream or mud and then jumps all over me, and the owner just laughs like the dog is so cute. I realize the dog is just doing what dogs do, my bigger issue is the response from the owner. Many don't attempt to keep their dog from ambushing everyone they encounter or offer an apology when they do.

I have met some very responsible owners who watch their animals and are respectful that not everyone is a pet-person. I appreciate these people. I have met a handful of dogs that I have really liked. I'm pretty sure it's because the owners are responsible and took the time to discipline their pets. Once I had a friend bring her dog cross-country skiing with us. I was worried because skiing is much better when you have a good track to ski in, and dogs notoriously pounce all over the ski trail ruining the nice track. This friend had trained her dog to stay off the ski tracks. It was great. I actually enjoyed having him along with us. My friend was always aware of what her dog was doing and was very respectful of everyone whom we encountered on the trail. Consequently, I love her dog. I would almost consider owning a dog if it was like hers. There is such a huge difference between well disciplined pets and those who are not.

This may seem like I'm an animal-hater, I assure you I am not. I understand that pets add a great deal to some people's lives, which I think is great. To clarify, it's not pets that I have the problem with, it's some pet owners. Too many are not willing to put forth the time and effort to discipline their pets and don't consider anyone else when parading their animals all over town. It seems to be getting worse and I am baffled that store owners and patrons don't make a bigger deal of it.

Busy Saturday

What an action packed Saturday. It started with a breakfast party at Little America. Our dear friend Cindy was in town so some of the old gang from the singles ward got together to catch up.

I went right from breakfast to Cynthia's famous Valentine's brunch- again with old friends from the singles ward.

Cyn always does a beautiful and delicious spread.

I had so much fun catching up with old friends. I've really missed having good girlfriends the past few years. It fed my soul to have some girl time.

Between girly parties, we had a 13-year-old nerdfest (aka D&D party) at our house. Isaac and his friends spent a few hours getting their characters made and set up for their game. They are a cute bunch of kids and I'm glad Isaac has found such nice friends.

The evening ended with a birthday dinner party for my friend Laura. Yum- Red Iguana!

It was a fabulous day.

Seven Wonders of My Life

Afton's latest blog listed the 7 wonders of her life (read it here). Since I want to be Afton, I thought I'd do the same. We were missionary companions in Alaska and a few of her "wonders" are also mine. These are in no particular order.

1. Bald Eagles in Homer, AK
A local lady used to feed the eagles all winter on the Homer spit. We LOVED to go down and see the eagles. I think this is what sparked my interest in bird watching.


2. Northern Lights. My first night in Alaska we went out to Earthquake Park to see a beautiful display of Aurora Borealis. It was an eerie green curtain that moved around the sky. They put on a regular display up in Alaska. Sometimes just a red glow around the horizon and sometimes all kinds of colors shooting across the sky.

One night, when I was serving in North Pole, I was having a particularly difficult time. I was kneeling at my bedside praying for strength and when I opened my eyes, there were Northern Lights just outside the window. It felt like a tangible answer to my prayer, a physical display of God's power. I don't know how, but they seemed so close that I could touch them. We walked outside. My companion commented how, before we knew about solar storms, people thought they were a sign from the gods. Truth is, even though we know the science behind them, I still see them as a heavenly sign.

Last week, I saw a video posted online that was recently taken of the Northern Lights. I couldn't find it again, but I did find a good one here that resembles how I remember them.


3. Mont Saint-Michel, France. When I took French in high school, my friend, Alisa, had a poster of Mont St. Michel in her room. We would sit on her bed, stare at the poster, and dream of going there one day. I don't know that I actually believed it would ever happen. When I finally went to France, I had the choice of spending the day at Mont St. Michel or Versailles. No contest in my mind. It was everything I imagined it would be. I love those moments when I fulfill my childhood dreams.



4. Angkor Wat, Cambodia Oh how I love Cambodia. Aunt Janet and I toured Asia on our way to visit my parents who were serving a mission in Borneo. We spent a few days in Cambodia and hooked up with family friends serving a mission there. All of this country is incredible and I hope to return some day. Angkor Wat was like going back in time. Magical. (You can link to my Asia journal on the side bar.)

(Wonder # 4.5 is when I Googled pictures of Angkor Wat and MY photos pulled up. How'd that happen?)


5. SCUBA Diving with Manta Rays

I've done this twice. The first time was in 1999 right after I certified. It was amazing. We did it again last summer because I wanted Rick and the boys to experience it. I didn't have quite the same experience because the dive has become so popular. Too many people. It almost felt like we were paying to see a show rather than observing nature. It still was incredible to see these huge creatures swimming around us.

6. Five Sister's Falls, Belize

Swimming in this lake fed by 5 rolling waterfalls is one of the best memories of my life. Whenever I'm stressed out, the memory of swimming here is my happy place. It calms me down. We sat on those rocks and the waterfalls would massage our backs. It was completely surrounded by jungle and exotic birds were flying all around. Heavenly.



7. Living in Utah
Not to be too cheesy here, but I think Utah is incredible. I remember coming home from a trip where I hiked beautiful, exotic places (I can't remember exactly where I had been now-maybe Costa Rica) and going on a hike to Lake Blanche in the Salt Lake Valley. It was a profound moment for me when I realized that, if I didn't live in Utah, it would be worth traveling great distances to see how beautiful it is here. The mountains around Salt Lake are so accessible with such a variety of things to see.

Lake Blanche

Southern Utah with its alien-like hoodoos.

Goblin Valley

And we can't leave out the Great Salt Lake with the Bear River Bird Refuge.

Yep. I love it here. I often remind myself not to let the extraordinary landscape here become ordinary for me. It is a beautiful place to live.


Thanks Afton, it was fun (and hard) to make this list. Honorable mentions go to the Lake District in England (felt like I was in a Jane Austin novel); working with school children in Africa (I couldn't figure out just one "wonder" from the experience for the list); and Tikal, Guatemala (this would be #8 on the list).

Places I hope will make the list one day are: The Great Barrier Reef; cycling tour to Ireland; and Machu Picchu.

Going Green

For Christmas my parents gave all of the siblings a Ninja blender. I decided to take advantage and start my mornings with a green smoothie. For the past several weeks this has been breakfast:

Spinach seems to be the mildest flavored green. I can't taste it at all. Although I've wanted to mix it up a bit and added some kale, which I can taste a bit, but isn't bad. I think I'll try half spinach half kale. Cucumber is good too depending on what you add. We did a spinach, cucumber, grape, pineapple (I think) a few days ago and it was yum. Another time I used cucumber and it overpowered the milder fruits I used. I'm still up in the air with cucumber in the smoothie.

I always add some Greek yogurt for protein and "smoothie-ness". I also use about 1/2 C of milk so it's not too thick to drink easily in the car. I buy a big bunch of bananas then peel and freeze them when they are ripe. A half of frozen banana in the smoothie is perfect. I have a variety of frozen fruit and, once in a while, will add a small can of pineapple (works well to hide kale flavor). I know, fresh would be better, but I'm in a hurry in the mornings to get lunches made and everyone, including me, out of the door.

I read that you can add kidney or red beans in without adding flavor. This will add some fiber and keep you full longer. I tried it- ONCE. Yuck. Maybe I used too many or the wrong kind, but I'm not feeling motivated to try it again to find the right combo. Ick. I admit that I was not hungry all morning, but maybe it was just because it took away my appetite.

The finished product. Trust me you can't taste those green floaties. :)

Deeeelicious!

Rick and I have one every morning. Zane loves them too and I make him one when he doesn't have time for breakfast. I've even convinced Isaac (our picky eater) to drink a small cup occasionally. Trying to get the kids to start the day healthy. (Kids would love it if I let them have pop tarts every morning. I just feel like a bad mom sending them to school on a junk food breakfast.)

And just so you don't get the wrong impression that we are all health food at our house, here's a picture of the cake Maya and I made.

She came over a couple of weekends ago and we had a slumber party. Sunday afternoon we made a Barbie cake (Maya wanted to decorate it like a bride princess). We also played Barbie, Queen of the Prom board game. Zane won and was Prom Queen. So bummed I couldn't find the tiara to go with the game.