Birthday

I had a pretty good birthday this month. It was over Labor Day weekend so I got to enjoy 3 days without work, which was a great way to start. My husband and I enjoyed a lazy, kick-back morning, then he took me to a Vietnamese Noodle House I had never been to before and the food was amazing! I am a lover of soups so the Pho and Bun were right up my alley. Perfect choice, babe! We both really enjoyed all the flavors.

My gut was a lot less painful that day, thanks to a merciful God, so I was itching to get outside and go walking or something, despite the fact that it was raining all afternoon-evening. My in-laws and husband were kind enough to join me on a walk around when it slowed to just a drizzle. Don't you just love the smell in the air in Utah when it rains?

Ben gave me an awesome present, too... a tandem paragliding adventure! I am very excited for this. I am hoping to use it this coming Saturday (weather and health permitting). I love flying. I'll post after that-promise.

My sisters were all out of town for the weekend so we got together at a later date and they did a "choose your own adventure" experience. They asked me 3 random questions and my answers (green, few, fancy) dictated what we did...keeping in mind what they know I like, but it was all a surprise to me. What they came up with was perfect! They picked me up (just a few of us) and we went up the canyon to have a picnic dinner among the (green) trees. After that they made reservations at a (fancy) restaurant at top of a ski lodge for a fancy dessert. We each chose something different and sampled all the desserts. My choice was the best, in my mind (buttermilk panna cotta in a strawberry-rhubarb soup).

Plus, the company was terrific. Those girls can always make me laugh soooo hard, we had a blast. Thanks to my sisters!

Passing Summer

I haven't had much to say on here this summer. Probably because I have been writing on 2 other blogs. My readers have certainly dwindled here. Sorry! If you want little updates onto my life and thoughts as they have been, come see what I've been doing over there.

First, I joined an online summer art therapy class...in the form of a blog. The teacher would post an assignment each week and then we all had to post about our project and experience. It was really quite fun. Here are some links to my projects:

We had to pick a symbol to represent ourselves and make a visual representation of it:
http://artpowwow.blogspot.com/2012/05/river.html

We had to improve some kind of space in our surroundings:
http://artpowwow.blogspot.com/2012/07/organized-space.html

We made a sort of dream catcher that represented the supports in our life:
http://artpowwow.blogspot.com/2012/08/my-catcher.html

We had to take pictures of things during the week of unexpected beauty:
http://artpowwow.blogspot.com/2012/07/awareness-photos.html

I have also been "sort-of" diligent in my goal to post a new soup every week (I missed a few this summer due to illness). Come check them out:
www.onlysoups.blogspot.com

Happy Independence Day!

 I love berries. Now that summer is here, I eat them every chance I get. The 4th of July is a perfect day to let them shine because the are also so patriotic. Enjoy the beautiful day and celebrate our great freedoms today!

From the city of brotherly love

Going Grey

Remember that green accent wall in my kitchen? It's not easy being a green wall...especially when you are injured and the paint they patch you with turns out to be NOT the same green. Woah, weird! Why would I have a can of different green paint sitting in my closet?  Well, at this point, my husband confessed that he never really liked the original color of green and especially detested the new color of the patch green. He would rather have grey. Hmm...hey, I happened to have a pint of grey paint in my closet too, except I know why I had that. It was supposed to be for my mother's remodeled basement but never got used.
I had to consider it for a day, but I slowly let go of my attachment to the green wall. Our wall then became grey. Ben was very impressed with my painting skills. I finally found something in the home improvement I knew more about than he did!! He wouldn't let me paint green stalks and white flowers in the corner on the wall, though. humph. Kimi would have like that. After I had stared at it a day or two, I decided I really liked grey. I liked it so much that I wanted to paint the adjacent wall grey too! And so it is, that our dining area is updated and lovely. Hooray!

Hawaii

I frequently get the itch to travel...to take a respite and explore something new. I would go on vacation every couple months if I could. Whenever I get the question "what would you do if you had $10,000?" the answer is always "Travel"!  I also LOVE having a hot new travel partner who is so sweet to always take care of all the luggage, let me use his frequent flier miles and got us a great discounts on the hotel :)

 Ben and I finally found a little time between work schedules and school to take a week off. Ben has traveled a lot but had never been to Hawaii, and I have a brother that lives there with his adorable family.

We spent a couple days in Waikiki in a beach hotel amongst all the tourists. The Japanese food and Hawaiian ceviche there were amazing, Pearl Harbor was interesting, and the beaches were crowded. Then we headed over to the North Shore to stay with my brother.

There we got to see much more of the gorgeous nature that covers the island. Spending an afternoon on a sandy beach with only a few other people, boogie boarding, and watching the little girls play in the sand was much more our style.

We saw the beautiful botanical gardens and waterfall, ate fresh shrimp right from the water, had "Shave Ice" as well as some macadamian nut pancakes at the Hukilau Cafe. yum! We ended the week on a breezy beach watching the sun slowly set over the big waves as the last lingering surfers made their way back to shore.

These girls were as cute as can be...how can you resist those big brown eyes and little hands when they want you to hold them??

Graduation for Kimi

My little sister graduated last week. I was so proud. Maybe it's the big sister in me. Maybe it's because she calls me her second mama sometimes. Maybe because I used to call her my clone because she always wanted to do the same things I did when we were younger.  I love that girl. I love her creativity, the artist in her that sees things differently, the overly-caring spirit and love she has toward everyone, and her silly sense of humor. I love how dedicated she is to her wiener dog and that she learns many life and psychology lessons from her. She is one that doesn't realize how beautiful she is. She tries so hard to make everyone happy and is selfless in so many ways. She always bring random humor to keep us laughing. Her imagination is unparalleled, which is probably why she is the favorite aunt for our nieces and nephews. She'd be my favorite aunt too...
    She graduated in psychology with a minor in art form the University of Utah so she can go on to become an art therapist. That's totally her personality. I didn't get to go to the ceremony because it was during work and we were crazy busy, but I threw her a family party that evening. I made lots of fun food, and forgot to take pictures of that, let alone the party. oh well. She thinks we spoil her...how can you not when she is so deliciously fun?
Congratulations Kimi!!!! I love you.