Happy Spring

I'm local. I live here.

I'm looking out my window at work and I see blue skies and yet I know that it's not warm outside. I wish I could go back to December when I spent a week in Hawaii. I realize I never posted about my trip so I will do so now. I'm not going to write much about any injuries that may have occurred while in Hawaii, but you can read about one injury here.
Flying solo to the island of Oahu was a great experience. I sat next to an elderly man who tried to get me to join a telephone marketing scheme and a couple of college guys asked me to spend time with them and wanted to know where to buy pot on the island at which point I laughed and walked away.

I stayed on a military base with my friend Amanda and her family and visited Mike who was attending BYU-Hawaii. Here are some highlights from the trip:

Rain. Flooding. A lot of rain. A lot of flooding.

Matsumoto Shave Ice.

Dole Plantation.

Making and eating delicious food with friends.

Overall the trip to Hawaii was great, even with all of the rain. In addition to spending time with friends, I made some new friends, and learned more about myself and life in general.

Aloha!

Day of Faith

Washington Post journalist Sally Quinn spoke to a panel of Harvard students about their various religions. Rachel Esplin was asked about her faith as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I was impressed with how eloquently and honestly Rachel answered each question.




Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

On Hold

The following is my most recent phone conversation with Syden:

"Hi Shae!"
"Hey Sy. How are you?"
"Good. I'm drawing a picture on papa's computer."
"Fun. How is school?"
"I like it."

Syden then started talking to his sister and stopped talking to me. I patiently waited and eventually Sy began talking to me again. Until...

"Shae, can you hold on?"
"Uh, I guess so. Why?" "Sy?" No answer, but I can hear him talking. "Sy? Give the phone to grandma. Sy?"

After what seemed like an hour, Syden picked up the phone and said he stopped talking to me so he could finish his drawing on the computer.

"Love you Shae. Bye."
"Love you too! Bye."

BBC Reading List

BBC Reading List
The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. I saw this list on a friends facebook page and decided I wanted to see how many I have read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (X)
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (X)
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (X)
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (X)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (X)
6 The Bible (X)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (X)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (X)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman ()
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (X)
Total: 9

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (X)
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy ()
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (X)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare ()
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier ()
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (X)
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk ( )
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (X)
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger ( )
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot ()
Total: 13

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell (X)
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (X)
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens ( )
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy(X)
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams ()
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh ( )
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (X)
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (X)
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (X)
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame ()
Total: 19

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (X)
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens ()
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (X)
34 Emma - Jane Austen (X)
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (X)
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (X)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini (X)
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres ( )
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (X)
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (X)
Total: 27

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (X)
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (X)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (X)
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving ()
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins ( )
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (X)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy ()
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood ()
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (X)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan ()
Total: 32

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel (X)
52 Dune - Frank Herbert ()
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons ()
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (X)
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth ()
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon ()
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (X)
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (X)
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (X)
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (X)
Total: 38

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (X)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov ()
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt ()
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (X)
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (X)
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac ()
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy ()
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding ()
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie ()
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (X)
Total: 42

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens(X)
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker (X)
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (X)
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson ()
75 Ulysses - James Joyce ()
76 The Inferno - Dante (X)
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome ( )
78 Germinal - Emile Zola ( )
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (X)
80 Possession - AS Byatt ()
Total: 47

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (X)
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell ( )
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker ()
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro ()
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (X)
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry ()
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (X)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom (X )
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (X)
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton ( )
Total: 52

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (X)
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (X)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks ( )
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams()
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole ()
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute ( )
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (X)
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (X)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (X)
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (X)
Total: 58

I'm not entirely shocked that I have read more than 6 books on this list and yet there are still so many that I want to read. I better get started now so don't be alarmed if you don't hear from me for the next couple of weeks.

Birthday Weekend

I spent my birthday weekend in Moab, Utah. Now, I will state for the record that Moab isn't exactly the 'it' place to visit, but I had my reasons for going. One of the reasons was to hike to the Delicate Arch. Meags and I asked a man to take our picture and for some reason, he only captured a small portion of the Arch so we took matters into our own hands and took a picture of ourselves.

Some friends came over for a Wii party and I sang my little heart out while singing for the American Idol game. Simon Cowell told me I could sing the phone book and it would sound amazing-definitely a highlight of the night. There were too many pictures to choose from so I made a slide show from the Wii Party and birthday dinner. Enjoy!

Down on the farm

Pink little pig says, "Oink oink hi!"

Mouse whispers "Squeak! I'm a little shy."

Sheep says, "Baa! I like dressing up too!"

I believe

In an attempt to have some alone time, my mom went to her bedroom and found her granddaughter Avry wrapped in 'Avy Shae's blankie' watching tv. Soon after my mom lay on the bed, Avry wrapped her in 'Avy Shae's blankie,' patted her shoulders, and lay next to her without saying a word.

I believe there are times we each need to be 'wrapped in a blanket' by someone we love and many times, words are unnecessary.

Mr. Sun

Meags and I went to St. George for the weekend for some much needed warmth from the sun. The inversion has set in and I'm afraid that I've forgotten what the sun looks and feels like. Meags, Lori, and I set out early Friday morning and our mood gradually changed as we headed South. We spent time basking in the sun... and we may have watched a little rugby as well.

More flour?

"Can I help?"
"Sure," I responded as Syden ran to the bathroom to wash his hands before I had finished telling him he could help make tortillas.

Syden stood on a stool with a look of excitement and wonder as we mixed flour, baking powder, salt, shortening, and water to make what he liked to call 'stickiness.' His favorite part of making the tortillas was rolling the dough into a flat circle. It became a competition to see who could roll the most balls of dough and Syden was kind enough to allow me to roll 2 of the 15 balls of dough-he's such a fierce competitor. I impressed the crowd of one as I flipped the tortillas in the pan and at that moment, I knew I had a loyal fan for life.

I believe

I was at a stoplight in downtown Salt Lake City and saw two blind girls walking across the street with a man I assume is their guide. The guide walked beside the girls while letting the girls lead the way from one side of the street to the other. As the girls approached the front of my car, I noticed one of the girls was leaving the crosswalk and moving closer to the stopped cars. The group passed my car and the 1st girl continued to walk near the cars and eventually ran into the car next to me with her white cane. The 2nd girl heard the 1st girls cane hit the car and was startled. The guide remained calm and waited for the girls to get back to the crosswalk and reach the other side of the street. Once again on the sidewalk, the guide spoke to the girls and I imagine he asked what each of the girls learned while crossing the street.
As the light turned green and I continued on my way, I reflected on the role the guide plays in the life of the girls. The guide could have grabbed the 1st girl so she didn't walk into a car, but instead, he watched as she found her own detoured way across the street. He was standing by to assist as needed, but wasn't overbearing which lead to the girls being able to find their own way with the skills and knowledge they possess.
I believe some of the most important life lessons are learned when we 'safely crash' with guides nearby to support and give guidance as needed.

O Come Let us Adore Him

When my 3-year-old niece wants to be held, she reaches her arms out to a family member and asks, "Please, can I hold you?" I think about that simple movement in the life of Jesus. Surely as he began recognizing Mary and Joseph, he reached his arms out to them for comfort, for security, for love. Later, that same gesture would punctuate his life as he reached fully to father in heaven.
If we will not only believe in this sweet Jesus whom we adore at this time of year, but will also behave according to that belief, we will someday adore Him in fullness. Not in mere confessional kneeling, but without hesitation as we bathe His feet with our tears for a reaching that could not have been done by any other.
My heart is full of thanks as I plead to the Holy Child:

Be near me Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever and love me I pray.
Bless all thy dear children in thy tender care
And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there.

Christ came to lead us back to the love of God and Christmas is all about that love. God's love for his Son. The Son's love for us. And our love for others.

I'll be hearing about this all week

I was walking down some stairs in the rain when I slipped on the last step. I caught myself before I fell to the ground and in the process I hurt my toe. And of course it is the toe I hurt earlier in the year. Mike, who happened to be present when I hurt the toe the 1st time, popped my toe and I didn't even cry. Whine? Yes, but only a little.

A Heart for All

I am borrowing the words of my sister-in-law who wrote so eloquently the feelings of my heart that have yet to make it to the written page.

My brother, the doctor

A teacher once told my parents that my brother Clay wouldn't make it in the 'real world' because he lost so many homework assignments. How I wish that teacher could have seen him defend his dissertation for his PhD in Chemistry this past week.
Growing up, my brother defended and protected me and I helped find lost shoes, made sure he made it to church-mostly on time, and gave him advice as needed. He was one of my best friends and I dreaded the day he went away to college, then joined the military, went on a mission, got married, and eventually moved away.
My brother married Tennille while they both working on their undergraduate degrees. Tennie now has an MBA and my brother is a doctor, but not the kind that helps people(just kidding Clay). I always knew he'd be successful, even when others doubted. Way to go Clay. And no, I will not be calling you Dr.

When I grow up

"Boom. Boom. Boom" is what Joseph repeated every time a student walked by his desk during the Halloween parade. Hannah Montana, Gabriella from HSM, Rapunzel, a pirate with a parrot on his shoulder, and many other 'characters' made an appearance.
I watched with wonder as the students interacted with one another and the teacher. Attempting to take a class picture was comical as kids were karate chopping each other, trying on tiaras, and dancing around the room high on at least 2 lbs of candy. Spending time in the classroom taught me the following:
1) Being a 1st grade teacher takes a lot of patience.
2) Kids learn at an early age to bargain and trade for what they want most.
3) Calling a student by name makes them feel important. I learned this lesson as I watched the principal address each student by name during the parade.
4) Kids want to be accepted by their peers and teachers.
5) Lessons learned in a 1st grade classroom apply to people of all ages.

I love your blog

I have been given an 'I love your blog' award. Bless you Kaydi Rae.

1. Where is your cell phone? not sure

2. Where is your significant other? uh, Mexico?

3. Your hair color? natural hair color? brown

4. Your mother? listener

5. Your father? strong

6. Your favorite thing? being with family and friends

7. Your dream last night? I'd rather not disclose that information

8. Your dream/goal? success in all aspects of my life

9. The room you're in? office at the U

10. Your hobby? happiness

11. Your fear? failure

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? clogging my way to fame. hee hee

13. Where were you last night? Halloween dance

14. What you're not? married(Lisa, I wrote that for you)

15. One of your wish-list items? trip to Russia

16. Where you grew up? Blackfoot

17. The last thing you ate? oatmeal

18. What are you wearing? sweater, dress pants

19. Your TV? fuzzy

20. Your pet? I don't have one

21. Your computer? work computer-in use. home computer- not in use

22. Your mood? content

23. Missing someone? yes

24. Your car? clean

25. Something you're not wearing? earrings

26. Favorite store? Borders

27. Your summer? unforgettable

28. Love someone? absolutely

29. Your favorite color? ever changing

30. When is the last time you laughed? 1 minute ago

31. Last time you cried? months ago

Friends

Kimberly(in the middle) is getting married November 1st and I attended her bridal shower this past weekend. Kristi(on the left) is married and has a 2-year-old son and is pregnant and due with her second child in 2 weeks. The summer before 5th grade, my family moved across town and I met a girl with amazing red hair named Kimberly and we've been friends ever since. Kristi and Kimberly were in the same kindergarten class and the three of us became even better friends in high school and were roommates in college.
Kimberly and Kristi have more stories about my growing up years than any other friends. Some of my favorite experiences include being asked to come in and have cookies while toilet papering, dressing up and walking around the greenbelt, walking home from school and being yelled at because a driver thought I flipped her off, and standing behind a huge sign near campus and scaring people as they walked by. From a parent's heart surgery to death of a sibling to marriage to birthdays, we have supported each other. And even though lives change and a few miles separate us, we make the most of the time we do spend together and cherish the memories and the friendship that will last forever.

I walked into the room for the bridal shower and I saw my friend Jerilyn from my first year in college. Jerilyn and I were in the same FHE group and our apartments spent a lot of time together. Recently, I found a couple letters from Jerilyn and wondered where was living. Jerilyn met Michelle and Kimberly while living in Provo and I'm so glad we've reconnected.

Fore!

The 2nd Annual Golf Tournament for the NBC was held earlier this week. I didn't know I was on a team until a few days before which meant I didn't have time to say no. We arrived at the U golf course and the first question my team asked was if anyone is left-handed. A loud groan could be heard through the Salt Lake Valley as I admitted to being left-handed and I thought I would be shunned the rest of the day. My team decided it would be best if I used right handed clubs for driving and a left handed putter.
My fears due to the lack of any golf skills quickly diminished as Al and Dr. L offered helpful tips and told me which club I should use for each hole. I laughed a lot during the day, learned a little about golf, and actually did well...all things considered.

Perfect for each other

Co-workers, friends, and family think I should date the following guys:

1) A guy who plays many musical instruments, has a graduate degree, and is so nice but don't you dare break his heart and what are you going to wear and what will you talk about. Oh and you should wear flat shoes. I will wear clothes. We will talk about politics, the weather, and my love of BYU. Flats? I'm more of a stiletto girl.

2) A guy who is unemployed and is doing little to find a job. Or making plans to go to school. Or doing anything else besides playing video games all day. Oh, and he has other 'issues.' I'm a social worker so I can solve anything.

3) A maintenance guy in town who also happens to have 4 kids. Hello instant motherhood. Step-motherhood that is.

4) A guy who recently returned from his mission. According to his grandma we would be perfect for each other and she really wants me to be part of her family. I'm fine with dating a younger guy and who wouldn't want me to be part of their family? The issue is that I'm pretty sure all woman 70 years or older still think I am a 20 year college student.

Let it be known that I don't mind going on blind dates and I have found that guys are better at setting up two people rather than girls. For some reason, they base the reason for the match more on personalities and less on the simple fact that I'm a girl and he's a guy.