Random and I Mean Random Thoughts!

Hard to sit down and talk about all of life happenings. It is a dichotomy of chaos and simplicity. There are some days that I feel separated from the blog world and happy for the separation, and yet there is a continual longing of just wanting to express myself. So, here I am. I do not have the time to separate these into separate posts so I have jumbled them into one which looking over the pictures, it seems I am very random today.

So here's to randomness and hopefully you will stay on my wild ride of thoughts.

1. Reading The Culprit and the Cure.

My friend Haylie recommended this book as we were driving down to BYU. I was intrigued and wanted to get educated about health because a. Food Inc. has destroyed my old eating habits and rituals and b. Brian's health.

I have been amazed by the sheer research and reasoning to the answers we already know to living a healthy lifestyle. Eating your whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Eat your meats sparingly and avoid alcohol and strong drinks. (Sounding familiar?) Don't eat trans fats or saturated fats. EXERCISE!!

This is nothing new, but this round someone is explaining to me why they are a benefit to the body and why not doing these things bring on a slew of chronic diseases. I highly recommend getting this book on tape, because if I was reading all of the statistics that were presented, I would probably fall asleep. But listening to it is sheer fascinating.

2. Running

Yes, I am out running again and I am loving it. I pick a destination and I run to it and back. I change my route constantly as I am distracted by the different surroundings instead of "I'm going to die" or "Why do my legs feel like a 1000 lbs."

There is a half marathon next month with this picture as it's advertisement. I would love to do it, but I am not there yet. Why can't it be in September? Oh well, gotta just keep running!

On a side note, I rode my bike again for the first time in 2 years. I forgot how much I love riding my bike. Although, my rear is killing me from the bike seat. Ouch!

3. Messing with the family in the laundry department.

We have 3 laundry baskets in my bathroom. One for whites, one for colors and one for Shaeler's clothes. 2 of the baskets are identical and the 3rd is a different shape for Shaeler. For 5 years I always had the baskets in the same order. Whites, colors and Shae. To mess with my family, I switched the baskets around to see if they would follow the order and to mess with their heads.

Results: It is a complete mess. Shaeler is very loyal to her basket and Brian stays with the order as it has always been. I just laugh and giggle about it until last night when I had to sort through the laundry because things were all mixed up. Note to self, If it ain't broke, don't mess with it.

#4. Mansfield Park

I made myself a promise that when I memorized my script, that I would go and borrow from the library the DVD Mansfield Park. Another Jane Austen Master Piece Theatre that I actually enjoyed. Well beside the teeth of the heroine and the nasty hair of Henry Crawford, I really liked it. Fannie (lead character) is a girl that stuck to her principles and was good. I dare say that she was a virtuous woman of this movie. It was a very sweet love story of 2 people ignoring what the world tells them they should be or do and coming to a realization of what is important.

If your bored, go rent it!

5. I would prefer to be bald at this point.

The only thing I am going to say is when I expressed my disappointment to Brian, I got the "I told you so." and the "the vicious cycle begins yet again." Why do I not listen to him more often?



6. The Lioness

Sister's Beck talk struck me so deeply that I am so inspired. I love her. She talked about being a Lioness at the gate. I found this interesting fact about lionesses on the Internet:

Fact: The life of a lioness isn't easy. Not only does she have her cubs to raise, but she and the other females do up to ninety percent of the hunting for the entire pride! Lionesses will usually have two to three cubs in a single litter, and will even let cubs from another female's litter, suckle with that of her own. Such cooperation ensures the survival of more young than if a lioness was on her own.
Source: African Wildlife Foundation, and All the World's Animals: Carnivores, Torstar Books, page 23.



I thank my neighbors Lisa and Rebecca for feeding and watching Shaeler when she comes over for a play date and doesn't come home for dinner time. I am thankful for their love and glad that my daughter is safe playing in their home.



6. Cinco de Mayo lunch with Bishop Jones



Every year, my husband and his friends are invited to lunch at Little America with Bishop Jones who was their Bishop when they were teenagers. He pays for their entire meal. Bless you Bishop Jones. Brian came back and said that he was so thankful for the influence that Bishop Jones had in his life. He said that all the men sitting around the table were return missionaries, married in the temple and had families of their own.



I was listening to the conversation with Richard G Scott who grew up in a home of inactive parents. When asked how he got to church (which was far away in Washington DC) and who influenced him to go on a mission, he responded that he had great leaders in his youth program.



Even this 20 years later, Bishop Jones continued to counsel these men. They asked him how his marriage lasted for so long in which he replied "I married my best friend, and she is the person I want to be around all the time." I was touched as my husband was telling me this and then looked me in the eye and said to me "I married my best friend, and you are the person I want to be with all the time."



I may tease that I am bothered that I don't get such a great meal on Cinco de Mayo, however I am inspired by Bishop Jones on the effect that he had on these boys and I hope one day I will have my own luncheon with some of the youth that I interact with.