Day Twenty-one

The painting is done in the kitchen! YAY!!!!!

This makes me very happy.

Day Twenty

The meaning behind my blog name? Well, I've always been a bit random: the way I think, the way I act, the way I live. A friend once called me the Queen of Non Sequiturs. It's true. My thoughts rarely flow in a straight line.

Look, squirrel!

When flying a kite, you need at least two things: a kite and string. (Some kites need a tail, but not all styles.) Without string, your kite is not grounded and will not stay on course. It will be carried by any and all winds, and eventually crash to the ground. In one of those strange but true physics paradoxes, without string to keep it grounded, it cannot stay airborne. My kite strings are the people in my life who keep me grounded while allowing me to fly.

Day Nineteen

This picture is from last summer's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mr. Perfect doesn't like how his eyes are squinting, but it's one of the few pictures of me that I actually don't mind.

(Yes, I am wearing make up. We were doing a play.)

Day Eighteen

What do I crave a lot? That's easy.

And no, it's not Snoopy.

Day seventeen

This might actually be everyone...and a few friends for extra fun.

Day Sixteen

At dinner last night, my sister-in-law mentioned that she believes most LDS woman have a crush on President Uchdorf. I can see that. He's tall, good-looking, has a wonderful German accent (who know how many languages he speaks?), flies planes, and probably looked great in his uniform as a commercial airline pilot. And there's no denying that he is a powerful speaker.

However, my favorite living general authority speaker is President Eyring, although I must admit that he doesn't have the same, umm, physical draw as President Uchdorf. (In case you're wondering, my all-time favorite was Neal A. Maxwell.)

Now, I'm sure that what the creators of this challenge were looking for was someone more commercially celebrated. So in that case, I guess I have to say that it's Nathan Fillion. He's just shiny, cap'n.

And my absolute, totally gone-on crush? Why, Mr. Perfect, of course.

Happy Resurrection Sunday

Yes, I know that it's typically called Easter, but I think that allows too many people to forget why the majority of the Christian world celebrates this day. Today represents the culmination of Christ's mission on earth. During the final days of his life, he gave us the Sacrament, explained the importance of service, atoned for the sins of every person who lived on the earth, and allowed himself to be crucified so that he might rise again on the third day. And he did.

I know that I sometimes get caught up in the fun of candy and too much chocolate, but this holiday isn't about eggs, jelly beans, and eating bunny ears. It's about what our Savior did for us; something we couldn't do for ourselves. He was the only person to live on earth who could do what he did. His willing sacrifice allows us to repent; allows us to live again, as he lives, and as his Father (and ours) lives. What a beautiful morning, regardless of the weather.

"...I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Rev. 22:16-17, 20)

Day Fifteen

I don't know that there's a single item I never leave the house without bringing with me. If Mr. Perfect is driving, I don't need my wallet or keys. I'm really bad at remembering my phone. I suppose, if I have to pick something, it would be clothes. I never leave the house naked.

Here's a picture of my most recent clothing purchase:

I hope using the word naked in a post doesn't offend anyone.

Day Fourteen

We don't watch a lot of regular T.V. We own plenty of DVDs and have streaming Netflix, so who needs a lot of poorly written, sex in your face shows invading your house and your senses?

Also, it seems that whenever I really like a show, it ends up getting canceled after one or two seasons, so it's better to not get into a series until it has been around a couple of years.

Examples:

Firefly *sigh*

Freaks and Geeks

Pushing Daisies *huge sigh*

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

All very high quality shows, and only Pushing Daisies made it past year one, but only just. So right now we actually enjoy The Dick Van Dyke Show in reruns on Netflix, revisit a kinder, gentler past with DVDs of Firefly and Pushing Daisies, and catch the occasional episode of Castle on Monday nights. But only occasionally. I mean really, who has time for T.V.?

Day Thirteen

Favorite musician? Seriously? I don't have a favorite. I have several I LOVE (their music, not them personally). Asking me for my favorite musician is like asking which is your favorite molecule of air to breathe.

So here is a list of preferred musicians by genre (which are listed in no specific order):

Classical:

Hilary Hahn

The King'Singers

Utah Symphony

Academy of Saint Martin's-in-the-Field

Country:

Brad Paisley (okay, he's my favorite Country artist)

Suzy Bogguss

Pop:

Noah and the Whale

The Decemberists

Five for Fighting

A Fine Frenzy

The Fratellis

Jazz:

Stacey Kent

Glen Miller Band

Louis Armstrong

Oscar Peterson

Ella Fitzgerald

Jamie Cullum

Straight No Chaser

Broadway shows:

Susan Egan

Kristen Chenowith

A couple additional questions:
Who's on your playlist?
Who's not on your playlist, and why?

Day Twelve

The city where I live:

A couple of things about this picture:

1. It doesn't do Salt Lake City justice. It was an ugly day.
2. This was taken several years ago (2005, I believe) while the LDS Conference Center was still under construction (see the crane), so the city skyline looks better now.

Wordless Wednesday

Day Eleven

  Without makeup:                     With makeup:

Makeup? What's that? Okay, confession time: I use makeup very rarely off the stage. I wore some for my first date with Mr. Perfect. I wore it the day we got married (you know, pictures were involved). I will wear it when we're having professional pictures taken. Other than that? Not so much.

My makeup bag contains the basics: base, blush, eye shadow, eye liner, lip liner, various shades of lip stick, loose powder, mascara, brushes and sponges, Q-tips, hair elastics.

All this thinking about makeup is making my head ache. Mr. Perfect says that I don't look different with or without makeup. We went hiking on our second date, and I didn't wear any makeup (please, we were in the mountains sweating; yeah, I wanted him to see me with base running down my face -- NOT!). He said he was impressed that I would go without makeup and then said that I looked really good without it, so he wasn't surprised I didn't use it much. Who could resist such a man? Really?

(After thought: I found this post a little disturbing. I mean, women aren't the only ones who blog. So what are men using for the subject of day eleven?)

I've entered a photo contest

The Single Dad Laughing blog is having a photo contest. I've entered a picture of me, Beatles Lover, and a couple of her friends the night we did crazy family bowling. You can find and vote for my photo by sorting the photos by name. It's called Wild and Crazy. Please vote!

Day Ten

If I can't eat at my mom's and have homemade goodness, Stoneground is my favorite restaurant in Salt Lake City. They have great salads, sandwiches, and pastas. The atmosphere is fun, too. It's across 400 South from the main branch of the Salt Lake City Library.

My all-time favorite place to eat was a great deli in New York I only ate at once called the 2nd Ave Deli. Best corned beef ever. It's original location has since closed, but it's reopened at a new location. I haven't been there since it reopened, so I don't know if it is still as good as I remember.

Day Nine

My husband loves me. I can't wait until Mother's Day!

Day Eight

A song to go with my mood? That's a tricky one. I don't have a favorite song (really, there's just too much music out in the world for that). I suppose right now it's Also Sprach Zarathustra, which isn't a song, but it was part of the Utah Symphony concert last night. It's a tone poem by Richard Strauss. The opening theme was used in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which doesn't fit my mood right now, but the music does.

The big, booming tympani matches how I feel. I just bagged up a bunch of stuff left in a room for weeks on end; it was driving us nuts. We'll see how things go over when it's delivered to the owner. Needless to say, she has been warned in the past that this will happen. I did get 25 cents for my efforts. If you leave money on the floor in my house and I pick it up, it becomes mine. What a wicked stepmother I am.

There, the tympani are booming again...

Day Seven

I had my dream wedding. Really. I got to marry my best friend in the House of the Lord, with the promise that if we love God, love each other, and try as best we can to live the commandments, we'll be together forever, as husband and wife. After that, what does it matter where the reception is, or what food is served (you don't get to eat much of it anyway, believe me!), or even who comes or doesn't come. You want your dream wedding? Marry the right person in the right place. All the rest is secondary.

Day Six

For our next dog, we want a German Shepard. Not that we don't love the Pyscho Wunderhund, but we would like a pet that doesn't try to kill us with love.

And just to be fair to the current pet, I would keep him too, so here's a picture of him.

Day Five

This is from our honeymoon two years ago. Some times it's hard to believe it's only been two years, but then I also sometimes think "Wow! That's gone really fast!"

Day Four

There are just too many pictures of Mr. Perfect for me to select my absolute favorite. I love this one for many reasons:

1. He's on a vacation that was really fun
2. He got to relax
3. He loves the coloring of this picture (blue sky against red rock)
4. He's posing by one of his favorite things (a structure that's really cool)
5. He's posing in a funny way (which he loves to do)
6. He's smiling at me while I take his picture, which melts my heart

So, for this moment anyway, this is my favorite picture of my best friend.

Here's a close runner-up:

Confessions of an exhausted woman

Is it bad that I'm really kind of jealous that Mr. Perfect didn't get cast in The Sound of Music with me at the Empress Theatre? I keep thinking of all of the extra time he'll have while I'm at rehearsals and performances. What was I thinking?

Day Three

Hmm...the perfect first date? I guess it would have to be my first date with Mr. Perfect. We went to a fireside at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and then walked around Temple Square looking at the flowers. It was May, so the grounds were beautiful. We talked and laughed. He was the perfect gentleman. Funny, but I can't remember if we had dinner together or not. I also can't remember who spoke at the fireside or what the subject was. But I do remember how his hand felt in mine, and how gentle he was when he took my arm in his. And I remember how his face lit up when he smiled.

It isn't what you do that makes a date perfect. It's who you are with and how you treat them that makes the date remarkable and memorable. Even if you don't remember the "details," you'll remember how you felt and why you wanted to go out with them again. And it's also what happens in the relationship before and after. It all goes into it.

Day Two

This is breakfast when I'm running late: granola and yogurt. As you can see, I'm eating it at the office.

Day One

(This is my current head shot for theater auditions.)

Today has been very nice. It's Sunday, so it started with the alarm going off at 6:30 so Mr. Perfect could go to his 7:30 stake meeting with the missionaries. Then I got to go back to sleep until 9:00. The ward choir sang today, and with the regular choir director out of commission (recovering from surgery), I directed. It went really well. My favorite thing about directing ward choirs is that if you try to make it fun for them, pray before singing, and choose music that carries the spirit, it doesn't really matter how well they sing; the spirit will be there because that's how music works.

After church, Mr. Perfect and I slept through the Masters (golfing is great to sleep through: all of the announcers speak softly and the audience is polite until the very end). We will have very yummy left-overs for dinner tonight. I love not cooking on Sundays.

30 day blogging challenge

Day one~ A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

Day two~ A photo of something you ate today.

Day three~ Your idea of the perfect first date.

Day four~ Your favorite photograph of your best friend.

Day five~ A photo of yourself two years ago.

Day six~ A photo of an animal you would like to keep as a pet.

Day seven~ Your dream wedding.

Day eight~ A song to match your mood.

Day nine~ A photo of the last item you purchased.

Day ten~ A photo of your favorite place to eat.

Day eleven~ What's in your makeup bag?

Day twelve~ A photograph of the town you live in.

Day thirteen~ Your favorite musician and why?

Day fourteen~ A TV show that you are currently addicted to.

Day fifteen~ Something you don't leave the house without.

Day sixteen~ Your celebrity crush.

Day seventeen~ A photo of you and your family.

Day eighteen~ Something you crave a lot.

Day ninteen~ Another picture of yourself.

Day twenty~ The meaning behind your blog name.

Day twenty-one~ A photo of something that makes you happy.

Day twenty-two~ A letter to someone who has hurt you lately.

Day twenty-three~ 15 facts about you.

Day twenty-four~ A photo of something that means a lot to you.

Day twenty-five~ What's in your purse?

Day twenty-six~ A photo of somewhere you've been.

Day twenty-seven~ A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?

Day twenty-eight~ Your favorite movie.

Day twenty-nine~ Something you could never get tired of doing.

Day thirty~ A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past.

Quote of the Day

The truth is, those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him. They will personally receive a divine portrait of the Master, although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle—one piece at a time. Each individual piece may not be easily recognizable by itself; it may not be clear how it relates to the whole. Each piece helps us to see the big picture a little more clearly. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then, looking back on our experience, we see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us—not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed.

This can be our experience if we move forward with faith and do not wait too long on the road to Damascus.

--Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Wordless Wednesday (a day late and a dollar short)

Okay, so this one won't be completely wordless. I love that Mr. Perfect not only lets me take pictures of him like this, but asks "Have you blogged that one yet?" He was so happy to get rid of the Man of LaMancha beard, he shaved it off when we got home from closing night.

Home improvement update: Kitchen almost there!!!

The painting in the kitchen is almost finished! We only have one more coat of yellow and then touching up a few places. It looks so wonderful! No more PANELING! (Who ever thought that cheap 70's-era paneling was a good idea for a kitchen? Ah well...)

Here are some pictures from the priming.

Psycho Wunderhund trying desperately to get in on the action.

And pictures from the first coat of yellow!!!

The pictures don't do the color justice!

Next up: cleaning the cupboard doors and drawer facings and replacing all the hardware!

Quote of the Day

"There may be times when we feel overwhelmed, hurt, or on the edge of discouragement as we are trying so hard to be perfect members of the Church. Be assured, there is balm in Gilead. Let us listen to the prophets of our day as they help us to focus on the things that are central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children. The Lord knows us, He loves us, He wants us to succeed, and He encourages us by saying: "And see that all … things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that men or women should run faster than they have strength."
--Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Beware the tricksters today

Not sure if this holiday warrants a "happy" or not. My family is not all that big into April Fool's Day, so ours were all really mild and usually a day or two late because we'd forget to do it on the day.


What is the meanest April Fool's prank you've ever pulled or had pulled on you?