If I had to vote...

I may or may not constantly be trying to convince my cousins that I am their favorite.

And if we had a family council and a vote for favorite cousin came up, I like to think that I'd come out victorious.

I'll try to poll the cousins at our next family reunion and let you know how I do.

Where I've been

"A new experience can be extremely pleasurable, or extremely irritating, or somewhere in between, and you never know until you try it out."
— Lemony Snicket



When I was about 15, I remember being at church and talking with the other girls about when we would get married and have children. I think we even wrote down our guesses so we could look back one day and see how close we were.

I'm pretty sure that everyone thought I would be married when I was 21. And when I was 21, I'm positive that I thought I would be married by the time I was 25 and when I was 25, I was sure I would be married by the time I turned 29. And here I am, 2 months away from turning 29 and my life is nowhere close to where I had imagined it would be.

Am I disappointed that my life is so different than my 15 year old self imagined it? Sometimes. Am I scared that my life might never turn out the way I want it to? Yep. But would I take back any of the experiences that I've had in the past 14 years? Absolutely not.

If I would have been married at 21 (or even at 25 for that matter), I probably would have never gone to grad school, or vacationed in Hawaii, or traveled the US so extensively, or moved to Blanding, or met the amazing people I have. I would have missed out on so many things that have made me who I am.

Three years ago, I would have never dreamed that I would be living in small town Utah, working on the Indian reservation. But I will always remember the feeling that I got as I drove from Salt Lake to Mexican Hat. The feeling that I was home.

That maybe for the first time in my life, I was exactly where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there.

So while my life might be different than I planned, I'm grateful to know that the plan for my life is still right on track.

Has it really been 2 weeks since I wrote last??

It's probably a combination of being super busy and yet having nothing blog-worthy to write about.

At least that is how it has felt lately.

But this week I will blog (and consequently try to find things to do to make my life a little more interesting so that you won't die of boredom reading this).

Another goal...take more dang pictures. Because I know you want to see more of me and my life!

For now I just wanted you to know that I'm still alive. And expect more from me very soon :)

It's time for an intervention.

Dear World,

Remember the days before cell phones and ipods and computers and texting and im'ing and emailing and facebook and dvd's and even blogging?

Remember when you used to communicate with people by actually having a face to face conversation? When you used to sit in a room with people and talk without being interrupted by ringtones and beeps? I miss those days.

I miss the days when I used to be able to talk to people and have them look me in the eyes. When a night out with friends meant that you got their undivided attention. Somedays I actually miss being technology free.

My own obsession with technology started slowly. I didn't have the internet at home until my junior year of high school. But once it came, along came emailing and im'ing. And I remember at least two important high school conversations taking place over the computer rather than in person. Then came college.

I still remember the day when I sat 500 feet away from a friend and im'd them instead of talked to them. It's when I first realized technology could pose a threat.

Then came the cell phone. A year later, texting. A couple years after that, an ipod. A laptop. A touch ipod with internet capabilities. Myspace. Facebook.

A million things that can distract me from real human relationships.

I vow to stop letting my cell phone conversations distract me from real conversations. I vow to call instead of text (at least some of the time). I vow to only chat on facebook when I don't have anyone "real" to chat with.

And I think some of you, world, should vow to do the same. Because I'm tired of having only half of your attention. I'm tired of hanging out with my friends and their cell phones.

I want a little piece of the "before technology" world back.

The end.

I'm usually not a big celebrator of Valentine's Day. Mostly because in the past 28 years, I've been single on Valentine's Day for 26 of them. And who wants to celebrate a day of being in love when you aren't.

I don't normally throw anti-Valentine's Day parties, or cry myself to sleep or shoot arrows back at cupid. I do what I do best...I ignore that the day even exists.

That way I don't feel too sorry for my lonesome self :)

But this year I decided that I would not ignore the day and I would not feel sorry for myself and I would not let my friends feel sorry for themselves either.



So I made some cute little homemade Valentine's and some delicious homemade sugar cookies. I wrote thoughtful little notes. And I decided that I would deliver some love to the friends around town that I love best.

And you know what? Valentine's Day seemed a whole lot more fun. I even wore a pink shirt in celebration.

Even though I might not have that "special someone" in my life just yet, I have a whole lot of people that I love that I can celebrate with instead.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Baby It's Cold Outside

The weather outside right now...9 degrees. But it feels like a balmy -5.

And guess who currently doesn't have heat or hot water in their house?

Of course our heater would break on the coldest days of the year. And of course our pipes would consequently freeze.

I know I shouldn't complain because there are people far worse off than me but...

I really hate the cold.