Hi ladies, sorry I haven't posted in a while, i wish I could say I have been so busy with something fabulous, but not so. Just sleeping and working. Tonight is my last of a stretch of nights. I have tomorrow to recover, then I'm back here Thurs AM, not a good idea, but I helped a friend out switching shifts with her and ended up getting five days off for myself, not bad. I may do sometihng exciting with them....

I will be putting in my April and May schedule in the next two weeks, so we need to make some birthday plans. Do we want to go to Ohio? ( I could make a tradition of having Happy Birthday sung to me at the ice cream shop) explore another close by city? go to the beach or mountains? I'm up for anything, just let me know when. The weekend of the 29 -30th, I'll be in utah, (for Levi's wedding!) and either the week before or after, so maybe actually over Liz's birthday? Let me know.

Happy Valentines Day

hope everyone had a lovely day. I spent mine doing all the thing I love.

1) sleeping in -unitl 9:30 when the plummers awoke me

2) eating good food - steaks for lunch (Bob's trial run for his valentine dinner), cupcakes and chilli for dinner

3) art - at the Visonary Art Museum, for the Post Secret project one day exhibit, my friend Preston came with me, it was his first time at the VAM, and we had a great time, I love the Secrets, but I think he enjoyed the rest of the museum more. After the museum we stopped by the Cupcake Factory - one of my favorite places, ever.

4) running until my legs are jello - better than that, the highlight of my day, I out ran a guy on the treadmill! Same age range as me, we started at the same time and ran at the same pace, but I went 15 minuties longer than him, and he was beat when he quit, I mean, stumbling on the treadmill and everything, I was a little worried about him, but then my elation of running longer than him took over, he'll be fine, and probalby won't pick the treadmil next to me for while!

Hugs and kisses!

Where did that come from?

a few nights ago I went to concert, full of surprises.

Within the last year I have beceome friends with the one and only Charity Sunshine Tillman-Dick, yes that is her full name, by which she produly introduces herself. No, she has no DSMIV charachteristics except maybe the mania side of happiness at times. I have met some of Charity Sunshine's family, her sisters Liberty and StarFlower and brother Zen. There are five more children in the family with, undoubtly, just as colorful names. Charity Sunshine is just about the most happy, cheerful, friendly person you will ever meet. Her sweet round face is almost taken over by her smile and her eyes light up like Christmas morning when she sees you (or my roommate Devin) and then it begins "What a faaabulous outfit, I loove that vest, it's so sophisticted, I hope you don't mind that I called it an outfit, most men don't like to wear outfits, they think that only four-year old girls wear outfits, but I find that you really look much better when you wear an outfit rather than just some clothes, ensambles are great as well, yee haw, yee haw, yee haw, that's my new saying, you have to say it three times, yee-haw, yee-haw, yee-haw! my friends think it is so funny that I'm from colorado, they say, 'Charity Sunshine, I can just picture you riding arround on a horse, in coyboy boots saying yee-haw, yee- haw, yee-haw' Of course they don't know that I've never been arround a horse in my life, but I just love it! Yee-haw, yee-haw, yee-haw!" and that is your first meeting with Charity Sunshine.

Now, I've left out exactly how I know Charity Sunshine. She moved into my ward earlier this summer, fresh from studying in Budapest (the best is when she impersonates her lavish, flamboyant Hungarian friends, now Ula dance!) when she moved to Baltimore to study opera at the Peabody Institute. Yes Charity Sunshine sings opera. Now I have heard Charity sing on multiple occasions, mostly in my home, durring a party, late in the night when everone is lounging and quietied down, someone will start the plea "Charity Sunshine, sing us a song?" She always protests, a regular song? Most people don't like opera, it's very loud and this room is small, my voice teacher scolds me for singing for common people "they will think that you have a beautiful voice, because they can not tell the difference" But she always gives in, and we stare dumbfounded as if an angle has desceneded among us, never hearing sounds so beautiful. The songs are short and fleeting, and she quickly slips back into Charity-speak and you wounder if for a moment you were dreaming?

Now Charity Sunshine is graduating and we are all invited to her diploma concert, to really hear her sing, in a large autotorium, with accompanyment and a song selection that will display her full vocal range. Every seat in the room was full as she glided out in her pistachio green silk gown, her hair, usually rivaling mine in unrulyness, swept back into a perfectly coifed bun, standing alone on the stage next to a grand paino. And then she sang, sounds so perfect and clear, notes rising and soaring. The whole hall sat mezmerized. For an hour I was taken away, out of the autotorium, far away from Balitmore. Not until she took her last bow, and stepped off the stage was I brought back to realize the beautiful, elegant soprano was my dear friend; Charity Sunshine Tillman-Dick. Yee-haw, yee-haw, yee-haw.

Leaving that night I got another surprise; a big cement pillar I forgot was at the end of my parking space, unitl it defiantly ripped off my side mirror. Hmm, good thing I worked overtime last week.

2 years

Today Chuck and I celebrate 2 years of marriage. We aren't doing anything till next weekend. We are going to a resort for two free nights at a resort in Virginia. It's one of those timeshare places were they try to sell you a place. I can so "No" as many times as they want me to for a free weekend. They also gave us vouchers for dinner and free passes to go snow tubing. I'm pretty excited about it. Leland is sick right now, so as long as she gets better so we can leave her with my sister I will be fine.

Leland has the worst cough. It makes me want to cry. She sounds like an 80 year old who has smoked her whole life. Her nose is all red because I have to wipe the snot off it so many times.

We were stuck in our in yesterday by 12 inches of snow. It's only the 2nd snow storm this winter and of course it happens on a Saturday night so all that is missed is church. Why can't it happen on a weekday so then my husband doesn't have to go to work?

Curses

There are definitely things we inheritely do because of our family/genetics. However I strongly believe this does not have to be our destiny. If we sit idly by and watch our life follow the patterns of which we are disgusted by it will inevitably remain in that course. If you want your life to change to a different track you have to fight like hell to do it. Although we may have a natural course-it can still be changed.

I myself am not going to end up a miserable SELFISH overweight diabetic who has watched their life go by and not seen all the happiness possible. I will focus on the good and embrace each moment I am in. I choose this because when I look at my family-my mothers side especially. I see these negative things. I try not to focus on them but they are very prevalent

Before I met Tim I had dated all manner of male scum. Some really bad some not so bad-but no great men. Why? Who knows. My guess is it comes down to self worth. Before Tim I had very little. When I met him I was on an upswing, but still pretty low on self-worth. I didn't think I deserved a guy as good as him. He was so kind, cute, a perfect gentleman, and strong in the church. How could I have a guy like that? But I thought he was cute and let him know I was interested. He was shocked but also interested. The more we dated the more embarrassed I got of who I was. The more I wanted to change for the better. He didn't' want me to change-most of the things I wanted to change were inside personal things he couldn't notice.
I'm glad he gave me a chance. He is helping me continue what I started on my own to-slowly become the person I want to be-and keeping me away from my family curse.