Live For Today... Tomorrow will take care of itself

FNAR... for no apparent reason

Last Thursday I was talking to Jesse in the kitchen. I was laying out our plans for the weekend and suddenly he interupts me and says "Ok, I'm going to tell you something. Stop making plans because you and I are leaving at 4 pm tomorrow for a weekend."

What pops into my head??? All the reasons I can't go. I know, way to kill the sweetness of thought right?

"What about the kids?" I ask.

"Your mom is going to watch them. And before you ask, I talked to your boss and got your Saturday class covered. We're packing the bags for the motorcycle, getting our leathers on and riding up to Julian tomorrow at four. So, stop making plans."

Needless to say, I was elated. I woke up Friday morning waiting for the clock to strike four. I had plenty of stuff to do in between but I couldn't wait.

We dropped the boys off at my mom's and took off. I literally threw my arms up and yelped "yahoo!" as we were riding away from the house. The ride up to Julian started out chilly and turned bitterly cold as we got further up the mountain. We prepared with layers of clothing, fleece, and leather but the longer on the bike the more the wind whips through your layers and chills you down to the bone. We were only going thirty miles an hour, thanks to a car in front of us who was slow as poo, and a wicked cross breeze kicked up around 15 minutes into the ride. By the time we reached our destination we could barley get off the bike and walk. Picture the scene in Dumb and Dumber when they are riding up the mountain and actually reach Aspen, yea, that's us. Our getaway was a quaint one bedroom cabin that a friend of ours mother owns. It had a spacious living room with a pot belly stove. We got a fire started right away and I went hunting for the hot cocoa. We sat by the stove with cocoa in hand and felt our fingers and toes slowly come back to life. As our shivering subsided we decided to go out to dinner rather than make what we brought. Luckily, town was only three frozen minutes away. We rode into town and had a FABULOUS italian dinner at Romano's. Best italian food I have ever tasted! We took two hours to eat... TWO hours! When was the last time I took two hours to do anything?! Jesse and I went back to the cabin, threw on some sweats, pick up a book and read for hours. Curled up in my over stuffed chair I realized something.

"Jesse," I whispered. "Shh, shh, do you hear that?? Nothing." That's right. No kids jabbering or whining. No neighbors banging around on the ajoining walls. No machines humming or street noise. Nothing but sweet silence.

The next morning we just puttered around, ate breakfast around nine, and rode into town. I have never been into the mines of Julian so Jesse took me up to tour one. It was really cool and very informative. At one point we were way down in the shaft and the guide turned off the lights. It was the darkest dark I had ever experienced. I can't imagine how people worked in that. After that we high tailed it home. It was sunny and warm so a much more pleasant ride.

My awesome husband did all this for me for no reason other than we needed it and he loves me. How great is that?!? Thanks honey, I love you.

I'm a teacher

I'm the eleven and twelve year old teacher in my ward now. My class consists of seven boys and one girl. What is it inside 11 and 12 year olds that compels them to be SO goofy?? The blatant sarcasm, taking the literal meaning of everything, the "I'm not touching you." What is it? I love my class but I look at them and go "Was I ever that rediculous?"

Answer: Yes, and then some!

Recycling... reusing... conserving...

Just a thought: If I try to conserve water I kill trees. If I try to recycle I waste water, and if I try to reuse I still create waste and waste water. This is something I have been thinking about all week.

Example #1: I buy paper plates to conserve water and because I don't like doing dishes. Paper plates do come from trees but a good percentage on the market are made from recycled paper. I do buy dixie for special occasions though:) So we use the paper plates, then throw them away. Upside, I'm not rinsing dishes and running the dishwasher as much, thus conserving water. Down side I am adding to the land fills and killing trees. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Which is better?

Example #2: I am trying to recycle all that I can. Cereal boxes, pasta sauce jars, apple sauce jars, milk jugs etc. That means I need to rinse out the containers and tin cans BEFORE I recycle them. Did you know that it is necessary to do so? Upside, I am doing my part and trying to save the planet one can at a time. Down side, water is too precious to loose. Our reservoirs are at 25% capacity right now and we are in our third year of drought. They are threatening to ration water in SD. I'm torn.

Example #3: I like to reuse plastic grocery bags for liners in the bathroom trash cans, holding wet clothes, and carrying other items. What happens after they are reused??? They still wind up in the trash or I try to rinse them an use them again. Thus, killing the planet or wasting water. Do you know how long it takes for one of those plastic grocery bags to break down? It can take hundreds of years for a bag to fully decompose. See the article here. I was watching Wall-E with my kids one day. In the beginning when he is on earth and the wind kicks up you see what almost looks like sea gulls flying and fluttering around. They aren't sea gulls my friends they are plastic BAGS!

So what am I to do? Maybe I shouldn't think so deeply about little things like this.

Here Birdie, birdie, birdie!

Ollie, just like any other boy loves to play in water. We were at Jesse's mom's house about a month ago. She loves all animals, including birds. She has a few bird feeders and a bird bath for the wild ones around her place. Wellllllll, Ollie just couldn't resist trying out their bird bath. It was, after all, just cleaned and full of cool refreshing water. It started with splashing with the hands and progressed to....

THIS! If it's good enough for the birds it's good enough for Ollie:)

Yes, I still miss you...

Some years are easier than others. There are times when Valentine's Day flies right by and I don't think about you. This year is not one of those years. It is hard to mourn during the day of love. My day of memorial and silent grief is interrupted by hearts, happiness, and public displays of affection. I know it's not your fault. I woke up yesterday morning with a song of sadness in my head that wouldn't go away. My heart hung heavy as I trudge through the day knowing that tomorrow was coming. There were several times that I just needed a hug. Today was hard. I lay in bed with that sad sound track in my head just wanting to roll over and go back to sleep. Wishing to wallow in my sadness for a moment... as little children pulled on my covers and requested breakfast. After fixing breakfast Frank and I had a sweet discussion about prayers and being able to pray for whatever you needed. He needed to find part of a toy that was lost. Thinking about prayer and how the Lord does bless us with what we need had me swallowing tears. "It's ok mommy," Frankie said "you're alright." Oh my sweet boy. He is beginning to understand who you are. I want him to know his name sake and I do the best I can to teach him. I am so lucky to have had you in my life. You taught me hard work. The Barbecue Pit was a right of passage. We were expected to do a job at age 12 and it paved our way into the working world. You helped me to see that giving your best is what is expected and all that is required. You bullied me into laughing at myself:) R.O.P, Rachel out of Place was probably your favorite phrase to use at work when I was slacking. I know I was your favorite to tease. You showed me that having a sense of humor is a gift and not one that everyone possesses. You gave me my love for music and showed me how a prayer of song reaches deeper into the soul. Without music I would never have learned how to express the depth of my feelings. You taught me gospel principles. Jesus Christ is the firm foundation on which I stand. Thank you, thank you for what I have. There will always be a wish for more time or things gone unsaid but I am grateful for what was. I still remember the last time you told me I was beautiful. I was in your hospital room, just you and me. You reached out a shaking hand to me and asked me to take off my mask. You were still so unstable I was afraid of infecting you. You insisted, and I removed the mask from my nose and mouth. "You're so beautiful," you sighed as I turned a shade of red, "I have the most beautiful girls." We both began to weep. It was a moment I'll remember forever. I know you look in on me from time to time. I know you watch over us while Jesse is away. I know that you love us, that you didn't want to leave us but had to go. I know I will see you again... I know all that but I still miss you. I love you Dad.

Love,

Rachel

Fa, Faa, Faa, Flammin'!!!

Yes folks! Here is my new riding helmet. Jesse, my wonderful husband, asked me what kind of helmet I wanted. I told him purple with ghost flames and whad up?!?!?! He learned how to do ghost flames. He sanded down my old helmet and gave it a sweet paint job. I still get high when I put it on from the paint fumes but it's starting to air out:) Our friend Angela was so impressed with the paint job she asked Jesse to put flames on her kitchen aid. Check it out!