Runaway Weekend

One of my best buddies from college got married a few weeks ago and he had an Open House up in Oregon this last weekend. I decided it had been way too long since I'd had my own weekend getaway, so I serviced my car, loaded her up and took off first thing Saturday morning.

Here are some of my weekend's highlights:

• Listening to Jennie Hansen's book "If I Should Die" on CD
• Spending over 10 hours driving through coniferous forests
• Not losing any more hubcaps (I lost one two days before I left...)
• Counting the number of hitchhikers between Redding, CA and Eugene, OR (i.e. a lot!)
  
• King-sized bed, all to my self
• Not getting completely lost in downtown Eugene
• Losing 1 pound while sitting idly in my car constantly munching for 18 hours (did not know this was humanly possible...)
  
• Visiting Kohls, Target and Cabelas without buying anything (again... didn't know this was possible...)
• Tots and Sippies
  
• Listening to Betsy Brannon Green's book "Murder by the Book" on CD
• Acknowledging that it really does rain constantly in Oregon...
• Seeing Mount Shasta crowned with clouds and dressed in snow... twice
• Watching two golden eagles romp and play in some trees on the side of the interstate
• Being startled by a large goat/sheep/thing (easily 3.5-4 feet tall with 18-24 inch horns) riding in the back of a pick-up truck like a dog

And of course the best parts were:

• Seeing my happily married friend and getting to meet his adorable new wife and some of his family
• Returning home with a deeper appreciation of my own cozy bed and quiet evenings with my amazing parents

Don't Forget to Look Up

Quite possibly one of the most interesting paradoxes in my life is that I love to drive, but I hate commuting. There is something about the humdrum 20.3 miles - taking anywhere between 25 minutes and an hour and a half - that has me arriving at work each morning slightly comatose, fuzz-brained and desperate to remember exactly how I got there.

However, on a free day, I love nothing more than to get in my car and "go crazy" (as we call it in my family) - driving wherever the road and my heart take me... which is often to the coast where I can devour the atmosphere of the beach, the mountain top and the dense redwood forest, all within less than 5 lateral miles. And it is not always getting out of my car to enjoy the sights that I relish the most, but simply the drive - windows down, deep breaths, winding roads and amazing vistas.

From the time my sisters and I were very small, we were taught by our parents - in part, I think to keep car-sickness from developing - to look out the windows, watch our surroundings and point out the notable things we see. Now significantly older, we still enjoy a good game of "car bingo" and pointing out the wild flora and fauna that we pass along the road (much to the consternation of some of our friends).

Just two days ago, on my way in to the Oakland Temple, I was watching the hills as I drove through a valley and spotted several small groups of deer and a flock of close to 20 wild turkey. It made me wonder how many of my fellow drivers notice the prolific wildlife that surrounds us, the green of the hills that all this rain has allowed to linger a bit longer than years past or how breath-taking this little valley was, shrouded in mist with the occasional shaft of brilliant light finding its way to earth. It was a moment of peace for me, in the middle of thrumming suburbia. And a few days before that, I arrived at home and asked my parents if they wanted to go and see if we could find the two turkey toms I passed not long before I got home. We found them, both over three feet tall, grazing in the grass outside an office building a few miles away. A few brief moments, a few extra minutes in the car, all for a new exciting memory.

I've realized that in my monotonous weekday morning drives, instead of falling back to the wide-eyed wonder of that once-small child within, I gaze in ambivalence at the gently rounded rear of the vehicle in front of me, apparently trapped in a world of the unexceptional...

I forget to look up. What moments am I missing?

The times when I am reminded to raise my eyes, usually on my way home, I have noticed a world that was quite unlike the world I thought I drove through roughly 10 hours earlier. I once came around a bend in the freeway and was briefly blinded by a hill covered from foot to crown in millions of sunlit mustard blooms - a meadow I have driven past hundreds of times and never seen. On another stretch, I noticed a seemingly unlandscaped hill covered in yellow narcissus flowers - a sight my mom (having driven down to visit me for lunch) noticed instantly. When I lived in Utah, I would see the mountains, snow covered and reflecting every color of the sunset. I would see breaches in the inversion, streaming rays through to light up one small community in the valley. And once I saw a bald eagle lift off the edge of a small pond, right off the freeway in American Fork, sprinkled by flitting rays of sunlight.

These moments have become precious to me, moments when I choose to open my eyes and truly see, instead of sitting glassy-eyed waiting for the car in front of me to inch forward. I need to remember more often how quickly one small glimpse at this beautiful world we've been given can change the entire course of my day... To remember that good things, even great things, can be seen, heard and felt when I choose to raise my eyes and take in everything I see before me.

Just a Smidgen of Spring...

This picture doesn't even begin to do them justice, but those glowing green hills just make me all warm and fuzzy inside.

2010 Reads

The Heretic Queen (Michelle Moran)*
Voice in the Night (C. Paul Andersen)
Deception (Sian Ann Bessey)
The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
The Lightning Thief (Rick Riordan) - Percy Jackson & the Olympians Book 1
The Anatomy of Peace (The Arbinger Institute)*
She Said Yes (Misty Bernall)
The Heart Only Knows (Kerry Blair)
Hearts in Hiding (Betsy Brannon Green)
Perfect Shot (Sonia O'Brien)
Winter's Promise (Janene Wolsey Baadsgaard)
All I Hold Dear (Jennie Hansen)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Muriel Barbery)*
A Train to Potevka (Mike Ramsdell)
The Ruins of Gorlan (John Flanagan)*
Perfect Timing (Michele Ashman Bell)
Dangerous Games (Keith Morris)
Danger Trail (Boyd Richardson)
Divine Justice (David Baldacci)
Stone Cold (David Baldacci)
Edge of Night (Carol Warburton)
Eyes of a Stranger (Carol Warburton)
The Operative (Willard Boyd Gardner)
My Gal Sunday (Mary Higgins Clark)
First Love, Second Chances (Anita Stansfield)
First Love & Forever (Anita Stansfield)
Sam (Jack Weyland)
Charly (Jack Weyland)
Just Take My Heart (Mary Higgins Clark)
The Reluctant Heiress (Eva Ibbotson)
It Only Takes a Moment (Mary Jane Clark)
Mattimeo (Brian Jacques)
Mossflower (Brian Jacques)
The Christmas List (Richard Paul Evans)
The Message (Lance Richardson)
Journey to the River Sea (Eva Ibbotson)
Island of the Aunts (Eva Ibbotson)
Dial-a-Ghost (Eva Ibbotson)
A Bend in the Road (Nicholas Sparks)
Aurelia (Anne Osterlund)
The Secret of Platform 13 (Eva Ibbotson)
Not Just a Witch (Eva Ibbotson)
Which Witch? (Eva Ibbotson)
The Great Ghost Rescue (Eva Ibbotson)
A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy) ... yup, still plugging away...

* CV I R.S. Book Club books...

Christmas Letter 2010

Dear Family & Friends,

My favorite part of this beautiful holiday season is the time I spend reflecting on the last twelve months… on the changes, the personal growth and – most importantly – the blessings I’ve experienced. At the close of 2010, I know that I have much to be grateful for.

At the end of January, I was laid off from my job in Utah. In the face of confusion, frustration and a little fear and doubt, I felt an overwhelming peace in the belief that this was truly for the best and would simply be a shortcut to the road my life really need to journey down. So, on February 15^th, my little car packed to the gills, I left my home in Utah and headed west, back to the home I thought I’d never permanently return to – California. While nothing could have adequately prepared me for the six months that followed, I was optimistic that my life was being guided and that everything would turn out for the best.

I know now more than ever that everything happens for a reason. My return to California has been marked by some of the most profound experiences of my life… profound on many levels. I have experienced more fear and doubt through some of my trials, but I have also been filled with more faith, more hope and more love. And I know that without one small "setback" in January, I would not have been where I needed to be when I was needed most.

I am so grateful and humbled for my Savior Jesus Christ and the many miracles He blessed me with this year. My experiences have led me to a deeper appreciation for the things that matter most… my family, my friends and my faith.

As we celebrate His birth and life this year, I hope we each can find ways to recognize more of the many blessings that constantly come our way and to express our gratitude to those in our lives that mean the most.

Thank you for being one of mine.

Happy Christmas!