convenient problem

Tuesday I got a flat tire and it cost $100 to fix. And really, that is not too shabby. It could have been a lot worse.

My car was fine besides the flat, I got to work on time, I will get paid before I go to New York (so I still will have some $$ to fall back on), No one got hurt, and I had nothing to do that night so no plans were wrecked. I even had some friends from work that helped me put on a spare at lunch time. Who knew that there was something like a convenient flat tire.

why!!!?!?!?!???!

The first day of fall.

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.

-George Eliot

'Rieting time' mind mapping

OK kittens, It's been forever since I've had a rieting time post and I thought I would share something that I haven't yet. It was from a lesson that my dear sister Lera taught our little group. We had a lesson on mind mapping.

What is mind mapping you say? Well it can be anything really. But here's an example.

Rules of mind mapping:
Take a piece of paper and draw a rectangle in the center of the page. (or a circle, heart, cloud, who cares.)
Inside the shape write the name of the topic that you want to mind map.
Then draw branches from that center to write about supporting ideas or contradicting ones.
Feel free to branch off of those lines and ask questions or place thoughts.
As each idea materializes your page will start to look like a smashed mutated spider.

-Mind Maps are personal records of thought processes and are normally kept private.
But not this time….

Lera had us write about “our personal sanctuary” as the center thought. Mine was the shower. Truthfully if I would have thought more about it I would have done something more creative or spiritual; but it’s my mind map, so it was neither.

We had branches on our mind map that had specific questions. Mine had inquiries such as; when do you go there, what it looks like, what you see, how does it feel, etc.

So without further delay, here it is.

My Sanctuary

Hidden from my stresses I draw the curtain
Cool water slowly heats up, warming my heart
Thick wet blankets cover over my hair
And drops kiss down my tired eyes
Delicate bubbles slide down my arms unharmed
I watch as they are carried away in the continues current
Steam billows slowly in and out of my lungs
Making each breath smoother, deeper
Muscles tender under gentle trickles
Sheets of liquid hug onto the curves of my legs
My back stroked fluidly with calm touches
Clean and unbroken suds drain with my troubles
I wrap myself in a soft flexible cocoon
Knowing I can move on safe and free

my mirror can take time to dry its face

absolutely wonderful blessings-- top 5

Today I thought that I would say the top 5 things that I am very grateful for!! Things that really had a major impact on me today.

1. I am grateful for my nephew Palmer and for his super stinkin' cute smiles and breathy laughs that he shares with me every time that I see him. Even when it's storming like a bugger and I forgot to send some important emails at work. He makes life great.

2. I'm grateful for the gospel in my life. I am not perfect, but it is.

3. I'm grateful for being able to have a really nice bed to sleep on tonight. The overly large taco in my own room has not been comfy friend as of late.

4. I am grateful for being able to look through photos of a trip that I took almost one year ago to Forks, WA. I was able to remember how fun it was and they have gotten me super excited for my next trip. New York, here I come.

5. I am grateful for being able to have a ton of random cosmetology school leftovers. Even though I have decided against doing hair as a profession, I have found that time and time again those products can be a life saver. Whether it is a bottle of hair dye, 10 feet of cotton string, nail stickers, or even 10 lbs of bobby pins, they have always come in handy.

Lights...book...action. Take two.

This January I finished a book called the Hunger Games written by Suzanne Collins. It was one of the best books I've ever read and it quickly become a favorite. I wrote a post completely dedicated to the novel. I begged for people to read it...Did you?

You guys, no joke, Suzanne Collins is a great writer. I thought I could never again find a book that completely saturated my imagination with such creativity and surreal environments after I read The Hunger Games.

Until this morning when I finished the sequel called Catching Fire. It was amazing!




I have never read a book with such raw and powerful emotions. It brings me into new world where I felt my own survival instincts were being tested along side the characters. I wanted to fight with them. I want to defend them.

Instead I'm left to defend the books.

Please, please, please read them. Read them and then tell me about it. Read them and then thank yourself for not wasting your time on just another mediocre book.