100 Random Things

100 Random Things

1. I love popcorn.
2. Ballet dancing was my passion as a child.
3. I like to analyze things.
4. Packing a suitcase is NOT fun...I procrastinate and then forget stuff.
5. Not a night owl at all - Early Bird
6. I was a humanist, before I ever knew a name for it existed.
7. My husband and I play Rummicub almost every night while eating dinner. 
8. I secretly think my 4 children are the best ever to be born.
9. What stresses me?  Being late
10. My favorite meal is my husband's spaghetti.
11. I weigh myself every morning.
12. What do I like to talk about?  English Literature, goats and religion
13. As a child, I was a very late talker. 
14. It bothers me when I see a word misspelled.
15. Reading great poetry is a spiritual experience for me.
16. When my hair is cut short, I look like a turtle-head.
17. My children often say very cool things.
18. I love, love, love family and good friends.
19. When I was in college, I was in a very bad car wreck.
20. Thomas Hardy is my fav
21. orite author.
22. Cleaning up the kitchen is more enjoyable than cooking the meal.
23. I rather text than talk.
24. Driving and flying scare me.
25. I met my wonderful biological father when I was in my 20's.  
26. TV Remote Controls drive me bananas!
27. Gardening always seems worth the time and effort.
28. There is a certain quilt I have been working on for 20 years now.
29. The vegetables are better than the meat.
30. My grandma's homemade cookies and pickles were amazing.
31. TV often bores me.
32. Dumb at math - it bores me, too.
33. Tess of the D'Urbervilles is the saddest book ever written. 
34. If a picture is hanging crooked, it bothers me.
35. My Grandpa use to smear horseradish under my meat when I wasn't looking. 
36. Grasmere, England is the prettiest place in the world. 
37. When I was little, I use to play Sunday School for hours with my dolls.
38. My planner is my brain.
39. I like knowing the names of flowers and plants.
40. Favorite Book?  David Copperfield
41. Like everyone else, I think Shakespeare was a flat out genius.
42. I get car sick, boat sick and air sick - any motion sick. Blah.
43. My secret: I am the shyest of the shy.
44. Sometimes I like to suck on green olives.
45. Historical Fiction books bother me - tell me the facts. 
46. Least favorite house chore? Ironing
47. I find random acts of kindness very touching.
48. Don't buy me expensive jewelry!
49. I chaperoned 33 students to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales for 2 weeks.
50. Black Widow Spiders scare me more than the average person.
51. No to being buried - cremate me, please.
52. Flip flops are comfy.
53. Saddest movie? CHARLY
54. Watermelon with salt is the only way to go.
55. My mom says I have been to every state in the U.S. - I don't remember.
56. After 35 years of marriage, I still think my husband is amazing.
57. I have been told I am too sensitive.
58. Even growing up, having faith seemed foreign to me - show me the facts, please!
59. Decorating and celebrity gossip magazines are fun to read.
60. Licking the cake batter off the beaters is still a pleasure.
61. It is hard for me to throw papers away. 
62. The Portuguese Language spoken by Brasilians is very beautiful.
63. I lived in Brasil for almost 9 months.
64. When I was hospitalized and on morphine for about a month, I saw my Dad playing the trombone and pigs running around my bed.
65. My mom, sis and I saw the movie The Sound of Music 7 times.
66. First record album ever bought?   Jimi Hendrix 
67. I was raised with Big Band Music. 
68. Every few years, I get addicted to genealogy. 
69. Favorite movie? My Left Foot
70. I have an artificial hip.
71. Favorite color? Green
72. Eggplant is ga-ross.
73. I once saw a girl get her finger cut off.
74. Pecans taste better than walnuts. 
75. The first computer I ever saw was in college - it took up a whole room.
76. My husband and I fell in love over Joni Mitchell.
77. Taking pictures is lots of fun!
78. Cotton sheets only!
79. When I was a teenager, my step Dad had to go to Viet Nam for 2 years.
80. I loved dancing and touring with the International Folk Dancers at Ricks and BYU.
81. Compliments come when I cook my Grandma's meatloaf.
82. I play the piano, but not well.
83. Don't make me sleep in total darkness!
84. Wherever I live, I have to plant Lavender.
85. Pots of Geraniums by the front door are welcoming.
86. I was on the TV show  Romper Room. 
87. What I can spend a lot of money on? Perfume
88. I get paid to try to get junior high students to enjoy reading. 
89. Time flies when I am out with the goats.
90. Chickens are more entertaining than a movie.
91. I can’t get enough of key lime pie.  
92. I love to stitch whimsical embroidery.
93. Waiting, without a good book to read, is boring. 
94. I was on the water ballet swim team in high school. 
95. Peppermint tea and toast with marmalade bring me joy!
96. Old English roses are my favorite flowers.
97. We have given our government too much power.
98. I dislike being soft spoken.
99. Religion kills more people on the planet than anything.
100. Feeling the sun on my back is therapeutic.
101. A tomato and mayonnaise sandwich is the best!

Christmas Inside and Out

Happy Holidays from our house to yours!  We received over a foot of snow this morning!  

40 Years of Yellowstone Park

August 25, 1977

 Forty years ago this month, my husband and I went to Yellowstone Park on our honeymoon.  We were just two college students living on pancakes and Top Ramen, trying to graduate from college.
It was a hot August but when we got to the park, it turned cold...and as we set up our tent, snow started to fall.   BRRRRRR

August 25, 2017

So not to skip ahead.... but 40 years later my husband did something very sweet. He called Yellowstone Park and booked 2 nights at Old Faithful Inn. The weather was perfect and the Inn was incredibly beautiful. 

We wistfully remembered bygone times and wished just a little, that 40 years had not gone by so fast.  Sigh.

Old Faithful Inn was built in 1903-1904.

Inside of Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful Inn has such a history to it!  It was fun going on a tour that told us all about it.

What we did:

•  watched the famous geyser go off from the balcony, while sipping hot cocoa. 
•  ate a delicious potluck in the Inn's fancy restaurant. (which we learned on our tour,  would have required a ballgown for me and fancy tuxedo for my husband, if we had been one of the rich Europeans that visited in the early 1900's)
• met many friendly people from all over the world, while playing board games at night in the lobby

Bluebell Pool at Left Thumb

When we could pull ourselves away from our fascinating lodgings, we had fun watching the wildlife and the breathtaking scenery.
The only thing we did not see the second time around were the amazing mountain goats.

 This was the only goat I found at Yellowstone Park this time.  It was my anniversary present from my husband.  He knows me pretty well.