Yo, so, you come here often?

Remember this guy, Joey, from While You Were Sleeping? I think his twin found me in Vegas. There I was, perusing the buffet line at South Point, and I guess looking a little lost because this guy comes up to me and asks, “You-a lookin’ a little confused, there, sweetaaaarht.” “Oh no, I’m just trying to decide what I want to eat.” “You wanna eat some-a this, I mean, come on now…” “Um, yes, I will…”

I start to move down the line towards the fruit and he follows me asking, “So, uh, where you from?”

Not glancing back at him, I reply, “I am from Utah.” (that oughta shut him up)

He grimaces, puts the free hand not holding his plate to his cheek and says, “Awww, no! Awwwww, NO! Any other-a state in the U.S. and that would-a worked! I mean, uh, don’t women up there have 10 kids or so?”

Trying to look very busy loading pineapple and watermelon on my plate, I countered, “No, that’s a small family. We usually shoot for a dozen at least.”

He looks me up and down, leans in closer to me and asks, “How many do you have?”

“Just one.”

His eyes light up, a smile creeps across his face, and he jokes, “What? Your husband have issues with himself or somethin’?”

At that point, I gave him my best “Back down, Bucko” glare I could. So he decided to try a new tactic.

“I see you’re not married, though. That’s good and you-a should-a only have one kid anyways. So much work for a young-a girl like you. You should-a come back to Vegas more often, ya know?”

I set my plate down, smiled politely. “Why?!?”

He stopped. He held his hands out to his side, one hand with a plate filled with sausages, scrambled eggs, toast, and ham, shrugs his shoulder and stutters a bit. “Well…um…uh, I was going to say to see me! (laughs) I could meet you, sweethaaarht, anywheres!”

I finished putting fruit and rolls on my plate, started walking past him, and said, “Sure, sure. I’ll just go tell my boyfriend that.”

He winked, slicked back his hair with his free hand, and said, “I gotcha, I know I gotcha. Women? They can’t stay away!”

Well, I got news for you Mr. Joey Fusco incarnate: The teal tanktop? The gold chain? The waft of inebriated air that emanated from your very being? Reeeeaaaaal turn on. I just couldn’t keep my hands off of you. Hold me back, I say. Hold. Me. Back.

Yuck.

Smiles, eyes, and Oh’s!

A few weeks ago, Wendy from Blue Lily Photography came into town from Cali to shoot a few sessions with some old and new clients. I happened to read about it on her blog and as fate would have it, she had one spot left open with my name on it. Here are just a couple of the many she took that I love…

Thanks, Wendy, for the beautiful pics!

2.5 Hours

Dang tanker. Dang traffic. Dang gas prices. Dang un-finished Legacy Highway. Dang rude drivers. Dang UDOT. I wanted to cry during my commute home last night.

Maybe a gift to myself

In case I haven’t made it abundantly clear here and there in my random musings, I am stating this now: I am a lover of fine arts. I love going to museums, art galleries, artist studios, what have you. I. Love. It. All.

Recently, down at the Bellagio in Vegas, I fell in love with this piece:

It’s hard to express what this drawing does for me. It’s beautiful, it’s simple, and I love the movement. The Guy wasn’t incredibly impressed, but truthfully, I could understand his reaction. It’s probably difficult for those that perhaps haven’t sat down to draw with charcoal or conte crayons to understand how difficult it can be to find fluidity form in several small strokes on a page. I look at this and go, “Wow…that’s beautiful.” The Guy looks at it and goes, “Hmmm…it’s not finished. Where’s the rest of it?”

No matter, I love it still. Check out more of Richard MacDonald’s work here.

And then we went back

I feel like I’ve sort of been on vacation for the past couple of weeks. I mentioned going up to the family cabin (nice respite), and then there was the July 24th holiday (Utah only), and just this past weekend, The Guy surprised me with another trip down to Vegas. Now, I don’t know if you recall that I said I would rather be dead than visit Vegas, the seventh circle of Hell, in July. I was just there with The Guy 5 weeks ago and the heat brought on a terrific migraine for me. So when he calls me up at work a week ago and asks, “Can you take off work next Monday?” “Why?” “Because I’m taking you to Vegas again” – well, I started to worry just slightly about the heat. But of course I said YES, I’ll GO!

To tell the truth, it wasn’t that bad. It was actually cooler on Saturday and Sunday than it was back in June (Monday was a different story altogether). I ended up being able to run outside no problem…just really, really early so that the heat that gets baked into the black asphalt didn’t melt my eyeballs out. I’ll say this for running in Vegas: you will never get lost. Why? Because you’ll sweat so much that you’ll leave a nice trail for someone else to follow.

We walked and walked and walked which is what you do in Vegas when you go up and down the Strip. You go in one hotel, explore, and then walk through to the next, passing all sorts of interestingly dressed folks, and so on and so forth. We ended up seeing Phantom, the Spectacular at the Venetian and The Guy was very impressed with their staging and effects. I’ve seen Phantom several times and this was another great production. It’s been shortened about 30 minutes or so to accomodate more shows (cha-ching!) so thus the name change. But the drama, the singing, the love story – bueno. All very, very good.

We also happened to catch a show of Carrot Top’s, a show I have never really wanted to see and that The Guy was very excited about. I have to say that I went in with great skepticism; I’d seen him on late night talk shows and I found him to be a little funny but more often than not completely annoying. In person? That guy is FUNNY. And smart. He was a little crass a couple of times but for the most part, we were both laughing so hard we were crying! One little tip on the tickets: we ended up getting ours for both shows at the Tix4Tonight booth down by the MGM Grand and paid 1/2 price for both shows. WORTH the effort to get down there and get in line. DO IT.

This most recent Vegas trip was so much more enjoyable and relaxing than the last. Neither of us are gamblers but we enjoy the shows, the variety, the endless food (buffet after buffet after buffet – ahem, why I went running every darn day), and the shopping. I have to say I was impressed that The Guy was a willing party to come in some stores that I know he wouldn’t be caught dead in normally. Especially since I handed him my purse several times, had him hold shoes for me, skirts for me, accessories of all types for me, bras for me (just joking, Mom!), and really didn’t complain (too loudly). Kudos to men with patience for women who shop.

For those looking to get a good deal away from the Strip, I suggest where we stayed: South Point Hotel. It’s 5 miles south of Mandalay Bay and such a nice place away from the major hustle and bustle. They had just completed a new tower and lucky us! we both got rooms in the tower that HAD NEVER BEEN SLEPT IN BEFORE. There was even this nice little welcome letter saying, “Welcome! You are the first guests to occupy this room…” Do you know what that means? NEW furniture, NEW flat screen TV mounted to the wall, NEW towels, NEW bathroom, NEW bed, and best of all BRAND SPANKING NEW sheets!! That is something I may never experience again – and it was wonderful.

The Guy and I really did enjoy ourselves quite a bit. We did have a brief conversation about a particular something that should hint at what we’ve been discussing lately…A LOT:

The Guy: How come a guy’s wedding ring is so much cheaper than a woman’s? Why can’t they be equal in price?

Moi: Do you want some big, ginormous rock sitting on your finger?

The Guy: No! Of course not. I just think…hey, wait a minute-what do you mean by some ‘big, ginormous rock’? What are you thinking here?

Moi: I’m not thinking anything, just playfully suggesting…

The Guy: A-huh. I’m just saying that a guy should spend the same amount for a ring that the girl does.

Moi: Look, I didn’t make up the rules regarding rings and costs and sizes and such. I just follow them. And it seems to dictate that the girl gets the rock while the guy gets the band. Now, if you’d prefer some godfather-type of ring for yourself, well…

The Guy (exasperated): Oh for heavens sake, no. Geez, it just seems that women get all the breaks…

And THAT little comment started up another fun debate. Regardless of our gender role debates (oh, the disparities that we both observe!), I still had a good time in Vegas. As much as The Guy loves Vegas, I’m thinking we’ll be there again sometime soon…

(We did take a few pictures this time – on HIS camera…I’ll see if he’ll let me swipe them back)

14,000 things to contemplate

Ever wonder about the everyday and not-so-everyday things that make you smile? Those moments when you realize, “Huh…I really like that…” and you find yourself flooded with happiness? I am one of those people on earth who could be called a list-maker; I LOVE to make lists. I make lists on just about everything from things I need to do during a week, vacation ideas or plans, shopping lists (both gee-I-wish-I-could-buy and gotta-eat-sometime lists), idea lists, art I want to make or buy lists – I could go on and on. And one of my favorite books is all about lists.

I’ve had this book, 14,000 Things to be Happy About, since high school. My mom bought a couple of them as gifts for friends and I swiped one for myself. This is a book I have looked at numerous times and marked up with highlighters, red pencils, pens, and whatever lay within my grasp at the time. The book is a randomly compiled list of things that one could find themselves being very happy about…depending on what your tastes are, of course. Not everything in the book makes me go, “Gee, I am so happy when I think about a cat running 80 mph.” Hmmm, not so much. But others make me giggle with delight or secretly smile. Such as this one below:

The highlighted and starred line? Yeah, that about describes what happened when everything started to click between me and The Guy. Not at all expected but something that undeniably makes me happy. Now, this next one below, you’ll observe, is not only highlighted with red pencil, but it is also starred and underlined. Who doesn’t feel happy when this occurs?

I could go on and on forever with pictures of what I’ve marked up in this montrosity of a list. The reason why I even brought it up is that I came across this book again just the other day and it reminded me of how I really need very little to make me happy. Just reading about these items makes me happy let alone having them happen.

One of the cool things about these marked up pages is that it is a time capsule of sorts, a journal in some ways. I can read what I’ve thought about or what’s made me happy over the past something-something years (it’s since high school…just pretend I gave you a number, okay?) and look at any comments I jotted down or emphasis I put on certain items. There is not a page in the book that is not marked up in one way or another. I just wanted to put this out there in case anyone needs a little diddy to spur on some missing happiness…or at the very least, put a smile on your face.

Family pics from Island Park

I’ve grouped a few of the hundreds (literally, I took hundreds) of photos I shot over the past few days and made a few slide shows for ease of viewing. If any family would like some of the pics I’ve shot, shoot me an email and I will pass them along!

Group 1 – B-day celebrations, golfing, and Buttermilk reservoir

Group 2 – Dinner night at the Brewster cabin

Group 3 – Yellowstone and the rest

A few edited pics just for fun

Sweet escape

For the past 5 days, I’ve been enjoying the annual getaway at my family’s cabin up in Island Park, Idaho. It’s one of the most beautiful places on earth – in my humble opinion. You really feel like you get away from the hustle and bustle of “city life” and just get out and enjoy God’s green earth. I’ve been going up there ever since I was born and we still find new things to do, new activities to try that keep it fun and exciting.

This year, we happened to try a midnight float down Big Springs. The float down the river is one of my favorite things to do because you typically encounter a lot of wildlife and have a pretty good opportunity for fishing in some deep holes. It takes roughly 2 hours to float from the drop off point to our cabin which is just long enough to enjoy without making you go crazy. Floating at night is simultaneously thrilling and terrifying; you do not know what could be around the bend in the mist. Especially when a grizzly bear was spotted in certain areas a couple of days prior, there is a large bull moose wandering the land, and who knows what else. The mist was especially freaky and gave quite a chill. Those on the float were me, Caden, Ben, Natalie, Katie, Allison, and the parentals. We had three rafts hooked together with Ben/Me/Caden leading up front. Yeah, let’s just say that the other rafts thought it would be a nice leisurely ride while WE paddled the entire time. We got them back, however. When we happened around a bend and I saw a moose on the edge eating away, I whispered to Ben, “There’s a moose! Tell the others to be quiet!” (there was constant singing) As we got closer to the animal – which was HUGE – Ben took his paddle, pushed my sisters raft towards the moose and said, “Here, go feed IT!” The screaming and hilarity that ensued made me laugh so hard I cried. The poor moose may be scarred for life however…

Besides our family enjoying the cabin time up there, it was also our Taylor Family Reunion with my mother’s sibs. Some of these cousins I haven’t seen FOREVER and clearly they are all drinking some growth juice that makes them as tall as giants. With my height of 5′10″, I felt like a shrimp…or at least on par with most of them. We enjoyed rafting together, attending the Playmill for See How They Run (hilarity at it’s finest, folks), lovely jaunt through Yellowstone Park, swimming at Buttermilk Reservoir, golfing, dinners together, and other small group activities. I love those people.

Besides all the flurry of activity, I also had the opportunity to do the one thing I was most looking forward to: REST. The project I had been involved with at work launched the day before I left and the 18 hour days I worked up to that point had completely worn me out. I needed serious R&R. I ended up resting (I would say sleep but that’s a hard thing to do with 3 nieces and 1 nephew who don’t sleep), reading a whole bunch (what a luxury!), and decompressing completely from the stress that I had experienced. It was a much needed and well timed break! And now it’s back to the grindstone.

Two bro’s, cake, and many happy returns

Last night we celebrated my brother Ben and my brother-in-law Ryan’s birthdays. Their b-days are one day apart – Ben’s is on the 11th and Ryan’s is on the 12th. These two have been best of friends for as long as I can remember. They grew up together and lo and behold, Ryan ends up marrying my sister Natalie. So Ben got a best friend as a brother-in-law.

Ben is my “little” brother – he stands at 6′4″ and is a giant of a man. When I was younger, I used to pull on his ears, tease him, throw him off the porch, try to sell him, because you see he invaded my lovely world of “only child-ness” and threw a split into the attention I received. My dad used to say, “You better be nice to him because one day he will be bigger than you.” Little did I know how much  bigger. But thankfully my brother has never tried to capitalize on his height with me. I love him so much for who he is and what he does. He is a good husband, a great father to one firecracker of a little girl, and the best person I can think of that my little boy idolizes so very, very much.

Ryan, likewise, is a fantastic father to his brood and loving husband to my sister. He is one hard worker and Caden loves to spend time with him at his shop or construction sites when possible. Ryan is not a quiet guy, and by that I mean his booming voice. Those who know his dad, Russ, can attest to the fact that deep, booming, authoritative and commanding voices run in his family. But the timbre is always full of love. They are great big teddy bears, if you ask me. Ryan is one awesome brother to have and I love having him as a part of our family.

Enjoy the last year of your 20’s, boys.

(I think my sister Allison is so pretty in this shot)

and Logan ran away with the spoon…

Hogtied and sleep deprived

That is the perfect way to describe the last week of my life. I’ve been conspicuously absent from posting every day or every other day because essentially my life has been about one thing and one thing only: WORK. I’m not talking work that you have to do day in and day out. I mean my very profession that keeps me gainfully employed (at least for while…but let’s not talk about that again).

I’ve mentioned before that I work in a company that is fairly large and global and because of the nature of the beast, I sometimes work strange hours. Usually this is because my colleagues are located in Malaysia or Israel or Ireland and I adjust to help meet the differences in time zone. But the project that has essentially glued me to my laptop for the past 10 days has a U.S. based team. Yet just last Thursday I found myself on a phone call from 12:30 a.m. to 1:15 a.m. to address some issues on a project that takes flight tomorrow.

Ai yi yi! It has been a difficult and emotional week because working from 5:30 a.m. to past midnight every day will make you go nearly nuts/bonkers/achingly insane. It’s a project that may garner some very good recognition but it has just about sucked me dry. So therefore I have had no posts for over a week – because the well in my brain had run dry and there was no way I could contemplate spending anymore time on my laptop just to say hi. Although I almost did make a quick post to say, “No, I’m not dead – yet.”

The interesting end to my week is this: I am all alone. I have peace, quiet, solitude, freedom that doesn’t come along very often. Caden is off with grandparents up in Idaho at a reunion and I will meet them up there Tuesday at our lovely cabin in Island Park, ID. The Guy is in Atlanta at a trade show until Tuesday evening so no need to travel across the valley to spend time with each other. No church activities or responsibilities to tie up my weekend of just-me-time. It has been strangely wonderful and also somewhat disconcerting. I realized that I’m used to a cacophony of sound inhabiting my daily life – and this because I have a 7 year old boy who is not quiet. At first I relished the crashing wave of silence. And then it started to disturb as my mind began to wonder, ‘Where is he?’ Too often as mothers (and parents in general) we hear silence and think, “Uh oh, trouble.” I realized I’ve become accustomed to hearing something and I had to remind myself repeatedly that I needed to enjoy four days of QUIET. I’m still trying to get used to it, I have to admit…but I’m sure when it’s gone and back to normal, I’ll realize I should have paid more attention to the nothingness. Or not.