Wide awake at 2 AM:

My mind has been running a mile a minute this week. It's constantly jumping from one thing to the next without stopping -- important things, not so important things, everything. Friends, IT WON'T SHUT OFF. I feel like Hammy on Over the Hedge. So I'm just going to clutter my blog with some of the randomness. (NOTE: please forgive the lack of links in this post. In all my excitement I've forgotten where most of these came from. Shame on me.)

First off, this SUPER FANTASTIC world map. Isn't it beautiful!? I've drooled over it for awhile now but I'm starting to think I need to get my hands on one. It makes me want to travel (an entirely different topic that I can't get out of my head).

This picture makes me want to dye my hair red. Red red. I'm sure I'd look ridiculous, but I just love how pretty and fire-y it is.

I found my dream baby nursery. Strange considering I don't have children yet, but still. I may not know what they'll look like or what their little personalities will be like but I'll be darned if I don't have their room all picked out.

Although ... love the blue striped walls on this one so I'm torn. Which is okay considering the matter isn't urgent.

I'm going to try a new recipe this weekend: Banana Cinnamon Rolls. Well, it's actually a combining of two different recipes so we'll see how it turns out. I'm crossing my fingers they do because I need them for bribing purposes, as you'll see in a moment.

And speaking of baking, I reeeally think this pan would be fun -- mini bundts! Can you imagine anything cuter to eat!? Me either! Lots of exclamations!

And this woodcut is just great. I wanna hang it above my TV to remind me to read in my spare time instead of getting sucked into pointless things like LA Ink or America's Next Top Model.

And speaking of reading, last week I came across this quote. Awhile back my brother and I talked about this very thing and I'm happy to find a quote that tells it so succinctly. I guess sometimes we've just gotta jump in and prove ourselves to our Heavenly Father.

And to top it all off, I want to make a terrarium. Yes, a terrarium. Oh, and I'm also attempting to convince my dad and/or brother to help me build a bed. I plan to bribe them with cookies and BANANA CINNAMON ROLLS. Aaaand now it's come full circle :)

Beautiful blue skies!

Remember how beautiful and springish and greenish and fantastic it was last weekend? Hold onto that. Cause rumor has it Utah's gonna pull another fast one on us this week.

Let the games begin!

(Go Wildebeests!)

Good 'ol Ralph

Trace aka TNT aka Toogers

Just another boring Venable Sunday dinner...

E

Muserrific

Ahhh Muse. Good show.

And how's this for awesomeness: my favorite part of the show with one of my favorites of their songs:

Quite a different show than Michael Buble. Or was it .... ?:

YES, that's a piano up there on stage. I'm a sucker for a good song put to piano. And that's what I like to call ... Muserrific.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday AND conference weekend? Suffice it to say that Monday can wait. (No really, Monday ... stall or something.) Wanna know what this time of year meant when I was younger? A NEW EASTER DRESS! And usually a matching one. Don't you worry --  found a pic to illustrate:

Minus Curlie, of course. Not sure where she was hiding for this one. But aren't you jealous of my dress? I remember LOVING the shiny ribbon on it. And how about Josh's stubby little tie? Quite the little Dapper Dan.

While an Easter dress still sounds pretty appealing to me, it's of course not the main focus as it was back then. So today of all days I'm grateful for the knowledge of who I am, why I'm here, and the sacrifice that was made for me. And since music can sometimes say it best, I'll let this video take care of the rest. Redeemer by Paul Cardall. Definitely a beautiful song and a great way to say .... HAPPY EASTER! 

MB

YOU GUYS. Isn't Michael Buble just so dreamy? Do I sound like a lovesick 15 year old yet? Well he IS dreamy. So there. Oh, and he has a nice voice too.

And that's that. I wish pictures could do it justice!

Chips + ice cream + gummy bears = ick

So I was in Ogden last Saturday and decided to run at the parkway … just like old times. It started off as an okay run but pretty soon my body started rebelling. This may or may not have been because of my not so smart pre-run decision of eating kettle cooked potato chips and Death by Chocolate ice cream. Hindsight is 20/20. That being said, I need to explain myself. I’m usually pretty smart about eating good stuff when I know my body is going to need it in order to torture itself for a couple hours straight. But I was at my parents’ house. And they sometimes buy potato chips (POTATO CHIPS!) And I’m sorry, but I’d like to see you try resisting something named “Death by Chocolate.” Frankly, my body should be thanking me for not breaking into their food storage and scoring myself a can of cream soda to wash it all down with. Oh and then there were the gummy bears on the drive down to the parkway. I tried to convince myself that they would be of the same value to me as sport beans or gels. Which, for the record, they were not.

Anyway. So there I was. Dragging my poor little potato chip-ice cream-gummy bear filled self down the pathway, hell-bent on getting my allotted mileage for the week. I tried really hard to distract myself so as to stop thinking about collapsing on the nearest grassy spot. I put on all my favorite songs … dreamt about camera lenses … planned out my dream house with pretty shutters and tulips in the front yard (and a hammock) …. but no luck. It was only after I started people watching that I forgot my gnarled stomach. Have you ever people watched at the parkway? Almost as good as the mall (although not nearly as good as the state fair). Pretty sure I saw it all. Examples:

• A man running barefoot. BAREFOOT! I’m told it’s all the rage now, but I’m just not on that bandwagon quite yet. And not to mention running barefoot in a public place? With shards of glass just waiting to git ya? No, but thanks anyway.
• A couple furiously making out on a blanket during their “picnic.”
• Rollerbladers! Each spring I say that this is going to be my rollerblading summer. Maybe it really will be this time.
• Some very unhappy looking runners. Which I suppose isn’t so amusing because that’s probably what I looked like as well.
• A sketchy group of kids huddled together down by the river. Nothing good ever happens with a sentence like that.
• WAAAY too much buttcrack for this time of year. Or ever. I swear it was attacking me from every direction.
• THE BIGGEST DOG OF MY LIFE. Seriously. Freaked me right out.
• All the tweens at the skate/bmx park trying to impress each other with their mad skills. And since when did 11 year olds start wearing skinny jeans? Is it cause of those Jonas boys?
• And. Saving the best for last. I saw a man, locked out of the parkway bathroom, franticly rush to a nearby NOT VERY TALL concrete barrier and do his business. Considering the height of the barrier, the absence of full trees, and the fact that the park was hoppin’ with families enjoying the spring weather … well, I got a kick out of it for sure. The frantic look on his face was pricess. And before you decide that I’m some sort of peeping pervball, I didn’t see a thing. I averted my eyes like any lady should when a stranger nearly pees his pants in front of her.

See? SO much better than worrying if my stomach is going to eat itself alive.

What’s that? You want another pic of cute Easton? Okay I suppose I could do that. For you.

 All together now .... aaaahhhhh. Cute as ever. And holding on tight :)

Guess who lost her first tooth?

And would you look at those adorable freckles?? She's getting so big. Don't even ask Josh & Jill how they feel about sending her off to kindergarten later this year ....

Rainbows

Weren't yesterday's rainstorms crazy fun? Okay maybe "crazy fun" is an exaggeration, but I'll admit to liking rainy days. And as we were parking at the gym we saw this pretty little thing:

It was actually a double rainbow but unfortunately the double portion was super faint on our side. Despite the poor cell phone quality of the pic it still qualifies for my picture of the day collection. All rainbows have an automatic in. AND it got me super excited to make these again for St. Patrick's Day next week!

Now if only I'd had time to search out the supposed pot of gold at the end of that rainbow ...

Awesomeness

I'll never have this kind of patience. But I can appreciate those who do!

One more ...

While I'm on the topic of pretty things, here's one more. If I'm irresponsible in the mornings and don't scrape off my driver side window this is what I get. Isn't it great? I love the intricate details of each crystal. And really love how the crystals look as if they're leaves on the tree. I'm really not a morning person, but stuff like this at least takes the edge off a bit. 

One of these days I'll do a post without a picture. But don't hold your breath.

My mouse path

Saw this online other day and my inner nerd was intrigued. So I tried it. Here is my "mouse path" for half a day at work. The lines are movement and the dots are times where the mouse isn't moving at all. I think it's kinda ... pretty. And interesting. And makes me think about carpal tunnel yet again.

You can do your own here.