A Few of My Favorite Things

I found that listing my favorite things helps me to be more positive (ha! imagine that). Listing the things I'm grateful for provides the same result and oft times the lists are comparable. As I was pondering my favorite things I decided to post some. That way I could provide a little more insight (as the thought process moves a little more when putting thoughts into writing) and I would, uh, have something to refer back to...in times of need.

I like lists. Lists make me happy. Odd? Perhaps, but something about the organization, the knowledge that I no longer have to remember what is listed, and the ability to cross-stuff off the list is so liberating to me. Assuming I don't forget the location of the list. A solution I found for lost lists? Yes. A spiral bound notebook about the size of my hand and 1 inch thick. ALL of my lists are in there. 'To Do' lists, 'To Buy' lists, 'WANT' lists, Project lists, all of the above.

Musicals. Musicals make me so very happy. I love the random outbursts of song, the dancing, the cliches in the plots, all of it. Love, love, love, love, LOVE them. My senior year in highschool, just after I'd moved from Broken Arrow, OK to Bloomington, IN Sophia and I became friends. Sophia shares my love for musicals and together we created a once a week musical club night (of which we were the only two members) it was awesome!

Red Robin. This place testifies to me that Heavenly Father loves me and wants me to be happy. No, not really, but yeah, almost. Only at Red Robin can you get a burger that could swallow your face, bottomless potato fries (REAL fries not the sissy stuff you get at fast food places or Steak n Shake (I have a loathing disdain for Steak n Shake fries, they are a disgrace. What kind fried potato is anorexic? A Steak n Shake fry.) Back to Paradise, Red Robin, just the name of this place melts away all the seething disgust brought on by the no-more-to-be-named-disgrace-of-a-fry. Aw, Red Robin, and the Banzai Burger. Those two are like chocolate and peanut butter, they should be married. I LOVE to go to Red Robin and DELIBERATELY stuff my face so I have to roll out to my car. Mostly I really don't like to eat to much the icky, sicky, stuffed feeling is just not worth it. Except at Red Robin.

Cascade dishwasher soap. That stuff makes my dishes so beautiful. For a while we were having trouble with calcium buildup and I tried all sorts of things and Cascade With Bleach made everything beautiful and I was no longer embarrassed to have people over and drink out of my cups or eat off my plates. Even though I KNEW I'd washed them, you sure did wonder. Love to you people at Cascade!

My piano. Last August the kids and I went out to Utah to my cousins wedding. Brendan had only been home from Kenya about a month and was able to get any time away from his rotations. He stayed home but on one of his days off he headed to Bloomington where a music store was going out of business. ALL of their retail was clearanced out and I came home to a new piano in my living room that Brendan paid dirt for! It was such a wonderful surprise! I don't play it as often as I would like, there are a great many things going on in my life (and at this particular moment, it's really too late to be playing the piano) I love filling my home with my music a couples nights a week and I love listening to The Elephant and The Giraffe play on the keys singing made up songs at the top of their lungs! Life is so beautiful.

Sleep. I really love my sleep. Its one of the things I miss the most from my pre-children days. The feeling of rest and relaxation, the quiet darkness, the way your body tingles as the labors of the day close... and your eyes shut... and you just... breathe...

A little Inspiration

I am a movie-quoter.
Pretty sure its something genetic in my family.
If you don't believe check out my Dad and then take a look at my three year old (who can quote parts of Toy Story and Cars that I don't even remember existing, and I know those movies pretty darn well, or so I thought).
I LOVE quoting movies and I LOVE throwing out a movie line in a big group and searching the surrounding faces for any signs of recognition (and it bitterly disappoints me when no one recognizes it).
Brendan and I sat down to a movie this weekend, Invictus. Seen it? Good movie. It made me think of Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea (a book EVERYONE should read, and I mean EVERYONE it would help make the world a better place. Read it. Again.) Invictus, not really a quotable movie. Some really good lines and quotes from Nelson Mandela himself. Definitely some mantras by which to live. I was touched by the movie. It left me knowing I could be better at serving my fellow man (and yes, that refers to both genders, I'm not PC, it's overrated and a little ridiculous) and at understanding them. Our similarities, our differences, our likes, pleasures, passions, motivations, circumstances, cultures, beliefs, philosophies, traditions, trials, and habits.
I can do that.
Oddly enough, the line that inspired me most of all was in a different direction than the movie takes the audience. I was struck by how The Holy Ghost can speak to us through most everything and how people can sit for the same lesson and come away having learned different things while still grasping the overall message.
Amidst the World Cup game, the Springboks verses the All Blacks I was impressed by the determination and resolve, and the defense. It reminded me of some of the rugby games my three younger brothers played in high school. Rugby is a sport of knowledge of the game and sheer will. I like rugby. During a time out called by the Springboks, the team captain is giving a little bit of a pep talk. He said to his men, "Hold on. Don't let go. Help will come. Help will come." Now the circumstance in which the above line was said is obviously different than the general application for which I am going to use it BUT the very idea of it struck me so profoundly. A group working together, they know and care for each other. They come running when the help is needed, and the participants know "Help will come."
There are so many moments in my life right now where all I can accomplish is mere survival. There are also many moments where I feel like I can take on the world and my attempts often leave me, holding on. Not letting go, no progression, no regression, not really even idleness, just constant strain. "Hold on...Help will come." Sometimes the wait is long. Sometimes the wait is painful. Sometimes the wait is mere patience, or impatience.
Help will come.
Help does come! and it's glorious!