I often go walking...

It's decision time again...this spring the work begins on the yard. We're a couple weeks behind the bloom times in the valley but we really do need to get going. We've hired a landscape designer and this afternoon we met with her at a local nursery to look at plant selections. I really had no idea quite what to expect but after seeing her preliminary drawings for the yard I am excited! We came across some definite No!s,(no ornamental pines or juniper) but we have some really unique spots that I'm excited to work with. Hopefully somewhere between my idea of profusions of color (see above picture) and Brian's ideal of sparse rocks and bark we'll find a compromise. Wish us luck!

Cream Puff Paradise

I confess, it's not mine...but it soon could be. I spent yesterday afternoon at Chocolatier Blue for a pastry class. When my friend called with the invitation to join her I figured I was long overdue for a girls afternoon. Thanks to my awesome Mom, who took my girls, I got to go and do one of my favorite things. Baking makes me happy and this kind of baking makes me really happy.

We made flourless chocolate cake, pate a choux and pastry cream.

Flourless Chocolate Cake is one of my all time decadent dessert faves. Our chef showed us how to make a blackberry gelee to top it off and I think I might have a new favorite topping...the recipe was so simple and the thoughts of how many ways I could use it sent me into spirals of delight...homemade vanilla ice cream, apple crisp, grilled peaches, lemon cheesecake...I could go on...

The pate a choux was new for me, I've seen many recipes but never tried it. As soon as I have vanilla beans to make the pastry cream (and for homemade ice cream) I know how I will spend a couple delightful hours in my kitchen. Does anyone want to go in on those? They come in a pack of 75 on www.pastrychef.com and I just can't see myself using all of them in the next couple of months. The pastry cream was fantastic, and as I watched I kept thinking I can do this!

As I left after class I couldn't help it...I picked out a box of chocolates to take home. It was my reward for not licking my fingers the entire 3 hour duration of class...and I have to say they have been worth every calorie I will have to run or bike this week to equal out!

Little Things

Sometimes in life we get lost in the stuff. The next big project, the company from out of town, the never-ending laundry and the mundane jobs that need to be accomplished. But I've decided that in the midst of chaos you can still choose to be happy. There is pleasure to be found in each day. You just have to decide what brings you joy. My list is simple and long it's made up of little things that are sometimes significant to only me, but they bring satisfaction to each day. Tonight was full of good things, book club (always a treat) but even better good friends, and silliest of all a night time field trip to a brand new...of all things grocery store...where we arrived to late to get the gelato we were all hoping for, but still in time for the gelato maker behind the counter to let us sample each of his flavors. So with the taste of pink grapefruit gelato still on my tongue I'll sleep contentedly until tomorrow with it's own list of simple pleasures.

Sidelines

side·line [sahyd-lahyn] 1. the position or point of view taken by a person who observes an activity or situation but does not directly participate in it. 2. not my first choice for today, but 3. a great place to cheer on my friends who did a fantastic job running the SLC 1/2 marathon today! Way to go Laura & Lisa!

Why is it that my best laid plans always go so seriously awry?

Today was the SLC 1/2 marathon. The one that I blogged about at the beginning of the year, because if I put it in writing I would be more committed to training for....the training part I could handle, the injury part I hadn't counted on. I tore one of my left calf muscles at the end of January and although I could walk again after a week I haven't been able to run since.

So I've been feeling a little bit sorry for myself...and then Brian and I got road bikes. We had been talking about them for a while and I was trying to convince him that I was serious about doing a triathlon. And so instead of pouting this morning we called some friends and went for a bike ride. I was committed to the mouth of American Fork Canyon and back. I was hoping that it would be about 10 miles, but by the time we got back to where we had parked I had ridden 23 miles! We added an up the canyon and around the Mt. Timpanogos temple loop and it was a lot of fun!

I'll still complete a half marathon. And the Wasatch Back relay is still on my list. But I've now added "Little Red Riding Hood" a bike ride just for women up in Logan in June. So right now I am still and out of shape recovering runner but one way or another I will still have fun this summer...

Ten signs your baby is not so little anymore!

10. She can write her own name, and knows her address and telephone number.
9. She talks confidently to strangers about every exciting part of her day.
8. She has a favorite website and can log-in with her own user-name and password.
7. Her appearances at your bedside in the middle of the night are counted monthly instead of nightly.
6. She is too old for Elmo and Dora the Explorer, and she knows who Hannah Montana is.
5. She can play guitar hero and fancies herself a drummer.
4. She is able and willing to help empty the dishwasher, the garbages and clean out her own sink.
3. Her bicycle and scooter now only have two wheels each!
2. She dresses herself and wants to do her own hair with all the logic and style sense of a five-year old.

AND

1. The tooth fairy has made her first visit to this little princess!

Roatan-part 1

Now this was a vacation...

Great diving for a week...Private little cabin tucked in the mangroves over the water...all the food that you can eat (and more than I should have)...zip lines in the jungle...and time with just Brian. Ahh, just writing that makes me want to go back....

The diving was fun. We had a lot of fun swim throughs, awesome ocean life...I saw a free swimming moray eel over 6 feet long! Turtles, huge crabs, an octopus, 3 squid in formation, my first garden eels lots and lots of fish and we did a really cool dolphin dive and some wreck dives. I stayed safely on the outside...you'll have to talk to Brian about how cool it was inside.

And our "cabin" was awesome, beautiful inside with hardwood floors and a generally hot shower. And we shared a little deck with hammocks and chairs with two other couples that were friends, so we had a nice gathering place to just sit and chat and watch an awesome storm on one of our last days.

The zip line started at the top of a hill and 18 zips later landed us on the beach in a Gumbalimba Nature Preserve where we got sat upon by macaws and monkeys. (Something that I thought would be a lot cooler than it actually was, it was stinky and messy...check that off the life list and glad to know for future reference). The zip line was very fun! You get harnessed in and then you get to fly through the jungle, what an awesome experience.

We were also with friends so in addition to "together" time we also just got to hang out. We had a great week. And I have to say a special thanks to Ben & Alison for staying with the girls (especially for weathering one of the "worstest days ever" in 4-year-old land). You guys are the best! And we will return the favor anytime!

Jumping In

When Brian and I moved to SunCrest we did more than just buy a lot and build a house. We bought into an ideal. Mountain living, quiet neighborhoods, trails, pocket parks, a neighborhood market and gathering place. So with all the gloom and doom in the local papers, roads falling apart and a developer in default, I've been wondering how this affects me and how I can still have my ideal.
I have been amazed at our neighborhood involvement. Anyone who feels that one person can not make a difference should see my community get together. A group of residents has formed just to present a unified voice. They have lobbied for (and had passed) legislation, canvassed the neighorhoods, befriended the city council, and just in general provided a forum for ideas and concerns to be discussed. Without having any legal authority they have become the place where people go for answers and solutions. Individuals can make a difference!
So, in addition to joining the residents group I am also running to become a neighborhood voting member for our local Owner's Association. (Isn't that supposed to be the worst, nastiest job ever?) But I have high hopes, and after watching our residents in action I think I can still have my ideal as well.