Tacky Party

Last night I went to a tacky birthday party for my friend Tessa. I had never been to one before! The only rule was to dress in the tackiest clothes you could find. I don't have any pictures of us yet, but I will try to put one in my next post because they're not on my camera. But needless to say, we all looked pretty awesome! There was a Heritage Halls dance that Sydney and I stopped at after the party (still dressed in our tacky threads) and we definitely got a few compliments on our outfits. I really think everyone should just dress tacky once in a while, it's very liberating wearing an outfit that you know is so ugly that people do double takes as you walk by... and not caring about it at all! :)

The Meteors STRIKE!!

Wow. I haven't seen anything like it. Lying on a hillside with a few friends looking up to the sky last night was a rewarding event. We saw a dozen or more incredible meteor shows. One of the first we caught was probably the brightest I have ever seen! (and I have seen many in my day at echo, with a mirror image on the water!) It streaked across the sky in such a fireball blaze that I could hardly believe what I saw! The works of nature surprised me. I have a renewed sense of awe for my Father in Heaven. Upon further pondering today, I have a stronger desire to do as He directs!

Ben on the not so Big Screen

Even though this was posted under Snej it was me, Char, who posted this. I clarify who should take credit for this little clip because it took huge effort to find camera, find charger, find converter, charge camera battery, find cord to upload to computer and then wait for it upload onto blogger which by the way TOOK SOOO LONG TO UPLOAD. So I'm proudly taking my bows, thank you, thank you....

(And yes it would be much easier if I had all of our camera stuff just organised - but it's not and that's just how life is with me sometimes.)

Good luck!

Good luck on your marathon tomorrow, Ian!

Our hikes

I'm grateful for our family hikes and am especially grateful that we have managed to resurrect them in the past couple of weeks. We used to hike every weekend before Oliver was two but then got to a stage when Oliver was too big to carry on a hike and too uninterested to go on any! Now that he's a bit older though we've found that he manages walking much better and seems to enjoy going on a hike a lot more than he used to. Ben fits right into our little Baby Bjorn we have for him and falls asleep as soon as he's in the fresh air.

One of our favourite hikes (that is a mere 10 min drive from our flat) is a small peak called Cairn Mon Earn and close to the site of an old Roman camp. We've hiked it twice in the last two weeks and it gives great views of the surrounding area. We'll have to make sure that Nana is able to make it up there if she makes it here one last time before we leave.

I'm grateful for live music!

I've become a little bit of a concert junkie since coming to LA. I can't really help it! I have so many opportunities to see amazing live music. A couple weeks ago a friend on mine and I went and saw Regina Spektor. It was so awesome! The venue was this outdoor concert hall called the Greek. It was a little chilly that night (for LA) but the blowing wind added a fun effect to the already awesome concert. Regina didn't seem to mind. The wind tossled her hair but she's just say cute things like, 'I hope our love is keeping y'all warm tonite.' Coming from Russia I guess she can handle adverse weather. She's a good performer live.

My favorite of hers, ever since Mercedes mentioned it back in '06, is 'Fidelity.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGTDRztaCCw
It has about 14 000 000 views, and I'm sure about 5 000 of them are mine. I just LOVE the music and the artistry of the video. So I was stoked first of all that she was performing here at all and secondly that I would be able to hear my favorite song live. I kept waiting for it and waiting for it- she performed some songs with her band and then on her own. Then she brought out her guitar... I kept wondering when she'd play 'Fidelity.' Well the concert ended and she began an encore, of course. Still I didn't hear my familiar favorite! Well... she finished up that song and the band came back out. Only then did I hear the familiar strains of the bouncy opening to one of my favorites. I felt complete. It was awesome to hear a fun variation on it :)

I'm grateful for goals

So my marathon is coming up on Saturday. I'm pretty nervous about it. That said, I've been pretty diligent about following my training schedule and building up my stamina. I haven't been perfect (which may account for some of the nervousness) but its been such a great experience getting in shape in preparation for this big day. I've had fitness goals in the past (ie lose weight) but after a while I lose interest and my goal fades. The marathon goal has been so much better in the sense that I'm preparing for some particular event or activity. It has kept me very motivated and focused. I think that having a very specific objective is important in goal setting no matter what area we're focusing on. I'm trying to apply that to other areas now. Instead of a goal to "read my scriptures", I've set a goal to "finish the Doctrine and Covenants before the end of the year". Then, I try to work up a schedule to help achieve it. I hope that is helpful to some of you!