100 Happy Days...Part 7

Day #61- August 9, 2014
“Hope is the thing with feathers 
That perches in the soul 
And sings the tune without the words 
And never stops at all” 
-Emily Dickinson

It's not every day that you get to witness a new family created and we could not be happier for our sweet cousin, the now Mrs. Katie Jensen Kinkini. So loved being with family this weekend and could not be happier for all involved. Excited these two cute kiddos now get to call Katie...Mom. Lots of love. Lots of hope. So much happiness. 
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Day #62 - August 10, 2014 

Day #63 - August 11, 2014

Day #64 – August 12, 2014
Yesterday, on my way to work, this little ditty was presented by my nerdy NPR friends…and once again…delightful enlightenment bounced through my car radio. I was riveted by this whole idea of “mise-en-place” and its universal application to life not just in a kitchen but life...life. How different would life be if we could really “mise-en-place” just a few more things? It's not about crazy over the top organization...however, I do love a good organizing system, post-it notes, binder clips, nesting boxes and my heart will always belong to my Franklin day planner (may it RIP).... it’s about being more purposeful in your planning...looking for efficiencies...being wise with time and resources and emotion. A “mise-en-place” life takes work and energy and vision beyond whatever task or crisis or event is blinking or worse catching on fire right before your eyes. The older I get...the more life I experience…the more confident I’ve become...that my ability to “mise-en-place” is absolutely connected to the amount of sleep, laughter, creative downtime, spirituality, consistent access to children and hydration I experience on a daily basis. I've engaged in a bit of a life balance tango over the last eighteen months...lots of pulling...lots of pushing...a few dramatic and unexpected dips, spins and twirls...and as expected...there have been plenty of shiny sequins and associated flashy bits and now it seems like I’m ramping up to (I hope) a big big finish….I'm done with frantic. I'm done with too much work squeezed into too little time. I'm done with over achievement. I'm done with busy for busy's sake. I've sampled the delusional rush of too too much for too too long and I'm pretty much over it. Without knowing the fancy term...I've been working on improving my personal “mise-en-place” for the last year and can I just say…it feels good to have made a little progress. Small determined consistent choices that are centered and focused in ONE direction…can truly produce not just real world efficiencies…but generate an increased quality of life. If my real life was actually a commercial kitchen (and let’s get real, I’m more like a comfortable greezy spoon diner that you all know you enjoy eating at on weekends) I am still so be so far from a four star rating or anything close to a fancy Michelin award…and that is absolutely okay with me. Progress is progress and I’ll take it… a little “mise” here…a little “place” there…and things are looking up….way up! So, here is another big thank you to those nerdy NPR reporters for once again making my worldview just a tiny bit bigger. If you did not catch it yesterday…click on the link below and give it a listen…it’s a good one…
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Day #65 - August 14, 2014

Day #66 - August  

Day #67 – August 15, 2014
Crickets. I love the sound if chirping crickets at night. In Dallas, it was the constant buzz of cicadas but in the west....it's the crickets that provide a steady rhythm reminding me that a summer night, and one with a full moon and cool breeze, is something to be treasured. 
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 Day #68 - August 16, 2014 

Day #69 – August 17, 2014
Well, in less than two hours my beloved summer break will come to a close. Summer 2014...has have been a gift...a treasure...a dear friend...and I will forever be grateful for the three beautiful months of free time and flexibility. Even as I have been working in education for well over fifteen years, 2014 has been the first year that I’ve actually been able to cash in the summer time perk of working in education. In the past, summer break has always been my busy season full of exciting programs and camps and projects and I always celebrate when we reach the end of August. Tonight, after three blissful months of unscheduled unencumbered free time, I’m still celebrating but this year it’s just a little bit different.

As three sun filled months come to a close and knowing that starting tomorrow my calendar is full of respectable adult responsibilities and meetings, I can thankfully report my little experiment worked. Instead of planning and executing a summer programs for a city full of youth or teens or kiddos, I decided to craft a little summer program of my own…just for me. Once my contract with Westminster College ended, I engaged in a personal walk about complete with daily access to children, a creative outlet, a rigorous reading list, a few thoughtful field trips, plenty of pool time, lots of journaling and enough freedom and free time to just sit with the natural vulnerability associated to life in the late thirties. As I had hoped, this little experiment has successfully generated an ever so slight yet meaningful change inside of me...I don't think you can put a value on slowing down the clock long enough to catch your breath, catch up on sleep, catch a glimpse of who you have become and have enough time to reflect upon how it all happened, catch up with good friend, catch a few afternoon movies by yourself in the middle of the day, catch up on your reading list, and catch your self actually taking the time to heal and address some of the broken bits that you’ve strategically avoided for years. Thanks to my little summer time walk about, the perennial late bloomer in me is finally beginning to understand what it means to really take care of yourself, what I need and don’t need to feel happy, what engaging in a creative process does for my heart and soul, what an impact daily access to kids does for my sense of perspective and fulfillment and how grateful I am for the good, the bad, and the supper messy part of this human existence.

I knew this day would come...”Back to Reality Eve”…and for the most part, I think I’m ready to jump back into the fray of a full-time adult life…it’s a pretty good gig and I have no real complaints…giving up my afternoon naps may take some time so if you swing by my office around 4:00 p.m. please knock gently and forgive the drool…re-entry on all fronts may take some time and it’s a good thing my colleagues at Westminster are all in the same boat. Deep breaths, right? Bring on meetings. Bring on the mail merges. Bring on the conference calls. Bring on the bouquet of freshly sharped pencils…2014-15 let’s do this! Ready or not, here I come!

100 Happy Days...Part 6

Day #51 – July 30, 2014 

With the Summer 2014 sadly coming to a close and with the announcement of Sharknado 2…I’ve been inspired to highlight five of the best/worst disaster movies ever made. I love a good explosion. I love a completing impractical situation that arc at about the 75 min mark. I love a predictable love connection between two damaged yet lovable hero’s…normally a divorced mom falls for an almost unemployed and rouge scientific nerdy bad boy. I love anticipating which supporting side character gets just enough air time to become believable and then dies at an epic moment…and often to save a bus full of seniors or a dog or critical piece of life saving technology. I love a good/bad disaster movie and they seem especially fitting during the summer. Should you be in the mood…here is how I rank the top five best/worst disaster movies:

5. Deep Impact (1998) staring Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni and Elijah Wood…plot highlights…unless a comet can be destroyed before colliding with Earth, only those allowed into shelters will survive. Which people survive? Total nail bitter.

4. Twister (2000) staring an angry Helen Hunt and her ex lover Bill Paxton…plot highlights…Bill and Jo Harding, advanced storm chasers on the brink of divorce, must join together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes. Helen rocks wind blown hair like nobody’s business.

3. Independence Day (1996) starting the bad boy favorite Will Smith, the loveable Bill Pullman as a young POTUS and who plays nerdy addicted super scientist better than the dreamy Jeff Goldblum (hubba hubba). Best quote of 1996…. rally speech…“Today…Today is OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY!

2. Armageddon (1998) Bruce Willis plays the angry yet protective father, Billy Bob Thornton plays the grimy yet brilliant off shore oil man, young buck Ben Affleck was cast to appeal to the ladies and the lovely Liv Tyler brings them all together. Most moving and inspirational presidential call to arms of the 90’s

1. Dante’s Peak (1997) staring “James Bond eat your heart out,” Pearce Brosnan and the “why does she look familiar but I don’t really know her” Linda Hamilton. THIS film is actually one of my all time favorites. It’s got kids, local politics, the hope for love inside a small town, a bad to the bone grandma, a Surburban complete with a snorkel…AND… HOT LAVA! Plot summary: a volcanologist (is that even a real career?) arrives at a countryside named Dante’s Peak after a long dormant volcano, which has recently been named the second most desirable place to live in America, and discovers that Dante’s Peak, may wake up at any moment. OH…YES! YES! YES! 
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Day #52 - July 31, 2014

Day #53 - August 1, 2014

Day #54 – August 2, 2014
High School. Three emotion and experience filled years that somehow have a strong impact on the rest of your life. It’s been twenty years since I roamed the halls of Taylorsville High School. Twenty years since I was responsible to know a locker combination. Twenty years since we walked in herds to the bathroom, to the Scone Cutter and down D hall. Twenty years since we used a ridiculous amount of mouse, gel, and hair spray to secure really big perm-ed hair and ratted bangs. Twenty years since clubs and teams and clicks shaped the perimeters of our social networks. How and why did we get our hair so big? How many football games did we actually win? How were lace collars, plaid shirts and so so so much denim ever considered a good idea? Twenty years. Twenty years?

There is something interesting about looking back to your teenage years with your grown-up adult eyes. And hasn't this reflective practice has been the topic for endless love songs and John Hughes films? High school reunions are a perfect blend of complete silliness and meaningful reminiscence and provide ample opportunities for self-reflection. I’ve been wondering….what would the adult version of me say to that insecure nerdy theater kid that I most absolutely was in high school? I think I’d look her square in the eyes, shake her a bit and tell her to start paying attention in class, start actually reading the books and completing the homework assignments, start believing that you really are enough, start looking out for those who may need a friend regardless of what others may think, allow yourself to relax a bit, have a little more fun and stop trying to BE…and just be.

I may never really understand why these three years get such play in conversation and inside our memories but today at a local city park and over a plate of boiled potatoes and chicken it felt good to be surrounded by people who shared in this common experience. The people who really mattered back then…were the people who helped make tonight a real celebration of human development. Feels good to have conquered most of the uncomfortable awkwardness of adolescence. I’m grateful that we all get better with time and the somewhat divisive and confusing lines of adolescence seem to blur a little or a lot with age. I’m grateful for the good people and friendships that were part of my life back then and for those connections and friendships that were rekindled tonight. I grateful for the shared experience of being a Taylorsville warrior and I’m equally grateful that life gets infinitely better with twenty more years.

We're the warriors and we're the best.
We've got courage deep inside. 
(Bla bla bla insert the rest of the fight song that nobody except Mike Winder really knew here....and then the big finish....)
W-A-double R-I-O-R-S!

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Day #55 – August 3, 2014
I've always loved Cherrios and I'm a big fan of authentic and aware parenting. Check this out....love everything about it. 
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Day #56 – August 4, 2014
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Optimist quote

Day #57...part 2...- August 5, 2014
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Day#58 – August 7, 2014
Happy Burke day! A few weeks ago, while exploring Jackson Hole, Burke and I stopped for a quick visit with my brother and his family who were also vacationing at beautiful Wyoming ranch house. My two teenage nephews, like many adolescent boys, have focused some time learning, creating and playing with homemade medieval weapons....I know....I know....so completely nerdy and yet it seems to be a necessary rite of passage for so so many. It's truly a wonder what a few roles of duck tape, some foam pieces and PVC pipes can turn into if given enough time, curiosity and teenage testosterone. When we arrived at the ranch we were shown their summer time arsenal and right before my eyes my now 38 year old husband returned to his teenage self and quickly began examining their handy work asking questions about their construction methods and material choice and all the while using words using I had never heard before in my life. My nephews lit up with joy and excitement as they knew they were connecting with a like minded nerd who truly spoke their language. Both boys, reveling in their creativity and overall accomplishments, puffed up a bit and bravely challenged their uncle to a duel. The three of them, all drunk with excitement, selected their homemade weapons and headed out to battle.

While Burke and I were dating, I learned that during his developmental years he and his brothers and cousins created similar swords and shields and battle axes in a similar way. This nerdy hobby may have spooked others girls but it did not really phase me as I come from a long line of nerdy enthusiasts. As I watched them first debate and then decide their weapons it became clear this would be absolutely hilarious to watch and provided me a glimpse of my husband as a nerdy teenage boy...priceless....please, enjoy the attached video.

It's not everyday that you see a giant grown man battle two determined teenagers and all behind a stunning mountain back drop, right? Well, this kind of thing actually happens a lot around our house...but with far fewer homemade weapons and normally within the expected Salt Lake City arena. My sweet husband willingly and courageously goes to battle for my benefit and for the good of our marriage and family all of the time. He rarely fights with duck tape swords but he bravely continues to protect, defend and provide in the most noble of ways. So very grateful that we are married. Burke makes everything better, he makes me laugh, he does my laundry, he keeps me informed, he cares for our cars and technology, he listens...and listens....and listens...and he does it with the happiest disposition. He works hard for me and for our currently imaginary children. He is good to the core and I'm so very happy to help celebrate 38 years. Burke Rich...Happy Birthday...you are my all time favorite person....duck tape swords and all.
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Day #59 - August 7, 2014  

Day #60 – August 8, 2014
The moon tonight was clearly created for young lovers. Nobody puts on a wedding better than the Rich family and tonight's celebration for Burke's cousin Katie Jensen and her charming husband to be Aaron was picture perfect. The lovely bride and handsome groom were honored with a perfect blend of pink and peach flowers, ribbons and dresses, a prefect summer evening complete with a refreshing breeze, warm lighting provided by hanging lanterns, a delicious and unique array of food, gelato in sugar cones, a cake to beat all other cakes and most importantly the love of family and friends. The evening was so perfect I only snapped a few photos as things began to wrap up. Looking forward to continuing the festivities tomorrow and celebrating the creation of this new little family. Here's to summer wedding and young lovers.
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100 Happy Days...Part 5

Day #41- July 19, 2014

Located in skids of Bountiful, Utah is a dingy hole in the wall burger joint that has successfully made people happy since 1957. If you grew up in Davis county like I did I’m betting you know the exact place that I’m talking about…you can order a burger, a foot long, fries, tots, chicken fingers like many other greeeeezy spoons but the thing that really draws the crowd is the legendary Rainbow or it’s trusty sidekick THE worlds best Popsicle...the ASTRO Bar. Ladies and gentlemen put your hands together for the unforgettable Pace’s Dairy Ann. Last night, under the strange green glow of florescent lights Burke and I visited one of my childhood favorites for a sweet treat. For those who have not sampled it’s magic…the Rainbow is a blend of soft serve ice-cream, the perfect degree of crushed ice and a few careful, and if you are lucky generous, squirts of flavor. They’ve got grape, lime, peach, cherry, and now tigers blood. You can mix flavors and the crew of seasonal high school students will even create a kamikaze should you ask…but I suggest you don’t…keep it simple and order the peach or the lime or the….who am I kidding you can’t really go wrong. Just get one…and the sooner the better. Should you ever find yourself north of Salt Lake City it’s actually kind of a Davis county duty to suggest that you stop in and sample the magic. Long live Pace’s Dairy Ann!
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Day #42 - July 20, 2014 

Day #43 - July 21, 2014 

Day #44 - July 22, 2014 

Day#45 – July 23, 2014
I've loved Carol Burnett since childhood and her talents seem endless. I'm glad I live in a world where Mrs. Wiggins sets a high bar for office professionalism. Fashion tips and social cues are taken to extremes to generate a good laugh. And I'd drive through the night to spend the holidays with Mama and Eunice. Some if the best bits occur when they break character through laughter... Here is a little funny for today.
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Day #46 - July 24, 2014 

Day #47 - July 25, 2014 

Day #48 and #49 – July 28, 2014
Two glorious days off the grid with Burke enjoying the great out doors...what a gift! I can recall several memorable trips to Jackson Hole during my twenties with a large group of friend and it was during these adventures that I truly fell in love with the great state of Wyoming. Burke had not been in this area since his middle school years and we had terrific two days soaking in amber waves of grain, purple mountains majesty and so much more. I’m convinced that every so often we humans must really commune with nature in order to keep the world in balance. Happy to be back in the West where a few hours in the car, complete a few thought provoking pod casts and play lists, a bag of peanut M&M’s, two iced Nalgene bottles, and endless miles of wide open spaces provide a space for human connection. Nestled in the foothills of a beautiful mountain range in Afton, Wyoming is a collection of humble lodge pole cabins that you can rent for next to nothing. Incredible art hangs in a variety of galleries that surround Jackson Hole town square. The stars…oh, the stars that remind you have left the big city. An added bonus was stopping in to see my brother and his family who were enjoying time at a ranch house in Thayne. First time exploring Grand Teton Nation Park and I may have found a new favorite and a pilgrimage to Jenny Lake will probably be an annual thing for us. And the ride home through Swan Valley, Idaho reminded me how much I simply love color. Two quick days have happily and successfully hit the restore button. We've already begun planing our next road trip adventure.
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100 Happy Days...Part 4

Day #32 - July 9, 2014 

Day #32 – July 10, 2014 

“I just can’t get enough…I just can’t get enough.” My favorite time of day at my favorite scenic spot with two of my favorite people.
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 — with Sam Robinson and Burke M Rich.

Day# 33 - July 11, 2014 

Day #34 and #35 – July 13, 2014
Let's get real...cookie dough is often far better than baked cookies...AND...this little phrase really hit me hard today...I modified it a bit because I'm a girl...it's a good one..."But, undaunted still she trusted in her Heavenly Fathers care"...

Day #37 – July 15, 2014
Let’s talk snow cones. Today, while battling the blaze of the afternoon sun, I was handed a Styrofoam cup piled high with ice crystals and dripping with a sticky red goo. What is it about our connection to frozen water paired with sweet liquid? People all over the globe are downing this combination in a variety of forms and it does not matter your age, culture or temperament…ice and sugar water just kind of hit the spot. On Tuesdays afternoons, I hang with six of my favorite sweaty faced kiddos and today’s adventure ended at a snow cone shack….or is it SNO cone…or it is Shave Ice…or it is Shaved Ice? Cup after cup went through a little window and dollar after dollar provided gulp after gulp of instant refreshment…and sticky hands and faces. Do you mix your flavors? Do you prefer this summertime treat in a paper cone or in a cup? For me…it’s Tigers Blood every time and I always prefer the cup with a straw as it last longer and the final few gulps don’t taste like soggy paper. Some people prefer the Slurpee when seeking a quick brain freeze and I have to admit there is a special place in the heaves for the Slurpee, but for me…if I can’t have a Popsicle (which is always my first choice)…I’ll take a snow cone any day. Totally not needed. Total indulgence. Totally messy. Totally delicious.
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Day #38 - July 16, 2014 

Day #39 - July 17, 2014 

Day#40 – July 18, 2014
Some of the best people I know I met in prison and I'm not even joking. In 2006, I was invited by my church to volunteer at a youth correctional facility and work with incarcerated teens. I served in this capacity for close to four years and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Tonight, I reconnected with many of the people we served with at a little wedding celebration for our friend Heidi J. Alder and her new husband Adam. Not only was this a beautiful event for a great couple, it was a great celebration of friendship and faith. My understanding of service, fellowship, redemption, forgiveness, atonement, faith and hope grew ten fold while working alongside these people and with these young men. Forever gratefulLorne Jensen, Malen Earl, Stephanie Smith M Chris Schwartz, Cynthia Peckham, Nancy Hammond Kehl Gary Kehl, Scott W. Robertson, Alicia Peterson Rich, Craig Rich, Dennis Gay and handful of others for teaching me about true Christian service. I think gained far more from this experience that any if the boys we served. Congrats to the happy couple and thanks for the sweet friendship!
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