Me and Colonel Sanders

SO. I think its time I come clean. A few weeks ago, in a nocturnal state, Colonel Sanders himself approached me and asked me to join him as a special chicken consultant. It appears, accordingly to the reality of my dreams, the KFC king is in desperate need for someone to advise him as to the world famous eleven herbs and spices. While I was flattered by this invitation, I politely responded that I was gainfully employed and was not interested. He insisted I join his ranks. I inquired why he was reaching out to me….I am no chef…no herbalist. He simply stated that due to the amount of chicken I consume (which let's be honest is sizable) I could actually be considered a bit of an expert. I laughed and then snickered and then declined his offer. THEN this lovable American icon, told me in a very thick southern drawl that he was just going to put me on the KFC payroll just in case I changed my mind.

SO. According to my subconscious, I have been appointed by Colonel Sanders himself as an official chicken consultant and should you have any questions or concerns about flavored poultry products...go ahead and send them my way. Even as I’ve yet to see a dime from this finger licken’ offer I am happy to entertain the public. 

The Magic of Mixing Paint

A few weeks ago, I picked up a side gig at YouthCity, Salt Lake Cities Youth and Families program. Burke and I returned to Salt lake City in October but working at YouthCity over the last few week means that I’ve truly come home. I feel like I grew up inside this program. I helped shape this program in the early years. I learned how parent by working with these children and families. I found joy in the creative process…both the process of creating a program out of an empty city building and the process of creating art with, near and around children. One of my most favorite things to do with children is to mix paint.



I find it magical, the process of red and blue becoming purple. I marvel at how the various shades of green are a combination of blue and yellow. Orange is always a bit tricky to make but brown does not take too much work…just swirl everything together. I love the various shades of pink and periwinkle. I love watching children move one gloppy paintbrush full of pigment into the next and right before their eyes…waaaaa laaaaaaa….a new color has been born. On a consistent basis they always look surprised and I feel confident that they see the world just a bit differently after the three primary colors become secondary, and tertiary colors.

 Last week, in preparation for a mask making class I am teaching, I engaged a group of unruly teens in a simple paint-mixing project. I gave each student a white piece of mat board and we drew a one-inch by one-inch grid. Next, each student was given a paper plate with a pool of red, yellow, blue, white and black paint. The challenge was to paint the first square one of the primary colors and mix a new color for each of the other remaining boxes. Each new color created by mixing and adding and blending one color into the next. In time, the noisy room of teenagers became tranquil and full of creativity. I’ve done this project with kiddos before and I know that I will do it again and every time the same result puddles up. Wonder and newness and confidence and creativity.

I love how students begin the project with dedicated obedience keeping the paint carefully inside the established lines. And by the end of the project the lines seem to fade away and the swirls of paint seem to take greater shape and emerge with greater energy. Some students remain more conservative with the amount of paint they use while others heap paint goober after paint goober.

If felt good to return to my house that night with a little bit of paint under my fingernails. If felt good to wash out paintbrushes in a bucket of murky water. It felt good to say to these budding young artists that there is not right or no wrong answer. It felt good end the day with a creative exercise. If felt good to be home.

Happy New Year!

Without question 2013 was a red letter year for our family! Some years we find comfort in the steady, predictable and routine patterns of day to day life. And other years prove to be a bit more exciting, colorful and spontaneous. As our latest orbit of the sun comes to a close, it has become clear that for our little family, 2013 was exciting, and colorful and many ways explosive...it was full of some fantastic life fireworks. 

Both Burke and I have fond memories of fireworks from our childhood. As a boy, Burke and a band of unruly cousins, joined their Uncles and helped light, load and arrange an annual fireworks show out on the family ranch and often attended the fireworks in the town of Kanab, Utah. The legend states that Granddad would drive for hours (across state lines) to procure boxes full of fireworks in preparation for the celebration. Family folk lore is complete with heroic stories of young boys (and grown men) giddy with joy as they would systematically light up the substantial collection of fireworks and then directly following happily rush to put out brush fires caused by the said fireworks show they had created. Once everything was safe (and damp) Burke and his posse, under the direction of their Uncles, would light up a next round and the process would repeat itself until the boxes were all empty. Young boys being supervised, guided and encouraged to light up illegal fireworks...adolescence perfection!   

As you may expect, being a full time city girl, my exposure to fireworks fell more into the happy observer category. Growing up some of my fondest memories were spent sitting on a blanket at Sugar House Park on the Forth of July with my head tilted skyward "oooo-ing and aahhh-ing" at the colorful synchronized explosions sanctioned by the birth of our nation. I love the racing tall ones that explode with great force. I love the dainty lacy ones that simply take their sweet time. I love the colorfully connected loops and spirals that become more powerful when coupled together. And then....there is the big finale...endless booms. Lots of color. An excited display of combustible joy. 

We both love a good firework show. We love the anticipation, the careful panning, the shrieking sound followed by the expected boom. We love the sense of organized energy changing shape at rapid speed complete with color, volume and the tiniest bit of danger. We love it all. For our family, 2013 was nothing short of a personal and professional fireworks show. There was great anticipation. There was careful planning. There were a few surprising shrieks and handful of bone rattling booms. There were "ooooo's" and there were "aahhhaaa's." Exciting things were ignited and together we scrambled to quench a few burning fires. All in all a great deal of energy was exchanged and over the last few months and things in our world have taken a much different shape. If our 2013 were a firework display, either set in a red rock canyon or the grassy slop of a city park, here are some things we can easily celebrate:

• Liz just about exploded while working on The Wallace Foundation Summer Learning Demonstration, a national learning model and partnership between Big Thought and Dallas ISD. While the third year of this five-city project was creatively satisfying and successful-it was chronically exhausting. While in NYC for meetings She was able to sneak in a little girls trip in-between meetings and enjoyed a few Broadway musicals and much needed girl time. 

• Burke continued to light up his co-workers at AVANCE Dallas by applying his love for technology, problem-solving and people. This year he helped to secure a large technology grant for this non-profit organization and was essential in helping to identify solutions to some burning problems by applying his keen nerd-like skills and abilities.

• We celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary with a surprise Amtrak train trip from Dallas to San Antonio where we spent a few days enjoying the Alamo, the river walk and a lazy road trip through the Hill Country. FIVE YEARS of Burke and Liz Rich is such a fun thing to celebrate.  

• Serving in our church happily consumed a lot of our time and we came to learn and love in aways we did not think were possible. We spent time with great friends at museums, movie theaters, restaurants and in the comforts of our own little apartment. We laughed heartily and loved much. We were mentored and taught and inspired by a handful of kindred spirits who helped us spark new thoughts and ideas about what is pending and what is possible. 

• On a hot and sticky fourth of July weekend, following a community pancake breakfast, and after a lot of prayer and conversation, we decided to leave Dallas and return to Salt Lake City. BOOM! BIG BOOM! BIG BIG BIG EXCITING BOOM in our life! This single decision set our world on fire! From July forward, our lives were full of bright lights and big decisions. The decision to move to Utah ignited the firework show of life and transformed our world from a box of fun loving sparklers to a pick-up size collection of roman candles. We re-connected with our Utah network. We sent resumes. We interviewed and interviewed and interviewed. We gave up the lease to our apartment, made arrangements with our employers and prayed our guts out. 

• Leaving our Dallas friends and family was so so so hard as we truly fell in love with a Texas-size handful of people. We took one final road trip to Austin, Texas with our dearest friends to eat world famous doughnuts, enjoy some amazing art, feast on finger licking BBQ and marvel at the bats who live under Constitution bridge.  

• In September, Liz was hired to work at Westminster College which really lit the fuse to our big plans. In a matter of weeks, we packed up our life and moved to back to Utah exactly three years to the day we arrived in Dallas. Our three day road trip home was reflective, restorative, relaxing and complete with a freak Wyoming blizzard, a frustrating flat tire, and a long conversation with AAA. The most humorous part of this road trip was both Burke and I being stranded in eight inches of snow and foolishly wearing nothing but shorts, tee-shirts and flip-flops (not our most brilliant moment but clearly one of our most memorable). All of our other clothes were either packed in the belly of our snow covered trunks or in our storage crate. While at the tire shop we engaged in a humiliating (yet humorous) conversation with a family of grizzle bearded hunters who questioned both our foot ware and our mental state for attempting this perilous journey home. Our camo wearing friends continued to ask us if we had ever been through Wyoming and then then strongly encouraged us to "hunker down til' this storm passes." Being raised in Utah, home of the greatest snow on earth AND being pretty anxious to just get home, we thanked them for their concern and confidently (or stupidly, I can't decide) drove white knuckled through an ice storm in a winding canyon praying the entire way until we saw the comforting mountains of our youth and we had finally made it home. WHEW! Talk about a firecracker kind of afternoon!  

• Liz's job at Westminster College can easily be like the trusty package of fireworks you can purchase at the grocery store. You know the affordable shrink-wrapped collection that provides the perfect balance of celebratory excitement but remains completely manageable.  Nothing too big or flashy, but large enough to generate a few well-deserving "ooo's" and "aaahh's." This new position is such a welcomed change of pace and as the Director of Field Placement, Liz mentors education majors and works with local school districts securing opportunities for these students to complete their Student Teaching and pre-practicum teaching. Its a dream! She loves the energy and enthusiasm of being on a college campus AND the fact that she is not required to pay tuition, write papers or study for exams is a serious plus. The best part of this new gig is when she happily locks her office door around 5:00 p.m. each day providing a refreshing and much needed increase of time and energy which she is dedicating to home and health and hearth. 

• In November, we moved into a darling red brick duplex in the heart of Holladay and we have been busy building our nest ever since. Having our own little place in a city we love has often made us see stars. We spent Thanksgiving at Jacob Lake Inn with just over 100 Riches. We chopped down a Christmas tree, roped and branded cattle, ate great food, and stayed up late re-kindled connections to aunts, uncles, and cousins. Felt so good to be home. 

• December provided an opportunity for us to exchange our flip flops for snow boots, purchase snow shovels and buckets of ice-melter and remember the joy of scraping frost off of windows in the cold morning. The first snow fall brought back a childlike sense of wonder and the magic of the Christmas season took both of us by storm. 

• Best blessing year to date was Burke landing a terrific job at a software company called Client Track. His office is located about five minutes from our new home and he could not be happier.  As their Quality Assurance Analyst, Burke will apply his love for technology and problem-solving as he works across all departments to ensure success for the end user. Great organization. Endless opportunities for growth. New and exciting niches to explore. This new potential makes our hearts sing and its clear that this opportunity, like a well choreographed fireworks shows, has been delicately constructed, carefully arranged and artfully prepared.

In the next few days, in both communities large and small, New Year's Eve fireworks will explode in the sky celebrating another year of life and learning. The last twelve months have been very exciting for our little family and we could not be more grateful or more happy for the love and support we have received from friends and family AND for the firecracker events of 2013. 

From July forward, our lives exploded with big opportunities for growth and thankfully the associated answers to prayers (both big AND super gigantic) have continued to rain down upon us in the most exciting and surprising and colorful ways. Many of these firecracker opportunities have put into motion a series of tender mercies which have burned in our hearts the importance of taking careful yet determined action to move life forward. Sometimes that required big leaps into the unknown and other times it's just maintaining the steady routines of daily life.  So, regardless of where you will be this New Year's Eve, if you are in a desert canyon, a city park or standing confidently in your own drive way, we hope you know you are loved! If you celebrate by writing your name in the night sky with a simple sparkler or standing with awe as life triumphantly explodes with the unknown magic of progress right before your eyes, please know that we believe in the you AND in the firecrackers of life. 

This year, we have learned that there is great power in letting God's love burn brightly in our lives. We were both recently inspired by a message provided by President Thomas S. Monson, a leader from our church, who shared "The future is as bright as your faith." 2013 provided terrific learning opportunities for us, each one bigger and brighter and bolder than the next. Overall, the Rich family fireworks show for 2013 was pretty terrific and we are grateful that you have been a part of it. We happily send you light and love and wishes for a very merry Christmas and a very bright New Year!

Sending our best!
Burke and Liz 

Christmas 2013 in Three Christmas Carols

I love Christmas! I love the hustle and bustle. I love the twinkle lights decoratively and creatively hung on window, roof tops, bushes and scrubs. I love plates of sweet treats baked with love and carefully placed on paper plates covered with plastic wrap and tied with ribbons to be delivered to neighbors and friends. I love decorated Christmas trees. I love shopping for the prefect gifts for loved ones and friends. I love wrapping paper and ribbons….and scotch tape. I love the smell of warm wassail. I love any excuse to wear sweaters, scarves and drink gas station hot chocolate. AND I love Christmas Carols. Tonight, on Christmas day 2013 ends, as I sit in my PJ’s in my favorite chair basking in the warm glow of white twinkle lights reflecting on my holiday season, I think my Christmas 2013 can be easily be encapsulated into three of my favorite Christmas Carols. Here goes…

A few weeks ago, Burke and I attended The Lower Lights Christmas concert and one of the songs they played has continued to run through my mind. I’ve never liked this song until I sat in this concert hall and learned the story behind “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” This song, played in churches and concert halls across the globe, is based on a poem written by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow. In 1863, Longfellow penned the courageous words one night after grappling with the pain and grief associated to the unexpected and tragic death of his young wife, the death of his oldest son, which followed shortly, and the emptiness connected to a country slowly recovering from a civil war. On a cold bleak December night, Mr. Longfellow, braved the elements outside as a distraction from the lack of the expected Christmas cheer. While wrestling through the pain of being a broken hearted widower with debts, anger, loneliness, grief and overwhelming responsibilities of caring for his young family in what seemed an impossible situation, his doubts were finally silenced by the sound of Christmas bells. The think I like about this song, now that I understand the context, is the element of surprising hope. Church bells rung loudly and consistently and clearly on that Christmas day like they had for each day and week preceding the holiday. But for some reason the circumstances were right and those, perhaps expected bells had the power to resonate and reach this man. Sometimes the details in our life can become oh so tricky and complicated and painful that they can be deafening. I totally get where this guy is coming from. BUT, on this day…for this man…the sound of hope rang through his heart. The idea that he finally heard them indicates that his heart was finally ready to let go and begin the healing process. I’m sure, like in many communities, the usual practice of ringing church bells on a consistent basis did not stop even as he was wrestling with his mental, social and emotional demons…but he was just so consumed by the messiness of life that he could not engage with the idea of hope.  My favorite part is the last few words:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

God is not dead, nor doth He sleep’

The wrong shall fail

The Right prevails,

With peace on earth, good-will to men.

I’m a firm believer that life is full of seasons of hope and hopelessness. Pain and prosperity. Grief and gratitude. I am grateful for the human process and more personally for the times in life when the fog clears and you can finally begin to hear the bells of hope. The bells of forgiveness. And the bells of redemption that are so personally and yet universally connected to the Christmas season. Christmas, can be such a challenging time, steeped with expectations and nostalgia, and I’m grateful that for better or for worse, Christmas bells ring at least once a year to remind us that life, even as it is full of challenges, it can also be oh so good.

by Isaac Anderson 

Last Summer, over the fourth of July weekend, and after a series of conversations complete with lists of pro’s and con’s, Burke and I decided it was time to move back to Salt Lake City. Our three years in Dallas, Texas knit us together as a family in a way that I could not have expected. We worked hard. We were stretched and challenged and inspired and mentored. We fell in love with a foreign place and found family and friendship in the most unexpected places. We carved out an identity as a family and a couple in a way I do not think was possible had we remained in Salt Lake City. And with all of that growth and gratitude it became very clear that it was time to return home. We want children. We want to be parents and we concluded that beginning our family is far more important than climbing the professional rungs of success. We loved living in Dallas but it became clear that if we were ever going to start our own family it was time to switch gears, make a drastic change and create a new space for our lives to expand. We knew that as long as one of us had a job in Salt Lake City it would be enough to make the leap and we knew that just as important as it was for us to move to Dallas it was equally important for us to leave it. Resumes were updated. Contacts were made. Interviews were held and within weeks, I had a terrific job at Westminster College. By the middle of August we began packing up our lives and we moved back to Salt Lake City three years to the day we left it. I love living in Salt Lake City! I love the people who have made up our Utah community. Living near the mountains is a need, not a want for us. I adore the people and places that helped shaped our youth, adolesence and college years but nothing tops time spent with our siblings and parents. Twice in the last week, I have been moved to tears while being surrounded by our nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, mom’s and dad who have willingly participated in a nativity play at my request. At both family parties, I have invited our families to dress up in fabric scraps, towels, sheets, and old curtains and act out the nativity play. Those who know me understand this event is a hallmark of my holiday season and it had been years since either of our families put on the big holiday show. At the conclusion of our humble production, we sing one of my favorite Christmas carols, Away in a Manger. Both times, without fail I became a puddle of tears when the people I love most in the world sang:

Be near me Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay

Close by me forever and love me I pray

Bless all the dear children with thy tender care

And fit us for heaven to live with thee there.

It’s not just these words or these people…its these people singing these words, believing these words, knowing these words that creates a giant lump in my throat. For me, the whole idea of Christmas is the celebration of renewal and redemptive love. Watching my nieces and nephews, our brothers and sisters and our loving parents take part in a re-telling of the Christmas story and then together asking for the Lord’s love to always be near us…it just does not get better than that. Since the time of our conversation on the Fourth of July, we’ve moved across the country, been blessed with two great jobs, moved into the most delightful home and stand ready and prepared for the next giant adventure of life. In January, Burke and I will begin the adoption process and I keep wondering about the dear children who will join our little family. I pray daily that they will be watched over and tenderly cared for. I marvel at how the intricate aspects of life work together in concert to carefully fit us for the next phase, for the next adventure, for the next opportunity to love and be loved. I think of this little family, Mary and Joseph, and the combined joy and terror of becoming parents and I stand grateful for those in my life who so consistently show us love. The idea of becoming parents and starting our family is equal parts anxiety and anticipation. Next year at this time, if all goes as we hope and know it will, there were be a few more little shepherds or wise men or angles in our Christmas play and I know that when we reach the grand finale of this little homemade production the lump in my throat will return and then at that moment Christmas will be Christmas.

For years, far before I ever met Burke Rich, each December, I would drive around Salt Lake City looking at the Christmas lights. From time to time, as a melancholy (and somewhat dramatic) single girl experiencing the holidays, I would drive through Normandie Circle admiring both the classic architecture and the charming holiday décor and I will admit thinking, “the people who live in these homes MUST have the most perfect lives. I’m betting they are all feasting on delicious foods, laughing and loving each other near a roaring fire with cookies and eggnog a plenty.” I would sigh and then exit the circle wondering about whom these people were and if my idyllic thoughts were real. Well, when I met Burke and learned that he not only grew up in a home located in Normandie Circle but so did his Grandmother and most of his family, I was both delighted and surprised. In time, I was invited to attend the very Christmas festivities of the very people I had day dreamed about. AND as I had suspected the homes were filled with fine foods, endless cookies, comfortable fires and a bounty of Christmas cheer. I realized this does sound a bit like a scene from a Meg Ryan movie but I swear this really happened. Burke and I have been married for five years but it’s been six years since my holiday dreams became a reality. I love being part of the Rich family. Like all families, my in-laws are just normal people, with normal problems, normal up’s and normal down’s. Burke’s extended family is…extensive and full of nuance and history and strength and love and tradition and as a group it does not lacking personality.  My single girl projections are mostly true but like all families we’ve got our warts and in the end its all okay and pretty normal. One of the things I love most about being a Rich is during Christmas, and a handful of other family gatherings, the family will sing “May the Lord Bless you and Keep you” a song arranged by John Rutter and based from Bible verse. The Riches sing this song ACapella and it always reminds me of what is good and honest and true about family and love. Tonight, just like every previous Christmas evening, the extended Rich family gathers and Burke’s Grandmothers home for a night of Christmas cheer. This year’s celebration was complete with the cookies and the fire and the laughter but it also had a somber tone as the family continues to remember the matriarch Mrs. Effie Dean Bowman Rich who passed away earlier this year. As the night drew to a close, as expected the family began singing Christmas songs and ended with “May the Lord Bless You” which is always the final selection. As I looked around the room at the various generations I noticed that most eyes were wet and many voices were shaking. It was sweet and sincere and had everything to do with family and Christmas and the long- standing tradition of warmth that can be found inside Normandie Circle, and especially at Christmas time. I’m not sure this is actually a Christmas carol but it should be.

The Lord bless you and keep you

The Lord make his face to shine upon you

 To shine upon you and be gracious

And be gracious unto you

The Lord bless you and keep you

The Lord make his face to shine upon you

To shine upon you and be gracious

And be gracious unto you

The lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you

And give you peace

And give you peace

And give you peace

And give you peace

Amen

Merry Christmas to all!

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Away in a Manger

May the Lord Bless and Keep You

SNOW!

Last night while curled up on my couch Burke and I watched the perianal classic White Christmas. Danny Kay, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney and the other blond I can never remember sang and swooned over the idea of SNOW. They classic swooners sang in harmony and with a charisma that just does not seem to exist with modern day performers. They sang SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW! We went to bed prepared for a morning full of white and all of the weather reports were correct. SNOW! Beautiful white fluffy snow! I have to admit that I am completely surprised by how excited I am to see SNOW! My drive to work is not long or tricky but I kind of wish it was just a bit longer this morning because the snow covered trees were stunning. I felt the excitement of a seven year old child and my eyes were full of wonder. Each delicate branch carefully holding its proper amount of cold precipitation made for a beautiful sight. I thought about all of my teacher friends whose day instantly became trickier as distracted students will gaze outside instead of focusing on the assignment they have planned. I thought of my YouthCity friends whose day instant became both more fun AND more tricky with snow ball fights, snow angles and the never-ending search for missing boots and soggy miss-matched mittens. Will they serve hot coco and oatmeal for snack? Will the “how to be safe in the snow” talk happen today or tomorrow? I thought of my more senior friends and our newly licensed drivers….please please please more careful than you think you need to be. I thought about my Texas friends…you just don’t know what you are missing…come visit! My brief walk from the parking garage to my office this morning filled my little soul with joy. I’m totally confident that this childlike exuberance may end soon but I really hope it doesn’t….at least for a while. You just don’t get this kind of weather in the flat land of Texas. Without question, I totally get what Danny, Bing and sweet Rosemary were so excited about! SNOW! Good thing I work in a windowless office…or this day would be a total wash.

 White Christmas - SNOW

Day of Gratitude #30 – Burke Rich

Burke Rich is pretty much my favorite person in the world. He is the consistent measure and baseline for all that is good in the world. He does our laundry-happily. He is the master of my technology needs. He understands how spices should be used. He protects. He provides. He works hard and he plays hard. He listens. He supports so many of my crazy ideas. He is going to be a great father someday and he is just a very good man. I love our life and I’m forever grateful he chose me.

Day of Gratitude #29 – Siblings

The older I get…the more life I experience…the more grateful I become for my siblings. What a terrific gift it is to have a collection of people who know you better than anyone else. It’s not just the inside jokes and hard-wire appreciation for certain things…it’s the shared common experience that no matter how hard you try you just can’t escape. Growing up, my brothers were my first playmates. I was the girl who played cops and robbers and G.I. Joe and war. As a teenager, my brothers and their wives became my examples, my confidants and my trusted advisors. It was their bright example that lit the path for so many of my decisions. And now as an adult, my siblings-both mine and Burke’s, and their spouses are our dearest friends. It’s our siblings and our parents and our nieces and nephews that we moved across the country to be near. These are the people we want to celebrate both the established holidays and the random Tuesday nights with. I love talking to my brothers. Nobody can make me laugh (or cry) like they can. My sister-in-laws are the best women I know. None of us are perfect and none of us claim to be and it’s okay. We’ve all got warts and its okay. We all see the world differently and I love that. I feel both blessed and grateful for the people that a wise and knowing Creator hand selected for me to be my traveling companions for life.

Day of Gratitude #28 – Thanksgiving 2013...a low-tech and high-family experience

Slept in. Slowly made our way through ice and snow to the lodge where oodles of family members we feasting on breakfast meats, chocolate-chip pancakes, hash browns and juice. Yum. Yum. Yum. Piled into an impressing collection of Suburban’s and four-wheel drive cars and drove to the forests to hunt for Christmas trees. Dodged flying snowballs tossed by energetic nieces and nephews. Successfully identified tree. Chop. Chop. Chop. Back to the lodge to freshen up and change into stretchy pants. Set the table, mash the spuds, and carved the birds. Eat. Eat. Eat. Cleaned-up and washed remaining dishes in industrial dishwasher-a true essential for any Thanksgiving meal. Rich family talent show complete with song, dance and dramatic readings. My favorite was cousin Bryan spontaneously doing an interpretive dance and song inspired by a corporate finance principle….a new classic! Whipped the cream and cut the pie. Eat. Eat. Eat. Again. Talk. Laugh. Talk some more. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep!

Day of Gratitude #27 – Books on tape are best enjoyed when coupled with road trips

Burke and I and just over one-hundred family members made the annual pilgrimage to the Rich family’s lodge in Northern Arizona to celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s about six hours by car to travel over the river and through the woods and no trip is complete without a freshly downloaded book on tape. This year, I was so excited to listen to “David and Goliath,” the newest book written by mega nerd Malcolm Gladwell . This book breaks down the intriguing idea of how underdogs often return from battle or conflict as triumphant conquerors. FASCINATING! Gladwell consistently blends unrelated topics together to draw compelling conclusions. We have loved his other books and even as we are not finished with this text…I’m a hug fan! Mr. Gladwell is currently touring promoting the book and recently stopped in Salt Lake City. Sadly, Burke and I missed the actual lecture however he was the featured guest on a local NPR radio program Radio West. Listening to Gladwell talk about this topic was again FASCINATING! Perhaps the most interesting thing was how writing this book and examining this concept of how average people both perceived and address life’s hardships and difficulties has helped him re-establish a sense of spirituality in his life. I am grateful for really smart people who willingly share with the world the things they have learned. You know those big-brained (and in Malcolm Gladwell’s case big haired) thinkers who just seem to experience the same daily tasks that you and I experience but they just seem to see it differently. I’m grateful for technology that allows a wealth of information to literally bounce around in my purse…I am forever in awe of smart phones. I am grateful for time in a car cozily sitting next to people I love, chomping on ample road trip treats and enough down time to time to think and discuss and explore new thoughts.

Radio West

New York Times

Day of Gratitude #26 - Vacation Eve

Feeling ready to unplug, relax, reconnect and enjoy four work free days.