National Princess Week

Strangely, when I hear the word, "princess" I don't think of royalty.

When I tell a little girl, "You are a princess!" I don't mean she is wealthy. I don't even mean she is beautiful! What I mean is she is something exceptional. She is something amazing. She is something SPECIAL. Usually, just telling a little girl she is a princess makes her BEAM! Sometimes, she will point her toe when she is told that she is a princess. To her, it is someone with grace. Sometimes, she will giggle. To her, it is something wonderful and she is overjoyed to hear it so she laughs. Sometimes, she prances off because to her it means she is someon

e confident.

I refrain from telling little girls they are beautiful or that they have nice hair or that I love their clothes, etc. Those are such solely physical things, and little girls are SO much more than their outward appearance. I tell them they are smart, or talented, or they are kind to others or they really know how to have fun. I also love to tell a little girl she is a princess. Did you ever read A Little Princess?

(This looks just like the one I read when I was young. :) )

I loved it.

Did you ever see Disney's "A Little Princess"?

It was based on the book and is my favourite movie. The girl in the movie says, "All girls are princesses! Even if they live in tiny attics, even if they dress in rags. Even if they are not smart, or young, or beautiful. We are all princesses! ALL OF US!"

Sometimes, I think, "If everyone is a princess, it is not something special to be!" In the way a "princess" might be portrayed, as something novel and unique, that is true. If everyone is special, no one is special.

HOWEVER...I see a "princess" as something different. Something INHERENTLY special, not special because of the name. I like to look at the Disney princesses as examples. Sleeping Beauty was abandoned by her parents. She was an orphan. She was a princess! Bell was a prisoner. She was a princess! Arial was was unable to talk, and had a hard time fitting in with her new society. She was a princess! Rapunzel was a run-away. She had experienced little of life and was different than everyone else. She was a princess!!

Every single girl can be a princess and still be as different and unique as the night is from the day.

Well, this week is National Princess Week. I intend to fully take advantage of it! I will be celebrating my inner princess. I will magnify my uniqueness and speak only kind words to myself (as I am sure any real princess would never use an unkind word! She may not even KNOW any unkind words!) I will view myself as special, and wonderful, and something worthwhile.

What about you? How will you celebrate Princess Week?

Sew...er, I mean, SOoooo....

....I have been doing some sewing. I will share pictures another time...sorry to get your hopes up. It's just that my camera has had dead batteries for a while, so I had to use my OOOOLD school phone, and...well, anyway, there are no pictures just yet.

But here's the deal.

I enjoy sewing! I have a lot of cool things I want to make! I love looking at fabric! (Oh my, do I ever!!) I love going to the fabric store (the smell alone is DREAMY!).

I used to think I was so cool because I could sew things like blankets.

Lame, I know. Now. But I didn't then. I used to think it was amazing.

These days, my amazingly talented little sister has taken up sewing, and OH MY WORD! She ROCKS! She makes baby shoes, okay?! BABY SHOES! I mean, WHAT THE HECK??!! How do you even DO that?! How do you even think, "Huh. I should make baby shoes." She is AMAZING!

Well, I decided I should graduate from from blankets to something a little more...impressive.

So, I made little girl's dresses.

And OH MY GOSH, did I think I was amazing.

So what if my seams weren't straight?

So what if I used white thread on blue fabric (DUH!)?

So what if I sewed the eyelet lace on later and you can see the seam?

I was AMAZING! I mean, I made an article of CLOTHING for goodness sake! GO ME! Right?!

Right?

Well, my sister and I decided to make these cute skirts. We went and bought fabric and found out we didn't have enough.

My sister, being the creative, amazing, crafting magician she is, turned her fabric into the most stylish, cool, trendy skirt you have ever seen! (Oh, and she cut a zipper out of an old article of clothing and without any big deal just sewed it on to the skirt she made. Like nothing. Like it wasn't a huge deal, or anything.)

I decided I could be crafty, too!

So, I sewed the skirt.

And decided I to add an edge to the bottom, a ruffle, if you will.

So, I have the skirt almost done.

I was so impressed! I thought it looked SO DARLING!

Until someone told me otherwise.

And then I realized it looked a wee bit not great.

Dang it!

So, I am taking the ruffle off, undoing the pleats, redoing the pleats and sewing it back on. SIGH.

But I still hadn't lost all hope! I stopped at the fabric store, sighed, and moved on with life. I may have made a mistake, but I would learn from my mistake and fix it. My ego was slightly bruised, but not broken! I would carry, er, sew, on!

Until I got home and saw THIS.

That is what my sister did with her fabric. A fantastic skirt? AND unbelievable flowers sewn on to a shirt to match?

So, I hate my sister now. ;)

But she is absolutely amazing.

Until I came home.

Breclyn AKA Emma

I have been through TWO PAGES on Pintrest tonight...

That is what happens when I am away from Mr. J for too long.

When the man she is in love with leaves town, Emma comments that she feels unable to DO ANYTHING. She feels that everything is uninteresting and life is boring.

(Watch the scene from the BBC production of Emma HERE. Skip to 3:00)

I am thinking of changing my name to Emma.

(The bad thing about Pintrest is, I never feel like I have wasted time. I always think of whatever great idea I come across, "I am SO GLAD I saw that!" I am in a dangerous place.)

A Smile for Monday

I hope you all are having a great Monday!

Mine has been okay, but I am still glad it is over half over. :)

Even though I have been busy, I managed to take the time to play online (there is ALWAYS time to waste online!)

I wanted to share THIS with you all. It's didn't make me break down in laughter, but it did make me smile. :) I hope it makes you smile, too.

I hope the rest of your Monday goes by like a Friday. :)

In Utah

I am in Utah.

Missing Mr. T something awful.

Mr. J is sitting here studying for a huge exam he has on Monday, so I am messing around online, and I came across some fabulous things I thought I would share with all of you. :)

FIRST, I am not over-the-moon about blueberries, but I often like a good lemon treat, so I think I could die eating THESE and die a happy woman.

SECOND, I want to do THIS. HOW COOL is that?! RIGHT?... RIGHT?!?!

So, I will give you one guess where Mr. J and I went to lunch...

GO WITHOUT SHOES!!

It's Tom's GO WITHOUT SHOES DAY!

My FAVOURITE day of the year has arrived ;)

Many people around the world have to go without shoes. In nice places, that is no big deal. Going without shoes to play in the back yard is fun, or running around on carpet feels so good on tired toes! But in countries where insects burrow into bare feet and lay eggs, going barefoot is a sentence to pain and suffering. In countries where keeping the ground clean, going barefoot can mean stepping on sharp glass or metal. In places where there are no roads, going barefoot can mean walking unknowingly into a burned field where hot embers are still burning. Going barefoot in some places isn't always what we, sitting at home, picture when we think of going without shoes on a nice summer day!

Today is about putting yourself in someone else's proverbial shoes. Even in America, going without shoes can be "not fun" when you have to walk into a public bathroom (EWWW!) or step onto a subway, or walk through a parking garage. Going without shoes for one day gives you the experience some people face every day.

So, kick off your kickers and show a little love. :) Show the world you understand the importance of helping shod needy feet!

Easter

Did you have a good Easter?

We did!

And...you will be hearing about it soon. Be patient, friends. Pictures forthcoming.

Easter Egg-Head

So, here's the long and short of it...

Okay, that went nowhere. I didn't know where to start. Let me try again.

Tomorrow is Easter.

When I was little, my parents ALWAYS had such fun things for us from the Easter Bunny! Sometimes we got "big" things, like bikes. Other times, we got novel things, like beanbag chairs, and some years we got things that lasted forever like darling desk lamps (that we still have...well, I still have mine anyway!) Either way, the things we got were always bright, fun, sort of classic and timeless in a way. The FEELING behind it was spectacular!

This year, I had ideas of things to get Taiger! But nothing seemed to work out with the family situation. Where we are living, who is living here, etc. all play in to what Taiger could get for Easter. In the end, my sweet Mom bought him things that matched what the other kids were getting, and that is pretty much all he is getting.

I DIDN'T EVEN GET HIM PEEPS!

I am not kidding. NO PEEPS!

I flaked!

Only, I didn't.

But it FEELS like I did.

I feel like something is missing. Something really special.

We have had a good week leading up to Easter, learning about Jesus Christ, as that is why WE celebrate Easter. So, I know that really he has what he needs for Easter...a knowledge of what Easter is about, and why we celebrate Easter.

But there STILL seems to be something missing. Something special. A FEELING, maybe.

So, tonight I feel like a bad Mom.

It happens.

"Who is this fella"...

"Who is this fella"...

Going to the Fillmore Hotsprings...in the middle of the night!

Bowling!

At the Hilton

Eating (and being crazy!) at Buffalo Wild Wings

...asked my good friend, Blake, when he saw my facebook picture with Mr. J.

Another friend left a comment asking how I met Mr. J.

So, I guess it is time to fill you all in.

It's short and sweet...really, really sweet ;)

Mr. J and I met online.

(I'll wait while the crowd quiets.)

Yes, we met on Plenty of Fish.

(He doesn't know this, but for me it was love at first, eh, look-at-profile- picture. BUT DON'T TELL! I don't want him to think I am that cheesy...and I don't want him to get a big head.)

We talked for about a month before meeting in person.

He impressed me by asking me on a LUNCH date. (SUCH a gentleman! Dinner can mean, "I am going to try and put the moves on", where as lunch says, "I want to get to know you."

He also had us meet at the restaurant. (Again, SUCH a gentleman! Driving says, "I am in control. You are at my mercy. If you are having a bad time, TOO BAD! You can't leave until I say!" where as allowing the girl to drive herself says, "I am going to try and be nice and treat you well so you will choose to stay and not climb out the window when you pretend you have to use the lady's room.")

The instant I saw him, I recognized him, which means he didn't "lie" on his profile, nor did he post pictures from 15 years ago. I sat next to him while we waited for a table, and I was worried it would be uncomfortable sitting so close, but it wasn't. It was very natural and casual.

When our table was ready, we were seated and our waiter came. The waiter asked us, "What brings you here today?" I didn't know what to say! We had commented earlier on the weather, so I stammered something about the nice weather being why we came to lunch. Lame. At the SAME moment, he said something witty and charming. Indicating to me, he said, "Her!" meaning, me. Meaning, I was the reason he had come out today. Meaning, I was even better than the beautiful weather! We all chuckled at the difference in responses, and Mr. J tapped his menu on the table and said to the waiter, "Maybe we will just take our check now." HA! I started laughing and was smitten. HE MADE ME LAUGH! That is HUGE in my book. A guy with a sense of humor?! Marry me now! (NOT REALLY! Sheesh!)

Well, we ended up NOT taking our check at that moment, (hee) and instead stayed and talked for THREE HOURS! It was fantastic. It was so easy to talk to him. He stepped away from the table for a moment and in his absence, a girl at a nearby table asked if this was a first date. I said yes. She was there with her husband. I told them this was a blind date (even though it wasn't a "blind date" in the traditional sense). Right in front of her husband (who was very quiet and seemed to know to just go along with whatever his wife said) she said, "Wow! Nice job! He is really hot!"

I wonder if Mr. J had hired them. But I digress. ;)

After lunch, Mr. J had to leave rather quickly as he was going to a concert with a, ahem, "friend". I was pretty sure this was another date, and I only wished he would choose me over this other girl. I admit here, I was pretty crushed on the way home because I had really connected with him. I thought that would be the end.

Imagine my surprise and complete joy when it wasn't. ;)

And it STILL isn't! Here we are, four months from the time we met, three months from that first date.

I will say, if you promise not to tell him, I am still in love with Mr. J ;).

Day 4: "Ah, The Things We've Seen And It's Only Eight In The Morning"...oh, who am I kidding?! I slept in.

Did you think the adventure ended without an ending?! Well, it DIDN'T!

The next day, we woke up and were much less worried about the people in the campers across the street. So, we slept in and took our leisurely time packing up and getting on the road. I took pictures (are you surprised?!).

I drove most of the way back...as far as Fillmore...where we stopped AGAIN to play in the hotsprings! We are ADDICTED! Well, at least _I_ am. There was another woman there when we got there, so I didn't take pictures. I didn't think she'd appreciate that too much. HA!

On the way back to Salt Lake, Mr. J took a special detour! He took me to see where he had grown up. It was a very special treat, and I felt so honored to get a glimpse into his youth.

Jesse driving the trails he loved to hike and bike growing up.

So, we arrived back in Draper (where Mr. J lives). I cannot tell you how fast Mr. J hit the shower! LOL! When it was my turn, I actually used all of the hot water and stayed in until the water turned cold. :)

It was a fantastic trip...and the adventure isn't over yet, oh no! We had one more hoorah before the week was out. ;) Stay tuned!