Family Vacation Ideas

For the first time, I have created a pinterest board. I am officially not a pinterest stalker. http://pinterest.com/resmills/family-vacation-ideas/

Mother Knows Best!

Sunny outside and no homework (that I could remember). Bike tires fully inflated, and a call from a friend. I was out the door in a heart beat. I knew my grandparents would be coming for dinner that night. It must have been the first week of May, school was still in, but not for long, and we were having a birthday dinner. My brother Sam and my sister Becki share the same birthday. I had to hurry and get in some friend time while I could. My friend and I loved to ride our bikes down the big hill on Alpine Blvd. On this beautiful sunny day we spent most of our time laughing so hard I had a stomach ache. I wish I could recall what was so funny, all I remember is that it was the first and only time I wet my pants from laughing. (To this day, this same friend makes my gut hurt from laughing so hard). My friend had a scooter. I was not lucky enough to have a scooter so I rode hers (or maybe her sister's). Down the gravelly hill we flew. We would fly down the hill, and run back up to start all over again, and repeat this process as long as the sun was up. I imagine being able to fly would have similar adreniline effects. We couldn't get enough of it. Our hair blew behind us horizontally, instead of falling flat down our backs; for a ten year old, it felt like warp speed. Did I mention the road was gravel paved? The road had recently been repaved from smooth to a gravel and tar mixture so it was a bumpy ride. We didn't care, the road work was finished. We prefered the smooth road to a gravelly one, but we just wanted a hill to ride down so it didn't matter. My friend's little sister came outside and yelled at us, "Rachel's mom called, she supposed to go home!" "It won't take long to go down a few more times," I distinctly remember thinking this, and worst of all "what does my mom know, I don't care about a birthday dinner. I see my grandparents all the time,". So off I went, several more times down the hill. Each time trying for more speed. When riding a bike or scooter fast, it's important to crouch down so you have good arodynamics and you can go faster. When riding a scooter, it's important to remember that if you crouch down too far, your bum will hit the back tire, so don't crouch down too far. That was my 10 year old logic. Fast fast faster faster fastest . . . Blood, pain, clothing torn, scooter wrecked, oh man I was in so much trouble. . . . stay tuned for the next installment . . .

Running! and a bum knee.

I have always enjoyed running. Wait, that's not all the way true. I hate running, then I start doing it, then I can't give it up, I start loving it, then my bum knee gives me trouble, I stop running, get out of the habit, and I hate it again, and the cycle starts all over again, hate it, start it, love it, hurts, stop, hate, start, love, hurt, stop, etc. Running makes my legs look amazing, gives me some kind of high that I would guess is comparable to some kind of amazing feel good drug, brings me spiritual and emotional peace, and it's free! Right now I am at the in between stages of hating it and trying to figure out how to get started again because I know I will love it. Last summer I ran a bunch of 5ks, but most importantly planned on doing my first relay race. My team was super strong and ran at a good pace. I was no question, the weak link. Earlier in the summer I injured my knee (again) and wasn't able to continue training like I had planned. I was so disappointed about my ability to run when the race day came around. It was a very difficult course with huge elevation changes, temps ranging from freezing to sweltering heat, from deserted mountain to no shade dessert. I had organized a team, paid my dues, made rad team jerseys (with the help of the Mr.) I decided to run the relay despite the injury; it was painful, it was hard, it was long, but it was empowering. I'm so glad I did it, and I'm so grateful for team mates who gave me the courage to keep going. This summer and spring will be a 5k summer. The shorter distance will be better for my lame knee, but I won't be giving it up all together. I know the routine, it's going to be super hard at first, I will hate it, but if I stick with it, I will start loving it again. Here's to the loving it part! This photo is of the ladies of our relay team, Cliff Cats, Staring in the dark hours of the early morning.

Birthday Cake

When I turned 4 I lived in Bountiful Utah. I have a very artistic mom who always made our birthdays and birthday cakes beautiful and creative. I didn't know there was such a thing as frosting from the store, or cakes baked at the grocery store bakery until I was older. My birthday cakes were always colorful, and decorated with whimsy and skill. The first birthday cake I remember was my 4th birthday. It was a butterfly cake, complete with antennae. My mother's birthday cakes have been the inspiration for the cakes I make my own children. It is unfortunate that we recently had a computer virus crash incident that scrubbed everything clean. All the photos of amazing baked creations for birthdays are gone; from Noah's Ark, pirate's treasure chest, to simple elegance all the photos are gone. I hope my kids will have good memories of their birthdays. I feel lucky to be able to make three birthday cakes every year for my favorite little people on earth. The only pictures of cakes I have are the ones I took with my phone :( Sad.

I have kids. They have started complaining that I don't tell them stories about myself, it's not in my nature to talk about myself. I mostly ignore this blog, but since it is here already, and it is called "Mostly My Journal" I am going to start posting more entries. My kids can read about me, and I will start writing things down. In recent years, I have had the privilege of reading letters my grandparents wrote to each other, their siblings, parents, and friends. The letters have impacted my life so much. Their strength of character, everlasting love, enduring forgiveness, priceless experiences, and even the things that may have seemed mundane to them, have had meaning to me. Those letters have shown me the importance of keeping a personal history. Recently, I have also had the opportunity to talk with my mother in law a little bit about her childhood. Her story is full of courage yet heart breaking. I hope she will write her story. She is an amazing example of breaking the mold, and beating the odds. I have a new respect for her. Let's share our stories! We can learn so much from each other.

Wonder Woman

Ever since I can remember, I have adored Princess Diana of the island Paradise, aka Wonder Woman. I used to run around the neighborhood decked out from head to toe in my custom made WW suit. My wonderful mom made boot covers, a crown, an amazing cape, wrist cuffs, and of course the golden eagle crested top and star studded bottoms. It was my favorite thing to wear. I probably wore it all summer. I didn't want to change out of it. I would swoop into neighborhood friends backyards, jump higher than humanly possible on trampolines, and run so fast that no enemy of good could get away. On a beautifully sunny summer afternoon, as I was chasing some "bad guys" (Scotty and his brother), I lost a red and bright boot. Earlier that day, someone in the neighborhood had a new drive way poured, it was lost in wet cement. Of course the cement wasn't too strong to keep wonder woman from catching the bad guys, but my bright boot cover was forever tarnished (not to mention, the expense the neighbor had to go to to fix the boot hole in their new driveway. Of course, I didn't think of that at the time.) I don't know what happened to my amazing suit, I wish I still had it. I have since created other Wonder Woman suits. She is my all time icon for beauty, strength, brains, and skill. If only I had a real golden lasso. Wouldn't it be amazing to get to the truth of things that are important? So many problems would be solved. I have such fond memories of watching Wonder Woman episodes with my mom while eating lunch after kindergarten. I think my mom is Wonder Woman. She is strong, smart, beautiful, and has the kind of humanity for others that would create world peace. I love that she made that wonder woman suit for me, that part of my childhood was like a fairy tale.

Pointless holiday?

Halloween really is a pointless holiday. Maybe that's why people have grown to love it so much. You can have as much or as little expectation of the holiday as you chose to have. There's no worry about what gift will make someone smile, or if the food will turn out and be hot in time for guest, or worry about which family should be visited this year, or having to remember what year someone was born in, (you don't want to give a person a birthday card with "Happy 40th" when it's only their 37th). You can dress up as much or as little as you want, go to all the parties or none of the parties. No one really cares (I don't anyway). I enjoy Halloween. I like to go to a good party or two, I like to listen to music too loudly and dance the craziness out of the night. I like to put on scary makeup, but not too much because then it doesn't look real. I like to carve pumpkins, dress up my kids, and watch funny scary movies. I am always really glad when Halloween is over though. I have found that the week after Halloween is usually pretty uneventful as far as expectations of other people go. It's the calm before the storm I guess. This year is an exception to that. I am so over scheduled the first week of November it is nuts. Happy Halloween!