It's Okay Friday...on a Sunday

It's Okay...

*To be running late on this - it was a Holiday weekend after all!

*To have my Christmas baking done and delivered. I couldn't afford fancy gifts this year so people got homemade stuff and since December will be so crazy busy with the cruise and Christmas - I delivered and shipped today.

*To have had a weekend full of mixed emotions because I wasn't with my Shoopman family like I have been for the past 25 Thanksgivings but to also have had a heart full of love for the family I was with, including my amazing husband, my awesome Mom and my fantastic little brother. Even though we didn't know until Wednesday Lucas would be home and the Hubs worked from noon to five Thursday, it was a great last minute Thanksgiving.

*To think that if I wasn't already married to my eternal companion, I might try to marry Tim Tebow.

*To have missed the treats this Thanksgiving. Once I hit goal weight I am not going to deprive myself on a Holiday again!

*To cry just because I can.

*To be so super grateful for the girls who have befriended me in my ward - you ladies have meant more to me than you could know.

*To be overwhelmed by life lately and cry about it sometimes.

*To be sad I will miss the Christmas program at church but the wound is healing with the idea of sunshine and beaches.

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! Here's to a good week!

It's Okay Friday

It’s Okay…

*To be at my wit’s end over the root canal bill and the vet bill and the heating bill (thanks a lot freak wind) and wonder how I am going to make our decreased grocery fund stretch this month.  We have a freezer full of meat; plain meet is a meal, right? Who needs side dishes?

*To have gone to the midnight premiere of Breaking Dawn and actually enjoyed it. The new director did a great job and I have to say I think it is the best done Twilight movie yet (and we bought the tickets before all the above mentioned problems blew up).

*To really want to see Happy Feet 2.  Hopefully it will stick around the local theatre long enough to make it to my next pay day.

*To wish I was going to have a day sometime in my future where I could sleep about 15 hours straight. Unfortunately, that isn’t going to be happening.

*To set a low spending limit for Christmas for myself and the hubs and only on each other. Everyone else is getting something homemade.  Jesus is the reason for the season!

*To be horribly heart-broken over the fact that for the first time in my life I will not be in Riverton this year for Thanksgiving. My heart literally hurts about it. The hubs works Thanksgiving Day from noon to five p.m. and I’m not going to leave him…you know that whole cling unto your spouse thing and all.

*To have not eaten cream cheese in so long I have forgotten the taste of it. We will meet again Philadelphia, some day.

*To be considering a blog documenting the weight loss that has happened as a result of giving up said cream cheese (and other bad things and doing turbo kick and yoga and other healthy stuff) complete with photos of the body changes but also to be unsure I am quite ready to put myself out there like that.

*To have a Pinterest problem. I need therapy.

Happy Weekend!!

Ford Rangers and Country Music

I spent the better part of my youth dying to be an adult. I couldn't wait to grow up and be my own woman, make my own rules, say shit and piss and damn and not have a soul tell me I couldn't.  I don't know what I was thinking. Seriously, I was totally insane. Now, I relish moments that take me back to my youth and remind me of how it felt to be so young and pure before the world had it's way with me.

Today, a red Ford Ranger blew past the pedestrians on campus blaring country music.  It was cold and the air swirled up around me biting at my exposed face and I was instantly transported to a different time in a different place over 10 years ago when 3 young teen aged girls were driving down a road with windows open in a red Ford Ranger singing at the top of their lungs, "Why don't you kiss....kiss this...and I don't me on my rosy red lips...because me and you, we're through, and there's only one thing left for you to do...just come on over her one last time, pucker up and close your eyes, and kiss this....goodbye." It brought tears to my eyes, if I had only known then how quickly I would be kissing that memory goodbye.

Who knows if the other girls even remember the incident or if it is a memory they treasure...but for me, that moment grounded me many times as I struggled my way through finding my path.  Now all grown up and seeking a second degree while nurturing a marriage and working a full time job, I find myself wishing I had cherished more the days of Ford Rangers and Country Music.

I Guess I'm Not So Glamorous...

This week's questions are going to show how much of a girl I am so NOT...link up with Mamarazzi, Queso and Crazymama for WWTK!



1. What is your "can't go without it" beauty product/cosmetic?
Does chap stick count? I think I wear true makeup less than a handful of times a month. It just takes so much danged time to put on!

2. Do you apply make-up before or after doing your hair?
Well as stated in the previous question I don't wear it often. However, when I do the answer to this depends on what I am doing with my hair. If we are talking a blow dry and flat iron event I put the make-up on after my hair is done. If we are talking about a fancy event in which my hair needs curled...I put the make up WHILE my hair is in the hot curlers. Genius? I thought so.

3. How would you describe your personal style?
Um......somewhere between country casual and small town chick? I wear the occasional skinny jeans and boots but you won't find me crying any tears over not being able to afford that 100 dollar pair of heels either...

4. How long does it take you to get ready each day?
I grew up with a lot of siblings. A lot. And I don't wear make-up.  Including a blow dry, start to finish, shower to walking out the door, 20 minutes, 30 tops.

5. What is your one pamper, just for you, beauty splurge?
Pedicures.  Even in the winter! I know no one sees my toes but I love the way they look when they are painted nicely and I like having soft feet!

It's Okay Friday!

It's Okay...

*To have chosen this font for today just because it is called “Elephant.”

*To be both excited and horrified that I leave for the cruise in 36 days…I’m not quite as skinny as I had hoped to be for vacation but I am SOOOO ready for a vacation. I think the hubs is more ready though.

*To have busy weeks which entail missing my usual blogging business. It means my life is full.

*To be disgusted over the 72-day sham the Kardashians are calling a marriage. People should NOT look up to Kim, but young girls still do and I am just appalled over the example this shows them. Realistically, 72 days isn’t even long enough to really give it an honest effort.

*To struggle with the fact that my husband works in retail which means he never gets weekends or many Holidays off which contrasts horribly with my regular government 8-5 job with all recognized Holidays off.

*To have taken 3 evenings to truly clean every crevice of my house including washing all the bedding – slow but steady – and now the house is gorgeous and ready for company.

*To have actually enjoyed the Footloose remake. It was not anything near the original but it was still entertaining.

Happy Friday!!

To Write a Villanelle

I like to write...clearly, I blog because I like to write. What I never imagined I would discover through writing is an expression of things you can't get out any other way...and I learned that lesson long ago in junior high...I think.  Anyway, when I registered for a poetry class I never imagined I would be writing so much of it for assignments...I figured I'd get to read the great poems that touch people's lives and evaluate them but never did imagine I would be writing them. Alas, we are assigned writing assignments.  My most recent writing assignment was to write a villanelle. I love the poem by Dylan Thomas Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. I can't tell you how many times in my life I have repeated in my head "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." All that to say...I learned the villanelles are lovely to read, not easy to write. So I labored and struggled and scribbled and erased and re-wrote and typed and complained to my friends about how hard it was. They requested I post it, so this, my friends, is my end result:

Fall From Grace

The dais, freshly built, held you up – strong

Eager eyes raring to make the villains pay

But the hero’s fall was welcomed, even longed.

Cries of your name echoed from the throngs

It seemed you were the answer, the reason to pray

The dais, freshly built, held you up – strong.

Skeptical eyes watched, waited for your wrongs

Your movements analyzed day by agonizing day

But the hero’s fall was welcomed, even longed.

She grabbed your hand and whispered, “Come along.”

You wouldn’t be saved, you searched for prey

The dais, freshly built, held you up – strong.

Grave friends, near the end, they heard your song

You refused to turn back, the demon still to slay!

But a hero’s fall was welcomed, even longed.

This end hurt so badly because you prolonged.

You couldn’t let go of the wretched valiant day.

The dais, freshly built, held you up – strong.

But a hero’s fall was welcomed, even longed.