Maybe this craziness is life.

Wow.

Things have been nuts.

But then again, isn't that how it always is after I get home?
It usually takes about 3 weeks for things to get back to normal.

1. A week for the physical effects of jet lag.
2. Another week for the mental effects of jet lag.
3. A week trying to catch up on everything missed during the trip and what I missed during the 2 weeks after the trip.

Unfortunately this 3rd week fell on the week of the 4th of July.
This year it will take 4 weeks.  At least 4.

Independence Day is nearly bigger than Christmas for our family.

We love it.

It is dear to us.

There are many activities during the days that lead up to and follow the 4th of July.

First and foremost, my little man Isaac and I went to the BYU library.
It was a blast.
He especially liked finding books in different languages, reading maps, and taking elevators.

This year we had Grandma Wheeler's birthday at our house.

It was fantastic!!!

We were so sick of hamburger barbecues, so I suggested a kabob barbecue.

It was soooooo good!

I ended up being in charge of most of the food.

We had chicken salad; greek salad; chicken and beef kabobs with peppers, onions, pineapple, and other stuff; frozen pineapple; baked potatoes; corn on the cob; and of course, chocolate birthday cake.

It was a wonderful day and things went perfectly.

On the 4th, the Padre braved a 4am rainstorm to save seats for the parade.

When we dropped a phone to him at 6:15am he was sleeping in one of our seats on the side of the road.

It was adorable.

Cita and Stephie headed to the parade seats with the extended family at 6:30am while the rest of us drove over to the Freedom Run starting line.

The race was really fun.

Juania got 4th overall and had some sweet hurdle moves at the end of the race.

He was on the wrong side at the finish line so he vaulted himself, while he was at a full sprint, over the flag line so he would pass the finish line on the 5k side (rather than the 10k) side.

Apparently people where cheering wildly at his awesomeness.

Deruda and Morgan came in close together.

In order to beat Morgan, Deruda had to really sprint at the end.

The result was him barfing at the finish line.

Karen and the Padre came in next.

He mastered "the shuffle" for this race and did fantastic!!!

Bug came in next 1.5 minutes before I did.

She was bummed about her time but both her feet were injured.  

I was impressed she was able to run at all.

I was able to stay with Bug for the first mile and change but then I had to walk a bit.

Going cold turkey on a 5k after 2 weeks of jet lag is not very pleasant.

Despite the walking I beat my time from last year!

Carolyn and Hunter came in next together and Grandpa Wheeler finished it off for our familia!

♥ ♥ ♥

After the run we walked down to where the rest of the familia was sitting and sat down to watch the parade.
The parade was awesome but seemed really long.
We were all so tired from the run.

After a while the Lizzinator and I just played with my camera.  

She wanted to make all of these faces.

She has to be one of the most expressive little girls ever.

We had a blast.

After a huge barbecue the day before, an evening bike ride, a 4am call time at the parade route, a 5k, and a walk back to the familia, the Padre was rightfully exhausted.

So we didn't mind that he took a nap during the parade.

I just took a picture.

♥ ♥ ♥

After the parade we all went home and napped for a few hours.

In the evening we went out by the BYU Broadcasting building and camped out at our normal spot for the fireworks.
It was soooo much fun!

We played games, ate pizza and snacks, slept, and Deruda even brought his guitar.
We all had so much fun!!!

♥ ♥ ♥

The next day Juanita and Morgan headed to Canada,
Deruda left for a camping trip,
and the rest of us stayed home to work, play, and watch Mother Nature's fireworks.
We had an absolutely fantastic thunder and lightning storm.
Actually we had 2.
The second one came while we were watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
The lightning seemed to hit at the really cool parts of the movie and the thunder gave excellent background noise.
____________________________

It has been a crazy week but absolutely wonderful.
Today I am playing catch up and on Monday the real work starts.

AHHHHH!!!

♥ ♥ ♥

The Hike to Ad-Deir

One day Lisa and I decided to take a picture at every turn on our hike up the mountain to Ad-Deir.

It took a long time but was really fun.

This was the end result!

Everyday guys.

Every

single

day.

For a month.

This week in photos

Monday:

Still getting over the illness and taking a test.

But, I already posted these pictures...on Monday.

Tuesday - Wednesday:

Some classes, 

less work, 

more sleeping and the West Wing than I care to admit at this time.

I also woke up with my hair like this:

No hair product required here.

Thursday:

After class and a meeting (my second class was canceled!!!) I went up to campus and hung out with Lynnbynn.

It was nice to catch up.

Then I got a text from Bug who was doing Dancesport on one end of campus and another text from Hunter who was on the other end of campus.

I decided to play serendipity and have them meet me in the middle.

Instead of meeting me they ran into each other.

Kudos to me.

We decided to have lunch at the Brick Oven.

The following was our conversation with our server.

"So tell me what you want what you really, really want."

"We'll tell you what we want what we really, really want."

"So tell me what you want what you really, really want."

You may not get the Spice Girls reference here because you are reading instead of hearing it, but believe me it was there...and hilarious.

After Brick Oven we walked Bug back to her competition on the other side of campus.

We decided to cut through Helaman Halls via "the tunnel".

On Thursday it had this covering on it for some reason we never figured out.

No matter, we enjoyed it regardless.

After Hunter and I dropped off Bug we discovered there was a baseball game going on and decided to drop in.

Never fear, no players were injured in the taking of these photos.

Friday:

I did research for my museum class on the Ute language...and watched the West Wing.

All day.

I am ashamed.

In the evening the Padre invited Amy and I to use our All-Sports passes to go see the men's volleyball match against Cal Baptist University.

We won...soundly.

After he took us to get 50's style milkshakes with fries and gave us quarters for the jukebox machine.

It was a blast.

Saturday:

Productive day!  Finally!

First I spent the morning working on a fellowship application.

Then we had a mini barbecue courtesy of the padre.

The Padre and I took Rosie on a hike up the mountain and got 2 rocks for the backyard.

  

It was a little brown and grey outside but beautiful weather and an awesome hike.

After the hike the Padre, Hunter and I went over to watch another baseball game.

This time we lost, by a lot.

Still, baseball is relaxing and really fun, we enjoyed ourselves.

Deruda came home from SUU about the same time we got back from the game.

After the baseball game Hunter and I went over for a family dinner for little Hannah's birthday.

The rest of the familia couldn't attend because Bug is really, really sick. 

After that we came home, hung with the familia for a bit (and poor Bug), and then I went to bed because of Day Light Savings today.

So, there you go.

A week, some pictures, and the start of another one.

Spots of Sunshine

Today I returned to the testing center for another Madame La Guillotine test. The girl who handed me my test commented on my class number (525) and said I must be really cool to take an upper level class and that she had not seen anyone in such a high class. I informed her that she had not seen any upper level courses in the testing center because we should not be taking tests. She laughed...I cried a little inside. Oh Madame, why do you give us tests instead of papers?

Oh well.

Because I was taking an exam I got to do an old tradition of mine - the test chocolate. This started in 3rd grade when my teacher gave us chocolate before our core tests. It is a delicious tradition.

Also, when I left the testing center someone had posted little happy thoughts to anyone who wanted them. Isn't that awesome!?! I took one. I was SUPER happy about my test and touches by their gesture. 

Good day!

The good, the bad, the ugly.

I love smoothies!!!

(this is the good part by the way)

I saw on Pinterest that someone used a smoothie base and then froze them to use later.

I loved it.

So I did it and I have been eating them all week!

These are some of the frozen muffin tin things.  

I haven't put them in a bag yet.

They are made from oranges, greek yogurt, and spinach.

Hunter says that they look like troll food.

I figure troll food must taste really good because these do.

So I stick one of those in a mason jar and add berries.

Actually this morning I added 2 or them and then many berries.

To many actually, it when from sweet to a bit tart.

Still tasty though and super healthy

Finally I add some coconut milk (because I no longer drink cow milk) and blend with my hand blender.

Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the final result.

Instead I drank it.
Delicious!

On to other things

(this is the good, the bad, and the ugly)

This has been a most entertaining week.

Let me explain.

I started this week with a pretty bad bout of insomnia.

That took up the first half of the week.

I also had a bit of a sore throat but I thought that may be because of the cold weather and not sleeping...unfortunately it got progressively worse as the week went on.

During this time of unrest I worked at the temple on Monday and on Tuesday I gave a presentation.

That was by far the easiest presentation I have ever given.

You wouldn't think it would be since I put it together Tuesday morning but I was very blessed and am very, very grateful.

Blessings, blessings.

Oh, this is Megan's USB that she let me put my presentation on.

His eyes glow when he is plugged in.

Super cool.

Finally Wednesday night I slept.

And Thursday night actually, after I filled in another grant application.

Friday was pretty fantastic.

Hunter and I did our monthly Costco trip which also includes a trip to Karen's for her piano lesson.

This Friday we also went to campus to:

Turn in my grant application and pick up stuff from the department.

Go to the library.

Go to the advisement center and get Hunter an appointment.

Shop (we got Hunter a BYU Spiderman t-shirt...yep those exist) and read before Hunter's appointment at the advisement center.

Wait for Hunter while she met with an adviser.

Go get Hunter's oil changed.

While we waited for the oil change Hunter bought me lunch.

Then we went to Hunter's piano lesson,

and then Costco,

and then Wal-Mart,

and finally home to watch Skyfall.

Friday was very busy.

Since I was finally sleeping I looked forward to a long sleep Friday night.

Unfortunately it was not meant to be.

At about 2:00 am I woke up with my eyes molded shut and my throat (which got progressively worse over the week) swollen and raw.

I had all the symptoms of strep throat and pink eye...at the same time.

I was not a very happy camper, especially since I am supposed to study for a Cyndy exam this weekend.

BUT, I am trying to focus on the positive.

I wouldn't have gotten an antibiotic for my throat unless something drastic happened...like pink eye.

+1

We also had the antibiotic I needed at home so I didn't have to go to the InstaCare

+2

I was able to catch up on a lot of sleep yesterday and still study while I was bedridden.

+3

So, really, if you think about it with some perspective, the end of my week was a blessing.
In disguise of pink eye and strep throat.

Sometimes you have to go through the crappy but God's timing is always best.

1. For example if this had happened at the beginning of the week I would have bombed my presentation.
2. If it had happened in the middle of the week I would have missed necessary work hours.
3. If it had happened even one day earlier I would not have had groceries for the month.

I am desperately praying that I will be able to take my test on Monday.  

I don't think it will be a problem, I technically am no longer contagious.

I just look like a stoner and sound like a smoker.

No big deal.

I really am truly grateful for my blessings this week, no matter what form they came in.

Happy Sunday all!

♥ ♥ ♥

In other news...

This week has been a pain and oh so good.

I have had a massive amount of things to do.

They all got done.

I love to do lists that are completely checked off.

I don't have much to say this week except a quick, wonderful story.

I work in the temple on Mondays which is really fun and I love it very much.

This last Monday the temple was absolutely full because of the holiday.

We completely ran out of lockers and were rushing around trying to find space for the constant influx of people that were pouring into the temple.

In fact by the time I left at about 10:30, there had been almost 1000 endowment ordinances done.

That is absolutely amazing.

It was glorious.

It gets better though.

I was upstairs waiting with some other workers for a session to finish.

I looked up and saw my good friend Cameron standing there with his mission companion.

I quickly walked over to him and shook his hand, because you cannot hug missionaries.

We got to speak for a few moments before he headed out.

Why is this so miraculous?

Well, let me tell you.

Cameron is one of my little brothers best childhood friends.

After some time away from the church he came back and decided to serve a mission.

He is serving in Arcadia, California now.

He left for Arcadia on Tuesday, so I was able to see him right before he left.

I was so grateful to see him.

He will be such a fantastic missionary.

So, excellent start to the week, the week is done, and I am getting ready for the next list.

Surprisingly, or not, it is significantly longer this week.

Oh well, we do our best.

I was going to be better...

I was going to be better at posting...

but good gravy guys, life is nuts right now!!!

(little lizzinator kind of sums that one up for me)

Let's see...the last real post was on the last day of 2012.

Well, 2013 has been grand for the most part.

I had to reapply to grad school for the museum certificate.

75 bucks baby.

The miracle there is that my GRE scores were still good.

Which was good because I was not taking that awful test again.

I am without a car - by choice - and it has been REALLY good for my legs.

Let me tell you, Bathsheba would be jealous of my legs at the moment.

 The weather has been a bit nuts though.

Here is a pic from a random day on my way to work:

Here is a pic from the very next day:

Yeah, the weather has been a bit like that all January and into February.

Along with the snow we have a lovely little thing called inversion.

You can't tell but the actual mountains are a bit lower than that dark line.

The inversion and my asthma are not friends right now.

Still, I'm not hating on winter, I have actually really liked the snow.

I actually think I like it better walking in it than driving in it.

It is much prettier.

In other "walking to work and school news", this is what I saw the other day:

Some people are so awesome...or creepy.

As for other new year changes...

I started working at the temple on Monday mornings instead of Thursday mornings!

I LOVE it!!!

It makes Sunday seem a little bit longer and is the absolute best way to start the week.

Seriously guys, I recommend it big time.

I also love walking to campus from the temple - it just feels good.

Let's be honest, I'm just loving walking, especially when it looks like this.

___________________________________________________________________

There isn't much else to say.

I caught the awful cold that was going around and have literally been in bed for the last week.

My wonderful cousin and roommate Hunter helped me do my schoolwork by pushing me around campus in a wheelchair because I was to sick to stand (much less walk) for more than 5-10 minutes at a time.

So she took me up to campus in a wheelchair and helped me do my 2 hour long assignment for my museum class.

I am so very grateful for her.

Happy Sunday folks!

Maybe next week I'll actually post again so the update won't be as long.

♥ ♥ ♥

The resurrection of Project 52

On 1 August 2010 I started a little project which I called "Project 52".

It was a weekly photo journal basically documenting my first year of grad school.

Well, I decided to do it again...except the first year of grad school part...that is so very done.

The first Project 52 was focused on moving forward in my life.
This next one is more about documenting the inner change that is happening at the moment.
So, once a week I take a picture that attempts to show the "theme" of my week, how I have been inspired.

We'll see how it goes.

If interested there is a link to the project on the right hand side of this page.
If not, don't click on it...simple eh?

_____________________________________________________________________

Quick addition to this little post.

As I was updating the Project 52 blog I decided to click on #4, the newest post.
It brought up 4/52 from this year and 4/52 from 2010.
Interestingly enough I was going through pretty much the same thing...not quite but close.
Life was crazy busy, I didn't have enough time, I was stressed etc., etc., etc.

The picture was VERY different for several reasons.
First: I was 3 years older - my face looks slightly different.
Second: the picture itself is artistically different.
Third: my perspective of my trials were VASTLY different.

Moral of the story?

I am infinitely glad I have changed these past years.
These projects are a definite evidence of that.
Yay!

♥ ♥ ♥

Shampoo free and other cracks in my universe...

Hunter has made me a HUGE fan of Dr. Who.

The new version.

I haven't tried out the original yet.

I was incredibly ill for a few days...and we watched all 5 seasons together.

Yep, that is what we did.

...and I won't be doing it again.

My favorite Doctor is the current one, actor Matt Smith.

His first episode had to do with a crack in the wall of young Amy Pond's wall.

This was more than a crack in her wall though, it was a crack in the universe.

(gotta love Sci-Fi)

I thought of that episode this morning when I got out of bed and found this:

This is the crack in MY universe.

My favorite, most comfortable, most gloriously broken in, set of sheets tore.

Granted they had a small hole before but apparently during the night my foot got caught in them.

Now I have fleece sheets on my bed.

Warm, but not my favorite, most comfortable, most gloriously broken in, set of sheets.

Those have been officially retired.

_______________________________________________________________________

As far as other "cracks in my universe" here is a funny.

Last night I decided to try a homemade hair mask.

My hair has been really great recently but I put it in a bun yesterday and it came out in a fro.

I really should have taken a picture but I didn't.

So I made a hair mask out of honey and olive oil and put a shower cap on while I took a glorious bath.

When I went to rinse out the mask I had forgotten that water does not really take out oil.

It did feel kind of weird but I thought, "oh well, it will dry just fine."

This is what I woke up to:

So I went upstairs to whine about the state of my hair and here were the reactions:

Cita: Oh look how shiny your hair is!  The frizz is totally gone!

Me: But it is so oily!

Cita: Just wait until it dries it will be great.

Bug: Why are you whining, just wait till it dries!

Me: Guys, it is dry.

All: Oh...how do you get it out?

Me: Good question.

Bug: At least it is shiny.

So I will be washing my hair again today.

Although, don't judge me, if it gets rid of the frizz I am totally going to do it again....

...and again...

...and again...

...and again until the dry winter is done.

_______________________________________________________________________

In other news, since Thanksgiving I have been going shampoo free.

Like, none.

Sounds gross right?

Look at you passing judgement so quickly.

Naughty, naughty.

About a year ago I read a blog about a woman who had gone, what she called, 'poo free.

I thought it was interesting, but it took a while for it to work and I didn't want to go through all that.

Well, since that time I've read quite a bit about it, and when my shampoo was almost gone and I was so poor I didn't want to spend money on more, I decided to try going shampoo free.

It took a bit (between 1-2 weeks) for things to balance out but then I realized how glorious it was.

It is harder, in some ways, than using store shampoo.

Here is a list:

1. Like with any homemade thing there is an adjustment period while your scalp and hair figures out what the heck you are doing.
2. You have to figure out what your body needs BY LISTENING TO YOUR BODY.  Very different than just dabbing on a specific amount of shampoo.  For example is my scalp dry today?  Less baking soda then.  Is it oily, more baking soda etc.
3. I'm still trying to figure out the "conditioner" (really an acidic clarifier to counteract the baking soda).  I've been using an apple cider vinegar mixture but (mostly because of the nasty dry winter here) my hair is SUPER frizzy.  Last night I tried honey, which she recommended also, but I'm also going to try lemon juice which is something other people do.

So, with the adjustment period etc. why am I still going shampoo free?

1. Winters here are sooooo dry.  All of my skin dries out, peels, breaks, bleeds...including my scalp.  My hair also dried out, split, and broke every winter.  I used to use every product I could think of to help, and they got increasingly more expensive and it didn't make a huge difference.  I HAVE NOT USED ANYTHING THIS WINTER!!!  Nada, none.  There has been no need.  Sometimes, my scalp feels a little itchy because I used to much baking soda and it dried it out a little bit but other than that, there is no dandruff, not split ends, no extreme hair loss.
2. My hair is thicker.  I thought maybe I was making that up in my mind, but no, others have commented that my hair is feeling thicker.  I'm just not losing as much hair as usual.
3. It is shinier, healthier.  I love it.

Yep, totally recommend it.

I've also started using a natural face cleaner as well composed of castor and olive oil.

It is GLORIOUS!!!

I've never had zits disappear so fast, my skin is tighter and softer, and most importantly, MY WINTER DRY FACE PEELING IS GONE!!!

Interested?  Here are the links to Simple Mom (the blog I referenced when I started this process).

Going shampoo free

Cleaning your face naturally

_______________________________________________________________________

Last day of 2012!

Make it a good one!

Last day of the year!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Well, a week ago anyway.

Happy end of the world!

False...it did not end, people need to learn their ancient history better.

Happy anniversary parentals!

Well, about 2 weeks ago anyway.

Happy eternal marriage Laurie!

Well, almost 3 weeks ago anyway.

um...not to good at staying on top of things apparently.

um....

Happy New Year!

TOMORROW!!! Yes, a day ahead, sweet.

For Christmas I got a desperately needed new 'point and snap'.

I've been working on the settings to calm the flash down a bit.

I'm not a huge fan of automatic settings.

I had fun taking pics of the familia with it.

The Madre:

The Padre:

Stephie:

TayTay:

Bug (who cannot take a normal picture to save her life):

Aliswan, TayTay, and Bug:

Now that I have a camera that takes pics in focus I am hoping I will start posting more.

We shall see, things are a bit nuts right now.

Adios!