Story time!

My great grandparents have a cabin outside of Yellowstone available for anyone in the family to go to if you reserve it in advance, and we went there for Thanksgiving. We arrived at about 7:00 in the evening and saw a car with an Oregon license plate. My mom went up to the door and knocked. There were people. PEOPLE! In OUR family cabin that WE had reserved! You can probably tell that I wasn't terribly happy, because seriously- who wants to spend their Thanksgiving with complete strangers (i.e. relatives you met once when you were three)? But then we found that it was our favorite random relation! (My mom's aunt and cousins, who are our age) Apparently we were accidentally double booked, but they were so kind and wonderful and we all spent Thanksgiving together. We stayed up after midnight every night playing games, doing crafts, watching movies (and Monk), and all sorts of fun. It was unexpected, but probably one of the best Thanksgivings ever.

Memorable moment
We were playing Scattergories. The category was 'exercise.' The letter? H. Begin scene:

Me: I put down 'heavy'. Did anyone else?
Others: No.
Marie: I put 'hard'
Mom: Healthy
Debbie: I said 'heat'
Matt: Helpful
Becky: Harty
Jenny: Hell

Life Goals

A friend of mine (you know who you are...) has a list of life goals. I think this is a brilliant idea and have started to compile a list of my own. If you know me, you already know my big goals that include a family of my own, so rather than bore you with the standards I'll venture a little out of the norm :)

-Go paragliding. Survive.
-Speak another language fluently, hopefully Spanish.
-Participate in "The Great British Duck Race" www.thegreatbritishduckrace.co.uk/
-Eat real buffalo.
-Complete an Olympic distance triathlon.
-Win an award for creating something delicious.
-Go to the Galapagos Islands and save turtles, tortoises, and iguanas.
-Learn how to proficiently waltz, salsa, and especially tango.
-Go to the best (voted) amusement park in the world: "Cedar Point" in Ohio.
-Pull a real all-nighter (just to say that I did).
-Visit (and possibly go diving in) Jellyfish Lake in Palau.

Book Recommendation

There's an incredible book I'm reading that I absolutely recommend to everyone. It offers great comfort and insight into us as human beings. It's very 'slice-of-life' centered, and genuinely uplifting. Oh, and it's an easy read.


It's called:
"Kitchen Table Wisdom" by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.

Musicals... Continued! The most "Awesome" songs

By 'awesome' I not only mean, well, awesome, but I also mean full of awe. There's something in these songs that just makes me go "Wow."

The Impossible Dream- Man of La Mancha
Murder- Jekyll and Hyde
Look Down- Les Miserables
Madame Guillotine- The Scarlet Pimpernel
Camelot- Camelot

Romantic Songs From Musicals And Such

These are some of my favorites! I dedicate them to the hopeless romantic inside... They range from thoughtful and beautiful to downright... pathetic? no... just... excessively cheesy. Try 'youtube'-ing them! Yay for youtube! And please leave comments adding to this rather short list :)

Last Night of the World- Miss Saigon
Let Me Be Your Wings- Thumbelina
Far Longer Than Forever- The Swan Princess
Take Me As I Am- Jekyll and Hyde
She Was There- The Scarlet Pimpernel
If I Can't Love Her- Beauty and the Beast
How to Handle a Woman- Camelot
If Ever I Would Leave You- Camelot
A Heart Full of Love- Les Miserables
I Won't Say I'm in Love- Hercules
All I Ask of You- Phantom of the Opera
How Could I Know- The Secret Garden
As Good As You- Jane Eyre

Introduction

Well this is rather exciting. I've never had a blog before! I welcome you friends, neighbors, and dust bunnies alike. I declare the right to be thoughtful, frivolous, amusing, serious, and altogether 'an odd duck' in my musings. To begin:

I wish I were a glow worm
A glow worm is never glum
For how could you be unhappy
When the sun shines out your bum?
-Author Unknown