The Scampering Horse

Once, 7 years ago, Ian and I went to Beijing.  We took our baby Julie with us.  She was 9 months old when we left and a little over a year old when we returned.  Needless to say, she was little. It was February and Beijing was cold, and big, and smelly, and loud.  Everywhere was rush hour. I didn't know a soul in that city of millions of people besides my husband.  I couldn't speak to anyone, except to ask them about their health.  For some reason in Mandarin 101, that was the phrase that stuck. "How is your health?" Oddly enogh, there aren't a lot of opportunities to use that phrase in passing conversation. Ian would happily scamper off to school every morning at 8 am, with his backpack. I was left to fend for myself and my baby.  I had to shop for our food.  The market near our house was only open in the morning, so I had to do it or we didn't eat. Listen, I know I am a spoiled American girl who has sort of had my life handed to me compare...

Target, I love you for so many reasons, but this is not a love letter.  This is a "really?" letter.  Like Seth Meyers would write.  But, I don't plan on saying really that many times. I am done saying really. I love how how you have a dollar area, with fun things that make me spend more money on junk than I had considered possible.  I also think your clothes are cute, which is why I come to shop your clearance racks. I don't love what you consider "clearance," and yes I care.   30 percent off is not clearance! It is barely even a sale.  It is a sale I wouldn't consider a sale.  30 percent off doesn't convince me to buy anything.   Clearance is not a synonym for sale.  The two words shouldn't be used interchangedly.  I would like to tell you what clearance is. First, lets start with what a sale is.  The sale is what gets me into the store.  It is what I look at before I go to the clearance rack. Clearance is the stuff...

I have a cousin. His name is Robert.  He is one of many cousins. He is a older than me.  He is 40ish and has sarcoidosis.  For real.   There is no cure for sarcoidosis. Fortyish is too young to have a terminal disease, but I don't get to choose who dies when.We are best internet friends. We even have an exclusive book club. He can’t get out of his house much. I think he should get a cat. Growing up I had cats.  My parents weren’t really into animals, but we had mice, so they allowed a cat. One cat magically turned into several cats. I am a great salesperson. The cats were supposed to stay outside, but I smuggled them across the border and into my bedroom.  They slept by my feet.  Often they slept on my feet. This cat is more beautiful than Odd Eye, but you get the idea. My first cat was named “Odd-eye.”  She had one blue eye and one green one.  She was white. Her tail was crooked from getting slammed in a door.  She ...

When I walked into BYU as a 20 year old kid,I didn't think I was even going to like Brigham Young University.  I thought I wouldn't like the rules, the people, or the place.  I was so wrong. Every class challenged me.  I had been taking up to 21 credits my first two years of college, and not really struggling with course work.  Ummm….not so much.  I signed up for 15 credits my first semester.  Dumb. A one credit class on The Book of Mormon zapped hours from my life.  No longer was I trying to learn how to apply scriptures to my life so I could be a better person.  I was memorizing the migration cycles of entire families over generations, and it was like learning the Kreb cycle.  I wasn't good at learning the Kreb cycle.  I still like to read The Book of Mormon. And, don’t even get me started on American Heritage.  I love America, and its heritage is very great, but I do not love the cou...

On the eighth year of marriage my true love gave to me, a blog post about being married. I know, Ian is SOOOOOO lucky. I've learned a lot by being married to Ian. Every year, I learn more of what I don’t know.  So the thing is, I was single for 21 years.  I was pretty confident as a single gal.  I sort of got awesome at dating, getting good grades in college, scheduling my time, and getting in some great workouts and daily scripture studies.  I knew my stuff.  Guess what?  Pretty much none of that knowledge and confidence transferred to maintaining a marriage, organizing a household, and raising children.   First year: I get really sick when I’m pregnant, and I have depression.  That means a lot of things to a newly married couple. I had my first baby girl, who I loved with everything I am.  I tested Ian a lot, and he proved to be very loyal and understanding. We also met Ian’s birth mother, which was wonderful.  ...