I wanna be pregnant in Birkenstocks.

Got your attention with that one, I bet.....

True statement: I do, eventually, want to be pregnant. in Birkenstocks. I'll let you know when that happens.

SO, it's been 6 months since my last entry. Life has been quite busy since January, sooooo let's begin:

I'm officially a Mrs. 

(((!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)))

for the record, while it may be unnecessary to REstate, I deeply believe that everyone should have the right to legally become a Mr./Mrs. I pray every day that it happens within my lifetime.

Here comes a quick not-so-quick summation of all of the amazing things that have happened in the last month...

The wedding was lovely and beyond anything we thought we'd accomplish.  I've never enjoyed eating crawfish more, and even ended up doing the cliche cake-in-the-face move. I loved every minute of it. Davo could've lived with out the cake face. ;)

A glass was dropped off of the balcony, we started 30 minutes late, and the parking lot on the invites wasn't the parking lot we had reserved. 

Wabi Sabi.

And then.......

I worked for a few days, went through an emotional "joy hangover," and re-upped the joy on our way to southern Utah for our honeymoon. 

And then...

Driving through Zion was close to God; I can't imagine the connection I would've felt had I gotten to climb around in there a little.  I'll be back.  Escalante was hottttttt, but calf creek falls was stunning.  Hells' Backbone Grill in Boulder, UT was sweet, and in a LOVELY setting.  (((I mention nothing about the food, you'll notice.)))  Camping outside of Boulder was like camping at home in Flagstaff, but in the middle of nowhere with a creek outside of the tent.  Three of my favorite things in one place (Flagstaff, Creek, Husband); it was my favorite night of the whole trip.  Moab was hotter than Escalante, BUT the bike ride above the rim of Canyonlands was unforgettable.

...HOWEVER, the bike gear we left on the sidewalk outside of our car was apparently VERY forgettable. The Dead Horse Point visitors' center staff were incredibly helpful and we came home to a box full of our helmets, gloves, CAMERA, and snacks.  Thankful for kind strangers on that day.

And then....

Telluride happened. A couple days of alone time with my handsome man, including some sweet birthday time, and then bluegrass.  Minus the sickness caused by a combination of allergies, smoke, dust, and a respiratory infection it was the best bluegrass yet.  John Fogerty kicked some serious ass, and a good marshmallow fight while listening to Yonder will always make me smile.

Now that that's out of the way.......

Today I have two words on my mind: flexibility and forgiveness. Today these words mean that I do my best to eat healthy, live positively, and support values I believe in. And when I don't, I forgive myself and hope those around me do the same. I believe in supporting a world where we all eat (what I call) "happy meat," but every once in a while I'm so hungry or something just sounds good enough that I'll take a bite of unhappy meat.  I value guiding my life with healthy, productive practices (i.e. avoiding high fructose corn syrup, exercising, being nice to people) BUT I reeeeally appreciate the flexibility and forgiveness that comes on the days when I'm just not at my best.  That said, I will continue to do my best to support the consumption of local, happy foods of all kinds, I will try reeeeally hard to stay positive and perky as much as I possibly can, and I thank you all in advance for understanding when it's just not as easy as I'd like it to be.

love to you.

~*la*~ ((SMITH!)) :)

Sedona, humanitarian politics, and Bill Gates

Three thoughts so far today that I'd like to share:

a.) Sedona with the pups (and a few wonderful peeps) yesterday was a hugely needed day of sunshine and exercise.  The feeling of sweat and dirt all over my body never fails to get me back to feeling like myself again. 

b.) I was going to go on a rant about Rick Santorum and his unworthiness of presidential candidacy, but instead I'll simply try to describe my view of politics.  I believe that in order to lead people, one needs to love people.  All people. I also understand that you need insight, some serious guts, and even more revolutionary thought. For the record, I do think Obama posesses all of these traits, and that he also has the potential to make things happen. I think he has a lot of factors stacked against him right now, and I don't think he's figured out how to make all of his ideas a reality yet.  Just for the record.

3.) Maybe Bill Gates should run for president.  In his 2012 annual letter he covered the complex issue of development, with which he has great amounts of experience. To sum it up incredibly briefly: if we put our time and money into helping developing communities, as well as improving our own education system, our society (locally and globally) will flourish in the future.
((you really should read it for yourself: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/annual-letter/2012/Pages/home-en.aspx#familyplanning))

Gates covered several issues including vaccinations to keep our children healthy, teaching skills in order to promote sustainable agriculture, as well as the distribution of contraceptives and sexual education in order to halt a rapdily increasing world population.

My apologies to any who agree with Mr. Santorum, but compared to his belief that homosexuality shouldn't exist lest it take over the world and people stop making babies, Gates' realistic, humanitarian efforts to make our world a better place make some serious sense.

If I'm right, Bill Gates might just be the man for the job.  He obviously makes things happen (The Global Fund raises billions of dollars each year for research and treatment of disease in developing countries; and the U.S. Fund is currently doing research in peer evaluation and other measures to improve our country's education system). He clearly has a genuine love for human beings, and he clearly has guts.  Not to mention insight and a nack for revolutionary action.

Wow. How's that for a rant?? This might be the only politically-driven entry you'll ever get from me.  I hope it made sense.

On a lighter note.....

We've lined up our caterer, our cake maker, and have narrowed down our choices for live music to TWO, so the wedding planning is coming along! yayyyy!

Now... if only we could figure out how to fit 150 people in our backyard comfortably.....

We'll do our best.

Ta ta for now. Love to you all.

oh, hey!

ARGH it's been two months since my last entry. I'm completely comfortable placing blame in this situation, and the blame goes to......

the holidays. obviously.

Thanksgiving was lovely, Christmas was a much-needed break from reality, and (I think I may have said this for at least the past four years) I've never been so excited to celebrate the beginning of a new year. ever.

And, so, here we are.

Restarting the blog, planning a wedding, thinking about babies (all the time), and enjoying every "in with the good air, out with the bad."
Speaking of breathing and meditation...

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." ~ MLK, Jr.

Please breathe with that one for a moment.

(((((                 )))))

As I began this new year, I vowed that I would FINISH at least FIVE days of the MASTER CLEANSE!!!

You know, the one where you drink NOTHING but LEMONADE (made with cayenne pepper and maple syrup) and LAXATIVES for up to 40 days.

I began with the initial goal of five days, and on day two I was feeling GREAT, contemplating making it a full TEN days.
and then I googled it, and read a bunch of stuff enlightening me on how much I did NOT really want to do it.
... and I made it through 48 approximately 42 hours.
but I tried so hard.
nope, I didn't.

Since then I have begun my mornings with a detoxifying juice, followed by grapefruit, to give my metabolism that boost that actually does make me feel great.  If you want the recipe I'd be happy to share.
I'd also be happy to share the author/title of the book where I found it, since I obviously didn't just make up this magic juice.

Minus the food poisoning I got after my lovely sushi date night last weekend, I'm feeling great these days. I'm running and working out when I feel like it, I'm eating great, and I'm happy.

On THAT note, I'd like to end my first entry of 2012 with my first DIY step-by-step!
YAYYYYY!!!!

I wrote a thank you note to our family's lovely friend Kathy, (who has so generously created/contributed a GORGEOUS set of earrings to my wedding attire.) and I got inspired.  I had seen something about spray painting lace on Etsy Pinterest while looking through wedding stuff with my mom recently,  and decided I'd try to spruce up that lame-o thank you note a bit and do it MYself. Check it out:

((( Thanks go to Crystle for introducing me to Pinterest, i.e. this generation's version of CRACK ))))

Step 1 - get stuff

Step 2 - lay lace over notecard and spray

Voila.



Stick with love. 

~*la*~