I am a Roadside Scavenger

Is there a more delicate way of saying it? I suppose so. Dumpster diver? Treasure hunter? Maybe. More accurate though? Nay. When you drive up your lane on "large refuse" (direct translation) day, catch a glimpse of lime green goodness, turn your car around and politely ask your German neighbor if he is the owner of the bright green beauty there on the side of the road- only one term fits. You are a roadside scavenger. And when he nods and smiles and asks you if you want it (and cheers erupt from the backseat), you are proud to be.

Introducing our brand new (free) conquest -complete with ottoman-

the Lima Bean.

One man's trash is another girl's treasure.

I am a Believer of Faust philosophy

“Women today are encouraged to have it all – all simultaneously, money, travel, marriage, motherhood and a separate career in the world...But, my dear granddaughters, you cannot do everything well at the same time. You cannot be a 100 percent wife, a 100 percent mother, a 100 percent church worker, a 100 percent career person, and a 100 percent public-service person at the same time. How can all of these roles be coordinated?

Doing things sequentially—filling roles one at a time at different times—gives a woman the opportunity to do each thing well in its time and to fill a variety of roles in her life...She may fit more than one career into the various seasons of life. She need not try to sing all of the verses of her song at the same time."

-James E. Faust (emphasis added)

"In my opinion, the teaching, rearing, and training of children requires more intelligence, intuitive understanding, humility, strength, wisdom, spirituality, perseverance, and hard work than any other challenge we might have in life."

— James E. Faust, stories from my life

I am Forever in Blue Jeans

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

*photo used courtesy of nieniedialouges, thanks Nie!

I am "Like"able

A good friend (and fellow Coloradoan) once pegged it as my Colorado accent. Maybe...and perhaps for that reason, I should be remiss to let it go, but I'm not. I'm like, totally not.

At it's extreme, it's obnoxiously second nature and purely annoying. When telling a story, I come into my own and it flows out of me- a demon I can't control: My "like" habit.

The worst is when I hear my one of my children repeat it; I can't help but cringe. Cute at first. But like a fourteen-year-old with a lisp, it's gotta go.

Janice always was my favorite. Now I know why.