12 on the 12th--August 2019 Edition

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1. Walking with Hayley.
2. Getting the sprinklers going while I get ready for work.
3. Traffic.
4. I'm loving this new podcast from my friend April Price.
5. Quote of the day.
6. My current work decor.
7. Tara, Jen, Kramer and I on our way to lunch.
8. We often stop at the Dollar Store for work treats.
9. Another view of my work set up.
10. I have an unlimited membership to Quick Quack car wash so I wash my car whenever I feel like it.
11. I had a phone call with Lori.
12. Dallin and Whitney hanging out.

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1. I went walking with Hayley at 6:30am and as always we found a flosser (so gross) on the road.
2. I love summer mornings!
3. I'm loving this arrangement on our porch.
4. Some of us went for a walk around the buildings for a break at work so we took a selfie.
5. Roses at work.
6. It feels like I'm always getting gas even though it's really about once a week.
7. My feet at the gas station.
8. I can barely make it two months between hair appointments because the grays are taking over!
9. What I'm reading.
10. Randy through the kitchen window as I was walking to the front door.
11. He made us spaghetti for dinner.
12. Our current bedroom set up, I'm not loving this duvet cover but it will do for now.

12 on the 12th--July 2018 Edition

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1. Ferris drinks the water from the fish bowl Whitney is giving to a co-worker, ew! I can't imagine what the fish was thinking when he saw Ferris' face in his bowl!
2. I've been re-listening to Angle of Repose and loving it. It's just as heartbreaking the 4-5th time reading it. 
3. The one flower growing in our yard and we didn't even plant it!
4. I went on a 9000+ step walk with my friend Hayley.
5. We dropped Randy's car at Greenwoods to get his brakes fixed.
6. The beautiful birthday bouquet Randy gave me.
7. I worked on my primary lesson and printed some activities for the class.
8. The book I'm reading which was a going away gift from a co-worker at school.
9. Landon just getting home from work (power washing windows), he's woolly these days.
10. We had our July book club gathering and birthday celebration for me and Amy.
11. We discussed these two books (both were good).
12. Whitney and Dallin were in the driveway when I got home, it was tough getting a good photo of them in the dark.

12 on the 12th--June 2018 Edition

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1. I love waking up to a gorgeous sunshiney morning!
2. Ferris spends his nights out on the town and sleeps during the day.
3. Lovely Snapdragons spied while out on a walk.
4. My new walking shoes.
5. Lunch with several friends from work to celebrate Sheryl's retirement.
6. I finished listening to Essentialism (which was interesting).
7. Currently reading this book from my favorite contemporary writer.
8. Dropping Whitney off at work.
9. I talked to Lori for awhile.
10. I went to the movies with my friend Monica (from work).
11. It's freaking hot!
12. Job hunting sucks, but being able to do it from the computer is great.

12 on the 12th--November Edition

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1. Beautiful sunrise.
2. I love reading and listening to the Inspector Gamache books.
3. I went on a glorious morning walk.
4. Reviewing my weekly accountability goals.
5. Fall leaves.
6. Randy spent a couple hours raking leaves.
7. Michelle and I went to lunch at Los Hermanos.
8. Michelle gave me some cute stuff from Target.
9. The book I'm reading.
10. Ferris loves to join me in the cozy.
11. Whitney's photo for Rhett & Linc.
12. A funny text between me and Lori.

12 on the 12th--September Edition

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1. Car selfie before heading off to school and work.
2. Dropping Whitney at the high school, it's crazy she's in 10th grade this year.
3. I got a gift from my secret, secret pal at work which was a big surprise.
4. Dropping Whitney off at the high school in the afternoon for drama rehearsal.
5. Ferris loves being in the the cozy with me.
6. Even though I like this book it's taking me forever to read (3 weeks!).
7. We learned about the Flag for Activity Days.
8. We got drive thru Little Caesars and found out they didn't give us Pepperoni!
9. I went for a lovely walk.
10. This was a cool view approaching our house.
11. Whitney was messing around with make-up.
12. Whitney's room makeover collage wall.

12 on the 12th--August Edition

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1. I went on a power walk with my friend Hayley, we had over 9000 steps by 8:45am!
2. Landon leaving for work (his friend Levi drove him all summer).
3. Our new kitty Ferris (poor Phoebe got hit by a car last month).
4. I dropped Whitney off at my mom's to go shopping.
5. I went to get a couple pairs of shoes Landon wanted for his birthday.
6. I checked out the amazing new Harmon's store at Traverse Mountain, I wanted to move in.
7. Our house still decorated for Landon's birthday week.
8. I bought myself flowers just because I love them.
9. Sweet siesta reading/napping time in the afternoon.
10. My mom and I went to see Whitney in Bye, Bye Birdie.
11. The program for the show.
12. I love watching the Olympics!

Miscellany--Phone Style

Landon got home 36 hours earlier than expected from his High Adventure canoe trip in Oregon which meant he got to go to Lagoon on Friday with Lori, Robyn, my mom, Amy, Whitney and most of the cousins (I hate amusement parks and was super happy to be home alone).

I gave my visiting teaching partner (her name is Jill too) a copy of The Screwtape Letters for her birthday and was pleased with this wrapping job which incorporated washi tape, tag and ribbon I'd purchased from Pick Your Plum.

Randy and I caught a matinee Friday afternoon which is a rare treat (I usually see movies with Lori).

Saturday was spent trying to get Whitney packed for Girl's Camp. I don't know why it was so difficult (oh wait, yes I do it was because she kept zoning out, dancing, and generally not packing) but it took all afternoon. She had a wicked sunburn on her shoulders (hence the tank top) and kept pausing to sigh about them and at one point lick them! I actually had to say, "Stop licking your shoulder and pack!" What in the world?

2.5 hours later I was still checking things off her list. Good grief.

We're trying a new incentive to help the kids in primary be more reverent so I was up late Saturday night creating these little tickets for us to use.

Whitney actually went outside to write a few thank you notes on Sunday afternoon, I could not have been more pleased. It's the combination of having a table and chairs out there and having Junie (the cat) wandering around the yard.

Whitney left for Girl's Camp on Monday morning (yeeha!).

Landon and a friend from church have Driver's Ed for 3 hours every morning this week and next week, so I've been dropping them off by 8:00 and enjoying having the house to myself for 3 hours.

I finished reading the 5th Flavia de Luce Mystery and had to take a picture of this page because this why I enjoy these books so much. "Home again, home again, jiggedy-jig." Plus I love it that her bike's name is Gladys.

Landon frequently texts me when we're both home...this conversation happened.

Michelle and family returned home from 2 months in Paris on Monday afternoon! We met for lunch at Los Hermanos yesterday and spent almost 3 hours catching up.

It's been cold this week, which is highly unusual for June and has thrown me for a bit of a loop despite my disdain for hot weather (I'm hard to please).

Our thermostat got down to 64 degrees which was chilly even though I was wearing a sweatshirt. I finally caved and turned on the heat to get us back up to 70 and then turned it off for the night. Weird.

I am totally loving Junie Cat. I'm taking care of her since Whitney is at camp which means playing with her in addition to the feeding and such. This morning I sat on the steps teasing her with this little fishing pole Whitney sewed one of the catnip fishies Shannon sent her last week.

I don't know why I have a hard time making myself go for a walk sometimes because I always enjoy it. This morning I saw this gorgeous view just down the street from my house. I also saw a deer in a field, a dead bird, lots of horses, llamas, cows and was startled by some ducks who'd been startled by me (it must have been hilarious to see me jump and swear the way I did when they jumped into the water next to the road I was walking on).

Our Summer So Far

I had a very successful DI run to kick off, I love finding books for $1 or $1.50.

We've had mostly pleasant, window-open weather but the house has gotten up in the high 70's a couple times and we've had to turn on the air conditioning. I really prefer having the windows open, but I'm not a fan of sweating.

I started reading The Book of Mormon again and have a schedule that has me finishing on Christmas Eve.

Whitney and I have gone walking around the pond a couple times.

Adam invited me to lunch, which was delightful and emotionally draining (it's never small talk).

I got my first pedicure of the summer, woohoo!

I moved the bistro table and chairs to the front yard (since it was basically a bird pooping place in the back yard) and we have really liked it so far. Whitney actually got out of the house to draw while listening to The Book Thief.

It's official, Whitney is in full teen mode!

I read in the shade while Whitney baked in the sun...the shade is way better.

Lori and I saw "Fault In Our Stars" and thoroughly enjoyed it. I expected to sob more than I did so that was a relief.

Kale hired Landon to sand and paint the trip on the house. 

It's a big job and is currently on hold while he is on a Canoe trip in Oregon with the 16-17 year olds from church.

Randy and I helped Robyn move last weekend.

I am currently reading the 5th Flavia de Luce mystery, "well bust my buttons".

I have wanted to put a flag on the house for years, but knew we couldn't drill into the brick. I thought I'd figured out a way around it but it didn't work so we ended up hanging like this, which I love!

The Waffle Luv truck was down the street this week so Whitney and each got a Biscoff and Cream waffle (so good) and took it home to eat on our bistro table under the trees.

We let Junie have some whipped cream when we were done.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these trees in our front yard.

Five for Friday

1. I'm rewinding a bit here to June 21st when Robyn and I met up with my mom for her birthday. We had a nice lunch at The Blue Lemon. My mom is footloose and fancy free now that she has left Eagle Mountain and is living in civilization!

2. This is totally random but so funny to me. Back when I was helping my mom move I was going to stop at McDonald's to get a big beverage but I mistakenly got stuck in the drive thru line for Del Taco! I'm not familiar with these Eagle Mountain drive thrus so it was an innocent but humorous mistake. I couldn't get out and ended up having to sit behind 3 other cars before I could get out and over to the McDonalds. Hilarious.

3. Whitney, my mom, Robyn and I went to a baby shower for my cousin's wife recently and got to hold their darling 5 week old baby. It was Whitney's first baby shower and first time holding a newborn for a long time...she was smitten (so was I).

4. Patsy always beats me at Words with Friends and had scored her highest word ever on her previous turn, so I was thrilled when I scored my highest word ever (117 points!) on my next turn and had the lead for a short time. 

5. Cathy has been out of town this week so I had the challenge of making myself get up and go walking on my own. I succeeded on Monday and enjoyed the early morning beauty, but then ended up getting Landon's cold and haven't gone the rest of the week. Aargh!

Logging the Miles

I've been wearing a pedometer every day except Sunday for over a year now and still find it highly motivating. It's good for me to have a feel for how much moving I'm doing in a day, though some days it's abundantly clear no matter what the pedometer says.

Wearing the pedometer has helped me realize how much I enjoy going for walks, not just to get my body moving but as a form of nature therapy. I like being outside, hearing the birds, feeling the sunshine, seeing the trees, mountains, flowers and so on but it's going on walks that gets me outside and beyond my normal scenery.

My Saturday walks with Cathy have had the added bonus of helping us find new paths to take and the companionship to explore them in good company. They have also helped me be good about getting up and out the door early rather than giving in to my natural tendency to linger in bed reading! I always feel better when I'm up and going early and I really love how the day feels around 7:00am.

I intend to walk every day this summer (unless I have some random obligation or illness) as part of my desire to make the most of this time off work. I have been super productive since my last day of work last Thursday and don't want to lose momentum.

Happy Saturday!!

I was up at 6:30 this morning to take Whitney back to Space Camp (she went from 7-11 last night), then I got donuts for the family (a very rare treat), filled my car with gas and had an hour at home before Cathy came to get me for our walk. We've been driving to various trails (all new to me) and then walking for an hour. We went on one close by today, but totally new to me...I'm giddy about it. It felt surreal to have such a nice trail with a gorgeous view just 2 miles up the road from my house! We had a great walk and talk, which I'm finding to be the perfect way to start each Saturday. I feel so accomplished getting the majority of my day's steps in before 9:30am, plus I get to socialize and breathe fresh air so I end up with a "life is good" feeling before I've even set out to be productive. As much as I adore sleeping in and lounging in bed reading, this new plan is way better for me.

**What are your plans today?

Do you have good trails near you?

Can you believe how snowless we are?**

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“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” —Mahatma Gandhi