gratitude day 12: cold

in light of the 6 inches of snow we received last night, here are the top ten most awesome things about living in a place that is nose-hair-freezing cold until may.*

10. views at your daughter's soccer game that look suspiciously like a bob ross painting.

9. no worries about the frozen mangos melting in the back of your car on errand day.

8. no need for ice baths—as recommended by timothy ferriss, author of THE FOUR-HOUR BODY**—to lose weight. you're already shivering cold. all the time.

7. playing in the snow when your sister comes to visit for spring break. how many people who went to a florida beach can say they did that? huh?

6. snow heads. see third picture down. i found this on my back deck today, courtesy of lucas.

5. seeing your cute niece, hazel, wearing emma's hand-me-down fleece hoodie.

4. endless cups of hot chocolate. in our case, cocoa mojo.

3. and endless baths.

2. plenty of time to prepare to plant your garden. plenty of time.

1. no need to imagine the norwegian scenery in your novel, or how a girl raised next to a citrus grove would feel about her first winter there.*** all you need to do is step outside. and look at that last picture.

*this entire post might be a lie. it's possible i spent the whole day dreaming of shorts, popsicles, and lounging on a sun-warmed deck, poolside and not being grateful AT ALL for the cold.

**this book is insane. like, seriously bat crap crazy. and offensive. i think a man who writes about his sexual escapades, describing the women involved as sexual experiments and needs clinical drawings to explain how to pleasure a woman, needs more than four hours to find "incredible sex." incredible sex is found through love, commitment, forgiveness, respect, and keeping sacred things sacred. just sayin' tim. you couldn't have missed the mark more.

***this is a bit spoilery for my novel i'm revising, but look at that castle picture again! doesn't that make you want to write a fairy tale? or take a trip to bavaria where your ancestors are from? no? that's just me? oh, okay.

gratitude day 11: ben howard

dear ben howard:

this may seem awkward, as we've never met, but where have you been all my life? i want to marry this song; it's folk perfection. i am anxiously awaiting the release of your debut EP may 23rd in the states. until then, i'll just keep on watching your video on YouTube and wishing i lived closer to ireland so i could see a live gig. if you ever come to utah, let's plan to meet up, okay mate? you could play your guitar for our talent portion of family night or something.

love,

rachel

gratitude day 10: clean

welcome back, self! hello friends! it's wonderful to be blogging again. so many things on my mind, but first things first. i must whip this messy house into submission with some serious spring cleaning. and to that of course i need a good spring cleaning playlist. which i share with you below. leave a comment if you'd like me to hook you up with some motivational music, friends. i love to share. [here, at my house, the daffodils are just now opening up. happy yellow promises of warmer days to come.]

i love a clean house. i love a clean body. i love a clean manuscript. i love a clean mind and a clean spirit. i am dedicating this week to cleaning of all sorts of things that have been neglected during tax season.

here's my playlist. is there any essential tunes you'd add? let me know!

Take Ya Dancin - Say Hi
Something Good Can Work - Two Door Cinema Club
Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups
Home - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. - Noah & The Whale
Eyes As Candles - Passion Pit
Rolling In The Deep - Adele
All Of This - Naked and Famous
I Didn't See It Coming - Belle & Sebastian
Black & Blue - Miike Snow
Superhuman Touch - Athlete
Sleepyhead - Passion Pit
Hock It - The Blow
Ahead Of My Time (Feat. Daddy Boastin') - Teddybears
Animal - Neon Trees
Blue Skies Again - Jessica Lea Mayfield
Punching In A Dream - Naked and Famous
I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones
Blister In The Sun - Violent Femmes
Starry Eyed - Ellie Goulding
Architects And Engineers - Guster
Shape Of My Heart - Noah & The Whale
Let's Go Surfing - The Drums
Good To Sea - Pinback
Young Blood - Naked and Famous
Different Sound (Feat. Malte) - Teddybears

This Is The Life - Two Door Cinema Club
Little Secrets - Passion Pit
Race You - Elizabeth & The Catapult
Skippin' Town - The Drums
5 Years Time - Noah & The Whale
Animal - Miike Snow
Middle Distance Runner - Sea Wolf

gratitude day 9: work

“the privilege to work is a gift.
the power to work is a blessing.
love of work is success.”
-david o. mckay

i love my jobs. yes, that's plural.

the tax job:

i don't know if it's all the power-of-positive-thinking books i've been reading or what, but this tax season i can't stop thinking about how much i love my job preparing taxes.

i like the smell of the paper, i like looking at all the patterns on the security envelopes [just look at the above image. so fascinating]. i like that it's in my neighborhood, my schedule is flexible, there's someone there to watch lucas. easy money, friends! and the things i learn.

speaking of easy money: did you know you really can sell your eggs? i learned this after preparing the taxes of someone who did it. the price for a good egg starts at $5,000 and goes up from there. if only i'd known two years earlier. all my unused eggs could have brought in top dollar, since i have a college education, a healthy bmi, and a high i.q. only, apparently they don't want my dying and mutating 34 year-old eggs. i'm trying not to be offended.

the writing job:

writing lights my brain on fire, energizes me, fills me in a way nothing else does. and i am in such good company. i love my circle of writers, the way it is ever expanding, ever enriching. all my favorite people i have met through books or writing. i have FINALLY finished my first draft of my first novel. [thank you, thank you so much for bringing me balloons and cookies. i totally deserve it.] it is a pile of crappy words right now, but i'm counting on a few poor souls to be my first readers to help me slog through the mush and make it readable for the rest of you.

the design job:

because people say things like this about you [scroll down], and they pay you for it too. there is power in being able to create lovely things.

the piano teaching job:

i taught my last lesson yesterday. our spring recital's tomorrow. i am expecting at least a few major disasters. i will miss all the book reviews, justin bieber adulations, family secrets, junior high episodes and such that i have been privy to over the years. my kids will enjoy having me as a chauffeur in the afternoons now.

gratitude day 9: favorites

time is precious right now. just dropping in to share a few of the things we're loving lately.

1. cocoa mojo.

a healthy, vegan, raw, cheaper, DELICIOUS alternative to my hot chocolate habit. contains a blend of reishi mushrooms, which are wonderful for boosting your immune system, among other things. i would pay almost any price for this, but it ends up being about the same price—per cup— as steven's hot chocolate. (triple the price per ounce, but you use 1/3 the amount in a cup). and it's significantly less than a cup of hot chocolate at starbuck's. i have mine with steamed rice milk. it's so good it makes me want to weep. i recommend going for the 3-pack—at least until i convince my local health food store to carry it.

2. life/planet earth collection.

the earth and all its creations are amazing. this is one of the few dvds that everyone in the family enjoys. again, and again, and again. plus it helps to finally have blueray, hdtv, and surround-sound. come on over and watch it with us.

3. dark water by laura mcneal.

this book is nothing like i'd thought it would be. it is not a romance; it is not your typical ya paranormal thriller; nor is it anything like any other book i've read in a great while. it's set in fallbrook, california and is a fictional account of the true-life story of the evacuation and devastation that occurred during the wildfires. the gorgeous, almost sparse prose, tells a haunting, devastating story that i just can't forget. the characters are real, flawed, wonderfully portrayed. i love a book that turns the world on its axis for me. no happy endings here, just longing, regret, and a look at the bitter truth told in a most compelling way. i would have liked to get a better feel for amiel, one of the main characters, but he remained a mysterious enigma to the end. well-deserving of being a national book award finalist.

4. the above artwork, composed solely of paper. i can't remember the source. anyone know?

5. crane's cool mist humidifier.

comes in almost any animal you could think of. we got the elephant. it's adorable and the best humidifier i've ever owned: quiet, automatic shut-off, inexpensive, and high output. we love it and our sinuses do too.

what are some of your favorites?

gratitude day 8: motherhood

women hold up half the sky -chinese proverb

"study after study has taught us, there is no tool more effective than the empowerment of women." -kofi annan, former secretary general for the united nations

"i have said lately that women are like lionesses at the gate of the home. whatever happens in that home and family happens because she cares about it and it matters to her. she guards that gate, and things matter to that family if they matter to her. for example, if the lioness at the gate believes in the law of tithing, tithing will be paid in that family. if that family has a humble little portion of ten pesos coming in, that lioness will safeguard the one peso if tithing is important to her. if that lioness at the gate knows about renewing her baptismal covenants with god, she will be in sacrament meeting on sunday, and she will prepare her children to be there. they will be washed, cleaned, combed, and taught about that meeting and what happens there. it isn’t a casual event, but it is serious to her, and it will be serious to them. the lioness at the gate ensures that temple worship is taken care of in the family. she encourages that participation... service happens if she cares about it. sisters, you are each like the lioness at the gate."
- byu women’s conference thursday, april 29, 2010, julie b. beck

nothing in life has fulfilled me the way that being a mother has. no design created, no piano piece performed, no sentence written can match motherhood. my children are my greatest creative work. not even the dreariness of never-ending laundry piles, or the constantly sticky kitchen floor can diminish the joy i receive from them. i love being a mother. it is an eternal blessing.

gratitude day 7: confessionals

i am grateful for confessionals.

i just finished reading a great book: THE GIFTS OF IMPERFECTION by brené brown. in one chapter, she explains why it is so important to share things that make us feel shameful, to own our stories, and to not run from vulnerabilities. without having heard/read it before, i have been doing this all along here on my blog with my confessionals. in brené's words:

shame hates it when we reach out and tell our story...it can't survive being shared. shame loves secrecy. when we bury our story, the shame metastasizes.

thank you, dear readers, for showing compassion and empathy when i confess here on my blog, instead of judgment, blame, or trying to "fix" my problems.

so, in the spirit of sharing, here's my latest confessional:

i confess, i am terrible at keeping all my balls up in the air. i tend to hyper-focus and then I have a hard time stopping one thing and moving on to the next. there is no moderation in my life. i spent an entire day cleaning [toothbrush scrubbing, grout-sealing, baseboard-wiping type of cleaning]. the next day i spent an entire day writing. followed by an entire night watching season 1 of grey’s anatomy on netflix. then an entire day graphic designing. only to realize I have not done the laundry all week. or read a book. or blogged about what i’m thankful for. and oops, are those the vitamins i’m supposed to take every day still sitting on the counter?

do you keep a schedule? i would love to know how you divide up your time and tasks. how much time do you spend doing housework? cooking? errand running? working? please share.

also, we are trying to buckle down on unnecessary spending. so of course, i bought the shirt you see above. because it seemed like a need to remind everyone that voltron is the defender of the universe. anyone else have a hard time distinguishing between wants and needs?

i am retiring as a piano teacher after our spring recital in march. and i cried when i typed the flyer up in which i broke the news to my students. teaching piano has been a big blessing and part of my life while my kids were little and nap-takers, but as our family has grown and changed, it’s gotten harder and harder. that afternoon time is precious. i’m trying to focus on writing and designing while the kids are at school and then make the most of the time my kids are home—spending it with them.

i have a secret love for aaron neville. can’t be explained, but i thought i should share. do you have a secret musical shame?

i may or may not have much time to blog again before tax season is over. yes, i’m doing it "one more time." one more time. i’d rather write php code than prepare taxes, but i’m doing it for the money. i will answer to the name “tax whore” until april 15.


until then, i have to finalize a few things with a fun design project i hope to be able to share with you guys soon. and, i need to finish that novel i’m always writing about [when i should just be writing it.] i’m 88,000 words in and i can see, taste, smell, hear, feel the ending. there is crying—and kissing—involved in the final scenes. also, ocean waves breaking dramatically, but no one. word. sentences.

so, if it’s quiet around here for awhile, you’ll know why.