those daniels boys- thankful

This is Ty's brother Dylan, his lovely wife Regi (whom I adore) and their delightful little boys. Dylan is a Marine. He left his new bride after only a few weeks to serve his country. He took Baghdad in the early days of the Iraq war and he spent several years after he came home helping other veterans. He spent a while last night telling my seven-year-old what it means to be a veteran. Today we are thankful for Dylan.

rain, rain, go away

Right this minute it is 62 degrees inside my house. I have goosebumps. I had to turn the heat back on. There is a storm blowing in. Normally I am a big fan of spring storms, not this week. See, my dear father-in-law is flying in tomorrow to paint my house. Yes, he is just that awesome. However, rain will ruin everything. I just need a couple of clear days. This house really needs to be painted and I really don't want or know how to do it all by myself.  Everybody cross your fingers and hold your breath. You may stop on Tuesday or after I post pictures of my newly painted house. Thanks.

reflected fame

Guess what? My delightful mother-in-law just published her first book. For reals! It's in bookstores and amazon and kindle and everything! We are super-duper proud of her. It's a young adult romance (if you like Twilight, you will probably like this) and I am lucky enough to have four extra copies. If you want one, be one of the first four people to email your shipping address to me with the subject line, "free book" and I will send it to you forthwith. All I ask is that you tell other people how much you liked it. If you don't want to risk it you can order it here right this very minute and it probably even qualifies for super-saver shipping. I am really not kidding when I say I have the best MIL ever.

clear blue skies

I know I've been a little obsessed with the sun lately, winter does that to me. By March it's a physical craving that originates somewhere near my solar plexus. Spring storms, while lovely in their own way, do not help. I'm pretty sure I have waxed poetic about St. George before. I love, love, love coming here. There is something about the way the light reflects off the red rock canyons, something about Pineview Mountain covered in snow behind desert landscapes. Something about the bluest skies I have ever seen. It makes me want to breathe more deeply, to drink it all in. It is my favorite place in the whole world to run. It feels like the sort of place where anytime spent indoors is a little bit wasted. So, I'm off to waste less time and take the advantage of the bright, clear, high altitude sunshine.

oh, so toasty

Oh, how I love the UPS man. Guess what he brought me yesterday? The fancy new electric blanket that my delightful in-laws bought us for Christmas. They said we could open it early. Do you you have one of these? They are HEAVEN. I am not even exaggerating. My toes were warm almost immediately. Yum. All night long I was toasty warm, even though I refuse to turn the heat above 60 degrees at night. I know, you totally wish you had my in-laws. I'm off to my pre-heated bed. Yay.