slotharific

so i leave for costa rica tomorrow night. i've been researching my brains out. there are just too many things to do/see . . . not to mention the point of this trip it so relax . . . i'm thinking a week in the mountains (volcano's, cloudforests, and a weird topiary town i found) and then a week on the beach. originally i was thinking pacific side a la nicoya peninsula, but the more i research, the more i like the southern caribbean side especially when i found THE SLOTH SANCTUARY!!! where you can kayak along a river looking at wild sloths and then go HOLD BABY SLOTHS!!!! if you've got the cash you can even SLEEP WITH THE SLOTHS!!! oh man. i have to go there. (plus they have a 'slothpital'). plus i've been looking at heading to bocas del toro, these awesome islands just over on the panama side that look pretty sweet. we'll see. it'll be an adventure for sure. in other news annalisa & i got all the tomatoes planted in the garden, plus several types of lettuce, spinach, endive, peas, some onions, beets, etc. plus i have a bunch of stuff started indoors. yeah garden! yeah sloths!

a-dor-a-ma-ble

my sister sent my mom this link and its so so great. if you have a dog, have ever had a dog, or just like things that warm the heart and remind us of the simple things in life, watch. enjoy. xoxo

becoming an adult

i have wondered for awhile when i will feel like an adult. i have in my life somehow eluding the traditional demarcations of marriage, children, career, etc. i read in my gerontology class about how single women often feel that transition when they buy a home. perhaps this is why lately i look longer at for sale signs, letting some brief, poignant fantasy of a life that could be in those four walls and roof for me. however, i think i am beginning to get there. i got a job. a real one. a grown up one. one with salary, health benefits, a house, security. i'm thrilled. i'm thrilled not only because i can go get a check up and take my student loans of economic hardship deferment, but i'm thrilled because this is a dream job. i am the new director of experiential education at wasatch academy (a private mostly boarding school in mt. pleasant utah, and my alma mater). sounds legit right? i'm going to be in charge of coodinating all outdoor education, service learning, and international education. again, i'm thrilled. i have so many ideas. i love working with high school age. i love doing things that make a difference in people's lives. i love being outdoors. i love boarding school communities. i love that i will still be 5 miles from my parents and in the valley i call home. maybe, just maybe, i'm becoming an adult.

another blog

i've had this idea for awhile, to create sort of an online community for sharing goodness, light, faith, etc. so i started a new blog the 13th, after the 13th article of faith which states:
"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things".
good stuff. especially that seeking after lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy things.

birthday wishes

to the queen of wishes. i think i will forever associate the word 'wish' with miss kate f. she is full of the most delightful, thoughtful, poignant, and true wishes. and she lives each day of her life fulfilling in some way some part of each wish. she is lovely, gracious, classy, and sincere. she is fierce in her passions, she is dedicated in her love, she is committed in her faith, and she is stalwart in her living. i am so grateful for our friendship and look forward to a lifetime of it. may all your birthday wishes come true dear kate, every last one.

my so called life.

so when i was 13, just after a documentary on my father came out called 'the potter's meal', my uncle howard and sister louisa and i made this spoof. i haven't seen it since 1993, but this morning it was magically in my inbox. it's pretty amazing. if you've ever had to watch 'the potter's meal' for a byu class, or know my family at all, or just want to see me at the height of teen awkwardness, then please, be my guest. the funny thing is i'm not that different, i am still bad at telling jokes, i'm still a defender of cats, but at least i'm not wearing those light wash pegged legged jeans anymore with hideous long sleeved purple polo tucked in . . . anyways. happy thursday to all. and send me your teens.

calling all teens

dear my friends who read my blog (all two of you)
actually i'm always surprised by how many people mention they've read this silly/boring little blog, but i figured i might as well try to capitalize on this fact. as many of you know, i work (and currently live) at Birch Creek Service Ranch each year. pretty much its the best place in the world. the ranch is a summer camp for 12-15 year old girls and boys (not at-risk, just normalish teens) and is focussed on teaching them principles of hard work, integrity, service and community mindedness through a curriculum that includes hard physical work each morning (most of which is community service), recreation/arts in the afternoons, cultural enrichment/general fun in the evenings, and backpacking on the weekends. not to mention all the other great aspects that are just inherent in a summer camp setting (i.e. games, swimming, story telling, song singing, pillow fights, etc.). right now we are trying to fill our three sessions (two boys and one girls) and i am asking pretty pretty pleas if you have any teens in your life, or know anyone who has teens in their life, or might have some, PLEASE send them my way!!! you will not regret it. and to back myself i'm going to give you a few testimonials from my thesis (which was an outcome study on the ranch) showing just how great it is! my research showed that there seems to be a pretty strong increase in self-confidence, work ethic, appreciation of nature, independence and social skills for those who attend- and in today's peter pan society, those lessons are worth their weight in gold. so please, do your part, save a teen. xoxo

One mom said: “If you want to teach your kids how to work and how to serve, and give them some independence you have GOT to do this, its huge”.
A campers stated:
“I’ve learned that I can do the work, like I can lift a bale of hay, but that’s not something I use too much. But I’ve also learned that I can get myself to actually work hard and that I can be a hard worker, in school and at home and stuff like that”.
Another talked about the importance the work had for him:
“I think that the work is kind of the point of why you go. Otherwise it would just be another summer camp. The working I think is maybe what is the more meaningful part of the ranch. I don’t really know too many philosophical ideas that go along with the work, but you just um, um, with the work you kind of, it means more than just hanging around and playing. You play, do whatever you want all summer. But at BC you still have responsibilities and you still have stuff to do and you have all summer to just play around so why just go somewhere else to play around”.

2009 dates are:

Boys Session 1 (JUNE 15-JULY 06) 12-15 year old boys—$1500

Girls Session (JULY 10-29) 12-15 year old girls—$1400

Boys Session 2 (AUGUST 3-24) 12-15 year old boys—$1500

we do have some need based scholarships and try to make it work for everyone who wants to come to come.