little wild horsies on the loose!

this last weekend i took a small group of students down to little wild horse canyon in the san rafael swell. it was a gorgeous day with high wispy clouds, that perfect pale southern sun, the cottonwoods were at their absolute peak of brilliant golden yellow, the canyon was twisty and sublime, and the company was excellent. the four kids that came are all wonderful and something about the day brought out the inner child in each of us- we laughed, played, made crazy noises, sang, and shared our thoughts about what matters most, what we most fear, the qualities we aspire to, and what our life theme song would be. all in all, a most excellent day at work.
we were hiking along and the kids just started making all sorts of animal, car, whatever noises, and i secretly took a video of it, they thought i was just taking pictures. so wonderful.

happy sabbath to you

i came to check my email before heading to brunch and church, and found this sweet little clip sent from my dad. i love this message, and i love those who give it, and most of all, i love Who this message is about.

mile high

guess which pretty city i got to visit last week? it was my first weekend off in almost two months so i was ready to get out of town and enjoy gorgeous weather, wonderful food, lovely sites and excellent company.

NOOOOOO!!! someone stole my idea!!!!

my closest friends can vouch for this, i have had this idea of drive-by musicalings for a LONG time, we're talking i cooked up this idea in high school. the premise is this: a group of unassuming folks disperse at random around a grocery store, someone hijacks the speakers in the back and suddenly we are in full swing musical song and dance numbers with carts whirring up and down the aisles, fruit and boxes and bread flying through the air in perfect choreographic delight . . . you get the picture . . .magic! then as soon as the number is over all the performers run into a van waiting by the doors and drive off to hit another unsuspecting grocery store in another mid-sized town. but alas, i discovered today on my friend dainon's blog, that someone has already done it. not quite as choreographed or awesome as i would do it, but still they took my idea. :(

viva la france!

so i spent the morning talking with pat, the other teacher that i am leading a group of students to france with this spring. we talked about all sorts of lovely things, and she showed me little villages and hidden gems we can visit (she is from france and therefore has all the scoops). our conversation left me feeling all giddy and breezy and dreaming of turquoise waters, medieval castles, creamy cheeses and all things french. and then i walked out into a perfect stormy fall day, which for some reason put me in an andrew bird sort of mood. and then i thought, perfect! la blogotheque! the wonderful little site where they film artists that come through paris in intimate, interesting, and unassuming settings, doing there thing. so here is the dashing andrew doing his thing in montmarte.

#45.2 - Andrew Bird - Weather Systems
Uploaded by lablogotheque. - Independent web videos.

and then, because i love this, and it's the first blogotheque i ever saw, arcade fire. my favorite is the elevator part.

too rich for these veins!

holy spendy cow batman! i just found this report that shows my alma mater sarah lawrence to be the most expensive college in the u.s. $54,410 a year!!!! dang girl! i thought it was pricey when i went there, but it's almost $20,000 more than it was 10 years ago. i'm glad i'm not a freshman applying now! sheesh! how do people afford college? i mean is it really worth that much? don't get me wrong, i love the ol' slc and loved my classes and experiences there, but that much money just seems ludicrous. what am i going to do with my little ones (that i don't even have yet) grow up and want to follow their mama's footsteps? at that point it will probably be $200,000 a year. crap.

chez moi

here are some pics of my little cottage house. it's snug and warm and oh so nice. missing are pics of the kitchen cupboards and sink, my weird-o vintage gas heater, the bathroom, and my closet/changing room. so more to come. as you can see, there is room to share, so come for a visit! xoxo

it's autumn time it's autumn time

the leaves are (sort of) falling down! this last week my hiking/gardening class and i have helped my parents pick the apples in their orchard, and yesterday we made apple cider with my families ancient hand cranked press. this is quintessential fall for me, as i've done this every year for as long as i can remember. there is nothing better then fresh squeezed cider! so last night, to celebrate the fresh cider, i decided to try my hand at homemade doughnuts to go with it. i'd never made them before, but baker's illustrated (only the BEST baking book ever, from america's test kitchen dudes) came to the rescue and we made some delicious buttermilk doughnuts and enjoyed them and cider, by the second fire in my fireplace.
i've decided this year that fall really is, hands down, my favorite season. i love the crisp air, the brisk breezes, the golden sun, the gorgeous leaves, the dusting of snow on the mountain peaks, the first smell of woodsmoke wafting through a neighborhood at night, wearing sweaters and vests, rainy days, sunny days . . . all of it. so great.
i hope you all are enjoying fall wherever you may be- hopefully sipping a warm beverage, curled up by a warm fire with a lovely book and a howling wind outside!

this is really dorky.

the tale of hitcher the brave

so yesterday i accidentally (and unintentionally i might add) stole my friend's neighbor's cat. oops.

i had driven to provo with my parents and greatly enjoyed the first session of conference with them and my grandmother. i then ventured out in the gloomy rain to enjoy the second session with my friend and his family. i was parked outside their house for oh, about four hours. then i headed back to provo, picked up the 'rents and headed home. my parents dropped me off in mt. pleasant, and then on to spring city. they commented that when they got out of the car they thought they heard a cat meowing, but didn't see one and so went inside. this morning my mom went out and heard a cat meow again, and so investigated. she searched all over the car, under the seats, in the back . . . and then she lifted the hood and found THIS adorable black kitten lying on the engine!!! this little tenacious thing had crawled up in our car presumably whilst i was parked in salt lake, and stayed there ALL THE WAY TO SPRING CITY!!! and it was RAINING!!! poor little dear. he's such a little lover, and short haired too. i flirted with the idea of adopting him, i even named him 'hitcher', but i held strong. i don't need to be one cat closer to crazy cat lady-dom (though some might argue i'm already there . . . kate). so i generously gave him to the woman who runs the equestrian program here. she said she'd make him a barn kitty . . . until she saw him. they she said he might be a house cat. little hitcher, my halloween kitty good omen.hitcher and his new mama

i did a very brave thing today!

and i'm posting twice in one day! woah! the brave thing was i rescued a snake. YEAH. i know ME, and a SNAKE. for those of you who have not had the pleasure of being around me and a snake at the same time let me explain: i hate them. yes, i realize admitting this is embarrassing. i like to think of myself as loving god's creation and being pretty savvy in the outdoors. but when it comes to those long, appendage-less critters i get pretty jumpy. maybe it stems from the numerous times my cousins and older sister chased me around the yard with snakes, or the time i ran out of our class field trip to the bean museum crying because of a big boa . . . i don't know what it is, but they give me the creepy crawleys. however, this spring in costa rica, one night an older gentleman named bob with an adorable lisp stopped by the place we were staying on his way back from snake hunting. not hunting to kill, just to look. and that night he had been looking for a bushman- only the second most poisonous snake IN THE WORLD!!! but bob inspired me. he told me a story of how he had hated snakes until he was 30, and one day he decided to try and like them, and started touching and holding them when given the chance, and then he started to realize how beautiful they are, and started looking for them, seeking them out. now, that's how he spends his evenings, searching for, catching, examining and appreciating snakes. and since i turned 30, i decided i should do the same. the next day in cr, tr and i came across this beauty in the jungle, tr almost stepped on it! but i tried to stay calm and just appreciate how pretty the pale blue skin was and how gracefully it meandered across the trail.
and then today, i took my hiking class up box canyon, in maple canyon, and i found the tiniest most helpless little snake, who at first appeared to be dead. turns out it was just so cold it was having trouble moving. so i carefully scooped it up, put it on my water bottle and promptly walked it ten minutes to a warm sunny rock. i'm nowhere near ready to go seeking out the bushman, but it was a big step in the right direction.

please make a little phone call

hi guys. i love the utah wilderness. probably you do too. please call your congress person and tell them you support wilderness bill hr 1925. it will protect 9 million acres of gorgeous land. if you want to read more, go to my lovely friend ann's blog. she says it better than me. viva la terra!

busy being busy bee

hello friends. that is, if any of you are patient and kind enough to still drop by this silly and woefully neglected blog from time to time. life has been tremendously busy lately. but tremendously good. i bore my testimony yesterday and all i could say was a laundry list of gratitude. i've been blessed. here is a list of recent, and not so recent events:

1. my job is so great. i am loving it. i love getting to know the students (and secretly, i sort of like being called miss bennion, which i didn't think i'd like). i love getting to work hard, long hours doing things that make a difference and revolve around the things i love most. i love too that i teach a hiking class and a games class- this means each afternoon regardless how much stuff i still have on my desk, i get to don my shorts and head out to the glorious outdoors and enjoy. today we had a roudy game of kickball that earned me some new bruises from base sliding.
   
2. the biggest organizational event of my year came and went successfully! somehow i organized and managed 250+ people climbing, attempting to climb and just hanging out on mt. nebo two weekends ago. the day was a big success and we broke all school records with 112 people to the top, 95 of whom were students! the fall colors were perfect, the weather divine, and spirits high and excited. plus my old friend joy (a fellow wasatch '97er) came out to hike as well! two other classmates marta and jess came down to visit as well.

'97 ladies joy, marta, jess, moi, joe in the back

1. last weekend i had/got to take a group of students rafting on westwater and again we enjoyed perfect warm weather, great water levels, burgers at rays and lots of fun. good bonding time with the students. additional fun was camping out the night before in a gravel parking lot in the abandoned town of cisco where i scared the girls with ghost stories and we counted shooting stars.

sunrise in cisco

1. i finished knitting my sweater! and knitted a hat! woot! i'll post pics i promise. the best part is the sweater is not a frankensweater and i've already worn it in public. whew.
   
2. i finally finished a book on the bus last weekend, the graphic novel 'persepolis' which i've been meaning to read for ages.
   
3. the hens are laying good eggs, and reuben is nice and tan from lots of outdoor time.
   
4. new friends both near and far.
   
5. old friends far and near.
   
6. parents near by.
   
7. god in my life everyday.
   

three decades

i'll admit, i cried a little last night. i'm not sure if it was because i was sad about turning thirty, or stress about school starting the next day, or gratitude for this last decade of life that has been so great. probably all three. it wasn't a bad cry. but i found myself approaching this birthday with a fair amount of trepidation, 30. so big. so not in my 20's anymore. yipes. it's funny as a kid i never gave much thought to planning out my life, but i did have one goal- to have my first kid at age 25 so i would be 30 when they started kindergarten. i'm not sure why. and that obviously didn't happen. but lots of things happened i didn't expect, and that are great, i made a list in my journal last night of all the things i experienced, did, or was blessed with in my 20's. it is a pretty great list. my 20's were wonderful. i graduated from undergrad and grad school. i served a mission for a year and a half. i lived in italy for a year. i traveled to 9 different countries. i learned to knit. i was a librarian in three different libraries. i bought a car. i was in love, and broken hearted. i met scores of wonderful people and am lucky to still call them friends. i kept friendships from before my 20's alive. i started a girl's ranch. i spent more nights outside than i can ever count. i got my sweet kitty reuben (you love that kate). i grew spiritually, intellectually, emotionally. i was blessed daily with all that i need. there were lots more things on the list, but these are the standouts. so thank you to all of you for being a part of my 20's, i feel incredibly blessed for such a rich wonderful life. thanks especially to those two hippies who raised me. and to god for giving me all that i have. xo
p.s. this song in from an album my dad gave me for my birthday!

the birthday boy!

today is a special special day . . . PAPA JOE'S BIRTHDAY!!! my dad is really, THE very best one. he says that all the time to me, and i usually blow him off saying he says that to the dog, but i know really that my dad cares for me more than anything in the world. i think that is the greatest gift he's given me is his undying love and support. there are lots of other things my dad has given me as well, things he's really good at like: my dad taught me to love, respect, and dwell in the outdoors it is his passion that introduced me to the deserts and mountains of utah. still today he hikes in the mountains nearly every morning. my dad taught me to be self-sustaining through his great love of gardening. he is a master and raised me to appreciate picking beans at 6:30 am and snapping peas on the front porch. my dad is a very talented and skilled artist and craftsman. he has taught me through example how to follow my bliss and work hard for the things that you feel called to do. my dad has taught me to care for others, especially those who are hard to love as he has tirelessly volunteered working with prisoners for the last 12+ years. my dad has taught me to take seriously the small and simple things as he has been an above and beyond home teacher, helping bring light to many lives. my dad has taught me to value most the things that matter most through his commitment to our family, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. i realize writing this that so much of who i am today, the things i am most passionate about, are because of my dad's good example. i love you so much dad! i hope this is a great day for you! thanks for being who you are. xoxo
ps if you are his friend on facebook send him a happy birthday message!

ta da!

woo hoo! i'm legit! i came to my office today only to find this had been installed. the last month has been a crazy whirlwind of moving into my new house, getting settled, fixing up the chicken coop and getting 6 lovely ladies (that's a whole other post), meeting new friends, getting my office set up and attending LOTS of meetings. LOTS. I haven't sat this much for a long time. but it's great. i'm so excited about my job, all it entails (which is a LOT) and being a part of this great community. most days i feel like i'm running around with my head cut off, and i'm anxious to get my big white board installed in my office so i have a place to vomit all the stuff in my brain into pictures and words (i'm very visual). i have lots to say, but right now need to finish assembling my new office chair so here is a short list of things that are making me happy right now:

1. my new philodendron plant in my office
2. four fresh eggs a day which = lots of eggs benedict! yum!
3. darling curtains for my bedroom i found on super sale (pictures of new home forthcoming)
4. lots of lovely new friends and lovely old friends coming to visit
5. gorgeous sunsets and clouds
6. my bike is getting fixed!
7. i'm almost done knitting my sweater
8. reuben is so happy in our new house
9. i see my parents often
10. tonight i'm going to the county fair.
    

teen summer so far

so many teens. so much fun. so so tired. it was great taking them to death hollow in escalante, hadn't been there in a decade. this group of 29 boys was pretty exceptional, the best session i've ever had in 7 years. the thing that impressed me most is how kind they were to each other. it's amazing to see that many 12-15 year olds be good to one another. i learned a lot from them little dudes. now we've got an equally great group of girlies. come visit!







p.s. can you guess what my costume is above? hint, i'm not the one with pie filling all over my face.