Last night I went over to the library to chalk up some volunteer-good-will-to-men time. I am on the board of the Friends of the Library and do so little I'm pretty sure they are going to kick me off any day now. I went with my friend, Heather. She is really a noble person. She volunteers all the time for EVERYTHING! I don't have that gust-o I guess. I'd rather sit on my couch and eat chips and Queso and watch a romantic comedy.
But we went to the library last night. The basement of the library is a book store. And a dungeon. It's kind of dark and drafty and noisy and dusty down there. BUT! They have thousands upon thousands of books that have been donated over the last few centuries. (Some are really old.) The library sells these books for pennies! I mean literally, like a nickel for a books. A dollar at the most. And they are good books. Yes, pre-owned, pre-read whatever. Who gives, right?
And the best part about it is- if you go down and volunteer for an hour or two you get books for free! Free books! Any readers dream. Last night I worked for an hour and a half. I alphabetized books and arranged some of the romance novels. You can do whatever you want down there... no one is telling you it has to be this way. Anyha- I worked for an hour and a half and came home with Cold Mountain, The Joy Luck Club, and 2 books of piano music. Clare, the dungeon keeper, kept pushing me to take more! I didn't because I didn't want to feel too overwhelmed to read. I'm in the middle of a really finny book now anyway- don't want to lose the feel of it.
So, if you want free books let me know- and we'll go down into the dungeon and browse through books for an hour or two and pick out some good ones. Seriously, the work is that easy.

Seriously. The Truth.

I seriously get sick from reading some of these perfect blogs. They are mostly blogs of people I don't know. Where everything is great. Everyone is happy. Nothing costs too much money. It makes me sick.
So for anyone out there who is also sick of reading these blogs (but still can't stop) this post is for you.

1. I know who my home teachers are and they never come. They avoid me at church. I've lived in my house for 3 and a half years and have been home taught twice.
2. I have a brain tumor that has sent up permanent residence on my pituitary gland. It stops me from having children. The all-powerful medicine that I take to make it go away not only doesn't work- but it makes me have the runs. As in running all the time to the bathroom so I don't have anything running down my legs.
3. My car rattles when I drive it.
4. I work everyday in an office all by myself. I only talk to people who have problems. I rarely get a happy phone call.
5. I weigh 161 pounds. I wear a size 12 pants. I didn't want to go back over 160.
6. Rusty who was given to me as a Christmas present, loves Ken way more than me. Sometimes they tag-team up against me and I can't STAND them!
7. Ken has promised me every year that he will take me back to Pittsburgh. I haven't been since the summer before we got married.
8. My neighbor is also my college math teacher.... awkward. I don't have the guts to go talk to him. It just gets more and more awkward every day.
9. This year we gave up cable, Internet, getting my nails done, getting my hair cut at a salon, and eating out so we could buy groceries.
10. I haven't done laundry in 2 weeks.

Yeah. Don't take this as a downer. This is what life is like, peeps. We all have real lives. Real ones. With problems. And trials. And bad days. Why aren't we sharing THAT life? There are up days and days that seem perfect. And then there is every other day of the year. I'm an every other day of the year person from here on out.

Bear Lake

We anniversary number four we went to Bear Lake. It was almost completely empty. (Ideal for couple alone time.) It was cold. (Ideal for couple snuggle time.) It was really quiet. (Ideal for reading time.) It was fantastic to get away and to remind Ken how much he loves me!

2 Trips 1 Year

I took this picture and I think it oughtta be a friggin' postcard. It looks like that elky is sight-seeing in Yellowstone. I made friends with a bear....

...and then tried to steal it's fish. The bear was mad.

We went to the Wolf and Grizz Discovery Center. It was a little pricey but really interesting. Real wolves! Real bears! Incredible!!
My hubster. There's a grizzly bear in the background. Completely out of focus.

We drove through Yellowstone conference weekend and I think we'll make it a tradition. I love taking mini-vacations. Love them.

The Turning Lane

Have you ever seen these on the road before? It's a whole lane in between the other two or four lanes. One lane that has a solid yellow line on the outside and a dotted yellow line on the inside. Who knows what these are called? That's right. Turning lanes. Who knows what turning lanes are for? Go ahead. Take a guess. Good! They are for turning! Did you ever notice that those turning lanes are kinda long? So long that sometimes they are continuous down a whole street? Do you have a guess as to why they are so long? No? Do you think it might be because you are supposed to get into the turning lane and then slow down to make your turn. You don't slow down to a near stop in a driving lane and then turn diagonally into the turning lane leaving half your butt out in the driving lane. The driving lane is for driving. Turning lane is for turning. So, if you're cruising along at 35 and you see your turn coming up...keep cruising at 35 and signal into the turning lane. Once you enter the turning lane, then slow down. Don't let me see those brake lights come on until you are in the turning lane. MmKay?

Turning lanes. Use them for the good of all mankind.

Dorian Grey

I was rummaging through old pictures. On my computer. Is that really rummaging? Don't you have to get a little dirty to rummage? Do items have to be dusty to be rummaged? Food for thought.

I was rummaging through old pictures and I came across this one of me and Ken when we first met.

Wow. I know right? Were we 15 years old? I can't believe how young we look! Man 4 years really ages a woman. And a man. This is us now.

It'll be our 4 year anniversary in 9 days. I've been thinking a lot about where we were then and now. We'll start with pictures. More to come.

10/7/2009

I am aniticipating the end of this year. I am holding on to the end of December. Somehow, I am believing that when December ends... everything will go back to normal. I will be brought back to rest. My heart won't be broken. I will be whole. I will emerge and everything will be the same as it was.

Get me through December. I promise I'll remember. Get me through December. So I can start again.