reading

I have been doing a lot of reading lately. Like a good 4 hours per day, no joke. When I'm not reading, I'm writing about reading. Or thinking about what I am supposed to be reading. Or telling Ty what I have been reading about only to huff and puff and read him passages that help him understand what I am getting at.

Get the picture? Most of the time I love to read. Sometimes, however, I feel so burnt out on it that I think my eyeballs will fall out at the turning of another page. (Did you know the word "eyeball" comes from Shakespeare? You pick up information like that along the way.) Anyway. On nights like these, I can think of a million other things I would rather do than read. Like watch The Office. Or write my own dang book. Or clean the bathroom. Seriously.

But then, I read books like Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, Beloved, The Things they Carried, Passing, Twelfth Night and Much Ado about Nothing and I lie awake at night and think of all the things I learned. All the thoughts I wouldn't have had if I hadn't been faced with the moral issues literature asks us to consider... I ask myself questions like "is it true that we don't read Shakespeare, Shakespeare reads us?" "Why do we read books with unreliable narrators?" And the one question that plagues me most, "What the heck good does sitting around talking about literature do me?"

Then, I always proceed to have this epiphany. It goes:  hey, you know what? I aamm in the right major after all. I love this stuff.

I am so grateful for knowledge. For brilliant souls who so beautifully demonstrate life's complexities through story. If I have learned nothing else at college, (don't get me wrong, I totally have) it is that I love to read. It has changed my life. It has shaped me as a thinker and as a learner.

Feeling pretty thankful for my education right now if ya can't tell.

sad day

A few weeks ago we took Ty's car to the junkyard. It was a day full of mixed emotions.

Poor old Betsy was falling to pieces and costing us a small fortune. On more than one occasion I stomped around the house complaining about how I hated her and she hated us. But then, when we were jump starting that beast for the last time, we got kinda sad. We remembered how we went on our first date in that car, how we drove all the way to Utah and back listening to the blinker's clicking sound, how we had to jumpstart her at midnight in the pouring rain on campus. Memories like that. 

Although Tyler wouldn't admit it, I think he was a little sad too. He got to drive ol' Bets one last time to a junkyard in Rigby. We felt a little guilty driving her there, taking the keys inside, getting our check, and then leaving forever. It was kind of like leaving a little puppy at the pound.

It's strange how you get attached to a car. You forget all the times you cussed it and think only of the places it took you. Sad day. The small compensation we received from her begins the savings fund for a new car in the future. For now, we share. 

It's not so bad.

vday, bday, & anniversary weekend

Seems like we do a lot of celebrating this time of year.

Between December 25 and March 11 we have five holidays.

Here are updates on 3 of the five:

1. For our anniversary we went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. That's our favorite place to go when we feel like wondering around and pretending like we're rich. $23,000 for a fur coat. Sure. Why not? Sometimes it's even fun to fake a little accent like we are all hoity-toity and from another country.

We also went on our honeymoon to Jackson Hole so it's kind of special to us.

2. For Tyler's birthday I did a little planning and we reenacted our first date. I blindfolded Ty and took him to Gringo's where we ate our first meal together. I even made sure we got to sit at the same table we did two years ago. Then, we went to a Latin Dancing workshop on campus. Surprisingly, we still sucked at it after all this time. Who would have thought? Lastly, we went home and ate cupcakes and opened presents. (That part we didn't do on our first date.) Ty kind of has this thing for bears if you didn't know. The cupcakes were supposed to look a little more ferocious than that. Whatevs. Also, I am taking Tyboy to a Jazz game on March 17th...my first one ever! We're pretty stoked about it.

 

3. That last picture there is Huck. We got him for Valentine's Day. We loved him and gave him a spacious abode and kept him fed and entertained. Then he died. It's a touchy subject.

 

things i need

I try not to use the word "need" unless absolutely necessary.

But you know what?

I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say that I need:

1. a big BIG diet pepsi.

2. for my husband to be home instead of listening to people complain about how their computers don't work all night.

3. speaking of computers, I need my internet to work so I can do that which is of most importance.
(ehemm...catching up on grey's anatomy.)

4. for it not to be monday.

5. for my brain to work faster/harder to plow through all this disgusting homework.

6. for my PINK sweats to not be in the dirty laundry.

That's all.

Now tell me, is that too much to ask? I mean, really.