Twitterpated

Some of you well informed folks may have heard of a cute little website called Twitter,  although most of you probably have not.

Well first of all I want to put this out there in writing...I think it's gonna be huge some day. And second, I have discovered that it's a really great place to gather and share my thoughts on all kinds of hot button topics and important issues. You might say it's my new passion. (But I'm not sure why you'd say that because I'm just now telling you about it. So you don't actually know do you?)

I'm kidding...I'm kidding. Everything I put out there is a bunch of garbage but I think it's fun garbage so for your viewing pleasure (or maybe dis) feast your eyes on my tweets... (why does that sound so dirty?)

Oh and if you're on Twitter look for me (loloelle) and we can admire each others thoughts. (For cute!)

Pizza Hopes and Sidewalk Dreams

So I'm gonna let you guys in a little secret.  

I'm a wife, I'm a mom, I do super cool things, yeah it's true but I haven't REALLY fulfilled my life's passion yet.  

Deep, deep, way deep down inside I long to throw my headphones on, blast a little Salt N Pepa all up in my ears, slip into my sexiest sweatpants, and dance my heart out like this...

Okay so these guys don't the big bucks, but so what.  Think of the calories they burn whilst dancing.  Think of the freedom they feeling just letting it all hang out. (Hopefully just figuratively, right!?  *nudge nudge*)  Not a care in the world but getting the fine folks, the passersby if you will, to enjoy a 5 BUCK PIZZA!  

But don't get me wrong you guys, I'm not doing this job unless I have a full body costume a la this guy...

  

I mean come on, have a little dignity you non costume wearing dancers.  Hideyoself.

Do you really want everyone knowing this is what you do for a living!?  Put on a clever coverup and hit those streets.  

One of these days I'll make my dream come true.  But for now...uh who wants a job!? 

 Not me, you sillies.  

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas Eve and over here at our house we are relaxing, baking, wrapping gifts, and enjoying having Brandon home for his first ever (in our 10 years of marriage) Christmas and Christmas eve without work!  I am loving it.

We have lots to do (and not do) today so I just wanted to leave you all with this cute little video from Addie's kindergarten holiday program.  

Only a few days after the Newtown shootings, this program felt particularly special.  I, like every one else, spent days and days feeling absolutely heartbroken for Sandy Hook elementary and anyone involved.  Words can't describe the pain those families must be going through.  

As I walked through the elementary school that day I couldn't help but be filled with emotion.  I'm grateful that I can hug, squeeze and kiss my babies this holiday season.  My prayers are with those who had that taken away from them.  

Merry Christmas!  Hope your holidays are filled with love!

The Racing Heart

My heart is pounding.

The beats are getting closer and closer.  

I feel a panic in my chest like a tornado is swirling.

The tornado has a life of its own.

It's about to take flight, with my heart in tow. 

 Focus.  

Attention to detail will save me in this moment. 

I want to give up, surrender, before this panic consumes me. 

But I press on until the mission is complete.

I made it.  

I collapse as a deep breath of relief leaves my chest. 

I overcame.  

Now can one of y'all get me a nail dryer?  Obviously I just finished a mad crazy nail painting sesh.

And dude, that almost took more focus, and attention to detail than I can typically muster up.   

Ritalin anyone?

Macklemore and More

For my birthday that lovely husband of mine surprised me and stole me away for an a little staycation.

First of all B man clearly knows me well because he got me tickets to see Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.  You don't understand how my soul sings when I hear hip hop music.  (cue the angels singing...ahhh) No seriously.  I just loooove it.

I was blown away by Macklemore.  So passionate, inspiring, honest, and funny on the stage.  And it was such a fun dance party.

I got chills when they performed Same Love.  It's such a beautiful song.  I think I've listened to it like 30 times in the last two days.

Sometimes inspiration to be a better person and to see the world through someone else's eye comes from somewhere like church and other times it comes from a rap song.  Just sayin.

And while we're talking about the weekend, here are some more highlights. 

Homemade cards from sweet baby girls.  Nothing better.  

Before we left on our little staycation I was treated to breakfast at "Cafe Sugar Rush".  The blueberry pancakes with fresh whipped cream were divine, and the service was top notch.

Our first stop after we dropped our little ladies off at Sommer's house was Meditrina.  One of the best restaurants in Salt Lake.  Hands down, delicious.  Shout out to my beautiful friend Kaki for finding this gem.  When a foodie like her tells you about a restaurant, you listen and listen hard and then eat.

It snowed all night while we were at the hotel so we woke up to this beautiful winter wonderland.  

And lastly, that sneaky little Brandon, arranged to have my bestest buddy-cousin Abby take me to dinner while he orchestrated a little surprise cake party with my family.  

I felt so loved, and spoiled and appreciated all weekend.  I have the most amazing family and friends.  I love them all so much.  

What more can a girl ask for?

Phil's-osophy

Incredible words of wisdom from Phil Dunfy.  

My Birthday: 32 Ways We Paid It Forward

My birthday is just around the corner and I don't have anything special planned, so let's reminisce about my birthday last year.  Because it was awesome.  

I wanted to share, not to brag, but to hopefully inspire someone to have a day as fulfilling as this birthday was for me.  

I can't lie.  I've been pretty blessed in my life so I decided I wanted to spend the day paying it forward with an act of kindness for each year of my life.  It turned out to be an amazing day.  I don't know how many times I cried, but I know it was at least 3 or 4.  It was SO cool to see how even the smallest things were SO appreciated.  

So here is what we did.  

We left quarters in all the gum ball machines at the grocery store.

We collected coats, hats, and scarves from some generous neighbors 

and donated a huge bin of them to the homeless shelter. 

I made fun Christmas tree waffles for my girls.

We baked muffins for the local firefighters and gave them a card thanking 

them for all they do for our community.  They were probably the sweetest and showed the most gratitude out of anyone all day.  They said thank you so many times and wouldn't let Addie

leave without all kinds of fun little trinkets.

I got up early with Addie and Sienna and let Brandon sleep in.  

Personally I think this counts as like 5 acts of kindness because I definitely like to sleep in.

  Especially when its my birthday.  

I left Operation Beautiful notes on bathroom mirrors. 

I took a break to have lunch with my mom and sister (and the Little Angel, of course). 

 They insisted on treating me to lunch

so I left our server an extra tip.

We cleaned up tons of garbage in parking lots.  

With the help of Miss Adison, we passed out lollipops to

 siblings and visitors at the childrens hospital.  

We held doors open for people.  

We donated food to the Utah Food Bank.

We delivered a little "get well" package to a sick friend. 

Left a treat and a thank you note in our mailbox for the postal worker.  

We made and delivered gift bags for all the kids with cancer at the Primary Children's Hospital.  

We wouldn't have been able to do this one without generous donations from friends.  We gave the kids coloring books, stuffed animals, nail polish, toy cars, lip gloss, bubbles, silly puddy, etc. etc.  

We weren't allowed to go into the kids rooms but the nurses were really excited to pass them out.  

This one was one of the more spontaneous of the day but also my favorite.  EVERYONE should try this sometime.  Its SO much fun.  Seriously.

We noticed a cashier at the grocery store who seemed like she could use a little pick me up. So we grabbed a few different gift cards and went to her check stand.  I told her that I was shopping for someone I didn't know very well and asked her which gift card she would want if it was for her.  She said Macy's and went on and on about why she would choose it. After  I bought it I said "oh wait, this is for you.  Merry Christmas."  She was stunned and speechless, even though it wasn't a huge amount.    She just stared at us as her eyes started to well up.  It felt so good to make her happy.

We took donuts to our favorite story tellers at the library.  

While we were at the library my cousin Abby and I left encouraging notes in the self help books.

We got a gift certificate at Walmart for Walmart and handed it to the woman behind us in line. 

We were oh so sneaky and hid dollar bills in the dollar toy section, with notes that said "For you.  Merry Christmas."

We bought toys to donate to Toys For Tots.

We tried to pay for the car behind us in line at Del Taco but after stalling for a while no one showed up behind us.  So instead we gave the cute little lady who worked there a note and little tip.  

I bought my cousin lunch.  

This one was the most meaningful to me.  My 3rd grade teacher was one of the most caring, kind, good hearted people I've ever known.  My mom was out of state in the hospital for a few months while I was in her class and she filled a little bit of that "mother" role for me.  She was always interested in how I was doing, and she'd stay and talk to me during recess when I'm sure most teachers are dying for a break.  I've thought about her over the years so I sent her a letter telling her how much I appreciated her.  

We passed out HotHands to the Salvation Army bell ringers and donate some money while we were there.  Bless their hearts, its freakin' cold out there in the winter!

We smiled at everyone we passed, and tried to be extra friendly all day.  

We donated to this cute boy who has Leukemia.  

We returned carts for shoppers at the grocery store.  Let me remind you it was FREAKIN' FREEZING so that is one that I would totally love if someone did it for me.

We went to the Laundromat and left quarters on each of the washing machines.  Those slick moves of Brandon's were a nice little bonus. 

It was a freakin' awesome birthday!  Everyone should do this at least once.  It's a lot of work but, as cheesy as it may sound, you're the one who really benefits from it all at the end of the day.  TRUTH!

Love Is More Important Than Being Right

          

                                                                      

I usually like to write about things that make me laugh, or things that I love but I've had something on my mind that I felt needed to be said.

A couple of days ago 14 year old David Q. Phan committed suicide, not too many miles from where I live.  It was all over the news, and you can read the article here:

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=23176970&nid=148&s_cid=article-related-3

This news was heartbreaking to hear and has been weighing on my mind ever since I heard it.

Students at his junior high said that David was a kid that was always happy, and always nice to everyone.  His friends also told news outlets that he was often bullied for being gay.

Absolutely heartbreaking.

Here is a 14 year old boy whose life became so unbearably painful that he just couldn't go on.  Whether the bullying was a direct cause or not we may never know.  Whether he was gay or not, we may never know.  But the fact is, that this happens everywhere, everyday.

It's easy for us adults to wonder how kids can be so cruel to one another.  We ask ourselves what we can do to get our our kids to treat each other with more respect.  We point the finger from a supposed position of innocence crying "this bullying must stop!"

The sad truth, that I've witnessed, is that it's the adults who are often the biggest bullies.

We judge each other in the name of religion.  We judge each other based on our own political beliefs.  

I believe that God put some people on this earth for the purpose of teaching others to love.

It's harder for some of us to love those who are different.  We search for religious reasons to back up our discomfort. We foolishly tell ourselves that if our religious/political beliefs can back up our reason to hate, that it isn't hate at all.

Talking down about someone is never okay.  Talking about someones inherent traits as if they are is "evil" or "wrong" is never okay.

Our kids hear the way we speak with disgust about others who may not fit into our mold of what we think is right or wrong.  They hear and repeat the things we say.

I'm sitting here typing, with tears streaming down my face, because this means so much to me.

I  almost lost someone very close to me, on two separate occasions for reasons similar to this.  I will never forget the feeling.  The feeling of knowing that someone that I love, and love dearly, almost left this earth because their God given differences, were too much of a burden to bear.

He deeply feared that the people in his life wouldn't accept him for who he is, because of religious beliefs.  He felt, because of hateful things other adults had said, that everyone would be better off without a gay man in their life.

It's not right, and it's not fair.

No one should feel that way.

Why can't we celebrate our differences?  Why can't we love with open arms instead?

In my heart I believe that love is always the answer.  From my experiences in life, I believe that my God will never be disappointed by his children showing love, and non-judgmental acceptance of one another.

Love is more important than being right.  It's as simple as that.

I know I can do better, and I will try every single day.

Please feel free to share this post with others, and share your experiences in the comments below.  

Did You Count Mississippily?

I got a Mystic Spray tan today and was laughing out loud to myself while I was in the booth.

If you've ever done a Mystic tan you know that there's a little booth, in a little room.  You press start and a voice begins to talk you through the process of the tan.  She, the Mystic lady, gives you all kinds of instructions like "please wait while we activate the warming phase", "please stand with your feet on the numbers 1 & 3", "turn and stand with your feet on the 2 & 4".

Well today for some reason "Mystic lady" spoke German, and I no comprende el German.  (I know, I know, that's not German.  I told you I don't speak it!)

Since I don't understand German I thought we were in the warming up phase when I heard the spraying start, so I hurried and stripped my clothes off as fast as I could and jumped in.  I made it inside fast enough that I barely missed any of that glorious mist.

As the sprayer kept spraying, the Mystic Lady just kept talking and talking, so I kept guessing and guessing, and hoping I was doing everything right.

I kept thinking someone was playing a prank on me and that I was going to turn out like Ross in that episode of Friends where he goes in for a Mystic tan.  He accidentally counted "Mississippily" and kept messing up on the instructions until he turned into a bronzed, hot mess.  Hilarity ensues...obviously.

Fingers are crossed that I'm not "an 8" on just one side.  I guess we'll see in a few hours when the tan starts developing.

You have to watch this clip from that episode.  Oh Ross Gellar , I sure miss you and your buddies.  

Walls Shmalls

I love this quote.  I love my family.  And I sometimes really love where I live. 

I need to run myself over to Costco and make one of those giant poster sized prints of this baby and pin it up on my wall.  

Or maybe tape it to my ceiling so I can remember this quote as I think my last thoughts of the day.  

I've spent way too much of my life feeling confined, trapped in my own body, and living someone elses beliefs.  Feeling like I need to be everything to everybody.  I don't know why its taken me so long to realize that that just isn't possible.  

I can only be myself.  And that is a beautiful thing.

Its time to start taking ownership of my life, break down those walls I've built for myself and feel FREE. 

The Non Fast Detox

Did anyone else turn into a big fat fatty over the holiday weekend?

By "fatty" I obviously mean fatty of the heart.  You know with all that family time, thankfulness, and love how could you not!?  Hello swelling heart!  ;)

Yep my heart got super fat.  But my calorie consumption got super fat as well.  I'm not into dieting, especially not fad diets.  I'm all about living a lifestyle that is healthy.  I have a list of ingredients I try to keep out of my house, and a list of nutritious foods I've made a habit of including in my meals.  I don't like to be too extreme, because being extreme always seems to backfire. Good news is though, the healthier I eat, the less I want junk.  Bad news is that the reverse is also true.  I've noticed that the more junk I eat, the more I crave it.

So anyway life got really delicious over the last few days and I found myself eating junk just because.  When I start feeling that way the best way to get back on track is to drink tons of water with a few extra ingredients to help detox the crap.  I use this recipe I got from Jillian Michaels, that I modified a bit.  This is not a fast.  I drink this in addition to my regular balanced meals.  But it really helps to bring back my normal energy, stop the cravings for sugary fatty foods, gets rid of extra water weight, helps me feel full, AND it's full of vitamins, and ding, ding, ding, my favorite...ANTIOXIDANTS.  Yay!

Here is the recipe:

About 1.5 liters of water.
1 Dandelion Root Tea bag (steep in hot water for 3 minutes, then add tea to mixture)
4 TBS pure cranberry juice (PURE...this part is very important.  NO SUGAR ADDED.)
2 TBS Lemon juice (I'm out today so I'm just doing it without it.)
Add a touch of Agave nectar if you can't handle the bitterness.

Drink 2 or 3 of these a day and you'll feel refreshed and full of energy!

And if you don't know about the benefits of dandelion root, google it and be impressed.  No seriously.  You'll never want to curse at them in your yard again.  (Don't tell me I'm the only one who does that!)

Thankful

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  

I have so so so much to be grateful for, 

but most of all I'm grateful for these loves of mine.