Should have seen this coming

Most beautiful sunshiny day ever + the assignment to teach PE all afternoon + the decision to play softball so we could be outside = (seriously, it's redder than it looks here)

I'm just glad I put a 30 spf on my face every single morning, just in case.

Still Alive

I'm at my sister Ann's house getting some training for my triathalon, and I've decided to take advantage of the computer situation to do a little blogging. In lieu of some of the clever blogs I've been composing in my head, I'll just do some bullet points about what's going on in my life, in case you care.

1. Like I mentioned, I've decided to become a triathalete. I guess I'll need to learn how to spell that if I"m going to be serious about this. Ann (who is a swimmer and a triathalete) gave me some personal training and in a 20 minute session, I went from horrible, afraid-to-put-my-face-under-the-water (I know, isn't that embarrasing) to below-average, but not hating it. In fact, I kind of liked it after a bit. All told, I probably swam about half a mile and walked away just fine.

2. The decorating of my house is going great! I only have one picture because I didn't plan ahead for having this unlimited computer access. This is the view of kitchen from the living room.


I love it very much. Warms my heart and makes me happy. The plaid was an inspired (literally) solution to the fact that I didn't like the way the yellow and green looked together.

I'll post other pictures later. Hopefully. (teaser--the bedroom is violet)

3. I like my job (even though they have me in preschool right now). I'll put more about that later too.

4. I went through the pictures on my phone to see if there was anything else I should be reporting on and I found a picture of the flowers Michael sent me for Valentine's Day.

So, things are going well with Michael too.

5. I got called to be my ward's Emergency Preparedness Coordinator (church assignment helping to make sure that everyone in the congregation is prepared in case of a disaster). I am very excited about it. I used to think that Sunday School teacher was the best calling in the church, but I see now that I was very, very wrong.

I've now reported on my house, my job, my boyfriend, and my exercising. Those are the main things in my life right now. Have I moved to Utah and turned boring? I hope not. Well, only time will tell I suppose. But I am going to bed now.

An Unexpected Turn of Events

First, let me explain/justify my lack of blogging. I am currently without a computer, so that has been a hinderance to my updating. Even now, at great personal sacrifice, I am blogging from my iPhone. But I couldn't stand to have the same post up for a whole month, so I'm putting aside my dislike of typing large amounts with my thumbs and taking one for the team. But THAT is not the surprising thing that I alluded to in my blog title. This is--

Last Saturday while I was riding my bike to the gym, I had a very startling realization: I LOVE Draper. (Draper is the town where I live.) I don't just tolerate it (which I was expecting) or like it okay (which I was hoping), but I full-blown love it. I love looking at the big beautiful old houses and the big beautiful new houses and the regular-sized houses. I love that there are horse stables all over the place. I love that sometimes it smells like cows. I love how it is nestled right next to the mountains. I love the variety of stores that are on the Parkway. I love that there are so many biking and jogging paths. I super love that I share a highway exit with Ikea. I love that despite being so close to Sandy, it's not boring like Sandy. I love that it used to just be cow farmers and now it's full of regular people (although I do feel a little sorry for the cow farmers who must have been forced out). I love that it's part of Salt Lake County. I love the super awesome water park Cowabunga Bay, even though I've never been yet. I love the way all the houses look with their Christmas lights. I love the feel of it. I love looking at it. I love the way "I live in Draper" rolls off my tongue.

When I decided to move to Utah, I knew it was a decision that would bring me joy because I knew that's what God wants for me. But I did not expect that I would find any amount of that joy from my geographical surroundings. Having known and loved a city the way I love New York, I didn't figure that another place could be worthy of a description involving the word "love.". And while I love Draper in a very very different way than New York and not quite with the same fierce intensity, I am happy to realize that I love it with a peaceful, firm and even a little excited feeling. And that makes me happy.