In an effort to usher in spring, I broke out the eater decor... and it just seems wrong that there is a fire in the fireplace with all of the fun spring colors surrounding it.
To borrow a phrase from one of my friends here: I feel like I'm becoming the weather... bitter and cold!!
Please, Please... send in the heat lamps... I'm afraid I've forgotten what the color green looks like!
As opposed to the EVERYONE'S toilet (aka little boys with fire hose power toilet).
It takes a few extra steps to find it,
But it is SOO worth the the extra steps to not have that 'ewwww something is wet on my legs and I have a suspicion that it's not water' sensation. (c'mon, you can't tell me this has never happened to you if you live with a houseful of boys!).
My heart is pretty tender lately. I am a self proclaimed daddy's girl. Always have been, always will be.
My parents recently returned from their THIRD (yes, that's right, THIRD mission... making it my dad's FOURTH!)... (and I still wake up in a panic sometimes just having dreamed that I went on a 2nd mission...).
He is a good man. No, he is an out of this world amazing man. If I could describe him in one word, it would be:
Rock.
As in Peter the Rock.
That's my dad.
Solid
Steadfast
Unmovable in his testimony of Christ
Our family's Rock.
I really lucked out with men in my life - my husband and my father are two of my absolute heros.
My dad has a gift. Each person that he encounters in life has felt it. He has a power to make you feel like you are the most important person on earth. For example: I am the youngest of 7 kids. I know he loves all of his children. Secretly, I know that I'm his favorite. I can also guarantee that there are 6 other people who feel the exact same way. (That's okay, I'll let the rest of you feel that way... I know that I am really the favorite ;) ).
So, what does this have to do with Butterfly kisses, you ask?
I first learned how to butterfly kiss from my dad. I can't remember how old I was, or what I was wearing, but I vividly remember sitting on his lap at the kitchen table, the sun shining through the window, and him asking if I wanted a butterfly kiss.
"Butterfly kiss?? What's that??"
He leaned in, and tickled my cheek with his eye lids, causing a cascade of giggles to erupt from my toddler body.
So whenever I hear the song "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle (FABULOUS song, by the way!!), as I did yesterday, I instantly think of that moment, and all of the other tiny moments that make up a lifetime of creating a daddy-daughter bond with one of my great heros in life...
... "Rise and Shout" to greet me each morning (complete with light flipped on, covers ripped from my cozy cacoon of a bed... wait, maybe this isn't quite a great memory to begin...)
... "Bore a hole in muley's horn, there you tie a string, dip him in the water, and PULL HIM OUT AGAIN" (there are probably only a handful of people who read this who will truly grasp the significance of that sentence!)
... "When Irish eye's are smiling..."
... "I've got six pence, jolly jolly six pence" (this song takes me back to the flyin B every time...
... eagles landing on heads (seriously, did mom have to get the 'baby eagle' every single time, while I seemed to get the grampa one??!)
... daddy daughter sun valley skiing trips (that man knows how to plan a date!) (to this day, he can STILL ski me into the ground!)
... "Are you ready on the right leg?" (seriously, how did you get free EVERY time??!)
... bucking horse (I never could get the right grip to last more than 5 seconds!)
... Hide in the bathroom
... fast Sunday interviews (snuggled up on his lap!)
... spspspsp, know what??
... Valentine's Day Chocolates, complete with prescription pad love notes
... "If your scholarship falls through, remember that you have access to the Walt Petersen scholarship fund"
... "That comes from the Albertson side of the family..." (yea, dad, we never bought this line!)
... President "Water" Petersen
... The perfect snake pirouette at the flyin B
... jitterbug to "In the Mood"
... "It hurts when I hold my hand like this..." "Well, then don't hold your hand like that..."
... "I just hit my head on the wall..." "Did you tell the wall sorry?"
... late night talks
... early morning beet hoes
... roller coaster plane rides (I think my stomach is still hovering over the Burley atmosphere somewhere!)
... Traditions!! (said in his best Tevia voice)
... and my favorite daddy moment of all time: coming down the runway after just finishing my mission, being clasped into his famous bear hug and have him whisper, "You did it! You did it!"... something that I'm hoping will be a precursor to meeting my Heavenly Father at the end of my life's mission. If that moment turns out to be anything like the moment with my dad, then this life will have ended perfectly.
I love you, Dad
... and I will always be your eensie weensie teensie eensie baby daughter :)
From a sweet pseudo-companion from the mission, asking me what I had going on the last weekend in Feb...
How do I even begin to describe Deb (or Hna. Barry as I met her so many years ago)...
... she's the type of person that makes you feel like her best friend, even though you know she has a jillion friends all over the world and they ALL feel that way.
... she is one of the big wigs in an organization called, "Save the Children," and she travels all over the world, well, saving children. Whenever there is a disaster in any country, be it natural or manmade, you can be that she is on the first plane out to help get programs in place for the children of the area.
... seriously, she has been to countries that I can't even pronounce, let alone find on a map! (she's had to explain a few geography lessons to me over the years...)
... and yes, she is right now in Haiti, and advising Chili at the same time...
... and when she's not out saving the children, she's meeting with U.N. officials, or in U.S. Senate meeting (which is ironic, since she is from Wales), or having lunch with newly elected presidents of Afganistan, ... you get the picture.
... and yet, through all of this, she still manages to remember my birthday EVERY year (and I think I have yet to get hers right on the date in all the years we've known each other... sorry Deb!!), or come and visit when my twins are born, or just 'pop' in if she has a layover in my vicinity.
... so when she calls and asks if you have a free weekend, you can bet it won't be free for long. This was no exception. While we were talking, she informed me that she was on the computer at that moment booking me a ticket to San Francisco for a mini-mission rendezvous.
... and my dear, sweet hubby offered to be Mr. Mom at home to make it work for me (LOVE that man!!).
... so before I knew what was happening, I was boarding a plane with babe in arms (can't quite separate her from her feeding source just yet...), on my way to Sunny California for 72 hours of laughing, reminiscing, and just plane hanging out with some of the finest women I have had the pleasure of knowing.
... it was a complete blast from the past. I found myself teleported back in time 14 years (yes, I really am getting OLD!!), and a couple countries away (I was actually surprised to have hot water, realizing that we were, in fact not in Guatemala anymore, but in an American Hotel room).
As each one of us got off the plane (all of the flights happened to be within a couple hours of each other), we just started talking as if we hadn't skipped a beat since the rare talk-times on the mission, and kept right on talking until we finally separated after the weekend to our various destinations.
... and we also squeezed in a few adventures, like...
Like a trolly ride through San Fran... Deb on the left, Kristen on the right.
Sweet Nou and Kirsten sitting on the other side of me
... mapping out our day to be sure to include classics like clam chowder, cheese cake, and chocolate!!
... striking poses by the ever-present palm trees (and emailing pictures of palm trees to hubby with the question of why we are living in Tundra land when some people get to see palm trees in February!!)
... and catching a glimpse of the Chinese New Year parade (where a group of Chinese tourists in front of us turned around and started snapping pictures of baby Elizabeth... go figure!)
... and of course culminating with a walk to the famous Ghiradelli Square (If you look closely, I think you can see the heavenly lights beaming down on this most heavenly place even!), where chocolate was had by all (and it wasn't even the Guate-wanna-be-but-not-quite-getting-it-right-chocolate, either!)
... But the best of all was just being able to pick up after 14 years like we had been together just the last P-Day carving Sandia's for Halloween or relishing choco-bananos, or getting stopped in the middle of the main freeway of Guatemala because a truckload of cows got free and the cows were roaming the road, or getting necklaces cut off by crazy knife-men on random city busses...
Seriously, to think that I would never have had the opportunity of meeting these amazing women had I not gone on a mission is so sad - they are the type of women that make you want to be better just by being in their presence. They all are so incredibly talented and amazing in so many different walks of life: teachers, wives, mothers, children savers, and yet all so incredibly down to earth and centered in the gospel. After so many years apart, just having the center of the gospel in common (and some crazy, relived mission stories!!) was like coming home once again.
... Love you girlies! Thanks for making such an eternal impact on my life. Thanks for making me leave the weekend wanting to be a little bit more like each one of you and be a better me.
... but it sure can pay for some things that make me really happy :)
... like, for example... this
Yes, this is, in fact, a blender. And yes, I did get this for Christmas. And yes, it was the BEST present EVER. (In fact, I am the one who actually bought it, and then told Jerry that my Christmas was taken care of... but hey, he did the same thing, so we were even!)
Now, I know what you are thinking... A blender? Seriously?! What kind of blender could ever generate this level of excitement? And for Christmas??! Seriously?! And a few years ago... before my introduction into this bohemian rhapsody of blenders, I would have thought the same thing.
But this is NO ordinary blender...
It is (cue the music...) the... VITAMIX.... da da dada!!
And YES, it really IS all that, and a bag of chips! I LOVE this thing. It can pulverize anything you throw at it. You throw in fruit (we're not talking cut up pieces of fruit here, people, we are talking a WHOLE apple, a WHOLE kiwi - skin and all - the rind of a pineapple), a little ice, a little sugar (or a lotta sugar...), flip the button, and whalaaaa, you have a perfectly smooth blended drink. It doesn't suck the juice out and leave the other stuff behind in another container, oh no, it's all there, folks, kiwi skin and all (which is where the majority of the fiber is... but that's the dietitian in me talking...).
... but WAIT, there's more!! It can even make soups - heating it up and everything (yes, it's true, no other pan needed!).
... but, but... the real reason that I truly LOVE this thing is that is can make ICE CREAM in 30 seconds flat. Yes, you read that right, 30 SECONDS! We're talking real, homemade, mouthful of pure, heavenly YUMMINESS!! (Yes, Janie, think raspberry heaven from last summer... in under ONE minute!)
Yes, people, greeting this little beauty in my kitchen every morning, instantly puts a big smile on my face and a little happiness in my heart :).
[** and Steve, you have now been officially dubbed "Joseph and the vitamix blender" in our family... I STILL can't believe that #1, Mom didn't use her vitamix... and #2, that she just randomly gave it to you on a whim all those years ago!!! ]
Yes, this is a toilet. 
... striking poses by the ever-present palm trees (and emailing pictures of palm trees to hubby with the question of why we are living in Tundra land when some people get to see palm trees in February!!)
... and catching a glimpse of the Chinese New Year parade (where a group of Chinese tourists in front of us turned around and started snapping pictures of baby Elizabeth... go figure!)
... some people are seeing this??
... so tell me again, WHY is Minnesota such a great place to live??
Yes, this is, in fact, a blender. And yes, I did get this for Christmas. And yes, it was the BEST present EVER. (In fact, I am the one who actually bought it, and then told Jerry that my Christmas was taken care of... but hey, he did the same thing, so we were even!)
