Perspective

This last Tuesday I hiked Squaw Peak in Provo with some friends. It was so fun! Sometimes life can be frustrating, and I had some of those types of things on my mind on the way up that mountain, but once I got to the top... It's hard to think about yourself when you can look out over what seems like the whole world. As humans our perspective is so limited. Just like the artist that takes a step back from his canvas to gain perspective on his work, so also do we need to step back from our lives and look over the big picture to envision our own masterpiece. (Yeah, that sounds cheesy and cliche but its true!)

Life List

In April of 2004, I wrote a "Life List" at the encouragement of my senior english teacher. The following are the 101 things I listed, without editing: (XX marks the things I have done / Xx marks the things I have done but would like to do more or again / x marks the things I am currently working on).

1. Graduate high school XX
2. Get my young women in excellence award XX
3. Graduate college XX
4. Get married (to the BEST!) in the temple XX
5. Keep a temple recommend throughout my life x
6. Raise a family
7. Serve in the Relief Society Xx, Primary, and Young Womens
8. Design the interior of my own home
9. Have a clean and organized house x
10. Make my bed everyday x
11. Keep up on my kids' histories/scrapbooks
12. Stay best friends forever with Buggie-Boo (my sister) x
13. Be a motivational speaker
14. Go on an LDS mission with my husband in my later years
15. Study the entire standard works Xx
16. Read ShakespeareX, PlatoX, AristotleX, DickensX, Thoreau, RosseaeuX, Hemingway, TwainX, Talmage, Longfellow, Keats, PoeX, Bacon, and Emerson
17. Complete an extensive college reading list
18. Read the biographies of Gordon B. Hinckley, Marjorie Hinckley, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Mozart, Van Gogh, Einstein
19. Write my own autobiography
20. Write and publish a book
21. Write for a newpaper Xx
22. Memorize the planets, church presidents, US presidents, 50 hymns, 100 scriptures, The Proclamation to the World, the names of bones and organs in the body, and the countries of the world
23. Learn about botany x
24. Study ancient Mayan and Aztec peoples
25. Learn about my ancestors (names and stories) Xx
26. Become familiar with compositions of BachXx, BeethovenXx, MendelssohnXx, LisztXx, Repighi, Stravinsky, Toch, Tchaikovsky Xx
27. Play Chopin on the piano
28. Learn to play 25 hymns on the piano
29. Learn to Waltz well
30. Become a proficient photographer
31. Obtain extensive cooking skills Xx
32. Learn to cook cuisine Xx
33. Become a zucchini expert and learn how to cook zucchini bread, zuchinni pancakes, and zuchinni chocolate chip cake XX
34. Obtain extensive sewing skills
35. Design and wear a piece of clothing
36. Become crafty and thrifty x
37. Learn to cut hair XX
38. Learn to drive a stick shift Xx
39. Learn to administer first aid XX
40. Learn sign language
41. Volunteer for the American Cancer Society or other notable organization Xx
42. Donate money to a worthy cause Xx
43. Peer mediate
44. Teach a class Xx
45. Become a responsible voter x
46. Thank all my leaders, teachers, or anyone who has had an influence on me x
47. Meet a prophet
48. Meet a president
49. Meet a queen
50. Sell one of my paintings
51. Sculpt something
52. Work in a flower shop
53. Work in a bookstore
54. Waitress at restaurant
55. Appear on T.V. Xx
56. Teach workshops
57. Open and manage store
58. Be an assistant nurse or do some other kind of service for clinically ill children Xx
59. Become a child's best friend Xx
60. Grow a garden XX
61. Save a life
62. Save a soul x
63. Witness a miracle XX
64. Visit Japan XX
65. Visit Fiji
66. Visit Jerusalem
67. Visit Europe XX
68. Visit New Zealand
69. Visit Australia
70. Visit China
71. Visit Africa
72. Visit Spain
73. Stay over a month in Switzerland
74. Go on a service mission to Africa or S America
75. Visit all the temples in the U.S. x
76. Swim in the Great Salt Lake Xx
77. Swim in the Atlantic Ocean
78. Swim in the Pacific Ocean Xx
79. Hike in the Grand Canyon
80. Sleep under the stars in the mountains for a week
81. Go to all my high-school reunions
82. Give blood and not cry
83. Participate in a triathalon
84. Have a regular exercise program throughout my life x
85. Maintain my ideal body weight throughout my life x
86. Do 10 pull-ups
87. Jump the wake on a wakeboard
88. Ride a horse bare back XX
89. Scuba-dive
90. Sky-dive
91. Hang-glide
92. Ride a motorcycle by myself
93. Swim with dolphins
94. Learn how to catch and gut a fish XX
95. Milk a cow
96. Wash a horse Xx
97. Help build Zion
98. Get stranded somewhere with my husband
99. Kiss in the rain XX, in front of the sunsetXX, while eating PopsiclesXX, on the Eiffel tower, in the middle of the WX soccer field, in an echoing tunnel, in the woods, in a treeXX, in an igloo, during a romance movieXX, in the complete darkXX, and underwaterXX
100. Never be an old fogey--build chocolate milk bubble blowing towers, sculpt turtles out of butter, jump in puddles and run around my neighborhood singing at the top of my lungs even when I'm 60 x
101. Live to be at least 83. x

crappin

I just posted this from an iPhone and I am crapping my pants!! I want one!!!

Greening--My First Steps!!!

Anyone who read my blog about my zipper already knows that I am starting my own movement...I'm greening.

Besides trying to use less in general, I am starting to take other steps:

Recycling--This was dedicated to Katie, for her birthday! Happy Birthday Kate! I already have a full bag of newspaper!

Non-toxic Cleaners--Okay, so I have almost always mopped my floors with vinegar and water (something my mom always did) but I have found a great website explaining how to make non-toxic cleaners of all kinds, and I'm on that! (website: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-non-toxic-cleaning-kit.html).

I encourage everyone to take some steps of their own too!! Let's make this world a little greener!

Bicycle Lessons

This following is an actual dialogue that occurred between Micah and I as we rode our bikes Saturday:

Micah: "Don't you ever shift your gears on your bike?"
Mare: "No, not really."
Micah: "Why not?
Mare: "I like constancy. I don't like change."
Micah: "So you prefer to it to be more difficult to ride your bike rather than to change?"
Mare: (thoughtful silence). "I guess so."

This conversation was pretty insightful, actually. It's true. I have routines. Patterns. Rituals. I hate it, for example, when Micah wants to change around our meeting place on campus for lunch; I always want to meet in the same spot. I always walk the same way to my classes. I order the same things I always get from restaurants. Oh, and I go through trends with breakfast foods. For almost a year I ate raisin bran almost every day. Then for several months I had an egg on toast everyday. Now I eat a bowl with half honey bunches and oats and half raw oatmeal everday. And, one of the best ones (that drives Micah crazy), I like to listen to my favorite songs over and over again. (I figure, since they're so good, might as well, right?). When I can't do these things just this way, and even when doing these things just this way causes some additional burden or difficulty, I feel stuck. (It's probably not politically correct but I have termed these my "autistic moments" because individuals with autism often have a develop rituals and have a difficult time with change).

From the perspective I'm at right now, it can actually be rather funny, but I'm hoping this blog will serve some normalizing effect. So let me know, world: does anyone else have a similar problem of "shifting gears?"

Peace.
Mare.

Surprises

Well everybody, laugh all you want. Yesterday was my birthday and I am now 22. And boy, do I feel it--I am getting old! (To see birthday pics go here: http://www.micahandmarilee.blogspot.com/ ).

On that note, I want to say a bit about the topic of surprises. You see, I am my mother's daughter. I hate surprises.

To illustrate, let me tell the story of my birthday last year. Micah, being pretty much the the greatest husband ever, decided to do the unthinkable (little did he know). He got up early the morning of my birthday and cleaned the house, made breakfast, arranged some presents he had bought for me (all of which were things I had been talking about wanting lately), and put flowers and balloons throughout the house. I'll include a picture for visual clarity:

So what do you think my reaction was to this birthday surprise? Oh, I cried and cried. And cried. I was so sad. (I know, I am redankyalous). Micah really was not sure about all the had occurred. (He couldn't understand that in a girls mind she really wants to buy new conditioner with their limited budget instead of propel waters, etc. etc.) It was quite the getting-to-know-you experience for both of us.

This year for my birthday I strictly told Micah: don't get up early, don't make breakfast, don't buy me anything, etc. etc.

To continue, let me tell you about John Polkinghorne. He was a distinguished Cambridge physicist and then became an Anglican priest. He has won several awards in science and religion, and works to apply the insights of physics to religious mysteries. He said this of surprises in what has become one of my most favorite radio interviews of all time:

"Mr. Polkinghorne: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I think if working in science teaches you anything, it is that the physical world is surprising. And I was a quantum physicist, and the quantum world is totally different from the world of every day. It's cloudy, it's fitful, you don't know where things are, if you know what they're doing. If you know what they're doing, you don't know where they are. So that it's a complex world and quite different from what we expected. ...Now, if the physical world surprises us and is different from everyday expectation — common sense, if you like — it wouldn't be very odd, really, would it be, if God also turned out to be rather surprising. Things that are just on the surface, easy to believe, are not the whole story. There's a deeper, stranger and more satisfying story to be found, both in science and in religion. " (see here for link to entire interview: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/quarks/transcript.shtml).

Doesn't that statement he makes just kind of feel right? I really believe that what we know of God most of the time can be so limited. Our human minds just can't comprehend, I don't believe, all that God really is. We are always trying to categorize and make things fit neatly in the tightly gripped folders of our minds.

In conclusion, I don't doubt at all that God is a person of surprises. And you know, this year for my birthday I really feel that I stifled Micah's natural personality and creativity. So I am making a vow now to try to encourage and appreciate more surprises in my life.

My Obsession with Afros

So I am always telling Micah how beautiful I think black women are in general, but especially when they have those great afros like you sometimes see in commericials and magazines (like Syesha from American idol). I am always telling him how much I really want an afro, so today he sent me this picture that he made.

Pretty awesome, huh? Comments, please.


P.S. You know you all want an afro too!

One Stronger

There has been this new commercial out on T.V. I love it. I don't even remember the product it was selling, but I think it is for some type of heart-healthy cereal. In the commerical the actors are doing certain tasks and the tag-line is "One stronger." And I am pretty certain that at the end there is a women eating her heart-healthy cereal, and it says, "One Bowl Stronger." Does anyone else know what commercial I am talking about?

Anyway, I love it. I have thought about it often, especially as a motivator for me to get up in the morning and do my exercise, or throughout my day when I am tired. I think to myself: "I am one mile stronger." "I am one bicep curl stronger." "I am one stair stronger."

Today, as I spent nearly 5 hours doing intense research for a professor (as part of my research assitantship job) I had to keep telling myself, "I am one journal article stronger."

I hope that others can use that line of thinking too. It is so important I think, especially for all the little things. Let's all of us be some things stronger. One scripture study stronger. One prayer stronger. One kind word stronger. One grueling run stronger. One plate of veggies stronger. It will all add up, I know it will. So be one stronger.

Simplicity, Antonym

I looked up the definition of simplicity today. One definition was: the absence of luxury or showiness; plainness.

I have been thinking about simplicity lately. It seems it's a part of common rhetoric in today's "greening" society. (On a related note, google "freeganism" and you will see how Micah and I will be living if we don't get any pell grants this next year). In addition, I am getting poorer and poorer. I have gained some new perspectives, which all came into play when my backpack zipper broke the other day.

You see, my backback is over 4 years old. It was given to me as a gift by the Bells in Bountiful. I vowed it would last me all through college. When the zipper broke, my immediate thoughts were: "Great, how will I afford a new bag?" Then, I thought about simplicity. About being responsible with resources. And I thought: "I will not buy a new bag. I will just fix this one, even though the time it might take to do so might be more than it would take for me to earn the money for a new bag."

So what does the above picture have to do with simplicity? Well, that's the point. It doesn't. I got this picture from Anthropologie's new catalog. Anthropoligie is a store, that like many others these days, makes a consumer feel that they are buying into a simple, quaint, romantic and charming life. However, I would like to point out something about this trend: it is a farse. Simplicity simply does not imply buying more and more things that look old, rustic, quaint. This is the opposite of simplicity.

Observe: in order to get the look in the above picture alone, I would pay over $5000 for the items from Anthropologie. Then, if I went even further, I could buy 1600 sq. yards of fabric and sew that fabric to each and every one of my walls. Then I could sew up the windows, etc. etc.

Point taken?

Panic Button

My sweet husband and I have been married for two years in August.

In our marriage, Micah has usually always had a nick-name for me. At first, the nicknames were things such as "little sugie" and "little duckey."

Further into our marriage he started calling me "little tiger" and another time "little firecracker."

Lately my nick-name has been "little panic button."

Being married is a most honest endeavor, isn't it?

Grandpa Max-isms, & Other Lists

There are many things that people don't know about me, and one of those is that I am funny. Really funny. I really have a great sense of humor.

Another little known fact about me is that I like making lists. So I am going to indulge myself here and make a few. The first list is about my Grandpa Max (shown to the right) who I love dearly.

List 1: Funny Things that Grandpa Max Says (Max-isms):

1. Get your sass in the addle! (Get going!)
2. If you can't catch on, grease your butt and slide on!
3. (Speaking of his park model): It's like having an affair with your neighbor's wife. You ain't proud of it, but you sure do like it.
4. You (name an activity, such as driving) like a bat out of hell.
5. I sure do love getting kisses from beautiful women (or lovely ladies).
6. You're not short, the Lord just made the earth too close to your butt.
7. See ya later toots!

Because today was my first time trying Guitar Hero with my little brother, I made some important realizations. I am now going to list all of the things that I am completely unable to do because of my lack of coordination skills, and some things I am able to do, because they require no coordinations skills.

List 2: Things I am able and unable to do because of my coordination skills:

1. I CANNOT play Guitar Hero on the easiest level successfully for more than 4 consecutive seconds.
2. I can't play any sports that involve a ball.
3. I cannot dance with a partner (which is the reason why Micah and I had a really stupid fight at our stake Valentine's dance. Ha ha.)
4. I CAN jump very well. And I love to jump. Which is frequently jump over and over again when I am at home.
5. I can lift weights. And I enjoy to do so.
6. I can run. Nay, jog. SLOWLY.

Okay that's enough listing for now. More to come soon.

Mare

Go Jiggy, Go Life, And Such

Yesterday was funeral for my cousin, Jocelyn Garlick, a beautiful, testy, quick-witted redhead who was a bomber on a pair of skis. Jocelyn, Jocie, Jiggy, died March 22, 2008 in a ski accident. She was killed instantly.

I realized at the funeral that there is so much to life. And I realized that I really wanted to start the blog I was always thinking of starting but had never taken the time to do. So this is my first post, dedicated to Jiggy, to Life, and Such.

More to come soon!
Mare