(no subject)

Why do I feel anxiety when I think about updating this thing? This is not how it was supposed to be! I was supposed to just regurgitate thoughts and the occasional picture when I felt like it. Now it's become a sort of travelogue, which is fine, but it makes me feel an immense sense of inadequacy if I don't consistently have something to say. Which is pretty silly. So here are some things I've been thinking about that need to be said/typed/posted, without regard to chronological order or... any kind of order.

- I can't stop watching these "I'm A Mormon" videos. Especially Brian Kershisnik's video. I remember the first time I saw his paintings was with Harry our favorite restaurant in Provo (Pizzeria 712). They had a few of his paintings on the walls and we used to talk about owning one someday. And by talk I mean dream.



- I'm guilty of watching this season of "Bachelor Pad." I'm currently halfway through this past week's episode. I don't know if I can get through it. And as much as I'd like to think it's because I'm such a righteous person… it's really because I feel like there are germs crawling all over me after every episode. Everyone in that mansion is perpetually wet and in a swim suit. And then they're either crying or throwing paint at each other or making out and… I feel like I need a piping hot shower just thinking about it. Put some dry clothes on, people, and read a good book and just calm the heck down for a minute.

- My sister E was randomly in town! And by "in town" I mean "in Vegas," which is where we were up until yesterday. She brought little baby I in town for a quick little doctor's visit, even though she and her cute fam moved to Utah a few months ago. As luck would have it, we realized our paths would cross in Vegas and she stayed here with us and I got to spend hours and hours catching up with her and laughing. It was really hard for me when she moved out of Vegas-- not getting to see her whenever we're in town is pretty sad. So we made the most of our time together and it's heavenly.



- I love when Harry gets really into a good book. He usually starts fiddling with his hair while he reads, twirling it, patting it, all while he can't look away and is deaf to everything else in the room. Someday his ability to tune everything out may bug me, but for now, I really love it, and wish I wasn't so easily distracted while I read.



- I'm itching to sew again. I happened upon a little sewing blog that I really like! There are a few projects I'm really interested in, the main one being this one:



Since my most glorious cousin Rebecca is getting herself hitched next month, there's no better time to create a good skirt to wear in the exact color and trim that I want!

- I'm getting homesick for Palo Alto. This is bad. Very bad. Because it will only be home for one more year. I know it's a dumb thing to grieve way in advance, but I can't help it. My heart already hurts.

- Fall is coming. Cameron is going back to school. Pencils and spiral notebooks are on sale. I know when we get back to Palo Alto the marching band will be practicing near our house (this is a major blessing/curse) and I'll start concocting a plan for the best Halloween costumes possible. Especially one that can stand up to the glorious ones of the past:

2007: Christmas Elf and Eminem



2008: Road Kill and Camoflauge Man



2010: Reynolds Wrap




Suggestions are most welcome.

- Series 2 Premiere is September 18 (according to Wikipedia). Set your DVRs, ladies. It's going to be epic.

Testimony.

The Relief Society in my ward is doing something pretty cool. Everyone has been encouraged to handwrite or type up their testimony of the gospel, and submit it so that all the testimonies can be bound together into a book. Everyone will get a hard copy. That way, years down the road, when we're all in different places (we have a very transient ward- many people are only here for a few years for school, internships, etc.), we can look back at this snapshot of our ward, and the powerful testimonies of everyone in Relief Society.

I was typing mine up, and I realized something. I don't share my testimony publicly all that often, because it's something that's very sacred to me and close to my heart. It's hard for me to bring it up casually, or in an "everyday" setting. However, a testimony is made stronger in the bearing of it, so, I'm going to share it here. I have it linked below to the typed PDF that I'm sending in for my ward's Relief Society book.

I know the few people who read this blog are friends and family, who know that I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and many of the things written in this testimony aren't things you've never heard before. Even so, I have learned over and over in my life that it's often other people's testimonies that have strengthened mine, not because they were eloquent or wildly entertaining or remarkably strong, but because they exist, and they were shared.

Also, if you happen to be someone I don't know, or someone who doesn't know what I believe in, and you were curious, here it is.

Testimony.

Tidbits/segues

Exciting tidbit: it finally happened. I am the proud bearer of an iPhone.



(seen here eternity-style because of it's reflective screen and the fact that this picture was taken with Photo Booth. Trippy, no?)

I feel like the training wheels have finally come off my bike after years of T9 predictive text and a 1 megapixel phone camera. It's like we had a baby or something. Like all of a sudden I own this incredibly fragile and complex thing and I have to somehow keep it from dying. It's a weird mixture of joy and intimidation. In the words of my sister, "it's like a tiny computer that also happens to have phone capabilities." I'm already in the midst of 2 scrabble games and have created my ringtone thanks to the help/brain of my lover. You can hear the song I chose for it below-- "Innocent Bones" by Iron and Wine (except for the tone I made for my Mom-- that's Carla Bruni. More personalized ringtones are forthcoming. Leave all personalized ringtone requests in the comments if you are so inclined/particular).



Topic segue: General Conference Weekend has just come to a close and I loved every last second. This is not me tooting my own spirituality horn. Conference, for me, came at the perfect time. Last week was the worst kind of insane. Too many things (albeit good things) took up my mornings, evenings, and nights. Weeks like this make me feel like I'm hurtling through space with not a solitary grasp on anything.

Thus, General Conference this year was perfect.

In between sessions on Saturday we meandered down to the farmer's market at Stanford shopping center. We picked up tangerine habanero mustard, fresh amadeus cheese, peppered salami, olives stuffed with blue cheese and feta, bridge mix (!), Stewart's orange cream soda, Henry Weinhardt root beer, fresh raspberries... it was magical (being on something like a diet lately not all of those things made their way into my mouth, but we bought them, and that's something).



For two days I got to sit and enjoy not only the company of the husband I never saw last week, but I also got to sit and let my proverbial brain sponge soak up all the goodness, reassurance, and resolve of the leaders of our church. It couldn't have come at a better time, and it couldn't have been better. If my being had been scattered all over various corners of the universe, then Conference gathered all the little pebble pieces and placed them inside a pretty little linen drawstring bag, and I feel like I'm myself again.

Plus I started knitting this scarf.



All is right with the world.

Bro

What is it about General Conference that makes me so excited for my brother to come home already?



When the number of missionaries serving in the world was read over the pulpit, I burst out with "One less missionary in two months, boys!"

I have the sweetest, kindest, best brother in the world.

(I'm talking about Eaton brothers here, not Reynolds brothers or guys who married my sisters... they are entirely different things, because only this Eaton brother actually endured the childhood/adolescent pandemonium of his sisters and managed to become a normal person.)

Since he left 22 months ago, his absence has been apparent at every family gathering. But it's all been worth it, and he'll be home before you can say "Where's my freakin' nametag?!"

Only this brother was sweet and thoughtful enough to bring me a Mango Mantra 3x a week with his Dining Plus card without being asked, go boogie boarding with me on Saturday mornings, to jump in the car with me and drive to California with 5 minutes warning for a weekend break from school, to wake up with me at 6 am to make the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, to teach me how to drive stick when I couldn't get it down from anyone else, and to always be my partner in crime.

And, according to Joe Garlock, he's the white Jay-Z, which is like a HUGE bonus.

And through every discouraging experience on his mission, every week his emails always include some obscure line from Season 2 of "The Office" that sends me into hysterics.

61 days and counting.

New Word

Me and Sarah are speaking in church tomorrow. [I know that's improper English. Deal with it. That's how I say it.] Sarah just invented a new word, in preparation:

Eblaborate.

Priceless.