From Youth to Thirty

I never thought I would get so nostalgic turning 30 this week...on Friday I'll be just another 30-something. I feel so young at heart...and have so many great memories of my youth. Recently I've been going through boxes of pictures. And when I say BOXES, I mean literally thousands and thousands of pictures from the last 30 years. The awkward chubby phases, the dated hairstyles, the embarrassing dates, the classic family portraits. I just posted a my favorites into an album on Facebook, which you can view here.

I've been getting things together for a totally RAD Birthday party on Friday...old retro toys, original Nintendo games, cassette tapes of Roxette, Color Me Badd, New Kids on the Block, MC Hammer; Saved By The Bell posters....basically the finest in pop culture from my 3 decades of life. Fondue, Friends, Family, and Fun...I can't wait. Want to come? Email me for details.

Home is a Special Kind of Feeling

Lately on Sundays, I've been trying to listen to music that is more spiritual than my usual fare. I grew up on the classical music and Mormon Tabernacle Choir, of which my Uncle David and friend Neil are currently members. It's still a dream to someday be a part of the Mo-Tab. Last weekend, I picked up the Mo-Tab's "Love is Spoken Here" album. I have been a little obsessed with it...and I thought I'd share the lyrics to my favorite song on here. It is titled "Home is a Special Kind of Feeling" by John Rutter, and it is the finale to his "Wind in the Willows" musical. I sang it with Viva Voce a few years ago, and was excited to find a Mo-Tab album with it.

Home is a special kind of feeling

The feeling of a place where you belong

A feeling that the world is left behind you

Like a shelter from your cares

that seems to want you to be there

Home is a special kind of feeling

The feeling that you’ve made it on your own

Somewhere which you know is really your place

A place for living, your special place, your home

Home has a welcome kind of feeling

The firelight, and the warmth of hearth and home

A welcome that you know will always cheer you

Like a gentle kind hello, that seems to touch you with a glow

Home has a quiet kind of feeling

An island when you need to be alone

A haven for the times you spend together

There’s nowhere better, no other place like home

By John Rutter

As a side note, here's a funny childhood anecdote. When I was about 4 years old, and listening to classical radio with my dad on the way to church, I said "I wish that everyone was a Mormon so they can listen to classical music, because it's so good!" I'm not sure why I thought that...but my dad likes to remind me of my youthful gaffe.

Travel Junkie

My visited states map 2/20/09

I’ve loved travel since I was a little girl, but most family vacations were spent traveling in a car between Portland and Salt Lake City (the two places that my extended family lived) I got to know all the stop major stops along the road on I-15 and I-84 from repeated trips in Oregon, Idaho, California, Utah, and Nevada. For instance on 1-15:

McCammon? Idaho exit 47.

St George Bluff Street? Utah exit 6

Ute? Nevada exit 80

I’ve done the 800 mile SLC-PDX roadtrip at least 20 times, 250 mile SLC-Rexburg, ID (my college town) 50 times, and the 700 mile SLC-LA roadtrip 15 times. I’ve been to 32 US States and 2 Canadian provinces…so far…

My first airplane ride was when I was approximately Rosie’s age. I lived in Portland, and my mom bought some plane tickets off a friend to Salt Lake City (United Airlines, connecting at SFO, I believe) I remember my mom had me memorize the name printed on the ticket so we didn’t get caught (back before all of the TSA identification guidelines) For years, I wished and hoped to go on an airplane again.

For my 15^th birthday, all I wanted was to.visit Portland by air. I pooled gift money from my parents, grandparents and friends for an unaccompanied ticket from SLC to PDX. I still have my Delta boarding pass from that flight. Over the next decade, I flew a variety of times, always mesmerized by the thrill of the takeoff, the gorgeous views, and the lingo the crew used.

When my husband made the decision to pursue aviation for a career, I was thrilled for all of the travel opportunities it would afford my family. I tried to ignore the financial consequences of his extremely expensive education, and thought instead of the great time we’d enjoy in his cushy career. We now know it’s not all that cushy, but it does have it's perks. It’s now been over 5 years since he first took flight in a Cessna, and I’ve flown more in that time than I would have in a lifetime if he weren’t a pilot. (In 2008, I flew non-rev nearly 50,000 miles)

I'm a total travel junkie.