Wanted: Appreciation for snide comments

TC and I in the summer of 1999.

I'm coming down with something and have a sore throat, so instead of getting up and living a productive life, I spent this morning reading my journal from 1999. A lot happened that year: I had a mid-studies crisis and decided to take a fall semester off from BYU while I sorted my life out, I continued my Spanish studies, I met TC, we began dating, I went back home to California, we got engaged, we got married, and I returned to Provo.

It was really interesting that in my journal, in the time leading up to when I met TC, I wrote about how I felt certain that a big change was coming in my life. I didn't know what.

Once I met him, I wrote about his great qualities, and all the kind things he did and said to me. 

Once we got engaged, I wrote about how much I loved him, and how humbled I felt that a guy as great as him loved me. 

The things I said about him then hold true today, and I think that's so special. He has only gotten better and better as time has gone on, and he's helped me become better. But the most favorite thing I wrote about him is, 

"I never thought I’d meet a guy who appreciates my snide comments and sarcasm, but I have."

And 11 years later this good man still appreciates my snide comments. 

Here are some closing thoughts on this man of mine.

He makes me so happy, happier than I’ve ever been. He’s so sweet and thoughtful and loving and expressive and funny and attentive and sensitive to the needs of others and kind and good with children and passionate and smart and handsome and I could go on and on. I’m still not really sure why he wants to be with me. I’m so flawed, so insensitive, so unkind. But he loves me and that makes me very happy.

Simplicity 2403

I'm moving in slow motion, as evidenced by the completion date of this dress: October something or other, 2010.

The dress I finished is Simplicity 2403.

I made the reddish one on the top right, without the belt. I had been looking for the perfect fabric for this dress for a while, but nothing tickled my fancy, until I found the most adorable mystery blend fabric at Hancock Fabrics: a dark brown with beige polka dots. I'm a sucker for polka dots. So I bought several yards, and set out to make the dress.

This is how it turned out:

So, it's a bit (lot) tight in the bust. I ought to have made a size bigger. And the sleeve bands are tight as well, but I'd like to think that it's from all the P90X I've been doing. You know, the weight lifting, the 1/4 pull-ups, the punching and flexing I do as I admire my guns...

But seriously: look how happy I am in this dress.

And here's a close-up so you can get a better view of the fabric. Cute, no?

My take on the pattern: it's a nice design. I would love my version a lot more if only I had lengthened it by about 2 inches (as it is, I have a hard time sitting down without indecency), and if I had made it one size bigger. Honestly, it's like I have no idea what I'm doing half the time when I'm sewing. You'd think I'd learn from one project and apply that knowledge to the next, but that doesn't seem to be in my make-up. 

101 Things

A friend of mine turned me on to the idea of making a list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days. I like the idea because I like lists, and I like accomplishing things to cross off lists. So, I put a list together.

Now, rather than make the list New Years Resolutiony and put goals that are a bit ethereal, I put only things on the list that I could definitively say "Yes, I did this," or "No I haven't done this and I'm a complete loser for it." Ha ha. A little self-depricating humor never hurt anyone.

Oh, it HAS? It's actually not good for one's self esteem? Uhh... (note to self, change M.O.)

At any rate, I have things on the list that I've been meaning to get around to, but haven't because I keep setting goals that have me destined for failure, like "Exercise daily." That's not going to happen people. You know why? Because I am chronically lazy. It's a real* disease. And there's no known cure. So, instead, I put #2: Finish P90X, because there will come a point in my life that I will be able to say, "Yes, Tony Horton, I finished your P90X, and I speet on eet." On the subject of fitness, I also have set the goal to do 2 pull-ups in a row (#1). It may sound like a super easy goal, but today, on 3 January 2011, I can only do 1/4 of a pull-up and it's sad. Really sad. Lamentable, really. I tell TC that if I ever were to be hanging off of a ledge, I would die, because I am not capable of pulling myself up. And for some reason, as much as my rational mind knows this is ludicrous, this is a real fear for me.

I also have some random things that may or may not accomplish, like #87: Play a song on expert in Rock Band. Not really the most important thing to accomplish, but you know, if it makes me happy, then who are you to judge?

One goal that will be difficult for me is #40: Quit swearing. It is an ethereal goal that I will maybe only someday, when I lose my tongue or have my memory wiped, accomplish, but I'm working toward it. To support #40 is #39: Learn and use 101 new words. Maybe I can replace the less refined words with others?

One of my favorite items so far (I made this list several weeks ago by the way and have been working on it ever since) is #18: Read every conference talk from October 2010. I always say I'm going to re-read the talks, especially the ones I accidentally slept through, but I really never do. But now it's on a list, and there's no going back. So I've started reading them and marking them off. Goodness! I LOVE marking things off. I've made the conference issue of the Ensign mine and have folded it and marked it, and red flagged it. It's all mine people.

And then there are several sewing and crafts projects like
#43: Knit a scarf
#44: Embroider a tea towel set
#55: Etch a parfait bowl


Some of the items I have already accomplished are:
#63: Make Pan Dulce from scratch.
#78: Watch a movie in 3D.
#31: Make a daily calendar journal and use it. (I put something cool looking together in Word and have faithfully been documenting every moment, dull or otherwise, of my life since December 20, which is the day all this started.)


My 1001 days begun on December 20 and will end on September 15, 2013.

So far this has been a great experience (a whole 14 days in), and I recommend it. Do it people. DO IT!













* made up