Confessions

I have a confession to make...I love reading. And not just in the way I love making dinner for my husband, clean sheets or mint chocolate chip ice cream...I love it in a way that I yearn to hold a book in my hands, to feel the pages between my fingertips, to smell the papery-inky smell that books have not matter how many times they have been read. Opening a book is like getting a call from a wonderful friend who makes you feel alive, happy, excited, and real every time you talk to them. I feel genuinely sorry for those who don't read, because they are truly missing out on one of the most brilliant inventions ever-the written word. With the move to Montana and the stress of organizing, packing, and moving across the country I haven't had much of a chance to read this past month or so. Now, since I am still jobless and currently "widowed" (Joe's gone on a fire) I have been able to bend the spine and turn the pages again.
I don't think I can label everything that brings me enjoyment from reading, but I do know that my mind is completely free to imagine anything and everything. Some books simply allow me to escape into a world that isn't mine, where I can explore, learn new things, and solve other people's problems without having any repercussions for the terrible advice that I give or the gallons of ice cream I eat. Those books let me believe in overly-buttered popcorn, unicorns or that I really am a princess without judging me or telling me I'm being silly. I'd rather be silly and excited with my nose stuck in a book than cynical and sophisticated with my nose stuck in other people's business.
Others challenge, convict, enlighten, thrill, inspire me. Those books let me believe that maybe one day I really will be a writer (For crying out loud, Snooki wrote a book so I should be able to also!). Or that I will throw great dinner parties, with all the right kinds of food and a strategically pieced together outfit that I look flawless in without looking overdressed. Or that perhaps one day I will have all the right things to say and be witty and charming while having perfectly styled hair and clear skin. Or that maybe I am just fine the way I am. That maybe this path I'm on is o.k. and I can find reasons to celebrate my day to day life and am able to think that maybe I'm not really a failure for not having a full-time job yet...or a job at all for that matter. And those are the books I love the best. The ones that I see bits and pieces of myself in and still feel good in my own skin. The ones that say you are not alone. Other people burn cookies, don't take showers and have 245,987 split ends. That's life and I'm o.k. as long as I'm living it. I'm o.k. as long as I'm celebrating this life and the tens of thousands of blessings the Lord has given me today and every day.
So I do believe that for the rest of my life I will continue to snuggle up with books of all sorts (except Kindle sorts) and some days I'll get to be a princess in a different world while other days I'll just be me here on planet Earth. And either way, I'll be happy.

Moving on...

So...once again it's been awhile! It's amazing how even though I have gone into early retirement (I'm choosing not to call it unemployment. Trying to look on the bright side of things!) I still have no time in my day! I'm not really sure what I do...I'm pretty sure it's not very productive or beneficial to society...but nevertheless, my hours seem to disappear the way Snickerdoodles do-in the blink of an eye! I don't have too much to say, but a few updates are in order I do believe!

1) Joe and I have been married 5 months now and we are not pregnant yet nor will we be for at least 2 more years. Just want to lay down the ground rules on that one :)

2) I've been subbing and coaching Junior High Girl's Basketball. Both jobs have been...educational.

3) Brody bit a little girl which resulted in some serious intervention on our part. Bad Brody is slowly becoming Not So Bad or Mean Brody, but goodness does it take patience. I've heard it said that dogs are harder than kids. I sure hope so because I don't think I could handle much more misbehavior.

4) 97.6% of the pictures I've taken in the last 5 months are of the dogs. That is why I have no new pictures to put up with this post. Talk about pathetic.

5) Speaking of pictures-I am obsessed. Our house has become a little shrine of pictures of Joe and I (and the dogs :/) not to mention the 430+ pics I ordered of the wedding, shower, honeymoon etc. that are now in photo books. Who will ever look at those pictures other than me?! The answer is Ramsey because she's the only one I can get to sit down with me and look at them. I feel like I'm turning into my Mimi already.

6) Joe insists that I give him haircuts. The first one was actually decent. The second one, I couldn't find the good scissors so I used my paper scissors instead (notice how I am conveniently blaming the scissors for my lack of hair-cutting abilities!). His hair turned out very similar to something found on Footloose or Sister Act. Late 80's early 90's monstrosity! He was gracious enough and even that didn't deter him from wanting me to cut his hair again! Dang it...

7) I also discovered I am not good at pruning plants either (watch my once again blame the cutting device for my lack of aptitude), but I do have to say the shears my father has are probably from 1910 so they are not in the greatest shape. Just sayin'. Anyway-so the lilac bushes and the weird thorny bush my mother wanted me to prune look...well a little bald and misshapen. The big thorny bush looks like it got a flat top. Which is basically what happened. Stupid plant. I seem to have little luck with plants in general although I've managed to keep the poinsettia I got at Christmastime alive up until now and the flowers Joe got me for V-day are still going strong! I'm actually really proud that my poinsettia is still alive and am seriously considering transferring it to a planter as a visible sign of my growing prowess with plants, but am hesitant because I sort of think the tacky green paper around the bottom of the plant is somehow part of the reason it has survived this long.

7.5) The one nice thing about early retirement is all the time I've had to read! I love it...I've been reading 3 or 4 books at a time (something I have never done before!). Currently I am obsessed with The Hunger Games. I read the first book in less than 24 hours and books 2 and 3 just came in the mail so I know what I'm doing this weekend!! :)

8) And now on to the biggest news of all!! We're MOVING!!!!! Far far away! I was down for moving to Disney Land but apparently they don't hire many firefighters so we are moving to Montana instead. So now instead of being a Disney princess, I will hopefully get to fulfill my other dream- teaching! The job options in MT are much better than they are here so, other than dreading the long, merciless, freezing cold winters that last 7 months I am ecstatic! And it's coming up really fast. Only a few more weeks of glorious AZ sunshine and then it's off to the Big Sky Country! I am developing an irrational fear of Grizzly Bears though. I am seriously considering investing in Bear Spray and a pistol of some sort. It's going to be an adventure that's for sure :)