What a world! Confusing what is essentially a shirt for a hair accessory. We were laughing pretty hard.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
True Story
Last night Amy (Lindseth) and I went to dinner and a few stores at the Gateway (an outdoor mall). When we were in one store Amy held up a scrap of cloth and said "what is this?" to which I replied, "I don't know..." at which point I think we said in unison "a headband?" "a bra?" I guessed. Then Amy looked at the tag, "Animal Print Tube Top" it said.
Monday, August 18, 2008
I Cried With a Fellow ...Human
I've read a blog or two out there about how people have been brought to tears by the emotional impact the Olympics have had on them. They've cried for joy for Michael Phelps, sadness for Alicia Sacramone and amazement for Dara Torres or even frustration for what might be an "illegal" team of Chinese gymnasts. I'm not going to say that these stories haven't stirred emotion in me, they definitely have, I've even misted a few times but last night an actual tear fell.
It surprised me because I was crying for a Chinese girl when I was a hard core American cheerleader. It surprised me because just a moment before the tear actually fell I had cheered for Cheng Fei's fall, securing what I thought would be a gold for Shawn Johnson.
But then they showed this poor 20 year old girl crying for her short coming and I was forced to mentally replay the story that the commentator told just a few days ago. Cheng Fei was chosen when she was 3 years old to go be a gymnast due to her natural abilities. At times she would call her parents crying that she wanted to go home and quit gymnastics because she was home sick. Her parents made her tough it out because her abilities were the best hope her family had for a secure future. She was 3 years old, not even really a child but a toddler.
And she fell. She fell doing something she has done probably hundreds of times flawlessly. And even though I thought the same thing about Alicia Sacramone when she missed her flip up onto the beam in the team finals I can't help but think how much better Alicia's life is simply for being an American.
Olympic lessons learned: #1 Everyone deserves to win because they literally work their entire lives for these mere moments. #2 Everyone is a child of God, Chinese and American and in that moment I felt for my sister. #3 I'm so blessed to be an American because leaving my parents at the age of 3 to secure my family's future just wasn't even an option.
I know this sounds super cheesy but it really was a crazy moment for me.
It surprised me because I was crying for a Chinese girl when I was a hard core American cheerleader. It surprised me because just a moment before the tear actually fell I had cheered for Cheng Fei's fall, securing what I thought would be a gold for Shawn Johnson.
But then they showed this poor 20 year old girl crying for her short coming and I was forced to mentally replay the story that the commentator told just a few days ago. Cheng Fei was chosen when she was 3 years old to go be a gymnast due to her natural abilities. At times she would call her parents crying that she wanted to go home and quit gymnastics because she was home sick. Her parents made her tough it out because her abilities were the best hope her family had for a secure future. She was 3 years old, not even really a child but a toddler.
And she fell. She fell doing something she has done probably hundreds of times flawlessly. And even though I thought the same thing about Alicia Sacramone when she missed her flip up onto the beam in the team finals I can't help but think how much better Alicia's life is simply for being an American.
Olympic lessons learned: #1 Everyone deserves to win because they literally work their entire lives for these mere moments. #2 Everyone is a child of God, Chinese and American and in that moment I felt for my sister. #3 I'm so blessed to be an American because leaving my parents at the age of 3 to secure my family's future just wasn't even an option.
I know this sounds super cheesy but it really was a crazy moment for me.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Oregon-Washington-Oregon-Washington
It was a bittersweet weekend for the Lindseth family. Shawn's father's father passed away and many of us trekked to the Vancouver-Portland area to celebrate his life and spend time together. We left on Wednesday afternoon and didn't arrive until about 3 a.m. The drive wasn't terrible since I discovered a way for myself to read in the car without getting sick. I finished Breaking Dawn!
Our first day there was full of site-seeing thanks to Shawn's Aunt Connie who was a wonderful and gracious tour guide. She took us to the idyllic Sauvie's Island just outside of Portland where my father-in-law and his family lived for about 12 years. It was amazing. This is a picture of the only store on the island during their childhood where they would run up charges on the family tab with candy and lay on the branches of a big tree while they ate it. I'm not making it up. Maybe Connie and Chris did but I'm just repeating what they said.
Across the street from the store was a peach orchard. Pick your own they said, so we did just that. Aside from the earwigs it was lovely. (I am not a girl who is afraid of bugs but I HATE earwigs.)
After lunch at Burgerville where they boast only the freshest Oregon's own Tillamook cheese, Washington Walla Walla onions and fresh Oregon Raspberries in their shakes we took off for Astoria. Another amazingly beautiful place. No wonder such a classic like Goonies was shot there. Later on we even went to a rocky beach where I swear I saw One-Eyed Willie peek out from behind a rock.
Here we are at Louis and Clark's camp. Connie said if we didn't go there we'd never see it and we had to see it to check it off on our list of National Parks. It was crazy to think of them making their way across the country, how miserable and wet they must have been. Amy couldn't resist touching the museum's objects. Tisk tisk Amy, I can't believe that you didn't listen to your father when he said not to touch anything.
And then we took off to the Oregon Coast. It was balmy and beautiful. Even though it was only 55 degrees there it felt nice to be out of Utah's blazing heat and to dip our toes in the Pacific. Here's Amy with her Dad.
We even saw some people out there boogy boarding. One girl doing it in a bikini. Um, my toes were numb so I'm really not sure what she was thinking. This beach is where Shawn's dad would come when he was visiting his grandmother. (I think I got that right, so many stories in such a short time). Her house was within short walking distance. Connie lamented not being able to go unless her mom would come because was too young. Oh the plight of the youngest child!
This below with the rocks and the birds is Cannon Beach. It was gorgeous as well. Cute town, beautiful beach. There is also a lighthouse just to the right of this shot but I didn't want to overwhelm this post with pictures because I took TONS.
The next day we went to down town Portland and shopped and ate. I don't know why I didn't take pictures there but I forgot.
And pedicures, turns out you can get them anywhere you go so you know, we had to make sure that they were the same. This is Haylee (I'm not sure how she spells it) Connie's daughter and the cousin of my husband and all the way on the other end is her beau Jason. They are far apart because it took a while to convince him to do it with us. What fun we had.
I didn't get a lot of pictures of the other family members because they wern't tourists with us but we had fun at the house. Thanks to Julie and her hospitality, I think we had 20 people there one night. And we even dyed Shawn's Aunt Robbie's hair. It made me feel like I was in college again.
Our first day there was full of site-seeing thanks to Shawn's Aunt Connie who was a wonderful and gracious tour guide. She took us to the idyllic Sauvie's Island just outside of Portland where my father-in-law and his family lived for about 12 years. It was amazing. This is a picture of the only store on the island during their childhood where they would run up charges on the family tab with candy and lay on the branches of a big tree while they ate it. I'm not making it up. Maybe Connie and Chris did but I'm just repeating what they said.
Across the street from the store was a peach orchard. Pick your own they said, so we did just that. Aside from the earwigs it was lovely. (I am not a girl who is afraid of bugs but I HATE earwigs.)
After lunch at Burgerville where they boast only the freshest Oregon's own Tillamook cheese, Washington Walla Walla onions and fresh Oregon Raspberries in their shakes we took off for Astoria. Another amazingly beautiful place. No wonder such a classic like Goonies was shot there. Later on we even went to a rocky beach where I swear I saw One-Eyed Willie peek out from behind a rock.
Here we are at Louis and Clark's camp. Connie said if we didn't go there we'd never see it and we had to see it to check it off on our list of National Parks. It was crazy to think of them making their way across the country, how miserable and wet they must have been. Amy couldn't resist touching the museum's objects. Tisk tisk Amy, I can't believe that you didn't listen to your father when he said not to touch anything.
And then we took off to the Oregon Coast. It was balmy and beautiful. Even though it was only 55 degrees there it felt nice to be out of Utah's blazing heat and to dip our toes in the Pacific. Here's Amy with her Dad.
We even saw some people out there boogy boarding. One girl doing it in a bikini. Um, my toes were numb so I'm really not sure what she was thinking. This beach is where Shawn's dad would come when he was visiting his grandmother. (I think I got that right, so many stories in such a short time). Her house was within short walking distance. Connie lamented not being able to go unless her mom would come because was too young. Oh the plight of the youngest child!
This below with the rocks and the birds is Cannon Beach. It was gorgeous as well. Cute town, beautiful beach. There is also a lighthouse just to the right of this shot but I didn't want to overwhelm this post with pictures because I took TONS.
The next day we went to down town Portland and shopped and ate. I don't know why I didn't take pictures there but I forgot. And pedicures, turns out you can get them anywhere you go so you know, we had to make sure that they were the same. This is Haylee (I'm not sure how she spells it) Connie's daughter and the cousin of my husband and all the way on the other end is her beau Jason. They are far apart because it took a while to convince him to do it with us. What fun we had.
I didn't get a lot of pictures of the other family members because they wern't tourists with us but we had fun at the house. Thanks to Julie and her hospitality, I think we had 20 people there one night. And we even dyed Shawn's Aunt Robbie's hair. It made me feel like I was in college again.
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