In Memory of my Soap Collection

Growing up, I had a soap collection.

That's right.
A SOAP collection.

Weird.

What kid has a soap collection?

Well, this is how it happened. Somehow, my mom had a small collection of pretty shaped soaps from her childhood, including one hand-painted soap bar from her grandmother. As a child I was fascinated with these soaps and because of my enthusiasm I inherited them from my mother. And, as the years went by my soap collection expanded. I got little soaps in my stocking from Santa or picked them out as souvenirs on trips.

Over Christmas break last year I went through a box of treasures from my childhood including dolls, stuffed animals, paper dolls, and my soap collection. The soaps smelled so strongly (that's a nice way of describing their stink...) that they'd made everything else in the box smell as well. Somehow at that point I couldn't bear throwing them away because they brought back such sweet memories from my childhood. So, I threw out some of the newer ones that I'd collected and slimmed my collection down to fit in a small shoe box. I double wrapped everything in plastic to try to contain the smell.

Then we moved. And I had to face my soap collection again. My goal during this move was to get rid of things that we didn't need, but when it came to my soap collection, it was still hard for me to cut the strings. Even though it really didn't smell good.

I was talking to my sister Marnae last week and I told her, "Marnae, talk me into getting rid of that old soap collection I have." To which she responded, "You still have those gross old soaps?!" When I told her that I couldn't bear to get rid of them in party because one of them had belonged to Great-Grandma she said that fact made it even more gross. She led a very compelling argument, ending with, "Besides, they stink!"

Marnae suggested that I take pictures of the soaps to preserve the memories I have and then get rid of them. I took her advice and I haven't regretted it. I'm still glad that I have the pictures though! I'm sharing them so that you can see how cute they are, especially without having to stand the horrible smell!

This is the hand-painted one from Great-Grandma.

These were my mothers.



And these are a couple of my favorites of the ones that I later got.

Moving

We just moved to a new apartment in Provo. Even though we only had to move about 10 blocks, it's still taken us two weeks to finally feel mostly settled in. We've been playing the KSL/Craigslist game of searching for furniture, since we didn't have any before and our apartment now is unfurnished. We've gotten everything we need except a washer and dryer. After going to the laundromat last week and spending a fortune doing 4 loads, we're hoping to get a washer and dryer before we're forced to do laundry again. Finally, though, I'm starting to love our new place. It's got more closet space and more shelves and has a little deck with a sliding glass window that faces East, so our whole house is flooded with light in the morning. Our front room is a little bigger than our last apartment and we have two bedrooms, which will definitely be great when the baby comes.

Before we finally found a table, we ate off of this cardboard box for a couple of weeks--oh the joys of moving!


Now we've just got to hang pictures...

More pictures of my bump!

Here are a couple pictures of my bump that's starting to show a little more.

This one is at 16 weeks.

This one is today at 21 weeks.

Baby is moving a LOT lately! I absolutely love it. Baby's still so small that it it's continuous movements don't bother me at all--they just remind me that there's a little body growing and learning to move inside of me! It makes me think about Baby a lot and wonder who this new little person is going to be. On Monday we go in for our first ultrasound and we'll find out if it's a boy or girl! We can't wait!!!

I've started this post about 6 times already. I guess there are no 'right' words to cover the gap of the past year and a half. One of my hold-ups to posting on my blog is that I always want to write something clever but never feel much inspiration for cleverness, so the blog goes untouched. I finally decided that I like my friend's blogs no matter if their content is entertaining or not because it gives me a glimpse into their lives. So, I decided that I would start posting occasionally to share a few of our adventures!

The biggest adventure that we've only recently embarked on is only just starting to show...


We're expecting our first baby! I'm 12 weeks along in this picture. The due date is January 21, 2012! We're so excited to welcome a new little person into our family. Often I'll turn to James and ask, "Is this really happening? Are we old enough to have a baby?" And then we laugh because we're not sure. But we both know it's ok to not feel ready because we know that God thinks we're ready enough and we are preparing ourselves to learn and grow together through all the unknowns ahead. I am really looking forward to becoming a mother--this is what I've wanted my entire life! Already, I'm feeling a love that's growing in proportion to the new little life that's forming within me. I truly believe that family is the most important part of our existence here on earth. Belonging to a family gives us opportunity to serve and to learn and brings more joy than any other endeavor. Also, I'm so thankful to know that we can live with our families for forever! I can't imagine a happy life without James and I'm grateful to know that we will be able to share our existence together even after this life ends!

Procrastination...to the bitter end.

Procrastination. It is so easy. Anyone can do it. And it feels so good...at first. But it always comes back and bites you, usually in the face where there is no way to ignore it. I like to think of myself as a careful, responsible procrastinator. I don't procrastinate to the point of no return, only to the point right before the point of no return. And that is a very distinct, important difference. Somehow I just can't quite find sufficient motivation to dig in and do the dirty work of a project until time constraints leave me no other option; imminent due dates seem to serve as sufficient motivation.

This principle is particularly applicable to dreaded college research papers. It's not really my fault or choie that inspiration finally seems to flow during the last few, vital hours before the paper is due. And I can't really help it if those few hours are usually either deep into the night, or in the wee hours of the early morning. I always do the necessary research with plenty of time and the many valiant, if fruitless, attempts that I always make to start the writing process surely help me in the end, right? But regardless of my efforts, the inspiration simply refuses to come until the lack of time demands its presence.

So, the waning time then becomes both friend (bringing inspiration) and foe (bringing the imminent due date closer and closer) in the battle to win the race. Ironically, I have come out triumphant every time, which strengthens my resolve to become an even more avid responsible procrastinator. I'm becoming quite skilled at eliminating all worry and fretting regarding looming due dates, knowing that good old Time will work his magic in the end, demanding inspiration and a little sweat, and producing an acceptable end product.

You might ask if there was anything in particular that inspired a blog on the last day of finals, five months after my last blog. Yes. There most certainly is. The last due date for my final research paper is quickly approaching, but I haven't quite wasted the last possible minute before I'll have no more to spare, so I thought I'd post my thoughts on this silly situation I put myself in. Really, I was just looking for any half-valid excuse to procrastinate a little bit longer. But I feel the first pangs of panic setting in, wondering how on earth I'm going to finish the paper that I have yet to start by this evening, dreading the grueling hours ahead, but knowing that freedom will shortly be mine. So, I'd better go get started...

Responsible procrastination. It works like a charm for college research papers. But I don't think it's an eternal principle. So, I plan on reforming as soon as this paper is finished today...

Weekend fun

I went tubing down the Provo River last weekend! It had been about three years since I had last been, so I was just a little bit excited. We stuffed our huge tubes into my car and after driving up the canyon without any AC, we were ready to jump into the river. Or so we thought. The water was like ICE! After my feet got cold enough that I could no longer feel them it was a lot more comfortable and I was able to enjoy the sun on my face and relax as we floated down the river. The only mishap was when we arrived at the bottom and realized that we had left our keys for the car in the other car we'd driven to the top. No worries--I'm pretty sure half of Provo was up at the river enjoying the Sat. afternoon, so it was easy to find a ride up to my car.

Tubing wasn't daring enough for me. So, I realized one of my life goals this weekend--I attended Catholic mass! Interestingly enough, I've never gone to mass before, though I've been in many Cathedrals when I was in Mexico and discussed religion with many Catholics in Argentina. The Cathedral of the Madeleine is gorgeous with alted ceilings and incredibly detailed stained-glass windows depicting scriptural characters and events. The ceremony was very interesting, though I found it a little strange how everything seemed to focus on the priest and few leaders, with little congregational participation. The organ was exquisite--in fact, the organ solo that was played at the end of the services made me jump out of my seat, it was so intense and dramatic. It could have been from the Phantom of the Opera or something!

The Cathedral is right behind me--you can see the towers on the horizon.

After mass we wondered to Temple Square and enjoyed the incredible Spirit that accompanies that holy ground. While I felt peace in the Cathedral and felt awe at the beauty of the music, walking onto Temple Square brought an intense sense of truth and conviction that was very distinct to what I had just felt. The Spirit really does testify of truth! We went to the statue of the Christus and then went through a new presentation focusing on the family. It was beautiful.

I love this picture of the temple. The sun was setting, so it made for a beautiful picture.

Worthy to be called an ADVENTURE.

Meandering lazily through shaded woods, enjoying a gorgeous panoramic view of whited mountain peaks and trees, feeling the sun warmly on your back and the breeze in your hair, hearing birds chirp happily from the tree-tops, and savoring the aroma of pine trees. This is why I love the mountains. I don't think that there is anything that can parallel the secluded beauty approaching sacredness that is encountered only after a long, tiring hike to reach a distant peak. Eternal principles must be at work, for it seems that the sacrifice, hard work, and even pain required to reach the top of the mountain are always richly rewarded.
Of course, this describes the ideal hike--but honestly, when have you ever had one of those? Last week I joined a small group of eager friends on an overnight hike through Big Springs up Provo Canyon to Cascade Saddle and down Rock Canyon, and I'm happy to be alive to tell you about it! We had quite the adventure. I don't think words can quite do it justice--I only wish I could share a little bit of the rain with you to help bring it to life. We started out in the evening, at about 7 and waved down a friendly truck driver to give us a lift for the first couple of miles up the windy road. An hour or so of hiking up the trail we looked like this:


Still dry, fresh, happy and mostly, still dry. Our objective was that distant peak at the top of the pictures that we are all pointing at. Little did we know what that night held in store for us. But neither could we imagine the beauty of the morning.

Aching legs, sore feet, various snow patches and a few hours later, we reached the top of the saddle and in the moonlight looked out over fleeting clouds and unending mountain ranges. Isn't this incredible?

Rachel and I--still somewhat dry and warm:



After a gourmet meal of hot dogs and warm chili, exhaustion hit us and we realized that we needed to find some place to sleep. Raindrops and threatening clouds in the north-east hurried us in our search; however, at the top of the mountain there are few flat areas for a good campground, so we settled for an area on a steep hill under a group of trees that we hoped would offer a little protection from the coming rain. The darkness and our exhaustion hid the rocks and tree roots that made our beds, and we all settled down at the base of different trees just as it really started to rain. "It is going to be a long night...." I thought as I drifted off into unsettled sleep.
This is the hill sporting Cynthia's sopping sleeping bag at about 3 am that morning:

The boys gave up their somewhat-drier sleeping bags to the other girls who were miserably wet and cold--real heroes.

This is Rachel and my little nook at the base of two trees. One tree was my pillow, the other was my foot rest. It was actually relatively comfortable until the pool of water formed beneath me. We were completely wet at this time and just a little bit cold, but still smiling. Finally we had sat up because it was raining and dripping on our faces and further sleep was out of the picture. This sleepless night led to deep, intellectual conversation about life and the stupidity of humans that would impel them to exchange their warm, soft, dry beds for wet, rocky, muddy beds at the top of mountains. I remember commenting at one point in our only somewhat coherent conversation, "Rachel, do you remember all those times in our lives that we were warm and dry?" She laughed, but I was serious. Conjuring up memories of warm times seemed the best activity to help pass the dreary night.


The morning light brought relief from the dreary night. The picture doesn't really portray it well, but if you look closely you can see that our sweatshirts are completely wet and even though my blanket looks warm, I probably could have wrung streams of water from it.

Despite the wet and miserable night, lightening sky revealed beautiful landscapes that filled my soul with awe. I loved being above the clouds!


This is the view of the other side of the ridge, heading down towards Rock Canyon. Incredible!



Five hours and a long rainstorm later we finally reached the bottom and long-awaited warm showers! I don't know if I'd be willing to knowingly suffer through another rainy night like that one, but I will admit that it was most definitely a memorable and primarily enjoyable experience! I want to go back and do it again without the rain and with a tarp, just in case. Have you ever had crazy, unexpected adventures that are unforgettable? This trip will be numbered among my favorites.