Sammy is just too cool.

Tonight I was helping Nathan put together a report for school. We were going through pictures on the computer looking for things he could use for his autobiography. I came across this picture and just had to laugh. Sammy is such a crack up. You just can't stage something like this.

10 Reasons I Totally Scored

I am a lucky gal. I know it. I have a wonderful husband. He's a gem. So, with it being Valentine's Day and all, I though I woud share 10 reasons why I totally scored (these are in no specific order):

1. Carp is a really good Dad. I could have easily guessed this would be the case when I fell in love with his family before we got married. They are good stock. Carp remembers his Dad doing things with him and showing him love. He does the same for his kids. He thinks about little things that I overlook like taking a kid with him to run errands so they get some time together.

2. Carp has a testimony of Jesus Christ and that he has a purpose on this earth. This fact makes my desire to be a better person so much stronger than it would be if I didn't have him in my life. He hold me up to a standard that I believe I can reach because he is with me.

3. My man is good looking. He can't help it, he just is.

4. I love a good sense of humor. Carp and I laugh a lot together. Our kids laugh with him. We have lots of inside jokes and family jokes going on. He finds the funny side of everything and I totally love it.

5. Carp is a hard worker. He has always done everything he can to make sure that he is providing for his family. He is driven and likes to improve his skills. He is currently working on his master - not an easy feat when you travel as much as he does.

6. Carp is good with money. He is a saver and a planner. I am so thankful I married a man that is good with the cash stuff because I really don't like to deal with it. Yeah, we lost some money in the market this last year. Who didn't? If it were not for him, we would probably have nothing out there - that's how much I hate dealing with money.

7. Carp appreciates my talents and inspires me to do new things. He's fine with me working on a quilt. In fact, he likes when I work on a quilt. It is just wonderful that he doesn't make me fill guilty if I spend time on that.

8. Carp is adventurous and daring. He likes to do mountaineering stuff and will face mountains I don't ever entertain the thought of climbing. The same could be said of him tackling trials that he faces. He doesn't walk away from anything.

9. He loves me. Heaven knows I am self-conscious about many things. He is so sweet to me and let me know how much he loves me everyday. I sometimes wonder why - but I love him so much back that I can't be second guessing him.

10. Carp is a trustworthy person. I trust him with my thoughts, information, my physical well-being (like when rappelling) and with my life and the life of my children. He is always there for us.

As you can see, I totally scored! Carp is a 10 in my book and I love him with all my heart!

Bootylicious

On Thursday we can all celebrate the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birthday. In commemoration, the University of Utah with scientist from Utah and Harvard are doing presentations on why, as humans, we were born to run.

Why are we born to run? Low shoulders, a flexible upper body, but more significantly, the muscle in our butts, called the gluteus maximus are the reason we can run and not fall forward on our faces. So, by this logic, having a little bootyliciousness going on is a good thang, sista.

I think I will do a little celebrating of my own. Mmmmmmmm, another pound of chocolate from See's ought do the trick.

Creative Dreaming

This was actually posted on another friends blog - Tonja Merryweather - but I had to post it on mine too - so I can go back and watch it over and over. It's quite facinatingly done with pictures - stop motion animation.



When she woke up from the "dream" I wonder if she was tired?

Fun Facts:
* The song is "Her Morning Elegance" is by an Israeli, Oren Lavie.
* The video was shot all stills - roughly 3225 still photos for the entire video, using one camera, hanging from the ceiling for the main body of the movie.
* It took 4 weeks before shooting to create an animated computer generated storyboard for the video, with 3d dummies for the characters.
* It took only 2 days of shooting for the live actors on set to re-create the 3.5 minutes computer sequence, frame by frame.

Psychopomps

If I remember the saying right it goes, "nothing in life is certain except death and taxes." Well, we've all faced taxes, but if you are reading this blog entry there's a pretty good chance you have never seen death.

Death is described as the total cessation of life processes that eventually occurs in all things.(Thank you google.) This doesn't answer what death looks like, feels like, what we'll see or where we will go (Of course, I have a strong opinion about those.) Throughout history this lack of information has motivated humans to make up figures to represent death.

Enter the Grim Reaper - the black-cloaked, scythe-wielding personification of death. His job is to put a face on the whole ordeal. I guess my question is this - why is he so grim? Why couldn't he be the least bit happy that he is paying you a visit? AND - Why the heck is it a guy?

I'm sure your question today is more along the lines of "What the heck, Kellie? Why are you writing about the death and the Grim Reaper?" Well, while reading an article today I learned a new word. It's kind of an interesting one - psychopomps. At first glance I thought it was psychopoops. I still am laughing at that misreading.

Anyway, a psychopomp is a spirit, angel, or deity whose responsibility is to escort newly-deceased souls to the afterlife. Many are animals. Certain species of birds - owls, sparrows and crows - appear more frequently as psychopomps than other animals. I kind of like the idea of being greeted by a soft cooing owl at deaths door than a mess of bones mysteriously held together in a black cloak holding an hourglass with the last grain of the sands of my life falling to the bottom.

I researched representations of death briefly and found that the Grim Reaper is just one of many personifications of death. There are positive forms and yes, there are women.

So, if I'm free to choose, I'm choosing the cute owl.