Things that have made me happy today:

1) Coming home and hugging my husband after a profound night at work. 2) The way peanut butter melts a bit when you spread it on a hot english muffin. 3) Hanging out at the pool...in March.

That darn cat!

So the other day I got home from work, exhausted and ready for some good sleep before getting up and going back to work that night. Alice, however, had other plans. This YouTube video pretty much sums it up.

Lovely morning

I am having a lovely morning and felt compelled to share it. It's a little chilly in Scottsdale this morning, so when I got up I turned on the fireplace. I am now sitting in front of it, eating oatmeal and a grapefruit and enjoying the warmth. I am toasty and I am happy!

Ostrich Festival 2008

Last weekened we witnessed the most hilarious and ridiculous sight ever. We had the privlige of attending the 20th annual Chandler Ostrich Festival! It all started when I was driving in my car and heard a commercial for the Ostrich Festival. I had never heard of such a thing, but of course my interest was peaked immediately :D I did a little web research and knew right away that I had to partake in this festive occasion. After one short conversation Casey was on board too, so Saturday we drove 20 miles south to Chandler to on an unforgettable experience. The whole set up was kind of like a mini version of the Western Idaho Fair. There were carnival games, rides, tasty fair food, booths, and the usual attractions. And then, there were the ostrich races...

Bleachers jam-packed with spectators encircled an arena where we witnessed 450 pound birds race around a track, mounted by ostich jockeys. It was crazy! These birds are so huge and so weird looking and have the most peculiar bodies with such long necks...and they were racing. What made it even more entertaining was the obvious lack of intelligence of these feathered beasts. To get the ostriches to go the direction they wanted, the jockeys would wave a little stick to one side of their head. The bird would see it and think "Ahhhh! A scary stick, I should run the other way!" and then would turn away from the stick. Within moments though, the jockey would wave the stick on the other side of its head and it would be turning again. Poor dumb birds. There were two different styles of racing. The first was what the announcer referred to as "featherback" racing (i.e. bareback). No saddles, no harnesses, just you and the bird (and the stick). The second was Ben Hurr-style chariot racing. These contraptions were harnessed to the ostriches and a jockey stood in it and ushered it onward to the finishline. What a spectacle. I am trying hard here to describe what we saw, but words really cannot even begin to convey the mayhem. After the races we went in search of dinner - Casey had an ostrich burger. (We joked that the ostriches were encouraged to win the races so that they would not become dinner.) Ooo, and we had our favorite fair food - tortatoes! The band Vertical Horizon played a great concert that night (free with admission!) where we met up with some friends. What a fabulous day it was.

"featherback" racing

chariot racing

Thoughts that have been swirling around in my head and my heart...

It's no secret that for a while now I have been wanting to have a baby. I've wanted to be a mom for about as long as I can remember, and now that I'm almost 25 and we've been married almost 2 years, the urge is stronger than ever. I know right now isn't the ideal time in our life to have a kiddo, but I can just never quite shake that longing feeling in my heart to become a mother. We are planning on waiting a while until Casey is through school and we are no longer living in the desert, but each day the thought of having children ignites this excitement and contentment in my soul that I just cannot silence. The problem with this though, is that lately I feel like I have been focusing too much on the future and not taking the time to enjoy what we have now. Don't get me wrong, we are really happy and love spending time together, but I feel like I am constantly planning things for when our "real" life starts. When Casey's done with school, when we've moved back home, when we buy another house, when we have kids, etc. Finally the other day, though, I had this ah-ha! moment when something clicked in my brain. I am still anticipating our future with unparalleled joy, but I suddenly realized real life happens every day and right now it is fabulous and I should enjoy every moment of it as much as I can. I can sleep in until I wake up (on my days off); I can have popcorn and a glass of wine for dinner without worrying about feeding something healthy to the kids; we can travel and explore our temporary home state as much as we’d like and at the last minute. I know most of you are probably saying – DUH! – why did she just now figure this out? But really I have just had a change in my thinking that has led me to a happier, healthier place and I like that :D Life is wonderful and each day should be enjoyed to its fullest!