Something To Make Me Happy

Just a quick post so anyone who might be following this doesn't get too bored.

Yesterday, I opened the store, and as is my usual "reward to self" if I happen to be downtown on a day off, I went to the Lampstand and got my chai tea.  As I was about to pay, this cute little flower was dancing at me.  It's solar powered so it reacts to light.  The flower dances, people.  You can't not smile when you look at it.  So, I'm out 3 bucks, but have a reason to smile dancing at my desk all day.

So, have a great day and picture my little dancing flower if you need a quick smile.

As this blog winds down, I have some exciting things coming up to talk about-- tomorrow is the jingle bell run, sure to have lots of fun, pictures and stories to tell you about that one!

Completely Different

On Thanksgiving, my father-in-law mentioned he saw the mother of one of my high school friends.  He mentioned to her how I was interested in running now and how Jim was an avid cyclist.  She was apparently beyond surprised at our transformations.  To be honest, I'm a little surprised, too.
This past week I was in two large cities.  First, visiting my aunt as she finished her radiation treatments in Salt Lake City, then visiting the in-laws in Denver.  As little as a few months ago, I never, even consider life in a big city as anything worth looking at.  Now, if I had to, I might not mind living in a big city.  Don't worry, this isn't saying anything.  It's just--the person I'm becoming is okay with big cities.  I loved walking to Sprouts to purchase local produce to make dinner for my family in Salt Lake.  I loved going to the frozen yogurt places.  I loved the wide, clean sidewalks and all the people running and cycling.  Then in Denver, I loved LOVED the running trail near my sister-in-laws house.  I loved going to Whole Foods, I loved that Jim could go to a bike shop and drop me off at Target.  I love the option of a running store.  In both places, I loved to see the mountains in the distance.  I love the idea that if we ever have children, there would be so many opportunities for us as we plan to home school. 
I never would have thought that I would be someone who would even consider city living.  I grew up on a llama farm for crying out loud.
And while I love life in Ogallala, I can't deny that letting my thoughts wander this direction makes me think what things would be like elsewhere.  Again, I don't plan to act on these ideas and I still love it here (so locals, don't panic).  But, with the newness of Jim and I having worn off here in town, things having been officially settled, things are different.  Some of the people I thought were going to be friends, simply aren't.  Things I was hoping to be a part of I'm not.  Some things turned out way better than imagined (like getting a job I love and having more students).  But some things have dwindled away because we aren't new anymore.  Which would happen anywhere, I suppose.

Anyway, on a more fun and less serious note... I really did LOVE the running trail near Lezlie's.  Miles and miles uninterrupted by traffic.  Lightly graveled and so many cool things like bridges to run under and over.  Creeks, trees, dogs and their owners.  The only people I met were just out getting exercise.  Awesome!

Aunt Sue

When I was younger and still went wherever my parents took me for the holidays, I often times would find myself visiting at Grandma Hurley's house in Riverton, Wyoming.  Other than the early morning stroll to get a newspaper with my dad, the best memories from these trips was seeing my favorite aunt.  Aunt Sue (whose real name is actually Leslie) was always there.  I remember strange things about my visits with her-- like she always smelled good and she hated real hugs.  We would "mime hug" whenever we saw each other.  She would braid my hair sometimes, or include me in the early evening card games.  She also showed me how to make ham rolls.  My first clarinet was actually her clarinet.  I now have the keys displayed in my music room.  Aunt Sue always had beautiful long blond hair and pretty blue eyes.  My cousin Becky, her daughter, always had long black hair.  They were always so pretty.
I had already been warned by mom that her pretty blond hair was gone.  In it's place, a short blond wig.  But it was still my sweet Aunt Sue. 
Her apartment was small but cute and great for what she had to do.  A small apartment where she could be by herself or have company while she did six weeks of radiation treatment.  She knew her neighbors in the building and the owner, a lady with a cute English accent, was extremely friendly.
The routine was pretty routine during my stay in SLC.  Wake up.  Run at 24 Hour Fitness because I was a chicken about running where we were.  Get ready for the day.  Drive Sue to her radiation treatment.  Go to lunch.  Shop with the ladies or walk with Dad.  Eat Dinner.  Go to bed really early. 
Every morning Sue asked how my run went.  Then, she would tell my dad we didn't have to drive her to the clinic but was grateful that we did anyway.  When we went to lunch, she wouldn't complain about my dad's sometimes sporatic driving, even though her treatments left her feeling a little nausceous.  She would always say the food was the best at every restaurant.  She thanked me at least three times a day for coming to visit her.  Even though we basically ate and walked around.
Aunt Sue has a contagious laugh and finds things funny easily.  I was crying from laughter a couple of times and I am not really sure why I was laughing.

I enjoyed my walks with my Dad and watching my mom hunt out good deals.  And I really appreciated my time with Aunt Sue.

Salt Lake City

I'm here!  I'm hoping to sneak a picture of the people I'm visiting, as opposed to a shadow picture.  But, this is what I have been seeing a lot of today.  We've been driving around Salt Lake City, shopping in Target and Sears.  For lunch we had Wendy's and for dinner, I made some fancy grilled cheese sandwiches and organic tomato soup.  So, as you can see, we've been adventurous.

I was so excited to run outside tomorrow, until we drove the route I had carefully mapped out.  Steep. Up.  Hill.  And the other way?  Downtown craziness.  So, my plan of attack-- a free run at a local gym.  This is one of those times I'm glad I am cool with the treadmill.  Then, this afternoon, when the old folks (that's what they call themselves) are tired after lunch, I will go for a super short, "comfort" run.  Maybe a mile, tops.  See how I feel out in the real world.  If I feel like crying by the end, or if I get lost, I'll just be a gym rat until Denver.  In Denver I am totally stoked for the trail near Lezlie's house and I'm hoping to be pulling out some major miles there.
Anyway, other than seeing my aunt for the first time in 5 years (I forgot that my cousin married after I did and we saw her at the wedding), the highlight of this trip is not one but two walks with my dad.  In the morning, I needed to burn some plane energy off, so we meandered for a couple of miles around town.  We found the local farmers market style grocery store and bought a couple snacks.  Later, we walked to the same grocery store and bought more goodies for dinner.  The best goodie we found was White Chocolate Nutmeg Almonds.  Oh.  My.  Yummy.
Sorry this is so disjointed.  I'm completely enthralled with Wipe Out on the TV right now and having a hard time concentrating. 

POMEGRANATE!

So here is a long story to justify I small and wonderful dinner.

I didn't sleep well last night.  A combination of my phone blinking and dinging all night, my PJ pants being a little too hot for the temperature in the room and my pillow being more uncomfortable than usual.  So, when my phone made the beep that means it's time to get up, I didn't.  I rolled over.  Wednesday is usually one of my busiest days because I have a 7:15 lesson. I slept in, so I scrambled to get ready for my lesson.  I did a few errands afterwards, like the bank and post office. 
Work today consisted of nasty grams, mailing nasty grams, and opening up the cutest little guitars, so it was a busy day.  I had lunch with Barb, a lovely lady from church. Then I walked home and did the run and work out I slept through this morning.
And that is why I had the dinner of pomegranate.  When I just finish a workout, I'm not exactly ready to have a three course meal.  So, though I may wake up at midnight needing something else, I took my time peeling my first pomegranate of the season.  I can promise you... it will not be the last.  I LOVE pomegranate. 

Mmmmmm

Long Time Coming.

Long, long ago (as in... summer of last year), I saw some jeans I loved.  Silver Jeans were kind of my brand.  I have since moved on from being Silver specific.  Anyway, at the Clothing Closet (a shop here in town run by one of the nicest and cutest ladies I know), I found the most beautiful pair of jeans I've ever seen.  Yes, beautiful.  Silver's are known for having their "S" on the butt pockets , designed differently for each style of jean.  Usually, it's just an "S", maybe a little ratty on the edges, or with different colored thread, or in recent times, with a little bit of "bling" on it.  Well, these were different.  The S was kind of ornate, with a vine and leaf-ish print.
Unfortunately, when I found these jeans they were available in one size.  One inch smaller than my waist.  They were squeeze-in-able, but for the price I would have to pay I wasn't going to settle.  So, every couple of months until December, I would go to her shop and try these jeans on, hoping that I might have just accidentally lost an extra inch, and leave empty handed, slowly laying the jeans down again and secretly hoping no one would buy them.  Eventually, they were no longer on the shelf and I resigned to the fact that I would never wear those jeans.
Until TODAY!  I happened to be browsing at Repeat Boutique, a consignment shop a few doors down, when I saw them.  The same jeans, but an inch bigger in the waist.  I tried them on, did the happy-dressing-room-dance (what? You don't have one of those?) when they fit perfectly, and bought them... for less than a quarter of the price.  Nothing at all against the Clothing Closet, but sweet deal!

Nothing too exciting happening in the Parrish household at the moment.  Today was my day off and I spent most of it running errands, cleaning, and basically just being around the house.  I am looking forward to visiting my folks and my aunt Sue on Saturday in Salt Lake City.  I am excited to run in the area, though not sure what to do, since we're kind of downtown... there are a couple of trails I might try to find.  More excited to run in Colorado on Thursday-Saturday of next week, since an aerial view showed a lengthy trail really close to Lezlie's house (Jim's older sister, if you were curious). 

On to the rest of the week!

Voted!

Even if your vote would cancel out mine, I hope if you knew your stuff and had an opinion, I hope you've voted today.  If you didn't know anything... I hope you didn't ;).

Our fairgrounds looks extra cute at voting time.  I know, I totally got the point of the day, right?  We have little booths made of red and white striped fabric and only goes down to around the bum.  So, a full booth shows whatever pants the person who is voting is wearing.

It makes me feel like a true Nebraskan and small town girl when I walk into our fairgrounds at voting time, see the few people milling around and getting handed a Nebraska voter sticker.

I don't know where everyone stands on the political issues of our country or our area, but tomorrow will sure be interesting.  If you are facebook friends with me, I won't be anywhere NEAR facebook for a couple of days.  I am not looking forward to the after election explosion online. 


But anyway.  Vote if you know what you want!  It's important!

Mi Ranchito en Noviembre

I think that's how you spell November in Spanish... it's been a couple years since I was in a Spanish class.

On Saturday, my husband and I went to Mi Ranchito for dinner.  If I don’t go there once every couple of months I start missing it and it had been too long.  I get Tacos El Carbon, no tortillas, beef.  The new location for this restaurant is so nice, with it’s brightly colored tables and chairs.  It is so nice to find good Mexican food close to home.  Growing up, Mexican scared me so the closest I got was Taco Johns drive through, and even then, I was the kind of kid that got two soft shell tortillas, nothing in them, and potato ole’s…. about as un-Mexican as you can get.  Funny how I have come around to now eating everything from this Mexican place except the tortillas, and I wouldn’t touch a potato ole now.  

 (Yes, my husband and I check our phones at dinner.  Eek! We've been found out!)

We have decided that if Mi Ranchito ever wanted to do TV ads, we’d have them covered.  Our little Chihuahua, who walked to work with me Saturday and sat at my desk while I helped customers for an hour, would be a great addition to a Mexican restaurant commercial, don’t you think?  “Yo Queiro Mi Ranchito!”

See? Perfection.